Chapter 82: Defendant Mundum

Noctum somersaulted, dodging a Rock Blast, then returned fire at the Eternatus Gunner responsible. His Flamethrower destroyed the cockpit and the unown vanished in purple smoke. Another explosion rang out behind him. He looked over his shoulder. Through the smoke, he spotted a mega garchomp atop the Pokémon League’s roof, sniping at Eternatus Troopers in the air with well-aimed Dragon Pulses.

The black charizard nodded to Valkyrie, then Phantom Warped away from her, dodging more Rock Blasts.

“Hey!” one Eternatus Gunner shouted, trying to follow Noctum with its blasters. “No fair! Someone tell the lizard dodging is not permitted!”

Dreepy-shaped blue spears flew in from Noctum’s right. They shattered the Gunner’s glass cockpit, ejecting the unown into the air. Then that buzzwole guy — oh, what was his name again? Beef? — swooped in from behind, grabbed the body, and hurled it at three Eternatus Bombardiers behind them. All the bots were gone by the time the smoke had cleared.

“Ha!” Buzzwole flexed his right arm. “Ja, take to air good idea! Like discus with no pesky ground!” He flexed his left arm. “I was three-time all-city discus champ in heyday!”

“Uh, congrats?” Noctum tilted his head, then saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. He stopped flapping his wings for a rapid descent. A Thunderbolt surged overhead, but then a large boulder broadsided him. Noctum spread his wings to stop from careening into the forest. He wildly spat fire in the direction of the Rock Blast.

“Ha ha! Score one for the good guys!” An Eternatus Bombardier threw its blaster-equipped arms to the side, then hovered up to skirt the Shadow Ball that came from below. Noctum landed in the grass by the anomaly portal so Seifer and Cyril could give him some extra cover while he got his bearings.

“What’s wrong?”

Noctum was ready to complain about rocks when he realized the keldeo was talking to Cyril. “Did that idiot… seriously dab on us?” The cosmic zoroark had another Shadow Ball ready. “Stupid emperor and his ‘how do you do, fellow kids?’ mindset.” He hurled the ectoplasm upward. “Give it a boost, will ya?”

Seifer pivoted, blasting Hydro Pumps skyward from his hind legs. It pushed the Shadow Ball past the Bombardier’s Rock Wrecker and blew apart its right arm.

“Gah!” It hovered erratically. “A minor setback, but I am still functional!”

Noctum fired a Dragon Pulse, striking the Bombardier’s torso. The unown pilot ejected the cockpit. “You will not be rid of me that easily, meatba— guuuuh!”

A second Dragon Pulse streaked in from the direction of the League Building, destroying the last bits of the Trooper.

“You make such a cute little threesome down there,” Valkyrie scoffed. “But get back in the air, you dweeb! We need you up here!”

Cheeks burning, Noctum took off. A few stray Thunderbolts and Ice Beam peppered the air around him. Noctum spat fireballs to his left, then spotted two Gunners on his right trying to hit Valkyrie with Ice Beams from afar.

Not on my watch. Noctum Phantom Warped behind them, then buffeted the Gunners with Air Slash crescents. They didn’t even have time for mechanical shouts before their bodies broke apart. Noctum flew through the smoke and dust left behind, slowing down by the rooftop.

“How’s it looking?” Noctum had lost track of Yiazmat and Calcifer in the chaos. He did spot Archie gleefully gliding over the grassy field atop a jet of water, sending black crescents at Gunners and Brawlers from his jagged horn.

“I don’t like this,” Valkyrie said. She spat a Dragon Pulse at an airborne Eternatus Bombardier taking aim at Seifer and Cyril. It struck the middle of its back. Noctum added a Flamethrower to take it down.

What else is new? The black charizard managed to keep that one to himself. “In what way?”

“They’ve got the numbers, but they’re not advancing on the rift,” the mega garchomp said, pointing a scythe-like arm left. Cyril and Seifer stood their ground, shooting Shadow Balls and Aura Spheres at Gunners flanking them from the sky. Buzzwole Whatshisface flew in and rammed one into another with his right shoulder.

“New barbells for mein collection!” he declared, laying on his back in midair and… bench-pressing the disoriented Gunners?

“Stop the rebel!” a Bombardier shouted from far to their right. “Using Troopers as weights is against the law! And very rude!”

Noctum snapped back to attention when he saw blue sparks in the corner of his eye. Another Dragon Pulse from Valkyrie blew apart a Bombardier over by the forest’s edge.

“Okay, yeah. You’ve got a point.” The black charizard landed on the roof. “They’re just… shooting at Cyril and Seifer from a distance.” What was he missing? “Maybe they’re afraid of disappearing forever if they get destroyed in the other dimension?”

“You think Paradox cares about that?” Valkyrie stomped on the roof. Stone Edge spires jutted out from the ground, where several dragons were in a standoff with Eternatus Brawlers. One spire upended a Brawler trying to clobber an unsuspecting goodra with an ice-encrusted mace. “He’s already sending ’em out here for us to mow down.”

Noctum frowned. Last he recalled, the unown got returned to some factory if they were beaten out here. He doubted that connection held up where the anomaly was. Which was worth caring about, in Noctum’s opinion. “Well, do your, uh, instincts give you anything to go off?”

The mega garchomp huffed out blue-purple embers. “Not really.” She summoned more rock spires from the ground, but the two charging Brawlers burst through them with their spiked maces and struck at the same goodra from before. She tumbled back, ice encrusting her gooey body.

Tail flame sparking, Noctum dove off the roof and bathed the Brawlers in bright orange flames.

“Aggh! Deploy the anti-flying lizard punches!” one Brawler screamed.

Noctum wasn’t prepared for the flurry of electrified maces that followed. He swerved past the first two, but the third clubbed him in the jaw. The static locked up his wings. He hit the ground and skipped across it, smacking the remnants of an earlier Stone Edge spire and tumbling through scorched grass and dirt until he came to a stop.

Grunting, Noctum tried to right himself, but his world was spinning. Paralysis locked up his limbs. He tasted dirt. The black charizard snorted some flames, scorching grass by his face and giving him a tilted, dusty view of the perimeter around League Headquarters.

“The lizard’s down! Smack him! Annihilate him!”

Mechanical whirrs and clanks filled Noctum’s ear frills. Multiple Brawlers pushed past the Aeon troops and were running at him. Electricity coursed through their spiked maces.

He had to get up. Move his legs. Wings. Something.

Come on! Not like this! Teeth gritted, Noctum fought against the paralysis. He’d almost managed to push his upper half off the ground, when a thunderous rumble sent him tumbling further back through the grass toward the forest’s edge. It must have scattered all the Brawlers to the wind, too. None were chasing him down anymore.

Before Noctum could even process the tremor, a terrified shriek sent his heart into his throat.

The queen!

Her screams proved the second wind Noctum needed to get up. And just in time, as he was able to catch the dragapult careening through the air and stop her from colliding with him.

“Your Highness?” The paralysis somewhat muffled Noctum’s speech. “What happened?”

Yiazmat’s eyes were wide. At first Noctum thought his muscles were twitching from the lingering static, but soon realized she was trembling.

“They hit him,” she said.

“Huh?”

“Calcifer! With a strange blast!”

The ground trembled once again. Cyril and Seifer rushed toward them, the former swearing up a storm and the latter looking back and shouting something.

On the other side of League Headquarters, a duraludon head poked up. And up. And up. They were growing to the size of one of the gigantic buildings from Eterna City!

Noctum’s tail flame pulsated erratically. “What is— don’t tell me—”

“Ha ha ha!” An Eternatus Bombardier flew around beside Duraludon, shooting tiny fireworks. “A brilliant success! One Paradigm Lieutenant shot to the head! I’ve got a new host for Halvus!” It gestured toward a few Gunners staring at it in confusion. “Oh, this one is so going on my bi-annual evaluation! I’m getting promoted for sure!”

The towering duraludon looked down at the League building’s roof… and the mega garchomp standing alone on its edge.

“I spy a hotheaded rebel… who needs a good cooldown!“

Blue-violet currents swirled around the roof. Noctum apologetically let go of Yiazmat. He focused on the Malice Crystal in his chest and lunged forward, aiming to pry open a rift.

“Valkyrie!”

“I don’t like this.”

From their point in the sky high over the river, Quetzal shifted uneasily on Jade’s back. “We should be with the others, fending off the empire,” the orange zapdos said.

Gene’s gaze was fixed north of them, where he’d met the Rockets. There were warehouses close to the part of the river the trio were floating over. Allegedly, whatever the Rockets had up their sleeve involved one of the warehouses. So, this was where they had to wait for the signal.

“Rebels have to take risks.” Gene’s tail lazily swished back and forth. “Too much on the line with this one.”

“Is it really that much of a risk to go back for a bit and—”

“Yes!” Gene crossed his arms. “If the emperor gets wind I’m there, he’ll send everything he has at us. Then we’ll really be screwed.” He gestured toward the stadium. “Here? We can seal the anomaly. The kid can take us back to the outpost.”

“And what about the folks on Indigo Plateau?” Quetzal countered.

“We’ll rift ’em back once we’re back.” Was it a perfect plan? No. Gene rarely had the luxury of perfect plans. “Look. I’m choosing to have faith they can handle themselves. Optimism and all that.” He looked over his shoulder. “You should try it.”

Jade bobbed her head. “Yeah. We gotta cheer them on!” She paused. “In spirit, because we’ve gotta play the heels!”

Gene raised a brow. “Heels? Where’d you pull that one from?”

“Guzzie Junior,” Jade chirped.

Sighing, Gene turned back around. “Of course you did. Yo, Chrome Dome. How we looking?”

Grumbles came through the X-transceiver, followed by Cid saying, “As best I can tell, nothing about the stadium should block rift formation. Yuna should be free to open one.”

“Great.” Gene clapped his hands together. “You in position, Princess?”

“Uh, sure?” Yuna said. “I’m still by the dimensional rift.”

“Good enough.” Gene brimmed with false enthusiasm. Yes, it wasn’t a great plan. Or even a good one. But at least Gene was trying to find a middle ground. Someone had to believe this would work. The shadowy mewtwo didn’t need any self-fulfilling prophecies mucking things up.

He spotted faint golden sparkles by one of the warehouses. Squinting, Gene held up his right hand. “It might be showtime, folks.”

More golden sparkles littered a lot next to one of the warehouses. And the sparkles moved. Sure, Gene was far away. But it was totally Meowth using Pay Day. That meant it was go time.

“Follow my lead,” Gene said. He surged forward, not bothering to wait up for Jade and Quetzal. The stadium’s bright red, white, and blue lights quickly came into view, spilling over the outside grounds. Pop-up shops lined the walkways. People and pokémon flitted between them. Occasional camera flashes popped up at complete random.

A pity Gene had to break up this party. It could’ve been fun to watch the battles unfold. Or even take part.

… Ah, who was he kidding? Gene would wipe the floor with any of these trainers.

His expression sharpened. Gene thought back to those distant days where this was natural. Storming an area. Peppering buildings in Shadow Balls to force his way in. Telekinetically swiping poké balls from trainers before they could open them.

It’s just for show. Only have to fake it.

The wailord blimp was flying in the middle of the stadium. A perfect target. Gene focused his ESP on it. Any auras?

No. Perfect. A remote-controlled blimp was easy pickings.

Gene held his hands up. A Shadow Ball formed, growing larger and larger. The moment he heard shouts from the ground, Gene hurled the massive Shadow Ball toward the blimp.

This next part needed finesse. Gene forced the Shadow Ball to burst apart, spreading blue-purple light over the area. As screams and shouts erupted beneath him, Gene opened a rift. He forced the blimp through with a psychic pulse. A loud thud told him his endeavor was successful: the blimp was forcibly downed in a barren field. No debris to rain down on anyone.

Loud squawks sounded behind him. Gene turned to see Jade carefully sweeping an Aeroblast across the river. She didn’t hit any boats, but kicked up enough spray to send people running in the opposite direction.

Quetzal was next, jumping from Jade’s back. He dove through yamper and boltund balloons whose pops echoed across the area.

Drawing from his Malice Crystal, Gene pooled the energy toward his head to project his telepathy.

“Run, pitiful weaklings!” he declared. Gene glanced at the stadium and saw the center of the grassy battlefield unoccupied. People were fleeing from seats and the ground into corridors that would lead them through the stadium.

“Your pathetic Coronation is canceled!” Gene whipped up a Hurricane in the center of the stadium. It ripped through the turf, flinging grass and dirt chunks in all directions.

There were a few people who weren’t running though. Assorted corviknight and staraptor with humans atop them making beelines for the shadowy mewtwo.

“I said begone!” Gene surrounded them with Psystrike orbs. A gesture only intended to provoke the birds into fleeing. There were frantic wing flaps, but most held their ground and looked as though they were readying attacks.

Growling, Gene dispelled his Psystrike. Instead, he opened another rift toward the same spot he sent the blimp. A psychic pulse sent the birds and their riders tumbling back. He abruptly shut the rift, then Phantom Warped away from several Fire Blasts and Thunders streaming up from below.

Oh joy. The fuzz. Gene glanced over his shoulder to see Jade flying circles by the front of the stadium, shooting Aeroblasts skyward instead of at the ground. Like something out of one of those kaiju pokémon movies.

… Considering they were acting, it was an apt comparison.

Before Gene had the opportunity to send the police through a rift, however, metal tendrils shot past him. Strange, electrified nets captured the pokémon taking aim at Gene. They flailed about as the tendrils retreated to Gene’s left, heading outside the stadium to a… robot meowth?

Nope, Gene wasn’t imagining things. There was an absurdly long meowth robot at the western edge of the stadium. “The hell?” Gene scratched his head.

The large gold coin atop Meowthbot’s head opened up, revealing the Rockets sitting in some sort of pod-shaped control room. It raised up higher above the machine’s head. The glass pod opened up and the three stood up… brandishing megaphones?

“This party’s over, so prepare for trouble!”

“And we’ll find our pika prize to make it double!”

Jessie thrust her right hand behind her. “To protect the world from devastation!”

James mirrored the gesture with his left hand. “To unite all people within our nation!”

Gene’s jaw slackened. Was this— were they doing a bit? Now of all times?!

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

James somehow produced a rose and held it up to his nose. “To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

The robot’s head projected a giant red R that rotated around a holographic globe.

“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!” Jessie declared.

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!” James added.

Meowth then hopped up between them “Meowth, dat’s right!”

Even Wobbuffet popped up, but Gene couldn’t hear him without a megaphone of his own. He just floated there, utterly confused as to how these loons would stand there atop their giant robot and recite some stupid motto.

Jade came to a stop by the robot and raised her right wing. “Um, yes, excuse me. Hi. I have several questions.”

The Rockets saw Jade and shrieked in unison.

“Jessie, do I finally need glasses or is there a lugia right next to us?” James said.

“And a talking one at that!” Jessie said. “Back inside! Back inside!”

“Right! Time for da Gigagigameowth to do its t’ing!” The control pod retreated back inside the robot’s giant coin.

“Hey, wait!” Jade flapped her wings frantically. “That didn’t answer any of my— eep!”

Metal tendrils emerged from Gigagigameowth’s mouth. Jade flailed about in midair, then flapped her wings twice and quickly ascended out of their way.

Scowling, Gene surged past the outer rim of the stadium, Malice Crystal sparking. It might’ve lit the area up like a flare if things weren’t bright enough already. “Hey, hey!” The shadowy mewtwo waved his arms around. He stopped by Gigagigameowth’s golden coin. “No friendly fire! We have a deal, remember?”

“Dat featherhead’s wit’ you?!” Meowth said.

“Talk about friends in high places,” James added.

“Hmph. Her salazzle outfit needs work,” Jessie scoffed. “Maybe we should tutor her when this is over. We’re masters of the craft!”

Gene was not going to entertain their antics any further. “Quit standing around and cause some chaos!” He spun around and blindly hurled a Shadow Ball toward the abandoned grounds outside the stadium. Gene made sure to destroy it before it could actually hit anyone or anything. “We can’t get the guy out of the safe until the place is good and empty!”

“Just leave dat to us!” Meowth said. Gigagigameowth jumped around with surprising speed for such a huge machine. “Super Net Knuckles, fiyah!”

Gigagigameowth’s fists detached from its arms and immediately exploded into nets that descended on people who were fleeing across the bridge leading to the stadium grounds.

Grimacing, Gene headed in the opposite direction. This was fine. The moment the others had the safe situation under control, he’d wreck that stupid robot and free whatever people and pokémon Team Rocket was trying to snag. The idiots weren’t even using poké balls.

He spared a brief moment to scan the insides of the stadium. Minimal auras. All streaming away from where Yuna claimed the safe was, except for a handful. Some of them were clearly the team. But the other weaker ones…

“Hey, what’s the situation?” Gene said, flying around the stadium’s outer rim to keep eyes on Jade and Quetzal. The former kicked up more water with a river-aimed Aeroblast while the latter was striking street lights with his muscular legs, denting them at angles street lights weren’t meant to bend. “We’re thinning the herd out here quickly. How about you guys?”

“Water evac team here! We’ve got plenty of rescue boats heading away!”

“Ground evac team. Streets are getting a bit clogged, but the police have fliers coming to help!”

That was better than Gene expected, all things considered. “And you, Princess? I’m sensing some unfamiliar auras by the safe.”

Floating directly in front of the safe door, Yuna looked apologetically at the security officers, alakazam, and togekiss lying on the ground, twitching from paralysis. “Yeah.” She rubbed her shoulder. “Nikki might’ve, uh, put them down for the count.”

“It’s just paralysis.” The toxtricity flicked her right wrist dismissively. “They’ll get better.”

“Yeah, but the point is they’re not supposed to be here when we open the safe.” Widget looked between them and the vault with a frown on his beak. “What do we do with them now?”

“Open a rift to that roof you guys were on before,” Gene suggested. “We’ll have to leave them there.”

Widget winced. “But that’s out in the open!”

“Do you want to take your chances with what’s on the other side of that door?” Gene countered.

The cosmic silvally shifted his weight uncomfortably. “I’d rather not.” Sighing, he bowed his head at Yuna. “Do it, I guess.”

With another apologetic look, Yuna opened a rift beneath the guards. She watched them drop onto a blue roof, then sealed it up. Pushing that from her mind, she hovered closer to the safe door. Cid leaned against the handle, his spots pulsating with pink energy.

“Anything?” the drakloak wondered.

“Almost.” Cid squinted. The orbeetle’s spots flickered erratically. “I think I—”

The clicks were barely audible, but the metal thuds that followed were loud enough to make Yuna back away. Cid grabbed the handle and slowly turned it. “Nrrrgh. Can a guy get a hand? This thing’s… heavier than I thought.”

“Pssht.” Nikki rolled up her sleeves. “Stand aside, egghead.” She rubbed her hands together, grabbed the handle, and easily shifted it to the open position. The vault door began to open.

Yuna saw that familiar inky blackness pooling in her tail. “Uhh, maybe you guys should stand back befor—”

The door suddenly flew open. Black flames washed over Cid, knocking the screaming orbeetle down the hall. Then a large pink beam sent Nikki tumbling in Cid’s direction.

Something— no, two somethings glistened within the darkness of the vault.

“Get back!” Widget cried, shifting to his flight mode and sending electricity right into the vault. A pink barrier appeared and deflected the Thunderbolt.

“I did warn you, did I not, Yaldabaoth?”

Glowing pink eyes flared up. Yuna had no time to react as a green, crystalline bird shot out. The strange, balloon-shaped gems atop its head cast an eerie glow in the hallway. Squealing, Yuna forced Reshiram from the Soul Dew, where he met another pink beam with streams of blue fire.

“Hey!” Reshiram spread his wings apart to try and stop the bird from making any further forward progress. Instead, it vanished in a flash. Reshiram looked around in confusion. “The color wasn’t right, but didn’t that kind of match up with what Quetzal said Necrozma turned his partners into?”

“I’m a bit, gah, busy!”

Widget darted left and right between the wall and the railing, barely avoiding bursts of black fire from a second, neon pink bird with fiery green wings. The crystal antennae emerging from its head pulsated with ominous energy.

“It… is them!”

Yuna looked over to see a singed Cid’s spots glowing asynchronously. “Quetzal’s teammates, Shiva and Ifrit!”

Yuna couldn’t process that before Shiva reappeared, striking Reshiram in the face with a tremendous flurry of Air Slash blades. Reshiram dropped to the ground, pawing at his face with his fluffy wings.

This didn’t make any sense. Butterfree Effect had said there was one daemon inside the vault.

“There was one.” Shiva’s beak moved, but it was clearly Butterfree Effect’s voice. “But it seems this Whisper decided to invite an extra friend to our festivities. Isn’t that right?”

Shiva looked over her shoulder. Yuna decided not to wait. Her Soul Dew glistened. Reshiram dropped his wings and shot a Blue Flare at Shiva. Her eyes flashed pink and another barrier appeared, snuffing out the flames.

An unfamiliar human appeared by the strange articuno’s side. The brim of his red and white hat obscured his face. But the pikachu on his shoulder had an empty look about him.

“… This place is boring.” The human grabbed Shiva’s leg. Eyes widening, Yuna sent another signal to Reshiram. At the same time, a shockwave came from Yuna’s right. Nikki was on her feet, clearly steamed from the earlier blow.

“We’re leaving.” The human tugged Shiva’s leg. Her eyes brimmed with psychic energy. Then she and the human vanished. A mechanical squawk and a thud drew Yuna’s attention left, where Widget hit the ground with no signs of the moltres Whisper around him.

“Where’d they go?!” Widget sprang to his feet, looking around in a panic.

“Who cares!” Nikki approached Yuna, wincing with every step. “They abandoned the core! Get the kid here and let’s blow this joint!”

“We can’t leave this place with those things running amok!” Widget snarled. “I’m going after them.” The miraivally’s thrusters ignited. He sped out of the room.

“Oh, c’mon, seriously?!” Nikki ran after him. “No fair! I can’t even fly!”

Yuna had to admit Nikki brought up a good point. Besides, if the two Whispers were really from their world, couldn’t Leo drag them back with the rest of the team? Gulping, the drakloak approached the vault.

Her shadows swung her lower half back. Yelping, Yuna barely managed to stop herself from falling to the ground. But then she spotted flickers of distortion within the vault. She spun left before a sudden twister emerged from the ground near where she was floating.

“Iiiiii don’t think the core’s going to let you in,” Reshiram said.

“I see that.” Yuna backed further away. With both previous cores, they stopped pokémon with those weird crystals growing off them before going inside. “Maybe its… accessibility is related to those crystals? Like, we have to shatter them?”

She turned around. Cid leaned against a wall, rubbing his shut eyes and groaning.

“Cid, you’ve got to help!” Yuna begged. “Track down the birds. Where did they go?”

The orbeetle’s face scrunched up in concentration. “I just… lemme… hgggrrrgh.” He squeezed his cheeks tightly. “They’re out on the stadium’s battlefield!”

Right. The battlefield. Yuna surveyed that place earlier as a precaution. She just had to think. Picture the striped green field with the weird white lines and poké balls painted onto the grass for some reason.

Yuna stuck her hands out. A jagged rift opened in front of her. Pink lasers rained down haphazardly on the other side. Flinching, the drakloak hovered through.

“On your left!” Reshiram darted past her, shooting a Dragon Pulse to block a pink beam from Shiva.

Just what was that attack? It was way too big to be a Psybeam!

“Boring.” The human was riding atop Shiva’s back as she hovered over midfield. “Warp, then Freezing Glare.”

He and Shiva vanished in a flash. Yuna’s shadows pushed against her back. She turned around and found another of those pink beams heading right for her from the sidelines!

“Yuna!”

Over Reshiram’s cry, Yuna dropped to the ground. She phased through the grass the moment her Quick Attack energy wore off and swam through the soil. Yuna had to trust Reshiram would offer enough of a distraction for her to do something. Anything.

But her own attacks were so weak. Unless I use the shadows…

Yuna swam through the ground, then emerged by the sidelines, swiping up at the air in front of her. A gray, spectral leg uppercut the distorted articuno. She was right in Reshiram’s path. He had a clear shot to Blue Flare her!

… Except a lightning bolt zapped his rear. Yowling, Reshiram threw his wings against his rump. Shiva righted herself and swept another Freezing Glare right at a startled Yuna.

The drakloak wasn’t ready. She tried to will her shadows into some sort of shield, but the blast got to her first. Yuna pinwheeled back toward midfield, passing by Nikki wildly trying to strike Pikachu with poisonous globs only for him to easily flash step away and pepper Reshiram with pot shots.

An unseen force seized Yuna moments before she struck the ground. It yanked her toward Shiva and the human.

“Is it finally sinking in?” Butterfree Effect’s masked head pooled over Shiva’s. His arceus hairdo crackled ominously. “How out of your depth you are, puppet?”

Yuna couldn’t even squirm. The psychic grip was too strong. Reshiram faded back into the Soul Dew. Yuna didn’t even know what happened to Ifrit. Was he still around or had he made a break for the city?

“I told you there is no point in resisting me,” Butterfree Effect continued through Shiva’s beak. “If you had left the vault sealed, I could have claimed the plates within the core. Affirmed the fate of this world. Instead, you continued walking the path of chaos. You are truly no more than a puppet.”

What were they talking about? They were the one who told Yuna about what could happen here in the first place!

“No more talking.” The human shook his head. “It’s boring. As boring as an opponent who can’t fight back.” He looked directly at Yuna. “Get rid of her.”

Yuna’s eyes widened. The world spun around her. Shiva must have teleported her high into the sky.

Within seconds, Shiva’s eyes brimmed with cold pink energy. Then, a terrible, icy pain surged through Yuna’s ectoplasm. It wasn’t truly an ice-type attack, yet it sure felt like one.

Air rushed all around a flailing Yuna. Shiva quickly grew farther and farther away. Was Yuna falling? Tumbling through the air?

She got her answer when her momentum screeched to a halt against a solid wall of frigid water. The night sky, stadium lights, and distant explosions blurred. Bubbles drifted past her vision when she tried to shout. Water flooded her inner ectoplasm.

Yuna tried to swim upward. She couldn’t. Fierce wind currents were pushing her further down. Everything was getting darker. Darker. Darker.

She tried to go intangible. It didn’t work.

Yuna reached out to her Soul Dew. It wouldn’t respond.

Her shadows, then?

… No. She couldn’t feel them.

Everything was pitch black. Fear took hold. Yuna didn’t have organs, but there was a drowning analogue for ghosts. When their inner ectoplasm filled with so much water it choked their spirits and snuffed out their lives.

The current pushed her further into the depths. Shiva must have gotten corrupted by the flying-type plate. That was how she was forcing Yuna down. The drakloak couldn’t overcome the river’s intense churning. It dragged her deeper and deeper.

A heaviness weighed on her gut. Tugged at her tail and neck. It surrounded her head and swallowed up her face.

After a final, desperate wriggle… Yuna went still.

Path of Valor Almanac
The chapter title is latin for “protect the world,” in reference to Team Rocket’s anime motto. Shiva is a member of the Trimutri holy trinity in Hinduism. Within the Hindu tradition of Shaivism, he is the Supreme Being, responsible for creating, protecting, and transforming the universe. In contrast, Ifrit is a demon associated with death and the underworld within Islamic culture. Quetzal is from the Aztec deity “Quetzalcoatl,” related to the wind, sun, merchants, learning, arts, and crafts.

All three are recurring summons in the Final Fantasy franchise.