Cillian Quinn reeked of death. His was a miasma that extended far beyond the grasp of darkness that oozed from him like oil in water.

Even without that aura, Lugia makes for a fine substitute for Yveltal, now that its cocoon is empty and rattling in the wind. To describe it as anything more than decrepit was to dishonor both Tempest Quinn and the dark beast that haunts the skies of the Border now. The two things combine to make Cillian a remarkably easy man to follow.

"I'd stop, Cillian." Howard sat on the petrified statue of a Snorlax, eternally sleeping in a coffin of stone. "You won't find him. Yveltal, either."

Cillian had gotten his week. Tempest had gotten his funeral. Howard had gotten an iota of closure from Alina Hamako and clover matamata during his journey into Pacifidlog. Cillian looked terrible. Howard felt terrible. It seemed only natural that their mutual misery would congeal in this underworld on the dark side of the moon.

"I was wondering when you'd return here." Cillian was clever, but the admin suspected that his colleague would crush whatever stood in front of him in order to appease the grief in his soul. "Like a fish returning to the place where it was born."

From the forest of stone, a golem emerged.

---

Cillian Quinn

"If I attack you, you'll win. I'm nothing more than a spark compared to your black sun."

Regirock and Regice were strong Pokémon, but without a Power Spot to unleash their full power with, they were nothing more than walking targets. They could likely keep Lugia busy for a spell, but Howard did not relish the thought of fighting the Harbinger. His strength was awe-inspiring.

Team Rocket's strongest trainer, to be sure.

"Does it matter if I'm here on orders or not?" He leaned against a petrified Pokémon, hat askew in the howling storm of this world between life and death. "If Walsh told you to abandon this search for Tempest, you wouldn't stop. You'd come back, sure, but you'd be here again soon enough."

Tempest would've killed the messenger. After their conversation in his hospital room, Howard believed that Tempest loved Cillian more than even himself. They were fortunate that Cillian had lived, because if Tempest had survived...

...everyone would die.

"I just knew you would be here, even though Yveltal is not."

---

Cillian Quinn

"I just know." He suspected that wouldn't be enough for Cillian, so he continued. "Lugia would be an affront to Yveltal. I can't see it allowing you to parade it around the Border without its interference."

His knowledge of Yveltal was lacking. A god of death that ruled this corner of a phantasmal world was not meant to be understood by humans. Despite that, Howard persisted.

"It should kill you on sight. Yet it hasn't."

There were too many people in this world that wanted Cillian dead. Too many people that he wanted dead. Howard was a stranger in a stranger's home, but this was second nature to the underboss.

"The only logical answer is that it's not here to kill you or me. The gates to hell are open and rattling in the wind." Howard's voice was soft. "Please come home."

---

Cillian Quinn

Cillian didn't come here alone. Before, he came with Temp. He had left alone. Yet if Howard told Cillian that, his wrath would shake this empty world and Howard doubted that a dozen Regirocks would save him from the underboss's rage. Thus, he kept that to himself.

The words he chose to speak were worse.

"I don't really believe in Rocket. I don't believe that what we're doing is morally correct. Regardless of how this war ends, we will be seen as the biggest monsters this world has ever known. The textbooks will remember us as a mad court of fools, consulting with daemons. We're bad people, Cillian."

Even Howard. Why else would he work so hard to make clover matamata cry at a funeral?

"But we're comrades. You're my friend. Team Rocket is still there, and they still need you. Nobody else in this world has Team Rocket's back but Team Rocket. They need their underboss, and they need him to reassure them that everything will be alright."

The admin lowered his hat to hide his gaze.

"Everyone loved Temp. He was our heart. And now we have to win this war heartless, just like the League wants. He tried to kill me. I hate him for that, but you know what, Cillian?"

Sniff. When Howard looked up, the admin was crying.

"I really fuckin' miss Tempest Quinn."

---

Cillian Quinn