Takuya woke up, feeling sharp aches through his body. He sat up, seeing his arms wrapped in bandages, as well as an area of his torso where he felt some mild burns.

Even though he knew Aries was subdued and dormant once more, it didn't shield Takuya from the fact that he saw and remembered everything that happened when Aries took control. Takuya clenched his fist for a few moments as he recalled each moment from the fight…

"You're awake. Good to see. You got a headache, right? Don't worry, it'll get better. I don't' know if it will matter, but it'll get better..." Takuya turned his head to see Dante in the room with Trisha, Mary, Avery, Kasi, and a rather nervous Arkham who was holding a hardcover book in his hands. Dante then spoke up again.

"I owe you an apology, Takuya. I should have been more clear in my teaching, and I should have chose a better place and time. But it's too late, and the cat's out of the bag. I had to explain to everyone what was going on, as well as the info on the Shadow Personas." Dante sighed, sadness in his eyes. "If only we had more time before the enemy struck…"

"The way I view it, it's better that you started teaching him." Trisha said. "If he didn't learn anything about controlling his power at all, this could have been a lot worse."

"Agreed." Mary said. "So, are you feeling okay, Takuya?"

Takuya looked down at his hands, anger and self-blame coursing through his veins. "...Physically, I am in acceptable condition. I just have some bad body aches. Mentally and Spiritually, I'm a wreck. I nearly killed Reaper! I nearly killed the Pokemon I raised from an egg-"

"It wasn't you who nearly killed Reaper, Takuya." Dante reassured. "That was Aries, not you. Don't turn this blame onto yourself. Reaper's here as well, so is Sparta." Dante motioned over to the side of Takuya's bed, showing Reaper in another bed, along with Sparta in his own bed as well. The Scyther-splice and Machamp-splice were covered in more bandages than Takuya, along with Reaper's left arm in a braced sling. Sparta, considering his obvious strength, was strapped to the bed in safety restraints, along with having a power-draining wrist band on his lower left arm that halved his strength. "Reaper took a beating, but he's still here. Same with Sparta. The Profs say that they will recover, but it's going to take a while. Right now both are under sedation, Reaper more so. That way, he doesn't have to feel the majority of the pain."

Takuya looked over at Reaper, tears falling from his eyes. "...Will he ever forgive me for this?"

"I don't know, Takuya. I don't' know." Dante said, not sugar-coating a word. "Only time will tell. Right now, you should take it easy. I had to do a number on your body when Aries took over. Also, while you were out, Arkham insisted on giving you a power seal-tattoo so Aries could not claw his way out as easy again." Dante motioned to Takuya's left arm, which was covered in bandages from his forearm up to his shoulder, as well as part of the left side of his chest. "That will help keep Aries under control until I can teach you more about your power."

"We are also concerned about Avery and Kasi as well." Arkham said, closing the book he was reading. "Me and Dante were able to reach into their minds with our psychic powers, and we have some bad news: They both also have dormant shadow personas that have not surfaced yet. Even I fear I have one dormant inside me that has not shown itself…"

"In other words, there is going to be a lot of group training from now on." Mary stated. "All of you will need to learn how to control your Shadow States, as well as your other selves. That will begin after you are better, Takuya. Just take it easy for a while, things will get better."

# # # # # #

A few hours later…

Sparta awoke, his forehead throbbing with a dull ache. He tried to sit up, only to realize that all four of his arms, along with his legs were tethered down in safety restraints! He also noticed that his muscles felt more fatigued, more drained than usual… Sparta quickly realized why when he saw the power dampening wristband on his lower left arm.

"I see your awake." A familiar voice said in the room. Sparta turned to his left, seeing Avery sitting in a chair, the Raikou Splice's face set in a stone-cold glare.

Sparta smirked. "What did you expect, my old friend? We did train together, after all… Even after you parted ways with dear ol' daddy, we still went at it full tilt. I at least owe you that much for preparing me for the world, I guess…"

Avery slowly stood up, walking over to Sparta. "You don't regret anything you've done so far, do you? After all the pain you caused, all the people you hurt, all the damage you did… Yet you don't feel any guilt or sympathy?! No empathy for the injured? The Fallen?"

"Oh, don't even start with the high and mighty crap, Avery!" Sparta snarled. "It's not like you felt any of that when you went on that rampage and blew up that lab with all of us inside! Reaper told me everything he saw, since he was the only one who remained conscious after that fiasco!"

"Really?" Avery tilted his head, his glare unchanged. "Then what did he see?"

Sparta grit his teeth, his eyes showing deep anger. "He saw you, Takuya, and Kasi walk off and leave us! You left us to die there! Not even so much as a look back, so save your sermons for someone who does not think of you as a hypocrite!"

Avery was caught off guard by this, his eyes widening slightly as his jaw slackened slightly.

Sparta was unphased. "What? Takuya didn't tell you? I guess he forgot to mention that bit to you, since you were slung over his shoulder and out cold at the time! That's what has made me so angry and sickened with this whole situation, Avery… The fact that you humans claim to be so kind and caring, so dead set on preserving life for both Pokemon and yourselves… Yet when it comes time for you to step up to the plate, you fall short every fucking time! Every one of you!"

"Okay, that's enough out of you!" Dante said, storming into the room as he was unable to tune out the noise from beyond the door, as well as Sparta's vindictive thoughts that radiated from the Machamp-splice. "You only know half the story, so don't even start, muscle head!"

"And just what are you going to do about it, kitty-kitty?!" Sparta challenged, undaunted.

Dante's eyes then glowed, as he put Sparta under a hypnosis. "Shut up, and go back to sleep. I don't have time for this right now, and I'm sure as hell not in the mood."

Sparta collapsed in slumber a few moments later, leaving silence to reign supreme, along with Avery's thoughts as he processed what Sparta had just revealed.

# # # # # #

Reaper woke up, opening his eyes as they focused in the world. He noticed that he was in the Orre Pokemon Lab in a hospital bed. He wasn't strapped down, but he has vital monitors stuck to him with stickers. Reaper also noticed that his injuries had been tended to, all the burns and cuts wrapped in ointment and bandages, even his broken arm wass in a sling. Despite the throbbing pains throughout his body, Reaper looked around the room, and his heart raced in terror when he saw he wasn't alone: Takuya was asleep in one of the chairs! Reaper, feeling fear flow through him and unsure if it was Takuya or Aries, quickly struggled and got up off the bed, tearing off the vital monitor patches, stumbling to the door before tripping on his own feet and falling on the floor.

The racket woke up Takuya instantly, who looked and saw Reaper struggling to get to the door, the Scyther splice in total terror.

"Oh my god, Reaper!" Takuya cried out, rushing over to help the Scyther splice up, ignoring his own pain, only to stop as he noticed the fear and terror in Reaper's eyes and face as Reaper brought up his right hand, extending his claws and stopping Takuya in his tracks. "Stay back! Stay back, dammit!" Reaper shouted.

Takuya was only mere feet from Reaper, he could almost reach out to him… Yet Reaper's bladed claws ensured that if he did, he would only get hurt and lacerated, possibly lose a limb. Takuya was so close, yet he was still so far…

After a tense silence with both staring at each other, Reaper's fear faded into anger and rage as he realized that it was Takuya, not Aries. "Takuya… I… I hope you are satisfied…"

Takuya sat there on the floor, mere feet from Reaper. He felt like his heart and soul had been curb-stomped, letting Reaper's words sink in as the Entei-splice grit his teeth at their meaning.

"It wasn't me who was hurting you... Even if it was, I would get no satisfaction from hurting you..." Takuya spoke in a voice just above a whisper, the pain speaking for itself.

Reaper was unmoved, as tears started falling from his eyes, which showed glints of deep pain, anger, sadness, and hopelessness. "So that matters to you now? Even with all that happened so far? I watched you... I watched you leave me for dead! At the lab, while I was trapped underneath all that debris, I saw you walking off with Kasi, Avery unconscious as you carried him over your shoulder... I tried to cry out to you, I tried to free myself from the rubble... I tried everything to make enough noise so that you would hear me! I tried so hard, and despite all that, you never heard me!" Reaper's voice was starting to break with sobs. "All I could do was watch as you obliviously walked off, leaving me to die... Ever since that moment, after Malak dug me, Sparta, and Venin from the rubble, I made a vow: A vow to become strong... Stronger than you, stronger than anyone, so I wouldn't have to end up relying and depending on others just so they could abandon me like you did…"

"Yet, even with all that training I did, all the effort I put in... All the things I went through to get to this point... I trained tirelessly! I worked constantly on increasing my own strength and skill... I hardly took time to rest, I had my nose to the grindstone for most days as I trained! Even with all that effort, it seems I cannot even get satisfactory revenge by getting stronger…"

Reaper let his hand drop, unable to muster the strength to keep it raised at Takuya as he looked down at the floor with disgust, withdrawing his claws. "Here I am, again, in the same position: Left behind by my allies, left to die... If I cannot best you, if I cannot get stronger and stand on my own, then what is the point of going on?!"

There was another silence, Takuya not taking his eyes off Reaper for one moment. Takuya felt the tears building up behind them, struggling to keep them back, struggling to stay strong for both him and Reaper. But when Takuya spoke, he felt the tears start running down his face as his voice broke. "Reaper, don't talk like that! You are strong! So strong, stronger than me! You're stronger than any of us! I'm the one who is weak! I couldn't save you... I tried so hard, but I couldn't... I failed you, I'm sorry…"

Reaper looked up at Takuya, puzzled at first and ready to say something snide… But as he looked into Takuya's eyes, he then saw the pain the Entei-Splice was feeling… The pain that was a mirror of his own in amount and intensity. Reaper struggled to find the words, if any words to say... But he could not come up with any, as he started to break down himself, his body shaking with sobs which graduated to wails of guilt as he realized the horrible truth, as well as the grave mistake he made in judgment.

Takuya slowly moved forward, taking the crying Pokémon splice into his arms, holding his friend close to him as both cried.

"I'm so sorry, Reaper, I'm so sorry…." Takuya kept repeating as his own tears flowed freely, his sadness and traumatic guilt truly unbound. Reaper's emotional shields fell at that point, unable to stop the sobs and whimpers that shook through him as he felt all of the turmoil and pain from this as the sudden revelation of his hasty judgment hit him like a bullet train.

"Please believe me, Reaper…" Takuya wept. "I tried so hard to find you, I really did! I dug through the rubble for hours on end… I even came back for days upon days, digging and digging, hoping to find any trace of you, anything… Yet I couldn't find you... I'm so sorry!"

Reaper gripped onto Takuya's arm with what little strength he had left, holding on to Takuya like he was a lifeline, unable to stop the torrent of tears falling from his eyes. "I... I wish things were like the way they were before. Before all this happened… Just don't leave again… Please, Takuya…. I broke into so many pieces... Don't leave me again... I wouldn't be able to take it a second time..." Reaper tucked himself against Takuya, letting his master hold him as he cried.

Takuya held Reaper as close to him as he could, still worried about hurting the damaged Scyther-splice any more then he already had. "I wish things could be like the old days too... They can't, but that doesn't stop us from making the future better... Reaper, give up working for Team Midnight. Join us in fighting them. We can be partners again, like before… Please, let me help you, since I could not help you before…"

Reaper nuzzled against Takuya. "You have my loyalty again, Takuya... Just please... Don't abandon me again…"

Takuya, relieved and happy to hear those words, gently squeezed Reaper against him, engulfing the Scyther-splice in a gentle warmth. "Never again… We're both in this until the end... We can get through this, we just have to work together and talk to each other... We are both messed up at this point, but as long as we talk to each other and be honest, then we will overcome this…"

Reaper nuzzled Takuya softly as they both cried, reconciling with each other. "Yes... We will work together... We will overcome this... Thank you, Takuya… I will be by your side until the bitter end..."