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Patrolling the city streets was not something that Sol was fond of doing. He'd always considered himself a man of action, rather than a man of caution; it was for this reason he was only grudgingly continuing his walk through the city. He eyed a concession stand, and was considering stopping for a snack... When it happened.

There was the unmistakable sound, like an explosion, but without chemical agents; the sound of something big breaking down an equally large, and heavily fortified door. People turned in the direction of the sound, many already starting to run away before they even saw the cause of it...

Then came the roar; that was a sound Sol knew all too well because he'd heard it a month before, at the battle of Azure. As if to confirm his suspicions, a panicked guardsman went running through the plaza as he stepped out to get a look at the city's main gate, the Krokorok screaming a name.

"The Black Titan has returned!" he shouted as he ran, waving his arms around, "Run for your lives!"

The damn croc was going to cause a panic if that kept up, but at least it spared Sol the trouble of having to direct the citizens away himself. As long as they ran away from Eberon, it would get them out of danger, and let him focus on one less thing.

"...Time for round two, mother fucker." Sol said with malicious glee, punching his paws together as he began stalking toward the source of the destruction and mayhem, his neck flames igniting in anticipation as he wore a wide grin across his face.

It didn't take long for him to find Eberon, being the engine of destruction that he was. But surprisingly, the tiger Pokémon was heading away from him, tearing through the streets as he ran toward... The colosseum?

As Sol hurried, following the path of destruction, he found several city watch who had attempted - and failed, to stop Eberon. Several Pangoro had been swept aside, one of whom had been thrown through the wall of a house and was surely dead. Disturbed ground showed Ground-types had attempted to strike him from below, and indeed Sol found a Krookodile in the path of destruction, unconscious but alive. That was when he finally laid eyes upon Eberon, tearing through a market stall in his path as he kept running toward the Colosseum.

Nothing else seemed to matter to the Black Titan, except reaching that place...

Sol scoffed, not knowing why the Black Titan would want to destroy such a place, nor did he care. He crouched low and leaped high into the air, arcing before he landed with a thunderous crash in front of the Incineroar, kicking up sand and dust as he obstructed the enemy's path.

"Sup bitch?" the Typhlosion growled, grinning from ear to ear before he quickly entered into his Blessed state, wings of blue fire shooting out of his neck vents and blue claws immolating along his forearms. "Ready for round two, asswipe?"

It took only a moment for Eberon to recognize the Typhlosion, baring his teeth before he ignited a Flame Charge and launched himself at Sol. Of course, Flame Charge itself didn't hurt the Typhlosion; thanks to Sol's ability, Flash Fire, the flames were consumed. But Eberon didn't care about such things, using the resulting speed boost to generate momentum into his paw to smack Sol across the face, his claws catching some skin in the process.

Sol was sent staggering, but he stayed on his feet. He turned to glare at Eberon, ignoring the bleeding cuts across his face from the Incineroar's claws.

"My turn..." he growled, then slapped Eberon's arm away and discharged a point-blank Fire Blast right in Eberon's face.

The force of the attack was amplified thanks to Sol's Flash Fire ability, and it made Eberon recoil enough for Sol to strike back, delivering two consecutive Mega Punches to his broad chest, before he finished it off with a Double Kick, dropping onto his forelimbs and kicking out with each leg, one after the other. The blows successfully knocked Eberon back, nearly throwing him off his feet, but the Incineroar stubbornly kept his footing, and bared his teeth at Sol.

With that, Eberon began to spin on his heel, racing toward Sol with his arms outstretched with Darkest Lariat. Sol acted quickly, attempting to create two Focus Blasts - one in each paw, to drive into Eberon as he came at him. Unfortunately, Sol was too slow, and Eberon collided with him before he could align the Focus Blast properly, causing it to misfire into the ground behind him as Eberon's arms struck him, and causing an explosion that launched them both into a nearby wall...

Outside of the city, Tory and Sash saw the battle as it began, both alarmed by the sight of the Typhlosion.

"How can this be?" Tory asked, his voice betraying none of the alarm showed on his avian features, "That is the Typhlosion that serves with Team Phalanx; they can't possibly have made it here yet."

"...They used Mewtwo to arrive here faster than us. It's the only possible explanation for his appearance here," Sash remarked, frowning heavily in disbelief. "...No matter. While they're tearing up the city, that will allow us to seek out our quarry amidst the chaos."

"Indeed... One of us has to deal with Seji, the other must be ready to strike Romulus when he appears," said Tory.

"I will handle Romulus," Sash stated. "You do not have a means of hurting him whereas I do."

Tory looked sideways at the Gallade. "You are still weak from teleporting us here," the Decidueye reminded, "If you cannot take him by surprise, he will destroy you."

"All I need is one clean hit," Sash answered confidently. "Go. Complete your task."

With that, Tory stepped back into the shadow of the cliff, triggering Shadow Sneak and disappearing while Sash remained to watch the ongoing brawl...

Eberon had picked himself up just as Sol did, and was on the Typhlosion again, seizing him from behind in a powerful bearhug, one arm around his chest, the other around his neck. He squeezed tightly, his powerful muscles compressing so tightly that he forced the breath from Sol's lungs, and he couldn't draw in another due to the arm around his neck.

Sol wheezed heavily and scrambled frantically to try and escape the Black Titan's grasp, grabbing at Eberon's arm around his neck with both paws and using his strength to pry the monstrous Incineroar's arm away, but to no avail; it was like pulling at a knot. As a last-ditch effort, he tensed his body and unleashed a point-blank Eruption from his neck vents right in Eberon's face. Eberon was forced to let go as he was blown back, the backlash also sending Sol stumbling, but able to breathe again.

The Typhlosion hacked and gasped as he caught his breath, scrambling to get back to his feet before his opponent. He took a quick gander at the destruction around them and let out an annoyed growl, realizing that at this rate, they were going to tear the city apart. What surprised him more was that this bothered him, when previously he wouldn't even have cared...

"Fucking downside of goin' straight," he growled, then he got down on all fours and summoned his fiery wings before he launched himself at the Black Titan.

He slammed into the Incineroar with all his weight, grabbing onto his waist and flapping his wings as hard as he could, lifting them both into the air and toward the outskirts of the city. Eberon's arms flailed over the Typhlosion's back as he was carried out of the city, struggling only briefly before he balled his fists together and slammed them, hard, onto Sol's back between his fiery wings. The blow caused Sol to buckle and lose his flight, sending the two to tumble into the desert sands outside the wall, softening the crash.

Sol quickly got back to his feet after his first few tumbles, spitting sand out of his mouth and shaking himself furiously to get any particles out of his fur. "Pleh. Thought I was done with this after the whole South Island bullshit," he grumbled, cracking his neck and looking behind him, seeing the city a healthy distance from where he and Eberon were. Smirking, he turned his attention back to Eberon; he was back on his feet as well and cracked his paws one after the other.

"We got the whole desert to ourselves, ya big pussy," Sol called out to Eberon, not caring whether or not he heard him. "There ain't anything or anyone to get in our way. No outsiders. No interruptions this time. Just you, me," he then licked his lips in anticipation, "...And my sweet, sweet victory."

Eberon lifted his gaze to glare at Sol briefly, and then looked over him, once again back at the Colosseum. At first, Sol didn't understand why Eberon was so fixated on the colosseum... Until, it came back to him; when Lashanne had mentioned how many of the Gladiators, before Romulus had taken over the city and reformed the arena's practices, how most of the fighters were indentured, forced to fight to pay their dues, or to inherit the debts of their parents...

"That was how you get people like Romulus... Or Eberon."

...Now it all made sense. Sol had come to understand during their previous battle that he and Eberon were alike; in that both of them had been forced into lives of pain and rage. Sol had managed to hold onto himself, but Eberon had not. Now, Sol stood between him and the source of that hatred and anger; Eberon wanted to destroy the Colosseum, possibly all of Gladiator City, all for the sake of satisfying his bloodthirst, but would it all be over when Eberon succeeded? Sol doubted it, because just like himself, once, Eberon would be eternally seeking satisfaction that would never last; a force of nature, destroying everything in its path.

"...Like a tornado rampaging across a field..." Sol whispered, remembering what Volcan had told him the day he lost to him.

'Sol?' Reshiram's voice responded, sounding puzzled as to why he'd bring that up.

"I really was going to turn out just like him, had Volcan not stepped in and stopped me." Sol went on, letting his arms slump to his sides. "He didn't just save me from myself, but saved everyone from the monster I was going to become if I were left to throw my power around with no consequence. He taught me that power isn't what makes the man, it's what he does with it..."

Sol felt his resolve strengthening, knowing without a doubt what he had to do now. He was the only one who could stop Eberon... And he would do so, no matter what it took. With his mind made up, Sol summoned all of the power at his disposal, flexing his arms tightly while his muscles strained and his flames burning hotter than before, teeth gnashing together as he struggled to push past his limits.

'Sol, stop!!' Reshiram exclaimed in shock, fearing that he was going to burn himself out. 'At this rate, you'll only succeed in killing yourself!!'

"If that's what it fucking takes!!" Sol shot back without hesitation, "I gave him my word! He gave me a second chance at life, and I ain't gonna waste it by keeling over like a chump, especially to this freak!!"

Sol's fire then began to change slightly. They were slowly starting to glow brighter and brighter the more he pushed himself. "He may be the most feared son of a bitch in the world... But I'm more than what he is! I'm the baddest Typhlosion in the world! Nido's second son! _Your_chosen Blessed!"

Sol then threw his arms out to the side screaming as loud as he could, blue flames blazing bright to light up the land around him. "I'M THE DEVIL OF PORT AZURE!!!"

With that, Sol's power erupted like an exploding volcano, sending fire high up into the sky as he broke through his limits. The sand around his feet immediately turned to glass with how hot he was burning, as his flames were now literally burning white hot once the inferno he created had ceased. He then glared furiously at Eberon, beckoning the Incineroar to approach with one of his paws. "Bring it on, fuckwitt! Come and see just how outclassed you really are!"

Eberon growled in reply before throwing out his arms and releasing a deafening roar and rushing to meet Sol's challenge. The two struck each other repeatedly, the air shaking with every clash of their fists, both of them fueled by sheer adrenaline that pushed them on, neither willing to be the first to surrender...

As the fist fight went on though, Eberon started to notice that every punch Sol landed on his body, that part of his body was left with a steadily worsening burn. Despite being a Fire Type himself, Sol was actually damaging the Black Titan faster than he was damaging the Typhlosion, and he was still pressing on despite the injuries he was suffering in this brawl.

"You may have been the strongest Gladiator back in the day... You may even still be the strongest criminal in the world, but yer nothing more than an empty husk!" Sol shouted as he punched one of Eberon's claws away to expose an opening, then slammed his other paw clean into his solar plexus with unbelievable force.

"You just lash out at everything and anything around you, just like I used to! You don't focus it; channel it toward a goal or a target!!" he went on, another haymaker hook right along Eberon's face. "Power isn't measured just by having it! It's what you do with it! THAT'S WHAT REAL STRENGTH IS!!!"

With that last proclamation, Sol slammed a blazing Focus Blast right into Eberon's face, sending him sliding along the sand a good distance before he was able to recover and come to a halt. Eberon was badly hurt now, unable to open one of his eyes and favouring one leg, but in his fury he was ignoring the pain, snarling at Sol again before coming at him with one more Darkest Lariat, faster and harder than before.

Sol spat off to the side and scoffed. "Still got enough in ya for one more, do ya?" He asked, then he spread his arms out to the side and roared as he began channeling two different attacks into each paw. In his left, he concentrated all of his spirit into a Focus Blast. In his right, he gathered up as much solar energy as he could for a Solar Beam, then he brought his arms together and _merged_the two attacks together.

"Then I'll make sure you never get back up again after this! Come and face your death like a man!!" He hollered before he breathed fire onto the already combined attack, then with a final roar, he discharged it right as Eberon was almost on top of him.

All sound ceased for an instant, until Sol's hybrid blast of three attacks erupted from his paws, and then all was an explosive force that shook the air, mixed with the screams of the Black Titan. Sol could not hold the attack for long, but he didn't have to... Across the desert, the powerful blast seared the land, scorching the earth as it went...

When finally, the dust cleared, a path of scorched earth was revealed, and lying in it was the half-incinerated body of the Black Titan, who moved no longer...

Sol struggled to regain his breath after exerting himself to such a degree, dropping out of his new enraged Blessed form straight back to base. His breathing quickly turned ragged as his arms fell to his sides, hanging limp as his vision quickly started to blur.

'Sol... that...' Reshiram began as the Typhlosion began to teeter back and forth. '...Your father would be so proud of you, were he witnessing this battle,' she concluded, and he could feel that she was smiling - even if he couldn't see her doing it.

"Lady... Just shut up," Sol whispered as he fell to his knees, eyes rolling back in their sockets. "Yer... Ruining... The moment," was the last thing he said before he lost consciousness and fell flat on his face, laying still in the desert sand and smiling unconsciously at his own victory.

Sash could not fully comprehend what he had just witnessed. The Black Titan being defeated, he could have believed, but the seemingly impossible display of sheer _power_displayed by the Typhlosion had the Gallade stricken dumb, unwilling to believe what he had just seen...

"Calhoun is not going to be pleased," The Gallade muttered softly after taking several moments to gawk at the spectacle he had just seen. He then set his sights back upon Gladiator City and frowned. "However, it's a good thing we have a contingency..." He said as he raised his arm up into the air, then made an advancing gesture toward the city.

The light shaking in the ground roused Sol from his unconscious state, though he still felt too weak to move. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as the cause of the shaking was approaching, in the path his head was turned...

Unfortunately, what he saw approaching was a large creature, running on all fours, with two sharp, forward-curving horns. He could hear Reshiram calling out to him, though her voice sounded distant - more so than usual... He could tell she was distressed and was growing more so as he looked upon the approaching beast, though he could not make out her words.

The bulky quadrupedal Pokémon drew closer, and his vision cleared just enough for him to see what - or rather who, it was...

Terrakion. But he looked... Wrong, somehow... His eyes, his skin... They were all discoloured. It soon occurred to Sol that Terrakion had been corrupted, and he tried to force his body to move, but he was too weak to pick himself off the ground. Terrakion was just seconds away from goring him on his horns, and Sol was certain that he was going to die, having no chance to defend himself from Terrakion in his condition...

The ground quaked harder as Terrakion drew closer, and even in his tired state Sol knew that the corrupted Sword of Justice was about to kill him, and he could do nothing but lie and wait for it to come...

But it never came, for as Terrakion was less than a meter away, something bigger than even Sol leapt over him and met the charging Legendary warrior. Terrakion was thrown off course, missing Sol in his charge, but still successfully throwing sand over the Typhlosion's face. His hearing, though, had returned, and he recognized the voice of his rescuer.

"No ya fucking don't!" Tristan bellowed as he wrestled with Terrakion, the huge Aggron gripping his horns with his claws, twisting and turning as the two contested with their strength.

"Sol!" another voice spoke, and he saw another shadow fall over his gaze before the sleek form of a Vaporeon landed in front of him, turning and placing a paw on his neck, before seeing that his eyes were open. "Sol, can you hear me?" she asked.

Normally, Sol would've given a sharp retort, but he couldn't find his voice, so he could answer Serena only with a grunt. Then, his gaze saw something else approaching, from the same direction Terrakion had come, and his eyes widening in alarm were all the warning Serena received; she spun around, and just in time saw another quadrupedal Pokémon with two tall horns and a strong, cobalt blue body coming at them.

Serena turned and shot a Water Pulse at the approaching Cobalion, whom they could see was also corrupted as Terrakion was, but she lacked the power to do more than stumble him. His Sacred Sword ignited, and he began to bring his blade down; Serena threw up a protect, defending herself and Sol from Cobalion's attack, but as he reared his head back to strike again, her shield fell, as did the blade...

Another sword intercepted the first as Minato arrived and blocked Cobalion's Sacred Sword with his Bone Blade, the Lucario glaring back up at the corrupt Sword of Justice with a slight grimace before he pushed him back with a Psychic push.

"So, he even got you guys..." He muttered gently as he pointed his blade at Cobalion. "How's Sol looking?" He then asked Serena without taking his eyes off his opponent.

"His injuries are severe, but not grave," Serena replied, "I need help to - look out!"

Despite Serena's warning, Minato had no chance to react before something raced at him, swift as the wind, and slammed into his gut - hard. He got only a glimpse of green as he was thrown back, tumbling over Sol and Serena with his lungs forcefully emptied. 'Right... he mentally admonished himself, 'there was one more.'

He managed to get back onto his feet and was barely able to block the large green glowing sword of Virizion, the now corrupt Sword of Justice putting all of her weight into trying to overpower Minato, but he remained strong despite being surprised earlier.

"You may be the fastest..." He growled before he managed to redirect her sword to the ground next to him, then with that momentum, he landed a hard roundhouse kick along her flank to send her skidding along the sand away from him. "...But you don't hit nearly as hard as your counterparts."

Virizion stood back up, glaring at him as though in answer to his taunt. Cobalion came running up alongside her, and the two charged at Minato, Virizion taking a wider berth on her approach to run at him from the side while Cobalion came at him head on. But just as they closed in, a red blur rushed into the path of Virizion, two hands catching her by her horns as two taloned feet dug into the sand to break her momentum. It was Volcan!

Not a second after Volcan appeared, along came Luke to join him, slamming a flying kick into Virizion's flank and taking the pressure off of Volcan as they stood side by side, ready to face her together.

Then, Cobalion was also intercepted, this time by a black figure, ramming into him from the side and throwing him off-course for his charge at Minato. Romulus skidded to a stop over the corrupted Sword of Justice, teeth bared; Cobalion shot back to his feet, rounding on Romulus with his Sacred Sword ignited, only to once again be intercepted by an Aura Sphere, though it did not come from Luke or Minato.

They both turned to see Luminara with her arm extended, smoke trailing from her paw from the Aura Sphere she had just fired. She then swung her arm to the side to blow the smoke away before she stalked to stand before Cobalion, paws clenched at her side and staring firmly back at the corrupted leader of the trio.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Luke commented, never taking his eyes off of Virizion.

"Are these who I think they are?" Volcan asked, looking between the two corrupted warriors, and the third was still engaged by Tristan.

"They are, Volcan," replied Romulus, "the Swords of Justice, in the flesh. It has been nearly twenty years since I saw them last, but I remember them well."

"Unbelievable..." Volcan whispered, but returned to his senses as he saw Virizion and Cobalion preparing to attack again. "Three corrupted Swords, three Lucario - pair up! One for each team. Minato, go back up Tristan, Luke and I have Virizion. Romulus, Luminara, Cobalion's yours."

"Copy that, boss." Minato nodded, already moving to support Tristan's battle with Terrakion.

"Any advice on their strengths and weaknesses besides the obvious?" Luke asked Romulus.

"All three of them possess the Fighting-type, which will also be the type of their signature attacks, the Sacred Sword," replied Romulus, "but each have a secondary type; Cobalion is Steel, Virizion is Grass and Terrakion is Rock."

"Incoming!" Volcan called out in warning.

Virizion rushed them at again, igniting her Sacred Sword once more; the Blaziken's hands glowed as he parried the incoming blade with Dual Chop, exchanging multiple blows with the legendary warrior as she attempted to power through to strike him, pushing Volcan hard due to her speed. Thankfully he had a speedster of his own backing him up. Luke was already on Virizion while she and Volcan traded blows, striking with rapid blows to her flank to get her attention, then leaping over her when she went to retaliate, landing at her opposite flank and striking her hard once with a Force Palm.

The resulting blast that came from the Force Palm was, to his surprise, more potent than he was expecting. The second his paw connected, a large blast of his Aura shot into her, which gave Luke pause for a moment to really look at the damage he had just output before looking at his paw.

"I... couldn't put out that much power before." He remarked. "...Mother, what exactly did you do to me...?"

"A discussion for another time, love!" Volcan exclaimed as Virizion was already coming at them again.

Romulus and Cobalion clashed in midair as both leapt at each other, their horns colliding together, but it was Romulus who was thrown backward, somersaulting before landing on all fours. Dust was kicked up by his paws as he skidded over the ground, and elicited a low growl as he faced Cobalion once again.

"I have longed to meet you again after you saved my city so long ago, noble one," said Romulus, "This was not the meeting I had in mind... But I have no choice but to subdue you, if only to save you from this curse!"

Cobalion charged. Romulus's Mega Stone, housed in the harness on his chest, began to glow, and he became engulfed in a crystalline sphere as he Mega Evolved. When the Mega Houndoom emerged from the sphere, he and Cobalion collided again, horns locking, but this time he was not thrown back. Both fighters growled as their feet dug into the earth, trying to overpower the other.

Luminara then stepped in, coming down from above and driving her paw as hard as she could into Cobalion's back to send him flat into the ground. She then leapt off of him, allowing Romulus to continue assailing him without resistance. Romulus reared back and unleashed a Dark Pulse, opting for an attack that wouldn't cause Cobalion severe harm, but Cobalion was even tougher than he appeared, for even under Romulus' assault he sprang up, and slammed into him with Iron Head, throwing him back.

That was when Luminara noticed... There seemed to be wisps of smoke coming from Romulus' body, even though he hadn't used a Fire-type attack, and she could see it more as Romulus moved to engage Cobalion again, just as he rounded on Luminara to go after her; he leapt upon Cobalion's back, biting onto his neck and attempting to wrestle him to the ground while Cobalion attempted to throw him off.

Luminara waited until Cobalion had his forelegs on the ground only, then she swept her leg under them and caused him to fall flat on his stomach, then she unleashed a Force Palm to try and paralyze him, then assisted Romulus in keeping him held down. The tactic seemed to work, as the stunned Cobalion did not immediately try to stand, giving Romulus the time to brace himself and press his weight down upon the legendary warrior to pin him.

"Quickly, Luminara!" he exclaimed as Cobalion started to come around, and began to try to stand, teeth bared and thrashing his head as he tried to force Romulus off him.

Without any hesitation, she placed both her paws on Cobalion's side and focused, sending her own aura into his body and quickly searching for his essence. Due to her experience, it wasn't hard for her to properly track down, and she managed to start ripping the Dark Curse out of Cobalion within several seconds after she began; the curse's attempts to attack her and take her over failed, repelled by the essence of Arceus flowing within her.

As she cast the darkness away, Cobalion's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped, his colours slowly returning to normal as he lay. Romulus waited until he could hear Cobalion's breathing before he stood, stepping off him and staring at the legendary warrior for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Even after seeing Mewtwo under his command, it still troubles me that Calhoun can so readily corrupt even a noble warrior like Cobalion," he said, sourly.

"Which only goes to show just how much of a monster he has become..." Luminara added with a grimace, staring down at Cobalion sadly. "Either way, that's one less puppet under his control."

Romulus devolved back into his regular form before answering. "All the more reason we need to stop him, once and for-"

A flash of light beside him, and he looked up in alarm as he found a Gallade, poised to strike. The Gallade grinned as he swung his arm, landing a deep slice just inches from his neck, but inflicting enough damage to cause blood to spray everywhere with that singular cut.

Luminara's eyes widened in utter horror at what she just saw, unable to find her voice until Romulus fell to his side, his own blood pooling under him. "ROMULUS!!!"

~~~~~

Tristan met another charge from Terrakion, catching his horns with his hands and digging his feet into the ground even as the mighty warriors pushed him back. Tristan had taken multiple hits from Terrakion, some of them especially effective against him... But something in the Aggron was absolutely refusing to back down, standing his ground even against an opponent who could cause him severe harm.

As Tristan grappled with him, Terrakion ignited his Sacred Sword again, nearly catching Tristan through the head as the blade extended. The Aggron leaned his head aside in the nick of time, still catching a cut across his shoulder, before he drew back his fist and uppercut Terrakion, followed by an Iron Tail that sent him hurtling backward. Tristan rubbed where the blade had cut across his stone skin, but he still did not back down.

Minato couldn't recall a time he'd ever seen Tristan so motivated before; he never shied away from a fight - looked forward to them even. But right now, the Aggron seemed like a man on a mission, one that he refused to fail.

"Damn big guy, I may as well not even be here, you're doing so well," Minato remarked, standing by him despite his joke. "I haven't seen you this motivated since... well... ever!"

Tristan slammed his fists together as he answered. "I was born in this city," he stated, "and after seeing how far it's come from the shithole it was when I left, I ain't letting anyone mess with it now. Not while I'm still breathing!"

Minato stared back at him in a stunned silence, blinking a few times before lowering his gaze as he turned his head forward. "...I can get behind that." He said firmly, frowning and tightening his grip on his blade. "Let's kick his ass, shall we?"

"Don't mind if I do," Tristan replied with a grin, readying himself as the corrupted Terrakion prepared to charge again.

The massive quadrupedal warrior charged at Tristan in a bull rush. The Aggron braced himself, once more catching Terrakion by the horns, but this time the mighty Sword of Justice managed to power through and successfully struck his leg with one of his horns, breaking away stone skin to reach what lay underneath and finally drawing blood. Tristan growled but held on despite the pain, contesting mighty Terrakion in strength.

That was where Minato intervened, using Psychic to slowly pull Terrakion up into the air, straining as he did given how heavy the lumbering beast was. To add to the overall damage, he hurled his blade point first onto one of Terrakion's legs to hamper his running capabilities, then motioned for Tristan to make his move now. With a roar, Tristan charged, ignoring the pain in his gored leg, and threw his full body weight behind a flying Head Smash, slamming into Terrakion with his most powerful attack.

The corrupted Terrakion was sent hurtling backward, tumbling across the desert like a stone skipping across the surface of water, before he came to a stop and lay still, rendered unconscious by the mighty Aggron. Tristan stood panting heavily as he watched Terrakion, making sure he didn't rise again, and grinned.

"I just beat a Legendary Pokémon, and I ain't even got a Mega Stone or a Blessing," he thought aloud, "I'm still the king of the ring," he added with a chuckle... Before he staggered and fell to the knee of his uninjured leg. "Ah... But still not invulnerable."

Minato would smirk at Tristan, gently placing a paw atop his shoulder. "Well, you have that feat over Torolf, so hold your head high knowing that," he offered, stepping past the injured Aggron and standing before the fallen Terrakion.

With a heavy sigh, he placed his paws on the creature's head and began the purifying process, seeking out his essence and yanking out the corruption from the legendary Pokémon. They were in luck, for Terrakion had not been corrupted for very long; separating him from the essence of Giratina was far easier than it had been when Minato had done the same for Mewtwo. Terrakion's colours slowly returned to normal as Minato extracted the Shadow essence, forcefully containing it between his paws.

"And... done." He grunted, squishing the essence between his paws and vanquishing it forever. He sighed again and took a few steps backward before turning to tend to Tristan's wound. "Ah, that's just a scratch. Knowing you, you'll be back on your feet in a jiff."

"Let's consult Serena for that one," Tristan suggested, lifting himself back on his feet. "Now, we better..."

At that moment, the voice of Luminara was heard crying out, and the gaze of the two was drawn immediately to what was happening...

~~~~~

Virizion was quick; in a full sprint, she moved like a wind, a blur of green and beige that others would never be able to catch. But Volcan and Luke were the exception, both of them able to easily keep pace with her, with Volcan taking point as he had advantages against her due to their typing. After successfully intercepting her as she tried to circle around the two, Virizion ignited her Sacred Sword and lunged at Volcan, who struck back with dual chop; he backhanded the sword away, before striking with his other hand at her shoulder, making her jump away before he had a chance to strike again.

Then Luke came in, before she could take off again, cutting across her path to stop her. She struck at him with a Double Kick, swinging her body around and kicking out with her hind legs at him, one after the other. Luke weaved out of the way of the first kick, then when the second one came, he grabbed it with both paws and lifted her leg upward, making it so that she landed on her collar before she could react. He then snapped to her exposed flank and began rapidly striking her with Bullet Punch, then went for a heavy elbow strike using the Single Strike Style before backing up out of striking range.

She was hurt, but not out; as she sprang back to her feet, Virizion struck back at Luke with Magical Leaf, sending a whirling green energy construct, resembling a leaf, soaring after him. Like Aura Sphere, it was an attack that could not be evaded, so he instead tried something different. He tensed up and powered up his Aura Surge, the flame around him erupting with enough force that the leaves were practically disintegrated by the sheer upward force of the ability.

He then rushed in again, dead on this time, and began striking hard and heavily with the Single strike style again, punching her face, kneeing her chest, backhanding her neck, then kicking her to push her away. Virizion stumbled following the onslaught, still on her feet, until Volcan came at her from the side, delivering an axe-style Blaze Kick to her back before she could see him in time to get out of the way, and she was knocked onto her belly, eyes wide in pain before she slumped forward, unconscious.

"Sorry about that, Lady Virizion," Volcan whispered as Luke rushed over to extract the Shadow Curse from her before she could recover. "Really not the way I wanted to meet a trio of heroes like the Swords of Justice, by beating them to a pulp while their minds are being controlled..."

"We'll apologize to her when she wakes up... For now..." Luke stated as he moved in to do his next part. He closed his eyes as he placed his paws on her side, keeping his guard up as he dove in to search for her essence, and free her from the corruption.

As her colours returned to normal, and Luke cast the Shadow Essence away where it could do no more harm, Volcan stared down at Virizion curiously, and then raised his hands to look at them, as if there were something about them that puzzled him.

"Is something wrong?" Luke asked, stepping closer to Volcan after he cast away the Shadow Energy.

"Just... Surprised," he said looking around in time to see that the battles with Cobalion and Terrakion had also ended, "I know they weren't themselves... But we just took down three Legendary warrior Pokémon, who should still far surpass us in terms of power, and yet we didn't even need to Mega Evolve to win. I hold no illusion that if we'd fought these three at their best, especially if they'd been working in tandem as they're known for, we'd probably have been in for a much bigger fight, but still..."

He looked at Luke, sidelong. "Have we grown that much stronger?"

Luke looked back down at Virizion for a moment, then at his own paws curiously as he pondered Volcan's question. "There's no question we have grown stronger," Luke answered, then he looked back at Volcan with a shrug. "A lot stronger... but I agree, we should at least have struggled more than we did today."

Volcan lowered his hands and looked at Virizion again. "All this time, Calhoun was a threat because he could control such powerful Pokémon, but they're not acting on their will, they're acting on his... I guess I never knew just how much of a difference that-"

Luminara's scream cut across the conversation, and Volcan and Luke turned to see the cause of it, seeing an all-too-familiar Gallade standing, his razor-sharp bladed arm bloodied, over the fallen form of a Houndoom...

~~~~~

Romulus fell as Sash slashed him, catching him completely off guard; he would have howled, but the shock of the surprise attack was still hanging over him. He stared, mouth open as if to cry out, but no sound came out from his open maw. Sash was grinning like a madman as he watched Romulus fall, licking his lips and flinging the blood off of his arm, then raised it up over his head in order to deal the final blow.

However, that strike never came. The second he went to swing, he felt his arm lock in place, and upon looking up, he saw his arm was in Luminara's paw, holding him firmly in her grasp.

...And she looked ready to murder him...

A brilliant shining aura burned around her as she squeezed her paw, actually crushing his wrist and making the Gallade cry out suddenly in pain before she kicked him away with incredible force, sending him flying into the perimeter wall with a crash. She then held her paw forward and began blasting Aura Spheres in rapid succession at where she threw him, scarily silent even as she kept up her assault.

Luminara then flinched when she felt Sash teleport behind her not long after she began her barrage, sensing that he was swinging at him and leaning out of the way of his strike just as it was about to connect. She then grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder with enough force to actually bounce off of the desert sand, to which she continued her momentum and spin kicked him in the stomach while he was still in the air, again sending him flying, but skidding along the sand this time.

During the midst of the ongoing battle, Volcan, Luke, Minato and Tristan came running, with Volcan and Luke arriving first - being the closer, and dropping beside Romulus. Volcan put pressure on the wound, ignoring the blood pooling around his hands as he tried to slow the bleeding while Luke checked on Romulus.

The Houndoom was still alive, to their relief, but he was losing blood quickly, despite Volcan's efforts. Volcan shouted for Serena; the Vaporeon was already running over to them, followed by Lashanne, carrying an armload of medical items that had probably been intended for Sol. The Typhlosion still lay where he had fallen.

Serena arrived quickly, seeing the wound on Romulus and placing her paws on his chest. "Lashanne, be ready with those bandages," she instructed hastily as she projected her Aqua Ring over the Houndoom and spread it over the wounded area of his body, washing away some of the blood in the process. "Volcan, keep pressure on it until I give the word."

Volcan's gaze was turned away, looking to where Luminara was still fighting Sash. They could all see that he wanted to be out there, to get his own piece of the Gallade, but a hasty growl of his name from Lashanne snapped him back to the moment. Still, the vengeful look in his eyes did not go missed, even as he turned his attention back to Romulus.

"Lashanne, ready?" Serena asked.

"Ready," the Delphox replied, a strip of cloth held between her paws.

"Come on... Please let this work," Serena whispered to herself, shutting her eyes as the mystical healing waters gathered over Romulus' wound.

To everyone's surprise, there was a slight glow to the healing waters; Minato and Volcan had seen Serena use this power many times, but it had never shone like this before. The Blaziken and Lucario shared a quick, curious look, but didn't ask about it yet, keeping their attention on the matter at hand.

"Volcan, pull away. Lashanne," Serena instructed, removing the healing waters as Volcan lifted his hands. The bleeding had stopped, and Lashanne went to work bandaging it, covering it first with the cloth before she started wrapping gauze around it, making loops over Romulus' neck and chest and back to secure it.

Serena let out a sigh of relief. "He lost a lot of blood," she said, "But he should recover."

The others around her shared a relieved breath of air as Lashanne kept working. They all flinched as they heard the ground being impacted, turning to see Sash on his back with Luminara standing over him, still wearing that cold, almost murderous look in her eyes as she stared down at him. Sash couldn't even speak any more, much less move or teleport from the beating he had just received. He was able to turn his head slightly to see the others standing over Romulus and grinned, thinking he was successful in his task.

Seeing him grin only set her off even more, her divine glow shining brighter around her as she lifted her arm up and conjured a large spear of light over her, aimed right down at Sash's heart.

"...Accept God's Judgment," she growled, ready to swing her arm down and release her attack.

In a moment of survival instinct, Sash finally mustered a Teleport to travel out of harm's way, the celestial spear hitting the sand where he stood milliseconds after he vanished. Luminara flinched when she saw her opponent was no longer below her, looking up and scanning the immediate area around her for any sign of the Gallade, but found none. He was gone...

Volcan stood up, searching the area thoroughly, but he could see no sign of the Gallade anywhere. With a curse and a shake of his head, he knelt beside Romulus again. "He's gone... Looks like Romulus was his main target, or he'd have gone for one of us too," said Volcan.

"If not for Serena, he might have well had him," said Lashanne, "Your healing powers have gotten stronger," she said to the Vaporeon.

"I have done what I could to improve them... After all that's happened, I want to make sure no one else would die under my watch," she said, letting her determination be heard in her voice.

Tristan chuckled. "That's our girl," he remarked with a hint of praise.

"Now that Romulus is stable, I should see to Tristan now," added Serena, walking over to the Aggron and motioning for him to sit down. He did, with a thud, as his heavy form dropped unceremoniously to the sand.

"How's Sol?" Volcan asked, looking at the Typhlosion where they'd left him - momentarily admonishing himself for leaving Sol unattended, knowing Sash could have attacked him as well.

The thought quickly left his mind as he noticed a pair of figures standing over the Typhlosion. Volcan recognized the colours of the city watch on one of them, followed by the bulky form of a Dusknoir; Revane had come out as well, and was keeping watch over Sol. He let himself relax, knowing Revane was more than capable of protecting Sol even if Sash made a go at him.

"His wounds are not fatal, but he is very exhausted," Serena reported as she started healing Tristan's leg. "He's probably sleeping now. Once Tristan is able, we'll need him to carry Sol back to the manse."

Luminara came running over, her eyes on Romulus as she approached. She knelt right next to him and watched his chest rise and fall, then let out a heavy sigh of relief as she placed both her paws on his flank, idly caressing him even as she looked at Serena and silently thanked her for her efforts.

Volcan saw how distraught Luminara looked and reached over to gently pat her shoulder. "He'll be alright," he assured her, "Sash caught him by surprise... Speaking from experience, it could happen to any one of us."

"An experience I can vouch for too," agreed Lashanne.

Then, Volcan put a hand to his beak, eyes narrowing in thought. "But I wonder..." he muttered.

"Wonder what?" Lashanne asked, her keen ears having caught his muttering.

All eyes were on Volcan now, and the Blaziken did not lose his thoughtful gaze.

"Sash was sent here with Eberon and the Swords of Justice, and he waited until after we tired ourselves out fighting them to strike. I don't know whether or not he knew we were here, but the Swords were held back," he looked toward the city, still thoughtful. "Why wouldn't they charge in right behind Eberon? He was more than capable of sowing chaos on his own, but did they really think that he alone could take on Team Phobia by himself?"

"Well, this is the Black Titan we're talkin' about here," Tristan reminded, "It took all three of the Swords of Justice to beat him the first time."

"That's my point," said Volcan, "Calhoun went out of his way to capture the Swords and corrupt them and had them ready to charge in if Eberon failed. But why not send them in after him? Why hold them back at all, and take the risk he _might_fail? Unless the plan all along was to let them take him down and have Sash strike - Romulus was clearly his primary target," he gestured to the prone Houndoom for emphasis.

"But once they saw Sol fighting him, they had to know we were here and that we'd jump in too - why wait until after Eberon was already down before deploying them, when they could flank and strike at us, while were were engaged with him? No matter how berserk he is, even Eberon couldn't take on both our team _and_Team Phobia all by himself. Something about this doesn't make sense..."

"...And even then, our fights with the Swords of Justice seemed almost too easy," Luke added. "Granted we've all been training pretty hard after the South Islands incident, but after taking on so many corrupted legendaries, it felt... Like they were being held back by something."

"I think that suggests Calhoun himself isn't here," Lashanne put in, "If he were guiding them directly, they would've been more cunning. But this was more like when we faced Torden - they were acting on simple instructions without regard for tactics."

"So, if Sash was the one directing them, he just used them to create an opening to get at Romulus," Luke continued as he gestured to the fallen quadrupeds. "All in all, this feels less like an attack and more like..."

Volcan perked up. "Like a diversion," he said, and then his gaze snapped back toward the city. "Seji!" he exclaimed, "They must be here for him too!"

"Then we need to go back!" Luke added with a nod. "Come on!"

"You two go ahead; we'll catch up!" Lashanne urged them.

Volcan and Luke were off in an instant, running back to the city as fast as they could go, praying they weren't too late...

The smoke coming from Romulus' office would surely draw attention soon. Tory had to carry out the rest of his mission before that happened, making his way silently up the hall as he began searching for signs of the betrayer, Seji, correctly assuming that Romulus would keep him close by...

Further down the corridor, a door guarded by a pair of Bisharp caught his eye, and he sank back into the shadows out of sight to observe. They hadn't noticed him... He had no means to take out the two easily, so he waited for his opportune moment... Waiting for them to see the smoke from Romulus' office up the hall.

Before long, the two noticed it, and immediately darted from their posts, heading for the office. "Fire! Fire in the Captain's office!" they called, "someone get some water up here, hurry!"

They went to the office, though one of them broke off to head downstairs. Tory started making his way toward the now unguarded door, expecting to find Seji behind it. His lowered head caused shadows to fall over his eyes, a red gleam filling them as he closed in on his prey...

"Fire! Fire!" came the shouts from the arena. Hageshi had been sitting quietly on the second floor of the arena when the shouts came and was immediately alert when he heard the alarm. "Fire in the Captain's office! Get some water up here, hurry!"

The Greninja quickly dashed down the steps to the first floor, dashing as quickly as he could and whooshing past the guard making his way to Romulus' office and slamming the door open with his momentum. He instinctively shielded himself from the heat as it radiated from the room, but he was quick to recollect himself, and with a single wave of his arm, he cast a powerful Blizzard into the office, covering the entire office in a blanket of cold snow that was quick to put out the fire that had already started burning.

Though it left many items in the office wet, it was successful in dousing the fire. The Bisharp guard present huffed but nodded in approval. "Well, at least the fire's out. Thank you for the assistance, citizen," he added with a bow. Of course, there was no way for this Bisharp to know Hageshi was not from Gladiator City.

Hageshi glanced at the guard silently through his stoic gaze, then turned further to look behind him and saw the door to Seji's room was unguarded. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he started moving toward it, gesturing to the guard as he walked.

"Make sure whatever documents that are in that office are secured," he said as he stalked toward the door, hand on his sword hidden under his cloak.

"Wait, what are you-" the guard started to ask, until there was a crash from Seji's room.

Hageshi did not waste another second. Drawing his blade in a reverse grip, he dashed toward said door, slashing it down with several precise strokes before kicking the fallen pieces in and stepping inside. Sure enough, as he entered, he found Seji scrambling away from his attacker; a Decidueye, with two Leaf Blades extended from his wings, poised to run the Alakazam through, when he heard the door being forcefully opened and he turned to look over his shoulder.

Hageshi was meeting this Decidueye for only the second time, but he remembered him; this was the one the Crusade called Tory. A deadly assassin in his own right; so much so that not even Hageshi's father, or the Kaeru Assassins, had been able to defeat him.

"...My lucky day," Hageshi remarked as he stepped further into the chamber, sword held at his side. "Step away from him, assassin... Or feel the cold bite of Winter's Fury..." He warned, a cold mist billowing around the Greninja.

Tory turned to face him but didn't lower his blades or step away from Seji, who was still pressed against the wall. "The one blessed by the Soulless God," said the Decidueye, "But it will do you little good, Greninja. Unleashing Kyurem's power in this confined room, you are more likely to kill this traitor than you are to kill me," he flourished his blades, holding them out to his sides readily, "Do you dare take that chance?"

Hageshi stayed silent for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly as if to look suspicious while he was preparing one of his sneakiest attacks. "...The hilarious thing is that you think my control over my power isn't absolute," he returned, all while guiding the nearly invisible cloud of cold mist toward Tory via his Extrasensory, waiting until it was just in front of him. "The reality is... You couldn't be more wrong..." He added with a chilling tone before he flashed his eyes, and the condensed mist he had conjured expanded all around Tory before it began to solidify.

Tory was gone in an instant once he realized what was happening, disappearing into nothingness as Hageshi struck. Not a trace of him remained... Until Hageshi heard him, coming out of the wall to the side and leaping at the Greninja, slashing with both blades. Phantom Force, he realized; that had to be what Tory was using to vanish and reappear like that - nothing else would let him do that...

Hageshi didn't move. A large limb of ice suddenly appeared the moment he would have been struck and blocked the blades as Tory attacked. With the attack stopped, Hageshi turned his eyes to glance at Tory, then commanded spikes to suddenly jut out of the shield he had created to try and pierce the Decidueye, if not to push him back outside into more open ground. Tory saw the spikes forming just in time to pull back, crossing his blades in front of himself to block the one that managed to reach him.

Disappearing into the wall again, Hageshi knew he had to get Seji out of this room; Tory would strike again, and next time he might decide to go straight for his target.

Hageshi quickly turned to Seji and pointed toward the door. "Get out of here. Find somewhere else to hide or you will die." He warned him pointedly.

"Y-Yes... duly noted," Seji stammered, taking this chance and running out of the room as fast as his scared old body could move.

However, the moment Seji stepped out of the room, Tory struck again, appearing from a column outside and shooting an arrow at the Alakazam. The elderly Alakazam grunted as he jerked his head away, feeling the arrow graze his face and looking at where it came from before turning and running away as fast as he could.

Hageshi scoffed, seeing the attack from where he stood and moved outside to provide cover for Seji while he sought a safer hiding place. But Hageshi knew he was at a disadvantage; Tory, being a Ghost-type, was not as limited to where he could move as Hageshi was. He could walk through walls or appear out of shadows; literally, anywhere out of the light, he could emerge...

So, he did, appearing once again in the path Seji was running, and throwing a wing-full of Seed Bombs his way, forcing Hageshi to once again take action. He jumped ahead of Seji and fired small, precise Ice Beams at each bomb before they went off, freezing them in place and falling to the ground where they shattered into fragments.

Now that he was in front of Seji, he could afford to be more liberal with his power. He glared back at Tory and spread his arms apart, unleashing a chilling Blizzard toward the Decidueye, sending ice, snow and sleet barreling toward Tory. This time, the Decidueye did not escape in time, enduring the Blizzard before he could fade back into the column he'd leapt out of again.

Hageshi had bought a few seconds. He turned to Seji and pointed with his blade back the way they came. "Run toward the arena," he commanded before turning back to the fight at hand, sword held up and at the ready.

"Wha- are you mad? I'd be an open target!" Seji exclaimed.

"Exactly," Hageshi countered, "Out in the open, there are fewer places for him to hide to get the drop on you. He will have to resort to using his arrows, and I can spot those easily enough." He said firmly, giving the Alakazam a shove. "It's either that or you risk decapitation by Phantom Force. Your choice."

Seji grimaced, absently rubbing his neck before nodding and making his way down to the colosseum itself, running down the steps as fast as he could. He was panting heavily out of both fear and exhaustion at this point. He had been so used to teleporting, he had forgotten how strenuous running was on his frail body.

With Seji now almost in the clear, Hageshi had one more loose end to tie up. He quickly dashed back to Romulus' office, where the two guards had been securing the Houndoom's documents after he put the fire out, and slammed his fist into the door to get their attention.

"The prisoner is out in the arena. You two, stand by him and guard him with your life. The assassin is still out there trying to kill him, and your typings give him the best protection possible," he commanded quickly.

The two looked at each other briefly, and then glowered at him. "You let the prisoner out?!" one of them demanded.

Hageshi then got right in his face, giving him that same glare that only his father was capable of when he was visibly irritated. "You let yourselves get distracted by a fire and allowed the assassin to enter unabated. If the prisoner died, that would be on _you,_and I doubt you'd rather face Romulus' ire over mine should you not do your jobs and protect him with your lives," he glowered right back, then pointed to the arena with his sword. "Get out there and cover the prisoner, or an attempted assassination will be the _least_of your concerns today..."

The cold tone of his voice had the desired effect; both Bisharp wisely decided that they did not want to risk messing with Hageshi. Doing as they were told, they ran out to the open arena grounds, leaping through the open archway overlooking the stands and running down toward the battlefield. Seji was already there, but Tory was making another attack run, appearing from one of the outer columns around the stands with an arrow notched and taking aim at the Alakazam; the Bisharp had not reached him yet!

"Incompetent idiots..." Hageshi growled as he leapt out toward the colosseum himself. He fired off an Ice Beam at Tory as he dashed, aiming to either throw off his aim with the attack or force him back into the shadows.

Fortunately, the Ice Beam was fast; while it didn't stop Tory from shooting, seeing it out of the corner of his eye threw off his aim as he made a hasty retreat, causing his arrow to fly wide of his intended target. He emerged to try again, but this time the Bisharp were there, and with a warning call from Hageshi, one of them easily intercepted the next arrow, the projectile ricocheting off their chest armour harmlessly.

Tory disappeared again, and when he didn't immediately reappear, Hageshi wondered if he was backing down. But then, he appeared again, this time coming out of one of the walls of the upper levels and flying above; were it not for his shadow passing over, Hageshi would've missed it. The Decidueye loosed one more arrow, this time aiming at Seji from directly above.

This time, Hageshi quickly transformed into his Blessed State and took off into the air, his enhanced abilities allowing him to reach the arrow faster and used an Icy Wing to freeze the projectile before it hit its intended target, slowing it down enough for the Bisharp below to intercept it.

He then turned on Tory, now exposed, and grinned under his tongue scarf. The Greninja then spread his arms out and began to cast Kyurem's signature move, Glaciate, causing the air around Tory to start freezing in a wide area until it was all sub-zero ice, aiming to trap him in a frozen prison. Tory noticed the ice forming around him, and dismissed his bow before dropping into a dive, plunging below the range of Glaciate and beginning to fly in a circle around the arena, his long wings not making a sound as he soared, seeking another vantage point.

Hageshi then inhaled deeply and began expelling an Icy Wing attack, sweeping his head back and forth for massive coverage and slowly filling the area that Tory was flying through with almost bone-chilling wind. He was trying to draw him back down to the ground, where he would have even less of an advantage, and force the Decidueye to fight on Hageshi's terms and not his.

Tory did not relent, though; despite the wind trying to wear him down, he flew on - though he was visibly starting to slow under the burden of the cold. Diverting his attention from Seji to Hageshi, he flew a wide berth around him, and dropped a volley of Seed Bombs at him as he flew over. Hageshi saw the bombs coming and merely cast another Icy Wind to freeze them before they impacted the ground, then he used his powers to keep the Icy Wind active, while also channelling his power into a large Ice Shuriken and hurling it in an arc that would intercept Tory as he flew his pattern.

Tory saw the Ice Shuriken, responding by hurling another seed bomb at it; the resounding explosion shattered the Shuriken and let him fly on. Finally, Tory came in for a landing upon the stands, his talons gripping a railing before he brought up his wing to use as a bow once again, loosing several arrows at Hageshi, one after the other. Hageshi in turn, commanded the shards that Tory created from destroying his Ice Shuriken to appear in front of him and launched them back at Tory, intercepting any arrow that was a threat to him while the rest carried on toward their target.

Finally, Hageshi's counterattack scored a hit, striking Tory in the shoulder and leg and causing him to drop his wing in pain, dropping to one knee. Hageshi had him now... Or so he thought, for as he moved in to deal the finishing blow, Tory lifted one of his wings to the ice spike imbedded in his shoulder... Then, he pushed it in further, while his eyes went completely white as he glared at Hageshi.

Immediately, Hageshi's whole body felt like it had suddenly ignited, pain coursing through him and his limbs failing to follow his commands - only briefly, but long enough that he fell to his knees, reeling from what had just happened.

Hageshi gasped from the pain, his entire body twitching as he struggled to force his body to obey his commands, glaring angrily up at the Decidueye. "...Clever..." He growled in defiance.

Tory said nothing, rising to his feet again as he swept the bloody spikes out of his body with his wing, his eyes returning to normal - though Hageshi still felt the effects of the curse. Finally, Tory held out his wings, and the light of the sun above seemed to focus on him as his body glowed brightly, his wounds sealing before Hageshi's very eyes. They didn't heal completely, but the bleeding stopped, and he looked stronger.

'Of course_he can also use Synthesis,'_ Hageshi thought, annoyed.

Then, as Tory ignited his Leaf Blades again, there was a shout. "Hageshi!"

The Decidueye rolled his eyes to look in the direction of the voice and saw a Blaziken and Lucario running down the stands toward them; Volcan cleared nearly the entire distance with a leap, fists igniting as he ran at Tory. The Decidueye dismissed his blades, turning and making a beeline toward the closest wall as Volcan pursued.

"No, you don't!" Volcan growled, narrowing the distance quickly between him and the Decidueye.

But he was too late; Tory reached the wall first, even as Volcan sprang to strike him with Blaze Kick, and the Blaziken's kick only struck stone with an audible crack. He pulled back his foot, the stone wall cracked and scorched by his kick, and looked around hastily for any sign of the Decidueye. But he found nothing.

"Dammit!" he cursed, shaking his fist in irritation, "What does it take to clip that owl's wings?"

Luke was checking on Hageshi while Volcan attempted to pursue the Decidueye, kneeling next to him and trying to help him back to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Hageshi stated dismissively, shaking Luke's paws off him after they stood tall. "The Curse will abate on its own now that he's gone..." he added, shakily sliding his sword back into its scabbard within his cloak. "Go secure the prisoner... The guards are watching over him," he said while gesturing to the two Bisharp standing guard over the Alakazam.

Luke nodded, knowing better than to try and reason with Hageshi, and ran past him to the Bisharp. "How is he? Any injuries to report?" he asked them quickly.

"The Prisoner is unharmed, thanks to the efforts of that Greninja," reported one of the Bisharp, "That weird Pokémon though... I've never seen such skill before. Who was that?"

"That was Tory, a Decidueye of the South Islands and a highly skilled assassin... He works for Calhoun," Luke answered with a grimace. "No doubt he was sent in to assassinate Seji while we were distracted with Eberon and the Swords of Justice..."

The other Bisharp grunted. "That explains why he set fire to Captain Romulus' office then; to distract us so he could kill the prisoner," he said. "Fortunately, the fire's out. Don't know what kind of damage it caused though."

Luke cursed under his breath. "Killing Seji and destroying any evidence Romulus might have procured... He was trying to kill two Pidgey with one stone..." He muttered, gritting his teeth for a moment before letting himself relax. "Well, either way, Tory's been driven off for now. Take Seji back to his cell and double the guard. Have men posted inside and outside until the situation is back under control."

The two Bisharp looked at him squarely. "We will need to confirm those with the Captain, sir," he stated.

"Do as he says, you two," a new voice chimed in as a shadowy figure emerged from the ground behind the two Bisharp, startling them. They spun around, spotting a Gengar floating just behind Seji, who was likewise alarmed. "That's Captain Luke, don't you know? He's here to back up Team Phobia. 'Till he's done, treat him the same way you treat me and Revane, got it?"

"Y-Yes sir, Phanto, sir," the Bisharp returned dutifully, and one of them took Seji by the arm as they began to lead him back to the cell as Luke had instructed.

Luke watched the Bisharp leave, then turned to Phanto and offered a smirk and a raised eyebrow at him. "Even in a dire situation, you can't help but showboat, can you?" He asked.

Phanto chuckled, still wearing that signature toothy smile all Gengar had. "It's the voodoo I do~" he returned with a mock shrug.

"Luke?" Volcan called. He hadn't turned around since his failed attack on Tory. "Is Seji gone?"

The Lucario turned to the sound of Volcan's voice, trotting back over to him to give his response. "Yea, I just ordered the guards to take him back to his cell and double the posts." He answered, gently placing his paw on Volcan's arm. "...Love?"

Volcan finally turned around then, slowly, so as not to throw off Luke's paw. "Sorry," he said, guiltily, "I... Didn't want to risk it."

Luke tilted his head to the side, looking at Volcan with a mix of confusion and concern. "...Risk what? Volcan, what is going on, you're scaring me," he stated.

Volcan sighed. "I'm worried if I saw Seji again, I'd lose control, like I did before," he admitted, "I... Still can't explain what's going on with me... Truth be told, I'm scaring myself too..."

With a shake of his head, Volcan looked away. "But... We better go check on the situation outside; see how Romulus is doing," he said, wanting to change the subject.

"Y...Yea. Good idea." Luke stammered, nodding and gently grasping Volcan's hand in his paw before they began to vacate the arena. Luke kept his gaze ahead, but he couldn't help but glance occasionally back at Volcan, his expression still full of worry and confusion toward his husband's erratic behaviour lately.

'Honey... what's going on with you...?' He thought internally, feeling powerless to help him through whatever was bothering him...