Pokémon Odyssey: A New Beginning [T] [Best Veteran 4Q '12]

Albia

By the beckoning of Defender, Zane, Guardia, and Calamity aimed their attacks at Ignitus, fully intent on bringing her down, but only enough so she would be incapacitated. Zane knew he was right. Who knew what Ignitus knew? Zane struck her once more as she was down with a Thunder Wave, and Guardia and Calamity followed with another pair of Thunders. Ignitus countered with an explosion of flames of her own, now desperate to try and keep herself up. The Gold Tribe didn't let up, now going in for a second wave of attacks, where Gallant and Speculum also joined in. Another set of hits were sent upon Ignitus, and once again, countered by the Sentinel. Sweat poured off Zane's face, tired from unleashing so much, but unwilling to give in. "Come on!" He yelled, and they went in once more, lauching another set of attacks. Gallant and Guardia went in close, eager to see her back or spine break. Ignitus put up another wall of flames to protect her, but eventually the attacks caused them to die out, and disrupt, and she was hit by the full effects of the Gold Tribe's attacks. Ignitus screeched in pain as a snap was heard, and then fell over, clearly unable to move from the sparks and damage she was dealt.

Zane sighed in relief, looking across the faces of his fellow brothers and sisters. "Looks like we got her." He said to them, smiling.

"Nice day for capturing a Sentinel, isn't it?" The Swift said to Zane. Zane nodded in response. He looked around the battle momentarily, seeing that the armies of the Alpha Alliance had already begun pushing back the Ancients in the areas, and already were on the way to the inside of Albia. But their moment of victory was overturned by the voice of the Siren in their heads. From the expressions of the other Gold Tribesmen, they heard it too. Zane was suddenly serious again.

"We need to stop her!" He yelled. The Swift immediately took off.

"I'll go." Gallant began, running after The Swift to go help. Speculum took off after them as well, leaving Calamity, Guardia, Defender, and Zane next to Ignitus.

"We should go help too, once we secure Ignitus..." Calamity began, but was interrupted by screams coming from Ignitus. But these were unusual ones. Zane turned down to her, to see her thrashing about on the ground. She tried to move, but the injury on the back prevented her. Still, she began wailing about wildly, and uncontrollably. Zane wondered if the pain they inflicted upon her was too much. It couldn't haven been...could it?

"N-no! No, Lord Auron! I wasn't....I wasn't g-going to...! No!" She screamed on the ground. She sent out a flamethrower out of her mouth in a random direction, as if trying to free herself of something. Zane stepped back to avoid the flames, and looked on puzzled. Suddenly, Zane saw something in Ignitus's eyes.



Her eyes began to change color, turning from her usual purplish color to a pronounced, deep black one. It was a noticeably similar color to the eyes of Ancients, as Zane began to notice. Ignitus continued to scream loudly as flames covered her body, and then morphed into a strange, darker color, before going completely black themselves. Zane stepped back as the flames began to erupt from her body, and even through the fire, he could still hear the screeching of Ignitus. Guardia and Calamity both moved back and stared at her in confusion and alarm. Ignitus's body began rising up from the ground, Zane hearing her bones seem to break and disfigure, as if her body was forced up by some other force. Her screams still covered the air. And then suddenly, the screams stopped, replaced by nothing but the cackling of the flames. The black flames died down and there Ignitus stood, with eyes as black as the night sky, no trace of emotion across her face, as if she was a completely different Pokemon.

"Gold Tribe." A voice came from the mouth of Ignitus, but it wasn't hers. It was deeper, and darker, almost sounding artificial. It sent a chill down Zane's spine, as if the voice was something Pokemon were not meant to hear. "Fear the will of Auron."

Before Ignitus attacked, she gave a noticeable flinch to Zane, but shook it off. And then, Ignitus gathered flames across her body, all black in color, and released an Overheat at the Gold Tribe, of which the power seemed to have increased, as did its range and destructive force. Zane tried to dodge, but the scope of the attack was overwhelming, and he was engulfed by the dark flames, being forced back onto his back, his arms burning with pain. Guardia and Calamity were also pushed back, landing a bit away. Guardia leaned her head up off the ground.

"What...what is this?" She wondered, deeply disturbed by what was going on. Zane wondered too, but Ignitus didn't give them the opportunity, already going in for her next attack, a flamethrower shot at the four of them.

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

Penance fully concentrated his efforts on her back as sweat began to pour down his face. She was strong, he gave her that! Still, with their combined efforts it was enough so that when a loud snapping sound was heard he halted his attack and took the moment to take in some deep breaths. He heard the others talking about stopping someone, no doubt another Sentinel, but Penance didn't bother to listen. A voice similar to the one he had heard in his head before was speaking to them yet again, so Penance could only wish for Swift and Gallant to be successful.

Before Penance could even discuss any containment procedures the Flareon began to scream and thrash about. This wasn't the plan. This wasn't even close to the plan! She was screaming something about Auron and then the atmosphere changed. A new voice came out of her mouth and it didn't sound so good. Fear Auron's will? Just how powerful was Auron? Ignitus wasn't herself, her eyes, her very personality was all different. She had been screaming about Auron before the change, did he do something to her?

Penance didn't have any more time to think before he was hit with an intense Overheat and flew back with his fellow brothers and sister. As he staggered up Penance saw that a Flamethower was being sent at them! That Overheat had been more powerful than it should have been! He couldn't let this attack hit!

"Vigil! Get the city evacuated! Now!" He shouted out as he formed a Water Bomb in his hands and threw it at the incoming Flamethrower, but he didn't let it explode when it touched the flames. He held out his hands toward the ball as his eyes glowed an intense blue as he kept a hold on the ball and upped it's size to make a temporary shield against the flames for the others. Odds of him collapsing or being in a very weak state were very high. They couldn't take her on like this! Vigil had to get everyone out before the entire city was destroyed!

Emerald nodded after she healed her fellow Gold Tribe members but she just stayed back ready to heal again if needed. After all, she hadn't fought any of the Sentinels yet. She knew they were powerful, but she was going to let the others take care of it. Though she had heard that voice in her head again and looked around trying to see where it came from. Suddenly she heard screams coming from the Flareon and turned back.

The Flareon's voice had changed and she mentioned something about a Lord Auron, but Emerald didn't have time to think anything before she as well as the others were shoved back from a very powerful Overheat. Wincing in pain from the burns she staggered to her feet. Looking around she saw Penance holding off a Flamethrower, she moved over to the others and used soft boiled yet again. It had been a long while since she had healed so often, so she focused on healing Zane, Guardia, and Calamity, she would take care of herself later.

It wasn't long before she was approached by a member of the Gold Tribe. One paltry member, and an insect at that? If she didn't know any better, she would say her threat wasn't very well received. She was going to have to change that. Unfortunately, she didn't know too much about this particular creature. A Scizor of course, that was plainly visible to a Zubat, but little else jumped out to her beyond his appearance. Some scars here and there, nothing remarkable, at least in her mind.

What could have held up the other Tribe members, surely they couldn't be busy lopping the heads off of those Ancients all day? They had their own peons for that. If those worthless creatures held up the Gold Tribe, truly they wouldn't be worth her time after all. Her body still ached from her earlier endeavor, her breaths were coming in flat and pained. The Pichu still hovered, unharmed, in the expanse between them. Maybe she should keep it? Something portable to threaten when people became a nuisance or she needed an easy out. Everyone always got caught up in a tizzy when hostages were involved, especially children. They should just really learn to just let things go.

She tried her best to control her breathing before responding, she refused to sound weak in front of anyone, even if she was. "Since you seem to love assumptions that already have fairly evident answers, I'll try and talk nice and slow for you. To answer your questions, Correct, Correct, and Correct again. It's nice to see my reputation proceeds me, I assure you, the pleasure is all yours," she spoke to him, her voice coming out fairly normal, if a bit flat.

Black flames erupted from the distance. Genevieve had seen a lot of things in her life, but that was not one of them. 'What just happened?' She thought, caught completely unaware. This was definitely not part of the plan, not hers at least. Ignitus. Something was wrong, but she had to still go according to what she had setup.

She had successfully distracted other Gold Tribe from the fight before, she had to try with this one too. "Now if I were to assume," she spoke to him again, hoping he hadn't noticed the flames. "You are the big bad man who's come to stop me from hurting anyone further, right? Well, if that's the case, it's a good thing you have those big mitts for hands."

Releasing her invisible grasp on the Pichu, it began to plummet to the earth, screaming in terror. Genevieve doubled over after the release, her exertion coming to a head. Hopefully the distraction had bought her a few moments for recovery, before the next unavoidable encounter.

The arrogant she-witch! The Swift flew as fast as he could and caught the baby Pichu. Off in the distance, he could see a black flame. "By Arceus, what is that?!" He said aloud. He started to move towards it, but stopped. No. The others can handle it. He put the Pichu down a safe distance away from the Sentinel. "I'm dreadfully sorry about your father. I really am, but I can't help you right now. Stay right here, and I'll come and get you after the battle. I swear it on my honor." The Pichu nodded. It was still terrified out of its wits.

Jirmonji took off the next second and approached Ignitus. "What in the hell?" She was different...her eyes were black. "DIE SPAWN OF AURON!" He roared at her and struck her across the back. It did nothing. He realized this was a fight he could not win. He flew back to the Pichu. "We're leaving." He scooped it up and flew towards the other Gold Tribe members. Maybe Zane would know what's happening.

Albia

Gallant and Speculum both ran off after the Swift, but he recklessly sprinted ahead, leaving the two of them to catch up. "Swift! Hold on!" Gallant called for him, but he was too far ahead now to hear what they were saying. "Damn...come on. We need to go help him, fast!"

Just as Gallant and Speculum finally approached the Siren, something caught all of their attention from behind. Black flame, originating from the location the Gold Tribe were battling Ignitus. "What in the world...?" Gallant wondered out loud. He shook his head, focusing back on the Siren. The Swift, who had seen the flames as well, quickly retreated back to the location.

"Damn it, boy, make up your mind!" Gallant called at him, just as he took off back. He sighed, and faced back at he Siren and then at Speculum. "Well, looks like it'll be the two of us, then."

"Dun worry, we got this!" Speculum said, transforming from his Excadrill state into a Grovyle, one of his other favorite transformations.

"Careful, brother." Gallant retorted, taking a stance as he faced up the Gardevoir. "Overconfidence blurs out the danger. This is still a Sentinel."

"Right...sorry." Speculum said in a lower voice. Even though he had been initiated into the Gold Tribe, he was still very young, and had much to learn. Though Gallant and himself were technically equals in rank and stature, he still fell into the old habit of respecting and following his wishes, as he was not too long ago his instructor.

"Sentinel, we will give you this one chance to surrender. Desist your wrongdoings to the citizens of Albia and turn yourself in, or we will turn to force."


Ignitus's flamethrower, though powerful was able to be held off by Defender's water which he used as a temporary barrier, but the power she was exhibiting was much greater than that which she had shown before. Zane didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Zane sat on the ground panting for a moment. The Healer continued to do her work with excellent efficiency. If they made it through the battle, Zane would have to remember to thank her. Defender shouted at him while countering Ignitus's attack.

"Vigil! Get the city evacuated! Now!" He yelled at him. Zane just sat there, unable, or perhaps unwilling, to follow through with the request.

"You expect me to just leave and make you three fight her on your own?! I'm not going to abandon you now!"

"There's no time, Vigil!" Calamity shouted. "We need to warn the citizens! We don't know how bad this could get!"

"We'll be alright!" Guardia said with a smirk. "Go!" Zane stood for a moment longer, but realizing time was of the essence, departed swiftly towards the city, where he saw the armies already making their push inside. At the helm, he noticed the Generals, shouting commands and fighting off Ancients. Zane sprinted forward as fast as he could towards them. He literally rammed and trampled right over a group of Ancients in front of him, but didn't bother delivering finishing blows to them, still hurriedly attempting to reach the Generals.

"Hazone! Belas!" He shouted, as he got closer, but they were still not in range to be heard in the noise of the battle. A Bastiodon and Archeops moved into the way of Zane, in which he retaliated by delivering a power strike with his claws right onto the Archeops. Before the beast touched down onto the ground in defeat, he grabbed onto the Ancient, and, using all of his strength he could, threw the beast right onto the charging Bastiodon. He moved on quickly, before finally reaching the Generals. "Generals!"

General Hazone and Belas turned to Zane. "Vigil! Well met!" Belas belowed in his booming voice. "What in Arceus's name was going on over there with Ignitus! We saw the whol-"

"No time! Somethings happened with Ignitus. She's releasing mass amounts of power! And it only seems like her abilties are rising. If she keeps this up, she'll destroy the entire city. I need you to help me evacuate all the citizens remaining in Albia! We need to act quickly!"

Belas followed his words carefully, and, as if absorbing all the information and easily reading it, prepared to efficiently execute orders. "Alright! We'll get it done!" He said, with an encouraging nod, before turning to his left and right and began shouting orders at his men as they began entering the city. Alpha Alliance soldiers spread out at the words of the Generals, and their tasks divided, many still engaging pockets of heavy Ancient resistance, while others went door to door to the citizens and attempted to give them safe passage out of the city. In minutes, Pokemon citizens already began slowly evacuating into the northern and western exists, attempting to reach one of the nearby smaller villages. Zane did his part too, going door to door, knocking and letting the Pokemon know that it was no longer safe to remain in the city. He saw how frantically some of the families were, taking whatever they could in the short time, and leaving so many things behind. For many, they might never see their homes the same way again. He felt disheartened to have to do this to them, but knew the alternative was death.

Zane scurried across the city, clearing one section of homes before going to the next, many Alpha Alliance soldiers doing the same. He sprinted across the courtyard on his way to another part of the city, when he suddenly felt a stinging pain across his back followed by a forceful shot, and collapsed from the impact of the blow. A voice behind him giggled.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The voice said. "If it isn't Zane Tyrael, interim leader of the Gold Tribe. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" She asked. Zane picked himself off of the dirt, and rose up, turning around to face his attacker, although he had a pretty good idea who it was anyways. Frost. And she couldn't have showed up at a worse time, when he was isolated from any of his other brothers or sisters.

"Do stay and talk for a while. We've got so much to catch up on..."


Defender continued to hold off the flamethrower, but Ignitus's attack seemed only to grow stronger with every passing second. Calamity got off his feet, now thinking of a way to help his brother out. He dashed to the side of Ignitus, and struck him with a Night Slash. Ignitus took the attack, but didn't let off of the flamethrower, merely casting a flame at Calamity, and pushing him away. Guardia got up now, racing at her from the other side, slashing at her body. The attack cut deep, but there was hardly any reaction from Ignitus, as if she didn't feel the attack hit her at all, even though Guardia could clear see the wound in front of her. The Swift, who then arrived, struck her back, but the same effect happened. Ignitus compressed energy around her, and release flames in all directions, forcing the Gold Tribe away from her again. Just then, Ragnaros came in from above, launching a Hydro Pump, which disrupted the flamethrower attack just enough so that it was concluded abruptly. Ignitus turned her cold, dark eyes up at the sky at Ragnaros, who swooped in and struck her with a Dragon Rush. The momentum of Bloodthirster's large body and the attack forced her backwards a few meters, before she got control of the situation, and launched herself off of Ragnaros. The Gold Tribe were now surrounding her in a circle. She looked at them coldly. Calamity knew Ignitus from before the invasion of Auron. He also knew Ignitus the Sentinel. This Pokemon was neither. It almost seemed like an Ancient: Non-sentient and mindless, having no will of her own.

Ignitus looked around calmly, before powering up her attack again. In almost an instant, she released another powerful Overheat at them, bigger and stronger than any of the last, as if with every passing moment, she was getting stronger and stronger. Guardia tried to block her flames with her signature Thunder attack (Lyn "Guardia" Reed, and her family is known for a signature Thunder attack in which she uses the Thunder at or around her body as a shield, more as a defensive attack than an offensive one), yet the flames seemed to only be slowed down by her ability, and eventually shredded through, burning at her. Calamity was also forced back by the flames, his side being burnt badly.

"Damn it!" Guardia cursed, slowly recovering from the onslaught of flames. She looked around the area, fire burning quickly through everything around. "How the hell are we supposed to stop something like this?! This power...it's not possible for one Pokemon to have this much!"

"...There may be a way." Calamity said to Ragnaros, the Swift, Defender, Healer, and Guardia. Guardia looked at him curiously. "I'll need your help. Get me an opening. So that I get close enough to her. Give me that opening, and I can bring her down."

"How?" Lyn wondered, as curious as ever.

"Give me an opening, and I'll show you."

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

Penance cried out as he was starting to feel light headed. His vision blurred for a bit but then the flames stopped and he fell to a knee, panting heavily. He looked up at the others trying in vain to attack Ignitus. They needed to run! Get away fast and leave before everything was lost! Too soon another Overheat slammed into them and forced Penance to the ground. He banged his head rather hard and groaned on the ground, panting a bit before he got onto his feet rather shakily.

He looked around with a confused look for a few seconds before a huge smile lit up on his face.

"Give me an opening, and I'll show you."

"Openings? I got openings! They are everywhere!" He burst into high pitched laughter as he held out a hand and grabbed some rubble that was made with the Overheat attack with his psychic powers and flung large quantities at the Flareon with crackling laughter. "There you go!" He shouted as he grabbed a rather large piece of rubbed and slammed it into the Absol's rear and tried to forcibly push the Absol toward the demon Flareon.

"Go through openings they said! Find the wall!" He burst into more laughter as the rubble continued to fly through the air and actually was going everywhere, even heading to where Guardia, Healer, The Swift, and Bloodthirster were. "So many pebbles! Gotta find the sand!" He burst into more laughter as rock chunks flung through the air randomly. "Plant the stone to find the acorn!" He giggled at his own 'joke'.

Hanso's attack hit, but he was in return hit by Sovereign's retaliation. The Gallade took several steps away from the Tyranitar, who said, "It seems I judged you wrong. You are certainly a brave warrior."

Brave. Not sure this is so much brave as reckless. Hanso grinned, his arm-blades glowing black with Night Slash. Reckless, that's me. "You think I'm gonna run?" he asked, doubling the number of illusions surrounding Sovereign. Can't do the same thing over and over, if I wanna live. He'd been hit in the torso, which wouldn't take too much abuse. I know how to heal others, but not myself.

Hanso repeated his teleporting routine, then had the illusions converge on Sovereign again, with himself behind and to the left. He ran in again to deliver another Night Slash, then immediately teleported to a place several yards in front of the Sentinel. When he tried to call up a Leaf Blade, he frowned. I learned how to use a Heal Pulse, but that replaced something else? Hanso couldn't quite remember the attack. He instead threw several Psycho Cuts at Sovereign, hoping they would at least distract him, before teleporting behind him and swinging at him with Night Slash.

As he teleported to a safe distance on Sovereign's right, something caught his eye. He turned to see a burst of black flames in the sky, in the general direction of the main battle. What in the world... Hanso called up his end of the telepathic connections and sent a message to Penance, Zane, Noctus, Ragnaros, and Calamity. "Update on Sovereign. He's actually too busy to join the main battle. I saw the black fire in the sky. What's going on?"

From his brief brush with Penance's mind, Hanso could tell that it wasn't...quite as normal as it should have been. Focus. He turned back to Sovereign, having been distracted for those few moments.

Sovereign

As the Gallade moved in for another attack, once again accompanied by a number of copies, Sovereign found himself distracted. He could feel a presence on the battlefield, which was interesting since he was not normally receptive to feelings of intuition. But this presence was strong. But as the Gallade was about to strike, he came back to his senses, and shifted his body around to avoid getting hit in the same place again. He had already taken a Metal Claw from that Scizor earlier, and didn't need his armor breaking on him.

The Gallade once again teleported away, but right as a number of Psycho Cuts rushed towards him, a horrible black flame emerged from the sky line. Sovereign's focus once again came back to the strange, but powerful presence.

His heart pulsed in his chest. No, not now. Sovereign grabbed at his chest. Then a familiar voice that he never wanted to hear again invaded his mind. Hey there, Lover-Boy. It couldn't be. He's been dead for over ten years. I gotta admit, you've got fine taste in women. That Vera's quite a looker. I bet she can- well, I better not get too graphic. But I really prefer the more... 'elegant' look of girls like Genevieve.

How could this be happening? Sovereign threw his hands on his skull and yelled, "Get out of my head!" So sorry Lover-Boy. 'Fraid I can't do that. Trust me, I'd have left a long time ago if I could. Well, I think it's time to have some fun...

Sovereign's hands dropped to is sides. Suddenly, hundreds of horrible black tendrils burst forth from his body and proceeded to wrap themselves around him, turning his skin a deep, pitch black. Two blood red eyes then opened on his face, and a wicked smile appeared. "Watch out Albia! Varren's* back in town!" he yelled with a disgusting enthusiasm. His voice was clearly Sovereign's, but the tone and manner of speach was completely different, sounding instead like he was a professional criminal. "Oh it feels good to be out of that god forsaken hell hole. Now it's time to have some fun," he said as he turned to look at Hanso. His disgusting smile grew as he then charged the Gallade and followed through with a punch. However, he promptly realized that it had absolutely no effect whatsoever.

"Oh sh-"



*Varren is a character from my short story, Dragon Blood. He apparently died by Sovereign's hands, after triggering his first Outrage.

How...repugnant. Two more of the insolent whelps had appeared to "challenge" her. They had to recognize the futility of such actions. Oh yes, the citizens of Albia, how dreadful such a fate that awaited them. This wasn't so much a punishment as it was mercy, having to live under the ineffectiveness of the Gold Tribe and Alpha Alliance, she was sparing them such mind numbing fatuousness.

They demanded she stop before they turn to force. How adorable. When all else fails, all these troglodytes do is turn to force. It was almost sad, what must it be like in their sad little heads. "I have a name," she called down in response. "I go by Genevieve, so if it wouldn't be asking too much, I'd prefer that over simply being called 'Sentinel'," she continued playfully. "I mean, I know technically we're enemies," she let out an exasperated moan. "But would it kill you to be a little civil?"

Turning her gaze skyward, away from the Sawk and Ditto on the ground below. The sound of the Aerodactyls' mighty squawking was meaningless noise to most, but to her, it was the beautiful realization of a plan. They continued to dip and dive, the incessant flapping and jostling for position an arial acrobatic ballet. It wasn't long now.

"You know, you really shouldn't be worrying about little old me," Genevieve returned her attention to the noble fools. "I am merely the composer of destruction, not the instrument." She let out a muffled laugh over the clashing of battle. The longer she could keep them talking, the more time she had to recover and the more time her plan had to come to fruition.

The mindless Ancients seemed to be giving ground in the great skirmish. The Alpha Alliance forces already began to breach the city walls and begin pushing inside. Time to light the fire. "Tick, tock, tick, tock," Genevieve wagged her hand in a clockwork motion towards her audience, wondering if they were even capable of understanding her meaning. In the end, they didn't need to.

With a mighty harmonized shriek, the ancient arial army of Aerodactyls flocked to the heart of Albia. They hovered motionless, almost as if they waited for the exact second. So punctual, so loyal. Even with this, granted, large distraction. She knew that they would come for her. She may not have been at her best, but she was as ready as she was ever going to be.

The Aerodactyls lowered their heads in unison, a bright light forming in the back of their throats. Hyper beams. Just as quickly as they had formed, they were unleashed on the waiting edifice below. A nearby abode erupted with satisfactory spectacle. This would take a while, but the attempted destruction of Albia was well at hand.

Albia

"Oh, damn it..." Calamity said quietly, as he saw Defender begin to revert to his unbalanced persona again. He wondered what had caused it this time, as no new revelations occurred recently. Calamity concluded that whenever they knocked him back into his sense, they don't solve the problem. They merely postpone it. The Gold Tribe would have to find a way to fix it in the long run. However, at the moment, they need him back to normal. Seeing as that seemed like it wouldn't happen, Calamity was forced a bit forward by the rubble Defender launched at him from behind. "Damn it, get him out of here!" Calamity yelled.

Guardia grabbed at the Golduck and held him back. "Defender, get your act together! Now's not the time for you to have a mental breakdown!" She yelled at his face, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Forget it." Calamity said, just as Ignitus began approaching again, ready to do more damage. "We need to get out of here! She's too powerful. Besides, I see something going on in the city that we'd have better uses for." He said, motioning to Albia and the destruction coming upon it by the flying Ancient Pokemon. "We need to stop that now."

Noctus shook his head. "Arceus." He cursed. "I didn't sign up for this..."

Guardia nodded, looking at Ragnaros, Noctus, Swift, and Healer, while also grabbing Defender by the neck and forcefully attempting to move him back with her. "Come on, brothers and sisters. We have to go save the city! That's our new priority!"

Guardia began leaving with the others to the direction of the city, then looked back at Calamity, who didn't move yet. "Calamity! Come on!"

"Hang on." He said, looking back at Ignitus. "I'm going to try to hold her off for a moment. So she doesn't follow us. I'll be right behind you, I promise."

Guardia looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before nodding and heading to the city with the others. She assumed he would be along shortly.



Calamity sighed and turned back to Ignitus. "Of course, you know neither of us are going anywhere, don't you Sentinel?"

Ignitus said nothing as she stepped forward, the flames around her body increasing with each step. The area around her was burned with her flames. She prepared to launch another Overheat, fully intent on overpowering Calamity in one hit. Calamity prepared an attack of his own. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and calmed himself. He could feel the intensity of the flames a few mere meters away from him, but he tried to concentrate back on his energy gathering. He had to make this as strong as he could, no matter the cost. In the midst of his gathering of energy, the faces of his brother, Rai, and his sister Kasey, and of his father and mother appeared in his mind. He never did get to learn the fate of his family, whether they were in hiding somewhere, or whether they had died in the invasion. Them being in the Gold Tribe, he assumed the latter, even if he did keep looking. Now, it appeared he would never get a chance to learn what happened.

Right after the battle of Eternity City, Calamity was one of the few people willing to try out Demas's machine, which allowed them to switch moves. It was a dangerous machine, with possible life-threatening affects, but he did it anyways, choosing a move that would be useful on the off chance that they ran into a situation with impossible chances of victory. In the hands of a member of the Gold Tribe, the move could produce catastrophic damage, but the payoff would be fatal.

The move was Explosion.

Calamity looked back at the city of Albia. "See you all in another life." He said softly, with a smile appearing on his face...


Guardia ran forward to the city, making occasional glances at the others around, especially Defender, hoping he was still following as well, and not going completely insane. She then heard a telepathic message from TrueStriker.

"Update on Sovereign. He's actually too busy to join the main battle. I saw the black fire in the sky. What's going on?"

Ignitus did some sort of transformation. I don't even know how to begin to describe it to you. It was as if her whole persona changed, and her appearance. Anyways, we're heading toward the city to stop the Aerodactyls from doing more damage. Calamity sa-"

Guardia stopped her telepathic message dead in her tracks, and looked among the others. Wait, where is Calamity? She thought to herself. Just as she began to look back at the direction of where Ignitus was, a large, powerful explosion erupted from the area. The blast produced a bright, white light that blinded Guardia for a moment, and the shockwave of the blast was enough, even at their distance, to knock her off her feet. Everything was white on her eyes, as she held on to whatever she could on the ground and endure the blast.

"What the hell just happened?!" Noctus yelled from the ground, covering his head with his arms.


Zane dragged himself off the ground, just being hit right on the chest by an Ice Beam. No matter how many times he would go in for an attack, she kept her distance and counter with a longer range. Her reflexes were too quick to get a hit on. Nevertheless, Zane tried again. He ran at her head-on, powering up his claws on the way with a Swords Dance, and then going at her with an Iron Head.

Frost sidestepped and put a leg out in front. The momentum Zane was going at, he couldn't avoid the foot, and tumbled over. However, just as he flew through the air, she launched an Ice Beam right onto her back, causing him to be flung back into a nearby empty house.

"Hmm...I expected more out of you, Vigil." She said, crossing her arms. Zane slowly rose again, wiping the blood away from his mouth. "Ah, at least you don't give up easily. Good." She looked off into the not-too-distant part of the city, where the Ancients had already begun to do their damage from above. "Ah. Just in time. Witness, Gold Tribesman, the destruction of you city. How it must pain you to see this all happen right under your nose. I know if Rey were still alive, he would never have let this happen." She giggled happily, enjoying every moment of torturing Zane. Zane panted heavily, the last bit of words Frost said hitting him hard. He buried the thoughts, knowing she was only trying to fluster him, and charged back in again, this time with a Night Slash. In an almost repeat performance, Zane was brought down to hit knees, a recipient of another ice beam. Frost went up to Zane, and lifted his head to the direction of the Hyper Beams of the Aerodactyl. "I want you to see this. I want you to see what you caused."

Zane tried to break free of her grip, but couldn't. He struggled, but all of it proved fruitless. Zane could only sit and watch as Albia began to be destroyed.

But then, something happened. A light brighter than any he had seen just shone, followed by a large rumbling of the ground. A large last had just occurred, coming from just outside the city gates. The light was enough to cause from to cover her eyes, and release Zane. Zane then suddenly found someone grabbing at his arm, and leading him away. Because of the light, he couldn't see who it was, but merely followed the Pokemon, not in much of a position to do otherwise. They turned behind a group of houses, where the light didn't shine as bright, and then as it died down, Zane was able to see the figure of his brother Hoodhide.

"Hoodhide..." He said, still trying to overcome his injuries done to him by Frost.

"Dunnworry, Vigil! Gold Tribe never leaves-a brother to-fight alone." He said with a bright smile. "We'll fight Frosty later. Right now, we-gotta stopdose Aerodactyls. Da-Generals and the others can evac da-rest of-the homes."

"Right..." Zane said. "...thanks."


Gallant shook his head, almost as if he was in disbelief at the Sentinel's words. "I apologize if my rudeness is not something you're used to." Gallant began. "But I usually don't show respect towards heartless murderers. So you'll forgive me if I seem a little 'uncivil'." He said.

But when the Siren mentioned the Aerodactyls, Gallant looked up to confirm her words. She was right, and by the looks of things, they didn't have long.

"Damn!" Gallant said. "We have to stop this! We have t-"

The brightness of the white light shone past the Sawk and Grovyle-Ditto. The covered their eyes, and could feel the ground shake and rumble, as if an earthquake was occurring. But eventually, the brightness passed, and the shaking faded. Gallant wanted to investigate what exactly that was, but knew they didn't have time. "Speculum. Go stop those Aerodactyls. I'll handle the Siren."

"By yourself?" He asked.

"We've got no choice. I'll be alright. These old bones still have a bit of something left in them."

Speculum wasn't eager to leave his old instructor alone to fight the Sentinel. He had only recently reunited with him, and had no intention of leaving. But he understood the dangerous situation Albia was in. "Promise me you'll be alright."

Gallant laughed. "Boy, I've been doing this since before you were born. I'll be alright. Now go!" Speculum didn't wait for another second as he departed into the city, where the armies were still clashing with Ancients.

Gallant positioned himself toward his opponent. Using a focus energy to pump himself up, Gallant ran at the Siren at the fastest he could, and struck at her with a set of fists, Close Combat.

"You haven't met me," said Ragnaros. He looked up as black flames erupted across in the sky. "You know," he said, still staring at the sky where the flames had disappeared into, "why don't you come with me to the battlefield? Our friends might need help," he paused, "Yeah, friends. The remaining Gold Tribe members who started all this."

Ragarnos walked past Ignus, saying,"I'd offer you a flight, but I don't usually enjoy that. Besides, things with the sky guard could get real... bloody."

Ignus took all of this in. Ragnaros seemed like a trustworthy guy, though a bit of an a**hole. Ignus decided to follow him. They walked in silence, before coming to the front gates. Endless hordes of Ancients tried to stop the Alpha Alliance from getting in, but the Alliance was pushing through. Ragnaros paused for a minute, before diving into the fray. He went into full out kill mode, slashing and shooting hydropumps left and right. That was effective for a dragon, but Ignus had something else in mind. He started picking off anyone who got too far away from the main group, usually utilizing U-turn and Shadow claw to take them out quickly. He used Night Daze to blind a few with illusions or Extrasensory to distort them, before either letting Ragnaros's rampage kill them or doing it himself. His method may be slower, but in the long run it kept him breathing longer, right?

Suddenly, a huge flash blinded Ignus himself. Shi-! he thought. Ignus couldn't see, as the flash had been just before his eyes. The sound was overbearing too, like a giant explosion. As his vision slowly came back to him, Ignus tried to find the source of the flash, but was still fuzzy from the shock. Several dead ancients were around him, and the Alpha Alliance was still making its way into the city. Ignus turned and ran, and kept running until this mind was clear. Ignus started to sit down and rest, but a house exploded not too far from him.

"Damn it! Can we go five minutes without blowing something up int his damn city?!"

Ignus looked up. Several Aerodactyls were firing hyper beams at numerous houses. Well damn. The city was being destroyed slowly by unintelligent ancients....wait. How are they organizing an attack like this? They must be under control of a sentential....but who? Ignus scanned the scene for someone, seeing a Gardevoir, a Grovyle, and a Sawk on the top of a building.

What the hell is going on here?

Vera Fayos

Vera watched as the battle unfolded. It could go either way. But, when things started to look bad, a massive black flame emerged above the sky line. Just what is going on down there. Vera decided it was time to assess things from a closer perspective, and set out to see what happened.

"What are you going to do, Sovereign?" She sounded very serious. "Alright, I warned you," he said as the earth began to shake. Vera quickly realized that he was starting an earthquake, and swiftly jumped as far as she could to avoid taking damage. She knew Sovereign could take care of himself, and left to orchestrate the battle that would determine the fate of her former home. She made her way to a decent vantage point where she called down a Archeops. She used him to pass orders around the battlefield, carefully moving the pieces to try and win the battle at any cost. She then received news that made her blood boil. "Miss Vera, Genevieve has issued orders to the contrary. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. They're set on those orders." Vera grabbed the Archeops by the neck and pulled him close. "You listen to me you miserable little whelp! Tell that harlot that she needs to stay out of this. She's not going to win this battle by batting her eyes at an army!"

Before she could make it far, there was a massive explosion. It was blinding. This whole situation was very unsettling. However, there was something comforting about seeing Albia in flames. All the years of mistreatment, all the abuse, all of it would be gone.

Then something happened that shook her to her very core. A fear washed over her that she had only felt twice in her entire life. A wicked, distorted roar echoed across the battlefield. Sovereign. No! She suddenly took off in the opposite direction, knowing full well that every second that passed was another second closer to losing her only friend in the world.

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

Penance crackled with laughter as his attacks flew forward, then Guardy had to ruin it! She grabbed him as she told him to stop. "Breakdown? You're doing a shakedown!" He giggled at his wordplay. Penance just idly heard what Calamity said and rolled his eyes, "Talk talk talk! Never do but talk! Just like Gwen!" He muttered.

He was grabbed by his neck and pulled along and turned back to Calamity, "See ya! Do things and stuff!" He crackled as he waved good-bye while he was forcibly dragged. Eventually she did stop dragging him, but he ran as well. He wasn't an idiot to see what should be seen but would kill those that saw the scene that would be viewed! She was powerful, but not the powerful kind of powerful, the other kind of power stuff!

"Update on Sovereign. He's actually too busy to join the main battle. I saw the black fire in the sky. What's going on?"

Bake and whip! Cream there, some blood there! Perhaps a bit of pumpkin in the middle! Penance gleefully shot back as he giggled to himself.

Suddenly the ground shook and Penance kept his eyes closed tightly as rubble shifted around. "What the hell just happened?!"

Penance giggled, "Boom boom! Saw that some time ago! Pokemon goes boom! Cala is thrown all over!" He crackled. "But that time is gone! Now we pick up the pieces, have to be all over you know! Not yet though! Roses are still here!" He claimed as he pointed to the sky at the Ancients. "They keep falling ya know?" He said with a nod.

A brilliant flash blinded Genevieve. Her world at once radiantly bright, followed by impenetrable darkness. The blast of light was no mere coruscation, but a full blown explosion of noise and illumination. A shock wave of high pressure air discharged from the source, causing her to step back in response. Small bits of debris buffeted her flesh, sand gusting into her eyes, each small abrasion like sandpaper on the skin.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. The source was definitely one of instantaneous combustion. An explosion of some sort, not a lasting attack. As much as she would have loved to know its source, time and circumstance did not permit her such a luxury. Her vision continued to fail her as Gallant launched his offensive. She could sense him before she could see him, but it was too slow.

Her breath left her lungs, the Sawk's close combat technique hitting her squarely in the chest. The move knocked her back, landing firmly on her posterior. So rude. She slowly stood to face her opponent, her playful demeanor replaced by one of hatred and rage. Her left arm wrapped itself around her chest, the support a relief to the recently afflicted area. She was done toying with this one, he served her no other purpose but to die a quick and painful death.

The blurred vision of her eyes finally cleared, the surroundings becoming fully illuminated to her. She inhaled a sharp painful breath, the air entering her lungs seemed cold and painfully dry. A psychic and a fighting type, she was right in thinking him a fool. A noble fool, but a fool none the less.

The faint illumination of her psychic attack began to outline her body, her eyes glowed in response. The successful connection of his attack was painful, but Genevieve knew his defenses should have gotten weaker in response. She focused her power inwardly, the feeling as familiar and comforting as breathing. With the extension of her arm, the blast shot forth in visible distorting waves. As the attack paved its way to her target, an Archeops appeared on the fringes of battle.

Hanso vs Sovereign

"Oh sh-"

Hanso took a few steps back from the punch, though he wondered what it was that couldn't affect him, and promptly swung at the Tyranitar with Night Slash several times, three up at his face and chin and the rest at his torso, knocking him to the ground. Hanso then jumped and flipped backwards a few times to put several feet between him and...whoever this was. Varren, huh? Have I heard that somewhere? Either way, it was clear to Hanso that Sovereign was being possessed by...someone. Or something.

If I keep fighting, I'll be fighting this Varren instead of Sovereign. Hanso teleported to a place several yards behind Sovereign - no, Varren - and called, "Oy, over here!" He threw a few Psycho Cuts at the Tyranitar as an incentive to keep his attention on Hanso, even though such an attack normally wouldn't hurt a Tyranitar. Does possession bring the strengths and weaknesses of the possessor along?

Sovereign picked himself off the ground, and dusted himself off. "Damn. I forgot that this body can't do a Shadow Punch. It's strong, but a little unwieldy. You know, I've been trapped in this big lug's body for over ten years. There's really not a lot going on in there. He doesn't have any fun thoughts. Unless Genevieve's around that is. She's the highlight of my day," he said with sickening joy. Trapped for over ten years, huh? Not so much possession, then... "However, there is one memory I quite like. Let me show it to you."

A series of six tentacles crept out of his back and slid their way into the ground. Hanso listened as the Tyranitar talked, though he backed up with arm-blades out as the tentacles disappeared into the ground. When they emerged, there were long stone spikes attached to each one. The image was reminiscent of ancient depictions of the legendary dragon, "Giratina. Very few people have seen it's true form before, but I had the good fortune to visit an ancient temple in the mountains, with one of the few remaining statues depicting it. This is as close as you will ever get I'm afraid." He then sent the tentacles into a flurry, striking at the Gallade from every direction.

Hanso brought his blades up and parried them off as he could, but he was still struck several times before he teleported to a spot behind the Tyranitar - he wasn't sure what to call him - and went in to hit his back with another Night Slash before teleporting to a spot several yards to Sovereign's left.

Just then, he heard explosions from the middle of Albia. Hanso turned his head to see a group of Aerodactyls unleashing Hyper Beams on the city below. Snap! "Does that mean you know everything that Sovereign knows?" Hanso asked as he turned back to the Tyranitar, moving into a ready stance.

Sovereign withdrew his attacks, the hideous tentacles coiling back to him. "A curious question," he said, ignoring the immensely chaotic destruction going on around them. "I've had a lot of time to root around in his memories. I suppose I've got time to kill. Go on, ask me anything," he said with a twisted grin on his face.

Hanso's face didn't show it, but he was somewhat surprised. He'd just gotten his opponent to hold back his attacks in order to talk. He then got a reply from Guardia: "Ignitus did some sort of transformation. I don't even know how to begin to describe it to you. It was as if her whole persona changed, and her appearance. Anyways, we're heading toward the city to stop the Aerodactyls from doing more damage. Calamity sa-"

Said what? That was worrying. Hanso began speaking. "Well, first off-- " A powerful explosion that shook the ground and a burst of light erupted, from the direction of the city gates. Hanso closed his eyes, but he'd already had them open long enough to make him momentarily blind. Hanso staggered back a few steps, using his mental sense to keep tabs on Sovereign's location. What he saw of the Tyranitar's mind was...a little too complex to decipher at first.

"Tick tock, Hanso." Sovereign pointed to his head. "I'm not the only one in here. There's another trying to push his way out as we speak. If you don't hurry you'll be plagued with questions for the rest of your life."

Hanso had to hurry, either way. The Tyranitar was right; he had more than one question. "What do you, or Sovereign, know about Auron and the other Sentinels? About how they came to be the way they are?" Hanso kept his arm-blades out, but he still couldn't see quite clearly.

"So sorry. You chose the one question I can't answer. They were already like that when Sovereign was recruited. Now, I'm afraid our time is up." The stone spikes dropped to the ground as the his tentacles slithered back into his body. "Until we meet again" They'd told Sovereign nothing, then?

Suddenly, the red faded from his eyes as the darkness evaporated off of his skin. "I must apologize for Varen. He can be quite a handful." Sovereign's voice had once again been replaced by one very unfamiliar. He sounded almost like a noble. "My son on the other hand has much hidden away. A million faces, none of them real. Would you like to see Sovereign's true face? The face of absolute chaos?" Then, there was a moment of total silence. "Very well." He then closed his eyes, as if to focus.



The silence broke as the earth began to shake. He opened his eyes revealing a yellow glow. Black lightning swirled around him as his skin changed color once again, this time a dark blue. Hanso took a couple steps back as Sovereign's voice and appearance changed once again. What is it with this guy?! The earth shook more violently as he let out a heavy, distorted roar across the city. Hanso came close to freezing on the spot. In the ten or so years after joining the Gold Tribe, he had seen some things that would have struck fear into others. A few times, he'd been in a situation that would have put too much stress on the minds of other Pokemon. There had only been a few times, fewer than average, when Hanso had been close to breaking. Sovereign charged straight at Hanso, reaching out to slam his prey's head into the ground.

Too much of this, and Hanso wondered if he could stand it.

As it was, all Hanso did was back up, arm-blades glowing black, as he readied them to try and fend off Sovereign's charge. Hanso tried to dodge to the side and throw a Night Slash up at the Tyranitar's face, simultaneously.

Sovereign opened his maw and caught the blade in his teeth. His hand grabbed Hanso's face as his teeth dug into Hanso's arm. Darkness seeped into the wound, tethering Hanso so he couldn't teleport. He squeezed and squeezed until eventually-

CRACK!

Hanso cried out in pain, his left arm going limp in Sovereign's maw. His other arm glowed black as he alternated between striking at the Tyranitar's face and the arm holding his face. He couldn't think straight; the pain overwhelmed much of his senses as he struggled to escape Sovereign's clutches.

Out of nowhere, a red feathered arm slung itself around Sovereign's neck, pulling tight, and forcing him to let go. Hanso fell to the ground as Sovereign let go of him, and he hurriedly pushed himself up and began running, only to fall back into a sitting position some yards away. On Sovereign's back was an off colored Blaziken. Sovereign thrashed and struggled as Vera removed the pouch around her neck. She pulled a small, light blue rock shard out with her teeth, and dropped the pouch on the ground. Sovereign swung violently, almost losing Vera, forcing her to pull tighter. She tried fruitlessly to jam the shard between the layers of armor, but to no avail. "I'm sorry Sovereign. I don't want to do this." She focused on a spot on Sovereign's right shoulder. "Focus Blast!" A blast of red energy burst forth from her hand into Sovereign's shoulder, cracking the armor. She then forced the shard in as hard as she could.

Hanso turned and watched as the off-colored Blaziken eventually shoved something into the Tyranitar. His breathing was labored as his left arm continued to issue waves of pain. He left his left arm-blade unsheathed, as sheathing it might do more damage; he didn't look at his arm.

Sovereign let out a screeching howl as the shard entered his body. Vera finally let go falling to the ground. Sovereign turned around, a blood thirsty look in his eyes. A scene all to familiar to Vera. Then, it all stopped. The black lightning subsided. The earth stopped shaking. And Sovereign's body finally returned to it's standard green, as he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

After a minute, Hanso pushed himself up with his right arm and eyed the Blaziken. He was silent for a few moments before nodding to her. "Thank you. Whoever you are."

"Do not take it the wrong way Gold Tribe. I did not come to save you. I came to keep Sovereign from losing control. Any longer and there would have been no return for him." She stood up, and began tending to Sovereign's wounds as best as she could without healing techniques. "Under different circumstances I would finish you myself. But I must fix what I broke. Get out of here while you can." She paused a moment. "If you're concerned about your honor, don't be. Sovereign wouldn't have wanted to kill you in that state. He doesn't like losing control." Those were her final words as she continued to patch up the hole she had made, using fire to try and meld the armor back together.

Hanso nodded again, then turned to go. He considered, briefly, sparing a Heal Pulse for Sovereign. Nah. It wasn't him who saved my life. And the Blaziken was already tending the Tyranitar. Hanso looked back up at the Aerodactyls in the distance, his red and gray eyes narrowed. He looked down at his left arm for the first time, and winced. It wasn't pretty. Definitely broken. Bad idea to try sheathing the blade or using it. That would limit his fighting for a while, especially with the pain that had died down a little.

Still, there had to be something for him to do, after his escapade in the middle of battle. Hanso composed a message for Guardia and Zane; Penance wasn't in a state to help. "Sovereign's down and out for the day, but he's nowhere near dead. Don't ask what happened. I need one of you to send me an image of where you are so I can teleport to your location." Hanso then began walking toward the center of Albia, in the direction of the Aerodactyls, letting his arm dangle at his side.

After tending to Sovereign's wounds as best she could, Vera called down another Archeops. "Albia is a lost cause. If we're gonna lose the city, we may as well make sure there's nothing for them to celebrate. Instruct all Ancients not actively involved in the defense to start destroying as much of this accursed city as possible. As usual, personal safety is a secondary concern. All soldiers engaged in battle do not need to hold back. There's nothing worth saving here."

Albia

Speculum ran forward, in the distance, he could see destruction coming upon Albia by the Ancients. He prepared to go full speed, but suddenly spotted a darker than usual colored Zoroark still around the city.

"Hey, man! What are you still doing here! Can't you see the city's being destroyed? You have to get outta here!"


"Boom boom! Saw that some time ago! Pokemon goes boom! Cala is thrown all over!" Defender said with a cackle. Guardia continued to lay on the ground, trying to make sense of it all. But in the back of her mind, she had a good idea, even if she didn't want to believe it. One more look into the direction of the blast, and she picked herself up. There would be time to mourn...later. Right now, they were still being depended on.

"Come on! We've got to stop those Aerodactyls! And Defender damn it, pull yourself together!"

She saw a few Ancients in front of her, and began slicing them up, holding nothing back, in part because of her anger and sadness over what had just happened with Calamity, and in another because she didn't want to see another city destroyed. Not like Gravel City. And Omastar and two Kabutops appeared to her right. She slashed at the Omaster, who recoiled in pain, and then clawed at the two others, alternating between the three until they were all a bloody mess, falling defeated on the ground. Her claws still dripped with the blood of her enemies as she continued on to the next set, all the while keeping in sight the Aerodactyls. They had begun tearing through the courtyard with Hyper Beams. But the scene began to get more and more chaotic, as other Ancients who were groundside began targeting the city the same way. She knew what was happening. Just as the Alpha Alliance was getting an edge, they decided that if they couldn't have the city, nobody could. Bastards.

"Guardia!" A voice called after her, to which she turned to see Zane and Hoodhide battling their way to her location.

"Vigil! Where the hell have you been?!"

"A bit preoccupied. Come on! We've got to find a way to stop this. Belas and Hazone are doing all they can, but we need to find a faster solution!"

"Well...might as well start with THIS!" She yelled, targeting one Aerodactyl in the sky, charging her attack. Suddenly, a jolt of thunder burst down from the sky and zapped the Ancient right out of the sky. Zane smirked. "I guess it's a start. Come on, brothers and sisters! We've got work to do!"

A nervous glance was given by Zane to Defender, seeing he wasn't in his right mind. He tried to remember the exact way he snapped him out of his state last time, thinking that if he remained like that now, things might turn out to be difficult.

"Sovereign's down and out for the day, but he's nowhere near dead. Don't ask what happened. I need one of you to send me an image of where you are so I can teleport to your location."

Guardia grinned "Really? Good work, TrueStriker. Sending an image now...we can definitely use the help."


Gallant began to slowly realize how much of a bad idea it was to take on a Sentinel alone. Or perhaps he always knew, but did so anyways. He had a soft spot in his heart for his students, and perhaps those lingering feelings is what caused him to send away Speculum. He didn't want to see him get hurt. The Siren launched a wave of psychic energy at him. He put up his arm in defense, however useless the gesture was, and was sent back into a pile of rubble, which collapsed onto him upon impact.

He felt pain in his chest primarily, but injuries from battles prior and torture by Frost still lingered. Nevertheless, he tried to put aside his injuries and get up, stumbling as he did. His primary objective now wasn't to defeat the Sentinel, but merely to hold her off and give the others a chance to stop the destruction of Albia.

"I'm not done yet." He said, noticing an Archeops appear close by. He ignored it for now, electing instead to charge in for another attack on Genevieve. He leaped through the air, positioning himself to try and land a hi jump kick on her.

Genevieve let out a gleeful laugh as the Sawk flew into a pile of rubble. The wonderful sound of destruction and chaos emanating from within the confines of the city. The Aerodactyls had begun to do a wonderful job and from the looks of it, other Ancients had joined in on the fun. It wouldn't be too long before Albia was like the smoldering coals of a massive conflagration. The damage to the property was secondary, she wanted to burn the heart and will out of her enemy. To see a people the've sworn to protect, only to watch on in horror at their slow and eventual destruction.

The Archeops squawked for her attention, his high pitch shrill breaking her thoughts. The repugnant little raptor seemed to have a sense of urgency about his mission. She reached out to him, feeling his determination and repressed fear.

"Speak," she relayed to him. The conscious thoughts of the ancient beast bombarded her, one prevailing thought dominating all others, the message from Vera. Genevieve flooded her own aura with repulsion and loathing, the Archeops flinched visibly in response to her reaction. Vera had called her a "Harlot"? How inconsiderate and degrading. Civility truly is dead after all. Only fair to respond in kind.

Speaking telepathically to the beast, his mind a blank canvas for her own thoughts. "Inform Vera, that I have no need for advice from neanderthals and dregs of society, telling me how to go about my plans. If I wanted advice, I would rather consult a brick wall than that vituperator." She paused upon seeing Gallant rise from the rubble, giving a slight stumble as he did so.

"I'm not done yet," he called out. His body launched into the air, his body positioned for a Hi Jump Kick.

Without thinking, she yanked the Archeops from his perimeter location. The bird letting out a surprised screech as it launched through the air against his will and not under his own initiative. She attempted to throw him into the Sawk's trajectory. Her fingers crackled with now pent up electricity, her attempt at conjuring up a thunderbolt as she gyrated into a successful dodge, the thunderbolt being unleashed at what she hoped was Gallant's landing location.

Sovereign

Infinite darkness. A void so abysmal that all hope is lost to absolute blackness. A lone Larvitar is floating unconscious through the void. He eventually opens his eyes. But there is nothing to see. Not that he really expected anything. Expectations lead to disappointment.

A Garchomp, his face a disturbing visage of hideous disfigurement. "This is what I need you to become, Sovereign. A monster. That is all you are, and all you will be." The Larvitar cringed as he spoke, the horrible flesh, shifting to create words. His bloodshot eyes staring. "There is no hope for you. How many Ice Rock shards can you find. And what if you can't find one before you turn again?"

"Is that all you got," said a familiar voice. The Larvitar shifted himself around to see a great Salamence. "What happened to honor? How can you expect to hold on to what's most precious to a Dragon if you turn yourself into a ravenous beast? Now, get off your ass, Jarhead!"

Sovereign's eyes shot open to the sounds of destruction and the smell of smoke filling his lungs. "Wha-" Pain shot over his body, and his head was screaming. "Oh, good. You're awake." Vera leaned over him "Can you stand?"

"Maybe." He struggled to speak. He managed to prop himself into a sitting position. "What happened?" Vera wore a very serious look as she spoke. "You lost control. I don't know what happened right before, but I know I had to use the shard to calm you down. You probably won't be able to use Outrage for a day or so while it's neutralizing your dragon blood." Sovereign sighed, then looked around. The city was a mess. "What about Albia?" Vera helped Sovereign up to his feet. "It's a lost cause. We're pulling out, but not before we hollow the Gold Tribe's victory. The Ancients are laying waste to this god forsaken city as we speak."

Sovereign cracked his neck. His head had cleared up, and the pain was manageable. Nothing he couldn't handle. "Alright. Let's have a little fun before we leave then," he said with a smile on his face.