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Somewhere in the Fire Nation - Koria Region

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Okuz had traveled far to reach this part of his home nation, all in search of his daughter. He'd heard no word from or about his uncle and hadn't even risked visiting a Pokémon Center on his way back home. He arrived to find a nation in turmoil. Everyone who wasn't a soldier of some description seemed like they were a rebel, and those who were neither, had been turned into grotesque lobotomized servitors. Having spent most of his existence on the Royal Palace grounds or a ship, seeing how his people actually lived shocked Okuz to his core. He understood better now why his daughter had joined the rebels, and just how depraved his ancestors really were, if they'd willingly agreed to any of this.

Eventually, he had given in to the need to work with the rebels to seek out Izumi, though he had yet to show his face to them. With his Greninja, he had contacted the rebels in secret, and they had tasked him with helping the people of the Fire Nation. All the reserve Fire Army soldiers saw of him was the blue Nuo mask depicting a long-forgotten dragon type native to the Fire Nation.

Guised as he was, he stole mainly food from noble families he'd met and chatted with at the palace. He saw firsthand why his father empowered these men in particular, and while he was tempted to take them out, that wasn't the mission, and random high-profile murders would draw unwanted attention.

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After about two weeks of fetch quests and midnight heists Okuz was finally introduced to the Council of Ash, so named for the numerous villages Ozai had supposedly ordered burnt to nothing, for everything from sedition to civil disobedience. The council also wore plain wooden masks, which according to Okuz's intel was new, and he sighed under his own. The leader, a womanly shaped figure, spoke first. "You have done much for us, stranger. And in so short a time. I would be curious to know how you moved through the Fire Nation so quickly, and with such ease. In fact, there is much about you that must be known, before we officially bring you in."

"I propose a display of trust. We all remove our masks, on three." Okuz said, and the womanly figure at the head of the trio nodded. Okuz began counting, and as he began taking his mask off, the rebels removed theirs as well. "Three."

There was a slight gasp, as Okuz expected, but his own reaction was a smile. To the left of the bald androgynous figure heading the rebels, was his daughter, garbed in deep red and scarlet robes that had completely hid her form, up to her neck. "Izu-" he started, but the figure leading the trio stopped him.

"You…" They sneered, as the room suddenly became hotter. "A Royal...that's how you moved so fast. Your Charizard. Why are you helping us, Fire Prince Okuz?" The third member of this traitorous trio, a fairly standard bearded Fire National by the look of him, frowned as he heard the name. Izumi, for her part, was silent, unreadable.

Okuz answered the leader first. "My Uncle. He showed me the Region my family has helped make...but by the time I understood the truth, my sister had already killed him...for his memory, and what's left of our family's Honor, I will help you."

The leader narrowed their eyes in confusion, and suspicion. "General Iroh was captured alive...your father is having him, and his Pokémon, executed tomorrow during the eclipse. When the General will be powerless to resist." Seeing Okuz's confusion, they explained the Fire Nation's worst kept secret, and said, "The other Nations are planning to invade while the Firebenders are weakened. They've spent the last several weeks rallying their scattered army and sailing to encircle the Capital. The Phoenix King intends to hide himself, and his nobles, from the invasion. We intend to free your Uncle during the attack. There are some among us with Earth Nation blood. They will be the ones charged with freeing the General. We were hoping Izumi would distract Ozai, but...you would do far better I think."

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Okuz nodded, remembering a conversation he and his father had about Fire Lord Aluzon, and his own family. After the slaughter of the Air Nation, Aluzon's family, mostly cousins as he recalled, had tried to assassinate the man's lineage, so their branch of the family could be in line to become Fire Lord of the ascending Fire Nation. That wasn't the first time his family had tried killing each other either, or so Ozai had claimed. Nor would it be the last. Okuz had been certain at the time that his own family unit would never betray each other, but it seemed fate was determined to bring them face to face again.

"I will distract my Father. Your best chance to reach my Uncle will be when they move him from the Dragonpit." Okuz said, nodding in agreement to the lead figure's suggestion.

The rebel leader glanced at Izumi, and then back at Okuz. "You're sure? Ozai would keep his own brother in such a place?"

Okuz nodded as he frowned. Originally, the pit had been for taming dragon types, and building bonds with the sometimes ferocious and cantankerous creatures who'd nested there. When Aluzon took over its management under Sozin's government, it became little more than a glorified slaughterhouse, a place where he had thrown his prisoners, namely members of his own family, who he believed had betrayed him, or intended to. Apparently, the dragon types had eventually refused to kill for him anymore at one point, likely becoming sick of being used like weapons, and for that insolent disobedience, the Fire Lord of the day had executed all of them. Now, it was a bone-filled pit of ash and despair. "Yes. The Dragonpit has a…history of containing volatile members of my family. No other place could hope to hold my Uncle."

The figure nodded again and bid Okuz to follow the three of them further into their hideout, though he did once more don the Nuo mask. They were dirty, living in squalor, but the fire in the eyes of his people had not yet died, and if Okuz had his way, it never would.

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Present Day - Fire Nation Capital

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Akos looked at the oncoming blue meteor that Caeruleus had become and narrowed his eyes. He was sick of being outmatched by Mega Evolution. "Pado." They had seconds before impact and Akos intended to use them wisely. Alex had explained how achieving Mega Evolution with Plate shards worked, but Akos had only tried it a few times, with no success and no one to ask now that the Dragon Emperor had found the object of his quest. His Empoleon appeared at his call, and met his Trainer's gaze. Akos pulled out the Splash Plate shard that Yue's father had given as part of her dowry, and the steely penguin nodded in understanding.

As Pado turned and faced down the now much closer Caeruleus, several things happened at once. Energy surged in Akos's palm, as he felt his need for the power the shard possessed activate it. Pado drew on this power and connected to it as tendrils of his own water energy reached out to resonate with the Plate fragment in his Trainer's hand. He began ascending to his Mega Form, right as the Flare Blitz landed. The fire energy surged against water and ice as the Mega Empoleon traded the steel type for ice. This made his water even colder, and Akos shouted as this occurred. "Aqua Jet!"

As Pado summoned the power, the area around the clashing Mega Pokémon blew away those who'd been fighting nearby as fire and water battled for supremacy. It wasn't Aqua Jet that Pado used though, as the freezing water he summoned focused on his sharpened, and now ice-encased, flippers which were crossed, and blocking the reaching, burning claws of Caeruleus. Luckily for the ice penguin, he was able to overpower the Flare Blitz with a Liquidation fueled by Mega Evolution and send the furious Charizard spinning away into the ground.

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The dust from the colliding moves cleared, and Akos finally got a better look at his friend. His 'crown' was made of ice now, his wings were tipped in dry ice so cold, it emanated cold vapors in waves that fell from each flipper. The power of Mega Evolution had split his tail, and the two yellow nubs on his back had extended into fins as well. He seemed well designed for the water, but at this level, he could do far more than swim.

As Caeruleus rose from her blue smoldering crater ready to kill, Akos gave his next order, as he looked around for the Charizard's rider. "Use everything you have to take it down!" Pado nodded, and this time Liquidation covered his arms and back fins, before he leapt at the Charizard.

Somehow still keeping with her trend of brutally critical lightning strikes from a position of stealth, Akos was ready for the Fire Princess this time, and had he not seen the shimmer of her stealth augments fading with her lightning-based attack with a critical perception of his own, he very likely would have joined his sister in an early grave. As it was, he leaned backwards far enough to fall to the ground, and the deadly lightning surged just over his head. He glared at Aluza from his position on his back, but she was already melding back into the shadows, and with a pulse of energy from her new augmentations, she vanished completely. Or so she believed.

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Ready for her this time, Akos followed her footsteps easily in the dust of the battlefield, and as she began charging up another strike, Akos countered. Or rather, pretended to. He sent a linear line of water towards her but pretended to lose it in the ground. Seeing that as an opening, Aluza struck, and Akos telegraphed it easily, for as strikes went, it was not a good one. For once. The wear of generating and using lightning without the sun was affecting Aluza and as her bolt struck at Akos, he raised the water he'd purposefully dropped from the ground, curved the volatile plasma in one smooth bending motion with the tunnel of water, and sent it back into the Fire Princess.

Aluza barely had time to widen her eyes, before her own attack hit her, and lit up the battlefield darkened by what remained of the eclipse. The Fire Princess was immolated as her entire body was suffused with enough lightning to make her skeleton briefly visible through her skin, and her Charizard shrieked with rage. She'd been going Dragon Claw to Liquidation with Pado but seeing her Trainer die sent her over the edge. An edge a nearby Shadow entity had sensed her approaching and had been waiting for her to cross. As Akos went to very publicly and very brutally behead the fried Fire Princess, making absolutely sure she was dead this time, black and red shadows began emanating from Caeruleus, who had hunched over, and then averted her eyes as Akos raised his Wailord-bone sword to take her beloved Trainer's head.

Memories flooded Caeruleus then, the first face she had seen was Aluza's, and that evil, sadistic grin when she'd read her partner's nature, noted her shininess, and called her perfect had solidified the young golden Charmander's immediate and unconditional love for the human. Now, in the wake of the hole the loss of that genuine love created, a new emotion entered. Since the battle on that bloody beach Caeruleus had become increasingly angry. Seeing her partner mutilated and then once more used by her father as little more than a tool hadn't helped, and now, seeing her best friend die caused something to snap shut within the Pokémon. The door to her heart shut, never to be opened again, and she let the berserk rage finally, completely, take a hold of her, surrendering all she had been, to the Shadow.

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Pado stared at the slumped Mega Charizard, brows furrowed, until his Mega Form's eyes saw the creature's aura turning unspeakably foul. Having a Lucario like Tuhan on the team had its benefits, and as if to confirm his suspicions, the night form Lucario popped free of her ball, and snarled at the Mega Charizard. Akos saw what was happening, as well, and given that Tuhan had come out on her own, he guessed the Shadow was involved. This was one of Alex's last lessons he'd shared on their trip, and one that Akos had personally looked into, in what little free time he'd had lately. It turned out Koria was no stranger to Shadow infusions, though what differentiated them from other regions was how, sometimes in ages of war or turmoil in Koria, wild Pokémon would succumb to the darkness seemingly all on their own.

With a little aid from a librarian in the Northern Water Tribe's scroll-based archives hidden deep under their iceberg, Akos had learned of a method by which waterbenders could cleanse the Shadow from a Pokémon's aura. This was his last and newest trick; one he had never even attempted before. Drawing what water he could amidst the battlefield around them, which continued to rage with neither side gaining ground, Akos formed a double helix swirl of water around the Mega Charizard, and began channeling his feelings into her, as best he could. Those of calmness, love, peace, joy.

Normally, his efforts would've worked. The water responded to his emotions by shining with soft golden Light in the face of building Shadow. Unfortunately for Akos, the source of this Shadow was greater than he would ever be. The black and red tones of Vaatu began seeping into the water Akos was using, as they emanated in shadowy swirls from Caeruleus. He tried to let those parts of the tainted water go, but his efforts were for naught.

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Pado slashed at the water, but even as ice, it ran black and red with Vaatu's influence. Tuhan fired several Aura Spheres at the water, and though they beat the Shadow back, it simply resurged within seconds. The Shadow taint then began moving for Akos, as it knew well who he was now and wanted its foothold in the Water Tribes back.

Though he struggled to cut the connection, Akos found himself forced to continue to bend, as the Shadow taint followed the energy he was using to bend the water back to its source through the empty air, twisting and spiraling as it did. Leaping for his Trainer, Pado Aqua Jetted them both far out of Vaatu's reach, but he already had his prize. Caeruleus's Mega Form underwent a change, then. Her tail painfully split in two to about halfway down its length, but both tips continued to burn with blue flames. Another pair of horns jutted from the back of her lower jaw, and sharp looking spikes popped out along the edges of her wings. Her incisors also grew in length, now coming down past her mouth, when it was closed.

With a heartbroken shriek, Caeruleus took to the air then, and began flying towards the volcano. Her new master had plans for her, and they did not involve the Chief of the water rats.

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Meanwhile…

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Toph and the rest of her squad were sweating, as she punched them a path into the Fire Nation's most important volcano. Several times they'd had molten lava pour down on them, but Jimen, Alex, and the others continued pushing the tank further in, as Toph hurriedly cleared them a lava-free pathway. It was hard though, carving a path and blocking up what was behind them so the lava couldn't follow. Moreover, a lot of the 'earth' here was actually obsidian, which while bendable, tended to break instead.

This didn't deter Toph though, and eventually, she made a final punch, panted hard as the rest of the squad moved the tank forward, and then yanked open and leapt through the front of it, into a large inner chamber surrounded by lava flows and pools of magma. There were safe pathways to walk though, which meant they had been man-made. Eventually, they walked straight into a group of what seemed like Fire Nation civilians, across a large cavern heading down into its bowels. Alex could sense a deep mass of dragon energy, and he felt Tao's sadness. There was no time for him to elaborate though, for Alex sensed a familiar energy, coming from one of the firebenders, specifically the one wearing some kind of spooky blue dragon mask.

"Okuz? But why is he wearing a mask…" Alex had no more uttered the name, than Toph's face grew twisted with rage.

"The Fire Prince!? The one in the mask, eh?" And with that, she was off, sliding down the rocky side of their part of the cavern. Something hissed below, hiding in the darkness, but Toph was undeterred. With a sigh, Alex and the others followed her down. The cavern seemed to go deeper, but Toph ambushed the other group on the top of the path down.

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The earth swallowed every group member but Okuz, as Toph launched herself off the far wall of the cavern and landed among them. She delivered a rock-covered fist directly into his guts and Okuz went sailing back into the nearby stone wall of the path, breaking an ovular depression into it from the force of the impact, and his mask came tumbling off. Toph pinned him there with her bending as she encased all four of his limbs with rock cuffs, and then charged, raising a sharp spike to deliver death this time, straight for his hated face. Or rather, she tried, but found her control of the elemental energy blocked by another bender.

Alex and the others caught up to her, but it was the tall foreigner who was stopping her from enacting vengeance. "Toph…you need to calm down."

Her head turned towards him, but her blank eyes didn't make contact. "Calm!? He's the Phoenix King's son! Next in line to lead the slaughter of my people! Let go!"

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The force of Toph's anger overpowered Alex's control, and the sharp rock surged within an inch of the Fire Prince's face. This time, an intense blue energy limned the sharp tip of it, as Alex switched to a psychic hold instead. "Toph, we need to think about this! Why would the Fire Prince be down in a prison?"

Toph blinked. "Wh- prison?" She stomped the ground hard enough to shatter it, and then waited as her method of seeing informed her of what she'd overlooked. "There…is someone down there…in chains…and there's also…bird cages? Their metal is weird…"

"My Uncle is down there..." Came the raspy voice of Okuz. "We were going to free him, get him out of here, while I distracted my father. But I'll accept an Earthbender's judgement…"

Jimen chimed in then, "So you know where Ozai is?" Okuz nodded, and Toph let the rock spear fall, as the Avatar continued. "Lead us to him. Your friends can free your uncle, and if Toph still wants you dead after that, well, I won't stop her."

Alex glanced at the rest of Okuz's party then and earthbended them free of the ground, frowning slightly. "None of you seemed too concerned about your ally getting all but impaled."

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The lead figure dusted themself off, the woman, if one went by body shape and tone of voice, spoke through her covered mouth. She and her companion were dressed from head to foot for stealth. "The Prince's fate is his own, and I will not get in the way of well-deserved vengeance. Take them to your father." She said to Okuz. "We will free General Iroh."

Just then, from the bottom of the pit, came a loud smashing sound, like chains being broken, followed by an ominous hiss that echoed through the cavern. "Ssssssskeeeeelllll…" To Alex's ears it sounded like an irritated groan, the kind one makes when they're woken up early. He looked at the two figures then, frown deepening. "I don't recognize that call...are you sure you've got this?"

The other woman, smaller but lithe by comparison nodded as she pulled out a Pokéball. "Nothing in the Dragonpit is beyond our skill level. Go. Do what you came here to do." The pair leapt into the pit then, and Alex freed Okuz from his binds.

"Lead on." Toph growled, still fuming. "And understand that if you so much as breathe wrong, I'll resume what Alex stopped me from doing."

Okuz swallowed visibly, but nodded, and retrieved his mask. "U-understood. This way…"

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As the group proceeded on, a roar echoed from behind them, like a hauntingly beautiful song, that was also, as Alex understood it, a sound-based move. Looking back, he saw flames lighting up the so-called Dragonpit, but he decided to trust the rebels to what they were doing. His attention snapped back, as Okuz spoke. "So, uh…I take it one of you is the Avatar...?"

Toph seemed to snarl and raised an arm to end the Ash Prince, but Alex stepped in front of her, taking up the Zuko's attention, and keeping the earth steady. Toph's head moved towards him, and the old woman huffed, and turned, continuing on. "You've seen Earth." Alex exhaled hard through his nose then, encouraging the air to take on the aspect of the element around them. Flames appeared to shoot from his nostrils. As Okuz's eyes widened at that, the tall foreigner spun, and with an open palm blasted the Fire Prince's face with a gust of wind. "But…you're a…" Okuz stammered. Alex continued. "Did your eyes lie to you? Shall I repeat the demonstration? Perhaps with the force Toph would prefer I used? What do you think, Sifu? I could probably blast him all the way out of our tunnel, with enough air."

Toph side-eyed him, annoyed, but amused as they moved. "Do it, Stompy."

Okuz sighed and hung his head slightly. "There's...No…no need." He fixed Alex with a stare then. "Please…whatever becomes of my Father, he's earned it…but my Nation has suffered enough. He's turned most of the lower castes into Servitors."

Behind them, Jimen snorted. "Some servitude would do your arrogant people some good."

Okuz shook his head. "Not…that kind of…he lobotomized them, Earthbender." Okuz said, guessing at the man's element by his garb, and assuming he was some kind of elite bodyguard for the Avatar, like Toph and the others seemed to be. Jimen stiffened, as he realized what Okuz was talking about. The practice was especially common in the Earth Nation. Strangely black garbed men from the Imperium would show up or pass through their cities and towns, and all the rings of Ba Sing Se, and in their wake, were missing people. The homeless. Criminals. The bureaucratic efficiency of the Imperium had cataloged Koria's entire population and had their medical records on file as well, typically collected by force, or at birth. They gave, from their perspective, the Trash of the world, a chance to make it better. In His name, they became tireless, and brainless, automatons programmed only to serve, and obey.

"The Imperium turned themall...into mindless automatons. Surely…nobody deserves that. Surely, we can agree on that much..." The members of the Earth Nation in their group were stone silent, and frowning, at the Prince's information. The assumption had always been that the Fire Nation was living it up on their tropical islands, and the rich certainly were, but if most of the lower castes had been similarly butchered, that changed things. He looked back at Alex then, still not quite able to believe his region's Avatar was so obviously a foreigner, and one that seemed almost familiar somehow. He pressed on anyway. "Please…if you are able to beat him, I beg mercy for my Nation."

"Your Nation may decide to hang you, Fire Prince. For the crimes of your forefathers." Alex said, sounding ominous.

To his credit, Okuz stood straighter. "Then I accept my fate."

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Alex glanced at Jimen, who after a long moment, nodded. He looked back to Okuz then. "Koria will need all four Nations to once more repel the Imperium. Your people may be on the front lines for that, but at the very least…we won't cut your throats you and your people survive. Redemption through service, let's call it. The Earth Nation will, like the Water and especially Air, never forgive you for this, in your lifetime. This stain will mark your people forever, Okuz. But that is the deal your...Avatar offers." He mentally confirmed Jimen was on board with his words, and once again, the Avatar stated that he did not care, and would not aid the Fire Nation in rebuilding themselves. Like Toph and the others, when Alex asked their opinions, for all they cared, the Ash Makers could starve and die on their volcanic hellhole, and not one member of the other Nations would shed a tear for them. "Tenzin and Meelo would." Was what he answered them with, and then he focused specifically on Toph through their mental battle connection. "Avatar Aang and Avatar Kora would care too."

With that offer came a long pause, but finally, Okuz seemed to exhale with relief. "Alright…I'll take it. That's probably a better deal than we deserve…anyway…it's just around this corner." They rounded the corner, and the masked man pointed at the steel bunker at the end of a lavabended tunnel, dug into the rock. "You'll find the Phoenix King in there."

"Tie him and stay with him." Toph ordered the other two earthbenders with them. She turned on the door, then. "Time to kill a Phoenix." Toph leapt at the door then, pounding it down with ground energy surging through her bodily network. Jimen and Alex leapt through after her, sailing over the smaller earthbender's frame as they did. Ozai was enjoying a steaming cup of tea, which he nonchalantly sipped and put down as his opponents entered. The servant carrying it scurried away. Ozai looked between the three of them and ignored Toph, first. Evidently, he thought the old earthbender of no consequence.

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"So. The Universe has decided to deliver he who I've sought most right to me, on the day of my greatest Military triumph. You were not lying, Vaatu. Today is a good day." Ozai said, in a tone that oozed sleaze. His voice seemed perfectly suited for the 'obvious Eousian villain' look he had going. Red and wide gold trimmed pauldrons covered his shoulders. Hanging down from them was a robe of red, more gold trim, and black highlights. His color scheme almost reminded Alex of Nox when he mega evolved, or the tentacled kite creature he saw in the ice around Chief Unalaq.

As Ozai stood from his gaudy throne, his ensemble burned away, mostly, leaving him in dark scarlet pants, and totally shirtless. The man was extremely well muscled, and Alex could tell even blocked as he was from bending at the moment, fire typed energy was running through his body's energy network. Also revealed without the shirt was a classic belt of six Pokémon, three on either side of his waist. "Let us begin!" Ozai said, dropping into a combat crouch.

Checking how much time they had left for the eclipse and finding it to not nearly be enough, Alex glanced at Jimen, nodded, and stepped forward. "Fire Lord Ozai…" Alex said, smirking as he verbally demoted the murderous egomaniac. "I have traveled your region, earned its Badges, and according to my friends, you are the penultimate challenge a Trainer can face, in Koria." He raised a Pokéball at the man. "I Challenge you."

Ozai seemed to sigh, though it was also an opportunity to enhance his breath control. With a swift, and practiced throw, a crimson and gold colored Pokéball came hurtling directly at Alex, who by pure reflex, raised the arm he'd outstretched to take the hit, instead of his face. At the last second, spikes that he recognized from his Pokédex entry studies appeared on the ball's shell, striking the one in his hand, and skirling down his arm as it spun from the force of the throw. It ground hard against his aura shield, but the shield held, surprising Alex. Such hits had popped it before, and while it wasn't too hard to reform, it did take valuable time. Apparently learning to control his body's energy flow for elemental attacks had strengthened it.

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The ball, which belonged to Hydrus, began beeping, and then its center turned yellow. Alex grimaced, and popped it open, to find it empty, and sparking. His hardest type resistant counter to fire was out, for this battle, as Hydrus was now back within his PC's boxes, safe and sound and more than a bit disappointed. As Alex looked up again, he saw Ozai leaping at him. In the space of these brief seconds, the ball he'd thrown hadn't even opened yet. He'd only used it to distract, and cripple his opponent's stratagem thanks to his critical effectiveness and shredded throwing arm.

Taking control of his own body's energy, Alex met the self-proclaimed Phoenix King in an intense melee, and quickly learned that the man's strikes were brutal, and wild. Not for a lack of control, but simply because Ozai's body generated enough heat even without the sun to light anything his limbs came close to, on fire. Namely, Alex's clothing.

As Alex glanced in surprise at the flames licking over his borrowed clothes, Ozai saw his opening, and struck. A near critical smoldering foot to his jaw sent Alex spinning, as this time his shield did vanish and he went soaring across the battlefield. He reflexively patted out his singed beard, and then thanks entirely to his psychic perception, realized what Ozai's plan was. His ball had since opened in the opening strikes of their melee, and a rather foul looking Turtonator had come out of it. It was clearly an older specimen of the species, given how high its shell spikes had grown. It hadn't moved to attack him, for he still had no Pokémon of his own out yet, but instead the spiked dragon turtle had crouched on the ground, ominous and explosive spikes raised into the air, for Ozai to bounce him off of.

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Alex glanced back at the man, who looked entirely too confident, and smirked. Then, he Teleported. Ozai's brow creased, and then an unbidden 'oouugh' escaped his body as Alex appeared behind him, and using his own oversized feet, delivered a rather angry spinning roundhouse kick into his spine. By no coincidence did this also send Ozai towards the crouching dragon turtle, and as he emitted fire from all four limbs to kill his inertia, Alex finally had time to draw. He had a hard counter for the Turtonator, at least, and now that the eclipse was evidently over, they would need every advantage they had. "Eremus! Sandstorm!"

His sand dragon had grown larger in the course of their trip, mostly thanks to seeing more use than he had before, and taking regular vitamins as he grew in level. He'd put in the maximum effort for his training, and now, it showed, as he'd begun to grow larger. Thus, his wings had little trouble calling forth the sand his Trainer desired. Once that was done, another command came to him. "Take out the Turtonator."

Having landed amidst the sudden onslaught of sand, Ozai didn't see Eremus, and honestly, he didn't care about the Pokémon aspect of this battle. Pokémon could be replaced, he could not. There was only one Phoenix King. Thus, he began chanting in the secret tongue of the Fire Nation's royal household, but to Alex's ears, he heard him invoking Vaatu as well. Not intending to give him the chance to channel Shadow, Alex launched himself forward in the same manner Ozai had used to stop himself from hitting his Turtonator. He lit up his fist with his aura as he came hurtling through the sand, only to have a crimson and burning black tentacle of Shadow rise from Ozai's shadow to snare his limb.

"Such…Power…"

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Ozai continued chanting throughout this exchange, and Alex leapt back, brows furrowing. The aura around his hand burned to a shining gold, before falling back to the intense blue. This, brought echoing laughter from the writhing shadows around the chanting Fire Royal. "It is wise to be cautiousss…we wouldn't want any Shadow infecting such an important person…"

As Vaatu finished taunting, Ozai finished chanting, and Alex swore quietly. He leapt back even further as the Phoenix King roared, his flames now burning black and red. His eyes were red, glowing not at all unlike Jimen's and even Alex's when they channeled their power. The difference was plain though, for tendrils of that same crimson power were also flowing out from Ozai's ocular organs, and into his very veins, lighting them up as well. Somehow, it seemed like every chakra point in his body was being flooded with intense Shadow energy all at once.

As he came within inches of being able to strike Alex, the victorious Eremus made his reappearance, slightly worse for wear, but still more than capable of hammering a human with a Dragon Tail. Again, the air was knocked from Ozai's lungs, and he went skipping across the room, slamming into the wall beside his throne. He was slow to get up again, but his connection to his shadowy patron was still intact. The same could not be said for several of his ribs.

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As Alex mentally checked on his allies, Ozai hit a button on his throne's arm. The entire room began to rise, up through the volcano, and the sandstorm gradually faded. "Jimen, be ready to tag in once his Pokémon are down." Alex said within his mind.

Hearing this, and feeling the room move, Jimen looked to Toph. "Alex and I can handle Ozai. Go back to the others, make use of the Fire Prince, and take out any additional reinforcements Ozai has hidden here."

Toph turned her head towards the clashing regional leaders, and then nodded. She'd felt the heat both Ozai and Alex had produced. She was out of her weight class here, but she could make use of Okuz. Dashing and sliding out of the bunker as it rose through the rocks, she kept the nearby tunnel from collapsing on the Fire Prince and her people, and once the shaking ceased, grinned in Okuz's general direction. "Come on, hothead. We're going on an adventure!"

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Up above, as the mountain above Alex and Jimen opened, revealing its peak to be fake, they were raised high into the sky. Despite the size of the room's floor, the whole structure still felt precarious. Evidently Ozai had planned to orate from up here at some point or had done so already in the past. Now, it would give him the space to unleash the only Pokémon he'd ever needed to beat challengers to his title as the strongest Trainer in the Koria region.

"Agni." Ozai's flight capable Charizard popped free at the sound of his name, and Alex had to stare for a moment. It was very much infused with Shadow, but there was something different. Other examples of infusion he'd seen had always had an overpowering aura, flowing off of them in uncontrolled waves of rage that unbalanced their body's natural rhythm. There was no such issue with this one. Its heart was closed, rage burned in its eyes, but no more than it did in his own Charizard's, or Leon's, or Ash's.

"Eremus, come back." He said, recalling the sand dragon, after applying a potion. "Blaze. You're up." His own Charizard came out with a similar flash, and immediately, the two adult males of the same species locked eyes. They stomped forward, taking their positions for a proper battle, wings raised, ready to launch into the air. The aura of Shadow that burned around Agni flared upwards, not unlike how Connor's aura shield had when he'd achieved a measure of power by ascending to the next level through his fighting spirit. Blaze answered it by thwacking his tail against the ground, and snarling. Crimson and orange aura flared to life around his form.

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"You look confused, Dragon Emperor." Came the fused and mocking tones of Ozai and Vaatu. "What you see before you…is a perfect Shadow Infusion. Now fall before it!" Ozai pressed two of his fingers to the crown sitting atop his hair then, and Agni ascended to the dragon typed variant of his Mega Form.

Alex readied himself to do the same, but his Charizard glanced back at him with his right eye and shook his head. "Now is not the time for bravado, Blaze. Mega Evolve!" Again, the Charizard shook his head, bringing more laughter from the Shadow's latest champion.

"So much for the lauded skill of Unova's latest Champion. Agni! Shadowflame!" Ozai shouted, and as ordered, Agni responded. Black and red flames roared from his mouth, but Blaze didn't move, despite Alex's call to dodge. Instead, he roared defiantly at the flames, and raised a single claw. To his Trainer's surprise, the dark flames parted around his outstretched claw, falling uselessly away from the intense light of his aura shield. "I've gotten Stronger." Came Blaze's mental voice. "We all have."

Sensing the pride that Blaze's words inspired in the rest of his teammates, Alex nodded, slowly. They'd filled him in on what they'd been up to with their much deserved break but seeing them in action made it clear that he needed to re-evaluate their skills. He looked at his disguise, or what was left of it, and nodded then, again, mostly to himself. Alex tossed the Water Nation parka, now mostly singed and burned, revealing fully the black and white clothes beneath. Then, one hand reached behind him, into his bag, for his hat. He kept the brim facing forwards and raised a hand towards Blaze. If they weren't mega evolving, he was freed up for other kinds of energy infusion. The Light radiated from his palm, into Blaze's aura and he shouted the move, "Flamethrower!"

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Aura shining brighter now, Blaze opened his burning maw, and white-hot flames billowed out, empowered with the Light. Much like Shadow moves, against a Shadow infused Pokémon, an infusion of the Light also did double damage. Blaze's aura also seemed to stay shining with that Light as the move ended. "You have this." Alex told him. "Take to the skies." Smirking, Blaze shot into the air, and the slightly off-balance Agni followed him only a moment later, but it was enough for a height advantage. Shadow flame and Light flame danced in the sky, as Alex focused back on Ozai. His hat wasn't the only thing he'd pulled out, for this. With his other hand he'd subtly retrieved Shruikan's gift, a Soul Dew from an Eon Duo. It floated behind his back and up under the primarily white robe-like garment that covered his shirt and upper body.

Furious, the self-proclaimed Phoenix King came at the foreign ruler, rocketing forth with fire from his feet. Alex was glowing blue again, but too late did Ozai and Vaatu realize it wasn't quite the same color as before. The energy suffusing him was more of a blurple color now, and as Ozai came at him with a fiery punch, the Dragon Emperor caught it in his large palm. The fire had apparently returned in force with the sliver of sunlight now free of the moon, which meant things below were about to turn hotter.

Alex twisted Ozai's wrist suddenly, and brought his body downwards, at the perfect angle for his knee to meet the firebender's face, specifically his nose. Reeling back from the blow with copious amounts of blood spraying from his nostrils. Furious firebending came at Alex then, and the foreign Emperor struck through each burst of flame, with moves Ozai recognized as belonging to the Dragon Style of martial arts. Alex spun through each of them, and then countered as he inhaled, and shouted a Word.

Ozai didn't hear exactly what word was uttered over the crack of thunder above and around them, but the result was fire from his opponent's mouth, a torrent of flame enough to even offset Ozai. Furious, but unable to counter as he struggled to block, the Phoenix King found himself sliding backwards from the sheer force of the flames that, by the laws of physics, they should not have possessed. "All of you…out! Now!" Ozai ordered, and then, four flashes of light from the remaining balls on his belt revealed a Houndoom, a Tyranitar, a Coalossal, and a Tyrantrum. Together, and empowered by Vaatu as much as Agni had been, they countered Alex's shout.

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When the smoke cleared though, the Unovan was across the field, frowning. "So, you admit defeat? You're breaking the rules of Battle, Ozai. I'll do a Triple, but five on one is ridiculous."

"I make the rules!" Ozai roared, as blood continued to flow from his nose, making him look crazed, manic even. His cool, ferocious demeanor had been beaten out of him, and now the despotic tyrant was nothing but fury and pain. "Kill the foreigner! NOW!"

"Arbor. Take the Tyranitar. Canis, the Tyrantrum. Pruina, take the Houndoom, and Adamanteus…show the Coalossal what a quadruple Ground weakness is like against us." His own team, each hardened by their own battles in Koria, popped free as he called on them. Only Adamanteus was under leveled for this, but the quadruple advantage would probably make up for that. "Alright, go!"

As each Pokémon charged forward to battle who Alex had assigned them, a shriek came from above. Alex looked up in time to see another Mega Charizard in its dragon-typed branch form charging Blaze from behind. Something was off about it, though. Shadow also infused it, but where Agni was perfect, Caeruleus was overflowing with evil rage, so much so that it altered her form. His proud Charizard spoke into his head then. "Focus. I…have this…" Both dragon lizards bathed his aura shielded form in blue flames then, but Alex sensed even then his shield was holding.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

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Alex wasn't buying it though, as he knew how tired Blaze was already. Thankfully, he too had a unique and overpowered counter for dragons. "Shruikan! Help your brother out!" He channeled what he'd seen of Pokémon Base players then and threw his Salamence's ball as fast as he could towards the three Charizard. Shruikan popped free with a shriek that also made the sky break with a thunderclap, and Caeruleus only had time to turn her head, before Shruikan tackled her in the air, and sent her spinning away from Blaze. Alex turned back to the growing chaos that was engulfing the volcanic peak as the majority of his B team took on Ozai's entire belt. He was glad he had several in reserve though, for there was still a war to fight below.

Across from Alex, Ozai had lifted himself up on familiar black and red tentacles. An ominous pattern of crimson appeared on his hairless chest skin, the same color as the energy in his eyes. Almost like a face, and yet not. "Enough of this farce!" He shouted, and then Vaatu's voice echoed out. "How long are you going to hide, Raava? I will beat you as often as I must, until the Convergence ends…" Ozai seemed to inhale then, and Alex knew an empowered attack when he saw one.

Once again, several things occurred in the space of the same few seconds. Jimen leapt out from the earth bunker Toph had constructed. Astrum leapt free of his ball, sensing that now was the time he would be needed. The ongoing war pained him, but the Light's call, and the peace it brought, overpowered that feeling, at least for the moment. Finally, Ozai released his relatively slow charged attack, and what Alex saw as a ghost typed black and crimson Hyper Beam came lancing towards him from out of the man's chest, with the intent to blow him away, down to the last atom.

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Intense purple energy met a shining blue light aura as Astrum used his Light Stone; the soft blue Light around the three surged, high into the sky. Clouds of ash caused by the war below had begun to cloud the area, and Ozai's reserve forces had begun making the combined Earth and Water Nation armies pressed to stay alive, let alone win.

Then, from the parted clouds came a cry familiar to many of those fighting below, who'd been a part of Admiral Zhao's disastrous siege of the Northern Water Tribe. Ash's Lugia came down through the hole in the clouds fast, spinning and leveling out over the volcano's peak. Alex's eyes met Ash's as the titanic frame of his Lugia moved past to the battle below. The two shared a nod. "Leave Ozai to me, Redwood." Came the thunderous and yet calming mental tones of Raava and Jimen.

Alex looked back to Jimen and nodded, then focused on mentally helping his team. He sat behind the shield Astrum was projecting and focused on channeling the Light of his radiant Togekiss to each of his battling partners. In terms of appearance, Astrum looked like most of his kin, with the exception being his golden feathers. It was hard to believe he'd hatched not all that long ago, but then, Pokémon did grow quite fast, especially when trained.

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One by one his team took their opponents down, and then moved on to help anyone having trouble. Finally, all that was left was the battle in the sky, between the three Charizard and Shruikan. Seeing his fliers were having trouble with the two dragon type Charizard, Alex reached out to Blaze again. "Seems like you could use a Mega Form." Irritated by how right his Trainer was, Blaze launched a Dragon Pulse into the face of the mutated and enraged female Charizard, and then disengaged into a spinning dive.

Alex raised the Flame Plate shard high, and his fire lizard ascended to his Mega Form. Caeruleus tried to stop him, but once Blaze was finally faster, he floated around her attacking form, landed on her back, and drove her into and across the hard surface of Ozai's raised platform as his mouth fired a Dragon Pulse into her back point blank. With a triumphant roar from the following cloud of smoke, he left her fainted form in a heap, and circled around for the killing shot. Both he and Alex were reluctant to end another shiny Charizard, but they could feel her rage, and despair. The depths of mutation the Shadow had caused were also well beyond their skill to reverse. It was kinder to let her join her beloved Trainer, than force her to live, be cleansed, and try to survive alone in the wild after a lifetime of being treated like royalty.

The final Dragon Pulse did its work, and much like Pravus's Lugia, her body faded away into particles, and vanished completely. Blaze launched upwards then, to help Shruikan. He had been successfully holding off Agni with what looked like balls of rather damaging condensed plasma, and as Blaze marked his return to the fray with another Dragon Pulse, Agni dodged right into the super effective move from Shruikan. Ozai's Charizard went down in a smoldering heap, and both Blaze and Shruikan roared in victory. Alex healed them before he recalled them for a well-earned rest in their balls. Then, he looked up at Jimen.

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The Avatar was high above him, and at that moment, he sent Ozai sailing into the volcano's peak, and rolling down the mountainside. "Help the others!" Jimen shouted as he rocketed past. "I can handle Ozai!"

A bit winded, bruised, and singed, Alex nodded, and psychically levitated his partners who hadn't battled yet, or weren't too worn out behind his tall frame. He jumped into the air and hopped onto Eremus as he headed for the battle below. "Arthur, Leo, Canis, Nox, Cinder, and Sensus! Help anyone not in red. Move them towards the ships in green." Six balls popped open, and his partners leapt into the fray as they reached the bottom of the volcano. "Ictus, Gelauros, Ceno, Temere, Nox! Knock out any remaining Firebenders." Five more balls were psychically yeeted into the ongoing battle, and as they began taking out firebenders with their powerful moves, the momentum shifted in the earthbender's favor.

Alex helped out as well, mostly by earthbending alongside Eremus. Of Ash and Lugia he only caught glimpses, but it seemed like they were busy dealing with the ocean bound troops Ozai had intended to bring in as reinforcement.

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Back behind the volcano, Jimen continued to hammer Ozai, and while Vaatu could numb the pain of his breaking body, eventually Jimen had beaten it so thoroughly into the mountainside, his bones wouldn't allow him to stand. Crimson and black tentacles shot painfully out of his back at that point, and Vaatu shouted at his counterpart. "This vessel is almost dead, Raava! I look forward to reincarnating, into someone new!"

Jimen's eyes burned with the Light and narrowed. Vaatu needed to be imprisoned, not reincarnated. Any chance of de-fusing him from Ozai had vanished decades ago, though. By now, their bond was permanent in ways Raava had never dreamed to make her own. A mistake made by her good intentions that had cost her Avatar dearly in terms of power.

Covering his fists in rock swords that he heated up with fire from within, in a passable attempt at making a plasma sword like Lux. Jimen rocketed towards Ozai who dodged twice, before the Avatar struck with a perfect slash, and removed his left arm at the elbow. Ozai clutched his cauterized stump, only for the other arm to be sliced away as well moments later. Jimen let himself fall then, and spun in the air, taking Ozai's legs. "You will be Bound to this crippled shell for the rest of Time, Vaatu." Raava said imperiously through Jimen, "And I shall be your Jailor."

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Ozai's body convulsed again, and the man cried out in pure agony, as Vaatu fired a final Hyper Beam from his chest, but Jimen dodged it easily with his airbending. With a wave of his hand, Raava's power ripped a hole in space to the Spirit World, and the Avatar did a full flip in the air, bringing an arcing, burning foot directly down on Ozai's torso, still glowing with Vaatu's 'face'. The strike sent him sailing through the gap, and Jimen/Raava followed. Ozai landed hard before the Tree of Souls, stunned by the impressive amount of pain that even Vaatu couldn't numb now. Then, it was replaced with fresh pain. Pain he was familiar with.

Avatar Jimen burnt the stumps of Ozai's legs, fully cauterizing them, and then grabbed his bangs, lifting him up by them and setting them against the Tree of Souls as he leaned in close, and let Raava's power fade. "For every innocent you've burned…or worse…you will persist in the Tree for a century. Your body will not die. Your soul will not reincarnate. You will rot in the prison you should never have been freed from."

"I'll get out, Raava…" Vaatu snarled, taking over Ozai's mouth. "You know I will! I will be free again! It is our Destiny to fight!"

Raava's energy surged through Jimen then, and he let her use his mouth, as her deathly calm tones mixed with Jimen's baritone. "You will break free, eventually. And then, I and my allies will put you right back again. The Shadow will never reign over the Earth again. I swear it."

Ozai took over then, snarling, "You can't guard us forever…and you are not the only one with allies…"

Together, Jimen and Raava answered him. "We aren't going anywhere."

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With that, a sphere formed around Ozai. Rock, ground, water, ice, fire, electric, psychic, and flying typed energy all coalesced in a multicolored sphere around the mutilated form of the former Fire Lord, and Jimen guided him into the tree's hollow, sealing up its entrance with a powerful barrier composed of said energy. Ozai shouted, but this time, no sound could escape the hollow within. As if understanding who now was imprisoned within it, the Tree of Souls began showing the mutilated Fire Lord what he and his lineage had wrought on Koria. It started from the beginning, which at first had been a series of large forest fires, indiscriminate burnings displacing thousands of Pokémon, and of course, the attempted genocide of a pacifistic people. Each atrocity played before his eyes, and would continue, on repeat, for as long as he was trapped within the tree.

Outside the tree, Jimen sank to a sitting position, and exhaled. "I meant what we said, Raava. I'm not leaving him. Not even for a moment. Not now."

Her voice answered him in his mind, a sensation he was used to by now. "Your destiny is not to sit here and play guard to Vaatu. But you are correct, until the Shadow has lost its last Champions on the Earth, and the Convergence of the planets ends, Vaatu is at risk of breaking free. For now…we must wait, and let our friends handle the rest."

Jimen's brow furrowed. "But…how will Alex and the others know? They didn't see us come here."

"In time, they will return to free us. For now…Koria must find its way without an Avatar."

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Low Orbit Around Luna - Earth Sphere, Outer Space

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(It's recommended that you read through the Ranger's Path for this part of the chapter, if you have not already, and want to know the full context of what is going on.)

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Silence. That was what Horus and his loyal Thunder Warriors heard, sealed as they were within the newest mark of freshly forged suits of power armor that the Imperium had dubbed the Crusader pattern. With an enclosed and intimidating helm reminiscent of a knight of Old Earth's Middle Ages, boots that could magnetize to metal surfaces, and an upgraded backpack with air filtration and longer battery life, the new armor promised to change how the Imperium would eventually conquer Terra. It was still in the prototype stage, but Horus's men were now fully enclosed within it, making their current maneuver possible.

Life support systems on their similarly prototyped voidships were off, as were all other systems. Horus had aimed his legion, as members of the thirteenth and seventh legions took fire from Luna's orbital defenses, and then fired his depowered ships silently through the void, at their targets. It was a good plan, the only flaw being that Horus had underestimated Luna's Pokémon defenses, while suitably avoiding their more traditional ones. As they came within drop distance of Luna's surface, Horus saw something move outside their ship's main window.

It was large, resembled a bat, and most importantly, had a rider upon its back in a white space suit that, according to his knowledge, was not what the Selenar wore when needing protection from the vacuum of space. The figure on the Pokémon's back pointed at his ships, and though he knew it was too late to save all of his men, he gave the order anyway, powering the ship back on. "We're spotted! All Thunder Warriors drop! Now!" He hit the button that opened his own ship's hatch, just as the bat creature fired a pink energy laser that sliced through his ship, and two others. The warriors he was with had all jumped, and were now free floating in the void, towards Luna's asteroid-marked surface. Looking to his side, he saw no other droppers, and knew his warning had come too late for the other two ships.

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The bat creature readied another pink energy blast, and Horus roared over his helmet's internal voice operated exchange system, or vox, "Open fire! All of you!" New as he was to fighting in the void, Horus learned the hard way, by way of losing two of his men, that changing one's inertia while free floating in space could take them wildly off course. The two men in question had opened up their bolter rifles with fully automatic fire, and sprayed wildly at the bat creature, before being pushed backwards through the void from the recoil and heading towards Terra. It would take them hours, if not days, to finally reach the atmosphere at which point their fall through it would likely incinerate them. "Single shots!" Horus added, furious at losing even more men. The other Thunder Warriors of the thirteenth and the seventh hadn't even made it close to Luna, and one of the thirteenth Legion's few remaining ships was smoking and falling purposefully back towards Terra as well.

The bat creature, who had initially blocked the bolter fire with its wings, had learned the hard way that bolter shells exploded on impact, though they didn't punch through its wings, they left a smoldering mark on them. The remaining Thunder Warriors under Horus kept themselves on course, firing randomly into space almost as often as they fired at the Pokémon to keep from meeting the same fate as their unfortunate brothers, who were now out of ammo. More of the sixteenth legion's drop forces came from the other ships then, as Horus had bought them the time needed to deploy. This seemed to anger the bat creature, and it flared its wings out, resembling Luna when it was full, and glowing just as bright, before it began scything through the empty vacuum, and slashing the power packs of Horus's men.

It was too fast to hit at that point, though Horus fired as often as the rest of his men, half of those who had dropped had succumbed to the effects of the void upon losing their oxygen, or having their suits torn open. It was not a strong start to an operation he had confidently declared to his father that he could handle, but he'd taken bigger fortresses with less Thunder Warriors.

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"Ignore it!" Horus commanded, as they began hurtling closer to Luna's surface. "Brace for impact!"

A regular human would've broken their legs, and probably the rest of their body, if they impacted on the moon's surface at the speed Horus and his Thunder Warriors did. Luckily for them, their gene-enhanced musculature was akin to a shock absorber, and their bones modified to be stronger than reinforced cerasteel. With machine-like speed, upon landing, the Thunder Warriors headed for the nearest Selenar building, and in short order, breached it.

With brutal, almost mechanical efficiency, Horus and his men took out any humans and Pokémon who got in their way with the precision that made their exploding ballistic rounds so feared by their enemies. His golden Arcanine, the only Pokémon Horus needed, tore through their defense of mainly Magneton and Magnezone with powerful, and similarly gene-enhanced Flamethrowers. While the Imperator typically forbade modifying the genes of Pokémon, Horus had ignored that edict, and turned his Arcanine into a living wildfire. Instead of a mane of fur, a mane of flame encased his body. The Imperator had forbidden him from having any more Pokémon upon discovering his disobedience, but the extremely fast golden lion hound was all he'd ever needed.

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It didn't take long for the Selenar leaders to realize that their forces weren't leaving so much as a scratch on the Imperator's warriors. If more had successfully landed, they would have already been forced to surrender such was their brutal efficiency. So it was that, after a brief meeting of the Archetypal Heads, the matriarch known as Heliosa made a Holocall. Not to the self-proclaimed Imperator of Man, but to the head of the secret city, lying on the dark side of Luna that played home to the secret globe-spanning organization known as Pegasus. "Director Colress." She said, once he answered, "The Selenar accept your previous offer of alliance. We will support the Dragon. We will even give you limited access to the Magna Mater. Are these terms agreeable?"

Colress, who had since been made the permanent head of Lantea City, took far too long, for her liking, to answer. Finally, he said, "They are. I'm glad your people have finally seen sense. The ship schematics our initial deal proposed will be sent over to our computers, and then, we will aid you against the Imperium's incursion."

The Matriarch shook her head, and while her demeanor was as calm as a humming processor in standby mode, the tone of her voice gave away how dire things were. "I don't need your grunts. Send me the Wolf."

Colress eyed the woman for another long moment. Most of her physicality had been 'upgraded' by her cult's decree. She embodied the 'caregiver' archetype of humanity, or so the Selenar claimed. While most of her altered white body was hidden, the defining feature of the Selenar's public diplomatic face were the mechanical white 'wings' protruding from her back, that in actuality acted as spare arms, or in times of war, laser projectile shooters capable of firing pinpoint and deadly plasma beams.

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"Alright." Colress finally answered. "Give us their coordinates in your compound. We'll send him over."

"Coordinates sent. Please hurry, Director." The matriarch reiterated, before cutting the connection.

Geralt Redwood, who'd been discussing Ciri and Triss's eventual fate with the newly cemented director of the organization inhabiting the secret moon city when the emergency call came in, arched an eyebrow at Colress. "I take it I'm being 'volunteered' for this. Do I have any backup? These are Thunder Warriors, right?"

Colress interlocked his fingers despite them being covered by his full body gray tech suit and met Geralt's altered ice blue eyes evenly. "No. Just what you bring with you. I can lend you my Pokémon if you want to fill out your belt, but Apollonia likely has Steel Types like mine, and you can safely assume the Thunder Warriors can counter them. Also. There's a good chance one of the Imperator's Prime Archons will be there, leading the strike. I want you to capture him, if possible."

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Geralt looked at the man in disbelief. "How am I to capture a ten-foot-tall man in thousands of pounds of armor? And what is my motivation to go help these strangers that've wanted nothing to do with us, until they need help repelling an invasion?"

Colress sighed, before answering. "They're twelve feet, actually. Cirilla and Triss can stay up here indefinitely should you succeed, but we are not a hotel service. They'll be given work. Since they've already figured out where we are, they will help you repel this breach of the Selenar's defenses. The more people you capture, the more inroads you make with the Selenar, the longer I can convince the powers that be to let them stay, despite their...psychic instability." Having the two psychic fugitives from the Imperium of Man had put a target on Lantea City that his superiors had not cared for given the Imperator's obsession with the technology of the Selenar hive cities. If they had their way, the two women would've been killed and disappeared already, but thankfully, they knew Geralt as well, and that the White Wolf would inevitably find out what they had done and turn on them for it. Pegasus needed all the Burst Rangers they could get, and that meant keeping them happy.

Geralt stood up then. "Consider me motivated. And thank you, Colress. Erm. Director Colress."

Colress waved his words away. "Thank me when you come back alive, and intact. Take the teleport in the third room. I'll see if I can't call in a favor or two for more help. Good luck Ranger."

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Geralt knew he'd need far more than luck if a Prime Archon was involved, but he said nothing as he strode with purpose back to his shared quarters. They'd been given one room, split in the middle by a bathroom, but the ladies were on his side as he returned, and then brought them up to speed. As expected, their reaction was explosive when he mentioned what they were going up against.

"I know it's difficult, Triss, but it keeps you and Ciri safe. Gear up and hide your faces. We're leaving from the third teleport room." Geralt said, as he summoned Srebro and Stahl to the sword holsters on his back. The Doublade seemed eager to see action again, after so many months hiding on the moon.

Triss pinched her brow. "It's not difficult, Geralt, it's impossible! We don't stand a chance against the Imperator's sons! They're monsters! Barely even classifiable as Humans at this point."

Geralt just smirked at her. "Monsters... are my specialty. If you'd rather stay behind, I understand." He was well aware that few humans, even the Imperium's own subjects, could ever hope to match one of their Imperator's personal gene clones. His 'material' as Triss had called it, was the base for every 'son' that the Imperator had crafted in one of his secret laboratories. In terms of raw physical strength and psychic ability, most Prime Archons could claim to be second in power only to their father. Only those like Geralt, who also altered themselves beyond that of a base human, could hope to stand against such creations.

"Oh, I'm going with you!" Ciri interjected. Triss looked like she was about to protest, then stopped.

"Honestly, Ciri might be your best chance of coming back alive. I'll stay here and try to get you more backup." She pulled out four Pokéballs then and handed two to each of them. "These should cover the types you two don't have on your belts. Good luck."

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Geralt and Ciri left the room once they were ready and reported to the designated teleporter room. Inside waiting for them was an imposing woman, covered in ice blue feathers, with what looked like black leather beneath them. Her helm had wings resembling an Articuno fanning from either side of it, and a long mane of long blue molted tail feathers formed a crest that reached down to her thighs with its length. In her right hand was a spear, though Geralt's enhanced eyes could tell it was a modified, and sharpened, power stave. A weapon infamously wielded by the Arcean Church's crusaders.

As soon as she spoke, Geralt realized they'd met before. "Finally. I am Yennefer, of Valaskjalf. Your leader asked my King for reinforcement, and since the Asgard and Pegasus have a long history...apparently...here I am." She looked Ciri over, seemingly unimpressed, and then the intense violet eyes fell back on Geralt. "I suppose there are worse males to help. I will join you on this Archon hunt, White Wolf." Geralt fought down a slight flush as he better recalled the exact details of their first meeting, namely his nudity and tortured body, and Ciri naturally read that completely the wrong way.

She didn't scold him though, for the sheer coolness of the woman before her had the young woman spellbound. She had hundreds of questions, but the woman from Valaskjalf was already on the teleporter with Geralt, who now seemed as over his earlier embarrassment as Yennefer was.

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Ciri joined them, and Colress's voice filled their ears as the teleporter powered up. "Remember, if you manage to capture any of the Thunder Warriors, I can make staying up here indefinitely much easier. Ideally, we want the Prime Archon. The Selenar have determined that the one leading this assault is Horus. Good luck!"

Geralt was fuming as the words registered and the teleport went off. He'd conveniently left out that it was the damned Warmaster of the Imperium, Horus, they'd be facing down. "Colress, you son of a-" The rest of his words were lost under the sound of the electrical bamf, and the next thing Geralt saw was darkness. Evidently the Thunder Warriors had found the power supply for this area and filled it with exploding bullets. Geralt didn't elaborate on his sudden outburst of anger, but both Ciri and Yennefer understood it. There were Prime Archons, and then there was Horus, first among them, the Imperator's alleged first born, and essentially his right hand in all matters of war. That was who Colress wanted them to capture. With three people.

"Are you good in the dark, Yennefer?" Geralt asked quietly. He received a grunt in response, and then reached for Ciri's hand, as he guided her. "Stay close, kid."

Yen didn't answer him, as they marched on silently, and it seemed she didn't need light.

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They traveled quietly through the unfamiliar darkness towards the booming sounds of gunfire, and eventually came upon a scene common only to those who experienced the Thunder Warrior's fury, and those who meted it out. A long, narrow, and once elegant corridor had been turned into a killing field. Words in Unown lettering marked it as leading to a council chamber, and on the side closest to the trio the small squad of Thunder Warriors had set up a makeshift barricade behind their dead comrade's armored bodies.

Both projectile weapons of the ballistic and laser variety primarily bounced off of the absurdly armored forms of the remaining squad of twelve Thunder Warriors. Geralt noted their armor was upgraded, compared to what he'd seen before in pictures and from afar. His sharp eyes took in the details of the regular warrior's armor, and realized it was a prototype, which meant there would be exploitable weaknesses.

In terms of coverage, the designers had solved the age-old issue of joint mobility by adding more armor to them. Whether straight or curved, the armor plating seemed to move with the wearer. Then, his eyes fell on the most obvious target. All that extra armor brought more weight, that even Thunder Warriors had trouble moving. Their backpacks were bigger now, and while they were also covered in ceramite, they likely had more vital cabling within them now. Geralt signaled to Yennefer to fall back slightly, before he spoke.

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"Their new armor could face a charging Tyranitar and come away unscathed. The most obvious target is the backpack. Without those, they'll be slow, and stuck in here." He looked at Yennefer. "Have your Articuno freeze them, first. That should make them brittle enough for Ghost to break through. Once they slow down, we can focus on Horus. Do we know what Pokémon he uses?"

"An Arcanine." Ciri offered, trying to be helpful. "One that's constantly on fire. The Imperator's edict is not to alter their genes…but it's obvious that Horus has. That Arcanine is all he's ever needed."

Geralt nodded, and looked at Yennefer then. "Can you distract him?" She nodded, and powered up the power spear. Red, yellow, and icy blue lines of power met at the sharpened tip of it, and a series of correspondingly colored simple runes lit up on the insides of the altered power stave.

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"Let's go!" Geralt ordered in a loud whisper, and from behind the surviving Thunder Warriors of the sixteenth legion, the air became reminiscent of Norstad. One or two turned their comparably tiny heads to glance at the sudden temperature change their armor systems reported. Most were focused on Horus's order to charge forward, when the powerful Ice Beam lanced across their backs. Yennefer's Articuno followed the Ice Beam with a harsh Blizzard, and while the structural integrity of their power armor was fine, the cold, well below that of space, began sapping the power from their prototyped backpacks.

Only Horus shrugged off the attacks, like an icebreaker ship in the arctic. He whirled around as he broke it with no effort, massive warmaul ready to crush more skulls into bone meal. His deep baritone boomed from his vox speakers in his armor as he shouted, "Who dares!?"

Yennefer answered him with a fierce shout from above Horus's titanic armored frame, and she learned firsthand why it was a bad idea to announce one's attack to a son of the Imperator. A normal man, even one like Alex Redwood, would've had little time to do more than block the fierce strike. Horus, instead, spun his massive maul into a downward swing, and then used the momentum to swing it upwards in an arc as he simultaneously turned to face his opponent, and aim the brutal head of his weapon at her. Yennefer's eyes only had time to widen, before it slammed into her midsection, and sent her flying.

Geralt meanwhile had Ghost Drill Run along the still forward facing legionnaires, and as he flashed across them and landed, several packs exploded, while others started leaking fluid. Geralt, seeing Yennefer get hit, shouted at Ghost as he moved to catch her. "Stone Edge!" With Srebro and Stahl, he let them yank him to where he needed to be to catch the Articuno rider, and found himself landing on soft feathers as her Articuno caught them, and stopped their momentum with ease.

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His sharp eyes only had seconds to take her injury in, but given how the front part of her navel was bowed inward, it didn't look good. Several ribs had to be broken, to say nothing of her reproductive system. "Watch her." He said to the Articuno, who nodded. Ciri, who'd watched the Articuno rider's opening with awe, as she'd climbed up high just above the tunnel's entrance, and then horror as Horus dispatched her with ease, still had a ball in her hand, but seemed stunned. "Ciri!" Geralt said, getting her focus. "Help Ghost."

Swearing inwardly for not taking Horus himself, Geralt approached the man now, and seeing this, the Prime Archon grinned. "So eager to die too? Odd, you don't…look like a native…" His eyes narrowed then as he took in Geralt's mutated features. "In fact…you seem more Abomination, than Human…" The power maul began sparking, as Horus readied it to terminate a mutant.

Serbro and Stahl, while usually preferring to be wielded one at a time, both agreed that this man before them was a monster. Normally Doublade fought on their own, but Geralt's altered body had the speed to keep up with them. They could, after many hours of training, also read his mind, namely the intended location of his attacks. If they had any hope of winning, they'd need to 'behead' the power maul, or disarm the Prime Archon.

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One moment, Geralt was approaching the Prime Archon, swords out, the next, Horus felt his ghostly blades pierce his thick armor at his waist, and he realized quickly the armor's senses would not be enough to track this mutant's speed, aided as it was by a pair of ghost types. Horus quietly marveled at the idea of making a Pokémon into one's weapon, something that was apparently common in the barbaric regions not under the Imperium of Man. Then, after the third such strike, Horus read Geralt's moves, and countered with the kind of speed that made the Thunder Warriors and all the Imperator's sons the effective killers that they were.

Geralt's eyes followed the massive man's movements as he brought the maul around, but too late he realized his body, even like this, wasn't fast enough. Srebro and Stahl caught the power maul on their blades as they used Protect in conjunction with each other. Horus's strike sent them sliding across the smooth metal flooring, and once Geralt came to a stop, he healed them, and drank something himself, to give his body the boost it would need.

His Burst Heart could've also given him the speed, but he didn't want to use it around the Imperium unless he was about to end all their lives. The potion was a blend of the herbs that had changed his body, with a kick. Colress had given him several in potion form, claiming they were some kind of mystical herb, or something, as well. Said herbs were reported to be beneficial to one's health, but the scientist turned Director had apparently enhanced them for combat.

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Geralt's eyes went wide, pupils filling into large black orbs, before sliding painfully back into their usual vertical slits against an ice blue iris. He leapt back towards Horus, faster this time, and his swords began to strike true against the Prime Archon's armor. He had to stab into it each time, thanks to the sheer bulk of the armor covering his twelve foot frame, but his swords struck flesh. Being ghost types, they drained the Prime Archon's vitality, once they entered his being.

Horus, despite his reflexes, now found himself in the same situation Geralt had. He could see the mutant's moves, but his titanic frame wasn't fast enough to stop them. As Geralt continued his attack method of 'stab it until it dies', Ciri and Ghost had been dealing with the Thunder Warriors. Ghost's Stone Edge had taken six of them by surprise, which was when a Thunder Warrior with a steel-blue two handed greatsword, also sparking with electric plasma, faced down the Lycanroc and Ciri, after breaking free of the ice.

His mocking tones came through the faceplate covering his features. "A little girl? An untempered woman thinks to face the might of Horus Aximand and the Sixteenth Legion!?" He laughed, a deep, mocking sound as it emanated from his faceplate.

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Ciri, for her part, just smirked. "So, wait, you're also named Horus? Is that not terribly confusing?" She glanced at the twelve foot titan that Geralt's blur of a form was currently battling in epic combat. "I guess you must be Little Horus. Differentiating by size seems easiest."

Her words made the greatsword in the warrior's grip shiver, and a few of the yet surviving Thunder Warriors let out their own chuckles. "Silence!" Little Horus said, swinging his sword uselessly at his brethren, before leveling it with one hand back at Ciri. "It is an Honor to share the Prime Archon's name, wretch!" With that, the nine foot tall giant charged her, and the sword swung. Ciri called out her Honedge as he struck, but the first form ghost type all but gave under the force of the blow. Then, immediately following that, Ghost appeared with a spinning Darkest Lariat, in his bipedal form, which sent Little Horus flying.

Smelling blood, the wolf landed as Little Horus went soaring back into one of his yet standing comrades, still firing down the corridor, despite the shenanigans behind them. Ciri felt her left cheek, and a line of pain across it, running almost to her ear. It was a deep cut, for having barely grazed the sword. Evidently the field of force it generated was just as sharp as the actual metal of the blade. Seeing her Honedge had fainted, but yet clung to her arm, she recalled it, as little Horus got to his feet.

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Nothing on Ciri's belt, she realized, had enough power to take on a Thunder Warrior. With one exception. Maybe. A royal purple Luxury Ball was pulled into her hand without her even noticing, and she pointed at little Horus and the clustered Thunder Warriors. Though their armor was powering down, it didn't take much effort to point and shoot down the hallway at the Selenar defenses. "Queendra! Blizzard!" Ciri shouted, thumbing open her ball. The Pokémon within appeared with a sparkle, and the purple Kingdra, a female, used her implants from the Imperium to immediately take aim, and attack as ordered.

Another, much more potent Blizzard attack joined the Kingdra's, and together, they effectively froze the remaining Thunder Warriors. Their guns stopped firing, their armor became stiff, impossible to move as the components froze in place, and their weapons stopped firing as they suffered the same fate.

There were noises down the hallway turned battlefield as the hail of exploding bullets ceased. Horus, who had taken to shifting his bulk to force Geralt to hit the deepest parts of his superior crafted Terminator class of power armor, glanced at his frozen troops, and decided enough was enough. He raised the wrist-mounted bolter on his left hand, switched it to a flamethrower, but before he could pull the trigger, an increasingly frustrated Geralt was there, to capitalize on the outstretched limb. Srebro and Stahl sank into the heavily armored joints, slicing through thick ceramite plates, fiber bundles, and then eventually skin, as the promethium flames washed over his troops, before they almost immediately sputtered out.

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Realizing what he'd cut as Horus's arm started leaking fuel, Geralt grinned. "Bitter Blades." His Doublade shone bright with flame then, igniting the flamethrower's fuel source, and simultaneously draining Horus of yet more vitality while restoring their own. Geralt was already backflipping away as the armed arm exploded, and left only a fusion of mangled flesh and advanced technology in its wake. To his credit, Horus didn't cry out, but rather had been bringing his power mace around. Again his titanic reach caught Geralt on his swords, and though they'd fed well on the Prime Archon's vitae, the repeated hits from the massive maul were taking their toll.

As Geralt realized this, a figure leapt over him, despite her injuries. His potion was beginning to wear off as well, but he still saw, in slow motion to his perspective, a sea of raven black hair as Yennefer came back to the battle, and this time moved silently for the pack that powered Horus's massive armor. As her power spear struck true, Horus threw a small spherical object. "Remus! Free my Warriors!" He then delivered an armored fist into Yennefer's face, dislodging both her and her spear. His armor was sparking, and now very much susceptible to the vacuum of space, but he hadn't given in just yet.

A truly massive Arcanine appeared with a flash then, and not for the first time. Horus preferred to keep him in his ball, to stay 'fully charged' the way Horus saw it. As ordered, a torrent of fire bathed the Thunder Warriors, and though they steamed, the genetically altered giants didn't immediately move.

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Then, as the Flamethrower ended, came the counter. "Hydro Pump! Then Stone Edge!" Queendra fired first, and with critical effectiveness, hammered the mutated Arcanine in his midsection. A moment later, the snarling form of Ghost, who'd been biting through the throats of the Thunder Warriors still on the ground, now leapt in front of the Arcanine. Seeing Horus had turned back to trading blows with Geralt, Remus acted on his own initiative, and bathed the icy stones in fire. Several melted, but Ghost rage-raised several more, and his move also struck the Arcanine.

While looking slightly worse for wear, Remus wasn't done yet. The fire that replaced his species' normally full and fluffy mane flared back to life, and then plasma arced along his conductive, and spine-like orange fur. The Thunderbolt arced towards the purple Kingdra, hitting her square in the chest, but the sturdy dragon type weathered the hit. As Ghost readied another Stone Edge and Queendra did the same for a Hydro Pump, the floor in front of the unmoving Thunder Warriors rippled, and Ghost leapt away as what seemed like an Earthquake hit Remus, and sent the somewhat immobile Thunder Warriors toppling. They twitched within their still mostly frozen armor slowly as masked warriors of the Selenar followed the Lunatone responsible for the ground attack.

"Blizzard!" Ciri shouted again, and again, both the Articuno and the Kingdra combined their attacks, freezing the downed warriors in place, as the spray from the Hydro Pump had made them damp as well. Furious, Horus turned to take in this disaster, which was when Geralt ended their duel. The Ranger was behind him as soon as he turned. He'd been getting slower since Yennefer's attack, and she seemed to have withdrawn after making it, and taking a giant sized fist to the face. Geralt was amazed she'd even been able to move, and assumed the Heal Pulse from the Articuno had played a part in helping her stand for another attack.

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Now, he spun his Doublade up the giant's back like a spinning beyblade of death, The right half of the massive, bulky, and quite vital power systems in the Terminator pattern power armor split away cleanly, and in the air, Geralt rotated his body the other direction, his swords all too eager to spin with him, as artificial gravity brought them down on the other side of the bulky housing, and split that as well. Geralt landed with a flourish, and sheathed his blades as he readied his method of capturing the giant of a man.

Sparking, bloody, and now trapped between three competent Pokémon Trainers and a contingent of Selenar forces, Horus understood when he was beaten. Worldbreaker, the mace crafted for him by his father, the Imperator Himself, fell from the now depowered hand of his armor, and the rest of it fell into a kneeling position, as it finally failed from all the many stab wounds. Horus tried to move, but the armor, another gift forged by his father, was now essentially the ideal cage for him, in that its thousands of pounds of weight kept him firmly pinned.

"Fangst." Geralt said, and his wrist began glowing, ominously as the Rotom in his Wolf Styler awakened. A trail of plasma surrounded the Prime Archon, almost at the same time about five of the white armor clad Selenar, and their Full Moon form Lunatone did. Geralt yanked Fangst as he encircled the armored titan, and then bound him tight, further entrapping Horus within his technological prison. Fangst had wrapped around the two fallen pieces of power pack as well. Geralt knew if he delivered the son of the Imperator with his armor, Colress would never bother him again about having Triss and Ciri hiding on the moon and living in his precious city.

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"Release the Prime Archon." One of the Selenar said, forceful, but emotionless in tone. "He must stand trial for his crimes."

Geralt wagged a finger and whistled. In a flash, Ghost was behind him, on all fours again, and snarling, daring these newcomers to test his strength as well. More Thunder Warriors would've been harder to deal with. Reduced in number as they were, the ambush had made them almost too easy, and Ghost had barely gotten his pulse racing. "Not quite, lads. This one is for the Director. You are welcome to the rest, but I'm taking Horus here back with me to Pegasus."

Around them, the lights came on, as the efficient mechanics of the Selenar, having learned the fighting had moved on, had been repairing the electrical grid and vital subsystems throughout the conflict. Geralt tapped the communicator in his ear. "I have the package. Bring us home."

Ciri had busied herself recalling her partners and helping Yennefer. They limped within range of Geralt and his prize as the teleporter activated and robbed the Selenar of a Prime Archon's armor schematics. The group reappeared before a large drawn black curtain bearing the symbol of Pegasus in silver upon it, an equine with wings straddling what looked like the letter V, in the middle of Pegasus' command center. Geralt had to blink though, for as they materialized, he noted several Magnezone waiting for them, floating alongside giant triple barreled and mounted cannons that seemed familiar in design, if more mobile now thanks to their tripod legs. It seemed Yennefer's spear wasn't the only repurposed Arcean tech being reverse engineered and improved upon.

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A slow clap filled their ears, and Director Colress appeared on one of the balconies overlooking them. "Well done, Ranger. Rider." His gaze became neutral as his eyes fell on Ciri. "Psychic." He made his way down one of the ramps to their floor before he spoke again. "You may recall Fangst, Geralt. Let him recharge. First, we get Horus out of that armor…and at that point I'll need you to bind him again. Ciri, take Yennefer to our medical wing, the doctors there are expecting her, and your Pokémon."

In short order, base technicians and mechanics alike were examining the power armor and removing it piece by piece. Horus was not one to go quietly though. As soon as his right arm was freed, he grabbed the throat of one of the technicians, and snarled from within his ceramite prison. "Barbariansss…you are unfit to so much as look at my armor! Cease your prodding! The Imperator will consider this, and my capture, an act of war!"

There was a hum then, and Fangst circled Horus's arm several times, then his exposed torso, and finally his thick neck. Once more, Geralt yanked tight, and the giant released his gasping prisoner, raging as he struggled against the plasma bonds. "Hurry it up!" Geralt yelled.

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"Forget the rest, sever the stump of his arm and lift him out of it. We can study it later. The Styler won't hold him forever." Colress ordered, and his orders were followed swiftly. A hum of blue plasma from what seemed like a plasma sword modified to be more of a plasma saw was brought over to Horus's mangled left arm, and then severed. The giant of a man roared, before his implants knocked him out and began trying to heal the wound. This only helped those who were imprisoning him do so, and by the time he came to, he was in a plasma cell, in a bare room, in which he occupied the center. A hastily reinforced cot was all he'd been given. There wasn't so much as a toilet, that he could see. He shouted in fury and disbelief at his situation, swearing vengeance and screaming expletives as he punched the plasma walls of his cage, but his words reached no one.

In the Director's office, a very pleased looking Colress debriefed Ciri and Geralt. "You've proven that my Burst Ranger project was never a failure, Geralt. With a few more like you and Greif, we could have an answer to the Imperator's sons."

At that, Ciri scoffed. "You do not know the Prime Archons. Rarely if ever are they accompanied by as few troops as Horus had, and every one of them fights differently, with the same speed that took out an Articuno Rider. Horus is the only one who only has one Pokémon partner, too. The others are not so underequipped. You were lucky the Selenar depleted his forces so thoroughly."

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Colress just chuckled. "Luck had nothing to do with it, but a certain Ultra Recon Ranger did. Now then, with these acquisitions, and the situation in Koria resolved, Geralt, I'm sending you and whoever you wish to bring with you home for the holiday. Your mission is to relax, and by the end of it, convince your cousin to come up here. I suggest taking a look in your Granduncle's basement. He has a few important notes on legends stored away in there that will lead Alex to the Stargate."

Geralt tilted his head. "His basement was cleaned out. We never found his old papers on those myths he spent his youth chasing."

Colress blinked, and then chuckled harder. "No lad, the main house's basement."

Geralt blinked. "It doesn't have one."

Colress shook his head. "I believe it does. One of your elders should know, and failing them…ask your neighbor, old Tom, about it. He likes to spend Festivus with your family, as I recall."

"He knows more about your house than you do." Ciri said, chuckling to herself.

Geralt ignored her. "Thomas Gladstone? What does he have to do with this?"

Colress tapped his nose and smirked. "More than you'd think. I bet that cousin of yours could find the basement in moments, if he but looked. I leave the 'how' to you, Ranger. You have your task."

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Geralt left the office then, and Ciri was behind him. He was pondering, wondering just how exactly his now passed relative tied into the Stargate, and Pegasus for that matter. His time in Lantea City had shown him a people dedicated to preventing natural disasters and keeping Legendary Pokémon from the hands of the scum of the Earth, or worse, but from what he'd gathered of Pegasus and its members, his family had standing with the organization, though of what kind, and why, nobody had said, even when pressed. It seemed the answers were lying underneath the main house of the old ranch.

Since Ciri and Triss were stuck up in space now, Geralt had no intention of bringing anyone back to the Earth for the Festivus season. He and Ciri caught Triss up on what had occurred in Apollonia, and after a few days of rest, Geralt departed for the planet below with new orders and a new mission.