Raz, Abel, Penance, and Callimer - The Battle of Brookerridge

Everything was in a rush around Brookerridge. The 'mon stationed there were warned about the impending attack, and preparations immediately began for battle. With so little time remaining, there would be no way to properly escape, so the only thing to do was to fight them off. The Network machine and the Psychics were moved into the town in the center, so the fight would also be about protecting that asset. They barricaded the town as much as they could, but the enemy was coming. Right before they arrived, Commander Darrell gathered everyone together for some last minute preparations.

"With us being outnumbered almost 4 to 1, our best bet is to hold off on higher ground and better defenses. I'll also be relying on our allies from Valkaria and Beatruce. The Gold Tribe is known for its strength and Raz and Penance also showed me their great worth," Darrell explained to them. "The most important thing is to survive their attacks. The Morrians will not retreat until the last 'mon, so aiming for them first in the fighting would probably be the best strategy. For those of you who haven't faced the Pentosarrs, they are far more sentient and smarter, but also prone to retreating if we wound their morale and pride enough. That may be the key. And if the fighting doesn't go our way..." He stared at the forest team. "You must take the Network to Argime and warn them what has happened. Take one of the Lieutenants with you so they know what you say is the truth, and warn them. We will destroy the Network on this side of things so that no one will follow you. But that is only if the worst comes."

Rumbling began to be heard close by. The sound of metal steps and drums followed soon after. The armies were almost there. There was little time to say much else.

Penance was next to the psychics as he huffed, "Well, get on with it!" He said as he waved his hand, "The cake has to be delivered you know! I need a key right to Anatellia. Chop chop and show me those prints!" He demanded.

"You need... cake in Anatellia?" The Meowstic Psychic asked in confusion.

"Pffff. So you DON'T like cake." Penance peered at the psychic and leaned in reeeeeally close to look deep into his eyes, "Are you... a cake hater?"

The Psychic continued to look at Penance with a puzzled expression. He backed away one step out of anxiety. "Penance, we don't have time for you nonsense!" Abel snapped and gestured around him. "We're about to be invaded! Tell the blasted fool what you want."

"Well I want my cake, and I want to eat it too!" The duck snapped back. "Get me on the ringer please. I do need to talk with Anatellia. If you do it in five seconds or less I'll let you have a discount. Two for one." He said with a nod.

"Anatellia?" The Meowstic repeated, before he nodded his head in understanding. "R-right! We have a Network Point there. I'll link there..." With the other Psychics present, the group began to concentrate and try to connect with the Network Point all the way in Anatellia. However, after a few more second, the Meowstic shook his head and frowned. "There's too much interference and not enough time to establish a back-and-forth connection, but we might have enough time to send them a message. Tell me what you want me to say to them, and I can pass it along!"

"Tell good old William... that he ought to pluck a good number of nose hairs." He said with a smirk. "Nothing more than that."

"I..." The Meowstic began.

"DO IT!" Penance snapped, cutting off the cat's speech. "Oh maybe you want some plucked ear hairs?

The Psychics all looked at each other and closed their eyes. A few seconds later, they opened them again. "M-message away!"

"And not a moment too soon," Abel muttered, and gestured just outside of town toward the forest lines. Movement could be seen within the forest, and slowly, Pokemon of all shapes and sizes began pouring out and moving toward Brookerridge. They were wild and screaming at the top of their lungs. The tattoos and war paint across their bodies confirmed that these were the Morrian forces.

On the other side of town, toward the west end, 'mon began coming out clad in a gray armor. They appeared more uniformed and disciplined, with a marking of a spiral and some symbol on the center of their armors. It was similar to one found on the tongues of the Morrian commanders at the previous battle.

Razathiel tapped his staff twice on the ground. "Right," he said. "Let's kill the buggers."

Cal stared down at the gray army, brow furrowed and antennae twitching. "I think it might be best if Razathiel and Penance attacked the Pentosarrs first. Besides having the most raw destructive power I feel they're also the best suited for...terrorizing, although for completely different reasons. If we have a chance of ruining their morale you two could certainly do it better than either Abel or I. Unless of course they couldn't handle watching me break another Rhypherior's spine with my bare hands."

The Dreadmage nodded, pointing at the Dragonite and jumping up and down slightly. "Oooh! That sounds good; do that!"

"I'd prefer not to, he made a rather unpleasant crunch."

"But crunches are the best." Penance said with a shrug, "What? You crunch racist now? Tsk tsk Cal."

"Oh there will be plenty of crunching." Cal spread his wings wide, sending a small gust of wind in either direction. "Now let's get to work boys, unless you'd prefer I show you up!" He smirked and thrust his wings down, propelling himself into the air and flying towards the Morrians.

"Ready when you are," Abel chimed in and followed Cal on the groundside. "We'd best stay in the front and try to keep the Morrians out! Our priority is protecting that Network point in the center. That and killing as many of these bastards as we can."

"You all do that." Penance commented as he leaned back. "I'mmmmm..... going to lie down riiiiight here." He said as he laid down and put his hands behind his neck, "Let's say, I got a plan." He chuckled softly, "Let them come to us. Trust me, it's better."

"Eeeeeeeggggghhhhh," Razathiel groaned. "Why not just get to the crunching? Or rather go for some long-range pot-shot crunching. That should work. Wouldn't want to have Green Giant here beating me at crunching."

"No no. I see what needs." Penance said as he closed his eyes, "Wake me in... rupert. Okay?"

Raz snorted, "Rupert!" He called, "We need you to eat Penance!"

Abel glared at Penance for a few moments. He secretly hoped that during this battle, either the duck would die, or he would get his chance to kill him himself. But for now, he had a battle to fight, and win. He swiftly turned around again and ignored Penance's plan, electing instead to follow Cal back into the action with the Morrians. The wild 'mon charged like... well, wild 'mon toward the city, without any sort of tact or cohesion. Abel dodged left and right past the initial wave of Morrian troops before he was surrounded by a larger group of then. Then he unleashed his first set of attacks, a Close Combat aimed to strike at the largest possible group of them at once. Each fist collided with the Morrians with the force equivalent of a grown 'mon beating up a child. There was a definitely a power disparity between a Gold Tribesmon and a Morrian wild 'mon.

The Pentosarrs approached the city in a much more unified fashion. They had fighting, ground and rock Pokemon closer up front, being bombarded by whatever the Hellguards could throw at them. The larger, more durable 'mon brushed past some of the hits, though occasionally a Pentosarr warrior would fall. When they were close enough to the Hellguard defenses, the ground Pokemon began to dig under the city, making sure to throw out extra rocks onto the remaining fighting and rock 'mon above them. These 'mon used this opportunity to perform rock throws and rock slides on the Hellguard defenses in Brookerridge.

Cal's entrance to the fighting sewed chaos and confusion like always when he crashed into the biggest group he could see like a meteor, making the Draco Meteors crashing all around him look like minuscule asteroids filled with explosives by comparison. The first morrian to react was a Donphan that launched itself at him with a furious Rollout while its fellows were still recovering, which gave the Dragonite a satisfying idea.

Cal stood fast, simply waiting for the Donphan, then put his hand out and caught it, standing firm till it's rotations slowed and he lifted it into the air. His other hand glowed a bright turquoise and he slammed it into the ground, ice exploded out from the fist to make a nice, slippery mound. With the stage set Cal's body was draped in a crimson aura and he held the Donphan just above the ice with his left hand, and delivered a Superpower-ed punch with his right. The Donphan was sent down the ice lightning fast and still accelerating thanks to the terrain it rolled across, barreling into its allies like a hyperbeam-cannon shot fired parallel to the ground and carving a path through them.

Raz shook his head, muttering to himself, "I'll be damned if I'm going to be shown up in a f*cking crunch contest." He fired a psychic blast at the ground, flinging himself to the upper levels of the fort and peering down at the tunneling Pentosarrs. "Will someone go on down there and use Earthquake on those bastards? Honestly, I'll even do you the f*cking favour of covering you while you do it, bless my kind soul... that 'kind soul' bit was sarcasm, if it wasn't glaringly obvious. Which it should be, what with me being ever so evil. That was evil sarcasm, right there."

"Sleeping here, keep it down!" Penance snapped. "Sheesh, don't you guys know about preparation? Don't show all the cards you know!"

"Oh, I'm sorry cupcake, I was just busy tryin' to survive here!" Trace yelled beside the Golduck. He fired off a Razor Leaf off into an Onix, the sharp blades of grass piercing his durable defense and slicing him apart.

Abel brought down the string of 'mon surrounding him with relative ease, and moved onto another set. He had the fortunate type advantage with a few, facing off with a rather large Morrian Machamp, Graveler, two Gloom, and a Persian. Abel pushed down the two Gloom to start with by launching a powerful Psychic into them, the pressure of the psychic force causing them to plummet onto the ground and crush them. He then bashed the Persian's face straight in with a Brick Break right to the jaw. The Persian collapsed dead on the spot. The Graveler and Machamp both came at him swinging, with the Machamp trying to grab hold of him with a Seismic Toss, while the Graveler shot a Rock Throw at him. Abel found the combination counter-productive, and simply stepped out of the way of the Machamp so that he was hit by the Rock Throw. He was damaged by it, but kept upright. However, it gave Abel an opportunity to push the two away while they were sorting out their blunders. He grabbed both of them telekinetically and launched them far from him. The Machamp he purposefully launched backward, subtly aiming him directly at the sleeping Penance through the confusion of the battle.

Penance yawned and made just the smallest motion with a finger as he 'slept'. A rock that had been to the side of the Machamp's foot quickly moved in front of the heel and caused the fighter to fall off to the side and slam his head into the ground. Within Abel's mind a subtle voice would whisper,

You're losing your touch... murderer. If the voice had pierced his head and spoken to him, there was no indication on his stone cold face that it had happened. He continued to press forward in the battle.

The crashing near one of the entrances to the village drew Cal's attention, despite all the damage he and Abel had been doing, some of the Morrians had simply charged past while their doomed comrades served as distractions. He flew over the gate and began to rain Draco Meteors down upon the Morrians, and as soon as there was room he landed, beginning to glow red and vent steam out of his nostrils. Once again the same ear-splitting roar that anyone who defended the gates of Gold City would recognize rang out across the battlefield, causing even some of the barbaric Morrians to stop in their tracks and look for the source. Those who caught a glance gazed upon a raving green Dragonite tinted crimson and literally steaming as he stomped hard enough to shake the ground and crushed Morrians in single hits, one after the other. The Outrage rampage had begun again.

Razathiel let out an exasperated sigh. "Egh, Greenie bastard's at it again... Right, apparently nobody wants to f*cking listen, the f*cking morons, so f*ck this- you!" The mage pointed harshly down at a Camerupt Hellguard, who looked up in surprise after a few seconds.

"M-me?" The Camerupt asked, a little surprised by the sudden attention and a little distracted by Callimer's roar.

"Of f*cking course, you! Yveltal almighty! Can you use earthquake?"

"I, erm, I can, I-"

"Then get your arse to it, already! Bloody hell-"

The Dreadmage lifted the Hellguard up in a psychic grasp, prompting a confused 'er, okay' with a hint of fright mixed in. Razathiel launched over the walls with the Camerupt in tow, remaining afloat as he dropped the Knight down. He made sure that any poor, unfortunate 'mon who wandered too close was blasted to oblivion before turning to the Camerupt again.

"Well?" Raz snapped. "Use earthquake, then! Giratina's wings!"

Although still confused, the Hellguard was still a professional fighter, and wasted little time after the order came. The walls of Brookeridge were stable enough to withstand the earth-shaking force, but the tunnels used by the Pentosarr diggers weren't quite so fit to take the brunt of such an attack.

Penance just lounged on back and hummed a bit as he looked up at the sun, "You know, it would be nice if I got some tea around here." The duck complained loudly. "You know, just gentlemonly and all. It's okay. I CAN wait." He crossed his arms and let out a slight huff, "Really, knowing is half the battle. Buuuut, if you all are SO impatient." He flicked a finger as a small water ball flew through the crowd and struck a Morrian in the face, "There. Now hold your horses and elect some stone please. It's better to be defensive right now."

With the underground route blocked off thanks to Raz's plan, the Pentosarrs pressed directly forward through the front of the town. The Morrians did the same, but both were met with heavy Hellguard resistance. The Morrians were losing forces at a much faster rate than the Pentosarrs, mostly because of their reckless way of fighting. However, they were also killing more Hellguards in the process. By now though, both armies were closing in around the city.

Seeing how far they managed to get already, Abel decided to retreat back through the defenses and shoot longer ranged attacks. He moved back among the Hellguards and fired off a Psychic at a Sandslash, which sent the ground 'mon flying and crashing into two Elekid. As Abel's eyes trailed across the battlefield, he spotted something that he felt was familiar. Just like in the previous battle, there appeared to be a few Pokemon, a Stantler, Linoone, and Loudred among the Morrians, who had extra tattoos of different colors, who also seemed to be commanding the forces. They appeared on various points of the army and commanded the forces in each section.

Among the Pentosarrs, there was one like that as well. Clad in bronze armor from head to toe, a large Nidoking bulldozed through a dozen Hellguards with ease along the western end of Brookerridge. Other Pentosarrs rallied around him, as he shouted out order to surround him as they begun to attempt to penetrate the town. Hellguards around the area stared at the monstrous Pokemon before them, and some elected to abandon their posts and retreat further into the city. They were met with instant rebuke from Commander Darrell.

"Hold your ground! Hold your ground!" He commanded. "Retreat means certain death, Hellguards! There's only one way around this!"

Somewhere in the middle of the Morrians there was a large clearing that every one of the barbaric 'mon very clearly avoided, for within was a pile of their allies' corpses and a very put out Dragonite. When he heard even louder war cries Cal turned with a ground-shaking stomp and was about to mindlessly crush more warriors he paused, listened to the renewed clashes and smelled the blood and pain on the air. The Emerald Sentinel stopped his rampage, and the steam issuing from him slowed it's release, the red tint to to his body lessened, but remained. In a burst that was surprising considering he didn't use Extremespeed he flew to Abel's position and stood there for a moment, having a hard time speaking normally.

"Abel, I'd like you to back me up, if I can scatter that honor-guard the Pentosarrs have going I need you to keep that Nidoking's lackeys off of me. Their leadership seems much more unified than the Morrians, we could strike a much bigger blow at once taking him out, but he also seems stronger than any of the Morrians we can see right now." Despite the quiet and peaceful tone to his voice Cal's words dripped with pure fury as if envenomed, clearly Outrage didn't simply wear off so easily in the middle of a battle.

Abel glanced first at the Emerald Sentinel beside him before his eyes set on the group of Pentosarrs surrounding the Nidoking. He nodded affirmatively. "Consider it done. Watch yourself," He stated, before making his way into the thicket of battling 'mon en route to the Nidoking. He blasted a few Morrian soldiers away with a Psychic, flinging them across the battlefield like ragdolls. He closed in on the Nidoking and the surrounding Pokemon, before unleashing a Bulk Up on his body to pump him up first.

As soon as he was sure Abel was ready to back him up Cal launched off of the ground again, making sure to pass by Raz on his way back to the battlefield. "Raz, switch places! The barbarians are all yours!" He shouted before flying almost straight up a long ways so he could get as much momentum as possible and angling down towards the Nidoking.

Two Pinsir clad in iron armor charged first at the Medicham. Abel sidestepped the first one's grip, and initiated a Brick Break on his side. His palm tore through the Pinsir's thick armor and found its way into the side of the bug's ribs, ripping them apart. Abel made sure to finish the job by grabbing hold of anything tender he could while his arm remained lodged inside of the Pinsir and vigorously pulling it out. As the first one fell, the second came rampaging toward Abel. Holding his ground, he waited for the Pinsir to try and use a Vicegrip on the Medicham. He dodged it easily enough and propelled the Pinsir into the air with a powerful, concentrated Focus Blast. The Pinsir shot out and fell right next to another Scyther beside the Nidoking. The other Pokemon around the Nidoking began focusing on Abel, but it also drew the attention of the Nidoking, who unleashed a Mega Punch onto the Medicham.

Abel was preoccupied against the other Pokemon around him, that he didn't have any time to dodge the blow. He held his arms up to protect himself while he awaited the blow to make contact.

Before the Nidoking could make good on his ambush attempt a much more literal-than-normal draco meteor crashed into him in the form of Cal, merely sliding him back, not bowling it over like most opponents but ending his attack all the same. "I don't think so, you've got yourself an angry dragon to deal with tough guy."

Penance leaned back more and more, his smile curling up as he could see the network point standing there, "Oh how they don't know... let's see... about another minute or so. Hopefully. Maybe. We'll see." He said to himself. "Oh yes, I know that. But it'll be fun really. ... Oh quiet Brynn, let me work my magic."

The Nidoking barely responded by composing himself and bringing up his large knuckles to to his torso in preparation of his upcoming bout. Without much of a word, the Nidoking charged toward the Dragon and unleashed a string of punches at him in the form of a Close Combat.

Meanwhile in Raz-land, Morrians started to become vaguely aware of a small, black, white and green blur that brought with it fire, explosions and death. The blur's name was Razathiel, propelled at high speeds through the battlefield with the same psychic, magic and otherwise destructive blasts that obliterated barbarians in large numbers in whatever direction was opposite to the one the miniature mage was currently travelling. Generally indistinguishable though the sounds of battle came the cackling of said mage, though the Morrians close enough to hear it were also close enough to their untimely demise that their brains didn't really have any time to process the sound. The Dreadmage, in a moment of clarity, blasted himself upwards and over Brookerridge's walls. He levitated over for a moment, folding his arms as he attempted to garner the attention of the mad duck lazing within the town's relative safety.

"Hey, duckhead. This better be f*cking worth it. I'm hardly co-operative by nature, but at least I put in a smidgeon of bloody effort."

With that, Razathiel blew a raspberry at the Golduck and left.

Cal took every punch and answered with his own, letting his Outrage give him the edge for the moment both in taking the hits and dishing them out, but no strategy is always a losing strategy. He didn't keep it up for long before he reached his right arm back behind him and energy trailed across it as Superpower course through his body. He waited for the Nidoking's next punch to come and caught it in his left hand, managing to barely hold it back with a shaking arm, and slammed his Superpower-ed right fist into his gut. The impact itself sent a gust of air away from the Nidoking's body that would knock lesser 'mon to their backs if any had been nearby.

The powered fist tore through the Nidoking's bronze armor and made contact with his stomach. He spit out blood and took a few steps back. As he held his stomach from the intense pain, he angrily gritted his teeth and shot forward again at the Dragon, unleashing a Focus Punch into him.

Abel meanwhile palmed a Croagunk Pentosarr directly into one of the built-up wooden walls of Brookerridge. His body collided with it and he held his head in pain, but that didn't stop Abel from mercilessly delivering a killing shot to his head once more. Abel turned his head to get back into the fight, but briefly noticed the condition of the battlefield. There was a pool of resistance in certain areas, such as where Raz and Callimer were, but for the vast majority of the battlefield, the Pentosarrs and Morrians were slowly gaining ground. Abel noticed Morrians along the walls of one part of the town and preparing to climb over. He hesitated going to help as he didn't feel comfortable leaving Cal behind along surrounded by all of these forces. But he knew the priority here, and that was to stop these enemies here and now, no matter the cost. Without another thought, Abel abandoned the area and ran toward the immediate Morrian threat to the town.

Flying back from his brief meeting of sorts with Penance, the Ralts wizard was fairly disgruntled to see the Morrians making even further progress in their assault on Brookerridge. Apparently, protecting others left little time for liberties like blowing raspberries at Golducks. Who knew? A Morrian Tangela made its way close to the lip of the walls, but was soon blasted down with a powerful wave of Psychic energy. Raz sent a fireball after the barbarian for good measure. The Dreadmage flew off and around the walls on a quick 'search and destroy' mission for any Morrians with the audacity to challenge the sanctity of Brookerridge. He passed Abel, stopping for a while to smirk back at the Medicham.

"If you can hold this for a little while," Raz said with a hint of snideness, "I really would quite like to start eviscerating those Morrian leaders."

"Do it," Abel replied forcefully. "I'll kill anything that comes my way."

The psyker chuckled, "Alright, steady on. Beginning to sound almost like me, there. Toodles." And with that, Razathiel launched himself up and away on a cloud of explosive psychic energy.

The focus punch came far too quickly to avoid without wasting energy on Extremespeed, so Cal simply braced his arms in front of himself and took the hit as best he could, sliding back several feet and leaving a small trail in the dirt. He had to admit the Nidoking's strength was impressive, and he could gain momentum very fast for a beast of his size, but momentum had it's own downsides. After a moment of contemplation Cal decided to counter and set his idea in motion before the Nidoking could get a second attack off. He glowed as he made use of the strength boost from Superpower again to get a massive punch into the Nidoking's chest, pushing his opponent back as far as he had been, before jumping a few more feet back. "Is that all you got? Some big bad leader you are you overgrown Weedle!"

The Nidoking grunted and felt his chest breastplate collapse and fall, just as the plating around his stomach. He felt the cracking of bones across his chest, but he continued to stand upright. With his armor fully broken along his torso, the Nidoking ripped off any lingering pieces of bronze and crunched his teeth together. "Leader?" The Nidoking roared and pointed to the symbol along his broken chestplate. "There is only one leader, He who watches over us all! And in time you will come to learn the Destruction Saint's fury!"

The Nidoking rushed forward again and brought his shoulder down in an attempt to forcefully impact it into the Dragonite as a Take Down.

"Oh, and yet you still surround yourself with a vanguard of weaker 'mon when you enter battle? I guess you're just a coward then." Cal tried to lean back a bit and get a better angle, but it wasn't easy, he wasn't exactly the Gold Tribe's limbo champion. Just as the Nidoking was about to crash into the Emerald Sentinel he brought both of his fists up under his opponent's shoulder and pushed up as hard as he could, combining with the Nidoking's own forward motion to fling him surprisingly high into the air for such a heavy brute. As soon as his target's feet successfully left the ground Cal flapped his wings and shot rapidly to the Nidoking, grabbing him and flying even higher into the sky, counting on a ground type to be incapable of struggling as hard in the air.

The Nidoking began reaching for his throat and taking in deeper breaths, despite less air being available. The higher they flew, the less capable he was of breathing at all. The Nidoking made one final attempt to free himself by trying to strike Callimer with the fiercest Focus Punch he could muster, which given his draining strength and lack of oxygen, wasn't as powerful as it could have been.

The last Focus Punch hit harder than Cal expected, he shook for a few seconds, but managed to get his bearings and straighten out his wings once again. Satisfied that he was high enough Cal pointed himself down towards the ground, gave one last push with his wings, flattened them, and let gravity do its work. He couldn't be as aerodynamic as he'd like with the Nidoking's limp state, but the let the weight of the two warriors carry them down as quickly as possible. Just when they were about to hit the ground Cal gave the strongest push up he could with his wings while simultaneously letting go of the Nidoking, leaving his opponent with all of their combined momentum when he slammed into the ground.

The force of the crash sent trembles through the nearby forests and around the town of Brookerridge. Pentosarr warriors looked upon the mangled corpse of their captain in fear, but the continuous charge of Morrians, the crossfire from Hellguard soldiers, and others shouting them orders pressed them further on. Many were distraught, but they continued to fight.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, a barbarian Linoone found itself surprised to be suddenly in the blast radius of what was, for all intents and purposes, a psychic meteor. Falling from the sky where he'd been zipping around previously thanks to his small stature and light frame, Razathiel cushioned his psychically accelerated descent with yet more psychic energy, as well as the lithe body of the Morrian commander.

The initial psychic burst surprised the unsuspecting Morrian leader, who quick ducked to the side in order to try and avoid it, but wasn't fast enough. When he felt the light presence of Raz on his backside under the pressure of the Psychic energy, the Linoone began to struggle and roar at the Ralts, letting out a loud 'EEEEGH'. He then brandished his claws and tried to slash up the tiny 'mon's face. But the Dreadmage was already away, having bounced off on the cushion of psychic energy. Razathiel landed a few metres away, laughing evilly and raising his arms and staff in show around him.

"Behold! Prepare to meet your end at the hand of-" He stopped himself, rolling his eyes and firing a Psychic at the Linoone and darting off to find another position from which to fire again. "Egh, f*ck this, I've already bloody started killing him now, might as well finish. Theatre's all burned out, probably."

The Linoone was hit directly by the Psychic force and pushed far back into the pool of other Morrians around. He recovered eventually with a bit of a struggle to get up, but managed to once more locate his Ralts target in a different position and charged at him with his fangs ready to puncture his neck with a Bite.

Seeing the Pentosarr leader fall against Cal, Abel decided to fight one of the three remaining Morrian leaders. With Raz facing off against the Linoone, the Medicham went after the Stantler, leaving the Loudred to cause mayhem at the entrance of the wall of Brookerridge. It let out an Uproar, which cracked the walls the Hellguards had set up, and knocked some of them off of the top. The Loudred then stomped along their bodies, crushing their bones beneath its mighty feet.

Cal landed from the aerial fatality and had to take a moment to rest, the Nidoking had amazing strength, that fight could have gone on much longer if not for his type advantage, After landing Cal completely relaxed his body and Roosted, feeling some of the pain from fighting wash away in a tide of relief. Luckily none of the Pentosarrs seemed brave enough at that moment to attack him even if they still had it in them to keep fighting. It was no substitute for real rest or healing but at least it would do to keep him fighting. It quickly became clear he didn't have time to sit there when he saw a Loudred with that same symbol on it rampaging at one of Brookerridge's gates.

He flew at the Loudred as fast as he could, but when it's uproar began the spots the Nidoking had struck Cal began to throb and he lost his balance, skidding across the ground on his chest a few feet before he decided to continue on foot. When he was a short distance away from his target he looked around and noticed an undersized Morrian Geodude, who was then unceremoniously hucked into the back of the Loudred's head.

The Geodude collided with the Loudred's head, earning a loud roar from the 'mon. He angrily picked up the Geodude off the ground after he was hit and slammed it to the ground, and then stomped on its head, creating a large crack along its head. The Morrian leader then looked around for the source of who tossed it. His eyes set on Callimer, and he bombarded toward the dragon's direction. The Loudred released another powerful Uproar straight at the Dragonite.

Abel ducked to the side as the Stantler leader charged right at him with his antlers, attempting a Take Down on the Medicham. He quickly struck the charging Pokemon along the ribs just as he missed him. It earned Abel the sound of a large crack along its ribs, and a cry of pain. But the twisted Pokemon did not back down. Instead, it charged at Abel once more, and this time collided its antlers toward Abel, knocking him down to the ground.

Razathiel saw the Linoone coming as it bared its fangs, the intent to Bite him brazen and unhidden. Barring the possibility that the Morrian was some kind of master of deception, which struck the mage as unlikely for a barbarian, the wizard saw the attack as being quite harshly counter-able, and he intended on capitalising on that in as damaging a way as possible.

The Linoone struck him and pushed him to the ground, but as it did its fangs found no purchase on his neck. Instead, they bit into the cold metal of Raz's staff, which promptly twisted quickly under psychic force, opening the barbarian's mouth and dislocating its jaw. With his free hand, Razathiel shot searing red flames at the Linoone's insides with his Hidden Power.

As the various others lashed out with their own attacks Penance was busy sitting down, smiling at the various shenanigans before he suddenly stood up, "Right right! You all don't mind if you donate some energy right?" He asked the psychics around the Network Point, "Great! Awesome! Now watch this!" The Golduck narrowed his eyes at one of the Morrians and grinned, "It's going to get... explosive." His eyes flashed blue as a psychic charge built up in his hands. It was small, but fast. It flew right at a armored Nidorina and wasted no time in disappearing right into its skull. in a brief second the skull exploded with power as the surge, almost on its own, flew off to the closest mon to the Nido, which happened to be a Quagsire.

Likewise the water type's head exploded as the surge flew out again, this time going right for a Mr. Mime that suffered a similar fate. Except as the surge flew out, another surge, identical right to it, also came out. "Ah, turning psychic powers against their previous owners." Penance mused, "No one, in such chaos anyways, ever so much as looks at the tiny blue dots." He chuckled, "Oh we'll let them just go out and do their business. And bonus! Every psychic they hit also fills up the energy tanks and multiplies them! Isn't it so sweet?" He asked as he sat on down, "Keep up that energy my dear pointers... er, beings of Point, no no. Maybe Pointopolis is a better name? Yeah, just let them do their work. Hahaha!"

Cal's antennae twitched at the Loudred's uproar, and there was enough kinetic impact behind it hurt, but he did have one advantage against such an attack. "Jokes on you loudmouth, I don't have any ears!" And he used Extremespeed to dart around the Loudred and headbutt it in the back, propelling it further from the wall.

The Loudred collided onto the ground in front of the fall, crushing part of it up with its weight and the speed upon which it was impacted. However, it rose itself soon after and rampaged at Callimer with a fiery roar, intending to Take Down the target once more. Abel meanwhile had recovered from the hit of the Stantler, and positioned his feet firmly as the Stantler tried once more to crush him with his antlers. This time around, however, the Stantler's antlers collided with Abel's palm as he struck the 'mon with a powerful Brick Break. The antlers forced themselves across his palms, drawing blood, but at the same time breaking apart the antlers. Abel kept going however, breaking through any resistance he met and forcing his way at the Stantler's head. The Brick Break crushed something vital, probably his skull, and the Stantler fell to the ground in defeat.

The Linoone began to get cooked alive by Raz, and in its desperation tried once more to bite at the smaller Ralts, though unsuccessfully doing so. With the Morrian on the brink, the Dreadmage pushed the Linoone off of him and into the sky with a wave of psychic force, before raising his staff upwards and letting off a Psyshock to end the creature once and for all.

"Yo! Flame buff!" Penance shouted over, "Add in! Flames on the surges! Melty heads! Hahaha!" Penance laughed out.

Razathiel turned his head to the Golduck, one eyebrow firmly raised, "What the bloody hell are you on about? Finished with your f*cking nap, I see."

To his left, a Morrian Venomoth's head suddenly exploded with psychic energy.

The Dreadmage's expression changed briefly to that of mild surprise, before settling into a devilish grin. "So," He said, "Melty heads, eh?"

Cal grinned with uncharacteristic malice when the Loudred charged at him again. "Well I do have this idea I've been thinking of trying out." He launched himself skyward right before the Loudred hit him and continued until he had a good amount of height. He charged energy in his body until it released into a small orb above him, after which he flew above it and his right fist began to glow. "Try yourself a Draco comet shower!" He slugged the orb from above with the strongest and coldest Ice Punch he could manage, launching a large but focused group of projectiles that were like Draco Meteors, but chilly and icy instead of fiery and explosive.

The Loudred tried to navigate around the comet shower, but as more began to rain down upon the battlefield, he found himself with less and less room to maneuver. The Loudred Morrian leader and other Morrians around him began to get bombarded by Cal's attack. In one desperate effort to relieve the attacks, the Loudred fired off one more Uproar aimed at the Dragonite above.

The Emerald Sentinel had been too focused on trying to ready another barrage, and just as he was about to release another Draco Meteor to freeze the uproar hit him and knocked him off balance, folding his wings and ending him hurtling towards the ground. Cal panicked for a few seconds, but quickly regained his composure, pulling out of such a dive would most likely brake one of his wings. So he decided to just straighten out and fall alongside all of his icy draco comets - right towards the Loudred. The Loudred opened its eyes wide in surprise and was crushed by the force of the large Dragonite. He was knocked off his feet and fell hard to the ground, no longer moving. And then his head exploded, with flames. Psychic flames.

Penance couldn't help but crackle with laughter as he saw some Morrians falling down, their heads not only exploded, but also charred to a crisp, "See? Fun!" He crackled out. He gestured out, "Oh, how great melties are!"

Cal pushed himself up from the small crater he'd landed in, wincing as his arms shook and almost buckled. He looked in the direction of another pulsing pain and saw his left wing was bent at an awkward angle, although it didn't seem to be broken. And on top of it all, now his face and chest had blood and gray matter splattered on them. "Penance...you may be having flashbacks of Ferrol soon you quack..."

Having seen the successful fiery destruction brought about by his addition to the Madman's balls of psychic energy, Razathiel threw a Thunderbolt into the mix, and some Fairy magic for good measure. Technicolour death - what a wonderful way to spend an evening. Using a blast of psychic force to propel himself back to Brookerridge's walls to get a better look at the ensuing carnage. In a moment of thought, he turned to Penance quizzically.

"Tell me, Penance: how, exactly, did you come up with a contingency to ensure the safety of our allies?"

"BWAHAHAHA! MAD IS AS MAD!" He proclaimed. "They all fall... down~" He sang out. Sure enough as one of the spheres came close to a Hellguard it charged into the mon's head, with very predictable results following. The Golduck fell down laughing, "Pies and pieces!" He laughed. It was very evident what was happening now. It was something that Penance had written about before in his novels... that of the Madman's Rage. A cloud that would cover Penance's eyes and leave him with, well, only a madman's thoughts. It seemed his objective at this point was total annihilation of anything before him, both ally and enemy.

The red jewel of Razathiel's staff hit the Golduck square on the forehead.

"F*cking moron!" The wizard cried, pushing Penance violently aside with a concussive wave of Psychic energy, pausing afterwards to turn before thinking better of it and launching several more concussive blasts for good measure. "Idiot!" Raz managed, at something of a loss for words.

Penance blinked and looked about for a moment, "What now?" He asked as he rubbed at his head, "Gah, who done what?" He stood back on his feet and rubbed at his head a bit more before he looked out, "Ah, melties? Nice work small shrimp!" He said with a wink to Raz, though he flinched as he saw what was truly happening, "Oh, you let the flocks out didn't ya!?" Penance snapped as he held out his hands to try and reign in the spheres. "Can't trust shorties to cast spells." He muttered under his breath.

"You are begging for death, Madman." Razathiel snarled, before launching away on a cloud of psychic force to find whoever the unlucky sods were who remained on the battlefield - primarily Abel and Callimer.

Apparently many of the Morrians had seen their chance and decided to seize it when the sparkling green Dragonite was seen pushing himself out of a crater with a wing bent painfully and an arm clutching at his ribs. Cal saw one of the Hellgaurds' heads explode from one of the same spheres of energy that had been decimating their foes only moments earlier. "PENANCE!" The yell rang out almost as loud as his Outrage roar from earlier and he was about to make his way to the mad duck to reign him in when a Salamance dive-bombed him out of the air and slammed him into the ground before he could even realize what a bad idea flying right then was.

"So what? Now you wanna be brave?" He pulled on the Salamence and tumbled a few feet before throwing it away by its tail. But as soon as Cal went to pursue the fellow dragon and finish him he was cut off by a ring of some of the Morrians heaviest bruisers closing in on him. Every gap Cal could break through the ring was quickly filled in, and every time he tried to focus on one opponent several more made ambush attempts. Finally when he was in the middle of trying to unbalance a very-awake Snorlax several of the energy balls flew in. Instead of aiming for Cal, they began to pelt the opponent's around him. One by one their heads began to explode from the sheer energy surge of the psychic balls. As soon as they had come, they were quick to hover away as Penance aimed them at another group of Morrians.

Cal was knocked off balance when the Snorlax he had been grappling suddenly began to topple over onto him, and just barely managed to get out of the way, losing his balance and falling to a knee a few feet away. "Well, I guess the reminder of who's on what side can wait for now." He struggled but managed to stand all the way up again, using the distraction of Penance's attacks to limp back towards the hellguards' walls. He wasn't so sure how much use he'd be for crushing skulls right then, so he slumped against a wall and tried to think of a plan while surveying for his teammates across the battlefield.

Abel, who had been further out along the battlefield crushing whoever he could, was now limping back to the wall as well, bloodied up after taking a few too many hits from armored Pentosarr warriors. He watched as another group of Morrian warriors broke apart a far section of the wall and spilled through into the town. They began to crush the Hellguards stationed there. At another part of the wall, Pentosarrs attacked and broke through in similar fashion, overpowering the Hellguards and bursting into the city.

Spotting Callimer close by, Abel ran forward and shook his head. "We can't hold on like this anymore!" He shouted through the loud violence around them. "We have to go through the Network and destroy it behind us, or we'll all die here!"

"I can do this!" Penance murmured to himself, "Calm... calm..." He murmured to himself. As more of the enemy poured in he found himself having to quickly move the spheres around at an accelerated rate. Sweat began to drip down the Golduck's face as he began to huff. "I need a pouring of power over here! We can still do this!"

"We're fighting a losing battle!" Abel exclaimed toward Penance. "The best hope any of these 'mon have is if we bring help from Argime!"

"They won't come because fu**ing chaos is there!" Penance snapped. "The minute we leave they all die! That's a fact!" He shouted back. "I'm not leaving!"

"Then die with them," Abel muttered coldly to the duck. "I'm going to Argime where we have a chance." He turned away from Callimer and proceeded further into the town. Around him, he heard the screaming and shouting of Hellguards fighting for their lives. It took quite a bit for Abel to understand to leave, but he knew the priority here, the bigger picture. He reached the Network Point, and shouted to the Psychics. "Send me t-" Abel cut himself off when he noticed the Psychics concentrating together, and a small bulb of Psychic energy began to form in front of them. One of the Psychics, a Meowstic, looked over to the confused Abel and smiled.

"Someone's coming!"

The network point shimmered as a a group of mon appeared before it. The group was around thirty strong with many of them looking rather... un militaristic like. Simply looking over them, one good punch would be enough to floor them. Still, despite the bloodshed that was covering the battlefield, not one flinched. The tallest one, a Tropius, boomed out, "Someone wanted my stache?"

Penance burst into laughter, "Wilson! Get in there and slam the chops!"

"Got it boss! Perimeter!" He shouted out to the rest of the Seekers. They moved like clockwork as each Seeker held up a metallic shield and moved out. As they made the perimeter wider and wider, they then slammed the shields down as a blue shield projected from them and formed a blue dome around the network point. "Maggers! Get the maggers ready!"

Several of the Seekers quickly rushed to the duffel bags that they had set down and pulled them open, getting out metallic pieces that they quickly began to hook up.

"It'll take time. Shields are max. Nothing can get in." Wilson boomed out.

"Set a perimeter around the Seekers!" Commander Darrell shouted after realizing that it was Seekers who came in and probably had something cooking that could turn the battle. At least, that was what he was hoping for. The Hellguards ran around the blue shield and formed up to support it. The Morrians and Pentosarrs continued to come forward but they were met with heavy resistance, and since their leaders were all defeated, they lacked the tactical abilities to come up with any viable plans to penetrate the shields quickly.

Meanwhile Penance was chatting with Wilson, both laughing obnoxiously loudly, while the Seekers were quickly setting up their weapons, "So I tell him, Aren't you ABEL to do it?"

"Smashing point!" Wilson said as he shook his large head, "Oh Abel, you do know we are chatting about you, right? Just wanted to make sure. You know, you being ABLE to lead the tribe and all!"

"Able to lift?" The two burst into louder laughter, just as a Nuzleaf ran up and saluted. "Ready for mashes!"

"Well fling the potatoes then!" Penance snapped. The grass type gave a firm nod while several seekers around the three contraptions began to tinker with them. "We have positions! Firing when ready!"

"Shields go bye bye! Boom baba!" Penance crackled. The blue dome around the point lifted as one Seeker slapped the metal rod that had been sunken into the ground. With that, a large yellow orb flew into the sky. As it went higher and higher, the orb suddenly broke apart as several yellow fragments rained down over the various mon outside the walls. The ground shuddered violently, but the second device was soon tapped, as was the third.

All the while Penance kept his ears covered as he hummed softly to himself, "Oh, did I forget to say to cover your ears? Because you probably should! Well... you all can't hear me now can ya? Probably not. While I have the time... Abel you're a big fat meanie butt!" Penance burst into even louder laughter at that.

Abel, who was right beside the devices as they were being set up, also covered his ears at the loud banging sounds which emitted from them and the resulting damage they produced. He then watched the resulting damage the machines dealt with a measure and contained awe. These were similar in damage that Hyper Beam Cannons did in Valkaria, though they appeared to operate a bit differently. Either way, with the extra firepower being provided now, it appeared that the Hellguards were rallying around and holding on. They gathered around the devices to act as a defense for them, while simultaneously watching them tear the armies attacking apart. This was a huge boost for the Hellguards, but with the Morrians' no-retreat policy, they were going to be in for one long night.

Abel's face cringed as he received medical treatment from a Chansey for a deep gash across his brow. His body was on the verge of breaking down. Fighting within a week two times through an entire night would do that for you. But if the one in Fort Trantrea was challenging, the Battle of Brookerridge was on an entirely different level. As he looked around, he could tell that a lot of Hellguards were lost in the battle. However, thanks to Penance's Seeker reinforcements and the efforts by Cal and Raz on taking out the other leaders, a lot less damage was caused. Through the night, the Morrians were defeated first, though it took taking out their entire army for them to fall. Seeing that they were outmatched, the remaining forces from Pentos retreated.

As the rest also received treatment, Abel knew that any second, they would likely be getting ready to head out again. Time wasn't on their side anymore. And even if they won two battles now, they hadn't won the war which was coming. Commander Darrell and Lieutenant Trace seemed to be on the same mindset as he, walking over to the group.

"Looks like you guys all made it out," Trace stated with a weary grin. "I'm not sure we would have made it through all that without you guys or those Seekers. Way to come in the clutch."

"But now it's time to go," Darrell chimed in. "I know you'd all like to probably rest, but there's no telling when the next army will eventually come. We have to solve this Argime problem, and we have to do it now. I've talked it over with Trace, and he agreed to watch over the armies here in Brookerridge. In the meantime, I will accompany you to Argime, along with a few trinkets we've picked up off the battlefield," He explained, motioning to a suit of armor with the symbol in the center, and the same symbol brandished upon the head of a Morrian. "Are you ready to go to Argime?"

"Of course I'm ready," Snapped Razathiel, though for the moment he remained seated. "Rest is for the weak."

Callimer nodded and stood up, cracking some tight joints. "Let's go, I've got a frog I need to talk to."

Penance held up a finger, "Well.... if you reaaaally want to talk with that frog... I got an idea~" He said as he laid upon the ground, "A really good one at that. It'll take an hour, but I think it'll be tops."

"Oh? Tell me more, I've got so much I'd like to say to him."

Commander Darrell began to lead the group toward the Network Point. He looked back occasionally as he watched them whisper among each other about whatever they were planning. He decided not to interfere, figuring whatever Penance had cooked up would only harm Gabriel, whether in mind, body, or reputation. After finding out who he was and what he put him and his men through, he couldn't ask for anything more.

The group reached the Network Point, where the Psychics already began to prepare their send-off. Many Hellguards stood by the point to see them off, including Jerut, Andrea, and Trace. When the five of them were gathered together, Trace spoke.

"Looks like everything is set on this end," He began. "I'm not really sure what to tell ya to expect. None of us have heard anything about or from Argime in months. So the only thing I can tell you is to be careful," He paused for a second, then smiled. "That, and thank you. You guys didn't have to help and stay behind, but you did. The Hellguards honor their debts. You watched our backs, on more than one occasion, and we'll watch yours. Even if you don't get everything you came for here, whether its help finding Cresselia or the Queen's or the nobles' troops, when its time to take Gold City, we'll come help. You have our word."

Cal strode up to the commander and clasped their arms together. "It was good fighting alongside you Darrell, your soldiers are brave warriors and it was an honor to see so many 'mon who can still fight the odds left in this chaos." He turned to the other hellguards gathered there and offered them a salute. "I can't speak for everybody else, and I especially can't speak for Guardia, but I'll always consider you our allies. If everything ever seems hopeless...just remember that Rhypherior, and then imagine me doing that to Gabriel, should give you a boost."

The salute that Cal gave the Hellguard was returned by all of them present. Some also grinned at the mention of the Rhyperior.

"Give 'em hell!" One Hellguard shouted.

"Rip that stupid Greninja's tongue out!" Another yelled.

Darrell turned to the Psychics, who nodded at him. He sighed deeply, and closed his eyes. "After so long, time to return to the capital."

"Establishing connection with the Network in Argime..." The Meowstic among them said as he closed his eyes. As he did this, a smile form on his face. "Connection is weak, but there... sis," He said with a bit of a lump in his throat. "Network Established."

"Alright guys, let's get back to the others, we've been out of the loop for far too long. And I've got to make sure my big sis isn't getting herself into any trouble I can't dig her out of."

Abel stood beside the others, as strains of energy began to envelop the group. They watched Brookerridge depart around them, before they faded into nothing and disappeared from the forests of Tollen.

Snype and Popous- Prepaerations for the Banquet

Snype ended up taking a nap in his bed, seeing how he didn't have much else to do. While he was sleeping he attempted using Recover to speed up his own healing a bit. Along with the care Popous provided, Snype ended being healed right up in a couple of hours. Snype would eventually wake, slowly getting up from his bed. "Ughh... geez how long was I out for..." Snype wondered aloud. He searched around for Popous to see if he was still hanging around.


"A few hours," Popous answered as he walked back inside the room. "I was out trying to contact the people you mentioned. Everything seems to be in place for your move at the banquet."


Snype grinned. "Good. Guess all I have to do is show up and have everyone show what they have. More importantly though, we need to prevent the Queen from being killed or this whole plan will fall apart." Snype said, trying to get out of his bed. His muscles were a little stiff but he was back at his full strength by now. "How are things outside anyways? Are Royal Knights still hunting us down? I doubt those three Royal Knights I fought earlier are too happy after being knocked out. Kehe."


Popous crossed his arms as he walked over to the window and shrugged. "Not as bad as it could be, worse than I'd like it to be," He answered and frowned a bit. "The panic has died down some, mostly now its just people getting ready for the banquet. They're setting it up in the Royal Courtyard at the top of the hill, right outside the palace. As far as the Royal Knights go, they seemed to have mellowed down a bit. The standing army soldiers however are a different issue. General Tyren seems to be really ticked off. He's still having them parade up and down the houses to find you and the others. I'd have to say, even if this will sound bad, this actually might be a good thing."


Snype tilted his head. "Ya think so? Guess he won't have much luck if I'm not in any of those houses to begin with. Kehe. I picture the civilians aren't too happy about all of the ruckus. I'm sure I can use that to my advantage at the Banquet. Some extra support to take Gabe down and all." Snype hopped off the bed, slowly walking over to Popous to take a peek out the window. The streets were crowded with activity, as they usually are. Many seemed to be heading toward the top of the hill, where the banquet was to be held. But also present along the streets were many Knights and soldiers that patrolled the streets, keeping a weary eye.


"Exactly," Popous replied with a nod. "Public opinion is something you could definitely use. To convince the nobles won't be enough to break Gabriel's hold. But now that many 'mon don't view him as a complete saint, that could be big. Obviously he'll try to spin it off as important to catch the Brotherhood, and maybe possibly even blame it on General Tyren, but either way, he is no longer their all-holy Savior. At least, in the eyes of everyone."


Snype nodded. "Which ought to make things easier on my end. Just gotta make it without being spotted and all and make myself a proper "special guest". Kehehe... need to make my entrance flashy so everyone knows to have all eyes on me when I start throwing out evidence. Keheh." Snype said, sounding quite excited.


"So you're going to be the one that delivers the evidence?" Popous questioned with his arms still crossed. "Hmm."


Snype raised a brow at that, then started to think about it himself. "Ya know... being a wanted criminal and all, might not be the smartest move if I just showed up and said "Hey Gabe is bad!" Kehe." Snype said. He was starting to rethink his strategy. "The two pieces of evidence are extremely important... and I really don't trust anybody else to hold onto them to be perfectly honest. Especially the vial. That's just asking for trouble."


"I don't think it would be too bad if you held onto it," Popous responded. "But maybe you should consider letting someone a bit more... what's the word I'm looking for... official be the one to present it?" He asked. "Maybe those diplomats you came with you were talking about. I'd bet they'd fit the bill perfectly, right? They're going to be there anyways."


Snype nodded. "That's true. in that case, I can focus on keeping the queen alive. So what? Another sneaking mission into the castle to deliver the evidence to them? First two went well but I think three's gonna be stretching it. Kehe. Not that it'd be a problem or anything!" Snype joked.


Popous turned to the Sableye and grinned. "I don't down you can do it, but I'd recommend sitting out until the banquet. We don't want you to die before your big moment! From what I learned from the leader of the Brotherhood while I was out, they have ties with the leader of House Durania, Lord Arron. Eye has already dispatched a message to him which she delivered with all of the information. So they're up to speed. All you have to do is get to them in the banquet to hand deliver the information, or jump in. However you wanna do it. You've got two invitations, so the real trouble is getting the rest in. Which, I don't think would be too big of a deal for someone like you."


Snype grinned. "Dress me up to be all fancy like! I might be a little more "official" that way! Kehe" Snype said with a laugh. "Either way, Gabes gonna be getting alot of questions tonight. Looking forward to finally getting Tollen back into shape. But what about you? Plan on showing up as well?" Snype asked.


Popous nodded. "Oh, there's no way I'm missing this. I've been out the past few hours chatting up old soldiers buddies of mine. Looks like General Tyren and Commander Gabriel aren't as widely respected as you would think, even among their own ranks. I've rallied a few pools of soldiers to help out if things get too dicey. Besides, if the Queen's life is in danger, you'd better believe I'll be there. And I'm guessing I won't be the only one."


He leaned along the archway on the opening in the room and continued. "There was a lot of activity from the Network Point today. First, a Weavile got himself captured trying to sneak in and get a message away or something like that."


Snype jumped in shock. "Weavile... damnit Obsidian... I might have to go help him out too. Its the least I can do after all the trouble he went through to get that message out." Snype said, scratching his chin a bit. "Got any idea where they'd be keeping him by chance? Maybe I can try getting him out before or during the Banquet. A bit of a risky move but I can't just leave him there. Penance will have a real fit."


Popous shook his head. "No idea, and the way the current state of the city is, I'd advise against finding out where he's gone. If everything goes well after, maybe you can find him then. I doubt he would want you to ruin everything he helped built up by getting caught now," Popous explained. "Speaking of Penance... he's a Golduck right?"


Snype nodded. "Right. We actually have a third team on their way here... did they finally show up in Tollen? We may have to fill them in before they clash with the plan we have going down." Snype said.


"That was the other activity at the Network Point," Popous continued. "Not too long ago, Eye told me a few others arrived by the Psychic route: A Golduck, a Feraligatr, a Medicham, a Ralts, and a Dragonite."


"Yup that'd be them. The forest team. They'll have a pretty big role in all this as well." Snype stated. "If I weren't being tracked I'd send one of the Ninjask stationed here to fill them in on what's happening. I'm more worried about Penance though. After last time who knows if he'll roll along with my plan." Snype said with a shrug.


"Knowing the Madman by his reputation, I have a feeling he may have a plan of his own as well," Popous said with a shake of his head. "I saw the guy briefly the last time he was in town. I didn't meet with him personally, but I heard about a few of the things he did." Popous pointed to his head and tapped it a few times. "Something tells me he's got a few screws loose up here. Or maybe he just has a few extra ones tossing around in there. But I can probably get the Brotherhood to catch up with them so you can all meet up before the banquet. Or maybe to agree to meet at it."


"Whichever is more convenient. I'd like to get everything in place as soon as possible. With that said though, we should get to work on that soon. Wouldn't wanna be late eh?" Snype replied.


"Roger that," Popous responded. "I'll see if we can all meet up at the banquet. There's no way the Knights or soldiers can spot you guys among a crowd of thousands. We can all split off afterward there and into our positions."

Penance : There's no free lunches​

As the others were busy chatting among each other, healing the wounded, and doing all the unimportant stuff, Penance was busy getting the speeds rolled.

"Okay, everyone reveal their numbers!" The duck called out with a cheery grin. The many papers that Wilson had brought along were flipped over as the gathered Seekers held their numbers up high. "Hm... you two have it!" Penance cried out with a snicker as he pointed out to number twenty-six and thirteen. The Cinccino and Hawlucha strode forward, both with grins on their faces.

"The rest of you, lay here and just pelt away!" The duck crackled with laughter, "I need to just make two really quick orders. And I recognize you!" Penance pointed out to a Smeargle in the crowd, "Still have those penny hands?"

The painter gave a meek nod, "Yes Penance. It's why you assigned me to stay at the command center, isn't it?"

"Great! I need you to quickly look over this and make a new letter in its fashion! Have it be... oh, permission to enter the area, and that Gabe wanted to personally meet me this night at some surprise meeting. And add in a few flourishes if you will."

The Smeargle winked and grabbed the letter as he pulled out a piece of paper and began to write. "You two!" Penance pointed to his two Seekers, "Shall be my entourage! We are going to head in with style! Pure style! All the blazers!" He proclaimed. "And the legs will be delicious!"

"Right Penance." The Hawlucha said. "Anything else we should do while there?"

Penance's smirk grew along his bill, "Oh... I'm sure a little order would be appreciated. Hehe."

The duck whistled loudly as he waited for the Smeargle to finish, but once the letter was handed over Penance snatched it out from his hands and read it over quickly. "Good good! Sounds like him!" The duck burst into laughter. "You two can come along after us, just in case we are all mowed down when we first pop over. Wilson! You got our orders in?"

"They should be ready in a few minutes!" The Tropius called back.

"Great! Get the orders, then flash over to us! I'm sure Cal doesn't want to go hungry this day." He gave a firm nod, "In any case, we're ready to move out!" The duck looked at his Seekers, "Remember, the light is always burning out here!" As he made his way to the point with the others he couldn't help but smile more and more. It was going to be... fun.

Guardia, Thomas, Penance, Raz, Callimer, Kaveri, and Snype - The Banquet Commences

As night approached in the capital of Argime, practically the entire city raced toward the large, marble courtyard at the top of the hill, just outside the palace. This was where the banquet was to be held. Or rather, this is where the entire town would go to celebrate it. Stands were set up for food. Decorations were put up across the courtyard. Music was played, dancers began to dance. The entire city was practically there to see this wondrous event. Directly in front of the courtyard was the Royal Palace, and connecting the two was a large ramp the buildings of Tollen made out of sandstone, practically overnight. It made a path that took you from the end of the courtyard directly up to the Palace's large balcony that overlooked the courtyard, where only those who were privileged enough to sit would be allowed through, or those who were directly invited.

Guardia observed this area from the courtyard. She and the other diplomats had their passes to get through. But as she understood it, the rest of the groups were also gathered here in Argime, who would also somehow try to get through to that balcony area. It was a lifting feeling to have them all together in one place again, though she had yet to see them in person. They were supposed to meet here in the courtyard, but with the many thousands of 'mon around, it began to be difficult to spot anyone in particular.

"We'll find them," Thomas stated in a comforting tone, as he noticed Guardia looking around the courtyard worriedly.

Though, she didn't have a whole load of time to worry about that, instead she had a new worry as a very familiar voice spoke out.

"Well well, the big white coon! Or is it goon?" The Golduck tilted his head, "And you didn't bother to tell me you came! I guess you're cheery cheer friends with G man huh?" He huffed and looked down at his letter, "And I thought 'I' was special!"

"But you are! So special!" The Cinccino to his left reminded the Golduck

"Yes! The best!" The Hawlucha to his right echoed in enthusiasm.

"... Hm, I am!" The Golduck snickered and winked at Guardia, "So, how's the pies? I think frost will swirl the colors this day."

"Penance!" Guardia cried out in surprise. She couldn't quite explain it, but she had missed even his craziness this past week. "Are the others here too?"

"Others?" Penance blinked a bit, "Oh! Roger and Jace!" Penance said as he gestured to the two Seekers with him. "This is all the company I personally brought! Some others came in too... and apparently you wanted this hush hush!" The Golduck huffed and looked away, "At the very least you could have let me know a week ago! But nnnnnnoooo, had to make it all special and surprise."

Over the mad duck's shoulder Guardia's eye caught on something rather hard to miss. Meandering through the crowd in the courtyard as if looking for something was a sparkling mass of green, wing carefully bandaged in the middle. There was no mistaking it, the Emerald Sentinel was in Argime as well, though if he noticed Guardia and Penance in his searching he made no indication of it. Guardia smiled brightly at the sight of the Emerald Sentinel, though she knew better than to exchange words with him now. It looked like he had been through some kind of intense action, but she was happy he had made it through it in relatively one piece. She gave him a subtle nod and smile, hoping he would pick up on it. Guardia also noticed Abel somewhat beside him, trying his best to act casual despite his cold demeanor appearing as almost a scowl on his face.

"Where's Raz, though?" She questioned out loud. With the rest of the forest team looking rather weary, she wondered for a moment if the action in the forests was too much for the Ralts to handle. Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in her right foot where a staff had been slammed into one of her toes. "Oww!" She yelped and looked down beside her.

"I have been standing here for ten minutes," Razathiel snarled through gritted teeth.

"Oh... you have a garden gnome!" Penance cried out as he peered down at Raz, "Why didn't you tell me you bought one around here?"

The wizard sighed, "The fires of hell hath no fury like mine..."

Snype would search for the crowds himself, quickly spotting the familiar Golduck and Zangoose. His hood was over his head. He was still being hunted down by Royal Knights and all, just not at full force. He could blend with the thousands of other Pokemon crowding up the streets. Snype crept on forward and just to be the little sly bastard he was, he climbed right onto Guardia's shoulder rather casually. "So most of us are here then eh? Kehe" Snype said with that big old grin of his.

Guardia felt a familiar grasp along her shoulder and quickly brushed it off and began to look around. "Are you kidding me right now?!" She hissed at the Sableye. "Are you trying to get us caught?" She asked, before she shook her head and gave him a grin. "But good to see that you weren't caught yet."

Snype stuck out his tongue and quickly got off. " Kehe, don't worry so much. In all seriousness though, its been a long couple of days so far. How have things been for the rest of you?" Snype asked.

"Could have been worse," Guardia commented with a shrug. "But for the love of Arceus don't make me be part of diplomacy again while you guys get to do all of the fun stuff. It's unbearable." She shot a quick glance to Thomas who raised a brow at her. "As useful as it is!"

"Hm, where's my darkie if you know my meaning?" Penance asked Snype with a frown, "He around I suppose? He better not have slipped and slid."

Snype raised a brow. Well this little moment was bound to come sooner or later. Obsidian was still hanging out in Arceus knows where. Penance would probably flip if he was just told "Oh he was captured" and right now he didn't have time to deal with drama.

"Him and the other thieves are preparing to stop Gabe and his other lackeys at the Banquet. All while the evidence we've all found gets properly delivered and presented. In the mean time, we've called in a pal of ours from Gold City as well who should seal the deal on the situation here in Tollen. I really can't spend alot of time here since I've caused a bit of a scene myself yesterday. Kehe." Snype said with a smirk.

A clearing of the throat behind the gathering group alerted them of the presence of the old Royal Guard Chesnaught Alistair. "Good evening," He greeted them with a curt nod. "I hope all is well with you." He added as he looked around his surroundings and observed what was going on, before he reached into his emerald cloak and pulled out a set of documents. "I was told to deliver this to you. It was handed to me by Lord Arron of House Durania, who acquired it from an Espeon member of the... well an organization you are allied with, if you catch my meaning."

Snype took the documents and and looked down at them. He'd open them up to see the contents within them. It was the documents Obsidian had on him. That was it then. All of the evidence was in Snype's hands. All that was left was to figure out how he was going to present it. Or, who should present it.

"So what happens now?" Guardia questioned as she crossed her arms. "How do we present this? For that matter, who should do it? Do we do it together? Individually? Leave it to one or two to do it?"

"I am unsure as to the who," Thomas chimed in, his eyes trailing across the banquet floors of the courtyard to the balcony of the Queen. "But I can offer a when and where," He pointed to the balcony. "I recommend it be done from there, where all of Tollen can see. It would probably be best to do it when all of the dignitaries, including Gabriel arrive. But it also means the ones who do it would have to have some sort of access to that balcony, or find some way to get there."

There was a delighted - and awed - squeal from behind Guardia and then a blue Floatzel was circling about her, nose twitching eagerly as she stared - Kaveri, perhaps now a bit too into her Tollenian farce and now playing the part of a commoner meeting the leader of the Valkarian Gold Tribe for the very first time. She ended up right in front of the Zangoose, grin stretched across her muzzle. "Oh, oh, you're that Gold Valkarian fellow! Uh... uh... Guardian? Something... Uh... I'm Cass! A pleasure." She grasped Guardia's hand, clearly enjoying her show. "I was just on my way up to the balcony - the Savior gave me and my brother a direct pass, bless his soul! - when I saw you, and I just had to say hello!" Then Kaveri paused, making a show of looking around. "Speaking of, don't suppose you've seen my brother around anywhere? Big green fella, a Dragonite." If Penance and Tiny were here, that had to mean Cal would be there too.

A hand not quite matching the size of its host covered the Floatzel's shoulder, almost completely eclipsing it. "Sis, what are you doing? These important guests don't have time to waste pandering to commoners like us. Who knows what kind of important business they might have here?" Cal stepped forward so that he was next to Kav and pushed slightly on her head as if to silently scold her - an act he had plenty of practice at even if it was fake for once. "I'm so sorry she's just - well to be honest we're both so excited to be here. I mean...we've never been anywhere like this before, it's absolutely amazing. The savior's generosity still astounds me." He was glad that Guardia seemed to notice him in his searching earlier, otherwise he would have been terrified they might wonder what he was up to and not play along well enough.

It took Guardia a moment to understand Kaveri's ruse she put on with her brother. She blinked a few times in surprise before she nodded her head in understanding. Watching the two back together did give Lyn a warm feeling on the inside, and she expected they were also pretty happy to see each other, despite not exactly showing it to maintain their disguises. "Don't worry about it," Guardia replied with a grin. "So you guys have spots up in the balcony too? I'm going there myself with my group of guys as well. Looks like we'll be sitting next to each other then."

Kaveri bowed her head humbly, her tails twitching eagerly at her brother's voice. It took all of her effort not to just fling herself at him - and that wing! Geez, couldn't keep her eyes off him for a moment. But Cass would have seen her brother recently, so she instead just smiled cheerfully at Callimer. "Indeed! Saving your life and all. Very generous." Wouldn't do if that tidbit came up somewhere and Cal didn't realize his life was supposed to have been saved. It would be quite embarrassing; Kaveri would probably have to come up with some excuse about amnesia or something. Then she perked up as Guardia spoke, bright eyes going back to the Gold Tribe leader. "Oh, really? That's wonderful! I'm sure we'll have plenty to learn from one another."

"Well, that was just him being himself." Cal rubbed the back of his head in mock embarrassment. "I was talking about us being here, who'd have thought his generosity would lead him to give us a chance at something so extravagant? Frankly, I can't believe you didn't chase him off by hugging him or asking him to marry you or something like that." He stopped for a second, and then his eyes widened as if scared. "Wait? You didn't do any of that did you?"

Kaveri gave Cal her most innocent look, eyes wide. "Me? No, never! That would be just plain rude."

Snype snickered at the two. If she was going to keep the act then Snype just hanging around casually would give alot away. "Just do me a favor and pretend I'm not here. Kehe" Snype joked.

Guardia shook her head and couldn't help a grin as well as she watched the two siblings play their parts. However, her attention was suddenly drawn away as many 'mon in the courtyard suddenly began to murmur loudly toward the direction of the palace. Guardia turned there to see many of the nobles and other dignitaries begin to make their way there, including the Lord of House Ellia and Jenoscent, as well as many lesser nobles. Alistair cleared his throat, placed his hands behind his back and turned to leave. "I believe that is my cue to get into position as well. You should make your way there now, it appears as if everyone is gathering." He stated, before he turned and walked toward the balcony.

"Right," Guardia answered. "We'd better get up there. So? How should we do this?"

Snype crossed his arms and pondered for a moment. "I believe Arron should be the one to present our evidence. He's a more official figure so it would probably be a smart move. On top of that, he can mention the damage that General Tyren caused and easily get support from the public. As we do that, the evidence gets presented and we back it up with solid proof and other Pokemon who can support it. When we finally reveal the truth behind the assassination, I think that would be a proper time for "you know who" to reveal herself." Snype would whisper.

"Anyone else can focus on what they have to do... more importantly making sure the Queen isn't killed. That's the number one priority. Alright?" Snype said.

As the group chatted among each other they were soon alerted to the sounds of... an argument.

"Welllllll I have it right from here! Froggy paws aaaalllllll over it! So there!"

"Such disrespect!"

"Much wow!"

At the entrance to get up to the balcony Penance stood, angrily tapping one foot down, "And on top of that he invites the Tribe here before ME!? Such audacity!"

"Such doge!" The Hawlucha cried out in mock disgust.

"Too much wow!" The Cinccino harped on.

"And on top of that I have another letter here that I already acted on and, apparently, I'm not special enough to get onto the balcony?" The duck huffed and turned away, "Then maybe I SHOULD spill the beans if that's how he wants it, and I think you know what I mean." He said as he looked back at the Royal Knight.

"Oh sh*t," Guardia cursed as she proceeded toward the ramp. "Well, since he's started, might as well get up there." She made her way toward the balcony, looking over her surroundings to see who else was around. She spotted Alistair already up on the balcony. From her side vision, Abel had took his place within the crowd of the courtyard, trying to get closer to the balcony. She saw Commander Darrell and General Isabella within the crowd, hidden by hoods. She noticed Alex also present, waiting for his moment. Popous seemed to be gathering with many other Pokemon around as close to the balcony as they can get. She observed Pieter make his way through the crowd and onto the balcony as well, having a pass of his own.

Snype gave Guardia's back a good poke and held out the evidence to her. "Pass these to Arron. I can't risk getting this close to Gabe just yet. I'll find my way around. If I can break into gabes room I can get up on a silly balcony with no problem. Kehe" Snype said with a confident grin. "I'll see ya in a bit. Keep an eye on the Royal Knights and the Queen. I'm sure the citizens here would love to know why their homes were lit on fire yesterday... keheh... just a way to start the party off eh?" Snype said as he placed his hood over his head and faded into the crowd.

Guardia, Thomas, Joshua and Anna walked past Penance and his two Seekers, with Guardia pretending not to have known him at all. She flashed her tickets to the two Royal Knights guarding the entrance to the balcony, a Sawk and Throh, and they politely let them through with a nod of their head. She noticed Lord Arron from her side vision and quickly whispered something to him.

The Sawk Royal Knight continued at Penance. "I don't know what you're talking about, but no ticket, no entrance," He stated. "Those are the rules. Watch the events unfold below with the rest of Tollen in the courtyard."

"DO YOU MIND!" Penance snapped, "Fine, I didn't want to do this. I mean, tongues are fine all the way, but when you combine armor and caves? I just tend to get flustered."

"So hate!" The Cinccino cried out in mock despair.

"Fine. I guess if Gabe doesn't want our talk and potential alliance to take place, then I'm sure you'll be eager to just indulge in letting Gabby know that I couldn't come because you were here, blocking me." He began to walk away, "Let's go Seekers. Whistles, bells, and wow all in one! Time to sprinkle the shreds upon uptown!"

Kaveri followed along behind the diplomatic group, stopping by the Royal Knights with Cal to carefully make sure they saw her invite before continuing through, one paw clinging to her brother's arm. The Sawk Royal Guard scanned over the invitation, and looked over both Cal and Kav before gesturing them past politely. He began to watch the Golduck and his Seekers walk away, when a sudden arm clasped the Sawk's shoulder.

The Banquet

"Hang on, is that Penance over there?!" Came the voice of Gabriel behind the Sawk. He clasped his hands eagerly. "I've been waiting for you all day!" He stated excitedly, before gesturing him forward to him. "Come on, you can join us up here!"

Guardia and Thomas exchanged looks with one another as she watched the Greninja, with the Escavalier General Marcus Tyren by his side, arrive and quickly invite Penance, of all people, to the top with them. She wondered what his aim here was. As the thousands of 'mon below noticed the arrival of the Royal Commander, clad in his full Royal Knight emerald armor, complete with a similarly colored cloak and a strange symbol on the back of it, they erupted in a thunderous cheer. Gabriel waved to the crowd eagerly, before he continued to motion for Penance to come up the balcony with him.

Penance huffed and more or less pushed the Sawk to the side as his two Seekers quickly made their way along with him. "You know, when I got your message I had to wonder... would we be getting cheese?" He frowned, "I do want a good answer because cheese is the best." He glanced down at the crowd, "Hmph." he snorted, "I see how it is. Just like them." He shook his head, "I despise cheers."

"You can have whatever you like on the menu," Gabriel replied back, as he continued to wave to the crowd. He then turned to the balcony and nodded and waved at various 'mon. "Lord Ellia, good to see ya! Lord Jenoscent, your dad doing OK?" He asked.

"Uh... well he's still recovering..."

"And a speedy recovery we wish upon him!" Gabriel answered quickly, almost cutting the young Glaceon off. He continued on, acknowledging the host of other nobles. His attention turned to Kaveri and Callimer. "Hey, good to see you made it! This must be your brother too. I hope you enjoy yourselves!"

"I-ohmygoodnessitsyou." Cal stepped closer to Gabriel as if in awe and held out his hand. "Sir I'm so glad to have the chance to thank you personally for everything you do for us...and for saving me back then. I know you probably save 'mon all the time so it seems like nothing, but I'm eternally in your debt." His tone was utterly reverent, but all he could think of was crushing Gabriel's hand the second it was in his grasp. It took all of his willpower not to snap on the "savior" there and then, to make him pay for every single mistake or bad deed he'd ever committed.

"It's no problem big guy," Gabriel replied happily as he grabbed Cal's hand and shook it firmly. "Your sister was such a doll, I had to invite her here! Feel free to order anything you like, and bring back as much food as you want home with you." He added with a wink.

"Ahem!" Penance said rather loudly as he looked at Gabe, "Uh, could we chat for a moment? I know you asked for the 'you know what' and you also gave 'those words' as to not 'do that thing'." He gave a firm nod. "Of course you probably want to know now instead of waiting for the smell, right?"

Gabriel let go of Callimer's hand and glanced over at Penance. He stared blankly at him for a moment, before he walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "We'll chat after, alright?" He asked, and leaned in closer to the duck. "Save your energy for now, you especially are going to need it... Paradox."

Penance's grin grew, "Aye, and your friends might not just make it time from that little cave." He replied. "So maybe a chat is best?"

Gabriel titled his head and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?" He questioned bewilderingly. He seemed to not have expected the comment from Penance. "Full of surprises, aren't you? This might be a bit more interesting than I thought..." He pondered for a moment, then shrugged. "Later." He answered Penance, then turned away again. "For now, I have royalty to announce."

The Greninja winked and turned from Penance, this time turning to the roaring crowd below. "Citizens of Tollen!" He yelled, which drew another loud eruption of cheering simultaneously. "It is my pleasure to present to you, the Queen Aleena of Tollen!"

The announcement drew even louder cheers than before, and from the doorway from the palace emerged half a dozen Royal Knights walking forward. They entered the balcony and took up position in a formation close around the large seat there, reserved for the Queen. A moment later, Deputy Commander Elewyn emerged, with the Queen of Tollen behind her. She seemed weak, somewhat frail, as she usually did nowadays. Gabriel walked over momentarily to provide her an arm to her seat. However, he was surprised to see the Mr. Mime, Rupert, already doing that. Gabriel cocked an eyebrow and watched the Mr. Mime for a moment, before he gave a polite bow to the Queen. The Florges Queen returned a smile to the Greninja.

"We gather here today for many reasons," Gabriel explained to the gathered crowd. "First and foremost, we gather to honor our late King Sofon, who on this day passed away many months ago! He is gone from our lives, but not from our hearts!" The crowd gave a very sympathetic cheer following that announcement. "But we also come not just to remember those who have died, but to celebrate life! We are a nation rebuilt, and despite our trials and tribulations, I intend to restore us to our glory!" Once more, the 'mon were erupting in cheers from Gabriel's words. Guardia felt disgusted. They were eating up everything he was saying like Mareep. She quickly remembered Anna was sitting beside her, and was thankful she didn't say those words out loud.

"With myself, and the others by my side, I will help our Queen accomplish this!" Gabriel exclaimed. "You have my word as a Greninja, as a Tollenian, and as your Royal Commander!" Once more, loud cheers followed the Greninja's words. Guardia tried her best to contain her annoyance with Gabriel. She had half a mind to walk over there, rip out his tongue, and wear it like a belt. "Now I know we have many who would like to share words on this joyous occasion, a toast perhaps," Gabriel stated, as he walked to his seat, which was on the left side of the dining table not very near the Queen. Instead, other lesser nobles sat beside her in awe, with Royal Knights positioned behind them. "Would any like to speak now?"

The Slowking Marrow of House Ellia proceeded to stand, but unexpectedly, Lord Arron of House Durania stood before him. Marrow eyed the Herdier suspiciously, and many other nobles along the balcony whispered among themselves. Arron was not typically a 'mon who gave the ceremonial first speeches before banquets. In fact, he rarely spoke during such occasions, as he considered it a waste of time. Even Gabriel sat forward in his chair. Arron strutted toward the front of the balcony, with a few scrolls and parchments attached along his back, and spoke.

"My Queen," He began, giving Queen Aleena a curt bow. "Commander Gabriel, General Tyren, lord and ladies. Citizens of Tollen," He continued, giving each of them a short stare before moving on to the next one. "A tragedy has occurred among us in Argime. A tragedy with roots deep within our government. It is unfortunate that we discuss such an abhorrent situation here and now, of all places, but if we do not, our country will be destroyed."

Murmuring began to be heard all across the banquet floor, as 'mon looked at each other with bewildered and anxious faces. Gabriel leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Oh, we're starting with that, eh?" He questioned, before he waved one of the Royal Knights over and whispered something into his ear.

Snype caught notice of Gabe's suspicious behavior. He'd keep a good eye on that Royal Knight just in case. The Royal Knight departed the balcony and into the palace, along with two other Royal Knights.

"I realize everyone is in a good mood now, but we of Tollen deserve an answer for recent crimes of the military forces against the average citizen," Lord Arron continued. "Last night, soldiers of the standing army and members of the Royal Knights stormed our beautiful city. They burned buildings to the ground, beat ordinary citizens, and ransacked our homes!" He exclaimed. Many on the grounds began to murmur, with a few 'mon cheering or nodding in agreement. "I think it fair to have the illustrious duo, the Royal Commander and the General, justify these actions."

"This is hardly the time or place, Arron!" General Tyren shouted in his metallic voice. "Your disgraceful accusations are the true abhorrence! How dare you say such things in the presence of the Queen?"

Lord Arron tilted his head to the side and replied. "Tell me, General, have I ever struck you as a 'mon who cared for ceremony or tradition?"

"You've gone too far this time, Lord Arron!" Lord Marrow spat angrily. He turned to the Queen of Tollen. "My Queen, I implore you to remove this trash from our ceremony immediately! His vile words are infecting the life of this joyous occasion!"

The young Queen fidgeted and hesitated. "What? I... uhm..."

"My Queen, what I am about to present before your majesty and to all of Argime cannot wait until another occasion. This is a matter of our continued existence. I speak as a representative and ally of our Valkarian guests." Groans and exclaims of shock could be heard from within the balcony and the crowd below.

Snype whispered slightly within the crowd, keeping his hood over his head. "Lord Arron is speaking huh? Why would the Royal Knights break into our homes like that... my friend was pummeled by them yesterday..." Snype mummered, trying to stray from his normal voice to sound like an innocent bystander. It was only a whisper though. Something to get the crowd to stirring up. Some of the other citizens in the crowd seemed to agree with the whispers, many of them beginning to think along the same lines. Some shouted out, demanding answers.

Raz poked Guardia in the side of the leg. "You seem popular," he said.

Guardia looked down at Raz and nodded in agreement. However, she quickly did a double-take, nearly spitting out her drink in the process. "How the hell did you get up here?!" She whispered loudly to the Ralts beside her.

The wizard grimaced, "I'm a master of disguise. You learn these things when you're a magnificent practitioner of the arcane arts, you know."

Guardia shook her head in disbelief and returned her attention to the Queen and the Lord arguing beside her. The Queen seemed conflicted, hesitant on what to do. She looked to Gabriel, hoping he would have the answer. Gabriel gave her a small shake of the head. "Uhm... I... the Royal Commander believes it not to be best to speaking of this now, but... "

"Of course he wouldn't want to discuss it," Lord Arron responded. "He is at the helm of this conspiracy. A conspiracy with far-reaching goals, some of which involve the deaths of people here!" Again, many more continued to murmur within the courtyard, and some shouted in surprise.

"Why should we believe anything of what you say, Lord Arron?" Lord Marrow questioned angrily. "You are representing the Gold Tribe of all factions! Valkarian filth!"

Razathiel poked Guardia again, though he didn't say anything this time. Instead, when she looked down, she saw nothing but a faint grin beneath his wizard cap. The Ralts snickered quietly, just loud enough so that she could hear. Guardia glared down at Raz for a moment, before she once more turned to the dignitaries of Tollen.

The Queen coughed quietly, and raised a hand for the lords to quiet down. Immediately, members of the court began to silence themselves, and the ones who didn't did so following the booming, raspy voice of the old Royal Knight Alistair. "SILENCE! The Queen wishes to speak!"

A mesmerizing quiet overtook the scene, with the Queen figuring out what she would say. "I... I have not heard anything about what happened last night... I want to hear what Lord Arron has to say." She mumbled.

"Ah, my Queen..." Lord Marrow began to protest, but quickly shut himself up.

"Thank you, your Highness," Lord Arron replied with another curt bow. He reached for one scroll on his back and presented it forward to the rest of the nobles. "In my paw here is a scroll which could help alleviate some of your concerns, Lord Marrow of Ellia," He explained. "This is a memoir written by King Reylas Narron, over a hundred years ago. I would very much like the court to take a look at it."

"And how exactly can we verify that it is indeed the handwriting of that King, Arron?" Lord Marrow spat. There was a silence that overtook the balcony, before an unexpected voice spoke up.

"Uhm, pardon me sires," Rupert the Mr. Mime chimed in. "I happen to be versed in the handwriting of the Kings and Queens of old, and the seals of our rulers. If you would allow me to examine the document, I can confirm it's authenticity."

Snype grinned. Even though it was an unintentional encounter earlier, Rupert could make this whole "evidence" thing much easier. A bit of a secret weapon on Snype's part.

"That will be fair, do you agree with that?" Lord Arron asked Lord Marrow and the rest of the court. Arron's eyes scanned the balcony, including the bewildered face of the Queen and the confused faces of the other nobles. General Tyren angrily glared at Arron, while Gabriel seemed somewhat surprised, but also curious.

"I... yes that is fair," Lord Marrow commented. Lord Arron presented the document to Rupert, who examined it further. He observed it carefully, checking the quality of the paper and the writing itself, as well as the seal etched onto it. After careful examination, Rupert looked up to the lords and nodded.

"This is indeed a true document written by our late King of old," He stated with a nod. "The memoir is valid." Following this, the document was handed to Marrow, who proceeded to read it curiously. His expression was one of anger at first. However, the longer he read, his expression began to change into one of bewilderment, then complete shock. As he concluded reading it, he passed the document along to the next noble, who also began to read in the same expression.

"While the nobles read that document, I would like to share with the people of Tollen exactly what it says!" Arron exclaimed back down to the courtyard below. "The document is a brief summary of the events that took place in the land of Argos, over a hundred years ago. Many of you are familiar to some degree of the tale. Our noble King Reylas fell ill to an unknown illness. To help fight it, we sent some of our best Royal Knights to participate in the Dark Tournament in order to fight for the Ultimate Power, something that was said to grant the user whatever they wished. Most 'mon know the story as the Gold Tribe winning the tournament and taking the power for themselves. I am here to tell you that this isn't true!"

Lord Arron continued to explain to the crowd and the nobles the true story of the Dark Tournament, from the events that transpired there. Many 'mon listened eagerly, some in shock as they heard the true tale. General Tyren continued to fume. He appeared as if he were on the edge of snapping and attacking. Gabriel sat with crossed legs and crossed arms, somewhat disappointed, but also relatively composed. As Guardia watched each face of the noblility change when they read the memoir, she knew that the first step of evidence was crucial in establishing a better rapport with them.

"This... this is... such a thing..." Lord Marrow seemed lost for words. He turned his head to Guardia and Joshua for only a brief moment, unable to look them in the eyes. "Oh, how foolish I have been..."

"So you see, my lords and ladies, my Queen and Commanders," Lord Arron continued. "People of Tollen, you see that the fact remains that the Gold Tribe did not cause the King to die. In fact, they may have saved our nation instead, as we ended up not succumbing to the effects of those dangerous jewels, the crystals."

"I can see the logic of that," Lord Marrow answered with a nod. "And I do... I do agree, but I still do not understand what it has to do with what you are talking about now."

"Yes, this has nothing to do with anything at all," Tyren spat. "So they aren't as bad as they seem, is that it then?"

"On the contrary, this was merely to establish their credibility to the court," Arron explained. "You would agree that their case seems a bit more presentable now, am I right?" He questioned. "The true tragedy are two 'mon who would see Tollen burn to the ground, in order to satisfy their own ambitious and fiendish desires. Two 'mon whom we have placed our trust in, only to have them take it and corrupt our country. Let me present to you, the two 'mon who would destroy our country from the inside out..." Arron pointed to both Gabriel and Marcus. "General Marcus Tyren and our beloved Savior, Royal Commander Gabriel!"

Snype continued to move through the crowd to get himself a better position to watch the Balcony. He couldn't pursue the Royal Knight that went inside but no doubt Gabe had some kind of plan for when things went south. He kept in position, not wanting to interrupt the current evidence being presented. He would survey his surroundings though to make sure nothing was off. The crowd meanwhile uttered a series of gasps of shocks and loud muttering and murmuring. Many couldn't believe what they were hearing.

The Herdier Arron walked forward and motioned for someone in the crowd below to come forward. "If you would please, allow the associate of mine to pass forward. I have additional evidence to show." With that a familiar Gardevoir made his way up, smirking as he held a document in his hands, "Hey, what's up peeps?" He asked as he tipped his hat. "So then, some pictures, right?" He asked the Herdier as he held out an envelope. "Our evidence is some photos from the past."

Lord Arron nodded to the Gardevoir and took the envelope. He then handed the pictures to the other nobles and the Queen for them to see. "Please take a look at these photos from my associate, Alex," He explained. "Do they seem familiar to you at all?"

Deputy Commander Elewyn, as she looked through the photographs of the deep purple eyes and cracked skin of the 'mon inside, nodded her head. "It... it looks somewhat like the plague that befell Tollen. These are pictures from the Reckoning."

"Indeed," Lord Arron continued, looking on to the many 'mon watching silently from the courtyard. He flung a few of the images down below for them to see. The 'mon then grabbed for it and passed the images around the crowds. Lord Arron could see the reactions of pain and dismay on many of the faces as they recall those dreadful times. "Would everyone agree here that these images are of the plagued victims?"

The nobles, and many of the citizens below stated "yes" or nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, then it may come as a shock to you to learn that these are not illustrations of that dreadful time. Alex, would you care to share where these pictures are from?"

Alex nodded, "They were from a time ago... back in Valkaria. They were called Sentinels in our time... those who were brainwashed by Darkrai and infused with his powers so that they could wreck havoc on our cities." He explained. The answer garnered many gasps from the crowd, and looks of fear from the 'mon at the banquet.

"Are you... what are you suggesting?" Lord Marrow asked. "If the pictures are the same, if the markings of those affected by the plague and those brainwashed by... if they are the same, then does that mean...?"

"Yes." Alex answered, "The plague was not a plague... Darkrai was seeing who among your kind was strong enough to be infused with his power." He crossed his arms, "With the Gold Tribe he infected none died, because they were all powerful enough in will to support his power. Citizens however... that is when he had to send his power to everyone. To see who he could make into his loyal sentinels."

The Queen looked horrified. She clasped a hand to her mouth in shock. The other nobles looked just as petrified, unable to comprehend what was going on.

"And what, pray tell, does that have to do with us?" General Tyren demanded in his metallic voice.

"We have the answer to that," Annabelle answered, her voice stronger than it had been when she first encountered Gabriel and their opposition. "And we will present the evidence to you now." Anna walked onto the balcony. Snype took the more scenic route and climbed right on up to the balcony. "Kehehe, evenin folks." Snype said as he removed his hood. A few gasps of shock emerged from the area as they saw the King of Thieves before them. Snype turned toward Commander Tyren with the smuggest smirk he could possibly muster and even gave Gabe a small wave. Tyren returned an angry, fiery glare, but Gabriel surprisingly returned the wave.

A small, almost nervous smile appeared on her face at the sight of her partner climbing onto the balcony. When she turned to the Queen, it disappeared. "Your Majesty," she said with a bow before beginning her speech. "This note," Anna paused to allow Snype to display the piece of evidence, "was found with an intricate code inscribed on it. The code consisted of the numbers zero through nine and once decoded revealed this message." At once Annabelle began to recite the short message verbatim, a decoded replica available to be passed amongst the nobles. Her voice was strong and sure, unlike the softer, almost hesitant way she spoke in most conversation. It was as though another Mareep, a doppelganger of sorts, stood in her place. Any suspicions, however, were quelled when she arrived at the end of the letter and hesitated.

"G-Grow a pair." She blushed. "Hail Darkrai." Trying to quickly hide her embarrassment, she gestured for Snype to begin.

After hearing the coded message, Marcus Tyren glared at Gabriel's direction and mouthed 'how' to him inquisitively. Gabriel merely gave Tyren a perplexed shrug, but remained silent. All around, however, the crowd of Pokemon in the courtyard and on the balcony were disturbed beyond below by the bombshell of news being delivered about their 'savior'. Some however chuckled at the last bit which mentioned 'grow a pair'.

Snype stood on top of the Balcony. Right in front of where Gabe and the many other important figures were. He was feeling rather bold. "Kehehe, this confirms that Gabe is in contact with an outside source. Starts to bring questions if Gabe was originally from Tollen hm? But this is where we really bring everything to light." Snype said with a wide grin. In the back of his mind, he was concerned about what Gabe had planned. Those three Royal Knights who moved inside had something prepared. He needed to be ready for anything at this point.

"I'm sure you all remember the assassination attempt on our Queen here, supposedly all planned out by Isabella, the previous general of the standing army who was properly executed for her treason against the country. Kehehe..." Snype said as he pulled out a letter.

"This is a letter written by Pieter to a 'special someone'. Kehehe... the letter is as follows.

It pains my heart to see you walking through the dark. I promised Gabriel that I would not reveal anything, but to see you stumbling has my insides in a knot! I feel ashamed! Ashamed for my role in the assassination attempt of the Queen! It was I who left the doors unlocked and unguarded in her chambers, thanks to my influence in the courts. It was I who helped frame the noble Isabella as the one who tried to assassinate the Queen! I wish so many times to tell you about this, about Gabriel and Darkrai and everything, but I cannot! The price of eternity is too great! And I secretly fear what would become of me should I betray them now. Fear not! For I will protect you from harm, should it come to that!

Snype intentionally left out Elywyns name. It was his way to at least thank Pieter for cooperating this far ahead. That detail wasn't important either way. "I'm sure Pieter can support my statement... correct?" Snype said, looking over to the Munchlax.

The Munchlax barely lifted his eyes from the floor out of the anxiety he felt of divulging his secrets for all of Argime to read. He did, however, nod his head. His eyes caught sight of Gabriel, who looked at him with a somewhat disappointed expression.

"Aww Pieter, you too?" Gabriel sulked in his chair and shook his head. The crowd seemed as if it were about to go into a frenzy.

"L-lord Gabriel, how could you...?" Queen Aleena asked, almost on the verge of tears, it seemed. She coughed lightly, lifting a frail hand to her mouth to cover it.

"This is utter nonsense!" General Tyren stated. "We are supposed to trust the words of him? He is the King of Thieves! It was likely he who attempted to assassinate the Queen, along with his band of miscreants! Look at who speaks for them!" Tyren exclaimed harshly. "A lowly worker of the SEC and a thief, of all professions! Can we really call this credible?!"

Snype turned around to Tyren. "Then perhaps I should bring in a more credible figure. Someone who has witnessed everything first hand. So how bout it Isabella? See any reason to hide anymore now that we're telling the full story?" Snype called out.

"None," Called out Isabella from the middle of the crowd in the courtyard. She removed her hood to reveal her identity. Many gasps and cries of shock came around her as 'mon moved out of her way. General Tyren looked below and stared angrily into Isabella's eyes, but Isabella did not avert her gaze. Gabriel also leaned forward in his seat at the sudden surprise appearance. "These two are the real traitors of Tollen, not I! When I suddenly got suspicious of Gabriel's decisions regarding how we dealt with our Royal Knights and Hellguards, I knew something was amiss. Then he concocted an assassination attempt on the Queen, and pinned the blame on me!"

"They also speak with my backing," The old, raspy voice of Alistair the Royal Knight rung out from the balcony. "Marcus Tyren has attempted assassination before, and the two planned on doing it again! He was attached to the honor guard of the late Prince Narron two years ago, who died tragically in a hunting accident! His wounds were grave, but Tyren delivered the killing blow, a poison meant to finish the job!" He exclaimed, and gestured to Snype.

"The Poison, looked a little something like this!" Snype said as he reached into his bag and pulled out a dark vial, properly wrapped in a cloth. "This is the very poison used to kill Prince Narron and I'd assume this isn't the only one they have in their possession. What was supposed to be a cure to a spreading illness, was the nail on the coffin for our prince. I wouldn't be surprised if Gabe didn't plan on using this same method to kill another important figure here today... all in the hopes of becoming the king himself!" Snype stated

"My brother? You killed my brother... General Tyren..." The Queen buried her hands into her face and began to sob. The nobles around her consoled her, while others wore outraged expressions. Many in the crowd were also angry, while others seemed distraught or very upset. It was a swing of emotions that seemed about ready to boil over.

"Uuuuummmmm. This is all fine and dandy..." Penance began, "But dear Gabe couldn't have done that! Well... he did, but hey, can't blame the guy for pulling the wool." He leaned on back, "Honestly, I'm very very very very very very very very..." He took in a deep breath. "Very very very very very very very very very very very disappointed. I thought you would have more of a following. I think you sort of do, given that those Royal Knights haven't once stepped forward to arrest you yet. But given our little entourage of truthy wruthies, I'm guessing that metal bag over there doesn't know the plan, but you do." He gave a firm nod, "Which is admirable in a way. With his emotional reactions, I would drop him too. But my Seekers right now are diverting your armies that tried to invade into the swiss. So... I really want to know."

His grin grew, "How many fireworks are going to go off tonight? Cause I'm looking for a party. It's why I came here after all. Judging by your chair, I think you have enough pull to have quite a bit of fireworks." He held up one of the legs he had been snacking on, "Leg? I mean, it might be cannibalism in a way, but hey, you're already down a road less traveled. Indulge a bit I say." He chewed a bit on the other leg, "Honestly, we should have a duel. Maybe atop a steeple? Or in a boat?"

"Or in a raft!" The Hawlucha cried out.

"Or in the pan!" The Cinccino squeaked out.

Penance paused a moment, "So... query me this my fine frog fellow. Why have lesser men do your deeds and leave them to dry when you're still wet behind the ears? Having your Morrians and Pentosaurrs attack and try to conquer is fine enough, but having my Seekers punt is far better. You have lost Tollen, and your armies have lost. I suggest you take a vacation elsewhere."

General Tyren glared angrily at the Golduck who began to spew about what should and should not be done. He had not been this enraged in a while, and was prepared to counter back, but Gabriel suddenly spoke instead.

"Well, looks like they got us," He stated with a shrug. General Tyren immediately turned his head to the Greninja, and looked at him quizzically. Gabriel looked at Marcus and shrugged again. "What? I didn't expect them to gather up this much evidence. Look around you. We don't have public opinion on our side anymore."

"You bumbling fool!" Marcus hissed back. "Silence yourself!"

"How about a congratulatory drink, gentle'mon of Tollen?" Gabriel asked the rest of the nobles and dignitaries on top, along with the Valkarians. He held up a cup and looked at the Queen. "Shall we, milady? A quick toast to your good health and I'll turn myself in?"

Snype gritted his teeth. This was it! Gabe was going to kill her with that drink. Snype wasn't about to let that happen though. "After all I just said, you'd really take a drink from that frog?" Snype simply stated. He had a backup plan in case something went down. He clenched his fist, ready to act immediately just incase.

"I wasn't really asking," Gabriel commented back, and motioned with his arms. Instantly, the Arcanine Royal Knight behind one of the nobles, and the Sawk on the other side reacted, going for the Queen. However, Alistair and Elewyn were quick to intercept them before they reached the Queen. Gabriel stood up and motioned with his hands however, and the cup of water in front of the Queen was flung forward and spilled all over the Florges' face.

"No!" Deputy Commander Elewyn screamed as she tried to move past the Arcanine in front of him.

"Long live the King," Gabriel stated with a mischievous smile barely able to be seen behind his tongue-scarf. Alistair barely managed to push past the Sawk Royal Knight with a mighty fist, and reached the Queen.

"My Queen! My Queen!" He yelled desperately.

"I... I think I'm alright," Queen Aleena said, as she wiped away the drink from her face.

Gabriel stopped grinning and turned to the Queen. "Eh?" He tilted his head in confusion. "What... that's not supposed to happen..."

Another voice piped in booming louder than it had in his previous moments of speaking. "I suppose," Rupert the Mr. Mime beamed with a very large grin on his face. "It was good that I switched the Royal Highness' cup before the banquet as a precaution, am I right?"

Snype smiled at the results and laughed rather maniacly. "Haha..haha... AHAHAHAHAHA! So much for THAT backup plan eh? How do ya like mine?! Long live the king sucker!" Snype pointed out triumphantly. He turned to Rupert and grinned at him. "Your friendly neighborhood "demon" gives his gratitude. Kehehe." Snype said. Rupert replied with a sheepish grin and a nod, though also a surprise of the revelation of the 'demon'.

Kaveri had been all set and ready to leap from her seat the moment Gabe had started moving, but she relaxed when nothing happened. Leaning forward in her seat, she rested chin on her paws. "Looks like Tollen's got a new Savior, eh?" she said with a wink towards Rupert, then turned to Gabriel with a wiggle of her brows. "Should've taken that marriage proposal while you could, sweet'ums. Who knows, maybe being the husband of a Triber would've eased things up?" she chortled.

Cal stepped closer towards Gabriel, ignoring his feeling that something was still missing for the moment. He'd thought something was off ever since he shook Gabriel's hand, but now he bore down on him menacingly. "And allow me to show you my gratitude for saving my life 'Gabe'." Cal held up his hand and without any delay a frog leg fell into it as had been discussed. He went through the trouble to snap the leg at the knee before biting right through its shin as he walked towards the 'savior'.

"You know... I'm just a bit eager to see it." Penance said as he nibbled on his own frog leg. "I mean, you knew this would happen, so I'm sort of... keen. How much armor will fall this day as everyone around you dies? It's a lost cause, you know it, they know it, and we know it. So... just wondering... how many will slither off and how many will bend back?" He dropped his leg and let out a burp, "You did orchestrate the dance correctly I feel, so might as well dance."

"A Triber?" Gabriel repeated Kaveri's words. He placed a palm on his head. "You're kidding. Dang, you're with the Gold Tribe?" He asked, then looked at Callimer. "And that means you t- hey, uh, what are you eating there? Oooh... that's cold."

The Greninja crossed his arms and shook his head. "Looks like my options are running out here... but it's not the end just yet! I do have one more trick up my sleeve. And it all depended actually... on you showing up!" He exclaimed, pointing at Penance. "Tell me, as crazy as you are, do you still hold a spot in your heart for your dear Weavile? I propose an exchange... one life for another. You let me walk free, and I'll let Obsidian go too!"

Snype figured he'd pull this card out. Unfortunately for Gabe, Obsidian was alot more clever then he gave credit for. He wasn't phased.

"Hey Penance." A familar voice said as a Weavile suddenly jumped down from a nearby ledge of the castle and landed next to him. "I had a bit of indigestion earlier." He looked at Gabe with a weak smile, "Uh... sorry about your room. Who knew that the gruel would just... come up like that?" He shrugged weakly, "Oh, uh... can you let your knights know I'm sorry too? For doing that and all? Honestly, my stomach can be pretty weak."

Penance tilted his head at Gabe, "You were saying? Sorry, that you got interrupted. Please, continue."

"... right," Gabriel muttered out. He sulked his head in defeat and shook it. All around, across the courtyard and the balcony, the Pokemon of Tollen gave the two 'mon intensely angry looks. Many began calling for their heads, their lives, their freedom. Many called for them to be immediately imprisoned. Then, the Greninja brought it up and glanced at his Escavalier companion. "Welp, I'm out of ideas."

"It seems no other option lies before us, then," The General of the Standing Army replied back.

"Shall we?" Gabriel asked his companion, as he cracked his neck to the left and then right, and then proceeded to do the same with his knuckles. Marcus Tyren extended his lance-arm into the air and let the sunlight shine gloriously along it, then swiped the ground below him in single stroke to demonstrate its strength.

"Let's," Tyren replied, ready for a fight. However, Gabriel suddenly swiped his hands, and up came the Sawk and Arcanine that were by the Queen earlier. The Sawk and Arcanine subdued Alistair, holding him back and firing off a combination Focus-Fire Blast at him, which forced him back away from the seat of the Queen. From above, a Hitmonlee, Rhyperior, and Victreebell came forward to force back Elewyn with their own attacks. Persian, Rapidash, and Venasaur Royal Knights fired off across the balcony at the others patrons and nobles, while Gabriel moved swiftly across with a Quick Attack toward the Queen, grabbing her by her waist.

"What are you doing?!" Tyren demanded, as he turned and fired off an Energy Ball toward the others as well.

"I don't really want to fight now so," Gabriel replied, bringing the Queen right beside her and putting a hand to her neck. The Queen shrieked in terror. "Alright guys, this is how it's going to be! Nobody move, nobody follows us! We're taking the Queen here and making our way out of Argime. If you follow, she dies!"

"This wasn't the plan," Marcus hissed at Gabriel, who began to back away with the Queen. His loyal team of Royal Knights began to back away with him into the balcony.

"I like my way better!" Gabriel beamed at Tyren, who returned a glare. Gabriel and company retreated back into the palace, and began to run. Alistair and Elewyn, recovered from their attacks and stood in shock. The entire crowd filled with gasps and shrieks.

Guardia gritted her teeth. "Oh hell no," She mustered out as she looked at the rest of her Tribesmen and the rest of her allies from Tollen and her team from Valkaria. "We're not letting them get away like this! This ends here! We have to go after them! Come on, people! We've got a trash can to burn and a frog to fry!"

The Pursuit

"My Queen!" Lady Elewyn cried desperately as she saw the Florges disappear into the palace with the rest of the Royal Knights, Gabriel, and Tyren. "They're going to kill her!" She yelled in fear. The crowd of Tollen below in the courtyard began to show signs of panic.

"Unlikely," Lord Arron remarked with a shake of his head. "They will have no leverage out of here if they do so, which brings up an interesting point that is irking me... bah, later. For now I suggest you pursue!"

Snype was already on the move. "I might be able to steal the Queen from him. But for now let's get moving! If they do something to the Queen then we're royally boned!...pardon the pun." Snype said.

Penance sighed and shook his head, "So disappointing." He muttered. He gave a sharp whistle, "Operation bang bang!"

Snype raised a brow "Operation wha-"

"Bang bang!" The Cinccino called out in glee.

"Bang!" The Hawlucha called out as he grabbed the Cinccino, "BANG!" He shouted as he used a mighty Fling to throw the Cinccino out and back to where several knights in the courtyard were starting to attack. "BANGIE BANG!" The Cinccino shouted out as he let out a Thunder Wave to strike at several of the combatants. The Hawlucha grabbed the railing and leaped over to join in on the fray.

A rain cloud formed over Kaveri's head and, with an Agility to boost her speed even more, the Floatzel shot off after Gabe, Marcus, and their cronies. With a running start, she shot upward with an Aqua Jet to get up in the air. Then, with a second Aqua Jet, she shot over the heads of the Royal Knights acting as a barrier between her and her target, moving like a speeding Ninjask - but even faster with all her speed boosts. Her aim was to get past the Royal Knights and slam into Gabriel, hopefully knocking the Queen from his grasp; though if that didn't do it, she'd grab at his arms and try to wrangle him away from the Florges. Perhaps not the smartest, given how strong she'd heard he was - and she bet Marcus was pretty dang strong too - but she wasn't gonna let him get away with the Queen. After all, who was to say they wouldn't just kill her after they'd gotten away? It was now or never.

Snype followed suit with Kaveri. He wasn't going to waste energy fighting the Royal Knights. The other heavier fighters could handle those. He had his eyes on Gabe and the Queen. Saving her was the top priority. He'd use Shadow Sneak several times to slip past any Royal Knights that might have tried landing an attack on the Sableye.

Right behind him came Obsidian, his body crouched and his arms held out from his sides to help him quickly get to the running knights. He laid low as he ran faster and faster, and as he got closer he readied his two hands and fired off a Shadow Ball right at the Rapidash knight.

Likewise Penance was following, though he was going a bit faster. He had aimed a Water Pulse behind him and let it slam against the ground at close contact, helping to propel him forward as he opened his mouth and let out a powerful Screech at the group ahead.

"Hey Penance." Cal said both out loud and in his head, hoping that their plan was still going strong and he was listening. "I don't think I need to say the first part, you're a smart duck, but don't forget, don't let anyone kill him before I get there." He suddenly flexed his wings, hard enough that the bandage flew off, gathered as much energy as would fit in them and blasted after the rest with an Extremespeed, aiming right for the Rhyperior. Surely all the knights with Gabe were expert fighters, but the Rhyperior would be the best for blocking a hallway he was willing to bet. Plus he thought Penance and Raz might like an encore from their journey.

The Rapidash Royal Knight prepared itself against the incoming Shadow Ball, electing to counter with a Flamethrower aimed at the incoming projectile. The two attacks collided, and the continuous force of the flames eventually dozed the Shadow Ball. Many of the Royal Knights covered their ears from the screech Penance delivered, but most of them continued on either way. The Rhyperior held strong following Cal's surprise attack against him, showing his toughness by remaining upright, and decided to return the favor by pounding his fist down on the Dragonite with a Slam.

Barely any of the Knights caught whiff of the Floatzel sailing over them on their way to Gabriel, save for one Hitmonlee Royal Knight who barely managed to reach in front of the Greninja before Kaveri could reach him. He struck at the Floatzel with a Jump Kick to force it back.

"Baaah!" Gabriel let out as he thought he was about to be attacked by the Gold Tribe member. Seeing that they were on pursuit, he quickly dished out order. "My fellow knights, I'm gonna need your help here to hold these guys off while General Tyren and I make our way out! Resof, Jansen, Emma you're with me! The rest, stay behind and do what you do best!" He ordered. The Arcanine, Manectric and Hitmonlee continued forward with the General Marcus Tyren and Gabriel with the Queen. The Rhyperior, Victreebel, Persian, Sawk, Venasaur and Rapidash stayed behind to hold off the fighters. The group of Royal Knights were instantly entangled with many of the other fighters of Tollen. Alistair, Deputy Commander Elewyn, Isabella, Popous, Commander Darrell and Abel jumped in and paired up against each of the Royal Knights.

"We'll handle these louts, get going!" Popous declared to the rest.

"Save the Queen! We'll deal with these Royal Knights!" Lady Elewyn assured them.

Guardia looked over them and to Abel, who nodded in agreement, before she took off once more toward the remaining four 'mon who got away. "We're not letting them get away!"

Snype kept his pursuit on Gabe. Saving the Queen was the priority! Even if he wasn't in any position to become the king any longer, he wasn't about to let anything happen after all they worked for!

"Give it up Gabe! You're wasting your time!" Snype shouted.

"Only time I'm wasting is yours, it seems!" Gabriel called back and motioned for the three remaining Royal Knights to stop and attack their pursuers. The Manectric, Arcanine, and Hitmonlee turned back and attacked the group, while Tyren and Gabriel continued on. The Hitmonlee was forced to duck when a Rhyperior came sailing towards it and skidded on the ground another few feet after missing it.

Guardia turned to where the Rhyperior flew in from to see her second in command in sight. She grinned at him, before she turned to the Manectric, and decided to take the sucker on. "I'll get this ass, you guys keep moving!"

Zai ran by, jumping onto and over the Rhyperior before it managed to regain its footing. She landed a bit beyond it and faced the Arcanine. "Guess it's time to see if the big kitty has claws."

Penance also seemed to go for one of the Royal Knights, the Hitmonlee, while the rest pursued the two Agents of Darkrai.

Realization
​

The chase through the palace continued even after the group of Royal Knights broke off. Seeing that Gabriel, Tyren, and the rest were still being pursued, the Hitmonlee of the Royal Knights decided to break off from the rest of the pack and target one of their pursuers specifically to get them off course. Seeing Penance among them, the Hitmonlee decided to launch a Jump Kick at the Golduck in an attempt to kick him off course from the rest of his pack and to allow Gabriel and Tyren to continue unfazed.

The duck smirked as he held out one finger and flicked it to the side. A psychic grip would just move the Hitmonlee a taaaad bit to the left as he was in mid-air. The Htimonlee, as a result, went sailing right past the duck and would crash into the wall. "Yeah... fighter against a psychic... I'm guessing not enough tops cracked along the head." Penance said with a meek shrug.

The Hitmonlee sailed past the Golduck and crashed into the alabaster wall of the palace. Surprisingly, the kick broke through the wall of the sturdy stone palace, demonstrating that even though the attack missed, the Hitmonlee was not an average Royal Knight fighter. He removed his leg from the stone, and watched the bits of rubble fall around him as he turned back to the Seeker leader. "Type advantage isn't everything," He replied as he cracked his leg to get it loose. He then activated a Bulk Up on himself to get pumped. "But go ahead, underestimate me."

"You know..." Penance began, "Before we kill you... I hope you see the funny parts here. The joke of sorts. You know... forcing others to live how you want them to live... imposing order on their lives and not allowing them freedom but sort of still wanting them to have chaos led lives which indicates wanting them to have freedo-"

The Hitmonlee didn't give Penance anymore time to finish his rambling. He once more leaped forward at the Golduck, and struck at him from above with a mighty Mega Kick, putting all of his imposing physical strength behind it. And as that kick came down Penance casually let one hand rise to raise a Protective shield that absorbed the impact of the blow. "-freedom, but in fact you choosing for them leads me to believe you all truly are the hypocrites here." He stated calmly. "In fact, at least with MY Seekers we have Order and we don't pretend to want anything else."

As the shield fell he frowned, "Hypocrites... I detest."

"You really don't know anything, do you?" The Hitmonlee kept going as the shield began to collapse, and once more tried to follow up the Mega Kick with one more directed at the Golduck.

This time Penance let the Kick hit him as he flew back. He did manage to let out one Water Pulse at the Hitmonlee as he skidded along the ground, "I guess I have my answer then." Penance grunted as he slowly got up. "You all are truly hypocrites. Seeking to build a world under Darkrai. Yeah, really chaos filled that is. Great world plan you have there."

As he spoke he let one hand hide behind his back as he began to charge up some power in his palm. The Hitmonlee watched the Golduck land where he did and began to pursue after him. He activated one more Bulk Up to further strengthen his physical capabilities.

"You think we all buy into that? The only thing I'm trying to do is live," The Hitmonlee responded, and jumped into the air to launch another Jump Kick at Penance.

Penance waited for it and let his hand rise up. The small Water Bomb he had been making shot out to hit the Hitmonlee, once more, in mid-air. "Live... by killing everyone around you. Great plan. Go live in a desert if it bothers you that much."

The Hitmonlee was surprised by the sudden burst of energy that struck him while in the air. With nowhere to move and no way to adjust his attack in the sky, he collided with the energy and fell flat on the palace floor. However, he didn't stay down for too long. The Hitmonlee groaned and sat up. "You call that living? That's hiding. Thanks, but I'll just go ahead and do this so I can get what was promised to me."

The Hitmonlee decided against an aerial assault again, this time running on the ground in a zigzag motion to reach the Golduck for a Close Combat assault.

Penance waited for the right time, and as the Htimonlee got closer and began to pound on him Penance held up his hands to set up a Protect once more. He grunted as he was forced back a bit, but he waited patiently and as the shield faded he made sure to jump back, "Ah, living and killing anyone that disagrees with your philosophy. Chaos in a nutshell huh? Well, when Darkrai blows everyone up to achieve true chaos, don't come running to me."

"I didn't say anything about having a philosophy, you dumb duck," The Hitmonlee stated as he unleashed the flurry of attacks under the Close Combat. He continued to push forward even as the Golduck tried moving back. "And I won't be running to you, you'll be dead." He burst forward and unleashed under set of Close Combat attacks.

The Close Combat hit Penance hard as he flew back and had his back slam against the wall. He gasped in pain and gripped his sides as he felt several bones had cracked. "... Okay..." He coughed, "Not good..." He paused for a moment sighed, "I know I didn't factor in the point!" He muttered out loud, "Sheesh, you make mistakes. The minute I do it's, cough, suddenly the end of the world."

"I told you not to underestimate me," The Hitmonlee repeated, and charged in once more. This time he brought his leg low for a sweeping Low Kick aimed at the Golduck's feet to get him off balance.

As the Hitmonlee came closer Penance held out a single finger. Not aimed at the fighter... but at the stone above where he would move. A black beam shot out that shattered into the stone, easily ripping it from the ceiling as it came falling down, "You should take your own advice." Penance muttered.

The Hitmonlee didn't have nearly enough time to react to the falling portions of the ceiling as it came around him and collapsed on the palace floor. He tried to duck left and right to find an angle out of it, but ended up buried in a crowd of rubble from the hard alabaster stone. Though, that wasn't all. Penance had aimed another finger at the floor it sheered through it. "See you next fall." He called out with a cough as the floor would fall down, leading to, hopefully, fall damage along with the rubble falling upon the Hitmonlee yet again.

The floor collapsed underneath the Hitmonlee and the rubble he was under. All of the heavy alabaster stone fell upon him as he took his tumble, with the loud impact being heard across the palace. The piles of rock fell through to the floor below, and beside the loose stone falling through the hole, the area became quiet.

Penance was already backing away from the hole as he gripped his sides, "Stupid network point." He muttered. "Oh yeah, put a network point in every city he said. It would make things better he said."

A few moments after Penance began to walk away from the hole, the Hitmonlee burst through, and landed on the palace floor. He looked worn and beat up, with multiple cuts and bruises across his body, but he was still standing. The Hitmonlee took one step forward, seeming to favor his left leg over his right, and tried another Jump Kick toward the Golduck.

Penance couldn't exactly twist about and start firing off Water Pulses at the moment, but he could crouch down to let the kick fly over him as he began to make his way to an window and grunted as he began to get out of the hall. As the night air hit him he couldn't help but frown, "Pretty high up... not good at all." He muttered.

The Hitmonlee collided with the wall, and crashed into it a second time. It took a few moments for the Hitmonlee to gather himself before he began to move his leg out of the wall. It took a few tugs before he got the leg out of the wall. On his fourth tug, the leg left the wall. He limped the down the corridor after Penance, but stopped after a few seconds and look down as Penance made his way out. He thought for a moment, then abruptly turned around and limped the other way, away from the Golduck.

Penance grunted as he managed to slowly sit up and huffed a bit, "Okay... how can we turn this around cause I royally screwed it up." He paused for a moment and scoffed, "No. It connects. But maybe...." Penance frowned and scooted back a bit more as he nodded, "Here? Right." He pointed his finger out and let another beam shoot out, slicing the archway down the middle, and for good measure, slicing off a bit more so that one section fell to the ground. "Well, we'll see how this works." He murmured as he aimed his finger at the base of the building and began to move it along slowly as the chaos beam ripped through the stone. There was some loud creaking as the base of the castle gave under way and steadily began to shake.

"Right right. I know." He told Brynn. "We'll wait for it."

Since the castle wasn't necessarily set on its base it began to creak and slowly began to slide along the stone below it as it began to crumble. "Now... now that hopefully will be interesting enough."

The Hitmonlee continued forward, moving toward the direction of the other fighters, or at least where he believed they were going to be. He wasn't moving too quickly because of his injuries, but he figured if they were fighting in one place, he would eventually catch up. However, as he was moving, the Hitmonlee suddenly felt the ground below him begin to shake. He paused for a moment, believe it was coming from other battles, when he realized the ground actually was beginning to collapse under him! The Hitmonlee began to race forward to avoid the area of collapse, but the ground below him began to crumble, and he fell through. A mountain of debris followed, crumbling that entire hallway of the palace of Argime.

Gabriel vs. Snype, Obsidian, and Callimer

General Marcus Tyren looked to his side at the Greninja carrying the Queen. He stared, somewhat angrily, at his colleague and the events that came about that led to this moment. In those moments of pondering, he came up with a revelation, and skidded to a halt along the palace floor.

"What're you doing, Marcus?" Gabriel called back, though he didn't stop running.

"I intend to deal with these foes my way. Take the Queen to the Network if you must. I will be along shortly," General Tyren replied, and fired off an Energy Ball at the group. Gabriel meanwhile continued to run, though he suddenly switched directions and looked out one of the archways on the second floor.

"Hang onto me, my Queen!" He stated, and leaped through the opening of the second floor, and out onto the streets of Tollen.

Snype watched Gabe move up to the second floor and outside. He'd follow him right out the archway and continue to tail the Greninja. It was times like this he wished he had Shadow Ball on him... something to consider another time. Snype hopped out of the Archway and continued his chase.

Callimer nodded at Guardia's volunteering to stay behind and gathered power for another Extremespeed, blasting over the heads of the Royal Knights and knocking the Rhyperior down just as it was starting to get back up again. He just barely saw Snype turn a corner and figured he must be hot on Gabriel's trail. He barely avoided Tyren's Energy Ball and rocketed after the king of thieves as fast as he could manage.

Obsidian was already sprinting along the hall, doing his best to avoid the fighting. He knew how to bend and move within a group, so it was no surprise that he managed to run right by Guardia's side and slip behind Snype and make it to the wall. He knew what he had to do.... but the tricky part was carrying it out. It had to be done in a split second, and it seemed that his time had come.

As he saw Gabe leaping out he too followed. He shot out a Shadow Ball, not at Gabe, but at the ground he was to land on. The Shadow Ball was quick to hit the ground first, but it wouldn't so much as harm Gabe as it would shoot back a wave of air from the blast that would most likely off-keter his balance. The Greninja was momentarily off-balance from the shot to the ground due to the Queen in her hands, but he quickly regained his composure and continued down the streets. Despite having someone in his arms, he was surprisingly fast.

Snype looked back at both Obsidian and Cal as they followed suit with him. "Kehe, hey big guy! Mind giving us a ride?" Snype said to Cal with that big ol grin.

"I don't know that I can go quite so fast as the king of thieves but sure, there's plenty of room!" Cal offered his own smirk and held out his hands as he drew closer to Obsidian and Snype.

Obsidian shook his head as he instead pointed out, "You two go. We need several ways to cut him off." He explained as he too leaped out and managed to roll out onto some grass.

Snype chuckled. "Kehe, that's the plan!" Snype said as he hoppeped onto Cal's arm. "Hey second question... got a good throwing arm? And more importantly, hows your aim? Kehehe!" Snype continued.

"Well I just got done nearly decapitating a Hitmonlee with a projectile Rhyperior." Cal answered. "You tell me, wha'tcha got in mind?"

Snype looked down at the chase between Gabe and Obsidian. "I'm aiming for kind of a head shot here... kehe. Give me a good throw right to his face and I'll cling right onto him. If that dosn't work, I'll use flash to blind him, leaving Obsidian to grab the Queen and get her out of harms way." Snype explained.

Obsidian was already leaving the two behind as he made his way after Gabe. He would look ahead of what was in front of the Greninja and would toss out Shadow Balls that would cause objects to fall in front of his path or cause him to trip up. "Gabriel! Don't you see? You've lost!" He shouted after the Greninja, "You're as stubborn as Penance!"

"Look who's talking!" Gabriel shouted back at Obsidian. "You're the ones that won't just let me go!" He replied and zigzagged across the streets to avoid the Shadow Balls being thrown at him. "Dang, kinda hard while carrying you around, your Higness..."

"T-then just let me go, Lord Gabriel!" Queen Aleena stammered out. "If you do, I'm sure we will grant mercy upon you. It's not too late!"

"I can't do that, your Highness," Gabriel responded, as he looked back and examined the locations of the 'mon chasing him. "Sorry!" He exclaimed, and turned another corner to head deeper into the city.

"Well if you don't want us to follow then why are you taking away something important!?" He shouted back, "Sounds like a contradiction in logic to me!" The Weavile, instead of using the corner, found a series of boxes off to the side that he quickly began to race up. He soon leaped from the top one and gripped onto a archway and pulled himself up with enough force to land above and on top of the roof. With a higher angle he was able to find Gabriel and ran along the rooftops, every so often having to leap across to the next one.

"I guess I just like her company!" Gabriel called back to Obsidian.

"Alright Snype, just make sure you're ready to cushion yourself, I'm gonna have to throw you pretty hard if I want any chance of hitting him." Cal beat his wings faster and began to climb higher and higher until he could see most of the city and see Gabe trying to flit between the buildings. He let his muscles bulge as Superpower coursed through him and hefted Snype above his head. "Ready?"

Snype curled himself up a bit. Snype hadn't thought so far ahead as to have a cushion ready... he had his bag anyways! Snype figured Gabe would be a good enough cushion. "And here comes the pitch!" Snype replied.

"Watch out folks, this one's famous for giving catchers concussions through their helmets!" Cal wound his right arm back and launched Snype at where Gabe should be soon with the path he was taking, he was at a point where he couldn't turn anywhere and trying to climb a building would let Obsidian catch him. Snype flew so fast Cal was glad they weren't TOO high so he couldn't catch on fire or something.

Snype was aimed right for Gabe, prepared to cling right onto his face with his body and start clawing at him!

"Dang," Gabriel cursed as he saw Snype being propelled toward him. He looked at the Queen and made a hasty decision. He abruptly halted, tossed her into the air above him, and jumped into the air to meet the Sableye. Despite the fast-moving ghost 'mon, the Greninja sliced through the air with his foot, the leg acting as an Aerial Ace against the Sableye. Because he was tossed, Snype had nowhere to move to dodge. At the conclusion of his attack, Gabriel extended his arms outward to prepare and catch the falling Queen who yelped in the air.

Snype was cut right through the air, causing him to lose his aim and go crashing. "G-gyah!" Snype yelped in pain. Not his best plan ever. Snype would end up crashing right into a candy store fairly close by, crashing right through the archway.

That was another opening Obsidian needed. He didn't care if the attack hit Gabe or not, cause he had another idea in mind. He readied a Shadow Ball and tossed at the air born Gabe, intending to knock him away. He leapt off of the roof top and rolled along the ground, managing to roll where the queen would, theoretically, hit the ground. While in the air and falling down, Gabriel contorted his light body and swiped at Obsidian's Shadow Ball with a night slash formed with his other foot. The dark energy creeped around his leg and cut the ball of shadow in half. At the conclusion of his attack, Gabriel landed on the ground and extended his arms outward to prepare and catch the falling Queen who yelped in the air.

Before anybody's plans for the queen could come through a shadow swept across the ground and clashed with another, leaving nothing behind. Moments passed leaving Gabriel to wonder why the queen wasn't in his arms yet before the sun caught on something in the air and gleamed to reveal Cal holding the queen and smiling down at the frog. "Nice to finally meet you your majesty, Callimer Vian, second in command of the Gold Tribe at your service."

"A... a pleasure," The Queen replied with a light cough as she was swept from the air by the Dragonite.

"Mmm?" Gabriel looked up curiously, wondering why the Queen had not fallen back into his arms. "What the...?"

At the same time, with Obsidian being near Gabe's feet, the Weavile couldn't help but let a claw shoot out and into the waiting water type's leg, "I never got a chance to thank you for that whole jail thing." Obsidian said as he twisted his claws in the leg and pulled back, "Consider this my payback present."

Gabriel gritted his teeth initially as he felt a stinging sensation pierce his leg, but quickly activated a Night Slash along the leg, causing the dark energy to form around it and power off any claws that were attached to him to prevent any major damage. He scooted back along the streets and seemed to frown as he scanned the sky in search of the Queen. When he spotted her in Cal's arms, he shook his head and called out. "Hey, give her back! I need her!"

"My, but, we've only just been introduced! I feel like my new position of authority calls for some diplomacy, getting to know some royalty. Mightn't we have some time to discuss our people first?" Cal continued to smile down at Gabe, enjoying the fake civility. The only downside to having the queen was that it meant he couldn't afford to try beating the Greninja down, which he could not WAIT to try. "I can't leave yet, this young Florges is ever so charming. Ma'am do you think you would mind dismissing your commander? He's being rather rude."

"I... it would be my pleasure to do so," The Queen answered with a light smile and a nod. She looked down at Gabriel and spoke again. "Commander Gabriel, you are hereby relieved of duty of your post as Commander of the Royal Knights and your privilege of sitting on the Throne of Rectitude, effective immediately!"

Snype kicked the Candy Shop door right open and had Will-o-wisp all prepared to fire at the Greninja. He snarled and fired off several blue flames to wound the Greninja. "In other words you're fired." Snype winced in pain. Not from the throw but from the unavoidable pun.

However, before the dark energy could hit Obsidian, a blue Protect formed a shield around the Weavile, keeping him safe, though he still was dislodged from Gabe's leg. He instead was pushed back thanks to the power of the attack and managed to get back on his feet. "And you lost your barganing chip." Obsidian said, "You have nothing left Gabe." He held up his clawed hands with a smirk, "So we can go all day here, or you can surrender now."

Gabriel extended an arm and released a torrent of water aimed at the incoming Will-o-wisp. The Hydro Pump doused the flames mere inches before they reached the Greninja, who also took a few more steps back to examine his environment and his standing. "Well that didn't last as long as I thought," He blurted out, referring to his demotion from Royal Commander. "Man, to think you guys managed to put this all together. You sure took me by surprise!" He exclaimed with a light chuckle.

The Greninja then reached into the pocket of his Royal Knight armor and removed a small object from it. "But if you think I've got nothing left, then I hate to break it to you, but you're in for a rude awakening! On the contrary, I couldn't fight because I had the Queen on me," He explained, and began to twirl the small object in between his hands. "Now that I don't... I can go all out. So, you guys ready?" He asked them ominously, and clenched the small object in his fist.

"Well too bad, because I'm not!" He suddenly shouted, and launched a black ball in his hands toward the ground. From the ball, a smokescreen suddenly formed, and the Greninja began to run swiftly away again.

Obsidian just stared blankly and began to make his way back to a building, huffing as he began to quickly climb up the various crevices, "I'll go by the top!" Obsidian shouted back to Snype. "Cal, try to hover over his position! Let us know where he's at!" He said as he got onto the roof and began to dash in the direction Gabe headed off. As he ran Obsidian's body shimmered as two identical copies of the Weavile appeared next to him. All moving in sync along the rooftops.

Snype wasn't liking how cowardly Gabe was acting right now... more than likely this was some sort of trap at this point... but Snype wasn't about to let him get away now! Snype reached into his bag and munched on a sitrus berry, still rubbing his head from the huge impact from his recent crash. "Keep her safe Cal!" Snype called out as he continued to pursue the frog.

"Apologies ma'am, this ride can't stay as comfortable for you as I'd like it to, my friends need a bi-dragon's-eye view."

"A wha-AAH!" The Queen began to say, though she was interrupted burst through the air by the green Dragonite.

Cal cradled the queen a bit tighter to his chest and flew over the smoke cloud, searching from the air for a familiar blue blur. The Queen composed herself enough to also look down through the smoke of the city. She suddenly spotted something moving quickly through the city. "Over there!" Queen Aleena yelled as she pointed down to the Greninja swiftly moving through the streets. She tried to trail his path to see where he might be going, and noticed a possible familiar path. "I... I think he may be going toward the Network Point!"

"Gah! Figures!" Snype shouted. He kept on ground level. He wasn't finding a lot of opportunities to go after Gabe... Snype wasn't nearly as fast as Gabe, but he was able to at least keep an eye on him and abuse Shadow Sneak enough to get a bit of distance in on him.

"What's wrong? Afraid you'll get beaten up by us? If you think you'll get away, I'll find you and foil your plans all over again!" Snype shouted.

"I'm counting on it!" Gabe shouted back toward Snype as he sharply turned the corner and sped up again. "Isn't it what makes this all worthwhile? Not the destination, but the chase!"

Cal looked down at the SEC building, trying to plot Gabe's path as quickly as possible. "Hold on tight your highness! I'm so sorry I couldn't carry you more smoothly." And he dived down towards Snype as fast as he could. Once he was near he set the queen of Tollen down by the king of thieves. "Snype, do you think you could get her somewhere safe fast enough to help out of I stall him? We have to get that orb off of hi-nevermind, there's no time, if you don't make it that's fine. Just don't let anything happen to the queen!" He started the last Extremespeed he could manage without a break and shot into the air before quickly arcing down towards the building.

Snype paused his pursuit and looked over to the Queen. Her safety was the priority, as much as Snype wanted to go after Gabe. Cal and Obsidian would be able to tail him alot faster though."Kehe, Yeah I'll bring her somewhere safe. Just leave some for me would ya?" Snype said with a small snicker. He looked over to the queen with a bashful grin. "So uh... pleasure to meet you and... er... whichever fancy words they use up there... kehe. Not so good at that stuff. Ya can call me Snype. Juustt Snype. Kehe." Snype introduced himself giving a somewhat formal bow.

"Ah, uhm, the pleasure is all mine, Snype," The Queen replied somewhat uncomfortably.

"Well then my Queen, follow me. I know a perfect place to keep you safe in." Snype said holding out his hand. "I think it's safe to say you trust me that much at least." Snype said with a big grin.

Snype and the Queen

"I... it is not exactly protocol to have others... " The Queen began to reply, but realized that the idea of protocol applying anymore today didn't matter much. She accepted the Sableye's hand with a nod. "I... I will trust you. Lead on, please!"

Snype smiled and started to move forward. He wasn't sure how quick the Queen was on her feet so he started slowly and moved a little faster over time to see how well the Queen could keep up. "Just stay closeby. Most of the meaner fellas are probably getting creamed back at the palace anyways. they shouldn't bother us all the way down here!" Snype said as he searched for any kind of sign of The Pit. Seemed like a perfect place to hide the Queen!

"Doing alright? If you need me to slow down I can." Snype asked.

"I am... I will be alright, thank you," She replied politely, with a light cough in between her words.

Snype looked back at the Queen curiously. "Forgive me if I'm being rude but... how long have you been sick for? Sounds like you've had a stressful couple of months as of late." Snype asked, wondering if it was connected with Gabe by some chance.

"Ah, uhm..." The Queen began as she pondered the question. Her breath was a bit more rapid as she ran with the Sableye. "I suppose I have always been somewhat frail. But I have not felt myself for many months now. It is alright though, pay it no heed."

Snype raised a brow. Many months... "...Just wondering... where you like this before Gabe showed up to the scene? Sorry for being nosey just wondering if there's some kind of connection. Weird things have happened this past week you know?" Snype said as he slowed down a bit. Just so the Queen could catch her breath.

"Before Com-, before Gabriel?" She repeated Snype's question. Queen Aleena coughed once more and answered. "Mmm, yes, but only a bit before. This particular illness has been going on ever since I returned to the capital from my studies, following y father's passing. Around the time the Reckoning had begun."

Snype grew concerned. "Seems a bit odd for that to happen around the same time... " Snype couldn't really put anything together on what connected the two exactly. He already had Gabe himself to worry about. "Well... that'll be something to figure out when Gabe is taken out. Then we can get you back in top shape! A beautiful gal like you deserves that much right?" Snype said with a grin.

"I... " The Queen blushed a bit, taken aback by the Sableye's forward manner. She lifted her gaze when she noticed a building with a sign that read, 'The Pit' on it. "Uhm... might that be our destination?" She asked the King of Thieves.

"Yup! That's it! Safest place I could think of in this little town! Kehe. Don't worry the folks here are a friendly bunch of not a little rowdy! Lucky for you it won't be so crowded due to... well ya know." Snype said as he led her on inside. "Evenin folks!" Snype called out.

"Well if it isn't Aden!" Max the bartender called out as he washed area around him with a rag. The bar had barely any 'mon inside, only about half a dozen at most. "What can I get y-" The Machoke cut himself off as he watched the second patron walk in behind the Sableye. "Y-y-y-y-" The Machoke opened his eyes wide, and stammered with his words. All of a sudden, he jumped over the bar and dropped to the ground in a low bow. "M-my Queen! You honor us all with your presence!"

"Oh, I uhm..."

As soon as Max made this gesture, the remaining patrons in the bar, rowdy and rough as they appeared, did the same action and dropped to the floor in a bow.

"Looks like ya got fans." Snype said with a small snicker. "Alright first off, get up. Second, my name's Snype. And third, I got an important favor to ask you. A very... VERY important favor. Like, don't screw it up or else this whole country could hit the shitter." Snype said rather directly.

The Machoke bartender looked up from the ground and nodded furiously. "Yes, yes! Anything for the Queen. We are her servants!"

Snype nodded. "Protect her. Simple as that. Kehe. If that's alright with our Queen here that is." Snype said, turning to her.

"I... if it is no trouble, that is..." The Queen mumbled.

"None whatsoever!" Max exclaimed. "You have our word that she will be protected! On my life as a citizen of Tollen!"

"Glad to hear." Snype said with a grin before walking over to the Queen. "I'll be back soon. Just stay inside and we'll take care of the rest. We'll save Tollen. I swear it." Snype said with a confident grin.

"Yes... I'll leave it to you," The Queen replied with a light cough. "Please be careful though. Gabriel is a dangerous opponent. He wasn't just named Royal Commander for his services during the Reckoning."

"Keheh... I've faced the Dark one himself. Some frog isn't gonna scare me." Snype said with a grin as he headed out the door. As he did, Snype peeked around outside, checking to see if anybody else was outside... the last thing he needed was for someone to follow him and steal the queen the minute he left. Snype used Detect to enhance his senses and observe his surroundings. Of course he didn't find anything out of the ordinary but Snype want to make absolutely sure nobody was following him.

Snype started to head through the allyway he previously came from but paused behind a corner, peaking back at The Pit just to make absolutely sure. "Dammit... I'm acting as paranoid as Penance..." Snype thought to himself. Nobody seemed to show up as expected so Snype made his way right back to the battle at hand.

Team Gabe

"You don't want that to happen Gabe!" Obsidian shouted back at the Greninja as he performed another Double Team, this time the end result being nine Weaviles that trailed the frog, "Trust me! You do NOT want that ending to happen! Stand down now!"

"No thanks!" Gabriel once more shouted back, this time to Obsidian. He gave the Weavile a wink. "I'll take my chances!" He burst forward fast, now closing in on the SEC building with the Network Point inside.

"Alright Gabe!" A voice thundered from the air. Shortly after Cal landed on the ground between Gabriel and the SEC building hard enough to crack the pavement. "I've heard you have some impressive skills after what you did in Gold City, and I'm a pretty decent fighter even among the Gold Tribe. You've got no hope even if you make it to that building right now, but take me out and you might be able to escape even without it, so how about we see how you measure up? Sure you could just try to go around me, but I don't think that'll work out for you, just a warning." He put up his hands like a Hitmonchan and awaited the Greninja's answer, feeling strangely giddy at the thought of facing off against the agent of Darkrai mostly alone.

"Oh for the love of-" The Greninja skidded to a halt as he saw the giant green Dragon in front of him.

"Love of who? Arceus? Or Darkrai? It's okay, you can say it, I won't judge." Cal smirked.

"You really want to play this game, don't you?" Gabriel questioned, as he tried to look past the Dragonite at the Network point behind him.

Obsidian was quick to land behind Gabe with his eight identical clones all at the ready. "So, what's it going to be Gabe?" They all asked in unison, "You up to gambling this night?"

"You know," Gabriel reached into his pocket and took out the small object once more. He looked behind him to view the clones that surrounded him, as well as catch sight of the King of Thieves leaving the area with the Queen. "I kind of am up for a little gambling," He answered, and clutched the stone in his hand as he closed his eyes. A brief, low light shined from his hand. He opened his eyes to reveal an alternate-colored iris, ice blue instead of his normal red. "Are you prepared to wager your lives?"

Obsidian, as well as his clones, shimmered again as each one produced two more copies. "Blue eyes." All the copies said, "Be careful Cal, it seems that Gabe is channeling some of Darkrai's power."

Each copy stood on back, waiting for the frog to move as they began to all charge up Shadow Balls.

Cal took a deep breath, having been Roosting as Gabe prepared himself, and looked over his changed opponent. He could tell at a single glance, at the chills he had just gotten, that this was the Gabriel that had single-handedly decimated hyper beam cannons and entire teams of his brothers and sisters during the attack on Gold City. "Well, it's not from some legendary god of chaos, but I've got something myself. I went through a lot to get here Gabe, I doubt it's a stretch to say if we'd run into each other back at Gold City I'd have ended up just like the rest who tried to fight you, but now we'll have to see."

He had to start slow, he didn't want to leave himself open by taking Gabriel too lightly, but he couldn't use all his strength at once either, who knew how long that orb could power up the Greninja? Cal coated his left hand in frosty energy, while his right took on a huge boost in strength, He slammed his left into the ground to make a miniature iceberg and used his right to slug it, shattering it and sending ballistic shards of ice in Gabriel's direction before flying after them for a follow-up.

The Greninja reacted quickly. He evaded the ice shards as they were flung at him by swiftly moving to the left and right. A few set of them were close to each other, giving him little room to maneuver. Gabriel twirled around two of them, while he activated his Night Slash on another two. He powered up his leg in the dark energy and crushed them with relative ease.

He then summoned forth a large body of water, which seemed to be drawn from any nearby water sources and from out of thin air, and launched a massive Surf up the street at his opponents. The Greninja casually leaped onto a nearby rooftop to avoid getting hit by any of the water himself.

As the surf raced down Obsidian, and nine of his clones, were lucky enough to grab onto some nearby building and quickly leaped up as the other images faded away once the waters hit them. As they leaped up to their rooftops one of the Weaviles cried out as he threw out the Shadow Ball he had been charging up. At the same time a lesser charged Shadow Ball was flung out from another Weavile at the Greninja from a different angle.

As soon as Gabe jumped Cal began to climb after him, but had to backtrack to avoid the surf. Cal was expecting something more direct, and it took him a moment to gather his senses. When he did, he charged right at Gabe with an Extreemespeed to stay right on him so he couldn't keep it an indirect fight.

The Greninja observed his surroundings to see the two Shadow balls being flung towards him from opposite sides. He extended one arm outward and powered it with the dark energy from his Night Slash, and as the first, weaker Shadow Ball reached him, he gripped it with his powered hand, and shattered it into tinier particles of energy as if it were a physical object. He then turned around extended his other hand at the second, more powerful Shadow Ball. His bright blue eyes flashed for a moment just before impact, and once more, the Greninja grabbed hold of the powered Shadow Ball, and crumbled it up with his hand with relatively the same motion.

He didn't waste any time marveling or reacting to his work though, as he quickly turned over to the giant Green Dragonite on approach to him and this time leaped right at him for a direct attack. He appeared to have powered up his fist with the Night Slash energy once more, and was on a collision course with the Dragonite.

Cal kept his course, strengthening his right arm with Superpower, and then at the last second his wings flared out to pivot midair and change his straight to an uppercut. He'd do all he could to take advantage of Gabriel lacking the ability to fly.

As Cal changed directions, Gabe's eyes once more lit up and surprisingly, he pivoted upward with the Dragonite. However, he held back his Night Slash powered hand, and struck at Callimer's side with a surprise Feint Attack which seemed to come out of nowhere. The blow shot the large Dragonite out of the sky and he was sent crashing down to the marble streets of Argime. Gabriel gracefully began to descend from the air, as if his body were as light as a feather.

Obsidian stared on at the sight and just dropped his hands that had been charging up his Shadow Ball. "... " He didn't even say anything at this point. He was no Gold Tribe, and sure his mind was trained but his body? If Cal could be taken down so easily... and couldn't even land one hit against the frog, what chance did he stand? Maybe if they had more reinforcements... but as the current situation stood, it would be downright impossible for the Weavile to try and do anything to get Gabe down.

There was one thing left... try and distract him. At the moment he was charging up a Shadow Ball, so he had to get this right.

The Emerald Sentinel straightened his wings and pulled himself upright again, still slightly reeling from the impact of Gabe's attack. "Ok then, no holding back in the slightest, holding back is death." He stared Gabe straight in the eyes as the Greninja floated back towards the ground. He thought about his brothers and sisters who'd died by this 'mon's hands at Gold City, thought of their journey, all the hellguards who had sacrificed themselves to get them to Tollen with a fighting chance, all the subversion, the espionage, the manipulation of an entire nations citizens for personal gain and he was angry.

He clenched his fists and steam began to shoot out of his nostrils like some overworked old-fashioned machine. He opened his mouth and prepared to roar out his fury, but then at the last second he swallowed it all, figuratively and literally. The anger and all the steam retreated back inside the Dragonite, and his scales simply took on a red tinge to it's emerald countenance. Despite the small change, Obsidian and even Gabriel felt almost as if they were looking at a different pokemon. "You're even more cowardly than I thought, when you can't hide behind anymore bodies, or outrun everybody else, you just hide behind the power of something you still can't comprehend despite giving yourself up to it."

Without even giving a visual indication of charging his Extremespeed Cal shot off of the ground and flew at Gabriel in a blur, aiming an Ice Punch right for the center of his mass, with all the power of an entire Outrage backing it up.

Gabriel took off toward the alternate appearance Callimer, surprisingly matching his speed, and extended his arm outward to meet his. Clutched in his fist was the same object he held before. He powered a Night Slash at the incoming Ice Punch, and the two attacks collided in a mixtures of frost particles and dark energy emitting from the respective attacks. Despite all of Callimer's power ups however, it appeared the Greninja was matching it.

"You sure I can't comprehend this?" Gabriel questioned as the two collided in the air. "It looks like I have a pretty good grip on it!" He exclaimed, and gestured his fist forward. The Night Slash energies increased around his fist and propelled forward in mass.

"Yes, I am!" Cal grunted, countering more Night Slashes with more Ice Punches. His attacks grew stronger as he became more used to the strange feeling of anger and calm somehow existing in the same place at once within him. "Because if not." Another punch. "I wouldn't, " another "be here," At that moment he changed up to uppercut, barely managing to knock Gabriel off balance when he hit his arms mid slash, and bringing his arms together above Gabe's head. "To kick your ass!" Cal had brought up the sphere of energy his Draco Meteors always rained down from at the same time as his hands, and when he brought his arms down towards Gabriel he shattered the sphere in time with his overhead strike.

Gabriel was flung down toward the ground by the force of the Draco Meteors and buried in a crater through the marble streets as they were rained down upon him. The impact created a momentary haze of smoke which covered the area from the Greninja's landing. However, it soon began to clear, and revealed the Agent lying on his back with his hands extended outward, gazing at Callimer in the sky.

"Not bad," Gabriel commended the Emerald Sentinel, and then did a kip up to get back onto his feet. He brought his arms to his ear and tilted his head, then began to tap at his ear to get any loose rubble out. After doing so, he cracked his neck once and looked back up at Callimer. He clutched the stone in his hands tighter, causing his eyes to shine once more. "You've got some strength in you. Are you sure you're on the right side? I'd hate to see talent like yours lose out."

"I've never had the slightest bit of doubt." Cal countered. "And if I ever had, one look at you would have set me straight. You're not getting out of Tollen, your only hope is to get one more notch on your belt before you're taken down, my allies don't need me to finish you."

As Gabriel and Cal's battle had continued to Obsidian had originally started sneaking to the network point, then had paused as he saw the battle. He might be able to do it... if he could get the right angle and the right amount of surprise. He just had to wait. If Cal could distract him again then his plan would at least have a better chance of succeeding. Just like Obsidian, each of his clones settled on the rooftops, silently watching the ongoing battle.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I can't say I didn't try."

Without another word, Gabriel jumped forward once more toward the Dragonite, and brought his hands together. Dark energy poured into the pocket he made between his hands, and a large Dark Pulse fired off in between them directly toward Callimer.

Cal's eyes widened at the intensity of the Dark Pulse coming his way. Luckily a move he'd been leaving very under-used lately was perfect for that moment. He blasted himself backwards and quickly curved under the Dark Pulse to dive at Gabe with an Aerial Ace, gaining more speed the longer he fell.

As Gabriel witnessed the Dark Pulse barely miss the giant Dragonite, he let off off the attack and turned himself to meet Cal once more in close range. To counter the incoming Aerial Ace, Gabriel launched out one of his own, though he mostly relied on his quick foot to sharpen his attack and launch the high pressured air blade through the air to clash with Cal's. Gabriel's Aerial Ace matched every bit with Cal's despite having less time to prepare it.

They continued to clash in the air a few more times as Cal tried to figure out how to break the stalemate. Nothing immediately came to mind, it seemed like even with his new found strength he couldn't seem to push Gabriel too hard. If he was going to win, he'd have to find a way to get the orb away from Gabriel, or weaken it somehow. So he channeled Superpower and began to throw the strongest punches he could manage, trying to prepare to knock the Greninja off balance.

Gabriel in turn as a response to the Superpower punches clutched the object in his hands tighter, and activated the Night Slash on his own fists, furthering his own power. He began to counter each punch of Callimer's with one of his own. Both seemed on equal par, until Gabe's eyes shined once more for a brief second, and instead of throwing a last punch, he opened his palm and launched another Dark Pulse at point blank range.

There was no way to dodge it, all he could hope at that moment was that he was strong enough to withstand it. Still channeling the Superpower he grabbed Gabe's arm and yanked him towards him, struggling through the Dark Pulse to try throwing a super-effective slug into his face.

Gabriel was surprised by the arm yanking him through his attack. It dragged him toward the Dragonite, who prepared and connected a punch directly into the Greninja's face. Gabriel took the blow directly to the face and his face moved in the direction of the blow to lessen it. In the process, his tongue-scarf, which had been around his neck and lower part of his mouth the entire time, loosened around him to reveal his full face for the first time.

Gabriel turned to face Callimer, and his mouth contorted into a mischievous, ominous smile. He powered up his leg again with a Night Slash, quickly burst at the Dragonite and struck him square in he chest, sending him once more flying through the air.

Snype had made his way back to the scene, of course, he was keeping himself hidden and waiting for the right time to strike. That thing in Gabe's hand was powering him up that was for sure. He just needed an opening to rush in and snag the thing from that frog.

As the frog did go for his Night Slash, Obsidian saw it as his opening. He was in the air, unable to do anything but land. It was do or die. The Weavile, along with his clones, all leaped at once at the frog. The jump had been timed just as Gabe would be falling down and that was only the bonus. One double had come in and was already swinging out a Poison Jab at the frog. The others also looked like there were readying poison jabs, but theirs were only illusions. The real Obsidian also looked like he was about to perform a poison jab, but at the last moment his claws instead tried to grab into Gabriel's hand, intending to try and loosen the orb from his grip. Gabriel fought off the clones, kicking at them, though hitting nothing but air. As the real Obsidian went in for him, he successfully clawed at his hand, which caused the object to roll out. Gabriel quickly launched a powerful Night Slash kick directly into the real Obsidian's chest at the same time.

As soon as the orb left Gabriel's hands Cal came flying back from the crater where'd landed and slammed into him with his full strength, or as much as he could muster after being knocked around so hard.

Snype found his chance. This object would obviously be just as dangerous to hold as the black vial he had on him. Snype took his bag right out and opened it and slid toward the object to scoop it right up. "That's two evil lookin things I've stolen!" Snype said triumphantly.

Gabriel was forced back by Callimer's powerful collision. However, Gabriel landed hard on his feet along Argime's streets. The impact caused the pavement to crack and break apart before he came to a halt. Gabriel looked at his empty hand, then over to Snype, expression appearing a bit more serious now. "You're gonna want to give that back to me, Snype."

Snype turned around and spanked at his own rear to taunt Gabe. "Oh now I got ya ticked off? Bout time!" Snype said with a cocky grin, his eyes giving a bright glimmer.

Cal stepped between Snype and Gabriel and crossed his arms. "I think we'll keep it actually, consider it your parting gift to us upon being relieved of your post." The reddish tint to his emerald scales faded and steam stopped drifting from his nose, he was glad he didn't have to keep all that up any longer, his rage was close to getting the better of him. "So Gabe, are you actually any good at fighting? Or can you do anything besides scheme and run without your 'dark master' cradling you the whole way?"

Obsidian slowly rose as he clutched his chest, "You hit hard..." He panted. "Cal.... get him. He's weaker now." He rubbed at his fur and grinned, "Guess you're going down now Gabe. Any last words now that your toy is gone?"

Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. He reopened them and looked at his three opponents. "Hey, remember what I told you when we met, Snype?" He asked the Sableye.

Snype took a moment to remember their first encounter. "Something about how you try reeaaaallllyy hard about your plans? Kehe." Snype said mockingly.





The Greninja shook his head. "No, no..." He replied and paced to the left a few steps so he could have Obsidian, Snype and Callimer in his sights. He stared at Snype and smile. "When we first met. Thirty years ago. It's been a long time, I know. Let me refreshed your memory... I think it went something like this: Darkness. Chaos. These will always exist."

Gabriel closed his eyes and planted his feet firmly on the ground. A gust swept across the streets, seeming to originate from out of nowhere, but it became apparent then that it began from inside Snype's bag. Slowly, if Snype would peer inside, he would see the object, which took the form of a small, shiny orb, began to dissolve and disappear.

"What the..." Snype checked inside, noticing the obeject he stole start to dissolve. "T...thirty years..? But we didn't... wait... Darkrai? But..."

As he looked up, a dark aura began to cover Gabriel. Dark and purple in color, it twirled around him and covered him completely. Then, through its energies, the Greninja began to transform. His red tongue-scarf was replaced with a red, spiky growth around his neck. His eyes continued to shine icy-blue, though this time even brighter than before. His face and head morphed, with a white, cloud-like ghostly plume forming on top. His entire skin darkened from his natural blue into a deep black. It was no longer a Greninja that stood before them. It was a Pokemon of the same height, but of a completely different class.

"I will never become just a memory," Darkrai stated in a deep, ominous voice.

Snype felt a shiver go up his spine and took one step back. Snype wasn't expecting Darkrai himself to show up! "T...think you'll scare me off that easily?" Snype said somewhat nervously yet cautiously at the same time.

Obsidian slowly began to make his way away form the others to give them space just in case... well, in case one of his trained scenarios would happens, "So... I'm guessing one of two things." The Seeker said, his training helping to keep him calm, "First... you were always Gabe. Or... second, Gabe was a real mon and you just possessed or killed him and took his place. Given that you and Gabe were sighted in the city at the same time, I'm guessing option two is the one to go with."

"D-d-Darkrai?" Cal almost took a step back at the fear coursing through him, then almost took a step forward to attack his foe yet again. In the end he stood stock still, having been just an infant the last time Darkrai was encountered in public memory, he had no idea what to do. He had fought sentinels, been trained against corruption but...less than a minute ago it seemed he had been fighting Darkrai, one on one? It was unfathomable...he could probably have been killed at anytime before he even knew what had happened.

"So not only are you back, but you're here...was there ever even a Gabriel? I have a feeling there was. So why even entertain my attempt to fight you?" He wasn't quite sure what else to say at the moment, he was simply so shocked that he was where he was right then.

Darkrai brought his bright blue eyes to each of the three 'mon in front of him. He set the first on Obsidian. He raised up his arms... and surprisingly merely shrugged. The voice that came out of him was lower, a bit deeper. But it still had the same hints of Gabriel in it. "Could be, could be, who knows? Both sound like pretty good theories. I think telling you would spoil the mystery though," He answered, before turning to Callimer.

"Why, because it looked fun!" Darkrai stated. "You seemed like a capable fighter and to be honest, I spent waaay too long in that stupid crystal," Darkrai put his hands together and feigned acting meticulous. "Plotting. Planning. Waiting for the day I rise back to the earth and claim my blah blah blah," He continued with a low, disturbing chuckle. "Tollen seemed like a good bit of fun, and there was no way I was going to sit this one out! The fun is deep in the action, in the trenches, don't you agree?"

Snype gritted his teeth and took a step forward. "And yet you still lost. You're pretty darn horrible at being subtle you know that? If this is the extent of your power I'm not impressed." Snype taunted, trying to ease up.

Obsidian frowned as he kept his eyes on the legendary, "No he hasn't Snype. He thrives off of chaos. Sure, we stopped the armies from coming in, but now we are fighting his whole army out there. It's still generating chaos for him, but just in a different way." He thought for a moment, "I think... Gabriel was real. He had his own personality and probably his own set of memories. This is just something you can probably do to anyone who accepts your power. Gabriel was saying though... that there was a reason why you got so many followe-"

Darkrai held up a hand and dark, chaotic energy began to close in around Obsidian from the tips of his claws, where he had grabbed hold of the orb before. "Dark Void," Darkrai stated, as the energy began to form around Obsidian. "Hey, come on now, Obsidian, give the King of Thieves some credit! He's right, I technically didn't succeed in my plans for Tollen. And I have you all to thank for that... hmm, looks like Penance taught you well against my chaos abilities. Normally 'mon would have been on their knees by now after touching my orb," Darkrai concluded, and wiped away the chaotic energies around Obsidian, causing him to fall to the floor.

Cal tensed as soon as Darkrai raised his hand to Obsidian, but froze, he knew attacking the lord of chaos would be pointless but...If Darkrai was going to hurt one of them he couldn't just sit and watch, at least he could be safe in the knowledge that Snype hadn't touched the orb. But he had been fighting Darkrai himself, did that mean...?

Obsidian gasped as he fell down, twitching a bit as he grit his teeth, "Penance... t-taught me well..." He grunted, "No Seeker.... will fall.... to you ...." He tried to rise, but grit his teeth as he twitched and sunk back to the ground.

"Obsidian!" Snype shouted as he turned to Darkrai. "Damn you!" Snype shouted as he used Will-o-wisp toward Darkrai.

"Snype no!" The hesitation was gone, he knew it was stupid, but he wasn't going to sit and watch regardless of what happened to him. His wings flexed powerfully and he launched himself at the legendary pokemon, Ice Punch ready to hopefully at least give Obsidian and Snype an opening to escape.

"Don't!" Obsidian cried out, "You two aren't Seekers! Stand back!"

Darkrai held his hands up to both Snype and Callimer as they approached him. The Will-o-wisp was dosed by dark energies, and Cal's Ice Punch shattered before it could reach him. "Dark Void," The Dark One called again as he released his chaotic might upon the Dragonite of the Gold Tribe and the King of Thieves. A third wave was also sent at Obsidian of the Seekers. Surprisingly, the power was less that of an infiltrating chaotic influence and more one that was slowly putting the three asleep.

"Relax," Darkrai began to speak again. "I'm not going to kill you! Not yet at least. Why would I? I need you! You'll leave Tollen, and eventually go to another country to get more aid. And when you do... we'll be there. Making sure you fail... barely. Or succeed! Barely. Because remember... it's not about the endgame here. It's about the fight. The chase!"

Snype felt himself slowly falling asleep, getting to his knees and collapsing on the ground, face first. "Gah... no..." Snype tried to keep himself awake, only to end up in a very deep sleep.

Obsidian struggled as best as he could, panting as he felt his eyes starting to droop, "Don't... don't... hurt them..." He managed to groan out in reference to the psychics of the point as he finally couldn't find anymore and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Don't worry, I won't," Darkrai replied, and turned to the SEC Network Point behind him. "I need them to get out, after all. I can't say the same for your Seeker friends, though," He explained, just as a large, hulking shadow appeared out of the front archway of the building. The familiar sight of the Abomasnow in the suit was seen, dusting himself off as if he had just been in a fight. "Always have a back-up."

"You bastard, you won't stop us, you never will...just like there will always be chaos....there will always..." Cal was crawling towards Darkrai, defiant as possible. But it was to no avail, he only lasted a few feet before his arms gave out and he kept muttering. "Be order...and peace...you're fighting the inevitable too..."And his head hit the ground, completely out.

"For now," Darkrai responded as he floated beside the three Pokemon on the ground. "It was a pleasure to get to know you guys. I think I've gotten a good grip on what kind of 'mon you are. Maybe now you also have a better idea of what kind of 'mon I am too," Darkrai turned and floated away toward the Network Point. "See you!"

General Marcus Tyren looked to his side at the Greninja carrying the Queen. He stared, somewhat angrily, at his colleague and the events that came about that led to this moment. In those moments of pondering, he came up with a revelation, and skidded to a halt along the palace floor.

"What're you doing, Marcus?" Gabriel called back, though he didn't stop running.

"I intend to deal with these foes my way. Take the Queen to the Network if you must. I will be along shortly," General Tyren replied, and fired off an Energy Ball at the group.

Kaveri had just barely managed to avoid the Hitmonlee's Jump Kick, the Floatzel twisting her body around in mid-air as the fighting-type flew past her. It still threw her off, though, as she skidded to the ground on all fours. She glanced back towards the Royal Knights - she was past them, but now Gabe was out of reach as he ran ahead and Tyren now blocked the way. Tail's twitching as she mulled over her choices - though only for the briefest of moments - she then Aqua Jetted her way towards the Escavalier.

"Taking me on all by yourself?" The Escavalier General questioned the incoming Floatzel. He braced himself as she drew nearer, and then raised his arm-lances and fired off two Energy Balls toward his target simultaneously. The balls of energy sailed through the air at a surprisingly accelerated rate on their way to their target. "Your King of Thieves tried a similar tactic. Admirable, but mistak-" General Tyren was cut short as a white-hot fireball billowed across his back.

"Oh, be f*cking quiet," snapped the high-pitched, gravelly voice of Razathiel. "I'm going to kill you very soon - as far as I'm concerned you're already dead - so it'd be far easier on my ears if you just bloody accepted that fact, stopped spouting your pitiful, ill-perceived notions of having a speck of remaining honour and just died." The wizard's Hidden Power relented for a moment as he jumped up to the ceiling.

General Marcus Tyren let out a low, metallic grunt and turned to see who his new opponent was. His eyes scanned the room for a moment to pinpoint the target, but he didn't immediately see anyone until he looked downward to see the smaller Ralts in the wizard hat in front of him. His eyes darted between his Floatzel opponent and the newcomer now moving toward the ceiling. "This is who you've chosen to help you?" The Escavalier questioned Kaveri. "Very well, then."

Kaveri had used Aqua Jet to launch herself out of the path of the two Energy Balls, since she was going too fast to change direction otherwise. She now paused, grinning at the sight of the Ralts. "Tiny! Glad you could drop by." Then, pointing to Raz, she turned to the Escavalier and said defensively, "Hey, he's an evil wizard. Pretty cool. Not good at all."

The Dreadmage took one look at the Floatzel and grimaced, "Oh, lord..."

The Escavalier General extended one lance-arm toward the direction of the Dreadmage, and the other was pointed at the Floatzel. Balls of green energy pooled into his arms and once more he launched a pair of Energy Balls at his targets. "Whoever either of you are, you should have chosen your opponent more carefully."

"F***ck oofffff...!" Razathiel drawled, exasperated. From his position far away on the ceiling, he had ample time to dodge the Energy Ball; the attack hit the alabaster and broke through to the floor above. Raz smirked, diving through the new hole and up onto the next floor. He levitated himself slightly back above the ground before cackling lightly and launching fireballs artillery-style down to the floor below.

A quick Aqua Jet was all that was needed for Kaveri to once again dodge out of the way of the Energy Ball. Then the Floatzel squeaked as fire rained down from above, zipping back out of the way to fire off a few Water Pulses from a distance until Raz's barrage ended. Sure, fire wasn't exactly a big deal for her, but her cloak wasn't exactly fire resistant. Speaking of which... "Think fast!" Kaveri called, pulling her cloak off and tossing it at Tyren.

Tyren held his ground at the onslaught of fireballs being flung at him by the small, surprisingly powerful Ralts. He lifted a lance-arm and created a Protect around him to prevent the balls of flame from reaching him, though throughout the barrage the Protect eventually failed and broke. This caused Tyren to begin to skid left and right to avoid any of the remaining fireballs. One narrowly struck him right on the hair, lighting up a few of the hairs along his helmet. The General turned to the small hole Raz fired from and launched a pair of Energy Balls at him.

However, the energy balls went a bit off course when a cloak was suddenly put over his head by Kaveri. The energy balls instead collided with the marble sealing, caused two additional holes to form and the hallway to shake vigorously. Tyren quickly slashed apart the cloak covering him and then continued his slash toward the Floatzel beside him.

With two further energy balls damaging the structure of the ceiling, Razathiel smirked as a plan formed in his head. The newly formed holes granted the wizard a decent view of Kaveri fighting from a distance before Tyren closed in on her.

"Curses," the Dreadmage muttered in frustration. Yet more annoyance from being forced to fight with allies. He dived back through the original hole, plummeting to the ground before landing in a small cloud of dust with his staff to his side. He launched a fireball at the ground where the Escavalier was, then snickered at the General before speaking. "Bloody hell, you should fire your hairdresser. Pun not intended."

The Escavalier General leaped forward to avoid the fireball, and charged the small Ralts in front of him. He extended one of his lance-arms backwards and thrust it forward, then did the same process with the other. "Look to your own faults, little 'mon."

The lances were sharp and deadly, but they pierced nothing but thin air; Razathiel had, to his partial shame, ducked, reaching unprecedented levels of shortness. Using a small, concussive blast of psychic energy, the wizard propelled himself across the floor and away from Tryen before returning to his feet.

"I'd like to think your faults are more evident, considering they're about to get you killed," He retorted.

Kaveri leaped back as Tyren slashed at her then, as the Escavalier turned to attack Raz, she Aqua Jetted towards his back with the aim of grabbing on - similarly to how she would often tackle Cal from behind. She wasn't really worried about him reaching back and stabbing her - the length of his lance-like arms should make that rather difficult for him, and would give her plenty of time to escape. If she got a good grip on his back, she'd use Ice Fang right on his arm with the intent of weakening his arm, and possibly even freezing it.

Tyren was in the process of striking at Razathiel that he had not gotten a chance to prepare against the hit from behind. However, from the moment he felt Kaveri grab onto him, he utilized an Iron Defense to strengthen his armor in case of an attack, which came soon after in the form of an Ice Fang. He felt the sting of her teeth pierce his armor, though not as fiercely thanks to the extra boost he received defensively. He quickly tried to whirl his body around and strike at Kaveri, first with his lance-arms in the form of X-Scissor, and then as an Energy Ball aimed at his back.

With Tyren busy, Razathiel quickly fired a Psyshock at the ceiling. The alabaster was showing signs of stress now, and he hoped to use that to his advantage.

"Right then, annoying Floatzel goldie," He said, creating fiery energy in his hands, "If you can keep him busy for a while, then get the bloody hell out of there, that'd be great."

Tyren was quite a bit more flexible than Kaveri had expect, but no sweat - well, perhaps just a little as the X-Scissor nipped her side. By the time the Energy Ball came around, though, she'd released her hold and slipped down to the ground to so that the Escavalier would simply end up hitting himself in the back. Then the Floatzel would reach up and grip Tyren's arms, still behind him, and then (after first using Agility again), she'd jump up with Aqua Jet then flip around in the air to slam him down towards the ground.

The Escavalier collided with the ground heavily, his metal body causing the alabaster floors to crack up. However, the General did not stay down for long. With Kaveri still holding onto him, he thrust his Lance-arms into the air at her. They gave off a faint, purple glow, the signs of a Poison Jab. Seeing the other two continue to tussle, Razathiel prepared to unleash his Hidden Power.

"Now would be the time to get the bloody hell out of there..." The mage said under his breath.

Kaveri released her hold on Tyren as the Poison Jab prodded her side, breaking the skin before the Floatzel was about to make her escape with Aqua Jet. It was just in time, too - as she looked over at Raz, it seemed he was ready to enact his plan, whatever it was. She just hoped whatever it was wouldn't take too long - she could feel the poison making her a bit woozy already.

The Dreadmage twirled his staff in hand as he brought his arms around his sides. "Prepare to meet your end!" He cried shrilly, flinging his arms forward and with it, a regular sized Hidden Power fireball.

Tyren returned his gaze from the escaping Floatzel to the tiny Ralts in front of him. He held up his lance-arms in the air again and crafted a Protect around himself to avoid the damage the flames would cause him. "You know, announcing yourself before your attacks is a poor strategy," He declared, as he watched the fireball make contact with the Protect, causing the attack to deflect and fail. Razathiel seemed completely unfazed - rather, he burst into laughter.

"HA! Oh, f*ck me- I'm done with you-" The wizard quickly recovered from his hysterics, slamming his staff into the ground and launching another, oddly bigger fireball from its tip. "Setting yourself up to be proven wrong isn't ideal, either- how would you put it? 'Look to your own faults', dead 'mon. Prick."

The Hidden Power exploded against the already unsteady ceiling, merging with the falling wreckage into a blazing, burning mess of fire and alabaster.

Tyren opened his eyes in realization of being fooled by Raz, and quickly launched another Energy Ball at the blistering attack headed his way. His attack did little except clear out some of the debris heading his way, and the Escavalier found himself unable to hold off the larger fireball. The blazing attack collided with him, and the remaining debris from the ceiling piled on top of him.

Razathiel threw his arms in the air, "Tadaaah!" He said.

Kaveri grinned. "Nicely done, Tiny!" she congratulated. The question was, though, had that been enough?

The Ralts' eyes narrowed, "Do not ever call me that."

"Too late!"

"Bugger," Raz muttered, moving a little closer to the burning pile of rubble. He squatted down, placing a hand on the floor to feel for any vibrations. "We should wait a few moments, then check."

Only a few seconds after the Ralts finished his sentence, however, the pile of rubble seemed to explode outward in green energy as the Escavalier General burst from his supposed tomb of fire and stone. His body seemed charred in certain places, and steam emitted from his skin. He panted heavily, but turned his gaze toward the Ralts.

"Do you think a bit of heat is enough to bring me down?" He questioned, and without waiting for a response, he extended his lance-arms in the same fashion he had been doing when launching Energy Balls prior. However, instead of the familiar glow of green energy, a pure, white energy began to power from them. Marcus Tyren released a large Hyper Beam directed at his small opponent. The Ralts grasped psychically for a chunk of alabaster, but the powerful Hyper Beam made short work of it and powered through - but before it reached Raz, Kaveri had zipped over and snatched him out of the way.

Still holding the Ralts, Kaveri rebounded off of a wall to quickly change her direction back towards Tyren. "Psychic yourself or something!" she cried as she flung Raz as hard as she could towards the Escavalier. Hey, she hadn't had a chance to make a Water Pulse since she'd had to save his hide, so it was only fair.

"What do you- what?" Finding himself suddenly removed from his own controlled movement - admittedly from a good reason, considering it had saved him from heavy damage - the Ralts had little time to get his bearings, and so had little other choice than to go with the immediate option: psychic himself, or something.

Tyren glared angrily at the situation as he saw his Hyper Beam miss his target, being saved by the Floatzel. He cursed angrily under his breath and turned toward the two of them. He was surprised to see the Ralts being flung in his direction once more, but with him having just released his Hyper Beam, his body was extremely tense and unresponsive, meaning he couldn't do much but hold his ground and brace for the oncoming attack. "Mark me with your best, boy!" He declared with unwavering determination, and extended his lance-arms outward.

Having recovered from the initial confusion of being launched against one's own will, Razathiel found where he was headed; directly at Tyren, whose lances were pointed dangerously in his direction. The psychic energy he had formed protectively around himself formed at his front, and after a moment of quick thinking, he launched it away from him and at the Escavalier, halting his momentum and causing him to flip to the ground.

Kaveri hadn't just stupidly thrown him at Tyren, nah. She'd guessed Tyren's attention would be taken up by the flying Ralts as she skirted around to get behind him and use Ice Fang on the part of his arm just before the lance, where it was thinnest - the same spot she'd bitten earlier.

The psychic energy impacted the General right on his chest, caused him to grunt and slide back across the alabaster floor. However, due to his type advantage against Psychic attacks, the General remained upright. The attack also seemed to free up the tensity from Tyren's body, and soon after he prepared to launch a pair of Energy Balls at the Ralts.

However, he suddenly felt the familiar chilling and stinging pain from Kaveri's fangs pierce his arm once more, which threw off one of his energy balls toward the palace wall. After firing the first one at Raz, Tyren used his second lance-arm to try and use an X-Scissor on the Floatzel on his arm.

Realising what he had done earlier, it occurred to Razathiel that the aftermath of his ceiling destruction plan had left him with a surplus of fiery alabaster ammunition, which he lifted to block the energy ball. The wizard launched more rock psychically at Tyren's lance-arms as he used them to attack.

Kaveri caught the motion pretty quickly - seeing as she was holding onto the arm, she was able to notice any movement immediately - but she clamped her fangs harder and let the attack hit her, wincing as it did so but not releasing her grip. She wanted to hold him in place for Raz's attack, though whether it hit or not she'd afterward Aqua Jet herself backward to gain some momentum while still holding onto Tyren, then twist and fling him towards the wall with a Water Pulse following immediately after.

With Tyren assaulting Kaveri, and being somewhat pleased that his attack had landed on his opponent, he didn't expect the barrage of rocks to impact his body. Despite his numerous injuries from Kaveri's fangs and Razathiel's flames, the sturdy Escavalier took the rocks directly across his body and only grunted in his low metallic voice as a response. However, he suddenly felt himself propelled backward with Kaveri's grip, and then flung toward the wall in a pulse of water.

The General collided with the hard alabaster wall and fell to the ground. He inhaled sharply, and then exhaled and forced himself up with his lance-arms. "There are warriors on every side, it seems," The General commented, and backed away slowly but shakily from Kaveri and Raz. He looked to see that they both were in his sights. "Good form," He praised.

"Fuck off," Raz countered.

The General then extended his lance-arms once more at the two of them. Two individual Energy Balls formed once more. However this time, the General placed the energies together and formed from the two, one larger, more powerful energy ball. The uber Energy Ball took up a large portion of the space down the hallway of the Palace, leaving little room to maneuver. As he began to release it, his own lance-arms dented and cracked from the pressure and magnitude of the attack.

"Gah, bastard!" The Dreadmage exclaimed, quickly grabbing all the alabaster rubble he could manage in his psychic grip and attempting to hastily entomb the Escavalier before diving out of the nearest window.

Kaveri's eyes widened slightly at the size of the Energy Ball and whistled. "Woah." She didn't spend a lot of time admiring it, though. Raz already seemed to have himself taken care of, so the Floatzel shot herself upwards past the collapsed ground of the next floor with an Aqua Jet, grabbing onto one of the window sills on the next floor and hanging from it above the reach of the mega Energy Ball.

Tyren felt all of his energy deplete him following the release of the mega Energy Ball, which continued through the hallway undeterred, ripping apart anything that stood in its way until it came to a crashing halt at the other end. Tyren lowered his lance-arms and watched as rocks were flung across his body. General Marcus Tyren slowly closed his eyes as each rock collided with him and covered him. "Tollen is my home, Tollen is my tomb," He muttered in his metallic voice, one last time.

Razathiel poked his head over a window tentatively, "... Is he dead?"

Kaveri dropped down from her perch, blinked at the pile of rocks, then promptly flopped down on her back. The poison had only been slight so she'd been able to ignore it for most of the battle, but now that the rush of adrenaline was gone, she found that she was feeling much too dizzy to stand.

Rushing from the side of the palace, Deputy Commander Elewyn arrived with half a dozen Royal Knights. She observed the destruction of the hallway in the palace with shock, and looked over both Kaveri and Raz before her eyes set on the entombed General Tyren, who was barely seen in the pile of rocks, defeated and quite possibly dead.

"He's gone..." Elewyn murmured under her breath.

"Oh, yeah," Razathiel said, poking Kaveri mercilessly in the face with a Pecha berry, "He was a massive piece of sh*t."

She hastily turned to the other Royal Knights and spoke again. "Bring healers for the two of them!" She ordered, then walked over to the two victors. "Are you two alright? You just took out one of Tollen's best fighters."

"Juffsh ffrine," Kaveri slurred, waving her paw dismissively as she blinked rapidly up at Elewyn. Then she frowned as she realized something was touching her face, the Floatzel swatting at it until she realized it was a berry and she was rather hungry, so she turned her head to chomp down on it.

"Tell me, Ampharos, do I look like an amateur to you?" Razathiel snapped, "Now be sure that Tyren is indeed dead; he has faked death once already, bastard that he is."

"Well..." Elewyn began to answer Raz, but thought better of it and stayed silent. She motioned for the other Royal Knights to examine the General's body. They began to carefully remove the pile of rubble on top of his body, and then when his head was in view, they checked his pulse, and then shook their head at Elewyn. "He is gone."

"I don't trust you," Raz turned his head, aloof, hopping over to check himself before coming to the same conclusion. He gestured to Kaveri. "Will she recover from the poison?" By this time the Floatzel had finished eating the berry and was now sleeping peacefully.

"We will have our healers examine her, but she should make a full recovery," Elewyn responded with a smile. "As will you. Also it will please you to learn that the Queen was recently returned to the palace, so you and your companions have my heartfelt thanks for that."

The Dreadmage grimaced, "Save my f*cking bowels. Bloody hell." He turned to Kaveri and let out a disappointed sigh before waddling away. "Can't win 'em all. Righto, f*ck this, I'm out. See you bastards when you come crawling for the help of me, Razathiel the Dreadmage, most powerful evil wizard in the realms who just did you a massive f*cking service, pricks, do all this and they can't even let me kill a few innocent bystanders like I'm supposed to, not even so much as a f*cking coupon..."

"-uys... Guys!" Guardia exclaimed, as she shook the three Pokemon one by one that were lying along the street in front of Argime's SEC building. "Are you alright? What the hell happened to you?"

Obsidian groaned slowly, his Seeker training kicking back in as he tried to fight off the remnants of sleep in his mind. "... The point..." He groaned, "Get to the point! He was.... there..." He fell silent as the wheels in his head turned, "What... what time is it?"

"GRUH!" As soon as he opened his eyes Cal shot up and swung his fist at the air, narrowly missing Guardia before he stumbled. He only stood for a moment before all them muscles he'd just dared to use were racked with spasms both from all the abuse they took before, and from jumping to attention so fast after waking up. The Emerald Sentinel crumpled back to the ground with a grunt and landed in a heap face-down. "Wh-where is he?! Don't let him get near Kav..."

"Gah!" Guardia yelled as she stepped back to avoid the Dragonite's punch. "Easy, big guy. It's just me. Where's who? What happened here? Where's Gabriel?" She asked, then turned to Snype and also tried to shake him awake. "Hey!"

Snype slowly opened up his eyes, before quickly shooting open. "a-a-AAHHHH!!!" Snype screamed out as he scooted back, breathing heavily. The Sableye looked absolutely terrified. Like he just woke up from a horrible nightmare. "H-he was here! Right in front of our face...! I couldn't do anything against him..." Snype shivered uncontrollably. He was a wreck. The Sableye wanted to convince himself that he wasn't afraid of Darkrai but it was simply unavoidable.

"So much work." The huge green lump muttered on the ground. "All never to feel helpless again, damn it all...Utterly useless."

"What are you guys talking about?!" Guardia demanded from the three of them. "Who was here?!"

"Darkrai!" All three (or Snype and Cal) shouted in fearful unison.

"...D-darkrai?" Guardia repeated back in shock. "He was here?"

"The Network Point." Obsidian grunted as he managed to get onto his feet, "Gab-Darkrai went there. There... might not be a point left." He murmured. "Crud."

Guardia began to shake almost uncontrollably. She looked down at her palms to see herself experience this fear. She thought it pathetic. She didn't even see the legendary and yet the fact that he was here brought an uncontrollable chill to her. "Uh... I just came from there. It seemed like someone did a number on it. Psychics are alive but... there's a few dead 'mon in there."

Obsidian sighed, "Damn... is the network machine still standing?" He asked as he stretched his limbs, quickly shaking off the last of his weariness. "I have to get back and report to Penance."

Snype was curled up, extremely shaken up both by his encounter and whatever he saw during his long nap. It felt both pathetic and embarrassing to be seen like this. The King of Thieves curling into a ball like a baby.

Guardia glanced briefly at Snype. He seemed to have been taking the encounter hard. She couldn't blame him. She remember how she felt when they first met Darkrai thirty years prior. It was a feeling she didn't think she could ever forget. "... yeah it's still there," Guardia replied to Obsidian. "In fact, they were saying they had something to say to us, when we had the time. I figure when we rest we can see what they wanted." She walked over to Callimer and offered him a hand to get up.

Cal accepted Guardia's help, but once he was up, it was all he could do to stay on his feet, his legs felt like sore, pained jelly.

Snype shot up, gasping loudly. "T-the queen! I-is she safe?! I gotta check on her!" Snype quickly remembered, trying to get up but quickly stumbling.

"Hey!" Guardia yelled and quickly moved over to grab Snype before he fell down. "Easy there, tough guy. The Queen is fine. She was brought back to the palace a little while ago. Relax."

Snype panted heavily, moving himself closer to Guardia. "Gah... tha...that's good...ugh... damn him! I hate feeling so helpless! We had him cornered but we couldn't do a damn thing to stop him!" Snype said in an upset tone, still shivering uncontrollably.

Obsidian sighed, "Penance always had training... yet no one took it. When you learn to lucid dream such techniques can't really harm you." He straightened his back, and looked as good as ever, "You said the psychics wished to speak to us?" He asked Guardia. "Hopefully Darkrai didn't do anything besides giving them a small fright."

"We should go over and see them again, anything we can learn about after we fell asleep would be a comfort." Cal took one step, and then on the second his leg gave out and he knelt down, gritting his teeth. "Oh yeah, I guess I probably should have mentioned...I fought him..."

"You guys are in NO condition to go anywhere!" Guardia stated as she cast a somewhat frustrated glare at them. "Some guys from the Royal Knights are coming in a bit to take you all to the palace to rest. We can deal with all this after... wait a minute, did you say you fought him?! Darkrai?"

"Well...yeah, I guess I did. He didn't reveal himself till all was said and done...I never stood a chance, I doubt I even phased him." Cal's face was suddenly overtaken by a bashful smile. It didn't really hit him until he heard Guardia's surprise that he had really fought a legendary pokemon with his own two hands.

"Reveal himself?" Guardia repeated what Callimer had said. "Wait a minute, are you saying that Gabriel... was Darkrai?!"

"Aw geeze, my brain is more scrambled than I thought, that should have been the first thing I said. We don't know when it happened, but at some point Gabriel was either replaced by Darkrai...or absorbed into him. I got the sense that either Gabriel was still...there in some capacity, either that or Gabe was lost before we ever encountered him."

"Replaced? Absorbed?" Guardia repeated incredulously. "What exactly did happen there? What did he do?"

"L-like, Darkrai was there but at the same time he was talking exactly like Gabe! Like he was totally posessed by Darkrai or something like that! I dunno I can't put two and two together..." Snype said, holding onto Guardia.

Guardia looked down at Snype and shook him loose, despite feeling somewhat sorry for the guy. "What does that even mean? Can Darkrai even possess other 'mon like that directly? I guess he sort of did that in a sense thirty years ago, but it was never direct possession. Damn it! I wish we had more answers!"

Snype crossed his arms and sighed. "Sorry for... that. But... Darkrai's pretty much gone from Tollen. I'd say victory is ours for today right...?" Snype said, trying to regain his composure.

Cal, meanwhile was still staring off in space, having no idea what to say despite his demeanor being more calm than Snype's at the moment. He thought he was just still in shock, until he tried to stand up again and his vision suddenly exploded with stars and waves of blackness and he started to wobble. He once again fell and barely managed to catch himself in a kneeling position with all the strength he still had in his arms. The Dragonite covered his face as best he could while he tried to gather his wits, then with no warning he punched the ground, surprising everyone gathered by putting enough strength behind it to bury his hand in the pavement.

"USELESS! I fought with everything ! had, every fiber of my being and he was just toying with me! My life was in his hands the entire time, he could have ended me at any moment the fancy had hit him! My all was just the entertainment of a mad'mon..."

Guardia jumped a bit at the sight of Callimer punching the ground for the way his encounter with Darkrai went. She suddenly found herself at a loss for words. What could she do to comfort him at this point? Her own interaction with Darkrai was just as short as his, and she also wasn't entirely successful in defeating the 'mon. Indeed, at this point there seemed very little that could defeat or stop the legendary. And as of yet there were no signs of that.

"We're going to bring him down, Sentinel," Guardia declared. "I know we will. I promise. We just... we just need to find out how."

"For now... I think we need to sit down and just take a breather. This past week has been pretty crazy for all of us... settling down for a few days would be a good idea I'd say... even with Darkrai out there as we speak..." Snype said.

Callimer didn't respond to either of them right away, continuing to stare at the spot he punched. "I need to see Penance...something's not right. I can't..." His vision swam again. "Everything is strange."

Obsidian stared over at him with a frown, "As a precaution... we should knock you out. With that fight a chaotic personality could come out. Similar to Paradox. Except you have no Seeker training, and you aren't able to defend your mind well. We'll also have to get you into an able to easily kill position." He looked at Guardia, "If he does turn we can't have him defecting to Darkrai's side. Better to kill him than let him become a slave."

"We're not going to knock him out!" Guardia said somewhat frustratingly, shooting an angry glare at Obsidian. "You're starting to sound more like Penance. "Some Royal Knights should be here soon to help me get you guys to the palace. Then we can figure this out."

"Did I hear, help?" A voice called out.

Obsidian looked over at the voice and smiled a bit weakly, "Alex..." He said. It seemed that some help had arrived, and the Gallade, still dressed in his magician's garb, had come as well.

"Quite a doozy that's happened, huh?" Alex asked his friend with a weak smile. "I hope you didn't get hurt too badly. Would have been a shame to have to carry you back to the castle cause of a broken leg."

Obsidian smiled a bit, "Well, good thing you're here, I-" Then he paused as he noticed the familiar sparkle on Alex's arm. "... I forgot..." Obsidian murmured. "Alex... get to Cal quickly. He got hit by some chaos."

Alex frowned and looked over at the green dragon, "Did you now? Good thing I came over, right?"

"I, uh..." Cal shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "If you've got something that could help, by all means, I sort of had a run in with Darkrai you see."

"Give me a checkup too. I've been in pretty close contact before all this." Snype said.

As Alex walked over he smirked as his bracelet began to glow. The closer he got to Cal the brighter it glowed. He slipped it off his arm and placed it on Cal for a fraction as a light burst out. The weariness Cal had suddenly faded in a moment as Alex stepped back, "Seems you're all clear... and let's see..." He pointed the bracelet at Snype, but there was no reaction. As he walked toward Obsidian the bracelet glowed again and he placed it on his friend, a smaller flash emanating out.

"I think that's all that was needed." He said as he put it back on. "Unless anyone else was hit by it?"

Obsidian looked over at Guardia. "The psychics might have had contact with Darkrai. You think we should bring Alex over to them?"

"Could be worth a try," Guardia replied as she saw the bracelet work its magic on the three of them. "Why didn't Snype get any reaction?"

"He didn't have any chaos on him." Alex stated with a shrug, "That's at least what I understand from it. He probably overestimated being touched by Darkrai or being infected with his chaos."

Obsidian nodded, "And we can see what they want to tell us. If anything happened to the network point, such as a corrupting touch, we can use the bracelet there too." He said.

Cal blinked and didn't move at first. When he did, he found that he could actually think clearly, like a fog had been lifted from his head. "Thank you so much, I feel so much better. Even if my muscles are still screaming at me to stop moving. I think we should check the network point as well, that was how Gab - Darkrai intended to escape before we pushed him hard enough to reveal himself, who knows if he might have still done anything."

Obsidian nodded again, "I'm not sure of the extent of his power, but he could have just corrupted the whole network point so anyone coming in through it or leaving through it might end up with a bit of corruption. We can't take any risks now."

"If it helps..." Snype took off his bag and carefully reached inside, pulling out the vial he had found before. "Perhaps one of you should look into this? We know it's the poison that killed the Prince and all that but maybe one of you could figure out something more about it?" Snype said. The vial was safely wrapped in cloth. "Just don't touch it though that oughta be obvious." Snype added.

Alex frowned and looked at the bracelet that didn't even react, "Nothing is happening. So I guess it's not something that Darkrai made."

Snype raised a brow. "B-but... when I touched it I saw him! That's impossible... as soon as I touched it he spoke to me and everything!" Snype looked down at the vial and carefully unwrapped the cloth...the liquid ended up being completely clear rather then the dark liquid that was shown off to the crowd in the Banquet. "Wha... it's gone! Gah... guess it dissapeared when Darkrai did..." Snype said with a sigh.

"Almost like he completely wrote off Tollen when he left, so there was no reason to let some of his power linger if it would be ineffectual." Cal said quietly to himself.

Guardia actually seemed a bit relieved. "Well, at least it didn't react because the poison was immune or anything, that probably would have been the worst... you guys think you'll be able to walk to the Network Point over there, or would you rather I bring them over to you?" She asked the others.

"Y-yeah I think I can make it..." Snype said, feeling a bit dissapointed as he looked at the vial. Nothing was left but he placed it back into his bag nonetheless. Maybe it'd be useful in the future.

Obsidian shrugged, "I'm fine for it."

"Yup, never better." Cal grunted, doing his best to hide his grimace of pain. Fighting Darkrai was...well it felt worse than everything they'd dun on the way to Tollen. He wasn't sure how he was moving besides maybe pure adrenaline.

Guardia nodded and proceeded toward the Network Point in front of them. She made occasional glances behind her to make sure the others were following and were alright walking forward. They reached the opening archway and proceeded inside. A few Royal Knights were inside, seemingly patrolling the area. The bodies that were previously inside seemed to have been removed, but the blood stains around were still present. A good portion of the SEC building seemed frozen, or was in the process of being defrosted. Guardia assumed it was from the Abomasnow.

The Psychics were in front of the Network Point, receiving treatment and food from a Chansey. Besides the weariness they had when Guardia first entered Tollen, they didn't seem much different. The Meowstic from the Network Psychics looked up at them and beamed. "Hey there!" She greeted happily, though somewhat tiredly.

Alex pulled off his bracelet and began to walk along the psychics, holding it out to them one by one. He even went up to the machine itself to move his bracelet over it. Meanwhile Obsidian looked over at them, then back at Guardia. "Uh... Guardia said you had a message for us?" He asked them.

"I got nothing." Alex reported as he slipped the bracelet back on.

"Yeah, we do," The Meowstic replied happily. "We were on lockdown for a while, not being able to contact places or anything. But while we were, we did occasionally get a message in. Most were filtered out or blocked when they could be, but there was one in particular we thought you might want to know about. It mentioned a legendary. Cresselia."

Cal had sat down to rest once they arrived, but at the mention of Cresselia he shot up instantly, all of his pain forgotten for the moment. "What?!? What about Cresselia?"

Obsidian frowned at that, "... I see... and you all weren't the least bit spooked when Darkrai himself came up to you to ask for a lift out of here?" He crossed his arms, "Or was it Gabe and his lackey that you two met? Don't you see all this blood around here?" He looked at Guardia will a confused expression. How were these psychics NOT traumatized by all of this yet?"

The Psychics instantly shot their eyes to the ground and frowned. The Meowstic's smile vanished and she shook. "D-darkrai? We didn't see... he was here? All we saw was the Abomasnow that killed the others and forced us to open up the Network. And then Gabriel later. D-d-darkrai was here too?!"

"So, he can become Gabriel again at will." Cal muttered, then stared down at the floor. "I want to yell about him being let through...but trying to stop him would have been the stupidest thing any of you could have done."

"Right." Obsidian muttered. "Most likely it'll change though. If he can become Gabe then he could become any mon. Do you know where they went?" He asked the psychics, "Any place they went is a place of interest. Where have you teleported them before?"

The Meowstic clutched her head. "Ugh... the Abomasnow must've done something to scramble us... but I believe they went South. To Trualcall. But I can't be sure."

"Trualcall?" Snype wondered aloud. "I've uh...never heard of that place before actually. Heh." Snype said.

"It's a city-state south of Tollen, just before bandit territory," Guardia replied. "I stopped there years ago in the Gold Tribe travels as we were exploring, on our way to Tollen. They aren't the friendliest bunch, but they more or less wanted nothing to do with any alliances or pacts, so we mostly left them be. They did agree to a Network Point being set up there, probably for trade use," She explained.

"What I'm more interested in is how the hell Darkrai could transform into other Pokemon, and, if we can get back to it, what the hell that message about Cresselia was!" Guardia concluded, looking a bit irritated. She hoped Obsidian wasn't right, that Darkrai could transform into any 'mon he wanted to. How would that even be possible? It wasn't a power she was aware he had.

"Yes, I thought about it when Obsidian brought it up. I wonder if Darkrai can just change his shape? Or if he absorbs victims into some sort of space inside him and he can turn into any of them? Which would lead to him probably absorbing more pokemon in his next destinations, especially important ones like Gabriel. And really, what about Cresselia?"

"Yeah get on with it. I'd like to know what's going on here." Snype added.

"Oh... unfortunately I don't actually have the message saved," She explained apologetically. "You see, when information is distributed through the Network, sometimes it goes to the team of Psychics, but sometimes one of us pinpoints it and acquires it specifically. In this case, my brother was the one who acquired it months ago. It may have been one of the reasons he was moved outside of the city," She said with a slight bow of her head. "Oh, but they are on their way back to Argime as we speak. If all goes well, they should be here in a few days! He can tell you then when he arrives!" She stated happily.

"We can't wait for them to get back." Cal stated with no hesitation. "We have to send someone - if not our whole group - after them as soon as possible."

"In our condition that'd be a bit tough... Darkai already removed all traces of himself from Tollen so I doubt he'd be in serious danger... still wouldn't hurt to have some insurance if anybody is willing." Snype said.

"I hear they're going to send some Royal Knights through the Network to escort them," The Meowstic replied. "I also hear Alistair has volunteered to be in the escort. But either way, with them carrying the Network Machine with them, the trip won't take shorter than two days, I wager. I'm sorry. But perhaps this will give you an opportunity to rest."

"You know that'd actually be pretty nice actually. I have a couple loose ends to take care of here before I leave after all..." Snype said, scratching at his chin a bit.

Obsidian was already walking off, "I have to get to Penance now. I guess you all can stay here and talk, but action yields where words have no avenues." He simply stated as he began to dash off.

"I dont' need a break, I'm in a position of authority now! I have to help Guardia!" Not one to rest on his laurels Cal set about to help prepare for the more relaxed affairs of their group in Tollen...And got all of three steps before he fell flat on his face and mumbled into the ground. "Ok, maybe some time to relax wouldn't be so bad..."

"Probably best for everyone," Guardia replied as she walked over to Cal and patted his back gently. She admired his determination and resilience, those qualities being just a few of the reasons she chose him for her second-in-command position. "It's not every day you get to stare down a legendary and live to talk about it, after all."

"Am I alive? I think my nerves disagree with you."

Guardia had been shaken with the concept of Darkrai appearing in Tollen. She thought about it the entire time back to the palace. Even though she herself hadn't seen him, she was feeling anxious. She could only imagine what Obsidian, Callimer and Snype must have been going through. Still she kept her mouth shut, figuring the best course would be to not bring it up at all. She instead departed their company and allowed them to seek help for their injuries. She instead went to go check up on the rest of the group, and how they fared against the Royal Knights and General Marcus Tyren. As the Zangoose approached the courtyard, she came upon a peculiar sight; Razathiel stood on one of the tables, attacking various cakes into slices before scarfing a few down in random order.

The Gold Tribe leader noticed the Ralts by his outlandish wizard hat. She doubted she would have been able to spot him otherwise among the taller tables and tents set up. She approached the wizard, and picked up conversations going around her in the process.

"Get that tent down, Ealire!" A Machop stated to a nearby Flaafy.

"I'm doing it now, Jave! Get off my back!" The Flaafy answered back. Guardia ignored the conversation and continued toward the Dreadmage.

"Getting some post-victory snacks?" She questioned Raz with a smirk.

The wizard stopped chewing and looked to her with one eyebrow scrutinously raised. He swallowed, then realised that nothing was really all that wrong with what Guardia had said.

"Oh. Yes!" He announced, taking another slice and depositing it in his mouth.

"So I'm guessing you kicked that Escavalier's a*s," Guardia assumed and hopped on top of one of the empty tables. "Did you have much trouble against him?"

Raz scoffed, folding his arms and speaking with a mouth full of cake, "Mere child's play for a 'mon of my talents!"

"Well, at least that's one Agent down, so it's not a total loss," Guardia replied with a shrug and a shake of her head. "The others didn't really do as well but you can't blame them."

"They-" The wizard swallowed his cake. "They didn't do so well?"

"Gabriel got away, through the Network Point."

"He- he fucking what? Giratina damn it all, I'd like to see those pricks run a prison..."

"It wasn't exactly their fault," Guardia interjected in their defense. "Turns out it wasn't just a powerful Greninja they were fighting. He... transformed... into Darkrai."

The Ralts raised an eyebrow. "Darkrai," He repeated.

"Yeah," She confirmed. "I can't really explain it. It doesn't make sense to me, but apparently he transformed during their pursuit and took them all out."

"Casualties?"

"None, thankfully," Guardia replied. "They're all a bit shaken up but they'll live."

The wizard looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged and took a small bite of cake. "Any other news?" He asked.

"The Queen is safe back at the palace, and the rest of Tyren and Gabriel's forces that were still in Argime were either defeated or surrendered," Guardia replied. She crossed her arms and looked up at the sky to recall anything else, then continued. "Oh, and those psychics you rescued from outside in the forests have some information about Cresselia, I think! They're coming to the capital. They should be here in a few days."

"Hm, let's hope they have something good."

"Yeah," Guardia agreed. "Speaking of the forests, how did everything go out there? You didn't kill any innocents, did you?"

Raz scowled, "Rubbing it in my face, are you? No, I did not kill any 'innocents'..." He took another bite of cake, leaning on his staff nonchalantly, "Although I'm not sure Penance could say the same - no idea why you were ever bothered with me with that maniac ducking around right by your side..."

"What?" Guardia questioned as she leaped off the table she had been sitting on casually. She had an expression of a combination of nervousness and anger. "What did he do?!"

"Jumping orbs of psychic energy without a proper contingency to prevent friendly fire. Would be quite brilliant, if it weren't horrendously stupid. I'd kill him for it."

"Arceus damn it, that idiot!" Guardia cursed angrily. "I thought sending you and that mad'mon out into the wilds with Callimer would mean I wouldn't have to deal with your insanity, but that stupid duck just had to find a way to screw sh*t up!" She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She put two fingers on her nose and exhaled slowly. "OK, OK. This might not be that bad. Just how bad was it?"

"Oh, oh, I'd say... easily five. Five thousand allies."

Guardia's jaw dropped. "Did you say five thousand? Five thousand?!"

"Or six thousand, yes. Or was it seven?"

"... I'm going to kill him," Guardia concluded. "He's dead. I'm going to kill him and be done with all of this stupid Seeker nonsense. I don't care how much he can help, he's dead."

"Could be twelve, actually. Twelve thousand."

Guardia turned to Raz and raised an eyebrow. "Wait... he killed twelve thousand on his own?" She asked, beginning to get skeptic. "You're screwing with me, aren't you, you little sh*t?"

The wizard cackled, "Come now, there's no need for name-calling; words hurt, you know," He popped more cake into his mouth, "But yes, somewhere along the lines of five or six. Thousands not included."

Guardia sighed in relief. "Thank Arceus," She exhaled. "That's manageable. Still not cool, but at least we can work around it. At least he didn't screw everything up. Why did he do it?"

"Well," Raz said, wandering over to some jelly and psychically plopping some into his mouth. "The obvious answer is stupidity, other than that simply lack of care; the only casualties were the enemy and a few Hellguards, though it could have easily bounced to either of those tribeys, given the chance." He wiped his mouth and took a bit of different jelly. "Given his reaction from being whacked in the face, he wasn't entirely aware of his actions - my guess, he was trapped diving into his own madness. Or deeper than usual, at any rate... regardless, this jelly is rather nice."

Guardia seemed concerned about Penance's actions. She didn't say anything out loud except for a low 'hmm' under her breath, but she seemed to be deliberating on something for the moment. This could potentially turn into a problem, especially if it persists. Penance's recent secrets he kept, as well as his always-unpredictable behavior made him dangerous. She had learned to tolerate him over the years, but she had not quite learned to trust him.

"Hey Raz, do you think you can do me a favor?" She asked the Ralts.

The mage frowned, suspicious, "If you want this jelly, it's absolutely all mine."

"No, no keep your damn jelly," Guardia stated with a lift of her paw. "It's about Penance. I'm gonna do my best to keep an eye out on him. But I could always use an extra pair of eyes, especially if he gets into one of his moods. Think you can do that for me? It'll give you an excuse to knock some sense into him."

Razathiel didn't respond for a short moment. "I'm well inclined to do so anyway, but I'd rather have a bit of security for if and when I decide to engage in sudden combat with someone who is supposedly an ally," He said. "I'd rather not have anyone on my arse when I'm trying to do them a favour."

"If it comes to that, I'll back you up," Guardia assured the Ralts. "They'll understand."

"And if, in the heat of the moment, you aren't present? Hm?" Raz questioned, folding his arms. "I will do what I can, but Penance is your problem, and I have no intention of him being mine."

"I'll try to keep us together to avoid running into that situation," Guardia responded. "But if you find yourself alone and he's doing something really threatening, like not just acting his usual insane or maniacal self but if he's jumped the ship and gone way overboard, like way way overboard, then I'm giving you the green light to do whatever you have to in order to stop him. And if I find myself in the same position, I'll do the same. I'm not asking you to put yourself out there, but like you said, do what you can."

"Then why the bloody hell are you asking for that which I give freely? Might as well ask me to start being as evil as can be; the joke there is that I'm already as evil as can be."

"I got that," Guardia stated, referring to Raz's joke. "I just wanted to make sure. Don't fill up too much on cake. It'll get you soft, Razorspheal."

"You f*cking what?"

"Just teasing," Guardia said with a smirk. "Get some rest, for now. I figure we'll need it after what everyone's been through. The nobles gave us all rooms in the palace."

"Rest is for the weak," Raz snapped, returning to his jelly. "And the nobles can go to hell for all I care. I'd suggest keeping them away from me if you want those rooms for long."

"I'll pass on the message," Guardia agreed with a nod of her head. She somewhat surprised herself by how used to Raz she was getting. But she supposed with Darkrai being around, she didn't have the luxury of being picky.

The wizard thought for a moment as he ate some more jelly. "So if these network bastards are taking a few days, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

Guardia shrugged her shoulders. "What do you want to do?"

"What can I do?"

"As long as you're not hurting anybody, physically or emotionally, or damaging anything, anything," She responded.

Raz scoffed, "Well that rules out anything I want to do."

Guardia pondered for a moment. "How about some candy or ice cream? I hear Kaveri or Snype found some place good around Argime."

The Ralts grinned, "You make an interesting proposition," He admitted, opening his Magic Room and starting to psychically shovel some of the banquet's leftovers into various containers. "Where exactly has my minion got to, anyway?"

"He's getting some medical treatment in the palace," Guardia answered. "You can probably find him in his room, or in the medical center, if they have one."

Razathiel shut his Magic Room, twirled his staff in hand and turned in the direction of the palace. "Very well. To the palace I go!" He stopped to place a bit of cake in his mouth and announced something that sounded like it could have been an insult, then darted off in the direction of the palace.

Unknown Territory- Snype and Raz

Snype was in his room, laying down on his bed and trying to relax from his previous encounter. He was still extremely shaken up both by his encounter with Darkrai and the Dark Void attack he was hit by. He seemed to be staring at the vial that had previously held Darkrai's poison. Now it was but a regular liquid. Snype would normally just throw it away but he seemed content just holding onto it. A Chansey in the room would also be assisting to Snypes wounds from the previous battle. His robe and bag were placed to the side as she carefully wrapped up any wounds on his body. He took a pretty rough hit from his crash landing in the Candy Store.

"Man, that's two times I'm stuck in a bed. Blasted agents." Snype mumbled to himself.

"Please try not to move so much sir Snype. I don't want to make your wounds any worse." The Chansey replied. Snype simply sighed and layed on his back, still looking up at the vial. Suddenly, from outside of the room came a loud thud. A distinctly high pitched and gravelly voice, muffled slightly, carried through the walls.

"Listen here, you cretin! You are up to your eyes in sh*t you cannot possibly understand! I need that door open and your mouth shut, am I clear?"

A slightly softer thud followed, and soon afterwards, the door opened slightly and in waddled Razathiel, the Dreadmage. The Ralts spared a glance at the Chansey before hopping up on his staff and giving a quick 'yo'.

Snype and the Chansey looked over to Raz. "Ah hey. Kehe. Nice of ya to drop by. Sorry ya gotta see me like this. Kehe. Had a bit of a rough trip back there. Dunno if ya heard or not." Snype said as he looked over to the Chansey again. She'd continue tending to Snype's wounds seeing how Snype wasn't bothered by Raz's intrusion.

"So I hear ya gave Tyren a good all beating up eh? Good. Friggin slimeball snuck up on me earlier in town. Glad he got a bit of payback." Snype said.

Razathiel chuckled and nodded, "Oh, yes, he is very dead. Very dead indeed - regardless, I heard about Darkrai. It-" He grimaced, "It happened, I haven't much to say on the matter. We need only increase our wariness and otherwise refuse to dwell on such things. Out of curiosity - how is your condition?"

Snype looked down at his wrapped up body and shrugged. "Eh, this isn't nearly as bad as what happened yesterday. I kinda hate this is the second time I've been stuck in a bed and all. I feel kinda naked without all of my gear on me. Kehe. But thanks to being able to use Recover and all of that I ought to be alright pretty soon. I think I'll let the wounds heal themselves though. Recover takes alot of energy out of me to just use on the fly like that. But Mentally? I guess I could be better. That Dark Void attack is something else." Snype explained.

"Dark Void..." The Dreadmage said, slowly and deliberately as he hopped off of his staff and onto the edge of the bed. "What is its size and shape? What does it do?"

Snype blinked as Raz hopped onto the bed. "Well uh... think like, Hypnosis but way worse. Being Darkrai, he even decided to throw in a nasty little nightmare on top of that. Pretty huge effect I'd say and in my state it was pretty much impossible to resist. Its kind of hard to explain." Snype said.

"Nightmares are a part of Darkrai's nature, they make up his being - I'm not sure he can even control that. To induce sleep in such a way as Hypnosis does, but worse..." The Ralts seethed with anger, and he swiped his staff through the air in frustration. "Diabolical. Cheap. Pathetic... Sadistic. It can't be enough to have despicable goals, the way he goes about achieving them has to be despicable as well. This Darkrai will burn for eternity in the deepest pits of the Torn World, mark my words..."

Snype gave a nervous grin. "Heh. Well glad ya feel that way. I really wanna give him a piece of my mind too. Course can't really do a thing in my current state..." Snype said with a shrug. "Kehe, so just dropped by to check on me eh? Didn't think ya cared that much about your minions." Snype said a bit teasingly.

"Pff, not at all," Raz dismissed the accusation with a wave of his hand, seething rage completely forgotten. "I came for information; you imply that I care, or even know what caring is or how to go about caring. Caring holds no concept for a paragon of evil such as I, for caring-" He paused to retch slightly, "-gah, I, erm... I think I said 'caring' one too many times. Anyhow, a certain golden prickhead told me you might have found a good ice-cream place around Argime..."

Snype grinned. "Kehe, well I know of a Candy Store that I kinda crashed into but it should still be standing. Somewhere in Argime I believe. As for Ice Cream ya might wanna ask Kav. She had a bit of a sugar high not too long ago. Kehe." Snype said.

"Kav? Kaveri?" Raz questioned, "That isn't that blasted Floatzel, is it?"

"Yup that'd be her. Probly healing up in the Palace as well. Kehe... say by the way, you gonna be busy tomorrow night? I'm thinking of dropping by a certain place to party with a few buddies I made here in Tollen. Kehehe. Pretty sure they'll have free drinks and everything." Snype asked.

The wizard grimaced, "Seeing as all we're doing for now is waiting a few days for the network pricks to show up, I doubt I'll be doing anything much. Is this the ice cream place, or what?"

"Its pretty close to the Ice Cream place so hey two birds with one stone! Kehe. Whadya say? Ice cream and free drinks on top of that!" Snype said with a big ol grin. "Course if you're busy here that's fine. Guess somebody's gotta make sure nothing else crazy happens here from "certain" mon." Snype said with a huff.

"Ice cream and free drinks sounds like something I should be demanding, so very well. Certain 'mon, you say?"

"Yeah. I figure Penance is in the Palace. He'll probly cause some sort of trouble knowing him. Tsk. I'm sure Guardia has it mostly covered though. Kehe. I might have to chat with her too while I'm stuck in here." Snype said. "But hey looking forward to seeing ya there! Never knew you were to type to drink!" Snype said with a big ol grin.

Raz raised an eyebrow, confused. "Not the type to drink? Liquids are key to survival; you think I live off of evil, or something? I mean, I certainly would if I could, but certain things just don't work."

"Haha, comon I mean beer! Alcohol and all that silly! Stuff you bring to parties! An evil fella like you should have a bit of fun every so often!" Snype said with a chuckle. "Unless you're a little afraid to a bit tipsy off your toes... er... if you have those anyways." Snype said, glancing down where Raz's feet would supposedly be.

The Ralts' left eyebrow raised above where his wizard hat met with his forehead. He glanced down at his feet and poked them tentatively with his staff, before turning his gaze back up to Snype. "Alcohol is a substance that skews the mind and dulls the senses; you really think that a 'mon who needs to be on his-" He paused for a moment, "... toes, as much as I do would be so stupid as to partake in something that lowers one's defences?"

"Aww that's cold Raz! Kehe."

"Of course it's cold! I'm evil!"

Snype laughed. "Haha, fair enough. Offers still open if you ever wanna drop by there though. Comon I always gotta be on my toes too but sometimes it doesn't hurt to settle down and have some fun! " Snype said, wiggling his feet a bit. "Just a way to celebrate ya know?"

Razathiel shifted, "'Fun' is blasting a 'mon's nose out through the back of their skull. Or something similarly evilly violent."

"I think we have very different definitions of fun." Snype said with a snicker.

The mage let out a 'hmph', before glancing suddenly at the Chansey. "Are you still here?" He snapped.

The Chansey flinched when she was addressed. "Eep! Oh uh... j-just listening don't mind me!" She said with a nervous blush.


"I didn't say you could listen," Raz snapped again.

The Chansey hid behind Snype as Raz snapped at her. Snype gave off a small bashful grin to both of them. There would be a small awkward silence. "So uh... are they like, under your robe thing or is that just what they look like... er, your feet I mean." Snype said randomly, looking down at his feet if thats what they were.

"I- what?" Razathiel was slightly taken aback. "I'm not wearing my robe - those are my feet, what more do you want from me?"

"U-uh..." Snype looked down at his feet again and back to Raz's face. "But how do you... nevermind I think I'll just stop thinking about it." Snype said as he layed back on his bed.

"I'm sorry my feet bother you so much," the wizard said, giving the Sableye an odd look.

"Wha? They don't bother me it's just like... is the whole thing your feet, are you like on your knees or whatever?" Snype said. This conversation certainly took quite a turn.

"Would you mind moving to a subject other than my f*cking feet?"

"You don't know either then? Weird but alright. Kehe" Snype said with a shrug.

"What? Of course I know- I- wh- why? They're my feet! They're my business!"

"I'll tell you how I see out of these eyes if you tell me!" Snype said with a laugh.

"Why wouldn't you be able to see out of your eyes?"

"Cause they're gems! Its weird! like your feet! I suppose mine are odd too but..." Snype looked down at his own feet. "Point stands!"

"The point does not stand! There is no standing to this point!"

"But how do you stand on them! I have feet and toes! You have like... knee robe things! Like are those flappy things your feet? Are these your knees?" Snype said, pointing at them.

"Why does it matter?" Raz cried.

"It doesn't! I'm just curious! Can't I just poke them or something to figure it out? I won't tell a soul!" Snype said nearly about to poke at them.

"Stay the bloody hell away from my feet!"

"So they ARE feet!"

"Yes, I have feet! When have I not had feet?"

"But is the whole thing your feet or are you scooting on your knees? If you even have knees! Or toes for that matter!"

"That's all you want to know? It's bloody simple! My feet are-"

Suddenly a Charmeleon busted through the door, wrapped in bandages as well. "OH I'M JUST SO HAPPY!"

"..."

"NOT! Keep it down will ya? Some of us are trying to sleep!" He said as he slammed the door shut. The whole room was silent for a moment.

"...So uh... what were you saying?" Snype asked.

Raz picked up his staff, "No idea; I'm gonna kill that Charmeleon."

The Chansey coughed. "I thought you were talking abou-"

"Did I say you could speak?" The Ralts snapped. "I think not! I think it's time I left; there's no telling what opportunities for evil I could be missing." He hopped down off the bed and headed over to the door. "Ta-ta, for now."

Snype blinked as Raz suddenly left the room and just looked at the Chansey awkwardly.

Guardia and Abel - Argime, Tollen

Guardia wandered through the palace following her departure from Raz in the courtyard. She was left with little to do since she hadn't suffered nearly enough injuries to have been placed under any medical treatment, and she lacked the tact or political discipline to make friendly with the stuck-up nobles they had just befriended. Sure, years of experience taught her to play nice when needed, she knew those types of situations were the reasons why she brought 'mon like Thomas Blake along. With the Chanseys requested her to give most of the injured patients some time to rest, and with the rest of the dignitaries tied up in figuring out exactly what to make of this entire mess of a situation, the Gold Tribe leader had little to do, for now.

She turned the corner and found herself in an armory of some sort. There were rows upon rows of different armors, from shining, pure emerald, to a dull, sturdy brown, to armors which mixed the two colors together. Lyn was familiar with the class system of Tollen. Performance dictated where your place would be in society. In some ways, it was similar to the Gold Tribe initiation. That made Royal Knights just like the Gold Tribe. Of course, that was before Gabriel's perversion of the system. It showed Guardia how one 'mon in charge could do so much to destroy a foundation from the inside out. If it had not been for Gabriel, the Royal Knights could have been just as strong as the Gold Tribe in full back in Valkaria. Now, it was a shadow of what it once was. It contained a handful of stronger warriors, sure, but nowhere near enough to stop what was coming.

Lyn looked past the long rows of emerald armor to see a familiar Pokemon at the end. It was Abel, who appeared to be leaning along a wall with his eyes closed. Guardia approached him and spoke up.

"Atrox, what are you doing here?" She asked him curiously. The Medicham instantly opened his eyes and tensed up. She could see now that he appeared to be relaxed, almost as if he were... "... were you sleeping?" She questioned him incredulously.

"I was resting," The Medicham Gold Tribesman answered in his normal, monotone voice.

"You were sleeping standing up?"

"Less chance of enemies sneaking up on you."

"Right... I guess," Guardia replied with a shrug. She looked across Abel's body and noticed he seemed to still have a lot of smaller bruises and cuts, likely received during his action in the forests. "Shouldn't you be getting some healing instead?"

Abel shook his head. "A few days rest and I'll be fine. Besides, I don't trust my life in the hands of these Chansey. They been around the enemy too long."

"Geez, you're one paranoid guy, aren't you?" Guardia grinned at the Medicham.

"Keeps me alive."

"I get being paranoid. I'm always cautious too nowadays," Guardia explained. "But you take it to a whole 'nother level... hey Atrox, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"We've known each other for a while now, and I always did wonder... those stories we always here about you," Guardia paused, then continued. "Are they true at all?"

"Does it matter?" Abel asked back coldly.

"No, but call me curious," Guardia replied. She shrugged her shoulders. "I've always wanted to know and I never did ask because it never really was relevant."

"Has it become relevant?"

"Well, no, but... come on, why all of the secrets?"

Abel sighed and kicked off of the wall he had been leaning on. "They're stories."

Guardia smirked and shook her head. "So they're all false then?"

"There's some truth in every story, they say," Abel responded back. He began to walk away from the wall and down the corridor of armors.

"Huh?" Guardia tilted her head. "So they are true then?"

"I didn't say that."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm tired."

"Arceus, can you be anymore cryptic, Abel?!"

---

The soft patter of footsteps were heard from just outside the Network Point in Argime. The Meowstic Psychic turned around and observed the 'mon who entered, a Medicham of the Gold Tribe she recalled coming through before. She smiled brightly and greeted him. "Ah, hello there! Are you here to replace our guards for duty? They were sent away a few minutes ago."

"I'm actually just here to send a message through," Abel replied coldly. He reached into his sack and pulled out a small, folded paper.

"Ah, OK, what is the message and where do you want to send it?" The Meowstic asked as she and the other Psychics began to gather around the Network Machine in a circle and prepare.

"Actually, I'd prefer to send the letter through the Network to the location. I'll give you the coordinates," Abel stated. The Meowstic Psychic turned to the other Psychics and exchanged glances. "You are able to do that, correct?" The Medicham asked.

"Uh, yeah but... it'll be much faster to just tell us where you're sending it and what you want us to say, right?" The Meowstic asked with a slight chuckle.

"I didn't ask what was the easier option was, did I?" Abel asked coldly. His words were harsh likely venom and he approached the Network Machine and inputted the coordinates himself into the device. He then handed the note to the Psychics. "I put in the location. Send it through."

"Y-yes sir," She replied with a nod, and the group of Psychics concentrated their energy together. The Psychic briefly opened one eye to take a look at the paper again. It was folded so she couldn't see the message, but she briefly saw in the handwriting what appeared to be a number. Although she couldn't be sure. After a few seconds of silence, the slip of paper was gone. "Message sent successfully... want me to confirm they got it?"

"No. I'm sure they did. Don't try fishing for the location," Abel declared. He began to reach for something in his pocket, and pulled it out. "It's best you just forget this ever happened.

The Meowstic chuckled nervously. "Hey, isn't that a SEC device in your hand there?"

"..."

Kaveri and Callimer - Heart to Hea-FOOD!

In the Palace of Kings a section of rooms had been cordoned off as guest and triage quarters for the Gold Tribe and Seekers, as well as wounded fighters. A room had been offered for the Vian siblings to share, and in light of his current situation Cal couldn't exactly refuse. The Emerald Sentinel laid in one of the beds and huffed, frustrated that he couldn't go anywhere at the moment, Guardia was pretty clear on his need of rest.

There was a thump as the bed bounced slightly from Kaveri plopping down on her stomach next to Cal, having moved over from her bed. "Sup?" It was more than just a casual question. Something was obviously bothering him, probably something that had happened during his fight with Gabriel. Or perhaps he was upset about the aftermath, with the Greninja having escaped and all? Well, whatever it was, big sissy senses were on alert.

"I shouldn't be here." Cal groaned. "I should be out there with Guardia, meeting diplomats and nobles and planning, you know...leader-y things. Not in here, sitting in bed and being sore and broken. I'm useless right now, just like I was earlier...and just like I was when we were younger."

Kaveri raised a brow, then rolled onto her back, paws behind her head as she stared silently up at the ceiling for a long moment. "...Ya know, when we were kids, there were a lot of times I felt useless. I wasn't mom or dad, how was I supposed to know what was best for you? And what if we'd been adopted by different mon? How would I have done anything for you then? I could feed you, I could read to you, I could do all the small things... But there were so many things I couldn't do for you that a parent could've, or maybe if I'd been just a few years older I could've done better. I was just a kid trying to raise another kid."

"When Daricka took us in... I was so relieved. I could keep doing the little things without having to worry about the big things I couldn't do anything about. There were times I still resented not being able to be the one doing those things, but I learned to trust the things I couldn't do to those that could." Kaveri paused, rubbing her head as she recollected her thoughts. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... back then, we didn't have a whole lotta mon we could depend on. But now we've got the whole Gold Tribe with us, and other allies to boot. And until you're back on your feet, they'll hold things up. So just, don't worry and trust 'em, eh?" Kaveri glanced over at Cal, wondering how much sense she was making. Speeches like these weren't really her thing - she preferred showing things through action.

"You're right...but in this case..." Cal looked down at the bed for a second and clenched his fist, barely managing not to punch the bed or a wall. "I was the one there in the best position to do something, and it was all fake! I never stood a chance to begin with, I was just a punching bag to divert some time!" Something clicked in his head and he understood why Kaveri had been so casual at first when she came in. "Nobody's told you yet, have they?"

Kaveri rolled onto her side to face Cal again, blinking in confusion. "Told me what?"

"That wasn't Gabriel I fought." Cal grit his teeth and looked into Kaveri's eyes, almost glad she hadn't known before, so she wouldn't be too worried before she saw him. "We really gave Gabriel a run for his money, we got the queen away and managed to corner him and convince him to stop running, that much at least I bet you've heard. Snype hadn't made it back to us yet, but Obsidian and I started to fight Gabe, then he pulled out his orb and Obsidian mostly sat out of it while I went against him one on one. He kept using more of Darkrai's power, but I found this strength I'd never known before, I started to match him, and I even thought I could beat him on my own, but then..."

He got up from the bed and stared at the wall, thinking of the fight was making his bruises throb and he couldn't sit still. "Snype returned and we managed to get the orb away from Gabriel, but then it just dissolved completely, the orb was just some sort of prop, or maybe it was even a gateway instead of just a channeling tool. Whatever it was... Gabriel turned into - or always was - Darkrai... I had been fighting him personally that entire time. He could have killed me anytime he wanted, but he made a sick game out of it all, said he was glad to get to know us. Then, of all things, he put us to sleep, let us live, apparently became Gabriel again and left Tollen. I was nothing more than a diversion so the lord of chaos could have a little fun."

Kaveri's eyes widened as she stared Cal for a moment, her constant smile faltering. "Say what now?" So, wait... Darkrai had been in Tollen that entire time. And her little brother had fought him. Her mind reeling from the revelation, Kaveri continued to stare blankly at Cal. Finally, though, she blinked and pulled herself back together, though her expression was darker than before. She still had an aggravated Cal to comfort.

Kaveri cleared her throat, pushing down her wild thoughts for the moment. "At least you're still alive - that's all that matters. Also, you said it yourself, you found a new strength when you were fighting him. So something good's come out of this. Besides," here she took on a more scolding tone, "you remember all the stories Wildfire told us about the Silver War. Darkrai's not gonna go down easy, we've always known that. He messed with you, yeah, but he also left you alive - his mistake. Now you have a better idea of what to expect from him, and you can prepare for it. This isn't over until one side or the other goes down permanently."

"I don't know that you can kill the physical embodiment of a concept." Cal limped back over to the bed and sat down, pulling his sister in to lean his head on her shoulder for a moment before pulling away. "But I sure as hell intend to find out, I never realized before the extent of his madness. If he could let enemies like us live simply on a whim then he's bound to make other mistakes in his insanity. As for that new strength, that's going to have to wait a while. Some friend of Obsidian's had a crystal to apparently purify us of corruption, but I don't know. I fought Darkrai with my own two hands, and the entire time I was filled with such anger, who knows what may be lingering inside me where the crystal couldn't reach it. I'm not going to use Outrage for a while, I'm afraid of what I might do."

Cal fell back onto the bed and spread his arms out. "For now though I think I'll lay down a bit more, get my strength back for when it's time to go all-out again. Don't stay in here with me and let yourself get bored to tears, go have fun, get some free snacks from thankful nobles and stuff."

Kaveri waved a paw dismissively. "Eh, later." She lay side-by-side with Cal for a few moments in silence before suddenly letting out a snort then a chuckle, her mouth twitching into an amused grin. "I proposed to the Arceus damned lord of nightmares!" she hooted. The whole thing just seemed utterly ridiculous now; and she had a feeling a certain Sableye wasn't going to let this go either once he got wind of it.

"You wha - Goodness, it'll sound like a regular family story to everyone else. The sister proposes to Dakrai himself and then the brother fights him regardless of how bad he gets beat up. We'll be famous for it in no time." Cal began to chuckle, and then started to laugh and couldn't stop for a while. When he finally calmed down he took a deep breath. "I'm so glad to be here, so glad that we're both alright, surviving against Darkrai would hardly mean a thing if I had lost you. I hope you gave Tyren a lashing worthy of a traitorous dog of the lord of nightmares."

"Oh, yes. Lashed him with a Ralts! ...Or at least, with a Ralts' Psychic rebound. It would've been so much more amusing if Raz had actually slammed into him..."

"I bet Raz loved that." Cal snickered. "I guess we did it, we really saved Tollen. By the way, I'm not letting you out of my sight for such a long time anymore on this journey if I can help it!"

Kaveri poked her finger into his chest. "I was about to say the same thing. No more splitting up. I'm watchin' you."

Cal winced at the poke and tried his best to turn his grimace into a smile. "You say that like I got into trouble or something, I feel great!"

Kaveri raised a brow and prodded him again experimentally. "Right. Top of your game. Totally."

"Ow!...Okay, point taken." Cal raised his hands in surrender.

"Good," Kaveri said, a smug look on her face as she bounced up off the bed. "I'm going to look for some food. I'll bring some for you. Cake?"

"YES! AND ONE OF EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S FOOD!" Cal piped up excitedly, stomach growling at the thought of cake. "I have to replenish energy and get stuff to burn for the healing after all!"

Kaveri chuckled at his reaction to her offer, a large grin spreading across her muzzle. "I'll bring as much as I can handle carrying," she chortled, closing the door behind her.

Snype and Guardia - Like old times

Snype was all properly bandaged and wrapped up. All that was left was to let his wounds heal up and try not to move. Snype was extremely restless though. He had unfinished buisness to take care of and he had to just lay in a bed and wait. He felt like it was bad enough the first time when Tyren nearly killed him. He continued playing with his vial, almost as if hoping some trace of Darkrai was left behind that he could examine. Obviously that wasn't the case. He gave off a bored sigh.

A light knock came at the door soon after, and a moment later Guardia appeared from the doorway. "Hey," She greeted casually with a wave of her paw, and let herself in without asking. She looked at Snype examining the plain vial Gabriel had. "Checking for some signs?"

When Snype found out Guardia was entering the room, he quickly pulled his blanket over himself. For whatever reason he was a bit embarrassed to have Guardia see how beaten up he had gotten the past couple of days. Especially after all of that confident talk he was giving earlier. "U-uh, yeah... I probly should have just thrown it away but I can't help but keep hanging onto it... kinda weird." Snype said with a shrug. He turned his head over to Guardia and smiled. "So how was your side of things? Didn't lose your cool during all of the diplomatic stuff did you?" Snype said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it seems weird that it just changed suddenly..." She stated thoughtfully. "I wish we would have kept track of it better to know exactly when," She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "Oh, Arceus, don't even get me started on that bore fest!" She exclaimed and dragged a chair beside Snype's bed as she continued to rant. "That was the worst! I had to listen to hours of political bulls*t and play nice with the fat nobles while you guys ran around and did all the fun stuff! Obviously I had to, but man do I hope I can just, not do that next go around."

Snype laughed. "Haha! Yeah sounds pretty darn boring! Compared to being a wanted criminal for a day, fighting three of the best Royal Knights in town, and breaking iwnto the Palace completely undetected! Gabe didn't even see it coming until I stole this! I feel like I did a pretty darn good job more or less. Gabe kinda sucked at being subtle. That was his biggest weakness." Snype said. He winced a bit in pain but he didn't want to sound totally beat up to Guardia.

"Yeah, well when you're comparing subtlety between him and the King of Thieves, it's kinda a tall order to live up to," Guardia replied with a smirk. She noticed Snype's injuries and raised an eyebrow. "On the other hand, he pretty much kicked your butt so he's got that going for him," She teased, trying to lighten the mood about the Darkrai situation.

Snype huffed. "Pfft. Gabe? These injuries are nothing compared to the crap I dealt with the day before." Snype said. He still had some of the cuts and bruises from his last battle with Tyren and a few scars healing up on his body. He tossed off his blanket to show the rest of the damage he took. His recent wounds as well as ones from his battle with Tyren. Snype turned his head away and blushed. "That Bastard Tyren beat me at my own game." Snype said.

Guardia examined the wounded Snype and shook her head in disbelief. "So you fought against two Agents of Darkrai back to back? And one of them just so happened to be Darkrai himself? Or possessed by him, or whatever? Not bad, short stuff," She replied back with another smirk. She then grew a bit more serious. "I heard that Tyren guy was tough. I didn't know he did that much damage to you. If this is how strong all of the Agents are, we might be in for a bumpy ride moving forward."

Snype sneered. "Hah! The only reason Tyren won was because he snuck up on me after the other three Royal Knights got to me! Blasted me while I was using Recover too! But you know what? Seeing the look on his face when I showed them off as frauds was just as rewarding as it would have been to smack him right in the face!" Snype said as he pounded a fist onto the bed. He winced in pain again. "A-ack! Gah...man I've been getting way to serious lately... kehe. I feel like we just swapped roles or something." Snype said with a chuckle.

"I only wished Gabriel had a similar reaction... it didn't seem like he cared as much. Maybe a little, but him being Darkrai, or controlled by him, makes a bit more sense. Hey! Take it easy," Guardia motioned with her paw for Snype to rest and relax. "We won the fight, now let's just focus on relaxing and healing up for now."

"Maaannn but I hate sitting still like this! Soon as I heal up I need to find something to do while I'm here! Heh, maybe I should show ya around town or something if you aren't busy!... though knowing you ya probly got alot of unfinished business in this place huh? Kehe." Snype said, smiling up at Guardia. "To be honest I'm pretty glad Gabe didn't do anything too underhanded to you or your group. You guys had it pretty easy I'd think." Snype said.

"Thanks but I'll pass," Guardia responded with a wave of her paw. "I need to finish playing nice with the nobles, and I guess since I'm not too injured look into everyone else's condition and meet the military leaders about what to do next," She stated, realizing how busy her schedule was. "Yeah, other than threaten to kill us on the night of the banquet if you hadn't stopped him! And now knowing he had Darkrai inside him, he probably could have done it! Basically, our lives were in the hands of your group and the forest one!"

Snype smiled. "Kehe, well I'm glad we helped keep you all alive then. Thing probably would have been a lot different that night if I didn't happen to stumble into Rupert... erm... eheh..." Snype blushed remembering that awkward meeting. "Well uh... yeah. If he didn't swap that cup then we'd pretty much be done for. Kehe. Still, I can take full credit if ya like me more then those nobles! Kehe" Snype said with a wink.

"Yeah, that was pretty luck," Guardia agreed. "It's strange what small things we can do sometimes that can lead to big outcomes. Like, one talk with that Rupert guy, one prop up to another person. One chat could change so many outcomes... pretty insane," She murmured, then shook her head in another grin. "As lame as you are, anyone is better than stuff-shirts. That's the name I give them."

Snype chuckled. "Aww lame? I'm sure you think of me a little highly if your concerned enough to check on little ol me~ Kehe!" Snype said as he turned over and rested his head on his hand. "Bet I was the first mon you decided to check on! Kehe" He teased back.

"Well yeah, if your measuring tape is you or snotty nobles, you're bearable," Guardia replied with a slight chuckle. "But not when it comes to anyone important! And for your information, I made sure my brothers and sisters in the tribe were alright before you!"

"Kehehe, yeah yeah. But hey I appreciate the company nonetheless!" Snype said, "It's freakin boring being stuck here doing nothing but looking at this vial... ugh." Snype said with a sigh.

"I can understand that, I guess," Guardia responded and crossed her arms. "If I had to choose something I'd never want to do, it would be sitting around and doing nothing when I could be helping with something important. Kinda like what I did with the nobles, heh," She added with a smirk. "Now you feel my pain. Well, we could do something productive... so what do you think the vial could have done?"

Snype observed the vial once again. "Well... all traces of Darkrai pretty much left it as soon as he left... this is just a silly theory but what if we were near Darkrai again? Would this vial just go all black again and be the same poison as before?" Snype wondered aloud. "...Like I said the theory is kinda silly. I feel like it could be possible though." Snype said with a shrug.

Guardia shrugs. "Maybe," She replied, appearing just as bewildered as Snype. "So you think he took the power away when he transformed or something?"

Snype nodded. "Every other trace of Darkrai pretty much vanished so yeah. It could just pop right back in if we got near him again...meh its silly but its a theory worth testing at least." Snype said as he placed the vial down. "Kehe, ya know, my time here in Tollen really reminded me of the old days. Back when I was still a young thief within the forest. Kehe...wonder if ya remember by chance?" Snype said.

"Heh, you mean when you screwed with me the first time we met?" Guardia asked with a shake of her head.

Snype smirked. "So you do remember! I'm flattered! Kehe! How could you not forget meeting such a charming fella like me?" Snype said with a laugh. "Comon you know that was absolutely golden material there! I got chewed out sure but it was totally worth it!" Snype said, reaching out to poke at her arm playfully.

"I only remembered because of the sh*tty day I had!" Guardia angrily replied, swiping away his finger. "You were such a bastard back then. No scratch that, you're still a
bastard!" She yelled with a hint of jest in her voice. "Do you remember what you did?"

Snype sat up and leaned toward Guardia. "Ohoho, how could I forget~?"

(Flashback)


Snype recalled a majority of their first meeting... most of what happened afterwards was a bit hazy to him. "Keheh, comon Guardia you need a sense of humor! Now if I made you do the things I planned AFTER telling the joke, you would have every right to be mad!" Snype said with a small laugh. "I'm almost tempted to tell you what I was gonna have you do... kehe..."

Guardia held up a hand. "You can stop right there," She replied and shook her head. "I don't want to know what goes on in that stupid mind of yours."

"Aw comon it isn't nearly as bad as you think!" Snype said teasingly. "One of these days I'm gonna make you laugh! A legit laugh. No cheating or anything! Otherwise I'd have you in stitches already. Kehe" Snype said showing off that big toothy grin. The King of Thieves was back to his usual self.

"I hope you do," Guardia said somewhat solemnly. "We could all use a good laugh about now." That had always been one of the things Guardia enjoyed about Snype: lightening up a situation. "So, got any ideas of where we should go to next?"

Snype was so tempted to take Guardia on that "make her laugh" offer... perhaps later. "I've been considering Karn or Beatruce... Karn because I dont' want Darkrai getting a hold of a force as terrifying as that. And Beatruce due to the Plague down there. I'm a bit worried about the thieves I have stationed there. We're doing a couple of experimental things with our Ninjask network and are planning to apply it to our other branches. Should help us out quite a bit wherever we decide to go." Snype said. He almost forgot that he had wanted to set up shop in Tollen! More reason to go to the Pit tonight! Not that Guardia had to know about it... yet.

"Well if you actually listened to me and kept yourself out of trouble, your thieves wouldn't have been there in the first place!" Guardia scolded the Sableye. She shook her head then continued. "But what's done is done. I kinda agree, either Karn or Beatruce might be good. But in all honesty I might not know for sure until our meeting with the nobles. Maybe we can make our decision then."

Snype smirked. "Kehe, wonder how that meeting will be like? With the nobles. Think they'll dress all fancy and try to talk to us with a bunch of big fancy words?" Snype puffed out his chest and attempted to make his voice sound deeper and more raspy. "Blah blah blah Snype speak properly blah blah Guardia learn your manners! I have a bigger nose then you!" Snype said goofy grin. He was totally exaggerating it but he was already starting to laugh at himself.

"I have a bigger nose than you?" Guardia repeated with a chuckle. "Where the hell did that come from? Well, besides that, sounds like something they would be saying... urgh not sure if I'm gonna enjoy this or not... Lord Arron's not as bad. He's more too the point about what he thinks. But he kinda is an a*s."

Snype sighed. "The nose comment didn't really come form anywhere! I just thought it sounded funny! Humor usually doesn't have to make sense! Kehe... and hey you chuckled too! I'm making some progress!" Snype said happily.

Guardia's face grew a bit flushed but she quickly brushed it off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever! Not that big of a deal. What, you want an award or something?"

"A hug would be close enough! Kehe!" Snype said with a laugh.

Guardia rolled her eyes, got up off her seat, walked toward Snype and pushed his face into the bed with her paw. "Get lost!" She yelled and began to walk away toward the door.

Snype layed flat on the bed and peeked over to Guardia with a smirk. "Whaaattt am I not cuddly enough? Nobodies watching! Kehe!" Snype said jokingly. "I'll tell ya some more thief secrets if you do!" Snype added.

The Zangoose Gold Tribe leader stopped at the door and looked back at Snype. "What thief secrets?" She asked curiously.

"Comon they aren't gonna come free you know!" Snype said with another chuckle. "Just a few plans on what we could be doing next and all... I'm sure you're curious right?" Snype said as he held out his arms.

"Well what the hell do you want in exchange?" Guardia demanded.

"Kehe, just a hug! Easy as that! No secret info or any Pokemon ya gotta bring over to me. Just a good ol hug! Think you can do that?" Snype said with a big toothy grin.

Guardia rolled her eyes. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Whaaattt? Would you rather kiss me? I'm being generous here! Just a little hug! That's all!" Snype replied.

"Ugh... fine! This better be damn worth it!" Guardia jeered. She put on a face of disgust and leaned in on the Sableye. She opened her arms to give him a quick hug with a few pats on the back.

Snype would wrap his arms around Guardia as well (As far as his arms could reach at least). He was seriously surprised that she went for that! Things really never change! Snype would feel a bit chilly but still quit cuddly. "Now then... before I tell you what I have planned... there's one thing I have to say..." Snype said with the most devious grin he could have possibly devised.

"Never. Trust. A thief!" Snype said as he quickly moved his arms to tickle Guardia's sides relentlessly! Attempting to move to her armpits along the way." Kehe, some things never change eh Guardia?" Snype said with a goofy grin.

"Hah... ha... stop that!" She finally managed to break free of Snype and stop his tickling. She then swiped him across his face and stormed out of the room. "You're an a*s!"

"Oof!" Snype muttered as he was smacked right across the face. Snype stuck his tongue out. "Just like old times! Haha! See ya tommorow!" Snype said as he waved at her. "Kehe... if she stayed longer I may have told her some actual secrets..." Snype muttered to himself as he rubbed his cheek.

Snype and Rupert - An Uncomfortable Thank-You

Snype had a few trips to make in Tollen before they headed out toward the next destination. Seemed like a good time to settle down and prepare. Since he was in the Palace anyways he figured he should thank Rupert for basicly saving the Queens life and apologize for spooking him out of his pants. Snype remembered where his room was so he wandered on over and knocked on Ruperts door. There didn't seem to be a response though... the door was unlocked as well. Snype opened up and walked on inside. "Rupert? It's Snype." He said.

"Just a min- AHHH!" Rupert yelled from inside, as he was in the process of changing from his shower he had just taken. "Lord Snype, will you please learn to wait?!"

Snype blushed heavily at Rupert. A little later and this would have gotten more awkward! "Gah! S-sorry sorry sorry! I knocked and you didn't answer. We uh... really need to stop meeting like this huh?" Snype said, rubbing his head a bit bashfully.

"That would be my preference!" Rupert answered as he covered himself completely with the tower, his face a deep red. "Now... if we can get past that initial awkwardness, you can explain to me the purpose of you being here?"

Snype nodded, trying to ignore the awkward situation. "Kehe, you sound alot different from when I first met you! Confident and straight to the point! Nothing like the old Rupert!" Snype began. "I mostly wanted to thank and apologize to you actually."

"Yes, well I suppose I have you to thank for that," Rupert replied as he scratched the back of his head. "Unconventional as it was, that spook I had in the shower really did something to me. Well, that and not two days prior, two assailants went and attacked me in the palace! I say, what a rough week it has been," Rupert murmured, rubbing his neck where he was choked out previously during his first attack. "T-thank me?"

"Two Assailants...?" Snype already figured who those two could possibly be... he decided to just stay silent about it though. What's done is done. "Yeah that does sound pretty darn rough. Heheh. But yeah! You basicly saved Tollen you know? Swapping that cup out for a regular drink. If you didn't do that, the queen would be dead right now. I didn't even consider that plan." Snype said with a grin.

"Yes, well," Rupert chuckled nervously, delighted that he was getting this sort of recognition and praise. "It usually falls into my similar roles I perform for the Queen's safety. Tasting foods and drinks, making sure no unsavory characters are around. It was a last minute decision I decided to make based on your advise, actually. Your... performance here the day before made me consider all of the ways I could help my Queen."

Snype smiled, "Keheh, well I'm happy I was able to help. I needed to get support from somewhere Gabe would never expect. I'm lucky to have stumbled into you while sneaking around the palace then! Uh... sorry about that by the way. I might have been a little cruel with all the scares back there. Kehe" Snype said with a small blush.

"That would be an understatement," Rupert replied with a chill.

Snype laughed a bit nervously. "Ahah... yeah... so uh... what do you plan on doing from here?" Snype asked.

Rupert put a finger to his chin and glanced up to the well-crafted ceiling in his room. "I suppose what have always been doing. Serving the Queen and Tollen as best as I can. OH! I almost forgot. I wanted to thank you personally as well, you and your group for what you've done for us. Gabriel could have destroyed our country, but you outed him, and perhaps not a moment too soon. No matter what the nobility and the Queen decide about your petition for aid, know that you have my support. I don't have much to offer in terms of combat skills, but I have a bit of savings I have saved up in case of emergencies. I've gone ahead and utilized that gold to hire out a group of mercenaries to help your cause in Gold City. When the time comes for you to take back your city, you can count on them being there to help," Rupert stated with a reassuring nod.

"That's...fantastic! Any help back there is welcome. I'll understand if the queen doesn't wish to be involved but I'm happy we have folks like you behind our backs." Snype said with a wide grin. "If Tollen ever needs support in the future then I'm sure the King of Thieves can drop by to lend a hand." Snype said as he held out his hand.

"I fear that in the days to come, we may end up taking you up on that offer," Rupert stated seriously. He crossed his arms and pondered what path would be taken now with everyone, and in the process, watched as his towel fell from around his waste.

Snype's eyes widened as he watched the towel fall down, getting a whole eyeful of the Mr. Mime. His face went totally red and silent. R-rupert... Y-your..."

Rupert stopped his pondering and looked over to Snype. " I'm just debating on this entire situation. What sort of help are the Thieves prepared to offer?"

Snype's face was totally red as he stared at the Mr. Mime. "B-but-"

Rupert began to walk around and continued his thought process. "If the thieves could help secure the forest, it could go a long way toward making sure Tollen itself is as secure as it can be." He paused his pacing and moved in a little closer to Snype. "What do you think?"

Snype's face was crimson as the Mr. Mime walked around the room, As he walked closer, Snype instinctively backed up a bit and covered his eyes. "R-RUPERT!"

"What Sny-..." He slowly looked down, then let out cry one would normally not expect from a male Mr. Mime. He quickly dove for the towel and covered himself up. "Err... perhaps it is best if we never mention this... again... to anyone."

Snype turned his head and blushed. "Was your fault for not noticing! Rude!" Snype sneered.

"I know, I know... just..." The Mr. Mime's voice trailed off in embarrassment.

"Go get dressed and stuff... theres a few others I have to go see. Thank you again for the support. "Snype said with a bashful grin.

"Thank you for yours," Rupert nodded with an embarrassed expression on his own face.