Gardevoir then walked out of the office, leaving the couple by themselves. She didn't think she'd get so upset at something before but the way they acted made her snap. If her inference was correct, it appeared that they had fallen into poverty, probably due to poor financial decisions or gambling, and couldn't get out for a while. Wasureru wasted the money they did have, not that Bojuku was innocent. That 300000 Poken jacket remark was telling enough.

Hearing all of that and seeing them actively blame their own kin for what was essentially their own mistake made Gardevoir feel horrible. Like a millionaire hearing their best friend struggle just to make it through the week, she felt like her happy family life was a sin. Her parents loved her and supported her no matter what she did. Two sisters who pushed her to be a better person and a better hero. The Venn diagram between the two families was two separate circles and she couldn't help but feel spoiled in the worst way.

Hoping to distract herself, Gardevoir began to look through the bank for exits. As much as she wanted to try and resolve this peacefully, Higaisha still had a high-powered shotgun that could effortlessly tear through flesh as though it weren't even there. Her priority should be trying to get everyone out of here safely. But she couldn't be careless. If Higaisha found her, heaven knows what he might do in this state. As such, she constantly looked over her shoulder as she explored the oddly labyrinthine halls of the bank like she were in a crime-ridden city, on edge and praying that she'll leave okay.

Perhaps the logic was that criminals would waste time trying to map out the place which would allow the authorities to arrest them. For Gardevoir, this just made things more confusing and even more terrifying. But she pushed through because there were innocent people in danger. Eventually, she found an emergency exit. Someone else had apparently already found this door, as a Cofagrigus stood in front of the door. He looked back and snapped his fingers at her charmingly,

"Hey, you're the greenhorn's PR gal, right?" Gardevoir was somewhat put off by that statement, so she responded,

"No, I just want to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."

"That's neat. Your Garchomp friend told me to scout the place and find an exit. And here it is," said Cofagrigus.

"Indeed. Too bad it's in this mess of hallways."

"That might not be such a bad thing."

"Why is that?"

"Cause say we get everyone out of there. He's going to realize that his leverage has vanished and started looking for them. This spaghetti architecture might buy us some much-needed time, which is exactly why he should've scouted the place beforehand," explained Cofagrigus. Hearing his perspective, Gardevoir could only hmm in response,

"I suppose that is an advantage."

The sounds of muffled yelling then erupted through the halls. Gardevoir and Cofagrigus looked at each other and realized something had gone horribly wrong. Immediately, Cofagrigus sank to the floor and Gardevoir sprinted as fast as she could, hoping, no, praying that no one was hurt. As she turned each corner of this maze of hallways, Gardevoir braced for what could be a horrific scene. However, it turned out to be even worse than a negotiation gone south or an over eager hostage hoping to escape but got caught.

The Oya's had left the office and had approached their son once again. Both parents took turns berating Higaisha with seemingly no regard for how dangerously close they were to killing themselves or someone else. Higaisha appeared to be terrified, backing away as Wasureru and Bojuku followed him step-for-step. Everyone in the room all collectively realized just how severe the situation was. At any moment, Higaisha could snap and fire the gun, most likely hitting not just his parents, but bystanders as well. Gardevoir couldn't let that happen.

Sprinting, she put herself in between both parties, snapping her zip tie as she outstretched her hands.

"STOP!" She screamed in peril. Bojuku was done with the niceties and snapped at Gardevoir with the same fury she had with her son,

"I've had enough of you playing the hero! Get the fuck out of my way!" but Gardevoir held firm. She looked towards Higaisha and pleaded with him,

"Don't do this. Please. I'm begging you, you don't have to do this. It's not worth it!"

"What do you know?" yelled Higaisha, his voice quivering, which only further frightened every person in the room. At this point, Gardevoir finally said,

"I know about the money."

Higaisha froze. How…How did she know? He then looked up at his parents and frowned subtly. She probably heard it from them complaining like they always did. Sighing with the acceptance that she now knew about that part of their life, he then wondered what she would say. Guess the more appropriate question would be: how much did she know? Would she just blindly assume things about him or had his parents arguing told her every detail?

Gardevoir gave him a moment to collect himself before talking to him.

"I know about the money. I know that your…guardians always pushed you to fix it. But you don't need to steal."

"What choice do I have?" Higaisha said desperately, "Everything I do, everything I ever want to pursue in my life. They shoot it down!"

"And I get that. But look at this, look at the chaos that has unfolded today. Look how many people you've put in harm's way."

"See! You couldn't just get a good-"

"Could you please be quiet?" seethed Gardevoir. She turned around and yelled into both his and Bojuku's face,

"YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM! You keep saying that you were stuck and that you needed to leave. But you kept blaming him.

"If he had gotten a good-paying job," Wasureru argued, "We wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Or you'd waste the money doing whatever it is you do to waste it," countered Gardevoir. Evidently, that statement struck a nerve in Wasureru, for he remained quiet. Bojuku then mocked her husband,

"I told you blackjack wouldn't get you anywhere." However, Gardevoir was having none of it,

"Don't pretend that you are any better?"

"What are you getting at, you slut?" hissed Bojuku. Gardevoir stared daggers into her and told her what she meant,

"If you were struggling so much, and you were so furious at your husband for spending the money he was making, then why would you make the problem worse? If he's telling the truth, then you are no different then he is." With that condemning statement, Bojuku appeared to become flustered. Her rage boiled over as she roared at Gardevoir with the fury of a rabid animal,

"HOW DARE YOU?!" That piercingly loud scream echoed throughout the bank, making everyone listening in to cringe and attempt to cover their ears. Wasureru then took his turn,

"Well, he's still a loser because he's here with that gun."

"I'M ONLY HERE BECAUSE OF YOU!" screamed Higaisha. Both Wasureru and Bojuku immediately fell silent. Gardevoir looked to see Higaisha lower his weapon, tears beginning to well up in his eyes, "I just wanted you to stop! To stop arguing. To stop yelling at me for being worthless! But every time I found some passion that I love, you'd knock me down! Can't you get it into your heads that I don't want to spend my life doing something I hate! So I tried to rob the place. It was quick, and you guys would finally leave me alone!"
"So you completely fine with leaving us in that trash heap!" snapped Bojuku, who was quietly silenced by a chillingly quiet Gardevoir.

"Of course I'd help you. Why do you think I'm here now? To help you! But I don't wanna be a doctor. I don't wanna be a lawyer, or a sports star, or whatever pays the most. I wanna live my life! Let me live!"

"It was never your choice, Higaisha," seethed Wasureru.

Gardevoir then turned to Higaisha and yelled at him,

"It's your choice now! Can't you see what they're doing to you?" Higaisha then backed away, trying to process everything being said. It was too much. Gardevoir had made so many good points, but these were his parents. He couldn't bring himself to burn the bridge.

THUD!

All four of them looked over and their hearts froze. An Oranguru collapsed onto the floor. Several hostages screamed in panic as Garchomp yelled out in a panic,

"SOMEONE GET HELP!" At that moment, Higaisha's morality took over. He then yelled out the window to the police,

"SOMEONE JUST PASSED OUT! GET AN AMBULANCE!" The cops, who at this point were growing increasingly anxious, suddenly spit out in surprise. However, the police acted quickly and started contacting emergency services.

Higaisha then rushed to Oraguru's side. His lack of experience in the medical field left him unable to do anything but panic. Worry rapidly grew within him like a plague. What was this, a heart attack? Stroke? Seizure? He came here to rob the place, but he didn't want to kill anyone. Freezing like a deer in headlights, Higaisha just stared at the unconscious Oranguru before him.

While this was happening, Garchomp stood up and silently ordered everyone to start running to the back. Cofagrigus led the way. As for Ariados, he had positioned himself in front of the door that lead into those hallways, ready to block it off to prevent Higaisha from following. As everyone quietly left, Garchomp ran towards Gardevoir and whispered to her,

"We need to get out of here! This is part of the plan. He's faking it." however, Gardevoir just shook her head,

"No, I need to be there for him."

"Gardevoir," began Garchomp, "I can't let you stay here! He's a criminal!"

"He's a victim of abuse! He needs help now more than ever!" she argued back quietly. Garchomp wasn't having it,

"Do you have any idea how many people he could've hurt today? He could've killed someone. He almost killed me!"

Gardevoir stopped for a moment. She couldn't bring herself to agree with what she said, but Garchomp was making sense. It was luck that the gun barrel was a few inches from Garchomp's head, luck that she wasn't blown into pieces. Even arguing that he didn't mean it meant nothing since that doesn't change anything. He still fired the weapon, and had he been a few inches closer, Garchomp would be dead.

But he was still a person. Someone who needed help. An act of pure desperation and a desire to be free led him here on this fateful day. In a way, she saw Infernape within Higaisha. She couldn't let him suffer for years.

Gardevoir stood her ground and pleaded with Garchomp,

"Trust me." Garchomp hesitated. Her heart and her mind were in two different places. Her heart wanted to let Gardevoir do her thing, but her mind demanded that she drag her out of there before Higaisha turned violent. She'd never had to make a decision like this in a situation this severe. But something clicked within her. Perhaps it was love, kindness or stupidity, but she acquiesced,

"I hope you're right," and escorted the elder Oya's out the back, just before Ariados sealed the path shut.

Gardevoir turned back around to see that Higaisha was on his knees, trying to shake Oraguru back into consciousness. She just slowly stepped towards him and asked him one final question,

"What happened? What started all of this?" It was a few moments before Zeraora responded,

"I…don't remember it well. I just know Mom and Dad were paying some guys for something. One of those guys showed up after the Crimson Sky Incident and demanded they pay the full amount. They…lost a lot that day." Hearing that, Gardevoir stood silent, absorbing what he said in quiet understanding. She asked,

"Do you know who it was?"

"It was a Gallade, I think. It's been so long. They fell behind on their other payments and that was when Mom and Dad changed." With the full story now revealed, the only thing that Gardevoir could say was,

"You know what to do."

Zeraora nodded silently. He then stood up and turned to face Gardevoir. To her surprise, he was crying. He suddenly lunged towards her and embraced her tightly. He completely broke down sobbing into her shoulder.

"Thank you!" He wept, "Thank you so much." Gardevoir simply rubbed his head and just told him that everything would be okay. No longer would he be held down by the dead weight of his cruel family. Now he could fly free like an eagle.

The police instinctively prepared to attack when they saw Zeraora. However, they saw that he no longer held his weapon. They lowered the guard and watched as he raised his hands in surrender. He was arrested within seconds. As he was escorted toward a police car, he looked back towards Gardevoir, who was being taken to an ambulance. Gardevoir simply waved him goodbye, knowing that she would never see him again. For while he came here to help and break free from his parents, he still came here and took hostages, tried to steal money, and destroyed property. She was optimistic but realistic.

A loud yawn then erupted from her left. Oranguru had woken up, much to the surprise and terror of the first responders carrying him to another ambulance,

"Well, that was a good nap."

Sceptile then ran towards her,

"What in the Sam hell happened in there?"

"Where were you?" asked Gardevoir politely. Sceptile then looked back towards the vehicular barricade around the bank's front entrance,

"I was out somewhere else, dealing with another situation. Anyway, what happened?"

"There was this poor man who felt the need to take the place hostage. Garchomp evacuated the hostages while I talked him down." Sceptile turned to Gardevoir with a look of surprise on his face. An impressed kind of surprise.

"You…managed a hostage situation and…no one was harmed?" he asked incredulously. Gardevoir meekly nodded before a rare grin etched across Sceptile's face. It was like a proud father watching his daughter accomplish something you didn't think possible.

"Gardevoir!" Garchomp yelled. Both of them looked over to see the dragon-type jogging her way over to them,

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Gardevoir just nodded before looking back towards Zeraora, who was being driven away to the station. Garchomp noticed the frown on Gardevoir's face and patted her shoulder,

"It had to be done. If anything, he'll probably recieve the help he needs from a psychologist in prison." Gardevoir then grabbed Garchomp's hand lightly and looked up at her,

"I know," she said, "But it'll be behind bars."

"It's really honorable of you to want help 'em, but when hair is in the butter, you have to do what's right. You saved lives today. Don't let a mans mistake hold you down," said Sceptile wisely. It was true. This was the best possible outcome, no one died, Zeraora was behind bars, he was no longer held down by the burden of his parents, it was perfect. With that perspective, Gardevoir took a breath and grinned.

She remembered what she found out earlier and she relayed that to Sceptile. Now knowing that the cult was heading towards Hydroton, they now had their next destination. All they needed to do now was find everyone else.

"What in the hell happened while we were gone?" asked Infernape. Both he and Aggron had managed to read every single scroll in those temples, keeping track of every single one. In their search, they found out that a few Darkrai scrolls were stolen, to no one's surprise. However, what was interesting was that there was one other scroll missing that had nothing to do with Darkrai. In that temple was in a collection of old elite families in Nihonera. Warriors, Diplomats, Noblemen, people of importance and their lineages. One of those scrolls had been taken. After going through every single one and with a little help from the internet, Infernape and Aggron determined the missing scroll was about the Ketsueki family. An old clan of warriors that has been around since the four island kings united the country. They were renowned for their efficiency and brutality. However, they fell into obscurity after an embarrassing defeat.

"Why do you think they took that one?" asked Infernape to Sceptile. Sceptile began to think, The odds of one of the cult members being a Ketsueki was low but not impossible. But even then, why this? Why that specific scroll out of everything here? Infernape scrolled through the internet to try and find the contents of that scroll, but there was nothing.

Aggron then asked Sceptile,

"So if Gardevoir and Garchomp were dealing with the hostages, then Ampharos was getting fitted for his outfit, is he still in there?" Just then, Ampharos walked in with a thundercloud pattern yukata. His eyes were glazed over as he exclaimed,

"They took a really long time. I didn't wanna say anything because I didn't wanna be rude."

"It's been like four hours, you should've said something," said Infernape. Ampharos just repeated what he said about being rude. That's when a certain someone gave his imput,

"Come on, Lighthouse. You gotta know when to grow a pair."

Everyone looked to see Gengar approaching them. They, of course, asked where he was during the bank. He simply explained that,

"Found this cool antique store. There was a CRT TV in there. Course, I'm not fuckin' carrying that so I grabbed this instead," and pulled out a knight's glove on his other hand. The group was surprised to see that,

"Wow, you got that at a antique shop?" asked Infernape. However, Sceptile still had more questions,

"Why didn't you hear of that nonsense with the bank and the kidnapper?" to which Gengar answered with,

"The walls were very thick, plus they had this super loud TV playing Saving Rivate Pryan on loop. I'dve left earlier if I didn't really love that movie. Anyway, what are we doing standing around? We've got a cult to catch."

As the group turned away and prepared to leave the city, Gengar smirked behind their backs. The knight's glove then faded into nothing for it was a mere illusion, revealing that his middle and ring fingers were covered in dried blood. How could he decieve his friends? He had his reasons, but to understand why he lied, we need to see what happened to that kidnapper Sceptile mentioned.

Earlier in the day, just before everything with the Oya family happened, Sceptile was talking to the locals about the cult, just like Gardevoir and Garchomp. Some excited fans approached him for autographs and he reluctantly obliged. He was never the biggest fan of autographing but it was part of the job. One of these fans was a young Snorunt boy whom held a little poster with Sceptile, Blaziken and Swampert. Clearly shy, Snorunt shakily handed the poster to the grass type, who smiled at the sight. He could never get mad at a child. The kid asked,

"Hey, Mr. Sceptile. Could-Could you sign my poster please?"

"Of course," replied Sceptile as he took a pen and signed his name.

Suddenly, someone threw some sort of powdery substance in Sceptile's face. He coughed and heaved as he inhaled the stuff but was able to see someone grab the Snorunt and book it towards the alleys. Quickly, he sprinted after him. But he couldn't just fire attacks all willy nilly. After all, there was a child there. He couldn't get a good look at the kidnapper but could tell that this was a Banette. Suddenly, the Banette turned around and summoned a massive toxic cloud, which blocked the path. Sceptile had no choice but to stop. He was about to evacuate the populace when a bird flew through the mist.

"Damn illusions," said Sceptile before he ran through the fake cloud of toxins. However, that small stop had allowed Banette to escape, but Sceptile wasn't giving up that easy.

In a dark dead end, Banette shoved Snorunt on the floor. Snorunt then pressed himself against the wall,

"Please let me go! I won't tell anyone, I promise!" he begged. However, Banette looked disappointed,

"But we're going to have so much fun! You don't want to miss out on all that fun, are you?" he then pulled a knife out from seemingly nowhere, "But first, I can see that you're broken. Why don't I fix you?" Snorunt used his big jacket to cover his eyes in fright as Banette got closer and closer.

"Cover your eyes, kiddo."

The kid peaked from his jacked for a split second and saw a purple hand poke Banettes eyes. He then covered his eyes again as Banette screamed out loudly. Then this horrible squelching noise, following the sound of something cracking, tearing and snapping, ending with these disgusting liquidly choking noises. He then heard someone fall onto the floor. After a few moments, Snorunt looked out from his jacket to see that Banette was sleeping on the floor, complete with a pillow, blanket, and a sleep hat. Still anxious, Snorunt approached the sleeping Banette and felt something wet underneath his feet,

"Don't worry about him anymore, he'll be asleep for a while," said a voice in the wall. Snorunt looked around for the source of the voice. But the voice just said,

"I'm not the stupid puppet dude, I'm not gonna hurt ya." However, Snorunt looked towards Banette and quietly said,

"He's asleep. Just like my mom."

The voice in the wall fell quiet. Snorunt stood there, waiting for a response. Then someone in the wall chuckled. The voice in the wall said,

"Go on! Sceptile's waiting for ya!" before bursting into full blown laughter. Snorunt anxiously walked away as his hidden savior laughed like a psychopath. His voice having this strange quirk that Snorunt didn't know how to describe.

Several hours passed. Sceptile was growing increasingly worried. The thought of having to find Snorunt's family and tell them that their child was missing or even worse, dead, weighed down heavy on him. However, that quickly changed when he saw Snorunt just walking around.

"What happened? Where's Banette?" he asked urgently,

"He fell asleep," answered Snorunt. That was strange. Immediately, Sceptile connected the dots and asked him,

"Who saved you?'

"The Laughing Man."

Confused, Sceptile asked the kid where Bannete was. Snorunt pointed back into the dense alleys. Sceptile then told the kid,

"Stay 'ere. The police will escort you back home" before storming off to figure out what in the hell was going on. Why would Banette leave…a…child…alone.

Sceptile had been a Senshi for nearly twenty years at this point. He had fought brutal killers and vicious warriors. His medical training forced him to bare witness to some horrific injuries. Gore that would leave a permanent mark on the mind.

He didn't have to worry about Banette anymore, just the memories of the crime scene before him.