Midnight slipped by the Ribbonat Dexters before sending a light at Pink, who dazed out of the conversation.

"When you fade in, check phone and pretend to see that you are needed. Say Purple needs you and then go to the alley behind you."

Upon finishing, Pink followed his directions instantly. She excused herself before going to his hiding place. He waited until after she was in to cast the illusion and pin her to the wall, snapping her out of the daze.

"Pink?"

"Quiet." She couldn't get a sound out as Lime entered. She frowned before going back over. He then got her to her feet before he spoke again. "Follow." She hardly resisted as he led her to a nearby warehouse. He sat her down before Forest's voice echoed, casting a disarming spell. But he was late as he discovered an empty alley. Midnight then snapped his fingers, which got Pink to snap out of the daze.

"Huh?!"

"Keep your voice down." She paused as he eyed the door. "We don't want the others to use that to search." She nodded, a soft trance lurking from his tone.

"Right..." She then shook her head. "Wait-"

"Not important. When was the last you spoke to Purple?" She blinked.

"Yes-" She stopped before she spoke again. "Actually, I don't recall..." He hummed.

"Would that be because you've been trying to do something that is hopeless? And with all your attention on that you've been leaving your dear twin to overwork himself to the point of practical death just to maintain peace?" Her mind was left in the picture of his words, seeing what he meant.

"Purple..." Midnight purred.

"Let's set a deal. Help the Shadow Dexters and you can help prevent that." She nodded before she blinked.

"Wait... why-"

"Questions later. Action now. Go back to the others. And remember-" He got close to her ear. "This never happened. We never spoke." Her eyes dimmed before she managed a soft voice.

"Yeah..." She then left, leaving him to escape another way.

^~*~^

"Pink? Pink!" She blinked a little before her eyes lit up again.

"Huh?" She then looked around, acknowledging the others and finding herself in Forest's arms. "What?" Sage purred as Shade placed a hand on her head.

"You randomly ran off, vanished and then returned, all in some kind of daze. Do you remember what happened?" She blinked a little.

"No..." Ice groaned.

"Great. He strikes again." Yellow raised an eyebrow as Ice continued. "The Controller. Nasty work of a criminal. Going around, use hypnosis and other mind magics to control the city. But no one's caught him." Oat narrowed his eyes.

"And who the hell said the crook was a he?"

"Male voice rumor. And it's slowly going from rumor to facts." Red tilted his head.

"So... we just witnessed the work of this 'Controller'?" Pink blinked a little as Forest nodded.

"Now we won't know what he did to Pink. I'll take her to Cedar."

^~*~^

Cedar narrowed his eyes as he listened to Forest's words. Pink was resting in the sitting room, still unable to understand the problem.

"Alright... I'll look into it. I'll try to unravel the magic the Controller put on Pink. You go back to the others." Forest nodded before leaving, letting Pink know that she was to remain there. Upon hearing the door, Cedar cursed. "Damn you, Midnight." Pink's voice echoed through the home.

"Huh?" He summoned his spellbook from the basement before he went over.

"Nothing dear. Just sit tight. I'll see to your recovery." She nodded.

^~*~^

"Still nothing?"

She shook her head. Nothing was coming to her. He cursed under his breath before Purple's voice echoed into the home.

"Cedar! You in still?" Cedar sent a glare at the door as the male Midori raced in.

"First of all, you know my schedule. Second of all, is this about our friendly neighborhood rival of yours?" Purple frowned before.

"Hey... wait what? How'd you know?" Cedar gave a look like the taller male had been hit by a dumbbell.

"In case you haven't noticed, your rival hit home base." Purple growled a little before he got to Pink's side.

"Are you ok?" She nodded a little, her mind producing a thought from thin air. "Good... I'll be right back." She couldn't stop him before he vanished. Cedar noticed her reaction, which was trying to grab his hand. He gently took her hand as she stared at the door.

"Pink?" She turned her gaze to him. "What came over?" She blinked a little.

"A... thought... just hit me..." He pressed a hand against her head for a moment before a gentle smile tugged onto his face.

"Why don't you rest? I'll give Purple a talk about it." She gently nodded as she laid down.

^~*~^

Purple's face was of pure shock.

"He what?"

"Yep."

Purple had pulled his resting twin into a hug due to her trembling upon his entrance. Cedar had just told him what had overcome Pink's mind, the one that Midnight had implanted. Pink had stilled her trembling as he let a hand comb her hair.

"He... went through the trouble of getting nearly caught in order to pull someone over..." Cedar hummed.

"No... he went through the threat of your rage to get your sister to see your pain." Purple purred as Pink wrapped her arms around him.

"I... gotta thank him. I've been so worried that she would keep her back to me..." Cedar smiled.

"Then I'll leave you two to rebond from the separation that has occurred." Purple smiled as the caster vanished. Pink finally stirred as he smiled.

"Morning Sis." She looked up before she crawled up to get a better hug from him. "Hey... I'm alright. Thanks for checking..."

"I got word that-"

"Not with you here... Shh... we'll talk later..."

^~*~^

Blake was very skilled when it came time to catch the Controller. While it's been a while since he's done his sneaking around, it was now woven in his blood. So when the Controller revealed himself by capturing Forest's mind. Blake whipped towards the light's entrance, seeing someone retreat instantly. Blue gulped.

"Blake, go. We'll back you up in a sec."

As she spoke, Red pulled Forest into a hug to help him recover. Blake nodded before racing off. Clearly, the person didn't account for his skills as he caught up to him. Almost instantly, they sent a light to stop him, only to get avoided. He then tripped them, causing a yelp to escape them as they hit the ground. Blake pinned them down with a growl.

"Let Forest go." The person trembled under their hood.

"Wait... please-" They were masking their voice from how rough it was. "Me have a reason. Please no make me let 'im go. Me explain, just release I from thy danger grip." Blake paused as he got off the crook, which got him moving to his feet. "Tak'u, kind danger. I seek no harm." Blake frowned.

"I doubt that from anyone that uses mind magic. I've dealt with people of that kind. Now, what is your purpose, attacking the Dexters since this is your second attack?" The Controller tilted their head.

"Second...? Oh! Second after arrival! Right..." He narrowed his eyes.

"Alright... let me reword this. What's your purpose in attacking the Dexters since you started?" The Controller purred.

"Helping... helping 'em see what is lost. Shadow Dexters... so much pain..." Blake paused at the name. Blue and Sōdo ran over and paused.

"Nice job, Blake. Did you get anything?" The hooded figure lowered their head, keeping a grip on their hood.

"Other than this guy's claiming to be helping? Nothing." The Controller fired back.

"Me am helping! People no stand tat! Me member of great league that protect city!" Blue raised an eyebrow before Sōdo spoke.

"Then drop the act and show yourself." The Controller got shy almost instantly, lowering into a ball.

"No thanks. Me am great tat you interest, but tat can no be done. Must stay low for all tat seek. Too danger for identity to reveal. Controller and Natural must stay separate." Sōdo went to shout when Blake stopped him. A confused look crossed the Blade's face as he knelt down.

"Then can you schedule a time for us to meet the Natural?" The Controller nodded softly as they got up.

"There Daycare near Dexter Dump. Natural works there. Early morning till 12 shift. Best time to meet Natural." Blake smiled at him.

"Then you go and tell Natural that we will be there." The Controller seemed to give a childish giggle before they ran off. Sōdo paused as Blake smiled. Blue tilted her head.

"What was that for?" Blake smiled as he stood up.

"In Qent, many of the people there have their own way of expressing themselves. In this case, he wants his personas to stay as two people so that he can have one good and one bad reputation. So let's let him keep them apart so that he'll safely give us info."

^~*~^

At the needed time, they were able to meet up with the "Natural". As the Daycare opened, a familiar face appeared.

"'Ello! 'Ow may I 'elp you?" In contrast to the Controller's husk, trembling voice that was out of place, Midnight's cheerful, rushed voice stayed not far from the broken tongue. Blake smiled before glancing at Scarlet, who was deep in researching something on a computer.

"We came for the Natural. Is there somewhere quiet we can talk?" Midnight blinked before nodding and turning to Pichu, who was finishing up the welcome list and some other stuff.

"Pichu, could ya open Daycare? I'll be back." Pichu nodded before Midnight led them to the staff room. Upon locking it, his smile went weak. "Well... ya found 'im." Blue blinked.

"Wait... you're The Natural? Then..." Midnight nodded as he sat down on the ground.

"Yeah... I don't like associating myself with a person that calls for chaos just to set things right." He looked away. "I apologize for his actions... He never listens to anyone and hardly cooperates. I will take whatever guilt he won't." Blake smiled.

"You don't have to, Midnight. We do have some questions." Midnight blinked before he smiled.

"Ok!" Blue purred before she sat down.

"Do you know The Controller's purpose for attacking the Dexters?" He paused before he nodded with a sad look.

"Yes... Controller wanted to help me and Shadow Dexters get support. Yet with his ways of chaos... he hasn't gotten any warmer of a welcome than us." Blake knelt down to rub his back. "He- managed to get one person... but the others are no alien to his attacks. So he's been working to get them to not see that they are the target so that-" That's when the tears started falling. "S-so that we Shadow Dexters a-aren't to be alone-" Blake pulled him into a hug as he trembled. Blue gave him a moment before she spoke.

"You haven't tried to intervene?" He shook his head.

"No... I never can..." He sniffled as he rubbed his face. "Between my schedule and the other Dexters, I'm too weak to stop 'im..." He trembled a little as Blake helped clean him up.

"So... The Controller's been helping you heal what is broken?" Midnight nodded as he purred against Blake's hand. Blue smiled.

"Well thank you for answering. We'll keep this down to a low for you." Midnight smiled softly at that.

^~*~^

Purple smiled at Midnight's words. While the small boy was caught, he was really going on about how gentle one of the Ribbonat Dexter was about the whole thing.

"He kept talking to me like a native!"

Cedar giggled at Midnight's energy before he ran a hand through his hair. Most of the crew was there plus Pink. Forest wasn't fully there since Midnight wasn't able to complete him. So currently he was faded against Pink until they could focus Midnight on him. Purple smiled before he gripped Midnight's shoulders.

"How about we pause that topic and you finish your work on Forest?" He blinked before he noticed the poor boy still dazed out. Midnight giggled a little.

"Oops!" He went over and pressed his fingers against Forest's temples, a weird pink light coating them before he spoke in a hushed voice, getting soft replies from Forest. Eventually, he pulled away, letting Forest blink back to reality.

"Huh...?" Pink smiled before she took him to the sitting room to help him return and understand. Midnight giggled a little before noticing Purple had fallen asleep after he finished. Cedar purred.

"So one of you is exposed. We best be careful."