"In his current state." There was no state where he could compete. If Howard threw Regice at Theo Beckett in an attempt to crush him underfoot, he suspected that the underboss would still find a way to come out on top.

A humbling example of human authority, but hardly useful when waging wars on the divine. The upper echelon of Rocket simply consisted of those who excelled.

"It's a funny thing, history. When we were all killing each other with bows and spears and rocks and swords, heroes of great deeds shaped the world on the battlefield. Kings and warriors won great renown, dictating their purpose through slaughter. They changed the world."

He thought of Navy in his personal paradise of Galar. It was a world where he could wage war until he grew weary.

"When we modernized, quiet men in offices changed the world far more efficiently. The era of heroes disappeared. now, it's back." Howard turned away from Theo to look out the window, over the pristine utopia of Sootopolis. "History is a funny thing, Theo."

A weary sigh.

"I can offer nothing to the cause that Rocket does not already demand of me."

---

THEO BECKETT

"Burning."

It was a lazy answer, full of mockery and was obvious in nature. The world was in constant flux, and everyone was vying to enforce their own beliefs over Hoenn's charred husk. Yet the truth was absolute in its flexibility. There was one truth to the world, but everyone held a small shard of it in their beating heart.

As long as nobody averted their eyes, the truth would evenly clash with the ideals until the end of time.

"So we'll have to put out the flames and build something better in its place."

A perfect one, where the truth was absolute and ideals existed only to improve upon it.

---

Hitoshi Inoue

Another flicker of a smile graced his face.

"A king. Not a god." A protector born from human will and fables, a story that had not yet concluded dictated Calyrex's purpose. A shield and sword were just weapons for such a king to have, and the fact that they were forged by a human's hand and a human's will gladdened his heart. "And what a king he shall be."

Even if Eternatus was too strong. Even if the individual human was too weak, they would triumph. The king had bore witness to their stories. Aurelie had sung of foes uniting to face a greater threat, and Howard had selfishly muttered about becoming a hero.

That had brought them here to this moment. Without Calyrex, Aurelie would have never asked for his advice. They would be associates, but not... whatever this was.

"Since late May. They only released me a few days ago. The first day on my feet was miserable. Morale of the story? Don't touch Wishing Stars." He flexed his scarred hand, marked red by Eternatus's poisonous influence. "Even if it's to fix your own mistake. It might kill you."

Hopefully Aurelie never made a mistake like that. It was an error nobody deserved to make.

Even if she was a member of Team Rocket. Even if he hated almost everyone in this organization by virtue of association, he did not want her to err.

"I was needed for the Tower." A silent curse to Jayden and Barnaby for dragging him out of bed to partake in their wartime prep work. It wasn't enough that Howard had to pay for the ridiculous exercise, but he had to participate in it too. "They need to see their leaders working alongside them. It builds morale."

He had the shame to look embarrassed. He hung his head slightly. This closeness had lasted for a remarkably long time. A moment of interlocking fingers had stretched into infinity. How long was this proximity acceptable for?

Was he weird? Probably. He soldiered on, silently hoping that the smith wasn't judging him.

"War is coming. Be safe."

---

Aurelie Lefevre

Every cipher had a key. If the key was lost, they could simply forge another. If that was the case, could Absinthe ever reforge her idea of hope? That wonderful, childish emotion that made miserable times worth bearing with? Was such a thing even possible?

That was for her to decide.

Yesterday. Tomorrow. There had once been a time where Howard had studied yesterday in order for others to save tomorrow, but that did not matter anymore. Little did. Other people did little to salvage tomorrow, in spite of the admin's hope that humanity would band together.

Pessimism told him that they would only do so when it was too late. Hope told him that they would still find a way to succeed.

They would preserve today, and it would be hell glorious.

"Thanks, Absinthe." He said from the top of the bank. He didn't turn for a moment, if only to wipe his face of any undesired emotion. "It means a lot, even if that hopeful nature doesn't suit you."

He turned to offer her a hand up.

"Now come on."

---

Absinthe Blackwood

Ironically, that was what got a laugh from Howard. His tattered body shook, and he regarded the underboss with a faint flicker of bemusement.

"Even with Solgaleo, do I look like I can kill anything? Do I look like the peak of health right now? I'd kill for Xerneas to rouse itself." He complained slightly, lamenting Bryan's loss of the deer. It would have solved this issue long ago, when the ship from Dewford had carried his body to this bed. "I am a bureaucrat. I push papers."

The pile of papers on his desk had grown so tall that all it had taken was a gentle nudge to send them falling onto Dewford, and now scant remained of the town.

"Friend?" Sarcasm. "We are simply conspirators, fortunate that the people that want Necrozma dead are numerous."

---

THEO BECKETT

"They will receive my respect. They stood for their beliefs, and they stuck by them. We do not need them all. Just enough to ensure that a hierarchy within the force can be maintained when the city is ours."

When. Not if. Rocket would not lose the upcoming battle. The League would not be prepared for it, nor would they have the resources to defend from the weight of Rocket with Mossdeep under siege. Their victory would be a glorious one, even if Howard took no joy in Team Rocket's success.

For him, it was just... sad.

"But they will still face Rocket's wrath when all is said and done." If Rocket fought everyone into submission, they would be kings and queens of ashes and cooked meat. "If they submit, we'll help them to their feet. If not..."

He left it unsaid. Instead, Howard peered through the window and exhaled slightly. This was going too smoothly. Something would fuck it all up sooner or later.

"Hey!" He complained, the smell of tobacco and nicotine faint on his person. "Don't you have a computer to watch?"

---

AISLING O'CONNOR

"And you should, too." It was not a criticism, but an observation attributed to all who marched under Rocket's banner. For every life you take, you burn our species' tapestry slightly more."

Theo Beckett stacked corpses to the heavens in the name of something the admin did not understand. Whether it was Rocket, himself, or some personal ideal, the lifeless bodies tied to his name could not be returned to life.

Threads on the tapestry charred black, impossible to recover.

"You owe it to your ancestors to survive this struggle. You owe it to your descendants to ensure their lives are worth living.

He did not bother to correct Theo on 'tomorrow'. There would be no tomorrow. There would only be today. The present. An unchanging world where everyone lived happily.

"Kill Necrozma. Kill its avatar."

---

THEO BECKETT

A better League cannot exist while Rocket exists. A capacity for cruelty must be utilized by one side to crush the other. To excise that aspect of the League is to accept that Rocket will continuously display the capacity to do worse things.

If that happens, they will win the war. It was a future Howard would rather avoid. Rocket would lose, because the League would act as every power in history did when it risked losing its throne. It would fight harder. It would fight with complete disregard for human life. It would win.

Good.

"Every person wields it, if you push their back to the wall. It's whether you agonize on the action afterwards that proves your character, methinks. I had a professor who felt bad about giving me a C. That's how I knew he was the evilest man in Hoenn."

He smiled wryly, before his eye sparkled at the prospect of recovering his book. Eight months. He would've waited a decade to get his hands on a signed copy.

"This is lovely, Freya. Thank you. And how is our lovely professor?"

---

freya morningstar

"Not particularly. Not in the light that you and I are traditionally seen under." As an archaeologist or famous historian, sure. As a leader of one of the most infamous groups in the world? Less so. "I simply want to persist."

Not with the eternal life that bryan delarosa had been cursed with, but in a different form. He wanted his bones to be preserved under the land's gentle embrace, to be studied forevermore.

He wanted to be remembered. Long after Underboss Beckett and Admin Fox were buried, their names would persist. Those too, would eventually be forgotten. How many times would they die before their presence was fully erased from this world?

Too many.

"I am not a pessimist. I am simply... realistic about certain things." It was a common argument for a pessimist to make. What came after was not. "But I believe that humanity will succeed in fighting back this plague, and that the world we build will be full of light."

When, not if, they killed Necrozma. It did not need to be Theo or Howard who ended its life, but someone would.

"That is our birthright as humans."

---

THEO BECKETT

A deep exhale. It's a question that had vexed the admin for years, before he had come up with an answer that satisfies him.

"When your belief is so ironclad that nobody can doubt it. Ideals are how the world should be, while the truth is how it is. I've always found myself more inclined to the latter, if you want my opinion."

There was a world where he roused the Light Stone for the sole purpose of killing Remiel Calcifet. It was a distant one, though, and Howard hardly cared for it now. It was too late. The truth alone could not overwhelm the prince, even if it was scathing.

More than truth, Howard needed the ability to bend it and ideals to his will.

"If they don't suit our ends, ensure that the Light Stone naps for a little while longer."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Good luck." Howard didn't sound doubtful. He rarely mocked the foolishness of other dreams and goals, as long as people strove to reach for them. If Hitoshi tried to slay Chien-Pao, Howard would respect him regardless of his success.

It was a luxury he could not spare for himself.

"That why you joined S.P.E.C.T.R.A? Or was that just a convenient extra benefit?"

Logic dictated that he tell Jayden about this plan, but it was not his point to interfere. Jayden would fight. Hitoshi would fight. Whoever's will was stronger would win.

---

Hitoshi Inoue
CATCHING POLITOED

Another day. Another attempt to surf. This time, he'll make it. Yet perhaps this is a good chance to reach for a different approach.

To splash, or to twist?

Fuck it.

---

TWISTING
nb9_9O3u

The summit was so near. He could see it. Despite the red of the storm and harsh energy being exuded by the man who stood at Regirock's pinnacle.

"I AM NOT AFRAID."

The mantra had become his prayer. A delirious rambling fit only for the specter climbing a pillar that upheld order in the world through sheer might alone. Rocks were crumbling. Barriers were cracking.

"I AM NOT AFRAID."

His limbs trembled from the exertion. Flesh wrapped thinly over bones that had only barely begun to heal struggled to heave themselves over this crumbling monument. The top was only a few meters away.

"I AM NOT-"

He grabbed onto the ledge, fear of failure turning into the elation of success. He had made it. His hatred, his envy, and his grudges disappeared in anticipation for an emotional ovation.

Success.

"-AFRAID."

The ledge crumbled under his fingers under the crescendo of Dynamax Barriers shattering and the groan of Regirock falling.

"What...?" There was a moment of emotional clarity as Howard fell. Silence engulfed him as he reached out his hand for anything that could halt his descent. Yet there was no hand. No person to grasp him in the eleventh hour. "WHY...?"

His eye did not leave John Sullivan as he reached out his hand towards the man, towards the Tapu Lele that danced with Elisabeth Fiorelli 's Tapu Fini. Two guardian spirits waltzed in serenade as the world beneath them ended.

Both guardians were traitors to the people they were obligated to protect. Their bickering filled Howard's heart with rage, at the injustice that Doug and Elisabeth got to partake in the mockery of duty while he fell.

"I WAS SO CLOSE."

When he blinked, he saw illeana reyes and Palkia. His hand was burned black and covered in bandages, which rattled to the wind. She did not reach out her hand to grab Shred 's, despite his unwavering will. He blinked again. PENELOPE LIVY and Chi-Yu smiled down at him as Shred went up in smoke.

"People can change."

"YOU LIED, FREYA."

Of course she had. freya morningstar had taken Remiel's side, after all.

The Crown Prince had taken all of Admin Fox's good fortune to the other side, where he celebrated his virtue with Isaac Merlo . They were laughing. He knew they were laughing.

His scream disappeared into the magenta sandstorm. Poison gnawed at his system. Poison and fear and shame were his audience for the greatest failure of his life. The Letter H flickered in the storm for a moment, before disappearing into the violet storm. Naomi Sato would get to bear witness to this failure too.

"IF PEOPLE CAN CHANGE..."

Penelope became Navy and Zacian. His hand became the wrinkled form of the squire. Navy had been a hero. He had been a warrior in Galar.

"...THEN WHY CAN'T I EVER SUCCEED?"

The frozen colossus prepares another Dynamax Cannon, this time aimed at the alien intruder that had interfered for the second time in this battle. As he fell further and further, his hand still grasping out, he felt the thudding of the statue by his heart. What had it been trying to tell him?

It was too late. It didn't matter. Until he felt a sudden jolt as he felt a familiar hand.

oscar clayton . His stalwart.

A Gouging Fire became an Ultra Beast as Howard precariously dangled from Oscar's mount. His breathing became rattled, though less tinged by fear as he found himself separated from Regirock. The entire city shook as Regirock casually reshaped the land, killing tens of thousands with a casual wave of a hand.

"You're doing good. Get me closer." He rasped to Oscar. Closer. He watched the Tapus dance in the heavens. No wonder Regirock came to be. He spat on Rayquaza and Groudon and Kyogre, vindictive deities with their own interests. Man could not yet grasp for such a height. Hoenn could thusly pray, but the divine would not answer. 

This region would not pray to gods. It would build them.

A Pokeball appeared in the admin's hand. If june sleigh could do this, then Howard could as well. Her form. Her need. Her desire. He could replicate them all. As he prepared to throw the Pokeball, a toxic tendril shattered it and embedded itself into the admin's hand.

Pain. Screams. Constant companions by this point. He knew who did this. He turned to face the source of his misery.

"YOU BITCH." He screamed at Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki , fused together in unholy matrimony with a shard of divinity. He hated her. Navy was blind. The sheriff was as blind to her as he was to Howard. "STAY OUT OF MY WAY!"

His hand refused to close. The tendril broke off from the main body, pumping poison into his bloodstream.

She was trying to interfere with his dream. A shallow grave in Kanto would have suited her nicely. Blooming camellias suited the image.

Soon.

"THIS IS NOT OVER." He snarled as his eye found the open cavity in Regirock's chest. The tin soldier lacked direction. It knew its directive, but it lacked the willpower to fulfill it. A mad thought entered his head.

He unclipped his makeshift heart. It beat in lockstep with his own. He jumped towards the crevice. In his unharmed hand, scarred from touching Regice's own, he thrust the statue into the cavity.

"IT HAS NOT EVEN BEGUN."

---

Howard falls, has a schizo meltdown over his TSDT failures and Garden of Avalon
Shred guilt
Fuck you Freya
Fuck Tapus
Using Dynamax Cannon on Tsubaki/Ultra Burst
Gets caught by Oscar, goes on a cool Naganadel ride towards Regirock's gaping wound
Prepares to throw a Pokeball, gets sniped by Tsubaki, causing the ball to shatter. Tendril breaks off and is impaled into his hand, pumping poison
Jumps to Regirock to put the statue inside of it
IlKuEmDI