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the sky is his sanctuary, the wind his guide, but today, they have led him astray. the masked rider looms above him like an omen of death, their moltres blotting out the sun with its terrible wings. in that moment, nick knows fear, the kind that settles deep into the bones, the kind he hadn't felt since the darkest days of his past.[break][break]

he is no stranger to team rocket, no stranger to the horrors they inflict upon the world. he had been one of them, once, a lifetime ago, before he had found his way to the light. but that was the past, and this is the present, and the present is dark and full of terror. a ritualistic sacrifice is demanded.[break][break]

nick's grip tightens on his mount, the fierce and proud braviary that has been his companion through so many battles. he could feel the bird's tension, its readiness to fight, but nick knew that they were outmatched. the moltres is a legendary creature, a force of nature made flesh, and nick and his braviary are little more than insects before its might.[break][break]

but he has a duty. the league counts on him to scout. to be cowed by this beast is to admit defeat.[break][break]

nick bids his braviary to ascend to face the moltres and its masked rider. "neither you nor rocket own the skies," he calls out, his voice ringing with a confidence he does not feel. "i intend to finish my duty."[break][break]

his knuckles go white, every muscle tensed for a confrontation.

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Ah. This one reminded him of jack wainwright. He'd been given a choice in the past, too, almost a year ago now. [break][break]

And he'd made the wrong one. Only blood and pain and death had accompanied that decision. Idly, Barnaby wondered if he still stalked the ranger's nightmares.[break][break]

Would this one fear him, too?[break][break]

"Your choice." [break][break]

They always had so much bravado at first. So much conviction.[break][break]

"But don't forget who gave you an out when I send you tumbling back to Earth."[break][break]

Though he taunted, BARNABY FINCH seemingly did not make the first move. Instead, MOLTRES hissed lowly as its eyes flashed a bright white — a telltale sign of an envisioned attack via FUTURE SIGHT.[break][break]

"Come on, then. Show me what you've got."

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"an out?" nick muses bitterly, his heart pounding as the moltres's eyes flare with otherworldly power. "some out. i'm still paying for it."[break][break]

for all his years, for all his attempts to atone, the specter of his past still lingers over him like a shroud. there are days when he can almost forget, when the weight of his sins is lifted from his shoulders, but then there are moments like these, when he is forced to confront the darkness he once called home.[break][break]

"you talk of choice, but there's no real choice, is there?" he says, his voice tight with fear and anger. "you threaten me with death, but the truth is, there's no real escape from team rocket. you just trade one kind of prison for another."[break][break]

either he dies in fear of team rocket, or he lives in fear. either way, the iron manacles still constrict.[break][break]

but nick has made his choice, and he will not back down from it. he gives a quiet command to his braviary, and the bird dives, talons outstretched, a streak of light against the gathering dusk as they aim a SUPERPOWER at the legendary creature. they are outmatched, outgunned, but they will fight, because that is all they can do. it is all they have ever done.[break][break]

"if i fall, i fall on my own terms!" he shouts, his voice nearly lost in the rush of wind and the flap of wings. "i am not a puppet!"[break][break]

nick is under no illusion that he will win this fight. but he will make them remember him, make them remember the man who dared to defy them, even in the face of certain death. he thinks it is all he can do.

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nicholas steele was right. There was no choice. Only the illusion of it.[break][break]

ROCKET had instilled that in BARNABY FINCH since birth. He'd been born in a cage, manacled by their rigid hierarchy and ideals, and acted out their whims for years — why?[break][break]

Because he had to. Because he hadn't been given a choice, either. It was either that or death.[break][break]

The cycle continued.[break][break]

"You're right, there is no escape. We'll win this war." The LEAGUE would eventually bend and break under ROCKET's thumb. It was inevitable.[break][break]

Still, there were those like nicholas steele who insisted on drawing out this inevitable outcome. Truthfully, BARNABY FINCH was almost impressed by the man's foolhardy efforts.[break][break]

"Hoenn deserves more than what the League can give."[break][break]

As the BRAVIARY sped toward them, ringed in a golden aura, MOLTRES didn't even bother moving a feather out of place. Instead, it erected a PROTECTIVE barrier around itself, nullifying damage from their opponent.[break][break]

This would give time for the masked ROCKET to make his first move. Darkness coalesced around him, solidifying into a large, open-palmed hand that extended out and spanned the distance between them, attempting to grab hold of nicholas steele himself.[break][break]

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he wants to be wrong. more than anything, he wants to believe that hoenn can be saved, that team rocket is not the inevitable future that awaits them all. but he knows better. he has seen the darkness in their hearts, the corruption that runs through their ranks like a sickness. he has been a part of it, and it has left its mark on him, a stain that he can never wash away.[break][break]

he watches in despair as the moltres throws up a shield, effortlessly deflecting the braviary's desperate attack. the bird wheels around, its wingbeats faltering as the dark hand reaches for nick. he knows that he cannot dodge, cannot escape. he can only meet his fate with as much dignity as he can muster.[break][break]

he will never be part of their cruelty again.[break][break]

the hand clenches around him, and he feels his breath leave him in a rush, the darkness squeezing the life from his bones. but he will not beg, will not plead for mercy he knows he will not receive. he has made his choice, and he will see it through to the end, whatever that may be.[break][break]

"if hoenn deserves more than the league," he grates out, every word a struggle, "then it certainly deserves more than rocket."[break][break]

nick's braviary, despite now lacking it's rider, continues the assault, incapable of accepting defeat, and incapable of standing down. another SUPERPOWER is aimed at the grave bird and its deathly rider, even as the repeated use of such intense attacks wears thin the bird's energy.

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"You're rather brave, you know." The ROCKET admin praised, though the compliment was followed by a chastising cluck of his tongue. "Or just an imbecile. It's quite the fine line, after all."[break][break]

It was a shame nicholas steele wasn't very amenable to their organization. Up close, he wasn't too bad to look at — in fact, the pained expression on his sallow face was rather pretty.[break][break]

"There's really nothing I can say to sway your heart, Mr. Ranger?" With a constricting squeeze, the shadowed hand drew the man nearer so that he could fully appreciate BARNABY FINCH's sultry-sweet voice.[break][break]

Now they'd be able to meet the other's eye — Barnaby's being a cold cobalt blue behind the mask.[break][break]

Meanwhile, MOLTRES' FUTURE SIGHT finally struck, halting the BRAVIARY's SUPERPOWERED attack and giving enough uninterrupted time for nicholas steele to answer the admin's question.

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"you'll forgive me if i don't take your compliments to heart," nick rasps, his vision starting to blur at the edges as the darkness tightens its grip on him. he has been brave before, and he has been an imbecile, and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. but he knows one thing for certain: he will not be swayed by pretty words and empty promises. he has heard them all before, and he knows the rot that lies beneath.[break][break]

he meets BARNABY FINCH's cold blue eyes with a steely gaze of his own, his eyes glinting with determination even as his body betrays him, trembling in the admin's grasp. "my heart is my own," he says, his voice little more than a whisper. "and it will never belong to rocket again."[break][break]

the attack strikes his braviary, and he feels it as keenly as if it had struck him, a bolt of pain lancing through his already battered body. solomon begins to fall, spiraling in a helix shape towards the ground.[break][break]

"my loyalty is to hoenn," he says, his voice growing weaker with every word. "not to the league. not to rocket. to the people, and the pokemon, who call it home."

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BARNABY FINCH did not look away. He took in every empty syllable out of respect for what he knew to be nicholas steele's last moments. In that, he would give the man at least this small dignity.[break][break]

And once his courageous words were carried off by desolate winds?[break][break]

"Then you can die splattered on Hoenn soil."[break][break]

With a mighty heave the shadowed hand swung away and then opened at the pinnacle of its throw, releasing Nicholas back to the land he loved so dearly.

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the hand releases him, and for a moment, nick is weightless, suspended between the sky and the earth, between life and death. he has been here before, in this place of endless possibilities, where every path is open to him and every choice is his to make.[break][break]

and then he is falling, the wind tearing at his clothes and his hair, the ground rushing up to meet him with alarming speed. he knows that he will not survive the impact, knows that his body will be broken on the rocks below, but he cannot bring himself to care. he has made his choice, and he will see it through to the end, even if that end is his own death.[break][break]

but solomon will not let him fall. the braviary swoops down, talons outstretched, and snatches him from the air with a triumphant cry. nick's breath is knocked from him as they collide, and he feels his ribs creak ominously, but he is alive, and that is all that matters.[break][break]

"solomon," he gasps, his voice little more than a whisper. "thank you."[break][break]

the braviary does not reply, but nick can feel the bird's determination, its fierce loyalty even despite its grave injuries, and he knows that he is not alone. they are in this together, until the end.[break][break]

and so they fly, the wind whipping at their faces and the ground blurring beneath them, until route 102 is little more than a speck on the horizon. they are battered and bruised, but they are alive, and they are free, and that is enough.

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