Zane and Penance
Zane listened to Penance and TrueStriker describe what exactly had happened before. From what he understood, the plan had worked, only the dark smoke which infiltrated Deluge's body prevented any secrets from being extracted. But the fact still remained: it worked. For moments, Deluge was torn apart from his curse. It was a shame he had only mere moments of freedom, before it was abruptly taken away. When Penance mentioned performing such a thing again, he nodded. If it worked once, it would surely work again. But what would prevent that ominous darkness from stopping to do finish the job again? Truestriker described the being very little, only that it was shrouded in that smoke. Zane had to wonder what it was. Was it an extension of Auron's abilities, or was it some specter from the power of the Silver Crystal? For some reason, he believed they hadn't seen the last of it.
"Well, at least we know this all wasn't for nothing. The Gold Crystal seems to work, so then there is hope…" Zane's voice trailed off as he began hearing a large number of noises coming from outside of their area. There were cries and screeches, but most notably the sounds of many feet pattering and stomping, and many wings flapping. As Zane peered out of their area, he found numerous amounts of Pokemon traveling in unison towards the east, what he found out to be Cape City not too far away. It only took a few moments for him to connect the two together.
"The Alpha Alliance army!" Zane exclaimed to the others. "They're here! They must have caught wind of the kill-all order. Which means…they're going to attack the city right now! We have to find the Generals and stop them! There's still all of the citizens and refugees inside!"
Penance gritted his teeth and turned to an Alakazam, "Port us there now! You can rest after Adam!" He turned to Zane next, "Zane, you need to talk to them, stop them." With that he put his hand on the Alakazam's shoulder. "Gather your thoughts Adam, we need to get there."
The Alakazam weakly nodded, "I... I'll try. That took a lot out of me..." He said softly. The psychic waited for Zane to touch him before he ported. He got them there a bit closer... but not right in front of the group as he bent over panting.
Penance began to run, "Come on Zane! We need to cut them off!"
Zane grabbed hold of the Psychic Pokemon and together they teleported with the others closer to the army. He ran next to Penance, frantically beginning his search for either of the two Generals. "Belas! Hazone!" He called out among the vast army. "Generals!" He began calling, to any Pokemon around who would here. "Generals, where are the Generals!" He yelled, screaming as loud as he could through the noise the army emitted. It seemed unlikely he would get through, but the familiar booming voice of General Belas pierced through the ranks.
"Show no fear!" He boomed, commanding his forces onward. Zane caught wind of him and traveled the vicinity of the voice, picking up what he could from its direction as the Metagross continued to command. Finally, he managed to reach him. "General Belas!" He yelled. The Pokemon stopped his booming orders and turned to Zane, surprised to see him there.
"Vigil! Good to see you're alright! You're right on time, you can join us in the vanguard. We'll need you and the others to-"
"No, General! You have to stop the marching!" Zane said, cutting Belas off. Belas gave him a confused look.
"What, are you mad?! I can't call off the army now! We're almost upon the city. Haven't you heard of the blasted kill-all order? There's no time to lose!"
"But General, all of those refugees and citizens, they'll be caught in the crossfire! We can't allow for that. There will be too many casualties!"
"It's better than everyone dying bloodily by the damned Silver Tribe! We're picking the lesser of two evils here. Believe me, if there was another way, I'd do it. But unless one of you has a better idea, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
There was suddenly a ball of water that threw through the air and slammed painfully into Belas' head. Right there was Penance readying a Pulse in each hand. "I think we asked you to stop. And now 'General' you will stop and listen. I don't care about your f**king need to go and stop what is happening, cause frankly my people are already on it and can do it a hundred times better than you. Now step down, or matters will have to be taken. Much... harsher methods." He stated. Penance voice had even undergone a change... almost as if he was a different Golduck at that time.
Zane displayed a shocked look on his face as Penance through the General down, although perhaps not at all as astonished as Belas was. Having been absent to the entire Madman escapade, he was completely unaware of his new persona, though he did recall that the Golduck acted a bit irrationally before. He silently stayed there on the ground, eying the Golduck. He then turned to Zane, who decided to keep his face an impartial one, not sure how to react to the whole thing to begin with.
"ARMY, HALT." Belas finally boomed to the army, the orders beginning to resonate through the lesser commanders, who addressed the grunts of the armies. Eventually, the entire order had been given, and the army had halted. "I don't know what's going on, especially with you Defender…" He looked at Zane. "But I trust
you, Vigil. So I'll give you some time. An hour. If you guys don't come up with anything better by then, I'm marching, and nothing is stopping us, especially any other…harsh methods." He said, glaring at Penance.
Penance slowly smirked as the army halted and he saw he hurt Belas' feelings. Oh boo hoo, though he lowered his hand, letting any attacks he had planned slowly dissipating. "Good decision General. We'll get hopping of course." He giggled suddenly. "Oh yes, get hopping indeed. Vigil! We need to get started on it. Though the Sentinels will... be taking a swim." He suddenly burst into louder laughter that ended abruptly. "Right!"
He made his way over to Adam who was meditating at the moment and glanced up at him. "It'll take time Penance. I do have some reports."
The Golduck nodded and sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes and just... sat there. Though of course the Golduck was receiving orders from the tight nit psychic network he had going on. There were orders here and there, different hit points to attack and such. Yes... there were stuff coming up here and there, but for the most part it was going smooth. Everything was a variable now, ready to change with a coin flip.
"Right," Zane began, as he eyed Penance with a bit of detestation in his voice. Despite his acceptance of the fact that they had to work together, he wasn't sure he approved of his methods, especially the way he addressed General Belas, a respected Pokemon even among the Gold Tribe. Still, he had accepted this as the way things had to be. For now. He glanced at TrueStriker for a moment, wondering what he made of all of this, before speaking back to Defender. "So what are you planning? Do you have a way to get everyone to safety? And what do you mean about the Sentinels? Where are they?"
Penance looked over at Zane as he cracked open an eye. "Hm? Oh... that. Don't worry, you'll know what will happen to them when it happens. Meanwhile I am in the middle of coordinating everything. Oooh, got the library, nice." He closed his eyes and turned his attention back to his orders.
"Zane... just port back in there, you'll be needed. That girl Paladin was trying to find, he found her and she's pretty weak. Poisoned and such. Go and find some berries and port over to him. Hanso should connect with him. Also, don't mind those explosions at... the bunkers? Hehe, not bad timing!" He nodded, "Get going Zane, and we can direct the others for you all to meet up. Just be careful, it's chaos in there!"
Lair of the Madman- Sentinels
It had become a habit for Scar to have a face of disappointment and anger on his face all day, it seemed. Once again, the Madman, the Gold Tribe, all of them managed to pull a fast one on all of them, and escape. They were just a bit slower, only leaving behind a few of their kind. And from what Scar could tell, they were the looney ones. Unless they were all like that. Either way, their presence was beginning to annoy Scar. He wanted them out of the picture, so they could get back to finding out where the rest of the bugs were hiding.
The Gligar turned around... and surprisingly held up a platter with a chocolate cake on it. "Now blow out the candles!" He said with a smile. Finally the Nidoking spoke up. "Damn it this ends now!" He shouted as he raced right at the Mienshao, pulling out his fist and preparing to slam it right into the fighter's head.
Scar did not move a muscle at first at the approach of the larger Nidoking. Some might have assumed it was due to fright. Rather, it was Scar examining his opponent and pinpointing where he would make his target. As the Nidoking grew close enough, Scar bent down, and jumped just above the large Pokemon, narrowly avoiding the attack. Then, in a fluid motion, he brought his leg down upon the Pokemon, aiming for the top of his head with a Hi Jump Kick, putting much of his surprisingly superior power behind it.
The Nidoking's eyes widened as he missed his mark, but his head snapped back as there was a loud cracking noise as he fell back, his eyes staring up lifelessly. Meanwhile the Gligar had torn into the cake munching on it happily with a cute expression on his face. The Dewott crossed his arms. "Hm.. you know you all ain't like Goldies I killed before. Still, why'd it take you all so long to find us? I mean, it isn't like we were constantly moving and what not." He said with a shrug.
"Contrary to the petty Gold Tribe's agenda, we are far busier, and far more ambitious to be searching the sewers for rats." Scar replied coldly, touching down on the ground after he defeated his opponent. He looked around, hoping to find a trace on where the rest had gone to. "So, I will give yo the option: You will tell me where the rest of your kin has gone to, or we will end you right now."
The Dewott cocked his head, "Why should we?"
"They love cake!" The Gligar blurted out suddenly as he swallowed a large slice. "Don't you all want some? Though chocolate causes suicide!" He said with a nod as he took in another large piece and munched on it.
The water type smirked again, "Eh... they are around Sentinel. Though... you shouldn't step in any further. Let me give you some advice, turn around and walk out. You have no idea what is in here..."
"I'm done waiting. All of your nonsense ends here, either in this hole you call a home, or somewhere else along the battlefield. Here, you will all draw your last breaths." With that, Scar charged forward, not taking the advice of the affiliates. He wanted to kill them all. First them, then the other followers of the Madman, then he himself, then the Alpha Alliance, and then the Gold Tribe. This city would be the bloodiest thing they had ever seen, the marble streets would be painted red when they were through. This place would be their tomb. Scar ran forward, preparing his claws to slash up the two Pokemon.
The Gligar gulped down another piece and threw the platter and cake at Scar as he ran and the Dewott jumped up to try and dodge the strike.
"We should surround them!" Scar called to the other Sentinels as he brought down his claws towards the Gligar. Meanwhile, Genevieve stood at the back, preparing a wave of psychic energy to strike at them when they had their backs turned. She unleashed a wave of it from behind the Dewott. The other Sentinels could join in too, but it would be a bit comical to have used up their strength together on such a smaller number.
As the Gligar was hit he turned to Scar. "Cake?" He asked as he opened his mouth and blew chunks right at the Mienshao with a smile on his face.
The Dewott was taken out and was blasted back, rolling about on the ground until hitting into a wall and just laying there. Though there were other shapes seen further inside the lair as they retreated a bit.
Scar quickly grew angry, wiping the chunks of the cake from his face, before he prepared himself, and fire a Focus Blast angrily at the Gligar, pouring his rage into it. As Genevieve went over to examine the body of the Dewott, the Inferno looked around the abandoned lair of the Madman. Something didn't seem right to him, though he chose not to voice his opinions to the others. Instead, he walked a bit ahead of them, examining what remained of their base.
The Gligar only had time to keep grinning before his cake filled life ended right then and there. The Dewott really had nothing else on him except his schalops that he didn't get an opportunity to use. Though the group could hear some shuffling about and then a voice. "Hey Silvers! When was the last time you took a bath?" As soon as the voice spoke out there was a loud explosion from up above.
-5 years ago-
"Penance you think this will work?" A Kadabra stood by the Golduck who nodded, "Yes it will Adam. I'm sure of it. We'll need a plan, always. One day the Gold Tribe will come here, I'm just ashamed I hadn't put something in place before."
Up above the lair the rock had been dug into and there was a large tunnel dug. Water types were inside letting water collect inside as psychic prevented the water from coming out.
"If you say so... but how do we seal it up?"
The Golduck smirked at that, "Oh, we'll have the rocks be put back, the fire types will melt them back on. You have the bomb ready?"
The psychic nodded, "Yeah, should be enough to break the barrier... so if it happens we all die..."
Penance nodded, "Gold Tribe goes down as well, or at least a lot of them. Very well done this is... I just hope we don't have to press the button too soon." He chuckled.
-Present day-
As soon as the explosion was heard a large amount of water flew out from the dug tunnel. It was more along a flowing roaring waterfall now that slammed into the ground and tore through the lair, slamming into buildings and utterly demolishing them. The left over affiliates were slammed against walls as they sacrificed their lives as the waters roared on forward to the Sentinels.