Chapter Nine: Flawed Deception

 

 

Music once again played over Azure Town. Not far from the band, the trio of females Simon and his family followed in were gossiping outside a surf shop; many cool surfboards and other beach-related accessories stood on display.

    The three stopped talking abruptly, fixing their attention on the Jolteon, wearing cool, expensive-looking black sunglasses, emerging from the shop. The Electric-type returned his interest, gazing notably at the Luxio.

    “Hel-lo, ladies . . .” he started smoothly. “Y’know, I’ve seen some stunning girls in my life,” he told the Luxio, slowly closing the space between her and him, “but, girl, you’re so shocking I’m the one left stunned. . . .” He pointed his snout toward the ground, his intelligent, plum-purple eyes gazing into hers above his new sunglasses.

    Much too shy to say anything, the cute Luxio distracted herself from Simon’s gaze by rolling a pebble around; Simon knew from the intensity of her blushing he had her in the palm of his paw.

    “How’d you fancy getting to know each other over some ice cream?” he asked with a casual coolness.

    The Luxio’s friends giggled and closed in on her.

    “Go on, Gemma, he’s well fit!” Simon heard the Bellossom whisper.

    Smiling shyly, Gemma raised her eyes from the ground, clapping with Simon’s in a moment of mutual infatuation until —

    “Aah, aah, aaah!”

    A feeler had roughly seized Simon’s right ear, pulling him away from Gemma and her friends, all of who not seeming sure what to make of the scowling Sylveon responsible; exchanging looks of confusion with one another.

    Once a decent distance from the three, Dawn stopped and relinquished her hold on her Jolteon brother. Then she hissed, “When you’re done trying to top the world’s worst chat-up line, enlighten me. How did you afford those?” she asked, her eyes examining his sunglasses.

    Simon sat himself down and reached into his wiry mane.

    “With this,” he said gleefully, pulling out half a wad of banknotes; he had been spending his savings — mostly on luxuries, such as sweets, cans of drink, and other inconspicuous things he could get away with behind his family’s backs — during the group’s stops at smaller convenience stores along the Grand Highway.

    Dawn’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open, appalled.

    “Excuse me! Where did you get all that?”

    “It’s my money,” growled Simon, ditching his smile and quite serious now. “And if I want to keep a little for myself I will.”

    “We all had to hand over our savings, Si, for the good of the group,” Dawn rebuked him. “Why would you be so self — ?”

    Simon held his money-free paw rudely up in Dawn’s face and said, “Talk to the paw.”

    Dawn narrowed her eyes; Simon had gone too far. Slapping his paw down with a feeler, she removed his sunglasses, snapped them in two, and tossed them into the air, all with the use of two feelers. She looked up and fired a Moonblast at the broken pieces, which were blown to smithereens. Dawn lowered her head and resumed glaring at Simon, who continued to gaze up at the blue sky.

    “Well,” he said irritably, still looking up, “there goes any chance of a refund.” He met his sister’s glare and returned it. “Hope you’re satisfied. That was a complete waste of thirty quid!”

    “You’re unbelievable!” shrilled Dawn.

    “Better than being a blatant hypocrite!” retaliated Simon. By now people were staring at the Jolteon and Sylveon siblings, though neither seemed to care very much.

    “Don’t you speak to me like that — !”

    “Oh piss off if you’re gonna treat me like I’m nine,” growled Simon; he turned his back on her and stormed off.

    “Maybe if you actually acted your age in the first place I wouldn’t need to!” she shouted after him.

    Coming to a sharp halt, Simon turned and angrily threw his wad of remaining cash at her; it landed by her feet. By the time Dawn had looked back up from the small windfall Simon was already storming off again. With a small whimper of sadness and frustration, Dawn picked up the wad of cash in a feeler and made her way, heavily, to the amusement pier, the intention of telling Glacia what their brother had kept from them. . . .

 

    In general, Summer liked the Stormcrashers’ variance from in-your-face rock in one song straight into seductive R&B the next. Over the course of four songs, the crowd’s numbers had risen appreciably; too many shrieking girls for Summer’s tolerance. Ezio, the Ludicolo guitarist, took the limelight in a guitar solo for their current song’s outro.

    To Summer’s annoyance, the last strum was met with the most raucous clamour yet; she had to cover her ears the noise hurt so much. She’d had enough now. Getting to her feet, she reared back onto her hind legs to peek over the stage’s right; from this temporary boost of height she could see more of the pier, its rides, Ferris wheel (situated at the far end), and arcades stimulating the playfulness in her she, sadly, had little time to indulge these days. And, as she thought about all the fun Rose and Glacia were having, no doubt, she wondered why she didn’t just go with them when Glacia asked.

    Summer dropped down and began squeezing her way through the living wall of bodies on either side of her, watched, like a deadly Staraptor, by Ryker . . .

    “All right, all you gorgeous-looking Pokémon!” he boomed, “Can Ryker get some attention, ’cause he’s got something very special lined up for ya!”

    This drew back some of Summer’s interest, as she stopped and faced the concert stage. The band’s Greninja drummer let his drumsticks slip from his grip — they hit the floor with a small clatter — as he tilted his head back, his sweating forehead catching the sun’s light, and his heavy breaths comparable to those of a marathon runner’s after ten miles.

    “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” beamed Ryker, relishing in the crowd’s excitement. “Who here would like to get their paws on our latest album one whole month before official release and signed by each Stormcrashers member?”

    Again came the ear-splitting shrieks of frenzied girls, pushing Summer’s buttons once more; she couldn’t take another outburst —

    “We’ve only the one to give away, I’m afraid to disappoint,” said Ryker, as Ezio handed the Hitmonchan a signed CD case of Ryker, Ezio, and the real Russ on it. “Who’s gonna be the lucky fan to walk away with eleven brand new songs . . . ?” he said with an air of suspense, sweeping a pointing finger across the astir wave of Pokémon until coming to Summer, who was awkwardly trying to get by a Sudowoodo. “The Espeon in the pink scarf!”

    “Huh, huh — what?” said Summer confusedly, looking from left to right.

    “Congratulations,” Ryker clarified when the Espeon met his gaze with the same bewildered expression on her face. “Come on up ’ere, sugar,” he encouraged, beckoning her on stage.

    “Lucky,” the Sudowoodo told her, an envious smile on his face.

    Reality catching up with her, an attack of the nerves invaded Summer, suddenly making her very nervous. Her eyes seemed to fall to the ground on their own and were content to stay there during the short walk to the stage. People were calling and shouting all around her; she didn’t dare lift her head up, though could feel fifty pairs of different eyes staring, scrutinizing every bit about her . . . She kept walking, finally reaching the stage and jumping up onto it.

    “Don’t be shy,” said Ryker. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

    “S-Summer . . .” answered Summer spiritlessly, Ryker’s shoes being good enough to talk to for the moment. Weirdly, she caught a small whiff of what smelt like gas . . .

    “A fittingly beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Okay then, Summer, here’s the deal: If you can correctly guess the hand I’m holding this in” — Summer lifted her head up to see Ryker flourishing the case — “you get to keep it. Sound good?”

    Summer nodded timidly.

    “That’s the spirit! All right, then . . .” He held both hands behind his back and shuffled the case from hand to hand, settling it in his left. “Good luck. . . .”

    For a few seconds, Summer stared ponderingly at Ryker’s midriff when a sly smile sneaked over her. The ability to be able to enter the mind of pretty much anyone and read their thoughts at will, deceitful and invasive as it was, emphasized Summer’s pleasure in being a Psychic-type; she could easily cheat to win that prize, and Ryker’s mind would likely be currently distracted by Summer’s natural beauty to even notice the split-second disturbance she’d cause in doing so. . . .

    Unable to catch his eyes past those dark, dark sunglasses, her gem flashed red — that and her smile a dead giveaway she was up to something but Ryker seemed to suspect nothing.

    “Left,” she gave her answer.

    Ryker held out his left hand from behind his back, revealing Summer’s choice to be correct.

    “Bravo, Summer,” he commended her, a round of applause breaking out from the crowd. “Bravo . . .”

    Delighted, Summer stepped closer to Ryker. She set her right paw on top of her prize, ready to claim it, when the Hitmonchan’s hand snapped shut over her like a painful animal trap. She looked up in startled surprise; a dark grin slithered across Ryker’s face . . .

    “Yes . . . bravo. . . .” Horrible, snake-slit pupils plunged the young Espeon into a sea of ice-cold nightmares, freezing her entire body with their devilish glow —

    WHAM!

    Summer had no chance of predicting Ryker’s sudden and vicious right hook; she felt like her eyes had been punched out of their sockets. The blow launched her off her feet; next instant she collided hard with an amplifier, knocking it over before hitting the stage floor, the world spinning. . . .

    Screams of dismay alerted Simon’s attention at once. Turning his head left, he found the source to be the Stormcrashers’ crowd, exactly why, though, he could not actually see. Forgetting completely about his little sulk of a moment ago, he got to his feet —

    “Hey, what the —” said a Tropius, wondering who was running up her back and long neck.

    “Mind if I share this view?” said Simon cheekily, looking out to the crowd from atop the giant Grass-type’s head. What he saw flipped his smile upside down. His Espeon sister lay, unmoving, on her side, a Hitmonchan slowly approaching . . . “Summer!” he cried. The Jolteon didn’t even hesitate to jump the two metre drop; his forelegs buckled painfully under his weight but he ignored it and hurried on to his sister’s aid, slowed slightly by his hasty decision.

    Finally came the time to drop this ridiculous charade and proceed with the objective of neutralizing his targets. Marcelo sprang from his stall, landing at the front of the stage; he inhaled a lungful of air then blew out a heavy veil of black smoke, engulfing and choking the crowd; many of them began coughing.

    Ryker crouched down to a stunned and defenceless Summer. Everything threatening to go black, Summer could barely fight her semi-conscious state from slipping into total unconsciousness, let alone fight back. . . . Her family weren’t here to protect her, nor was Lilah this time . . . nothing at all stood between her and being murdered this very moment. . . .

    But Ryker did not kill her. Instead, he unzipped the main compartment to her backpack and started rifling through it. At the bottom he found what he sought: He pulled out a small, folded cloth and gently unfolded it; the Angelic and Hiemal talismans present and accounted for.

    Raising a satisfied smile, the Hitmonchan closed his hand over the talismans and rose to his feet. Marcelo’s Smokescreen had the crowd in a state of bedlam, panic committing them to fleeing the suffocating pall.

    “Talismans secur — ARGH!”

    Summer had regained enough strength to grab onto Ryker’s left leg and sunk her teeth deep into it, drawing a trickling of blood.

    “Why you little bitch!” snarled Ryker, kicking Summer in the stomach using his right foot.

    Summer immediately relinquished her hold on Ryker’s leg in exchange for a cry of pain; she curled up, clutching her stomach and sobbing feebly. A pressure came down on her neck, Ryker seconds from stamping out her life. . . .

    “Leave her,” she heard a hoarse voice say. When the pressure lifted she opened her eyes; alongside a blurred Ryker stood an equally blurry, mainly dark blue figure. “We’ve no purpose in tormenting this creature further. There is nothing more for us to do here . . . let’s not make her final breaths unnecessarily painful. . . .”

    “I obey,” said Ryker obediently. Both he and Ezio jumped off the stage’s left side, clear of the lingering Smokescreen.

    Tall enough he could see over the, now thinning, smoke, Marcelo spotted Hunter casually standing amongst the ensuing pandemonium, his dark grin loving every second of it. He nodded to the Houndoom; Hunter returned it in acknowledgement.

    Marcelo knew he needed to get off the stage quickly, but before he could he was obliged to say one last thing to his ill-starred target . . .

    “I’m sorry. . . .” he said heavily, looking the young Espeon right in her purple eyes. In a flash he was gone, leaving Summer to her fate any second now. . . .

    Hunter’s luck decided at the last moment to swing slightly more in his favour with the Jolteon on his hit list, who had just ran him by, charging straight at the trap . . . He could kill two birds with one stone. . . .

    The Houndoom took aim at the gas-line Marcelo had previously tampered with — directing the flow of gas in the path of the stage — and readied himself to launch his Fire Blast . . .

    Simon sprung from the Smokescreen onto the stage.

    “Summer!” he cried, “Are you all right — what happened?”

    Summer groaned as she tried to sit up unsuccessfully. Even lying down, the floor felt as though it were swaying like a ship’s whilst navigating rough waters; she could not make much sense of anything going on around her. Yet, one thing did manage to overstep both the pain in her stomach and her aching head. . . . A Houndoom — the same one as before, she was sure — appeared to be preparing a Fire-type attack of some kind, flames brewing inside his mouth. She followed his sights until coming to a large, reddish-brown pipe exposed in the ground. It kinda looked like. . . . Her eyes widened fearfully. Hurrying to look back at the Houndoom, she barely saw him fire off a powerful blast of flame —

    “SIMON, LOOK OUT!” screamed Summer, pointing a paw past him and toward the piping no more than thirty yards away.

    Simon glanced over his left shoulder just in time to see a 大-shaped blast strike the gas-line with a devastating explosion that rumbled the ground itself; a great rush of fire, guided by the gas, headed straight for the siblings —

    “Shi — !” yelled Simon, throwing himself onto his sister in a protective hug — next second, they, along with most of the stage, were engulfed in flames.

    The explosion left chaos and destruction in its wake; terrified screams of fleeing Pokémon filled the air; Wingull and a few other species of Flying types took flight, feathers scattering and squawks ringing. The store that stood directly behind the gas-line was unrecognizable; a huge chunk of its front wall had been blown away, fire now welcoming itself inside; the remainder of wall that had survived the blast was on fire in places and looked in dangerous risk of collapse. Flames pumped the blue sky with smoke. All that remained of the gas-line were two sections of badly-mangled metal piping without a bit in the middle to connect them; a steady, continuous flame shot from one of these pipes.

    Hunter lowered his forepaws from his ears after safeguarding his hearing from the deafening boom. The plan had worked a treat, he thought, waiting to see the charred corpses of his victims. Two enemies down, seven to . . .

    “What the — !”

    To his utter disbelief, when the flames cleared they revealed the two Eeveelutions surrounded by a turquoise-coloured bubble and unhurt. Simon’s quick-thinking Protect saved their lives. . . .

 

    Over at the pier, the explosion’s impact stirred equally as much turmoil. People abandoned what they’d been doing, gathering in small crowds to where they could best see the burning aftermath. Those who knew each other conversed in hushed tones —

    “Gareth, stay with Mummy, okay?” called a young and beautiful mother Liepard, and her Purrloin son came running from between the legs of a crowd.

    “Yes, Mum,” he said respectfully, letting her lick his cheek.

    Ride marshals brought an emergency stop to their respected rides, including Glacia and Rose’s Rapidash-and-Ponyta carousel ride.

    “What’s happening over there?” said Rose worriedly, jumping from her Ponyta and coming alongside Glacia, who was staring at the distant fires.

    “I don’t know . . .” breathed Glacia.

    Not as absorbed like her sister, Rose noticed, a little ways down the pier, another of her sisters also distracted by the fires. “Look, it’s Dawn! Glace, c’mon —”

    Dawn heard a familiar voice call her name and turned around.

    “Rose, Glace,” she greeted her sisters, her usual, cheery smile replaced with a fretting look. “I was just . . . on my way to you when — when that explosion . . .”

    Clearly shaken up, Rose sat down in front of her and pulled her into a comforting hug, genuinely helping Dawn to relax.

    “Dawn, did you see what caused the explosion?” Glacia asked.

    “No,” said Dawn, Rose releasing her from the hug. “I was gonna ask you the same question.”

    “We were riding the carousel when it happened,” Rose quietly informed.

    “It must have been an accident or something . . .” said Glacia, not sounding convinced of herself.

    “You think it might’ve been done on purpose?” Rose couldn’t believe such a thing possible.

    “Keep your voice down!” Glacia hissed at the Leafeon, who flinched timorously. Quickly composing herself, Glacia apologized and went on, “Don’t you find all this a bit strange?”

    “I-I’m not . . .”

    “Think about it, Rose. Everything was normal around here — then we showed up and that happens. . . .”

    “But . . . what have we done wrong?”

    Glacia’s eyebrow lifted slightly as she looked at Rose.

    “What do we need if we’re to confront an ancient Origin God of unimaginable power?”

    Then, the Leafeon gasped in realization, her easy brown eyes widening. “The Elemental Talismans!” she whispered.

    “This is what I was afraid of. . . . What makes us special — the talismans. What’s putting us in danger — the talismans. . . . If Black Nex really does know what we’re doing . . . then I think we’re being hunted. . . .”

    “H-hunted?” whimpered Rose, terror intensifying her heartrate.

    “The gas-line . . .” mused Dawn, frowning at the pier’s planks.

    “What?” Glacia probed.

    “They were working on a gas-line, close to the Stormcrashers. . . . D’you reckon that” — Glacia’s eyes suddenly widened fearfully — “could have something to do with — what is it?”

    Glacia swung her head in the direction of the concert stage, noticing, for the first time, it was ablaze . . .

    “Summer was listening to the band play!” she cried.

    “What?” said Dawn, alarmed.

    “Come on!” Glacia barked at them, hurrying down the pier as fast as she could; Dawn and Rose followed close behind.

 

    “Summer, are you okay?” gasped Simon after setting Summer down from his back. The Jolteon had managed to sustain his Protect just long enough to set his weakened sister onto his back and jump down from the burning stage.

    “Yeah . . .” said Summer, breathing heavily, “yeah, I’m okay. . . . Thanks, Si —”

    Before she could finish, the Houndoom that tried to kill them rammed head-on into Simon, catching him off guard and lifting him off his paws; he landed on his back.

    Simon heard Summer shriek his name but had barely opened his eyes when Hunter stamped a paw down onto his throat, trying to strangle him to death. Gagging for breath, Simon tried to push Hunter’s paw away with both of his, but from his position, combined with his poor grip on Hunter’s leg and the need of air quickly panicking him, Hunter was too strong. . . . To Simon’s horror, he watched a dark grin grow across the Houndoom’s twisted stare . . . This guy was going to kill him!

    The Jolteon’s fur began to crackle, little sparks of electricity threading between his spiky hairs. Hunter’s grin receded, a look of apprehension in his eyes —

    A powerful surge of electricity racked the Houndoom’s body, sending his muscles into a state of uncontrollable spasming; all he could do was yell in pain. The pressure on Simon’s throat eased enough for him to steal a gulp of air and kick the Houndoom away as he rolled onto his feet.

    Once standing, Simon clutched his throat, coughing and gasping madly, the sheer shock of everything slowing his recovery. Yellow sparks flickering over his body, Hunter let out a low, dangerous growl, glaring straight at Simon. He could feel his muscles relaxing and control returning over them. . . . Though it felt like he had pins and needles all the way up each of his legs the first few steps, the sensation soon faded and Hunter swiftly closed in on his victim.

    He opened his mouth, baring deadly fangs eager to sink deep into the Jolteon’s throat —

    “Aargh!”

    A stinging pain had struck his left side. Turning his head, he saw the Espeon responsible fire a second Signal Beam from her gem. Prepared for it this time, he dodged the odd, pink-coloured beam.

    Jumping back to make some distance between himself and the Eeveelutions, Hunter became aware of the fact Glacia, Dawn, and Rose all rushing down the pier. Hunter bared his teeth in a frustrated growl. Unless he stopped the three females joining the fray, he and his allies would be outnumbered. . . .

    “Deal with her!” he snarled at the possessed Ryker standing nearby with Ezio, looking from him to Summer. “And you,” he added, this time commanding Ezio, “don’t let any of those three near us until these two are dead! You got that?”

    The Hitmonchan and Ludicolo nodded murmuring, “We obey.”

    As Ezio darted to meet Glacia and her sisters, Ryker safely stashed the piece of cloth holding the talismans down his tunic-like clothing and fixed his gaze upon Summer, who, shakily, found her feet, looking as though the weakest of attacks would bring her back down.

    Hunter’s attention was returned to the Jolteon too late: Bellowing, Simon rammed into Hunter with all his might, knocking the Houndoom to the ground. Not giving him any time, Simon followed up with his Thunderbolt, but Hunter rolled to the side — evading the attack directly and only taking a small electric shock — onto his feet.

    The Dark Pokémon retaliated straight away, firing a Dark Pulse from his mouth. No time to dodge, Simon summoned another Protect; the beam of deep purple, interlocking circles ricocheted off the bubble in several directions, making a noise most curious.

    Breaking off from his attack, Hunter charged Simon with near-perfect timing. Simon gasped in surprise just before it happened: Not anticipating Hunter’s sudden move, his bubble faded at the wrong moment and he was violently tackled off his feet, hitting the ground on his back with Hunter on top of him. . . .

    Feeling some of his mane hairs part stingingly from his body, Hunter gruffly took Simon’s mane in his paws and pulled him up so their faces were momentarily inches apart. Hunter delivered a strong headbutt to Simon’s nose — blood spluttered out his nose and he howled in pain, clutching his paws over his muzzle — the back of Simon’s head hit the hard ground. Mercilessly, Hunter redoubled his hold on Simon’s mane and pulled him back up, sending him straight back down with another walloping headbutt, this time to the forehead.

    As he lay groaning, Simon felt his paws being parted. Weakly, he opened his eyes, seeing Hunter staring at his mouth . . . something disturbing about his smile.

    “All the beautiful blood. . . .” he murmured, seeming almost tranced as he watched the red liquid run down Simon’s mouth.

    Then, as if from nowhere, an arm closed around Hunter’s throat, choking him as it pulled him off Simon.

    “Sir, I’m placing you under citizen’s arrest!” said an aggressive voice in Hunter’s ear. “Do not resist, or I will be forced to take —” With an unexpected, hair-raising, snap, Hunter’s harasser’s grip failed and the Houndoom broke free. Hunter twisted around, the culpable Medicham — whom he recognized as a lifeguard, a marking of sunscreen rubbed on his non-existent nose and had been seen by Hunter patrolling the beach — dead at his feet, his neck broken. . . .

    Hunter looked up. Marcelo stood there, his expression inscrutable with calm. The Greninja gave Hunter a single nod, and Hunter grinned; he peered around Marcelo, apparently something catching his interest.

    “Oh, looks like we’ve got company,” he said lightly, and Marcelo turned to see the fast-approaching arrival of Fall, Raina, and Eclipse, alarm, confusion, and fury ranging across their faces.

    “I’ll take care of them,” Marcelo calmly stated, casting Hunter a quick glance. Running recklessly at the three Eeveelutions, he leapt high above them and blew a thick Smokescreen down on them, forcing them to a stop inside it, coughing and unable to see a thing. . . .

 

    Glacia, Dawn, and Rose all hit the brakes after just coming off the pier, staring down a Ludicolo blocking their way to Summer and Simon, ever-growing flames hiding any activity happening on the other side of the concert stage. Not provoking him, the three came under fire from the duck-like Pokémon’s Ice Beam.

    Dawn and Glacia avoided the initial beam of light blue, ice-cold energy by jumping away from each other; the attack carried on between them and broke up into nothing promptly after hitting nothing.

    “What the hell!” shouted Glacia angrily. “What do you think you’re — Rose, move!”

    But the Leafeon remained rooted to the spot, her ears flattening back and mouth opening, a dangerous blue filling her eyes —

    Before the second Ice Beam hit, however, Glacia pounced her younger sister out of the beam’s path.

    “Why’re you attacking us for?” Dawn demanded, the only answer a powerful jet of water blasted straight at her. Again, she evaded the attack, only to be pressured by another Hydro Pump — an orb of pink-coloured energy swiftly formed in front of her open mouth and she fired her Moonblast into the Hydro Pump. The mutually powerful attacks came together, the Water-type move fed by an incessant stream of water from Ezio’s mouth, while the Moonblast grew larger and larger until it could no longer sustain the rapid spurt in power and exploded, reducing the Hydro Pump to a light mizzle.

    “Glace, I could use a paw here!”

    Glacia got to her feet from saving Rose, telling the Leafeon to keep back. Worry evident on her sweet face, Rose nodded, remaining on the ground as Glacia joined Dawn’s side.

    “We should team up and attack from both sides,” suggested Glacia, her and her Sylveon sister sizing Ezio up.

    “Wait!” Dawn insisted, looking sideways at her. “Let’s try talking to him again. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding, I’m sure —”

    “You are known enemies of the Xen Empire,” growled Ezio. “Those who oppose us shall be flushed out of hiding and killed, in the name of the God of Darkness!” He fired another Ice Beam at the two, who both dodged easily enough at the distance they were.

    “Er, how’s about we not!” said Glacia mordantly. Facing Ezio, she added, “Take his right flank; I’ll go left — go!”

    Ezio remained perfectly still while Glacia and Dawn ran around him, his possessed eyes, hidden behind his dark sunglasses, following Glacia until she stopped in a crouched position to his right. When a smile that did not fit anyone in an unfavourable predicament spread across his bill, he turned his back on the Glaceon, apparently concentrating all his attention on Dawn.

    Left rather confused by the Ludicolo’s sudden ignorance, sense quickly caught up with Glacia when Dawn narrowly avoided being pounded in by his fists, the ground receiving the attack instead. Opening her mouth, a light blue glow came over her canines and they grew to more than double their normal length, becoming like two small sabre teeth.

    No sooner had Ezio stood up did a Shadow Ball to his face force him stumbling back, roaring with rage as he swiped at the smoke obscuring his vision, all of this giving Glacia the perfect time to strike —

    Caught completely unawares, two blades of grass erupted out of the ground — splitting stone like knives piercing through biscuits — and touched, tying themselves together in a knot that tripped Glacia up, bringing her crashing painfully down on her right forepaw; her Ice Fang receded with a scream of pain.

    “Glace!” cried Rose, making an attempt to run at her but Glacia shouted, “Stay there, Rose!”

    The unexpected level of sternness in Glacia’s voice made Rose stay put, despite her urge to help in whatever way she could; she almost felt as though she were being chided for doing something wrong.

    Now left fighting Ezio by herself, the next attack Dawn found herself dealing with was a concentrated stream of boiling-hot water, so hot, in fact, steam surrounded it. But before the attack hit, Dawn’s whole body flashed a brilliant white and, what appeared to be, multiple Dawns manifested from herself, rapidly popping up in a chain until they had Ezio encircled, every single one in the same pose as the other; Ezio’s Scald hit its original target only to reveal it a fake, the copy fading like a ghost.

    “Tell us who you are,” Dawn’s copies all demanded, their voices speaking as one, sonorous tone.

    All the tension in Ezio’s body seemed to fade away, giving him an unnervingly relaxed appearance. Bringing a hand to his sunglasses, a dark grin grew across his bill.

    “Your executioner. . . .” He removed his sunglasses, the yellow slits that were his pupils glowing horrifyingly, letting out a demonic roar capable of sending shivers down anyone’s spine.

    The dozen Sylveon copies gasped — evidently the real Dawn among them somewhere within Ezio’s eyeshot and terrified by what she was seeing. Using this to his advantage, Ezio shot another boiling-hot Scald at the next most direct copy, standing just off to the right of the one he previously destroyed. Only he did not end his attack there. When the copy faded he turned on the spot, using his Scald almost like a fire hose, swiftly taking out each copy; both Glacia and Rose ducked the attack as it passed over them.

    Dawn threw herself into a small forward roll at the moment her last copy got hit, evading the attack at a price of ending up at Ezio’s feet. . . . The Ludicolo brought a fist swinging down, ready to pummel Dawn, but, using all four feelers, she caught his wrist, a battle of sheer strength leaving them trembling to overpower each other —

    An Ice Beam struck Ezio’s right shoulder, throwing him off-focus; a clump of solid ice formed there, restricting movement of his arm. Very quickly, the tables turned as Dawn, again using her feelers, shoved the larger male away and Moonblasted him in the face; he fell back and lay there, eyes firmly closed.

    Dawn only spared a moment to determine whether or not Ezio was really unconscious, her most immediate priority checking on Glacia.

    “Glace!” she gasped, “Are you hurt?”

    “Dawn, now’s hardly the time to be fussing,” Glacia growled back, rejecting her sister’s supportive feelers. Grunting quietly, she stood up on three paws, holding her front right noticeably above the ground. “I’m fine,” she said. “Hurry and make sure Summer’s okay; I’ll get Rose and be right behind you —”

    The moment Glacia pressed her bad foot down, she let out a hiss of pain, her expression confirming the level of pain Dawn knew she was in.

    “Sweetie, sit down,” Dawn strongly insisted.

    Glacia opened her eyes and stared at Dawn, her breathing shallow. Judging from the piqued look on her face, Glacia really wasn’t impressed with the current roles. Regardless, she parked herself down, still holding up her bad paw.

    As Dawn held a supportive feeler under her paw and ran another over the top of it, Glacia rolled her eyes to the sky. This simply didn’t feel right, having her younger sister examine her. Of course, she respected Dawn had creditable medical knowledge and trusted her absolutely, but that still did not change the fact she was older, therefore meaning she should be the one taking care of Dawn.

    “Is it tender when I do this?” Dawn asked whilst gently rubbing her leg.

    “Uh-huh . . .” breathed Glacia.

    “Okay. And this — ?” Dawn pulled back her paw slightly with her feeler, receiving her answer in the form of a quiet “Ah!”

    “You’ve sprained this,” Dawn calmly concluded, releasing Glacia’s paw. “No way you’re walking on it . . .”

    “Spare me the consultation, Dawn — it’s only a goddamn sprain!”

    In defiance of the pain, Glacia pressed her foot down far as it would allow. Her sights came to the fallen Ludicolo. “You saw something, didn’t you?”

    Fright found its way back onto Dawn’s face as she slowly rotated her head toward Ezio.

    “H-his eyes . . .” she whispered, “exactly like Summer said before. . . . R-red eyes w-with h-horrible yellow pupils, slit l-like an Ekans’. . . .”

    “That must mean he’s possessed by a Shadow of Black Nex!” gasped Glacia. “So I was right — we are being hunted. . . .”

    “We need to destroy it,” Dawn said, “before it starts killing.”

    “Agreed. But how do we expel it from that Ludicolo without harming him . . . ?”

    While the sisters mooted on this, Ezio’s eyes shot open. Freaking Rose out by rising to his feet as though someone had pulled him up, he fixed his stare on her and grinned. Slowly, he approached the aghast Leafeon, whose legs had involuntarily stopped working. . . .

    A scream turned Glacia’s and Dawn’s heads.

    “No — k-keep away from me!” squealed Rose, only able to take a few steps back. “G-Glace — help —”

    Rose screamed again as she bolted to avoid Ezio’s sudden lunge at her. But with agility rivalling that of a Ninjask’s, Ezio pursued her and dived to grab her by the left hind leg. Screaming, she kicked out at him with her other foot, hitting him several times in the face but doing next to nothing to deter him; he grabbed onto her other leg, preventing her from struggling further —

    A hefty weight then landed on Ezio’s back, slightly winding him.

    “Get your hands off my sister!” growled Glacia, opening her mouth and sinking an Ice Fang into his right arm, it being the only bodily part she was able to fit her jaws around.

    Letting out a pain-induced roar, Ezio freed Rose of his grasp and sprung to his feet, reaching over his back with his left hand in an effort to grab the Glaceon hanging onto him. When he failed to get a grip on her, he started shaking about, making it very difficult for Glacia to cling on — a sharp one-eighty threw her from him. Instinctively landing on her feet, Glacia forgot about her sprained paw and immediately collapsed in a scream of agony.

    Giving his bleeding arm an insouciant glance, Ezio turned to Glacia and slowly started moving toward her.

    “Rose, use your Leaf Blade — hurry!” shouted Glacia.

    Visibly nervous, Rose crouched down and the leaf on her head glowed a light green, curving back like a scimitar as it grew. Her attack primed, she tried to launch herself at her opponent but hesitated, something in her nature holding her back . . . a voice in her ear imploring her not to harm the Ludicolo . . .

    The Leafeon flinched out of her trance when Glacia rebuked her, yet still she could not bring herself to attack. “I-I can’t . . . !” she cried, screwing up her eyes and looking away, the leaf on her head shrinking back to normal and no longer aglow.

    Glacia gasped as Ezio, who was now bearing down on her, raised and curled his left hand into a tight fist, but, in mid-swing, Glacia’s rescue came in the form of not one, not two, but three consecutive Shadow Balls to her attacker’s head and neck area, each one exploding in a choking of black smoke, forcing Glacia to brace herself whilst coughing.

    Ezio was blasted off his feet, hit the ground hard on his back (jouncing the once), then lay there gasping for breath, his eyes wide open. . . . Quickly seizing her chance, Rose hurried over to Glacia, inundating her with cries of panic and worry. Physical pain and mental fatigue made it hard for Glacia to assert herself and keep Rose calm, her voice being far softer and weaker than usual.

    Both sisters turned their heads when a gasping sound reached their ears. Deep crimson smoke was flowing out of Ezio’s mouth and collecting in the form of a Darkrai. . . . Glacia respired two heavy breaths of fear, unadulterated terror in her eyes; Rose’s legs had turned to jelly, barely any strength to keep her standing . . . Once the Shadow completely left its host’s body behind, Ezio fell unconscious.

    The Shadow’s deep black eye found the sisters and the creature drifted a smooth descent toward them, reaching an arm out for Rose. . . .

    Grunting quietly, Glacia pushed herself up on three paws and positioned herself so that she stood sideways in front of Rose, meeting the Shadow’s gaze with a look of fearless determination.

    “Glace — what’re you — ?”

    “If that thing wants to kill us,” said Glacia fiercely, unflinching all the while staring into the blackest of eyes now mirroring her as it drew nearer, “then it’s gonna have to settle for just me. . . .”

    “No!” cried Rose, throwing her paws around Glacia’s chest and tugging to pull her away without success, being resisted by her. “N-no . . . you can’t . . .”

    “Rose, do as I say and go!” ordered Glacia, still looking up at the Shadow. She heard her whimpering sister sniffle and felt a wet cheek rub against the upper leg of her bad paw before the Leafeon obeyed and backed away.

    The Shadow extended another smoky hand out, its cold sight fixed on Glacia’s temples — Glacia closed her eyes, letting the sound of blazing fire drown out Rose’s crying . . . she’d die to keep her little sister safe —

    She felt a strange force whoosh her by. “Hey, smoke freak!” Dawn’s voice shouted, and Glacia opened her eyes; a Shadow Ball whooshed over her head — giving off the same force Glacia felt moments before — and passed through the Shadow’s face. The attack, although ineffective at damaging it, stopped the smoke creature, redirecting its attention to the Sylveon whom fired it.

    “Yeah, that’s right!” she called again, bolting around Glacia and the hovering Shadow.

    “What’re you doing?” Glacia barked as Dawn came to a halt in between the two and the burning concert stage.

    “Saving the lot of us,” Dawn answered in hushed tones. “. . . I hope. . . .” she whispered to herself nervously before confidently addressing the Shadow, “C’mon, come and get me!”

    Glacia had no idea what Dawn’s plan involved, other than the possibility it was to lure the Shadow away from her and give her precious time to quickly think up a way of destroying it. . . . Perhaps if she were back home in her nice, quiet bedroom, in ten minutes she’d likely have an idea . . . but there wouldn’t be ten seconds, let alone ten minutes, to allow her to think before the Shadow reached Dawn. And as Dawn began retreating backwards, coming ever closer to the six foot wall of searing fire, Glacia wanted nothing more than to rage at her, to shout how much of an idiot she was . . . berate her for thinking Glacia’s life was above her own. . . .

    “Dawn, I bloody hate you, you know that!” she wailed, tears freeing themselves from her eyes.

    “Duly noted,” replied Dawn, managing a smile all the while looking up at the Shadow and backing up.

    With each step back, Dawn’s backside got progressively toasty, soon reaching the point of unpleasantness. Even in the middle of a perfectly clear and sunny day, the wall of fire cast an orange glow against the ground, becoming more intense the farther Dawn retreated. An occasional crack and sharp hiss sounded amidst the roaring flames; from what little time Dawn could spare on the sounds she presumed them to be made from the instruments and other musical equipment breaking apart and melting on stage.

    This was as far back as she dare go . . . It was now or never. . . . God, please let this work . . .

    Two more copies of Dawn appeared on either side of her — one on her left, and one on her right.

    “What are you waiting for, big, dumb and ugly? I’m right here!” they taunted the Shadow, which, at once, fell for it and rocketed for the middle Dawn —

    The monster ended up passing clean through the copy, the only thing it grabbing being a handful of fire. Immediately, its eye went wide with what looked to be fear and it clutched the wrist of its burning hand in its other. For a moment or two, Dawn forgot herself, watching the panicked creature writhe in pain, flames catching on its other hand and rapidly spreading down both its arms; her copies drew back into her.

    None of the three sisters were prepared for what then followed: Flames, passionately and explosively, devoured the entire Shadow, transforming it into a Darkrai-shaped fireball, spitting hot flames in every direction, burning so bright it rivalled the sun itself — the girls shielded their eyes as best they could. In the end, this Shadow’s existence came to a close with a small explosion echoing a dying, ghostlike howl. . . .

 

    Twice Summer tried to escape the closing Hitmonchan, failing as he countered her attempts by sidestepping in front of her.

    “Where’re ya goin’, pussycat?” he tormented, forcing her ever nearer the burning stage. “I’m only gonna break that rather delicate neck of yours. . . .”

    Summer’s situation seemed desperate. Through the thinning Smokescreen, she saw the Greninja from before deftly evading Fall’s Flamethrowers, and leaving Raina and Eclipse struggling just to keep track of his movements, on top of trying to avoid the frog’s lightning-quick Aerial Aces. Worse still, Hunter was already returning to her downed Jolteon brother. . . . It all really did feel like reliving that same terrible nightmare of little more than a week ago. . . .

    The Espeon’s heart hammered madly against her ribcage, her outer peripheral vision blurry, and her head still spinning . . . She knew she needed to calm down, calm down and think of something — and fast —

    “I’ve seen you before,” she said, throwing a look over her shoulder. She stopped there, now trapped between two forms of death. “On Winterbreath Mountains . . . that one didn’t talk. . . . Please — !” she beseeched, arousing enough of Ryker’s curiosity to stop him, “I-if you’re capable of speech, then you’re capable of reasoning . . .”

    “There is no reasoning with the enemy,” stated Ryker flatly. He reached a hand out to crush her windpipe —

    “Wait, wait, wait! Please! B-before you . . . k-kill me, I need to know. . . . Him . . . the one you’re tormenting . . . can he see what he’s doing . . . ?”

    A grin appeared on Ryker’s face. He lowered his hand.

    “This one’s eyes see what they see. . . . His mind remains his own . . . but his body — his every action — is my plaything to control. . . .”

    “But . . . why go to all that trouble and risk just to kill us? Wouldn’t’ve it been easier to do it yourself — ?”

    “Enough with the questions!” Ryker snapped. He reached his hand out again. “Been nice chatting with you . . .”