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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Since communing with Suicune, Isaac found himself far more at peace with the natural world. The cold fronts that drifted in with summer's end went from sources of frustration to welcome friends. The smell of sea breezes and fresh flowers rejuvenated him more than any cup of coffee could. Whereas before a long enough hike would leave him tired and grumpy, now he could run through the nighttime air without a care in the world. It was harmony, a rarity in a life as storied as his.[break][break]

Not a shred of it remained as Isaac crossed the threshold to the Megalopolis.[break][break]

The air, stagnant and foreign, was heavy with the smell of decay. What light he could find was harsh and blaring, not a shred of the sun's warmth to be found. His skin felt dry as his eye scanned the horizon; no water, and with it, no life was to be found. A shiver crept down Isaac's spine. Even compared to the other Ultra Wilds, something about this city just felt wrong.[break][break]

At one point, he made the mistake of trying to ask a passing traveler for directions. He could still hear the gnashing of its teeth as he popped its head off of its body. Part of that was from the sound being seared into his brain. Part of that was because, no matter how long he lingered, the gnashing refused to stop.[break][break]

He'd gotten some new duds out of the deal, at least.[break][break]

He shuddered as its cold, clammy fabric settled against his skin, and he could barely see through the slitlike visor attached to its cumbersome helmet. Still, it was better than nothing. In fact, it was a lot better than nothing. Whenever he encountered another of the strange undead beings, they just shambled on past.[break][break]

Many skyscrapers loomed over the abandoned streets, but all roads lead to a monolith that put the rest to shame. It barely resembled any building found at home. In fact, it barely resembled a building at all. It was more like an abstract art piece, geometric pieces stacked to the heavens. By the tip of the spire, cracked prisms lined almost every facet. A few flickered now and then, weak protests that they could still bring light where it mattered most.[break][break]

Isaac may as well have been a moth for how quickly he gravitated towards the light. It felt far more compelling than the dusky, zombie-filled streets below. However, compulsion gave way to dread when he saw the door was already hanging wide open. It was as if the spire was inviting him in.[break][break]

Fuck that. Isaac had other ideas in mind. He released a Pokeball, Halberd the Corviknight emerging at the base of the tower. Even the steely glint in his eye seemed feeble compared to the enormity stretching before them. "You're getting a bad vibe." Loathe as he was to answer, the Corviknight nodded once. "That's okay, buddy. Just gonna need you for a minute, okay? Let's fly up as high as we can."[break][break]

Halberd's posture was rigid with terror, and it only got worse the higher they climbed. Isaac himself was far less shaken than he imagined. His brain correctly identified that he was terrified, but his heartbeat remained quiet and his breathing remained steady. It was more like a third party's observation than any genuine feeling. In its own right, it proved strangely terrifying.[break][break]

With a soft hand on Halberd's flank, Isaac took a deep breath. "Easy, Hal," he said, voice barely perceptible over the flapping of his great wings. "With me, now." A deep breath in. A deep breath out. At first, Halberd's flank still pulsed at a far greater pace. However, with each breath he took, Halberd's own breathing began to slow. Soon, the two were breathing as one, Halberd's wingbeats growing more controlled and less frantic.[break][break]

Isaac could barely make it out through his visor, but his hand was starting to glow.[break][break]

"There. That's enough." Floor 20. The uppermost floors, right around where the gleaming spire gave way to a mass of prismatic panels. "I'm gonna try doing something real stupid, okay?" He remembered the way he rushed through the forest with Suicune, so focused on their mission that he phased through the treeline as if it was nothing. Arceus, what he wouldn't give to have that kind of focus right now.[break][break]

He stepped back, arms held out to keep his balance, from Halberd's back to his tailfeathers. He fixed his eyes on the spire wall, refusing to let himself look down to the 20-story drop that would await him if he failed. He hunched down in the closest thing to a sprinter's stance he could muster up with such little room. Then, after throwing all caution to the wind, he proceeded to throw himself into it.[break][break]

Just as his foot sprang off of Halberd's forehead, the musty air of the Megalopolis rallied behind him. Where Isaac expected to find himself sinking, instead he started to soar. It was no true flight; he could have never climbed to these heights himself. However, off of Halberd's back, his running start would take him just far enough. His body was as the wind now, and no barrier of nature or man could hold him.[break][break]

Only as the dark, claustrophobic spire took form around him did Isaac realize he may have made a terrible mistake.

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After multiple expeditions into Lesser Megalopolis, Zev no longer felt the same tense apprehension as he had during his first arrival. The bleak, lightless cityscape was familiar to him, and he could navigate Lesser Megalo Tower with ease.[break][break]

The lifeless Megalopolans and the Ultra Beasts randomly appearing through wormholes no longer concerned him. He and his Pokémon could handle them.[break][break]

He stood alone on the 20th floor of the tower. Machines surrounded him, some of them carrying defunct Z-crystals. A lone computer terminal illuminated him in pale, sickly light as his eyes read logs that had not yet been corrupted.[break][break]

"Ultra Megalopolis has also fallen. There is no hope for us now. We are ruined."[break][break]

Light-bringer, other logs downstairs had suggested. Light-eater, cried the refugees from Galar and the survivors of the Darkest Day.[break][break]

A sudden noise drew Zev's attention from the monitor. His head snapped in its direction before his entire body grew still. Straining, he picked it out: the beating of wings from outside the tower.[break][break]

No creatures native to Lesser Megalopolis used wings to fly.[break][break]

The wind howled suddenly, briefly, buffeting against the steel and glass of the tower. Then footsteps, very light on the dusty floor. From their sound, they came from a single individual.[break][break]

Zev stood slowly, careful not to make a sound. As he walked toward the source of the footsteps, he called forth the crystals in his body, covering his skin with them from head to toe. Dressed as he was in his black field gear, and swathed as he was in the shadows of the tower, they were not easily visible.[break][break]

He paused in a doorway. On the other side was a person dressed in a Megalopolan recon squad uniform and helmet. Judging by their movements, however, they were not undead.[break][break]

No, they were very much alive.[break][break]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]After multiple minutes spent in the Lesser Megalopolis, Isaac's tense apprehension had only heightened. He had no idea what to make of the bleak, lightless cityscape he could peek at through the windows of the Lesser Megalo Tower, which only felt more arcane and confusing to explore the longer Isaac wandered through its halls.[break][break]

The Ultra Beasts randomly appearing through wormholes were still very much a concern, if the severed black tentacle angrily snapping towards him was any indication.[break][break]

Isaac took a few steps away from it, waiting for its thrashing to cease before he finally proceeded. Had his Grimmsnarl not pushed the titanic beast back into its wormhole before it snapped shut, that could have been disastrous. Perhaps it still had been, albeit a slightly different from of disaster. Shambling revenants, drawn to the sound and smell of battle, made their way towards the writhing tentacle. The largest of the group planted a heavy boot on its maw, ceasing its movement long enough for the rest to surround it.[break][break]

One of them turned to Isaac, tilting its head as it held something out towards him. Even in the darkness, Isaac could make out what appeared to be a chunk of blackened flesh. His stomach turned at the sight. As glowing blue blood oozed down the revenant's fingers, Isaac held his hands up as if to say "no thank you, sorry." He made a point of skirting around the group before they began their feeding frenzy.[break][break]

What the hell happened to this place?[break][break]

He was running now. His breathing was steady and his mind was focused, but fear pulsed through his subconscious and he was running. The more he stayed still, the more opportunity he gave the horrors of this place to catch up to him. Poor Ogrelord had to fight to keep up with him, huffing and puffing as he charged forward on all fours.[break][break]

The good news was he'd finally caught up. The bad news was it was because Isaac had stopped entirely. Ogrelord skid to a halt, stomping up to his side to see just what it was that took Isaac down from 100 to 0. What was the big deal? It just seemed like a bunch of lunatics scratching the shit out of a wall.[break][break]

To Isaac, it was so much more than that. It was an all too familiar carving of a great cosmic dragon, descending upon the Megalopolis and bringing it to the brink of annihilation. It was the very same cosmic dragon that had shown up on one of Hammerlocke's many tapestries, distinct memories from when Isaac had finally taken the chance to tour there. The image was hazy, but the sense of deja vu was undeniable.[break][break]

This hadn't been the only world visited by this cosmic dragon. Galar either was or would be another, its presence looming in the background as Eternatus wreaked havoc upon the land. Had it been an ally of Eternatus'? A herald, preparing both Galar and the Megalopolis for its destruction? Or had it been a foe, swooping down to fight Eternatus to the rights for Galar's carcass? But what in the world would be strong enough to stand up to Eternatus?[break][break]

Isaac stared at the carvings, transfixed. One way or another, he had to figure out what they meant.

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The intruder moved through the floors, fending off Ultra Beasts and pushing past fooled Megalopolans. Zev followed at a distance, curious to see what the other person would do. Their pace picked up as they increasingly came face-to-face with the horrors of the tower, until they were running at full speed through the labyrinthine halls.[break][break]

Zev was glad he knew all the shortcuts through the tower—all the ones he'd made with BARNABY FINCH and Marza Volchitsa. Using them, he managed to keep up with the intruder's flight.[break][break]

Finally, they stopped before one of the many murals etched into the walls. Zev recognized it at once as the golden dragon descending up on the city. He'd found its same likeness scattered elsewhere—not just in the tower, but in the city at large.[break][break]

"You must be new to the tower," Zev said from the shadows. His cold, unfeeling voice cut through the silence hanging heavily upon the dust-laden air.[break][break]

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Were it not for the unsettling calm that had settled over Isaac's brain, he would have screamed.[break][break]

There was no mistaking that voice. Zev was here. Of course he was. He'd lurked in all of the region's shadowy corners, and the Lesser Megalopolis had been an entire city swallowed up by them. Of course the king of Hammerlocke had returned to see the tapestries of his former domain, scratched all across the wall in a blind, desperate terror.[break][break]

Of course, no matter how hard he tried to emancipate himself, Zev would always be mere steps behind him.[break][break]

Fear. Rage. Despair. All of these feeling bobbed at the surface of his mindscape, unable to penetrate the way they used to. The good news was that at least now he could focus. The bad news was, without the adrenaline of fight and flight, he was acutely aware of just what it meant to have Zev looming so closely.[break][break]

His immediate first thought was to run. His immediate counterargument was that, the second he did, Zev would give chase. It would be an admission of guilt, and in Zev's court there would be no room for judge or jury. There would only be the executioner, a role he would relish every chance to fill.[break][break]

Perhaps he'd relish it too much. It occurred to Isaac that he hadn't run, and yet he was still breathing. It also occurred to Isaac that Zev's question was a little too casual. There was a threatening edge to his voice, sure, but it was Zev. When didn't he sound threatening? Sure, he was an expert in all forms of warfare, but the psychological sort was one he cared little for. Perhaps, despite Isaac's concerns, he genuinely hadn't recognized him.[break][break]

Why did that hurt?[break][break]

Inexplicable disappointment aside, this was good. He could work with this. The Ultra Spacian helmet obscured his face. What little was still visible was swallowed up by the darkness. If Zev was in his freakish crystal form (a sensible choice, with danger lurking around every corner), his ears would likely be a little muffled as well. If he could just worm his way out of this chat without being recognized, he'd be in the clear.[break][break]

"Nothin' like the ol' Bell Tower back in Johto, that's for sure." He deepened his voice a few octaves and smoothed out as much of the resulting rasp as he possibly could. Perfect. "I was actually just making my way out. You happen to spot any exits?"[break][break]

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Zev listened carefully to the voice that answered. It was deep, with a slight rasp, and muffled behind the helmet. Still, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. The man's—because the stranger was a man—natural gait had been familiar, especially earlier, when he had been walking.[break][break]

Even if the voice was wrong, the gait paired with his height narrowed down his possible identities significantly.[break][break]

"This place is like a maze," Zev said, not answering the question. He emerged from the shadows at the end of the hall, a shadow himself, the flickering ceiling light barely illuminating his form.[break][break]

"The elevator doesn't work, and many of the stairs have collapsed or are blocked. And there are monsters lurking on every floor. Though I think you've noticed those by now."[break][break]

Empty, colorless Z-crystals lay scattered across the dusty tiles between the two men. Zev kicked them with every step as he approached the stranger. They clinked together, a gentle sound made louder and more threatening by the oppressive atmosphere of the tower.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Zev looked for all the world like a shadow. It was as if a piece of the tower's walls decided to just get up and start marching towards him. Isaac could hardly tell if it was because the tower was just that dark or if it was because he'd already donned his crystalline armor.[break][break]

Isaac felt like he was under a microscope. He'd been feeling eyes on him for a while, but something about this moment in time hit different. It was as if with each step Zev took, each word he said, each breath he made, he was studying Isaac. The worst part was Isaac couldn't piece together why. Nothing in Zev's body language or vocal tone suggested he knew anything. Nothing about them suggested he cared.[break][break]

All Isaac had to go off of was his own mounting dread.[break][break]

Zev's advice wasn't anything revolutionary. Most of it was nothing Isaac hadn't already encountered during his sprint through the 20th floor. The mazelike architecture of the tower was concerningly self-evident. So, too, had the numerous monster attacks that Isaac had already survived. For a moment, he'd hoped one would force its way out of a portal just so he could avoid this awkward conversation.[break][break]

Alas, the only monster to arrive was Zev. His march towards Isaac was inexorable, kicking around the remnants of a past civilization as if they meant nothing to him. At times like this, Isaac was thankful for the supernatural calm that had grasped him. Otherwise, every little clink would leave him cringing harder than the last. He took a few steps back, his motions slight and subtle, hoping that he was backing himself in the direction of a door. As he did, he kept talking; watch the hands, not the mouth.[break][break]

"Indeed. I'm quite the fierce fighter, and yet they give even me pause!" They'd done more than that. He'd be seeing these in his nightmares for sure. "I take it you've had your share of tangles with them as well?"

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Zev almost laughed at the absurdity of the stranger's response. His words were stilted, as if he had been plucked from another time and place. The manner of speech almost reminded Zev of the masked vigilante he'd fought in Slateport City's outskirts, but that man had been far taller than this one.[break][break]

No, there was only one person whose sense of theatrics, gait, and height matched this stranger's.[break][break]

"I have." Above them, the ceiling light flickered erratically. "They're the same as any man or Pokémon. They have flesh and blood; they can be cut and bleed."[break][break]

Zev's eyes flickered to the Grimmsnarl hunched next to the other man, protective of his master.[break][break]

"You have your own Pokémon with you, at least. You should be fine, provided it's strong enough. Wouldn't want to lose it and then get stranded here, lost and alone."

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]With each flicker of the ceiling light, Isaac's eyes wildly scanned the room. They searched the shadows that stretched across the hall, looking to see if they took the form of claws wrapped around him. They searched Zev's facial features, desperate for any sign of a reaction. They searched the walls for any sort of exit, because the air between the two had become far too thick and suffocating.[break][break]

It didn't help that he hadn't been on his a-game here. He'd doubled down trying to sound like something he wasn't, and that meant it felt more like he was a cheap costume than a real human being. As the light flickered overhead and the crystals chimed at his feet, Isaac found himself second guessing every choice he had made so far.[break][break]

"I'd trust him with my life." Zev's approach may have gotten Ogrelord rattled, but those reassuring words left him pumping his chest out with pride. "And with the dangers this tower poses, I guess I'll have to." It was nothing to worry too strongly about. It was simply two travelers warning each other about the threats that lay up ahead, right?[break][break]

The fact that Zev had only mentioned where the exits weren't nestled into the least comfortable corners of his brain.[break][break]

"I should be making my way, then." His words were coming out faster than his brain could process them now. For once, the ripples along his brain were starting to deepen and stick. It had been too long since he'd remembered what fear truly felt like. Maybe it was nice to have a little reminder like this. "Thanks for the advice, Zev."[break][break]

It was only after he'd turned on his heels to walk away that Isaac realized his dire fumble.

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Zev stopped an arm's length from the intruder. From that short distance, he peered into the narrow, horizontal eye slit, trying to envision the face behind the helmet. The familiar brown eyes, the short crop of blonde hair.[break][break]

The sort of man who'd say, "I'd trust him with my life," about any Pokémon with such conviction.[break][break]

And then the fool tore apart his own ruse with a single, thoughtless sentence.[break][break]

Zev's smile did not reach his eyes, though between the dim lighting and the void-black crystal covering his face, it was difficult to see.[break][break]

"You're welcome, Isaac."[break][break]

For the briefest moment, he let that name hang in the space between them, the air so heavy he could curl a hand around it.[break][break]

And then he lunged.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Hearing his name in that familiar tone was like a shot through the heart.[break][break]

Isaac paused. Zev paused. The flickering light paused. The world around them paused. Isaac could have sworn that even the Megalopians feasting many rooms away had paused. Such was the gravity of the mistake that Isaac had made, tearing the veil off of the secrets he was certain Zev had already deciphered.[break][break]

Zev lunged, and he ran. Blackened claws sliced through his pilfered uniform, leaving behind a trio of jagged gashes Isaac could all too easily imagine ripping across his flesh. Had he been a split second slower, a half a brain cell less aware, it would've been over then and there. Instead, he'd earned just enough breathing room to starting building up speed in earnest.[break][break]

He knew he'd never be able to take Zev in a direct fight. The man could, at a whim, make himself invincible. However, invincible didn't mean unbeatable. The more distractions he could throw in Zev's path, the more distance he could build between the two of them. The more distance he could build, the better his odds of shaking Zev off his trail became. If Zev was off his trail, he could finally focus on making an exit. Simple plan? Right?[break][break]

Heavy, crystalline footprints and an aura of pure malice made it clear this would be anything but.[break][break]

"Ogrelord, Hammer Arm!" Ogrelord looked at Isaac as if he was crazy. "Not on him! On that wall!" Now that Ogrelord could do. He smashed a big, chunky fist into a cracked length of wall, sending rubble and dust crumbling beneath him. It wouldn't be much, but it would at least be an obstacle.[break][break]

Isaac had a different idea in mind. He drew a blade from his pocket, eyeing it cautiously. Then, with an almost practiced calmness, he dragged it down the length of his palm. The aroma of fresh blood lingered in the air as Isaac held his hand high, waving it around for emphasis.[break][break]

The horrors this act invited were infinitely preferable to more alone time with Zev.

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If Zev hadn't tailed Isaac during his earlier run, the younger man's swiftness would have caught him off guard. Isaac's movements possessed an unnatural fleetness, as if his body weighed little more than air.[break][break]

Fortunately, Zev had had time to observe this strange, new trait. And unlike Isaac, he knew all the twists and turns of Lesser Megalo Tower.[break][break]

When stone and metal caved in thanks to the Grimmsnarl's HAMMER ARM, blocking his path, Zev pivoted. He tore through several rooms, several tendrils of crystal extending from his back, their scythe ends ripping through whatever got in his way.[break][break]

Suddenly, Isaac stopped running. He fumbled with something in his hands; in the dark, it was difficult to tell what. Then he waved his hand in the air.[break][break]

"Surrendering already?" Zev asked, skeptical. Isaac had a reputation for thick-skulled stubbornness. The hitman paused some distance away, waiting to see what the boy had up his sleeve.[break][break]

Then Zev heard it: the terrible groans of an approaching horde. A thundering filled the floor, growing louder with every passing second—the pounding of countless pairs of feet.[break][break]

Suddenly, dozens of undead Megalopolans burst into the room, streaming from all the entrances, swarming like ants all over each other to reach their prey.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Ogrelord was no weak Pokemon by any means. When braided up, his hair was as strong as steel cables. When flowing freely, it was as flexible as spider's silk. Even then, it had taken a good three or four pounds before he could break down enough wall to slow Zev down.[break][break]

Zev was able to slice and dice through those same walls with barely an issue. Isaac could hear stone shatter and flesh tear as Zev turned the adjoining rooms into his playground. He pushed himself to run faster, faster, faster still. If the death gurgle of an Ultra Beast was any indication, Zev would be back on his tail in mere moments.[break][break]

Isaac didn't expect the sheer volume of the horde that his desperate gambit attracted. Did he just taste really good? It'd explain all the monsters he'd attracted in the past. The other possibility was that it was nothing personal. He had simply been the first piece of fresh meat on this leg of the tower in an eternity.[break][break]

Somehow, Isaac got the sense his Megalopian suit wouldn't get him out of this one. But maybe something else would.[break][break]

Isaac's free hand groped at the air, mist dancing around his fingers. Stagnant, foul, and disgusting as it was, air was air. That meant water vapor. That meant water. That meant power. All he needed to do was reach deep inside of himself and take it. It was like trying to squeeze blood from a stone, but what other choice did Isaac have?[break][break]

A small globe of water, cold and dark, formed in the curve of his palm. It'd have to do. He ran the globe along the length of his cut, watching as swirls of red spread along its surface. Palm wounds could be real bleeders, and this one had been no exception. By the time the cut sealed, his globe was looked more blood than water.[break][break]

Arceus, if he wasn't already being chased by a horde of man-eating zombies . . .[break][break]

Isaac clenched his fist around the globe, willing it to freeze. Slowly but surely, his fingers pressed down against its surface tension, forcing it down into a sharper, more aerodynamic shape. What was once a globe of water was now an ice knife, stripes of red and white alternating like a barber's pole. Isaac could already see it sweating droplets. It'd never last in this form. It'd melt shortly after leaving his grip.[break][break]

Good. He was counting on that.[break][break]

Isaac threw the stained ice knife Zev's way. With his hand cleansed, and the knife quite bloodied, he could only hope the horde would follow its lead. He flung himself towards a nearby wall, pressing against it and hoping that none of the zombies in the horde would go sniffing for seconds. If he could just shimmy past them all, he might have his biggest lead in this chase yet.

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