"..."
"..."
"...H-Huh?"
Rio slowly came to, feeling like he slept on a rock or something. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Damn, were they dry as hell. Guess he passed out with them still open… which wasn't something he knew he could do.
Speaking of things he didn't know: he had no idea where he was. Everything was dark with specks of green light, and oddly warm too. Not like, in the comforting, homey way… but Rio didn't really know how to describe it properly. Despite already kind of describing it.
The Outlander shook his head and slapped his cheeks, trying to get rid of those remaining threads of sleepiness. "Alright, so… what is going on?"
"Oh, hey, you're awake. Not much has happened, I've just been waiting for you," a voice spoke from literally right next to Rio. How he didn't notice it was a mystery, but being scared half to death helped wake him up even further.
"Wh-Who the hell?!" Rio yipped, jumping back. Crouching before him was just a Lucario. Nothing special about them, really… aside from the arm band on his arm. "Wait… isn't that mine? You're not me, are you?"
The Lucario shrugged. "I dunno, does being inside your head count as being you? Hm... I feel like we've had this discussion before, actually…" it then shook its head. "Wait, we have, and I remember saying that I'm not you."
...Wait a second, that voice was incredibly familiar. "You're the voice in my head? You're real?!"
"Yeah. Is that supposed to be a surprise or something?" Lucario asked, tilting its head. "The real question is which Rio are you. Which I think we already answered since you called me the voice in your head."
Rio squinted at Lucario, now tilting his own head. "There's only one of me, Orion. At least I hope so."
Lucario's eyes widened. "You… how did you know that name?"
"Isn't it yours?" Rio blinked.
"Yes, but I never told that to the waking you. Ever. Mostly because you never asked, but there was another reason I don't want to get into just yet," Orion said, brushing that last sentence off. "I want you to remember when you learned my name."
This was getting kinda confusing, but Rio went along with it anyway. He rested his chin on his paw and hummed, thoughtful. Much to his surprise, nothing came up. "...Ok, you're probably gonna think this is weird-"
"Not likely, considering what we've been doing for the past day," Orion chuckled.
"-but I have no idea where I got your name from."
Orion went silent, holding his paws together. He started muttering to himself, just quiet enough for Rio to hear absolutely none of it, then said, "Ok, if my theory is correct, you're only half asleep right now."
"...Ok."
"You don't believe me.."
Rio got up, stumbling a bit as one of his legs was still asleep. "Probably because I have no idea why me being half asleep has any importance. What, does that mean I'm half-dreaming this place? Or am I, like… looking outside of my body and we somehow ended up in the middle of nowhere?"
"Oh this entire place is part of a dream, but your dreams are special, which is why you being half awake is important," Orion went on, throwing an arm around Rio's shoulder with a giant grin on his snout. "I'm not gonna get another chance to test something like this out, so I'm totally excited!"
To no one's surprise, Rio was about as lost as when he first woke up. He was starting to wonder if it was better when he thought he was alone. "Firstly, if my dreams are so special, why can't I remember them? Secondly, how are my dreams special. And thirdly, what are you planning?"
"First, hardly anyone remembers their dreams, but I'm one of the exceptions! And since your dreams are my dreams because I'm in your head-" Rio was about to speak before Orion put his paw over the Outlander's mouth. "-that means I remember all of your dreams, partially because I was actually a part of them."
Rio slapped Orion's paw away. "You've been in every single one of my dreams?"
"I'm just sooooo dreamy you couldn't get me off your mind," Orion winked. Rio raised his paw, and Orion cleared his throat, sweating slightly. "A-Anyway, second answer, your dreams have been the only times I can really try to fix the mess of what you call yourself."
Rio raised his paw higher, glaring. "Do you really wanna get slapped that bad?"
"N-No, I'm serious! Why do you think it's been so easy for you to lose abilities and gain them back again? Considering that this is a fully grown Lucario body, and then some, that shouldn't be happening," Orion explained, grinning proudly. "It might be an Outlander thing, but I don't remember… another Outlander I know having trouble with her powers, like you do at least."
Rio's ear flicked and he tilted his head. "Who?"
Orion jumped slightly, a sudden look of nervousness coming over him. "Who what?"
"You said "her," so clearly you're talking about a specific one, right? I didn't know you knew another Outlander personally," Rio hummed.
"Th-That doesn't matter, but what does is that this is our chance to try and get you up to one-hundred percent! Maybe!" Orion said, quickly trying to change the subject. Rio picked up on that, but before he could press any further, Orion grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "I just want you to know, once we're done, you're gonna be the strongest being on this entire planet."
"The… strongest?" Rio blinked. He'd have been ashamed of how fast he got distracted if he wasn't curious about what exactly Orion meant. There's no way he literally meant the strongest, but that look in Orion's eye felt like he was entirely sure of himself. Then his fighting spirit got in the mix, and Rio wanted in on this. "Alright, where do we start?"
Orion let out a relieved sigh, then flashed a toothy grin. "That's the spirit, Rio! Spoken like a real fighter! First we-"
Suddenly, everything started to shake, and the specks of green started to brighten and grow. As the light shined on Rio's body, he too began to glow. Orion threw his head back in a frustrated yell. "God DAMN it! Why'd I have to lose track of time so easily?!" he barked, holding his head. "This was our one chance to actually do something! Why do you have to wake up now?!"
Rio shrugged. It sounded like Orion was really looking forward to whatever he had planned, but his little freak out was still kinda funny. "Maybe we'll get another chance at it? It's not like I have trouble falling asleep."
"No but you can't get too deep into it or I'm gonna have to do all the heavy lifting again!" Orion groaned, wiping off his face. "Fine, whatever, it's fine. Oh, I guess I should tell you what the others have been talking about real quick."
There's the "but wait, there's more," Rio was expecting from Orion. "Goddamnit, can't you just fill me in when I wake up?"
"Yeah but shouting it now would be more fun," Orion cooed. Rio raised his paw again to smack the dumbass out of Orion, but he couldn't bring it back down. His body was floating upwards, into a sea of light of colors and distant voices.
"You lucky son of a bitch," Rio grumbled.
"Actually, my mom was a rabbit. Which explains my luck," Orion chuckled. "See ya on the other side! And watch your head!"
"Orion, what does that even mean?" Rio called down, but he was already too far for either of them to hear each other. "Watch my head, I'm in a cave, not a cabinet…"
Rio jolted upright, and banged his head on someone else's. It felt like he tried to headbutt steel. "Gah! Mother of- ow!" the Lucario cried out, rolling on the floor as he held his head.
"Like I said, your friend isn't dead. You didn't need to bitch and moan to me about him," a tired voice spoke, one Rio quickly recognized. It was that little star guy from before!
"The hell'd ya have to stay over 'im then, dick?!" Another voice, very obviously Minerva's. It felt like it'd been a while since Rio last heard Minerva when she was pissed. As Rio's eyes slowly readjusted, he was lucky enough to see Minerva pick up a rock and chuck it at the star guy. It shattered to pieces, but he didn't seem bothered by it.
"It isn't my fault he decided to get up the way he did, and again, he's not dead. He's a Lucario, if banging his head on something killed him, that'd be hilariously pathetic," the star-headed guy said, then sighed. "And lord knows I can't have anything for once."
The beige colored splotch, Minerva, hopped onto Rio's stomach, glaring at Star-guy. She was small but she still made it hard for Rio to breathe. "If that's s'posed to be a joke, I ain't laughin'."
"Neither am I, and you don't see me bitching about it."
"M-Minerva, you're on me…" Rio groaned, pushing her with a paw. Unfortunately, she ignored him. "St-Still… sore… Can't… b-breathe…"
"The hell's ya problem, asshole?! Are ya tryin' to piss me off more?" Minerva growled, sparks crackling off her body. "Keep this shit up an' see what happens."
Star-guy lowered to be eye level with Minerva, that same dead expression on his face. "I wouldn't have felt threatened by a regular sized Meowth, let alone a bitchy one who's shorter than her own temper."
A bolt of electricity cracked off of Minerva's body, striking the ground and scattering pebbles. "Say. That. Again." she growled.
"C-Can you beat him to a pulp off of me?!" Rio yelped, getting a sudden burst of energy and sitting upright and knocking Minerva off of him in the process.
"Good, tell your kid to calm her shit, please," Star-guy said to Rio, and was then struck by a Thunder. Once again, Star-guy hardly batted an eye. He dusted sparks off of his body, deadpanned. "Seriously, it's getting annoying."
Minerva's eye twitched. As she touched the ground, she lunged right towards Star-guy. "You dumbass piece off-" Before Minerva was anywhere close to him, Star-guy floated upwards, and the feline kept going. She was heading towards a sharp cluster of gems. "-shit!"
A pink glow enveloped Minerva, and she stopped in mid-air, close enough for her breath to slightly fog up the gem. The Meowth choked and sputtered, and when Star-guy waved his hand, she dropped to the ground gasping for air.
"That better have put an end to your temper tantrum," Star-guy said, then turned to Rio. He looked like he was about to say something, when his eyes flashed pink. "Goddamnit…" he groaned, holding his hand back.
Minerva had lunged at Star-guy again, but was stopped just as she left the ground. She strained to keep going, but couldn't move a muscle. "L-Let go of me, you bitch!"
"No," Star-guy said, blunt. He turned to Rio and paused, his eyes glowing pink again. A perplexed look grew on his face, which Rio couldn't tell was a good thing or not.
"...If there's something on my face, you could just say that," Rio pouted.
Star-guy squinted, getting a bit closer to Rio. "Where's the third one?"
Now it was Rio's turn to be confused. "What do you mean 'the third one?' It's just me and Minerva… and our other friends too, but we've been separated for a while."
"I can bring you to them," Star-guy said, blunt.
Rio blinked, then an excited smile stretched along his snout. "R-Really?!" he exclaimed, bright-eyed and tail-wagging.
"Yeah, chances are they're already dead, so I can drop you off one of those platforms in the other chamber and you and your friends can embrace the afterlife together," Star-guy said, equally blunt as before.
All that joy Rio felt was suddenly ripped out of him, leaving a cold, empty hole in his chest. "Th-That wasn't funny!"
"I know, it wasn't a joke. Unless your friends are those two assholes..." Star-guy sighed, then gave Rio a blank stare. "Seriously though, where's the third one. I felt him, hell, I heard him earlier. He isn't dead, obviously, so where is he?"
Rio blinked a couple times and cocked his head. 'Hey… Orion? Would you count yourself as alive?'
'Only technically, there's a lotta factors to take into account with my current situation an- Wait, do you think this little… I'm gonna say bundle of joy, knows I'm here?' Orion laughed, slapping a mental knee. 'There's no chance in hell he does! I'm gonna bet he ain't even a psychic type!'
Star-guy glared at Rio, pink aura faintly crackling around him. "Yes, he obviously does, and yes I am, dipshit. Now I know I didn't make up yet another voice. Since yours is goddamn annoying, I was gonna throw you off a stone if I found you, but… eh, whatever." He sat on the floor, waving a hand to the side.
The glow around Minerva brightened enough for her to stop her struggling. "Wh-What the hell?!" Suddenly, she was thrown into a tunnel. "YOU SON OF A BIIIIIIIII-" Her voice trailed off, then there was the faint cracking of stone.
"Y-Yeah, he's hiding really well!" Rio tittered nervously, sweating bullets. He figured that maybe it would be best not to say that Orion was in his head. Y-You know… for reasons. From Orion's silence, it looked like he was on the same page too. "H-Hey, change of subject, wh-who were you talking about earlier?"
"Your third wheel or the two assholes?" Star-guy asked, then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, the assholes. One's tall, the other's short… there's probably more to them but hell if I gave a damn about them. They left to get more gems, hell if I care where." He fell onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
"That sounds like Nate and Zeke to me! Where did they…" Rio's ear twitched as he noticed how lonely Star-guy felt and looked. He sat down and leaned over Star-guy's head. "You alright?"
"If you want to find the exit, quit with the chit-chat and ask. Keep the whole 'worried about your feelings' shit to yourself," Star-guy said, cold. He didn't even look at Rio either. "And I already said I don't know where the hell I sent them."
Rio winced, his ear drooping as he backed away. "O-Oh… I just thought, maybe… well did they say where they were headed? If I knew that then maybe I could…" Star-guy was glaring at Rio, crackling with psychic energy. "F-F-Find… them..?"
"How long have you been down here, dipshit? Maybe you just got here, but no one can easily control what floor they end up on. It's all random, based on your typings, and with even more random bullshit thrown in just to piss me off," Star-guy hissed, then went back to staring at the ceiling.
"But… I've been going back to the same room everytime I exit a floor, and from there I pick another floor," Rio said, tilting his head. "Is that not how this place worked?"
Silence fell over the two, and Star-guy was totally still. Rio couldn't even tell if he was breathing. Did he say something wrong? D-Did Star-guy break? That didn't sound like something a Pokemon should, uh, be able to do… but honestly Rio wasn't sure this guy even was one. What with that weird head-shape and comically minimal body, it looked closer to a mascot than a real thing.
Suddenly, Star-guy sat up and stared at Rio, snapping the Lucario out of his thoughts. "Who are you."
Rio flinched, then chuckled and said, "M-Me? Oh, right, I ne-"
"Quit pussyfooting around your name and tell it to me already," Star-guy said, appearing right before Rio's face. There was a look in his eye, one Rio could not describe, and Rio did not like it.
"R-R-Rio!" the Lucario stammered, sweating. "I'm Rio, an Outlander sent to… to…"
'Save the world or something.'
"Y-Yeah, save the world!" Rio gulped.
That look in Star-guy's eyes changed to a form of quiet surprise. "An… Outlander? Really?" he muttered, looking Rio dead in the eye. "Are you really the Outlander named Rio."
'Oh shit, you have a fan! A crazy, strange-looking, sad fan! In the middle of some dungeon no less. Funny how the world works.'
"Y-Yeah, I'm Rio," the Outlander gulped. "H-How do, uh, you know that?"
Star-guy didn't respond initially, instead shutting his eyes and floating away, turning his back to Rio. More silence followed. Rio didn't know if he should do anything… even thinking felt like a bad option.
"The fighting-type floor. You might find them there," Star-guy said, a hint of intrigue in his voice. "Prove to me that you can bring them back here, then we'll talk. The exit is down that hall I threw the bitchy one in."
There was a lot Rio wanted to ask, not as much as anyone else would have, but he knew better than to ask them now. To him, this was sounding like a mission, and he didn't want to disappoint. His blue aura burned around the Outlander as his excitement rose. "Alright, I'll be back before you know it."
Rio left with a confident grin on his face. Star-guy didn't say anything until Rio was already long gone.
"So many goddamn years... for a twit like that?"
That tunnel was a whole lot longer than Rio thought it'd be, but not as long as the first one he and Minerva went through here. Fortunately, he was able to tell how close he was to the end by the sound of Minerva screaming.
Unfortunately, Minerva was screaming.
"Oh shit! I'm coming Minerva!" Rio shouted, sprinting the rest of the way down.
'You think we're up for a fight? You wanna absorb one of these gems first?'
"I don't think we have the time, if Minerva screaming is anything to take seriously." Rio, also, didn't want to see how he'd look in pink… Ok maybe he kinda did, but now wasn't the time for that!
More of Minerva's screams rang in Rio's ears, and the closer he got, he started to hear her crying too! Minerva! She was like… a miniature cat sculpture made of solid steel, emotionally! And she was screaming and crying like it was the end of the damn world! The idea to run back while he still had the chance popped into his head for a split second, but he shook that off rather quickly.
Rio barged into the tunnel at the end of the hall, and the screaming and crying abruptly cut out. The room itself wasn't all that big; there were some big psychic crystals, a short tunnel leading into a dark room, and the exit tunnel across from that.
"Minerva?" Rio called out, slowly approaching the darker room. "If you're in danger, remember that you can punch harder than them, probably."
'Wow, you care so much. I can feel the concern in your voice, like a Mother looking for her child in an open field,' Orion said, his voice rich with sarcasm.
Rio rolled his eyes, getting to the mouth of the tunnel and looking inside. He couldn't see anything from here, but he could hear someone's muffled voice. "Well I don't want to let whatever's attacking her think she's defenseless," he whispered, walking down the tunnel with his fists raised. As if his punches would do any actual damage.
'You got a point, yeah. But uh, just so you know, I'm not sensing anything in particular up ahead. Just more of this psychic aura around us, and like… a tiny blip that feels like Minerva,' Orion said, caution in his voice. 'Either that chamber's big as hell and Minerva's far away, or she's just barely conscious.'
Mmm, yes, two very fun and not at all unnerving options. That didn't get to Rio at all, he lied to himself. "G-Good to know…"
As Rio got to the end of the tunnel, he peered into the dark chamber. The muffled voice was even quieter, almost too quiet for Rio to hear. There were some crystals inside, although they gave off a very weak psychic glow compared to the others. As far as he could tell, it was safe to enter. "...Alright, Minerva? If you can hear me, and you're alright, send out a spark or something."
Nothing… Everything was silent for a few seconds, then electricity crackled from above Rio, and sparks fell on his head. He carefully brought his head up to see, well, Minerva! She looked tired, and was being held up by a blue, psychic glow. "M-Minerva! You're al-"
A flash of pink tackled Rio's face, like a densely packed pillow, sending the jackal rolling back into the tunnel. Rio's first instinct was to scream, but his face was covered by that pink soft thing.
"Oh my god, another fluffy one! And he's blue and spiky, but not as muscly as the other one, but he's soooooo soft!" the pink… thing squealed, then it got off Rio's face. He blinked a couple times, and saw he was face-to-face with a pink cat sitting on his chest. And was holding his cheeks, staring into his eyes. "And your eyes are so pretty! I didn't know eyes could be that green! Where'd you get them?"
"Wher- I… What?" Rio stuttered. The cat then pulled on his cheeks, like, really damn hard. "H-Hey! Ow!"
"Nevermind, don't tell me! I wanna find out for myself!" the cat giggled. She then pulled Rio off the ground, from his face, and floated around and poked at his body. "Goodness, you're so tall for your kind, at least from what I remember! Not nearly as ripped but not half bad either! You're definitely not that strong but imagine all the cuddles~!"
"N-No, I mean… w-wait a second!" Rio yipped, stepping away from the cat thing. Or trying to. This probably marked the first time Rio was genuinely uncomfortable and confused through this whole dungeon thing.
Rio blinked and completely lost track of the cat thing. Up until he felt something grab onto his tail and pull on it. Hard. "Your tail's different too, it doesn't have that weird notch on it. I like it!"
"Stop that!" Rio barked, pulling his tail away.
'What the hell is wrong with… wait…' Orion hummed. 'I feel like… I recognize this thing.'
"W-Well is it supposed to be so-" Rio made the mistake of blinking again, and the feline vanished once again. "I am losing my mi-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" A cold, wet nose suddenly poked into his back, then dragged all the way up with a comically loud sniff. Rio was not having any of that, and slammed his back into a wall in a panic. "WHAT! THE HELL?!"
'...Nevermind. If I know what this is, I'm forgetting it,' Orion sucked his teeth.
'LUCKY YOU!' Rio mentally shouted, which he did because he couldn't hear himself all that well over the sound of his heart basically exploding in his chest.
"You smell like sugar~! Aw, I missed sugar! I remember it being so sweet and crunchy and MMMMM hm-hmm-hmm hmmmmmmm~!" the cat squeed, holding her cheeks and… squirming. Without Rio even blinking this time, she reappeared right next to him and grabbed his ear. "I wonder if the ears are any different?"
Rio went from feeling confused and uncomfortable to scared and violated in record time. Someone could've given him a medal, but he'd return it in exchange for therapy. "What the actual HELL is wrong with y-" he blinked again, and suddenly the cat was leaning against his chest with a devilish smile on her face. Every single alarm in his head blared as loud as possible, and very faintly, Rio heard Orion whistling as he tried to ignore them.
The cat floated up towards Rio's face, booping his snoot with hers, and that smile on her face stretched a whole lot further than Rio thought it should. "I wonder if you're as ticklish as the other ones~?"
'...Ya know, the thought just occurred to me: who do you think that Star-Guy was talking about? One short and one tall kinda fits a few of us, doesn't it?' Of all times to speak up about something, and of all things to comment on… Orion thought to bring that up now?!
Having the most common sense of the two of them, Rio shouted, "B-BAD TOUCH! M-M-MINERVA! BAD TOUCH!" Just like a winged angel from the heavens, a blinding flash of electricity struck the cat. And Rio as well but at least the cat was off of him. He'd rather get struck by another Thunder head-on than deal with that cat thing on any longer. "Oh thank god…"
Minerva had the pink feline pinned beneath her, a snarl on her face and electricity crackling furiously around her. "Aight, I've had it up to here with this dungeon an' it's bullshit! An' that means you!" she barked, poking the pink feline's nose with her tail.
"Aww, but I was just bein' friendly! How's about I make it up to y'all, huh?" the feline meowed, twitching her nose and blinking innocently. Like a liar. "We can start again! I'll be less friendly, I promise! Cross my heart and hope to… er, just cross my heart!"
Minerva's glare narrowed and she tightened her grip around the feline's wrists, sending electricity through her body. "Like hell I'm just gonna pretend this shit didn't happen." Minerva leaned closer, almost enough for their noses to touch, and huffed. "So here's what's gonna happen instead. I let ya go, and you crawl back to wherever the hell ya came from, an' leave. Us. Alone."
Seemingly unfazed by Minerva's attempt at intimidation, the pink cat giggled and booped her nose against Minerva's. She then started sparking herself, but blue instead of Minerva's yellow. Her eyes matched the sparks in color, too. "C'mon! Don' be like that, hell, lemme make it up to ya! The both o' ya are lookin' for ya buddies, right? Y'all're gonna get lost if ya don' gotta proper guide, riiiiiight?"
Rio's ear twitched. "You know, a guide wouldn't be all that bad, maybe we could use one?"
"No, we don't," Minerva snapped at Rio, then turned back to the pinned pink feline. "An' stop talkin' like me, that shit's annoyin'!" she barked. "We'll be fine on our own, an' even if we weren't-"
"I-I'd rather not think about if we weren't," Rio chuckled. He didn't really know what to do, and for some reason he couldn't tell if he wanted to look away or not. Something told him to, but he kinda didn't for whatever reason.
"-if we weren't-" Minerva continued, "-we'd rather be lost on our own than with some creep like you."
Rio opened his mouth to object, but honestly… Minerva had a point. That feline was, uh, kinda creepy. One could say she was just really personal or intimate. Others would call her a criminal. Rio bet those others were probably right.
The pink feline pouted, struggling a bit to try and cross her arms, then gave up and turned her head to the side. "Well ex-cuuuuuuuuse me, princess, I'm just trying to help, to make up for finding out how ticklish you are," she purred, then gave Minerva a sly grin. "I'm sure I could be of some use, no?"
"Well I- we don't need your help, whiskers," Minerva sucked her teeth, sitting up and looking over to Rio. He looked like he was off in his own head, so Minerva zapped him. After Rio sent a rather nettled glare her way, she said, "Quit ogglin' us an' get up. We're leavin'."
"You didn't need to shock me, you know?" Rio huffed, hopping to his feet and walking over to the exit. "A-And I wasn't oggling anyone!"
The pink feline giggled again. "How sweet~"
Minerva scoffed and rolled her eyes, covering the feline's mouth with a paw. "Bullshit, then what the hell were ya starin' at, then?" She shot the pink cat one last glare and let go of her, jumping onto Rio's shoulder.
"Hell if I know, I kinda just zoned out," Rio shrugged. That was an easy thing to believe, since it was only half true and all that. "Now then…" He stood before the exit, taking in a deep breath, then deflated almost entirely. "I really wanna get outta here."
Minerva gave the Lucario a pat on the head, grinning. "Ya can pick whatever floor ya wanna when we get back, aight? We'll be outta here in no time, without-" she looked back to the pink cat to glare at her, but… she was gone. "...Shit, guess I scared her better than I thought. Lucky us, huh?"
Rio paused. Actually, he was just about to move, then didn't. "...Did you just jynx us?" Rio muttered, his fur standing mostly on end. An uncomfortable chill ran up his spine.
"Oh, shit, uh…" Minerva cleared her throat, shuddering slightly. "W-Well, uh… we're just shit outta luck, ain't we?"
"D-Doesn't that just make the jynxing worse?" Rio gulped, his tail hiked up in alert.
"Th-Then quit standin' here an' get us out!" Minerva barked.
Rio didn't need to be told twice, bolting into the exit as fast he could.
Despite only one of them actually exerting themselves, both Rio and Minerva entered the chamber of crystals panting and exhausted.
"O-Ok… I think, we're good," Rio puffed, paws on his knees.
"Yea… that creep ain't here from the look o' it," Minerva chuckled weakly, falling off of Rio and onto her back.
"The hell are you tired for?" Rio huffed. He would have added a glare onto that, but turning his head to face Minerva wasn't worth the effort.
"Tryin' not to fall is very tirin' Blue," Minerva pouted and glared..
"It helps to actually float juuuuust above someone," a voice said, appearing right next to Minerva. "But I'm pretty sure that's cheating."
Rio and Minerva both yelped, jumping back from the pink cat that somehow followed them. The latter ended up in Rio's arms, then climbed onto his head.
"Why the hell are ya here, whiskers?!" Minerva hissed, crackling angrily. Rio put on a somewhat fierce face, but that fell rather quickly.
"Because I followed you, obviously," the pink feline snickered, kicking her feet behind her. "The tall one said you might need a guide, so here I am! Mew, at your service!" she snapped her tiny lil' digits, and a colorful burst of psionics went off just above her, spelling out her name. Mew, then, pumped her fist and cheered. "Yes! I actually got it to work this time!"
Mildly impressed, but still keeping his space from Mew, Rio said, "I guess that was kinda cool… What do you mean by "this time"? That didn't look easy but… what could've went wrong?"
Mew reappeared on top of Rio's head, purring. Rio quickly knocked her off, but she instead wrapped herself around his arm. "Oh, the last hundred or whatever times I tried it, I blew something up. Coulda been either of you, or some of these gems, or- OH WAIT!" Mew vanished in a flash of blue, reappearing in several places around the room.
"...Rio I'm blamin' ya for this shit," Minerva grumbled.
"You're the one who jynxed us," Rio huffed.
"Ain't ya the bitch who can't shut up?" Minerva scoffed, giving Rio a sideways glance and a smirk.
"Aren't you?" Rio scoffed back with a bigger smirk.
As if to cut their back-and-forth short, Mew reappeared just before Rio and Minerva, ecstatic as all hell. "I can't believe it! You actually managed to bring us here! To this room! On purpose!"
Rio stepped back, keeping his eyes on Mew. "Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't I have? Is that not how this place works?"
Mew flew up to Rio, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Of course not! If it was, I wouldn't still be down here! And 'Rachi would have a smile on his face for once in a lifetime!"
"Ya mean, his lifetime, right?" Minerva asked, flicking Mew's snout to get her off of Rio. "An', also, who the hell is rachi?"
"You mean Star-Guy?" Rio tilted his head. "The hell kinda name is rachi?"
Minerva scoffed, leaning against Rio's head. "Right?"
"It's 'Rachi, not just rachi, because his name is Jirachi!" Mew pouted, rubbing her snout. "Ow…"
In Rio's head, Orion had whatever the voice-in-someone's-head equivalent was to a spit take… Which might actually have been spit considering how Rio swore he felt something hit the back of his eyes.
'J-Jirachi? And this one's Mew?' Orion muttered. 'I-no, wait… I swear I know those names, somehow… I need a few, gonna see if I can remember anything about them...'
'Really?' Rio thought, tapping his chin. 'I'd ask you to tell me whatever you remember, but knowing you, you're either not gonna find anything or just not tell me at all.'
Orion let out an overly-dramatic gasp. 'Why, I never! I am truly hurt Rio! I thought we were friends!'
"With no benefits, apparently," Mew snickered.
Rio's gaze snapped to Mew instantly, and a cold feeling shot through him. Even Orion shut up. "H-Hey, Mew, so Sta-er, Jirachi wanted us to find our friends so he could do something or whatever, I dunno, I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh, I never do, it's a miracle I'm following this conversation at all, hehe~!" Mew giggled.
"I ain't even surprised," Minerva rolled her eyes. "I also ain't touching that comment about benefits, so let's get to this shit an' find our friends."
"R-Right!" Rio tittered, then cleared his throat. He looked at Mew for a split second, and that smug look on her face was enough for him to spin on his heel, away from her. "Y-You got any idea where'd they go?"
Mew nodded, despite Rio turning around, and floating over to a tunnel with orangey crystals around its entrance. "Yep, probably the fighting-type floor. They needed more gems for one of them, since I remember one of them being fighting or something, and if my random guesses are anything to go by, they're down here!"
Rio sighed, relieved for a moment, then froze. "You… You don't know. Of course you don't."
"What a shit guide…" Minerva spat.
"Hey, why wouldn't they be down here? We've already wasted enough time here and I don't wanna go on any other flo- er, they might be stuck on this one!" Mew said, trying to look serious. It didn't work. "You two can trust me, I know that your friends are very likely to maybe possibly be alive on this floor." Rio and Minerva stared dead at Mew, entirely skeptical. Orion probably was too.
"Mew, what does that mean." That was a question, but Rio's tone made it sound like an order. "What the hell does that mean, Mew."
"If ya say that's a joke, I'd say I'd ring your neck but ya ain't got one. So I'll just beat ya senseless instead," Minerva threatened.
"Hm? Oh, no, I'm just sayin' stuffs, ya know? Don't mind me," Mew meowed, floating into the tunnel. "Now who's ready to see ya friends? I know I am!"
After Mew was, for sure, gone, Rio facepawed and let out a loud groan. "Minerva I really don't wanna deal with this…"
"An' ya think I do?" Minerva gritted her teeth, holding her head in her paws. "What the hell kinda Pokemon even is that?! She's batshit insane! An' she's copyin' my voice again! Poorly!"
"Right?!" Rio exclaimed, then sighed. "But… she's probably actually useful, so let's follow her and see what happens."
Minerva growled, glaring at Rio. "I swear to the Gods, ya better not be followin' her cuz you like he-"
"Minerva, imply that again, and I will actually leave you in a room with her. And lock the door," Rio warned, his voice as cold as steel, which was enough to shut Minerva up for a moment..
"Y-Ya wouldn't dare..." the Meowth gulped. From the stare Rio gave her… he indeed did dare. Minerva cleared her throat, shrinking a bit. "Wh-Whatever… Let's just get this shit over with…"
Bright orange gems lit up a cavern with seemingly no ceiling. Cracks and craters littered the floors and walls, and a fair few of the fighting-type gems were shattered. Hidden within the intense fighting aura of the floor, Rio could sense many dissipating auras, but they were too faint for him to tell what they each were. Despite it being decently warm on this floor, Rio had chills running up and down his spine.
"Mmmm…" Rio groaned, his tail hiked up in alert. "If anyone's here, let's find them quick."
"What's up? Ya sense something bad?" Minerva asked, looking around the barren and beaten battlefield.
Rio shook his head. "I don't know what I'm sensing, which is the problem. I can't even sense Mew… speaking of, we should probably find her."
Minerva grimaced, swishing her tail back and forth in disgust. "Ok, but should we?"
Rio rolled his eyes. "Yes, obviously. Unless you know this place better than she… might."
"I'm willin' to bet on that," Minerva scoffed.
Another eye roll from Rio, and the two were off. The walk to the end of the cavern was an easy one, aside from Rio nearly falling into a crater every now and then. Although, the feeling of something being off never truly left him.
A few minutes of walking later, and the pair finally came across a tunnel, leading downwards in a spiral. Just before he walked down it, however, Rio paused. His aura feelers rose up, and a surge of warm familiarity hit him out of nowhere. Like coming back home in the summer after a long, long trip.
"What is..?" Rio muttered, taking a deep, relaxed breath. "What just happened?"
From Minerva's puzzled reaction, it didn't look like she felt the same thing. "Rio? The hell're ya doin'? If ya gettin' tired, I did offer to carry ya for a while. Or drag ya around. Either or."
"No… no it's not that…" Rio shook his body, and stretched. "I just feel… really good, all of a sudden."
'You wouldn't know what that's about, would you?' Rio thought to Orion. Surprisingly… the voice didn't answer back. Rio couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing… Fortunately, as if to ease Rio's worries, Orion began muttering something under his breath. It wasn't loud enough for Rio to hear, which he didn't bother thinking about how that was possible, but at least the voice was still there.
"Well, I guess there's still something off about this place, but at least it ain't terrible. For me," Rio chuckled. "Let's keep going."
By the end of the spiral tunnel, Rio felt that same surge several times again, each one stronger than the last. Just as he began to wonder if this place was forcing a sense of comfort onto him, Rio reached a part of the floor where a surge of fighting spirit took hold of him. He, without warning, let out a "Hoo-yah!" and punched a wall as hard as he possibly could. Much to everyone's surprise, it shook the very tunnel… didn't leave a mark in the wall though.
"R-Rio?!" Minerva yelped. "What! The hell!"
"S-Sorry!" Rio tittered, shaking his fist. It stung like a bitch, until that calming familiarity came back and washed the pain away. "I, uh, have no idea what's going on."
"Yea, neither do I, but ya don't see me screamin' like Jax and punchin' walls!" Minerva barked, slapping Rio in the back of the head. "God, dude…"
"I said I was sorry!" Rio whimpered and pouted, rubbing his head. "Jerk." Rio took another step, which… also shook the ground, knocking him to his knees. "...Was that me?"
Minerva's tail swished, curious. "I don't-" another shake, causing her to cling onto Rio. "-think so."
A moment later, a mighty crack echoed up the tunnel, causing both Rio's and Minerva's fur to stand on end. Much to Rio's ego's dismay, those shakes and sounds weren't coming from him, but much to his fear, they were coming from something a whole lot stronger than him, or Minerva from the sound of it. After that, a wave of hot air rushed past them, just to bring home the fact that something down there was strong as hell.
"H-H-Hah… Uh, y-you wanna bet that's Mew just… I dunno, setting off an explosion?" Rio gulped, color fading from his fur.
"M-Maybe if we're lucky," Minerva chuckled, nervous. "An' we can't really turn back; I know I ain't see an exit up there, so…"
"The only way out is… d-down there," Rio muttered. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves, and luckily, one of those calming waves washed over him as well, soon followed by a wave of fighting spirit. Rio exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "Alright. I'm ready! Hoo-yah!"
Minerva was just about to say something when Rio bolted down the tunnel like a mad 'mon. All the feline could do was hold on for dear life. Alright, that's a bit of an overstatement.
Waiting at the end of the spiral tunnel was a cavern very much similar to the one above, except this one was currently holding a massive swarm of giant Galvantula. All of them seemed to be swarming towards the end of the chamber, where Rio and Minerva could just barely make out some sort of fight going on.
"That's probably not good," Rio said, running towards the crowd of giant electric spiders. "You think this is whatever Nize was talking about? The reason we needed to look out for other Galvantula?"
"I'm gonna say yea, an' I ain't see Mew yet so…" Minerva hummed, tapping her chin. "Ya think she went an' pissed 'em off? Might be our best chance to ditch her."
Rio responded by flicking Minerva in her forehead. "We still gotta find out friends, and she's… probably trying to help us still. For all we know, the Galvantula are fighting something that's trying to hurt our friends. Speaking of… Fighting type floor, everything's warm… wanna bet we're gonna bump into Zeke and Nate?" he asked, hopping onto one of the Galvantulas' backs. The insect let out a startled screech, and the others nearby snapped to it. Rio froze, shivering slightly. "U-Uh… sorry?"
They looked just about ready to maul Rio to bits, until they saw Minerva. Some of them waved to her, another few rolled their many eyes and continued their advance. With the biggest, smuggest grin she could possibly have, Minerva turned to Rio and said, "Looks like one of us is finally popular."
"Just you wait, pretty soon I'm gonna be the one that saves you with my stardom," Rio pouted.
"Yeah, but I dunno how good that'll do me after I grow old an' kick the damn bucket," Minerva cooed.
Rio groaned, then his ears perked up, remembering something. "Oh right, I almost forgot… How do we say that thing again? The thing Nize wanted us to say? Was it Galvan van, or Gal van van… maybe Galvanvan?" Some of the Galvantula gasped at that last phrase, so it was safe to say that maybe that wasn't one of the good ones.
"Such a vulgar tongue, Rio," Minerva snickered. "Ya kiss ya mother with that mouth?"
"Minerva, you've said damn, ass, and hell more times than you've said your own damn name," Rio scoffed.
"Don't be an ass," Minerva huffed, crossing her arms. "An' it's Galvan van." Now, hearing that, the nearby Galvantula stopped their prior charge and looked up to Minerva. She, in turn, rolled her eyes and put her paws on her hips. "Yea! Galvan van, now get the hell outta here! Nize is damn worried about y'all!"
The Galvantula Minerva and Rio were on looked up at them, chittering before saying, "Van van gal van," and pointing at where several other Galvantula were getting knocked into the air.
"Yeah… that's a good enough reason to be stuck here, I think," Rio sighed, then shook his head and pumped his fists. "Alright, guess we got some heroing to do, Minerva!"
"An' here I was hopin' we'd have to wait to kick some more ass!" the Meowth grinned, cracking her knuckles. She hopped down to the Galvantula's head and aimed forward. "Hurry an' get us over to there so we can help y'all outta this shithole!"
The Galvantula nodded, shouting, "Van gal van!" The others stopped their approach and parted as much as they could for the Galvantula to pass, chittering amongst themselves. With a somewhat cleared path, the Galvantula sped through the chamber.
"Wh-Whoa! I didn't think they guys were so fast!" Rio yelped, barely holding on.
Minerva was perfectly fine, however, standing on the Galvantula's head all proud and confident-like. "Ain't ya able to go even faster? Well, when ya look like piss?"
"Stop bringing that up!" Rio barked.
Before long, the Galvantula leapt high into the air; they were already coming up to whatever was fighting the Galvantulas! All Rio could see was flashes of red striking giant spider bodies, electric sparks, Galvantulas scrambling over each other trying to attack something or someone, other Galvantulas getting knocked away, and… surprisingly no water? Or fire? Then where was all that heat from before coming from?
Seeing how everything had an impeccable sense of timing, a massive thunderbolt cracked against the Galvantula's body, knocking it out of the air, and sending Rio and Minerva flying off it. "Wh-What the hell was that?!" Rio yelped. Whatever fear or confusion he had was instantly washed away by a wave of familiar bliss. "Mmmmmm… I wonder if it'll strike us again…"
"Alright, Rio, snap the hell outta it," Minerva growled, grabbing the jackal and landing on another Galvantula. The insect let out a surprised squeal, but a glare from Minerva shut it right up. "I'm sendin' ya right at 'em! Hit 'em hard for me, alright!"
"Mmmmm… wait what?" Rio blinked, but it was too late, he was already airborne again. "M-MINERVA THE HELL?!"
As Rio came up on the combatants, he was again shot out of the air by a thunderbolt. He crashed onto another Galvantula, less hurt than he thought he'd be. Actually… he felt pretty great? Instead of searing pain, shocks and static, other electric pain related things… all Rio felt was that warmness from before.
'Oh my god…' Orion finally spoke, unbelieving of whatever revelation he just came across.
"Right?" Rio hummed, stretching. "Is it from the Galvantulas? I should get hit by them more often!" He hopped off the bug he landed on and ran back to the fight. The cluster of bugs was huge up close, Rio was barely able to sense the two powerful auras inside it. Strange, they felt distantly familiar, but Rio couldn't figure out why... "But first, we got a-"
"I told you we'd get overrun! We already had enough of these damn gems, the last thing we needed was more runnin' around this hell hole!" a rough, angry guy's voice barked, followed by one of the Galvantulas getting punched off the horde. "Can you get us the hell outta here?"
Rio went silent, ducking between the other Galvantulas as he slowly approached the center. That voice… he knew it, didn't he?
"You don't have to get so heated, sweetheart! You're with me, remember? We'll be out of this mess in no time," a woman's voice spoke. Calm, motherly, smooth as silk... like warm milk with honey.
"N-No way…" Rio blinked. Confusion ran through his head like a drunk goat, or like that analogy because what does that even mean? The Outlander shook his head and slapped his cheeks, he had to focus! Focus!
'She's… She's here,' Orion muttered. ``I have to save her, get her out of here, now!'
"That's the plan, obviously," Rio nodded, running up to the center. He crawled on the Galvantulas, avoiding their heavy steps and attacks from the two people he heard earlier. Mostly just thunderbolts. He made it to the top of the pile and shouted at the top of his lungs, "GALVAN VAN!"
His voice echoed through the chamber, and all the Galvantulas that heard him froze in place. They looked confused, or conflicted. Even the two fighting the insects stopped fighting. It got… awkwardly quiet. Rio let out a nervous whimper, shrinking a bit. "D-Did I say the wrong one again?"
"You have got to be kiddin' me!" that guy's voice from earlier said, and the pile of Galvantulas shifted to one side… because one of the Galvantulas was blasted off with a Thunderbolt. A pair of crimson red claws poked out from where that Galvantula used to be standing, followed by a lucious, short, red mane, and another person entirely; short, orange and yellow scales, a showy red frill, and a hood. The scaled one looked up at Rio, and his eyes widened. "Rio?!"
"K-KANE?!" Rio jumped, stumbling off the Galvantula pile as they all started to disperse. He fell right into the arms of the fluffy one, a tall, fluffy Zoroark. He looked up at them, finding himself staring deep into their eyes. At first, he thought it was Kora, but there was something… maternal, about their gaze. Rio's face heated up, and he exclaimed, "A-A-And Diana?!"
Diana gave the sweetest smile she possibly could, practically radiating that warm feeling Rio felt over and over again on his way here. "How've you been, honey?"
'Diana…' Orion muttered, a certain blissfulness in his voice.
"H-Honey?" Rio peeped, tittering and trying to hide his reddened face. "I-I, er, um, I've uh…"
"No… Nonononono, why HIM?!" Minerva's voice snapped Rio out of his trance. She stomped up to Diana, Kane, and Rio with a furious glare aimed at… make a wild guess. "What in the literal hell are ya doin' here, jackass?"
Kane grimaced, rolling his eyes. "Nice seein' you too, dick. Looks like nothin's changed in the whole ass year we've been stuck down here."
"A yea-" Rio hiccuped, then swallowed as the color drained from his face. "A year?!"
"Cut that bullshit, we lost the two of ya a week ago!" Minerva hissed, growling. "Tryin' to guilt me into feelin' bad for an asshole?"
"Y-You were being honest about being down here for a week?!" Rio yelped, holding onto Diana for dear life. "I-I thought you were exaggerating!"
Diana raised a paw, cracking a bolt of lightning to shut everyone up. The Galvantulas around them also stopped in their tracks, some ready to fight again, others cowering in fear. "This is not the time nor the place. I don't know what you said, Rio, but these insects-"
"Are my goddamn friends!" Minerva barked, still glaring at Kane. "Are y'all the reason these guys've been held up? Nize has been worried to hell!"
Kane stuck his face in Minerva's, snarling. "Us holdin' them up? These assholes have been attackin' us since we got here! And who the hell is 'Nize'?"
"Children, that is enough," Diana said, her voice going from silk and honey to frighteningly powerful. "As I said, not the time, nor the place. If these insects are your friends, Minerva, then we will take your word for it and hold a cease fire."
"No wonder these assholes are your friends, all the both of you are good far is bein' a pain my ass," Kane sucked his teeth, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.
Diana sighed, wrapping an arm around Kane's shoulder and bringing him into a hug, while still holding Rio. They both felt like toddlers in her surprisingly toned arms. "Kane, sweetheart, please. You're bigger than this. Be glad that your peers finally found you! I can feel our time together here is coming to a close, can't you?"
"Nnnmmmm…" Kane grumbled, then sighed. "Fine, sure. Let's just get the hell back to Jirachi. Speakin' of-" he grabbed his hood, reached inside, and pulled a snoozing Mew out by the scruff of her neck. "Thanks for the help, jackass!" Kane barked, shaking the feline.
Mew yawned and stretched out her arms, giving Kane a wink. "I knew my moral support was worth it~! Look, you're both out unscathed! And I found your friends for you!"
"You did jack shit!" Kane and Minerva barked, then glared at each other. "Cut that shit out, you annoyin' bitch!"
Diana sighed, shaking her head as Kane and Minerva went right into arguing with each other. "It is as if we never left…"
Rio, as well, sighed and shook his head. "It'd almost be nostalgic if this didn't happen, like, two days ago for me." He looked up at Diana, worried. "Were… were you guys being serious? You've been down here a year?"
Diana smiled. "There will be plenty of time to catch up, once we return to the psychic floor. I feel Jirachi will be able to answer all your questions, honey. For now-" she looked at the horde of Galvantula, frowning slightly. "-let us rest before setting out again. We have been fighting for well over an hour."
Rio didn't even bother being surprised, it was the most believable thing he heard all day.
Jirachi held his usual, expressionless face as Minerva tried to strangle him. "I told you I didn't care to remember your friends' names. You actually found some, so why are you mad, again?"
"Because this ain't one o' my friends!" Minerva hissed, pointing her tail at Kane. "An' the hell do they mean they've been down here a year?! It's only been a damn week!"
Diana took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "Minerva, dear, I've asked you twice now to calm down. I would not like to ask a third time."
Minerva choked, letting go of Jirachi, but kept her glare on the shooting star. Jirachi… didn't care. "The time thing is just another part of the dungeon, each floor has different flows of time because this dungeon is hell."
"He doesn't mean that literally… right?" Rio gulped. Mew came over to comfort him, and instead of accept it, Rio moved to the other side of the room.
"Of course not," Diana said, reassuringly. "Frankly, other than being trapped here against our will, Kane and mine's time here has been rather… refreshing. For me, at least." The Zoroark Outlander sighed, blissful with a nostalgic glint in her eye. "To be adventuring again after Orion… passed. To fight every battle, tooth and nail, as if it were my last…" There was a twinkle in Diana's eye, and she let out a blissful sigh. "By Arceus, I feel young again."
'She always was one for adventure and thrills… Seeing how I did nothing but cause trouble, we made a good pair,' Orion sighed. It was faint, but Rio felt a tinge of sadness in Orion's voice.
"Speakin' of hell, what was with that room we went to? With all the gems and shit?" Kane asked, crossing his arms and flicking his tail curiously. "He said you'd give us some insight 'bout it, Jirachi."
The shooting star's eyes widened ever so subtly, and he nodded. "So it is true… he can go to the room between, or whatever confusing bullshit Arceus named it. That means we can actually get out of here."
Diana blinked, tilting her head. "Arceus? What would The Divine have to do with a wretched place like this?"
"That's not important, Diana, and all of you shut up," Jirachi barked before anyone else could even say anything. "And keep shutting up, and listen. I can… vaguely remember the way out of here from that room, possibly, so once I get there, we're leaving."
Rio jumped to his feet, shaking his head. "We can't! Our other friends are still down here!"
Jirachi stared at Rio like he was a madman. "You're kidding. There's more of you? What, do all of you have a deathwish?"
"Uh, kinda? Everyone else chased a criminal down here, and we all got split up. I kinda… just woke up here earlier today, er, yesterday? I dunno how long it's been." Rio shook his head again. "That's not the point, there's like, six others we gotta find first!"
"And none of the shit your friends have gotten themselves into is my shit to deal with," Jirachi growled, crackling with psychic sparks. "I'm not sticking my neck out for more of you assholes."
Rio shot a glare back, snarling a bit. "And I'm not leaving without them. So, either we get everyone and get out, or we're staying."
Jirachi flinched, sharpening his glare. "You wouldn't dare…"
Rio sharpened his in kind. "Try me…"
To break up the two surprisingly aggressive boys, Mew and Diana stopped their respective companion. "C'mon, Rachi! We can't really leave more people down here, you know that!" Mew whispered to her brother. "I get wanting to leave, but if we abandon their friends down here, we'd be no better than…" she glanced at Diana and Rio, shrinking at the jackal's fierce stare.
"Rio, honey, please calm yourself. We aren't going to leave anyone down here, I swear on my lord Arceus' honor," Diana said softly, holding Rio's shoulder. "Jirachi will assist us in finding the others, or he will sit in the Room Between and wait. Alone."
"As if the threat of being alone would be an incentive to work with you assholes," Jirachi sighed, pinching the bridge of his… well, where his nose would be. "I'll take my chances in the safest room in this godforsaken hellscape, thanks."
With a nod and a smile, Rio pumped his fist and said, "Great! Now… who do we save first?"
"Nate an' Zeke are bound to be together, so maybe them?" Minerva suggested, hopping onto Rio's shoulder.
"Zen can hold his own, so no worries there… so Eva then?" Rio hummed, thoughtful. He then flinched and whimpered, thinking about probably the only person who'd actually need saving. Someone who was most likely alone. "No, I think… I think we need to save Kora."
Diana spun Rio around, a frantic, worried look in her eye. For how calm and collected she was before, she almost looked like a totally different person. "M-My baby boy is down here? With the Galvantula?"
Minerva bit her lip, shrinking. "Y-Yea, an', uh… K-Kai might've ran into this place, with Mia too. We wouldn't've came in this hellhole if those two didn't run in in the first place."
"Oh Arceus…" Diana muttered, gripping Rio's shoulders tightly. "I-I… I have to find them. I might know which floor they're on, I will go there alone and demolish it if I must. The rest of you-" she looked specifically at Kane and Minerva, "-work together to find the rest. When you do, return here, and we will all leave together."
"Right," Rio nodded, brimming with confidence to hide how painful it was as Diana dug her claws into his shoulders. "I won't let you down!"
Kane and Minerva grimaced, but reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, fine," the former huffed. "I promise to keep things civil, but we both know it's Minerva that'll start shit for no goddamn reason."
"If she does, Kane, I trust you will be mature enough to focus solely on finding your friends?" Diana asked, sweetly, then turned to Minerva. "And I ask you, Minerva, please… for Kora's sake…"
The Meowth sucked her teeth, crossing her arms, turning to hide her face. "Alright, alright! Ya ain't gotta drag 'im into this! I'll try an' work with Kane, geez!"
Diana smiled and clapped her paws together, a warm glow about her. "Thank you both so much! Oh, and I should mention that Mew's sticking with you so…" in the blink of an eye, and a clap of thunder, Diana was gone. The sparks in her wake read, "Good Luck~."
Mew slithered onto Rio's shoulder, right next to Minerva, giggling happily. Minerva politely kicked Mew right off, then slammed her head against Rio's with a groan. "What the hell did I do to deserve this?!"
"A lot," Kane said with a scoff, walking towards the exit. He had a plain gray gem in hand, and made sure to walk in after the gem went into the void. "Let's hurry and get this over with, I'm about ready to wrap this shit up and be done with this goddamn dungeon."
"You and me both…" Rio whimpered, rubbing the side of his head as he followed behind Kane. "I'm getting tired of this place…"
"None of you even know the half of it," Jirachi groaned, entering the exit behind Rio. "This has gone on long enough."
Mew flew around, giggling, because what else would she be doing. "I just wanna taste sugar again! And not rocks!" she paused, then shrugged as she floated into the exit. "Maybe with rocks? That sounds fun! Almost as fun as whatever's gonna happen! I can feel it; action! Excitement! Rocks!" Mew went on and one, mostly to herself, because no one else had the energy to listen. "So many rocks! Pointy rocks! Shiny rocks! Like that one over there! And there!"