Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Realms ❯ Fighting Heart ( Chapter 23 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.
 
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Fighting Heart
By nightdragon0
 
 
 
The frustration was really getting to Bahamut's head. He'd finally gotten his two partners back together to get him out of his cramped sword form, and now he couldn't move again.
He'd come to and found himself being carried on the shoulders of a Nidoking like a sack of potatoes. Bahamut's jaws had been muzzled shut and he wasn't able to move anything below his neck.
It had utterly panicked him at first, but he soon realized that it probably had something to do with the strange collar strapped around his neck. Lombadra was being carried nearby, with an equally furious look on his face.
They set up us. Bahamut thought unhappily. Raguragi's group was hiding in here all this time…and working together with some of the Dragon troops.
The Steel Dragon gritted his fangs as best as he could.
Damn, we must've looked like a couple of fools pulling a stunt like that!
The Nidoking winded through the building's featureless corridors and eventually arrived at the doors of a dark prison cell. Without breaking their silence, the guards un-muzzled the two and chucked them into the cell.
Bahamut's first reaction was to snarl abuses at the guards, who simply ignored it and slammed the door shut, plunging the room into darkness.
“Grrr…get your butt out of my face metal-head!” Lombadra hissed.
Bahamut was lying facedown and felt a heavy weight, probably Lombadra's body, on his back and lower body.
“Well, I can't move my body right now, so deal with it flame-face!”
“Wonderful! And it's all just because they stuck these stupid collars round our necks! What are these thing made of anyway?”
“Hell if I know. But I find it interesting that we've both reached the same conclusion about the collars.”
“Oh shut up wise guy. And we should try separating.” Lombadra suggested. “The humans and Pokemon and smaller than us, and the collars will fall right off!”
“Wait, don't….”
“Rarrrggghh!” Lombadra roared as his collar sent a strong electrical surge through his body.
“Don't you think I've already tried that?” Bahamut growled. “Kris! Nightslice! Hey, can you two hear me?”
“Jade and Firestorm aren't answering either.” Lombadra spoke up. “But I can still feel them in the back of my mind, just that they're unconscious.
“Humph, lucky them.”
All that had taken place hours ago and the two had been left lying, immobilized, in the darkness. Neither one knew exactly how much time had passed, but the certain thing was that both were getting very edgy.
“How long are you gonna leave us like this!” Lombadra screamed at the walls. “Hey! Someone answer me!”
“Quit shouting moron, you're gonna break my ear drums.” Bahamut snapped. “On the other hand, being stuck next to you is already enough to do that!”
“Well I don't see you trying anything block-head!”
“Oh yeah, I'll just try to undo the lock with my tongue…if I could crank my neck enough to reach these blasted collars!”
“Hey! Whoever's out there?” Lombadra yelled. “If you're not trying to starve us to death, then get us something to eat!”
“Like that's gonna work.” Bahamut sighed.
Much to his surprise however, someone threw the door open, sending so much light streaming in that the pair had to squint. Neither one could make out the shape that stood in the doorway, but it was a quadruped figure flipped both of them over and shoved a loaf of bread in each of their mouths. And just as abruptly, the figure shut the door and vanished.
The bread was a little stale, but the two eagerly scoffed the loaves down.
“It actually worked.” Lombadra muttered once they were done.
“Not only that, but I think we're in a better position too.” Bahamut added in. “If I can reach you, I should be able to chew your collar off.”
“You think so? Great, let's try it then!”
“Oh I wouldn't want to do that. Not using the proper keys to remove the collars will unfortunately result in a large bang.”
“What was that?” Lombadra asked.
“Hey, that wasn't me.” Bahamut replied.
“Then…”
“Hey boys.” A sparkle of yellow energy flickered in the dark room, lighting it up just enough for them to make out the source of the voice.
“Myollnir!” The Steel and Fire Dragons gasped.
 
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“Now, look who we have here.”
“Finally, we've caught up with you.”
“Oh no!” Hazuki gasped. “Not them again!”
Sano and Uno were leaning against the railings of the second floor balcony, clapping their front paws.
“What a show.” The former, a steel type Aggron smirked.
“Yeah, sure wish I'd brought my video camera along.” His Rhydon companion added in.
Growling fiercely, Kioi wiped his tears away and stepped in front of Hazuki, holding his arms out to protect her.
“You've got guts buddy, but you're outmatched!” The dinosaur pair jumped down to the lower level, causing the entire area to shake.
“Whoa!” Hazuki stumbled and scrambled to Kioi's side. “You can't take them on alone! You're too badly hurt!”
Kioi shook his head with a determined look. Even if he knew he was going to get beaten into the ground, he was going to try anyway.
Then, Hazuki noticed that Kioi was actually indicating at something. The hand he held up had its index finger pointing back towards the frozen three-headed dragon. Hazuki realized that he wanted her to free that dragon while he held their enemies off.
“Ok, but you have to come through this, all right?” She whispered.
Kioi grunted as if to say `whatever' and lunged towards his foes with a savage roar.
Hazuki found herself ducking and dodging between the various pieces of machinery as the battle cries rang out. Unfortunately, they weren't in Kioi's favor. Despite that, she quickly reached the frozen display of the three headed dragon and glanced over its control panel.
“Oh…how does it work?” She frowned, trying some of the controls.
A yell of pain had her looking upwards as Kioi was sent flying into the air. The Fighting-type dragon bounded off a wall and shot right back into the battle.
Sano swung a huge paw as Kioi landed. The smaller dragon managed to roll beneath his fist and swung around to his opponent's back, sending a spinning kick that connected hard. Uno charged up from behind and rammed Kioi down with the large horn on his snout.
The Rhydon then grabbed Kioi's shoulders and dragged him along the ground before sending him sliding into a stack of crates. As the cloud of dust cleared, Kioi staggered to his feet, clearly gritting his teeth in pain.
“Hurry please.” Hazuki pleaded as the large ice cube begun to defrost.
Water was dripping down the display platform at a steady pace, but it still didn't look fast enough. Kioi wasn't going to last much longer.
Hazuki vaulted over the railings and dashed across the pit. The fighting had thrown a metal pole down there and Hazuki retrieved it. A single swing was enough to break the glass case surrounding the ice cube, but it didn't seem to have much effect on the ice itself.
The shattering sounds went unnoticed amongst the roaring and smashing of machinery all around.
Looking up, Hazuki spotted Kioi being pounded into the wall and pulling himself off immediately after. It wasn't long before he was simply thrown against a gigantic metal cylinder, this time leaving the impression of his body in it.
“Oh on….” Hazuki spread her legs to properly balance herself and swung the metal pole again and again.
The blows created a series of cracks along the surface of the ice. Although those seemed insignificant, the shaking apparently stirred up something in the sleeping dragon.
One by one, all the brown eyes of the dragon opened. Startled, Hazuki backed away and tripped, hitting her head against the railing.
 
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Yusia was jostled awake by an abrupt shaking. Rubbing her eyes, the young girl sat up in her cot and glanced around the cell. It seemed the same as always, dark and dingy as ever.
However, she just felt that something was different today.
Curiously, Yusia got out of bed and walked over to the iron door. It was much taller than her, but by putting a stool there, she was able to look out of its single window. Outside was an empty corridor however, causing her to frown.
There had been a fire-type Quilava guard there only moments ago.
A Blaziken's face suddenly appeared in the window, startling Yusia and sending her toppling off the stool.
“Ow! Ow!” She cried, rubbing her sore bottom.
The old door then creaked and swung open, revealing Bashaamo standing there with the key in her claws. The Blaziken was giving her that strange stare again and Yusia wasn't sure what to make of it until Bashaamo tossed her a brown cloak with a hood.
“Do you trust me?” Bashaamo asked.
Yusia paused for a long time, all the while looking up into her eyes. There was something strange in the Blaziken's eyes today.
The little girl was frightened too, for she knew these were the `bad guys'. But for Bashaamo, she was always different. And now, the look in her eyes…
“Yes, I trust you.” Yusia nodded.
“Then put that on and come with me if you want to live.” Bashaamo waited until Yusia had pulled the hood up, then took hold of her hand and pulled her out of the cell.
“Hey boss, are you bringing the kid yourself?” A fowl-like Combusken appeared from around the corner.
Bashaamo hesitated for a second, letting go of Yusia's hand.
“Hm? Boss, what's…”
The fire-type never got to finish his sentence, for Bashaamo rushed across the corridor in the blink of an eye. She slammed a Blaze Kick into his face, knocking the utterly startled Combusken out cold. Bashaamo then shoved his limp body into Yusia's cell and locked the door.
“This is bad, we'll have to hurry.” Bashaamo muttered.
Yusia let off an involuntarily yell as the Blaziken scooped her up in her arms and ran down the corridor with her.
“Those…weren't those your soldiers?” Yusia asked.
“More than just that.” Bashaamo replied softly. “Family.”
“Then why?”
The Blaziken didn't reply and just kept on running.
 
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The eyes of its three heads glanced around, seemingly reacting in fury to the way they'd been frozen. Cracks begun rapidly appearing all over the ice block, and finally, part of it burst open. Only its three heads and its right shoulder were free, but the dragon let off a long moan that sounded like a mix of despair and anger.
“Huh? What was that?” Sano and Uno, distracted by the noise, left Kioi alone for a moment too long.
The Fighting-type Dragon suddenly came up swinging a long pole that slammed into both dino's heads and knocked them off their feet. He then ploughed into the pair in order to keep them away from the exchange between Hazuki and their new, three-headed companion.
“Guugghh….I feel so sick.” The center of the three heads moaned.
“Damn….cold….” The left one groaned.
However, the right one just continued shaking itself and blinking as if to clear its vision.
“Wow…” Hazuki gasped, approaching the dragon. “Hey, can you hear me?”
“That voice!” The right head muttered. “Hazuki? Hazuki is that you?”
“Who?” Hazuki started. “How did you know my name?”
“Hey, it's me, Nala!”
“Nala?”
“This is our dragon form see?” Nala's voice hastily continued. “I'm the right head, Riot's the left one, and the center one is Erizar, our dragon.”
“Amazing, I never expected that you'd be in a dragon like this!”
“We'll save that for later. Right now, we need to…”
CRASH!
“Good heavens, what on Earth is going on here?” Riot's head called. “Oh…my eyes! God, I can't see a thing!”
“Neither can I.” Erizar spoke up. “Must be the hibernation sickness from being frozen.”
“Can you help get us out?” Nala asked, directing her question to Hazuki.
“I'm trying as it is, but it's not going very well.” Hazuki retrieved the pole and started pounding on the ice again.
“All right, let's help by giving it all we've got!” Erizar grunted. “RRaaarrrggghhh!”
The three heads desperately threshed about, trying to break free of their icy prison. Even though Erizar managed to break her right claw out, all she could do was uselessly wiggle it around.
“Not good.” Erizar decided. “We'll have to melt the ice instead!”
“You'd better stand back Hazuki.” Nala suggested.
Erizar's three heads gathered up their strength and sprayed their venomous breaths over the ice. Hazuki covered her face as the steam got to her, quickly scrambling to get out of the pit.
With a final burst of strength, Erizar spread her wings and tail, shattering the last of the ice. It had completely drained her however, leaving the dragon to collapse and revert into Nala and Riot's moaning forms.
“Guys!” Hazuki jumped down and shook them. “Are you all right?”
Neither one responded with anything other than groans. Hazuki was still pondering on what to do when Kioi abruptly landed in the pit next to theirs.
The dragon was too weak by this time to even climb out. As Hazuki watched in horror, Sano and Uno activated the controls for the empty pit, causing its glass case to descend into the concealed lower section….with Kioi still inside.
His howls of agony were eventually drowned out by the sounds of water and the hissing of machinery. In a matter of minutes, the sounds completely died off, leaving a new prison of ice to rise from the depths of the machine.
One that held Kioi frozen within.
“Nala! Riot! Wake up please!” Hazuki shook her companions frantically.
“Well, that was easy enough.” Sano panted, dusting his claws.
“Yeah.” His partner agreed. “So let's look for the other…huh?”
A strange mist was suddenly filling up the room. It was so rapid that Sano and Uno quickly disappeared from Hazuki's view. However, their annoyed yells and shouts easily gave their positions away.
“Hazuki, get them on me! Hurry!” Gwyen appeared out of the mist and jumped down to Hazuki's side.
“Just in time!” Hazuki gasped, shoving Nala's body and Riot's winged form onto the Suicune's back. “We have to get Kioi too!”
“There's no time! The Mist attack will clear out soon.” Gwyen insisted.
“But…”
(We can't save anybody if we can't save ourselves first!) Asiyu's voice rang out. (Plus I think we have more company on the way, and I don't think I have the strength left to fight!)
Hazuki really wanted to speak out about how glad she was that Asiyu was safe. But her thoughts just kept going back to Kioi. It just wasn't right to leave him like this.
“No, we…” Hazuki shook her head. “Kioi!”
Without waiting for her to finish, Gwyen grabbed Hazuki by the collar and dragged her out of the building. The figure that emerged from the mist filled building was the Ice Dragon, Asiyu, who sprinted down the streets whilst carefully balancing Nala and Riot on her back.
“Gargh! Argh!” Sano coughed. “Hey, don't let them get away!”
“Grrr…I've got them!” Uno shouted.
“Ow! That's my foot your idiot!”
“Ugh, sorry!”
The two blinded dinos stumbled around, trying to make their way towards the main door.
“Hey, look there!” Uno pointed as a shadowy figure appeared in the doorway.
The figure seemed to be hesitating and the pair wasted no time in charging to stop him.
“No wait!” A familiar voice ordered.
WHAM!
The mist eventually cleared out to reveal a dazed Sano and Uno in a heap….along with a very battered Juncan lying at the bottom, furiously tapping his fingers on the ground.
“Eep…erm, hi boss.” The dinos muttered nervously.
“I barely escaped from the bank's security systems, plus the cops and what do I find?” Juncan fumed. “This! This is pathetic! Just what do you have to say for yourselves?”
“Erm, we're sorry?” The pair cringed.
“I'm surrounded by morons!” The Grovyle's scream rang far out into the night.
 
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“Guess it's true what they say.” The Thunder Dragon laughed. “Never send a man to do a woman's job.”
The humanoid female was covered in orange scales with yellow armor pieces like shoulder pads, arm pads and leg guards. Her head was reptilian like any dragon's, and had a golden mane behind going down to her shoulder level. Her entire face was covered in a jaggered, lightning bolt-shaped mask, which left the lower jaws untouched.
Myollnir had feathered wings much like a phoenix, except that they were golden and crackling with energy. The backs of her fists also had metallic pads, from which she was generating just enough electricity to light up the room. This revealed too the Kanji symbol for Thunder, ikazuchi, decorating each of her shoulder pads.
Her upper limbs ended in five-fingered claws, but her feet were much like a bird's, ending in three-toed talons instead. It was one of these talons that she pressed onto Bahamut's chest as they spoke.
“What are you doing here?” Bahamut demanded.
“I should be asking you the same question.” Myollnir folded her arms. “See those collars jam the nerve impulses controlling your muscular systems, leaving you unable to move, but leaves the nervous system perfectly intact. And that's why you can feel this.”
Myollnir pinched the exposed part of Bahamut's arm with her talons, causing the dragon to let off a yelp of surprise.
“We don't need the biology lesson Myollnir.” Lombadra hissed. “Now, are you friend or foe?”
“I'm surprised you're asking me that Lombadra.” Myollnir knelt by his face. “We did belong to the same side those thousand years ago.”
“I'm talking about now, not back then.”
“In that case, I can be whatever you want me to be.” Myollnir smirked.
“That isn't answering anything.” Lombadra was beginning to get impatient. “Grrr…hey!”
Myollnir calmly swung herself over and sat down on his chest, stroking the bottom of his chin with her claws. Both Bahamut and Lombadra stared up at her, unsure of how to react.
“Neither of you are exactly in the position to be making demands right now.” Myollnir shifted her position, lying her back and wings down against Bahamut's stomach. “Since you can't exactly move your useless bodies right now.”
“Hey, are you done in there?” A voice called from outside.
“You're fast Tanya. Took care of all the guards already?”
“They were no problem.” The door creaked opened slightly, revealing the blue dragon head of a Salamence. “Here, this is what you need.”
The quadruped dragon-type tossed a couple of keys onto the ground and was out of the room with a quick beat of her leathery red wings. Her long tail swished about and pushed the door close, although not all the way.
“Shame, I thought we'd have time to have a little fun first.” Myollnir took hold of both keys. “Ah well there's work to be done. I'll let you know that a big show's about to take place, and guess what? You're both invited.”
With that, she placed one key on each of their chests and stood up, strolling towards the door.
“Wait a minute, these are…” Bahamut turned his eyes down.
“The keys to unlock your collars of course.”
“I'm assuming that you want us to follow you.” Lombadra spoke up. “How about releasing us first?”
“No can do. It just wouldn't be fun if you didn't do the dirty work yourselves.”
“Hey, how are we supposed to do that?” Lombadra protested.
“Your heads and necks can still more, can't they?” Myollnir smirked. “But don't worry, you'll be able to find me easily enough. Just use your heads.”
Bahamut and Lombadra glared from the keys on their chests to Myollnir.
“Oh and keep your chins up too.” She waved, slamming the door shut.
“Is it hot in here, or are you sweating more than usual?” Bahamut asked after a moment of silence.
“Shut up! And you're sweating too, so speak for yourself!” Lombadra snapped. “Now come on, take hold of the key in your jaws and we should be able to unlock each other.”
“Provided we don't break our necks doing it.” Bahamut muttered sorely.
“Oh, will you shut up and hope?”
 
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“I couldn't help him.” Hazuki sniffed, leaning against the wall of the truck.
“Don't think of it that way.” Nala put an arm around her shoulder. “You saved our butts, remember?”
“Yes, but…he let himself…get…”
(Kioi wouldn't have wanted to hear you talk this way.) Asiyu cut in. (Not after he sacrificed himself so that the rest of us could escape.)
The only sounds after that were the grunting of the container truck's engine and the howling of the wind through gaps in the cargo hold's walls.
After fleeing Olivine in a hurry, the group had hitched a ride on a passing truck. The vehicle was headed towards a series of towns located close to the Johto and Kanto border. Any where was probably safer than staying in Olivine, especially with most of their energy drained and enemies hot on their heels.
Whatever sickness Erizar had suffered earlier was gone now that she'd separated into Nala and Riot. The latter two seemed fine, with only the sheer exhaustion of their experience to worry them.
“Um…” Hazuki finally nodded, breaking the silence. “You're right.”
“We'll get them back for this.” Nala clenched a fist. “And we'll rescue Kioi too. Somehow we will…”
“I'm worried about Yusia too.” Hazuki buried her head in her hands. “I hope she's safe.”
Although Nala didn't have an answer for that, she did her best to comfort her younger companion.
On the other side of the truck, Riot was lying atop a stack of crates. Erizar's gun form, hung up in Nala's holster, was swinging about close by.
“Seems that you were correct.” Riot spoke softly. “The spring got my body fixed up after that horrendous incident I went through.”
(Think nothing of it.) Erizar replied. (But I guess it's my fault that we got turned into an ice cube after that.)
“And you can thank me for getting you out!” Gwyen said cheerfully, jumping up and landing on Riot's back.
“Ugh…that was entirely uncalled for.” The Aerodactyl grunted. “Well, I do suppose I owe you…”
“Well?” Gwyen prompted.
“Well what?”
“Go on and say it.”
“Thanks…” Riot barked. “Bimbo.”
“Say what?” Gwyen fumed. “Why you!”
“I still think it's true!”
“Grrr…it is not!”
“Rarrrgghh! Is to!”
“Is not!”
Nala and Hazuki both looked at each other and laughed.
 
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“That sucked.” Bahamut sighed dryly.
“You were the idiot who got so much drool over me!” Lombadra snapped.
“Speak for yourself! You couldn't even hit the broad side of a barn with your Flamethrower and a sniper scope!”
“What? You jabbed me in the eye with that blasted key! It's lucky I'm not blind or something right now!”
(Hey, do you two realize that you've just walked out of a prison cell completely unopposed and are yelling at the top of your lungs?) Kris' voice queried.
(Yeah and in the middle of the enemy's base too.) Jade added in.
“Hey, shut up blasted humans!” Bahamut roared. “If I wanted your opinions, I'd have asked for…huh?”
“Wait a minute, you guys are awake?” Lombadra gasped.
(Well, we came to a little while after you got those collars off.) Nightslice continued.
“And you never told us?” Bahamut snapped.
(It was kinda amusing listening to your argument though.) Firestorm finished. (I guess, that's why…we sorta all kept quiet.)
Bahamut and Lombadra stared at each other in silence.
“Let's not talk about that.” The two dragons said simultaneously, reverting back into their partner's forms.
“Damn.” Jade snapped his fingers. “They were about to get to the good part too. You know, the confessions of true…”
(SHUT UP!)
“All right, all right! I got the idea!” Jade waved his hands in the air. “Sheesh, can't you guys take a joke?”
“I see you got a sword to put Lombadra's Spirit Crystal in.” Kris walked up and tapped the Kiazahoushi weapon strapped at Jade's back. “Quite a work of art.”
(What?) Bahamut's voice sounded. (Hey, he can't be in a better sword than me!)
(What's wrong? You jealous metal-head?) Lombadra laughed. (This sword I'm in owns yours anytime!)
(You…! Wanna make something of it?)
(Why not? I…)
WHAM!
Kris and Jade thumped their respective weapons against the walls.
(Hey, do you find it amusing physically abusing us while we're stuck like this?) Bahamut demanded.
“Erm, how about getting back on the topic of the enemy base?” Nightslice sighed.
“Yes, sorry.” Kris nodded. “But it's like we were all wondering. They lock us up and leave us unguarded?”
“Unless Myollnir and company have something to do with it.” Firestorm suggested. “According to Lombadra that is.”
“Well, I wouldn't put it past her.”
“Hey, guys over here!” Jade ran up to a computer terminal on the wall and activated it. “Hm?”
“What is it?” Firestorm frowned, staring at the confusing letters. He was never good when it came to technology.
“I was thinking about hacking into their computer systems, but it seems as if someone's already done that for me.” Jade began typing on the keyboard. “He's patched me in to one of the security cameras.”
“Meaning?” Nightslice asked.
In response, Jade brought up a screen displaying what seemed to be a meeting room. Seated within was Raguragi, accompanied by various species of Pokemon and Dragon guards.
“Our mysterious contact is letting us eavesdrop on them?” Nightslice suggested.
“No, I think it's more than just that.” Jade answered, tapping the screen. “Look there.”
 
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“Bashaamo's late.” Raguragi impatiently tapped his fingers on the table. “How long does it take to bring one human child up here anyway?”
“Sir! Sir!” The door slid open as Citraz the Gale Dragon stumbled into the room. “Bashaamo seems to have disappeared, and the human girl too!”
“What? How?”
“We don't know, but there were several of Bashaamo's troops found in the corridor with various injuries. A few more units are missing and we're searching for them now.” Citraz reported. “No signs of fighting though, so it could be an inside job.”
“Or even Bashaamo herself.” Raguragi muttered furiously. “Damn! I never should've trusted her!”
“Why do you…” Citraz began.
“Huh?” Raguragi jumped up at the sound of a metallic click.
The next instant, a deafening explosion rocked the room.
“What the hell?” Raguragi hollered, wiping the dust out of his eyes.
The room was in a mess, with furniture and pieces of equipment lying everywhere. His guards were all sprawled around the room, either dead or unconscious. Coughing sounded from nearby as Citraz struggled to his feet.
Surprisingly, most of the walls had remained intact, with only the far right corner having a large hole in it.
“Losing one little girl and an essential piece of the puzzle too.” A deep voice chuckled. “That is so sad.”
A serpent-like shadow had appeared through the hole in the wall, calmly hovering about. It was a long and massive Rayquaza, with a brown cloak covering the upper part of his body. The lower parts of the green dragon were coiled up and didn't hinder his movement as he approached Raguragi.
“Grrr….you must be with the one who declares himself the Prophet.” The Swampert crouched into a fighting stance.
“I am the one who you speak of.” The Prophet uncoiled some parts of his serpentine body as he flew around the room.
“I don't know who you think you are, but you're dealing with forces you can't possible understand!” Raguragi said furiously.
“Oh, I know much more than you think.” The Prophet laughed. “It's all about the 16 ancient dragons that once fought in a great war many thousands of years ago. When the wars ended, the surviving dragons cast aside their allegiances and became the guardians of many realms.”
Raguragi winced, obviously not expecting such an answer.
“However, they chose to reside in one particular realm, the only one where the race known as humans existed.” The Prophet continued. “And that was where your master came in, first gathering up the Spirit Crystals of the 9 who had fallen, then attacking the 7 dragons that remained after the wars.”
“How do you know all this?” Raguragi demanded.
“Don't be hasty now my friend, let me finish first.” The Rayquaza huffed. “Where was I? Ah, the part where your master had a little mishap, and lost some of those crystals. A small number of those were supercharged in the void that brought them from the human's Earth realm to ours. That enabled the rebel group of humans and Pokemon who came through to unlock and release the memories of the ancient dragons sealed within.”
“The humans…grrrr….”
“Oh, do I detect malice in your voice?” The Prophet revealed a purple Spirit Crystal clutched tightly in his claws. “Let me find out…”
“Gargh!” Raguragi stumbled back as a purple flash blinded him. The Swampert dropped to all fours, panting.
“I see…you've always believed in that other world the humans live in. And you've held on to that believe despite the doubts of your peers. So when the one you now call master appeared in your world one day, you immediately swore allegiance to him.”
“He was wounded from a great battle, but his powers opened my eyes!” Raguragi yelled. “I saw things beyond this world, beings so weak they didn't deserve to exist. It disgusted me! I easily had the power to conquer and rule them!”
“And he promised you that, didn't he?” The Prophet nodded. “That's why all this came about. You had the wealth, the influence. That was why he chose you as his foothold in this world. And it was from here that he gained even more strength, enough to attack the 7 remaining dragons in the Earth realm.”
“You haven't answered my question yet! How do you know all this?” Raguragi asked again. “It is because of the Spirit Crystal you're holding?”
“Perhaps it is. But I've always felt that your master's choice was well, rather hastily made.” The Prophet remarked, tossing his purple crystal around.
“What was that?”
“I too was once blind to all this. But I was there when your master returned to this realm, bearing many of the Spirit Crystals.” The Prophet declared. “I took some of those crystals he'd lost for my own. Like you, my eyes were opened. And like you, I desired more of that power.”
“You fool! I am the one chosen to partake in his powers!” Raguragi roared.
“So, we shall see.” The Prophet threw his dragon head back and laughed.
However, he caught sight of a security camera mounted to the wall above him. The camera had survived the explosion and had remained on the entire time. The Prophet spewed a Dragon Breath attack from his jaws, disintegrating the camera in a shower of sparks.
“Now, where were we?” The Rayquaza sniggered.
“You're just a single dragon! Do you seriously think you have a chance against my troops!” Raguragi gestured.
“Oh, don't you mean my troops?” The Prophet snapped his fingers.
Citraz, who had been standing there watching the scenario play out, suddenly lumbered over to the Prophet's side. He was joined too by the guards who'd recovered from the explosion.
“What's going on here?” Raguragi stared.
“Your mind may be protected because of your Spirit Crystals, but all others are helpless to the powers of the Psychic Spirit Crystal!” The Prophet roared. “Now, we shall see who is the one truly chosen to inherit the powers of Kaiser!”