Miho Chan
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Chapter 29: Hoopa and the Faller of Earth
🕑 Added 2024-05-01 23:15:29 +0000 UTCPandemonium descended upon the somewhat quiet street, barked orders from the Flare grunts and scientists intertwined with the screams of panic from the few civilians that were touring the relatively quiet street that Kiritsugu had found himself in. Immediately, he was faced with a choice. The old him would have found the civilian casualties regrettable but ultimately acceptable if the literal god that he was protecting managed to escape. But now?
Throwing out three Pokeballs with a flick of his wrist, he barked his orders out aloud, his crisp voice carrying his voice through the din that had descended upon the previously peaceful side street. “Braixen, protect the civilians. Frogadier, protect Hoopa. Chespin, stick with Braixen and watch her back.”
“I’m bodyguarding a god?” Frogadier croaked as they leapt into action, a Water Pulse leaving their mouth through a cupped foreleg to intercept a barrage of Shadow Balls launched towards their new charge. As Kiritsugu turned his attention away to briefly assess the general situation, he heard one of his newest team members call back towards him, “Thank you for trusting this to me!”
‘Note to self. Frogadier has self confidence issues. Why would I not trust them?’
At the same time, he heard more than saw Braixen herding the civilians already caught in the crossfire towards the various alleyways and nooks nearby, her unique brand of caustic encouragement ringing through his mind as his training took over. Unholstering a pistol, the former assassin targeted and sighted upon what looked to be the leader of the group of grunts firing wildly towards the Legendary Pokemon. Deciding that it would likely cause Looker minutely less paperwork if he did his due diligence, he roared authoritatively, “International Police, drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them!”
The man in the tweed jacket blinked up at him. “Ah, don’t be a wet blanket, lad!” he cheered in a distinct Galarian accent. “Come on out, gang!” With a flash, an Empoleon locked metal wings in front of his trainer, while a bipedal Lycanroc and a Cinderace materialized on either side. The lupine pokemon took one look around, then smacked his face with a palm. He groaned something around his hand. A dozen other Pokemon spawned out of the crowd of grunts, Kiri noting an excess of Dark and Ghost types among their number.
“No cheek from you! Gettem, lads!” The apparent leader, evidently named Wallace, cheered. Battlecries rang out as the Flare grunts and their Pokemon surged forward with the leader’s Cinderace leading the charge. Kerry felt more shapes form at his flanks as Elle’s team formed around him.
Kiritsugu pivoted, his circuits blazing as he let the sensation of pulling the trigger on a friend drag run through his body. Breathing deeply, he executed the mystery carved into his crest; ‘Time Alter: Double Accel’. The world slowed as his personal time was accelerated to double the speed of the world itself, and, utilizing the brief time afforded to him by the spell, he fired beanbag round after beanbag round at the Flare Grunts firing wildly in their general direction; it wouldn’t do to leave idiots without the barest hint of gun safety potentially hurting civilians.
As he focused down the gun-bearing grunts, Kiritsugu noted his team and Elle dealing with the onrushing Pokemon out of the corner of his eye. The charging Cinderace was forced to abandon their rush as a deluge of various water type moves crashed into the spot they had been in moments before. Moments later, they were forced to evade a barrage of fire and psychic energy, courtesy of both Amelie and Braixen. Additionally, he noted Cursola, Houndour, Liepard, and Gourgeist were out of the fight; knocked silly as blasts of wind, bursts of fire, and lightning bolts connected with their flesh.
Reloading his sidearm with military precision, Kiritsugu assessed the battlefield once more. So far, everything seemed to be under control. The grunts were keeping their heads down now; far too terrified of the threat he posed to do more than occasionally attempt to fire off a few shots, and Elle and his team had the threat of the Pokemon contained. All they currently had to do was wait for the backup that would inevitably come. But who’s would show up first?
The sound of Flare’s field leader cursing from behind his metallic penguin shield rose over the chaos of the impromptu battlefield. “Oh bother, this is not under control! Grommet, give me a hand, that’s a good lad!” The Lycanroc ducked behind the exasperated Empoleon, emerging moments later wearing some sort of vacuum backpack. “Right, that’s the trick!” Grommet huffed, then pulled the trigger, an odd beam of white light lancing past Kiritsugu and searing the barrier Hoopa had thrown up.
Not about to let that nonsense continue, Kiritsugu popped out of cover and fired three shots towards the odd backpack, cracking the glass case on the back with the third hit. With a yelp, the Lycanroc yanked off the device and hurled it skyward, the device detonating into a rain of shrapnel and loose bolts.
“Not my Proton Pack! Now how are we going to catch the blighter?” The scientist wailed, popping out from behind cover to shake his fist at Kiritsugu. “No respect for a man’s inventions, bastar–”
Kerry took the opportunity to peg the bald man with a bullet, the dull thunk of the beanbag round causing the odd man’s eyes to roll up in his head. Before he could capitalize, one of the grunts focused on him, Kerry barely evading the shots; by the time he managed to bring down the would-be gunslinger, the Lycanroc had tossed his master over his shoulder and run off down a side alley with the grace of much practice, the battered Empoleon dashing along behind with a weakly struggling and wounded bunny held with one flipper.
Elle called out, drawing Kiristugu’s attention, her team turning to face her pointing. “Incoming!”
The doors to the nearest office building were thrown open, a second wave of Flare grunts fanned out, this time accompanied by a woman in a purple gown, a tall man in desert camouflage, and a scruffy man in some sort of robes. The man in fatigues raised some sort of wide-mouthed gun while his team materialized around him, while his two companions each deployed their own Pokemon and raised their hand, wisps of flame and tendrils of psychic power manifesting. The hunter spoke up. “Stand down, bastard. I’m not missing the biggest score I’ve ever seen.”
“Braixen, Chespin, assist Elle once all the civilians are clear!” Kiritsugu barked, popping out of cover briefly to fire off a few shots towards the newly arrived officers, ducking back down moments later when an electrified net flew over his head, the hunter racking his launcher as his hounds bore down on Kiritsugu.
Amelie chimed in. “The civilians are out of the way, though I can feel some watching from the windows above. We’re– hold on, incoming attack.”
The psychic reached out with one hand, eyes glowing. “Soon you shall see the wrath of the Demon Lor-” Her words cut off as Kiritsugu felt something touch his mind, only to be shoved out moments later by another angry presence and the sensation of roaring flames.
“That’s our trainer, bitch. Stay out!” Braixen’s mental voice growled. Shooting one of his two psychically inclined Pokemon a grateful look, Kiritsugu turned towards Amelie, who hadn’t left her perch on his shoulder, the little fairy deflecting a fireball with a swing of her hand.
“Amelie, can you teleport us over there?” He requested, gesturing towards a road barrier, “We can get a crossfire going from there with Elle’s team.”
“Got it.” With a burst of motion which was rapidly becoming familiar, Kiritsugu found himself with a different perspective on the battlefield, now able to view the fight from a spectator’s position. Chespin and Braixen had managed to get all the civilians to safety and were now alternating between aiding Elle in containing the other Pokemon, and helping Frogadier keep Hoopa and the young woman with him safe. The young lady was ducking behind cover, staying within the barrier and irregularly sending flares of golden light out to strike at Pokemon and humans who got too close. Hoopa, meanwhile, was straining more and more, his rings shrinking as he tried to keep the barrier up under a hail of moves, bullets, and other more esoteric blasts.
As he continued to asses the battlefield, he could see Elle looking out from behind a dumpster, sending potshots from her pistol at the oncoming grunts as four members of her team– Ampharos, Houndoom, Braviary, and the frequently dodging form of Haboo– took down the much weaker Pokemon deployed by Flare. In the background, Kiritsugu could hear sirens approaching, but that in and of itself might not be a good thing. Reloading his weapon and pocketing the magazine, Kiritsugu took a deep breath and popped out of cover.
‘Time Alter: Double Accel!’
Once more, the world slowed to a crawl, familiar, agonizing pain filling his body as he aimed downrange towards the multitude of grunts and slightly more important members of the terrorist organization. Emptying his magazine, he released the mystery and ducked back into cover, the satisfying shouts of surprise as twelve members of Team Flare dropped to the ground resounding through the street.
As the psychic and the hunter fell, the would-be mage whirled on Kiritsugu. “Do you have no honor, wizard? Come face me in a proper mage’s duel!” He spread his fingers, lances of burning light blasting into the concrete the ex-assassin sheltered behind. “Behold my power!”
Not even dignifying the imbecile with a response, Kiritsugu popped out of cover once more with a fresh magazine, shooting the would-be mage in the head, twice. The first shot sent him reeling, while the second popped an eye, sending the man into the ground, screaming hysterically. Amelie teleported out for a second, then slammed a Psybeam into the incorporeal body of the man’s Haunter, knocking it out. She then grimaced, clutching her head as the doors to the office building swung open for a third time, this time releasing a yet larger group of Flare agents and a cluster of scientists in lab coats. “There’s something coming in via teleport! I think this is all of them, but we’re about to be outnumbered!”
Hoopa yelled as the new grunts blasted his weakening barrier. “NOPE! Hoopa says bye-bye!” he yelled, golden rings surrounding everyone that wasn’t a Flare grunt as Kiritsugu’s eyes were washed in white…
--(0)--
The passage through Hoopa’s ring wasn’t like the instantaneous travel of teleportation, but also didn’t disorient like the same; Kiritsugu found himself falling through the white onto his feet as though the ground had given way below him. Looking around, Kiritsugu found himself at the base of the massive structure of the Dahara Tower, surrounded by a group of curious locals and tourists.
“Hoopa, are you alright?” The cleric from earlier was bent over Hoopa, the little spirit flagging close to the tiles of the courtyard.
“Hoopa is fine, just tired,” the little mythical said with a shake of his head. “Not used to holding up barriers like that… that happened really fast.”
“Firefights are like that.” Elle said, moving to intercept some tourists who were trying to get closer to the group. “Excuse me, gendarmes? Yes, you over there, this is Interpol business, here’s my badge–”
As Elle began to speak with the local security officers, Kiritsugu looked around warily. The thin crowd was remaining at a slight distance, some glancing nervously at his gun, others watching Hoopa with rapt attention. Both his team and Elle’s were picking themselves up, Amelie still perched on his shoulder. The expansive stone courtyard around the base of the tower was wide open, allowing a clear view of both the sea and the rising sun.
“I don’t feel any Flare agents nearby. We have a few minutes of safety.” Amelie said quietly. “I’m honestly surprised Miss Meray is keeping her wits about her, though.”
“She’s presumably been around Hoopa, a Legendary, long enough to get used to events such as this,” Kiritsugu pointed out, though he was only truly guessing. Some people were just like that; cool under pressure, until the very moment they were no longer under pressure, and fell apart.
“Well, she seems to be holding together for now. What’s our next move?” Amelie looked around, even as the security guards started escorting people away from the building, a stream of tourists emerging from the tower. “It looks like Elle’s managed to start an evacuation.”
“As I see it, we have a few options. Some of them are more risky than others.” Kiritsugu began, holding up three fingers, “First,” He lowered one, “We bunker down here, after evacuating all the civilians, and catch Flare when they come for the target. It’s risky, but it gives us the biggest return on our investment.” He paused, eyeing the clearing before continuing, “Second, we rat. We get away from this location with Hoopa in tow, and go to ground. This is by far the safest option for Hoopa and his guardian, but has no return.” He shook his head at that, “I’d rather not, but it is an option. Finally, we can, instead of bunkering down here, use the very convenient building behind us and turn it into a deathtrap for Flare. Of course, it is a historical monument, so we probably shouldn’t, but the option does exist.”
“Hoopa says number three is the best. The tower is very sturdy, and Meray should be able to ask Arceus for defenses.” Hoopa chimed in, floating into the air.
“Hoopa, can you just leave and let us pretend you’re here?” Elle asked, returning to the group.
“...no. Hoopa has a lot of power left, but Hoopa needs some time to refocus before he could bring anyone with him safely. Hoopa-.” Hoopa’s words were cut off as a tingle ran across the group, he and Amelie both flinching at the same moment.
The little fairy spoke up. “They’re using Psychic types to sweep for us. Hiding Hoopa is going to be impossible, and they’ll be here soon.”
“The Tower seems like the best bet, then.” Elle glanced at Meray. “You could leave, you know.”
“...I think I’d end up a hostage if that happened,” Meray said quietly, then looked at the tower. “And I remember some of the defensive chants grandfather taught us. If they’re magnified by the tower…”
“Then we need to go.” Kiritsugu returned Chespin and Braixen, darting forward to scoop up Meray. “Let’s get inside, and we can set up a killzone from there.”
“...killzone?” Meray said quietly as they crossed the rapidly emptying courtyard. “What does that mean?”
“... It means Kiritsugu is done playing nice,” Elle sighed, sending her partner a look, “Are you sure?”
“They shot up a side street. With live ammunition. Most of their shots were uncoordinated and missed, and we were insanely lucky that none of them hit any pedestrians, cars, or various other innocents. I’m willing to keep the kid gloves on only for as long as they don’t involve innocents.” Kiritsugu paused, his eyes cold. “But they asked for the Magus Killer, and they’ll get him.”
--(0)--
“... could we just hold the tower?” Meray asked through the comms as Kiritsugu set up the last of the traps he could prepare. The massive tower was empty of all but the defenders, Meray’s wards funneling any incoming teleports into the wide courtyard. “I think I can lock it down entirely…”
“Meray is not that strong! Channel too much of Arceus’ power, she will burn!” Hoopa exclaimed from her side. “Hoopa has seen it before, with one who channeled Hoopa’s own power.” He frowned. “He lived. But he hurt for a long time.”
“He’s right. The tower’s sturdy, but if they start blasting their way in, something’s going to give way.” Elle chimed in. “This plan is sound. Amelie, tell Kiri how long we have before they get here.”
“No more than a minute, I can sense multiple sweeps. Hoopa will likely pick up their teleports before I do,” the Kirlia told her partner. “Fighting to protect a legendary… I didn’t think that’s what following you would mean,” she said to Kiritsugu as he relayed her words to the rest of the team.
“Best to focus for now, Amelie, though I didn’t think this would be how my life turned out either.” Kiritsugu admonished gently, his gaze fixated on the courtyard through the scope of a marksman rifle he’d produced from his coat.
“Right– incoming teleports. Braixen says she sees something else coming, too.” Amelie muttered as a flash down below caused Kiritsugu’s rifle lens to darken briefly. When it reverted, he saw a dozen Flare grunts and a pair of scientists wearing Proton packs looking around in confusion, a pack of Houndor and a clowder of Purrloin swarming around them. One of the scientists sighted the tower, and pointed, rallying his allies to advance.
The Ex-Magus Killer aimed at the would-be leader, gently squeezing the trigger. He let out a resigned sigh as the distant man’s head cracked open in a shower of gore, sending the men who’d rallied around him to scattering in a panic, a few rushing towards the tower as the Pokemon charged ahead. “Elle, there’s a pack of dark-types approaching the tower.” Kiritsugu snapped a bullet through one of the lead dogs, the fall of the Houndour halting the rest of the pack as they paused, howling mournfully. “You need to be ready to intercept.”
“Got it. I go through to Looker, he says the team he had on standby will be here in two hours. He wasn’t expecting to need Teleport support on such short notice.” Elle said regretfully.
“This isn’t going to last two hours, Elle.” Kiritsugu frowned, watching as Flare continued to teleport forces in. “One way or another, this is ending here and now. Tell him to hurry the hell up. I’m not sure we can win on our own.”
“I’ll pass it on,” Elle replied as Kiritsugu shot more of the oncoming Pokemon and humans, shifting his attention to the front as another teleport lit the courtyard. “We can hold the doors for a while, at least. These guys are almost untrained.”
“That’s something,” Kiritsugu muttered as he started shooting again.
“It’s not hard to find Pokemon willing to actually hurt people, but it is hard to train large numbers of them without tipping someone off.” Amelie commented idly as she fired off a Psychic to disrupt a formation of Team Flare Grunts.
“Not so different from people, then,” Kiritsugu murmured back, reloading his rifle as the new group of enemies tried to reorganize the scattered remnants of the first wave. Below, he could hear the crack of other guns going off, the distinctive pop of Elle’s favored pistol joining the chorus. “What else is coming?”
“Not sure. I can’t read the future all that well, and Braixen’s too busy to peer ahead right now.” Amelie added a shower of Dazzling Gleam bursts into the reorganizing pack of dark-types. “Hold on, there it is.”
Kiritsugu peered over the rapidly developing battlefield, just in time to see something smash its way up the stairs on the far side of the battleground. A heavy tracked vehicle with sun-weathered paint mounted the stairs, driving full-tilt across the courtyard. “Armored vehicle inbound, I don’t have anything to stop it, Elle, options!” He barked.
“I my team can probably break it if it gets close enough, but by then it’ll have broken the barriers and the traps!” Elle responded as the vehicle roared across the open space.
“Hoopa can help!” Hoopa popped up beside Kiritsugu, peering at the machine. “ALLEY-HOOPA!” A portal opened up beneath the APC, the machine falling forward at an angle, manifesting in a tumble twenty feet above the courtyard. Rather predictably, the machine flipped over, landing on its top with its tracks spinning to a halt. “Hoopa made that look easy!” The little legendary crowed, floating into the open air in front of the window to look down on his work.
The hatch on the side of the machine slammed open, a disheveled figure in a red suit emerging with a series of just-audible swears. As he righted himself, a second figure, this one wearing an all-encompassing jumpsuit, blurred beside him, turning with inhuman speed to peer up at the tower. The figure reached out and wrenched something from the suited man’s waist before cocking back to throw.
Amelie threw up a Light Screen at the same time Kiritsugu grabbed Hoopa by his tuft and yanked him back into cover– just in time for a purple-and-pink Pokeball to smack into the barrier, before bouncing back towards the rapidly advancing figure. As it drew closer, Kiritsugu could make out the armored plating and strength enhancement apparent on the black bodysuit, and the golden E obscuring its user’s face.
As he silently observed the rapidly approaching individual clad in Power Armor, Kiritsugu admitted that he was really weirded out that Flare had access to POWER ARMOR of all things. Still, he was a professional, and his job right now was to figure out how to stop a PERSON IN POWER ARMOR. Which probably had an inbuilt resistance to esoteric effects, so most of his more esoteric toolkit wouldn’t exactly work on it.
Experimentally, Kiritsugu fired a round from his rifle towards the head of the armor-clad individual, the shot deflecting off the helm with a screech as the target leaned to one side. The force of the shot still caused the armored figure to tumble back, the unnaturally agile figure turning their fall into a cartwheel as the Pokeball it had thrown clattered to the ground beside it.
“YOU!” Kiritsugu twitched slightly, speeding up to peer through his scope at the familiar visage of the red-suited man. Renault rushed forward, pistol in one hand, backed up by his Drapion and a floating Pokemon Kiritsugu vaguely recognized as a Malamar. “You’re cornered, Emiya! Your campaign against us ends here!” He yelled resolutely.
Kiritsugu responded by emptying his clip at the yelling noble, only vaguely annoyed when the armored figure interposed themself before the first bullet, and the remains were blocked by several layered Light Screens from Renault’s psychic-type. He reloaded, glancing at Hoopa. “Get out of here.”
“Going back to Meray now!” Hoopa saluted, then vanished through a ring, just as the figure below launched itself into a leap. Kiritsugu barely had time to dodge backward, Amelie teleporting clear as he rolled to a halt inside the room, as the armored opponent crashed onto the balcony he’d been shooting from. The armored figure smoothly came upright as the ex-assassin set his rifle aside, pulling out a pistol.
“Elle, you’ve lost your overwatch. I’m going to be busy,” he said as the armored figure peered around looking for Hoopa, then focused its attention back on him
Comments
Spheal lover.
team flare wallace with lycanroc grommit and references to the were rabbitt and penfuin criminal is hilarious
