A truly man
Text
This is so personal to me 🥺
The Artful Dodger (2023)
Cc: Kaylalala & Julia Stathpoulos on Pinterest
Text
Here’s my unsolicited ranking of the Bridgerton books:
Romancing Mister Bridgerton
The Viscount Who Loved Me
In His Kiss
On The Way To The Wedding
When He Was Wicked
An Offer From a Gentleman
The Duke and I
To Sir Phillip With Love
Text
Sibling Showdown
After being captured by the insane scientist Will, Lloyd finds himself in trouble. Meanwhile his loved ones search for him, but might not find what they anticipated…
A comm for DayBreak and another entry in the Latistory series! Warning for referenced noncon (though it doesn’t appear) and family yearning, as well as general drama, action, etc. Please enjoy.
[[MORE]]From a dizzying and fitful sleep, Lloyd Draco finally awoke.
The numbing weight of the Sleep Powder used to drug him still snapped through his body, leaving him feeling dizzy and laggardly. He tried to move only to find that he was shackled to a wall with heavy metal cuffs; his clothes were gone, save for his boxers, leaving him strapped and shivering. The chamber smelled of rust and iodine, and beneath him the ‘ground’ rocked hypnotically back and forth. No stranger to being at sea (indeed, the healed burns on his flesh from the shipwreck were testament enough to that), Lloyd intuited that the rocking motion was from waves, and he was on a boat.
His stomach lurched. He could think of one person with a metal boat: Will.
Oh Arceus, after over a year on the run, he’d failed. He’d been caught.
Lloyd wasn’t the only one in this chamber. On the far end, hooked up to sinister-looking lab equipment, was a sleek metal stasis pod, the high-tech appearance contrasting with the grimy nature of the rustbucket ship. Inside the stasis pod was a strange, unfamiliar individual; a twentysomething human of indeterminate gender with strangely ashen skin and long, naturally-grey hair that ended in a tail. The hair at the end was, oddly enough, colored a smokey, nebulaic purple, unlike the rest of them. Something seemed oddly familiar about the being in the pod; it was almost like Lloyd was looking in a mirror.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
Will’s voice, low and contemptuous like a rusty razor, slithered through Lloyd’s ear. The young half-breed struggled angrily, trying to free himself from his bindings, as Will arrived. The scientist was characteristically dressed in disheveled fashion, with a labcoat that didn’t seem to have been washed in at least a week and a tangle of dusty grey-blonde hair. He wore a smug smile.
“Don’t bother trying to free yourself, those bindings were calibrated for a Dragonite half-breed; a puny little Dratini like you wouldn’t have a shot,” Will said with amusement at Lloyd’s attempts at freedom. “The moment I knew what your sister was, I knew that proper steps would be needed to ensure her compliance. Honestly, I wish those thugs had captured her instead—not only is she far more promising as a half-breed, but I could use her to gestate further specimens…”
A cold realization that he’d been stripped almost naked blitzed through Lloyd, coupled with the understanding that Will likely wouldn’t have stopped at underwear if Skye was the one who’d been caught. Grasping what Will was getting at sparked a flash of fury. “If you ever so much as think about laying a hand on my sister, I’ll fucking kill you!” he screamed, hurling himself at his bonds. They didn’t even give an iota, and Will chuckled, evidently unthreatened.
“Oh don’t worry, I wouldn’t be the one breeding her—I’m not so crass. Any number of powerful mons in my employ would like to have a go at her, though, or perhaps she could be used as a reward for henchmen who perform above expectations…” Rage and disgust thudded in Lloyd’s ears and he snarled angrily. Will ignored him, continuing: “Ah, but I speak only in hypotheticals. Let’s move onwards.”
Will stepped towards Lloyd, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a syringe attached via transparent plastic tubing to a small glass phial. Not wanting to have his blood taken, Lloyd shook again.
“Oh, behave yourself, little dragon—I’m going to get a sample whether you want me to or not, so you may as well make it easier on both of us!” Will took an alcohol swab and daubed the tip of the syringe, chatting conversationally. “After Travis kicked me off the half-breed project, I knew that he didn’t have what it took to do what was necessary. I secured funding and manpower and returned to claim him and his research for my own.”
“What the fuck did you do with my dad?!” Lloyd demanded. Travis wasn’t Lloyd’s birth father, but he’d raised both him and Skye like any father would have.
“Oh, he’s still alive—and actually held in a separate ship of mine, along with that psychic cat he kept around his lab. He actually fucks the thing, can you believe it?” Will sneered. Lloyd thought that Will’s contempt towards a mutually consensual relationship between person and pokemon was hypocritical in the extreme, considering he’d just talked about having Lloyd’s own sister forcibly impregnated! “Still, though you and the part-Dragonite girl fled on my arrival back in Lumiose, I realized there was an even greater bounty waiting for me.” He nodded towards the figure in the stasis pod. “Say hello to specimen 02-2.”
Lloyd’s blood chilled and he felt suddenly, acutely aware of the tattoo on his shoulder that’d been there as long as he could remember. He was 03; Skye, 04. He’d always wondered who or what the first ones were.
“What are they—OW!” He’d let his guard down and Will had taken the opportunity to jab the syringe into his shoulder. The young man grit his teeth as Will siphoned blood out of him, the plastic tube running scarlet and filling the glass phial.
“An experiment that Travis deemed a failure. It wasn’t active, but nor was it dead; instead, it seemed that Travis, upon realizing the creature was about to perish, called in a favor from an old colleague in Unova and had its consciousness put into the Dream World. Still, that seemed such a waste.”
“Creature? Waste? That’s a person!” Lloyd cried out.
“Says the part-animal abomination,” Will replied conversationally. “Honestly, boy, do you think most people would treat you like them if they knew your origin was that someone fucked a beast?”
“P-Pokemon aren’t dumb animals, they have intelligence and personality! And besides, my sister and I were—”
“Keep telling yourself that, Dratini.” Another tug of the syringe and Lloyd winced as more blood was siphoned out of him. “My sponsors were interested in half-breeds as tools of war, and had managed to recover some genetic material of the formidable Mewtwo from its hiding place in Cerulean Cave.” Lloyd’s eyes widened. He’d heard of Mewtwo; everyone had. “02-2’s genetic material was in flux, so we were able to suffuse it with Mewtwo’s material. Now the half-breed’s body is stabilized! All I need to complete my vision is the blood of a healthy half-breed, one with genes reinforced with the power of dragons.” With a triumphant smile, the scientist withdrew the syringe from Lloyd’s arm and held up the vial of blood. “That poke-fucker Travis can wither away, forgotten by history. He’ll regret taking me off the project. I am the greatest scientist who has ever studied genetic mongrels like you and your twin, and once 02-2 is complete, I’ll prove it!”
He stared at Lloyd almost as if expecting applause or praise, and the young man licked his lips. “Right,” he drawled. “You invaded my dad’s lab, chased me and my sister halfway around the planet, kidnapped me, stripped me down to my skivvies and tied me to a wall, all to just… slake that ego of yours? That’s really it?” Will’s triumphant grin curled into an angry sneer, and Lloyd pressed on: “You’re a real fucking whackjob, you know that?”
Will trembled, and his composure seemed to have slipped. “So you say, but this ‘whackjob’ scared off two legendary pokemon from their home!”
Lloyd scoffed. “One of them was weak from giving bir—”
“A whackjob wouldn’t have been able to abduct a half-breed as strong as you!”
Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you just talking down to me and saying I was weak? Which is it, huh? Besides, you didn’t do anything—those goons in Gateon were the ones who actually caught me.”
By now, Will was snarling: “A whackjob wouldn’t be on the verge of creating the perfect soldier—the most powerful half-breed in the world!” He rapped a knuckle against 02-2’s stasis pod for emphasis.
“Oh please! You stole that from my dad, he did all the work! You just got his sloppy seconds as usu—HRRK—”
Lloyd cut off with an aggrieved gasp as Will sunk his fist right below the young man’s diaphragm. Devoid of breath and feeling nauseous, he curled up on himself, shivering and breathing shallowly. Still, he smiled to himself, knowing he’d gotten under his captor’s skin at least a little bit.
“So,” Will said. He slotted the blood into a panel on the side of 02-2’s stasis pod; it hissed closed.
“My opus will soon be complete. As for you? You’re trash. Yesterday’s news. But don’t worry—I have something planned for you. Your sister was going to serve as breeding stock, but you can serve as a test run for another project instead. We’re here in Orre, after all, and I think you know what that means…”
Panic thrummed through Lloyd. “Shadow pokemon?!” he wheezed, still feeling out of breath. “But I read in my books that the process to make them doesn’t work on half-breeds—”
Snickering, Will pressed a button on the wall. Panels near Lloyd’s bindings opened and robotic hands emerged, holding high-tech armor. “Oh don’t worry,” he said in faux reassurance, “I’ve figured out a way. Let’s see how powerful a shadow half-breed can be, especially when I sic you on your sister and those dragons you kept from me.”
The metal hands pressed the armor against Lloyd’s flesh and he gasped as he felt it cling tight to him, feeling cold and alien. The metallic armor whirred to life and small pulse-engines inside of it began sending waves of corrupted Aura into the young man’s body. He shuddered, suddenly feeling his muscles tighten—and his mind deaden. It was as if something else, something hostile, was invading his mind…
“N-No,” he choked. Oh Arceus, being a shadow was said to be like losing your sense of self, becoming awash in your worst emotions. “Please don’t… don’t do this to me…”
“Oh my!” Will said with that same, fake sweetness. “Perhaps I would listen, but a whackjob like me just can’t hear reason sometimes, apparently!”
Shuddering, lurching, Lloyd teared up as he fought to stop the negativity from claiming him. It was a losing battle and he understood that before long he was about to be gone. Just another shadow. “I’m… s-sorry…” he pled, tears in his eyes.
As Lloyd’s vision darkened and he slipped into darkness, the last thing he saw was Will’s malevolent smile. “Oh, you will be…”
—
With Latios and Latias in tow, Skye and the pokemon had returned to Gateon Port. But the thugs who’d abducted her brother were nowhere to be seen, and the strange ‘iron ship’ that Latios had noticed out at sea was gone now.
Though she knew that it was likely inadvisable, Skye had allowed both the Latis to openly join in the search. She was too upset, too furious, to worry about subterfuge now, especially since Will had already pinpointed their location. People and passersby in Gateon openly pointed at the mythical dragons, some pulling out phones or DexNavs to snap photos. Whenever any of them looked like they were going to nosily investigate further, Latios scared them off with a vicious snarl, or Gaia swooped low with a screech.
“Where the fuck did they take him?!” Skye said angrily, pacing back and forth. “Where is my brother?”
After a few minutes’ searching, the group was interrupted by an officer approaching—a tall, slightly muscular woman with blue lipstick.
“Ma’am,” she said, seeming the only one unperturbed when an angry dragon growled at her, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you and your pokemon are causing a scene. Please, withdraw them or kindly leave our port.”
It took all of Skye’s self-control not to snap right then and there. “Causing a scene?! Well, I’m sorry if my brother was kidnapped—I really think that—”
Before she could say anything further, the poke ball which Latios had brought back flashed, and the small Togepi that Lloyd had apparently rescued flashed out of it. The little creature hopped in place, worried and afraid, and the officer’s eyes widened.
“But that’s the pokemon that I… ah, I see. The young man who busted the poachers, you’re his sister. I heard that a few hours ago he got into some sort of fight with some out-of-towners…”
“Yes, that’s him! Please, do you know what happened? He’s gone missing!”
The officer shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know. By the time we received word of the fight, both him and his assailants had vanished. I was in the middle of drafting a report to HQ…”
Skye shook with barely-concealed worry as Latias drifted close to her, nuzzling her muzzle comfortingly against the back of Skye’s neck. Skye, said Latias, it seem Lloyd no longer here. We should leave, gather thoughts. Try think where bad men take Lloyd…
“Right,” Skye muttered, knuckling her forehead. “I suppose so…”
As she compassionately watched the young woman grapple with her emotions, the officer suddenly frowned and glanced up. “My goodness,” she said, “that storm is coming in fast, isn’t it?”
Skye and the pokemon all glanced up. Indeed, the normally baby-blue sky above Gateon was quickly churning with dark, wooly clouds. Skye had a sudden feeling of disquiet. “Gaia,” she muttered, “your species is in tune with winds. What do you think? Those are too fast-moving to be natural…”
The Flygon crooned in agreement, flapping her emerald wings once, and Skye’s blood chilled. “Have everyone go inside or flee town,” she told the officer. “I think this might get dangerous. Trust me.”
As the policewoman retreated, Skye felt goosebumps rising on her flesh, and the Latis both puffed up their feathers in consternation. She withdrew the Togepi back into his ball; it was too dangerous for him. It was obvious that something was coming.
And suddenly, with a high, screeching cry, Gaia whirled in a loose gyre overhead, getting everyone’s attention before pointing out at sea. Skye followed the Flygon’s gesture and gasped. There, miles out on the horizon, she could see it: Will’s ship, at the center of the fast-growing storm.
“There he is!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to regret making him come for my family. Get ready, everyone, we can—”
Wait! came Latias’s telepathy. Latias sense something. Move close… move fast! Focusing her eyes, Skye realized her sister-in-law was correct. A small shape, wreathed by what almost looked like purplish wisps of cloud, was rocketing towards the shore.
Her heart chilled. Something told her this was going to be worse than the fight on Southern Island. “Get back!” she screamed to everyone. “Will’s sending something.”
Only too late did she realize this wasn’t just something, but someone. The shape coalesced into a humanoid form, wreathed in eerie dark purple energy and wearing strange, futuristic body armor with a transparent visor in front of the eyes. With a choking cry, Skye realized that she recognized it:
Her brother.
“Lloyd!” she cried out, rushing toward him. “I—”
Watch out! Latios fearfully lunged at Skye, pushing her out of the way just as Lloyd raised his head. His normally-green eyes were colored a purple so dark they were almost black instead, and he wreathed himself in that same dark energy and launched himself at speeds that put even Skye’s own Extremespeed to shame. Barely knocked out of the way, Skye could only watch, horrified, as Lloyd bludgeoned into Latios instead, knocking the blue-hued dragon away.
“Lloyd!” she cried out. “What’s happened? What are you doing?”
Lloyd gasped, heaving for breath, and she saw that the armor appeared almost glued to his bare flesh; he was otherwise naked except for a pair of underwear. He shuddered and clutched his head, moaning, and for a second when he opened his eyes the green color was returned. He seemed afraid.
“Sh-shadow… Will made me…” he moaned.
Skye nearly melted from dismay. She’d heard of shadow pokemon before, and had considered their creation too repugnant even for Will to dabble in.
“Lloyd, please…”
“S-Sorry… I…” He cut off, shuddering, and cried out, the dark winds cycloning around him. As they died the purple color had returned.
Lloyd! Come to senses! Latias pleaded. Our eggs wait, Nimbus watching. Come back! Latias miss Lloyd…
“Miss me? Miss me?!” Lloyd roared in the grip of shadow. “If only you’d showed such care before I got myself hurt for your sake!”
Latias withdrew as if lashed. Lloyd…
“Don’t heed his words!” Skye said. “Lloyd’s a shadow pokemon—or half-breed, rather.” The Latis seemed confused; she would need to explain further. “Will did something that shut off anything that isn’t negative emotions to try and make Lloyd into a living weapon! It’s not him speaking, not really. We have to help him!”
So this work of bad Will? Latios bellowed, rising from where Lloyd had knocked him. Latios not hurt Lloyd too bad—but Latios ready for fight!
Wreathing his paw in draconic energy, Latios lunged towards Lloyd with a Dragon Claw, but Lloyd turned, shadow energy wreathing his fists. He caught Latios’s blow in one hand, the metallic armor beeping and whistling as it empowered him, and he snarled furiously at Latios.
“Oh, you won’t hurt me too bad?” Lloyd mocked. “How nice, considering you were ready to fucking kill me when we first met, over nothing!” His anger fed the shadow power, and the dark energy surrounding him rose in strength. He headbutted forward and slammed his skull into Latios’s, leaving the dragon dazed, then picked him up and hurled him bodily against a stone fountain.
A ring of psychic energy caged the young half-breed and lifted him off the sands. Lloyd sick! Latias said. Will hurt Lloyd. Latias help Lloyd, but first Lloyd need relax…
“Let—me—GO!” Lloyd roared. Shadow energy broke through the psychic cage and he dropped to the ground. There was a moment’s astonishment where Latias seemed incredulous that Lloyd had broken free before the young man ringed himself in more power and rocketed towards her, slamming her with a shoulder-tackle. She slumped backwards, shuddering in pain. Meanwhile, Gaia swooped in from the side, only for Lloyd to sidestep the Flygon, grabbing at her tail to try and throw her like he had Latios. Gaia only barely managed to keep out of his reach.
As Latios rose dazedly from the cracked stone fountain, Gaia readied an Earthquake, only to stop when she realized that there were still people around them scurrying to safety. We can’t stay in Gateon, Skye realized. As a shadow, Lloyd won’t hold back in populated places, but we will—we’re at a disadvantage, and Lloyd could hurt someone! But how to get him out of the port?
Well, she thought she had an answer.
“Hey, little bro!” she said mockingly, pitching her voice in that superior-big-sister tone that always rankled him. Devoid of any benevolent emotions, what might normally be little more than a tease to Lloyd caught his fury, and he turned hatefully to her. Skye’s inner Dragonite recognized him as a formidable opponent and wanted to throw down right then and there, but she forced herself to stay calm. After all, she was more than just a slave to her instincts.
“Such harsh words for the Latis, but none for me?” she jeered. “I’m almost insulted.”
“Oh, I have words for you,” Lloyd snarled, taking a step towards her. He seemed to favor physical power with his shadow moves. Skye was hardly an expert on shadow pokemon, but she suspected he was using Shadow Rush.
“Oh, you do?” she mocked. “Well, catch me if you can, then!” Unleashing her full draconic power, she threw everything into a burst of Extremespeed and headed for the city gates and the sand beyond. Furious, Lloyd roared behind her and shot after.
For the first time in her life, Skye found herself outperformed by her brother. She could hear him gaining ground on her. Yipes, she thought, I don’t want to think what might happen when he catches up with me. To try and slow him down, the moment she was through the city gate she used a Hurricane to jiggle the latch and cause it to slam shut behind her. That should put some distance between us.
Or so she thought. Lloyd didn’t even slow down for the gate and he slammed through it, smashing it like a black belt’s fist through bricks. As the broken gate whumped onto the sands, Gaia and the Latis followed at top speed behind the twins, leaving the city behind them.
Just a little farther… come on…
But Lloyd was too fast. He slammed into his sister from behind and the siblings tumbled over the dunes, gritting their teeth as they picked up friction burns from the unyielding sands. In the distance, Gateon Port was wreathed by artificial clouds overhead, the darkness spiraling, and to Skye’s shock and chagrin, artificial lightningspiraled out of them, smashing into lighthouses and docks and moored boats, causing destruction and sparking fires. What was Will doing?
Lloyd came on top of his sister, pinning her down with one knee against her stomach. As she tried to fight him off he pinned her hands back with one palm against her wrists while the other went for her throat, grabbing tight and throttling her.
“Lied to me my whole life,” Lloyd hissed. “Kept secrets from me. You knew we were half-breeds and never told me! Why? Why?!”
Skye tried to sputter an answer but her voice was inarticulate. Because she was worried about him. Because she wanted him to live a normal life. Because half-breeds often didn’t live for long and she didn’t want to scare him…
Lloyd continued muttering at her. “The darkness is right,” Lloyd said. “The armor tells me that you all hurt me and it’s right, how dare you lie to me? How dare you? HUH?!” As he spoke, the strange armor’s circuitry glowed a faint purple, and Skye’s delirious brain tried to put something together. The armor… the armor…
NOT HURT SKYE!
Latios’s voice was fierce and furious, and a globe of shining psychic power sailed across the sands and punched into Lloyd’s side. The shadow-touched half-breed rolled off of Skye, rising to one knee, and gathered more shadow power around his fists. As Latios gathered more power, Latias wove in the sky above them. Light refracted off of her down, creating an illusion that there were several of her.
Latias know this not Lloyd, she said. Lloyd not want hurt Skye. Not want hurt Latias. Lloyd good person! Lloyd not listen shadows!
Her plea seemed to have some effect on Lloyd, who staggered back, blinking. For a second, the old green of his eyes seemed to return. “I—I—”
Latias glanced up. Now, Gaia!
High above the battlefield, silhouetted against the encroaching storm clouds, Gaia whirred her insectile wings. She dove low with a screech, wings buzzing to create a Sandstorm. All the combatants grit their teeth against the biting sand, suddenly blinded, but Lloyd seemed especially hard hit. Skye, flush with inspiration, added her Hurricane to Gaia’s move, allowing her winds to supplement Gaia’s and stir the sandstorm even up. If Lloyd was blinded, then perhaps they could sneak up on him and—
“You think you can get one over on me with wind?” Lloyd’s voice rose above the storm, outraged and furious. “Not this time! I’m not that weakling anymore!” And then, the shadow energy manifested into the same pitch-dark wind that Lloyd had ridden as he’d journeyed from Will’s ship to Gateon. Shadow Storm.
Lloyd’s storm ripped through the Hurricane and Sandstorm, the clashing winds piercing into a howling screech that detonated like a bomb going off. All combatants were knocked off their feet as the sandstorm dissipated, most landing back-first onto the dunes. Surges of wind shot off in all directions, more than a few punching into Gateon’s city walls and knocking loose stony blocks the size of station wagons. Skye was grateful that she’d told the townsfolk to shelter; between this and Will’s artificial weather, Gateon was looking to be hard-hit.
Lloyd rose to one knee, panting. The interplay of winds had hit him hard just like the others. One of his armor pieces—a shinguard—was knocked loose. The skin underneath was pink and shiny, as if the armor had been overheating him and leaving a mild burn. The purple light on the shinguard flickered a few times, evidently seeking a connection with its wearer, and then faltered. As the purple light dimmed, Lloyd gasped and moaned, and for a moment—clear as day—his shadowed eyes returned to normal behind his visor, devoid of hate and carrying only fear.
“The armor,” Skye realized. “The armor! Everyone! Half-breeds shouldn’t be able to be made shadow. Will must be using the armor as a stopgap! Lloyd said it was ‘talking’ to him. If we can get it off, then…!”
Lloyd go free! Latias said. She rose from the sand, Latios close behind her. Listen, Lloyd. Latias good mate. Latias free you!
She rushed in, psychic power ringing her paws.
“Get AWAY!” Lloyd summoned the Shadow Storm again, using it to rise into the air as an approximation of flight. But he was still not a flying creature, and Gaia and the Latis circled the air around him more dexterously than he could manage. “I’m warning you—”
Latios lunged in, feinting Lloyd, and as the half-breed dodged to meet an attack that didn’t come, Gaia swept in from behind, grabbing a shoulder pad and ripping it off of Lloyd. The skin beneath was tender and pink, just like before.
Lloyd gasped, his shadowed eyes flickering, and Latias closed her eyes. Psychic power ringed three pieces at once—the other shinguard and both armguards—and ripped them off as well. The astonishment of having three gone knocked Lloyd out of using Shadow Storm; he tumbled from the air and landed with a whuff on the dunes. Skye dashed at him with the last vestiges of her Extremespeed—she was almost completely spent of her reserves—and grabbed the other shoulderpiece. Now there were only a few pieces left: the thighguards, the chest and back pieces, and the visor itself.
Skye reached for one of the thighguards but Lloyd ringed his fist in Shadow Energy and slugged into her with a Shadow Rush. She buckled, nearly driven unconscious by the ferocity of the blow, wincing. Be proud, little bro, she thought wryly. You finally beat me in a fight.
Half devoid of armor, Lloyd tried staggering to his feet, only to be toppled again as Gaia slammed into the dunes a dozen or so meters away from him, releasing a localized Earthquake directly under his feet. As he spilled, the two Latis rushed in and each grabbed a thighguard, ripping them away.
As the purple lights dimmed, Lloyd moaned uncertainly, and his voice trembled: “Latias… sis… h-help me, please…”
Though his eyes were still shadowed, now Skye saw that her brother was crying.
Gaia swept in from behind, grabbing the back-plate and ripped it free, making him gasp. Latias tried to rush in again and grab a new one but Lloyd drove her off with a wide swing of his fist.
Skye struggled to her feet, feeling ready to collapse then and there. She wanted to help but didn’t know what else to do…
With a sudden flash, the Togepi released himself again. Skye cried out—this little creature was going to get himself killed!—but the tearful Fairy-type ran towards Lloyd, babbling in its small, childish voice.
Lloyd stopped, apparently unable even in his shadowed state to bring himself to attack the creature. “Gwynt…” he said. So that was the Togepi’s name; Skye hadn’t picked up on it now. “You never hurt me… I shouldn’t be m-mad at you, and I… I…”
He sank to his knees, moaning and clutching his head, and made no attempt to resist as Latias approached him. The dragon tore the chestplate free, leaving Lloyd dizzy with only the visor remaining. Tearing up, Gwynt tentatively embraced his trainer’s leg. Skye staggered towards him, every step a labor, and finally knelt near her brother. She grabbed the visor, Lloyd’s weeping eyes staring at her from behind them.
“If you can hear me, Will, fuck off,” she growled. “I want my brother back.” And, gripping tight, she yanked it free.
With the last of the shadowy armor gone, Lloyd finally collapsed, heaving. The noxious dark smoke permeating the air held for a moment and then dissipated.
Lloyd normal? Latios asked, approaching. When Skye nodded, he snorted in appreciation. Good. Then Latios destroy bad metal! With Gaia’s help, he laid into the scattered armor, the two dragons destroying it like a two-mon wrecking shop.
“I’m s-sorry…” Lloyd said, weak. “I couldn’t think clearly… all I could remember was how upset I was. I didn’t want to h-hurt any of you… it was like I was locked inside my own body, unable to stop myself…”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Skye said quietly, holding him against her. “It’s okay, Lloyd. We’re here. We understand.” Little Gwynt kept on nuzzling his leg as well, chirruping softly, and Latias embraced Lloyd from behind, rubbing her down against his skin. Lloyd sniffled, and for a moment, Skye was willing to just let him be. Just let him be.
—
By the time they were all more or less recuperated from the battle, Skye still found she could barely stand. “Wow, Lloyd,” she said appreciably, “you really showed us what for, huh?”
He blushed and was, amazingly, not terribly spent himself—it seemed the armor had fed on shadow energy rather than his own stamina. “It was just the shadow power doing its work. I didn’t have anything to do at all…”
Don’t sell yourself short, little brother, she thought. Lloyd was stronger than he realized—and stronger, perhaps, than even Skye herself had given him credit for.
Nearby, the storm was still rampaging over Gateon Port. Various citizens and civilians had poured out of the gates and were taking refuge on the Orresian sands; it seemed that no one was going to be seriously hurt, but as the storm still raged over Gateon, Skye’s gut plunged as she realized that the people here wouldn’t have much of a home to go back to. Was this their fault? Did they bring Will here?
“We should go back to the city,” she said, slowly rising. “See if we can get to Will’s ship. Confront him—”
no, i do not think so.
A sudden telepathic voice, distinct from the Latis’ and far more forceful, rammed itself into Skye’s head. From the way everyone else winced, she suspected that they’d heard the voice as well.
Lloyd’s eyes widened. “Will wasn’t joking when he said all he needed was my blood. 02-2 must already be ready…”
“02-2? Wait, he took your blood?!” Now she really wanted to get her hands on him.
“Yeah. He said 02-2 was a powerful half-breed that he stabilized with genes from Mewtwo.” Skye’s eyes widened. “And he added in some of my draconic abilities too. I’m guessing 02-2’s behind this storm…”
not precisely.
Like a rocket, a sudden, unfamiliar shape raced through the air over Gateon, trailing purple light. Immediately, Skye had Lloyd withdraw Gwynt and give the Togepi’s ball to Gaia. “Go back to the oasis and tell Nimbus we need him,” she told the weary Flygon. “Have him bring my bag. In the meantime, safeguard Gwynt and the eggs and head for the hills if it looks like trouble’s heading your way. Don’t argue!” she added when Gaia acted ready to protest. “Just go.”
Gaia buzzed away, heading for the oasis, as Skye, Lloyd, and the Latis stood, prepared for anything.
This ’02-2’ landed in front of them and Skye got an immediate sense of being outclassed. They were an androgynous, tall individual wearing empowering armor similar to Lloyd’s, with a strong aura of psychic energy. They didn’t even touch the ground, hovering in place a foot and a half over the sand, granules displaced by the ambient energy coming off of them in waves.
Ohhh fuck.
“Wh-why are you here?” Sky challenged. “Are you here to attack us?”
“I was sent to chastise you.” The newcomer spoke verbally, not with telepathy, and their voice was husky and strangely low. “And also to let 03 know that he is a failure. Now, the half-breeds and legendaries must come with me. Will’s orders.”
“Oh, so I’m a failure? For not hurting my family?” Lloyd challenged. “Yeah, fuck that. You might be strong, but you’re outnumbered four to one! So back off, buddy! Or we’ll make you regret it!”
02-2 raised their hand and a pearl of glowing power manifested in their palm. When they spoke, it was again with telepathy. i highly doubt.
The pearl erupted in a cone of formidable psychic power that slammed into the foursome. All of them were knocked back and Skye felt the last vestiges of power leave her. She was already spent from fighting Lloyd’s shadow self; she didn’t think that she had anything more to give. Latios and Latias similarly looked on the ropes; both were hunched over, panting from exertion.
Only Lloyd seemed ready to fight. He immediately stood and got into a battle-ready stance, a tiny bit of electricity crackling at his fist as he prepared a Thunder Wave.
“I might be a perennial fuckup,” Lloyd said coldly, “but I’ll be damned if I ever let anyone hurt my loved ones again. You’ll have to go through me.”
02-2 tensed and then seemed to sigh, also taking a battle stance.
Lloyd not fuckup, Latias interjected. Lloyd strong. Latias help!
Lloyd smiled. “Thanks, Latias. Let’s do this.”
He shot his palm forward and the Thunder Wave crackled off of him. 02-2 vwoiped sideways in a show of psychic power and retaliated with a formidable shot of psionic energy. The energy speared through Lloyd—and he dissipated entirely, one of Latias’s illusions.
02-2 seemed taken aback. “What?!”
Another illusion fell as Lloyd, formerly invisible, raced the half-breed from behind, fist wreathed in draconic energy. He slugged 02-2 in the back, causing some of the glowing armor to buckle, only for 02-2 to send him flying with a wave of their hand. The Mewtwo half-breed send a powerful surge of aura at Lloyd before he could recuperate, but a starry shield manifested in front of him, warding the attack.
Skye gulped as she saw her brother standing there, confident and resplendent and unafraid. He was… really, really hot.
As the starry shield fell, its source became obvious. Not let stranger… hurt Lloyd… Latios said, the exertion in his telepathy all but tangible. Next to him, Latias had already collapsed, panting, the two illusions seemingly wiping her out. Latios make up hostile meeting to Lloyd… Latios help!
you may try. Another rocket of psionic power shot from 02-2 towards Latios and knocked the azure dragon out entirely.
Lloyd screamed, adrenaline lacing his voice: “You bastard! Don’t hurt him!” He shot a Swift attack at 02-2, the small stars denting more of the newcomer’s armor and making 02-2 grit their teeth. Lloyd wasmanaging to put up a decent fight… but there was no hint he’d managed to do more than inconvenience 02-2. And even then, Skye got the sense that the newcomer was holding back on them.
Latias also think, came the faintest telepathic brush. Latias not sense… malice or violence…
So this 02-2 was following Will’s orders, then, but doing so unhappily. Good enough. Perhaps they didn’t have to beat them in a straight fight—simply drive them away.
And as she heard a screech rebounding over the dunes, she smiled to herself. She thought she knew just the mon to turn the tide.
Nimbus, summoned by Gaia and carrying Skye’s satchel, swept towards the battlers. The Altaria was fresh and unbothered and, better, had put on the choker that Skye had got for him. He didn’t often like wearing it, seeing it as a sign of “domestication”, but he wore it when needed. After all, the faint jewel set inside of it was their secret weapon.
Nimbus screeched and shot a Dragon Pulse at 02-2, who hovered back, narrowly dodging the attack. The heat of the blow was sufficient to turn a bit of sand into warped desert glass. The distraction of Nimbus’s arrival was enough for Lloyd to pull off a Twister, the whorl of air pushing into 02-2 and threatening to knock them from the air.
“Thanks, Nimbus,” Skye said as her Altaria touched down alongside her. “You have just what I need.” With a cocky chirr, the bird-dragon tossed Skye her satchel, from which she quickly pulled out a piece of jewelry she rarely openly wore.
Still reeling from Lloyd’s assault, 02-2 seemed shocked. “Wait,” they said, once again pivoting to verbal. “Is that…?”
“Ah, so you recognize it,” Skye said, slipping the modest brass bracelet onto her wrist. “Yep. A Mega Ring.”
And, calling on her bond with Nimbus, she unleashed Mega Evolution.
Blinding, pearlescent light split the stormy sky as Nimbus ascended to an even stronger form. His downy fluff grew alongside his wings and legs as he took a leaner, more elegant shape, adopting the Fairy-type alongside his draconic nature. Screeching triumphantly, Nimbus beat his wings and unleashed a fabulous Moonblast.
Already a powerful attack, when empowered by Mega Evolution the Moonblast was enough to rocket forward with strength that Skye doubted even Latios could match. Wide-eyed with astonishment, 02-2 crossed their wrists in front of their body, summoning a powerful array of psychic power to turn aside the truncheon blow. Still, the force of Nimbus’s attack was enough to force them back a solid meter or two.
And they weren’t guarding all over.
“Special delivery!” Lloyd cried out, lunging at them, one hand ringed in draconic energy, the other crackling with lightning. “Direct for you!” 02-2 turned in a panic and managed to ward off the Dragon Claw—or rather, Dragon Punch—but was too slow to dodge the Thunder Wave. Paralysis wrapped across their body and they seized up, hissing in shock.
“Stripping me of my armor was enough to end the fight earlier,” Lloyd said. “Nimbus, can you help me lock them in place so I can go at theirs?”
02-2 released a shocked gasp and made to teleport, but paralysis seized them, leaving them twitching—and then with a screech, Nimbus unleashed a Fire Spin around them. Empowered as it was, it was less a mere spiral and more a vortex of flame, spiking over four meters into the air as a glowing whorl. Lloyd jumped in, screaming, and Skye found herself alarmed. Sure, Dragon-types were resistant to fire, but he was still only a half-breed, and weary from battle at that—!
But she shouldn’t have worried. With the crunch of broken metal, she heard her brother rip off their adversary’s face-helmet before jumping out of the vortex. Other than a few extremely minor burns, Lloyd seemed fine—save for the fact that his boxers, the last vestige of clothes, had more or less burned away. Flushing, Skye realized that she was watching her brother’s wang swinging free in the open air. She knew she ought not to look, but she couldn’t turn aside…
The fire died, and 02-2 was left hovering there, apparently at a loss. The Mewtwo half-breed didn’t seem terribly injured, but was obviously uncertain. Without their face-visor Skye could see more clearly that their facial features were familiar—as if someone had taken both Lloyd and Skye herself and made someone halfway between them.
mega evolution not anticipated. armor damaged. retreating for now. 02-2 began to glow as they prepared to shoot back towards the desolated Gateon and the sea beyond. for your own sake, i recommend against pursuit. And with that, they were gone.
Lloyd sagged down to the sand with a heavy release of air; as adrenaline left it seemed that he was spent of all his energy, too. Latias crawled over to him, and Latios tried to stir, blinking awake. Only Nimbus seemed in fighting form, flitting down protectively in front of the others.
“I have some potions and Full Restores in my satchel,” Skye said mechanically, trudging through it. “We can heal up the Latis and then head back to the oasis…”
“Nrrrgh…” Lloyd muttered, rubbing his face. “We can’t stay there, though. Will’s here and he knows we’re in Orre…”
Skye sighed. “I think you’re right. We’ve got to find a new place. But first, we’ll need to go back and reunite with Gaia and make sure that Gwynt and the clutch are alright.”
Slowly, she began healing the others. Despite saving Lloyd and driving off 02-2, the dark clouds over Gateon and the devastation that’d been visited on the city more than removed the sweetness of victory. They hadn’t got one over on Will, far from it.
They’d just survived to fight another day.
Text
The Grandpa Hardships - Part One
So, the last post was an idea from a friend, But I thought it was funny, so I did it. Now here my little Tea sippers is a real post.
My life has been a roller-coaster since around Christmas time. me and my family, (I have a family of 7 not including my pets) we were living in a two-bedroom duplex in a sketchy Neighborhood. I am the oldest of my siblings, so a lot of responsibility has and still is put on me.
One month before the Christmas season we were kicked out of our small duplex. During that time, we had no idea where we would be staying until about a week before we had to be out. Now we are staying with my grandparents. They own a duplex, but the difference is that they own both sides. only using one of the sides for themselves so we are staying in the other side until we can find somewhere. now that would be an awesome ending, but this blog was started for drama, and this hasn’t been drama free.
My grandfather has made it hard to live in this space and I will go over the multiple things he has done to make our time here hard. one will be talked about in today’s blog.
So welcome to the first part of “The grandpa hardships.”
Today’s incident is called the Wi-Fi incident.
This all started when my youngest sister told my oldest sister something and my grandpa took it out of proportion. I forgot what was actually said but that’s the main part of why this started. My grandfather decided the next day that he was going to start blocking peoples IP addresses. FUN. No, it wasn’t I was affected by this greatly. I’m a senior in high school and doing it online and he blocked my laptops IP address.
I when over and talked to my grandmother about when he wasn’t there and I eventually was able to get my stuff back on. my youngest sister wasn’t so lucky my grandfather was demanding an apology to my oldest sister. It was delivered long before his demand, but he wasn’t taking it. My middle sister decided to take things into her own hands and go talk to him and guess what happened.
Her Wi-Fi was taken. My mom was getting annoyed and when over there to talk to him he didn’t do anything but sit in his chair. So, at this point your probably like.
“Isabella why didn’t your mom get her own Wi-Fi? ”
Well guess what my little tea sipper. We ordered our own Wi-Fi and when it got here, we realized that in order to connect it we needed to connect it to the telephone poles out outside and we needed to call someone to come out and do that. When the guy came out, he said we needed consent from the owner of the house (my grandfather) to do that. Now I think you can guess what he said. hopefully you said no cause that was his answer. to this day it’s been a couple of months my younger two sisters haven’t had Wi-Fi.
This is part one be on the lookout for the next one.
Text
For context search up “Jax Show” on Twitter
CONTENT WARNING: MENTIONS OF N*zi, ch*rlie k*irk, gr**ming and r*cism
[[MORE]]Being in the tadc fandom now-a-days means getting to watch everything in the fandom go to complete crap after three or more tadc content creators get called out (bc of a project you’ve never even heard of pre-controversy) for being N*ZIS, ch*rlie k*rk defenders, anti-black and/or literal GR**MERS and creeps whilst simultaneously watching in complete horror when it becomes PAINFULLY apparent that most of the content creators you’ve looked up too for a long while, now are either a bunch of r*cists or washed up sell-outs who are willing to defend the worst people (*cough* *cough* kittensneeze, jakeneutron, thelongestsoloever, tomatasauce, etc. etc.*cough**cough*).
My heart goes out to EVERYONE who have been terribly affected by these people as well as those who made the smartest decision to leave the project..
atp I just want EVERYTHING TO BE OVER AND DONE WITH. Just wrap up this series as a whole just so these guys can go bro. I’m tired I’m just tired.
Text
A lovely notice to people, if you support the YouTuber WhisperDemon, don’t interact with me please. The breakdown for why is basically: refused to delete incest nsfw from his personal discord with friends and when people asked for him to remove it, he lashed out and threatened to ban them (I was one of these people as well). He also used the “I was SA’d too so it doesn’t matter” card :/
Text
Just finished reading the 8.5 chapters that are translated of the manga Asagi Iro no Saudade, also known as Pale Blue-Green Colored Saudade.
And god it is a really nice read so far. Honestly even dealing with such heavy topics as gender dysphoria, atleast I think it seems like gender dysphoria, along with suicide, and divorce. But even with all these bleak topics, these characters seem like they can push through it all if they have eachother.
And by golly it is very well written. The arc with Ren going back to their home town and seeing how their mom talks to them and their grandmother really makes you understand why they got to the point they where at at the beginning of the manga. And the backstory with Matsuri, god that was probably the most depressing part of the story from what I’ve read ao far. What an absolute degenerate dick of a husband, she is such a sweet lady it is disgusting seeing her get used like that, even if its just a manga.
Idk how the story will progress, I know it has 19 chapters and is complete in Japanese, and is supposedly getting a English physical release sometime in September I believe.
I hope that Matsuki somehow gets back at her ex husband and gets to take custody of her daughter and, her and Ren become one big loving family. 🥲 This better happen.
Anyways can’t recommend it enough, very good👍
Text
Theater Review: The Antiquities by SpeakEasy Stage
The Antiquities
By Jordan Harrison
Directed by Alex Lonati
March 15, 2026: Calderwood Pavilion, Boston, Massachusetts
Cast
Alison Russo
Kelsey Fonise
Helen Hy-Yuen Swanson
Catia
Jesse Hinson
Tobias Wilson
John Kuntz
Anderson Stinson III
Harry Baker
In a thought-provoking and imaginative play, The Antiquities takes us to the far future when humanity is extinct but we are remembered (with some…
Text
found out that drama isn’t for me,, i’m absolutely petrified of people and i had a panic attack before even stepping into class.
Answer
Aww thank you so much. I adore Enhypen, and writing for them in different universes is just so fun. I hope you look forward to more to come.
Text
Somehow I don’t actually have a name for the aliens here. Partly because they never meet anyone outside their species who’d need a name for them and the term they call themselves just translates to “the people.”
