Chapter 10
Wide Guard
Day 2
Inti groaned as she awoke. The sunlight danced in the sky as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
She quickly realized that she was seeping in Azisa’s head, the lizard quickly coming to the conclusion that she had at some point decided that Azisa’s head was very comfortable.
Okay, that is the last time I drink any wine. I only had like one glass but still.”
Still groggy from the wine, Inti gently lept from the head of the tree, landing on the ground with a graceful landing. Then, a wonderful aroma hit her: she couldn't tell what it was, but it sure smelled good.
Humming, Inti walked to the open door of the house. As she entered, she gasped in horror as she saw what was before her:.
Nall and Nalel.
The sound of a closing door behind her made her situation even worse.
"Help."
X moaned as he awoke, the sunlight filtering through his tent. He yawned, stretching as he did so.
"Man, what a weird dream." X commented. He knew he had dreams, like any other person did, but he never really remembered them. Figments, sections, ideas....but just that. Just parts of the dream. But this one, this one was different.
He remembered everything about it.
And it scared him.
Especially Jacob.
X shuddered as he tried to get up, a small grunt of pain coming from his lips as he tried to do so. The pain was like sliding your arm across the carpet: It wasn't the act of sliding your arm across the carpet that hurt, but the carpet burn that remained after. It was a pain that lingered, never truly hurting yet the pain was still there.
A head popped in, revealing Apocalypse. "Hi X! You're up!"
"You too Apocalypse. Sleep good?"
"I had a really weird dream, other than that, I did."
"Really?" X mused. "I had a really weird dream too."
"Did it involve Inti being nice to me? Because that was what made my dream weird."
X shook his head. "Nah, mine was a bit more....complicated."
"Inti being nice to me usually is."
"...Moving on, can you ask Azisa to get me something to eat? I'd do it myself but I want to wait for a bit before I move. I still feel a little sore."
"Sure. AZISA! X WANTS FOOD!" Apocalypse shouted, ensuring a few of the wounded would wake up angry as he left his trainer, X smiling.
"Kids,"
To Inti's surprise, the girls brought her to their mother instead of "playing" with her.
"Okay, this time, its going to work!" Hira trotted to her notebook, many equations and languages scribbled in it. Scribbles was putting it gently: The way they were written, even a rabid wolverine would right more legible literature. "Is the subject ready?"
"Lisk."
"That means yes Mom!" Nalal cried with joy, Nell looking on in confusion. A cup of coffee was in her magical grip.
"Lisk lisk Lisk!"
"Uh, you sure Mister...Frilly face...is going to be okay?" Nell asked in between sips of coffee.
"Trust me Nell, Mister Frilly Face will be fine. " Hira replied as he finished a calculation. "It's my sanity I fear for."
"That's....encouraging." Nell remarked. "So, what exactly are you doing?"
"Mom's been trying to translate what Mister Frilly Face and the other creatures that just showed up are saying." Answered Nall. "Trust us, its gonna be amazing once Mister Frilly Face and us are speaking the same language.
"Can you imagine how hard it must be if you had a best friend you couldn't understand for like forever? It would be like 'Hi friend? Would you like something? I hope you can get the general idea of what I am saying and hopefully not think I'm saying something disrespectful ending with 'your mother'. That's just low, you know that?"
Nell just sipped her coffee.
"That's the general idea. The single and double translations didn't work, so hopefully a triple translation will do the trick." At that, Hira put on a pair of goggles, her three daughters doing the same. Mister Frilly Face's eyes widened at that, worried that something was expected to blow up.
Hira horn glowed, engulfing Mister Frilly Face. Then, when the glow ended, a second immediately replaced it. "Okay, here goes."
Hira's horn glowed, though this time the glow was more....solid. Mister Frilly Face squeezed for a moment before the glow ended.
"Okay....speak. Please." Hira grinned in anticipation, the smile wider than it should be as Mister Frilly Face blinked, then spoke.
"01010111011001010110110001101100001011000010000001101001011001100010000001110100011010000110100101110011001000000111010001101000011010010110111001100111001000000111011101101111011100100110101101110011001000000100100100100000011101110110111101110101011011000110010000100000011011000110100101101011011001010010000001110100011011110010000001100011011011110110110101110000011011000110000101101110001000000110000101100010011011110111010101110100001000000111100101101111011101010111001000100000011010110110100101100100011100110010111000100000011101000111011101101111001000000110111101100110001000000111010001101000011001010110110100100000011000010111001001100101001000000111000001101111011100110111001101101001011000100110110001111001001000000110000101110011001000000110100101101110011101000110010101101100011010010110011101100101011011100111010000100000011000010111001100100000010000010111000001101111011000110110000101101100011110010111000001110011011001010010110000100000011000010110111001100100001000000111010001101000011000010111010000100000011010010111001100100000011011100110111101110100001000000110000100101110001011100010111001101111011010000010000001100100011001010110000101110010001000000100000101110010011000110111010101100101011100110010000001100001011011010010000001001001001000000111001101110000011001010110000101101011011010010110111001100111001000000100001001001001010011100100000101010010010110010010000100111111001000000101011101001000010110010010000001010100010010000100010100100000010010000100010101001100010011000010000001000001010011010010000001001001001000000101001101010000010001010100101101000001010010010100111001000111001000000100001001001001010011100100000101010010010110010010000100111111001000000101011101001000010000010101010000100000010101000100100001000101001000000100100001000101010011000100110000100000010001000100100101000100001000000101100101001111010101010010000001000100010011110010000001010100010011110010000001001101010001010010000100111111"
(TRANSLATION: Well, if this thing works I would like to complain about your kids. two of them are possibly as intelligent as Apocalypse, and that is not a...oh dear Arceus am I speaking BINARY!? WHY THE HELL AM I SPEAKING BINARY!? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!?)
Hira screamed as she took the goggles off and threw them with enough force to break the window she threw them at. At that, Nell, Nall, Nalel, and Mister Frilly Face wisely moved to the other end of the study.
The doorbell thankfully rang, drawing Hira's anger to it. "Excuse me for a moment. I need to take my anger out at the changeling at the door. It will be messy." The mother then angrily trotted out of the room, leaving the stunned changelings and Heliolisk behind.
After a moment, Nall spoke. "Mom, can you at least undo what you did? That many numbers scare me!"
With an angry slam, the door opened, a crashing sound erupting from the point of impact between door and wall. "Piss off!"
"Yet another bad first impression. I'm losing my touch."
Hira gulped when she realized who was at her front door. She stammered incoherently, Emperor Carapace witness to her babbling. A strange bipedal fox with black fur and glorious red hair stood next to him, looking at Hira quizzically. There were bandages on his right arm that looked to be freshly applied. Behind them were about two dozen Royal Guards, whom started to laugh at the misfortune of Hira.
"....is she alright?" The fox asked.
"I'm pretty sure that she, like many of us, had a rough day yesterday due to the arrival of your kind....uh they all are part of your kind, correct?"
"In a manner of speaking you are correct, mostly." The fox corrected. "...Are we just gonna...."
"Give her a minute." Carapace reassured him. Hira was slowly able to make coherent speech possible. "My Emperor! What a surprise? Um....please don't take what I said personally. I've had a bad morning, and all the coffee in Equis will do nothing to fix it."
"I would never dream of taking a small bout of anger like that personally. You are not the only one who's troubles from the day before haunt you today. Are the Pokèmon bothering you that much?"
"No, my Emperor." Hira spoke as she bowed. "It's uh.....Translation spell mishaps."
"Ah."
"Well, its a good thing I am here, am I 'Boss'." Naruto quipped. Hira raised her head and focused on the fox, curious.
"Wait, I can understand you." Hira took a closer look. "Does that mean the translation spell works!? What did you use? A Quadruple translation? Time Dilation? Mana Overcharge?"
"It's a talent that I always have possessed actually." Naruto said with a grin. "But we're here for official business. May we come inside?"
Before she could answer, a shout was heard as it's owner marched through the crowd. "Moving time, Tyrunt walking! Want in, please move! I have jaws, hear me whine!"
Turning and looking down, Naruto smirked as he was the troublemaker. "Apocalypse, play nice. We've been doing a lot of traveling lately and don't want to scare the locals any more than they already are."
"Hey, if the back door had a lower handle I would use that but nooooooo! I'm the short one. Now scooch Naruto. I want in! " Apocalypse had just entered the house before skidding to a stop, slowly turning around and looking at the Zoroark he talked to. "NARUTO!?"
"Ta-da."
With a cry of joy, Apocalypse jumped into Naruto, the Zoroark giving a small screech before being talked to the ground by the Tyrunt. "YAY! YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE REALLY HERE! NOW INTI HAS SOMEONE ELSE TO PICK ON! WHERE WERE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU WITH THESE GUYS!? WHY DO YOU SMELL LIKE A DUNGEON? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!?"
"OFF APOCALYPSE! OFF! YOU'RE HEAVY AND I CANNOT BREATHE!"
"NEVER!!!!!!!!"
"CARAPACE HELP ME!"
Carapace simply smiled as the company began to laugh with a smile on their face, the ecstatic dinosaur completely oblivious to the Fox's cries for help. Carapace's horn glowed shortly before Silver Heart approached him. "Sir, if I can, I suggest you delay that help." Silver Heart asked the emperor.
"Why?"
"I would like to savor the moment."
"Silver...."
"What?"
Azisa made herself at home in the kitchen. She rummaged through the cupboards and drawers, looking for something to feed her family.
She also made a mental note to replace whatever she used. And to make enough for the family taking them in. She pondered for a moment, and reached into herself, bringing out a branch filled with small Sitrus Berries. She was very thankful for her Ability to Harvest Sitrus Berries so quickly, though the actual time from bloom to fruit varied from crop to crop.
This batch needed at least another day.
"Hmm, there goes Sitrus Berry Crepès." Azisa noted. She begun her search anew, looking for a replacement fruit. She did find a strange black berry that resembled a Blukberry, but she was keeping her options open for now.
"Honestly, this is a strange fruit. I have never seen it before."
"True, but the things you find and don't expect yield their own pleasant surprises." A strained voice spoke to her from behind. Azisa turned her head around, just her head, and her eye widened in joy as she saw Naruto standing behind her.
For added adorableness, Apocalypse was riding him piggy back style, compressing his hair by an impressive amount as Naruto buckled underneath the weight of the Dragon, trying to not to fall to the ground. Azisa tried very hard to not laugh.
"Help. He's heavy."
Azisa quickly grabbed Apocalypse, who despite the death grip he had on Naruto's hair, was easily taken off of his back, relieving the fox of the extra weight. She set Apocalypse down before Naruto wheezed a reply. "He needs to go on a diet. Or take a bath."
"Is that a rock joke?"
"Sorry. Inti rubbed off on me," Naruto commented with a shrug.
"Well enough of that." Azisa shook her hands, some of the foodstuff stuck on them falling off before hugging the second in command. "What about you? Where were you? We were worried. I was worried!"
"Well, I may have woke up in the castle of the local Emperor..." Naruto's eyes darted around for a moment, as he sighed. "...who is not as quiet as I think he thinks he is, and is currently behind me."
"And here I thought I was good at being stealthy." The Emperor chuckled. “You really did hear me?”
"I take it you are Azisa the Trevenant? I am Emperor Carapace, Emperor of the Changeling Empire, which is where you are now."
"I am indeed Azisa, your highness." Azisa bowed, showing respect to the Emperor of a land she never knew. "My apologies for making you bring Naruto to us, if that is the case."
At that, Carapace had a hard time keeping his face free of a perplexing emotion. "...I can't actually understand you."
"What?"
"He can't speak our language Azisa. One moment." Naruto told his Ghost friend. He turned to face the Emperor. "Emperor, she said 'I am indeed Azisa, your highness. My apologies for making you bring Naruto to us, if that is the case.'"
"Oh, there was no trouble. Mostly." Carapace stressed the 'mostly' part, at which Naruto cringed. "Though, I came for another reason, involving....what were they called? Derent?"
"Durant, sir."
A glow guretal groan came from Azisa, it sounding like it came from a ancient Behemoth who just awoke from its slumber. "Oh.....them. I swear, they are despicable."
"My sentiments exactly." Naruto turned again, facing his fellow workmate and family member. "Mind telling the Emperor what happened yesterday from your point of view?"
"Not a problem..." Azisa then pointed to her crepès, the pasties unfinished. "But X just woke up and I kinda need to feed him. I told the family that I was going to cook the meals as payment for letting us stay here. I'm pretty lucky they can read our language. But the point is that I need some fruit, and I used most of my Sitrus berry supply yesterday and the new ones aren't done growing."
"We have some blueberries on the ship we used to get here. I'm sure the Emperor would not mind if you used some."
"If I can correctly guess what you are referring to..." Carapace mused with a hoof on his chin. "....I can arrange that. But I would like one of whatever you are making."
"And while you are making it, I was hoping I could talk to X." Naruto asked with a smile on his face. At that, Azisa's head drooped. "...Azisa...is...is X....okay?"
"He is hurt rather badly friend, but on the general whole he is fine. I'll take you to him, but I should warn you, you will be surprised." Azisa then started to head towards the exit of the kitchen. "He'll probably feel better once he see's you."
"Naruto, what did she say?" Carapace asked the Fox. Naruto sighed as he followed the Trevenant. "She's going to take me to X..."
"Then why do you sound apprehensive about it?"
"Something that is causing my fur to stand on end. Whatever it is, I am not going to like it."
Naruto and Carapace stood outside of the tent where Azisa led them, the door of the tent closed. "Please don't freak out."
"I assure you I will not."
With that, Azisa opened the door and ushered the two in. "X, you have a visitor."
What Naruto saw was not what he expected. Instead of his human he saw a Chesnaught wrapped in bandages staring at the ground he sat on.
"Uh....Azisa?"
"Yes Naruto?"
"That's a Chesnaught."
"Not...exactly."
At that, the Chesnaguth raised his head, a weary look on his face, and gasped as he saw who it was. "Naruto?"
"....yes?"
"Naruto, its me. It's X."
Naruto couldn't help but look at him as if he was a little off in the head, though considering what had happened the day before, that might not be too foreign of a statement. The emperor bore the same expression. "Naruto, what is he saying?"
"He's saying that he's X. But....that's impossible."
"I sure do hope it is Naruto." Carapace warned. "I do not like being lied too."
"Trust me Naruto, its X." Azisa looked at her friend, the Zoroark looking at her awkwardly. "He knows things only he would know."
Naruto simply narrowed his eyes. "Okay then. If you really are X, tell me, what was the name of You Know Who."
"Naruto, we agreed never to talk about it."
"Indulge me."
"Fine. Fire Wing the Incredibly Fiery Who Causes Storms To Flee In the Terror Of My Existence And Power Within All Eternity." Naruto was about to interject when the Chesnaught continued. "But we called him Hornswoggle to make him mad."
Naruto sighed. "Do I even want to know why you are a Chesnaught? Or how you became one for that matter?"
"I don't even think I know." The being now identified as X signed. He then took a closer look at Naruto, and noticed the bandaged arm. "Oh my god your arm!"
"I'm fine, trust me."
"But that's your bad arm!"
"Trust me, I'm fine." Naruto raised his good hand the gesture trying to get his wellness across to X. Turning to the Emperor, he asked "Emperor, may I have a moment?"
"Take all the time you need." With that, Carapace exited the tent, Azisa in tow.
"So..." Naruto approaches his trainer, and sat down next to him. "...Want to talk about those wounds of yours?"
"Don't change the subject Naruto. What happened to your arm? Is it broken?"
Naruto chuckled. "Trust me the arm is tougher than it looks. I landed on it wrong, but otherwise it is fine. A little sore though."
X glared, the visage of death in the corner of Narutos eyes. "I got into a fight with a Blastoise. He was threatening to steal the Emperor of this lands garden, that's the man who came with me just now, and I tried to talk the Blastoise down.
"Turns out he was a Typist, and started the fight with me. I fought, but he got a few good hits on me. "Did you know Aura Spheres hurt? They do, and they hurt a lot."
"How can Blastoise learn that?" X mused.
"Honestly?" Naruto answered. "I believe its probably though some ancient ritual that was actually something Pokemon were not meant to know."
X laughed. "Good to hear you got out of it alive. "
"And now its your turn." X sighed as Naruto glared at his trainer/brother. "I heard you and the others got into a little bit of a fight against some Durant."
"It wasn't fun, I'll tell you that."
"But that's not the only thing you are worrying about." Naruto noted. At that, X's face fell. "X, I know you are confused right now. Winding up in a land that we do not know, you turning into a Chesnaught....the stress must be eating you alive. It might be best to take it slow, and let it out. Sometimes you must simply talk about it."
Words rang through X's head as the mysterious Mistress of the Night echoed in his thoughts.
"Part of the healing process is being able to talk about it."
"...I had a weird dream." X replied. "It started out as a memory of our first job after we got our construction licence..."
"I just don't know why the damn spell isn't working!" Hira lamented over a cup of coffee. The soldiers who were not outside tending to the wounded, asking questions and receiving answers. The ones who were not were milling about, either outside near the fence to stand guard, or inside to await their Emperors orders. "I got Mister Frilly Face to speak Binary! Binary! That's not even a language! It's a series of yes and no answers that those newfangled computer things use to do things!"
Nell put a hoof on her chin, musing. "Wait, don't we have one of those computer things somewhere?"
"Yes. Your father found it during one of his merchant trips. " A sip of coffee paused the mother's comment. "He found it, though I would like to play with the thing. More trouble than it's worth actually, because right now...its in the closet."
"Why is it in there? I may not be familiar with computers but I don't think that is where they go."
Hira calmly replied with a simple "I got mad."
"Oh."
"It could be just our biology." The Emperor noted. He sipped on his coffee, which was straight black with no sugar or cream, before continuing. "Changeling magic is not as powerful as Unicorn magic. That is simply the way it is. Even one as long lived as I may have trouble with the spell as you are."
"The spell is working your highness, its just not working the way it should." Hira moaned.
Carapace had no answer.
Nell was there as well, sitting and thinking. Nervously, she asked "Emperor,can I make a suggestion?"
"And you are...?"
"I'm Nell, your highness."
Carapace returned with a warm smile. "Well then young Nell. I am Carapace."
"Oh, I uh, I already know that sir." Nell replied. If she was nervous before, it was nothing compared to how nervous she was now.
"Yes, but when one gives their name it is polite to get a name in return. It's more personal to me."
That calmed Nell down a bit. "Well I had an idea. The spell is working correctly but not correctly at the same time, right?"
Hira noded before Nell continued. "Is it possible to cast the two translations spells....at the same time?"
"Nell, that's...."
"Brilliant." The Emperor finished His thought for her as Nell looked in surprise. She had not expected that. "At the very least we must try."
"But dual casting magic, even the same spell, is not an easy feat. I don't think I can do it." Hira pointed out. An aura covered book floated to her, the teacher flipping the book open and rushing through the pages quite quickly. "With no disrespect meant Emperor I doubt even you can cast two spells at the same time reliably."
But deter the Emperor it did not. "Then we shall each cast one of the two spells. If we cast at the same time, it should achieve the same results."
"Honestly I don't think this is going to work." Hira expressed her doubt. "But I've spent far too many hours trying to answer why the spell just won't work right." She turned her book around, revealing runic markings in a language that screamed magic. "This is the spell I have been using."
"Seems simple enough." The Emperor gripped the book in his aura, the book floating to him. His eyes darted back and forth as he absorbed the information that lay before him. After several tense moments of reading, he set the book down. "When you are ready. If you do not mind, I shall handle the second half of this spell."
"Nell, can you get Mister Frilly Face for me?"
Mister Frilly Face was being held tightly by Rizen, the soldier's hoof on her tail. She did not want to speak binary again, but she really didn't want to get into a fight this early in the morning.
Inti loved to get into a good fight but even she had standards.
The commoner and the Emperor were looking over the notes one more time, looking over for any irregularities in the magical instructions. "This seems simple enough. I never really needed a translation spell lately so I am a little rusty."
"Really?"
The Emperor smiled at Nell, and responded. "Well, I am long lived. Gives me plenty of time to study."
"I'm ready when you are your Highness." Hira closed the book, her confidence shifting between "Reasonably worried" to "Oh by the hive I am going to screw up in front of the Emperor and completely destroy my reputation and make it time to move to another town."
"It is your spell. You lead, and I will follow."
HIra was thankful for the Emperor deferring to her judgment. "Then...on three."
"One."
"Two."
"'Three!"
Horn horns glowed brightly with their auras. The colors melded and surrounded Mister Frilly Face, the lizard resigning herself to her fate. The aura faded, Mister Frilly Face glaring at the Changelings. "So....how do you feel?" Hira asked.
Mister Frilly Face growled before answering. "I feel Violated! I mean you almost left me talking in binary for who knows how long when you had your little temper tantrum! I didn't wanna leave the room after that. That many numbers scare Apocalypse!"
Nall was slightly offended at that. "Hey, that's what I said....before..."
"IT WORKED!" Hira shouted. She rose to the air in celebration as Rizen released her tail. "Tell us anything, anything at all!"
"Well, since you asked...." Mister Frilly Face pointed a hand at Nall and Nalel. "Those two have been the thorn in my side ever since I got here...wherever here is... and I am SICK OF IT! Oh, and my name isn't Frilly Face! Frilly Face is a stupid name! My name is Inti, I already have a Trainer, and like Samus...I AM A GIRL!"
"Trevenant Nant Nant!"
"Now if you excuse me I am going to drown my sorrows in crèpe!"
And with that, Inti left the room.
"What kind of a stupid name is Inti?"
"Nall....not now."
"You have the weirdest dreams."
"I've been under a lot of stress." X responded. "You too by the looks of it."
"What, afraid of one little fight spelling my doom?" The Zoroark countered. "I admit it was close but without Carapace it would have been a different ending."
"That's what I was afraid of."
The tent opened, Inti popped her head into the tent, a blueberry crèpe dangling out of her mouth. "Oh, hey Naruto. Heard you were back. Awesome." She spoke through a mouth full of food.
"Good to see you to Inti. Heard you got into a scuffle."
"You know me." The Heliolisk gulped, the crèpe now swallowed. "Anywho, the geniuses managed to do some Move that let's us speak the same language. Sorry Naruto but it looks like you're out of a job."
"I take it they want to talk with us."
"Yeah, I'll go get Apocalypse, he's doing something involving that Tropius in the backyard."
Inti's head vanished from view as Naruto asked X, "There's a Tropius in the backyard?"
"Yea. He's a cool guy but he's kinda lazy."
Thankfully for X, he was deemed well enough to get up and wander.
So he wandered into the house, which was quickly turning into the temporary HQ.
Thankfully there were crèpes waiting for him there.
X walked through the door (minus the cloak so the could actually walk through the door) and saw a plate of crèpe waiting for him and for Naruto, their places at the table chosen for them. The table at that point was rather crowded, a second table sitting next to it in order to accommodate the Emperor and his men. The Emperor sat at the head of one table, Rizen and Silver on each side. In their own spots scattered around the tables, Inti and Apocalypse dug into their crèpes, Apocalypse far messier than Inti, while the other changelings simply sat and ate in a rather clean manner (well, clean when compared to Inti and Apocalypse)
As X sat down, the Emperor cleared his throat, the sound drawing attention to himself. “First, I would like to give my thanks to you Citel, and your family, for allowing me into your home under these interesting circumstances.”
“The honor is mine your Highness.”
“Second, I believe introductions are in order, since Hira broke the language barrier between us and our guests.Whom wished to go first.”
“If no one minds, I think we shall have that honor.” Citel cleared his throat before continuing. “I am Citel, and this is my wife Hira.”
“I’m not sure if I already said this, but it is a pleasure meeting you.”
X smiled as the replied “Uh, it’s no biggie.”
“And these are our two broods. Our oldest Nell, Nall, and Nalel…” The trio of young mares nodded as their names were called. “...and our youngest: Kyo, Koruk, Roku, Aang and Kor.”
The five of them shoot their hooves into the air as one.
“As for me, I am Emperor Carapace. I am the ruler of the Changeling Empire, which you are currently in.” The Emperor pointed a hoof at Silver Heart. “This is Silver Heart, and on my other side is Rizen.”
“Friends of yours?” The tree asked. She was still in the kitchen, the rooms distance not to far from the tables, allowing her to be in the conversation will little difficulty.
“In a manner of speaking.” The Emperor replied. At that, Silver Heart sighed.
“Well, to kick things off on our end, I’m X.” X patted himself on the chest before motion to his team. “Next to me is Naruto, my best friend.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
“The one in the kitchen is Azisa.”
“Hello friends!”
“Next to Naruto is Inti.”
Inti said nothing as she ate he crèpe.
“And I’m Apocalypse!” The Tyrunt shouted. The tension in the room broke, and the changelings started to laugh as Inti growled at the Tyrunt.
“I must say, your friends are quite interesting X.” Nall laughed.
“Tell me about it.” X replied.
“In any case, I would like you to recount your tale of the day before. I need a few holes filled in.”
“Uh sure.” X paused for a moment before continuing. “Well, for me, I woke up in the jungle….”
X was not alone in recounting the events of yesterday. As the told his tale, Nell, Nall, Inti, Apocalypse, and Azisa each chipped in, adding details and other points of view
Levitated coffee poured into X’s cup as the finished his tale
“...And that’s what happened sir.”
“So, like Naruto you claim to hail from a land that I have not heard of. And like Naruto, you claim to be a different creature than what you are right now.”
“That sums it up sir.”
“Intriguing.”
"I think the more important issue are those ants sir." SIlver Heart. "I got a few reports from a couple of the troops. Those ants really made a mess of things. What if they come back?"
"I've never actually met a Durant, but from what I hear, Durant are pretty territorial." All of the eyes in the room turned to X. "Maybe they think that they you guys moved onto their land for something?"
"I wouldn't put it past them. Plus they might do something....questionable." Inti words rang true, looks of worry on the faces of Kor's family. "Case in point, the kidnapping of Kor there."
"Anyone have any suggestions? Because I'm pulling a blank." Citel sighed.
"I say we find where the Durant are living, and attack back." Carapace, Silver Heart, and Naruto turned towards the speaker in surprise, which was Rizen. "...What?"
"Uh, that was my line." Silver moaned.
"Indeed." The Emperor was just as surprised as Silver. "I would not have expected such a bloodthirsty suggestion from someone who's specialty is psychology."
"Sir, these ants attacked first, and kidnapped one of our own. It's clear they are not friends." Rizen replied. His gaze was hard, something that seemed out of character for the normally soft spoken changing guard. "I am a warrior first and a psychologist second. If there is a battle to be fought, then in it I will fight."
"Woah, you're just gonna march into battle just like that?" Demanded X.
"I believe that is what we just said." The Emperor replied like it was casual day to day talk between friends.
"But these Durant must have had a reason to attack! You don't just attack people for no reason. There is always a reason for people to attack other people! I should know!"
"You expect me to just sit on my hooves while these creatures plan to assault my people again!" Carapace was almost yelling, his berserk button clearly pushed. "I will not stand by and watch my people be treated as nothing but targets!"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't need to. Your emotions told me." The Emperor's eyes narrowed. "You fear them, and that fear is combined with another far. One that you are hiding from me. I applaud your ability to hide such information from an ancient emotivore like myself, but that is not the point I am making.
"Those fears is why you want me to avoid a battle. Because you are afraid of what they can do. You do not like others being hurt. But I have been alive for a very long time. I saw first hand what terrors like Discord, Nightmare Moon, and King Sombra are capable of. These Durant pale in comparison to what true horrors are. They will not be able to stand to me, or my power."
X was not convinced. "That's not the point! Look at the evidence! The Durant only attacked those who attacked back! They clearly wanted something, and obviously wanton violence was not it! They have a reason, maybe we can use that to reason with them!"
"Uh, what about the Durant that attacked Anteater and his men?" Nell replied. X looked at her, causing her to sink into her chair in a vain attempt to hide. "Sorry, but...he never said anything about his side attacking first."
"Okay, maybe a few Durant attacked first, but my point still stands."
"X, are you suggesting that we just talk to the Durant?" Nall's question was as loud as a whisper, the quick ascension into shouting scaring her. "Because they seem like mean, not-talky types."
"As much as I loathe the peaceful approach, X has a point. Maybe talking to them could save our collective butts."
Apocalypse scootched as far away from Inti without actually leaving his seat. "Who are you and what have you done to Inti!?"
Inti shoot a quick glare at Apocalypse. "It's still me, Apocalypse." She then turned her glare back to the bickering Emperor and human. "When I went to their colony, there were easily one or two hundred Durant, maybe even three hundred. At the least. I honestly believe there are more than that.
"Let's not forget when the Durant paid a visit last night. No offence Carapace, but the soldiers that serve you were outnumbered and overpowered, badly. They had a hard time surviving them, let alone fighting them. You honestly think they are capable of fighting back when the Durant come back? Trust me, they are coming back. If we can stop the fight before it even starts, that's a win in my book."
The Emperor cast a hard glare at the pokemon, his subjects staying silent. They were starting to regret letting the Emperor have what was amount to a war meeting in their house.
So much for a simple breakfast with royalty.
"....They will not listen X. They know they have the upper hand."
"At least give it a try. You can never an answer to a question you never ask. If we can stop the fight then we can get on to the more important question of finding out how all of us pokemon wound up in your little Empire in the first place. And how to get back."
"...maybe you are right. It will not end the way you believe it will end, but I will humor you. Rizen, Silver?"
"Yes Emperor?" The duo replied as soon as Carapace stopped talking, Silver replying through a mouthful of crèpe.
"Prepare a carriage. We'll take to the skies to get there faster."
Silver swallowed before speaking. "Uh, isn't my employment questionable right at this moment?"
"Consider this an opportunity to redeem yourself." He turned to Inti. "Inti, you know the location of the entrance to the colony, do you not?"
"I wouldn't call it an entrance." Inti smirked. "More like an emergency back door."
"Close enough. You will accompany me and my troops, serving as our guide to where you exited their colony."
Inti grinned like a mad woman as Carapace turned to Citel and his family. "If it is not any trouble, I need you and your family's help. I declare that you Citel to be Emergency Aid Director, with your wife and children Junior Aid Directors.
"Your duties are to keep watch on those whom are still injured, answer any questions regarding what is happening truthfully, and to shore up the defences of the city as you see fit. Until further notice, what you say goes. If I can suggest something, please place priority on your little camp here: The Durant seem intelligent. If given the chance, they would most likely finish what they started here. Do not give them that chance. "
"But, we're just....changelings!" Nell pointed out. "You Think we're good enough?"
"You are the changelings with the most experience regarding these ants. So yes, I do think you are good enough."
Somehow that didn't make Nell feel better.
"Finally, Naruto. You said that Fire was the only weakness of these Durant?"
"I did say that." Naruto replied.
"And you know fire magic."
"I told you already, Sir. It's not magic, it's. An. Attack. And yes, I do know Flamethrower, which is a fire attack."
"Then you're coming with us."
"Yes sir. "
"Uh, no you're not." X grumpily replied.
At that, Naruto looked...worried. "Uh yea...uh....I...uh...."
X sighed a weary sigh. "What happened?"
"...I got arrested."
X shot out of his seat, knocking over his seat, and almost did the same to the table if he did not slam his hands into it. Which caused the tablet to splinter. "WHAT!? YOU GOT ARRESTED!!"
"MY TABLE!"
"Uh, yea . Funny story. See, I kinda accidentally damaged the Emperor's garden. "
The changelings present (Save for Citel, who was still shouting
MY TABLE!") sighed. They had all heard the stories of the garden's legendary beauty. And the Emperor's extreme fondness of the garden.
Mostly about the fondness of the garden.
"The garden is on the level of a national treasure. And, well to shorten the story considerably either I serve time in jail, or work for the Emperor. I choose to work for the Emperor."
Flashbacks of Grant interrogating X flashed before his eyes. "Oh come on. You can't do that Carapace! It's just a garden!"
"One, it keeps me sane. Two, my country, my rules. And three, the deal I gave Naruto was extremely generous. I do not give that deal to just anyone."
"He's right." Hira replied. "We almost went to war with the Griffins due to an ambassador stepping on the Foxgloves."
"What the hell is a griffin!?"
"SERIOUSLY, DOES ANYONE HERE NOT NOTICE THE CRATER IN MY TABLE! IT WAS AN IMPORT FROM BALTIMARE!"
"In any case, I'm on your side X! " Naruto shouted. "You want a peaceful way to end this little spat, so I'm going to look for one unless you want to go!"
"You know what? Fine, go on then! Screw me over! I'm only your best friend/brother in spirit!" X marched towards the door, and opened it forcefully, almost tearing it from it's hinges. "Go ahead, go work for you new best friend! Who needs me anyway!?"
X slammed the door with terrible force. Miraculously, the door still remained connected to its hinges.
"...what happened to you X?" Naruto asked. No one answered, unsure what to say.
Thirty minutes later, The carriage was ready, four changelings hooked into its harnesses. The Emperor, Rizen, Silver Heart, Naruto, and Inti marched towards the gothic vehicle. "You feeling okay?" Inti asked.
"No." Naruto's answer was blunt.
"Look, X is just stressed, right? He's come round. He always does."
"It's not that. X never snapped like that. I know he isn't a fan of battle, but he always knew that there were causes to fight for. Battles that must be fought. This is one of those causes but he refuses to stand. Why? What happened yesterday?"
Inti sighed before asking a question of her own."You think he's still guilty about Apocalypse getting trashed by that Hitmonchan?"
"It's a factor, but not the reason."
"Hey, if you two are done doing Rizen's job, we got a negotiation to negotiate! Come on!" The shout of Silver Heart pulled the two back into reality. The soldiers were already in the carriage, sitting in the front of it while the Emperor sat in the far back.
"Are you well?" The Emperor asked the two pokemon.
"I am."
"Same here."
Inti's words fell on deaf ears as the changelings folded theirs against their heads. “Oh my. It seems the translation spell has faded. I can understand Naruto, but not Inti.”
“Goodie.”
At that moment, Hira approached the carriage with a strange item hung on a string around he neck. It was what appeared to be a lovestone that was thinner and longer than the others. Around the pylon was a yellow ring with runes carved in the four circles in the rings. It glowed with an unnatural light. “Your highness, forgive the intrusion, but I think this might work for your little trip.”
“Do tell.” Naruto was curious at the mysterious object that Hira handed to the Emperor, who began to put it around his neck.
“We call it a Spell Pylon. What it does is that during creation, we charge a spell into it, so that it can be cast using the love stored inside of it. That way almost anyone could cast simple spells. Like the translation spell. Using this, anyone could use the translation spell just as long they they themselves casts the second half.”
The stone glowed as Carapace’s horn did the same. “Inti, did it work?”
“You tell me.”
“It worked. Fine work indeed Hira, if you can, can you construct additional pylons?”
“If I can get eh extra man power then yes. Pylons aren’t easy to make. I needed help from at least two dozen skilled spellcasters to make this. And it’s not the best quality as well. It might not last the entire day.”
“As long as it doesn’t break when we need it, I can live with that.”
Into the jungle the three changelings, the Zoroark, and the Heliolisk traveled via a flying carriage pulled by four changelings.
"Gee, I sure do hope that I will be able to find something in the air that can only be found on the ground. There is nothing that can go wrong with this. Nothing. At. All." Inti moaned as she looked the edge, looking down for any signs of the Durant colony.
"Inti, remember the last time we invoked Murphy?" Naruto quipped.
"Who's Murphy?" Carapace asked.
"Some guy who had a horrible bad luck streak." Naruto replied. "He had many sayings, all of them dour. His most famous was "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"."
"Oh we have a guy like that." Rizen chuckled. "We call him Thrackerzod."
"....interesting." Naruto turned to Inti. "Find anything yet Init?"
"Nah, but we're getting close. It's just that everything looks the same up here. Nothing but trees and trees and...wait I think I see something. Over there!"
The others looked at where she was pointing. There was a sizable hole in tree's leaves, burn marks around the edge.
"You sure?" Carapace asked the Heiliolisk. She scoffed. "The edges are burned via thunder. That's definitely my calling card."
"Take us down."
“Definitely my calling card." Inti noted. The group had landed, and had begun to investigate the place of Int’s escape the previous day.
“So...who wants to knock?” Naruto asked.
Half a dozen Durant burst from the ground, answering his question. They surrounded the intruding intruders, snapping their jaws in anger.
“Great. We’re barely here three minutes and we must fight."
At that Inti walked towards them, a grin on her face. “I know! Isn't it great? This is gonna be fun!"
One Durant was not impressed. “You will have no fun, as we will have the fun!”
“No wait, do not attack!” A fellow Durant shouted. Judging from its expression, the Durant feared inti.
“And why not?”
“That Heliolisk is the Storming Thunder Breaker!”
“The what?” Naruto facepalmed while Inti smiled even wider. “I have a title? Awesome!”
“You five may fear a mere Heliolisk, but I do not! RAAAA!” The first Durant charged at Inti, the fire in his eyes burning brightly. To his horror, Inti dodged his assault without any real effort. WIth a shout, a Grass Knot sprung from the ground, and Inti lept on the Durants head. As the Durant came to grips with the weight of the Heliolisk on his head, Inti wrapped the Grass Knot around his jaws.
The Durant struggled as Inti jumped off of his head. Naruto walked up to he defeated ant and knocked on his head. “Trust me. There is nothing mere about that Heliolisk.”
“We’re wasting time.” The Emperor stepped forward, glaring at the Durant. “I am Emperor Carapace of the Changeling Empire, and you are trespassing on my land, in my empire, and I do not take this lightly. I demand that you take me to see your leader. If you accept and do what I ask there will be no quarrel. If you refuse, I will simply let myself in. And I will not be gentle when I knock.”
“...follow us.” The other Durant delved deeper into the jungle, the fear of the Storming Thunder Breaker rivaling that of the fear of what their Leader would do to them.
X sat near Banana Beard, whom was currently playing host to the male children of the family.
His muscles still ached, and X was content with simply sitting, relaxing, and healing. He wasn’t used to this body, and he didn’t want to push too far.
But what hurt was the fact that everyone seemed to just...ignore him.
The was X. He was the planner of the team. The leader. Why was everyone just….ignoring him?
Was he really letting something bother him?
“Uh, hi.”
X turned his head, and saw LIttle Lady look up to him, a plate on her back with two cups of coffee sitting beside a coffee pot. “oh hey. Uh, Nell, is it?”
“That’s right. And you’re X, right?”
“You got it. You gonna drink that coffee?”
“Go ahead.” The chesnaguth gently grasped the cup, and started to drink. He choked for a moment, as liquid spilled from his mouth.
“...is the coffee…?”
“No, the coffee is good. I’m used to having a smaller mouth devoid of facial hair actually.” he laughed.
“Then turn back.”
“Pardon?”
Nell covered her muscle with her hooves, embarrassed. “Sorry, I thought you could transform.”
“Yea, uh Chesnaughts can’t do that.” He took another clumsy sip of coffee, the miracle elixir doing wonders. “What made you think I could transform?”
“Well, I sometime forget that my species is the only one that can transform.” Nell then looked at the strange look X was giving her. “Uh, yea. My species can do that.”
“Can you show me?”
“uh, sure.” After setting down the plate, she shook herself for a little. “Let’s see...uh...got it!” A circle of fire surrounded he, faltering for a bit before consuming he. The fire quickly subsided, revealing a creature shaped similarly to her old form. Only she was black with white stripes, her name was a short mohawk, and he wings and horn were gone. “So….like it?”
“A Blitzle? neat.”
“Uh, actually I’m a zebra.”
“Oh. You look a lot like a Blitzle.”
“uh, that’s good….right?”
X nodded as fire surrounded Nell, shedding he zebra form and returning to normal. “So, can you transform into anything?”
“If it’s about the same size as me, then yea….” Nell then sighed. X put a hand on his chin, thinking hard about something.
“I understand you know.”
“Understand what?”
“Remember yesterday? When I was teaching you how to carve those figures?”
"Oh yea. " Nell smiled. "That was...tricky. But I'm still not sure I'm good at it."
"Oh?" This caused X to raise an eyebrow. "Well, what makes you say that?"
"It was my first time."
"You sure you want it to be your last time?" X sipped the remnants of his coffee, little of the remains of the coffee hitting the beard rather than the mouth. Nell did not answer. "Okay....uh...you have a nice family."
"Thanks..."
"Okay, what nerve did I hit this time?"
Nell sighed. "My family means well, but they're putting a lot of pressure on me to find my calling. The one thing I'm good at. And well...It kinda scares me."
"How so?"
"What if I find something, think its my calling, then I find out that years later I don't like it? I'd have to start all over again. So, I'm trying a bunch of things to see if I like them."
"As an explorer in the big scary jungle?"
"Merchant actually. Do you mind if I uh..."
"Go ahead." Nell levitated a cup of her own, and poured herself a glass of coffee. "Though....why not just sell stuff in the city where there aren't angry Durant?"
"We gotta get some exports, right?" Nell sipped her coffee, then spat a little out.
"Too hot?"
"Too hot." An Ice beam quickly shot at the liquid solved that conundrum quickly. She took another sip, then smiled. "There. Much better."
"You were saying something about exports?"
"Yea, well my dad got his fortune going in and out of the Empire buying and selling. He spent a lot of time away from home, but he says it was worth it. He keeps it local now, so he doesn't have to travel far from his family. In fact, that's where I was headed. There's a small town near our borders. I was going to enter town, disguised, and sell or trade my goods, and then come back with new goods to trade here."
"Well, I apologize that my arrival put a damper to that." X sighed before continuing. "Well, there's always the next time, right?"
"Not really..." Nell sighed, he sign an echo of X’s. "I don't have enough money for another cart, or tradable goods. The way I see it, I'm in debt..."
"Then try something else." Nell looked at him in confusion. "It's not that hard Nell. You just gotta follow your passion.
"Take me for example. Ever since I was little, I wanted to build things. To me, the art of taking a bunch of stuff and turning it into something you could live in, or store something in, or live in and store something in was amazing.
"But....I only had wooden blocks and other toys to play with at the time, so I wasn't very good at building when I first picked it up."
The changeling looked up at X, a small amount of wonder in her eyes. "So, what happened then?"
X hesitated for a moment, allowing Nell to sample his emotional state. It was apprehension, the taste dull at first, followed by a slick taste shortly after. "Well, I got older and then I went to school, and learned how to do it there. I figured that if I liked building with my blocks, then building with something a bit bigger would be the same only on a different scale."
"What I am trying to say Nell is that you gotta start with something you already like to do, Applying it as a job will then be easier, because you like what you do for a living. Randomly picking something willy-nilly is gonna make finding what makes you...uh you a little harder.
"So...what do you like?"
Nell had to think for a moment. "Well, I like to draw."
"Good. Anything else?"
"And...well I do like to explore. To go places I've never been."
"Now you're on a roll. Go on."
"I like to organize!"
"...what?"
"Well..." At that, Nell looked embarrassed. "I mean, I like everything to be in it's own little spot. Sometimes, when I was younger I would just reorganize things and put them back where they go. It just felt good."
X was expecting something a little more exhilarating. "Well, okay then...anything else?"
"....I liked the patterns that would appear after I organized them. One time, during dinner, I reorganized all of the Lovestoned that we eat our emotions from. I put them from smallest to tallest, and I noted that the smaller ones were rounder than the taller ones, as they looked like obelisks."
"See, there you go. Now, take all of those together, and think of something you could do as a job."
"You're really good at being motivational, huh?" Nell joked, patting her friend on the arm. He smiled in response.
"Not really. I just spoke what I thought. You don't have to be good at something to do it, right? You don’t need to answer right away, just….think on it."
So Nell thought on it. Her face scrunched up as she thought about things as X sipped more coffee.
"Can I say something I don't like? Would that help me?”
“Yea, that way you can avoid that. What do you have on your mind?”
Nell sighed. “I don’t like sports. I’m not very athletic. At all.”
The sounds of playful laughter caused the two to look at the five changelings playing on the Tropius. Nall and Nalel quickly joined them, appearing from what seemed to be from out of nowhere.
“They seem….hyper.”
“Remember when we were having lunch back in the jungle? How I talked about my family?”
“Oh yea...I remember.”
“You have very interesting companions.” Nell told X. X turned his head towards the changeling, putting the awkward conversation on hold for now. “Reminds me of my sisters. They're very hyper, rushing into situations without thinking.”
“Sounds like a fun set of siblings to have.” X replied. “His answer went on deaf ears, the changeling still subjected to the evils of the language barrier.
Ignoring X's unintelligible language, Nell continued. “Sometimes I wonder if I really am their sister though. I'm pretty different from them. Makes me feel a little out of place.”
“I understand the feeling.” X's thought, the visages of his parents appearing in his mind's eye. Nell continued. “I just hope our differences don't drive us apart.”
“Let me guess...you feel different?”
“Yea. My sisters are very hyperactive, and they are almost always smiling. Not a creepy smile, an actual smile. Like they really are happy all the time. But me, I’m the different one.”
“Hey, siblings are like that. I mean, I have a little sister and she’s different from me.”
“Well, for Changelings, it’s not uncommon for broods to act like the other members of the brood.”
“....Big brood.”
“Oh the boys are their own brood. They’re more hyper than Nall and Nalel.”
Nell looked back at he cup of coffee. “It’s just that sometimes I feel like the square peg trying to be stuffed in the round hole. They feel like I belong, but I don’t.”
“I can attest to that. My family has a very long history of being trainers.”
“Trainers?” Nell asked. “What are those?”
“Well, they’re people who travel the world, and train pokemon. My family has had a very long line of trainers in our history. Needless to say, we have a reputation.We were practically famous.” X sighed. “And that reputation and fame was something I didn’t want.”
“Really? But your family was famous, right?”
“Yea, especially in the Kalos Region.” To that, Nell gave him a blank stare. “...my home country. Where I was before I wound up in that jungle.
“That was one of my main motivations for going into construction rather than training: I wanted to build my own legacy, and be more than just another Arrow.
“Naturally, my parents did not share my sentiment. They still love me, but they didn’t think being a construction worker was a thing that fit for me.”
X chuckled. “...sorry. I tend to ramble when I talk about my life choices. Point is, being different isn’t bad.”
“Thanks…”
“Hey...you wanna practice carving some more? I can teach you some more tricks while I make your dad a table.”
“Really? you don’t mind fixing it? Dad would be really happy if you did.”
“Hey, I broke it. Least I can do is fix what I broke. Or, well, make a new one in this case.”
The inside of the colony was as dank and dark as Inti remembered it. The Durant whom were guiding were now pariahs of their community: the other Durant gave them dirtier looks than the ones they gave Carapace and his team.
“I do not like this.” Naruto whispered. “Bugs...Bugs everywhere.”
“Can’t you shoot fire out of your mouth?” Silver quipped. “These things look like they are made of metal. That, and you did say that Fire was their only weakness.”
“Thats because they are made of metal.” Inti replied. “Makes them super tough to damage because they resist half of all the good types of attacks.”
“Wait, they’re actually made of metal?” replied Rizen. “That….seems odd.”
“Actually, the Steel type is sort of normal where we come from.” Naruto replied. “The odd things are usually Poison types. Pokemon like Muk and Garbodor are sentient objects.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Living sludge and living garage. respectively. Trust me it is as weird as it sounds.”
Their conversation was interrupted as a small squad of pokemon talked through one of the tunnels. Several of them were Venipede, and several more were mammalian pokemon. The fronts were brown while their backs and parts of their head were covered in a green shell of sorts. Their arms were a dark brown.
The other was a foot taller, and very round. Its entire body was covered in a similar green casing with enough space for its face to peek out, which had a brown cress on its head above a comical coned nose. The limbs of this creature was a dark brown as well.
The round creature spoke up. “You! You had better have a good reason for bringing outsiders into the colony! And a better reason for bringing the Storming Thunder Breaker!”
“They...wish to speak to the leader.” A Durant replied.
“He will not see them! They are the enemy. Take them to the working grounds and put them to work! As of this moment they are our prisoners! Take them!”
The Venipede and mammals charged at the Emperors team. Inti grinned again, eager to fight while Naruto adopted a stance.
“Naruto, Inti. Stand down.” carapace commanded. “Rizen, Silver Heart. Your turn.”
“YES SIR!” The two changelings rushed towards the enemy. One of the Venipede fired a needled coated in poison. It flew towards its target. To the Centipede's shock, Silver Heart did a small jump in midair, spinning around as he did so and reflected the Poison attack back at the attacker, the needle grazing its shell.
Then with a shout, Silver bellowed as he slammed into the ground, his hooves embedded into the ground as it shattered, the force causing the charging force to loose their balance.
He wasn’t done yet. He leapt higher into the air as Rizen flew over the stumpking pokemon. They somersaulted as they were in the air, fire surrounding them like a wheel. The fire faded as they landed, revealing their new forms: Duplicates of Naruto with their natural hair colors instead of Narutos red.
For some reason, their feet were covered in their magical auras as their eyes glowed with the same color.
“ULTIMATE STRIDER!”
Their speed was blinding. Over and over, they dashed in tandem, their claws slashing at a foe before changing targets and striking again, barely a moment's rest between strikes.
Their targets fell to the ground as the assault ended. The Changelings turned Zoroark backflipped before the fire engulfed them again. As they landed, the fire faded again, revealing Rizen and Silver Heart standing on four hooves.
“I am no prisoner good sir.” The Emperor declared. “Rather, I am the warden, and these are my guards who turn chaos to order. Now that you have seen their power….you will take us to your leader unless you wish to behold my power.”
The round creature was cowed. “I shall...do as you request...follow me.”
“...they can do that?” Inti asked. The two soldiers, slightly exhausted but still ready to fight, smiled as they followed their guide.
“They can do that.” Carapace replied. He then noticed Naruto. He had a paw on his chin, and he was thinking.”I do hope that Rizen and Silver Hearts transformation was the sincerest form of flattery?”
“It’s not that…” Naruto pondered. ‘It’s just that I find this horde to Durant to have far too many pokemon that are not Durant in it’s colony.”
“And that is odd?”
“Durant aren’t very social.” Inti replied.
“Yet there are Venipede, Chespin, and Quillaldin among their numbers. The Venipede I can understand. Both are Bug types, and must share a kindred spirit. The added bonus is that Steel pokemon are immune to Poison type attacks, so the Venipede cannot rebel. Their masters have the advantage.”
“But why are Chespin and Quillaldin with them?” Inti pondered as well. “They’re Grass types, but you would think that they would stand a chance in getting out despite the Type Disadvantage they gotta deal with.”
“...I don’t think they are slaves, like you are implying.” Rizen walked up to the pokemon. “They seemed...comfortable here among potential enemies if this talk of Type matters any.”
“Trust me.” Naruto looked at the soldier. “Type matters in battle.”
“That being said, they seemed to be willing to work with these Durant, despite their bad reputations I assume the ants have.”
“The only way to find out for sure is to venture deeper in. Stay on your guard.” Carapace ordered his troops. "I have a bad feeling about this."
As the Changeling Emperor and his small group were lead through the many rooms of the colony, Carapace had to make a comment.
“I’m impressed at how fast these Durant were able to build a colony of this size so fast.”
“Eh, its just a bug hive. No big whoop.” Inti snarked back. “Best thing to come out of it is my awesome title. The Storming Thunder Breaker...that I am keeping.”
“Inti, it’s more of a problem than you think. They attacked you sometime near noon right? That means they built the basics of a working colony in about six hours. No doubt that they have continued to work on it since then.”
“Eh, what’s the wo…”
“Please, do not invoke Thrackerzod.” Rizen sighed.
The Quilladin stopped, and turned around. He looked confused. "Who is...Thrackerzod?"
"The guy who said "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.'." Silver answered for Rizen. "Guy was a real optimist."
"That sounds like that Murphy guy the humans talk about." The Quilladin replied.
"Well we call him Thrackerzod."
Their guide scoffed. "What kind of a name is Thrackerzod?"
"Well, what kind of a name is Murphy?" Silver shot back. The Quilladin was about to return when Carapace trotted between them. "Gentlemen, we are not here to talk about naming conventions. We are here to talk. As you were good sir."
"You do not command me." The Quilladin snapped before continuing to guide his "quests'.
No more words were spoken until they reached what appeared to be a massive door made of stone. The Quilladin turned around, and smiled with a darkly grim grin. "I hope you not mind an audience as you talk to the Leader. Word travels fast among our number, and some wished to witness it themselves."
"As long as we are not attacked unless there is a good reason, I am fine with such an arrangement. This matter concerns all of you so a few extras is something I do not mind."
"Good." The Quilladin pushed open the door forcefully.
As it opened, the Emperor and his men (and one woman) gasped at what they saw.
They were in a huge chamber, the size rivalling that of an ancient cathedral. The room was lined with large decorative rocks, carved into crude torches. Littered around the room's perimeter were more stone doors. Some were open, some were closed. In the ceiling of the room were large holes. Grates made from sticks were in the holes as light fell down from them, lighting up the room in ways the torches could not.
In the far end of the room were two seats raised on a step sized platform. One was a simple pile of rocks, but the one next to it was a throne fit for a minotaur. The seat was carved of stone, with arms to rest the arms of the one who sat there. Behind the two seats was another door, but it was slightly larger and lacked a door. It lead to a corridor blanketed in shadow. Off to the side of the platforms edge were two doors, easily eight feet tall and skinnier than the other doors.
But what worried Carapace and his team was the audience. The room was filled to the brim with Durant, Venipede, and Chespin. Scattered about was the occasional Quilladin, and dark grey Bugs that looked like wheels surrounding eyes located in the center. To the outsiders horror, the walls were also seats, as they bore host to half-buried Durant who could not find room on the ground.
The pokemon present on the ground were split into two sections, a space between them large enough for Carapace and his team to walk through without a problem. They were eagerly awaiting something, most likely the arrival of the outsiders, and many were conversing among themselves. The ones near the edges were eying the outsiders, some baring their fangs and mandibles.
Naruto gulped. Loudly.
"....That is not a few."
The Quilladin ignored Carapace. "Advance towards the thrones. Our leader is coming shortly."
The outsiders did as they were told, Naruto clearly nervous as they did as they were told. "You okay Naruto?"
"I am fine your Highness." Naruto lied. "I just..."
"Didn't expect so many Bugs?"
"No sir I did not."
"Well, at least we know how many are here." Silver remarked. His eyes narrowed as they advanced down the aisle. Many of the looks given were not polite.
"But how many are in the colony total?"
"Aw, Naruto. You worry too much. I'm the Storming Thunder Breaker!" Inti gloated. "I bet half of these Bugs are scared of me!" She stopped and looked at several of the Durant, whom returned the look.
Without a hint of warning she quickly jolted forward, shouting "Boo!". The Durant jumped backwards into more Durant. They snapped their mandibles and glared, but did not attack. "See?"
"Manners Inti." Naruto groaned.
"Whatever."
The outsiders had stopped at the end of the makeshift passage. Three Durant. On each side of the throne snapped their mandibles together four times. The sound echoed throughout the room, and the sound of conversation died as the sound faded.
A pair of red eyes shined in the darkness of the Corridor behind the thrones. They grew in size before two figures walked into the room. The owner of the red eyes was a Durant, but it was slightly bigger, and it's metal skin was a dull copper.
The second figure's emergence cause more alarm. She was a Chesnaught, like X, but her color scheme was all wrong. Her body and shell were green rather than tan, the arms were colored a dark brown rather than green, and the underarms and facial fur were a sandy brown rather than white.
Blue sparkles seemed to shine off of them as the Naruto and Inti gasped. "They're...Shiny."
"That we are, Zoroark." The Shiny Durant growled. It's voice was low, and powerful. It was akin to that of a falling rock: blunt.
"And, forgive me for being out of the loop regarding Pokemon, but I am a little confused. I can understand why you..." Carapace pointed to the Shiny Durant. "...are shiny, as you are made of metal...but I do not see any metal on the Chesnaught...I got that right, right?"
"Yes sir."
"Thank you. So why did you refer to both of them as Shiny?"
"Because they are. Duh." Inti quipped. Naruto sighed as he took control of the explanation.
"You see your highness, when a pokemon hatches from their egg, there is a chance for the pokemon to suffer from a very rare genetic mishap. Those who suffer from this are differently colored compared to others of their species, and seem to glitter in the light. These pokemon are called Shiny pokemon because of these differences.
"Moving on, who do have I have the displeasure of speaking to?” The shiny demanded. The Emperor growled.
He was not used to being talked down to, like he didn’t matter and was just an old stallion taking the slow road to eternity.
“I am Emperor Carapace, and I rule these lands. Lands you are currently trespassing in. And who are you?”
"I am the Leader, and this is Iron Shell. She answers to no one but me, and is responsible for our colony's training. A training I am currently questioning.”
The Chesnaught bowed her head in shame. “I apologize Father. I will redouble my efforts.”
“Daughter?” The Emperor raised an eyebrow as Silver and Rizen groaned. “That seems….very awkward.”
“Our personal lives are not your concern!” Iron Shell shouted. “You came here with a point to make, so make it and then leave.”
“Right. You attacked one of the cities in my colony. I want to know why.”
"You barge into my home...to ask me a simple question? How arrogant of you!"
"Answer the question."
"You believe that a colony of this size can sustain itself without supplies such as wooden planks and stone to keep our home intact? Look around you. Look around you. What you see is but a fraction of our numbers. Our previous colony suffered from tunnel collapses every day. We must fight both invaders and the inevitable collapse of our own home!"
"Do you know how much energy we put into creating this colony?" Iron Shell
"Then why not ask?"
"Because we cannot trust you!" The Leader bellowed. His subject cheered in his favor, causing the guests of the Leader to quivver.
"Great, more Changeling haters. And here I thought things couldn't get worse." The Emperor cursed in his thoughts. Naruto stepped forward, clearing his throat as he did so. "If I may ask, why can you not trust these creatures?"
"Why do you ask?" Iron Shell leaned forward, eyeing the Zoroark. "Is our stance on these...things so hard to understand?"
"When you lack context, you can turn the simplest sentence into an unrecognizable mess. So no, I do not understand."
"You must have seen the homes of these creatures. The paths they roam. The way they act, the way they carry themselves...they act the way humans do!"
"I assure you, the one human aroun here, if you can call him that, acted nothing like my kind do."
"Then you've never met the ones I am familiar with. But that is neither here, nor there. You act like the humans, the kind that walk all corners of the world. The kind that acts like we are just objects to be captured, to be used and placed on display like we are just toys! This negotiation is OVER!"
"Take these intruders out of my father and my sights!"
"I can give you what you want." The Emperors words rang true, the advancing horde stopping in its tracks. The Leader and Iron Shell looked at each other before returning their glares at Carapace.
"Go on."
"I assure you, I am familiar with your M.O. My granddaughter recently invaded a nearby land for the one resource my people need more than anything: love. Love, and other emotions are our food. Her concern for her people is admirable, but she let her pride cloud her judgement."
"Is there a point?" Iron Shell sighed.
"My point is that I understand what you are going through. You, Leader, are wise to put your people first, and for that I salute you. But you drive away potential allies because they remind you of your enemies. A simple question could have saved you the trouble you are in now. I will not turn my back on my people, but I will not turn my back on those who need aid.
"So, why don't we settle it your way? Tomorrow morning, you and the fourteen best warriors will battle against myself alongside my fourteen best warriors in one battle. One single battle. The last man standing wins."
"Intriguing. What will happen if you win?"
"If I win, you must surrender to me and my country until we can figure this mess out."
"And if we win?
“Then you may take what you need, and we won’t stop you,” Carapace conceded.
The Leader thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. However, if we win, then we will be taking this area for ourselves,” he said, before adding, “But we’ll allow your people to leave first.”
Carapace glared at him for a moment, not exactly happy with his response, but in the end, he decided that the terms were...fair enough, as for all they knew he could have just as easily ordered them to leave if they lost (even if he wasn’t going to), so he nodded. “Very well then. We shall settle this in the morning. Select your fighters and meet us near the walls of the city. There you will be lead to the Staging Grounds. That is where we will fight.”
“The Staging Grounds?” Inti asked.
“Its not far from here actually. It’s been used for military drills and training for well over two hundred years. I would rather our battle be in an area suited for battle.”
“You had better not be deceiving us.”
“I would never dream of it.”
“Good. Now, leave.”
The Changelings did that they were told, as Iron Shell leaned down to her father. “You still do not trust them.”
“Yes, but he has a warriors scent. If his deeds on the battlefield do not match his words, I will know.”
“I seriously hope that you know what you are doing.”
“You and I both Naruto.”
The carriage lifted into the air, heading for home.
X was not going to like it.