Chapter 7: Are we Heroes Now?

'The climate's pleasant but the situation is far from that. Everything and anything near us is in ruins. Food supplies are scarce and… "Mike, this isn't really helping",', Dark stopped his writing as he looked up to Mike who was hiding in his own heap of clothes. A nice little fort for a toddler but weren't we the size of one?

"What Isn't?", he replies from somewhere inside his fort.

"Your idea to make this as painful and grim as possible. Does it look like I'm in pain?"

"We want a new source of income, Eugene, and your diary is just the perfect candidate for that. People love to read stories about people surviving the aftermath of a great disaster. AND.. just to add to that, don't you like reading the diaries of SCP-3008's victims?".

"I do but that's a different story and it looks made-up most of the time. It's easy to survive in an endless Swedish supermart from 1990 or something."

"Convincing for people who rarely know about the anomaly."

"Yeah…"

"So, what happened to the wolf?"

"You mean Emma?"

"You named her too?!"

"Hell Nah! She's the daughter of Youngman Richards who lives 3 blocks away from here."

"Phew.. or else I would have to deal with an oversized wolf with a toddler's mindset throughout the journey."

"But I don't get it. The family members are known to be saints. They won't even hurt a fly. And then we have Emma who's an oversized wolf which went feral."

"Seems like something or someone made her like that. Do you recall their family having a violent past? Or some actions that were forced on them?"

"As I said, they were saints and were known for their pleasant behavior throughout this part of the town. But I do know that Emma was not allowed to meet up with her stepfather."

"Hmm… about the stepfather."

"Well, he has a criminal record for breaking into several houses and jacking a car. So much of a saint, right?"

"Yeah.. we sho-", Dark gets interrupted as his ears shoot up and hear large footsteps getting closer to the room. His eyes widen and Mike goes silent, sensing the danger. Something was hurling towards their room at great speed. It slammed open the door and revealed itself to be Emma, a giant wolf-like Pokemon called Mightyeana. She lunges at the bed and towards Dark, pinning him down.

"Uncle Dark! Where's !", She asks while wagging her tail uncontrollably.

"Uh-uh. H-he went outside to buy some milk for you, yeah.", Dark replies.

"Awwwh. But I wanted to play with him…"

"Well, you can play with uncle Kevin"

"He's sleeping…."

'Guess I'll have to volunteer this time.', Dark thought as he let out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll go with you then."

"YAAAAYYY!", Emma exclaims as she rushes out of the room in excitement and joy.

Mike peeks out from his hidey-hole and surveys the room around before Dark closes the door.

"I owe you one, Eugene. She doesn't spare my ribbons. Like, look at them.", Mike says as he shows him the ribbons which are wet and sticky.

"Where are the bite marks?", Dark says as he closely examines them.

"I don't know. They aren't just there. I definitely felt her teeth but no marks when I checked again."

"That's..odd"

"Okay, let's not make her wait."

"What happened to take her to her home?"

"Uhh… good question.", Dark replies as he opens the door and heads out.

As Dark makes his way outside, he sees Kevin sleeping on the planked, wooden floor. He seems like he had a hard time playing with Emma which makes Dark anxious and worried. As Dark steps out of the house, he gets ambushed by Emma, who tackles him to the ground.

"Hehe. Got you! Now, it's my turn to hide.", she exclaims as she leaps off into the distance.

"Seriously?!", Dark comments as he gets up and shrugs the dirt off of him before continuing the pursuit.

The town around them was in a bad shape. Debris littered the ground while the dust, mixed with ash, engulfed the town like a dense smog. Even in these harsh conditions, Emma was happy. She looked natural and simply jumped around and past wrecked cars, 2x4s and a roof seemingly merged into the ground with ease. Dark just cautiously followed her into the smog, taking a brief note of his surroundings.

'... if this happened everywhere. It might be too late.', He thought as he started to look around for Emma.

'Use your new muzzle to track her down.', a thought appears in his head.

Dark leans closer to the ground and takes a sniff only to inhale the ash on the ground. He quickly jolts up and coughs it out.

'Not that close, you Muk!', another thought commented but it had a particular sound that Dark heard before, his very own voice.

"What's a Muk?", he uttered in a low voice.

'A Pokemon which eats shit and is shit.', the mind replied.

'Why am I getting such thoughts?...wait, who are you?'

'You. To put it in better terms, what you should be'

'What? Is this some sick joke?!'

'If it was then I would've been more of a puppet than a free voice. Point is, I am just a voice in your head which will guide you to a better and much more prosperous future.'

'That's my quote… stop peeking into my brain.'

'You mean, our brain?'

'...just leave my head alone.'

'I would've done that ages ago if it was possible.'

'...what do you mean by that?'

'Your brain and I were once the same things, bonded together in an effort to keep your meat suit safe. Until… that day where you took on a different form. It freed me from the bond and I became a free thought, a free voice, a free consciousness. Now, I wish to be your only thought. I'm way, way better than the thought you have.'

Dark paused for a while.

'Humans are feeble creatures, Dark. Leave your mother at her place. Go back to doing your own research about this phenomenon.'

'No. She isn't safe there and you know that.'

'She's gonna keep you as a pet. A household dog. She'll mistreat you. You won't be respected any more. Your human friends will abandon you.'

'No.'

'The researchers are good people. They're using elementals and humans in that field. Not only that, they're currently experimenting on both of them and in the process of turning some humans into near-elementals. Think about it, a world full of higher beings that can manifest lightning with one simple whoosh of their hand. Join them.'

'No.'

'You know exactly what happened to your father. Those pesky humans killed your father when he tried to help a wounded soldier. They used weapons to do that. People like you, don't need weapons.'

'...'

'Just look at the possibilities which will be there! Once humans are gone, the world will be a safer place!'

'...'

'You could spend some time with that leafeon of your dreams. Not only that, you can date several other types of elementals having the same egg group.'

'...'

'You can also hunt humans down if you wish! No one will ever care cause you'll be treated like a wild dog and accidents happen in the wild.'

'..'

'You can also eat them if you like, even at your heart's content! If I was your moth-'

"SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!", Dark snaps as he yells with all his might towards the clouds. The voice stops his rant and goes silent. Dark then sees something emerging out from a nearby pile of debris.

"U-Uncle Dark? A-Are you okay?", Emma stutters as she comes out of the roof which had fallen to the ground.

"I-...I'm fine. Find a new spot, Emma. I-I'll close my eyes.". Dark says as he closes his eyes and starts counting to ten.

"Okie!", Emma replies as she leaps over a fence and climbs on top of an RV parked nearby.

"Nine…Ten. Alright! I'm coming to find you now!", Dark proclaims as he starts looking around him. He eventually finds Emma and starts creeping his way towards her. When he got closer to the RV, Emma jumped away from him and went towards a burned-down house through a tattered, wooden fence without alerting him.

"How would I even..", Dark says as he notices a dumpster right next to the RV. He climbs over it and leans on the edge to get a look at the RV roof.

'Huh? Where did she-', he thought before he lost his balance and fell on the ground with a thud. Now covered in ash he recollected his thoughts and stood up. He tried to shake the ash off of him but it already had left an impression.

"Great. I'll need a bath now.", he remarks as he looks at his clothes and paws. It was getting late and he still had to find Emma.

"Emma! It's getting too late for us! We should head back!", he shouts down the street hoping that the excuse would work. There was no response. Dark called out again but the only thing he got was a soothing breeze and some distant, illegible chatter coming from the woods around. Thinking of the worst he started to search for her when suddenly he got pinned to the ground by an overwhelming force. He felt a warm breath just over his shoulders.

"Hehe.. got you!", the voice said as it jumped back. Dark looked over and was relieved to see Emma.

"Thank fuck. I thought I was someone's dinner there! You know how scary that was!", Dark scolds Emma as he swiftly turns to look at her. Instead of an apologetic face he saw a rather surprised one.

"Dinner? You are not food, silly.", she lets out a chuckle as Dark sighs, controlling his frustration.

"Let's get you home now.", he says as they both start to walk towards the door.

The door opens and they both get bathed in a plethora of sweet aromas from the kitchen. In a blink of an eye, Emma is seen in the corridor going at great speed before crashing into the refrigerator in front.

"Jesus! Are you alright?", Alex asks as he looks at Emma lying on her back, facing Dark who looks at her in utter bafflement.

"What just happened?", Kevin comments as he peeks into the corridor, looking towards the kitchen.

Emma gets up and lunges at Alex. Not expecting that, he lets out a short scream before falling to the floor with a thud. Kevin and Dark rush to help Alex before he becomes Emma's new chew toy.

"Hey! Get off of him!", Kevin yells as he stands beside Emma who's staring down into Alex's soul.

"Kevin?! I wouldn't stay that close to her!", Dark exclaims as Kevin turns to look at him.

"What do yo-", he replies before getting jumped on by Emma. He instinctively crashes into the cabinet causing plates to fall from their racks.

"Get her off me!", he shouts as he sprints down the corridor in the living room while Emma noms on his hair and holds her grip on his neck fluff. A loud bang followed when they disappeared from Dark's view. He hurriedly went into the living room to find it in a mess and Kevin unconscious on the floor facing a wooden beam as Emma nomed on his tails.

"Uh…", Dark remarks as he hears footsteps coming down the staircase behind him.

"What in the world's happening here?!", Mike asks as he steps into the corridor.

" !", Emma exclaims as she lunges towards Mike at great speed.

"No, no, no!", Mike says as he narrowly dodges the attack and sprints upstairs. Emma quickly got up and ran after me.

"... At least I'm not considered to be her toy.", Dark remarks as he tries to comprehend what just happened. He then heads into the trashed living room and flops onto the sofa.

"You and I both know that a wooden beam is not enough to knock down a human who just merely crashed into it. Stop faking it Kevin.", he says as Kevin raises his head and looks over his shoulder.

"She's gone… right?"

"For now."

"Phew..", Kevin sighs in relief as he gets up and sits beside Dark.

"We'll have to do something about her. I can't take her anymore.", he continued.

"Don't worry. Mike told me that her house is a couple of blocks down the street. We could take her there in the morning."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TOLD ME THAT BEFORE?!"

"You know how late Mike's "realization" is."

"...yeah."

"Anyways, we'll be taking her tomorrow at dawn."

"At dawn? You kidding me?"

"It'll be less of a hassle to take her there while she's asleep."

"The last thing I want is to wake up at that time."

"We have no other choice."

Kevin sighs and sits beside him.

"Kevs?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever had a certain voice trapped in your head? Like consciousness?"

"No? Why the question?"

"Just… there's, like this voice, stuck in my head and is influencing my thoughts. Thoughts that I can never think about. It's like a miniature me but has grown used to this form.", Dark takes a quick look at himself before continuing.

"He's like,' abandon humanity, prosper elementality, go feral and live a happy life'."

"That's…. Something. Remind me to take you to a therapist after we are safe and well."

"Hm… okay."

"Dinner's ready!", Alex announces from the kitchen.

"Well?", Dark asks.

"Hope that it isn't canned beans. They're disgusting.", Kevin comments as he stretches and leaps towards the kitchen.

Dark follows him shortly.

The next day, Dark prepares for the upcoming trade as Mike packs some clothes in a bag. The silence around them was unnerving as most of the trees around them had burned down and the streets were lifeless.

"Any dreams, Mike?", Dark asks to break the uneasy feeling.

"Ehh… I don't remember it anymore. Maybe it had a human? Maybe I was someone's pet? I don't know.", he replies as he zips the bag up and puts it to the side.

"At least you had a dream. I got nothing on my end."

"Huh.. quite strange coming from a daydreamer like you.", Mike smirks

"Oh shush. That was like… weeks ago."

"Hey! Have you wondered about the fact that this also can be a dream?"

"I have… let's find it out.", Dark replies with a smug smile as he swings his paw onto Mike's shoulder with little force.

"Hey!", Mike repels back.

"Typical Mike and his 'late realization'."

Mike pouts and heads downstairs for some light breakfast closely followed by Dark. They pass by Emma, safely tucked away inside a pillow fort, in a corner.

"Isn't she adorable?", Kevin remarks as they arrive in the kitchen.

"Only while she's asleep.", Mike comments as he glances at the fort.

"Where's Alex?", Dark asks as he looks around the room.

"In the bathroom. Apparently, our appetite bested his. Don't worry though, the breakfast is ready. Juuust… not served, yet.", Kevin replies.

"Eugene? Umbreons can learn psychic, right?", Mike asks.

"Yeah?"

"Why not use that to serve us some good, fresh breakfast?"

"That's a good idea!", Kevin exclaims as he looks at Dark in anticipation.

"..I can try.", Dark replies as he locks his eyes onto a pot and starts focusing heavily on it. Nothing happens.

"Maybe that's too heavy for now. Try with some plates.", Mike adds as Dark looms his attention over some plates near the stove. They begin to shake but don't budge further.

"Glasses?", Kevin adds as Dark turns around to face a cupboard. He then focuses intensely on one of the glasses which soon takes flight. Overcome with joy, he loses his focus and the glass shatters on the floor.

"Okay, don't lose focus. And, definitely don't try that again.", Mike remarks as he looks at Dark.

"Uhh.. try with some cutlery! At least they aren't as fragile as that.", Kevin says as he looks at him in even greater anticipation. Dark sheepishly nods and turns back to the stove, now focusing on the knives and forks displayed in a smallholder. They start to float up as Dark smiles and makes them fly around in the air. Both Mike and Kevin look amazed by the trick and remain speechless until Lucas shows up.

"The..fuck is this?", he utters in bafflement. Dark loses his focus but then quickly regains it when the cutlery was about to touch the ground.

"It's the force, Lucas! I am a Jedi now!", Dark exclaims, can't help smirking at his own joke.

"You're a wizard, Eugene.", Mike adds before he starts laughing at his own joke.

"Ah yes. Eugene came from Hogwarts.", Kevin laughs as Dark arranges the knives and forks on the table while Mike shoves the broken fragments of glass to a corner with the help of a cloth.

"Wait. Did you guys do some Voodoo magic or what?", Lucas asks, still confused about the ordeal.

"Nah. Eugene here just used his psionic capabilities.", Mike replies.

"Yep. From now on, I shall be called Jedi Knight Eugene Cortez. Or just Dark in short.", Dark continues.

"JKEC suits you better.", Mike mocks Dark with a smuggy expression.

"Yeah… it does.", Kevin supports Mike.

"Come on, you two.", Dark stares at them in annoyance as they both burst into laughter.

"I'll… just head back to my van.", Lucas says as he quickly sprints off to the garage.

"Hey, Mike? Apart from your ribbon being a powerful winch, what can you do?", Kevin asks as he tries to take a seat on a chair.

"Hm…now that I think of it… Sylveons can do a lot of damage to dark or dragon types but that's just the type advantage. I don't know anything else besides that.", Mike replies as one of his ribbons scratches below his chin.

"I've seen that its kiss could paralyze a dark type and it could also attract some Pokemons who are of the opposite gender.", Dark comments as he comfortably sits on his chair, opposite Kevin's.

"Wait. How can we tell if someone's of the opposite gender?", Kevin asks.

"By their voice?"

"By their hormones and the way that they interact?", Mike continues as he starts moving the plates around and about the table with his overextended ribbons.

"Let's… stop right there.", Kevin says as he places his front paws on the table.

"And.. fetch me another chair.", he continued.

"Fetch. Very humorous of you Kevin."

"...that was an accident. My bad.", Kevin apologizes as Dark giggles in silence.
"How's my crew doing in this lovely morning?", Alex asks as he marches into the kitchen with a bright smile.

"Oh, morning Alex!", Mike replies with a smile.

"Hope the worst is behind you, Alex.", Kevin replies as he turns his attention towards him.

"Why is Alex so happy today? Did he drink while doing his… business?,", Dark questions.

"Don't know but it's better than his mood stays that way. Besides, who doesn't like a drunk human? Especially, if it's Alex.", Kevin answers.

"Ahh, look at you guys. You all must be quite hungry after the insane night. Well, the food's ready. Fried eggs with bread and tomato soup. The best refresher in the entire west.", Alex promptly remarks as he leans over Mike and pats him.

"Nice job of setting up the table and the atmosphere.", he praises him before taking a seat beside Dark.

"And how's my favorite Umbreen? Hope I didn't botch it up this time.", Alex continues as Mike sets up the dishes on the table.

Dark sheepishly laughed at it and turned his attention towards the food.

"Soup first and then the sandwiches. Mike, have a seat after you've finished serving."

"I shouldn't have taken that bet…", Mike sighs as he starts picking up bowls from a ceiling cabinet.

After a refreshing meal, the group sat in the living room to draw a plan.

"Since we are getting low on food and supplies, someone has to raid the supermart a few blocks north of here.", Alex says by focusing on the location on Mike's phone.

"We shouldn't have celebrated so early..", Dark whispers to himself

"We had no choice. You had seen how Alex was coping up with the loss.", Mike replies

"...yeah. But why did all of you get drunk in like one or two shots? You never were a lightweight, Mike."

"Maybe it's this body or I don't know."

"You had some catnip mixed in them or what?"
"How would I know?"

"Cut it out you two!", Lucas scolds them from the doorway.

The duo stared at each other for a while and resumed paying attention to the plan.

".. and then we'll make a swift escape down this avenue. I want Lucas to take the lead in your van. Hope nothing attacks us. The last thing I want is to lose any of you.", Lucas pauses and flops back on the couch as Kevin tries to comfort him.

"Oh, Kevin… I had a good dream last night.", he says as he starts stroking his head.

"Weirdo..", Lucas pouts as he turns his back and heads back to the garage.

"Guess it's up to us then.", Mike adds as he starts walking towards the stairs

"Who's gonna take Emma?", Dark asks as he follows him closely.

"Definitely not me.", Mike replied as they began to climb the stairs.

A few minutes later, the duo descends from the stairs with Emma thrashing about in Mike's ribbons as he carries her on his back. Dark closely follows them, ready to pin Emma down if she escapes.

"Kevin! I got a present for you!", Mike shouts in the corridor as he starts heading towards the living room.

"What am I supposed to do?", Dark asks.

"I don't know. Go check on Lucas.", Mike replies as Emma's tail disappears behind the support beam at the entrance of the room...

"No! Mike you absolute ack-", Kevin yells but it gets cut in the middle as Emma breaks free and lands on him. Her tail starts wagging uncontrollably and she begins to lick his face.

"Look who's here. The cutest wolf in town.", Alex proclaims as he begins to stroke her back.

Dark shakes his head and moves onto the garage. He opens the door to see Lucas drinking from a Dr. Pepper can. The garage was a mess, there was a sleeping bag on a dried oil patch, and beside it lay an empty packet of chips. The van looked to be in a good, workable condition apart from the light scratch marks on the windshield. The driver's seat was designed with various cuts that would go deep into it.

"Oh, hey!", Lucas acknowledges his presence.

"Hey! You sure have made yourself a nice little place to stay.", Dark says as he gets closer to him.

"Way better than sleeping in a security booth.", he shrugs and takes a sip from the can.

"I can see that…"

"..and definitely worse than sleeping on my bed."

"Cause of your…."

"Pain-Jagdberg"

"What?"

"A random name that I gave… it.", Lucas looks down at the bony protrusion.

"Ahh.."

"Are we ready to go?"

"We will be, in a few minutes."

"Hm… you know? This event changed my life for the better."

"How so?"

"Gave me a second chance, without going through my childhood."

"Hm?"

"Look, I was a normal worker at some laundry store. My pay wasn't much but it was enough to get through a day or two. I applied for a janitor post at Walmart not long ago. Hoping to rise through the ranks and be the manager eventually.

"That's how it doesn't-"

"It may sound impractical but I believed and hoped for the best. But then, this happened. Now I have a chance to redeem myself for a better post. To make something great of myself.", Lucas says with determination.

"Uhh.. good luck.", Dark says as he slowly scurries away from the scene.

The time of departure arrives as the partially filled van lines up with the car on the road. Both pointing towards the nearest entrance to the freeway. The plan now is to take Emma to her place and to meet up with Lucas near the superstore where they'd replenish their supplies. If the store is already ransacked to the point where the aisles are missing as well then they'd hit the Walmart in the next town over.

"Hope this doesn't get me killed. What are our chances that we'll even get what we need?", Lucas talks with himself as he holds his grip on the steering wheel.

'Deep breathes, Alex. My family's gone but when I look at Mike and the others, their humanity itself has vanished from this world. I really shouldn't let the past get hold of me again. My only wish now is for Michelle, Jordan, Ellie, and Desmond to be in a much better place, looking down at us and smiling that we are safe and well.', Alex reminisces all the good times he had with his family as tears rolled down his cheek.

"Aww.. nooo.", Kevin notices him and proceeds to rub his head on his chest to… comfort him.

"T-thanks, Kevin.", Alex says as he looks down at him and strokes his head.

"$5 bet that this will take10 minutes?", Mike whispers to Dark.

"Shut up, Mike.", Dark responds by giving him a slight nudge to the left.

Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure looms over the convoy, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Alex steps on the pedal and the sedan whirls into motion. The van soon follows it but quickly parts ways and heads over to the superstore.

"Emma? Are you excited to be with your parents again?", Dark asks as the wolf looks outside the window, paying attention to various objects passing by as the car goes at a steady pace down the road.

"Mhm… ", She wags her tail excitedly.

"That's good. I'm sure that your family will take you in now that you're… normal-.", Mike comments but gets stopped with another nudge by Dark.

"Ahem. How long till we get there Alex?", Dark asks.

"He can't understand you, Eugene.", Kevin speaks up while looking at the road ahead.

"...right.", Dark replies.
"If I ignore all the debris around me. This is quite pleasing. I mean, us riding together, enjoying the time. It's peaceful.", Mike adds to the conversation.

"Yep.", Dark acknowledges.

"Now that I think about it, yeah. Why haven't we done this before?", Kevin asks.

"Cause I live on the other side of the site?", Dark replies.

"Yeah, that might be it.", Mike says as he looks down at his body.

"To be honest, I don't mind this change anymore.", he continues.

"See, now you get it. Welcome to the world of furries!", Kevin mocks.

"We literally are so…"

"That was the joke, Eugene.", Kevin adds.

"Oh. Well, it'll be sad if something bad happens now.", Dark remarks when suddenly something huge lunges itself on the roof of the sedan causing it to bend inwards with a loud thud. The car skids to the side and comes to a halt. Panic bursts in the car as they start scrambling to get up from their seats.

"You had to jinx it Eugene.", Mike yells as he frantically leaps out of the sedan.

"Not my fault now!", Dark yells back as he shields Emma.

"Stop arguing and move out!", Kevin scolds them as he pushes Alex out of his seat.

"What was that?", Alex asks as he falls to the ground.

The beast strikes again, this time piercing the roof with its sharp talons, it then proceeds to pry it open with its beak. Its assault only comes to an abrupt stop when Kevin uses his flamethrower attack on it. Seeing the opportunity, Dark exits the tattered vehicle with Emma.

"What was that?", he asks.

"A giant metallic bird!", Mike replies as he helps Alex to stand on his feet.

"A giant what?"

"A giant that!", Mike yells as he points one of his free ribbons at the beast coming for an attack run. In a dive, it goes after Kevin, talons pulled forward as it neared to its prey. Expecting such an approach, Kevin dodged them and counterattacked with a small flame burst. It narrowly missed the beast as it took onto the skies and started to hover 50 feet from the ground. The crew gets good luck at it, the metallic-looking skin as if some armor was strapped onto it. Its red metallic wings flapped up and down as its yellow eyes gleamed at them with intentions of causing great harm. It looked as if it came from the prehistoric era, a Skarmory

"My daughter, give her back.", the beast spoke in a deep threatening voice.

"Daddy?", Emma replies softly.

"Wait…what?", Mikes asks as he's dumbfounded by the revelation.

"The week keeps on getting stranger.", Dark remarks as he looks up at the beast.

"Look we aren't the bad guys here. We were just trying to take her back to her parents.", Kevin says as he tries to defuse the situation.

"Kevin! What are you thinking? Attack that...t-thing. It's just staying there!", Alex orders Kevin, clearly quaking in his boots.

"Silence, human!", The beast threatens him as it flaps its enormous wings and plunges at Alex. Kevin quickly maneuvers right between them and uses his flamethrower attack which startles the beast and it pulls up from the attack and assumes its original hovering position.

"Daddy, stop! They are my friends!", Emma protests as she stands beside Kevin.

"Emma, you shouldn't make food your friends.", The beast replies in a huff.

"Food? You gotta be kidding me…", Mike replies.

"I have been actively hunting your kind for a while now. You people are mere prey to us-"

"Daddy, they aren't food. Especially Mr. Ribbons."

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME, EMMA!", The beast yells in a thunderous voice.

The wolf whimpers, seemingly helpless to assist the crew.

"It's a good thing I saw her when I was flying over your house or else you would've sent her to that narc."

"Wait, the Richards are preachers and her father was working in a logistics company so… you must be Oliver, her stepfather.", Mike proclaims the real identity of the Skarmory.

"How did you know that?", Oliver asks.
"Doesn't matters. You are the prey and I. MUST. HUNT", he continues as he starts gaining altitude.

"He's insane… Mike, take Emma and Alex somewhere safe. I'll stay here with Kevin.", Dark orders them.

"Eugene, you don't have anything to take him down. What will you do, talk him out of it?", Kevin shouts as he tries to focus on Oliver.

"I'm gonna do what I do the best. Be a bait", Dark replies as he sets off collecting small bits of debris around him with his psionic abilities.

"This isn't a game and you know that. You will get hurt."

"But the game mechanics are present and if my HP goes to 0 then I'll simply faint. I may not know Pokemons and what they are called at times but I do know how the game's battle sequences work."

"You don't see a giant glowing green bar, do you?"

"Nope but I think it's simply hidden."

"You aren't making any sense"

The Skarmory lets out a roar that could be heard from miles away and dives onto Kevin. Kevin lets out a flame burst to form a fire shield between them. The Skarmory maneuvers and lands behind him. He then uses its wings to slash at Kevin but Kevin manages to jump away from his grasp and uses his flamethrower attack. Oliver blocks it with one of his wings but it gets so badly heated up that he winces in pain and pulls back. He tries to fly away but the wing limited his much-needed attack and flight capabilities. He proceeds to use his drill peck attack which gravely injures Kevin.

"Hey, Oliver! Catch!", Dark shouts as he throws the ball at his head, hitting him in the eye. Oliver staggers for a while enough for Kevin to grab his bearings and unleash fiery hell towards him with a Fire Blast attack. It was powerful enough to render the Skarmory incapable of movement. He slowly falls to the ground.

"Dad!", Emma shouts as she runs toward him.

"Kevin! What the hell was that?", Dark asks.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault, that attack hurt a lot.", Kevin replies defensively.

"E-Emma?", a voice came from behind. It was a woman dressed nicely in an evening gown accompanied by a lion-like elemental, a Luxray.

"Mommie?", Emma turns around to look at them. Tears of joy start rolling down her cheek as she runs towards her. They both embrace each other in a warm hug as the Luxray leans over them.

The Luxray then moves over to the group.

"Thank you, not only for taking down Oliver but for making our family whole again."

"You must be?", Kevin asks.

"Dan Richards. I'm Emma's father. That bird over there is Oliver Richards, her stepfather.", Dan replies.

"Why did Emma call her dad then?"

Dan sighs. "You see, I was coming back from my night shift and this lunatic decided to steal our precious for himself and at that exact moment, the event took place. When I got home, the only thing I came back to was a burning town and Vanessa crying for help.", he explains himself.

"Oh..", Kevin responds not knowing what to say next.

"They say, two birds with one stone.", Dark adds to the silence.

Dan snickers at the joke. As Kevin shakes his head in dismay, "Real mature, Eugene. Real mature.".

"I should go now. Thank you, thanks a lot.", Dan says as he returns to his family.

"Guess we are heroes now.", Dark sheepishly comments.

Kevin facepalms at that and returns back to where Mike was hiding.

The Writer Team's remark:
Well, that was it. A whopping 5K+ words long chapter for once. It was a test of our limits. We were planning it to be 8K+ but that would've been way too long. We are sorry for the much, much longer wait since most of the team were busy recording and writing their concepts and stories. Life has been mean for the past few months but I believe that a better time will eventually come. This was an exciting test we did, sure was fun and we hope that you liked it!

- The Author