Chapter 43: Strangled by the Red Tape

To: Paradox, Deoxys
From: [REDACTED]
Security Level: Sigma
Subject: Update

I must apologize, sir. After some further digging, I do not believe your new acquaintance is some sort of deposed Etherian royalty. In fact, I’m not even sure he’s Etherian at all. I saw Lieutenant Hideout’s glastrier steed fall in battle and it was absorbed by a dusknoir — the one from the trial you broadcasted to Eterna City, actually — who summoned a zekrom from the heavens like it was nothing! There was a momentary flash of panic in his expression when it happened. Like he had stumbled onto something he wasn’t supposed to.

Do I think this changes anything? No. In fact, it might give you additional leverage beyond his other partner. She’s still imprisoned, yes? Well, with things unraveling on Radiance, his desire to return to his true home may only grow more desperate. And that desperation may cause him to go all in on a total bluff, if you catch my drift.

I do have one request, though: please allow me to dispose of these idiots. They were a decent enough distraction at the time, but I’m tired of putting them to sleep when I need to get real work done. Radiance’s Parliament is convening for an emergency session and you’ll no doubt want to hear a full report, but I can’t go to Radiance’s capital with this pair of deuces.

That’s all for now. Nos vera Natus!

Dazzels was the brilliant capital emblematic of the Kingdom of Radiance’s shining beauty. However, Shimmer had no interest in looking past the marble steps in front of Espace Adelaide toward the sparkling, glass-filled government buildings, museums, and cultural sites marking Grand Place, the bluntly named center of the city.

Instead, all he could do was look down at his scratched hooves and the lilac carpet beneath them. The ponyta hadn’t made eye contact with anyone. Not when Demerzel and Justine showed up in Venish to collect him. Not when the latter tried to question him about what happened. Not the entire night, where he lay in bed alone for the first time in a month, gazing into a photo he and Xander had taken together on a private beach. And not when Justine shoved him out of bed the next morning, threw an oversized pink cloak over him, and dragged him out of Radiant Palace so Demerzel could teleport them to Parliament’s main building.

Shimmer shuffled through Espace Adelaide’s main hall like a zombie in some schlocky action movie he’d only see with Xander for a good laugh about commoners’ terrible tastes. He only moved faster when a voice ahead of him growled, “Pick up the pace. You’re Crown Prince, not some stoner baked out of their mind.”

A flat hallway led to a spiral staircase that Shimmer proceeded down. He could see Justine’s legs with their usual black lace stockings and black leather boots. The virizion probably had on her usual tight leather holowear suit, too. If Justine was going to Parliament with Shimmer, then it couldn’t be good.

No doubt this was going to be about what happened to Venish. Was Justine going to make him testify to Parliament?

Shimmer’s gut squirmed. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t recount standing by and letting the Medicis terrorize Piazza Lavenda or failing to do anything to fight against the mysterious knight or… losing Xander and his other classmates.

The ponyta was supposed to be a prodigy who excelled at everything from grades to modeling and acting. The perfect catch for any other noble. Heck, no one even knew Xander was his consort except his mothers and Robin. Sure, the two had gotten caught together in the locker room at school several times, but they always played it off as a casual fling. And no one dared to gossip about it because Shimmer could have made their lives miserable. But if he testified… he’d become a laughingstock. The butt of every late-night comedian’s opening monologue. His life would truly be over!

A door creaked open and something firm pressed against Shimmer’s side. “Get in there,” Justine hissed, shoving the ponyta forward. Shimmer stumbled ahead and found himself behind multiple large, velvet-covered chairs. He glimpsed his other mother’s outline in the middle chair and quietly crept in between it and the chair to the right, where he usually sat when observing Parliament sessions.

To his shock, however, the main chamber was entirely silent, with attention squarely focused on the circular room’s mounted PV monitors showing a crowd of pokémon cautiously watching some sort of… horrifying helmeted creature with chains around its legs and a tattered black cloak.

“Look around you!” it shouted between cough-filled wheezes. “The sky is painted purple and tears itself open in anguish because this planet is suffering! You are all suffering! The ether chokes two civilizations out and your leaders tell you to avert your eyes from the truth. That Natus — your so-called Word Ender — is its source. That you are fed lies to be complacent!”

Radiant Guard pelted the creature with attacks, but every attempt they made faltered as some sort of vaguely canine shadow sprouted from the ground and swallowed up the attacks.

“Look at this! See how they pour their hatred onto a worthless omen like me,” it continued. “But I will gladly accept that animosity if it means you all can find love and salvation in Natus’ embrace.”

More attacks. This time the shadow dog manifested a red shield that deflected Icy Winds, Thunderbolts, and Earth Powers away.

“Join me in rejecting your crown. Reject the ether and discover a life greater than any you could live here!”

The PVs shifted to shaky shots of some parts of the assembled crowd marching in unison with the helmeted monster, carrying hastily made “Down with Polaris!” and “What are they hiding?” signs.

A few grimmsnarl and bruxish guards wrangled some of the protestors and shoving matches broke out amongst the crowd.

“These are just some of the scenes from a spontaneous demonstration that took place at dawn in Herbrides,” a female newscaster explained as the PVs changed to show a trio of scuffed up roselia being shoved into Stoutland Yard transport vehicles.

“Similar demonstrations rose up across the kingdom following the speech given by the helmeted creature, who calls himself Xeromus. While these cities were spared from the calamity that befell Venish last night, there are reports of similar rifts appearing in the sky. They may be far enough away to avoid bringing any harm, but it seems citizens are all asking themselves the same question: how long will they stay safe?”

The PV monitors shut off in unison. It was then that Shimmer realized Vortex was sitting beside Arianna at a table opposite the platform the thrones were on, in front of the MP assembly. There was a smaller podium across from the pale-faced charizard, which held some of the Crowne Ministers. In the middle was an older appearing corsola. Shimmer recognized her from behind as Parliament’s Speaker, Leyanne.

She cleared her throat and tapped a rocky horn to her microphone. “Now that we’re all up to speed, I simply must know what you have to say for yourself, Vortex.”

“It’s Chancellor Vortex,” Arianna cut in. Shimmer glimpsed a twinge of irritation breaking through her normal indifferent expression. Perhaps the large bags under her eyes made it easier to tell.

“You will not speak out of turn in this chamber, Miss Arianna,” Leyanne retorted, thinly veiled contempt behind her words. “We have ample accounts from the Amphitheatre broadcast showing World Ender’s sigil displaying while your company-sponsored superstar sang an anarchistic manifesto that previewed the sentiments later expressed by that deranged mutt in Herbrides.” The corsola hopped to the edge of her podium. “This body demands an explanation.”

The charizard shifted uneasily in his seat. Shimmer had never seen Vortex so uncomfortable. Even his navy blue holowear suit wasn’t as neat and tidy as usual.

“We’re, erm, still sorting through that,” Vortex said. His microphone was too small for his long neck, so he was hunched over like he had back problems.

“Is that so?” Leyanne quirked a brow. “You run the most profitable corporation in the entire kingdom, with multiple Crowne Ministers sitting on your board. How do you not have an answer yet?”

Vortex was about to say something, when the suit-garbed dartrix to his left leaned over and whispered something. With a stoic expression, Vortex replied, “There are multiple matters Polaris needs to address. This is an ongoing investigation.”

“Multiple matters.” Leyanne rocked back and forth. “So, you admit your corporation failed on several levels.”

“That’s not what I—” Vortex stopped when Dartrix grabbed his left arm. “No comment,” he whispered, tail flame dimming.

“Then, perhaps, we should address this one level at a time,” Leyanne retorted. “Starting with the idol, Starlene.”

Murmurs rose up from the MPs sitting at their desks behind Vortex. An elderly granbull let out a “Here, here!”

Again, Dartrix whispered into Vortex’s ear frill. The charizard mumbled, “You know as well as I there was an explosion backstage at the Amphitheatre. We had nothing to do with that.”

“Yes, the Ministry of Justice has a suspect in custody,” Leyanne said, rocking back and forth again.

“Point of inquiry, Madame Speaker!” a blaziken called, raising a white placard.

“Go ahead.”

“Two individuals were recovered from the wreckage of Starlene’s trailer,” Blaziken said. “One of which was a dragonair.” He held up a document. “The report lists one Grovyle Chiaki as the suspect, so where did this dragonair come from?”

Shimmer sucked in a sharp breath. He remembered hearing about a dragonair upperclassman at Horizon that, like Nikki the Nuisance, was accepted on scholarship. The ponyta had gossiped at length about it with Xander and Robin — heck, he made sure her classmathes threw a fair bit of ire in her direction — but she left the academy and then Nikki showed up in her place.

He wanted to brush it off as a coincidence, but the flash of panic in Vortex’s eyes suggested it wasn’t.

“That’s beyond the scope of this inquiry, I’m afraid,” Leyanne said. Shimmer caught the relief washing over Vortex’s face, only for it to fade when the corsola added, “Unless there’s something you wish to add, Mr. Vortex.”

The charizard shook his head. More murmurs followed. Leyanne knocked one of her nubby legs against her podium. “Order. I will have order. We should get back on tr—”

A loud slam jolted Shimmer. He bit his tongue to stop himself from whinnying like a startled colt. The ponyta looked left to see oak double doors wide open and Minister Tesla lying in a crumpled daze, stripped of his goggles and that weird backpack that held his robot limbs. And standing behind him with a determined glint in her eye was Virizion Justine.

“Not so fast, Madame Speaker,” she said, strutting into the chamber while a few journalists repositioned their cameras to get shots of the latex-wearing virizion. Justine shoved Tesla further in with a forehoof. “The good MP was onto something with his question.”

Leyanne briefly sputtered. “M-Madame High Inquisitor.” The corsola rocked back and forth nervously. “This is highly irregular.” She turned around and looked toward Shimmer— no, toward his mother.

“We grant Lady Justine permission to address Parliament,” Isola said, bobbing her head slowly. As side conversations rose up in the chamber, the rapidash turned to Shimmer and whispered. “Pay attention, dear. It’s time you watched how real leaders take charge.”

Shimmer wanted to melt into the floor, but meekly nodded instead.

“Get up.” Justine shoved Tesla again. The boltund scrambled to his feet, making nervous “zzt” noises the entire time. “Tell Parliament what you told me during questioning. What’s the source of the Diva Project?”

Tesla looked at Vortex, whose eyes were wide. Dartrix stood up in his chair. “You questioned him on company matters without counsel present?!”

“On our orders,” Isola exclaimed, standing from her throne. “This is a matter of national security and Minister Tesla is, first and foremost, a public servant.”

Dartrix puffed out his feathers. “But Your Eminence, due process is essential to a functional judici—”

“Are you questioning our authority on the matter?” Isola narrowed her eyes. Her golden, shield-shaped breast armor glistened under the glow of the chamber’s chandeliers.

“O-Of course not.” Dartrix obscured more of his face with his large, green, drooping feather. He sat back down and whispered to Vortex.

“No more interruptions,” Justine growled. She stomped a forehoof in front of Tesla. “Talk. Now.”

“The Diva Project… involved a young lady whose music had Dynaforce powers,” Tesla said, staring at the chamber’s purple carpet. “The project team treated her with special ether-based formulations to amplify that power and allow her to manifest it as the idol, Meloetta Starlene. The design was based on old historical records of a pokémon that would fight battles using her voice, but sadly succumbed to the Darkest Day.”

Several gasps echoed through the chamber. A few MPs even stood up at their desks, shouting about experimentation.

“Order!” Leyanne used her right foot as a gavel once again.

“Where did you get your subject?” Justine asked.

“Well, I— zzrt zzvrt.” Tesla robotically swiveled his head around. “She was… a Horizon Academy student.”

The shouting resumed from the MPs. Dartrix hurriedly grabbed Vortex’s microphone. “I will have you know that this student agreed to everything in writing. We can produce every contract, along with affidavits she was signing them of her own free will!”

“That’s supposed to make it better?!” a pinurchin MP called from the back of the circular room.

“Order!” Leyanne struck her podium again. “The High Inquisitor still has the floor!”

Shimmer’s gut squirmed. That dragonair commoner who left Horizon was a singer. Even if Nikki didn’t shut up about it, he would have remembered. He and Xander thought her songs were catchy, though it was hard to look past a dragon singing them.

Did that mean that Starlene… was actually a dragonair?

“What other effects did these ether treatments have, Minister?” Justine continued, pacing circles around the panicked boltund. Tesla looked at Vortex who shook his head, but Justine stepped in between them.

“I, uh—” Tesla descended into squeaky pretend robot noises.

“Minister,” Justine growled.

“I don’t remember!” he blurted out.

“You don’t remember telling me that Starlene’s music exerted suggestive influences on its listeners?” Justine said, raising a brow.

A tense silence fell over the entire chamber. “E-Excuse me?” Leyanne gasped.

“Suggestive influence?” the same blaziken from earlier gawked. “That sounds like brainwashing to me!”

“N-No! Never!” Tesla rapidly shook his head. “It’s more comparable to hypnosis, really, and—”

A fresh wave of shouts emerged from the MPs. A couple of morgrem were pointing at Vortex and Tesla.

“O-Order!” Leyanne’s call failed to stop the shouting.

However, Justine had no such trouble. “So, in your opinion, it’s possible that these ridiculous protests are a result of citizens being exposed to Starlene’s hypnotic effects?”

Tesla nodded. Shimmer’s ears folded. He did recall moments while the concert played on the hotel suite PV where he and Xander were hallucinating. And that wasn’t like the time the ponyta had tried tiny mushrooms, either. There was some sort of blue and orange tentacle creature talking about World Ender.

No. Shimmer shrank down. Polaris was manipulating people? Justine didn’t seem to know about it, but what about Isola? How much was shared with her regarding the project?

And how did Team Bastion find all this out? Shimmer wondered, glaring at the floor. Was it the grovyle? His father ran some sham newspaper that constantly slandered the government. Maybe they dug something up for the Aeon princess to put into effect?

At last, the shouts died down. Justine had formed a Sacred Sword and held her head high. “I share your frustrations, everyone. But there are two other points that must be discussed.” She dissolved the attack and whirled on Tesla. “What’s the source of the ether powering our kingdom?”

The color drained from Tesla’s face. Vortex dug his claws into the table. Dartrix lunged for the microphone. “Th… that delves into proprietary technology! We have a right to protect our assets!” He pointed a wing toward the journalists in the front corner of the room. “This line of questioning necessitates a closed meeting with full confidenti—”

“Very well.” Isola raised her head. Her horn and the gem in the middle of her Crowne Shield glowed pink. “All press and other visitors are ordered to vacate posthaste.”

Rumbles of protest rippled through the chamber, but ultimately everyone standing along the room’s circular borders shuffled out. Isola’s horn glowed brighter. Pink, heart-shaped locks covered each of the doors. Shimmer looked around at the chamber. Even though it was much quieter, many MPs were still standing. Some, like the morgrem, glared at Tesla.

“Satisfied, counselor?” Justine said.

Dartrix shuffled uneasily. “We still object to these disclosures.”

“Noted, and overruled,” Isola exclaimed. “The kingdom’s security trumps corporate patents.”

Again, Justine turned to Tesla. “Well?”

“Zrrrrttttt.” Tesla mechanically staggered back. “Ether comes primarily from… World Ender. The Needles are not markers for underground power systems, they are part of the seal on World Ender. Their destruction would, according to our calculations, release World Ender from its imprisonment. It could then proceed to destroy the planet as it attempted in the Darkest Day.”

When Tesla’s rapid response finished, Justine formed her green Sacred Sword to immediately silence cries from the MPs. “Who created the seal?”

“Powerful pokémon,” Tesla whimpered. “My research suggest they are revered by the Aeon Kingdom as so-called ‘Luminous Sages.'”

Justine’s glowing horn wasn’t enough to silence the protests this time. Neither were Leyanne’s attempts to restore order.

“Outrageous!” a togekiss shouted.

Blaziken stood up yet again. “So, this entire time we’ve been lying to the populace, through our schools and history books?!”

“It would appear that way,” Justine stoically responded.

Blaziken blinked in bewilderment. “Your Eminence, did you know about this?”

Shimmer’s throat constricted. World Ender truly was alive? The very feat that gave his family claim to the throne… was really accomplished by Aeon leaders?

“We did not.” Isola cast her gaze down. “This is… truly heartbreaking news to behold.”

“What do we tell the public?” Togekiss called.

“Nothing,” Isola replied, her voice sickeningly sweet despite the shocking news.

“Excuse me?!” Blaziken flummoxed.

“We cannot give the people any more reason to believe the manipulative words of these World Ender agents,” Isola sternly declared. “For the sake of the kingdom’s stability, we must ensure this issue is dealt with before telling the public the truth.”

The ponyta’s head pounded. His ears rang. Yuna… that stupid dreepy must have realized the truth! Or her parents did, and sent her into the kingdom under false pretenses!

Yes, that had to be it! They had no hope of outmuscling Radiance’s larger size and better technology, so they wanted to dismantle it from within! And she would totally be able to convince a couple of punks like Chiaki and Nikki to ally with her. Vortex likely fixed her team, except it ended up backfiring spectacularly!

“… disingenuous to withhold the full truth from them?”

Shimmer telekinetically brought his mother’s microphone down when Blaziken finished his question. “If I may?”

Abrupt silence fell over the room. Justine’s eyes were wide and Leyanne had no idea what to say. Shimmer took that as his cue to continue. “Is it not possible that the Aeon Kingdom arranged for this?” the ponyta wondered. “On a recent trip to the Herbrides Lines, their princess detailed their kingdom’s version of the Darkest Day. It sounded awfully close to what Minister Tesla described.

“If they are confident we forced them into the mountains under false pretenses — but had constantly failed to make any progress through war — why not send a saboteur to destabilize us and turn the public against us?” The more he said out loud, the more Shimmer truly believed it. “I think the Aeon Princess is at the root of all of this.”

An unseen force grabbed Shimmer’s dark cloak. Within a second, he was back beside his mother’s throne.

“Thank you for that, dear.” Isola’s voice was stoic. Shimmer thought she was perturbed. But surely she understood. He was onto something!

“You’re sorely mistaken, Your Grace.”

The ponyta flinched. He had forgotten about Demerzel! The giant-headed mutant whimsicott floated out to the right of the raised platform and headed for Leyanne’s podium. He politely gestured to the microphone and the corsola handed it over.

“The Aeons have no reason to work against us,” Demerzel said. “And now that Justine has dragged the truth out, I’m sure you all can understand why.” He tapped his bulbous head. “Where does ether come from? World Ender. Our kingdom’s channeled World Ender’s energy… and we’ve lost huge swathes of land — entire cities, even — to distortion. Meanwhile, the Aeon Kingdom has no ether and has lost almost no territory to distortion.”

“Because they have some sort of technique to stop it!” Shimmer countered.

“Or they’re not tampering with World Ender like Polaris clearly is.” Demerzel pointed accusingly toward Vortex. The charizard glared back. “Regardless, the point remains unchanged: all Aeon needed to do is wait out the clock. Then Radiance would be overrun by distortion and forced to yield to their terms.

“But they came to the bargaining table… because they knew the truth and wanted to work with us.” Demerzel shook his head. “Instead of vilifying them, we should work with them even closer now that the situation is more dire than ever.”

Fresh murmurs arose. Vortex slammed his fists on the table and stood up. “Absolutely not!” he hissed. “This is ridiculous!” The charizard ignored Dartrix’s attempts to calm him down. “You’re accusing my company of driving this kingdom toward ruin? I’m the reason we’re prospering! And only Polaris can find a solution to—”

“You mean Icarus?” Justine cut in. She shoved Tesla toward Vortex with her foreleg. “Where were you developing it, Minister?”

“Cita… dark.”

Justine’s expression darkened. “The same Citadark that Polaris scanners report a strange shockwave radiating out from immediately before rifts started appearing across the kingdom?”

The fire in Vortex’s eyes faded as quickly as it appeared. He leaned over his table. “Th-That’s—”

“Where is Icarus now, Minister?” Justine asked.

Tesla stiffened. “I, um— I haven’t been to Citadark lately, but I imagine it must be—”

“Do you really expect us to believe that?” Demerzel calmly folded his arms behind his back and floated away from Leyanne’s podium. “Parliament funded this project. You agreed to update it on the project’s status.”

Several cries of agreement rose up from the MPs. Tesla shrank down with the saddest “zzts” Shimmer had hear.

“Gone,” he whimpered.

“Gone?” Justine marched into the boltund’s line of sight. “Is it not a machine? Are you implying someone snuck into our maximum security prison and stole a device?”

“No! It’s… it’s…” Tesla’s eyes darted around.

“Also related to World Ender, isn’t it?” Demerzel said. “And may have reacted to Starlene’s sabotaged song. Like a beckoning siren of sorts.”

Tesla practically sprawled out on his belly, then nodded in defeat.

Shimmer shrank back from a wave of shouts and protests. This was all too much. He was still reeling from losing Xander. Now the ponyta had to contend with all of this?

This was supposed to be the best time in his life. Shimmer was going to handily win the Crowne Cup, then announce Xander as his consort to the kingdom by proposing at the trophy ceremony. But now there was no Xander. There would be no Crowne Cup. The popstar he loved was revealed for a fraud, just like his ancestors.

How did everything manage to crash and burn around him so quickly and so spectacularly?

The protests continued. Leyanne couldn’t quiet them. Neither could Justine.

Yuna. This is her fault! I know it is! It has to b—

“ORDER!”

A chill ran down Shimmer’s spine. He had never heard that tone from Isola before. Sure, Justine could get angry, but his other mother was never one to let such ugly emotions show through. Even in the private comfort of their castle.

The rapidash approached the edge of the platform and braced her right forehoof on the banister. “We’ve heard enough. This is… a grave situation. One that should not have transpired. We admit that it was foolish of us to grant such a close working relationship to a single company. But that does not excuse the actions that have transpired.”

She looked at Justine. “Arrest Mr. Vortex.”

“What?!” Dartrix squawked.

Vortex stiffened in his seat. “Me? What for?”

“Fraud. Against Parliament. Against the entire kingdom, actually,” Isola exclaimed. “Oh, and arrest Tesla, too.”

“Hey!” The boltund jumped to his feet. “It’s Minister Doctor—”

“No.” Isola’s eyes flickered blue, as did her horn and Crowne Shield. “In fact, that goes for the lot of you. In accordance with the Radiant Constitution, we are hereby stripping all Crowne Ministers of their titles. Those of you with known financial ties to Polaris will have your assets frozen until they can be properly investigated by the Ministry of Finance and Stoutland Yard.”

“You can’t be serious!” Minister Xiao knocked his chair over standing up. The urshifu bared his fangs. “Some of us haven’t gone anywhere near that company!”

“We are deadly serious,” Isola responded, holding her head high. “If any of you try and oppose us, we shall arrest you and charge you with treason.”

“T-TREASON?!” Dartrix’s feathers puffed up so much they obscured his face. “This is utterly ridiculous!”

“Would you care to join your client, counselor?” Isola coldly countered while Justine ushered Vortex out of his seat.

“You can’t do this to me!” the charizard roared, flaring out his wings. “I brought progress and prosperity to this kingdom!” He whirled on Justine as the virizion tried to shove him toward Tesla. “Get your hooves off me, you latex-wearing hussy!“

Shimmer watched the scene unfold with increasing disbelief. He was getting nauseous and he hadn’t even eaten anything since before the attack on Venish.

“See that, Shimmer?” Isola lowered her head into Shimmer’s view. “That’s how a leader’s supposed to act. Understand?”

The ponyta was thankful for his cloak, which hid his trembling hind legs.

“Yes, Mother,” he squeaked, but all he could think about was fleeing back to his room and, with Xander gone, hiding under his covers until his frayed nerves calmed down.

Path of Valor Almanac
Dazzels is loosely based on Brussels, Belgium, the de facto capital of the European Union. Similarly, Espace Adelaide is based on Espace Léopold, one of the meeting places of the European Parliament. And Corsola Leyanne is based on Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.