Part 7 War

Stepping through a portal doesn't really get any less weird, even if you do it about a dozen times. This time, however, my mind was greatly concerned about the immediate future. I was trying desperately to control my breathing, and compose myself. The fate of our world was at stake, and though the threats had been arguably greater in the past, I had never felt less certain of myself.

The evening sun was settling directly ahead. We seemed to be in a sort of dusty flatland, with rocks scattered about. Some were miniature pebbles, and others about the size of cars. Though it took a moment to see, there was a significantly larger rock structure in the distance ahead of us.

I stepped forward to allow space behind me. I couldn't really see anything that screamed ultra-powerful magic Pokemon, but Celebi quickly joined me at my side, and let me know that, "I couldn't get you any closer than this. Jirachi's power grows as it nears awakening, and the distortions in space-time interfere with my ability to transport."

I nodded. "I assume that's the place?"

She swallowed. "Yes. Be wary, Todd. Your enemy is no doubt close already." We stood silently for a moment as more of our allies approached from behind. "And Todd, don't forget what I told you about what's to come. Moments which I cannot foresee are critical. You must be absolutely careful what you choose to do."

"Got it."

She rested a hand on my shoulder. "Best of luck. You are a strong young man, and I am proud to call you my friend and ally."

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush." I chuckled. 

Celebi gave a small laugh and waved goodbye before disappearing. 

I could feel anxiety setting in my stomach. I was almost anxious to start the inevitable fight just so I could get the nerves worked out. A hand on my shoulder drew my attention away from it. Slowly turning, I looked at Taylor's face as she smiled a little. "We'll do it, Todd. We'll get him back. We can win, like we always do."

I frowned. "We can only hope. Thanks, though."

She hovered around me for a few moments, as if wanting to say something more. She eventually decided against it and turned around. I hated to be that cold to her, but my mind was busy. This needed to end. As soon as it was over, I could worry about anything else.

Red stepped up beside me. He didn't say anything at first, just joined me at looking ahead. After a moment, though, he quietly told me, "I know how you feel Todd."

I didn't reply, and he took the opportunity to continue, "You feel like no one understands what you have to do. Like some great responsibility is in your hands." Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him looking down now at his open palms.

He exhaled. "I've been through it. Am going through it. But I'm not going to tell you what to do. This is your fight. But if I could tell you anything, it'd be this: don't use it."

I looked at him, slightly confused.

"The power of Jirachi. It's not worth it. The power to bend reality is too much for anyone to use. Stop this...dark version of yourself from getting it, and then leave. It'll be better for everyone if nobody uses that power."

I thought about what he said for a few seconds. After I didn't reply, he nodded a little and walked away, leaving me by myself again.

I decided to take another look at the allies we had. A bad feeling in my stomach told me we were about to be outnumbered. That had never stopped the team before, but this was different. I couldn't feel confident when I thought about it.

Everyone seemed pretty uncertain. No one seemed to be overflowing with confidence, and some of them just kind of looked really out of it. One particular member of that crowd was the rather grouchy Vaporeon I had encountered earlier. He walked up to me on all fours, looking around with a confused face (at least I think, seeing as his face was not exactly human).

I just looked at him as he stared out at the sunset. He breathed slowly. I wanted to say something to him, but I couldn't formulate a sentence that I was certain wouldn't cause him to blow up.

He did the job for me, though. What I didn't expect was what he actually said.

"So I hope you're stretched out."

I blinked. "What?"

He pointed his head towards the distance. "You know, warmed up. It'd suck to pull a muscle or something."

I was so confused at his attitude towards the situation. "Um, thanks...for the concern."

He just nodded. "Especially since there's a whole bunch of guys up ahead that I'm guessing are the bad guys."

"You're kidding." I frowned and raised a hand to my eyebrows to try to see through the glare.

"Nope. I think it's something to do with my, you know, not being a human, but I'm not seeing a lot of glare from the sun. And yeah, there's a lot of people up there. So, uh, I think it's go time."

I strained my eyes to see, and eventually I could find the silhouettes against the orange light. "S***." I muttered, before shouting out, "Almost time, people!"

It was not the most unique or effective rally cry of all time. People seemed startled, but began seemingly readying themselves. Jacob's hands lit up with blue energy. Red took out a Pokeball, ready for action. I did the same, and cast a glance at Nelly. She noticed, and gave me a small nod. She was a tough kid, no doubt about it.

After a moment, everyone had gathered behind me. I stared ahead and breathed slowly through my nose. I could feel the tension setting on everyone else just as much as it was on me.

I swallowed. "Everyone. We're getting in there. Don't let anything stop you. This...this means everything."

I could hear Carter grunt behind me. "Let's get the ass-kicking started."

Taylor, the only member of the crowd who stood by my side, looked to me. I looked at her as well, and we exchanged a nod.

"GO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and we took off.

---

The bones in his body threatened to collapse. Every time he took another step, his heart and his head throbbed relentlessly. The taste of blood was still fresh in his mouth, telling him that it wasn't healing. Endlessly using his power was keeping his body from rest and repair. Any injury or weakness he had was becoming more and more of a hindrance.

Needless to say, it was hell. Adrian was just glad that he had already gone to hell and back a good number of times already.

He stepped out of the darkness once more into the stale light of the warehouse. He was met with stern and emotionless faces from more soldiers ready to be transported. They didn't show the least bit of concern for his obvious injured and weakening state.

He smiled a little. A little bit of Todd's ignorance filled him in that moment, and he asked in as chipper a voice as he could manage, "Who do we have for the next ride?"

A group of them began filing toward Adrian. One of them—the boy who had knocked Adrian out—seemed a little more active than the others, and he raised a hand to an earpiece. After a silent moment, he lowered the hand pointed at a few more. "You all. Jump in."

Adrian frowned and shook his head. "No. I can't manage this many now. If anything, I'm weaker than before. This is unrealistic."

His mouth, which seemed to always hang open slightly in a half-grin, didn't change. "Can't be helped, dude. Those are the orders. You gotta pick up the pace."

Adrian growled under his breath, and stepped backward into the shadows.

---

I bet we looked pretty awesome.

All I remember from the beginning though is how shaky everything seemed as I ran forward. I almost wasn't ready when I reached battle. Thankfully, my hesitation was followed by two very welcome figures leaping over my head to start clearing a path. The first was Jacob Simmons, who used a skillful combination of Aura techniques and basic combat to take down the opponents in his own way. He flowed from one move to the next, appearing effortless.

Carter was the second, and he really couldn't have been any more different. His fighting was chaotic and brutal. He clearly enjoyed slamming people into the ground, and his attacks were erratic and always full force. There was also a lot more sound when he fought, whether they were grunts of effort or pain.

And so we started battling. I finally managed to get into a sort of flow, working with Sandslash while utilizing my own telekinetic powers to do general butt-kicking.

I cast quickly glances around to see how everyone else was doing. I was a little impressed with how well we were handling the combat. Even though I had never seen some of these people before, I noticed that they could take care of themselves.

Well, mostly.

One person was definitely having a bad time. It was Casey, the twin brother of our pleasant friend Carter. And he apparently didn't know that.

From what I could observe, he wasn't actually fighting at all. His eyes were wide with panic, and he stumbled around trying to find safety behind others. Needless to say, that was pretty difficult. He tried to ask people to watch his back, but he had yet to get anyone's attention.

I worked my way back, and noticed a soldier approach him from the side. I used a small burst to launch myself in that direction, and threw a purple energy ball to take them down quickly. Casey watched it and blinked. "Uh...thank you."

"Not a problem." I moved a little closer to him, and threw a few more balls to get some more space. As I watched carefully to make sure he remained safe, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he looked down behind me, and his eyes somehow got a little wider.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Uh...you...uh...just hit a guy with your tail."

"What?" I looked behind me, and apparently, likely due to extensively use of my powers, I had started to transform, starting with my long purple tail. It extended back, and sure enough, someone was lying unconscious on the ground behind me.

I closed my eyes, and tried to settle myself mentally. It was weird, since the tail felt so natural that it was hard to tell whether or not it was really there. After a moment, I asked him with my eyes closed, "Is it gone now?"

There was a pause...and he said yes. 

I nodded. "Great." After I threw a few people via psychic power, I decided to ask him the burning question. "So, you've never actually fought, have you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, no. I don't have any...powers or whatever."

I frowned. "So, nothing you can think of that would help you in battle?"

"No. I...honestly don't know why I'm here at all. I don't think I can help you guys..."

I stared off into the chaos and located Carter. I watched him for a few moments. I wanted to tell Casey. Just let him know his brother was still alive. But for some reason it wouldn't happen. It didn't feel like my place to tell him.

He tapped me on the shoulder. I was alerted to reality just in time to launch another energy ball at someone who charged us at high speed.

"That was...close." He muttered.

"Yeah." I nodded. I took another look toward the cave, and decided to focus on the priority. Turning to Casey, I assured him, "I'm gonna have to go, but I'll make sure someone has your back."

"I can handle it." Harper came up beside me. "Do whatever you need to do, cutie."

I raised an eyebrow at the comment, but nodded. "Thanks."

Before I could even turn around, Taylor came rushing in and delivered a punch to Harper's face. 

"Whoa!" I put a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "What the crap—" I looked down to where Harper had fallen, but noticed that her appearance had changed. Her appearance, I realized, matched that of the barista from earlier, with the red hair streaks.

Taylor shook her hand, clearly not entirely used to punching with her regular fist. "Shape-shifters. Always so annoying."

I nodded slowly.

She looked over at me. "I'll cover him. Go."

I didn't waste any time. I took off, and along the way, I picked out a few people I wanted to join me. First, though, I approached Clover.

"Listen, I'm taking a few people in, we're going to try to beat Dark to Jirachi. As soon as you have opportunity, get everyone else, and find Adrian. I'm sure he's around here."

Clover seemed a little overwhelmed, but she nodded. "Todd, be careful."

I smiled. "Relax. We got this." 

---

Yeah, another one that turned out pretty short. I really just needed to get a chapter out. I actually did an extra chapter of Mega Man than usual between this one and the last one. That was how much I was trying to put this off.

The next chapter will definitely be longer, and probably be the finale for Universal Delete. Anyway, thanks for reading!