Three years ago…

“Glorious… Simply glorious! Oh, yeeaahhhh!”

Their voice carries over the sound of the blimp’s motors and the gushing wind blasting through the open hatches. At twelve hundred feet above the ground, it’s hard to tell whether the air is thin or if my lungs are being crushed by the gripping sensations of anxiety and frustration. You’d think that after ten years of chasing these mad Honchos and their Grunts, this wouldn’t affect me so palpably. But when it comes to St. Atticus… You never know what to expect.

“You never cease to amaze me, Champion… You truly are magnificent! Hahahahaha!”

St. Atticus grins at me from across the chamber, their pristine black hair flowing like a banner on a battlefield in the crossbreeze under the rim of their silver-trimmed, mottled black top hat. The air throws the corners of their long, midnight blue coat around the legs of their perfectly tailored pants. Every strip of silver ribbon, golden sequin and sapphire blue jewel on their body shimmers and twinkles as light fills the chamber, blasted in from searchlights on the ground, the rooftops, the helicopters circling the stolen airship. They step back and bask in the hot glow of the searchlights, throwing their gloved hands up like the ringmaster of the world’s craziest circus.

“No…! We are magnificent! The sounds, the sparks, the star power! Don’t you feel it?!”

This is exactly what they want. Even as they stand in front of me, defeated yet again, all St. Atticus is thinking about is how good they look doing it. And… Goddamnit, they look good. It’s almost sickening how well they take losing in their stride. The spectacle is all that matters. But as far as I’m concerned… all that matters is they’re beaten, and they have no more SnaggeMon left.

Their staff lays safely at my feet, the microphone built into the head ringing with feedback from being dropped. Inlaid into the body of the stick, fourteen inactive SnagStones glow red with warning… Fourteen SnaggeMon, a new record. They really were planning something truly horrible this time. But as dangerous as St. Atticus is when they have the stage all to themselves, as soon as you get within battling distance, all the bite gets ripped from their bark.

Out the corner of my eye, I look down upon Lidellia City. In the dark of nightfall, the chaos St. Atticus and their showboating Grunts have spread throughout the city tonight glows even brighter. Several buildings are barely left standing, and wide craters stand out in the middle of destroyed roads and former landmarks. And that’s just what St. Atticus did on their own, all part of their somber, striking, symphonic power ballad. If they even still had one of their SnaggeMon left by the time they reached the Concert Hall… they would have wiped it off the map.

“You see it, don’t you?” St. Atticus boasts. “The righteous chaos, the dazzling destruction! Is it as beautiful as I planned…? Does it finally illuminate the stage out from the shadow of the greed and corruption that built this city?” They sway, starting to twirl their body around like they’re in a one-person waltz. Part of me worries they’re about to throw themselves off the airship… “All that’s left… is the jewel in Lidellia City’s sordid crown… The Concert Hall!”

“Show’s over, St. Atticus,” I say, finally deciding to get a word in edgewise. “You’ve got no SnaggeMon left. You can either take your last bow with dignity, or wait for the League to board this giant eyesore and give you the hook.”

“Oh, nightfall…” St. Atticus says, shaking their head with an earnest, infectious chuckle. “As long as one star remains bright in the sky… The darkness will never truly engulf me.”

Suddenly, St. Atticus throws themselves towards me, towards their microphone. That’s when I see it: one last SnagStone in the base of their staff! My heart races, already picturing the chaos that even one more SnaggeMon would enable them to inflict! I kick the staff backwards, and it shrieks with static as it bashes against the back door. Owwww…!

St. Atticus collapses on the ground, their black gloved hands balled into fists at my feet. Their breath is running fast, and I can hear the power of their lungs from here, even in just the wispy sounds of their breathing… They reach out to touch my leg and raise their head to look up at me. I get a full view at my reflection in the lenses of their massive, blacked-out sunglasses. Some say that if you ever look St. Atticus in the eye, you’ll fall under their spell like the rest of Team Glameur… I think they started their rumor themselves, all part of their mystique.

But even more haunting is their smile. It’s so gorgeous, yet so haunting. How can they be so happy and full of life when their grand plan crumbles at their feet yet again?

“Tut-tut…” they laugh. “That wasn’t fair, Champion. The star belongs on their stage.”

“Is that really all you have to say?” I scoff. “You’ll be locked away for this disaster! People could be dead down there! You better have a damn good final line to exit on…”

“You… will outshine us all…!” St. Atticus promises me, reaching into their sleeve. What are they reaching for…? …Oh, shit! They’ve got a detonator! I have to grab it before they--

BOOOOM!

I’m thrown to the side as the starboard wing bursts into flames. I land painfully against the wall, right next to the open hatch, and see the fire spreading across the airship. And in front of me… St. Atticus glides through the air, laughing like a maniac as they soar towards the hatch! With one arm wrapped around the nearest solid fixture I can reach on the wall, I reach out and catch them by the collar before they’re thrown from the blimp and into the sky!

The world turns upside down… The blast is sending us careening away from Lidellia City, towards the harbor! And St. Atticus is still cackling as we hurtle towards the ground! We’re on a collision course…! If I can just reach Kinerret’s SnagRing…! But what I can’t…?! What if this is how I go down, crashing into a flaming tomb with perhaps the most dangerous person in the world?! Is this really how it ends…?! Don’t I even get a chance to say goodbye…?

…

I’m sorry… If you were here, this would never have happened… Goodbye… Bram…

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'SnaggeMon! - Giving Up My Champion Rank To Date The Bad Guys!'

Chapter 8, the conclusion of King's arc, is now available for free via the official SnaggeMon Discord server!

See you there!