Chapter 14 - Brave Bird
Chapter 14
Brave Bird
Day 2
“DId you find anything yet Nalel?”
“Nall, I was with you the entire time. Did you find him?”
“Nooooooooo.”
“Then neither did I.”
The changeling duo of Nall and Nalel sighed. They sat on one of the rope bridges littering the treescape of Eintel, the light of the Moon and stars illuminating their perch. Nall took the opportunity to groan loudly. “Ugh, we looked for hours. How hard is it to find an alien rock-dinosaur-lizard thingy?”
“Apparently really hard.”
Silence.
“The tree and the fox are going to kill us, aren’t they?”
“They won’t do that. They sound too nice to do that.”
“She is correct in assuming that I wouldn’t go that far.” To the horror and surprise of the changelings, a tree walked out of one of the nearby trees, eliciting a scream from Nalel. The tree put a hand on her gently to reassure her. “Fear not. I am friend, not foe.”
“Tell that to my heart.” Nalel moaned. “It’s going 'bumbumbumbumbumbum' like a drum.”
The Grass-Ghost type looked equal parts insulted and dejected. “Sorry… sneaking up on others is something we Ghost types tend to do. I tend to forget that I am not… entirely alive, and thus I tend to forget that others have what I lack.”
“Wait wait wait… you’re dead!?” Nall gasped.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that,” huffed the tree.
“So you’re dead.”
“Just because I’m a Ghost type does not automatically mean I am an actual ghost.” The sisters just gave Azisa a look that told the tree that her statement was one the girls didn’t seem to believe. “Okay, so being a Ghost type makes me a Ghost but that doesn't technically mean I am dead.”
“Well, are you?”
“Asking a lady if she’s dead is like asking her for her age. It’s rude.”
“Okay, okay… pushy,” huffed Nalel. “Honestly, and some ponies think we changelings are weird. Compared to some of the pokemon we’ve seen, we look like normal ponies.”
“Well your kind is weird,” Asima replied. Nalal gasped, dramatically for added awkwardness while Nall faked swooning in surprised. “I did not mean it that way.”
“I’m pretty sure you meant it that way.”
“What i meant is that my fellow Pokémon and I are simply not used to your kind. To us, your kind is just was weird as we are to you. Is that inherently a bad thing, to be weird simply because we are different?”
The girls shook their heads. “I guess you’re right… but…”
“You have something more important on your mind.”
“... We’re just worried about Apocalypse,” the duo replied in unison. Azisa gazed at their forlorn expressions, the intended emotion quite clear to see.
“I worry for Apocalypse as well. He is, in a manner of speaking, my son.”
Nall was the first to react. “Awww… hey, wait a minute. You… gave birth to a rock lizard?”
“Well technically he’s a Rock Dragon, and no I didn’t give birth to him,” Azisa explained. “I hatched him.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” the changelings asked as one.
“The same thing? Well yes, and no. I mean just because you hatch a Pokémon egg does not automa… wait… I just remembered that we’re aliens and you know nothing about Pokémon genetics.” Azisa gently laughed at her own mistake, the idea now funny to her. “Well, to put it simply friend all pokemon belong to one or two categories called Egg Groups. And if two pokemon of the same Egg Group, uh… do it… then they can have children.”
“So when you say “it’ you mean…”
“Yes, that,” Azisa forcefully replied. Nall shutted. Forcefully.
“That explains why there seems to be so many different kinds of Pokémon.” Nalal looked down, spying a large variety of the creatures. “It must be easy to mix and match Pokemon and get a ton of half breeds.”
Azisa blinked, drawing on all of her love of sci-fi to get an answer. “Half-breeds? Oh, that’s hypothetical and impossible. You either are part of an evolutionary family or not.”
“Wait, what?”
“Well you see, when it comes to Pokémon the species of the child will belong to the evolutionary family of the female. However in some very rare cases, like in the case of a species being male only, there is a small chance for the child to come from his species instead.
“So… about Apocalypse being your son…” Nall scootched towards the Ghost Tree, smiling. “... he looks a lot like you.”
“You are adorable.” Nall grinned wider as Azisa continued. “Well you see, for reasons I wish to keep to myself, my trainer and family got into an altercation, and after the situation was cleared up we were given an egg as an apology. Apocalypse's egg. So X and I watched over the egg and hatched him. Ever since then he’s been like a son to me, even if he doesn't act like it. But….”
Nall grimaced as Nalel spoke for her.“Oh no… let me guess, drama?”
“You could say that. Ever since Apocalypse was hatched… Inti has never cared for him. I never knew why, she wouldn’t tell me. But since he’s been missing, I worry for him. He is but a child. And he lets words wound him in a way that is… to put it accurately, childish.”
“Yea, there was a bully back in our school when we were young, picked on us because he could,” Nalal reminisced. “It wasn’t fun.”
“For Apocalypse Inti teases him relentlessly.“ Asia bemoaned. “To be honest Inti is equal opportunity. She picks on everyone, speaks to them roughly, and in general has no qualms about speaking her mind about anyone and anything. But when it comes to Apocalypse, she frequently targets him. And as I said, she won’t tell me or anyone else about it. And I fear that she has gone to far.”
“Apocalypse will be fine. Trust me. Apocalypse doesn’t need her if she can’t be nice to him.“ Nall put a hoof on Azisa's shoulder area, but as Azisa had no shoulder her hoof slipped through the cracks of her body where the ghostly substance that connected the limbs and body together. She shuddered, the feeling quite odd and alien. “Wow, that felt creepy.”
“Forgive me for being doubtful,” Asiza sighed. “It’s just that our situation mirrors that of my favorite television show.”
“Television?”
“Think of it as a tiny box that would show moving pictures,” Azisa explained.
“Oh, you mean movies?” asked the girls in unison. Azisa nodded, looking confused.
“They are like that, but it’s on the television.”
“Not sure if we have television but I know we have movies.”
“Well moving on, Apocalypse and I enjoyed watching shows of the science-fiction genre. Stories about travel in space, travel through time to both past and future, and alternate dimensions. The last of which is no longer fiction,” the tree laughed a little, and continued. “My point is that anyone who awakens to a place they do not know will long for home. And for a child like Apocalypse, whom is barely over a year old, I hope that when he realizes that we may never go home again it does not break him.”
“We’ll find him and make him feel better. That’s what friends do, right?” Nall smiled.
“Thank you.”
“So… if I was Apocalypse, where would I hide?” Nall mused.
“Well if I was Apocalypse, I would definitely try hiding in a place no-one would look. I would try near water.”
“Why water?” asked the changelings.
“Well, seeing how Apocalypse is primarily a Rock type Pokémon, water is something Apocalypse doesn't enjoy, even though his Dragon Typing removes that weakness.” Asiza then shuttered, repressing something in her mind. “... bath time is not a fun time.”
“Apocalypse is a dragon? He doesn't look like one.”
“He is. Trust me.”
“Okay then, moving on. Let’s go look again!” Nall shouted to the heavens. “First we look by the public pool. Then the water reserves! Then the public pool again, and then at home, and no matter what we will not stop looking until we find the one true Apocal…”
“QUITE DOWN! SOME OF US ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING!”
“Sorry about that, mister guard!”
“MY NAME IS SILVER HEART!”
“... This happens often with you, doesn't it?” Azisa asked. Nalal just grinned.
Nell was, to put it gently, freaking out. The creature that strode out of the dark abyss of the jungle was a Chimera, the monster a fusion of three separate monsters combined into one unholy beast. It had three heads on its heavily muscled and striped body; a goat’s head on the left with a gray-scaled dragon’s head on the right and a tiger’s head in the middle. Its scaley forelegs and tiger-like hind legs ended in oddly-sharp cloven feet and a tiger’s tail. To add more horror for Nell to behold, the creature bore wings. And all three heads looked hungry.
“Well brothers, it seems to me that our little hunt as bore fruit of the insectoid kind,” the goat spoke, his voice a low rumble that oozed with evil intent.
“About time too. I want a taste of these lions! They look pre-cooked and tasty!” the dragon roared. His voice was a rumble like the goat’s, but of a higher pitch that was still threatening.
“Hey, let’s kill them first. Then we can gloat,” The tiger moaned.
“Spoilsport.” The dragon opened his mouth wide, the aura of electricity glowing inside his maw. Glowing, and growing.
“Scatter my pride!”
The lions did so, just as the dragon head roared, sending a bolt of lightning to race just above the surface, striking into the cliff the group was cornered by.
"Oh, decided to fight again, have you?" the goat bleated. He laughed, cocky and sure of his success. "Remember what happened last time?"
"Flamethrower!" Streams of fire shot out of several of the Pyroar's mouths, striking the Chimera. To Nell's surprise, the Chimera was unhurt; the burn marks that the attacks left behind faded just as quickly as they were created.
"Looks like they didn't!” the tiger laughed. He then noticed Banana Beard, the Tropius struggling to get out of there. He never got the chance, as the chimera leapt towards him and slammed him into the rocky wall behind him. Banana Beard moaned as he slid down once he was released from the chimeras grip. The fight within him was obvious stamped out in that single blow.
"Paws off you... you!" Ice beams shot from Nell’s horn, peppering the chimera with the icy strikes. Like the fire, they seemed to be no good, and elicited a haughty annoying laugh from the beast.
"Think we'll save you for last, little changeling," the goat taunted. The tiger and dragon laughed as they charged ahead, slapping away charging Pyroar with powerful paw strikes.
Then just as quickly as it started, it ended. The Pyroar lay on the ground defeated, Pyre and the Pride Leader struggling the most to get up as the Chimera stood above the defeated Pokémon.
All three mouths grinned akin to that of a monster from the pits of Tartarus. "So brothers, let us see how lion tastes."
"Finally! I was wondering when we were gonna eat!" the dragon bellowed. He raised his head, higher than his brothers, grinning as his mouth drooled with anticipation. "Dibs on the first bite."
"NO FIRST ANYTHING FOR YOU!" A sudden weight slammed into the beast, stunning it for just a moment. That moment was all that was needed, giving Pyre and the Pride Leader just enough time to retreat to their pride mates. The Chimera turned and faced Nell, whom had shifted form. She now was in the shape of a Pyroar, her mane yellow rather than fiery red and her fur a light charcoal.
"You changelings don't know when to give up, do you?" the dragon roared. "And I thought I was the stupid one."
"Less talk, more fight." Nell charged ahead, gripping the ground with her paws as she ran. The Chimera simply lunged and shot a cloven foot at Nell. She lept to the side, just barely dodging the hoof. To her surprise, the hoof was sharp, almost as sharp as a dragon's talon.
Nell grimaced. The pain was unbearable, yet despite that Nell stood up valiantly as the Chimera readied another strike. The Chimera roared, but before a blow could be struck, three Pyroar slammed into it, knocking it just a little off balance. “Not gonna let you win,” she groaned before firing another ice spell at the Chimera.
The Chimera spread its wings, using them as a shield to cover and protect itself, before swatting away another Pyroar. On and on the battle raged, the Litleo cubs hiding the best they could in the foliage, too fearful to run lest they be separated from the evolved Pokémon. They watched in fear as the monster started to fly just a little off the ground, it’s wings spread and filling most of the clearing with it’s incredible wingspan.
With powerful strokes of the wings called forth powerful gusts of wind, several of the Pyroar struggling to keep their footing, Nell among them. She screamed, being lighter than the Pyroar she was pushed back farther than the lions.
Then he flew towards several of his targets, grasping one in each mouth. Quickly spinning around, it threw them into the cliff face, knocking them, and the wind within them, out. Over and over the chimera lunged, picking up Pyroar and throwing them away, the Pokémon crumbled on the ground, struggling to resist.
With the distractions out of the way, the Chimera focused once more on Nell. In fear, she shifted back to her true form, the chimera approaching the wounded changeling licking all three of it’s lips. “You will make a tasty meal.” the goat spoke.
“I am not going to die. I have too much to lose.”
The three heads slowly opened their mouths, their fangs sharp, eager to tear into Nell.
And they lunged.
”GET YOUR CLAWS OFF OF HER, YOU THREE-HEADED BITCH!”
Like a meteor falling from space, the Chimera felt the impact of a falling creature slam into it, pinning it down. Nell ran for it, hoping the creature that saved her would distract her long enough to run. She leapt into the air and flew aboard Banana Beard, several of the smaller Litleo climbing onto the flying Pokémon as the Pyroar stood their ground.
As their transport flew higher and higher, Nell gasped as she noticed whom saved her.
“X!?”
The Chimera roared, all three cries merging into one as it was able to buck of X with a surge of strength. The hero of the moment was effortlessly launched off the creature, rolling with surprising ease considering the spikes on his cloak. As soon as he stopped, X quickly rose and steeled himself as he stared as his foe. "Who is this guy!?" The dragon demanded.
"I'm the guy who's gonna make you wish you never saw me or my kind!" X shouted. "One chance: you either back down, or get put down, because nobody but nobody hurts my family!"
"Brothers, I believe the bipedal armadillo is threatening us." The goat sneered.
"You think? Sounded like the same word repeated over and over again to me."
"Uh oh… looks like whatever move that was just wore off. They can't understand me."
"I don't care what he's saying. He interrupted our dinner. Now he's going to become dinner," the Goat bleated. "Let him have it, Draze!"
Draze (which was apparently the dragon head) roared in agreement as the lighting in his maw quickly charged before losing it against X. With little time to react X raised his arm, the upper part of it receiving the brunt of the lighting bolt. The force pushed the Chesnaught back, but X was undaunted as he stood his ground, resisting as much as he could.
The lightning strike ended with three very confused heads. "Uh, Gorz...why is that thing uh...not dead?"
Before Gorz (most likely the goat head) could answer, X began his charge towards the creature, slamming both fists into the goat and dragon heads. "Grass resists Electricity! Sucks for you, doesn't it?!"
The tiger paid him no mind as he lunged at X as best he could, gnashing at him with his fangs. X leaned back as much as he could to avoid getting bit, but the chimera spread his wings and started to flap, flying closer to X.
X screamed as the tiger bit into X's unprotected shoulder, the human turned Pokémon screaming as he felt the fang plunge into his flesh. The tiger then pulled his head back, but it was not to relive X of the assault. The front legs of the creatures then slashed across X's face, the cloven feet of the chimera were surprisingly now sharp, as if it was a claw in cloven form.
"Myeyh! Tyke tat yu movergrnw steak!" the muffled Draze taunted. The tiger paid his brother no mind, and continued to lunge again and again, each bite eliciting a scream from the Chesnaught. With a echoing roar, the tiger lunged again.
X screamed again, the surge of adrenaline commanding his arms to pull back, pulling the twin heads gripped in his hands (and the body they were attached to) even closer to him. Before the fangs of the middle head could plunge into him again, X slammed his head into the tiger’s, dazing it.
With a roar X slammed the other two heads into the tiger’s, releasing them from his grip as he leapt backwards. The creature stumbled back, dazed from the attack.
"Oh...this is gonna be tough," the tiger moaned. "I'm seeing stars..."
"All I see is a free meal, Tize" Draze moaned.
"Oh, stop thinking with our stomach Draze and shoot again!"
Meanwhile, in the air.
The Litleo started to cheer as their pride joined X in battle, Nell looking on as she saw the heroes fight against the Chimera.
The Chimera roared as he ignored the Pyroar and charged for the biggest threat: X. This time X was ready for them, parrying the attack and keeping the jaws that bite and claws that catch away from him. A occasional punch was thrown to destabilize the beast as the Pyroar shoot gouts of flame to damage it, though the beast had already proven itself to be fireproof.
Some damage was better than no damage in this case.
"Banana Beard, we gotta lend a hand!" Nell shouted. She fluttered on top of the tropius's head, her horn glowing with her icy energy. "Don't you have anything you can do to help!"
"You owe me!" The Tropius began to flutter his leaves. Walls of air began to form in front of each leaf, the swirling wind somehow gaining a sharp edge. "Air Cutter!"
A Beam of ice from Nell's horn shout out at the same time as one by one the balls of air shot forward, morphing into blades of sharp wind. The strikes hit their mark perfectly, the Chimera roaring in pain from frost and wind.
"And now they have air support!" Tize growled, he and his brothers barreling past a duo of Pyroar who tried to foolishly tackle it to no avail.
"Let me at him! I can hit them from here!"
"Good idea Draze, but here's a better one!" Gorz then bleated, rather loudly, the sound akin to rusty nails on a chalkboard. The attacking Pokémon screamed as the horrid sound invaded their eardrums. X gripped his head in pain as he fell to the ground, trying to not think about the horrid bleating. The Pyroar did the same, paws covering their more sensitive ears.
To X's horror the Chimera spread its wings as it turned around, climbing up the small cliff wall behind them. Then just after it breached the top, it leapt into the sky with wings extending and flapping, sending it towards Banana Beard.
X's eyes widened as he watched the chimera's movements.
A vision of gnashing fangs tearing into Nell and the Pokémon replaced reality for but a moment.
"NO!"
The Chimera came out of nowhere. Before Banana Beard or Nell could see the chimera take into the air, they were greeted with a cloven talon slicing across Banana Beard's face. He recoiled in pain, flying backwards to open space for him to maneuver.
Space the Chimera was dead set on not letting Banana Beard have. Over and over the Chimera charged, its front limbs slashing and slashing again and again, striking at the Tropius before it could fly to safety.
Another well placed slash drove Banana Beard down towards the tree line, the Tropius recovering enough to just avoid crashing into the trees. He flapped again, gaining altitude.
He barely registered the roar of the dragon.
Or its screaming lightning.
The lightning struck into Banana Beard's chest, the lazy Tropius screaming as he spasmed in pain. Nell and the Litleo cubs held on for dear life, screaming from the residual current that they were feeling from the strike, and hoped that they would remain in the air.
However, the end of the lightning was not a reprieve as they had hoped, only an opening act for the Chimera to ram into Bana Beard. The force of the impact was great and terrible, launching three Litleo and Nell off of their ride.
It came to no one's surprise that the four fallers screamed for dear life.
Seeing the falling changeling and Pokémon served to be a great motivator for X to do what he did best: Plan.
It didn't take him long to think of the plan he so desperately needed. He gripped the seven foot wall he was behind and started to climb up it.
He had the plan he needed in his mind was as clear as crystal. Now, getting that plan to work was something entirely different.
Transforming shared many similarities with magic. One of the similarities was the focus on concentrating on what the caster, or in the case of transformation the changeling, wanted to happen. if one was unable to clear their head then they had a better chance throwing a javelin from the Empire all the way to Canterlot.
Nell quickly came to the conclusion that falling towards the ground at ever increasing speeds was going to be a very pain filed, and possibly lethal, experience she personally did not want the joy of experiencing. She fluttered her wings, panic filling her as she plummeted towards the ground.
As expected she was slowing down, righting herself in the process. However, the Litleo were not so lucky, as they lacked wings.
"Hang on! I'm coming!" Fluttering as fast as she could, she raced towards the cubs, reaching her hooves out for them to grasp. Two of the cubs, screaming as they fell, grabbed the hooves of the pride's new friend.
The third was not so lucky, as he had no hoof to grab.
Nell suddenly felt the weight of what was going to happen as they got closer and closer to the ground. This Litleo was going to die.
And it was all her fault.
'NOOO!"
The little Litleo was scared.
Obviously now was a good time to be scared. His pride were taken from their homes in Kalos, and brought to this world by Lord Arceus, the most important Pokémon of all time his mother told him. Yet they were barely here for three days and soon he would go to the afterlife, separated from his pride and family until it was their turn to join him there. And all because a strange monster wanted to eat him.
It wasn't fair.
He closed his eyes, a scream echoing in the air (probably his pride) not wanting to see the ground he was going to go splat on.
Seconds passed and he felt the splat, the Litleo now spread across the jungle floor.
”... The afterlife feels fluffy,” Litleo thought to himself. ”It feels glorious though!"
"Hey kid, you okay?"
Litleo opened his eyes, looking up into the night sky, the faces of his pride around him with concerning looks.
"Uh… what happened?"
A few seconds beforehand
X stood up on the top of the seven foot wall, the ground sloping downwards as any hill would. With a gasp, he observed the blow of the chimera that launched Nell and the three Litleo off of their flying friend.
Fortunately, the fallers were pretty close to him. Unfortunately they were not that close, so if he wanted to catch one, he had to jump for it.
Taking a few steps back, X did some quick planning in his head. Then, he charged, and leapt into the air just as the Litleo Nell could not save was above him. He screamed as he lunged, arms outstretched towards the lion. He crashed into the Litleo, his arms now clamping around him as tightly as he could. The world flipped around as X flipped in the air, landing with a thud on his back.
The pride, whom watched the heroic act quickly swarmed X. He looked down, seeing the Litleo instinctively cuddle his furry chest.
"Hey kid, you okay?"
Now
Nell’s horn glowed, the pendant she wore glowing as well as she heaved a sigh of relief as she carefully got closer to the ground to release her passengers. Once she did, the two Litleo ran behind the Pyroar, fearful for their safety. "Thank you, mighty Chesnaught. We are in your debt."
"Save it. That thing is still here, so thanks aren't in order yet!" X bellowed. "Hang on. I got an idea." He screamed as he plunged his hand into the rock, punching straight through it. He clinched his teeth, pain jolting through his arm.
Chesnaught were powerful, no doubt about it. However, no amount of power can negate the pain of punching your hand into solid rock.
With another yell X screamed as he pulled his arm out of the wall only to strike again over and over. Rubble begun to loosen, falling as rocks of varying sizes. With a judo chop X slammed his bloody fist into the rock, splitting it into several shards. He lifted one, holding it like a spear as he pulled his arm back, closing one eye and holding his over arm out, a single claw held up like a thumbs up.
He pointed it at the clashing Chimera and Banana Beard, whom was flying lower and lower to the tree line without breaching it, the Litleo onboard still clinging for life by some miracle. "Hey Nell."
"Yea X?"
"Did you know that Chesnaught are strong enough to flip a tank on their own?
"...What's a tank, and why is it relevant?"
X then screamed, pushing his arm forward and flinging the rock into the air, flying towards the Chimera. "Rocks weigh a lot less than a tank."
Banana Beard was now regretting several life decisions.
Mainly the one where he spent more time lounging around rather than training. Because right now, that training would have been incredibly helpful. The Chimera roared as it slashed at Banana Beard yet again the blow hitting again. He descended from the force of the impact, stopping just as he brushed his feet across the top of the trees.
Tize grinned as he bore he and his brothers spread their wings, terrifying the strange creature and the little cubs. "Looks like the hunt is over!"
"About time! I'm starving!"
"Then let us end this brothers!" bleated Gorz, Draze readying another lighting breath attack.
So much for lazy days.
Suddenly a rock soared just past the heads of the chimera, Draze ending the attack' charging period as he and Tize looked at Gorz. "Don't look at me." He bleated.
A second rock soared into the sky. This time the mark was hit, Draze screaming in pain as the chimera clumsily turned to face the rock thrower. Down below was the strange armadillo thing, a pile of spear-shaped rocks by his feet. He had a third in his hands, and screamed as he threw it.
"Dodge!" Tize shouted. Taking control, Tize commanded the body he shared with his brothers to beat its wings, flying back to avoid the rock. A familiar light formed in Draze's mouth as the creature changed its priorities.
Banana Beard felt it was a good time to change his as well. He quickly started to fly down towards the ground where it was safe.
"NOW DRAZE!"
Draze obeyed, shooting the bolt of lighting at the foe. X in turn lifted his rock above his head, and screamed as he hurled it into the bolt. The rock and bolt of lightning collided, bursting into a shower of pebbles raining from the sky.
Before the Chimera could react, a fourth rock shot through the air. To the Chimera’s horror, the rock pierced their left wing, tearing through the leathery membrane as if it were tissue paper.
The creature’s three heads screamed in horrid pain as it started to fall. The damaged limbs flapped its vain, desperate to stay airborne; but such a task was doomed to failure. The beast’s screaming continued as it tried to right itself, and started to gide away, the act a very sloppy one thanks to the giant hole in its wing.
The creature then vanished into the trees, unseen by all.
Moment passed, and silence rang. Suddenly, Litleo Litleo roared. Another Litleo joined him, followed by a Pyroar, and soon all the Litleo and Pyroar roared into the sky in celebration of their victory and survival. Pretty quickly Nell and Banana Beard joined in with cheers of their own.
"We're not done yet!" X called out. The shout ended the joyous celebration quickly, earning him several glared of disapproval. "That thing isn't done yet! It's gonna come back and finish the job it started!"
"But..you beat it." Nell replied. "You threw a rock at it and it fell out of the sky."
"No, I threw a rock though it's wing." came the cold reply. "I didn't stop it from fighting, I just stopped it from flying. He will come back."
The Pride Leader could not be any angrier. "Then we will fight on until we defeat it once and for all!"
"No. Get your pride out of here! I can handle this!" X shouted.
"You expect to handle a foe we could not?"
"You bet. You guys look beat up. Any longer and you're not gonna make it to see tomorrow. I can handle this on my own, buy you time to get out of here and into the city."
"Wait what?" Nell shouted. "You want to what the what?"
"Trust me! Now go!" WIth a shout, X started to punch the cliff that he had climbed but a few minutes before. As he struck at it the wall soon gifted him with rocks of various sizes and shapes.
The Pyroar and Litleo then fled into the jungled one by one until all but their alpha remainded. Before following his pride, he turned to face the hero and the changeling before in a low tone speaking, "Our faith in you had better not be misplaced."
X said nothing as he punched the wall one last time, debris created from the powerful punch he threw. He left dug around his rock pile as he spoke to Nell, magic form her horn glowing as she reapplied the spell.. "Nell, I need you to go with them, and keep them moving away from the fight."
"Wait, you want to fight a Chimera alone?"
"Yes."
"X, that's suicide! If that Chimera is capable of beating a bunch of fire-breathing lions, then what makes you think you can do much better?"
"Nothing, but if those Pokémon can make it to safety then I don't care how badly it hurts me."
"I don't believe this," Nell moaned. "You're okay with being the bait? I'm not leaving you alone, no way."
"Nell, this is not for discussion."
"I am not moving from this spot! You are my friend and that is why I am not leaving you at the mercy of a chimera!"
"And I'm your friend, and that is why I am demanding that you run!"
"I didn't run when you needed help back at the city, so what the Tartarus makes you think I'm going to do it again?"
X hefted a rock, momentarily stunned by Nell's words. "Look X... I can't claim to know what's going on in that thick head of yours, but I want to believe you're a nice guy. The kind of guy who will do anything for anyone for nothing because that's who you want to be. But when Naruto and you talked you and him butted heads over whether or not you should send him and the rest of your Pokémon friends into battle tomorrow."
X growled, the kind of growl that was a herald of rage on the horizon. "You overheard my conversation with Naruto didn't you?"
"I didn't plan to, it just… happened." Nell admitted. "But you made it sound like you're afraid of fighting. That you don't like or even want to fight. I get that.”
"No! No you dont!" X bellowed. "You have no idea what it's like to be the son of the famous Silas and Morgan Arrow, master Pokémon trainers of Kalos. As soon as I was born everyone, and I mean everyone expected me to be just another Arrow! As soon as people hear me tell them I'm a construction worker and not a Pokémon trainer, they say 'yeah right, stop joking' or ‘Uh no you're not, you're a Pokémon trainer' or 'but you're an Arrow and Arrows are always Pokémon trainers' or even 'but what you really meant to say was I'm a Pokémon trainer, not a construction worker, right?' Every damn time!
"The worst of it was that when I tried to enroll at the school I learned the construction trade. You know what the admissions person at the construction school said to mel? He said 'I'm sorry, April Fool's Day is in a few months.' When I told him that I wasn't joking he flat out refused to accept me as a student because I was an Arrow, and Arrows don't do construction! He acted like he knew the best course for my life and he was a freaking stranger! I had to go the principal to get in and even then it was difficult!
"And even after all that, no one would listen! Everyone tries to battle me when they hear of my family's legacy! And I have to battle them just to get them to go away. And every time, every battle, I am afraid that I will lose myself. I am afraid that the next battle will break me and turns me into just another Arrow who's just a part of the Arrow Family; a nameless, faceless cog in a legacy that I was born into.
"I am afraid... that with every fight I will be less like me... and more like my parents. It... terrifies me. I... don't hate my family, I can never hate them. But I want to be me. Not them."
Nell sat on her haunches, understanding what X truly felt. "So... you either let the fear of dying to the Durant take over, or you let the fear of losing yourself to your family legacy kill who you are on the inside."
"Pretty much," X sighed.
"So why do you keep rushing in to save those who need it?"
"Because I didn't want them to get hurt because of something beyond their control," X replied.
"But that's not going to change your mind is it?" Nell asked. "You’re still going to forbid Naruto and the other from fighting?"
"Those Durant are on par with the Chimera. I can feel it in my bones. If my family fights, they are going to hurt, and they aren't going to shrug it off like any other fight. I am not letting the people I care about get hurt. Not if I can help it."
"I can't claim to understand what you’re going through, but this... 'oh woe is me' thing has gotta stop. Tomorrow your best friends are going to try and help my people keep their homes. You want to know why? Because it's something you would do! And they are going out there because of that fact! But they are going out there without you, and that makes me sad because they need you just as much as you need them! The five of you are a core so strong nothing can break it because you help everyone become better people! You make them feel complete like they make you feel complete! So, are you going to cower here and hope things get better, or are you going to runs out there with your family and make it better!?"
"I want to make it better but not like this! I don't want to become a monster."
"X, let me ask you a question: How many times have you fought?"
"Well, myself? Not a lot," X responded, thinking hard. "But I have commanded my Pokémon to fight. Thats pretty much the same thing. Just because I'm not the one fighting doesn't mean I'm not fighting if someone else is doing it for me."
"And when you do fight, is it for yourself, or for someone else?"
"Well for someone else. Almost every Pokémon battle I sent one of my Pokémon in is to either protect them or because they wanted to."
"And let’s not forget yesterday," Nell smiled, recollecting on the events that had transpired. "You pretty much ran into the thick of it to save someling else. Those guards that did the heavy fighting, that foal that you rushed in to protect. Heck, you even tried to protect me from Azisa when she thought that you were someone else. I even heard that you tried to save someone from a... Volcarona right?"
X groaned. Loudly. "The less said about the Incident, the better. Is there a point?"
"My point is that every time you did fight, you never lost sight of who you were. Who you are. You are X, the bravest, most heroic hero I have ever met. You can fight all you want. You can even stop being a construction worker and be a professional fighter. But that doesn't mean you are your family . Take a look at me. I wanted to have the same job my dad has, so does that automatically make me a copy of my dad?"
"Uh… no, I guess?"
"And that is the point I’m making. No matter how much you change on the outside, you can only change on the inside if you want to. And even then, you are mix of what you are, and who you are."
X looked at his hands, covered in scratches and small amounts of emerging blood. Past decisions raced in his mind, the paths he took and did not take merging into a revelation that defined himself from that point on.
"... My god… I'm an asshole," X spoke. "I can't believe I was willing to let a bunch of innocent people lose everything because I thought I was seeing a lie when I seeing the truth. No matter what happens, I am not going to like fighting. But… the weight of everything… just crashing down at once… It… well... "
"Sucks?" Both Chesnaught and Nell turned to face Banana Beard, the lazy Tropius not leaving his spot. "Don't worry, I'm here for you. I can work up a sweat. Maybe."
"Banana Beard, if you become a Chimera's meal, my sisters will kill me if the Chimera somehow doesn't," Nell joked. "Go with the lions. Trust me."
"I may be lazy but I'm not stupid," Banana Beard retorted. "It has three heads. Together we have three heads. So, even. Right."
"Aw, that’s cute… it thinks we're evenly matched."
X snapped his head toward the jungle and watch the Chimera emerge from the trees. the three heads glared at X, anger overflowing, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why: the wounded wing had a gigantic tear in it with blood dripping from the wound. "Banana Beard, you're needed with the Pyroar. Take to the skies and keep an eye on them." X spoke. "And keep an eye on this area. Since I can't seem to talk Nell out of this, we can send a signal into the sky using her Ice Beam and if you see it, that means come and get us. "
"I am not.."
"Banana Beard, this is not up for debate. I can handle this. Go."
Bana Beard did not know X for very long, but Banana Beard sensed something within X. A fire that burned brighter than Sacred Fire. Nodding silently, Banana Beard flapped and took to the air, following the Pyroar. In response Draz prepared to shoot Banana Beard down with his lightning breath, his maw open wide as the attack charged. "Save our breath, Draze," Tize growled. "Our prey is not that fat giraffe."
Draze just moaned "But he's getting away!"
"It doesn't matter anyway. We can't fly so even if we do hit he can just get back into the air by the time we find him on the ground!" Gorz shoute. "And it's because of him!"
"Sucks, doesn't it?" X taunted.
"Do you know how long it is going to take for our wing to fully heal? Do you?" Gorz growled.
"A few weeks?"
"TRY MONTHS!" Draze screamed "AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR IT IN BLOOD!"
X just closed his eyes for just a moment, cracking his neck and knuckles. "Sorry...I only take cash and checks."
“Kill him, and make it hurt!” Gorz shouted. X roared as he charged the Chimera, the Chimera charging X in turn. With a shout, X slammed his fist into Draze, dazing him. In retation the cloven hoof on the Chimera slammed in to X, launching him into the wall of rock.
A flying rock served as the Chimera’s “reward,” hitting Tize square in the eyes. More rocks flew toward, the Chimera dodging the rocks thrown at him. Before X could react the cloven foot slammed into him with terrible force. The chesnaught was launched away, slamming into the cliff face.
He recovered quickly, ducking from the Chimera’s next attack, running as fast as he could to a safe distance. Ice beams shot from Nell’s horn, peppering the beast with spells. Yet the attacks were doing little good, for the Chimera continued to attack X. Cloven feet slashed back and forth, furiously dashing across X’s chest and face. X responded in kind, throwing punches at his opponent's faces, burying his fist into them whenever he had the chance.
It was like watching two minotaurs fighting, each one trading blows with the other. Neither side was willing to yield, each blow stronger than the one that came before it. “Why won’t you die?!” Draze demanded.
“Why won’t you?”
“You have to ask?” Gorz growled. “We are a Chimera, powerful creatures that are the true rulers of the lands they reside in. All other creatures serve one purpose and that is to be our meals!”
“Not a good reason to fight in my opinion!”
“It’s better than yours!”
“Better than mine? You’re just a bully who hunts weaker creatures because you can. You want to hurt Nell, and she has friends and family! Friends and family that care for her! I’m fighting you because I’m her friend, and friends risk everything for each other! That’s what friends do!”
“Friends?” Gorz laughed. They lunged, slashed across X’s face and actually drew blood this time. “I don’t need friends! I only need Tize and Draze! ‘Friend’ is just another word for late-night snack!”
“And that is why I will defeat you!” X shouted. “Even though there are three of you, you’re always going to be alone, while Nell and I are never alone! Nell believed in that, believed in the bonds one can forge with other, and because of that bond she forged with me, I am here to end this and send you back to whatever hole you were dumb enough to crawl out of!!!”
The already intense struggle somehow intensified even more and the blows became faster and more brutal. The heads of the chimera growled as they silently reached an understanding with the others.
A leg shoot forward, and instinct guided X to block. The other then swept against his legs, knocking them from under him and sending X tumbling down. Before X could recover, Draze bit into X’s leg. The pain was like fire: it burned as feeling in the leg began to numb. The other heads laughed as Draze then flung X towards Nell, slamming him into her.
Changeling and Chensaught slid across the ground. X got to his knees, struggling to not give in. Nell was not so lucky. She was a fair distance from X, and her eyes were closed in pain, and X could not help but notice trace amounts of blood near the top of her barrel.
“Stupid creature! See what your bonds of ‘friendship’ and all that happy crap did for you?” Tize laughed. “Let’s see how hard you fight when we kill her! When in the end it turns out that you failed and have no reason to fight us!”
“YOU WOULDN’T!”
“WE WOULD!”
The Chimera charged towards Nell, who opened her eyes at exactly the wrong moment.
She screamed, tucking herself into a tight ball, hoping by the grace of the hive that the futile attempt could save her. In her fear, all she heard was the yell of X and the sound of something slamming into another something.
”... It’s been two seconds and I hear the sound of a struggle, yet I feel no pain and I’m obviously not dead,” Nell thought to herself. ”What happened?”
Nell quickly got her answer when she untucked herself and looked in front of her.
The Chimera was slamming itself against X who was valiantly standing his ground, and for some reason he was wielding a shield. The shield seemed to come out of his arms, spikes littering the grassy green shield.
X held it up, covering his body as the Chimera struggled to remove itself from the spikes that suddenly appeared as gently as possible. The pain yelled Tize and Gorz screamed proved that ‘gently’ was the wrong word to use to describe things.
This did not stop the Chimera from attacking. The roar the three heads screamed was louder that the crashing tide of the oceans, the creature rising to an impressive height by standing on it’s back legs. Without a warning, the talon-like cloven leg crashed downward, striking the shield with a audible crash.
To the Chimera’s horror, X did not move.
At all.
The beast simply growled, shocked and amazed at this thing capable of standing up to its powerful attack. The Chimera arose and struck again. The stinging of needles raced across the Chimera’s skin as the clawed hoof slashed across the shield, yet the result was the same as the previous strike: an unmoving X standing strong against the hurricane of blows.
All the while the spikes of the shield scratched the skin of the chimera’s slashing limbs, slowly but surely weakening the beast.
“BLAST HIM!”
“YOU GOT IT!” The lighting formed in Draze’s mouth, the electricity sparking within the open cavern on his maw.
“SAY GOODNIGHT HERO!”
The shield lowered, and X rushed his foe. He screamed as he charged the mighty beast, the other heads confused. “Wait, what?”
“He dropped the shield Gorz!”
“I can see that Tize!”
Before any of the heads could react, X was on them, just as the lightning in Draze’s mouth was it’s brightest, ready to strike. “EAT THIS!” With tremendous force, X grabbed the bottom of Draze’s mouth, and slamming the other hand into the upper jaw, forcing the mouth closed.
The other heads then screamed in unbearable pain, as the lighting within Draze had no place to escape. The Chimera convulsed, flashes of light bursting within the cavern of their mouths frequently. The screaming seemed to go on without end, until at last it ended, the chimera falling to the ground with a heavy thud.
Slowly with heavy measured breaths, X released his iron grip from the very dazed Draze, eyes looking at something absently, moaning “But momma the teeth are made of rainbows, how could I not wanna eat them?” With unsteady steps X stepped back before taking a step towards the other two heads. They looked up at their foe, the edges of their eyesight blurry. A hand gripped each one as X glared at the foe, his eyes sharp as daggers. “You don’t scare us…”
“Oh really?” Nell noted X’s voice was low yet sharp as steel. A clear sign that X had reached his threshold. “Your lightning doesn't phase me. My body and my shield withstand any blow you strike against me. No matter what you did to me, what you do to me, know this: when anyone wants to hurt my friends, my family, Hell, anyone, they gotta get through me first. And getting through me is something you are incapable of doing,” he said, eyes narrowed. “So here’s what is going to happen. You are going to go anywhere but here. And you are going to leave that pride of Pyroar alone, forever. Got it?”
Gorz and Tize nodded weakly, X releasing his grip from the beast’s heads. In shame the beast walked away in defeat, shameful in their lost. X sighed, the battle finally over, and turned his back to his foe.
At that moment, Nell gasped as the Chimera quickly turned around, and gazed in horror as the Chimera went back on its word, and struck X in the back, the human screaming as he tumbled forward. The chimera began to laugh in a maniacal manner, but quickly stopped when he saw his opponent's next action.
While X started to tumble, he curled up into a ball, his body and cloak almost appearing as if they merged into one. The Chimera and Nell just… watched as X spun to a stop, then turned around and rolled towards the creature head on. WIth anger in his eyes the Chimera swiped at X when he was in range, yet to its horror X somehow evaded the strike, racing back towards its flank. Then, with even greater speed, X raced towards the side of the creature, and slammed into it, launching the Chimera onto its side, helpless.
Uncurling, X quickly ran to that creature's rear end before it could get up and grabbed its legs. With another shout, X struggled and lifted the chimera and started spinning around and around and around.
“Stop! We’re gonna be sick!” the heads shouted, getting a little green.
X begun to spin faster.
“NOT!”
X somehow spun faster.
“MY!”
X somehow spun even faster.
“PROBLEM!”
With a final shout X released the Chimera, throwing him with all his might. The heads screamed in unison, soaring into the trees, rending them apart as the beast was thrown into the dense jungle, the trees falling in a way that was rather reminiscent of bowling pins.
Moaning, the Chimera struggled to get up, only to be greeted by the imposing figure of a Chesnaught slowly walking toward them, anger burning even brighter than Celestia’s sun.
It was odd seeing the three heads gulp loudly in unison. Gorz, the fear most evident in his face from among the three, took command of the body, ordering it to stand. “Okay, okay you win! You win!” he shouted “We’re leaving! We’re leaving!”
And so the Chimera ran into the dark depths of the jungle, disappearing into the night. X sighed, panting for exhaustion. The trees then began to blur, as darkness enveloped him.
He fell to the ground with a thud. Nell wasted no time rushing toward her friend, panic on her mind and for good reason. X was covered in scars and scratches, with small amounts of blood on a fair number of the wounds.
The mare hyperventilated, repeatedly stomping the ground as if she was dancing in place. Panic took over her thoughts as she tried to think of a plan, worry for X consuming her.
A single thought lit up in her mind, inspiration driving away the darkness of her doubt. her horn glowed brightly, and a beam of ice shoot into the air.
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So was it an error that caused the a quarter of the chapter between these two sections to be italicised?
5651761
huh.....wierd
Also two authors notes.
Double weird
AMAZING chapter as always
...so the Chimera is spared....
oh well..
keep up the good work as always
Impressive, and it appears he found his answer to the proper question.
What Is Worth Fighting For?
I'm still wondering why the hell this chimera thing is so tough.
Good job for Nell, snapping some sense into X.
in the words of boomstick: "Fuck Yeah!"
YEAH! NEW CHAPTER! F***ING AWESOME ONE AT THAT TOO! SORRY FOR MY LANGUAGE I'M JUST SUPER EXCITED!!!
5652962
I KNOW RIGHT!?
5652979 WE NEED MORE OF THIS AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!!
Naruto would be proud of X for this act of selfless bravery.
So when is Sabrina gonna show up for real?
5657823
Soon but....well lets just say when the rewrites to the generla plan happened...Sabrinas screen time was cut. A lot
There are no birds in this chapter.