Rise Of The Black Ranger

After five minutes of walking the group reached a large door similar to the one Ziggy had seen when he arrived; however, it looked to have an intricate lock keeping it closed.

“That looks…like a very complicated door,” Ziggy said out loud.

“Considering what's on the other side… it needs to be,” Shade responds, placing his hand on the door as red flames lit up the symbols on the door before it slowly opened the room behind still being dark.

Ziggy just narrowed his eyes as he stared into the darkness of the room, his vision partially being able to see into it, finding the room inside to look to be a long corridor with seemingly no lights inside.

“It’s pretty dark in there, kinda gives me an eerie vibe to honest” Ziggy commented.

“There's a reason it’s dark in this area,” Hiryur responds, “it’s for both ours and their own good.”

“are they not able to handle the light?” Ziggy asked looking up to Shade.

“I wish it was that simple, if it was I wouldn’t need that lock active at all times,” Shade responds walking into the room as familiar crystals in a similar style to that which appeared on the den lit up along the ceiling covering the room in a crimson glow illuminating the pathway forwards as Ziggy saw the room was mostly barren.

“I don’t understand..” Ziggy said in response.

“This isn’t the stop we need,” Shade responds solemnly before saying, “Harmony, open the two doors ahead and shut off the traps.”

Ziggy hearing this grasped onto Shade’s hand tighter as some fear showed on his face.

“Don’t worry, the traps are just a precaution to keep those ahead safe if we were attacked by something,” Shade calmly says as he rubs Ziggy’s head before the door ahead begins to open the room ahead filled with a soft red light like the room they were in.

Ziggy’s eyes widened slightly as he quietly looked towards the room ahead of them.

“Which is it we’ll handle first dad, those who were in the process or too late to be saved with their free will intact?” Hiryur asked, looking up at Shade.

“Those I barely reached in time,” Shade responds in his voice, seeming to show barely any sign of emotion.

Ziggy got a shiver up his spine once he heard Shade speak as he elected to not speak, as Shade took another step forwards toward the newly opened door, as Ziggy followed him through Gil and Hiryur not far behind.

As the group reached the doors on the other end of the room the door closed behind them leaving the group in darkness.

“So dark..” Ziggy said as his eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness, before red lights suddenly turned on illuminating the room as Ziggy immediately quickly covered his eyes as he let out a low groan.

“Just give it a second,” Shade responds.

Ziggy just rubbed his eyes for a moment before removing his arm from his face as his vision started to go back into focus again, as he found that the room was filled with what looked to be medical beds, each one having a figure laying on them, many seeming to be vacantly looking to the ceiling while others looked lifeless as drool ran down their faces.

“Oh my god” Ziggy muttered before looking back up to Shade, he wasn’t able to see any emotion on his face before saying, “So this is what you were talking about…”.

“All of them have no memories, no personalities, no dreams or aspirations for the future. The cult wiped away everything to create blank slates as soon as they were physically old enough to be of use before reprogramming them like machines to follow orders or do what whoever brought them required.” Shade responded.

“This would have been my fate if dad didn’t arrive the day he did,” Hiryur responded, his voice weak and hoarse as he walked to one of the nearby beds that held a figure that looked almost identical to Hiryur.

The figure staring at Hiryur blankly while his hand was held, looking at Hiryur blankly drool running down his face.

“Is he?” Ziggy attempted to ask only to stop.

“For all purposes… my biological brother,” Hiryur responded, “we were born from the same dragoness and hatched at the same time, shared a room until he was taken away one night as we were each bound to a bed. He never was brought back. I only found out he became this the day after I was saved and found him linked up to a machine, in the middle of the wiping process with everything erased.”

Ziggy’s eyes widened as he went quiet not before saying, “Im so sorry, Hiryur”.

“The only way to help him or almost anyone in this room would be to repeat the process and turn them into mindless puppets only able to follow orders that they were told to do. But even then… they can’t be turned back to who they were before.” Hiryur responded as he began cleaning the drooling child's face. “That is the fate the cult gave us to live as a mindless slave and nothing more till they discard us and buy a new one.”

While Ziggy listened to Hiryur words his face slowly started to go into a mix of multiple emotions as he absentmindedly let out his claws while he tightly clenched his own fist.

“I…” the boy attempted to say before going quiet once more.

“They were only a mass produced product to sell for profit to other creatures for whatever purpose they desired… I mean any purpose no matter how horrific, cruel or immoral. It didn’t matter to them as long as they could make more loyal puppets.” Shade admitted, “And they did it all in my name.”

Ziggy just covered his mouth in silence as he looked like he was about to vomit the boy's eyes tightly shut closed.

“Dad… How many are you ‘fixing’ today,” Hiryur asked, looking at Shade.

“Say it how you mean it,” Shade responded, still sounding like he had before entering the room.

“How many of them are you going to finish the process for it your own way,” Hiryur repeated, before looking back to his brother, “I think… I want you to try and save him.”

Ziggy overheard this and looked over to Hiryur confused, “I thought it wasn’t possible to reverse it?”.

“There's a stark difference between reverse and save,” Shade responds.

“Just… can you at least have him remain with me?” Hiryur asked.

“How are you wanting him to remain with you?” Shade asked.

“I know this is against everything you wanted to do for them but…” Hiryur then paused, “could you remake him as both a friend and guard for me?”

“You want me to remake your brother as your personal guard and friend… that a big change from being your brother.”

“I know but… I can’t bear to see him like this for even another day. At least that way he’d always be with me… right?” Hiryur asked as he finished cleaning the boys face.

“He would but…”

“He wouldn’t be my brother anymore… I know. Just please… do it for me.” Hiryur asked, looking at Shade pleadingly.

“Its better than being a mindless shell” Ziggy muttered out.

Shade looked down for a moment before sighing, “okay just… sit him up for me and hold him still.”

“Okay,” Hiryur responded carefully, placing his arms behind the child's back but struggling to move him.

Ziggy silently moved next to him and helped him move the child as Ziggy remained quiet.

Once the child was sat up straight Shade placed his hand over the child's forehead before closing his eyes a red flame moved up his arms before making contact with the child's head. The second it made contact the child began to breath hard and fast seeming to shake his head slightly in reflex.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s okay,” Hiryur calmly said, looking away with tears in his eyes as the child's blank eyes seemed to flick around an almost panicked look forming on his face.

Ziggy just sighed before placing his hand on the child's head and softly rubbing it causing him to stop moving like he was before as Ziggy let out a low shush. “It's ok, It's gonna be ok..” Ziggy then said in a low whisper, the child's blank eyes seeming to water.

“Okay. we’re almost there,” Shade calmly said as the child's eyes seemed to roll into the back as his head tilted backwards, his scales that had turned gray slowly shifted in colour turning black with red markings appearing on some of his scales, while what looked to be small dragon like wings grew out on his black the membrane being black in colour with a red eye shaped mark inside along it.

The child then began to violently shake his eyes opening revealing two red marks in them each in a familiar eye shaped symbol which shrunk to create the pupil for his eyes, his breathing quickening throughout.

“Its gonna be over soon” Ziggy said as he just continued what he was doing not letting what was happening deter him from comforting the child.

After a few more moments Shade remove his hand from the childs head before saying, “let him lie back down.”

Ziggy and Hiryur do as they are told as they gently lay the child back down as the child closed his eyes again his breathing returning to normal, “Now we will just need to rest to let everything settle in his mind… he’ll be very confused when he regains consciousness,” Shade states as he looks at the child as his eyes closed again as his breathing softened.

“Like the others who need this doing normally he’ll not remember his name and will need to be taught how to care for himself won’t he.” Hiryur says, getting a nod from Shade.

“At least you’ll have him back even if it won’t be the same” Ziggy commented.

“I know. But was it the right thing to do?” Hiryur asked looking at Ziggy, “Did we make the right choice?”

“That's not for me to say” Ziggy replied before adding, “I know Dillon would say this would be the better choice given how he is, but if anything that's up to you to figure out Hiryur”.

“I know…” Hiryur states as Shade moved to the front of the bed grabbing what looked to be a long scrap of red and black fabric before moving to the side of the bed beside the child.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Ziggy asked

“When he fully regains consciousness they end up going into panic mode if the first person they see is not the one they are programmed to serve or a clear cult symbol is present in front of them. I’m going to blindfold him so when he wakes up he remains calm until we are ready for him,” Shade responds.

“The last time someone wasn’t they went into a panic attack the second they woke up and started attacking everyone around them until they were restrained again. It took a week of them being bound and confined in a dark room alone to calm down enough for dad to finish helping them,” Hiryur responded.

“Jesus…” Ziggy said with a mutter as he glanced at the child, as Shade wrapped the piece of fabric over his eyes before Valkyrie appeared beside him.

“Valkyrie. Please take him to the recovery room and keep an eye on him in case anything happens,” Shade requested getting a nod from Valkyrie in response as he slowly wheeled the bed the child was out of the room inside a smaller room at the side.

Ziggy just continued to look to where the child was being taken before turning his attention back to his brothers and Shade.

As soon as the child was out of the room Hiryur looked around them before saying, “but now we need to take care of the rest.”

“Are you gonna do it the same way with them?” Ziggy asked.

“Eventually but there is an issue. I can only do two a week at most,” Shade responds.

“It must take a lot out of you then” Ziggy replied.

“You could put it that way,” Shade responds looking away, “but it’s more the fact that the mere thought of doing it upsets me and I normally don’t want to do it after two people.”

“I wouldn’t blame you, all of this is, just thinking about it is too much”.

“Either way… We’ve got a lot of people to clean up and check on, think you can help with that?” Shade asks.

Ziggy nodded in response, “Yeah I think I can”.

“Okay. Lets get these done as quick as we can then we can get to the last area,” Shade responds.

“Alright dad” Ziggy replied as he went towards one of the children and going front of them as they started to do what they needed to do and after a couple of minutes Gil, Hiryur and Ziggy came back to Shade.

“Alright were done with everyone in here dad” Ziggy stated as he, Gil and Hiryur looked up to Shade.

“I’m almost done here, a few need a bit more doing so I just have the last five ahead of me to do. Think you could help deal with them while I finish up with the two here?” Shade asks.

“Alright,” Ziggy said with a nod as he went ahead of Shade as he looked at all of them but his vision immediately went on one of them which looked like a mutated Timberwolf as he immediately walked towards them, the boy then walking in front of them.

“Any idea about this one’s story dad?” Ziggy asked as he looked intently at the mutated timberwolf seeing that it had a small scar under its eye.

Shade stopped walking over to Ziggy looking at the wolf, “Sadly no. We don’t know anything about this one. I was told they found him strapped down alone in a room by himself during whatever they did to him.”

Ziggy clenched his fist in response as he continue looking at the timberwolf seeing that the scar was shown from under the fur which was a light auburn color before seeing that the rest of the timberwolves body seemed to be fairly human-like barring from much larger claws and hind legs.
“The more I see the more it makes me angry that damn cult thought that this was ok,” Ziggy said with a growl.

“The cult doesn’t care about any creature. If they can get ahold of a living creature they will try to mutate and control it for their own agenda,” Shade responds.

“None of these children deserved this..” Ziggy then muttered as he wiped the drool that dripped down the timberwolves mouth before looking into its eyes which blankly stared back at him.

“No creature deserves this… beyond the cult members themselves,” Shade responds as he rubs Ziggy’s head.

“Were you able to get them all?” Ziggy asked.

“As many of them as we could… although we are sure there are more than one group that are still active and continuing to do this to other creatures.”

“If you find one of them I want to make them suffer by my own hand” Ziggy replied as the boy gently grabbed the timberwolves hand feeling it twitch slightly.

“Trust me. If I find another group of them, I fully intend to make them suffer,” Shade responds.

“Good” Ziggy quickly responded as he went silent, continuing to look towards the mutated timberwolf.

“What's on your mind?” Shade asked as he looked down at Ziggy.

“I just wish I could help a lot more than I am capable of, but the more I wish for that the more I realize that I'm out of my depth,” Ziggy said in a whisper before adding, “And I keep remembering how useless I am”.

“Why do you think that?” Shade asks, kneeling down to be at eye level with Ziggy.

“Back before I was displaced, I was close with an orphanage that I would visit to help with the kids, and one day they were losing medicine due to being threatened and my dumbass decided to get it back,” Ziggy said before he took a breath.

After a moment the boy continued “Once I did that the people who stole it, they hurt the people at the orphanage and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it, heck back then everyone in the team other than Dillon treated me more like a nuisance than an ally or a friend”.

Shade then wrapped his arms around Ziggy before saying, “sometimes the right choices aren’t the best for everyone around you. But even then you can always fix them.”

Ziggy went quiet as he wiped his eyes before feeling Shade grab him and pull him into a hug.

“But still… what can you do with what you have now? What do you want to do?” Shade asks.

“I want to help the best I can, but I don’t know if that’s enough..” Ziggy answered.

“Just you being here and wanting to help is enough… it’s more than most would do.”

Ziggy just glanced back at the mutated timberwolf before asking, “Dad…do you think you can help this one as you did with the other one?” his voice wavered as he added, “I..I just can’t stand to see them like this”.

Shade looked at the wolf's body before he said, “You do understand what me helping him means for him… right.”

“Yeah I do, if need be I’ll take full responsibility for him, to watch out for him, to be a guide, and teach him some stuff” Ziggy replied as he looked towards Shade.

“No I mean… you understand what is forced onto him from what I’d do to him. It is essentially brainwashing them to follow me… like the cult was doing to them,” Shade points out, “Once this is done, he essentially will essentially see me like Valkyrie and the others do. Either referring to me by a title or treating me like a real Alpha.”

“I understand dad, even then at least he’ll actually be able to live compared to how he is now”.

“Fine. But you will need to look after him both during the process and while he recovers after this understand,” Shade responds.

“Yeah I understand dad, I’ll make sure to” Ziggy responded with a nod as he looked back to the timberwolf.

“Okay then. You know what to do,” Shade responds looking back at Ziggy, waiting for him to ready himself.

Ziggy nodded as he gently grabbed onto the Timberwolf and propped him up as Ziggy looked back to Shade.

“Okay then you ready. Once I start there is no turning back,” Shade repeated once again moving his hand towards the wolf's head, the flame moving up his arm.

Once Shade’s hand made contact with the wolfs head there was an almost immediate reaction from it as its claws suddenly dug into Ziggy’s arm who winced in response as he saw a reddish mark start to form on the back of its neck.

The mark itself slowly formed into a diamond like shape before the sides splintered off around the neck before going up the face and around the eyes.

Not too long after the wolf started to convulse in Ziggy’s grip, at first it was a slight twitch but as time went by it became more and more violent until Ziggy could hear them gasping out with tears going down their face.

“It’s gonna be ok” Ziggy said to the wolf as he tightly wrapped his arm around them.

“We’re almost done now, just a few seconds left,” Shade calmly says as a small eye shaped mark forms inside the symbol on the back of the wolf neck.

Ziggy continued to hold onto the wolf before hearing the wolf make more noises as its mouth opened and closed before it actually spoke, shocking the boy, “Please don’t”.

Ziggy’s eyes were wide in shock before he immediately spoke up, “D-dad stop!” as the mark on the back of the timberwolves neck shined for a moment, and not even a second later Shade removed his hand from the timberwolves head.

“And we’re done,” Shade responds, opening his eyes before looking at Ziggy, “Is something wrong?”

“He was still in there, he spoke…” Ziggy quietly replied before adding with a dead look in his eyes, “It was just for a moment but I heard him, he was still in there”

“If he was still in there before the mark flashed… I’m afraid he will be gone now,” Shade responded, “What did he say?”

“He said please don’t right before the mark flashed..” Ziggy responded with his voice completely monotone.

“...Did he not say anything else… anything more that that?” Shade asked.

“No, he just said that” Ziggy replied before adding, “It was like he was trying to come back through”.

Shade then looked back to the now unconscious Timberwolf as he rubbed his hand over the side of it’s face, “if he was trying to come back then it is not your fault that this happened to him. It is mine and mine alone, I should have noticed even the smallest change and acted the second you heard him.”

Shade’s head then lowered as he took a single slow breath, “I couldn’t save him and so many others originally and now I’ve done the same as the cult to someone who could have still recovered from what had happened to them.”
“I still suggested it..” Ziggy replied.

“Ziggy, listen to me. This is not your fault. It’s mine for failing him twice. I didn’t save him. I chose to do this to him. This is my sin to bear, not yours.”

“But…I understand dad” Ziggy quietly replied.

Shade then walked around the bed before wrapping his arms around Ziggy, “Just don’t worry about it okay… just focus on giving him the best new life you can. Okay.”

“Ok dad” Ziggy replied before he hugged Shade.

After a moment Ziggy grabbed the blindfold and placed it over the unconscious timberwolves’ eyes. “I promise that I’ll do my best dad” Ziggy stated.

“JUst you better decide on what he will do… I imagine you will take him back to the pack when you go home. But the question is what should we end up calling him?”

“I’ll call him…Logan” Ziggy stated.

“Well I suppose I’d better sort the last thing out before we move him to the other room,” Shade responds before pushing his right ear forward slightly before the packs mark formed behind the ear before removing his hand as the ear rested back against the unconscious wolf's head.

Ziggy just rubbed the top of the wolf’s head gently before gently picking him up, Ziggy making sure to hold the wolf in a position that wasn’t uncomfortable for the wolf.

“The place that we’re putting him in, is in the next room right?” Ziggy asked Shade as he looked up towards him.

“Yes, we need to take him to the same place Valkyrie went,” Shade responded as he looked at the last few people in the room, with Gil and Hiryur looking after two of them and the last being directly next to the door they were heading towards as he gestured for Ziggy to follow him.

Ziggy struggled to lift Logan for a moment before he slowly stood up and immediately followed behind Shade.

Ziggy slowly followed behind Shade before stopping as Shade opened up the door and during this Ziggy looked to the side to see a girl in a bed next to said door Ziggy couldn’t see her but he saw a fox-like tail poke out from under the blanket which not even a moment later completely knocked off the blanket that covered her body.

The boy immediately looked away from her but a moment before he did he saw that her hair had pinkish-white color to it and her skin was slightly pale but the most noticeable detail was that she had a fairly large chest.

“Um dad” Ziggy attempted to get the attention of Shade while averting his gaze from the girl.

Shades' eyes then turned noticing the girl before he shook his head, “really again. That tail always knocks her blanket off.” He adds before walking over to the side of her bed grabbing a clean cloth from the end of it and he does, seeing drool covering most of her upper body.

“Okay let's get you cleaned up.” Shade adds as he begins cleaning the drool off her body, “don’t worry little one you’ll be clean again soon just bear with me.” Once he had cleaned her chest up towards her neck he began to slowly wipe the remainder from around her mouth, “Almost done little one.”

The girl let out an incoherent mumble of words seemingly attempting to speak as her arm twitched every few seconds, which Shade noticed as he leaned in towards her, “Wait… can you see me?”

Her head twitched for a moment before it turned towards him as she spoke in that same incoherent mumble again.

Ziggy who glanced toward the two for a moment immediately spoke up, “I think she turned her head towards you”.

“It’s the first time any one of them have responded to anyone's presence here before I tried anything,” Shade added before looking back to her again, “if you can hear me try and blink for me”.

The girl looked towards him before her eyes began to twitch and after a moment of that happened they quickly closed and opened.

“Yep she’s aware of the world around her,” Shade responded, “Ziggy I’ll just be a second okay.”

“Alright dad” Ziggy replied with a nod.

“Okay then little one,” Shade calmly said before placing a hand on her head and closing his eyes, before forming a mental link between them, “Little one. How are you feeling?”

“I feel cold..” she replied.

Shade then used his magic to grab the blanket before recovering her tucking it in around her, “is that any better?”

“Yes much better” she replied before asking, “What is this place?”.

“How much do you remember from before you were here?” Shade asked as he finished tucking her in before rubbing the back of her neck.

“I was, I was laying on a table with two people in white coats next to me I couldn’t see their faces due to a light blinding me and I was barely able to make out what they were saying,” She said before going silent before speaking again, “But the only words I was able to make out were “Almost complete” before I Iost consciousness,” she said before letting out a pained groan.

“Don’t strain yourself okay,” Shade calmly stated, “those people you saw, they were doing experiments on you. From what they said I believe they mean they were close to finishing whatever they were doing to you.”

“So they didn’t finish what they were doing with me?” She asked.

“No… chances are the last step was to… basically brainwash and sell you off to someone.” Shade explained, “I arrived just before that and saved you and a lot of others. We got you away from them and brought you here.”

“Ok, then how long have I been here?”.

“You’ve been here for a bit over a week,” Shade responded, “D-do you know who I am?”

She went to answer him only for her to see something flash in her head that looked to be a badge of sorts before it immediately changed to a logo that was slowly burning itself into her head.

The girl attempted to not look at the logo but no matter what she did it was still there it wouldn’t go away.

Not too long after she went quiet as she let out a low noise of discomfort, Shade hearing her as if she was in pain, his hand then began to glow in a soft red light as he said, “don’t worry little one i’m here. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

She saw the mark beginning to show again but it started to overlap over Shade as she went silent the girl not saying anything to him before her eyes focused directly at him and physically spoke with a stutter struggling to say his name, “Sh-Sh..ade”.

“Yes, that is my name. Do you remember who you are?” Shade asks, still rubbing her head.

“M-My N-Name is Auro..ra” She stuttered out towards him.

“Aurora. Please try and stay calm okay,” Shade responded as a small glass of water appeared to rise from the ground as he placed his arm around the back of her head bringing it to her lips, “Drink this slowly okay. “

Aurora did what she was told and attempted to drink the water as carefully as she could but due to her taking too big of a sip of water she started to have a coughing fit due to choking on it.

As soon as Shade realised this he quickly leaned her forwards as he began patting her one the back calmly saying, “Aurora, stay calm. It’s okay. I’m still here.”

She continued to cough before she slowly began to stop, “S-sorry” She then apologetically.

“Don’t worry it’s okay,” Shade responds slowly, cleaning her up again. “Are you feeling better?”

Aurora slowly nodded in response, “Y-yeah” she stuttered out.

“H-how do I-i know your n-name?” Aurora asked Shade.

“The people we saved you from… they are called the Cult of Shade. They formed while I was gone for a very, very long time and see me as their god.”

“Then why a-are they doing this if you’re against t-them?” Aurora replied confused.

“Well… their leader is pretending to be me and they believe he is the real one and I'm an imposter,” Shade responds with a hint of sadness still clear in his voice, “I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner and prevent this from even happening to you.”

“At l-least, they didn’t finish w-what they were doing..” Aurora slowly responded before asking, “H-how many were worse off than m-me?”.

“Well… you’re mind is still somewhat intact and your not blindly following orders so your better off than at least a couple hundred grown creatures but… are I wouldn’t say that you are better off than the younger children either considering that are dealing with all of the changes to their body and having no control of them in most cases… so a few thousand that we know of so far.”

“At least those m-monsters don’t have them a-anymore” Aurora replied slowly, the stuttering still there but lessened.

“A lot of them they wouldn’t have still been there anymore anyway,” Shade responds, still rubbing her neck.

Aurora attempted to reply but the only noise that came out of her mouth was a strained yawn, as Shade saw that her eyes looked slightly out of it.

“Little one, try and get some sleep. I’ll come back and visit you again soon okay,” Shade responds as he slowly rested her back down against the bed, rubbing his hand slowly over her head.

“Okay…” Aurora drowsily replied before her eyes completely closed as Shade heard low snores coming from her.

Shade simply smiled back without another word before turning back to ZIggy, “Sorry for the delay, shall we get Logan to the next room so he can get settled?”

“Yep,” Ziggy replied with a nod as he adjusted his arms so he wouldn’t drop Logan.

“Do you want a hand?” Shade asks, walking back beside Ziggy.

“I got it dad” Ziggy quickly responded as he looked up to Shade with a smile as they began to go to the other room Shade opened up the door and motioned for Ziggy to follow behind him.

Ziggy doing what he was told nodded his head and walked through the door following closely behind Shade.

Once they were through the door Ziggy saw two beds set in the room, the first had Hiryur’s brother resting on it with Hiryur sat behind him holding his hand, while the second bed sat vacant.

Ziggy immediately walked over to the second bed and placed Logan down on it and making sure to be as gentle as possible.

“What do you intend to do for him once he wakes up,” Shade asks looking at Ziggy.

“I'm trying to figure that out myself,” Ziggy replied.

“Well you’ve got at least some to piece a plan together for him.”

“I'm not saying I don't, it's just taking a bit to piece it together in my head”.

“Well you do have around an hour until they normally become aware of things,” Hiryur points out, as they see the sleeping dragon on the bed's tail move slightly.

“Seems that one isn’t that far off from waking up” Ziggy pointed out.

“He’ll be a while yet. They always begin to move their bodys in places but their minds are still fragile for a while after. The fact his tail moved just tells me he’s getting feeling back in his limbs.”

“That’s good at least” Ziggy replied before he looked back to Logan.

“For this one, once he wakes up and settles in after becoming aware of things, I may ask for the help of Dillon and Axel to help teach this one the ways of our pack to start off” Ziggy stated with a soft smile as he rubbed the top of Logan’s head.

“So… I suppose he would be a new baby brother in your eyes.”

“You're not wrong” Ziggy admitted before he felt a hand on his head..

Ziggy looked to who had their hand on his hand as he saw Shade looking at him with a smile before saying, “I guess it also means you're not the baby of the pack anymore as well.”

“True but I doubt that would stop the others from treating me like it” Ziggy replied with a smile.

“Well yeah. I mean you are still the weakest of my kids,” Shade responds as he pinches Ziggy’s cheek, smirking at him as he did.

Ziggy let out a low whine as he attempted to move his face away, only for Shade to switch to the other one, “Don’t try and get away from me doing it. Besides, your aunt will be so much worse when she gets a chance to do it.”

The boy just grumbled in response as the others could see an embarrassed blush on the boy’s face as he attempted to glance away from Shade, “Even then it’s still embarrassing dad..” the boy then said with a whine.

“As embarrassing as Dillon and Axel’s current predicament is with those other kids?” Shade asks, still pinching Ziggy’s checks. “You know, maybe I should see if we can get cameras made and take pictures of them some day while your in those citations to put up on walls or give to your aunts or so your mum can see.”

Ziggy’s eyes widened, “Please don’t do that”.

“Or a video camera and record it happening to play back for everyone to see on repeat,” Gil suggested as he stood against a wall next to Hiryur.

“Why would you suggest that you’re giving them more ammo,” Ziggy said with desperation in his voice.

“Oh trust me. I know,” Gil responds with a chuckle being heard in his voice, “and honestly… I think Aunty Alexis would love it.”

Ziggy’s eye twitched for a moment as for a moment he thought about what would happen if they did this not even a moment later they see him shudder from the image he saw.

“Ya’ll are evil…” Ziggy then muttered out.

“Oh I don’t think I am that bad. I mean it’s not like you’ve been framed here to put it out to the world,” Shade points out. “I mean if it did and we sent a video of what happened earlier to it, that would have been evil.”

“You got a point…” Ziggy responded as he rubbed Logan’s head again but immediately stopped once he heard a pained groan come from the child as Ziggy looked at him with wide eyes.

“They normally don’t react that quickly,” Hiryur responds, looking over at the Timberwolf.

“That’s definitely peculiar” Ziggy muttered as they saw Logan squirm slightly.

“Hey take it easy,” Ziggy said as he rubbed his head again attempting to comfort him.

“What..why can’t I see, who are you?..” they hear the Timberwolf quietly say noticing that his voice was slightly hoarse

“My name is Ziggy and the reason you can’t see anything at the moment is that your wearing a blindfold” Ziggy replied.

“W-Why” Logan asked confusion in his voice.

“It's just so you remain calm and don’t get overwhelmed” Ziggy quickly responded.

“What do you mean?” Logan asked concern starting to appear in his tone.

“You’ve been in a bad state for a while, your entire body had no feeling and apart from breathing you seemed dead to the world. The second the blindfold is removed everything around you will hit you all at once. I thought it best we let your other senses catch up first.” Shade explained.

“I don’t really get it, but ok” Logan replied “Wait who are you?” Logan then asked after realizing it was a different voice.

“My name is Shade. I’m the one that found you and brought you here to recover.”

“Nice to meet you….How long have I been here?”.

“You have been here a little over a week,” Shade responds as he sits beside Logan.

“Oh..” Logan said as he partly saw Shade and Ziggy’s silhouettes through the blindfold the timberwolf going into deep thought before realizing that he couldn’t remember anything, “Wait who am I…”.

“Your name is Logan and you're my baby brother” Ziggy replied.

“My name is Logan and you're my brother?...” Logan said as he thought about what Ziggy said.

“Don’t think about it too hard bud don’t want you to push yourself too much, '' Ziggy said as he rubbed Logan's head again as the timberwolf unconsciously nuzzled into his hand before he snapped out of it and asked, “Wait who exactly are you Shade?”.

“It’s a rather long list,” Shade responds with a chuckle, as Logan just tilted his head in response as Shade shook his head, “the easiest to say is your brother's adopted father, and the packs Alpha.”

“Pack, alpha im confused,” Logan said before asking, “ Wait would that make you my father?”.

“I suppose it could… although it was because I adopted him so take it as you will.”

“Like I said don’t think about it too hard” Ziggy commented while he continued rubbing Logan’s head.

“Can you give me a clear answer please?”.

“With the pack and alpha thing, I’ll explain it to you later, and if anything if you want him to be your dad you can just ask him”.

"Oh ok, can I take this blindfold off now?" Logan asked.

"Oh yeah, just give me a second," Ziggy replied, grabbing the blindfold and gently pulling it away from Logan's eyes, the timberwolf blinking rapidly as he tried to focus his vision.

After a moment, his vision started to go back into focus and the first person he saw was Ziggy, seeing that he had brown curly hair along with wolf ears on top of his head as he saw that he was smiling towards him, before he saw Shade, his eyes widening slightly as his heterochromatic eyes looked at him in silence.

“Are you doing okay? Nothing hurting at all?” Shade asked, looking at Logan.

“N-no Im fine, you just look familiar for some reason” Logan replied.

“How so?” Shade asks as he runs a hand over Logan’s back, “Do you have any idea as to where you remember me from?”

“I can’t explain it, I just do and I don’t know why” Logan replied with an unsure tone as Ziggy and Shade saw that his tail was wagging from Shade rubbing his hand down his back.

Logan then looked back to Ziggy and saw the mark behind his ear the timberwolf tilting his head in curiosity before asking, “How did you get that mark Ziggy?’.

“Oh dad’s the one who gave me it” Ziggy said as he turned his slightly giving Logan a better view of said mark.

Logan’s eyes widened for a moment before he spoke, “That mark I remember it from somewhere I think that’s why…”.

“What do you mean?” Ziggy asked.

“That mark on your ear I remember it far too well, at one moment I don’t remember a thing, and then for another when I see that mark it’s all I see in my head, it’s the only thing im capable of thinking about and for a moment, deep in the background I can hear someone saying your name on repeat and then suddenly it just stops”.

Ziggy in response just looked to Shade with a concerned look on his face

“It’s the same response as always to why they know him after coming out of this process. The
Cult place their mark into the subjects mind and their gods name on loop till it’s all they can think about and remember,” Hiryur calmly points out, “it won’t be long until the dots connect in his mind fully and he starts acting that dad is his god aswell.”

“Is there a way to stop it?” Ziggy asked.

“He already did before you brought him here,” Hiryur points out, “it won’t reach the point of him viewing him as a god, but his mind is already rewired to loyalty to Shade. Just only to the name Shade and not the actual cult of Shade.”

“That’s a relief…” Ziggy muttered as Logan just listened to them speak before commenting, “I feel very out of the loop But I don’t think I want to ask”

“That’s probably for the best..” Ziggy replied.

Shade simply sighed as he stood back up beginning to walk to the exit of the room again, “I guess I better get to my least favorite part of my day now. Especially that one group.”

“Huh?” Ziggy said confused as he turned his attention back to Shade asking, “What was that dad?”.

“Think about the groups you’ve seen. What would be next,” Shade asked.

“O-oh yeah, sorry,” Ziggy replied before immediately asking, “Are you ok with me going with you?”

“Do you want to see creatures even further down the line of what the cult does than what you’ve seen to date?” Shade asks.

Ziggy gave Shade a quiet nod in response, “Yeah In all honesty I just want to see it for myself” then said as he stood up from where he was and walked to where Shade was.

Logan seeing this immediately tried to move from his bed only for him to slip off the edge of it, Ziggy seeing this immediately jumped back and grabbed him placing him back onto it.

“Logan just stays here I’ll be back in a little bit,” Ziggy said in a reassuring tone.

“But..”.

“Like I said I’ll be back in a little bit, Hiryur can you keep eye on him till I get back?” Ziggy asked.

“I should be able to do that,” Hiryur responds as he looks up from his brother for a moment, “besides he won’t be strong enough the go far for a while.”

“Thanks, Hiryur” Ziggy replied with a nod before immediately going to follow behind Shade.

“I’ll stay with these three for now and make sure nothing goes wrong when he wakes up,” Gil adds with a smile as he waves the two of them off, as Shade leaves the room without another word.

“Dad when we get to them should I keep my distance just in case?” Ziggy asked.

“You won’t need to worry about it for the most part… as I said this is the final stage of what the cult do,” Shade responds, “So if their is anything you want to do before we handle that better say so now.”

“Can we check on Dillon and Axel first?” ZIggy responded.

“I assume you want something to laugh at first before something else upsets you,” Shade suggests, “If that is the case sure why not.”

“You’re not wrong there…” Ziggy admitted.

“Okay then follow me,” Shade responds walking back the way they had originally come from.

Ziggy closely followed behind Shade as they walked through each room they had gone through previously before they left the area.

Not too long after they started to hear the noises made by Axel and Dillon before they were in view again Axel was twitching a mess on the floor, his eyes completely blank and Dillon was just laying on the ground acting like a dog. The boys more feral features showing.

Ziggy just covered his mouth as he let out a snort, “Oh no” he then said as he attempted to hold in his laugh.

“Do you think they will be okay after this?” Shade whispers as he leans down to Ziggy.

“Given how they are like this now, maybe not for an hour or two” Ziggy replied with a snort attempting to hold in his laugh again.

The two of them looked at Dillon, finding that all but one of the children had fallen to sleep with content looks on their faces, the last of the group almost looking dizzy and barely awake as they fell forwards onto Dillon’s chest not a moment later.

“And they are out like a light” Ziggy said smiling down at the children.

“Maybe you should check on the little puppy?” Shade suggested with a smirk as magic surrounded the sleeping children as they were moved to the nearby beds.

Ziggy immediately crouched in front of Dillon who was on his back his tongue out and his eyes blank like Axel’s.

The boy waved his hand in Dillon’s face eliciting no response, “Jeez they messed you up Dillon” Ziggy said as he raised his brow.

“How would you normally wake him up… do I need to get a cold bucket of water for you?” Shade asks with a smirk on his face as he walked towards Axel and Midnight.

“That would probably work, lemme try something first” Ziggy replied reeling his palm back as Shade saw Midnight was on top of Axel’s head messing with his ears again.

When Shade was in front of Axel and Midnight, he heard a resounding slap from behind him, glancing back, he saw Dillon grasping his cheek while Ziggy covered his mouth, preventing him from making noise the boy’s muffled protests could be heard as he wriggled around in pain.

“Welcome back to the land of the living pup,” Shade calmly said as he looked back over his shoulder, “Did you enjoy your time with the kids?”

Dillon shoved Ziggy off as he replied, “I remember being dogpiled by them and not too long after everything going blank..”.

“Think yourself lucky,” Shade responds, grabbing Midnight by the back of her neck and lifting her off Axel.

“Awww why are you stopping me!” Midnight responded, crossing her arms like an annoyed teenager would.

“You’ve had your fun and it’s gone a bit too far,” Shade responds, walking past Axel and placing her in front of Luna.

“But he agreed to let me do what I wanted as long as I didn’t scratch his ears,” She argued back.

“I don't think he agreed to be in that state though,” Luna points out, placing Midnight in her lap, as the young girl crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out. “Stop complaining or it’ll be your turn next.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Really?” Luna responded as Midnight was covered in Luna’s magic holding her in place.

“What did you do to Axel…” Dillon muttered as he fearfully stared at his brother’s near unconscious state.

“I just tested a few things on hi-” Midnight began to say before her eyes widened and they saw Luna’s hand and wings rubbing all over her body as the young girl began laughing uncontrollably still being held in place by Luna’s magic unable to act.

“This… she did this… for over half an hour,” Luna responds before blowing into Midnights ears as the young girl wreathed in her mothers magic, “and I’ll pay it back for you for a whole hour.”

“P-Please no… mercy,” Midnight quickly says before breaking out in laughter as she continued shaking in her mothers magic, tears welling up in her eyes, “P-Please help me.”

Dillon just hid behind Ziggy who just chuckled in amusement.

“Oh I know every way to mess with you. Afterall I am like you,” Luna responds as she begins rubbing behind Midnight's ears. “And I know where we are much more sensitive then they are.”

“No… no, no, no.” Midnight screamed her eyes wide, “please save me! I won’t do it again! Please he-” Midnight began to say before going quiet as he dropped forwards a drunk look on her face.

“I guess..the shoes on the foot now…huh” they heard Axel groggily say as the boys looked towards him.

Axel attempted to push himself from the ground only for his arms to immediately slip resulting in him falling on his face, “I think I may stay down here a bit longer..”.

“You want some help, Axel?” Axel overheard his little brother ask only to give a slight wave, “Nah Im good just give me a bit”.

“O-okay” Dillon replied.

“Axel, Dillon can you two come with me and dad we have to tell you something,” Ziggy said towards his brothers who looked towards him confused.

“Um sure” Dillon replied while Axel gave a silent thumbs up his voice now feeling sore from the laughing prior.

“Follow us outside please” Ziggy instructed his brothers as he began to walk outside, Dillon immediately scrambled to his feet while Axel slowly pushed himself from the ground and back onto his feet as he and Dillon followed him outside.

As soon as the boys had left the room Shade looked back to Luna and Midnight simply smiling and waving to them both with Luna only smirking as she blew into Midnight's ear while tickling her at the base of her wings as Shade left the room and closed the door without another word.

“What did you need to tell us Ziggy?” Dillon asked.

Ziggy attempted to answer Dillon but the more he tried to say it the more uncomfortable he looked..

“Ziggy what’s wrong?“ Axel asked concerned.

After a moment of not being able to say anything Ziggy just let out a sigh, “Maybe it would be easier to show you than trying to explain it…” Ziggy stated prompting his brothers to look towards him in concern.

“What do you mean Ziggy?” Dillon asked, confused.

“Again it’s probably better to show you” Ziggy responded as he saw Shade come up towards them.

“If you saw what he did while you were out, you wouldn’t like to repeat it,” Shade responds walking past them gesturing for the group to follow him.

Doing what they were told they closely followed behind Shade, Axel, and Dillon glancing towards each other with an uneasy look on both their faces.

As soon as they reached the end of the hallways to the door leading to the room that held the unconscious group of people Shade looked back to them, “Beyond this door is what Ziggy wanted you to see. Although they are in a cleaner state than before he arrived earlier.”

Axel and Dillon just looked at Ziggy, they couldn’t see his eyes but they could tell that what he saw before left him shaken.

After a few seconds Shade slowly opened the door as Ziggy immediately walked forward and grabbed his hand, “It’s not that bad. You know what awaits us on the other side this time.”

Ziggy just stayed quiet as the group began walking into the room and once they were inside Dillon and Axel saw the unconscious group.

“I…What is this?” Dillon said, confused while Axel just stayed quiet, the troubled expression on his face showing how he felt at that moment.

“This is what would’ve happened to the kids if dad didn’t save them…” Ziggy replied.

“Oh my god…” Axel responded with a horrified look on his face whole Dillon remained quiet a whole spectrum of emotions cycling on his face.

“Well… it’s the better outcome in one way… but worse in another,” Shade responds as he walks past the boys.

The boys closely follow behind him, Dillon and Axel, in particular, glancing around the room before they focused on the ones in the bed before their attention was immediately turned to Aurora who was still sleeping.

“Who’s the girl?” Dillon asked his head tilting slightly.

“From what I know her name is Aurora. She is the only one of them that seems to have their mind intact or faintly remember anything about herself,” Shade responds.

“She’s able to speak as well she struggles a bit with it though” Ziggy commented.

“Basically almost everyone on these beds are essentially in a vegetative state and can barely perceive the world around them.”

“So they’re basically brain dead?” Axel asked, getting a nod back from Shade in response.

“Jesus…” Dillon muttered his voice sounding pained for a moment before he went silent again.

The boy’s continued following behind Shade through the room until they were outside the room beside Aurora's bed before Ziggy spoke, “You’ll be meeting someone when we go past this door, and be careful I think he’s still adjusting”.

“He?” Axel said confusedly.

“You’ll meet him after we pass into the next room” Ziggy responded as Shade opened the door and passed through prompting the group to follow behind him.

They continued following behind him until he stopped next to Hiyur, Gil, and Logan, “Dillon, Axel this is Logan our new little brother” Ziggy spoke getting the attention of the three especially Logan who once he saw Ziggy he immediately jumped off his bed and hugged him.

“I missed you” Logan muttered as he nuzzled against Ziggy.

"I said that I’d be back Logan" Ziggy replied, patting the timberwolf’s head before saying, "Logan, this is Dillon and Axel, your other brothers".

Logan looked over at the two who just gave the timberwolf a slight wave only for Logan to look away from them.

“I…ok,” Dillon said, scratching the back of his head before turning his attention to Hiryur and the child in the bed.

“Who’s the other kid?” Dillon asked.

“He is… well was, my brother,” Hiryur responds, “you saw everyone outside this room. Well he was out there earlier in that state.”

"Wait, he isn’t braindead, how?" Dillon asked, confused before being answered by Shade.

“I am able to in a very limited capacity bring them back from the brink but… they aren’t who they were anymore. I basically finish what the cult started on them, but the focus is towards me instead of them,” Shade explains calmly.

“Oh..” Dillon said with a mutter.

“Least the kid isn’t cursed to braindead anymore” Axel commented as he glanced back at Logan and Ziggy, Axel noticing that Logan, in particular, was looking at him and Dillon intently again.

Axel waved at him again only for Logan to do the same as last time prompting Axel to chuckle.

“Logan at least say hi to them” Ziggy said towards Logan who wouldn’t budge causing Ziggy to sigh in response, “Sorry guys,”.

“It's no problem Ziggy” Dillon replied, Axel agreeing with a nod.

Logan just huffed as Ziggy let out a nervous laugh before Shade glanced looked towards the two and smiled.

“I see you’ve recovered feeling in your legs somewhat Logan,” Shade responds looking at the young wolf.

“Y-yeah not too long after you guys left I started having feeling in my feet but it was more of a pin and needles sensation not too long after” Logan replied as he wiggled one of his legs.

“That good,” Shade responded before kneeling down infornt of him, “are any of your memories coming back to you?”

“No, a lot of it is still hazy” Logan responded.

“If you do remember anything make sure to let either of us know, okay?” Ziggy said, smiling down towards Logan who gave his own fanged smile in return.

“Ok I’ll make sure to” Logan replied letting out a giggle as Ziggy ruffled his hair.

“Besides this, what was the other stuff you wanted to show me and Dillon?” Axel asked.

“It’s less show you and more I may need a bigger hand with handling it,” Shade responds rubbing the back of his head as he stands up.

“Oh-” Axel said as Dillon just looked towards Shade confused.

“I take it that the other section isn’t safe is it?” Dillon asked.

“You’ve seen what happens before they are brainwashed by the cult, what happens if saved during it… that leaves one set to deal with… I think you can guess what state they are in.” Shade calmly points out.

“Oh, yeah I get what you're saying….” Dillon responded.

"If you want, we can go now to take care of it," Axel said towards Shade, Dillon nodding in agreement.

“Do you all think this is going to be a quick job to do or something?” Shade asks, looking at the group.

“No” the boys respond in unison.

“I just think it’s better to take care of things now than later,” Dillon added.

“This isn’t a simple thing to take care of this time… it’s a real issue that I can’t solve simply,” Shade responds before pausing, “although it may be easier for you to understand what we’re dealing with once you see what the state they are in is like.”

The boy’s just looked at each other in response before nodding towards Shade.

“Okay then. I suppose we’d better get moving,” Shade calmly says standing back up.

Dillon and Axel immediately walk towards him while Ziggy attempts to do the same, noticing that Logan immediately attempts to follow behind him.

“Logan, I'm gonna need you to stay here again” Ziggy said towards his little brother before noticing that the timberwolf was tearing up slightly.

“But I want to stay with you..” Logan whimpered.

“Like before, I'm gonna come back don’t worry” Ziggy replied, attempting to calm him down.

“No!” Logan shouted, as a force caused Ziggy to be pushed back, Ziggy’s eyes wide as he looked at Logan in shock.

“What did you just do?” Dillon asked as the group looked towards him.

“What?” Logan said, confused.

“Your shout just knocked him backward,” Shade points out, “I guess the cult mutated your vocal cords in some way.”

“I…guess that explains why my throat was sore when I woke up” Logan responded as he placed his hand on his throat.

“I suppose so,” Shade responds as he rubs Logan’s head.

“Can I please go with you, please?” Logan then asked.

“Are you sure you want to… it will be dangerous,” Shade states looking towards Logan with a wary look on his face.

“I’ll stay far back so I won’t get in the way,” the timberwolf responded.

“Logan I really wouldn’t recommend that besides I doubt Ziggy would want you to get hurt” Dillon immediately said towards him.

“But…” Logan said as he looked towards Ziggy.

“Logan please I’ll be back,” Ziggy said to him.

“Promise?”

Ziggy smiled, “Promise” Ziggy replied as Logan hugged him again.

“Okay then. If that's all settled shall we get going?” Shade asked as he stood by the door.

“Yeah” Ziggy replied walking away from Logan along with Dillon and Axel towards Shade who opened up the door.

“Keep an eye on eachother okay,” Shade requested getting a nod back from Hiryur and Gil as he walked out the room.

The boy’s exit the room as well as they closely follow behind Shade, Dillon keeping his normal pace while Axel and Ziggy were directly behind Shade.

After a minute of walking Dillon decided to break the silence, “So, how bad are the ones were going to have to take care of and what will we have to do?”.

“Dillon… take care of it, a very loose term this time. All of them are completely brainwashed by the cult and are all hostile to anyone but the cult member they were programmed to follow orders from.” Shade explained, “you can either consider this next place as a prison or an asylum.”

“Sorry, poor choice of words..” Dillon replied, slumping his shoulders.

“But… There is one group I want to handle this time if we can. One I couldn’t even hope to control the actions of before today.”

Dillon and Ziggy just furrowed their brow in response.

“I take it those are gonna be the most difficult ones?” Axel asked.

“I would say they could be… but not for the reason you think. All of them are kept bound in prison cells but these ones… they get out of their bindings constantly but luckily can’t get out of the cells they are in.” Shade explains as they come up to another set of doors like the ones leading into the room they were currently in. “Also… it might also be from what they are.”

“That doesn’t sound terrifying at all” Dillon muttered grasping his arm.

“It’ll be easier to understand when you see them,” Shade calmly responds as he places his hands on the door, “Oh and if you have them, maybe have your morphers ready just incase.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice” Dillon replied, taking out his morpher, Ziggy doing the same while Axel just readied his sword.

“Axel… don’t brandish that thing unless it’s needed okay,” Shade added, not looking back as he pushed his hand against the door as it began to glow in a red and black light before slowly opening backward without making a sound.

Axel just removed his hand from his sword, while Dillon and Ziggy just looked on in a mixture of uncertainty and fear before Shade motioned them to follow him.

He walked through the door with the boy’s following behind him, Dillon and Ziggy quickly glancing around feeling as if they were being watched, as they saw what looked to be rows upon rows of prison cells each seeming to hold multiple figures inside of them many with their arms bound behind their back as they glared forwards at the group.

“What the…” Dillon said attempting to get a more clear view while attempting to keep his distance.

“I’ll kill you!” a voice shouted from one of the cells as they heard a voice from once of the cells hit the ground, “I kill you, you fake god! You are not the one we serve!” the same voice shouted again, “You hear me!”

“Shut it you!” Another voice shout as the entire room quickly began being filled by shouts, arguments or insults with almost all of them being aimed directly at Shade, none of them seeming to notice or care about the others around them.

“Yikes, They sound worse than me and Dillon when we argue …” Ziggy muttered to himself, one of them overhearing him.

“If you follow that fake god! I’ll gut you aswell!” one of the creatures in the nearest cell shouted.

“I’d recommend you all hold your tongues!” Shade shouts, his voice no longer calm like it normally was, as everyone in the room retreated backwards in fear at his tone.

He then walked up towards the cell where the shouting had come from his eyes looking towards the creature ahead of him, “and you would you like to repeat what you said?”

“Go to hell you god damn fake! I- I’ll k-Kill you in the name of S-Sh-!” The creature shouted back but stopped as he made eye contact with Shade as Dillon saw the creature’s legs shaking as a yellow puddle formed on the ground below him.

“I…holy crap,” Dillon said as he turned away from the creature and looked towards Shade.

Shade didn’t stop though as he continued forwards towards the cell the creature was in, his eyes never breaking contact with the creature in the cell. As soon as he standing in front of the bars his body seemed to phase through causing the creature inside to scramble backwards trying to get its distance away from Shade, but finding itself unable to look away.

“Here I am, are you going to say that again?” Shade asked his voice still sounding angry as he glared at the creature infront of him.

“G-G-G-” the creature inside said, now shaking against the wall as it tried to cover its head, but found its entire body almost seem to freeze up preventing him from either moving or breaking eye contact with Shade, “Stay away! Don’t come any closer!”

“I thought you said you were going to gut me?” Shade asked his voice still sounding dark and angry as the creature below him shook violently his eyes wide and his body frozen in fear while Shade continued moving closer to him till his shadow covered the figure below him.

The boys attempt to see past Shade but the only one to see anything was Axel who’s heart dropped once he saw the creature's face it was terrified.

“What do you have to say for yourself,” Shade responded still glaring down at the creature below him as Axel saw faint black sparks beginning to flicker near the creatures feet with a second spark near the top of his chest, that seemed to be moving over it forming some kind of pattern.

“I- I- I-” the creature repeated his voice shaking, as Axel saw it desperately try to move its head from Shade gaze, but only finding it moving an inch still keeping eye contact with Shade, as a red spark was seen for only a moment in it’s eyes.

Axel continued to watch this unfold as he stopped Dillon and Ziggy from getting a better look by covering their eyes.

“I- I…” the creature continued to try and say before the flames faded on his chest a familiar symbol being seen on it while his head dropped before a moment before looking up at Shade.

His eyes focused again before he quickly dropped to the floor his head bowed, “I’m sorry Lord Shade, please forgive my transgressions!”

“You think I should. How many times have you threatened me now?”

“T-To many Lord Shade. I swear I will never speak like that again. You have my word! Please forgive me!” the creature shouted still shaking now on his knees with his forehead against the ground.

“See that you don’t,” Shade replied walking back out of the cell the creature inside not moving atall from his position the room remaining silent as Shade eyes moved over each cell, “Anyone else want to say anything!”

Shade waited for a moment getting no response as everyone in the room remained silent.

Dillon removed Axel’s hand and stepped forward, Axel attempting to stop him only for Dillon to look at Shade's face, Axel seeing the boy’s face pale before the boy just silently backed away from Shade.

“Dillon?” Axel whispered to the boy who just glanced back at him, seeing the fear in the boy’s eyes as he noticed that the boy attempted to calm himself down.

“Lord Shade…” Axel spoke, getting Shade’s attention.

“Yes Axel,” Shade responded, as his voice returned to normal and he looked at the group.

Axel just motioned towards Dillon who was shaking, the boy fidgeting around taking deep breaths, counting to ten in his mind in an attempt to calm himself down.

“Oh….” Shade responds with a guilty look on his face as he wraps his wings around Dillon pulling him into his chest, “Dillon are you okay?”

“I-im fine, I just need to take a breath” Dillon replied, taking another deep breath, “O-okay…I'm better just a little overwhelmed a bit” Dillon then said giving a forced smile.

“Do you need a break before we continue?” Shade asks looking at him with a calm smile.

“No, I'm good,” Dillon replied.

“Dad, what just happened to that guy?” Ziggy asked, pointing towards the creature that was still on the ground in its cell.

“I’ll explain later… once I know myself,” Shade responds as he begins walking again trying to not look at anyone in the cells around them.

The boys just followed him behind him quietly, Ziggy and Axel glancing back to the cells while Dillon kept himself next to Shade as they began coming up to another area.

The area itself looked to be designed to look like that of a cave, the inside of it seeming to be even darker than the room they were in with what looked to be two large cells at the back of the room, that seemed to hold multiple figures inside them.

Dillon and Ziggy walk forward to get a better look but once they did one of the figures jumped forward, the boys falling back as the chain on its neck went taut and pulled it back as they heard it growl towards them.

Dillon just held his hand forward seemingly attempting to keep it back before noticing the chain on its neck as Ziggy could be seen tightly holding his morpher.

The two only see his hazel eyes and open maw which had saliva dripping to the ground the boy’s seeing that said creature was on all fours.

“What..the…hell” Dillon spoke with wide eyes.

Ziggy remained quiet while he continued to tightly grip his morpher both the boy’s shaken from what the creature did.

“You both okay?” Shade asked as he walks towards the two of them.

“Other than almost having a heart attack, yeah” Ziggy replied, standing himself up while bringing Dillon up with him who just looked towards the cell.

The boy placed his morpher into his back pocket as he glanced at Shade, meanwhile, Dillon looked towards the creature out of fear before just Zeroing in on it.

He looked towards it intently, his focus immediately focusing up on top of its head, the boy seeing something twitch on top of it.

“Is that a timberwolf?” Dillon said out loud while he intently stared towards it, fully standing himself up.

“You won’t like my answer,” Shade responded plainly.

“Course I won’t…” Dillon replied frowning.

“The best way I can say this is. I think he is… well they all are Timberwolves.” Shade responded.

Ziggy went quiet for a moment before asking, “Wait did you just say they?”.

Shade did not respond as he simply gestured to the other cell in the room.

The boy’s look to the other cell in the room before taking a few steps towards it, seeing seven other Timberwolves in it each held in a similar fashion to that of the larger wolf in the other cage.

The two looked at the Timberwolves in silence before two of the identical ones with snow white fur who noticed the boys before growling towards them, Dillon seeing this takes a cautious step back while Ziggy just stayed in place keeping his Morpher in hand.

“The way they're looking towards us, it’s kinda chilling…” Dillon muttered out as Ziggy just gave a silent nod of agreement.

“It’s normally like this,” Shade responds before all of the wolves in the room's eyes jumped towards him as each looked to charge forwards the chains going taut as they each angrily barked at him. “As is that.”

“Yikes…” Dillon spoke under his breath as he backed away from the cell Ziggy doing the same as he kept his view on them.

“Something’s different with these one’s isn’t there?” Axel asked Shade.

“I have no idea,” Shade responded simply as he looked away from the wolves.

The two then heard Dillon speak up, “What's with the big one, he’s giving me a look and it’s weirding me out”.

They glance towards Dillon before looking towards the cell to see that the first Timberwolf from before is looking towards the boy intently.

“Just to be safe get away from the cells same to you Ziggy” Axel said in response to the two.

Dillon feeling uncomfortable just turned around and began walking away from the cell’s, Ziggy doing the same as they went towards Shade and Axel.

But once they reached Axel and Shade, the group heard a loud metallic snap ring out from behind them followed by a loud ringing noise. “That can’t be good,” Shade responds.

“Oh no…” Dillon groaned out.