Zero

[doctorzero]

Max and Zero looked up at the sound of the explosion. "What the heck was that?!"
Zero, being the @ss that he is, took the opportunity to pin Max to the wall. Growling, he raised his arm to stab Max, saying, "You are going to regret--"
"YOINK!!!"
Both Buizel and James jumped Zero from behind, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. "AGH!"
Max proceeded to punch Zero, knocking him backward. Zero stumbled, his foot on the edge of the cliff. "Whoa--"
He grabbed Max by the shirt, nearly pulling him down with him, only for James and Buizel to pull him back, causing Zero to lose his grip. Max attempted to reach out and grab Zero, only managing to get a grip on Zero's hat before the man fell completely.
"AAAAAAAAGH!"
The Demon Gear made a DING noise, indicating that it was working again. About damn time!
Zero wasted no time slamming one of the blades into the cliff wall, slowing his descent as he continued to slide down the mountainside.
Max looked after him, still clutching the hat. "Darn it..."

---

Misty was about to answer when Adrian had pinned Otto to the ground. "Oh, crud--" Kaitlin almost ran out to help him, only for the sphere to block her path. "Get outta my way, you--"
And then Lea opened fire, sending Adrian away with a very loud explosion.
Kaitlin and the other's reactions can be best summarized with an emoticon: ;

---

"...Holy sh*t."
"I want to go drink with whoever's piloting that when this is over."
"That's an old Rozzarian Fleet Airship, isn't it?"
"Dammit, someone tell that maniac I'm trying to aim here!"
The pilot turned on the radio. "Unidentified aircraft, this is Ralph of Omega Team, a military subdivision of Crystal Room LMT. We appreciate you using cover fire, but you are disrupting a delicate mission here. Please identify yourself and your aircraft."

[gantzgun74]

When Lea heard her radio go off, she picked up the machine and spoke into it. "This is Captain Lea-Rew Res, pilot of the Giruveganus, airship of Clan Highwind and the Moorabellan aerodrome, kupo. Formerly of the 15th division of Rozzarian troops assigned to the Quetzalcoatl of the Rozzarian Fleet." With that she drifted off into Rozzarian Airship jargon. "Do explain what YOUR mission is! My objective is to save my friends from the unknown target, looks like alpha reiard with hexa leg siders, and beams as big as me 18 gun RFW GIK Model Airship kupo!"

[Airship pilot jargon translation-
Alpha Rayard = Big nasty beastie
Hexa leg siders = Six legs
18 Gun RFW GIK = The model of Lea's airship, the Giruveganus.]

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.... Grinning, Misty looked less surprised then then she did earlier. "Hahahahah!!! That's Lea for ya! Awesome shot!"

The Rex meanwhile weakly stood up and started inhaling shadows to try and settle his uneasy stomach.

[doctorzero]

Max recalled James and Buizel, saying, "Sorry, guys, but I can go a lot faster if you're in your balls." He pocketed them and ran up the trail, keeping a firm grip on the hat.

---

Kaitlin wiped her brow, saying, "Okay, I admit that was really impressive. But that spider thing isn't going to stay down forever."
The sphere bounced to get her attention. "Hold on a second, jeez! Anyway, Misty, like I was saying before, I can't tell what this thing's saying. Can't you read its mind or something?"

---

"So that is a Rozzarian ship!"
"Did she say Clan Highwind?"
"Dammit, now I owe Captain Evan thirty bucks!"
"Our mission, ma'am, is to terminate the Alpha Rayard and contain the Draco down there. I don't know what you're doing here, but your assistance is greatly appreciated. If you could refrain from launching any of your weapons for a moment, we'll be firing upon the Alpha Rayard. Cathy!"
"Ready to fire!"
"Ma'am, our Psi Team will be entering the area in a moment to contain the Draco. Please refrain from opening fire until we give the all clear."

[gantzgun74]

Lea took in the message over the radio and thought a second. "10-4 and handling the the Alpha Reiard... But that's a negatory on the drake, kupo." She looked a bit concerned. "Do take it easy on the poor boy. He's just having a bad day. That alpha reiard USED to be the Draco's friend." She sighed. "I just wish there was someway to help him... I'm sure if we can turn Wally back to normal Otto will follow suite, kupo-po..."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Misty thought about Kaitlin's suggestion a second. "Well... I guess I could give it a try... I don't really know what this thing is, and I never read a mind this small before... But I suppose I could give it a shot."

With that said, she turned into mist form, intimidating the sprite. "Don't be afraid, Misty won't hurt you." Metal reassured the sprite as Misty floated over to the sprite and, with a move, entered into it's shiny sheen...

[doctorzero]

"Ma'am, I said we're going to CONTAIN the drake, not terminate it. We know full what who and what it is. Mr. Raleigh has given us explicit orders to keep him alive. Cathy?"
"With pleasure."
BANG!

---

Meanwhile...
Later on, Misty would learn Kavma's definition of 'Weird Mind Sh*t' and apply it to this situation.
It was simply...odd. It was like this constant shifting of light and colors...there wasn't a pattern, or any sort of...well, it was just confusing.
It was...difficult to fathom. Not like the 'go mad from it' sort of thing, more like...it didn't mean to be so incomprehensible, like it couldn't help it.
There was just so much of it, like this impossibly vast expanse.
Misty could remember when she had entered the Chaos Rex's mind all those years ago, as much as she would like to forget. It seemed like the complete opposite here. It was surprisingly gentle, like having a clean feather lightly dragged across one's skin.
I can help him. I can save Wally. Please...

---

Zero muttered dark things as he walked the path towards Void City, occasionally looking back at the mountain he had just left. He could see Lea's airship, a tiny speck against Mt. Bonsai.
He's had enough mountain climbing for one day. He was sure he wouldn't like spelunking either.
And on top of that, that kid had stolen his hat and what he had hidden in it, which bothered him greatly. Sure, it's not like it would matter if they read his notes, considering that they were completely useless now, but he didn't the idea of total strangers handling his stuff.
He put it out of his mind. He had a temple to raid, Indiana Jones style.
...great, now the temple is probably going to be filled with traps. He prayed that wouldn't be the case.

[gantzgun74]

Hearing this, the moogle supposed there was no harm in that... ... Though she was suspicious about the aforementioned name, mr. Rayleigh... Something about it sounded familiar... "Fine... That's a 10-4 the-"

She barely finished when a powerful gun-shot fired out from the helicoptor.

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Back down on the ground, Adrian slithered back to it's 'standing' position, looking like it was still yeowching from the airship cannon blast. As it tried to recover it saw the blast from the golden gun quickly headed it's way.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the sprite's head, Misty's eyes widened when that single voice came out from the mass of nonsense and neverending expansion of thoughts and memory. A second later, she was outside again, looking surprised. "You... You can HEAL WALLY?!?"

[doctorzero]

The shot pierced Adrian right through the head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAICH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The monster reeled back, two of its legs reaching up to claw at its face.

---

"Got the bastard! Charging second shot..."
"What's the status of the drake?"
"Still recovering, sir."

---

"What?!"
Kaitlin gawked at Misty. The orb bobbed once in response, as if to say yes.
"Wait, hold on! You can fix Wally?!"
Nod.
"What about Otto?" A bit of a stretch, but--
Another nod. Kaitlin was flabbergasted. "How--"
"AREEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!"
Kaitlin spun to see that Adrian had recovered from the shot--though there was now a noticeable hole where part of its face used to be--and right now it was quite clearly staring at them.
"Oh, no--"
"ICE BEAM!"
A thin laser of frost struck one of Adrian's legs, freezing it solid. Adrian screamed, more out of annoyance than anything, as it turned to see that Max had reentered the enclosure, Buizel standing in front of him exhaling frost.
"Wally, I know you're in there!" Max yelled. "Snap out of--"
Adrian let out a screech of "PLANTO PUTO VINDEX!" and slithered toward Max. The trainer recalled Buizel and jumped out of the way, dodging Adrian by mere inches.
"MAX!" Kaitlin screamed. "What the heck are you DOING?!?!?!?!?"
Max rolled out of the way as Adrian hacked up more of that explosive material, releasing James so he could use Counter to send it back at the monster. This is insane, the Chaos Rex couldn't beat this thing! But...I can't let it hurt the others, I just can't...
"VESTRI LIES ES VESTRI ANIMUS!"
Adrian's mouth opened to fire its laser--
"YAH!!!"
There was a loud smack as Kaitlin jumped and punched Adrian right across what remained of its face. Once again, it did nothing but annoy it, but it was a sufficient distraction for James to fire a Focus Blast at it, knocking it off balance.
Kaitlin landed in front of Max, turning to look at her companion. "We need to keep it busy."
"Huh?"
"That lightbulb--Misty says it can fix Wally. I don't know HOW, but I think we need to keep it occupied for a while."
"What about the Rex?"
"Otto's still recovering from whatever it is that Wally did. Max, I know that this goes without saying, but we should at LEAST put some effort into staying alive, all right?" She smiled.
Max grinned. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you'd stopped taking these situations seriously."

[gantzgun74]

Metal and Misty grinned at this... And cracked their knuckles.



If Adrian had been about to turn it's attention on Kaitlin, it found a metal blur slam it so goddamn fast and so goddamn hard that it practically hit the ground. Metal jumped back, and zoomed back with his jet booster to get away fast, and prep for another Jet Homing Attack.

Adrian let out a loud screech as it tried to focus it's eyes on the group... SPLAT!!! "EEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!!!!" it screeched as it reacted to all of the dirt stuck in it's multiple eyes. Through it's tears it saw Misty fast coming.

WHAAAAAAM!!!!!!!!!!! Adrien couldn't react before Misty splashed more Mud all over the creatures remaining eyes. "HERE FREAKSHOW!!!! YOU LIKE THAT?!?! EAT DIRT!!!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It tried to throw her off, but Misty responded by tossing Adrien clean across up to 7 feet away.

Screeching in pain, barely able to see a god-damn thing, it fired it's lasers at random... None of them aiming anywhere CLOSE to the gang, much to Misty's grin.

WHAAAAAAAM!!!!! Metal appeared once more, a Jet Homing Attack nailing Adrian in the back of the head. "HAH!!!!!!"

[doctorzero]

"Second shot charged!"
"Let him have it!"

---

There was another loud bang as part of Adrian's midsection disintegrated. "AAAAAAAICH!"
"What the--" Max looked up at the helicopter and shook his fist, yelling, "Quit it with the gunfire! We're trying to save him, not kill him!"

---

"Could someone PLEASE tell those people down there to keep away from Adrian?! Besides, we're trying to save him, not kill him!"

---

Adrian shakily stood up on legs, blinded, half its face and midsection missing, and, on the whole, ticked off.
That was when the sphere darted from where it had been hiding in the trees towards the beast. As if it detected its prescence, though, Adrian slithered out of the way, avoid the sphere's touch. "Vomica of abominor , inimicus of meus abbas!"
Kaitlin cursed. "Thing's too fast."
"Maybe we can hold it down?"
Kaitlin gave him a look of disbelief.
"...Right, sorry..."

[gantzgun74]

Before anyone could say anything...

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

At that moment, Chaos Rex blasted forward roaring a challenge at Adrian... The Spider monster didn't have time to respond before it was quickly grabbed in a monstrous bear-hug.

Try as Adrian might, he could fire lasers, slither and squirm with all of his might, but the Rex refused to let go!

Then...

"I... I don't know what your going to do..."

Otto's voice echoed out of the Rex, with fierce determination as he held Adrian audibly grunting and gasping in pain with each laser... Yet he held on with all his might. Say what you want about Otto, that took guts. "BUT DO IT NOW!!!!!"

[doctorzero]

"Otto--" Max thrust out his arm to stop Kaitlin before she could move forward. "Max--"
"Trust him, Kaitlin!"
The sphere wasted no time zooming toward Adrian, who was screaming all the while, "VOMICA ABOMINOR INIMICUS OF MEUS ABBAS MORBUS UT--"
It phased right into Adrian's skin.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"RAIIIIIIAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH!!!!!"

---

It was a living nightmare.
Pain...suffering...and it never left. IT NEVER STOPPED STARING. All the while, THE FATHER continued to whisper into his ear, whispering of how father knows best, to always obey him, and always adore him and revere him--
Wait...
What...that light...
It was...comforting. Like a reprieve from the endless horror. The hatred and rust faded away, replaced by the pleasant glow.
"Sorry I couldn't help sooner, Wally."

---

Kaitlin and Max stared wide eyed at what was happening to Adrian. "Well...guess that's how," said Kaitlin.

---

"...Tell Psi Team to fall back, the situation's under control."
There was a loud series of disappointed groans from the radio.

[gantzgun74]

...... Adrian seemed to stop moving as a bright glowing etheral light shone out of his eyes and mouth. Otto, looking to be in absolute shock, let go of Adrian as this happened.

"Wally-san..." Rin-Rin muttered as all of this went on...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep inside Wally's head, the boy found himself floating amidst an inky black abyss as the light approached him... The spirit of 'The Father' shyed away from the light, it's horrid whispering stopping at that instant. The monk looked to the light with wide eyes. "I..."

He was aware of a nightmarish screech as 'The Father' tried to charge the light. Call it desperation, call it insanity...

Regardless, what happened next didn't well in the slightest, as a gigantic blast of light blasted out of the light, lighting up even the most remote corner of the monk's mind. 'The Father' vanished into thin air, letting out a pained and horrified shriek.

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Outside, the group watched in fascination as Adrian grabbed it's head and convulsed back and forth in pain and writhing, the light blasting out of it's eyes and mouth. The Spider arms fell out of the shoulders, and was replaced by human arms, Wally's legs were replaced, the mouth around the mid-section closed permanently, and the eyes glowed with an etheral light before vanishing completely.

....

By the end of it, all that remained was Wally Kisaragi, out cold, beaten, bruised, and mostly naked on the ground save for the tattered remains of what used to be his windsuit pants.

[doctorzero]

As Wally fell to the ground, the sphere of light came out of its chest and zoomed in front of Otto, apparently staring at him.
"WALLY!!!"
The rest of the group ran forward, Kaitlin kneeling to lift up Wally a little. "Wally? Come on, wake up!" Kaitlin begged. "Say something!"
He wasn't dead, they could see that clearly--he was breathing. Still, they couldn't help but fear the worst.
Meanwhile, Max looked up at Otto nervously as the others tended to Wally. "Otto? Uh...it IS Otto, right? Are you....you're in control, right?" James and Buizel tensed, ready to fight again if Otto lost it. Something told Max that it wasn't the case, though.
The sight of the sphere circling around the Rex caught both their attention. It was clearly trying to tell Otto something.

---

"HQ, this is Omega Team, the threat has been neutralized."
"Roger that, Omega. The threat at the Park has been neutralized as well."
"Terrific. Alert the Medical Corps, we have wounded and one victim of D.E.V.A. infection."
"Roger that. Medical is on its way."
The pilot proceeded to contact Lea. "Captain Res, this is Omega Team. The current threat is neutralized. Your ship appears to have taken heavy damage. If you land it we'll have a team over to make repairs for you."

[gantzgun74]

Grinning at this, Lea eagerly nodded. "So long as I can oversee repairs, kupo, that would be most welcome! Okay I shall set down the Giruveganus near the foot of the mountains. You can find it there. This is Airship Captain Lea-Rew Res signing out!" With that, she piloted the ship to the intended location.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Back with the group, had Wally been awake, he would've justified the moment by answering Kaitlin by LITERALLY saying 'Something.' However, as things stood now, he was still pretty much out cold. It seemed likely he'd stay that way for a while. A second later, Metal checked his pulse. "Don't worry everyone, he's alright."

With Otto, the sprite continued buzzing around him, trying to tell him whatever it is it wanted to tell him... Considering what he just saw, he smiled. "I suppose... You want to change me back huh?" The sprite nodded quickly.

Upon seeing this, Rin-Rin walked up to Otto, smiling up to him. "It's... good to have you back Otto... You really had me scared there."

Otto shrugged helplessly. "And I apologize..." He looked to the sprite with a nod. "You mind? I'd like to comfort my girl."

[doctorzero]

---

Without further ado the sprite phased into Otto's chest.

---

No doubt you think this is the part where the evil spirit recoils at the sight of the light blah blah blah.
Allow me to sum it up in one word.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!"
THAT'LL learn 'im.

---

There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, Otto was back to his normal self. The sprite phased out of his chest, circled him once, then flew over to Max.
Max blinked. "Uh...what?"
Kaitlin stood up and walked over to the sprite. "Okay, questions." She poked the sprite. "Who or what are you? How did--"
"Kaitlin, Max, please find Jaron, okay?"
Without any further explanation, the sprite flew off before anyone could stop it.
...

"...What was that?"
"I don't know..."
Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock
DING DONG!!
"JARON!"
The two of them had completely forgotten about their current problem, what with all the mind shenanigans.
"I can't BELIEVE we forgot!"
"Doesn't matter now--do you have a phone?"
"Of course not!"
Kaitlin turned to Misty. "Misty, I know you have a phone and Alex's number. Give it! NOW!"

---

"THIS is the underground network?"
Zero stood at the entrance to a large cave. He could hear water dripping within, along with all sorts of noises he would rather not think about.
He had had bad experiences in caves before, but that wasn't going to stop him now. With a sigh of resignation, he lit up the torch and descended into the depths.

---

Kaitlin waited impatiently for Gantz to pick up. "Come ON, Alex, pick up, or I swear to God I'll--"
"Hello?? Tarosuke is that you??"
Kaitlin sputtered. "What the--who the heck is this?! Misty, you said this was Gantz's phone number!"
Max was confused. "Who is it?" Kaitlin shushed him.
"Um, I'm really sorry, but Gantz is all tied up at this time. I'm his girlfriend Rosaline." Kaitlin's jaw dropped. WHAT?!?!
"But, who are you though miss? You certainly don't sound familiar to me."
Kaitlin regained her composure somewhat. "What the--girlfriend? He actually--never mind! I know Jaron's with you, so give him the phone RIGHT NOW!" She covered the phone for a second and looked at Max, mouthing Girlfriend?!
Max nodded guiltily, mouthing, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier...
"Oh! Yes, fine. Here he is!"
They both sighed in relief. "Finally..."
"Kaitlin?!"
She nearly dropped the phone. The voice she heard was NOT what she was expecting. "WHAT THE?! A.J.?! What're you doing over there?!" Wherever 'there' is, she thought.
"What, did you think I was going to let you guys go after Kavma by yourselves?" R.J. asked heatedly.
"How the heck did you even know about that?" Kaitlin demanded.
"Lucas told me!"
"Lucas?!" Max exclaimed.
"Lucas--oh, never mind! Give R.J. the phone!" said Kaitlin.
"Uh...I don't think I can right now..."
They both looked at each other. "...lemme guess, he's in some deathmatch."
"Yeah."
Kaitlin facepalmed. "Terrific...Listen, you need to grab him and get out of there NOW."
"There's a barrier! We can't break it!" R.J. protested.
Kaitlin swore. This was not showing up to be that great of a day. "Oh, for crying out loud!"
Max tugged her shoulder. One thing had been bugging him. "Is Erin there with him? Did he say?"
"No, he didn't. I'm HOPING she is."