Chapter 52: Team Nagi

Josh and Cross both regained consciousness after a few minutes. Josh sat by Adam's side with his head hung low out of shame for what happened. Meanwhile, here I was, trying to help mend Cross with Aromatherapy. Nolan and I had given him an Oran Berry to munch on to restore some health, though he seemed to be suffering from some faint dizziness from his concussion, which was why I wanted to help him as much as I could.

"How do you feel?" I asked the Gallade.

Cross could only give a pained laugh as he rubbed at his head. "Apart from the massive headache, I think you're helping out in a good way, Rose."

I couldn't help but feel slightly pained for his condition, trying to give my best smile despite how scared I felt. In fact, I had never felt so terrified before in my life. The mental image of Josh losing control of himself haunted me. But what really got to me was how despite how animalistic he was at the time, he still retained some consciousness to his own actions, like he was trapped within his own body.

I had assumed that something like this was only connected to the Black Mirror virus. But judging from Adam's reaction to the scene, I was wrong. He's also never seen Josh, nor anyone else, act like this before. The thought that this was exclusively a Josh problem was enough to make me worry.

I turned my attention towards Josh, who was perhaps the most shaken by this event. He was horrified beyond words. I got worried. What if this happens again? I thought. What if we weren't there to stop him? What if he never came to his senses at all?

But the one who seemed to be the loudest after what happened was Chris. He looked over Cross's condition with me and Nolan, at the very least relieved to see that he was alright. But the moment his sight turned to see Josh, I could tell that Chris was starting to become livid. He stood up, and walked over to Josh and Adam, a mean glare showing on his face.

"Herr Chris?" Nolan asked suddenly as he saw his teammate walk away. Chris didn't respond, so with worry, Nolan looked to me and said "I'll handle it from here. You've done enough, Frau Rose."

"Thank you," I replied with a nod. I soon finished using Aromatherapy on Cross, and went off to check on my team.

But the moment I was about to reach them, I saw that Chris was angry, and he yelled out "What the hell was that display all about!? Don't you realize you could've killed Cross if you continued your rampage!?"

Josh looked away from Chris, admitting to him "I had no idea this would happen, Chris. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? That's all you have to say?" Chris chastised. "Frankly, I think something like this deserves more than just an apology!"

"And what of it?" Adam stated, trying to be a voice of reason in this discussion. "Josh technically did nothing wrong."

"Don't you give me that crap. You know what you saw. You saw Josh acting without remorse! You tell me what you saw if I'm wrong!" Chris was waiting for a response from either Adam or Josh in this argument. But since this was something neither brother would've predicted happening, they had no idea what think. I felt a little sorry for them, and stood watching as Chris vented his frustrations. "That's what I thought," the Scyther argued. "You are just nothing more than a monster."

Somehow, that very trigger phrase prompted Adam to stand up on his feet and grab Chris by the scruff of his neck. His teeth were barred, and his eyes vicious. "Don't you dare talk to my brother like that," Adam warned with a growl in his voice. "He is not a monster."

This is perhaps the first time I've seen Adam's assertive side! Talk about scary. Adam looked to me like he could snap Chris like a twig to defend Josh in a heartbeat.

"Right, because the Incineroar should have the final say, is that it?" Chris retorts. "Because you two are brothers, that makes it okay to rule this out as just an accident? Well, I'll have you know, I've lost my own brother to a monster! He was the only thing I wanted to protect and all of that was taken away from me!"

"And how come!?" Adam yelled out. "He died! So that's all that needs to be said! Why don't you move on from that?! You can't be looming over the past, or you will go nowhere in life!"

This struck a chord with Chris, and he grumbled as Adam soon lowered him down. Chris took a moment of introspection, before he sighed deeply, and his anger abated. "I wish I could move on from the past, Adam. I really do. But my brother meant everything to me. You know the feeling just as well as I do."

Adam couldn't help but relate to that feeling. He looked rather uneasy, though he maintained a serious expression to show he's the one with the final say on this matter.

Chris soon confessed "After losing Zach, my brother, I've been lost, and afraid. It was because of Cross that I finally felt like I had someone I could be there for. He's like a brother to me, and I would fight and die by his side if I could protect him."

What Chris said that day was enough to give an idea of what was going on with that Scyther in particular. I've always found his attitude to be the one thing that seemed distinct within Team Calibur. Unlike Cross and Nolan, Chris seemed to be more of a renegade among the group. His no nonsense approach was enough to be inspiring to a degree, but could also be a double-edged sword that could bite back at him if he wasn't careful. I've never thought I would meet a man like that before in my life.

Chris soon grumbles a little to himself as everyone looked at him, before he sighed as he saw how much he might've gone a little too far with his argument. He relents, and says "I guess I did take that one step too far. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Chris," Adam admits as he directed his attention to Josh.

Chris could see that Josh was melancholic by what happened. With some regret, he walked over to Josh, saying "Hey, Josh? I'm sorry…"

Josh panicked and slapped away Chris's blade arm. This caught us all off guard, and Josh quickly got up without a word and began to run off into the woods by himself.

I called Josh's name to try and stop him, but he didn't seem to listen. Not wanting him by himself, I decided to run off after him. "Adam, you wait here," I advised to my teammate. "I'll go find him."

"Uh…right," Adam said while still surprised by Josh's actions. However, he was understanding and allowed me to go off and find him.

By the time that I ended up running into the forest, I tried to find out where Josh was at. However, given the size of the trees and how many there were, it was pretty difficult to keep track of where he may have run off towards. I was afraid I may lose him.

During the search, my thoughts drifted to how Chris spoke out of line like he did. Chris needs to learn to keep his mouth shut sometimes. This was perhaps the second time he vocally went against Josh. However, this seems different. Why did Josh react like he did? Chris knows Josh had no control of himself, and yet he hurt his feelings.

Okay, Josh running away all upset is weird, I admitted to myself. Usually, he'd never run off so suddenly. Was it something that Chris said that grabbed his attention?

Before I could figure out what Chris said that could've upset Josh, I soon had a particular thought stray into my mind.

Josh, as well as the rest of us, listened to Chris's sad story back at Chateau Damascus. Josh tried to be a voice of reason, to encourage Chris to move past his grudge for his brother's killer. "Well, since the killer is dead, there's no reason to think about him," he said. "I mean, after all, there's no point holding on to a grudge like that for…how long?"

"Three years," Chris answered.

"Right. Three years to hold onto a…" He paused, the look on his face suddenly turned into shock, and I couldn't help but take notice of how he seemed to know something that Chris didn't in that instant. Uneasily, Josh followed with "Um…just out of curiosity…what was the name of your brother?"

"Huh? I thought you said to let go of my grudge?" Chris asked curiously.

"I did. It's just that I wanted to share my condolences when I can. Pay my respects, and all of that." As I looked closely at Josh, he looked like he was feeling uncomfortable being in the same room as Chris in that instant. For the first time that I've seen him, he looked afraid, like he was hoping that what Chris said next wasn't possible.

Chris took a deep breath, accepting Josh's request as he described his brother. "My brother's name was Zachary Turner. His in-game avatar was a Beautifly named Flutterfly. He was 15 when he died."

I could tell that what Chris brought up terrified him, as he slowly leaned back in his chair. Josh's face looked like he's seen the end of his own life looming ahead, as he seemed close to a panic attack. He sighed deeply, calmly saying "I see… I'm so sorry to hear that."

To me, it looked as if Josh had just run across the grim reaper, ready to take his soul at a moment's notice if he wasn't careful. I didn't know what might've affected him at the time to cause such a reaction.

I then remembered a scene from earlier on, as Josh told me and Cross what it was that led to him and Adam to be trapped in this virtual world. "Three years ago," Josh described, "Adam and I ended up having a terrifying experience at school."

He told us about where he and Adam were specifically at the time. He described what happened with the killer that entered the school suddenly, and he how he rushed over to his brother's rescue. "Long story short, he soon reached the library, and worrying for my brother's safety, I rushed in there, and…" He winced as he realized he was close to admitting something to us, before he soon calmed himself down. Steadily, he said "I rescued Adam, and the student brandishing the knife was disposed of…"

I was taken aback by Josh's description of his own personal experiences. "You brought him down? Wow. That's really brave of you, Josh."

Josh lowered his head in shame, admitting to us "More like reckless of me…"

During our battle against Zeraora, Josh cried as Zeraora recognized what it was that was affecting Josh almost immediately, much to my and Cross's surprise. "Lucario… You've actually done something you regret, didn't you?"

Without warning, Josh looked more vulnerable than I could've expected from him. Cross and I were not sure what to make of this at first, but that didn't stop Zeraora from continuing his hypothesis. "You know exactly what I feel, don't you? A close friend, perhaps? Someone who you know would never betray your trust, and yet did something that you were being forced to stop from being set upon you."

…

"You know my pain, because you've done it, too, haven't you?"

…

"You've killed someone, didn't you? The face says it all. You killed a friend of yours."

After my fight with Rin, I professed my faults to Josh and Adam, breaking down into tears as I told them both. But as I cried, confessing my feelings to how I yearned to be strong for them, I could tell that Josh felt pained.

He looked up to the sky as Adam lifted me up in his arms. In a somber voice, he commented "That's weird. I wasn't expecting rain today."

"Rain?" Adam asked out of surprise, looking over the area to not find a drop of rain in sight. "But it's not raining, Josh." But as Adam looked over at Josh, it was very clear that Josh was crying.

I always thought he was sorry for me. Or maybe, my resolve to protect others despite how much life was bringing me down resonated with him somewhat?

What if…the tears weren't for me at all?

I stopped in my tracks as I quickly put the pieces together. Suddenly, it all made sense, and I realized why Josh acted out of fear in front of Chris. I know now what was happening with him.

"Oh God…" I mumbled, turning my sight towards the camp where the others were at, which was literally lost in a thicket of trees. I got the idea of what was going on.

Josh didn't just kill a friend of his and regretted it. He had killed Chris's brother.

I trembled as I thought about the implications, and I quickly began to think about how Josh must've been so terrified over what would happen if Chris found out about this. I felt terrible.

Just then, I heard the sound of a whistle in the distance, which ended up grabbing my attention. The melody sounded quite beautiful, and made me feel like I was calm and at ease. I followed the sound of the music, and soon enough, I found that the melody came from Josh, who appeared to be playing the leaf whistle. He sat on a log by a small pond, playing the leaf whistle as if he had no real fears or insecurities in the slightest.

I walked up to him, and the moment I was in sight, he immediately came to a stop. He looked rather surprised to see me, in fact. "What are you doing, following me like that?" he asked gently.

I sighed as I sat down by Josh's side. "I just didn't want you feeling lonely, that's all."

"I appreciate it, but you don't have to worry about me," Josh said with a smile. "I simply overreacted."

I wished it was as simple as Josh was saying. Solemnly, I asked him "Why do you do that?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Josh asked.

"Lie to yourself? Ignore the mistakes of the past? You're only hurting yourself by doing so." I slumped forward and mentioned "I found out about what happened with Chris's brother."

Josh looked quite shocked upon my discovery, but quickly began to feel bad for hiding this information, and began to feel a little sad. "Did Cross or Adam tell you?" he asked.

"I figured it out on my own. But why, though?" I soon began to start sobbing, before telling him "Weren't you and Zach friends? Why did you do it?"

Josh sighed deeply, staring off at the pond. He said "I didn't mean to do anything to him, honest. I wanted to help him. It's just that he looked so…terrified. Like he was afraid of being taken away. I didn't even figure out what was bothering him before…" He paused, lowering his head in shame. "Well…you know."

I looked at Josh with a sense of pity, asking him "Shouldn't we tell Chris the truth? Put all of this behind us?"

"I wish I could," Josh answered. He got up from the log and walked closer towards the pond. "But, the moment that Chris mentioned that he and Zach were brothers at Chateau Damascus, I panicked. It was like I had every part of my past come back to haunt me." He knelt down next to the pond, staring off at his reflection. "Chris apparently was looking for his brother's killer. If he found out it was me, then that's that. I'd ask him what happened, but I know for certain that he would figure out it was me in an instant. The only ones who know the truth are Adam, Cross, myself…and now you."

I stood up from the log and walked up to him, trying to do what I can to put him at ease. "Josh, Chris is going to find out eventually," I pointed out. "You can't hide from it forever."

"I KNOW!" Josh yelled in frustration, as he began to start shedding tears. "I know that Chris will find out eventually… But I can't tell him, because he'll end up going back to what led him to this game: to hunt down the man who killed his brother. He was motivated by revenge for so long, and I had no idea."

"Oh, Josh…" I knelt beside him, trying my best to calm him down. "Look, even if he does find out, we'll stay by your side to support you. You had no ill intentions. He'll understand. I'm sure he will."

"But what if he doesn't?" Josh asked me with worry. "What if he ends up trying to kill me out of revenge? I can't do that to you guys! Especially Adam!"

I got a good idea over how Josh was feeling, and I ended up deciding to sit by his side until he calmed down. I then told him "If he tries anything to hurt you, I'll come rushing in to your aid. You don't have to deal with this alone, Josh. You have your friends. You have…me."

Josh was surprised by my generosity. Actually, I was surprised by even myself. I had no idea what came over me, but the moment I mentioned I would look after Josh, I began to start feeling embarrassed deep down. I only saw Josh as a teammate. I didn't know why I was blushing. Wait, I'm blushing? Oh no! He'll misunderstand! I am not ready!

And yet, Josh placed his arm around my back, giving a smile to me as he brought me in for a hug. I could feel that he was calming down, as he whispered to me "Thank you."

I honestly couldn't help but smile back as I returned the hug to him. "Just promise me you won't run away again, alright? You're not alone in this."

Josh and I finished hugging, where he smiled at me and nodded to my statement. "Thanks, Rose. I won't run away. I promise."

"Real smooth, Chris," Cross mentioned to his teammate as he was helped to his feet. "You know, if I handed out a medal for good sportsmanship, you'd be hitting dead last."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Chris said apologetically to Cross. "It's just that…" Sighing, he mentions "I don't want to lose you, Cross. You're the closest thing to a brother that I have. You know that."

Cross stared at Chris for a good few moments, maintaining a serious stance with him. Still, even he couldn't help but show an air of support as he placed a hand on Chris's shoulder. "Hey, we're all a little shaken up, Chris. Not just you. I honestly don't blame Josh for what happened. We all know this was just an accident."

Chris sighed, looking a little bit sorry for his harsh words from earlier. "Maybe I have gone overboard a little." He then looked over at his arm, remembering how Josh slapped it aside, and he began to start thinking out loud to himself. "Still, that was no excuse to slap my arm like that…"

"Oh, Josh has always been squeamish around bugs," Adam brought up. "The chitin is what really freaks him out, apparently. He could never get used to how a bug's body tends to feel."

"Wh- Really?" Chris asked out of shock. "Josh is afraid of bugs?"

"Well…not like he used to. He found them fascinating again as he grew older," Adam added as he placed a hand on Chris's shoulder. "It's just that he's still facing an uphill battle with his fears, that's all."

"Oh, uh… Right." Chris soon relaxed a little, before saying "Does he hate Bug-type Pokémon, if that's the case?"

"No. He actually likes them. He just can't stand physically touching them, is all." Adam then gave an eye signal to Cross for a private chat.

Cross realized what Adam meant, before he happily said "Well, the moment that Josh comes back here, we should keep moving. Nothing to really be concerned about. I'm fine. Josh is fine. Water under the bridge!"

"Yeah. Yeah! You're right!" Chris started to smile again as he started to walk away from the group. "Will you be fine by yourself, Cross?"

"Oh, I'll be fine," Cross added with a smile. "A little head injury is nothing compared to what I've been through during tournaments! Besides, I've been meaning to talk with Adam to…put his mind at ease."

"Oh, alright," Chris said with a nod. "In that case, I'll see if I can help Nolan with cleaning up camp." He then made his way towards the Aegislash, leaving both Cross and Adam by themselves.

Cross chuckled as Chris flew off to Nolan's location on the other side of the camping ground. However, the moment Chris was out of earshot, he turned towards Adam with an air of seriousness, before whispering "Do you think he knows?"

"I hope not," Adam said softly. "We were cutting it pretty close as it is."

Cross sighed deeply at the circumstances they found themselves in. "I can't believe you had to drag me into this. He's going to find out sooner or later. Why not rip the bandage off and be done with it?"

"I can't do that to Josh. You know that."

"Maybe so, but we can't live on a knife's edge forever, Adam. Once he finds out the truth, then we're going to have to hope he doesn't go bananas and try to kill Josh out of spite." Cross looked rather perturbed about that thought, before admitting "I just hope it doesn't have to come to that."

Adam couldn't help but agree to Cross's words. Even he had no clue how long they could go on if Chris knew the truth. They could only deny the possibility for so long, and Adam is no real expert when it came to keeping secrets from what I've found out. He would tell me at a later time that the reason he made up the Josh fearing Bug-types excuse was because Josh did have a fear of bugs long ago. He doesn't mind Bug-types in the game, though. Josh was close friends to one of them, once upon a time…

But then, a scream could be heard as Cross and Adam turned to see that Nolan was suddenly attacked by a Kommo-o, who had him pinned down to the ground. "Hilf mir! Hilfe!" Nolan screamed as he struggled.

Chris tried to slash at the Kommo-o, only to then get swooped upon by a Brave Bird attack from above. Chris took the attack hard and was knocked towards the ground, while a Staraptor landed on top of him with wings outstretched.

"Chris! Nolan!" Cross yelled out, before he and Adam started to rush to their aid. But then, a Serperior slithered in out of nowhere and started to wrap around Cross, binding him in place, and taking advantage of his weakened state.

"Hang on, Cross! I've got you!" Adam stated as he rushed to Cross's aid with a Fire Punch aimed at the Serperior's head.

But then, his punch ended up getting blocked out by an Infernape leaping over Cross and the Serperior. Both punches canceled each other out, and Adam tensed up at the sight of the Infernape currently going against him. All the while, the Infernape smirked and managed to grab onto Adam's arm before flipping over Adam's head and subduing the Incineroar by bending his arm back.

Adam grunted as he tried to use Darkest Lariat to spin the Infernape off, but the Infernape saw this coming and managed to seize Adam's leg and force him to fall onto the ground. Adam was helpless against these foes as he saw them all hold himself, and his friends, practically hostage.

Just then, a slow clap could be heard as everyone's attention was drawn towards a figure emerging from the forest and into the clearing. As soon as that figure was revealed to be a Greninja, he stopped clapping, before saying "Well well. You must be Team Inferno…" He then noticed Cross and his team being held down, before correcting himself by saying "…and friends."

"Grr… Who do you think you are?" Adam asked bitterly. "When my brother finds out what you're doing to me, he will…"

"Your brother," the Greninja interrupted. "Yes, LucarioTrainerJ, if I recall. Funny, to see his older brother down on the ground, begging for mercy to the likes of me."

"Younger…brother…" Adam said through gritted teeth.

This apparently caught the Greninja's attention as he looked at Adam. All at once, the Greninja was no longer looking intimidating, but moreover confused. "Wait, seriously? You're the younger brother?" He then turned to the Serperior, before commenting "I always thought that the Lucario was younger. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Oi, I had no idea!" the Serperior said with the same disposition as the Greninja. "If you wanted an informant on this team, ask Kai."

"It was a simple error of judgement, that's all!" the Infernape (named Kai) said out of sheer embarrassment. "I didn't know!"

The Greninja sighed, rubbing at the temples of his head. "And here I was, thinking about convincing the younger brother to bargain with us. This is going to complicate matters…"

Adam was a little bit confused by their behavior, before he then asked "Who are you guys, exactly?"

The Greninja took note of Adam speaking to him, and knelt down to his knees so he could talk to him. "I'm a Greninja with good intentions, I promise you." He then placed a hand towards his chest, saying "My name is Ryutori."

"Ryutori?" Cross asked curiously. "That's an odd name if I've ever heard one."

Ryutori soon made his way to Cross, seeing him bound up tightly and unable to move. The Greninja soon asked "And…who might you be?"

"I'm the scourge of evildoers everywhere. The shining beacon! The flame of hope! I am…X-Glaive! THE WHITE KNIGHT OF FREEDOM!"

"Cute. You seem pretty high and mighty with yourself, but that doesn't exactly answer my…" Then, he managed to look closely at Cross, inspecting his face meticulously. "Hold on, you do seem familiar. Didn't I see you traveling with…an Absol, if memory serves me right?"

Cross was taken by surprise by Ryutori's question, as his eyes jolted open. "How did you know that?"

Ryutori smiled and stood back up onto his feet. "So, you are from Team Calibur. Last I saw of you, you were a little Kirlia. I guess you managed to evolve during your visit."

Adam, Nolan, and Chris all had the same question lingering in their minds. "Cross, do you know this guy?" asked Chris.

"I've never met this creep before in my life!" Cross admitted, still struggling with the Serperior's hold on him. "So, you saw one of my matches. So, what? Are you a fan of mine or something?"

Ryutori couldn't help but laugh at the notion, before he admitted "Actually, I was more of a fan of the Absol, if I'm being honest."

Each of Ryutori's teammates were all collectively agreeing to the same notion. And all at once, Cross's spirit seemed shattered by those very words. But, his momentary lapse of silent shame led to more arguing, where he demanded "If you know EbonySol, give him to me!"

"I would…but…" The Greninja soon sighed deeply, giving a look of pity towards Cross. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him in over a year. Not since the tournament."

Cross's hopes soon fell on the wayside from that news. Nobody could blame him, since all he's been doing was trying to find his friend in this world. However, that didn't stop Cross from continuing to struggle in the Serperior's grip.

"Look, I'll have you all know that we're not going to hurt you," Ryutori tried to reassure. "We're here to help you all."

"Who the hell attacks someone as a way of greeting people?" Cross asked in annoyance. "Only a moron would think of that as a friendly gesture."

You hypocrite! Didn't you already do that to me and Josh when we first met? Adam glared at Cross for a bit with that remark, before he then mentioned "Look, if you say you're friendly, then an ambush is no way to talk to people."

"Yes, I'm aware. But you see, I saw something off of the corner of my eye when I was on lookout duty in Esther. I was just making sure nothing went wrong for you guys." He then looked at Adam curiously, before calmly saying "Unless, you know something that we do not." He leaned closer to Adam, eyeing him suspiciously. "So tell me, Tora. Where did that massive explosion come from?"

Just then, the Kommo-o saw something flying through the trees at a rapid pace, before he then yelled "Hatori! Incoming!"

The Greninja soon turned his attention towards the trees, and saw something heading his direction. With a quick reflex, he kicked what was, in fact, a bone made of energy that Josh threw at him. Everyone gasped as Hatori kicked the bone staff into the air like it was nothing.

Just like that, several more of those bones were thrown at Hatori, and he was quick to either dodge, parry, or grab before tossing them aside. His reflexes were no joke. He was pretty fast. It didn't last for long, though, as Josh quickly realized that he was going nowhere with this guy.

As Josh emerged from the trees, he asked "Alright! Now, who the hell do you think you are?"

Ryutori smirked as he looked at the Lucario, before he commented "Please, LucarioTrainerJ. Indulge me. Don't I look familiar?"

Josh had such a perplexed look on his face as he was asked this question. "Can't say that I have. Why?"

"Let's just say…it's because of you, my brother is behind bars. You've dealt with a bunch of hackers in the past. I just so happen to be related to one of the ones you've arrested."

This only made Josh even more perplexed. "Do you even have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

Surprisingly enough, Ryutori was rather befuddled by Josh in that instant. "Wh- Seriously? Are you really sure I don't look like ANYONE AT ALL from your past?"

"Mmmm… Nope. Not a thing."

There was an air of awkward silence. For a moment, Ryutori actually looked rather distressed. "Does my brother really mean so little to you? That hurts, J. You've hurt me."

"Oh, wow! I-I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry!" Josh was trying to do what he can to fix this situation. What the hell is this guy's problem? Wasn't he just interrogating my friends a while ago? Where did his confidence go?

Ryutori sighed, holding up a hand and saying "It's alright. Really. I guess after all of the hackers you've dealt with specifically over the years, faces tend to blur more than anything." The Greninja smiled brightly, saying "But that's alright. My brother deserved what was coming to him, anyways. I'm actually in a position of thanking you, if I'm being honest."

"Then why attack us?" Josh questioned. "Don't you know that attacking someone as a greeting is the worst way of communicating that you're a good guy…CROSS!?" He emphasized Cross's name as he glared a little at the Gallade.

"A formal challenge! That was a formal challenge, and you know it!" Cross argued back at Josh.

"Look, whatever! What I'm trying to say is that we saw an explosion not too long ago, and came to investigate once we found out that you guys were involved." Ryutori soon looked at Josh with a serious, inquisitive look. "Now why don't you enlighten me? Care to tell me what happened, Wan-chan?"

"Don't call me that," Josh said with a growl in his voice.

"You don't even know what that means, do you?" Ryutori asked curiously.

Josh chose to just answer the first question instead of going off tangent. "Look, what happened was a simple training accident," Josh admitted. "You don't have to hold us down, because nobody is to blame for it. Nobody…" He sighed, before calmly saying "…except for me."

Ryutori took intrigue with Josh, nodding his head before saying "In that case, there's no need to hold everyone to the ground." He then held his hand up, ordering something in Japanese to his team, before they all collectively let everyone go. Josh soon ran to Adam's side, checking to see if he was alright, before Ryutori said with glee "Well, now I get to see the pair of heroes who took my brother down in the flesh. AND I don't have to die! Whew! Crisis averted."

By this point, Josh and Adam were a little curious. "You mentioned a brother, but we don't know who you're referring to," Josh said.

"Yeah. So, if it's alright with you, we wish to know what you're talking about," Adam added.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so? I just assumed you guys knew all of the hackers you've dealt with offhand." Ryutori soon cleared his throat, before he then pulled out a small card, handing it over to Josh. "Does this ring any bells?"

Josh took the card from him and looked it over. Adam looked over it as well, where he then said "Actually, now that you mention it, this looks surprisingly familiar."

"It should," Ryutori said with a nod. "There were thousands of these cards being distributed in Osiris, after all. Rumored to be handed out by a so-called Ishiro Kitano."

The mention of the name soon made Josh drop the card and caused both him and Adam to look at Ryutori with sudden shock. "Wait…" Adam said with surprise.

"So, you're…?" Josh started in disbelief.

"That's right!" Ryutori proclaimed. "That hacker you disposed of that day, Yubaba… I am his brother!" He then made perhaps the most over-the-top comical laugh that was the equivalent of someone mocking an evil laugh, much to Josh, Adam's, and even Team Calibur's befuddlement.

"And people thought we were eccentric," Chris muttered.

"Well, he seems to be particularly quirky," Nolan agreed.

"What a weirdo," Cross mentions out loud.

And with such comedic timing, Ryutori stumbled as he heard Cross say that. His laughter was cut off, before he then decided to make an introduction. "Well, if you must know, my brother's name is Nagi Ryuga. My team is named after him, in fact. We call ourselves Team Nagi."

The Staraptor bowed his head down in greeting. "HawkStar. Though, you may call me Shun."

The Kommo-o bowed as he gave his introduction. "I go by the name of Godo-mo. Call me Kyosuke, if you prefer."

The Serperior smiled and nodded his head. "SolSnek. My real name though is Toru. Pleased to meet you!"

The Infernape cupped his fist into his open palm before bowing down. "And my username is Wukong. Or if it pleases you, you may call me Kai."

Ryutori then bowed down and said "And my name is Ryutori. It is short for my full name, Hatori Ryuga."

And all at once, all five of them ended up bowing down with respect before greeting themselves together with "We are Team Nagi! At your service!"

Josh smiled as he gave a bow back in return. "Pleased to meet you."

"Uh, Josh?" Adam asked his brother as he tapped at his back. "Didn't Rose follow you into the forest earlier?"

It was there that Josh suddenly remembered my existence, and immediately said "Oh crap! I almost forgot!" He then rushed towards the forest entrance he arrived from, yelling into the trees "ROSE! IT'S ALL GOOD, NOW! THEY'RE FRIENDLY!"

Now, for those who were curious where I was, I had just received a DM from someone during Josh's interaction with Team Nagi. Much to my surprise, by the time that Josh confronted Ryutori, I had received a message from someone I never thought I would hear from.

The message was from Snipeard. Norman.

I groaned at the message, where I decided to give it a peek. This was what he wrote.

Hey. I was wondering if you are online.

I got annoyed, but I decided to answer him anyways. What do you want?

I heard you were participating in a tournament in Talis, and I saw your match. I'm sorry that you lost, Rose.

I sighed deeply, before messaging back to him. Norman, what are you up to?

He took a moment to type the message. I'm pursuing Zeraora, avenging Gabe like we were supposed to do together. Don't you want to team up so we can take him down?

I was conflicted. On the one hand, he was a skilled fighter. But on the other hand, not only did he hate Josh and Adam, but he seems to be pining for me to ditch them completely. I didn't want to leave them. Not after everything they went through with me.

I swallowed my pride, and typed in my response. Do you have any allies?

Norman was blunt with his response. No.

You're going to need some help. I'm on my way to Esther. We'll meet up there.

After a few more quiet moments, listening in to Josh's talk with Ryutori in the background, I couldn't help but take a peek as the latter seemed rather peculiar, especially given his rather quirky attitude. I smiled, thinking he wasn't all that bad, given how fast he made friends with everyone else. He even let my friends go after a small discussion, so he seemed fairly reasonable.

That was when I heard Norman finally DM me back. Alright. In that case, we'll mount the operation to take him down tomorrow. For now, just make it to Esther, and we can talk things over.

I was rather curious, so I decided to see if he was going to be cooperating with my demands. Do you promise that you will not harm my team?

Norman took his sweet time trying to come up with a proper response that would be alright for me to listen to. After a solid minute of waiting, all he came up with his response. That will depend on whether or not it's Team Inferno. If you ask me, you deserve better than them.

I sighed, thinking that unfortunately, Norman wasn't going to change. He really angered me when he attempted to kill Josh unexpectedly. His one-track mind was all about his brother, and how he didn't want to lose the only person left in his life that mattered to him. But the worst thing about it is that I understood where he was coming from.

Chris was going through something similar, and he doesn't know the truth of the matter at all. I got extremely nervous as I had to deal with not just one, but two people with serious problems that result in them lashing out at people who, in all fairness, didn't deserve it.

Norman soon sent another message as if I was thinking this exact thought. We should just talk alone, outside of Hotel Cascade. Don't bring anyone else.

Why, though? Norman, you're not going to make me join you if you continue blaming Josh and Adam for what happened with Gabe! What happened, happened! There's no changing it! So why don't you think before you act for a change and understand that I am not in the mood to talk in private!

Angry rant aside, I had to make sure that Norman got the message through to his head. If he continued this path of blaming others for their failures, it'll go nowhere. It wouldn't change a thing.

Four Days Earlier…

I reached the memorial site where fallen players were remembered to anybody who noticed them. The white roses that Josh and I had placed there before had stayed in place. I decided that I was going to go ahead and replace them with a fresh set of roses. The petals were white, but the wrapping paper for the bundle I decided to make red and blue.

I guess I decided to match the colors of the paper with that of Josh and Adam's spirits, and I didn't know what else to do for my little mementos. So, I decided to just go for a symbolic gesture for paying my respects to an old friend.

Once I set the flowers down, I made a prayer of respect for the dead players. I must've taken a while, because shortly afterward, I soon found that I wasn't alone with this prayer. "Whatcha doing, Rose?"

I turned to the source of the voice, and saw that it was Chris, surprisingly enough. "Oh, hi, Chris. Weren't you supposed to be training Josh and Adam?"

"During our break? Pssh! No, I don't want to overwork them. Even they need a breather every once in a while." Chris took note of the memorial site I was paying my respects to, and knelt down beside me. "What's this?"

"A memorial site for fallen players," I answered him. "Josh showed it to me. Apparently, Infernick wanted to pay his respects to any players that have died while trapped in this world."

"Huh. Is that right?" Chris overlooked the stone with the names etched on there, and he couldn't help but look over each of the names. "Anybody you know on here?"

"Just one," I admitted. "Mongoon. He was the reason I met with Josh and Adam…before he died."

Chris stopped himself from looking over the names, before he then turned his gaze over to me. He could tell I was a little bit sad. "Was it because of Zeraora?" he asked.

I nodded.

Chris sighed, saying "Well… When we get out of this town and find the cat, you can show him a thing or two, wouldn't you agree?"

I winced a little at his suggestion. "I wish it was that simple. I'm praying to hopefully bring guidance for Mongoon's brother."

"Brother?" Chris asked curiously. "Who's that?"

"Snipeard. He's an old friend of mine since middle school." I struggled to find the right words for him, but I took a deep breath, and said what was on my mind. "Josh almost got killed by him during our last mission together."

This surprised Chris. "Seriously?" he asked. "But Josh didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know! And yet despite everything that happened, he apparently is holding Josh and Adam accountable for his brother's death," I argued. "All they really wanted was to help. They had no idea that Zeraora was even out there, and they were willing to risk everything to try and rescue him!"

Chris couldn't help but feel awful for my experiences. He once again looked over the names on the stone, giving them a good look. He then admitted "Josh and Adam are good people, Rose. They've been through a lot, but they mean well." He seemed particularly transfixed by the names on the stone, where he mumbled "He's not there…"

I took notice of Chris's mumbling, where I asked him "What? Who?"

Chris sighed, admitting "I was looking to see if the name of a certain someone was on here. I can at least tell Cross that thankfully, EbonySol is still alive. Though, what's interesting is that despite Infernick mentioning…" He paused, wondering if it was right for him to say this lingering thought he's been having for a while. However, he instead sighed, telling me "Forget it. It's nothing."

Chris stood back up, before I ended up mentioning to him "Is something bothering you?"

He ended up staring at the stone, giving it a rather peculiar look. Calmly, he then asked "If you lost someone special to a monster, would you go out of your way to find them?"

"A monster? Like what?" I asked, standing up as I looked at him.

He then bluntly told me "I've had to deal with a horrible monster for years back home. He took someone I cared for. And all I wanted was to rescue him from that horrible creature."

I was a little confused by his analogy. "Chris, what are you talking about?"

The Scyther looked at me with a determined look, mentioning "If we win this tournament, and we hunt down Zeraora, I'll tell you. You'll understand what I'm saying." He soon took his leave without saying another word.

I couldn't help but take note of how much he seemed focused. Something was on his mind. Though I had no idea what it was at the time. In a way, he tried to make himself out to be like a hero on a noble quest to rescue a helpless creature.

I didn't see it that way. He just looked like a man with a grudge.

I had my train of thought interrupted as I heard the ding of another DM from Norman. I didn't want to answer him out of fear that I may have upset him. However, I knew that if I didn't answer him, he was only going to start questioning what caused me to make that outburst to him in the first place.

I looked at the message. Fine. I understand. You may bring only one person, though. Someone you know you can trust. I'll meet with you outside Hotel Cascade later tonight. 7:00 PM.

I didn't know what to say to him, so I just closed the DM completely. That was when I heard Josh yell out "ROSE! IT'S ALL GOOD, NOW! THEY'RE FRIENDLY!"

I sighed with relief, feeling like I can at least keep my mind off of Norman for the time being. I soon moved out of the forest and into the clearing, ready to meet with the new players that were present. They seemed friendly, though the sign of seeing the Greninja with a card suddenly gave me flashbacks to Osiris.

I panicked, and reflexively threw an Iron Thorn at the Greninja, who narrowly dodged it with just a slight graze on his arm. The Greninja winced, clutching at the wound, before admitting "Who attacks a friend as a greeting? Honestly?"

"You hypocrite!" Josh and Cross both said together towards the Greninja. They then comically looked at each other, before yelling at each other "You're not ruled out on this! Shut up!"

Adam was very quick to hold out his hand to stop me, saying "We know what he looks like, Rose. But rest assured, he's not the same Greninja from Osiris."

"Oh yeah? How do we know he isn't trying to ambush us?" I speculated as I kept my distance. "He could be deceiving us, for all we know!"

"Uh…good point, but he didn't try to kill us, so that counts for something?" Adam mentioned, trying to level the situation.

"Alright! I admit, I shouldn't have pulled out my brother's card in the presence of one of his potential customers," Ryutori admitted, holding both of his hands up. "And besides, why would I want to deceive such a beautiful specimen like her? I guess it's true at what they say: every rose has her thorns!"

However, as he had both hands up, everyone soon noticed that there were faint signs of blood on his palm. His arm had a pretty sizable cut on it, and was bleeding. Collectively, everyone looked at Ryutori's arm, screaming as they saw the blood.

Ryutori soon looked at his arm, before sighing to himself. "Not again…" he complained. "What will Spectro think when I show him this cut?"

"You idiot! You're bleeding, and that's your only concern?" Josh complained as he looked at the arm. "Why didn't you mention that you were trapped in this world?"

"Because you never asked!" Ryutori soon started laughing like this was the funniest thing he's ever seen. To the rest of us, though, it was rather weird.

I soon rushed up to the Greninja, before pulling out a gauze and a white cloth. As I inspected the injury, I sighed with relief, saying "Thankfully, the cut isn't deep. It should go away after a few hours."

"Wow! You're a nurse? I think this is my lucky day!" Ryutori said with a smile as he stared at Rose patching his injury. "I was just wondering how a beauty such as yourself managed to slip through my gaze at the tournament? I saw the matches… Well, I only saw BlazeTiger's match, but my point stands! I can't believe I missed out on such a glorious sight like this!"

I got so flustered and frustrated with this guy that I chose to wrap the bandage up extra tight around his arm, hoping the circulation loss would affect him. He winced at the motion, and chose to shut up shortly afterwards. With a groan, I asked "Josh, who is this guy?"

"An even bigger eccentric than Cross, if you can believe it," Josh said in astounding disbelief. Even he was starting to get annoyed by this guy. "These guys are Team Nagi, apparently. The Greninja seems to be their leader."

The Greninja soon looked at me with flirtatious eyes, holding my arm in his hands while resting on one knee. "Ryutori, at your service, milady. You must have a suiting name to go by, perchance?"

I was getting annoyed, and yanked my arm away from this weirdo. "BlossumBelle. Or Rose. Take your pick."

"Ah! How truly delightful!" Ryutori was simply swooned over my name. He had this big old blush on his cheeks, and his eyes seemed to be lost in their own little world. He didn't even look particularly phased by my rejections of his advances.

Josh righted him with a yank on the Greninja's tongue, grabbing his attention with a glare. "For your sake, I hope you have a good reason to help us. Otherwise, I'll have to take drastic measures to ensure you don't bother us again."

Ryutori seemed a little bit anxious upon seeing Josh's glare. Taking the hint, he said "Right! Right! I get it! Please, let go of my tongue, Wan-chan!"

Josh glared at him even more intensely as he practically crushed the tongue in his paw. Ryutori screamed as he yelled out "I'm sorry! Please let go of my tongue, J?"

Josh nodded his head, mentioning "Very good." He then let go of the Greninja's tongue, where he is then forced to be back with his group as he held it in his hands.

Cross walked over to Josh, mentioning "That was extreme, wasn't it?"

Josh blushed a little as he averted his gaze. "Well…he shouldn't have been hitting on Rose like that. She clearly wasn't interested in the guy, after all. Someone had to hold him in his place."

As I looked at Josh, I could tell that he was trying to avoid eye contact with me in particular because he felt a little hot under the collar. I blushed as I couldn't help but find him caring for my personal space. I then realized what it was I was thinking and averted my gaze out of embarrassment.

Cross looked at the both of us, and chose to brush what just happened aside. Chris soon asked Ryutori "You said you wanted to help us. Why?"

Ryutori turned to his team. They all started communicating to each other in Japanese as a way of understandably seeing if we were…worthy of something? I don't know. Japanese was just one of those languages I didn't understand the concept of completely. And much to my relief, everyone else in the group didn't understand what they were saying either.

Before long, Team Nagi came to a consensus, before Wukong pointed at Josh, mentioning "You, Lucario. How skilled are you at tracking?"

Josh was a little confused by the question, but he chose to answer honestly. "I've been hunting with my father in the past, and learned to track things down through him. Why do you ask?"

"Well, how good are you?" SolSnek wondered. "The last Lucario we hired didn't really amount to much."

"Oy, are you requesting a mission for us?" Nolan asked.

"Hai. We have quite the assignment for you," Godo-mo explained. "It regards Zeraora, in fact."

The six of us all were surprised by the mention of that name. With renewed interest, Josh said "Let me guess, the mission is for us to hunt him down?"

"Hai!" Team Nagi said all at once.

Josh thought about this for a moment, before he then told us "Huddle up." We all did as he said, and formed a small huddle for a group meeting. "What do you guys think? Should we accept?"

"I don't exactly trust them," I brought up. "Especially that Greninja… This could be a trap."

"But the Greninja was bleeding, Rose!" Adam said. "He's trapped in this game like we are!"

"Doesn't matter. That Greninja is too suspicious to be trusted," I said intensely. "He is far too bizarre to be taken seriously. He's not trustworthy."

"Rose, we're going to have to accept the fact that they know the territory," Cross brought up. "They've been living in Esther for a good while, so they seem to know the place better than the rest of us."

"But didn't you compete in a tournament with Tom a year ago?" Nolan asked. "You should know the land as well, right?"

Cross sheepishly looked away for a bit, before admitting "Honestly, I kind of have a vague recollection, at best. My memory isn't all that reliable."

"So, you're saying that we have no choice?" Chris asked.

"Most likely. And even if they turn on us, there's five of them, and six of us. We can handle them." Cross gave a smile as he turned his attention to Josh. "Right?"

Josh couldn't help but be impressed by Cross's confidence in the situation. "You seriously think we can take them?"

"Of course, we can! We have two players with Mega Evolutions. Two of us have abilities that are tied in with gaining strength when at low energy. There are two of us with Z-Crystals. There's a good shield AND sword combo with one of us! Plus, the combo potential we have could easily defeat most of, if not all of them."

Josh took what Cross said into consideration, thinking to how to best play his cards right. He looked over all of us, and he ended up realizing that we were all going to be involved in this, whether he liked it or not. His first mission outside of the Solace Guild in years, and he was starting to realize that he needed more experience in leadership before he can agree to take on something so reckless.

But that's the issue. This mission that Team Nagi were presenting to us wasn't just any ordinary mission. It was a request to locate and apprehend Zeraora, who has managed to become not only elusive, but dangerous. He figured that he might the best lead that we were looking for, and he ended up making his decision.

"We'll put a vote out. The majority has the right to accept their request." Josh soon turned to each of us one by one to figure out our stance in this.

"I say we go for it," Cross said. "It's the best chance that we have to find Zeraora, anyways. And besides, with these guys as allies, we'll stand a much better chance than last time."

"I vote that we don't accept their help," I stated. "They're far too suspicious for my liking."

"We should accept, Josh," Chris mentioned. "If we manage to find Zeraora, we can technically save more innocents from dying. Besides, we need as much help as we can get."

"I don't know…" Adam said nervously. "Even I can smell something seems fishy about these guys. They know too much. I don't think we should accept their offer."

Nolan, the decider vote, had to think carefully for a solid few seconds in relative silence. He looked at all of us, then took a glance at Team Nagi for a brief moment. He seemed anxious, but he soon said "Herr Josh, ich werde es tun. I trust your judgement."

Josh sighed, finding that the votes were 3-2, in favor of supporting Team Nagi. "Alright. Let's get this over with." He nodded his head to signal to us to break the huddle, before drawing his attention back to Team Nagi. "Alright, we accept. But, on one condition."

"Very well," Ryutori said with a nod. "What do you wish of us?"

"Mainly, we want your full cooperation with us on the mission," Josh stated. "Zeraora was rather strong against the six of us. If we find him, it's for the best that we form an alliance with you. But if we do, you are to not, under any circumstances, turn against us. If even one of you steps out of line, the alliance is over."

Ryutori smiled at Josh's words. "So, you're saying were mutual partners, but not friends?"

"Whoever said we were friends? We've only just met, and you technically launched a surprise attack on us without warning," Josh said. "I don't exactly trust you, or your team. So you're going to have to work with us, not the other way around."

HawkStar was surprised by Josh's behavior, where he whispered to Ryutori. "He's just like Canis, Hatori. He's asserting dominance, despite his younger age."

"He's confident," Wukong whispered. "He seriously thinks he can find Zeraora no problem?"

"But he also wants us to help him with dealing with Zeraora," SolSnek mentioned. "He's spinning this mission into his favor, Hatori."

"He's reckless," Godo-mo said. "He's got spirit."

"He's just the guy we need…" Ryutori smiled wide, walking over to Josh, who just glared at him as he approached.

The Greninja soon stood right in front of Josh. He held out his hand, before saying "You're an interesting Lucario, J. I've only ever seen one other Lucario in my life, and even he couldn't find Zeraora. Are you sure you're up to the task?"

Josh gave a grin back at him. "Are you implying that I'm not up to standards? I'll find him, alright. You can count on it."

"Then do we have a deal?" Ryutori still had his hand held out, waiting to see if Josh could shake it.

Josh took a moment to really think things over, taking in a deep breath before he placed his paw into Ryutori's hand for a shake. As they made the handshake, Josh brought up "Lead me to that bastard, and I promise you I'll find him, and I'll beat him."

Ryutori gave a nod as he gave a rather confident grin in return to match Josh's. "Then we have a deal. Pleasure to work with you, LucarioTrainerJ."