Sheridan awoke to find herself in a room in the hospital wing. She had been unconscious for hours, with no dreams or any sound from the outside world. It was as if she was dead. The woman found the Interpol agent she had been with earlier standing by her bedside.

"What happened?" she groggily asked.

"The doctor theorized that because Morai was still technically conscious, her psychic hold on everyone—including herself—would remain in effect unless she was rendered completely unconscious," the agent explained. "All it took was a sedative. She's in another room now."

"That girl..." Sheridan said, rubbing her temples. "Where are the others?"

"Everyone who's not unconscious is meeting in the main chapel."

"Now?" Sheridan asked. She shot up and began to scramble to get ready, but the agent stopped her.

"Mrs. Sheridan, you're in no state to—"

"If Arthur's in there, he'll try and persuade everyone to kill her!" Sheridan exclaimed. "He believes she's a lost cause and that we're wasting our time and resources."

"Do you really think that still has a chance of living peacefully out in society?" Arthur asked. He was standing on the stage of the old chapel, which had been changed into a meeting room. It was mostly empty save for the pews and stained glass windows.

"Why keep her around, anyway?" he continued.

"She was a hero!" Ingo argued. "She's one of if not the strongest of her generation, and—"

"There are tons of younger tots starting off on their journeys!" Arthur interjected. "There are several people that can replace her! She's more likely to hinder any heroic endeavors than help 'em. The kid's a menace to society!"

"It's not her fault Team Rocket used her as a science project," Emmet said. "Her choices aren't exactly her own."

"And it's not our fault either, but that doesn't stop her from existing and wreaking havoc!" another person said.

"Yeah," a guard agreed. "She's nearly wiped out the entire nursing staff, and she's put a hurtin' on our whole group too. We still can't figure out how she's hypnotizing people."

"Doctor," Arthur addressed, nodding toward the man sitting with his top hat in his lap. "You've seen her. Is she a lost cause, or what?"

"Gentleman," the doctor said, "it's true that, as she stands now, there is no chance she'd return to any sort of heroic position. However, that doesn't mean she never can. She's a brilliant subject to study, and if I—if we—could return her to who she was before, it would provide an enlightening insight into the mind and nature of man. Team Rocket had created a formula that was supposed to counteract the effects of the one that made her this way, but from their reports it didn't have much effect in pushing her back to the good side. It only nulled some of the other serum so that it didn't kill her."

"If you lot don't want to kill her," Arthur said, "what if we took...other measures?"

"Like what?" the doctor, Ingo, and Emmet asked in unison.

"If her eyes are the source of her psychic powers, then maybe we could get rid of—"

"Absolutely not!" Ingo objected, shooting up from his seat. Emmet followed him. Arthur snarled at the both of them. They had never really gotten along.

"You're lettin' your attachment to who she was before hinder your judgement!" Arthur yelled, pointing at them with an accusatory finger.

"And? That doesn't change—"

"Gentlemen!" Sheridan commanded, rushing—stumbling, rather—through the double doors. Her voice immediately silenced the arguers.

"My apologies, Mrs. Sheridan," Ingo said, bowing. "I foolishly let my emotions get the better of me."

"This meeting is adjourned," Sheridan said, ignoring Ingo's apology. "I'm going to speak with her myself now, and we'll resume our business here afterwards. We can still fix this."

"Sheridan? You don't look so well," Arthur said with actual concern in his voice. "Maybe you shouldn't—"

"I'm fine," the woman replied.

Morai woke up to the same setting she'd found herself in countless times by now. She was blindfolded in a hospital bed, her cuffs around her wrists and ankles. The prisoner could hardly picture the room she was in even though she had been there numerous times. Every time she was blindfolded and could only feel the leather material of the straps tying her to the bed and the chilling cold of the dark room.

"You're awake," a familiar voice said yet again. Morai sighed. She had still only heard the voice of this mysterious person. The trainer wasn't entirely sure that she was even real.

"And you're still here," she answered. "You know, the more time goes on the more I wonder whether you're just a figment of my imagination. Perhaps I really am losing my marbles."

"Oh, Morai, don't say that!" Maria said. "I'm as real as anything."

"Any reasonable person would have left after their friends and colleagues were picked off one by one," Morai argued. "They would have quit and left along with them."

"I did quit. I'm not a nurse here," Maria said. "Your reunion with your past friends didn't go so well, or so I've heard. If you insist on burying the past, you at least need someone who doesn't hate you to accompany you as you walk through the future."

"And why would you do that?" Morai asked. "Why stick around for someone like me, who'd deal you the same fate I dealt countless others if I were free?"

"The past doesn't define the future," Maria said. "There is still choice in the future."

Morai chuckled.

"You're saying that I'd choose not to do what I've only done since I've arrived? Why?" she asked.

There was only silence.

"That's it. You are a figment of my imagination," she said.

"No!" Maria insisted.

"Then take my blindfold off," Morai said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Maria replied. "You must've been dreaming when you were out. You were laughing quite a bit."

"Oh?" Morai asked, hoping that her plans for Arthur and Sheridan hadn't been ruined. "Did I...say anything?"

"No," Maria replied. "Only laughing...a concerning amount."

The sound of a door opening caused Morai to snap her head in its direction.

"It's me," Sheridan said. "Maria, whatever you're doing here, could you wait outside? I'm surprised you were even let in."

Morai's blindfold was removed, and Sheridan began to quickly unbuckle the straps restraining her legs and arms.

"You've gotten yourself into a lot of trouble," she said. "Come with me to my office. Try anything and you'll be shot."

"You don't seem well," Morai said with a slight smile. "Are you feeling alright, Miss Sheridan? Hypnosis can be a he—"

"Shut up and come with me," the woman replied. Morai did as as she was told and was rushed out of the door and into an empty office that only contained a desk. It definitely wasn't Sheridan's office, but Morai figured that any office would do for this talk.

"Now," she said, gun in hand. "We've got to have a serious talk about—Morai, what are you doing?"

Morai approached her with a wide grin, licking her teeth. She fumbled with a key a moment before unlocking her handcuffs.

"I had made an elaborate plan and everything!" she chuckled. "And, you fool! You made it so easy!"

Morai began to laugh before lunging at Sheridan. The woman raised her gun to shoot, but Morai, using her Foresight, dodged the shot and wrenched the gun from Sheridan's hands. The prisoner shot the cameras in the room and tossed the gun against the farthest wall. Sheridan was trapped. She reached for radio, and her stomach dropped when she realized that it was sitting in her hospital room. She was a trained agent and years of field experience under her belt, but her accidental hypnosis had left her clumsy and disoriented.

They had to have immediately noticed the cameras breaking, she thought. I just have to stall for time.

"You don't have to do this, Morai," the woman said, backing up until she ran into the cold brick wall.

"Of course not!" Morai replied with a smile. "No one has to do anything. But I really, really want to."

The euphoria rushing through The Mask Maker felt almost as good as the aftereffects of the serum. She knew she had limited time, but she wanted to drag this interaction out for as long as possible. She walked slowly, dragging her claws against the wall. She could almost taste the fear welling up in Sheridan's mind.

"Think about the consequences. If you incapacitate me, Arthur is next in command. He was just voting to kill you before I stepped in," Sheridan reasoned.

"I'm at a point where walking away would be ludicrous," Morai said. "The past is long forgotten, and I'm blind to the future."

The prisoner lunged forward in a superman punch but Sheridan ducked under and took Morai's back. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around Morai's torso while hooking her arm around her neck. Morai countered with the easiest option, which was to turn around and slam Sheridan against the wall as hard as she could before she lost consciousness, violently clawing at Sheridan's arms. It took a couple of hits before the administrator let go. Sheridan slid down against the wall, and Morai took the opportunity to punch her in the stomach with full force.

"Y-you're still young, Morai. Y-you can be a h-hero again. Y-you can help p-people," Sheridan stammered, looking the prisoner in the eye. "Don't c-cross that line into the darkness, where n-no one can save you."

Morai laughed again, licking blood off of her fingers.

"I crossed that line long ago," she said. "This is all I know now. No one from my past would claim me as a friend. Even the kings of criminals mark me as their enemy. I simply wander alone, doing what beasts do best."

She stooped down and pulled Sheridan up by the collar, raking her across the face before sinking her teeth into her neck. The woman opened her mouth to scream in agony, gripping Morai's forearms has hard as she could, but no sound came out of her mouth. Once Morai had had enough, she continued to lay into the administrator with hard strikes until she heard commotion outside.

"Y-you're a monster," Sheridan whispered, putting a hand on Morai's cheek. Her voice was almost inaudible, and Morai leaned in close to hear. "You burn everything you touch...You're broken beyond repair."

The Mask Maker relaxed, letting the terribly injured Sheridan fall to the ground. She backed away and got on her knees, crossing her feet behind her and putting her hands in her lap with a self-satisfied smile. It wasn't but a few seconds until the door burst open and a couple of guards rushed in to find Sheridan barely clinging to consciousness against the wall and Morai sitting calmly on the floor. She offered no fight and did as she was told, blood staining her hands and dripping from her face onto her clothes. Arthur was among the first to rush in, and he went straight to Sheridan's side, taking her bloody hand in his.

"Sheri, love! Hold on just a little longer!" he pleaded. The few nurses and medical staff that remained all started to tend to her. An Arcanine, the first Pokémon Morai had seen since her arrival, stood guard.

"Ohoho, what a twist!" Morai exclaimed. "Mrs? I've been addressing her wrong this entire time! Who knew that—"

Arthur stepped forward with blazing rage in his eyes and grabbed Morai's throat, almost hard enough to crush her windpipe. The guards didn't try to stop him. He punched her in the stomach and let her go as she gasped for air before kicking her while she was down.

"You better hope that whatever god was worshipped here is more merciful than me, because I'm about to send you straight to hell with my bare hands."

Morai only weakly smiled.

"Let me go and we'll make it a race of who can get there first," she said.

Arthur nodded to the guards to take the handcuffs off of her wrists and they reluctantly complied. The prisoner went to stand but struggled to get to her feet. Arthur pulled her up by the collar and punched her again, sending her stumbling back into the wall. Morai dodged the next strike and hit him with a hook to his body. When he went for a hook, she used the small opening to rake him across the face. She could immediately tell that one of her nails had gone over his eyelid and had possibly damaged his eye.

"Courtesy of my friend in the Dream Realm," Morai coughed.

The security chief had the strength advantage and seemed to strictly box unless Morai was on the ground. The prisoner used all eight of her limbs, landing a few strikes, but the hits she took while she had been handcuffed had weakened her. Arthur landed a hit to the jaw and Morai's world faded to black.

Morai awoke to find the doctor standing in front of her. She was lying on the ground and her hands were still free. She hadn't been blindfolded, either, which she thought was strange.

"Now isn't the time, Arthur," the doctor said, his voice remaining calm.

"You were supposed to prevent this!" Arthur yelled. Morai saw that he had a blade in his hand.

"I've only just arrived here, and time is an important component in this equation. Morai is important to science."

Arthur scoffed and walked off, throwing his hands in the air.

"Oh, Morai," the doctor sighed, going to pick her up. She tried to fight him off.

"Look at you! You're in no condition to walk," he said.

"I'm going to," Morai coughed. She got to her feet and nearly fell again. The doctor took her arm around his shoulder and helped her along.

"We've got a long way to my lab," he said. "The more quickly we can get there, the better. I have a feeling Arthur might change his mind."

A guard held his hand up and drew his gun.

"Not without this," he said, grabbing a blindfold. The doctor begrudgingly stopped to let him tie it around Morai's head before continuing on.

"I need a nurse!" he called. The few of them that hadn't been scared off by Morai were rushing Sheridan's stretcher to the hospital wing. "Any of you!"

No other voice sounded in the halls. Morai took it to mean that none of them had any desire to help.

"You have to put your morals aside to fulfill your duties as medical personal!" the doctor scolded. Still, no one joined him.

"Oh!" a familiar voice gasped in the distance. "Mrs. Sheridan!"

Light and quick footsteps came rushing down the hall.

"Oh!" the voice exclaimed again. It was Maria. "Morai!"

"You're a nurse, correct?" the doctor asked. "Are you the only one willing to help?"

"I guess so," Maria said. "Though I technically quit when everyone else did."

"That doesn't matter now."

The three went into the lab and Morai was sat in a hospital chair. The doctor instructed Maria to lock the doors.

"We should have gone to the hospital wing," he said, "but considering the fact that everyone else is there, this is the best option. I have the necessary equipment here."

Morai went to take her blindfold off, but Maria put her hand on her forearms.

"No!" she called. Morai sensed a quick uptick in her fear.

"Why?" Morai asked with a snarl.

There was a long pause, and Morai sighed while trying to remove her blindfold again. Again, Maria tried to stop her.

"It's just...not time," she finally said.

"I've got the right to use my eyes," Morai argued. "You of all people don't get to decide when I use them."

"I think Maria's right," the doctor said. "Just relax and let yourself get bandaged up."

"I don't trust either of you," Morai said, beginning to stand up. "Especially the mysterious girl I can't...I can't...hey!"

The Mask Maker had evidently been stuck with some sort of calming agent that her adrenaline had kept her from noticing. She was livid about it at first, but the shot did its job. She let out a long, acquiescing sigh and leaned back into her chair.

"Let's just talk," Maria said. "Why did you do it?"

"It's simply what I do," Morai replied. "I made a fool of myself with Arthur. Had I the chance I would've dealt him the same fate."

"That's a fair answer, I suppose," Maria sighed. "I don't understand it, but I doubt you'd understand me either."

"I certainly don't understand why you choose to stay here."

Morai jerked a little as Maria applied alcohol to her wounds.

"I think you're fascinating. Morally reprehensible, maybe, but you're fascinating. I'd like to see what happens to you, Morai. I think we could be great friends one day."

Morai laughed.

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed one day. I'll simply continue doing what's in my nature," she said.

"Well, you're free except for your eyes and you haven't laid a hand or claw on me, so I think that's a start," Maria replied.

"Speaking of," the doctor interjected, eager to continue his studies. "Is it truly in your nature? Was it in your nature before you took the serum?"

"Yes and yes," Morai replied. "The worst evil and the most virtuous good rests in the soul of every man. For most the scale is more or less balanced, yet for others the scale shifts so drastically back and forth that it threatens to tear them in two. I was in the latter category until Team Rocket put an abundance of weight on one side and took it all away from the other."

"And do you believe the scales can be rebalanced?" he asked.

"No, and I don't wish them to be, either," Morai insisted. "The fight between good and evil in my particular psychic soul was terrible and sickening. I'm free from the chains of duality now."

"I see," the doctor said, as he often did.

Morai eventually and unintentionally drifted off into a dreamless sleep while Maria and the doctor tended to her injuries. She wasn't sure what time it was or even what day it was—but then again, she never did anyway. Time always seemed to creep by her, but she didn't suffer because of it. Morai no longer cared for holidays and the birthdays of her former friends didn't matter. The prisoner didn't even care for her own birthday. She simply drifted along, day to day, doing all she knew to do.

"Open this damn door, doctor!" a voice boomed after the lab door had just taken a beating.

Morai instinctually jumped up from her sleep and grabbed at whatever form was closest to her. She landed on top of someone, clenching their neck with her hands and digging her nails into their skin. She heard a small cry of pain but didn't register it.

"Morai, that's Maria!" the doctor cried. "It's still just us three in this room, and no one is getting past that thick lab door."

Morai immediately let go.

"Ah, my apologies," she said. She then got up and offered a hand to the nurse. Her hand was too far off to the left, but Maria shifted and hesitantly took it. After regaining her breath, Maria exchanged a surprised look with the doctor, which was interrupted by Morai's hands touching her face.

"M-Morai?" she asked.

"If I can't ever see you, I at least want some idea of what you're like," the prisoner replied. "You're short," she added, putting her hand at the top of her head and bringing it out then down until she reached Maria's head.

"I think you're just tall," Maria replied with a nervous chuckle.

Another series of booming knocks sounded at the door.

"If you don't open this door in the next half minute, I'm gonna have you thrown out of this project!" Arthur threatened.

"Open the door," Morai said.

"You may not know this Morai, but he was advocating for your death mere hours ago," the doctor said. "Now that you've mauled his wife, I can't imagine him changing his mind."

"I ain't killing the girl," Arthur's muffled voice snarled from outside the door. "I've got something else in mind."

Morai felt her way to the door, nearly falling over on the way there, and tried to open it. She felt someone walk up behind her and heave a sigh.

"I suppose the choice is yours," the doctor said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," Morai answered. She heard the swiping of a keycard, the beeps of several buttons being pressed, and finally the opening of the door. Her blindfold was quickly removed, but before she could turn around to look at the young mystery woman she'd been trying to see, she was yanked out of the door by her arm and pushed against the wall.

Morai nearly fought back, but she froze. The tip of Arthur's blade was pressed against the top of her left eyebrow.

"One jerk and I'll make the old 'eye for an eye' adage come true," he threatened. Morai realized that he was looking her straight in the eyes. The eye she had clawed over was covered by an eyepatch.

I wonder if it blinded him in that eye

"Now that Sheri's out of commission for the foreseeable future, I'm in charge, and I'm runnin' things differently around here," he began. "You lay a hand on anyone and you live the rest of your sorry life without sight and that godforsaken power of yours. Step out of line and you'll see how miserable I can make your life. Understand?"

The prisoner went to nod until she remembered the knife.

"Yes," she flatly said instead, not daring to move. She didn't doubt that Arthur would make do on his word. The warden smiled a self-satisfied smile.

"It's funny," he said. "You can get beaten to a pulp and not give a damn, but the sight of your old friends makes you want to turn tail and run so bad that you put yourself to sleep. That's why we're going to see your old friends again, and you're going to sit there and listen to everything they've got to say."

The pair walked quietly down the hall. Since Morai had been blindfolded for the majority of her time outside of her hospital room prison, she hadn't yet memorized the layout. Every time she could see she found herself in a place she didn't remember, and she hated the idea of being completely lost while everyone around her knew the way.

"How is she?" Morai asked, breaking their silence.

"Like you care," Arthur snapped. "You attacked my wife even though she was nothin' but kind to you, and now that she's stuck here until she's stable, our kid'll have to do without a mother for a while."

She has a kid, too, Morai thought. She admittedly had no regret for what she had done. She could still taste Sheridan's blood on the corners of her mouth.

Once they reached the room she had met everyone in before, Morai was handcuffed and sat in a chair at a table. The four of her former friends from Kalos—Calem, Tierno, Shauna, and Trevor—sat across from her. Their eyes were all wide and filled with more apprehension than last time. Morai's bloody face and hands didn't help, and neither did her new injuries.

"Oh, you look terri—"

Shauna was cut off by Calem, who nudged her in the arm.

"Ahem, well, are you ready?" she asked instead.

"For what?" Morai asked quietly.

"Your entire life's adventure!" Shauna cheerfully replied.

Morai sighed and glanced around the room and saw that every reflective surface had been covered or moved out of the room entirely.

"Hey!" a guard yelled, making everyone but Morai jump. "I know what you're doing. Remember what the boss just said!"

"I can't look around?" Morai asked.

"Maybe you should look at the people talking to you!" the guard replied. "Without hypnotizing them, of course."

Morai's sigh was deeper than her last one.

This is humiliating. I just want to go to the Dream Realm and see Shadow Morai again. A match with her always cheers me up.