A cacophony of noise fills the ground floor of Baron's Monster House. Crowds of mons gather in a big group that splits into small circles, a few stragglers here and there. A lonely sign hangs from the flat's door, a crude "no entry" symbol placed onto it. The mission boards drown in requests of hastily scribbled rescue requests, apparently all from this week. As luck would put it, Team Harmonious Hope sits smack dab in the middle of the crowd. Sia glances around, doing her best to suppress a humongous yawn. Meira's running late with their lattes and hot chocolate, likely caught in the morning rush. Flint stands on the tip toes of his hind paws, barely able to peek over the crowds. On days like these, he wishes he evolved into Braixen.

Flint puffs his cheeks. "Dang it, she's caught in the early-bird herd."

"Huwaaah...Why'd I have to get up for this?" Sia ruffles her fur as she yawns, pinching her eyes together. "Hate getting up early. It's too cold."

"Baron's got something important to share! I reckon we'd better listen, considerin' the condition Peaches and Courage are in. Better safe than sorry, Sia!"

"I guess." She lies on her tummy, flopping her tail onto the ground. Mons around her take a few steps back, making Sia huff. Even for a skunk mon, being reminded of her odor is depressing.

As Flint's hind-legs wobble, he spies a blip of yellow fur mowing through the crowd, carefully holding up a tray of drinks. Meira still sports a brutal black eye and sores, but rest seems to have done her well. Flint's bushy tail blasts away several twigs that fell from his fur as he sits, smiling. A heavenly aroma of vanilla lattes clashes with the hardy deluge of hot chocolate-y goodness between the three drinks Meira carries. A few mons in the crowd turn their noses, while another small group skitter towards the exit, heading directly to the café.

Meira phews. "Sorry 'bout the wait, y'all! Y'know how it gets at Granny's in the mornin'." She places the tray down and plops herself down sloppily next to Flint.

Flint gently reaches for his latte, checking the temperature of the drink with a tiny sip. Though he keeps a straight face, the sugary goodness of a morning latte melts his sleepiness away. "Aww, hush up, Meira. We're grateful! Bet it feels nice to move around some after all that restin', huh?" He gives a warm smile.

Little sparks erupt from Meira's cheek pouches. She always appreciated Flint's caring tone, even if she found it equally irritating most days. "Sure does! Pretty soon, I'll be ready for dungeons again! Don'tchu let me forget, I owe you a favor, Flint~" Meira felt like scooping up Flint into a hug, but restrains herself to a tail bump and some cheek nuzzles.

"Hey!! C-cut that out, we gotta pay attention." Flint's ear fluff frizzes from Meira's playfully sweet tone and her sparks. Flint jabs her with his snoot, trying to get her to focus. Early mornings are usually spent barely leaving bed, consumed by warmth and drowsiness. But for Flint and Meira, their lattes aren't the only thing helping them stay awake. Neither mon notices the other's burning red cheeks, adoring the extra affection they shared. Eventually, they settle on leaning against one another, ears raised.

Blind to the antics of her team, Sia nabs her hot chocolate and wears a goofy grin.

She tries a big swig. "Ah! Hot hot hot..." The molten liquid dribbles down her cheeks. Hoping nobody noticed, Sia inhales deeply, and tries to cool her drink with her breath. After a few exhales, she drinks a big gulp of chocolate. She slurps loudly, nearly taking the cup down with the drink! She doesn't care if it makes her look depraved. She doesn't care if her scarf now has drizzles of mocha through it. Most of all, Sia doesn't care that she's making a scene, not until her cup's empty. Sia doesn't care because chocolate's her favorite.

Not a moment sooner, Baron and Salsa approach the crowd from the stairwell. Scattered mumbles peter out as the crowd splits to let the pair through. Baron appears dapper as Mr.Rime often do, but his festive smile is missing. A hard, almost empty frown sits under his mustache. Likewise, Salsa does not dance, nor does she make an effort to draw the audience's attention, the lack of movement doing that well enough. Baron and Salsa stand in front of the mission boards, their expressions sharp and stern. Baron clears his throat.

"Good day, everyone! Apologies for the morning kerfuffle, but we have been informed about something quite drastic. Take a look at the mission boards, everyone." Baron points his cane, which the sea of eyes followed. Droves of pages detailing attacks droop and spill from the outlaw board. Over a few days, a few complaints manifested to near emergency levels. "Right, notice the increase in outlaw pages? According to recent reports, there appears to be a group of blokes running amok in nearby dungeons. Likely attempting to muddy the good name of rescue teams such as ourselves, it appears these ruffians call themselves 'Punchline'. Salsa?"

Salsa, in Baile form, chimes in: "Some of our mons have been sent on quests to catch outlaws, only to be ambushed at the end of dungeons. Therefore, we've deduced that these missions are actually challenges instead. Additionally, it seems these requests are written by Punchline members themselves. Though they cannot join us here today, I can share the experiences of those attacked by Punchline." She retrieves a page from her hair-feathers. "One victim describes as such: '…They didn't seem like threats, brah. Just some wack outlaws, until one of them used something they called "Reality". That's when things got weird.' These outlaws have access to an undocumented technique that causes strange effects to those afflicted. From the cases witnessed, this includes extreme night-terrors and something similar to sleep walking, except the victim remains awake."

Sia's tail blooms, recognizing a bit of the victim's tone in the words they used. So, Courage got caught up in that junk? Serious business if a seasoned dungeon explorer gets rattled like that, she thought. Sia puffs out her chest fur, determined to visit Courage sometime. She wants to hear the full story for herself...and to see if Courage is okay. Strength means nothing if she doesn't know what she may be up against.

Salsa's voice echoes across the ground floor. "We have statements from another mon whose experiences are similar. This victim states: 'Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Totes ruined a good mission fighting those Punchline guys. Especially the Miltank. Her strength and her rhymes are something awful!' This mon also states that former members of our housing appear to be working with these outlaws, targeting members that reside here. To maintain safety, we will discuss the matter with those targeted in a private manner. We ask that any teams willing to track down these outlaws exercise extreme caution."

"Quite right. Stay sharp, lads and laddies! Twiligleam city trusts our rescue teams to keep it safe, and we intend to keep our promise! Ta-ta for now!" Baron give a hearty chuckle as he and Salsa exit, returning up the stairs.

The crowd of mons start small mutters that roar into full debates on the announcements, concerns thrown left and right. Who are these mysterious outlaws known as Punchline? Why are they attacking random mons if they intend to target a specific few? What kind of devastating attack is Reality?

Meira places a paw on her chin. "Say, Flint, didn't that last mon sound kinda like Peaches? That 'Oh my goodness, oh my goodness' part."

"Yeah, you're right! Matches up with how roughed up she is," Flint frowns. "And those mons that used to live here, workin' with outlaws? Ain't nobody moved in a long while, 'cept maybe-" he caught his tongue, glancing over at Sia who had fallen asleep. He covers the side of his snoot with a paw. "Tuff and Buff!"

Meira raises a brow and smirks. "Y'think so? If we run into those boys, we'll teach 'em a lesson again! 'Specially after what they did to Peaches! Nobody lays a paw on my best friend!"

"...Gosh, we can't keep this from Sia. She'll find out on her own eventually." Flint scratches an ear. "What I find most strange is that attack they spoke about...Reality. I ain't no expert on all the different techniques mons use, but I've never heard of that."

"Me neither. It don't even sound like an attack."

Both Flint and Meira's scarfs begin to glow. Flint feels his neck tightening, but lost in thoughts, he goes back to drinking his latte. Meira's jaw drops, but she stops a gasp from escaping with a misplaced Flint-twig. He pretends to not notice, but Flint eyes Meira's erratic movement until both of their scarfs abruptly return to their usual emerald and juniper. It's that power again…what's makin' it surge like that? We ain't in any danger or anything, Flint ponders.

Before Flint or Meira can comment, an apparition of Salsa appears before their eyes. The Oricorio now displays Sensu form, phantasmal as can be. Her once burning red feathers became a soothing lavender, barely visible within her Ghost-type aura. "Excuse me. If you two are not busy, Baron's requested you both stop by his office for a chat. We have intel that the pair that used to live here are specifically targeting you two."

"Oh! We ain't doing anythin'." Said Flint. "We can head up there, but we gotta do one thing first."

Carefully, Flint inches over to Sia, her snores eclipsing random conversations from other mons. She snuggles her empty cup of chocolate like it would grow legs and run away if she gives it any freedom. Flint reaches a paw out, and misses. Almost sensing the presence, Sia rolls onto her back, wiggling around until she snores again. Flint jabs her exposed tummy with a paw. Nothing. He tries again, quietly calling to her between every few jabs. A small groan, but nothing else. Meira begins to charge electricity into her cheek pouches, ready to wake her with an "active" approach. But as Meira goes to Nuzzle, her legs feel weak. She remembered what happens if you scare a Stunky.

Salsa floats idly. "Uh…I will meet you two in his office." She flutters away, disappearing into nothing.

"Yo! Flint, Meira!" A chirpy voice calls out. Flint and Meira turn to see Sriracha and Bolt heading towards them. "How've things been? And where's Sia?" Said Sriracha.

Flint's eyes lock onto Bolt, noticing his battered body. Bolt limped as he walked and seemed to have trouble standing. His rear fur had apparently been ripped away and his stubby furless tail hangs low. He looks like tumbled down a mountain with how scuffed he is. What in the heck happened to Bolt? Flint furls a brow, keeping his thoughts to himself. "Howdy, Sriracha, Bolt!" He points to the sleeping Stunky. "Sia's right here, sound asleep. Methinks the hot chocolate helped her with that. We've been trying to wake her up."

Sriracha adjusts her glasses and leans in close, noticing the chocolate strewn about. She backs up as she squeals. "Aww, that's adorable! She reminds me of Courage when he was younger!"

"Younger? He still eats things like that, bro." Said Bolt.

"We'd love to stay and chat a while, but Meira and I need to run some errands. We didn't wanna leave Sia here like this...It's kind of a big ask, but can y'all try and wake her? She sleeps. Heavily." Flint winces.

"Bruh, what a coincidence! I was coming over to ask Sia if she wanted to hang out, so that'll make things easier!" Said Sriracha.

Meira squints. "Lemme say this: don't scare her. If you do? Well…can't say we didn't warn ya." She waggles a finger as she and Flint walk away. They give one last wave as they begin ascending the stairs.

"So...how do we wake her?" Sriracha furls a brow.

Bolt begins building up energy. "Same way I wake up anybody. It never fails, heh."

"W-what!? You're gonna shock her? That's literally scaring somebody awake bruh!"

"And you yelling isn't?" Bolt's energy shrinks, but continues circulating. "Nah, just a little buzz is enough. Like static, bro." A long smile creeps across his face.

Sriracha facepaws. "Thunderbolten, I worry about you sometimes, you know that?"

"It won't hurt her!"

Sia rolls back onto her tummy, a strange frown paints her face. Her tail moves like it has a mind of its own, curling and wavering as she tries to comfort herself. Sriracha and Bolt jump back, fur shooting towards the sky. They sigh as Sia begins to snore again. And yet, the frown doesn't leave. Whatever she dreams about isn't pleasant.

Sia sneezes. She is back in the void of everything and nothing all at once. The Mew duo float in from above, smiling at Sia. But their noses scrunch as they arrive. Even in a dream, Sia's chocolate binge is a sight to behold with how much of it ended up anywhere but in her mouth. Moving her paws like ocean waves, Roots summons a Bubble Beam, blasting away the mocha gunk from Sia's fur and face. Sia tugs at her scarf while glancing around at nothing. She felt like a child.

Seemingly unbothered, Branches raises a paw. "Greetings, Sia," he speaks in a similar tone to Flint.

"H-hey." Sia responds.

Branches eyes Sia's appearance. His slender tail moves attentively as he thinks about how different Sia looks after a few weeks. Her fur no longer stands on its ends much, and her usual frown feels a little softer to look at. He couldn't decide if something had changed in Sia's life, and did not want to pry.

Branches sighes. "We apologize for our absences...and for our prophetic visions falling into place. The two of us agreed it would be ideal for you to heal before we visited once more. How are you feeling, Sia?" He smiles.

"O-oh, you mean…?" Sia blinks twice. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Glad to hear it, puddin'!" Roots' voice echoes, the Meira-ish tone ringing in Sia's ears. "Say, it looks to me like your new team's treating ya well!"

"Yeah, I guess so. It's weird, it feels like I'm being taken care of by my team."

"Regardless, we are glad to see you are doing well. As usual, there is a reason we are contacting you." Branches' smile fades. "This is difficult to explain, but we ask you to keep an eye on Meira."

"Meira?" Sia tilts her head.

Roots' cheerfulness peters as well. "Call it intuition or somethin', but we feel Meira's in some kind of trouble."

"Should I warn Flint? He'd probably know what to do more than me."

"I'm not sure that would be wise. Who would you cite for that information? Few mons would believe that you have been having conversations with Mew like us." Branches shakes his head. "Besides, it appears he is aware that something is off. Likewise, Flint is in similar trouble, so it would be great if you can pay attention to both of them."

"Uhh, anything specific to look for?"

The two Mew glance at once another, seeming to gather their next words carefully. Branches' closes his eyes, gathering energy into his paws. With a swift move, he projects a silhouette of Flint and Meira in front of him. He points towards the heads of the silhouettes. "Occasionally, try to peek at their eyes. That could be a method."

Sia scratches an ear. What the heck...they know a lot about Flint and Meira. And why did he say eyes like that? Weird, Sia thought. "Okay. I think I can do that, at least."

"Many thanks, Sia." Said Branches.

Suddenly, Sia's tail puffs. "Now that you mention it, I did notice Meira acting strange once. One night, I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd find some way to get sleepy. When I opened my room door, Meira was coming down the hall. Her scarf was glowing, and her weird root thingies were wrapped around her. I almost didn't recognize her. She didn't even notice me when she came in, she just went to her room and quietly closed the door."

Both Mew's eyes swell. Roots fidgets. "She didn't say nothin'? Any noise at all?" She floats closer and closer to Sia with each question. "Where was Flint? Did she go back to normal?" Roots' words are rapid and jumbled.

Branches places a paw on Roots' head. "Roots, calm down, please. You are babbling." He turns back to Sia. "U-um…can you keep a closer eye on Meira, especially if she appears different like you've described?"

Sia steps back. If Mew get scared, something must be off. "Just Meira?"

"Yes. Whatever Meira is doing is potentially a danger to every mon. I know that is not sufficient, but it would be difficult to explain."

"B-but…"

"PLEASE." Roots yells.

"What in the world!?" Branches gasps.

Sia jumps back. Before she can respond, the world around her began melting into a pure white. Left with a million questions, Sia sighs. The world began to rumble back and forth...

Bzzt!

Sia's fur spikes up, her tail blooming from surprise. Feet pattering away in spades is all she hears before she can react. Sia's eyes shoot open, a purple-ish liquid splashed around her in a messy circle. The lobby is nearly empty, the sounds of stomping paws becoming quieter and quieter. Sia rubs her eyes and sits up. She looks around, and notices two mons standing several feet away, paws over their noses. Great…hmph, Sia huffs in her thoughts. The two mons approach Sia.

"I think I'm gonna be sick, bro..." Bolt whines.

"Never. Static. Electricity, bruh! When has that ever been a good idea anyway!" Sriracha cringes.

Sia stands up, ruffling her flattened fur while yawning. She notices the chocolate that on her face is gone, but pays no mind. "Uhh...sorry. But you should know: Never scare a Stunky. Ever." She frowns.

Sriracha and Bolt uncover their noses, careful not to offend their skunk friend. Sriracha sits in front of Sia, but eyes her after realizing she no longer had chocolate all over her face. Sriracha shrugs it off, assuming Sia licked it away. "Without pointing paws, we kinda learned the hard way, huh?" She chuckles. "It's nice to see you, Sia."

Sia stumbles, but follows suit. "N-nice to see you too. Where did Flint and Meira go? They're used to my smell."

"They're luc-I mean, woah, bro. They're tougher than they look." Bolt poorly hides his annoyance. "They went to run some errands. Hey, you don't look busy..." He grins, his jagged tooth catching Sia's eye.

"Guess not."

Sriracha's fluffy tail dances like embers. "Then how about you come hang with us at our place? I've been wanting to catch up."

Sia gives a wiggly smile as her tail curls. Her thoughts are clouded by the Mew and their vague request of what she should look for in her team. The duo almost make it sound like Flint and Meira are major threats to mons around them. However, Sia remembers the weird form Meira had that one night, and how...different she was acting. Maybe there is something bigger to what the Mew hint at. Still, Sia sighs, wondering about how strange it is that the Mew want to guide her, out of all mons.

Another thought creeps into her mind as the Eeveelution cousins loom over her with wide smiles. Hanging out with some different faces for once sounds nice, but Sia also wanted to see a certain somebody: Courage the Vaporeon, the mon who swept her away from the battlefield that awful day. Sia didn't like the idea of being rescued like a "princess" yet again, but since that day, she thinks of Courage every so often. She thinks about his gentle voice, his weird gelatin-like body, and his cute smile that made her fur feel all frizzy. Sia tugs her scarf, not wanting to disappoint. "Oh, uh...s-sure, sounds fun."

"Awesome! Since it's early, you can stay over as long as you want! ...Unless you do that." Sriracha points towards the scent-circle.

Sia feels like telling her to shut up, but settles for huffing. "I won't. Just don't scare me."

"It's a deal, bro." Bolt shakes his head. "That stuff's mad powerful, I wonder if I could learn something like that."

Sriracha rolls her eyes. "Oh boy, here we go..."

"What, you telling me that wouldn't be a kick-butt technique? Like, some kinda finishing move? Or a strong first impression?" Bolt's mind wanders into an arena.

"Not a bad idea..." Sia mutters.

The three mons laugh together. Eventually, Sriracha waves a paw, signaling Bolt and Sia to follow her towards the stairwell. Sia waddles behind the cousins, hoping they don't notice the red emitting from her cheeks. As they begin climbing the stairs, Sia snorts, trying to not notice Bolt's flimsy furless tail.

"Oh yeah, Sia?" Sriracha turns.

"Y-yeah?" Sia giggles.

"Not to be embarrassing, but I didn't know you liked chocolate that much, bruh!"

Sia gasps, learning that somebody watched her binge that heavenly drink. Her tail blooms as she follows the Eeveelutions. "I-I hope the janitor has a strong nose."

Notes: Fleshing out Sia's infatuation with Courage is kinda fun. I imagine Sia as the type to have crushes, but is afraid to ever pursue them because she thinks they'll hate her skunky odor. Going back to revise personalities is nice too, alongside retroactively adding relevant plot stuff that was vague/hinted at here is nice too.

(Old Notes) Breather chapter! Though it's never been specified and probably never will be, I do want to clarify that Sia is younger than most of the cast. Not by a large margin, but enough that plenty of Mons (Flint, Sriracha) tend to act like older siblings for her. There are sides of Sia's personality that have yet to be revealed, but have been hinted at so far. And don't you worry, the glowing scarfs will be given properly focus soon enough.