Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rising Spirits

Chapter 12, Part 4 - Singed Wings

The Kecleon Twins only stopped walking until they were within Sunrise Town's borders. Trevor was instantly met by a cacophony of loud voices overlapping with one another as a giant crowd of Pokémon obscured the lively town's center. In front of the golden statue of Zephyr which sat at the town's heart sat every Legend Rank who had endeavored to conquer the Temporal Tower, their faces now hanging lowly in defeat. Trevor grimaced at the multitude of scratches, cuts, bruises, and burns which covered their battered bodies; each Pokémon appeared as though they had been badly mauled. Jett's injuries, however, were by far the worst; her normally stainless armor was badly cracked in multiple areas and stained with multiple gaping splotches of burnt ash. Her bloodied teeth gnashed from the pain of attempting to move her battered limbs, several of which contained cracked bones. What stuck out to Trevor the most, however, was how the Scizor's once intimidatingly powerful wings had been completely singed off, now reduced to nothing but a pair of useless, ash-covered nubs. The Legend Rank winced bitterly upon seeing Team Spirit approaching from within the crowd, mortified at being seen by them while in such a pitiful state.

Madeline peered sadly into Trevor's eyes as he hesitantly approached before speaking in a somber, fragmented voice before the Meowth had an opportunity to ask what had happened.

"Our excursion of the Temporal Tower..." she began relaying, "...was a complete disaster. Vul was ready for us. Not only did he have a plethora of powerful crawlers to fend us off, but... there was also the matter of Dialga's pressure..."

"It was worse than anything any of us ever could have imagined," Locke added while lowering his petunia cap, the surface of which was badly scratched and riddled with wounds, "Dialga's state has become so dire to the point where even approaching the Barren Continent by sea was enough to make us all nearly collapse from exhaustion. So, of course, the process of climbing the tower itself was... another thing entirely..."

Baron clutched his head with his claws and shut his eyes in an attempt to repress a sea of agonizing memories. "It was unimaginable! I could barely think through all the pain- it was as if our strength was steadily siphoned as time progressed! To think that Zephyr could have made it to the top all on his own, much less land a dent on the Red Chain... We barely had a chance to meet Dialga in the flesh before its roar nearly incinerated us! We were barely able to make it back here with our lives!"

Omega, despite his abundant confidence at the meeting in the Canyon of the Ancients, was completely devoid of words, instead preferring to stare into space while frozen in sheer terror.

Jett was last among the Legends to speak. "To think that there could be a situation in which even we are powerless to confront. We're supposed to be the finest Explorers there are, yet we remain powerless and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I'm afraid that the end of the world..." she murmured in a hushed, disbelieving tone, "...may be truly inevitable after all.: The Scizor grimaced slightly. "As much as it hurts to admit it... Vul has won. I'm... sorry."

Any screaming or crying which may have on a previous occasion was now replaced by an overwhelming feeling of hushed, sad acceptance. The sight of such a once-mighty Legend being reduced to such a pitiful state, in addition to the death of their greatest hero only weeks prior, was more than enough to drain every Pokémon in Sunrise Town of hope and drown the entire scene in waves of crushing silence. Even the Kecleon twins were completely unable to come up with any kind of encouraging sentiment; the only Pokémon with enough naivete to keep their heads raised were the two children huddled around the twins' legs.

"What's... wrong?" Cody suddenly dared to ask.

"Hmm?" came Madeline's surprised response. "What do you mean?"

"I don't get it... you're just giving up?!" Sunny tagged in, "You guys are our heroes- everyone in this town looks up to you! I... thought you guys were better than this!"