The Scythe of Souls/Reading

The story is still in progress. It has currently not caught up with the original roleplay, but is halfway through the rp scenes.

Prologue
A wizard by the name of Bean was seeking hostile robots in the swamp, as he heard of a particularly dangerous one roaming around in the swamp. In spite of his thorough searching, he couldn't find it.

"Come on," sighed Bean, "I could've sworn there was one here."

As soon as he spoke, he heard a tree rustling nearby, and his heart sank. He was fully expecting to get ambushed by this creature. He knew he needed some help with this one. "Okay... Looks like I found it, Lucas," he whimpered, "I could use a bit of help with this one..."

He heard more rustling, and his brother was nowhere to be found. "Alright, Lucas, this isn't funny," he said. The rustling continued, and Bean grew even more worried. "Lucas, please, I need your help."

Unfortunately, Lucas still did not arrive, even as the movement in the trees intensified. Bean worried for himself and his brother. What if this thing killed Lucas? What if it was about to take him next? As the questions filled his mind, the noises started to get closer... and closer... Bean was desperate this time. He shouted "Lucas! I need you here right now!"

Unfortunately, all that responded was a shadowy figure, leaping out of the trees behind him. Bean turned around, and before he could fight back, the figure dug a scythe straight into his chest.

Shortly after, Lucas finally arrived. "Okay, Bean. I'm here now, no need to shout," he said, before failing to find his brother. "Really, Bean?" he sighed, "You demand my presence, and then hide as I arrive?" Lucas was still unaware of his brother's fate. After a few seconds, he started to worry. "Bean? Yoo-hoo? You can come out now..."

No response.

"Bean?"

Still no response.

"Bean!?" "BEAN!?!?"

Soon after Bean's mysterious death, another person arrived. Holly always found herself liking the swamp, but this visit was more bitter than her previous ones.

Her parents had recently died, and Holly was extremely saddened by it. In order to wash her worries away, she decided to go over to the swamp, and try to make the pain go away... for awhile.

The bushes rustled behind her, and made Holly look behind her. "Who's there?", she asked. It went downhill for Holly and her free will.

A shadowy figure appeared, similar to the one faced by Bean. Holly was first taken aback, but still talked to them. She expressed her woes of the deaths of her mother and father, and the figure decided to use this for their advantage.

"You poor, poor girl... I pity you greatly. I'll let you join me for to thing to pay back..."

They explained the details and after thinking about it, Holly answered "I agree."

"Perfect...."

Holly stood up high as a scythe was dug into her chest and killed her. Just like Bean. And she was glad with it.

Chapter 1: When the Moon is Fat
Day 1:

Moon Snail sat in his house, living his life as normal, before Freddy Freaker broke through his door.

"Frederick what the hell?" said Moon Snail. Freddy approached him with a letter in his hands. "I was told to send this to you," the gremlin said, "so here you go." Freddy handed him the letter and left, magically repairing the door on his way out. Moon Snail, obviously confused, opened the letter.

"Meet me at the swamp tomorrow. You'll see what happens."

Moon Snail didn't think much of this ominous letter, but thought nothing truly terrible could happen if he did so. He pocketed the letter and went through with the rest of his day.

Day 2:

It was the dead of night. Moon Snail did as the letter asked and arrived at the swamp. "So... I'm here. At the swamp," he announced, "What do you want?"

His question was answered by a clot of purple smoke, which faded away to reveal the shadowy figure.

"Ah, greetings," they stated formally, "I've been waiting for you, Moon Snail."

Moon Snail was unfamiliar with this character, but they did not intimidate him, as he's faced worse monsters in his time. He only asked a simple question, "New swamp who dis."

"My name is not important. You may call me Phantom."

"... Okay?"

"Now, I have called you here for one reason."

"What is it?"

"..."

"C'mon, don't leave me waiting."

"I need your soul."

This took Moon Snail by surprise, but didn't scare him. "Excuse me?" he hissed. Phantom chuckled, "With your soul in my grasp, my plan will be one step closer to completion. In addition, you will become my powerful minion." Moon Snail was still skeptical, and retorted "And how are you going to do that?"

Phantom did not say a word. They responded by pulling a scythe out of nowhere. This was enough to startle the Zangoose boy. "You fool," Phantom said ominously, "You will never be able to resist my wrath." Moon Snail started to backpedal, "G-get away from me!" Phantom brushed off this bargain. "You should be looking forward to this," they threatened, "I will give you more power than you could possibly imagine!"

"No, don't!"

But he couldn't stop them. Phantom sliced into Moon Snail, stealing his soul as they pulled it out. "Perfect," Phantom proudly said to themself, "You'll make for a useful troop."

Little My heard Moon Snail begging for his life, and entered the scene. "I heard screaming," she said, before learning exactly what happened. "Neeeeevermind," she whimpered, before backing out of the scene.

Phantom ignored her entrance, and channeled dark energy into Moon Snail's lifeless body. This brought him to life in a new, grotesque form. "Behold, your new strength," Phantom explained, "You can see now that your soul was a small price to pay, right?"

"Yes... this feels good," Moon Snail growled, "I am yours to command."

"Excellent..."

By coincidence, Tommy Turnbull was also in the swamp, and heard the commotion. He ran in to find out exactly what happened. "What the heck!?" he exclaimed as he saw Moon Snail's new form, "Moon Snail!?!?"

Phantom turned to him and glared menacingly. "W-What’s going on?" Tommy responded, "What did you do to my friend?"

"... Don't you see? I improved upon him."

"Why?"

"It's all part of the plan."

Phantom's ambiguity frustrated Tommy. "Alright buddy," he snapped, "tell me what your plan is."

Phantom refused to say anything about their plan, further frustrating the Turnbull. "Well then, let my friend go!" he said with more anger.

"That's enough!" Phantom shouted, "I've already grown tired of your presence. Moon Snail, get him."

The corrupted Zangoose boy approached Tommy. Tommy whined, "Moon Snail! Snap out of it!"

"Snap out of it? Ha! You wouldn't know a blessing if it was dangled in front of your face!"

"M-Moon Snail..."

"Now, this once, I'll give you a choice. Either you can kneel and accept this gift, or flee at once, and tell no one."

Tommy was frightened, but intrigued. "W-What’s the gift...?"

Phantom stepped in to elaborate, "The same one I presented your friend with. Indescribable power and intellect... only at the cost of your soul."

"My soul!? Yeah, no!" Tommy refuted, before thinking about it. "Or... maybe I should take it... Tommy just make up your mind!" He conflicted with himself. In the end, he took the gamble. "Fine! I’ll take up the offer..."

"Wise choice."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Little My screamed as she returned, "ARE YOU REALLY GONNA FALL FOR SOME SICKOS TRAP?" Before she could stop the two, Phantom stabbed into Tommy with their scythe, and turned them into a phantom minion, just like they did with Moon Snail. "OH COME ON!" Little My screamed in frustration.

This grabbed Phantom's attention. They faced the mymble in the same way they faced Tommy. "So... you witnessed this all as well?"

"Um... y-yeah..." My whimpered.

"Hmm..." Phantom pondered, "Maybe I can turn you into a minion as well!"

"No! Never!" Little My responded.

"Then LEAVE. And tell NOBODY."

Little My growled at them, before departing, telling no one of Moon Snail and Tommy's fate.

Chapter 2: Awareness Rises
Day 4:

The day was normal at the Fire Lash Tavern. People were still having fun and drinks, and the atmosphere was as nice as ever. However, this changed when Flametail, the bartender, rose an important point. "Are we all collectively forgetting the fact that we haven't seen Moon Snail or Tommy in two days?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing. "Hold on, what?" exclaimed Gargoyowl. "Yep," Flametail responded, "they're completely missing."

"That's... worrying..."

Lemres, who was Moon Snail's boyfriend, was especially concerned. "I'm so worried about Moon..." he sighed, "he means so much to me." Freddy replied "I don't really care. Honestly, I hope he's dead." Lemres, without thinking, tried to punch him, but was quickly stopped by Gargoyowl. "Woah woah woah!" gasped Freddy, "Take it easy! I was just kidding!"

Afterwards, Sig stepped in and brought up "I heard a rumor that they went to the swamp at the time of their disappearance." This caught Gargoyowl's attention. "The swamp?" they asked, "Ohh... The swamp is always bad news..."

"Swamp? What swamp?" Flametail questioned.

"'The Swamp'," Sig answered, "It was never given a proper name because they were lazy."

Flametail gasped. "You mean the swamp!?"

"Yes. THE Swamp."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god... They might be dead!"

"N-no... they can't be!" Lemres shouted, "I'm gonna go look for them. I got to get them back!" Everyone was shocked by Lemres' decision. "Lemres, don't!" Gargoyowl warned, "You could very easily die out there!" But Lemres did not listen. "I don't care," Lemres replied, "Moon means everything to me, and if it's possible, I'm getting him back."

With his claim, Lemres left the tavern. "Welp, there he goes..." Sig sighed. "I call dibs on his wallet!" Freddy greedily exclaimed.

Everyone worried for hours. They knew the dangers that the swamp holds. Knowing the news of a gruesome deaths of a fellow wizard and a teenage girl, everyone thought Lemres had no chance out there. A few hours later, everyone's worrying was interrupted by a broadcast that appeared globally.

"I've come to make an announcement!"

On the tavern's small TV, a familiar sight shined into everyone's eyes. It was Dr. Eggman standing in front of a blue background. Nobody fully understood the circumstances, but everyone felt like they knew what would happen. Deja vu, if you will.

Eggman continued, "Shadow the Hedgehog is a bitch-ass motherfucker! He pissed on my fucking wife! That's right, he took his hedgehog fucking quilly dick out..." As the tavern goers watched, they heard the panics of a young child watching outside, as if she also knew something terrible would happen.

"... And he pissed on my fucking wife, and he said his dick was 'this big' and I said 'that's disgusting!"

Shadow the Hedgehog was also in the tavern. He watched the doctor's announcement with glee, taking pride in provoking Eggman's pettiness.

"So I'm making a call-out post on my Twitter Dot Com: Shadow the hedgehog, you've got a small dick! It's the size of this walnut except way smaller!"

The video cut to a shot of outer space. It was clear to everyone that shit was about to go down.

"And guess what? Here's what my dong looks like!"

The walnut that Eggman used to describe Shadow's genitals exploded into a nasty shape.

"That's right, baby! All points, no quills, no pillows! Look at that, it looks like two balls and a bong!"

The supposed dick started to glow blue. Something terrible was about to happen...

"He fucked my wife, so guess what!? I'm gonna fuck the earth! THAT'S RIGHT, THIS IS WHAT YOU GET: MY SUPER LASER PISS!!!"

The dick shot out a massive blue laser. It soared across the earth, but seemingly missed.

"Except I'm not going to piss on the earth; I'm gonna go higher! I'M PISSING ON THE MOOOOOOOON!!!!!"

The laser pierced into the moon, and the moon blew in half. Everyone stared in shock.

"How do you like that, Obama!? I PISSED ON THE MOON YOU IDIOT!!!"

As the citizens continued to watch the moon's new form, they turn back to the broadcast to find a rapidly falling timer.

"YOU HAVE 23 HOURS BEFORE THE PISS DRRRRROPLLLLLETS HIT THE FUCKING EARTH! NOW GET OUT OF MY FUCKING SIGHT, BEFORE I PISS ON YOU TOO!"

Everyone was in shock. Would this be more severe than the current problems they face right now? Were Bean, Holly, Moon Snail and Tommy just the start? Despite this, Shadow still grinned, pointing at the TV and saying "I still pissed on your wife!"

Many days passed. Nothing came of Eggman's threat, and Lemres still had not returned. Nobody knew what happened to the warlock, or even if he was still alive, until...

Day 9:

"Wake up, Gargoyowl..."

Gargoyowl was resting at their home. A strange figure was urgently begging them to awaken.

"Wake up..."

With this second demand, the statue did wake. They eyed upon a shadowy figure. This was unlike the one faced by the victims, however. She had lavender eyes, a green staff, and more angelic wings than the latter.

"Gargoyowl, I need your help," she begged. Gargoyowl did not recognize the figure. "Who... are you?", they asked. "My name is not important," they replied, "You may call me 'The Druid'."

"... What do you need of me?"

"I must warn you of a terrible danger."

"Okay..."

"And I need you to warn everyone else."

"Why not tell everyone yourself?"

"I fear they will not trust me as much as they trust you."

"Makes sense, I guess..."

"A few days ago, one of your friends mysteriously vanished. Nobody knows what happened... except for me..."

The Druid placed a flashback in the mind of Gargoyowl. It was of Lemres dashing across a beach, clearly tired. "Geez," he panted, "How far away is this swamp!?" Just then, he saw a familiar figure wearing a familiar purple hat. "Moon!" Lemres exclaimed joyfully, "You're alive!"

The figure turned around to face him. While he looked like Moon Snail, he did not look the same. Lemres was in shock, as if he did not fully recognize him. Moon Snail lunged at the warlock, but he quickly dodged out of the way.

"W-what's going on!?" Lemres panicked, "What happened to you, Moon!?"

"The Moon Snail you know of is dead," cackled Moon Snail, "And you will be too, soon."

"No! You can't be the real him! Where is Moon Snail!?"

"He's gone! The Phantom has put me in his place!"

"Ph-Phantom!? Who is Phantom!?"

Moon Snail simply smirked. "You'll see soon enough!"

The two then fought. In spite of Lemres' efforts, Moon Snail eventually came out on top. With Lemres defeated, Phantom arrived, making themself public for the first time. "Ah... well done, Moon Snail," they said. Lemres was scared for his life. "What's going on!?" he cried, "Where is Moon Snail!?"

"Isn't it obvious, pathetic wizard? Your little boyfriend is under my control now."

Lemres was on the verge of tears. He couldn't believe that this monster, this horrible, bladed fiend, could possibly be the Moon Snail he knows and loved. "W... wh... what do you mean!? What did you do to him!?!?"

"Heh. Watch and learn."

With a slash of their scythe, Lemres fell, lifeless and without his soul. "The deed is done," Moon Snail chuckled. "Not yet," argued Phantom, "There is one more step. Remember?"

Just like with Moon Snail and Tommy, Phantom channeled dark energy into Lemres' corpse, changing his form into a more grotesque counterpart. "Welcome to the dark side, Lemres."

Lemres was taken back by this event. "This new power is indescribable," he stated in awe, "I will never look to the light ever again." Moon Snail approached him. "Ah, Lemmy... It's wonderful to see you turn to the dark side." The Zangoose boy looked over him. "Hmm... You're even cuter in this new form!"

Lemres did not have a blood flow in his current form, but if he did, he would definitely be blushing. "Heh... you too, sweetie..." he said. "Alright, alright!" sighed Phantom, "When you two are done flirting, I've got more work for you to do. Now, where's that lemon boy?"

The flashback finished, and Gargoyowl was in shock. "... No... That can't be what happened..."

"Unfortunately, it is," Druid responded,  "I saw it with my own two eyes."

"So this is what happened to Moon Snail and Tommy?"

"I assume so. That was Moon Snail who attacked him, wasn't it?"

"A part of me hopes it wasn't, but it must've been."

A horrible feeling hit Gargoyowl. If Moon Snail was taken by Phantom, and he disappeared with Tommy, then... "... If that's what happened to Moon Snail and Lemres, I don't want to see what happened to poor little Tommy..."

"That's the past." Druid said, trying to divert Gargoyowl's attention. "What's important, now, is the future. We need to make sure that everyone is ready for Phantom. We can't let them get any stronger."

"You're right. Come with me. We need to warn the others before it's too late!"

Chapter 3: The Rebellion's Beginning
Day 10:

After hearing about the disappearances, Sora, a former student from Hope's Peak Academy, visited the swamp hoping to find out what happened. "I have a feeling.... that something isn’t right," she pondered, before Druid appeared behind her. "...What are you doing here?" said Druid.

Sora wasn't expecting this strange figure to appear, but felt a bit of security in her presence. "Well, I’ve heard about some people going missing around here," she replied, "and I went to investigate myself."

"Fair enough, but it's not safe here."

"Well, I can understand why...but I want to know why they went missing."

"I can't fully confirm... but I think I know exactly what happened."

Sora listened closely to Druid, as Druid stated "Have you heard of Phantom?"

"I don’t believe so....the only ‘phantom’ I can say is probably one is Midako Sannōji. Ugh. That guy tried to kill me and my friends once..."

"Oh, this one is worse... This 'Phantom' not only tries to kill people, but they even steals their souls and turns them into mindless slaves."

Sora was shocked. "W-WHAT!?" she exclaimed. Even after she went through a horrible killing game, she never thought she'd encounter anything quite like this. "I saw one of their victims..." Druid continued shamefully, "it wasn't pretty." With this information, Sora knew she was in quite a predicament. "Oh man....this is bad, really really bad... I gotta warn the world of this man. Well, thanks for telling me....what’s your name?"

Druid was still not willing to reveal herself. "I do not want to reveal it right now," she said, "For now, you may call me 'The Druid'."

"Well then, Druid...I’m Sora."

"Pleased to meet you, Sora."

"Well then, I’m gonna warn my friends," Sora announced, "We had a nice talk though."

"Well, goodbye. And stay safe."

Sora stated "See you around, I guess," before departing to warn everyone she knew. Druid remembered that she had to warn Gargoyowl's acquaintances as well. As she thought, she turned around to find a certain... someone.

"YOU."

Out of nowhere, Druid found herself face-to-face with the very monster she tried to warn everyone about. Phantom. "You thought you could expose me behind my back? Oh, my sweet summer child..." Phantom chuckled. "I'll..." Druid stuttered, "I'll be going now!" With that, she teleported away before they could claim her soul as well. Phantom was frustrated, but tried to stay strong. "...Coward... I'll enjoy killing you the first chance I get."

"Um..."

Phantom was taken off-guard. They turned around to find a young, purple woman, known as Shope. "What are..." they stammered, "What are you doing here!?" Shope explained, "Well, I was trying to find out about those two people who disappeared." Phantom chuckled, "You fool... You should've known the answer would arrive in a way you wouldn't have liked!" as they approached the noob, with their scythe out...

Day 11:

Fire Lash Tavern never felt the same, with everyone panicking over the disappearances. One day, suddenly, Lucas broke through the door with his boyfriend, Robin. As everyone stared in confusion, the archer proclaimed "GIVE ME A DRINK, BARTENDER!" Robin tried to keep him under control after his grief. "No, just no," Robin sighed, "Don't actually give him anoth-"

Flametail stopped them both. "Look, before I give either of you anything..." he said, "who are you, and what are you doing here?" Lucas was too preoccupied with his grief to answer him. "Why should you even care?" he hiccuped, "Just gimme a-" Before Lucas could demand a drink, Freddy interrupted with "I think I know them. They're Lucas and Robin. I think Luke is mad because his brother just disappeared at random."

"Hmm... just like Moon and Tommy?" Flametail asked. Lucas was growing frustrated as he was held back. "JUST GIMME ANOTHE-". Freddy finally countered with "Dude, you're not even of legal drinking age." Lucas paused. "...I'm not?" Robin continued "Yeah, you're 19."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I told you 5 times, my dude."

Suddenly, Gargoyowl flew in. "Everyone! EVERYONE!" they shouted. Everyone went silent, before Freddy asked "What?" Gargoyowl announced "I just found out what's behind those disappearances." Sora, who was also in the tavern, responded with "So you've met the Druid, too?" Gargoyowl nodded.

Everyone else was confused. "Druid?" asked Flametail, "Who's Druid?" Sora answered "She kinda looked like Phantom...but she looked a bit more welcoming and friendly than them." This still didn't answer much, as nobody else knew about Phantom. "Who's Phantom" Sig asked. "Yeah. Phantom is... well..." Gargoyowl said, not knowing how to explain them, "I don't know who they are. But they're behind all of the disappearances."

Dr. Eggman stepped in. "What? What did Phantom do? Did Phantom fuck my wife too!?" Gargoyowl sighed, responding "No no no. I have no idea what you're talking about. But you see... The Druid showed me everything." "So?" Lucas asked, "What did Phantom do, anyway?" Sora explained "All I know is they probably turned Moon Snail, Tommy and Lemres into slaves."

"WHAT!?" erupted everyone in the pub.

"Yeah. Phantom is going around, stealing people's souls and turning their victims into mind slaves," Gargoyowl stated. Despite all of this, Freddy was skeptical. "So how do we know that you're not bluffing?" Gargoyowl started to explain "Well-" before Tommy entered the scene. "I exist now!"

Everyone panicked. Tommy cackled at everyone, before Phantom made their first public appearance. "Heh heh heh..." they snarked, "I'd like to thank that little wizard for telling me where you are." "Phantom!" Sora exclaimed. She knew this was the one who Druid explained to her. "DID YOU FUCK MY WIFE!?" Eggman accused. "No??? What???? The hell?????" Phantom stammered, before giving the word, "Anyway... Get them!"

With this command, Moon Snail and Lemres joined the picture, and chaos started to go down. "Moon Snail!?" Flametail cried, "What did they do to you!?" "Shut it, Flames!" Moon Snail snapped back, "Prepare to die!" Tommy cackled, "Ah hahahahaha! Doesn’t it feel nice...?" For once, Freddy had a sense of right. "Somebody, give me two dollars. NOW!" he ordered, hoping to use his godly powers for good this time. Unfortunately, nobody had enough to give him. The phantom minions started to tear apart the tavern. "God, what do we do!?" Gargoyowl panicked. Sora exclaimed, "Run! Get away before Phantom can steal your soul!"

But then... a portal opened from behind the taverngoers. From the portal, the Druid stepped out. "Quickly! There's not much time left!" she ordered. "Druid!" Sora exclaimed joyfully, "Oh man, I’m so glad your here!" Phantom was not as pleased with her. "No! Not you again! Get her! Now!" Lemres went through with the order, shooting a blast of lightning at Druid, before the spell is intercepted by Flametail. "Crap! Wrong target!" Phantom pouted. Everyone took the opportunity to escape, but Sora mentioned "What about Flametail!? We just can’t leave him behind!"

Druid responded "...You're right! We gotta save him too!" and ran for him. But before she could save him, Phantom took his soul as well. "Another one of us!" Tommy greeted. "Yes..." Flametail rose to state, "I am yours to command, master." "Then get these cretins," Phantom ordered, "That's your first mission." Hastily, Druid picked up everyone who hadn't escaped yet, ran through the portal, and closed it. The phantom minions had a moment of frustration, before Phantom exclaimed "We can't just let them get away!" "...We just did, though," Flametail responded. "You know what I mean," Phantom responded, "We need to search this land for them!"

Everyone left the portal, into a wide, expansive forest known as "Ebony Leopard Woods". They narrowly escaped, but took sacrifices with them. "Great," Robin sighed, "Now we don't have any shelter." Sora suggested "We could always build one," before Lucas asked "Does anyone here know how to cut down trees?" Nobody could, but Gargoyowl realized "Wait, the forest? What if..." Everyone waited for them to continue. "We might be able to find Moomin and Snufkin. Maybe they can let us stay with them for the time. They'll understand, right?"

"That might work," said Freddy, "But we need to stay here for now. It'd be too dangerous to move right now."

On the ground they landed on, the group rested. Sora, however, knew that they couldn't just rest. "Y'know..." Everyone focused their attention to her. "What if we started a group dedicated to fighting this menace?" Everyone agreed that it would be a great idea. "Yeah!" said Druid, "But what should we call it?" "Umm..." Sora thought, "How about... The Rebellion?"

"Not bad," Sig agreed, "It's simple, and to the point. It'll get us going." Everyone agreed to form "The Rebellion". Another shadow-cloaked figure overheard them. "The Rebellion?" she said to herself, "That's a great idea! Maybe I could find some members for them!" After saying this, the figure took off in flight.

A little bit away from the newly founded Rebellion, a teenage girl and her pet bunny ran through the forest. The girl was known as Iroha Nijiue, who, like Sora, was a former Hope's Peak Academy student, and went through the same Killing Game as her. Iroha was the SHSL (Super High School Level) Painter, and was particularly concerned with her missing girlfriend, Jennifer Skye.

"Jenn? Jenn, are you here?", Iroha called. Starring down at her pet, she said to the bunny "Lops, Jenn's been missing for over 11 days! I'm so scared for her...."

Lops gave her owner a look that said "If you're gonna stop, you won't find Jennifer!". Iroha looked back and said "You're right! I can't leave Jenn behind! Let's go, Lops.

Then Iroha and Lops ran off, continuing their quest to find Jennifer.

Chapter 4: Building Up
Day 15:

Meanwhile, back at the swamp, Shope's disappearance had caught her girlfriend, an emo girl by the name of Soren, totally off-guard, and after 5 days of learning music on her guitar to cope and being deep in despair, she said she had enough and asked her friend Reece to go looking for Shope.

"Ugh, it's been 5 days since she disappeared, Reece. Where could have she gone?", she asked her friend.

Reece, being the good friend he was, tried to cheer his friend up by saying, "Here, maybe read this fanfic and you'll feel better!". Instead, rage boiled inside of Soren and the two started to argue.

"A fanfic won't help me feel better Reece! Only finding Shope will!"

"Well I don't know where she is!"

"GODDAMNIT!"

"Hey hey! I hate to see you guys fight!"

Turning around, both friends looked at the shadowy figure. Unlike the victims of phantomization or the Rebellion members, this one was much smaller, had tiny - possibly still developing - wings, and a rounded staff.

"What are you doing here?", the figure asked, tilting her head. "We are looking for my friend's girlfriend, Shope.", Reece answered back.

"I think I saw her! Red glasses, purple vest?"

"You really did see her!", Soren exclaimed happily.

"Well, the bad news is that... she was taken by this awful creature called Phantom! He had a biiiiiig scythe and attacks people with it!"

"Phantom!?", Soren and Reece exclaimed. "So this guy is evil, you say?", Reece countered her, purple eyes suspicious.

"Yes! They've been stealing souls for weeks! But there's a group in the forest called the Rebellion, led by the Druid! They set to stop Phantom in their tracks, and I wanna join them!"

Reece turned over to Soren and stated, "Welp Soren, looks like we have another adventure on our hands!"

"Oh yeah, what's your name?", Soren asked the figure.

"My name's Tien, you two?"

"I'm Soren.", Soren answered while Reece answered, "Well I'm Reece, but you can call me TheFanFicFinder as well."

"Well then, Soren and Reece" said Tien, "I just have one question..."

"Ask away!" Reece responded.

"Once I help you find your missing friend will you help me find the rainbow puppies?"

"Rainbow puppies...?" Soren asked in a confused matter. She agreed to it, however. "Yeah, sure, I guess."

"Wait, Soren!" Reece exclaimed, "This could be very dangerous!" Soren, however, was determined to find Shope. "This is the only way I can find Shope, Reece! I must take it!"

"Okay then. Let's do this!"

Tien was excited to take part in this journey. "Yay! Our adventure begins!" "One question, Tien," asked Reece, "How long will it take for us to get to the rebellion?"

As the three conversed, Druid was watching them. She was worried about Tien, initially thinking she was Phantom. "That's not... That's not Phantom... is it? ...No, it can't be them."

"I don't know!" answered Tien, "It'll take as long as it has to be!" "I don't care how long it'll take!" shouted Soren, "I just wanna see Shope again!" Reece agreed. "Yeah, we have to find her!" "Well then!" exclaimed Tien, "Let's go!"

"Yeah, let's get a move on," sighed Reece, as he turned on Gorillaz music for himself to listen to. "I hope we can find Druid soon..." Soren said, "I need to know where my girlfriend is!" "We'll find her soon, Soren!" Tien reassured, as did Reece. "Yeah don’t worry!" Druid continued to watch. "...They... know about us?" she asked herself. Tien overheard Druid's voice. "I...think I hear the Druid in the distance!" she announced.

"Really? Oh please please please let her be her...I need to know where Shope is!" Soren said. "What if it's some creep stalking us, and not Druid?" Reece asked skeptically. "Creep!?" Druid shouted, accidentally loud enough for the three to hear. "That's her!" Tien exclaimed joyfully, "Come on! I know where the voice is coming from!" The kid started to fly. "Hold my hand!" she said, holding her hands out for Soren and Reece. "Okay, let's go," sighed Reece, "But if it's a creep, then I'm outta here."

Soren and Reece took hold of Tien's hands, and flew with them to where Druid was watching from. "Oh! Um... hello," greeted Druid, "You're not with... with them, are you?" "Them?" asked Reece. "Who's them?" Soren also asked. "Oh, you know..." Druid replied, as she imitated scythe motions, "The Phantom..." "I don't think so!" answered Reece, "You're not a creep, right?" Druid uncomfortably replied "No! Not at all!"

"Well then, I'm TheFanFicFinder, or Reece. Nice to meet you."

Soren explained her motives to Druid. "Well...I think Phantom kidnapped my girlfriend." Druid responded "Oh dear..."

"I'm so worried for her..." Soren said, letting loose a tear, "Shope..." Reece tried to reassure her. "Hey," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We are going to find her." Soren was still worried, but felt a little bit comforted. "T-thanks, Reece..."

Tien was excited to finally meet her. "So you're the Druid!?" she gleamed, "Nice to meet you! I'm Tien!" "Yes, that's me," Druid replied, "Nice to meet you, Tien." She turned to Soren. "Anyway, I don't know what happened to Shope... But I heard she mysteriously disappeared too, and that... that doesn't give me hope." Soren gritted her teeth. "If Phantom took her I will snap their neck like a toothpick."

"Well... I'm starting a group dedicated to stopping Phantom, and I could take you to them. Would you be okay with that?" Druid replied. "The rebellion, right?" asked Tien. Druid was surprised. "You know about the Rebellion!?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes, that would be the rebellion."

"I want to meet them!" said Reece. "We were just looking to find the Rebellion!" Soren continued. "It would be an honor, Miss Druid!" Tien finished with. "Good, good!" Druid responded, "We've been in need of new members." She opened a portal to the Rebellion's location. The four entered the portal, and met with the rebellion.

"Hello Druid, who are these three?", Gargoyowl asked. The Druid answered with "These are Tien, Soren and Reece. They say that they were looking for the Rebellion."

"Nice to meet you three.", Sora said. "I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet you all as well! By the way, is there any WiFi in this forest?", Reece said, and then asked, in reply. "... this is a forest.", Robin replied to Reece's question. Soren face palmed and said "You could just use data, y'know."

Suddenly, the bushes nearby rustled, causing everyone to panic a bit, praying that it wasn't a Phantom minion. What they did see, though, was a Pikachu with a detectives hat on.

"Is that a... Pikachu?" Tien said. The Pikachu seemed to be frustrated. "Ugh.. And that's why you can't trust a forest to be the safest place for walking," he grunted. Everyone was shocked by him talking. "A talking pikachu!" Reece exclaimed. "Wait... Pokémon are real?" Lucas asked, "And they can talk?" The Pikachu picked up his hat and put it back on. "Well, this is awkw-" he said as he turned around. Upon realizing the people behind him were not Pokémon, he was just as surprised as they were. "Wait, you can understand me?!" "Yeah! It's great!" replied Soren.

The Pikachu was ecstatic about this. "I thought Tim was the only one! Hah, finally I can be heard!" he cheered, "If only I had something to celebrate this, preferably strong, black coffee.." "Well then," said Tien, "What's your name? Mine's Tien!"

"Well, it's what I basically repeat 24/7, Pikachu. Nice to meet you guys!"

"Hello, Pikachu!" Druid replied. "So, are you aware of the Phantom stuff going on recently?" asked Gargoyowl. "Phantom stuff?" Pikachu replied, "The only Phantom I know are gengars. Word of advice, don't trust them. They might be smiling, but I know what they've done." Freddy butted in with "Ah yes. Gengar. Can't trust 'em. I'd give an example, but I left my Family Guy-style cutaway gags at home." "This Phantom is much, much worse!" Tien warned, "they turn innocent people into their own mindless slaves!" Pikachu said "What?! Oh, great.. And just when things couldn't get more chaotic."

Soren stepped in to invite Pikachu. "We’re the Rebellion, trying to stop them... wanna join us?" "Last time I saw them, they completely trashed up the tavern we were at, and even took the bartender!" Lucas filled him in on. Soren continued with "I think they took my girlfriend!"

"They what?!" Pikachu yelled, "They took your girlfriend, and ruined a tavern? If they stole any coffee-" "What is it with you and coffee?" Reece interrupted. Pikachu was frustrated by that. "Hey, I can quit anytime I want," he proclaimed, "These are just choices I make!" Eggman drunkedly grumbled "I just wanted a goddamn drink-", he hiccuped before finishing, "and now I'm stuck in this fucking forest with no drink!!!" "We’ll make sure we get Shope and the others back," Sora said, "but we need more people to join us."

Pikachu was interested in the offer. "Well, what if I told you I'm a detective?" he responded, "I can help you find this Phantom guy and their slaves!" "Wonderful! You can help me find Shope!" cheered Soren. "I guess that the Rebellion is growing now," Sora stated, "Y’know, I’m a bit hungry, do you think we could find a place to eat?" "Oh, did you say food? I am starving," replied Pikachu, "It's crazy how much walking can make you hungry." Reece, growing tired of his wi-fi withdrawl, pleaded "Can we please go to a place that has Wi-fi!?" Tien remembered seeing a restaurant while flying with Soren and Reece. "I think there's a place we can eat at..." she mentioned to the other members. "Great!" said Pikachu, "Do they serve coffee?"

"I have no clue. I can... show you all the way if you're dire enough."

"Pikachu," Reece said, "I think you're addicted." "It's not an addiction!" Pikachu snapped back, more miffed than before, "Why do people keep saying that!?" Before they could argue, Robin told Tien "That would help, Tien. I don't wanna be lost here for much longer." "Well then, I’ll show you guys how to get there!" Tien announced, starting to fly again, "Follow me!"

Tien flew in the direction of the restaurant that she saw. "Hey, wait up!" Pikachu alarmed. The Rebellion then ran to follow Tien to the restaurant.

Chapter 5: Trouble in Random City
The Banana Wasp was a small restaurant in a town nearby Ebony Leopard Woods. While small, it was widely visited by locals and travelers. Tien has been lucky enough to see the place during flight and led the rest of the Rebellion there.

"Well, here we are!" proclaimed Tien. Everyone was starving from their residence in the forest. "I'm so hungry!" said Reece, followed by Soren stating "We all can’t run on an empty stomach, so let’s eat!", and Lucas mentions "I hope they have shrimp here."

As everyone walked to the building, Druid noticed that Gargoyowl was not moving. "Gargoyowl?" she asked, "You going?" Gargoyowl simply shook their head and explained "I don't need to eat." "Oh, I got an idea!" Tien exclaimed to them, "Gargoyowl, you should check if Phantom and his minions appear!" Sora agreed, "That's... pretty useful," while Reece encouraged "Yeah! Good idea, Tien!" "Thanks!" Tien gleefully replied, "Now let's eat!" She entered the building before anyone else.

Soren couldn't wait. "Let's go!" she said, "I'm starving!" Reece, as usual, was more concerned about his wi-fi problem. "Is there Wi-Fi here?" he asked. Soren responded, "Yes, yes Reece." Eggman, still drunk after his run-in at the tavern, exclaimed "They better gimme summa that gonja sandwich!" Everyone was confused by this statement. Sig questioned, "What the hell are you even talking about?" Robin shrugged off Eggman's statement and said "Let's not delay any longer."

Everyone else entered the building. Pikachu climbed onto the counter and asked the cashier "Excuse me, do any of you sell coffee?" Reece, still concerned, offhandedly yelled "SEE ADDICTION!" Eggman burst through the door and yelled "SUSTENANCE ME, BITCH!" at the top of his lungs.

Sora was still alert, despite being in a generally safe place. "Well, I don't see Phantom anywhere around here," she sighed, "that's good." Pikachu was still not sure of who Phantom was. "Who's that guy?" he asked. "To sum it up," Reece answered, "they're a crazy asshole who likes to take over people's bodies." Soren elaborated, "They're evil, and they're hypnotizing people to be their slaves." Pikachu was unamused. "Oh, geez," he growled, "people like them are the worst." "Here," Freddy said, while picking up a newspaper and pointing to Phantom's face on it, "That freak." "I knew it!" Pikachu reacted, "They kind of look like a Gengar if you squint your eyes and look at it a few feet away." Reece sighed "I think it's just the caffeine getting to your head, Pikachu." Soren stood up for Pikachu and said "Reece, can you just leave Pikachu alone with his love for coffee?"

Druid took the newspaper Freddy was holding, and checked up on recent news involving Phantom. She read "Most recent victims after the tavern incident include Hugh Jazz, Garfielf, and..." before seeing a familiar name. "What is it?" Lucas asked, concerned by her silence. "...Let's not talk about it," she replied, trying to keep the mood high. Soren was especially concerned. "Is it... her?" she whimpered. "No! No!" Druid panicked, before tossing the newspaper away, "It's not her! Don't worry about it..." Soren was not convinced. She picked up the newspaper to find out what was going on. Before she read the article, Eggman noticed a story involving a familiar fox on the back. "What the fuck!? Why does Tails have all the fucking weed!?" he exclaimed, "WHY DOES HE HAVE THE WEED!?" Ignoring the weird man, Soren saw the truth.

"...Jennifer Shope."

Soren's eyes were filled with a combination of rage and regret. Reece glared angrily at Druid and snarled "Druid, why didn't you tell us!?" Druid couldn't answer besides a simple "I... I didn't know!" "SHE'S GONE!" Soren cried while tossing the newspaper at the ground, "My girlfriend is GONE thanks to that MONSTER! I'LL KILL THEM!" Soren broke down in tears, and Reece tried to comfort her. "Soren, we are going to save her," Reece promised before giving her a hug. Pikachu also put his hand on Soren's shoulder and reassured "Hey, kid... We'll get Shope back. And you know what we're gonna do?" Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of shattering glass could be heard.

From outside Banana Wasp, Gargoyowl heard the glass. "They're in danger!" they proclaimed to themself. They attempted to fly into the restaurant, before a phantom minion appeared in front of them. "Forget about it..." Phantom Holly threatened, "the life of your friends is meaningless, as is yours." Gargoyowl was frustrated. "I have no time for you," they politely threatened, "Please move out of the way, before things get bloody." Phantom Holly did not move, and instead grabbed their head. "Trust me," she said, "it's going to get bloody."

Back inside the Banana Wasp, Phantom Moon Snail, who had crashed through the glass, surveyed the surrounding area, involving the Rebellion members. "Nothing here really looks tasty...", he started before eyeing the cashier, "...except you.", he finished. "Get away from me freak!", the cashier. Tien, particularly freaked out, stammered "V-Vore?", with both Pikachu and Reece answering with confusion.

Then, Phantom came into the restaurant, with their army behind them. Soren spotted her phantomized girlfriend, and exclaimed "Shope!?".

"So this is the Rebellion... how pathetic.", they said to the mere 11 Rebellion members inside the building. "You call us pathetic!? You rely on slaves to fight instead of yourself!", Pikachu retorted.

"You like what I did to her, Soren?", Phantom asked the girl before hearing the detective's words. "What did... you just call me?", they threatened Pikachu. With no second thought, they ran to steal his soul. "Look out!", Soren screamed, slide-kicking him away. Pikachu groaned in response, but did thank her for getting his away from the scythe.

"Phantom! Release Shope now!", Soren demanded. Now that she knew where the one she loved was, Soren wouldn't back down. Climbing on a table and grabbing an empty glass, Reece yelled "Hey Phantom!", he threw the glass at them. "Give us back Shope, you fuckhead!".

"Ow! What the hell?", Phantom responded to the thrown glass. "I want my girlfriend back!", Soren cried. "I got a better idea...", Phantom said, going to chase Soren for her soul. As her first reaction, she ran off to escape, as Shope just watched, and sighed. "Get away from her!", Freddy demanded before being tackled by Phantom Lemres.

Rubbing his checks, Pikachu said "Come on, you got this...", and electrocuted Phantom. In shock, Druid was able to open up a portal for them to escape. Shope approached Soren and whispered "It's me. I'm still on your side, so go!". "B-But Shope...", Soren stammered. "Go!", she said back.

However, Reece was to angry to just run away. He exclaimed "Screw it. I'm killing this bastard now.", and pulled out his sword. "Don't do it Reece!", Soren screamed. Pikachu continued with "You'll be turned into one of their mindless slaves!". Shope mentally promised that she would make sure he escaped.

"Like a mosquito to a bug swatter...", Phantom mummered. "Come on shithead, let's tussle!", Reece screamed as he went to hit Phantom. They however, dodged and were ready to hit Reece with their scythe. However, Shope exclaimed "Watch out!", and pushed Reece out of the way.

"What!?" Phantom shouted, with a mixture of confusion and rage, "You're my minion! What are you doing!?" Shope turned to them and muttered "Saving my friend." "Worthless little freak..." Phantom growled.

"Come on, Reece!" Soren demanded, "Shope saved your life!" Reece got up and said "Thank you, Shope!" before running with the Rebellion. "Ugh... What is it with you and brainwashing people?" Pikachu snapped at Phantom, "It's really creepy!"

Shope was as angry at Phantom as they were at her. "If you don’t want me around, I can leave and join them!" she pointed out. "Go on if you so desire..." Phantom beckoned, "But I will take away your power." Shope wanted a more definitive answer from them. "Well, it’s your decision! Keep me if you want!" Soren begged to herself for Phantom to release her. To her dismay, Phantom decided to keep a hold of her. "Hhmph, fine. I'll keep you," they scoffed, "but your  life hangs on a thread." Phantom opened a portal for them and their minions to leave. Before parting ways, Phantom left the Rebellion with a warning; "We'll meet again," they threatened, "And it won't be easy for you guys."

Holly got the signal, and stopped fighting Gargoyowl. "I am not sparing you," she explained, "I am simply preoccupied. Your life's end will be delayed." She turned around and bolted for the portal. Shope stood as the other minions left with Phantom. "Bye, Soren..." she whispered to her girlfriend, "I promise I'll help you beat them." Soren replied "I hope you'll do fine, my love." The two shared a hug before Shope joins with Phantom. Before Phantom left, Pikachu yelled "You can take your scythe and shove it, pal!"

Soren was saddened. "There she goes," she sighed. "Hmph, bunch of jerks," Pikachu lamented, "Well, at least Shope is alright... kind of." "Well, somehow Phantom must've not fully corrupted her," Soren pointed out, "Hopefully, she'll make it out alive." Druid was at a loss for what to do. "Now what?" she pondered, knowing there are few safe places left as this attack indicated. Gargoyowl rejoined with the Rebellion. "Is everything alright?" they asked, "I couldn't come in to help you guys." "Besides being sad that my girlfriend is with Phantom, yes," Soren responded. Druid brightened the mood by saying "At least they didn't leave with any extra minions."

Tien was hopeful. "With enough training, we could take them down!" Reece wasn't. "Yeah, but what if Phantom takes all of us? What will happen to the world?" "We won't let that happen," Druid retorted. "We are the Rebellion, after all," Sora continued, "We must stay strong! Fight hard! And most importantly... stick together. Alone we can’t defeat him by ourselves. We must be a team."

The other 11 members looked smiled after Sora finished her speech. It seemed that they might actually win with her encouragement. "Maybe if we get more recruits we could win!", Tien cheered. It seemed that on cue, a young, totally blue girl walked into the scene. Spotting the Rebellion, the girl optimistically waved and greeted "Hello! I'm Charlotte! You guys?".

Soren smiled in response to Charlotte and answered "I'm Soren, and we are the Rebellion.". "The Rebellion? Is that like a party group?", Charlotte asked. "Actually, we're out to defeat Phantom." "Phantom? Who's that? Sounds kinda nice..."

"Wrong. They steal souls."

"Really? They could be nice, but because I can't find my way back to Clamburg, I'll join!"

"Great! Welcome to the team!" Druid said. "So we need to build strength, right?" Freddy asked, before getting an idea. "Hey, now that I think about it..." Everybody knew, knowing Freddy Freaker, that he has going to do something bad. These thoughts were confirmed by his bolting to the cash register. Lucas tried to stop him. "Hey! That's stealing!" Freddy defied this claim, saying "Who's going to stop us?" before pointing out the cashier, now dead and half-eaten.

Before he could get any money out of the cash register, a portal appeared beneath him, dropping him in. "We have standards!" shouted Druid. After a few seconds, she sent him back into the restaurant. Freddy was disgruntled. "Never do that again," he growled, to which Druid replied "Then don't try to steal, you klepto!"

Meanwhile...

Phantom was back at their lair, counting out their troops. Everyone was with them, except... "Wait," they realized, "WHERE THE HELL IS SHOPE!?" Lemres answered "I think she managed to escape."

Phantom was outraged. They knew that Shope would try to escape, but not this soon. "I swear, when I catch her, I'm gonna-" they threatened, before their scythe started to shake. "Oh... oh god no..."

"Boss, what's wrong!?" panicked Flametail.

"She's resisting!"

"It feels like... something when wrong when you were corrupting her!" Tommy said, "I mean, why would she save Reece, our enemy?" Phantom was in disbelief. "No... No no no NO NO!" Phantom cried, "I never thought this could've malfunctioned!" The scythe flew out of their hands, banged into the wall, and released Shope's soul. Phantom was dumbfounded. "Clearly, it's a problem with the soul itself..." theorized Lemres, "Something must've triggered it to want to leave your control." "That... makes sense," Phantom responded, picking up their scythe, "I'll need to avoid her if possible." All of their minions agreed.

Back at Banana Wasp, the Rebellion was discussing their next plans. "Well, what now?" asked Tien, "Find a place to sleep?" Everyone agreed. "Yeah, I'm tired" Reece said. Robin suggested "Yeah. We need some rest. Let's find a hotel, or something." "Yeah, there has to be one here, if there's a restaurant," said Pikachu, Maybe we can even get room service, how cool would that be?" "Yeah, and free Wi-fi!" Reece continued.

While discussing this, Shope appeared next to them. "Hey guys..." she greeted. "Shope!" Soren exclaimed happily. Druid pondered "I... thought that Phantom held you back." "Well, I found a way to escape without them knowing!" Shope answered, "Wings are pretty handy." "We're glad you're here, Shope!" Reece said. "Well, I guess I’m going to join you guys for now!" she announced. "Nice to know!" Lucas cheered, "Just make sure to stay close so that they don't get you back."

Soren ran up and hugged Shope tightly. "Shope! I'm so glad you're safe!" she said. "Well, you guys are pretty lucky that they didn’t take full control over me" said Shope, "I don't know how, but-" Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly felt a great pain, falling to the ground. "Shope!" Soren cried, "What's going on!?" suddenly, Shope started to morph back into her original form. "I'm... I'm back to normal?" she asked. Everyone was surprised. "Ms. Druid?" Tien asked, "Do you know what happened here?" "...No?" Druid said.

"That is... really strange," Sora said, "I always thought that once you got corrupted, you couldn’t go back unless Phantom was defeated." Shope was also unsure. "All I know is that...I resisted a lot under Phantom’s control." Reece suggested "Maybe you resisted enough for them to give up." Druid shook her head. "...I don't see that happening. Why would they ever give up a soul? From what I can tell, they just need the souls, and the slaves are just a bonus. ...Maybe they were forced to give it up?" "It seems like the only option," Tien agreed, "She has her soul back, maybe the place where it was got broken."

"At least she's back. But don't expect something like that to happen ever again."

"It feels weird to have my soul back," Shope said, "But I'm glad to have it again."

"Yeah... Anyway, we need some rest," Sig said. "Shall I look for some hotels?" Gargoyowl offered. "I can help you!" Tien offered. Gargoyowl accepted the offer, and the two decided to look for a good hotel. "We'll meet you again when we see one," Gargoyowl reassured, before the two flew off to find one.

Chapter 6: Hotels, Forests, and Horrible Attacks!
Day 16:

Corrin, the fateful prince, was exploring Ebony Leopard Woods. He heard of the rebellion forming in this forest, and was seeking them out. But try as he might, he could not find them. "I was told they would be here..." he sighed, "I checked this entire place twice over!" He panted in frustration. "Where are they?"

Suddenly, he saw someone appearing from a shadow on the ground. It was Bean, finally taking action after his phantomization. "Oh... are you lost?" Bean threatened. "Oh god..." Corrin whimpered, "Who are you?"

"The rebellion has left long ago! You're hopeless!"

"You're a minion of Phantom, aren't you?"

"Heh, wasn't it obvious? It's a wonderful gift... You should try it."

"Never!"

"So disobedient... I'll just have to give it to you by force!"

With his threat, Bean pulled a robotic bird out of his pocket. "...What is that?" Corrin asked. Bean simply chuckled, "It's my robotic companion, Toucan!"

"...And it's supposed to kill me?"

"Uh... yeah?"

Toucan looked concerned. They did not want to hurt Corrin.

"...How?"

"Toucan, activate kill mode!"

Toucan followed his orders. They flew out of his hands, with eyes glowing red. "Fire at will!" Bean ordered. Toucan bolted towards Corrin, but he knocks them out of the sky with Dragon Lunge before picking them up and running away. Bean chased after him. "Hey! Give that back! That's mine!" he demanded. But after a few seconds, he tripped on a branch, allowing Corrin to get away with his trusted companion. Bean silently cursed to himself before returning home.

Day 17:

"Am I really that badass, Kokoro?"

"Lucy, you've asked me this four times in an hour today."

In a small, isolated house in Ebony Leopard Woods stood, Kokoro Mitsume, the SHSL Psychologist, was drinking her tea at the small kitchen table. On the other side was a young mage - around the age of 14 - named Lucy. Lucy had came to Kokoro a few months ago, and the two have been living ever since. The young mage would often talk about how badass she was to the stoic psychologist, who didn't really care. An odd partnership, you may say.

The house was really never visited - most people didn't know it was even there. It would change that night, however...

Iroha ran through the forest, Lops perched on her shoulder. The two had been wandering through the forest for a week, and had finally been able to locate her old friend's home.

"Lops! This is Kokoro's house. Usually nobody visits, glad we found it.", Iroha happily exclaimed. Lops smilied in response to her owner.

Iroha slammed the door open and yelled "Kokoro! It's me, Iroha!"

"Oh, Iroha! Fancy seeing you here.", Kokoro said in response. Eyeing Lucy, she whispered "Who's that?". Kokoro answered "That's Lucy. She's been living with me for awhile. She likes to be called a badass." Hearing this, Lucy said "Hell yeah! I'm badass!"

"Listen, remember Jennifer Skye?", Iroha asked. "Yeah. Doesn't she hang around Fire Lash Tavern often?", Kokoro responsed.

"She disappeared weeks ago! Me and Lops", she pointed to the rabbit near the window, "have been looking for her for weeks! I'm scared, Kokoro. What if I never see her again!?"

"Calm down, Iroha. You'll fine her again.", the psychologist comforted her sobbing friend. However, near the window....

A Phantom minion - well, four - peeked from the trees. One loaded her bow with an arrow, and shot at the window.

A loud THWAK! noise made the four inside the building freeze.

"...they're here."

"Who!?"

"The Phantom Minions, Iroha."

The minions - Holly, alongside her friends, Sarah and Sabrina, and Sarah's pet albino mouse, Cheesecake- broke into the house. "Oh, I'm sorry, did Sabrina alert you?", Holly teased. "Boss needs new minions", Sarah said. "Join us!"

"Why would I? Phantom is a merciless creature - look at what they've done! I would never join such a creature like them!"

"A rebel? You better not be with them, or me and Cheesecake WILL crush you.", Sarah yelled, her mouse perching on her shoulder. She grabbed Kokoro's neck with one of her talon's and slammed her into the wall. "Kokoro!", Lucy and Iroha yelled. Iroha and Lops were frozen with fear, they couldn't do anything.

But Lucy could.

The mage summoned a fire spell, and used it on Sarah. However, the house caught on fire, and the flames consumed it. The sudden fire caused Sarah to let go Kokoro, and yelled "We need to go- now!", and the minions ran away.

In the chaos, Iroha scooped up Lops and ran for it. The smoke had her lose sight of Kokoro and Lucy, leaving her and Lops along again. So much for finding the house.

Inside, Kokoro had finally got up after being pinned to the wall and looked at Lucy, who was just standing behind the flames. She put on shades as Kokoro yelled "Lucy! You set the house on fire!"

The mage started to slowly walk away, but Kokoro grabbed her hand and ran, exiting the burning building. "We're finding a hotel until we find a new place to live!"

"Better be badass hotel!"

The Rebellion had reached a hotel. It wasn't the best one, but it was enough for them to relax and calm their nerves for a bit after the attack they endured at Banana Wasp. Druid, Shope and Gargoyowl were watching the night sky at the balcony.

"Man, I’m so glad to have my soul back and be with Soren..." Shope chirped. Druid nodded melancholically. Pikachu joined, asking "Mind if I drop in? I got bored of watching for Phantom." Druid answered "Yeah, go ahead."

Pikachu sat at the balcony with them. He asked Shope "So.. How does it feel to not be under Phantom's control, Shope?" to which Shope responded "Well, it feels great! I don’t have to rebell against them anymore..." Gargoyowl chimed in, "That's nice to hear!" Reece walked outside into the balcony while trying to get better reception, and noticed the four sitting outside. "Oh! Hi guys!" he greeted.

As time went on, many other Rebellion members joined them at the balcony. "Well," queried Soren, "How are y'all doing" Most of them answered with some variation of "good, but could be better". Druid continued with "I'm just... worried." "Hmm?" Gargoyowl wondered, "what about?"

"...I wonder... even if we stop Phantom... will we be able to save all of those poor people who were phantomized?"

"Well, my hopes are high that when we defeat them, their minions will be unbrainwashed" Sora reassured. "Maybe... if we break their scythe?" Soren suggested, "Their souls are probably in there....somewhere." "We can take them down," Pikachu asserted, "I can feel it in my jellies!"

"Your... jellies?" Reece puzzled.

"Y'know, when you really feel it?"

Gargoyowl interruped to state "If Shope was able to escape Phantom's grasp, I'm sure there's a way to free everyone else." Shope argued "I’m definitely sure I was only able to escape because I kept resisting."

"Then maybe... just maybe... we could get everyone to resist?"

"That’s impossible. They’re all extremely loyal to Phantom."

"I know. It's unlikely, but I like to have hope."

However, Eggman ran out and boomed "HEY! What are you people talking about!?" Druid answered "We were talking about Phantom." Eggman, as always, accused "Are you guys talking about fucking my wife!?" Sig just glared at him and sighed. Eggman then noticed something familiar about Druid's staff. "HEY!" he exclaimed, "That's my wife staff! Give it back!" Druid shook her head and said "Don't worry. She gave it to me."

"WHAT MADE HER GIVE IT TO YOU!?"

Druid didn't say a word. She only smiled, knowing that Eggman would get the answer. He did, and it greatly frustrated him. Tien was surprised to learn that Druid knew about Eggman's wife. Suddenly, someone whispered "I fucked your wife." This got Eggman's attention. "OH DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE YOU-" he exploded before running after the noise. "OH NO!" Sora gasped, "Eggman! No! It could be Phantom!" But they could not stop Eggman. He continued running to the noise. He tracked down the source of the noise, Moon Snail, and scolded "HOW DARE YOU YOU MOTHERFUCKER! GET AWAY FROM MY WIFE YOU CUCKHOGS-"

Slash.

As to be expected, Eggman was downed quickly by Phantom out of sight. "Damn it..." Gargoyowl bewailed. Phantom was very unsure of whether or not they even wanted to turn Eggman into a phantom minion. Eventually, they decided to do so. "Oh my god..." quavered Soren, seeing the poor scientist being phantomized. "Hoohoohehehahahah... Finally!" he cackled, "I'll get revenge on that piss-loving hedgehog at last!"

"Welp, he's gone," Sora mourned, "The rebellion lost another member." Druid sighed "Dang it... We're gonna need to make up for this somehow..." "Maybe we could look around a town or village to see anyone willing to join us?" Shope suggested. Druid agreed "That could work. I bet a lot of people will want to help us." But at the same time, she was not sure where they should go. While she thought, the phantom minions came upon a realization. "Wait... if that was Eggman..." Lemres gasped. "...The rebellion..." Flametail shuddered, "No..."

"Well, I gotta find a way to make this guy useful... somehow," Phantom said, "How about you two go and try to stop them while I leave?" Moon Snail was fond of this idea. "Ooh... More blood... Just as I like it..." Phantom told them "Signal me if you defeat anyone" before leaving the building with the newly phantomized Eggman.

Charlotte, who had no idea about what just happened, had just walked onto the balcony. "Hi guys!", she cheerfully greeted the panicked Rebellion members, oblivious to their worrying. Sora turned around in surprise and replied "Oh, hey Charlotte." with much haste.

The young girl was easily able to pick up Her teammate's hasty voice. "What's wrong?", she asked, hopping onto a nearby bench on the balcony. The Druid was about to tell her about Eggman's untimely demise, but Soren, with so much worry, covered her mouth and lied, "Eggman... went on... vacation...?"

Charlotte store at Soren for a few moments before saying "Ok! I hope he enjoys it!" in her cheerful tone. Soren sighed in relief, turned around and said "Hey! I had to! She has no idea what we're up against! So it was a good decision on my end." to everyone else.

Suddenly, Freddy got a whiff of something bad. He tried to warn everyone, but before he could say a word, Moon Snail and Lemres lept into the scene. Everyone started to panic. "You guys again!?" screamed Pikachu, "How many times do we have to tell you we don't want any?!" Lemres was slightly offended by this. "...You don't want a blessing such as this?" the warlock huffed, to which Freddy retorted "Gift!? You guys are nuts!" "Yeah, what Freddy said. You guys are seriously screwed up," concurred Pikachu, "are you sure you're ok? Should we call someone?"

"Moon Snail!? Lemres!?" gasped Shope, who was not expecting to see the two again. Moon Snail approached her, growling "Ahh... Jennifer Shope... the traitor...". Soren blocked him and objected "She isn’t a traitor! She’s a hero!" "Yeah! She saved my ass back in the resteraunt!" continued Reece. "She didn't save you!" Lemres argued, even more frustrated with nobody accepting Phantom's manipulation, "She took away your chance at power!" Gargoyowl finally intercepted them and denounced "Who would want that power when it makes you as demented as this?"

"So reluctant, eh?" Growled Moon Snail, fed up with the current situation, "Trust me, this is good..." He brought out the blades in his gloves as he approached Gargoyowl, enticing "Give it a taste." As Moon Snail cornered the statue, Shope suddenly shifted into her Phantom form and shouted "Get out of the way Gargoyowl!", catching Moon Snail's attention. "Oh? You still have that power?" he pondered as he faced the noob. She was as confused as him. "I... guess so?" she responded. "Hmmph," he grunted, "you don't deserve this power." He approached Shope and pointed his blades at her neck. "Give. It. Back," he insisted.

"Stop!" Lucas shouted. Moon Snail stopped and glared at Lucas. The archer pointed his bow at him, "Listen. We said it many times. Nobody wants your 'blessing'. Leave now." Moon Snail chuckled, "Ah... Prettyboy is trying to be threatening. How cute..." and prepared to attack him. "Hey shithead!" Reece yelled, pulling out his sword, "Get the fuck away from him!" Moon Snail glared at him. "You're offering me a duel, eh?" he growled, "Hmm-hmm... Prepare to lose." He pounced at Reece, but Tien quickly pushed him away with her staff. "Hey!" Moon Snail hissed, "Get out of the way!" He slashed at Tien, hurting her. "Tien!" Shope fretted, "Are you okay?"

"A little bit.", Tien answered Shope. "It hurts. A lot.", she added. "Need help?", Soren asked her fellow teammate. "Mhm..", the tween helped her friend up. "I'm not good with medical stuff, but maybe the Druid can fix that injury up.", Soren informed. Tien nodded.

Charlotte had recently noticed the conflict, seeing some of the Phantom minions for the first time. Not knowing their villainous natures, she happily walked over to them. "Hi! Nice to meet you! My name's Charlottle!", she greeted in her naturally cheerful tone. Moon Snail evilly smirked while Lemres scoffed. "Wanna be friends?", she asked.

They didn't respond. Instead, Moon Snail pointed his blades at Charlotte, ready to hurt her...

"Charlotte! Move!"

Sora had blocked the attack with one single arm, before kicking him away. Her arm was now a bloody mess, but she picked Charlotte up, put her on her shoulders before informing her, "They're dangerous people, Charlotte. We gotta get away from them." in her regular subdued tone of voice.

"Aww, really? It seemed like he was gonna give me a handshake!", Charlotte responded, still oblivious to the minions being evil. "No, he was gonna-", Sora started, but then sighed. She was just a kid... "Look, we just need to apply bandages to heal this injury, then you can watch tv in the hotel room, ok?", she said instead. "Yay! Let's go, Sora!", Charlotte cheered. Sora turned to the others and said "We'll be right back." to the others.

As Sora and Charolette left, Tommy entered the scene, glaring at Soren and Tien. "Heh... two easy targets," he chuckled. Shope quickly jumped in to attack and exclaim "Not on my watch!" In the midst of the chaos, Pikachu lept at Lemres and clinged onto his hat. Lemres tried to hit him with a bolt of fire, but missed entirely. "Hey, little word of advice..." Pikachu told him, "When you're trying to get someone to stop, firing a bolt isn't the best idea!" Moon Snail got frustrated with him. "You little yellow bastard!" he insulted. He took a swipe at Pikachu, but the Pokémon lept away quickly, causing Moon Snail to hit his boyfriend by accident.

"Ow! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Lemres growled. Moon Snail, in a single instance of remorse, quickly apologized. Shope watched the phantom minions continue to fight her allies. She quickly suggested "We need to find a way to distract them..." Sig overheard this and replied "I've got an idea." He quickly ran into the heat of battle and caught everyone's attention. "Hey!" he exclaimed. The trio glared at him.

"... Don't do that."

The phantom minions were not mused. Tommy quickly dashed towards him, before Druid rescued him. "Sig!" she yelled, "What's wrong with you!? You could've gotten killed!!" Sig simply shrugged, saying "It was worth a shot."

Thinking quickly, Shope revealed herself to the phantom minions. "Hey! You three!" she declared, "I'm the traitor! Come and catch me!" Soren was obviously shocked. "Shope!? What are you doing!?"

"Saving your butts."

Lemres approached her slowly. "Oh, yes you are..." he growled. "You're a traitor, and you'll die like a traitor." Moon Snail tried to stop him, saying "Lemmy, wait! That's not the plan!" Lemres did not listen. He was focused intently on ending the noob in cold blood. He charged an incredibly powerful spell, aimed directly at her...

...But got entangled in roots before it could be let loose. "Oh god!" he cried, "I can't do anything like this!" Druid, who cast the spell, set her staff down. "Not bad," Sig said. "Anything to save my friends" she replied. Lemres continued to struggle. "Hnng!" he grunted, "Someone help me!" Tommy and Moon Snail quickly ran over to help him. "They're distracted!" Lucas cheered. "Looks like my distraction worked..." Shope thought out loud, before going back to her normal form.

Druid used the opportunity to open a portal. "We gotta go now!" she signaled. Everyone started to enter. Moon Snail noticed this and quickly ran after them. However, Lucas shot an arrow at him and hit his arm, causing him to fall over and clench it in pain. Due to this, everyone managed to escape.

Moon Snail got down at his knees and pouted "No... They're gone...". Tommy lamented "We let them AND the traitor get away! What will we tell boss!?" Moon Snail was at a loss for words. "I... don't know... I hope they forgive us..." Lemres pries himself from the vines to get to Moon Snail. "Moon!" he cried, "Are you... okay?" Moon Snail clenched his arm again. "I'm... fine." Lemres slowly nodded. "Good... I don't like it when you're h-hurt." For a second, Lemres flickered into his original form. Tommy was quick to point this out. "Lemres? You okay?" Lemres was a bit dizzy from this. "Yeah... I'm okay. I don't know what the hell happened for a second. Anyway, we need to return to the boss." With this, all of the phantom minions left the room to return to their lair.

Everybody scampered back to the hotel room thanks to the portal. Once back in, they were greeted with Sora and Charlotte watching TV. Sora sighed in relief as Charlotte was bouncing around on the bed. "We've only known Charlotte for a few days, but if anything happens to her I will kill everybody around me and then myself", Sora said out loud.

"Wh..." Robin stuttered. Sig simply nodded in agreement to her, while Tien was fairly shocked by the gravity of the claim. "Hey, no dying allowed here," Pikachu ordered. Charlotte simply continued to watch TV.

"It's a shame we lost Eggman, though," Soren lamented. Freddy simply scoffed and said "He was never useful!" Lucas glared at him and countered "He was still part of the team!" Charlotte looked at them and said "I hope he's enjoying his vacation, though!" Sig scratched his head, saying "I don't know what was with h-" Sora glared at him. "... IS with him and his wife, though."

Gargoyowl changed the topic. "I doubt Phantom and their croneys will be back for a while," they said, "So we should take the time to plan our next move." Shope suggested, "Maybe we could get our own personal base of operations." Everyone agreed to the notion. "A base... of course!" Gargoyowl exclaimed, "That'd be perfect for our team!" "A base sounds fun!" Charlotte said, "Will there be ponies in the base?" Druid thought about it. "Um... Probably n-" Sora interrupted, "Yes! Plenty!" Druid sighed. "Sure. We'll have some ponies." Charlotte cheered.

Gargoyowl found some paper and a pencil, before handing them to Pikachu. "Can you write these down?" Pikachu picked it up and nodded, writing it all down. "So! We're getting a base, correct?" he asked. "Yes," Gargoyowl responded, "But we don't yet know where to put it or where to get the money." Tien suggested, "Maybe Freddy can provide some money!" Freddy growled while guarding his money. Sig walked up to him and uttered a simple "Please." Freddy sighed, "Fine. I have about 500 in here." "Good, good!" Gargoyowl said, "That should be enough to get a small base around here." Sora simply looked at them and said "And how about the ponies?" Pikachu was writing all of this down, while making sure to mention the ponies in very large text with noticable colors. "I've been saving up, and I have around 20-50 dollars," Soren added. "Alright, alright! That should be good enough for a pony or two!"

Phantom's minions returned to their hideout after their devastating defeat. While Phantom has not seen them, they already seemed frustrated with something. They turned around to see their minions standing behind them. "Ah... so you've returned," they observed, "So... have you defeated the rebellion yet?" Tommy lowered his head and sighed "No... they escaped." "WHAT!?" Phantom erupted, "How!? Most of them don't have any combat experience!!"

"Well... Lemres nearly killed her, at least."

"The traitor?"

"Yes. Shope."

"...Lemres..."

Phantom struck their scythe to the ground before running to scold Lemres. "You IDIOT! I told you to specifically not bother with her! If you had saved your destruction for the others, we may have had some actual progress on our hands!" "M-master!" he stuttered, "I'm sorry! I forg-"

"Stay your hand, you disappointment. New plans are in order after this fall-back."

"But master," Moon Snail mentioned, "what about the new one?" "The new one?" Phantom said, as they faced him. They shook their head, answering "He's doing dreadfully... All he does is talk about that hedgehog pissing on his wife." "If this keeps up, may I kill him?" Tommy cackled. Phantom nodded, quite liking the idea. Moon Snail then bargained, "And then can I devour his corpse?" "Absolutely not, you disgusting..." cringed Phantom. "You're no fun..." he lamented.

"Anyway!" Phantom announced, "We need some new support. The Rebellion is growing in numbers, and we could be in danger if we don't replicate that." Just as they said that, they heard a knock on their door. They swiftly opened it, to see a young man wearing a crown. "Oh, you say you’re in need for new minions?" he greeted. "How did you know!?" Phanton questioned, "How did you hear that!?"

"Well... I don't usually like to reveal myself, but... if you want me to..."

"Yes, tell me everything!"

"I am none other than... Chihiro Fujisaki! The Ultimate Despair!"

"Ch-Chihiro!?"

"Not quite. It's me from another dimension."

This did little to stow Phantom's confusion, but they listened on. "So... what do you want from me?" Chihiro explained himself. "Well, I've heard about you everywhere in the news. You've been taking the souls of many people, causing massive property damage, and even putting a big restaurant out of business. And it struck a cord with me how much despair it's been causing! I felt like joining you." Phantom chuckled, "That's all you had to say..." as they rose their scythe. "Wait!" he exclaimed, "You need not take my soul. I will pledge my allegience to you regardless."

Phantom thought about it, and reluctantly put away their scythe. "Very well. I'll let one off just this once. What must we give in return for your devotion." Chihiro cackled, "Nothing needs to be given. I seldom make deals, so consider yourself lucky!" Phantom grinned. "Excellent. Welcome to the army."

"Thank you. And I won't let it end here..."

In another part of Ebony Leopard Woods, smoke rose in the air as a girl and her giant hamster was trudging around. The girl had a visible frown on her face as the hamster just grunted.

"Where did that stupid little girl go?", the girl, Vendetta, scowled in her thick Bulgarian accent. Grudge, the hamster, just grunted. He sighed before something struck him in the chest. He tried to warn Vendetta of the thing, but he dropped dead on the ground. The figure dragged his body away as Vendetta turned her head in confusion with the newfound silence.

"Hamster? This isn't funny, you stupid hamster! Hamster!?"

"I'm sorry, but your hamster is gone."

The figure jumped down from a nearby pine tree, starting Vendetta. "What did you do with my hamster!?", she growled.

"I helped him."

"How!?", the young girl demanded. "What's your name, anyways!?"

"It doesn't matter. Call me Odette.", she calmly said. Vendetta just scowled. "I can help you too, like your hamster."

Vendetta just sighed and nodded. Maybe it could lead her to that stupid girl.

They walked off before screams echoed in the air.

Chapter 7: Short-lived Respite
After his close encounter with Bean, Corrin decided to set up camp to rest for the night. As he lit the campfire, Toucan suddenly reactivated. "Hey!" they beeped, "Thanks for saving me" Corrin jumped, not expecting the robot to speak to him. "...What's wrong?" they asked. "You can talk?" he responded.

"Yeah! [beep] Never saw a talking robot before?"

"I have... but never a drone."

"Yeah, drones like me don't talk, usually... [beep] But master Bean thought I should be able to!"

"Bean?" Corrin asked, "Is that the creep I ran across?"

"Creep?"

"...Yeah?"

"Oh..."

"Sorry... did I offend you?"

"No, it's just..." Toucan beeped sadly, "Master Bean wasn't always a minion of Phantom. Sadly, being his creation, I had to follow his commands. I was fine when it was for good stuff, but not for the mean stuff he does now..." Corrin nodded pitifully. "That's unfortunate... Is there any way to bring him back?" "Well, one of the minions managed to escape that meanie not to long ago!" they chirped hopefully, "So there's some hope!" Corrin thought for a bit. "Perhaps if we find the rebellion, we could help break him free from Phantom's control," he suggested. "Not a bad idea!" Toucan agreed, "But for now, I feel you need some rest."

"You're probably right. You can stay with me until we get Bean back."

"Thank you... what's your name?"

"Corrin."

"That's a nice name. Have a good rest, Master Corrin. I'll warn you if anything bad is near."

Day 18:

While Iroha had separated from Lucy and Kokoro, she was still determined to find Jennifer. She continued to look through Ebony Leopard Woods, with her search still coming up fruitless. But then, suddenly, Lops noticed the abandoned restaurant of Banana Wasp. She nudged Iroha to notify her of the building. "Hmm... I guess we could use it as shelter?" she said, before following the rabbit into the building.

When the two entered, they saw just how devastated it was. In only a matter of days, the counter, tables and window were all wrecked, and it was clear those who tended to the restaurant couldn't salvage it even if they tried. Banana Wasp was simply hopeless. "It's better than nowhere..." muttered Iroha, slowly inching through the building. Suddenly, her foot brushed up against something she didn't see. She looked down to see the corpse of the restaurant cashier. She was mortified. She fell to her knees, trying her hardest not to cry about the sight. However, she can't handle it, and screams at the top of her lungs.

Iroha's scream was loud enough to alert two school students, Makoto and Kyoko. "Did you hear that, Kyoko?" Makoto asked, "Someone's screaming. We gotta help her!" The two rushed over to the building to see Iroha, Lops, and the half-eaten cashier. Iroha glanced at the two students. "Who... who are y-you?" she stuttered. "I'm Kyoko, the Ultimate Detective," answered Kyoko, "and this is my friend Makoto, the Ultimate Hope." Iroha was still shaking over what she saw. "Are you... going to kill me?" she wimpered. "No," Makoto reassured, "We're here to help." He went over and comforted Iroha while Kyoko inspected the body. "So... Do you happen to know where the Rebellion is?" Makoto asked. Iroha, who was finally calming down, responded softly, "No... I don't."

"That's okay. If we ever find them, I'll try to lead you to them."

"Could... that wait? I'm looking for my girlfriend right now. I haven't seen her for weeks..."

Eventually, Kyoko managed to mark down everything that happened to the cashier. "It seems that this man was attacked by a phantom minion. The minion seems to have eaten the majority of him..." Iroha overheard this, and gagged intensely at the thought. "This happened approximately four days ago. The corpse is starting to decompose..." Makoto asked Iroha "What does your girlfriend look like? Maybe I could help find her along the way." Iroha answered, "W-well... she has pale white skin and freckles. Her hair is naturally curly, and black with brown streaks in it, with white dog ears peaking out on the side, and white cat ears peaking out near her hat. She wears a purple jacket with yellow flowers on it, fuchsia shorts, sea blue shoes, black and gold glasses, and a blue and white hat with a shooting star design on it. She also has a white tail."

Kyoko got up and shared Makoto the details. "It seems that Phantom has a cannibal on their side," she finished. "That's... shocking," Makoto bleated, "We'll need to stay safe against them." Makoto got up and shook hands with Iroha. "It was nice to meet you and your rabbit, Iroha," he chirped, "But now, our search for the Rebellion must continue. I wish you luck on your own search." "Thank you..." sighed Iroha, as Makoto and Kyoko made their leave.

Druid, Sora, Sig, and Pikachu were all looking for a place to establish their base. "What if we built one in the garbage?" suggested Pikachu. Sig looked at him and shook his head. "Good choice," said Pikachu, "I don't think humans could handle living in the trash."

They were having trouble with finding the right house for a base. They were either too small or too visible to the common eye. But eventually, they found a hidden-back building with a large size. "How about this one?" Sora asked Druid. "Perfect!" Druid responded, "We'll take it"

They purchased the building and started fixing it up for the team. "Looking good," said Pikachu, "but we're missing something... crucial." "What is it?" Sig asked. Pikachu took his notebook and pointed to the big "DON'T FORGET THE PONIES!" written on it. "I understand the concern," Druid sighed, "But there's no way we could afford any ponies; We just barely had enough for homemaking." Sora started thinking and came up with something. "I have an idea..."

She quickly ran to the nearest toy store and bought two toy ponies. She returned and put them in Charlotte's room. "It won't be quite the same," she said, "but I'm sure she'll enjoy it nonetheless." Druid nodded approvingly. "Well, I'll alert the others!"

As Druid took her leave, a big, grey cat walked into the base. "Well, hello there!" greeted Pikachu, "You're a strange looking Purrugly, aren't you?" The cat started licking Pikachu's face. "Eugh!" the Pokémon gagged, "Your breath smells like radioactive waste!" Sig noticed the cat. "Hey... is that...?" he pondered as he picked him up. "What? What is he?" Pikachu asked. "My friend, Lemres, mentioned having this cat," he reminisced, "Zombie's an interesting cat." Zombie meowed mournfully, hearing Lemres' name.

Shortly after, Druid returned with the rest of the Rebellion. They started to look around the base. "Nice, nice!" Lucas cheered. "When you're all done looking, I'll direct all of you to your rooms," Sora notified. Zombie suddenly jumped out of Sig's arm, causing the latter to lose his balance. The cat walked up slowly to Charlotte, who gasped joyfully before hugging him. "He's so cute!!" she exclaimed. Zombie felt calm in her arms, and started to purr.

Sora started to lead everyone into their respective rooms. Soren and Shope got a shared room, as did Lucas and Robin. When she got to Charlotte, the young girl followed her, still holding Zombie. "Here's your room," said Sora, "Hope you like it." Charlotte eyed the toy ponies for some time. As Sora was expecting her to react negatively, Charlotte smiled widely. "They're perfect...!"

Back in Ebony Leopard Woods, Corrin was tracking a path of footsteps he found, hoping them to be of a Rebellion member. Unfortunately, he came to the conclusion that it was just his own, and he went in a circle. "I'm starting to think the Rebellion got out of these woods via flying," he told Toucan. They beeped "That certainly seems like the case. Perhaps we should leave." Corrin nodded, but wasn't sure of where they could exit.

Not too far away, Makoto ran up to Kyoko, hope in his mind as always. "Kyoko, good news!" he announced, "I think I know where the Rebellion is now!" Kyoko sighed, "Thank goodness. It's been a while since we saw Iroha and her rabbit." Makoto detailed the location to her. "Looks like they moved to a big house nearby. Looks pretty hidden." Kyoko shrugged and expressed relief.

Corrin overheard the duo talking, and was concerned. "Change of plans," he signaled. He drew his sword and started to follow them. Makoto and Kyoko, however, started running, not wanting to get beaten to the building by Phantom. Corrin noticed and picked up his pace. Makoto heard his footsteps and froze up. "Stay calm," reassured Kyoko. Corrin was preparing an attack, until he was stopped by Toucan. "Wait!" they cried, "We don't know if they're Phantom minions yet!" Corrin paused. "You're right..." He kept his sword up and snuck up to Makoto, who turned around and noticed him. "Who are you!?" they both blurted, "are you a phantom minion!?" They both noticed that they had the same goal. "We aren't phantom minions, don't worry," guaranteed Makoto. Corrin lowered his sword. "Oh, well, that was pretty embarrassing," muttered Corrin.

"Don't worry about it. I assume you're looking for the Rebellion too?"

"Yes, actually."

"Indeed. I have been searching the forest for them fr a few days, with no luck."

"Well, I have some good news. I think we found their location! But they're not within the forest."

Meanwhile, Lucy and Kokoro were listening to the four talking. "Yeah, I hear people..." confirmed Kokoro. "Now that you say it," said Lucy, "I can hear some people talking... and I don't like the sound of them." Lucy, misinterpreting them as Phantom Minions, started to charge up a fireball.

"That's a relief," Corrin sighed, "Hopefully we can find an exit out of these woods soon." As he said this, Kyoko noticed the fireball. "Duck," she commanded. Corrin peered towards where she signaled, and ducked with Makoto. Lucy fired the fireball, and it missed the four entirely. "Shit, I missed!" lamented Lucy. "Maybe they aren't minions," Kokoro retorted, "You don't have to stack everyone that isn't me, Lucy."

"That was a close one," the four sighed. "Looks like we have some enemies," Corrin said as he raised his sword. Lucy and Kokoro emerged from the bushes. "En Garde! I'll fuck you up!" Lucy threatened, "I'm a badass!" "Please excuse my friend's behavior," reassured Kokoro, "I'm sorry about that fireball as well. That was her."

"Corrin lowered his sword once more. "You're not Phantom minions, are you?" Makoto observed them, and declared, "They are not." He approached them, greeting "Hello there. My name's Makoto Naegi, the former Ultimate Lucky Student." Everyone else continued with their introductions.

"Kyoko Kirigiri here."

"My name is Kokoro Mitsume, former Ultimate Psychologist. And this is Lucy, a self-proclaimed badass."

"Self proclaimed!? I AM A BADASS BY NATURE! I WAS BORN IN BADASSIA-" Kokoro interrupted "She does this often..."

"I'm Corrin, fateful prince of Nohr."

Toucan beeped "And I'm Toucan!"

"Nice to meet you guys," greeted Kokoro, "What are you guys doing here anyway?" "We're looking for the rebellion," Makoto explained, "And it seems like they're outside of the woods." Kyoko asked back, "What about you two?" Kokoro answered "Well, you see, my old friend Iroha visited us, looking for her girlfriend. We were attacked by minions who said they were looking for recruits… and one of them tried to kill me..." She shuddered at the memory. "That sounds like Phantom's minions," Makoto responded, "Is Iroha okay?"

"Haven't seen her or her pet since Lucy set our house ablaze to save us. You know her?"

"We saw someone called Iroha in that abandoned Banana Wasp building. I think she might be the same one."

"It could be her. What was she even doing there in the first place?"

"I think she was looking for shelter. I don't she stayed for too long, though. There was a cannibalized corpse in their."

"A WHAT!?" Toucan beeped in a disgusted tone. "It was... something..." Kyoko continued. Kokoro was left speechless, but Lucy silently whispered "Badass" in response. "...I knew they were demented," Corrin cringed, "But I didn't know they were that bad..."

As the six dwelled on it, an arrow flew out from nearby, shocking Kokoro. "What is it, Kokoro?" Kyoko asked. Kokoro fretted, "It's the minions that attacked me, Lucy, and Iroha." Corrin rose his sword once more as Holly, Sarah, and Sabrina lept out. Holly peered towards Kokoro and Lucy and said "You two... you may have escaped our grasp last time, but not today!" Corrin ran ahead to defend the two. "Don't get any ideas, you three!" he threatened. Sarah hissed "Four," as Cheesecake climbed on top of her head. Lucy confidently muttered "I got this," alerting Kokoro. "Oh god," she worried as she turned to the others, "Hold onto something sturdy!"

"What is she doing?" pondered Corrin as he latched onto a nearby tree with Makoto. Toucan fluttered behind him, with Kyoko and Kokoro clinging onto the very same tree. Suddenly, Lucy unleashed an earthquake. "She can just do that!?" Corrin cried. "She's a mage," retorted Kokoro, "You do know she shot the fireball at you guys, right?" The ground collapsed underneath the four phantom minions, as Lucy sommons a cloud she can stand on.

"Are we safe now?" Makoto faltered. Lucy nodded, "Wasn't that badass?" "Oh absolutely!" Toucan beeped, "But a tad bit frightening." Corrin nodded, "Can't disagree with that. I guess now's a good time to leave these woods, wouldn't you agree?" Kyoko turned to him and asked "To the Rebellion's base, I assume?"

"The who?" Kokoro was confused, as she did not know who they were talking about. "You don't know about the Rebellion?" Makoto gasped.

"We've just been looking for a place to live after we were attacked..."

"Well, I think we've found a good place. The rebellion's base is only a few miles away, and I'm certain they'll be happy to bring us in with them."

"Okay then..."

Kokoro and Lucy agreed to join the four on their search for the Rebellion. They started to search for an exit from the forest. Luckily, no Phantom Minions attacked them on the way, and they safely left into the nearest town.

To be continued...