Chapter Eleven: Guildmaster Taj

Hope’s mind was spinning at a hundred miles per hour. So much was happening right now, and she was still struggling to process it all.

Between meeting all of the Honor Town vendors, meeting and scaring off the Raiders, and learning that Candy was the Ironheart Guild’s nurse, her brain was trying to process way too much information right now. It was as if her brain was a canal, and the events of the day were a giant cargo ship that was trying to push its way through said canal.

But the day wasn’t even done yet. Right now, Candy was leading Hope, Klaw, and Dewey up the large hill north of Honor Town that led to the Ironheart Guild. Hope could barely even begin to process it all. In just a matter of minutes, she would finally be at her destination. She would finally be able to form a rescue team with Klaw and Dewey.

Speaking of Klaw and Dewey, if they were struggling to process the events of the day as well, they didn’t show it. They were shaking incredibly hard with giant grins on their faces. Hope couldn’t tell if they were excited or if they were about to throw up. Knowing them, it was probably a combination of the two.

“You guys alright?” Hope whispered quietly.

Klaw and Dewey blinked in shock. “Uh, yeah, we’re good.” they whispered back simultaneously.

Hope chuckled before repositioning herself. “So, this is it, huh?” she murmured under her breath.

“I-i just can’t b-believe this!” Dewey exclaimed. “M-my b-bro and I have been d-dreaming a-about this place for y-years!”

“Stealing Papa and Daddy’s newspapers from under their noses so we could read them and learn about the guild’s latest rescue missions… sneaking into Polaris’s library to see if he had any books about the guild…” Klaw sighed dreamily, reminiscing on times long gone. “We’ve always dreamed of coming to this place, but we thought it was impossible. But now we’re actually here ! We’re actually going to step foot in the Ironheart Guild!” he exclaimed.

“I-it’s all t-thanks to you, H-hope.” Dewey murmured softly, flashing a giant grin at Hope in the process. “I-if it wasn’t for you, we w-would have-never gotten the courage to even a-attempt to l-leave the s-syndicate.”

“Seriously, Hope.” Klaw murmured. “We owe you a lot.”

Hope’s ears straightened up from surprise, and a small blush formed on her cheeks. “Thank you…” she murmured. She knew that she had had a majorly positive impact on Klaw and Dewey’s life. There was a small part of her that had started to view them as her younger brothers. That made it hurt even more when she thought about returning to the human world. She desperately wanted to see her family again, but the thought of leaving Klaw and Dewey behind, when she had done so much for them, felt like a massive punch to the gut. And it would feel even worse for Klaw and Dewey. It would be a massive betrayal.

She had to tell them about these conflicting feelings soon. It would help ease the pain. But how was she going to build up the courage to do so?

“Hey, I know you three are in the middle of a gratitude fest or whatever, but we have to go up this long set of stairs now, and I don’t want you tripping and falling because you all got distracted. Seriously, these stairs can hurt .”

Candy’s words jolted Hope out of her thoughts. The quartet was now standing at the bottom of the large stairwell that led up to the Ironheart Guild. The building had looked large in photos, and it looked a bit larger when she was viewing it from Honor Town. But right now, Hope felt like a tick in comparison to the guild building. It was just that massive up close.

Candy grinned slyly. “What’s wrong, guys? Skitty got your tongue?” she asked.

“It’s just even more beautiful up close…” Hope gasped in awe.

Candy chuckled. “That’s what all the newbies say.” She then turned around. “Let’s go, guys! Remember to be careful- like I said, these stairs can hurt, and I do not want your first experience in the guild to be spent in my office getting a bunch of cuts and bruises bandaged up. It happened to the last trainee team to join, and that was not fun at all .”

With that, Candy began to walk up the giant stairs, using her ponytails to balance herself like an acrobat.

Hope shook herself off and began to follow her, careful to keep her balance. Klaw and Dewey were not far behind her, but due to their excitement, they were tripping over legs (both their own and each other’s) almost constantly. They would have certainly fallen down the stairs if not for Hope’s tail, which they constantly grabbed onto to regain balance.

They were almost at the top of the stairs now. They were literally getting into the mouth of the beast- as the group got higher up, a round platform became more visible. It seemed to literally serve as the mouth of the building, attaching itself to both the stairwell and the inside of the building, and a shiny door made of pure steel was present at its edge.

Hope’s heartbeat began to quicken, and her tail started to wag involuntarily. Klaw and Dewey giggled when they saw her do this, but they weren’t doing any better in regards to their own tails. Klaw’s tail was sticking straight up in the air, while Dewey’s tail was almost completely extended outwards, with only a slight curl at its tip. Hope didn’t know how exactly, but she knew that this was their respective species’ ways of showing happiness.

They were on the last five steps now. But just as Hope, Klaw, and Dewey were about to begin taking those first five steps, a voice rang out.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey stumbled back in surprise, only not falling down the stairs thanks to Candy quickly activating her psychic powers to hold them in place.

Standing at the edge of the circular platform was a green-and-yellow canine pokemon wearing a spiked black collar. It glowered at Hope, Klaw, and Dewey with its fangs bared, electricity crackling from them, and a snarl rumbling lowly in its chest.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey immediately went into their fighting stances, ready to tell off the rude stranger by any means necessary. Candy, however, simply rolled her eyes.

“Flash, it’s okay.” she sighed. “These are just new recruits for the guild. You need to stop doing this every time we bring in new recruits.”

The electricity disappeared from Flash’s fangs, but he was still on guard. “Better ask my partner to come over here and check, just to be safe.” He then craned his head over his shoulder. “Grant! Get off your lazy butt and get over here!” he barked.

Hope could hear a yawn from the other side of the platform, and then the shifting and stumbling of someone struggling to get to their feet. “Gimme one second, Flash!” a very tired-sounding voice called out, followed by another yawn. Footsteps echoed softly from the other side of the platform.

After a few seconds, another pokemon stumbled into view. This one was a tan-and-black striped bipedal crocodile pokemon. A pair of orange sunglasses were perched atop its forehead. It yawned loudly once more, stretching one arm and using the other to rub its eyes. “What’s going on?” it mumbled with exhaustion.

“Are you blind, Grant? There are intruders here!” Flash barked.

Grant rubbed his eyes once more and squinted at Hope, Klaw, and Dewey. “You serious right now, Flash?” he grumbled. “These are just kids . Can’t be older than fourteen.”

“Hey! I’m fifteen!” Hope protested, the words falling out of her mouth without her even realizing.

Grant, Flash, and Candy blinked slowly upon hearing this. “That’s only a year older than fourteen, Hope.” Candy giggled childishly before turning to Klaw and Dewey. “And how about you two?” she asked.

Klaw and Dewey looked at the shimmering steel steps sheepishly. “…Fourteen.” they mumbled sheepishly after a long pause.

Hope’s heart began to sink into her chest. What if they didn’t turn out to be old enough to join the guild? Hei’an and Shui had said that the evolution stage didn’t matter when it came to joining the guild, but they had failed to mention if there were necessary age requirements. What if they were a few years too young and they were going to be stopped here?

Candy, however, simply chuckled again and turned back to Grant and Flash. “See? They’re the average age of when a trainee would join the guild.” she said. “They’re obviously here to join the guild, not rob it or something.”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey let out barely audible exhales of relief.

Grant laughed and slapped Flash on the back, causing the canine pokemon to let out a small yelp. “You really need to chill out when it comes to judging visitors, buddy.” Grant chuckled.

“And you need to be more vigilant for when we do get robbed.” Flash grumbled before turning back to Candy and the trio. “Anyways, Candy, who are these three?” he asked.

“These are Hope, Klaw, and Dewey.” Candy said cheerfully, gesturing to each member of the trio in turn.

Upon hearing the names “Klaw and Dewey”, Grant and Flash’s eyes widened, and they lurched forward in shock, nearly tripping down the staircase as they did so.

Candy cocked her head in confusion and worry. “Are you two alright?” she asked.

“Y-yeah! We’re fine!” Grant said hurriedly.

“J-just a really strong breeze there…” Flash added uneasily.

Candy blinked a couple of times before regaining her chipper smile. “That’s why you don’t stand too close to the edge of the stairs on windy days.” she joked. “Now can you please let us through?”

Grant and Flash quickly nodded, immediately scrambling to the side of the platform and leaning up against one of its walls. As they did this, though, their gazes remained fixed firmly on Klaw and Dewey, their eyes swirling with pity and… fondness ?

Hope turned to Klaw and Dewey in confusion. “What’s up with those guys?” she whispered.

Klaw and Dewey now had equally conflicted expressions on their faces. Klaw leaned closer to Hope. “No idea.” he whispered back. “But they seem… familiar to us somehow.”

Hope tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“J-just… e-everything about them f-feels… l-like we’ve seen them b-before.” Dewey murmured. “ K-knew them, even. B-but we c-can’t place how we k-know them e-exactly for the life of us.”

Hope blinked a couple of times. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Candy.

“We’re almost there, guys!” Candy said in her typical cheery tone. There was, however, a strange edge to it, an edge containing an emotion that Hope couldn’t quite describe. “Don’t just stand there right when you’re almost about to reach the finish line!”

Klaw and Dewey almost instantly forgot about their conundrum. Their eyes brightened, and they launched themselves up the final five stairs, nearly knocking Hope over in the process.

“Wait for me, guys!” Hope protested playfully, quickly regaining her footing and clambering up the stairs, hot on their heels.

Suddenly, Hope found herself being suspended in place, her feet hovering just above the ground. She looked over to find that Klaw and Dewey were also hanging in midair, their eyes wide with shock. A mirthful chuckle echoed behind her, and Hope turned around to see Candy giggling at her gleefully, her ponytails slightly lifted. “This never gets old” she muttered to herself happily, before lowering her ponytails and gently releasing Hope, Klaw, and Dewey from the psychic hold. “This is it, guys. Are you ready?” she asked.

Klaw and Dewey nodded so rapidly, Hope thought they might end up breaking their necks. She let out a small chuckle under her breath and nodded more slowly. “Of course we’re ready.” she responded, fixing Candy with a determined look.

Candy nodded with gusto. “Then here goes nothing!” she cheered excitedly. She walked over to a small blue-gray switch on the left side of the building that almost blended in with the exterior and pressed it.

Almost immediately, the walls began to shake.

Hope watched in awe as the walls shifted, their steel blue color making them look like rippling ocean waves, and slowly break and spread apart. As the wall broke apart, the interior of the building was slowly revealed, with interior walls the same steel blue color as the exterior walls, a stormy gray floor, and a large silver carpet unfurled straight in front of Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, the plush fabric seemingly calling out to Hope, asking her to sink her paw pads into it.

Candy stepped back towards the trio, letting out a small giggle as she did so. “Pretty neat, huh?” she said. “It’s a special modification we made to keep the Raiders out.” She then used her ponytails to gesture to the silver carpet. “Now, are you ready?” she asked.

“ Very ready!” Hope, Klaw, and Dewey cried out simultaneously.

Candy didn’t say another word. She simply stepped back and gestured to the hallway, inviting the trio to their new lives. Hope nodded in acceptance, extended a paw outwards, and placed it on the silver carpet. One after another, she took a step inside, placing paw after paw on the carpet, until she was a good length inside the building, with Klaw and Dewey right behind her.

The first thing Hope noticed about the building was that it felt surprisingly warm. The colors of the walls, ceilings, floor, and decorations were all darker shades of blue, gray, and black, the same colors as a stormy sky. With a color palette like that, the place that should have made Hope feel nervous, or even downright sad. Instead, it made her feel hopeful, like the darker colors represented the last of the darkness, fear, and pain that had plagued Hope for the past month, and she was now repurposing them as a representation of her new, brighter future.

A large number of the decorations were photo frames depicting a vast range of pokemon. They ranged in age, but there were three pokemon that were present the most within them. The first was the same deer-hare hybrid pokemon with the flower bud head that was also the subject of the statue in the center of town. Almost all of the photos with this pokemon in them were black and white, but Hope could barely make out a faded green replacing the black on the few, very old, and browned color photos there were.

The other two pokemon were together in all of their photos. They were both canine pokemon, and both had golden fur so bright Hope swore that sparkles emanated from them, with black stripes breaking up the golden fur. One was quadrupedal with jagged black stripes, a very fluffy beige tail, and small, rounded ears, while the other was bipedal with more uniform black markings, long, pointy ears, and a shorter tail. The quadrupedal canine pokemon wore a fiery orange bandana around their neck, while the bipedal canine pokemon had a navy blue scarf wrapped around its left arm like a bandage. Photos of this duo were everywhere on the walls – they outnumbered photos of the deer-hare pokemon at least seven to one.

Hope wasn’t the only one taking an interest in the photos, as Klaw and Dewey had stopped a few feet in front of her, gazing in sheer awe at a portion of the wall that had a particularly high concentration of photos of the canine duo.

Hope extended her stride a little bit to catch up to Klaw and Dewey, stopping beside them to get a better look at the photos. “Who are those two?” she asked Klaw and Dewey.

Klaw and Dewey whirled around to face her, looking at her like she had just sprouted another head from her tail, but they quickly relaxed. “Sorry about that.” Klaw chuckled. “We got a little surprised by you asking that, since everybody on this continent knows who those two are, but considering… you know…” Klaw’s pupils narrowed for a split second.. “…it’s more than understandable.” he finished with a cheery laugh.

This piqued Hope’s interest even further. “Go on.” she said.

“T-those are T-team A-aurum!” Dewey exclaimed in pure excitement. “T-they’re the g-greatest rescue team to e-ever set f-foot on the c-continent! T-they’re the y-youngest g-graduates from any g-guild ever , and t-they’re also the f-first and o-only team in h-history to be a-allowed to have only two m-members! T-they’re p-prodigies !”

“The really cool thing about them is that they’re a sister and brother duo.” Klaw continued. “And they’re twins, just like Dewey and I. So they’ve been our idols ever since we learned that there was a life outside of the… you know what. The whole reason we wanted to come to the Ironheart Guild in the first place is because Team Aurum did their training here.”

“Team Aurum’s the reason a lot of our newbies come here, in fact.”

Hope jumped half a foot in the air as Candy approached the group, an extremely wide smile on her face. “They’re the pride and joy of Honor Town and of the Ironheart Guild. Especially the guildmaster. He personally mentored them himself, you know.”

“We know!” Klaw and Dewey cried out simultaneously.

Candy giggled cheerfully, but Hope clearly noticed how her eyes drifted over to Hope, and how her eyebrows slightly furrowed together in confusion. Hope let out a light and airy laugh of her own and decided to change the topic. “What about that pokemon? What’s their significance?” she asked, gesturing with her tail to one of the few color photos of the deer-hare hybrid pokemon.

Now it was Klaw and Dewey’s turn to furrow their eyebrows, though they displayed much more confusion on their faces than Candy did. “N-no c-clue.” Dewey murmured, him and Klaw turning to study the deer-hare hybrid pokemon.

They must have been so focused on Team Aurum that they didn’t even notice the pictures of that pokemon until now, Hope thought to herself with a light giggle.

“That… is a story for when you are officially accepted in the guild.” Candy interjected from behind them. Her expression looked weirdly pained – while she still maintained her characteristic smile, its edges were extremely forced, and complex emotions swirled within her eyes. “Now let’s keep going. We have to meet with the receptionist soon so she can register you three.”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey exchanged excited looks, completely forgetting what had just transpired. They were going to be entered into the guild’s databases! Would they be forming their team right there and then?!

Hope didn’t have any more time to ponder that question, because a weak psychic force took hold of her, Klaw, and Dewey and began slowly dragging them forward.

“Alright, Candy! We’re coming! Just please put us down!” Hope protested, flailing her legs around. Candy laughed – a genuine laugh this time – wordlessly gestured further down the hall, and started walking again. Hope, Klaw, and Dewey quickly shook themselves off before continuing to follow her.

As the group continued to walk down the hall, the pictures became less and less frequent, until there was only one picture per wall. All of these pictures were of Team Aurum, with some even showing them in smaller, cuter bodies that Hope assumed were their pre-evolved forms. She was really curious if she was going to meet this duo with how important they were to the guild. The colors also started to brighten as they got further down, with the navy blues and slate grays giving way to sky blues and glittering silvers. It only confirmed Hope’s earlier thoughts that this was going to be a bright, colorful, and new beginning for her.

The remainder of the hallway spanned about four feet. At its end, it split off in three directions. To the left was a staircase leading downstairs, and to the right was a staircase leading upstairs. In the center, the hallway trailed on a little longer before stopping at a beautiful antique desk carved from oak, maple, and birch wood, creating a beautiful swirling color palette of different shades of brown. A chair made of the same wood combination rested behind the desk, and a blocky computer, keyboard, and mousepad were perched on top of it, as well as a rainbow colored assortment of pencils, pens, and erasers, which were haphazardly scattered across the desk.

Pacing back and forth nervously in front of the desk was a tall, thin, yellow, bipedal insectoid pokemon. Its body appeared to be covered in bright green leaves, with a large, bonnet-like leaf shading the back of its head. It wore a small, tight fitting white shirt with a pink, orange, and yellow floral pattern, which, combined with its summery color scheme, made it stick out like a sore thumb against the cool and professional interior palette of the guild. As soon as it locked eyes with Candy, it stopped its pacing and let out a sigh of relief loud enough to break open a window.

“Oh, Diancie…” Candy breathed, stopping and stiffening her body, as if bracing for impact.

“Candy!” the insectoid pokemon cried out, lunging forward with such force that Hope, Klaw, and Dewey jumped back a foot, and enveloping Candy in a crushing bear hug. “Are you okay?! Grant and Flash told me that the Raiders came back to town, and that there was a fight between them and some kids. Did you get involved? Did you get hurt?” she asked rapidly. She had a very thick accent that for some reason reminded Hope of sprawling fields and large red barns.

Hope could just barely see Candy roll her eyes from inside the insectoid pokemon’s iron death grip. “Miss Sunny, you know very well that I can handle myself.” she sighed, her voice slightly muffled from the shirt and the leaf covering Sunny’s arm. A bright pink glow started to softly emanate from Candy, and she slipped out of Sunny’s grasp smoothly and gracefully, like water flowing from a stream. Sunny’s mouth opened again, but Candy quickly interrupted her. “And before you ask about the kids that fought the Raiders, don’t worry. They’re completely fine. They wiped the floor with them without taking a single scratch! Not like that’s very hard to do, but still…” She then stepped aside and gestured to the trio. “Anyways, you’re looking at these kids right now. Meet Hope, Klaw, and Dewey. They’ve come to apply to the guild.”

Sunny’s eyes widened, and she immediately squatted down to get to eye level with the trio. “Hello, you three!” she cooed. Klaw and Dewey flinched and stiffened up, causing Sunny to blink and take a few steps back. “Very sorry about that, darlings.” she murmured. “As Candy said, my name is Sunny, and I serve as the receptionist, chef, and maid of the Ironheart Guild.” She let out a hearty chuckle before continuing. “I know it seems like a lot, but I do genuinely enjoy having a lot of work to do. I’m very used to it. Anyways, Candy said your names were Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, right? Which one of you is which?”

“I’m Hope!” Hope declared with confidence.

“I’m Klaw.” Klaw purred, trying his best to sound cool, but letting a tinge of excitement slip through.

“And I’m Dewey!” Dewey trilled with much more excitement than his brother.

Something shifted in Sunny’s eyes as the trio introduced themselves. It was as if she was putting the pieces together for a big realization, and whatever that big realization was was creating a large storm cloud of shock, fear, and worry in her eyes. Still, she managed to put on a smile that somehow seemed even more genuine than her previous smile and took a step back to her desk. She rummaged around in it for about five minutes, causing a small tornado of office supplies to swirl throughout the air. Finally, she pulled out a gray, worn Polaroid camera with a slightly smudged lens.

They have those in the pokemon world? Hope thought to herself with confusion and amusement.

“I’m going to need to take your photos for the guild database.” Sunny explained. “Which one of you guys would you consider to be the leader of the group? We always start with the future team leaders.” she finished with a wink.

Klaw and Dewey immediately turned their gazes onto Hope. “…Are you sure about this?” Hope murmured. “It was your wish to come here, after all.”

“Like we said, we never would have gathered the courage to come here without your help.” Klaw responded.

“I-if anyone d-deserves to be the l-leader of our t-team, it’s c-certainly you, H-hope!” Dewey exclaimed.

Hope blinked slowly. Now that she was thinking about it. She was the one who had taken the initiative on the group’s biggest decisions. Vowing to get Klaw and Dewey to the Ironheart Guild, volunteering to save Cobalt, Tesla, and Nibbles… those were all her doing.

If that wasn’t leaderlike, then what was?

So she lifted up her tail and proudly declared “Yes, I am the leader of this group.”

Sunny laughed loudly and kneeled down to rub the top of Hope’s head with one of her leaf hands. It made Hope feel warm and fuzzy, but there was another pang of sadness and longing buried within, a yearning for a person that Hope couldn’t recall. “Wonderful, honey! Now then…” Sunny turned to Candy. “A little help here, my dear?”

Candy nodded vigorously. “Of course, Miss Sunny!” she exclaimed, before turning to the desk and the various items strewn all over it and narrowing her eyes in intense concentration. The desk soon became enveloped in a hot pink aura and lifted a few feet off of the ground. Candy then slowly and carefully telekinetically moved the desk and all of its contents a foot away, exposing the bare blue wall behind it.

“Please stand over here, darling.” Sunny said to Hope while gesturing to the wall. Hope immediately complied. “Now, sit down with your tail wrapped around your legs.” Sunny directed.

Hope once again complied immediately, making sure to put the tip of her tail over her paws. As she did so, however, a sudden chill began to penetrate the air. Hope started and looked to both her left and right, but there was nothing around that could be causing the drop in temperature.

“Is it just me, or is it really cold all of a sudden?” Hope asked Klaw and Dewey.

“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” Sunny said in a reassuring tone. “There’s an air conditioner built inside of that wall. Sometimes the air gets cold or hot enough to seep through the wall.” A wide smile crossed her lips. “Now, don’t be shy, dearie. Give me a big smile!”

Hope relaxed and straightened her back so that it touched the wall. Strangely, the wall itself seemed to be room temperature, but Hope didn’t want to waste any more of Sunny’s time over something so seemingly inconsequential. She simply smiled as widely as she could.

“Perfect!” Sunny exclaimed as she raised the camera up to her face and pressed the button. Hope’s vision was momentarily obscured by a blinding flash of light, but she could have sworn that one of the shadows at the edge of her vision was larger than usual. Maybe the lens is a bit smudged , Hope thought to herself.

“Wonderful!” Sunny gushed as the photo slid out of the Polaroid. “Oh, you look absolutely beautiful , darling!” She tenderly grasped the corner of the photo and showed it to Hope.

“…That does look nice.” Hope murmured as she gazed at the photo. Klaw and Dewey nodded in agreement.

“Eh, it’s alright. Personally, I think that you could show less teeth when you smile.”

Hope blinked slowly, trying to determine where the unfamiliar voice was coming from. When she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by two pairs of beady yellow eyes, one on top of the other, staring right at her.

The shriek Hope let out at that moment was loud enough for the entire continent to hear.

As the shock faded away, Hope was able to readjust her bearings and get a good look at the newcomer, or rather, newcomers. They were both bluish-green, slightly amorphous, amphibian-like pokemon with triangular heads and wispy tails. One of them was a bit bigger than Candy and wore a black bandana that obscured its mouth and neck, and the other one, which sat atop the first one’s head, was very small and wore two purple and white polka-dot hair clips on its horns.

“Jason! Carrie!” Sunny scolded. “How many times have I told you two not to scare the newcomers like that?”

“You’re not our mom, Sunny!”, the smaller amphibian pokemon whined, crossing her tiny arms together and pouting childishly.

“I had… nothing to do… with this.” the larger amphibian pokemon muttered. His voice was very hoarse and raspy, with him stopping to gasp for breath in between words, and the bandana muffling his words didn’t help much either. Hope had to strain her ears to make out what this pokemon was saying. “It was… all Carrie’s… idea.”

“You are the older brother, aren’t you, Jason?” Sunny chided. “It’s your job to make sure that Carrie doesn’t get into trouble.”

“You don’t… need to… tell me that.” Jason growled. “But you… know how… Carrie is. When she… sets her mind… to something… it’s hard for me… to convince her… not to do it.”

“You’re such a pushover when it comes to Carrie, Jason.” Candy giggled playfully. “You really can’t say no to her, can you?”

“It’s because I’m so adorable!” Carrie trilled, looking at her brother smugly. Jason sighed in defeat.

“…What is going on here?” Hope asked.

Candy blinked a few times before turning back to face Hope. “Oh! Sorry about that! I completely forgot you were there for a moment.” She then gestured to Jason and Carrie. “These are Jason and Carrie. They work as the Linkers of our guild.”

Klaw and Dewey’s tails shot up in the air. “Y-you two are L-linkers?!” Dewey exclaimed in shock.

“We thought those were just myths!” Klaw added.

“Nope! Not myths. Just super duper rare!” Carrie said proudly, lifting her head high. “In fact, we’re the first Linkers to be born in over one hundred years!”

“Please stop… bragging, Carrie.” Jason said, his eyes firmly planted on the floor.

“Wow…” Klaw and Dewey breathed, sparkles in their eyes, causing Carrie to lift her head as high as her tiny neck could muster and Jason to stare even harder at the floor.

Hope, on the other hand, was now even more confused than before. “So… what exactly is a Linker?” she asked.

“Only the coolest, most powerful pokemon in the world!” Carrie squealed loudly, causing Jason to flatten his horns against the sides of his head. Sunny shot Carrie a disapproving look, causing the young pokemon to lower her head in shame.

“You see, darling, when a pokemon uses a move, it emits strands of energy that are usually invisible to the naked eye.” Sunny explained. “Linkers, however, can not only see this energy, but they can also manipulate and connect the strands together. With this power, they can not only strengthen the power of a move, but by linking energy strands produced from two different moves known by the same pokemon, they can make it so those moves can be used in combinations with each other.”

Hope gaped in awe at Jason and Carrie. The former squinted back at her, a low buzzing sound emanating from his throat. After a pause, Jason’s eyes drifted upwards to meet those of his sister’s.

“I’m getting… tired… Carrie…let’s go…downstairs.” he wheezed, his voice sounding even more raspy than before.

“But Jasonnnnn!” Carrie whined, looking down at her brother with eyes the size of UFOs. “I wanna spend more time with my new friends!” She turned her saucer eyes to Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, adding in a large pout for good measure.

“You’ll have… plenty of time… to spend time… with-” Jason suddenly erupted into a violent coughing fit, his body wracked with spasms.

Hope’s fur fluffed up, and she looked around wildly to find something that could help Jason. Jason, however, glowered at Hope and thumped his tail on the ground. A pool of pure shadow formed at Jason’s feet, and before Hope could question what he was doing, he and Carrie had slipped through the pool and disappeared, just as suddenly as they had arrived.

“They’re okay, don’t worry.” Hope felt a light and comforting pressure on her shoulder, and looked up to see that Candy had come up beside her. “Jason just used Phantom Force to teleport himself and Carrie back to their room.”

“What about all that coughing, though?” Hope asked.

“Jason…” Candy hesitated. “His throat just gives out very easily. He’ll be fine with some water and rest.”

“They’re… interesting.” Klaw muttered under his breath. “Not how I imagined a Linker to be like.” Dewey nodded in agreement.

“That’s just how Jason is.” Candy laughed. “He takes a bit of time to warm up to new faces, but give him time and he’ll become one of the nicest guys you’ve ever met. Helps quite a bit if Carrie gets attached to you.” Candy got a faraway look in her eyes. “Those two really are thick as thieves. There are some things Carrie knows about Jason that even I don’t know, and I’ve been friends with him since we were two years old!”

“Candy, you’re holding them up.” Sunny called out. “The guildmaster will return very soon, and I think these kids have been waiting quite a while to meet him.’’ As she finished that sentence, her eyes drifted down to Klaw and Dewey, her eyes brimming with a mixture of emotions.

Candy’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, guys!” she exclaimed.

“You don’t have to apologize, sweetie.” Sunny murmured, stroking Candy’s head with her hand and making the smaller pokemon blush even more furiously. “Now, which one of you two want to go next?” she asked, turning back towards Klaw and Dewey.

Klaw and Dewey immediately perked up. “I’ll go first.” Klaw volunteered while stepping forward.

The brothers’ photo sessions went a lot more quickly and smoothly than Hope’s did, thanks to the lack of well-meaning interruptions. As soon as Sunny had finished snapping Dewey’s photo, Klaw and Dewey immediately whirled around to face Candy. “So, where’s the guildmaster?” they exclaimed simultaneously, every cell in their body pulsing with pure excitement.

Hope could have sworn that she saw Sunny flinch as Klaw and Dewey did this, but if she did, she was very good at hiding things like this from others, because she returned to her happy disposition in a matter of nanoseconds.

Candy, on the other hand, simply laughed. “The guildmaster’s office is on the top floor.” she said as she began walking away from the desk. “We have to go up this staircase. It takes some time to get up there, but I’m sure you guys can handl-”

Candy was cut off by two streaks, one black and red and one blue and yellow, zipping past her and launching themselves like rockets down the staircase leading to the lower floors of the guild.

“Um… guys?!” Hope called out, rushing to the top of the downstairs staircase. “Candy said the guildmaster is on the top floor, not the bottom floor.”

Hope could very easily hear Klaw and Dewey come to a screeching halt. “Sorry! That’s our bad!” the brothers yelled simultaneously. They quickly zipped back to the top of the staircase and would have continued zipping around if Hope hadn’t used her fluffy body to make them halt in their tracks.

“Don’t leave me behind, guys.” Hope said, putting on the most exaggerated pouty face she could muster.

Klaw and Dewey glanced at each other sheepishly before taking a couple steps back, turning their gazes towards Hope expectantly.

Candy giggled. “Ah, to be young and excitable again…” she sighed.

“You just turned twenty, Candy.” Sunny remarked. “You’re still a blooming flower yourself.”

Candy pretended not to hear the older pokemon’s words. She simply turned towards the upstairs staircase and began to walk up it, Hope, Klaw, and Dewey quickly bounding after her.

Just like Candy had said, the walk up the stairs was indeed long and arduous. The staircase had to have been at least twelve flights long, and Hope had only managed to make it up three of those flights of stairs before her body finally registered that she had been walking since the early morning and her paws began to feel swollen and achy.

Klaw and Dewey, on the other hand, weren’t showing any signs of fatigue. They probably could have cleared all twelve flights of stairs in a single leap. Instead, they stuck close to Hope’s side, chattering, bouncing around, and even singing at some points. Their energy was infectious, and though her paws still hurt, Hope perked up and engaged in their shenanigans. Even Candy joined in at some points, unable to resist the sheer positive energy radiating from the brothers.

This playing made the walk up the stairs feel much shorter than it actually was. When they finally reached the top of the staircase, Hope was actually caught a little off guard.

Another long hallway stretched out from the end of the staircase, the carpet covering it the color of rusted copper. At the end of this hallway was a large pair of doors the same color as the carpet. The decor on the doors, made of pure copper, made it look like the face of an elephant, with its “tusks” serving as the doorknobs.

Hope couldn’t hold it in any longer. She bolted forward, Klaw and Dewey hot on her heels.

“Guys!” Candy cried out. “Slow down!”

The trio paid her no attention. Hope flung herself at one of the doorknobs and flung the door open. Klaw and Dewey quickly crashed into her, and the three tumbled to the floor in a small pile.

Darn it! We’ve already made fools of ourselves in front of the guildmaster! Hope looked up sheepishly, preparing to apologize. But her apology ended up getting caught in her throat by what she saw.

She was expecting there to be only one pokemon in the room, that being the guildmaster. Instead, there were six pokemon there, all staring at Hope, Klaw, and Dewey like they had just come out of a UFO.

The first five pokemon were all standing in a semicircle facing the center of the room. There was a yellow, dark green, and white canine pokemon with long legs wearing a yellow collar with a lightning bolt charm attached to it, a huge, monstrous pokemon with sapphire blue scales so bright Hope swore she saw sparkles coming from them wearing a deep purple cape, a humanoid fruit pokemon wearing a lime green sash around its waist, a large, fat, blue and cream mammalian pokemon wearing a black apron, and a large ogre pokemon covered in black hair wearing a light blue armband on its left arm.

In the center of the room, balancing on a perch made of pure copper, was a large avian pokemon. Its plumage was primarily black and white, with the exception of a dash of red at the end of a black crest of feathers that extended over its head. Long, thin scars criss crossed over its chest, and its right foot was missing a talon, though its other talons appeared to be sharper to make up for it. A pair of blue aviator goggles was perched atop its forehead.

Is this the guildmaster?! Hope thought to herself.

The two groups stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, the deafening silence permeating the room and sinking into the skin of every pokemon present.

“Are you three okay?” The silence was broken by Candy, who had finally caught up with Hope, Klaw, and Dewey. When she saw the six other pokemon, she stumbled forward in shock, but thankfully caught her balance before she could join Hope, Klaw, and Dewey on the floor. “Oh my Diancie! I’m so sorry! I completely forgot that today was the weekly meeting day!” she sputtered.

Another pregnant pause followed. This time, it was the bird pokemon who broke the silence. “Why are you apologizing, Candy?” he asked snidely, glowering at Hope, Klaw, and Dewey as he did so. “It was these three brats that interrupted the meeting, not you.”

Hope’s heart sank into her stomach. He called us brats. If this really is the guildmaster, we’re done for.

Candy flinched, but quickly regained her composure. “You see, these three want to join the guild.” she explained. “So I brought them here thinking that the guildmaster would have returned already, but I forgot about the weekly meeting being today.”

Upon hearing this, the dog pokemon’s face split into a wide grin, complete with its tongue sticking out. “Well, isn’t that just swell!” he said. “Always a pleasure seeing youngsters wanting to get into the rescue team business!”

The humanoid fruit pokemon cupped a hand under its chin in thought. “Well, if that is the case, then I cannot fault them for barging in.” she mused. “They are young and excited to form a rescue team. Weren’t we all like this when we first came to the guild?”

“I know I sure was!” the mammalian pokemon chuckled. “And seeing newbies get so excited brings back a bit of that feeling!”

Hope felt herself relaxing slightly. At least she hadn’t embarrassed herself in front of everyone in the room.

The monstrous pokemon and the ogre pokemon, on the other hand, didn’t say a word. The ogre pokemon simply had its eyes fixed on the trio, but the monstrous pokemon’s face was twisted in an ugly snarl, its eyes filled with pure hatred. The sheer sight of it made Hope feel like worms were crawling on her back.

The monstrous pokemon opened its mouth to say something, but before it could, Candy interjected.

“Hold on! Let me introduce you guys first!” she cried, casting a nervous look at the monstrous pokemon.

“We are perfectly capable of introducing ourselves, thank you very much.” the ogre pokemon muttered, his voice so quiet that Hope had to strain her ears to be able to hear him.

Candy ignored him, gesturing with her ponytails to the five pokemon standing in the semicircle. “These are the leaders of the licensed rescue teams.” she explained before pointing to the canine pokemon. “This is Sparky, leader of Team Revolvers.” she said.

Sparky’s tail wagged. “Pleased to meet you!” he yipped.

Candy smiled at Sparky before turning to the monstrous Pokemon. “Henry, leader of Team Royals.” she said.

“For the last time, nurse,” Henry sneered. “It’s King Henry to all of you peasants . Treat me with the respect my royal status deserves .”

Hope immediately decided that she hated Henry with every fiber of her being.

Candy bowed her head. “My apologies, King Henry.” she sighed. As she did so, however, she cast a quick glance at Hope, Klaw and Dewey and rolled her eyes. All three kids were just barely able to stifle their laughter.

“Moving on…” Candy turned and gestured to the humanoid fruit pokemon. “This is Apricot, leader of Team Beauty…” She then pointed to the mammalian pokemon. “Ramsey, the leader of Team Munchies…” She finished the semicircle turn by pointing to the ogre pokemon. “And Oberon, leader of Team Nightstalkers.” she finished.

Apricot nodded at the trio gracefully, while Ramsey waved at them. Oberon, once again, didn’t move an inch, his gaze still trained on Hope, Klaw, and Dewey.

Finally, Candy stepped a little closer to the center of the room and gestured to the bird pokemon. “And this here… is Jet.” she intoned dramatically. She was clearly having a lot of fun with this. “He’s the guildmaster’s right-hand ‘mon, and he’s responsible for training the rookie rescue team members.”

Hope didn’t know if that revelation made her feel better or worse. On the one hand, Jet wasn’t the guildmaster, but on the other hand, the bad first impression was made even worse by him being her and her friends’ trainer.

Jet ruffled his feathers. “Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Candy.” he preened. “Now, would you care to introduce these new… recruits… to us?”

All of a sudden, Candy’s smug expression dissipated off of her face, sweat started to drip down her face, and she started to fidget a lot. “Um… Well… T-this is Hope!” S-she’s really nice, and smart, and super powerful! She can use moves that only her evol-”

“That’s wonderful.” Jet cut Candy off, leaving her to tremor helplessly with her mouth agape. “However, I think I’m a bit more keen to hear about Hope’s… partners .” Jet’s eyes swiveled towards Klaw and Dewey, his beady red pupils boring into their souls.

Oh no . Hope realized. This isn’t about us interrupting the meeting at all .

Hope was a fool. They all were fools, really. The AZS was the biggest crime syndicate on the Mountain Continent. She should have expected the guild members to recognize Klaw and Dewey.

“The famous Bloodcrown twins, Klawthorne and Dewford.” Henry growled, almost like a rabid dog. “You think we must be terrified to be in your presence, aren’t you?”

If Hope hadn’t been so scared, she might have laughed at the ridiculousness of those names.

Klaw and Dewey, contrary to Henry’s statement, looked absolutely terrified. All of the excitement had drained out of their bodies, and their bodies were flattened onto the floor like pancakes.

“Candy, I greatly appreciate your efforts to find and recruit new trainees.” Jet sighed. “But sometimes, you can be really gullible. Both the litten and the sobble evolutionary families have almost gone extinct on our continent… save for the enforcers of the Absolute Zero Syndicate and their… spawn.”

Klaw and Dewey flinched upon hearing the word spawn , but Jet was undeterred. “And you see a litten and a sobble waltzing around the town plaza, and your first instinct is to bring them to the guild ?! Those two are the most obvious spies that that freezer burnt grub could have chosen! You should have turned them away where they stood!” he squawked, fury blazing in his eyes.

“B-but Jet… What about the eevee?” Sparky asked, his eyes round with confusion.

“Isn’t it obvious, mutt?” She’s the decoy.” Henry snorted. “She’s supposed to make us think that they’re just a harmless rescue group while the vermin tear the guild apart from the inside out!”

“If these two are indeed AZS spies, then why wouldn’t they be disguised as different species?” Apricot pondered. “As Jet said, they are the only litten and sobble on the continent. They would be way too obvious as spies.”

“Yeah! Apricot’s right!” Ramsey chimed in. “They could very well be on our side! They could help us take down the syndicate!”

Klaw and Dewey immediately brightened upon hearing this, and they got back on their feet. “T-that’s e-exactly why we c-came here. T-to take down the s-syndicate.” Dewey stated.

“We’re not our dads. We’re tired of standing by as they ruin the lives of innocent pokemon all over the continent. We want to help those pokemon and make our dads pay for what they’ve done.” Klaw declared.

Sparky. Apricot, and Ramsey exchanged impressed glances, first at each other, then at Klaw and Dewey.

Hope exhaled a little bit. At least these three appeared to be firmly on their side now.

Oberon cleared his throat. “I must admit, you two definitely sound passionate about this,” he muttered.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey looked at each other with excitement. Maybe they would be able to win over the majority of the superiors after all!

“However,” Oberon continued. “If there’s one thing I know about AZS members, it’s that they’re very good at lying. They can sound like the most sincere, kind pokemon you’ve met one moment, and the next, they become vicious, heartless criminals.” He narrowed his eyes. “I cannot trust anything that comes out of the mouth of an Absolute Zero Syndicate member, past or present.”

Hope’s excitement immediately dissipated into thin air.

“That’s right.” Henry cackled. “Once a criminal, always a criminal. And as the great King of Honor Town, it is my duty to rid the town of scourges of peace and to keep my citizens safe!”

Henry and Oberon were now looming over Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, their eyes filled with pure malice.

In between them, Jet ruffled his feathers. “Candy, I am very sorry to do this,” he began. He put on the most apologetic facial expression he could, but the sheer fury in his eyes when he looked at Klaw and Dewey betrayed his true emotions towards the situation. “I am sure you only had the best interests for the guild in mind. But I cannot, in good conscience, allow anyone from the syndicates into our prestigious guild. Especially syndicate members as important as these two.”

Candy opened her mouth to object, but Jet continued, a large smirk on his beak. “It is my… displeasure… to rejec-”

“What on earth is all of this commotion?!”

A loud, booming voice echoed from the entrance of the room, causing Jet to cut his sentence off and everyone to jump out of their skins. Hope swiveled around to see who was talking, and her breath caught in her throat.

Standing in the doorway was a large elephant pokemon. It appeared to be made of pure copper – most of its body was a rusted teal, but untarnished, orange-brown copper accents were present on its face, feet, and trunk. Its tusks were short and cuboidal, and its trunk was broad and muscular. It wore a pair of black, rectangle shaped glasses, a dark gray suit, and a light gray tie with a very dark gray diamond pattern on it.

The elephant pokemon took another step into the room, causing Jet to erupt in a flurry of feathers. “S-sir!” he squawked, “I didn’t see you there!”

“I did only just return, after all.” the elephant pokemon chuckled, his voice deep yet warm, like a cup of freshly roasted coffee. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, at which they widened slightly. He recovered quickly, however, and bent his head down so that he would be eye level with the trio. “Hello, young ones.” he said kindly. “What are your names?”

This pokemon’s voice immediately caused all of the negative energy to drain from Hope’s body. He was kind, soothing, and caring, and she could immediately tell that it was very genuine. So she returned the pokemon’s gaze. “I’m Hope, and these are Klaw and Dewey.” she responded.

“Hope… A very lovely name.” the elephant pokemon mused. “Most call me Guildmaster Taj, the Ironheart Hero. I, however, prefer to simply be called Taj. Especially by new trainees.” he chortled.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey’s eyes morphed into saucers as they looked into Taj’s eyes. It was really him! The famous guildmaster, there, in person, right in front of their eyes!

“G-guildmaster!” Jet screeched. “Did you just refer to them as trainees?! We can’t accept these three into the guild! You heard the names of the litten and the sobble, didn’t you? They’re the heirs of The Panther and The Serpent! We can’t trust them!”

“‘Panther’? ‘Serpent’?” Hope whispered under her breath.

“O-our d-dads’ old s-syndicate nicknames.” Dewey whispered back.

“They think those names are too soft now. They hate them. They’re still their most iconic nicknames, though.” Klaw added quietly.

Taj let out a small laugh. “Of course I heard their names, Jet.” he uttered, a twinkle in his eye. “I’m not that old yet. I won’t be losing my hearing for a good while now.”

Jet was immediately rendered speechless, his feathers fluffed out and his beak agape.

“It is their names- their identities, rather- that interest me the most.” Taj continued before turning to Klaw and Dewey. “I must say, it is quite the honor to finally meet you boys.” Taj chortle. “You two are quite the celebrities in the rescue team business… and quite the enigmas as well.”

Klaw and Dewey’s faces were so red. Hope thought they might explode if they were touched even lightly.

“Scorch and Riptide aren’t so keen on letting anything happen to their successors…” Taj mused to himself. “To see them outside of Absolute Zero Syndicate territory is rare enough, but to see them here of all places…” Taj closed his eyes momentarily. “You must have come here all on your own without your fathers’ knowledge, haven’t you? That is proof enough to me that you come with good intentions.” He then turned to Hope and smiled. “And this fine lady must have helped. Am I correct?”

The high amount of praise left the trio completely speechless. They responded by nodding vigorously in affirmation.

“Guildmaster!” Jet choked out. “You seriously can’t be willing to accept these syndicate scum into the guild!” Henry and Oberon nodded fervently besides him.

“I understand that you have some concerns, Jet.” Taj remarked. “And I know that there will be others with similar concerns. Therefore, I would like to offer a compromise. ”

“A… compromise?” Hope questioned.

“I will have you three take a quick examination tomorrow.” Taj explained. “Nothing too complicated. Just a surefire way of confirming that you three have indeed abandoned the syndicate life for good… and a chance for me to see what you three are capable of while we’re at it.” Taj finished off his sentence with a playful wink.

Hope’s head was really spinning now. No one told me that there was going to be an exam to get in the guild! By the stunned expressions on Klaw and Dewey’s faces, she could tell that they weren’t expecting this either.

The rescue team leaders cast odd glances at each other, then at Taj. Sparky opened his mouth to say something, but the guildmaster simply directed a knowing smile at him, causing the canine pokemon to clamp his mouth shut and nodded.

Taj scanned the room, his eyes eventually landed on Candy. “Ah, Candy.” he called. “Can you please escort these youngsters to the Farmstead Inn? It’s getting late, and they’ll need their energy for tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow morning ?!” Hope shrieked.

Taj let out a loud and hearty laugh. “Like I always say, the early pidgey gets the caterpie!” he chortled. “Now, you’d best be heading off now. I’ll see you at eleven-o-clock.”

Hope opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, she felt the now-familiar tug of weak psychic energy engulf her. She looked over to see that Klaw and Dewey had also been taken into the psychic hold.

“Sorry, guys.” Candy murmured as she came up behind them, her face and tone apologetic. “But it is getting pretty late.”

And with that, Hope, Klaw, Dewey, and Candy left the room, guided by the latter’s gentle telekinesis.

Hope’s mind was swirling with more emotions than ever before. So much had happened today. She had met so many people, both good and bad, and she was still very confused on what exactly was going on. But she had to keep trucking onwards. After all, this exam was seemingly the final hurdle before she and her friends could become official members of the Ironheart Guild. One more day, and hopefully, their dreams would finally be able to be fulfilled.

MEANWHILE, AT THE ABSOLUTE ZERO SYNDICATE…

“My, oh my.” Polaris sighed as he took a sip from his freshly-filled glass of Oran Brew. “I must say, the betrayal I am feeling right now is very immeasurable.”

The snom glanced over his dinner tray to take in his prisoners one more time. Norman, Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix were currently bound to cheap mattresses Scorch and Riptide had gotten from the old storage room and propped up against Polaris’s wall, their limbs tied up very tightly to the mattresses with the roughest and coarsest rope his enforcers could find. They gazed up at him in pure horror, too soaked in fear to say anything. The sight made his blood run hot in joy.

Scorch and Riptide were pacing back and forth in front of the prisoners, their faces contorted with the strongest anger Polaris had ever seen on them – and they got angry a lot . Not that he could blame them. They had spent years raising their sons up to be the best enforcers they could be, and now all that hard work had been torn down in a matter of seconds. Crim, Shade, and Dart were leaning on the wall across from them, looking like they had just woken up.

“I am not surprised to see this behavior from you three.” Polaris grumbled, glaring at Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix. “There have been many a time where fresh recruits have pulled stunts like this. I do have to say, this is the largest stunt that has successfully been pulled off by rebelling newbies, so I will have to commend you for that. It showed a lot of potential from you three. Quite a shame that you had to waste that potential on something like this. Had you used it to be loyal to the syndicate, you could have truly become some of our strongest members.”

Atlas and Phoenix tried their best to glare at Polaris, but all they could muster were pitiful stares. Belladonna instead stared at the floor, thick, delicious-smelling tears streaming down her face.

“But YOU! ” Polaris roared, swiveling around in his throne to face Norman. “You, who has served me faithfully since childhood! You, who stood by my side as I built this syndicate up from nothing! How could you turn on me like this?!” His voice had become deep, gravelly, and completely un-snom-like, and even Scorch and Riptide glanced up from their pacing in sheer shock at the sound of it.

Norman took a few long, shaky breaths before lifting his head up to make eye contact with Polaris. “This has been a long time coming, Master Polaris.” he stated, his face stony and emotionless. “I have spent too long standing by and simply watching all of the atrocities you have committed. What you did to young Hope and young Masters Klaw and Dewey was simply the straw that broke the camerupt’s back.” He took another, long, shaky breath before continuing. “Fire me, beat me, kill me, do whatever punishment you want to me, but just know that I do not regret what I did in the slightest.”

A long, pregnant pause followed as Polaris took in Norman’s words. Eventually, he took another sip from his oran brew and exhaled audibly. “No, Norman. I will not be punishing you directly.”

The higher-ranking syndicate members in the room swiveled around to look at Polaris in shock. “Boss, what do you mean, you won’t punish Norman?!” Scorch roared.

“He helped our sons get away! He deserves every ounce of anguish you can give him!” Riptide shrieked.

Polaris took yet another sip of oran brew before answering. “I have pondered how to punish Norman, and I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I have grown too fond of him to inflict any of my usual punishments on him. We share a long history, after all.” Suddenly, a dark and sinister look crossed Polaris’s face. “But just because I am too sentimental to punish Norman directly does not mean I am too sentimental to punish him at all .”

Norman’s face was now twisted in confusion. “W-what do you mean by that, M-master Polaris?” he asked weakly.

Polaris narrowed his eyes at him and let out an evil chuckle before thumping his body on his throne.

At the sound of the thump, the doors of Polaris’s room swung open, and a crawdaunt and a durant scuttled into the room, wheeling along a small portable TV. They parked it right in front of Norman, their eyes filled with glee and malice.

Polaris made another thumping motion on his throne, and the durant flicked the TV on, showing a fuzzy video of a very ornate living room and two elderly indeedee relaxing on its sole couch. The male was reading a book, while the female was knitting something. The word “LIVE” was displayed on the bottom corner of the video in bright red letters.

Norman’s confusion transformed into pure terror in a matter of seconds. “Wait just one moment… Is that my childhood house?! Are those my parents?! ” He started to struggle against the rope. “What is the meaning of this?!” he cried out.

“Ah, yes… your parents.” Polaris giggled. “You love them so much, don’t you? Everything you do is for them.” Polaris took another pause, drinking in Norman’s terror, before continuing. “I may be too sentimental to punish you directly, but I’m not too sentimental to hurt your loved ones. So I thought I would have them bear the brunt of your punishment.”

With that, Polaris made one more thumping noise, cackling as he did so. In response, the crawdaunt pressed a large red button on a walkie talkie it had been holding in its left pincer.

The sound of doors being shattered suddenly echoed from the TV, followed by a stampede of footsteps. In a matter of seconds, at least thirty Absolute Zero Syndicate members had swarmed Norman’s parents, instantly descending upon them with claws, teeth, and elemental attacks. The elderly indeedee only had time to scream in terror before their bodies were torn apart, causing a cascade of fur, blood, and ripped-up organs to splatter against the once-pristine walls of the living room.

“Mummy… Daddy… No, no, no… This can’t be happening… This can’t…” Norman moaned in shock and grief as he watched his parents get murdered right in front of his eyes. He suddenly burst into childlike tears, burying his face in his hands to obscure his vision from the horror he was watching.

Polaris laughed mirthfully. “Good work, you two. You can leave now.” he ordered the crawdaunt and the durant. They bowed and wheeled the TV, still streaming the grisly scene, out of the room. Norman moaned and reached out towards the TV, calling out for his parents weakly, but nobody paid him any attention.

“Now, then…” Polaris swiveled around to face Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix. “Ready for your turn?” he giggled.

The three new recruits had been watching Norman’s punishment with wide, rounded eyes. Now they turned their gazes to Polaris, absolutely horrified at the thought of what he might do to them.

“You three should consider yourselves honored.” Polaris hummed. “I haven’t had to use this punishment in almost four years. But as I said earlier, you three had genuine potential. And I like to save this punishment for those with genuine potential.”

Scorch and Riptide suddenly started quivering with excitement. “Are you gonna do what I think you’re gonna do, boss?” Scorch asked.

“Indeed I am.” Polaris chuckled before fixing the three newcomers with an ice-cold stare. “Belladonna, Atlas, Phoenix. For the crimes of disloyalty to the syndicate resulting in the escape of multiple invaluable possessions, I sentence you to my Sheer Cold!”

For the first time in a while, smiles cracked upon the faces of Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix. “S-sheer Cold?” Belladonna laughed hoarsely. “And I thought your human worship shtick was nonsensical.”

Polaris narrowed his eyes. “A common mistake… and one that will cost you greatly.” he intoned, before squeezing his eyes shut and concentrating deeply.

For a few long seconds, nothing happened. Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix looked at each other with mild amusement. Then, suddenly, Atlas’s body stiffened.

“G-guys? D-did it just get like forty degrees c-colder in here, or is it just me?” he asked fearfully.

Polaris chuckled as he slowly dropped the temperature of the air around Belladonna, Atlas, and Phoenix to largely negative levels. He waited for a few more seconds, until the temperature was just right, before contracting his body and exhaling as loudly as he could.

Almost instantaneously, the bodies of the three new recruits started writhing in immense pain. They tried desperately to take in air, gasping heavily, but the more seconds that passed, the more they struggled to breathe. And soon, blood began to trickle out of their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.

After about two minutes, Atlas started grasping at his throat and choking even harder. Blood burst out of his throat in short waves, coating the rope and mattress a deep red. After this had happened three times, his eyes suddenly glazed over, and his arms and head went limp. His body gave one last jerk of pain, and then it went still.

Belladonna attempted to cry out Atlas’s name, but a wave of blood burst out of her mouth as she did so. This happened four more times before her eyes also glazed over, her body also went limp, and she also writhed one more time before going still.

Phoenix stared at the bodies of his friends helplessly. He was clearly putting the most effort into fighting the Sheer Cold, evident by the very faint glow coming from his chest, a sign of his desperate attempts to melt away the cold.

It wouldn’t work, though. Not even the hottest of fires could stop a Sheer Cold. Especially not Polaris’s Sheer Cold.

Eventually, after about five more minutes, Phoenix’s fire finally gave out, and he too began coughing out a torrent of blood. He locked eyes with Polaris one last time, his eyes burning with hatred. Then those eyes glazed over, and Phoenix’s body went still.

Norman stared at the corpses of the recruits, his mouth agape with pure terror. Some of Belladonna’s blood had gotten onto his fur, and he habitually reached up to wipe it off.

Scorch and Riptide let out loud whoops of excitement upon seeing the carnage. “You’ve still got it, boss!” Scorch cheered.

“Now, let’s get going, shall we, love?” Riptide asked affectionately, wrapping his thin arm around his husband’s. “I believe we have some misbehaving boys to go track down.” Scorch nuzzled Riptide affirmatively in response.

“Not so fast.” Polaris chided. “I want you to stay behind at the syndicate.”

Scorch and Riptide both stared at Polaris like he had suddenly sprouted wings. “WHAT?!” they boomed simultaneously. “Those are our sons! How can you not let us join in the search for them?”

“If this was like the Errand Day incident, I would absolutely have sent you two out on the search.” Polaris informed. “However, I have an intuition that the boys and their little friend have gone to a very… specific place. One that is impossible for you to enter.”

Scorch and Riptide stared at Polaris for a little while longer, before their faces morphed into expressions of realization, then sheer fury.

“You get it now, don’t you?” Polaris noted. “If we want to get your boys and the human back, we’re going to need a very particular set of skills. And that’s where you three come in.”

The entire time, Crim, Shade, and Dart had been leaning against the wall, almost half asleep as the punishments were carried out. But now, they were wide awake, their postures straight and their gazes directed at Polaris.

“Pursuers,” Polaris started. “This is your most important job yet. The targets you will be tracking down are the most vital targets to the syndicate ever. Are you ready to take on this task?”

Crim, Shade, and Dart immediately dropped to the ground, kneeling on some of the blood that had been spilled.

“We won’t let you down, Boss.” Crim pledged.