Archie knew the situation was hopeless. They were trapped in this Hellish, hot as the tenth circle, infernal flesh bag he and Myao had found themselves trapped inside of. He'd just woken up for what felt like the very first time in his life and he was already facing his own death. At least he had Myao to keep him company, even if she was absolutely horrified. Archie didn't try and fight back... he sighed, resigned to his fate, even while Myao kept trying to fight back, kept trying to push against the Arcanine's stomach, kept trying to get her and Archie out of here before they were nothing more than this Arcanine's afternoon lunch.

"Myao..." Archie said, trying to catch her, trying to get her to stop. There's... There's no way we can get out of here. I... I'm sorry."

Myao looked shocked at her dearest friend's near-instant surrender.

"H... How... HOW CAN YOU JUST SAY THAT!?" she exclaimed. "There's always a way out! There's always been a way out with you, and there's still a way out now!"

"No, there's not!" Archie snapped before letting out a deeper sigh. "If my claws aren't sharp enough to make this beast let us go, there's nothing we can do to get out of here."

Myao frowned as her jaw dropped. She took a moment to stop and think... She hated to admit that she actually believed that Archie was right. The attack she was most proud of, the Moonblast that had first saved Archie's life, failed to do much of anything now. She frowned as she floated down before she curled up with Archie, nuzzling her way under his arm. "If... If I'm going to die... I wouldn't have it any other way than dying at your side." She nuzzled his cheek as they both waited for the Arcanine's stomach to finish them off. Archie smiled at Myao and gave her a kiss, showing that he feels the same way.

"Heh... I was wondering when you'd give up," a voice said in the darkness of the Arcanine's stomach. "I knew it was hopeless the moment this big brute managed to swallow me."

Archie paused as he recognized the voice right away. He couldn't believe it. It stopped seeming less like a bad dream and felt more real with her inside with them... "Abby?" he called out.

"Yeah, it got me, too," she said as she let her rings glow. Rather than a brilliant yellow glow, hers is a bright blue as it allowed some light to bounce about the stomach, letting her see them. "Guess karma finally decided to catch up to me and put a stop to my rampage. Funny thing is that I didn't even get my curse to help keep me from getting eaten."

"Karma, huh...? Then what did I do to end up in here!?" a fourth voice said, kicking out. The light caught on him just right to show that the fourth voice belonged to Flora who was trying desperately to keep away from the 'floor'. Every time a foot slipped in, he immediately backpedaled further.

"How much did this Arcanine eat...!?" Myao exclaimed in disbelief. "Flora, too...!"

Flora looked over and gasped as his brief burst of joy at seeing his thus-far favorite spectators again caused him to fall forward... directly splashing into the acid.

There's a quick yelp and a jump as Sylvie makes her presence known. Archie's heart drops. "Wh... You, too...?" he said in disbelief.

Sylvie whimpers in acknowledgement as she nods. "I turned around one minute and I was face-to-face with a pair of wide open jaws the next... and landing on top of Abby after that," she said.

Abby smirked. "Heh... at least that gives me something to be amused by with this situation... at least the biggest one in here didn't land on me."

"What I want to know..." Flora said. "HOW DID IT EAT ALL OF US!?"

Myao hummed... "Well... with how cramped it is in here..." she theorized. "I'm guessing... she's a really big Arcanine with a bigger appetite."

"Okay..." Flora said. "WHY DID..." He paused. "Oh, I know why..." He sighed as he didn't try to get back up, simply sitting, holding his legs tight to himself. "Because it was hungry and we happened to be in her path." He sighs. "Here I thought I could be the world's greatest magician, wow all of my friends... finally show everyone who laughed at me that I knew what I was doing with my sleight of hand... that I didn't need to evolve to be better than the Meowscarada... Guess I ended up getting one trick perfect. Disappearing into a pile of nothing. Too bad it's the one trick I won't get out of alive."

Myao's heart drops as she flies over and nuzzles him. "Nobody believed in you...?" she asked.

"Why are we even having this conversation!?" Abby snapped. "We're literally about to die in here!"

"Well... what better time than when you're staring down death than to tell everybody your deepest darkest secrets?" Myao asked with a giggle. "Maybe we'll learn something about each other."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure," she said. "Find out that Archie's secretly a multi-billionaire seconds before we both end up digested. Fun."

Myao giggles. "Exactly!" she says. "We'll allll take turns finding out where we came from, how we came to be who we are, and one of our deepest, daaaaaarkest secrets, so we can enjoy our last few moments instead of just lying down and accepting what's gonna happen to us like grumps!"

Abby smirked. "Well, when you put it like that, I almost can't say no just to spite you." She snickers. "I think I'll go first."

Archie scoots up... only being a few inches as Myao lands on his head. Flora paused and inched closer to listen. Sylvie smiles as she wraps a ribbon arond Abby. "I can help tell it," Sylvie said. "Since your story and mine go side-by-side."

Abby nodded. "I... wasn't always cursed," she admitted. "I was like just about everybody else. Except... I knew from birth that my mother hated me. She refused to be near me, to treat me with love... even to give me a name that showed that she had anything but contempt for me in her heart. My dark secret... my name isn't really Abby. It's Abberation. But, I hate that name... because it was my mother's way of letting everyone know that I wasn't wanted. That I was some curse on her life. And when she died... she's the one who cursed me. She possesses me whenever I'm at my weakest. She loves watching me tortured and struggling to have anything remotely happy in my life... I don't doubt she's watching me slowly digest with a grin on her face at best and a laugh at worst."

Myao frowned. "Did... you have anyone that you really cared about?" she asked.

Abby smiled introspectively. "I do," she said. "Or... considering where we are now... I did. I'm... sharing this moment with one of them." She smiled at Sylvie. "Sylvie's... the first person to ever show me genuine caring and kindness. She was my first real friend. She evolved before I did, before I even knew her. I had ran into a back alley to cry after my mother had screamed at me for being born... when Sylvie found me. She offered a shoulder to cry on, a chance to be someone who my mother insisted I wasn't. I fell for an Espeon friend of hers, but... I wish we weren't stuck like this now. I would have..."

Sylvie tilts her head. "What?" she asked. "Would have what?"

Abby shakes her head before letting her actions speak for her as she gave Sylvie a kiss on the lips, which was soon reciprocated after Sylvie recovered from the initial shock of being kissed. Sylvie blushed as their lips parts. Sylvie giggled. "To be honest, I've wanted that for a while," she said. "I... just respected you and Eyezpi too much to stand in her way."

Abby smiled. "I was on my way to spend time with them after I'd been hunting... when I heard it coming... I couldn't even fight back before I was dropped in here."

Sylvie frowned and nuzzled her. "At least I came soon after," she said, trying to come up with something that could console Abby... and given the bittersweet smile in response, it had worked. "My turn," Sylvie says. "Even if... there's not much to tell. I grew up in a village with little access to medicine. We had to travel three days to even find medicine for the common cold. My mother was deathly sick with pneumonia... I tried desperately to find any herbs that could cure it... but I failed... she died before I could return to her. I set out then to collect as many herbs as I can, and to plant more of them so no one would ever die of sickness again... at least if I could help it... I... was... actually successful. I'm the reason Forestedge Town is Forestedge Town."

"AAAAAnd your darkest secret?" Myao asked with a smirk.

"I'm a predator," Sylvie admitted. "I eat meat, just as much as the one who ate us enjoyed eating us."

"Ooooh, that's a good one," Myao said. She turned to Flora. "How about you?"

Flora smirked. "Prepare for a tale of true woe!" he exclaimed, trying to be theatrical.. Only to slip and fall face-first into the acid. "Guess my theatrics aren't even appreciated when I'm this close to being about to die..." He shook his head as he stood up. "I'm sure you know this, but I was born as a Sprigatito."

"Really, here I thought you might have been a Litten," Abby teased with a smirk.

Flora narrows his eyes. "Right..." he said. "Anyway... I had to grow up and watch all of my friends become great in magic, and in theatrical tricks. They were so great and so clever, and their tricks were always the most impressive."

"Yours aren't bad," Myao said.

Flora smiled. "But, it didn't work," he pointed out. "And none of the tricks I tried then worked, either. Worse was when I evolved into a Floragato and my brothers evolved into Meowscarada. They showed me up every time they could. They acted like the fact that they were fully evolved and I wasn't was reason enough to call me a phony, that I could never perform even the most basic tricks. I've been practicing ever since, and trying to perfect my craft!" He pauses and sighs as he sits down again. "And I never got there before I ended up canine kibble. My own dark secret... none of my magic tricks ever worked."

Myao frowned. "Aww, I'm sure you'll get a chance," she said. Archie smirked and gave her a 'Really?' look. "Oh, right," Myao said. "Heh... forgot we're... kinda trapped in a slow death trap here."

"What about you?" Abby asked Archie. "What's your story?"

Archie paused and sighed. "I... don't know," he said. "All I remember is waking up today, walking around for a few hours, and then getting eaten."

Myao nods. "I'll tell my story, though," she said. "My dark secret... I once ate a whole candy bar when someone told me to only eat half of one." She giggled. "Anyway! My story is that I grew up in Heaven, hatched from an egg produced by Palkia and Dialga, and I right away fell in love with Arceus himself. Of course, I knew I didn't have a chance with him, but... then I started getting jealous of all those that were getting close to him... I didn't believe that he could possibly care for anyone else. I refused to let him care for anyone else. I swore my loyalty to him and him alone, no matter if he ever loved me or not... Arceus kinda... vanished one day... and... well... I found Archie, and he reminded me a lot of Arceus, sooo... I've been at his side all this time... until I got eaten before he was, by only a few seconds."

Abby smirks. "So... your story is that you're a simp for the highest of all high beings," she says. "Somehow, I knew there was something about you that screamed annoying and yet too adorable to hate."

Flora smirked. "If it's anything... that you were the first ever to be interested in my tricks does give me a bit of affection for you, but not quite anywhere to love."

"Well, I don't think any of us have any time to be developing a real relationship," Sylvie said. "Our time is getting closer and closer to being over."

Flora hummed. "Okay..." he said. "I do have one more thing I'd like to say about myself that doesn't have to deal with magic. I've always thought of myself as a hopeless casanova. Like... I really, really like girls, and I really, really want to get with a really nice and hot girl... but I know I've got nothing about me that girls would want."

Abby smirks. "Well, if you would stop worrying about the magic so much and started considering settling down, maybe you'd find something that someone would want to settle down with," she teased.

Flora huffed. "Right," he said. "Like that's gonna help me now... I'm probably one good burp away from doggy chow as it is."

"You don't look that bad," Myao said. "Actually... looking around... not one of us is too heavily digested yet."

Sylvie smiled warmly. "I've been using my healing energy to keep us from dying," she said. "Unfortunately, I can't keep it up forever... then we have either until I get the energy to keep it going... or that's when we're out of luck and out of time."

Archie nodded. "Then... let's hope you recover soon enough," he said.

Abby paused. "Wait... if you're able to keep us from being digested..." she said. "Maybe... if you could recover your energy... you'll starve that beast to death and we can get out of here by just squirming our way back out of its corpse."

"Maybe..." Sylvie said. "But it'd be a battle of endurance... and I don't know how long it's going to take for me to be ready to help continue keeping us all alive."

Myao smiled as she inched closer to Sylvie. "Well, is it a move?" she asked. "Maybe I might know it."

Sylvie shook her head. "It's energy my ribbons are giving off," she said. "That's what worries me more. When I can't use my energy... my ribbons might be fast to be digested before the rest of me... then it'll just be waiting for us all to die."

Myao frowned. "Well... maybe if we kept your ribbons above..." That's when acid drips from the ceiling onto Myao's head, making her yelp out. "What!? What!? What!?"

Sylvie smirked bittersweetly. "We're inside of a stomach... there's acid everywhere," she said. "Even if I kept it above the pool on the bottom... it wouldn't stop what's dripping down from landing on my ribbons and burning through them... and if they get burned through at all, that ribbon's as good as useless."

Archie gulped. "Then... we... really are on a countdown to our deaths," he said. "As soon as you run out of energy... we're as good as dead."

Sylvie nodded and sighed. "Essentially," she said. "Unless a rare miracle happened... or someone was able to come rescue us... but who would even know where we are... and who would even be able to stop this thing from just digesting us?"

"Sylvie... your voice... it's getting weaker," Abby pointed out. "Don't tell me that your time is already running out."

Sylvie yawns. "I... I wish I could say it's not," she said. "But... I'm already starting to tire out..."

"NO!" Flora exclaimed. "It can't end like this! It can't end this soon! Not when I actually have someone to care about in my life!" He pushed past Abby, briefly causing them both to end up knocked over. She grabbed onto Sylvie as Abby slashed at him to be more careful. "Look into my eyes. You're feeling very, very awake!" he said in a distressed voice. "Very, very awake!"

Myao looked between them as Archie sighed, lowering his head onto his paws again, causing his chin to be in the acid pool. "It's... It's practically useless... isn't it?" Myao asked Archie.

"I'm afraid so," Archie declared. "Whatever hope we had is running out... we can't fight our way out... and there's nobody coming to save us... so... I think it might be best we give up before we stress ourselves into our own graves."

Flora still looked like he was ready to fight for his very life. "Darn it, stay awake!" he yelled at Sylvie.

"Stop yelling at her!" Abby exclaimed as she tackled Flora. "If we're going to die in here, darn it, stop making it harder!" Flora tried to fight back against her only for Abby to glare at him. "Sit. Stay kitty. Before you die before the rest of us," Abby said.

Flora yelps. "Yes, ma'am!" he exclaims before laughing nervously. "I... I just... I didn't... wanna... die after I felt like I really earned some friends."

Abby narrows her eyes. "And you think dying here is what I want, either?" she snarled. "No! But I'm going to just sit down, shut up, and let it happen when it does. I'm not going to overwork one of my friends just so we have a slim chance to survive."

Flora frowned as he sighed. He shook his head. How could he be so thoughtless? "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Abby nods as he takes her paws off of him and just lays down, watching Sylvie's eyes close as she flops down, asleep. Archie gets a shiver... as he joins the rest of his new friends in waiting for his time to come to an end.