Hello, everyone.

First things first: I'm sorry. I know it's been a while since my last chapter. I've been dealing with a job, lack of time, struggling with motivation, and tendenitis, which kind of makes it tricky to write, even if I do have a voice command software I'm sort of wary of.

Even so, I'm not sure that excuses over a year of no updates. And for that, I'm sorry.

I'm also sorry that this isn't exactly what you were hoping for. This chapter is not complete, nor is it fully edited. However, I decided that you guys deserved SOMETHING for your patience, so in a paltry attempt to make up for my long absence and silence, here's a sizable chunk of what I've written so far. More will follow…someday. I don't know when. I'm not abandoning this story. Just…on hiatus for a bit…

And keep in mind, it's a bit raw. If you have any problems with grammar or stuff, let me know so I can fix it. It's the least I can do. Possibly literally.

Thank you for bearing with me this long. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me. Credit for a certain something showing up later in the chapter goes to Appletail. You'll know it when you see it.

…

In ancient times, the people of Earth looked into the heavens and gave names to the stars and worlds dotting the skies above. They made up stories and legends, telling tales of great heroes and villains, mighty gods and demons, filling the night sky with all manner of celestial beings and powers and other realms. To be fair, not all of these stories were completely inaccurate (after all, a stopped clock can be right twice a day), but those who dwelled on distant stars and planets would be perplexed by the tales other beings made up about them.

Take the red planet Mars, fourth in the Sol system, for example. To the people of Earth, Mars had always been a symbol of war, named after an ancient warrior deity said to be either related to Victini or was Victini herself, something which amused the goddess of victory to no end. This led to no end of puzzlement to the beings that actually inhabited the red world. War had not existed on their planet for countless millennia, ever since the discovery of the Life Equation by the great J'ann J'annz. The very word for war had long since fallen out of the Martian vocabulary, and at least half the reason very little formal communication was opened up with the denizens of the third planet, the blue marble called Earth, was because they could not fathom why the humans and Pokemon of that world spent so much time fighting with each other. The Martians occasionally fought each other, yes, but it was largely ritualized and relatively harmless, to the point where even the most light-hearted of trained Pokemon battles back in the age of humanity could be considered a bloodbath in comparison. To beings who valued life as much as the Martians did, the thought of ending it seemed unthinkable to them.

And so, when Oblivion's Shadow and his Nihilators came to their world and wiped out most of their population, they were caught completely and totally off-guard. Those who survived had been forced to relearn what it meant to truly fight another if they were to ever have a chance of taking back their planet.

And now help had come from the blue planet, which they had spent so long observing from afar while otherwise avoiding due to their violent and warlike ways. The irony of having to rely on those whom they'd largely shunned and avoided for so long was not lost on them.

And now the final battle for Mars was taking place on the plains of what the Earthlings called Olympus Mons, and the Martians called…well, something not so easily translatable. And while the Martians were confident that, with the help of their new allies and the great Vampire Queen, they would prevail…there were some who wondered what the price of that victory would be, and if the Martian race could ever reclaim what it had lost…

…

Battle engulfed the red planet. There was fighting on the land, in the sky, in the stars above. Great armies from Earth and the Moon clashed with the forces of the Nihilators, who, after getting over their shock at having such a massive invasion force appear on their doorstep, rallied as best they could to fight back, even as more and more explosions wracked the fortress they were so desperately trying to defend, the prisoners and slaves they'd tormented for years finally having their revenge as they tore the place apart from within. To tell the tales of all the heroes who earned glory and honor that day would take far too long for this narrative to describe, so here are but a handful of the most salient—and badass—feats performed by the allied forces.

A Robo-Groudon was resolutely stomping towards a group of soldiers engaged in close combat on the ground below. It did not care that at least half of the soldiers were Nihilators; to the pilots, so long as they killed someone, it was all good. The Robo-Groudon opened its mouth and started charging up its main cannon…

When suddenly, a battleship passing by overhead exploded, and a gray blur streaked downwards towards the robot from the blast, howling at the top of its lungs. Startled, the faux Groudon glanced upwards…

And the blur smashed into one of its eyes, entering the head. Explosions started bursting all over the metal skull, and the entire robot shook as something started ripping it apart from the inside, massive dents bulging out from its hull, rivets popping and flying all over the place, munitions exploding, limbs falling off…before finally the gray blur ripped out of its chest, trailing smoke and covered in blood and wires and bits of scrap, landing on the ground some distance away, crushing a Nihilator Mamoswine into the ground hard enough to break its spine and causing the surrounding soldiers to scurry back in alarm. Bruno the Machamp looked up, a savage grin on his face and a mad gleam in his eye. "That's my seventh so far. I'd say I'm living up to my epithet of 'Giantslayer,' wouldn't you?"

Behind him, the damaged Robo-Groudon emitted a strangled electronic screech and exploded. The Nihilators all exchanged looks, screamed in terror, and ran away, pursued by the cheering allied soldiers. Bruno grinned and cracked his neck, shaking the detritus he'd picked up inside the mecha off of him. "Heh. You'd better run. I don't have time to mess with small fry anyway, not with so many other, far worthier monsters to fight! Now, where's my next opponent…" A shadow engulfed him. He glanced upwards to see a tremendous Arachnoblast looming over him, one leg raised high in the air. The Machamp grinned. "That'll do."

The Arachnoblast's leg came down. Bruno raised his four arms, dug his feet into the thick fur of the Mamoswine beneath him…and caught the giant spider's leg in his hands. He gritted his teeth, veins standing out on his muscles as he strained to keep from being crushed beneath the giant metal appendage. He used Bulk Up, causing his muscles to get even more muscular and increasing his power significantly. Grunting, sweat rolling down his face and chest, he started pushing back against the Arachnoblast's leg, bit by bit shoving it away from him. Startled, the mecha's operators sent more power to the leg's hydraulics, commanding them to push down harder…but Bruno simply redoubled his efforts and pushed back with equal if not greater force, until warning lights started flashing in the Arachnoblast's command center, indicating the leg's systems were overheating and the structural integrity of the joints was starting to get compromised.

So, they did what seemed most likely to get rid of the problem: targeted Bruno and fired several hundred missiles at the Machamp, confident that in his current position he would be unable to evade or defend himself.

They were correct. Bruno could not evade or defend himself.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. Suddenly, several dozen arrows streaked through the air towards the missiles. The arrowheads abruptly exploded, sending thousands of bits of shrapnel flying in every direction. The shrapnel struck the missile warheads, causing them to explode in a spectacular blast. Startled, the Arachnoblast's head whipped about, just in time for another arrow to shoot through the air and embed itself in one of its eyes. The arrow exploded, causing the mechanical monster's head to rear back and shriek, swaying on its legs and giving Bruno the leeway he needed to shove the limb crushing him off of him with enough force the giant spider was sent stumbling backwards.

The Machamp glanced upwards as a small flying saucer whizzed overhead, George standing on top of it, already loading more trick arrows into her crossbow. "Thanks for the assist," Bruno called up to her.

The Mightyena raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're not going to complain that you had everything under control and I messed things up?"

"Nah, I'm not that kind of guy," Bruno said, cracking his neck and working out some cramps in his muscles. He narrowed his eyes as the Arachnoblast hissed and started back towards them. "Speaking of which, a little more assistance would not be unwelcome."

"I'll cover you," George said, raising her crossbow. "Think you can really kill that thing on your own?"

"Wouldn't be the first one," Bruno quipped as he started rushing towards the giant spider. The monstrosity shrieked and opened fire, sending hundreds of missiles and laser beams shooting towards Bruno. Using his finely-honed fighting instincts, Bruno zigzagged and juked and dodged around the landscape, the projectiles exploding against the ground around him. He couldn't evade all the missiles, however, but he didn't need to; George kept zooming back and forth above him, shooting arrow after arrow from her seemingly inexhaustible quiver (it was inexhaustible, in fact, thanks to an enchantment she'd picked up in Fichina), using all sorts of trick arrows to protect Bruno from getting blown to smithereens. Getting annoyed, the Arachnoblast opened its mouth and started charging up its main cannon…

Which turned out to be a profoundly stupid move, as George sighted along her crossbow and fired a single arrow. The missile flew true, piercing the wave motion gun and exploding, causing a chain reaction that obliterated half of the Arachnoblast's head and sent it reeling backwards on its long neck, the legs skittering across the ground as it struggled to stay balanced. "Heh. That's the fifth one I've done that too," George bragged. "You'd think they'd have learned by now."

"Nice shot," Bruno said. "I'm a little surprised that went through. You'd have figured they'd be shielded against something like that. Unless their shields aren't attuned to deflecting a weapon as primitive as an arrow?"

"Actually, they are," George said. "But I picked up some magic arrows in Fichina. Armor-piercing spells on the arrowheads. Apparently it works on shields, too."

"Heh. Go figure," Bruno said, leaping into the air and soaring towards one of the Arachnoblast's legs. By an amazing coincidence, it was the same one he'd been wrestling with earlier. George sighted along her crossbow, took aim, and started firing arrows in rapid succession. These arrows had barbed heads, and were able to penetrate the surface of the leg, sticking in place and allowing Bruno to grab one, swing up, grab the next, and climb upwards as the Mightyena kept shooting new stepping stones—or rather, arrows—for him to use.

Sparks started crackling off the surface of the limb. "Bruno, jump!" George cried, realizing what was about to happen. The Machamp quickly flung himself upwards just before the leg started conducting several billion watts of electricity, more than enough to vaporize the mighty Fighting-type instantly. George quickly fired two arrows at the leg, then two more at the ground. Cables shot out of the arrows imbedded in the ground and connected to the ends of the ones stuck in the legs, grounding them and causing the electrical current to flow out of the leg and into the ground. George then raised her crossbow higher and shot an arrow just ahead of the arc of Bruno's next jump. It soared through the air, passing between the ridges on his head so closely the feathers on the arrow's tail brushed his skull, and buried itself in the leg, allowing Bruno to grab it just before the momentum of his leap could run out and he'd start to fall.

He started climbing up the leg once more, hopping from arrow to arrow as they appeared before him. The Arachnoblast apparently decided it was probably a stupid idea to just stand in one place and let him climb up, so it raised its leg into the air and started shaking it vigorously, trying to knock Bruno off. Thinking quickly, George fired an arrow with a cable affixed to its end at the Arachnoblast's main body, then fastened the cable's other end to her own saucer. "Hop on!" she cried, floating her saucer as close to the leg as she dared.

Bruno grinned at her in gratitude and quickly leaped off the leg, grabbing onto the cable and sliding down its length, the toughened calluses on his palms keeping him from getting rope burn. The Arachnoblast did not take George's intrusion lightly, however, and ports opened up in the sides of the leg, cannons popping out and opening fire on her. She swore and frantically tried to maneuver out of the way, firing arrows into the gun barrels as she tried to keep from getting hit. One stray shot from one of the cannons struck the zipline, causing it to snap and Bruno to fall. Arms flailing frantically, he tumbled through the air, smacking into the side of the Arachnoblast's central sphere and beginning to slide down its length, frantically scrabbling to find a grip…and failing. Spotting this, George ground her teeth and diverted her attention from her firefight to shoot an arrow right beneath Bruno. It sprung open right as it pierced the hull, revealing a trampoline which Bruno landed on and bounced off of, flying back up the side of the mecha. George grinned…

And then a stray shot from one of the cannons smashed into her saucer. She cried out in alarm as her hovercraft wobbled in the air and started spiraling down and away, smoke and flames leaking from its side. "George!" Bruno cried in alarm, head turning to see his friend's descent in alarm…

And then the Arachnoblast's head—or what remained of it—slammed into him, knocking him away. Gasping in pain, he flew through the air, just barely managing to grab onto one of the leg joints of the giant machine before he could plummet to the ground. Pulling himself up, he glared hatefully at the grotesque, mangled head looming over him, flames and coolant leaking from what was left of its mouth. "You're going to pay for that," he snarled. "And for George!"

The Arachnoblast replied by lunging its head forward, trying to smash him. Bruno jumped out of the way, landing on top of the robot spider's central segment just before the head crashed into the leg he'd just been standing on, causing it to snap off. (The leg, not the head.) As the monster drew its head back, turrets rose from the surface of the mecha's back and swiveled towards Bruno, opening fire. Bruno started rushing towards the nearest turret, doing his best to dodge the energy blasts, which wasn't exactly easy given how very BIG many of them were, and how very MANY of them there were. Oh, and missiles were being fired into the sky and raining down all around him. Are they crazy? They're going to blow themselves up, too! he thought to himself. …Oh, wait. Nihilators. Right. Totally crazy.

He jumped into the air just before a cannon blast could strike him, snatched a falling missile in each of his four hands, then hurled them in different directions, destroying a cannon with each projectile. He dropped down, landing on top of another cannon, then quickly hopped off of it before a blast from a different cannon could strike him, destroying it. Getting an idea. He jumped to the top of another cannon, drawing more fire his way to destroy it, then leaped to another, and another, taking them out one at a time, grabbing missiles as he went and throwing them at any targets he saw fit. Eventually, he'd run out of cannons to destroy, and the surface of the Arachnoblast's back was covered in smoking debris…

And then a shadow loomed over Bruno, and he dodged out of the way just before the Arachnoblast's head slammed down right where he had been standing, cracking the hull. A shockwave also rippled out from the point of impact, and Bruno had to leap over it lest it strike him down. The head raised itself back into the air and slammed down on the back again and again, trying to crush the Machamp. Bruno ran around in no predictable pattern, doing whatever he could to stay one step ahead from the monster's head, waiting for his chance to strike.

That chance came sooner than he had hoped. The next time the head came down, it was right onto the cracked area from before…and the additional impact shattered that part of the back, and the head was partially embedded in the Arachnoblast's body. Knowing this was what he had been waiting for, Bruno dashed forwards and hit the head with a quadruple uppercut, wrenching it out of its indentation and flinging it back in the air. Bruno crouched down and pushed off against the ground with his powerful arms, propelling himself after the head. He rose up and up into the air, passing just by the head as he reached the peak of his jump. As he shot by the head, two of his arms shot to grab onto the head, fingers digging into its sides. He simultaneously clamped his feet around the monster's 'neck' and, using his momentum, ripped the Arachnoblast's head from its body. As the neck began to collapse, he quickly sprung back into the air, raised the giant severed head above him, and hurled it downwards with a Seismic Toss, driving it into the top of the Arachnoblast's back. As he fell downwards, Bruno drew back all four fists and released a Quadruple DynamicPunch just before he could land on top of the head, shoving it further into the robot's body and causing it to pierce the core.

The Arachnoblast went up in a spectacular explosion, the shockwaves causing some smaller robots nearby to stumble and knocking several ships out of the air. Bruno would have been vaporized if he'd been a little less tough—or badass—so instead was just flung away, laughing madly as smoke trailed from his form. Just before he started falling towards the ground, an arrow shot out of nowhere and exploded into a net, wrapping around him and arresting his descent. "Oof!" Blinking the smoke out of his eyes, Bruno looked upwards to see the net was dangling from the bottom of a somewhat damaged but apparently still operational flying saucer. "George! You're alive!" he said happily.

"So are you," the MIghtyena said as she leaned over the side of the saucer. "You're lucky I got here when I did, or you might not have been."

"You know, I'm starting to think we make a good team," Bruno commented.

George snorted. "You certainly need someone to watch your back. How you've lasted this long, I have no idea."

"Want to continue working together in the future?" Bruno asked.

George considered this. "…I suppose. It can't hurt to have a little muscle for some of the jobs I get hired for."

"Just like it can't hurt to have a sniper like yourself for some of the jobs I get hired for," Bruno said.

George shrugged. "All right. Let's give it a shot."

"Great! Does this mean we're a couple?" Bruno asked.

George seriously thought about this for a moment. "…Sure. Why not. You can't be worse than my last three exes."

"Awesome. Hey! I see another Arachnoblast over there! Let's go kill it," Bruno said eagerly.

George gave him an incredulous look. "Seriously? We nearly died fighting the last one!"

"Ah, but we didn't," Bruno pointed out. "Therefore, the odds are good we won't die this time, either."

"I don't think you know how odds work," George said.

"Do I look like I care?" Bruno asked.

George sighed. "Fair enough. Let's go."

They flew off. They did not die fighting the next Arachnoblast, nor the seventeen after that. In the years after the battle, George too would go by the epithet of Giantslayer…

And not just because she happened to be married to Bruno, either.

While the inklings of romance were being kindled between the giant killers, more fighting was going on elsewhere. As the armies from the allied nations continued pouring through the portals to Earth, many of the heroes and representatives sent onboard the Great Peeko went to rejoin their comrades. The cursed Honedge Muramasa was one of them.

It didn't take long for him to find the undead legions of Necrontyr. All he had to do was look for the standard of a horned skull burning in green flames, the howls of the damned, and most importantly, the massive group of undead who had been raised in service the Necromancer King, the Lich Lord, Muramasa's master. It wasn't hard to spot them, really. They were rather conspicuous, what with the majority that weren't Ghosts being skeletal horrors, many of which were covered in rotted flesh, laughing and shrieking madly as they slaughtered and tore apart the Nihilator army with a ferocity and savageness that would have made even the most battle-hardened veteran vomit but filled the bloodthirsty Muramasa with joy.

What made him even happier was that very few of those slain by his country's forces stayed dead. While many of the undead horde were warriors and berserkers and, simply put, monsters, there were a fair number of mages as well, all of which were quite proficient with necromancy, as was fitting a land of the dead. The mightiest of them were liches themselves, nowhere near his master's level of course, and all in thrall to him, especially so long as he kept hold of their phylacteries. As soon as a Nihilator fell in battle, the necromancer's spells went to work, raising the fallen Pokemon from the dead and turning them against their comrades, the eerie light of undeath filling their hollowed eyes. Many of those who got bitten or even scratched by these undead soldiers didn't even need the ministrations of the necromancers and were instantly zombified, quickly joining the ranks of Necrontyr. My master made the right choice joining this battle, Muramasa thought gleefully. Our ranks will be bolstered exponentially by the dead this day. With an army this massive, we shall easily be able to conquer our neighboring countries—those who are not already subservient to us, of course—and expand Necrontyr. Just one more step to creating a WORLD of the dead.

He laughed as a Robo-Groudon stomped up to try and crush the undead forces beneath its feet, only to flail about frantically as several hundred ghouls surged upwards en masse, climbing up the robot's hull, clawing and biting while winged horrors swooped down to attack from above. The Robo-Groudon electrified its hull to try and knock the legions off, but they barely noticed the current, so focused were they on their task; climbing up the bodies of their comrades and using each other's bodies as insulation against the high-voltage shocks. It was only a matter of time before the horde managed to penetrate the robot's hull, and shortly after that the faux Groudon shuddered and turned about, its yellow eyes and the energy lines going along its body turning a sickly green as its red armor took on a paler pallor as it, too, came under the service of Necrontyr, its operators joining the dead as well.

He was distracted from his amusement at watching the converted Robo-Groudon begin to attack its former colleagues when he felt a tug in the back of his mind. A presence, demanding his attention. He recognized it at once. That distinctive chill in his soul, the boundless malevolence and cunning, that taste of pure darkness and evil and death…it could be none other than his master. He quickly located the source of the telepathic call, and flew down to a figure seated in a palanquin born upon the back of a massive skeletal Mamoswine in the midst of the horde, surrounded by slaves pulling massive war engines to the beat of undead Darmanitan drums. Muramasa swiftly bowed to the being in the palanquin, a skeletal Snubbull wearing armor made of skulls and ribs and other ghastly things. "My liege. I am pleased to see you on the field of battle."

"And I, you, old friend," the Snubbull rasped without moving its mouth…for in truth, the Snubbull was not the Lich Lord. Muramasa's master was safely ensconced in Necrontyr to make sure nobody tried to invade his dominion while so many of his forces were on Mars. The Snubbull was just a puppet, a vessel for his will, one of many, and not the only one on the battlefield, either. "I imagine you have much to tell me of the things you have seen, the…'heroes' you have met."

"I have indeed, my lord," Muramasa said.

The Lich Lord chuckled. "Good. Good. I look forward to hearing your report later. But first, we have a battle to win." He extended a paw. "Come. It has been quite some time since I have wielded you."

"And it is has been just as long," Muramasa said giddily. "Since I have had the pleasure of killing." He eagerly flung himself into his master's paw, a sinister aura blazing up around both of them. Were anyone else to try and wield him, Muramasa would promptly devour their soul and use their body as a meat puppet. But his master…oh, his master…the Lich Lord was the only one who could use him. The Lich Lord was the only one Muramasa would allow to use him. Being used by his master to kill filled his evil heart with the utmost joy and delight. He was practically shivering with glee at the feel of his master's touch on his hilt, exulting in the fact that soon he would once more be able to perform his unlife's purpose.

The Lich Lord raised Muramasa into the air. "I release the limiters I have placed on you. Reveal your true form."

"With pleasure," Muramasa said as glowing chains appeared across his scabbard and shattered. He started glowing, and then split in two, becoming a pair of swords sheathed on a plaque with a pink tassel and eye instead of blue. The two swords then glowed again and he changed once more. One of the swords transformed into an ornate shield with a pattern of three circles on it resembling the eyes of his Honedge and Doublade forms, evil runes glowing along the rim. The other sword became black with a red edge and a serrated tip, vile red runes running down the length of the blade's flat side. There was a single eye, red with a black slit pupil, where the blade met the hilt. The handle was thick at the base, tapering as it progressed to the end, and striated. Two cloth-like arms emerged from either side of the hilt, black and ending in red, transitioned by a jagged whorl between the two colors. The cloth arms wrapped themselves around the Snubbul's, binding the sword to its master.

The Lich Lord swung his trusted Aegislash through the air, leaving trails of green flames in its wake. He grinned. "Ahhhh…It has been far too long. Let us try you out, shall we?"

"Yes, Master!" Muramasa said gleefully.

The Lich Lord hopped down from his mount. As he did so, the ground beneath him rotted away, the already barren red soil growing putrid and even deader than it was before, a poisonous blight spreading out from the feet of the Snubbull. He strode forwards, the members of his legion instinctively parting to let him pass. He did not falter in his calm stroll as he walked through the battle between his servants and the Nihilators, casually lashing out with Muramasa whenever a Nihilator charged at him, the slightest nick of his cursed sword causing the foolish mortals to howl in unspeakable agony and collapse to the ground, their wound instantly putrefying and spreading outwards, rotting them in seconds and turning them into a decayed corpse which shambled to its feet moments later and started staggering around, looking for something to kill. With every foe they struck down, Muramasa's runes started glowing brighter, and his aura throbbed, and the demon blade laughed and laughed and laughed.

The only thing that gave the Lich Lord pause was when the zombified Robo-Groudon was dashed to the ground before him, toppled by a far mightier metal monster, an Arachnoblast, which shrieked triumphantly as it drove legs through the fake Groudon's mechanical skull and torso and ripped it to pieces. The Snubbull narrowed his eyes. "Hmmph."

In a flash, he was standing on top of the Arachnoblast's head. With a grunt of exertion, he drove Muramasa into its skull. The runes on his sword flashed, and sickly green energy and necromantic magicks were channeled into the giant mechanical spider's body, causing it to hiss and shriek and writhe in pain as the dark power coursed through its form. Its red eyes turned green, horns and spines of bone erupting from its head and neck. More spikes jutted from its joints and legs. Glowing lines crisscrossed the central sphere to form a grid, with a sinister-looking rune etched into each square. The Arachnoblast's jaw dropped open, green slime oozing out and dripping onto the ground below.

"All life in this vessel has been extinguished, Master," Muramasa said gleefully.

"Excellent. I no longer must hear their accursed heartbeats," the Lich Lord said, extracting his blade from his new servant's cranium. A spiky throne extruded itself from the top of the Arachnoblast's head, and the Snubbull sat down in it, slouching nonchalantly as the battle raged on around him. With a dismissive flick of a paw, the Arachnoblast gathered power in its jaws and fired a powerful green energy beam that lanced across the battlefield, ripping a fissure through the earth and cleaving apart any battleship or mecha that happened to get in its way, even managing to make a scar on the distant Coronet Mons. Eerie green vapors and wailing spirits arose from the fissure, and the surviving Nihilators nearby were overtaken and killed in moments, the life drained from their forms, which became nothing more than more puppets to the Lich Lord's will. The fact that they were all Nihilators was sheer coincidence. The Lich Lord would have had no qualms with doing the same thing to any of the other armies. And who could blame him, really? It was a warzone. A little 'friendly' fire now and then was to be expected, wasn't it?

"Those fools should never have invited us here," Muramasa gloated as their newest recruits started swarming outwards, attacking their former comrades. "Do they realize how much stronger they have made us by bringing us here?"

"They shall learn the folly of their ways soon enough," the Lich Lord said plainly. "The defeat of the Nihilators shall leave a power vacuum among the forces of evil. One I fully intend to fill."

"And then the Earth shall be yours," Muramasa said eagerly.

The Lich Lord smiled slightly. "Earth? You think too small, my weapon. We are standing on another world. And if we can go here…then who is to say where we cannot go?"

"The entire universe, then? That is a tall order, even for you, Master," Muramasa said, impressed.

"We have time. And besides…everything dies eventually," the Lich Lord said.

Muramasa cackled. "That it does, my liege. That it does."

With a nod, the Arachnoblast stomped towards the Nihilator army. The undead horde followed in its wake. Woe to anyone, Nihilator or other, who got in their way.

Elsewhere, the New Frontier army was in a deadlock with a rather sizable Nihilator battalion. A massive capital ship and a small division of battleships were moving in to bombard the New Frontier—which didn't have much in the terms of air support—from above.

That was not, however, their only plan. "Those fools thought they were so smart, opening portals to get here and call in reinforcements when needed," the commander of the capital ship, a Scrafty wearing a spiffy hat, sneered. "What they seem to have forgotten was that portals go two ways! Once we fire our mega-nuclear warhead through that gateway, their entire country will be nothing more than a smoldering crater!" He grinned nastily. "But first…let's take out those worms below us! All ships, open fire on my command! 3…2…GAH!"

He fell to the ground, a look of agony on his face. Looker lowered his hand, the glow from the Poison Jab fading away. "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen."

"What the…how did you get in here?!" one of the crewmon, a Golbat, gasped.

"I'm a detective," Looker said, as if that explained everything.

"Get him!" a Swalot cried.

However, he did not, in fact, get the chance to 'get him' because suddenly Lucy dropped down from the ceiling and broke the Poison Bag Pokémon's neck. With a flick of her tail, she sent Swift stars flinging around the bridge, the expertly-aimed stars imbedding themselves in the eyes of several crewmon, who fell to the ground and bled out. Others ducked for cover behind consoles and poked their heads out to blast away at the father and daughter team.

Lucy charged towards the holdouts, using Double Team to confuse them, while Looker drew out his staff and used it to vault into the air above the enemy projectiles, landing behind one of the consoles and driving a Poison Jab into the back of a Manectric's head before it could turn around, killing him instantly. A Golbat screeched and flapped its wings, hurling Air Slashes at him, but Looker twirled his staff through the air, deflecting the blades, then dashed forwards and drove his staff into the Golbat's mouth and out through its back, killing it. A Purrloin tried to lunge at him from behind, but he backhanded it and knocked it away with a Brick Break, shattering her spine.

Lucy, meanwhile, was pummeling Nihilators with rapid-fire blows of Focus Punch, her three fists allowing her to make quick work of the goons. A Toxicroak tried to drive a Poison Jab into her back, but she evaded at the last second, wrapped her tail around his arm, and used his imbalance to throw him head over heels towards Looker, who swung his staff and knocked him into a wall hard enough to bury his face in it. "Dad, grab my tail!" Lucy called, seeing a half dozen crewmon had retreated to a (in their minds) safe distance and were charging up attacks.

Looker grabbed her tail and was swung around as Lucy twirled on one paw, lashing out with his feet and kicking the surrounding Nihilators in the face. He then let go of Lucy, shot towards a wall, kicked off of it, and flew into the gut of the Toxicroak just as it pulled itself out of the wall, driving his staff between its ribs and killing it. As the Poison Pokémon slid to the ground, Looker turned to check on Lucy, and was pleased to see she'd already finished killing the Pokémon they'd stunned just a moment ago by crushing their skulls in with her tail. "Good job," he said.

"I learned from the best," Lucy said.

"I hope you mean me," Looker joked. Lucy smirked but said no more.

"Ha…hahahaha…you…you haven't won yet!" the Scrafty croaked as he staggered to his feet, face purple with poison.

Lucy shot her father a frown. "I thought you killed him."

"So did I," the Croagunk said.

"I'm afraid it will take more than that to defeat one whom has the power of Shadow flowing through their veins!" the Scrafty boasted, Shadow Aura erupting around him as he entered Hyper Mode. His Mohawk crest became longer and spikier. Spines grew from his joins and back. His teeth became fangs, and his eyes glowed red. Muscles bulged out all over his body, which swelled up to the point that his baggy pants actually fit him! He grinned and pushed a button on his console. "Something along the lines of a full-scale bombardment! All ships, I've been compromised! Open fire!"

"You'll kill yourself and your crew just to kill the two of us?!" Lucy demanded, shocked.

"All of us are expendable, and we shall be rewarded for our service to the cause of evil in the next world!" the Scrafty sneered.

"You realize that the more of you die, the easier it will be for the rest of us to stop you, right? Since you're already outnumbered significantly?" Looker pointed out.

"Even if all us Nihilators die, you have no hope of defeating Lord Null!" the Scrafty bragged. "And besides, I'm not doing this just to kill the two of you…when this ship crashes, it will crush the soldiers below, dealing a significant blow to your forces!"

"Too bad that's not actually going to happen," Lucy said.

The Scrafty blinked. "Huh? What do you-"

Abruptly, the battleships surrounding the vessel they were in were wracked with explosions and started descending, smoke and flames trailing from their forms. The Hoodlum Pokemon gasped in horror. "What?! NO! HOW?!"

He stiffened, gurgled, and collapsed onto his console, a knife driven into his back. "Because they did not infiltrate this detachment alone," an Espurr in a form-fitting high-tech black and orange suit with a big glowing E on the orange mask said calmly as he walked past the dying Nihilator towards the father and daughter.

Lucy smirked. "About time you showed up. Where've you been, Emma?"

"That's Essentia on the job, Big Sis," the Espurr said, mask retracting to reveal her face. "I was helping Dark Shogun's vassals secure this ship and sabotage those others. They're very good at what they do. Real professionals. Dark Shogun's trained them well."

Looker raised an eyebrow. "Do I hear a hint of affection and admiration in your voice? Better be careful not to let Mimi hear you say that. You know how jealous she can get."

Essentia smirked and rolled her eyes. "Relax, Father, Mimi is at no risk of losing her place in my heart. Although I wouldn't mind working with Dark Shogun on something else someday. We'd make a good team…anyway, the Nihilators have been neutralized. The threat they posed to the New Frontier is over."

"Not…quite…yet…" the Scrafty gasped, raising a hand and slamming it down on a big red button. "For the glory…of Null!" His head crashed back down onto his console and his tongue lolled out, truly dead.

"Oh for the love of…that guy had better be dead this time!" Lucy yelled in frustration.

Red lights started flashing around the room. "That doesn't look good," Looker commented.

"It can't be the self-destruct system. We disabled that right away," Essentia said, perplexed.

Then the monitors which were still intact lit up, the words, MISSILE LAUNCH flashing across their surface. "And you didn't disable the mega-nuclear warhead?!" Lucy cried.

"It was next on our to-do list," Essentia said Mareepishly.

"We have to stop it before it launches," Looker said urgently.

There was a rumble throughout the ship and a massive rocket about twice the size of the Enchanted Express shot out of one of the ship's missile bays, streaking towards the portal to the New Frontier. "I think we're a bit too late on that front," Lucy said helplessly.

"We have to shoot it down!" Looker said.

"If we fire on the missile, the resulting explosion will kill us and the soldiers below," Essentia pointed out.

"And if we don't fire, those soldiers won't have a home to go back to!" Looker snapped.

Essentia sighed. "Yeah, I know…all right, if I have to go out, I might as well do it with my family. Poor Mimi. This'll break her heart…"

"And your mother's…she'll never forgive us for this," Looker said with a sigh. "Oh well. Let's do it, then. This is what we took the oath for, after all."

"Wait…I don't think we're going to have to! Look!" Lucy cried, pointing at the bridge's main screen.

They looked. Something was flying towards the missile. Something…orange?

"Magnify!" Looker commanded.

Lucy hit a button conveniently labeled 'Magnify.' The screen zoomed in on the orange blur, revealing it was a Charizard…but it didn't look like most Charizards. There was a third horn growing from the back of his head, small wings had developed on his wrists—the left of which was wearing a bracelet with some kind of jewel set into it—while the wings on his back had grown larger and gained ragged edges, several spines ran down the length of his tail, and his cream underside now extended to his lower jaw.

"Hey, that's Clark!" Essentia said in surprise.

"The Draconian soldier who got a Mega Stone?" Lucy said.

The Espurr nodded. "It looks that way, yeah."

"Huh…so that's what a Mega Charizard looks like…" the Aipom murmured.

"Actually, I've heard there's another variant of Mega Stone for Charizards. I don't know why this is the case when most other mons only have one," Essentia said.

"Hmmph. I wouldn't mind a Mega Stone…" Lucy muttered.

Looker narrowed his eyes as Clark landed on top of the missile, dug his claws into its hull, and started flapping his wings, pulling with all his strength. "What does he think he's doing?"

What do I think I'm doing?! Clark wondered as he strained and pulled at the missile with all his might.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. When he saw the missile shooting towards the portal to the New Frontier, and saw that nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, he'd decided to try and stop it himself, rationalizing that with his new Mega powers he'd be strong enough to redirect the missile before it could fly through the portal and destroy the country.

He hadn't anticipated the missile being so big. Or heavy. Or its engines so strong. At this rate, it looked like he was going to be dragged through the portal as well, and blown up with the rest of the New Frontier.

But he couldn't give up and fly away. If he did, thousands of people would die. There was no way he could ever face the Dragon God King in the next world with a burden like that on his conscience. He was going to do his best to stop the missile…even if he died trying. (Which was looking more and more likely by the minute.)

"Soldier, what do you think you're doing?!" a familiar voice shouted.

Clark looked up and was so startled he nearly let go of the missile when he saw who was flying alongside him. "S-sir! What are you doing here?!" he cried.

"I might ask the same of you!" Lance called back. "You abandoned your platoon in the middle of a firefight and just flew off! What's going on?!"

"Sir, I saw this missile shooting towards the portal to New Frontier, sir!" Clark reported. "I'm trying to stop it before it blows up the whole country!"

"Why?" Lance asked.

Clark stared at him in surprise. "S-sir?"

"Why are you trying to save them? The New Frontier is not an ally of the Draconian Empire, even if we're technically on the same side for this battle. There are no Draconian citizens within its borders. Why should we care what happens to them?" the Dragonite asked.

Clark stared at his superior officer in shock. Then, rather angrily, he said, "Because…because it's the right thing to do, sir!"

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you're doing this to 'be the hero,' then? Prove yourself to me and your colleagues? Show you're worthy of that Mega Stone you've been given instead of one of your peers!"

"No, sir!" Clark replied.

"Then why are you risking your life so recklessly?" Lance asked.

"Because somebody has to, sir!" Clark bellowed.

Lance regarded him for a long moment. Then he broke into a grin. "That's exactly what I was hoping you would say, soldier. Here, let me help."

"Sir?" Clark asked in surprise as Lance grabbed onto the side of the missile and started pulling.

"Let's just say you aren't the only one who saw this thing launch and knew somebody had to stop it," Lance said through gritted teeth, tugging with all his strength.

"Neither are you, Lance," Steven said as he appeared from out of nowhere, dug his for legs into the underside of the missile, and started exerting all his telekinetic abilities to try and move the missile. "Didn't think you could just run off without your old pal Steven Stone noticing, did you?"

"I kind of hoped to, actually," Lance grunted. "You shouldn't be here, Steven. It's too dangerous."

"We're in a warzone, Lance. Everywhere is dangerous," Steven said as he spared some psychic power to pull out his Devon Corporation PDA and plug it into the missile, trying to see if he could hack into it and reprogram its navigation systems.

"Few places are as dangerous as riding an extremely dangerous missile," Alder commented as he swooped down and grabbed onto the missile's other side.

"You too, Alder?" Lance said in surprise.

"I was hoping to die peacefully in bed of old age…but if I have to die on the battlefield, I'd rather do it in a way that's both suitably badass as well as helping others," the Volcarona said through a strained voice as he pulled at the missile. "Trying to stop a missile from blowing up a country is as good a way to go as any, I guess."

"None of us shall be seeing Arceus this day," Cynthia proclaimed as she dropped down in front of the missile and grabbed its warhead, using all her power to try and slow it down and make it easier for the others to redirect the missile. Her Mega form made her look even more intimidating than ever. Red spikes now grew from her knees, and the spikes on her arms were now on the undersides rather than the top. Her wings had become red-edged scythes that would not look amiss on a Scyther. Spikes grew from the sides of her torso, framing the red underbelly. Her red lower jaw had become more angular, with a prominent jutting chin. Her dorsal fin now stuck out at a higher angle from her back, and her tail fins were more curved and sharp. She also had more prominent shoulder ridges and the shape of her 'gills' had changed. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"All…all of you came?!" asked the awestruck Clark, amazed that he was in the presence of so many great heroes.

"It's what we do, soldier," Lance said through gritted teeth. "And I think that 'we' includes you, now!" Clark grinned, tears of joy running down his face, though that might have been from wind shear.

"Okay, I'm managed to disable the targeting software, but I wasn't able to shut down the engines or disable the warhead," Steven reported, glancing at the screen of his PDA. "Operating systems are too different."

"What good does that do us?" Cynthia asked.

"It means that even though this thing is still a flying bomb, it's not locked onto anything. We should be able to redirect it if we just push hard enough!" Alder said.

Clark grimaced. "We're almost at the portal…are we going to make it?"

"We will," Lance said. "We have to. On three, everyone move the missile to left!"

"My left or your left?" Alder asked.

"Just…left, okay?!" Lance snapped. "All right. On three. One…two…THREE!"

In unison, they pushed—or pulled—the missile leftwards. Much to their surprise and relief, the rocket was much more compliant now than it had been a moment ago now that the targeting software had been shut down, and its course changed, pointing away from the center of the portal…

But it was still pointing at the portal. "Not enough! Let's do it again!" Lance said. "On three!"

"THREE!" Steven cried, shoving with all his might.

The missile changed course again. It flew towards the portal, drawing closer…closer…closer…

And then sailed right past it, just barely missing the edge. The New Frontier troops on the ground cheered ecstatically as the missile flew off into the plains beyond the battlefield.

"Incredible! They actually did it!" Nolan cried.

"Just in the nick of time, too…that was way, way too close," Greta said.

"Everyone!" Spenser shouted. "Our homeland is safe for now, but there's no telling when or if the Nihilators will try a stunt like that again! Press forwards! We cannot let anything, be it a soldier, a ship, or a missile from the enemy make it onto our soil!"

"For the New Frontier!" Tucker bellowed.

"FOR THE NEW FRONTIER!" the other Frontier Brains and soldiers cried as they charged at the Nihilators.

"That was magnificent…I wasn't sure they were going to make it for a moment," Looker confessed.

"A true feat of bravery and heroism," Essentia said, impressed.

"Uh, you guys do realize this ship has a tractor beam, right? We could've just grabbed the missile and redirected it without all the drama," Lucy pointed out.

"Quiet dear, don't ruin the moment," Looker said.

"Okay everyone, good job," Lance said as the missile continued to streak away from the battlefield. "Now let's let this thing go and get back to our people."

"Wait! I'm not sure that's a good idea, sir," Clark interjected quickly before any of the others could let go of the missile.

"What are you talking about? We averted the crisis. What, do you want to keep riding this thing?!" Alder demanded.

"Not really, but…look, we've sort of gotten control of this missile. Wouldn't it be kind of a waste to just let it blow up out in the middle of nowhere instead of using it to deal some real damage to the enemy?" Clark asked.

"…He has a point," Cynthia admitted. "Something this powerful could come in handy."

"Or it could kill us all," Alder pointed out. "Given that it's a bomb."

"Not if we're very, very careful," Clark said.

Lance frowned. "I don't know. That sounds rather risky…and what exactly are you suggesting we use this thing on, anyway?"

There was a rumble. One of the giant cannons mounted on the side of Coronet Mons discharged, firing an energy blast so powerful it vaporized five entire battle fleets and seven land-based divisions in a flash…and only two of those battle fleets and three divisions had been Nihilators. The dragons (and Metagross, and Volcarona) gaped in horror. "That looks like a good place to start," Clark said after a moment.

"I thought the rebels were supposed to be taking care of those things!" Cynthia cried.

"Apparently they're having a bit more trouble than was expected," Steven commented.

Clark nodded in agreement. "Which is why I think we should lend them a helping hand. The existence of those cannons is a huge threat to our invasion. They need to be taken out by any means possible…and I think a missile strong enough to destroy a small country should at least be powerful enough to blow up one of those things, don't you think?"

"…Heh. I like the way you think, kid," Alder said approvingly.

"One problem. They're not exactly going to let us fly this thing right down that cannon's barrel, and we won't be able to fend off attacks if we're using all our strength moving the missile into position," Lance pointed out.

"I think I might be able to help with that," Steven said, fiddling with his PDA. "I was able to deactivate the targeting software before, but if I do a little of this…and this…aaaaand this…" There was a beeping noise and the missile shook.

"What are you doing?! You could blow us all up!" Lance cried in alarm.

"No, no, I've got this under control," Steven assured him. The Dragonite was not reassured. "Okay…everyone, turn this thing around. Point it at the big cannon."

"Which one?" Cynthia asked.

"Whichever!" Steven said.

With a bit of effort, they managed to turn the missile around so it was pointed back towards Coronet Mons and the war raging around it. The three dragons and Alder had to use all their strength to hold the missile in place while Steven finished whatever it was he was doing. "Okay…aaaaand…done! You can let go of the missile now."

"Are you sure?" Clark asked doubtfully.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," the Metagross assured the Mega Charizard.

Reluctantly, they let go of the missile. Much to their surprise, instead of streaking away, it hovered in place. "Steven, what did you do?" Lance asked.

"It took some doing, but I managed to hack the missile's control systems. I can operate it using my PDA," Steven said, waving his handheld.

"Wait, you could do that the whole time?! Why didn't you do that before?!" Alder demanded.

"I couldn't do it before. There wasn't enough time to before it flew into the portal," Steven said. "But we had time now, so I was able to make it mine. And it wasn't easy, let me tell you, even with all four of my brains. Like I said, different operating systems. Took a looooooooot of programming and coding, and even then it's not a perfect job. Still, it should work well enough for us to get this done."

"And 'this' is…?" Cynthia asked.

"Using my PDA, I can remotely pilot the missile into the cannon!" Steven said. "Buuuuut…like Lance said, they're not going to just let something like this fly down the barrel, so…"

"We're going to have to fly alongside it and provide escort," Lance finished.

"Yeah. Pretty much," Steven said apologetically.

Clark made a face. "…Can we do that? I mean, yeah, I know we're all really strong badasses, but…that seems a bit much even for the five of us, don't you think?"

"THEN IT'S A GOOD THING IT WON'T JUST BE THE FIVE OF YOU!" Looker's voice boomed.

Startled, the five warriors looked up to see that the capital ship Looker, Lucy, and Essentia had commandeered was flying overhead. A turret on the side pointed at them, but instead of shooting it instead projected a rather large hologram of the trench coat-wearing Croagunk into the air before them. "We'll help provide you with cover, and I've made a few calls. You won't be going this alone!"

"…Really?! That's…that's awesome!" Clark said in relief.

"Heh. Another fine example of international teamwork, then?" Alder said in amusement.

"Funny how this war seems to be bringing out the best in us," Cynthia said with a smile.

"Thank you, Looker! We appreciate the support!" Lance said gratefully.

"But how did you know what we were up to?" Steven asked in surprise.

"I'm a detective," Looker said just before the hologram vanished.

Perplexed, everyone blinked and exchanged looks. "What kind of answer is that?" Alder asked.

"One that works for him, I guess," Lance said with a shrug. "Okay everyone, let's move out. Clark, you take point."

The Mega Charizard started. "M-me?!"

"You took big initiative in not only being the first to try to divert this rocket…but in convincing us not to let it go blow up somewhere," Lance said. "You're going places, son. I can see why the Clefairies chose to give you a Mega Stone. If we make it out of this in one piece, you'll be on the fast-track to becoming an officer in His Excellency's navy! It wouldn't surprise me if you got your own fleet before the year was out!"

"S-sir! Thank you, sir!" Clark said, trying not to cry.

"Don't thank me yet, soldier. We have to escort this flying bomb to its final destination first," Lance said. "The worst has yet to come!"

Alder burst into laughter. "You know, I'm starting to wonder why I ever accepted retirement in the first place…I missed this more than I imagined! Let's go blow the shit out of those bastards!"

"Yeah!" Steven whooped.

The cannon powered up and abruptly fired again, wiping out another army. "We'd better hurry," Cynthia said gravely. "Before too many more soldiers get wiped out and they start targeting the portals again. I doubt whoever fired this missile was the only one to get the idea to attack our homelands…"

Lance nodded. "Okay! Everyone, move out! We have a package to deliver!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Clark cried.

As they flew out on their escort mission, the Furious Five and Po were in the thick of it alongside Choina's other greatest martial artists, the red Linoone Master Shifu, the Torkoal Master Oogway, Master Thundering Rhyperior the Rhyperior, Master Storming Tauros the Tauros, Master Krook the Krookodile, Master Chao the Heliolisk, Master Yao the Gogoat, and others besides. (Yes, lots of them were named after their species. It's a Choinese thing, okay? And no, not ALL the Choinese warriors were martial artists, that's just a stereotype. There were plenty of other great heroes who didn't know kung-fu, like…uh…and…er…oh hey, would you believe Master Yao is such a great martial artist he can defeat virtually any foe without even leaving his meditation box? How about that, huh?)

"You know, I was expecting a bit more from these 'Nihilators,'" Tigress commented as she brutally pummeled the foes around her with punishing bone-crushing punches and kicks. While most Persians relied more on their claws or rather varied move pool, Tigress preferred to get down and dirty and lay into her opponents with her bare paws.

"Yeah, they're supposed to be some big bad super-evil bunch, but they go down just as easily as most of the bandits back home!" Mantis agreed as he sprang here and there, striking pressure points on the Nihilators' bodies that caused them to freeze up and collapse, allowing his larger comrades to finish them off. Then a Snorlax stomped on him, crushing him beneath its heel. "Ow. Okay, maybe not that easily," he gasped.

"Hang on!" Crane cried, dive-bombing the Snorlax. He started Drill Pecking at its face, causing the mammoth beast to howl and thrash about, trying to swat the Skarmory away. While it was distracted, Viper wrapped her tail around the Snorlax's ankle and pulled with all her might, throwing it off-balance. As it staggered, Crane backed off and lashed out with Steel Wing, cutting through the Snorlax's armor and fat and creating a weak spot that Tigress could exploit as she pounced forwards and smashed into the Sleeping Pokemon with Giga Impact, toppling the beast over and freeing Mantis, as well as crushing some Nihilators unlucky enough to be behind it.

"Are you all right?" Viper asked in concern, slithering up to the tiny Leavanny.

"Been better," Mantis grunted.

"Be on your guard!" Tigress snarled, grabbing a Zebstrika by the horn as it charged at her and hurling it away. "No matter how good we are, we can still be overwhelmed if we're not careful!"

"Nah, don't worry, we've got the Conservation of Ninjutsu on our side!" Po said as a massive Conkeldurr swung a pillar at him. He caught it in one hand, grabbed the Conkeldurr's face with the other, and slammed it into his massive gut, knocking the Nihilator out. He then grabbed the Conkeldurr's pillar and used it to swing the Muscular Pokemon around, bashing the surrounding Nihilators away before flinging it away with Circle Throw, knocking over some Nihilators that had been about to attack one of the other martial artists from behind.

Everyone groaned. "Po, that's not actually a thing, you know," Monkey commented as he bounded all over the place, lashing out with feet and fists and tail, cracking skulls and breaking bones, his wild and erratic movements making it impossible for the Nihilators to guess where he was going to turn up next.

"Uh, yeah, it totally is," Po said as he Sky Uppercutted a Sawk with such force that it smashed into a Nihilator fighter passing overhead, chasing some flying Pokemon, causing it to swerve out of control and crash into the side of a larger ship, blowing both up. "How else do you explain how whenever we're going up against a force with superior numbers we usually win, or whenever you fight an opponent one on one you eventually prevail, but whenever you guys all attack the villain of the week in unison you usually get trounced and I have to step up to save the day?"

"…That doesn't happen nearly as often as you think it does," Tigress grunted as she used Feint to break through a Chesnaught's Protect and strike him directly.

"Yeah, it kind of does," Po said as he grabbed a Magneton that was flying towards him, preparing to Explode, ripped two of its components off and hurled them away, then head-butted the third to send it flying, causing all three to explode and take out some Nihilators.

Monkey furrowed his brow as he casually caused a Heracross to punch itself in the face repeatedly. "…It…kind of does, doesn't it? Yeah, why is that?"

Crane frowned as he clawed some Braviary's eyes out. "It was never a problem until Po…joined us…"

There was a pause, and then the Furious Five turned to look at Po. "What?" the Pangoro asked, glancing up from the Stantler he had in a headlock and was punching in the face repeatedly.

"Po, have you been using a forbidden artifact to make yourself better than everyone else? Again?" Monkey asked accusingly.

"Wh-what?! No! I've learned my lesson! I don't do that anymore!" Po protested.

"Then how do you explain last month-" Viper started.

"That was an accident!" Po claimed.

"And what about-" Monkey started.

"Also an accident," Po claimed.

"And-" Crane started.

"Okay, that was my fault, but there were extenuating circumstances!" Po snapped. "And, okay, yeah, I did used to use lots of shortcuts to make training easier now and then-"

"More like all the time," Tigress grumbled.

"But I'd never use them to make you guys weaker!" Po insisted. "I mean, I love you guys! You're my heroes and best friends! I screw up now and then-"

"More like-" Tigress grumbled.

"But I'd never do that to you!" Po said fervently.

"Then how do you explain how you manage to somehow beat enemies on your own that we can't with our combined strength all the time?" Mantis asked.

"…I'm the Dragon Warrior?" Po said uncertainly.

"That's not an answer!" Monkey shouted.

"Look, I don't know either okay? It just happens!" Po cried.

"Uh, can I go now? I can see you guys are in the middle of something-" the Stantler said.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Po said, punching him again.

"Ow," the Nihilator groaned.

"What are you all doing standing around arguing?! We're in the middle of a battle!" Master Shifu yelled at them as he rushed over.

"It was Po's fault," the Furious Five said in unison.

"Ah, of course. That explains everything," Shifu said.

"Hey!" Po protested.

"Regardless of what stupid thing Po did now, we need your help! We're being attacked by a giant mechanical monster!" Shifu said.

Mantis blinked. "We are?"

Shifu pointed behind them. They turned around to see that an Arachnoblast was stomping through the mass of Choinese warriors, screeching and firing missiles and energy blasts all over the place. "Oh. Huh. How'd we miss that?" Monkey said.

"Taotie would weep tears of envy if he saw that thing…" Crane said.

"It certainly outdoes anything he's ever built," Viper agreed.

"So. AWESOME!" Po gushed.

"The other Masters are having trouble stopping that thing! Come on, we need to stop it before it destroys too many of the troops!" Shifu said.

"Right! Let's go, team!" Tigress said. "And Po, if all of us somehow fail to stop it yet you manage to defeat it single-handedly, we're going to have a long talk."

"Oh come on! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Po shouted. "At least…uh…I don't think it is…"

"Whatever you're babbling about we can deal with later! Go! NOW!" Shifu shouted.

"Right!" the warriors shouted.

"SHAKABOOIE!" Po shouted.

"…What does that mean, anyway?" Monkey wondered.

"I don't think he actually knows," Crane said.

"I do too!" Po protested.

"Okay. What does it mean?" Tigress asked.

Po froze. His eyes darted frantically. "It…means…uh…that we shouldn't be talking about something so frivolous when there's a giant robot attacking our allies so we should go fight it now! Right, Master Shifu?"

Master Shifu sighed. "That is indeed what I would say, Po…though I wish you were saying it for the right reasons. Let's go."

They departed. The Stantler Po had been beating up blinked when he realized he'd been left behind. "They…they forgot about me? Yes! I'm free! Ahahaha!" He ripped off his armor and threw it away. "Screw this noise, I only joined the Nihilators for the dental plan! I'm out of here!"

He ran off, escaping through one of the portals back to Earth. He would later make a name for himself as an accounted in a credited marketing firm, but that is a story for another day.

While Choina's greatest martial artists were struggling to defeat the Arachnoblast, others were having an easier time battling the Nihilators' giant robots and warships. This might have been in part because they had their own giant robots and were used to fighting humongous adversaries.

"HURRICANE CASSIOPEIA!" The Gorangers' airship, the red and white Variblune, transformed into a giant sword with a blade marked by five colored stars in the formation of the Cassiopeia constellation which slashed downwards, bisecting an Arachnoblast in a single blow.

"BIG BOMBER!" Another red and white airship, the Sky Ace, flagship of J.A.Q.K., fired a massive cannon from its underbelly that launched a missile at a Robo-Groudon, transforming into a massive Robo-Kyogre that smashed into the robot and blew it to pieces.

"LIGHTNING SWORD ROCKET!" Battle Fever K's samurai-like robot, the Battle Fever Zord, lashed out with a katana, slicing five Robo-Groudons in two and causing them to explode in a way that resembled the flags of the nations each of the team members were from.

"AURORA PLASMA RETURN!" The Moon Vulcan Zord, mecha of Moon Vulcan, lashed out with a shimmering sword, cutting down a Robo-Groudon.

"SUPER THUNDERBOLT!" Changezord, mecha of Changemon, raised its sword into the air. Lightning struck it, and it brought the blade down in a powerful slash that obliterated three Robo-Groudons.

"TITAN NOVA!" The boxy Great Titan, the ultimate mecha of Flashmon, unleashed a powerful blinding explosion that vaporized the six Robo-Groudons surrounding it.

"ELECTRONIC FULL-MOON CUT!" DaiDenzin, robot of the Denzimon, swung its electrically-charged sword in a circle resembling the full moon before unleashing a shockwave which destroyed the Robo-Groudons before it.

"SUPER BIG BURST!" Super Livezord, the ultimate mecha of the Livemon, opened the jaws of the Pyroar head on its chest and fired a powerful energy stream that punched through the Arachnoblast before it, causing it to explode.

"DIAMOND MAX!" Max Lava, the combination of the Fiveman's Lava Base and Super Fivezord, fired blasts from its shoulder-mounted cannons and fingers, destroying a small battle fleet of warships.

"BIRD MASER!" The Great Icarus, bird-themed super robot of the Jetmon, fired a powerful Braviary-shaped laser blast from its chest, destroying a sizable capital ship and the smaller battleships surrounding it.

"GRAND BANISHER!" The Mighty Morphjng Power Ranger's Dino Ultrazord, a massive mechanical Aurorus with a bipedal dinosaur and dragon-based robot mounted on its back, fired blasts from its fingers, mouth, shoulder cannons, and chest plate, obliterating an Arachnoblast.

"GREAT DEATH CRUSH!" A giant robot Torterra with an assault team of mecha on its back, the ultimate robot of the Thunder Morphing Rangers called Ultra Thunderzord, rose into the air thanks to a bipedal red Charizard robot twirling a baton, dropping onto an Arachnoblast and utterly flattening it.

"SHOGUN BANISHER!" The Ninja Morphing Ranger's Shogun Ultrazord, a massive robot samurai on the back of a silver version of the mechanical Aurorus used by the Dino Ultrazord, fired energy beams from its shoulder cannons, chest plate, and mouth while the samurai robot swept its sword down, not only destroying six Robo-Groudons but annihilating several warships as well.

"SUPERGALACTIC TIDAL CRASH!" The Battle Borgs, the five colorful robots of the Alien Rangers, got into a formation and launched the red Borg into the air, where he was engulfed in a fiery comet and smashed into a Robo-Groudon's chest, sending it flinging backwards into a group of other Robo-Groudons, causing them all to explode.

"SUPER ZEO BEAM!" The Zeo Ultrazord, the Zeo Rangers' ultimate weapon, an absolutely colossal golden pyramidal robot with shoulder cannons so big that all the Rangers' other Zords could be contained inside, fired beams from its shoulder cannons, eyes, and the big red ruby on its chest, vaporizing a whopping four Arachnoblasts.

"ARTILLERY POWER!" Two robots that looked like they were made out of giant cars, one made from regular commercial cars and one from rescue vehicles, the Turbo Rangers' Turbo Megazord and Rescue Megazord, fired a massive flamethrower and a gatling blaster at an Arachnoblast, which…

Completely failed to scratch it. The giant spider screeched and fired its wave-motion gun at the two Megazords, shattering them into their component Zords in a powerful explosion. As the damaged cars lay smoking on the ground, the Rangers within dazed and wounded, the Arachnoblast powered up to finish the job…

"BIG BANG ATTACK!" A giant robot that looked like it was made out of several spaceships, the Space Rangers' Astro Delta Megazord, smashed into the Arachnoblast and out the other side, its body charged with energy that caused it to explode. "Are you all right?" the Red Space Ranger called over to the Turbo Rangers.

"We're…we're okay! Just give us some cover and we should be able to repair our Zords in a few minutes!" the Red Turbo Ranger grunted from his cockpit.

"Thanks for the save!" the Pink Turbo Ranger said.

"No problem, it's what we do," the Red Space Ranger said, landing the Astro Delta Megazord in front of the damaged Turbo and Rescue Zords to keep anyone from attacking them.

"Why do we keep inviting those guys? They're almost completely useless!" the Black Space Ranger complained to his fellows over a private line.

"Zordon kind of scraped the bottom of the barrel for ideas and Rangers when he formed that team," the Blue Space Ranger agreed.

"Guys, that's not very nice!...even if it is true…" the Pink Space Ranger admitted.

"No matter how good—or bad—they are, they're still Rangers, which means we need to look out for them," the Yellow Space Ranger said. "And besides, no matter how bad they are…at least they aren't the Akibarangers."

The other Rangers shuddered at this. "Yeah, guess that's true," the Black Space Ranger admitted.

"Their Red Ranger keeps asking me if he can ride my Astro Megaship…I'm pretty sure he's just talking about the ship, and not…you know…something sexual…" Red Space Ranger said.

"You can never tell with those guys," Blue Space Ranger said in disgust.

While the Space Rangers were complaining about how lame the Turbo Rangers and Akibarangers were, another space-based team, the Lost Galaxy Rangers, was kicking ass. "ORION GALAXY SLASH!" The Orion Galaxy Megazord, a robot comprised of several mechanical animals from space, made a V-shaped slash, causing a V-shaped cut to briefly appear in the chest of a Robo-Groudon before exploding in a way that resembled the Orion constellation.

"MAX NOVA BARRAGE!" The Lightspeed Rescue Rangers' Lightspeed Solarzord absorbed energy from the bombardment being fired at it by the surrounding battleships using the solar panels coating its body and released the energy back in a tremendous explosion from its hip-mounted cannons, vaporizing the vessels.

"TIME TARGET!" The Time Force Ranger's Shadow Force Megazord Blue Mode flew into the air and launched clock numbers at an Arachnoblast, surrounding it in a circle and trapping it in place. The Megazord then fired its blaster at the robot, causing it to freeze briefly before imploding.

"BLIZZARD SLASH!" The Time Force Ranger's Shadow Force Megazord Red Mode created a holographic clock as it circled its saber once before slashing down directly from the center of the clock, causing the Arachnoblast it was targeting to freeze, explode, then implode. How could both robots be there at the same time? Time travel!

"MAX BLIZZARD!" The Quantum Ranger's Quantasaurus Rex, in Megazord Mode, fired its shoulder-mounted cryo-units, freezing and shattering an Arachnoblast.

"SIGMA S.W.A.T. BUSTER!" Astrod Squad Sigma's giant skyscraper-sized Sigma Command Megazord—actually made from a skyscraper!—raised a huge gun made from smaller robots (the S.W.A.T. Megazord), pointed it at an Arachnoblast, and fired, destroying it…and several robots behind it…and several nearby battleships as well.

"SUPER RIDING ADVENTURE DRIVE!" A machine that could best be described as an aircraft carrier with wheels rolled towards a half-dozen Robo-Groudons, a giant robot made from five vehicles holding a massive sword riding on top, the Boukengers' Voyager DaiBouken. The carrier fired its many cannons at the same time as the robot on top swung its sword, blasting and slashing the robots to pieces.

"GOKAI KANZEN SUPER BURST!" The Gokaigers' Kanzen GokaiOh, a giant robot pirate at least twice the size of the Dai-Peekoger Z, summoned a robot dragon, police car, lion, and ninja. The dragon breathed a jet of flame, the car fired its forward bumper lasers, the lion roared an energy blast, the ninja fired hundreds of shuriken, and the pirate fired its left hand. The resulting explosion destroyed a dozen Arachnoblasts and fifty battleships.

"DEMOLITION THRUST!" The Go-Busters' Great Go-Buster mecha rocketed forwards, skewering five Robo-Groudons on its lance before causing them to explode.

"SUPER EXPRESS FLASH!" The Tokkyugers' Tokkyu-Oh, a giant robot made of colorful train cars, held up a sword that looked like a crossing gate, which flashed. Manifestations of the cars making up the robot appeared in front of a bunch of Robo-Groudons along with copies of the sword functioning like actual descending railroad gates, confusing and distracting the mecha long enough for Tokkyu-Oh to charge in and cleave them in two.

"DOL FIRE!" Space Sheriff Gavin's Space Beast Dol, a giant robot space dragon, breathed fire, destroying a battleship. "DOL KICK!" It lashed out with its front feet, smashing some pesky fighters. "DOL LASER!" Lasers shot from the dragon's eyes, blowing up a battleship. "DOL SCREW ATTACK!" Dol's tail started spinning and it thrust forward, piercing through and destroying a capital ship, which fell to the ground, burning, as Dol roared triumphantly.

Another capital ship was frantically firing missiles and lasers at…not a robot, not a ship, but a pair of Pokemon rocketing towards it, swerving and evading the blasts as they drew closer. One was a Clefable in a purple and gold suit with a helmet shaped sort of like a rocket, skis on his boots, and a pair of giant silver rockets over his hands propelling him through the air. The other was a Deoxys in similar armor, only it was silver and white.

"RIDER ULTIMATE TAILSPIN CRUSHER!" the Clefable roared, his rockets allowing him to spin around and shoot towards the ship with a corkscrew kick.

"NADESHIKO ROCKET KICK!" the Deoxys cried, also shooting towards the ship in a rocket-propelled kick.

They pierced the ship's hull. There was a pause, and then the entire thing was obliterated in a massive explosion. The two Masked Riders shot through the air and landed on the ground some distance away, high-fiving as the remains of the ship rained down behind them. "That was fun! Let's do it again!" the Deoxys, Masked Rider Nadeshiko, said giddily.

"Okay!" the other Rider, Fourze, said eagerly, thrilled to fight the bad guys almost as much as he was to be with his girlfriend, who wasn't around that often since she kept leaving to explore space.

"It's NIHILATOR CRUSHING TIIIIIIIIIME!" they shouted in unison, crouching down before enthusiastically thrusting their arms into the air.

As they rocketed (literally) off to fight some more Nihilators, a blue robot standing nearby scoffed. "Hmmph. They aren't taking this seriously enough. This is a war, not some game!"

"We're still going to try and destroy more ships than them, aren't we?" his sibling, a red robot, asked.

"Oh, definitely," the blue robot agreed. "We can't let ourselves be shown up by these kids, after all. We've been fighting space monsters before they were even born."

The blue robot turned into a car and the red one into a jet, and they went off, the Space Ironmon Kyodain back in the game.

Not everyone in the fight was doing so well, however. While lots of armies were supported by badass soldiers and heroes, veterans of many conflicts, not every country who had pledged their support were adequately prepared for the sort of chaos they'd be getting into.

The contingent of fighters that had come from Battlus—which still had plenty of fighters looking to make a name for themselves, even if the arena had been closed and it was now a resort town-was one such group. While the battlers were extremely powerful combatants, they were more used to fighting in the ring, not in a warzone, and very few of them had ever had been in a genuine battle to the death. They were taking down Nihilators in droves, yes, but the enemy just kept coming, and it was starting to look like only a matter of time before they were overrun.

"We have to fall back! We can't take much more of this!" Andy the Delibird said frantically, tossing out Present after Present from his nearly bottomless sack at the horde of Nihilators relentlessly pushing towards them, the explosions from his attacks getting uncomfortably closer by the second as the Nihilators just marched over their fallen.

"There's nowhere for us to fall back to!" AJ snarled, his claws and quills dripping from the blood of the veritable mountain of Nihilators he was standing on top of. "The portal is at our backs! If we retreat, they'll just follow us through it and start destroying the town!"

"And I will not run!" Amanita the Paras snarled. "My brothers are dead. I am the last of the Shroom Bros.! I cannot flee so long as there is breath in my body! I shall keep fighting until I perish, and even then, the spores my body releases shall poison and kill my murderers!"

"…That's morbid," Uri muttered as he used Psywave to fry several Nihilators' brains.

"They killed Houdini. I can see where he's coming from," Presto said grimly as his eyes flashed, and a dozen Nihilators' heads exploded.

Craw-daddy laughed as he severed another Nihilator's head from his body with Guillotine. "Come on, now, you lot need to stop being so grim and enjoy yourselves! We've got this in the bag! After all, aren't we all world-famous-"

"LOOK OUT!" Dotaku shouted, shoving Craw-daddy out of the way just before a Hippowdon's Bulldoze could trample the Crawdaunt to death. He cried out in pain as the attack slammed into him instead, severely denting his back.

"BROTHER!" Dondon roared, smashing into the Hippowdown with Heavy Slam and caving its chest in. "Are you all right?!"

"I…I'll be fine…" Dotaku rasped weakly.

"Here, let me help," Presto said, concentrating and using Recover, mending part of the dent. "I'm running a little low on juice right now, so that's the best I can manage."

"It…it will do, for now. Thank you," Dotaku said gratefully.

Craw-daddy was shaken. "That…that almost killed me…"

"And Dotaku nearly got killed because you weren't paying attention!" Luana the Marowak snarled, flinging a Bonemerang that bashed in the skull of a Nihilator that had been about to hit her son Travis from behind. "This isn't a game, and it's not a match! People are dying here, and you'll be one of them if you're not careful!"

"R-right. Sorry," Craw-daddy stammered, ashamed.

"Norman, I'm not sure this is a fight we can win. What should we do?" Harrison asked the mighty Slaking beside him. While Harrison had inherited Battlus from his father—even though he and the old man had been on lousy terms, Ford had still left his son the town in his will—he allowed Norman to run the town and be the public face of the resort, since nearly everyone trusted and liked him. The Blaziken's Mega Evolution had caused him to lose his yellow markings and gain black markings on his upper legs and chest, his hair-like feathers had taken on a wing shape pointing upwards, the portion on his chest was rough around the shoulders, the crest on his head was a flat horn pointing backwards, and the fire on his wrists was longer as well. Even with all his power, though, it didn't seem to be enough to truly stop the Nihilators, no matter how many he burned to ash.

The Slaking grimaced. While his fighter's blood balked at the idea of running away, his more rational mind knew that if they stayed there was a good chance they'd die, and the Nihilators would surge through the portal to Battlus and kill everyone there…including Caroline and his children. He could not let that happen. "Start falling back," he ordered. "The instant we're on the other side of the portal, we'll smash the

The Slaking grimaced. While his fighter's blood balked at the idea of running away, his more rational mind knew that if they stayed there was a good chance they'd die, and the Nihilators would surge through the portal to Battlus and kill everyone there…including Caroline and his children. He could not let that happen. "Start falling back," he ordered. "The instant we're on the other side of the portal, we'll smash the portalstone. That'll close the portal so they can't come after us and hurt our loved ones."

Harrison snarled as he unleashed a Blast Burn, incinerating about fifty Nihilators in a single blast. More charged in to replace them. "Would it really have been that hard for them to make the damn things so the enemies couldn't come through them without exploding or something?!"

"We actually don't know that they can't," Uri pointed out.

"If they can, nobody told us about it," Norman grunted. "And I don't particularly care to find out the hard way."

"Agreed," Harrison said with a nod, hitting a Nihilator that lunged at him with a Fire Punch so strong that the villain not only burst into flame, but when he was flung backwards into the Nihilator behind him, caused him and all adjacent to him to spontaneously combust.

"Sounds good to me!" Andy said, reaching into his bag for a Present to take out the Zebstrika charging towards him…

And found nothing. His eyes widened in horror. His bag was empty. His bag was never empty. So shocked was he by this, he didn't have time to prepare another attack, or dodge, and the Zebstrika lowered its head to gore him on its horn…

When suddenly a roaring sound could be heard. It almost sounded like…the sea?

Without warning, a massive wave appeared, even though there was no ocean to accompany it. A familiar Blastoise was standing atop its peak, riding the wave, a pair of sunglasses on his face. He had two small shells over his arms, each with its own water cannon, the cannons on his back had been replaced by a single cannon of absolutely massive size, his eyes had turned red under his shades, his ears angled backwards, and there was a point on his chin. "COWABUNGA!" he shouted.

"Nihilator scum, this is your hour of reckoning!" Wallace, prince of Aquastria, cried from where he was riding right beside Shellshocker. "You shall drown beneath the ocean of our might!"

The Nihilators screamed and tried to run, but the wave crashed down on them, sweeping them away. The fighters from Battlus stared in disbelief as the water rushed past them, forming a massive new river cutting across the surface of the Martian plain. "…Well, that was unexpected," Harrison said after a moment.

Wallace's head popped out of the water a moment later…as did the corpses of several Nihilators. "Is everyone all right here?"

"We…could be better," Norman said, looking anxiously over their wounded and dead. There were a lot more of both than he would like.

"You guys showed up just in the nick of time! One second later, and I'd have been a goner!" Andy said, wiping away some sweat.

"What are you and the Aquastrians doing here, anyway? Isn't your portal on the other side of the battlefield?" Harrison asked.

Wallace nodded. "It is, but given that my kingdom is one of the largest on Earth—it's in the ocean, after all, which covers more surface mass than all the world's continents combined—I have a lot more soldiers to call upon for help than most of the other armies here. And it's more difficult for the Nihilators to try invading our portal, since their ships aren't designed to go underwater."

"Wait…you portal opens underwater? Then why isn't it flooding the whole battlefield?" Presto asked.

"We have some sort of magical semi-permeable membrane thing," Wallace said vaguely. "However, we can still draw water from it as needed to aid us in battle, since most of us are more equipped for underwater combat than we are for land."

"Hence why we're making rivers and other bodies of water like this one all over the battlefield," Shellshocker said, popping out of the water next to Wallace. "Not only does it give us a bit of a terrain advantage and source of power, it also gives us and our allies a source of rapid transit and a way to get reinforcements to where they're needed."

"And speaking of reinforcements…" Wallace said, noticing a few dozen icebergs and Avaluggs were floating down the river towards them, Ice-types in ice armor standing on top of them. Laprases and members of the Piplup, Seel, Spheal, and Shellder evolutionary lines were swimming alongside them.

"I am General Wulfric of Icearctica," the biggest and strongest-looking Avalugg, his icy body covered in scars and pitts from years of battle, said gruffly once he'd drawn level to Norman and the others. "I was sent by General Glacia to provide assistance…which, pardon my bluntness, you look like you're in sore need of."

"You can say that again," Uri muttered.

"Thank you, General. Your help will be most appreciated," Norman told the Avalugg gratefully.

Several of the Ice-type Pokémon dismounted the icebergs and Avaluggs and quickly set up battle lines and got in formation around the portal. They looked a far sight more impressive and professional than the ragtag bunch of fighters from Battlus. "I cannot lend you all my forces, nor stay myself, for there are others in equally dire straits who require my aid as well," Wulfric said apologetically. "I can spare a few of my carriers to transport your wounded to the war hospital that's been set up at the edge of the battlefield, though."

"Thank you, but we have a Joy standing by on the other side of the portal," Norman said, gesturing at the gateway.

A smile broke across the Avalugg's face. "Naturally. Those girls are godssends, aren't they?"

"I shall leave some of my troops behind as well," Wallace promised Norman. "And if there's trouble, they can swim up or downriver to call for reinforcements."

"Thank you. Your generosity is much appreciated," Norman said.

"Think nothing of it," the Milotic said with a warm smile. "We're all on the same side, after all. It only makes sense for us to help each other out."

"I do expect free passes to that resort town you've got set up once this is over, though," Wulfric joked.

"If we make it out of this in one piece, I'll make sure you get a lifetime pass," Norman said seriously.

The Avalugg grinned. "I'll hold you to that."

"Can I have one too?" Wallace asked hopefully.

"That depends, Your Majesty, how much do you like the snow?" Harrison asked.

As the Milotic seriously considered this, Wulfric said, "We should be off. As I said, there are others who need our help. Good luck to all of you. Don't let a single one of those bastards through."

"We have every intention of holding the line to the bitter end," Harrison said seriously.

"Funny, I thought we were the ones who were supposed to be doing the invading," Craw-daddy grumbled as the Aqualanteans and Icearcticans departed, leaving a sizable contingent of their forces behind to help guard the portal to Battlus. "So why are we on the defensive now?"

"The tides of war change constantly," Presto said wisely. "Perhaps a time will come when we have the opportunity to go on the offensive once more."

As the Crawdaunt reluctantly conceded the point, Norman turned to Harrison and said, "Speaking of opportunities, while we're waiting for the Nihilators to regroup…I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me about all the time you've been spending with my daughter and her boyfriend lately?"

The Blaziken's eyes bulged in horror. "Uh…"

The army from Ozztralia, on the other hand, had no need for help from anyone. They were perfectly capable of taking care of the Nihilators by themselves. Why was this? Because Ozztralia was one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Compared to that place, fighting an entire army of Shadow Pokémon was practically a cakewalk.

They had Psyduck who could rip apart a Nihilator's mind with just a look and had poison spurs in their feet. Sandslash that could create canyons just by striking the ground lightly. Swoobat which could make ears explode with a single screech. Teddiursa which seemed to take a perverse pleasure in dropping on enemies from above and mauling them to death. Dodrio which could jump so high they might as well have been flying, and pretty much made up the majority of the Ozztralian 'air force' by virtue of being able to engage flyers and fighters by leaping into the air and blasting them before they could start falling back to the ground. Chatot that could peck eyes out. Wingull that swarmed anything 'shiny,' picking it clean until there was nothing left but bones, and sometimes not even that. Black Swanna that were so vile and cruel they made even the Nihilators seem tame in comparison. Murkrow that were strong enough to flip even the heaviest Nihilator or tank over and disembowel them. Helioptile which radiated so much light it was almost as if Darkrai had never eclipsed the Sun. Krookodile that could not only rip apart metal with their jaws, but eat it. Seviper so poisonous they could melt the flesh from a mon's bones just by breathing on them. Politoed that seemed to swarm through the portal in a never-ending wave of obnoxious amphibians, to the point where they actually outnumbered the Bunnelby also swarming through the portal. Ariados the size of cars. ('Nuff said. Well, except they were also able to make web trampolines and jump high enough into the air to seriously inconvenience giant robots.) The only reason the Nihilators didn't have to contend with the equally vicious aquatic Ozztralian Pokémon was because they didn't do so well out of water.

And then…there was Gararu. Sweet merciful Arceus, Gararu. The other Kangaskhan were bad enough, but thanks to her Mega Evolution, Gararu had become the Nihilators' worst nightmare.

And her daughter was worse than their worst nightmare. "One hundred thirty-five…one hundred thirty-six…one hundred thirty-seven…" Tomo counted.

Gararu frowned as she walked over to her daughter, most of her front covered in blood. "What are you doing, darling?"

"Oh, counting how many bones I have to break before this Nihilator collapses into a pile of jelly, Mama!" Tomo said cheerfully before punching the Tyrantrum she had pinned to the ground, causing another bone to snap. "One hhirty-eight!"

"PLEASE! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GIRATINA, LET ME DIE!" the Tyrantrum screamed in agony, weeping in terror and torment.

Gararu frowned at her daughter. While the Mega Stone hadn't caused any noticeable changes in herself (she thought her strength and speed were slightly greater, but not by a lot), it had had a more visible effect on Tomo. The younger Kangaskhan had aged significantly, allowing her to jump out of her mother's pouch and fight alongside her. There were raised patches on her knees, more patches aligned horizontally along her belly, and small spiked growths underneath her ears. Her eyes had also turned red, and there were pink markings on her cheeks. "Now dear, you know that's not a very polite thing to do. If you're going to kill someone, just do it, don't draw it out."

"But we do this to Cane Politoeds back home all the time!" Tomo pointed out.

"Yes, but Cane Politoeds are worthless vermin and it's the patriotic duty of any decent Ozztralian to massacre as many as they can. Why, it's practically our national pastime!" Gararu said, stomping on one such Cane Politoed that had gotten separated from its kind and splattering it on the ground without even realizing it. That sort of thing was second nature to her by now.

"Well, aren't Nihilators also worthless vermin who need to be exterminated?" Tomo asked.

"That they are," Gararu admitted. "But if you take your time killing them, then that means your cousins will be able to claim they killed more than you, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Tomo frowned seriously. "No, I would not." She jumped onto the Tyrantrum's neck, straddled it, and twisted sharply with her legs, snapping it and killing the poor bastard. She then hopped off it and rejoined her mother, idly kicking the corpse as she went and sending it flying into a pile of the seventy-three other Nihilators she'd also killed that way. "So, what should we fight next, Mama?"

A shadow fell over them. They looked up to see a massive Robo-Groudon looming over them. The beast looked down at them and roared. Mother and daughter exchanged looks. "I think that'll make a good start," Gararu said. Tomo nodded in agreement.

The Robo-Groudon started charging up its main cannon, but didn't get the chance to fire it. Gararu and Tomo jumped into the air and smashed their fists into the mechanical monster's jaw with a double Double Hit. (Would that make it a Quadruple Hit?) This slammed the beast's mouth shut and snapped its head back, causing the cannon to backfire and blow up its head and most of its upper torso. As the decapitated corpse teetered, Gararu and Tomo each grabbed one of the Robo-Groudon's arms as they started falling and wrenched, splitting the robot in two right down the middle. They then lifted the two halves into the air and threw them away with ridiculous ease, knocking over a pair of Robo-Groudons that had been coming up on them from behind. Before the robots could get up, each of the Kangaskhan grabbed them by the tail and flung them over their shoulders, causing the robots to smash into each other in midair and explode spectacularly.

There was another roar, and the duo glanced up to see another half-dozen Robo-Groudons charging towards them. Gararu grinned and pulled a massive boomerang off her back. (Of course she has a boomerang, she's Ozztralian!) "Ready for a ride, little one?"

"Am I ever!" Tomo said eagerly.

"Then here it comes!" her mother cried, winding up and hurling the boomerang at her daughter.

Tomo leaped into the air and landed on top of the boomerang as it shot under her. "Wheeeee!" she cried as she spun around and around towards the Robo-Groudons. The mechas opened up their weapons ports and started firing at her. By leaning one way or the other, Tomo was able to use her weight to adjust the boomerang's trajectory, allowing her to expertly maneuver around the barrage of lasers and missiles. As one missile passed especially close by her, she reached out and snatched it, the rocket's exhaust causing her to spin even faster as its engine struggled to tug it from her grasp. As she drew close to one of the Robo-Groudons, it swung its tail around to try and knock her away. She jumped into the air—grabbing another missile in the process—and landed back on the boomerang as it sliced right through the tail as if it weren't even there. Gararu caught the piece of tail before it could hit the ground and hurled it into the Robo-Groudon's mouth, splitting open the mecha's jaw as the spikes on the end ripped through the back of its head. As the Robo-Groudon moaned and staggered, Gararu leaped up and started laying into the imbedded tail with her Comet Punches, hammering it again and again until it went completely through the back of the robot's head, shearing off the upper half of its skull in the process. The tail, freed by her final blow, shot through the air and imbedded itself in the chest of another Robo-Groudon, causing it to stagger. This proved to be most disadvantageous for it, as the rocket-propelled Tomo spun around and around it on her boomerang before flying away. There was a pause, and then the mecha fell to pieces.

The remaining robots frantically opened fire on mother and daughter, but Tomo continued expertly evading the projectiles, while Gararu grabbed the severed upper half of the Robo-Groudon she'd force-fed its own tail's skull and used it as a shield. When there was a break in the fire, she hurled it away, and then shot after it with Sucker Punch. The Robo-Groudon she'd thrown the cranium at knocked it away, only to receive a Dark-powered punch to the gut seconds later so strong that it was actually bisected. And speaking of bisections, at that moment, Tomo flew her boomerang right into the chest of another Robo-Groudon, hopping off just before she could crash and running up the mecha's torso, using the exhaust from her missiles to defy gravity even as the robot's upper half started to be severed from its lower body. The robot's head tried to snap at her as she ran over its shoulder, but she casually lashed out with a Tail Whip strong enough to send it spinning 360 degrees until it finally unscrewed itself from the rest of its body and fell off. She then slid down the back—which was now at a bit more of an angle at this point—and jumped off at the end, the boost from her rockets giving her the distance she needed to arc through the air and land on top of the boomerang once more.

It was at this point the robot's pilots realized they might be a bit outmatched. The three remaining mechas turned to run from the positively tiny mother and daughter Kangaskhan. Gararu and Tomo would have none of that, though. "You aren't going anywhere!" Gararu roared as she charged after the Robo-Groudons.

"Here, Mama!" Tomo threw the missiles at Gararu.

The elder Kangaskhan leaped into the air and grabbed the missiles as they shot over her, hanging onto them as they carried her towards the Robo-Groudons. "Thanks, darling!" she called over her shoulder as she quickly caught up with the mechas.

Frantically, the Robo-Groudons opened fire, launching missiles, lasers, cable claws, and even rocket punches. Gararu deflected some with her tail and legs, dodged others by shifting her weight, and caught the last in her teeth before flinging it away. Finally, she let go of her missiles, causing them to fly into a Robo-Groudon's eyes and explode, blinding it, and smashed into its chest with Giga Impact, causing it to explode as she ripped right through it. The last two robots locked onto her as the energy shell from her attack faded…

Only for Tomo to fly her boomerang into one of them from behind, jumping off as it decapitated the mecha, landing back on the boomerang as it finished passing through the robot's neck. "I'm coming, Mama!" she cried, steering her ride towards her mother.

"Thanks, darling!" Gararu said, stretching out an arm and grabbing the boomerang, Tomo hopping off and landing on her head. As she started falling towards the ground, she twisted around and flung the boomerang at the final Robo-Groudon. The weapon spun through the air and imbedded itself in the mecha's chest. The robot looked down at the boomerang in puzzlement…

And then it exploded.

As a pillar of fire and smoke raised into the sky, Garary and Tomo landed hard enough to crater the ground. The elder Kangaskhan reached out a hand, and the boomerang—a bit scorched but otherwise undamaged—flew through the air and landed in her grasp. She grinned triumphantly. "A true Ozztralian boomerang will always come back to its thrower, no matter what!"

"Accept no substitutes!" Tomo said, her eyes a little glazed over. She was, naturally enough, more than a little dizzy from all the spinning. "Can we do that again, Mama?"

Before Gararu could answer, there was a rhythmic shaking of earth, and a dark shadow fell over them. They looked up to see a mighty Arachnoblast approaching, shrieking as Pokémon and fighters who were, sadly, not of fine Ozztralian stock were dropping like flies around it from its superior firepower. "Looks like it, darling."

"Ha! Call that a giant spider? I've seen bigger under my bed!" Tomo boasted. This was not entirely hyperbole.

"Then let's go squash some bugs!" Gararu said.

"And Cane Politoeds!" Tomo added.

"Yes, those too," Gararu said, her tail squashing a Politoed without even noticing.

They charged at the Arachnoblast, ready to show the Nihilators just why Oblivion's Shadow had been hesitant to send any of his operatives anywhere near Ozztralia.

Meanwhile, a sizable contingent of Nihilators who'd run into battle with the Pokemon of the Fairy Kingdom found themselves in what appeared to be a forest…which was impossible, since there weren't any forests on Mars. "This's gotta be an illusion," one of them, a Gastrodon, muttered.

"You said that a dozen times already," said an annoyed Fraxure.

"That doesn't mean it's not true! This forest wasn't here a few minutes ago!" the Gastrodon insisted.

"If it's an illusion, then why can I feel the bark of the trees, the feel of grass on my feet, the breeze on my skin?" the Fraxure asked.

"I don't know! Maybe it's a really good illusion? I've heard there's some Zoroark who are so great they can make an illusion that's practically reality!" the Gastrodon said.

"Will you two shut it already? We need to find a way out of this forest!" the leader, a Vivillon, snapped. "It's bad enough we got separated from the others and can't find the enemy, we don't need to make things worse with your bickering!"

"The sound of our arguing might make it easier for the others to find us," the Fraxure pointed out.

"Or for the enemy to find us," the Vivillon pointed out.

"…True," the Fraxure admitted reluctantly.

"Why don't we just start knocking trees down? Or fly out of here?" a Hawlucha said, spreading his wings.

"Be my guest," the Vivillon said with a shrug.

The Hawlucha spread his wings and took off. He didn't get very far. The higher he rose, the thicker and more tangled the branches got, and it didn't take long before he found the canopy completely impenetrable. Getting frustrated, he tried to chop through the branches with a Wing Attack. Much to his surprise, not only was the branch unscratched, but he very nearly broke his wing in the effort. "Gah! What the-" the Wrestling Pokemon started as he tumbled back to the ground.

"Whatever these trees are made of, it's not just wood," the Vivillon grunted. "Things seem to be damn near impenetrable."

"I broke my sword trying to chop them down," a Farfetch'd lamented, cradling his broken leek.

"Maybe we could dig our way out?" a Breloom suggested.

"Which way should we dig in, though?" an Amoonguss asked.

"Well…if we keep going straight, we've gotta find a way out eventually. I mean, this place can't go on forever…right?" the Breloom asked uncertainly.

"We're up against Fairy-types from a magical kingdom. The kinds of creatures who can cause the unwary to wander around in little worlds of their own devising for eternity," a Whirlipede said.

A Durant sneered. "Please, we're the Nihilators! No way some prissy little fairies are going to trap us in-"

They waited, but the Durant didn't finish his sentence. "Trap us in what?" the Breloom asked, confused. There was no response. They turned and saw that the Durant had disappeared…even though he'd been in the middle of the group, and not on the outside or near the end.

"Great. There goes another one…" the Fraxure grumbled.

"They're picking us off one by one…just like in a horror movie!" the Amoonguss cried, freaking out. He had good reason to. The Durant had been walking right next to him, and disappeared without him even knowing it.

"This is ridiculous! We're Nihilators. We're the things people should be afraid of! They can't pull this scary movie shit on us!" the Hawlucha snarled.

"Yeah, that's right!" a Bisharp agreed. "We're all badass mofos! The worst of the worst! The vilest of the vile! The evilest of the evil! Ain't no way we're gonna let ourselves get taken out like-"

He didn't finish his sentence. "Like what?" the Gastrodon asked. There was no response. They turned and saw the Bisharp was gone as well. "Seriously? Okay, this is getting annoying."

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" the Amoonguss screamed, flipping out.

"Pull yourself together, soldier!" the hardass Vivillon snapped. "Rook was right, we're the most heinous people alive! I myself have killed over twenty people for insinuating that the colors of my wings were not befitting a male! Noogie, you once burnt down an entire orphanage with everyone inside just for the heck of it! Mucha, you beat up some guy who tried to take off your mask so badly he had to eat through a straw for the rest of his life! Or would have, if you hadn't brutally murdered him after killing every member of his family and force-feeding them to him through the aforementioned straw. Wilkinson, you used to hunt down and chop to bits Pokemon who you believed mocked you for using a piece of vegetable for a weapon, even if they never actually said such a thing!"

"They were thinking it. I just know they were…" the Farfetch'd growled.

"And Teaque!...well…I don't think any of us need reminding of what Teaque is capable of," the Vivillon said with a shudder.

"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream…" a Vanillite sang innocently.

"We're the biggest bastards this world has to offer! We have nothing to worry about…it's those fools who think they can beat us that should be worried, because we're the Nihilators, and we're going to hunt down those prissy Fairies and skullfuck them and fuck every hole in their bodies and make more holes to fuck until there's nothing left but riddled corpses filled with blood and semen and…and…" He blinked. "Weren't there a lot more of you a second ago?"

They looked. While the Vivillon had been talking, ten more Nihilators had disappeared. "Well, fuck," the Whirlipede said.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" the Amoonguss screamed, defecating himself in terror.

"Calm down, all of you!" the Vivillon said, an edge of panic in his voice as he realized they were all about to lose it. "We can still make it out of here, we just have to keep calm-"

"Look! I think I see a clearing up ahead!" the Gastrodon gasped, pointing ahead.

"Maybe we can find our way out from there!" the Fraxure agreed fervently.

The Vivillon frowned. "A clearing? Wait…this sounds like a-"

The rest of the Nihilators rushed past him towards the glimmer of light up ahead. The Vivillon sighed. "Trap."

The Bug caught up to his underlings to find that there was indeed a clearing, filled with beautiful flowers and illuminated by a lovely light shining down through a hole in the canopy, and a burbling spring in the middle. Bathing in the spring were some unimaginably beautiful Pokemon—Togekisses, Florgeses, Sylveons, Clefables, Mawiles, and several breathtakingly beautiful Gardevoirs. They gasped and started when they saw the Nihilators, moving sensually in their fright so as to show off their magnificent forms and curves. "Oh my! Some horrible brutes have interrupted our sexy lesbian pool party!" a Mawile moaned as a Gardevoir touched her in a place that children should not know about.

"Oh, I do hope they aren't going to horribly ravish us!" a Florges cried as she was licked from both sides by a Togekiss and a Sylveon.

The Vivillon stared blankly. "You have got to be kidding me. There is no way you can actually think we're stupid enough to fall for-"

"Oh boy! It's been ages since I've gotten a chance to rape anyone!" the Amoonguss said.

"Whoever rapes the least whores has to do everyone else's laundry for a week!" the Fraxure called.

"You're on!" the Hawlucha said.

"And whoever rapes the most bitches to death gets the best pick of sex slaves for a month and gets to rape the losers whenever they want for a similar duration of time!" the Whirlipede said.

"Damn, those are harsh terms…I'm in," the Breloom said. The others nodded and made noises of agreement.

The Vivillon's eye twitched. "I…seriously? SERIOUSLY? That's…that's just…fine. Go ahead. Have fun. I'm staying right over here."

"Ha, if you say so, Captain! I'm looking forward to making you my bitch for a whole month!" the Farfetch'd said.

"Heh, not if he's my bitch instead," the Hawlucha said smugly.

"I like ice cream," the Vanillite said, licking his lips and staring at the beautiful womon.

The Vivillon turned his back and closed his eyes as the Nihilators rushed the beautiful womon, not wanting to see what he was certain was about to happen.

He could not, however, close his antenna, and so there was nothing he could do to block out the noise. He had committed countless atrocities in his day—all of them had, really—and yet the screams, snaps, and…and splurts sent a shiver down his spine, and he found himself both thankful that wasn't him experiencing that…and absolutely terrified since he knew it would be, very soon.

And then the noise stopped. He wasn't sure whether or not that was more terrifying…especially because it meant all of his platoon were dead, and he was next. He wondered, briefly, why he hadn't run, but the answer was obvious. He wouldn't have made it two flutters before they caught him and did…whatever had just been done to his mons.

And then there was another noise. A voice, a beautiful silky voice, reminiscent of the wind blowing through the leaves, or water babbling down a stream, or grass rustling as someone walked through it. A voice telling him, "Open your eyes."

"No," he said.

"Open your eyes or I shall tear out your heart this instant," the voice said, as casually as if it were asking if he wanted a cup of tea.

"If I open my eyes, you'll tear my heart out anyway," he pointed out.

She laughed gently, as if he'd made a joke. "That remains to be seen. Open your eyes. Now."

He opened his eyes. The womon from the lake, and several other Fairy-types that had not been there a moment ago, were arrayed around him. All of them were beautiful, and carried themselves with an otherworldly grace and air that made them seem as if they were from another realm, one far lovelier and more perfect than this one.

They were also, all of them, covered from head to toe in blood. A Whimsicott was picking meat out of her dainty teeth with a bit of bone. It was nothing he hadn't seen before—heck, him and his boys often looked like that after a little roughhousing—but seeing these lovely elegant creatures looking like they'd just walked out of a bloodbath—which they had—was rather unnerving. "What is your name?" asked a Mawile, whose voice he immediately recognized as the one who'd instructed him to open his eyes…only she didn't look like any Mawile he'd ever seen. She had a second set of jaws growing from the back of her head, and both sets had spiky tufts of hair. The ear-like extensions on her head were longer and had tips with two points. The fur on her legs was magenta, and there was longer fur on her arms with magenta markings around the wrists, one of which had a strange bracelet wrapped around it. It was hard to see the magenta through all the blood, though…and the Vivillon thought he could see what looked like an arm hanging limply from one of the jaws.

"How stupid do you think I am?" the Vivillon asked angrily. "I've heard some of the stories. If I give you my name, you can use it against me."

The Mawile laughed in amusement. "You poor creature. We hardly need your name to cause you harm at this point, don't you think? I will ask again, and you will not refuse me. What is your name?"

"Captain Meadola," the Vivillon said, and it wasn't until the words had left his mouth that he'd realized he'd said them. He could not find it in him to resist the Mawile. Those red eyes…that voice…something in them held tremendous power, power he could not say no to.

The Mawile smiled. It was horrifying. "Meadola. A lovely name. Not one I would have expected from a Nihilator." She raised her chin proudly. "I am Invidiana, a Princess of Faerie. That is not my true name, of course, but it shall suffice for our purposes."

"And those would be?" Meadola asked.

Invidiana looked at him curiously. "Your comrades fell right into our trap. Why didn't you?"

"Because unlike them, I actually have more than half a brain cell," he said bluntly. "It's how I became Captain in the first place."

"Intriguing. Even so, that should not have saved you. We cast a glamour on ourselves to make ourselves irresistible…and yet you resisted it. Curious," Invidiana said.

"Another reason I was promoted to Captain was because I seem to have a partial immunity to mental influences," Meadola said.

"And yet you cannot help but obey my words and reveal your innermost truths to me," Invidiana pointed out.

"Partial immunity. Doesn't mean I'm completely resistant," Meadola pointed out.

Invidiana smirked. "True enough. And I suppose a direct command from a Princess of Faerie is almost impossible to ignore…very well. I have decided your fate."

"If you're going to kill me, just get it over with already," Meadola said miserably. "I don't suppose you could make it quicker than…what you did to the others, could you?"

Invidiana burst into surprised laughter, sending chills down the Vivillon's spine. "Kill you? Oh, my dear mortal, we aren't going to kill you. No, we're going to take you home with us. Won't that be fun?"

"Congratulations," a Sylveon said cheerfully. "You're going to be Invidiana's new plaything! I hope you last longer than the last one." All the Fairies giggled at this.

Meadola swallowed. "I'm guessing that death would actually be preferable to being your…plaything."

"That all depends on you, Captain," Invidiana said with a grin which seemed to imply it was anything but.

"I don't suppose I can just choose death instead?" Meadola asked desperately.

"Nope," a Gardevoir said.

The Vivillon sighed. "Yeah…that's what I thought…"

"Come, Captain. There are other Nihilators in these woods. Let us go…have some fun with them, shall we?" Invidiana said, beckoning.

The Vivillon followed his new mistress. He did not have a choice. His body wouldn't let him do anything else. "Speaking of which…this forest…how did you make it, anyway? Magic? Some kind of illusion?"

"Partially, though it's a little more like we were able to bring a bit of our home forest with us through the portal," Invidiana said.

"And grow some more with a little help from a friend," a Clefable said.

Meadola blinked. "A friend?"

"She means me," a Venusaur said as he stepped out from behind a tree. Medoala instinctively flinched back from the Seed Pokémon. Much like his new mistress, he did not look like most others of his species. The flower on his back was larger and two new pink flowers were blooming on his head and rear. Additional leaves with woody stems were grown around the central flower supported by vines growing from its base. Darker patches of color were on his forehead around the new bloom. His legs and frame were sturdier to support the weight of the giant flower. He also had a strange bracelet around his left forelimb. "I was able to help quick-grow this forest using the power granted to me by my Mega Evolution."

"Mega Evolution?" Meadola asked in confusion.

"A secret power granted to us by the Moon gods, which will guarantee our victory over you and your kind," Invidiana said smugly. Given the results he'd seen so far, Meadola did not doubt her.

The Venusaur glared at the Vivillon. "Invidiana, why have you allowed this Nihilator to live? They should all be exterminated!"

"This one intrigues me, Bruteroot," the Mawile said coyly, one of her jaws snapping in the Vivillon's face and causing him to flinch back. "I think I shall keep him for a while."

The Venusaur narrowed his eyes. "Has he ever been to the Florana Republic?"

Invidiana glanced at Meadola. "Have you? And answer truthfully, or I shall be very cross. You would not want that."

"No, I have never been to the Florana Republic," Meadola said truthfully.

"There you go, then," Invidiana said.

"…Hmmph. Even if he is not responsible for the state of my country, no doubt he has committed numerous other atrocities…" Bruteroot growled. "But if this is your wish, Invidiana…then you may have him."

"I did not need your permission, Bruteroot, but thank you nonetheless," Invidiana said.

"There are more Nihilators a few kilometers away. I'm funneling them towards us, so that we may prepare another ambush," Bruteroot said.

"Excellent," Invidiana said. "And I think I know something that will make this even more entertaining." She turned to Meadola. "You shall find your comrades, tell them you've found a way out of the forest, then lead them back to us, where we shall…take care of them."

"She means kill them," a Gardevoir said helpfully.

"Yes, that is what I mean," Invidiana agreed.

"Sounds good to me," Bruteroot said.

Meadola was horrified. "I can't do that!"

"You can, actually. I just laid a geass on you. You must obey me, and you are unable to warn them as to your change in allegiances or what fate awaits them," Invidiana said.

"But…but you can't do this!" Meadola protested.

Invidiana narrowed her eyes. "I think you'll find that I can."

"No, I mean…this…this is the sort of thing we would do! You're supposed to be the good guys! You…you don't do stuff like this!" Meadola said desperately.

Invidiana laughed in amusement. Were it not for such a rather sinister reason, Meadola might have thought it rather pleasant. "My dear Meadola, you forget that we are Fae. Our definitions of 'good' and 'evil' are not necessarily the same as everyone else's. And aside from that…"

"Just because we're the good guys doesn't mean we have to be nice," Bruteroot said cruelly. The others nodded in agreement.

Invidiana gestured. "Go now. Lead your comrades back to us. We'll be waiting."

Meadola did as he was bade. There was nothing else he could do. He wondered, briefly, if this was what those whom the Nihilators had subjugated, humiliated, and enslaved felt like. He did not enjoy it very much.

Then again, he supposed, his victims probably hadn't, either.

It didn't take him long to find the group of Nihilators. They weren't exactly hard to find. He just had to listen to the sound of cursing and violence as the Nihilators battled the trees and each other for lack of anything better to do. "Hey!" he shouted to grab their attention, reflexively dodging out of the way of a high-pressure Water Spout fired at him by a Chinchou. You didn't get far in the Nihilator hierarchy without being able to dodge quickly. "Watch it, I'm one of you!" he shouted.

"Sorry," the Chinchou said, not looking very sorry.

"Who are you?!" a Herdier snarled.

"I'm Captain Meadola. My troops found a way out of the forest, and we're getting as many other Nihilators as we can find out before the Fairies who live here can get them," Meadola lied. A part of him had wanted to warn the Nihilators that it was a trap, but somehow the words never reached his mouth. Instead, he'd said the previous line.

"Uh-huh. A likely story," the Herdier said skeptically, ignoring the excited murmurs from his subordinates. "How do we know this isn't a trick of some kind?"

You don't, Meadola thought grimly. "Well, if you'd rather be left to wander these woods until the Fairies kill you all…"

The Herdier frowned. "While I appreciate the offer, I don't think-"

He was cut off when a Gliscor cut his head off with a Guillotine. "Lead the way!" the Fang Scorpion Pokemon declared while the other Nihilators cheered.

Meadola smiled and nodded and led his former colleagues to their doom, privately thinking to himself that perhaps they did deserve to die after all, for their sheer stupidity if nothing else.

Not everywhere on the battlefield was violence and carnage. In one small corner of the plains, there was an eye in the storm, a place of calm, where nobody fought each other…

At least, not physically.

"Hey, I saw that Charm Band first! Give it to me!" a Nihilator Cryogonal snarled, tugging on a band.

"Nuh-uh, I picked it up, which means it's mine! Go get your own!" a Gothorita from Fichina retorted, tugging on the other end of the band.

"This is the last one in stock! I can't get another one!" the Cryogonal snapped.

"Well, that's just too bad for you, isn't it?" the Gothorita sneered.

Without warning, a purple Kecleon appeared from thin air—literally, thanks to its camouflage abilities—and gently but firmly grabbed the two Pokemon by their wrists (?). "Now, now, there's no need for all this fuss. Sir, I'm afraid that this young lady is correct, even if you saw the Band first, she's the one who picked it up, and unless she's willing to let you have it-"

"Which I'm not," the Gothorita sneered.

"Then I'm afraid you'll just have to let her take it," the Kecleon finished.

"What?! Come on! That's not fair! You're discriminating against me because I'm a Nihilator!" the Cryogonal yelled.

"On the contrary, Kecleon Brothers provides the same service to all customers, regardless of their nationality, religion, or moral alignment," the Kecleon said smoothly. "It's only fair, after all."

"Ha ha!" the Gothorita laughed obnoxiously.

"However, miss, if you wish to purchase that Charm Band, that will be 3,000 Poke," the Kecelon said.

The Gothorita froze. "What? Seriously?"

"Ha!" the Cryogonal barked.

"I'm afraid so," the Kecleon said apologetically.

"Can't I get a discount for, like, not being evil or something?" the Gothorita pleaded.

The Kecleon shook his head. "I'm sorry, but no. Kecleon Brothers provides the same service-"

"To all customers, right," the Gothorita sighed. She took out her wallet, glanced at it, and grimaced. "Do you accept credit cards?"

"ATTENTION ALL CUSTOMERS. FOR THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES, WE ARE HAVING A SALE ON GOLDEN SEEDS. BUY TWENTY, AND WE'LL THROW IN A FREE EFFORT FLAG!" another Kecleon shouted through a megaphone. Instantly, dozens of soldiers from various nationalities—as well as some Nihilators—raced over to the Seed section and frantically started struggling to grab as many Golden Seeds as they could. The Kecleon chuckled and lowered the megaphone, gazing proudly at the massive open-air marketplace he and his brothers had set up. Weapons, armor, food, and all sorts of other useful items were spread all over the place on the giant incongruous carpet that had been set out on the red plains of Mars, with warriors from pretty much every army that had come through the portals browsing the merchandise and arguing with the Kecleon merchants over prices. The merchants never backed down. The customers always did. "Isn't this magnificent, brother?" he asked the Kecleon standing next to him. "It was a stroke of genius, coming up here! I was a little worried about setting up a shop in the middle of a war, but our profits have tripled all estimates in the first five minutes since we opened up for business, and we're raking in even more money with every second!"

The other Kecleon shook his head in wonder. "I thought this would be a profitable venture, but I never dreamed we'd do this well. I think this might be a bold new direction for Kecleon Brothers! It's all well and good having stores in towns and dungeons…but there's far more potential customers on a battlefield with a much more urgent need for gear and equipment than you'd ever get in the city or some ruin out in the middle of nowhere!"

"I almost feel guilty for taking advantage of a major conflict to make money," the first Kecleon mused. "But then I check our profits and remind myself that we're businessmen, and it's not as if we're the only corporation making money off of weapons and ship manufacturing for this battle. And besides, we can't really be held accountable for Pokemon killing each other using our merchandise anymore than a blacksmith can be blamed for making a sword that's used to murder people."

"What if the sword's cursed?" the second Kecleon asked.

His brother paused. "By the blacksmith or a wizard?"

"The blacksmith," the second Kecleon said.

"Oh, well, then it's the blacksmith's fault," the first Kecleon admitted. But we don't sell any cursed equipment ever since that little bit of…unpleasantness with the Fichinans, so it's a moot point." His brother nodded in agreement.

A Nihilator Piloswine, his shaggy form loaded with weapons, armor, and dozens of seeds, flags, devices, vitamins, glasses, food, Orbs, and berries stomped towards the exit, and was intercepted by a Kecleon. "My, my, sir! It seems like you've found quite a lot!"

"Yeah, I'll be taking all of it," the Piloswine said.

"Excellent! That will be-" the Kecleon glanced briefly at the merchandise the Piloswine was carrying. "43,859,472 Poke, if you please."

"That much?!" asked an incredulous Gourgeist who'd been trying to decide whether or not he really wanted to purchase a TM61, for Will-O-Wisp. He glanced at it anxiously, wondering if perhaps it might be out of his price range.

"He's carrying some extremely rare and valuable merchandise," the Kecleon explained. "43,859,472, please."

The Piloswine sneered. "I don't think you understand. I'm not buying this stuff, I'm taking it."

A tense silence fell over the bazaar. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the Piloswine, looks of horror and disbelief on many of their faces…except for the Kecelons, who showed no expression at all. "…I'm…sorry, sir, did you say you were going to take all of that…without paying?" the Kecleon before the Piloswine said slowly.

"Yep. That's exactly what I'm doing," the Piloswine said.

"…Sir, are you aware of the rules for this store regarding the acquisition of merchandise?" the Kecleon asked. "All items must be paid for in full, or-"

"Or you'll unleash your army of super-powerful ninja Kecleon assassins on me. I know," the Piloswine snorted.

"…And yet…you still intend to steal our merchandise?" the Kecleon asked, just to be certain.

"Yep," the Piloswine said.

The Kecleon stared at him blankly. "…Very well, sir. If that is your decision." He moved out of the way. The Piloswine grunted and proceeded past him, bumping the Kecleon as he went just to be a jerk.

"What?! You're letting him get away with that?!" the Gourgeist asked in disbelief.

"No," the Kecleon said, staring, along with all his brothers, at the Piloswine as he proceeded towards the edge of the carpet, waiting…waiting…waiting…

He crossed the edge of the carpet and set hoof on the soil of Mars.

"THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEF!" the Kecleons all shouted in unison.

Without warning, several dozen heavily armed and armored Kecleons materialized out of thin air around the Piloswine. "Sir, you have violated the Kecleon Shop International Code of Customer Conduct by removing merchandise from a store without paying. In accordance with Kecleon Brothers Incorporated's bylaws, we are now authorized to execute you for the unforgivable crime of shoplifting," one of them said in a cold, matter-of-fact tone, regarding the thief as if he were the vilest, most disgusting creature in existence. (Well, he was a Nihilator…)

The Piloswine grinned. "Yeah, I don't think so. You are the only ones with backup."

Suddenly, a massive metal foot slammed down just behind the Kecleon guards. Startled, they—and everyone else in the bazaar—looked up to see a fearsome Robo-Groudon looming over them…and it had brought about two dozen friends. The Piloswine chuckled. "Yeah, we'll be taking everything in your stock now. And if you're quick about it, we might let you live."

As the other customers tensed and reached for their weapons, and the Nihilators cackled and started grabbing everything around them, the Kecleons…looked at the robots with utter disinterest and apathy. "Is that all, sir?" one of the guards said.

The Piloswine started. "'Is that all?' What do you mean?"

"I mean, is this all you have? Because I'm afraid it's not going to be enough," the guard said. "Because no thief, no matter how powerful, can ever escape the Kecleon Brothers."

"Unless he goes to another floor of a dungeon," another Kecleon corrected him. "Or leaves town."

"Well, yes, but we're not in a dungeon or town right now so that doesn't count," the first Kecleon said, looking annoyed. "And nice going, Haidoru, you ruined the moment. I was going for this big dramatic reveal and everything."

"Sorry," Haidoru said Mareepishly.

"You should be. Where was I? Oh right. No thief can escape the Kecleon Brothers!" The Kecleon snapped his fingers…

And suddenly THREE dozen giant robot Kecleons appeared, surrounding the Robo-Groudons. The Piloswine's jaw dropped, as did most of the customers'. "What…how…how did you…"

"Please, we're among the world's greatest stealth masters. Of course we'd design perfect cloaking devices!" the Kecleon guard said proudly.

The Piloswine started sweating as the robot Kecleons advanced on the Robo-Groudons. "Um…uh…I don't suppose we can talk this over? Or work out some kind of payment plan?"

"No," the Kecleons said as they closed ranks around the Piloswine. "It's far too late for that."

The ensuing fight was short, brutal, and utterly one-sided. (Oh, and the Piloswine died, too.) "And that," a Kecleon said out loud so all the shoppers could hear as the guards returned the—somewhat bloody—stolen merchandise to its proper place and the robots ruthlessly dismantled the Robo-Groudons for spare parts. "Is why you do not steal from the Kecleon Brothers."

"…Uh…we'll, uh, we'll just be going now…" a Nihilator Whimsicott said.

"Already? But you haven't bought anything yet!" said a surprised Kecleon.

The Whimsicott blinked in surprise. "Huh? You aren't going to kick us all out?"

"Huh?! You're not going to kick them all out?!" a Simisear demanded.

"Whyever would we do that? They haven't broken any rules," the Kecleon said.

"Yet," another Kecleon said.

"But…but that guy just-" a Braviary protested.

"Yes, that one guy just tried to steal from us. We at Kecleon Brothers do not discriminate against customers just because they might have some sort of affiliation with a shoplifter," the Kecleon said. "So long as they're willing to purchase something, they are welcome here." The Nihilators cheered triumphantly and the other soldiers groaned.

"So long as they can actually afford their purchase, that is," another Kecleon added. The Nihilators winced and the other soldiers laughed.

"Now…" A Kecleon snapped his fingers, and suddenly several dozen giant robots of various makes, builds, shapes, sizes, and colors appeared. "Who here is in the market for their very own giant robot?"

Elsewhere, white was fighting black, not unlike a giant live chess game. Except unlike most live chess games, this one involved battleships, tanks, giant mechas, missiles, lasers, and people were actually dying. White soldiers crossed arms with black soldiers. White tanks fired at black tanks. White fighters exchanged fire with black fighters. White warships launched volleys at black warships. White mechas dueled black mechas. The forces of Judgment waged war against the evil Nihilators, seeking to bring Arceus' light to Mars and wipe out the dark servants of the Ruler of Evil. While the armies of Judgment did not have the same numbers as the Nihilators, they had two advantages: their pure faith and certainty they were doing Arceus' will, and the knowledge that their God was on their side.

Or at least, his chosen avatars, which was about the same thing.

Melody danced across the battlefield, sparkles trailing from her body as her lithe form gracefully pranced here and there, captivating all who gazed upon her and causing the Nihilators to fail to notice that she had dismembered and disemboweled them with her razor-sharp ribbons until several seconds after her passing, and they collapsed to the ground and bled out. Others, enchanted by her beauty and the glamour she span around her, turned upon their comrades, hearts filling their eyes as they fervently slew their fellows in the name of love. Spreading her Beautifly wings, she rose into the air and twirled about, blowing kisses to the Nihilators below. They collapsed…partly from bliss, partly from massive nosebleeds, and partly because they were Draining Kisses, and so she'd drained a significant amount of their life force to strengthen herself.

Winged Pokemon, including several wicked dragons, flew towards her, firing their attacks in an attempt to knock the Sylveon out of the sky. She flitted about, her movements almost like an aerial dance as she evaded the attacks so casually once could easily believe she didn't notice them at all, her wings emitting beautiful sparkles as she went that blinded the Nihilators with their Dazzling Gleam and made it hard for them to see what they were shooting at, causing them to take out a number of their own as she glided through their ranks, and those who did not suffer from friendly fire were cut down by her ribbons. Once she'd passed through them, she lazily turned around and, almost as an afterthought, fired a Fairy Wind, knocking them out of the sky and sending them tumbling to their demise. She smiled…

And a shadow fell over her. She looked up and saw a massive Robo-Groudon looming over her, jaws open and powering up its main cannon. Her eyes widened as the cannon discharged, an extremely powerful energy beam flying right towards her…

And passing through her as her body evaporated into dewdrops and glitter. Confused, the mecha looked around for its target…

And then its head fell off. And so did its limbs and tail. Melody, the edges of her ribbons dripping with oil, smirked at the dismembered mecha, then closed her eyes and opened her mouth, her armor glowing as a ball of pure white light manifested before her. With a cry, she fired the Moonblast, which struck the parts of the Robo-Groudon and exploded, obliterating them and several dozen Nihilators, leaving a smoking crater in their place. She smirked…

And yelped when a missile rocketed right past her, nearly smashing through one of her wings. She spun around in time to see several dozen missiles being fired at her from a trio of massive battleships, with another Robo-Groudon stomping along beneath them, charging up its own weapons. Scowling, she concentrated, her ribbons elongating and enlarging significantly. They lashed out faster than the eye could see, grabbing missiles before they could strike her and hurling them away. Some missiles collided with other missiles and exploded. Other missiles were thrown right back at the ships that had fired them, explosions wracking their hulls as the rockets detonated against them. When there were only a few dozen left, she spread her wings, charged power into them, and released a mighty Fairy Wind, blowing the remaining rockets off course and sending them crashing either into each other or into the battleships. Undeterred, the vessels aimed their cannons at her and prepared to fire again…

Until she shouted, "HEY! What did you lot think you were doing, huh? Shooting a lady in the back? Do you have no honor? I knew you were vile, but I never thought you were that low! You should be ashamed of yourselves! What would your mothers think of you if they saw you right now?"

There was a pause…

And then the ships powered their weapons down, an embarrassed air around them. She privately grinned to herself. Suckers. Score another one for my Disarming Voice. "Thank you. That's much better," she said casually.

Then she quickly glided down to the Robo-Groudon and, pouring on the Charm, whispered, "Hey big fella, wanna blow up those big nasty battleships for me? I promise I'll make it worth your while."

The effects were instantaneous. The glowing lines running down the giant robot's body turned pink, its eyes turned into hearts, and steam billowed out of its heat sinks. It immediately whirled around, raised its arms, and fired its claws at one of the battleships, the fingers shooting out on cables which embedded themselves into the vessel's hull and sent a powerful electrical charge into it. The ship frantically tried to reactivate its weapons, but the Robo-Groudon had hacked it through its fingers and now had control. The ship pointed its hacked turrets at the other two vessels and started firing upon them, blowing up their engines and sending them plummeting to the ground before they could retaliate. The Robo-Groudon then swung its arms and released its claws, hurling the hacked ship away, and opened its mouth and fired its main cannon along with several dozen missiles, blowing up the ship in a spectacular conflagration. As the other two ships crashed to the ground and exploded, Melody smiled and patted the drooling Robo-Groudon on the head. "Good boy."

Then her ribbons lashed out. There was a pause, and then the giant robot split into dozens of pieces and collapsed to the ground. "Now play dead."

Grinning, she turned to the awestruck Judgment troops who'd been watching her and said, "And that, my friends, is why you should never underestimate a Fairy!" she cried triumphantly.

A Deino stared up at the armored Sylveon in awe. "Um. Wow."

"Glad she's on our side," a Foonguss said.

"How the heck did we manage to capture someone that strong in the first place?!" a Seviper wondered.

"I think she was caught by surprise," a Scraggy said. "And even then, she took out like two dozen of us before the tranqs kicked in. And she kept breaking out until she was locked in a reinforced iron cell…and even then, she might STILL have found a way to escape if it weren't for the whole 'accidental petrification' thing."

"Wow," the Foonguss said.

"There's a reason Fairy-types are so dangerous, no matter how cute they look," the Seviper muttered.

The Deino nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's why Dragons are so horribly terribly afraid of them. Heck, I can barely even look at her without feeling an instinctive drive to run screaming for the hills!" He paused. "On the other hand, she's so pretty it's easy to forget that."

The others all nodded in agreement. That went without saying.

Elsewhere, a Robo-Groudon and Scorponok were wrestling against each other. The Scorponok had managed to lock its claws around the Robo-Groudon's ankles, but the Robo-Groudon had dug its tail into the ground to anchor itself and managed to rip off the Scorponok's tail and had wrapped its cable claws around the giant scorpion mecha to keep it from getting away. Both of them were exchanging fire from their multitudinous cannons, but the Scorponok's main gun had been damaged already by the Nihilator mecha…and the Robo-Groudon's was still intact, and powering up to deliver the finishing blow.

Before that could happen, however, something shot through the air, spinning at high speeds, and pierced the Robo-Groudon's mouth, ripping through the cannon and tearing out the back of its head. There was a pause, and then the mecha's head exploded, the cables snapping as the faux Groudon toppled backwards, freeing the Scorponok. The spinning object continued to fly through the air, tearing through several fighters and battleships, all of which exploded in its wake as it drilled through their bodies, eventually landing on the ground with an impact so strong it not only cratered it, but shattered the land, sending fissures zigzagging in every direction that swallowed up enemy troops and causing massive slabs and pillars of rock to erupt from the ground, stabbing through or toppling over enemy mechas and tanks.

Rhinox the Rhyperior rose from his crouch and looked at the devastation surrounding him, awed and humbled by his newfound power. Did I truly do all this? He shook his head and looked down at the emblem on his chest. No…I am nothing more than a vessel for Arceus's will. This Plate has granted me great power…but it is Arceus's power, which I am simply borrowing, and shall return once he no longer needs me to do his bidding. He was content with this. While the power of the Earth Plate was formidable, it was also a little frightening, and he had no intention of using it more than was necessary.

And what was necessary right now was stopping an Arachnoblast from terrorizing several Judgment agents. The giant spider had torn apart the Scorponok they'd been in and the few survivors were desperately fleeing for their lives, the Arachoblast casually stomping after them, firing blasts to guide them in a particular direction. The Rhyperior's blood boiled at the sight of this. It was toying with his brethren. He could not let this stand. His horn drill spinning, he dug into the ground and vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, the Judgment soldiers were desperately trying to escape the Arachnoblast, but to no avail. Their attacks had no effect on the titan, and the mecha's legs were much longer and larger than theirs, so it was easy able to keep up with them. In fact, the only reason it hadn't already overtaken them was because the spider's commander was having too much fun seeing them run around in terror.

However, watching them scurry around like insects eventually got boring, so the Arachnoblast increased its speed marginally, swiftly overtaking the several dozen panicked Judgment soldiers, the shadow of its central sphere engulfing them in darkness. Electrical fields sprang up between its legs, trapping them beneath the sphere's bottom, which opened up, the reactor inside powering up to vaporize them…

When suddenly the ground beneath the feet of the soldiers opened up, and they fell, screaming, into a pit which sealed up just as instantly as it had formed. Surprised, the Arachnoblast halted its firing sequence, scanners outputting to the maximum as they tried to find out where the soldiers had gone…and why seismic readings were off the charts.

The mecha got its answer when suddenly towering walls of rock arose from all sides, surrounding it in a ring of stone. As the Arachnoblast looked around in alarm, pillars of stone shot out from the walls, driving into the sides of the giant spider and holding it in place. Shrieking in rage, the Arachnoblast powered up its weapons, preparing to obliterate its rocky prison…

When suddenly Rhinox burst out of a pillar, spinning in a Drill Run, and ripped through one of the Arachnoblast's legs, tearing it apart. As the Arachnoblast cried out in surprise, Rhinox arced through the air, landed in another pillar, and shot out again, Drill Running through another leg before landing in the next pillar. He repeated the process, moving so quickly that the spider could not react, and in short order all of the Arachnoblast's legs were severed.

As he landed on the ground, he retracted the pillars with a thought, causing the Arachnoblast's dismembered form to start plummeting towards him. Before it could hit the ground, he raised an arm upwards, and a rock pillar shot out of the ground, slamming into the Arachnoblast and sending it flying upwards, smashing through several battleships that had been flying overhead. As it tumbled and span through the air, the commander managed to jettison the Arachnoblast's outer armor, revealing its quicker, more heavily-armed secondary form. Its new legs spread out around it radially and started spinning in place, weapons ports opening up all over its body and powering up to annihilate Rhinox and everything around him for miles.

The Rhyperior did not intend for that to happen. Another rock pillar shot out from beneath him, launching him into the air. As he rocketed upwards towards the Arachnoblast, he pointed his arm cannons skyward and fired a Rock Wrecker the size of a small asteroid at the spider. The Arachnoblast's weapons discharged, obliterating the giant boulder in a mighty blast, but this provided Rhinox the cover he needed to launch into another Drill Run, shooting towards the Arachnoblast as it recharged its weapons, smashing through the remains of his boulder as he went. The spider frantically tried to fire again, but it was too late, and Rhinox ripped right through the Arachnoblast's underside and out the top. There was a pause, and then the spider exploded spectacularly.

Rhinox came out of his Drill Run and plummeted towards the ground. He was unworried by the height or the fact that he could fly. So long as he wore the Earth Plate, he knew that no impact could kill him. As he fell, he smashed through several battleships, his extraordinary weight and velocity allowing him to punch right through them as he continued his descent, their broken pieces exploding as he went, filling the air with debris.

Eventually, he hit the ground, the impact so great it practically disintegrated the earth beneath his feet, creating a deep chasm that about a hundred Nihilators, several dozen tanks, and a few Robo-Groudons fell into, the latter frantically scrabbling at the sides for purchase to no avail as they tumbled into the depths. A moment later, there was a great explosion, and a pillar of fire rose to the heavens, destroying several dozen fighters and flying Pokemon.

The Judgment soldiers who'd just been about to fight that Nihilator contingent stared in awe. "Whoa," a Muk said.

"Was that…Rhinox?!" a Zangoose said.

"I always thought of him as more of a non-action guy," said a dazed Bisharp.

"Looks like we were wrong," a Magnemite said.

The earth parted before them, and Rhinox emerged. "Sorry about that," he said. "Everyone okay here?"

"Y-yes sir, I think so," a Golbat said.

"Excellent," Rhinox said. He stomped the ground, and it opened up again, several dozen startled soldiers—the ones who'd been rescued from the Arachnoblast-rising to the surface. "See to these brave warriors, will you? There is still work to be done."

"What work is that, sir?" the Muk asked.

Rhinox smiled as he turned away, nose horn beginning to spin. "Arceus's work, soldier. Is there any other?"

He dug into the earth and sped off towards his next battle.

Elsewhere, a great terror stalked the battlefield. Wherever Kotetsu Onimaru walked, fear spread out around him. So great was the dread aura emanated by his Spooky Plate, most Nihilators could not stand to fight him. They fled in terror, unable to meet his gaze, the fear of death freezing their souls and filling their hearts with fear. The fact that if they died they would simply wake up and be rewarded in the Abyss was forgotten. All they knew was that something about this ghostly samurai stirred something within them, a primal terror that spoke to something deep within them, something that could not be ignored and reasoned with. And so they fled.

Kotetsu cackled ghoulishly, the blue light emanating from his eyeholes and armor flickering sinisterly. "So these are the dread Nihilators of whom I have heard tell, who threaten to destroy the world, who torture and torment and destroy all who stand against them? I am not impressed. I would have thought ones with such evil as they in their souls would have a bit more fight in them."

Not all the Nihilators had been quick enough to get away. Many had been knocked over and trampled on in the frenzied flight, left behind to die by their fellows. Even though many had broken limbs, even though many were suffering from massive internal bleeding, even though many were in so much pain they could barely move, still they struggled to limp or crawl away from Kotetsu, whimpering and sobbing and soiling themselves in their terror. A few simply shuddered and died, their hearts giving out from sheer fright. Kotetsu bent down and pulled up one such poor unfortunate soul, an openly weeping and wailing Houndoom. "Here now," Kotetsu said with a cheery grin—not that his skull mask would let him do anything else, of course. "I'm not really that scary, am I?"

The Houndoom stared into the eyeholes of Kotetsu's mask. In those eerie blue depths he saw all his sins, all his misdeeds, all the wickedness he'd done in life. He saw reflected back at him the true nature of his own soul. His eyes promptly calcified, turned to stone, and burst into flames as he screamed a wail of anguish so high and full of torment you would think he had been tortured to death, voided himself, and vomited his skeleton, which continued screaming for several more seconds before abruptly collapsing.

Kotetsu looked at the bones in bemusement, then at the misshapen sack of flesh and organs in his hand, then shrugged and tossed it over his shoulder, where it burst on the ground with a sickening splat. "Well, guess that answers that question." He frowned to himself. He wasn't entirely sure he liked the effect his Plate's power seemed to be having on his enemies…or on himself. He would have to be careful, lest it corrupt him, and he become truly as monstrous as he appeared to be. Putting such thoughts aside for later—he was in the middle of a war, after all-he drew his sword—which, as you might recall, was his true body—and raised it into the air, the blade burning with an eerie blue flame. "Still, as pathetic as you were in life…you may still serve some purpose in death."

The bodies of the Nihilators around him twitched and writhed. Even the dead ones. Ghostly blue lights slowly rose from the broken forms on the ground, taking on the forms of the corpses they had just vacated, complete with all the wounds their mortal forms had possessed. From the tormented looks on their faces, it was clear they were hurting in death just as much as in life. The eye on the hilt of the Honedge opened up, an eerie blue light emanating from it, and the spirits screamed in agony as chains shot out of the blade and wrapped around their ethereal forms, going into their mouths and eyes and…other holes. The chains blazed, and with several lurches and snaps the dead Nihilators stood straight up, samurai armor similar to Kotetsu's materializing on their bodies in bursts of blue flame. The armor had spikes on it…on the inner surfaces.

Kotetsu chuckled to himself coldly. The Lich Lord of Necrontyr was not the only necromancer present…nor was Tenjin Thunderblade the only one who could summon an army of ghostly samurai. "You have all done much evil in your lives," Kotetsu informed his new thralls. "The weight of your chains and armor, the suffering you are experiencing, is directly proportional to all the horrible things you have done while alive. The lot of you are very, very evil mons, but know that even though I believe you deserve this and had this coming, I take no pleasure in what I do to you." He narrowed his eyes. "I have no intention of letting you go be treated as kings in Hell for your misdeeds. Instead, I shall offer you a chance at redemption…for a price. You shall be punished as you deserve for your sins, and be forced to serve me until you have fully atoned for your wickedness. Such is the power of my Spooky Plate, that your souls have no choice but to obey me."

"How…may we atone…master…?" one samurai moaned.

"How, you may ask? It is quite simple. You have killed many innocents in life. So now…it is time for you to kill those who are more deserving." With a wave of his sword—which was himself—a ghastly skeletal Rapidash made of ectoplasic fire appeared with a horrifying bone-chilling whinny. Kotetsu levitated in the air and landed on its back, a standard of blue flames bearing the emblem on his chest arising behind him. "We shall ride against your former kin. Kill enough of them, make them suffer as you are suffering…and perhaps your own burden shall be lessened."

"Yes, master!" the samurais howled.

With another wave of his sword, Kotetsu summoned ghostly steeds for his retainers. Once they had all saddled up, he pointed his sword forward, and they kicked their mounts into action, riding towards the fleeing Nihilators, wailing like the damned, which they were. They galloped faster than any living Rapidash could ever manage, leaving trails of blue flames in their wake. Whenever they passed a Nihilator corpse or wounded, its soul arose from its mortal coil, was ensconced in cursed armor, and joined them on their charge.

Soon enough, they reached their targets. They rode into the mass of terrified Nihilators, the dread aura they emitted so great that many of the fiends instantly dropped dead. Others were paralyzed by fright, and could do nothing to stop the ghosts of their formers colleagues from cutting them down…and whenever a Nihilator fell, a new ghost samurai arose to aid his killers in slaying his kin. The ghouls laughed madly as they slaughtered the Nihilators, reveling in the carnage, their agony ebbing just a bit for every soul they added to their ranks, giving them all the more incentive to continue the bloodbath. Kotetsu rode at the head of his warband, his Rapidash wading through the bodies, both living and dead, as the Honedge swung his blade lazily here and there. It didn't matter if he hit anything with his sword, whenever he swung the blade, someone died. Often more than one someones.

A Bisharp, her Dark-type allowing her to partially overcome her sheer terror, lunged at Kotetsu, trying to pierce his armor from behind with a Night Slash. Kotetsu made no move to avoid the attack. He didn't have to. His Rapidash lashed out with its hind legs, knocking the Bisharp away with a powerful Double Kick, leaving a pair of burning hoofprints on her chest. Grinning, Kotetsu dismounted and stalked towards the Bisharp, blade held out to the side, casually cutting down any Nihilator running by him. "So, one of you finally has the guts to fight back, eh? Let's see if you have the strength to back up that spirit! Because if you don't…I'll be taking that spirit for myself…"

Narrowing her eyes, the Bisharp started things off by firing a Metal Burst at Kotetsu. The Honedge easily cut the blast in two before it could strike him, and in that split-second the Bisharp vanished and reappeared behind the holder of the Spooky Plate to strike him with a Faint Attack. Kotetsu quickly moved his blade over his shoulder, causing her strike to hit the flat of his sword and rebound. He immediately lashed out with a counter-strike—without turning around, even!—but the Bisharp backflipped out of the way and lashed out with Fury Cutter, her blades glowing a brighter and brighter red with every slash she made through the air. Kotetsu guarded, parried, and deflected every strike—again, without turning around!—infuriating the Bisharp with how casually he was taking the fight. Enraged, she kept up the assault, lashing out with a Night Slash…

And was shocked when her arm blade shattered against the Honedge's blade. She staggered back in alarm, staring at her broken blade in shock. Kotetsu finally deigned to look at her, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, did you do something? I wasn't paying attention."

The Bisharp shook in rage. Finally, with a scream, she entered Hyper Mode, Shadow Aura blazing up around her. She grew about a foot taller, her arm blade regenerated, and more blades grew from all over her body, until she looked like she might make a fair contender for the title of Slicer. The light from Kotetsu's eyeholes brightened somewhat, but he made no move. With a shriek of rage, the Bisharp dashed towards him at incredible speeds, arms slicing through the air before her to fire a Shadow Blast at Kotetsu. The armored Honedge turned, his sword sweeping through the air, cutting the blade of Shadow Aura in two…

And while his guard was open, the Bisharp smashed into him with Shadow End. There was an explosion of blue fire and ectoplasm and Shadow Aura. The ghostly samurai froze in place and threw back their heads, screaming in renewed anguish. With a clatter, the Honedge fell to the ground. So did the pieces of his armor.

The Bisharp, eyes wide in disbelief, looked around her, her Shadow Aura ebbing somewhat. "I…I did it? I…I did it. I did it! I killed him! Ha…hahaha…hahahaha! Ahahahahaha!" She threw back her head, laughing frenziedly from ecstasy and relief and the high she got from the Shadow coursing through her veins. The other Nihilators stared at her incredulously, awed and somewhat frightened, for how strong must she be to have defeated such a monster? The ghostly samurai drifted about uncertainly, not certain what to do now.

And then…

A supernatural glow started to radiate from the Honedge. The eye on his hilt shot open. The pieces of his armor rattled and started to rise into the air, the same eerie glow surrounding them as well. The Nihilators gasped in horror, and the ghosts moaned, but the Bisharp didn't notice the pieces of armor floating towards her until it was far, far too late. "What…what the…" she murmured when she realized the pieces of armor were orbiting her. "What's…what's going on?"

The armor shot towards her. She cried in alarm, Shadow Aura blazing as she tried to knock them away or cut the plates to shreds, but they evaded her frenzied swipes and fastened themselves to her body, one by one, each successive piece of armor emitting a burst of ectoplasm as it fused to her body and caused the Bisharp to gasp as an eerie chill ran through her veins. M-maybe this is a good thing, she thought desperately as more and more pieces of armor attached themselves to her, until she was almost wearing the complete suit. Maybe by beating that stupid Honedge, I inherited his power or something? That happens sometimes, right?!

It did happen sometimes. Unfortunately for the Bisharp, this was not one of those times. Two final pieces of armor floated into the air: the helmet…and Kotetsu himself. As blue light blazed to life behind the facemask of the helmet, the Bisharp realized, to her horror, that she was not to become the armor's next owner…but its victim. "No," she gasped. "No! NONONONONONONONONO-"

Her desperate screams were cut off when the helmet slammed down over her head, silencing her. Kotetsu slipped into her armored left hand, sash wrapping around her wrist. For a moment, the blue glow and flames turned the purple-black of Shadow and exploded from the armor's joints and eyeholes, accompanied by a scream of unimaginable agony…

And then it returned to its customary blue fluorescence. There was a pause, and then the mouth of the mask opened and vomited out wisps of Shadow which twisted through the air before forming into the withered, broken soul of the Bisharp, bowed and bent beneath the weight of her chains and samurai armor. "Hmm," Kotetsu mused as his mask's mouth closed. "It looks as if something I ate did not quite agree with me."

And then the Nihilators knew true despair. They didn't have long to experience such feelings, however, because suddenly a shadow fell over them as fighters streaked across the sky, dropping bombs, not caring who they hit so long as they wiped out the ghostly army. Once the fighters had flown by, and before the smoke had finished clearing, several battleships flew up and started firing all their cannons and missiles at the battlefield, causing more explosions to wrack the landscape, surely killing anyone who hadn't already been wiped out in the first bombardment. Finally, a massive capital ship hovered overhead and dropped a nuclear warhead, destroying several miles of land and hundreds of soldiers who'd happened to be just a little too close to the blast in a single flash and a terrible explosion.

"There," the commander of the capital ship, a bloodthirsty Whimsicott, said as he crossed his arms. "That should take care of them."

"Sir, you also killed a rather sizable amount of our own forces," a Jumpluff said timidly.

"I'll kill you as well if you continue to question my orders," the Whimsicott growled.

"Yes, sir," the Jumpluff said meekly.

The great fiery mushroom cloud of the nuclear explosion subsided and started to collapse on itself…

And then a point of blue light shone in the smog, followed by another point, and another, and another, until suddenly the entire cloud seemed to be glowing with eerie light. The Whimsicott frowned. "What the…"

"Sir! Ectoplasmic readings are off the charts!" a Likitung screamed.

This became more evident as the cloud subsided further…revealing almost a thousand ghostly samurai riding through the air on spectral Rapidashes towards them, the cackling Kotetsu at their front. And what's more, he was holding two swords now, indicating his evolution into a Doublade! The Whimsicott's jaw dropped in horror. "We didn't kill the bastards…we made them stronger!"

"Told you it would happen," the Jumpluff said. The Whimsicott fired a Moonblast at the Cottonweed Pokémon without looking, obliterating him. This actually turned out to be a merciful act, for when Kotetsu's forces stormed the ship, slaughtered the crew, and raised them to join their ranks, the Jumpluff was not among their number. He did not have to watch as his comrades were bound into servitude, the ship commandeered for the use of the wielder of the Spooky Plate.

The true terror had only just begun.

Elsewhere, an army of Judgment soldiers was clashing against an army of Nihilators. It wasn't going well for Judgment. Judgment had faith and fervor and powerful armor and weapons and techniques…but then again, the Nihilators also had strong armor and weapons and techniques, and a rather sizable number of Shadow Pokémon capable of entering Hyper Mode. Things weren't looking too good for the white-clad followers of Arceus.

That changed when suddenly a large tank rolled up onto the edge of the battle, but instead of cannons and turrets it had massive sound speakers and amps jutting out of its sides, and what looked like a small stage on top. Standing on top of that stage were a Grimer with a drumset, a Venipede with a guitar, and Roxie, wearing her Toxic Plate armor and also wielding a guitar. "AGENTS OF JUDGMENT AND SERVANTS OF SIN, WE HAVE ARRIVED!" Roxie bellowed as fireworks launched from what would normally be the tank's missile launchers and exploded in the air (conveniently knocking a few fighters out of the sky in the process), lasers shot out of the tank's laser cannons (and sliced some ships in two) and a curtain with the words 'ROXIE AND THE TOXIC FIENDS' wrapped around a skull and crossbones fell from the gantries framing the back of the stage.

"Oh wow! It's Roxie and the Toxic Fiends!" a Judgment Drapion cried, pausing in his fight. "I love those guys!"

"Me too!" said the Nihilator Golbat who'd been trying to kill him. They blinked and looked at each other in surprise.

"ARE YOU GUYS READY TO ROCK?" Roxie shouted.

"YEAH!" the Judgment soldiers shouted while the confused Nihilators wondered what was going on.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Roxie yelled, holding a hand to her ear.

"YEAH!" the Judgment soldiers shouted even louder.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Roxie roared.

"YEAH!" the Judgment soldiers screamed at the top of their lungs.

"Well, okay then!" Roxie said with a grin. "A one! A two! A one, two, three, four!" She strummed a chord on her guitar, and she and the band began playing 'Smells like Teen Spirit,' the powerful speakers on the tank amplifying the song and carrying it across the battlefield.

Load up on guns and bring your friends
It's fun to lose and to pretend
She's over-bored and self-assured
Oh no, I know a dirty word

Reenergized by the music, the Judgment soldiers pressed forward, startling the Nihilators, who were caught off-guard by the loud beats and didn't understand what was going on. As they desperately struggled to regain their footing, several vents on Roxie's armor opened up and fired blobs of sludge into their midst. The globs exploded on contact with the ground, releasing gas that caused the Nihilators to start throwing up, voiding themselves, get paralyzed, drop dead instantly, or in some cases start melting depending on which gas they came into contact with. The only ones who were immune were either Steel-types or, strangely enough, the soldiers of Judgment. This was because Roxie's Toxic Plate allowed her to manufacture and tailor just about any poison she could think of, which basically meant she could alter her attacks so they would only affect Pokemon with traces of Shadow in their body and leave anyone who didn't have Shadow in them alone. Rather convenient, don't you think?

Hello, hello, hello, how low.
Hello, hello, hello, how low.
Hello, hello, hello, how low.
Hello, hello, hello

Several Steel-type Nihilators, realizing they were immune to the poisons Roxie was raining down on them, started frantically fighting their way through the forces of Judgment, realizing they could put a stop to this if they reached the source. In the meantime, Roxie's vents started pumping out more gas, covering the field in purple smog, not unlike a living smoke machine. Except most smoke machines didn't create clouds that caused flesh to start corroding or make Pokémon choke on their own vomit. A few Skarmories took to the air and started flapping their wings, using Defog to banish the poison cloud. Roxie responded by firing Gunk Shots. They didn't bother dodging, thinking they'd be immune to the poison's effects.

They were right. They weren't immune, however, to the sludge gumming up their metal feathers and making them unable to fly, causing them to crash right back down into the horde below.

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us

Bisharp dashed through the ranks of Judgment soldiers, lashing out with their blades to cut down anyone in their path as they tried to reach the stage. Roxie fired more globs of poison into the air. They seeped into the ground, and Toxic Spikes burst out of the poisoned soil just as the Bisharp ran over them, causing them to trip up and fall to the ground…

Right on top of a second batch of Toxic Spikes. The poison of the spikes didn't harm them. They were Steel-types, after all. Being impaled on the spikes and having them driven into their eyes, on the other hand…

A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey, yay

Some Aggron and Bastiodon plowed through the crowd, knocking away anyone that got in their way, be it friend or foe. Roxie launched several streams of extremely corrosive Acid into the air, drenching the Steel-types and the ground around them. The mighty Aggrons and Bastiodons laughed, the acid just dripping harmlessly off their armor…

Until the ground, weakened severely by the acidic spray, collapsed beneath their feet, causing them to fall into a deep chasm. The fall didn't kill them, they were too tough for that. The rain of attacks the Judgment soldiers standing on the rims of the pits threw down at them, however, was more than enough to finish the job.

I'm worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Metagross and Bronzongs rose into the air. Gathering their power, they fired tremendously powerful Flash Cannons and Hyper Beams at Roxie's tank. The beams struck the tank's extra-strength shields—they wouldn't be stupid enough to hold a concert on a battlefield unprotected, after all!—but the Steel-types were undeterred and kept up the barrage, confident they'd break through eventually.

They didn't expect Roxie to fire Sludge Bombs into the air that splattered in their faces, blinding them. Swearing and cursing, they lost their focus—and aim—and fired wildly, accidentally blasting each other out of the sky or dropping their guard enough for some of the Judgment soldiers to pull them down and put them out of their misery.

Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello

A swarm of Durant burst out of the ground around the tank, having opted to try burrowing underneath the crowd so as to avoid all the soldiers and poison littering the ground, and started clambering up the hull, shrieking and gnashing their mandibles. Roxie hopped into the air and slammed back down in tune with a power chord, releasing a Sludge Wave that washed off the stage and down the sides of the tank, sweeping the startled Durant away and leaving the surface of the vehicle too slippery and toxic to climb back up. Soldiers close to the tank rushed forwards and started engaging the Durant before they could escape.

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us

The ground beneath the tank shook and suddenly collapsed as some Excadrills weakened it enough to collapse, hoping to drop the tank into a chasm just as Roxie had some of their fellows. Before the tank could fall more than a few feet, however, the thrusters on its underside activated, causing it to levitate back up into the air, creating a flying stage and making the whole rock concert thing even cooler. The exhaust also had the bonus of frying the Excadrill before they could Dig to safety, and they drowned when Roxie vomited up a copious amount of Gastro Acid, filling the pit up with steaming green ooze.

A mulatto, an albino
A mosquito, my libido
Yeah, hey, yay

Scizor rose into the air and started flying towards the hovering tank. The covers on their wings kept Roxie's Gunk Shots from gumming up their wings, and they raised one claw over their faces to shield their eyes from her Sludge Bombs. They also maneuvered quickly out of the way of her other projectiles and wide-range poisonous attacks, wary by now to her tricks and not wanting to make the mistakes of their predecessors and assuming that just because they were immune to her Poison attacks didn't mean they couldn't be tripped up by them. They penetrated the tank's shields—which were designed more to repel projectile attacks then actual Pokemon—opened their pincers to rip Roxie a new one…

And the Garboder promptly belched out some Smog to blind them, then generated tentacles made of ooze from her body, wrapped them around the dazed Pincer Pokemon, and thrashed them about, bashing them into each other and the stage before finally tossing them away. They fell off the side of the tank and plummeted into the acid lake below with a splash. They did not resurface.

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it's hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind

Magnezone and Probopass floated up. Some of them used Gravity to try and force the hover tank down into the acid lake beneath it, while others fired Magnet Bombs at Roxie. The Garbodor opened her mouth and inhaled, using Stockpile to suck the Bombs in and then Swallow to consume them and absorb their power. She did nothing to prevent the tank from splashing down in the lake—after all, the whole thing had been poison-proofed long ago, otherwise her Toxic Plate's power would have corroded it away long ago—and jumped off the stage just as it hit the acid, landing on top of the wave of displaced toxins and riding atop it like an expert surfer while still playing her guitar like a badass, using her Plate's power over poison to guide the wave where she wanted across the battlefield, sweeping away any Nihilators in her path, including the Magnezone and Probopass.

Once she decided she'd had enough, she backflipped off the wave, allowing it to continue ravaging the Nihilators and dissolving them, landing in a mass of Judgment soldiers, who enthusiastically passed her around them in mosh-pit style, while she continued playing the guitar.

Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello, how low?
Hello, hello, hello

Seeing this as their opportunity to take her out, the Nihilators surged forward. The Judgment soldiers pushed back as hard as they could, not wanting their idol to get hurt, but some Forretresses and Ferrothorns managed to break through the line and charge the Garbodor, using Gyro Ball to plow their way through the white-clad soldiers and charging up for a Selfdestruct. They rapidly caught up to Roxie, glowing bright white as they prepared to blow her, themselves, and everyone else up…

And Roxie swung her guitar like a pro baseball player, knocking them away before they could strike her. They spun through the air and crashed down some distance away, in the enemy ranks, exploding and throwing the already weakened and dying Nihilators into disarray and causing many who'd desperately been struggling against Roxie's poisons to give up the ghost and die.

With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Here we are now, entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now, entertain us

The ground erupted without warning, a humongous Steelix rising up from beneath the surface. It roared as it entered Hyper Mode, its metallic surface rusting, more spikes bursting out of the surface, its teeth turning into fangs, more horns growing from its skull as Shadow Aura exploded all around it. It surged forwards, Ekansing across the ground towards Roxie, plowing through everything in its path. Toxic Spikes shattered as it bulldozed over them. Clouds of Smog and Poison Gas and showers of Acid Spray merely irritated it. It swam through lakes of toxins and dug out of pits that opened in its path without complaint, always drawing nearer, ever nearer, to the Garbodor.

The Judgment soldiers loyally stood in its way, refusing to allow their star to get harmed, but Roxie hopped out of their hands and stepped forward, saying, "Don't worry, boys, I've got this."

"But Miss Roxie-" a soldier protested.

"Got a lighter?" Roxie interrupted him.

The soldier blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"Got a lighter?" Roxie repeated.

"Uh, no, I don't," the soldier said in confusion.

Roxie scowled. "What? Seriously? Who doesn't bring a lighter to a rock concert?"

"Well, uh, technically this is a battlefield, not a rock concert-" the soldier pointed out.

"Never mind, I'll improvise," Roxie grunted, spotting a worried-looking Braixen nearby.

The Steelix roared triumphantly, only a few dozen meters away from Roxie, the distance between them vanishing by the millisecond. Roxie belched out a massive cloud of Poison Gas in the Steelix's path. Laughing triumphantly, the Iron Snake Pokemon stormed through it…

And then Roxie grabbed the nearby Braizen, pointed her at the cloud of gas, and squeezed her, causing the startled Fox to spit out a Flamethrower. The flame jet struck the cloud and ignited the gas, resulting in a tremendous explosion that engulfed the Steelix in a mighty conflagration that deafened those nearest to the blast and singed off their eyebrows.

A denial, a denial
A denial, a denial
A denial, a denial
A denial, a denial
A denial ...

Howling in agony, wreathed in flames, the Steelix wildly flailed about as it lurched out of the fire, writhing as its metal flesh melted off of its body. As the Judgment soldiers reeled back in horror, the tanks on her back sprouted a pair of jets which launched her into the air on plumes of smoke, sending her towards the Steelix's half-melted head. Raising her guitar over her head, she screamed out, "TEEN SPIRIT FORVER!" and brought the instrument down on the Steelix's skull with all her might.

Normally, this would have done nothing but shatter the guitar and just make the Steelix really angry. However, there were a few things to consider in this instance. One was that Roxie's guitar was specially-made to be nearly indestructible—it'd have to be, against because of her natural corrosiveness—and the other was that the Steelix's iron-hard skull was partially melted from the heat of the explosion. As a result, Roxie's guitar was able to penetrate its cranium and pierce whatever sort of silicon-based brain it had.

There was a pause. The Steelix blinked dumbly. Then its eyes rolled back in its skull and it toppled to the ground, quite dead.

Roxie wrenched her guitar out of the Steelix's skull and slung it over her shoulder, turning and giving a peace sign to the awestruck Judgment troops, who started cheering hysterically. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

"Huh. Not a bad finale," the Grimer, Nicky, said, laying down his drumsticks. The tank was floating in the middle of the acid lake—or what was left of it—and was generally in good condition.

The Venipede, Billy Jo, nodded as she sat down and wiped away some sweat. "Yeah. I'd say this is the sixth craziest concert we've ever put on!"

The skies above the battlefield were raging just as strongly as the ground below. Fighters streaked back and forth, Growlithefighting and exchanging fire. Battleships and capital ships launched massive fusillades of lasers and missiles as they passed alongside each other. Flying Pokemon glided about, fighting each other with wings and claw and beak and/or fang, each seeking to outdo the other in this savage dance for survival and dominance.

It was into this chaos that Rose, Zippo, Vulgara, and June entered. "Such violence and bloodshed…war is truly a horrible thing," Rose said, looking sickened by the carnage. A fighter got clipped by some flak from another ship, spiraled out of control, and crashed into a flock of Swanna bombers, killing them in a fiery conflagration, causing Rose to flinch.

Vulgara tsked and shook her head in disappointment. "Your continued squeamishness disappoints me, daughter. Do you not understand by now that war is as inevitable as death? There will always be those who fight, for power, for land, for love…the reasons vary, and ultimately, don't matter. In the end, blood soaks the soil, and it doesn't really matter who shed it or why it was shed; it's there all the same. It all ends the same way, ultimately."

"That's rather grim," Zippo commented in disgust.

"I am a Mandibuzz. I feast upon the dead and dying," Vulgara said with a shrug. "You see a battlefield and consider it a senseless waste of life. I see it as a gourmet feast. And considering that you're going to be contributing to the death and bloodshed, is it not hypocritical of you to lament the horrors of war?"

Zippo grimaced. "Just because I know this is necessary doesn't mean I wish it weren't."

"A good answer," Vulgara admitted. "Then if you wish to bring an end to this conflict sooner and minimize the bloodshed, I suggest you go out there and start using that Plate power to kill some Nihilators."

"And what of you, mother? Will you sit by and wait to feast on the fallen?" Rose asked, a hint of reproach in her tone.

Vulgara glared at her daughter. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady. While I may be allied with Judgment, sides mean little to me. It doesn't really matter who dies, be they Nihilator, Judgment, or even someone else; ultimately a corpse is a corpse, and something to be eaten. However, I shall do my best not to cast my spells on those on our 'side.' Will that be satisfactory?"

"It will have to be," Rose said, not looking completely mollified. She nodded to Zippo. "Come on, Zippo. Let's get going."

"Sure thing, babe!" Zippo said, following his wife on his flying lava board.

Vulgara narrowed her eyes at the couple as they flew off. June gave her mother a curious look. Vulgara snorted. "She's changed since meeting that boy. She's grown a backbone. I'm not sure I like it…hmmph. Well, at least I still have one dutiful daughter. Come, June. We have much to do as well." The two birds took wing, leaving their roost on top of a Judgment battleship.

Rose and Zippo flew into the conflict, the recently-evolved Swellow surrounded by wind, the Charmeleon wreathed in flames. They saw a rather large formation of Nihilator fighters chasing a smaller, damaged group of Judgment ships. As they approached, one of the Judgment ships' wings burst into flame as its engine exploded thanks to a lucky shot from one of the Nihilator vessels, and started veering towards one of its wingmates. With a flick of her staff, Rose sent a gust of wind that quickly redirected the damaged fighter away from its wingmate, stabilizing it in the air as air swirled around it. The Nihilator fighters started shooting at them, but Zippo snapped his claws, and their engines overloaded, exploding spectacularly. The Charmeleon stretched out a hand, and the flames from the explosions shot towards him, coalescing into a powerful ball of concentrated fire in his hand.

Rose flew over to the damaged fighter and peered into the cockpit. "Are you all right in there?"

The Unfezant pilot, bruised and bleeding and missing a couple of teeth but otherwise okay, nodded. "Thanks to you, Lady Rose. I owe you my life!"

The Swellow blushed and looked up at one of the other fighters, circling around them. "Can you make sure he gets to safety?"

"Certainly," one of the other pilots said. "We can escort him to the nearest carrier."

"But what about the Nihilators?" the wounded pilot asked in alarm. "We can't abandon the battle!"

Zippo flicked his wrist. The fireball he'd formed flew over his shoulder and exploded into dozens of fire streams which shot through the air and pierced a couple of squadrons of Nihilator ships approaching them, causing them to explode. "What Nihilators?"

"…Yeah, I think you have things well in hand," the Unfezant said slowly. "Arceusspeed, both of you."

"And to you as well," Rose said.

The other fighters quickly attached tow cables to the damaged one and started towing it to safety. "Am I the only one who thought it odd that an Unfezant was flying a ship instead of just, you know, flying?" Zippo wondered.

Rose shrugged. "Maybe someone who actually knows how to fly would be the best person to put in the cockpit of a flying machine?"

"I guess…" Zippo said dubiously. "Eh, whatever. We should take care of those Nihilators. Coming, babe?"

"Without a doubt," she said.

They flew further into the thick of the combat. A few dozen fighters noticed them, peeled off from the squadron of Judgment fighters they'd been engaging, and swooped towards the couple, firing their blasters. With a wave of her wing, Rose hardened the air just in front of them, creating a shield that the blaster fire harmlessly splattered against. She then swept her wing outwards, causing the shield to surge forwards and smash into the fighters, destroying them.

Zippo opened his palm and the flames from the destroyed fighters shot into it. He cupped his hands together, focusing his power into the fireball, then hurled it into the midst of a much larger squadron of fighters. The ball expanded, elongated, and transformed into a mighty dragon made of fire, spreading its wings and roaring triumphantly as it coalesced. The fighters scattered, desperately trying to evade it, but the dragon lashed out with its flaming tail, downing several out of the sky with a single swipe, and flapped its wings, knocking several more off-course, and lunged forwards, catching a ship between its jaws and crushing it with a single bite. The fighters that had managed to escape its initial attacks doubled back, firing all their weapons at it. The blasts did nothing more than cause the dragon to increase in size, and it roared at the ships, unleashing a mighty torrent of flames that washed over the fighters, destroying them one after the other.

Rose twirled her staff, generating a cyclone that shot forwards, twisting and turning in the air until it took on a serpentine form made of air currents, a wind dragon. The dragon writhed and undulated through the air, the beats of its superfluous wings creating twisters and powerful blasts of wind that knocked fighters from the air by the dozens, and whenever it opened its mouth to roar, a tornado shot out and plowed through everything in its path. The fire dragon, with a hiss, flew over to join it, the two wyrms twisting around each other, their tails intertwining at the ends as they soared through the air, unleashing combined blasts of fire and wind to demolish their enemies.

Rose raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zippo, who smiled unashamedly. "What? I thought it would be romantic."

The Swellow giggled and pecked him on the cheek. "It was. Thank you." Zippo turned redder, steam rising from his armor as the flames generated by his body increased tenfold.

As the wind and fire dragons ripped through the fighters like tissue paper, the Judgment ships started putting up a better fight, emboldened by the presence and power of the Plate-wielders. Noticing this, the Nihilators focused their firepower on Zippo and Rose. The battleships pointed their guns at the couple and fired their missiles, sending tens of hundreds of rockets streaking towards the duo. Rose narrowed her eyes as the missile streaked towards them, filling the skies, and started flapping her wings, the gem on her staff glowing. Countless mini-cyclones shot out from her body and wrapped themselves around the missiles, causing them to slow down…

And turn around as she used her power over air to alter their vectors. With a flap of a wing, she sent the missiles shooting back towards the battleships, keeping her shackles of wind around the missiles to keep their guidance systems from turning them back around. The ships quickly opened fire, frantically doing their best to blast the missiles out of the sky, but Zippo took the fire from the exploded missiles, reshaped them into spears of fire, and sent them shooting at the battleships. The spears penetrated the hull of the vessels at about the same time as whichever missiles managed to avoid getting shot down and exploded, Zippo using his Flame Plate powers to amplify the explosions to the point where they ripped the warships apart, massive pieces of burning debris tumbling downwards, or rather, it would have if Rose hadn't used her wind powers to catch the debris before it could land on and crush anybody below and instead hurl it at other Nihilator ships, causing even more damage to the enemy fleet.

More battleships rose up to replace these, and began opening fire on the duo, while more fighters swarmed into view, blasting away at the couple. Zippo snapped his claws, and the fighters spontaneously combusted, as did the missiles, and quite a lot of the turrets and ammunition magazines in the larger battleships. As explosions filled the air, Rose started spinning in place while flapping her wings, generating a massive whirlwind around her. The huge tornado spread out from around her, sucking in all the surrounding Nihilator ships while leaving the Judgment vessels alone. (She could totally do it since it was magic wind. Magic can do anything.) The ships frantically pushed their engines to the breaking point as they struggled to break free, but it was to no avail, and they found themselves pulled into the vortex. As they started being carried around and around by the wind, Rose changed the consistency of the air, turning the wind into blades that started shredding the vessels to pieces. Soon the whirlwind was filled with shrapnel, flames, and quite a lot of blood, and soon it became even more aflame with a simple exertion of Zippo's power, transforming into a massive fiery twister. Rose flapped her wings, and the twister spun away from them, the flaming walls passing harmlessly over the two of them and not-so-harmlessly over the Nihilator ships, destroying everything in its path…

Until it ran into the capital ships, which were large enough that they could avoid being easily drawn into the vortex. They opened their bows, revealing absolutely massive energy cannons, which they fired at the whirlwind. The wave-motion blasts pierced the tornado, tearing it to pieces, and shot through the air towards Rose and Zippo. Startled, Rose quickly hardened the air before them just before the beams could slam into them. She gritted her teeth as the beams pushed against her defenses, cracks already appearing in the solidified air. "A-aaaahhh! Z-Zippo…"

"Don't worry, babe! I've got this!" Zippo said, flaring up…and paused when he saw that some more capital ships were flanking them and powering up their own cannons. "Uh…Rose, I don't suppose you can make another shield?"

"No," Rose said through gritted beak.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Zippo said glumly just as the ships fired…

Only to slam right into another shield, generated by…Vulgara and June?! "Wh-what?! You two?!"

"Were you expecting someone else?" Vulgara sneered, sweat rolling down her bald face as she concentrated all her magic into keeping the massive energy blasts at bay.

Rose gasped. "Mother?!"

"Yes, yes, it's me, and the fact that I'm willing to risk my life to save yours proves that deep down I care for you on some level, so let's not waste time or breath stating the obvious, shall we?!" Vulgara snapped. She glared at Zippo. "You! Boy with the Flame Plate! Don't just stand there, do something?!"

"R-right! I've got this!" Zippo said. He shot up into the air, flying higher and higher, propelled by flames bursting out of his feet. He raised his hands above him, concentrating his power into a fireball cupped between his claws. "Have some of this, then!" he shouted as he called upon the might of the Flame Plate, causing the fireball to swell up until it was several hundred times his size, becoming a miniature sun that radiated heat and light across the battlefield. "Solar Spirit Bomb Destroyer! Haaaaaa!"

"Why did he yell that?" Vulgara asked in confusion.

"It's a…thing he does," Rose said distractedly, struggling not to lose her focus as the beams kept pushing against her.

"Quite the strange lad you've chosen for a mate, don't you think?" Vulgara asked.

"At least we're…married…and going to spend the rest of our lives together…when's the last time…any mon loved you enough to stay?" Rose snapped.

Vulgara blinked in surprise. "That…huh. That actually hurt. Hmmph. Not bad, Rose. Perhaps there is more of me in you than I thought." Rose grimaced at that.

Zippo's giant fireball exploded into several smaller—but still quite massive—ones which streaked through the air, transforming into massive fire dragons, which roared as they undulated across the sky towards the capital ships. The ships raised their shields and opened fire, but it was to no avail. The fire dragons pierced the shields and ripped through their hull, penetrating their reactors. Each ship was wracked by explosions before finally disintegrating in spectacular conflagrations, subsequently stopping the firing of the cannons—what with said cannons not existing anymore—and allowing the three birds to lower their shields, nearly falling out of the air as they struggled to recuperate and catch their breaths.

"All right, that wasn't half-bad," Vulgara admitted grudgingly.

"He's…he's not through yet, I think," Rose panted.

She was correct. Zippo flared up again, his armor glowing. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaa…" He stretched out his arms. The flames from the destroyed capital ships rose up into the air, coalescing into another fireball…but this one was bigger, denser, hotter, and brighter than the last one. "Final Ultimate Legendary Fire Power Super Max Justice Future Miracle Dream Beautiful Galaxy Big Bang Little Bang Sunrise Starlight Infinite Fabulous Totally Final Wonderful Solar Spirit Bomb Destroyer Buster!"

"…Did…did he say 'final' twice?" Vulgara asked incredulously.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Zippo cried as the gargantuan fireball exploded, sending hundreds of fire dragons streaking outwards in every direction. They zigzagged through the air, seeking out Nihilator ships, slamming into and consuming them in fiery blasts. The larger ships tried to blast the dragons out of the sky. The smaller ones tried to fly away. It was to no effect. One by one, each of them was destroyed, no matter how big, how armed, or how armored there were. It took a full minute for all the explosions to die down…and once the smoke cleared, the sky was empty of Nihilator ships for miles in every direction.

Vulgara's jaw dropped. "…Okay, that was impressive."

Rose grinned. "I'm so glad you approve, Mother." The Mandibuzz snorted.

Zippo grinned as he stared out at the destruction he'd caused. "Beat that, Leo." He wavered in the air. His flames flickered. His eyes closed.

And he fell.

"ZIPPO!" Rose screamed in horror, getting her second wind (ha) and immediately soaring upwards, the backdraft from her ascension blasting the startled Vulgara and June away. As she rose up to catch her husband, she sent out her winds, wrapping around Zippo to slow his descent…

And gasped when he began to glow. Not the crimson glow of his Flame Plate…but another light, a blue-white light…the light of evolution.

His skin had turned from red to orange, though not much of it could be seen under his crimson armor, with gold filigree of flames and dragons decorating the segmented plates and links holding his suit together. A pair of great wings with teal undersides grew from his back, flames dancing along the wingtips. His arms had become shorter and skinnier, but the claws were no less sharp, and there were still flaming vents on the sides of his armored limbs. His tail flame was ensconced in an ornate metal and crystal cage that resembled a lantern, offering it protection from the elements. He had a long neck covered in armor to protect it, with fire vents on the back giving off the illusion of spikes. His head now resembled the helmet he'd worn as a Charmeleon; a long snout, and a pair of long horns growing from the back of his head. Most of this head was armored, with more fire vents around the back of his head giving off the impression of extra horns made of flame. The symbol of the Flame Plate was now embossed in gold on his forehead, surrounded by little glowing rubies.

Zippo spread his wings and flapped, dispelling the winds Rose had gathered in a burst of flame, arresting his descent and hovering in place before his wife. Rose gazed upon him in awe. "Zippo, you…you've evolved!"

"I noticed," he said with a grin. "Like what you see?"

She responded by wrapping her wings around him and kissing him, not minding the heat of his armor. Zippo folded his wings around her as he returned the kiss, and they danced in the skies, the fire and wind dragons they'd summoned earlier flying alongside them, also inextricably intertwined in a lover's embrace.

As June looked on in wonder, Vulgara sniffed and wiped a wing across her eyes. "June," she croaked, getting her oldest daughter's attention. "You like Rhinox, don't you?" The Staraptor blushed and looked away. Vulgara cackled. "I thought as much. Well, I suppose you could do worse than that." She paused. "…You should tell him, you know." June blinked and looked at her in surprise. "Yes, I know, you're probably thinking you don't deserve him, that he'd never be interested in you, that he's out of your league…and to be fair, you're probably right. But…" She paused, and sighed. "That…that shouldn't stop you from taking a chance. Because…because even if he says no, at least you'll have tried, and then you won't have to watch as he finds happiness with someone else because you were too cowardly to speak up when there was still time, and spend the rest of your life wondering what…what might have been…"

June stared at her mother in confusion and alarm. She'd never seen the Mandibuzz like this before. So…vulnerable. And sad. After a few minutes, Vulgara managed to shake herself out of whatever reminiscence she'd found herself in. "Come on," she said gruffly. "We have to go stop those two before they get even more indecent in public. That sort of thing's for the bedroom, not the battlefield."

She took off. June followed a moment later, still thinking about what her mother had told her…and wondering why it sounded like Vulgara had been speaking from experience…

Bruteroot was not the only one who had managed to grow a forest in the middle of the battlefield. With the power of the Meadow Plate, Botanica had managed to create an entire jungle, full of towering trees, colorful flowers, and vines laden with magnificent blossoms befitting her artistic tendencies.

It was also completely lethal to the Nihilators. Grass had razor-edges that sliced up the feet of those who walked on it, or was actually deeper than it looked and dragged Pokémon who tread in it to an early grave. Flowers sprayed poisonous pollen that paralyzed or melted the flesh from bones. Vines lashed out at anyone that approached them, constricting them, ripping them to pieces, or pulling them into the canopy, never to be seen again. The trees swung branches that could crush bone, and roots rose up to trip anyone walking over them. Oh, and there were the ubiquitous giant Venus Flytraps, of course; can't have a jungle of death without them.

Oh, and the entire jungle was mobile. Yeah, the plants were capable of taking their roots out of the soil and marching across the plains of Mars towards the enemy. Most of the plants didn't, though; mainly it was just the largest trees and some of the hardiest and most dangerous plants, but more and more jungle sprouted behind them as they went thanks to the power of the Meadow Plate, and while it was hostile to Nihilators, the plants in the forest did no harm to anyone else, and even bore refreshing fruit and offered shade to anyone who entered their green domain.

"Isn't it beautiful, Rattrap?" Botanica gushed from the very top of the tallest and strongest tree in her army, surrounded by dozens of shorter but no less potent trees, ponderously moving across the plains, leaving more trees and green fields and flowering meadows in their wake. "I have already spoken to His Excellency Light of Justice, and he has given me leave to help the Martians once they have reclaimed their planet by growing new forests and plants for them, so that their world will no longer be such a barren, dusty, ball of red rock."

"Yer' assuming they don't like it that way, Botanica," the Liligant's lover, a Raticate said nervously from inside the rather large translucent seedpod beside her. "I mean, they're frigging aliens, they probably have different plants from what we're used to. They might not even know what a tree is. Might scare 'em."

A concerned look crossed Botanica's face at that thought. "Oh my. Never knowing what a tree is…well, let's see if we can't change that. Even if they don't like what I've done, I'm sure I can grow any plant they can think of with the Meadow Plate's power. I've already done pretty well at growing any plant I can think of."

"And you've done a pretty darn good job at that," Rattrap agreed. "But, uh…not that I don't enjoy the view or anything…but why exactly did you want me up here with you, anyway? I mean, I'm flattered and all, but, uh…I'm not exactly soldier material, you know? I'm a miner. What am I doin' in a warzone on another planet?!"

"You're always saying we never go anywhere really interesting on our dates," Botanica said.

"There's interestin', and then there's a warzone!" Rattrap screamed, flinching as several warships flew overhead and started dropping firebombs on the walking jungle.

Botanica barely even acknowledged the battleships. With a flick of a limb, massive vines shot out of the jungle, snatched the firebombs out of the air, and flung them back at the ships, causing them to explode against the hulls. Buds formed on the sides of the vines, and opened up to fire seeds, thorns, acid sprays, and blasts of solar energy at the ships. While most of the projectiles exploded on contact with the vessels, some of the seeds rooted themselves to the ship's hulls, burst open, and engulfed the warships in vines within seconds, breaking into their interiors and continuing to grow on the inside. Thicker vines shot out of the jungle to wrap around the ships and pull them downwards, where several trees reached up with their mighty limbs and gently lowered the vessels to the ground, where they were rapidly covered in plant growth and became flowering hillsides…the bodies of the Nihilators inside proving excellent fertilizer for the new life. "Do not worry, my love. I shall allow no harm to come to you. I've designed that seed you're in to be almost completely indestructible. Even if they were to drop a nuclear bomb on us and it somehow got through my defenses, you would remain unharmed."

"But would you?" Rattrap asked in concern.

Botanica nodded. "Certainly, thanks to the power of the Meadow Plate. So long as even a single seed or blade of grass created with its power remains, I can always regrow myself. You cannot be regrown, however, which is why it's important that you stay in there until this is all over."

"And you will let me out, right?" Rattrap asked nervously. "You ain't gonna just, you know, leave me in here forever so I can be safe forever?"

"Of course not," Botanica asked in surprise. "Why would I ever do that?"

"Oh, you know…it's just…something some people sometimes do to their loved ones when they get absolute power," Rattrap said uncomfortably.

Botanica pressed a leaf to the side of the seed. "All seeds must one day release the life within them so that they may grow. In doing so, they put themselves at risk…they could get eaten, or stepped on, or burnt down, or destroyed in any number of ways. And yet they must sprout, for in doing so, they celebrate life, no matter how short that life is. While there is safety in staying a seed forever…that's not living, and to deny that to anyone would be denying my own nature as a Grass-type."

Rattrap reached out and pressed his paw to the interior wall of the seed, in the same spot where Botanica was touching the outer wall. "Heh. That's really profound. I still don't understand what a beautiful, brilliant, upper-class dame like you sees in a dirty rat like me."

"A plant's roots find purchase and nourishment in the finest soil," Botanica said with a smile. "And I can't think of anyone earthier than you, my love."

Rattrap smirked. "Heh. Well, given the amount of crud I get in my fur down in the mines, I guess that's understandable."

Botanica giggled…then gasped in pain. "Botanica?!" Rattrap cried in alarm.

"M-my babies…they're…" Botanica cried out again, face contorted in pain.

Rattrap looked away from the Liligant and saw, to his dismay, that several Robo-Groudons and Fire-type Nihilators were now at the edge of the forest, releasing powerful Fire attacks as they advanced, burning away at the marching jungle and causing the walking plants to collapse in flames as the fires consumed them. "Oh no…those bastards! Why, if I weren't in here…and kind of scrawny and useless…I'd-"

"Don't…don't worry, my love…I've got this…" Botanica said through gritted teeth, flinching with every plant or tree that caught fire. "Those fools have forgotten…even if you burn down what's on the surface…every plant has roots!"

The ground beneath the Nihilators split open, and roots, covered in thorns and ending in spiked jaws, rose up. The Fire-types panicked and tried to ignite the roots as they closed in on them, but the plants just kept on coming, wrapping around their limbs, pouring themselves down their mouths and other orifices. Even the giant robots were not immune; giant roots wrapping themselves up their bodies, climbing higher and higher up the mecha's forms as they struggled to break free, to burn the plants away, but more and more roots just grew up to replace what was burned down, piling themselves on top of each other, until finally the Robo-Groudons had vanished completely, immersed in newly grown-trees which sprouted branches and leaves as Rattrap watched in awe. More trees and grass and flowers sprouted up over the corpses of the Nihilators, now completely buried beneath the hostile roots, and within moments the damage they had caused was completely mended. It was impossible to tell anything had been burned down at all. In fact, the jungle was now bigger than before!

"Whoa…" Rattrap whispered.

"While fire kills plants…it's also good for the soil, and allows for fresh growth, to replace the dead and dying," Botanica explained, looking better already, as she wiped away some sweat.

"Doesn't look like it hurts any less," Rattrap said in concern.

"It doesn't," Botanica admitted. "Especially when you're tied into all the plant life around us like I am."

"Couldn't you just…I dunno…grow some strains of plants that are immune to fire or somethin'?" Rattrap asked, not wanting to see his girlfriend in any more pain. "I mean, I'm sure I've seen you make some in your lab…"

"…I don't think I can," Botanica said after some thought. "Grass-types are not, for the most part, immune to fire. And the Meadow Plate is basically the purest embodiment of Grass-type power. As a result, I can't grow any plants that are immune to Grass-type weaknesses—Fire, Ice, Bug, Poison, and so on. I can make some which are resistant to them, to an extent…but not completely immune. It's the same reason Roxie can't use her Toxic Plate to manufacture poisons that can just eat through Steel, even though such poisons do exist. Poison-types can't hurt Steel-types, so neither can any toxin she creates."

"…Huh. I guess that makes sense. Kinda annoying, though," Rattrap grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Botanica agreed.

"So, uh…doesn't that mean this seed…" Rattrap asked nervously.

"No," Botanica said firmly. "This seed will withstand anything, even fire."

"Really? But…didn't you just say-" Rattrap pointed out.

Botanica smiled. "For normal plants? Yes. But for you…to protect someone I care about more than anything else…well, the power of love has a way of overcoming any boundaries or limitations, doesn't it?"

Rattrap stared at her for a moment, blushing. Abashed, he looked away, muttering, "I really don't deserve you, you know that?"

She chuckled and looked away. "Funny. There are times I think it's the other way around…" She frowned when she saw over a dozen more Robo-Groudons stomping towards them, accompanied by a pair of Arachnoblasts and several warships. "Oh great. Here come more of them. They just don't learn, do they?"

"Think you can do something about them before they burn down more of your forest?" Rattrap asked in concern, not wanting to see Botanica in any more pain.

"I think I can think of something…" the Liligant said, concentrating. The tree they were standing on started swaying, causing Rattrap to yelp as he was shaken back and forth in his seed. Green power flowed from Botanica into the tree, and down one of the tree's branches, focusing itself into a bud that started growing and growing into a massive fruit the size of a rather large house. Once the fruit had fully ripened, it broke from its stem and fell into the clutches of another branch, which wrapped its 'fingers' around it, wound up, and threw the fruit at the approaching Nihilators.

The ships and robots opened fire, blasting the fruit to pieces with a massive fusillade…

But as the fruit's juice was splattered everywhere, hundreds of seeds were also flung from the blast, landing all over the place…not just on the ground, but on the Nihilator mechas and ships as well. Realizing what was about to happen, they frantically tried to shake the seeds off; but it was too late. The seeds burst open, vines shooting out to wrap around the war machines, covering them in green matter within seconds. Flowers bloomed from their surfaces. Roots and vines shot down, anchoring themselves to the ground—and also keeping the warships from crashing—and causing many more trees and grass and flowers to sprout from the ground for miles in every direction. Within moments, another large section of the red plains was choked with plant life, and the jungle had expanded yet again.

"…You know, I'm really glad you're not a supervillain like that one Poison Oak chick from Gligarman, else I'd be absolutely terrified you'd use this power to take over the world and replace all life with plants," Rattrap said, a little shaken.

"Don't be silly, I'd never do that!" Botanica assured him. Though the thought does hold a tiny bit of appeal. "Now, let's keep going. We still have a ways to go before the Nihilators are beaten, and this planet can begin to heal!"

They continued on their way, green life overtaking red dirt wherever they went.

Much like Tenjin Thunderblade, Sparky DeLux was the latest in a long line of heroic Pikachu warriors who raised swords against the forces of evil. But where Tenjin had spent his formative years learning bushido, Sparky had taken the knight's path, internalizing the code of chivalry. He'd grown up hearing stories, not just of his venerated ancestors, but of other knights throughout history, who fought valiantly for honor, for their lieges, and for the people under their protection. He often dreamed of fighting alongside those legendary knights, righting wrongs and proving himself as a true knight.

As such, it wasn't really much of a surprise that, after seeing Tenjin summon an army of electrical samurai, Sparky would do the same, conjuring up lightning facsimiles of his childhood heroes; his many ancestors who had wielded Durendal before him, the valiant Count Roland, who had entrusted the sacred sword to the first DeLux, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and more besides. All rode out across the field of battle, cutting down any Nihilator in their path from the backs of their (literally) thundering steeds. Bolts of lightning were constantly lancing out from their bodies, the air filled with static from their presence, lethal bolts of electricity arcing through the air and electrifying Nihilators in the sky and on the ground. Many a fighter ship that tried to strafe the knights found itself knocked out of the air by a bolt of power, crashing and burning to the ground.

Much larger battleships opened fire from a distance, firing missiles and lasers and dropping bombs. This had about as little of an effect as you might expect, since the knights were made of solid electricity, so were able to diffuse and dissipate themselves so that none of the attacks had any effect on them. Sparky, riding overhead on a lightning dragon—yes, he got inspired by Tenjin again, what of it?—pointed his sword at the warships, and his knights transformed into bolts of lightning and arced through the air, striking the battleships. Electricity arced around the ships as the knights ravaged their hulls, searching for a way in. It didn't take them long to find a conductive surface, and they channeled themselves into the ship's systems, causing rampant power surges and overloads as they ripped the vessel's power subsystems to shreds, blasting through every override and surge protector in their path, shorting out every computer and system and backup system until finally the ships were nothing more than powerless hulks and came crashing to the ground as their engines cut out, killing everyone on board…well, everyone who wasn't already killed by the massive amounts of voltage coursing through the halls, anyway.

Sparky smiled grimly at this victory, and frowned when he saw a few dozen Robo-Groudons and a handful of Arachnoblasts stomping towards them. "And so they throw giants at us next? Do they not know that we have all slain monsters in our day? What are a few more beasts to knights such as us? Onwards!"

The lightning knights let out battle cries and charged towards the mechas, rising into the air as they transformed into lightning bolts…

Only to abruptly change direction, aiming towards small protrusions rising from the tops of their heads. Sparky gasped as his warriors were forcibly drawn to the metal spires, vanishing into them. "What?! Lightning rods?! How insidious…well, I suppose they had to learn sooner or later…" He smiled. "Still, if they thought that something like that would be enough to stop me, they have another thing coming."

While he could, theoretically, destroy them anyway with his sword, there was another trick he wanted to try. He concentrated, reaching out with the power of the Zap Plate. Even if he couldn't use his Electric attacks on the mechas thanks to the lightning rods and their insulated bodies…that didn't mean they were invulnerable. Far from it. After all, they still had electricity running through their interiors…and with the proper focus, he could bend it to his will.

And bend it did. The robots shook and moaned, sparks shooting from their joints and seams as Sparky manipulated the machines' power systems. At first, he considered simply destroying them…but then he had another idea. Focusing some more, he caused armor made out of solid electricity to manifest on the exteriors of the robots, causing them to look like giant knights in sparking armor. It looked a little weird on the Arachnoblasts, but he thought it was a nice touch. Flying forward on his dragon, he touched each of them on the shoulder with Durendal. "I knight thee, and add thee to my ranks," he spoke. "Now go forth, and fight for valor! The Nihilators must be destroyed!"

The robots roared and stomped off. Sparky smiled, and prepared to summon his other knights once again…

"COWARDLY KNAVE!"

Sparky stiffened. "Who dares to call I, a noble knight of the DeLux line, a coward?!" he demanded.

"I do!" a voice shouted from far below. Sparky squinted. He made out the form of a Chesnaught clad in black armor standing on the ground. Something seemed oddly familiar about him…

"And who are you to make such a bold and rootless claim?!" Sparky demanded.

"I am Edward, son of Edward, of the line of Aquitaine," the Chesnaught said.

Sparky started. "Edward…of the Aquitaine?! Then you are-"

"The Black Knight, latest in a line of Black Knights? Indeed," Edward said with a bow of his head.

Sparky's mind reeled. The DeLuxes and Aquitaines had been rivals for centuries. While the DeLuxes had upheld chivalry and fought for justice, the Aquitaines had fought for power. "What are you doing here, Edward of Aquitaine? How did you come to be a Nihilator on Mars?"

"I sought the power to at long last destroy the line of DeLux, and Oblivion's Shadow offered it to me," Edward said with a shrug. "Simple as that."

Sparky frowned. "But still…to accept the cursed power of Shadow-"

"And who are you to speak to me of accepting 'cursed' power?" Edward challenged. "Just look at you, DeLux! You have become overreliant on the power of that Zap Plate of yours! You create underlings to do your fighting for you; you attack from a distance and on high rather than fighting alongside your so-called allies; you do not use your sword to destroy your enemies, but instead turn their own weapons against them! Is this what your vaunted chivalry tells you to do? Is this, then, what the noble knights of DeLux have been reduced to? What do you think your father would say if he were to see you fighting like this, or your grandfather? Do you think they would be proud?"

"I have been chosen by the Plate to wield its power. It is a great honor…" Sparky said, somewhat uncertain. The Black Knight's words held a sting of truth in them, though. Was he fighting dishonorably? Would his ancestors disapprove?

"Perhaps it is, but are you using it in an honorable manner?" Edward asked, echoing Sparky's thoughts. "Come down here and face me in a duel. One-on-one, as our ancestors have fought each other since time immemorial. Prove to me that you still have what it takes to be a knight of valor, and are not simply a coward and bully hiding behind a suit of armor and a magic sword."

"And I suppose you will insist that I not use the power of my Zap Plate?" Sparky said skeptically, the insult to his pride burning. Against his better judgment, he was strongly considering taking the Chesnaught up on his challenge, though rationally he knew he should just blast the Black Knight from on high and be done with it…but in doing so, wouldn't he only be proving him right?

"I shall not use the power of Shadow in return," Edward promised. "I swear on my honor, and the graves of my venerated ancestors."

Sparky considered this. While the Aquitaines were evil, they had always been honorable warriors. Were it not for their lust for power, it was quite likely they and the DeLuxes would not be at odds, and in fact many knights on both sides had considered their opposites to be as brothers…granted, brothers they felt obligated to kill, but brothers all the same. As such, even though every instinct was screaming that this was a bad idea, he found himself believing Edward.

And besides, he'd always known he'd have to fight an Aquitaine someday in glorious battle…today might as well be that day, and he did not desire to cheapen his inevitable victory by just frying him from a safe distance. Surely he could defeat Edward without his Zap Plate. It wasn't as if it was the source of all his power and skill, right?

"Very well," Sparky said. "I accept your challenge…so long as we do not duel using a children's card game."

"Huh?" asked the confused Edward.

"Never mind," Sparky said. He flew down on his lightning dragon and landed a few meters away from Edward. He hopped off, his steed dissipating into static behind him. He touched the marking on his chest, and in a flash of light his magic armor was gone and he was back to wearing his regular suit, the Zap Plate in his paw. He put it away and held out his sword. "All right. Shall we begin?"

Edward made no motion to grab his own sword. He grinned. "Yes. Let's."

The ground shook, and suddenly a Palpitoad erupted from the ground beneath Sparky, wrapping its arms around him and crushing him against its chest. Startled, Sparky nearly let his sword slip from his paw…not that it would have done much good at the moment, since his arms were pinned to his sides, and he couldn't do a thing with it. Reflexively, he released a powerful Thundershock…which, naturally, had no effect on the Palpitoad thanks to its Ground-type. As the Pikachu looked on in horror, several other Ground-type Pokemon emerged from the ground as well, sinister grins on their faces…

But the biggest of all was Edward's smug grin. "Gahahahaha! I can't believe you actually fell for that! Ha! I knew you were a sucker for all that honor stuff, but I never imagined you'd really be this stupid!"

"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!" Sparky cried. "You swore-"

"I swore I wouldn't use Shadow. I never said I wouldn't call for backup," Edward said.

"It was implied! Not to mention that you said this would be a one-on-one duel in the first place!" Sparky pointed out.

"Eh, I guess I did," Edward admitted. "But you know what? I was lying. That's a thing the bad guys do sometimes, you idiot."

"But you are an Aquitaine! Lying is beneath you!" Sparky protested. "What would your ancestors-"

"My ancestors are dead because they were so obsessed with following their oh-so-precious code of honor that they refused to do anything that might allow them to actually defeat you rotten DeLuxes!" Edward shouted. "So I decided 'fuck that noise' and joined the winning team for a change."

"You mean the winning team that's currently being routed by armies from every nation on Earth and has nowhere left to hide after being kicked off the planet?" Sparky sneered.

"…Fair enough," Edward admitted. "I suppose we may have bit off more than we can chew, and we might not win this battle. But you know what? Even if I die today, I have no regrets, because I actually got to do whatever I wanted for a change without adhering to some stupid guidelines some guy hundreds of years ago wrote up and the rest of my family was too blind to question. If you'd actually been smart enough to do the same, you might not be in this situation right now, with me about to avenge my ancestors for all the centuries of humiliation your family's caused us."

"Your ancestors would not want this victory to happen in such a manner!" Sparky protested.

Edward shrugged. "Yeah, well, none of them are here right now, and they're all dead, so screw them. And to be fair I don't really care so much about avenging them as doing something none of them were able to do: kill a knight of DeLux!" Chuckling, he drew his sword. Sparky noted with distaste that it was recognizably the Alondite, the ancestral sword of the Black Knights of Aquitaine…and certainly a blade unworthy of this lout. "Any last words?"

"A few, actually," Sparky said, narrowing his eyes at the Chesnaught. "You are correct in that my adherence to chivalry and my code of honor have gotten me into trouble more than once, since I keep making the mistake of assuming that my foes will be as honorable as myself. But do you know why I have yet to die, in spite of this?"

"I don't really care," Edward said, drawing back his sword.

"You should," Sparky said. "The reason I'm still alive is because I always have friends watching my back to make sure I don't get in over my head."

"Then it's a pity none of them are here to rescue you now," Edward sneered, preparing to strike the killing blow.

Sparky grinned. "Now, whatever gave you that idea?"

Edward paused. "Huh?"

There was a whistling noise, as if something was passing through the air at high speeds. The other Nihilators stiffened and fell over, arrows of ice embedded in their backs. Edward started, and the Seismitoad looked around in alarm. "Wh-what? What is this?!"

"That," Sparky said smugly. "Would be my fiancé."

Edward's eyes bulged. "Your what?!"

The Seismitoad started, eyes bulging. He gurgled, saliva and blood dripping from his mouth. Then, his grip on Sparky loosening, he started to topple forwards. The Pikachu wriggled free from the Seismitoad's grip and dashed out of the way before the Vibration Pokemon could hit the ground with a thud, an ice dagger in his back and a Glaceon in elegant ice armor standing behind it, a smug look on her face. "That would be me," she said.

"Cutting it a little close, weren't you?" Sparky asked as he walked over to the Glaceon.

"I take a perverse joy in watching you squirm," Lu said cheerfully.

"Huh. That explains a lot," Sparky said good-naturedly.

"…Ha! And you claim that I'm a disgrace to my ancestors when you're cavorting around with and getting helped by an-" Edward started.

"Oh, put a sock in it. You're hardly one to lecture Sparky about honor," Lu said in disgust. She frowned at the Pikachu. "Speaking of which…you didn't really fall for that guilt trip he used on you before, did you?"

"I suspected he might be up to something, but out of respect for the long history between our two families I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt," Sparky confessed.

Lu shook her head. "You should know by now, Sparky. These Nihilators have no honor. Even the worst Judgment guys we've faced usually have some degree of integrity, Ghetsis notwithstanding."

"So I can see," Sparky said. "In any event, I knew you were following me, and was confident that if I did fall into a trap, you'd be there to save me."

"You trust me that much, huh?" Lu asked with a smirk.

"You are the womon I am to marry. Why should I not trust you?" Sparky asked.

"I'm an assassin, you know. I could easily be seducing you and waiting for the moment to slide my knife into your ribs," Lu pointed out.

"Except that you're not," Sparky said calmly.

Lu chuckled. "Yeah, you got me there."

Edward snarled, taking a few steps back, sword shaking in his hand. "No! I…I shall not allow this! One way or the other, I will destroy you, and prove myself superior to all who have come before me! GrrrrrAAAAAAAAHHHH!" With a roar, he entered Hyper Mode, Shadow Aura erupting around him. His natural beige and green armor turned black to match his heart and the Nihilator armor he was already wearing. Dozens of spikes sprouted from just about every surface of his body. His eyes turned red and a spiky crest grew from the top of his head. His blade caught fire with Shadow as well, and he swiped it through the air, purple-black flames trailing in its wake.

"So he has become a true Black Knight after all…" Sparky muttered.

"Shall we take him, then?" Lu asked.

"…No. Leave this to me," Sparky said, stepping forwards.

Lu shot him an annoyed look. "Seriously? Is this another of your stupid honor things?"

"It is," Sparky admitted.

"And didn't we just get done talking about-" Lu started.

"It's a matter of principle," Sparky interrupted. "He believes that abandoning his honor and taking dark power are the only way to achieve true victory. By battling him with honor, and prevailing, I will show him that he is incorrect and that he has thrown away everything for nothing. I will defeat him, both physically and spiritually." He hesitated. "I suppose it's also partially to address his insults earlier, and prove that I am still capable of winning a battle without tapping into sacred power. I must be the reason I win a battle, not because I'm using a holy artifact as a crutch. Well, other than Durendal, I mean."

"…Oh. Huh. Yeah, I think I see where you're coming from," Lu admitted. She sighed. "Okay, but the instant it looks like you're losing, I'm stepping in, okay?"

Sparky nodded. "Fair enough. I do not think that will be necessary, though. After all…I'm not even going to need the Zap Plate to defeat this knave."

As he stepped forwards, Edward bellowed and rushed forwards with a Shadow-fueled Giga Impact. Cheeks sparking, Sparky's body lit up and he dashed forward with a Volt Tackle, surrounded by a golden nimbus. The two charged towards each other across the battlefield, the ground splitting and breaking in their wake. When they collided, the shockwave from the impact raced out in all directions, tearing up the ground and sending bolts of electricity and Shadow crackling across the landscape, forcing Lu to do some fancy footwork to keep from being struck. The two knights pressed against each other, swords locked, their respective energies crackling around them. A savage grin on his face, Edward started gaining ground, his superior strength and size starting to push Sparky back. Realizing this, Sparky leaned back onto his tail, which curled up beneath him, and used it as a spring to bounce out of the way, causing Edward's sword to come down hard and smash into the ground hard enough to cleave it for several dozen meters, Shadow erupting from the earth…

And also getting stuck. "Ack! No! Get…out…of…there!" Edward grunted as he desperately tugged at the blade. Landing on his feet, Sparky charged electricity into his sword and dashed towards the Chesnaught. Edward let go of his blade with one hand and raised an arm to shield his face, his hand enlarging to create a spike-covered shield. Sparky struck this shield and was knocked back, crying in pain, as the spikes shot out, piercing his armor. "Haha! First blood!" Edward Murkrowed as he wrenched Alondite out of the ground and swung it at Sparky.

"But far from the last!" the Pikachu retorted, twisting in midair, landing on Alondite's edge, and racing down its length towards Edward, unmindful of the Shadow flames. Edward wildly swung his sword to knock him off, but Sparky leaped into the air and thrust his sword at Edward's face. The Chesnaught quickly raised his free hand again to make another Spike Shield, but Sparky quickly drew his blade back, landed on top of the shield, and bounded over it, lashing out with his blade as he went and cutting off the top of Edward's crest and slicing into his back armor.

Snarling, Edward whirled about, lashing out with his blade, but Sparky was already gone, dashing around the Chesnaught in a circle with Agility. Knowing better than to try and follow his movements and get dizzy, Edward instead started spitting Seed Bombs all over the place. The explosive seeds hit the ground and detonated, and Sparky had to zigzag all over the place to keep from getting hit. Anticipating where the Pikachu would go next, Edward fired first another Seed Bomb…

And then a Mud Shot, which Sparky ran right into when he dodged the explosive. Sparky cried out in surprise, staggering as the mud blinded him. Edward cackled in triumph and thrust out an arm, shooting a Vine Whip which wrapped around the Pikachu and started pulling him in. Sparky released a Thunderbolt down the vine, but Edward only gritted his teeth and kept on retracting it. Seeing he couldn't escape that way, Sparky instead severed the vine with a swing of his sword, shaking his head about to get the mud out of his eyes, then charged electricity into his sword and thrust it into the ground, sending a line of power to the Chesnaught that exploded under him, engulfing him in a powerful electrical blast.

Roaring, Edward charged out of the lightning, electricity crackling around his body, jumped into the air, curled up into a massive spiked ball, and started towards Sparky with a Rollout. Sparky leaped into the air, landing on top of the ball, and started running in place, dragging his sword along the shell behind him, causing sparks to shoot out as well as a horrible screeching noise to ring across the plains. When the ball started wobbling, Sparky leaped off, and Edward rolled another few meters before uncurling, gashes covering his armor from Sparky's sword and many of his spikes cut off. Much to his dismay, several pieces of his Nihilator armor crumbled and fell off, as well. "You're going to pay for that, you little runt!"

He thrust his arm into the ground, glowing green and using Frenzy Plant. Sparky jumped into the air just as the ground exploded, and dozens of thrashing thorny roots burst out, reaching up towards him. Sparky raised his sword and fired a lightning bolt into the sky. There was a pause, and then dozens more bolts shot down, striking the roots and causing them to writhe as Edward, who was connected to them, cried out in pain. Sparky landed and started dashing through the stunned roots, lashing out with his sword as he went and cutting down every root in his path. Struggling to recover, Edward quickly raised a hand to protect himself with Spike Shield…

And noted, to his horror, that all the spikes on both hands had been cut off, presumably while Sparky had been running around on top of him. He quickly raised his sword just in time as Sparky launched into a frenzied, lightning-powered attack, lashing out with his blade again and again and again. Edward found himself on the defensive, riposting and parrying and blocking the Pikachu's strikes as he was pushed back, struggling to perform a good counter. He spat a Seed Bomb at the Pikachu, but Sparky sliced his sword through the air faster than he could see…

And the seed, split in two, flew past him, exploding when it hit the ground behind him. Sparky leaped into the air, raising his sword for a powerful overhead strike. Edward raised his sword to repel the attack…

Only for the blade to shatter as Durendal cleaved through it. Edward's eyes widened in horror and disbelief…which turned out to be a bad thing, as Sparky's sword slashed through the left side of his face, ripping through one of his eyes and leaving a gaping wound. Screaming in agony, Edward stumbled backwards, the hilt of Alondite dropping from his hand while the other shot up to cover his face. "Youl…you little shit! H-how…how did you do that?! Durendal and Alondite have clashed for years, and yet neither has even scratched the other until now!"

"That is because until now, Alondite has always been wielded by one worthy of its power," Sparky said coldly. "Something which, I'm afraid, cannot be said of you."

"You…YOU…I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Edward screamed, Shadow Aura blasting around him as he shot forwards with a Hammer Arm…

And Sparky casually dodged the blow, head tilting to the side to avoid the punch. He stepped forward, his sword flashing through the air once, twice, thrice, four…ice? (What's the right term for that? I have no idea). And then the Pikachu was standing on the other side of Edward, back turned to the Chesnaught. Edward was frozen in place, arm outstretched, a shocked look on his face.

And then…

Edward's outstretched arm fell off.

Then his other arm.

Then both his legs.

And then he fell to the ground.

And then he started screaming. "YOU BASTARD!" Edward howled, tears and blood running down his face as more blood and Shadow gushed from his stumps. "WHAT…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!"

"Don't worry," Sparky said calmly, wiping the blood from his sword before sheathing it. "It's just a flesh wound."

"Haha! Nice one!" Lu said as she came over.

Sparky grimaced. "I'd like to take credit for it, but I was inspired by that…movie. You know the one."

Lu blinked. "You mean Monty Arbok and the Holy-"

"Don't! Don't…say it," Sparky hissed. "Zippo must never know." Lu nodded in understanding.

Elsewhere, Zippo paused in the middle of melting an Arachnoblast into slag just by standing on top of it. "My Monty Arbok senses are tingling. Someone has just referenced one of the greatest movies of all time."

"Huh?" said the confused Vulgara.

"Don't mind him, it's…another one of those things he does," Rose said vaguely.

"Ah," said Vulgara.

Sparky walked over to the anguished dismembered hulk lying on the ground. Edward looked up at him hatefully as his Shadow Aura died down and he resumed his original form…minus the limbs. "Well…go on then…finish me…"

"No," Sparky said.

Edward blinked. "What?"

"What?!" Lu asked in surprise. "Oh, for the love of…Sparky, are you really going to show mercy to this guy?! Come on!"

"Oh, I'm not being even remotely merciful, trust me on this," Sparky said.

Lu blinked. "Huh?"

Sparky turned back to the mortally wounded Chesnaught. "While your ancestors were evil, they fought with honor. They had the respect of my ancestors, never our hatred. When they died, they died with dignity, remaining true to their principles and virtues. You, on the other hand…" He shook his head in disgust. "You are a disgrace to your entire family. You turned your back on everything they stood for, sacrificing everything for power…and look where it has gotten you in the end. Your family's sword has been broken, you have no son (I'm assuming) to carry out your legacy, and you will die here on a distant battlefield, far from our home, and never be entombed along with your ancestors in the Aquitataine crypt.

"As such, I will not kill you. You do not deserve it. You do not deserve an honorable death in battle. I will leave you here, to die of your injuries, knowing that you were not even half the mon your father, grandfather, and so forth were."

Edward's eye widened in horror. "No! NO!"

Lu's eyes widened in surprise. "Whoa. That's harsh." She grinned. "I like it."

"You…you cannot…surely this goes against your code of honor!" Edward protested desperately.

"I think there might be a clause in there allowing something like this, actually, but I don't feel like checking right now," Sparky said, causing Lu to snicker. "I suggest you not bother trying to attack me while I'm leaving in an attempt to either kill me and/or goad me or Lu into killing me, because it won't work."

"It won't?" Lu asked, looking disappointed.

"No, it won't," Sparky said firmly, causing her to pout.

"No…you…you can't do this! You can't leave me like this!" Edward yelled desperately as Sparky and Lu turned and walked away. "Get back here and finish me! Kill me! DeLux! DELUUUUUUX!"

"What an unpleasant individual," Lu said, lip curled in distaste.

"We've seen worse," Sparky said with a shrug, picking up the pieces of Alondite as he went and stowing them away.

"What are you going to do with those?" Lu asked.

"The breaking of Alondite signifies the end of its long relationship with the Aquitaine knights," Sparky explained, pocketing another fragment. "While I suppose I could just leave them here, it feels somewhat disrespectful for a sword with as storied a history as this one to be forgotten here on this battlefield like its last owner. I'm going to see if I can't have it reforged."

"Why? Isn't it…I dunno, cursed or something?" Lu asked.

"Actually, no," Sparky said. "While it was used for evil, the blade itself wasn't inherently so. Otherwise I don't think it would have allowed itself to be wielded by honorable warriors, or broken in the hands of one who was dishonorable. I believe it can be redeemed…" He shrugged. "And if nothing else, it'll make a good trophy, signifying the end of the Delux family's long rivalry with the Aquitaines…" He paused, a grimace on his face.

"You're not too happy with that, I take it?" Lu asked.

Sparky put another sword fragment away and looked around for any more before answering. "While I always knew I would one day fight a Black Knight, I'd always expected it to be a duel of honor, not…well, what happened."

"I thought you were very honorable," Lu said.

"Thanks," Sparky said gratefully. "Still, it's not quite what I'd hoped for, and I'm disappointed that it had to end like this, with that sad excuse for an Aquitaine back there as the last Black Knight a DeLux shall ever face."

"Well hey, you never know. He might have a bastard kid somewhere even he doesn't know about who'll come after you or your kid someday, looking for revenge," Lu said.

"That's possible," Sparky admitted. "Something to look forward to, I suppose. If that ever happens, I shall give him the Alondite. If not…well, there'll always be plenty of other foes out there and injustices for my descendants to right."

"That's the spirit," Lu said encouragingly.

After giving the area one more look-over to make sure he hadn't forgotten any pieces of Alondite, Sparky took out his Zap Plate. Lu raised an eyebrow. "So you've gotten over the whole 'is it dishonorable if I use this Plate thing, then?"

"Pretty much," Sparky said.

"That was quick," the Glaceon said.

"We don't really have time for soul-searching now. I'm sure my ancestors will be fine with me using this Plate's power if it will help to save people and stop the Nihilators," Sparky said.

"Makes sense to me," Lu said.

Sparky slapped the Plate to his chest. "'The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate!' Zap Plate, Armor Up!" he shouted. The Plate glowed, and suddenly so did the rest of his armor as the Plate melded with it and caused his whole suit to turn yellow. His pauldrons grew larger and rounder and blades shaped like lightning bolts grew from them. His gauntlets grew longer and started crackling with static electricity. Thin segmented armor covered his tail, causing it to look like a yellow blade, while his sword shimmered with energy and changed shape to zigzag like a lightning bolt. Yellow bands rose up from his breastplate to form a gorget, and more sprang up from that to encompass all of his head, including his ears, in a yellow helmet. The helmet morphed to resemble the helm of a knight, with a lighting bolt-shaped crest growing from the top and a grille with lightning bolt-shaped slits covering his face. "Power of Lightning!" he cried as the emblem of a lightning bolt appeared on his chest, over where the original Plate the rest of his armor was growing from had been.

"Why do we always do that whenever we transform?" Lu wondered.

"Do what?" Sparky asked.

"You know, shouting 'Power of whatever,'" Lu said.

Sparky frowned. "You know, I'm not sure, actually. It's almost like all those shows Zippo watches, where heroes in colorful spandex shout bombastic phrases and strike cheesy poses whenever they transform."

"Maybe Arceus is a tokusatsu fan?" Lu suggested.

"Don't even joke about that," Sparky said seriously. He whistled, and a Rapidash made of electricity appeared in a flash of lightning. Sparky swung himself up into the saddle then reached down, offering a paw to Lu. "Care for a ride, milady?"

"I think I would, actually," the Glaceon said with a smile, allowing Sparky to pull her up.

Once she was safely mounted, Sparky pulled on the reins, causing the Rapidash to rear back and whinny before charging off across the plains, more electric knights materializing in short order around it as they ventured forth to seek evil to vanquish…

Leaving Edward of Aquitaine, the last Black Knight of Aquitaine, to die a slow, painful death on the plains of Mars, alone and unmourned.

Blackarachnia leisurely walked across the battlefield.

Or rather, over it. She hadn't felt like scurrying across the ground, so she'd decided to get a better vantage point from higher up. She wasn't actually flying, though. She had a set of eight metal discs that she could suspend in the air with her will, and whenever she moved a leg forwards, there was always a disc waiting for her to step on it.

Missiles shot through the air towards her. She glanced at them, and they abruptly disassembled in the air, their bodies splitting into their myriad components and joining the massive storm of swirling metal orbiting her body in great rings, like the electrons of an atom. The explosives, on the other hand, she flung back at the ships that had fired them, blowing up the smaller ones—whose shrapnel she added to her cloud of metal—and damaging the larger ones, making it easier for her to mentally disassemble them as she drew closer to them.

Charizards and Talonflames flew up and let loose their Fire attacks, trying to melt through her metal to reach her. Without even looking at her assailants, Blackarachnia reshaped several fragments of her metal swarm into razor-sharp flechettes and flung them outwards, piercing the flesh of the Fire-types and sending them plummeting to the ground.

Giant robots and powerful battleships, staying out of range, powered up their main cannons and fired massive energy beams at her. With another thought, Blackarachnia fused the metal surrounding her into huge screens polished to a mirror shine. The beams struck the reflective surface of her shields and rebounded, obliterating the war machines that had fired them and giving her more scrap to add to her collection. A grin crossed her lovely features. She found she was rather enjoying herself.

"What incredible power…" Colress mused from the bridge of a Scorponok that was following and observing Blackarachnia from a safe distance. "So this is what the Iron Plate is capable of? Astounding…I suppose it's not much of a surprise, really. That Plate of hers gives her power over metal, and we happen to be surrounded by it thanks to all these high-tech battleships and war machines."

"It is a wondrous sight, is it not?" Silverbolt said, a besotted look on his face as he stared at the Galvantula displayed on the main screen. "My beloved has truly become one with this fragment of Arceus' power, as if there were ever a doubt that she was worthy of it!"

"But why is she worthy of it?" Colress asked in frustration. "All right, maybe the fact that most of her body is comprised of her cybernetics makes her compatible with the Iron Plate since there's enough metal inside of her to make her practically a Steel-type, but…why would it choose her over a true Steel-type like myself? What does she have that I do not?"

Silverbolt snorted and shook his head pityingly. "Tell me, Colress, why did you join Judgment?"

Colress blinked in surprise. "What? Well…because Ghetsis saw potential in my scientific research and brought me on. You know this."

"And why did you accept Ghetsis's offer? Were there no others who saw potential in your research?" Silverbolt asked.

Colress frowned. "Well, there were…but Judgment paid more. And not all my potential backers seemed comfortable with my…methods."

"Well, there's your answer right there," Silverbolt said.

Colress scowled at Silverbolt. "Are you going to lecture me about my lack of ethics again? I've heard it before. While it's idealistic to want to change the world, it's a little hard to do that without enough money. And while I admit that my methods may not exactly be the nicest, progress cannot be made by refusing to pursue whatever means are necessary to reach your goal."

"But what is the price of that goal, Doctor?" Silverbolt asked. "While I admit that your innovations have done a great deal for Judgment, how many Pokemon have been hurt as a consequence of your experiments, your failures?"

Colress sighed. "I'm not a monster, you know. I'm well aware that sometimes things…don't always go as planned in my research, and I regret whatever happens as a result of it. I find it hypocritical that you would accuse me of not caring who I hurt, given how many people have been hurt by your own actions, and those of Judgment? How many names, I wonder, have been put on the Wall of the Innocent because of you? Far more than I, I would wager."

"You are probably right," Silverbolt admitted. "But tell me this, Doctor. Have you ever actually visited the Wall? Have you paid respects to those who may have been hurt by your research? How much thought have you actually spared for them after their parts in your experiments are over and you move on to the next subject?"

Colress hesitated. "Well…I…"

"My love knows what it is like to be tested on, to be the subject of experimentation," Silverbolt said solemnly. "And while she, too, does experiments on live subjects…she never forgets that once upon a time, it was her on the other side of the glass. She understands that the Pokemon she works on are people, not just test subjects, and does her best to treat them as such, to make them understand she is committed to their well-being, and that their lives are more important than her research. Whenever anyone dies on her watch, she takes it quite badly. How many of your test subjects have you cried for, Doctor?"

The Klinklang said nothing for a moment, lost in thought. "…Then that is why the Iron Plate chose her, then? Because she has…more compassion than myself?"

"I believe that is part of it, yes," Silverbolt said. "For while ideally a Steel-type is the one who should wield the Iron Plate…that does not mean that Pokemon's heart should be as cold as metal itself."

Colress frowned. "That argument is somewhat marred by the fact that Ghetsis is also able to use a Plate. How can you explain that, then?"

Silverbolt sighed. "…I do not know," he admitted. "How could a Plate, a shard of the Original One's power, allow itself to be used by someone so…so…clearly unworthy?"

"Perhaps these Plates aren't that good at judging worth after all," Colress said cynically. "If they would choose Ghetsis over me." Silverbolt had no response to that.

Unaware of the discussion going on behind her, Blackarachnia decided it was time to start going on the offense. The Nihilators seemed to have finally wised up somewhat that she was too dangerous for them to send any of their warships, tanks, or robots in to fight, so had them all retreat as far as they could, send out as many Fire-types as they could muster, and had them launch volleys of flaming attacks into the air, fireballs arcing towards her and streams of flame shooting through the sky. Blackarachnia reacted quickly, rearranging and reconfiguring several of her metal fragments into shields and panels large enough to block the flames. They melted partially from the intense heat, but she sent the shields revolving around her, allowing her to switch out, cool off, and mend any damaged metal while swapping in fresh ones. In the meantime, she fused several thousand pieces of metal together to form a massive hand which she swept across the ground, knocking away a sizable number of Pokemon, both on land and in the air. Several Charizard and Talonflame rose above the hand, though, and continued bombarding her from on high. More metal fused together to form cannons which extruded from the swirling mass of scrap around Blackarachnia and opened fire, filling the air with thousands of razor-sharp pieces of shrapnel that sliced the Fire Pokemon to pieces.

Several Robo-Groudons standing kilometers away opened their mouths and started blasting her with overpowered flamethrowers, forcing her to put up larger metal panels, grimacing as they overheated and started melting faster than she would have liked. While putting as much of her resources into blocking out the flames as she could, she coalesced several hundred thousand more fragments on the underside of her loose sphere and thrust them downwards into the ground in a single spiked cable. The cable split up once it was underground, snaking their way through the earth before erupting without warning beneath the Robo-Groudons and wrapping around the robots. They struggled to break free, but the spikes on the cables dug into their hulls, allowing Blackarachnia to take control of them. The cables wrenched themselves out of the ground and lifted into the air, carrying the Robo-Groudons with them, reconstructing themselves at Blackarachnia's will to form tentacles ending in massive weapons. She spun them about, then sent them lashing outwards.

A giant fist grabbed a Robo-Groudon's head and crushed it. A sword cleaved through the air, slicing a battleship in two. A massive cannon fired huge metal cannonballs that exploded in midair and launched thousands of flechettes into the air, downing numerous fighters, damaging battleships and mechas, and killing dozens of Pokemon. A drill pierced a Robo-Groudon's chest and ripped through the other side. A buzzsaw cut up the ground, carving through everything in its path. A flail…well, flailed about, smashing and bashing everything with the huge spiked ball at its end. Another cannon fired globs of molten metal that splattered all over the place before rapidly cooling and hardening, trapping anything that hadn't been scalded by the heat in its solidified folds. A complicated array of mirrors and metal lenses reflected and focused light to fire powerful laser beams that scorched the earth and vaporized anything it touched. A massive hammer smashed down again and again, shattering the earth and crushing everything it struck. A pair of claws slashed through the air at blinding speeds, rending everything they cleaved through to pieces. And of course, everything metal she destroyed was assimilated into her tendrils and into the great mass swirling around her, making her even stronger…

Until bits of metal started flying away from her. Frowning, she noticed that several dozen Probopass, Metagross, and Magnezones had gathered and were using their combined magnetic powers to try and peel away her many shells of metal to expose her. How clever of them. Too bad it wasn't clever enough. With a thought, she reconfigured the molecular structure of the metal, changing all of it into a substance resistant to magnetism. The magnetic Pokemon were startled when the metal they'd been attracting was pulled away from them…and were even more surprised when they found themselves being attracted as well! Blackarachnia chuckled as they vanished amongst the metal. Had they really not thought that she'd be able to control their metal as well?

As Arachnoblasts started bombarding her—again, from a distance—Blackarachnia looked at all the metal she'd accumulated, decided it was enough, and moved to the next phase of her plan. Concentrating, she caused all the metal she'd gathered to form into a massive metal cocoon. The Nihilator robots blasted the cocoon with all their might, but it wasn't even scratched.

"What is she doing now?" Colress murmured.

"Whatever it is, it's sure to be impressive!" Silverbolt said loyally.

He was correct. The surface of the cocoon rippled, and instead of bursting open, it changed. Eight absolutely massive legs, each about twice the height of an Arachnoblast, extended outwards, bending repeatedly before their clawed ends touched the ground. The body of the cocoon was raised into the air as the giant legs hardened and took on more features-such as joints, spikes, manipulators, and glowing yellow lines—and split into a thorax and abdomen, spines, cannons, and yellow glowing lines forming on its surface. Eight massive glowing optics extruded themselves from the new titan's head, staring down imperiously at the much, much smaller Arachnoblasts arrayed around her. "HELLO, BOYS," the gargantuan mechanical Galvantula boomed in Blackarachnia's voice. "I'M FEELING A LITTLE PECKISH RIGHT NOW. ANY OF YOU FEEL LIKE GETTING EATEN?"

The Arachnoblasts stared at her for a moment. Then, they wisely turned to run. Blackarachnia's optics turned red. "THAT WASN'T A QUESTION THAT HAD 'NO' FOR AN ANSWER," she boomed, opening her mouth and firing strands of metal which snared the fleeing robots in webs and dragged them back, shrieking in terror, into her mechanical jaws.

"Magnificent!" Silverbolt gushed as they watched the ridiculously big Blackarachnia feast on the Nihilator mechas, growing bigger with each machine she devoured.

"That's. Uh. That's one word for it," said a rather disturbed Colress. "You, uh, don't think she'll eat us…would she?"

"Of course not! She would never harm us! Especially since I'm on board!" Silverbolt assured Colress.

"…Don't the females of her species sometimes eat their mates?" Colress asked.

Silverbolt frowned. "What? No, those are Ariados."

"Oh," Colress said. He paused. "…Are you sure?"

Silverbolt opened his mouth to answer and hesitated. "Er…" He walked over to a console and pushed a button. "Beloved? A moment of your time?"

"What is it, Bowser? I'm kind of in the middle of something," Blackarachnia's voice answered through a speaker. "Mmm, these things are delicious…"

"Uh…right…just checking, the Iron Plate's power hasn't gone to your head and you haven't gone insane and are going to go on a feeding frenzy, eating everything made of metal in sight, including your own allies, are you?" Silverbolt asked. Colress facegeared.

"What? No, why?" Blackarachnia asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Just checking," Silverbolt said, looking relieved. "By the way, you look very good like that."

"Awww, thanks! You're so sweet, Fido," Blackarachnia cooed. "I swear, sometimes I feel like I could just eat you right up!"

Silverbolt stiffened. "That's. Um. That's, uh, very flattering. I, uh, could say the same to you?"

Blackarachnia chuckled. "Honestly, you're too cute sometimes. Whoops, they're trying to run away from me. I can't have that, now can I? Talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too," Silverbolt said, spirits lifting briefly. Blackarachnia signed off.

"…She was probably speaking metaphorically," Colress said.

"Huh?" Silverbolt said.

"About eating you up?" Colress said.

"Oh. Right. That. Metaphorically," Silverbolt said, gulping. "That's, ah, exactly what it is, I'm sure…"

"Quite," Colress agreed.

The two of them—and everyone else in the control room, I suppose—watched Blackarachnia continue her rampage in an uneasy silence.

Happy the Butterfree also flew surrounded by a swarm…but where Blackarachnia's had been made out of metal, hers was more traditional. Thousands of Bug-type Pokemon filled the air, the drone of their many wings creating a sonic frequency that made many Nihilators feel sick and caused their war machines to start rattling from the high-pitched sound bombarding their metal shells. Happy's antenna twitched and hummed with power as she directed her swarm, her will flowing into each of their minds…and their own thoughts intermingling with their own as they happily acquiesced, trusting in her absolutely. After all, she was their mother.

One of the many powers her Insect Plate had granted Happy was the ability to lay a nearly endless amount of eggs and have them hatch almost instantly. The downside to this was that speeding up their maturation cycle to this degree meant that they would die in a matter of hours, but none of them really cared. Living for any amount of time would be enough for them. And Happy loved them just as much as she loved any of her children, and they loved her in return, the warmth of their mutual affections filling their hive mind with joy.

The Nihilators did not experience such joy, however. Happy's swarm swept across the plains of Mars, their bodies forming a great cloud of death. Anything they passed over, be it soldier, warship, or robot, was stripped clean, nothing but bones and metal frames left behind, all covered in bite marks...and the remains of what looked like eggshells. The swarm always seemed to be a little larger with every victory…

That changed when a massive contingent of battleships and Robo-Groudons pushed towards them, loosing massive jets of flame from flamethrowers, while Charizards and Talonflames swooped about launching Fire blasts from a distance and ground-bound Fire-types fired volleys of flame into the air. The swarm screeched and dissolved into a panic as the flames consumed them, eating away at their exoskeletons and causing flaming husks to start falling to the ground. Rock-types hurled boulders and stones and other earthy projectiles into the air, smashing bugs in droves as they plowed through the swarm.

Happy quickly took charge. Antenna twitching, she relayed orders to her troops. Her Durant, Scolipede, Parasect, Pinsir, Ariados, Armaldo, Drapion, and Crustle children Dug into the ground, burrowed beneath the Nihilators, and tore open deep pits, causing dozens of soldiers and tanks to fall into their waiting mandibles. The mechas stumbled and thrashed about as hundreds of Bugs swarmed up their bodies, Ariadoses weaving webs of reinforced thread around them to limit their movements while others chewed and cut their way into the robots hulls. Some the warships dealt with this by turning the flamethrowers on the mechas, lighting them up and turning them into massive funeral pyres, killing everyone inside as well as the Bugs.

Doing her best to ignore the mental screams of her dying children, Happy gave a Defend Order, causing several hundred of her Bugs to lock their bodies together to form Pokemon shields, creating Protects and Light Screens and Barriers and any other defensive moves they had in their arsenal to try and protect themselves and their brethren from the flames. Happy then issued a Heal Order, but used it on her children rather than herself, allowing some of the wounded Bugs to mend their injuries. She then had her Vivillon children start blowing Powder at the flame-throwing ships.

The reaction was instantaneous. The flammable powder ignited and exploded, severely damaging the ships, causing them to rock in the air, and cutting off many of the flame jets. Taking advantage of their weakness, Happy ordered a mass String Shot, hundreds of strands shooting out and wrapping themselves around the ships. She then ordered her children to pull, wrenching the ships out of the air and into the swarm, where the Bugs swarmed all over them, clawing and chewing their way through the vessel's hulls and beginning to kill everything inside…

Which came to a halt when the ship captains, out of desperation, activated the self-destructs. Massive explosions ripped through the swarm, annihilating three-fourths of the Bugs in less than a second, and seriously wounding several of the survivors. Happy screamed in agony as the psychic backlash from so many deaths filled her mind, the screams of her dying children nearly deafening her thoughts.

Seeing this, the Nihilators pressed forward, sending in reinforcements. Laser blasts, missiles, and more flame jets and boulders lancing out, chipping away at the weakened swarm. Happy managed to recover and quickly regained control of her children, issuing an Attack Order. Instantly, every Bug went from buzzing around frantically to going on the offensive, rushing the Nihilators en masse. The Nihilators kept firing, but even though many died, their sacrifices allowed others to get through and land on the Nihilator vessels.

Happy was one of them. While she gave the orders for some to break into the vessels, and others to start wrapping the ships up in big cocoons using Silk Shot and Spider Web, she flew for the bridge of the capital ship she'd landed on. Turrets rose from the surface of the ship and opened fire, but she gracefully danced through the air like the Butterfree she was, firing super-strong Pin Missiles to blow up the guns as she flew past. Others rose up and started launching energy nets at her. Her bladed limbs flashed through the air, lashing out with Fury Cutter and X-Scissor, slicing through the nets before they could reach her and cutting through the launchers as well.

A very large hatch opened in the ship's deck, and a massive cannon rose up and started charging up. Happy's body was briefly surrounded in a red aura as she used Struggle Bug. The cannon fired, sending a ridiculously large energy beam shooting towards her. She spread her limbs and wings, and a huge dome of red energy burst out of her body, pushing the beam right back into the cannon and causing a feedback loop that resulted in the whole thing blowing up and putting a massive hole in the ship.

With that obstacle out of the way, she rose into the air, aiming for the bridge, and launched herself forwards, curling herself into a ball and using Steamroller, laser shots and missiles bouncing off her spinning armored form. She smashed through the bridge's main window and crushed the captain, a Stunfisk, killing him instantly. Startled, the rest of the bridge crew rose from their seats and charged towards her, while another stayed at his console and frantically tried to prime the self-destruct.

Happy spat globs at each of the Nihilators, using one of the nastiest attacks in her arsenal: Infestation. The Pokemon screamed as the globs sizzled against their flesh, soaking into their skin…

And moments later, their bodies exploded violently as full-grown Bug Pokemon burst out of their skin, chittering and buzzing. The Bug that had emerged from the body of the Nihilator who'd been working on the self-destruct system sat down at the console and quickly deactivated it with a few keystrokes, using the knowledge drawn from its host, an ability Happy had been intrigued to learn any of her children who'd been incubated inside a living Pokemon could manage. "Orders, Mother?" one of the other Bugs, an Escavalier, inquired.

"Half of you go forth and Infest the rest of this ship's crew," Happy ordered. "The rest, take the controls. This vessel belongs to us now…and soon, others will as well."

Her children nodded and did as they were bade. Happy stretched out her senses to check on her other offsprings. While some of them had been destroyed before they could take control of their target vessels, others had succeeded in Infesting the crew just as she had, and she now had a small fleet under her control.

And, of course, every fleet needed a flagship…but this one wasn't quite right for her purposes. Not yet. She touched an appendage to a control panel and concentrated, calling upon the power of her Insect Plate, and used Infestation…

On the ship itself. Organic material spread out from her claw, covering the console in warm, oozing growth, the instruments flashing brightly from within it. The matter quickly spread, engulfing the room within seconds, much to the bemusement of her children, and continued growing out into the corridors and halls, the Infestation reaching into every crack and crevice, causing the interior of the high-tech warship to resemble a dim, warm, fleshy hive in seconds, with honeycomb patterns covering the walls and dripping protuberances sticking out of the ceiling. The growth covered the ship's exterior as well, spiked protrusions jutting outwards and hardening as the organic matter covered it and hardened into a spiny carapace. In a matter of minutes, the capital ship now looked like a giant chrysalis, its shell glittering in a myriad of colors that seemed to pulsate from within. Any members of the crew who hadn't already been Infested by her children were consumed by the living ship, becoming part of its mass and used to give birth to its new crew, members of Happy's swarm.

The Nihilator ships and mechas quickly pointed their weapons at the Infested warship and opened fire. The ship's cannons, which now resembled stingers, swiveled about and opened fire, firing globs instead of plasma or laser blasts. The globs shot through the air, splattered against the sides of the ships and robots…and started spreading, Infesting them as well. Upon realizing what was going on, the war machines' commanders quickly ordered self-destructs. Some of them managed to detonate the reactors in time. Others weren't quick enough to give the command before the Infestation consumed their systems and, in short order, them as well.

Happy's antenna twitched, a smile spreading across her face as more and more voices joined themselves to the hive mind to replace those who she had lost, hatching from eggs and incubation chambers or from the bodies of Infested Nihilators. At a mental command, membranes opened both on her ship and on the converted vessels and robots she'd added to her fleet, their surfaces quickly swarming with Bugs, those who could fly spreading their wings and taking to the air, swirling around the Infested machines in clouds of chitin and claw and glittering wing.

Through the eyes of her children, and the converted long-range sensors of her new ships, she could see another army of Nihilators coming towards her, preparing to fire on them from a distance with powerful weapons to wipe her brood out before they could grow any further. Grinning, she prepared the swarm for battle, welcoming the chance to bring more life into the world and help her family grow.

Unlike the other Plate wielders, Anthea and Concordia were not out in the field fighting the Nihilators. They didn't need to be. Using the incredible Psychic powers granted to them by the Mind Plate, the duo were able to witness everything going on in the battlefield and coordinate the movements of the Judgement troops without leaving the bridge of the flagship Hammer of Judgment. The crew found it a little creepy, seeing the two sitting there with glowing eyes as transparent pink energy screens and maps kept flashing into life and disappearing just as quickly around them, the pair of Psychics directing orders to Pokemon that were not only not in the room, but couldn't even be reached over the comm.

"Fifth fleet, pull back, there's a half a dozen Arachnoblasts on their way. We're sending reinforcements now."

"Seventh battalion, the fifth fleet needs backup. Move to intercept the enemy at point seven zero zero nine five dash four four three two seven."

"Commander, you've got a hundred cloaked fighters coming up on your starboard. Adjust your scanners to frequency five five seven point one two and you should be able to see them."

"Home Guard, there are Nihilators trying to sneak up on your flank to access the portal to New Eden. Don't let a single one through."

Pit—who had been promoted to Fleet Admiral—stared at the Psychics along with the rest of the bridge crew, awed and a little intimidated. "They seem to know everything…how we should move, how the enemy is moving…and they don't even need to look at a single monitor!" said an amazed Bisharp underling.

"Have they become omniscient?" a Meowstic wondered, finding herself rather jealous of the duo's incredible Psychic powers.

"No, but our powers have increased to the point of precognition and we can read the thoughts of just about every mind for many miles, so I'd say we're pretty close," Anthea said, startling everyone. "Sixth fleet, move to point eight nine four point three two one, D-squad is under heavy fire."

"Speaking of which, please try not to think too loudly, it's making it difficult for us to concentrate," Concordia added. "Delta platoon, launch missiles at point zero nine five six point three three three eight. It's not empty space, and it will kill you if you don't act immediately."

"Y-yes, miladies," Pit said nervously. "Everyone, think quieter!" he hissed to his subordinates.

"Right!" they chorused.

There was a pause. "Um, how are we supposed to do that exactly?" the Bisharp asked.

"For some reason, all I can think about is the Pillsbury Dough Castform," said an Eelektross. Pit facewinged.

Concordia smiled briefly. She supposed it wasn't nice of her to play with them like that…but it was entertaining. Anthea telepathically chided her, but she didn't feel any regrets…

Oh.

Was it that time already?

Without looking at each other, the two of them pulled up another screen and briefly glanced at it. Their brows furrowed. Yes, it looked as if it was time.

"Miladies? Is something wrong?" Pit asked in concern.

The Psychics banished the screen. "Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Fleet Admiral," Anthea said calmly.

"And I would highly recommend you move this ship to point nine nine seven oh seven point five. It will put us in the ideal position to prevent an attack on the Twelfth Fleet," Concordia said.

The Togetic stiffened briefly, eyes widening. "…Very well. As you command," Pit said, nodding to the rest of the crew, who quickly got back to their posts, pretended they weren't still gawking at the beautiful and somewhat unnerving Psychics, and got the flagship moving.

None of them were aware that while Anthea and Concordia were still there, giving orders to the rest of the Judgment military…they weren't entirely there…

Many miles away, Anthea and Concordia—or rather, astral projections of the duo made solid through the use of applied Psychic energy and false proteins—materialized and found themselves in the midst of a killing field. A few hundred bodies, both Judgment and Nihilator, were strewn across the plains, their blood pooling and soaking into the red soil. They were very far from the rest of the Judgment forces; too far for any reinforcements to be able to make it for several minutes…

Which was, of course, exactly why this place had been chosen for an ambush. Without warning, a Future Sight energy ball shot towards Anthea while a Banette appeared from thin air and threw a Sucker Punch at Concordia's gut. At the same time, an Accelgor materialized and fired a Giga Drain at the duo.

In the split second before the attacks could strike them, the Psychics acted. Anthea used Ally Switch, causing her and Concordia to swap places. The Gothitelle then grabbed the Banette by the wrist before he could land the blow and hurled him at the Giga Drain, causing him to cry out in pain as his energy was sucked out by his ally. Concordia, in the meantime, used Mirror Coat. The Future Sight energy ball struck her and rebounded, shooting towards an Absol, who lunged out of the way just before he could get hit. He was not able to get out of the way, however, of the Banette and Accelgor, who Anthea grabbed with Telekinesis and hurled at him. The three Pokemon collided and rolled across the ground a ways, slipping in the blood and tripping over the corpses before springing back to their feet.

"The Shadow Triad," Anthea said coldly, narrowing her eyes. "So, Ghetsis has finally given up his pretense of civility, has he?"

"Hmmph. They should have known we would be harder to defeat than that," Concordia said with a sniff.

"How…how did you know that attack was coming?" the Absol snarled. "You should not have been able to predict that!"

Anthea laughed. "What, because of you having a Dark-type and your colleagues wearing Psychic-proof armor? My, Ghetsis really must not think highly of us, does he?"

"Our Psychic powers have grown to the point where a little thing like that is no longer a problem," Concordia said smugly.

"Of course," Anthea admitted, pointing to a glowing eye mark on her forehead. "Being able to use Miracle Eye now doesn't hurt."

As the Triad tensed, Concordia smiled calmly. "So let me guess: your plan was to kill a bunch of people out where no reinforcements could easily get to, using your Dark power to occlude yourselves from our sight, so that we would come in person to investigate, and you could ambush and kill us, thus depriving our King of his strongest and most loyal supporters?"

"…Something like that," the Accelgor admitted.

Anthea laughed. "Oh dear. You truly are outclassed, aren't you? Even if that little ambush had worked, you didn't really think we'd come here for real, did you? We're just astral projections. Our real selves are safely ensconced on the bridge of the Hammer of Judgment. Even if you succeeded in killing us, we'd just wake up on the bridge and obliterate you from a distance."

"Ah, that would be the case…" the Banette said, slowly grinning. "If we hadn't-"

"Instructed those members of the crew loyal to Ghetsis to mutiny and kill everyone on the bridge, including us, assuming that we would be vulnerable because our minds were focused here?" Concordia interrupted.

The Triad stiffened. "How did-" the Absol started.

"We can see the future now. We know what will happen, and what you planned to do," Anthea said calmly.

"Which is why we identified which of the crew would be a problem ahead of time and told Fleet Admiral Pit who the enemy was, and once we detected it was time to deal with you, gave him the code phrase we arranged ahead of time, signaling it was time for him to 'clean house' as it were," Concordia said.

"That traitor!" the Banette snarled. "How dare he betray-"

"Who, Ghetsis? The vile usurper who thinks he's the true leader of Judgment?" Anthea snorted. "Please. The only traitors are you and your master. His Holiness Light of Justice is the one true King of Judgment."

"Appointed by Lord Ghetsis! He has no authority other than what our lord gave him!" the Accelgor snapped.

"That would be the case if our King were the weak-minded pawn Ghetsis was expecting. Thankfully, that is far from the truth," Concordia said with a grin.

"Ghetsis should have chosen differently. And he shouldn't have arranged for us to be our lord Light of Justice's brides, either," Anthea said smugly.

"Yes, he should have," the Absol said sullenly, earning him dirty looks from the others for questioning his master's will.

"Even if Pit takes out our collaborators, you'll never find-" the Accelgor started.

"The bombs you planted on the ship? The virus program designed to crash the systems and overload the reactor? The traitors you put on the other ships in the fleet, whose orders are to blast the flagship if everything else fails?" Concordia said innocently.

"…Dammit," the Accelgor said.

"Psychic abilities are way too overpowered," the Banette grumbled.

"We have foreseen and warned Light of Justice and our other loyalists as to you and your master's plans. Once this battle is over, Ghetsis and his other collaborators will be dealt with and the Draco Plate shall be given to a more worthy individual," Anthea said.

"We highly suggest you surrender now. If you give up, our King may show you lenience," Concordia said. The fact that he might not went unsaid.

"…We will not surrender! We shall not betray Lord Ghetsis's trust in us!" the Absol snarled.

"We shall fight to the very end!" the Banette agreed.

"That won't be necessary," Anthea said. Her eyes flashed with Hypnosis. The Shadow Triad instantly dropped to the ground and started snoring.

"That was rather anti-climactic," Concordia said as she used Imprison to trap the Triad in an unbreakable force field and Teleported them back to a holding cell on the Hammer of Judgment.

"We're so powerful now that any fight with them would be anti-climactic, and rather pointless," Anthea said. She looked down at the corpses lying around them. "Now, let's see if we can't do something about all these brave soldiers. We basically let them walk into a trap, we might as well try to make amends."

Concordia nodded in agreement. The duo's eyes glowed, and a Heal Pulse shot out from them, washing across the battlefield. Wounds mended, synapses restarted, hearts began to beat, and eyes shot open, Pokemon all over the place gasping and writhing as their bodies, which had most definitely been dead for a few minutes, rather violently restarted. "Have I reached the Celestial Heavens, then?" an Exeggutor said weakly, staring up at the two Psychics through watery eyes. "For you can be none other than angels of Arceus, such is your beauty…"

Concordia smiled. "That is an incredibly cheesy pick-up line, but since you just came back from the dead, I shall forgive it."

The Exeggutor's eyes shot open as he suddenly realized who he was talking to. "M-milady! Forgive me, I knew not whom I was speaking to! And…did…did you say I was dead?!"

"You were," Anthea confirmed. "And it is fortunate that we got here when we did, or else we might not have been able to save you in time." She did not say that it was her fault they had died in the first place, or that she might have been able to prevent it. There was no need to make things…complicated.

"…That's right! I remember now!" a Liepard said with a gasp. "It was the Shadow Triad! They killed us!"

"Those bastards! I thought they were on our side! Where are they?!" a Panpour demanded.

"They have been dealt with. They shall be properly punished for their treachery…as will their master, Ghetsis," Concordia assured them.

There were several gasps of shock. "Ghetsis did this?! But…but he's one of the Sages…" said a startled Basculin.

"He's also an evil bastard," a Lilligant said bluntly. "To be frank, we probably should have seen this coming."

"Do not worry. We will make sure he is dealt with, and his Plate given to a more deserving Dragon," Anthea promised.

"If this is true, then we are forever in your debt," the Exeggutor said, bowing his head reverently. "Thank you, miladies." All the other Judgment soldiers bowed as well.

"Uh, not to disparage you or anything, miladies—grateful for being brought back to life and all," a Pawniard said, though his body felt so sore he wasn't entirely sure that was true. "But…uh…why the fuck did you bring back the Nihilators as well?!"

Everyone turned to realize that the Nihilators had been revived as well as the soldiers of Judgment. "Um. Uh. We surrender?" a nervous black-armored Croconaw said.

"We do?" said a confused Dunsparce.

The Croconaw smacked him. "Those two broads just brought us back from the dead. Do you want to go back?"

The Dunsparce actually considered this for a moment. "Well, considering that if we die, we'll be treated like kings in the Abyss-"

"That was a rhetorical question!" the Croconaw snapped. "Dying hurt! I don't want to feel that again! Plus, they're Psychics! They can probably kill us in all sorts of horrible ways!"

"We can," Concordia agreed.

Anthea nodded. "Like causing your blood to reverse flow into your heart until it bursts, or crush your lungs until you die of asphyxiation, or rupture your stomachs and let acid consume you, or cause your tongues to clog up your throats, or go for the old standby of making your brains explode-"

"WE SURRENDER!" the Nihilators screamed.

As the Nihilators reluctantly submitted themselves to have power-dampening cuffs conjured by the Psychics applied to them, Concordia ordered the Judgment soldiers to rejoin the main force; since they were too exposed and cut off out here.

"We'd love to, milady," the Exeggutor said apologetically. "But, uh, there seems to be a rather large contingent of ships and war machines in our way."

This was indeed the case. A few dozen warships, Robo-Groudons, and a pair of Arachnoblasts were coming towards them. "That should not be a problem," Anthea said, narrowing her eyes.

"Not at all," Concordia agreed, relishing the chance to cut loose instead of something as anticlimactic as what they had done to the Shadow Triad.

"Stand back and watch, this should make quite the show," Anthea said, eyes glowing as she powered up.

As the two stepped forwards, the war machines fired a massive fusillade of missiles at them, thousands of rockets streaming through the air. Now, while the Psychic duo could easily have created a Barrier, or telekinetically redirected the missiles, or Teleported them and the crowd of soldiers behind them out of the way, they decided that would be far too pedestrian.

So, instead, they just Teleported the war machines. The ships and robots found themselves transported several hundred meters and reappeared just in time for the hundreds of missiles to slam into their backsides, causing them to stagger and wobble. As the soldiers gaped in disbelief, Anthea used Gravity, causing the ships to fall out of the sky and crash to the ground hard enough to split into pieces and/or explode. Some landed on robots and crushed them. The mechas were straining against the gravity, but managed to still put one foot ahead of the other…or at least, the Robo-Groudons did, the Arachnoblast's legs turned out to not be quite strong enough to resist the increased gravity and found themselves snapping like twigs, their central spheres smashing to the ground, their heads slamming into the earth hard enough to crater it. They were still able to aim their beam cannons and fire, confident the Gravity wouldn't be enough to stop the energy-based weapons.

They were correct. Almost. Anthea and Concordia combined their powers to create massive Gravity distortions in the air, nearly enough to create black holes. The gravitational lensing caused the beams to twist around in the air and either smash into other robots or do a full 180 and pierce the mechas that had fired them. As the mechas reeled, Concordia levitated a dozen Robo-Groudons into the air along with wreckage from several of the ships and telekinetically tore them apart, reassembling them to form a massive metal hand. At her will, the hand picked up one of the downed Arachnoblasts and started dribbling it as if it were a basketball, crushing all the Robo-Groudons she was conveniently bouncing it off of, before winding up and rolling it across the ground like a bowling ball, knocking robots over like bowling pins.

Anthea then focused her considerable mental power on the pilots of several of the mechas, bending them to her will. At her command, they turned and began opening fire on their comrades, not caring that they were killing their own kind, only knowing that they must obey the will of their mistress. Several of the unaffected pilots struggled to fight back, while others did absolutely nothing due to Concordia Hypnotizing them into slumber, and so they died in their sleep.

A few of the Arachnoblasts managed to fire off their Wave Motion Cannons, shooting beams too big and powerful to be diverted by the gravitational anomalies. Anthea stepped forward, body shimmering as she used Mirror Coat. The beams struck her…and rebounded, shooting back at the robots that had fired them, causing them to explode spectacularly. Concordia telekinetically grabbed an Arachnoblast, pulled it towards her, and, ignoring the screams of panic from everyone behind her, slammed it into her skull…

And it shattered thanks to her Zen Headbutt. As the soldiers, both Judgment and Nihilator, stared in disbelief and a little terror, the myriad fragments of the robot froze in mid-explosion and reassembled themselves into a RIDICULOUSLY huge sword which Anthea caught by the hilt and managed to hold despite it being approximately nine hundred thousand times bigger than her or something. With a grunt of effort, she swept it through the air, and a massive Psycho Cut swept out from it, slicing through most of the remaining robots and destroying them in a single blow.

The remaining mecha, realizing they were screwed, started prepping their self-destruct systems. Rather than simply dominating the wills of the pilots and forcing them to shut the count-down down, Anthea and Concordia telekinetically lifted the robots into the air, mashed them up into a ball, and flung them in the direction of Coronet Mons. The metal ball smashed through all the Nihilator ships in its wake before flying into and plugging up the barrel of one of the giant cannons (not the one Clark and his allies were aiming for, that one was actually bigger).

The resulting explosion, which completely obliterated the cannon and destroyed about an eighth of the mountain's slope, could only have been bigger if the cannon had been about to fire at the same time it was plugged up, which would also have hollowed out most of the mountain's interior and left it with a gaping hole on the opposite surface. Considering there were still good Pokémon and vampires inside, perhaps it was for the best that the Psychics had mistimed their attack…

Or had they mistimed it at all?

"How…how the fuck did they do that?!" an incredulous Nihilator Nuzleaf demanded.

"They have been granted incredible power by Arceus Himself," the Judgment Exeggutor said reverently.

"…Arceus…Arceus let them do that?!" a Nihilator Venusaur cried.

"Indeed. They are two who have been chosen to wield the power of the Plates, a fragment of Arceus's omnipotent might," a Judgment Larvesta said.

The Nihilators considered this for a long moment. "Our god never gave us anything like that," the Nihilator Croconaw said finally.

"She promised us a great reward in the afterlife," the Dunsparce pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's for after we die. What's she ever given us for while we're alive?" the Croconaw pointed out.

"Hey, uh, I don't suppose it's too late for us to convert to Arceanism?" the Nuzleaf asked hopefully.

A Judgment Pawniard nodded. "Oh, of course not! It's never too late to ask Arceus for forgiveness! And I'm sure he will grant it to you…" The Nihilators' faces lit up. "After you are all tried and probably sentenced to death for your numerous crimes against Pokémonity." Their faces fell.

"Oh yeah, forgot about those…" the Venusaur grumbled.

"Karma's a bitch," the Croconaw growled.

Anthea and Concordia exchanged smiles. That had been fun. And a nice warm-up for the main event…

Elsewhere, more Judgment and Nihilator ships were engaging in a heavy firefight. Great vessels, both black and white, went down every minute, fighters swarming the air and dogfighting while battleships exchanged heavier fire with each other, explosions wracking their surfaces and filling the air.

It was into this warzone a new ship entered, one so new and unusual that everyone actually paused for a moment to stare in bewilderment. They had every reason to. For one thing, the ship resembled a massive sailing ship, about half the size of a standard battleship. For another, it could fly.

And for a third, it was made of water.

"WEIGH ANCHOR! HOIST THE MAINSAIL! RAISE THE MIZZENMAST!"

"Cruise-"

"ALL HANDS ON DECK! LAND HO! ALL ASHORE THAT'S GOING ASHORE!"

"Cruise-"

"KING'S KNIGHT TO B-4! YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP! YAHTZEE!"

Captain Salty snatched the captain's hat off of Cruise the Pupitar's head. "Okay, Ritchie was right, you're definitely not ready for the responsibility of being Captain."

"Awww, but Salty! How'm I ever supposed to captain a ship of my own without experience?" the Pupitar complained.

"By watching and waiting until you're old and mature enough to earn your own ship and crew," Salty said firmly as he adjusted his hat to better fit his spiky head.

"I bet Tiny already has a ship of his own…" Cruise grumbled.

"I highly doubt that," Salty said. "Now, let's show this lot what some real ship-to-ship combat is like, eh?"

They sailed the vessel into the midst of the Nihilator fleet. Fighters swarmed around them, firing at the ship. However, since it was made of water, all their blasts did was pass right through the vessel, causing droplets to be splattered everywhere. Salty called upon his power over water, sending those droplets flying through the air and right into the jet intakes of several of the fighters. The droplets expanded, seeping into the engines and causing them to short out. Some fighters exploded right away, while others veered out of control, crashing into each other, the ground, or the larger warships.

"Wow! You didn't have to fire a single shot!" Cruise said, impressed.

"I'm saving my ammo for something more worthy of it. Speaking of which…" He concentrated, and hatches opened up on the sides of his ship as they passed between a pair of massive battleships, the warships firing laser blasts at them, only for the beams and energy bursts to pass right through the ship and smash into their opposite. The noses of cannons made out of water emerged from the hatches, pointing at the warships. "Ready…aim…"

"WATER!" Cruise shouted.

"…What? Water? What are you talking about?" Salty asked in confusion.

"Well, we're shooting water at them, so it would make more sense to shout 'Water' than 'fire,' wouldn't it?" Cruise asked innocently.

Salty stared at the Pupitar for a moment, then facetentacled. "Gonna need to talk to your dad about your education…FIRE!"

The cannons opened fire. Half of them fired high-pressure water streams about as strong, if not stronger, than the Hydro Cannons Shellshocker was capable of using thanks to his Mega Evolution, punching clear through the ship's hulls and piercing through to the other side. The other half of the cannons launched cannonballs made out of water that splattered against the sides of the warships and seeped through myriad miniscule cracks and crevices, shorting out systems as they flowed through the vessel, eventually bursting out into corridors and sweeping through the ship, drowning and washing away any Nihilator in their path.

Salty concentrated, and the water expanded, flooding the ships from top to bottom, and kept expanding, until finally leaks sprung all over the place, water surging out of the ships, before finally exploding out into massive geysers. They wobbled in the air, and abruptly exploded as the water surged into the engine room, flooding the reactors and causing a lethal chain reaction from the meeting of extremes.

But Salty wasn't finished there. He concentrated further, and the water falling from the destroyed ships flowed upwards, not only extinguishing the flames but coalescing to form a pair of smaller sailing ships similar to the one he and Cruise were currently in. They split off from the main ship, firing their own water cannons at the surrounding battleships.

"Wow, that's really cool!" Cruise said. "How are you able to control all of them at once?"

"It's not that hard, really," Salty said. "I just think of them as more of my tentacles, and I'm able to control all of those easily enough, aren't I?"

Up ahead, a capital ship came into view. Its bow split open to reveal a massive cannon, which started powering up. "Uh, can this ship take a direct hit from that?" Cruise asked in concern.

"No, but it's simple enough to avoid," Salty said. "All we have to do is-"

The ship fired, sending a massive stream of energy towards them, the blast about as wide as the ship itself. Fortunately, the beam never hit them. At the last second, Salty grabbed Cruise and shot into the air as the ship diffused into billions of water droplets, the beam shooting right through the hollow center of the expanding cloud. The ship came back together once the beam had stopped firing, Salty and Cruise landing back on the deck. "That was awesome!" the Pupitar gushed. "A little close, though…"

"Nah, I'd have just turned into water too, and I'm fairly sure you can Harden yourself into invincibility," Salty said. "Speaking of which, before that thing fires again…" A portion of the ship's deck split apart, and a massive cannon made of water (of course) rose up, barrel reaching to at least halfway up the main mast. "How would you like to live up to your name?"

Cruise gave Salty a confused look. "Aren't I already doing that?"

"Huh?" Salty said, not understanding.

"We're on a boat. You could say we're…cruising?" Cruise said.

Salty facetentacled. "That's not what I…just get in the damn cannon so I can shoot you at that ship," the Tentacruel said as a hatch opened on the side of the cannon.

"Okay," Cruise said, hopping in.

Salty shut the hatch then lowered the cannon, pointing its barrel at the capital ship's main gun, which was just about ready to fire again. "Ready…aim…"

"WATER!" Cruise shouted, causing Salty to start and accidentally fire the cannon. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he screamed as he streaked through the air towards the ship, riding an extremely high-pressure stream of water.

"Damn brat," Salty snarled.

As Cruise rocketed towards the cannon at very near the speed of sound, he concentrated, Aura blazing around his form, rocks tearing themselves off the ground below and fusing to his armor to thicken his shell, his spikes elongating, while sharper rocks orbited his body, also burning with Aura. Screaming in ecstasy, he smashed into the capital ship's cannon.

Explosions ripped out across the surface of the vessel. Some of them were normal, but others had the blue blaze of Aura, while others still weren't actually explosions per se so much as huge protrusions of rock jutting out of the hull. As Cruise burst out of the back end of the ship, tailing Aura and riding the high—as well as his momentum-he screamed giddily. "THAT! WAS! AWESOME!"

And then he smashed into the side of an Arachnoblast hard enough to imbed himself in it. "Ow."

Salty frowned as he saw the robot spider advancing, along with about two or three others, and half again as many Robo-Groudons and more battleships. "Hmmph. So they want some more of me, do they? Well, all right, then. Bring it on!" the Tentacruel challenged.

They brought it on. Thousands of missiles rocketed from their launch tubes, streaking through the air towards Salty. Salty narrowed his eyes and thrust his tentacles upwards. The ground in front of him rumbled and split open as a MASSIVE wall of water rose up, about half as thick as it was wide. The missiles shot into the mass of water and only made it partway through before the water solidified around them, holding them in place. Salty then flew his ship onto the top of the wall and sent it sweeping across the ground towards the Nihilators like a tidal wave, smashing into the mechas and battleships and causing them to be carried along with the wave, the captured missiles slamming into their hulls and exploding. Some of the warships tried to rise above the wave, but tendrils of water shot out of the great tsunami and yanked them down, causing them to be carried along with everything else.

"Wahoo! Hang twenty!" Cruise shouted, somewhat dazed due to half of his head being stuck inside an Arachnoblast.

Eventually, the wave crashed down on the plain, the water smashing the war machines down hard enough to crush some of them flat and break them in two. Water flowed into their interiors, drowning and crushing everything inside, until finally they all came apart in muffled explosions, which were safely contained and compressed by the rather mutable water surrounding them.

Salty placidly sailed his ship across the surface of the small ocean he'd just created, smiling to himself in bemusement as pieces of wreckage floated up to the surface. He stretched a tentacle out to one such piece of debris and wrenched Cruise from it, a big chunk of black metal wrapped around his shell. "You all right there, boy?"

"Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!" Cruise chanted enthusiastically.

Salty burst into laughter. "Heh. A mon after my own heart."

Salty concentrated, and his armor expanded slightly, shattering the metal he'd been stuck in. "Cap'n? I'm like super-vulnerable to Water and stuff. How come none of your water's hurting me?"

"I can pretty much command it to do whatever I want. If I don't want it to hurt you, then it won't," Salty said. A more apt explanation would be that he actively made certain every droplet always maintained a few micrometers of distance from Cruise's body, but he figured this was a simple enough explanation for the boy.

"Awww, thanks, Cap'n!" Cruise said. "You're the best! Next to Daddy, of course."

"Well, I can see why you'd think so," Salty said magnanimously. He frowned, noticing there were more Nihilator ships and mechas inbound. "Hmmph. They don't know when to quit, do they? I have absolute power over water, and I've made a small ocean right here. Idiots. All right, let me just-"

"Wait," Cruise said. "I wanna fight them."

Salty raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"

Cruise nodded vigorously. "Yeah. You got to trash the last few all by yourself. I think it's my turn."

Salty considered this for a moment, and then nodded. "Very well. Go right ahead."

"Thanks!" Cruise blazed up with Aura and shot out across the ocean, water surging up in his wake. Salty steered his ship after the Pupitar, curious to see just what Cruise had in mind.

Cruise flew and flew and kept flying until he passed over the edge of the ocean and was shooting over the plains once more. While he was eagerly looking forward to becoming a Tyranitar one day, he couldn't help admitting that he was going to miss being able to fly. Maybe he could use his Plate's power to fly around on a floating boulder or something; Zippo'd said there were some superheroes who could do that. "All right," he murmured, finally coming to a stop only a few dozen kilometers before the Nihilators. "You can do this, Cruise…and totally show Tiny who's better!"

He concentrated, Aura burning around him as the emblem on his chest lit up. The ground started shaking, and the mechas paused in their tracks, wobbling as they tried to maintain their balance. The ground around Cruise started cracking, and split apart, rocks rising into the air and swirling around the Pupitar. A lot of rocks, and more just kept coming, flying over from all over the place. The Nihilators, fearing Cruise was about to throw the rocks at them—a reasonable assumption—opened fire.

However, he wasn't going to throw the rocks at them. No, what he intended to do was so much worse.

The rocks flew together, clumping around his shell and causing him to vanish in a cocoon of rock. More and more rocks joined the mass, fusing to it and growing, and growing, and growing. Two stone arms stretched out to the sides. Two stone legs reached to the ground. A stone tail thumped down behind it. Stone spikes burst out of its back. A saurian stone head rose from the top, eyes glowing brown, and roared, the force of its shout so great that several fighters exploded as the vibrations shook their ships apart.

Where Cruise had once been floating was now a gargantuan Tyranitar about twice as tall as an Arachnoblast, made completely out of stone. "Huh," Salty said after a moment. "Not bad."

The Tyranitar stepped forward. With every footstep, the earth trembled, and rocks split off from the ground to orbit around it. The Nihilators frantically opened fire, hurling everything they had at him. Laser blasts merely pitted his hide. Missiles did more substantial damage, blasting open small craters, but he was easily able to fill them in with the rocks floating around him. Robo-Groudons fired their cable-claws at him, trying to ensnare him. He merely flexed his stone muscles, and the cables shattered. Wave-motion guns were fired, and those managed to penetrate the Tyranitar's stone hull and rip right through…but any holes they made were easily remedied with proper application of rocks.

And then Cruise went on the offensive. He threw back his head and roared, and a Sandstorm swirled up around him, blasting out to buffet the Nihilators. Their ships were rocked by the winds, and the mechas were battered about, and their sensors went on the fritz, having difficulty seeing anything…and if you were unable to see a freaking GIANT STONE TYRANITAR, you knew you were in trouble.

And they were, indeed, in big trouble. Emphasis on 'big.'

Without warning, Cruise emerged from the Sandstorm, grabbed two Arachnoblasts by the neck, and lifted them, one in each hand. He flung them about, using their bodies like war flails, smashing and bashing the other robots and ships around him before finally crushing them into each other and hurling them away. Several Robo-Groudons leaped onto him from behind, pounding away with their fists and heads, trying to do some damage. Cruise responded by reshaping his body to form a giant boulder and used Rollout, rolling backwards to crush the robots as well as anything else in his path before eventually stopping and returning to his bipedal form.

Some of the Arachnoblasts and a capital ship fired their Wave-Motion guns at him. His body sheened as he used Rock Polish on himself, and, moving faster than something that big should have any right moving, actually dodged the beams. He then used Rock Slide, causing portals to appear in the air and drop massive boulders on the warship and mechas, crushing and bashing them as the rocks fell from above. As they struggled to recover, Cruise opened his mouth and fired a golden ball of energy into the air. It exploded into several balls that streaked through the air and smashed into the battleships, causing all of them to instantly fall out of the sky and crash to the ground, crushing anything that happened underneath them, thanks to the effects of Smack Down.

Some more robots rallied and charged the Tyranitar, firing missiles and laser blasts. Cruise stomped the ground, and suddenly huge stone walls erupted around them, imprisoning them in a Rock Tomb. They frantically started blasting away at the prisons, but he used Rock Slide again, dropping meteor-sized boulders on them from above, crushing and destroying them. Still more robots charged at him from out of the storm, trying to attack from behind. Without even looking, Cruise fired Stone Edges at them from his back. The razor-sharp rocks shot through the air and buried themselves in the robot's hides, causing them to stagger. Then the stones shattered, ripping open massive gashes in their bodies. As they reeled, Cruise smashed his fist into the ground, causing several rocks to fly up. He flicked them at the robots one by one, causing them to charge up with Aura as they flew through the air, entering the mechas' bodies through the wounds he'd inflicted, causing them to explode in bursts of blue flame.

Without warning, an extremely powerful Wave Motion Gun smashed into his chest, ripping out his back and causing several large pieces of himself to fall off. He roared in pain as he staggered back, the Sandstorm dying down to reveal another fleet of battleships led by four capital ships had appeared. Twelve Arachnoblasts formed a circle around him and fired cables at him which exploded into metal webs, wrapping around the Tyranitar and holding him in place while the capital ships prepared to fire their main guns again.

They didn't get the chance. With a roar, Cruise's body exploded in Aura, disintegrating the webs around him. He then smashed his tail into the ground, causing it to shatter, the Arachnoblasts staggering off-balance until huge rock spires burst out of the ground and skewered them. Hundreds of huge rocks flew into the air, and Cruise sent them flying towards the battleships and the robot reinforcements they'd brought. They opened fire, blasting the boulders to smithereens, but Cruise dug his claws into the ground and pulled, flipping a sheet of rock bigger than he was into the air and causing it to smash into the ships. Several of them were destroyed outright when the sheet collided with them, others were just badly damaged. As these severely weakened warships struggled to remain airborne, Cruise opened his mouth, and fired a ridiculously powerful orange Hyper Beam at the ships. There wasn't even an explosion. The beam was so powerful they were completely vaporized.

"Heh. Not bad, boy."

Cruise turned around to see a giant Tentacruel made of water that was at least as big as he was if not larger floating towards him, water raining down from its underside and dampening the plain. "Hey, Cap'n!" Cruise said happily. "I did a good job, then?"

"An excellent job, if I dare say so myself," Salty said, looking approvingly at the massive devastation the rock Tyranitar had created.

"Haha, yeah, I rule!" Cruise bragged. "This'll definitely show Tiny!"

"Yeah, I imagine he'd have trouble doing something as impressive like this," Salty agreed.

"Uh-huh!" Cruise said enthusiastically.

"On the other hand, I hear tell he's engaged to marry a wealthy and powerful witch," Salty commented.

Cruise's big stone face fell. "…Oh. Uh, right. Um…do you think June would be interested in-"

"She's into Rhinox," Salty said.

Cruise sighed. "Right. Of course she is."

"Hey now, it's not that bad," Salty assured him. "You'll get a girl someday. Granted, she probably won't be as powerful, rich, or beautiful as Tiny's fiancé, but you won't be single forever."

"That doesn't really help," Cruise complained.

"I'm not the kind of person to sugarcoat things, lad," Salty said, patting Cruise on the shoulder with a watery tentacle. "Want to go kill some more Nihilators?"

Cruise sighed. "Yeah, okay."

They went and killed some more Nihilators.

He was a god.

That was the only thing Ghetsis could say to describe his current experience. He was soaring high above the battlefields, reigning death and destruction on those below and around him, his armored scales deflecting every attack that came his way, a sensation of pure, unlimited, absolute POWER flowing through his veins. (There was also a rather irritating burning sensation in his chest, but he ignored it. What was a little pain to a god, after all?)

With a mighty roar, he threw back his heads, orange balls of light forming in each of his jaws. He spat them into the air, where they exploded into hundreds of smaller but no less potent energy balls, raining down Draco Meteors on all those below. The bodies of soldiers went flying. Tanks and other transports were flipped into the air. Robots staggered and toppled. Fighters crashed from the sky, and explosions wracked the hulls of battleships. He laughed maniacally as he watched the insects scurry in fright beneath him, spitting Dragon Pulses at their heels, intentionally refraining from hitting them so that he could prolong their terror.

There was a rather annoying ringing in his earhole, a tinny insignificant voice screaming at him to stop. He ignored it. After all, he was a god, and gods did not have to listen to their lesser when they were in the act of righteously smiting those beneath them.

The burning sensation in his chest increased. He continued to not pay attention to it.

Several of the Pokémon on the ground desperately struggled to fight back, firing their attacks at him, or rushing to what was left of some of the tanks and aiming any operational turrets and opening fire on him. Ghetsis did not even bother dodging the attacks, laughing at their failures as the projectiles and beams and missiles harmlessly bounced off his armor. He leisurely fired Dragon Pulses as he loftily glided overhead, chuckling in amusement as explosions blossomed from the ground like crimson flowers…

And cried out in pain when a Moonblast slammed into him, the explosion knocking him back. This was followed up by several Ice Beams which froze his wings and sent him into an uncontrollable descent, and Dragon Pulses and Dragon Rages were streaking towards him. As he spun wildly towards the ground, Ghetsis could see several dozen Fairy, Ice, and Dragon-types had rallied together to oppose him.

His eyes flashed in rage. They dared to strike at their true lord and master?! He would destroy them all! With a roar, he used Outrage, a red glow surrounding his body and shattering the ice on his wings, his power rising significantly. He then launched a three-pronged counterattack, quite simple thanks to his three heads. He pointed one head downwards and expelled a Fire Blast at the Ice Pokémon. With a second head, he fired a Draco Meteor, mentally guiding the energy balls so they'd seek out all the Dragons who dared to oppose their rightful master. And with his main head, he fired a Hyper Beam powerful enough to vaporize mountains, intending to wipe out all the wretched Fairy-types in a single blast.

Unfortunately, while he succeeded in wiping out most if not all of the Dragon and Ice-types, several of the Fairy-types managed to evade his Hyper Beam. Surrounding Ghetsis, they bombarded him with Fairy-type attacks; holding him in place with Fairy Lock, blinding him with Dazzling Gleams, sapping his energy with Draining Kisses, weakening him with Baby-Doll Eyes, and attempting to bend his mind with Sweet Kiss and Charm while striking him again and again with Moonblasts and Fairy Winds.

Unfortunately, while these attacks were effective on Ghetsis, the Fairy-types had failed to consider that he was no ordinary Pokémon. With a roar of Frustration, he managed to work up another Outrage, boosting his power again and using his rage to snap him out of the daze the Fairies had put him in. He shrieked in fury, the force behind his triple Hyper Voice sending the Fairies flying back. As they tried to recover, the eyes all over his body lit up, and laser beams lanced out from their pupils, piercing the Fairies through their hearts.

As they fell to the ground, Ghetsis laughed triumphantly…and winced, feeling another sharp pain in his chest. He grimaced and pounded on his chest, coughing as the Plate started heating up to uncomfortable levels. So distracted was he by this discomfort, he didn't do anything to stop several dozen fighters from flying by, releasing a volley of missiles and laser fire that exploded against him, causing him to disappear in a great cloud of smoke and fire…

Smoke and fire which was parted by a mighty Twister, the tornado blasting out from Ghetsis's body and sweeping up the fighters. As they were tossed about by the savage winds, Ghetsis's eyes opened once more, and lasers shot out from his body, obliterating the fighters. A group of mechas stomped forward to replace them, hatches opening up all over their bodies and firing hundreds of lasers and missiles at him. Spreading his wings, Ghetsis shot forward, his form glowing as he gracefully dodged and evaded the blasts, using Dragon Dance to increase his speed. His body was covered in blue light, and he smashed into one of the mecha's chests with Dragon Rush, tearing through it and bursting out through the back, a power core in his main head's jaws. He crushed it with Crunch, and the mecha collapsed and exploded behind him.

The other mechas reloaded and opened fire once more, so desperate to try and hit Ghetsis they didn't even care if they wound up shooting each other by accident. Ghetsis plowed through them like an unstoppable force, dodging the more powerful wave motion cannons but allowing the other attacks to bounce harmlessly off his scales, laser beams shooting from the eyes all over his body and punching holes in the robots. He ripped one mecha in half with his Dragon Claws, and pummeled another with Dual Chop until it exploded. He incinerated a mecha with Dragon Breath, while firing a Dragon Pulse and Dragon Rage at two others with his other heads. He knocked a mecha's head off with a lash of his Dragon Tail, and knocked several others away with Twister. Finally, he fired three Draco Meteors into the air, the energy balls bursting and raining explosives down on the robots, obliterating whichever he hadn't already destroyed.

There was a whistling sound, and hundreds of missiles streaked towards the Hydreigon. With a bark of laughter, he flapped his wings, generating another Twister which disoriented the missiles and knocked them off course, just before he fired lasers from his many eyes, causing the rockets to explode, the flames getting caught up in his Twister to create a fiery tornado. The dozens of battleships that had fired the missiles opened fire at the flaming Twister, trying to pierce it with their laser shots. Cackling madly, Ghetsis soared out of the top of the Twister, his body wreathed in flames, energy balls glowing in his mouth. He launched three more Draco Meteors, the powerful attacks raining destruction upon the ships.

While many of the smaller vessels were torn asunder by the attack, the larger ones were still largely intact, albeit damaged. The capital ships opened up their prows and started charging up their wave motion guns. Grinning, Ghetsis opened his three mouths as well, gathering power. In unison, three capital ships fired their main cannons at him. He fired his own attack at the same time, sending three Hyper Beams bigger than he was flying at the massive energy beams. Simultaneously, he fired laser blasts from the eyes on his body to destroy the swarm of missiles fired at him from behind. There was nothing he could do about the two wave motion blasts fired at him, though…

Or so it seemed, until he lashed out with a Dragon Tail, actually bashing the beams right back at the ships that had fired them, causing them to explode spectacularly. At the same time, he poured more power into his triple Hyper Beams, forcing the wave motion beams back into the ships that had fired them, causing their cannons to overload and rip the vessels apart in a spectacular explosion. He laughed triumphantly…

And grimaced as another flash of pain shot through his chest. Damn it all, what was that?!

As he grunted and tried to catch his breath, he failed to notice the appendage of a gargantuan mecha lashing out at him (funny how he keeps missing that sort of thing, given that he has eyes all over his body, isn't it?). The gigantic limb knocked him out of the air and crushed him to the ground, pressing down on him with all the force in its body, causing the ground to crater underneath it. It did not flatten Ghetsis, (unfortunately) but if he were any other Hydreigon, he would have been dead by then.

But then again, as mentioned before, Ghetsis was no ordinary Hydreigon.

As the mecha charged up its main gun, intending to fire it at point-blank range in hopes that it would kill Ghetsis, not caring that it would significantly damage itself in the process, Ghetsis channeled his seemingly limitless hatred, causing his armor to creak and strain as his body seemed to swell up, muscles expanding as more power coursed through him, his monstrous form glowing with the power of Outrage. Roaring in fury, he pushed upwards, causing the limb pinning him down to shake and start sparking as its servos and hydraulics overheated from the force necessary to keep the Hydreigon trapped…force that was quickly turning out to not be nearly enough. Straining with all his might, Ghetsis managed to lift enough of the leg off of himself to get a clear shot at the mecha's cannon, which he promptly took advantage of, firing a Dragon Pulse at it.

The resulting explosion sent the mecha reeling, staggering backwards as explosions wracked its form from the feedback chain reaction. In the process, it raised its limb off of Ghetsis, allowing him to dart forwards and lash out with Dragon Claw, destroying the mecha's optics. As it screeched, flailing its limbs wildly about, he Headbutted the machine to stun it further, then slammed into it with Dragon Rush, ripping through its chest and out the back. As it staggered, he grabbed one of its limbs, ripped it off, and drove it into the robot's body, further damaging it. He then bombarded it with repeated Dragon Pulses, Dragon Breaths, Dragon Rages, and eye lasers before launching a Draco Meteor into the air and raining down a volley of blasts that tore the mecha to pieces. He then flew back a ways and hit its remains with a triple Hyper Beam, destroying whatever was left.

He laughed and laughed and coughed up blood when another searing flash of pain burned through is chest. Dammit, what was that?! He looked down at his chest, noticing the emblem where he'd slapped his Draco Plate on earlier was glowing. A frown flickered across his face. Was the Plate rejecting him? It shouldn't be…surely the precautions he'd taken were enough…

As he contemplated this, he finally took notice of the irritating buzzing in his ear. "Lord Ghetsis! Lord Ghetsis!"

Ghetsis sighed in frustration. "What is it, Zinzolin?"

"Lord Ghetsis, what are you doing?! You…you killed them all!" Ghetsis's direct subordinate of the Seven Sages said in disbelief.

Ghetsis grinned savagely. "Yes, I did. The Draco Plate is even more powerful than I ever imagined."

"No, my lord…you killed them all! INCLUDING OUR OWN SOLDIERS!"

"Hmm?" Ghetsis blinked and took a look around. So lost had he been in his fury and reveling in his newfound power, he hadn't really paid much attention to who, exactly, he'd been fighting.

It slowly dawned on him this might have been a mistake. While a great many of the corpses and hulks littering the battlefield around him bore the black of the Nihilators, many more were clad in the white of Judgment. There were just as many of Judgment's own mecha as there were Robo-Groudons. Why, the robot he'd just destroyed had been a Scorponok, not an Arachnoblast!

Ghetsis found himself smirking with a perverse pride. Even by working together with their hated enemies, they still had not been able to best him. He truly was a god. "Ha. So I have."

"…'So you have?' That's it?! That's all you have to say for yourself?!" Zinzolin asked incredulously.

Ghetsis shrugged. "Soldiers can always be replaced, Zinzolin. For that matter, so can Sages. You had best keep that in mind."

There was a nervous gulp. "Y-yes, my lord. I understand perfectly."

"Good," Ghetsis said, deciding to pay no more attention to the worthless gnat. He considered killing him anyway once this was all over. Once his plans had born fruition and he was able to utilize all seventeen Plates, it's not like he'd need someone like Zinzolin around anymore. "Now…let's see who else I can test this power on…"

"I, ah, do not suppose you might endeavor to limit your attacks to only the Nihilators?" Zinzolin asked hopefully.

"If anyone is foolish enough to get in my way, it's not my fault if they die," Ghetsis said callously.

"Ah. Right. Of course," Zinzolin said miserably.

Yes, Ghetsis was definitely going to have to kill him. Wouldn't do for Zinzolin to grow a conscience this late in the game. He spread his wings and took off, eagerly looking forward to shedding more blood…

And doing his best to ignore the constantly burning pain in his chest…

Elsewhere, yet another epic battle was waging between the forces of Judgment and the Nihilators. Unfortunately, Judgment was losing. Corpses littered the landscape. Broken hulks of war machines and battleships smoldered on the ground. The black-clad armies marched over the broken bodies of the dead, advancing on the desperate few still standing, clustered around a Scorponok and a handful of smaller mechas, with a pitifully small number of battleships providing aerial support. It wasn't going to be enough to protect them. Not by a long shot.

Fortunately for the beleaguered soldiers, help was on the way.

"Appalling, isn't it?" N asked Ritchie, who was staring out the window of the shuttle they were flying in to the warzone below.

The Lucario nodded solemnly. "Yeah…it's like the battle in the Shimmering Desert, but like a millionfold…and there were certainly far fewer casualties on our side…"

"In war, people die on every side. It is unavoidable," N said sadly.

"There's gonna be a lot more names on the Wall by the time we're through, aren't there?" Ritchie asked, looking away from the window to meet the Zoroark's eyes.

N smiled bitterly. "We're going to need a bigger wall."

Ritchie smiled grimly in return. "Let's do our best to get down there and stop those bastards before that wall becomes taller than your cathedral."

N smiled again, but this time it was genuine. "Thank you for that, Ritchie. I appreciate it."

"Hey, just because I used to be fighting you and your followers doesn't mean I want to see more of them die than is necessary," Ritchie said. "And after visiting your country, meeting the people there…it's hard to just think of them as faceless soldiers anymore. I'm as committed to helping them as you are. Well…maybe not that committed, but-"

N laughed. "I understand the sentiment, my friend, and thank you for it. Once again, thank you for agreeing to come with me. I know you probably wanted to fight alongside your other friends, or get some quality time with Melody."

"You're right, I did and do," Ritchie admitted. "But at the moment, you need me more than they do. Someone's gotta watch your back and make sure Ghetsis doesn't pull something."

"Anthea and Concordia have already anticipated and prepared countermeasures for just about anything he could throw at us, but knowing you are watching over me as well does make me feel a bit safer," N said gratefully.

Ritchie looked N's armor up and down and smirked. "What, you don't feel safe enough already in that getup?"

"The power of the Dread Plate is formidable…but it does not make me invincible," N said seriously. "I'm still weak to the same things as I was before, after all. There's a good chance you yourself could defeat me in a fair fight, even as I am now."

"Once upon a time, I'd have looked forward to that," Ritchie said. "And I still kinda do…but if we're ever going to fight, I want it to be as friends, not enemies."

N grinned. "The feeling is mutual, my friend. While I may have an army of followers absolutely devoted to me…there are only a pawful of Pokémon in this world I truly believe I can count on, and one of them is you."

Ritchie smirked and shook his head. "Mon, it sucks we spent so long being on opposite sides. If it weren't for the Judgment thing, I think we could've been best friends a lot sooner."

N nodded in agreement. "The same thought has crossed my mind as well. Still, in spite of everything, I'm glad we're friends now."

Ritchie smiled. "Me too."

"My lord," the shuttle pilot called, glancing back at them over his shoulder. "Apologies for interrupting your 'bromance,' but we've reached the drop zone. We can't stay for long or we'll start attracting fire."

N nodded. "Understood. Open the hatch and we'll be on our way."

The pilot nodded in acknowledgement and pushed a button on his dashboard, causing the back of the shuttle to open up, revealing the red plains of Mars and the frantic battle below. The shuttle had already been depressurized, so they didn't have to worry about everything inside getting sucked out the instant the hatch opened, but that didn't stop chilly winds from gusting through, dropping the temperature in the aircraft several degrees and blowing everyone's fur—what little of it wasn't covered in armor, anyway-back. Ritchie stared out the hatch, noting that the Pokemon and war machines below looked…rather small. Much, much smaller than he had expected. "We're, uh…we're really high, aren't we?"

"We had to reach an altitude high enough to keep the Nihilators' sensors from picking us up so we could get here safely," N said.

"Ah," Ritchie said. "Right. And…why didn't we just try getting there on foot?"

"Because we'd have wasted so much time fighting through all the enemy forces in our way, we wouldn't reach the soldiers in time to help them," N said.

"Oh," Ritchie said. "Yeah. That makes sense." He continued staring, though. It looked like a really, really long way down. He swallowed. His armor would be strong enough to let him survive the fall…right?

"My lord, I've got multiple missile locks…you have to go, now, or there won't be a shuttle in a few seconds!" the pilot called urgently.

"Right. Ritchie, it's time to go," N said.

"O-okay," Ritchie said. "I, uh, don't suppose you'd be willing to strap on parachutes-"

He was interrupted when N shoved him out the hatch, nodded briefly to the pilot, and jumped out as well. The shuttle quickly veered away, as the two warriors began to plummet towards the ground very, very far below, N's long mane billowing out behind him and Ritchie tumbling and screaming in terror. "Calm yourself, Ritchie!" the Zoroark barked to his companion.

"DUDE! YOU SHOVED ME OUT OF A PLANE WITHOUT A PARACHUTE! NOT COOL!" Ritchie shouted.

"It was more of a shuttle than a plane, and neither of us exactly needs a parachute," N pointed out.

"STILL NOT COOL! YOU SHOULD'VE WARNED ME!" Ritchie yelled.

"Yes, I suppose I should have," Ritchie admitted. "But now we're here, so we must make the best of it. If you stop flailing around, you should be able to gain better control of your descent. Fold your arms to your sides and point yourself downward, as I am doing. It will also increase your speed."

Shooting the Zoroark a death glare, Ritchie did his best to follow these instructions. It took him an embarrassingly long time, but eventually he managed to mimic N's stance. "I haven't forgiven you yet, you know," he grumbled. "Even if I can survive the fall, it's still a dick move."

"That's fine," N said. "I'm sure you will eventually. That's what friends do, isn't it?" Ritchie shot him an even worse look. N narrowed his eyes and looked downwards. "I think we have incoming."

"Huh?" Ritchie looked away from N and saw several silvery dots shooting up towards him. It took him a moment to realize that they were missiles. "Huh. Guess they noticed us coming in."

"We can adjust our descent by shifting our body weight, so should be able to dodge the missiles that way," N said. "Well, unless they're locked onto us. Which I suppose would make more sense."

"Then we should destroy them instead?" Ritchie asked.

N grinned. "We should indeed." Putting his hands together in front of him, he fired a beam of black and purple circles, sweeping his Dark Pulse through the air beneath him, obliterating dozens of missiles with a single blast. Ritchie also cupped his paws in front of him, firing an Aura Sphere which shot downwards and exploded into dozens of smaller spheres with an exertion of his will, the energy balls zigzagging through the air to intercept and destroy several missiles.

More rockets rose up, some newly launched, others managing to get through their initial offensive. The two heroes were not bothered. Ritchie opened his mouth and unleashed a spine-tingling Metal Sound, the sonic waves shaking apart and detonating several missiles, while N used a surprisingly powerful Snarl to replicate this effect. More missiles kept coming, though, these coming within striking distance of the two Pokemon. Ritchie formed a Bone Rush staff and started twirling and sweeping it through the air, deflecting missiles and causing them to fly away from him in all directions. One flew towards N, and the Zoroark barely had time to slash it to pieces with a Fury Swipes before it could hit him. "Be careful, that almost hit me!"

"Oh, sorry," Ritchie said, dismissing the staff and sprouting Metal Claws instead. N powered up his own claws with Hone Claws, and then the two of them started frenziedly slicing their claws through the air, using Fury Swipes, Night Slash, and other such claw attacks. Scrap rained down from the skies and missiles exploded as they were ripped to pieces by their powerful blows.

And then half a dozen much larger missiles started rising up towards them. "I don't think it would be a good idea to slash through those things," N commented. "Their warheads look considerably stronger."

"Think it'd be enough to break through our armor?" Ritchie asked.

"I am not certain I wish to test it," N said.

Ritchie thought for a moment. "Okay, I have an idea, but it's probably incredibly stupid."

"Then why are you going to do it?" N asked in alarm.

"Because my stupid plans usually work," Ritchie said before using Flying Press, causing himself to dive even faster through the air towards the missiles.

"Ritchie, wait!" N cried, but it was too late. Cursing, he used Agility to increase his speed and dove after the Lucario.

Ritchie shot towards one of the missiles, which redirected its course to aim towards him. Just before they could collided, he spread his arms to slow himself down and grabbed the missile by the warhead, grunting as it slammed into him and both he and it were flung into the air. "Ack!"

"Ritchie!" N cried as the missile and Lucario shot past him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"We're about to find out!" Ritchie grunted. With some flailing about, he managed to plant his legs around the sides of the missile and, using his body weight and incredible strength, flipped himself and the rocket over before hurling it downwards with a Seismic Toss. "Catch!"

Startled, N flipped over and grabbed the missile as it streaked towards him, grunting as it slammed into him and started carrying him downwards. "Oof! Ritchie, what-"

"Steer it into another missile!" Ritchie shouted.

"…Ah. Of course." Shifting about, he managed to change his missile's course and aimed it towards one of the others. This wasn't especially difficult, since the other missiles were rocketing towards him. He waited until the last minute, then sprang off. The two missiles collided, and the resulting explosion rushed outwards, consuming the other missiles and causing them to detonate as well, adding to the fury of the flames. The blast wave expanded outwards, looking like it was about to slam into N…

And suddenly Ritchie was right there, arms spread out and a force field made of Aura expanding out before them. The blast struck the shield, knocking Ritchie back into N and sending both of them tumbling away, but despite the force and the fury of the explosion, the shield held, and both of them were able to ride it out.

"Phew! That was close," Ritchie said once the explosion subsided and he was finally able to lower his shield.

"Thank you, Ritchie," N said gratefully.

"Hey, I told you I was gonna watch your back," Ritchie reminded him.

N nodded. "So it would seem." He decided not to mention that he knew Protect and probably hadn't been in any real danger.

"That was pretty cool, wasn't it?" Ritchie asked.

N nodded. "It was. But why did we not simply blast the missiles like we did the others?"

There was an awkward pause. "Uh…hey look, there's more missiles!" Ritchie shouted quickly to change the subject. "Why don't we blast them and never talk about this again?"

"We could do that," N said, amused. "Or we could do this."

And suddenly, there were several dozen Ns and Ritchies filling the sky. Ritchie blinked and looked around in disbelief. "What…how did you…"

"I'm a Zoroark. I'm a master of illusion, remember?" N reminded his friend.

"Oh, right. And those are supposed to confuse the missiles?" Ritchie asked, getting it.

N nodded. "That's right. They have the 'illusion' of heat. Enough to trick the missiles' guidance systems, anyway."

"Makes sense. And how will this keep the missiles from locking onto us, exactly?" Ritchie asked.

"With an illusion of stealth, of course," N said, and suddenly he and Ritchie appeared to cease to exist. "Voila."

"Heh. Nice," said a patch of air where Ritchie had been just a second ago.

The missiles shot past them, reached the illusions…and passed right through them. They continued rising up into the air until they vanished from view. "Ha. Dumb missiles," Ritchie said once they were long gone.

"I wonder how long they can go before their fuel runs out and they succumb to gravity," N commented idly, dissipating the illusion.

"They might just keep going until they break orbit," Ritchie pointed out.

"They might," N agreed. "But perhaps we should keep an eye on the sky, just to be safe."

A massive laser beam streaked upwards, very narrowly missing them. "I'm guessing they've realized missiles aren't going to be of much use against us," Ritchie commented as more and more lasers lanced up at them.

"Let's show them why firing at us is a bad idea," Ritchie said, his heightened Aura-senses allowing him to dodge out of the way of another laser before it could hit him. He waved his arms, causing light blue wind to appear and surround him. He crossed his arms and then opened them, firing the wind downwards in a Vacuum Wave. N, in the meantime, also crossed his arms over his chest, causing several dozen Focus Blasts to materialize. With a grunt, he hurled the spheres downwards. The attacks devastated the laser cannons firing up at them, and Ritchie's Vacuum Wave sliced a few battleships in half.

This only inspired the Nihilators to resort to even bigger guns. A few Arachnoblasts and capital ships aimed their Wave Motion Cannons upwards and fired ridiculously massive beams at the heroes, the lasers converging and combining to send an even bigger beam at them. "Huh. That supposed to impress us?" Ritchie asked.

"We can do better," N said, Dark power gathering in his claws. With a roar, he fired a massive Dark Pulse at the combined energy beam. At the same time, Ritchie fired a massive Flash Cannon. The beam and Pulse shot towards the Wave Motion blast, wrapping around each other and intertwining to create a pulsating spiral of light and darkness that collided with the Nihilator beam. Ritchie and N's combined power proved to be too much for the Nihilator beam, and the Flash Cannon and Dark Pulse overwhelmed and overloaded the beams, engulfing them in their power and flowing right into the war machines' cannons, causing them to violently explode, obliterating the vessels and mechas they were attached to.

"Ha! That showed them!" Ritchie whooped as they passed through the wreckage of the burning and crumbling ships, the ground rushing towards them with alarming speed.

"We're about to land. Get ready!" N warned Ritchie.

The Lucario nodded, focusing Aura into his fists. "Got it!"

Directly beneath them was a sizable army of Nihilators that had been marching against the dwindling Judgment soldiers Ritchie and N had come out here to rescue. They had paused in their advance when they heard the ships explode overhead…and their eyes widened in astonishment when they saw an armored Lucario and Zoroark shooting down towards them, the former burning with blue flames, the other wreathed in red and black shadows. Before the Nihilators could get out of the way, the two warriors struck the ground, Ritchie releasing a tremendous blast of Aura, while N unleashed an incredible Night Daze. The resulting explosion was unbelievable, a massive sphere of blue and red energies blasting out from the two, obliterating the Nihilators, vaporizing a massive chunk of land, and causing bolts of Aura and Darkness to lance out, piercing nearby mechas and battleships and causing them to explode as well.

When the blast finally subsided, Ritchie and N were standing in the bottom of a crater that had to be at least a few miles wide. "…Holy shit," said the stunned Ritchie. "…Did we just do that?!"

"The power of a single Plate is unfathomable," N commented, equally awed. "But for more than one to work in unison…is beyond imagining. These are truly the instruments of Arceus. Are we truly deserving of such tools?"

"Well, if we're able to use them, Arceus must not have a problem with it," Ritchie reasoned.

"…Ha. I suppose that's one way of looking at it," N admitted with a smirk. "Still, let us try to only direct this power against our enemies, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me," Ritchie said, narrowing his eyes as a wave of Nihilator soldiers rushed down the edge of the crater and started charging towards them, some tanks bringing up the rear. "Speaking of which, here they come!"

"This should not take too long," N said, cracking his knuckles. Together, the duo charged forward to meet the enemy.

Ritchie moved at lightning speeds as he fought his way through the Nihilator horde, his Aura-powered reflexes, the enhanced ability his Fist Plate gave him, and his Extreme Speed allowing him to move so fast that he left after-images as he darted here and there, laughing at the Nihilators as their attacks just kept missing him, looking like they were moving in slow motion. Charging his fists with Aura, he pummeled a Krookodile in the chest several hundred times per second, launched him into the air with a Sky Uppercut, then leaped up after him, grabbed him, and hurled him back down with a Seismic Toss, causing him to explode in a blast of Aura that bowled over all the Nihilators nearby.

Charging more Aura into his fist, he punched the ground as he landed, causing the earth to shatter, pillars of Aura exploding all over the place to consume the Nihilators. Others were flung into the air by the blast, and he used his super-speed to jump from flying rock to flying rock as if they were stepping stones, slicing at the helpless Nihilators with his Metal Claws, before finally landing on the ground some distance away. As he landed, so too did the flung rocks and Nihilators, and the latter fell to pieces the instant they hit the ground.

N was all over the place as well, but not because he had super-speed like Ritchie's—although is Agility did allow him to move quick enough not to get hit—but because he'd created dozens of illusions of himself, and using his Dread Plate's power, was able to grant them all a limited degree of autonomy as well as the ability to actually hurt his opponents. His opponents, on the other hand, were incapable of hurting them. They were technically capable of hurting himself, but that wasn't very likely to happen, as a Toxicroak discovered to its detriment when it lunged at him from behind with a Toxic Jab, only for him to use Foul Play, grabbing him out of the air, spinning about, and hurling him away, bowling over some Nihilators nearby. Using Hone Claws to boost his power, he lunged forward, claws lashing out this way and that as he used Night Slash. He paused for a moment, the glow of his claws dimming once he'd made his way out of the cluster of Nihilators, and then they fell to pieces, blood spilling everywhere.

A group of Masquerains and Yanmegas surrounded him and vibrated their wings to generate a Bug Buzz, causing him to cringe in pain and fall to his knees. They dove in for the kill…

Only for him to rise up, having faked the extent of his damage, and stomped the ground and shouted, using Torment to keep them from using Bug Buzz again. As they wobbled in a daze, N used Imprison to hold them in place, and then released a Night Daze that obliterated them utterly.

An Excadrill burst out of the ground underneath Ritchie using Dig, but his senses had picked up the Nihilator's approach, allowing him to dodge in time. He grabbed it, crushed its neck, then hurled it at a Scrafty, impaling the latter on the former's head drill. He then generated an Aura Sphere and hurled it into the hole the Excadrill had made, causing the ground to explode, killing several more Nihilators.

More charged and swooped down at Ritchie through the smoke. A Machamp threw a Dynamic Punch at him, but he grabbed the Nihilator by the wrist and hurled him away with a Circle Throw. He shot out an Arm Thrust at a Fearow diving at him with Drill Peck, shattering the bird's beak, then grabbed the bird by its wings, ripped them off, and punted it away. A Hawlucha jumped into the air and dove at him with a Flying Press, but Ritchie countered with Sky Uppercut, crushing the Wrestling Pokemon's ribs and flinging it upwards, spitting up blood. He threw a Focus Blast at the Hawlucha, causing it to explode, and as charred feathers and other bits fell around him, generated a Bone Rush staff and dashed towards a Marowak who was coming at him with Bone Club. They rushed past each other, swinging their bones as they went, then froze in place a few feet away from each other. There was a pause, and then the Marowak's head fell off.

An Emboar lunged at Ritchie from behind, but he thrust his staff back without even looking, skewering it in the gut. As the Emboar gasped in pain, Ritchie twirled his staff around, using the impaled Emboar like a maul to bash and knock away the Nihilators around him. Blazikens jumped into the air and shot towards him with Blaze Kick. He raised his staff and thrust the Emboar at the end out like a shield, knocking away the first Blaziken, and then channeled Aura through his staff and into the Emboar, causing it to shoot off the end like a rocket and exploded in the Blazikens' faces, killing them in a blast of Aura.

An Alakazam, watching from afar as N Bit a Beartic's face off, concentrated, using Miracle Eye to make his powers work on Dark-types, then focused a Psychic attack on the Zoroark…

And much to his surprise, nothing happened, since it wasn't N at all, but an illusion. Even more to his surprise, the actual N (well, it was probably N, it might have been another illusion) struck him from behind with Feint Attack, slaying him. A Scyther lunged at him, shrieking as it raised its blades over its head to strike him with Fury Cutter, but N grabbed the blades in his hands and flashed a Scary Face in the Scyther's eyes. Recoiling in terror, the Scyther didn't even fight back as N bit off its face with Crunch. As the Scyther collapsed to the ground, a trio of Ursaring blasted N from behind with Hyper Beams…

Only for them to pass right through him. (Oh, guess he was an illusion after all.) As they blinked in disbelief, the real N (for real this time! Probably) fired a point-blank Dark Pulse at one Ursaring from behind, ripping him in half. The other two Ursarings turned around in surprise, only to get his claws driven into their eyes. As they staggered back, howling in pain, N cut out one's throat with Night Slash, then knocked the other one off its feet with a Low Sweep and drove his claws into the back of his skull, killing him. A Breloom jumped at him, hurling Mach Punches, but he gracefully dodged the punches one after the other before using a Feint Attack to get behind the Mushroom Pokemon and cut him down. The ground suddenly erupted, and a Steelix burst up from underneath N, mouth wide open to swallow him…

Only to close on thin air, because it was another illusion. (Wow, I did not see that coming.) As the Steelix looked around in confusion. The real (actually, no, I have no idea if it's the real one anymore, screw it) N appeared beneath its head and fired a Dark Pulse upwards, the explosion knocking the Steelix head-over-tail and causing it to crash down nearby. N grabbed the Steelix by the tail and Flung it at some other Nihilators, not only bowling them over but crushing many to death. The Steelix stirred and started to get up, but N used Hone Claws and then dashed over, jumping onto the Steelix's body and running up its back, lashing out many times with his claws before jumping off the head, arcing through the air, and landing some distance away. There was a pause, and then the Steelix's metal body fell to pieces, crushing even more Nihilators.

With a monstrous roar, a tank appeared, plowing through the ranks of the Nihilators, sending bodies flying everywhere and crushing others beneath its spiked treads. Missile launchers with batteries of rockets tilted to point at Ritchie, then fired their payload at him, the projectiles zigzagging through the air as they homed in on the Lucario. Once again using his enhanced speed, Ritchie rushed forwards, jumped into the air, and used a High Jump Kick on the first missile he encountered, flipping it end over end and causing it to crash into another missile, both exploding. As more missiles shot towards him, he twisted through the air, causing the rockets to pass right by him. He snagged a pair as he went, throwing them at some of the other missiles, leading to more explosions. He landed on top of a missile and pushed off, kicking the missile into the ground and rising back into the air. As more missiles homed in on him, he channeled Aura into his fists and started unleashing rapid-fire Bullet Punches, not only causing each rocket he struck to be flipped over, but also imbuing them with a fraction of his Aura. Turning about, the repurposed missiles shot back towards the tank, exploding on contact and engulfing it in a cloud of smoke and fire.

Ritchie landed gracefully…only to yelp and dodge out of the way as the smoking form of the tank, its hull charred and its missile launchers destroyed but the rest of it in otherwise good shape, charged out of the smoke, trying to run him over. It skidded to a halt some distance away, then with a mechanical groan, began to swivel in place, laser emitters firing beams at various heights, slicing the surrounding Nihilators to pieces. Ritchie used his Aura-enhanced reflexes and skills to acrobatically jump, duck, dodge, and contort himself around the beams. When several came at him too fast and too close for him to dodge, he used Mat Block, ripping up a chunk of the ground and using it to shield himself.

Eventually, the tank stopped spinning and pivoted its turret to face him, gun barrel glowing as it powered up. Ritchie tensed up, waiting. With a terrific boom, the cannon fired, shooting a massive energy ball at him. Channeling Aura into his fists, Ritchie punched the sphere with all his might, causing it to fly back down the gun barrel and explode, destroying the tank's upper half. Astonishingly, the lower body was still intact, and with a rev of its treads, charged towards him once again. Ritchie held out his hands and caught the tank before it slammed into him, his feet digging into the ground as he was shoved backwards…

A measly few inches. Grinning, Ritchie let out a mighty cry and hurled the tank over his shoulder, causing it to crush the Nihilators behind him. He then leaped into the air, formed his Bone Rush staff, and thrust it into the tank's underside, causing it to explode. As a pillar of flames rose into the air, Ritchie rose out of the conflagration, smoke trailing from his form, and landed hard enough to crater the ground before some shocked Nihilators. He looked up at their horrified expressions and grinned. "Who's next?"

"I am!" a massive Diggersby snarled as he shoved his way through the crowd. With a roar, he entered Hyper Mode, Shadow Aura exploding around him and knocking the other Nihilators back. He got bigger and even fatter, almost like a Hariyama, though how much of that mass was fat and how much was solid muscle was hard to say. His buck teeth sharpened into fangs, his eyes turned red, his sash-like fur became armor, and the fists on his ears grew spiked knuckles. He laughed as his bizarre secondary limbs punched at the air, Shadow trailing off them. "Let's see you handle this!"

"Okay," Ritchie said. In the blink of an eye, he was standing right in front of the Bunnelby, one paw on the Digging Pokemon's chest, the other on his forehead.

"What the-" the Bunnelby cried in alarm.

"HAAAAA!" Ritchie howled, channeling Aura into the Bunnelby's body. The Bunnelby screamed in pain and terror as pure Aura flooded his form, cleansing him of Shadow, causing his Shadow Aura to dissipate as he shrank back to his original size and shape. "There. Aura Purge. How do you feel?"

The Bunnelby wobbled about, a dazed and beatific look on his face. "I…I feel…I feel…wonderful…as if a great darkness has departed…and…and…" He suddenly looked cross. "And I want it back, you asshole!"

Ritchie sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Should've known Oblivion's Shadow wouldn't hire people who'd stop being evil just because they got a Purge. Oh well. It was worth a try."

"I'm gonna kill you for that, you-" the Bunnleby started, until Ritchie fired a point-blank Force Palm, causing the Bunnelby's head and torso to disintegrate in blue fire.

"Now," Ritchie said to the shocked Nihilators. "Anyone else wanna try to be a smart guy?"

Meanwhile, N was also fighting a Hyper Mode Pokemon. This one was a lot stronger than the Bunnelby, though. Volcarona were formidable opponents in their regular state, and one fueled by the power of Shadow was even worse. Her white fur had turned black, spikes were growing from her abdomen, her horns had grown more twisted and sharp, her compound eyes were red, and her red and black wings were ablaze with Shadow. "I've heard that you consider yourself to be a servant of Arceus," the Sun Pokemon sneered as she fired Shadow Waves at N with every flap of her many wings. "And I am a servant of Giratina…how fitting that we should clash, don't you think?"

"Not really, no," N said as he nimbly evaded the Shadow Waves, flinging Focus Blasts at the Volcarona as he jumped and dodged all over the place. "While I may be a servant of Arceus…you are nothing more than Giratina's pawn. We are not even remotely equal."

"Ha! A pawn, you say?!" the Volcarona roared, cloaking herself in flames and flapping her wings rapidly as she glided and swooped through the air, her Fiery Dance igniting the plains and sending fire everywhere. "I have been promised a place among the aristocracy of the damned should I be slain! When the armies of the Ruler of Evil march forth from the Abyss, I shall be at Giratina's side! All of us will! Will Arceus be so generous to you, who kill innocent people in His name?"

N's eyes flashed as he used Taunt. "I am well aware I will probably not be given a place at the side of the Original One when I die. My own sins are too great for such an honor. But I am still certain that whatever reward you think you have been promised is a lie. Even if you are granted such an exalted position, do you really think it will last long? Giratina is one of the eldest and most powerful beings in the Omniverse. She is to gods what gods are to mortals. You are nothing more than squirming bacteria as far as she is concerned. The only reason she would even bother using someone as insignificant as yourself is because all of her other truly worthy underlings are dead or sealed away…by the agents of my Lord."

"We shall free them all and tear down your God from his throne!" the Volcarona shrieked, the Taunt enraging her to exhale a Heat Wave at the Zoroark, striking the ground and causing a wave of fire to rush towards N.

The Zoroark fired a Dark Pulse at the ground, propelling himself into the air and over the flames, which surged under him. Concentrating his power, he formed several Focus Blasts and hurled them at the Volcarona, who spat Embers, the blasts colliding and exploding in the air. "As I seem to recall, my God defeated yours before. What makes you think you'll have any better luck this time?" he quipped as he landed.

Shrieking in rage, the Volcarona launched herself forward, Shadow Aura blazing with Shadow End. N used Hone Claws and rushed to meet her, claws glowing. The distance rapidly eating up between them as she flew, the Volcarona rammed into the Zoroark…

And flew right through him. "What-"

Two Zoroarks appeared above her and shot downwards, lashing out with Night Slash as they went and severing her wings, causing her to shriek in pain as she collapsed to the ground. She struggled to get back on her feet—her body far more suited to flight than moving on the ground—only for N to reappear behind her and actually spank her, using Punishment, her Hyper Mode state causing the attack to do extra damage. She fired String Shot from her abdomen, but it just passed right through the illusion. More Zoroarks appeared around her, preparing to attack, but she Thrashed, flailing her body about and causing them all to dissipate. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" she screamed, belching flames. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

"Very well," N said, appearing right in front of her. "Here I am."

She fired a Heat Wave. Predictably, it just passed right through the illusion. "Oh, I'm sorry," said N, now on her back, legs wrapped around her neck. "I lied. Give my regards to Giratina when you see her, won't you?"

The Volcarona stiffened in horror. "No—wait-"

N did not wait. He twisted his legs, snapping her neck. The Volcarona collapsed to the ground, her Shadow Aura dissipating and her body reverting to normal, though the fires continued to burn. There was a rumble, and suddenly a massive tank rolled through the flames and came to a stop in front of N. As the Zoroark looked up at it impassively, a hatch opened, revealing an exact duplicate of himself. "Care for a lift?"

"Certainly," N said, hopping inside. The hatch closed behind him, and the tank drove off to smite more Nihilators in the name of Arceus.

Ritchie, standing atop a mountain of corpses, finished punching an Emolga's face in and dropped it to the ground before looking around him, seeing nothing else moving for quite some distance around him. "I think that's the last of—WHOA!"

He quickly jumped out of the way just before a huge missile impacted where he'd just been standing, sending body parts flying everywhere. Explosions burst up all over the place as a sizable army of mecha with an alarming amount of air support advanced, bombarding the ground ahead of them with their weapons in an attempt to get Ritchie.

As Ritchie frantically tried to dodge and shield himself from the attacks, N appeared next to him. "Looks like they're finally sending in the big guns. Are you ready to take this to the next level?"

"You know it!" Ritchie said.

N concentrated, Dark power swirling around him…

And he began to grow. And grow. And grow, until he was at least half again as tall as the Robo-Groudons. As the Nihilators paused in their assault, staring incredulously, N reached down with a massive hand and picked up Ritchie. "So…is this an illusion, or are you actually a giant now?" the Lucario asked.

N shrugged. "A little of column A, a little of column B. Ready?"

"Ready!" Ritchie said.

N closed his hand around Ritchie, wound up, and hurled Ritchie at one of the battleships. With a cry, Ritchie lit up in a blast of Aura, streaking towards the vessel , engulfed in blue. The battleship frantically opened fire, filling the air with missiles and lasers, but using Extreme Speed and bursts of Aura to change directions Ritchie easily maneuvered around or simply smashed through the attacks, his Aura protecting him, before finally winding back and punching the battleship in the prow with all his might.

The ship didn't explode so much as shatter completely, the force of Ritchie's blow rending it to pieces. His momentum carrying him through the air, Ritchie landed on one piece of falling debris and kicked off, hopping to another fragment, and another, puny gravity and physics having no effect on him, especially at the speeds he was moving. The surrounding ships opened fire, trying to lock onto and destroy him, but he was always a second too quick, moving to another piece of debris just before it could be obliterated. As he went, he flung Aura Spheres and Focus Blasts at the enemy vessels, causing explosions to blossom across their surfaces, many of the ships breaking apart completely from the force of the energy blasts.

Eventually, he ran out of debris and leaped into the air, gracefully arcing towards a formation of fighters gliding towards him. They opened fire, filling the air with laser blasts, but Ritchie's hands moved faster than the eye could see, snatching the energy bullets out of the air, turning them blue as he infused them with Aura. Once his paws were full, he spun about and flung them back at the fighters, causing them to explode, one by one, except for one, which he landed on top of. He punched into the cockpit, ripped out the startled pilot, and hurled him out. He then jumped off as the fighter started descending, intending to land on a nearby battleship…

Only for a huge metal fist to nearly smash into him from below. Ritchie's reflexes kicked in and he twisted out of the way just in time, the fist passing so close by it nearly touched his sides. He looked down, seeing it was connected by a long cable to the arm of a Robo-Groudon on the ground below. Ritchie grabbed the fist, and using his incredible strength and continued disregard for physics, pulled and twisted in the air at the same time, lifting the Robo-Groudon off the ground and flinging it into the air. As it arced overhead, Ritchie climbed onto the fist and ran up the length of cable connecting it to the mecha. Despite being no doubt incredibly disoriented, the mecha's pilot was still able to have enough presence of mind to fire the other fist at Ritchie as well as a volley of missiles. Ritchie jumped into the air as the second fist shot at him, landing on top of it and running up this appendage's cable, unleashing rapid-fire punches on the missiles to send them tumbling away before reaching the robot's head, which he sent flying off the body with a mighty Sky Uppercut. He leaped after it, but not before throwing an Aura Sphere into the Robo-Groudon's exposed neck. The mecha crashed into a battleship and exploded as the Aura Sphere inside it detonated, obliterating both war machines in an azure blast of Aura.

Ritchie soared up to the airborne Robo-Groudon head, grabbed it, charged it with Aura, then hurled it away with Circle Throw, causing it to crash into another battleship and explode. He grinned…and then saw that a capital ship nearby had opened up its bow and was powering up a wave-motion cannon. He narrowed his eyes and sent himself flying forwards with a burst of Aura just before the ship fired, sending a ridiculously massive energy beam flying at him…

Which he punched. Repeatedly. And kept punching, fists flying at speeds approaching the lightspeed barrier, shouting at the top of his lungs as he pushed back against the beam, forcing it back, pressing forward, ever forward, towards the cannon…

Until finally he punched something other than beam, and the ship exploded spectacularly. Flung away by the blast, Ritchie smashed through five other battleships—causing them to explode as well—and then seven Robo-Groudons before he finally hit the ground, plowing through it and toppling over any robot in his path until he finally came to a stop several kilometers away. Grunting, Ritchie stood up…

And an Arachnoblast leg slammed down on him, pressing him into the ground and reducing him to a smear. Or at least, that's what would have happened if Ritchie had been an ordinary Pokémon. Instead, he caught the leg one-handed, looked upwards, smirked, and fired a Force Palm upwards, the blast piercing the leg and ripping out through a knee joint far above, shearing it off. As the Arachnoblast staggered, Ritchie grabbed the severed leg with his other hand, adjusted his stance, and swept it across the ground, smashing the Arachnoblast's other legs off at the 'ankle' and causing the central sphere to come crashing to the ground. With a single bound, Ritchie leaped into the air. The Arachnoblast's head lunged at him, hissing, but he just punched through it, and it was no longer in his way. Landing on top of the sphere, he proceeded…

To run in place. Astonishingly, the sphere actually started to turn beneath his feet, and then began rolling. Ritchie laughed as the surrounding Robo-Groudons realized what was coming and tried to run, but they were too late. The massive sphere of death beneath Ritchie's feet overtook and crushed them into the ground, its weight breaking their bodies and causing parts to get stuck to the surface. This caused the ball's roll to become somewhat uneven and bumpy, but Ritchie had good enough balance to keep his footing, expertly hopping over embedded parts of Robo-Groudons as they rolled up behind him. He noted with interest that the more Robo-Groudons he crushed, the easier it seemed to be for more of their body parts to get stuck on the sphere, catching on the remains of other crushed Robo-Groudons, causing the sphere's mass to increase and in turn making it easier still to flatten more robots. Some robots tried to push back against the sphere to stop it, but its weight and momentum were too great, and they swiftly found themselves crushed beneath it and added to its constantly growing shell. Others fired lasers and missiles and other attacks, but the layers and layers of Robo-Groudon debris were proving to be a surprisingly good protection against such offenses.

Ritchie smiled, finding this to be great fun. He started humming, an incredibly catchy tune he'd heard from one of Zippo's games rising unbidden from his memory.

Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaa…

Meanwhile, N was having some fun of his own. For his opening move, he used Night Daze, creating a dome of red and black energy that annihilated everything for a few miles around him. He then created about half a dozen illusions of himself and split them up, the giant Zoroarks rushing into the masses of the mechas and beginning to lay into them, or into the battleships.

One N grabbed a Robo-Groudon by the neck, Bit off its head, then started swining it about by its tail, bashing and knocking away the surrounding mechas as if it were a flail. After it started getting rather battered and was starting to spark, he Flung it at a battleship that was pelting him with pesky projectiles. The mecha smashed into its bridge, causing the ship to lose control and smash into another battleship, sending both crashing to the ground, destroying anything beneath them.

Another N leaned forward and used Scary Face, halting a group of robots in their tracks and causing them to quake in terror. Laughing, the Zoroark opened his mouth and used Flamethrower, engulfing the mechas in flames. While some were incinerated, others started melting, and others still charged forwards, not caring that they were on fire and determined to cause some damage. N grinned and started dealing out Sucker Punches left and right, his blows sending the robots flying…and, subsequently, spreading the flames to other war machines.

Getting annoyed by the fighters buzzing around his head firing ineffectually at him, another N leaped into the air, landing on top of the capital ship that was deploying them. The ship dipped in the air, its engines struggling to compensate for his weight. Turrets rose from the deck and started bombarding the Zoroark. Ignoring these paltry assaults, the Zoroark stomped down again and again, crushing the turrets and gun batteries, small explosions wracking the vessel and rather sizable fractures running across its superstructure. He grabbed a smaller battleship that was passing by to strafe him and Flung it at another vessel, downing both of them. He opened his mouth and spun around, firing a Dark Pulse in a circle and blasting ships all around him to smithereens.

Another N leaped into the air as a large battleship flew over him, grabbing onto its underside and causing its engines to overheat as it struggled to hold up his weight. Ignoring the bombs the ship was dropping on his head, N lashed out with his feet and free claw, kicking at the robots underneath him and slashing at passing ships and mechas, knocking off heads, bowling over bodies, and leaving great gashes in the sides of many of the larger war machines. When a Robo-Groudon leaped up and grabbed onto his leg, he tried to shake it off, but then a second one jumped onto his other leg, and a third managed to grab his mane, and others fired their cable claws at his body, wrapping around him and pinning his arm to his side so he couldn't slice them off. The extra weight, along with the tug of the cables, started pulling the Zoroark closer to the ground.

Thinking quickly, he let go of the battleship, causing it to rocket up as its engines overcompensated without his weight, causing the ship to crash into another battleship passing overhead. As the two broke apart and exploded, massive pieces of the vessel raining down, N grabbed one especially large piece of shrapnel in his free hand and used it to sever his bonds with one quick swipe. The cables snapping, he flipped over and landed on top of the Robo-Groudons beneath him, crushing them and causing the ones holding onto his limbs to fall off. Getting up, he Flung the massive piece of shrapnel into the cranium of a Robo-Groudon, causing it to keel over, and lunged forward, claws glowing as he prepared to tear the mechas apart.

An Arachnoblast powered up its main cannon and fired a massive energy beam at another N. The Zoroark countered with a Dark Pulse. The two beams collided halfway between them, the shockwave from the impact cratering the ground and blasting the nearby Robo-Groudons away. The two beams surged and pushed and struggled against each other for dominance, but the Arachnoblast's seemed to be stronger, slowly pushing against the Dark Pulse…

Until the last N jumped onto the Arachnoblast's back, grabbed its neck, and yanked it upwards, causing its beam to sweep through the ships overhead, cutting a swath of destruction through them. This also meant there was nothing stopping the Dark Pulse, and it pierced the Arachnoblast, causing it to explode. The other Zoroark jumped off just in time, landing on top of another battleship, his weight causing it to start rapidly descending as its engines struggled to compensate for it. He jumped off, landing on the ground, causing the battleship to jerk up and crash into another vessel, destroying both of them. He stomped over to his double and high-threed him.

"Hey, N!" Ritchie called.

All six Zoroarks turned to look at him. "Yes, Ritchie?"

"Get a load of this!" Ritchie cried, pointing to the massive ball he was standing on top of. It was at least twice as tall as the illusory giants thanks to the thousands of tons of scrap metal from the crushed robots it had rolled over making up the majority of its roughly spherical form.

One of the Ns raised an eyebrow. "That is quite impressive, Ritchie."

"Wherever did you get the idea to do something like that?" another N asked.

"One of Zippo's video games. Kata…something or other. Katamaru? Katayashi? Eh, whatever," Ritchie said.

"Katamari Damacy?" N suggested.

"Yeah, that…wait, how did you know-" Ritchie asked.

"That is not important. Hmm…that does give me an idea, though…" The N illusions flickered and suddenly merged together, causing the Zoroark to get even bigger until he was so tall that the sphere Ritchie had made was about the size of a soccer ball.

Ritchie's eyes widened. "…Seriously, that's…that's kinda 'OP' as Zippo would put it."

"I'm fairly certain there's far more I could do with my illusions, given time and a little imagination," N said. Ignoring the attacks from the surrounding army—little more than pinpricks to this great giant—the Zoroark reached down and picked up the ball. His eyes glowed, and power crackled around his claws. "You might want to get off, Ritchie."

"…Actually, I have a better idea," Ritchie said, seeing where this was going on. He knelt down and put a paw on the surface of the ball, Aura burning around him. "Let's BOTH charge it up!"

"…Hmm. An intriguing idea. Very well, then." N's eyes flashed, and red and black energy surged into the sphere, power crackling around it. At the same time, Ritchie channeled his Aura into the sphere, causing blue flames to engulf it. The blue and the red energies clashed against each other, arcs of power lancing out and dancing across N's body and the ground, tearing the latter up and causing the former to flinch. The orb started pulsating rather ominously, and shook beneath Ritchie's feet.

"Uh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Ritchie said nervously.

"Not necessarily," N said. "You might want to get off now, though." Ritchie nodded and leaped off the sphere, landing on N's shoulder. He decided not to think too much about how the giant was an illusion and therefore he shouldn't be able to actually stand on the shoulder; that sort of thing might cause said shoulder to no longer be a stable perch and cause him to plummet to the ground very far below.

The giant Zoroark tossed the ball into the air, twirled it on one finger, bounced it off his knee, then his head, and then abruptly flipped over—Ritchie frantically clinging to a spike to keep from being flung off—and kicked the ball towards the Nihilators. The crackling ball of death spun through the air, smashing through all the battleships in its path before crashing down in a mass of mecha. It exploded spectacularly, a ridiculously huge blast of red and blue energies sweeping outwards in every direction, consuming all the remaining Nihilators…

And surging directly towards N, Ritchie, and the Judgment troops behind them. "I do not think we thought this through properly," N confessed.

"You mean you didn't think this through. If you'd just kicked the ball, this wouldn't have happened," Ritchie argued.

"Didn't you put some of your own power into the sphere?" N pointed out.

"…Never mind. What do we do?" Ritchie asked.

"We generated this energy using our Plates. Logically, we should be able to re-absorb and dispel it as well," N said.

"…Would that actually work?" Ritchie asked.

N shrugged. "It's worth a try."

"Fair enough," Ritchie conceded.

The wall of red and blue raced towards them. The Lucario and Zoroark planted their feet in the ground, mustered their power, and thrust out their arms to meet the storm. The force behind the blast, the sheer magnitude of the energy they'd created, nearly knocked them off their feet, nearly overwhelmed them.

But it did not destroy them. The emblems on their armor lit up, and their armor glowed. Energy crackled around them as the power of the explosion flowed into their hands, up their arms, and into their chests. And it hurt. Oh yes, it hurt quite a lot, but even as their muscles trembled and strained, even as they ground their teeth, even as their eyes watered, they did not cry out, and they did not bend, and they did not break.

And then, after what felt like an eternity but had actually been five minutes, the crackling dome of destruction was gone, and there were just two figures standing on the plains before a massive smoking crater, red and blue light radiating from their forms so brightly it hurt to gaze upon them, energy crackling around their bodies so volatile it vaporized much of the ground around them.

And then, at last, the duo cried out…and the power fled from them through their mouths, streaking outwards in the form of two beams of absolute Aura and absolute Darkness, the beams shooting across the battlefield, vaporizing everything in their path, shearing through part of Coronet Mons, and finally flying out into space, where they collided with and obliterated a sizable fraction of the Nihilator fleet in orbit, and kept on going until they reached the asteroid belt, annihilating dozens of space rocks big enough to cause extinction events seven times over in a single flash of light.

Spent, the two warriors fell to their knees, panting for breath, steam rising from their forms, their bodies trembling from the incredible energies they had just channeled. "That," N wheezed. "That was…an experience."

"Yeah," Ritchie gasped. "Wanna do it again?"

N punched him.

"My lord! My lord! That was incredible!" a Ninetales cried as it ran over, accompanied by several dozen other awestruck Judgment soldiers, some tanks mecha, and battleships following them over.

"Truly you are the one destined to use the power of the Plates to purify the world! None other could exhibit such strength…or the ability to control it!" a Spinda gushed.

"Oh, and that Lucario you loaned a Plate too wasn't half-bad either, I guess," a Delcatty said, barely sparing a glance at Ritchie. His eye twitched.

N frowned as he rose to his feet. "My friend Ritchie deserves just as much credit as I do. I doubt I could have handled them all on my own."

"My lord, you are too modest," a Nuzleaf said, dismissing this off hand.

"Perhaps I am, but Ritchie risked his life and fought valiantly. He has earned your respect, and you will show it to him," N commanded.

"N, it's not really that big-" Ritchie started.

"Ritchie, you turned dozens of giant robots into a Katamari and helped me to safely channel an explosion that could have killed everyone. You deserve this," N said.

"…Well, all right…" Ritchie said uncertainly.

"Our apologies, warrior," the Ninetales said after some hesitation, bowing her head. "We owe you our lives as well. Thank you for assisting our lord."

"More like he assisted me," Ritchie joked. The Judgment soldiers glared at him. Ritchie coughed. "Um. Yeah. It was a team effort. Couldn't have done it without him."

"No, you certainly couldn't have," the Nuzleaf agreed. Ritchie clenched his fist.

"My lord, while we are most grateful for your aid…I am afraid that you are not through fighting yet," the Delcatty said apologetically. "We have received word from Sage Zinzolin. He wishes to speak to you on a most urgent matter."

N narrowed his eyes and exchanged a meaningful glance at Ritchie. The Zoroark tapped on his ear, activating his communicator. "Zinzolin? This is Light of Justice."

"Oh, praise Arceus!" Zinzolin cried in relief. "I was worried something had happened to you! I've been trying to reach you for the last several minutes!"

"I was in the middle of something. What is the problem?" N asked, although from the look on his face, he already had some idea.

"It…it is Ghetsis, my liege! Something has gone wrong with his Plate. It is driving him mad! He is attacking everyone, friend and foe alike. He's ranting about becoming a god, and taking all the Plates for himself! You must stop him!" Zinzolin pleaded.

N smiled thinly. "I see. One question, Zinzolin: just how stupid do you think I am?"

Zinzolin paused. "I-I'm afraid I don't understand."

"No, seriously, how stupid do you think I am?" N snarled. "Did you really think I wasn't aware that you, Ghetsis, and the other Sages have been planning to kill me for quite some time because I'm not the obedient puppet king you expected me to be?"

"M-my lord, I'm sure I don't know-" Zinzolin said nervously.

"Save it. I know the truth, Zinzolin. Anthea and Concordia helped me figure it out a long time ago. So tell me, honestly: has Ghetsis really lost it, or has he set up some kind of ambush where he's going to try and kill me so he can take my Plate and use its power along with his own to defeat the others and take their Plates to become all-powerful?" N asked.

"I…it…he really has gone insane," Zinzolin said finally, a tone of despair in his voice at the realization that once this was over, he probably wasn't going to be holding any power in Judgment anymore. Or possible still be alive. "The power has gone to his head. He's killing our own forces. He…I think he intends to kill me, too. Please…you have to stop him!"

"Oh, I fully intend to. I've known this was coming for quite some time. Don't worry, Zinzolin. I'll take care of it…as will my friends, the people I know I can actually trust."

"Oh, thank you, my lord! Thank you!" Zinzolin said in relief. "And, uh, just so you know, I never really trusted in Ghetsis, I only went along with him because he threatened me-"

"Yes, that's nice, Zinzolin," N said, knowing the Sage was lying through his teeth. "Before I go and take care of the mess you've helped create, would you mind doing one more thing for me?"

"Of course, my liege! You have but to ask," Zinzolin said.

"Say hello to Anthea and Concordia for me, would you?" N asked.

"Eh? Anthea and Concordia? What do you-" There was a pause. Then a horrific scream of agony, which cut off in a bloodcurdling gurgle.

After a moment, Anthea's voice could be heard on the other end. "It is done."

"I could tell," N said sardonically. "Was that necessary?"

"So long as he lived, he posed a threat to your reign," Concordia said calmly.

N frowned. "Yes, but he was a good administrator, and it will be difficult to replace-"

"He also harbored lustful thoughts of us," Anthea said.

"Oh, well, never mind then," N said. "And what of the Shadow Triad and the rest of the Sages?"

"We have the Triad unconscious and incarcerated. The remaining Sages have either surrendered or been dealt with," Concordia said.

"Who is left?" N asked.

"Rood and Gorm," Anthea replied.

N grimaced. "Only two…I had hoped more would…oh well. There is no point in agonizing over it now."

"Rejoice, my king. You are now the true leader of Judgment, answerable to no-one," Concordia said.

"It would be easier to rejoice if the crown hadn't come with so much blood on it,"N muttered to himself. "Send out the call to the others. If we're going to take down Ghetsis, we might as well all be there. This is a reckoning that has been a long time coming…"

"As you wish," the two Psychics said, signing off.

"So…it's finally happening, then?" Ritchie asked, his super-hearing having allowed him to pick up most of N's conversation.

N nodded. "Just as we predicted and planned."

"My…my liege? I do not understand…what is going on?" asked the confused and rather worried-looking Ninetales. "What you were saying about Sage Ghetsis and the others-"

"It's nothing to be concerned about. Ghetsis and his underlings have been plotting against me for quite some time. I anticipated their treachery, however, and am doing my best to make sure they don't hurt anyone else in their foolishness," N explained.

A nervous and uneasy murmur sprang up from the troops at this. "Ghetsis tried to betray you?!...the sad thing is, it's really not that surprising…" the Nuzleaf muttered.

"But…but that can't be true! Ghetsis is able to use one of the Plates of Arceus! He is one of Arceus's Chosen! He-he can't be evil!" the Delcatty protested in disbelief, sounding as if she were trying to convince herself of this.

"That's right, it only works for those with a pure heart, after all!" the Spinda agreed.

"Oh, Ghetsis has a pure heart," Ritchie said. "It's just not his." The Spinda stared at him for a moment in confusion…and then a look of shock and revulsion crossed her face.

"Ritchie, Anthea and Concordia are contacting the others. We're going to rendezvous with them to stop Ghetsis," N said.

Ritchie nodded in understanding. "All of us working together…that should be enough, shouldn't it?"

"Hopefully, yes," N said.

"Once he's dead, though, we'll need someone else to use his Plate. Got anyone in mind?" Ritchie asked.

"I have a few candidates…but that will have to wait until after Ghetsis has been taken care of," N said.

"We shall come with you, my lord!" the Ninetales promised. "You have saved us, so it is the least we can-"

"You will do no such thing," N said firmly. "Ghetsis's power is far too great. I mean no offense, but you would only get in the way. And besides," he added, seeing their crestfallen and disappointed faces, "you are needed elsewhere. The Nihilators are preparing for a massive assault on the portal to New Eden. Head back there to bolster our defenses; the army we just vaporized should give you a clear path back to the portal."

The soldiers perked up at this. "As you command, my King!" the Ninetales said, bowing her head.

"Is the New Eden portal really in danger of being attacked?" Ritchie asked his friend quietly as the Judgment forces packed up and moved out.

"We're at war, Ritchie. The enemy is always planning an attack," N said.

"You lied to them." There was no condemnation or reproach, it was a mere statement of fact.

N shrugged. "I could argue the semantics, but yes, I suppose I did. It's what they needed to hear, though. You understand, do you not?"

Ritchie nodded. "Yeah, I do. You wanted to get them out of the way without hurting their feelings. Not sure I'd have done it that way, but then again I'm not a god-king like you are."

N made a face. "Not the term for myself I would choose, though I admit it's a rather apt description given the cult of personality that's sprung up around me. I'm not positive I could get rid of it at this point, no matter how hard I tried…oh well. I'll try not to let it go to my head." He turned. "Come. It is long past time we had a 'talk' with my 'father.'"

Entei was a god. Unlike Ghetsis, this wasn't madness or power going to his head, but a simple truth. He was a deity. Not an especially high-ranking deity, granted, and it was still possible for him to be defeated or slain by strong enough mortals, but he was a god all the same.

And like all good gods, it was his duty to protect mortals. Which was why he found himself plowing through a great mass of Nihilators to reach a downed fighter from one of the Allied countries that had somehow managed to survive its crash, but was in desperate danger of being overrun by the enemy. "Out of my way!" he snarled, breathing out a Flamethrower to clear his path, incinerating dozens of Nihilators in an instant.

"What are you doing?! You're supposed to be on our side!" a Tropius cried, desperately trying to avoid the flames.

"Didn't you hear? I quit!" Entei replied, spitting out a Fire Spin. The flaming tornado swept across the field, consuming the Tropis and everything else in its way.

"Nobody quits the Nihilators and gets away with it!" a Kabutops cried, flinging an AncientPower at Entei while a group of Clawitzer fired Aqua Jets from their oversized claws.

Entei nimbly dodged the attacks, grinning fiercely as he effortlessly evaded the water jets. "Well, looks like I did." He stomped the ground, causing Lava Plumes to erupt from the ground beneath the Nihilators and consume them, cooking them in their exoskeletons.

A Samurott went into Hyper Mode, crying out as it was engulfed in Shadow Aura, its seashell-plate armor growing spines, turning bone-white, and spreading to cover most of its body, causing it to look even more like some sort of twisted samurai as its skin turned black and its whiskers red. Howling, it drew its seamitars and dashed towards Entei with Shadow End, Shadow Aura surrounding its form and blades. Growling, Entei summoned flames around his body and launched himself forward as well, using Flare Blitz. The Fire and Water-types rushed across the field of battle before colliding with each other. A shockwave of fire and Shadow blasted out from the point of impact, incinerating the surrounding Nihilators and not even leaving bones behind in some cases. The Samurott was sent flying, its Shadow Aura shattered and most of its body covered in burns, and Entei lunged forward and tore out its throat with Fire Fang. "If a flame is hot and big enough, not even water can extinguish it!" he roared.

"It can if there's enough water!" a Crawdaunt cried as a shadow loomed over Entei. The Volcano Pokemon turned to see a huge Surf wave sweeping across the field towards him, a Crawdaunt, Dewott, Remoraid, and Whiscash riding on top.

"Then the flame just has to burn brighter and hotter!" Entei retorted, opening his mouth and firing an Overheat. The stream of fire raced out, struck the wave…

And much to the Nihilators' astonishment, evaporated it. They cried out in surprise as the wave turned into steam beneath their feet, scalding them as they plummeted to the ground. The Dewott, Remoraid, and Whiscash died on impact, but the Crawdaunt clung to life, though his armor was even redder than usual and soft from the partial cooking the super-hot steam had given him. "You…you shouldn't have been able to do that…Overheat can't do that!"

"Normally, it couldn't," Entei said. "But I'm not a normal Pokemon…I am a god of flame!" With a roar, he stomped down on the Crawdaunt's head, crushing it. He looked up to the faces of the remaining Nihilators. "Anyone else want to try and get in my way?"

The Nihilators glanced at each other nervously, then turned and ran. Grinning, Entei fired off a few Fire Spins to chase them away, then turned his attention back to the fighter. He frowned, noticing that it was on fire. It was only a matter of time before the ship exploded. He had to get the pilot out quickly. He bounded across the ground, rapidly eating up the distance between him and the fighter in seconds. He Bit into the cockpit and wrenched the canopy off, exposing a half-conscious, burnt, and bleeding Dedenne. He's so young, Entei noticed in alarm. Barely more than a child…are they so desperate to win that they're drafting Pokemon this young?

"Wake up," he barked, causing the Dedenne to stir. "We have to get you out of here quickly!"

"Uhhh…what…who…" The Dedenne blinked and blearily stared at Entei. After a moment, his eyes widened, and he started screaming and thrashing in his seat, causing blood to start flowing more freely from his wounds. "AAAAAHHH! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!"

Entei flinched back in surprise. "What…I'm here to help you!"

"Oh, sure! Like your brother helped when my town, which has venerated you and your siblings for generations, was destroyed?!" the Dedenne yelled.

Entei winced. "We, uh…we were a little…preoccupied…"

"Preoccupied?! Raikou destroyed the village himself!" the Dedenne cried.

"…Oh," Entei said, the high he'd been riding from fighting the Nihilators vanishing in an instant. The sins he and his siblings had committed were never going to go away, were they? "I…we…we weren't in our right minds at the time. I know that might not sound like a very good excuse-"

"It doesn't," the Dedenne said flatly.

"But it's the truth. Surely you've heard the news? That we were being controlled by the Nihilators, that they made us think and see the world differently?" Entei asked.

"I have," the Dedenne said.

"Then you know-" Entei started.

"I also remember seeing Raikou eat my fiancé. And laughing as my parents were electrocuted to death," the Dedenne said.

Damn it. "There's no apology that's going to be big enough to make up for what we did, is there?" Entei asked glumly.

"No," the Dedenne said coldly.

Entei sighed. "Well, look. Regardless of how you might feel about me or my siblings, if I leave you here, you're going to die. Do you really want that?" The Dedenne was silent. "Well?"

"I'm thinking it over," the Dedenne said, causing Entei to facepaw.

As he removed his paw from his face, he froze, grimaced, and then said, "Okay, we're getting out of here."

"What? Wait a-" the Dedenne protested as Entei ripped his seatbelt off, flicked him onto his back with his head, and then jumped off the fighter and started running. Seconds later, a missile smashed into the fighter and exploded, destroying it.

"AAAAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAAHHHH!" the Dedenne screamed as Entei ran, explosions tearing apart the ground around them as tanks rolled in pursuit of them and fighters shot by overhead, dropping their payloads in an attempt to kill the god and mortal.

"Stop screaming! It's making it difficult to concentrate!" Entei snapped.

"I'LL STOP SCREAMING WHEN THEY STOP SHOOTING AT US!" the Dedenne screamed.

"Perhaps I can do something about that," Entei grunted, focusing power through his feet and into the ground. Lava Plumes erupted from the ground beneath the tanks, flinging them into the air. Some smashed into fighters and exploded, destroying them both, while others tumbled about before crashing back to the ground and then exploding. The fighters turned and came back for another bombing run, but Entei opened his mouth and fired a sweeping Flamethrower across the aircraft, engulfing them in flames and causing them to explode. "How's that?"

"Not quite enough," the Dedenne whimpered as a Robo-Groudon suddenly loomed up ahead of them, roaring ferociously. Entei Roared back, startling it, and then launched himself at the mecha's leg with a Flame Charge—careful not to burn his passenger in the process—smashing through it and causing the robot to topple with a ground-shaking crash. Unfortunately, another half-down appeared to replace it, opening hatches all over their body and firing hundreds of heat-seeking missiles…and unfortunately for Entei, he had a lot of body heat. "Why are they trying so hard to kill me?! I'm just a soldier!"

"It's not you they're after, it's me," Entei grunted, turning his head and spewing Embers at the missiles, managing to take out several. "You just have the bad luck of being along for the ride."

"You should've just left me in the cockpit," the Dedenne groaned.

"I'm starting to wish I had," Entei admitted, unleashing a Fire Spin that swept up and destroyed several missiles and managed to set a few of the robots on fire. Unfortunately, they just kept coming, firing more missiles and powering up their main guns. Entei was able to dodge or shoot down most of the missiles, but when the Robo-Groudons fired their mouth cannons, there was nothing he could do to evade the massive energy beams, especially when they appeared on either side of him and started sweeping towards him to crush him and his passenger…

Until suddenly a lithe blue and purple form leaped over Entei's head, body glowing blue, landing right between the beams just before they could converge on Entei and the Dedenne. The beams struck the Mirror Coat and rebounded, causing the mecha's heads to explode. As the machines collapsed in a burning heap, the figure turned to Entei and smirked. "Typical Entei. You're gone for a few minutes, and you already need my help."

"Good to see you too, sister," Entei said with a smirk to Suicune.

"That's debatable," the Dedenne muttered.

"She just saved your life. Show a little respect," Entei snarled.

"Sorry if I seem ungrateful, it's just that I'm having a hard time easily forgiving the Pokemon who ABANDONED my village and did nothing to stop one of your own from DESTROYING IT AND KILLING EVERYONE I HOLD DEAR," the Dedenne said loudly.

"…Fair enough," Entei admitted.

"I can only imagine how he'll react when Raikou gets here," Suicune muttered.

"Somebody say my name?" Raikou asked, appearing in a flash of lightning.

"YOU!" the Dedenne screamed, eyes wide with rage. "YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!"

Raikou blanched. "…Ah. I, uh…I probably shouldn't be here right now, should I?"

"That would probably be a good idea, yes," Entei said.

Raikou grimaced. "Right. Um…I'm sorry about everything I did to you and your people. We've done a lot of horrible things, my siblings and I, and we know we've got a lot of making up to do before we can truly be forgiven. I know nothing I say can possibly make amends for what I did to you, but even if you can never forgive me, know that I am truly sorr-"

Abruptly, explosions erupted around them. "Hey! I was in the middle of a heartfelt apology here!" Raikou snapped.

"That'll have to wait for later, " Entei commented as several Robo-Groudons marched towards them, battleships flying overhead and preparing to launch another assault. "We have to take care of these guys first!"

"Wait, can't you put me down first or somethaaaaAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHH!" the Dedenne screamed as Entei leaped into action, racing towards the war machines with his siblings. Why the heck couldn't I have been rescued by the Swords of Justice? The Antenna Pokemon wondered. At least those guys don't go around burning down towns and killing people's families or DRAGGING AN INJURED SOLDIER WITH THEM INTO A BATTLE!

Hundreds of missiles zigzagged through the air towards the trio. The three beasts tackled the rockets in different ways; Raikou firing Thunderbolts which jumped from missile to missile, destroying the projectiles in explosive chain reactions; Entei spitting Embers and Fire Spins; and Suicune freezing them solid with an Ice Beam and causing them to fall from the sky and shatter harmlessly on the ground. Next, laser fire rained down from the battleships, while half the Robo-Groudons charged up their main cannons, and the others launched their fists on cables at the legendaries. These, too, the trio handled differently. Raikou jumped onto one, Bit into the cable, and sent millions of volts of electricity up into the robot's body with Thunder Fang, causing the mecha's reactor to overload and explode, taking out the robots next to it. Suicune lithely and gracefully dodged the fists, firing Ice Beams to freeze the cables as she went, then severing them with Air Slashes flung by casual flicks of her head. Entei didn't even bother dodging and just powered right through, smashing apart any fist that tried to punch him with Flame Charge while the terrified Dedenne kept screaming and sobbing.

At that point, the robots finished their charge-up sequence and fired their main cannons, sending about a dozen massive energy beams streaking towards the trio. Entei stomped the ground, causing a wall of Lava Plumes to erupt just in front of the beasts. Suicune blasted it with her Ice Beam, causing it to instantly cool off, harden, and solidify into a thick rock wall. The beams smashed into it, and while the wall shook, cracked, and melted partially, it did not break. Enraged, a Robo-Groudon charged forward and smashed the wall with a punch…

And much to its surprise, the three beasts leaped onto its fist through the opening it had made in the wall and ran up its arm. Before it could do anything; be it to blast them or shake them off, they attacked in unison, hitting its head with a Fire Blast, Thunder, and Blizzard. The combined elemental blast completely obliterated the head, and as the robot toppled over, the trio jumped off and soared into the air, lasers shooting down and missiles streaking about all around them. Suicune fired an extremely powerful Ice Beam as she arced through the air, freezing all the robots beneath them solid. Entei unleashed another Overheat, the flames washing over the frozen robots and causing both the ice and the metal making them up to melt. Meanwhile, Raikou gathered all his power and fired a massive Thunder upwards. The electrical blast struck a battleship, the force behind the lightning so strong it overwhelmed its surge protectors and fried its systems, causing explosions to blossom across its surface as it experienced spontaneous failures all over the place. And it was not the only one to be so affected; lightning bolts arced from that ship to the ones surrounding it, and from those ships to the one surrounding them, and so on and so forth until the entire fleet was lit up. One by one, the ships exploded, electrically-charged debris raining down all over the place.

Using their incredible speed and reflexes, the trio took advantage of the plummeting debris, using them as stepping stones to hop across the air without ever touching the ground, and in so doing outrun the flames and much heavier pieces of battleship wreckage tumbling towards them. Eventually they put enough distance between them and the destroyed fleet, and gracefully landed just as what was left of the battleships came crashing down some kilometers behind them. "Well," Suicune said with a smirk. "That was fun."

"Ha! And they said we'd be weaker without our Shadow powers! While I admit we aren't quite as strong as we were while we had that cursed power, I think we just demonstrated we don't need it!" Raikou said triumphantly.

"What did you think, little one? Did this prove to you we are on your side?" Entei asked his passenger. There was no response. "Little one?"

Entei glanced over his shoulder. The Dedenne was slumped on his back, blood staining both their furs, not breathing. "…Oh, come on!"

"No, wait, I got this!" Raikou said, electricity crackling around his body. He fired a Thunder Shock at Dedenne's body, causing the Antenna Pokemon to flail about, eyes shooting open with a great gasp as his heart was restarted by the current.

It also electrocuted Entei. "Dammit, Raikou, a little warning next time?!" Entei snapped, his mane blown out into a hilarious afro from the static.

"Um. Oops?" Raikou said Mareepishly as Suicune burst into laughter.

"Gulifahiuvdgslfigjvkhbsigehrfdx!" the Dedenne gibbered as he convulsed wildly and threw up.

"I have saved your life, pulling you back from Darkrai's clutches…which hopefully he won't be too angry at me for later," Raikou said. "So…do you forgive me for destroying your village and killing your family now?"

"NO!" the Dedenne screamed, teeth chattering and eye twitching, his fur still crackling with static.

"But I just saved your life!" Raikou protested.

"Which wouldn't have been endangered in the first place if ANY OF YOU HAD THOUGHT TO TAKE ME TO SAFETY INSTEAD OF CARRYING ME INTO BATTLE!" the Dedenne screamed.

"…He has a point," Suicune admitted as Raikou's face fell.

"Um. Sorry. Look, let me put you on my back and I'll take you-" Raikou started.

The Dedenne recoiled. "What are you, crazy?! I'm not getting anywhere near you! If anyone's going to carry me, it's going to be her," the Dedenne said, pointing at Suicune. "Since she's the only one who has neither A.) killed the people I love or B.) carried me into a battle!"

"…Yeah, I probably should have thought that through a bit more…" Entei muttered.

"We're doing a really crappy job at redeeming ourselves, aren't we?" Raikou said gloomily.

"We'll get there somehow," Suicune said, walking over to Entei and lifting a relieved Dedenne onto her back. "We have to..."

The melancholy moment was ruined when suddenly the ground nearby exploded. Startled, they leapt into motion, the Dedenne screaming in terror once again as they started racing across the plains, explosions blossoming all around them as a massive capital ship bombarded them from above. When the leg of a mighty Arachnoblast slammed down in front of them, they tried to run around it, only to find another one blocking their path, and another moving in behind them. They were surrounded; Arachnoblasts and fresh Robo-Groudons closing in on them from the sides, with the capital ships and several smaller vessels flying in from above. "Aw, crap," Raikou groaned.

"Just so you know, I blame all of you for this," the Dedenne said bluntly. "The Swords of Justice would never bungle a rescue so thoroughly."

"Yeah, well, the Swords of Justice aren't here, okay?! They're guarding the Berry Kingdom!" Entei snapped.

"Stupid semi-utopian society, why'd they get so many Legendaries while the rest of us got shafted?!" Raikou grumbled. "Even Fichina only got four…"

"On the other hand…we probably could use them right about now…" Suicune said nervously as the war machines started powering up their main cannons.

"Everyone, stand firm! We can do this! We've faced worse!" Entei barked.

"We have?" Raikou asked.

"Certainly!...at some point…" Entei said anxiously.

The war machines prepared to fire. The three beasts tensed…

When suddenly, a freezing wind blew across the plains…and in a flash of white, all the robots were frozen in a thick mass of ice, snow drifting down from the sky. The battleships paused, startled by this surprising turn of events, as were the Pokemon on the ground. "What the…what just happened?" asked the confused Suicune.

"The Swords of Justice?" Dedenne asked hopefully.

Raikou rolled his eyes. "Swords of Justice this, Swords of Justice that…what, are you a fanboy of them or something?"

"Well, given that they've never destroyed a town that was faithful to them or murdered innocent people, yeah, I'd say I am," the Dedenne said harshly.

Raikou grimaced. "Never gonna let that go, are you?"

"No. No, I'm not," the Dedenne said.

Entei's face lit up. "It's not the Swords…there's only one mon I know who can flash-freeze so much so quickly, and that's-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the ships overhead decided to resume destroying the beasts, firing a swarm of missiles at the trio and their erstwhile passenger. However, before they could get very far, an extremely powerful Flamethrower, far stronger than the ones even Entei could generate, swept over the rockets, causing them to explode spectacularly. There was a blur of white, and a majestic white dragon appeared, flying over the awestruck trio towards the battleships. "Vile deceivers, worshippers of the False One…let me show you the Truth of your weakness!" Reshiram roared.

The battleships opened fire again, launching another volley of missiles and lasers. Reshiram gracefully dodged and evaded through the air as she flew towards the ships, firing off the occasional burst of Flamethrower to get rid of any missiles that got too close, before finally entering the thick of the fleet. Passing under one battleship, she turned on her side and lashed out with a wing, using Dragon Claw on it as she went, tearing open the underside of the ship and causing it to come crashing down as its contents spilled out of its bottom, crushing many of the frozen robots below. Rising above the burning hulk, she opened her mouth and fired a Blue Flare, the stream of blue flames sweeping across the fleet and causing several ships to explode in a cerulean conflagration, while others were 'merely' melted or set ablaze. The battleships that were not outright destroyed by her Flare foolishly opened fire on her once more. Grinning at their foolishness, Reshiram opened her mouth again and spat out a Fusion Flare, a massive fireball with two rings surrounding it flying into the middle of the cluster of ships and exploding, incinerating them in a magnificent fiery blast.

Several remaining battleships fired a swarm of missiles at Reshiram while her back was turned, but lightning bolts shot down from the sky, causing them all to explode before they reached her. A mighty black dragon descended, electricity crackling around his form. "You have no faith in your own ideals. All you desire is to gratify yourselves and cause suffering to others. Let me show you what one who believes in an Ideal can really do!" Zekrom snarled.

Several fighters shot towards him, firing their payloads. Rather than dodging, Zekrom surged forwards, head glowing with Zen Headbutt, smashing through the missiles and lasers and utterly destroying the fighters as he collided with them. More missiles shot towards him, but he unleashed bursts of mighty Dragon Breath, the purple flames destroying the rockets and setting nearby ships ablaze. Still more weapons fire shot towards him, undaunted. Snarling, the generator in his tail started spinning, glowing with blue electricity. He clenched his fists, his body surrounded in yellow electricity, and shot forwards with Bolt Strike, crashing into a battleship and causing it to explode in a tremendous blast of electricity, lightning bolts streaking out from the wreck and ravaging the surfaces of many of the nearest ships as well. Not satisfied with this, Zekrom rose up, his generator powering up again, and covered his body in blue electricity. A violet force field surrounded his body, and he slammed into another battleship with Fusion Bolt. The resulting explosion was even greater, and this time all the surrounding battleships were destroyed instead of just zapped.

A capital ship opened its bow, preparing to fire its main cannon at the two dragons…

Only for an Ice Beam to cover the gun, causing the energy it was gathering to backfire, triggering explosions all over the ship. As the ship started to go down, there were several flashes of purple-black light, and the vessel fell to pieces, torn apart by Shadow Claws. Dragon Pulses struck the fragments, breaking them into even smaller pieces, and they rained down on the frozen robots, crushing and destroying many. The air got even colder and more snow started falling as a gray figure stomped into view on top of a frozen Arachnoblast. "You have violated far too many boundaries. I shall see to it that you are punished for your transgressions," Kyurem hissed.

It leaped into the air. White fire engulfed it, and its body transformed. Its middle toes were now made of ice. Extra icy details formed on its legs. Its tail resembled Reshiram's, attached to its body by three gray parts of skin, with four horizontal holes in it. Its torso became slim. Its shoulders were covered in squares of ice with two pins protruding from each, which shot out on red cables and plugged into the holes on the tail. Its arms and wings were thinner and resembled Reshiram's, with two rings and three claws on each, and the right arm and wing were frozen while the left was not. Its neck was now upright, covered in Reshiram's fur with one of Reshiram's long tufts for a left horn and a frozen mass for a right horn. The ice covering its jaws partially melted, allowing its mouth greater degree of motion. Its eyes also now had pupils with white irises.

Spreading its wings, it rose up towards another capital ship and flew across its surface, firing numerous Dragon Pulses, causing explosions to rip across its hull, destroying turrets and missile batteries. More and more lasers and missiles rose up to try and strike at it. These it either dodged or froze with its Ice Beam, causing them to fall from the air and shatter against the damaged surface of the ship. It fired an Ice Beam at the ship's bridge, freezing it solid, then lashed out with Shadow Claw, shattering it. As the ship faltered, its body glowed orange and created a circular reddish-purple aura around itself, releasing multiple reddish-purple beams of energy at the vessel, using Frost Burn to freeze it solid…and set it on fire at the same time. It then exhaled a Fusion Flare, shattering the ship, and used Shadow Claw to slice the fragments into even smaller pieces, the flaming chunks of ice glittering beautifully as they fell.

Another capital ship fired its main cannon at it. Rather than dodge, Kyurem fired an Ice Beam, actually freezing the blast solid. As the ship wobbled, trying to compensate for the ridiculously large chunk of ice stuck in its bow, Kyurem underwent another transformation, black electricity crackling around it. Its tail transformed into Zekrom's, with four vertical holes in the sides, the icy pegs on its shoulders shooting out and plugging into them on blue cables. Its torso grew bulkier. Its arms and wings changed to resemble Zekrom's, but more muscular and without winglets on the arms, with the left arm and wing frozen. Its neck and parts of its head were now covered in Zekrom's black skin, with horns resembling Zekrom's, the right made of flesh, the other frozen.

It grabbed the huge chunk of ice and ripped it out of the main gun, taking part of the cannon with it and disabling the ship's strongest weapon. It flung it high into the air, then rammed into the warship with Fusion Bolt, flying into and out of the vessel repeatedly, tearing dozens of holes in its surface as it ripped it apart from within. As explosions wracked the ship, it froze sections of the ship with Ice Beam then tore them off with Shadow Claw, sending them falling to the frozen robots below. Glancing up briefly, it rose into the air and put its claws together, a light bluish-white ball of energy surrounded by electricity forming. It hurled the Freeze Shock at the warship, freezing it solid and causing electricity to crackle out from it, ravaging and destroying several of the other ships. The ice chunk it'd thrown earlier came crashing down, smashing into the ship and causing both of them to shatter in a deafening cacophony.

Finally, it reverted back to its original form in a flash of lightning, took a deep breath, and exhaled another Glaciate, flash-freezing all the remaining warships in less than a second. The frozen vessels fell from the sky, landing on and destroying many of the remaining robots as well as each other.

"…That. Was. AWESOME!" the Dedenne gushed as the three dragons landed in front of them. "Why can't you guys be that cool?!" he directed at the beasts.

"Hey!" Entei snarled.

"…To be fair, I wouldn't mind being that cool either…" Raikou admitted.

"Why can't my ice attacks set things on fire? Or electrify them?" Suicune grumbled.

"Raikou. Entei. Suicune. Are you all right?" Reshiram asked in concern.

"Well, we were in a bit of a tough spot back there, but things are better now that you're here," Entei said.

"Bet we could've found a way out on our own…" Raikou grumbled.

"No we couldn't have," Suicune said. Raikou growled.

"You have an injured mortal with you," Zekrom said with a frown.

"We've been doing our best to protect him," Entei said.

"Yeah, which isn't nearly good enough, considering I actually died," the Dedenne pointed out. Entei grimaced.

"We shall help you escort him to safety," Kyurem decided. "After that, we must take care of matters elsewhere. There are many others who need us. Will you assist us? We could use your help."

"We will be glad to assist you," Entei said.

"Though if I were you, I'd rely on someone more dependable," the Dedenne snarked. Entei's eye twitched. He was really starting to regret saving this kid…

"Very well. Then let us-" Reshiram started, only to be interrupted when, with a sound akin to the shattering of glass, an intact Arachnoblast managed to break free from its frozen prison, startling everyone. With a terrific screech, it opened its mouth and started charging its main cannon…

"FIERY VICTORY BURST!"

A massive fireball streaked through the air and exploded against the Arachnoblast's head, knocking it back, causing it to screech in pain and surprise. The armored form of Victini flew into view, cape billowing behind her, a cocky smirk on her face. "It's Victini!" Raikou said in surprise.

The Dedenne blinked. "That is not how I expected Victini to look. Definitely didn't think she'd be wearing armor with so many chains and flaming skulls and evil-looking runes or a sword that big. What, did she get into heavy metal or something?"

"Yes," Entei said.

"…Oh," the Dedenne said.

"What's she doing here? She should be with the rest of the Fichinan forces!" Zekrom said with a frown.

"I got bored. Thought I'd come along and see what you were up to. And a good thing I did, too!" Victini said with a grin.

"…She is aware we probably could have handled that thing without her, right?" Suicune asked.

"Yes, but her ego refuses to acknowledge it," Kyurem said.

Victini completely ignored this comment, proving Kyurem's point. "Fiery Victory Burst!" she cried again. Her whole body glowed pale red and was surrounded in a teardrop-shaped red and yellow flame. With a shout, the flame shot off her body and smashed into the Arachnoblast's head like a spinning meteor, causing it to stumble back and nearly fall over as it slipped on and smashed through several of the frozen mechas. Victini flew after the robot, firing numerous Searing Shots—sorry, Fiery Victory Bursts—to keep it off-balance.

"Why is she yelling attack names?" the Dedenne asked.

"Because she thinks it's cool," Raikou said.

"Oh," the Dedenne said.

The Arachnoblast managed to regain some footing, opened its mouth, and fired its main cannon at Victini. Victini grinned, her ears igniting into flames, which then disappeared, leaving a V-shaped flame around her head and a red aura around her body. "Dynamic Victory Charge!" she bellowed, rushing forwards. The V on her head expanded as she smashed into the beam, pushing it back as she kept moving forwards, until she collided with the Arachnoblast's head, causing it to explode in a tremendous V-shaped blast of fire.

"I thought that move was called V-Create," Suicune commented.

"Yes, but she's gotten rather inspired by Poke Rangers Mega Force," Reshiram said.

Despite losing its head, the Arachnoblast was still standing. Weapon ports opened all over its body as it prepared to counterattack. Grinning savagely, Victini drew her sword. "My blade thirsts for battle! Victini-Style VICTINI! VIC! TI! NI! VICTINI!" Flames engulfed her sword. "GREAT! SWOOOOORD! OOOOOOOOOOF! VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she sliced her sword down at an angle, then slashed it back up again at another angle. As she did so, her blade left a trail of flames through the air, which solidified into a V made of blazing red energy. Victini struck the V with her sword, causing it to spin through the air, growing bigger and bigger until it slammed into the side of the Arachnoblast, burning right through it and leaving a massive V-shaped hole going right through its center. Victini turned around and dramatically sheathed her sword as the Arachnoblast shook, staggered, and finally collapsed, exploding in a terrific conflagration, the flames rising up in two pillars to form a giant fiery V behind Victini. Victini put her hands on her hips, threw back her head, and laughed maniacally. "I! AM! THE GOD OF WAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

"…Say what you like about her, the girl's got style," Zekrom admitted grudgingly.

"Whooooooooaaaaa," the Dedenne whispered, eyes wide with wonder.

"Typical," Raikou grunted. "Why is it always the small, cute legendaries who have the most power?"

"You don't think I'm cute?" Suicune pouted.

"You're beautiful, Suicune," Entei said, causing the Aurora Pokemon to smile and toss her head back, mane flowing vainly.

"Yeah, but you're not even remotely small, especially what with how you've been stuffing your face with ice cream lately-" Raikou started, only to be interrupted when Suicune lunged at him and tried to tear his throat out.

"Ha! Didja see how I took out that big lug? Oh Arceus, I feel so alive! I can't remember the last time I've really had a chance to let loose like this! Wars are AWESOME!" Victini cheered as she floated down to join them.

"Every single member of my squadron but me is dead," the Dedenne said.

Victini stared at him awkwardly. "Ah. Well. Uh…at least you're still alive, so…that's, uh, something…ANYWAY let's go find something else for me to awesomely destroy!"

"We have to get this soldier to safety first. It's not safe for a mortal like him to be too close to us when we battle," Entei said.

"Gee, now if only that had occurred to you earlier," the Dedenne said snidely.

"Right-o! And I'll stick with you just in case something else big and nasty pops up so I can kill it," Victini said. "With me around, this escort mission will go off without a hitch!"

"Before we go, there is something we must do," Reshiram said.

"Entei, Raikou, Suicune. How would you like to get stronger?" Zekrom asked.

The three beasts perked up at this. "Would we ever!" Raikou said enthusiastically.

"Uh, guys? Didn't we get royally fucked over the last time someone made us that offer?" Suicune asked warily.

"There are no catches this time. It's not evil power, more like awakening your true potential," Kyurem hissed.

"You will still remain yourselves. If anything, you will be more yourself than you were before," Reshiram said.

"You sure that's a good thing?" the Dedenne said snidely.

"Oh, be quiet, you," Victini said.

"There is a downside, though," Zekrom said.

The beasts sighed. "Of course there is," Raikou said wearily.

"What is it?" Entei asked.

"Even though we share an elemental affinity with you, since we are not your Trio Master, we cannot make this power-up permanent," Kyurem explained.

"The power will last for a time…and then you will go back to your regular level of energy. And be rather drained for quite some time," Reshiram said apologetically.

The trio glanced at each other. "How long will the power last?" Suicune asked.

"We…are not certain," Zekrom confessed. "An hour at the most, a lot shorter at the least."

The beasts considered this. "What do you think, guys? Is it worth it?" Entei asked his siblings.

"Definitely," Raikou said at once.

"What, are you so desperate for power you don't care that it comes with a time limit?" the Dedenne sneered.

"No, because if we were stronger, we'd be better able to stop the Nihilators and rescue other people like you, no matter how ungrateful they might be," Raikou snapped.

Startled, the Dedenne's ears flattened against his head. "I…oh. That's…uh, that's a good reason."

"I say we do it as well. Even if it does not last for long…if it helps us stop the Nihilators and protect others even a little bit…then we would be traitors all over again to turn down such a power, if it could help us in our duties," Suicune said.

Entei nodded. "It's settled, then. We'll do it."

"Great! Uh, will someone just get me down from here first?" the Dedenne asked hopefully. "Well, unless I could get a bit of a power boost as well-"

"No," Kyurem said.

The Dedenne sighed. "Typical."

Victini telekinetically lifted the Dedenne off of Entei's back and carried him a safe distance away. "How are we going to do this?" Raikou asked.

"Just stand still," Reshiram said. "This should not take long."

"Nor should it hurt much…hopefully," Zekrom said.

"Yeah, that's not particularly reassuring…" Suicune muttered.

The white and black dragon turned to Kyurem and nodded. The ice on Kyurem's wings shattered, revealing gray tendril-like appendages, which he pointed forwards. The ice spikes on the tips of the wings flashed, and beams of pink energy shot out, wrapping around Reshiram and Zekrom. The duo started glowing pink as well, and suddenly both of them shrank, wrapping their wings and tails around themselves and tucking their arms and heads to their chest as spheres of energy formed around them and solidified, encasing them in orbs made of white and black material.

"Whoa! What the-" the Dedenne gasped.

"Long, long ago, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem were once one dragon," Victini said reverently. "They were split into three when the Twin Heroes of Truth and Ideals who founded the land of Unova could not agree on what concept their country should be built on. After so long apart, the three of them have become such distinct beings, becoming the entity they once were is nearly impossible…but whenever that entity's power is needed, they can Absofuse together to become the singular dragon god of legend for a short while…a dragon so mighty even the Dragon God King Rayquaza himself cannot match its might."

"Whoaaaaa," the Dedenne said.

The two orbs, the Light Stone and Dark stone, hovered in the air before Kyurem. Beams shot out of its wings again, striking the two orbs and causing them to start crackling with power. Kyurem's eyes and crest flashed, and it threw back its head and roared as storm clouds formed overhead and started swirling around, a violent wind picking up and gusting through the air. Lightning split the sky. Bursts of fire spurted from the ground. Snow began to fall once more. As Kyurem continued to roar, its body throbbing with power so great it caused the ground around it to crack and nearly caused the Dedenne's heart to stop again, the three elemental forces—lightning, fire, and ice—engulfed it, consuming it and the Stones in a swirling maelstrom of power. A dark form could just barely be made out in the heart of the energy storm…and it was growing, and changing.

And then the sphere exploded, waves of fire, ice, and lightning radiating all over the place, the ground splitting, the frozen mechas shattering, the clouds overhead parting and letting light shine down upon the revealed figure…a being the awestruck Dedenne could only see as a truly divine dragon. Its body was built sort of like a Tyrantrum, standing on two legs with most of its body horizontal or at least at an upwards angle. Most of its body was gray, but there were also lots of large patches of black skin and white tufts of fur growing from its flesh. Its digitigrade legs ended in three talons made of ice that became white claws halfway down their length, with white fur growing from the hips and black patches on the knees, feet, and thighs. The tail was long, thick, and gray with white fur growing from the sides, a spiky ice ring at the base, and a pair of black rings with spikes floating around its length without touching anything. Its wings, growing from a large black patch of skin making up most of its sides and back, started icy then became large black wings similar to Zekrom's with more ice running up the sides and both an icy and black spike growing from the carpus and yellow glowing spikes growing from the wingtips. Most of the chest was covered in white fur, and large white tufts grew from the sides of the arms, which had wristbands of ice and gray three-fingered claws with black webbed mitts covering the knuckles. The curved neck had an underbelly with a strip of white fur in between a pair of black patches with an ice ring wrapping around them all. The head looked like a mixture of all three dragons; a black lower jaw with an icy reptilian mask covering most of the features with four long fin-like crests growing out to the sides with white fur sprouting from beneath them, a black forehead with a yellow crest set into it, and a long flowing wispy white mane growing back over its head and wafting over a group of ice spikes sprouting from the back of its neck.

The Dedenne's jaw dropped as Raikou, Entei, and Suicune knelt before the transcendent being before them. "Wh-what…what the…WHAT IS THAT?!"

"Behold Zentirum the Tao Dragon," Victini whispered, a look of joy on her face. "Mon, it's been way too long since I've seen it…wow. Almost makes me feel old."

The great dragon regarded the three kneeling beasts with its glowing red eyes. "We are Zentirum, the one who embodies wholeness, completion, and balance," it spoke in a resonant voice that sounded like a melding of Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem's. "Receive our power, so that you too may now balance."

"Um…sorry to interrupt," Raikou spoke up, earning him shocked and outraged looks from his siblings. "But, uh, we're not going to be fused into a single creature like you, are we? Er, not that it wouldn't be cool and all, but, ah, after the whole Cerberus thing I've kinda been turned off to that sort of thing."

"You have nothing to fear."

"Oh, good," Raikou said in relief. He paused. "Wait, that doesn't actually answer my quest-"

Bolts of fire, ice, and lightning shot from Zentirum's claws and mouth, engulfing the trio. Again, power pulsed outwards from them, cracking the ground, elemental forces streaking across the skies, etc., though it wasn't nearly as visually impressive as it had been when Zentirum had been created, and the Dedenne found himself being slightly jaded and underwhelmed by the spectacle, though it was, he admitted, still a spectacle of sorts.

Finally, the energy died down, revealing the trio's new forms. Their transformation was not nearly as dramatic as the Tao Trio's fusion into Zentirum, or their shift into Hyper Mode back when they were still Shadow Pokémon, but the change was still quite easy to discern. The stream of smoke acting as Entei's mane now sported flecks of lava, and the red of his mask had turned blue. Suicune's fur had turned a lighter shade of blue and her mane had changed from flowing violet hair to frothing deep blue water. Raikou's jolt-like whiskers had become true sparks of electricity, the blue part of his mask had turned gray, and his purple mane had become yellow. Additionally, sparkles were hanging in the air around them, because everything's better with sparkles, apparently.

"…That's it? They've just turned into Shiny Pokémon," the Dedenne said, disappointed.

Victini stared at him blankly. "You just witness one of the mightiest of all dragon gods grant their blessing, and you're disappointed?!"

"Well, yeah. I thought they'd look cooler," the Dedenne said. Victini facepawed.

"Actually, I can kind of see where he's coming from, this isn't exactly-" Raikou started, only to be interrupted when Entei hit him, hard.

"Thank you for your blessing, great Zentirum," Entei said graciously.

"This power…it's incredible!" Suicune gasped, mane flowing upwards as the ground bubbled and water shot up all around her. "I haven't felt this strong in ages…and it's different from Shadow, too. Cleaner. Purer. A pity it won't last for long…"

"We will just have to do as much as we can with it while it lasts, then," Entei said.

"As shall we," Zentirum rumbled. "This form also will not last for long. Our component parts have spent too long apart, and diverged so greatly from each other, that a true unification is all but impossible. But so long as we have this power, we shall use it to vanquish the Nihilators, help the mortals who believe in us, and do our part to restore balance to this world."

"Then let's get going! We've got more butts to kick!" Victini whooped.

"Um, before you all do that…I don't suppose one of you could drop me off back with the rest of my country's forces? Not that it hasn't been fun and all—well, actually it hasn't, it's been utterly terrifying—but I don't think it would be good for my continued health if I stayed too close to you guys," the Dedenne said.

Zentirum nodded. "Victini shall take you to safety."

"What? I will?" Victini asked in surprise.

"Yes, you will," Zentirum said.

Victini pouted. "Ugh, fine. Come on, you," Victini grumbled, floating down and picking up the Dedenne. "The sooner we get you to your own side, the sooner I can get back to killing things and leading my armies to victory."

"I don't suppose you could fly a little closer to the ground?" the Dedenne asked nervously. "Only, I'm not so good with heights…"

"…Weren't you a fighter pilot?" Raikou asked in confusion.

"Yes, and I crashed," the Dedenne pointed out. "So I'm not exactly keen on getting up in the air again."

"Tough," Victini said, flying off.

The Dedenne sighed. "Typical…"

"…Think he'll be okay? I didn't exactly like the kid, but I don't want him getting hurt…and knowing Victini, they might take a rather…scenic route," Suicune said.

"The boy shall be fine. Victini is the Goddess of Victory, after all. Luck always has a way of turning for the better for those around her," Zentirum said.

"Ooh, look, a quarter!" Victini's voice could be heard off in the distance.

"What? What the heck is that doing out heeeeeYAAAAAAHHHH DON'T SWOOP DOWN SO FAST!" the Dedenne's screams of terror resounded across the battlefield.

"…Although this one will need a lot of luck,"Zentirum mused. They spread their wings. "Come. There is much for us to do, and much time to do it in."

Entei grinned. "The Nihilators won't know what hit 'em."

They took off, running after the flying dragon, the trio chasing, as always, the hope of redemption.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, another sort of god was rampaging, leaving a trail of wanton destruction and insanity in its wake…unfortunately, this god wasn't nearly as benevolent as the legendary Pokémon.

Nor was it, for that matter, a Pokémon at all.

Maxthulhu howled and gurgled and slavered and made all sorts of other strange and disquieting noises for which there weren't really any words in the English language as he shambled across the battlefield, ignoring the heavy bombardment his abominable form was receiving from the allied forces flying around him and occasionally lashing out with tentacle, claw, vile fiery breath, laser vision, and all sorts of other attacks so incomprehensible they cannot be described in text. He was surrounded by a cloud of flaming Max heads, jabbering and shouting 'Sleeeeeep' as they harassed anyone who approached their creator, chewing through metal and eating faces off when the attackers did not, in fact, sleeeeeeep.

The powers of the beast were formidable. He could strike with claw, with tentacle, with foul acid spray and breath from its many orifices. Some of his mouths were on tendrils and snapped at the air, snatching up anyone or anything that came too close; and since the tendrils were extendable, 'too close' covered quite a long distance. Many eyes were also on tendrils, and could also open up into ghastly gnashing mouths. While he seemed content to mainly slither around, destroying everything in his path, he randomly and spontaneously teleported around the battlefield without warning, appearing in the midst of allied military forces and continuing his mayhem and carnage, making it virtually impossible for anyone to chase after and/or defend against him. It didn't help that Maxthulhu seemed to be able to grow and shrink at will, and shapeshift, making it even harder to track him down…especially when he exhibited the ability to transform into the worst nightmares of many of the soldiers by reading their minds, catching them off-balance and making it far too easy to wipe them out. Those soldiers who didn't simply go insane just by looking at the monster, anyway.

And of course, there was its most dangerous power of all…the ability to Destroy. Not your regular garden variety run-of-the-mill destruction, either; whenever Maxthulhu's exposed brain started glowing with eldritch power and the mouth on his chest opened wide, it discharged a massive energy blast that completely and utterly annihilated everything in front of him for several kilometers, disintegrating it down to the smallest atom and quark, leaving nothing in its wake, not even air; causing a vacuum which the atmosphere instinctively sought to fill, sucking in everything around it as well.

Many powerful warriors had already tried and failed to fight the beast. Most of them had been eaten, or killed, or rendered mad and left to gibber in a drooling heap on the crowd, chanting "Ia! Ia! Maxthulhu Fhtagn!" or "Tekeli-li!" or "Fudgie Freezes!" It seemed as if nothing could stop the beast, not even the mightiest battleship or robot…

And then the abomination paused in mid-bite, a half-eaten battleship in his claws. He grimaced and rubbed his head, a look of pain flickering across its sanity-breaking features…

And suddenly the ground around it exploded, and a half-dozen or so vaguely lagomorphic monstrosities about a quarter his size and almost as hideous emerged, leaping on Maxthulhu and climbing all over his body, their many mouths shouting, "YDDAD YDDAD YDDAD YDDAD YDDAD!" while flaming bunny heads of their own started clashing with the spores surrounding the larger horror, ramming into and/or eating each other. Dozens more smaller but no less hideous beasts jumped off the backs of their larger brethren and started playing on the surface of Maxthulhu's skin, tugging on tentacles and poking eyes and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Maxthulhu looked down at them in confusion, his many eyes somewhat disoriented, and started swaying and groaning. The spider-shaped contraption imbedded in his brain sparked, and he grimaced and started shaking himself, trying to dislodge his unwanted passengers. The smaller horrors were flung all over the place, squealing and cheering as they flew through the air, bounced seemingly unharmed on the ground, then started scurrying back. The larger monsters fought back, chewing on limbs and punching orifices and clambering all over the place, continuing their obscene chant.

As Maxthulhu struggled to fend off attacks from the other horrors, several Decepticon warships, Martian saucers, and a handful of other vessels from armies that had pledged their support approached. On the bridge of the Decepticon flagship, Outlaw laughed and punched the nearest Vehicon for no real reason, nearly taking his arm off. "Haha! The plan works! The beast is weakening!"

"Mom, how much longer do we haveta use our psychic link to Dad to weaken him and keep him from using his full power? I'm getting a headache," a lagomorph resembling Max in his normal form only with red fur complained, rubbing her head.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you need to keep this up for a little longer, until your father's no longer under control of the Nihilators," Darla said apologetically to her child. "But don't worry, once this is all over, we'll have ice cream, okay?"

"YAAAAAAAYYYYY!" Max Junior cheered, as did all the other Max Juniors around the room. They were a rather motley bunch, some of them rabbits with either red or white fur or a mix, others looking more or less human and bearing a closer resemblance to Darla, and others still looking like a weird mix of the two; humans with bunny ears or black beady eyes or pointed teeth, rabbits with human noses and eyes and furless patches, and even stranger combinations. And there were also a handful that looked like the sort of thing you'd find in a cosmic horror story, much like Maxthulhu himself. The question of how exactly Darla gave birth to these creatures was probably best left unanswered.

"Won't they get an even bigger headache from eating all that ice cream?" asked a doubtful older-looking somewhat creepy human with a fez, striped pants, and a green smoking jacket.

"Yes, but it's ice cream, so I'd say it's a fare trade-off, Papierwaite," said the grotesque bulbous green mass growing from the man's torso with scrawny clawed arms, tiny Zubat-like wings, yellow eyes set in big black sockets, tentacles with fingernails growing over its mouth, a pair of lips for ears, and extra fingers, eyes, and teeth sprouting from its massive cranium.

"Mmm, I could go for some ice-cream right about now," another man with gray sideburns, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a red tie, and in bad need of a shave said as he loaded a gun, a somewhat deranged look in his eyes. "I loves me some good ice cream, just as much as I love pummeling hobos in the back alleys of our nation's greatest city. God bless America and its horrible economy for putting so many hobos on the streets!"

"…As always, despite being from a dimension full of things so strange and terrible even hearing the vaguest description of them would cause your feeble human mind to crawl out of your ear and throttle you to death, you confuse and disturb me, Flint Paper," the disgusting green thing sprouting from Papierwaite's chest said deadpan.

"And I always feel like throwing up whenever I look at you, Doctor Norrington," Flint said cheerfully. "Or pummeling a hobo!"

"What is it with you and hobos, anyway?" Papierwaite asked in annoyance. "Always with the hobos…"

"A hobo raped my sister's boyfriend's father's mistress's other boyfriend's cat's kitten," Flint said seriously. "And I vowed to pummel every hobo I encountered from that point forward in the name of justice."

"…Seriously?" said an incredulous Papierwaite.

"Yeah. What, wouldn't you do the same thing for your sister's boyfriend's father's mistress's other boyfriend's cat's kitten?" Flint asked.

"…I sacrificed my sister's boyfriend's father's mistress's other boyfriend's cat's kitten to the Elder Gods…" Papierwaite muttered.

"Which we did not appreciate. Not enough fiber,"Doctor Norrington scolded.

"Gah! Enough of this blabbering. When are we going to go out there and start beating things up already?!" a gorilla wearing a sailor's hat snarled, pounding a fist into his palm.

"Like hobos!" Flint suggested.

"ENOUGH WITH THE HOBOS!" everyone shouted at Flint. Even several Decepticons.

"We'll go out there and get Sam back as soon as Doctor Momma Bosco finishes programming the virus that'll shut down the device controlling Max," Sam asked, folding his arms and glancing at the attractive black woman with an afro in a form-fitting jumpsuit punching buttons on a nearby console. Considering that said console was built for giant robots, she often had to do that literally. "How's it going, Doctor Momma Bosco?"

"It'd be going a lot faster if I didn't have to run the length and breadth of this keyboard just to hit a few buttons," Doctor Momma Bosco grunted in frustration as she jumped on a button that seemed to be stuck. "Or if I had a smaller computer compatible with Cybertronian tech…"

"Yeah, like I'd ever let one of you monkeys get full access to a Cybertronian computer," Outlaw sneered. "You're lucky I'm even letting you use this one under heavy supervision."

"Speaking of which, I find it a little difficult to concentrate when there's a giant robot pointing a blaster at the back of my head," Doctor Momma Bosco said, glancing at the Vehicon standing behind her aiming its weapon at her in annoyance. "I don't suppose you could call him off?"

"No," Outlaw said.

Sam stared at the main screen, which displayed a full high-resolution view of Maxthulhu struggling against his monstrous offspring, various Cybertronian characters scrolling all over the place as targeting indicators flashed all across his goliath form. "Don't worry, Sam," Darla said, startling the canine, who hadn't even noticed she was there. "We'll get him back soon."

"Yeah, I know," Sam said, trying and failing to relax. "This has been the longest we've ever been apart. And to be so close, and to see him like that…it makes me worry that it'll happen again, and there's no guarantee another Max from a parallel timeline who conveniently lost his parallel version of me will show up in a time-traveling elevator to replace him this time."

"That won't happen," Darla said, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"I hope not," Sam said quietly. "I really do. I don't think I could survive losing him again."

"Okay…carry the two…and…done!" Doctor Momma Bosco declared as a hatch opened on the side of a console and a large metal spike emerged. "I've uploaded the virus into that data spike. All you need to do is drive it in and the control device will be disabled."

"Excellent. I'll take that," Outlaw said, grabbing the spike and storing it in her subspace pocket—which all Cybertronians have, don't you know, where'd you think Optimus Prime was keeping his trailer?

"Will you tell your goon to put his gun away now? I would feel a lot more comfortable not having to worry about becoming a ghost and needing to clone myself a new body again," Doctor Momma Bosco said.

"No," Outlaw said. "I still don't understand why we need to bother with this. Why not just smash the slagging thing and be done with it?"

"The device is pretty deeply wired into Max's brain," Darla reminded Outlaw. "If we were to smash the device, it could cause permanent damage to his brain."

"…I fail to see how that's a bad thing. It's not as if his brain is exactly healthy to begin with," Outlaw pointed out.

"In his current over-stimulated condition, his brain is very close to overloading," Doctor Momma Bosco pointed out. "And if it goes critical, the resulting psychic explosion will destroy a third of the planet, if not more."

"And Max is not going to teleport himself away so he can die out in space this time. Not if I can help it," Sam growled.

"…Wait, are you saying you want him to blow up and kill us all? I don't get it," said the confused Papierwaite.

"Huh? No, that's not what I-" Sam said, startled.

"Look, Sam, I know you and Max are very…close, but just because you're perfectly happy to die with him doesn't mean the rest of us should have to go with you to satisfy your twisted suicidial romance fantasies!" Doctor Momma Bosco agreed.

"…WE AREN'T LIKE THAT," Sam shouted loudly.

"Uh-huh. Suuuuure you're not," Flint said in amusement.

"HE'S MARRIED!" Sam yelled, pointing at the bemused Darla.

"*cough*Beard*cough*" Grandpa Stinky (the gorilla) coughed.

Darla shot him a Look, causing Stinky to stammer and blush and look away. Darla then glanced at Sam and said, "You know, I wouldn't mind sharing-"

"LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA," Sam sang very loudly, putting his hands over his ears.

"Mommy, if you and Daddy marry Uncle Sam, does that mean I can't marry Sam Junior?" Max Junior asked.

"What? You can't marry Sam Junior, I'm marrying Sam Junior!" Max Junior said.

"Nuh-uh, I'm marrying him!" said Max Junior.

"No, me!" cried Max Junior.

"Me!" Max Junior yelled.

"Memememememe!" Max Junior screamed.

"Ght'kahau p'fh'aun sg'gshuh'shjk'qy!" Max Junior howled.

"Now kids, none of you are old enough to get married, so we can discuss which of you will marry Sam Junior in a few years," Darla said soothingly. "And have you ever considered sharing him? That is an option now, ever since your father legalized polyamory while recovering from a sugar crash after beating the entire House of Representatives in a soda-drinking contest. And then literally beating them with the empty cans. And urinating on them while laughing at their tears of misery."

As the numerous bunny children considered this, Sam hit his head against a confused Vehicon's leg while Outlaw, Papierwaite, and Grandpa Stinky pointed and laughed, Doctor Momma Bosco considered the logistics of such a polyamorous interspecies relationship, Doctor Norrington reminisced about how he'd married his five thousand seven hundred and twenty-third 'wife', and Flint smiled fondly while daydreaming about beating up a hobo. Thankfully, the incredibly humiliating moment was interrupted when a human wearing sunglasses even Leo would regard as cool and a black suit entered the room without being noticed and approached Darla's side. "Madam President, we're in position. The Rubber Pants Commando's chopper has been fueled up and reloaded and is ready to go, and General Lincoln is awaiting orders."

Darla nodded at the man. "Thank you, Agent Superball. Everyone? It's time to go."

"Finally!" Grandpa Stinky said.

"If I'd had to wait any longer, I'd be crazier than a hobo who I'd just force-fed a dozen Chilean insanity peppers to, just like last week!" Flint said in relief, twirling his loaded gun on one finger and completely disregarding every law on gun safety and common sense. (Then again, Max had repealed most of those, so…)

"Always with the hobos…" Papierwaite grumbled.

"I know, right?" Grandpa Stinky grunted.

"Come forth, my minions!" Outlaw bellowed. Instantly all the Vehicons stood at attention. "No, not you, but nice reaction time, good to see you have that much respect for my authority. My other minions! The Cybertronian Obsolescence Prevention Society!"

Five new robots entered the room. While they bore the Decepticon emblem, each of them was much smaller than the average Cybertronian, with the biggest of them being only half again as tall as the average human and the smallest barely coming up to Sam's calf. They also bore a strange resemblance to outdated human computer devices rather than vehicles; one looked like a telephone, one an arcade machine, one an Osborne 1 portable microcomputer, one a Pong home console system, and the last a printer-scanner. They quickly knelt before the robot DeSoto. "You summoned us, Mistress?" the Osborne 1 said in a synthetic monotone.

"I depart for battle! While I am away, I am leaving Carol in command because she's smarter than the rest of you combined and the only one I trust, and truly worthy of being my new Sub-commander," Outlaw said, pointing at the printer-scanner, who made a long, drawn-out electronic humming and whirring sound as if she were scanning something. "You will obey her as if you would obey me."

"TOTALLY AWESOME!" the arcade machine shouted loudly.

The Pong console made various beeping sounds. "No, Chippy, you shall never be in command, since we all know you would only try and overthrow me…and unlike Megatron, who keeps letting Starscream get away with it for some reason, I shall not tolerate any treachery! You don't want to go the way of your Japanese robot dog, do you?" Chippy beeped sadly.

"Chippy, audiences agree everywhere-that dog was scary as the Pit!" the telephone said cheerfully.

"We are better off without that spawn of Unicron," the Osborne 1 said in a monotone. "Congratulations on your promotion, Carol. You have earned it."

"BACK OFF CURT!" the arcade machine roared, knocking the Osborne 1 to the ground with a single blow. "SHE'S MINE!" Carol emitted another long hum. "YES DEAR! SORRY DEAR! I'M YOURS DEAR! I WILL REMEMBER TO GET YOU A PRESENT AND TAKE YOU OUT FOR DINNER ON SUB-COMMANDER'S DAY DEAR!" Carol whirred again, seemingly mollified.

"Why is it that despite gaining Sparks and being turned into Decepticons they still can't talk right?" Papierwaite complained.

"Because they're based on machines so obsolete not even Cybertronian tech can do much for them," Doctor Momma Bosco said. "Their hardware is so outdated we have to order parts from scrapyards and private collections to keep them in working order."

"Then why bother keeping them around? I didn't think Decepticons had much of a tolerance for outdated tech," Flint said.

"Because Outlaw still remembers them as the AIs that gave her all sorts of useful upgrades back when she was still just a demonically-possessed car and thinks of them as friends," Sam said.

"I DO NOT!" Outlaw shouted. "They are merely too stupid to betray me is all. And it's certainly not because they're the only other Decepticons Sparked from Earth technology so understand what it's like to not quite fit in with the rest of our species. And speaking of stupid…where is my beloved Steelhead?!"

A Vehicon limped over and worldlessly extended its leg, revealing a Lairon had its jaws locked around its ankle. While most Lairon were made almost completely out of metal—being Steel types and all—this one went the extra distance by being made entirely out of metal, with mechanical joints and hinges, glowing red eyes, gloing lines resembling circuit patterns carved into the plates on its back, blasters protruding from the holes on its sides and cranium, and a Decepticon emblem embossed on its forehead. "Ah, there you are!" Outlaw said, cheerfully ripping the Lairon that had once been known as Rono off of her henchbot's ankle, causing him to collapse to the floor in agony, Energon gushing from the rather large hole in his ankle. "I was wondering where you'd gotten off to! Slave! Is my dear companion ready for battle?"

"Yes, Mistress!" a human woman with dark hair in a bun, big red glasses, a black jumpsuit, shackles on her wrists, neck, and ankles, and tattooed forearms with a Decepticon brand on her forehead said cheerfully. "He's also been walked, fed, and I made sure to give him an extra polish!"

"Excellent! I shall not destroy you today, and you may feed yourself and rest, since you worthless organics need to do that far more than we superior machines…er, when was the last time you had a break?" Outlaw asked.

"Three weeks," the woman said perkily.

"You have one hour," Outlaw said magnanimously.

"Why is Sybil working for Outlaw now?" Papierwaite asked as the woman contentedly left the room.

"She decided being a Decepticon slave would be her life's true calling. Considering she's kept this job for longer than a month, I think she might be right," Sam said.

"…Ah," said Papierwaite. "And, uh, does her husband know about this?"

"General Lincoln has been a bit…off in the head ever since we had to rebuild him after his near-assassination by a giant living statue of John Wilkes Booth," Agent Superball said vaguely. "I'm not sure he's noticed. He seems to be under the impression that she's his original wife, Mary."

"Ah," Papierwaite said, not really caring that much. After all, he was basically Doctor Norrington's slave, which also had its ups and downs.

"Just how many jobs has that woman had, anyway?" asked the baffled Eldritch Abomination growing from Papierwaite's chest.

"Tattoo artist, dark wizard, veterinarian, scuba diver, brain surgeon, psychoanalysit, tabloid publisher, court witness, dating service, carbon dating service, beta testing, Queen of Canada, businesswoman, TV executive, real estate agent, shoe store saleswoman, used car dealer, mall Santa, restauranteur, restaurant critic, ticket taker, concession stand clerk, usher, customer-service worker, exterminator, power plant worker, police officer, writer, painter, model, carpenter, lawyer, warden, safety inspector, fisherwoman, shipping clerk, brewer, night-time heat for Lara Flynn Boyle, Sandy Duncan's glass eye, ghost hunter, coach, sewer worker, basketball star, locksmith, babysitter, B-movie actress, professional ping-pong player, gym teacher, archaeologist, captain, general, pirate, mayor, pilot, ranger, Power Ranger, mental hospital worker, pet store clerk, gun store clerk, security for underground rabbit fights, polling consultant for Max's presidential campaign, political analyst, Secretary of State for a day, President for an hour, river cleaner, account executive, acrobat, astronaut, agent, ambulance driver, amateur-division professional arm wrestler, asking woman at products demonstrations, assassin, attack-dog trainer, baby proofer, bartender, beef jerky manufacturer, blackjack dealer, bodyguard, bootlegger, prostitute, pin monkey, bounty hunter, boxer, maid, bum wrestler, Bon-ah, candle maker, car designer, caricaturist of open coffins, carny, chauffeur, child caretaker, choreographer, chiropractor, cook, con artist, graffiti artist, conceptual artist, convenience store night-clerk, detective, drug smuggler, door-to-door knife saleswoman, door-to-door sugar saleswoman, door-to-door springs saleswoman, door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman, door-to-door Bible saleswoman, door-to-door appliance saleswoman, door-to-door vacuum cleaner saleswoman, farmer, film critic, film producer, volunteer firewoman, fish gutter, fortune cookie writer, garbage commissioner, grease collector, Grim Reaper, hitwoman—not to be confused with assassin, that's totally different—hairdresser, Ice Cream Truck driver, FBI informant, Internet service provider, inventor, body double, stunt double, marriage counselor, wedding planner, baker, patissier, mascot, mattress saleswoman, manure saleswoman, Mexican masked wrestler, missionary, mob boss, surrogate mother, train conductor, monorail conductor, test subject, mountain climber, musician, Navy reservist, soldier, oil-rig worker, one-woman band, opera singer, ordained minister, outsider artist, owner of the Denver Broncos, owner of a community watch agency, owner of an Internet company, owner of a nuclear power plant, cartoonist, political cartoonist, comic book writer, comic book producer, comic book editor, book editor, software editor, software programmer, engineer, manager, assistant to the manager, receptionist, secretary, paparazzo, photographer, wedding photographer, journalist, performance artist, personal assistant, prank monkey, public speaker, quiz-master, game show host, game show prize presenter, game show contestant, gambler, jockey, roadie, referee, sailor, security officer, sideshow freak, silhouette model, singer, softball player, superheroine, walking billboard, greeter, talk show host, teacher, television producer, telemarketer, tow truck driver, town crier, trucker, traveling saleswoman, TV show host, union leader, voice actor, webmaster, taste tester, monster tamer, and…uh…" Sam glanced uncertainly at Darla.

"Business consultant, encyclopedia writer, manager of a Find-A-Friend Service, Supreme Court justice, prophet, newspaper critic, insider stock trader, square-dance caller, tax preparation accountant, industrial spy, economic advisor in Washington, MTV reporter, greeting card designer, newsletter writer, leader of a vegetarian movement, demagogue, hypnotist, doctor, time management expert, driving instructor, window-washer, chimney sweep, kite seller, waiter, valet, student protestor, vagrant, stripper, spa inspector, footwoman, postwoman, conductor of the Manhattan Light Symphony Orchestra, coroner, librarian, dogcatcher, town torturer, head of a tourist bureau, school superintendent, justice of the peace, diplomat, morale officer, hot dog vendor, taxi driver, elevator operator, rock star, surfer, cheerleader, plumber, demolitionist, grocer, pizza delivery woman, kart racer, carol singer, duelist, copyright infringer, counterfeiter, embezzler, evidence tamperer, hacker, human trafficker, ivory trader, loan shark, thief, arms dealer, and…let's see…oh yes, organ donor," Darla said.

"Oh yeah, she gave me one of her kidneys," Sam recalled. "That was nice of her."

"…That's. Uh. That's a lot of careers," Flint said after a moment, dumbfounded.

"Sounds like a total flake to me," Grandpa Stinky said with a snort.

"Well, she's suffering from Attention Deficit Career Disorder," Sam said. "Or was. She seems to be pretty content with being a Decepticon Slave."

"That would be because when I branded her, her brain was rewired to find pleasure in serving me," Outlaw said.

"Well, that's one way to cure a psychological disorder," Doctor Momma Bosco snarked.

"Maybe some lobotomy would cure you of your obsession with hobos?" Grandpa Stinky quipped to Flint.

"NEVER!" Flint shouted, shooting the gorilla in the head repeatedly. Fortunately, since Grandpa Stinky's body was that of an alien gorilla with ultra-dense space gorilla hide, the bullets just ricocheted off.

"All right, Steelhead, time to go," Outlaw told her pet, her chest unfolding. The former Lairon leaped out of her arms and, making a choo-chuh-chah-chik sound, transformed into an engine block, inserting himself into the space in her chest. With a similar sound, Outlaw's chest sealed up over him.

"Are you sure we should take him? It might be dangerous," Darla pointed out.

"Ha, Steelhead lives for danger, just like me!...and when I'm away for too long her gets rambunctious, tears up the furniture and Vehicons, and lubricates everywhere. Rather embarrassing," Outlaw admitted.

"He nearly ate Chippy once," Curt said. Chippy beeped angrily.

"HE LUBRICATED ON ME! I AM NOT A FIRE HYDRANT! I AM BLUSTER BLASTER!" the arcade machine shouted.

"Yes, that's nice," Outlaw said, not caring. "Now, we have dawdled enough. Let's go rescue Max!"

"Max Junior, Max Junior, Max Junior, Max Junior, and Max Junior, you're coming with us," Darla said, selecting five children from the throng.

"Woohoo!" they cheered as they ran over to join her.

"Why do they get to go but we can't?" one of the other Max Juniors complained.

"Because you can't all fit inside Aunt Outlaw," Darla pointed out.

"Awwww," the Max Juniors whined.

"Now, all of you play nice and try not to hurt the ni…Decepticons while I'm gone," Darla told her children. "If you behave yourselves, your father and I will take you out for pizza as well as ice cream once he's back to abnormal."

"YAAAAAAAYYYY!" the Max Juniors cheered.

Outlaw, Sam, Darla, Flint, Grandpa Stinky, Agent Superball, and a handful of Vehicons and Max Juniors left the room. The remaining Vehicons turned to Carol. "Your orders, Sub-Commander?" one of them asked the living printer-scanner.

Carol considered for a moment, and then emitted a series of hums, whirs, and screeches. The Vehicon nodded. "I am uncertain this is the proper time and place, but as you command." He pushed a button.

A disco ball lowered from the ceiling and started spinning in place, lights dancing across the room. The floor lit up into various multicolored panels, flashing and constantly changing colors. Hatches opened in the ceiling, and cages with extremely attractive robots were lowered into the room, dancing and grinding suggestively against the poles they were chained to. One Vehicons put on sunglasses and flipped his console over to reveal an extremely high-tech turntable and sound system which he started DJing, masterfully playing Decepticon Communications Officer/Spymaster/Master DJ Soundwave's latest phat beats. The other vehicons left their stations and started grooving and getting down with their very bad selves on the dance floor.

"THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME!" Bluster Blaster screamed as he started boogeying with Carol.

"Dance Party," Curt droned in his monotone as he started break-dancing.

"Press five for more awesome dance moves!" Bob the telephone said as he non-ironically did the Robot.

Chippy beeped several things that it's probably best not to translate while humping one of the dance cages.

Doctor Momma Bosco shook her head in disgust. "What the hell do they think they're doing? That's not dancing…THIS is dancing!" she cried, twirling and gesticulating and showing her moves. "Feast your eyes on this, amateurs!"

A few minutes later, Sam, Darla, Outlaw, and their companions were standing on the flight deck of the warship. Several dozen winged Vehicons and more simplistic-looking gray robots with red eyes, sharp teeth, pincer claws, antennas on the sides of their heads, wings, guns on their heads, wind-up keys in their backs, and a star on their chest stood at attention before a towering bearded human made of stone and metal wearing a nice suit and a top hat. His right leg and the lower part of his left leg were made of metal, parts of his upper torso had been replaced with hinged chestplates with the American flag stamped on them, his left arm was made of metal and ended in a chainsaw with several missile launchers, uzis, gatling guns, and flamethrowers strapped to the sides, his right arm turned into metal halfway down and ended in a massive mechanical fist with spiked knuckles and chain guns strapped to the wrists, his beard was made of spiked metal with a jagged metal lower jaw, the left half of his face was made of metal with a glowing robot eye, and there were numerous cables running from his limbs and the back of his head to an extremely complex-looking metal backpack on his back. When he saw Darla, he saluted sharply, his chainsaw arm knocking some chips out of his stone forehead. "Atten-SHUN! Commander-in-chief's wife on deck!"

The Maimtron robots saluted rigidly. The Vehicons did as well, but they were saluting Outlaw instead. "At ease," Darla, who, thanks to the magic of scene transitions was now wearing a tank top, camouflage pants, ammo belts slung across her shoulders, a red bandana around her forehead, and war paint on her face with uzis in holsters on her hips and a submachine gun strapped to her back said. "Abe, are we ready to move out?"

"Yes, ma'am, Missus President sir ma'am sir!" Abe said, still saluting. "We're ready to completely destroy that commie menace once and for all!"

"That's not a communist, that's the President," Sam pointed out.

"COMMUNIST!" Abe screamed, pointing his chainsaw arm at Sam.

"No I'm not," Sam said.

"Oh, okay," Abe said, lowering his weapon.

"Abe, remember, we're not trying to destroy Sam, we're trying to save him," Darla said.

"And save him we will, Missus President sir ma'am sir!" Abe said enthusiastically.

"That's great-" Darla said.

"We'll save him so good he will never menace the free nations of the world—by which I mean America—again with his dirty communism!" Abe said.

"…That still sounds like you're going to kill him," Papierwaite said.

"AAAAGH! THERE'S A CHINAMAN GROWING FROM YOUR CHEST!" Abe screamed, pointing his weapons at Doctor Norrington.

"I'm not from China, I'm from the Dark Dimension!" Norrington protested.

"An illegal immigrant? That's even worse!" Abe screamed.

"I'm not an illegal immigrant!" Norrington protested.

"Then where's your papers, huh?!" Abe demanded.

"Er…uh…Anton?" Norrington asked.

Papierwaite patted his pockets for a bit before producing a tissue. Norrington blew into it and held the disgusting slimy mass up to the mechanized stone version of the 16th President, who scanned it with his mechanical eye before lowering his weapons. "This all seems to be in order, civilian. Move along! And remember, democracy is the sovereign right of all beings…or else they will perish at my hands!"

"…Right," Norrington said, annoyed that he had to go through this routine every single time he ran into the rather deranged Abraham Lincoln.

"We really need to get around to fixing that brain of his," Darla muttered to Superball.

"That's what you get for outsourcing to third-world countries for programmers," Superball said flatly.

"Outsourcing? Preposterous! I'm an all-American war machine, every last bit of me made in the good old U.S. of A!" Abe proclaimed.

"It says 'Made in China' on the side of your leg," Flint said, pointing to a label on Abe's leg.

Abe glanced at the leg. "So it does. I'VE BEEN COMPROMISED! I MUST DESTROY MYSELF…FOR FREEDOM!"

"Abe, you aren't allowed to self-terminate," Darla said as Abe pointed his chainsaw at his head.

"I'm not?" Abe asked.

"No," Darla said.

"Oh, all right then," Abe said, lowering his arm.

"I grow tired of this fool's antics. Why have you given him command of your military again?" asked the annoyed Outlaw.

"Because he's a giant heavily-armed cyborg golem of our nation's greatest President?" Sam suggested.

"…Yeah, fair enough," Outlaw said. "All right, listen up!" she cried, stepping forward to address her troops. "Not all of you will survive this day. In fact, I'd be very much surprised if ANY of you survived since you're pretty much all cannon fodder. But if you survive—and that is a very big but—you shall be remembered for your bravery and sacrifice in the face of BWAHAHAHAHA…hahaha…sorry, couldn't continue that with a straight face…look, just go out there and inconvenience Max slightly since that's pretty much all you're good for and if you're lucky maybe a few of you will get out of there alive and live to die on some other battlefield somewhere, completely forgotten and overlooked by all since you're just a bunch of expendable mooks."

"…I don't think that raised their spirits," Sam said as the Vehicons fidgeted and exchanged anxious looks.

"I was supposed to raise their spirits?" said a confused Outlaw.

"Let me try, young man," Abe said gallantly.

"…WHAT did he just call me?!" Outlaw snarled.

"Friends, Maimtrons, and robots who I have been told repeatedly are not communist heathens, lend me your auditory sensors, but not literally, because then you would not be able to hear my words! Now, you all know I'm not one for speeches," Abe said, which was a complete and utter lie. "But I have prepared a few words: four score and seven years ago, I did not sleep with that woman. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than chop down a cherry tree. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot give that rabbit that cereal, no matter how much he begs and pleads! All that I am or hope to be I owe to America and the Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster. A house divided against itself should be razed to the ground so an all-American fast food restaurant can be built over its remains. A friend is one who is not a dirty communist. Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will eat apple pie. Am I not destroying my enemies when I drop nuclear warheads on their heads and reduce their countries to smoking craters? When I do good, I feel good, and when I feel bad, I kill a communist. Give me liberty and chili fries. They can take our lives, but they cannot take our freedom unless we are hypnotized and they reprogram our processing units. I don't like that man, so I must destroy him completely. We are always spinning, spinning towards tomorrow, to make a better future today in the past on the zorth axis. Pain is an illusion which really hurts. Go ye heroes, go and die! My only regret is that you all have only one life to give for your country unless we waste taxpayer dollars picking up your scrap piles and putting you back together, which is something we will probably do. This cosmic dance of bursting decadence and withheld permissions twists all our arms collectively, but... if sweetness can win—and it can—then I'll still be here tomorrow to high-five you yesterday, my friend. La li lu le lo. I need scissors 61! Woop woop woop woop! Peace out, bitches!" He saluted, shouted, "GOD BLESS AMERICA!" and fired several missiles into the air, which exploded in red white and blue flames.

Everyone stared at him blankly. "Really have to fix that brain," Darla muttered.

"That was the stupidest thing I have ever heard…and I have made the mistake of babysitting Max's horrible offspring," Norrington said flatly.

"I dunno, made sense to me," Max Junior said.

"I rest my case," Norrington said.

"That was more confusing and nonsensical than-" Flint started.

"If that metaphor has hobos in it, I'll rip your head off," Stinky said bluntly. Flint wisely said nothing.

Sam's pocket vibrated. He took out his cell phone. "It's the Comissioner!" he announced in surprise, checking the incoming call. He held the phone to his ear. "Yes…yes…no…yes…no…no…yes…sweet Michael Jackson making out with David Bowie on the River Styx while Ozzy Osbourne eats a butter-coated bat!"

"What is it?" Darla asked in concern.

"Hold on, let me put him on speaker," Sam said, pressing a button on his cell and holding it up into the air.

Five minutes later, all the robot soldiers were standing at attention even more than they were before, Flint and Stinky were sobbing against each other, Papierwaite's shoes were covered in disgusting green slime Norrington had exreted which he claimed was his species' form of crying, and Superball wiped away a single tear, monotonously saying, "That was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard."

"That…uh…that was…o…oh who am I kidding, that was magnificent!" Outlaw cried.

"God bless you, tiny talking device!" Abe said, saluting the cell phone.

"It's a cell phone," Sam said.

"God bless you, cell phone! And AMERICA!" Abe said, still saluting.

"Well, I think that worked wonders for troop morale," Darla noted, looking out at the determined and battle-ready warriors.

"Huh? Did something just happen? I wasn't paying attention," a Max junior said, picking her ear. Nobody paid attention to her.

"All right…now that that…incredibly moving speech is over, it's time for action! Decepticons, transform and RISE UP!" Outlaw declared. She squealed giddily. She had always wanted to say that.

"Fly, my pretties, fly! Nyahahahaha!" Abe cried. The Vehicons and Maimtrons ran to the edge of the deck in formation and jumped off, the Cybertronians transforming into high-tech jets in midair while the Maimtrons ignited the rockets in their boots and flew alongside them. Abe launched into the air as well, exhaust streaming from his boots, crying, "FOR DEMOCRACY!"

"Thanks for the help, Commissioner," Sam said into the cell phone. "And don't worry, after we get Max back we'll come straight home unless something else completely unexpected or ridiculous comes up, which absolutely won't happen in any way shape or form."

"It's time we got going as well," Darla said.

"Damn straight it is!" Sergeant Blip, who'd been lounging in the cockpit of his helicopter nearby the entire time, said around his cigarette. "I thought that was gonna last forever!"

"Yip! Yip! Yip!" one of the baby Rubber Pants Commandos said.

"What he said!" Blip agreed.

"Sorry for the delay. We're ready to go," Darla said. "Outlaw?"

Outlaw's shoulders irised open to reveal cockpits, as a pair of massive cannons rose out of her back and lowered into place between her head and shoulders. She crouched down and extended her hands. "Get in. The Pitspawn stay out, though, I don't want them mucking about my internal systems."

"A wise decision," Darla said as she and Sam climbed into Outlaw's claws and were dropped—with surprising gentleness—into the shoulder-mounted cockpits, domes lowering into place over them.

"Ugh, so they gotta ride with us? Fine, if you say so, Mrs. First Lady," Blip grumbled as the Max Juniors, Paiperwaite, Flint, and Stinky climbed into the helicopter.

"Hey, can I have a cigarette?" one of the Max Juniors asked.

"Sure kid, knock yourself out," the chimpanzee said, handing the freakish bunny/human hybrid a cigarette.

"You're not going to stop him?" Sam asked Darla as the helicopter's engine started up, the rotors began to spin, and the vehicle lifted into the air.

"No, they've had worse," Darla said, which Sam admitted was true.

"Ugh, I hate flying in a helicopter…it always makes my stomach so queasy…" Paiperwaite groaned.

"Throw up! Throw up! Throw up! Throw up!" the Max Juniors chanted.

"And being in such close proximity to those brats doesn't help matters…" Paiperwaite groaned.

"Oh, suck it up, you big baby," Norrington grunted, feebly batting at one of the Max Juniors with his claws to try and get her to stop pulling on his tentacles.

"Yes, Great Yog-Soggoth!" Paiperwaite said reverently. Norrington sighed.

"Why doesn't Outlaw ever let me operate her guns?" Flint complained.

"Probably because you'd use them to blow up every hobo in the country," Stinky said.

"Yes, and?" Flint asked, not seeing the problem.

Stinky snorted. "Bah. Big guns aren't everything. A real man should be able to destroy his enemies with his bare hands!"

"But you have gorilla hands, not bear hands, Grandpa Stinky!" a Max Junior pointed out.

"That I do, lad. That I do," the gorilla said.

"Superball, keep an eye on things while we're away. You're ranking officer, at least for our side until we return," Darla ordered the agent still standing on the deck. "Make sure things don't get out of hand…and if they do, you have authorization to do whatever is necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am," Superball said, saluting.

A shadow passed over them as the helicopter hovered above their heads. "Well, are you coming or not?" Blip shouted over the roar of the rotor.

"This would be unnecessary if I could fly…" Outlaw grumbled, reaching up and grabbing the helicopter's landing skids in her claws.

"Yeah, well, you can't Princess, so suck it up and whatever you do, don't let go!" Blip shouted as the helicopter rose back up…and, impossibly, carrying Outlaw with it, despite her being bigger and much heavier! (Then again, this is a helicopter that can fly underwater, so presumably that's not a problem.)

As the helicopter flew off towards Maxthulhu, Superball saluted. "Godspeed, all of you. Bring Max back to us…Sam isn't the only one who can't take losing him again…"

TO BE CONTINUED…EVENTUALLY…