Professor Pasque and Professor Gentian stood around a desk with welding masks over their faces. A machine above fired a red laser the size of a straw that cut into the metal below. Sparks flew in the masks of the two crafters. The laser subsided and Professor Gentian removed his welding mask. He looked at the flaring hilt. He nodded and held his lower lip out with acceptance in his posture.
“Who knew a Sylveon’s organs can make something like this?” He asked with a hint of amusement.
Professor Pasque lifted his welding mask, revealing a disgusted frown plastered over his mouth. His legs trembled with anxiety and his breathing burned with fear.
“I hope I never have to work with anything as morbid as that again. Using the internal organs of a body for crafting a weapon shook my very core.” He voiced out with a disturbed tone.
The two scientists both heard the door behind them open. They shifted their faces towards the door and set their eyes on Fei and Sophia. Sophia’s eyes glanced upon the glowing hilt on the table and formed a weak frown on her face.
“So that is where the extracted organs of my body went to?” She asked with a crestfallen tone.
“Why would Sibyl want you to craft something like this Professor? It seems gruesome.” Fei asked with a curious voice.
“I don’t know, but she made it sound like our lives are dependent on this very weapon’s creation and existence.” Professor Pasque answered.
Sophia glanced towards the tempering hilt and gazed upon the heated shine it radiated with curious eyes.
“I can only assume that this laser blade would give access to my movepool and abilities. Is this true?” She said.
“Partly right, but there is another feature this blade would have; the light would emit inflicts poison damage akin to the one inside of your bloodstream. You can call that a coincidence, but it really makes the laser itself much more devastating against the Van’Goth forces.” With his arms crossed and his eyes shut, Professor Gentian said.
Professor Pasque glanced towards the blade and slanted his eyelids. A small frown formed on his face.
“This blade reminds me very much of sapient life; there is good and evil intertwined within it, and the potential can only be seen once they are both ready. It makes me somewhat sad to see sapient nature transferred into a weapon of all things.”
Fei turned his head towards Sophia, whose frown deepened with each word that passed through the conversation. He shut his eyes and placed his hand on Sophia’s head.
“To see my partner and oldest friend be turned into a weapon in multiple ways depresses me. How far will fighting advance before both sides become complacent with turning others into weapons?” He asked.
Professor Pasque opened his mouth, but the door to the front of the lab opened once more. Lith walked through the door with her face pointing towards the ground, her upper paws embracing her body with a melancholic grasp and a dejected step in her walk. Lith glanced forwards and gazed upon the sadness that welled within the frowns of Fei and Professor Pasque.
“Hello everyone.” She said with a voice robbed of any cheer.
“I see you still have not yet gotten over what happened yet.” Fei responded.
Sophia glanced towards Lith and Fei with confusion contorted within the muscles of her face and the metal of her legs. She walked towards the duo.
“Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is Lith depressed about?” She asked.
“I thought someone would have told you already. Mono got captured by the Van’Goth.” Lith responded.
Sophia’s lower left eyelid twitched with the sudden slant of her head. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath in and exhaled, calming her nerves.
“I’m sorry Lith, but I think I might have heard you wrong. I thought you said that Mono got captured by the Van’Goth.” She said with a tone wrought with denial.
“I did.” Looking into Sophia’s eyes with no ounce of joviality in her stare, Lith stated.
A vicious fire burned within Sophia’s soul. She slammed her right front foot and drone into the ground, hitting it to the point where a crater half the size of her body formed underneath her. Everyone in the room hopped from the sudden strike and widened their eyes at the damage below. Fei pointed towards the crater with a shaky hand.
“You just punched the ground without using any type of effort.” He said with a nervous tone.
“I know. However, I can only imagine what kind of suffering Mono is going through right now. This floor underneath me is just collateral damage. If I see a Van’Goth soldier in front of me, his head is going to meet with the same force of pressure I applied to this floor.” Sophia said with a dark tone.
“Oh? So you want to know what happened to Mono?”
The Pokémon in the room looked up towards the ceiling and saw Joker clinging upon it. He dropped down from the ground and landed on his feet. Professor Pasque flashed a cold stare towards the insane human.
“I swear if you say anything at all about my son...”
“Eh, he went through traumatic torture in the last chapter.” Joker stated with a positive tone. “And in the chapter after this one, I’m going to make a major appearance!”
“Do us all a favor Joker: Leave. Now.” Sophia stated with a threatening tone.
Joker shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the door.
“My time in this chapter is up anyways. See you all in the next chapter.”
Seeing Joker leave the lab, Professor Pasque shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his right front foot.
“That Joker gives me a migraine sometimes.”
“But is it true? Is Mono really being tortured by enemy hands?” Lith asked with worry dripping from her tone.
“It’s a very real possibility. He’s a POW after all, and I am sure that interplanetary battles have no sanctions against cruelty upon POWs.” Fei said.
“Do me a favor Fei and shut up.” Professor Pasque stated with a sharp tone.
Everyone in the room took a step backwards and gasped at the sudden shift in Professor Pasque’s voice. Professor Pasque looked around the room, gazing at everyone’s anxious shaking. He frowned.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that.”
“You do not need to apologize to us Professor. I should apologize to you for my lack of tact in this conversation.” Fei responded. “Mono is close to me as well, and thinking about what they could be doing to him makes me sick.”
“Well, we aren’t going to go anywhere talking about this. We have to keep on the prowl for Van’Goth activity and extract information on Mono’s whereabouts.” Lith suggested.
“That is a good idea. Hopefully, we will be able to get that information and save Mono. My heart is ready to explode from worry.” Placing his right front foot over his chest, Professor Pasque said.
A pink-coated unicorn mare with a beehive-style purple mane and a light gray-coated unicorn stallion with a brown mane and moustache trekked through the hallways behind Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Keldeo. The married couple gawked at the sights of young operatives garbed in their suits and gear. Keldeo rolled his eyes and whistled.
“So, ummm… Pearl and Magnum; what brings you two to H.O.R.S.E. today?” He asked.
“We’ve seen the battle unfold before our very eyes, and we need to give our appreciation to all of the operatives who contributed towards safeguarding our city!” Pearl stated with a jovial tone.
“And please Keldeo, get used to calling us Mom and Dad. Not only have you been practically family to us since these past ten years, but you are even going steady with our daughter! Couldn’t think of a better stallion for our little Rarity.” Magnum said with a tone that matched the joviality of his wife’s.
Rarity smiled and blinked once, bringing forth a confidence glow from her stance.
“Our operatives at H.O.R.S.E. receive special training in order to keep Neo Canterlot safe at all costs. It’s our mission statement after all.” She said with a casual tone.
“Plus, I feel that it might be too soon to start calling you Mom and Dad. I mean, Rarity and I are dating. We just have not yet reached the marriage step yet.” Keldeo replied with a hushed and anxious tone.
“I’m curious Keldeo; did you and Rarity do it yet?” Looking up towards Keldeo with a curious frown on her face, Sweetie Belle asked.
All of the adults in the group’s eyes shot wide at the nature of Sweetie Belle’s question. Rarity and Keldeo’s faces lit up with deep red blushes. A burst of nervous giggling erupted from Rarity’s mouth.
“Ummm… what do you mean by ‘it’ Sweetie Belle?” She questioned with a slow and anxious tone.
“You know; knock horseshoes, bump uglies, get your freak on, have sex?” Sweetie Belle clarified.
Magnum looked upon Keldeo with an intense stare, bringing forth a cascade of sweat down Keldeo’s neck from his anxious shaking.
“Ummm… no?” Keldeo responded with an unsure voice.
“Who taught you those words anyways Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked with an accusatory tone.
“Sophia and As. I’ve been trying to pick up some adult-level language from them, and I thought that these words would be applicable in this case since you two have been in a relationship for several months now.” Sweetie Belle answered.
Rarity and Keldeo remained silent upon listening to Sweetie Belle’s statement. Their faces flushed with blood and they rubbed her right front hooves with their left hooves. Magnum lifted his right eye in curiosity.
“So… have you two been having sex?” He questioned with a suspicious tone.
Pearl smiled and patted the base of Magnum’s shoulders.
“Now dear, our Rarity is a grown-up mare now. We don’t have to hound on her for her sex life, especially if it is with a handsome stallion like Keldeo.” She said.
Magnum let out a defeated sigh and put up a smile. He raised his shoulders and walked up towards Keldeo’s right side. He patted his right shoulder.
“Honestly speaking, I’d rather let you be that intimate with my daughter than anyone else. You do use protection right?”
Keldeo remained silent and pointed his eyes towards the ground with his face still red with embarrassment. Magnum grinned and ruffled Keldeo’s mane with a burst of affection.
“It doesn’t matter whether you do or not. You were a chaste stallion before declaring your love for my daughter, and I’m pretty sure you two are incapable of breeding with each other. When the two of us get together again though, I’ll give you pointers on what it means to be a real stallion. How does that sound my boy?” He asked with an excited voice.
“That would be nice. I would love that.” With his head ascending to its standard level and his frown flipping into a comfortable smile, Keldeo responded.
“That’s fine and all, but I’m going to have a word with Sophia and As to keep their ‘lady-like’ language away from Sweetie Belle. I don’t think they are being a good influence on her.” Rarity said.
Hearing Rarity’s words of disapproval, Sweetie Belle frowned.
“They taught me other things as well.” She reasoned.
“Seducing males and sometimes other females is not a ‘thing’ you should be proud of to know Sweetie Belle.” Rarity responded with a deadpan tone.
“Well aren’t you biased against Pokémon sis?” With her right eye raised with disbelief, Sweetie Belle asked.
“If I was, then I would not be ‘knocking horseshoes’ with Keldeo now would I?” Rarity responded with a calm and proper tone.
Sweetie Belle pouted and let out an annoyed grunt.
“You’re no fun.”
A black-robed and hooded figure stood outside of the gates to H.O.R.S.E. outside of the city. With black boots and black gloves adorned, the figure approached the gates with cautious steps. A pale white mask that featured two narrow slits where the eyes would be veiled the figure’s face and a black cape trailed it. A hologram of Wilhelm displayed itself in front of the figure. He flashed an unsettling smile.
“So good to see you make it to the base of our enemy Black Testament. Are you ready to purge Neo Canterlot of its military?” He asked.
The figure, Black Testament, stood in place and remained silent.
“I see. I shall be eagerly expecting a report from you after you are finished.”
Upon saying these words, Wilhelm’s hologram vanished. The Black Testament gazed upon the gates once more and lifted its gloves right appendage. Clusters of shadowy energy formed at the palm of the glove. Three orbs fired themselves into the gate, destroying it with an explosion of darkness and fire.
The operatives within the docking bay’s eyes shot open from the sound of the explosion and the bending metal of the gate. They all grabbed their weapons and aimed towards the gate.
“We’re under attack! Shoot without discrimination!” A gray-feathered male griffon declared.
The operatives unleashed a straight line of fire from their weapons. The Black Testament appeared in between the forces within the blink of an eye. Darkness clustered within the open palm of the figure. The energy formed into a dark purple double-ended glaive with each blade being half the size of the figure. The Black Testament then jabbed the left glaive into the operative on the left, causing the stallion to drop his laser rifle and fall to the floor.
Each of the operatives surrounding the deceased pony rolled their eyes upon the form of the Black Testament. Their lips and heads quivered with surprise, anxiety and fear. They took a step backwards with the intent of straying away from the figure.
“How did this figure get here that quickly?!” A changeling with an orange-colored chitin responded.
“I don’t know, but look at what that thing did to Spot Dodge! It killed him before we could do anything!” A silver-coated earth pony mare stated.
The gray-feathered griffon shut his beak and grinded it upon itself. His eyes became focused with anger directed towards the Black Testament.
“Don’t just stand there! Shoot the son of a bitch!” Pulling out his assault rifle and unloading a storm of bullets, he commanded.
A pulse of dark energy burst from the Black Testament, slowing down reality to a pause. The spray of the griffon’s bullets stopped an inch away from the mask. The Black Testament waved its appendage over the bullets and grabbed them. With the bullets in palm, it walked over towards the griffon and opened its palm, lining up the hovering bullets behind the griffon’s head. Walking a foot behind the perimeter, time resumed at its normal pace.
The gray-feathered griffon felt a line of bullets pierce the back of his skull. His head shot upwards and his eyes shot wide open. He fell onto the ground, capturing the attention of his H.O.R.S.E. comrades. The operatives looked upon the corpse with their mouth agape and their stances stunned.
“What happened?!” A brown-coated stag shouted. “What happened to our captain?!”
“Bullet wounds! He got shot from behind his head!” A magenta-coated pegasus stallion called out. “How did that happen?!”
“That Van’Goth has some weird abilities! That just has to be it!” The stag shouted.
The Black Testament swung its glaive with a full revolution, severing the spines of both the stag and the stallion that spoke. The hearts of the combative operatives filled with dread and fear. The orange-chitin changeling flew the opposite direction with all the speed he could muster. He blinked once and saw the Black Testament before his eyes. He blinked once more before he felt his throat grasped by the Black Testament’s right appendage.
“No! Please! I have children!” He worded out through his closed throat.
The Black Testament’s gripped appendage emanated a dark aura. The changeling felt his vitality drain from his body into the appendage. His chitin’s color faded and he felt his senses blur into nothingness. The Black Testament squeezed the changeling’s neck to the point where an audible snap rung throughout the bay and the changeling’s head hung off of its left side. It then threw the changeling towards the ground. The changelings teammates looked upon the Black Testament with fear in their eyes.
“Just who is this Van’Goth?!” They shouted in unison.
The sirens rung throughout H.O.R.S.E.’s halls and the lights flashed with a pulsing yellow. Pearl and Magnum eyed the hallways in confusion, Sweetie Belle ran the opposite direction and Keldeo and Rarity arched their legs and focused their stares ahead.
“What’s going on?” Magnum asked.
“That’s a Code Yellow drill! We have a dangerous intruder who broke into H.O.R.S.E.!” Keldeo responded with a determined voice.
“They have a specific drill for that?” Pearl asked with an impressed voice.
“Yes Mom they do.” Rarity responded. “It might be a good idea to follow Sweetie Belle’s steps and follow her outside of the building. Keldeo and I will try to fight off this intruder.”
Understanding the meaning behind Rarity’s words, Magnum and Pearl ran towards Sweetie Belle’s direction with fleet hooves. Rarity and Keldeo focused ahead of themselves and listened to the quick steps ahead. The Black Testament appeared around the corner with a slow walk, bringing forth a strong pressure that caused the hairs on the bodies of Rarity and Keldeo to stand upon themselves.
Seeing the Black Testament sprint forwards, Rarity conjured a stone wall in her path. The Black Testament smashed through the wall with a pulse of shadowy energy that emerged from its appendages. Keldeo sprinted forwards with a glowing horn. The Black Testament surrounded the energy with a bubble of dark energy and slowed everything down. The figure then fired a blast of shadowy energy from its appendages, striking Keldeo in the air and knocking him down.
Keldeo stood up from the ground and winced. He rubbed the front of his right shoulder and looked towards the Black Testament’s form.
“What just happened? All I did was just attack and that figure hit me with the blink of an eye.” He said with confusion.
“I’m not so sure myself. I saw you approach and half a second later I saw you down on the ground.” Rarity responded.
The Black Testament dashed forwards with its right appendage cloaked with a shadowy energy. Keldeo flipped off of the ground and fired a Hydro Pump from his right front hoof. Time froze around the Black Testament once more. The figure leaped upon the trail of water and ran down it. The figure pulled out its glaive and poised its point towards Keldeo’s head.
With a purple aura surrounding her body, Twilight Sparkle leaped down from a vent and kicked the glaive away with her right hind leg. Time returned back to normal and the stream of water carried the Black Testament towards the ceiling. Rarity and Keldeo both smiled upon seeing Twilight Sparkle before them.
“Twilight!” Rarity called out in unison. “When did you get here?” She asked.
“Sorry for sneaking up on you two, but I had to make sure I wasn’t followed. It seems that the reports were correct though; this figure can freeze time and appear anywhere. Had I been a frame later with my arrival and Keldeo would have been skewered.” Twilight Sparkle explained.
The Black Testament dropped from the ceiling and onto its feet. Three clusters of shadow energy formed around its front and launched towards the trio of H.O.R.S.E. operatives. Twilight Sparkle conjured a magic barrier, but the shadow energy broke through it with the force of a baseball through a glass window and struck the trio. The three operatives fell onto the ground.
“I forgot to warn you Twilight; this figure can break through anything with its strange magic.” Rarity said.
“I could have used that warning ahead of time, but better late than never.” Getting up from the ground, Twilight Sparkle responded. “Still, that magic missile hurt more than it should have. Just what is that made of?”
The Black Testament vanished from the sight of Rarity and Keldeo. With her body enshrouded in her magic, Twilight Sparkle eyed the figure sprinting down the hallway at light speed. She sprinted after the Black Testament.
“Our mystery intruder is getting away!” She called out.
The halls of H.O.R.S.E. became blurred lines for the eyes of the Black Testament. Beyond the blurs of the corridors and the whooshing wind passing by the black clothing, the eyes of the figure detect hazy signatures of heat deep within the hall. The Black Testament turned the corner of the corridor, revealing Magnum, Pearl and Sweetie Belle before his eyes. The figure fired a trio of dark spheres that planted into the ground before the unicorns and destroyed it.
“What?!” Stopping before the dark depths of the cliff, Magnum shouted.
The unicorns glanced back and set their sights on the Black Testament. The group took a step backwards and felt the pressure of fear cling upon their spines. Sweetie Belle’s left hind hoof touched upon the edge of the cliff behind her. Her stance slipped and her head jolted upwards. Gazing upon Sweetie Belle’s weakened stance, the Black Testament leaped forwards and rushed the glaive towards Sweetie Belle’s head at light speed.
Sweetie Belle shut her eyes, crouched to the ground and covered her forehead with her front hoof. Her body quivered in fear and she heard the wind fragment from the blade diving towards her. She felt a powerful force shove her towards the right. The sound of a blade slicing through metal struck her ears, but her body remained virgin from the sensation of being sliced.
Sweetie Belle lifted her hooves from her eyes and looked towards her left with a slow and anxious movement. Her line of sight became tainted with the image of the Black Testament’s glaive skewered through the torso of Magnum. Witnessing her father’s pupils shaking from the blow, the pained gasps from his open mouth and his widened eyes, Sweetie Belle’s heart clenched with despair.
“Dad!” Running towards him with her eyes tearing up, Sweetie Belle shouted.
Magnum lifted his right front hoof towards his daughter with the strength his body could muster. His chest raised and lowered with an erratic pattern and his hoof trembled with weakness. The Black Testament pulled the glaive out of Magnum’s body and looked and eyes the wave of Lith, Fei, Sophia, Professor Pasque, and Professor Gentian approaching from the corridor beyond the cliff and the group of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Keldeo approaching from behind.
Pearl ran towards Magnum’s side, catching his body before he fell to the left. She turned Magnum’s face towards the ceiling. She blinked once with a frown of disbelief formed on her face and stroked his ruffled mane once. Sweetie Belle and Rarity approached their parents. Keldeo followed close by. He set his eyes on the Black Testament, who stared at the Pokémon in front of it with its form stunned.
“Girls?” Magnum called out with a weak voice.
“Daddy!” Embracing their father with tight hugs, Rarity and Sweetie Belle called out.
“Please Magnum; don’t talk. You’re only going to waste what little oxygen you have left.” With a shaky voice and tearing eyes, Pearl said.
Magnum shifted his line of sight into Pearl’s eyes. He touched the gash on his chest and felt the blood upon its edges.
“This cut through my coronary artery Pearl. You know what this means, do you?” He uttered out. “Please get Keldeo here. I wish to speak with him.”
Keldeo ambled over towards Magnum with a stoic frown on his face and his eyes focused with intensity. Rarity stepped out of the way, allowing Keldeo to move towards Magnum.
“I’m here Magnum.” He stated with a cold voice.
Magnum chuckled and smiled.
“Can’t you ever look into your heart to just call me ‘Dad’ once in your life Keldeo? Pearl and I practically raised you as a son for these ten years. But, I guess that’s not important now. What is important is what I will tell you.” He said.
Keldeo’s stance weakened, allowing his eyes to pool with emotion and his mouth to quiver.
“Just tell me Magnum. I don’t want to hear anything else other than the important facts.” He demanded with a shaky voice.
“My time is too short to tell you everything. In case if this did happen, I wrote specifically for you. Ask Pearl where it is.” Magnum requested.
“You have to make it Magnum! We can get you help! I don’t want to lose another father figure.” With his eyes on the verge of tears and his voice trembling with intensity, Keldeo said.
Drops of tears dropped from Rarity’s clenched eyes and onto the floor. She ran towards Magnum and hugged him with a tight grip.
“Keldeo’s right Dad! We can still get you help. The Medical District is close by!” She pleaded.
“My darling Rarity. You grew up to be such a fine mare. It makes me proud to be the father of such a wonderful and powerful operative here.” Magnum said. He turned his sights onto Sweetie Belle, whose tears dropped into his stab wound. “My only regret is that I won’t get to see you grow up Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle shut her eyes and tightened her hug around Magnum’s neck.
“Why did you take that blow Dad? Why couldn’t you just leave me to die?” She asked with a heartbroken voice.
“Well… what kind of father would I be if I let you die like that? A crummy one that’s what.” Magnum said.
Saying these words, Magnum felt his consciousness slip away from him. He shut his eyes and let out one final sigh. His hoof fell onto the ground and his muscles became stiff. Keldeo rushed his hooves onto Magnum’s body, scaring away Rarity and Sweetie Belle. With his face in denial, he shook the corpse.
“Don’t leave me Magnum! I don’t want to lose another father! Please wake up Dad!”
Magnum’s body failed to respond to any of Keldeo’s words. Pearl laid Magnum's body on the ground. She wrapped her hooves around Keldeo’s neck. She shut her eyes and shook her head.
“That’s enough Keldeo. Magnum has parted ways with us.” With a melancholic voice, she said.
Lith’s right paw clenched itself upon witnessing Magnum’s death. She leaped over the gorge with a paw charged with electricity. She punched the Black Testament in its mask. The Black Testament brought its right appendage towards Lith’s electrified punch and lifted it away. The figure looked into Lith’s eyes, which burned with anger. The mask on over the face shattered. The anger within Lith’s eyes softened and became filled with shock.
“Mono?!” She shouted.
Mono’s face stood before Lith, revealing his unfazed eyes and his nonexistent expression. Lith’s ankles became weak and the remnants of her scowl formed into a depressed frown.
“No… it can’t be… the Mono I know would never be this brutal.” She voiced out.
Mono gripped Lith’s paw with his right and threw her onto the ground. Lith squeaked out from landing on the ground with a surprising amount of force in her launch. Mono lifted the glaive over Lith’s neck. Twilight Sparkle leaped towards Mono and fired a magic blast from her horn towards him. The eyes on Mono’s ears let out a ghastly purple light that froze time around him. He ran around the projectile and sprinted towards Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle broke from the bindings of the time freeze and leaped towards Mono. Mono hopped backwards and parried Twilight Sparkle’s tackle with the center of his glaive. The eyes on Lith’s ears broke through the time freeze, allowing her to get up from the ground and glance towards Mono and Twilight Sparkle’s clash. She glanced towards the sword holstered on her hip. With a shut of her eyes and deepening of her frown, she pulled out the blade.
Mono pushed Twilight Sparkle back with the stalk of his glaive and rammed the opposite-sided blade towards her. Twilight Sparkle leaped onto the glaive’s blade with the reflexes of a cat and fired three magical missiles towards Mono’s face at point blank range. Time around the area slowed down further much to Twilight Sparkle’s surprise. Piles of shadow energy poured itself from Mono’s eyes and onto the magic missiles, weakening them to the point where they became nonexistent.
Lith leaped high above Mono and aimed the edge of her blade towards the top of his spine. Mono hopped to his left, evading the slice of the sword. Mono fired a cluster of shadowy energy from the crux of his right paw that homed in on his twin sister. Lith deflected the projectiles with the blunt edge of her sword.
“Please stop Mono! Do you know who I am?! I am Lith! I am your sister!” Lith called out with her voice breaking from sadness.
Lith’s words fell deaf upon Mono’s ears. Mono lunged at her distracted form with his the point of his glaive. Twilight Sparkle ran towards Lith and parried the glaive’s strike with her horn. Twilight Sparkle knocked the glaive out of Mono’s hand and stared into him.
“Listen Mono; I really, really don’t want to kill you. I don’t! But your crimes are inexcusable at this point. If you make any effort more to hurt anyone else, then you leave me no choice but to kill you!” With her horn poking into Mono’s right jugular vein, Twilight Sparkle threatened.
Mono looked into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes with a dark and daring stare. He pointed his left upper paw towards Lith, which began charging with dark energy. Twilight Sparkle’s body quivered from anxiety. A grunt of frustration escaped from her throat. Her tears began to water.
“Please Mono. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I care for you too much to kill you. Just stop!”
Mono rushed his shadow-infused paw into Twilight Sparkle’s neck and grasped it. He lifted the lavender unicorn up from the ground and closed his grip around her trachea. Twilight Sparkle squirmed in his grasp and grunted out in pain. Feeling her magic surge into Mono’s body, she smacked the back of his neck with her right front hoof. Lith smacked Mono across the left side of his head, causing him to drop his grip on Twilight Sparkle. Lith’s eyes burned with a primal anger once more.
“You aren’t Mono anymore! You are a self-serving monster who cares only about inflicting pain upon others. You’re no better than the Van’Goth!” She called out.
Mono narrowed his eyes and bore his teeth out of anger. He launched a shadow-infused paw across Lith's face and knocked her towards the edge. Mono leaped towards Lith and brought his glaive down towards her chest. Lith eyed the blade next to her lower legs and kicked it above her. She leaped into the air and grabbed the hilt. Mono and Lith clashed towards against each other.
Light and dark energies broke out from the clash of blades. Mono split from the confusion of the clash and ran off. Time moved at its normal pace, allowing all of the beings in the corridor to move without the hindrance of Mono’s technique. Everyone swiveled their heads with confused eyes.
“Where did Mono go?” Fei asked with a voice drenched in concern.
He looked around the room and saw Lith, who fell onto her knees with a flood of tears raining down from her eyes. Fei’s heart exploded with concern. He leaped across the gorge and embraced Lith by the back of her shoulders. Lith’s head shot up. She looked behind her and saw Fei’s arms wrapped around her in a loving bond. A small amount of pain in her heart eased away.
“Are you alright Lith?” Fei asked.
Lith shook her head without uttering a word. Her frown quivered and she began sniveling once more.
"Mono would never lay even a hair of malice on a Caterpie. He'd never attack with that type of malice. I know I said some terrible things to him, but I just didn't know what else to say...”
Professor Gentian looked upon Professor Pasque, who turned around and hid his eyes away from everyone else in the room. Seeing the Aurorus walk away, Professor Gentian followed close by. Sophia stood with paralyzed legs and a thousand yard stare directed forwards. She felt her eyes lube with tears. She brought her right front paw to her face and wiped her eyes.
“Those eyes of his looked like they were filled with so much sorrow. What happened to him while he was captured?”
Twilight Sparkle rubbed her neck with a gentle touch and approached Lith and Fei. She turned her head away from the duo and frowned.
“I am not sure what to say Lith. You were so close to your brother and now he’s become an enemy of ours.” She said.
Lith’s tears dried up and she stopped sobbing. She looked into Twilight Sparkle’s eyes with reinforced dedication in her eyes.
“Those moves and that attitude... I think I might know what happened.” She said.
The heads of all of the operatives in the corridor jumped up. Rarity rushed towards Lith’s side with inquiring eyes.
“Do you now? I know there was something off about Mono, but I really couldn’t put my hoof on it.” Rarity said.
“Did you notice the nature of his attacks? Not only do they seem extremely powerful, but they all were done using a shadowy energy.” Lith explained.
Sophia hopped over the abyss and approached Lith with uneasy steps. Her mechanical heart beat with uneasiness and her cybernetic stomach became queasy.
“Please don’t say what I think you are going to say Lith. Is Mono a Shadow Pokémon now?” She said with a fearing tone.
Lith turned her left eye towards Sophia’s direction and formed a solemn frown with her mouth. She nodded once. Fei’s eyes and mouth shot open upon hearing Lith and Sophia’s words.
“Of all the possibilities that happened to him, why that?!” Slamming the ground with his right fist, Fei shouted.
“My little Mono is a Shadow Pokémon… I’m not sure what to say about this.” Sophia said with a dejected tone. “From what I’ve read, Shadow Pokémon are in extreme agony. They can’t express any feelings but hatred and violence. The worst part is that they are aware of what they are doing but cannot stop themselves. It truly is a living hell.”
Sadness and anger wriggled their way into Lith’s consciousness. Lith turned to Sophia’s direction and flashed a stare of anger.
“Don’t you think I know that Sophia?!” She shouted. “I don’t want to imagine that kind of torment Mono is going through! It hurts thinking that he has no other choice but to kill and hurt others. He’s witnessing every kill, and each one is torturing his mind and heart even more.”
Seeing Sophia’s shaken appearance, Lith looked upon her upper paws. She went down onto her knees and began sobbing into her paws once more.
“I’m sorry Sophia. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. It’s just that Mono is not only my brother, but he is also the only living source of remembrance of my parents.”
Sophia’s frown eased into a comforting smile. She walked up to Lith and embraced her by her shoulders. She hushed Lith and rubbed her back.
“I know how hard it is for you Lith. But we can’t let our emotions cloud our judgment. If we do, then we’re only going to make mistakes that we will sorely regret later.” She said.
“I know Sophia. But will we actually be able to get Mono back? He’s going to be impossible to capture without getting a good read on his whereabouts. With there being no Celebi, his heart wouldn’t be able to be purified either.” Lith asked with an uncertain tone.
Twilight Sparkle smiled and approached Lith and Sophia. She let out a cheerful grin.
“We could look into that latter problem in the future, but we can definitely find where Mono is.” She said.
“Really?!” Lith, Fei, Sophia and Keldeo shouted aloud.
“Of course. While I was in his grip, I managed to place a tracking device on him. When his location comes up, we will storm it.” Twilight Sparkle explained. “But in the meantime, we have to continue fulfilling our duties as normal.”
Sweetie Belle looked onto Magnum’s corpse with eyes void of any emotion. She turned away from him and looked towards the operatives walking away. She looked upon her dead father once more and stroked his mane with a depressed frown.
“I don’t care what the others say. Mono killed my dad.” Sweetie Belle murmured to herself. She bore her teeth and slammed the ground with her right front hoof. “I hate you Mono. I will never stop hating you.”