Ruin General Phantomere Boss Fight (Allied Phase)
BGM Update: BGM has changed to "Engel" from Rammstein.
Lola: Leaves combat area. Uses two Full Restores on Harliette and Whitney.
Registeel: Cradily has been defeated. One body.
Kingdra: Phantomere has taken great damage.
Blaziken: Forretress has been defeated. Two bodies.
Tactical Update: Whitney has joined the party!
Swampert: Heracross has taken great damage.
Latias: Tropius has been defeated. Three bodies.
Shannon: Starmie is recalled. Florescence is deployed.
Florescence: Kabutops has been defeated. Four bodies.
Buck: Heracross has been defeated. Five bodies. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Latios: Phantomere has still only taken great damage.
Charlotte: Phantomere has still only taken great damage. Tough bastard.
Shannon: Flinched by Fear Aura and counterattacked. Shannon has taken great damage.
Jumpluff: Breloom has been defeated. Six bodies. Wicked!
Metagross (Rachel's): Hitmonlee has taken great damage.
Tsubasa: Hitmonlee has been defeated. Seven bodies. Step up the slaughter!
Harliette: Phantomere has still only taken great damage.
Kangaskhan: Zangoose has taken great damage. Zangoose is now confused.
Whitney: Used Gardevoir Signature Technique "Black Hole." Phantomere has taken severe damage.

Shannon fiddled with her iPod. "Can't listen to Diefy forever, eh? Time to switch up to a fresher tune."
Diefy suddenly stopped playing and the whistling sounds that preceeded the song Engel by Rammstein started playing. "Dunno what the hell they're singing, but I like the beats."
"You got it, Impact." Rachel said, then pointed towards Cradily. "Take that one down now, fellas."
Registeel glanced at Metagross, advising it with blinking eyes to wait until it tried to deal with it first. Metagross agreed and watched as Registeel targeted Cradily and blasted it with Flash Cannon. Cradily was knocked out, still suctioned to the ground. "Beautiful. Hmmm...where to use your talents, Metagross? Oh, that one!"
Pierce observed carefully as Kingdra hit Phantomere head on with Dragon Pulse. Hmmm. It looked like the Fear Aura did nothing to protect him. Then what the hell did Fear Aura do?
Blaziken didn't give Forretress any time to recover from Kangaskhan's attack, and dropped Forretress like a ton of bricks with Overheat. That made two corpses so far.

Lola stepped out of battle and threw a couple of Full Restores to Harliette. "Can you and that Pokébrid join us? The more, the merrier and deadlier."
"Me?" Whitney breathed. "Fight?"
Harliette opened one up and began to use it on Whitney. "Depends on how badly you want your share of vengeance. That 'prophet' you two thought he'd be killed your brother and all of your Pokémon. I know you're usually a tender-hearted girl, but-"
Whitney stood up with more determination than Harliette would give her credit for. Then she started walking forward. "Hey, hey. Easy, Whit."
"Brother. I'm so sorry," Whitney said, looking at her zombified brother. "I wish I was strong enough to save you. But...I am strong enough to bring you the rest you've worked so hard for."
Harliette reached towards her chest and tore her cheerleader costume off, leaving her with a black t-shirt, denim hot pants, and most importantly, two sub machineguns affixed to straps. She unstrapped the rollerskates, leaving her in traveling boots, then ran up to stand beside Whitney and Kangaskhan. Whitney chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"How many times have you dragged me into these crazy fights?"
Harliette looked thoughtful. "This would be nearing triple digits, right? I lost count. But just like all the other times, I'm not going to leave you alone."
"Yes, Sammie. Please help me. It's all I can do to keep control."
Harliette nodded silently. Whitney was going to need more than light dialogue to keep from going insane. Pokémon she loved. And her precious, irreplaceable brother as well. Whitney hadn't been hit by the actual trauma yet, but once this fight was over and there was nothing to do but think, the despair will hit Whitney like a bomb.

Heracross was knocked back by Swampert, but Swampert was disappointed to know that his opponent this time was much healthier than the Omnisroth. Still, Outrage was no bitch move.
Latias polished off Tropius with Ice Beam, leaving the slain Pokémon ice-welded to the floor.
Shannon held out a Pokémon. "Starmie, return. And pray that being recalled stops the Deathclock. Florescence, I need you now! Leaf Blade!"
Florescence cut Kabutops with a devastating critcal. "Ha ha ha! Yeah, that's my favorite Pokémon!"
Jumpluff gave her a look from the air. Shannon folded her arms. "Yeah, I said it. You want to be the favorite? Do better than Florescence."
Kind of mean, yet fair. "Hold on, Jumpluff. Let's see what the others're doing and I'll direct you whose ass to kick."

Buck set Heracross ablaze with a wicked blast of fire, causing it to writhe around maniacally, then eventually fall. The corpses were piling up on the enemy's side. Phantomere was going to be overburdened with bodies to reanimate very soon.
Charlotte observed as Latios hit Phantomere without any trouble. Then, carefully, Charlotte got closer to the enemy and blasted Phantomere in the face. The blast got through. Just what good was that aura, anyways? It certainly wasn't helping him.

"The more zombies we take down, the less things that can attack us," Tsubasa said, readying her wires. "Even at the maximum, Phantomere can only reanimate six carcasses at the maximum each turn. We can cripple him indefinitely, giving us all the time to recover and put him down for good."
Shannon felt ready to fight now. Yelling, she charged Phantomere, then suddenly stopped. She froze, shivering uncontrollably.
"Shannon, hurry and strike him. What're you doing?" Tsubasa demanded.
"Get! Get them off me! God, they're all over me! Please, stop eating me! No, I don't wanna die!"
Phantomere brought his left hand back and smacked Shannon with a backhand strike, knocking Shannon back behind her Pokémon. "Shannon, are you alright?" Lola asked.
Shannon stood up. "They're...they're gone. Ugh, it was so gross and horrible. I was covered with giant bugs eating my flesh. Fucking crazy."
"The Fear Aura!" Chizuru chimed in. "I see, it prevents melee attacks from connecting and gives Phantomere a chance to counterattack."
"Kinda like your Solidarity Guard, huh."
"Yeah. Gotta be careful in the future."
"Damn him. Damn him for bringing my nightmares to life. Jumpluff, hit...wait, no, you'll just get hurt. Ummmm, take down Breloom!"
Jumpluff dropped out of the sky and smacked into Breloom, crushing it against the floor. Jumpluff bounced away to rejoin Shannon, leaving Breloom motionless.
"Then we all hit Phantomere now. Metagross, use Hyper Beam! It is the only long range attack you have, after all."
"Giratina, you'll have to use Shadow Force. It'll be impervious to Aura Sphere and all your other attacks are melee attacks that hit this turn. Kinda limits us, huh?"
Tsubasa and Chizuru solved their problem of having only melee attacks by combining their weapons. Because Chizuru wouldn't have been skilled enough, Tsubasa took it upon her to smack Phantomere from afar with Chizuru's tonfas affixed to Tsubasa's wires.
"Light 'em up!" Harliette said, then posed and used tricky-looking ways of shooting Phantomere. Kangaskhan, wary of the Fear Aura, instead hit Zangoose with Dizzy Punch, hurting it badly and actually confusing it as well.
"I shall tear your soul to shreds for your treachery, Phantomere. Everyone grab onto something! Gardevoir Synchronization Technique! Black Hole!"
It wasn't a particularly large hole that Whitney ripped open in time-space, but Phantomere was still pulled inside. One could hear terrible things happening to Phantomere inside. Then, only roughly three seconds after being pulled inside, Phantomere was spat back out, looking very nearly destroyed. Whitney bowed with a curtsey. "You shall perish for killing my brother and my friends. This I swear."

-----
Ruin General Phantomere Boss Fight (Enemy Phase)
Phantomere: Enters Umbral Awakening. He reanimates Kabutops, Breloom, Heracross, Forretress, and Tropius. He buffs all allied units to maximum in all areas. He curses the entire party with some kind of villainous sorcery.
Azumarill: Buck has taken critical damage.
Zangoose: Zangoose has attacked itself in confusion. Zangoose has taken severe damage.
Persian: Matthias has taken severe damage.
Seviper: Whitney is now badly poisoned.
Hippowdon: Matthias has been defeated.
Deathclock: Impact, Tsubasa, Registeel, Latios, Latias, and Starmie have been defeated.
Registeel, Latios, and Latias (Testament Drive): Phantomere has been defeated. The zombies have been defeated. The battle is over. Victory!

Phantomere seemed to be hanging on for dear life. Tsubasa, despite the face that the one above her head could turn and kill her in any minute, stepped forward. "It's all over for you, Phantomere. We're far too many and far too strong. Give up and end your evil existence now. Your resistance is only prolonging your agony."
The only answer she got to her request was laughter. "Foolish woman. The Ruin Generals have survived for eons. We have survived the wrath of the legendary Pokémon. And we didn't spend all that time licking our wounds. Prepare thyself, woman. This victory shall not be so easily earned."
Then Phantomere glowed. One would say it was like a Testament Drive, except the radiance was dark and forboding.
"Umbral Awakening," Whitney murmured in wonder.
"What? You know what that freak is about to do?"
Whitney nodded. "Faynoc is only seen by his most trusted servants, of which my brother was one. But he does make it an issue to see everyone who serves him once, at the very least. He uses this simple meet and greet to explain why his plan to bring the world under his diminion is possible. The Ruin Generals have a power similar to the Testament Drive, called Umbral Awakening. It was the reason the legendary Pokémon could not defeat them. The way Wyatt helped explain it to me, it seemed that seven of the eighteen known Ruin Generals sacrificed their lives using Umbral Awakening to save the other generals. We must be very careful. A Ruin General in Umbral Awakening is literally burning their own essence away to grant them incredible power, but they'll be extremely powerful until they perish."
"Not even Mika knows this," Tsubasa admitted. "How long does a Ruin General take to die when it does this?"
Whitney shook her head slowly. "I don't think even Faynoc knows that. But we've hit Phantomere pretty good. He shouldn't last long."
"Then we focus on survival, hitting Phantomere when we can get the chance, too. See if we can speed along his demise. Phantomere dies here, by our efforts. And he's not taking any of us with him."

Phantomere, now dying by the second, raised his left hand. Five of the slain Pokémon rose from the ground. "His powers have grown exponentially," Shannon said, the hand holding the machete shaking.
Phantomere then raised his left hand again. Suddenly, all of the zombies, including the dead ones, glowed with dark powers. The scouters reported that he had maximized their statistics. "We...might be in for a spot of trouble," Lola whimpered as she and Rachel reached for Revives.
Finally, Phantomere dragged his restored tongue along the floor and then raised it, blasting everyone with dark power. "Ugh!" Chizuru groaned from the pain. "What...what did he just do to us!?"
Shannon struggle to hold onto the machete. "Three moves each turn now!? He's not playing fair!"
Lola shook her head clear of the pain. "But he hasn't turned intangible. I think he's going for broke and trying to annihilate us before he's destroyed, himself."
"Be careful with the actions you take!" Tsubasa cautioned everyone. "Who knows what he just did to us."

Azumarill blasted Buck with Hydro Pump. Buck was overpowered and slammed against the wall by the maximized attack. Buck was still alive, but he was on the brink of defeat after that attack.
Zangoose, in confusion, ended up slashing himself with his large, sharp claws. Better himself than you, eh?
Persian was piling the damage on Matthias with another Power Gem. That cat was really starting to get on Matthias' nerves.
Seviper darted toward Whitney and bit her on the arm, then scurried away. Whitney could feel the venom running through her arm and start to spread through her body.
But what was worse was when Hippowdon felled Matthias with Stone Edge.

And then the Deathclock clicked to zero. With no pain or no forward warning, Impact and Tsubasa crumpled to the floor, their eyes still open. Shannon quickly reached for her Pokéball, and noticed that the deathclock took Starmie's life even inside the Pokéball. "Damn him," Shannon said, but her voice was lot in the three synchronous surges of golden light coming from Registeel, Latios, and Latias. A trio of Testament Drives, and all three legendary Pokémon rushed Phantomere with a power beyond compare. It was too bright and the radiance engulfed the whole room, blinding everyone.

-----

When everyone could see again, Phantomere was a bleeding mess of unrecognizeable matter sprayed across the floor. The zombies were down as well, most of them more ripped up than Phantomere.

Lola was still all business. "Rachel, get your side! I'll get mine!"
"I've got it!" Rachel called, then ran to help Impact and Matthias first.

While Lola and Rachel went into hyperdrive, bringing Impact, Matthias, Tsubasa, and the large number of Pokémon back from death, Chizuru approached Harliette and Whitney. Whitney had been healed of her poison before it could make any serious progress, and the two were in good shape. "We have a lot of questions for you two."

Whitney lowered her head, and Harliette faced Chizuru after putting her guns away. "You want to know where Millenium House is, right?"
"Millenium House?"
"Reynold Faynoc's secret underground base of operations. Unfortunately, neither Whitney nor I know where it is. In fact, I don't even work for Faynoc. But I usually do temporary jobs for him, like being a security escort in this case."

Rachel had just revived Impact and Matthias. "Don't move yet. Let me finish up before you try to stand up. So how was the afterlife?"
Lola reached her hand out to Tsubasa when she revived the kunoichi. Tsubasa kicked her legs up and used them to help her jump from the prone position. "Relax, I'm fine. Work on the others, then come back for me later."
Lola turned her focus to the Pokémon while Tsubasa joined Chizuru. "Anything?"
Chizuru shook her head. "But shouldn't one of his soldiers know where he runs his operation?"
Whitney kept her head lowered. Harliette shrugged. "Wyatt and Moera both know...or rather, they knew, but there's no chance of them telling us anything."
"And Whitney doesn't?"
"I'm just an acolyte. We're never shown where Millenium House is."
Lola wanted to have a good, long talk with Harliette, but that would have to wait until they were all healed up, and that meant every Pokémon before they left the room. No telling if it was truely over, but with Phantomere down, the worst was definitely behind them.

"Do we believe them?" Chizuru asked Tsubasa.
Tsubasa shrugged. "We? I don't know. But I'm going to trust them."
"That's good enough for me."
"Back to the drawing board," Tsubasa sighed. "But at least a Ruin General has been destroyed. That's definitely something, at least."
Suddenly, the doors burst open and in came Garus and Evangaleen, Crystalith and Lambdavolt right behind them.
"You guys all right?" Evangaleen said, gasping for air. "We saw huge beams of golden light out of the windows near the back of the house, so we ran in to see if you guys were okay."

Then Garus and Evangaleen saw all of the people that didn't enter with the Watchmen. "Hey, there's the girl with the awesome rack. And there's one that's really hot, too. And who're the other girls? And oh shit, what the hell happened here!? This place is ruined!"
Garus raised a hand and silenced his friend. "Evangaleen, I'm pretty sure they're exhausted right now. Let's help them get out of here so they can find a place to rest."
Evangaleen lightly punched her head. "Oops, sorry. Yeah, you guys gotta be tired. You all look like something a Feraligatr ate an' shit off of a cliff. Seriously."

Holy shit, they were right. They'd been functioning off of adrenaline for god knew how long, and now that their final fight was resolved, exhausting began to pull on them, making the cold, hard floor seem like an appealing place to grab a week-long nap. Chizuru suddenly leaned on Tsubasa. Tsubasa smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take you home."
Tsubasa picked Chizuru off of the ground and cradled her. "Well, I guess now that it's over, I'll leave the rest of you. I'm sure you've got some questions, but this took longer than expected. Lady Shizuka may have already sent another one to find the two of us, so we'd better head back. We don't have any use for Whitney and Harliette, so they're all yours, and I'm sure you'd prefer it no other way. I imagine we'll meet each other again all too soon. Take care of yourselves and good hunting."

With that, Tsubasa danced with Chizuru in her arms, carving out a hole in the back wall, passed through, and began the first giant leap that would take her and Chizuru home.
That just left the PATCA members, both old and new, with two new additions.
"I'll have a talk with the police," Rachel said, making her way towards the door. "Harliette and Whitney have gotta be tired as well. We'll keep them in our brig for a good rest and just in case we have anymore questions."
"I definitely have some questions for you," Lola said to Harliette.
"About our mom, right?"
"And other things."
"Please make it wait, okay? We're all too tired for sisterly drama."
Rachel, Evangaleen, and Garus escorted Harliette and Whitney outside. Shannon smirked. "Sister, huh?"
Lola nodded slowly. "Younger sister. Her real name is Samantha. That's all I'll say for now. Anyways, this is mission clear, right?"
Everyone gave a general scan of the mansion. Now Ruin Pokémon signatures detected anywhere. They met in the main room of the mansion and assured each other that the hard fighting, and generally all of the fighting, was over. They could finally turn their minds towards other things, like ice-cold alcohol, warm meals, hot showers, and soft beds.
As the caravan of law enforcement and PATCA vehicles sped off into the night, Garus and Evangaleen shared a brief and somewhat humorous story. The guy in the officer's uniform who was training Explouds in the mansion had resisted arrest. Evangaleen's Lambdavolt made easy work of him, and then he did something nobody expect.
"He proposed to me," Evangaleen said, blushing while unable to look at anyone.
"And you're flattered?" Rachel laughed.
"I hear girls really feel good whenever someone proposes marriage to them," Garus said. "Some girls, anyways. Not like I'll ever try it, myself. Too many other hobbies to make time for girls."

Mission Two Complete!

It was... dark. Sinister. Reminded him of the undercurrent he had tasted? felt? when he had ingested that wonderful drop of demon gods' blood. But where the darkness in that had been... right, this was not. It wasn't just sufficiency, it was overpowering. It would crush all else, from nothing to darkness, from light to shadow, all that entered it would become its. He didn't know how much time he spent there... But suddenly, a prick in his arm, an awakening. He was back. Impact opened his eyes to see Rachel standing over him, not too bad a sight, considering what he had been looking at before, though she was a half-breed, he'd have to remember that... never forget...

He shook himself, blinked rapidly. His thoughts were... confused. He was not at his peak. Not at all. He looked around the room in time to see phantomere fall, burn die. This disappointed him. He had hoped to be the one to eliminate it. It had screwed them over badly enough. But oh well. At least the legendary types had been useful in their death, wiping out the abomination. It had been, he realized, a long battle. And now that the boosts had worn off, he was seriously tired. Bu there were things to do first. He may not have landed the killing blow, but he was damned if he wouldn't have something to remember the thing by. He was vaguely aware of Tsubasa and Chizuru leaving, but that was acceptable. He'd much prefer to keep them here, ask them some more questions gather as much knowledge as they could, but he'd gotten information from listening in on Pierce's prying, and of course, they could question Whitney. Besides, they wanted to leave, and he wasn't suicidal enough to try to stop them. Yet.

But back to Phantomere. The being itself had exploded across the floor, but beneath the gunk Impact found what he was looking for. The thing's scythe had been battered severely, but not broken. He saw its handprint burnt into the handle, and was careful to avoid that section as he picked up the weapon. He felt the darkness again, the one he'd felt before, but much less strongly. He could stand it for a while, though he wouldn't want to live with it. But, of course, he didn't intend to take the whole scythe. Just a piece. Summoning up what strength he had left, he whirled the scythe over his head, smashed it into the ground. Had the monster still been holding it, it'd have gone clean through, he was sure. But the thing was dead (or so it seemed) and the blade just smashed. Impact nodded in satisfaction as he crouched over the wreckage, his fingers carefully, oh-so carefully darting down to pick up the very tip of the weapon. It was about half the size of his palm, and seemed rather hideously sharp. He'd have to be careful not to cut himself on any of its edges. But it reflected the light so... not beautifully, because even in the way it reflected, there was some of the oppressing darkness. And yet he felt drawn to the light, polarised in ways it was probably never meant to be, held it up to the moonlight streaming from one of the many holes in the ceiling. Watched it twinkle. Then grinned. At the angle he held it, he saw the wreckage, behind him, the corpse of Phantomere. And this way, it seemed so much more stark. So much more final. More victorious as well.

He lowered the piece of blade, twirled it in his fingers, pocketed it. Turned back to the wreckage of what had been their most dangerous enemy to date. His grin grew wider, his voice a whisper. "Who you gonna call?" Then he turned again, headed back to the van without a word. Maybe he'd hand his trophy over to the research department. Maybe he'd keep it. They'd see. He was too tired to think about it now. Suddenly, far too tired. He stripped off his armor, quickly, efficiently as soon as he reached the van, but lethargically as well, until he was left with his jumpsuit, replaced various weapons in the vehicle's armory, then collapsed on a seat, leaned back, closed his eyes. He knew he should keep his guard up, but he'd just have to trust the pokemon users not to slit his throat. He probably wouldn't regret it.

"We did well, tonight. Though, really, next time, let's just tear down the mansion."

For one sliver of a moment before the trio of Legendaries used Testament Drive, Charlotte for the first time felt what may have been known as fear. She was almost sure that they were about a few minutes away from death, and she wasn't eager to meet the other side. She's have to ask Impact what it was like to die sometime soon.

After Phantomere exploded, and Charlotte made sure know one was looking, she exhaled a breath she was not sure how long she held. She also snuck away Harliette's shotgun inside her coat. She was keeping it. She also went over to where Buck was lying on the ground after the hydro-pump and returned him to his pokeball. "You did good boy," she said quietly before returning him. She wanted no one to hear her say that. She would have to choke a bitch if anyone did.

It turned out that the Latios she acquired was useful in a way. He had helped her deliver the killing blow. Charlotte admittedly had to share the killing blow, but it was hers. Now all she need was a camera. All Charlotte could ask for was playing a major part in the final attack. Now all she needed was a trophy and ..... What the Heel was Impact doing! He took the shattered blade of the Scythe! Charlotte was going to take the entire scythe and hang it on her Dining Room wall!

Charlotte sighed. She couldn't maul Impact here, neither he nor she were in any state beat the crap out of each other. She scanned around the nearby room, she noticed that Witney, the Gardvoire pokebrid, was apparently alive and being taken away for questioning. Whatever, Charlotte personally would have capped the girl and left it at that the moment she was revealed to be alive. Whitney and Harliette would likely become members of PATCA or another law enforcement group if Charlotte and Shannon were any indication as to how some criminals were handled.

Charlotte then noticed what she was looking for in the corner of the room, a dustpan. Quickly, she grabbed it and went over to Phantomere's remains. She then bent over, and scooped up some of the leftover gunk a residue, ignoring the smell. It was a bit morbid, even by Charlotte's standards. She had made the decision to keep it in a jar or an urn of some sort in her Rec Room. She then went with the others to the van, trying her best to not raise attention to her souvenir.

Pierce recalled his pokemon and looked at the fallen pokebrid and the pokemon mournfully. Turns out Phantomere didn't return the lifeforce it stole when it died. Still, they had managed to save Whitney, that was something. He looked at his allies. Impact and Charlotte were collecting trophies. There was Whitney, whom he wanted to interrogate, but she'd been through enough tonight. There'd be plenty of time to ask her about Faynoc later. Tsubasa and Chizuru left before he could thank them or ask them any more questions. Shame.

It didn't seem like anyone wanted any more souvenirs, so he walked over to Phantomere's remains, and picked up the scythe's handle that Impact had left. Then he joined the group as they made their way back to the van.

On the ride back, Impact decided to shoot his mouth off again: "We did well, tonight. Though, really, next time, let's just tear down the mansion."

"You know full well why we couldn't do that." Pierce replied simply.

Renny was practically breathless as Phantomere was a splattered mess on the floor. He rushed over to Latias who had fought without rest the entire time. Summoning Shaymin as well, he attended to their battered forms and reassured them, holding them closely.

"You both done a wonderful job! We're all done. Thank you so much for your invaluable support"

Shaymin's buds blossomed from the gratitude and relaxed as Renny returned the two of them into his pokeballs while Latias merely took some deep breaths and peacefully resigned itself to rest. Swampert was busying himself with washing the copious amount of blood that coated his skin, but his and Renny's eyes met and they both grinned at each other, smirking as if there was an inside joke between brothers.

Renny then remembered the last Kimono's tendency to run off, and he rushed back toward Tsubasa and Chizuru, but they had started to leave.

"We'll always welcome your help! I wish you the very best! Thank you!"

Renny then hugged Lola, who had been a godsend for her support, combat capablities and overall welcoming presence.
"You were amazing! For your first mission here, you did incredible. I hope you can stay with PATCA longer, Lola!"

On the way back, Renny sat close to Shannon and thanked her warmly.
"I'm glad you were on my team. You were a real help. I know things were definately troublesome at first, so I hope everything worked out for you."

---------------
OOC: Was going to make a "report" to submit as team leader but decided to scrap that.

Matthias changed back. It seemed his shift hadn't been necessary in the end. Not that he was complaining. He did need to collect a sample from this Phantomere though. He approached the mess that was the Ruin General and gathered some into a jar. There were some doubts about its usability in this state or whether he could actually use it as a Pokebrid but it was worth trying. He had a backup plan anyway if this didn't work.

He walked out with the group, remaining silent as usual. Unfortunately the mission had done nothing to assuage his concerns about a possible corruption higher up in the "good" guys. There was a chance he'd have to make a more overt action to discover the truth.

----- The Night of the End of Mission Two -----

The blade as well as the handle of the scythe was cold to the touch. It kind of made one's hand tingle to hold it, and Impact found it difficult to settle for one piece, but fought off the urge to take more. The scythe had lost nearly all of its powers, and it was as useless for killing as it would be as a paper cutter. The blade tip pulsed with ethereal light, and Impact was surprised to see that the blade tip actually grew and shrank steadily, like a beating heart.

The strange internal fluid Charlotte had harvested was was actually kind of the same. It didn't exactly move like Impact's scythe tip, but Charlotte could sense some pretty dark shit within this ooze. There seemed to be bolts of dark lightning jumping around inside of it, making the ooze jump around. There was life in there. Or unlife, no one could be sure.

The scythe handle that Pierce picked up didn't move along, but it was still unnaturally cold to the touch. Pierce studied it carefully now that he had time and decided that the cold feeling wasn't physical, more like a soul-deep chill. Well, it didn't hurt. The handle looked like it was made of wood, but closer inspection revealed it to be made of some other kind of material. Some kind of mineral that Pierce couldn't identify it.

Lola's face had been red since Renny hugged her. Shannon gave Renny a thumbs up, not trusting herself to say something that Garus and Evangaleen would make fun of her for.

----- Earlier the Next Morning -----

Lola's shoes clicked on the cold floor of the underground brig in the agency building. Even without military training, Lola halted in front of Harliette's cell and executed a right facing movement. Harliette seemed to be asleep, but Lola knew better. Both Harliette and Whitney had spent the whole morning talking to each other. Lola tried to hear it herself, but she was too exhausted and chances were that they didn't talk about Harliette's family.

"Samantha Phelps-" Lola began.
"Harliette," Harliette interrupted, sitting up and slinging her legs over the side of her cot.
"I see you haven't eaten what was offered. The food we serve here, even to prisoners, is a lot better than the stuff served at normal prisons."
"I'm counting calories," Harliette lied.
Lola sighed lightly. Harliette had always been in a bad mood whenever it came to Lola, to the point it would alter Harliette's appetite and level of energy. "You're nineteen now, aren't you? So why're-"
Harliette stood up suddenly and slammed her fist into the wall. Then she stared at Lola like she was about to do the same to her.
"I'd treat that injury, but I get the feeling you'd sooner accept a slow, painful death from me. Oh, but you did take that Full Restore I gave you."
"Whitney's life was in danger. I would accept help from anyone if it meant I could protect her."

This was the first time in a long time Lola had seen any kind of positive emotion from Harliette. She wanted to see more, but Lola had some more pressing questions. "It's been six years since that day."
"Tell me something," Harliette interrupted again. "Did you have an investigation conducted?"
"Into what?"
Harliette chuckled. "Into why mother might've commited suicide. What else?"
Lola could feel her rage boiling to the surface. "Why bother? You are the reason she left me and father."
Lola's younger sister by four years shrugged. "And what do you think I could do to make that happen? What do you think I could say? I was only a thirteen-year old girl, after all."
Lola stepped forward, then slowly drew a handgun and trained it on her sister. "Why don't you tell me?"
Harliette shrugged off the cold stare of the gun's barrel with a light shrug. "Isn't that a little dark for you? Mom always called you an angel in white, after all."
"Talk. Now."
Harliette grinned. "Oh, so now the lovely lady Lola puts some oomph into her threats. Fine, I'll tell you, but only on one condition."
"Name your condition."
"Whitney is no longer in the cell next to me. Did you already send her to prison?"
Lola lowered the gun. "No. She volunteered to join the agency. Wyatt's death made her undergo some kind of one-eighty, and now she wants nothing more than to help PATCA bring Faynoc and the Ruin Generals down."
"Then my condition is simple. Allow me to join the agency as well."
"Why?" Lola asked, but she already knew the answer.
"I'd honestly rather eat pieces of barbed wire than work alongside you, but Whitney is my best friend. I'd tear the world to pieces for her, and now that she's lost so much, I think I'm the only one who can protect her."

Lola put the gun on the ground. Harliette smiled. She knew her older sister didn't like weapons. "I will talk to Chief Rayleen. Rachel gave her a call this morning to make a report, only to discover that she and Dormond will be returning to the agency and service within a week. I cannot promise that you will be taken in. I can only promise that I will talk."
"I guess I'll just have to accept that. First, I'll start with a question. Remember when mother said you were her favorite daughter?"
"Yes. I honestly, truthfully didn't like it that she played favorites between the two of us."
"And do you remember when she did all those nice things for you and you alone?"
Lola lowered her head slightly. "She put me through nurse training, she gave me the best part in the school play since she taught there. She got me the best presents. I...hated it. I didn't understand, Samantha. I didn't understand why she treated us so differently. Our father thought the same way."
Harliette placed her hand on her ample bosom. "I reminded her of something, Lola. My existence was a constant source of pain and shame. I think she treated you far better because she was hoping I would just die or run away, and then she could forget about me, and what I represented."
Lola could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "What...what happened, Samantha?"
Harliette began to pace, conscious of Lola's swelling sadness but unable to hold back what she felt needed to be said. "Almost twenty years ago, your father went to a surgeon's conference, didn't he?"
Lola tried to hold back the tears by talking about less emotional topics. "He told it was about how they might be able to splice human and Pokémon DNA."

Harliette stopped, then faced her sister with her whole body. "During that extensive overseas conference, your mother was...indiscreet. You see, your father...is not my father. I only found out about it when I was twelve."
"You were a Pokémon trainer, then."
Harliette nodded. "I was so angry at mother that I could nearly scream. I rode my bicycle all the way from this metropolis where I found out back to our home. Now that I think about it, I should've put some forethought behind it. But I was just a pissed off Pokémon trainer who hated my older half-sister and my mom so damn much. I took the evidence, a nice little stack of photos, and presented them to your dad. That very nice, shit...just went nuts. Your dad confronted mom in a fight so bad I thought they were going to bring their Pokémon into it."
Harliette could see that Lola was crying now, but it finally had to be exposed. "I lost it, Lola. I don't know how many times I tried to foolishly repent for it by commiting suicide. Then one night, on my thirteenth birthday, your mother...did something. Look."

Lola slowly raised her wet face to see the horizontal line on the front of Harliette's neck. She discarded it as nothing special when she saw Harliette again, but now it's significance came flooding out. "Had she been a half-inch closer with that kitchen knife, I wouldn't be alive today."
Lola lowered her head again. Harliette sighed. "The rest is pretty much as you know it. Our mother and I ran away from home in different directions, your mother to trust her soul to the afterlife, and me to just...I dunno, get away from all the pain. After all, I was the one who made your mother kill herself, and I don't know how your father would love me knowing what he knows now. I couldn't live that life anymore, nor could I have lived it if I kept it all a secret."
Lola's voice was weak. "Where is this evidence now?"
"Burned it all, so if you're asking for proof of mom's cheating, I can't provide shit. She is my mom too, after all. I didn't like seeing her like that, and those photos always brought it all back. What she did. What I did. Everything that made it all spiral out-of-control so fast."

Suddenly, there was a sound to Lola's right. Lola turned to see Rachel with a ring of key cards in her hand. "Rachel?"
Rachel dutifully slid the card to the cell. The electronic lock lit up with a green light and the wall of bars separating the long-separated sisters slid slowly to the side. Rachel pointed at Harliette with her head while looking at Lola. "You're not the only one who knows about healing. Go to her."
Lola didn't hide the tears anymore. She broke into a sprint and nearly collided into her sister, hugging her tightly and letting her eyes spill over with emotions Lola had been holding in for years. Normally cold, Lola's warm, wet embrace unlocked all of the horrible feelings Harliette concealed just behind her eyes and then she started to cry as well. Rachel looked on as the sisters held each other and cried out six years of pent up emotions.

----- One Week Later, In the Dahngrest Ruins -----

"God, I'm so damn bored!" Kirie yelled.
"Then why don't you use yourself to become part of a house!" Chizuru said.
Kirie picked up on Chizuru's absolutely terrible pun joke. "Chizuru, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just say something that could get you seriously injured?"
Chizuru quickly held up her hands as though warding off an invisible attack. "Ah. No, I don't think I said anything. Anyways, food's ready, so please come and eat up while it's nice and hot."
"Hold, Chizu-chan," Tsubasa said. "Lady Shizuka has something to put out now that we're all here."
"But the food will get cold," Chizuru whimpered.

Shizuka stood up. "Don't worry, Chizuru. I promise it won't take long, okay?"
"Of course, on problem."
Shizuka looked out at the assembled Kimonos. Fujiko wasn't there in attendance, but since Fujiko pretty much did her own thing that somehow usually managed to help along things that the Kimonos were doing, Shizuka decided to ignore this disrespect. "Mika, please begin."
Mika stepped forward. "I've managed to decipher more of those murals."
"Seems like you're only getting it deciphered in bits 'n' pieces. What gives, Mika?"
Mika shrugged. "The major chunks of the ancient history here is written in various languages. I believe that a number of different people from different walks of life came here and wrote their interpretations of the things that happened way back when. Anyways, the latest stuff I've deciphered is pretty important, but I should also mention that it's not good news."
"Proceed," Shizuka said simply.
Mika nodded. "Those murals tell of a being called Primal Exist. Supposedly, Primal Exist is some kind of ultimate Pokémon that turned the normal animals of the world into the Pokémon that exist today."
"Why'd it do something like that?" Rio asked, now too curious about the story to fondle Kiyomi under her kimono. Kiyomi looked a little disappointed that Rio stopped, but didn't say anything.
"The murals don't say, but I imagine it was to get revenge on the humans of this world."
"Makes sense," Tsubasa said. "Humans often take nature and the creatures that dwell within it for granted. They carve up forests for wood, pollute lakes and oceans with garbage and waste, and kill animals for various reasons, mindless sport among them. A good way to tell humans to stop stuff like that would be to gift those poor, oppressed animals with lethal powers."
"I'll bet that was a surprise. You keep a pet spider at home and the next thing you know, some kind of unseen force mutates that spider and gives it the ability to turn concentrated sunlight into a flesh-eating laser beam. Fuckin' awesome."
"I get the feeling legendary Pokémon are exempt from this tale," Kiyomi chimed in.
"Whadaya mean, love?"
"Just look at a few and you'll see my point, Rio. Some of them originate in legends beyond time and space and even this very dimension. This Primal Exist may have created the Pokémon, but I highly doubt it was responsible for the creation of every Pokémon that exists today."
Mika nodded. "You preach to the choir, Kiyomi. The murals don't even mention legendary Pokémon, but I'm almost 100% certain that Kiyomi is correct in this. Anyways, the murals talk about stuff like how there were bitter wars between man and Pokémon before Pokémon came to rule their own hunk of the world even when humans countered with the technology of Pokéballs and whatnot, but the really important stuff is at the end, and it talks about the war between the legendary Pokémon and Ruin Pokémon."
"So out with it. What's the really important shit?"
"Try as they might, the legendary Pokémon couldn't defeat the Ruin Generals, but they did seal away Primal Being and the Ruin Pokémon. But they could only do with all of them. That's right. Every last Pokémon had to be present to finally strike them where it really hurt."

Tsubasa leaned against a wall covered in murals. "So we need every legendary Pokémon with us if we're going to defeat Primal Being and rid this world of Ruin Pokémon forever? That's kind of a tall order, isn't it?"
"Yes, but it's not impossible."
The Kimonos all turned to face Shizuka. "As of late, legendary Pokémon have flooded into Honmyr. It's like they can sense the weakening of the seal and the awakening of the Ruin Pokémon and their monstrous generals."
Tsubasa pulls out her Pokéball, containing the legendary dark and fire type, Cerbrapter. "Each of us have one, with Lady Shizuka possessing two."
"The Pokémon Advanced Tactics and Counterterrorism Agency has Registeel, Latios, Latias, and Shaymin. And they're good guys, so maybe we can get them to help us."
"They're investigating the Ruin Pokémon. Our paths will cross many times."
Rio pounded her fists together. "That bastard Reynold Faynoc has quite a bunch of them himself. I've been running reconaissance like Lady Shizuka ordered, and apparently this Faynoc guy is getting legendary Pokémon DNA directly from the source."
"Renny and Charlotte got their Latios and Latias from a Mew Pokébrid named Moera," Tsubasa mentioned. "This could mean that Faynoc has Mew as well. And he likely has several others."

"The other legendary Pokémon will reveal themselves in due time," Shizuka said confidently. "Tsubasa, you have things to report as well?"
"Three important things, my Lady." Tsubasa said, stepping towards the center of the large, empty room. "First, Ghost Ruin General Phantomere has been destroyed."
Kirie whistled. "Damn, you always get to be in the cool fights, Tsubasa. I wish I was there."
"There are plenty of Ruin Generals remaining. We will all get our fair share of these difficult fights. Next, you wouldn't believe who I discovered to be in this world."
Kirie's teeth clenched suddenly. "Let me guess. Dinner."
Tsubasa nodded. "Dinner the Overhuman has entered this world, most likely through the same gateway we entered. I don't think she'll be a problem, despite being impossibly powerful beyond all measure. After all, she's not an evil human, just...really, really powerful."
"Whatever Dinner ends up doing, let's hope she doesn't blow up the world we're trying to defend doing it. We may be able to get her assistance in the future, but right now, all we can do is try to ignore her."
"After she humiliated us less than three months ago?"
Rio laughed. "Well, if you think you can take her now, you're welcome to try. Just remember that all of us tried to defeat her and she kicked all of our asses."
"I'll...I'll get my revenge...somehow."

"The third thing," Tsubasa interrupted. "Is that I'm certain that forward military base is nearing completion."
"You weren't particularly smart there, Shizu." Kirie said. "I told you 'just send me and I'll deal with those humans trying to investigate these ruins' but you told me no."
"And I meant it," Shizuka said. "Our mission here is not to pick fights with humans. War with the military force in that base will be unavoidable, but I would like for this fragile peace to extend as long as it can."
"When they do try to bully their way in here, that's when you get to have fun, Kirie."
"Seriously?" Kirie looked excited.
"Remember how we do it, Kirie. When they send in their first waves, we brutally slaughter them as over-the-top as we possible can to demoralize the rest of the enemy force. That should delay further attacks and save many more lives."
Rio cracked her neck. "This may be the demon inside me, but I can never get over how fun it is to kill humans."
"This will rapidly become more difficult for us," Shizuka said, looking out over all the Kimonos. "Not only must we gather all the legendary Pokémon, but we must suppress all enemy forces trying to enter these ruins."
"Faynoc's going to be targeting PATCA rather quickly," Tsubasa warned the others. "Mostly because I'm certain he doesn't know where the hell we are. If we can keep our eyes on them, we may be able to find Millenium House."

"That's a good idea. Do you mind if I watch them for a while? I want to see how strong they are."
"You're asking us, Lady Shizuka? None of us mind at all. Oh, at least a few of them have more than a passing interest in Magatamas, so you should take Mika with you."
"I'll go as well," Kiyomi volunteered. "I haven't had much of a look at the technology of this world, and I've longed to get out of these damn ruins and see how this world is for myself."
"I have no problems with this. Do any of you?"
Kirie shook her head. "Not at all. Boy, I hope the military attacks us soon! With all of their soldiers at once! I've been dying to spill some blood and organs."
"And if you're going to spill blood and organs, then you should have a full and nourishing meal!"
"That's the best idea I've heard all morning," Tsubasa approved.

----- Three Weeks After the Conclusion of Mission Two, In the Millenium House -----

Two legendary Pokébrids entered the large candlelit chamber and kneeled on the red carpeting. "Beloved Father, we bring news," said the man clad in black.
Faynoc nodded.
Both Pokébrids kept their heads respectfully bowed. "Our investigations into the incident have told us much. Acolyte Whitney has betrayed your will and has elected to join with the Pokémon Advanced Tactics and Counterterrorism Agency. That mercenary Harliette has done the same."

Faynoc rose from his lavishly decorated throne. "Then let my decrees be made. You two, my trusted inner circle, The Light and The Dark, shall seek out these fools and annihilate them when they are best exposed. Make it seem like an accident when you do so. Every one of them and their legendary Pokémon must die or you will never be allowed to return. Are my decrees understandable?"
It was no question for a true servant of Reynold Faynoc. "Thine decree is well understood and shall be carried out as per your divine will, our Beloved Father."
Faynoc sat back down. "Very well, then. I expect mighty deeds. You are to take the Excelsior and Carrion squads with you. You are dismissed."
The Light and The Dark rose silently, turned on their heels, and exited as quietly and stately as they entered. Time to go kill some interlopers.

((I've proposed this in the discussion thread already, if we're gonna be talking to Matt, we might as well use the time that we have and do it now. I am hoping whatever we post won't mess up anything that AB's planned, though if it does, we can just declare all of this non-canon.
Also, in this post: Impact displays self-irony! Can you spot it?))

Impact dozed about halfway through the journey, before jerking awake again as one of the wheels hit a pothole. He jawned, stretched a little. Damn, he was tired. He had been mulling over his various team members as he half-slept, and realized he didn't know very much about them. He decided to take the fact that he hadn't died in his sleep as a good omen, decided to rectify that right now. It'd be a while before he'd get the opportunity again, and even if the answers he got weren't honest, the reactions to his questions would be informative (he hoped).

"We've been on two missions now... eliminated various horrible threats, saved each other's lives repeatedly, I would assume. And yet we are... strangers, yes? I know your names, your general patterns of behavior and thus how you'll probably react in a given situation... but I don't know you personally. Every opportunity to make... introductions so far has been cut short, sadly enough. But we'll have at least another half hour in this van. So... Why are you here? What drives you? What scares you? Who are you? Matt?"

Matthias closed his eyes to marshal his thoughts. He barely trusted Impact and thus would need to phrase this carefully.

I suppose I could talk a little about myself. My name is Matthias as you all know. I'm driven by my own moral compass above all else and I follow it rather strictly. As you've all no doubt discovered, subtlety is more my style as opposed to being overly obvious. I tend to examine events rather closely to determine what my next actions should be as well as whom I work under. Although I suppose unlike most of you I'm more fascinated by the Ruin types that we find ourselves against rather than repulsed. And it is quite likely I will eventually choose one as one of my many forms. Is that sufficient Impact?

He opened his eyes slightly, clearly tired but looking very obviously detached from the conversation.

"Now that was rather ambiguous," Charlotte chimed in. She was a little bit curious about Matt to. She really didn't know anyone on the team well at all, but Matt, as it had seemed, was really the only who made a point of not having any interaction with them. She wasn't even aware his name was Matt until now. Kinda forgot about him on the whole.

"Why don't ya delve a little deeper for us, we're all friends here right?" Charlotte said with a smile that tried its best to convey sincerity, but came off as amused. "How about I break the ice a little bit," she said, "my name is Charlotte Beaufort, I'm here because I enjoy the thrill of battle, I also enjoy to be the first to battle something, and I'm not sure what I fear," she said. "I suppose thats something I'll figure out in this line of work," she concluded with a laugh. The whole thing seemed a bit more like she was mocking Matt than trying to encourage him."

"So, I've gone, why don't you go a little deeper Matt, what direction does your moral compass, why do you like subtlety and obscurity rather than taking a more active role," she then took a brief pause, "and why do you want the power of these Ruin-types so much." She seemed to be rather entertained by her prying. "Although," Charlotte then said, seeming more amused at her little interrogation, "I suppose if you don't feel comfortable yet, than how about someone else goes before you. Impact?"

Charlotte wasn't quite sure as to what brought about that last sentiment, but she found herself to be glad she said it. Just who was Impact? She had interacted with him, but she didn't know him. In a way, he was just like Matt. At least Matt made no true effort to hide his real name from his teammates.