Infernape gasped awake, bumping his head against a wooden frame. He groaned and rubbed his head in pain. Frantically looking around, he saw a fairly small bedroom, a single desk with some water bottles on them, and a scarf. The walls appeared to be made out of wood and the faint smell of cinnamon candles wafted through the air. Umbreon then walked into the room; an apologetic look in her eyes. Infernape snapped at her,
"What the hell?!"
"I'm sorry!" she swiftly apologized, "But you've got something special that he…we see would be of great service."
"If this is some 'oh, actually you're like the descendant of the roommate of a legendary hero, and you can like, destroy galaxies by breathing too hard.' You can forget it!" Infernape snapped. Umbreon sighed in moderate frustration, but maintained her composure,
"It's just an opportunity. We can help you. Just hear me out," she pleaded.
They could help him? What did that mean by that? Infernape paused as the allure of the idea seemed to etch into his mind, slowly clawing its way in like a snake. Umbreon, who had noticed his more relaxed attitude, told him more.
"We are just like you. We've suffered greatly and have been unable to recover. But we found a way."
This idea seemed very appealing to the monkey. He subtly grinned. Who were these people, and could they really get him out of this? It was an incredible offer, he could be free at long last. For eight years, he felt so alone, with no one to talk to or trust, but now he could trust them. They could listen. They could understand.
Pangoro's defeat then replayed in his head. His doubts then resurfaced as a renewed skepticism began to grow within him. Why was she approaching him now? How did she know, and if she knew, why now? Why in the middle of the Enchained Forest did she seek him out? Then of course there is the operating question,
"Why the hell did you kidnap me then?"
Umbreon recoiled. She opened her mouth to say something,
"He…" and then she stopped herself. Infernape silently took note of her body language. She was tensed up, her brow furrowed subtly, hunched over slightly. Umbreon simply moved on, ignoring his question,
"Feel free to tell me about what you feel later," and left.
Infernape stared at her as she left the room. Something was up, and he knew it. But for now, that didn't matter. Unconsciously, he grabbed a water bottle and tried to drink from it. Emphasis on tried. He choked on the water and spilled the rest all over the place. He gasped for air before standing up, hoping to find a towel of some sort. He walked out of the room to see a quaint little living space. It was almost as though he were living in a tree, in a forest, like the one he once was. Infernape snorted, so he wasn't too far away. There was a couch, a small dining table where Umbreon was sitting, and an outcropping where the entrance and kitchen were. Umbreon was on a call.
Infernape paid no mind as he grabbed a towel and began to dry himself off. However, once he saw the steel blue glow of the moon, he knew he had to make his move. He started walking on his toes, stepping cautiously away, watching every move that Umbreon made. It was at that point, he heard what she was saying.
"Yes, you can meet him here in the morning. Just…be nice to him. From what I've researched, he's been through a lot." She said to someone on her WristOn. Infernape then hesitated. What if this was the real deal and he was throwing it away? Those hesitations were beaten back. Why would she kidnap him then, and did she seem so anxious? He shook his head and approached the door.
He blinked and he was all the way back in that bed, much to his surprise and horror. What just happened?! He immediately jumped to his feet and walked towards the exit once more. Again, he blinked back into that bed. He sat up as his mind raced,
"What the hell is going on?!" He whispered to himself. He then tried to check his WristOn to figure out if any time had passed, in case she was somehow drugging him, but it had been removed. Frantically, he started checking every inch of the room. Searching for his WristOn to call for help.
"I'm sorry, Infernape." The fire type looked up to see Umbreon, silhouette in the door frame. He approached her,
"What did you do!" before reaching out to grab her. He, again, appeared in the bed. As he processed what on earth was happening, Umbreon told him,
"I did what I had to do. I placed a few fail-safes into your mind. You won't be able to leave or hurt me until I decide so." Infernape gritted his teeth and screamed at her,
"You entered my mind?!" Umbreon steeled her resolve and stared him down, unflinching and undeterred,
"I did what I must. You'll stay until you meet Bisha-" she cut herself off. She turned around and shut the door. However, Infernape heard what she was beginning to say.
She was with Bisharp. She was a member of the cult.
Gardevoir slowly stirred, groaning as she did so. Something was off, but she wasn't sure what. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her. However, but not enough to see that Infernape was missing. The moonlight was just enough for her to see. She stood up and began to walk away. To get some fresh air. She didn't go too far, just by one of the nearby trees.
She leaned against the bark of a tree and sighed. Now that she would be granted the opportunity to become a Senshi, there was a lot of pressure to prove herself. But her past sins loomed over her head. She promised herself: This was a brand new beginning. She wasn't going to be the attention-seeking, pseudo-hero she was once before. She smiled, imagining the look on her parent's faces when she told them that she had met Sceptile of all people. She sighed in remembrance as memories of that fight on the television.
Her parents had parked her in front of the TV for this one. The faint smell of freshly-cut grass was in the air. Gardevoir, now a Kirlia at this point, was bouncing with excitement as the news reported the raid. After the reporter lady told everyone the news about them raiding Absol's compound, the footage was shown. The battle was taken outside with Sceptile and Swampert dodging a barrage of dark blue spheres. Kirlia's eyes went wide as Sceptile expertly dodged each and every attack with the grace of a swan, weaving and sliding past every attack with ease. Swampert took a different approach. He blocked and deflected each blast thrown at him, sending them careening into the ground or harmlessly into the sky. Absol jumped from the compound and roared at the two.
As per her preference for theatrics, Blaziken fell from the sky and slammed her knee into his back. Absol then fell into the road. The resulting crater was the size of an elephant. Swampert then made his move, grabbing a destroyed car and leaping into the air, ready to slam it on top of Absol. Kirlia cheered loudly for the group. This was amazing.
Absol then dodged the attack and whipped his head, sending a navy blue slash through the air. Kirlia gasped in fright, Swampert wouldn't be able to dodge in time. She immediately covered her eyes, bracing for the hit.
However, Sceptile was just in time. He pulled Swampert away with some vines and swiftly hit Absol with a spinning kick. From her couch at home, Kirlia screamed with delight as Sceptile then swiped Absol's feet out from under him. With a swift energy ball, Sceptile sent the dark type across the street, into the sands of the beach. Sceptile then stood still, his arms by his side like he were a cowboy in a western at high noon. Kirlia turned to her parents and pointed at the screen,
"IT'S THE SOLAR QUICK-DRAW! LOOK! LOOK!" Her parents both smiled warmly and watched the screen. The wait was going to be brutal. This would finish it, and Kirlia had to see it happen.
Gardevoir sighed, in his prime, Sceptile was an icon. That is when she decided, she was going to try to live up to that expectation. She would be a hero and a better one than before. She turned around with determination to return to bed, she needed to sleep.
Infernape sat there in the bed. He was a damsel in distress. All he needed was a cute knight to come save the day. His mind then briefly drifted to a lewd depiction of a sexy knight before he quickly shook his head clear. Now was not the time for fantasy. Infernape rubbed his temple,
"Think. How are you gonna get out of this one?" He was under some sort of mind control. It prevented him from leaving, at least until the morning when Bisharp arrived. In addition, he couldn't harm her in any way.
Infernape decided that he needed to decide what harm meant in this case. Was it an actual attack or was it merely the intent to harm? Needing to test this, Infernape began to think of a small trap. The classic childhood prank of the bucket on the roof should suffice, but he didn't want Umbreon to catch onto his planning. Perhaps something less overt but still possibly dangerous. Infernape snapped his fingers, one of these water bottles. He could remove the cap, balance it on top of the door, and wait for Umbreon. She could possibly slip and break something, which would determine if it took into account the possibility of harm. That would be a solid test.
As soon as he completed his plan, he entered the living room and found that Umbreon had a separate bedroom. He smirked and silently balanced the water bottle and then walked towards the dining room. With a face smugger than a cat on the internet, Infernape 'stumbled' into the table and fell onto his knees, to make as much noise as possible.
Umbreon pulled the door open and was splashed with water. She shook her fur to dry it off, groaning in frustration. Infernape rubbed the back of his head with a coy smile,
"Oops, clumsy me." he sarcastically said. Umbreon glared at him.
"You are a child!" she scolded as she stepped to the bathroom to dry herself off. Infernape grinned with glee,
"Perfect."
The next morning. Umbreon woke up early. She had to prepare for Bisharp and the others to arrive. She rubbed her eyes after removing her sleep mask. However, feeling a little lazy and knowing that they would be here for another hour, she decided to keep it on for now. She dreaded having to deal with a very uncooperative Infernape but it was Bisharp's orders. twisting the door handle and pushing the door open, she walked out into her humble abode.
A snare wrapped around her hind legs and pulled her up. She yelped in surprise, frantically squirming to try and free herself. But the snare was too tight. Her sleep mask was then dragged over her eyes. There could only be one person who did this
"S-Stop! What are you doing?"
Infernape smirked at his current position. His trap had worked flawlessly, and now he had all the cards. He had made the rope from the sheets on his be and threw it out one of the supports for the ceiling. He was the one holding Umbreon up. Now, he took the scarf and ignited it in his hands, before throwing it onto a pile of wood beneath Umbreon that used to be his bed frame. The pile burst into flames, further terrifying her. She screamed in terror as she felt the heat biting at her chin, ready to slowly and painfully kill her, the confusion sent her into a spiral for she didn't even understand what was happening.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really thought I'd join your serial killer friend? But you really decided to go the extra mile and tried to use my tragedy as a bargaining chip!" He hissed venomously as his irises suddenly turned scarlet, "Now, I'm the one with leverage so listen up. I want you to remove those mental triggers from me. But I'm not an idiot. Let's say I remove that mask and you hypnotize me as soon as I do. I'll go limp, releasing the rope and dropping you into the flames. There's what, a second or two between you hypnotizing me and giving me the command? That's more than enough time. So think very carefully before you do anything."
Umbreon immediately pleaded,
"Alright! Alright! I'll do it! I'll get rid of it all, just please don't do it! PLEASE!" Infernape felt a pang of guilt after hearing her desperate voice. She was clearly terrified and he had given no indication that he wouldn't drop her. However, he wouldn't let his guard down. He could be kind to her, but he wouldn't act stupidly. He softened his tone and removed the mask,
"You know what to do." Umbreon, who looked to be on the verge of a panic attack, looked up at him with stunned eyes. His eyes were so much kinder and his tone much more considerate, in complete contrast to the dark hiss that his voice had previously been.
Umbreon turned off the triggers, after which Infernape followed through with his words. He bit into the rope to keep it steady as he picked up Umbreon and gently placed her back on the ground. She fell onto her knees, during which Infernape extinguished the fire. Umbreon turned and meekly told him,
"T-Thank you."
"Don't thank me," demanded Infernape.
He stepped out into the forest and, as his eyes returned to their standard blue, he was immediately confused. What on earth had happened there? Infernape's memories had gotten foggy of what had happened. Had Umbreon not been living proof of what he had done, he would've thought it was some sort of surreal dream. But this was no dream that he could simply forget about, this was real life, and while yes, Umbreon had kidnapped him and was working for the cult, he couldn't help but regret his actions.
Thankfully, that's when his spite came into play. Umbreon wasn't the main target, hell, from her reaction, she seemed like an unwilling accomplice. It was Bisharp whom all of his anger should be targeted. Bisharp gave the order. Bisharp demanded that he be taken. Bisharp tried to abuse his past to turn him into a monster, and there would be hell to pay.
Infernape then stood there, realizing that the house was built inside a tree. Infernape shrugged his shoulders,
"Neat," he said out loud. But now, he had a new problem: Where was he?
The group woke up to great alarm to see that Infernape had vanished. Immediately, the ground went out on a search. Bisharp was still at large, Infernape was in an incredible amount of danger right now, with his life on the line.
A burst of fire then shot up above the treeline. Gardevoir and Aggron saw it first and rushed toward the source. Aggron even ripped up a tree or two to save time. The two soon came across the fire type running towards them. Gardveoir then floated into the air, flying towards him and embracing him upon impact.
"Oh my god! You scared us."
"Heh, sorry about that. I got kidnapped is all, don't worry." He jested.
"WHAT?!" Aggron and Gardevoir screamed in confusion. As if their friend got kidnapped or something. Infernape just smiled, might as well have fun with it, especially since he came out unscathed. But now they make their journey to the nearby town of Stalagmiton. Infernape then told them with a petty grin,
"I think I changed my mind. I'll join."
Elsewhere…
"The court finds the defendant, Hantai Masayoshi guilty as charged!" A voice called out before slamming a gavel. Before the court stood a large draconic Pokemon with dark blue, red, and yellow scaled and shark-like features. Her arms had large fins, as did her back. She had spikes on her biceps and thighs with clawed fingers and toes. Her horns resembled those of a jet turbine. Her eyes were red, surrounded by black sclera. With a look of defeated guilt, she could only stare at the floor.
A voice called out from the stands, from a green Pokemon with roses for hands,
"She didn't do it! This trial is a sham!" which was met with severe backlash from the stands. A green kaiju-like monster stood in the back with a cathartic smile, enjoying the outcome, for he had avenged his beloved. That murderer would be executed in a few days, and he would have some popcorn to watch.