The Trauma Pursuit Division arrived at the factory as Spenser paused.
"It's huge-" Lunick nodded as they scanned it.
"This factory used to work for the Conclave until the battle with the Squad arose. They refused to take a side. They still make stuff for the Conclave, but they also assist in the making of weapons for the Squad. It's annoying." Solana hummed as they entered, seeing squad members getting stuff on a truck. "Let's go."
~
Clearing the factory was simple. It was dealing with the Admins.
Clyde and Garret were monsters once their blessings were on. But from what Solana could tell, it wasn't full strength.
Clyde's Raikou blessing was able to make Spenser jump back, but it was fairly weak against Solana. And she didn't activate her powers. She merely turned on a soft aura, the lightning going around her. She hummed as she knocked him out.
Garret, who had Suicune, wasn't too much harder. Once Spenser activated his winds, he was thrown into a wall with little effort.
Neither of the two admins let themselves get caught, so they just left empty handed. Solana voiced up once they left the factory.
"They were weak."
"Solana."
"I'm serious." She pulled out her book with a hum. "If they are supposed to be stronger than the grunts, why did we fight them without full power? I only turned on a little aura and I was blocking Clyde. And we all saw how easily Spenser dealt with Garret." She scanned the pages. "I wonder if they were neglecting taking care of themselves." Spenser finally spoke up.
"How would you know?"
"I don't. But they weren't hitting us very hard. Lemme see..." She hummed. "Here. 'The trio beasts; Raikou, Entei and Suicune; are to be treated with careful care out of battle. Their blessings suggest a careful rest in a safe and dark place before getting a healthy meal of protein to get the fullest of their powers.' They didn't look like they had eaten in a while." Lunick paused before humming.
"You're right. They looked wasted. Not in a sleepy way. I remember seeing them pause when you passed Spenser the rice ball. I wondered why... but they might be hungry." Solana hummed.
"Next time we see them, I might try to offer them food. At least something to maybe not get aggression."
~
Sven hummed at the theory.
"It's not unlikely that they aren't taking care of themselves. I think Tiffany is the smartest of the admins. She can usually wipe out a group of our members that are as big as The Clockworks in a matter of seconds. The medics are usually furious when that name pops up." Solana hummed as Spenser spoke.
"What blessing is she?"
"Entei. She's the last of the trio." Lunick paused.
"Isn't there four admins? Tiffany, Clyde, Garret and Billy?" Sven nodded.
"Billy... He has Lugia."
"Lugia?" Solana flipped through her book to its page. "That's a powerful legendary."
"Powerful blessing too. Billy has never been seen in combat. That's how strong he is. He drops the other three into missions first. He is seen as the 'leader' of the squad even though no one has proof." Sven paused. "It's unsure if he takes care of himself if he never uses his blessing. So we can only go based on the others." He sighed. "Well, I promised physical training. Shall we?"
~
Solana didn't need the training, so Spenser was able to further understand his abilities once they got down to the training. He was able to utilize the different winds as well as their strengths. They regrouped as Wendy called out for Sven.
"Thanks Sven. Be careful." The Angel Crew Member nodded before leaving. Lunick sighed. "Right. Tiffany's been spotted. We best be careful. If she can wipe out The Clockworks, then we need to be wary."
~
Tiffany was found in a temple down south, known as the Jungle Temple. And she was fierce. Spenser was the only one with a fighting chance because he got distance. While she tore the other two down, he stayed near the entrance and fired, striking her shoulder. A yelp escaped her.
"HEY!"
His eyes glowed as he fired again, this time summoning a tornado. He activated a dragon sight, letting him see the field better. Lunick was out cold while Solana, now realizing Tiffany wasn't bombarding her, was slowly getting up. Spenser gulped. He couldn't get to their side without posing a threat on his life. He had to stay back. Solana managed to drag Lunick off to the side, giving Spenser more battlefield. He fired again, this time pushing Tiffany back. She hissed as she activated her aura and charged out, searching for him. Spenser, at this point, had ducked down to avoid getting seen.
"Where are you, little sniper!?" He gulped silently as he snuck a peek out. She was roaming around like a shark, searching each high ground. He ducked back down and gulped. Now he had her attention. Could the other two get back up while she was occupied?
Not really.
Solana gulped as she peered out. She was fine, her blessing being unaffected by the flames Tiffany had used. But she had little to no power against her. Lunick, on the other hand, was still out cold, whispering something unconsciously under his breath. She bit her lip as she watched the Admin search for the sniper. They locked eyes as she gulped. How were they supposed to get out of this?
Backup.
She knew no one would be strong enough to get in and push her out of the way. But there was no other way to escape this. They would have to sacrifice someone. She went over to Lunick as he trembled. Tiffany's voice filled the air as she gulped.
"Come out, little sniper! I got a present!" Spenser was not that stupid. Solana knew that. The Rangers of Wings were trained to hide and flee. Not fight you head on, bitch. She wrapped up Lunick's arm before another voice echoed through the temple, startling her.
"Leave 'em alone!" A crash filled the air as she jerked, whipping her head around to the sound. The winds picked up instantly, signaling Spenser's aura turning on. In only a few seconds, Spenser was at her side, picking up Lunick as he mumbled something softly in his sleep.
"Quick. While we have the chance." She nodded as they raced out. She caught sight of someone in a dark cloak colliding with Tiffany, which gave her the idea of who helped them.
~
It was a few hours later did the new arrival track them down. Lunick was still asleep when they joined them.
"Is everyone ok?" Solana pointed at the unconscious leader.
"Minus him? Yeah. We're ok. Thanks." The person nodded under their cloak before going to his side, instantly healing the bluenette up. She paused. "Why'd you help us?"
"Not important. One moment..." Spenser finished the rice ball Solana gave him as Lunick's wounds closed up. "There. Better. Now..." They pulled off their hood, brown hair puffing up from being trapped under. "You're welcome for helping. I wouldn't have joined, but when I felt the weakened auras, I assumed the worse. Are you sure you're alright?" Solana nodded.
"Those flames couldn't hurt me. The bombardment was just a little annoying." Spenser smiled.
"And I stayed out of her way. Being a sniper has its perks." The boy paused before nodding.
"Good... good." Solana paused.
"My turn. Why'd you help?" He paused.
"Well... I almost didn't." He lowered his head. "But there was a weakened aura in the temple as well as the sound of fighting. I assumed someone was badly hurt or even tired. So I went in just to cause a distraction. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I was just trying to help..." The other two locked eyes. Solana certainly didn't show a weak aura and Spenser hardly used his. The only person to have a possibility of a weak aura was Lunick, but he made it clear that he didn't have a blessing. Tiffany was at full strength too. Solana spoke.
"Do you know which aura was weakened?" He picked up his head slowly.
"No... I never am able to. I'm only able to sense the strength of the aura." Shucks. He then paused. "But now that we're out here and out of the fight, I can identify who's aura used to be weak. I can search through an aura with a span of 24 hours." Solana scanned Lunick. He was going to deny it, but it was a good idea to find out. Spenser had a question that was a better start.
"Wait... were you a part of some magic group or is that a blessing?" The boy paused.
"Uh... I mean. I have the blessing of Celebi. But I was also a part of The Quiet Meadows Coven before it fell." Spenser hummed as Solana spoke.
"Well... I highly doubt our opponent had the weakened aura since she was plowing full strength on us. But it would be good to know who you sensed for our report back to the main base." The boy nodded as he held his hands out, sparkles floating around. The sparkles circled the group before joining back up and making a screen. He hummed.
"Let's see. 4 auras. Mine is purple, but it hasn't changed much..." Solana watched him sway a bit, so she grabbed her back and pulled out her book to check the Celebi blessing. "The green aura has increased a bit, recently dropped, but that was after I charged in." Spenser chuckled.
"Yeah... I used my aura up to race over to Solana and Lunick. So that's me." The other two chuckled as she flipped to the Celebi page.
"Ok... the red aura hasn't changed. There was a slight decline, but it wasn't anything big." She nodded.
"Wasn't able to do much. Flame on Flame." The boy hummed.
"The last aura is a dull color... It was steady and then..." He paused. "There's the drop. It was the one I sensed. It weakened significantly." Solana glanced over at Lunick, who was still unconscious. Tiffany wasn't here, so that left Lunick. He was going to kill them if they let Wendy think he had an aura. Spenser was the one to voice it.
"If that's the case, that was Lunick. What do we do?"
"Don't let Wendy find out. He might kill us if she learns he has an aura. I don't think he knows though." The boy hummed.
"It's not impossible. There are a lot of blessings that stay quiet until the user is in a really bad condition." Solana paused before looking at Lunick.
"Then why didn't his trigger?"
"Possibly because the enemy was using fire. Maybe it knew it couldn't help against fire?" She hummed.
"Maybe." She scanned the book before reaching into her bag and pulling out a rice ball. "Here, Celebi boy." He paused before taking the food. "You aren't at full strength. Probably because you used up your aura. Get some food." The boy paused.
"Thanks..." Lunick finally twitched as they paused. Spenser dropped to a whisper.
"No one mention the aura. He will kill us." The other two nodded as Lunick sat up, regaining his senses. He noticed the group before getting up.
"Ow..." He joined them and paused. "We're alive?" Solana spoke.
"I'm not going to say how we're alive. But yes." He blinked twice before shaking his head.
"Ok...?" The other two chuckled as the Covenant finished his food. He then paused. "Wait... did you...?" The boy paused.
"Take your time. You just woke up." Lunick took too long to respond.
"You sure he woke up?" Lunick immediately shook his head before glaring at her.
"I'm fine. Thanks." The boy smiled as he paused. "Did you help us?" He nodded.
"I heard the battle and went to check. I'm glad I did." Wow. Slick way to avoid mentioning Lunick had an aura. He then paused. "I just realized I never introduced myself. Murph, former member of The Quiet Meadows Coven." He shook their hands as Lunick paused.
"The Coven...? I thought it was wiped out-" Murph smiled as Lunick paused again. "Wasn't it-"
"A small handful of us barely survived. We made it, with the cost of risk being at our feet. We hurt ourselves so badly trying to survive..." Solana's mind came up with the thought first. He didn't sway because of his blessing. He swayed because he was exhausted and hungry. He was probably unable to find food or get any sleep. He actually drifted off a little as Lunick smiled.
"Thank you for your help then..." Murph paused before nodding softly, weakness crossing his face. Lunick turned to them with a pause. "Did we get anything from Tiffany?" Spenser shook his head.
"I was focused on giving you guys an opening." Solana hummed.
"I had gotten you out of the way after Spenser pushed her back. There wasn't much she gave." Spenser paused.
"I think she was so focused on taking us out that she gave no indications of anything." Lunick sighed.
"I guess we'll have to take our escape for granted then..." Murph, in the middle of their talk, had sat down and drifted off, no doubt feeling a little secured about sleeping near them. Lunick noticed before going over and picking him up. "Let's get him to safety. Since he helped us, let's get him back to full strength at the minimum." The other two nodded at that.
~
Upon reaching the base, the group got checked, but thanks to Murph, they were alright. Murph rested on the couch as Solana restocked her rice balls and Spenser checked his rifle. Lunick went over with a full meal for Murph.
"Did he say anything about abilities other than he was a Covenant?"
"Blessing of Celebi. Don't tell Wendy." The boys chuckled as Murph woke up to the smell of food. Lunick brought him over to the table so he could eat and they could talk.
"Thank you..." Solana smiled as Lunick hummed.
"No need. We're helping you after you helped us." Murph smiled.
"Of course." He finished the food before sighing. "It's been a while since I got help..." Solana saw the gleam in Lunick's eye as he glanced at them. Having a caster as powerful as Murph may change the tides. Especially if Billy was as powerful as the rumors claimed. The other two nodded as Lunick smiled.
"If you want, you could join the Conclave." Murph paused. "I know with what happened with your former group you might be against it, but with your strength, we might be able to get the upper hand on the Go Rock Squad." Murph hummed.
"I don't have anywhere else to go..." He smiled. "Sure. I'll join." The others smiled at that.
~
While Murph didn't have a weapon to get the gear he needed, one training session got him to create a spell that replicated the pokemon capturing they had. Solana applauded him as they finished.
"Nicely done." He smiled as he slipped the card into his right glove.
"That should do the trick." Lunick smiled at that.
Sven was able to join later, letting them know that Wendy was wailing about Lunick's success. They could only chuckle as Sven sighed.
"Well, it turns out we found their base. Some place in the north. But with Tiffany and Billy, Wendy wasn't sure to take the mission to break in." Lunick smiled.
"Then that's ours. Come on."
~
The grunts weren't the problem. It was the admins.
Tiffany almost burned a hole through them if Murph didn't cast a barrier. Murph gulped before pulling out another card.
"OCEANIC!"
A tsunami slammed down on the female admin, quickly ending the fight.
The other two beasts weren't hard. Clyde's lightning was weaker than last time. It got to the point that Tiffany practically pulled him out of the fight. Garret wasn't even a fight when they found him.
"Guys!" Spenser called out to them before they got too far. They went over to see the admin asleep in a corner. Solana gulped as she pulled out a rice ball.
"Safe and Dark. Looks close enough." She knelt down and shook him, waking him up enough for him to register the offered food. He sat up slightly and accepted the food as Lunick scanned the area.
"The other two must've raced right past him without seeing him." Garret wasn't paying attention to their conversation as Spenser hummed.
"Or... they saw him there and left him alone. I mean, he was asleep."
"True..." They turned back as Garret managed a soft voice.
"Why..." Solana rubbed his back.
"You haven't been eating, have you? You need food to make a full recovery with your blessing." He stayed quiet as she hummed. "I bet Clyde's going to pass out as well. Let's go see if he dropped." Lunick gulped.
"Let's be careful. We don't know where Billy is. And if anything, he'll be the one to take us out."
~
Clyde had dropped. He was actually trying to make due with the nearest wall when they found him. And to say he looked tired was an understatement. Garret got to his side instantly.
"Clyde!" The Raikou blessed boy woke a little as he was brought into a hug.
"Garret...?" Solana pulled out a rice ball and knelt down.
"Here... eat up." Clyde stared before taking the food.
"Thanks...?" He slowly ate the food as Lunick paused.
"So far so good. But they could be anywhere." Spenser hummed as Murph spoke.
"I don't sense Tiffany around. She must've gotten away." Lunick gulped.
"Leaving Clyde when he collapsed..." He turned around as Solana wrapped a blanket around the two.
"Alright... that's a start..." She glanced at them. "If Tiffany kept moving, she might've found Billy. She might be with him. Assuming she didn't drop." Spenser shook his head.
"She never got weaker overtime. She would've had enough strength to get to safety before needing food and rest." Solana hummed as Lunick sighed.
"Then we have no choice. We have to charge in."
~
They let the two boys rest outside as they went into the admin room, meeting up with Tiffany and Billy. Tiffany had a sandwich in hand, which marked that she knew what she was doing. Billy frowned at them as they approached. Lunick gulped.
"Game over, Go Rock Squad!" Billy, unimpressed, turned on his aura.
Now Solana understood what they were up against.
Just turning on the aura made her blessing shudder. She could feel it. Spenser actually grabbed her arm, his legs shaking from the aura. The strength was massive and they hadn't even faced any powers from it.
"When you can get through that, we'll talk." Lunick flinched before another aura turned on, rivaling the large aura. Solana took a second to figure out who turned theirs on. It was definitely not Lunick unless his blessing finally decided to activate now. Unlikely. She was sure it wasn't her and Spenser's grip said a lot about his condition. She glanced at Murph, who wasn't shaking as he glowed a soft green.
Celebi.
The only aura that could match something so well trained was that of a mythical pokemon. So Murph was fine.
He gulped as his aura quickly encased the group, giving them a chance to relax. While it wasn't much stronger than Billy's, it was able to push back, showing there was something to match him. Billy hummed before the wall behind him crumbled.
"Interesting." He raised his hand. "LUGIA! TSUNAMI OF WIND!"
The wind sent the four flying into the wall. Even with Murph's aura, there was nothing to guard them from that. Lunick groaned before seeing the other two escape as an alarm went off. Everything went dark after that.
~
Lunick winced as he woke up, pain soaring rather high. There was a lot of mumbling circling him before Sven's voice cut through his haze.
"Lunick? Lunick!" The bluenette blinked twice before he looked towards the voice, seeing a worried look on Sven's face. "Oh thank Arceus you're awake."
Very slowly, Lunick sat up, at least getting into a sitting position as he registered where he was. Infirmary. He noticed Murph and Solana were still out beside him. Spenser was nowhere to be found. Sven must've noticed his confusion as he blinked.
"Easy. Spenser carried you guys and two of the admins back to the Lightspell Sanctum. I can go get him if you need me to." Lunick nodded, his mind trying to figure out how Spenser was ok. Sven left after getting him to lay back down (He wanted to stand up, but he swayed a little too much for Sven's comfort). He stared at the ceiling until Spenser's voice filled his ears.
"Lunick?" He blinked before Spenser sat down beside him.
"Spenser... are you ok- you-" The Rayquaza blessed sniper placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm alright. When Billy casted, I activated my aura to soften my landing on the other side of the room." Lunick paused before nodding softly, his mind racing. "It's alright. Easy..."
The group was able to get back up with Sven's assistance. It took some effort, but they did manage to get to their feet and talk in their lounge.
"Man... that was a fucking disaster." Sven raised an eyebrow.
"Lunick, you guys clashed with Billy, the strongest person in Fiore. There wasn't much you could've done differently." Lunick hummed. "The only thing would be if you had a blessing. The blessing might've given you a little bit of a chance." Lunick frowned at that as Sven intercepted him. "I'm not saying you do or do not have a blessing. I'm just saying that if you did, you would've had a chance. Don't try to mix my words up. I'm not Wendy." The others chuckled as Solana glanced at Murph.
"Well... we now know Murph can rival his aura. But once it gets to actual abilities, we need to work together." Murph nodded softly. Lunick sighed.
"Yeah... the bigger problem." Spenser frowned, almost knowing where he was going with that.
"Lunick, you are not at fault. We all had a problem somewhere in that room. And even if we had dealt with Billy right there and then, Tiffany was right next to him, recharging as we stood there." Solana scoffed.
"That's a war I'm not ready for." She frowned. "And those are the two that got away." Murph paused.
"Wait... the rumors say that Billy is the boss, but there's no proof. If he isn't, who is?" Lunick hummed softly, almost as if thinking. He then picked his head up.
"No one knows. That's the thing. Everyone is so stuck on Billy that-" He paused. "No one... no one has actually figured that out..." Spenser paused.
"Wait... so if Billy isn't the boss, that means we wouldn't have won. There's someone above Billy." Solana blinked.
"Billy wasn't acting like a leader..." She frowned. "He turned on his aura first for a reason. I don't think he was looking for a fight. I think he was looking for the most passive way out of that fight." Lunick gulped.
"We took it as a challenge. You think the Boss might've been manipulating them?" Spencer paused.
"We have two members here. We can find out."
~
Clyde slept through the conversation (He woke up once, but the second they started asking questions, he fell back to sleep), but Garret was able to answer them.
"We're mostly a family... Not so much the grunts, but us admins are all siblings. Tiffany's the youngest, Clyde's older than her, I'm the second oldest, and Billy's the oldest. Our dad is the leader. He... he's always saying stuff to Billy and then we would get orders from there. Us guys were always targets of our dad... I don't know if Tiffany was ever hurt, but we were..." Garret shuddered as Spenser brought him into a side hug. "If Billy is still out there, the bastard of a man still is controlling him... using him against us-" He broke down instantly, waking Clyde up as Spenser pulled him into a full hug. Lunick purred softly at that. No wonder Billy avoided fights. It wasn't because he was too strong. It was because the manipulation would've been noticeable.
After they left the two to rest, Lunick finally spoke. It was soft, but he had to say it.
"Alright..." They turned as he gulped. "That's our target. We have to tear that guy down before these kids drown themselves in the pain."