Chp 48: God 
 
“Damn.” Seth muttered as he looked up. “Missed.” He was at the base of Mt. Coronet, instead of the peak. 
 
“I’ll say. Do you even know what you’re doing?” Soul said. 
 
Seth’s head darted over and down to find Soul by his side. “You’re not supposed to be here!” 
 
“Too bad. I’m stronger, so I’M protecting YOU.” 
 
Seth opened his mouth to argue, but closed it before any words came out, knowing the pointlessness of it. “Fine. But promise me. If things get rough, you run.” 
 
“Maybe. And just what makes you think Zygarde can kill Arceus? Arceus is kind of a god and stuff.” 
 
“He seemed pretty confident. I don’t want to risk it either way. I want a quiet life with you and Sky. But if the world falls into chaos, that can’t happen.”  
 
“And how are we gonna beat Zy if he can kill a god?” 
 
“That’s why I wanted to come alone. My chimera form.” 
 
“Huh?” Soul asked. 
 
“The chimera was an ancient creature made of multiple animal parts. My berserk transformation.” 
 
“Oh.” 
 
“Yeah. I think because it combines parts, it combines the power of each individual pokemon, exponentially. Which is why I lose control, so I’m going to turn into as many forms as I can at once. I uh... have no idea what will happen.” 
 
“Yeah, I have no idea what that means. I could beat Mewtwo, so I can probably beat Zy.” 
 
“Wait? Really?”  
 
“Maybe. Dunno, never tried to fight her. Still, I haven’t got a chance to go all out yet. I wanna see it in action.” 
 
“Fine. Grab on, I’ll get us up there.” 
 
+++ 
 
“Is this the right spot?” Aien asked. 
 
“Yes. When I give you the signal, play the flute.” Zy said. He was in his fifty percent form and both of them were surrounded by the ruins of Spear Pillar, the peak of Mt. Coronet. 
 
Aien took a deep breath. “Finally. I’m... kinda scared. Are you?” 
 
“Yes. This will be our greatest fight yet. I don’t know what will happen. Or even if we will succeed but... I have enjoyed our journey.” 
 
“Me too.”  
 
“We have a guest.” Zy turned around and looked to the base of the steps. A moment later, Seth, as a mewtwo, and Soul appeared. “Welcome. I knew you would change your mind.” 
 
“No. You have to stop. I don’t know why exactly you want this, but... think about everyone else! If you kill Arceus... it could end the world. It could kill everyone you’re trying to protect.” 
 
“That’s a risk we’ve considered.” Zy said. “I was created to protect this world and right now, Arceus is the biggest threat to it. He is not divine, he is a pokemon like any other. Therefore, he has the duty to use his power to help people. But he does not. He merely sits on his throne and watches as the innocent suffer and die. I will kill him, steal his power and become a new god, a true protector.” 
 
“Steal?” Seth asked. 
 
“Yes. There are three artifacts left in this world by Arceus. The Azure Flute, used to open a portal to Arceus’ dimension. The Eighteen Plates, shards of elemental energy, used to give Arceus power in this world. And the Space Globe, an orb that contains a fraction of Arceus’ true power. With all three of these combined, I can become the new god. I will take his role and make this world safe. While we lack the Space Globe, once Arceus is gone, I can locate it.” 
 
“I... I can't let you do that. I have people I want to protect, and I won’t let anything put them at risk.” 
 
“How selfish. There will be temporary suffering, but the world will become a better place. You've suffered, you’ve lost someone you love suddenly. Am I wrong?” 
 
Seth bit his lip and looked down. 
 
“While I couldn’t bring them back to life, at least not the same, imagine if no one else had to deal with something like that.” 
 
“Fuck that.” Soul said. “Our suffering is what makes us who we are today. A world without suffering? More like a world without substance! Yeah, shit sucks sometimes, but that just makes the good parts even better!”  
 
“You are an idiot.” Zy glared at her. “Suffering is not a positive thing. It develops people to become depressed and repressed. I will create a utopia where everyone can live a full and happy life.” 
 
“No... she’s right. The bad times are part of what makes me who I am.” Seth changed from mewtwo into lucario. “We’ll stop you.”  
 
Zy sighed in defeat. “I had hoped to have you as an ally. You are both talented and gifted. But if you want to resist us, I will destroy you both.” 
 
“Just try it, Squishy.” 
 
Zy raised his head. “Thousand Arrows.” His green energy burst upwards before raining down like arrows. Soul and Seth ran to opposite sides, Seth to the right and Soul to the left. 
 
“Soul! No holding back! Take him down!”  
 
“Don’t worry. This should be fun.” They both had to keep running as the arrows followed them. While Seth focused on dodging, Soul began the offensive. She charged right for Zy, the rain of green arrows right on her tail. Zy began to build up energy again, but Soul was faster. Instead of attacking head on, she jumped over the nearly two-story tall snake. As she did, the arrows behind her, the ones headed right for Zy, stopped falling, as did the ones attacking Seth. 
 
Soul flew over Zy, twisting in midair to aim. A moment later, Zy was split in two, a massive cut forming in his middle, splitting his top and bottom halves. Green goo splattered everywhere.  
 
“Soul?! Did you just-” The upper half landed on the ground a few feet away. Just as quickly, it broke apart into cells and squirmed back over and into the main body. In moments, the head reformed like nothing happened.  
 
“Thousand Waves.” Zy announced. Green energy burst out, shimmering in the light as it washed over the ruins. Soul took the brunt of it, being forced back several yards. Seth got a much lesser, but still potent hit from it. As he was pushed back, he impacted a barrier. It looked and felt like green scales. A dome of energy had covered the entire ruins, trapping them inside. 
 
As the energy stopped flowing, Zy began to sink into the ground, quickly disappearing from sight without leaving a hole behind. 
 
“He’s tunneling, very quietly.” Soul said. She looked down, watching a spot on the ground as her horn twitched. “And split up.” Five groups of cracks formed in the stone floor. From them, five exact copies of Zy’s ten percent form emerged. Three of them moved for Soul and two for Seth, all at incredible speed.  
 
Seth barely had time to raise his hands to block an incoming tackle. The other 10% moved around and began to channel ground type energy. It exploded below Seth’s feet, launching him into the air in a cascade of green energy. One delivered a midair headbutt before Seth could recover, launching him through the air towards Two. Seth turned and formed an aura barrier, crashing into Two with it. Instead of being knocked back, Two squished under the solid screen of aura, then flowed around the edge to reform on the other side, right in Seth’s face. He didn’t have time to do anything about the dragon pulse. 
 
“Humph, three? That’s like, what, thirty percent?” Soul smiled. “You’re gonna need more than that. Try one hundred.” Two and Three launched dragon pulses while One charged. Soul jumped into the air as the twin pulses converged on her previous location and exploded. She swung her horn to intercept One, but he caught it in his mouth. That turned out to be a bad idea, when she unleashed a point-blank slash from the horn, cutting him in half. Before the pieces hit the ground, Soul unleashed a slash wind, dicing the pieces. The wind ripped outwards, cutting into the stone, followed by the other two, shredding them as well.  
 
From Aien’s body, the rest of Zy’s cells emerged. They sunk into the ground and emerged near the others soon after. For Seth, they formed an additional three 10% forms. For Soul, the scattered cells and the new ones merged to create a 50% form.  
 
“Fine.” Seth growled. “Let’s play hard ball.” His body changed, losing fur and growing taller. Then, white fur with pink tips grew from his skin. Once his transformation ended, his body sparkled, bits of light falling to the ground and vanishing all around him. “Gonna have to make this fast. I hate doing this.” He said, his voice noticeably higher pitched. 
 
“How arrogant.” All the forms said in unison. They scattered, each using a different move. Before any of them could fire off, Seth let out a blinding flash of light. As the light cleared, he was gone. All five looked up in time to see blue fur growing on Seth’s skin. A powerful wave of cold air hit them as Seth began to fall, now an anthro glaceon. As he neared the ground, the 10% forms charged, all ready to deal five separate tackles at the moment Seth landed. Just before contact was made, the entire area was encased in ice.  
 
“Back to the big snake? Didn’t do you much good last time.” Soul taunted. She let out two slashes, cutting Zy apart with both. 
 
“Don’t you get it? That won’t work.” He said, reforming quickly.  
 
“Say’s you.” She delivered four more, cutting him into smaller pieces, which simply merged back together.  
 
“I tire of this. Core Enforcer.” He built up green energy, before firing it out in a beam. It happened too fast and was too large for Soul to dodge. It engulfed her, obscuring her from view. 
 
“Soul!” Seth cried out. The ice around him shattered as he turned back into a sylveon. Before he could move to help Soul, the freed 10% forms tried to attack again. A wave of sparkles flowed around Seth, blocking the tackles. The point of impact of the green laser, right where Soul had been standing, exploded.  
 
“Ow, that actually hurt.” Soul’s voice growled. The smoke cleared, revealing her still standing there, dirt on her fur. But that was not all. Black markings covered her body, tracing a spiral pattern up her legs and a jagged spiky pattern over her main body, coming to a spiral on her forehead. “I call this Full Dark.” She said.  
 
“Full... Dark?” Zy asked. “Fas-” Without even a movement from Soul, he was turned into thousands of tiny pieces. As it happened, dark lines appeared all over his body, before fading away. The forms near Seth all turned and ran for the 50% that had just been attacked. “That... That is very powerful, as mysterious as it is.” They all said. The forms along with all the carved-up cells began to merge together, forming into a large green glob, before it grew and took shape. It became humanoid, growing in height to match his 50% form. A tail emerged and two sets of wings grew from the shoulders. A mouth like chest and crown like spikes on the head completed the appearance. The wings on the left had red scales while the ones on the right had blue. Between the teeth of the chest a rainbow light emitted. Zy took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he stretched. “This is one hundred percent of my power! Bear witness and despair, for your end is here.”  
 
“Now we’re talking. Bring it!” Soul yelled, dark tendrils forming around her body, growing from her shadow. Zy began to build up energy, the green energy nearly blinding as it surrounded his body. Before either could attack, a torrent of sparkles crashed into his back.  
 
“Don’t forget me. We fight together!” Seth announced.  
 
Zy turned and pointed a spiked hand at Seth. “You are the only real threat.” A massive cut split him down the middle. “So I will kill you first.” Zy continued as if it hadn’t happened. “However, as thanks, I will make it fast.” A beam fired from the hand, missing Seth by a hair. It shot past and exploded against the barrier.  
 
“Hey, you forgetting something?” Soul said. An intense wave of fear radiated through the dome, making Seth’s heart skip a beat. She let out a loud howl, spreading her mega evolved wings out as the dark markings covered her entire body. She looked like a living shadow, pure black with piercing red eyes.  
 
A sphere of darkness formed around Zy, completely obscuring him from view. It faded seconds later and Zy was gone. But slowly, he began to reform, after having been shredded to invisible pieces. He pointed up and fired another beam. It blasted right through the airborne Soul, blasting her up into the barrier where she fell back down to the ground. He raised his arm and was ready to crush the unmoving Soul, but he stopped short as he felt power building up behind him.  
 
“Get. Away.” A deep voice growled. Zy turned to find Seth changing again. He was covered in brown fur, resembling an eevee. But from his backside, six tails currently stuck out. He had the tail of an eevee, flareon, jolteon, vaporeon, espeon and umbreon. As Zy watched, another tail, that of a leafeon sprouted, then glaceon followed by a sylveon. “AAAUGH!” Seth cried out, almost as if he was in pain. The mere sound of his voice cracked the rocks near him, blowing away some of the rubble.  
 
The mouth on Zy’s chest opened, brimming with energy. Before anything came out, Seth appeared in front of him, letting out a multicolored beam of combined elements from his mouth. It exploded right in Zy’s chest, causing him to grunt in pain. “What kind of monster-?!” From each of Seth’s tails, a wave of colored aura emerged, each matching the type of the tail. All nine waves of energized aura battered Zy in a storm from multiple directions. He blocked several of them with his wings and hands, but was quickly overwhelmed, forcing him to bunker down in a protect. 
 
“Zy!” Aien called from outside the barrier. “Should I take the rest of the team and weaken Arceus?” 
 
“No. It’s too dangerous. Right now, this creature is our biggest threat.”  
 
Seth held out both hands just when the protect began to fail, the aura forming around them in claws, one element from each eeveelution on eight different claws. He then leapt into action, moving in a blur and attacking Zy in a seemingly random way. Zy retaliated with swings of his titanic arms and bursts of energy. Despite landing solid blows, they hardly seemed to faze the wild attacker, perhaps even making it more furious. 
 
Seth was taking off chunks of Zy about as fast as they could reform. Even so, Zy barely seemed to be taking real damage. Suddenly, Zy turned in a burst of speed and grabbed Seth by the arms. He pulled him in, despite the overwhelming power flowing off of Seth, enough to cause his entire body to quiver just from his presence. His chest mouth opened again, as he held Seth right in front of it. Seth pulled with one arm, ripping Zy’s off, but it was too late. A full power core enforcer fired off. The green energy was so bright, it filled the entire dome in its blinding radiance.  
 
As it cleared, both Seth and Soul had been blown back, lying prone against the barrier. Soul was to Zy’s left, while Seth was directly ahead. Seth was no longer transformed, having returned to pure human. His entire body was covered in deep gashes as blood began to pool around him. Zy stomped forward and stopped over Seth, looking down at the human glaring up at him.  
 
“You are still conscious? No matter what monster you become, you cannot stop me. Now.” Zy took a deep breath and raised his arm.  
 
A beam of white light consumed him, shattering the barrier above. As it cleared, Zy was gone.  
 
“Zy? ZY?!” Aien called out, running towards them. Seth saw the same white light engulf him and he disappeared.  
 
“Wha... what?” Seth asked out loud.  
 
“Relax.” A booming voice instructed. Seth’s vision went completely white for a moment. When it cleared, he felt much better, allowing him to stand again. His wounds were completely healed. 
 
“Who’s there?”  
 
A set of glass steps formed on the ground, followed by another and another. “Come to me.” The voice said, seemingly coming from the sky. It was deep, with an echo, but didn’t have a definable tone. It sounded like several different voices all speaking in unison. 
 
“Soul.” Seth said, hurrying over to her. He nudged her side a few times but got no reaction. She was breathing however.  
 
“She will be fine. Come to me.”  
 
Seth rose and walked over to the steps. As he planted his foot on the first one, another formed at the top. This continued as he walked upwards, the steps beginning to float on nothing. It led him higher and higher up. After what only seemed like a few steps, Seth looked down to find himself far too high to turn back. He continued on, rising even higher into the air, going above the clouds. He felt like he had to keep going, even as he worried about Soul, his legs just kept going.  
 
“Finally. My champion.” The voice said.  
 
“Who are you?” Seth asked. He was now walking on the clouds as the stairs stopped increasing in height. A few clouds ahead of him parted, revealing a creature. It had four legs and was mostly white, with billowing fur. There were golden adornments on its body as well as a large four spoked ring around its midsection.  
 
“I am god.”  
 
“Ar...Arceus?” 
 
“Yes, if that is what you wish to call me. We finally meet, my chosen one. I am pleased with your performance. Zygarde was the third most powerful pokemon on the planet.” 
 
“Zy... Did...” Seth was finding it difficult to speak.  
 
“His usefulness expired. Along with his trainer. They have both been erased. I will create a new Zygarde shortly. I would like to see more guardians assume your perfect form. But that will have to wait.” 
 
“Perfect?”  
 
“Yes. You. You are the perfect being. A hybrid of the two dominant species. Had you brought my Space Globe along, you would have been able to fight Zygarde successfully. It was a good showing nonetheless.”  
 
Seth opened his mouth to try to ask another question, but all that came out was a squeak.  
 
“I choose you for one reason. Your species. It was merely luck of the draw that you were the hybrid I picked. You see, I wish to change this world. My first creations have been disappointing. You, the hybrid, will become the dominant species on this planet. Through my gifts, you will propagate and your superior genes will change the world.” 
 
“What... gifts?” 
 
“Yes. I have given you and your mates many blessings to ensure my vision comes to pass. You have powers far beyond any other hybrid. You can absorb the DNA of any species and integrate it into your being, allowing you to transform into it at will. In fact, my orb would augment that power, allowing you to safely combine species. Soul was given ultimate power, second only to yours, to be your guardian. Sky was gifted with similar abilities, namely great adaptability, to be your advisor. However, the greatest gift given to you, your mates, and your offspring is the ability to convert others into hybrids through intercourse. This turns them into a hybrid, as well as the offspring, all with the same ability to spread.” 
 
“Wait... you... want me to... turn the entire world into hybrids?” 
 
“Yes.” Arceus smiled. Seth couldn’t see facial features move, but he somehow knew. “I created many universes to test my plan. They always ended in disaster however. This is the only way to preserve the best aspects of both humanity and pokemon while creating a superior being. And you, you will reign as a king, the hand of god, in this new world.” 
 
“Zy was right.” Seth said quietly, his eyes growing wide. 
 
“No. He was a fool to think to usurp me. No creation of mine can defy me.”  
 
“How can you treat people like pawns?” 
 
“Humph. I created your entire world. Everything you’ve ever experienced was tailored by my will. You are mine to do with as I please.” 
 
“I’m a person! Not some kind of tool.”  
 
“You dare to defy me?! You ARE a tool, only given life by my will. I could erase you from reality in an instant!”  
 
“I want out. I’m not stupid enough to fight you, but I won’t do your bidding.”  
 
“You fool! I will strip you of all my gifts! You will be worthless again!”  
 
“I don’t care. All I need are my mates. Just let me go.” 
 
“You are a failure. I will find another.” Arceus’ voice boomed.  
 
The brilliant white light engulfed Seth. When it cleared, he was standing back on solid ground.
 
“Ab! So sol.”  
 
“Soul?” He asked.
 
“Absol. Solol. Ab ab.” 
 
“I... I can’t understand you.”  
 
“Sol!” She pointed at him angrily.  
 
“Sorry. We should go home now. Sky should be in Twinleaf Town by now.”