Part Five - Terror

Chapter Sixty Four

It had taken BackDoor several days, but he found it. Just what he was looking for. A powerful pocket in time and space, one that radiated promise. The other ones he'd found had paled in comparison, throwing out large and impressive Ultra Beasts that hadn't held up to the hoopa's standards. None of them had listened. None of them could speak. Or if they could, they didn't speak any language he knew.

Hopefully whatever resided on the other side of that pocket would be able to understand him.

He removed the hoop from his left horn and span around in a quick, wide circle. The pocket opened instantly, glowing golden around the rim. The ultraviolet mist pulsed with energy, flickering and strobing off the hoopa's metallic shell. Something moved in the mist, growing larger until its shadow took shape. Huge wings spanned out from its long body, its movements similar to that of a seviper. Then it lurched forwards, bursting from the pocket in a flash of ultraviolet light.

BackDoor keeled backwards, keeping his eyes on the creature. It was like nothing he'd ever seen. Grey and black with red highlights, ornamented with what looked like a solid gold harness over its neck. Each wing split into three. No legs to speak of, just spikes along the side of its body. And it didn't even flap its wings. It just floated there. Staring at him through a pair of tiny, red eyes.

BackDoor let out a thoughtful noise as he swerved to the side to get a better look at the creature. It copied him, keeping its eyes on his. But as it moved, its body seemed to distort as though it didn't quite belong in System.

"Not like the others," he said. "You've got a funny mist trailing you."

"What did you call me here for?" If the creature had a mouth, it didn't open it to speak.

BackDoor jolted with surprise, then broke into a gleeful giggle. "Oh boy! You speak!"

"Of course I speak," the creature hissed. "Now what did you call me here for?"

BackDoor shrugged. "Oh, just fun. I'm bored. Bored of looking for a new world for this world's mayor to flee into. So I've been playing with Ultra Beasts."

"Ultra Beasts," the creature repeated. "What are Ultra Beasts?"

"What you are, of course!" said BackDoor. "Weird creatures from another world." He mused for a moment, looking the creature up and down. It distorted again, and he thought he saw a leg. "No idea what to call you though."

"I have many names," the creature said. "Griseous, The Altered One, The Banished Beast. Some even call me Giratina."

BackDoor waved a mitten paw. "Then I suppose I should come up with something better. But I've just been throwing guesses at these other beasts. Most recent one I named Assembly 'cos it were made of bricks that stacked one by one when it appeared. Thought it were never gonna stop. So... what do you do exactly? Other than... change shape, clearly."

The creature hissed again, but BackDoor couldn't tell if it was out of anger, frustration, or just because 'why not?'

"I distort things," it said. "Distort time and space to my own liking. If that destroys worlds, then so what?" It twisted its head around to take in its surroundings. "I've been stuck in the Distortion World for centuries. I'm not familiar with this world. What is this place? It's so empty. Did I destroy it?"

"System Sky." BackDoor swerved onto his back and tucked his paws behind his head, keeping both eyes on the creature. "Miles above System Ground. Floating cities, flying ships... you know the math. So... Distorting things, eh? I like it. I think I'll name you Distortion."

The creature seemed to think about this, then shrugged. "Show me this 'System'."

Before BackDoor could reply, the creature dived at him. A grey mist surrounded the android's body, and he let out a mechanical scream as something invaded his processors. After the mist settled, he rubbed his eyes. The creature was gone, yet he could still feel it around him.

"Oi!" he yipped. "Where'd you go?"

'It's hard to move in this world of yours.' The voice hissed inside his head. 'So I'll use your eyes and body as my own. Move.'

BackDoor grinned and let out a chuckle. "Kinda like Symbiont. All right, where do you wanna go first?"

The creature didn't answer. Instead, BackDoor found himself plummeting towards System Ground.

...

The little shuttle rattled towards the ground, losing altitude at a steady pace. Switch, having never controlled such a vehicle, left everything up to DL. But he really wished the machine was in his own hands. He cowered beside her, feeling every small movement she made against his feathers. Oh, how he wished he could just get out and fly. Carry her with him and get them both to safety, to leave the tiny wishiwashi escape pod to crash down on the mountains far away from them.

The Backbone Mountains were growing closer, their snowy peaks rising out of the clouds. As the shuttle slipped through them, mist surrounded it briefly before the ground came into clear view. DL dragged the steering stick towards her, levelling them out. The wheels touched ground and it lurched, bouncing along the uneven surface until it came to a smooth and steady stop.

She took in a shaky breath and brushed the fur between her ears out of her eyes. "Here we are."

Switch grunted and shifted uneasily. "Sheer mastery of mechanical wings."

"Let's move. I'm itching to get off this thing."

She clambered from her seat and shimmied past him to the door. He didn't hesitate. As soon as he was standing on sturdy, rocky ground, he spread his wings wide and embraced the open air.

"Oh boy!" he said. "Fresh, mountain air! No ship! No cities! Oh, what freedom feels like!"

DL shuffled away from him and he snapped his eyes back open, fixing them on her back.

"DL?" He gave a little flutter to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"

"Getting a better view."

Her eyes were still red and puffy. She cast them down the mountain slope to the village below. It wasn't one Switch recognised. But after a thousand years, things can change drastically. She looked up and let out a trembling sigh.

"I've no idea where Meta City is from here." Her voice wavered and she pawed at her ear.

Switch tucked his wings in at his sides and looked over at the vast landscape. "If it's still in the same place it was in my time-line, I could fly you there in a couple of days."

DL lashed out at a small rock with her foot, sending it skittering down the side of the mountain. Then she fell to her bottom and let out a frustrated groan.

"I've no idea where it is!" she snapped. "Besides, it's not like I can just waltz in there and have her hand me the disk back, is it?"

"We weren't expecting it to be easy," he said.

She toyed with a few stray stalks of grass growing through the cracks in the rocks. "I have no memories of my family. Just that they'd died in that blaze. I wasn't even there, Switch. I was at a friend's house, we were studying. Then I saw the news... saw the flames in the distance..." She wiped a paw over her eyes and wailed. "Why did he do that?!"

Switch settled down beside her, keeping his wings to himself. He wasn't sure whether or not she'd appreciate a bird-hug, and he wasn't willing to risk upsetting her further.

"Listen," he said. "I don't know all the details. Just what little Anchor could tell me before he went to get you. But... as terrible as it is, it was an accident. He didn't do it to be vindictive."

"But it's the principle!" she snapped. "Why fire off weapons in a freakin' apartment building? And while there are pokemon living in it... asleep?! So many died in their sleep!"

Switch closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I guess it depends on who fired the first shot."

She scoffed and looked away. "That sounds like something he would say."

"I don't agree with firing explosive weapons and lasers in an occupied building," said Switch. "But for the sake of self defence... what was he meant to do? Just let the guy kill him?"

DL looked up at the clouds and blinked back tears. "No... but he shouldn't have been there in the first place." She paused and toyed with her belt. "Neither of them should. I don't think anyone even knew someone was manufacturing bombs in the building."

"Those could have gone off even without Macro's help."

DL visibly flinched at his name. "Don't talk about him. Stop talking about him!"

Switch raised his wings and nodded. "Okay. Okay. Let's... let's just get to Meta City. Get that disk back."

She sobbed heavily and her head fell into her paws. She huddled up, wrapping her tail tight around her legs. "I'm sorry..."

"What for? You're hurting. I'd understand if you threw rocks at me."

"No... I shouldn't be lashing out at you." Her shoulders shook and she choked back a sob. "I'm torn... between the way Loop feels for him, and the way DL feels for him. Loop hates him, but she's me. They're both me." She looked up, fixing tearful red eyes on his. "Have you any idea how confusing that is for me?"

Switch swallowed and licked his beak, diverting his gaze to the horizon. "No... I really don't. But it sounds like torture."

"It's like I'm being torn in two." She wiped her eyes on her arm. "I just want to get those memories back. Maybe then... maybe then I can sort out my head."

"Well..." He shuffled, ruffling his feathers. "You might not be DL anymore. You should prepare yourself for that."

"At least I won't be torn in two."

He was silent for a moment, gazing down at the village below. What do you say in these situations? He couldn't very well tell her to just pull herself together.

"Shall we head to Meta City then?" he asked.

"No, I want to just sit here for a while."

He nodded and stood up, spreading his wings wide. "Do you mind if I take a quick flight? I could do with a stretch."

"Do what you want."

He looked back down at her, ready to tell her he'd only be a minute or two. But her head was back in her arms, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. No. He couldn't leave her. He sat back down and ventured a wing on her back.

"I can't get... Loop's hatred... out of my head," she said. "The image of those flames glowing in the dark... the venom she felt when she heard it was Hunter... I even remember some of the drawings. Horrible, vengeful drawings of Wildcard Beta shot out of the sky. Then Gamma when he upgraded it. Just burning..."

Switch's mouth went dry. "Would it help if you just saw him as part of the catalyst that started the fire?"

"No. Because I just keep seeing him as the blazing torch." She lifted her head to take a breath. "I want to forgive him, but I can't. Because he's the reason all this happened. That day, my life was set to end. And it ended in Socket's claws. It never would have if that fire hadn't happened."

"Yes, but he's trying to help you get your life back," Switch explained. "See it as some kind of surprise redemption. A way of him fixing something that... from what Anchor's told me, he just can't get over?"

She shook her head sharply and hid it back in her arms. "I can't... It's too hard. I'm warring with five years of pent-up hatred. That's not something only a mere couple of weeks can fix."

"But you got to know him. Before you got those memories back, did he seem to you the kind of pokemon to deliberately hurt others?"

She said nothing. Just silently kept her head hidden in her arms. With a sigh, Switch rose to his feet again and spread his wings.

"I'll be back in a minute or so," he said. "Don't go anywhere."

Silence.

He gave one last glance at her before rising into the air. All the tension and emotional weight left his body the higher he rose into the sky. Then he let himself drop, swooping down the side of the mountain. A flick of his wings brought him up again until he levelled out, gliding over the village. Sparse greenery surrounded it. Where once there was a forest, there was now a large mall. Flickering lights competed with the antenna. What was left of the river coalesced in a mucky lake. A huge, chrome water wheel churned the lake towards a factory he guessed either filtered it out, or used it as some kind of 'green fuel'. He turned his tail on the unsightly mess and returned to the mountain, taking in the clean air and what was left of the woods that had previously dotted the mountain side.

Something roared above him and he froze mid-flap to turn his head towards it. A large, black and green object hurtled towards him. He let out a squawk and flapped his wings frantically, flying backwards before turning tail and skyrocketing towards the ground. The object rushed past him, blasting him with hot air. He dropped, landing in a crumpled heap mere feet away from their escape pod.

An almighty crash followed the anomaly, then a earsplitting screech as it came to a halt over the jagged rocks. He pushed himself up, groaning with the effort. Oh, his poor body. That would leave a bruise. He tucked his wings into his sides and looked over at what had just knocked him out of the sky.

A ship, shaped like a pyukumyuku. A space pirate ship?

DL poked her head out from behind the escape pod. He hopped over to her and followed her gaze to the ship.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he whispered to her.

She shook her head and shushed him, pointing him towards the ship.

The door clattered open, and a disgruntled scrafty staggered out of it. He gave the contraption a kick, denting the tin sides. He hopped backwards clutching his foot in both paws and cursing loudly. A skuntank followed him, tailed closely by a figure that caused Switch to let out an involuntary yelp. A human girl, dressed in stereotypical pirate clothing. She folded her arms and frowned at the ship, looking it up and down. A decidueye joined her side, sandwiching her between a goldeen in a goldfish bowl, held up on mechanical legs. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he'd have thought someone were telling him a crazy bedtime story.

"Well, it got us over the ocean at least," said the skuntank. "Otherwise we'd all be swimming to shore."

"I wanted it to get us to Meta City," the scrafty grumbled. "Now we're stranded in the mountains with no way to get any repairs!"

"I can harvest some scraps," said the decidueye. "You lot can camp out here and enjoy the clean air."

The human sniffed a couple of times then looked up at the sky. "Oh yeh! They sky's not yellow here."

"No, it's not, dear," said the skuntank. "Because this mountain is actually out of bounds. We're not even supposed to be in it."

"Aye," said the scrafty. "Rumour has it Socket's goons wait at the bottom and shoot anyone who tries. A barrier surrounds the place. Dunno what good it does. Photos surface from time to time on conspiracy sites."

"Drones," said the decidueye as he counted his arrows. "I think I'm set. I'll be back by sunrise."

They watched the decidueye fly away down the side of the mountain.

"So what do we do?" asked the goldeen. "Camp in the ship?"

Switch ventured from his hiding spot and cleared his throat. The rag-tag group looked up at him with identical expressions of surprise. For the scrafty, it melted into rage. The others, however, didn't seem to know what to make of him.

"Who are you?" the scrafty snapped. "One of Socket's soldiers here to kill us?"

"No! I don't want to do anything to you." He neatened out his wings and smiled. "I was wondering what happened to your ship?"

The scrafty snorted and opened his mouth to shout something else, but the skuntank silenced him by pushing him back into the ship. There was a clatter as he stumbled backwards over the ramp.

"We were shot down by space pirates," she explained. "We're actually not in the pirate trade."

"We're a rebellion!" the goldeen quipped.

"That's right, little fish!" said the human. "Time Archeops, here to fix System!"

The skuntank waved her paws and shushed her. "Don't just go announcing that to strangers!"

"Why?" the human asked. "It's how you spread a rebellion."

Switch cleared his throat again and took a cautious step towards them. "A rebellion? Against Socket?"

"The very same," said the girl.

"And might I ask... Time Archeops?"

The girl nodded again.

"Are you... like me?" He raised his talons, displaying his watch.

She stared at it curiously, raising an eyebrow. "Why would I be like a watch?"

He pushed the button, expanding out into his human form. The skuntank staggered backwards, dropping a small, purple creature onto the ground. It shot into the sky, keeling away from him. The girl stared at Switch, aghast, while the goldeen let out a very boyish 'Cool!' In contrast, a 'What the jack?!' came from the ship.

The girl pointed at him, ignoring the frantic squeals from her skuntank companion. "So let me get this straight. You're a human too?"

Switch folded his arms and winked. "Exactly. And did you get pulled through a golden ring?"

A look of disappointment crossed her face and she slumped back against the ship. "Dang it! I thought I were the only one!"

"The name's Switch." He offered a hand to her.

She stared at it, then looked up at him. "What kinda name is that?"

"One I adopted when I came to System. What's yours?"

"Annie." She took his hand and shook it, then wiped hers down on her top. "So you turn into a bird? So do I. An archeops."

Switch's jaw dropped. "I've heard of you."

"Well I ain't heard of you."

"You were in a mental ward."

She smirked and spread her arms wide. "Well not any more! Annie is flyin' free!" She glanced a the ship and her arms fell to her side again. "Well she was."

DL shuffled over to Switch's side, winding her claws together. She looked over the pokemon and Annie, taking each one in. Annie stared down at her and stroked her chin.

"Who's the squirt?" she asked.

DL stuttered, then reached for her laser. But she didn't draw it. "You said you're heading to Meta City?"

"We were," said Annie. "But we crashed, see?"

"Well... what if we offer to help fix your ship?" DL asked. "You can use parts from our pod. Then... could you take us with you?"

"Hey! Little squirt's in on our rebellion!" Annie grinned. "What about you, Switch? You in?"

"What, me?" He sighed and threw his arms in the air. "Oh, what the heck. Macro was gonna go and knock Socket off her high horse anyway. If it'll get me home, count me in."

The scrafty scrambled back out of the ship and pointed at Switch. "You said we can use your pod for parts?"

"Yeh, be our guest," said Switch. "It's rather small for us all to fit in, and it rattles."

"Sounds like it'll do the trick then." He nodded towards the small, lone wishiwashi. "That it? I'll go help myself."

The skuntank looked at each of them and caught the purple creature as it drifted back down towards her. "That's rather generous of you. Although I'm not complaining about breathing clean air. It's much better up here than in the outskirts." She tucked the creature beneath her tail then let it fall across her back. "Do either of you want to help me gather lunch? I think that will be a good chance for us all to get acquainted."