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Chp 47: Ambition

After a trek through the light jungle terrain of the island, Seth and his team stood before Stark mountain. The mass of rock reached high into the sky, the top of it lightly smoking. The rocks that made up the mountain were a deep red color that almost seemed to glow.

"Wow..." Daim said in awe. "Both intimidating and majestic." They were on a path just before the mountain proper. A few other trainers were around, giving the large group of pokemon a look. There were a few pools of lava in nearby craters bordering the rocky path. The air seemed to quiver with the pure heat of the area.

"Cool!" Fluffy shouted. He jumped off Sky's back and ran forward, causing his mother to chase after him.

"Seth?" Soul asked. "You in there?" She poked his leg, getting no reaction. He was staring up at the smoking top of the volcano.

"I just... have a really bad feeling about this."

"We could always turn back..." Daim offered.

"No. I want answers. Besides going all the way to Kalos and finding the protector is out of the question. The forge here will have to do." Seth said, beginning to walk forward.

"The forge is likely a reference to the people who once dwelled here in ancient times. Back then, before modern technology, fire type pokemon were used to perform metal work. This volcano was likely a focal point for their society." Daim looked away from the mountain to find everybody else had walked ahead without her, making her rush to catch up.

Seth caught up with Sky and Fluffy a short distance later. They were waiting at the cave entrance while Fluffy paced excitedly back and forth. When he saw Seth coming, he turned and made a dash for the interior, only to run headfirst into a spongy psychic barrier, bouncing him back.

"Hold your horses there, mister." Seth said. He leaned over and scooped up the brown furball.

"I wanna go inside!" He whined.

"And you will. Safely." Seth said, patting his head. He led the way in as the air, already hot, grew much more intense with only a few steps inside the volcano. Sweat was already running down his face.

The interior was brightly lit, at least compared to the usual cave. It had the same deep red rocks, with orange red lines tracing through them. The glow from them provided most of the flickering candle-like light. There were many spots where lava flowed freely down the walls of the very spacious cavern. The way forward was clear, with a spiraling raised path leading deeper in. There were pools of lava sectioned off far away from where people would walk, but still visible due to the high up paths. The entire cave was huge, barely fitting the description of cave. From the lowest to the highest points, it was easily over five stories high. There were few supports, making the entire structure seem even more supernatural.

"It's... even more... amazing inside." Daim said between pants.

"It's so hot..." Sky complained. Seth turned around to look at them, ignoring Fluffy's escape attempt via squirming. Tiff was fine, being a fire type, but both Sky and Daim were visibly panting. "Soul, how are you okay? You have the thickest fur here."

A few drops of water fell from her chin. "Magic." There were ice crystals visible in her fur, though they were melting about as fast as they formed.

"Can you make that for all of us?" Sky asked.

"Nope, doesn't work like that."

"Let's get moving then. Faster we find whatever, the sooner we leave." Seth said, picking up his walking pace. They followed the winding path, getting ever deeper into the volcano.

"So, I thought we kinda knew why we were here? What exactly are we looking for?" Tiff asked.

"I don't really know. When I got that orb," Seth pointed a thumb at his backpack. "The unown mentioned two places. Terminus Cave and the protector, and Stark Mountain with the forge. So... maybe something at the heart of the volcano?"

"With this being the forge, perhaps that orb was formed here. There may still be ancient pokemon dwelling in this volcano, so we could try asking them."

Seth looked around the path, seeing very few wild pokemon. There were a few sleeping geodude embedded in the walls, several fire types around the lava pools and... Seth gulped as he looked up.

"Hey! Bat assholes!" Soul shouted. A few of the zubat and golbat opened their eyes and came swooping towards the group angrily.

"Gah!" Seth yelped, ducking down and allowing Fluffy to break free. As the swarm closed in, Fluffy leapt into the air and gave on of the zubat a flying tackle. Meanwhile Soul jumped up and pounced one right of the air, holding the golbat to the ground.

"I have some questions."

It hissed, getting a push from Soul.

"We're looking for a forge or some shit. Know anything?"

"You must be looking for Heatran. He's the lord of the volcano. Go to the end."

"Good. Now buzz off." Soul let him go and he promptly flew away.

"Okay, looks like we're on the right path then." Seth said.

Fluffy was growling at the unconscious zubat he downed as Seth moved to grab him again.

"Heads up." Soul said. A moment later, a great shake vibrated everything. A large chunk of rock broke away and fell right for Seth and Fluffy. It was turned to dust a second after by incredible psychic force. The powdered rock sprinkled down on them in the aftermath, as a few lesser quakes happened.

"Maybe that's a sign we should leave." Sky said.

"I don't think so." Soul said. "I can normally feel an earthquake coming days ahead. But that came out of nowhere. Something is happening."

Seth took a deep breath and looked further in. There were the odd wild pokemon, mostly zubat and geodude, but straight in and deeper down were two extremely power lifeforms. "Shit. You're right. Run!" Seth shouted, breaking into a sprint.

The quakes continued, more rocks fell and lave began to bubble from new spots in the walls. As the violent occurrences increased, Sky formed a dome around them. More falling rocks, mostly smaller ones, kept hitting it.

"Damn." Seth growled as they came to another corner on the winding snake shaped path. The quakes were getting worse and the heat was increasing.

"This is dangerous." Tiff said. "We should call it off."

"No, something's wrong." Seth said.

"Yeah." Soul added.

"It feels... like someone is fighting deeper inside." Sky explained.

"Charge! To the rescue!" Fluffy called, pointing down the path with a paw.

+++

"Enough. I do not wish to harm you. Just cooperate and we will leave." The green and black snake said.

"We are so close. No one can stop us now. Give us the Flute." The human in glasses demanded.

"Never. You're insane." Their opponent, a red and silver four legged pokemon said. He was covered in wounds.

"Here we are! Heroes incoming!" A young voice shouted from outside the chamber.

"Aien, we have to hurry. We are no longer alone."

"Right. Zy, end this."

"Heatran. If you do not cooperate, you will die."

"So will you." Heatran let out a loud roar, causing the entire room to shake. "I'll bury you here!" Fountains of lava burst from the floor nearby.

At that moment, Seth and company came down the path and into the rectangular room. The quaking stopped. "Aien? Zy? What are you doing here?"

"Seth. Excellent of you to join us. Perhaps you can help us. Heatran refuses to cooperate."

"Heatran... god of volcanos..." Daim muttered.

"Another rogue legendary?" Seth asked, approaching.

"Not quite." Zy said. "We require a service."

"Speak sense to him! He seeks to end the world." Heatran yelled.

"Wrong! We will save it!" Zy shouted.

"What is going on!?" Seth demanded.

"Our dream is only steps away." Zy explained. "Soon, we will dethrone the tyrant and bring the world into a new age of peace."

"For fucks sake. Explain it slow." Soul complained.

"There is no time. Heatran has the power to entomb us in this mountain. Give us the Azure Flute, now."

"Human, I apologize. It's not your fault that you die a martyr." Heatran said. He let out a roar, causing the entire room to shake again. Rocks started to fall, large chunks of stone collapsing as lava began to ooze from the floor and walls, forming small pools.

"Core Enforcer." Green energy glowed around Zy, firing out in a beam. It engulfed Heatran, the rumbling and lava stopping a moment later. As the energy faded, Heatran was gone. "Senseless."

"What?!" Seth cried out.

"I had no choice. I just saved our lives, at the cost of his." Zy said. Aien walked past him, deeper into the chamber, ignoring the flowing lava. "Despite his words, he was the insane one. He submits to a mad god."

"Will you tell us what this is? Clearly?" Seth asked.

"Very well. Aien and I seek to right the wrongs of this world. And the greatest wrong of all is its creator. Arceus himself allows some of the greatest evils to occur. There is no semblance of justice in his rule. Criminals go unpunished, disasters ravage the land and the strong exploit the weak." Zy said passionately. "Arceus is a corrupt god, no longer worthy of his status. I will take his throne and become the new god of this world. One of justice. One of balance."

"That... that's crazy! You have no idea what will happen! If you kill Arceus... it could destroy the world!"

"It very well may. But we cannot continue as we are. Arceus continuing to live is far more dangerous than the unknown."

"You explained it yourself." Seth said. "Arceus prevents disaster by reincarnating legendries. But you don't have that power! And if Arceus died, not only would that stop, but it could have terrible consequences. You might just do way more damage! You can't honestly think this is safe!" Seth tried to explain.

"That is a risk I am willing to take. The world cannot go on like this. There must be a change. I have the power to do so. It would be evil to not fight for a better world."

"I found it." Aien announced as he returned to Zy's side. He was holding an odd coral like object.

"Excellent work. Seth, I find myself trusting you." Zy said. "You have a kind heart. Despite your concerns, think about it. I know you will make the right choice. Join us at the peak of Mt. Coronet, Spear Pillar. There, we will save this planet." Aien merged with Zy and the pair dove into the ground.

"Holy shit..." Seth muttered.

"Have... have we been helping the bad guy?" Sky asked.

"I think we got played." Soul said.

"He's utterly mad. To overthrow the creator..." Daim said, looking down and shaking her head.

"Why did we have to come? If you came alone... you could have stopped him." Tiff said quietly.

"We... let's... just go home." Seth said.

+++

The next few hours were quiet. Even Fluffy seemed scared.

"Mewtwo." Seth eventually said. "If you're listening, please. We need your help."

There was no response.

There were another couple hours of quiet. Everyone seemed to be in shock.

"Sky. I want you to take everyone and go south to Twinleaf Town. Buy a house, settle down. All my stuff is in my backpack." Seth said suddenly.

"Seth, you can't be serious."

"I am. I don't know... what might happen."

"You can't!"

"What choice do we have?"

"Someone else can do it. Another legendary or something." Sky said desperatly.

"They don't know. And Zy is so strong... they might not be able to. It might be too late by the time anyone else realizes."

"Seth... please. Don't. You saw what he did to Heatran. He'll kill you."

"I'm sorry. But I have to. Alone. Not for the world, but for you."

"I don't want Fluffy to lose his father!" She cried out.

"I have to try. I'll talk and if that doesn't work... I'll fight."

"If you... I will..."

"I know. See you in the morning." Seth gave her a kiss on the head, before transforming into a mewtwo and vanishing.

"He'd better not die." Sky threatened. "Right Soul?" Sky looked over, finding Soul gone. "Soul?"