Kaldur'ahm/Aqualad
Swimming next to Orca and Mudkip, Kaldur felt a mental message from Aquaman. He frowned a bit at the sensation of Alakazam's mind pressing against his. A mind-link, he'd called it. Psychic communication that allowed for instant and silent transference of words, images, and even emotions. It would take some getting used to, however.
"By the Visitor Center," the psychic Pokemon thought to them. "Sam Mokoa has gathered his forces there. Rocksteady, the rhino-hybrid, is engaging them."
Kaldur nodded, turning with Orca and Mudkip to aid one of the other groups fighting in this small war.
A war, of all things. Somehow, until now, Kaldur hadn't understood just how serious things had gotten for Kahu. Now he was beginning to gain some small understanding of what he was up against.
Swimming for the beach, the trio of aquatic heroes leapt out of the water and into the chill air, landing on the shore. Silicon Dragons turned to look at them from where they had been fighting the police and military, a Hawaiian man and black man leading the charge.
They'd holed up within the Visitor Center, taking positions at the windows while shooting at the Silicon Dragons outside. There was no sign of Rocksteady, but there were plenty of Dragons.
Kaldur snapped out his water bearers, the ocean behind him rising up to flow into the handles in accordance with his will. Mudkip blasted out scalding hot water, sending two men bouncing across the ground.
"GRAAAAGH!" Orca roared, arms outstretched in challenge. Kaldur had never heard an Orca make that noise before, and hoped never to hear anything like it again. She rushed forward, punching one man in the chest and sending him flying, then snapping a hand out to lift another and throw him into the water.
Kaldur moved in, his water bearers pulling the oceans waves out and sending them forth. The water crashed bodily into the Silicon Dragons before him, before Kaldur put away one of his water bearers. His bare hand touched the waves and electricity flowed through the water, electrocuting them.
"Aqualad!" the Hawaiian man shouted, drawing his attention to the inside of the building.
Kaldur quickly took stock of the situation and extended his mind outwards.
"Mudkip, cut a path to the building! Use water, I'll manipulate it to widen the gap, then you freeze it when I tell you! Orca, on my six!"
Mudkip, to his credit, barely hesitated. He let loose another large wave of water. Kaldur grabbed hold of the surf and focused it, pushing away the Silocon Dragon blocking them. The water formed the shape of a dragon, the rush of water stimulating a fearsome roar. The water crashed into the floor just before the Visitor Center, exploding outwards, then upwards into a wall of water controlled by Kaldur.
"Now!"
An Ice Beam, as Kahu had called it, smashed into the wall of water just as Kaldur, Mudkip, and Orca went through it, clear waves going white. Kaldur joined Sam and the Black man, who handed a woman in US military gear a clip.
"What's the situation?" Kaldur asked Sam, not wasting time on pleasantries.
"Not as bad as it was before," Sam said grimly over the sound of the Silicon Dragons shooting the wall of ice now defending them. "The Dragons are gonna start backing off in a bit, and that fucking rhino left. Unless he shows up again."
"Why did he leave?" Orca asked.
David scoffed. "He said he got bored."
Kaldur took a second to gape at that before moving on. "Any dead or wounded?"
"Two dead soldiers, eight police. Two civvies," Sam growled. When he noted Kaldur's surprise at the low count, he seemed angrier. "The civvies fought back. Made them fair game."
That was horrific.
"We'll help you drive them off them-"
A massive shadow appeared behind the ice. They all looked up at it. Sam's eyes widened. "Move!"
The shadow smashed through the ice wall. Ice chips bounced off of them in a spray of white chill. Kaldur snapped his water bearers up in time to form a shield before a gray fist hit it like a hammer, throwing him back. Orca took a horned head to the chest, rolling back to hit a pillar behind her, while Mudkip was lifted up and held in another gray hand.
Kaldur skidded across the floor on his heels, stopping to raise a shield in one hand while his other hand snapped out a sword of water.
A large rhino-man stood there, holding Mudkip in his hand. Rocksteady, Kaldur presumed. He was staring at him, squeezing hard around the blue Pokemon. Pokemon pushed back against the fingers surrounding him, struggling desperately.
"A… fish?" the rhino-man blinked.
"Mud…kip," the small Pokemon struggled to say as he fought the pressure on him.
"Strong though."
"Let him go!" Kaldur snapped, raising his weapons.
The rhino-man looked over, then smirked. Mudkip seemed ready to explode with rage as he struggled. A feeling of warning entered Kaldur's mind, the Atlantean hero tensing.
"Ha!" Rocksteady squeezed harder. "Why should-AAAAAAAA-!?"
Just like that, everyone was clenching their ears.
It was quick. Mudkip's eyes snapped into a rage. His mouth opened. And an unholy noise without description left his lungs. Kaldur had felt sonic waves hit him before, from sperm whales or dolphins. This was thousands of times worse.
Rocksteady threw Mudkip away. Sam and the other humans staggered in confusion. Kaldur could barely focus, but forced himself to rush forward, swinging a water bearer in the form of a mace.
His mace barely budged the rhino-man. Despite his confusion from the supersonic attack, the hybrid was still tough as stone. Kaldur barely ducked under an unwieldy punch, changing one mace to a blade and slicing it across the hybrids belly in a squealing sound as hardened water clashed with layer upon layer of collagen.
Kaldur switched from his usual balanced style for one that offered more mobility and offense. Rocksteady was slow, but it wasn't worth blocking his blows. They clashed for a brief
Mudkip joined in in a swirl of water, smashing into the belly of the monster in a twisting waterfall of power. The rhino-man grunted, then grinned. "Thanks! That cleared my sinuses!"
Then he kicked for Mudkip, sending him flying back. Orca entered the fight by catching Mudkip, dropping the small Pokemon and rushing forward with him. Grace, even taller than Rocksteady, punched for his face.
And Kaldur winced internally at the sight of the punch. Her form was horrible.
Rocksteady, on the other hand, ducked the punch with a boxer's grace and returned it with an uppercut to the stomach that lifted Grace off her feet. She gasped in pain before a right hook sent her rolling to the floor.
Then Kaldur hit him across the face with a massive mace. He struck at just the right moment, when the rhino was unsteady from hitting Orca, and sent him down to one knee. The large man coughed out a tooth.
"Agh! You hit hard for a little guy."
"Thank you," Kaldur said politely.
Mudkip, less politely, smashed into the rhino's belly like a living missile, then hit him in the face with a blast of scalding hot water.
"GAAAH!" the boiling water drove the rhino back. Kaldur capitalized on that by taking control of the water and sending it forward with more force, circling it back and hit him again.
The rhino screamed again. While the superhumans were fighting, Sam slid behind Rocksteady, tossing something small then rolling away quickly. Kaldur had enough time to recognize the sight of an explosive before the black man working with Sam hit a detonator.
The rhino was sent flying forward by an explosion, screaming.
Then Orca's fist smashed into his stomach in mid-air. The pair of hybrids screamed, one in pain, the other in rage, before Rocksteady was sent rocketing back into a back room.
Outside, a call came from the Silicon Dragons.
"Retreat!" One of them shouted, waving a hand in the air. "Delta 24, now, now, now!"
Smoke and tear grenades started getting tossed into the room. The soldiers began to cough and choke, one getting hit in the shoulder by a bullet.
"Soak them!" Kaldur shouted to Mudkip.
The pair covered the smoking grenades in water as they came in, while outside flashbangs went off, disorienting the soldiers. Sam fired a couple of shots out the window at them, while Kaldur finished up the last of the smoke grenades, moving to join him. "If they're in full retreat-"
"There isn't much we can do," Sam growled, a manic look in his eyes. "Goddamnit! What are they doing?"
The question sounded like it had multiple layers. Kaldur put it aside for now to turn and look at Grace as the Orca woman walked up to them.
She was clenching the side of her face where she'd been punched, a large bruise growing there, and looked angry. "He's gone," when Kaldur gestured for her to elaborate, she continued. "Rocksteady. I went to chase him, but he disappeared."
"Both of those fucking monsters are gone?" Sam asked, eyes snapping with rage. "So the Dragons still have them."
Mudkip hopped over to join them, looking disgruntled as well.
"Fine," Sam looked around. "I want everyone here to arrest who you can! If you have to choose between a Dragon and a civilian, get the civilian out first! Move!"
The soldiers, officers, and superheroes began moving instinctively to follow his orders. As they did, Kaldur's thoughts extended to Aquaman and Kahu. Were they okay?
The thought was pushed back as he helped a woman to her feet, but it remained.
Slugma
Slugma breathed out a blast of steam. Killer Frost wiped away a bead of sweat. The two elemental forces stared at each other across a battlefield of shattered and melted steelsteal, the humidity in the room beading the walls in droplets of water.
The small lava slug held herself high, even when she wanted to simply soak into the ground and rest. She'd been pushing herself. Killer Frost kept on absorbing and absorbing her heat, forcing Slugma to raise her own temperature higher and higher. If she didn't, the loss of warmth would have left her as near-solid rock.
Killer Frost, on the other hand, was smiling. Almost chuckling. "Hmmm. Delicious," she licked her lips just a bit. "Gotta say. When I got hired for this, I didn't think it'd be too fun. But this is the best I've felt in years. I've been near nuclear reactors that haven't given me this much food."
Slugma snarled, a burbling sound. She crouched down, then sped forward. Killer Frost dodged aside, letting a wave of chill smack into Slugma. The small Pokemon squeaked in pain, but forced a rock throw, tossing a quickly solidifying piece of herself at Killer Frost. The heat vampire barely blocked it on a wall of ice, the sound of cracking filling the air.
Slugma landed hard, rolling to face Killer Frost before a foot crashed into her, sending her spinning into the air with a cry.
"Awww, what's wrong!? Not feeling it sweetheart?" Killer Frost gloated, the temperature dropping slowly. "Come on! Show me that fire you had before!"
Another ice beam, which Slugma took full on this time. She felt parts of her cool to stone before she could stop it. A shot of shame filled her.
A fire-type, being overwhelmed by ice? How disgraceful was that?
Slugma smashed through a wall behind her, the steel weakened by the immense temperature shifts, and landed heavily. She breathed for a moment, trying to get over her weariness. More shame filled her.
Slugma tiredly began to stand, only to stumble. Her mind was racing, reaching for any option she could. But nothing was coming.
She was always the weakest of her masters Pokemon. Always. The thought had always been in the back of her mind. It was why she worked so hard to catch up. She was always training on her own. To keep from disappointing him.
Some part of her felt that, if some other fire-type had come along first. He never would have chosen her. Or worse. If one had come later, he would abandon her. Some trainers were like that. Her master wasn't, but she couldn't help but worry.
And now, facing this woman, she could feel that fear. And a worse one. That she was going to die.
A wave of ice surrounded her in a flash. "Slugma!"
Slugma hurriedly tried to melt it, but all her heat was stolen. More ice crepts around her, Killer Frost entering the room with a wide grin. All the heat around them was sucked in towards her, like a black hole absorbing light. Slugma breathed out waves of heat, trying to keep herself fluid, but the war of attrition wasn't in her favor.
"Ahhh," Killer Frost took a flamethrower to the face with little trouble, only smiling wider. "That's too bad sweetheart. You not feeling too good?"
A blue hand wrapped around Slugma's throat. Slugma choked as the sections around Killer Frost's hand solidified. Killer Frost chuckled. "Ohhh. Look at you. So cute," Slugma bit at the air, wiggling, trying to do something, anything. A cold finger rubbed along her cheek, leaving stone in it's wake, a scorching pain.
"I wish I could keep you. Let you feed me forever. But orders," the hand squeezed. Killer Frost's eyes narrowed and her smile widened. "Are orders."
Slugma's heat began to leave her at a faster pace. She squeaked in pain. "Slu-Slu…g…"
Then her masters voice filled her mind. "Slugma? You there? You beat her ass yet?"
His mental voice was harsh as always. An inability to think clearly, Alakazam called it. But more than that. He sounded confident. He sounded unworried. Like he knew she had it.
The thought of that burned. She didn't have it. She was losing. She was dying.
"On my way girl. Love ya, all right? Kick her ass."
Something snapped in Slugma's mind. He knew she had it.
The thought of that burned. Burned and scorched her.
And around her neck, the small necklace came alight with gold fire. Gifted by her friend, from her hair, her tear. Pele's hair and tear.
"What the-" Killer Frost said at the sudden blinding light.
Then Slugma exploded.
Killer Frost was sent flying back, smacking into the wall behind her. She stayed on her feet, blocking her eyes as best she could.
Slugma glowed. Golden fire scorched the ice around her, melted steel, turned the air to steam. Slugma roared.
"MAAAA!" She reared. "MAAA…CAAAAR-"
The golden fire exploded again. Killer Frost staggered. The ship shook.
Sam Mokoa
The ground shuddered and bucked under their feet. Sam looked around, surprised. Kaldur froze while helping a civilian into an ambulance. Donald blinked.
"The hell was that!?" Sam barked.
Mudkip barked excitedly, giving Sam a significant look while grinning dopely.
Alakazam
On a rooftop, Alakazam knocked out another Silicon Dragon with a simple hypnosis attack, smiling just a bit. "About time, little one…"
Pelehonuamea/She Who Shapes The Sacred Land
Eyes snapped open. A goddess looked upwards. She reached for the land above, with her hand and her power. And pressed upon her sister.
Magcargo
"GOOOOO!" Slug-no. Magcargo released a final cry as she landed heavily on the floor. She couldn't see all of herself. But she felt the power. The hardened shell on her back, with a spire of stone on either side of her, scales of magma along her sides. A single like trail of scales along her head, her eye stalks replaced by the eyes of a predator, with a new pair of stalks just under her cheeks. She stood taller and heavier than ever before. She could feel the earth below her, down under the waters depths.
And on her side, just within her sight, was a symbol carved in molten red on her shield. The symbol of a flower.
"Uh…" Killer Frost's voice drew her attention from her inspection of herself. "Is this normal or-"
Magcargo opened her mouth, and a magma stone the size of her head issued forth. At bullet speeds.
"FUCK!" Killer Frost, her instincts honed by a lifetime of superhuman combat, was already ducking before the projectile blew a hole into the wall behind her.
Then a train smashed into her.
"Yaaaa!" Killer Frost screamed in pain as Magcargo wrapped her jaws around the supervillainess' arm, bucking wildly and bouncing her against the walls and floor. Killer Frost unleashed waves of ice and dipped into Magcargo's heat.
She might as well have stolen warmth from the sun. Magcargo had been hot as Slugma. Now she was far beyond that. Killer Frost was tossed back into a wall, then blasted with a beam of molten rock.
Killer Frost screamed. "YEAAAAA!"
Magcargo roared in answer. And below them, the ocean floor exploded upwards. Spires of stone and bubbling magma parted the waves, ripping into the ship above. Up through the ship they rose, burning and screeching.
Sensing the danger, Killer Frost surrounded herself in waves of ice. The floor under her tore apart, revealing a small volcano before magma erupted in her face.
A magma storm, hotter than Killer Frost had ever felt, surrounding her, smashing into her with physical and elemental force.
Killer Frost's ice began to melt. Heat soaked into her, absorbed by her unique biology, but the magma only cooled into stone as more was poured over her. Killer Frost poured out more ice, stole more heat.
Golden fire blew from Magcargo's eyes. The two elementals screamed in unison. The ship shook. Magcargo's eyes narrowed.
And she cut off the heat. In a display of new control, she pulled back all her power at once. Killer Frost felt shock fill her when her powers continued. She absorbed all the heat around her and continued to blast out ice. Only, all the heat disappeared. And suddenly the entire area around them became colder than the Antarctic. All of her powers flew outwards, chilling everything, and removing the sources of her own power.
"No!" covered in solid stone frozen against her, Killer Frost desperately reached out for more energy, trying to steal more heat. Like fingers clawing at diamond, she found no purchase. That was when she realized what happened.
Magcargo had tricked her. Forced her to focus on expelling her powers while stealing heat at the same time. And at a critical moment, tricked her into releasing all her power at once.
The heat vampire screamed within a tomb of stone. She tried to move, to pull more heat out. The harsh stone around her scratch(ed?)(ing) at her. Killer Frost's rage turned to panic and desperation. She was running out of air, and shook within her confines desperately as she began to black out.
Something cracked in front of her. She breathed desperately. Then a 'gentle' punch knocked her out.
Aquaman tossed aside the stone he'd ripped off Killer Frost's face, cocking an eyebrow at Magcargo. "I'm assuming you were planning on doing that yourself?"
Magcargo nodded, seeing no reason to lie. "Mag, Magcargo!"
Aquaman looked over at Kahu, who chuckled from where he was resting against a pillar of stone. The whole room looked more like a cave than a room within a ship, with water and stone covering every surface. "Yeah, she was. She's a softie… although less than before it looks like."
The Pokemon trainer grinned at his Pokemon. "Looks like your fight ended better than mine did."
Magcargo wiggled in place, her stone shell grinding as she did. "Magcargo!"
Kahu stared at her, noting her spines and the flower symbol carved into her before focusing on Killer Frost. "Let's take her in, shall we?"
Kahu Kia'i
Slugma evolved. Holy… I mean, I'd only caught the tail end of it. The emotions pouring through her with our mental link. I'd tried to send something back, a measure of just how much faith I had in her. I know some people considered the Slugma line useless. But my Slugma wasn't some digital gathering of numbers. She was something special. Stronger than even she believed.
Still, I hadn't expected a sudden evolution. The sensation of her being filled with power had surprised the hell out of me. Now I had a Magcargo. Not into a normal Magcargo, but some kind of, I don't know, SUPER Magcargo. How in the hel-
Didn't matter. We had bigger things to worry about. Clean-up, mostly.
Aquaman took in Killer Frost, which mostly meant wrapping some steel around her wrists and carrying her unconscious body over a shoulder. I pulled Magcargo into her pokeball. Together, we headed out to the island. Alakazam kept me apprised of everything.
We joined the others in front of the Visitor Center. Gurdurr, Tyrunt, and Mimikyu were there with Ishido. Donald and Sam stood with Kaldur, Orca, and Mudkip.
As I approached, some of the cops on the scene eyed me. Then let me pass when Aquaman gave them a look.
Sam looked up at the sight of me and Aquaman. He looked troubled, then shook it off. "You got the bitch?"
Aquaman laid down the unconscious Killer Frost on the floor. I saw a few soldiers around us glaring at her. One thumbed at his gun. "One ice queen, served up."
"Aquaman knocked her out," I said carefully, feeling the eyes on us. "Good thing he was passing by. Too bad you can't always be here to help."
Aquaman chuckled. "Well, a one-time thing isn't so bad."
Sam seemed to understand what we were implying to listening ears, and let it go. Last thing we wanted was the Silicon Dragons accounting for Aquaman in their future plans. Better to make this a one-time thing.
"Killer Frost," Donald mumbled, staring down at her. "You think she would have shown up if the Dragons hadn't been here."
"Other way around," I said. "I think someone hired her and the Silicon Dragons."
"What makes you say that?" Sam asked.
In answer, Aquaman stepped forward. "She isn't the only ice villain that's popped up. Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, and Icicle Jr. have all been apprehended."
Sam's suspicious glare hardened. "...And she was the only one with help?"
"Two birds," I said softly.
Sam, Aquaman, and I all shared a small look. Sam continued. "By the way. A few vans of escaping Silicon Dragons werewas found knocked out. Each of them had a single tranquilizer in their neck. And all of them were a couple miles apart. You know anything about that?"
Deadshot.
"Hell if I know," I said simply, leaning into how exhausted I felt to sell my lie a bit. "How many Dragons we got, anyway?"
"More than we thought existed," Sam's eyes panned the lawn in front of the Visitor Center. "...What a goddamned mess."
"...What's next?" I asked.
Sam and I looked each other in the eyes. Donald and Aquaman watched quietly. Kaldur, Orca, and Mudkip came over, but held back when they saw us.
The older man was carrying a rifle. He thumbed the trigger briefly before slinging it over his back. "Rocksteady and Bebop got away. They'll probably operate alongside the Dragons."
"I'm working on a cure for them," Orca said, drawing attention to herself. She fidgeted cutely but persevered. "I'll give it to you, when I have it."
"I won't be able to help, sadly," Aquaman said. "My kingdom needs me."
Before Kaldur could speak, Aquaman pushed through instructions with Alakazam's help, the rest of us overhearing it through the link. Or overthinking, I guess. "The Justice League will collect information and give it to Kahu or Sam if need be. But we can't let the Silicon Dragon know we'll help. They may suspect, but that's better than them being certain."
"Yes, my king," Kaldur returned silently, his voice even rougher than mine through the link.
"Gonna need to take in Killer Frost ourselves," Donald noted, looking around the various soldiers. "And I imagine a few of the Dragons might end up in 'accidents' on the way to prison."
"They attacked Pearl Harbor," I said grimly. "I'm all for fair trail, but this is goddamn sacred ground."
"That's not-" Sam bit his tongue, then shook his head.
I decided to change the subject.
"There was a woman, on the boat," I said to Sam. "She was way more skilled than I believed. Almost killed me. Acted like she was in charge."
Sam frowned. "A woman… I heard rumours that their leadership had moved to a daughter of the former boss. But the Dragons don't reveal leadership. Not easily, at least."
"She could just be a badass ninja chick."
"...Maybe," Sam scowled, looking around. Gurdurr, Tyrunt, Ishido, and Mimikyu came over to join us. "We'll find out then… This level of escalation. The government is going to be pushing me for results. I…"
He finally reached into a pocket and grabbed something. I stiffened before he took out a card and handed it to me. "We need to talk. In private. Call this number in one hour. Understood?"
I didn't push my luck. Just nodded. "Guys. Return."
My Pokemon didn't complain. Just flashed into red lights one by one, returning to their Pokeball's. Mudkip gave me a reassuring look before he disappeared. Orca awkwardly walked over to join me. I began walking away, Aquaman and Aqualad joining us.
"By the way," Sam called out. I looked back at the enraged looking man. "This isn't over. You'll need to answer for a few things soon."
"After."
"After," he agreed, looking like the word hurt.
I turned away again. Aquaman chuckled. "Does that mean you're friends now?"
"No. It means the Silicon Dragons made a mistake. They gave him a reason to stop worrying they'd escalate."
We left the dead and the broken behind us.
Further down the beach, Kaldur and Aquaman looked apologetic. "Sorry to help and run like this," Aquaman said. "We have an appointment. A big one."
"It's cool man," I sighed. "We'll all need a break after this. Hopefully you guys have fun wherever you're going."
"We will," Kaldur smiled a bit excitedly. "It's a big day for me and the others. Today is the day."
The last was said with a sort of gravitas I didn't expect. Orca scratched at a cut on her cheek. "Uh, is that important."
"Very much so," Kaldur said with that same bit of excitement. Then he chuckled. "Though I doubt it will be anywhere as exciting as this."
"You jinxed yourself," I pointed out with a chuckle. "Don't blame me when your night ends even weirder than this mess."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kaldur returned with a grin of his own.
Both Atlanteans shook ourout hands before diving under the waves.
Orca and I watched them go off. Then I sat in the sand, breathing deeply.
"You okay?" Orca asked me, sitting down as well.
"No," I just stared out into the ocean. "You?"
"...That rhino broke a rib, I think," she said in answer.
"We'd better fix it."
"Later," she grunted in pain. "Just… let me rest."
"...I think my bike is destroyed."
"Sorry."
We didn't say anything else. Just sat for a moment, breathing and resting. Later, we'd plan. Train. Go over the consequences of what happened. Find out that my joke to Kaldur had been oddly prophetic. For now, we simply rested.
July 4th was a hell of a day. For all of us.
Author's Note: So yeah. Slugma evolved. Into a Magcargo. A SUPER one.
If anything, ya'll should have seen it coming. Jokes aside, there is precedent for this kind of thing. Tons of Pokemon have different forms based on environmental factors. In this case, Slugma was in close contact to a Goddess. There's more, but that's the main one.
And yes, I based her new form of a fanart of Mega Magcargo. It was so metal-looking that when a friend showed it to me, no other form would do.
Other things. Sam is still iffy on Kahu, but enough shit has happened that he's now willing to actually TALK to Kahu. Blame the dickheads that are the Dragons.
Killer Frost is headed to the worse place anyone can think of, Belle Reve!
Kaldur is headed out to a normal meeting. Should be fairly boring.