[attr="class","rubyw"]

"You think it's that easy for me to just walk away? I don't have a rich family to bail me out! I have—!"

[break][break]Shit, no, she couldn't just say she had a sister to protect. The last thing she needed was for Johanna to have more possible blackmail on her.

[break][break]"—an actual criminal record," she said after a brief pause. "Rocket's the only option for me."

[break][break]Her eyes bulged and her pupils shrank in outrage at Johanna's next comment. The thought of still being in the heart of the League was blotted out by a cloud of anger, and she stepped closer to Johanna, fists clenched and trembling.

[break][break]"You think I'm some kind of fucking coward?!" she snapped. "You don't know a goddamn thing about me!"

[break][break](In a future conflict, she would feel a sense of déjà vu upon saying that same line to her League attacker.)

[break][break]She would have aimed to punch Johanna's lights out if the girl hadn't reminded her that "all of this" was deep in enemy territory. After a moment, Ruby unclenched her fists and stepped back. She took a few heavy breaths, as if it took great effort to do these simple actions.

[break][break]"Penance," she repeated, like the word was something foul she wanted to spit out. "You get to be queen of the clowns over a whole theme park, and you call that penance. What a joke." It wasn't one that made her laugh, though.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby was glad it was Lilycove and not Mossdeep that was the target of today's operation. Both cities were close to Sootopolis and, thus, were prime locations for Rocket's expansion. Ruby had moved to Mossdeep after joining Rocket to be closer to their base of operations without forcing opal garcia to live in Sootopolis, but she hadn't considered that Rocket would try to expand into the nearby cities. Maybe she should move again...

[break][break]She'd have to figure all that out later. Right now, she had a mission to complete. The goal was unusual but simple: get a bunch of wild Poison-type Pokémon to release their noxious gasses and other poisonous substances in the city. Ruby had a few Poison-types of her own, but using wild Pokémon would make it harder for the act to be traced to trainers. As usual, she'd been assigned a partner, but nobody had bothered to tell her who it was.

[break][break]She really wished someone had.

[break][break]"Great, it's you," she said from behind her usual skull bandana. The "ultramodernist" Xenon Antheil had made one hell of a first impression during the S.P.E.C.T.R.A. trials; Ruby felt sorry for the poor saps who'd ended up on her team. And now Ruby was one of those poor saps.

[break][break]"Enjoying being queen of the trash?" At least she had a chance to make a snarky comment.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Belial Stone handled Asriel Pryde a lot calmer than Ruby had. Funnier, too. Ruby snickered quietly as Belial patted Asriel on the shoulder as he walked past. She didn't get long to enjoy that moment before the Volcanion attacked, though.

[break][break]"Hell no, I'm not punching out early!" Ruby shouted as she ran. She had her pride, dammit! ... And she didn't have much of a choice with Raphael Pryde and Asriel Pryde teleported to the other side of the bridge. She either ran or she died. She might as well try to look cool while doing the former.

[break][break]The hot steam of the Volcanion's Scald blew past her, tearing her attention from the bone piles. Most of the attacks were aimed at the other Pokémon on the field, but the Volcanion soon turned its gaze to the more vulnerable target.

[break][break]"Shit," Ruby whispered, reaching for her Poké Ball belt. "Athena, Protect!"

[break][break]As soon as the Bastiodon was on the field, she lowered her shield-like head. A barrier of interlocking hexagons appeared in front of her, which the Volcanion's attacks fizzled out harmlessly against. Before she or Belial could counterattack, shadowy attacks shot from behind them, slamming into the Volcanion and knocking it off the bridge. It landed with a crash into the pile of bones, which made macabre clattering sounds as they were displaced.

[break][break]Ruby frowned. So much for looking cool; her only contribution to that fight had been running and defending. Of course Asriel Pryde was one of the ones to get the killing blow, too...

[break][break]A roar heralded the arrival of a huge Hydreigon from the skies. Goddammit, couldn't this realm give them a break?! Asriel Pryde called for a retreat. Ruby sighed.

[break][break]"Fine, let's get out of here." Normally, she would have been defiant, even if it was petty, but she didn't want to be in this mechanical Hell any longer than necessary.

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]



[break]Though Delphi's Bulldoze was able to bring the generals to their knees, it wasn't fast enough to prevent them from spraying the townspeople. Ruby gritted her teeth and refused to look, and she tried to focus on the sounds of battle so their screams didn't get to her. Maybe it was a good thing Mathilda had died ten years ago. Her death had been quick, clean, and hopefully painless. The thought of her suffering like that was one that Ruby didn't even want to entertain.

[break][break]In the end, they managed to break through. The illusory Zacian ran toward Necrozma and Eternatus... and then kept going, rushing through Postwick into the Slumbering Weald. What the fuck?! Whatever, they didn't need some stupid mirage dogs to fight. They'd gotten this far; they'd take down Necrozma and Eternatus and—

[break][break]

[break]That line of the age-old prophecy suddenly rang through Ruby's head, bringing her thought to a screeching halt. Much as she tried to push the words away, it was as if they had been branded in her mind. In the epics she had secretly used to love reading, it had always been futile to fight against a prophecy. It would come true one way or another. The way this one refused to leave her thoughts made her believe that this would be much the same. She had to make a choice between these terrible, destructive beings.

[break][break]Mathilda. That day ten years ago was still clear as day. Eternatus may have poisoned this land and created armies from the sludge, but Necrozma had been the one to destroy Ballonlea and kill Mathilda. Even back in Hoenn—Arceus, Hoenn seemed like the dream instead of Galar—Necrozma had caused untold destruction and death during the Darkest Day. Ruby hated both of these beings, but looking at Necrozma as it pinned Eternatus down sent her blood boiling.

[break][break]She roared, her axe bursting into flame again. Delphi joined her. No words needed to be spoken; the Garchomp charged at Necrozma with Dragon Rush, and Ruby ran in with Raging Fury.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Makoto called for Ruby and Gerald to recall their Pokémon and get in the shuttle. "What?!" Ruby shouted back. "That thing'll kill us!" But Makoto was firm and far more determined than they had been for this entire mission. The certainty with which they spoke and acted caught Ruby off-guard for a moment, but she quickly snapped out of it. Now wasn't the time to be gawking. As the light of Terastallization surrounded the Alolan Ninetales, Ruby recalled Kiha and ran for one of the shuttles.

[break][break]Thank Arceus most of the buttons and such inside were labeled. Ruby hadn't piloted one of these during Meteno's fall—she'd flown on Delphi, which wasn't exactly an option here—so she didn't have that prior experience to fall back on. Once she felt the engines roar to life, she glanced outside just in time to see Rayquaza slamming down an Iron Tail on Tsukiko. Ruby couldn't help the sympathetic wince, but she kept quiet. This had been Makoto's idea, so it was their problem to deal with. So much for not making sacrifices.

[break][break]Oblivious to the trick Tsukiko and her trainer had pulled on Rayquaza, Ruby pushed the lever to activate the thrusters. The craft shook beneath her, making Ruby mutter, "Come on, come on...!" Then, with a jerk, it began to rise. She looked back again to see Rayquaza looking around and no sign of Tsukiko on the surface. Before she could wonder what was going on, the Legendary's eyes flashed toward the launching shuttles. Its mouth curled in a snarl that Ruby could have sworn she heard even from inside.

[break][break]"Punch it!" she shouted over the shuttles' comms.

[break][break]Rayquaza began to slither upward again, but the flames and smoke from the shuttles obstructed its vision and slowed its progress. By the time it was airborne, the shuttles had already gotten some decent distance from it. Still, it wouldn't be deterred. With one last roar, it summoned another field of Draco Meteors.

[break][break]"Shit, on the left!"

[break][break]She called out directions while jerking her ship from one side to the other. The movement nearly tossed her out of her seat, but she managed to dodge the meteors. Were they slower than they had been before? Whatever; Ruby wouldn't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. Once they were clear of the meteor field, Ruby looked back, expecting to see Rayquaza coming after them, but it remained curled up on the simulated Meteno. Maybe it was actually tired from the battle. Maybe it was a property of the simulation. Maybe it was just dumb luck. Whatever the cause, the three managed to breach Earth's atmosphere. There was a bright light, and when it cleared, they found themselves back in reality.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Delphi tried to fold herself into a jet-like shape to maneuver through the winds that pushed her, but again, her scythes weren't nearly as effective as her fins at letting her fly. She growled in frustration and furiously flapped her arms to try to right herself. It honestly looked a bit silly, but Delphi was too angry to care.

[break][break]Rayquaza flew toward the shuttles, serpentine body winding through the air with ease. Tsukiko's Ice Beam and Decidueye's Spirit Shackles slowed it, the former even making it wince. Legendary or not, a move that was strong against both of its types wasn't pleasant. Makoto's plan seemed to be working: Rayquaza turned its attention away from the shuttles to shoot a Fire Blast at its closest target.

[break][break]Delphi finally managed to steady herself and catch a stray wind current caused by Rayquaza's movement, but it was too late. The Infinity Energy that maintained her Mega Evolution began to shed in strips of light, and despite Delphi's best efforts to hold onto it, her body started changing back to normal. It would have made flight much easier if exhaustion hadn't immediately washed over her. She dipped downward and plummeted toward the meteor.

[break][break]Then, Gerald suggested leaving their Pokémon behind.

[break][break]"Hell no!" Ruby snapped. Delphi may have been a pain in the ass, but she was a powerful part of Ruby's arsenal. (She wouldn't admit that she was a valued member of the team, too, especially not in front of Gerald.) Despite Makoto and Gerald telling her to get moving, she waited until Delphi was close enough and recalled her into her Ultra Ball.

[break][break]That gave Rayquaza just enough time to tear its attention away from its attackers and back to the human trio.

[break][break]"Shit," Ruby whispered, reaching for her Poké Ball belt. Arachne would be screwed by the Flying-type, so that left one other option: "Kiha, Toxic! Slow it down!"

[break][break]The shiny Salazzle got down on all fours, the undersides of her hands, feet, and tail alight with pink-ish fire. She fired a stream of purple liquid from her mouth toward Rayquaza, who summoned another wall of wind to redirect it. But Kiha had a trick up her sleeve: When it hit the wind, the purple liquid turned into a gas. Most of it was blown away, but some of it expanded past the wind wall for Rayquaza to breathe in. It wouldn't be quite as effective in such a small dose, but hopefully it'd slow Rayquaza down just enough for them to get the hell out of there.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Fifteen years stuck in the same town together, struggling to survive and then managing to thrive, did a lot to erode the barriers between people. Ruby was genuinely happy to see Johanna Joy get married, even if she didn't really know her partner, Megan Whitmore. She wasn't exactly at the forefront of the celebrations, content to quietly show her support with subdued applause and a flash of a smile.[break][break]

---

[break]She hadn't expected to be welcomed so warmly and grandly by kepler brueshaber. The things queendom did to a person, apparently. She felt out of place before the large array of fine dishes and expensive wine, and that awkwardness was only compounded by the complicated feelings for Kepler that hadn't quite gone away. After all, it wasn't like she'd had the chance to be around him for a decade and a half to iron out their problems in the flames of conflict. But he was the only other person from the past that she really knew, and she needed a reminder of that old life.

[break][break]"Yeah. You, too," she said. She meant it, but that didn't stop her words from being too stiff for comfort.

[break][break]She didn't touch the wine at first. She'd long sworn off alcohol, not wanting to be like her mother, and losing Mathilda reminded her of losing her father and her mother's subsequent alcoholism.

[break][break]"Ballonlea. Necrozma fucked things up five years ago, but we've been recovering."

[break][break]Her words were vague, but there was a clear sadness to them. She really didn't have anyone to take care of anymore, did she? Mathilda was gone, and even if opal garcia were here, she'd be... what, 32 years old? No doubt she'd be with the scientists and the scholars puzzling out the mysteries of this world, blindness be damned. She wouldn't need Ruby anymore.

[break][break]She finally started sipping her wine as their conversation went on. It helped her loosen up a bit, allowing her to chat more freely about what she'd been up to for the past fifteen years, how she was something of a guard/huntress/amateur blacksmith, floating between wherever her skills were needed.

[break][break]"I never was any good at holding a steady job," she said with a nonchalant shrug.

[break][break]In turn, she asked Kepler about queendom, why he was specifically a queen, how things in Hammerlocke had been, things like that. It was nice, actually.

[break][break]That didn't stop her from feeling embarrassed once she'd sobered up.[break][break]

---

[break]Five years later, the solstice came and rang the bells of war. Ruby joined the army gathered at the illusory Zacian's behest. Ettie howled alongside the Legendary's mirage and called for her pack to follow. Apparently, that included Ruby. She was surprised at first. Sure, she'd hunted alongside the girl before, but hearing her call Ruby part of her pack... was kind of nice, she realized. She let out a war cry of her own and raced along the ethereal trail to the final battlefield.

[break][break]The Skeleton and the Black Knight clashed behind a sludge-born army armored with pieces of black armor cut from the Knight. Three Toxtricity acted as generals, and three Gigantamax Pokémon took up the rear. It was clear that the trainers would have to break past all of them to reach Necrozma and the Skeleton.

[break][break]From atop his Zapdos mount, kepler brueshaber gave a rallying cry straight out of a fantasy world. It should have been cheesy, but something about it stirred something long-forgotten in Ruby's heart. She'd used to love legends and epics, even if she'd rarely admitted it. There was a reason all of her Pokémon were named after various mythological figures and creatures. Kepler's short speech fit those kinds of tales perfectly. Hell, they were living one, and that sparked a flame behind Ruby's eyes for the first time in years. She held out her battle axe to be tinked by Kepler's sword, a confident smirk playing on her face.

[break][break]Then, at the commands of the royals of each city, the army of trainers charged into battle. They'd need to break through all these poisoned Pokémon to get to the Giantamaxed ones and the Legendaries, so it was time to clear a path by knocking these bastards down.

[break][break]"Delphi!" Ruby shouted as she sent out her Garchomp. "Earthquake! Get these guys out of the way so we can get to the real fight!"

[break][break]Her Key Stone glowed with her determination, and Delphi's Garchompite did the same. Mega Energy shone around the Garchomp, and with a roar, she transformed into her Mega form. With a mighty stomp, the earth beneath her cracked, sending an Earthquake to strike the poisoned armies.

[break][break]Ruby wasn't just going to stand back and give orders, though. With a shout, she leapt into the fray, axe aflame with Raging Fury. Some of the poisoned Pokémon had a terrible Stench that made it difficult to approach them, but Ruby refused to let that stop her. She'd cut them all down.

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]



[break]On the surface, Gorebyss didn't look like the kind of Pokémon that Ruby would be interested in. Look, she was pretty much over the whole "pink is too girly" thing, but you couldn't deny that it was often associated with things way too pretty or cute to fit Ruby. Gorebyss also looked too graceful, a sharp contrast to how rough and rugged Ruby was. She looked like she was wearing a seashell bra, for Arceus's sake!

[break][break]But as long as Ruby had her, she might as well see what she was capable of.

[break][break]"All right, Gorebyss, let's see what you've got," Ruby said from atop Arachne's back. She scanned the ocean for movement and spotted a perfect target: "Get that Arrokuda."

[break][break]Without hesitation, the Gorebyss dove beneath the waves and swam toward her target. Man, she even swam too gracefully. Ruby sighed. Maybe she could get a trade from someone who had a Pokémon too "rough" for them. If nothing else, she could always sell her to the black market.

[break][break]A Whirlpool formed around the Arrokuda, causing it to stop in confusion. That was a mistake that only managed to get it caught in the swirling current. It tried to swim out, but without the propeller tail it gained when it evolved, it couldn't build up enough speed. All right, so the Gorebyss already had a bit of a strategy. That still didn't mean she was suitable.

[break][break]And then she swam into her own whirlpool and jabbed her siphon-like mouth into the Arrokuda's body like a spear, shoving out Ruby's preconceived notions of her.

[break][break]The whirlpool died down. The Arrokuda thrashed and struggled to dislodge itself, but its movements became more and more sluggish as its scales grew paler. Finally, it went still, and a few seconds later, the Gorebyss released it, leaving it to drift down to the ocean floor.

[break][break]"Holy shit," Ruby muttered.

[break][break]The Gorebyss swam back to her trainer, looking proud. Her mouth was still stained with her prey's bodily fluids, an unexpectedly cruel touch to such a pretty Pokémon. Ruby smirked.

[break][break]"Welcome to the team, Makara."

[break][break]Maybe this would work out, after all.

[attr="class","displaydevice3"]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby sighed, one part annoyance and one part relief. "Could have said something first."

[break][break]When Rayquaza noticed Makoto breaking away from the group and called down Draco Meteors, Ryuu let loose a Smokescreen that spread over the group. Ruby followed Gerald Kaiser's lead (though she would rather say the idea was her own) and used the temporary cover to duck behind a protruding rock. When the howling winds blew away the smoke, there was no sign of Makoto.

[break][break]"Where the fuck...?" Ruby mumbled. Then she remembered Makoto's Zoroark; they must have been using it to hide. Maybe Ruby should get one of those...

[break][break]Delphi wasn't in a good position. The strong, unpredictable winds were making it even harder to fly in her Mega form than usual, and now Draco Meteors were hurtling toward her. She roared and held out her scythe claws toward Rayquaza, ready to go down fighting. She launched into another Dragon Rush, fully expecting to feel the impact of one of the Draco Meteors, but that impact never came. She glanced back to see leafy arrows firing at the meteors, not quite strong enough to destroy them but able to knock them off course.

[break][break]Her glance toward Decidueye might have been grateful. It was hard to tell with that near-permanent scowl on her face.

[break][break]Rayquaza slithered through the air, trying to get its attack back on track, but the Draco Meteors were too fast. It let out a high roar of pain as one of the meteors hit its serpentine body. Delphi's Dragon Rush connected at about the same time.

[break][break]"Oh, hell yeah!" Ruby cheered.

[break][break]Rayquaza was stunned by the force of its own attack and Delphi's follow-up. Ruby wanted to press this advantage, but Makoto's reminder of what the bracelet had said flashed through her mind: They wouldn't be able to easily defeat this titan. The best they could do was neutralize it and escape. Ruby scowled. She hated the idea of just turning tail and running, especially when she was being evaluated, but it was better than dying.

[break][break]Especially with the meteor getting closer to Earth.

[break][break]"Get to the ships while it's dazed!" Ruby commanded.

[break][break]