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Sojaveña Wilds Divine Thunderhead

Ch07: Finale ~ The Dark Thunderhead New

Chibi Pika

Well-known member
Heartache staff
Pronoun
they/them
From time to time across the Soja, it's said that a thunderhead dwarfing all others will appear from nowhere as if it had been called, lightning shattering the sky and thunder rattling the earth in a terrifying display of nature's raw power before moving on just as quickly, as if it had a will of its own. And for over a century, the Roaming Cyclone was said to ride this storm whenever it appeared, leaping with joy matching the thunderbolts dancing across the skies.

~~~~~~​

That was the Divine Thunderhead as it was meant to be. But now it was dyed black with noxious darkness, tinged an unearthly violet with each spear of lightning that tore across the sky. The one silver lining was that, thick with demonic shadow, the dungeon had sunk from its sky-high perch in the heavens and now lay tantalizingly close to the heights of Silver Ravine. Close enough that, with enough drive, and a lot of inhibition, one could hope to reach it.

Zapdos raced back and forth across the top of the ravine while he waited, seemingly incapable of standing still. At the first sign of the Wayfarers’ arrival, he skidded to a stop.

“I trust you’ve readied yourselves?” the Cyclone asked.
 
"I'm ready," Koa said confidently, his gaze locked on the storm above. It was weird to think that only a few months ago they had gathered to fight Zapdos and now they were gathered again to fight alongside Zapdos. Alongside a Saint. The idea still sent a buzz of excitement through him.

He cast a glance at Zapdos. "Any idea what we should expect? Have you ever seen the inside when its not...like this?"
 
She'd wanted to go to Terminal One, deal with Cipher once and for all before evicting King Muppet, but it felt wrong not to be here for this. To leave Zapdos the Stormbringer's relic at Alexander's mercy. Like, it didn't really matter where she went. They'd all be going after the hydreigon eventually, and just getting rid of the guy would fix the problem regardless. But something about the tar-black clouds on the horizon had made her stomach churn.

A storm like that should've been different. Wild and unrestrained. Dark as night except for when it was brighter than the sun. Throwing everything it had at whatever it wanted or at nothing at all. It could almost kill you almost take away your dad but if it didn't then you'd never feel more alive. (Face me, if you're worthy.) Not... this. Not inky and sick and so bloated with sadness and anger that it couldn't even soar.

They just had to get up there, right? Up there. Up. Into the sky. Completely vertical. Sure, why not. Were they supposed to fly? Was flying even a thing fighting zapdos could do? Eh. He was probably just gonna anime jump up there either way. Much flashier, that was for sure.

Hm. Leaf looked up again, then back at the ground where they stood at the top of the ravine, at a scraggly tree nearby, guessing at its height, guessing even bigger at the total distance. She could definitely clear the tree, easy. Kid stuff, as strong as they were now. So... could she...?

She pawed at the earth, tested it, but kept her eyes locked on the storm. "Sure. I'm ready."
 
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The stormcloud was the same as it had been yesterday. Yet somehow from atop the ravine, it felt different. More unnerving, more unnatural. More attainable.
Well, for Koa at least. Steven dragged a hand down the side of his face. Gods, what they did yesterday, he'd done it to prove a point, not actually--

He'd only done the math for one half of the equation; Metang were a very terrestrial species. But from the look in Zapdos's eye, there wasn't room for such an explanation. Not that Zapdos was one for words, anyway. Actions speak louder, Stone.

No backing down now, he'd just have to find a way to make it work. Steven sighed and tightened the straps of his bracer for what felt like the thirtieth time. He didn't have enough lodestones for this...
 
Andre stared at the black storm overhead with a pit in his stomach.

That blackness and that purple lightning looked all too familiar. He'd painted it so many times. Hazy black figures bleeding and crying purple lightning; his victims in agony and terror, emitting that disgustingly alluring aura. And he'd savored it. Like some kind of sadist. Revolting. Yet he'd always done it again, again and again...

Well, he'd just have to deal with it. He had to keep his mind clear of Shadow despite all the doubt he was feeling about his status and actions - or lack thereof - back home. For the good of the team. For Forlas.

He looked back to Zapdos. He hadn't met him before, but from what he'd heard from the others, he wasn't a pleasant person. That he valued strength and freedom and fancied himself a force of nature. Andre wondered how reliable an ally someone like that would be, but perhaps the others knew better than him in this case. They'd actually spent time with him, after all.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said quietly, probably not loudly enough to be heard.
 
"Any idea what we should expect? Have you ever seen the inside when its not...like this?"

Zapdos gave Koa a sideways glance, still pacing. "Under normal circumstances, a Divine Dungeon would test any would-be challengers with the full might of a Saint to prove their worth. However... with the dungeon's own might compromised by the demons..." His words trailed off. It was clear that even he didn't know what to expect under such unusual circumstances.

Zapdos looked over the rest of the Wayfarers that had arrived, then turned his gaze toward the jet-black sky. It was time.

The thunderbird hopped in place a few times, feathers standing on end. He inhaled deeply and then drew his body downward, chest nearly touching the ground, leg muscled fully coiled.

"Show the storm your uninhibited might, and the path will open!"

Zapdos used Thunderous Soul!

In a burst of sparks, the Cyclone shot forward—fast, faster, an orange blur streaking across the ravine. Then he kicked off from the ground—once, twice—and on the third, he landed deep before launching upward in an explosion of sparks. Like a golden meteor shooting skyward, willing himself to keep going, higher, higher... until his brilliant form pierced the storm.

And the heavens split open, a trail of black clouds spilling down onto the ravine. It was now or never.
 
Despite the grim circumstance, Koa couldn't help feel a sense of awe watching Zapdos rocket up into the sky. As the Saint faded from view, Koa turned to Steven, grinning. "So we're doing it again, right?"

"But uh..." he glanced around. Leaf could peobably make it. Astrid wouldn't have an issue, but he didn't know Andre enough to say for sure. The Deerling really didn't seem like the jumping type... Still, they did have Radiance. And Zapdos had said if they showed their might, the path would open. "You think you can you make it?"
 
Steven already had the lodestone in his outstretched hand as Koa approached, practically buzzing with excitement. He chuckled, lowering himself into position. "Of course."

But when Koa hesitated, Steven offered him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll figure something out." He tapped the side of his head with a claw. "Besides, we need you up there to keep an eye on Zapdos to make sure he doesn't run off without us."

He gave Koa a nod, indicating he was ready. "I'll be right behind you."
 
Flying felt even cooler than last time, and he was beginning to see why Astrid fought like she did. His body burned with all the radiant energy he'd built up and that Steven had used to launch him skyward, and it trailed behind him like a golden bolt of electricity. Shadows and clouds burned away and he could feel himself climbing this time, high and higher, up into the blackness and the dungeon beyond.

Steven & Koa used RADIANT Friendship Railgun!
 
Leaf watched the Cylone launch into the air, impossibly fast, like a gold arrow shot into the heart of the storm. Ridiculous anime saint nonsense, of course, all of it.

And she could do it, too.

"If anybody wants a lift, elevator's going up," she said, stomping the ground agitatedly, with anticipation. Kinda looked like everybody had something in mind, but it wouldn't be any trouble to just pick someone up telekinetically and sling them over her shoulders if they needed it.

Leaf circled back a ways, gave herself room for a run-up, a runway for takeoff, and charged. Faster, faster, the colors of the desert blending together, radiant sparks flying from her hooves, closer and faster and closer to the launch point, brief flashes of the others preparing themselves (Koa getting thrown into the air, hell yeah), faster, one good kick right at the launch point—

Leaf used Bounce!

—and then she left the earth behind.
 
"But uh..." he glanced around. Leaf could peobably make it. Astrid wouldn't have an issue, but he didn't know Andre enough to say for sure. The Deerling really didn't seem like the jumping type... Still, they did have Radiance. And Zapdos had said if they showed their might, the path would open. "You think you can you make it?"
"Just, like... jump? Radiantly?" Andre said, then looked back up into the sky. "I mean... if everyone else can, then I'm sure it'll work out for me, too."

He wasn't entirely sure. He considered himself weaker than the others... but he was still a human on Forlas, right? He should have those powers that the Covenant was so adamant they had. He decided to wait and see what the others would do first, though.

Flying felt even cooler than last time, and he was beginning to see why Astrid fought like she did. His body burned with all the radiant energy he'd built up and that Steven had used to launch him skyward, and it trailed behind him like a golden bolt of electricity. Shadows and clouds burned away and he could feel himself climbing this time, high and higher, up into the blackness and the dungeon beyond.
—and then she left the earth behind.

Well, it worked out for those guys. Andre would just have to draw out his Radiance.

...Of course, the last time he'd gone Radiant, he'd been shouting at Dave that he was the deliverance of true justice. The thought of that threatened to draw upon his Shadows if anything.

No, he'd have to push past that. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He focused on the feeling he'd had the last time, suppressing the shame that came with it. He found it, a piece of golden string sticking out, and he grabbed it, pulled on it, exposing more and more, feeling warmer, warmer. Confident. He could do this, yeah.

He opened his eyes and bounced on his hooves. He felt light, not that he'd ever been particularly heavy. He began to trot around, getting his muscles warmed up both regularly and with Radiance. Then he cantered, making bigger loops, then galloped. It was fun, it was fun! He didn't run like this enough. He'd never been athletic as a human, so he'd never really realized how fun running could be.

He made a few low leaps, just to get the feel of the motion, and was surprised to see how high he still got - oh, he got this alright. Then, with a concentration of that golden energy and one final dash, he charged up his muscles and sprung as high as he could!
 
Steven basked in the warmth of Radiance's glow, quite pleased with himself. The satisfaction of watching Koa soar into the sky wasn't diminished by having seen it once already. The only thing that soured the moment was the fact that he now had to figure out how to get himself up to that storm cloud...

The hum of Radiance dulled a bit as he went through his options, rapid-fire. He had one more lodestone, but no Koa. A launch for himself was off the table. There was the energy of a lightning strike... No, too much risk and not enough reliability.
Then Leaf took off. Literally. It was amazing to watch, her mane streaking in the wind as she ran and then-- gone! Andre was next, prancing, then bounding, and then he sprang skyward, like he weighed nothing.

Steven flexed his claws, trying to hold onto the prickle of his Radiance, but it was fading fast. He didn't have legs to jump like that. Metagross did, but their power was more than double of this current body's. What did he have? He had speed. But too much weight...

He grated out a frustrated at the empty landscape. No, he was not giving up. He was not going to be the dead weight of this team. Speed and weight. Speed and weight. Speed and-- That's it!

He took off like a shot, retreating from the edge of the ravine until he met up with Leaf's tracks. Pushing himself as fast as he could, he raced alongside her strides. Faster, faster. The ravine edge drew closer. This better work. He rested a claw against the pocket on his bracer. This had to work. Focus on the energy of the earth and-- PUSH!

Right as the ground disappeared beneath him, Steven withdrew the Float Stone from its pouch and squeezed it in his hand.

Steven used Radiant Magnet Rise!
 
Inside the thunderhead was a roiling mass of turbulent black cloud mixed with thick shadow. When Zapdos and the Wayfarers pierced through the chilling outer layer of darkness, they'd find themselves weightless for a moment as gravity returned, and there was a heart-stopping moment where it looked as though they'd simply plunge straight through the floor. But no—corrupted though it may have been, it was still a dungeon, and the group was met with a dense layer of cloud underfoot and a curious sensation not unlike walking on a waterbed.

Zapdos had immediately set himself to zipping back and forth, striking down a small handful of shadowy wraiths slithering through the clouds that made up the 'walls' of this rift in reality. Individually, they were weak, and any that crept too close to the Wayfarers would be just as easily dispatched. But they were bound to grow more numerous further into the dungeon...

Zapdos paused after landing an electrified kick, his pointed beak suddenly drawn toward at a gap in the clouds, as if magnetically drawn in that direction.

"I can feel it. The dungeon's heart is this way."
 
Most little kids probably daydreamed about walking on clouds, seeing as how they looked soft and fluffy and bouncy and like more than just vapor hanging in the sky. Leaf had, for sure, when she was younger. It should've been exciting, reaching the top of their flight (faster, faster, higher, feel the charge of the lightning in the air) and coming into land where it should've been impossible, where even Minerva couldn't climb high enough to reach back home. Instead, a snarl of nasty little shadow-things waited for them here, crawling and oozing through the cloud bank, marring the sight. They shouldn't be here. They shouldn't be like this. Stains on what should've been a breathtaking picture.

Zapdos was staring ominously deeper into the storm. Made sense enough. "Then let's go," she said, already forging ahead.
 
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He was flying.

This didn't make sense. It didn't have to make sense if it worked.

Steven broke through the ink-dark clouds, holding onto the Float Stone like a lifeline as gravity came to reclaim what was rightfully hers. Arms windmilling frantically, he braced to fall back through the vapor as easily as he'd pierced it on the way in. But rather than drop straight through, the clouds beneath him simply bowed and held fast, sending him wobbling for balance. For a moment he froze, baffled by the sensation, but slowly he relinquished his death grip on the stone in his hand, and the clouds still held. Good, brilliant even.

With the stone safely tucked away, it finally struck him how much of a chill there was up here. Not like Malantau, not wind driven snow and ice. More like a blanket that coated him; sticky and cloying and cold. Steven shivered, seeking warmth, drawing from the same reservoir that let him achieve flight without a mount. The cloud-ground beneath his body shimmered with a pale golden light, sending the shadows there curling away with a small, sizzling hiss.

Fascinating. Terrifying. Imagination-defying. Tangible. Calculable. Real.

Steven leveled his gaze to where Zapdos was pointing. He flexed his claws, feeling the now-familiar prickle begin to build. Time to get to work.
 
Progress through the Dark Thunderhead was marked by intermittent wraith-swatting, as well as Zapdos expediting the route by occasionally charging clean through the cloud masses blocking their path. The dungeon would normally have tested any would-be champions with an arduous challenge, but in its diseased state, it couldn't hold them back. It may have even wanted them to proceed.

All the while, the rustling, slithering presence in the walls slowly increased...

Eventually they reached it. The eye of the storm—a central, rotating cavern carved into the mass of clouds churning all around. And at its center, something glowed piercingly bright against the surrounding gloom. A crown forged from lightning.

And it was utterly swarming with wraiths.

"Get away from there!" Zapdos snarled, bolting forward.

Too late. A blast of demonic energy rippled outward the moment the wraiths touched the relic, knocking everyone off their feet as an unholy cry echoed throughout the storm cloud. Something horribly wrong was happening.

The wraiths bubbled and popped like hot tar, threads of violet lightning stitching them all together into a horrible amalgamation that pulsed unnervingly as it grew, absorbing all the nearby shadows. Jagged spikes burst from the amorphous surface, spreading out into wings, talons...

"How dare you wear his form," the Cyclone hissed, the anger in his voice failing to conceal his disturbed expression.

A dark mockery of the Stormbringer had taken shape, spreading its wings and letting out a garbled cry as sparks crackled across the floor and corrosive shadow rain began to pour.

Storm Herald! The Stormbringer gained +1 Mag, Res, and Spd. Two stormshades appeared. Electric Terrain and Shadow Sky filled the area.

[ ] Objective: destroy the false Stormbringer
 
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Zapdos. Kantonian zapdos, huge and glowering and radiating lightning, just like home except not at all. Anger sparked in her chest as the thing twisted its way out of the relic. The air itself burned with shadow even through the cold, the clouds around them lurched and stuttered with distortion, but it didn't matter—they had to cut through. Leaf launched herself forward, horn burning with light, and slashed at one of the writhing monsters.

Leaf (Aux)
- Brawler Strike (RADIANT, 100 BP, +3 Atk) @ Stormshade B

- Steven
- Leaf
- Koa
- Astrid
 
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Andre looked between the Wraith-Zapdos and the Galarish Zapdos. The latter had some baggage, it seemed. Hopefully that wouldn't be problem...

Assuming that the wraiths weren't flying-type purely because of the dungeon's theme, Andre charged up a Bullet Seed and fired at a swarm of wraiths to keep them at bay. They seemed weak, and Andre was weak, so... it only made sense.
 
I another situation, Koa would have been beside himself at traversing a storm dungeon alonside Zapdos. Instead, all he could feel was unease and disgust at the state of the dungeon, with its crawling shadows and corrupted state. Annoyed as he'd been before with Zapdos, none of this was right, and Koa couldn't imagine how he felt seeing this place so.... tainted.

Reaching the center felt unnervingly easy, and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Maybe both. Then they reached it. The Relic. For a brief moment, Koa thought Zapdos might get there in time, snatch it away before the wraiths could-

The sight of the false Zapdos sent chills through Koa, followed by cold hatred. How dare Alexander try to claim the power of a legendary like this? Drops of toxic blacked rain splattered his pelt, but he ignored it, focusing only on the false Zapdos. No recklessness, not this fight. Kitto's voice rang in his head. Balance. Attack and defend.

Take out the fakes defenses, then hit it with everything he could.

Channel his aura into protecting himself.

Find the light, remember how it felt. Help Zapdos. Stop Alex. Save the relic.

"Don't worry Zapdos, we'll take back that relic!"


His paws lit up with golden lightning, and he charged.

Koa (162 STM, 5 TMP, +1 SPD, +1 ACC, 0 SHD, 0 RAD)
- Walk to Storms Eye
- Take Heart (-38 STM, +2 TMP)
- Ganbatte Soul @ Shade B (-30 STM, +4 TMP)
- **Act:** RADIANT Focus (+5 TMP)
- RADIANT Thunder Punch @ Shade B (-14 STM, +4 TMP, +14 RAD)
Net change: -77 STM, +15 TMP, +0 SHD, +14 RAD
Net totals: 85 STM (133 after regen), 20 TMP, 0 SHD, 14 RAD
 
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The heart of the dungeon was a true eye of the storm. A swirling maelstrom of Shadow corruption that pulsed with electricity, hemming them in on all sides. Steven spared a sympathetic look towards Zapdos; he couldn't imagine having to watch as the Shadows reincarnated the cursed facsimile of another Saint (his mentor, even?)

There was no time for sentiment, though. The Shadows shrieked and writhed, and through the electric field humming beneath him, Steven could feel Zapdos's anger, and it fueled his own. That Relic did not belong to them.

Koa and Astrid surged past him into the heart of the storm, and he raced after them. Darting across the charged terrain, Steven could feel his own magnetism building. The rain stung against his skin but he paid it no mind. He would burn away the corruption with his own light. Radiance thrummed in time with the electricity in the air.

Throwing his hands forward, he released a concentrated pulse of magnetism that expanded outward, surrounding his teammates. Sparks danced along the invisible barrier, drawing power from the electric field beneath their feet. Shadow rain popped and sizzled against its surface, and Steven braced himself, claws splayed outward, pushing back against the foul aura that bore down on them.

- Defender Protect (Radiant) @ Astrid
- Interact: use power from the Electric Terrain to create an electromagnetic "Light Screen" in the Storm's Eye
 
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