Through the Portal

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

While Emile thought that, Toshiya nudged Die discreetly, frowning at Kyo who was looking at Shinya's writhing form with pain in his eyes.

"What's with him, Die?"

"I have no idea. He didn't tell me anything." The guitarist returned, frowning as well. He really hoped what he thought wasn't right. If so, this would cause a grave problem for the band, maybe even more than Shinya's state.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

All of a sudden, Bill found himself inside a purple, deserted area, looking confused. He looked around, trying to keep himself calm, knowing that if he lost his cool, he would not survive this ordeal.

"Where am I??" He muttered, frowning in confusion. He walked around a bit but soon, he realized that he couldn't take too many steps or he'd hit a wall.

"What the hell?? Will someone let me--"

Just as he was about to finish his angry words, a voice came into his ears. Oddly enough, it seemed to be coming from inside his mind.

"I have taken you, Bill." The unseen person said in a calm, echoing voice.

"W-what?! But who are you?! What do you want from me?!" The vocalist asked and then, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Are you... Are you the Sphere of Death?! But I broke free of your possession!!"

"Not entirely. And I shall take you back and break free of my seal."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kiro finally relaxed after hearing from Luminor that Shin was okay. He only hoped that they could bring the younger man out of Darkrai's evil influence. Then, Strify's voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you alright, Kiro?"

"Yes, I'm just fine. Was just thinking of how we're going to get Shin out of this whole mess." Kiro replied, smiling at his best friend's concern.

"You think too much, Kiro, you need your rest." Yu said, snorting at the older man.

Just then, Minun and Poochyena came in with the former looking panicked. The rest looked at the distressed Cheering Pokémon in concern.

"Plsule, Plus??" Kiro's Plusle jumped off the bassist's bed going straight to the other Cheering Pokémon.

"Minun, Mi~, Minun!!"

"What's wrong, little Minun? Is Bill in danger or something??" Yu asked gently. To their dismay, Minun nodded fervently, looking just about ready to cry. Yu gently picked the scared Minun up and put him down to Kiro's bed. The bassist gently smiled at the small Pokémon, trying to soothe him with his gaze alone.

"We'll find a way to bring your trainer back to you, Minun. Don't you worry, alright?"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - the dungeons~

Robin tried hard to untie his hands as he sat in a cell with an older man. He swore it couldn't been too long since Kiro had made him black out but he couldn't be sure about it. Then, one of the broken minions came in front of the cell he was in.

"W-who are you?!"

"You may call me Georg." The man said, his Magmar looking at him smugly as well.

"Magmar~, Mag."

"Where's Kiro?! What'd you do to him!?"

"Your friend Kiro has no chance to live after we're done with him." Georg said, narrowing his eyes. He was obviously agitated at the name of the bassist. Robin paused, not knowing what to do.

"What do you mean?! What did Kiro ever do to you?!" The breeder asked, worried about his friend. He didn't want to think about what these people wanted to do to Kiro. But he believed that Kiro was the right one.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

"I-I won't let you take me! You're not even human!! And Tom and the others need me too much for me to give the hell up!" Bill said, trying to be brave for the sake of his twin and bandmates.

"You are not free of my curse, so to speak. In fact, you are closer to become mine than anything, Bill Kaulitz." The Sphere of Death said, still too calm to be afraid.

"What?! Think Bill, think!! What would Tom do in this situation?!" Bill muttered, holding his head. The only thing that came to his mind was to stay as brave as he could, nothing else. He just hoped that his Minun or Tom weren't in a similar state or they would be in a deep mess.

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin slowly sipped his soda as he thought of what to say to his old friends. He didn't want to offend them anymore, oddly enough. That was then, Weavile finally was awakened. The Sharp Claw Pokémon looked around and seeing Romeo and Luminor who were wary of him, he cried out, ready to attack them.

"Weavile, stop." Shin whispered, not really able to stop himself. Opponents or not, Shin didn't want to kill them. Not anymore.

"Vile??" Weavile turned to him in shock, not understanding why his trainer got the cold feet all of a sudden.

"They saved us, Weavile, despite what we've done."

"Shin..." Romeo whispered, smiling at the younger man. He was happy that the drummer was finally starting to see the truth. But it didn't work as Weavile glared at his trainer and attacked the nearest to him, Luminor, anyways.

"Ouch!" The keyboardist exclaimed as the Sharp Claw Pokémon tried to slash at his chest like he did to Kiro. But he was thrown off the older man by Chandelure who looked pissed off at the attack on her trainer. Shin's eyebrows rose at the view.

"Where did that come from?!" The drummer asked, surprised.

"Thanks, Chandelure. Shin, this is Chandelure. She saved my life from one of Darkrai's attacks." Luminor said, smiling at his surprise.

"Chan~, Chandelure!" The Luring Pokémon stayed close to Luminor, not really liking the man on the bed.

"N-nice to meet you, I guess..." Shin said hesitantly. On one hand, she was a hindrance to his quest. But on the other hand, this Pokémon had saved Luminor's life, making a part of him very glad for her existence.

Just as Weavile was about to ready another attack this time on Romeo, Strify came running into the room with a Sphere of Death in his hand, looking panicked.

"What's the matter, Andreas?"

"It's Bill, he's inside the Sphere of Death!!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Toshiya frowned even more as he watched Kyo stay by Shinya's prone body. Die had gone to get Kaoru back to the room and get him to share what he had found and he and the vocalist were the only ones in the room as Die had wanted to get Emile there as well. He had tried to talk to the vocalist more than once but Kyo hadn't even turned to look at him or indicate that he had indeed heard the bassist at all.

"What the hell is going on with you, Kyo?! You can't just ignore me without a freaking reason here!" He exclaimed and at that, Kyo turned to him with genuine anger in his eyes.

"Oh really?! And you think you don't deserve that?!" The vocalist whispered, looking so angry and hurt that Toshiya took a step back in shock.

"K-Kyo? What did I do wrong? Please, just talk to me man!" He said, looking really startled at the look in Kyo's eyes.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"This is bad... This is really bad, guys." Yomi muttered, looking at the trapped teenager inside the Sphere of Death who had his back turned to them.

"Yeah, definitely. Anyone has any ideas how to bring him out of this thing?" Asked Ruka, frowning.

Everyone shook their heads, all of them confused. Then, Bill moved inside the Sphere, looking straight at them. His eyes widened and he started mouthing something at them.

"I think he's trying to say something, guys." Yasuno muttered, frowning.

"Yeah, but what?!"

"I think we should bring this to Tom. Maybe he'll understand what his twin is saying."

"I think he's going to freak out though, they're pretty close, after all."

~Meanwhile with Tom~

Tom frowned in worry as he couldn't feel Bill in the room anymore. He could feel him only ten minutes ago and now, his twin's soul seemed to have vanished for some reason. He just hoped his brother was alright. Especially after everything he had gone through for him and the others.

"I wish you were here, Gustav, Georg... You'd have given me a much needed support right now..." Tom whispered, tears in his eyes. He knew Georg and Gustav were still in there, trapped inside their own minds and it hurt him like nothing else. Especially since now he needed their support so much.

That was then, Yasuno and Luminor came into the room, one of them holding a Sphere of Death, looking hesitant and concerned. Tom immediately looked up, worried.

"What's wrong??"

"It's about Bill, Tom. But you need to stay calm. For him if nothing else, okay?" Luminor said cautiously, scaring Tom further.

"What's going on?! What happened to Bill!?"

Yasuno only responded by holding out the Sphere of Death to Tom. Confused, Tom carefully took the Sphere and looked into it only to get shocked as he saw his twin in there.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill turned around only to see his twin looking at him through a black, hazy wall. His eyes widened at the sight of Tom looking at him with a mixture of shock and fear.

"Tom!! Help me! I can't get out by myself!"

It didn't seem to cause much effect as Tom and others kept staring at him which disappointed and scared Bill even more.

"They cannot hear you. I will not let that." The Sphere of Death's words made Bill whirl around, looking cautiously around.

"At least show yourself! I will fight you till the very end!"

~Meanwhile with Tom~

Tom's eyes filled with tears upon seeing his little brother imprisoned inside the Sphere of Death. He felt like he should've been the one to be in there instead of Bill.

"Tom? Are you okay? You need to stay strong, for him if nothing else." Luminor said gently, understanding his pain.

"Yeah, Bill-san would want that of you and so would other friends of yours." Yasuno added, looking concerned about the young guitarist.

"I should've been there instead of him... Bill never deserved this..." Tom whispered in a thick voice, distressed, his eyes never leaving Bill's small form.

That was then, time seemed to have stopped. They all looked around with confusion only to see a big, blue Pokémon coming up to them.

"W-who are you?! W-what do you want with us?!" Yasuno asked, looking panickedly at the Pokémon.

"I am Dialga. You have quite the situation here, thanks to Darkrai, do you not?"

Tom flinched at that, looking back down at the Sphere in his hand.

"Do not worry, there is a way to bring your brother out of the Sphere of Death. But you need all of your friends to manage that."

~Meanhwile in Darkrai's fortress~

Kaoru thankfully returned before Kyo could say anything, making the singer turn around without even glancing at the lead guitarist. Kaoru didn't seem to notice anything was wrong but Toshiya understood this time, he was mad at both of them for hitting him.

But even though that could cause more problems for the band, the bassist couldn't find anything wrong with how they had treated Kyo. After all, he was the reason for Shinya's current situation.

"Did you find anything, Kaoru-kun?" He asked to the guitarist, hoping that the older man could say something positive.

"Yeah. If we somehow manage to find a Reaper Cloth and soak it in the victim's blood, one of us will be able to get into Shinya's mind and hopefully bring him out of this situation. But it's apparently quite a deadly way." Kaoru replied, frowning as Shinya kept whimpering in fear and pain.

Kyo almost flinched at the look Kaoru was sending him, it was accusing and almost hateful. But he kept himself in check as he resolved to never talk to the older guitarist and the bassist. Kaoru frowned at the reaction he'd gotten from the vocalist, not having expected that.

"Umm, any ideas how to find a Reaper Cloth though?" Asked Die, looking worried. Everyone looked at eachother, also worried. All except Emile who was deep in thought. He knew they were in Sinnoh region so he tried to remember where the Reaper Cloth could be found.

"Umm, I think you can find one in Acuity Lakefront, if I'm right..." The young man said, frowning slightly as he hoped he was still right since there was a life at stake in this.

~Meanwhile with Tom~

"But how can I bring them out of this alone?! I'm-I'm injured and I really don't know what to do!" Tom said, looking so pained it almost hurt to watch.

"You need to trust people with it. They will help you if you help them." Was all Dialga said before vanishing and returning the time flow back to normal.

"Trust people with what?! Way to be subtle, Dialga..." Tom muttered, looking slightly annoyed.

"I think what he meant was for you to trust us to bring your bandmates back to you..." Yasuno said with a frown. He did want to help Tom along with his bandmates and new friends. But he wasn't sure if it was what the Temporal Pokémon meant.

~Meanwhile with Shin~

"How the hell did Bill manage to get inside the Sphere of Death of all things?!" Shin asked in confusion. He never had thought it was possible to get locked inside a sphere, magical or not.

"I don't know, Shin. But if someone doesn't act soon, Bill will probably die..." Romeo said, looking sad.

"Can't his twin, you know, help or something?"

"Weavile!!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon cried from his confines which Romeo's Muk and Luminor's Chandelure had gladly put him into.

"Tom's really injured, Marcel. I doubt he'd be able to get up let alone getting Bill out of the situation he's in." Romeo replied, shaking his head.

"He's that hurt?! What the hell happened to both of them?!" Shin asked, shocked.

"Tom was already injured when we first came in thanks to the Sphere of Death launching an attack on him but then, he took off to find Bill and try to save him on his own. I think Tom's like Kiro in that sense, doesn't know when to give himself a rest when it's his friends or relatives that are in trouble." Said Romeo.

"Yeah, Tom made his wound much worse by running away from here to find Bill."

"But how do you think Bill will get out of this insane situation?"

"Wish I knew, Marcel. Wish I knew..." Luminor muttered.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

Not too long later, Georg went away, looking smug as he was sure that Robin and the old man wouldn't be able to get out. But Robin had another thing in mind for that. He knew if he chafed those ropes holding his hands, he could have a chance in getting himself and the other man out of there.

"Don't try that." The man said in a defeated voice as he managed to go to the nearest wall, ready to chafe those annoying ropes off of himself.

"Why not?! If we don't do something, we're going to die here!" The breeder said, frowning at the man.

"They will know you're doing that immediately... There's no chance of us escaping here..." The older man whispered, looking brokenly at Robin.

"I'm not giving up like you. I will get away from here, my new friend needs me."

~Meanwhile in Shinya's room~

"Thanks for the tip, Emile-san. But where is that Acuity Lakefront you speak of?" Die asked, looking at the younger man who got nervous all of a sudden.

"If I remember right, it's a place right before the Snowpoint City." Emile said, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh great how the hell are we going to find it now?!" Toshiya groaned, knowing the place the young gamer was talking about was a long way to the north.

"We will get it though. The problem is, I don't think any of us wants to hurt Shinya more than he already has been thanks to Kyo."

Again, Kyo only just managed to keep his emotionless mask on by sheer willpower. He knew it was his fault for making Shinya take the blame but they really didn't need to rub it in his face like that so often. That was then, it occured to Kyo that if he volunteered, he'd be away from their painful stares and words at least for a little while. He decided to go for it.

"I think I can go to that Lake Acuity and see if I can find anything..." The vocalist said in a nearly emotionless mutter. That made Die turn to him in worry. The rhythm guitarist seemed to have understood why Kyo wanted to go himself despite being so afraid of Darkrai's wrath.

"Are you sure, Kyo? If Darkrai catches you, this might turn ugly."

"I don't care. I need to be away from here at the very least. Away from them." Kyo said, pointing to the other two with his head.

Kaoru's eyes widened at that, shocked. He had never expected Kyo to say something like that. Only now, the lead guitarist was beginning to understand why Kyo was not talking to them at all. Toshiya looked shocked as well, also not expecting those words from Kyo.

"I-I'll come with you to there so that you have an easier time to find the Reaper Cloth, if that's fine by you." Emile said, looking really uncomfortable now. Kyo just nodded and got out of the room with the gamer trailing awkwardly behind him.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

At that, a white light shone in front of Bill, slowly taking shape. Bill shielded his eyes from the brightness, slightly scared all of a sudden. After the light subsided, the vocalist reluctantly opened his eyes only to see a young, black man about his age standing in front of him.

"If you still want to, I shall battle with you." The young man said in the voice of the Sphere of Death. Bill's eyes widened at that, understanding that the Sphere had surprisingly accepted his offer.

"I will give you one chance. If you win, you may be able to free yourself. But if you lose, I shall take your soul instantly and you shall become mine forever."

"I-I..."

"What is wrong? Are you suddenly afraid by chance? Then I shall go back and slowly take you."

"W-Wait! I'll... I'll fight you! Just give me a chance, okay?"

"Okay. Then you shall fight me, a Master of Darkness." The Sphere of Death said, looking coolly at the nervous vocalist. Bill gulped slightly but he wasn't about to back down from the fight. Not when the price was this high.

~Meanwhile with Tom~

"But I don't even know you guys! How can I trust some people I've never even known with something this important to me?!" Tom said, frowning. He hadn't thought it was offending to the people before him but Yasuno looked not very happy with what the teenager guitarist was saying.

"Are you thinking that we will betray you or something? Cause trust me, we won't. Most of us have brothers back home ourselves, we know how it would feel to have our little, or big, brothers taken away from us, all nineteen of us." The drummer said, looking offended.

"I'm... I'm sorry I just-- Wait, are there more of you than the ones at the cavern?!" Tom said, eyes wide in surprise. Yasuno snorted at the look on his face.

"Hai, there are. I'd call them here but some of the others are with Kiro-san and the others are searching for some Shoal Salts for the cure as we speak. So yeah, we already are trying to help you guys in the first place."

Tom paused at that, frowning slightly. He didn't even know these people and apparently, they were already trying to help him.

"I'll call the ones that are with Kiro now, okay?" Said Luminor, frowning. Tom nodded wordlessly at that, still looking into the Sphere where another guy had joined. Luminor left the room only to not go into Kiro's room but first, Shin's room, feeling that something was amiss. And when he came into the room, he froze in shock.

Shin's lifeless red eyes were staring at him with Romeo outcold and bleeding on the floor with his Muk and Luminor's Chandelure fainted beside him.

Luminor took a step back, looking shocked. Then it occured to him to go to Romeo's side. The keyboardist immediately ran to the other man's side, yelling for a doctor to come help Romeo. And then, he looked back at Shin only to find him inches away from him, ready to stab him as well. He staggered back, unsettled by the dead look in his friend's eyes.

"S-Shin! Come to yourself! You-You wouldn't want to hurt anyone!!" Luminor stuttered, trying to crawl away from him. That as then, thankfully, the doctors came along with Yu and Strify who looked shockedly at the drummer.

"Will you guys help?! He's not himself!!" Luminor yelled, about to get hurt by the still advancing youngest. Shin's Weavile stood right behind him, obviously smirking at his ineffectiveness at bringing the drummer back to his senses.

"Weavile~!"

Then, Yu immediately jumped on Shin, taking the small surgical knife in his hand away. He tried to restrain Shin but for some reason, the drummer was much more powerful than his normal strength.

"Marcel! Come on, come to your senses!" The guitarist yelled as the doctors took Romeo away from the room. At Yu's voice, Shin only shook slightly, as if something was preventing him from getting back to his senses.

"Vile~, Weavile!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon cried out from behind Yu, ready to free his trainer and let him hurt them.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

"But how am I going to be able to fight?! I don't have any Pokémon with me here!" Bill asked after dodging at least three Psycho Cuts from a Gallade the Sphere of Death had summoned. The Sphere of Death only laughed.

"But you do have a Pokémon. You only need to summon her." The young man said in an eerie voice, smiling at Bill as if the vocalist was too dumb to understand the basics.

Bill frowned at that but in the next moment, he was finally hit by a strong Leaf Blade. He gasped as he fell onto his knees but then, the words of the entity finally made sense.

"Y-Yamask..." He whispered and right then, a white light shone again, signalling the arrival of the Spirit Pokémon, right beside Bill. Bill's eyes widened in surprise, he wasn't exactly happy to see Yamask again, especially after remembering how much of a sick person he had become in the effects of the serum.

"Ya, Yamask~!!" The Spirit Pokémon cried out, obviously intimidated by the young man in front of them. It was obvious to Bill that the Pokémon was actually scared. He turned to the scared Yamask and talked to her with a soft voice.

"Listen Yamask, we need to get this Gallade to faint, alright? I know you can do this. I know you are scared and so am I but we can't give up, Tom and the others need me too much for me to lose right now so please beat this opponent for me."

"Yamask~..." Yamask uttered and slowly, she nodded, getting ready to fight.

"Let us see if you can save your soul, Bill Kaulitz, shall we?"

~Meanwhile in Shoal Cave~

Yomi, Ruki, Keiyuu and Shou went into the Shoal Cave with Eevee and Mightyena trailing behind them, having learned the directions from the locals. They also had gotten a copy of the paper Luminor had showed them that had the cure's ingredients.

"So what do we need?" Keiyuu asked, looking at Ruki who currently had the paper in his hand.

"We need three Shoal Salts and that's all from here, I think." The second shortest vocalist said, looking into the paper.

"I really hope there aren't too many wild Pokémon here, or else, this will be pretty bad as we only have two Pokémon here..." Said Keiyuu, slightly nervous.

"Hey, look at it the better way, one of us might get his partner Pokémon here and better yet, we could actually find a Sphere in here, like two goals in one hit!" Yomi said, patting the younger vocalist's shoulder.

~Meanwhile with Kyo and Emile~

Emile frowned as he watched Kyo go out of the castle without even taking precautions lest the Pitch Black Pokémon caught him. He didn't know what had occured between the short man and his friends but from deep inside, he wanted to help him and that man who was laying in that bed in that room.

"Where do we go from here?"

"Uhh..." Emile muttered, not really knowing where they were in the first place. Kyo sighed in annoyance, realizing that Emile didn't know where the city they needed to go to was.

"You don't know, do you?"

"I would probably know if I knew where we are in the first place." Emile said, not looking happy about how the singer had worded the question. Kyo frowned at that.

"I... think we are close to Celestic Town, does that help any?"

Emile frowned in concentration, trying to remember where to go from there. Then he lightened up and led the way all the while hoping that Jon and Tim could hold on a bit longer.

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

"Hannes, watch out!!" Luminor yelled as the Sharp Claw Pokémon jumped at the guitarist. Thankfully, the other man had managed to get away from the dangerous Pokémon as help came for Romeo and him.

The doctors hardly managed to restrain Weavile as the Sharp Claw Pokémon was a danger to everyone around him. Weavile cried for Shin as the drummer stood there with no emotion on his face. But as soon as he heard Weavile, he snapped up and hit the doctor nearest to him, making him black out from the extra strong blow.

But right then, Ruka and Strify both helped the remaining doctors to keep Shin in check. But as the drummer tried to get free, growling like an animal, he hit Ruka hard in the face, making the older drummer stagger a little.

"Satoru! Daijoubu ka?!" Hitsugi asked in worry. The older man nodded, wincing slightly as he felt his right eye going black.

"Weavile is doing something to him!"

~Meanwhile in the Shoal Cave~

"What does a Shoal Salt even look like?!" Ruki muttered, irritated as he kept going at the small group's back.

"I dunno, but we have a problem..." Shou said, staring at the small team of Pokémon that were coming onto them.

~Meanwhile in Tom's room~

While the four of them tried to restrain Shin, Sakito went to Tom's room to inform Yasuno and Tom about the situation and hopefully, learning something that would help them by Tom. He told them shortly about what happened in the room and as soon as he finished, both of the other men paled in shock and in Yasuno's case, distress.

"Say what?!" The drummer exclaimed, scared for the safety of his own bandmates.

"Yeah, Shin-san's gone totally insane. Tom-san, if you know anything to counter this, please share it with us." Sakito said, very serious. Tom though, shook his head.

"I've never even heard of something like that happening, to be honest with you." The younger guitarist said, frowning in confusion.

"I-I've gotta go check if the others are alright, right now!" Yasuno said and ran out of the door, worried about his bandmates.

"So who're you anyways?" Tom asked Sakito, curiously looking at him.

"Oh, I've never introduced myself, ne? I'm Sakito, the lead guitarist of the band Nightmare. Nice to meet you, Tom-san." Sakito said, bowing slightly.

"Nice to meet you too, Sakito. I wish we could've met in a better condition..." Tom said, once again looking at the Sphere of Death which had his twin imprisoned.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

"Yamask, use Will-o-Wisp on that Leafeon!" Bill exclaimed as he dodged another flurry of attacks. The Spirit Pokémon nodded timidly and formed a pink, light blue and dark blue fireball and sent it at Leafeon who almost managed to dodge but didn't quite manage it as Yamask controlled the fireball with her mind.

"Good. Now that it's burned, use Shadow Ball!" Bill said, hoping against hope that he would prevail over this fight. It was too big to lose after all.

"You are good, human, I will give you that. But you will not win. Leafeon, use Leaf Blade." The Sphere of Death commanded. The Verdant Pokémon didn't hesitate and sent the attack, making Yamask crash into one of the barriers that separated Bill and real world. The barrier that Bill despised.

"You're not going to win, I won't let you! I can't!!"

~Meanwhile in the Shoal Cave~

The small group stopped and stared at the small herd of Pokémon which were closing the entrance to the deeper parts of the cave where they had a chance to find the much needed Shoal Salts. But when they noticed the four men who were looking at them intently, they formed a small wall between the entrance and the group. Yomi whined at that.

"Oh come on! You need to let us pass through!!" The shortest vocalist said, looking as unhappy as the rest of them.

"Sableye~! Sab, Sableye~!" The obvious leader amongst them cried, looking at them suspiciously. But then, its eyes fell on Ruki who was wearing a slightly shiny, purple shirt and it stopped short.

"Eevee~!" Yomi's Eevee cried out at the Darkness Pokémon, trying to make them understand why they were there and what they were doing. But the leader's eyes were still on Ruki, making him a little nervous.

"W-what are you looking at me for??" Ruki said and in the next moment, he found himself on the ground with the little Pokémon hanging on him.

"W-what the hell?! Ruki-senpai, are you alright?!" Shou asked, panicking slightly.

~Meanwhile with Kyo and Emile~

After a lot of walking, Kyo and Emile had made it to the outskirts of Snowpoint City. But as they had walked a lot, they both were tired. Emile looked up only to see a bench in the snow and they went straight to it, cleaning it of snow and sat down on it. After a while, Emile, since he was never one to stay quiet for long, tried to strike a conversation with his new companion.

"So, why are your friends shunning you?"

Kyo flinched, remembering the cry for help Shinya had let out before getting dragged away by Darkrai's minions. Emile winced at the expression on the vocalist's face, only then, realizing that was not a good subject to bring up.

"You know the person I'm doing this for, Shinya?" Kyo said in a barely above a whisper tone. Emile nodded at that, he knew how bad the young man in that tower was.

"I... I let him get hurt by Darkrai... The rest of them didn't let me keep to myself and they now hate me." Kyo summarized, not really wanting to get into details and the younger man that was beside him nodded, understanding there was more to it but not wanting to push Kyo too far.

"Well, then maybe as soon as you find the Reaper Cloth, you will be able to save your friend and they will forgive you?"

Kyo managed a small smile at the optimism of the young gamer. But he knew that Kaoru and Toshiya would never really forgive him for what he had done to Shinya. But inwardly, he didn't mind. Not after what they had said to him.

"We should go, there's a Reaper Cloth we need to find here!" Emile said, getting up from the bench. Kyo nodded and got up as well, hoping they'd find the cloth soon.

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin didn't know where he was. Everywhere around him was a complete blackness, as if he was in space. He had a bad feeling that he was hurting someone as he could feel his body moving on its own.

"I-I need to wake up!" He exclaimed, scared of the darkness that seemed to be slowly swallowing him. But just as he was attempting to, Weavile appeared.

"Trying to leave so soon, Shin?"

"What are you doing to my body?!"

"Just borrowing it for something." Weavile said, smirking at his worry. That was then, Shin realized he might very well be hurting his friends.

"Oh no..."

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Yasuno hurried into the room, scared for his bandmates and saw something horrible. One of the doctors was lying on the floor from the blow he'd gotten and Shin was struggling to get free, his red eyes looking dead. The drummer gasped in shock at the view.

"Yasuno-kun! Help us, will you?!" Yuura yelled, trying hard to hold onto Shin. Yasuno immediately nodded, running beside his friend to hold Shin's flailing arms.

"Weavile~! Vile!!" His Weavile cried out triumphantly, as if he was somehow controlling the younger drummer.

"I'm thinking that if we made Weavile faint, he'd come back!" Yasuno said as he struggled to hold onto Shin so he wouldn't hurt anyone.

"But how?! We don't have a Fire-type Pokémon here!"

That was then, Minun and Plusle both came into the room, having heard the commotion and got shocked.

"Minun~!" The blue Cheering Pokémon cried out in surprise at the situation. Plusle was too shocked to even cry at the situation.

"Vile, Weavile!"

"Plusle~! Plus, Plusle!!"

That was then Yu turned to the two cheering Pokémon with desperation in his eyes. He didn't see another way to solve their problem. Weavile had to go down somehow.

"Can you two help us knock this vile Pokémon out?"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress, two hours later~

Shinya sobbed as the others tended to Kyo who was severely injured. Toshiya tried to comfort the younger man, knowing it was mostly his and Kaoru's fault that Kyo was laying there, unresponsive to his friends' touch and with a huge, gaping and bleeding wound on his chest.

"What happened, Shinya? What did this to him?!" Toshiya asked as he held the grieving drummer to himself, trying to be a rock that the younger man could hold onto.

"T-there was a-a monster... I-in my mind! K-Kyo tried to stop it from h-harming me further and just..." The drummer couldn't continue, sobbing again.

"Shinya, he's going to be alright. Kyo is strong, you know that better than anyone. But you have to tell us what happened exactly, okay?"

"O-okay..."

But then, Kyo whimpered in pain, finally reacting to Kaoru's touch. They all crowded the vocalist, all hoping that he'd wake up. But it didn't happen, much to their disappointment.

"H-how did he even find a way to get inside my mind?!" Shinya whispered, still distressed.

"Kaoru found a way for us to go inside and pull you out of it... Kyo... He volunteered to save you, Shinya..." Toshiya whispered, knowing very well why the shorter man had done so.

~Two hours earlier~

Kaoru and the others looked at the small purple cloth Kyo and Emile had brought back. The gamer had insisted that it was the Reaper Cloth and had left, not wanting to intrude on their mission.

"Who's going to go into Shinya's mind now?" Asked Die nervously, he hoped Kyo wouldn't do so since he knew the vocalist might get hurt. But in the next moment, his hopes shattered as Kyo came forward.

"I will. It's my fault he's in this state so I should get him out."

Kaoru and Toshiya nodded at that, knowing that it was the truth. But Die stood nervously behind the others, not wanting Kyo to endanger himself so badly.

"Tell me what I need to do, Kaoru." Kyo's voice was calm, he was obviously ready for the peril that was his mission.

Kaoru startled at the look in Kyo's eyes. The vocalist was too calm, as if he was getting ready to kill himself.

"O-okay. You need to lay the Reaper Cloth on Shinya's forehead and hold it to go into his mind. Warn him, Kyo, if he god forbid dies in there, he won't live in here either."

Kyo paled at that and nodded immediately. Then, he took the Reaper Cloth and gently laid it onto his thrashing friend's forehead, brushing his sweat matted hair out in the process.

"Be careful, Kyo..." Die whispered sadly, hoping nothing would go wrong. But half an hour later, he was proven wrong as Kyo and Shinya both started to shake and long, deep gashes began to appear on the vocalist's body.

"Something is going wrong! We need to wake Kyo up now!" Said Toshiya, panicking. Die immediately started trying to shake him and call out to him but it didn't work as a dark purple aura surrounded Kyo and Shinya. And then, more gashes appeared on Kyo's body and now the vocalist was sporting a huge gaping hole on his chest. That was then, both of them gave a gasp and Shinya awoke after three days.

"Oh my God! KYO!!" The drummer cried as he saw his old friend slump away from him, wounded and unconscious.

~Meanwhile in the Shoal Cave~

As Shou tried to help Ruki up, the other Sableye in the group surrounded them. But Mightyena stood his ground, growling at the Pokémon that were trying to harm his new trainer.

"Sableye~! Sab, Sableye~!!" The Darkness Pokémon that was holding onto Ruki cried at Mightyena, obviously not out to harm anyone. But the Bite Pokémon glared at it and growled out.

"Might~?"

The Darkness Pokémon sighed and let Ruki get up by the help of Keiyuu, confused like all of them.

"Sableye, Sab, Sableye!" The Sableye pulled at Ruki's pants, trying to lead him to somewhere.

"What do we do now? We need to find Shoal Salts, remember?!" Yomi said, frowning slightly.

"They might know where those are located, I think we should go with them at least for a while." Shou said nervously. He felt that something was amiss in the cave and after half an hour of walking in the group of Sableye's lead, they saw a horrible sight. Another Sableye, maybe a bit smaller than the ones that led them, was being crushed by a rock.

"Oh my God! That poor thing! We should help it somehow."

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill managed to narrowly dodge the Leafeon's attacks as the Verdant Pokémon sent a Giga Drain onto him, his Yamask almost fainted.

"Yamask! I believe in you! Use Shadow Ball, please!!" The young vocalist begged to the tired Spirit Pokémon, tears in his eyes. He was scared that he would never see Tom, Georg or Gustav again. Yamask looked at Bill, seeing how truly hurt her trainer really was, how scared as well.

"Yamask!" The Spirit Pokémon cried out and sent the wanted attack at Leafeon and miraculously, managed to make her opponent faint.

"What?! How is that possible?!" The Sphere of Death thundered, looking enraged. But then, it smiled, obviously preparing something bad for Bill.

"L-let me go now! You promised!!" Bill cried, looking fearfully at the entity. The Sphere of Death shook his head.

"You shall be mine only! I will not accept anything else!" Was all it said before the scenery changed slightly. He was suddenly in a clearing that was surrounded by a forest at night time.

"W-where am I?!" Bill whispered, looking around only to see a dark castle up ahead. He frowned getting up from where he had landed from his panic.

"Yamask~! Ya, Yamask~!!" His partner for the situation cried out, not liking the castle Bill was obviously going to go to.

"I know little Yamask. But I have to get out of here. Tom and the others need me!"

~Meanwhile back in the hospital~

While the most tried to keep Shin in check, Yu and Strify went straight for Weavile, knowing the Sharp Claw Pokémon had something to do with Shin's sudden, dangerous state of mind. Plusle and Minun came close to the two men who were glaring at Weavile.

"Go, Sigilyph! Let's free Marcel!"

"You too, Zangoose!"

"Plusle, Plus!"

"Mi, Minun!!"

Both Cheering Pokémon cried out as well, ready to defend Shin. The other two Pokémon cried as well, getting in front. Weavile cried out again at that, seemingly very annoyed by the interruption of his plans.

In the meantime, Kiro was anxiously listening to any of the sounds that he could hear, trying to get up silently so he could go to Shin's side to help him. But Bela seemed to have predicted that he would so she had him tied to the bed by his ankles.

"God damn it! Shin needs me, Bela! Why do you do this?!"

"Because I just know you'll get even more hurt and your friend probably wouldn't want that! Besides, didn't you send your Plusle after the threat? I'm sure she can handle it."

~Meanwhile in the Shoal Cave~

Ruki, Shou, Keiyuu and Yomi immediately ran to the huge rock that was covering the small Pokémon's body, trying to lift it. But even with the four men's strength, the rock wouldn't budge. The Sableye that was under it cried out in pain. Seeing this, Ruki kneeled down to her level, trying to soothe the poor, agonized Pokémon. She flinched away from Ruki's gentle touch, as if she was expecting more pain.

"Hey, you're gonna be alright, we'll find a way to get you out of this, okay? Don't be scared of us, please. We're just trying to help you." Ruki said, trying to soothe the scared Pokémon.

"I think I know how to do this. Mightyena, use Assurance on that rock!"

"Mightyena~." The Bite Pokémon nodded and used the said attack as gently as he could as to not crush the Darkness Pokémon more than she already was.

"Sableye!! Sab, Sableye!!" The Pokémon cried out in fear, thinking she was going to die. Ruki was quick to talk to the frightened Darkness Pokémon.

"It's okay, we're just trying to get you out of there, alright?"

And then, Yomi commanded his Eevee to use Take Down on the rock and Eevee complied, breaking half of the rock which allowed Sableye to try to move slightly.

"That's it, that's it, Sableye, you'll be out of this soon, okay?" Ruki encouraged the Darkness Pokémon to get out of the crushing rock.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"Shinya, it'll be alright, just try to calm down and tell us what happened, okay?" Kaoru said gently. He felt guilty, knowing that Kyo was half dead because of his and Toshiya's actions.

"We need to bring him out of here, now!" Die said, trying hard to keep his hand on the chest wound Kyo had. But it was hard to do so due to Kyo trying to break away from his and Kaoru's hands.

"Kyo! Stop wriggling out, we're trying to help you!"

"I-I should've tried to help him!.." Shinya whispered, haunted by whatever image that had Kyo hurt in his mind.

~Meanwhile in Shoal Cave~

While Ruki encouraged the small Darkness Pokémon, Yomi and Shou both ordered their Pokémon to attack the rock one more time so it would break and free the Pokémon from underneath it. Thankfully, at both Eevee and Mightyena's combined attacks broke the last of the rock that was entrapping the poor Pokémon.

"Sableye~..." The Pokémon whimpered and tried to get up but her legs were obviously not going to support her weight after being entrapped under the rock for who knew how long.

"Then we should carry you." Ruki said gently. But then, remembered the reason why they were in this cave.

"Shit, how are we gonna find the Shoal Salts now? I bet we're lost here..."

"Sableye, Sab, Sableye!" The Darkness Pokémon cried, pointing at another cavern. The four vocalists looked at each other and then, at the small Pokémon that was cradled in Ruki's arms.

"Do you know where they are, Sableye? Can you show the way? We need them for a very important reason." Keiyuu said gently, looking at Sableye. Sableye nodded immediately, pointing at the cavern's deeper parts.

"I think we should follow its direction. I mean, the Pokémon here would know this place better than anyone, right?" Yomi said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah. And if something happens, we have our Pokémon ready to defend us, right, Mightyena?"

"Might~!" The Bite Pokémon nodded, looking fiercely at his trainer's eyes. Shou smiled at that and Eevee did the same even though he looked more cute than fierce like his new friend.

"Then let's go!"

After a little while of walking, they found themselves in a room with white, glittering mountains of salt and shells. They all looked around with awe, not having expected to see that.

"Whoa..." Yomi breathed, looking awed at the amount of salt that was in the cavern. But that was then, their attention was grabbed by something else entirely.

"Graveler, use Earthquake!!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Plusle and Minun came side by side, both ready to use their most powerful attacks and faint the evil Pokémon. And beside them, Sigilyph and Zangoose stood by either side of the smaller of the four Pokémon.

"Sigilyph, use Air Slash!" Yu commanded as the others still tried to hold onto Shin who was slowing down a little.

"I think Weavile can't keep Shin attacking while he's fighting with you guys! Keep it up!" Ni~ya said as he dodged one of Shin's flailing arms. Strify nodded immediately.

"Okay! Zangoose, use Swords Dance!"

"Plusle!!!" The red Cheering Pokémon decided to buy the Cat Ferret Pokémon time by sending out her Thunder attack so Weavile didn't have time to react. Minun did the same as Zangoose boosted himself and got even more ready for the dangerous fight.

"Weavile~, Vile, Weavile!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon cried out angrily and sent a Dark Pulse into Sigilyph, making him almost faint in one critical hit.

"Sigilyph, are you alright?!" Yu asked with worry. Thankfully, the Avianoid Pokémon seemed to shake himself out of it and flew back to his trainer's side, making the guitarist very relieved.

"Sigi~!"

That was then, Weavile cried out in pain and almost collapsed as Shin's flailing came to a stop. The young drummer looked a bit more alive and his eyes were starting to change color.

"W-what's going on?!"

~Meanwhile with Emile~

Emile cautiously made his way towards the dungeons, thinking that his friends could be there. But as he had no Pokémon with him, he was quite a bit nervous. It was only when he fully went into the dungeons that he heard hushed voices talking.

"I hope Emile is fine..."

"I know right?! I seriously hope he doesn't do something reckless. I mean, what would we do without that goofball?!"

Emile smiled to himself as he listened to his friends' conversation. He knew they loved him but it was touching to him. It made him even more determined to save them both from the evil clutches of Darkrai.

~Meanwhile in Shoal Cave~

The whole cavern started to shake after that one command, making the four vocalists try to stay standing and in Ruki's case, trying to keep Sableye in his arms so that the little Darkness Pokémon didn't sustain more damage than she already had.

"What the hell is going on?!" Keiyuu exclaimed as he finally fell over from the earthquake. That was then, from the mountains of Shoal Salts, Gustav and his Graveler came out, smirking at the shocked men.

"You weren't expecting me to come out, did you?"

"You... You're one of Tom-san's bandmates, aren't you?! But we're trying to help you!!" Shou exclaimed, getting up from where he had landed.

"We do not want your help! So Master sent me to stop you! Graveler, let's finish them all!"

"Gra~!" The Rock Pokémon cried, smirking evilly at the four older man standing before them.

The guys looked at eachother with worry. They didn't want to harm Gustav but what other choice did they have if the young drummer wasn't going to step aside and let them help him and his friend out? That was then, the Sableye in Ruki's arms got his attention.

"What is it, Sableye? Are you uncomfortable?" Ruki asked softly, concerned. The Darkness Pokémon immediately made it known that she wanted to get down and protect them like they had saved her.

"It's okay, Sableye, you don't need to worry, okay?"

"Sableye, Sab!!"

"You want to fight?" Ruki asked with shock.

Sableye nodded fervently, wanting to repay them for protecting her. But Ruki shook his head, knowing the small Pokémon's legs were too weak to even stand let alone attack the bulky Graveler before them.

"Graveler, attack the man with the Pokémon!" Gustav exclaimed, smirking. He hadn't thought that they would be able to protect themselves as the man's focus would be on the small Pokémon.

"Ruki-senpai, abunai!!" The tallest of them yelled as Sableye actually leaped out of the short man's arms, trying to stand on her own and obviously protective of her new friends, much to their surprise.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"I-I think he's starting to fight it!" Yu said, running besides his now fallen friend. Shin whimpered at his touch but didn't, couldn't open his eyes.

"Shin! Marcel, wake up!!"

As Yu and Strify tried to wake the youngest up, Luminor immediately decided to stop and go to Kiro's room in case the bassist had gotten up again. It was after he got into the room that his eyes widened with amusement. The short bassist was still in bed, sulking at a rather smug Bela with his ankles tied onto the bedpost.

"Would you look at that, Kiro, I never though you had it in you." Luminor said, grinning teasingly.

When the keyboardist said that, Kiro immediately turned to him with wide, shocked eyes, much to Luminor's amusement.

"W-what do you mean?! I-I swear we weren't doing anything! Wait a minute... What the hell are you doing here?! Is Shin alright?!" Kiro asked frantically.

At that, Luminor looked down, not knowing how to explain Shin's current state.

"Lars!!"

"He... I don't know what happened, Karsten. One moment he was attacking us and the next, he was on the ground, fainted. The others are trying to wake him up so I came here to tell you about what happened."

Kiro's eyes widened at that, thoroughly concerned about their youngest friend. Then Bela spoke up, frowning lightly.

"I think I'll get the other doctors to run a test on him to try and understand what happened to him. Is that fine with you?"

"Thank you, Bela. I'm sure Shin would appreciate for that." Luminor said politely and gratefully.

"Don't mention it, I've not become a doctor for nothing." The young nurse said, getting up and leaving the room.

~Meanwhile in Shoal Cave"

"You... You want to fight, Sableye?!" Ruki asked, stunned at the little Darkness Pokémon who was having trouble even standing on her own.

"Sableye, Sab! Sableye." She nodded and glared at the Graveler and his trainer who didn't seem safe with his red, gleaming eyes.

"Graveler! Use Rock Blast on that foolish Sableye! Let's trap it again!"

"Wait, it was you who trapped that poor Pokémon under that rock?!" Yomi said, wide eyed with shock and horror. Gustav nodded, grinning evilly.

"Oh you're so gonna pay for that! Mightyena, use Snarl!"

The Bite Pokémon nodded, glaring at the drummer. As he and Yomi's Eevee got ready to attack, Keiyuu tugged them back, frowning slightly.

"We need to be careful to not kill him. We're trying to help him, remember?"

"I know. But I don't think there's a way to do this gently. Not with him being this hostile." Yomi said, not liking what they had to do.

Meanwhile, Mightyena used Snarl on the Rock Pokémon as his trainer wanted of him, making Graveler slide a little away.

"Eevee, use Take Down!"

Just as Graveler focused on Eevee and Mightyena, Sableye suddenly leaped away and started using her move, Power Gem. She generated small bits of dark pink light and brought them into the gemstone on her stomach, making it glow a white-pink light and then, unleashed her full power at Graveler, making the unsuspecting Rock Pokémon fall unconscious with one hit combined with the power of the other two Pokémon with her.

"Whoa, that was... Something!"

"Now, let's collect the Shoal Salts and return. I hope everything is okay in the hospital..."

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill timidly got inside the castle only to find it was just like Darkrai's fortress. He flinched at the thought of being inside that fortress again but he knew very well that he had to for the sake of Tom and the others.

"S-show yourself! I-I'm not going to lose!" The teenager vocalist said, even though he was trembling at the very thought of losing and didn't exactly feel most confident in his abilities.

"Yamask, Ya. Yamask~!" The Spirit Pokémon beside him had seen how unconfident her trainer was feeling and nudged him with her body, trying to give him the confidence he so needed.

"Thanks, Yamask. I can't lose, not now. Not when I'm so close to getting out of this place..." Bill whispered, trying to get his determination back. Truth was, he didn't know if he would get out of the Sphere of Death one piece. But with Yamask by his side, he felt he could actually have a chance.

As Bela started to run some tests on the unresponsive body of Shin, the others stood nearby, recuperating from the vicious attack from the blond drummer.

"Are you okay, Ruka-kun?" Asked Sakito, frowning as he looked at the black eye that Shin had given him.

"Hai. It's only a black eye, that's all, Sakito. I wonder what's wrong with him though..."

~Meanwhile in Shoal Cave~

Yomi and Ruki stood back after Gustav ran away, Ruki cradling Sableye in his arms, still kind of surprised. Meanwhile the other two were searching for a good place to collect the Shoal Salts from the cavern as the mountains of it could easily bury them and their Pokémon if they disturbed it too much and caused an avalanche. Especially since Gustav had done so with his Earthquake attack beforehand.

"She sure seems comfy there, Ruki-san." Yomi commented as he looked at Sableye with a soft look in his eyes.

"Yeah. She sure saved our asses there, didn't she? She seems to trust us for some reason."

Just as he said that, Sableye cooed and snuggled more into the arms of Ruki and went to sleep right there, feeling warm and cozy. Both vocalists smiled at that.

"Aww, that is so cute!" Yomi cooed at that,smiling that Ruki had actually found a partner for himself. And then, Shou and Keiyuu returned with a sack full of Shoal Salts. And seeing the scene, they both paused, smiling.

"I think she trusts you, Ruki-senpai." Shou commented, smiling gently.

"Yes, it seems so."

"You did help her when she was trapped under that rock." Keiyuu said, understanding why the Darkness Pokémon trusted him so much.

"We should leave though, the others probably need us by now."

~Meanwhile with Tom~

Tom nervously listened for a sign of battle from Shin's room as it was close to his room. But no noise came from there anymore, worrying him. Just as he was about to panic, someone came into his room, making him look up with surprise.

"Y-you!!"

"You're coming with me, Tom." Said the stranger, coming closer to the shocked guitarist.

~10 minutes later~

"Tom-san? Are you alright?" Sakito said as he and Ni~ya came into the room and stopped short. Tom was gone and had left behind the Sphere of Death with his twin inside.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"How do we get Kyo out of this place?" Toshiya muttered, frowning. He just hoped they could bring him to hospital in time before the vocalist died of his injuries.

"I don't have any idea, actually... I just hope Darkrai doesn't catch him getting out..." Die whispered, holding the exhausted Shinya with him. Kaoru nodded.

"I think I can bring him out of here. I should do it, considering how I treated him before..." The lead guitarist whispered. Die nodded at that.

"B-be careful, please! I don't think I can take losing two of my friends, Kaoru..." Shinya breathed in exhaustion and pain. Kaoru nodded, taking Kyo into his arms and getting out of the room silently.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill swallowed hard as he went into the castle, almost holding his breath in fear that something might come up and hurt him and his temporary partner. He didn't know but he had a really bad feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Yamask~..." The Spirit Pokémon cried out silently, intimidated like her trainer.

"It'll be okay, Yamask. We just need to stay strong, okay?" Bill whispered to Yamask, trying to help her regain her courage.

"There you are, Bill." A voice came from in front of Bill and when he looked up, he froze in horror. Georg was looking at him with glowing red eyes.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Taizo exclaimed, wide eyed with shock.

"Yeah, there was no sign of Tom-san in the room, he hadn't even taken the Sphere his twin is trapped inside of. I think Darkrai's minions took him away." Sakito said, looking worried.

"We need to find him before Darkrai does something horrible to him!" Said Yasuno, alarmed. The others nodded. Just as then, the group of vocalists came into the hospital, carrying a sack full of Shoal Salts and Ruki with the Sableye they had found injured in the cave.

"Guys? We're back! Hey, what's with the worried faces??"

"Tom-san has been kidnapped."

"What?!"

~Meanwhile with Tom~

Tom struggled weakly against the hands that held him down, afraid about what could happen if these people achieved what they'd brought him into where he was at for. He knew that they wanted to give the serum to him once more and the thought of going back to being heartless while Bill was in danger, frightened him.

"Please... Please let me go! Bill needs me!" The guitarist begged, not able to move anymore thanks to Georg holding him down.

"Bill will get what he deserves as well, just like you will, Tom."

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"What do you mean Tom-san's gone?! Who the hell could've gotten into here and kidnap him?!" Yomi asked, shocked. The other vocalists nodded as well, really shocked like him.

"Darkrai's followers must've found a way inside somehow... We need to find a way to bring him back. Bill-san will probably need him by his side since he's still trapped." Said Yasuno, worried.

"Yeah, but what about the cure? We need to make that as well! We got the Shoal Salts from the cave as well..."

"I think it'll have to wait. If we don't find Tom, this will turn out really bad for Bill and the rest of their group."

Just as Reita said that, looking concerned, Ruki finally showed up with his new partner Pokémon still asleep in his arms.

"Oh? What do we have here?" Aoi said, smiling at the cute Sableye asleep in his vocalist's arms.

"She was trapped under a rock in the Shoal Cave. One of Darkrai's minions apparently trapped the poor thing under it." Said Shou, frowning lightly. That made all of them gasp in shock.

"What a horrible thing to do!"

That was then, Sableye gave a little yawn and woke up, looking around in slight confusion as she didn't know where she was anymore.

"Sableye~??"

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill cringed as he went through the castle, trying to find the impersonation of the Sphere of Death. The place looked way too much like Darkrai's fortress, reminding him of the horrible things he had gone through.

"Where the hell are you?! I'm-I'm not afraid of a damned sphere!!"

"Yamask~, Ya, Yamask!!"

"Don't be so sure." Came a familiar voice from behind him, making the teenager whirl around to see someone standing there, partly shrouded in darkness.

"Who are you?! S-show yourself!!"

The figure came out of the shadows at that, shocking Bill. It was Tom. With his eyes crimson red.

~Meanwhile with Kaoru~

Kaoru ran stealthily forward while carrying Kyo on his back, trying to hide himself from the patroller minions of Darkrai and hoping that he could bring Kyo to safety in time. He  felt awfully guilty about what he had said and done to the stoic vocalist. After he managed to dodge the first wave of the patrol force, he let out a quiet sigh, looking distressed.

"Damn it... I'm so sorry, Kyo-kun..."

At that, Kyo's head turned towards him even though the vocalist was at least mostly unconscious and just reacted slightly to the voices of his friends.

"I swear, I will make this up to you, Kyo, just give me a chance!" The guitarist whispered, trying hard not to cry at the state of his longtime friend. The wound Kyo had was horrible, deep and long gashes across his collarbone and most of his chest was gaping open and still bleeding sluggishly.

~Meanwhile in the hospital, Pokémon side~

"Hi there, who're you?" Asked Gengar curiously to Sableye who was still in the arms of Ruki since her legs were still badly damaged.

"I'm Sableye, this man and his friends saved me from a rock that fell on me."

"Oh my~, that is horrible, are you alright?!" Chatot asked, looking shocked and worried. Sableye nodded, looking slightly amused by the Music Note Pokémon's reaction.

"My legs still hurt but I'll be okay, hopefully."

"Thank goodness for that. Anyway, I'm Gengar the partner Pokémon of Ruka, that tall man over there. Nice to meet you, Sableye."

"Nice to meet you too, Gengar. Who are all these people though?"

"All of our partners have a band, actually, including the man you're clinging onto; Ruki. And Chatot here is a partner to his bandmate, Reita, from what I know."

"Great! I've always wanted to listen to a band!" Sableye said, smiling widely. The other Pokémon nodded in agreement.

"We haven't seen what they do with music yet, actually but I'm pretty sure we will soon. Welcome to our group."

~Meanwhile with Tom~

"Georg, I know you don't want to do this. Please at least think of what will become of Bill if you hurt me!" Tom begged from his cell that they had thrown him into. His stomach wound was hurting greatly but the guitarist couldn't bring himself to care when Bill was in a more serious danger than himself at the moment.

"Which part of 'I don't care about Bill' do you not get, Kaulitz?!" Georg growled at the younger man, making him look like he was about to cry.

"As soon as we deal with the Champions of Cresselia, we're going to end both of you, once and for all."

"Magmar~, Mag, Magmar." The Spitfire Pokémon nodded beside his trainer.

Tom looked down on the ground, out of ideas to bring at least Georg out of his dangerous state. And it looked like he was out of time as well what with them having a dangerous bomb within their hideout.

"They're strong, you know, they will not go down without a fight." Tom said, remembering the nice Yasuno and the others that he had seen in the hospital and hoping that they would be able to get out of the harm's way.

"We will get to them, Master already said we're ready. And once we're done with them, the turn will be yours, Tom." Georg said, narrowing his eyes. Tom swallowed hard at this, wishing Georg somehow broke the control over his body.

"B-but Georg, you can fight! This doesn't have to be this way!"

"I don't care what you think, Tom. Not anymore." Georg said and taking his Magmar, he left Tom in his cell, ready to cry.

~Meanwhile with Kaoru~

Kaoru managed to get Kyo away from Darkrai's fortress but he could feel that the vocalist was not holding on well. His breathing was seriously labored and shallow, as if he was trying to breathe but something was stopping him. Kaoru was really scared that he would die before the guitarist even had the chance to apologize for what he had said and done.

"We're almost there, Kyo. You're gonna be just fine, just hang on, okay?!" He whispered, a lump forming in his throat at the state of his friend.

"K-Kaoru?.."

"Kyo!! How do you feel?!" Kaoru asked, immediately attentive. He was shocked that Kyo was now conscious despite it being obviously temporary.

"My chest... Hurts..." Came the hoarse whisper from the vocalist, making Kaoru feel even more guilty for letting him go into Shinya's mind unprotected.

"It's gonna be okay, Kyo, you just need to hang on, okay?!" The guitarist said but it was too late as Kyo had fallen unconscious again.

"I promise I'll make it up to you Tooru..."

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill staggered a few steps back, shocked at the smirk his twin brother had in his red eyes.

"No! I-I saw you get cleansed, NO!!" Bill cried out, distressed instantly.

"If you kill them both, I shall let you go. But we both know that is not possible, do we not?" Came the serene voice of the Sphere of Death, making Bill's insides go cold.

"What?.." Was all the teenager vocalist could whisper in shock and pain before Tom attacked him.

"Tom, NO!!"

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"What do we do, guys? If we go search for Tom-san, who's going to help Shin-san?!" Asked Hiroto, looking really concerned.

"I don't know, Hiroto. But we need to find a way to find Tom-san before something horrible happens to him." Said Saga, frowning. Just as he finished his sentence, an earthquake shook the entire building, making them fall around.

"What the hell's going on?!" Ni~ya exclaimed, trying to get up from the ground.

"Guys, we have a problem. A big one." Said Kai, looking out the window since he'd landed close to it where Darkrai and his minions were approaching.

~Meanwhile with Kaoru~

When Kaoru finally arrived to the hospital, he froze in shock. Darkrai and five of his minions were there, blocking the entrance.

"What do I do?!" The guitarist whispered, frightened that if he didn't manage getting Kyo help, the vocalist wouldn't live to see another day and he'd die thinking Kaoru and Toshiya hated him. Then, a very risky idea came to him.

"Banette, go!" He whispered, bringing out his Pokémon. The Marionette Pokémon looked at her human partner and the person he was carrying on his back and her eyes widened in shock.

"Banette~?!"

"You don't want to know, Banette... But I need you to try and get us inside the hospital or we're going to lose Kyo."

Banette nodded and looked at the entrance which was still being blocked by Darkrai's minions while the Pitch Black Pokémon wasn't around at all.

"Something is amiss here. Be careful, Banette."

~Meanwhile inside the hospital~

"What do we do?! Darkrai is coming here, we aren't even prepared for this!" Hitsugi exclaimed, looking slighly scared. They had separated and closed themselves into Kiro and Shin's rooms.

"We're going to fight, that's what! If we don't fight, we're just going to let him win!" Hiroto said bravely.

"But they're strong and most of us don't even have a Pokémon yet!"

"We're going to help, don't worry." Replied Kiro, frowning slightly in concentration. He was trying to come up with some way to bring them out of the situation.

Just as the bassist said that, a fireball exploded the door to the room, making both Taizo and Sakito fall over with the fright of something near exploding.

"Good job, Magmar." Said Georg, smirking.

~Meanwhile with Tom~

Tom managed to stop sobbing after he had spent a good hour of crying in his cell. He was hurting so much about what was going on with his life.

"I need to get out of here somehow! I cannot let Georg and Gustav do this!" Tom said, getting up and holding his stomach wound with one hand. He searched his cell for something, anything that could be useful to break free. That was then, he found a brick was loose in the structure and bent over with much difficulty considering his stomach's state and managed to get it out of the rest of the wall.

But just as he was about to hit the lockpad with it, a girl minion of Darkrai came out of the shadows.

"Please don't do it."

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"Luxray, use Thunder Fang!" Hiroto commanded as Georg and his Magmar came closer to him. Luxray immediately used the said attack on Magmar, making the Spitfire Pokémon stagger away from them.

"The ones without Pokémon, take cover, okay?!" Said Hitsugi, his voice trembling a little from the fear that Darkrai or his minions might do something to his bandmates.

That was then, Darkrai himself came into the room, stunning them all with his scary aura. The Pitch Black Pokémon grinned eerily and pointed at Hiroto.

"Take him. I have plans for him."

"N-nani?!" Hiroto stuttered, backing away in surprise. He didn't know what the Pitch Black Pokémon wanted from him but he was sure it was not anything good.

"You'll never take Hiroto!!" Shou yelled, standing protectively in front of his guitarist.

"Don't be so sure." Gustav said, smiling eerily with his crimson eyes like his master.

"Graveler, use Rock Blast on that Luxray! Show no mercy!"

The Rock Pokémon cried out agreeing with the drummer and sent white rocks at the Gleam Eyes Pokémon who wasn't fast enough to dodge this time and fainted. Then, Georg grabbed the petite guitarist, shoving Shou away and making him hit his head and faint from the sudden blow.

"Shou-kun!!! Help!!" Hiroto yelled as the younger bassist dragged him away from his friends, away from safety.

~Meanwhile with Bill~

Bill dodged at least five attacks from the conjured image of his twin brother, upset. He didn't know what to do to get out of this evil castle since Yamask was on the verge of fainting already.

"Yamask, Ya!!" The Spirit Pokémon cried out as Bill kept dodging the attacks of Tom.

"I can't do this, Yamask, I can't k-kill them!" Bill said, tears in his eyes. Yamask came in front of the pained singer, trying to tell him something.

"Ya, Yamask!! Yamask~!"

"What are you trying to tell me, Yamask?? Is there a way to get out of this without hurting someone?!"

~Meanwhile with Kaoru~

Kyo was dying, and it seemed that there was no way to get him back, as Kaoru sat with the unconscious vocalist by his side, slumped over his shoulder. But just as he gave up hope, Banette came back and nodded at the guitarist, making it clear that she had found a way inside the hospital. Kaoru nodded back at the Marionette Pokémon, whispering quietly.

"Where do we enter into here, Banette??"

"Banette, Ba, Banette~." She led the way to a back door, obviously not protected by Darkrai's evil servants. And when Kaoru came closer, he saw doctors around there, looking scaredly at the door as if they couldn't decide whether to run away from Darkrai and let the patients get hurt or to stay and possibly get harmed themselves.

"Hey!! You guys, please open the door, I have a wounded person here!!" Kaoru whispered when he was in front of the door. One of the nurses immediately opened the door and let the guitarist and his hurt friend in.

"What happened to him?!"

"Y-you don't need to know that! Can you save him?!" Kaoru asked fearfully, hoping against hope that Kyo could survive this whole ordeal so Kaoru and Toshiya could at least try to make amends with the vocalist.

~Meanwhile with Shinya and Toshiya~

"What happened when I was asleep, Die, Totchi-kun?" Shinya asked tiredly as he laid in his bed with the bassist and the rhythm guitarist sitting on chairs that were on either side of the bed.

"Y-you don't want to know, Shinya..." Toshiya said, averting his eyes.

"Yeah, it's... It's not really a good thing to know right now. You need your rest, okay? Why are you asking anyways??" Die said, looking concerned about the younger man.

"It's just... It's just something Kyo said while he was in my mind that's all..."

"What?! What'd he say, Shinya?!" Toshiya asked in worry, he didn't want the younger man to learn what they had done to Kyo.

"He... He said this weird sentence while he was trying to protect me... 'Maybe now they will understand I am not like him...'. So just what has happened while I was not awake?!" The drummer asked, now angry.

"Kaoru and I... We were really harsh on Kyo after what he had done a-and..."

"And?!" Shinya's eyes bore into the bassist, making the older man squirm slightly in his seat.

"And our bright Totchi here said he was no better than how the others viewed him." Die said, not letting the older man sugar-coat his explanation. Shinya gasped in shock as he took in that piece of information, now understanding that Kyo was truly hurt by the very people whom the singer had trusted with everything that he was.

~Meanwhile with Hiroto~

"You're never gonna bring me down! I won't let you!" Hiroto exclaimed as Georg and Gustav dragged him into a cell. He was worried about Shou, knowing the vocalist would probably blame himself about his kidnapping.

"You will. And you will like it."

Hiroto glared defiantly at his captors, not really looking intimidated, much to their irritation. But in reality, the guitarist was very scared. Scared that he might never see his friends again. Whatever Darkrai had planned for him, it was not anything good, the short guitarist thought.

While he thought this silently, as he tried to not show his fear to the servants of Darkrai, Georg observed the short, slender guitarist, enjoying that the young man was actually quite nervous.

"You are going to be of much use to us."

"I will not!! Your so-called 'Master' is a massive douchebag and I have no desire to become one as well!"

"Oh but you will. That is, if you want your little group to stay alive. You see, Gustav had the chance to slap a miniature... Bomb onto the hospital room your friends are inside of. One wrong move from you, will get the bomb to go off." Georg said, enjoying how Hiroto's eyes widened in utter horror.

"Y-you did WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Now stay where you are. Unless you want your friends to die." With that, Georg left Hiroto alone to contemplate what to do.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Shin groaned quietly as he woke up. He had no idea what had happened to him or where he was at the moment. But he knew that he was not alone. And yet, he didn't open his eyes, too exhausted to do so.

"Is Romeo okay, Hannes?" Came Strify's worried voice.

"He's going to be alright, he wasn't that hurt according to the doctors and will probably be able to fully heal if he rests properly."

That was then, Shin managed to open his eyes but then, he started to bleed from his eyes again, making Bela gasp in surprise.

"W-what's happening?!"

"I don't really know, Bela, but you need to get the others here, okay?" Strify said, steering the nurse away from the room. Bela sighed but nodded in agreement, also thinking of checking on Kiro while she was at it.

"What... Happened to... Me?" Shin managed, tiredly looking at Strify and Yu with his changing eyes.

"I don't know, Marcel, what do you remember?" Strify asked, looking worried about their youngest friend.

"I... I remember... Romeo was talking... To me about... Stuff and then... Absolutely nothing... But where... Is Romeo??" The drummer whispered exhaustedly. He tried desperately to remember what had happened after his blackout.

"He's... He's a bit injured, but nothing to worry about, I've already talked to the doctors about his injury and they said he'd be okay if he rests enough."

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

Shou held his head under an ice pack in his hands, the part he'd hit was throbbing quite badly but not as bad as his heart. He had let Hiroto to be taken by Darkrai and his forces. Who knew what they would do to their tiny guitarist if they didn't find him soon.

"Shou, stop doing this to yourself, you did everything you could, all of us saw that. You couldn't have done a damn thing else differently!" Ruki said, trying to ease the younger man's mind.

"B-but if I was stronger--"

"No. Buts. All of us saw what they did. You couldn't have known they could've hit you that badly!!" Kiro said, looking stern.

"How's your head, Shou? Do you need more ice packs?" Saga asked, he and Tora had come into the room only to learn what had happened to Hiroto and Shou and get scared for the blond guitarist.

"No, no it's fine. I... I deserve the pain anyways." The vocalist shook his head, still slightly dazed.

"Lux, Luxray!" Hiroto's partner, Luxray was in no better state than Shou, she was frightened for her sweet, brave trainer and didn't know what to do.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Tom silently had managed to get out of his cell after convincing the young girl who'd tried to stop him from running away, his mind only on Bill. But after he turned a corner, he heard a silent sobbing voice and went to see what was going on. To his surprise, it was one of the champions of Cresselia.

"Hey! You there!" He whispered, getting closer to the cell. The older guitarist looked up with a tear-stained face, looking so upset that Tom's heart ached for the shorter man.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Tom asked, frowning in confusion.

"D-Darkrai and h-his minions b-brought me here... T-they said I'd be u-useful for them and apparently t-they put bombs into the hospital and i-if I don't d-do what they say..." Hiroto trailed off, not even wanting to think of the repercussions of such an action.

"Bullshit. If they had sent a bomb there, trust me, your friends wouldn't be living now. I'll get you out of here, come on!"

Hiroto shook his head though, looking pained. Tom looked at the older guitarist in horror, not having expected that from the other man. Seeing his look, Hiroto gave him his reason.

"I can't risk it, Tom-san. You have a future in front of you. But I... All I can do is do what they say and hope to hell that they get satisfied and don't harm my bandmates." He said, tears in his eyes.

"But... But you may end up hurting them!! Think about that, please!"

"I-I... I can't, Tom-san! This is about my bandmates, my family! I can't let them be blown up! You should go, Bill-san needs you to be there right now."

Tom took one more look at the other guitarist, slightly startled by the look in the short man's eyes. But then, he sighed and nodded, looking really uncomfortable about having to leave Hiroto in there and ran away, leaving the older man in the cell.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"So, what do we do? I don't know how we can save Hiroto-san right now, any ideas?" Said Hitsugi, looking really sad. He felt bad about not being able to help his fellow guitarist. The look on Shou's face was just so painful that it was hard to watch.

"We'll storm that goddamned fortress and take Hiroto back, that's what!" Tora said, his eyes blazing with anger. He was not only scared for Hiroto's sake but also for Shou. He knew that if they somehow lost Hiroto, they would lose Shou as well.

"I just hope it isn't too late by now... And what if someone came in-between us and finding him back?!" Luminor said, looking really concerned.

"To be honest with all of you, I pity the idiot who comes in between Shou and finding Hiroto, he isn't known as the Demon King in our company for nothing." Ruki said, shaking his head, he knew that Shou did not look like a dangerous person but when he was angered, the younger vocalist was a force to be reckoned with. And kidnapping one of his best friends, tended to do so greatly.

"Demon King?!?! Him?! But it doesn't look like it!" Yu said, really confused.

"You will see."

"We should leave though. The ones that don't have a Pokémon besides Tora-kun, Saga-kun and Nao-kun should stay here for safety reasons. I promise we're going to bring Hiroto back." Said Reita, frowning slightly. The others thankfully agreed on that and with that, the group left quickly, hoping with all their hearts that they were not too late.

~Meanwhile with Kaoru~

Right after he had given Kyo to the safe hands of the doctors, Kaoru just collapsed onto one of the chairs in the ER. He was overcome with many feelings, most of all; guilt. He just hoped that the shorter man could pull through this so the guitarist could apologize for everything he and Toshiya had said and done.

"Mister Kaoru?" Came one of the nurses from the operation room.

"Yes?! Is he alright?! Is-is he going to survive?!" The guitarist asked one question after the other, madly nervous.

"Your patient... He... He's not really holding on. I think you should say goodbye."

"What?!" Kaoru whispered, all color leaving him from the shock of such words.

~Meanwhile with Hiroto~

Almost right after Tom left, Georg and two other minions came in front of the cell Hiroto was inside of. The tired guitarist looked up only to see them smirking at his pain. The young bassist motioned the short guitarist to get up and move as they opened the small cell room.

"Move it! We do not have all day!"

Hiroto scurried out of the cell, not wanting to give them a reason to blow up his friends in any way. After a short walk, the guitarist realized that they were taking him into the throne room that he had never seen before, even though he had stood in front of it with his Luxray. He really hoped that she was alright as well.

"You. You are the chosen one for this, young man. Feel honored." Darkrai growled at the short man, making him glower but Hiroto refused to say anything, either good or bad. He just glared at the Pitch Black Pokémon, not wanting to admit that he was scared out of his skin.

"Hold this." The Pitch Black Pokémon instructed, giving him a piece of purple cloth. Confused, Hiroto took it from the woman who was carefully keeping it on a pedestal. As soon as he touched the cloth, however, he felt like something like an electric shock pass through him. Then, he fell limply to the floor, unmoving.