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As Wade ran to assist the others, Kage was left alone to face Sakkaku. Hizashi was currently struggling with the Nihilego that had latched onto him, and his warriors were rushing to his aid. They would be no help against the rogue Assassin... Kage was on his own, against the Zoroark who had slain his father in cold blood.

The two had been locked in a stalemate shortly after Wade left to close the gateway to the realm of the Ultra Beasts; Sakkaku's blade grinding into Kage's Emera Blade for a time before they broke off. From there, it was an all-out shinobi slugfest, with both sides resorting to every trick they knew from their training and overall years of experience in the battlefield.

Water Shuriken crashed with Shadow Ball. Night Slash met with Shadow Claw. Illusion countered by Substitute. Night Daze averted through Shadow Sneak. Every attack each combatant possessed was a soft counter to one another, but none were effective in damaging the other. Neither side could gain a lead over the other. This battle would be determined by weapons skill, fighting prowess and overall battle experience.

Kage's advantage was that he was a well-trained assassin; one of the best in the world thanks to his late father's teachings. Armed with his massive variety of attacks, his Protean ability, and now the Emera Blade, he was a nearly unstoppable force. However, he knew that such power came at a price. Kage was aware that there were some Emeras that had adverse effects on his body should he dare to use them, and those effects would only worsen the more Emeras he used. He had to use each Emera at just the right time to minimize the ramifications.

That said, Sakkaku was no pushover either. The Elder Zoroark may have been far past his prime, but he was still a formidable opponent, as deadly in combat as he was when Kage thwarted his assassination attempt back in the day. His tactical vest served as both protection against some of Kage's special attacks as well as housing for his arsenal of tools, gadgets, and weapons. Adding that to his own plethora of attacks and his Illusion ability, which, unlike Kage's access to Emeras, didn't negatively affect him with each use.

The two of them met in a flurry of slashes, resulting in a deadlock that Kage managed to break out of moments after it occurred. He then activated a Type Bulldozer Emera and cast Extrasensory on Sakkaku, stunning him with a mental assault that he never anticipated due to his typing. He then rushed in while he was stunned and began pummeling the Zoroark with a rapid barrage of Power-Up Punches, each strike stronger than the last, before he ended the combo with a jumping roundhouse kick.

Sakkaku grunted as he hit the ground, quickly rolling back to his feet and wiping his mouth as he felt a trickle of blood running down from his lip. He narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Kage was panting slightly despite having the upper hand. He then noticed one of the yellow Emeras crumbling into dust, and the Zoroark smirked as he put two and two together.

"It would seem that, despite you being the heir apparent to the Kaeru Assassins, not even you are immune to the effects of the Emera Blade..." Sakkaku remarked, chuckling. "This only proves that you were never worthy to lead the Brotherhood in the first place."

"I never wanted to lead them to begin with..." Kage shot back, shaking his head to clear the headache he was suffering from thanks to using the Type Bulldozer Emera. "It's not about being worthy... It's about knowing the risks and preparing to accept the consequences of those risks," he went on, his grip tightening around his sword.

"If you never wanted the position, then perhaps you should have just let me have the Emera Blade. It would have saved me the trouble of having to kill you for it," Sakkaku shot back with a sneer.

Kage's glare hardened. "You would further disgrace my clan's integrity with your selfish goals... Besides, you would have wanted to kill me regardless of whether you had possession of the blade."

"Perhaps..." the Zoroark admitted, starting to grin. "Though it would seem I might not get the opportunity."

As he said that, Kage heard multiple Pokémon being struck down, screaming their final throes. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Lord Hizashi standing in a circle of his own men, all of them wounded by the Shogun's swords. Kage looked up and noticed the Nihilego that had captured him previously had one tendril attached to the Samurott's head, coiled around his neck to secure it while it fed its poisons into him and affected his mind.

The controlled Samurott then went in for an attack, forcing Kage to bring his blade up instinctively to protect himself. Thankfully, the attack never came, as a wall of thick ice appeared between the two of them, the Shogun's blades clashing with the wall of ice and making him recoil from the sudden impact. All three parties looked toward the source of the wall of ice and found Hageshi standing atop the wall, looking down from his perch toward them before the wall shattered and he landed next to his father, his eyes on the mind controlled Samurott.

"...Seems like you have your hands full," Hageshi remarked stoically.

"...I had it all under control." Kage shot back sternly.

Hageshi scoffed. "An alternate response could have been 'Thank you, son' but I guess I expected too much," he replied.

Kage rolled his eyes and looked back at his opponent. "I trust you can free Hizashi from his captor?" He asked.

"Please... Who do you take me for...?" Hageshi countered, then ascended to his Blessed State and summoned a mighty Blizzard to force Hizashi and the Nihilego controlling him to retreat, then shot through the Blizzard himself to pursue the two of them.

Kage watched his son leave for a moment, then weaved to the side as Sakkaku tried to attack him while he wasn't looking, parrying his blade and landing a shallow cut along the Zoroark's tactical vest. Sakkaku growled from the strike, looking at the cut along his vest, then back at Kage with a vengeful glare before they began crossing blades again.

While Kage pushed Sakkaku back and continued their fight, Hageshi managed to press the possessed Hizashi away as well, ultimately flipping over him when the Samurott went to swipe at him with one of his blades. Hageshi then turned and cast another Blizzard attack at the possessed Samurott to halt him in his tracks before turning his attention to the Nihilego controlling Hizashi and leapt up toward it.

The Nihilego responded by lashing out with its remaining tentacles, but Hageshi slashed at the first one that came his way, then jumped off another that tried to ensnare him, freezing a few more with his Blessed powers before trying to cut the tendril latched onto Hizashi.

However, one tendril managed to latch onto Hageshi before he could make the cut, jerking him away into some more tendrils that threatened to wrap around him and control him just as they would to Hizashi. It very nearly had him, until another attack struck it and threw off its aim; an Aurora Beam, hitting it directly in the large of its body.

The tendril missed Hageshi, and he capitalized on the moment by unleashing a Glaciate attack to freeze the tendrils around him before landing on the ground and glancing over at where the Aurora Beam had come from. Sure enough, the source of the beam was none other than the ice Ninetales, Ernoul; he wore his usual impassive look at Hageshi, before giving a slow nod to the Greninja and turning away to confront the remaining Ultra Beasts.

The Greninja nodded back gently to Ernoul before he turned away, silently appreciating his assistance before he turned toward the Nihilego. He flipped his blade into a reverse grip and leapt over toward the Nihilego as it was still reeling from the Aurora Beam, aiming to slash at the tendril still holding Hizashi under its control.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hageshi saw that Hizashi had finally freed himself from his frozen prison and was lashing at the Greninja with Aqua Jet, blades crossed in front of him as he approached. Hageshi narrowed his eyes, counting on the fact the Samurott would eventually free himself, and quickly aimed a Scald attack upward to propel himself toward the ground. The result being Hizashi swinging his blades right before Hageshi dropped, his Seamitars cutting through the tendril that had him under control, causing the Nihilego to screech in agony and Hizashi to snap out of his trance as he hit the ground.

Hageshi then let out a growl as he channeled as much of his Blessed Power as he could, then cast a large Glaciate attack on the Nihilego. The attack was so potent that it literally froze right as the sub-zero clouds surrounded it, causing it to fall to the ground with a dull thud.

Hizashi was free, and Hageshi had succeeded. He landed back on the ground with his usual grace and turned to regard the elder Samurott as he came back to his senses at last. Hizashi shook his head as he slowly rose back to his feet, groaning as he looked around his surroundings momentarily, then back at Hageshi.

"...What happened?" He asked.

Hageshi casually jerked his head to the frozen Nihilego not far from them. "You were ensnared in that thing's grasp and forced to fight against your own men." He answered, gesturing to some of the Samruott's fallen warriors, slain by his blades. "I managed to break you out of its grasp... You're welcome, by the way," he added.

Hizashi's eyes widened when he saw some of his own warriors laying still on the ground, almost refusing to believe that he had done such a heinous thing to the people he was sworn to protect. Slowly he hung his head in shame, then his eyes glanced over to one of the blades in his paw...

Hageshi then appeared next to Hizashi, grabbing the blade from him before he could even react. "Wha-?"

"Before you even think about committing to such an act, you might want to take a moment to think about the consequences," Hageshi interjected. "Yes, you killed your own men, which is shameful on its own, but is that worth taking your own life over? Especially considering you were not in control of yourself?"

Hizashi sneered at Hageshi in response. "What would you know of my culture?" He asked. "In my culture, a Samurai cannot stand the shame of defeat or dishonour... That shame is multiplied tenfold when one is Shogun of an entire nation," he growled as he yanked his arm out of Hageshi's grasp. "Either allow me to take my own life or take it in my place. Either way-"

He suddenly found himself on the ground, his cheek burning and staring up at Hageshi, who had just slapped him as hard as he could. The Greninja then pointed his blade right at the Shogun's nose, making him freeze at the sight.

"You need to wake up and get a hold of yourself," Hageshi said sternly, glaring daggers down at the Samurott. "Killing you would serve no meaning. Were you to die, who would lead your forces in your stead? Even worse, who would lead your nation? Because as far as I'm aware, you don't have a successor," he added as he pulled his sword away and turned to face away from the Shogun.

"If you want to take your own life, that's your choice. I won't stop you... But consider those facts before you run yourself through..." He concluded before he vanished in a swirl of cold mist.

Hizashi stared at the cloud of mist that was once Hageshi, then looked at the swords in his paws as he reflected on Hageshi's words. It was true... He did not have an heir to take over should he perish, and if he were to die now, there would be no one to lead his army. They would be in disarray and left confused... His thoughts then drifted to the young Samurott that convinced him to become involved in this final battle, glancing over at Wade as he stood near the portal leading to the Ultra Beasts' realm.

Perhaps, he thought... It was time for a lot of self-reflection on his rule as Shogun... and start looking for a suitable successor once his time was up...

~~~~~~

Romulus could hear Luminara's voice speaking to him, reaching into him to find his heart as it had once before... With Necrozma helplessly clenched between his jaws, he wanted so badly to bite the creature in half; this monster in his clutches had killed Torolf - his rival, his equal... His friend... But hearing Luminara pleading with him not to do it made him hesitate, and through red-veiled vision, he gazed at her, trying to regain some control of his bestial urges that were telling him to kill Necrozma...

Romulus had fallen this way once before... Ever standing on the edge of a knife, delicately balancing on the line between hero and monster. There had been times, perhaps, he had stepped over that line - times he hunted criminals across the world, terrorizing them as he chased them down. Times he had intimidated entire communities to achieve a goal. Lest he forget, his coup d'etat that allowed him to seize power over Gladiator City, and spend the next twenty years rebuilding it into a respectful city, ousting the influence of the Big Five, little by little...

Yes, Romulus had been a monster before... Until he had met her. Until Luminara had opened the door to his heart, warming it until the stone that had encompassed it had crumbled away. She had brought him back to the light he had all but forgotten how to walk within...

No. He would not descend into that darkness again. Slowly, Luminara saw the reason returning to his eyes, blinking them as his pupils returned to a normal size - or, at least, normal for his enlarged, Dynamax form. The power that had nearly driven him to savagery was beginning to lose its hold on him.

It could not have come at a better time, as the fliers of the Red Talons, Blue Cyclones, and Blast Squadron came together in a single large flock. The fastest of their fliers - and those who possessed knowledge of Hurricane or Gust, now gathered before Necrozma's wormhole, flying in circles around it - but each row of them spaced apart, creating a funnel-like formation.

The wind was being drawn into their funnel as the fliers picked up speed. A windy apparition began to form, creating a vacuum around the wormhole, directed into the gateway between worlds. Ultra Beasts who began to come through were forced back; one of the rocket-like creatures, while passing by, was suddenly ripped off course and sent careening into the waiting maw of the twister.

'It's working!' Volcan thought, hardly able to believe that his insane idea was actually working; even he had doubted its effectiveness.

Shaking his head to clear it and regain his focus, he began to run, waving his arms and shouting to everyone who could hear him. "Into the funnel!" he called, "Throw the Ultra Beasts into the funnel - send them back to their world!"

He had to call out several times to be heard above the roaring wind. Those who heard him began to world quickly to carry it out; the first of the Ultra Beasts to be sent through was another of the muscular bug-types being fought by Team Kama; Sickle and Kaen struck at it repeatedly, until Howler dashed behind it and slammed into its legs, sending it toppling over, but it was held up by the wind of the funnel, and a well-aimed Hydro Pump from Blaster sent the creature hurtling toward its gateway back home.

"Got 'em!" Blaster called.

"Those suckers are outta here!" Kaen agreed, pumping his arms over his head.

"Keep it up, Team!" Sickle agreed, shouting as loud as he could. "_Let's send these alien monsters back _where they belong!"

At that, Sickle finally triggered his Mega Evolution; he had been saving it throughout the battle, waiting for the right time to use it. Now seemed to be that time, as he dropped to all fours as the crystalline sphere engulfed him. When it shattered, he reappeared, transformed, into a more draconian form.

His body was sleeker overall, but sharper as well, with longer, red-tipped leaves growing from his arms where the previously green ones had been. The eight seeds growing from his back had increased in number, becoming twelve, and his tail had become even more tree-like, aside from the red, spear-like tip now protruding from the end. Lastly, his eyes - the most draconian of all, with slitted pupils and a ferocity that was almost bestial.

From the twelve seeds on his back, roots exploded as he used Frenzy Plant. The roots reached out, snatching Nihilego out of the air, and any other Ultra Beasts close enough to be caught. The speedy, skinny bug-types were the hardest to catch, easily evading Sickle's vines, but every other one too slow to escape, including the bigger bug-types, the electric-types and the clown-like bombers, were all caught by his assault, and one by one he threw them into the funnel.

Zacian and Zamazenta worked together, attacking the large block-like ones, pushing them closer to the funnel one by one. Assisted by Blaster, Tristan, Sol and Revane, they forced the creatures into position until the Royal Knights could unleash their respective Behemoth attacks and strike them to send them hurtling into the portal with their comrades. The Calygrad army had caught onto the strategy as well and joined them, breaking into multiple groups to cover more ground, with the Corviknight brigade chasing down the rocket beasts and driving them all toward the funnel.

Against all odds, the plan was working. The Ultra Beasts were being pulled back into their world - all except for Necrozma, still clutched between Romulus' jaws, and trying to free itself to no avail. Romulus, now in control of himself again, stubbornly held on, waiting for the right moment. Luminara still had her part to play, waiting until the exact moment they could cleanse Necrozma of the Shadow Curse, and send him home. Wade was already in position, protected by Team Valiant, also waiting for the right moment...

It was a long struggle, gathering the Ultra Beasts and casting them into the funnel that sent them home. The fliers struggled to maintain the funnel, all the way until the last of the Ultra Beasts were accounted for. They saved the corrupted for last; Luke, Minato, Caulin and Luminara called upon to cleanse each of them while the others held them down.

That left only Necrozma itself, still struggling to free itself from the jaws of Romulus, pelting him with Power Gems that were wearing him down, but he stubbornly refused to give in to the pain, knowing that if Necrozma were allowed to fly away, they'd never catch him again. Fortunately, Luminara put an end to this when she came to cleanse Necrozma herself.

He struck out at her with Psychic as she approached, but she weathered it by changing her type to Dark as the attack hit her, preventing any further damage. After the attack ceased, Romulus dropped Necrozma to the ground and placed his paw upon him to hold him down while Luminara her paws atop Necrozma's head and began the cleansing process, pumping her divine power into the Ultra Beast, seeking its essence from within the black mess that was the corruption.

The mind of the Ultra Beast as she connected with him was a mess; it was more than just corruption. Necrozma, at his core, knew what Luminara was - knew who she was bound to, and the sheer resentment she could feel emanating from him was nearly palpable. Fortunately, he was wise enough to realize what she was doing, and she could feel him reaching back for her, to allow her to free him from the corruption.

The aura of Necrozma was so... Alien. It felt partially like any other Psychic-type she had ever encountered, but mixed in with it was something unlike anything she ever felt before, and it momentarily disrupted her focus - if not for Arceus' blessing, she might have lost herself to the corruption right there... But it responded as it should have, slowly being separated from its host by her will.

Eventually, she managed to pull the corruption out of Necrozma, stumbling back a few times as she held the writhing mass in her paws. She then used Judgment to pierce the corruption with a divine spear, which caused it to break apart and crumble into ash as a result. Now free, Necrozma began to stand; somehow, he had retained consciousness even through the process of being liberated from the shadow curse, though he was clearly weakened.

'Unreal,' she thought. Just how strong _was_Necrozma, to be able to rise when all other Pokémon freed from the Shadow Curse had been laid low?

But she didn't have to consider it for long, as the still enlarged Romulus swept Necrozma up with his paw and hurled him toward the funnel still maintained by the fliers. With a screech, Necrozma went whirling into the winds, cast back into the wormhole from whence his army had come and sent back into his world...

As Necrozma vanished into the wormhole, Volcan made one last look around the valley, searching for signs of any more Ultra Beasts. Aside from the fallen body of the Nihilego which had been controlling Lord Hizashi just moments before, he saw no others. The teams had all successfully rounded up the Ultra Beasts and sent them back through the wormhole.

Cupping his hands and yelling as loud as he could, in order to be heard over the tornado still being generated by the fliers, Volcan called out. "Wade! Now! Close it!" he shouted, unsure if the Samurott could even hear him, or if the Talons, Cyclones and Blast Squad would know that they could stop now.

Wade's ears picked up on Volcan's command, and he nodded back in his direction before turning to the portal and spreading his arms out, channeling Palkia's power around the wormhole and slowly bringing his arms closer together. The wormhole started to slowly close in on itself as a result of Wade's efforts, but a few times he nearly lost it due to the stress he was enduring just by trying to close it.

Eventually, though, he was successful. With a final roar, he clapped his paws together, and the wormhole finally collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace of its existence afterward. Wade then fell to his knees and dropped out of his Blessed state purely out of exhaustion, gasping heavily for air.

The light of the sun began to fill the sky properly again, as the darkness brought on by Necrozma's feeding was chased away at last, returning the light of the early afternoon to the world as it was meant to be.

Wade soon felt someone by his side, and looked over to see Serena, followed by Tristan. "Are you alright?" the Vaporeon asked, prepared to administer healing if he needed it.

"Y-Yes... just winded," Wade answered in between heavy gasps for air. "That took everything... I had... and then some..."

Tristan came to Wade's side, taking his arm over his shoulders and hoisting him up. "Let's get you somewhere shady," he said, "I'd say you've earned a rest, kiddo."

Meanwhile, as the last of the Ultra Beasts vanished from the valley, Kage and Sakkaku stood alone, their battle had taken them to the heights of the valley walls where they saw the wormhole being forced closed by the power of Palkia's Blessed. They both were stunned by what they had witnessed, panting breathlessly for air with many cuts along their bodies, but otherwise able to keep going despite that.

Sakkaku grit his teeth and tightened his grip on his blade, looking like he was about to leap down and attack Wade while he was still exhausted, but Kage quickly thrust his blade toward the Zoroark, forcing him to step away from the blade and glare at the Greninja spitefully.

"We're not finished with our squabble..." Kage stated firmly.

Sakkaku growled, and their duel began anew. However, despite their similar physical injuries, Kage was in far worse shape. The side effects of some of the Emeras were taking quite a toll on his body. After using four Type Bulldozer Emeras, one Better Odds Emera and one Whirlwind Emera, he was left with a searing migraine and was absolutely starving. He had to end this fight before his body gave out to exhaustion, or worse.

They both then charged at one another, swinging their blades once they were within striking distance. Sakkaku, however, grinned maliciously as he suddenly vanished from view, causing Kage's attack to miss and leave him stumbling.

The Greninja then felt the bite of Sakkaku's blade as it pierced him from behind, making Kage lurch and spit up some blood before he slowly looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest. He heard Sakkaku chuckling maliciously as he materialized into being, slowly driving his blade deeper to cause the Greninja to feel excruciating pain from the wound.

"The son falls just as the father did..." He remarked coldly. "And after I take care of your seed, your line will end, and I will finally have what is rightfully mine..." He added, leaning in close to whisper into Kage's ear. "...Enjoy your stay in hell..." He growled, then forcefully withdrew his blade from Kage's chest, causing the Greninja to stumble forward and fall face first into the sand, a pool of blood forming under him as the Greninja's life ebbed away...

...Or so Sakkaku thought...

He went to retrieve the Emera Blade from Kage's cold, dead grasp, but the second he touched it, Sakkaku felt excruciating pain all over his body, making him go completely rigid for a split second before he grunted weakly and fell to his side. He opened his mouth to scream in agony, but only a weak groan came out of his mouth, followed by him coughing up blood onto the sand he lay against, followed by him twitching in excruciating pain.

"W.... What?" he managed to utter despite the pain he was feeling. "What... Sorcery is this?" he demanded, then glanced at Kage's corpse, then blinked as he became briefly blinded by smoke and then found a doll in the Greninja's place.

"As I once told a certain Houndoom over a year ago..." Kage's voice lingered in the air around the Zoroark, the Greninja appearing in front of him with the Emera Blade still in hand, a blue Emera slowly growing dim before crumbling into dust off the guard of the sword. "There's a major difference between you and I, Sakkaku... We both have looked into the abyss together. However, when the abyss looked back at us," he slowly raised his blade over his head.

"...You blinked."

Sakkaku stared up at Kage in horror as Kage swung the sword down at him. He clenched his eyes shut, expecting the sword to split his skull in two. He yelped as he heard the blade impact the ground, though when he slowly peeked an eye open, he was staring at his eye's reflection, the blade only mere millimeters away from his skull. Slowly he turned his gaze up to the Greninja, that ever-intimidating glare present in his gaze at their locked eyes once more.

"...How?" Sakkaku asked softly, his voice trembling from the sheer terror he felt just a few moments ago. "How did you...?"

"...Payback Emera," Kage answered, lifting his blade off the ground and holding it so that Sakkaku could see the housing where said Emera formerly rested, right at the center of the guard. "The second you scored a hit on me, your body would be dealt an excruciating amount of pain, so much that you will be rendered completely immobile. The trade-off is that the effect only happens once every so often..."

"...So, you... Took a gamble then." Sakkaku answered, piecing together the effects of the Payback Emera, and how Kage gambled with his life for the effects to take hold. He then curled his lips into a smile as he felt his consciousness starting to fade, his eyes slowly drooping shut as exhaustion started to take him over. "...Well played..." He whispered before he was out cold.

Kage let out a long sigh, slowly sheathing the blade and turning away from Sakkaku. He stumbled forward a few steps before he felt his legs give way and started to fall. However, he didn't hit the ground. Instead, he felt someone grab him before he could fully fall, and looking over to his left, he saw Hageshi had held him up and was moving his father's arm across his shoulders to fully support him.

They stared at one another wordlessly for a moment before they nodded to one another. Kage nodded in thanks, with Hageshi nodding back in acknowledgment of his thanks. They then turned and began to slowly return to the rest of the teams down in the valley below.

~~~~~

As all finally became quiet in the confines of the valley, the combined forces of the Rescue Teams, the armies of Calygrad and the warriors of the Shogunate regrouped once again, with their leaders coming together to take in the battle-ravaged valley around them. Among the last to arrive was Romulus, having now returned to his normal size, and assisted by Luminara; he looked tired, and was leaning against the Lucario for support until she guided him to where he could lie down.

Then came Kage, bearing the marks of a prolonged duel across his body, accompanied by Hageshi who walked at his side. Last of all, King Calyrex, once again riding atop the back of Spectrier, his head hung low and his enlarged cranium bobbing up and down as he rocked in the saddle. The king looked saddened, even more so when he saw a distressed Leon turning to meet him as he approached.

"Your majesty," said the Empoleon. "Torolf... Is he...?"

Calyrex once again lowered his head, and slowly he shook it side to side. With that confirmation, Leon hung his head crossing his flippers in front of his face as he started to grieve for his departed Captain, but he quickly collected himself and lowered his flippers again, sucking in a sharp breath before he turned to regard his teammates.

"Did we lose anyone else?" he asked, "I saw the brother of Volcan - Lighris, was it? Is he alive?"

"He lives, still," Serena called from her place with her team.

"The losses of the Calygrad army were terrible," Zamazenta piped in, "Of the fifty knights we brought, twenty-two have fallen and six more are wounded. Of the Corviknight brigade, we've lost two of the five that came."

"A good portion of my warriors have fallen as well... Most of them fell honourably in battle..." Hizashi commented, his eyes drifting to the side and carrying so much shame in them that he couldn't even try to hide even if he wanted to.

"No casualties among us Talons - aside from one who got hurt when Necrozma nailed him," Jake commented while ruffling his feathers. "Same with the Cyclones. A few Toucannons from Blast Squad were downed, but none of them were fatally wounded. We were lucky..."

Kage looked over toward his comrades in the brotherhood and noticed a few of their already limited numbers were missing, making him grimace at the fact he had lost some of his brethren in battle...

"I fear Hook suffered some terrible wounds in the battle," Revane reported, "He was speared by one of the Ultra Beasts he attempted to subdue. He lives for now... But we must find him proper medical care, else he may not survive."

Leon shut his eyes for a moment, and in a flash of light another figure appeared beside him. A Gardevoir stood there, taking a moment to orient herself and look around the battle-ravaged valley with a hand to her mouth in shock. Along with her, four more Pokemon appeared; two Audino, a Milotic, and a Kirlia.

"Gallia," Leon called, and the Gardevoir stepped forward. "We have wounded. See what you and your medics can do."

"Yes... Captain," the Gardevoir replied, hesitantly - apparently aware that Torolf had fallen in the battle.

Though Leon was the obvious successor for Torolf as the team's leader, it would be some time before she - or the rest of the team - would grow accustomed to it.

"Serena," Volcan added.

"I'm on it," the Vaporeon replied, and trotted quickly to accompany Gallia's medical team to tend to Hook and the other wounded.

"I will assist as well," offered Calyrex, "after we finish our debrief."

Volcan turned to look at Luke, standing by his side. The tired-looking Lucario was dirty from the pitched battle - though that could be said for everyone present, matted with blood and sand. Team Warmachine looked downtrodden from both the loss of their Captain and their roles in the battle, and Teams Kama, Storm and Plainsrunner alike were exhausted. Of them all, Neilla was somehow still in her Mega Evolved form, but she was still covered in multiple wounds and bruises that she had suffered throughout the battle.

"Did we get all of the Ultra Beasts?" he asked with a tone of desperation and directed the question to Minato, Luminara and even Caulin. "Did we miss any of them, and are any of the Crusade's forces left?"

"We got all of the Ultra Beasts back into their dimension," Minato answered with a nod of confirmation. "Including Necrozma."

"And Calhoun's army?" Luke asked.

"All of 'em had their butts kicked to hell and back," Caulin answered while punching his paws together. "The jerks that remained all fled into the mesas. They aren't coming back anytime soon."

With that, Volcan turned his attention to the tower, now seemingly unprotected. "Then we have only one thing left to do," he stated, "It's time to take Calhoun down, and purge the last Nexus, once and for all."

"No doubt he's gotten a healthy head start on us in weakening that Nexus," Luke remarked as he stood next to Volcan, straightening up despite his apparent fatigue. "We have quite a climb to make..."

"You're both tired," Sickle said. "Maybe someone else should go up there. Let you two rest."

"No one here is faster than me or Luke, except maybe Koa," said Volcan, "but he's not experienced enough. Plus, as you and Neilla mentioned a while ago, we're the only ones who have actually beat Calhoun in a straight-up fight. It's got to be us."

"Then let me at least give you both some strength," Calyrex offered, "I don't have much power left... But I can at least help you two."

"Use my Houndoomite as well," Romulus added, "to recharge your stones so that you have your Mega Evolutions. You will need them if you want to stand any chance against Calhoun's Blessed form."

Luke nodded in return, gently taking the Houndoomite Romulus loaned him before he went with King Calyrex to undergo his strange transformation from before. He held the Houndoomite close to Volcan's mega stone, the Blaziken adjusting his harness to present the Blazikenite, and almost immediately he felt power being restored to it.

Luke pulled the item away after a minute or so, then held the Houndoomite to his own Mega stone. He pulled it back when he saw it dim completely, indicating it was completely drained of its power before handing it back to Romulus.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Romulus nodded and let Luke slide his harness back over him before he looked up at the Lucario. "Good luck. We'll be along as soon as we can," he said, and then gave Luke a hard look. "For all our sakes, Luke... Stop him."

Luke looked back at Romulus, staying silent for a long moment before he nodded back, standing tall next to Volcan so King Calyrex could heal them. The King summoned another heal pulse, putting all of the power into it that he could muster. Then, with a swipe of his paw, he separated it into two glowing spheres, one for each of them; as the spheres flew into Luke and Volcan, the two of them felt their strength being replenished.

It was not a complete restoration, but it was enough to close their wounds and give them some energy again.

With that, the two turned and ran toward the tower, their runs escalating into full sprints as they went, knowing everyone was watching them as they went. All of their hopes now rested with the two of them... They could not fail.

As Luke and Volcan departed, Lashanne- staring after them, noticed movement from one of the upper levels of the tower, where openings exposed in interior of the structure. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the spot, unsure what she had just seen... Then it occurred to her.

"Shit!" she cursed.

Neilla, standing next to her, looked over. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's still one more Crusade lackey left - the fucker who wrecked my ship!" she said, looking at the others and knowing from their shared expressions that no one had encountered the one she spoke of. "He's still in that tower somewhere!"

At that, Neilla was off, not even waiting for instruction as she immediately followed the two toward the tower, with Azrael calling after her as she went.

Neither Luke nor Volcan knew what the inside of the stone pillar would be like when they walked through the doors. There was nothing inside of it; not even a door to pass through when they approached. The floor was covered in sand from the time it had been buried, driven away only by multitudes of foot traffic to reveal the floor underneath, and the empty ground floor had no furniture to speak of.

This of course made it easy to locate the stairs. They had once been carved to nearly perfect squares, but the passage of time and being covered in sand had eroded them, their edges having been rounded and left with very little friction; Volcan and Luke had to be very careful as they climbed. Their attention was so focused on what lay ahead and being so careful in their climb, Volcan barely noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye and recognized a familiar red glint.

"Luke, down!" he shouted as he hurried to step back.

Luke didn't question it, hearing the alarm in his husband's voice; he dropped onto his stomach, ignoring the discomfort as he landed on the stairs - especially when the arrow soared over where he had been less than a second before, embedding itself in the wall to his side. He looked over at the arrow, then toward the direction it had flown and saw the unmistakable form of a Decidueye aiming at them again.

"Son of a bitch, we forgot about Tory!" Luke cursed as he quickly rose to his feet. "Of course, Calhoun would have him guard the only way up to the Nexus!"

"We don't have time to deal with this scumbag right now!" Volcan cursed, before he exhaled a flamethrower in Tory's direction, condensing the fire to give it more distance.

Tory was off before the flames reached him, dropping from his hiding spot and taking flight just in time to avoid it. He flew into a dark corner of the tower, immediately disappearing with Shadow Sneak, and appeared again up the stairs in front of them, now igniting a pair of Leaf Blades from each wing. His lowered head caused his hood to cast a shadow over his eyes, and they once again shone with that red gleam.

"This is as far as you go," he said, coldly.

But then, his gaze shifted, looking past the two. Before they could turn around, another voice chimed in behind them, just as a brown and black blur sped past the Blaziken and then the Lucario ahead. "Excuse me!" they said, before Tory was forced up the stairs to avoid a flurry of ice-encrusted kicks from the Mega Lopunny.

Neilla!

"You two keep going; I'll handle this guy!" Neilla shouted as she backed away from Tory's blades, waiting until she had an opening before she lunged, grabbing him around his midriff and leaping off the stairs holding him to send both of them careening to the floor below, clearing the way for her friends.

"Be careful, Neilla!" Volcan called down as he and Luke started up the stairs again. "That guy's dangerous!"

"She'll be alright. Come on, we need to move!" Luke shouted as he began to pick up the pace, full-on sprinting to make up for the precious seconds they had lost.

Neilla, having scrambled back to her feet, never took her eyes from Tory even as Volcan and Luke continued ascending the stairs. Tory sprang to his feet and looked up at the two.

"Hey! Eyes over here, spooky!" she shouted, earning Tory's glare. "You want them? You're going to have to get through me first!"

Tory tipped his head slightly, just enough for his hood to cast a shadow over one eye again and reintroduce that blood-red glint as he glared at Neilla. He said nothing as he gave a backhand swing of one of his wings, hurling an armload of Seed Bombs at her; Neilla ran to the side, out of the arc of flying explosives, before Tory came after her, brandishing his twin Leaf Blades as he sprinted toward her.

Neilla ducked and jumped to stay away from Tory's swords, struggling to deal with his Long Reach. She dropped low and swept her leg at his knees after he missed another swing; he did not attempt to dodge, even though he had enough time to, and then his eyes widened in disbelief when the Low Sweep made contact and sent him faceplanting into the floor.

"Surprised?" she asked, "My Mega Form lets me hit you with Fighting and Normal-type attacks even when you're a Ghost-type!" She declared even as she whipped around to drop another kick at him; he melted into his shadow in the nick of time, escaping from her with Shadow Sneak.

He emerged some distance away, rising from the floor. Then, his body shimmered, and he began to slowly walk to the side, leaving a duplicate in his place. As he walked, more duplicates appeared, each of them standing staring at her just as the first had, until he had created four duplicates. A Double Team, she thought.

"This... Just got a little harder," she muttered to herself.

Almost as if on cue, her Mega Form chose that exact second to expire, a light pulsating around her to steal her from sight briefly, before returning. She looked at her paws, horrified, and glared at the ceiling.

"Okay. A LOT harder!" she bemoaned, before she jumped away from the incoming attack by Tory - or one of his duplicates.

Narrowly evading the Leaf Blade, she barely saw the next one coming at her from behind and ducked to avoid the blade as it swung where her head had just been. The Lopunny sped away with Agility, getting out of reach of the third one as it slid between the first two and attempted to run her through with Leaf Blade.

'He hasn't used any other attacks... So, all he's got are Leaf Blade and Seed Bomb,' she analyzed, 'If the rest of his repertoire consists of Ghost-type moves, like that Shadow Sneak I saw him use, then he can't hurt me with anything else... But that Double Team is going to be a problem if I don't find the original.'

While Neilla tried to think of a strategy that might turn this battle around for her, she saw movement behind her; one of Tory's clones had emerged in her path, and she dug her heels into the ground to skid to a stop. Tory, or his clone, had apparently deduced that response, having already conjured another Seed Bomb to drop in front of her, the explosive seeds scattering around her even as she tried to run again.

"Crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Neilla shouted as the bombs began exploding, with her loudest exclamation erupting from her as a bomb went off right in front of her and sent the Lopunny tumbling backward.

Neilla opened her eyes in time to see Tory rushing at her again, blades crossed behind his shoulders as he ran. Time felt like it was slowing down as she saw him running at her, that red glint returned to his eyes... At that moment, Neilla was almost certain she was going to die, having had no chance to regain her footing - she couldn't use Counter at that moment, and Tory was too close for her to evade even if she got her feet under her again...

He was going to get her!

Against the odds, Tory never reached Neilla, for a form of blurred white raced into his path and struck him across the cheek with an outstretched paw; the form of the Decidueye vanished in a plume of smoke, revealing it to have been one of the clones again, but no longer a threat to Neilla.

The Lopunny fell onto her backside, panting heavily; she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath, anticipating that Tory had been about to cut her in half before she'd been rescued. Hastily, she sat up, and saw the white-formed quadrupedal figure standing in front of her.

"Azrael!" she exclaimed.

"What happened to staying together, Captain?" the Absol shot back without looking at her, keeping his eyes fixed on Tory and his clones.

"Sorry... Hasty decision, I suppose," she admitted as she stood up. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course," replied Azrael. "I will get you the opening you need; you must act quickly when you see it."

Before Azrael could explain more, Tory was rushing at them again; one of his clones had resorted to forming their bow with their wing and launching an arrow at Azrael, who easily avoided it thanks to his Detect. Then, Azrael began to shimmer - just as Tory had, and he too separated into multiple duplicates with Double Team - one for each of Tory's, and engaged him. Absol's bladed horn met Decidueye's dual leaf blades as the two clashed, with Neilla watching as she waited for her chance.

She had another ability that might still help her against a Ghost-type. She narrowed her eyes, commanding power to her eyes, and her pupils turned white as she watched Tory. Soon, she saw that of the multiple Azrael's she saw, one of them was more opaque to her, while the other three were transparent. Turning her attention to Tory and his clones, she found the same thing.

"Got you," she said.

While Tory was focused on fighting one of Azrael's clones, he never saw Neilla's attack coming from behind until it was too late. She sprang into the air and delivered a powerful Jump Kick to him just as he turned to face her, sending him skidding across the floor and losing his Leaf Blades in the process as they both diminished. This also caused all his clones to disappear, leaving only one Decidueye left.

"Well done, Neilla! Finish it!" Azrael called.

Certainly needing no further encouragement, the Lopunny ran at the Decidueye, her arm drawn back for a Dizzy Punch as she charged. But at the last second, he vanished from her gaze, and her paw struck something else - something hard that left her paw aching from the strike, and she drew her fist back to rub it while something loud and heavy dropped to the floor.

"A Substitute!" Azrael called.

"Yeah... I got it," Neilla replied, shaking her paw around before she began to scan the room. "Where'd he go?"

"Stand by," Azrael replied, shutting his eyes and concentrating, using his Future Sight to deduce where Tory would come from next.

Then, his eyes opened with alarm, a panicked look on his face. "Below you!" he shouted.

Neilla didn't look, nor wait to act; she sprang away, and in just the nick of time as the Decidueye emerged from the floor, slashing with his swords at where she had been only a heartbeat before. Once again, Neilla was off balance, and once again Tory raced at her, blades ready to execute her; thinking quickly, Neilla dropped onto her back, letting herself fall as the Leaf Blades crossed where her neck had been, trying to decapitate her, and then rolled away as he tried to stab the ground where she lay.

Neilla sprang back to her feet, facing Tory again as he continued to pursue her. But stopped when his Leaf Blades began to flicker, looking at each of the blades extending from his wings as they started to go out, his beak gaping when he saw them fading.

"It's not possible!" he exclaimed.

"Quite possible," Azrael stated from where he stood. "From the moment I entered this room, you have been under the effect of my ability, Pressure. You've been exhausting more of your power simply by being near me, and you must not have replenished it from your previous battles - like when you attacked Lashanne's airship, or any skirmishes you were part of in the battle outside."

Azrael allowed himself a small smile. "In short, Tory... Your Leaf Blade attack can no longer be used."

Tory lowered his wings, finally extinguishing his exhausted Leaf Blades, and turned his attention back to Neilla as she ran at him. He leapt backward and seemed to be trying to run for the shadows again, but Neilla wasn't allowing it this time. Using Agility once more, she sped across the floor, zigzagging left to right to disorient the Decidueye before she dashed around him, landing in his path and delivering a punishing Dizzy Punch to his cheek, sending him reeling.

"This fight is over!" Neilla declared as she came forward with one more attack; Triple Axel.

With her feet exhuming cold mist as she charged, the confused Decidueye had no chance. One kick; thrown against a pillar, second kick; slammed into the pillar again, and one the third kick, the hardest one of all, Tory bounced off the pillar and fell to the floor like a rag doll... This time, he did not rise again.

Neilla's chest heaved as she caught her breath, falling to her knees beside her defeated opponent. Azrael hurried to her side and bumped her shoulder with his head. "Neilla, are you okay?"

"That... Was a hell of a fight," she replied, "Volcan did not oversell this guy, that's for sure..."

"But you did it, Captain," said Azrael, "The last of the Crusade's enforcers is now defeated, thanks to you."

"Don't undersell yourself, Azrael," said Neilla, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, "if you hadn't jumped in when you did, I'd have just been another notch in his blades - metaphorically speaking." She then nodded to him as she sat up straighter. "So, thank you. I owe you one."

Azrael smiled back at her. "You're welcome," he said, and then tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. "It's all up to them, now," he said, sternly.

Neilla followed his gaze and nodded. "Yeah... We better deal with spooky here, and then get up there and see if we can't tip the scales in our favour some more. Come on."

~~~~~~

Volcan and Luke finally reached the top of the tower, where they found the only set of doors in the entire structure. But they had been left open, almost invitingly so, and through them, they saw an absence of light awaiting them. No windows, nor openings of any sort, letting in the light of the day outside, but still nowhere near as dark as the wall of blackness that lay within.

As the two entered the room, they saw Calhoun - still in his blessed form, with the six, smoky tendrils growing from his back now waving absently to his sides as he stood before the great darkness. Only, this time, it was not an empty void he stood in front of; all of the Nexuses before, at least the two active ones, had been so deep and dark that nothing could be seen with in them... Until now.

There was a silhouette of something inside the darkness this time. A pair of shining red eyes - belonging to a being much larger than Tory, stared back at them from within the darkness. The sight of that being sent chills up the spines of both the Lucario and Blaziken, knowing exactly who it was who was looking back, and knowing that being able to see him now only conveyed just how weakened the barriers between the worlds had become.

He was waiting... He was only moments away from freedom, and now they were the only ones left to stop it...

Calhoun turned slowly to look at the two, his violet eyes seeming to glow in the dark just as his master's did. Despite the whites of his eyes having turned black to match Giratina's, he still retained his natural purple colour for some reason, but it only made Calhoun all the more intimidating in the low light conditions as he glared at the two.

"So... Tory couldn't hold you after all," he said.

"Pays to have friends rather than lackeys," Volcan countered, spiteful.

"This madness ends, Calhoun," Luke added, clenching his paws at his sides in anticipation. "You've caused enough damage and turmoil already. Your army has abandoned you, and the Ultra Beasts have been sent back to their realm. Make this easy on yourself and surrender."

Calhoun's eyes narrowed, and he turned to face the two fully. "Gorgon," he said, "I apologize... But before I can free you, it seems I need to do a little more pest control. It shouldn't take me long."

Calhoun heard an irritated growl within his head, but the entity capitulated nonetheless knowing it couldn't be helped.'Make them suffer for their interference... but leave the Lucario within an inch of his life... I want to eviscerate him personally once I am finally free...'

"Heh... Fine with me. It'll really mess with the head of that mother of his when we face her again," Calhoun replied with a grin.

Luke grimaced, clenching his paws tighter at his sides before he slowly shifted into the Rapid-Strike style stance. "...Don't make me do this, Calhoun..." he warned the Dark Blaziken while shaking his head slightly.

"You don't have to if you simply turn and leave," Calhoun replied, stretching out the six tendrils growing from his back as he widened his stance.

"You know I can't..." Luke responded. "Not after everything you've done."

"Then there is only one way this can go," retorted the Dark Blaziken, "One way or another, only two leave this room. It'll either be you and him," he looked at Volcan, "...Or me, and Giratina."

Luke closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, forcing himself to come to terms with the situation, before his Aura Surge suddenly exploded around him as he opened his eyes again, a hardened glare present in his gaze.

"...Then I'll finish what I started in the Boglands," he replied in a cold tone.

At that, Calhoun chuckled. "You couldn't do it then; what makes you think you can now?"

"Because this time, he's got me beside him," stated Volcan, "And I for one have no intention of letting you walk out of here, Calhoun. It ends today!"

With that, he made the opening move, breaking into a run at Calhoun as he tapped his mega stone, Mega Evolving again for the second time that day; Calhoun for his part, brought around his tendrils to intercept Volcan, but at the last second, the Blaziken shot upward, toward the ceiling; Calhoun stared up after him, and failed to see Luke coming. The Lucario had also taken on his Mega Evolution, raising his power and speed even further.

He rushed in and landed a heavy Force Palm to Calhoun's chest, stunning him long enough to unleash a rapid-fire Surging Strikes attack on him, hitting him at several pressure points at high speeds before he kicked him toward the nearest wall. Calhoun managed to catch himself with the shadow tendrils, and sprang aside as Volcan came down at him with a drop kick, his foot striking the wall and cracking the stone in the process before he was off after him again.

But Calhoun sprang away again as Volcan rushed at him, spreading his tendrils out wide until they were more like wings. There, he somersaulted, defying gravity as he flew and went straight at Volcan. An Aerial Ace! Volcan had no time to protect himself before Calhoun collided with him and sent him hurtling backward to crash into the opposite wall with bone-jarring force.

"I'm _not_playing around anymore," Calhoun stated in a murderous tone.

He was then assailed by a Dragon Pulse attack coming from his left, then when he turned, he saw the Mega Evolved Lucario rushing in with his Bone Rush in paw, swinging his weapon rapidly multiple times once Calhoun was in range. Calhoun put up his arms, blocking each swing of Luke's Bone Rush with his upraised limbs until he caught the bone staff between his wrists, and kicked Luke _hard_in the gut, launching him across the chamber like a kickball.

He grunted from the kick and let out a choked gasp as he hit the wall with such force that it spider-webbed behind him. Luke stuck there for a moment before he fell to the ground in a crouch, coughing heavily and clutching where he was struck with both paws.

'S...So strong! Is this the kind of power a Blessing grants someone?' He thought to himself before forcing himself back to his feet again. Even in Mega Evolution, Calhoun's power was overshadowing his...

He saw Calhoun looming over him and looked up to see him with his leg drawn back to kick Luke again, but Volcan returned to the fight at that moment, slamming into Calhoun from the side with his shoulder to stumble him before delivering a whirling roundhouse kick that knocked the dark Blaziken off balance, albeit briefly. As Volcan pressed the attack, Calhoun spun on his heel and delivered a Mega Kick to Volcan that sent the Blaziken whirling to the side, nearly crashing into the wall again before he managed to stop himself, with his hands, catching himself before impact and hastily darting out of the way as Calhoun attempted to spear him with two of his shadowy tendrils.

Calhoun still had his natural speed... And now, enhanced by Giratina's power, he was stronger than ever; out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw the fallen god watching the ongoing fight from within the confines of his prison, and could almost feel the dragon's satisfaction at how strong Calhoun - his puppet, enforcer or agent of his will, whatever he might be, had become.

Luke scowled at the ghostly visage of Giratina before turning his attention back to Calhoun. He watched them fight it out until he saw Volcan at a disadvantage, then used Extreme Speed to intercept Calhoun and knock him off balance so he could follow up with several rapid kicks.

From then on, both Luke and Volcan fought in tandem against Calhoun. Every strike, every dodge and parry one committed to was immediately followed up by the other reacting accordingly, resulting in a deadly dance between the three combatants that had them darting to different parts of the chamber. Luke, however, found fewer opportunities to intervene; as Calhoun and Volcan grew faster with their natural speed boost abilities, it became harder for him to keep up - even with Extreme Speed to propel him, and the space where they fought was too small for any of them to achieve their full speed.

But that still put the advantage and Calhoun's hands, for with the addition of the six additional limbs provided by Giratina's blessing, he had an easier time warding off the attacks of the two. He warded off Luke's distance and melee attacks and prevented Volcan from getting in close where he had a greater advantage and bought himself time to close in to attack them.

In one such instance, he managed to distract Volcan with the tendrils long enough to land a Mega Kick that sent Volcan crashing into the wall yet again and turned his attention to Luke thereafter, blocking two of his Aura Spheres before one of his tendrils snaked around Luke's leg, picked him up and threw him across the room to land beside Volcan.

After that, Calhoun laughed. "This form makes me stronger than my Mega Evolution _ever_did!" he declared. "With speed, strength, and near-immortality, I am unstoppable!"

Volcan sat up, panting heavily as he glared at Calhoun. "We'll just see about that, won't we?" he asked as he stood again.

"What do you think you can even accomplish?" Calhoun demanded. "You _can't_beat me. I have ascended beyond your level, Volcan." At Volcan's puzzled look, he continued. "Yes, I know your name. I never cared to use it before... But you and your man there have proven to be deadly adversaries. I'd say, at least, that makes both of you worth knowing."

"How flattering," said Volcan, sarcastic. "But we're not looking for your approval, Calhoun - not by a long shot. I promised you in Azure I was never going to stop fighting you - not so long as I continued breathing. That will never change."

Volcan stood tall, defying his body's exhaustion and the beating he had taken from Calhoun so far. Taking in a deep breath, Volcan flexed his arms and sent a surge of power flowing through him, his muscles visibly swelling with the Bulk Up he'd triggered. Yet despite this, Calhoun still only laughed.

"You think one Bulk Up is going to help you?" he demanded. "My power eclipses yours so heavily, you'd hit your limit before matching me; do you not see that?! I thought you were supposed to be perceptive, Captain of Team Phalanx!"

"As I told someone a long time ago," stated Volcan, getting into position to run again. "Power is how you use it, not how much you have!"

With that, Volcan was off again, feinting by heading straight at Calhoun first before veering off, coming at him from an angle as he moved to block him. Calhoun turned, about to unleash a kick at Volcan, aimed at where he was coming from but the other Blaziken had anticipated this, and jumped over the kick, crossing his arms and lifting his knees as he went airborne.

Wait... Luke knew that posture! Volcan was about to use Brave Bird!

"Wait, Volcan no!!" Luke cried out, reaching for the Blaziken in vain, but there was nothing he could do to stop him.

Volcan let loose with the attack, and soared at Calhoun with his body ablaze. Calhoun tried to block him with his tendrils, but the sheer power of Volcan's attack pushed through to collide with the Dark Blaziken. Both of them screamed; Luke wasn't sure who was louder, the attack inflicting agony on both sides, but it sent the two hurtling across the chamber, Calhoun's tendrils waving frantically as they scrambled futility for purchase until they hit the wall with bone-jarring force and kicked up a cloud of dust in the process, stirred for the first time in hundreds of years.

Volcan came tumbling out of the dust, hitting the floor hard before he skidded across it for several meters. Luke was up in a heartbeat, running to his side to drop beside him as the Blaziken panted for breath.

"Ow..." he groaned, "I really hate using that attack..."

"You idiot...! Why did you use it knowing its recoil damage?" Luke demanded. "We can't afford to be damaging ourselves just to gain a little bit of leverage!"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," the Blaziken replied. "Besides... It's the only thing I had that was really going to hurt him."

Then, as Volcan lifted his head to look at Luke, he saw something behind him that made him tense. "Look out!" he screamed, grabbing Luke and sharply twisting aside as two red-tipped tendrils speared the floor where the two of them had been only a second prior.

Calhoun had moved to another part of the room using Shadow Force, and now stepped into view as one of his arms - broken by Volcan's attack, snapped back into alignment with a grotesque sound to accompany it.

"You're right about one thing," he said, rubbing his previously broken arm with the other, "that did hurt, quite a bit."

"Damnit all...!" Luke growled as he and Volcan got back to their feet. He frowned as he racked his brain for an answer that didn't involve injuring themselves just to get a small lead.

He then recalled the time Sol had earned his Blessing back, and an idea started to form in his mind. He started to relax a bit before he addressed Calhoun directly.

"What did he promise you?" he asked suddenly.

The question seemed to catch Calhoun's attention, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the Lucario. "Promise me?" he repeated, "What are you talking about?"

"When you completed your bond to Giratina and achieved your full Blessing, what did he promise you after freeing him from his prison?" Luke reiterated. "More power? Total world domination?"

At that, Calhoun chuckled. "Oh, I get it. You think to drive a wedge between us by making me doubt him, don't you?" he asked. "Your boyfriend there already tried that, you know. I admit, he made me question Gorgon's motives - albeit briefly, and had me wondering if I hadn't just been letting him manipulate me all along."

"You ever stop to wonder if he still is?" Luke asked pointedly. "How do you know he'll hold onto his end of the bargain once he's free? He gave you that power; he can just as easily take it back from you once he has no further use for you. It happened to Sol once, it can just as easily happen to you."

It was a gamble, Luke knew, trying to sow the seeds of doubt with Calhoun while he already held the upper hand. But it was all that he could think to try, and hope that maybe some semblance of Calhoun's former self was still somewhere in there...

But unfortunately, he found that his gamble was not going to work. "You think I'm blind to any of his intentions?" he asked, "You don't know much about how these blessings work, do you? To even form one, you must be completely in sync with your patron in your mind." He held up his hand as he spoke, looking at his open palm. "Anything less results in the immediate death of the one seeking the blessing - not just death, but complete eradication from the very fabric of existence - you simply cease to be; memories of you will remain, but there will not even be a body left for your loved ones to bury. It is as dangerous as it is rewarding - the epitome of the price of power."

Then he looked at Luke again. "Gorgon sees into my thoughts. He knows my intentions, and I know his; if he thought of betraying me, I would know it, and the same goes for him if I ever entertained myself with such thoughts. We were able to complete the blessing because our goals align; he craves vengeance, and I crave power. He has already upheld his end of that, and now all that remains is for him to stand at the top of the pantheon above all others by dethroning his father, Arceus. That is where he shall be... And I shall be there, as his right hand."

Volcan grunted as Calhoun reached the end of his rant. "Worth a try," he said out of the corner of his beak to Luke.

"Plan B then," Luke whispered back.

He then let out a resounding roar afterward, activating his Aura Surge, then roared again as he went right into his Hyper Surge immediately afterwards, sending a shockwave powerful enough to make Calhoun stagger.

In a split second, Luke was right next to the dark Blaziken, scoring a powerful right hook to his beak before he could even react.

"It never pays to make deals with the Devil!" Luke stated before he vanished again and began to slam into Calhoun rapidly just as he did with Mewtwo, before finally slamming a Focus Blast right into his chest to send him flying once more into a wall.

"Luke, be careful!" Volcan exclaimed, recognizing what his husband was doing and fearing what would happen to him if he stayed in Hyper Surge for too long.

Calhoun launched himself back at Luke again, flying across the room to attack with multiple strikes from his tendrils attempting to spear the Lucario with their red-tipped claws, but in his limit breaking state, his reflexes were more than enough to dodge around the tendrils until he found another opening, slamming a Force Palm into his chest.

Then, Luke dropped out of his Hyper Surge and back into his enhanced Aura Surge, roaring as he started striking at Calhoun with another round of Surging Strikes, relying on the type advantage of the attack to make up for the intentional loss of power. Calhoun recognized the attack and worked to keep ahead of it, using his hands to ward off Luke's attacks - though a few still managed to get through.

"Enough!" he growled before he unleashed a Blast Burn, putting all his power into a fiery explosion around himself.

Luke quickly ascended back to his Hyper Surge in that instant, backing away just as the flames reached him, suffering a minor burn along his arm, but was unharmed for the most part. He skidded to a halt and powered back down again, panting slightly from the exertion, but fine otherwise.

"Damnit, we're getting nowhere with this..." He muttered softly. "Every bit of damage we do, he just heals from it, and we only wear ourselves down with each attempt."

"At this point, I don't know what else to try," Volcan said as he came to stand beside his husband. "He's fast, he's strong, he can heal, and he can practically teleport... How do you stop someone like-"

Then, his eyes widened "Wait a minute... I have an idea!"

"At this point, we can't afford to be picky," Luke said, nodding to his husband. "What do you have in mind?"

"Generate a Focus Blast, quickly!" Volcan replied as he cupped his hands in front of him and began forming one of his own, "We might be able to tip the scales just a tad, but it's better than nothing!"

Luke arched an eyebrow at Volcan, but he figured whatever he was planning, it was worth a shot. He held his paw to his side and began molding a Focus Blast of his own, waiting for Volcan's signal once it was fully charged. Calhoun started to rush at them again when Volcan gave the signal, and threw his Focus Blast - past Calhoun, to detonate against the wall behind him.

Puzzled, Calhoun looked over his shoulder toward the wall where Volcan had attacked, when Luke's Focus Blast followed. Volcan had succeeded in cracking the wall, but Luke - vastly more powerful with his aura mastery, utterly destroyed the wall, and sunlight spilled into the chamber, making the three of them blink as the light filled their eyes.

"What in the-?!" Calhoun started to demand.

"Keep him in the light!" Volcan shouted as he raced at the distracted Calhoun and landed a punishing blow on his face with his fist.

Now Luke understood... As long as Calhoun was covered in the sunlight, he couldn't use Shadow Force! Luke grinned as he rushed in as well, smacking Calhoun square in the beak with a Force Palm to follow up with the punch he received from Volcan.

From there, it was a tag team slugfest. Both Luke and Volcan unleashed everything they had on Calhoun, flexing all of their attacks, using every fighting technique in their repertoire. They were not about to give Calhoun a single moment to recover or counterattack. The onslaught went on for some time, with Calhoun never having a moment to strike back; he'd spot on opening on one of them, only to then receive a strike from the other - he even attempted to prepare a Counter but the two had such control of their actions they stopped before they could land their attack and let the other one hit Calhoun in the back.

Finally, Calhoun - in a desperate move, drew in the six tendrils growing from him and then swung them outward to force the two off him, dropping to his knees and panting heavily. He tried to trigger Shadow Force to get away, but he was still in the sunlight, and the attack failed.

"This... Can't be happening!" Calhoun shouted, defiantly. "I've come too far... I'm too close now!"

He looked up at the black portal, at Giratina lying beyond, a wordless plea in the eyes of the Dark Blaziken for his patron to help him. But Giratina could not reach him; not while the barrier to his prison remained intact... All he could do was watch and wait for the outcome of the battle that was quickly turning against the Dark Blaziken. There was no one left to help him now.

A deep, burning anger rose within Calhoun then, and his eyes glowed brightly as he pushed himself up. Volcan and Luke were rushing at him again, and his tendrils lashed out like striking snakes, catching both of them around their middles and stopping them in their tracks.

"I... Will NOT!" he yelled as he slammed the two against the floor, hard, "Lose like this! Not when I am this close to my triumph!"

He slammed the two again and then sent them both hurtling into the far wall, knocking the wind out of both. Volcan recovered first, picking himself up just as Calhoun rushed at them again; not running, but gliding over the ground, flying like a ghost Pokémon. Volcan hastily jumped in front of Luke, shielding him from the incoming attack, and let out a cry as one of the tendrils spiked into his arm, drawing blood.

Then, Calhoun seized Volcan around his neck with another of the tendrils; the Blaziken gagged and feebly clawed at the tendril as it tightened around his throat. Volcan summoned a Thunderpunch into his right hand, but another tendril seized his arms before he could try to free himself with it, tilting his head back and letting out a strangled gasp as blackness began to creep in at the edges of his vision.

Calhoun's eyes, filled with pure hatred, glared at him as he squeezed tighter and tighter, waiting to watch the other Blaziken perish. "Die... Now!" Calhoun commanded, in a voice that didn't sound entirely his own.

Luke let out a groan as he stumbled out of the wall, rubbing his head and blinking a few times to clear his vision. He saw Calhoun choking Volcan out with his shadowy tendrils, and his eyes went wide as he witnessed Volcan's eyes rolling back in their sockets.

Something snapped within Luke, and for the briefest moment, that shock turned into pure, unbridled hatred toward Calhoun, but that moment was all that it took to finally make Luke utterly lose it. With an enraged roar, he shot forward and punched Calhoun as hard as he could across the face, pouring all of his power into that single punch.

"LET HIM GO!!!" He shouted as Calhoun was sent into the ground from the force of that attack. He then got on top of Calhoun as he rolled onto his back and began pummeling him with heavy punches for a while before he finally reared back his right arm, summoning his Metal Claw, and driving it right into the Dark Blaziken's chest with a roar of blind fury.

Calhoun stiffened as the claws pierced his chest, his beak falling open in a silent scream. But it was not him who screamed; it was Giratina, who let out a roar of anguish when he saw the death blow inflicted upon Calhoun, muffled by the veil that still held him in his prison. That roar brought Luke back to his senses... And he saw what he had done.

Luke blinked again, and he saw the horrified look on Calhoun's face before his gaze drifted lower and saw his claws impaled into Calhoun's chest. His face went as white as sheet paper when he realized what he had just done, yanking his Metal Claw out of the Dark Blaziken's chest and scooting away from him, panting heavily as the realization of what he just did finally dawned on him.

"...N...No..." he whispered desperately. "Oh Gods, no....!"

Calhoun turned over onto his front, grabbing his chest with one of his hands as he attempted, in one final effort, to crawl over to the Nexus, leaving a trail of his life fluids as he went. His body tried to heal itself; he could feel it attempting to do so... But it was no use. His heart had been pierced, and not even the regeneration granted to him by his patron would save him from that.

Calhoun lifted his gaze to look up at the portal one more time, futilely reaching out with a blood-soaked hand... The black tendrils on his back crumbled away, becoming like ash in the wind, and his body reverted to its original form with the dark gray feathers and ash-gray highlights. When the last of the blessing left him, he collapsed to the floor, and the light slowly faded from his eyes as he lay still, letting out his final breath...