That's the Spirit! - Chapter 17

[The Black Keep]

“I want to watch a battle!”

“No no, let’s spy on the Champion, he’s funny!”

“Which Champion, dearest, there’s several,” Dragapult asked calmly, placing a paw on the mirror. The image warped, again and again.

Forest. Desert. Open ocean. Ocean. Ocean a third time, there was a lot of ocean. Forest--

“Ooh, that looks like the fairy wood!” Dreepy-Left said, pointing a claw.

Dragapult couldn’t actually look at him, given he was on top of her head, but she glanced up anyway with a look of concern. “How do you know what the Tangle looks like? You weren’t venturing without an adult, were you? Fairies are dangerous.”

“Calm down, Mama, I just saw it from above when Uncle flew over it,” Left assured her. “It’s very pretty at night.”

Dragapult relaxed. “That’s fine then… I’ll have to have a word with my brother about taking you out too far.”

“Aww…”

“I want to watch a battle!” Dreepy-Right said again. “I’m bored!”

“I know, dearest, but I’m still figuring out how this works,” Dragapult said. She tilted her head, making the babies yelp. “Ocean again. I thought we could only look out from other mirrors. Why are there so many mirrors in the ocean?”

A large hand suddenly grabbed her tail and pulled her back from the mirror. Dragapult twisted to see who dared.

Dusknoir’s single eye contorted to convey a single raised eyebrow. “And what, pray tell, are you doing?”

“Well, I--”

“Lord Giratina’s mirror is not a television,” Dusknoir scolded. “If you want to watch something, there’s three TVs in the breakroom, and the Rotom have only broken one of them.”

“Have you tried to watch that thing?” Dragapult shuddered. “No one brought anything but horror movies! It’s not appropriate for children!”

Dusknoir glanced up at the pair of Dreepy, who both looked annoyed. He looked back to Dragapult.

“I have to keep the children entertained somehow,” Dragapult defended herself. “It’s too dangerous to go flying out there, and getting into the Reverse World turns out to be a lot easier than getting back out again. We’re stuck in this place until his Lordship returns from wherever he is to open a new portal--”

Dusknoir made a coughing sound. “Why not just leave the Dreepy down in the village for another Ghost to watch over, if the Keep is so dull for them?”

All three dragons stared at him with such a complete lack of comprehension that he hastened to change the subject.

“Ahem, well, it’s actually easier to return to the One’s World if you go down the tunnel back into the Distortion proper,” he added, pointing straight down.

The Dreepy both groaned. “But that’s such a long flight/That’s so boring!”

“Oi, boss.”

Dusknoir sighed, turning to Runerigus. “Yes?”

The stone slab pointed at the swirling portal. The camera arm, which had previously retreated after that blasted rogue Rotom’s stunt, was peeking back through the veil. It looked around at them before retreating again.

“It’s been doing that for a while,” Runerigus complained. “I think the humans on the other side are getting antsy.”

“Of course.” Dusknoir rubbed his forehead. To Dragapult, he said, “Do what you want. But don’t come crying to me when Lord Giratina catches you messing with his mirror and--”

He stopped talking, because a Golurk knocked a door down, hand raised after having knocked. “...OOPS.”

Dusknoir hovered away to deal with that, leaving Dragapult and her Dreepy alone with the mirror. 

“I know!” Dreepy-Right piped up. “Let’s watch the Champion of Alola! I heard they were interested in something in that place!”

Dragapult shrugged. She wasn’t actually concerned about Lord Giratina’s reaction. If he didn’t want anyone messing with the mirror, he would have hidden it away somewhere. At the very least, she had faith that the First Ghost wouldn’t be willing to hurt a mother and her babies.

She rubbed the mirror frame. The glass shimmered for a lengthy period, then settled on an image of Melemele island from a long way off, at a fixed position a fair ways above sea level.

“...this isn’t a Champion.”

Runerigus’s face popped in over Dragapult’s shoulder. “Alola doesn’t have a Champion,” he contributed, then pulled back.

The Dreepy pouted. “Lame.” 

Dragapult hushed them and messed with the mirror again. There must be battle going on somewhere in the region. Humans loved battling, there had to be at least one.

Golurk and Runerigus suddenly made a noise of surprise, drawing attention from the rest of the room.

“What is it?” Dusknoir asked.

“A TREMOR.”

“Something just shook the castle a little,” Runerigus confirmed.

Dragapult and Dusknoir looked down; neither of them had felt anything due to floating. The dragon, as someone with feet, touched down to see if it happened again.

“...I don’t feel anyth--”

“Trouble!” A Skeledirge phased through the wall. “We got trouble incoming!”

---------------------------------

[The Black Keep - Lab]

Mismagius shaped some Ghost energy between her tassels. It wasn’t quite a Shadow Ball, just a shapeless mass of spirit, if she tried to use it as a move it wouldn’t have been able to breach most Pokémon’s defenses. Against anything but a fresh hatchling it would have had the same effect as throwing a fog bank at them.

But it was useful for experiments. She could do it with Grass and Fire energy too, and she was working on Rock. After that, she’d have to find time to acquire either a tutor or some TMs to access new types, but for now she was making do with what came naturally.

In front of her on her work table were a series of glass beakers and vials, all filled with an assortment of what the locals called ectoplasm. In its default state it wanted to be green, but it could be found in shades of blue, red, and purple. Mismagius hadn’t been able to find the latter two in a liquid form, and attempts to melt those samples resulted in more green, so she had a purple rock and a pink crystal on a shelf somewhere for when she decided to mess with them again.

She’d tested Fire energy against the blue ectoplasm and found that it was Ice-aligned. It was already fluid, but it had become almost like water on exposure to the pure heat. Once the Fire energy ceased, it had snapped back to normal. An interesting reaction, and on a hunch had sparked a normal fire and found that the Ice ‘plasm didn’t interact with conventional heat at all. There was probably something she could do with that.

The normal green ectoplasm reacted interestingly with the Type energies. Fire made it sticky and thicker, while Grass… Mismagius didn’t want to call it an explosion. It was more like a very sudden boil, minus any heat. She had no idea why that might have happened.

Interestingly, her weak attempts at Rock had caused the ectoplasm to start crystalizing into one of those purple rocks, but she wasn’t able to sustain it long enough to make it permanent. She needed to practice Power Gem more.

Now, she carefully brought the Ghost energy into contact with the ectoplasm.

At first, nothing happened. Then, lots of things happened. It was eye-watering, the way space seemed to bend at the point of contact.

First, the black-and-purple Ghost energy and the green ectoplasm traded color schemes. Then the shadowy energy grew dark while the slime glowed brighter. Then the slime came alive and tried to eat the energy like an amoeba. Next, it seemed like the two energies withered around the point of contact. Finally it all snapped back to normal as she stopped supplying energy, leaving the slime with a slightly higher volume than it started with. All of this happened within a single second.

“Fascinating.” Mismagius pulled her clipboard closer and made a note.

“The sea…”

She huffed. “Yes, the sea, the sea, so you keep saying.” Hm, she needed to check if there was a Froslass in the village yet. Maybe she could use Ice energy to convert the standard ectoplasm to the blue variant. Or turn the blue type into a more solid false ice; it might make for a good building material, especially if there was a Froslass who might want to bring in non-Ghost family members.

crk

She paused in her writing.

THUNK

She turned with a glare to see Rebreather punching the glass of the tank. “Give it a rest, will you?”

Up above, the Skeledirge hanging from the ceiling yawned. “Whut’s happen?”

“Our guest is getting rowdy.” Setting her materials aside, Mismagius floated over with a vial of ectoplasm. She phased through the glass with the vial, then back out, leaving the goop behind for the ghost to eat. “I’ll admit this isn’t as funny as it was when we started. If you’d cooperate we could get you a better living situation.”

“I will not yield,” Rebreather said, without much of his usual bombast. He punched the glass again.

Skeledirge yawned again and flopped out of his hammock, coming to a stop a foot above the floor. His little bird flared up on his nose. “Why is he even still here? He won’t answer questions and it’s not like we’re going to kill him. If we even could.”

Mismagius grimaced, returning to her table. “His Lordship ordered him captured, so contained he remains. Once Lord Giratina returns, I’ll see about--”

crk-kk

“…Did you hear that?”

The sound happened again, now accompanied by dripping. Mismagius and Skeledirge turned to look at the tank.

Rebreather pulled his arm back, and struck dead center into a spiderweb of cracked glass.

The tank shattered and a deluge flowed out.

Mismagius yelped and levitated her tables up off the floor. She whined at the papers on the floor that would no doubt be ruined.

Skeledirge, less prone to flight compared to other ghosts, took a miniature Surf in the face.

“FREEDOM!” Rebreather roared, holding his arms overhead. “You cannot contain me in a mere fishtank! Who do you think I am, the Box Ghost?!”

Skeledirge flared up, drying himself off, and growled. He took a deep breath to belt out a Snarl, but the diver ghost pointed his stump-wrist at him and another water blast got him right in the throat. The crocodile choked, breaking out into a fit of coughing.

“The ocean calls, and I heed her! Soon, very soon, we will be reunited. My love… I will destroy you!”

Laughing madly, the lunatic burst through the doors into the hallway and turned unerringly towards the Portal chamber, paying no heed to the twisty corridors.

“Head him off!” Mismagius commanded. “I have to try and save my documents!”

“But isn’t the prisoner more--”

“Some of these books are hundreds of years old! They can’t be replaced! Now GO!”

She all but shoved him into the wall, and Skeledirge flew in as straight a line as he could manage, bypassing walls and doors on his way to warn the Portal guards. As he passed, he was extremely alarmed to see Rebreather in the halls as he flew by, almost keeping ahead despite the much more circuitous route.

He dove through the final wall, panting. “Trouble! We got trouble incoming!”

Dusknoir looked exasperated. “What now?”

The Portal Chamber had three doors to the north, west and south, with the Mirror’s nook taking up the east spot. The north doors were currently destroyed, with a sheepish Golurk standing in the doorway and trying to set the door back on its hinges.

It was the west doors that suddenly slammed open, with the mad diver bulldozing his way through.

“Foolish creatures! You cannot keep me from my love!” His fishnet cape seemed to stretch and writhe behind him, almost filling the entire room.

“Defend the portal!” Dusknoir ordered, shadows covering his fists.

Runerigus, Skeledirge and Golurk took up combat positions around the vortex, each of them preparing their own attacks. Dragapult took to the air, arming her missiles.

Rebreather paid them almost no attention whatsoever. He ignored the portal completely and ran for the mirror.

He ran straight into the glass, still displaying an image of the ocean, and bounced off, not making it through. “What?! NO!” He pounded on the mirror’s frame, changing the image to an unassuming beach. “She calls! She’s right there!”

Dusknoir blinked, but adjusted easily enough. “Get him away from Giratina’s mirror!”

Skeledirge sang his Torch Song, and a bird of solid flame lanced out toward the diver. Rebreather spun around and fired another deluge, obliterating the Fire attack and hitting the defenders with one sweep. Golurk and Skeledirge were knocked off their feet by the force of the water.

Runerigus, however, had no feet to brace himself and had a poor center of balance. He was knocked backwards through the portal.

--------------------------------

[Fenton Works]

“And remember kids, don’t fire until you see the red of their eyes,” Jack lectured.

Tucker held up his hand, taking care to point the pistol at the floor. “Mr. Fenton, I can’t find the safety on my gun.”

Jack blinked. “Safety?”

“It’s the blue button on the bottom of the handgrip, Tucker,” Maddie answered for him.

“Oh, okay.”

The ground shook, and the Fentons whirled, weapons primed. Tucker and Sam were slower but still got to see the Stone Slab lying on its back in front of the portal.

Jazz ran downstairs. “What happened? The whole house shook! Oh.”

Runerigus’s single eye looked around the lab with a feeling of dread bubbling in what passed for his stomach. He took in the weapons being leveled at him, and swore. It was just as well no one there could understand him.

----------------------------------

[The Black Keep]

“No!” Dusknoir charged forward. Sadly, his species weren’t known for their speed, and Rebreather’s net moved to snag him, a large section splitting off to drop him on the floor. “Dragapult!”

“Right! Dragon Darts!”

“WEEE!”

Dreepy-Right was fired in a blast of Dragon energy, too fast for Rebreather to retaliate. Instead, he merely dodged, and made an aborted motion--clearly, he instinctively tried to bring the mirror around like a shield but realized halfway through that he didn’t want to risk breaking the glass.

The end result was that Dreepy hit the mirror’s frame, chipping the gold filigree over the wood. “Ow!”

Rebreather flinched at the impact, reaching up worriedly to rub the damaged spot. He reached with his hook hand, and flinched a second time, losing his grip on the frame with his other hand. He scrambled to try and catch it, slipped on the wet brickwork, and fell inside. The glass shimmered like a pool of water, and the ghost was gone. The mirror started to fall, only saved from breaking by the fired Dreepy.

The chamber fell still as everyone stared in disbelief.

Dusknoir rubbed his eye. What…? He tried to phase through the net, which failed. “This is a disaster. Dragapult--”

“Don’t look at me! You said only Giratina could make the mirror a real portal!”

“Ugh.” Dusknoir struggled out from under the net, aided by the fact that the net had started to collapse into inert ectoplasm. “These ghosts must have… something. A power we didn’t know about.”

“If he could make his own portals, he would have already,” Skeledirge said.

“You explain it then,” Dusknoir snapped. He looked at the Portal. “Oh, I hope Runerigus is alright… This could only be worse if--”

The air in the room suddenly seemed heavy, as a Pressure settled upon them.

“...Oh no.”

The pressure intensified, and a blackened circle formed on the floor. Giratina emerged from it, spread his tendrils as they reared up.

They took in the mess stoically.

…WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

-----------------------------------

[Kukui’s Lab]

Zorua avoided the dodgeball, and behind him Rick lapped it up with his tongue. The gasball threw it in the air and used his tongue as a bat to strike it back towards Danny.

He tried to catch it, and instantly regretted it, as the Gastly’s saliva on the ball made his fingers go numb before they could close around it. “Ugh. Good job, I guess.”

He rubbed his hands until he could feel them again and gingerly picked up the ball again. “You better dodge again, Zorua, you don’t want to get hit by this o--huh, hurk!”

Danny broke into a fit of coughing, chills running up his spine. Blue mist seeped out of mouth, more than he’d ever had before.

He put a hand over his mouth, trying to keep the mist in, and looked around urgently.

“Oh man, that’s not good…”

Something in the lab crashed.