LEON'S POV

Only when the dust settled did we truly realize the predicament we were in. The moment Hydra fired his attack at Loki I felt the pressure in my sensors deteriorate temporarily. Everyone else seemed also to recognize this and freely move around to scatter in different directions. We did not predict having to fight Hydra, but we did discuss what we would do in the likely case that a difficult opponent presented themselves.

The first to deviate from the formation was Luster, who quickly rushed forward to retrieve Loki after she was attacked.

"S-She's unconscious, what the fuck do we do?" Luster gritted his teeth as he ran to my side. From what a quick glance showed me, Loki was badly injured, and most likely wouldn't awake for hours.

"Hydra will prove to be a great threat, but the plan continues. We must stall for as long as possible." I replied with a sense of hope. I myself was having doubts about our outcome, but there was no use to worry right now...we had to survive.

"Here he comes!" Laker warned as we watched Hydra resume his zombie-like march towards us. When I think of it, he resembled the sluggish movements of a Mingle, which certainly has something to do with Sam's operation on him.

I was the first to feel the painful effects of his aura. It was as if an outside source intruded into my brain and rang the loudest siren imaginable.

"We need a new plan, Loki is still out!" Luster turned to face Sammy with a disturbed expression.

The younger Braixen in question froze for half a second. I felt a wave of dread wash over her energy before instinctively reaching forward and placing a paw on her shoulder. "Sammy, you've got this." I reassured.

Sammy calmed down just a little before backing up into me and facing the oncoming threat. "When in range, Hydra broadens his aura so that it acts like an intense gravity field. He can immobilize targets that way, but if he were to focus his aura elsewhere the effects temporarily weaken. Our choice is to either fight him so we're able to move freely, or to run and keep our range."

"I don't mean to make this harder, but..." Sherwood frowned. "I have to stay near Sam so she doesn't escape...and we're runnin' out of time."

"So we'll fight him." Rayne stepped forward with a glare of determination.

"Are you crazy!?" Laker raised a brow at the Manectric. "You'll get killed!"

"In all fairness, she probably has the highest chance of survival out of all of us." Grace reasoned with a worried gaze. "But it still doesn't solve our problem."

"Well, I'm good to go." Vince also walked forward while stretching his limbs. "He may have stopped me and Zantai last time, but we're all here. I can act as a distraction."

"What's our new goal?" Luster hummed lightly.

"Same thing, but with something added. We still have to continue stalling for Sam's withdrawals to worsen, but I believe we should try and subdue her to make our lives easier."

"I'm still a little worn out..." Zantai grumbled as he seemingly felt a sore spot on his chest.

"We have no time to waste. We must hurry before more reinforcements gather." I warned.

Before we knew it, it was suddenly harder to stand up straight. Hydra had approached close enough to where his energy weighed us down. This time was different, however...it was as if I could somewhat read his aura.

"Sherwood, look out!" I blurted out loud as quickly as possible before I watched Hydra lunge forward and launch his fist towards Sherwood.

Thanks to my callout, Sherwood reacted, his eyes sparking a pale white as he evaded the attack in one fluid motion. In that one moment, I could tell what happened; Hydra had used Bullet Punch and Sherwood barely evaded it with the help of Detect—a move similar to Protect but it allows you to dodge anything.

"That was fast!" Laker commented in the middle of his growl. "What the fuck was that?"

"Hydra knows a couple of priority moves." Sammy heaved a long sigh. "This is not going to be easy, I cannot predict which moves he will use."

"But it does feel easier to move now." Vince chuckled and dashed forward towards the tall jackal. "Keep up with me, I'll be your distraction!"

"Be careful!" Grace was the first to call out to the Greninja, who only turned and flashed a sly wink at the Eevee.

As promised, Vince leaped into the air and fired two small Water Shurikens at Hydra. The first one connected and bursted on his back, but the second was swiftly smacked away in reaction. Now that his attention was on the airborne frog, everyone who wanted to fight took this moment to get closer and better positioned to attack.

Rayne took her stance, and Laker surprisingly followed and stood by her side. I've yet to see Laker properly fight before, but it seemed like he was confident enough to help us. My role is more supportive, but I stood close enough to fire a ranged attack at any given moment.

Hydra was still an apathetic husk, but there was this hint of aura I felt in him before he attacked. I almost overlooked it, but if I was able to detect aura then that would mean he isn't entirely emotionless. What completely took me off guard was that the emotion was sadness.

Before I could even register that thought, I felt a new wave of dreadful aura soak into my sensors. "He's attacking again!" He must have masked his energy better this time—I couldn't predict exactly who he was attacking, but I knew it was happening. Hydra whirled around as anticipated and shaped a large bone staff into his palm.

"Bone Rush..." Rayne gritted her teeth as she watched the tall jackal eye her down. "He's trying to get me with a super effective move."

I wished I could help, but the attack would most likely damage me more severely than the Manectric. Hydra dashed forward and readied the large Bone Staff before starting his onslaught on the electric canine. Rayne showed great athleticism for a while, leaping around his swings but eventually falling victim to a sudden overhead strike. A few of us ran forward to assist her as she fell to the ground, but Hydra took advantage of this and managed to sneak in a Bullet Punch to Zantai's abdomen. The interaction was reset after Vince shoved the tall jackal off with another Water Shuriken spray.

"F-Fuck, that guy hurts." Zantai regrouped with his talons against his stomach.

"This is not good." Rayne held a paw up to her temple. "I've only taken one swing...and yet I felt like fainting."

We heard Sam cackle in the distance. "Oh boy, it's all settling in now, isn't it?" She crossed her arms with a small grin. "You realized that this is all impossible, right?"

"Don't listen to her." Loki's voice stated from behind me. I turned to see her still lying on Luster's back but clearly worn out. "I-I still believe we can do this."

"I'm sure you didn't see, but we basically got our ass whooped in two moves. How do you expect us to do this?" Laker gritted his teeth in irritation.

"Whatever it is, think of it fast." I warned as I felt a new wave of negative energy pick up in my sensors. It still threw me off how the energy was sadness...usually the feeling I'd pick up is a hint of anger or excitement.

Loki crawled off the back of the Luxray and leaned against him to start announcing her plan. "Obviously we have to work together, but at the same time not get in each other's way. Find a way to hinder his speed, that's the most important part as he's currently faster than all of us."

"Not me!" Vince folded his arms in protest.

"You know what I mean." The black fox narrowed her eyes at the frog before turning back to the rest of us.

"How are we supposed to coordinate like that?" Luster continued to stand next to the Zoroark and support her unbalanced leaning.

"Pair up with someone who can potentially cover your weaknesses. Rayne, Zantai, your guys' issue is your range, correct? The two of you should pair up with others who can keep their distance, like Leon and Vince." Loki's arms motioned the group to take formation. After a bit of hesitation, Rayne paired up with me while Zantai paired with Vince.

"What about everyone else?" Grace pouted lightly.

"It is dangerous, but I cannot stop you from helping. I only chose the people I've seen fight before. If you believe you can do something to help then don't be shy." The Zoroak heaved a sigh of preparation and backed into the Luxray. "I hope you don't mind, Luster, but the rest of us will probably need protection."

"I don't care." Luster shrugged. "I was probably going to do that anyway."

"Then we have a plan." She turned back to us with her arms folded. "Try your best out there, this will be hard."

THIRD PERSON

On the front line were Rayne and Zantai, standing next to each other as they stood their ground against Hydra. Behind each of them respectively were Leon and Vince, who were prepared to fire their charged attacks at any moment. In the corner of their eyes, they could see Laker, Grace, and Sammy stationed in more supportive positions.

Hydra continued his ominous march forward, not a visible scratch was done on the jackal yet. After a certain threshold was reached, both Vince and Leon fired their attacks simultaneously. Hydra was able to evade the first few shurikens that Vince threw but eventually had to strike Leon's Aura Sphere with his fist, shattering the ball into a dust cloud.

"In we go!" Zantai excitedly leaped forward with his fist balled.

Rayne soon silently followed the Blaziken into the dust cloud. Even though Hydra was able to detect their auras and positioning in the obscurity, predicting exactly which Pokemon it was would be a challenge.

Once the dust settled, Hydra had already summoned a Bone Rush staff into his paw before reeling it forward. The feeling of a physical strength somewhat similar to his caught him off guard, and he turned to see Zantai's talons holding the weapon by the base.

"H-Hurry up! This guy's tough!" The Blaziken gritted his teeth as he expectedly turned to the Manectric. As promised, Rayne had rammed her sparking shoulder into the jackal and launched him a few feet away.

"That should do it, I felt something in that." Rayne grinned and watched as the large Lucario struggled to stand for a bit. "He's paralyzed."

"Wouldn't that mean we won?" Laker tilted his head in confusion.

"Not quite." Rayne frowned. "This isn't a complete paralysis, it's a temporary motor dysfunction, and it happens at random intervals. We're going to have to time our attacks well."

"On the bright side, he is slower than normal, I can tell this will be much easier now." Sammy noted with a small huff. "I believe in you all, let me know how I may help."

"Interesting~!" Sam giggled from behind Hydra, her eyes narrowing in smugness. "Slowing him down now, are we?"

"Don't try anythin' funny." Sherwood hissed, reminding Sam that she was being watched. "Any weird trick and I'm running over and making you pay."

"Oh, by no means will I try to run away." The older Braixen turned to wag her hips tauntingly at the Sceptile. "I'll just stay with Hydra to try something!"

"Try something?" Leon echoed.

Now that the battle-scarred jackal had gotten up, he faced the group with another soulless expression, his mission continuing. Hydra charged a large Aura Sphere into his palm before firing it toward Vince. Immediately springing into action, Zantai leaped in front of the frog and slammed his talon into the orb.

"Ya didn't have to do that!" Vince rushed forward to watch as the Blaziken held his talon in pain.

"It's my job, bud. Cover me, it looks like Hydra's going ranged for now." Zantai grunted, but it was no surprise; his fist took a charged Aura Sphere's explosion.

Vince leaped into the air and charged another onslaught of Water Shurikens to toss at the stationary jackal. This attack specifically was able to land on Hydra, as the feeling of his paralysis prevented him from blocking.

"Nice!" Sammy called out. "Keep that energy up, guys!"

Sam paced in front of the Lucario with a devilish grin and whirled her staff around. "Looks like this is proving to be an issue, how about I help out?"

"Sherwood!" Laker turned to eye the Sceptile meant to monitor Sam.

With a small nod, Sherwood immediately leaped forward to use his Pursuit. However, he didn't feel his speed pick up at all—at least not like how it was the other times.

Instead, the ground around everyone distorted into a pinkish-tiled pattern that stretched for tens of feet around them. The moment Sherwood's feet stepped onto one, he could feel himself almost halt all momentum he gathered, a sluggish feeling overtaking him.

"Shit..." Rayne clicked her tongue in annoyance. "She's used Trick Room, which means..."

As they all feared, Hydra rose from his once stationary state and rotated his shoulders in preparation.

"He's gonna be faster now that he's paralyzed!" Luster warned the group with an audibly loud tone. "Find a way to slow yourself!"

"Rayne, Thunder Wave me." Zantai turned to the Manectric with a determined glare. "I'm slow enough already, but I can get fast if you paralyze me."

"I won't think twice about it, you better not regret this." Rayne answered by taking a few steps back and focusing her maw on the bird, releasing a consistent wave of circular electricity. The energy locked onto the Blaziken before securing onto him, successfully paralyzing their target.

"Ahh, that's much better." Zantai chuckled lightly and reeled his legs back.

"Zantai!" Loki called out to him from beside Luster. "I have a new plan."

The Blaziken turned to raise a brow at the black fox. "It better not stop me from beating that Lucario up."

"It won't...just trust me on it." Loki reassured.

It didn't take long for her explanation to be heard, and the group immediately went into action. At the best coordinating ability they could, everyone had managed to surround the jackal in a very wide circle, keeping their formation somewhat similar to what they had previously.

Sam dropped a Trick Room on their heads did make things trivial for a bit, but to them, it still felt doable. However, they had yet to land a deciding blow.

"Look out!" Leon warned with a small frown. "Here he comes!"

Hydra had leaped forward at an alarming speed towards whom they deemed the least capable of them all—which appeared to be both Grace and Sammy. Before he could get too close, Sammy immediately whirled her staff as she manifested a hot pink barrier in front of herself and the other smaller fox. A Reflect, one potent enough to halt a physical attack from the large jackal.

Immediately in response, Zantai launched himself towards Hydra and managed to sneak his back with a potent Blaze Kick, a super effective move to use at that moment. Hydra wasn't off his feet, but he still skidded a few feet away from the group, leaving the two of them in a neutral state.

"Thank you..." Grace smiled up at the bird, who only nodded and continued to chase the jackal down.

However, before any substantial lead could be made, Hydra had already charged a blindingly fast move before Zantai could even ball his fist up for his next one. The Lucario seemingly teleported in front of the bird and slammed the base of his paw against the Blaziken's stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

"Sucker Punch..." Leon gasped lightly. "H-He's not gonna be able to defend himself!"

"Fuck...fuck!" Vince attempted to dash forward, but to him it felt like there were weights tugging at his legs. He couldn't make it in time, and Hydra managed to reel back around and slam his fist into Zantai's face, launching him across the Trick Room.

Rayne shook her head in shock before turning towards the Weavile next to her. "Laker, do you know Icy Wind?"

"Y-Yeah but it's kind of useless because I attack physically!" The Weavile frowned.

"Use it on me, do it now." Rayne practically commanded.

Choosing not to question her, Laker focused his claws forward and exhaled profoundly, releasing a controlled breath with ice particles. Rayne gritted her teeth to cope with the temporary pain before hopping in place.

"Good..." The Manectric chuckled and tapped around a little faster than before. "I needed the speed reduction from that move since the Trick Room is still in play."

"You're going to have to be the fast one now." Leon turned to the other canine with a determined look. "I'll keep you guys informed, but make sure someone gets Loki over there."

"I can." Luster stepped forward. "I've been carrying her this whole time, I can do it a bit more."

Right on time, Hydra had dashed at them the moment they concluded their thoughts. The jackal reeled his arms back and charged a large Aura Sphere. The initial response was to hold their ground and deflect the attack, but something caught their eye...

"Luster, run forward!" Rayne immediately leaped forward and made a mad dash towards the Lucario. "The paralyze interrupted him! You have a few seconds!"

Without hesitating one bit, Luster immediately ran forward with Loki braced on his back. "Loki, whenever I make the call, I'm going to throw you onto him, okay? You better pray this fuckin' works."

"Praying won't work if I know it will." Loki focused on her target with burning turquoise eyes.

For being in a Trick Room, the Luxray managed to close down the distance from the Lucario very quickly. After what felt like a few seconds of positioning himself, Luster gritted his teeth in anticipation. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Now!"

Loki was tossed after the electric feline halted momentum and sprung his back forward, launching the black fox into the air and towards Hydra. Rayne was keeping the large jackal down with a constant volt of electricity, the stream of sparks constantly powering through.

Once the Zoroark was close enough she tackled the Lucario's upper half and toppled the two of them over, pushing Hydra onto his back. Once they landed, Loki's haunches were firmly placed onto the Lucario's chest, her legs tightly wrapped around his arms.

"Hydra, I swear to Arceus, you better remember this!" Loki exclaimed before taking a deep breath and pressing her lips against Hydra's. She kept this position for a while, her hands reaching up to cup the Lucario's cheeks and deepen the kiss.

At first, Hydra didn't react, and she could not tell if it was working...but something changed. She could feel the large Lucario's lips start twitching, and eventually, kissing back in reaction. The two held their positions for a while, the kiss now being reciprocated on both ends. When Loki pulled away, the two faced each other's shocked eyes before the silence was eventually broken.

"Lo...ki..?" Hydra muttered, his eyes growing weary. "Thank...you..."

His grip went numb, and the Lucario's head lolled to the side before he presumably lost consciousness. To Loki, she had just gotten Hydra back...but to everyone, they had taken the titan down.

"Fuck yeah..!" Vince balled his fist in pure adrenaline. "Take that, you stupid fox!" He turned to grin widely at Sam. He couldn't get much satisfaction from seeing Sam's reaction, however, as the Braixen was already passed out on the ground.

"She was unconscious for a lil' bit, I didn't wanna interrupt Loki's whole...thing..." Sherwood, who had already wrapped the manic Braixen in a tangle of vines, faced the group with a gentle smile. "We can head out, maybe there's some kinda way out?"

"This is a good start." Sammy stepped forward and nodded. "I can lead us through the door, but knowing Sam there are many traps along the way. Having Sam unconscious is great...but that also means she cannot warn us about the dangers ahead."

"W-What about Hydra?" Loki, who was still sitting on the Lucario, turned with a concerned look. "How are we gonna move him?"

"Uhhm..." Rayne froze for a moment.

"I'm gonna be honest, Loki, we may have to leave him." Zantai was the first to admit his opinion.

"What?" A pair of voices sounded, it was Loki and Grace.

"Listen g-guys...I was scared of Hydra as much as you all, but he really tried to help us." Grace stepped forward with an uncharacteristically determined look. "The only reason he's in this situation is because of our mistrust."

"She's somewhat correct." Leon added with a small hum. "But relocating him continues to prove an issue. It would slow us down, someone of that size and weight would not be easy to move."

"Then...I-I'll st—"

"I'll stay." Sherwood cut the black fox off with a gentle smile. "Someone's gotta keep hold of Sam, right? I can do that while watchin' Hydra. Maybe he'll wake up and help...or kill me, whatever Arceus decides."

"I don't know if I want to risk those odds." Luster's gaze was unsure, and the Sceptile could tell.

"Trust me, I'll be aight. I'll try to find a way to bring Hydra over. You guys ought to be fast, there's no time to lose." Sherwood reassured with a small nod.

Sammy exhaled hot enough for a small ember to form. "I'm going to trust you, Sherwood. Let's go, everyone, we have a long journey out."

Everyone soon turned to follow the Braixen, their goal set in stone as they neared the certain path towards the northern wall. One of them lagged behind for a moment and turned around to walk toward the Sceptile.

"Sherwood." Leon stopped in front of him and offered him a paw. "Thank you for everything, I hope to see you on the other side."

Sherwood took his paw with a smile, the grass type leaning forward and wrapping his other arm around the jackal for a quick hug. "I'll see you on the other side, partner."

They now had a new goal, but a completely different execution. Once Sammy had opened the doors to the cage walls, the group was escorted into the first layer. Inside were brightly lit corridors surrounded by stainless steel walls.

"Is this how it really looks like?" Luster was almost in awe. "It looks...boring?"

"That's how it has to be." Sammy responded, a hint of urgency in her tone. "It's meant to be efficient, not pretty."

"Efficient it was." Vince grumbled lightly. "Shit was annoying to get through, I don't know how you manage."

"You get used to it." The Braixen shrugged and continued leading the way at a fast-walk pace. Everyone seemed to read the room and quiet down, letting Sammy guide them throughout the building. It was clear that every room needed some attention before entering, as most of the inner cage walls looked identical compared to the previous one.

They continued silently for a while, but how could they complain? Even if it took hours to escape they would still take the path.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt." Loki muttered in a gentle tone. The group had been walking silently in a long, dimly lit hall for a while. "But doesn't this feel like it goes on forever?"

"It's the main hallway to leave the inner wall. The outer wall is going to look simpler but...I haven't seen it in a long time. As I mentioned previously, Sam might have placed traps or methods to prevent an escape." Sammy didn't face the group as she spoke, instead, her voice resonated that monotone sound she had when they first met her. "They could be lethal if we aren't careful, so be on your guard once we enter."

"Right..." The Zoroark nodded as the silence continued.

...

...

Still inside the cage sat a meditating Sceptile, his eyes focused on two Pokemon he had subdued with vines.

"How am I gonna get'cha inside?" Sherwood leaned towards the unconscious Hydra in front of him. "I could get some leverage if I use the vine as a rope."

At this point, he was talking to himself, but it helped him stay sane. It took a lot of patience to keep it together while knowing that the rest of the group could have already escaped by now. Instead, he continued pulling both the jackal and Braixen towards the northern wall. Perhaps he could get some answers once Hydra woke up.

But now he would only have more questions. Once he turned back to Sam, her eyes were already wide open and staring back at him. Sherwood flinched, and initially he had no idea what to do. The Braixen wasn't doing anything, just blankly staring at him with a neutral expression.

That expression soon distorted into a fresh stream of tears, all pouring down Sam's face. She let out a gut-wrenching scream and lurched forward, almost as if she was gagging.

"Hey..! The hell is wrong with ya?" Sherwood walked up to kneel in front of the Braixen and hold her spazzing body together.

Sam continued to writhe in his grasp as she sobbed uncontrollably, then entered a fit of laughter, and then continued to sob. It was an ugly cacophony of emotions thrown together before it finally ended in whimpers of sadness. Finally, Sam closed her eyes and continued to sob in a quieter tone—with a few occasional hics.

"Sam?" Sherwood continued to speak with the manic Braixen. "Are you alright?"

"I can't think." She finally replied, her voice hoarse from screeching her lungs away. "I-I need m-my stimulant machine...please br-bring it to me."

"We're not gonna, m'sorry. Whatever it was definitely fucked with ya." The Sceptile shook his head.

"Wh-Why are you...alone?" Sam had opened a small crease in her blurry eyes to only see one green silhouette in front of her. "Where are the...rest of you?"

"You don't remember what just happened?"

"No..."

"They're escapin'..." Sherwood shrugged with a gentle smile. "I'm goin' to meet up with them after I wake your brother up. Or manage to move him...hopefully the former."

"Es...cape..?" The visually broken Braixen echoed. "That's..."

The Sceptile raised a brow and leaned in to hear the vixen clearly. "That's..?"

"Sh-Sherwood...I-I'm so sorry..." Sam stammered in the middle of her growing sobs. "I'm so sorry..."

Hearing an authentic-sounding apology from Sam came as a powerful shock for the Sceptile, and he had to control the hitch in his breath after hearing it.

"What the hell's goin' on? Why are you like this, Sam?" Sherwood backed away with a brow raised.

"The traps..!" Sam whined her words out as if she were struggling to breathe through her sobs. "S-Sammy doesn't know about them..! S-She'll get them all killed..! You have to warn them!"

"What do you mean?" Now the Sceptile leaped back forward and kneeled down in front of her. "What traps?"

"I–If they m-make it past a certain point, the entire cage will release a toxin in the form of a gas that will kill them all! It doesn't matter where in the walls you are, it can reach every corner..!" Sam sniffled and shook her head. "What the fuck am I even doing here!? Where is Sammy? Where is my sister!?"

Sherwood had no time to process this, and instead, he backed away with an overwhelmed expression. He had to continue to do his job and escort them, but warning them was also a great priority.

"Go." Sam uttered. "P-Please go and warn them."

"I can't leave ya here, you getting away will be certain death for us."

"If there is any time to trust me, it's right now. I'm tied up good and I'm...trying to process how long I've spent in that state." Sam attempted to reassure him.

"That state..?" Sherwood echoed with a frown.

He listened to her, however. Something about how she said it, or maybe even the look she gave him when she told him to go.

He was no longer talking to the same person anymore.

And now, he had to rush through the walls and warn the group. How in the world could he find his way?

Everyone's life was on the line, there was no time for hesitation.