Kyle and Calida stumbled out of their room. The lack of food and the disappointment yesterday really took its toll on them. Kyle had a deep scowl on his face and was stumbling around. Calida wasn't much better. She did hold her head up and tried to smile, but everyone could tell she was tired. The other guild members, minus Skuntank and his gang, gave the duo sympathetic looks.

"Exploration Team Charlie reporting for duty sir." Kyle growled. Everyone flinched at his tone and looked away. The cheer went by slowly and everyone went to work on their assignments.

"Um, may I speak with you Kyle?" Chatot asked. Kyle just nodded and walked over to the infuriating bird.

"Listen, I know you are still angry about yesterday, but you need to try and show some energy and pep." Chatot scolded. Kyle clenched and unclenched his paws, and Calida was able to notice this easily. "There is also something I think you should know, and you might not like it. You and your partner may not be going on the expedition. The guild master is most likely still going to be depressed over your failure."

"It wasn't our fault!" Kyle yelled. Croagunk and Sunflora looked at the two, curious as to why Kyle had yelled out. "Ok, it's your turn to listen now Chatot. My patience is running very thin right now. I didn't have anything to eat at all yesterday along with very little sleep, leaving me tired, hungry and angry. And the reason that I'm angry is that you don't seem to understand that what we were telling you yesterday was the truth! Do you honestly think we'd fail to bring back some stupid fucking apples? Something happened, and we know what that something is. Now until you're willing to listen, I'm going to be taking my anger out on some outlaws."

Kyle turned around and stormed out of the room. Calida followed after him with a worried look in her eyes. Chatot watched them go with a depressed sigh and disapproving looks from Sunflora and Croagunk burning into the back of his skull.

- (Line break) -

"Hey Calida," Kyle mumbled as he got off the ladder. "I want to do a mission on my own today. Can you just stay here and rest or something? I know you need it badly right now."

"I need rest? Kyle, you look ready to fall on your face any second!" Calida exclaimed.

"Fine," Kyle growled. "If you really want to follow me then you should get ready. I don't want to waste any time dealing with a lack of needed items, Arceus knows you'll need them"

"Fine then," Calida snapped back. "Just let me know when you get that pole out of your ass. I like to explore with someone who isn't trying to make me seem like a liability."

"Maybe I said that because you are one." Kyle growled back.

Calida left the room with a huff, her nose in the air as she left, a small tear falling down her face. Kyle just scoffed at her and checked the outlaw notice board. He skimmed the jobs, a frown forming on his lips when he realized there weren't any good jobs to take.

"I suggest you take this job."

Kyle turned around and saw Croagunk standing behind him with a piece of paper in his hands. He took the paper and immediately noted the rank.

"A starred job," Kyle whispered. "Croagunk, are you sure about this? I mean, my team is pretty good, but this? I'm not really sure..."

"Don't worry Kyle," Croagunk said with that same creepy grin on his face. "You and Calida can do it. You may not get out of this without injury, but think about how this will look to the guild master. Rookies like you doing this level of a job will make him and the rest of the guild look good. Plus, think about the fact that this will probably drive Chatot crazy."

Kyle was about to put the job back on the board when he heard the part about Chatot leave Croagunk's lips.

"You know what Croagunk? I think you're right! We are strong after all. Tell the guild master that about what we're doing later so we have a chance to take down the outlaw. I can't wait to see the look on Chatot's face. Ha ha ha~! I can't wait!" Kyle cheered.

Kyle stuffed the job into the treasure bag and dashed out of the guild. Once he was outside, Kyle used Extreme Speed to get to the village faster. Once he arrived Calida walked up to him and handed him a basket full of berries and seeds.

"This is everything I thought we'd need. You pick out a good job?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's in Mount Bristle. Let's go!" Kyle cheered as he led them towards the dungeon.

- (Line break) -

"You seem cheerful." Calida stated with a sweat drop forming on the back of her head. Kyle nodded quickly before replying.

"I found the perfect job! Its supposed to be very hard, so if we complete this job then Chatot will have to realize just how useful we are! I can't wait to rub it in that damn parakeet's face." Kyle growled with his grin still on his face. Calida frowned but nodded as they entered the dungeon.

They made it to the second floor easily and noticed a tall grey pokemon sitting in the corner of the room, a steel spike in its hands. Kyle check the job and nodded to Calida. This was the outlaw they were looking for.

"Hey you, stay where you are!" Kyle yelled as he stepped forward. The grey Pokémon looked up and growled at Kyle.

"What do you want child?" It growled.

"My name is Kyle and my friend here is Calida. We're Rescue Team Charlie. Now drop the spike and put your hands in the air!" Kyle barked as he pulled out his badge. The Pokémon in front of them just scoffed at him and stood up, the spike still in its grasp.

"My name is Rhydon, and I'm a star criminal wanted for murder. If you think you puny little kids can take me down then please, be my guests." Rhydon said with a sadistic grin. He took the spike in his hand and threw it at Kyle, who simply just knocked it off course with his Bone Rush. As the spike fell Kyle jumped into the air and kicked it, launching it through the air back at Rhydon. The outlaw lifted an arm as the spike got closer, the small metal object bouncing off of his thick armor.

"Not back kid! But let's see if you can survive this fight, we've only just begun after all!" Rhydon yelled as he charged Kyle. Calida hit him with a Flamethrower, the type advantage causing immense damage and the heat temporarily blinded him. Kyle took this opportunity to try and plant a roundhouse kick to Rhydon's head. Emphasis on try, right before he could land the kick an arm shot out and smashed Kyle into the ground with enough force to form a small crater.

"That was even better! But still not enough; show me more of what you can do!" Rhydon roared as he brought his arm down with immense force, a loud yell of pain and a faint crack sounding from Kyle as the arm impacted his chest. Calida used Flamethrower to get Rhydon away from Kyle, allowing him to crawl out of the crater and over to Calida.

"Damn, I think he cracked one or two of my ribs. Do you have any ideas on how to proceed Calida?" Kyle asked as a small drop of blood fell from his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his left arm.

"Try using Extreme Speed to distract him while I use Flamethrower and Ember. Once the burns start forming, strike the burnt areas. I'm fairly sure that will be enough to break his natural armor." Calida whispered back. Kyle nodded and charged Rhydon with Extreme Speed. Once he was distracted Calida used an overcharged Flamethrower to stagger and burn him from behind.

"Now," Calida yelled.

"Got it," Kyle replied as he jumped into the air with his bone staff held above his head. As he came back down Kyle swung his bone staff at the burn on Rhydon's back, lightly cracking the Pokémon's thick natural armor. Rhydon saw what they were trying to do and smashed his back against the wall, causing Kyle to get crushed once again.

With the small blue Pokémon off his back, Rhydon ate a Pure Seed to warp to the stairs. Calida helped Kyle to his feet and they ran through the floor looking for the stairs. This chase went on for seven floors. On the ninth floor Rhydon turned around and grinned.

"You don't know when to quit do you? Fine then! Get them, my friends! Kill them and leave nothing for the Murkrows!" Rhydon roared as he used the summit stairs. Five Rhyhorns fell from the ceiling and blocked off access to the stairs.

"Let's go Calida, time to crack some skulls!" Kyle yelled as he used Extreme Speed to appear behind the far left Rhyhorn, his staff raised in preparation for a strike on the astonished Rhydon. Calida let loose a Flamethrower that charred two of the Rhydon's leaving them with pretty bad burns. The two other Rhydons split up and attacked Kyle and Calida. Kyle yelped in pain as a Metal Claw drew two long gashes down his back. Calida was knocked back by an Iron Tail before she could help her friend.

"Calida!" Kyle yelled as he jumped over the Rhyhorn in front of him. He used Extreme Speed to increase the force of his strike on the Rhyhorn that attacked Calida, leaving it twitching on the ground with a cracked skull. Calida's eyes widened when she saw the amount of force he was able to deliver on his own.

"It looks like my ability is finally kicking in. This should make things easier." Kyle said as he turned to the three remaining Rhyhorns. His next use of Extreme Speed was way faster than before, causing his next hit to send a Rhyhorn tumbling back. He forgot about the other Rhyhorns for a moment and paid for his stupidity with two tackles impacting his sides.

A loud yell of pain alerted Calida to Kyle's current predicament. Without even thinking she used Ember on the Rhyhorns' faces blinding them and giving Kyle an opening that he quickly exploited. The two ground/rock types were taken out quickly with a Bone Rush to the face.

"Kyle? Are you OK?" Calida asked worriedly as she gave him an Oran Berry for his internal injuries and applied a healing salve to the outer injuries. Kyle tried to apply pressure to his arms and legs but felt no pain besides that of the cuts on them. When he tried his ribs, he yelped in pain.

"I'd have to say I have one broken and one cracked rib along with some internal bruising. The wound is not bad enough to be serious, but enough to be slightly debilitating." Kyle hissed as another wave of pain assaulted his abdomen. Calida helped him up and was about to use an Escape Orb when Kyle used his right paw to stop her.

"We have a job to do, so we can't leave now." Kyle grunted as he used Bone Rush to help hold him up like a cane or crutch.

"W-what?" Calida yelled. "You expect me to let you go up against an outlaw like the one at the summit with your injuries?"

"Nope," Kyle said. "That's why I'm putting it as an order. We are going up against this outlaw no matter what, even if I need to be dragged there in pieces. Am I making myself clear Calida?" Kyle growled. Calida nodded quickly and directed them to the stairs, a slight twinge of fear running up her spine from Kyle's harsh tone and bloodthirsty look in his eyes. That look scared her more than anything.

'I'm sorry Calida.' Kyle thought sadly. 'I wish we could go back, but I never leave a job unfinished. We can't stop now.'

- (Line break) -

"Ah, so the children managed to make it passed my little friends hm? Did you enjoy your little playmates?" Rhydon asked with a smirk on his face at the tired forms of Team Charlie.

"Stuff it bitch." Kyle growled. "Now are we going to stay here and talk about your little fuck buddies, or am I going to be able to break someone's skull open?"

"Please, just turn yourself in Rhydon." Calida said sadly. "We've fought enough for today, just give up. You've caused enough pain, so just accept your punishment."

"No can do kiddo, I do have a job and reputation to deal with." Rhydon replied with a frown as he pulled out some Steel Spikes. Kyle did the same and Calida charged up a Flamethrower.

"This is it kiddos, time to finish up our little game of tag!" Rhydon roared as he threw the spikes at Calida. Kyle used Bone Rush to knock away the spikes and threw some of his own. The spikes impacted Rhydon's armored body with loud clinks, but failed to penetrate the thick metal.

Calida unleashed her Flamethrower and followed up with Ember. Rhydon dodged the Flamethrower, but couldn't dodge the high speed fire pellets from Ember. Kyle followed up with his Hyakuretsu Ken, cracking Rhydon's armor and knocking him to the ground.

"Fucking brats, just die already!" Rhydon yelled as he got to his feet. Before Kyle could get away from the angry outlaw, an armored arm struck his skull and launched him across the room. Calida went to help him but was buried by Rhydon's Rock Slide attack. Kyle tried to get up and help her, but his arms gave out beneath him. The pain and blood loss was too much for Kyle small body, his muscles screaming out for a rest.

"That should keep you busy while I deal with your little boyfriend." Rhydon grumbled as he picked up Kyle and slammed him against the wall. Kyle's eyes slammed shut when Rhydon started punching and slowly cutting him, pain wracking his body and ravaging his mind.

'I-I can't die here. Not yet, not fucking yet!' Kyle thought as he reached into the treasure bag and grabbed a Steel Spike. He didn't want to do this, but there was no other way.

"Are you ready to die yet kid? I can't wait for you to die, because I'm going to have so much FUN with the girl, if you know what I mean." Rhydon whispered suggestively in Kyle's ear. He then laughed hysterically, his bloodshot eyes staring into Kyle's rage filled ones.

That one sentence caused Kyle to completely snap.

With one swift motion a Steel Spike pierced the outlaw's left eye with a sickening squishing sound. The scream of pain made Kyle smile wickedly as he landed feet first on the ground. He was going to make this outlaw think twice before threatening his Calida, or any other innocent Pokémon for that matter.

Once Kyle got out of Rhydon's grip, he stabbed the outlaw's other eye with the spike and used Bone Rush to tear away the armor on his back with hammer like blows that delivered more force than he should really be capable of, leaving behind bloody and torn up flesh. He was about to attack the outlaw's exposed back when he stopped in mid swing.

'N-no...' Kyle thought. 'T-this isn't me, is it? Was I seriously about to kill him?' He looked at the broken and bloody form of the outlaw and dropped his bone staff, the weapon of condensed aura dispersing in a cloud of blue squares and rectangles that slowly floated up into the sky.

'Oh man, that's a lot of blood...' Kyle thought with a frown. 'This is just the beginning. If I were to continue with what I was going to do, I would probably have started turning into someone like him.' He looked over the outlaw's injuries again and came to an even more horrifying conclusion. 'No, not like him: I would become something far, far worse.'

Kyle's vision started to fade and he knew he had lost too much blood. He looked at the outlaw's bloody, sobbing form and suddenly felt a tear fall down his cheek. This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. He didn't want to even try and kill someone. Despite his big words, the last thing Kyle wanted was to take the life of another. He didn't know if he was like that as a human, but he sure hoped he didn't have to kill anyone when he was.

"My Lord, my God, please have mercy upon my tainted soul. For I have almost sent one of your children to you too soon."