It wasn't long before Scott, Ramona, and Matthew were together with a team physically capable without Powers. The group walked through the streets, making their way to the back of Beacon Tower.
"So far, so good." Lei said.
"So says you...how do we know that ghost will make good on his word?" Matthew asked.
"Don't worry...we'll have our way in." Scott said as they reached the back where a couple of guards were running out screaming.
"Well, I stand corrected." Matthew said as a few more ran out.
"Oh god...I need a drink." one guard said, sipping from a teacup as the liquid inside moved.
"Fresh…" the liquid said before the guard dropped it and ran.
"Even the drinks are haunted!" the guard screamed as he ran off into the night.
"Oh...Gengar was right. This is fun." the liquid spoke as a small hand emerged from the handle and held up the cup.
"What the… A Sinistea?" Ramona asked.
"Sinis...wha?" Matthew asked as Scott looked it up for him.
"Sinistea, the Black Tea Pokémon! A Ghost Type! This Pokémon is said to have been born when a lonely spirit possessed a cold, leftover cup of tea." it read.
"Yes...that is what I am." Sinistea said.
"How are all of you doing this?" Matthew asked.
"Oh we all know Gengar. In fact, we get together every October to haunt various places." Sinistea said.
"Your assistance is appreciated." CP nodded. "Now, to enter the basement and plant the virus within this Dose of Reality."
"That's right. Operation Distortion is a go!" Scott said. "Man, I sounded a lot like Leopardmon there."
The group (after activating the projectors), entered the building, walking through the pristine halls before Matthew pointed out a door near the middle of the hall.
"That's the door to the basement." Matthew said. "It's a flight of stairs, then just one room. If the ghosts were through, then we won't see anyone down there."
They hurried down some stairs as they saw some people screaming as a couple of guards looked at a piano with its keys moving on its own.
"That piano...is playing itself!" one said.
"And we never had a piano before this!" the other said.
"Gengar's buddies sure know how to do their job." Legolia said.
The guards ran as three small lizard-like beings floated there soon after they left and laughed.
"More ghost type Pokemon?" Goblin Slayer asked.
"There are called Dreepy. They're Dragon/Ghost." Rayleigh said. "Zamazenta told me a bit about those."
"Geez...Gengar really does have friends. He just seemed like sort of a jerk." Kazuma said.
"As long as they keep the guards busy, we can do as we please." Subaru said.
They continued down the stairs before reaching a door. "This must be it. Let's plug our virus in and let the party begin." Dan said as they opened up the door.
The door opened up to a medium-sized room, sparse in furnishings save for the futuristic-looking panel that took up the entire back wall.
"So this is the DoR…" Matthew said. "Rumor is it was made by Dark Garden, with the promise that they would only make one. Which means this is the only time you'll have to deal with it."
"But why would such a system like this be sold on the Black Market?" Ross asked.
"This thing seals powers, which makes it an incredibly dangerous asset to have. Imagine this being used as a countermeasure against people with actual superpowers." Rhatla said.
"Perhaps that is the answer to your question, Ross." CP said. "Whoever created this, be it Dark Garden or some unknown force, they would not wish for the public to know their full capabilities and resources."
"Hold it right there!" a voice called as a guard was standing there. "So...coming for Dose of Reality huh? Obvious choice."
"What the? How did you know we were here?" Subaru asked.
"A very lucky guess. And no ghost is going to...to..." he said, feeling a tap on his shoulder where he saw a ragged looking Pikachu behind him. "Really?"
"Ah, I wouldn't look under there if I were you…" Ramona said.
"Why? What'll happen if…" he said, peeking under Mimikyu's disguise as he screamed in horror before collapsing.
"...That's why." Ramona winced.
"Holy crap…" Matthew said in horror. "That thing's a Pokémon?!"
"Yeah...it was a Mimikyu who suddenly appeared in our ship one day, so we let it stay." Meowth said.
"Nobody knows what it truly looks like due to it always wearing that disguise to protect itself from sunlight." Lei said. "Those who try to look under it, well...this guy got lucky he didn't get sick." she said, referring to the unconscious guard.
"Yeah...we knew and really didn't wanna hear a reiteration." Scott said, shivering a bit.
"Okay...let's do this." Matthew said, going to the command console. After a second of scanning the machine's surface to locate the proper port, he pulled out the USB and inserted it into the DoR.
For a few moments, all was silent. Then, the DoR's lights started to flicker as it started to make noises, before smoke started to billow out.
"Bingo. The Dose of Reality is now a part of history." Matthew said.
Outside, some of the guards watched as the barrier around the tower started to flicker.
"Hey...what happened to our…" one of them said before being hit by a fireball. The other guards looked out to see the rest of the alliance standing there.
"Looks like Scott and the others did it. The field is down." David said. "Come on, guys. It's time to bust some heads!"
"Knock-knock, wind bags!" Eddy declared as the group descended on the guards, who fought, though in vain, to defend the tower.
"Devil Spear!" Leon called, casting a spear of darkness in the air before launching it down.
From the top of the tower, the bard watched in surprise.
"The heck? That system was supposed to be state of the art." he said.
"Sorry, don't know what to tell ya, chump." Gengar said as he emerged through the floor.
"How did you get in here? Where are my guards?" the bard asked.
"Afraid they're either getting their asses kicked outside or being scared by my friends invading your tower." Gengar said.
"Oh, that's not good. That's not good at all." the bard said. "Guess I better help my men."
"Yeah...not gonna happen." Gengar said. "I'm not letting you leave this room til the others arrive."
"Oh, sorry, but I don't need to leave." the bard said, strumming a few strings on his harp, causing the air in the room to start churning. "It's nice of you to try and help your friends, I admire that. But I have a friend I have to find, so I need to win. Nothing personal."
The winds started to condense into a tornado, which shattered the windows of the bard's room, allowing the disaster of nature to escape outside and start descending to the battle below.
"No…" Gengar said, looking down. "Friend huh? I can relate. I was a pretty crappy friend too and this body is the price I had to pay for that. But...hurting everyone out there isn't gonna make them wanna be with you!"
"Normally, I'd agree." the bard said. "But the girl who took me here said that her power could reunite me with my friend as long as I went about ruling this city with the power she gave me. She said her boss would find such an angle...entertaining for the others."
"Entertaining?" Gengar said. "What the hell are you guys even talking about anymore?!"
"I don't know, honestly." the bard said. "That girl just gave me this harp, brought me here, and told me to rule the city. I'm not sure why they want me to do it, but I'll do it if it means I can see my friend again."
"So it's all her, and you ain't guilty of nothing. Shifting the blame, huh?" Gengar asked.
"Well, I'm still the one doing these bad things, so I wouldn't say I'm innocent." the bard said. "I guess the why really isn't important to you if people are getting hurt, so… looks like we can't see eye-to-eye here. Looks like it's time to fight."
"Yeah...looks like it." Gengar said as he launched a Shadow Ball at the bard.
The bard played a quick melody on his harp, lifting himself up in a wind spiral to avoid the attack. Another tune produced six arrows made of wind that aimed at the Ghost-type Pokémon.
"Those arrows are magic, by the way." the bard said. "They can probably hurt you, so… I'd avoid getting hit." the unnamed musician said as the arrows launched towards Gengar.
"Oh...that does sound like a problem...least for a normal person." Gengar said as he phased through the floor as the arrows just hit the floor.
"That's right. He can phase through solid objects. Now where did…" the bard said before being licked by Gengar, who poked out from the sidewall.
"Now you're in a lick of trouble." Gengar laughed.
"Ugh…" the bard said. "Lick… I hope it doesn't have any ill effects…" the musician said as he shook himself off. "Let's try this, then."
The bard strummed another piece of song on his instrument, creating a green magic circle where Gengar was poking out. After a second, a burst of wind shot out from the circle, forcing Gengar out.
"Now you're in the open, so let's try and keep you there…" the unnamed bard said as he ran his fingers over all the strings of his harp, creating a vacuum in the middle of the room which created a pull that covered the entire room, the bard being forced to brace himself to keep himself in place.
"Hmm...wow...you've covered all your bases here." Gengar said.
"So...anything to say?" the bard asked.
"Just six...What the hell took you guys?" Gengar asked.
"What?" the bard said before looking to the door to see Scott and his party. "Oh...you were just buying time weren't you?"
"Eh...what can I say? Part of being a ghost and all." Gengar said.
"Sorry we're late. Traffic was awful." Scott said.
"Gengar never meant to defeat you. He only wanted to make you focus on him so we could have enough time to come straight to your office." Legolia said.
"I'm glad he was." Kazuma said. "Because this room is WAY too high up in the building. Do you know how many flights of stairs we ran up to get here? Speaking of which, the elevators are out of order."
"Okay, I'll take care of that if I get the chance." the bard replied before he began to strum his harp. "For now, though… I guess I have another fight to finish."
"It's you who's finished." Matthew said, igniting a fireball in his left palm. "Scott, I'll follow your lead."
"You got it, Matt. Let's take this guy down." Scott said.
Scott's group and the bard stood silent, across from each other before the heroes charged, the final fight beginning.