Confronting Fear Itself

Time passed as they briefed over the plan once again.

Firstly, under Timothy's insistence, they would allow him the chance to speak with Banette. No matter how slim the chances were, he felt it was worth a shot.

What's the worst that could happen? He was already a ghost anyway.

Worst case scenario, they would move into their secondary plan where Gunne would lead with a distraction.

Zubat would follow with its own attacks, followed by the joint attack of Aron and Growlithe.

Gunne took a deep breath, closing his eyes as his mind raced with a hundred different thoughts. Life or death, the outcome would be determined soon and worrying would do nothing.

'There's no sense of delaying it any longer!' he thought, exhaling as all worry was washed away, a steadiness reflected in his eyes.

His surrounding friends and partners jumped in startlement as he stood up, walking off towards the door.

"Gunne, are you sure about this?! I mean..." Timothy levitated after him with Jenny in tow behind.

She bit her lips, her Growlithe protectively at her side, "We could think this through a bit longer...."

"No need to worry," Gunne shook his head. "Let's just have faith in one another."

The others were scared, but reasonably so. It's not like they had a god who had faith in them and motivated them, unlike Gunne.

Nevertheless, they had no choice but to trust in Gunne at the moment.

Walking through the mansion, Timothy looked over everything one last time, his feelings complicated.

"If we succeed, I don't think I'll return to this place..."

"You won't miss it? Don't you feel attached to this place?" Gunne asked as they reached the main entrance.

"I've been here far too long already. This entire place is already engraved so deeply into my heart, so I'll feel it no matter where I am."

They reached the main door, Gunne's hand settling on the door knob where he felt the coldness on his hand. Without any more talking, he turned his hand and the door swung open under the assistance of the shrill wind outside.

Floating off in the distance with a hallowed gaze was Banette, its zipper mouth curving up into a twisted smile. It raised one of its hands, waving playfully.

The contrast between its gaze and actions was unsettling beyond anything Gunne had ever witnessed. Even his death was no comparison, especially after hearing of its past actions.

Timothy shuddered, mumbling almost inaudibly as he levitated towards Banette, finally facing his trauma, "Be ready in case anything goes wrong."

Gunne nodded, watching as he got further and further away.

It was best to let him go and face his fears than to hold him back; only this way could he move forward.

Still, his heart beat rapidly, nervous for his friend's safety.

'Why am I so worried? Timothy's an actual ghost, he should be safe regardless.'

Not even a minute had passed when Timothy arrived before Banette, their eyes locked with one another as Timothy opened his mouth to speak—

"BAH!" Banette cried out, though whether it was happy, sad, angry or so-on was indiscernible.

"H-Huh?"

Timothy's body stiffened and he watched as Banette raised its hand, a dark energy accumulating around it. Before he could let out so much as a squeak, the hand swatted down, launching Timothy far off into the distance.

He tumbled across the ground, flying out of sight and into the nearby woods.

"T-Timothy!"

Gunne and Jenny cried out in a mix of shock and horror, and it was then that Banette's eyes had set upon them.

"Stay in the mansion, you'll be safe here. Riolu, keep protect her! Zubat, Aron, and you too, Growlithe, I'll be relying on you!" Gunne exclaimed.

"Gra!" "Zu!" "Ar!" "Gr!"

They all cried out in unison, acting on high alert.

Satisfied with their response, Gunne burst out of the door and straight forward, charging towards Banette, painting a strange scene.

One man against a fearsome demon, a story that would be unbelievable for those who didn't see it with their own eyes. After all, who would have the courage needed to face such a terrific being?

Fight or flight response was a strange thing and luckily for Gunne, he had always found himself more on the fight side of the spectrum, though he didn't know if that was really a good thing or not.

Right now, the only thing on his mind was to attract Banette's attention and hopefully find an opportunity to defeat it.

"BAHHH!"

Banette gushed out with an appalling howl, its eyes seething with fervent excitement.

The mist around its body was eclipsed as a chilling energy rapidly took form and surrounded its body like a veil, sparks of what appeared to be a pink-colored lightning webbed within.

Raising its hand, a spark of pink flickered upon the very tip of what appeared to be its fingers.

'That ghastly energy! It's a ghost type move alright!' Gunne bit his lips anxiously.

"Kahaha!"

Cackling, Banette swiped in Gunne's direction, a ghastly slash in the form of a claw descending onto him.

'Wait for it. Wait for it.' Gunne's heart lurched in his chest.

Inch by inch, the suffocating aura of the claw rapidly neared him.

'Now!'

Gunne's body immediately split into two as he used double team, both him and his doppelganger sliding across the ground into a roll, moving in opposite directions and evading the claw.

While he was immune to ghost type energy, he didn't wish to expose that card of his yet, lest Banette try something even more sinister.

"Bah? Bah?!" Banette cried out in confusion, looking at the two separate figures of Gunne running.

It was confused by this strange situation, thinking back to its many earlier victims, 'What kind of sorcery was this?'

Clenching its tiny hands, it unleashed a loathsomely roar, stirring an even vaster storm of energy around it as if it were the eye of a storm.

Sharp hisses sounded out alongside a strange sizzling, the energy clumping together and forming into a quantifiable mass of purplish black orbs.

'That's far too many to dodge!'

There was a loud swish, and the many orbs flew directly towards Gunne and his copy, arriving in front of them almost instantaneously.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions left several small craters in their wake while shockwaves rippled across the ground like a weak earthquake, shaking up a cloud of dust.

Gunne felt his body tremble and before he knew it, he had been thrown backwards, crashing onto the ground and swallowed by the dust cloud.

"Kekeke."

Banette laughed sinisterly in satisfaction, waiting for the dust to clear. Only then could it gleefully examine what remained of its enemy.

"Ke?"

Banette's smile froze.

Gunne's body was still perfectly intact with the exception of a few cuts and bruises. Compared to his clone, which had been torn apart, he was in a much better state.

The ghost energy hadn't affected him; it was like it passed straight through his body. Still, he had been too slow to dodge the explosions that were left thereafter, hence the minor injuries.

Banette's eyes flashed with an even deeper intent to kill, letting loose a shrill screech that seemed to reverberate within Gunne's body, a strange feeling of weakness drifting over him.

Babump. Babump.

A vicious black, red, and purple energy materialized into existence before Banette, spiraling around one another.

This wasn't a ghost type energy, but a dark type, something which could threaten Gunne's life.

"Oh no!"

Gunne's pupils constricted and he used double team unceasingly, creating four clones in quick succession, with each use becoming more and more difficult.

Together with his four clones, they crisscrossed with one another, their feet kicking up the dirt and dust in an attempt to better his odds of survival.

From the distance, Jenny held her breath in shock, too powerless to do anything. And by her side stood Riolu, his paws tightly clenched as he dutifully did as he was told, wishing the best for his trainer.

The next moment, the dark energy fused together in a chain of circular shapes1 before shooting down like a dark pulsing beam, blasting into the dust. 

It was much stronger than Gunne had expected, shredding the four clones and reaching him within mere seconds.

Just barely, Gunne evaded the beam with his life using double team, but as he looked down at his left arm he couldn't help but open his mouth in horror. And yet, amidst his shock he couldn't find it in him to scream, unable to let out even so much as a peep.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

His left arm was gone, and from where it was severed, drops of a purple ooze-like blood dripped out. At the wound, goopy bubbles frothed, squirming slowly in an attempt to reconstruct the missing cells.

Gunne quickly realized that he didn't feel as much pain as he expected, being more so in a state of shock.

He was lucky that his arm would reconstruct itself and as he was able to visibly see the progress, he figured it wouldn't take longer than a few hours of rest.

While he thought about that, he still felt another worry.

How was he supposed to defeat Banette? He could hardly survive these attacks as is!

Likewise, a loud buzzing echoed out; Banette was preparing to unleash the same attack once again!

"SHRA!"

A shrilling screech sounded just then, catching Banette off-guard and startling it. Banette instantly lost control of what energy it had gathered, flinched for a moment.

"Zubat!" Gunne exclaimed, finally having a moment to catch his breath