Character: L̶a̶n̶c̶e̶l̶o̶t̶ A̶c̶u̶i̶t̶y̶ Kaiser Dragoon
Age: Unknown
Year of character creation: 2014
Story: The bastard king himself, chosen by a god from another world to rule Olympus.
________________________________________________________________________________
Flareon Light stalked down a cold, metal hallway. His breath came out in a cold mist.
He didn't know how he got here. White lights ran along the dark, metallic walls, gesturing him forward, down an uncertain path. He lifted up one of his paws. A steel hole sat on the back of his wrist, and more along his arms. Empty plugs coated his scalp, all of them ingrained into his skin.
A door slid open at the end of the hallway.
"Light?"
Light's eyes snapped open.
A droplet of water rested on his nose. Another dripped on it. An amber waterfall of stone loomed over his head. He sat up.
Sylveon One slept in her own makeshift nest a few paces away. A Quilladin and Skwovet from the Wild Bunch played a quiet card game. His paws throbbed. His stomach twisted in knots. Ever since the tower, he felt ill. His body had forced him awake for something. He closed his eyes and let it pop into his head.
Sugar.
Light rolled up to his aching legs and walked around. Some kind of group used to live in this cave, evident by walkways, ramps, clean cuts and miniature structures. Snivy Shu and Kirlia Bao slept side-by-side, surrounded by short walls. Light stepped quietly to a mass of wooden barrels at the back of the cave walls. He ran his paws across the surfaces and brought his face close when he touched a label. Salt, food, clothes...
Finally he found sugar. Light reached up, removed the lid, and dunked himself inside the barrel. His face poked out of the top.
"Light? Light?"
"What?" Light asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Trying to sleep."
"Light, you're not an awful person."
"What?"
"It's normal to feel numb. That doesn't mean you're not grieving. You are in your own way. You have nothing to feel guilty for. Sleep well."
Light opened his mouth every time his body groaned for more sugar. His paws thingled and throbbed. Nothing felt quite right, like growing pains, but different, stronger. He slept for a few hours.
Somebody shouted. Light reacted to it five seconds later. Sugar fell down the sides of the barrel as his head popped out.
A small metal box hovered around in the air. Four rotors hummed in different pitches as it maneuvered around. A Bidoof and Wooper readied to jump it.
"Wait!"
Sylveon One's call froze them. She walked up to the drone and stood still. It swiveled around until a glassy circle on its body pointed at her.
"Three?" One asked.
"Oh, there you are!" A voice emanated from the drone. It moved down, landed, and the rotors stopped spinning. "Hi! Are you... okay?"
One frowned.
The rest of the Wild Bunch gathered around, though not too close. They trusted One fine by now, but not the technology. It looked weird.
"I heard," said Three. "Uhm... Are you okay?"
"You came here for more than to ask that, didn't you?" One questioned.
"Yes. I have some new information for you. I also have information on nearby patrol routes."
"You didn't risk sending a drone here to tell me about patrol routes. What is it?"
"Father discovered a new Legendary species in the Acuitan Banishing Lands. He plans to do something with it by Christmas Eve. I don't know what, but... There's a bad feeling floating around. It's hard to describe."
"Do you have information on Six's airship?" One asked.
"Yes, I have the schematics. I also had a few sets of pegasi wings set up for you, but not enough for everyone. It will account for yourself, Angelo... Er, Light. Sheng, Bao, Shu... I think that is all I could muster. You will have to invade Six's airship with all this alone. I need to go now. Make sure to destroy this drone after, as usual."
"Of course."
The Wild Bunch scattered around. Light thought that he would get funny looks crawling out of the sugar barrel, but he didn't. One must've explained his... whole thing.
"Hey."
Light wiped the sugar off his head and creased his eyes. A Charmander, maybe in his twenties, approached him. On their way here, he described himself as a rogue Dragoon of sorts. Light didn't care about his story. He saved them on the glass tower. He trusted him.
"I feel like I missed some things," Charmander Herald said. His blue eyes lit up a touch more. "What's happening?"
"We're invading Six's airship.
"Ah." He nodded. "Well, things can't get much bloody worse, so, why not?" He looked down at Light's feet. "Did you hurt yourself?"
Light shifted his weight between his paws. They stung under the pressure of his body weight. He didn't know why.
"To be honest, you don't look so good," Herald said. "I think you could be sick or something. Best keep close to me, yeah?"
Ah, right. Herald owned a set of pegasi wings, the ones he rescued them with.
"Yah... Alright," Light said. "Thank you."
Sylveon One ran out of weapons to bring, except for a few kitchen knives. Light might've been the only one to notice her coat them in some kind of mashed up powder. He didn't ask. With any luck, it was just explosives.
After she finished, she called everyone close to the bonfire she turned the drone into. The Wild Bunch gathered around. A ribbon reached over the crowd, wrapped around Light's paw, and dragged him from the outskirts to the center, right next to One. They sat in front of a thick paper on the floor, a diagram with multiple layers, types of lines, and labels galore. Light didn't comprehend it.
Prinplup Sheng and Snivy Shu sauntered up on either side. Sheng took a cursory glance.
"I'm thinkin we attack from overhead," Sheng said.
"You... can read this?" Light asked quietly.
"I'm a pirate captain, course I can read it. This thing looks like it has no defenses from the top. Designers prolly thought they'd always be lookin down on their enemies. Snobbish pieces of work."
"It's not that," said One. "Their strategy for defending the top involves scattering pegasi wings in the air. That's what those tubes are for."
"Oh. Where even is the entrance?"
"There are panels that come out on the high parts of the side that act as landing platforms. Otherwise, there is no entrance."
"So then we just have to cut our way in?"
"Correct. The thinnest areas would be where those panels are located. Provided we catch them off guard, we will have a minute and a half before we are engaged in the air when they first spot us."
"But ain't they gonna feel the Acuitan blessing on you two?"
"The ship is filled with Angels. They won't notice the Acuitan blessing from either of us. And that's another subject." One stood up and faced Sheng. "The ship is filled with Angels," she repeated. "You do not kill Angels. Do I make myself clear?"
"Will they try to kill me?" Sheng asked with a smirk.
"No. They abide by a code. They do not kill."
"Then we all good."
One picked Light up by his mane and hoisted him onto her back. "Make preparations," she ordered. "We leave in two hours." She then walked out of the crowd with him.
"Where are we going?" Light asked.
"I'm going to outfit you with pegasi wings and teach you to fly in them," One answered.
"In less than two hours?"
"The basics are simple."
"How are the basics going to be enough for this?"
"If you want your Guild back, then make it work."
________________________________________________________________________________
Light at least made the pegasi wings work. He had experience with Grapplers, and these worked the same. On either side of his spine, six patches stuck on tight. When he put in energy, like flexing a muscle, the boosters from each black metal spine activated. Varying degrees of strength and different combinations controlled it all. Apparently, the Angels all used the same size and standardized set of pegasi wings, and they fit him perfectly. The shape of One's set seemed different, but he couldn't place how.
Prinplup Sheng, Snivy Shu, and Kirlia Bao picked it up right along with him. They passed One's test in a certain order: to hover without moving, flying in every direction, and a quick flip. Sylveon One paced back and forth in front of them. After the two hour mark, even Light felt comfortable going up higher with them. Though the cave ceiling didn't offer much freedom.
Once they finished, they left. Light hung in the back of their little walking formation. Sheng waved back at the cave mouth to the rest of the Wild Bunch. Light gave the same to Sawsbuck Huruma, though he never approached him for any sagely advice.
Light's gaze trained down on the jungle floor. The clatter of pegasi wings on his back faded to the background. He missed Ariel, and Jonathan, his aunt too. He didn't even know what became of Storm or Nathan or anyone after they put themselves out there so he could escape. That'd all change.
Light followed One as she led them. She picked out a time and place for them to fly from; an elevated location as Six's airship flew over. She brought them to a rocky canyon, high enough for clouds to hang around treetops, overlooking a windy river. At points, he had to scale short but sheer rock walls.
Or at least, he didn't think hard enough about it.
Sylveon One furrowed her brows and stared at him as she boosted past with her pegasi wings. Charmander Herald stopped next to him.
"You good?" Herald asked.
"Uh, yah," Light said. "Just, forgot."
"Keep your head up."
"Get up here now!" One cried.
Adrenaline surged through Flareon Light's body. He boosted up and joined the others.
Six's airship hovered in the distance, as expected. But a torrent of red flames curled from it. It turned faster than Light thought it ever could, straight in their direction. The distance between them didn't seem like nearly enough now.
"How'd they know?" Sheng asked. "Aw man, the hell is this supposed to be?"
Sheng grunted. Kirlia Bao tackled him off to the side.
A pale blue light, no bigger than a pin, grew in Light's eye. One dove off the cliff in front of him. He copied her.
The laser slammed into a cliff. Chunks of rock and dirt fell on top of Light. He boosted with his pegasi wings, not in time. Rocks crushed the metal spines and drew out trails of sparks. The thrust flung him into a spin. His leg scratched another cliffside. A large rock bore down on his chest, another hit his head.
Several long seconds later, his body hit the ground. Light turned his head up. A boulder like a spear came down. He rolled to the side, out of its way. Any unbroken pegasi wings came clean off. Light crawled away from a dirt avalanche and ripped the remaining metal off his back.
Two red lights flew straight at Six's airship, One and Herald no doubt. He lost track of the other three. They could be in one of the countless lasers slamming into the tops of the cliffs.
His pegasi wings were shot, and Light couldn't help from down here. He couldn't do anything. Ariel and his Guild were right above him, and he couldn't do anything. Why couldn't things ease up for him? This wasn't fair.
Smoke leaked out of Light's mouth with every breath. He stalked forward, aimless, angry, and sat down at the river's edge to look at himself. He groaned and smashed his paw in the mud. His reflection smiled back. Light flinched. He wasn't smiling.
"Are you ready?" Reshiram asked.
Light creased his eyes and lowered his head to his reflection. "Ready?" he asked.
"For our trump card?"
Light sighed. "I don't know that anything would help..."
Light's legs seized up. He toppled forward and fell into the water. It was deep. The current swept him further down. His limbs held him underwater. Lasers continued to fly and blow up clifftops. Clouds of red leaked out from behind him. His back and shoulders burned. His paws hurt so much he wanted to cut them off. His back brushed the bottom of the river..
"It's time to continue with the plan," Reshiram said. "No more complaining from here on out, understand? You have the means. Let's go."
The pain stopped. Light had new muscles, on his back, in his paws. A new piece of him swept past a rock on the river bottom. He flexed the muscles in his paws. Bubbles burst out and rose to the surface. His body lurched upwards.
Light rose out of the water. Steam coiled around him. The surface of the river below bubbled and boiled. Jets of fire from his back paws held him aloft.He held and rolled around his front paws. They glowed red, like steel in the forge. White curtains cast a warm shadow over his face.
"Other Scions have more... specific abilities," Reshiram said. "Our combined strength is simple. You were genetically spliced with me. I didn't understand what that meant for a time, but now that you've completed your evolution, I do. Your body's true nature is to be like mine. That is your power."
Light recognized the red glow on his paws now; the same as Reshiram's tail. A pair of wings, lightweight and large, curled, furled, and waved at his command. He turned skyward towards Six's airship. It couldn't be more than a minute away from him now. A clear path between rays of light presented itself to him. Nothing would prepare them for this.
"Are you kidding?" Light asked. "You knew I might be able to fly and you didn't tell me?"
"Wasn't sure your body would be ready in time. The sugar helped."
Light's paws angled down at the water and ignited. His wings caught the force. Wind careened off his sides and slid off his body. He twisted around to turn and follow above the river. Shots from the laser cannons fell behind him. They moved too slow to hit. He pushed harder. He needed to keep up the speed difference so they'd miss at point blank, or he'd get shot down before he could get on the airship.
A dozen small pebbles whizzed past his ear; bullets. Light spared a glance back at his wings. None left any damage. His back feet tingled from the strain.
A laser cannon had blended into the skyline. He fired off his left front paw. Pale blue light grazed his tail. The lasers that barraged the river started to catch up with him the closer he got. They followed his trail in a robotic, straight line. Light guessed they had some kind of program or machine targeting system. It made sense. No one could eyeball it and hit him with firearms at this speed.
Light extended his arm out and added a slight force. The imbalance shoved him into a spiral. The cannons fired in a rhythm. He adjusted to match it.
Dizziness set in. He kept flying for a wall of solid, pale steel. A pulse of heat clipped his wings, and just like that, lost control. He cut the power to his foot, but it didn't stop his momentum.
Something shattered. Light hit a wall, crashed through, and slammed into another wall. He slid down and hit a metal floor head-first.
"Sup bruv."
Light's vision, split in two, realigned.
Pyumuku Kaleb sat on a metal bench in front of him. Wind pulled at Light's fur. Shards of glass dusted the floor between them.
A one-way window? He got that lucky?
"Kaleb!" Light broke out a smile.
"Ayo," Kaleb breathed out. "How'd you get up here?"
Light stood upright and stopped. The weight from his wings vanished. He craned his neck on either side and didn't see them.
"It is very energy intensive to materialize wings out of thin air," Reshiram said.
"So, they're not real?"
"They're real."
"Uh... Okay?"
"Where are the others?" he asked Kaleb.
"Our cells are all scattered. Think you can use whatever over the top Scion powers you got to bust me out of here?"
Light turned around. On his left, a small door with hefty locks and wiring buzzed with a slight current. If he had to guess, it used some kind of magnetism to hold shut. The rest of the rooms' walls were made of the same energy-suppressant metal used in shields. Breaking the metal would take less effort overall, he decided. With his goal in mind, he backed up, over the glass shards, and angled all of his paws back but one. He balled up the last one into a fist.
His feet left the floor. Light drove his fist in the metal until it bent, cracked, and broke apart. Sheets of metal laid on the floor. The air opened up.
Three white Eevees sat at a small round table in front of him, each on a plump cushion with playing cards in their paws. A lollipop dropped from one of their mouths and clanked against the metal floor.
"Nice," Kaleb called out.
One of the Eevees dropped their cards and raised a trembling paw at him. "U-uh, get back in your cell!" she hissed. "Or I won't give you cookies after dinner tonight!"
Pyukumuku Kaleb hopped through the Light-sized hole in the wall. "You're cookies have too much sugar in them anyways."
One of them gasped, the other two broke out in tears. Light walked past their table and looked over a glass railing.
He landed somewhere high in the airship, with no floors between him and the rounded wall of the airship's outer shell. He counted five different levels below, four with balconies and railings, and then the ground floor. The marble-tiled floor almost squeaked under his paws. The layout reminded him of a shopping mall in Valor.
Every single floor swarmed with Eevees that looked exactly like him. Light backed away from the railing. A buzzer hissed in his ear. He noticed miniscule speakers lined up at points along the floor under the railing.
"Attention everybody! An unknown projectile crashed into our hull. Please prepare in case of intruders. Oh! And someone get on fixing that hole. The bugs in Abuja look like they're from the fourth dimension. Don't look up pictures of spiders... Just don't."
The buzzer rang again, in a descending jingle. It almost sounded like One on the intercom. Was it a Saint?
"Over there!"
Kaleb pointed his oversized hand over the railing, towards a gated door on the other side. It matched the door for Kaleb's cell. He didn't see a clear way to get across nearby, so Flareon Light jogged back away from the railing and ran hard. He leapt over it.
Light's paws grabbed the railings on the other side. He pulled himself up, fell over the side, and rolled to his feet. As soon as he stood up, Pyukumuku Kaleb stared at him an arm's reach away. Light glanced back at the other railing.
"How did you-"
"Yes."
A pair of white Eevees in white hoodies and short skirts stopped and gawked at them. Their purses rattled on their arms as they pointed at him.
"That's the guy-we'resupossedto gethim-gethim!"
"Figure out the door," Kaleb said. "I'm about to put the toxic in toxic masculinity."
One of them ripped a cupcake out from the other's purse.
"No! Sasha!"
The Eevee threw a cupcake as beautiful as the full moon frosted with stars. Kaleb spat a purple blob at it. Sludge overtook the cupcake and splattered against the ground. The other Eevee fell and cried out.
Light went back to the door. The buzzer rang.
"Okay, so, I know a lot of you are busy at the Ariel appreciation convention, but I really need someone to tell the chefs that we're out of tuna for dinner. So what are you guys thinking? Sushi? Something fried? Make sure to leave a vote on the poll!"
Ariel appreciation convention?
A miniature pie slapped the door and sprayed him in the face. Light wiped off chunks of bread crust from his cheek. The pie landed right on top of a suspicious box; it jut out from the wall more than anything else, and when he brought his ear close, hummed. Could be the power source.
Light rammed his paw into it. The door started to float forward. With a strong pull, the locks and other mechanisms snapped, allowing it to open.
In a room just like Kaleb's, Galarain Ponyta Nadia rested on her side. Her ears moved first, then the rest of her body rose to life. Her eyes ran wild across Light's body.
"Light!?" Nadia half-screamed. She swallowed and quieted herself. "Is that you!?"
"Follow me!" Light said.
More white Eevees arrived. A steady stream of cookies, brownies, and gum pelted Kaleb from an army of purses. He slapped them aside with his hand, but some slipped through (not that they did anything) and fell underneath him.
"Hit em with the caramel crunch!"
"I'm running out of sponge cake!"
"Why are you throwing sponge cake!?"
Light looked behind them. He saw more of the boxes, equidistant from each other.
"Break those boxes on the wall!" Light pointed at them for Nadia.
"O-okay!"
Nadia ran down the way. Light scooped Kaleb up and ran with him.
Galarian Ponyta Nadia ran ahead. The locks shattered with a flash of her horn. Out of one of the rooms, a white Eevee rolled out. Eevee angled a large, hollow metal tube to face them. With a sharp bang and a plume of fire, a metal cylinder with a flaming tail shot out.
"Uhhhhhhh..."
The rocket curved down. The floor burst apart. Light flailed around and landed on his chest, Kaleb next to him. His paws shook as he stood up.
"Do you think he just sits there with a rocket launcher all day just waiting for it?" Kaleb asked.
Light didn't have time to ask. An Eevee in pegasi wings soared down towards them. The shine of blades along the Eevee's arms and legs strained his eyes.
"Aight, bet," Kaleb blurted.
Light's ears rose. Kaleb only mentioned this idea once, but... Alright.
Light picked Kaleb up by his underside and held him high. The Eevee kicked across Kaleb's body. His second foot slammed against Kaleb again, and didn't slide past. Light's muscles groaned as he tried to push him off.
A massive fist punched Eevee. The force of it flung Light back against the wall. The Eevee in pegasi wings crashed down to the first floor as Kaleb retracted his arm.
"Nice, Kaleb," Light huffed.
"Thank you," he said. "I am in tremendous pain."
Light glanced up and saw another box. He reached up and punched it out. A door behind him floated open. He set Kaleb down and looked inside.
The room opened up wide. Bookshelves lined lavender walls. A dark wood desk sat under a window with the curtains drawn. In the middle of the room, an Eevee with glasses sat up straight across from another Eevee, lying down. A clock on the wall left a distinct ticking sound between them.
The Eevee with glasses flipped through her notebook. "So tell me, is the White Star in this room with us right now?"
"Yes."
The Eevee with glasses noticed Light. Her glasses fell over her lips. Light threw the door closed.
"Do you have any idea how these floors work, Kaleb?" Light asked.
"The bottom floor is the social one. The second is food. Third is recreation, gyms and stuff. The fourth is for relaxation, spas and stuff. And then the top floor is the prison. Apparently there's a lot of accidental tax fraud."
"Exit? Exit? Where's an exit!?"
"Bottom floor."
A squad of Eevees in pegasi wings flew past. They broke apart. Flames, spheres of light, and jets of water rained down on them.
"Light!"
Light turned up.
Heliolisk Jonathan stood on the floor above him, right where the rocket launcher tore it to shreds. He hopped down and landed with his feet in between chunks of rubble.
"The hell are you doing here?" Jonathan asked.
"Rescuing!" Light answered.
"What's next in the plan?"
"Plan? Oh, uh... plan."
The buzzer rang.
"Okay, so... We have a prison break! If everyone would be so kind as to remain calm, we have an opportunity! The White Star is aboard! Start fanning out! To our intruders... Hi! I'm Eighty-Seven, but you can call me Isabelle. I have two bells on my head. That's why I is-a-belle. So, don't think of me as a prison warden... Think of me as a friend, or, you know, your owner, as if you were beloved pets. Pets. Not the other thing..." She cleared her throat. "And I'm doing my very best to keep you safe! If the intruders could line up in a single file, social services will be with you shortly to sort you out in a very non-violent way! We even have cookies!
"Oh! And for any Dragoons aboard, please follow our no killing rule. If you fail to comply, well... We'll have to put research and development on finding a way to make you experience pain."
"We need to take control of the ship," Light decided. "Jonathan, is Ariel up there?"
"Doubt it," he said. "Scions can only be contained by hibernation. But I think they're keeping her hostage with threats against us."
"Account for everyone, take this area, then make a move on the ship. I need to find Ariel and Mei. Take care of Kaleb."
Light ran and hopped over the railing.
At the end of a long fall, fire shot off his paws and slowed him down. He landed soft on the floor and looked for the way out. The buzzer rang.
"Can't believe I have to announce this right now, but yes, there is a leak in the chocolate fountain," said Isabelle. "Someone just... take care of it. And stop throwing sponge cakes! Use caramel crunch you idiots!"
A gaggle of Eevees ran around Light in every direction, none of them focused on him. They howled, yelped, danced around a rain of lightning bolts and bright attacks. Light checked around and spotted a tunnel leading out. He ran for it.
A trio of Eevees raced out of the tunnels. Light staggered to a stop. The distance between them shrunk to nothing in an instant. They each rode in a low-lying white metal box with four wheels; karts. Light angled his paws, jumped, and blasted out of the way.
One of them hit the brakes too hard and went airborne. The other two glided to a swift turnaround (they both looked back as the third's kart shredded apart against a wall). Light didn't know how large this airship was. A kart would be useful. And if the Angels made them standard for themselves, they should work for him too.
They drove for him. Light spaced his legs apart and held his arms out. He met their eyes as they rushed him, in case they tried some kind of trick.
They stayed strong.
His arms held firm. Light grunted as the rubber wheels squeaked and sputtered on the floor. The Eevees flinched, glanced at each other, jumped out of the karts, and ran off. Light held on till the wheels stopped spinning, then picked the right one.
The controls seemed simple enough; gas pedal on the left, brakes on the right, and a steering wheel. His foot tingled with a touch of the pedal, so he imagined it ran off his own body's energy. Light leaned back in a dark cushioned seat and sighed. Comfy. He wanted one. His feet grazed the pedals at the perfect distance for his legs.
Light hit the gas and made for the tunnel. He stayed careful at first, no faster than he could jog, in case he didn't drive it well, but it controlled buttery smooth. Overhead, the buzzer rang out of speakers on the top of the tunnel wall.
"Okay guys," Isabelle sighed. "I'm not going to name names, or numbers, but please, catnip stays inside the break room. I caught a whiff of it from my office and I'm a little too busy to play with this... big... floofy, ball of yarn... Grrrrgh... Mreoeoooooooooooooow!" Bells jangled.
The tunnel continued on for a good minute. Light understood the karts now.
The path split off in two directions. Light stopped and looked twice. A row of signs pointed down each direction. He didn't recognize the symbols' meanings.
He did recognize Sky Shaymin Ariel's beautiful face on one of them pointing to the left. The Angels couldn't have expected this attack enough to make a trap like this. Or maybe they could?
Probably not. Light veered off to the left. He started to pass by numbered steel doors on each side, and parked go karts for each one. Through a window, one Eevee in a nightgown and nightcap brushing their teeth traced him as he drove by. Light saw the end of the tunnel as it crawled closer. The karts started to conglomerate. By the end, he didn't have a place to park.
Light's eyes lit up. A banner with Sky Shaymin Ariel's face overlaid a set of opened double doors. He pulled his go kart to the side and stopped to stay quiet. His uneven footsteps tapped on the floor. The slick metal transitioned to wooden floorboards.
The room opened up to what he now considered to be his own personal heaven.
Ariel balloons, Ariel tablecloths topped with Ariel cakes and Ariel pies, Ariel pins, Ariel badges, life-sized Ariel plushies on the backs of a dozen Eevees in sight, Ariel T-shirts, Ariel paintings, a bush cut in the shape of Ariel's head, flowers arranged in the shape of Ariel's face, and an entire Ariel punch bar with her head at the top of every, last, sippy cup. And of course, all completed by a massive Ariel statue in the chocolate fountain right in the front, complete with a cape. It wouldn't be complete without the cape.
It brought a tear to his eye.
In the corner of the room, an Eevee with an afro painted on a standing canvas in front of a small group. A hyperrealistic painting of Ariel burst to life with each stroke of his paintbrush.
"Add a touch, not, much, a little touch, of Alizarin crimson," he lectured quietly. "Very powerful color... Yes..."
Two Eevees clad in green armor walked up to him. Light readied himself, but neither made a move.
"And who are you to enter the house of our new goddess?" one of them asked with a prick on his tongue.
"Aren't you supposed to capture me?" Light asked.
"We have one purpose in this world and it is nearly time for her feast," the second retorted. She rolled her eyes at him "We ask you again, why do you enter here?"
"I'm... her boyfriend."
Soft jazz music, so gentle Light hadn't registered it, stopped. Twenty Eevees with life-sized Ariel plushies on their backs stopped and looked at him. Cold silence washed over the room, but hatred, hot as the bottom of a frying pan, boiled right into his skull, and at that moment, he knew, he fucked up.
"Kill him."
Three Eevees sitting down pulled out rocket launchers from under the table. Light dove past the guards to the fountain for cover. An Eevee bit down on his tail and locked his jaw, another on his arm. His side shoved against the wall. He curled up into a ball and protected himself with his tail around him.
After a moment, they had him pinned down. At least they couldn't hurt him too bad.
"What should we do?" one girl asked
"Sacrifice!"
It caught on.
"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!"
Light didn't uncurl himself to look. The sensation of being carried bounced under his feet. The chants that surrounded him could've come from a hundred, easy. They carried him up a few flights of ramps, he guessed The chants quieted down. The swish sound of water silenced them.
Then it stopped, and he uncurled to look. And he saw her.
Ariel.
Sky Shaymin Ariel sat in a hot tub. The fur on her head, in a newly done fishtail braid, hung lower than before, and laid out on a tiled floor around a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Her fur, smooth, clung to her body tighter than usual. She looked relaxed, and in better health than ever; the exact opposite of what Light expected.
Even her muscles seemed bigger than usual...
"Light!?"
Who?
Oh, right. Him.
"This heretic said he was your boyfriend," one of the Eevees behind them called out.
"Yes," Ariel forced out of her surprised face. "Yes, he's my boyfriend."
The Eevees dropped him and spiraled out of control. Several of them started crying. A neat, single file line of Eevees with wedding rings, ring pops, and offerings dispersed in a slow-moving crowd.
"B-but...!'
A girl Eevee approached the edge of the marble tub. She held out a cookie with a gold diamond ring on top.
"B-but... I baked you c-cookies..." Tears filled her eyes.
Light's stomach dropped. Ariel put on her best comfort smile.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she said. "I'm sure you'll find someone who will be ready to eat that cookie with you someday. Now, if you could all give us some space, that would be wonderful."
Slowly, the Eevees backed off. They walked back a set of ramps to the floor below and forced conversations. Ariel waited for the noise to pick back up.
"Light?" Ariel asked again. "How are you here? Did you... get captured?"
"Uh, no," he said. "Kind of doing a big prison break invasion type thing."
"Oh. I only heard that you beat Reshiram." Her emerald eyes traced his form. "You look... glowy."
"You look ho- how... nice." Light cleared his throat. It was really hard to think clearly like this. "Yah. One helped me."
"One what?"
Oh. So that's how it felt. He sighed. "No, like, the Angel. One."
"Ph. Wait? One!?" she asked. "Like, the first first? Is she here?"
"Uh, yah. Or, well, coming here." He glanced around again. "What's going on here?"
"Well," said Ariel, "it all started when I said they have cute little bean paws. And then it, ah... spiraled."
"When was that?"
"About three days ago."
Light's clones made an Ariel cult in three days. Sounded about right. Pretty fast for the statue, though.
"Where's Mei?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ariel huffed. She raised her right paw out of the water, revealing a black bracelet-watch type thing.
"What is that?" Light asked.
"Six said that if I attack or try anything, this bracelet would tell her," she explained. "And I don't know what she'd do to Mei."
"Okay. So it's probably better you stay here, and I'll go get Six and, uh... Win."
"I think you should stay here. Someone else can go after Six and Mei."
Light paused. Ariel forced a straight face Why?
"But, she's your sister," Light said. "I have to find her."
"You should not get close to the Archangels." A scowl leaked out.
"I'll be alright. I'll bring someone to help fight."
"Not that. She'll get in your head."
"We both know I have to go."
"You don't get it, Light. You can't just drown them out. I've seen it. They have a method. Find somebody to do it instead."
"We're already short on time, and options." Light pressed his lips together. "Look, we gotta move fast. Let's just not overthink anything. I'm gonna find Mei, and we're gonna get out of here."
Ariel shifted. She pulled herself out of the hot tub and stood in front of him.
Light hadn't seen her for a bit. She almost looked taller; Light's head barely reached up to her chest. His heart jumped. Her eyes tore a hole through his forehead. One by one, she lifted his paws up to her shoulders. She leaned forward and kissed him, shortly, but it lasted forever. Ariel set him back down on his feet. He shook with every breath.
"Take someone with you," Ariel said. "Someone strong. You know. And be good."
He loved her. "Yes Airy..." Light mumbled.
"Good. Run along. And stay focused. One goal at a time. Get Mei."
"On it!"
Light ran off. He hopped down a couple flights of ramps back to the set of lunch tables. As he jogged past, his eyes landed on an Eevee's paws. Light bounced to a stop.
The Eevee held an attractive glass of chocolate milk, and not only attractive because it had Ariel's face on it. Eevee tossed it towards him. Light snatched it out of the air, nodded his thanks, and kept on. Once he passed the door, he hopped back into his kart and drove off with chocolate milk in one hand.
The speakers came on again. Isabelle cleared her throat ."So, I'm back after my impromptu break, and it would appear someone is trying to get in my room," Isabelle said. "A little Prinplup with a big mouth who won't shut up. Do be careful if you're passing by my office. And no one tell him I have a bucket of explosives on top of the door. Wait, he can hear me... Oh well. Where's my chainsaw?"
Flareon Light slowed down to read a sign. There must be some sensical clue for where he could find her office. He checked the logic behind all of the pictures and landed on one: a sign with two bells. Made sense. He followed the arrows and checked every sign.
Five stops and three metallic hallways later, he arrived at a door that looked the same as the others, only with the same double bell symbol on it. Light parked his kart next to it and pushed on the door. Locked.
"Hello?" Isabelle's distant voice came from inside.
Wait a minute. They were all clones, with the same voice.
"E-excuse me?" Light asked. "I came to help with the loud Prinplup?"
"Oh, how kind of you! I'll be with you in a second, dearie!"
Light sat. He didn't have much choice, other than burning through some of his energy to bust in. No sign of Sheng outside, or chainsaw sounds.
During his wait, Diancie Jasmine peeked from around the nearby corner. Light reacted with a digit up to his mouth to shush her. Her breath, meant for a shout, went silent. She came close enough to hear his whispers.
"I'm trying to trick Isabelle and get inside," Light whispered, so quietly he almost didn't hear himself.
"Oh..." she said. "Okay."
"Why are you here?"
"I just hate her. Don't worry about it."
He blinked.
A small buzzing sound came from the door.
"Come in!" Isabelle called.
Light nodded to her. He breathed deep and pushed it open. It didn't make a sound.
An expansive room stretched out. A chandelier hung in the center. A grand, oaken desk sat underneath a large window. Calendars and landscape paintings lined the walls. A brown carpet with red diamond patterns underlaid all of it.
In front of the desk, a giant black pot boiled up to its limit. Firewood piled up at the bottom, burning, but not the floor, thanks to a heavy white tarp under it. A white Eevee with a ponytail, tied up by a red collar with two silver bells attached, sat on a chair and stirred the pot with a ladle. An apron covered her outfit underneath. Prinplup Sheng rotated slowly underneath it, bound to a horizontal pole by ropes..
"Yknow," said Isabelle, smiling, "I always wondered what penguin tastes like. Especially after that one Gordon Ram video."
Diancie Jasmine reached her arm out and blocked Light from walking forward. She frowned and turned her head down.
"It's that Prinplup pirate guy," she whispered, and paused. "Let her cook."
"He's been helping us!" Light hissed back.
"Oh. Ah, fine."
Light stepped forward. Isabelle perked up.
"Oh hello!" she greeted. "If it isn't the White Star and the traitorous Dragoon sentry. How can I help you?"
Isabelle hopped down from her chair, untied her apron and revealed her outfit: a vest overlaying a white shirt, a small, red ribbon tie, and a navy blue skirt. She pranced over behind her desk, hopped up, and hung off by her arms to make it look like she was sitting.
"And if you'd like to file with our complaints department..." Isabelle's eyes flattened. "Go fuck yourself."
"Do you just have that pot in here?" Light asked.
"I keep many items present in case of complaints. Now then, how may I help you?"
"Dropping dead might be a start," Jasmine chirped.
Isabelle smirked. "Aw, sweetie. The only reason father let you become a sentry is because you were screwing around with Galahad while he was still his prized sacrificial lamb. And the only reason you're not back on Olympus right now making me a sandwich is because Galahad still has a soft spot for you, and father sunk too much time training him to have him all upset over his pirate's booty."
Light blinked. Sheng turned his head back.
"Not you," Isabelle quickly added. "You know, saving the world is a tight schedule," she continued, "and I didn't plan to waste time beating the shit out of you, but at least it won't take long."
Isabelle reached down, pulled out a drawer, and set down two metal bats. Her eyes darted between them, paused, and settled back on them over a frown.
"Spikes or no spikes?" she asked.
Pink light rippled around Diancie Jasmine's hands. It twisted into a spiral and solidified as a pink, diamond club. Isabelle tossed away her spiked bat and picked up the other one.
"Now I know what you're thinking," Isabelle said with a grin, "but this is not going to be a catfight. Ignore the ball of yarn."
Isabelle ducked underneath the table and shoved it up. It spun around in the air, banged into the pot, and toppled it over. Jasmine swung her club. The table burst apart in heavy fragments and rained down on the soup-coated carpet.
Flareon Light jumped and caught Prinplup Sheng. He gnawed and sliced at the ropes with his claws till they slackened.
"Get me out of here!" Sheng cried. "She's nuts!"
Isabelle shouted. She bashed Jasmine in the side with her bat. Jasmine grimaced and swung back. No good. Isabelle realigned for it in advance. Jasmine wouldn't beat a Saint alone, and Light doubted he could turn it around himself.
"Can you spot us, Sheng?" Light asked.
"Do I have to?" he asked as he wrangled himself free.
"Uh, please?"
"Damn it, fine."
Sheng spat out a horde of sparkly bubbles. Isabelle flicked her bat around and destroyed the ones that would hit her; the rest fluttered about and popped. Jasmine pulled back for an overhead swing. Light spat out a short flame to stop Isabelle from hitting her stomach.
It worked. Isabelle blocked the flame, but still found time to raise her bat up to Jasmine's slam. Sheng rushed closer. Isabelle shoved Jasmine off to the wall before Sheng jumped at her with a glowing beak.
Isabelle's bat nailed him in the chin. Sheng's limp body hit the chandelier. It jangled, snapped, and fell. Sheng's back smacked against the toppled iron pot. The chandelier crumbled into a pile of glass rubble on top of him. Light moved to untangle and pull Sheng out of it.
After the noise settled, Isabelle noticed the end of her bat, bent and dented. She tossed it away and trotted towards a small bookcase to the right of her desk, opposite of Jasmine, pulled on a green notebook, and pushed it back in. It made a clicking sound.
The bookcase moved to the side, revealing an indent in the wall. A maze of steel hooks held up rocket launchers, knives, swords, hammers, katanas, maces, spears, and a sword three times larger than Isabelle's body. A plain sign on top read "Complaints Department."
Isabelle sighed. "I just don't know which one to go with, Jasmine, and I'm out of bats. Maybe..."
Light tugged Sheng out of the rubble. Dark bruises and cuts covered him. Isabelle must've done a lot of damage before they got here. His breathing strained, eyes muddled, and his fin could be broken.
And she treated it like a game.
Light breathed out. Heat and pressure gathered in his chest. Diancie Jasmine swung at Eevee Isabelle again; she picked a mace to defend herself. Jasmine kept her arms closer to her center for defense. The swings slowed. Light didn't share either of their patience.
"Cut it out," Light ordered. "Just... stop."
Isabelle swung, aborted twice, and the third time, slammed Jasmine in the side. She cried out. Light raised his paw and shot out a blast of fire. Isabelle blocked it with a green shield of light, but paused. She stared at Light's paw as steam rose off of it.
Light's voice shook. "Where's Mei Chingyang?"
Isabelle glanced at Jasmine and back. "Uh, follow the sign that says nunya."
"Nunya?"
"Nunya business."
Flames shot out of Light's back feet and threw him forward. Her eyes wretched open. Her body reacted and positioned her mace horizontally; predictable as a program. Light changed the angle of his back foot. His body flipped forward, and his leg came down on her head. She blocked it. Light's other foot shot off and sent him past her at the floor. He rolled forward and fired his front paws at her stomach.
It hit. Isabelle flew back and slammed into her rack of weapons. Rocket launchers, and their ammunition, jangled and fell. Dianice Jasmine popped in front of Light and raised up a short diamond wall.
Metal fragments sliced into the walls. The oversized sword, broken in half, stabbed the window in two places. A rocket snaked along the floor and tumbled into an explosion. Light crouched and covered his head.
After a few seconds, the explosions stopped. A cacophony of metal clangs silenced a moment after. Shards of weapons slid down the pile as Eevee Isabelle staggered out in the ripped shreds of her outfit. She twirled a few times, reached to the wall, opened up a previously invisible panel, pulled out a telephone, and raised it to her ear.
"Sis," she coughed out. "Mayday..."
She fell to the floor.
Light uncurled himself and tensed his jaw. He didn't find out where Mei was. The airship was too big for him to wander around aimlessly. He needed direction. Jasmine lowered her shield and took deep breaths.
"I'll stay here to make sure everything's alright," Jasmine said. "You know where to go, right?"
"You do?" Light's voice rose.
"Scions can't be held captive normally. Their powers break any kind of metal. They're usually held in stasis, unconscious. The only stasis chambers on this airship would be around where Six is."
"Where is she?"
"Towards the center of the ship. Follow the signs with a halo on it."
"Got it." He turned.
"Wait, Light!"
And back around. Jasmine's eyes slid away from his.
"What was that just now?" she asked. "Do you have boosters on your feet or something?"
Too long to explain. "Something like that. You'll get caught up. Stay safe."
"Okay... Watch yourself."
Light ran out the door. He checked the sign near Isabelle's door, put himself back in the kart, and drove.
It took a lot of turns. The ramps all led down. A humming sound, like a muffled river, played under the walls. Less and less doors showed up. Things got quiet.
Light knew that Ariel wanted him to take someone, but he didn't have time. Maybe Reshiram counted, right?
It probably didn't, but Light didn't want to waste time out of the way with Mei in more danger every moment. He couldn't take chances with Ariel's family. He wished he knew more about this stasis. He should've thought to ask Jonathan more about it.
A sound came from down the hallway. The lights dimmed, but Light made out a shadow. It turned white under the light. An Eevee rode out in a kart, the same as Light's. They both slowed to a stop a short distance away from each other. Light noticed a glint of silver on his wheel, and a set of dead eyes.
"Ninety-three?" Light asked.
"Yes," he answered. He rolled his head from side to side. "The karts are distracting. Just..."
"Were they Six's idea?"
"No, Isabelle's."
Made sense.
Light turned his kart and parked it against the wall; Ninety-three did the same. He still wore the white cape with his number etched in gray. Light matched his pace, slow, methodical, still natural, only barely. He walked like the metal floor was made of hot coals. His prosthetic arm tapped against it in a rhythm so purposeful, it moved the hallway like music.
"What new powers did Reshiram grant you to let you board our ship with no pegasi wings?" Ninety-three asked.
"Why didn't you stop us?" Light asked back. "You could've stopped me from getting them."
"Glass Reshiram posed a threat by itself. If you hadn't killed it, we would've had to."
"And what about grandfather?"
"My condolences, dear brother," he spoke. "There was nothing anyone could do. Father told none he would be there. You and grandfather have a similar fate."
"So you're telling me you couldn't have stopped him and saved grandfather?" he asked. "Didn't you say the Acuitan blessings feel different between us? Didn't you know at some point earlier than us that he was coming?"
"I did. But I still wouldn't trade lives with him. He had his chances and I still haven't had mine."
"So, how'd you really lose that arm then?"
Eevee Ninety-three glanced down at his arm, made a smile, and hoisted it back up.
"That's the thing about it," he explained. "You see, I could tell you it was an accident, but that's a weak way to go about it. You'd never believe me. I could tell you it was a training accident, but you know us Angels mainly train with each other, and we'd never do such a thing, unless of course... We were training with Father. And then none of us actually believe it was an accident anymore. So, like all of us, you ask me a question your instincts know the answer to."
"Why don't you stop him?" Light asked.
"Father hasn't outlived his usefulness yet."
"So what's in it for you to try and stop me? You're putting yourself out on the line, for nothing. You won't capture me here on your own."
"I've waited over two decades dreaming about what our 'Chimera Scion' might look like. What they might talk like. If they might think a bit differently than us somehow. But more than anything, I wondered what it would feel like to finally fight you not knowing the answer to any of those questions. I want to be in the moment."
"I am not a circus animal for your amusement," Light snapped.
"That's like saying I'm not another inconsequential stepping stone in the process of making you. A half-truth. The least you could do is dance for me."
Flareon Light ducked to the right. Ninety-three's arm shot out at him, missed, then its metal prongs stuck into the wall. A metal wire kept it attached to Ninety-three's body, and his pull on it reeled him in closer. Light's chance passed by before he thought about cutting the wire with glass claws. A note for later.
Ninety-three hit the wall, stuck to it, and detached. His tail swished around as he righted himself.
"You know, it's something of a challenge for Angels to set themselves apart in combat," Ninety-three said. "Many of the Saints go even with each other. It basically goes exactly how you'd expect it to, barring Galahad and his special training. But even compared to him, your instincts don't match up quite right."
Ninety-three swept his tail. Gold stars cascaded down the hall, and left no space for Light to dodge. Light raised his paws and shot a blast of fire a touch larger than him. It cleaved a path through. He remained still while the rest barraged the wall , floors, and ceiling.
His flames fizzled out further down the hallway. Ninety-three hung from the corner of the ceiling by his prosthetic.
"What the hell was that?" he asked.
"I don't have time for this," Light said. "Where's Mei?"
"Six has Mei. But what was that you did just now?"
Light held his lips shut. Ninety-three paused. He observed the hallway, likely the scorch marks, and glanced behind him to see more. He met Light's eyes with a strange alertness.
"I yield," Ninety-three said. "Allow Six to deal with whatever this surprise is. Perhaps I'd like to know the answers to some questions beforehand after all."
Ninety-three's arm shot off towards the darkness behind him. Five seconds later, the wire tensed, and a clank echoed. He flew off out of sight.
Light waited and heard nothing. He decided to keep going on foot, so Six wouldn't hear him coming.
The silence weighed heavy. Light's breath trembled on its way in, and out. The air sat cold in his lungs. The lights continued to dim, then brightened at the end of the hall.
He came to a set of steel doors and placed his paw on their cold, smooth surface. They creaked. Light stepped back and watched as they opened.
The floor turned white. The walls took on the dark shade of arena walls. Behind them, shadows of metal parts waved back and forth. On either side of him, two Eevees in white dresses stood silent. They held their eyes almost shut.
Light's head whipped between them. They approached him in tandem, reached behind their dresses, and pulled out combs. One of them brushed his tail, the other, his mane. They worked section by section for a moment, stopped, then turned and walked away. Light watched as they closed the double doors behind them.
An Eevee rose out of a small hole in the center of the floor. The platform underneath her clicked into place.
"I understand you seek Chingyang," she said.
Her voice sounded a touch different from any of the other Angels. Light remembered what One told him: she had been born a boy. It threw him off some, but he stayed focused.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"In stasis in my study."
"Why in your study?"
Six's eyes wandered. "We've been studying her abilities. We would have studied Ariel's, but many of the younger ones take to her."
"Why have you been 'studying' her?"
"Our ultimate goal is to make an artificial atmosphere and push Olympus up into space. But it would take more years than we have to even create a plan."
Space? Ambitious even for them. "So that's it? The people doing your job for you dealing with Reshiram are research materials?"
Six smiled. "You would be more comfortable if you came quietly."
Six didn't know Light had blasters on his paws. He wouldn't beat her in a contained area like this. He only had the surprise, and he absolutely had to win with it.
The double doors flung open.
Haxorus Gareth marched in. He took in the room's layout with a glance and honed in on Six. He turned his head up and rolled his neck around.
"Am I interrupting?" Gareth asked.
Six smiled. "Yes, you are. If you would exit."
Gareth's steps sent vibrations through Light's arms, all the way to the tip of his tail. He scowled harsher than usual. Light almost couldn't tell which one of them Gareth was angrier with.
"You know what it means to honor an Acuitan duel," said Six.
"If you faced me in an Acuitan duel, you wouldn't survive," Gareth mumbled. "If you were smarter and had the character, you would have killed me when you had the chance. Like I said, discount warlords. Stand aside, Light," Gareth 's tone softened. "I'll handle this."
"Not alone," Light said.
Six threw a red card. It blew past Light's face for Haxorus Gareth. It clipped his tusk and blew up against the wall. Gareth fell to one knee in the silence that followed. He clutched at his tusk and trembled.
"If you would like," she said, "I can arrange your deaths together."
Gareth pulled his claws back. Light didn't see even a scratch on his tusk, or his face. Six squinted. She shifted her hind paws and jumped.
Six's back foot came down like an ax to the head. Gareth caught it all the same, and threw her down to the floor. His back arched back. Claws tore out sharp strands of the metal floor. Six flipped away from them.
An opening.
Light blasted past Gareth's side and drop kicked her in the chest. Six dug two more red cards into the floor to stop herself. An indigo lightning bolt nicked her arm. Her back feet flew up, stopped, and hit the ground again. Light jumped forward, up, and off Gareth's back. He spat out a flame and forced her to swipe it away.
Gareth walked forward and punched down. Six curved her back and coiled around his arm.
Haxorus Gareth's entire body lifted up off the floor and hit the wall, upside-down. Eevee Six spun on her back and flipped upright.
She threw him.
Light inhaled through clenched teeth. He did not expect that. Gareth's tusks clinked against the floor. His frown deepened. She made it abundantly clear they had to strike together.
"Father would have beaten me already, Uncle," Six said. "And you are struggling to win an unfair fight."
Gareth creased his eyes. "I'm struggling not to kill you."
Light made eye contact with Gareth and used Candor.
He was struggling to not kill her. His fighting style went for lethal blows, not broken bones. Her high skill level made it hard to try anything else. He didn't want to kill his nephews and nieces, not a single one. He'd die first.
Light needed clean and easy shots. If Gareth could set those up, they'd win. Ah, but he found Six difficult to do that for, too damn flexible. Light didn't need her in standstill, only vulnerable. Gareth needed to make her dodge, and Light would catch her mid-movement.
Gareth pushed on the floor and stood up. Six remained still. Despite all her talk, Gareth's presence mattered. She glanced between each of them.
"Candor will not change the outcome," Six declared. "You lack the skill."
Gareth rolled his neck. Six tilted her head slightly in his direction. Light angled his paw in her new blind spot. One or two good hits.
"Tell me," said Six, "why did Ninety-three abandon you? I know you didn't defeat him in that short of a time span."
"I used Reshiram's power," Light said, "and he said that he'd leave the surprise of figuring out what it does for you."
Six read his face. Light lowered his nose. She glanced between them again.
"He never was loyal," she said. "I don't care so much. Take Chingyang."
Six jumped. She threw down two red cards, one for each of them. Light raised his arms. Pain pierced through them and sliced down his chest. It held his body down.
After a moment, he looked up and saw nothing. Six ran. Gareth huffed and leaned back against the wall. He waved a tired arm at him. "Get Chingyang," he said. "Need a minute."
Six must've thrown that last attack harder for him. Gareth rubbed along each of his arms. Light pretended not to notice and looked around for the platform Six used. He stopped when his paws clicked on the floor, slammed his fist down, and tore out a hole. A thick, metal rod led down into pitch black. Light crawled down the hole, grabbed the pole, and slid down. It didn't last long.
Electric lights came on. A plethora of computers and fans whirred to life. A room, congested with busy tables, opened up, not as wide as Light thought. It seemed like the lab only had enough room for three of him to work in.
Three Eevees popped up their heads and looked at him. Nice. He guessed right. One of them hopped over the table and swung her tail. The rest followed.
A horde of stars crashed into his front. Light's back shoved against the wall. The other two joined in waving their tails. It burned, and Light couldn't angle his back feet well enough to blast forward. He needed an extra limb.
Wings reached out in front of him. They curled together into a veil, solid as steel, and pushed out. Embers floated down and burst into small flames on loose papers. A rush of air blew the stars back to the walls, and the Eevees with them. The corners of flung-up tables stabbed computer screens. A fan shredded against metal, then went silent.
Flareon Light fell to the floor. His arms trembled to hold himself up. He breathed in deep.
"Where is Mei?" Light asked. He amped up his voice to keep sounding strong, but gasped for breath after.
One of them groaned. Once the aches lessened, Light walked over to him: an Eevee slumped against the wall surrounded by computer scraps. Once Light stood over him, he turned his head up. He seemed on the older side.
"Where is Mei?" Light repeated, quieter, but with more power.
Eevee sighed. "She's here, in that." He raised his arm, and it fell. "Stasis chamber, over there. Green..." he grimaced. "Button..."
Light moved to a round lump in the lab wall. As he approached, brackets and locks clicked open. A cylindrical panel shifted to the side, away from clear glass. Bubbles lifted in a tank filled with clear liquid, loose cables, and a slight green glow.
But no Mei.
"What's this supposed to be?" Light barked. "Where's Mei?" He whipped around.
The Eevee on the floor stared. He didn't seem to know either. Light walked in a tiny circle and checked the container again.
Still no Mei. He turned back to the Eevee.
"Look," Light said. "Mei doesn't have any part in this. She's just trying to protect her family. Give me something, anything."
"The security logs?" Eevee suggested.
"Where- where are those?"
"The little screen next to the panel."
Light looked and touched it. It lit up. He rolled through menus and checked the security history. Only a few entries showed, most being similar.
"What am I looking at here?" Light asked.
"That's the list for who put someone in and took someone out of the chamber. Their level of security clearance is listed with those symbols on the right."
Light checked the most recent one, a removal. "What's this one with the giant wing? What level clearance is that?"
"That belongs to the Captain of the Aerial Dragoon Unit.."
Jonathan?
Light put his paw on it to see if a menu would open. One did, It listed names, lots of them, with dates going back to almost two centuries. He scrolled down to the more recent entries: Ben Schneider, Leon Baumann, Rick Webber, Jonathan Frey, Joshua Frey...
The list ended there. They had the same last name? Did Jonathan have a son or brother he didn't think to even mention?
"Who's Joshua?" Light asked.
"I-I don't know any Joshua."
Must be new. "Where does someone go to leave the ship?"
"The docks," Eevee said. "It's the symbol with pegasi wings on the sign. They're shut down right now, so no one can leave."
Assuming this Joshua knew that, Light had no idea where he'd take Mei. Actually, he didn't see anyone on his way here, and the input for the chamber read for a few minutes ago. A second exit?
"What's the other way out of here?" Light asked.
"The elevator up leads to the deck."
Speakers screeched. Light's right eye pinched. He didn't realize they had them in here too.
"Attention all dumbasses," Sheng's voice came out. "Take the deck. We're gonna to become the world's first sky pirates. You probably already saw this coming and went for it, let's be real."
The voice fizzled out.
"Hold the deck until reinforcements arrive," Six's voice replaced Sheng's. "Do not lose control of this ship. Ninety-three, it's on your head."
Light had to check the lab. No one else would be there, and anyone on the deck would see Mei if Joshua took her there. He checked the creases of the wall for any kind of giveaway and found the elevator door. It hid in the dark corner of the room. He hit the control panel and waited.
While he waited, one of the Eevees tried to sneak up to their feet and move somewhere. Light angled his paw behind his back and fired a ball of fire. It slapped against the wall over Eevee's head. They stilled.
The elevator arrived and opened up its rectangular interior. It didn't offer much space, probably since only Angels were meant to use it. A green line ran up and down a screen when he placed his paw on it. A green check mark appeared, and the doors closed.
They reopened to a jet of water blasting through a hallway, Light pushed his side against the elevator wall. Sparks, flames, leaves, and every kind of attack he could think of flew from each end back and forth. He couldn't peer his head out to see which side he belonged to, but a double chocolate cookie from the left revealed the answer.
"This is it! Hit em with a Harden!"
A young Kakuna from the Wild Bunch screeched. Cards and wispy, purple balls from the Angels on the opposite side of the hallway stopped.
"Now!" said a Mudkip. "Harden! As hard as you can!"
Kakuna screamed even louder, as if in pain. Nothing visibly changed. The Angels grimaced at each other. Lights found his jaw tensed too. He rolled around on his paws and tried to look away.
At some point, Kakuna reached his hardest point. A Machop walked behind him. He grabbed Kakuna by the sides, lifted him over his head, and threw. The Eevees scrambled away. One of them, behind the wall of bodies, didn't see it in time. Kakuna screeched as he flew and bonked him on the head, and he went down, hard. The other Eevees peered at him from around the corner.
"Chaaaaarge!"
The break in pressure let the Wild Bunch flood the hallway. Light stayed in the elevator and held the doors open for himself. His bones quaked against the beating of feet on the steel floor. It seemed as if they would break through one barricade at a time like this. He had to speed them along if Mei turned up around the deck.
Flareon Light exited the elevator and jogged after them. A small scuffle broke out at the end of the hall. The Wild Bunch fanned out between going left and right. More fights broke out in each direction. Light veered right and hopped over an Eevee wrestling the Machop.
The speakers came on. "Ninety-three?" Six asked. "Ninety-three? Where are you? Ninety-three!"
Light wondered where he'd gone, too. If he left, he'd have one less problem.
He rounded a corner.
A hallway filled to bursting with white fur. Eevees stood head-to-tail in a set of five lines. A hint of extra age showed in their faces. Light checked behind himself, but the Wild Bunch spread thin in the fights they picked. They wouldn't manage against older Angels. Light couldn't muscle through this on his own.
The side rows of Eevees pushed against the wall and turned, and the rest joined them. They created a path for him to walk through. Light's heart jumped.
He had to be screwed. Something in their eyes prompted him forward, past them, whether he liked it or not. As he walked through, he traded his gaze between each side.
Further down the line, the sounds of the battles behind him quieted. The clang of his footsteps on the metal floor mirrored his heart: a forced, slow drumroll. A set of double doors, much like Six's, touted another symbol; one of a steering wheel. Two Angels on either side of it pushed it open as he approached.
Enormous windows showed the top front of the ship in its entirety, with laser cannons the size of Snorlax's and a layer of turrets in between them. Three sets of control panels sat in front of steel railings, and behind those railings, a steep drop to a horde of shadowed machinery.
A Dragonite stood in front of him. Light's eyes ran over the holes in his wings, and his eyes, thin as he saw him. His raggedy grunt glued Light's paws to the floor. He nearly turned to run, but paused.
Sky Shaymins Ariel and Mei dangled by their hair from each of his held up hands. A long bruise ran down Ariel's left arm, along with a few cuts. Mei hung limp, except for her quaking, still opened eyes. Dragonite Lancelot shifted his glare between them, and back on him.
"So," he said, "which one of these is the one you care about the most?"
Light reached out with Candor.
Ariel was fine. She saved a lot of her strength. Mei didn't respond at all. All of her thoughts came as hazy clouds, unreadable. They needed a way to get Mei away from him. Light swallowed any reaction or burst of fire in his chest.
"Put them down," Light said carefully, "and I'll go with you."
Lancelot tilted his head. A low, deep breath emanated from underneath his frown. The electric humming continued. He stared at Light's face, but didn't meet his eyes. Light couldn't afford to wait and let him finish computing the situation. His back paws warmed. He had an opportunity to land the mother of all cheap shots here.
Lancelot raised Mei up. "Allow me to demonstrate the consequences of lies before we proceed further with negotiations."
Light blasted forward. Lancelot's eyes tightened against the explosion. He dropped Mei and moved his arm to defend himself.
Light's paw drilled into his chest, through several tough layers of scales, fat, and muscle, to arrive at a thin bone. He pushed harder. It bent, stressed. A little more, and it snapped.
They soared over the railing and smashed into the glass. It shattered. Ariel broke out of his loosened grip.
Dragonite Lancelot fell against the top of the airship. He landed on his feet, clutching at his stomach. Ariel and Light hit the rounded floor side-by-side. Her body blocked the fierce wind.
Lancelot's jaw clenched. He wretched his body upright for appearances, but Light knew he broke something.
"I've been practicing my sleeping spell and some other stuff," Ariel said quietly. "Just need to get him down."
"Airy," Light said. "Kill him if you get the chance."
Ariel looked at him. Light continued to trace Lancelot's form. He needed to see every movement.
"Okay," she murmured. "Gotcha."
Light flinched back. A metal cylinder hit the top of the airship next to him. It wound in a metal wire.
Heliolisk Jonathan landed next to them. He stood up straight, rolled his shoulders, and breathed out. "Hey," he coughed out.
Light's chest lurched. They might have a chance, he thought, at least until Lancelot smiled seeing him.
"Jonathan," Lancelot nodded to him with a halfway decent smile. "So nice to see you again."
"Yeah yeah..." he said. "What is it?"
"Have you met Joshua yet?"
Jonathan didn't answer. Now Light was confused. Jonathan didn't seem to recognize the name. A secret lovechild? Long lost uncle?
"I thought not," he said. "In that case, I'd like you to meet the new Captain of the Aerial Dragoon Unit."
Lancelot's eyes drifted upward. Light's did too.
A red light fell down between them from directly overhead. It hit the roof of the airship with a metallic thud. A Heliolisk unbent his knees and stood tall. Flames on the tips of his pegasi wings died out. His blue-eyed stare soured.
"It was truly a shame you were born on the surface," said Lancelot. "But you see, you'll always be my Captain, Jonathan."
Jonathan's face twisted into a rage Light hadn't seen anyone wear before. The red of his scars darkened. He stomped forward towards Lancelot, but the other Heliolisk walked between them. Their staredown lasted a brief moment.
Joshua shot the Grappler on his right arm. Jonathan burst forward and ducked underneath it, and fired his own. Joshua used his other.
Their Grapplers stuck together in the air. A wave of electricity from either side clashed. Both of them wound closer and smashed their arms into each other. Jonathan kept his palm open and caught Joshua's punch, then fired his remaining Grappler at one of the turrets on the edge of the ship. He launched both of them towards it.
Light didn't keep track of who slammed whose head against the metal; Lancelot walked forward. His stature caved forward towards where Light hit him, but remained calm. Light watched his arms. He could hardly tell he had a broken bone.
Ariel stepped forward. She opened her mouth, shot pearly Energy Balls, and whipped her ears around for sharp Air Slashes. Light squinted through the blaze of light. Lancelot covered his wound and marched forward. His form remained wounded, but stalwart. By the slouched looks of Ariel, she couldn't push more into it. Light contributed a stream of fire out of his mouth. It added little.
Shooting fire out of his mouth didn't feel right. It came out as a short, embarrassing ribbon.; it wouldn't have even browned the edge of a piece of bread. He cut it off early. He raised both his paws up and tried again.
A burst of fire soared over Ariel's assault. Lancelot shoved forward. The flames scattered. He grunted and floated back. Light blasted forward off his back feet and raised his fist, Lancelot, his arm. Light's back feet pushed him into a front flip and drop kicked his cheek.
The impact didn't line up. His face slid out of the way. He grabbed Light's front paws.
Ariel threw herself at him. Lancelot backhanded her away. His split attention allowed Light to blast his free hanging back feet and slam them under his chin. Ariel lunged back in and drove her first into his shoulder.
His grip on Light loosened. Light lost control and flew off to the side. He bounced off the floor and slid down the airship's slanting side. He stuck his claws in the metal and caught himself. The thick, green top of the Abujan jungle rested not too far away. Light crawled his way back up a few feet and rushed back up to the top.
Lancelot had grabbed Ariel by her neck. Light realigned himself and met his gaze. The same trick wouldn't work twice. Ariel glared down at his arm with trembling eyes. She pushed her lips together and grit her teeth through the cracks. Lancelot's other arm hung limp at his side.
"I was going to take the one you cared about less to Olympus as a warning," he said. "But now I see the consequences of having one of my children raised on the surface."
"This won't change anything," Light said. "Put her down. Now!"
"Your destiny doesn't change that there are consequences for your actions."
Ariel's face froze up.
"It's time for the consequence, Angelo."
Light went deaf. He took an absent step forward.
A spinning red card flew and sawed into Lancelot's other shoulder. His grip on Ariel released.
Lancelot whipped his head back, around in a circle, and finally settled on high. A young white Eevee in pegasi wings stared down at him, paw still extended from his throw. Two Eevees on either side of him kept their glowing paws on his shoulders. At least two dozen others joined him. The older ones' eyes turned dark, and the younger dead-stared at him.
The laser cannons on the corner of the ship rotated around and pointed at Lancelot. His eyes drifted over every one of them as they did. A quiet hum underlaid the wind.
"Good luck with that," he said.
Lancelot flapped his wings and took off. Heliolisk Joshua stole a glance at the Angels and flew after him with his pegasi wings. Light watched them grow smaller in the sky, then looked back at the floor just in time.
Ariel slid off the edge.
"Airy!"
Light ran after her. The ship curved and pushed him into a slide. He kept his eyes angled straight and fell off the ship. His tail whipped and rolled behind him. Ariel's arms held straight as she fell near the wall of green below. Light flexed his paws and shot himself down towards her.
He hit the mark; his paws locked around her torso. With the last of what he had, he stretched his wings and caught air. They slowed, but not fast enough. He angled himself underneath her and curled the wings around.
Brambles ripped up his fur. After a long tug, they fell through. Flareon Light's back hit a veil of water. Air left his lungs in a grunt and swiftly returned when he floated back up on his back.
Sky Shaymin Ariel's gaze came back into focus as she sat up on his chest. Her eyes ran around the edges of his face and fell away around them. Purple lilies stuck out of the water. A trickle down a sheer rock wall led into it, and a stream, out.
"Are you okay?" Light asked. She seemed a touch out of it. He wondered if she hit her head somewhere; didn't know what to do if she did.
"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, just, uh..."
Ariel's head turned. She traced the wings and bent flowers underneath them.
"You, uh... What!?"
Light let them vanish into weightless sparkles. "Uh, don't worry about it."
Ariel shook her head. "What..." she glanced up, "just happened?"
The hum of pegasi wings burst through the treeline. A mass of white Eevees surrounded the pond. Light couldn't even ball his paws up into fists, and Ariel looked like she got run over by a carriage holding a ton of bricks. But at least he got to her.
One of the older Angels hovered above them. She looked down at them, then around at her compatriots.
"Who threw it?" she asked quietly.
None of them moved for a moment. A younger Eevee off to the side raised his paw, unnoticed. He flew forward over the lake and did it again. It shook. The older Eevee checked him up and down and folded her arms.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Y-yes?" Eevee said.
"Then go to Six's private study and take control of the ship. Cut off all communications. The password is one two five gamma three delta."
"Understood."
"Let's get these two to the medical bay."
Light exhaled.