Darkness condensed around Lucas' body, reducing the fierce winds it created in favor of dropping a dense pressure in the sparring area. For Jay and Nina, it was difficult to stand upright, and a powerful chill crawled throughout their bodies. Kora was seemingly alright, though. Lucas' crimson gaze remained on Kora as he walked towards the Zoroark.
"Once I beat you, I'll be the strongest there ever was! I won't lose to you!" Lucas said, a vicious snarl on his face. "I will NEVER lose to anyone ever again!"
"Hey Jay, remember when I said it wasn't safe for you guys here?" Kora turned towards the Grovyle. "It still is, but like… I'd really appreciate the help."
"I wasn't planning on leaving anyway," Jay said, forcing himself to keep standing.
Nina tried to do the same, but ended up having to use Jay's shoulder to support her. "Me neither!"
An ear-shattering roar rippled through the air, causing Jay and Nina to cover… where their ears would be. The darkness around Lucas grew stronger, as did his flames. "STOP IGNORING ME!"
In the blink of an eye Lucas was right on top of Kora. Two hefty punches struck Kora in the back. Another would have landed on the back of his head, but Kora was quick enough to catch it. With little effort, Kora tossed Lucas back towards the lake.
"Yowch! That, uh..." Kora blinked, rolling his shoulders. "Huh…"
Lucas caught himself before he hit the ground, sprinting back to Kora as fast as he possibly could. Black electricity trailed behind him. Embers of darkness burned through the air. Razor sharp claws were aimed for Kora's throat. The fox's ear twitched seconds before Lucas reached him, and just like that, he was gone.
"What?!" Lucas growled, looking around frantically.
Hardly a moment later, Kora reappeared next to Lucas, facing Nina and Jay. "Actually, nevermind. It might be best if you guys left."
"STOP TAUNTING ME!" Lucas quickly slashed upwards, but all he felt was the air sliding past his claws. Kora turned to the side, evading the attack. Fury began growing in Lucas' chest, signaled by the increase of smoke coming from his mouth. "LET ME HIT YOU!"
A black Flamethrower roared from Lucas' maw, exploding on Kora's body. The ground shook. The pressure in the air fluctuated. Thick, heavy smoke clouded around Lucas and Kora.
"Kora!" Nina cried out.
"Lucas you have to stop!" Jay yelled.
As the smoke settled, Lucas was… alone. Kora had vanished again? With a snarl, Lucas looked for his opponent, more and more darkness burning from him. "Where ARE you?!"
"Actually, actually, I think I have an idea," Kora said, suddenly next to Jay and Nina. The two jumped, wondering how he even got there. "I'll keep him busy, and you two wait for my signal, alright?"
"Ok. Signal for what?" Jay asked, getting a smug grin from Kora.
"You'll know when you see it. Try not to get hit, alright?" Kora said, facing Lucas again.
"There you are!" Lucas fired another black flamethrower at Kora. The blast landed right at Kora's feet, creating a smokescreen. Seconds pass, and Lucas comes running through the smoke. He slashed at Kora's chest, this time actually hitting and slicing fur off the Zoroark.
Kora shoves Lucas away, not paying his injury any mind. He aims his paw at Lucas, firing a quick incinerate at him. It was enough to stun Lucas for a second, just long enough for Kora to get on the other side of him.
"Get ready you two!" Kora shouts, waving at Nina and Jay. "I'm almost ready!"
Lucas stomps his foot on the ground, slightly cracking the floor beneath him. "I said STOP THAT ALREADY! I'M your opponent! STOP IGNORING ME!"
Darkness explodes around Lucas, darkening his scales even further. Kora, as if suddenly realizing what was happening, gets back on all fours and prepares to move out of the way. Fortunately, he moved. Unfortunately, Lucas moved him. Very painfully. With his fists, no less.
"O-Oh..." Kora sputtered, rolling from Lucas' strike. He held his side, wincing. "Oh shit…"
Lucas didn't let up, already in front of Kora again. He threw out a punch. Faster than Kora could react. In an instant Kora was at the edge of the lake again.
"I-I know I just took back what I said, a-about you two leaving," Kora panted, slowly lifting himself up. "But now you guys really gotta go."
Jay and Nina didn't exactly know what was going on, but it suddenly got a lot worse. That much, they could easily tell. Instead of retreating, like they were told, both ran to Kora's side. Lucas didn't seem to notice them at all, luckily.
"No can do. In fact, I have an actual plan," Jay said. "He's gunning for you and you alone, right Kora?"
"Seeing how I'm unsure if I can feel my jaw right now, I'd say yes," Kora stood back up.
"All you need to do, is not get killed. Nina and I can handle it from there," Jay nodded.
"Jay that is easier said tha-" Kora would have finished his sentence properly, but thanks to Lucas rudely lodging his fist as far into Kora's gut as possible, he instead choked on his words. And probably a smidgen or two of blood.
But this was fortunate, as Lucas still didn't even notice Jay and Nina. Nina took this chance to hit him with a strong water pulse, and Jay grabbed Lucas' arm and slammed him on the ground. Nina helped Kora off the ground, who thanked her with a strained, high-pitched voice.
"He's basically blind right now, so as long as he doesn't care about me or Jay, we can probably knock some sense back into him!" Nina said cheerfully.
"RAAAH!" Lucas' voice seemed to shake the very earth. He was back on his feet way quicker than Jay expected, pushing Jay to the ground as he barreled towards Kora.
Kora pushed Nina behind him, then blocked Lucas' claws with his arms. That was a terribly painful mistake. "G-Gahh! Dammit that hurts!" He shoved Lucas back, planting a firm kick on the Charmeleon's chest. Unfortunately, his leg was grabbed. "I hate this. I really do."
Just before Lucas could use his advantage, another water pulse hits him in the snout, dazing him for a few seconds. Kora quickly kicked up, striking Lucas' snout. With all the might he could muster, Kora slammed his heel back down, right onto Lucas' head. Jay and Nina both winced slightly.
"What keeps hitting me?!" Lucas held his head, noticing the steam evaporating off his body. "What is this?! What did you do?!"
"You guys are making him angrier!" Kora yelled. In the short moment it took for him to say that, Lucas fired another black flamethrower. Kora had to match it with his incinerate, but he was quickly overpowered. Kora was launched back, skidding a few feet along on the ground. "It just keeps getting worse."
"YES!" Lucas pounded his chest triumphantly. "Now start taking this seriously and fight me! Fight me so I can get stronger than you!"
"Why would I wanna do that?" Kora groaned, getting back up. His knees threatened to buckle, his body already worn out from so few attacks. "I would love to just have a break, and then go on from that break for more than five minutes."
Lucas approached Kora with a confident grin on his snout, confident in his victory. "I can imagine the look on everyone's faces when I tell them I beat you! They'll finally stop looking down on me, and my friends! We'll be the strongest team there is, and I'll be the strongest on the team! The strongest… me!"
"What is killing me gonna prove other than you going crazy?" Kora asked, taking a step back.
"If I beat you, the one everyone can't shut up about, then I'll be the one no one can shut up about! I'll be so much stronger! He promised, I'd be the strongest! I have to be… I NEED to be!" Lucas laughed.
Kora took another step back, nearly falling into the lake. "You don't need to be anything, especially not strong. All being strong does is get you roped into stuff you don't wanna do. Like right now, I'm stuck between fighting you and dying."
"What? Scared of losing?" Lucas said, chuckling. "That's too bad, 'cuz I'm not gonna let you give up! I'm gonna win fair and square." The Berserk Charmeleon held his head back, a swirling mess of dark flames forming in the back of his throat. Kora probably should have moved, but figured he should wait until whatever Jay and Nina were planning was done.
Any second now.
...
Aaaaaaaaany second now...
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kora!" Nina said, blasting Lucas relentlessly with water pulses. Lucas choked on his flames, which Kora helped by throwing a hardy punch.
Jay leapt over Lucas' head, a faint white glow around him. He swiftly struck Lucas with a kick to the head, then spun around and kicked him in the chest. He had to land on all fours, such acrobatics weren't something he was quite used to yet, but it worked nonetheless! Lucas was on the ground!
"That was pretty cool, guys!" Kora snickered. "I dunno if that did him in, though."
"It should have done something. Lucas can take a hit, but not from all three of us," Jay said, confident.
"Oh... maybe I shoulda put more force behind that punch," Kora sheepishly replied.
Jay let out a sigh, readying to fight again. "Lucas! Are you back to normal yet?"
"G-Gahh… Nghhhh…" Lucas groaned, holding his head. "No, this isn't fair… This isn't FAIR!" More darkness burned around his body. "I had him! I was winning!" He looked up, locking eyes with Jay. "...You…"
"It's me! You can see me, right?" Jay asked, smiling. "We were so worried, we thou-"
"Zen… Of course it had to be Zen! I was SO CLOSE! I had him, but you HAD to show up!" Lucas snarled. "I'LL BURN YOU BOTH TO CINDERS!"
Jay's face dropped, this took a mighty turn for the absolute worse. Lucas unleashed a larger flamethrower than before, and with how close Jay was, it was a miracle Kora moved him out of the way in time. The blast hit the ceiling, raining large chunks of stone onto the battlefield.
"RAHH!" Lucas roared, throwing himself at Jay. Kora lifted Jay up and tossed him to the side, both evading Lucas. "STOP THAT! THIS IS A FIGHT!"
"I don't want to fight you, Lucas! Please, calm down!" Jay pleaded, that white glow coming back to him. He nimbly dodged another of Lucas' attacks. "This isn't like you!"
"What do you know about me, Zen?! I hate you worst of all, you look down on EVERYBODY! You think you're so tough? Then FIGHT ME!" Lucas gnashed his teeth, missing two more attacks on Jay.
"I'm not Zen, it's me! Jay! Your friend!" Jay said, trying his hardest to keep that glow on.
"Lucas, please!" Nina cried out. "You're gonna get yourself hurt!"
Unfortunately, Lucas still wasn't aware of Nina. Now he wanted nothing but to get rid of Jay, even Kora was an afterthought now. Lucas slashed and bit and burned at Jay as much as he possibly could, but Jay was able to evade most of it. With Kora's help, of course.
"Just let me win already! You can't beat me!" The darkness around Lucas got thicker, lashing out at Jay. "I win! MY WIN! I'M THE STRONGEST THERE IS!"
A whip of darkness lashed Jay's chest, sending an intense cold throughout his body. He let out a pained cry as he fell to his knees. Lucas ran towards Jay, a manic smile on his face as he aimed to finally beat him.
"Dark Pulse!" A powerful blast of dark energy launched Lucas away, coming from a now furious Kora.
"GAHHH! That's right, I almost forgot about you!" Lucas fired another large dark flamethrower at Kora, but it was cancelled out by another dark pulse.
Kora stood above Lucas. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm winning!" Lucas laughed, more darkness lashing out at Kora. They whipped at his body, slicing off fur and even drawing blood. Kora jumped back, but wasn't fazed by the attack. "I win. I WIN! I WIN!"
Nina, having grabbed Jay, looked over at Lucas. "Lucas, please. Snap out of it."
Lucas hesitated for a second, the darkness around him wavering. Kora dashed in, bashing his head against Lucas'. With another hefty punch, Lucas was back on the ground.
"Like, honestly, it'd be best if we stopped this right here, Lucas. You won, I give up." Kora held his hands up.
"Wh-What? Are you mocking me?!" Lucas growled.
"No, actually. I could not care less about this fight. I could not care less about why you want to beat me so badly. But you're starting to hurt your friends, and I'm trying not to kill you," Kora said bluntly. "If you keep this up, you're friends are gonna get more hurt, and so are you."
"M-My… friends..?" Lucas muttered, looking at his claws. "My friends…"
"Yes, your friends. The ones right over there, trying not to beat to death by-"
"You…" The air grew even colder. Lucas held his head up, a new kind of fury on his face. "Don't you dare threaten my friends…"
Kora closed his eyes. "Oh, my god."
"I WON'T LET Y-" Lucas was about to fire a flamethrower at Kora, when he suddenly stopped. His body dropped like a rock, and the only sounds he made were choked screams. The dark aura vanished in an instant, returning Lucas back to normal.
"Th-The hell?" Kora stepped back. "Lucas? What happened?! Hey!"
"Lucas!" Nina and Jay both run to their friend's side. Jay reached for Lucas' arm, but reeled back at how ungodly cold he was.
Kora quickly lifted Lucas in his arms and sprinted out the chamber, not wanting to waste any time. Jay and Nina watched as he left, wanting to go with him, but one of them just didn't have it in him to move.
"Go on, Nina, I can rest up on my own," Jay said, holding his chest.
"We don't know what's gonna happen to you after that aura hit you. He'll be fine, but I don't know about you," Nina replied.
"Please, he's probably worse off than I am. You really should go and make sure he's fine."
"But what about-" Nina was hushed by Jay shaking his head.
"I'll be fine, I just need a minute. Honest."
Nina looked into Jay's eyes, gently letting him go. "If I come back and you also go crazy, I'm beating you myself."
"I'll try to hold you to that," Jay chuckled, sitting down. "Or maybe I won't, I don't like getting beat up, honestly."
Nina rolled her eyes, speeding off after Kora and Lucas. Jay hated the cold feeling surrounding his body, but he could be worse. He shut his eyes and laid back, hoping the cold would pass soon.
"Lucas got hurt!" Kora shouted as he barged into the infirmary. He placed Lucas in a bed and turned to leave.
"He went berserk?" Tia asked, catching Kora just as he stepped out the door.
"I-uh, yeah. How'd you know?" Kora tilted his head.
"I'll explain after I'm done with Lucas, but for now, go get the others," Tia said, waving Kora off. "Please, hurry."
A mix of fear and worry hit Kora almost as hard as Lucas did, but he did as he was told, dashing out the room without hesitation.
Tia held her paws over Lucas, a pink glow covering them both. She winced at the cold coming from the Charmeleon, but didn't pull away. It was hard to tell his condition, but from the vacant look in his eyes, it wasn't hard to guess Lucas was in danger.
A moment or two after Kora left, Nina arrived. She immediately went to Lucas' side. "How is he?"
"He's holding on better than I expected," Tia said, only saying half of the truth. "What exactly happened?"
"We found Kora in the sparring area, and Lucas wanted to fight him. Kora beat him, and well… he kinda snapped. He broke that box Jay had and the same thing that happened to you happened to him, but…" Nina tapped her chin. "It was different, somehow. His scales got darker, and his flamethrower changed color too."
"That doesn't sound too good," Tia sighed, the pink glow around her growing further. "I'll do the best I can to help him, Kora and the others will be here shortly."
A silence fell over the three, and after a couple long moments passed, Nina stood back up. "I have to go check on Jay. He got hit pretty bad."
"Why didn't you bring him with you?" Tia asked, still focusing on Lucas.
"He insisted I go on without him. He isn't anywhere near as busted up as Lucas, but…" Nina held her elbows. "I-I have this feeling I shouldn't have left him." She quickly left the room, hoping that feeling was wrong.
Tia took in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "Even these kids are getting roped into this. I wish I could do more than just healing now. Dammit."
Nina found Jay right where she left him, putting her worries to rest. "Oh thank Arceus, you're alright?"
"Were you that worried about me? You left like, a minute ago, didn't you?" Jay chuckled, standing back up. "How's Lucas?"
"Tia said he's doing better than she thought he would. That he's still 'holding on,'" Nina said, frowning.
"That bad, huh? But we know he'll pull through. Lucas isn't the kinda guy to stay down for long, even from something, well, he probably shouldn't." Jay rubbed the back of his neck.
"You mean like the time you pushed him off the ship on our trip here? During that wicked storm?" Nina crossed her arms.
"I bumped into him, i-it was an accident…" Jay touched his clawtips together nervously. "Besides, he made it back on board! After I was thrown off by the captain. And we were both drowning for a few mi- ya know what let's stop reminiscing."
"Alright, fine. We should probably head on back anyway. Everyone's meeting up again, probably because this is the second time someone went crazy inside the guild," Nina motioned for Jay to follow her, who happily obliged.
They were far enough into the tunnel to see Kora and the others arriving at the infirmary. Nina and Jay waved to them and started to pick up their pace.
"Man is it nice to see you guys again! For some reason," Nina laughed. "We've got a lot to fill you in on, assuming Kora didn't already."
"Oh yeah, I think I forgot to do that," Kora shrugged, sliding into the infirmary. "Whoops..."
"Of course he did. I presume it has something to do with that spike of energy we felt? Much like Tia's when she went berserk," Zen said "Was it that Charmeleon friend of yours? Lucas, is it?"
Nian nodded. "Yep. He and Kora duked it out for a bit, and Jay and I helped but… all that really did was get Jay hurt."
"It's better than all of us getting hurt, isn't it?" Jay chuckled. "Besides, I'm not the injured guy we should be worried about right now." He nodded his head towards the infirmary, at Lucas specifically, who was unconscious and being tended to by Tia.
The infirmary was obviously not intended to have so many people inside it, but it'd be awkward to have the larger 'mon standing outside. Jay and Nina stood by Lucas' bed, watching Tia work. Kora, Minerva, and Rio sat on one of the empty beds. Nate and Zeke were still on their own, with Jax standing beside it. Z and Eva stayed by the door, and Zen was leaned against Tia's desk. Kora, Nina, and Jay explained what had happened, going into as much detail as they could about the fight with Lucas and everything that happened just before that.
"So a dark fruit isn't involved at all? This is-" Zen began, looking at the others' faces. He barely said anything and already fear was etched onto them. "-quite the development."
"How can you be so sure? He might've eaten one a while ago," Rio said, turning his head to Nina and Jay. "Did he?"
Jay shrugged. "Hard to say. I still haven't seen one myself, and while I doubt Lucas would have eaten a strange berry without telling us, he's been more reckless before."
"Besides, Outlander, they just said Lucas went berserk because of some… box," Zen sighed. "How did you miss that?"
Rio rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Oh, uh, right. Sorry."
"I would appreciate it greatly if you did not waste our time, Outlander. This is a serious issue, and if you cannot find it in yourself to pay attention, then don't participate," Zen said, cold as steel. He took a deep breath and faced Jay again. "Now, do either of you know where he got that box?"
Jay suddenly clammed up, holding his elbows and keeping his eyes off of Zen. "I-I, uh…"
"We found it on the way here from the cafe," Nina quickly chimed in. "We didn't know what it was or how it got here."
"Uh-huh, th-that's right," Jay nodded. "Just s-some strange little box, that's all."
Zen's eyes narrowed, looking between the Grovyle and Frogadier. "... Jay."
"Eep!" Jay jumped and quickly tried to correct himself. "I-I mean, um, yeah?"
"Where did the box come from." Although it was a question, Zen's tone made it sound more like a demand.
"We honestly don't know where it came from, Zen. There's no reason to grill him over it," Nina said defensively.
Eva stepped forward. "Yeah, it might be best to step off it, Zen. He might not be knocked out like Lucas, but he's still hurt. I get the feeling that getting hit by that aura is gonna do a lot more than just hurt."
"True as that may be, I want to hear Jay answer me," Zen said, keeping his eyes on Jay and Jay alone. "And if I am recalling things properly, I believe Jay himself had a box in his claws when he regrouped with us in the Cafe. Is this true?"
Beads of sweat trickled down Jay's forehead, and he swallowed whatever had built up in his mouth. "I-I… D-D, uh, um…" Jay wiped his forehead and started to breathe heavily. He felt uncomfortably warm, and knowing he was getting stared down didn't help at all. Everyone was staring at him, of course they were! Was it always so stuffy in here? And cramped?
"D-Don't… wanna," Jay finally spoke. The room grew deafeningly silent.
"...Pardon?" Zen blinked.
"Don't wanna…" Jay lowered his head, rubbing his arms.
Another moment of silence. This time, it was broken by Rio. "You don't wanna… say anything?"
"Don't wanna…" This time Jay shut his eyes and turned away from the others.
Zen's gaze snapped to Nina. "Explain."
"He gets like this sometimes when he's overwhelmed. I think it's safe to say he's been through a lot today so, um, please stop being so hard on him? It's not something he's all that proud of, if you couldn't tell," Nina said, clear as day. Almost as if she had practiced this before.
"Hmph," Zen huffed. "Not what I had expected of him, but I understand. I do find it interesting that you seem to be handling this perfectly, Nina, but I digress. If Jay doesn't want to tell us why or where he found that box, for whatever reason, then so be it."
Jay let out a faint sigh of relief, which must've been the exact wrong option as Zen again redirected his cold stare to Jay. The Grovyle tried to hide behind Nina, but that didn't do him much good.
"I would like to remind you, just like I reminded the Outlander, that this is no time for childish nonsense, Jay. I thought better of you, more than most of the pokemon in this room," Zen said, disappointment and anger clearly in his tone. "What we need is information, Jay. Your friend has already suffered because of that box, and you trying to hide it from us will only cause others to suffer as well."
Zen's voice rattled Jay to the core, causing his knees to shake, threatening to give out. Did it get even hotter? Stuffier? It was getting difficult to breathe with how stuffy everything was. "I-I'm s-sorry."
Zen stood up straight. "If you're sorry, then tell us the truth."
The others didn't know what to do. Obviously Zen was taking this too far, but he had a reason to. And Jay was clearly hiding something that might be useful to them. A sensation of deja vu crept up Nina's back, and she started thinking about what to do. The best thing to do might actually just be to tell the truth.
"Yes, the box is the same one Jay had, and he told us he found it in storage," Nina admitted. "But that's it."
"Clearly, that isn't, seeing how that doesn't explain how opening it caused Lucas to go berserk," Zen shook his head. "We are losing enough time as is, so please, Nina, let Jay speak."
"Look, Zen, I know we need to know everything we can, but we already said what we needed to-" Nina began, but was cut short when Jay suddenly grabbed onto her shoulder. "Jay? What's up?"
"Hot…" Jay muttered, wiping his forehead. "Too… hot…"
Of all the things Jay could have said, that certainly wasn't one of them.
"Too hot… way too hot," Jay panted, pushing past Nina. "I… I gotta... go."
Rio tilted his head. "That's a bit much, maybe just have Nina hit you with some water or something?"
"Also, it's still pretty damn cold," Minerva added from the comfort of Kora's mane.
Jay didn't seem to care about what anyone else was saying, heading straight for the exit. He suddenly got worse; large beads of sweat formed on his body, his leaves went limp, and he swayed as he walked. "Need, cold. Too, hot…"
Zen tried to stop Jay before he left, but right as he touched Jay's body an unbearable chill shocked his system and he reeled his hand back. "What the hell?! He's freezing!" The others, again, had no idea what to do. Zen gritted his teeth, slamming his not-freezing fist on the desk. "Can any of you at least try to do something?"
Everyone looked at each other, then back to Zen and shrugged.
"Zen if you can't touch him, why would any of us be able to?" Eva asked, moving out of the way as Jay stumbled out the door.
"I…" Radiating irritation, Zen let out a sigh. "Then follow him. Whatever. I don't care."
Jay's lungs burned with every breath; he felt like he was suffocating. Everything burned, his body was on fire, the stone felt like it would melt his scales and torch his leaves. Unbearable didn't even begin to cover it.
'You're burning… Find the cold… Save yourself...' echoed in Jay's head as he shambled down the hall. It wasn't his voice, but he didn't care. Everything hurt. Everything burned.
"Too… hot…" Jay scratched at his throat, trying to take something off that he wasn't wearing "Burning… h-help…"
Watching Jay from behind, unable to do anything to help, was just about everyone else. Nina was the closest to him, but a bone chilling air seemed to form around Jay, keeping them away.
"Why is this happening to him?" Nina asked, lowering her head. "Why Lucas? Why my friends?"
The sadness in Nina's voice caused Rio to wince and his ears to drop. "I don't know, but we'll help them anyway we can."
Zen was about to say otherwise, but decided against it. "Just watch Jay for now, we'll figure out what to do with him later."
Jay continued down the hallway, getting worse and worse with every step he took. The walls seemed to warp and bend in the "heat", only making it harder for Jay to walk straight. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. He just had to get away, away from the heat, away from the pain.
"Please…" he muttered, then randomly stopped. He turned his head, eyeing a corridor laden with crystals, leading to one stone door. It looked cold. It looked safe. A gentle breeze flowed over Jay's melting body, granting him the chill he was searching for.
"F-Finally, yes..! I'm gonna make it!" Jay exclaimed, throwing himself towards the door. He clambered over the crystals, uncaring of when they dug into his body and sliced his skin. What was a bit of blood shed when his salvation was right there? "I'm gonna make it!"
Jay threw himself at the stone door, a refreshing chill surging through his body. It was a bliss he had never experienced before. Better than any pastry at the cafe, or a day at the beach, or ice cream on a hot day. Well, it was like that last one but amped up to eleven.
"This feels so good," Jay sighed, then blinked. "W-Wait a second… Where am..?" He turned around, seeing his friends looking at him like a crazy person. "Guys?"
An awkward silence took its place over them once more before Nina broke it. "Jay why did you come all the way out here?"
"I… I don't know," Jay said nervously. He looked back at the door and shock filled his system. "Th-The stone door? What am…" Something popped into his mind. A voice. A familiar voice.
'Thank you very much, my friend,' it said. A chill rose within Jay, a bad chill. A very bad, very familiar chill.
"O-Oh no," Jay gulped. "What have I done?"
"What do you mean?" Zen asked, cautious. "All you did was act like it was sweltering inside and come out here."
"Exactly," Jay said, looking at Nina. All she needed was that look to understand. Jay messed up, big time.
The sound of footsteps started echoing down the hall, coupled with claws scraping against stone. As the footsteps got closer, an ominous humming was heard over the footsteps. Nina and Jay looked like they just watched someone die, and Rio, Kora, and Zen felt some odd sensation wash over them.
"Who is that?" Zen said forcefully. "Reveal yourself!"
As soon as they had come, the footsteps stopped. Rio and Kora's ears flicked to the side, and they instantly snapped their heads down the hall. There stood a tall, red wolf, with piercing pink eyes, large black claws, and a sort of spiky mohawk.
"It's a pleasure to properly meet you all. My name..." the Wolf said with a bow. As he raised his head, he shot Nina and Jay a toothy grin, chilling them both to the core. "Is Lee."
Zen, Rio, and Jax stood between Lee and the others, with Zen in front of them. "Why are you here," the Bisharp asked, ready to fight.
"The 'why' doesn't matter. Just now that I found what I was looking for, and you have Jay and his friends to thank," Lee laughed. "Speaking of, as I no longer need him…" Lee nodded his head over to Jay. The Grovyle was swaying back and forth, his eyes were heavy and struggling to stay open. He tried to say something, but couldn't get a word out before he fell on some of the crystals, out cold.