Through the Portal

"Bill?!" Tom whispered in shock. His twin was carrying Minun with him and he smiled at Tom's shock.

"Yes, I'm... I'm back, Tommy." Bill said in a slightly shaky tone and put the happy Minun down to the ground and came closer to Tom, wanting to hug him till he saw the blood on his shirt.

"What happened?!" The vocalist asked with shock.

"That's... That's a long story, little brother." Tom said and even though he obviously spent effort to get up and hug Bill tight, he smiled, not minding the pain.

"I missed you so much!.." He whispered, his eyes filling with tears as the others watched them with gentle smiles on their faces, fight forgotten.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

Hiroto took Shou into a corner of the room, barely able to keep his cool after what he'd learned the vocalist had done to Georg.

"What's the matter, Hiroto-kun? Are you feeling hurt anywhere or something??" Shou asked worriedly. He didn't know if he should believe Hiroto's words about Darkrai's servants had not hurt him in any way before they'd managed to save the petite guitarist. That made Hiroto a little less angry, seeing how concerned the singer was for him.

"No, I'm just fine, I swear. But..."

"But?"

"But I heard how you acted in that damned castle. And trust me, I do not like what you've done." The guitarist said, his eyes boring into Shou's very core. Shou gulped at the look in his younger bandmate's eyes.

"I-I... Look, I was scared for your safety and that bastard just mocked me when you were laying there, looking almost..." Shou couldn't finish his sentence, not even wanting to think of the guitarist being dead.

"But look what you've done, Kohara! That strike you did cost him his memory! How do you think Tom-san can restore that on his own while wounded like that?!" Hiroto asked, inwardly worried about Shou. The vocalist looked so pale that Hiroto thought something was wrong with him.

"I promise you that I'll try and help as much as I can to Tom-san. But try to understand, Hiroto, Georg-san was one of the people that treated you so awfully, Darkrai's serum or not, I don't think I can forgive that."

Hiroto sighed, shaking his head and knowing that Shou would not budge about his judgement. And then, he pushed the surprised vocalist into the bed.

"Hiroto??" Shou looked confused as Hiroto looked at him sternly.

"You need rest, Shou, you look almost like a ghost here, go to sleep, alright? You can start helping Tom-san and Georg-san after you're well-rested." The shorter man said, starting to show just how worried he was about the singer.

"By the way, what happened to me in those two days, Hiroto? Please, I feel like I'm missing something serious here. Please tell me something at the very least!" Shou said as he laid in the bed, knowing that the guitarist wouldn't let him get up.

"Shou... I... I don't think it's a good idea right now, actually. But I swear that you'll learn soon, okay? Now will you please go to sleep and let yourself rest?!" Hiroto said softly. He shuddered to think that the Sphere of Life could actually make him remember the horrors that the vocalist had gone through for him. Shou smiled and nodded slightly, closing his eyes, knowing it was useless to argue with Hiroto when he was so concerned.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

The Dragon Pokémon stopped short at Emile's soft, gentle words. She had not expected that this young man in the Pitch Black Pokémon's castle could be so kind. At her surprise, Emile smiled nervously.

"Me and my friends are prisoners here, just like you. Darkrai is planning something horrible, Salamance. If we could have you as a partner, it would at least give us a chance to fight back. You want that too, right, Salamance?" The gamer said, still in a soft voice and then, tentatively took a step towards the wounded Salamance, hoping that his voice had calmed the strong Pokémon down enough for him to free her. When the Dragon Pokémon didn't do anything to attack, Emile got a bit bolder, getting right next to her and looking at her bindings.

"Are you sure you should get near it? Salamance are known to attack in great power, you know." Said Robin, getting increasingly worried at the gamer's actions.

"Emile, are you insane?! What if it attacks you?!" Jon yelled, scared out of his wits to think of what can happen to the younger gamer.

~Meanwhile in Shou's dream~

Shou found himself in a stormy clearing all of a sudden, taken away from his dream of performing in Budokan with his bandmates. He looked around in confusion, trying to make sense of the situation. Then, he saw a castle in the distance, understanding that he should go there. When he arrived, he tentatively opened the door, unsure what he would find. In there, he saw a woman wrapped in a pure white dress, obviously waiting for him.

"W-what's going on?! Who are you?!" The vocalist stuttered, unnerved by the smile the woman had on her face. It was too serene, as if she wasn't even alive.

"You will remember. Everything." Was all she said while touching Shou's face with her cold hands. Then she disappeared and Shou woke up to a worried Hiroto and Tora.

"Shou? A-are you alright? You were mumbling in your sleep." Hiroto asked. Shou just stopped for a moment and said;

"I-I... I remember everything..."

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - throne room~

In front of Darkrai, stood three men, ready to obey their master's any cruel plan.

"What did you summon us for, Master?" The man in the middle asked softly. He didn't know what plan the Pitch Black Pokémon had this time but he had a bad feeling that there was something wrong. He pushed the feeling aside though, knowing he and his partner Pokémon, Lucario could get through any obstacles as long as they had eachother.

"I have summoned you because I have a mission for you three. You shall be the ones that sow the seeds of disruption into the so-called champions of Cresselia." Darkrai growled, obviously unhappy with whatever that had happened while they were not in the main rooms of the castle.

"We will, Master. Just show us who they are and we will finish them mercilessly." The man on the right said, grinning.

"Cofagrigus!" His partner Pokémon agreed with the man, ready for any fight.

Darkrai nodded and showed the champions of Cresselia who were trying to make Shou tell what he had remembered all of a sudden. At the people that showed in the screen, the man in the middle turned pale as a sheet.

"Oh no..."

"What's wrong, Mai? Are you getting cold feet all of a sudden?" Asked the man on the right, smirking at his complete shock.

"I-I... I'm not!! Just because you're not loyal to your ex-bandmates, that does not mean I'm not either, Zannin!" Mai said, offended. At that, Zannin got an even more evil smirk on his face, making Mai nervous.

"I have an idea, Master. Let's make Mai take them out. You know, to prove that he's loyal to you, not them." Zannin said. Darkrai chuckled at that.

"N-Nani?!" Mai stuttered, even more nervous now.

"Indeed. You shall be the one to finish them off, Mai. And I shall reward your loyalty properly. If you are not loyal, you will die. And in the meantime, you two shall work to put them against eachother." The Pitch Black Pokémon said, smirking eerily at the pale man.

"We'll see how far you're gonna go for your life..." The man on his left, Yune whispered as Mai was going out, trying to hold his tears back.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

Nao and Saga had come into the room after learning that Shou had somehow remembered the horrible things that he'd gone through in the span of two days. Nao also had a glass of water with him, hoping to soothe the younger man. As they watched them try to calm the vocalist down, Bill confusedly leaned towards Tom's ear.

"What's going on, Tom? What happened to that guy??" He asked curiously.

"Are you sure that you want to know what that bastard did?" His twin asked, glaring slightly at Shou's direction.

"Yeah? Why are you calling him a bastard? What'd he do wrong, Tommy?"

"Well, here it is then; Darkrai kidnapped that short blond guy beside him and when they came to save him, that bastard over there cracked Georg's head open with a hammer just because of a comment he made while in the influence of that damned serum and cost him his memory! And then, the retard proceeded to use a Sphere just like you did and managed to get trapped inside his own horrible mind thanks to that. It took them two damn days to get him back and it seems he only just now remembers whatever the hell that happened to him in there."

After hearing all that, Bill's mouth hung open in shock and rage. He hadn't expected to find out about how Georg had lost his memory. But as he contemplated going over there and giving Shou a piece of his mind, he found that he could not do so. Because he knew how scary the twisted world of the Spheres were, having been in one of them for weeks.

"What do you think has happened to him? He looks so shaken..." Bill whispered, remembering how horrible things had been for him.

As the twins talked amongst themselves, Ruki gently put his hand on Shou's shoulder, looking really worried about his friend.

"Are you alright, Shou-kun?"

"I-I'm... I'm fine, I think..." The taller vocalist said, still shuddering.

"Thank goodness you're okay. But we'll need to have a talk later, okay?" Tora said gently, looking at the shaken singer.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

Hearing Jon's yell, Salamance cried out angrily as she was not about to harm Emile after hearing that he was also a prisoner. Emile immediately took a step back from the slightly angry Pokémon, worried that she would accidentally hurt him.

"It's okay, Salamance, they're my friends. They would never harm a Pokémon, I swear." Emile said, still soft and gentle even though he wanted to rush to the Dragon Pokémon's side and undo her bonds immediately. Salamance looked at him with slight worry though, understanding that Emile's friends didn't want him to get close to her.

"Emile, please get away from that Pokémon. It can harm you and I don't want that!" Tim said in a pleading tone, really concerned about his friend.

"It's alright, Tim. I think it just wants to be let out, just like us." Emile replied, going beside the Dragon Pokémon again and looking at her bonds.

"Now let's see how we can get you free without hurting you further..." The gamer muttered, making Salamance tense a little. At that, they heard a loud facepalm from the cell Tim and Jon were in.

"He's not gonna listen to us, is he?" Came the annoyed mutter from Jon.

"Of course not, the idiot..." Tim said, equally as annoyed with the antics of their friend. Emile though, didn't pay any heed to their words and searched for the keyhole that he knew he could rig and open to free the Dragon Pokémon to look at her injuries better with Robin.

"There! Let's open this and then you're free, Salamance." The gamer said with a smile on his face and turned to Robin.

"Do you have the key for this as well since you managed to come to my side without anyone helping you?"

Robin sighed at that and unwillingly showed the keychain he had. Emile smiled at him and took the keychain and looked back at the lock that chained Salamance onto the wall. Thankfully, the key to it was really obvious and the gamer did not hesitate to use it.

"Salamance!!" The Dragon Pokémon cried out in joy and then, smashed the cell's door immediately.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"Shou, tell us what you remember, alright?" Saga said gently, looking worried about the slightly shorter man.

"I-I... I remember you guys being there, h-helping me and that woman... She was the one who kept me in my mind, wasn't she?" Shou said, looking both shaken and confused. The rest of his band nodded at him silently, all worried about the young man.

Just as then, Mightyena came close to his trainer, looking very concerned.

"Mightyena, Might??" The Big Bite Pokémon cried, gently headbutting Shou, obviously very concerned. And for some reason, he sent a death glare to Saga, sensing that something was happening to the bassist and it was not anything good. He silently vowed that he would not let another trainer, another friend to die without him having any say in it.

"I'm fine, Mightyena, everything is alright now, I guess." Shou said, wanting to soothe his concerned partner.

And then, Saga suddenly collapsed with a huge pain coming from his head. He clutched his head as he tried to stand but someone whom he did not see caught him falling and helped him to sit.

"Saga, what's wrong?! Are you alright?!" He heard Shou ask in a panicky tone and then, he felt his consciousness slip away as he heard a woman chuckle in his head serenely.

"Saga!! Saga, wake up!!" Shou shouted, shaking the unconscious bassist with fear in his eyes.

The others also came closer to the pair and looked at Saga in worry. Ruka on the other hand, had a bad feeling about what might have actually happened to the bassist and frowned as they tried to wake him up. But no matter what they did, Saga didn't wake up, making them fear the worst even though the young man was still breathing.

"What is going on?!" Asked Hitsugi, trying to get his hands on Saga to check if he was even alive as he was laying there with hardly any movement. Even his breaths were soft as if he was trying to breathe through a discomfort or pain.

"Takashi, me o samete yo!!" Shou said, tears filling his eyes. And then, something very unexpected happened.

~Meanwhile in Kyo's room~

As they watched Kyo sleep, Shinya turned to Kaoru, looking at the older man with worry. He could see that Kaoru was blaming himself hardcore for Kyo's condition and as Shinya knew, the guitarist would never accept help from anyone when it came to blaming himself over something.

"Kaoru? It's gonna be alright, you know. Kyo said he'd forgive you in time." Die said softly, apparently having thought of the same thing as their drummer.

"But... But what if he doesn't s-survive this?! What would I do, living with this awful guilt, knowing that it was because of my idea that Kyo died?!"

All three of the others sighed, knowing there was nothing that they could say to make Kaoru accept the fact that he couldn't have known what could happen to their vocalist. At least not until Kyo was awake and in a state to talk.

"It's gonna be alright, Kaoru. Kyo is safe now. We all know he's strong, he'll get through this and come back to us, you know that too. And it's not only you that needs redemption, you know..." Toshiya said, looking uncomfortably at their wounded friend.

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

"So, what happened to the guy who was kidnapped by Darkrai's forces?" Kiro asked with only slight worry, knowing that the champions of Cresselia were resourceful and strong. But what he did not expect from them was a nervous silence.

"Did something bad happen?!" He asked in worry. Shin looked on curiously as well, wondering why Darkrai hadn't taken him away as well when the Pitch Black Pokémon was in the hospital himself.

"Yeah... They... They took Hiroto to the fortress--"

"What?!" Kiro yelled, shocked at the turn of the events.

"He's fine, Kiro, don't worry, they managed to take him back but... Shou, his bandmate was in a catatonic state when they returned and apparently, he smashed Georg's head open with a hammer because of one of his remarks from what Tom said." Said Yu, frowning slightly.

"Really?! No wonder they call him "Demon King" then!" Romeo said in shock. Neither him nor the other two had expected that the normally soft and gentle guy do something so horrible even though it was to defend his friends.

"I don't know what happened to him but Cresselia said something about him being trapped inside his own mind somehow." Luminor added afterwards.

"Plusle? Plus, Plusle??" The Cheering Pokémon asked with an adorably confused look on her face. The guys turned to her with surprise.

"What's the matter, Plusle? Do you want something?" Kiro asked to his beloved partner.

The Cheering Pokémon nodded and cried out again, trying to make them understand what she wanted. Shin looked at her and then said;

"I think she wants you guys to check on them..."

At that, Plusle smiled and nodded, relieved that someone was able to understand that she had a bad feeling about the situation.

"Okay, we'll check on them, don't you worry, Plusle." Luminor said with a smile and went to check on them only to be stopped by Strify.

"You're not going to check that kind of thing alone, Luminor. I'm coming with you!"

Luminor sighed and nodded, letting the vocalist come with him and when they went into Shou's room, they both froze in shock.

"W-what the hell?!"

There stood Saga, shining a bright white color as his friends watched him with shock and trepidation on their faces. Luminor slowly took Strify's hand and just as slowly, they backed away from the scene, slightly scared as to what was going on.

"S-Saga? Daijoubu??" Shou's voice was shaking with fear. He didn't like what was going on with the bassist at all. Just as Saga turned to the frightened vocalist, Mightyena immediately came in front of him, growling and standing protectively between Shou and Saga who was still shining even though the light was beginning to fade away. And Luxray did the same for Hiroto, making them even more confused and worried about Saga.

"Mightyena? What's wrong?!"

"Mightyena, Might!!" The Bite Pokémon growled, glaring angrily at Saga. And then, the bassist opened his mouth, making all of them look at him with expectation. But when the slender man started to talk, all of them got a shock.

"He is mine now. I am free!!" Came the words from his mouth, but not as his voice, it was the Sphere of Life's voice mixed with the bassist's own.

~Meanwhile with Mai~

Mai tried not to cry as he went into the hospital his ex-bandmates were in, knowing that he had to hurt them. But what he didn't know was that his bandmates were already in a grave danger in the first place.

"Lucario, Lu, Lucario?" His partner nudged him and worriedly looked at him, knowing that his trainer and friend was troubled by the order of Darkrai.

"I'm okay, Lucario. Come on, we need to find them..." The retired guitarist said, even his voice was strained with stress.

Just as he said that though, a huge explosion of white light threw Mai off-balance along with Lucario.

"What the hell was that?!" He exclaimed, shocked.

He curiously went to the room nearest to the explosion and saw something shocking. There stood one of the members of Alice Nine, glowing a white light and glowering at the fallen Hiroto who had tried to come closer to him. Mai frowned at that, confused as to what might've happened to him.

Lucario though, immediately came in front of him, glaring at the seemingly possessed man. Mai looked confused at why his Lucario was acting like this.

"What's going on?! What's the matter, Lucario??"

At that, Keiyuu shockedly turned around, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Mai-cho?!"

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga was chained onto a pillar, trying to get free to no avail. That was then, the woman who was the impersonation of the Sphere of Life appeared before him.

"L-let me go!" Saga struggled, glaring at the deity. She smiled at his attempts though, knowing that the bassist would not be able to get free. She got closer to him, making the man quite nervous as he was vulnerable at that moment.

"You will never be free again, Takashi. You are mine." Was all she said before scratching at his chest and making him cry out in pain.

"T-they'll come for me!! I'm not going to die, I know that!" Saga said, eyes tearing up from the intense painful sensations.

"I have possessed you. There is no way that your weakling friends will be able to get to you again." The Sphere of Life said.

"Now the only thing I need to do is to break you into your smithereens. Then there shall be no stopping me!"

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

Just as they helped Hiroto up, the white light that was shining around Saga diminished. They all looked at the bassist and collectively gasped. Saga's eyes were not their soft, chocolate brown color anymore. It was pure white with no pupils.

"What are you?!." Shou whispered, shocked and scared for Saga.

"You know me, you weakling. All you need to do is to remember." Saga whispered in that mixed voice again, smiling eerily. That was then, it hit Shou and Tora at the same time.

"You're... You're the Sphere of Life's woman!!" Shou whispered, wide eyed with shock and fright for his friend.

That was then, Cresselia came into the room along with a pink, small Pokémon. She looked very solemn as if someone had just died.

"Cresselia-san! Thank goodness you're here! Please, help Saga-shi!!" Shou said, teary eyed at the bassist's state.

Cresselia stopped for a moment, looking pained.

"There is no chance to help him anymore, he's gone."

"What?!" Was all could Hiroto could say, tears filling his eyes. He did not want to believe that Saga might be gone forever this time.

"No... NO!! I won't accept that! There HAS TO be a way to save him!!" Shou shouted, his voice cracking with fear and sadness. At that, Mightyena and Luxray also cried out, shocked by the revelation.

"But it is not possible once a Sphere takes possession of the body... All you can do is to..." Cresselia said and paused.

"What is it?! What do we do?!"

"All you can do is to kill him."

"NEVER!!!" Said all four of the Alice Nine members. None of them wanted to harm their bassist in any way.

Just then though, the pink Pokémon that was beside Cresselia hesitantly spoke up.

"Maybe you could--" He started to say in a female child's voice but Cresselia cut her off.

"Mew, it is not possible. That could unbalance the whole balance of the world." The Lunar Pokémon said and got ready to attack Saga but just then, Mightyena came in front of her, protective for the bassist for the sheer will of his trainer. He didn't want Shou to lose a dear friend, having felt that pain with his old trainer.

"You fools made your own choice. I shall destroy you all and get my comrades free as well!" The Sphere of Life said, obviously pleased by their reactions. But then, Tora hit the bassist's possessed body and made him faint.

"We are listening, Mew-san, what do we do to get Takashi-kun back? And before you say it's dangerous, Cresselia-san, just know this, we will not go with your quest if Saga isn't with us. At. All. I don't know about the others but we, as Alice Nine, will NOT go without one family member short to anywhere." Nao said, looking determined.

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

"But what could've made him do that?!" Yu asked with shock after learning what had happened to Saga. Strify shook his head, not knowing either.

"I've no idea. But I really don't think we should get close to him right now." The vocalist said, shuddering slightly. The transforming of the bassist and that white light had scared the younger man much more than he would openly admit to.

"We should help them." Said Kiro, making Strify and Luminor pale. Neither wanted to get close to the possessed young man, let alone help him out of it.

"I agree with you, Karsten, they helped us so much already. It's time to at least repay a bit of it." Said Romeo, nodding at the shorter man's words.

"Plusle, Plus!" Kiro's Plusle butted in, also agreeing with her trainer.

"But-But guys, you didn't see what it looked like! It's scary as hell!" Strify stuttered, trying not to show just how scared he truly was.

"Andreas, I know you're scared. But think, they got one of the ingredients for the cure for us. Hell, one of them tried to infiltrate Darkrai's fortress alone for Shin, someone they don't even know about! We need to repay them at least a little bit, don't you think?!" Kiro said softly, worried.

"Kiro, this thing is way bigger than what we can help them with, if you ask me." Luminor butted in, frowning.

"And besides, you're still wounded and none of us will let you get up when you're like this!" Strify added, unhappy. But in the end, Strify caved in, knowing that his best friend was right and they should at least try to help the champions of Cresselia.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga was bleeding all over, not able to even look up anymore. His very soul was hurting and he didn't understand why his bandmates weren't coming for him despite him having done everything in his power to bring Shou back.

"Guys... Where are... You..." He breathed, not even able to keep his eyes open for a long time now. That was then, the Sphere of Life appeared before him to torture him even more.

"They have forgotten you."

"They'd... They'd never... Do that... To me!.." Saga managed to say right before the entity sent a beam of light onto the bassist, making him scream at the white-hot searing pain.

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

Cresselia looked shocked at what Nao had said about the quest. And what was worse for her, there were many agreements to what the drummer had said.

"Then listen. And listen closely." Mew said.

"We're listening, Mew-san. Please help us." Nao said, very attentive. Hiroto only could nod along with the others, too shaken to say anything. He couldn't believe that Saga could be dead. There was only a sliver of hope for the bassist and Hiroto didn't know if he could take the failure of that hope.

"You need to find his partner Pokémon as soon as possible. And not only that, you must manage to get into his mind to battle the deity inside him so that he survives. But beware, one wrong move is going to kill your friend as you know him." The New Species Pokémon said in her childish voice, looking worriedly at Saga.

But just as she was going to continue, the entity that controlled Saga suddenly woke up and tried to escape the hospital but didn't make it too far before Tora and Reita jumped him and brought him back into the room quickly. While they grappled with the bassist, Ruki came beside Hiroto, looking worried for the guitarist.

"It'll be alright, Hiroto-kun. Saga isn't someone she can break easily. Have faith in him." The short vocalist said softly.

"I... I hope so, Ruki-kun... I don't know what we'd, I'd do without him..." The younger man whispered, tears in his eyes threatening to spill.

"Why don't we get into Saga's mind now?! I mean, it worked with Shou-kun here." Said Tora, frowning as he looked at the bassist who was glaring at them as Reita used his nose-band to bind Saga's feet so that he could not try and escape again.

"Because it will not work. Not anymore as the Sphere of Life must have sealed the entrance to your friend's mind. It will not be as easy as such." Cresselia said, looking quite unwilling.

"How do we find his partner Pokémon though? Shouldn't it be what Saga feels like choosing?" Uruha asked curiously.

"It will be that one Pokémon that does not feel the threat of the Sphere of Life, it will be willing to save him but the problem is, where that Pokémon might be at." Answered Mew, looking sad.

"We will find it. I promise you, Saga, we'll find it and bring you back, don't you worry... You just need to hang on in there, alright?" Said Shou to the possessed body of his friend, looking like he was about to cry. The rest of the band also nodded, all of them determined.

"But you also need to unseal his mind so he can fight as well for his sanity. But beware, he only has three days to be able to get out." Cresselia said, unsure that they would succeed in managing it.

"That's easy. We only need to find a way for him, the real him to hear us. That would give him strength to fight it." Said Tora, looking sure of his way.

"Wait, what?! What do you mean he's got only three DAYS?!" Hiroto asked with wide eyes, obviously shocked.

"Yes. If you cannot bring him out in three days, your friend will be dead as you know him." Mew said, looking at the short guitarist with pity.

In the meanwhile, the Sphere of Life was trying to sneakily untie her bonds so that she could finish possessing the bassist in somewhere else. But thankfully, Keiyuu immediately noticed it and got the others' attention.

"You're going nowhere, you wench!!" Shou said venomously. He simply would not allow Saga to get out of his sight now that the bassist needed their help so much.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga whimpered weakly, unable to think anymore because of the onslaught of the torture the Sphere of Life had brought onto him. He didn't know if he could hang on anymore but right then, a girl's voice slipped into his mind.

"Saga? Please don't give up. I'm waiting for you to come." She whispered in a teenager girl's voice, sounding concerned and sad.

"But... It hurts... Too much..." The bassist whispered, trying to breathe. He didn't know why but he felt a connection to this girl whom he didn't even know.

"You need to believe, Saga. Believe in yourself and your friends. They'll come and bring you to me."

Just as Saga was about to ask what she meant, another voice slipped in.

"God, Takashi, I'm so sorry... I promise we'll get you out of this, just hang on in there, please!"

"Shou..." Saga whispered managing a small smile and then, just like that, the connection was cut off, signalling the arrival of the Sphere of Light and she was furious.

"You dare communicating with someone?! Your friends do not have the chance to get you back, you are mine, Takashi, and it is forever going to be this way!"

Saga tried to smile at that, even though bloodied, his faith in his friends was restored, he now fully believed that he would get out somehow.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - dungeons~

"Yes!! Let's free my friends too, right, Salamance?" Emile said cheerfully as he and Robin got out of the cell and the Dragon Pokémon nodded with only slight hesitance, rushing over to the cell with Jon and Tim in it.

"Oh my God, Emile!" Tim said, looking shockedly at the injured and definitely huge Salamance and the older gamer.

"What? I got us out, didn't I?"

Jon shook his head amazedly and got out of the broken cell door. Emile smiled and looked at Salamance.

"Can you carry us to safety, Salamance? I mean, you're hurt and if we find a Pokémon Center, that would help you greatly but I don't want to injure you further."

"Salamance!" She cried and got down, making them understand that she wanted to get them out herself. Emile and the other three hurriedly went on top of the Dragon Pokémon and she took off, breaking the wall in the process.

"Yes!! We're free!!"

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"So, what do you guys think we should do to make sure Saga manages to hang on? We have only three damned days to do this..." Hiroto said, looking down in obvious fear after Cresselia and Mew departed. No one said anything, as all of them were too worried about the time limit.

Just as Tora was about to say something, Yu came in with a very reluctant Strify in tow.

"We heard what happened, what can we do to help?" The guitarist asked, looking at the bassist with a very guarded manner.

"I'm sorry. But it's not something you can help us with. We can handle it on our own. Saga needs us right now, not someone else, no offense." Said Nao, looking a little apologetic. Strify seemed to feel relieved but Yu frowned.

"Are you sure? You guys helped us a lot already, we'd be happy to try and help you back even a little." Yu said gently, making them smile.

~Meanwhile elsewhere~

"They're coming..." A Psychic trainer, Cyrus muttered to his Golurk, looking up at the sky.

"Golurk~, Go." The Automaton Pokémon cried out, agreeing with his trainer.

"I should probably prepare for them, they'll need help." He said before getting into his cabin.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"We don't need it, please don't worry about us, Saga's gonna be alright, he's too strong to die like this."

"Okay. But anytime you need help, tell us, alright?"

Just as the guitarist said that, Saga's body started to shine again.

Strify and Yu immediately stood back, unsure what to expect. But the rest of Alice Nine stepped closer to the bassist, all of them concerned.

"Saga-kun?" Whispered Hiroto, very worried about his friend.

"Your friend is gone, why will you not accept that?!" The Sphere of Life said angrily, her voice being higher than the person she was using as a vessel.

"NO!! Saga-shi is not gone!! I can still feel him there! And we won't let him go either!" Said Hiroto, sounding very sure despite his teary eyes. The others nodded at that, all of them agreeing with the short guitarist.

"Soon, you shall see that you are indeed wrong. I have taken him and it is going to stay this way."

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga tried his best to stay conscious as the Sphere of Life taunted him with yet another scene of his best friends and bandmates being killed by his own body. He didn't want to believe that he'd killed his friends.

"Your friends are dead. Do you not feel sorry?" The Sphere of Life asked, smiling at him as if she'd done something good.

"I... I don't believe... You... They're... They're not... Stupid, you know..." Saga panted out, managing to glare at the dangerous entity.

"But it is true. None of them could ever stop you when I am around, after all."

Just as she said that, a voice slipped into Saga's mind, making him concerned and happy at the same time. Happy that he now knew for sure that he didn't kill his friends but concerned that the voice who was inside his mind was obviously crying.

"S-Saga-shi... I promise everything w-will be alright... Just try to hang on, alright?!" Hiroto was whispering with tears in his tone of voice. The look on Saga's face softened at the thought of Hiroto, their normally hyperactive and cheerful friend crying because of him.

"Hiroto-kun... Don't cry... For me..." The bassist whispered gently. He simply couldn't bear the thought of his youngest friend hurting for him.

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

"So they don't want our help? But why?!" Kiro asked in shock after Strify and Yu told them about what was going on.

"I don't know. I think they want to do it on their own though..." Strify said, frowning slightly. He felt confused about the reason Alice Nine members had not wanted their help even after the aforementioned band had helped them so much before.

"Maybe... Maybe we should help them covertly. Like giving them ideas to expel the spirit inside that man's body or something." Romeo said quietly. He hadn't liked that they thought of accepting no help from anyone.

"That's it! We can do that easily, right, guys?!" Said Kiro excitedly.

"Plusle, Plus." Plusle nodded as well, thinking that these people must be in a deep trouble. And little did she know, that was exactly what she was thinking.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"Hiroto, please don't cry, Saga would be hurt if he knew you were crying." Tora said softly, holding his fellow guitarist as sobs ransacked his small body. The younger guitarist shook his head, trying to calm down and not look at Saga's possessed body so that he wouldn't feel even more guilty.

"B-but still--"

"No buts, Hiroto-kun. Saga is a fighter, you know that, he's the last person to give up in the face of danger." Said Aoi kindly. And then, the Sphere of Life started to talk.

"He has not been able to stand against me." She whispered, smiling ominously.

"We'll save him, you bitch! He's in there somewhere, we know he is!"

That was then, Saga's eyes actually flashed in their original color but in a moment, it was gone again. Yet, all of them had seen what was going on in the bassist's mind.

"Say one more word and I shall kill him." The Sphere of Life whispered, having managed to get a hold on Shou's nail file and holding it near Saga's throat. That made the whole room freeze. Even Hiroto stopped crying a little.

"You wouldn't dare do that! Because you know you'd lose your vessel, you bluffing bitch!" Tora growled but was shocked in the next few moments.

"He is not my true vessel. But my true vessel is right inside your arms." She said, still holding the file close.

"What?!" Everyone said at the same time.

"You mean... The real vessel was... Me?!" Hiroto managed to whisper, shock stopping his tears.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

After they were free, Emile told Salamance to go north to the nearest Pokémon Center so that they could heal and regroup. And just as they arrived, getting down the Dragon Pokémon's back, Jon smacked Emile's head, hard.

"OW!! What was that for?!"

"You idiot, you could've died!!" The older gamer gritted out, looking very angry. At that Emile had a mischievous look on his face.

"You mean I could've had my game over?" He said, laughing at the irritated look on his friends' faces.

"You, Emile, are a dumbass!" Tim said, looking not so happy about the pun he made. And then, they went into the Pokémon Center, ready to give Salamance into their safe hands.

"Oh my, your Salamance looks quite damaged, want us to make it better?" The nurse said upon seeing them come in. Emile nodded at that and motioned the Dragon Pokémon to follow the nurse. She nodded slightly timidly and followed the nurse, trusting Emile's judgement.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"Yes. You are my true vessel." The Sphere of Life said, smirking in Saga's body now.

Hiroto silently got out of Tora's arms, still shocked at the revelation of the entity. He had no idea what to do as he now knew why Darkrai had kidnapped him in the first place. He'd planned to make the guitarist a vessel.

"Then why did you take Saga?!" Tora growled angrily.

"Because he was stupid enough to touch my creations." Then she turned back to Hiroto and said something that shocked the others.

"I can still take you instead, that is, if you want to." The entity said, having a knowing look on Saga's face. Shou immediately paled, having guessed easily that Hiroto was about to say yes.

"Hiroto no!! Saga would never forgive himself if you do this!" The vocalist exclaimed, scared at the look on his long-time friend's face.

"Luxray, Lux!" Hiroto's partner, Luxray also cried out in panic. She didn't want to lose her beloved trainer.

"We have no choice here! If I don't do this, Saga will die in three damned days! I... I can't bear to lose him, you know that, Kohara!" Hiroto snapped and then, recomposing himself, he turned to the possessed body of his friend.

"I'm ready."

Just as the entity was about to get out of Saga's body, Shou stood right in front of Hiroto, glaring.

"Shou--"

"NO!! I'm not gonna let you die like this! Never!!" He said but then, the Sphere of Life actually sent a beam of hot white stuff onto the unsuspecting vocalist. Thankfully he managed to get both Hiroto and himself out of the way but it was too late, Shou's right arm was hit and was bleeding profusely. The vocalist screamed in pain, holding his arm.

"KOHARA!!" Hiroto yelled and ran to his friend's side, trying to see his wound. When he managed to tear Shou's hand and a part of his clothing, he gasped in shock at the tear he saw there. He could see the bones and muscles of the older man's shoulder through all the blood.

"Are you alright, Kohara?! Oh Kami-sama, that looks awful!!"

"I-it hurts!!" Shou whimpered and then asked something that pissed Hiroto off;

"Are you... Alright, Hiroto?"

"You IDIOT!! I'd made my choice, you could've at least respected that!! Look what happened!!" The guitarist yelled angrily.

~Meanwhile inside Saga's mind~

Saga panted as he felt one of his chains get loose enough for him to move his right arm. But then, he heard Shou's cry of pain and he got scared as to what might have had happened.

"You might want to see this." The Sphere of Life suddenly materialized in front of the bassist, making the young man feel very nervous. And when he saw what the entity wanted to show him, his blood ran cold. Shou was lying in a pool of his own blood, seeming dead while the others cried by his side.

"No! I-I couldn't have done this, NO!!"

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"O-ow! It hurts..." Shou whimpered as Bela tried to gently sew the wound on his arm, his eyes tearing up from the pain. But try as she might, she couldn't sew it thanks to the effects of the beam the Sphere of Life had sent into the vocalist.

"It's no use, the surgical thread is just dissolving into nothing! At this rate..." She said, looking worried as the singer who had his eyes closed to keep the tears from flowing. Hiroto came closer to Shou, very worried about his friend.

"Oh, Kohara... You're such an idiot but I love you nonetheless..." The guitarist whispered, feeling guilty about the strike their possessed friend had done to Shou.

"I think you should just bandage it tightly so that he doesn't get more hurt from it." Said Nao logically. Bela immediately nodded and went to get some fresh bandages and while she was at it, inform Kiro and the others about the situation as they had wanted that from her when Hiroto had run to her in total panic.

"Don't worry, Hiroto, I'll be alright. But are you okay?! She could've hurt you when I wasn't looking after all!"

Hiroto shook his head wordlessly, he still couldn't believe how Shou had disrespected his decision. But thinking about it a bit more, Hiroto realized that while he would've saved Saga instantly, he'd also have given him probably a whole life-time of guilt.

"Thank goodness that you're okay. Saga would've been so mad at me if I hadn't..." Shou trailed off, shuddering at the thought of their youngest member in the possession of a dangerous spirit or much, much worse. Just as Hiroto was about to say something, Saga's eyes glowed white again, startling them all.

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

"So, what happened, Bela? What was so important that it made Hiroto panic like that?" Asked Luminor in worry. He didn't even want to think of what might've had happened to scare the small guitarist as he knew that the slightly older man was very brave.

"Apparently, whatever it is that's ailing their friend shot a beam at their other friend, Shou. And no matter how much I tried, the wound would not be sewn at all, the thread just gets dissolved for some reason and his wound is... Pretty bad, actually..."

They all looked at eachother in horror. None of them had expected that to happen. And then, they saw Bela take a whole lot of fresh bandages out of a nearby closet.

"Does he really need all that much?" Shin asked with a raised eyebrow. Bela nodded fervently at that.

"His shoulder bones are showing, Shin, so yes, he needs a lot."

Everyone gasped at that, Kiro immediately getting up and grimacing as his chest wound wasn't about to let him get up that fast.

"Kiro, calm down, he's not dead or anything, he just needs a serious lot of bandages at the moment that's all." Bela quickly said to stop the bassist from getting up. Kiro sighed and laid back down, knowing that the nurse would not have him get up and check on Shou himself.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga stared and stared at the image of Shou's dead body, trying to make sense of the situation. The Sphere of Life just smiled at his horrified shock, very happy with herself.

"Your friend is dead. Would you want me to take another one? Or will you finally submit to me?" She asked, still smiling at Saga's shock.

"Shou... God no!! Please, tell me he's alright, please!!" Saga said, tears falling unbidden from his eyes.

"He is gone. And he is not going to come back just because you want him to."

"If... If I've killed Shou... Then take me... Take me already so I can go to him and apologize!" Saga screamed, sobbing now. He just wished to be with one of his best friends again, not in this stormy clearing, chained onto a pillar and being tortured.

"Saga? Please don't give up. Please, I'm waiting for you, you can't do this to me!" The young girl's voice came again into his mind all of a sudden, sounding frantic and scared.

"Shou's dead! I don't care about anything anymore!!" The bassist screamed, not even caring that the Sphere of Life was right there, ready to take his life.

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"Are you sure that it'll be okay like this?" Bela asked hesitantly as she bound Shou's wound as gently as she could manage. Shou nodded wordlessly, gritting his teeth against the pain of his deep wound. Tora and Hiroto stood by his side, steadying him when the pain almost became too much and he almost fainted.

"It's-it's okay, guys, please don't worry about me. We need to take care of Saga though, knowing the Sphere of Life's workings, she's probably made him believe that one of us is dead or something." The vocalist said, shaking his head to clear it.

"Yeah, that's something she'd do indeed." Nao said, frowning as he realized that their singer was probably very right. Then he turned to Hiroto, looking at him with concern.

"I think you should begin, Hiroto-kun." He said. Hiroto quickly nodded and began talking.

"Saga, I know you're probably scared. But please, please hang on, it's gonna be alright, okay?" The guitarist whispered with tears in his voice. Then, Shou also started talking and coming closer to the bassist. But the possessed body of his friend just glowed white and glared at him.

"Do not come any closer! I will kill him otherwise!!" The Sphere of Life said dangerously. Shou immediately stopped getting closer but he still wouldn't give up on talking to his friend, their most loved bassist.

"Saga, you're not a weak person. Not by any means. So I want you to fight this thing. You've always come through for me. For all of us. You can do this again, right?" Shou said, sad and scared for his friend.

"Yeah. Everything is going to be alright, you just need to hang on, alright, Takashi?" Nao said softly, looking at Saga with a mixture of worry and fear.

"Exactly! Come on, Saga! Face your fears and come back to us, please." Tora added, shaking his head.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

"Saga, please, don't do this to yourself! You can't give up just yet!" The girl's voice said as it cracked slightly from obvious fear and worry. Saga just shook his head, ready to make his life a sacrifice. But what happened next shocked him.

"Saga, you're not a weak person. Not by any means. So I want you to fight this thing. You've always come through for me. For all of us. You can do this again, right?" Shou was saying, his friend that he'd thought he killed in cold blood.

"S-Shou?!"

The Sphere of Life glowered at Saga's shocked and happy face. And then, angrily sent another beam of light into the bassist, making him scream from the pain. But still, Saga smiled.

"Now I know he's not dead. I will never give up! Neither Shou nor the others would be able to lose me and stay fine after that!" Saga declared with panting breath, smiling slightly but the entity smiled back suddenly.

"That does not mean that I have not harmed him." She said calmly.

"I don't care, I know how Shou-kun is, he'd never leave me alone when I need him. Injured or not, he's gonna be by my side, I just know it!"

"Your Shou will have to find you to stay beside you, you know." The Sphere of Life said, smirking at Saga's suddenly worried face.

~Meanwhile in Kyo's room~

Kyo groaned and opened his eyes slowly, everything in his body still hurting yet now a bit more bearable as the doctors had worked a miracle on him.

"Kyo! You're awake!" Came from his right side and turning, he saw Toshiya looking at him and smiling hopefully.

"Yeah... It hurts though... Where are the others?" The vocalist asked with a hoarse voice, frowning lightly. He wasn't yet comfortable enough with the bassist to stay alone in a room with him. Toshiya looked slightly less happy at the question but he answered anyways.

"Kaoru is asleep right here, look to the left and you'll see him. And the other two are asking the doctors about your condition. Oh how glad I am to see you're finally awake, Kyo-kun... It's been two weeks since Kaoru brought you here and I... I was so scared that you wouldn't m-make it." Toshiya's voice cracked at the last part, his eyes teary. At that, the look on Kyo's face slightly softened.

"It's-it's okay, Toshiya. I'm not dead. Just hurting, a lot." He said, looking at the younger man with a calm look.

"Thank goodness for that..." Toshiya whispered, tears still in his eyes.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"Guys, I don't think we should stay here any longer. We need to find Saga-shi's Pokémon so he'll manage to come back to us." Said Shou, gently looking at Saga whom he knew was somewhere in his own mind, trapped just like he had been.

"Yeah, but how the hell are we going to get close to him? Not to mention that we still need to break whatever seal that's in his mind so he can fight for himself as well." Said Tora logically, frowning in concentration so that he could find an idea that enabled them to get close to the bassist's body. That was then, some people entered the room. Looking up, they saw Bill, Tom and Luminor coming in.

"Are there any changes?" Asked Bill softly, looking sad and understanding.

"If you don't count the fact that that damned spirit almost killed Shou and Hiroto, no, there's no changes." Said Tora, making all three of them gasp. And then, Shou suddenly grimaced a bit as he shifted.

"Is it your shoulder?! Maybe Bela-san should try sewing it again?" Hiroto asked quietly to the vocalist and he shook his head.

"We shouldn't bother her anymore about this. You saw it didn't work before. I'm fine, I just need to remember not to move my shoulder much, if any." Shou said, smiling slightly shakily.

"What do you need to do to free him?" Asked Tom, purposefully not looking at Shou since he was still pissed off about what he had done to Georg.

"Apparently, we need to find his partner Pokémon and a way to unseal his mind so he can fight as well for himself." Hiroto replied, looking really concerned.

And right then, Saga opened his mouth and his pure white eyes started to glow.

"You will not be able to find her! I will kill her before you get close to the Snowpoint City!"

"So, his partner Pokémon might be in Snowpoint City, eh?" Said Luminor, frowning. He hoped that the city in question was not too far away or Saga would not make it.

"It could be. But we still somehow need to get that damned seal off of him somehow..." Said Nao, looking really worried.

"Maybe... Maybe if you wrote a song about him, it could work? At least might give him some strength." Bill said and trailed off awkwardly as the rest of the room looked at him in surprise.

"That's... That's actually a very good idea, thank you, Bill-san." Tora said, frowning. Yomi nodded at that.

"If I were him, a song from my best friends would definitely give me strength to fight. I'll help you if you want me to." The short vocalist said, smiling slightly nervously. The rest of the Alice Nine members nodded.

"No matter what song you write, your friend is gone! Why do you not understand that?!"

Just as they were gonna answer, a very loud noise attracted them. And while they were not looking, a shadow took some papers from Ruka's bag and slowly, went away as suddenly as it came.

"This is not good, what was that noise?!" Asked Aoi, frowning and went to check along with his bandmates. But nothing could've prepared them for what they were going to see in the vicinity of the noise.

"You!" Ruki whispered maliciously as a tall man stood in front of them, smirking at their shock. All besides Kai who looked on cluelessly as to why their vocalist was suddenly pissed off and the other three looked dumbfoundedly at the man.

"Ruki-kun? What's the matter, who's this guy??" Kai asked curiously, surprised that the vocalist looked very angry at the sight of a person he had never seen before.

"My name is Yune, remember it." The man said and extended his hand for a handshake towards the drummer. But growling, Ruki pushed Yune away, not letting him try anything on Kai.

"Let's go, Kai, Shou and the others need us right now." Reita said quietly, not wanting the slightly younger man to talk to this mysterious man since he knew that it would make him no good.

"O-kay... We'll talk about this later though, right?"

"Whenever you want, just don't talk to this bastard, that's all we want from you." Uruha said, glaring at Yune like Ruki was. Kai just nodded and let himself be led back to the room where Shou was staying. But when they went in, they stood in shock as they surveyed the scene. Hiroto and Shou were outcold and Saga's possessed body was preparing to shoot yet another beam onto the angry and unprepared Tora.

"Saga, stop!!" Yelled Aoi, running beside the bassist to try and hold him off long enough for Tora and Nao to strike him and make him faint. But as soon as the guitarist's hand touched the other's body, he yelled and took his hand back. The rest of them looked in absolute shock as Aoi's hand began to bloat slightly from the hot stuff Saga had around him.

"Aoi, are you alright?!"

"I-I'm fine! We need to stop him from leaving though! If he leaves, it's all over for Saga!" He said, frowning at the shorter man who still tried hard to escape.

"I know! But how are we gonna bypass that thing inside him?! We need to do something!"

"You shall never be able to get him back, he's already gone!" The Sphere of Life growled in Saga's body but then, Sableye came beside her trainer, ready to attack Saga so that he did not escape.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

"Well, are you two alright?" Asked Emile after he and his friends got comfortable in the room the Pokémon Center had given them.

"Yeah, nothing bad really happened to us except those minions were a bit too harsh on Jon since he kept fighting them." Tim said quietly. He was glad that everything had turned out well. But then, Jon turned to Emile, looking worried.

"What about you? I mean it was you who was dragged into a cell while you were unconscious, Emile. What happened to you?!" The older gamer asked, not entirely sure that he wanted to know the answer to his questions. Emile though, just smiled.

"I'm okay, Jon. They just caught me off-guard and without a Pokémon to defend myself. But they were too late nonetheless, I learned what Darkrai had been planning all along."

"Really?! That's insane, Emile! I thought you were just going to find a way for us to get out, not the plan of Darkrai!" Tim exclaimed, looking at the older gamer with shock.

"Well, I decided to do it in case I couldn't somehow save you two..." Emile said, looking sheepish.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

"What do you mean by that?!" Saga demanded, looking worried all of a sudden.

"I think you know exactly what I mean." The entity said with a calm smile on her face.

"You wouldn't dare do that! The guys would never let me go, I know it!" Saga said but his voice cracked despite being completely sure about his friends. And right then, she let him hear one more thing; the cry of pain from Hiroto and Shou at once.

"You-you monster!! How dare you do this to them!?"

"It is not over yet, Saga. I shall destroy them one by one so that you will bend to my will."

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"What do we do?!" Asked Keiyuu in slight panic as he tried to wake Hiroto and Shou up. Taizo, Ruki and Mai in the meanwhile, were still trying to stop the possessed body of Saga from leaving the hospital.

"Just don't let him get away while Shou and Hiroto regain themselves! They'd know what to do!" Said Nao, trying to get closer to his friend while he was occupied with fending Mai, Ruki and Taizo's advances.

Just then, Shou groaned slightly as he woke up and he was in obvious pain. His shoulder wound which had stopped bleeding for a while before, had started back up with a vengeance. But he still got up when he saw what was going on and did it too fastly, making him whimper slightly in pain.

"Shou? You okay?" Asked Aoi, looking at the younger man with worry. Shou just nodded and looked at Hiroto to reassure himself that he was okay although unconscious.

"You pest! How many times do I have to put you down so you will stay down?!" The Sphere of Life growled at the vocalist.

"I will never stay down when one of my best friends in the world needs me so much, you wench!" Shou growled right back at the deity, pissed off despite his now burning shoulder.

"Mightyena, Might!" Mightyena stood close to Shou as well, glaring at the face of the danger.

Just as the Sphere of Life was about to say something, Hiroto woke up and realizing that Saga was trying to escape, he immediately got up even though it made him quite dizzy.

"You are going nowhere! Luxray, use Thunder Fang but don't hurt him too much!" The guitarist ordered on a whim and shocked all of the others.

"Are you sure it's a good idea, Hiroto-kun?"

~Meanwhile with Kiro~

"What do you think we should do to help those guys?" Said Strify, frowning slightly. He hadn't liked what had apparently happened to Shou's shoulder and despite his fears, he did want to help the people that had helped as much as they could to Shin without even knowing him in the slightest.

"I don't know but we should come up with it quickly so they'll become safe once again." Replied his best friend, Kiro.

That was then, they heard a loud scream of pain from Saga through the walls of the hospital.

"We've gotta check this, now!!" Said Romeo, getting up immediately. They all nodded.

"I'm coming with you, this is not safe at all to do on your own, Romeo! And you're still injured, remember that!" Said Luminor, getting up as well and running slightly to catch up with the shorter man.

What they saw though, was a big surprise to both of them. Hiroto's Luxray had her teeth sinking into the bassist's arm, covered with electricity. Not too long after that, Saga fainted, letting Tora to finally catch the injured bassist.

"Luxray, Lux?" The Gleam Eyes Pokémon looked at her master worriedly as she hadn't wanted the bassist to actually faint.

"You did good, Luxray. At least now we can touch him." The guitarist said, looking upset.

"Let's go now, we can't wait any longer." Shou said, shaking his head.

"But what about your wound, Shou? Saga would be shocked if he saw you like this, seriously." Tora said, looking worriedly at Shou who was stubbornly trying to stay on his feet despite looking like he was about to faint.

"If we don't add today, Tora, we have only two days to save Takashi. We can't stay here and wait for that Pokémon of his to come find us, we need to find it ourselves! I'll be fine, I just need to take some more bandages from Bela-san and some strong painkillers then I'll be good to go." Shou said calmly.

"Let us help! We can come with you and help him regain himself." Romeo said, looking worried. The vocalist really looked like he'd fall over from a stiff breeze.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

Saga whimpered lightly at the sudden pain on his left arm. It felt like something with electricity had injected itself into his veins somehow and it hurt.

"Your own friend has attacked you." The Sphere of Life said, looking very calm.

"I... I bet... they had a... Good reason... To do that!" Saga panted out, glaring. He believed with everything he had that his friends would never hurt him unless they needed to.

"I can tell they have turned against you already. After all, you do deserve it, being stupid enough to touch one of my creations and allowing me to come out of my seal."

"You don't know shit about me, you bitch!" Saga snapped. He hadn't known why he'd been possessed out of everyone that had tried to save Shou but after learning it, he didn't feel like he had done something wrong.

"We shall see which one of us will live to see the rise of the day soon, Takashi."

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"I'm going to Bela-san, I bet she'll give us what we need. She's such a nice doctor after all." Said Shou, getting up from where the others had made him sit.

Just as the vocalist was about to get out of the room, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around only to see a light coming out of the window, signalling Cresselia's arrival.

When Cresselia entered the room, alerting everyone, Tora and Nao came in front of their bassist, unsure if they should let her see Saga lest she tried to attack again. But she looked in surprise at Saga.

"You have actually helped him... Without even breaking the seals or finding his partner... How did you manage that?!" The Lunar Pokémon asked, looking slightly shocked.

"R-really?! How can you tell?!" Hiroto asked with hope. He did know that Saga wasn't gone but to hear it from someone that could feel the spirit inside the bassist's body, helped him a lot.

"He does not shine anymore, does he? And his aura looks a lot clearer than it would have been when he is fully possessed."

"Then what we're doing so far is actually working! Saga will be alright!" Nao said smiling for the first time since the whole mess had begun.

"Yes, but he is still not in the clear. You need his partner to break the Sphere of Life's possession." Cresselia said, still unsure that they would manage bringing the bassist back.

"We were just about to go. The bitch gave us a big hint about his partner Pokémon's location." Said Shou calmly, yet he was still wary of the Lunar Pokémon, not wanting her to attack Saga when he wasn't looking.

"Where is it? I can help you to go there."

"We need to get some bandages first though. I'll be right back. Saga-kun o mite, ne, minna-san?" Shou said as he backed away from the room, swaying slightly from the bloodloss.

That was then, Saga's body shone once again but the bassist wouldn't wake up.

"Crap! What's going on?!"

"He is fighting. But I do not know which side is winning..." Cresselia said, frowning lightly.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

"Y-you're tough, I'll give you that! But you will never best me! Not when I know my best friends are with me and helping me! I can't afford to lose to a spirit of all things!" Saga said and to his surprise as well as the entity's, some of his wounds were actually healing.

"How?! How is this possible?!" The Sphere of Life growled angrily.

"I... I think they're helping me... To get through or something." Saga said, with a small, loving smile on his face. He knew that his friends were hurting over his condition and were doing everything they could to bring him back. But to have their soothing words heal his wounds, was something different. That was then, he felt that his body was moving on its own and got panicked that somehow, he could very well be hurting his friends.

"You got nervous all of a sudden. Were you expecting me to take it without any repercussions, Takashi?" Said the Sphere of Life, smiling at his worry.

"You'd better hope that nothing happens to them! Because otherwise, I swear I will kill you!!"

"Saga? Don't worry, they're coming. You're coming to me." The girl's voice once again entered the bassist's mind, making him feel relieved.

~Meanwhile outside Saga's body~

Saga's body was still shining but that actually made it easier to get a hold of the bassist since this shine could not harm anyone in the room. Tora took Saga's motionless body onto his back even though he knew how risky the move was since if Saga actually woke up, he would probably easily be able to kill the older guitarist.

"Tora, I don't think this is a wise move. What if Saga wakes up?!" Asked Uruha worriedly. But Tora shook his head.

"It's time for me to at least take a risk for him, Uruha-kun. I won't let that chance go by like that."

That was then, Shou and Bela came into the room, latter looking sincerely worried.

"Guys, I think we're ready, I got the bandages we need so let's go save Saga-kun, right?"

"Are you sure you're gonna be able to make it to Snowpoint City with that wound of yours, Shou?? That city is really far into the north and it's a very cold place..." Bela said hesitantly. Shou smiled and nodded lightly, not daring to make a stronger nod lest he fell over and let the concerned nurse know how bad he actually felt.

"I'll have to make-do, Bela-san. I can't, won't let one of my best friends to die without a fight." The vocalist said and went closer to Tora who took a deep breathe and got out of the room with the unconscious Saga on his back with the rest of Alice Nine following quietly behind him.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

"So, what was this so-called horrible plan Darkrai had in mind so he could abduct us?" Jon said, raising an eyebrow.

"He was apparently trying to rouse evil spirits and would try to... Try to make them possess you guys so he could take over both our world and this world as well..." Emile said, shuddering at the thought of his best friends being in such a danger.

"It's okay, Emile, we can get out of this. Darkrai won't be able to do anything to us as long as we keep that Salamance with us, right?" Tim asked, worried about the older gamer. He looked really shaken about the whole thing.

~Meanwhile with Alice Nine~

"Are you ready? I shall guide you to Snowpoint City. But after that, you are alone. I hope for your sake that you will save him. If not..."

"Let's not even think about the negative outcome, Cresselia-san. I don't think I can live without Saga-shi..." Hiroto whispered, looking painedly at Saga's prone body. Cresselia only nodded and started to go towards Snowpoint City where Saga's partner awaited him.

The members of Alice Nine and Cresselia walked and walked to the north, none of them wanting to rest till they reached Snowpoint City. While they walked, Shou was also thinking of the lyrics to the song he was going to write for their bassist. He wanted them to be special, like Saga himself. But thankfully, the vocalist had not forgotten to take his notebook with him when he left the hospital.

"Are you alright, Shou-kun? Is your shoulder hurting?" Asked Nao in concern. He could see the younger man was hanging on by a thread. He'd lost a lot of blood yet, he never gave up on walking to save Saga.

"I'm fine, Nao-shi. I was just thinking of the song we need to write for Takashi, that's all. And Tora?"

"Hmm? What is it, Shou?" The guitarist asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aren't you tired yet? I mean, Snowpoint City can't be too close, you can't just carry him on your back for too long... I can take him on mine if you're tired."

Tora chuckled at that, amused at the vocalist's brave remarks about the matter despite his horrible shoulder wound.

"What's so funny?" Shou frowned in confusion.

"One, I wouldn't get tired just because I'm carrying Saga who's a light-weight, and two, and more importantly, you're injured, Kohara, if I was stupid enough to give him to you right now, your arm probably would fall off." Tora said shaking his head in amusement. Shou pouted at that, making the others smile at him.

"We are close. Be ready for the hardest part for your mission. The Pokémon around here will recognize the danger of the Sphere of Life easily and probably will attack your friend." Said Cresselia as they saw snow falling in the area they were now in.

"Alright. This is it, guys, we're almost there. Let's go and save Saga-kun."

"Mightyena, Might!" The Bite Pokémon nodded, getting closer to Tora and Saga so that the bassist and guitarist would be safe. And so did Luxray. But as soon as the wild Pokémon that lived in there took notice of them, they started to gang up on the members of Alice Nine, obviously malicious and angry.

"Let us through, we need to find something important here!!" Shou snapped and winced as he had moved his shoulder fastly and in return, got a huge pain coming from it.

"Luxray, Lux! Luxray!" Hiroto's Luxray cried out at the horde of Swinub and Snover, demanding to be let through. But at that, the Pokémon became even more agitated.

~Meanwhile in Pokémon side~

"You can't bring that abomination here!!" A female Swinub yelled at the two Pokémon that were with the members of Alice Nine.

"Saga is not an abomination! He's a victim! And in two days, he will be one! There is only one way to get him back and that lies in the city you're guarding!" Said Luxray defensively, staying right beside Tora and his living burden.

"No! You just can't do that! We won't let you!! Attack!" A male Snover yelled and then, it became chaotic.

~Meanwhile in Saga's mind~

"There has been a very... Bad interruption for you, Takashi. The Pokémon here will not allow you to pass." Said Sphere of Life, smiling at his fear.

"What?! But what if the guys get hurt?! Oh no... I can't let them get hurt, they need to stop it now!!" Saga said but there was no way for him to be able to say anything to his best friends. All he could do was to hope to God they did not get hurt in his place.

"They seem to be still fighting for you, how pathetic and useless." The woman said, shaking her head.

"They... They still won't give up on me? Even though it's dangerous?!" Saga whispered, touched and worried at the same time. He was touched because his best friends were by his side no matter how monstrous he'd become or no matter how small the chances were for him to return to normal. But at the same time, he was worried that they would get harmed by the wild Pokémon on his behalf.

"They do not seem to be. But all of their meddling is in vain. I will possess you anyway."

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"Mightyena, use Roar on those Swinub!" Shou yelled, hoping to solve the problem quickly but the horde of the angry Pokémon grew and grew.

"They're too much, we need to do something and now!!" Nao said, starting to panic. Things looked pretty bleak until an Abomasnow came into the view, frightening all of them.

"Snow, Abomasnow..." The Frost Tree Pokémon growled and all of a sudden, the fighting stopped to their surprise.

"W-what's happening?!" Hiroto asked Cresselia, frightened that the Pokémon were just waiting an order from that huge Pokémon that had just come out to attack and probably harm Saga badly.

"He is actually helping you. He just told them to stand aside."

"What?! T-that's a miracle!" Tora said, his eyes wide with shock. Then he slightly re-adjusted Saga and finally got into the Snowpoint City along with his bandmates. And after walking a bit more, they saw a temple ahead.

"Let's go in, I feel like this is it..." Said Hiroto, always good with his instincts. The others nodded and then, they went into the temple, ready to save Saga.

~Meanwhile inside the Snowpoint Temple~

A Jynx suddenly looked up, worried about her little girl, Smoochum. She didn't know what had gotten into her lately. She seemed to be suffering from nightmares all of a sudden and there was nothing the Human Shape Pokémon could do to stop them.

"Mommy, he's coming! He's finally coming!!" The little Pokémon exclaimed, looking very happy.

"I hope so, sweetie. Are you okay though? You haven't had much sleep lately."

"I'm fine! I'm just really excited!"

That was then, they heard footsteps. Smoochum immediately went closer to the sound but Jynx caught her and pulled the Kiss Pokémon back, much to her annoyance.

"It's dangerous, Smoochum, please don't go away from me!"

"But... But mom!" Smoochum whined, she was restless because she could feel that her trainer and his friends were very close.

"It's dangerous, Smoochum, I can't just let you out of here without any protection!" Jynx said, strict. The Kiss Pokémon just sighed, knowing her mother would not allow her to go away on her own. But then, Jynx smiled at the unhappy Smoochum.

"I'll come with you."

"R-really?!"

"Yes." Was all Jynx said but just before they could get out of the place they were in, a Snover came into the room, looking panicked.

"Danger!! There's a person possessed by a Sphere of Life here! We tried to stop them but--"

Just as the Snover was about to finish his sentence, as if on cue, the people he was talking about appeared in the room.

~Meanwhile at human side~

"Do you think it's here, guys?" Asked Tora as he adjusted Saga again so the bassist did not fall onto the cold, hard ground. Hiroto nodded as a pink, small Pokémon approached them, making it clear that she was intrigued by Saga.

"Hello, little one. Are you by chance the one to be able to save our friend, Saga?" Nao asked gently, smiling at the cute Pokémon. As soon as she heard the name, she immediately jumped up and down, wanting to touch the unconscious bassist. Seeing this, Tora lowered the younger man to the ground, as gentle as he could be. But then, Saga woke up and glared at them.

"Where do you think you have brought my vessel?!" The Sphere of Life growled at them, angry.

"We brought him here so that he can get rid of you, bitch! Don't even think of trying anything!!" Nao growled right back, uncharacteristically angry.

That was then, the possessed bassist finally noticed Smoochum who was looking at him with worry and curiosity. His eyes widened at that.

"No! This cannot be!!"

"Smoochum, Smooch~!" The Kiss Pokémon hugged Saga, looking both concerned and happy at the same time.

"Now what else do we do to ensure his safety?" Asked Tora, looking worriedly at the bassist who was glowering at the Kiss Pokémon.

"How about we play the song we wrote for him? Maybe it'll help him?" Shou replied quietly. He had managed to get some hopefully good lyrics for the song they'd put together on the way to Snowpoint City.

"Alright then. Let's start." Nao said, getting ready to drum on the flat surface of ice. But a Jynx came closer to him and actually made an icy drum-kit for the drummer, much to their shock.

"Thank you, kind little one." Said Nao quietly. And then, they started the song.

~Meanwhile inside Saga's mind~

"Don't worry, Saga, you're with me now. We're gonna get you out of here, okay?" The girl's voice was back, whispering assurances to his ear. And then, he heard music playing.

"D-did they... Did they replace m-me?!"

"No, they didn't, listen closely."

Doing as the young girl wanted, Saga realized that there was no bass playing with the others, making him sag in relief. He didn't know what he'd do if they had replaced him. And then, Shou started singing.

"Flowing down memories
Eventually become a river, to the ocean"

Suddenly, one of the chains that held Saga tightly to the pillar vanished, leaving him shocked.

"Please, Shou, don't stop..." Saga said, intrigued as to what the rest of the song was.

"An element taking form
Many words of love
Many victims of words

I'm falling down to the dark
But I can't say goodbye to you
Searching for own pieces...

That part, made the bassist start crying, he was very touched by the words. And as he was crying, another chain disappeared, leaving the bassist finally almost free.

The process is slowly reflected
The accumulated intents, aspirations

What I chose was not a path
A vow of wishing for the future
With the friends that taught me

Saga now was almost off of the pillar, smiling through the blood and tears he was shedding.

I'm falling down to the dark
But I can't say goodbye to you
Searching for own pieces

The thing that I didn't wipe away when the tears fell
Also resembled tranquility the days of a blue that won't fade
So, I as myself, I'll live together with you
There is no wound that doesn't hurt
To that sky that is too distant

"Shou... Guys... Arigatou..." Saga whispered as the Sphere of Life appeared before him once again, furious.

Be with you
I'll be with you
Until the end of the eternity you ask for...

Then, a beautiful guitar solo began and Saga looked up, smiling gently still. He knew those kind of solos anywhere.

"Hiroto..." Just as he whispered the guitarist's name, the last of his chains disappeared, blown away from the sheer power of the love Alice Nine members had for eachother.

I was born, I know the end of the four seasons
A flower that blooms from inside the rubble

In the corner of the revolving stars, the falling drops, not known to anyone
So, I as myself, I'll live together with you.
Until the tears that burned beautifully dry up

The music box called the universe is crying
So, I as myself, I'll live together with you

Be with you...
I'll be with you
Until the end of the eternity you ask for...

The song was healing Saga and soon, he was able to get up on his own, ready to come back to his best friends.

~Meanwhile outside Saga's mind~

"Sing one more note and I shall kill him!!"

Shou stopped immediately at the threat of the Sphere of Life, while he wanted to finish the song, he sure did not want the Sphere of Life to kill Saga. But it was too late nonetheless, the spirit was expelled from the bassist's body and went straight to Hiroto and collided with the unsuspecting guitarist.

"Hiroto, iie!!" All three of them yelled as the guitarist was engulfed by a white aura, panicked. Meanwhile, Saga fell onto the ground, unconscious. But none of them was able to take their eyes from their lead guitarist, all scared that he might be possessed like Saga was or worse. And when the light subsided, they all cautiously came closer to Hiroto, really worried.

"H-Hiroto??" Nao whispered, slightly scared at the guitarist's stance. But Hiroto didn't answer nor did he look up, scaring his friends further. Then when Nao approached him further, the guitarist just raised his head fully and said;

"BOO!" Making Nao shriek and fall back in fright. At that, Hiroto just laughed happily while the rest of the members looked at him with shock and annoyance.

"Are you alright?!" Shou asked quickly, looking worried even though the younger man didn't show any symptoms of being possessed by the dangerous spirit.

"Luxray~?" The Gleam Eyes Pokémon came closer to her trainer, truly worried even though she couldn't feel the Sphere of Life's influence inside Hiroto.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to prank you guys. Really." The guitarist said, smiling gently. Then he crouched down to Luxray's level, petting her and kindly smiling at the worried Pokémon.

"How did it not possess you then? What'd you do, Hiroto?"

At that, Hiroto's smile grew wider and he reached to one of his pockets and pulled out, much to the others' shock, the Sphere of Life, imprisoned in her little sphere again.

"How the hell did this happen?!" Nao asked with wide eyes. Just as Hiroto was going to answer though, a weak groan from Saga alerted them and they forgot the conversation, running to the bassist's side, hopeful.

"Saga? Are you... Alright?" Hiroto asked with slight fear in his voice. And when Saga opened his chocolate brown eyes, blinking tiredly, they all gave a sigh of relief.

"Guys... Where are we? Why is it so cold?" He whispered and then, noticed the small, pink Pokémon on top of him and smiled softly at her.

"Hello, little one, who are you?"

"Smooch, Smoochum!" The little Kiss Pokémon hugged the bassist as hard as she dared as Saga still needed recovery but it made Saga smile, understanding that she was the partner of his. That was then, Tora came beside them and gently hauled Saga to his feet, stabilizing him when the younger man's knees almost gave out.

"We're at Snowpoint City, Saga-kun. You don't need to worry about anything, okay? Just close your eyes and let yourself rest. We'll return to the hospital soon." Said Shou quietly. Saga frowned at that though.

"But I need to walk too..." He said, not understanding why they would want him to sleepwalk. But in the next moment, he squeaked when Tora swept him off his feet and took him onto his back.

"There, you can sleep as much as you want to now." The taller guitarist said, smiling gently at the surprised bassist.

"But--"

"No buts, Takashi, let yourself rest. We'll take care of the rest."

"Arigatou, Tora-kun... All of you..." Saga whispered, smiling as he closed his eyes and let sleep pull him in.

~Meanwhile in the hospital - with Cresselia's Champions~

"I really hope they'll succeed..." Hitsugi said, hating all the suffering the members of Alice Nine were going through.

"I think they will. Don't worry, Hitsugi-san, those guys are made from tough material, especially Saga and Hiroto. They won't give up easily." Yuura said gently. He was starting to take a liking to the pierced guitarist and his gentle ways.

Meanwhile, Ruka was rummaging in his bag, trying to find the song he was working on. But for some reason, the papers seemed to have vanished from where he knew he had put them. Frowning he came closer to Yomi, thinking that the vocalist might've hid them just to prank and annoy him.

"What's the matter, Ruka-kun? You look kinda tense."

"Did you take any papers from my bag, Yomi-kun?" The drummer asked, his eyes narrowing. Seeing that, Yomi got surprised.

"No, of course not! I know better than to touch your compositions till they're finished, you know that!" The singer said in surprise. While they were talking in quiet tones, Kai meanwhile, was still confused about the man in that corridor. And it seemed that none of his bandmates wanted to tell anything about the man, confusing him even further.

"Come on, you guys, you promised me you would tell who he was later!" The drummer exclaimed, frowning.

"Kai... Remember how before you came into our band, our lives, there was a man named Yune in the band and he quit?" Said Reita, making Ruki elbow him. The vocalist obviously didn't want Kai to know about him.

"Yes?"

"That... That was him..." Uruha whispered, shuddering slightly.

~Meanwhile with Alice Nine members~

After they left the Snowpoint Temple, the members started reluctantly walking back to the hospital. They didn't know if they would attack someone, especially Saga now that the bassist was weak and tired. But when they put their feet onto the tall grass, no Pokémon came out, surprising them pleasantly.

"Good, this might just be a smooth trip." Said Hiroto, taking the lead immediately. But then, Tora turned to him, serious.

"I think it might be better if I take the lead, mr. Prankster. By the way, just how did you manage to seal that damned spirit back?!" The taller man asked at the sheepish Hiroto. That made the others turn curiously to the pair.

"Ano... You remember how Mew-san took me aside for a moment before they left, right?"

"Yes?" Nao said, raising an eyebrow of surprise. Hiroto rubbed the back of his head and said;

"She said that I, and only I, could re-seal her if I had the seal of her on my body somehow and--"

"And you're telling us this now, Hiroto?!" Yelled Shou, shocked. He couldn't believe the risk the younger guitarist had taken. But his yelling had woken Saga up and the bassist was confused. But feeling that something was amiss, Saga kept feigning sleep in order to learn what was going on.

"I would've told you guys if I didn't know you would oppose it! It was pretty much the only thing that kept that foul bitch from trying to re-enter Saga-shi! At least from what Mew-san said and it worked! I hope you understand that I just wanted his good!" Hiroto snapped but then froze from the next person speaking up.

"You did WHAT?!"

"S-Saga-kun? Y-you need rest, what are you doing awake?!" Hiroto stuttered, hoping like hell that the bassist had not heard all of what he had done.

"What exactly did you do to seal her, Hiroto, WHAT?!" Saga insisted, scared that Hiroto might be hurt in his place. Hiroto though, just shook his head, not wanting to tell anything.

"I think it's better if you let it go for now, Saga. You need your rest and what he did probably would make you stay up much longer than you should." Said Nao, sending a stern look at Hiroto who was looking very sheepish. Saga sighed at that, knowing that he wasn't getting anything about it for a good long while, knowing his best friends.

"I feel fine, Tora-shi, you can let me down now. I think I can walk." He said, not wanting to tire the older man more than he had to. Tora though, just snorted at him.

"I won't get tired from carrying you, you know. I don't want to let you go until I'm sure that you can walk on your own without falling onto your face."

"I'll be fine. Besides, I wanna walk with my new Pokémon here!" The bassist said, slightly whining. At that, Smoochum cried out happily and seeing that, Tora sighed along with the others, shaking his head. But just as he let Saga down, Shou stopped for a moment weak with the bloodloss. Saga immediately realized that Shou was not okay.

"Kohara? Are you okay?!" He asked, going near the vocalist with only slightly wobbly legs. Shou tried to nod but fell unconscious the next moment, simply not able to hold on any longer. Saga caught the falling vocalist with fright.

"Shou!! Kohara, what's wrong?!"

"He's... He's lost a lot of blood... We need to get back to the hospital and now!" Said Tora, motioning Saga to put the older man onto his back.

"What blood?! What happened?!" Saga asked, panicking as he got Shou onto the taller guitarist's back.

"Smoochum, Smooch??" The Kiss Pokémon was also confused as to why the vocalist who seemed just fine although weak, suddenly fainted.

"We'll tell you everything when we get to the hospital, okay, Takashi? But right now, Shou needs you, all of us, to stay calm." Nao said softly. He knew that Shou had been hanging on by a thread but to see him faint like that, scared the drummer more than he'd ever admit.

"Okay. But you will tell me everything that's happened while I was possessed, understood?!" Saga said, glaring slightly.

"Okay, Takashi, let's just keep going, alright?" Hiroto said and then, with Tora in the lead, they quickened their pace even though Saga was struggling slightly to walk. Noticing that, Hiroto came to the bassist and supported him silently, just to know that the older man was there, breathing and whole. Seeing this, the tense look on Saga's face softened. He still wanted to know what the guitarist had done but it could wait until he was in a better state.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"You... You mean that he was the one in the band before I came to you?!" Kai said, his eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah. But don't worry, after what he's done, he would never be able to be even friends with us!" Ruki declared, easing the doubt in Kai's heart. But that didn't mean that he wasn't curious about what had happened. And just as he was going to ask, Ruki took his phone in his hand, calling someone.

"Who are you calling, Ruki?" Asked Aoi curiously. Ruki turned to him as he pressed his phone into his ear.

"I'm calling Shou, I hope something good has happened." The short vocalist said and then, he started talking.

"Oh, hi, Hiroto. Is everything alright?"

~Meanwhile with Alice Nine members~

"Yeah, Saga is just fine now, we saved him. But Shou lost a lot of blood so we're bringing him back."

Saga looked down at that, hoping against hope that it was not his fault. While Hiroto continued talking, Nao came beside the worried bassist, putting a hand on his arm.

"It's okay, Saga-kun. Everything is alright now." The drummer said gently, knowing that he didn't like not knowing what had happened to their vocalist. But telling him now, would probably make Saga even more anxious, knowing the bassist.

Just as Saga was about to say something, they arrived back into the hospital.

"I'm closing, we're almost there, Ruki-kun. ... Yeah, see you later." Hiroto said before closing the phone and looking at Saga who looked really worried. He could see the taller man was eating himself from the worry for Shou.

"Saga, please don't worry, Kohara will be fine, I promise." Hiroto said, gentle and worried despite what he was saying. Truth was, he was worried about Shou as his wound needed to be closed shut somehow but he was also worried about Saga. The bassist looked white as a sheet and he was shivering lightly.

"Are you alright though? You're shivering, Saga-kun." Asked Nao, picking up on what the guitarist was thinking.

"I think so. I'm only a little cold, don't worry about me." Saga replied with a small, tense smile on his face. He felt blessed for having such awesome friends who didn't hesitate going to his help when he needed it.

But when they went into the hospital, something very bad happened; Shou's heart stopped.

"No!! Kohara, don't do this to us, not now!" Hiroto exclaimed, his eyes wide with fear. Saga and Nao couldn't even say something, too shocked and scared for Shou.

"Give him to me. We'll see if he lives." Bela said, gently taking the limp Shou from Tora's back.

"P-please don't let him die, please!" Hiroto whispered, ready to cry. Meanwhile, Shou's Mightyena looked panicked, obviously wanting to go after Shou but Nao held him back, needing the comfort of the Bite Pokémon.

"Saga! It's great to see you safe!" Said Aoi, hugging the younger man. Saga only returned the hug semi-willingly, worried about Shou.

"What happened to Shou though??" Reita asked in worry.

"Bloodloss... You know how bad his wound is, right? That idiot wouldn't stop when he needed to..." Said Tora, shaking his head.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell happened to Shou?!" Saga snapped, angry now. That made them all pause.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" Yuura said, looking nervous.

"Not too much, actually, I just want to know why he's on the verge of death!" Saga said, his eyes filling with tears. He just hoped that the vocalist would be fine.

"I... I don't think it's a good idea right now, Saga-kun. You seem to be not too well either." Said Reita putting a hand on his fellow bassist's shoulder. He smiled gently at the distraught Saga, trying to calm the older man down.

"Yeah, you need rest, just let us take care of things for a while." Tora said quietly. Saga looked down, he wished there was something he could do for Shou, especially after everything the vocalist had done for him.

Just then, Bela came out and they immediately swarmed the nurse, bombarding her with questions.

"Calm down! His heart is beating now but there's something we need to do for him to help him recover." She said, looking concerned.

"Anything. Just tell us and we'll do it for him." Saga said, despite looking very weak.

"He needs blood and now, or you might still lose him. I managed to sew his wound but the bloodloss is way too much for him to not receive a blood transfusion."

"I'll do it. It was my fault that he's in this state anyway." Hiroto said, coming forward immediately. Just as Tora was going to stop him, he shot a look at the older guitarist, making him understand that the young man was not going to back down from his decision.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

"Emile, stop worrying about everything. We can fight Darkrai alongside you, you know." Tim said gently. He was worried about his friend, seeing how shaken he was about it.

"But you don't have any Pokémon! I don't even know if I will have one!" Emile replied. Jon shook his head at him wordlessly. He didn't even have half of an idea as to how they could fight Darkrai and win against him.

"We'll find some. Don't worry, alright?" Tim said, hugging Emile tightly. Emile hugged back, just glad that his friends were fine and with him.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

As soon as Hiroto went with Bela, Tora and Yasuno came to help Saga to a nearby bed so he could regain his health.

"I'm fine, guys, I'm just worried about Shou that's all." The bassist said, smiling tensely. He was happy that they were thinking of his health more than he himself was. And then, Hitsugi saw Smoochum and pointed at her, smiling.

"Is that your partner, Saga-san?"

"Yeah, she's adorable, isn't she? As soon as she saw Saga, she wouldn't let him go. She just hung on him while we helped him out of that awful possession." Said Tora, smiling back at Hitsugi. That made all of the room go "Aww..." at the same time. And when Saga was pushed into the bed, Smoochum went up and cuddled him as he laid there, smiling.

"You're such a cute match, I'm happy for you guys."

Just then, Bela and three other doctors came into the room with a stretcher which had Shou inside it, unconscious yet alive. Hiroto trodded after them, looking drained.

"Is he alright?!" Saga asked, sitting up so he could see the singer laying motionlessly on the stretcher.

"He's just fine. We just need to change his bandages. I already took care of the worst part of his wound, don't worry."

Saga looked on in fear as Bela peeled off the bloodied bandages from Shou's right shoulder and when he saw the horrible wound, he cried out in shock.

"Oh God..."

While Saga was busy looking horrifiedly at Shou, Nao came closer to Hiroto, whispering in his ear.

"Do you think it's a good idea to tell him what you did, Hiroto-kun?"

"Hell no!! Don't you think he's freaked enough, Nao-shi?! I don't need him to be worried about me as well!"

But Saga had already heard what they were saying and had turned to them anyways.

"Hiroto, please don't hide anything from me..." Saga said, looking sad and worried at the same time. At that, Hiroto, Nao and Tora all winced, knowing that Saga this time was very serious and feeling left out.

The others were also curious and crowded the guitarist who looked very reluctant to tell what had happened.

"Ano... I kinda did something a bit reckless while saving you, Saga-kun. But don't worry, I'm just fine!" Hiroto said in slight panic, waving his hands.

"That was a miracle in and of itself, Hiroto..." Nao muttered at the younger man who sent a glare at him for the comment.

"What'd you do, Hiroto-san?" Asked Yomi curiously.

"I'd better begin from the beginning, you remember when Mew-san took me aside before she departed with Cresselia-san, right?" The guitarist said, looking a bit flustered. Saga, who had no idea about it frowned lightly, he had a feeling that whatever Hiroto was about to say was nothing good for his sanity.

~Flashback - a day ago~

"Hiroto, can you come a bit with me?" Mew asked to the puffy-eyed guitarist. Curious, the young man in question nodded and went to another room with the New Species Pokémon.

"What is it, Mew-san? Please don't tell me you think we can't save Saga-kun either, please!"

"No, that is not the case. I am telling this to you because I believe you can do it. Otherwise, I would not even think about saying what I will say to you."

"What is it, Mew-san?" Hiroto said, very curious now. Mew held out the empty Sphere of Life to the confused guitarist.

"What do you want me to do with this, Mew-san? I don't understand?"

"There is a sure way to expel the Sphere of Life from your friend. But only you can ensure that she does not return to his body immediately. You can re-seal her back to this little sphere so she does not harm anyone again. But you need to have the seal on your body."

Hiroto's eyes widened at that and he hurriedly took the seal from the New Species Pokémon, managing to fit it into one of his pockets.

"But why are you telling me this? Surely the others have just as much chance of sealing her as me." The guitarist said softly. He was truly worried and he didn't know if he should trust himself with this huge responsibility. Mew smiled at him with gentle eyes.

"All will be clear soon, Hiroto. Believe in yourself and your friend."

"What do I need to do to re-seal it other than to have the seal on me? I won't hesitate doing it." The guitarist said calmly. Mew hesitated for a moment before answering.

"You need to draw her to you by focusing onto her so she does not go back to possess your friend or he will not stand a chance no matter what you do."

"I'll do it. I will make sure Saga's fine even if it'll be the end of me."

"You need to stay calm though, do not give into your fears or she will not come to you. Good luck, Hiroto." Was all she said and then left with Cresselia, leaving Hiroto to think if he should tell them but decided against it, knowing how they would react.

~Flashback ends~

Saga was gaping after learning what kind of risk Hiroto had taken. He didn't even want to think about what could've happened to the guitarist had he failed.

"You did WHAT?!" He yelled, his eyes wide with complete shock. Hiroto flinched slightly at the bassist's tone, expecting harshness.

"That's not even all, Saga-shi, for a moment, we all thought he was possessed or worse and then, he just scared the crap out of me with not giving a sign of life!!" Nao said, sending a sour look at Hiroto who was really starting to get scared. Saga went up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him.

"What were you THINKING?! What if it didn't work?!" The bassist yelled, both angry and worried.

"Saga, please stop shaking me... I feel dizzy enough..." Hiroto said, trying to make the bassist stop. That worked immediately though, Saga stopped shaking Hiroto and looked at him worriedly.

"And do you know why Mew-san told him that, Saga? Because apparently from that bitchy spirit told all of us that Hiroto was the real vessel of hers!!" Tora added, making Hiroto shudder at the remembrance. Saga just hugged the younger man tightly, both scared and touched that he would go that far to just save his life.

"That's quite a big risk you took there, Hiroto-san!" Said Hitsugi in surprise. Hiroto smiled at that though.

"I would've never forgiven myself if I hadn't taken it and let Saga go like that."

Saga shook his head at those words, he still was kind of pissed at Hiroto for risking his life so easily like that for him.

~Meanwhile in another room~

"Mai-cho, what are you doing here of all places?!" Keiyuu asked, looking really surprised.

"Umm... I was brought here by some mysterious thing, I don't remember much of it, actually. But I have a partner already." Mai said, slightly nervous. He didn't want to lie to his friends. He still cared for them no matter what Darkrai had ordered.

"Lucario~." The Aura Pokémon nodded in greeting at Keiyuu and the others.

"That's awesome, Mai! He fits you well!" Yasuno said, grinning at the other man. Mai returned the smile, feeling better with his friends' good mood.

~Meanwhile in Shou's room~

"By the way, just what happened to Shou's arm?! That looks awful!"

Hiroto averted his eyes at that, knowing that it was because of his weakness that the vocalist had gotten hurt. Just as Tora was going to answer, Shou groaned slightly and finally opened his eyes.

"Shou! Are you alright?!"

"I feel... Tired. Where's Saga? Is he okay?" The singer whispered slightly hoarsely. At that, Saga facepalmed.

"I'm fine, Shou. You just look out for yourself, will you?!"

Shou relaxed slightly as he heard Saga's voice, thankful that his friend was alright now. Seeing how relieved Shou was, Saga smiled gently at him.

"It's alright now, Shou. But just tell me one thing, what happened to your shoulder? I-I didn't hurt you, right?!" The bassist asked, eyes filling with tears at the thought of hurting one of his best friends.

"No, Takashi, it wasn't you. It was that bitch who did it. Don't worry, alright?" Shou said gently, knowing that Saga was going to blame himself if he didn't acknowledge the truth. But when he heard that, Saga became even more distraught.

"Saga, please, don't blame yourself, you weren't in control! Hell, you don't even remember what happened!" Shou said, sitting in the bed and when he did so, he grimaced lightly as his shoulder hurt a lot more than he would admit to anyone but himself.

"Don't sit up, Shou, you lost a lot of blood, you need rest." Said Tora calmly, sparing a glance at Saga. The bassist was looking down, obviously fretting over what his own body must have done to Shou.

"I'm fine, really. Saga, please, look at me." Shou said softly, concerned about the bassist. Saga looked up only to see Shou smiling at him with kind eyes.

"Everything that's happened was not your fault. You couldn't even see what was happening from what you tell so why the hell would it be your fault that I got hurt?" Shou asked, wanting nothing more than to get up and embrace the younger man.

"But still..." Saga trailed off as he looked down again. His Smoochum came to sit beside him, trying to cheer him up.

"It's alright, Takashi, everything turned out well." Tora said, putting a hand on the other man's arm.

~Meanwhile with Emile~

"I know somewhere safe where you can recover and plan the next move." Said Robin as Tim released Emile.

"Then where? Show it to us, Robin, please."

Robin smiled at that and nodded immediately. Then they started to get ready for the bed, all of them tired after the day's events.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

After that, suddenly, Hiroto yawned wide, obviously tired out from everything they had done.

"Go to sleep, Hiroto-kun, you haven't slept in two days." Kai said, smiling slightly at the adorableness of sleepy Hiroto. And what the drummer had said made Saga feel even worse for scaring his best friends.

"Okay..." The guitarist said, curling up in his chair but Saga wasn't going to let the younger man sleep in a chair when he was fine enough to sit in that chair and let him sleep in a proper bed. So he gently took Hiroto and helped him into the bed.

"Thanks, Saga-shi." Was all Hiroto could say before falling asleep almost instantly. Saga and the others smiled at the scene, thinking that their little guitarist was too adorable when he was tired.

~At night~

Saga looked at his sleeping bandmates and friends, thinking that he was blessed with people like these.They had come through for him no matter what dangers it had posed to them. Though, he couldn't sleep for some reason even though he was dead tired. That was then, a sharp white light shone just outside the room, making him curious so he got up and cautiously went to the door.

"Hello, Saga. I see that you are finally well." Said a pink, small Pokémon in her childish voice. Saga immediately took a step back, very cautious.

"Who are you?!" The bassist asked sharply, not trusting this obviously Legendary Pokémon. The Pokémon just put her arms up in a clear gesture of calming down the young man.

"I am Mew. I helped as much as I could when you were possessed."

Saga's eyes widened at that, he had heard the name from Hiroto while the guitarist was telling about what he had done to keep him safe.

"So, you are the one to give Hiroto the idea that he could endanger himself for me!! What the hell were you thinking?! He's way too young for this kind of stuff!!"

Just as Mew was going to answer though, a small voice from the room stopped her and Saga on their tracks. It was Hiroto.

"No... Please..." The guitarist was having a nightmare and that, made Saga run to his side, concerned.

"Hiroto. Hiroto, wake up!"

"No... T-take me instead, NO!" The guitarist woke up panting and in tears.

"Hiroto, I'm here. It's okay now, it's okay." Saga said, hugging him and rocking him back and forth gently. All the while, Mew watched the scene with worried eyes.

"S-Saga? What are you doing up?! D-did I wake you?" Hiroto said after calming down. Saga just shook his head.

"No, I wasn't sleeping anyways. Are you okay though? It seemed like you had a bad nightmare there."

Hiroto averted his eyes and nodded, shuddering at the memory.

"Do you want to tell me?" Saga asked in a soothing tone but Hiroto shook his head, still shaking a little. Saga nodded and brushed the younger man's tears away gently.

"T-thanks, Saga-kun..." Hiroto whispered, smiling through his tears. He was glad that everything had turned out well and then, he closed his eyes, leaning on Saga. And within minutes, he was asleep.

Saga smiled softly at Hiroto's sleeping, peaceful form. He still didn't even want to think about what could've happened if his plan had failed.

"He is very brave. You are lucky to have people like him around you." Mew said softly as the guitarist curled up on Saga's wiry frame and gave a sleepy sigh of content.

"Yeah. Hiroto has always been brave. All of them have." Saga whispered, tears gathering up in the corners of his eyes. He was grateful that his friends had never even thought about replacing him and had even wrote a song for him to help him get through that torture.

"Your friend did not hesitate when I told him about how to seal the spirit back into the Sphere."

Saga nodded, still kind of annoyed at the fact that Hiroto hadn't thought of his own safety and had opted to save him instead.

"That's because he's a reckless idiot! I never would've thought that Hiroto of all people would do something as reckless as this, to be perfectly honest with you, Mew-san. By the way, why are you here anyways?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to make sure everything is alright. I must go now, Saga. Take care of yourself."

With that, Mew disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving Saga to think about how lucky he was and slowly, to fall asleep cuddling Hiroto.

~Next morning~

"Aww, that's so cute!" A voice breached Hiroto's dream. He blearily opened his eyes only to see that he was leaning on a skinny chest. He frowned slightly and looked up only to see Saga who was still asleep with his arms encircling his back protectively. He blushed furiously, not remembering how he'd come to be in this state with the bassist.

"S-Saga?! What the hell?!"

Saga blinked and woke up as well, looking slightly bewildered but when he realized why Hiroto was looking at him like that, he smiled. Hiroto looked so adorable when he was drowsy and confused. Then, the guitarist yawned wide, trying to blink sleep out of his eyes.

"It's okay, Hiroto, if you need, you can go back to sleep." Said Nao, smiling at the younger man. Hiroto though, just shook his head, getting up from the bed.

~Meanwhile with Bill and Tom~

"What do you remember, Georg?" Bill asked with sadness. He hardly could bear the thought of his friend not remembering anything they'd been through together.

"Umm, almost nothing, actually. All I remember is my name and...That I'm a good friend of yours, from what Tom said."

Bill painedly averted his eyes, knowing that Georg was unable to remember anything from their lives was horrible. He even half-wanted Shou to be dead because of that. That was then, a Floette came close to them, looking shockedly at Georg.

"Floette~?" The Single Bloom Pokémon whispered, coming closer to the man in the bed.

"Floette, your trainer needs to rest right now, alright, sweetie?" Tom said, smiling kindly at the little Pokémon.

"Wait, she's my Pokémon?! That's awesome!" Georg beamed at Floette who didn't hesitate on getting up on the bed so she could cuddle the bassist.

~Meanwhile in Saga's room~

"I'm telling you, I didn't take anything from your bag!! Why won't you understand that, Satoru?!" Yomi exclaimed as the others watched. The drummer was looking angrily at his vocalist who looked pretty unhappy with the accusation.

"Then who the hell would do that?! Only you are annoying enough to do something like that!" Ruka yelled back at Yomi who stopped short at the older man's words, shocked. The accusation had hurt, sure, but to hear that he was nothing but an annoyance to the drummer, stung badly.

"Oh crap..." Yomi heard Ni~ya mutter. And when he raised his head, Ruka only then caught on to how much what he had said hurt Yomi.

"You know what, Ruka, I wish Zannin never left us and let us bring someone as worthless as you into our lives! You don't deserve to be around anyone, you bastard!" Yomi said with tears in his eyes. And then, left the room with Eevee running after him. Ruka stood there in shock, not having expected Yomi to say something like that. Seeing this, Sakito, the ever-logical one, came beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He doesn't mean it, Satoru. You know he doesn't."

"B-but still..." Ruka said in a choked voice, those words Yomi had said hurt more than he would ever be able to admit.

~Meanwhile with Yomi~

"Just who does he take me for?! I am no thief!" Yomi said, glaring at nothing in particular. He simply couldn't believe that the older man had essentially called him an annoyance and a thief.

Just as he was going to walk a bit more, trying to clear his head from the anger, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hello, Yomi."

Yomi whirled around in shock, not having expected to hear this voice ever again.

"Zannin?! What the hell?!"

"Yes, it's me. What, did you not miss me, Yomi-kun?"

"Hell NO!! Not after what you've done!!" The vocalist yelled, glaring angrily at Zannin who smirked in response.

"But weren't you the one to say you wished I stayed in? Well, you got your wish. You can stay with me and Master whether you like it or not."

"W-what?! What are you t-talking about?!" Yomi stuttered and then, Zannin made a move towards the flustered singer but Eevee immediately got in front of Yomi, ready to protect the young man from this unknown threat. But this still only made the aforementioned threat smirk wider as he reached to his Pokéball.

"Go, Cofagrigus!"

"Eevee, let's go!"

"Eevee~, Ee~!" The Evolution Pokémon stood his ground and glared at the Coffin Pokémon who, just like her master, just smirked at the look on the little Pokémon's face.

"Cofagrigus, use Thief!"

Cofagrigus nodded and attacked Eevee who wasn't quick enough to dodge it and got hurled towards a post sign.

"Eevee, are you alright?!"

"Eevee~!" The Evolution Pokémon nodded and returned bravely to the fight.

"Eevee, use Take Down!!"

Eevee tried to use the said move but he just went straight through the Coffin Pokémon and hit Zannin's feet who did not hesitate to kick the dazed Pokémon away.

"OI!!" Yomi yelled, angry at the abuse his partner was going through. Then a thought crossed his mind to ensure the Evolution Pokémon's safety. He called him back to his side and crouched down to his eye level.

"Eevee, leave me and run when I tell you to, understand?" The vocalist said gently, he didn't want to let his Pokémon get hurt by Zannin. But Eevee immediately shook his head furiously, not wanting to leave his beloved trainer and go to safety when it could very well be the last time he'd ever see the vocalist.

"Eevee, we need help, we can't possibly win this without anyone helping us! Come on, Eevee, run! Get the others here!!" Yomi yelled and nudged the protesting Eevee away from himself, to the safety. Understanding that he needed to bring help, the Evolution Pokémon started running away, feeling like a coward.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"Guys, maybe we should look for Yomi. It's not like him to be this late." Said Hitsugi, worried. Ni~ya nodded as well.

"Yeah. Maybe we should go in with teams of like--"

Just as Ni~ya was about to finish his sentence, Eevee ran into the room, completely panicked.

"Eevee!! Ee, Eevee!!" The Evolution Pokémon chattered, looking scared. Hearing this, the other Pokémon immediately came over to the panicking Evolution Pokémon, all frowning and suddenly worried.

"Something is wrong... Yomi would never let Eevee come back alone. We need to find him!!" Said Hitsugi, alarmed.

"Let's go! Eevee, show us the way, okay. I'm sure Yomi can hang on a bit more." Said Ni~ya gently to the scared Pokémon. He didn't like the situation one bit. Ruka just nodded and took Gengar with him as he left the room.

But when they arrived, it was already too late. Yomi was gone and in his place, stood the papers Ruka was looking for along with a bloodied note with an unfamiliar handwriting that said;

"If you want your vocalist back, you will come to the fortress. Only the Nightmare members and no one else. Otherwise, consider him dead."

"We need to go, now!!" Said Ruka, frowning. While he was still hurt about what Yomi had said to him, he would never let the shorter man to get hurt by Darkrai's minions. Yomi's Eevee turned to him with hopeful eyes, hoping that the drummer wasn't too mad at his trainer.

"We'll find him, Eevee, it'll be okay." Hitsugi said in a shaky voice. But Eevee didn't know what to think, the guitarist was shaking with tears of worry and fear yet, he still tried to reassure him.

"Of course we will! We would never let Yomi-kun of all people to be in a maniac's clutches!!"

Seeing how determined the rest of the band was, Eevee began to hope, hope that his trainer was going to be okay.

~Meanwhile with Yomi~

"Let me go!!" Yomi struggled against his bonds, many cuts on his face and arms.

"No way, Yomi. You and I have some catching up to do." Zannin said with a nasty smirk on his face.

"Cofagrigus~!"

"I have nothing to do with you!! You tried to kill Ni~ya!!"

At that, Zannin just smirked wider.

"You remember that, then? The things are gonna get a hell of a lot more interesting then." Then, Yomi was thrown in front of Darkrai who glowered at him. Yomi though, glared right back, brave despite not having any means to escape or protect himself.

"I brought him, Master." Zannin broke the silent stare war, his eyes narrowed.

"You did good, Zannin, you shall be rewarded." The Pitch Black Pokémon said, his eyes never leaving Yomi's small, defeated yet strong frame.

"Thank you. Can I choose my reward?"

At that, Darkrai's eyes narrowed, seemingly already knowing what the man wanted.

"Yes. What is it that you choose?"

Zannin smiled evilly at Yomi who glared at the taller man.

"I'd like to... You know, play with our little hostage here. I can promise that he will be broken the next time you see him, Master."

Yomi's eyes widened at that and for the first time since he'd been brought into the fortress, he started to get scared. Who knew what Zannin might be planning for him?

"Yes, you can play with the prisoner. But do not forget, he is not to be killed, I need him alive."

Zannin only nodded and dragged Yomi who was protesting loudly away.

"We're gonna have so much fun, Yomi."

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

Mai knew that something had gone wrong when Yomi didn't come back after his fight with Ruka and sent his Eevee back with the Evolution Pokémon completely in panic. He knew what Darkrai was planning to do to the young man and it unsettled him greatly.

"Maybe he's alright?" Said Keiyuu softly, always the optimistic. But Taizo, the new guy they had taken in place of Mai himself, shook his head.

"If it was the case, Keiyuu-kun, Yomi-san would've been here. I'm sure something went wrong somewhere. I just hope he's fine."

"Lucario, Lu, Lucario~..." Lucario muttered to Mai, knowing the reason Yomi wasn't there very well and he was worried about how his trainer was acting.

"I agree, something... Really bad must've happened to him. Maybe we should go look for him as well?" Yasuno said as Mai looked down, yet again torn in between his life and his friends.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"Yomi!!!" Hitsugi yelled as they came into the castle, ready to defend his singer with his own life. At his yell, Zannin looked up, smiling evilly with a very weak Yomi on his knees beside him.

"Leave him alone, you bastard!!"

"Oh no... You should've thought twice about replacing me." The ex-drummer said in a low voice as he brought a knife to the battered form of Yomi, making all of their eyes widen. But surely, he wouldn't kill the younger man, right?

"You took the bait too easily. Now you will watch his demise." Was all he said before slashing Yomi's throat and making him fall to the ground lifelessly.

"No!! Jun, no!!" All of them screamed, running towards the lifeless vocalist. But when they went up to them, Zannin and Yomi's body mysteriously disappeared.

"Guys? I-I think it was just an illusion!" Sakito said shakily, hoping like crazy that his theory was right. Ruka growled at that though.

"That does not mean that I won't kill them!" He said in a deadly voice, trying to cover up how much he was scared for Yomi's sake. He was afraid to think that the singer had died thinking that Ruka hated him.

"We need to keep going! For Yomi, if nothing else!" Replied Sakito, knowing what his older friend was afraid of very well.

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee!!" The Evolution Pokémon cried, taking the lead immediately, obviously crying for Yomi. Seeing this, Gengar came closer to the scared Pokémon, trying to soothe him and give him hope. A hope that even she wasn't feeling after seeing the illusion.

"I-it'll be alright, right? Yomi's gonna be f-fine?" Hitsugi asked in a small, scared voice. Ni~ya immediately nodded, seeming sure of himself.

"Of course he will, Mitsuo, don't worry. Yomi won't lose to him, you know that."

Hitsugi quickly nodded through his tears. At that, Ni~ya sighed, as confident as he'd seemed, he was just as scared for Yomi as they all were.

~Meanwhile with Yomi~

"They won't come for you, Yomi. Isn't that great?" Zannin said with a maniacal glee. Yomi, who was tied on the wall, on the other hand, glared at the ex-drummer.

"I... I don't believe you!! They would... Never leave me here!!" Yomi panted, pained yet not giving up.

"Oh, really? You know what, they won't find you alive when they find you, Master has big plans for you, Yomi, you should feel honored." Was all Zannin said before punching Yomi in the gut, making him gasp for breathe. The short vocalist gasped for a few moments and then answered Zannin with the little strength he had left in his body.

"I will never... Give up!! The... The guys wouldn't... R-recover from that l-loss!" At that, Zannin only looked more amused at the singer's strength.

"Your loss won't be the only thing they won't recover from. I shall hunt them down one by one so I can make them, you pay for replacing me."

At that, Yomi's eyes widened in worry. Whatever Zannin had planned was nothing good, he knew that. And to know that his best friends were going to be hurt from the maniac, frightened Yomi more than he could let up.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"So, what do we do? Are we gonna look for Yomi-san as well?" Asked Hiroto worriedly, while he didn't exactly want Yomi to get hurt, he also didn't want to leave the hospital lest something happened to Saga or Shou again as they both were tired and Shou was still kind of dizzy with bloodloss.

"I think we should wait for some kinda news from them first, Hiroto-kun. As much as I'd like to help Yomi-san, we need rest." Said Nao, obviously thinking of Saga and Shou's safety as much as the little guitarist was.

"I just hope they're alright..." Said Hiroto softly, knowing how bad it was to be abducted by the Pitch Black Pokémon's henchmen.

"It's okay, Hiroto, they can look after themselves and eachother. Meanwhile, we need to take care of our own, right?"

At that, Saga looked annoyedly at Nao who smiled at him. He thought that the drummer had thought he was too weak to go to their new friends' aid.

"Why the hell won't we?! Yomi-san might very well be in a serious trouble there!" The bassist exclaimed, annoyed at their worry.

"Saga, you just barely managed to get out of that horrid possession, your body needs rest. Besides, Shou also needs rest, he almost bled to death, you know!" Said Tora, understanding what Saga was getting at. At that, Saga immediately looked at Shou's asleep, weak form, feeling ashamed that he had even brought the subject up when their vocalist was so hurt and weakened.

"It's okay, Saga-shi. But know this, both of you need rest, not just him." Tora said at his silence.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

When a patroller came into their view, Sakito hardly managed to keep Ruka out of his sight, knowing that the drummer would tear someone apart with his bare hands for their vocalist. This especially applied for now than any other time as the two hadn't been separated with good will.

"Let me GO!! He's one of them!!" Ruka struggled with Sakito to get free.

"I know, Satoru, but you need to calm down or our chances of finding Yomi will be slim!"

At Sakito's urgent words, Ruka felt himself calming down despite his fear that the vocalist was not even alive for them to find him.

"Good, now let's go, before it's too late."

~Meanwhile in Kiro's room~

"So, is everything alright now, do you think?" Muttered Kiro, not knowing what had happened with Saga. He just hoped that the bassist was alright now. Shin shrugged uncomfortably while the others looked worried like Kiro himself was. That was then, someone came into the room, making them all look up only to see the person they were talking about.

"Ano, hi... I heard from Nao-kun that you tried to help me. I wanted to say thank you for that." Saga said awkwardly, which made the room's inhabitants smile at him.

"Yeah, but none of your friends wanted us to help, actually. We did all we could but I guess everything turned out well." Replied Luminor, smiling still.

"Chandelure~." The Luring Pokémon nodded in greeting as Saga's Smoochum came up from behind the bassist.

"That's your partner? She's adorable!" Exclaimed Strify, looking at the cute Kiss Pokémon. Saga nodded, smiling back.

"Yeah, from what the others said, she apparently just clung onto me when she saw me even though I was definitely not myself at the moment."

"Aww, that's so cute, you guys match good."

"Arigatou gozaimasu. So, thanks again for trying to help me." Saga said before taking his Pokémon with him and leaving the room.

~Meanwhile with Nightmare members~

The four band members explored the castle when they managed to sneak past the three patrollers that were in the gardens, hoping like hell that their vocalist was not dead. While they were searching for Yomi though, Ruka got more and more silent and more and more guilty. He felt like it was his own fault that Yomi was in a grave danger.

"Ruka, everything is gonna be alright. Please, you... You need to believe in that! For Y-Yomi if nothing else!" Said Sakito, eyes pleading with the drummer.

"How can I do that, Sakito?! It was pretty much my fault that he got captured by them!" Ruka said, his eyes filling with tears. He desperately wanted to believe that Yomi was alright but there was little proof for that.

"Satoru..." Sakito whispered, even more worried about the older man. Ruka didn't answer him though and then, they found a small, secret door that they'd have to fit in if they wanted to find Yomi.

"Gen, Gengar~!" Ruka's Gengar murmured, frowning slightly. She could feel a dark energy coming from the door and she did not like it.

"Eevee, Ee, Eevee!" Eevee on the other hand, was quite ready to get into the door if it meant finding his trainer who was in a big trouble.

"Eevee, don't go wandering around! We can't afford to separate in here!" Said Sakito quietly, knowing how scared the little Pokémon was for their lovable vocalist. But little did they know, they were being watched.

~Meanwhile in the hospital~

"I really hope Yomi-san's okay..." Said Keiyuu quietly, worried for the shorter vocalist. He had taken a liking for him but now, the slightly older man was in a grave danger.

"At any rate, I bet he will be, Keiyuu-kun. I certainly wouldn't want to get on Ruka-san or Ni~ya-san's bad side, to be honest." Said Yasuno gently even though he had a bad feeling himself. While they were talking about it, Taizo silently went to Mai's side who was talking to someone on the phone. He didn't know what to feel about seeing the other guitarist when he was the replacement for him, not to mention how happy the others were to see Mai there.

"No! Of course I'm n-not having s-second thoughts! ... Yes, I do know!! ... Yeah, I'll do whatever I can to beat that... See you l-later." The tone Mai had while talking, made Taizo very suspicious. He didn't know how the younger man had come into the Pokémon world but something in his gut was telling him to not trust him.

"Mai-san? Who were you talking to?"

Mai visibly jumped at the sound of Taizo's voice and quickly, almost too quickly, turned to him.

"N-no one important, Taizo-san! Just a friend of mine, really."

Taizo's eyes narrowed at the blatant lie. It was very obvious that the other man was lying and was nervous about it.

"Listen, Mai-san. I know that the guys care about you a lot. And I care a lot for them. So for now, I'll let you be. But if you ever, ever do something that'll hurt anyone of them, I will not hesitate to kill you. So be careful about that."

"W-why are you telling me this?! I'm not doing anything suspicious!"

"If I were you, Mai-san, I would've chosen my friends carefully. Especially in this world."