"My skin itches, is that normal? I feel like my hair is just a bit too long, and it's getting itchy. It takes ages to trim it all, and forget showers, right? I have to take forever to clean everything, and then forever to rinse it, and then I have to dry it all, and it's not easy to do all that with fur, but you wouldn't know that, since the only hair on you is your rag of hair on top of your head, except for whatever you have under your clothes which is ew-,"

-"Dua."-

"-Like honestly why did I even say that, that's gross and disgusting-,"

-"Dua, my dear sister-,"-

"I wish I could just keep myself from saying things, you know? It's like there's no filter between my brain and my mouth, and sometimes it's awful but other times it's really funny, since it makes Trin make those weird faces and Renard freaks out. You think Renard will go out with me? I asked him before the Fusers were done but he just gave me a Look – you know, those ones he does sometimes -,"

-"Dua!"-

Dua's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as her brain caught up with her mouth. "Huh?"

Mono made a disgruntled noise. –"Have you taken your medication, Dua?"-

"Nnnnooo…?" Dua furrowed her brow, scratching at her jaw. "Doctor Cyril said that it wasn't helping. And then she called me a spaz. I – oh." Dua's face fell. "She was making fun of me, wasn't she?"

-"I'm afraid so, Dua."- Mono nodded. –"Cyril is not a physician. She doesn't care about your health, and if she did she would refer you to one of the actual physicians in Team Plasma. Ask Doctor Colress next time."-

"But Colress is in that anti-psy cell and the buzz makes my head hurt when I go near there and sometimes I get this urge to just stick my hand in which is bad because it could hurt-," Dua trailed off and shook her head. "Anyways, Lord Ghetsis told us not to talk to him."

-"Ghetsis may be our leader, but he does not care about our well-being."- Mono said kindly. –"Talk to Colress next time you have health concerns, okay? He knows what he is doing."-

"You got it big bro." Dua gave a double thumbs up, electricity arcing between her hands after a moment. Her attention snapped to the electricity, entranced by the mesmerizing patterns for a minute. After a bit, her attention snapped back to Mono. "Hey, are we starting soon? I feel like we've been sitting here forever."

-"On Renard's signal."- Mono answered, wiping his brow. It didn't look like he was sweating, but it seemed to be a nervous mannerism.

At that point, both of their earpieces crackled to life. A kalosian accented voice came over the communications channel. "Psionic scans are blocked, and zhere are no cameras wizhin zhe gym, so eet eez unclear whezher zhe gym leader is zhere or not. As good a time as any."

"What do you mean sy- si- psionic scans are blocked?" Trinity's voice came over the comms.

"I mean zhat zhere are too many dark types, Trinity. I cannot scan with this much interference."

"Just use miracle eye or something, I dunno. Aren't you psychics supposed be all 'I see all' or some shit?"

"I can't use zhat move. Not every psychic type knows every psychic move, Trinity. I can't do everyzhing."

"Yeah well fix your shit."

"AAAARGH"

At that point, the comms channel devolved into obscenities and kalosian screaming. Dua turned it off. It would just get fried when she attacked anything anyways.

"I think Renard needs to take a couple days off," Dua said as she unsheathed her shortswords. Her tails slotted into the special receptacles on the pommel.

-"I don't think that's an option, dear sister."- Mono sighed, his shadow flickering. –"Let's go."-

Dua launched forwards immediately, emerging from their hiding place to rush the castle on top of the hill. Mono was close behind, but she wasn't paying attention to him. This was her time. Time to finally have a good fight.

The front door went down with a single well-placed kick, the aged wood splintering. What she saw beyond was a single long hallway with a curtain near the end. She barreled down the corridor, brushing through the curtain near the end. The next door she kicked open and rushed through the next room, and the next. And the next. It was only when she nearly ran into Mono that she realized she had been going in circles somehow.

"Wait what?" Dua stopped, scowling as she looked around. "I was just going, and then I wound up going in circles over and over."

-"There's something going on here I sense… a great deal of dark energy."- Mono looked around, then turned his attention back to Dua. –"Have you ever heard of a species of pokémon known as zoroark?"-

"Ummm…. The spooky foxes, right? The illusion ones?" Dua asked.

-"Correct."- Mono raised his right hand, his eye squinting in concentration. After a moment, he waved his hand and the illusion fell apart.

The walls shimmered and collapsed, leaving behind only four doorways with broken doors and four sets of three curtains placed at strategic points in the now-open room. Across the wide-open room was another wooden door, this one closed. Dua started towards the door, only for Mono to place one of his oversized hands on her shoulder.

-"Wait."-

After a moment, an intercom released an ear-piercing whine followed by a heavily accented voice.

"Vell, I vasn't expectingk zhis outcome. Very interestingk."

-"Are you Dracul?"- Mono asked. Dua rolled her eyes. Her older brother was always asking stupid questions.

"I am indeed." The voice chuckled. "And you vould be zhe former gym leader Mono Numer. Now a traitor to zhe league."

Mono's lips drew thin, the translucent skin showing the outlines of his teeth. –"Mostly correct."-

"Vell, you vill not find me here, you kidnappers! I am safe, vell beyond zhis castle, hidden vizhin zhe city!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up vampire dude. We already figured that." Dua pointed one of her shortswords at a speaker in one corner and fired a lightning bolt. The intercom made an unpleasant crackling noise as it fell off of the wall, smoking.

-"Hmm… probably should have waited."- Mono shrugged.

"I hate his accent." Dua shrugged.

"Tch, I don't think it's very polite to just outright say you hate someone's accent."

Dua dropped into a battle stance, facing the newcomer. It was a pokémon – a bisharp with a high-tech collar around its neck. Dua recognized the talker collar – she had gotten one for Circuit, but the electivire had fried it on accident. The bisharp extended its arm blades, readying itself for battle.

Dua lunged forwards, hurtling herself towards the dark type with her powerful legs-

She stepped down on what looked like a normal flagstone and it gave way. The ground rose up around her, and a heavy block dropped from the ceiling to send her into nothingness.

O-O-O

Dua awoke to a bitter taste in her mouth. She tried to spit it out, only for a clammy hand to clamp over her mouth and force her to bite down on the crystalline shape. With the shell broken, the revitalizing fluid ran down her throat in greater quantities, and her eyes snapped open.

The bisharp was throwing taunts from across the room, trying and failing to attack Mono. Her older brother was holding the dark-steel type off with one hand, administering the revive with his other arm. He gave her a concerned look until he was sure she was conscious, then devoted his full attention to the bisharp.

Dua slowly climbed out of the hole she had been dumped in. Various other traps had been triggered at other points in the room. A guillotine had dropped only a couple feet away from the pitfall she had fallen in. An axe was slowly swinging to a stop across the room. Other parts of the ceiling had collapsed to drop other lethal traps, but they had all seemingly missed their target as Mono was still conscious. Better than that, he seemed to be gaining an edge over the bisharp. He was impervious to the steel type's assault, despite the type advantage.

She grabbed her swords off of the ground, plugging her tails back in, and readied herself to join Mono.

Mono glanced back at her when he heard her swords clanging. He went to return his attention to the bisharp when something flashed through the air and struck Mono down.

Dua screamed, rushing the creature that just landed. She didn't even see the pokémon as she lifted both hands, electricity crackling over her whole body. Her swords arced lightning over the room, and she slammed them both into the pokémon that had knocked out Mono. She reared back, then slammed them into the pokémon again. Then again. Until she was certain it was no longer moving.

Only then did she stop long enough to see that it was a greninja, now bloodied and bleeding from half a dozen large gashes. It was alive, if barely.

Dua stood panting for a few moments as she sensed something moving around in the room behind her. Something rushed her at blinding speed, but she was expecting it. Her fist slammed into the bisharp's gut, using its momentum against it. It slid backwards a few feet, reeling.

"Wow." The bisharp shook its head. "Wasn't expecting that."

"Mm." Dua grunted, shaking her head. Her brain was… fuzzy. She couldn't muster the energy to snark back. Not anymore.

"I don't think I can outspeed you." The bisharp circled around her, its metal feet clanging on the flagstones. "So I won't. Mary, I need some cover."

The room descended into a thick fog instantly, and before Dua could focus enough to reach out her electrosensory abilities, the bisharp had blitzed across the room into the next one, taking the greninja with it.

Which left Dua alone with an unconscious Mono.

Dua slowly walked across the room, sheathing her swords. They were bent out of shape from the sheer force she had used. They would need to be replaced. Cyril would be mad at her for that, but Dua couldn't muster up the effort to worry about it. That was a problem for tomorrow's Dua.

When she reached Mono, she reached up to her earpiece and pulled it away from her head. It was crackling and smoking, completely broken. Yet another thing for Cyril to be mad about. Fun. She reached down and took Mono's instead. When she activated the earpiece, Renard was still in an argument with Trinity, and they were both speaking different languages. She didn't have time for this shit.

"Obstacles removed. Send in Darrell," Dua said, silencing the comm channel for a few moments. She turned it off again immediately afterwards, dropping it on the ground next to Mono.

Dua reached into her equipment, removing the bits of burnt clothing and damaged items. There was one intact revive amongst the remnants, and she stuck the crystalline pill in Mono's mouth. His head was empty, but it would work anyways. Somehow.

The most pressing issues taken care of, Dua sat down on the floor, staring blankly into space.

She couldn't muster enough energy to do anything else.