The next morning, a number of the friends and family who had come with us to the base had decided to leave. Everybody's parents - apart from Nelly's and Yu's mothers – had all made the decision to depart for their homes. Hikaru's father Brawly put it best when he said that, despite the chaos, there were still jobs to be done back home. He wasn't willing to sit back in comfort and safety whilst his home town, where his friends lived, faced uncertainty all alone. And, despite her daughter's best efforts to convince her otherwise, Lorelei agreed with the gym leader.
"But Mum, I can keep you safe here!" Kiria frowned.
"How precious that you want to protect your mother." Lorelei patted her daughter's head. "But I'm afraid I have to leave, Kiria. I'm needed back home."
"But..." Kiria gritted her teeth. None of the people who had accompanied us here had been told about Bedlam likely reappearing in just over a month. Megan thought it best to spare them from the truth, so that they could try and live their lives without that fact eating away at them.
"Listen, I've got my job and you've got yours, right? So you do the best you can and so will I. Deal?" Lorelei smiled.
"...Right. Yes." Kiria nodded.
"That's my girl. I'll see you soon."
Lorelei joined the growing group of people who were leaving, and Megan approached her with a small bag.
"I can't change your mind, but I can help keep you at least a little safer." She handed the bag to the red-haired woman. "Inside are a number of shields, just like the ones Kiria used on Liocott Island. Touch them against any surface that's not the bag or human skin, and they'll pop out to make a dome that will protect you should the beast come back."
"Thank you." Lorelei accepted the gift, as had everyone else before her.
"So you're going?" I asked my mother as she stood by the entrance.
"Yes. Megan has things under control here, but as the director of the main branch, I have to get back to our employees." She replied.
"...You too?" I looked at Bonnie.
"Yeah. I know it's probably safer here, what with all the fancy gadgets and everything, but I want to get back too. It may not seem like it, but I've got important work to do too." My sister shrugged.
Ray and Penelope were leaving too, along with Magnus and Sol with his siblings. Penelope was still torn up at the loss of Ix, and Ray had suggested going home to see her family before visiting Ix's. They would have to be the ones to tell the modelling agency that they'd lost one of their best models – but to them, they had lost a piece of themselves at the same time. Unfortunately, that sentiment applied to more people than just them, too.
And so, the start of the new day brought with it a number of farewells, with none of those leaving knowing the secret of the monster that lay low for now. The only ones who stayed were Yu's mother, as well as Rebekah, Alexis and Maruki.
Megan had made it known that everybody was welcome back at any time, but when the last of them left the building, her expression immediately turned sour.
"What's wrong?" Nelly asked.
"I've got bad news..." Megan said, looking around. "Everyone who sat in with us yesterday, please make your way to my office." She announced to the group.
The others went back to their rooms.
"What's going on?" Rebekah asked.
"I'll tell you about it afterwards." Skyra said. "It's best if you stay back for now."
"Ok, but you'd better tell me."
"I will. Promise."
*
Our group congregated in Megan's office once more, and she revealed to us the atrocity that had taken place in the USA overnight. A number of police officers and investigators had been attacked by a small army of ghostly humanoid figures that killed them just by touching them – just like Bedlam.
"They fell from a dark portal in the sky..." Megan growled. "The police didn't stand a chance..."
"Where did they come from?" Gabi asked.
"Bedlam created them." Midorima concluded.
"It can do that?!" Hikaru blinked.
"It seems like the only logical conclusion." Midorima nodded. "I'm sure you've figured it out too." He looked back at Megan.
"Mm." She nodded, leaning back against the table. "Bedlam feeds off conflict. So it created its own."
"Son of a..." Caleb gritted his teeth.
"Those shadow soldiers mustn't take much energy to create." Kai said, leaning against the door just in case anybody tried to come in.
"Therefore, the chaos they create fuels Bedlam directly." Janus said.
"Dammit..." Chloe breathed.
"They called in the military." Megan went on. "It was a struggle, but they managed to wipe the mob out completely. All things considered, the things themselves were incredibly weak, but their numbers were overwhelming..."
"So it really is using a sliver of its available strength to create them." Midorima folded his arms. "And the ensuing firefight from the military provided a conflict for it to feed off of directly. This is..."
"Dangerous." Janus sighed. "Not only could it conjure up a ghostly army wherever it wanted, but this also means that, if it succeeds in causing chaos with them, it will regain its power much faster than we had anticipated..."
"No..." I swallowed, feeling the pressure back on my shoulders.
"We need to awaken your bond with the legendary Pokemon as fast as possible." Janus said to me. "That way its influence can bring out bonds in others, and we can have you stop these outbreaks at the source, before panic evolves into chaos and conflict for the beast to feed off of."
"Right..." I nodded slowly. "I know, but... How?"
"Think." Kiria chimed in. "When it appeared to you before, what was it saying? There must be a clue there."
"It... Hm..." I thought back. The creature had appeared in my mind right when Grovyle and I were about to be defeated by Paolo. Our bond was slipping away, and I was falling back, when everything had seemed to slow down. The voice had told me to hold on – to keep fighting. It had said...
"Your willpower! Use it! Fight the Pain!"
"My willpower..." I almost whispered.
"What was that?" Paolo asked.
"My willpower." I said, louder this time. "It told me to keep fighting – to use my willpower to overcome the pain..."
"Aha!" Janus perked up. "That's it! That's the clue! We need to put you into situations where your willpower is tested!"
"I think it came to me before, too... Back when we were training with the footballs, I felt something similar – not as strong, but it was there..." I remembered.
"Why would the footballs trigger it...?" Kudou wondered.
"Does sport require willpower?" Midorima was confused.
"That's it!" Nelly gasped.
"What?" Megan looked at her. "Have you figured it out?"
"Well, no – but the sports! We definitely need to start there, I'm sure of it!" She said.
"But why...?" Janus was puzzled. "I don't see how it correlates with willpower..."
"Maybe not the way you see sports." Nelly admitted. "But it's different when you play, right?" She grabbed my arm and looked at me hopefully. I began to understand what she meant. As strange as it sounded, she was probably right – we definitely needed to start with her idea.
"Right." I nodded.
"Well, I don't get it," Megan stood up straight. "But I'm not complaining. If it might help, it's worth a shot. It just so happens that we have a pretty big sports hall next to the gym down in the south wing."
"Coach!" Nelly turned to Kudou.
"You seem like you've got an idea." He smiled. "Let's go."
*
About twenty minutes later, we were all set up in the sports hall, a tall net hanging in the centre of a volleyball court.
Kudou split us into two teams of six, with Paolo, Caleb, Victor, Hikaru, Chloe and Yu on one side and Skyra, Shu, Midorima, Gabi, Kiria and myself on the other.
"Just play to win." Kudou instructed us. "Don't hold back – just go for it. First side to fifteen points, or first side to gain a two point lead above fifteen wins."
"The only extra role is that Toby can't enter the first half of the court." Nelly added, pointing to the back row.
She had shared her plan with Kudou in private as we set up, so nobody else was in on it, making the small match more authentic, rather than us playing to achieve a specific goal. Nobody really understood what the sport had to do with it, but I had a good idea about what they were going for.
"Let's get started." Kudou nodded towards Jordan who stepped forward with the ball and handed it to Paolo to serve.
Xene blew his whistle and Paolo smacked the ball over the net towards our side.
By being restricted to the back row, I was effectively playing the role of libero – a defensive sweeper. It was my job to reach the balls that the others couldn't before they hit the ground within the court's outlines.
Shu-ling received the ball poorly and it went sailing back towards the net.
"Oh..." He watched it sail away from his teammates.
"This doesn't seem like a time for FUN!" Caleb leapt up and spiked the ball with a thunderous strike, sending it smashing into the ground on our side, scoring his team a point. He landed and scoffed. "This is a waste of time."
"It'll work..." Nelly stood her ground.
The game went on for several minutes, and, since none of us were particularly skilled at volleyball, the scores shot up pretty quickly. Before long, we were sitting at 15 – 15. For either side to win now, they would need to score twice in a row.
Kiria leapt up and drilled the ball down over the net and it shot past Caleb's head. He whirled round but Hikaru was there, skidding into the open space with incredible agility. The ball bounced up off of her wrists and went high into the air. Chloe rose to meet it, pushing it back up for her team's second of three available touches, sending it arcing towards the net again.
Paolo launched himself up behind it, his arm pulled back and ready to spike.
On our side, Midorima jumped, arms raised up high. The guy was like a one-man wall. Here was no way Paolo could possibly get the ball over him or past him.
So, thinking quickly with his tactically brilliant mind, Paolo thrust his arm forward and tipped the ball down over the net with his fingertips.
Midorima was powerless to stop it as he rose up, and the ball hit the court on our side, providing the opposition with their sixteenth point.
"Advantage Team A!" Xene called.
I watched the ball hit the ground and bounce away. I could feel adrenaline pumping through me. I had barely touched the ball at all, and yet, I was jittery. Even though there were no stakes to winning or losing, I was still enjoying playing the game – even if to everyone else it seemed like a baffling waste of our time.
The ball went up again and I slipped into a state of hyper focus, watching it bounce between everyone's hands, up and over the net every few seconds.
I watched Paolo rise up gracefully in the centre, his body arched as he prepared to strike. I was just off-centre in the back row, with the other two defensive players, Kiria and Gabi, a few steps forward on either side of me. There was a space to my right, and Paolo's blue eyes honed in on it in slow motion. His open palm leathered into the ball, the sound of the impact ringing out across the hall. There was a rush of wind as the yellow orb tore past the outstretched fingers of Skyra and Midorima. It was thundering down towards the space on my right, and I knew it was going to hit it. Even though I had watched it travel all the way, I wasn't fast enough to dive down to my right. I twitched as the ball dropped down towards the floor beside me. If it touched down, we had lost. Everything slowed down. My eyes were wide, were in the process of tracking the ball as a single bead of sweat trickled down my neck.
"Go!" The encouraging voice resurfaced and cried in my head.
At once, like a series of gears spinning into overdrive, my body reacted before I even had time to think.
I dropped low and swept my right leg outwards in the blink of an eye, a wave of blue light pulsing outward from my body. The ball hit my outstretched foot instead of the floor, ricocheting back into the air as I fell onto my backside.
"Whoa!" Shu-ling gasped.
"Get it!" Skyra turned back and called.
"Haaahh!" Gabi leapt over me as I sat on the floor, pushing the ball back into the air before landing behind me.
Midorima smashed it back across the net, but Hikaru was once again there to meet it, sliding into place and sending it back up.
With Gabi charging across to help me, our left side was now completely open.
"Quick! Get up!" The voice in my head urged me on.
"Gh...!" I pushed myself to my feet and the light flashed again. I ran low to the ground, gasping for air as I sprinted to cover the empty space.
Caleb leapt up and pulled his arm back.
I threw myself across the court with everything I had, and the blue light sparked up much brighter than before, washing over the whole playing field.
"Gh-!" Caleb winced, slamming his palm into the ball.
I went flying towards the left corner, my left arm outstretched as the ball thundered towards it, knowing that Nelly had been right all along.
She knew me well. I had told her once that playing sports appealed to me because it sometimes gave me the chance to act like a hero. If I wasn't brave enough to be heroic in everyday life, I could at least throw myself at sports with a little sense in the back of my head that, if I pulled off something cool, it made me feel like a hero, if only for a moment. That was why being a goalkeeper had appealed to me so much – I wanted to protect things, but was too cowardly to do it in most situations. But protecting a goal was like a substitute for that courage, and so whenever a sport gave me the opportunity to protect something, I was all up for it. Right now, I was fighting to protect our team's chances of victory.
That wasn't all though – Nelly hadn't been wrong when she suggested activities like this to bring out my willpower. That was because, for me specifically, it really did bring it out. Ever since I had learnt to dive as a goalkeeper, I had used that skill in many other scenarios – but every single time, it took willpower. Every time, it was an active battle against my self-preservation instincts. No sane person willingly throws themselves at the ground if there's no danger around, after all. For me, I used my willpower every time I attempted something remotely acrobatic, because there was always that part of me that screamed that I would end up injuring myself if I kept throwing myself around.
It wasn't the most noble display of willpower – and perhaps it wasn't the most efficient. But for me, it was a reliable way to invoke it.
The ball shot towards my open palm as I dove into the corner, the white lines marking the edge of the court rushing up to meet me. It was then that I closed my fist and quickly tucked my arm into my chest.
The ball and I hit the ground, the former bouncing away while I slid out of the court.
"Out!" Xene called. Caleb had missed.
The point was ours! Both teams had sixteen now.
There were gasps and celebration as Gabi and Shu helped me up, impressed by my movement.
"I still don't get it." Caleb frowned.
*
"It's about coaxing it out of him, bit by bit." Nelly said as the ball went back into play.
"I see... I didn't know he got so into it when I told him to train as a goalkeeper." Kudou laughed.
"He has his skills." She smiled. "I bet he never thought they would come in handy, though."
"It's certainly working." Janus commented. "With each move, the light gets brighter!"
Xene blew his whistle. Kiria had scored the final point.
"Team B wins!"
"F*ck." Caleb sighed.
"You got into it." Hikaru nudged him.
"Bah."
"What next?" Midorima wiped his brow.
"Everybody grab a football." Kudou pointed to the basket beside him. "We're keeping the momentum going."
"Here." Nelly produced my goalie gloves as I came over.
"Thanks." I breathed, my heart still racing.
"You're doing great." She encouraged me. "Keep going!"
"Mm. I feel it getting stronger." I panted.
"It's only a matter of time." Janus nodded.
*
I got in goal and spent the next few hours diving around, high low and in all directions. As time went on, it got harder and harder to get back up from each dive, my body battered and tired. But I kept going, the voice in my head egging me on all the way. Every time I pushed myself up off the ground, the blue light pulsed. It felt like I was getting closer to truly unlocking the power within, but there was still something missing. It was like there was one final barrier that wasn't being pushed past, no matter how many times I hit the ground and got up.
Victor had stopped participating, opting to sit out while the others kept shooting.
Hikaru struck her ball and it zipped towards the goal. With a great heave, I threw myself to my right.
I was so tired that I got it all wrong.
The shot missed, going past the post and bouncing off the back wall, but I had dived nonetheless, thinking it was going in. I hit the ground hard, my right knee smacking into the floor before I fell down onto my front. I immediately felt a strange sensation shoot through my knee – a sort of pain, but not as severe as one would expect from smacking it into solid ground. It was almost like a numb sensation. For a moment, I feared that I had broken something, but as I struggled to my hands and knees, I could still move it fine. But it felt... Off.
"Agh... Gh, sh*t..." I sucked in air and rocked back, sitting down with my legs stretched out and sweat matting my hair to my forehead.
"That's enough for today!" Kudou called out, seeing that I was in some distress.
He and Nelly came over.
"Are you ok?!" She bent down. "That looked like it hurt..."
"Yeah... I'm fine." I smiled, standing up with no problem, other than the fact that I was exhausted.
"You sure?" Kudou looked at my leg.
"Yeah, yeah." I kicked my right leg forward a couple of times to demonstrate that it was working fine.
"Ok, it looks like nothing's broken, then... Still, that looked bad. You should put some ice on it later, all right?"
"Ok." I nodded.
Kudou went back to the main group to talk with them.
"You sure you're ok?" Nelly asked again.
"Yeah." I nodded. "It'd be a shame if I damaged my leg after that – the shot wasn't even going in." I laughed.
"Hm." She smiled. "Anyway, how about the bond? Does it feel any stronger?"
"Well... Sort of." I replied. "The voice popped up a lot more – and it was a little clearer, too."
"That's great! You might have it down soon!"
"Hopefully." I sighed. "What time is it?"
"About... Five." She looked at her watch.
"What...? Already?"
"I know! You've been doing this for a while. How about we go back so you can shower? Then we can get dinner."
"Sounds good." I nodded.
"Excellent work today." Janus approached, scribbling notes in a pad. "It looks like you're getting there. You should have it very soon!"
"Thanks." I smiled, though I wasn't so sure of that myself.
*
After dinner that night, we were walking back through the main building towards the accommodation when we stopped to look through the glass panels out into the courtyard in the middle of the complex. It was a clear night, with the stars in full view. Nelly and I looked up at them for a bit, and the stress of the day and the future seemed to wash away for a fleeting moment.
Then Nelly noticed something and tapped my shoulder.
"Is that Chloe?" She pointed.
Sat outside on the step was a girl with black hair, looking up at the sky all on her own.
"Yeah, I think so."
"What's she doing out there all alone...?" Nelly was concerned.
"I don't know... Shall we go and see what's up?"
"Hm... I'll go." She said. "You head back and get some rest."
"Sure?" I asked.
"Mhm. She's been pretty beaten up since yesterday... Maybe it might be easier for her anyway one-on-one."
"All right." I nodded, smiling at her caring nature. "See you in a bit."
Nelly walked off towards the doors that opened out into the grassy courtyard, and I continued on my way down the corridor.
After a few moments, though, my right knee completely ceased up. It felt like it was locking itself up, and I froze, and shallow pain rising. "Agh... What the...?" I winced, trying to drag myself forward. The pain was sharp and immobilising. It hurt to move, but at the same time it wasn't incredibly violent. "Gah... Damn..." I held my knee before backing up against a wall and leaning there. "Maybe it'll pass... Ooohh..."
*
Nelly stepped out into the courtyard and approached Chloe slowly.
"Excuse me...?" She asked, stopping beside her and looking down.
"H-huh?" Chloe wiped her face and looked up.
"Are you all right...?" Nelly asked.
"Oh, yeah, yeah..." The Australian sniffed.
"Do you mind if I...?"
"Go ahead."
Nelly sat down beside her on the cold stone step, tucking her skirt beneath her. "I'm Nelly, by the way."
"Chloe." She took a breath and leant back, looking up at the stars.
"I'm sorry if this is too personal, but, Chloe... You really don't seem ok." Nelly examined her face.
"Aheh... Sorry... I'm still... Grieving, I guess..."
"Oh... I'm sorry, I..." Nelly felt bad for prying.
"Nah, you're all right. I just... I miss her, you know?" Chloe's fingers gripped her trousers and she gritted her teeth.
"..." Nelly watched her for a moment, thinking of how to respond. "Her name was Felicia, right?"
"Yeah... I called her Fliss." She nodded.
"Would it help to talk...? About her?"
"Hah..." Chloe took a deep breath. "What is there to say, really...?"
"Who was she to you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Hah... She was... She was..." Tears started forming in her eyes and she tried her best to hold them back. "She was the love of my life..." She sobbed.
"Oh, Chloe..." Nelly patted her back gently.
"Gh... Fliss, she... She was the only one who really got me... The only one who understood..."
Nelly nodded, encouraging her to speak.
"I met her back in school... I guess I've known her for ten years..." Chloe breathed.
"What was she like?"
"She was shy, and a bit of a pushover..." Chloe sniffed. "But she was smart. Incredibly kind-hearted and always out to make people happy... She was quiet, but when you got to know her, she had this wonderful, bubbly personality that came to the forefront when she was happy." Chloe smiled through the tears. "Fliss... Saved me. I loved her, and she loved me too... My stupid asshole parents, they... They hated me. Resented the way I am..." She shuddered. "All because I had fallen in love with Fliss. They acted like that undid all the years I had been their daughter..."
"That's horrible..."
"They shouted at her, too. Told her to leave..." Chloe shook her head and laughed defiantly. "So I left with her. Fliss' parents took me in. They were much more accepting of who we were..."
Nelly looked at her face and the warm smile that was at odds with the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Fliss was my rock." Chloe wiped her eyes. "She was the quiet one, but she was always there for me – she kept me grounded when I would go off the rails, and I would speak up for her when she was scared. We made a great team..."
The sentiment resonated with Nelly and she smiled. "Felicia sounds like a wonderful girl."
"She is. Or... Was..." Chloe sighed. "She changed my life. Made me a better person. She taught me how to curb my hateful feelings and take control..." She turned her eyes to the stars once more and they were ablaze with a fire that burnt through the waterworks. "But still..." Chloe gritted her teeth. "If I ever see Bedlam again, I'll kill it. I'll tear it to pieces with my own damn hands..." She clenched her fists. She knew that such a feat was impossible, but the thought of getting revenge for her beloved was the only thing that was keeping her going.
"I'm sure Felicia would've encouraged you to stay true to yourself." Nelly said, her hand on Chloe's shoulder, attempting to bring her down to Earth. "I can only imagine how you feel right now... Losing someone so special to you, it..." She recoiled in fear. "It's too much to bear thinking about... But even then, you can't let your anger control you. It could make you do something you'll regret, and you could wind up getting yourself killed..."
"...Ha." The Australian captain looked over. "You sound just like her, saying stuff like that..."
"I'm sorry... I just... I don't want to see anyone else suffer..."
"You might want to start thinking about yourself pretty soon instead of worrying about everyone else if the end of the world really is a month away." Chloe sighed. "But... You're right. I can't let myself fall into anger like that. Fliss taught me better – I have to honour that..."
"Right." Nelly beamed. "And... I'm sorry for barging in on you like this – I know you wanted to be alone."
"Nah... It's my fault for sitting out in the open – I was inviting attention, really." Chloe rubbed her eyes. "Besides, I think it helped, at least a little bit. Thanks, Nelly. You're all right."
"I'm glad I could help, even a little." She nodded. "If you ever want to talk, I'll always be willing to listen."
"Will do."
"Ok, I'll leave you in peace. Good night."
"Oh, one more thing." Chloe said as Nelly got to her feet.
"Hm?"
"Don't make the same mistakes I did." Chloe looked her in the eyes. "You got people you care about – keep them close. I wasn't able to save Fliss... But if you remember to keep the people you love close, then maybe you can avoid the outcome I was faced with... Understand?"
"...I do." Nelly nodded.
"Good. Thanks again. Good night." Chloe smiled.
"Good night, Chloe."
*
After a few moments, I started walking again. The weird pain had subsided, but I was fearful of making any sudden movements with my right leg in case I agitated it.
"That was scary..." I said to myself as I slowly continued along the hallway. "I can still move, thank God... Geez, that was weird... I'll put ice on it..."
I came to a fork in the hall, and our room was up ahead, but I heard voices coming from round the corner. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but if I had kept going it would've looked worse, what with my walking speed being handicapped at that moment as I tried to limit movement in my leg. So instead, I stopped at the edge and hoped that the people round the corner were going the other way or were going to stop talking soon.
"...It seems that the trauma has caused him to shut down." An unknown voice said.
"Completely?" Megan asked.
"No – he can clearly still walk and eat. He can still function mostly as normal, but... It's his voice."
"Mm... You haven't spoken in a while..." She turned to an unknown third person, but they didn't reply audibly, so I didn't know who it was.
"Unfortunately, it seems that his recent trauma was so severe that it has caused him to become mute – though whether by his own volition or not I can't say."
"Mute?!" Megan gasped. "No... Say something! Come on, Victor! Anything – anything at all...!"
There was no response.
"Victor...?" I gasped, rounding the corner.
Megan and Victor were standing opposite a psychiatric doctor. The younger Blayde brother was staring at the ground, his eyes lacking in colour – though tears were still forming.
"Toby..." Megan looked from Victor to me.
"Is it true...?" I swallowed. "Victor..."
He looked up at me open-mouthed. Nothing but the sound of a hollow breath came out.
"Unfortunately, yes..." Megan frowned, taking a breath. She rubbed Victor's back and looked at me with a sorry expression. "Victor... He's... He's become a mute..."
"No..." I gasped.
Victor didn't speak. He hung his head and his tears hit the floor. The loss of his brother had torn him apart and left him damaged. The last word he had ever spoken was his brother's name – and now it looked like he might never speak again.