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"description": "Meanwhile, back on the surface, Cobalt the Lucario and Jaclyn the Gardevoir are struggling to escape the spreading darkness. That is, until they meet new allies...\n(Also on [url=https://archiveofourown.org/works/66118801/chapters/173634421]AO3[/url])\n\n",
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(Also on AO3)
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"writing": " The soft dirt left padded footprints in the Lucario’s wake as he and the Gardevoir beside him continued to flee the corruption. Jagged layers of black crystal webbed outward from the dark monolith that loomed over the horizon; it slowly reached into the heavens, now taller than any structure on the planet… and it still continued growing.\n Jaclyn and Cobalt could both feel it behind them like a cold, invisible force pulling at their spines. The black spikes slowly spread across the land behind them. Every time they stopped for breath, they felt it creeping ever closer.\n The two of them traveled on in relative silence, and had been for some time now. The only sounds were the wind, the shifting dust, and the weight of their own tired bodies trudging forward, if only because there was no other choice to survive this new threat. The sky had faded from blue to a chalky gray; the setting sun was still up there somewhere, but its warmth no longer reached them.\n Too weak to continue hovering forever with her psychic powers, Jaclyn faltered. Her delicate pointed foot tripped on a rock, and she nearly fell before she felt a pair of furred arms catch her.\n \"I'm fine, Cobalt,\" she insisted as she stretched her neck, her voice low and strained. “But thank you.”\n She sat on a large rock for a moment and stared at the cracked ground, her psychic reserves feeling completely drained beyond her limit now.\n “They’re all really gone… aren’t they?” the Gardevoir whispered with a crack in her voice. “The Toa are gone... Latias was taken… and Marcus…” She gave out a bitter sigh. “He’s not—”\n “We don’t know that!” Cobalt suddenly snapped in his master’s defense before she could finish. “That’s not something we should even—”\n “You saw what happened to him back there, Cobalt!” she interrupted. “I’ve been trying to predict every possible future, but… I’m just not seeing him in [i]any[/i] of them. Let’s face it, we’re… all alone in this now.”\n He crouched beside her and looked off into the distance.\n “Maybe, but… nothing is impossible, so I’m not ready to give up on him. Not yet.”\n Jaclyn closed her large red eyes, resting her hand against her temple. She was too exhausted to cry, too numb to scream.\n “This is only over if we give up,” Cobalt went on, trying to motivate her. “And… that just isn’t an option. Not for me.”\n He reached out and placed a black paw gently on her shoulder. That small touch reminded her that they were still alive, and still together. Without thinking much of it, Jaclyn placed her hand on Cobalt’s, but they looked at each other in silence for a brief moment, she felt a strange feeling building up inside her.\n But before either could say anything else, Cobalt’s ear tilted as it picked up the sound of something. From some distance away, hushed voices were being carried faintly on the cold wind. Jaclyn stood quickly, her heart jumping in her chest as Cobalt glanced toward the sound and nodded. They moved carefully toward the ridge, crawling to the edge of a jagged slope above a shallow valley. \n Much to their surprise, down below was a group of survivors—but more importantly, potential allies.\n One of them was a small white and gray Matoran with a small ceremonial staff, hunched over a tablet and scribbling something with quick, precise movements. A Toa stood tall beside him, donned in blue armor and armed with a spiked mace and shield. She scanned the horizon as if expecting danger at any moment.\n Near them, a broad, black and gold Toa paced restlessly, holding a large golden spear and shield. His limbs were noticeably thicker than most, and he moved in such a way that somewhat resembled a large and powerful gorilla.\n A third orange and gray Toa crouched near a round boulder while adjusting a damaged panel on his armor. His legs looked particularly strong like an athlete’s, as if built for unmatched speed and kicking.\n The last stood a few feet apart from the rest, an unassuming red and dark gray Glatorian wearing a scuffed red helmet. He watched the others in silence, like he wasn’t quite one of them.\n “See? We’re not alone after all,” Cobalt whispered as he looked to Jaclyn with an optimistic smile.\n But as they made their way down the ridge toward the group, something in the air quickly shifted. With Cobalt’s aura and Jaclyn’s psychic intuition, an air of suspicion lingered around the red and gray one, his eyes following them with quiet interest.\n The two approached carefully, stepping around jagged rocks and thick roots. The blue-armored warrior was the first to notice them and her head turned sharply, her hand moving instinctively to the handle of her mace. The others followed her gaze and turned as well.\n “We come in peace.” Jaclyn raised her hands in a slow, nonthreatening gesture. “We may look a bit… [i]foreign[/i] to you, but we’re not your enemies.”\n The group of robotic strangers didn’t lower their guard.\n Cobalt cautiously stepped forward. “We’ve been running from the black crystals, like I imagine you all have. We lost our friends. We’ve lost… everything.”\n The white and gray Matoran tucked his stone tablet under one arm and stepped toward them. His eyes were sharp and blue like a glacier, but also the most trusting of the bunch by far. \n “So have we,” he said quietly. “We’re lucky to have made it this far.”\n The watery blue Toa stood taller, pointing her large bulky mace at the two Pokémon. \n “What are you? You’re unlike any Rahi I’ve ever seen.”\n “I’m Cobalt, a Lucario,” he said. “This is Jaclyn, a Gardevoir. We don’t much more than that, but we [i]do[/i] know that we’re not exactly from here. We met a group of Toa and a few others during the battle, and… we were there when that [i]thing[/i] came. They… didn’t make it. We’re the only two left.”\n The orange and gray Toa straightened, his gaze serious. “There are only a few surviving, and fewer still fighting. My brothers Kopaka and Onua… they have fallen to those crystals as well, and I haven’t seen Tahu, Lewa, or Gali anywhere.”\n “You knew Tahu?” Cobalt blurted. “And Gali?”\n “Yes!” the Toa replied excitedly, his eyes lighting up slightly. “You’ve seen them?!”\n The Lucario and Gardevoir gave each other a look.\n “About that. We… don’t have any good news,” Jaclyn replied, “Gali was crystallized too, and your friend Tahu… well, he—”\n “He’s a bad egg, and that’s putting it generously.” Cobalt’s ears flattened, his eyes narrowing. “We don’t know for sure if he’s still around or not, but if he is… he’d better not be.”\n The orange Toa sighed, downhearted.\n “If this is true… I can’t say I’m all too surprised, sadly. He always [i]was[/i] hot-headed, even for a Toa of Fire.”\n “And even more will fall if we stay in one place for [i]too long,”[/i] the brutish black and gold Toa grumbled curtly, making a summoning motion with his arm. \n “Right. We need to keep moving,” the red and gray Glatorian added in agreement. His voice was calm and even, but something in the way he spoke unsettled both Cobalt and Jaclyn. \n The white and gray Matoran glanced at the others before looking up at the blue Toa beside him, who was still suspicious of the strangers. \n “Hey, they might look strange, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t trust them, Toa Helryx. After all, we stand a better chance in greater numbers, don’t we?”\n After a short pause, Helryx conceded, finally lowering her mace.\n “Fine. Do your best to keep up with us, because I’m not interested in carrying any dead weight. We can make formal introductions along the way.”\n The Pokémon nodded together. \n As the group packed what little they carried, Jaclyn lingered for a moment, watching them. They all looked tired, like her and Cobalt, but she sensed a solid strength in their formation. The blue warrior moved like a leader, and seemed to be the most experienced by far. The black and gold one keenly scanned the shadows while the Matoran guarded his notes with his very life. And the red one... she still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.\n She turned to Cobalt, communicating with him through their thoughts. [i]“We should be careful. One of them feels... off.”[/i]\n He didn’t question her, giving her a slight nod as he sensed the questionable aura around the red Glatorian. \n As they began walking together toward a nearby ravine, the wind shifted again. Far behind them, the monolith pulsed faintly as the black crystal continued its crawl across the land. Though no one spoke of it, they all felt its shadow growing ever larger over them.\n * * *\n As her consciousness finally returned to her, Latias stirred. She weakly raised her lids and her large golden eyes slowly opened to a black sky choked with thick, unmoving clouds. She lay on her front, pressed against something jagged and unyielding. When she tried to lift herself, a crushing invisible weight kept her pinned in place.\n Every breath came with effort. The stone beneath her was rough, with sharp angles that bit into her body. It felt… [i]alive[/i] somehow, growing and throbbing like a cancerous tumor.\n With great effort, she tilted her head. The edge of the platform stretched far into the distance as the wind howled around the tower, cold and relentless.\n Then she saw it.\n It hovered near the far edge, facing away from her. Its figure was completely still as it looked toward the horizon.\n Latias’s heart sank as the last thing she remembered was the flash of his sudden and brutal attack. She recalled the visceral sight of Marcus as the dark figure struck through the center of his chest with a piercing red plasma beam before being thrown into the ocean’s horizon. She’d tried to attack this new enemy in her blind rage, and then… darkness.\n And now, Marcus was nowhere in sight.\n The dragon Pokémon tried to speak, but her voice caught in her throat. She forced her arm to move, only lifting a claw by an inch. The weight seemed press harder than ever, resisting every effort. It was like she was trapped in her own body.\n All the while, the figure still didn’t move, merely staring into the distance without so much as acknowledging her. There was no sound from it, no movement, not even a sign of thought.\n Latias glared at him with burning hatred, her breathing shallow. She didn’t understand what this thing wanted or why it had taken her. She was trapped on a living tower that climbed endlessly into the sky, surrounded by cold air and silence.\n She was all alone.\n Marcus was gone.\n She clenched her jaw, forcing back the tremble rising in her chest. A single tear rolled from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek, wetting the shifting black floor beneath her. Latias’s claws scraped against it defiantly as she pushed against the invisible force holding her down. Her body trembled with strain, but her heart burned hotter.\n “No…” she whispered, voice strained. [i]“Not again…”[/i]\n She gathered all her strength, summoning every ounce of draconic energy she could reach. A faint shimmer pulsed around her body. The black stone beneath her cracked slightly where her claws dug in.\n “You… took him from me… so I can’t just lie here,” she hissed, louder now. [i]“I WON’T LET YOU WIN!”[/i]\n Latias screamed, raw and unfiltered. The sound echoed into the vastness above, defiant and grief-stricken. Her wings twitched, and she forced her head up, jaw clenched tight.\n Still, the force resisted.\n A second scream escaped her, louder and sharper until it became a Dragon Pulse. Her whole body shook from the effort, the sheer willpower behind her fury forcing small fractures to spread outward from her form. The obsidian groaned in response as she unleashed her draconic power at the being.\n She swore it hit her target head-on. She [i]knew[/i] it did.\n But when the energy dissipated, the figure turned slightly as it only now finally acknowledged her existence, just enough for her to see the faint shimmer of light reflect off the edge of his mask.\n Latias froze.\n It was just watching. Observing. Measuring her resistance.\n Her breathing slowed. All the energy she had built up flickered for a moment, and her strength faded. She lay still, her eyes locked onto the figure’s faceless visage.\n It turned fully, and walked towards her in midair.\n Each step made no sound, but a thin flat layer of voidglass formed from nothing like a pathway beneath his steps. As it drew nearer, the heavy pressure on her body deepened, as if the fabric of space itself was reacting to its presence.\n Latias narrowed her eyes. Hard as it was not to, she didn’t look away for even a second. She had nothing left but her will, and she used it like a shield.\n The figure came to a stop just a few feet away from her. It said nothing; its presence was a void, suffocating and cold.\n She stared up at him.\n “Marcus will come back. I… I know he will. And he’s going to beat you when he does. That’s a [i]promise.”[/i]\n But it remained standing there in silence, as if considering something.\n Latias didn’t look away; she wouldn’t give it the satisfaction. Her wings trembled against the floor. She shifted slightly, inch by inch, forcing herself upright even as the weight of the pressure crushed down on her back. Her breaths came sharp and shallow, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t let herself feel small in front of this… [i]thing.[/i]\n “Well? Aren’t you going to… say anything? Brag about some… evil plan? Just what [i]are [/i]you, anyway?” she growled, her voice ragged but clear. “Why… are you doing this? What… do you [i]want[/i][i]?!”[/i]\n The figure didn’t answer right away. The jagged spires around the platform groaned in the windless air, their pitch-black surfaces absorbing all light.\n Then, from within the mask, came a harsh and raspy voice.\n [b][i]“K… K… Kill… [/i][/b][i][b]c[/b][/i][b][i]ure.”[/i][/b]\n * * *\n As the group pressed on, the small white Matoran finally turned to Jaclyn and Cobalt with a meek voice.\n “B-by the way, I’m Kopeke,” he said, placing his stone tablet on a flat rock beside him. “I’m a Chronicler.”\n “Nice to meet you, Kopeke,” Jaclyn said as she gave him a polite nod. “So, like a record keeper?”\n [i]“Exactly[/i] a record keeper,” Kopeke corrected proudly. “My job is to write history as it’s happening, so that today’s stories become the historic legends of the future.”\n The blue warrior lifted her gaze. “I’m Toa Helryx. Former leader of the Order of Mata Nui. I’m also the first Toa.”\n “Ever?” asked Cobalt.\n [i]“Ever,”[/i] Helryx repeated, bringing a fist to her heartlight. “I’m even older than the Great Spirit himself, over a hundred thousand years of service.”\n “That’s a lot of years…” the Lucario mumbled in shock, barely able to comprehend such a lifespan.\n The black and gold Toa gave a grunt as he leaned his weight onto his spear. “Name’s Toa Bomonga. Not much for talking, but… let’s just say I’m larger than life. You’ll see what I mean.”\n Next, the orange and gray Toa raised a hand in a friendly greeting. “I am Toa Pohatu. I look a bit different now with this adaptive armor, but stone is my element. Maybe when this is over we can kick a Kohlii ball around, Cobalt! You’ve certainly got the legs for it!”\n Cobalt smiled faintly at Pohatu’s infectious optimism. “When this is over… count me in.”\n Pohatu gave a tired but understanding smile as he tried to keep up appearances.\n Lastly, the red and gray Glatorian straightened from where he had been sharpening a curved blade against a rock.\n “Perditus,” he said. “I’m a pilot in the arena, though I don’t have my trusty ride with me at the moment. You ever seen a Thornatus V9?”\n “A Tornadus?” Cobalt’s eyes widened. “So there really [i]are[/i] other Pokemon like us in this world?”\n Perditus tilted his head. “What? A— no, a [i]Thornadus.[/i] It’s a vehicle.” \n “So what you’re saying is, it’s [i]not[/i] a legendary genie of wind that transforms into a bird through a magical mirror?” asked the Gardevoir.\n “...I didn’t understand a [i]word[/i] you just said,” Perditus replied with more than a hint of annoyance.\n [i]“Anyway,[/i] moving on,” Toa Bomonga spoke up as he stepped in to change the subject. “We can’t outrun those dark crystals forever. We need a plan to fight back, but nothing so far we’ve tried has worked.”\n Toa Helryx gripped her shield in her hand. “Which is why we need information. And allies.”\n Cobalt exchanged a glance with Jaclyn, then stepped toward the group.\n “There was something that came from a hole in the sky. It looked like a Toa, except it wasn’t. It took our friend, Latias, and Marcus, our leader... fell.”\n Jaclyn added, “If you're forming a resistance, we’d be happy to join you.”\n Toa Helryx studied them both with a piercing expression, then looked to the others. Kopeke and Toa Pohatu nodded eagerly, while Perditus only shrugged with his arms crossed.\n But before he could give his two cents on the matter, Toa Bomonga froze.\n “Something’s watching,” he rumbled, pointing his staff in a certain direction.\n Cobalt turned slowly, scanning the undergrowth.\n “I feel it too,” he whispered.\n “Rahi?” Jaclyn asked.\n “Maybe,” Pohatu answered in a hush. “But not one I recognize.”\n Behind them, a sharp snap of a branch echoed. Helryx immediately raised her mace, and her eyes narrowed.\n “Form a circle,” she ordered. “Back to back. We have no idea what could be out here with us.”\n They obeyed. Perditus spun one of his blades into a reverse grip, crouching low with a glance toward the trees.\n “Whatever it is, it’s doing its best to track us without sound. Definitely some kind of predator.”\n Cobalt’s pulse quickened as a shape flickered at the edge of the path, almost too fast to be real.\n “Did you see that?” he asked.\n From the bushes ahead, a figure stepped out.\n It was a Matoran that looked just like Kopeke, except… Kopeke stood right beside them.\n “Watch out, everyone!” the new Kopeke said, pointing at the original Kopeke that was with them. “That Kopeke is an impostor!”\n “Nice try, but I don’t buy that for a [i]second!”[/i]\n Not one to be fooled, Bomonga met the impersonator with a roar, swinging his spear in a wide arc. \n “No, wait! I promise I’m telling the—”\n The blow connected directly into “Kopeke’s” chest, but he melted back into the dark with a wet hiss, leaving no trace but a smear of black sludge on the jungle floor.\n “It's probing us,” Helryx muttered. “Testing for weakness.”\n Cobalt’s fur bristled. “What is that thing?!”\n Perditus growled, eyes scanning the canopy. A shriek echoed from far off, distorted and rising in pitch like metal screaming.\n “We have to get out of here, fast. Whatever it is, we don’t want to face that thing here,” he said.\n They pressed on, faster now. The jungle’s overgrowth seemed to grow more dense with every step. More and more shapes stirred in the shadows, eyes peeking out between the vines.\n Jaclyn kept close to Cobalt as they ran.\n “We need to find some kind of shelter,” she said. “If that thing is following us, it’s probably not the only thing lurking out here.”\n They hadn’t traveled far when they saw a crumbled cave entrance, half-buried beneath thick roots and moss. It might have once been a stronghold, or perhaps a long-forgotten temple. But it still had walls, and for now, that was enough.\n “Inside. Quickly,” Toa Helryx ordered.\n They entered the cave, which offered some relief from the damp heat of the jungle. Though the air inside was thick with mildew and stale dust, it was still and quiet. Moss covered every inch of stone, and strange carvings were half-swallowed by creeping vines. The Toa moved through its central chamber cautiously, weapons still drawn but lowered. Jaclyn sat while trying to catch her breath, while Cobalt paced along the wall, the appendages on his head twitching like mad—though he wasn’t sure why. \n Perditus lit a small flare from his weapon and dropped it in the center of the room. The orange glow flickered against the walls, throwing long shadows across the ruins.\n “Finally,” Pohatu muttered. “Somewhere to actually [i]relax[/i] for a bit.”\n Kopeke sat cross-legged and scribbled furiously on his tablet, murmuring notes to himself. Helryx remained standing, quiet and alert. Her hand never strayed far from the handle of her mace.\n Meanwhile, Bomonga stood near one of the side walls, glaring at it. The others barely noticed, but his gaze was fixed on something that didn’t sit right with him.\n “Something wrong?” Cobalt called out to him from across the cave. “Hey.”\n Bomonga didn’t respond at first. He stepped closer to the rocky wall, then placed one massive hand against the stone.\n Bomonga’s eyes widened.\n “Everyone get up,” he said.\n No one moved.\n “I said get UP! Everyone, out! NOW!”\n The panic in his voice broke the quiet like a crack of echoed thunder.\n “What? why? What is it this time?” Perditus demanded, already standing.\n “The walls are [i]breathing,”[/i] Bomonga growled, already booking it for the cave’s entrance. “This isn’t a cave at all, it’s [i]alive!”[/i]\n Vines that had seemed dormant suddenly coiled like muscles contracting. Patches of moss peeled back to reveal glistening inner flesh. The cracked stone twisted and groaned, reshaping itself. The entire ruin was folding inward.\n Jaclyn gasped. “It’s trying to close around us!”\n Kopeke shouted, “A-Archives Beast! It must be the Archives Beast!”\n The chamber convulsed, and the entire room roared on all sides.\n “Move!” Cobalt shouted, grabbing Jaclyn’s arm.\n They ran for the crumbling entrance as the floor beneath them began to soften, turning sticky and uneven like a tongue coated in bile. Bomonga took up the rear, slamming his shield against the rising tendrils that shot up in an attempt to grab their ankles and drag them deeper into the cave.\n The wall ahead snapped shut, revealing a gaping mouth lined with jagged, stone-like fangs. Pohatu hurled a powerful kick into the creature’s teeth, blasting a hole just wide enough for them to escape through.\n One by one, they dove through the cave’s mouth, landing hard on the dirt outside. The ruin behind them groaned and collapsed in on itself, its disguise rotting away like dead skin. Beneath the illusion was a grotesque, fluid mass of limbs and teeth. It let out a bellow, then retreated into the jungle’s shadows.\n They didn’t stop running until they couldn’t hear it anymore.\n Only once the jungle fell silent again did they gather themselves. Their breaths came ragged and panicked.\n Jaclyn leaned over, one hand on her chest. “That... was definitely a cave when we went in. I’m sure of it...”\n “No,” Kopeke said, panting. “That was the Archives Beast. It can camouflage itself not only as other people, but its surroundings as well. The Order tried to contain it centuries ago. Guess it got set loose after Mata Nui’s fall.”\n “That thing has probably eaten dozens, if not [i]hundreds[/i] who mistook it for shelter,” Helryx added grimly.\n Cobalt looked toward the trees. “And we almost would have joined them just now.”\n With that, the group trudged forward, shaken and silent, weaving through the undergrowth as the thick canopy choked out the sky above. Jaclyn kept close to Cobalt all the while, her psychic senses alert for any sign of another threat. Branches scraped against armor and skin, leaving several minor cuts on the two Pokémon. Every snapped twig felt like a warning of what could still be stalking them even now.\n After a while, Cobalt muttered under his breath.\n““Archives Beast”. Bit of a vague name, isn’t it?”\n Kopeke, still catching his breath, gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, you’re not wrong about that.”\n Bomonga glanced over his shoulder. “No one’s ever been able to describe it properly. The name stuck because the first sighting was deep within the Metru Nui Archives, when it disguised itself as a storage room.”\n “So, no one knows what it really looks like?” asked Cobalt.\n Bomonga nodded. “There are only theories. It’s a shapeshifter, but not like one of the Makuta. It can imitate anything it’s ever seen, no matter the shape or size. Buildings, rock formations, Toa... even dead Rahi.”\n Helryx spoke without turning around. “The Order has spent centuries trying to trap it. None of their methods worked, because it could be [i]anything,[/i] from a Fikou spider to a lightstone.”\n Jaclyn walked close to Cobalt, her red eyes sweeping across each face in the dim light until her gaze slid to Perditus.\n He stood slightly apart from the rest, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching the jungle. His helmet tilted downward, eyes hidden in shadow. He hadn’t said a word since they’d fled the ruins.\n “Is it just me,” she secretly whispered to Cobalt within their heads, “or does he seem... off?”\n “Could just be how Glatorian are,” Cobalt replied, though he didn’t sound convinced. “We shouldn’t make any assumptions yet. After all, [i]we’re[/i] the ones who don’t really belong here.”\n * * *\n No one slept that night, continuing on as far as their legs would allow. \n However, in the latest hours of the night, Jaclyn was finally the first to give in.\n She didn’t trip this time, just… stopped. Her legs refused to move another inch further, her shoulders sagged, and her eyes, clouded by exhaustion, blinked once more before fluttering shut. Her body had reached its limit.\n “I can’t…” she whispered, her voice barely a breath.\n “Jaci!” Cobalt turned back just in time to see her sink to her knees. She tried to get up, but her arms trembled under her weight. Her psychic energy had run dry hours ago, and she had been forcing herself to walk on nothing but willpower and her nubbed feet, which were less than ideal for walking on physical ground.\n Toa Helryx noticed too, walking further ahead without any sign of slowing down. She turned her blue-armored head toward them, her face unreadable.\n “I warned you earlier that I won’t carry you,” Helryx reminded them.\n [i]“I heard you the first time,”[/i] Cobalt said quietly as he shot her a glance she didn’t notice. “Don’t worry, Jaci. I’ve got you.”\n He moved to Jaclyn’s side and crouched beside her. She murmured something unintelligible in a daze before she finally fainted, her head resting limply against him. Without hesitation, he slid his arms under her legs and back and lifted her effortlessly. She didn’t stir.\n Helryx didn’t say a word as Cobalt adjusted her weight, then shifted her onto his back and looped her arms over his shoulders. Her head rested lightly against his neck. Without another glance at the Toa, he kept walking, thankful she was at least rather lightweight.\n Behind them, the jungle stirred with the unsettling sounds of clicks, rustling branches, and distant gurgling growls.\n But Cobalt paid them no mind.",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": " The soft dirt left padded footprints in the Lucario’s wake as he and the Gardevoir beside him continued to flee the corruption. Jagged layers of black crystal webbed outward from the dark monolith that loomed over the horizon; it slowly reached into the heavens, now taller than any structure on the planet… and it still continued growing.
Jaclyn and Cobalt could both feel it behind them like a cold, invisible force pulling at their spines. The black spikes slowly spread across the land behind them. Every time they stopped for breath, they felt it creeping ever closer.
The two of them traveled on in relative silence, and had been for some time now. The only sounds were the wind, the shifting dust, and the weight of their own tired bodies trudging forward, if only because there was no other choice to survive this new threat. The sky had faded from blue to a chalky gray; the setting sun was still up there somewhere, but its warmth no longer reached them.
Too weak to continue hovering forever with her psychic powers, Jaclyn faltered. Her delicate pointed foot tripped on a rock, and she nearly fell before she felt a pair of furred arms catch her.
"I'm fine, Cobalt," she insisted as she stretched her neck, her voice low and strained. “But thank you.”
She sat on a large rock for a moment and stared at the cracked ground, her psychic reserves feeling completely drained beyond her limit now.
“They’re all really gone… aren’t they?” the Gardevoir whispered with a crack in her voice. “The Toa are gone... Latias was taken… and Marcus…” She gave out a bitter sigh. “He’s not—”
“We don’t know that!” Cobalt suddenly snapped in his master’s defense before she could finish. “That’s not something we should even—”
“You saw what happened to him back there, Cobalt!” she interrupted. “I’ve been trying to predict every possible future, but… I’m just not seeing him in any of them. Let’s face it, we’re… all alone in this now.”
He crouched beside her and looked off into the distance.
“Maybe, but… nothing is impossible, so I’m not ready to give up on him. Not yet.”
Jaclyn closed her large red eyes, resting her hand against her temple. She was too exhausted to cry, too numb to scream.
“This is only over if we give up,” Cobalt went on, trying to motivate her. “And… that just isn’t an option. Not for me.”
He reached out and placed a black paw gently on her shoulder. That small touch reminded her that they were still alive, and still together. Without thinking much of it, Jaclyn placed her hand on Cobalt’s, but they looked at each other in silence for a brief moment, she felt a strange feeling building up inside her.
But before either could say anything else, Cobalt’s ear tilted as it picked up the sound of something. From some distance away, hushed voices were being carried faintly on the cold wind. Jaclyn stood quickly, her heart jumping in her chest as Cobalt glanced toward the sound and nodded. They moved carefully toward the ridge, crawling to the edge of a jagged slope above a shallow valley.
Much to their surprise, down below was a group of survivors—but more importantly, potential allies.
One of them was a small white and gray Matoran with a small ceremonial staff, hunched over a tablet and scribbling something with quick, precise movements. A Toa stood tall beside him, donned in blue armor and armed with a spiked mace and shield. She scanned the horizon as if expecting danger at any moment.
Near them, a broad, black and gold Toa paced restlessly, holding a large golden spear and shield. His limbs were noticeably thicker than most, and he moved in such a way that somewhat resembled a large and powerful gorilla.
A third orange and gray Toa crouched near a round boulder while adjusting a damaged panel on his armor. His legs looked particularly strong like an athlete’s, as if built for unmatched speed and kicking.
The last stood a few feet apart from the rest, an unassuming red and dark gray Glatorian wearing a scuffed red helmet. He watched the others in silence, like he wasn’t quite one of them.
“See? We’re not alone after all,” Cobalt whispered as he looked to Jaclyn with an optimistic smile.
But as they made their way down the ridge toward the group, something in the air quickly shifted. With Cobalt’s aura and Jaclyn’s psychic intuition, an air of suspicion lingered around the red and gray one, his eyes following them with quiet interest.
The two approached carefully, stepping around jagged rocks and thick roots. The blue-armored warrior was the first to notice them and her head turned sharply, her hand moving instinctively to the handle of her mace. The others followed her gaze and turned as well.
“We come in peace.” Jaclyn raised her hands in a slow, nonthreatening gesture. “We may look a bit… foreign to you, but we’re not your enemies.”
The group of robotic strangers didn’t lower their guard.
Cobalt cautiously stepped forward. “We’ve been running from the black crystals, like I imagine you all have. We lost our friends. We’ve lost… everything.”
The white and gray Matoran tucked his stone tablet under one arm and stepped toward them. His eyes were sharp and blue like a glacier, but also the most trusting of the bunch by far.
“So have we,” he said quietly. “We’re lucky to have made it this far.”
The watery blue Toa stood taller, pointing her large bulky mace at the two Pokémon.
“What are you? You’re unlike any Rahi I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m Cobalt, a Lucario,” he said. “This is Jaclyn, a Gardevoir. We don’t much more than that, but we do know that we’re not exactly from here. We met a group of Toa and a few others during the battle, and… we were there when that thing came. They… didn’t make it. We’re the only two left.”
The orange and gray Toa straightened, his gaze serious. “There are only a few surviving, and fewer still fighting. My brothers Kopaka and Onua… they have fallen to those crystals as well, and I haven’t seen Tahu, Lewa, or Gali anywhere.”
“You knew Tahu?” Cobalt blurted. “And Gali?”
“Yes!” the Toa replied excitedly, his eyes lighting up slightly. “You’ve seen them?!”
The Lucario and Gardevoir gave each other a look.
“About that. We… don’t have any good news,” Jaclyn replied, “Gali was crystallized too, and your friend Tahu… well, he—”
“He’s a bad egg, and that’s putting it generously.” Cobalt’s ears flattened, his eyes narrowing. “We don’t know for sure if he’s still around or not, but if he is… he’d better not be.”
The orange Toa sighed, downhearted.
“If this is true… I can’t say I’m all too surprised, sadly. He always was hot-headed, even for a Toa of Fire.”
“And even more will fall if we stay in one place for too long,” the brutish black and gold Toa grumbled curtly, making a summoning motion with his arm.
“Right. We need to keep moving,” the red and gray Glatorian added in agreement. His voice was calm and even, but something in the way he spoke unsettled both Cobalt and Jaclyn.
The white and gray Matoran glanced at the others before looking up at the blue Toa beside him, who was still suspicious of the strangers.
“Hey, they might look strange, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t trust them, Toa Helryx. After all, we stand a better chance in greater numbers, don’t we?”
After a short pause, Helryx conceded, finally lowering her mace.
“Fine. Do your best to keep up with us, because I’m not interested in carrying any dead weight. We can make formal introductions along the way.”
The Pokémon nodded together.
As the group packed what little they carried, Jaclyn lingered for a moment, watching them. They all looked tired, like her and Cobalt, but she sensed a solid strength in their formation. The blue warrior moved like a leader, and seemed to be the most experienced by far. The black and gold one keenly scanned the shadows while the Matoran guarded his notes with his very life. And the red one... she still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.
She turned to Cobalt, communicating with him through their thoughts. “We should be careful. One of them feels... off.”
He didn’t question her, giving her a slight nod as he sensed the questionable aura around the red Glatorian.
As they began walking together toward a nearby ravine, the wind shifted again. Far behind them, the monolith pulsed faintly as the black crystal continued its crawl across the land. Though no one spoke of it, they all felt its shadow growing ever larger over them.
* * *
As her consciousness finally returned to her, Latias stirred. She weakly raised her lids and her large golden eyes slowly opened to a black sky choked with thick, unmoving clouds. She lay on her front, pressed against something jagged and unyielding. When she tried to lift herself, a crushing invisible weight kept her pinned in place.
Every breath came with effort. The stone beneath her was rough, with sharp angles that bit into her body. It felt… alive somehow, growing and throbbing like a cancerous tumor.
With great effort, she tilted her head. The edge of the platform stretched far into the distance as the wind howled around the tower, cold and relentless.
Then she saw it.
It hovered near the far edge, facing away from her. Its figure was completely still as it looked toward the horizon.
Latias’s heart sank as the last thing she remembered was the flash of his sudden and brutal attack. She recalled the visceral sight of Marcus as the dark figure struck through the center of his chest with a piercing red plasma beam before being thrown into the ocean’s horizon. She’d tried to attack this new enemy in her blind rage, and then… darkness.
And now, Marcus was nowhere in sight.
The dragon Pokémon tried to speak, but her voice caught in her throat. She forced her arm to move, only lifting a claw by an inch. The weight seemed press harder than ever, resisting every effort. It was like she was trapped in her own body.
All the while, the figure still didn’t move, merely staring into the distance without so much as acknowledging her. There was no sound from it, no movement, not even a sign of thought.
Latias glared at him with burning hatred, her breathing shallow. She didn’t understand what this thing wanted or why it had taken her. She was trapped on a living tower that climbed endlessly into the sky, surrounded by cold air and silence.
She was all alone.
Marcus was gone.
She clenched her jaw, forcing back the tremble rising in her chest. A single tear rolled from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek, wetting the shifting black floor beneath her. Latias’s claws scraped against it defiantly as she pushed against the invisible force holding her down. Her body trembled with strain, but her heart burned hotter.
“No…” she whispered, voice strained. “Not again…”
She gathered all her strength, summoning every ounce of draconic energy she could reach. A faint shimmer pulsed around her body. The black stone beneath her cracked slightly where her claws dug in.
“You… took him from me… so I can’t just lie here,” she hissed, louder now. “I WON’T LET YOU WIN!”
Latias screamed, raw and unfiltered. The sound echoed into the vastness above, defiant and grief-stricken. Her wings twitched, and she forced her head up, jaw clenched tight.
Still, the force resisted.
A second scream escaped her, louder and sharper until it became a Dragon Pulse. Her whole body shook from the effort, the sheer willpower behind her fury forcing small fractures to spread outward from her form. The obsidian groaned in response as she unleashed her draconic power at the being.
She swore it hit her target head-on. She knew it did.
But when the energy dissipated, the figure turned slightly as it only now finally acknowledged her existence, just enough for her to see the faint shimmer of light reflect off the edge of his mask.
Latias froze.
It was just watching. Observing. Measuring her resistance.
Her breathing slowed. All the energy she had built up flickered for a moment, and her strength faded. She lay still, her eyes locked onto the figure’s faceless visage.
It turned fully, and walked towards her in midair.
Each step made no sound, but a thin flat layer of voidglass formed from nothing like a pathway beneath his steps. As it drew nearer, the heavy pressure on her body deepened, as if the fabric of space itself was reacting to its presence.
Latias narrowed her eyes. Hard as it was not to, she didn’t look away for even a second. She had nothing left but her will, and she used it like a shield.
The figure came to a stop just a few feet away from her. It said nothing; its presence was a void, suffocating and cold.
She stared up at him.
“Marcus will come back. I… I know he will. And he’s going to beat you when he does. That’s a promise.”
But it remained standing there in silence, as if considering something.
Latias didn’t look away; she wouldn’t give it the satisfaction. Her wings trembled against the floor. She shifted slightly, inch by inch, forcing herself upright even as the weight of the pressure crushed down on her back. Her breaths came sharp and shallow, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t let herself feel small in front of this… thing.
“Well? Aren’t you going to… say anything? Brag about some… evil plan? Just what are you, anyway?” she growled, her voice ragged but clear. “Why… are you doing this? What… do you want?!”
The figure didn’t answer right away. The jagged spires around the platform groaned in the windless air, their pitch-black surfaces absorbing all light.
Then, from within the mask, came a harsh and raspy voice.
“K… K… Kill… cure.”
* * *
As the group pressed on, the small white Matoran finally turned to Jaclyn and Cobalt with a meek voice.
“B-by the way, I’m Kopeke,” he said, placing his stone tablet on a flat rock beside him. “I’m a Chronicler.”
“Nice to meet you, Kopeke,” Jaclyn said as she gave him a polite nod. “So, like a record keeper?”
“Exactly a record keeper,” Kopeke corrected proudly. “My job is to write history as it’s happening, so that today’s stories become the historic legends of the future.”
The blue warrior lifted her gaze. “I’m Toa Helryx. Former leader of the Order of Mata Nui. I’m also the first Toa.”
“Ever?” asked Cobalt.
“Ever,” Helryx repeated, bringing a fist to her heartlight. “I’m even older than the Great Spirit himself, over a hundred thousand years of service.”
“That’s a lot of years…” the Lucario mumbled in shock, barely able to comprehend such a lifespan.
The black and gold Toa gave a grunt as he leaned his weight onto his spear. “Name’s Toa Bomonga. Not much for talking, but… let’s just say I’m larger than life. You’ll see what I mean.”
Next, the orange and gray Toa raised a hand in a friendly greeting. “I am Toa Pohatu. I look a bit different now with this adaptive armor, but stone is my element. Maybe when this is over we can kick a Kohlii ball around, Cobalt! You’ve certainly got the legs for it!”
Cobalt smiled faintly at Pohatu’s infectious optimism. “When this is over… count me in.”
Pohatu gave a tired but understanding smile as he tried to keep up appearances.
Lastly, the red and gray Glatorian straightened from where he had been sharpening a curved blade against a rock.
“Perditus,” he said. “I’m a pilot in the arena, though I don’t have my trusty ride with me at the moment. You ever seen a Thornatus V9?”
“A Tornadus?” Cobalt’s eyes widened. “So there really are other Pokemon like us in this world?”
Perditus tilted his head. “What? A— no, a Thornadus. It’s a vehicle.”
“So what you’re saying is, it’s not a legendary genie of wind that transforms into a bird through a magical mirror?” asked the Gardevoir.
“...I didn’t understand a word you just said,” Perditus replied with more than a hint of annoyance.
“Anyway, moving on,” Toa Bomonga spoke up as he stepped in to change the subject. “We can’t outrun those dark crystals forever. We need a plan to fight back, but nothing so far we’ve tried has worked.”
Toa Helryx gripped her shield in her hand. “Which is why we need information. And allies.”
Cobalt exchanged a glance with Jaclyn, then stepped toward the group.
“There was something that came from a hole in the sky. It looked like a Toa, except it wasn’t. It took our friend, Latias, and Marcus, our leader... fell.”
Jaclyn added, “If you're forming a resistance, we’d be happy to join you.”
Toa Helryx studied them both with a piercing expression, then looked to the others. Kopeke and Toa Pohatu nodded eagerly, while Perditus only shrugged with his arms crossed.
But before he could give his two cents on the matter, Toa Bomonga froze.
“Something’s watching,” he rumbled, pointing his staff in a certain direction.
Cobalt turned slowly, scanning the undergrowth.
“I feel it too,” he whispered.
“Rahi?” Jaclyn asked.
“Maybe,” Pohatu answered in a hush. “But not one I recognize.”
Behind them, a sharp snap of a branch echoed. Helryx immediately raised her mace, and her eyes narrowed.
“Form a circle,” she ordered. “Back to back. We have no idea what could be out here with us.”
They obeyed. Perditus spun one of his blades into a reverse grip, crouching low with a glance toward the trees.
“Whatever it is, it’s doing its best to track us without sound. Definitely some kind of predator.”
Cobalt’s pulse quickened as a shape flickered at the edge of the path, almost too fast to be real.
“Did you see that?” he asked.
From the bushes ahead, a figure stepped out.
It was a Matoran that looked just like Kopeke, except… Kopeke stood right beside them.
“Watch out, everyone!” the new Kopeke said, pointing at the original Kopeke that was with them. “That Kopeke is an impostor!”
“Nice try, but I don’t buy that for a second!”
Not one to be fooled, Bomonga met the impersonator with a roar, swinging his spear in a wide arc.
“No, wait! I promise I’m telling the—”
The blow connected directly into “Kopeke’s” chest, but he melted back into the dark with a wet hiss, leaving no trace but a smear of black sludge on the jungle floor.
“It's probing us,” Helryx muttered. “Testing for weakness.”
Cobalt’s fur bristled. “What is that thing?!”
Perditus growled, eyes scanning the canopy. A shriek echoed from far off, distorted and rising in pitch like metal screaming.
“We have to get out of here, fast. Whatever it is, we don’t want to face that thing here,” he said.
They pressed on, faster now. The jungle’s overgrowth seemed to grow more dense with every step. More and more shapes stirred in the shadows, eyes peeking out between the vines.
Jaclyn kept close to Cobalt as they ran.
“We need to find some kind of shelter,” she said. “If that thing is following us, it’s probably not the only thing lurking out here.”
They hadn’t traveled far when they saw a crumbled cave entrance, half-buried beneath thick roots and moss. It might have once been a stronghold, or perhaps a long-forgotten temple. But it still had walls, and for now, that was enough.
“Inside. Quickly,” Toa Helryx ordered.
They entered the cave, which offered some relief from the damp heat of the jungle. Though the air inside was thick with mildew and stale dust, it was still and quiet. Moss covered every inch of stone, and strange carvings were half-swallowed by creeping vines. The Toa moved through its central chamber cautiously, weapons still drawn but lowered. Jaclyn sat while trying to catch her breath, while Cobalt paced along the wall, the appendages on his head twitching like mad—though he wasn’t sure why.
Perditus lit a small flare from his weapon and dropped it in the center of the room. The orange glow flickered against the walls, throwing long shadows across the ruins.
“Finally,” Pohatu muttered. “Somewhere to actually relax for a bit.”
Kopeke sat cross-legged and scribbled furiously on his tablet, murmuring notes to himself. Helryx remained standing, quiet and alert. Her hand never strayed far from the handle of her mace.
Meanwhile, Bomonga stood near one of the side walls, glaring at it. The others barely noticed, but his gaze was fixed on something that didn’t sit right with him.
“Something wrong?” Cobalt called out to him from across the cave. “Hey.”
Bomonga didn’t respond at first. He stepped closer to the rocky wall, then placed one massive hand against the stone.
Bomonga’s eyes widened.
“Everyone get up,” he said.
No one moved.
“I said get UP! Everyone, out! NOW!”
The panic in his voice broke the quiet like a crack of echoed thunder.
“What? why? What is it this time?” Perditus demanded, already standing.
“The walls are breathing,” Bomonga growled, already booking it for the cave’s entrance. “This isn’t a cave at all, it’s alive!”
Vines that had seemed dormant suddenly coiled like muscles contracting. Patches of moss peeled back to reveal glistening inner flesh. The cracked stone twisted and groaned, reshaping itself. The entire ruin was folding inward.
Jaclyn gasped. “It’s trying to close around us!”
Kopeke shouted, “A-Archives Beast! It must be the Archives Beast!”
The chamber convulsed, and the entire room roared on all sides.
“Move!” Cobalt shouted, grabbing Jaclyn’s arm.
They ran for the crumbling entrance as the floor beneath them began to soften, turning sticky and uneven like a tongue coated in bile. Bomonga took up the rear, slamming his shield against the rising tendrils that shot up in an attempt to grab their ankles and drag them deeper into the cave.
The wall ahead snapped shut, revealing a gaping mouth lined with jagged, stone-like fangs. Pohatu hurled a powerful kick into the creature’s teeth, blasting a hole just wide enough for them to escape through.
One by one, they dove through the cave’s mouth, landing hard on the dirt outside. The ruin behind them groaned and collapsed in on itself, its disguise rotting away like dead skin. Beneath the illusion was a grotesque, fluid mass of limbs and teeth. It let out a bellow, then retreated into the jungle’s shadows.
They didn’t stop running until they couldn’t hear it anymore.
Only once the jungle fell silent again did they gather themselves. Their breaths came ragged and panicked.
Jaclyn leaned over, one hand on her chest. “That... was definitely a cave when we went in. I’m sure of it...”
“No,” Kopeke said, panting. “That was the Archives Beast. It can camouflage itself not only as other people, but its surroundings as well. The Order tried to contain it centuries ago. Guess it got set loose after Mata Nui’s fall.”
“That thing has probably eaten dozens, if not hundreds who mistook it for shelter,” Helryx added grimly.
Cobalt looked toward the trees. “And we almost would have joined them just now.”
With that, the group trudged forward, shaken and silent, weaving through the undergrowth as the thick canopy choked out the sky above. Jaclyn kept close to Cobalt all the while, her psychic senses alert for any sign of another threat. Branches scraped against armor and skin, leaving several minor cuts on the two Pokémon. Every snapped twig felt like a warning of what could still be stalking them even now.
After a while, Cobalt muttered under his breath.
““Archives Beast”. Bit of a vague name, isn’t it?”
Kopeke, still catching his breath, gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, you’re not wrong about that.”
Bomonga glanced over his shoulder. “No one’s ever been able to describe it properly. The name stuck because the first sighting was deep within the Metru Nui Archives, when it disguised itself as a storage room.”
“So, no one knows what it really looks like?” asked Cobalt.
Bomonga nodded. “There are only theories. It’s a shapeshifter, but not like one of the Makuta. It can imitate anything it’s ever seen, no matter the shape or size. Buildings, rock formations, Toa... even dead Rahi.”
Helryx spoke without turning around. “The Order has spent centuries trying to trap it. None of their methods worked, because it could be anything, from a Fikou spider to a lightstone.”
Jaclyn walked close to Cobalt, her red eyes sweeping across each face in the dim light until her gaze slid to Perditus.
He stood slightly apart from the rest, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching the jungle. His helmet tilted downward, eyes hidden in shadow. He hadn’t said a word since they’d fled the ruins.
“Is it just me,” she secretly whispered to Cobalt within their heads, “or does he seem... off?”
“Could just be how Glatorian are,” Cobalt replied, though he didn’t sound convinced. “We shouldn’t make any assumptions yet. After all, we’re the ones who don’t really belong here.”
* * *
No one slept that night, continuing on as far as their legs would allow.
However, in the latest hours of the night, Jaclyn was finally the first to give in.
She didn’t trip this time, just… stopped. Her legs refused to move another inch further, her shoulders sagged, and her eyes, clouded by exhaustion, blinked once more before fluttering shut. Her body had reached its limit.
“I can’t…” she whispered, her voice barely a breath.
“Jaci!” Cobalt turned back just in time to see her sink to her knees. She tried to get up, but her arms trembled under her weight. Her psychic energy had run dry hours ago, and she had been forcing herself to walk on nothing but willpower and her nubbed feet, which were less than ideal for walking on physical ground.
Toa Helryx noticed too, walking further ahead without any sign of slowing down. She turned her blue-armored head toward them, her face unreadable.
“I warned you earlier that I won’t carry you,” Helryx reminded them.
“I heard you the first time,” Cobalt said quietly as he shot her a glance she didn’t notice. “Don’t worry, Jaci. I’ve got you.”
He moved to Jaclyn’s side and crouched beside her. She murmured something unintelligible in a daze before she finally fainted, her head resting limply against him. Without hesitation, he slid his arms under her legs and back and lifted her effortlessly. She didn’t stir.
Helryx didn’t say a word as Cobalt adjusted her weight, then shifted her onto his back and looped her arms over his shoulders. Her head rested lightly against his neck. Without another glance at the Toa, he kept walking, thankful she was at least rather lightweight.
Behind them, the jungle stirred with the unsettling sounds of clicks, rustling branches, and distant gurgling growls.
But Cobalt paid them no mind.",
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"title": "(FANFIC) Destiny Delta - Road 2: The Memory of Water - Chapter 2 - What's Left Over",
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