The two sides stared at each other for a minute. It was like a teens parents walking in on their son watching something inappropriate. Awkward silence alongside immediate regret from the teen, in this case Kage, followed by a fair dose of confused disappointment from the parents.

Gengar smiled far too wide,

"So…how have you been? Snow Rabbit, is that a new haircut?" he remarked in a feeble attempt to change the conversation.

"What are you doing?!" said Infernape. Sensing no way to get out of this, Gengar sighed.

"I said no visitors," he remarked as he crawled back into the room.

"You can't avoid this conversation. You tried to save us-we're trying to thank you." said Infernape.

"You're welcome, now get out of here," Gengar said, gesturing to the door.. Lopunny stepped forward,

"Excuse you?" she said.

"I don't need your fucking pity," Gengar snapped, "Leave me alone."

It was Aggron's turn to speak. He spoke up,

"Gengar, let us in. We're here to help you. You don't need to run."

"Well, I need some cardio." Gengar jested, "You can leave now." Infernape was disturbed. It seemed like Gengar didn't even want help. It was tempting to just leave, but something was off here. Something, just below the surface, was hiding. Perhaps he had something he didn't want them to see about himself.

"Kage," Infernape began. Gengar probably knew about the message but he wanted to be sure. He turned on his WristOn and replayed the message once again. Kage's eyes went wide and his smile fell into a toothy frown. Gengar scoffed and stared out the window. The entire group watched in horror as he appeared to be completely apathetic to someone's death. Someone who gave her life to make sure that he had an out from the criminal life.

"I told her not to say my name," said Gengar quietly. At this point, Lopunny was livid. She grabbed by the scruff of his neck and yelled in his face,

"She gave her life to reveal that your boss and you sit here, bitching at her for saying your name?!" Gengar raised his arms,

"You didn't need to know."

"Like hell we didn't!"

"Jess!" Infernape yelled. The hybrid looked back to Infernape's pleading eyes, "Enough."

"But he-"

"Enough!" he snapped. Lopunny glared at him but listened, returning to the group's side.

Aggron, now with disappointment and frustration in his mind, approached Gengar,

Look, I don't understand what is going on. I know you're probably stressed out of your mind. But we deserve answers. What in the hell were you doing in the Phantom Corp?"

Gengar didn't say a word. He simply stared up at Aggron. He seemed surprised to see him alive. But he remained silent. Aggron scowled at Gengar, was that it? He couldn't give him a straight answer? Even with his back against the wall, he refused to say anything. Disgusted Aggron turned around and started to walk away. Lopunny was quick to join him yet Infernape and the others were more reluctant. Garchomp and Gardevoir wanted to hear him out before they casted their judgment, whilst Infernape and Ampharos simply wanted their friend back.

Then Gengar snickered.

The sound forced the group's attention back to Gengar as his quiet giggling soon evolved into full-blown laughter. Each laugh echoed throughout the room. It got to the point that it sounded like he was screaming with every ha. The group was paralyzed, forced to watch as their friend clutched onto his stomach, seemingly going insane.

"Go-Go on! Run! I dare ya!" Gengar was in full hysterics at this point. Empoleon and Torterra saw a crowd of horrified onlookers beginning to form. The two nodded towards each other and Torterra formed a wall that blocked off the door, leaving onlookers without a view and effectively soundproofing the room. "What's-What's the problem?! I thought y'all hated me! Guess I'm not the only one lying!" laughed Gengar

Initially, the group, by and large, was confused. What on earth was he talking about? It really did sound like the ramblings of an insane person, just barely capable of forming coherent sentences. It sent chills down their spines. Lopunny and Aggron's anger faded away quickly. However, what Gengar said caught Infernape's attention. Lying? What was that supposed to mean? He recalled his theory from all that time ago, but why was Gengar laughing. A brief thought popped into Infernape's head as he walked towards the side table, looking at Gengar's medical records.

Gengar had calmed down a bit

"Now, this reminds me of a good joke. See, there is this loony from the asylum on his way home. It's a bustling city so of course, he hears sirens and thinks nothing of it. Hehe, he walks into his neighborhood, and the sirens just get louder. He pays no mind and just keeps walking. He arrived on his street to see the lights from the police and he thinks, 'everything is gonna be okay!' The cops finally tell him, 'Sup, fucker. Mom's dead!' and you know what the loony does? He laughs!"

Gardevoir covered her mouth as she stared at the scene before her. It was like watching a freakshow. She was sitting there, helpless as someone was suffering what she assumed was a psychotic break. Just…what on earth was she supposed to do here? She had never seen something like this. Would words even be remotely helpful? She could read his mind, but that would be a massive violation of his privacy. The others were in a similar boat.

"Oh, oh, but there's another twist in here! The killer, instead of being put down, like he FUCKING DESERVED, he was put in prison." Gengar broke into a wheezing fit, barely able to even breathe. He fell onto his knees, cackling into the floor.

"So you know what the lunatic does? You know what he does? He sneaks into the jail, kicks down the door and brutally murders that fuckier! He thought it would give him closure" Aggron took a step back unconsciously. Ampharos' back smacked into the stone wall, his breathing accelerated rapidly. Gardevoir clutched onto Garchomp's arm like a scared child, struggling to fight back a panic attack.

"And do you wanna know the funniest part?" Gengar yelled into the floor, "He didn't get that catharsis! He didn't feel satisfied or got any sort of closure! ALL IT DID WAS MADE HIM REALIZE THAT HE HAD NO ONE LEFT! AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID? HE LAUGHED!" Gengar's head then shot back up, revealing his bow tear-stained face. However, the group had never seen a smile so happy. Within his eyes held such desperation and sorrow, and yet so much elation and comedy, that it was like one was staring into the heart of madness.

"ISN'T THAT FUNNY?!" He screamed before completely breaking down, laughing like a psychopath. His voice box was being strained beyond to the point of his laughter becoming this nightmarish sound, pounding against the eardrums of everyone in the room. Like a laughing banshee, it was shrill and guttural. His breaths in between sounded more like him sobbing than breathing.

The entire group could only watch as their friend laughed like a madman. He sounded more like a hyena than a person.

But Infernape saw through this. He stepped forward from the group. The others looked at him, confused at how calm he seemed. Infernape then tossed a piece of paper towards the others. Ampharos scrambled for a second but managed to grab a hold of the paper. The were focused on Infernape as they placed a hand on Gengar's shoulder. Gengar looked up at him while still cackling away. Infernape told him,

"I've heard a similar joke before, but it wasn't funny the first time. I know you don't find it funny either," before pulling him into an embrace. To the surprise of the others, Gengar returned that hug. The two just stood there for a few moments. However, upon reading that medical document, the group learned something that explained everything.

"Suffers an unusual form of alexithymia. Unable to express sadness normally. Instead of the usual signs of sadness, he laughs."

Gengar pulled away from Infernape and wiped at his eyes.

"I look fucking stupid crying. This never leaves this room, got it?" he demanded. Infernape smiled and pinched his fingers in front of his mouth, sliding it across to zip his mouth shut. Gengar then looked at Aggron and, for once, let his true feelings show for a moment,

"Thought you died." Aggron warmly smiled,

"Missed me?"

"Yeah… a lot." Gengar then sighed as he ran his hand over her fur, "I guess I got a lot of explaining to do." he said. Aggron simply told him,

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to have you back."