Through the Portal

Shin just nodded, taking the Pokéball from the minion. He threw it and a Weavile came out.

"Weavile~!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon cried out.

"Let's go, Weavile. We have some training to do. And I know just where I can get that training..." Shin said darkly and they left.

~Meanwhile in the cages~

Just as Minun said those words, making Poochyena smile, a Pokémon came in front of the cages from outside. She smiled evilly at the glaring Poochyena.

"You're gonna run away again, aren't you?" She said.

"Shut up, Misdreavus! You know nothing about the bond me and Tom have!" Poochyena said angrily.

"Well, that bond isn't very strong right now, is it? He never came for you like that short man did for Plusle."

"Shut up!!!" Poochyena yelled, tears in her eyes.

"Stop baiting Poochyena, you bitchy useless Pokémon!" Floette yelled as well.

~Meanwhile with Kiro and the others~

Kiro was restless, he knew Darkrai was planning something. The question was what. And with Shin gone, he didn't know what to do anymore.

"Kiro, I promise you, we'll make everything fine again. Just try to calm down." Strify said, his tone almost begging to the older man.

"But how?! Shin is gone and so are Yu and Romeo!"

"I don't know about what you think but I think Romeo deserved what he got, Karsten." Strify said seriously, he still was unhappy with the younger man about what he had done.

"He apologized, Strify! While I was carving him up no less!!" Kiro said, annoyed at the stubborn singer.

"He still betrayed you! If he hadn't done whatever he did, neither of you would've been in this state!"

"Plusle, Plus~~."

Meanwhile Bill was watching the commotion with confusion.

"What did Romeo do? I-I'm sorry, if it's personal, forget I've ever asked." The younger vocalist blushed as all heads turned to him.

"Uhhh... Well, to keep it short, I... I went to the Forbidden Wing of the castle since Plusle wanted me to find something there and apparently Romeo saw me go in there and just... He just told on me to Darkrai and the whole thing happened." Kiro trailed off, slightly down from recalling what had happened.

"You should've seen when we told Shin what happened, Karsten, I've never seen Marcel that pissed off before in the whole time I knew him." Said Luminor quietly. "He even punched Romeo in the face for that."

Kiro didn't answer, thinking of what had become of the drummer and trying not to cry again. Seeing his state, Strify came and kneeled in front of the bassist.

"Hey, nobody is blaming you about what happened. And Shin won't either. Hell, he volunteered to save you from that serum to begin with."

"But still..."

"No buts, okay? Shin is going to be alright, I promise you."

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin came in front of the Pokémon Center that was near the now famed crater. He was sure he could find his targets there. And he hoped to be able to fool them into believing he was still the same Shin they'd met before.

"Finally back here!" Came the voice of Yomi from the front door. He looked worried as he brought his obviously poisoned Eevee to the Nurse Joy.

"Could you please help him? He got a Toxic attack on himself and now I don't really know what to do..." The vocalist was saying. Shin scoffed inwardly, the short man didn't even have a Full Restore on himself and he dared to call himself a trainer.

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"But how?! And how can I even look at him in the face after what happened??" Kiro whispered sadly.

"I don't know how yet, Kiro. But we will make sure he's going to be alright." Luminor said gently, holding Kiro's shoulder.

"I have an idea about it, I think one of us should try to see if he's still in the castle. If he's gone, then we should find out where he is and stop him from hurting anyone." Bill said hesitantly. The rest looked at eachother, surprised by the idea.

"That's... That's actually a pretty good idea, Bill. Thank you." Luminor said, contemplating what the younger vocalist had said thoroughly. It had its risks but mostly, it was a good idea.

"But who's going to look all over the whole castle, Luminor? If one of those minions catches us, we're over with!" Strify said worriedly. The thought of doing it alone scared him slightly.

"I will. Meanwhile, can you guys figure out how to free the Pokémon in the dungeons as well?" Kiro asked.

"Plusle, Plusle!" The Cheering Pokémon nodded enthusiastically. She obviously wanted to help them about it. Bill smiled slightly tentatively at the happy Plusle.

"Alright. Be careful, Kiro, this will be probably very dangerous..."

Kiro nodded and he took Plusle with him as he left the room. The rest of them looked at eachother slightly worriedly.

"He's still feeling bad about what happened, one of us should go after him to see if he will be alright." Luminor said.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Yomi worriedly waited for Nurse Joy to heal his partner. He was really worried that Eevee wouldn't pull through. Hitsugi put a hand on his shoulder, knowing what the vocalist was worried about very well.

"He'll be alright, Yomi-kun."

"I hope so, Hitsugi..."

Just as the singer said those words, Nurse Joy came with a perfectly healthy Eevee in tow.

"All done, now he's alright. We hope to see you again.

"Eevee~." The Evolution Pokémon cooed and ran to his happy partner's waiting arms. Yomi cuddled the Pokémon and thanked the Nurse. Just as they were heading out, a voice came from the right of them. Looking up, they saw Shin there.

"Oh, Shin-san! How's it going? Did you manage getting the Pokémon out?" Keiyuu asked curiously.

"Yeah, you could say that." The influenced drummer answered, smiling slightly. They didn't know what had happened to the drummer so they smiled back at him.

"That's sweet, I'm glad for that." Shou said with a gentle smile. Little did he know it was all a lie.

"By the way, I got a Pokémon now, why don't we train together?"

~Meanwhile with Kiro~

Kiro ran silently through the castle, hoping he could find Shin before he did something he'd regret forever. He was scared that the drummer wasn't able to stay where he was due to the serum's efficiency. That was then, someone came up to him from behind.

"Kiro, wait for me!"

"Strify, what do you think you're doing here?!" Kiro hissed at the vocalist, worried.

"I won't let you go wherever Shin is without any back up." Was all Strify said before getting in front of the surprised bassist.

"But... But what if Shin harms you, Strify? What are you going to do then?"

"We'll think of that when we come to it."

Kiro smiled sadly at the younger man, glad for his bravery as he didn't have much of it right then.

"Then let's go, before Shin does something horrible and never forgives himself."

~Meanwhile in the dungeons~

"What can I say, Tom chose me, you worthless Pokémon." Misdreavus said, cackling evilly as she went to stay by her trainer.

"And we'll know if you run away, Poochyena. If you value your life, you wouldn't try anything like that again."

Poochyena fell down on her forepaws, totally broken. The tears ran unbidden from her eyes, she didn't know what to think. On one hand, she could run away again as she had planned and risk her life, but on the other hand, she could die for nothing, leaving Tom behind with that awful Misdreavus.

"Poochyena, it'll be okay. Come on, get up, we gotta go and save our trainers." Minun said, coming beside the crying Bite Pokémon.

"But what if what she said is true? I don't want to let any of you guys get hurt..." She said, trying not to lose hope.

"We'll fight, just as you said, we'll be okay, I promise you." Minun said, smiling sadly at the Bite Pokémon.

"Are you sure, Minun? This might be really dangerous." Floette said, coming closer to them. Minun nodded.

"Plusle was right, there's a way to save our trainers, our partners, and we are the ones that should help them. They would've helped us in a heartbeat, Floette, you know they would have."

"Thank you, Minun..." Poochyena whispered with a slightly teary smile. Minun smiled back at Poochyena. Meanwhile, Floette and Loudred had paused, thinking.

"You know what, you guys are right. But how do we get out of here without them knowing it?" Loudred asked.

"Easy, we won't. But we're going to fight till the very end. Till we bring our partners back to us." Poochyena said standing up proudly.

"So, who's going to blast that damned padlock this time?"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"Why not. I think Meowth would like some training himself." Hitsugi said, smiling.

"Meowth~." The Scratch Cat Pokémon meowed, looking slightly unwilling and tentative. Shin smiled at the Pokémon as he sent out his Pokémon.

"Go Weavile!"

"Go Meowth, let's have some fun!" Hitsugi said to his partner, eager to have his first fight. Shin smiled evilly through his hair, unseen by the clueless guitarist. He was going to make him regret even thinking of fighting him.

"Weavile, use Dark Pulse!"

The Sharp Claw Pokémon immediately sent a beam of black and purple orbs at Meowth which made the Scratch Cat Pokémon flinch as he was blasted slightly away from his trainer.

"Meowth! You okay?!"

"Meowth~." Meowth nodded, getting right back to the fight and making Hitsugi smile. But then, Shin did something unexpected and sent out a dagger at Hitsugi who was too shocked to move away. Thankfully, Yomi managed to pull the younger man away from the sharp knife.

"What the hell, Shin-san?!" Yomi started to say but stopped as he noticed the drummer's red eyes.

"You're not Shin-san, are you?" Hitsugi asked, thinking he'd understood what was going on.

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

"He's not here anymore, Kiro, we need to do something!" Strify said, worried to the extreme. Kiro nodded.

"We'll find him, right, Andreas?" He whispered, looking down again in sadness.

"Of course we will. But if we stand here, doing nothing, it will be too late for our Marcel. Come on, let's go." Strify went to go but Kiro stopped him. Strify looked at the bassist confusedly.

"Why don't we get those Pokémon out as well while we're here? At least we'd have more of a chance with Shin..." Kiro said quietly. He hoped the Pokémon inside the cages were alright. None of them had deserved what they had gotten. But just as Strify was about to answer, a shrill alarm sound came from the dungeons.

"What the hell? What's going on?" Kiro muttered in confusion. But soon enough, it was revealed that the Pokémon in the cages had run away as one of them, a Poochyena, was fighting fiercely against a Misdreavus and Tom Kaulitz.

"Plusle, Plus!!" The Cheering Pokémon yelled in surprise and pulled at Kiro's leg.

"You want me to help them, Plusle?"

Plusle immediately nodded, still pulling at Kiro's pants. Kiro nodded making the Cheering Pokémon happily coo at him.

"Let's do so then. Strify, are you with us?"

"No way in hell are you two fighting alone with those bastards. Go, Zangoose!"

"Zangoose~."

Right then, the fighting Poochyena looked up and immediately cheered up as soon as it saw Plusle.

"Pooch~, Poochyena!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Shin had managed to make Meowth faint and now, he was fighting Ruka's Gengar while bringing out another sharp dagger to throw. Thankfully, just as he was about to throw the dagger, Yomi sent out his Eevee.

"You're not gonna harm Ruka-kun, Eevee, use Feint Attack on him!"

"Eevee~." The Evolution Pokémon nodded and disappeared right behind Shin, attacking the surprised drummer.

"You shouldn't have done that." Was all Shin said before capturing Eevee and bringing his dagger onto the scared Evolution Pokémon's neck.

"No!!!" Yomi yelled, scared for his partner. Eevee cried out with fear as the dagger made small contact with his throat.

"Eevee, hang on, I'll save you!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"Zangoose, use X-scissor on that Misdreavus!" Strify commanded swiftly. The Cat Ferret Pokémon obeyed immediately, sending the attack at the Ghost-type Pokémon and making her stay away from the Minun.

"Minun?" The other Cheering Pokémon surprisedly turned around. As soon as it saw Plusle, its features brightened.

"Minun~! Mi, Minun!!"

"Plusle, Plus, Plusle!" Plusle called out, coming beside Poochyena along with her trainer.

"Plusle, use Thunder on that Misdreavus! Let's save the Pokémon here!"

Plusle nodded and sent out a strong Thunder at the already weakened Misdreavus and made her faint. Meanwhile, Tom was watching the happenings with a frown on his face.

"You still don't understand, do you? I don't want you anymore, Poochyena!"

At this, Poochyena backed away with tears in her eyes, crying out to her ex-trainer. Kiro and Strify, on the other hand, were shocked.

"What the hell you're saying?! I doubt you mean it, Tom. You're going to regret what you said later, that much I know!" Kiro said as he kneeled down to the upset Bite Pokémon's level. He wanted to make the poor Poochyena understand that her trainer didn't mean what he was saying.

"It'll be alright, little one. I promise I'll help you to bring your trainer back." Kiro said gently. Poochyena whimpered and nodded. Meanwhile, Strify was fighting the Magmar that had attacked them before.

"Kiro! We need help here!!" The younger man said, slightly alarmed. Magmar had once again, sent a Flame Burst into Zangoose but this time, Zangoose managed to stay on his own two feet.

"I'm coming! Plusle, use Charge!"

Plusle immediately created yellow sparks arond herself, getting ready to use her stronger attacks.

"Plus~!"

"Use Thunder now!"

The Cheering Pokémon nodded and sent out a stronger-than-usual electrical charge at the Spitfire Pokémon and made him faint in one hit.

"Good going, Plusle." Strify said, smiling at Plusle.

"Zangoose, Zan."

After their Pokémon fainted, Tom and Georg went away, grumbling.

"Now we need to find Shin. Are you little ones coming?" Strify asked gently. All Pokémon nodded enthusiastically.

"After we find him, we'll need to find a way to bring him back to us, Andreas..." Kiro said, looking down.

"We will, Kiro. Shin's gonna be alright."

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Romeo worriedly looked over at his fainted best friend. He looked pale as a sheet and wasn't moving at all. The younger man didn't know what to do to bring Yu back to his senses.

"Hannes??"

No answer came from the fainted guitarist. Right then, the nurse that had come in came back with a doctor in tow.

"There they are, what are we going to do, doctor?!"

"You first bandage that wound and I will take care of the other one." The doctor said calmly, going over to Romeo.

"Thank you, doctor..." Romeo said in a pained whisper as the man gently made him sit up. Romeo's breath hitched though at the pain that shot right through him.

"Does it hurt too much? I can give you a painkiller if you need it."

"That would be great..."

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress - Pokémon side~

"Plusle, how did you find us?!" Minun asked with surprise. He hadn't expected the other Cheering Pokémon coming back to help them now that she had her trainer back. Plusle shook her head.

"Did you really think I would just let you guys stay on your own when I can help?" Plusle said, quirking an eyebrow. Minun just shamefully averted his eyes.

"It's okay now, right, Plusle?" Poochyena as she looked at Kiro who was watching Plusle and her friends.

"Yeah, he's just fine... Minun, your trainer is back, by the way. Darkrai brought him back."

"What?! W-where is he now?!" Minun asked, shocked. The other Pokémon immediately started to say something or another, too fast for Plusle to follow.

"Calm down, you guys, I can't understand anything you say!"

"Sorry, Plusle."

"Plusle, we need to go." Kiro said suddenly. Plusle immediately nodded.

"We're going to save Kiro's friend, do you guys want to come with us?" Plusle said, turning back to the horde of Pokémon.

"I'm in. You never let us down before, Plusle, if you say you're gonna help our trainers as well, you will, I know that much." Said Poochyena and the rest nodded as well.

"Great! Then let's go!"

Kiro understood that Plusle wanted to go and he picked her up, carrying her in his arms. Strify came beside them and with that, they went out of the castle through one of the floor windows, ready to take on the challenges that were presented to them.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"Eevee~!!" The Evolution Pokémon cried out as Shin's dagger pressed into his throat.

"Shin-san, stop it!! Please!!" Yomi begged, he was agonized to see his partner Pokémon in the hands of a maniac.

"Why should I, your Eevee was the one to attack me, I'm just... Defending myself." Shin smiled evilly as his dagger made a small line on Eevee's neck.

"You're the one who attacked us! Eevee was protecting us!" Hitsugi yelled as Shin turned even more evil. But just as he was going to answer, a voice stopped him

"SHIN!!"

Everyone turned around only to see a horde of Pokémon and two people standing there. One of them was the young man that had attacked them before.

"Shin, you've got to stop! This is not you!!" The shorter man said, tears in his eyes.

"Plusle, Plus!!"

Shin though, only frowned and sent his Weavile out.

"I'm not that weak boy anymore, Kiro. I'm much more powerful now. Weavile, kill him."

As soon as the drummer gave the order, Weavile practically teleported to Kiro's side and under the shocked look of the others, the Sharp Claw Pokémon stabbed Kiro on the chest, making him gasp in pain and fall down into the ground.

"Karsten!!! Shin, what have you done?!" The taller man said, horrified as he checked his friend's pulse. He relaxed slightly when he found out his pulse.

"You shouldn't have come here, Strify." Was all the youngest said before turning his attention back to Eevee. But that proved to be a big mistake as Plusle chose that moment to send out an exceptionally strong Thunder at the unsuspecting drummer.

"OUCH!! You little worthless Pokémon!"

But when he went to attack, he forgot all about Eevee who ran back at his trainer, shivering in fear. Yomi hugged the frightened Evolution Pokémon and ran his fingers soothingly across his back, having been scared himself.

"It's okay, Eevee, I've got you." Yomi whispered at the scared Pokémon all the while petting the Evolution Pokémon until his shivers stopped.

Meanwhile Shin growled angrily and gave out another order at his Weavile. Because Plusle had attacked and angered him greatly but there were a lot of Pokémon with Kiro and Strify.

"Weavile, use Dark Pulse!" He yelled, pissed off.

"Vile! Weavile!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon sent out a flurry of dark orbs at Strify but Zangoose immediately took the attack for his master.

"Thank you, Zangoose."

"This isn't over! I'll kill every one of you!" Shin yelled and took Weavile out of the danger zone and together, they went away. When he was out of sight, Strify immediately crouched back down to get Kiro to lie on his back to see his wound.

"Strify... Go after... Shin... He needs... You right now..." The shorter man whispered weakly and groaned in pain as the vocalist pressed onto his chest wound.

"Plusle~, Plus!"

"Can we help?" Hitsugi asked worriedly. He didn't think they were Darkrai's champions, it was obvious they needed help.

"That would be great." Strify said in a thick voice, trying not to cry. He was torn over which one of his friends he should be helping. On one hand, Shin was out to wreak havoc. But on the other hand, Kiro was fatally injured and he didn't want to leave the bassist alone.

"What do you want us to do, Strify-san?" Yomi asked gently.

"Strify... What the... Hell are you... Still doing here?.. Go... To Shin, he needs... You so much... Right now..." Kiro whispered as he was taken onto the back of Ruka.

"It would be great if you can tell us where we can find a hospital around here."

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

"How can I get my twin and bandmates back, do you think, Luminor?" Bill asked quietly. He hoped that the others would come back to him. But he knew better than to think Darkrai would set them free as well.

"I don't know, but there has to be a way to do it." Luminor said gently. He didn't want to let the other man know about what he was thinking but in all seriousness, he was getting worried that there was no way to bring them back as the only thing they could do about it was to risk their own lives and somehow steal the formula from Darkrai himself.

"I hope so... I wish I still had my Pokémon with me at least, it would be some comfort at the very least for me." Bill whispered, looking down. He wanted his Minun with him, he had a bad feeling that his little Cheering Pokémon was in danger himself.

"It's gonna be alright, Bill." Luminor said, laying a hand on the pained vocalist's shoulder.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"There's a breeder around here, he might be able to help. We've just come here so we don't know any hospitals, gomenasai." Yomi said, looking worriedly at the semi-unconscious Kiro.

"Anything will do right now, thank you."

Meanwhile Kiro was trying to get Strify's attention but he was too weak to say anything loudly. Seeing this, Plusle pulled at Strify's pants leg. When he looked down, the Cheering Pokémon immediately pointed at her wounded master.

"Kiro? Is something wrong? Does it hurt too much?" Strify asked with concern. He was not only worried about his best friend but also for Shin as well.

"Strify... Go to Shin... Please, I'll... be alright..." The bassist managed to wheeze out, his eyes glazed with something Strify hoped dearly wasn't death.

"No way in hell, Karsten, I'm not leaving you. Not like this." 'Not when I could lose you', Strify thought but did not dare voice it. He desperately wanted to believe that everything would be alright. But given what had happened to his best friend, Strify had little to believe anymore.

"Plusle, Plus..." Plusle cooed at the grieving singer, wanting to make him happy but it of course didn't work at all. The other Pokémon were looking at them with worried eyes. The situation looked very grim. Just as Strify was about to say something to Kiro, he saw that the bassist had let go and fallen into a deep sleep.

"Karsten!!"

"He's still breathing, Strify-san, don't worry, we're going to help you both." Ruka said quietly. He was pitying these two men who were caught up in the evil ways of the Pitch Black Pokémon.

They walked in silence to the cabin they had found, Strify looking towards Kiro ever-so-often. Just as the vocalist was about to ask how much longer they'd have to walk, they saw the cabin and Ruka hurried to the door. He knocked urgently at it while holding onto Kiro with one hand.

"Robin-san, are you there?! We need desperate help!"

The door opened to them and Robin looked at the unconscious Kiro on Ruka's back and gasped.

"Oh my--! Bring him in, come on!"

"Sylveon~."

~Meanwhile inside Kiro's mind~

Kiro was waiting for his death to arrive but nothing came. Just as he turned his back, a trembling voice made him turn back around.

"Kiro..."

"Shin!! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm so scared, Kiro... So scared..."

Kiro immediately wrapped his arms around the taller man, wanting to soothe him.

"I'm so sorry, Marcel... Gott, why you of all people!?"

"Kiro?"

"Yes?"

"W-will you leave us? Leave me?" Shin whispered, not really seeming like he wanted to know the answer.

"Of course not. I will make sure you're gonna be okay. I'm not going anywhere, trust me."

"Thank you..." Shin whispered before slowly getting transparent. Kiro tried to hold on to the disappearing drummer only to stop at Shin's headshake.

"Help me, Kiro..."

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin scoffed as he went to the Pokémon Center, wanting to heal his Weavile and then, return to his mission. At least there wasn't any lasting damages on the Sharp Claw Pokémon, only the blood on his claw and paralysis from Plusle's attacks.

"Hello. Would you please take care of my Weavile? A dangerous wild Pokémon hurt him."

"Of course, mister. Just wait a while."

Shin nodded and gave Weavile to Nurse Joy. But what he didn't know was that there was a police officer who had seen what had transpired between him and Kiro. But she waited until Shin had reunited with his dangerous partner in crime.

~Meanwhile with Strify and Kiro~

Robin laid the unconscious Kiro onto his bed and stripped him of his shirt. He gasped at the still bleeding wound and asked Strify who was watching with teary eyes for a cloth.

"O-okay... Please, please save him!" The vocalist begged as he stripped himself from his shirt and tore it apart, giving it to the breeder.

"Blastoise, use Water Pulse and fill this bucket, please."

"It'll be okay, Strify-san. Your friend is strong, I believe he'll survive." Said Keiyuu gently. He felt bad to see someone hurting like this.

"What happened to Shin-san though? We met him once before and he was so sweet. Was it all a lie or something?" Ni~ya asked, suspicious and protective.

"No, of course not! Shin is normally a very nice, kind person... It's all Darkrai's fault." Strify whispered, trying hard not to cry.

"If you want to tell us, we're listening, Strify-san." Ruki said gently. Strify nodded and began.

"Darkrai has a solution that enables him to I think mind control the people who are injected with it. At first, Kiro was the one to be infected with it. Shin... He sacrificed himself to s-save Kiro. And Kiro just... Just couldn't take it so we came to find and bring him back to Darkrai's castle so we can get the cure and bring him back..." Strify said, tears starting to flow.

"Oh Kami-sama! That's awful!" Hitsugi exclaimed, shocked like the others.

~Meanwhile with Luminor and Bill~

Luminor was thinking of something quietly as Bill looked at him with worried eyes.

"What are we going to do, Luminor? We can't just stay here while your other friends are risking their lives! We need to do something!"

"I was just thinking about that. I think... I think we'll have to steal that cure on our own. And when they come back with Shin, we'll apply the cure to him." The keyboardist said seriously. Bill nodded immediately.

"I'm in! Then why don't we go there?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They got out silently and went to the throne room of Darkrai. Bill looked around nervously as they entered the room.

"What are we gonna do, Luminor?! I doubt Darkrai has the cure here in his own throne room! We don't even have any Pokémon with us to protect ourselves!!" Bill whispered.

"No, but there has to be a clue in here somewhere. I mean, Darkrai wouldn't just make a cure and throw the instructions away." Luminor said and put his hand on Bill's shoulder.

"Why don't you go look out for people? It would be easier for us both, wouldn't it?"

Bill nodded timidly and went to stay by the door. And Luminor went to the black throne, looking into it. But just as he saw a paper sticking out from the underside and tried to take it, alarms went off, making them both jump in surprise and fright.

"Oh shit..."

"Looking for something??" Came the voice of Darkrai from behind Luminor.

Luminor turned around with a horrified expression and there stood the Pitch Black Pokémon, holding a syringe in one of his hands. Bill was trying to come for help but Luminor stopped him.

"Bill!! Run! Leave me here, just run!!" The keyboardist yelled at the younger man.

"But--"

"No buts!!!" Luminor yelled as Darkrai came closer to him. Bill nodded fearfully and ran away, leaving Luminor on his own.

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

Yu came to with a weak groan, feeling like he was being brought to somewhere. He opened his eyes only to see two nurses bringing him into a room.

"What's... Going on?.." The guitarist whispered weakly.

"Oh, you're awake? You lost a lot of blood so we're going to get more blood into your system, alright?" One of the nurses said not unkindly.

"Where's... Romeo?"

"Your friend is in the ER, it was one of the most undamaged places in this hospital right now. He was worried about you as well." The other one said, looking at him calmly.

"Is he... Okay?"

"He will be once doctor is finished with him, don't worry, young man."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Strify looked at the unconscious Kiro as Robin bound his chest with clean bandages, not knowing what to do anymore. He wanted to go after Shin but if he did, he feared that it would be the last time he'd ever see Kiro. Just as he was thinking this, Kiro came to with a groan. Strify was immediately beside him, looking concerned.

"Karsten! How do you feel?! Are you alright?!"

"Strify?"

"Yeah, I'm with you! I was so worried about you." Strify's voice cracked on the last word, he was really relieved to see his best friend awake after receiving such a critical wound. But he got a surprise when Kiro smacked him on the head gently.

"What the hell are you still doing here?! I told you to go after Shin, you idiot!!!" The bassist said but he regretted it afterwards, seeing how close Strify was to crying and softened.

"Andreas? What's wrong?"

"I-I'm fine." Strify said quickly, averting his eyes. Kiro immediately made the vocalist face him and gently wiped the unshed tears away.

"Please, Strify. Tell me what's the matter, you're okay, right?"

"I-I just... I was so scared for you..." Strify whispered but refrained from hugging his best friend tightly for the worry for his wound. Seeing how much he was shaking with the need to hug him, Kiro was the one to gently hug the shaken vocalist. After that, Strify couldn't hold his tears back anymore. He sobbed against Kiro's chest.

"It's okay. I'm gonna be fine, Strify."

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin waited impatiently as Nurse Joy healed his Pokémon. He could hardly wait till he murdered every single one of his friends and those champions of Cresselia. He wanted to please his master so the Pitch Black Pokémon didn't have any reason to punish him.

"There he is." Said the happy Nurse Joy as she gave the Sharp Claw Pokémon back to Shin. The drummer accepted it with a polite nod of his head. Just as he was going to leave, the police officer stopped him.

"Hands over your head!"

~Meanwhile in Darkrai's fortress~

Luminor backed away as Darkrai came closer to him with an evil grin on his face.

"What? Are you afraid of a small needle?" The Legendary Pokémon mocked the keyboardist. Luminor nodded.

"Given what that needle does, I have every good reason to be afraid."

"Do not worry, this is only the last cure in existence." Darkrai said, smiling even more evilly and then, he threw the needle to the ground, breaking it. Luminor gasped in distress. If what Darkrai said was true, then they were in a serious trouble.

"You're a monster! We'll find a way to bring Shin back, that, I can tell you!" Luminor yelled defiantly.

"You will not be able to. He is long gone from the castle."

"We know! That's why Kiro and Strify went to find him! You will never win, Darkrai!!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

After Strify calmed down enough to talk, Kiro immediately chipped in.

"You need to go, Strify."

"But... But I don't want to leave you alone here..."

Kiro shook his head amusedly, Strify obviously hadn't thought of Plusle, the other Pokémon they had saved and Cresselia's champions.

"Plusle, Plus!" The Cheering Pokémon cried, offended slightly.

"It'll be okay. You go find Shin, I'll be taken care of."

"Are you sure?"

Just as he said that, a bang from outside alerted all of them.

"W-what was that?!" Hitsugi asked worriedly, going to the window with fast steps followed by the others.

"Looks like Darkrai is already doing something." Ruka said with a frown on his face as he watched two of Darkrai's broken minions bully a little kid.

"We can't let them hurt this boy! He doesn't even have a Pokémon on his side!" Hitsugi said, gaining nods from everyone.

"Then what are we waiting for?! We'll save the kid ourselves." Uruha said, going to the door with fast steps. The rest of them immediately followed him and so did the Pokémon that Kiro and Strify had brought with them. Ruki looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"You little ones want to join us or something?"

The Pokémon nodded enthusiastically. The Floette even jumped up and down as if she wanted to be friends with him.

"Okay, but be careful, alright?"

The Pokémon nodded again and went out fastly only to see one of the men get his Misdreavus to use Psybeam on the undefended, frightened boy on the ground.

"Oh, like hell you're doing that! Luxray, use Thunder Fang on that Pokémon!" Hiroto said angrily.

"Lux~." The Gleam Eyes Pokémon nodded and swiftly, got her glowing-with-electricity fangs on Misdreavus, making her cry out in pain.

"Why you--! Graveler, use Rock Blast on that stupid Luxray!" Said the other one. The Graveler nodded and started to glow with white energy and turned them into hard, big rocks which he threw at Luxray.

"Oh no..."

But thankfully, Luxray dodged the first three rocks and only got slightly damaged from the fourth one.

~Meanwhile inside the house~

Robin took Strify to a recluded place where Kiro's curious eyes couldn't reach.

"What is it, Robin? Is it something to do with Kiro??" Strify asked immediately. To his worry, he nodded.

"He really needs rest, Strify. I'm not gonna lie, his wound is way too serious for him to go straight to find you guys' friend."

At this, Strify nodded, surprising Robin.

"I know, Robin. I wasn't going to include him on my search anyways. But promise me something..."

"Anything."

"Please protect him. He's gotten hurt too much thanks to Darkrai."

Robin smiled and nodded. After that, they went back to Kiro who was trying to get out of the bed.

"What, do you think you're doing, mister?" Strify asked sternly as Kiro turned to him with deer-caught-in-headlights look.

"I need to find Shin, Strify, he needs me right now!"

"No way in hell are you going anywhere with that chest wound. Forget it! Stop worrying for a while, Karsten. I know Shin needs us right now but so do you."

"But... He might do something horrible! He's already going to be a mess when we find him and bring him back!"

"I know, Kiro. I'll find him, no worries." Strify said kindly, gently pushing him back to the bed. Then, the vocalist took Zangoose and was about to leave when Kiro called out to him.

"Andreas, use blood on him to help him suppress that solution, it worked with me!"

Strify nodded very warily. He hated to get Shin even more guilty by doing so but if Kiro said that was the only way, he had to do it. For Shin's sake at the very least.

"I'll save you, Marcel."

~Meanwhile with Shin~

Shin scoffed as he sat in the cell the cops had given him. How they'd found out anything that had happened between him and Kiro was a mystery to him.

"You will never manage keeping me here in this hellhole!! Master will help me!" The drummer said viciously at the guard who frowned at him.

"Who's your master?"

"Like hell I will tell you!"

Just as the guard was gonna answer, some other officer came to the cell's door.

"He has a visitor." The man said, disgustedly nodding at Shin who smirked evilly.

"I told you so."

The guard nodded and the short man was let inside Shin's cell.

"Kyo."

"Shin. We need to talk quietly."

The drummer rolled his eyes. He already knew that much.

"I know, Kyo. Did you come to save me?"

"No. I want you to know Master will save you soon but he says you should be in here for a while since you failed on your mission."

Shin's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't expected this to happen to him.

"But-But I killed Kiro already! And there's only so much I can do in here!" He exclaimed, protesting.

"Shut up! I'm only bringing Master's news here, I can't do shit to help you, Shin."

Just as he said that though, a bang from outside alerted them both.

"Oh come on! What's going on now?!" Kyo muttered, annoyed. Shin nodded just as much annoyed.

~Meanwhile outside of the police station~

Strify fought an Arcanine to bring Shin out of trouble. Thankfully, the fire type Pokémon was already getting weakened enough for Zangoose to beat the Legendary Pokémon.

"Zangoose, use Slash!"

"Zan!!" The Cat Ferret Pokémon nodded and his claws started to glow white and he slashed at Arcanine, making it faint in one critical hit.

"Good job, Zangoose, now let's go and find Shin, alright?" The vocalist smiled at his strong Pokémon. Zangoose nodded and they went inside in hurried steps.

"Shin!!"

Shin looked up with even more annoyance. He didn't know what to do to keep Strify away anymore. No matter what, the older man still kept coming for him as if he was still the same Shin he had befriended years ago.

"I'll take care of him, don't worry." Kyo said, narrowing his eyes to almost slits.

"That would be great. And while you are on it, can you free Weavile so I can fight as well?"

Kyo growled slightly in annoyance but nodded nonetheless. The short vocalist went to the Pokémon part and took the Sharp Claw Pokémon out of his cell as well.

"Thank you."

"Yeah yeah. Don't even mention it, you freak." Just as he said those words, Strify had already come inside the floor they were standing on and heard everything.

"Don't. EVER. Call. Shin. A freak, you bastard!!!" Strify yelled, shaking in anger.

"Zangoose, Zan!!"

"Nobody asked you to defend me, Strify." Shin said frowning in confusion at the anger the taller singer was displaying. The older man was practically seething on his spot and glaring murderously at Kyo.

"I'll defend you because you're my friend, Shin, not because you or someone else asked me to do it. I will never let you down, Marcel." Strify said to him softly and then, told Zangoose to free him and splashed the vial of blood onto the unexpecting drummer.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball on that Graveler!"

"Gen~."

The Graveler immediately got blasted away from his trainer as Ruki, Keiyuu, Hitsugi and Saga came in front of the boy, getting him up.

"Hey, you okay, kid?"

"I-I think so... Thank you for saving me."

"Don't mention it. It's not over yet in the first place." Said Saga gently as they looked all over the young boy for injuries.

"Luxray, use Thunder Fang again!"

~Meanwhile with Strify and Shin~

Under Kyo's and police officiers' surprised looks, Shin started to shake uncontrollably and closed his eyes, obviously fighting the solution he was under. After a few minutes of tense pause, the drummer opened his green eyes, gasping.

"S-Strify!"

Strify immediately came beside the semi-collapsed man, worried.

"I'm here, Shin. I'm not leaving you, alright? I'm going to get you out of here where no freaks are around." The singer said, gently holding his shoulder.

Shin shook his head at that though, confusing Strify.

"No... I can't..."

"Why the hell not?!"

"I killed him, Strify... I killed him in cold blood!!"

Strify frowned more and pulled Shin into a hug. He was worried that the drummer had come across a poor soul that had the stupidity to challenge him in that state.

"Who did you kill, Shin? Who was it?"

"You were there, Andreas! You know who he was!"

Strify thought only for a moment and then, it hit him hard in the gut.

"Oh... OH!! Shin, Kiro is... Well, he begged me to come find you, Marcel. His last words were 'Please, go after Shin...'. He would never blame you, I swear."

"But I s-still... Still killed him! I can't face you, Andreas, not like this. I-- I am a monster..."

Zangoose came beside the grieving drummer and held him as well.

"Zangoose, Zan, Zangoose!"

Strify sighed and brought Shin up anyways, ignoring the younger's protest.

"I'm not leaving you in here where he could reach you easily, Marcel, forget it!"

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

Luminor backed away a little more and cursed when he felt the wall right behind him. In front of him, Darkrai chuckled evilly.

"I do not think you should hope much for your friends."

"Why is that?!"

"I have given Shin orders to kill them on spot so your friends will never win against him."

"You what?!"

"And I have received the report that he already has succeeded in killing one of them anyway. Ironically, it was the person whom he sacrificed himself for. And I shall finish you so he has less of a job to finish." The Pitch Black Pokémon said, chuckling ominously. Luminor's eyes widened in shock and distress. But before he could attack, a yell came from behind.

"Leave him alone, you wretched being!!"

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Kiro laid boredly in bed, sighing. There was nothing he wanted more than to be with Strify, searching for Shin. But the vocalist had been very insistent on him wasting his time in bed so he had to stay. He just hoped both of them were alright. And he was thinking of those champions of Cresselia as well. He wanted to at least help them but it didn't seem possible. And just as he went to go for another try, they came in with the young boy.

"Are you okay now?" Was asking the heavily pierced one to the boy gently. Kiro had never thought a man as heavily pierced as this guy could be so gentle. Thankfully, he nodded. Just as the boy was going to answer, the shortest of them turned to Kiro.

"What are you doing, Kiro-san?"

"Umm, nothing?"

"Please don't get up from the bed. Chest wounds can be dangerous."

Kiro fell back onto the bed with a sigh. Escape thwarted yet again. Plusle came to her master's side, shaking her head in amusement and thinking that Kiro was just too loyal to his friends. After a while, Hiroto came beside the injured short man with a thoughtful look on his face. It was dead obvious that he wanted to ask him something.

"Spill it."

"Huh??" The look on Hiroto's face made Kiro giggle. It was adorable.

"Whatever you want to ask me about. Spill it. It's not like I'll get mad or something."

"Oh. I was just wondering... How is that place? I mean Darkrai's castle."

Kiro looked down on that, pondering how much he should tell them. After a short pause, he decided to answer truthfully.

"It's... It's just awful. Darkrai and his minions... They're ruthless... Those guys will hurt anyone to get what they want. They took even Shin for whatever shit they were planning..."

Everyone looked down at that, saddened. They knew it was hard to take in, that it was bad in Darkrai's castle but what Kiro had said and what they'd seen Shin had become, it was almost devastating.

~Meanwhile with Strify and Shin~

Shin was still crying while Strify dragged him away from the police station. He had tried to resist the singer more than once and had met with a stone cold look from him and obstinance.

"Strify, please let me go! I-I can't face you after what I've done!"

"Shut up, Marcel."

Shin was dying on the inside, the vocalist was so cold to him, justifiedly so. He had killed his best friend after all. Just as he was thinking of attempting another wriggle, Strify stopped.

"I'm sorry, Shin. You must be tired and hungry." Strify said, looking at the younger man with gentleness in his eyes. Shin averted his eyes in shame, the vocalist was still thinking of his well-being even after what he had done.

"No, I'm f-fine."

"I shouldn't have dragged you like that. You need rest, it's obvious, Shin." He said before hugging the stuffing out of the shocked drummer.

"S-Strify??"

"I'm sorry, Shin. I really am."

"It's-... It's alright... But... Where are we even going?!"

That was then, Strify smiled and uttered the words that made Shin shocked.

"To Kiro."

~Meanwhile with Romeo~

Romeo worriedly waited for his best friend to return from the blood bank so he could look at him and check his injury better. He hadn't been able to since there was a huge debris on him when the guitarist was laying there with an injury on his leg. Thankfully, Yu came back only minutes later with a pair of crutches, limping towards Romeo.

"Are you feeling okay now, Romeo?"

Romeo chuckled slightly and winced when it hurt his chest even more. Trust Yu to ask for his well-being while being injured himself.

"What?"

"I'm fine, Hannes. But are you okay?"

"Yeah, I've been better though."

~Meanwhile with Shin and Strify~

"W-what?!" Shin whispered, trying to understand what his vocalist friend was saying. All Strify did was to smile kindly at him as if he was a child.

"He's waiting for us, Shin. It'll be okay now."

"W-we're gonna have to die then, aren't we?" The drummer said, looking down. He knew that it was entirely his fault that Kiro was gone now. He didn't even want to think of seeing Plusle as she would be the most angry at him for the loss of her trainer. Strify though, just sighed.

"Just follow me, alright, Marcel? I promise you're gonna be okay when we arrive."

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

Both Luminor and Darkrai turned around only to see a small, green Pokémon standing there along with Bill.

"Bill what are you doing here?! I told you to run!!"

"I'm not leaving you when you're in danger!"

Meanwhile Darkrai went to stand in front of the green Pokémon.

"Shaymin. What is a Pokémon like you doing in my castle?"

"I came here to free the prisoners you are keeping here like that man over there!" The Gratitude Pokémon exclaimed, looking angrily at the Pitch Black Pokémon.

"I suppose it is too late by now, my dear Shaymin. One of them is already dead. By his own friend's hands no less." Darkrai said, smirking. But Shaymin on the other hand, was absolutely horrified.

"You are a monster, Darkrai! Arceus knows what you are doing, you will never win!!"

~Meanwhile with Kiro~

"You must be hungry." Robin said to Kiro as he came from the back of the cabin. Right as he said that, a loud growl from the bassist's stomach made them all smile as Kiro blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I haven't had the chance to eat much in the castle so I am a little hungry." He said, still blushing. Robin nodded and went back to the back of the house and brought a few good meals on a tray for Kiro to eat.

"You've lost a lot of blood so eating will help the tiredness you're probably feeling." The breeder said kindly. Kiro nodded and quietly started to eat. Just as he started though, a knock on the door alerted all of them.

'Please be Strify and Shin!', Kiro thought desperately as he continued eating his food. Robin went to open the door and saw two people on his doorstep.

"Is he okay?" Came Strify's concerned voice as the vocalist came in, dragging Shin by his hand. Kiro sighed in relief, Shin was now in safe hands.

"Yeah. He tried to get up two more times but he's just fine."

Shin meanwhile was looking confusedly and scaredly around. But as soon as Yomi's Eevee saw the drummer, he squeaked in fright and hid behind his trainer.

"It's alright, Eevee, I've got you, okay?"

Just as the short vocalist said that, Shin looked up only to see Kiro looking at him with concern in his face. His eyes widened and he slowly, hesitantly came closer to the bed Kiro was currently half sitting in.

"K-Kiro?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Shin. It's alright now." The bassist said, smiling at his hesitant friend. But what he didn't expect happened and Shin shook his head.

"I must be... I must be dreaming!"

Kiro and Strify both laughed lightly at this. It seemed that Shin was too shaken up to even admit what he was seeing.

"Shin, I'm real, you didn't kill me. Well, it was kinda close but I'm fine. Come on, come here, will you?"

Shin nodded and slowly crossed the last distance and sat on the bed beside Kiro. The bassist smiled at him and then, Shin suddenly threw himself at him, sobbing.

"I'm so sorry, Karsten! I-I couldn't control anything!!!"

Meanwhile, Kiro gasped in pain at the sudden pressure on his chest wound. It hurt like crazy but Shin just hugged him more, crying on his shoulder. His hands clutched at Kiro while he cried.

"Sshh, I'm here, Marcel, I know. I'm not gonna leave you." Kiro whispered, smiling through his pain and held the drummer to him.

"But... B-but aren't you angry at me??"

"Of course I am! But that does not mean I'll ever leave you, Shin." Kiro replied gently, trying to see Shin's face as the drummer was keeping his head low.

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

Luminor ran to Strify's room with Bill and Shaymin coming from behind him. He didn't want to believe what Darkrai had said, Kiro had to be alright.

"Luminor? What's wrong? We can escape here now so come on!" Bill said, worried and confused about how the keyboardist was acting.

"Not now, Bill. If you want, you go but I really need to reach Kiro right now!"

"What? What happened to Kiro??"

Luminor paused for a moment, panting slightly. His eyes were filling with tears as he spoke up, shocking the vocalist with his words.

"Darkrai... He-- He implied that Shin killed Kiro!"

"WHAT?!"

"I refuse to believe it! Shin would never do such a thing, Bill, Kiro has to be alright!"

Just as the keyboardist said that, a surprise attack from the Pitch Black Pokémon came onto them.

"Not now!!!"

"I'll hold him off, you go contact your friend!" Said Shaymin as Luminor and Bill barely managed to protect their heads. Luminor uncharacteristically didn't check on the Gratitude Pokémon or Bill's safety. He just wanted to confirm that Kiro was alright.

"Luminor! Wait for me!" Bill exclaimed fearfully.

Luminor didn't answer as he got inside the room they were all in before. He frantically opened his phone to call Kiro but he swore when he heard Kiro's phone go off in the same room. The bassist had forgotten to take his phone with him when he left the room.

"What are you gonna do now?" Bill asked hesitantly, he was just as worried as Luminor about what Darkrai had said.

"I don't know!!" Luminor said in a barely above whisper voice. He was worried sick for Kiro and Shin both.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

After a while, Shin's sobbings stopped and Kiro gently made him raise his head. The drummer looked at the older man, expecting a look of anger only to see how concerned and hurt the bassist was.

"Kiro?"

"Yeah?" Kiro asked softly, rubbing the taller man's back in soothing motions.

"How'd you survive? I-I mean... You had a chest wound, Kiro, how did you manage it?!"

Kiro looked at Strify who spoke up quickly.

"I managed to make him hang on for the little while we took him in here."

"Thank goodness for that..." Shin whispered in a pained voice. Kiro gently smiled at the shaken drummer.

"I'm okay now, Marcel. Mind telling me why you did that?!"

Shin flinched against Kiro at that, making the smaller sigh. He just wanted, needed to know why the younger had taken the serum.

"I'm sorry..."

"Shin, I'm not talking about my injury. I'm talking about why you took that goddamned serum in the first damn place!"

Just as Shin was about to answer, Strify's phone went off. The vocalist immediately blushed and looked at his phone.

"Who's it, Strify?"

"It's Luminor. Thank goodness." The taller man said and answered the phone.

"What is it, Lars? ... No, no he's fine. ... Darkrai told you that?! ... Yeah, I'll give the phone to him then."

With that, Strify extended the phone to Kiro. Understanding that Luminor had wanted to talk to him, Kiro quickly took the phone.

"Luminor? Are you okay? ... No, I'm fine, really. ... Yeah, Shin was... Kinda bad there. ... No, we're coming there as soon as possible, is the cure with you? ... What?!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean Darkrai destroyed the last cure?!"

"What?!?!"

~Meanwhile with Yu and Romeo~

"So, what are we gonna do, Hannes? We can't stay here while the others are with Kiro, trying to bring him back!"

"But what can we do? We're both injured and not to mention the others would freak if they saw us like this." Yu muttered, looking down. He wanted their Kiro back as much as Romeo did. Little did they both know Kiro was already back to his normal self.

"Sigilyph, Sigi!!" The Avianoid Pokémon cried out suddenly, making the two men look at him weirdly.

"What is it, Sigilyph? What's wrong?"

Sigilyph was trying to say something but of course, he wasn't understood by his master and his best friend so he decided to show what had happened in the fortress while they were gone and opened a small time window with his psychic powers.

"Oh, you mean something happened while we were gone??" Romeo asked curiously. He did have a bad feeling about this but what he saw in there, made his blood run cold.

"Oh no..."

"M-Marcel!!" Yu's shocked cry echoed in the hospital room they were in. But thankfully, no one came to look what was going on.

"We need to go, Yu. We can't let them handle this alone!"

Yu nodded immediately, trying to get up from the bed he was sitting on.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"I'm taking you to loudspeaker, Luminor. Tell us everything!"

Kiro pushed a button and suddenly, Luminor's voice floated from the phone.

"We're listening, Lars, what happened?!"

"I tried to take the cure from Darkrai--"

"You what?! Luminor, you could've died! Don't ever do something that reckless ever again!!" Strify exclaimed in worry.

"Are you okay though? Nothing happened, right?!"

"No, I'm okay. Darkrai attacked but I got out just fine, luckily. Anyway, he broke the cure right in front of me and I've no idea what to do now..." Luminor said, worry and fear apparent in his voice.

"It's okay, Shin's... Shin's just fine for now, Luminor." Kiro said, looking at the pale drummer. He wasn't appearing fine to Kiro but he didn't want to worry Luminor even more than he already was.

"Is he? Is he over there right now?"

"Yeah, I-I'm here."

"Thank God! Shin, I want you to know I'm not giving up on you. I will get that cure's formula as soon as possible, alright?" Luminor said over the line.

Shin paled even more at that, worried about the keyboardist. He didn't even want to think about what Darkrai could do to the older man if he caught him.

"B-but you could get killed, Luminor! This is too dangerous to do on your own!"

"I'll be fine, Shin. I promise it's going to be alright." Was all the keyboardist said before closing the phone. Shin's eyes filled with tears at the sheer kindness and stubbornness of his friend. Seeing this, Kiro came closer to him, concerned.

"Shin? Are you alright? What's the matter??"

Just as the drummer was gonna answer, he doubled over with pain that shot right through him.

"Marcel!!"

Kiro held Shin as the waves of pain washed over him. He knew what was happening way too well. The others though, came to watch what was going on, worried.

"What's wrong with him?!" Asked Yuura, concerned instantly.

"Eevee~?!" Yomi's Eevee cried out, staying far away from the pair in the bed, scared.

"He's trying to resist that damned serum. I know because it happened to me too." Kiro said as he tried to soothe the younger man.

"K-Kiro!!" Shin whimpered and looked up, his eyes starting to change color again. But it was obvious he was trying to resist the darkness inside of him as his eyes changed colors every passing minute.

"I'm here, Shin, I won't ever leave you, alright?"

Just as the bassist and the others in the room thought Shin was going to answer, he fainted.

"Shin!!!"

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

Luminor sighed in relief as he put the phone down. He had been so worried that he hadn't even thought of checking on Bill's safety. He turned to the standing vocalist with concern.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry I couldn't check on you..."

"It's okay, I'm just fine, just... Shaken a little. Is Kiro okay?" Bill asked, coming beside the slightly shorter man.

"Yeah. He wouldn't give the details about what happened but he sounded pained a little but otherwise, he's fine. Thank goodness for that." Luminor replied, shuddering slightly at the thought of what could've had happened to their little bassist.

"Good then. But what are we going to do now? We can go away from the castle now--"

"No! I'm not going anywhere without that damn formula! Shin's sanity depends on me right now! If you want, Bill, you can go. But I am staying here until I get the cure."

Bill was taken aback at the fire he saw in Luminor's eyes. The older man was very insistent and reckless.

"But... You don't even have a Pokémon to protect yourself, Luminor! What will you do if Darkrai attacks you yet again?!"

"I'll think of that when I come to that. I'm not leaving Bill, that's my decision."

"Like hell I'll leave you here without at least a back up, Luminor, forget it!" Bill exclaimed, looking slightly angrily. Luminor smiled sadly.

"Thank you, Bill. But don't you have a twin and two bandmates to find first? They might be in danger themselves."

"They would've wanted that from me. Well, maybe not Tom but they would've wanted me to help you and your friends as well. I would never forgive myself if I went away when you're in danger."

Luminor's eyes filled with tears as he watched the vocalist sit down in front of him. Bill didn't even know much about him or his friends but he was still willing to fight for them in what could be a deadly fight.

"So, what are we going to do first?"

"First, we need to recuperate and plan about what we're going to do. Then, we're going to stay with that plan and hopefully get the formula."

"Good idea, Luminor. You're a really good person, you know that?" Bill said, smiling at the older man.

Just as he said that, making Luminor smile, a knock to their door alerted them. They looked at eachother warily before another, more urgent knock came again. Luminor got up to answer, ready to take any kind of danger onto himself rather than letting Bill get harmed. But when he opened the door, he got a surprise.

"Yu! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"We weren't about to leave you guys alone, you know!" Came the reply from the guitarist. He was leaning heavily on the door frame as his left leg seemed to be in much pain and bleeding. Meanwhile Romeo looked worriedly at his friend.

"Hannes, you're bleeding! We can take care of it on our own, you shouldn't use that leg!" Luminor said as he helped Romeo to put Yu onto the bed gently.

"We'll be fine! Sigilyph showed us what happened to Shin, how can we help?" Romeo asked as he tried hard not to wince at the pain in his chest.

"We... We were just talking about finding a plan to steal the formula from Darkrai but we haven't been able to come up with a good plan yet." Bill spoke up hesitantly. He really hoped Yu wouldn't remember what he'd done to him while he was under the influence of the serum.

Yu and Romeo looked at eachother with surprise and worry. They were worried because they had no idea about how the last cure was broken and that Luminor was too ready to risk his own life to get a formula.

"Well, four brains are better than two, let's think of a good plan and take Shin back to us." Yu said, nodding curtly.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"Shin! Shin, wake up!!" Kiro shook Shin to try to wake him up to no avail. Strify came beside the bed, slightly scared.

"Is he breathing?!"

"Yeah, but what went wrong?!"

Just as the scared bassist said that, a bright light filtered through the windows, startling everyone.

"W-what was that?!" Strify asked timidly. He was scared that Darkrai had found them. But right as they were going to check the light out, Shin suddenly gasped and woke up.

"Shin! Are you alright?!" Kiro started to say when he saw the drummer's lifeless red eyes. His eyes widened in fear for their youngest.

"Oh crap..."

Right when Shin was about to attack Kiro, Strify and Taizo came right behind him and held him back together. But the influenced drummer was stronger than he seemed because he managed to rip himself away from their grabbing hands and then, he hit Kiro on the chest, right on top of the previous wound. Kiro only managed to gasp in pain before blacking out from the sudden pain.

"Marcel, stop!"

~Meanwhile inside Shin's mind~

Shin was running from something behind him. It kept calling for him but he knew that if he gave in, he'd do much worse damage to his friends.

"Shin..."

"No! Leave me alone!! I don't want you anymore!"

Just as he said those words, Weavile suddenly appeared in front of him, smirking at his pain.

"But didn't we have so much fun, Marcel? Don't you want to show those weaklings their place in this world?"

"No!! They-they're my friends! I refuse to hurt any of them anymore!"

"But you will, Shin. As long as you're asleep, you will hurt them." Was all Weavile said, smiling at him evilly.

"What?.. What did you make me do, Weavile?!"

Weavile only laughed at Shin's horrified expression.

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

"So, what's the plan so far?" Romeo asked as he sat down in front of Luminor. The other two looked at eachother slightly nervously.

"Well, we haven't been able to come up with anything just yet. We just managed to get away from Darkrai." Luminor muttered, embarrassed that they weren't prepared.

"What?! What do you mean you just got away from Darkrai himself?!" Romeo asked, paling considerably. Yu nodded, frowning at the sheepish keyboardist.

"Luminor here thought the cure was in Darkrai's throne room so we went there but Darkrai attacked us and broke the last cure. It was lucky I found Shaymin coming here or I don't even want to think about what would've happened." Bill said, shuddering at the thought of losing his new friend to Darkrai like that.

"Nevermind me now, I'm just fine. But we really need that formula or Shin's as good as dead." Luminor said, sharing a look with Bill.

"Okay. But no more recklessness, understood?! Shin would go crazy if something happened to you, Lars." Yu said, frowning sternly at Luminor. The keyboardist rolled his eyes but nodded anyways.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Strify tried to get Shin off of Kiro's limp body to no avail. The drummer was simply too strong to give into his grabbing hands. What was even worse was that Shin had managed to tear the bandages off of the injured bassist and was currently trying to claw his way to the older's heart.

"Marcel, stop it!!! Strify screamed, still trying to get the youngest off of the bassist's body.

"Plusle~, Plus!!"

Shin wasn't even answering and looking at his eyes, Strify gasped. There was no life in those red eyes anymore.

"What the hell?!" Was all he could say before Shin turned around and attacked him instead.

"M-Marcel!! Listen to me, I know you're in there, Shin, come on, I know you don't want to harm anyone! Just wake up!!" Strify yelled as he fought Shin's clawed hands. The rest of the room were looking worried and ready to get the drummer off of Strify but he shook his head. He wouldn't let anyone harm Shin like that.

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

"I have an idea." Yu's voice cut through the silence that had fallen upon them. The other three looked at him expectantly.

"I think we should separate and find out about the instructions to the cure. Then we can meet here and reveal what we've found and how we can help Shin."

"But what if Darkrai attacks again?! We wouldn't have any back up then and you're injured, Hannes!" Luminor immediately said. He didn't like the thought of Yu or the others endangering themselves alone. But he was confused as Yu reached to his pocket and got something unexpected from there.

"No way!!" Was all Bill muttered before looking at Luminor who was just as surprised.

In Yu's hand, there was a Sphere of Life. Luminor and Bill could hardly believe their luck.

"Where did you find that?!"

"In a cave around the fortress. We really needed rest and Romeo almost tripped on it while he was supporting me." Yu answered quietly. He didn't want to get too inside what had happened to them after running away from the hospital as that would just worry Luminor even more than he already was.

"Now we should split up. Yu, you're taking the Sphere, it'd be much safer with you guys as Darkrai doesn't know you're here with a Sphere." Luminor said, quickly taking the reins again.

"No! You could be in more danger, Lars! I'm not taking any chances with you anymore!" Yu said angrily. He was pissed off about the fact that Luminor wasn't thinking of his own life while the rest was worried about him.

But the only thing that Luminor did was to stare intently at the guitarist, obviously having made his choice about the matter. Yu was startled by the look in the older man's eyes. It was scarily resigned and fiery.

"Luminor, please, don't take so many risks like this. Shin would be hurt if you died like that." Romeo said gently. He hadn't liked Luminor's look either.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

"Shin focus! You can get through this, I know you can! Just wake up!" Strify yelled as he grappled with the younger man. Thankfully, just as Shin could punch him in the throat, Ruka and Aoi managed to get him off of the vocalist. Shin though, still was attacking everyone around him.

"We should tie him up or something!" Ni~ya said, alarmed and worried that Shin would attack one of his bandmates or their Pokémon again. Strify unwillingly nodded and Robin ran to the back of the cabin and came back with a coil of rope quickly.

"Be careful with him!" Strify said harshly as Reita harshly pulled at the drummer's flailing arms behind his back.

"He's not himself right now so we should be as careful as possible!" Ni~ya said, frowning at the singer who glared right back.

"That doesn't mean you can hurt him!" Strify said angrily. Then he came in front of Shin and kneeled in front of the still struggling drummer.

"Shin, I know you're in there and probably scared. I want you to fight it! You can do this Marcel, I know you can!!"

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

"So what are we gonna do now?" Bill asked curiously. There was a huge advantage with them now but it did not mean they knew what to do with it yet.

"I say we split up and find the instructions to the cure separately. I'll go with Bill and Yu, take the Sphere yourself, you're injured and that would probably protect you from Darkrai."

"No way in hell! Darkrai attacked you once, if he attacks you again, you'll have no chances! You don't even have a Pokémon to defend yourselves!!" Yu said with a frown on his face. Then Bill hesitantly spoke up.

"I know there's another Sphere in this castle but it's in the Forbidden Wing..." The vocalist said.

"Then I'll go retrieve it. Don't worry about me anymore, Hannes. I'll be fine."

With that, Luminor got up and left the room quickly before one of them could say anything against his plan.

"I don't think he's alright, you guys." Romeo said, frowning.

"He had to witness what happened to Shin, it happened right in front of him and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. So I think his recklessness is because of that." Bill said, looking down. He knew very well how that felt. Darkrai had made him watch as they broke his twin brother.

"One of us should go after him, just in case." Yu said quietly, trying to get up from Strify's bed and wanting to do it himself.

"I can do it." Romeo said swiftly and got out of the room as well, taking his Pokéball in his hand in case there was an attack.

~Meanwhile inside Shin's mind~

Let me go, Weavile!! I don't want to hurt anyone anymore!" Shin sobbed.

"Oh no. You will kill every single one of them just like you promised, Shin. They don't even deserve to live in the first place after all, do they, not being able to protect you."

"They had no choice! I'd made my choice by myself!" The drummer yelled, very angry at the accusation to his best friends.

"Then try to wake up, that is, if you dare..."

Shin didn't even reply, he just closed his eyes and focused on waking up, slightly afraid that he had killed someone already.

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Suddenly, Shin went dead still, not struggling anymore and his head bowed. Everyone froze as well, not knowing what to expect anymore. Strify tried to see under the drummer's hair, really worried this time.

"Shin?"

He got a whimper out of that and finally, Shin raised his head but his eyes were still changing colors. Strify gently hugged him, trying to soothe him.

"S-Strify... I'm scared..."

"I'm here for you, Marcel, don't be afraid, we're going to get you out of this trouble." Strify said and the thing he feared happened, Shin looked over at Kiro.

"Oh my Gosh!! D-did I d-do this?!"

"Shin, he's gonna be alright, he's not dead, it's okay."

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

Luminor silently got inside the Forbidden Wing, hoping he'd reach the Sphere fast enough to not be detected. Thankfully, he felt the strong pull of it soon enough. It was coming from the room to his right. He immediately checked his surroundings and found that the door was ajar anyways and quickly acting, he got inside the room and looked around to see where the Sphere was.

"Luminor, wait for me, will you?!"

Luminor turned around fastly and almost collided with Romeo.

"What are you doing in here, Romeo!? I said I would get the damned Sphere myself, didn't I?!"

"You've done enough reckless things by yourself, Luminor. Let me take that weight off of you for a while. We're a team, remember?" Romeo said softly, putting a hand on the stressed keyboardist's shoulder.

Luminor looked away at that. He didn't want to lose anyone else like he lost Shin. He felt like he should be the one to be punished because of how he failed to keep Shin safe.

"It'll be okay, Luminor. Now, let's find that Sphere and be on our way."

Luminor nodded quickly, looking around to see the Sphere. Thankfully, he didn't have to search for it for too long as it was sitting on a table with an ancient looking parchment. Luminor and Romeo looked at eachother and at the black Sphere.

"Well, this is a good thing." Romeo said, moving forward to take it. But as soon as he touched it, alarms blared, making Romeo panic.

"What the hell are we gonna do?!"

Luminor just calmly took a hold of Romeo's hand and dragged him to behind the door. And when two minions came into the room, Luminor striked and hit one of them on the head, causing the woman to fall unconscious instantly. The other man was taken care of by Romeo who striked in the same way as the keyboardist.

"Good job. Now let's take the Sphere and get out of this dangerous place." Luminor said, taking the Sphere into his hand. Romeo nodded and they went out of the room as fast as possible. But just as they reached the room their friends were in, they saw a horrible sight. Darkrai was there, having cornered Yu and Bill.

"Oh shit..."

~Meanwhile with Cresselia's champions~

Just as he was going to answer, Shin doubled over again, trying to resist the evil serum inside of his body. Strify didn't stop holding the younger man though, in fact, he'd started to hold on even tighter onto his body, his hands tracing soothing motions on his back.

"S-Strify! I-I can't... Can't hold on anymore!!" Shin gritted out, glad that he was tied up now.

"You can do it, Marcel, I know you can!!" Strify said, starting to get really scared. But in the next moment, Shin fell silent, shaking slightly. And to Strify's horror, Weavile appeared right beside him and the drummer.

"Oh shit..." He whispered, understanding that Shin had lost the internal battle.

Shin raised his head then, smiling crazily at the horrified singer. Seeing this, Yomi's Eevee made a frightened little sound and hid behind Gengar who glared at the influenced drummer.

"What's the matter, Strify? Cat got your tongue? Maybe Weavile should give you a thorough throat check-up." Shin said, chuckling evilly.

"Shin... I'm so sorry for this..." Strify whispered and hit him hard on the head, making the younger faint. But just as he did it, Weavile managed to hit him on his chest. Strify gave an agonized cry but otherwise, didn't harm the Sharp Claw Pokémon. He didn't like hurting another living being after all.

~Meanwhile with Luminor~

"Leave them alone, you wretched being!" Luminor yelled, making Darkrai turn to him with a glare.

"So you've come back. You and your worthless friends will all fall before me!" Said the Pitch Black Pokémon. Then his attention came onto the Sphere Luminor was still holding.

"So you dare to steal from me?! You shall pay!" Was all Darkrai said before sending a Shadow Ball at the undefended Luminor.

"NO!!!"

But just as the attack was gonna hit the keyboardist, a Pokémon came in front of him, taking the attack.

"What the--?!" Romeo muttered, looking at the interesting shaped Pokémon.

"Chandelure~!"

Meanwhile Luminor looked more than slightly shaken and that made the Luring Pokémon obviously concerned for him.

"Luminor? Are you okay?!"