As the ruby colored doors opened in front of him, Michael continued to take up the trail that would no doubt one lead him to a woman who's mere presence had once been intoxicatingly tempting to him. But he knew that the prophetess had no real powers. After all, she had predicted that he would be betrayed by three people, yet Cameron was firmly committed to helping him bring down the Syndicate. He knew she would be a relentlessly powerful Pokémon Trainer, as she had been groomed by Maxie of Team Magma to succeed him, but he had no reason to fear her or admire her anymore. She had cast her lot in with the man who had plotted to rip his family apart. And that was something he could never forgive, even if he wanted to.

He reached the top of the staircase and found himself in a room that was only lit up by the molten substances that were flowing from Mt. Heatmor in a river of lava beneath him. He looked around for a sign of Courtney, but when she didn't present herself, he decided to smoke her out.

"Come on out, Courtney!" Michael growled. "I know you're here."

"Do not worry, Champion" she remarked childishly. "I am here." Michael looked onto a balcony that stood only a few feet above him and saw Courtney walking towards him, a wry smile on her face. Even when he was resolved to crush her, Michael could not help but feel bewitched by her sheer presence.

"You and I have to have a talk" The Champion insisted.

"Of course we do, Michael" she said, resting her arms on the railing. "I would like to know how you managed to elude death's grasp yet again."

"Sheer determination to destroy any and all who would harm the people I love" Michael told her. "And those who are linked to them."

Courtney giggled. "Do you mean me?"

"Who else?" Michael asked. "Don't think that your little attack on the Ranch didn't go unnoticed by me."

"Aw, you know me so well" Courtney grinned. "I went to the Ranch to discover what secrets James Kingston had left to his precious grandson. I used the pretext of kidnapping Julia Pines as a distraction, but that girl who ripped out your heart and stomped on it certainly makes quite an impact."

Michael clenched his fist in anger. She knew how to play him very well at this point. "A pity that I didn't see you for what you truly were when I might have."

Courtney sighed. "Why? Do you really think you and I are enemies? I told you before, I bear no loyalties to Elezar or Cassius. If you want to destroy them, I have no qualms with simply letting you past my room to continue on your quest for revenge. We are natural allies, Michael. I thought you would remember that."

"I don't care what words come out of your mouth, Courtney" Michael declared angrily. "You and I are not allies."

Courtney winked at him. "Don't be dense, Michael. We can be partners." She flipped over the balcony and landed only a few meters in front of him. "You see, I too have been blessed with a unique power." She flung back her hood and moved her lavender hair out of the way to reveal the mark on her forehead.

Michael looked at her in disgust. "What on earth is that?"

"The symbol stands for 'one'. One singularity. One unity. One existence." Courtney giggled. "It means I have become one with The Grand Master. And I fully intend on accumulating more power than I already have. But I don't believe I can do this alone." She held out her hand to him. "Join me. We can overthrow the decadence of Elezar and the Kingstons and rule, side by side, with The Grand Master."

Michael laughed at her offer. "I think I'll pass. It will be much easier if I just trashed you and this Grand Master of yours!"

Courtney's face darkened. "Very well. If my words won't sway you, I suppose only one thing will at this point." She then let out a terrifying shriek that even caught Michael off guard. "I will have to rake you across the coals of your ignorance!"

Michael grinned as he reached for a Poké Ball on his belt. "Now, you're speaking my language!"

"You won't be laughing much longer" she declared. "Go! Delphox!" She sent out a Pokémon that appeared to be a mystically enchanted fox that could stand on two legs and wielded a wand of some kind.

"Go! Marnie!" From out of his own Poké Ball appeared his Obstagoon, a horrifically strong looking bulky badger that bared it's fangs at the enemy. "Use Night Slash!"

"Use Mystical Fire!"

Marnie ran through the shadows and lunged at the Delphox, who was conjuring a fire blast capable of dealing with her. The two met in ferocious melee as the volcano quaked and rumbled behind them.

{Meanwhile}

Mark was struggling to keep up with Nadine in their battle. The toll the constant battling and striving they had done to make it back to this point was taking a sharp toll on his body, as well as the battling skills of his Pokémon. Despite his obvious fatigue, he knew he still had to at least stop Nadine and set off the beacon. He had already lost his Pikachu and Inteleon in the fighting, but had also done away with Nadine's Parasect and a Skuntank that she possessed. Now, his Charizard clashed with her pride and joy, her Luxray.

But if Nadine had sensed that he was losing steam, she was putting on quite the act. Elezar's most fiercely loyal follower was certainly panicking at the idea of losing. She was pressing and despite having a type advantage over him, he could tell that his storming through this battle had certainly weakened her resolve.

Mark took a deep breath. "It's time to end this." He activated the Key Stone on his wrist and transformed his Charizard into Mega Charizard X. With it's Dragon Sub-Type, it was now relatively immune to electrical attacks and he could finish this fight without fears of repercussions. "Charizard! Use Dragon Claw!"

"Luxray! Use Thunder Fang!" The Charizard and Luxray lunged for one another. But the Charizard's speed proved too much for the Luxray, which caused the Dragon Claw to hit first and stymie any chances Nadine had for winning as her Luxray tumbled backwards from the blow and fainted.

"It's over, Nadine!" Mark declared, relieved.

"NO!" she shrieked liked a woman who had lost her child. "IT CANNOT BE!" She collapse into a pool of her own tears and misery, weeping uncontrollably for her defeat. "Forgive me, Elezar! I have failed you!"

Mark walked his way up tp her location and stood over her. "You're going away for a very long time." He swiped a pair of handcuffs from her belt and secured her to her railing as the Syndicate Base began to shake and rumble beneath him."

"Please end me!" Nadine insisted. "Let me die!"

"No" Mark insisted as he made his way over to her control panel and triggered the switch to activate the door locks. "Your fate will be decided in court, Nadine." As the woman wailed and shrieked wildly behind him, Mark descended the steps, but lost his footing and fell to his knees. There's no way I can keep going like this.

He could feel his wounds opening up again. "I think-I think I'm done." With the help of his Charizard, Mark made it out of Nadine's chambers and onto the steps leading out towards the main chamber once again.

Giselle remained by the doorway that led to the upper levels of the Syndicate Base, her head lowered so that she didn't see Mark directly. But the former Syndicate Admin snickered when she saw him weakly coming out of the chamber. "I guess you won't let her pick where your next date night is going to be?"

Mark ignored her and continued to limp his way down the steps and out of the room. "Tell Mike, when you've seen him, that I'm going back to get some rest. My team and I are spent."

Giselle laughed. "I guess you're still the weakling from Kanto after all."

Mark again ignored her and continued down the steps back towards the entrance, his arm around his Charizard's neck. As he reached the middle of the stair case, he spotted Ryan running up towards him. He looked down at the boy and sighed.

"Mark!" Ryan called worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah, but I've got nothing left."

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"These Syndicate Admins up ahead are a lot stronger than I remember them being" he cautioned Michael's cousin. "I'd imagine the others may need some backup there, Ryan. Go help them."

"What about you?"

"I'm done for now" he said as his Charizard continued to assist him down the stairs. "I may join back in later, but I need to get some rest right now."

Ryan nodded. "Okay. Thanks Mark. I'll go help the others!" Mark watched as Ryan sprinted back up the stairs he was descending and then continued his slow trot to rest. Though he hoped to rejoin the fight at some point, he knew he was physically and mentally spent. His part in the Battle of Mt. Heatmor was over.

{Meanwhile}

Ryan approached the chamber where Giselle stood and tried to figure out what was going on for himself. He noticed the four lights on the main door that led deeper into the castle, and that one of the lights, the yellow one, had been triggered. He spotted Giselle sitting and waiting by the doorway. The fact that she had just nonchalantly sat there and done nothing while Mark struggled to defeat Nadine infuriated him to no end.

"And why aren't you helping?" Ryan demanded.

Giselle looked over to him and scoffed. "Did you forget the deal I made with your cousin, kid?"

Ryan folded his arms. "Don't you realize that Mike and the others need our help?"

Giselle rolled her eyes. "Would you relax? Mark beat Nadine, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but what about the others?"

"Do you think it's weird that I have more faith in your cousins than you do?" Giselle laughed. "If you're so concerned with them, then go and check up on them. The Blue, Red and Green switches need to be triggered, which means your cousins are still struggling to take care of this. Maybe you need to bail them out."

Ryan looked at the three doors and wondered which of his cousins was behind each door. The Red Door was the closest to where he stood and he thus decided to run his way up there.

Giselle snickered. "Going after your big bro Mikey first?" she asked.

Ryan ignored her and continued up the path into the red door and after his cousin. As he sprinted up the steps, he was immediately assaulted by bright lights and blasts of fire coming from the Admin Michael was facing. He watched from the top of the steps as cousin's Nidoking faced off against a Magmortar belonging to a Syndicate Admin he had never faced before . The Nidoking used a mighty Horn Attack to drill the Magmortar backwards, but the enormous Magma Cannon Pokémon flipped back and launched a terrifying Solar Beam at the Nidoking, who burrowed out of the way and leaped back in front of Michael.

"Mike!" Ryan called.

Michael turned over and was surprised to find Ryan. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to back you guys up" Ryan insisted as he came to a stop by his cousin's side. "Mark was really drained in his fight with Nadine."

Michael nodded. "I was afraid of that. That means we're all essentially on borrowed time."

"How cute" a woman giggled. "Looks like you've got someone else who's looking out for you, Michael."

Michael returned his attention towards the woman. "Can it, Courtney." He prepared his Nidoking for battle. "You can help if you want, Ry."

Ryan nodded and reached for a Poké Ball on his belt. "Go! Cora!" His Kingdra emerged from the Poké Ball and spat a torrent of water at her trainer happily. Ryan shook himself dry. "I missed you too, Cora."

The woman called Courtney sighed. "Sorry, kid. But I have some special business with the Champion. Come back in a few minutes and I'll clobber you too."

"You afraid you can't handle a Double Battle?" Michael laughed. "Is that where the all powerful Courtney has her limits?"

Courtney cackled. "You wish, Michael. You see, I've been holding back this entire time. Just like you."

"And how's that?" Michael asked.

Courtney pressed a button on her wristlet. "I don't think any of the three of us should be holding back." Ryan and Michael looked up and saw that the roof to Courtney's chambers were opening to reveal the Crimson Moon over their heads. She giggled at her opponents. "The Crimson Moon is here. I want to see just how strong it makes your Pokémon. And we can see if your gift stands to hold a candle to my own!"

Michael grunted under the blood-colored light. "You won't get to see it, Courtney!"

Ryan nodded. "You're right, Mike! We'll beat her before that thing affects you."

"Us" Michael cautioned him.

"One way or another" Courtney grinned, as she reached for another Poké Ball on her belt, "I'll see the true extent of the Crimson Fury's power! Go! Camerupt!" From her last Poké Ball appeared a massive camel that seemed to take on the appearance of a volcano. The Pokémon howled at Ryan and Michael as it braced for battle. "Camerupt! Use Eruption! Magmortar! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Kingdra!" Ryan retaliated. "Use Hydro Pump on that Camerupt!"

"Rhino!" Michael snarled. "Use Earth Power on that Magmortar!"

As if synchronized, all four Pokémon moved at once. The Camerupt spouted a massive volcanic eruption from it's hump on it's back and bellowed as the magma exploded all over the place, hitting all in it's wake. The Magmortar acted as if it were snowing and absorbed the fire like it was nothing, charging up a Thunderbolt to shoot out of the cannon on it's arm. As it fired, Cora spat out a powerful torrent of water directly for the Camerupt and Rhino raged to such a degree that the magma below the base began to bubble and burst with the seismic shifts caused by the mighty Nidoking. All four of the blows connected with their target, causing immense damage to all present. The Nidoking was only barely able to withstand the blow from the Eruption, the Kingdra tanked the Thunderbolt quite well, the Magmortar was smashed into the air by the Earth Power attack and the Hydro Pump devastated the Camerupt, who was barely able to hang on.

Courtney grinned. "Then let's kick things up a notch!" She pressed her fingers to her head. "I call upon the Singularity!" Her eyes flashed and transformed into a pair of ghostly sapphire eyes. Her Pokémon also took up the same appearance.

"What is she doing?" Ryan asked.

Michael called out to her. "Courtney! You have to stop!"

"There is no Courtney now" Courtney replied, her voice with a haunting echo to it. "There is only the Singularity!"

"She's gone nuts?!" Ryan asked.

Michael glared at the Syndicate Admin. "Alright, Singularity. Who exactly are you?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Great Champion" Courtney's voice shrieked. Her Pokémon began to shine with immense power as they recovered, seemingly back to full health. "All will belong to the Singularity!"

"We'll see about that!" Ryan snapped. "Go, Cora! Use Dragon Dance!" The Kingdra spun about wildly to increase her attack power vigorously. The Magmortar stepped forward and unleashed another series of Thunderbolts at the Kingdra. Rhino rushed in front of Cora and easily absorbed the hit, but was soon throttled by a massive Earthquake from the Camerupt and fainted.

Michael looked down and saw that the room itself was coming apart. "Courtney! You have to stop!"

"Show me your power, Champion!" the Singularity answered through Courtney's voice.

"There's no use, Mike" Ryan told his cousin. "We're gonna have to crush her."

Michael nodded as he reached onto his belt for his next Pokémon. "Go! Koopa!" His Blastoise emerged from the Poké Ball and growled at the sight of the Magmortar. Michael reached onto his wrist and activated the Key Stone on it. "If you want power, Courtney. I'll show you power! His Blastoise Mega Evolved into Mega Blastoise, with it's dual cannons in it's shell reverting to one colossal cannon.

The Magmortar prepared another wave of Thunderbolts at the Blastoise, but Ryan stepped in on the defense. "Cora! Use Outrage!" The Kingdra's eyes flared red and she smashed herself into the Magmortar, causing it to double over in pain and leave it wide open for the assault from the Blastoise.

"Use Hydro Pump!" The Blastoise aimed it's cannon directly at Magmortar and blasted it aside with a colossal torrent of water. As the Magmortar fainted, the Camerupt roared viciously.

"You fools" Courtney snarled. "Magmortar! Use Earthquake!" With one colossal quake, the entire room began to fragment into pieces. The Blastoise was able to remain focused, but the Kingdra was struck hard and fainted. Ryan recalled his Pokémon and prepared to send out another, but Michael stopped him.

"But Mike-"

Michael shook his head. "I need to end this, Ryan." He watched as his cousin's eyes flashed with the color of blood, the same as the Crimson Madness he recalled Balthazar's notes talking about. He fell back in fear as the Blastoise did the same. "Hydro Pump!" The Blastoise savagely roared and launched a torrential pulse of water at the Camerupt. But whereas the Hydro Pump would normally stop, it kept blasting and blasting the Camerupt. While Courtney's Pokémon cried out in pain, Courtney seemed to be trying to free herself from the control of whatever lorded over her.

"Michael!" she cried, clutching at her head.

Ryan tried to make his way over to his cousin. "Mike! We have to stop!"

But the Blastoise kept blasting away at the Magmortar, his eyes intent on only one thing. Death.

{Meanwhile}

While she assisted Jenna with the recuperation on the Beach Head, Julia suddenly felt a sting in her heart. She forced herself to lean on the makeshift walls that Greg's Ground Pokémon had built into the rest area. Jenna hurried over to her side. "Julia! Are you okay?"

Julia nodded. "Yeah. I just-I've never felt something like that before."

"So you felt it too?" a voice asked. Mark stumbled his way into the medical area, clutching at his sides. Annie hurried over to Mark and helped him into one of the open slabs of beds they could put their injured on. "It's the Crimson Fury. And it's absolutely wreaking it's havoc."

Jenna came over to Mark and took his Pokémon over to the Healing Machine that Jon's Ampharos was keeping going with it's electrical power. As she put the Poké Balls in the machine, she looked over towards Mark. "You're worried about Mike?"

Mark lowered his head. "He's not gonna make it through this at this rate."

Julia shook her head. "He's going to make it. He has Celebi with him."

Mark gulped. "Yeah, about that..."

Julia's eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

"Celebi is with Holly in Orre" Mark explained. "Helping her go through the surgery that Professor Krane is having her undergo."

Julia looked over towards their healing area. Lizzie was passed out, and Mark was running out of steam himself. This tent was about to increase in patrons, fivefold. She glanced up to the Syndicate Fortress and held her hand towards where she felt the sting. "Oh Michael..."

{Meanwhile}

Ryan struggled over towards where Michael was, the force his cousin's rage was putting out preventing him from being able to reach his side, so too was the molten explosions below them. The entire chamber was falling apart. But despite the decaying and collapsing room around them, Michael and his Blastoise seemed keen on pummeling Courtney and her Camerupt with an endless onslaught of Hydro Pumps. He could only watch on in genuine horror as his cousin showed no mercy for this woman, whoever she was. But considering all of the emotion she had gotten out of him, the boy could tell that these two had some kind of friction between them. Perhaps they had clashed before she came to Arcana, like Lizzie and Hunter had?

Ryan eyed his cousin worriedly, with the blood-colored eyes of his cousin particularly standing out. Mike? Is that...the power of the Crimson Fury? Was I like that when Amber and Tommy stopped me? Ryan was too disturbed by his cousin to realize that he too could perhaps succumb to the same power, thanks to the red moon that now hung above them. Doing his best not to look at it as he had against Archer and the twins, Ryan finally leaped for his cousin's side and grabbed his arm. Michael's fury turned on him for a split second, before Michael calmed down and his eyes reverted back to normal. Even though he did, he winced in pain and clutched at his heart for a moment before looking towards Ryan.

"Mike!" Ryan cried out. "We have to get out of here."

Michael nodded. "Ye-yeah." He recalled his Blastoise and looked over towards Courtney. She was clutching at her head and trying to recall her Pokémon simultaneously. He called over to her. "Courtney! You have to get out of here!"

Courtney was breathing heavily, her hands on her head. "I can't-"

"We can get you any medical treatment you need" Michael assured her. "But you have to give yourself up." The room shook violently as the floor beneath them began to fall into the lava below. Michael slowly made his way over towards the Syndicate Admin. "I know you didn't choose this path for yourself. Elezar or this Grand Master or whoever it is chose this for you." He offered her his hand. "But we can help you, Courtney!"

The lavender-haired woman was hesitant. "I-I-"

Not willing to wait, Michael took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we have to-"

The floor fell right through beneath Courtney. Michael clung to the Syndicate Admin with all of his strength. but found himself slipping. Ryan hurried over and grabbed his cousin's waist, trying his hardest to pull him and the Courtney woman back over. But the boy could feel the ground beginning to melt beneath him. "Mike! We have to go! Now!"

Courtney, clinging to Michael with all her life, sighed. "There's always the next lifetime, Michael."

"What are you saying?" Michael asked her, straining to pull her back up.

"You're strong" Courtney said sadly, "but not strong enough to save all of us. This lifetime may end, but who's to say we won't meet again in the next?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Save the kid" Courtney told him. "And yourself. Some of us are beyond saving." She reached up to him with her other arm and began to try to pry Michael's hand open. Michael desperately grabbed her other hand.

"What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?"

Courtney looked up to him and sighed. "I'm trying to save a life for once." She urged him forward. "Go on. And remember, we will meet again in the next lifetime. Maybe as more than just enemies." She looked over onto the ledge beside Michael. "Is my Camerupt's Poké Ball there?"

Michael nodded as he strained to hold her hands. "Yeah."

She smiled. "Take care of him for me." She let go of one of his hands, winked at him and slipped out of the remaining one, plummeting towards the lava below. Ryan and Michael fell backwards and onto the edge. As the duo of cousins recovered, Michael crawled over to the edge and frowned. There was no sign of her. She was gone. He pounded his fist into the metal floor, until Courtney's Poké Ball rolled over to his side.

He picked it up and nodded. "Take care of him."

Ryan walked over to his cousin slowly. "Are you gonna be okay, Mike?"

Michael nodded after a moment. "Yeah. I'm good." He rose to his feet with her Camerupt's Poké Ball in his hand. He then put his arm around his cousin. "Come on, bud. Let's go."

{Meanwhile}

"Walter, Nadine and Courtney have also fallen" Elezar panicked while in a conference call with Matthew and Cassius. "We're running out of time."

"Just let them try and come this way" Matthew insisted. "I'm ready for them!"

"Don't be a fool" Cassius told the boy. "Courtney was overwhelmed by the power of the Crimson Fury. You're even less experienced with it."

"I have more to lose than anyone else left" Matthew insisted.

"And likely the least amount of punishment if you're caught" Cassius reminded him.

"Brace yourselves for whatever is to come" Elezar told the two. "I suspect Claude and Victor will not last much longer, especially with Michael and your twin brother Ryan helping them."

Matthew scowled at the mention of Ryan. "Of course he's tagging along with him."

"Leave the Champion to me, Elezar" Cassius sneered. "Besides, it seems you have someone else here who wants to settle a score with you. Don't you recognize who Michael's recruited?"

Elezar looked on the security monitors and grunted. "Giselle?"

Matthew's jaw nearly dropped on the monitor. "Wait. You mean Giselle? As in the lady that Mike beat?"

Elezar fumed as he looked at the monitor. "Expect Michael and Ryan to be pursuing you two. Giselle will come for me." With that, Elezar ended the conversation and scowled bitterly as he realized all of the people he detested the most were in the same building and coming right for him.

{Meanwhile}

Michael and Ryan continued down towards the Main Hall. The Red Light now shined from the doorway and illuminated the ruby crested light on the doorway. Giselle eyed the two as they returned, but then quickly returned to waiting by the door in silence. Two Syndicate Admins down and two more to go. Michael looked up at the light and sighed. "The closer we get to victory, the more perilous it gets for us and those around us."

"Since when did you become so philosophical?" Giselle asked.

Michael clutched at Courtney's Poké Ball and frowned. "When you've seen what I've seen, sometimes you have to."

"Well, at least there's two of you strong enough to keep going" she said. "Can't say the same for Cameron and Chris."

Michael looked over towards the Blue and Green doorways and realized both of them hadn't finished off yet. "They're not finished yet?" He was about to run over to help one of them, but Ryan stopped him. "What are you doing, Ry?"

"Let me finish them" Ryan said. "You need to save your strength for the tougher battles. I can go back Chris and Cam up. Just leave it to me."

"Ryan" Michael sighed, but the Champion shrugged. "I guess I can't talk you out of it?"

Ryan shook his head. "Nope. I'm not the hero of this story, Mike. You are."

Michael nodded. "If you insist. Please, be careful kiddo." Ryan raced up the Green Stairwell for Victor's Chamber and walked inside. Michael watched as his cousin disappeared before he turned over towards Giselle. His former adversary snickered at him as she waited for her time to take her revenge on Elezar. "Is something funny to you?"

"You are" Giselle giggled. "You've been through as much as you've been your entire life and you still worry about other people. When do your own needs matter to you?"

"After everyone I love is safe" Michael responded bitterly. "I've watched too many people I care about struggle because of the Syndicate. I don't care what happens to me in the end. So long as my family is taken care of, let the world be done with me." He put Courtney's Camerupt's Poké Ball in his bag and stood waiting beside Giselle as they awaited news from Chris and Cam's battles.

Giselle couldn't help but smile. "You're still an ignorant chump, Mike. And I missed that about you."

Michael's eyes flashed at the compliment, but he echoed her stand by putting his foot on the doorway and waited for whatever would unfold.