Hanso, Paladin, and Penance - The Ultimate Post! (That took a bloody month to complete.)
Brynn pulled back from the vault-door, breathing a small sigh of relief. She hadn't really designed the gem's defenses to easily allow communication with anyone outside, at least to the extent she had. The Gardevoir raised her hand out in front of her, examining the icy-gold sheen that her arms had acquired. Looking down at herself, Brynn saw that the same sheen had extended to her torso.
"Interesting." She twirled in the air, examining the rest of the gem-vault. Here and there, threads of gold-hued energy were interwoven with the gem itself. "I wonder how long this will last..."
~~~~~
"Goodbye, Hanso. I'm going back to where this all began." The connection was cut too quickly after that for Hanso to say anything to Vera.
...What. Vera's leaving without seeing this through? The Gallade silently cursed to himself, looking for the Blaziken among the Gold Tribe. She wasn't inside anymore, and he hadn't seen when she'd left. Hanso considered looking for her further, then shook his head to himself. It was Vera's decision to stay or go.
Brynn had withdrawn back into the gem, ending the channel between it, Hanso, Zane, and the Keeper. There was nothing left except to move on and find Blackguard and Paradox. Hanso looked over at Genevieve again, then began walking toward her. "Genevieve?"
Flinching at the sound of her own name, Genevieve looked up and quickly averted her eyes as Hanso approached. It was hard to look at him, what she had done and even what she had wanted to do to him. She could remember now, all the terrible mind games, her ploy to make him a traitor. What atrocious things she had done while under the sinister influence of the Silver Crystal. At the same time, she felt an almost longing. How precious it would have been to convert him, her mind prodded her almost subconsciously. Was that the Siren talking, or would it really have have been so wonderful to have company in this vast loneliness?
"Y-yes?" She spoke up to his query, her voice meek and calm, completely unlike what she knew her voice sounded like when she had been the Siren. That voice was strong and decisive. It never searched for answers. Hanso might not have been used to this voice. But even this wasn't her real self, this was damaged Genevieve. Somewhere in-between the real her and the monster she had been.
Hanso stopped beside Genevieve and stared at her for a moment. Obviously, this wasn't the Siren he was looking at, but Genevieve of the Gold Tribe couldn't have been
this vulnerable. He didn't know how exactly to help her pull together enough for the coming battle.
Hearing the Gold Tribe begin to move toward the stairs, Hanso blew a sigh. "Do you plan on sitting here and waiting for the worst to happen?" He tried to keep his words gentle, but there was still a stern undertone.
With a weak nod, she answered Hanso, "No, I plan on doing what must be done." Her voice wasn't as strong as it might have been in the past, but it still had a lingering hint of strength behind it. It showed that Genevieve was actually ready to do whatever she deemed necessary. She wasn't afraid so much of what others could do to her now, but on what she could and had done to them.
"I guess we must be moving out then," she sighed and straightened up, trying to sell her fake confidence as best she could.
Hanso nodded and remained silent for a couple more minutes. He wasn't entirely convinced; a 'mon didn't just get up and walk away from the trauma that Genevieve had gone through, must be going through.
Later, on the stairs upward, Hanso turned slightly toward the Gardevoir and said quietly, "If you're beating yourself up about me, then you can stop. That wasn't you. Or, well, it wasn't
you you. It was the Siren." After a moment, Hanso added, "I think I'd had thoughts of betraying you somehow, anyway, at the time."
"But Hanso," she paused and looked straight ahead. For some reason, she had the hardest time looking at
him since her memories came back. There was vast disappointment all around, but he was the worst. She could look at the others in the face, probably talk to them normally if needed…but Hanso, no.
"You don't understand. If you had joined me, even with thoughts of later betrayal, I would have used you, broken you and probably killed you. I still remember all things things that the Siren wanted, all her mistakes and kills," she continued. "There was so much evil and hatred, but at the same time passion that was misplaced. I…she was a monster, but one of my own making. Does the Silver Crystal transform a person completely or does it just amplify the evil? If so, Hanso, then that monster is inside right now and always has been. The Siren is me, as much as I am the Siren."
That was when they came out onto the second floor of the Citadel. Hanso pulled Genevieve to one side, allowing anyone behind them to get off the stairs. "Don't you get it, Genevieve? You're not under the Crystal's influence anymore, you are not. A. Sentinel. I don't think you've developed any sort of split personality, so stop crying over what the Siren did or would have done."
Hanso took a deep breath. His voice was full of conviction as he continued. "I won't deny that a part of her may be left. You, me, all of us, none of us are free of evil, or chaos, or whatever you'd like to call it. Me, I let Varren live inside my head for a while. I was going to let him live there for life if he hadn't turned traitor. The difference, is in whether any of us can control our darker side. Can you?"
"Don't you dare preach to me and try and tell me you know what this is like!" She barked at him, her eyes finally strong and resiliant once more. "You and the others, you have no bloody idea!" Genevieve didn't care if others could hear her shout, it felt good to say, to vent. "You may have let Varren inside you, but you were still you. I....I can't promise I can control my darker side. I still feel it, even now. There is a draw that whispers to me in the recesses of my mind. I'm not even sure it will ever go away."
Looking at him intently, the first time she made perfect eye contact with him in a long while, she seemed to be pleading for answers. "Hanso, I wish you had killed me."
Hanso kept eye contact and stayed quiet during Genevieve's tirade. He let the silence after her last words draw out for a few moments, during which the Gold Tribe moved on toward the next set of stairs. On a wild impulse, Hanso abruptly drew Genevieve into a hug. "You're right." He was calm as he spoke. "I don't know what it's like. And if you really wish that, then I can make it happen once this whole thing is over. But if I remember right, I heard you call for help when the Alakazam was trying to kill you."
Then just as abruptly, he let go and stepped away, all business again. "C'mon. There's a couple Sentinels with overdue rent." The Gallade turned and headed for the stairs upward, not looking back. He'd thought he was past any conflicted feelings about Genevieve. In all honesty, Hanso didn't know her that well. They were acquaintances, nothing more. So why did it hurt when he suggested killing her?
~~~~~
Paladin just sat in the corner of the dull prison, watching the strings of gold aura float by and through him. All the while though, he listened to the ensuing conversation and stared at the mirror. It was food for thought, as some of the points brought up were rather intriguing. "Controling the darkness..." Paladin muttered, staring down at his own body and remembering the darkness on one side, that sickening shade of grey that once dominated him. He always tried to fight it, tried to be the best he could like Rey had taught him, like his master had. Never one had he considered using it, and when he had it was always involuntarily. But what the former Sentinel Genevieve had questioned also came to mind. Was Blackguard a part of the Dark One, or his own evil multiplied tenfold? At first the latter did not seem possible. Paladin had fought to stay in the light, even when the darkness loomed so close. He fought the good fight until he lost to Blackguard. And yet... the more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that the darkness had been with him all along. Long before the Silver Tribe, long before the Gold Tribe even.
Paladin remembered it all now. The burning hatred for his parents that rested deep in his heart, who had abandonned him as a child; the sadness of losing his friends - no, his family - to death; the guilt for the death of his master; the pain of battles past. All of it and more had always been there, locked deep inside, shadowing his sense of pride and honour.
That was what the Blackguard was. Behind the piece of Chaos that inhabited him was the hatred, the guilt, the pain, the despair. And then, the truth became clear in Paladin's mind.
This was the reason that the Blackguard could never be killed. Even after the Chaos was gone, the emotions that drove it would live on in Paladin as they always had, plaguing him until the day he died. There was only one way to stop the Blackguard once and for all, and Paladin was the only one that could.
"Make peace with my demons... take back the darkness."
~~~~~
Hanso said no more as the Gold Tribe walked up the rest of the stairs, up to the floor below the top one. He, Genevieve, Blitzkrieg, and the Cleric remained while the others moved on to face Rey on the top floor. "We're here," Hanso said unnecessarily, keeping his Future Sight in check. It still needed to build up some more. The Gallade began forming a few Dark spears as he waited for the inevitable confrontation.
Suddenly, the ceiling exploded in a blast of rubble and rock. Through it, a menacing red Lucario descended in an orb of aura, giving each of his opponents an intimidating stare before touching down on the ground. His aura collected itself into a small orb and danced across his palm as he spoke.
"So, here you all are," Blackguard boomed, looking at Hanso specifically. However, his gaze fell down to the gem around his neck.
"
All of you." He grinned.
Blackguard walked towards the group slowly, as if he was a predator waiting for the right moment to lunge at his prey. "Still have hope, don't you?" He began, "Still think you can defeat us and have your happily ever after like you always dreamed. But can you really?" He looked to Genevieve, "You, the self-hating Sentinel, afraid and ashamed of your own darkness, always running from the terrible sins you've committed." He looked then, to Blitzkrieg, "You, the honorable yet always ignorant Gold Tribe lackey, ever unaware of the bigger picture, doomed to just follow your leader to your death." The Cleric was caught in his gaze next, "You, the healer, and just that. Unable to do anything but aid your team mates, you resent the fact that you cannot hold your own in a fight, and are inferior to all those you cherish so."
"And you," he said, glaring at Hanso once more. "The spy, the traitor. Prepared to turn on your own brethren for a Sentinel you barely knew, much to their ignorance; the one who accepted a demon into your mind, allowing him to manipulate you and let your friends be harmed." He chuckled a bit. It was obvious his last remark was aimed at both Hanso and Paladin, much to the latter's annoyance.
"What makes YOU think that you have the capacity to beat me, a master of CHAOS?!"
Genevieve stood her ground, unflinching and almost lifeless as Blackguard appraoched them. She no longer feared death and perhaps that made her strong now. After begging and pleading for somebody to bring it upon her, what more did she have to lose. Everything else was already stripped from her. She was naked now, raw and exposed for the world to see. If Blackguard had wanted to be intimdating or insulting to her, he failed miserably.
"You say you are the master of chaos," she whispered, barely audible to the Lucario. "I have seen chaos, felt its touch on my soul and heart. You, you are not the master of chaos, just another one of its many slaves. It is precisely for that reason, that I know we will defeat you."
She was done talking, there was too much talk because of her. Mustering up her strength, eyes glowing an eerie and otherworldly pink, Genevieve unleashed a barbaric psychic blast at Blackguard. It felt good to take out the aggresion and hatred on somebody. Finally, she felt like she was fighting for something she believed in again.
Words, they were just words, yet Hanso's hands fisted at the way Blackguard skewed them. Judging by the way Blackguard had looked at him, Hanso knew he knew about the gem's existence. While the Lucario was busy talking, Hanso was busy forming more Dark spears.
Need to thank Varren if I ever see him in the afterlife. The spears weren't endgame, though, he needed to get close enough to touch the gem to Blackguard.
At the same time that Genevieve unleashed her psychic blast, Hanso left a Double Team of himself in his place while he teleported several yards behind Blackguard. The illusionary Gallade dashed forward at the Lucario, arm-blades extended and glowing blue with Psycho Cuts, while the real Gallade fired two Dark spears at Blackguard's back.
Blackguard chuckled and expanded his aura, forming an orb around him that deflected the attacks with little turbulence. Safely protected by the orb, the Lucario rose into the air and looked down upon his opponents as if they were vermin. "Come on then. You're gonna have to do better than that," he spat.
Hanso didn't fire anything once it was obvious that the attacks didn't get through. He didn't think they could break through Blackguard's aura by brute force, the Lucario had them outmatched there. What now?
Genevieve wasn't thinking, she could hear his words, but didn't process them. All she felt and knew in that moment was rage and hatred. Again she tried to break through with a psychic blast and again she failed. Again, again and again. She began to pant from the exertion, her body unused to the effort she was using. This wasn't her game, it never had been. Even before the events of the Silver crystal, Genevieve had never been a front line fighter.
"It isn't working!" She shouted, her lungs gasping at the same time. "There has to be another way, Hanso!"
The Lucario just smirked all the while. "There is nothing you can do. With all the darkness ready to pour out, it's inevitable that you'll lose. Perhaps if you give up now then you might plead with the Dark One to spare your lives." He readied several more orbs of darkness and flung them out. "Let's see how well you all can dance." He chuckled. "Since you all will die here I want an entertaining show. Appease me."
As one of the orbs of darkness came his way, Hanso jumped to one side, landing in a roll and springing to his feet. Use his pending Future Sight? No, that was going back to brute force, best save its growing power for when the shield was down. Hanso fired one of his Dark spears, aiming it to knock off the trajectory of an orb headed for Genevieve. Problem was, unless they could disable the aura at its source, Blackguard could just bring it back up again and again.
Even so, Hanso melded his remaining Dark spears into a larger orb that sped toward the aura. When it made contact, instead of blasting away, it began spreading around the sphere, covering it in darkness. Hanso concentrated and had it begin trying to crush Blackguard's aura.
"Genevieve! Think we'd be able to get into his mind long enough to disable the aura?" Hanso wasn't sure they could, or should, but it was what he'd thought of first. Except, if they could do that, then why not just bring Brynn and Paladin along for the ride? If he did, though, they wouldn't have the power in the gem backing them.
Blackguard frowned as the darkness began to cover the sphere, "Oh, trying to fight fate are we? We'll see what darkness has to say about that!" He held out his hands and several dark orbs formed in his hands. However instead of turning to Hanso he turned to stare right at the Cleric. "Bye bye." He hissed as every single ball flew out to slam into her. It was better for a healer to be taken out, just in case any of these pesky insects did take wounds. He couldn't have them popping back up to endless regeneration.
"Think you can just keep rising from the ashes without a healer at your side?" Blackguard said with a smirk. "Without her you'll all fall like flies!"
"Do you have a better idea?" Genevieve retorted, resorting to telepathy for lack of breath. Hanso wasn't sure if she'd noticed that the Cleric had fallen, but he couldn't afford to let the enormity of it get to him now. What was Blitzkrieg doing right now, anyway?
All the same, Hanso was sure his darkness had become a shield all around Blackguard's aura now, however useful it might be. Or useless. If nothing else, it blocked normal vision both ways.
Blackguard just laughed at the weak attempts at resistance, "So, trying to make me blind now are you?" He shouted out. "We'll see about that!" He readied several black balls of energy around him and shot them out in random directions. "I can still hit ya if I can't see you!" He boomed. "Can you even deal with a storm of aura Hanso!? Eventually you'll get so tired that you have to just fall down. And you former Sentinel... once he's gone perhaps I'll have more fun with you? Slowly and steady rip your limbs from your body perhaps? Maybe crush your spirit that you are a sobbing heap by the time I am done? So many possibilities!" He burst into loud laughter. "What say you Hanso? Ready to let me have fun with your lady friend?"
This was getting personal. "As if," Hanso and Genevieve said simultaneously, which momentarily surprised the Gallade. He was also surprised by the fact that Blackguard's attacks missed them completely.
"Try to stay alive, will you?" he relayed to Blitzkrieg. A moment later, the two Psychics combined forces and struck at Blackguard's mind, looking to get inside and disable his aura-ability.
Blackgaurd blinked in surprise and suddenly gripped his head as a painful headache hit him hard. "Erggh! You f**king psychics!" He screamed out. He felt them delve in a bit deeper. He raised his head up and smirked, "Trying to get in my head huh? Well let's go for the physical side of things then!" He looked out and gripped his forehead. "It's not polite to barge on in!" He hissed out. He lowered himself down to the floor and ran out. "Where are you!?" He shouted out. "Tell me where you are and I won't make you suffer in misery for a lifetime!" He snapped.
They wouldn't have long to do this, despite the oddity of time inside the mental realm. Blackguard's words came to Hanso as if through a tunnel, and somewhat slower.
Here it is, Genevieve relayed as they came to the Lucario's core. Everything was colored black by the Chaotic being's presence, and it took a few moments to find what Hanso thought was Blackguard's aura-sense.
Easiest way is to sever it. Hanso struck at it with his blades, while Genevieve blasted away with her psychic energy.
Suddenly Blackguard screamed out and gripped his head in agony. "What!?" He bellowed out. He coudl feel something was... off. He blinked his eyes and then realized what had happened. He could feel his anger rising and his paws curled up into fists, "Oh, you are f**king get it now Hanso!" He hissed to himself. Now truly blind he began to run. Although he coudln't see he could feel just a bit. When the strike against his aura had happened he had felt just where the energy had come from... and he keyed in on the location. He raised a paw and snarled, "I will enjoy squishing you!" He shouted out.
With that done, they retracted themselves from Blackguard's mind, and Hanso opened his eyes again, focusing once more on the room they were in. It took him a moment to realize that the Dark sphere around the Lucario was still up. Hanso dispelled most of it, keeping a small portion around Blackguard's head to keep him blind. It wasn't until then that he realized Blackguard was already pointing straight at him.
Oh, snap!
A small grin crept onto Genevieve's face as she readied her energy and threw yet another psychic blast at Blackguard, regardless of his next move.
The blast hit him, but Blackguard was far too lost in his anger to let it affect him that much. In fact, it fueled his anger and he just ran faster as where he knew his quarry was. He reached out for the Gallade. "You. Will. Die." He hissed out.
Now he could finally do what he'd wanted to do for hours now: beat Blackguard to a pulp. As the Lucario reached out for him, Hanso jumped up and forward, his arms moving to vault him over Blackguard's head.
Blackguard felt the Gallade jump over him and he moves his other hand to try and punch at the Gallade, "Stop running!"
The punch hit Hanso's left forearm, bringing both pain and ghost pain. He grit his teeth and pivoted as he landed on the ground, swinging at Blackguard with a Psycho Cut.
With his blind state Blackguard could only grunt as the Cut hit him and he staggered forward, away from the Gallade. He in turn twisted about and moved forward swinging blindly at the air. Without his aura he was at the disadvantage, but it was no matter. As he swung a but he jumped back and this time focused his attention into his hearing. He lost aura yes, but he had to think smart here. He was angry, yes, but he would have the time to squish that Gallade in due time.
Hanso stepped back as Blackguard swung at him, bringing his arm-blades up to block further attacks. His left arm took the brunt of the attack again. Hanso stepped back again to reassess when Blackguard seemed to pause. Off to one side, Genevieve raised her arms, both of which crackled with electricity, and fired two Thunderbolts at Blackguard.
Blackgaurd could hear the electricity being fired right at him, though a bit late. He dodges the first bolt, but the second collided with his chest and caused him to back step a bit. He closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. With him blind they would be moving about... hopefully at least. He readied his legs and began to rush to where he theorized the bolts to have come from, though as he did a wave of flames were shot down at him. The dragon! He had been left in the background!
Blitzkreig muttered as he fell back to the ground and once more took in a deep breath and shot out more flames. Blackguard ran, barely dodging the flames, but still right to where he thought that pesky Gardevoir was at. Heh, if he caught he would just rip her limbs off as promised. What a relief that would be!
Genevieve had a few moments to react. She directed a psychic blast into trying to throw Blackguard into the ceiling. At the same time, in the rush of adrenaline and smoldering anger, Hanso fired a Dark ball at Blackguard, momentarily forgetting the small Dark cloud that was blinding the Lucario. It dissipated.
Blackguard smirked as the darkness disappeared just as he was grabbed by the psychic. Still now that he was free he could do some things. He gritted his teeth and cried out as several balls of chaos formed around him and he shot them out at the three remaing GT members. "Heh, wrong move Hanso!" He boomed out.
She was able to direct Blackguard's momentum upward before Genevieve had to let go and hurriedly danced to one side, avoiding the first two balls. She threw out a hurried psychic blast to try deflecting the remaining attacks.
Hanso jumped up and teleported away, reappearing just under Blackguard with his own momentum. He jabbed forward with a Psycho Cut as he came to the height of his 'port-jump.
Blackguard just let the cut hit him and reached out to sent chaotic energy at the Gallade. "You are an annoying pest." The Lucario hissed out. He then sent out his hands to grab the Gallade, "I squish pests."
Hanso threw out a hurried Dark blast to counter the chaotic energy, letting out a growl as some of it hit him anyway.
Need to distract him. As Blackguard reached out for him, the Gallade swung an arm in an attempt to bat away the hands. He then kicked out at Blackguard, reaching up for his neck with his free hand at the same time.
Jerking the gem off his neck, Hanso smirked. "You'll have to face them first," he retorted, jabbing forward at Blackguard with the gem. All this, and they were beginning their descent.
Blackgaurd managed to grab at the Gallade but then he narrowed his eyes, "Oh shi-" He didn't get time to finish as a bright light would overcome their vision. It seemed as if only a second passed before the two would find themselves in the black mind of Blackguard. He just sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Of course. I try to squish someone and THIS happens. You know, once I mangle your corpse in here then I'll just have to quish your physical body to pieces." He looked about, "So... where is your sister dear Hanso? Somewhere with Paladin I presume? No matter... how about a game of hide and seek? First one to find the Gardevoir, wins." He rose up into the air and grinned down at the Gallade, "I assure you, I will find her first."
~~~~~~~
Meanwhile Paladin groaned as he rose up. He looked about at the familiar, yet warped, structure of parts of his mind and sighed, "I see. It seems we were successful in getting out." He cast a glance about, "This mind is more his now. We should get moving and find Hanso and the others before Blackguard comes. We'll need to stand up against him together."
Brynn took a deep breath, stretching her arms as she looked around as well. "Yes, together. We'll have to be careful, though. Things can be a lot worse in the mind, and we don't actually know where Paradox is. I just hope that my brother doesn't go and do something stupid on his own. He's really hating these Sentinels right about now."
~~~~~~
Hanso didn't wait for Blackguard to finish; he was jumping up at the Lucario during his last words with two Psycho Cuts ready. "
You're getting mangled!"
Blackguard just chuckled and floated up higher, so high that he was up on the ceiling and his body turned about to let his feet land on it. "Really Hanso? So concerned about her? I would normally be able to easily find her in this mind if SOMEONE didn't cut off my abilities. So I suppose a nice little walk aught to do." With that he turned away, just the tiniest of smug grins on his muzzle, "You know, I do feel a... feminine presence this way. Let's see who can get there first eh?" With that the Lucario ran along the ceiling. Although the ceiling was cast all over the mind, the problem Hanso would face included flights of stairs and all sorts of corridors to run through.
Landing without getting a hit in brought some reason back into Hanso's head. He needed to manipulate the rules to his advantage as much as he could, given that this was Blackguard's mind. The Gallade began running along with him, at least until he got to the first intersection of corridors. Trying to cut time spent, Hanso formed two images of himself that represented mental feelers. He sent them in two directions, trying to broaden his range in finding Brynn and Paladin.
Head's hurting... Hanso hurried down the third corridor, trying to keep Blackguard in sight the whole time.
Blackguard smirked down at Hanso every so often as what equated to a calm walk for him meant that the Gallade had to constantly move along corridors and run up and down steps. He hummed softly and soon got to where he spied the running Gardevoir and Golurk below. "Perfect." He whispered to himself. He readied a few chaos ball and sent them down as a shower. "You better get over here Hanso, else your sister might just be torn apart!"
He chuckled and sprang down from the roof to the two.
~~~~~
As Paladin traveled with Brynn he suddenly paused as he saw large black objects heading toward them. Thinking quickly he put himself over Brynn as the chaos hit him hard. He grunted and rose up as a loud thud sounded behind him. He turned to see Blackguard there, smiling widely. "Hello Paladin." In an instant a foot kicked out and Paladin went flying into a wall. "Goodbye Paladin." He turned to Brynn and a glimmer appeared in his eyes, "And hello to you too. If this was any other casual evening I might just have taken you and brought you over to my place. Too bad though." He readied some chaos balls around him, "You had such a pretty face."
Brynn shrugged, appearing calm despite the fact that Paladin had been kicked away so easily. "I never cared too much about my face, really. You?" Without moving, the Gardevoir formed a cloud of ice particles around Blackguard; a moment later, they condensed into icicles and flew at the Lucario.
Meanwhile, Hanso had stopped expending effort on broadening his scan range. Following Blackguard would lead him to Brynn, anyway. Assuming Hanso could catch up. It sounded like the fighting was around the next couple corners, but he wasn't sure.
The Lucario cried out, hissing as he staggered back. Just as he was about to throw a Chaos Sphere at the Gardevoir the Golurk came out of the darkness and rushed at the Lucario hitting him hard with a shoulder slam and causing to fly back a bit. "Take that!" The Golurk boomed out.
The red Lucario was quick to get back on his feet and he sneered at the two, "Well, you two have just been sentenced for death!" The Lucario readied a sphere and shot it at the Gardevoir. "I'm serriously getting pissed off now!" He snapped.
Brynn called up a Protect, stopping the sphere while she readied an orb of ice and psychic energy. "Rather, you're to be the executed." She fired the orb, beginning to walk to the left in a circle around Blackguard.
Hanso ran around the corner only to stop himself suddenly, skidding to a halt at the edge of a set of stairs. A second too late and he would have fallen. Down on the floor below were the other three Pokemon. Thinking that Blackguard wouldn't see him coming, Hanso readied two Psycho Cuts and stepped off the stairs, falling toward the Lucario with his blades in front of him.
The Lucario was angry enough, but the Protect was unexpected. Just as he was about to shout out another phrase he felt psychic power hit into him from behind and he cried out. His eyes narrowed as he fell down and quickly rolled away from the Gallade, right into Paladin's path who kicked him into a wall. The red being smashed into it and it crumbled over him. For a second there was silence but then the rubble flew away and an extremely angry Lucario stood there, "THAT'S IT! ENOUGH PLAYTIME!" He roared out.
Paladin cocked his head, "I thought you were already serious."
That just caused Blackguard to emit a even more enraged roar and he readied a chaos ball and flung it at the group. Paladin easily sidestepped the ball and chuckled, "You're already angry, and already faltering."
Hanso ducked below a piece of rubble that had flown out, arm-blades wreathed with a mixture of dark and psychic energy. He stepped, almost jumped, to the side to avoid the ball as well. Brynn wasn't near enough to need to avoid. The Gallade threw a cut at Blackguard that was a combination of his Dark Hidden Power and a Psycho Cut, in sync with the psychic blast that Brynn fired.
Blackguard cried out in pain as the dual attacks hit him and despite putting up his arms to protect himself he ended up staggering back. A few brusies were now on his fur coat and he gritted his teeth, though he soon smiled, "Hehe, I know exactly what to do. You want this form fine! But I need to be going, toodles!" He stepped back as a shimmering portal appeared behind him. The Lucario ran back and leaped into the portal, the other half appearing right in Paradox's mind and the Lucario ended up bumping right into the duck himself.
The black silhouette frowned at him and crossed his arms, "Too much eh? Too much for old Blackgaurd? Must I do everything around here?"
The Lucario stood up with a grimace, "Hey, don't forget that you're here because of me! And they teamed up on me! Sheesh, that darkness hit me hard... note, take out the Gallade first."
The Golduck nodded, "Will do. I'll just have to head over there and kill their bodies. They are still in your mind correct? Will be easy enough."
It ain't the body we're after. That had to be the channel back to Paradox's mind that Paladin had told of. "This'll be a lot more dangerous," Hanso said, walking up to the portal. Looking back at Brynn and Paladin, he grinned slightly. "Still, we gonna pay him a visit now?"
"Of course." Brynn came up beside Hanso, then stepped past him and into the portal. "I've been wanting to get back at him." She was followed shortly by her twin-brother.
Paradox barely finished his sentence before he glanced at the portal. "... Isn't that supposed to be closed already?" Just at that moment he saw three familiar figures step inside and he blinked before looking at Blackguard, "You are an idiot." He turned to his guests and smirked, "Well, guests! Hehe, you do need a welcoming gift though!" He sneered as he readied a chaos ball and hurled it at the group with Blackguard doing the same.
Paladin grunted as he was hit and staggered back, but he suddenly was in the air, his arm cannons letting him move quickly through the air as he used Fly to slam into Blackguard and land some distance away.
The Lucario hissed as the large mon hit him and he stepped back. Paradox meanwhile narrowed his eyes at the two siblings and snapped his fingers. "Forget about Penance's traps already Hanso?" He cooed as a part of the floor opened in front of them and black chaotic tendrils shot out to try and entangle Hanso up.
Brynn had expected an attack of some sort, so her Protect was already up when the chaos ball was fired at her and Hanso. Coming from Paradox, though, the shield slightly caved in before the chaos ball dissipated.
"Nope." Hanso walked toward Paradox, arm-blades glowing again as he ignored the chaotic tendrils and Brynn's cry of alarm. Upon contact with the Gallade, the tendrils melted away, leaving him to draw an arm back for a swing. "Better prepared this time." Hanso's eyes were full of controlled anger.
Paradox was rather surprised, so surprised that the arm blades hit him full force and he fell back, grunting at the pain. "... How?" He hissed out. Suddenly a smile formed on his face as a Water Pulse flew out of the air aimed right for Hanso's face. Paradox slowly chuckled and stood up, "Three on three." He snickered. Out from the shadows of the mind came Penance. The Golduck looked like a wreck. His eyes had tired circles under them and several bruises covered his body. Above his body hung black strings that forced his arms up once more to throw an additional two Water Pulses at the Gallade.
Paradox grinned all the while and readied his own chaos balls, "Hehe, fun isn't it!?" He snickered as he tossed them right at the Gallde. Blackkguard was about to join in when a pair of Golurk arms gripped from behind and began to restrain him, "You're not attacking anymore!" He shouted. He pulled an arm back and slammed a Shadow Punch into the Lucario's back. Blackguard was quick to pull free and began to punch his counterpart, a miniature battle erupting between the two.
Hanso, in turn, was caught off guard by the Water Pulse. He stumbled back, dazed for a moment before snapping his attention back to the Golduck and...the Golduck.
This'll be a problem.
Ya think? Brynn replied mentally, eyes glowing slightly. She switched places with Hanso, using Ally Switch, and had another Protect up to block the Water Pulses and chaos balls. So soon after the last block, the shield buckled even more. As it faded, Hanso was already throwing two Dark spears at Paradox, thinking about how to counter Penance without killing him.
Paradox just smirked as he snapped his fingers. At that the puppet strinsgs pulled Penance along, positioning himself in front of Paradox just as the dark spears hit into his chest. Penance cried out in pain and Paradox let out a menancing chuckle. "Really? So eager to kill the one mon who called you a hero? Who put you way above the other goldies? You must have a death wish for him then!"
Once more the strings tugged and Penance's hands shot forward, his eyes glowing a deep blue as he tried to catch Hanso in a Confusion attack and start to crush his bones.
"Hit... the... strings..." Penance gasped out.
Meanwhile Blackguard and Paladin duked it out. Despite Paladin's bulky size Blackguard was tired enough to the point that most of Paladin's punches were hitting him. The Golurk grabbed the weary Lucario and tossed him to the side. As he rolled about Blackguard slammed a hand down on the ground, some of the chaotic juices flowing into his form and slowly helping him to regenerate.
"Hey! That's stored energy!" Paradox snapped.
"Just a little..." Blackguard chuckled as he got back on his feet and fired a chaos sphere at the Golurk. The Lucario rushed forward and Paladin held his ground, waiting until he was close and firing off an Earthquake by slamming his hands against the ground. The Lucario leapt up and landed on Paladin's back where he slammed a chaos sphere at close range. He then leapt off and fired several more with Paladin barely having time to block a few. As he landed though the Golurk once more slammed his hands against the ground, this time successfully catching Blackguard off guard and forcing him to fall onto the ground as the earthquake ripped into him.
It seemed like every single thing that Paradox did was calculated to anger Hanso, aside from the battle to the death. The Gallade pushed out a wave of Dark energy around himself to try and counter the Confusion. While he was occupied, Genevieve rapidly fired a small Psychic shot at each of the strings holding Penance, each one glowing with a bit of the Gold Crystal's power.
Paladin kept his feet rooted on the ground while Blackguard staggered about, but finally the Lucario was able to jump into the air and slam a large, powerful dark ball into the ground, causing the Earthquake to cease.
"Heh, let's go somewhere a bit more private," Blackguard said, charging right at the Golurk. Paladin avoided his initial tackle and tried to counter with a quick Shadow Punch, but Blackguard performed a backflip which allowed him to land on top of Paladin's back again, after which he struck the Golurk with several punches to the neck.
Paladin suddenly saw the scenery around him melt away; his allies as well as Paradox just dissipating, as he found himself surrounded by complete darkness, Blackguard before him. He recognized the feeling; they were back in the Lucario's mind.
"It's about time I ended you, you damn nuisance!" Blackguard boomed. "You've outlived your usefulness!" With that the darkness around Paladin seemed to stir, and dark pillars began to rise up from the ground to slam into Paladin.
The Golurk felt the power of the Gold Crystal seem to surge through him all at once, and he shot out a beam of light from his palm at one of the rising pillars, shattering it into pieces. However one emerged behind him and slammed into his back, forcing him forwards and onto the ground.
"Not that easy! It doesn't matter how much Gold power you have, goldie! NOBODY! KILLS! THE BLACKGUARD!"
Paladin grunted as he got up and turned to smash another pillar to pieces using a fist encased with light. "You misunderstand," said Paladin as calmly as he could. He seemed more determined now as he began to march closer to Blackguard, smashing the pillars that got in his way with beams or punches. "I'm not here to kill you!" He said as he stood right before the Lucario. Blackguard released several dark beams from his palms, which Paladin managed to catch with his own hands and keep at bay. Blackguard began stepping back from the large imposing Golurk.
"No! What are you doing?!" Blackguard exclaimed.
Paladin swatted away the dark beams and activated his jets, which sent him flying at the Lucario at top speed. Blackguard managed to duck underneath the flying Golurk and counter by sending Dark balls after him in one swift motion. Paladin grunted as the balls hit him, deactivating his jets and skidding across the floor a bit before coming to a stop.
"You stole something from me, Blackguard!" Paladin said. "My evil! You took all of it! My anger, my hatred, my despair!" He began to walk towards the Lucario again. "I want it back!"
Blackguard grinned slightly and suddenly sank into the shadowy ground. "Keep dreaming! This evil's mine now, and I'm going to destroy you with it!"
Suddenly pillars started rising from the ground again, but also dark balls and beams and all manners of attacks. Paladin found himself trying but failing to swerve past all of them, getting hit by a pillar directly in the chest which sent him flying up. He landed on the ground with a crash, but still the adrenaline and the Gold Crystal's power kept him going. He got up and slammed a fist into the ground.
Suddenly the darkness on the ground gave way to a white, marble floor. Paladin grinned as he saw the Gold Crystal energy he'd released into the ground spreading.
"Damn it!" Blackguard exclaimed as he was unveiled from behind the darkness. Paladin saw him and sent out a light beam at him, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him back.
Blackguard looked down to see that there was some sort of bright, shining string that had attached itself to his chest. He clawed at it to try and get it off but had no success, as Blackguard approached him.
"As much as you might hate to admit it, Blackguard," Paladin began, "you're just a part of me that was ripped out. It's time to take you back. Become whole again." Paladin aimed an outstretched palm at Blackguard, who found himself unable to launch any attacks because of the white string.
"Bullsh*t!" Blackguard spat. "I'm going to consume you! I'm going to eat your very soul, and become reborn! I! WILL! SURVIVE!"
Paladin nodded calmly, as he shot out another light beam at the fallen Lucario. "That you will, Blackguard. You won't be dying today. You're mine, not that Dark One's!"
The beam began to wrap around Blackguard as he struggled and tried to get away. The white strings extended and wrapped around his entire body, leaving only his head bare so that he could look upon Paladin one last time.
But then Blackguard smiled. "Hehehe. You can't...kill...the Blackguard...after all..." He muttered as he drifted into unconsciousness.
Paladin grinned, and used the strings to lift Blackguard into the air. He could feel the Dark One, the Silver Crystal, pushing back against the power of the strings, but he resisted. "You will not have me!" Screamed Paladin as he focused, the darkness beginning to spread across Blackguard's body again.
"YOU WILL NOT HAVE ME!"
At that moment, the darkness dissipated into a cloud of black smoke that drifted off into the distance, and Paladin could feel the tension releasing. He fell to his knees.
"Take back the darkness," Paladin muttered. From the large crack on his chest emerged a sickly green smoke which inched its way towards Blackguard and began to envelop him, finally reducing him to an orb of darkness. The green gas dragged Blackguard's essence back through the crack in Paladin's body, and Paladin screamed out in pain.
He clutched his chest and began to wheeze. He knew he had to endure this. He felt the darkness fighting against the light of the Gold Crystal, but eventually he allowed them to coalesce, to join together. No longer was this the Dark One's power. This was now Paladin's power.
Paladin sighed in relief and got up. He discovered that his metaphysical body was now being once again partially enveloped in a sickly black hue, but this time it felt good. He had control of the darkness. He felt it enter his mind, empowering him as it never had before. One of his eyes shone a menacing red, the other a bright yellow. He grinned widely at his new form.
"You can't...kill... the Paladin..."
Paladin held out a hand, creating a shimmering portal back into Paradox's mind. "Let's finish this," he said as he stepped through.
Penance cried out as the strings began to snap, a small smile on his face as he fell with a thud on the floor. Paradox just snapped his fingers to send down more strings, but on contact with the duck they dissipated and he nodded, "I see... gold tribe energy. So, you DO care about the duck." He chuckled and blasted out another Confusion at the Gallade, "Soon enough you'll be in a hell just like him Hanso. How will it feel... I bet that's what you're wondering."
Penance grunted as he lowered his hand and shouted over to the siblings, "Brynn, take him on! Electric attacks mind you if you have them!" He looked over as a portal once more appeared and he whistled as the Golurk stepped on through. "Well don't sit off to the side, help us out already!" Penance shouted at him.
Sorry, no electric attacks here, Brynn mused. She didn't need to say it where Paradox could hear, though.
Hanso didn't bother to block the next Confusion; a little of it had struck before he teleported to Brynn's side. "I'll die before that happens," Hanso retorted, throwing a Psycho Cut that coincided with his sister's Psychic blast. "You'll die instead, anyway." He began walking toward Paradox, firing a Dark spear, followed by another. "Know how annoying you've been? You've got Penance beat in that department." Bringing his hands up, Hanso began building an orb of his Hidden Power. "Then again, 'annoying' isn't strong enough a word."
Careful, brother, Brynn relayed, getting ready for another Ally Switch and Protect.
You don't have a lot of energy left. Hanso wasn't listening, was he? At least Paladin was back.
Paradox chuckled as he looked around, "Well a full house we have here!" He said gleefully, "But... I only need one of you." His eyes locked on Penance, "Let's have a dance shall we? But before we do..." In a blink of an eye he appeared before Hanso with a glowing ball of chaos in one hand, "Let's see your hero get killed off!" He giggled as he shot the ball right at the Gallade.
Hanso drew back his arm to throw his Dark orb and fired at the same moment Brynn began to Switch in. Her Protect flickered on with the Dark orb caught partway through the edge, canceling both and allowing Paradox's attack to come through. To Hanso, Brynn seemed to fly backward into a wall in slow motion before crumpling to the ground. It felt like a part of him died along with his sister.
"D*** you." Almost reflexively, Hanso reached back out into the physical realm. A second later, his pending Future Sight ripped into the mental room and barreled toward Paradox.
Paradox gritted his teeth as he was hit, but a split second later he ported next to Penance and grabbed him, "Heh, I'll be back later for you Hanso." He said with a smirk and then he quickly disappeared with the Golduck.
Hanso stared at the spot where Paradox and Penance had been for several seconds before going to Brynn's side. He wasn't sure if he walked or ran, he didn't care. Dropping to his knees beside his sister, Hanso watched her face, tried to probe her mind. Nothing. She was dead. In a moment of weakness, the Gallade sat back and leaned his head against drawn-up knees, quietly crying.
~~~~~
This time the two reappeared in a empty corridor and he threw Penance down, smiling as a chaos ball crashed into him and tossed him back.
"Hehe... well this is it isn't it?" Paradox sneered as he began to circle Penance. "So alone... so helpless before me."
Penance just chuckled and shakily rose, "Not entirely alone... " He said with a small smile. I do always have plans and friends with me."
Paradox snorted, "Oh really?" He sneered, "You think those freaks out there are your friends? Heh, this world is dying Penance. Soon enough the Dark One will take over everything, you know that. You guess before and I confirmed it. Already Rey is opening the portal and one by one your friends will die."
Penance giggled a bit, "Yes... and I'll rather die than be a puppet. You think it's easy just sitting there with nothing to do? Nah!" He waved a hand in the air, "I need to do things! It's who I am! I need... energy and all." He smirked, "And I know that once I beat you I'll be able to do that."
Paraodx snorted and crossed his arms, "I am inside your mind Penance." He tapped his forehead, "Forget? We are one and the same. Any thoughts you make I know. Any plans you form I'll know instantly. It's powerless to try and fight me to be frank. Just lie down and maybe I won't tear you aprat limb by limb." He snickered, "Though I'll make sure that you'll be alive in here forever. I think it'll be fun to drive you even crazier than you are."
Penance chuckled in turn, "You don't get it yet do you?" He asked with a **** of his head, "Nah, you'll figure it out soon enough... hopefully. You aren't that stupid are you?" He asked with a cheery grin.
Paradox sighed and readied two chaos balls, "Fine. I see you want to be punished." His red eyes flashed as he shot out the balls, but Penance was quick to port, appearing next to the chaotic being and shot out a Confusion at him to push him back a bit. Paradox just chuckled and leapt forward, grabbing Penance by the arm and threw him down the corridor.
Penance was quick to rise though and he narrowed his eyes, looking to try and shot out a confusion, but at the last moment he sent out a Disable just as Paradox was throw a Water Pulse.
"Hehe, too unpredicatble still?" He chuckled as Paradox instead held up his hands and shot down a Confusion at him. Penance held up his own hands and likewise sent out a Confusion that hit against Paradox's and caused a small explosion between them. Paradox was silent for a bit and he chuckled, "Well, similiar tactics huh?" He sneered and Penance shrugged, "You can say I'm buying time."
Paradox sighed, "Hanso will not find you. Paladin will not find you. You are all alone. Get that in your head!"
Penance just shrugged, "I think I can win. I just have to hold out long enough." He chuckled and the chaotic Golduck shook his head, "Even without me you were crazy beyond belief." He held up his hand and a chaos ball formed in his palm, "Well you'll go down soon enough, and you know what? I just might kill you this time."
Penance held out a hand and made a beckoning motion, "Come on then. Kill me and let's end it."
Paradox smirked, "Oh, I'll be coming... but first." He suddenly opened his mouth as a loud Screech shot down and Penance held up his hands to block his ears as the loud scream hit into him. As Penance squirmed Paradox teleported next to the duck and hit him hard in his gut and held up his hand at point blank range, shooting a Confusion right into Penance's face.
Penance was thrown back and hit into the ground hard, but he managed to hold out a hand to bounce him off of the ground and allowed him to land on his feet. "You'll have to do better than that!" Penance shouted out and Paradox narrowed his eyes, but then blinked, "Wait... what the..." He narroed his eyes a bit more, "Your... mind... I can't-"
He didn't get to finish as a glowing orb apepared in Penance's hands, "Heh, guess the cat is out of the bag then?" He asked with a wink. He thrust his hands out and a bright yellow beawm shot out right at the corrupted Golduck.
Paradox screamed out as the beam hit iinto him, but he managed to get out of the beam's pat after a few seconds and quickly backed away, "No... no... how? You didn't have any gold energy before!" He cried out.
Penance just smirked as a silhouette of a Gardevoir appeared behind him, "You can say... it was passed onto me." He aimed a finger at Paradox and a few bursts of gold light shot out to slam into Paradox, each hit driving him back bit by bit and slowly shrinking his size. More and more shots hit into the the corrupted version of his mind and Penance walked upu as the smoke cleared, a small version of Paradox now glaring up at him. "No matter how small I become... no matter how weak you may make me... I'll always be here. You'll never be clean like a Sentinel." He sneered. Paradox chuckled softly, "Oh yes... you awakened me and I'll always be here Penance."
Penance looked down and pointed his finger down at him, "That may be... but I beat you, so I consider that a win." He smirked as he shot out one last burst and Paradox shattered into pieces... though as those pieces fell a darkness sunk out and began to cover the ground. Penance watched as the darkness swarmed about his mind, seeping into his core and he sighed, "Heh... never can get rid of what you open right?"
He closed his eyes humming a bit as he disappeared, only to reappear in front of Hanso, "So... heh, that was a nice gift." He said with a smirk. "Thank you Hanso. You are the hero after all and the heroes always win." He said with a wink.
The tears had stopped long before Penance came back, but Hanso didn't respond for a long moment. "Hero." He lifted his head to stare up at the Golduck before coming back to his feet. "Hero?" Despite their height difference, Hanso reached up and punched the side of Penance's head. "Cut it out with all your dramatized story crap. And you caused a lot of trouble by gettin' yourself corrupted. And that's aside from everything else with the Gold Tribe and your Affiliates."
Penance staggered back and fell down on his rump, but laughed out loud. "And yet learned so much!" He said gleefully. "Every negative becomes a positive now!" He said happily as he hopped back onto his feet, "Don't worry about her Hanso, trust me on that." He said with a wink, "But we can't be worrying over dead Gardevoirs, oh no. We need to get up there! Stop the big boom from happening! If it works up there, think of how boned we are!"
He looked over as he saw Paladin coming over and gave him a quick glance, "We are all slaves to our own corruption." Penance murmured. "That is until we fight against it."
He glanced at the Gallade, "It's hard and I know you'll cry and weep yadda yadda, but bear it down. Turn that to anger to that Zangoosey guy up there! Heh, he's a Zangoose! You can never trust them!" He shook his head, "Anyways the main thing is to head up and split his head open and help out old Zaney boy." He giggled a bit, "You do that Hanso, help us with that, and I'll let you in on a surprise!" He winked at the Gallade, "So sounds good or what?"
Paladin looked over at Brynn and let out something equivalant to a sigh, "The Dark One is responsible for this." He said, "I will personally ensure that he pays for this."
Penance grinned, "See? Rock boy here has it."
His anger was already built up inside him, but Hanso's voice was flat as he spoke. "The Gold Crystal's power wouldn't have stayed with Brynn once she died. You have it?"
Penance held up a hand as a bright gold orb appeared in his palm. "Yes I do." He said with a nod. "Though I think you can use it better hero boy." He tossed it over to the Gallade and rubbed the underside of his bill. "Now, once you're all peachy keen, we can head back out and start this beating!" He chuckled a bit.
Hanso caught the gold orb, which disappeared from sight as he siphoned it back into the gem around his neck. He didn't wait after catching it; the Gallade had turned and begun walking away during Penance's last words. "Unless you want to stay here, Paladin, you have either the gem or the Lucario's body to come back to. I'm gettin' out of my free fall now, and we can discuss with everyone what your plan is, Penance. I'll be dumbfounded if you haven't come up with one already."
Penance smirked, "Hehe... you can say I've been planning this ever since Cape."
~~~~~
As Rey shot out his dark colored Thunder there was a soft whoosing sound behind him. The reaming warriors had been teleported behind him and Penance had a Water Bomb in his hands, "Greetings Rey." He said as he thew out the Bomb at him.
Paladin likewise readied his arm and attempted to hit the normal type with a flurry of Aura Spheres.
Hanso had built a Future Sight orb before they'd come up, letting it build for a few moments before releasing it to return later on. He fired an orb of his Dark Hidden Power, infused with a Psycho Cut and a bit of the Gold Crystal's power. Beside him, Genevieve attacked with a Psychic blast and two prepared Thunderbolts. Blitzkrieg took off with a roar and breathed a Fire Blast at Rey from the air.