The Quest for Someguy's Sunglasses or Strike of the Beecat

"Well, I don't know how far we are from it, but the lab sounds like a nice enough place to suit up." Dewmann suggested, slightly tensing his grip on the gryphon, making sure he wouldn't fall, or be thrown off. He looked down at himself. His clothes were ragged and torn in several areas, and the bruises, scabs, sores, and burns were all looking pretty ugly, even if they were healing relatively well. He hoped that at the very least, the lab had bandages and a change of clothes, because he hated looking like this.

AM felt that the AwesomeVirus was leaving for a rather long period of time.

AM: "Well, if we go to my lab we could get some weapon, armor, food and water before, I hope, The Grand Final!! But if we go to Rare's Castle, we could find another body for Tacobot and maybe she know Rare's weakness! This is a difficult choice we have to make here. Both are great but we have to choose only one."

Everyone stared at AM. It was the first time they heard him say something with yelling or talking about clowns. Even Charles was surprised to hear that.

"I have a great idea! Let's split into two groups and meet here as soon as possible! My Lab is rather close to here and I could make it in time. I'll take some supplies for us and bring it here with the help of my assistant! Charles and the others, go to Rare's Castle and find another body for Tacobot! We will all meet here in 2 hours if possible! Don't worry, The Virus won't show up for a while so I will have all my mind available! If you can't find a new body, I'll bring a computer so we can make her "alive". So what do you think?

Everyone looked at each other after AM spoke. This was actually a quite brilliant idea. So, Dewmann, Esbiate and Rita got off of the gryphon, while AM and Charles, who volunteered to keep an eye on his friend, flew up into the sky.

"Right. We better go get that body for Taco." Rita said as the three of them quickly made their way back to Rare's lair, hoping not to find too many guards.

--x--

As AM and Charles were speeding through the air on the large gryphon, heading for the medical facility, Charles couldn't keep himself from looking up at the surges of energy coming from who knows where. This is obviously where Rare is. He was only hoping he would manage to stop the crazy Goddess before she made any real damage.

The citizens of the city of Quebec were more than surprised when they saw the large energy ball that was forming in the sky and that was visible even out here, and the only thing that snapped them out of staring at it was the sight of a giant half eagle, half lion flying between the buildings of their city. Some of the people with a camera nearby tried to take a photo, but the beast was gone before they could even raise their camera. At these speeds, the two Canadians were a bit scared of falling off, but they managed to stay on by holding onto the beast tightly. It was odd, it almost seemed like the gryphon knew exactly where to go. And when they arrived to the large, abandoned medical facility on the outskirts of town, it landed gracefully on the unmowed lawn and bent over slightly so Stef and Charles could get off.

Charles chuckled a bit as they entered the facility. He hadn't been there for a while, and it was just like he remembered; papers upon papers of wacky plans and experiments was littering the tables and even part of the floor, a few large machines doing a small, constant hissing noise, some vials full of strange colored liquids, a machine to recharge the Medigun, a small mattress on the side, old but rarely used, since AM usely slept on the tables while writing new plans and results of experiments, and, in another corner, a large case which Charles knew was full of "medical" leeches.

AM seemed to have grown a bit more excited as they entered. He almost seemed to have forgotten their reason to be here, running around, looking at machines with a smile and writing quick notes on papers. Charles had to remind him that they were running out of time.

They both went towards the back of the room, where Stef stored some survival things. Charles quickly picked them up as AM went to recharge his trusty Medigun. As Charles was picking up some weapons (meant to cure zombieism), he remembered something that Stef said.

"Wait...you have an assistant?"

--x--

After being warned a few more times to turn back by other guards, Jehovah finally made it to the castle. The waves of energy were so great that he had to half close his eyes to be able to see properly. He opened the front door and avoided some of the Gods as they rushed out of the castle, so preoccupied to get away that they didn't even notice the All-mighty near them. Jehovah turned and kept walking down the corridor, leading to the main throne room that was used to judge criminals.

In it, he saw the unruly Mew, using some new, powerful energy to attack the other Gods. Arceus, Palkia and Dialga tried desperately to subdue her, but she easily dodge some of their most powerful attacks and countered with some strong attacks of her own. The other Gods either tried to help the trio, or were trying to escape. Some of them fainted, either from fear or from being attacked.

Then, Rare spotted Jehovah.

He frowned as she smiled.

Charles felt something drop in his stomach, and he had to remind himself to breath as his thoughts brought up the image of the castle, surrounded by the energy that resonated from the new Goddess. No, he refused to call her one. The true Gods didn't need to preform rituals for their powers. She was nothing more than an insane mew, hell-bent on her vision of a perfect Earth, one that would never come to be.

Charles folded his hands under his chin as he listened to Medic shuffle through medical supplies in his frenzy, sneaking notes and vials in his bag when he thought Charles wasn't looking. The former wearer of the sunglasses didn't say anything, but pushed back the fear that forced itself up his body and concentrated on some plan to use against Rare.

-~-

Rare snapped out of her trance as another pokemon's plasma ball flew past her, so close she could rub her nose on it. Jehovah was lost in her line of sight, and she rotated fully around in an attempt to spot him again. The room was covered in fine smoke resulted from the debris and destruction that resulted in the chamber, small dust motes glittering in the dim sunlight shining through the broken windows. It took Rare some effort to not focus on the shining balls of dust, and she focused her energy on reaching out to Esbiate.

The connection was hanging dangerously thin and Rare frowned at how hard it was to focus. It felt like her partner was moving away from her location, and it made her feel lost and alone for the first time since she became a Goddess. She gasped as the connection was suddenly lost, snapped, the psychic line broke. It was then when she noticed her side was numb.

The mew glanced down, patches of fur burned away revealing blacked and smouldering flesh. She snarled, and traced the attack to it's attacker - standing tall and proud was a Rapidash guard, his horn gleaming from the hyper beam that grazed the Mew. She snarled, and raised her paw.

'Wait...WAIT.." The Rapidash cried out and kicked his hoofs, eyes rolling wildly in his head as he attempted to break free from the Mew's grasp. With one smooth motion, the mew closed her fist, and the Rapidash's head turned 360 with a loud SNAP.

It was time to get dangerous.

as their laughter came ever closer, the android backed away, feeling a stab a of fear enter her circuits. though she truly hated the clown menace, she also feared them. this had been one of the many things rare had called an error in programing, she had tried to fix it but instead had caused the androids head to explode. it was much easier to rebuild the defunct robot and download the old processor than to mess with the program.
but that was years ago, and a million imaginary miles away.
tacobot fell back over a fallen rock just as a pipe broke open and spewed natural gas into the air. the tacobot shook her head to wipe away the fear then smiled as an idea formed. she snapped her metallic fingers and a single match appeared within her grasp.
as the clowns ran closer they grinned madly at the sight of their target.
the android waved and slid the match on her own arm, it lit and she tossed it into the gas. "see ya." she smiled tho not as madly as the clowns as they flames ripped into them.


"so you just plan on staying here as the tunnels collapse on you is that it?" somerabbit asked the hatter angrily.
"no i plan on killin me some clowns!" he raised his gun and shot it into the ceiling.
"then you can sit here and rot!" somerabbit was fed up with his former friend, he hopped away, intent on making his own way out if he had to... although he wasn't sure exactly how to do so without his sunglasses.
"hey has anyone seen the tacobot? if te queen is attacking then its because she knows that taco is here, and that might mean that the android was telling the truth." essby explained and for a second the others stared at him trying to comprehend what that meant.
"then where is sh-"
"hey guys!" tacobot ran in smiling more happily than usual. "clowns are flammable! oh hey... where's someguy i mean rabbit?"
"your standing on me... -_-"
"woopse!" she lifted her foot and picked somerabbit up by the scruff of his neck. "did YOU know that clowns are flammable?"
"put me down!"
"but of course! its the est idea i've heard all day!" the hatter waved his gun around and the onlookers, all except for taco, winced as he did so. "we'll blow it up!"
"what?"
"march essby, door chikorita, turn all the valves to full blast."
"all the valves?"
"yes! ALL THE VALVES!"
the two hurried away quickly as somerabbit was still full of befuddlement.
"what does he mean... whats going on!"
"we're gonna blow up the tunnels!" the hatter and taco said at the same time. taco added with a happy grin. "silly rabbit."


are we sure about this? i mean this IS my home... i've worked here for the past ten years... well it seems almost yesterday that i..."
"get on with it!" the other said in unison.
the hatter smiled. "righto then, lets show these darn dirty clowns what the awesome hatter's barboques are like." he rummaged in his coat untill he found a lighter. "i have about 15 different lighters." he said
"that does not surprise me at all." somerabbit remarked
the hatter laughed as he tossed the lighter into the cave, setting off the fire and letting it torpedo down the tunnels.

"well that was easy" somerabbit found that he was smiling despite the circumstances. then he noticed hatter and his two assistants booking it as quickly as they could. "why are they running?"
tacobot shrugged. "lets ask." she suggested
they both ran up to the hatter and his assistants.
"hey hatter!"
"you may wish to run faster, somerabbit."
"um... i'm afraid to ask but... why."
"well, you see... while you were taking a break i rigged the boilers to blow when the fire reaches them..."
"that'll take out the whole mountain!"
"eyup. so you should try to keep up."
"YOU DID WHA" somerabbit stopped in surprise.
"c'mon some bunny, we gotta run remember?" tacobot scooped up her freind and dragged him along like a rag doll.
"i do not feel secure!"
as they continued the hatter took to running backwards, in anticipation of the explosion, a few seconds after the mountain shuddered and heaved as rocks were thrown skyward and fire raced upwards before dieing out.

"Wait...you have an assistant?"

"Eeyup." said AM

"Why did I never saw him? I spent a lot of time here before the "incident"!!" said SG

"He was busy with science! Archimedes!!!!!! I need you now!"

A little penguin ran toward AM.

"Sir yes sir!" It said

"Alright, I need you to help me getting stock from project A46!" asked AM.

"What! But its not ready yet! The bottle still can't resist!"

"Meh, take the fission bottle."

"Oh....yeah that should work."

Someguy stared blankly at the penguin because he saw that his heart was glowing.

"Hum...AM? What is project A46?" asked Someguy

"Übercharge in bottle." he said

"And why his heart is glowing?"

"Übercharge side-effect. I should check Dewmann for that."

Esbiate felt dizzy and weary as the thin mountain and high altitude of the mountain finally began to effect his body. He gave a sidelong glance at Rita, and knew she too was coming down from the adrenaline that pushed her forward, falling into the arms of anxiety and fatigue. His stomach heaved as nausea settled in, but he held his head high and set his eyes forward, not daring to look over the mountain ridge and upon the treetops that proved how high and far away from the rest of the world they were.

Dewman allowed his eyes to travel from the two Pokemon walking silently beside him to the scenery around him. Had the situation been different, the view would have been one of the most lovely experiences he ever witnessed, the overwhelming presence of the large forest sprawled before them, looking inviting despite the circumstances. He sucked in air slowly as he tried to wrap his head around the vastness of the forest. Rare's base wasn't visible at his angle, and he was shocked at the fact they hadn't gotten lost among the millions of trees that looked exactly the same.

Nobody spoke as they slowly inched their way downwards, moving slower than they wanted. They were expected to meet back with Charles and Medic within two hours. While it wasn't the most unreasonable request, the two humans had flown upon the back of the fast and willing Gryphon, while they were stuck dragging their already tired feet into the lair of one of the most grueling battles the human witnessed, owned by one of the more dangerous creatures the Earth had ever seen. Dewman tried to find something to say to the two Pokemon that occupied him - he felt the anger slowly drain away as he recalled how close to death they too were at the hands of Rare. She was willing to do whatever it took to win, and she nearly killed her only friends to do so. But whenever he opened his mouth, he felt his burned, aching throat close. He concentrated on inhaling and exhaling while he fell into his own thoughts.

An hour had already ticked away by the time the trio arrived at the base of the mountain.

"We need to move fast, none of us are in any condition to fight, and there could be solders lurking anywhere in these shadows." Dewman's voice was raspy, as if he was speaking for the first time in many months. Esbiate simply nodded, while Rita looked up hopefully.

"I believe Esbiate and I are safe. We should travel into the forest and scout ahead." Dewman found himself heartbroken over the fact he didn't trust Rita, despite her innocent and earnest nature. Esbiate was focused on something greater, perhaps reaching out to his Queen, searching for signs of her victory - or downfall.

"No, we travel as a group." Dewman flinched at how harsh he sounded, before flashing a small, forced smile. "It's only safer if we stay together. And, we don't have much time."

The forest was abnormally dark as they entered.

-~-

The Red Queen Rare was nowhere to be found. Despite lacking their tyrant leader, the card solders unfolded, the Queen of Diamonds (not a card herself, but a brilliant chess piece that was almost human) leading the pack with her heart designs glowing brilliantly in the sunlight. The snow was of no issue to the cards, as they felt nothing, no remorse, no pain, nothing but the satisfaction of another successful kill.

"The Queen does search her other half, we as one must make a path." The Queen of Diamonds clutched her weapon tightly in her gloved hands, her crown nestled snugly on her head. The order had been given roughly an hour ago by the Red Queen Rare herself, and Diamond would follow her orders to the death. Her eyes scanned over the thousands upon thousands of cards before her - they all raised their spears and chanted their battle cry. Diamond raised her own spear, and recalled her encounter with Red Queen Rare in her mind.

She was back in the throne room, the reddest and most intimidating room of the entire castle. Diamond bowed, her glass body moving fluidly as if it were skin. Rare motioned for her to rise, and folded her paws under her chin.

"Time is running out. I've heard word that the Tacobot is coming close to the answer. I cannot let this happen!" The Queen's voice echoed sharply through the room. Diamond stared, unflinching. "I am heading out within the hour. I must destroy the other Rare - my good half, before that robot finds her and is brought back to life. If she remembers how to turn me good, it's over, for all of us!"

"My Queen she does need to worry, I'll have my cards out in a hurry."

"Burn the land." Rare replied, the shadows under her eyes growing darker. "Burn the entire land, and destroy this robot's mind. She must not wake up. She must not get another body!"

-~-

As the three made their way through the dense, shadowy forest, Dewmann attempted to keep his mind focused on what was ahead. This proved a daunting task however, as he always ended up noticing just how he felt. Everything about him was drained, his spirit, his emotion, his strength, and even his voice. Right now the only reason he was able to keep walking was the fact that stopping meant eventual death, and besides, maybe when they regrouped with Charles and AM, the two of them would have the means to fully patch Dewmann up.

Even so, this prospect still didn't ease Dewmann's still stinging burns, his aching feet, or that empty feeling. He couldn't help but think to himself that even if all of this was resolved and he and the others were able to stop Rare, his life would surely never be the same. In the past several days alone, he had gone through situations far more intense than most other scenarios that every other person would have to deal with. Even if he could get the best counseling for it all, he still knew that this struggle had already changed him forever, and would continue to do so until it was finished, and he didn't feel like most of that change was for the better.

As he walked, Dewmann would occasionally lose his footing through a combination of his tired feet and being lost in thought. He reassured the others that he was alright, but every time he did so, Dewmann was reminded of how sapped of energy he was, and each time, he felt like he could start tearing up.

But he didn't. He was too empty for that.

"You know, I have to respect Master AwesomeMedic, since I'm his assistant and all, but you have to admit that he's a bit...weird." said the penguin as him and Charles picked up some random tools. Normally, the sight of a talking penguin with a glowing heart would've made Charles more than surprised, but, with what happened in the last few days, and with what will happen in the near future, it seemed natural, almost boring. The young man and the bird were staring at Stef as he went on about another rant at how clowns were the worse thing to have ever happened on this planet.

"True. He's a bit weird at times, but he's a good guy, he just has that Awesomevirus that's making him crazy, Archimedes." said Charles in the defense of his friend.

"That's another thing. I have no idea why, but he insists on calling me Archimedes..." The penguin said in a slightly annoyed grunt.

"Wait, your name's not Archimedes?"

"Nope. It's Leeroy. I told Master AwesomeMedic this many, many times, but he still calls me Archimedes. It's annoying, really."

Leeroy then went towards one of the tables near the end of the room, where large glass bottles full of red...something...was boiling on open fires, shaking slightly. It almost seemed like the slightest tap on them could make them explode, and that's maybe why Leeroy picked up one of the bottles very carefully, bringing it towards another table one slow step at a time. There, he grabbed a Disney fission bottle that was conveniently lying around, opened it, and, very carefully, poured what Charles suspected to be project A46 in the bottle.

"There. That should give whoever has it protection for a few minutes. Not as useful as the Medigun's uber, but still great in an emergency situation." said Leeroy as he handed the bottle to Charles. It was still shaking slightly, and it was rather warm.

"Stef, you got everything you need? We have to get going soon." Charles said as he walked towards AM.

Every second wasted was a second that Rare was using to finish her evil plan.

Rare heard the slow, shallow breathing of Jehovah, felt the anger that resonated off him like an invisible aura. In the reaches of her vision, she caught Arceus standing tall and gallant in the mist of smoke, his form barely visible in the eerie wall of dust that encircled him. The mew found herself feeling sick from his gaze, and when she regained her composure the spot where Arceus stood was empty.

She couldn't spot Jehovah.

Rare slowed her own breathing, forcing her mind to find an easy tempo. Half the room, once beautiful, elegant and God-worthy was reduced to broken architecture, a makeshift cemetery that held the bodies of Pokemon, dead or unconscious, their only burial under pounds of concrete and stone. A chilling breeze pushed its way through the broken windows, but the air remained stiff and mounted with tension as the seemingly empty room awaited the first blow, the inevitable defeat of many prominent legends.

Heavy breathing, but the room was bouncing too many sounds in too many places. She strained her ears, but she couldn’t pinpoint the owner. Something moved, quickly, in the corner of her eye, but she lost track of where it went.

“You’re awfully calm.” Jehovah mused somewhere in the grey room. His voice rang entertained, but there was anger, deep anger and disgust behind his words.

“I don’t fear anyone. Not anymore.” Rare replied back, feeling her heartbeat slow in her chest as her body relaxed.

“I gave your species life. I will take yours today, and destroy all living evidence your kind ever existed.” Arceus growled from the other side of the room. Rare tilted her head slightly, and tried to think. Were they circling her?

“You wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t hurt innocents.” Rare challenged, trying to hear his words again, locate his position.

“You don’t know my anger, how deeply it runs. I am not a forgiving creature. I never forget anyone who crosses me.” Arceus inhaled deeply and released a song, and soon the room turned darker, and Rare felt heavier.

“Good. I hope you never forget all your creations I destroyed, like the garbage they were.”
“Goodbye, Mew.”

Before the Pokemon could react, a strange light emanated at her.

"Here it is. This is the cave."
The lengthy silence during the walk to the lair was broken by Esbiate as the group reached the entrance. However, a new quiet fell over the three when they began their trek inside, as they were all on the lookout for any leftover minions.

They weren't quiet enough however, as once they had gotten to the point of the catacombs where jagged rocks began to meet with smoother, unnaturally formed stone, buzzing filled the air, and a group of around seven or eight beedrills rushed in front of the group. Esbiate held a paw up to them, and thankfully, they recognized him as Rare's accomplice.
"Master Esbiate, with all due respect, you have no right from the Queen to be here, let alone bring a... human with you." The beedrill at the front started, sounding positively disgusted as he regarded Dewmann.
Esbiate seemed to have planned for this, as he did not miss a beat at all in his response.
"I trust that you haven't gotten any explicit orders from her telling me to not bring a human here, however?"
"Well no, but that one has specifically been confirmed as an opponent against her majesty, and is to be terminated on sight."
"On the contrary, I've just recieved orders that, since this one is currently docile, he is to be taken to a secure location for detainment, questioning, and possible formal execution if the opportunity presents itself." Esbiate's skillful lying was impressive, as he never so much as broke eye contact with the beedrill.
"But he is a significant threat to-" The beedrill was beginning to get frusturated
"You see this, as a significant threat?" Esbiate interrupted, as he jabbed Dewmann in the side. The response was a grunt of genuine pain, which further convinced the enemy. "Rare knows that this complex can be used to contain the human due to its vastness, structure, and the competance of its guards. Don't let her be mistaken on the latter."

Taken aback by Esbiate's threatening confidence, the beedrill only nodded in response, before it and the others went back the way that they came.
Once it was all clear, the group took a different path, to where Esbiate said they should be able to find a new body for the Tacobot.

However, once the squad of beedrills had split off back into their normal guard duties, the captain realized he hadn't even bothered to ask Esbiate what crucial information could possibly be gained from the human. In addition, he would need to contact the Queen, and verify that this was what she had ordered. He called over some of his subordinates, and ordered them to make sure that Dewmann was properly detained, and then he went to establish communication with Rare.

"Stef, you got everything you need? We have to get going soon." said Charles.

"Wait, I need one more thing! You are going to love it!" replied AM

AM was searching everywhere for his Awesome-Project. He knew he left it somewhere near the aquarium but he couldn't find it.

"Charles, can you search for a briefcase!" asked AM

"ok...what's in there?"

"The Awesome-Project!"

the small group made its way further from the wreckage of the bunker. the explosion had rocked the entire mountain and caused several landslides. the group had taken refuge in a makeshift cave. but the force of the explosion had hit other mountains and caused an avalanche to cover the cave entrance. march essby door-chikorita were busy clearing the snow while awesome hatter and Somerabbit argued about the situation they found themselves in.
tacobot interrupted them. "HEY GUYZ! so whats our next move?"
"our next move should be to get far away from these jokers as possible." somerabbit eyed the hatter. "he nearly killed us all with that little trick of his."
"its all in the wrist, or was it the hat? i can never tell." the hatter asked himself.
"no, it doesnt work that way, silly rabbit, tricks are for kids!"
"i can't believe you just said that..."
"anyway, hatter and the pokemon already joined the party, and in this world there's no party limit! but its probably like fire emblem so once a party member dies then they die for good... sadface."
"well theres always the catapillar." the hatter shrugged.
"he's dead. he died when rare attacked the treehouse."
"not so sirs, you see, the hatter fixed him up." door-chikorita replied.
"i saw him DIE! what, did you just stitch him up and turn him into some freaky frankenstien creation.
"no!" the hatter seemed annoyed that somerabbit even suggested such a thing.
"that was all that was left of him, pieces! well i suppose its good that you didnt, there wasnt much left to save."
"i made him a freaky awesome creation!" the awesome hatter gave a double thumbs up sign.
somerabbit was dumbstruck, he had seen his friend die in te attack, he watched him bleed out. the dewpillar had always been a good and wise friend. he knew before anyone else that rare would betray them, and he had taken steps to prevent it. but no one else believed that the laughing and giggling pink mew could ever do such evil, until it happened.
"we're through!" door chikorita and essby danced round happily as the light began shining through the cave entrance.

they walked upwards, up the side of the mountain. the hatter clicked his boots together and spikes emerged from the bottoms of his boots, he easily climbed the steep rocks and went through the heavily wooded pine forests. essby and chikorita were both well adapted to the walking, and somerabbit being a snow rabbit easily adjusted to the cooler air. tacobot had good motor functions, but the climb must have been heating up her power cells. her internal temperature was rising when the outside temperature was falling. still, it was a minor error, compared to other ones where things were often set on fire.
"so where are we going?"
"the dewpillar was rather angry at being dead when i brought him back. he was quite rude, the moment he was awake he just left. couldn't handle the awesome i guess." the hatter smiled the stupid awesome face grin he was known for.
"more likely he didnt want to live in a world where rare and her clowns ruled all." somerabbit replied.
"well, i take great pride in my work with SCIENCE!" he posed when saying the word science. "so i put a tracker in his heart."
"figures..."
"so how far is he?" taacobot asked. "and, if he's a caterpillar how does he live in the cold? most insects cant live in the cold, they hibernate, or die. depending."
"he's about a days treck up here." essby answered. "i check in every once in a while, to make sure the machinery still works."
"yeah, most of his organs had to be replaced, even the good ones! they had to be upgraded to be compatible with the heart." chikorita added.
"don't worry tacobot there'll be plenty of time to look at pretty flowers and ride ponies that eat butterflies and poop rainbows!"
"i love rainbows!" tacobot smiled. "but do you think we could go a little faster though?"
"what for? did the queen tell you something else when i wasn't looking?"
"its just that my systems are showing signs of overheating, i'm not sure why. the air should be dropping the inside temperature, but instead its rising."
"what happens if you over heat.
tacobot paused thoughtfully before screaming madly. "BOOOM!" and then laughing.
the hatter laughed too, then stopped. "hhaha... what am i laughing at?"
"sir, look over there!" essby pointed down the mountain side, it stretched to the horizon.
"hey looks like the suns coming up... again..." hatter gave it a curious look.
"the sun rises in the east, that's south. what could be bright enough to cause that?"
"guys its not the sun, its fire!"
"i like fire." tacobot replied quickly. "woah!"
"yeah, it looks like rare's trying to smoke us out." some rabbit said as he watched the fire take hold of the forest.
"woah is right, its amazing!" the hatter smiled.
"oooooh aaaaah!" door chikorita gazed at the picturesque scene.
"errror... system overloading... please... switch off... emergency..." tacobot shook her head and blinked, she hated it when the stupid safety programing got in her way. the other hadnt heard the error message, that was all good. after the tacobot could get a chance to cool off itself, usually that worked with just temporary restart or sitting still, then there would be no problem. the temperature was still rising, but it was manageable.


somewhere in the world that tacobot had left not so long ago, an esbiate still held onto its memory chip. the plain chip had been nonreactive and as dead as the body it had come from since it had been removed only a day ago. but now it was heating up, barely noticeable for a warm blooded creature, unless one was to take a closer look at it.

Rare squinted through the blackness, dull shades of gray and brown making up the shapes of what was left of the throne room. Faded sounds of voices in the other rooms echoed down the halls, someone commanding orders, others responding accordingly. The mew studied the new situation - her memory was blinded as she tried to recall the events that lead up to the blackout, and the ache in her head told her it was useless. A wave of sparks, and the room was lighted enough for her to paint a better picture.

A large hole before her, too dark to see through, and the remembrance of a beam of light raging towards her caused a domino effect as she recalled the attack she dodged - the beam exploded in a magnificent firework, and Rare held up her paws, blocking the explosion with her own energy, grabbing it with painful determination and sending it flying towards the entrance of the throne room, the aftershock pushing the small pokemon backwards and knocking her unconscious.

Someone moved in the dimness, obviously limping and trying to hide. Voices in the adjacent room cried out as an explosion pierced open walls, and someone else was calling out commands with others responding accordingly.

“Can’t I catch a opportunity?” Rare muttered as a search team began to form. Arceus wasn’t present, Jehovah was equally missing, but Rare knew she didn’t defeat them with her desperate attempt. Something underneath her trembled, and her paws ran over a small crack formed in the ground. The crack began to grow, and the fracture shot forwards like a bullet towards the castle entrance. The mew grinned, and formed her best energy plasma ball, slamming it deep within the crevice. The spell disappeared, but moments later the split began to glow, brighter, brighter, until-

“Everybody, MOVE!” Someone shouted and the wave of screams followed by an explosive sound as the fissure grew extraordinary fast, splitting the castle down the middle, told Rare she caught the break she needed. The castle trembled furiously as the two ends began to pull away, the bigger half collapsing from the firm hold it had, and the sudden illumination of sunlight announced the awful truth that the second part of the castle was breaking free and crumbling towards Earth.

The mew’s eyes, now white and glowing with power, searched the remaining side of the structure, the castle remained huge and colossal despite the second half slowly falling apart. She would kill any God that crossed her path until she found Arceus and Jehovah, and then they too would meet their demise. She was sure of it.

-x-

“Communications establishment failed.” The beedrill that remained were deep in the heart of their Queens base, roughly a thousand left over from the onslaught earlier. Hatred and anger rang deep in their minds towards the humans, and it was hard to suppress the emotions.

“Esbiate has been Queen Rare’s second in command for several years. Are you saying we cannot trust him?” Someone else asked.

“He worked with the humans before.” Another replied with underline sadness.
“The Queen is our priority. We must protect her and her mission.”
“Then it’s settled. We launch the ambush.

"I'm fairly sure she said that there was a spare body, and if there is, then it would be in here." Esbiate informed the others as they entered what looked to be a much more mechanical chamber than any other in the complex. Machines of various sizes were connected to all of the walls, and consoles stretched across them with countless buttons and levers adorning them.

"This whas where the Tacobot was kept, contained really, or rather attempted to be contained, when not on duty." Esbiate continued, head turning to various directions looking for a body.
Taking a closer look at his surroundings, it was clear to Dewmann that Tacoline spent enough of her time here. Various metal parts were strewn about, as well as completely random items, such as slushie cups, cupcake wrappers, tubes of toothpaste, ripped up pictures of clowns, and many more items, some recognizable, others far from the state.

"What exactly are all these machines and metal bits for?" Chikorita spoke up, carefully avoiding a large and jagged metal sheet in her path.
"I'm pretty sure most of it was made to keep her distracted. Don't know if it worked though. Aha!"
Esbiate motioned for the group to follow him as he walked briskly towards a pod of clear glass connected to a small console in a corner of the room. Inside that pod was a body remarkably similar to that of the old Tacobot, but shinier, smoother, and overall looking like an improved model. Telekenetically lifting the chip containing what truly made the Tacobot what it was out of his fur, Esbiate motioned towards the console.

"This seems to be a pretty simple model. You shouldn't have much difficulty getting it ready for the activation."
"Alright then." Dewmann answered, hoping his voice had stopped being so hoarse in the last several minutes. Unfortunatley, he couldn't really tell if it had changed much. He powered up the console, and, to his dismay, it asked for a password.
However, although no one could truly know what went on in Tacobot's mind, with the exception of herself of course, and possibly the Medic, Dewmann still had gotten to know her just enough to let his gut figure this one out for him.

"Tacokillsclowns"
Password accepted

The pod opened with a hiss, and after a few moments of figuring out what icon meant what, Dewmann enabled the opening of the Tacobot's head, and Esbiate looked inside in order to find the spot where the chip went. Inserting it, the head automatically closed up, as did the glass covering of the pod, and the screen of the console gave another message.

Tacobot will automatically activate when upgrades are complete

"How long do you think that'll take?" Dewmann asked Esbiate's opinion.

before the Riolu could answer however, the droning noise of beedrills buzzing rapidly towards the chamber filled the air. Dewmann drew the dulled, bloodstained hatchet as Esbiate and Chikorita took battle preperations of their own, as members of Rare's army cmae swarming into the room, trapping the three in the corner that they already happened to be in.

The Gryphon grounded his beak into the ground, impatience itching at him like an ingrown feather, and he had to resist the urge to preen, already causing light damage to the wing tips by his excess grooming.

How long to they expect me to wait? He lifted his large head and inspected the castle that contained the power he desired, his ears twitching as he picked up voices coming from inside the human's base. I haven't the foggiest notion of what I would be dealing with if I went alone. Gryphon sighed heavily before standing on strong hindlegs, poised like the castle statues he often admired back when castles prided themselves on art and detail. He cocked his head in typical gryphon curiosity. What if he simply flew close, scaled out the place before rushing in?

Silly bird, you should know by now about rushing into things. He warned himself and promptly ignored his scolding as he spread his wings and took off with grace that many normal large animals wouldn't be able to perform, hind legs pulled close to his body as he rolled mid-air and relished the wind in his face once more. Ahh, how I missed this. And once I grab hold of that power, I will be able to fly anywhere, do anything...

The wind pushed through his feathers, tugging and pulling and teasing the primaries as the mythical creature glided easily along the mountains and rocketed upwards lazily, enjoying the warmth of the sun and breeze on his face as the Castle in the sky grew closer.

It's impressive. I've only heard stories about this castle, but to actually see it up clos- The gryphon's thoughts cut short as his instinct screamed at him to bank right - and hard - although he couldn't tell why.

Am I being attacked? What- BWEEEEEEEeeeeeoooooo

The flash of light that engulfed the castle was blindingly painful for the enhanced eyes of the beast, and he cursed himself for not being careful as he veered away from the sudden beam that blasted through the castle's walls, causing part of the base to crumble away and fall to earth. The walls were quickly crumbling away as concrete and marble broke free and fell to gravity. Gryphon steadied himself and blinked away the bright spots that clouded his vision, until he once again saw clearly - and saw a massive side of the castle giving way. He watched for several heartbeats, breathing quick and shallow as he witnessed the destruction.

Charles and Medic paused in their debate, both of them staring for several seconds at each other before someone broke the sudden silence.

"Did you feel that?" Charles whispered, stomach feeling icy at the thought of HOW bad their luck could get.

"It felt like an explosion, I would know from the vibrations and feeling many explosions in my lifetime." Medic answered as another shockwave shook the ground.

"That's what I was afraid of." Charles groaned and held his head in his hands as he tried to fight away another growing headache.

"Humans!" The gryphon burst through the door, knocking one off its hinges. "The castle - it's falling apart!"


-x-

Charles and AM looked at each other before looking towards the gryphon. The castle breaking up was anything but good news. Rare mist be becoming too powerful. AM was the first to talk.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a second...you can talk?" he asked the Gryphon, who seemed more annoyed than anything

"We don't have any time to lose. Hurry!" said the gryphon. Charles grabbed the things the group will need and jumped on the gryphon along with AM. The gryphon rapidly spread his wings and flew upwards, towards the castle.

"Whoa, where are you going? We're heading back to Rare's lair, to get the others." Charles screamed as the beast went higher and higher. Gryphon stopped and started to hover in midair. He was impatient to get to the castle, to see what was happening, to see if he can have the power to himself. He had to resist the urge of letting these two pesky humans fall down 2000 feet, since they were the only way he would be able to get into the castle. So, he told them, in the best way he could to try to sound calm and nice

"Alright, alright, let's go get them right now..."

The gryphon changed course drastically and zoomed towards Mount Marmalade.

Dewmann glanced downwards at the two Pokemon and glowered, hands already working the hatchet from its sheath as he prepared for battle.

"I thought you said they trusted you!"
"Obviously it's was you who made them anxious!"
"Gentlemen, focus!"

Dewman had just enough time to dodge sideways as one of the larger beedrills divebombed and stabbed the spot where the human's chest had been seconds prior. He raised his hatchet and sunk it deep into the beedrill's back, where it cried out as her exoskeleton split, revealing soft and vulnerable tissue. With his free hand, the man pulled the skeleton open, spilling the insides on the ground, and he barely caught his breath when he was forced to jump backwards as another stinger missed his face by mere inches.

The Beedrill that targeted Esbiate was deformed, mottled yellow and black and covered in fresh battle scars. He flew high and aimed at his target with stinger brandished, failing to meet his mark as the pokemon lept to the right, offering an opening for the Chikorita to stab the beedrill with sharpened blades of leaves, leaving a clean kill.

"Tacobot is installing updates - 6 percent."

"I know Rare's beedrills. You notice that scent? That's attack pheromones, and any beedrill within the area will swarm us, whether they want to or not." Esbiate took the lull in battle to crouch behind several tables next to Dewman, who was cleaning fresh blood off his hatchet.

"Great." Dewman deadpanned. He didn't care, he was tired and aching, and felt jaded by the violence he was exposed to. He glanced around the room, and the supercomputer at the far side opposite them caught his eye. "Esbiate, what is that?"

"It monitors-"

"Can it explode?"

"....Very much so, yes, I suppose it could, if overloaded."Dewman paused, giving himself a moment to absorb what the Riolu had said.

"Great. Wait here, I'm going to channel my inner Medic."

"Tacobot is installing updates - 26 percent."

The Bloodborn awoke. He did not wake up vulinartally, a presnce had awoken him. Master stood at the mouth of his cave, calling his name. He responed, his will belonging to Master. It moved forward until it was in the Dayfire's light. It stung it's cat-like eyes and glinted brightly off of it's lizard claws. It's black serpent body moved gracflully out of the cave and the Dayfire made the fur on it's body feel like hot stones, but it could bare the pain.
He gave a asutive snap of his scarlet vulture beak to a female creature dressed in red. Master tenced and took a step closer to the creature. The Bloodborn did not understand the words that Master had said to the creature or what she said to him, but it reconized one word. It was the name that the Prey gave him. Master was of the Prey and this creature was also one, but Master took the Bloodborn's will long ago. The Prey's name for him was "Jabberwokey."
"So, how good of a hunter is this freak?" Queen Rare asked Katls, the Knave of Hearts.
"He's the best I have. He's a freak, but he'll get the job done," Katls said reassudly.
"Well, he'd have to fly to chetch her. I don't see any wings on him."
"Just give him the scent samples and you'll see."
The Bloodborn retacted slightly as the creature aproched it, but with a quick nod from Master it stayed still. The creature persented several objects. It let it's forked tounge roll out and breathed deep. The scent trails apeared before its eyes. It uprighted itself onto its rear legs and flet it's bat-like wings burst from it's spine.
Prey hunt. Prey hunt. Hunt Prey. Hunt Prey for Master. Hunt, where the thoughs that passed through the Bloodborn's mind. It let out a deep gudderal roar as it soared into the sky.

Dewmannn began fighting his way towards the computer, wildly swinging the hatchet into the craniums of the beedrills in his way. When he reached the device, he turned back to keep himself aware of anymore attackers. Seeming clear, he turned his head back towards the computer, and started hitting buttons wildly until it booted up. Driving off a sudden wave of beedrills with savage blows from the hatchet combined with swift kicks and punches when he felt that they were viable options, Dewmann again turned to face the screen, only to be greeted by a need for a password. He didn't skip a beat.
"Tacokillsclowns"
"Password accepted"
As icons for various systems of the chamber popped up, a thought struck Dewmann, and he turned and shouted to Esbiate. "Would Tacobot's upgrades be cancelled if this thing blows!?"
"Can't say for sure, but I don't think we have time to mull this decision over!" Was the response from the Riolu, who was guarding Chikorita's back, and she likewise with his, as a swarm descended upon them.
Gonna have to risk it then. Dewmann thought, as he began loading programs up in order to have them run well over capacity, stopping every so often to quickly and brutally bring down any attackers.
He had neither the time nor patience for mercy now.

up the mountain they went, tacobot could have moved quickly on her own, skipping merrily through the snow. and she did just that once, long enough to realize that she had no clue where they were going. that made progress slow. the heating problem from earlier hadn't gone away, in fact it had increased. at 50% over the normal limit it was affecting the tacobots visual functions, she knew this because of the self diagnostic she was running. her internal systems were tanking As the heat continued to rise.
half way up the mountain the tacobot walked more slowly and eventually fell, her internal systems threatening to shutdown if the heating problem wasnt fixed.
but how could she fix it, if she didn't know what was causing it. she looked up at her wonderland friends and in her vision the image became scewwed, showing instead her friends from the real world walking away. behind her was the fiery inferno that was consuming her mind. she smiled though, she liked fire because clowns hated it.

[real world]
404 ERROR file not found... PLEASE INSERT UNDAMAGED MEMORY CHIP INTO HARDWARE... Current Chip is 75% overheated. upgrades cannot be completed as dialed please try again
then the monitor switches to a video of rare staring angrily at the computer
"taco! what did i say about playing with the upgrade machine?" there was a pause akin to dora the explorer. "that's right! so stop fooling around and get back to... whatever you do around here... i'm not really sure. just get back to it!"
the screen goes back to the loading upgrade screen except for the red blinking words:
CHIP IS CURRENTLY 76% OVERHEATED

[not so real world]
the creature moved over the land like a lightning strike over the ground. within minutes the mountain was visible to it, the flames making it shine more than the sun. the smaller creatures colored brightly and looking like candy tot he monster whispered the name "jabberwocky" as it ran past. it didnt hesitate to eat several of them as it tracked its prey.

"HEEEEEEEYYYYY...." there was a pause in the noise. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYY YOUOOOOUUUUU..." he sighed in the hopes that it would go away. "HEEEEEEEEYYYY YOU WITH THE FACE!"
"you're standing right next to me, hatter. i can hear you."
"oh shi- how did u even..."
"i walked."
"ah, good dewpillar... you look... eh, nice?" somerabbit looked at the slightly mechanical catapillar. he was unlike other catapillars even before he.. died. he had been quick and agile especially in the trees.

As soon as the smoke cleared Dewmann looked up from the cover he had ducked behind. The computer screen had completely shattered, and countless shards had shot out in the explosion, incapacitating several beedrills, leaving them on the ground writhing in pain, and clearing a way to an exit the party could get escape through.

They'd have to make use of this respite quickly however, as there were still beedrills who had come out of the explosion relatively unscathed, and more were still on the way. Seeing Esbiate and Chikorita hop out from one side of a pile of debris and run towards the exit, Dewmann quickly ran to join them.

"Looks like we'll have to make due without her." Esbiate huffed, as the three continued sprinting through the complex, the sound of hostile droning never too far away.
"What help would she have been ayways?" Chikorita asked.
"We have no idea." Dewmann answered, "But she certainly would have done something."

Back in the chamber however, away from the bodies of beedrills, the pod, its occupant, and console were still intact and able to function.

"The Castle is breaking!"

Jehovah and Arceus turned around as they heard this news. They both thought that it was finally over, and that the pesky Mew's soul will be rotting in Hell quickly. They were even about to head outside to clear their minds from all of this. But things weren't done yet, it seemed.

The two All-mighty beings rushed towards the enormous crack as part of the castle was falling. Using their powers, they managed to stop half of the Castle from falling down into the Earth below, but it took some efforts for them; they used a lot of their energy into annihilating the "Goddess". Even though she wasn't a pure blood God like the rest, it still takes enormous energy to kill a God, an amount of energy that no mortal could ever dream of possessing. They slowly started raising the large piece of the Castle, and were about to fix this mess when Ho-Oh, God of the skies, came towards the God of Humans and the God of Pokemons.

"Masters! We have a grave emergency!" He squawked quickly and nervously.

"We know, Ho-Oh. We're fixing it right now." said Jehovah, still straining at the large half of the Castle.

"N-no, it's not that. It's...it's the Mew. She's still alive!"

"WHAT?! But that's impossible!" exclaimed both of the major Gods at the same time. But, as they were finishing their phrase, a large sound was heard, like an explosion, and one of the Castle guards was blown into the room, dead before he even hit the ground. Some screaming, both angry and fearful, was heard, along with the sounds of fighting and the sight of certain Gods being escorted towards the front of the Castle. Jehovah and Arceus looked at each other. They were in a tight spot; either they continue fixing the Castle and let the Mew kill and destroy others for a while, or they go and confront her immediately and risk having the Castle fall onto the Earth below.

-x-

Charles and AM went zooming down towards Rare's lair at an incredible speed, so fast that they were scared they or the supplies they had would fall. The gryphon only slowed down when he arrived at a few feet away from the floor, and landed with amazing grace for something that almost broke the sound barrier.

"Hurry, let's get your friends and get to the Castle!" said the gryphon in an impatient manner. Charles and AM rushed in, going down some corridors as fast as their legs could carry them. Unfortunately, their path was blocked by a few beedrills and some beecats.

"It's the Undesirable number 1 and that Medic! GET THEM!" screamed the leader of the group as he pointed them with his large stinger. 4 large beedrills and 3 beecats started rushing towards them.

"Get behind me, Doctor!" Charles shouted as his friend handed him a baseball bat they picked up and placed with the other weapons. Gripping it tightly, he swung one of the beedrills with great force, knocking it aside as Rare's minions started scratching and trying to impale the young boy. But, with AM behind him, giving Charles a good shot from his fully charged Medigun, the boy felt little to no pain at the attacks. Some tried to reach AM, but Charles had his back, keeping them all away from his friend. Eventually, after almost breaking the jaw of one of the beedrills, the enemies that were still standing retreated, hoping to find some reinforcement.

Charles and AM continued to run down the corridors.

Dewmann, Esbiate, and Rita continued racing through the winding complex, Rare's minions never far away, until Esbiate motioned for them all to stop. The other two were confused.

"We don't have time to stop, I can still hear the droning!" He hissed, not out of malice, but in order to keep quiet as to not give their enemy a good idea as to where they were in the lair.
"Yes, but listen! Over the droning, do you hear what I think I'm hearing?"
Dewmann noticed what Esbiate was getting at. "Footsteps. Running ones at that. Our ride must be here then."
"They're coming from over here. C'mon!" The Riolu took the lead, and the three kept going until they saw the familliar Judo outfit and labcoat.

"It's hella good to see you guys again." Dewmann greeted them.
"Where's Tacobot?" AM got his piece in as soon as he could.
"We were waiting for her to upgrade when we got ambushed, and had to take some creative measures in order to get out of that one, but I don't think we're going to be able to have her help."
Noticing the Medic's disposition damper a bit, Dewmann continued "I don't know if the upgrading was fully stopped though. Maybe she'll just be late to the party."

"Here, take this." Charles said as he reached for some of the supplies he an medic had brought, and grabbed a semi-automatic pistol for Dewmann, along with a few clips of ammunition. "And maybe this'll help too." He added, as he also handed over a combat knife. Not as much of a cutting tool as that hatchet of yours, but probably sharper."
"Thanks man, now let's move!" Dewmann ended the conversation as he pocketed the ammo and knife and held the pistol in a death grip, safety off, but finger outside the trigger guard.
The five wordlessly ran back towards the entrance, with the silence being broken again by Dewmann as they exited and he saw the Gods' castle, fragmented and falling.
"Oh shit."