Chapter 21: The Zero Cave Ambush! Disaster Among the Crew!

Everyone continues down the pathway towards the Zero Cave, all talking among each other. They then take their attention to the Grovyle and the Sceptile.

"So what's it like working for the O.P. government?" Iris questions, cradling the Mudkip in her arms.

"It's a wonderful experience working alongside the Official Protection government. Units get along quite splendidly with them and we're willing to take part in any jobs they assign us to. Thus, we put in the best of efforts." Mystery explains, smiling softly at the Dragonite.

"Ooor we just have to do the job in order to live our lives healthy outside of the government. Not like we have a choice. Can't exactly refuse a job request when it provides us income, anyways." Ebony follows along bluntly, staring up at her brother. "In other words, our relationship with the government ultimately means nothing, no matter how many jobs we accomplish."

"Oh don't be so sour, Ebony. We already got this criminal right here to take that role." Gonel says, joining in the conversation as she chuckles to herself. Sheer, the broken large barbed Cloyster, rolls his eyes at the Dusknoir, ignoring her comment as he's being held by her. "And besides, at least we get paid wealthily enough, even if our relationship with them doesn't go swell."

Ebony stares at the yellow bouquet Dusknoir, shrugging. "I feel like I already mentioned that point before, Gonel..."

"Have you? Oh my mistake, then." Gonel looks down at Sheer. "Doesn't mean that you have to always be so blunt and sour about things. Try to lighten up a bit and not end up becoming insane like this maniac here."

Ebony shrugs once more and glances ahead of her. "Whatever you say, miss happy. Don't come crying to me when life comes striking you with lightning out of nowhere."

Mystery chuckles softly, staring down at Ebony while carrying Cocoon and his broken Cloyster shells. "She is right though, sis. You don't have to take everything so seriously." The Sceptile explains. "Sometimes, life can lay it easy on you and-"

"So you want to know what the Savior Unit is all about?" Ebony asks Iris in a rather annoyed yet high-pitched tone, interrupting Mystery.

The Sceptile sweatdrops. Of course she would pull that stunt off... Mystery thinks to himself, sighing afterwards.

"Um, sure?" Iris answers, confused by the sudden topic change as she and the others seem to be close to the cave up ahead.

"We're basically about saving others in need and putting criminals to justice." Ebony waves her hand around while explaining, her eyes also closed. "Of course, these tasks are requested by the government so for the most part, we may have to temporarily set the previous request aside for another depending on the situation."

"I see."

Mystery sighs and stares at his sister. "Why yes, Ebony. That is exactly what the Savior Unit is about..." He spokes quite blankly, sweatdropping. "You didn't have to interrupt our previous conversation though."

Ebony looks at the Sceptile. "What do you mean? I was just doing my part of the job on informing civilians, that's all."

Mystery shakes his head at the Grovyle, sighing again. "I'm 'certain' that you were." He then takes his attention towards the Mudkip, who's staring at him and the other two in confusion. "So Iris, what are you going to do with the newborn Mudkip?" He asks the Dragonite. Iris looks down at the Mudkip and shrugs.

"I'm...not sure, honestly." She answers.

Mystery puts his hand against his chin. "Hmm. Perhaps you can let us take the baby to the orphanage? According to what you've informed us about it being born without its parents."

"Well sur-"

"Nope, we'll take care of it." Anna says, intruding the conversation.

Iris blinks confusedly and stares at the Ninetales. "Why? We haven't even thought about how we'll take care of this Mudkip...Nor have we thought of a name for it."

Anna shrugs before looking at Mark and Natalie. "Honestly, whenever I look after Mark and Natalie, I feel quite...relieved. Relieved at partaking in a task to protect these kids at all cost." Anna explains, smiling warmly to herself. "It makes me feel as though I'm not a useless adult."

Iris, Mystery and Ebony look at each other for a moment, feeling quite unsure about the Ninetales' explanation before taking their eyes back onto her. "I mean, we already have a lot of us as a group to look after. Are you certain that we should keep the Mudkip?" Iris asks cautiously. Anna looks at her and nods calmly.

"I'm positive. I want to help the Mudkip grow and experience life to the fullest under our hands...or paws, I should say." Anna giggles to herself softly before continuing speaking. "Maybe it could learn a thing or two from us. Or we experience something we never know of from it. Who knows, really?"

Iris looks at the Mudkip, seeing him staring back at her in a curious manner. She then takes her eyes onto Mystery, nodding her head firmly. "Nevermind what I said earlier. We'll take care of the Mudkip to the best of our abilities." She says to him, confidence sprawling throughout her body.

The Sceptile looks back and nods. "Alright. Whenever you change your mind, however, just contact me or someone trustworthy...when you get a Caller, of course." He says calmly to her. Iris nods once more, cradling the Mudkip in a serene manner. Soon, everyone reaches the cave in Zero Forest, stopping themselves within their paths to look at each other.

"Hey, are those purple lights I'm seeing?" Natalie asks, pointing at the brightly lit cave.

"How about stepping inside to find out? Instead of standing out here and asking questions, in which the answers are literally in front of us." Ebony states, adjusting her black cape behind her.

"Oh silly Ebony. It's called being curious. How can you be curious without asking questions first?" Gonel responds to the Grovyle.

"Curiosity kills the Meowth, anyways." Sheer mumbles to himself before being shaken harshly by the Dusknoir.

"You're supposed to remain silent, criminal." Gonel says, narrowing her eyes down at him as the broken barbed Cloyster becomes dizzy from the rapid shake. "But I do agree with you on one thing, Ebony: We should investigate to find our answer. So enough of the chatting and let's go exploring!" The Dusknoir enters the Zero Cave first, floating away in excitement as the others follow along.

After a few moments later, everyone stops in their tracks to marvel at the inside of the Zero Cave. "Whoa..." Cerise says to himself, the green 'leash' canine aweing at what he's witnessing.

There're a ton of crystals scattered all over the cave, all shining brightly at the group. Many of the crystals come in various size and shapes, the purple lights emitting from them acting as a way to provide light for the cave. The cave also contains some rocks next to the crystals and a few stalactites. Anna gasps at the crystals, admiring their purple lights.

"Oh my goodness...This cave. It looks-"

"Quite beautiful, mate!" Lucas finishes the Ninetales' sentence, the Furret rubbing against the crystals eagerly. "They even feel smooth, too!"

"They're made out of rocks, darling. Of course they'll be smooth." Gonel says, revealing an joyful expression on her face.

"Well not all rocks are smooth. They can sometimes feel rough." Ebony explains. The Dusknoir looks at the Grovyle.

"Right. But so can the crystals, too. Depending on the type of crystals, I assume."

Everyone continues to wander around and admire the crystals in the cave, the Mudkip himself even waving his arms in joy at the crystals. Iris looks down at the Mudkip and smiles softly.

"You like those crystals too, huh?" The Dragonite says, seeing the newborn nodding in response. Iris giggles softly and looks in front of her, seeing Natalie, Mark and Claire walking together like a group of younglings on their way to their destination.

"Man, just seeing this much light in a cave reminds me of the time we journeyed inside of Star Cavern, Mark." Natalie says in amazement to the crystals.

"Yeah...Those were amazing times, I suppose..." Mark says, looking off to the side. The Zorua notices the sorrow look on the Riolu's face before nuzzling him.

"Oh come on, Mark. I know that Carrie has been with us during that exploration. You don't need to always feel down whenever we're remembering something amazing involving your sister..."

"Hmmm..." Mark sighs before smiling weakly at Natalie. "Al-Alright then...I'll...try to lighten up."

Natalie smiles back as Claire looks at the two confusedly. "Star Cavern? What's that?" Claire asks the Zorua calmly.

Natalie takes her eyes onto the Shinx. "Oh. Well it's..." Natalie goes to talk to the Shinx about the Star Cavern as Leon, the Blaziken, stares at the crew quietly. Helena, next to the Blaziken, looks at them as well, smiling warmly.

"Seems like they really do enjoy seeing the crystals in this cave." Helena says in a soft tone. "I don't blame them. The lights provided from the crystals give this cave beauty and guidance, after all. I could only imagine if this cave didn't have those crystals, it would be difficult to see." The Blaziken nods at the Milotic, admiring the crystals himself. The two then stop walking, noticing two pathways in front of them. "Hmm?" Helena tilts her head in confusion. "That's...strange."

Leon looks behind him and holds up his hand for the others to stop, leading everyone to look at him and the Milotic. "What seems to be the problem?" Jimmy asks in a curious manner.

"Yeah, what's the hold up, mate?" Lucas joins along while carrying some small crystals in his hands.

Ashen notices the crystals in his arms. "Um-"

"I just wanted to keep some of these, alright?" Lucas says, interrupting the Linoone.

"Uh...alright then."

The two then take their eyes onto Mystery and the rest of the Savior Units, seeing Mystery walking close to Helena and Leon. "There're two pathways in the Zero Cave instead of one." Helena says, answering the Heracross' question.

"Two pathways?" Ebony says confusedly, taking her eyes onto Gonel. "I thought there was only one pathway in this cave."

Gonel thinks to herself, looking quite perplexed by the pathways. "I...have no idea why there're two paths when there used to be one...Strange." She states, looking at the pathways in a suspicious manner. She puts her ghostly hand underneath her 'chin'. "Now how are we going to reach our location?"

"Maybe we should split up?" Ashen suggests in a calm tone. Anna looks at him and shakes her head immediately.

"Absolutely not!" The Ninetales says in disapproval. "Splitting up generally leads to the group getting lost."

"Well how would you know that, Anna? You've never been through this cave before so how are you certain that we'll get lost if the other pathway could lead back to the next?" Ebony says in a censorious manner, folding her arms in dissatisfaction.

Lucas stares at the Grovyle tensely, having his paw against his chin. "You know...She may have a point." He says before blinking to himself in confusion. "...I think..."

Anna rolls her eyes at the Furret before speaking. "I mean, you say that while you guys were the ones that went through this cave before. So..."

"Ooo. Now Anna is the one carrying the point here." Lucas says, staring at the two conversing with each other.

Ebony taps her finger onto her arm while staring at the Ninetales with the yellow earrings. "Right. But when we went through this cave, there used to be one pathway, not two. Therefore, your claim is invalid."

Anna frowns at the Grovyle as Lucas gasps in suspense. "YIKES! She snatches that point like a dynamite!" Lucas shouts, leading everyone to look at him in a peculiar manner.

"Sir, are you okay over there?" Ebony asks, raising her brow at the eye-patched Furret.

"Haha...Sorry about that." He turns to stare at Anna adorably, knowing that she wouldn't mention a single cruel word to him.

Anna sighs and glances at the Grovyle. "Look, I'm just saying that it's better if we all go down one of these pathways together. Just so we could watch each other's backs easily. You said it yourself. This cave used to have one pathway, right? So maybe something doesn't seem right. Like maybe one of the pathways could be fake or lead to a trap." Anna explains.

Ebony is about to say something until Mystery interferes. "I agree with her, actually. If one of these pathways lead to a trap, then it's best if we prepare for it as a group rather than as separate."

"Yes. Who knows what disaster it'll cause if we were unable to save each other during separation?" Helena points out, everyone except for Ebony beginning to agree.

The Grovyle sighs and shakes her head, shrugging before putting her hands on her hips. "Fine. We'll go with her way of thinking, I suppose." She says, Anna raising her brow at her. Not like anyone would listen to a teenager, anyways...

"With that said, we'll stick together and choose which pathway to go to!" Gonel exclaims excitedly before glaring at the right path. "I'm honestly feeling the left path. Something about the right seems...off. Though I can't quite tell what it is." She notices the right path looking unstable and hazy compared to the left being precise and clear. The group all look at the right path before the left, thinking for a moment. They then agree with the Dusknoir.

"Yeeeah...That pathway looks like an abomination in comparison. We should take the left." Jimmy says in approval. Soon, everyone begins walking down the left pathway, all continuing to chat with each other along the way.

Lucas walks up to Anna and nudges her with his elbow. "That was quite the Point Making Tournament you two had earlier, mate. I could give you a trophy if I have one." He says in a teasing tone, Anna staring at him instantly.

"Shut up, Lucas." The Ninetales mutters.

"What was that? Mind repeating that, again?"

Anna smacks her lips and sighs. "I mean, that's so sweet of you to consider that, Lucas."

Lucas randomly pats Anna on the back. "That's more like it!"

Cerise, Iris and Ashen look at the Furret teasing the Ninetales before shaking their heads and smiling at his silliness. As the group proceeds onward, Jimmy notices that the light by the corner of his eyes is fading away each time he walks forward.

"Hmm?" The Heracross says, looking behind him. He sees the crystals no longer glowing purple light, leaving the cave behind him to become night. "Uh...everyone."

The group stops walking and looks at the Heracross. "What is it, Jimmy?" Iris asks.

Jimmy points his nails towards the darkness. "Notice something obscure about the path we came from?"

Everyone looks at the darkness as well, all but Lucas beginning to spot the unordinary. "I don't know what you on about, Jimmy." Lucas says, scratching the side of his head. "All I see is nothing but...crystals? Wait, I thought there were crystals from that path...And why is it dark down there?" The Furret becomes even more perplexed as everyone else start to become suspicious of the area.

"Those crystals back there were providing light for the cave...Now they aren't..." Mark says before taking his bow off from his back slowly.

Claire looks around suspiciously. "Something doesn't seem right..." The Shinx says, eyeing each and every corner.

"First the two pathways, now this." Ebony says, the leaves on her wrists beginning to glow green. "Something's going on here. And I'm not liking it one bit."

Soon, the group all notice that the crystals in the direction they're heading stop shining as well, their purple lights beginning to fade. Everyone starts to become tense from the crystal lights fading, the Mudkip himself beginning to shake in fear. "Gr-Great! Those lights, too!?" Lucas says, sticking close behind his brother. Ashen and the others stare in front of them, feeling quite unnerved by the whole situation.

During the situation, all of the crystals begin to glow again. This time however, they glow a menacing dark grey instead of their usual purple. At the same time, a dark mist begins to form next to the Blaziken. Leon looks to the side and notices the mist, seeing a figure emerging from the mist. The figure turns out to be a Tyranitar, him launching his arm forward as multiple light blue stalagmites start erecting from the ground one after another towards the black marble wrist wearing Blaziken: Stone Edge. Leon widens his eyes from the sudden attack before jumping to the side, curling his body as the row stalagmites begin curving their path and shoot the Blaziken towards and against the ceiling. He then lands on the ground swiftly, glancing at the Tyranitar as the gang become surprised by the Tyranitar appearance.

"Leon! Are you alright!?" Helena yells, looking shocked at her companion having taken that hit. Leon, hopping back onto his feet, nods his head, gripping his fists in preparation.

Within a flash, more dark mists form from each side of the group, each firing off the same rows of erecting light blue stalagmites at them. Everyone attempts to dodge the attacks, with Lucas, Ashen, Jimmy, and Claire being the ones hit by them. "Gah!" The four yelp, Jimmy beginning to shield himself against the next few Stone Edges with his arms while the other three dodge them this time. Soon the stalagmites stop being created as everyone huddles up in one pile, all having their backs against each other. They see multiple Tyranitars exiting out of the mists, surrounding the group in a circle.

"What's the meaning of this foul visit!?" Jimmy exclaims, getting himself in a battle stance.

"In other words: What the hell is going on!?" Anna yells, snarling at the Tyranitars while in front of Iris, Mark, Natalie, and Claire.

Then everyone notices one more mist beginning to form in front of them, this one being larger than the previous ones. Ebony sees the coloration of the mist, lifting her hands up slightly. Those...mists. Could they be...? She thinks to herself, she and the others seeing ten figures emerging from the mist.

After the huge mist vanishes, the figures reveal themselves to be Yuki, Alro, Clemence, Sebastian, Reckless, Dead Snow, Nexus, Misstrike, Corruption, and Tron. Tron, the Raichu, waves his two yellow submachine guns at the group in joy while Dead Snow (Glaceon), Sebastian (Serperior), and Nexus (Toxicroak) stare at them menacingly. Reckless, the Ursaring, tosses his Flame Orb constantly and grins deviously at the group, cocking his head back. Alro and Clemence have their arms crossed, the Malamars simply smirking at them. Corruption smirks at the group as well, the Magmortar holding his arm up and cocking it as if it were a gun. "Hello, you beautiful creatures." Misstrike says in a calm tone, leading the group to become stunned by the Supernova Gale's appearance. "It's a pleasure running into you again, Iris and co." The Mismagius tilts her head slightly before giggling, covering her mouth while doing such.

Mystery, Ebony and Helena glance at the Gales, preparing themselves along with the others. "It's them..." Iris says, snarling at the Gales. Mystery looks at the Dragonite in curiosity.

"You know this group?" The Sceptile asks.

Iris nods firmly. "Yes. Me and the others fought these guys a while back when protecting Verdant Village. Do you know them as well?"

"Yes." Mystery's 'leaves' begin to glow green. "More so the Mismagius, two Malamars, Glaceon and Raichu. They're responsible for stealing an unstable sword from the government's base in Snowy Mountain."

"I see."

"Not sure about the Serperior, Toxicroak, Magmortar, Ursaring and the Aegislash but seeing as how they came from the mist as well, they may be up to no good." As the two group stare at each other menacingly, Helena takes her attention towards Sebastian and gasps softly. The Milotic's eyes widen in shock and anger, glaring intensely at the Serperior. Leon notices the look on the Milotic's face, seeing the pure grudge spreading throughout her face. Sebastian looks back at her before looking away immediately, glancing off to the side.

Tron chuckles as he stops waving. "How cool of you guys to acknowledge us." He says, spinning his two Weapon Mischiefs around. Yuki floats in front of the Gales, pressing his 'fingers' against each other in a sinister manner.

"You all may have known about my group of unknowns, especially the Dragonite and her friends over there." The Aegislash says in a calm yet intimidating tone, taking his eyes on Iris and her crew. The gang stares intensely at the Aegislash before he continues to speak. "It would be useless to introduce my organization because of this. But I'll reiterate for the sole purpose of jogging your imperfect memories: We're the Supernova Gale. And I, Yuki the Aegislash," He pauses for a moment to stare at the group, his purple eyes spreading a message of fear and tyranny at them. "...Am their leader."

Iris blinks at the name 'Yuki', looking off to the side. Yuki the...Aegislash? I...feel like I recognize that name before. She thinks to herself, her mind going deep in thought as the others remain focused on the Gales and their minions.

"Well then, Yuki, what do you want from us?" Anna asks, glaring at the Aegislash.

Yuki closes his eyes, having his ghostly 'hands' together. "A couple of things: Your Mischiefs, the Riolu and the barbless Cloyster." He answers, leading Sheer to take his interest towards him.

"Did you say Mischiefs?" Mystery asks, confusion sprawling throughout his face.

"Precisely: The Weapon Mischief from the Riolu and the three Marvel Mischiefs from those three." Yuki glares at Iris, Anna, and Jimmy.

"Wait, those are Marvel Mischiefs?" Mystery says, looking at the Dragonite. Iris looks to the side, shrugging.

"Yeeaah...They are. That's another reason why these guys attacked us..." Iris says, putting her paw on her arm.

"I...see." Mystery and the rest of the Units look at the three Pokemon in a peculiar manner.

Cerise takes his attention towards Mark. "And why do they want Mark?" He says, seeing Natalie getting in front of the Riolu.

"Well whatever the case may be, they're not taking him away!" Natalie shouts, slamming her paw to the ground afterwards.

"Yeah! And why are you even after our Mischiefs, anyways? Your goons attempted to steal them last time and failed. What makes you think this time will be any different?" Anna exclaims.

Yuki opens his eyes and shakes his head. "Only because of your little friend's interference. But since I'm here, you can be sure that won't happen again." The Aegislash grips his fist. "Why we're after them is up to you to hypothesize on. We may tell you our names and the name of this organization. But that's all you get to know."

"Indeed. So in other words, be our guest to make predictions about us." Misstrike says, smiling casually at the group.

"Now then, let us put an end to this meaningless babble. We'll give you two choices: Either bring us the three objectives, or suffer the consequences." Says Yuki, putting his hands behind his back.

The Sceptile frowns at the Aegislash. "No. The Savior Units will never back down to criminals like you, especially when you want to rescue other criminals." He says, Sheer glaring at him in a response.

"Besides, we're fighting you because you want our possessions. What makes you think that vice versa wouldn't happen?" Iris joins in, her tail glowing with a red aura.

Yuki looks at the two before sighing and shaking his head. "You're right. It was foolish of me to even provide such an option to the likes of you." The Aegislash turns around, slipping his left hand inside of his shield and stretching his other arm. He then flips around to face the group, now in his Blade form as the shield engulfs his left arm. Yuki lifts his right finger to point at the group. "Take the objectives by brute force."

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"Yes sir!" The Gales all say, proceeding to walk towards the group. The Tyranitars prepare their Dark Pulse attacks, a dark ball of energy forming from their mouths.

Iris takes her attention towards Anna quickly, handing her the Mudkip who is scared out of his mind. "Anna, can you go in the middle and protect the Mudkip, please?" Iris asks before noticing three Dark Pulses aiming at her direction. Anna quickly gets in front of the Dragonite, forming a clear shield around her and Iris as the blackish purple beams hit the shield: Protect.

"Sure!" The Ninetales answers immediately.

"Thanks." Iris sets the Mudkip on the Ninetales' back before Anna hurries her way to the middle, letting herself be surrounded by the group.

Mystery sees four Dark Pulses zooming towards him, curling his left arm around Cocoon and his broken shells all before hitting the attacks with his other arm, using Leaf Blade. This causes the Sceptile to be launched back drastically, but manage to land on his feet swiftly, Cocoon yelping during the process. Mystery looks at Anna besides him, giving Cocoon to her quickly. "Would you mind protecting him as well? It'll be an disaster if he happens to get hurt because of me." He says to the Ninetales.

Anna looks at Mystery and nods, setting the Mudkip beside her with her tails. "Alright. I'll keep an eye out for him, too." She replies before taking Cocoon out of Mystery's possession, making sure that his shells are with him as well.

"Thank you." The Sceptile then dashes off towards a Tyranitar in front of him and uses Leaf Blade, swiping the attack at the Pokemon's face before slamming his tail against another Tyranitar. This causes the two Pokemon to back away, grunting from the attack.

The rest of the Tyranitars fire their Dark Pulses, the energy beams darting menacingly towards the group's direction. Mystery, Leon, and Mark get in front of the group and use Protect: Leon shielding the west side, Mark the north, and Mystery the south. Iris notices the Dark Pulse from the east aimed at her, Jimmy, Ashen, and the rest, swinging her tail at the attacks with Dragon Tail. She is pushed back by the attack slightly, forming a fist afterwards that becomes engulfed in flames.

Soon, everyone goes to square off against the Gales, with Ashen, Lucas and Cerise left to help Anna shelter Cocoon and the Mudkip. Reckless sets his Flame Orb on his back, having it automatically cling onto him as he looks at Jimmy. "Ready for round 2, Beetle Boy?" The Ursaring says, cracking his fists while grinning deviously. The red scarf Heracross brings his arms up, ready to fight the Ursaring. Reckless rushes towards the Heracross, his body turning red due to the orb giving him the burn status. "HELL YEAH, BABY!" Jimmy dashes towards him and the two punch each other in the face, Jimmy wincing a bit due to Reckless' Guts. Then the two start jabbing and kicking endlessly, using Close Combat on one another.

Ebony defends Gonel against Sebastian, Dead Snow and Nexus, using Leaf Blade on Dead's Ice Shard attack while simultaneously dodging Sebastian's vines. She notices a purple-like ball substance flying towards her, gasping before shielding herself with her arms. She winces from the Sludge Bomb attack hitting her, causing her to slide across the ground slightly. "Ugh...That was a bad idea." She says to herself, looking to see the attack coming from Nexus as his sac extends, preparing another Sludge Bomb. Ebony groans uncomfortably, looking at Gonel. "This may be a tough fight so if they manage to get closer, don't hesitate to resist."

Gonel nods firmly, glaring at the three Pokemon. "Gotcha, Ebony." The Dusknoir replies, forming what seems to be several blue fireballs from the tip of her finger. Sheer looks at the fireballs and sweatdrops, noticing how close they are to his face.

As if the Dusknoir couldn't move those further away from me... The Cloyster thinks to himself, looking back at the three Pokemon.

The fight continues: Claire and the other two young Pokemon are fighting off the Tyranitars beside them, Jimmy and Reckless continue to Close Combat each other, Clemence tackles Iris down, and Leon and Helena are left to defend against Tron, Corruption and other Tyranitar goons. Yuki, Misstrike, and Alro watch the brawl, precisely observing all the Stone Edges being formed and the dodges being made. Yuki then directs his attention towards Mark, seeing him shoot multiple arrows at the group of Tyranitars. "Wait here, Misstrike. I'll be back shortly." The Aegislash says, casting a shadow underneath him. The Mismagius notices the shadow and nods, knowing what her master is planning to do. "Alro, follow my lead, please." Alro nods firmly, a dark pink outline forming around his arms as Yuki sinks his body within the shadow. The shadow extends its way towards the Riolu, speeding up rapidly. The Malamar follows along eagerly.

Mark sees the shadow from the corner of his eye and looks towards it. "Huh!?" He says confusedly before getting hit by Yuki's Shadow Sneak, the Aegislash leaping out of the shadow and uppercutting Mark. "Gah!" The Riolu is launched in the air and crashes against the wall behind him, falling to the ground afterwards.

"Mark!" Natalie shouts, forming a black purple-like ball from her mouth. As she attempts to fire her Shadow Ball at Yuki, Alro manages to get in front of her and counter the attack with Psycho Cut, creating smoke between him and her. "Dang it!" She grits her teeth in frustration, Claire continuing to attack the Tyranitars with her red Discharge.

"What's wrong, mistress?" The Shinx asks, focusing on the enemy Tyranitars.

Mark tries to get up from the ground, groaning. "U-Ugh, that attack just...came out of nowhere." He says to himself before looking up to see the Malamar standing in front of him, his eyes widening intensely.

"Miss me, Markie?" Alro says, revealing a smug expression on his face. Mark's palms glow yellow, the Riolu rushing towards Alro with Force Palm. Alro yawns softly as he sends a dark pink wave at Mark. The Riolu is hit by the Psycho Cut attack, crashing against the wall once more and slides to the ground. Mark becomes unconscious from the attack, Alro shaking his head in response. "Seems you haven't learned from last time, eh?"

As the Malamar picks up the Riolu, the smoke fades away, allowing Natalie and the others to see. Natalie gasps, seeing Mark in Alro's possession. "Hey! Leave Mark alone, you jerk!" Natalie yells, charging towards the Malamar.

"Not a chance." Alro smacks the Zorua to the side with his tendril hand, causing her to collide against Claire.

"Ah! What in the!?" Claire exclaims, she and the Zorua yelping from the collision as they fall to the ground.

Ashen, Lucas, Cerise, and Anna gasp at their friends being harmed by the Malamar. "Mark! Natalie! Claire!" Ashen shouts, his claws glowing white. "We got to help them!"

"E-Erm, are you sure, bro? They seemed pretty tough compared to last time we fought these Superwhatever they're called." The Furret says, shaking a bit.

"Well we can't just stand here and watch. We have to do something!" Ashen exclaims. "I'm not sure about the two of you, but I'm gonna go help them." The Linoone takes off running, leaving the other four Pokemon behind.

"W-Wait for me, Ashen!" Lucas rushes off after him with a look of discomfort on his face.

"I'll remain here to help you protect these two." Cerise says before looking around. Anna nods and continues to be protective towards Cocoon and the Mudkip, Cocoon seeing the fear on the Mudkip's face and feeling sorrow for the baby creature.

During the massive fight, Tron notices the Grovyle and Dusknoir are struggling to fight against Dead, Nexus and Sebastian, revealing a devious grin on his face. "Say Lance, you can handle these two tryhards, right?" The Raichu asks, dodging what seems to be a huge blue stream of liquid coming from Helena's mouth: Hydro Pump.

Corruption looks at the Raichu, raising his brow as he blocks every kick Leon throws at him. "Um, n-"

"Thanks!" Tron rushes towards the Milotic and hops on her head, leaping off from her afterwards like a frog. Helena grunts from the jump as Corruption sweatdrops at the Raichu.

He didn't even let me answer... Corruption thinks, watching the Raichu fly in the air before charging his electricity from his cannons, aiming them at Leon and Helena.

Ebony pants heavily at her three opponents, bruise marks being all over her body due to the amount of damage she received from Sebastian's vines. Gonel attempts to use Will-O-Wisp on the three Pokemon, flinging multiple blue fireballs at them. The three dodge the attack, with Dead's body being covered in white outline. Dang it! Gonel thinks, taking her focus on the Glaceon's attack. She sees Sebastian slither quickly in front of Ebony. The Grovyle gasps before the Serperior's tail glows green and uses Leaf Blade on her, uppercutting the Grovyle.

"Gah!" Ebony yelps, her body being flung into the air. Dead Snow leaps up in the air and rams into the Grovyle, using Quick Attack to slam her to the ground. Ebony coughs out blood from the massive impact she received, the Glaceon pinning her down.

"Ebony!" Gonel shouts, attempting to aid the Grovyle before being stopped by multiple bullets in front of her. She looks behind her to see the Raichu spinning his body around and hitting her in the face with Thunder Punch. "Ah!" The Dusknoir grunts, leading her to let go of Sheer. Tron then gets besides the Cloyster and pushes him away, snickering deviously as Sheer raises his brow at him."What in the world!? Hey! Stop right there!" Gonel tries to chase after the Raichu but is then restrained by Sebastian's vines. "Oh come on!" She groaned.

Alro sees Ashen and Lucas heading towards him, shaking his head in disbelief. "These guys would do anything to save this worthless Pokemon, huh?" He says to the Aegislash, swinging his arm to the side and uses Psycho Cut on Ashen.

Ashen blocks the dark pink wave with Fury Swipes, leading him to get pushed back and collide into Lucas. The two groan from the collision. "Well he would be worthless if not for his Mythical Power." Yuki replies, seeing the two Pokemon get up.

Alro frowns at the Aegislash before sighing. "Yeah yeah, you're right..." The two then get back to their original spot with Misstrike, noticing that Sheer is next to them and the Raichu. Tron pants heavily, wiping his forehead from the sweat developing on it. "Oh hey there, Tron. You looked like you just got done working out a lot today."

"That's because I've been pushing this big boy shell right here." Tron shouts, patting Sheer on the side of his shell as he chuckles. "I didn't realize how heavy a Cloyster's shell is until I started pushing him. Ha!"

Misstrike giggles at the Raichu as Sheer sweatdrops at him, feeling uncomfortable and confused by the things going on with him. Yuki and Alro stare at the Raichu casually before Yuki examines the area, noticing the majority of the Tyranitars being defeated by the crew and the Units. He then sees Ashen and Lucas running at his direction, the two preparing their moves. "Alright. We got two of our objectives down. There's only one more to go." Yuki says, staring at Anna's earrings, then Jimmy's scarf, and now Iris' crystalline necklace. "Let's make this quick, shall we?"

Alro nods, grinning in pure delight. "Gotcha, boss." The Malamar says before shouting. "Gales! We have the Cloyster and the Riolu! Go after the Marvel Mischiefs, now!" He then fires multiple Psycho Cuts at Ashen and Lucas, the attack colliding with Lucas' Ice Beam which causes smoke to form for a brief moment.

The fight goes on halt, Mystery finishing knocking out the last few Tyranitars with Leaf Blade before taking his attention towards Yuki. Iris and Jimmy pant heavily, bruise marks forming all over them along with their opponents. Natalie and Claire get themselves off of each other and glare at Yuki's direction, seeing their unconscious friend within Alro's grasp. Iris snarls deeply at them, flames beginning to form around her fist.

"You...are not taking Mark away from us!" Iris yells, immediately flying towards them.

Clemence blinks in surprise. "Hey! I thought I was your opponent today!" She says before chasing after the Dragonite. Jimmy tries to join along but gets grabbed by the bandaged horn from Reckless, screaming in pure pain.

"Who says you can run from me, Beetle Boy?" The Ursaring says before slamming the Heracross towards the ground, causing him to yelp from the impact. "Also, I just noticed something. The bandages you have wrapped around your horn. Did you get in an accident or something?"

"I-It's none of your concern. Since you foul, evil doers refused to tell us why you're after our friend, anyways." Jimmy says, glancing at the Ursaring.

Reckless shrugs with an smug look on his face. "Eh, good point." Then he attempts to weaken the Heracross with his fists, the Heracross dodging them.

Yuki notices the Dragonite striving towards his location, tilting his head curiously at her. "Hmm." He says before switching into his Shield form, his shield now in front of his blade-like body. Light blue hexagonal shapes begin to form in front of him as Iris uses Fire Punch on it, the shapes acting as a shield to the attack: King's Shield. The Dragonite gasps intensely, feeling her physical attack being dropped due to the King's Shield effects. "Strange...Looking at you once more, I feel as though that I..." Yuki looks into the Dragonite's eyes. "...recognize you."

Iris widens her eyes in shock and confusion. "What?" She says before seeing Misstrike float in the air and fling a Shadow Ball at her. The Dragonite gets hit by the attack, leading her to crash against the ground. "Ugh!" She groans from the attack, proceeding to get up before having her face slammed into the rocky ground by Clemence's hand.

"That should prevent her from moving." Clemence says casually, knocking the Dragonite out.

"IRIS!" Anna screams, leading Cerise and the others to rush after Yuki.

Sebastian slams Gonel to the ground with his vines, hard enough for her to feel weak and unable to move. He, Dead, and Nexus then dash off towards Yuki. The three notice Corruption struggling to fight against Leon and Helena; The Magmortar dodges Helena's Hydro Pump while blocking Leon's Quick Attack, grunting in the process. Some help would be nice... Corruption thinks, panting heavily to the attacks.

Sebastian and the other two look at each other for a moment and nod, Nexus' sac enlarging before he uses Sludge Bomb on Helena. The Milotic notices the purple-like ball and counters it with Ice Beam, the icy beam of energy colliding against it. After the collision, Helena looks at the three Pokemon, mostly having her attention focused on Sebastian.

Sebastian stares back at the Milotic, Nexus' claws forming acid-like liquid as Dead Snow creates a sharp icicle underneath her paw. "So...this is where you've been all this time..." Helena says in a cold, menacing tone.

Sebastian looks down at the ground as Nexus looks at him. "Wait, isn't that..." Nexus pauses for a moment, realizing who Helena is.

Helena sighs heavily as she prepares an Ice Beam on her tail. "I should've known you would start committing crimes the moment you left me in flames..." The Milotic says, glaring in rage at Sebastian. As she attempts to use Ice Beam on Sebastian, she is stopped by a Thunderbolt coming from Corruption. She screams in pain, looking behind her to see Corruption jolting her with electricity while gripping Leon by the neck. The Magmortar then stops using Thunderbolt, leading Helena to faint afterwards.

Corruption drops Leon afterwards, the Blaziken being knocked out as well. "I'm going to get payback on Tron for ditching me. Leaving me to be double teamed by two opponents. One of them being a Water type, no less." He says in a calm tone, folding his arms with an annoyed look on his face. Nexus and Dead stop forming their attacks and look at Corruption.

"Thanks, Corruption. Let's go help our master obtain the Mischiefs, alright?" Dead says firmly. The Magmortar looks at the Glaceon and nods before running off to go aid Yuki. Dead joins him as well, dashing off using Quick Attack.

Nexus is about to follow along until he sees Sebastian staring down at Helena, noticing the guilt consuming his face. "Come on, Sebastian. We need to go help master." He says to the Serperior. Sebastian sighs heavily, closing his eyes for a moment before looking at the black belt Toxicroak.

"Alright." Sebastian says. As Nexus goes off to aid the Aegislash, Sebastian looks at the Milotic one last time, grimace beginning to form across his face. I'm...sorry... He wishes to say to her out loud. He wishes to say those exact words to her but couldn't as he slithers off to go join Nexus.

Cerise rushes towards Yuki and the others and uses Dragon Pulse on them, a dragon-shaped beam beginning to emerge from his mouth. Misstrike fires her Shadow Ball to counter the attack. Tron attempts to use Thunderbolt on the canine but Cerise seems unaffected by it, leading the Raichu to blink in confusion. "Is that thing part Ground or something? The heck?" He says before shooting at Cerise and the others rapidly with his Weapon Mischiefs.

Everyone dodges the rapid fire attack before Cerise attempts to grab Mark with his mouth. Alro brings the Riolu back and pushes the canine away with Psychic, leading him to crash against the wall. Mystery tries to use Leaf Blade on Alro but Dead rams her white outline body against the attack, pushing the Sceptile back. After landing on the ground, Mystery sees an incoming Ice Shard from Dead and uses Protect, shielding himself from the sharp icicle.

Soon, Nexus punches him in the stomach with Poison Jab, leading him to groan in pain as he backs away. The Sceptile's body then turns a purple-ish color, having received the poison status. "Sh-Shoot..." He says to himself, getting on his knees as the status condition harms him. Ashen and Lucas both attempt to use Fury Swipes on Alro but the two get caught by Sebastian's vines. They grunt and struggle from the vines before being slammed to the ground by them, leading the two to get knocked out.

Natalie screams as she rush towards the Gales, her body being engulfed in a corrupted reddish aura: Night Daze. Natalie slams her paw down, causing the red forcefield to form and aim at the Gales. Yuki sees the Zorua attack and gets in front of the Gales, using King's Shield to protect them. Yuki then switches into his Blade form as his sword body glows light blue, extending its size: Sacred Sword. He uses the move on the Zorua, attacking her from the side and slamming her harshly to the ground. Natalie yelps in pain, feeling a lot of damage from the move.

"Mistress!" Claire yells before charging towards Yuki, electricity and a yellow aura beginning to surround her body. She tries to use Wild Charge on him but Yuki swings his body at her like a baseball bat, slamming and sliding her across the ground drastically. "Ah!"

Anna sees her allies getting defeated, as well as Cerise struggling to get up from the ground and Jimmy being pinned down by Reckless. The Ursaring stomps on him endlessly, laughing in pure joy. "No..." The Ninetales says, her eyes widening in shock and terror. "NO!" She no longer shields Cocoon and the Mudkip as she stands in front of them. "I will not let you harm my friends any further!" She shouts, flames forming within her mouth. Reckless stops stomping on Jimmy and looks at the Ninetales, grinning deviously.

Use it. Reckless thinks, eyeing eagerly at the Ninetales. As the Ninetales attempts to use Flamethrower on the Gales, Reckless holds out his arms immediately. Gotcha.

Anna's Flamethrower is about to hit the Gales until it curves around, the attack aiming at her. "Huh!?" She stops using the Flamethrower attack as it hits her, causing her to yelp in pain and slams against the wall next to Cerise.

Reckless fist pumps excitedly. "Yes! Been waiting to do that to someone for a long while!"

"U-Ugh...How...did that happen...?" Anna asks, weakly attempting to get on her feet but ultimately failing.

Reckless then snaps his fingers, winking at the Ninetales. "Glad that you've gotten the chance to meet Inferno Wrath: My special little Mythical Power that allows me to manipulate any kinds of flames, rather it be the flames from a Fire type attack or just fire in general." He says as Yuki forms a shadow underneath himself. The Aegislash sinks within the shadow as Reckless continues speaking. "This MP also allow me to be immune to the infliction coming from the burn status. But I keep the Guts boosted damage, of course." Yuki uses Shadow Sneak towards Anna, the Ninetales noticing the shadow and attempting to back away. "Speaking of damage, the MP also powers up my moves drastically when I'm under the burn status, which explains why I defeated Beetle Boy here. And because of me being born with this MP, any Pokemon that resists or are immune to anything fire related will not have that effect once I use it against them."

Yuki leaps out from the shadow and grabs Anna's earrings, yanking them off from her ears as this leads to her screaming in pain. Cocoon and the Mudkip stare in terror, seeing red liquid dripping from the Ninetales' ears quickly. Yuki then uses Shadow Sneak to return back to the Gales, spawning himself out of the shadow and staring at Reckless. "That wasn't so smart of you to explain your gift to her. Now she'll find your weakness whenever we encounter them again." Yuki explains, proceeding to grab Jimmy's scarf.

The Heracross groans uncomfortably, barely being able to move his body as his scarf is being taken away. Reckless looks at the Aegislash and shrugs. "Eh, blame the creator for having me make that stupid decision." He says, folding his arms while revealing a 'meh' expression.

Yuki sets the scarf on his other hand, floating next to Iris. "I...have absolutely nothing to say about that." The Aegislash sweatdrops before slipping his hand underneath Iris' necklace. He stares down at her for a brief moment, squinting his eyes. I seriously believe that I remember her...But...not sure from...where... He thinks to himself, sighing heavily and shakes his head. My memory is quite imperfect, it seems... He snatches the necklace from Iris, returning back towards the Gales afterwards. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, my lord. All the Gales are alive and well." Misstrike answers elegantly.

"Then our tasks here is complete. Let's leave." The Mismagius nods at the Aegislash as her eyes turns pure black, dark mist beginning to form around the Gales and the passed out Tyranitars. Cerise looks up at the Gales, seeing Mark close to leaving.

I don't think so! Cerise thinks to himself, his body beginning to be surrounded by a light green outline. He then takes off running, using Extreme Speed to quickly reach the Gales.

Yuki sees the canine rushing towards them. "Hmm?" Soon, Cerise runs to the side and snatches Mark out of Alro's possession, ramming into Yuki's shield. This causes Yuki to drop the three Marvel Mischiefs on the ground away from the mists as the Aegislash's eyes widen in petrification. "NO!" He shouts in pure rage before him and the other Gales disappears into the mist, the Supernova Gale no longer being present within the cave.

Cerise drops the Riolu, panting heavily. "Glad...that I...caught you in time..." The canine says before falling to the ground, leading him to faint. His body then glows green, shining bright enough for others in the area to see.

Mystery, Anna, Claire, and Natalie look at the glowing canine body, all marveling at Cerise shrinking in size. Several green lights separate from the shrinking canine, his appearance no longer resembling that of a canine. Cerise soon stops glowing, reverting back to his original blob self. What the...? Mystery thinks before groaning from the poison damage, covering his stomach in discomfort.

Natalie slowly begins to stand up, wincing due to the pain she received earlier. "Is...everyone okay?" She asks while looking around. The baby Mudkip begins to bawl into tears, fear cluttering throughout the Mudkip's face.

"Ugh...my back hurts so it seems like I'm not..." Gonel says, remaining on the ground as she stares at the ceiling. "Not sure about everyone else..."

Natalie notices that a majority of the group are injured, with some at least being able to move. The Zorua sweatdrops. "Well then...this'll take me awhile to heal everyone up..."

"Heal?" Mystery says, raising his brow at the Zorua.

"I'll explain as I heal you and the others..." Natalie shrugs.

"I...see..."

. . .

Natalie puts her paws against Anna's other ear, a red outline forming around it along with the Ninetales' ear. After a few moments, Natalie removes her paws from the ear. "Annnd that should do it!" She says, sighing in relief.

Anna flickers her ears freely, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Natalie." Anna says, smiling at the Zorua. Everyone else is fully healed by the Zorua as well, the Units all looking at the Zorua in interest.

"Huh. That's an interesting, erm, power you got there, I suppose?" Mystery says, putting his hand against his chin.

"We're just very thankful for you healing us because of your gift." The Dusknoir says, smiling in joy.

"You're welcome, everyone!" Natalie exclaims, smiling back at everyone before panting heavily. "Wow that took a lot of effort than usual to heal someone."

Claire walks towards the Zorua to pat on her back. "Again, take it easy with your powers. You'll exhaust yourself if you do, mistress." Claire says. Natalie looks at her and nods.

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Mystery takes his attention towards Cerise, staring at him curiously. "Say...What are you, anyway?" The Sceptile asks, scratching the side of his head. The rest of the Units look at the red spotted blob as well, curiosity sprawling throughout their heads.

Cerise looks back at the Sceptile and shakes his head. "I'm curious to know that as well, honestly..." Cerise says soft yet higher tone than his canine form.

Mystery blinks in confusion before looking at Iris and Jimmy, who seem to be putting on their Marvel Mischiefs. "Do you two perhaps know what Pokemon he is?"

Iris shakes her head. "Nope. We're still trying to figure that out about him." She answers, sighing in relief after snapping her necklace on.

"Huh...I see. I should've known there was something strange about that Cerise fella when we first met him. I just didn't consider questioning his appearance until now..." He puts his hand against his chin, being quite peculiar about the blob as Mark walks towards Anna. "Interesting to note that about him..."

Gonel blinks for a moment before gasping to herself. "Ah yes, note!" She says before taking out a notepad and quil from her stomach, beginning to write on the notepad. "Day 100 of my life as a Savior Unit: This is just in, an unknown Pokemon undergoing form transformation. A witness to be shocked by." The Dusknoir mumbles to herself before giggling, leading Ebony to sweatdrop at her behavior.

"Here're your earrings, Anna." Mark says, carrying the yellow earrings in his hands. Anna lifts her head down, allowing the Riolu to put the earrings on the Ninetales' ears.

"Thanks, Mark." The Ninetales says, smiling warmly at Mark.

"Well since we're all healed up thanks to the Zorua, we can continue onwards now." Ebony says in a bit of an impatient tone. Mystery looks at her and nods.

"Indeed, sis." Mystery says, him being the first to move ahead of the group after picking up Cocoon. Ebony follows second, then Iris, and now everyone else. Jimmy puts the Mudkip on his back, making sure that he's holding on tight.

"Everything will be fine, little fella." The Heracross says, smiling at the Mudkip as he cheers him up. The Mudkip sniffles, clinging to the Heracross in a feeble manner. As Jimmy and the others exit the pathway, they notice that the crystals change back to their original colors again. "Hmm?" Everyone looks behind them to see that the pathway is brightly lit with purple lights and the right pathway not being present, leading the left pathway to become a singular pathway.

"I knew that this cave used to have one pathway. Because I would've seen the other one by now." Ebony says, staring at the pathway in suspicion. "I suppose that one of those Supernova Gales must had setup an illusion. To make us think that there's two pathways in Zero Cave."

"But that doesn't explain the crystals lights being turned off, though." Anna points out, tilting her head in a peculiar manner.

Ebony squints her eyes at the pathway. "Good point...hmm..."

"Oh who cares about that now, mate? There's an exit right ahead of us!" Lucas proclaims, abrupting his way into the conversation. Everyone looks in front of them to see light ahead, eagerness filling throughout their bodies.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get to that entrance quickly before something nasty happens!" Gonel says in excitement, being the first to rush off towards the entrance.

"Oi! Wait up, mate!" Lucas follows along before everyone else joins him and the Dusknoir. During so, Helena slithers in a calm pacing, showing a grimsome look on her face.

So...you join an unknown criminal organization, I see... The Milotic thinks to herself, stopping for a moment. You're giving me more reasons to despise you, Sebastian... She sighs heavily, staring off to the crystals melancholily. She then proceeds onward to catch up with the others.

. . .

The Aegislash punches and throws several Tyranitars with no remorse as he screams in frustration within the dark world known as the Corruption Realm. "WE ALMOST HAD IT! WE ALMOST COMPLETED OUR OBJECTIVES!" Yuki screeches, seeing the Tyranitars falling down to the bleak, dark ground. "ALMOST!"

The Gales jump from the Aegislash's rage, all feeling the amount of discomfort within their bodies. "Whoa there, boss! Chillax, will ya?" Tron says, his eyes widening in shock.

"Y-Yes, my lord. It's best if you just calm down and take a deep br-" The Mismagius' voice is cut off by Yuki's cold, deadly glance. "Eek!" Misstrike whimpers, shielding her face in petrification.

Yuki glares at the Gales for a moment, breathing menacingly due to anger. He then lets out a heavy sigh and looks away from the group, switching into his Shield form. "At least we accomplished one of our objectives..." He says before taking his attention towards Sheer, who seems to be beside Tron. "The Force Shatter Cloyster."

Sheer looks up at the Aegislash, raising his brow suspiciously at him. "How did you know about my Mythical Power...?" Sheer asks in a cautious manner.

Yuki laughs softly, floating towards the Cloyster. "Sheer, was it? We've been watching you ever since you met Iris and her friends." Yuki puts his fingers against each other sinisterly, having them in front of him. "After examining the usefulness of your Mythical Power, we consider you to be a great addition to our organization."

"...You believe so?"

"Certainly. With your MP, you can help us cripple that group of Pokemon that shattered every hope of your dream goal. After all, this can be considered as sweet revenge on them, correct?"

Sheer looks off to the side for a moment, sighing heavily. "Unfortunately, I would be of no use to you due to my barb being broken..." He says, glaring at the ground.

Yuki looks at Misstrike and tilts his head slightly towards the Cloyster. Misstrike nods and floats towards Sheer, her eyes turning pure black. Sheer looks at the Mismagius, blinking in confusion. "Hmm?" He says before Misstrike touches his broken barb, proceeding to heal it. "What is she..." He soon notices the barb slowly beginning to extend, the cracks no longer being present on them as they once used to be. "Oh...?" Misstrike then removes her ghostly 'hand' from the Cloyster's barb, the barb now being large and fixed.

"Problem solved. Now then, do you consider joining us?"

Sheer looks at the Aegislash, thinking deeply to himself. "...I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I should even trust you folks."

"Ah yes, the betrayal from Trent the Lucario, isn't it? We can help you get revenge on him as well, if you consider the offer."

Sheer glares at the Aegislash. "Look, I appreciate the offers, but I'm not interested. This seems too abnormal for me to believe."

"Even after we have interest in you and rescued you from potentially being sent to prison for life?" Yuki shakes his head. "That hurts my feelings, Sheer. That hurts all of our feelings."

"Oh my feelings are fine and dandy, sir!" Tron shouts in exaggeration. Yuki slowly looks at him, giving him the death stare of his life. Tron looks towards Nexus beside him, scratching the side of his head. "Oh jeez, why you say that, Nexus?" Nexus looks at the Raichu before rolling his eyes, folding his arms while croaking.

Yuki sighs and looks back at the Cloyster. "Alright then. Even if you're not interested in joining us, you still have no choice. Since we've basically shown you our hideout...Wouldn't want an outsider knowing our whereabouts, would we?" The Aegislash says, tapping his fingers together in a steady pace. "Besides...you're a criminal. You'll be running endlessly from the law. No home or shelter can protect you from them. Not even your loved ones." Yuki then stops the tapping, staring into Sheer's eyes coldly. "Your life is meaningless once you've defied the law."

Dead silence strikes the conversation, Sheer's eyes widening in pure terror. The Cloyster trembles in place, looking at the ground and recounting the decisions he made throughout his past. The decisions that leads him to this moment. Alro and Clemence look at each other, feeling quite satisfied by what they're witnessing. "Oh I like where this is going." Alro says, putting his tendril hand against his chin.

Sebastian, Nexus, and Dead look at each other for a moment, exchanging the amount of worry towards each other. Did...we screw up by joining this organization? Nexus thinks, concerning thoughts sprawling throughout his head. The three then look back at Yuki and Sheer.

"After hearing all of those reasons, do you consider joining us? Or do you prefer death? Your choice." Yuki says, putting his hands behind his back. Sheer continues staring at the ground for a moment, inhaling all the air in before exhaling them in disbelief. He then looks at Yuki and nods.

"Yes...I will join your organization." Sheer says firmly.

"Good."

Within a flash, Sheer's eyes turns pure black, the Cloyster gasping repeatedly as if he's having a hard time breathing. "Wh-What in the-" He soon stops gasping, his eyes reverting back to normal. He looks to the side to see Misstrike's dark eyes reverting back to their normal red color, the Mismagius giggling afterwards. "Wh-What did you do to me...?"

"Let's just say I connected your soul to mine. That way, whenever you try to escape or betray us, I can always teleport you back to us." Misstrike explains, sticking her tongue out playfully. "In other words: This ensures your eternal stay in the Supernova Gale. You're with us forever...and ever..." The Mismagius giggles once more, leading Sheer to become concern of her.

"...I...see."

"Welcome to the Supernova Gale, Sheer. We hope that you enjoy your stay. If not, well..." Yuki pauses for a moment. "...that'll be very unfortunate for you."

As the rest of the Gales, except for Dead, Nexus, and Sebastian, go to congratulate Sheer for joining their team, Sebastian looks off to the side with a tense look on his face. The Serperior thinks about what Helena said to him and Misstrike's mentioning of the eternal stay in the organization, leading him to glance at the ground. ...Shit...

End of Chapter 21.