Chapter 52: Ordo Totalis

“I’ve brought it up before, but in light of those complaints you got yesterday, I think it’s worth revisiting.”

Chiron sat against a tree, red eyes fixed on the setting sun in the distance. Leo slumbered in the lunala’s curled up, crescent moon tail. She gently draped her right wing over the cosmog.

A flicker of gold light drew her attention right, where Bahamut coiled around a large boulder, tapping his right upper wing against it in irritation. “It’s about Zygarde, isn’t it?”

“Ever the astute psychic,” Chiron teased, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Bahamut’s rainbow eyes bubbled with red and orange. “His work is instrumental in maintaining order. He’s a big reason why Sages can intervene before things escalate.”

“It might be important, but it’s wrong.” Chiron had to keep her voice steady to avoid disturbing Leo’s slumber. “Zygarde’s power is remarkable, yes, but splitting him into his cells to monitor every corner of the planet is… an invasion of privacy.”

“It’s a necessary precaution,” Bahamut countered. “For the safety of—”

Chiron frowned. “If you really love this world and want it to flourish, then you have to trust the people living here and let them live their lives without wondering if they’re being watched.” She was dancing around the issue as best she could. The lunala didn’t want to compare Zygarde to Matriarch and her type: full army out loud. Her husband had good intentions, but his past experiences clouded them.

“How did you even know to create Zygarde in the first place?” she wondered. Eternatus had absorbed planets with them in the past, but she couldn’t recall if Bahamut visited any of them. “Earth was the planet you spent the longest on and it didn’t—”

Bahamut tensed. “I can’t answer that.”

“You can’t answer?” Chiron tilted her head. “Or you won’t?”

The light dragon dimmed. “I—” His rainbow eyes swirled around like small twisters. After a protracted silence, Bahamut whispered, “It’s complicated.”

Chiron wanted to float over to him but still had Leo wrapped in her tail. She instead opened a tiny wormhole and stuck her head into it. Her head appeared at Bahamut’s side and brushed his gold, crystal cheek. “We made vows, remember? I’ll never turn my back on you. If it’s a secret… you can trust me with it.”

“I want to,” Bahamut said. “But what if something happens to you? This secret… can’t afford to get out.”

Chiron pondered that for a second. Then it clicked. “It’s something about Chakran, right? You said you spent a long time there.”

Bahamut’s light rippled. Chiron knew she hit her mark. He sighed. “Yes. There were numerous zygarde on Chakran. They were part of the Overseers.”

“Overseers?” Chiron pulled her head back through the wormhole and cautiously pet Leo’s forehead.

“A group that is, essentially, the eyes of all worlds,” Bahamut explained. “They watch over the omniverse to maintain its stability.”

“Omniverse?” Chiron sucked in a sharp breath. There really were other universes out there, then. She couldn’t fault Bahamut’s caution. If Matriarch ever learned of that… there was no telling the consequences.

“I actually asked them to deal with Eternatus,” Bahamut admitted. “They refused… and abandoned the planet — and our universe — instead.”

“I see.” Chiron looked down at Leo. The cosmog still slumbered peacefully, his pom-pom arms glowing and dimming with every breath he took. “Why would you use your light to craft zygarde Sages, then? Isn’t it just a painful reminder of your time on Chakran?”

“Perhaps. But, again, I saw their zygarde in action,” Bahamut replied, lowering his head onto the top of the rock. “Splitting themselves into cells to observe a hundred places at once. A powerful tool.”

“Powerful, but unsettling,” Chiron countered. She gestured with her left wing. “Try to look at it from a different perspective. How would you feel if you learned that someone was constantly spying on your every move?”

Bahamut didn’t respond at first. The rippling through his body and wings told Chiron enough, however. He clenched his jaw and looked away. “I suppose… I’d feel hurt. Upset.”

Chiron offered a small smile. “Like some of the sermon attendees, perhaps?”

A loud sigh. Bahamut lowered his head onto the rock again. “Yes, you’re right. As usual. I’m too reckless and paranoid.”

“I didn’t say that,” Chiron cut in. “There’s no need to beat yourself up over this.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Pleading greens and yellows pooled in Bahamut’s eyes.

“Perhaps you should scale back Zygarde’s duties,” Chiron offered. “Gradually, if it will ease your mind. And then, in the future…” Her voice trailed off as she twirled a tiny claw around in the circle.

“… Zygarde should be the last Sage of Order,” Bahamut whispered.

“Read my mind again, I see.” Chiron chuckled. “I love it when you’re in sync with me.”

Bahamut’s body and eyes reddened. “Yes, well… perhaps it is for the best. After all, I’m getting old.” He rolled off the rock and onto the grass, looking up at the sky. “I have to start trusting the world to keep turning without me.”

“Wise words.” Chiron bobbed her head. “But you’ll hang on until Leo’s all grown up, right?”

At that, Bahamut laughed. “Which of us called me stubborn to a fault, again?”

“… na! Yu… ere?”

The drakloak heard… someone. But the ringing in her ears and the stars in her vision were too loud and too bright. She sucked in a sharp breath, furiously rubbing her eyes and begging the light to fade.

Why a vision now? She hadn’t pulled a Needle! Her Soul Dew couldn’t have reacted to the Seekerskorch, else she would’ve conked out right when she saw it.

Did that mean…

“Princess, are you okay? Yuna, please answer me!”

She finally picked up on Noctum’s voice. The black charizard picked her up off the ground and cradled her in his arms. Relief flooded his face when Yuna made proper eye contact. “Oh, thank God. Are you hurt?”

Arms trembling, Yuna grabbed his right shoulder. “N… Needle…”

“Hmm?” Noctum frowned. “Do you think a Needle’s nearby?”

“No. I—” She took a few breaths to steady herself. “A Needle got pulled. By someone else.” Yuna squeezed her eyes shut. “Someone else is pulling Needles!”

“Are you serious?” Valkyrie growled. Yuna couldn’t see the garchomp.

“I’m sure.” Yuna managed to collect herself enough to float out of Noctum’s grasp. “Every Needle I’ve pulled so far, I’ve had a… vision from the past about the Sage sealed inside. And I just had one where Bahamut was talking with his wife about Zygarde.”

Thunderous explosions rang out. Bright blue fireballs filled up the sky. Meeping, Yuna darted away from Noctum and Valkyrie on reflex.

“Tch.” Valkyrie kicked up some grass and dirt. “There’s no point discussing this here. Either you rejoin the fight or rift yourself over to Venish and then Bogdan. You’re a liability like this.”

“Valkyrie,” Noctum growled, purple tail flame sparking.

The garchomp bit her lip. “Sorry. Gene’s just struggling to redirect any of that bolt bucket’s attacks. Even with half the mech trashed, too many things are happening at once.”

Yuna looked down guiltily. “I tried to do that… but my rifts are too small to swallow up its attacks.” She looked up and saw Reshiram struggling to escape a dozen web missiles. Though he shot bright blue Dragon Pulses and Nikki hurled poisonous globs from her fingers, they weren’t enough to stop the missiles.

“I can’t leave.” The drakloak flew to Noctum’s side. “Reshiram would disappear with me. I’m not doing that to Nikki.”

“Oh, right. Good point.” Valkyrie stomped up to Noctum. “Guess we’d better get back to it.” She hopped onto the black charizard’s back. “Onward, less-than-noble steed!” Valkyrie shouted, kicking Noctum’s rear.

“Yow! Hey!” His Malice Crystal and tail flame sparked. “Rude!”

Igneous had opted to fall back and relocate Scarlett and Yiazmat, which didn’t prove challenging. The two of them had found their way to the baccer stadium and, apparently, offered to help the Radiant Guard with crowd control as they got people to evacuate. A fairy rapidash officer had proposed summoning flying taxis to get people away from the area, but the constant appearance of the mystery barrier to ward off any attacks was enough to get him to hold off on the order.

Though the grovlazzle had no idea how long the barrier would hold, it soon stopped being an issue. An explosion rocked the sky and half the robot broke apart and plummeted to the ground. After that, it solely focused on its airborne assailants. But that didn’t stop the sky from filling with a bevy of orange and blue explosions.

“The brigade captain said everyone’s outside the stadium,” Scarlett said, gliding in for a landing beside Igneous, whose gaze remained fixed in the distance. “Um, is everything okay?”

“Whoever’s fighting that thing isn’t making any more progress,” Igneous said, arms crossed and right foot tapping the paved ground impatiently. “It’s shooting a whole bunch of attacks that can track them.”

[You really think I will let you turn my attacks against me? As if!] the pilot said. [I am just getting started!]

More orange cones filled the skies. The grovlazzle could barely make out who was actually fighting the machine anymore, losing them amidst orange explosions and red smoke. “If there’s nothing else for me to do here, then I should try to help them.”

“Are you crazy?” Scarlett gasped. “Even with whatever creepy powers let you fly and light stuff on fire, you can’t stand up to that.“

“What would you rather me do?” Igneous growled, whirling on Scarlett. “Stand here gawking like all of them.” He gestured behind them both, to the fairy rapidash from before and a much larger granbull whose magenta uniform had several bars and badges on it.

“Only fools charge in when defeat is a certainty,” Yiazmat chided, hovering toward the duo. “Warriors know their limits and plan accordingly.”

“Tch. That another Aeonism?” Igneous scoffed.

“One of Saint Urshifu’s teachings,” Yiazmat said. “We all saw half that machine break apart. Whoever’s already there is clearly operating with more information than we have. If any of us try to approach, we may become a liability for our unknown allies.”

More explosions thundered behind them. Igneous turned around, biting his lower lip. The giant robot wasn’t going down. How could it keep firing so many attacks without having to recharge or anything? It was totally ridiculous.

“Igneous,” Yiazmat growled. “Do not go charging off again.”

The grovlazzle’s claws balled into fists. “I think I know who’s fighting that battleship and I’m not turning my back on them.”

Yiazmat raised a brow, but then her eyes slowly widened. “Wait. What are you implying?”

On the one hand, Igneous was glad the dragpult caught on quickly. On the other hand, Yiazmat catching on meant he had to come clean about Yuna. Something he was pretty sure she wouldn’t want anyone to do, least of all to her mother.

Igneous curled and uncurled his claws. “It’s Yuna and Noctum. They’re part of that group in the sky.”

That one got a reaction from Yiazmat. Her tail whipped at the air. Scarlett tensed. “How do you know that?”

“Because she’s already fought multiple battles inside of World Ender,” Igneous hastily responded. “Some of which I was there for.”

“What?” Yiazmat blinked several times. “You… and Yuna… but…” Her eyes darted around. “She can’t really defend herself! Why?!” The dragapult looked up in horror. “Oh, God. Yuna!” Yiazmat looked ready to bolt.

“Whoa, hang on.” Scarlett waved her tail in front of Yiazmat’s face. “What happened to warriors planning accordingly?”

Yiazmat’s horns bristled with dragonfire. Scarlett shrank back. “I know what I said,” Yiazmat growled. “But if that’s really my daughter up there, I can’t leave her fending for herself.”

“She’s not alone,” Igneous said, resisting the temptation for a snide remark about her sudden attitude shift. “There are a lot of powerful pokémon with her.” He wasn’t about to say she was carrying a few Sages around with her. That would really set the dragpult off.

“Still. I want to support her.” Yiazmat balled up her fists. “But not even Cosmic Blessing can deal with something that big.”

Another flurry of orange explosions lit up the sky.

“Agggggh!”

Yuna pinwheeled through the air, covered in even more webbing than before. It was getting hard to move her body the way she wanted. She looked down at her Soul Dew. “C’mon, stupid shadow wing thingies! You’ve shown up every other time our backs are against the wall. Do something!”

“Princess, from above!” Noctum cried.

The drakloak looked up and shrieked. She shot toward the ground, but the heat behind her grew stronger. Was the attack getting closer? No, it was a second web missile joining the one already giving chase to her.

“I can’t get a good opening,” Gene hissed, but Yuna wasn’t sure from where.

[And it will stay that way until you rebels surrender!] the pilot said.

“Well?” Igneous looked at Yiazmat. “Do we have a plan or not?”

Yiazmat turned to Scarlett. “It’s up to you.”

“Me?” The dragonair pointed her tail at her head. “Oh no. I haven’t fought a battle in… in…”

“Not to fight,” Yiazmat drifted closer. “That siren song of yours. You have to put it to use to help them.” She pointed back toward the battle with her tail.

“H-Huh?” Scarlett shrank back. “I—” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I’ve never tried to direct my songs toward specific people. I’m not even sure it would work like that! I could end up powering up the battleship… or whipping the crowd back there into a frenzy!”

More explosions bathed the sky in blue and orange. The crowd several meters away grew more restless.

“Try it anyway,” Yiazmat ordered. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Scarlett looked down at the ground. “I can’t,” she whispered. “Not after last time.”

Igneous squinted. In the distance, he saw Nikki clinging to Reshiram for dear life as he flew midair loops to get two fireballs to crash into each other.

“Then don’t do it for our sakes,” the grovlazzle said. “Do it for Nikki’s.”

The dragonair stiffened. “What did you just say?”

“Nikki’s up there, too!” Igneous jerked his head in the machine’s direction. “Fighting for her life… because she wants to see you again.” He pointed a claw at Scarlett’s cloak-covered torso. “She doesn’t know the truth yet. She still believes you’re like a sister to her.”

He let those words hang in the air. Scarlett’s eyes darted around. She opened and closed her mouth several times. Whatever Igneous thought she’d say, she couldn’t muster it.

The grovlazzle was going to continue when Scarlett finally whispered, “She really said that?”

“Yes.” Igneous stepped toward Scarlett. “The whole reason she came to Horizon was because she was worried about you. She knows you’re a good person at heart. Now you have a chance to prove her right. And show your Dynamuse can be used for good.”

Scarlett trembled underneath her tattered cloak. More explosions thundered in the distance. Wincing, the dragonair slithered forward.

“Okay! I… I’ll try.”

She looked over her shoulder again. “Um… I can move farther away from them, right? I don’t want anyone to see.”

Igneous nodded. He and Yiazmat formed a wall of sorts, blocking Scarlett from seeing the crowd. They moved forward cautiously. Most of the attacks remained in the air, but a few stray fireballs struck trees and dirt mounds in the distance, setting them ablaze.

“Do it for Nikki. Do it for Nikki.”

Igneous didn’t respond to Scarlett’s whispers. She was trying to psych herself up. They were asking a lot of her. Unfairly so, now that Igneous chewed on it longer. Scarlett had been through a lot. Maybe I should say something different to her?

The grovlazzle hesitantly stepped toward Scarlett, whose head was bowed. Before Igneous could say anything, however, the dragonair’s neck bauble glowed bright pink. A burst of pink light erupted from Scarlett. Igneous stumbled back in a daze, eyes screwed shut.

“What the… you summoned Starlene?!”

“Starlene?” Yiazmat’s voice was full of awe. “No. It’s… it’s Saint Latias!”

“Reshiram!” Yuna cried, corkscrewing away from a web missile that blew up not too far behind her. “Get Nikki to Jade!” She brushed her hand over the Soul Dew, whose glow had faded. “Someone cover them!”

Gene zipped over, whipping up a Hurricane. The intense winds proved enough to turn away a pair of web missiles and let Nikki hop safely onto Gene’s back. However, the salugia squawked and suddenly lost altitude. Gene pointed his right hand down and caught her.

“It’s no good. Birdbrain ain’t used to having a passenger,” Gene called back. “I’m grounding you two.”

“What?! But we need the extra help!” Valkyrie growled.

“This isn’t up for debate,” Gene hissed, opening a rift underneath him and dropping Jade and Nikki straight through it.

“Then we need a new plan,” Valkyrie hissed. She and Noctum rolled right. A web missile sailed past and Gene vaporized it with a burst of psychic energy before it could loop around and follow them.

The garchomp was right, though. Making the Seekerskorch smaller made it harder to get close and try anything. They couldn’t keep dodging these seemingly endless volleys.

[How is this for a plan? You give up now, and your evil flunkies can get rehabilitated!] the pilot declared, before another volley of fireballs lit up the sky.

Paradox almost slammed his headset down on his desk. “What are you blabbering about, fool?! There’s no rehabilitation. They’re monsters. Destroy them!”

Sticky winced. How was calling his son a fool supposed to keep him following orders?

“Gene, this is hopeless!” Yuna flew after the mewtwo to stay clear of all the homing fireballs. “I’m tapped out. Your redirecting plan failed. We can’t get close to the Seekerskorch.” Her shoulders sagged. “How are we supposed to get out of this?”

“I’m thinking!” Gene hissed. “You eggheads are welcome to butt in anytime, by the way!”

“I wish I had something, but I’m lost, too,” Cid said. “The Seekerskorch must have some sort of mechanism to prevent overheating. It’s the only explanation I can think of for why it can unleash so many attacks without that happening.”

“Delightful!” Gene’s voice brimmed with mock enthusiasm.

Yuna was ready to give the mewtwo another earful when a bright crimson light erupted in the distance. “Oh, now what?!” She gripped the sides of her rectangular head.

“Dost thou not hear it?” Rayquaza asked. “Music! Of the, err, guitar variety, I believe? That is what Miss Nikki called it, correct?”

“What?” Yuna looked around. “I don’t hear any—”

“Let my song… give you strength!”

“Eek!” Yuna’s torso retreated into her head. That voice wasn’t familiar, but it was in her head like the Sages’. “What’s going on?” She looked at Gene, but the mewtwo was fixated on the crimson light in the distance.

“You hear it too, don’t you?” he mumbled.

“Don’t ignore the writing on the wall, yeaaaah
It’s up to you, you can’t let it fall
We’ve come too far
We’re on the cusp
So don’t back down
Keep the pressure on!”

Up ahead, the Seekerskorch unleashed a fresh volley of flaming web missiles. This time, however, it brought its head around to charge up another monstrous Hyper Beam in its open mouth.

“Gene! Move!” Yuna shouted. When she flew away, it was faster than she thought possible as a drakloak. It didn’t make sense, wasn’t she supposed to be exhausted?

“We’re not gonna fade away and
Become a footnote in history.
Our hearts beating together as one
Fangs and claws ready and waiting to take you down!”

The Hyper Beam filled the crimson sky with brilliant blue… only for surging purple to split right through it.

Yuna blinked and rubbed her eyes.

No, she wasn’t imagining it. A bulkier Gene with longer limbs and a Malice Crystal in each shoulder surged through the Hyper Beam, a barrier of psychic energy in front of him.

[Huh?! What the—]

“To take— to take you down!
To take— to take you dooooo-oooooo-oooown!
To take you down!”

The transformed mewtwo kept up his charge until he forced the Hyper Beam back on its attacker. The Seekerskorch flailed about in midair. Huge chunks of its face plates burst off, tumbling to the ground as flaming debris.

“Whoa!” Jade’s jaw slackened. “Did you see that?! The weird kitty got big! And grew another crystal!” She had her hands cupped over her eyes.

Nikki wasn’t paying attention, however. She stared at red and white light in the distance, blinking slowly.

“That song,” she whispered, looking down at her gills.

“Time ticks away like grains of sand
Our lives sealed, cruel fate slips right through our hands”

“I… I know this song!” Nikki instinctively thrust her hands out. Her lightning guitar appeared in a burst of yellow and pink. “Scarlett and I made it! She’d sing it during battle clubs in Blightsmuth while I played guitar!”

“We’ll stare fate back in its ugly face, screaming our creed:
‘You won’t forget me! You won’t forget me!'”

Before Nikki even realized it, she was moving her hands across her lightning guitar as if she was playing a real one.

She wasn’t standing in a field anymore, but sitting on a stack of cardboard boxes against a grimy brick wall. Nikki held a small pink guitar in her tiny toxel hands, slowly strumming chords while an obstagoon deflected an attack from an scrafty with an X-shaped barrier. Several other dark-types whooped and thumped their limbs, cheering the name Shredder.

Beside Nikki, a dratini wriggled in delight, belting out lyrics while waving a tattered, black and white flag with her tiny tail.

Snapping back to the present, Nikki spoke without realizing it. “We’re gonna be strong like him one day, right, sis?”

“What is the meaning of this?!” Paradox darted back and forth in front of his monitor array. “Where’s the footage? Why have we lost our signals?!” He whirled on Sticky. “Answer me!”

The nagandel looked down at his own console, which was a mess of static. “I… I don’t know, sir. There appears to be some sort of interference.”

“I can see that, you blithering numbskull!” Paradox gripped his headset tightly with his right tentacles. “W1-DG3T, status report… now!“

Gene was a purple bullet darting around the Seekerskorch, leaving smoldering dents behind on its metallic exoskeleton.

[No! Stop! This is impossible!] Every attempt the pilot made at striking Gene with an attack from one of the remaining cannons ended with the cannon cleaved off the Seekerskorch by Gene’s psychic spoon. [Y… you are the bad guy! You are not allowed to win! I have to stop you! I have to save the universe!]

Yuna’s gut squirmed, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. More like… something or someone calling out to her from within.

“We’re not gonna fade away and
Become a footnote in history.
All this spite grows inside of us
These memories we’ll throw back at you—”

The drakloak darted toward the Seekeskorch as it coiled around Gene. Its body glowed. It was clearly up to something and she needed to stop it. Even if a small voice was telling her to turn back. Even though her rational self knew that was a bad idea.

She could do this! She could make a difference!

“Cuz we are the ones
Who shape our destiny
Fighting to be free
We’ll claim victory!”

Yuna punched the air with her right arm. A giant gray leg appeared in front of her and stamped the Seekerskorch. Mechanical screeching filled the air.

She punched again. Another giant gray leg appeared, denting one of the Seekerskorch’s segments.

With a loud roar, Yuna kept punching. More and more gray legs pummeled the Seekerskorch’s exoskeleton… until its segments began to break apart.

[No… no! I cannot— I must not— I— Father!]

“Still no response. Still no signal,” Sticky reported, frantically typing at his keyboard. The console monitor suddenly sparked. Yelping, the nagandel barely managed to duck in time to avoid shrapnel as his monitor shattered and a flurry of sparks raced across the room.

“That’s enough!” Paradox removed his headset and held it in front of his face like it was a living thing he intended to strangle. “Computer, execute Type: Zodiark 0.0.1 self-destruct sequence!”

[Command acknowledged,] a feminine voice responded. [Password?]

Paradox’s right eye twitched. He gripped the headset even tighter. “Why do I need a password? I’m the emperor! How about I just obliterate you instead?!”

[Password accepted. Initializing self-destruct sequence.]

“Something’s happening, Gene!” Yuna cried, noticing the Seekerskorch’s head segment glowing while the rest of them fell to the ground in a massive, flaming wreckage.

“Way ahead of you!” the mewtwo responded, surging in front of the Seekerskorch’s head. “Sorry, kid, but the real good guys are coming out on top this time.”

He pointed his arm forward and a giant pink energy beam. It shattered the top of the Seekerskorch.

“I see the pilot!” Cid cried. “It’s… Xeromus?!”

“What?!” Yuna shot forward. A purple and red blur fell toward the ground, faster than she could fly.

“No, wait, it’s not quite the same. There’s no mask or cloak,” Cid said. “But whoever they are, they’re falling fast!”

“I can see that!” Sucking in a sharp breath, Yuna instinctively stuck her right hand out. A giant, shadowy wing appeared and caught the falling pilot between three red spikes.

“Okay, stop! Stop!” Igneous sprinted toward Scarlett and the spectral latias hovering above her. “It’s over! You can stop!”

Scarlett and Latias turned to Igneous in unison. The latter evaporated in red and white mist. Igneous saw Scarlett’s eyes rolling back in her head and dove forward, barely catching her before she would’ve struck the ground.

The dragonair blinked blearily. “D… did I do good?” she whispered.

“More than good.” Igneous nodded slowly. “You did great.”

As her eyes closed, a smile spread over Scarlett’s face.

A sudden gust brushed the grovlazzle’s backside. By the time he turned around, Yiazmat was already halfway toward the wreckage.

Paradox stared at his static-filled monitors, still gripping the headset. “Well? What happened? Sticky, give me something!”

The naganadel had nothing. His computer was a smoldering wreck. “Sir, my terminal is—”

“I don’t want excuses,” the deoxys hissed. Paradox looked at the ceiling. “Computer? Status on the self-destruct sequence?”

[Loading. Loading. Please stand by.]

Paradox was ready to throw his headset at the ceiling.

[Self-destruct sequence completed successfully, Your Excellency.]

Silence. After a solid minute, Paradox turned and placed the headset on his desk. His tentacles coiled into hands that he braced on either side of his headset.

“Sticky. Call Uroboros,” he said. “I want the Paradigm fully mobilized.”

Without hesitation, Sticky vigorously nodded and sped toward the door.

As the drakloak gently lowered the creature to the ground, she acknowledged its body shape was a lot like Xeromus’. But its entire torso was red and translucent, like it was made of glass.

Gene landed at the same time Yuna placed the pilot on the ground, then turned back to normal in a flash of orange and blue light. Noctum and Valkyrie landed beside him.

“What the hell was that?” Valkyrie rubbed her head. “You guys heard a rock song, too, right? It was like… if Starlene turned punk.”

“I don’t feel tired at all.” Noctum tapped the top of his Malice Crystal. “And you!” He pointed to Gene. “I didn’t know you could mega evolve!”

Gene’s tail swished back and forth. “Uh, neither could I.” He held his right hand up and turned it back and forth. “I wish I had an explanation, but I don’t.” The mewtwo shook his head. “We can talk about it later. How’s that pilot?”

When he looked left, his tail abruptly stiffened. The panic was clear in his eyes. “Impossible,” he whispered.

“What’s impossible?” Valkyrie said, quirking a brow.

“Nothing.” Gene waved her off. He knelt beside the pilot.

“Is it dead?” the garchomp wondered.

“No. Just unconscious.” Gene ran a hand across the pilot’s red torso. His Malice Crystal sparked and he pulled his hand back. “Yeah, we’re gonna have to dig deeper into this.”

“Let’s gather up, first,” Noctum suggested, slowly flapping his wings in place. “We need to get Jade and Nik—”

“Yuna? Yunavresca!“

The drakloak stiffened. She glanced over her shoulder.

A dragapult in sleek black armor surged toward her, a mix of shock and worry on her face.

“The hell?” Valkyrie tugged Noctum’s wing. “Is that—”

Yuna managed to find her voice.

“Mom?!”

CDL347: Giga Pursuit Unit, Seekerskorch
A prototype flying battleship for the Eternatus Troopers, fashioned to appear like a mega evolved centiskorch. With a psorexium exoskeleton and dozens of side-mounted cannons, it can unleash a devastating rain of destruction on its target. The only issue is that the battleship is presently designed for a single pilot. Controlling all the weapons has proven to be too difficult for any Eternatus Troopers, so the prototype was shelved.

Why did the emperor suddenly deploy it now? And who did he scrounge up to pilot it? Its appearance is seriously concerning…

Path of Valor Almanac
Scarlett’s battle song spoofs GH()ST (pronounced “ghost”), the battle theme of Viola from Bayonetta 3, with music by Tomoki Kameyama and vocals by Mikaila Delgado.