Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 100- The World's Eyes

Hecto paused, one of his fingers twitching in thought. He floated idly in the void for a few seconds, considering his options.

1. Who is near Yotta Outskirts?

97.

52.

3.

1. Converge. Save who you can. Hope Step notices you.

And now, Hecto could only wait. He peered into their fragments to see firsthand what was happening...

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Step was missing her left arm and that was more trouble than she'd been hoping for. The clearing, beyond the thinned forest, showed huge fields of some crop, though it was empty, perhaps recently cultivated. Good. Then she wouldn't have to worry about destroying it all while defending the town.

With her one good arm, she aimed forward and gathered clouds of frost at the center of her palm. The white beam that followed cracked the air and formed ice crystals along its path, splashing into the chest of a crazed Sawsbuck with the lengthy body of a Linoone. It roared and snorted, its maw glowing with the orange energy of a Hyper Beam, but Step blasted directly into its mouth with a second frosty line.

The crystals coated the roof of its mouth and covered the rest of its head instantly, freezing it in place. She didn't stop; the beam spread, the crystals growing and snapping until its entire body was coated in a gigantic, jagged boulder. Its angry expression was frozen in time.

Step slammed her tail on the ground and pivoted her body, preparing to shatter it like she'd done to so many others.

"Halt!"

That was a new voice, and she'd rarely been spoken to. It was enough to give her pause. To her left was a Zygarde with its leg completely frozen in a patch of icy ground.

"...Please free me and then I would like to talk," Hecto said. "Leave that mutant frozen. We need to prioritize the others in town."

Step narrowed her eyes, approaching with heavy steps. "Fine. I shall free you, Zygarde. But you will—"

"And," Hecto said, "be gentle."

She growled. "You are asking for a lot."

<><><>

Yotta Outskirts was a mixture of hail and flames. The ice pelted the rooftops while the flames crackled outside, sizzling against any chunks of ice that were unlucky enough to land in the inferno. Frantic and disorganized, Yotta Outskirt's residents scrambled toward Kilo Village where it would be safer, or at least away from town and toward the faraway mountain. The older population was less able, and while several younger Pokémon helped them escape, some were still left behind.

"I can still fight!" shouted an Arbok, hissing at an incoming, berserk Tyranitar with silver scales that jutted out of its body like knives. "You can't get past me!"

"Father!" Leo shouted.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Spice sped forward, but Leo's fireball was faster. It flew overhead and slammed into Tyranitar's face. In a rage, it blasted several knife-scales forward, narrowly missing Tari's abdomen.

He weaved out of the way a split-second after the knife had gone past him, and his bold taunts faltered.

"Get back!" Leo shouted, and Spice pulled on Tari so he'd follow. The old Arbok complied, spitting several more curse-laden taunts toward the burning Tyranitar.

"I think that's the last one," Spice panted. "How's your mom doing?"

Leo looked back. She was clutching at her side, where a nasty gash had cut into her fur, leaving crimson to darken the orange coat. She had trouble standing, but that was nothing abnormal, and her conjuring stick was still firmly in her grasp.