Mobian Victini - Origins p19

Déjà vu.

Back in the infirmary room, Victini was once again hooked up to the heart monitor. The only differences from the previous escapade with danger were that this time, Tails accompanied them, and Victini was wide awake the whole time. She also appeared exasperated, as though recovery from a traumatizing experience was as boring as attending a conference on the history of calculus.

"I'm *cough* fine," she kept insisting.

"No, you're not," Sally said. "Your side is covered in bruises and scratches, your back and head are burned from repeated Chaos Spears-" Sonic growled "-and he Chaos Blasted you! How can you say you're fine?"

"Actually, she is fine," Tails said, examining the data on NICOLE's screen. "She's coughing from smoke inhalation, nothing more. The scratches and bruises are minor, only superficial. The Chaos Spears did electrocute her, but didn't deal any lasting damage. As for the Chaos Blast… I'm not sure how she survived THAT one."

Victini sat up. "Simple," she said. "I'm a Fire-type. This 'Chaos Blast' you guys keep talking about is a fire-based attack. I'm resistant to the flame, but I'm not sure if I can say the same for the dark aspect of it…"

"Dark aspect?" Knuckles said with interest. "What do you mean?"

"I think I get it," Sonic said in response. "Chaos Blast is powerful because it requires a large amount of negative energy something-or-other, and Shads was out of his mind with anger. Is that it?"

Victini nodded. "I am a Psychic-type as well. I am weak to Dark-type moves." She suddenly appeared more excited. "That was a great battle! When will we fight again?"

"WHAT?!" Sonic yelled. "Nuh-uh! No chance in MOBIUS are you gonna fight that psycho again!"

Victini's question and the eagerness that accompanied it had deeply disturbed him. How could she take such a thorough pulverizing, stare death in the face and barely scrape past it, and look forward to it happening again?!

Actually… Sonic thought, now that I think about it, that's what I do for a living. She's too much like me for her own good.

Victini flinched at the shouting, but recovered quickly and stared at him. "Why not?" she asked, sounding very childlike.

"Shadow has no sense of mercy! You could have died!"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Only by sheer luck," Tails interrupted. "It's a miracle that you aren't hurting more. And there's something else…" Tails began, trailing off as if he didn't quite know what to say. He had been holding this in since his older brother had left to search.

"What? Spit it out, Tails," Sonic said. He could sense the reluctance in his brother's tone, and it put him on edge.

"I was scanning NICOLE's readings of Victini's DNA signature – you know, for the weekly check – and… I found something… bad."

Silence reigned.

Tails took this as his cue to go on. "Remember when Sally told us that she doesn't live off the planet's Chaos field like we Mobians do? Well, this data report claims far more than that. Chaos energy is far more than independent of her – it hurts her. Bad. I can't say why, but all I do know is that, by all accounts, she should be dead."

Sonic, Sally and Knuckles exchanged a glance. Victini couldn't have been more frozen is she were locked in a block of ice.

Sonic was the first to speak, incredulous. "So… you're saying that-… that Victini could have died from the Chaos energy?"

Tails nodded, somber. "Yes. It seems that any contact with Chaos energy causes far more damage to her than a regular attack. I don't know how, Sonic. All I can say is that you better keep the Emeralds away from her. If she so much as touches one, and it gives her too much energy, there's a good chance she'll die."

"How is that possible?" Knuckles said.

"We don't have an explanation, Knuckles, just like how we still don't know exactly how she got here to Mobius in the first place." Sally ran her fingers through her hair. "Chaos is a strange thing."

Victini had not budged. "But… this planet is filled with that bad energy. How am I supposed to avoid it?" she squeaked out. Her voice was tiny with fear.

"I don't think you can…" Tails said quietly, focusing on the monitor. "It gets worse…"

"Oh, for the LOVE of Chaos- what now, Tails?!" Sonic, at this point, was starting to freak out.

Tails turned his attention to Victini. "It seems that the planet's Chaos field and the energy within you are at war. The omnipresent Chaos force is trying to permeate through your body so you can absorb it- somehow, it must know that you're a power-wielder –but your body's natural energy is beating it back. I'm worried that your contact with Shadow's Chaos attacks might have tipped the scales. You seem to be fine now, but if this continues, the inner tension that you're not even aware of could tear you apart. Until the separate energies find a way to coexist, you'll have to stay strong with your own power if you're to survive-"

Knock knock knock

Someone was at the door.

"Who is it?" Sonic called. It was clear from his tone that he was in no mood for visitors.

"It's Shadow."

Especially that visitor.