A few weeks passed and now almost every tree planted in the city's sidewalk and in the local park had lost almost all their leaves. The temperature was also dropping making everyone wear warmer clothing so they won't freeze outside. Erick was currently sitting in the park playing his guitar while trying to come up with a song. His family was going to have a reunion for Thanksgiving and he wanted to sing them a song of his very own when they arrived. However he was having a bit of trouble as he had most of it down but couldn't get the rest. After playing a bit of the song Erick got to the point where he was having trouble and as a result he started playing out of tune.

"Agh! Why can't I get it down!" Erick yelled angrily as he covered his face with his hands and leaned back on the bench.

"Hey Erick, what are you working on?" Erick heard someone ask.

He removed his hands from his face and saw a boy who looked to be around his age. The boy had black eyes, hair, and was wearing a black jacket, pants, and boots.

"Um... do I know you?" Eirck asked, confused.

"It's me, the Shadow Shifter." Shadow Shifter explained.

"Oh, sorry I didn't know you'd change your shape into a teen." Erick explained.

"It's alright, can I sit next to you?" Shadow Shifter asked. "Sure, I don't see why not." Erick responded and scooted over to make room.

Shadow Shifter sat down next to Erick and studied the strange looking item he had. "Hey what's that you have there?" Shadow Shifter asked while pointing to Erick's guitar.

"Oh this, it's my guitar. I got it as a present from my grandfather last year for my birthday. Everyone in my family knows I'm passionate about music so they usually get me items that will help me with my passion." Erick explained.

"Cool!... Can I try?" Shadow Shifter asked while holding their hands out.

"Sorry but no, I don't want anyone else aside from me to touch this bad boy. Not that I don't trust you, but I just don't want it to be broken or lost. Guitars aren't cheap after all." Erick explained while putting his guitar on his back.

"Alright, fair enough... Hey Erick, where are the others? I normally see you with them, or mostly with Jane." Shadow Shifter commented.

"Hannah and her brother are practicing magic with Amanda, Jake's playing video games. Jenny and her dad are at the restaurant dealing with the Thanksgiving rush. Jane's at the doctors getting her flu shot same with the twins. And I feel like Josh is holding on to the door frame for dear life as he hates shots, and I wish I could see it so I can laugh till I pass out." Erick explained while snickering a bit at the thought of Josh losing his mind in the doctor's office.

"Wow... I wish I could laugh at that, but I can't feel anything..." Shadow Shifter said while holding their head down. They would've shown a sad expression and said it in a sad tone, if they still weren't able to feel anything.

"I thought Apollo would help you try and feel things?" Erick said, confused by Shadow Shifters words.

"He is, but it's harder than it seems. So I thought I'd come down here and try asking you all for help. I was wondering if any of you could try and help me feel something. I thought that if one of you showed me what made you happy, then it could trigger something in me to allow me to feel something." Shadow Shifter explained.

"Hmm, okay sure, let's go then. I'll do what I can to help you feel something. And I'll make sure your first experience is a good one, I always say 'make your first the best it can be as you'll never get another one." Erick explained.

Shadow Shifter nodded and the two got up from the bench and made their way out of the park. Erick hoped that he'd be able to help Shadow Shifter feel an emotion and allow it to be an experience they'll never forget.

Meanwhile in the shadow realm, both Lucifer and Adrienne were in the mines. The two were checking up on the amount of dark crystals coming in, as they were planning on making something with them. They were also there to enjoy watching the citizens of Iris's kingdom's suffering as their negative emotions kept them from using their powers.

"Your highness, I have some news to deliver that I know you two will love!" A guard called out while running to the father and daughter.

"We better!" Adrienne stated while glaring at the guard.

"Yes, you know better than to waste our time with useless information." Lucifer stated clearly with an intimidating look on his face.

"Well, the traitor Shadow Shifter has been spotted by one of our spies on earth! And they don't have any Royal children or even Princess Iris with them, it's just the Purple Squad!" The Guard explained quickly, so they wouldn't waste much time.

"Oh... well isn't this great news. Right Father?" Adrienne asked with a smirk on her face.

"Yes it is, we can have John go out and take care of both him and the Purple Squad. His custom made hate bullets should be enough to corrupt the Purple Squad so he can become one of our own personal minions." Lucifer explained.

"W-what about Jack?" The Guard asked.

"Jack will be assisting us with a little experiment to create new shadows, shadows that won't have a human heard let alone made of clay." Lucifer explained.

"Ah I see, I shall go inform John of his mission, and do you want me to bring Jack to you?" The Guard asked.

"No need, I've already sent a message to Jack about it so just tell John his assignment." Adrienne explained.

The guard nodded and left to go do their job, and so they didn't waste anymore of Lucifer and Adrienne's time.

Meanwhile John was in his room making more of the hate bullets that Lucifer mentioned earlier. He was standing next to a workbench that had his black unloaded gun with its heart broken shaped barrel sitting on it. There was also a large black crystal formation sitting next to the bench.

John's mirrored image on the crystal moved his index finger to a sharp point on the crystal. John then pricked his index finger on the sharp point and cut it slightly. The same black tar-like ooze started dripping out of the freshly made wound. It was the same stuff that had come out of Jack whenever he was injured or had lost a limb. Before the black ooze sealed up the wound John hovered it over some tiny broken heart shaped bullets. John allowed the ooze to fall into them and once the wound had sealed he sealed the bullets up. He then heard a knocking on his door, his head shot up and he whipped around to face the door.

"Who's there! I'm working right now!" John called out annoyed with his work being interrupted.

"I'm a guard here to deliver you a message for an assignment from Lucifer and Adrienne." The Guard calmly explained from the other side of the door.

"Oh? Well then, if it's from them then I don't mind you disrupting my work." John said as he went over to the door.

He opened it and saw the guard standing there on the other side. "So what's the assignment?" John asked curious to see what they wanted him to do.

"They want you to go to earth and destroy the Shadow Shifter that had poisoned Adrienne. The Purple Squad is also with them and they want you to use your newly made bullets on him." The Guard explained.

John hummed for a bit while also rubbing his chin, he thought about accepting the assignment or not. "Alright I'll do it, I need a rest subject for my new bullets anyway." John explained while grinning evilly.

The guard nodded and left to go do their patrols around the castle. John meanwhile went back to his work bench and collected his stuff for the mission ahead. He grabbed his gun and hated bullets, then loaded them up into the gun. John clicked the bullet case into place he finally grabbed onto his black lasso, and made his way out of the castle, to do his job.

Meanwhile back on earth, Erick had taken Shadow Shifter to his house, in order to show him one of the things that makes him happy. When the two entered the house, Shadow shifter saw Erick's parents and siblings in the house. His parents were having an adult conversation about something he didn't understand. Erick's little sister was watching TV while his older sister was on her phone, and his brother was napping on the couch. The parents noticed their son and the other kid in the doorway and greeted them both warmly.

"Hey son, who's your friend here?" Erick's dad asked.

"This is um... Paris, their a friend from school." Erick explained quickly, while also giving Shadow Shifter a name.

"Oh why hello there, I'm Erick's mother and this is his father. The other kids here are also his siblings, it's nice to meet you Paris." Erick's mom said introducing herself and Erick's family.

"Nice to meet you as well." Paris said.

"Hey mom dad, we're going to my room as I wanna show Paris here something in my room." Erick explained.

"Alright son, you both let us know if you need anything." Erick's dad said.

The two nodded and walked up to Ericks room so Paris could see what Erick wanted to show them. When they were given a name for the first time, they thought for a brief moment that they... felt something. However it didn't last long and faded away as soon as it arrived, much to Paris's dismay. Unknown to both Paris and everyone else a small faint heartbeat started going off in Paris's chest as a tiny almost dim and non-existent glow accompanied it.

The two arrived in Ericks room and Paris saw Akira sitting on Erick's bed, seeming to be asleep but Paris couldn't tell as they couldn't see his face. "Hey Akira you awake?" Erick asked gently as he went up to Akira and tapped him lightly.

"No I was just lost in thought, what's up Erick?" Akira asked.

"Not much, just gonna show Paris here my music collection. They wanted to see some of the things that make me happy to see if it has any results for them." Erick explained.

Akira gave Erick a confused look and then looked to Paris, as they were still in their human form and Akira didn't know that they were the shadow shifter.

"Um, I'm the shadow shifter who betrayed my kingdom. Erick gave me the name Paris as a coverup when he introduced me to his family." Paris explained.

"Oh alright, thank you for explaining. Well Erick does seem to be really happy when he listens to his tunes." Akira stated while smiling.

"Yeah I love music and listening to it just lights my heart up, well aside from being with Jane or my friends." Erick added.

"Well, let's see if I'll feel anything when I listen to the tunes." Paris said.

Erick nodded and took Paris by the hand and brought them over to his stereo where he played his tunes. The stereo sat comfortably at the other side of the room from the door. It was pretty new as Erick had gotten it for his birthday during the summer before he and the squads went on their two week adventure. Erick grabbed the blue-tooth headphones and gently placed them on Paris's head and over their ears. He then turned on one of his favorite songs, it wasn't one of the hardcore rock or metal songs he had, as he felt it was too soon. So instead it was one of the more gentle and calming songs Erick listened to when he needed to relax after a tiring and tense day at school.

Paris stood in the same place like a statue as the song played, they let the song play in their head waiting to see if it would make them feel something. Unfortunately as the song neared the end Paris found that they still didn't feel a single thing at all. The song ended and Paris hadn't felt a single thing, much to their dismay and disappointment (if they could feel disappointed).

They took the headphones off and looked at Erick who had a questioning look on his face. Paris shook his head saying no, Erick frowned at this as his attempt to help Paris feel something didn't work.

"Sorry dude, I thought that would work for you to feel something." Erick explained, disappointment coating his voice.

"It's alright Erick, I can't even feel disappointment so it's alright." Paris explained in the same neutral tone they had when they first met.

Erick sighed at this as he really wanted to try and help Paris feel something good. So he decided to take them to another place that made him happy when it didn't involve his friends or girlfriend.

"Hey Paris let's go somewhere else, I wanna try something else, I hope that maybe if we try something else it'll be more effective." Erick explained.

Paris nodded, while being unable to feel hope, they did wonder what else Erick had to show them.

"Hey Akira, wanna come?" Erick asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." Akira answered.

Erick smiled and picked Akira up off his bed and placed him on the shoulderpad of his jacket. "Alright let's go now." Erick said, then led Paris out of the house.

The two then left the neighborhood and headed to town square. When they arrived there was a band playing a gentle song near the fountain. A small crowd of people formed near them, some were just standing enjoying the music while others had thrown some money in a guitar holder sitting on the ground.

"Who are they?" Paris asked while pointing at the band.

"Just one of the many street bands here in Springfield. When you wander the streets on a day with no school, some local teens will start playing some music and drum up a crowd. Seeing this motivates me to continue with my passion for making music. It also reminds me of the first time I've seen a street band when I was out with my mom in a shopping district. I was so mesmerized by what I was hearing that I didn't even notice when my mom walked away. Thankfully she was only a few feet away when she checked on me and saw where I was. After such an amazing first experience I realized that's what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to write songs, make music for others to listen to and enjoy. I wanted to entertain others with my songs and inspire other potential musicians to follow their dreams." Erick explained while holding himself and feeling a pleasant warmth in his heart as he remembered that moment of his life.

As Paris listened to Erick's story from when he was a child, they thought something inside them had for once felt different. They even felt their eyes getting wet from the story. However because they never felt anything before they didn't understand what was going on.

"Aww how sweet, makes me wanna hurl!" The two heard a familiar voice say in disgust.

They looked behind them and saw John standing there with a smug smirk on his face.

"John?! What are you doing here?!" Erick demanded to know furiously.

"Oh nothing, just here to take out a tractor, and test out a little something I made!" John stated in a cocky tone before pulling out his gun.

As soon as Erick saw it his eyes widened and in response he shoved Paris to the ground when John fired. The blast that emerged from the gun thankfully had missed everyone behind them and hit the fountain instead. Everyone looked to John in shock when the blast came flying past them, however they didn't have much time to react to the shot.

That was because the water started turning black and the fountain started coming to life and taking form. It let out a loud groan as it sprang to life and everyone looked back in horror. The water took a solid form and the fortant formed into some kind of hate creature. It used its watery arms to pull itself out from the ground and immediately attacked everything and everyone it saw. All the people in the area all screamed and ran away from the creature in fear upon the first attack.

When Erick saw this he knew he had to get Paris to safety and contact the other squads. He got up and once again grabbed Paris by the arm and dragged him to a nearby alleyway and hid them behind a dumpster.

"You stay here Paris! Me and the other Squads will take care of this!" Erick declared as he ran out of the alleyway and to the fight.

He then contacted everyone else on his amulet and briefed them all on the current problem at hand. As soon as he finished explaining everything the other squads all declared they'd been their ASAP.

"Alright, the others are on their way here Akira! So I'll hold down the fort till they get here!" Erick declared.

"I trust you, but be careful out there, whatever that thing is it isn't a shadow. I feel like that it'll be harder to beat on your own because of that." Akira explained while looking at the creature with concern.

"Don't worry! I got this! Rainbow Power Action!" Erick called out and transformed into his Rainbow Squad form.

John saw Erick transform and rolled his eyes as the same song and dance went on whenever any of the Squads transformed. "Thankfully this new creation will put an end to this annoyance in my life." John stated while holding his gun up.

"Alright John! Let's get this over with so I can get back to what I was doing!" Erick declared with confidence coating his voice.

"We'll see about that, now let's see what this will do to a person!" John declared and aimed his gun at Erick.

He then tried to fire at Erick, but Erick dodged the attacks and ran around the area keeping John from getting a good shot at him. "Ugh! Creature! Pin HIM DOWN!" John commanded angrily, getting annoyed with Erick's antics.

The Creature shrieked and ran right up to Erick at an attempt to attack him and pin him down. However once Erick saw the thing chagrin at him he used his magic to grow to its own size. Once the thing had managed to reach him Erick was able to block it from attacking him and he was able to hold on to it. Unfortunately this didn't last for very long as the creature then formed another limb and punched Erick so hard in the stomach that he lost concentration and reeled over in pain. He shrank back down to his regular size and clutched onto his stomach as he crumpled to the ground like a sadly made cookie.

John walked up to Erick with a sinister grin on his face and with his gun tightly gripped in his hand. "Hehe, well Erick looks like your time as a Squad ends here." John stated mockingly.

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Akira screamed angrily.

He then started charging up to John, but the creature smacked him away before he could do anything. Akira slammed right into a nearby wall and moaned in pain as he tried to get up again. He then felt someone picking him up and he looked up and saw that it was Paris who had picked him up.

Paris looked down at Akira with worry and then to Erick with the same amount of concern. All day Erick had been trying to help them feel something and they believe that Erick might've been successful as they believe they came close to experiencing emotions for the first time. They then saw John step on Erick's back and point his hate gun at his heart.

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Paris called out and ran closer to John.

The cowboy and creature both turned to Paris and saw that they seemed to be in a defensive position.

"Oh look, it's the traitor. Do you really think you could've managed to feel something? HA! Don't make me laugh, you're a shadow shifter and nothing more. And besides why so desperate to make your first emotion a positive one huh? If you really are desperate to feel something then I can make it a negative emotion before I destroy you." John stated, mockingly.

"No! I won't allow that to happen! For the first time since I was created I've been treated with kindness and respect! I might be a Shadow shifter and I might not be able to feel emotions, but I want to! And I'll allow my first time feeling something to be a positive emotion!" Paris declared with a tiny shimmer in their eyes.

"Ugh! What's this obsession with firsts? The first steps, the first word, WHY! IT'S POINTLESS AS YOU'LL BE DOING THE SAME THING ALL YOUR LIFE!" John screamed angrily.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND A THING ABOUT THE FIRST TIME! IT SHOWS YOU MADE PROGRESS!" Everyone heard Ed declare.

Paris and John looked and saw the rest of the Squads had all transformed and arrived at the scene. "Yeah Ed's right! Our first time doing something is more important than you think!" Jenny declared.

"Yeah and your first time can even allow you to know what you want to do with your life!" Hannah stated.

"She's right! When I first read a book I was so entranced by it that I knew I wanted to write my own books!" Jane explained.

"And when I first played a game I knew I loved them and started collecting them!" Jake stated.

"And my first time making my family laugh had brought me so much joy that I knew I wanted to entertain others!" Josh stated.

"And when I saw art and fashion for the first time as well as started making my own I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life!" Lila declared.

"Oh shut up! ALL OF YOU! IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOUR FIRST TIME NEVER MATTERS AS YOU'LL DO MORE OF IT LATER ON SO WHY MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT!" John screamed angrily.

"Looks like you don't understand how truly important it is!" Erick declared having recovered from the attack from earlier.

John looked to Erick and saw that he was staring at him with a furious glare. "I wanted to make Paris's first emotion be a good one so they can see how amazing positive emotions are! That's why I showed them the things that made me know who I wanted to be the first time I experienced them. Ever since I first heard a street band I wanted to bring the same joy to other future musicians that I felt! THAT'S WHY YOUR FIRST TIME DOING SOMETHING IS SO IMPORTANT! IT COULD BE THE THING YOU WANT TO DO FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" Erick declared as he glowed bright purple and forced John off of him.

Everyone watched Erick in amazement as he got up and had earned his own pair of angel wings. Akira beamed with so much pride as Erick had advanced in his magical abilities. John tried to get up and command his creature to attack, but Erick had summoned an iris flower and blasted it with his magic. This caused the hate and darkness used to create it to disintegrate into nothing and turn it back into the regular fountain. When John saw this he whined in frustration and teleported away before any of the other Squads advanced on him.

Once John had left Erick calmed down and took a moment to rest after such an intense battle. "Erick! Sweetie! You did it!" Jane exclaimed happily, proud of her boyfriend.

Erick turned to face his friends and saw they all had looks of pride written on their faces. "Hehe thanks guys, and hey Paris you feel something?" Erick asked, hoping that this helped Paris begin to feel some kind of emotion.

"Um... I think so, I've never felt anything before so I'm not sure if I am feeling something or not." Paris explained.

"Well If you are, I'm happy for you. And hey guys you like the name I gave them?" Erick asked.

"Yeah! It's a great name!" Josh exclaimed happily.

"Yeah naming them after the city of love is a good idea." Hannah explained.

Paris smiled at this as they believed having a name was a good thing, and they were not sure if what they were feeling was actually a positive emotion. However they believe that it was the emotion of happiness and if it was they liked it.

"Hmm... Hey! I think I finally managed to come up with a title for my new song and the lyrics." Erick declared.

"Really? Awesome! I can't wait to hear it!" Jake exclaimed.

"Yeah your music and voice are amazing!" Lila joyfully said.

"You think I could get a copy recording of your song?" Josh asked.

"I can help make it if you need it." Ed offered.

Erick smiled warmly at this and he agreed to give Josh a recorded copy of it once he was finished. Erick felt proud of himself for today's events, and that he even helped Paris gain a name and feel an emotion for the first time in their existence.