After Casey had left, Kyle had gone back to sitting around in his house. His family had gathered in the living room, which meant that they all began talking amongst themselves in sharing stories and talking about what had been going on lately in their lives. They all enjoyed the family time and the family bonding; with everyone being busy lately, it had been impossible for them to all sit down and enjoy seeing and talking to each other like a close family should. They all continued spending time together and talking until the time for hapunan rolled around, which meant that Jacob and Kushina both left the living room to go into the kusina and start making dinner.

Nothing particularly eventful happened during the wait for dinner, and nothing out of the ordinary happened during hapunan itself, either. The Waktini family sat around the mesa for a few minutos after dinner, still talking about their araw and enjoying the quality family time that they were getting to spend with each other. Kyle was feeling a bit bad over the fact that he didn’t get to go spend time with Casey, but he was enjoying getting to see his siblings and his parents very, very much. The family continued spending time together for a while until Jacob and Kushina needed that they needed to get to get back to work in the lab, so they thanked their children for the time that they all got to spend together before getting up and going into the lab to start with the work that they needed to do. Kyle’s siblings also sinabi that they would like to do their own things, and wound up walking off to go off to their rooms; Daniel wanted to relax and read on his bed, and Avina had just a bit of homework that she needed to finish, so she was going to go finish that. Kyle just decided to sit down on the sopa in the living room and watch some TV to relax.

Kyle watched TV for quite some time, just watching walang tiyak na layunin shows that seemed interesting to him as he continued flipping the TV channels. None of his paborito shows were currently on, so he simply decided to just keep watching walang tiyak na layunin shows that seemed somewhat interesting to him. He was actually starting to drift off just a bit from the quiet noise of the TV until a knock on the front door jolted him back into reality. Kyle quickly looked towards the door, wondering who could be there; he was wondering if perhaps it was Kagen, or if perhaps Casey had come back. The yellow hedgehog got up from where he was sitting and then quickly made his way over to the door, as he didn’t want to make whoever was there wait too long for him to open the door. He quickly opened the door, and his eyes flew wide open when the person standing there was a grey bat with blonde hair; Trenton.

“T-Trenton?! What are you doing here?!” Kyle asked as he jumped back from the door just slightly in pure shock, his shock completely obvious. Trenton just sighed and shook his head at Kyle’s reaction, before narrowing his eyes towards the yellow hedgehog.

“I thought that perhaps I could come over and talk to you for a while, but I see that you’re still not taking the fact that you discovered that I’m Devin’s twin brother too well,” Trenton said. “Also, may I come in? I’ve had to walk here from quite some ways away and my legs are absolutely killing me, especially with me just standing here.”

“I… um…” Kyle stood where he was for a few moments, attempting to gather his thoughts and finally react to what Trenton had said. “I… um… S-Sure… you can come in…” He sinabi quietly, moving out of the way to allow Trenton to walk into the home. Trenton nodded his head and then quietly walked inside before turning to face Kyle, who was closing the front door.

“I’m not a bad guy, Kyle. You should know that,” Trenton said. “I mean, I know that you don’t know me that well, but you should know me enough to know that I’m not like Devin. Has Mancer not told you anything about me? We talk quite often, and I’m sure that he knows perfectly that I’m nothing bad.”

“But… Devin is a bad guy… He’s with that Dark Horses group…” Kyle sinabi quietly, not knowing how in the world to react to Trenton and to what he was saying. Trenton shook his head at what Kyle had said, however, which confused Kyle sa pamamagitan ng quite a bit.

“Devin’s not exactly a bad guy. You have the entirely wrong picture about the Dark Horses group, I’m just going to say that now,” Trenton said, which shocked Kyle as much as it confused him. “I mean… Ah, I don’t exactly know where to start with that. All I know to start with is that they’re not as bad as you think they are.”

“What do you mean? They’re not bad guys? How in the world are they not bad people…? They’ve kidnapped me a few times and fought with me and others at other occasions!” Kyle said.

“First of all, you don’t need to start with a higher volume in your voice,” Trenton said, referring to the last thing that Kyle just said. “Second of all, once again, they’re not as bad as you think. In fact, Devin is a really fun guy. …Honestly, you would probably think he’s much madami fun than I am. I have a tendency to be rather blunt.”

“Well, I’ve noticed the rather blunt part,” Kyle admitted. “But, Devin is a fun guy? How is that possible…? You’re still not telling me how in the world they’re not as bad as they seem.”

“Did Mancer tell you anything about mind control?” Trenton asked, ignoring Kyle’s tanong to ask his own question. Kyle froze slightly at what Trenton had said, slightly surprised sa pamamagitan ng the mention of Mancer’s name.

“Mancer? Um… Well, I know a few things about mind control myself. Mancer mentioned… something about mind control once, something that had to do with a guy named… Tempus, I think,” Kyle said. “Why do you ask? Also, I thought we were just talking about Devin and the Dark Horses group,” He added, sounding quite confused at Trenton’s sudden change in subject.

“Don’t worry, what I’m asking groups in with the topic on the Dark Horses,” Trenton said. Kyle didn’t seem to notice, but Trenton tensed at the mention of Tempus’ name, but he didn’t say anything about Tempus. “Anyway, you do know about mind control?”

“I know some things about mind control and stuff like that,” Kyle replied.

“Alright then, I brought up mind control because it groups in with the Dark Horses,” Trenton said. “The Dark Horses aren’t bad people at all. They’re all under someone’s little hypnotizing control. They’re not willing evil or bad, and I know that for a fact. Trust me on that.” Kyle’s eyes widened in shock at what Trenton had said.

“They’re really all under mind control control? You’re not lying to me about that?” Kyle asked, the shock in his voice quite obvious. Trenton shook his head to Kyle’s last question.

“No, I’m not lying to you. You have the choice to believe me or not, I suppose, since you seem to not trust me after finding out that I’m Devin’s twin brother, but I’m telling you anyway. I know my brother. I know he’s not like this for a complete fact,” Trenton said. “I know the rest of the Dark Horses as well, as in they were good mga kaibigan of my brother’s before they were all hypnotized, so I saw the rest of them and talked to the rest of them on quite a few occasions when they would come over to visit Devin.”

“You really know who they are? What exactly do you know about them?” Kyle asked; he was still feeling quite confused about what Trenton was telling him, but now he was also beginning to feel just a bit curious as to what all Trenton might know about the Dark Horses, and perhaps even Tempus.

“Well, I know their names obviously,” Trenton sinabi with a look of annoyance on his face. “I know other things about them as well, but that’s certainly something to start with if you ask me. I can tell you the most about Devin because, well… he IS my twin brother and I grew up with him, after all.”

“What are all of their names, again? …I can remember Devin and Vice, but I can’t exactly remember the names of the others,” Kyle said. “Also, did you know that they have all kinds of Rasoul powers? They were using Rasoul against me and the others who were fighting against them when we fought them together! …I’ve been jumped sa pamamagitan ng them a few times.”

“They have Rasoul energy because they’re Nighless,” Trenton said, which put a wide-eyed look on Kyle’s face. “Yes, they’re all Nighless. …You do know what Nighless are, right? I was sure that you would, since I knew that Mancer took you to the Rasoul Dimension. I was madami than sure that he would tell you what Nighless were if you saw one.”

“Yeah, I was told about the Nighless and stuff,” Kyle sinabi with a nod. His expression still showed that he seemed quite surprised, however. “They’re really all Nighless? How do you know that? Also, does that mean that you’re a Nighless as well since that would mean that Devin is a Nighless?”

“Yes, I’m a Nighless. I would have thought that you would have noticed that,” Trenton said. “I mean, I know that you just recently learned of the Nighless, but since I’m here, I thought you would have noticed. I have the snake pupils and snake fangs of a Nighless, plus I have Rasoul.”

“Alright then, I see. So you’re a Nighless as well,” Kyle said, observing Trenton’s face for a few short moments; he was indeed able to notice that Trenton had those snake-like eyes that he had seen on those Nighless citizens back in the Rasoul Dimension. “By the way, what are the Dark Horses’ members names, again? I asked you that a moment ago.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I forgot,” Trenton said, looking just a bit annoyed, though he was annoyed at himself instead of Kyle. “Their names are Astra, Sniper, Willow, and Azarika. And then there’s Devin and Vice, as I’m sure you already know that, but I still thought I would mention those two as well.”

“What can you tell me about those others in the Dark Horses group, other than the fact that they’re Nighless?” Kyle asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. “Also, are they really the only people in that group? Are they really that small, or do they have other people scattered about in other places?”

“As far as I know, those are the only six in the group, meaning that those six make up the entire Dark Horses group,” Trenton said. “That’s just as far as I know, however, so I could be a bit wrong on that. Anyway, what do you want me to tell you about them? I don’t know what exactly you want to hear.”

“Well, what do you think you could start with?” Kyle asked, to which Trenton just gave a sigh as he held his hand against his forehead.

“You’ve giving me a broad subject, you know. A very broad subject,” Trenton sinabi with another sigh, attempting to try to think of what he might be able to tell Kyle. “I could tell you what I know about them, as in their history and their personalities, I could give you a listahan of what Rasoul powers that I know that they can use, and… I don’t know, Kyle. You’re just giving me too broad of a subject.”

“Well, what can you tell me about their personalities and stuff like that? You can start with Devin if you want, assuming that he would be the easiest one for you to explain, or you could start with the one that you know the least about to get the hardest one… or the shortest one out of the way first,” Kyle said.

“If I had to tell you the one that I know the least about, that would be the one in the group who is named Azarika,” Trenton sinabi as he crossed his arms. “And, yes, Devin would indeed be the one that I know the most about. So, which one do you want me to tell about first? Either the one that I know the most about or either the one that I know the least about, take your pick.”

“Maybe you could start with Azarika?” Kyle said. “Maybe it would be best to start with the one that would be the quickest, and then describe the susunod quickest, and then so on?”

“I can do that if that’s what you want,” Trenton said, to which Kyle nodded his head to. Due to Kyle’s answer, the blonde-haired bat took a deep breath before starting to speak what information that he knew about Azarika. “Like I sinabi already, I don’t know that much about the guy. I know for a fact that his name is Azarika, and I know for a fact that he’s Nighless, but those are really the only things that I FOR SURE know. He’s just one of those people that… you never know what he’s thinking or what he’s going to do. I also honestly don’t know what in the world type of Nighless that he is; I mean, he seems to display all different kinds of Nighless traits, as if he was some kind of hybrid mix. Now, normally a hybrid mix between types of Nighless is perfectly normal, but from what I can tell, Azarika seems to display skills from just about every single kind of Nighless. He’s a very quiet person, and from what I could tell, Devin didn’t seem to know that much about the guy either. He doesn’t look like any sort of person I’ve ever seen before in my life, either… with his bright, glowing dayap green balahibo and his white neon eyes, his split tail, and the fact that he only had three fingers on each hand instead of normal five.”

“I thought Azarika was some kind of alien or some kind of strange creature that I had never seen before when I first saw him,” Kyle commented, listening to what Trenton was telling him.

“Well, he’s not an alien; he’s Nighless, but he’s definitely a bit different than the ordinary,” Trenton said. “Not that I’m saying anyone who is different is bad. I think different people are normally quite interesting, unless they give me a reason to THINK they’re bad, such as when they attack me or commit crimes. Anyway, before we get off subject, that’s about the only things that I can honestly tell you about Azarika. I’m trying to tell you what I know for facts, instead of just giving you assumptions and possibly false information.”

“Alright then, thank you for telling me what you do know, then,” Kyle sinabi with a small nod of his head. “Azarika seems… interesting, if he wasn’t coming after me in the Dark Horses group. Of course, they’re all coming after me right now, so I can’t really do much about that…” Normally Kyle might have still felt a bit suspicious of Trenton, and maybe he would even think that maybe if Devin was hypnotized, that maybe Trenton himself was as well, but it was beginning to slip his mind due to the fact that he was getting completely absorbed in the new information that Trenton was feeding to him. “I don’t know, he just sounds like one of those people that I would either want to stay far away from, or he sounds like one of those people who I would really, really want to learn madami about.”

“Well, I can’t exactly say the exact same for me,” Trenton said. “Azarika gave me the creeps often to be completely honest with you. He STILL freaks me out, actually. Anyway, once again before we get off subject, I can ilipat onto Devin if you want that, or I can ilipat on to the susunod one that I know the least about.”

“How about the susunod one that you know the least about? Who would that be?” Kyle asked, turning his head to look at Devin. His eyes showed a twinkle of curiosity, obviously ipinapakita that he was interested in learning madami about the rest of the Dark Horses group.

“If I had to pick the susunod one that I know the least about, it would most likely be the girl in the group named Sniper,” Trenton said. “I know she’s a Nighless as well, but I also noticed that she has a few robotic features. For instance, she has a robotic eye, which helps her see in the dark and helps her aim when she has to use a weapon or a gun of some sort.”

“I think I saw that robotic eye before,” Kyle said, rubbing his chin slightly as he attempted to think back to his encounters with the Dark Horses group so far. “Is that all she can do with that eye? Or are there other things that she can do as well alongside what you just told me?”

“I’m not honestly sure what else she can do with it,” Trenton sinabi with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Like I said, she’s the one that I know the susunod least about, so obviously I don’t know much madami about her than I do Azarika. I’m not honestly sure what all that robotic eye can do for her, and I’m not sure what happened to GIVE her that eye, if she Nawawala her regular eye, that is.”

“Do you think she Nawawala her eye? Or do you think she just wanted to have the robot eye to do stuff, like helping her with mga baril and things such as that?” Kyle asked, curious as to what Trenton’s guess or opinion on Sniper’s robotic eye was going to be.

“I can’t say I know any really personal things about her, and I can’t say that I particularly want to discuss private things of her either, as it bothers me to be talking about private information of another person, especially a woman,” Trenton said, to which Kyle thought about for a moment. Kyle then nodded his head to agree with what Trenton had said, also stating that he didn’t like invading a female’s privacy as well. “Anyway, as far as her personality goes, she’s normally a fairly nice person. I would say she’s just a bit shy normally, so sometimes it can be a bit hard to talk to her. She’s also not as… er… risk-taking, if you want to call it that, as Astra and Willow are. She’s also a really good cook. …I know that last part doesn’t really have anything to do with the other stuff, but it’s still a bit of information about her. Now, she’s also quite good with mga baril and weapons, as I’m sure you already noticed.”

“Alright then,” Kyle nodded his head to what Trenton had said, taking in the information about Sniper. “Is that all that you have to say about her? Or did you have some other info to tell me about her?”

“I would say that’s about it,” Trenton replied. “If I’m forgetting something, then I’m sorry, but I can’t remember any more, if I know any madami about her, that is. The susunod one on the listahan would be… Willow, most likely.”

“Aright then, I’m ready to hear what you know about her then if you’re ready to tell me what you know about her,” Kyle said, waiting for Trenton to begin speaking what he knew about the female cat from the Dark Horses group.

“Willow is a bit of a… well, she’s quite stealthy,” Trenton began, trying to think of a way to explain what kind of person Willow was. “She’s quite stealthy in the fact that she seems to ipakita up often and spook you due to the fact that you don’t even know that she’s behind you. She’s also quite mischievous, which helps in the fact that she likes to sneak up on you and play pranks. She’s quite nice, and she has a good sense of humor, so if you enjoy games and joking around, then she’s a pretty good friend to make. She seems to quite enjoy laughing and being around other people. …Speaking of stealthy, she’s very good at actual stealth, as well. Not just sneaking up behind you and pranking you, she’s also good at actually sneaking into places or sneaking up behind someone to attack them or something such as that seriously,” He said. He took a small sigh before speaking to Kyle again. “I’m honestly not great with describing people. I feel like this isn’t going well at all.”

“It’s going fine enough,” Kyle said. “I’m not exactly great with describing people either, so this sounds perfectly fine to me. I’m still learning some things about them that I didn’t know about before, so it’s definitely not a waste or anything such as that.”

“I suppose when it is put like that, I’m not wasting your time…” Trenton said, attempting to think over who he had already told Kyle about, and who he still needed to talk about. “The susunod one would be… Astra, I think. Either Astra or Vice, they’re somewhat on the same level as in how much I know about them.”

“I suppose it can be whichever one that you think is the best one to say first,” Kyle said. “I doubt I know what you know about them, so… I can’t really tell you which one that I think you should tell me first…”

“I’ll just go with Astra so we’re not sitting here all day,” Trenton sinabi through a slight sigh. “Astra is very loyal, I’ll tell you that right now. She’s very loyal to her mga kaibigan and her superiors if she’s working a job. She’ll try her best to stand beside mga kaibigan and protect them, and so she very much enjoys being around friends. She’s a nice person as well and actually quite smart when it comes to kalye smarts. She’s quite cunning as well, which I would say is probably working to her advantage right now while she’s in the Dark Horses… Anyway, she’s also a pretty good fighter. I believe that she told me once that she wanted to be a Nighless Guard in the Rasoul Dimension once before, so as far as I know, she’s done quite a bit of Rasoul training, which means that she has fairly trained fighting skills and Rasoul abilities. Basically what it comes down to, you might want to watch out for her due to how loyal she is to Vice and her team, and due to the fact that she has pretty good Rasoul powers and fighting skills.”

“Alright then, that leaves Vice, right?” Kyle asked, thinking over what he had just been told about Astra. He figured that she would be quite dangerous due to having special training. He figured that Astra would have quite a bit of stamina to spend as well. While he was learning madami and madami new things about the Dark Horses, he was now curious to find out what Trenton knew about Vice, and what he had to say about the Dark Horses leader.

“Yes, Vice is the last one that I know of, since I think there are only six of them in the group,” Trenton said. “Not counting Devin, of course. We already decided that we were going to speak about him last, after all. Anyway, Vice is… hm, how do I say this, a bit… unpredictable. He can be sensitive over certain instances or he can get completely angry and frustrated over them. Basically his emotions have a bit of a tendency to jump around depending on the situation at hand. He can be a nice guy, but… well, he’s a little on the meaner side compared to the other Dark Horses. He’s quite fit, meaning that he’s most likely done a lot of exercise to stay in shape and to gain madami strength. He also has extremely powerful Rasoul energy, and when I say extremely, I MEAN extremely. I’ve seen him blast through all kinds of different things before, ranging from small wood planks up to brick walls made for training. I…” Trenton paused for a moment, as if trying to think over what he was about to say. “…can’t say that I know exactly why his Rasoul energy is so powerful, but my guess is that he’s had a lot of training with it before.”

“I see…” Kyle said, thinking over what he was being told about Vice. “Do you know anything else about him? Do you know why he’s the leader in the group? Is it simply because he’s got all of that power in Rasoul? Or are there other reasons why he’s the leader as well?”

“From what I’ve seen, he’s a pretty good leader alone,” Trenton replied. “If you take away all of his power, he seems to be quite good at being a leader and helping lead a group of people. He seems to be fairly good at solving arguments, at least some of the time. He does have quite a bit of a… temper to him, but he still seems to be quite good at being a responsible leader when he’s asked to or has to take charge. I could tell that he had a trust and friendship with all of the other Dark Horses, so I would say that kind of explains why they’re all a team now that they’re under brainwashing control…”

“Is that all that you have to say about Vice?” Kyle asked.

“That’s pretty much the highlight things that I can tell you…” Trenton sinabi as he looked to the side just slightly. “I can’t say that I know anything else about Vice, or at least I can’t say that I think I have anything else important to tell you about him. I know a few other things, but those are just mostly hobbies that I know that he enjoys. It’s not really important to his personality or powers.”

“Well, maybe his hobbies could say where he likes to hang out, if he enjoys going to certain places,” Kyle sinabi with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “Not that it’s important, but if I ever had to look for him, maybe I could find him in those places. I don’t know.”

“Whatever you want to do, I suppose. I personally wouldn’t go looking for him while he’s commanding the Dark Horses,” Trenton sinabi as he shrugged as well. “Anyway, I suppose that leaves Devin as the last one that I can tell you about. I obviously know the most about him since, well, you know he’s my brother.”

“I’m waiting,” Kyle said, waiting patiently for Trenton to begin speaking about his twin brother Devin. He had learned a bit about the other Dark Horses members, so now he was curious to know about Devin, especially since Trenton knew the most about the Dark Horses bat. “I mean, I’m not rushing or anything like that, but I was just trying to let you know that I’m still waiting and listening to what you have to say about the Dark Horses.”

Trenton nodded his head to what Kyle had said, before taking a small sigh to start with the last explanation. He was honestly getting a bit tired with all of the talking and explaining that he was doing. “Like how it’s been sinabi multiple times, Devin is my twin brother, and we’re both Nighless, so I suppose that’s what we can start with on the paglalarawan there. Devin loves to laugh and have fun, and he’s a bit of a prankster himself. I can certainly say he’s, well, much nicer than I am. I’ve been told I’m quite blunt,” Trenton said, watching as Kyle nodded his head slightly to the last thing that Trenton had said. “Yes, I thought so. Anyway, Devin is a pretty nice guy, and I’ll admit that his constant laughing and happy attitude gets on my nerves to be completely honest with you…”

“Well, I personally enjoy laughing and having fun,” Kyle said. “I understand that it could get to some people who are madami quiet and serious, but I personally like it…”

“Yes, I know, I understand that different people have different opinions,” Trenton said. “I just personally like madami quiet situations. Anyway, I will say that Devin will do just about anything for a friend or someone he knows well if it’s reasonable, such as helping them carry something or make something. He’s quite social, and he absolutely hates being alone and sitting sa pamamagitan ng himself. I’ll also say that he’s much madami physically stronger than me, as he also enjoys working out and exercise. He’s pretty smart, too, and he comes up with quite good strategies when thrown in a situation that a strategy is needed. He has fairly powerful Rasoul energy as well, and he knows quite a few different techniques when it comes to Rasoul. I remember that the last time I saw him before he was taken under control, he was trying to develop his own Rasoul move, which is possible if you know how Rasoul works and know how to use it very well. He’s been able to beat me in quite a few physical contests before, though I say that I’ve been him in one or two Rasoul contests before, however. He certainly plays fair, though, and he’s not a sore loser sa pamamagitan ng one bit. …Well, that’s about all that I can think of right now. Plus, I’m dying of boredom from all of the talking, and it’s even beginning to make my throat just a bit sore,” He added through a sigh. “Is that enough for you? Or was there something else you wanted to hear?”

“I think that’s about it. I can’t really think of nothing much else to ask from you…” Kyle sinabi as he scratched the side of his head slightly. “Thank you for all of the information, Trenton. I think it’s really interesting to be learning all of this about the Dark Horses. …But, wow, it really surprises me that they’re under a hypnotizing control and not actually evil. I didn’t honestly expect that.”

“I didn’t expect it either,” Trenton sinabi through a sigh. “It’s like Devin was there one moment, and then the susunod moment he was beating me down and telling me that he had to go and meet with his ‘boss’. I honestly had no idea what in the world had happened until I was told sa pamamagitan ng some… other witnesses later on, who knew exactly what had happened. That was also when I found out that the rest of Devin’s mga kaibigan had been taken under control as well.”

“Who told you that they were under control? Was it someone that I know like Mancer or something like that?” Kyle asked just out of simple curiosity.

“It was just some witnesses,” Trenton said. “Just some regular Nighless citizens who knew my brother and me, and apparently knew the other Dark Horses members as well. I suppose you could say that those citizens are acquaintances of mine as well.”

“Oh, alright then,” Kyle said. He thought over everything he had been told once again, his eyes closing just slightly as he thought. “Once again, thank you very much for the information. It definitely makes me think a few different things about the Dark Horses group. It almost makes me want to figure out a way to maybe snap them out of that mind control…”

“You want to try to snap them out of their mind control? Even though you barely know them? I’m going to guess you’ve only really run into them, and never talked to them THAT much, right?” Trenton asked, looking just slightly surprised. Kyle nodded his head to the tanong that Trenton had asked. “Then why exactly do you want to try to snap them out of their mind control? I mean, if you barely know them, why try so hard to help them?”

“First of all, I’m a bit shocked that you would say something like that,” Kyle said, his ears drooping down towards his head. “I can’t believe you don’t think that I would want to help someone. I’m a good guy, Trenton. I try to help people if I can whenever I find out that something is wrong or if they’re in trouble. If they’re honestly under mind control, and being forced to do the evil things that they’re doing, then I want to try my best to find out a way to break that mind control and help them out. Plus, I’m surprised that you haven’t been trying to bring Devin out of his mind control. He’s your brother! If my brother or sister were under some kind of crazy mind control that made them think they were villains, I would be trying my absolute best to bring them back to normal as soon as possible!” As he thought about the thought of Daniel or Avina being put under mind control, he tensed up when he thought back to when he first met Virus. He remembered what she had done to Ruby and I2 to make them attack, and he remembered that he got I2 back, but now I2 was so different… His ears drooped flat against his head as he tried to push the thoughts away to avoid getting upset or angry in front of Trenton.

Trenton did notice that Kyle seemed to tense up, however, and he did notice that Kyle’s ears droop against his head as his facial expression changed to look a bit madami saddened. “I understand everything you’re saying, Kyle, and I do want to get my brother back to normal, but I don’t know how. That’s the big problem. Also, are you alright? After what you said, you suddenly look so sad.”

“I’m… okay,” Kyle said. “Something just popped into mind. It’s personal and has to do with some things that have been going on in my life recently. I’d rather not talk about it if that’s alright with you.”

“Well, it’s obviously fine. I wouldn’t want to invade something personal,” Trenton sinabi as he tilted his head to the side. “Anyway, I do want to get my brother back, and if I got him back, I’m sure he would want to get the others, AKA his mga kaibigan back as well. I just hope that we can.”

“Well, I’m sure we can,” Kyle said. “I mean, I don’t know if we can, but… mind control is usually never permanent, so surely there’s something that we can do to bring them out of it.”

“Perhaps,” Trenton sinabi as he seemed to drift off into thought for a moment. He stayed quiet and still until he glanced over towards the nearby pader clock, and then looked at what time it was. “Well, I should probably be going now. I’ve been here for a little while telling you all of that about the Dark Horses. It’s been enjoyable to be able to talk to you, though.”

“Thank you once madami for everything that you told me, Trenton. I honestly really do appreciate it,” Kyle sinabi as he watched Trenton get up and walk over to the front door of the house. “Also, I’m… sorry that I was so worried about you being evil. I couldn’t help being cautious, when I found out that the seemingly evil Devin was your twin brother…"

“I don’t blame you,” Trenton sinabi as he put his hand on the doorknob of the front door. He turned his head back to look at Kyle, giving a small nod towards the yellow hedgehog. “I’ll see you at school. Later, Kyle.” Kyle sinabi his goodbyes to the blonde haired bat as he watched Trenton open the front door and walk out, closing the door behind him. After Trenton left, Kyle sat back for a moment to think over what he had been told once more. He was honestly still quite shocked to find out why the Dark Horses were doing what they were doing; they were under mind control, and now he knew that. He couldn’t help but wonder who had them under mind control, and he wondered if it was anyone he knew. He should have asked Trenton that question, but he hadn’t thought about it, and now the bat was gone.


................................................................................



Inside the Dark Horses HQ, Vice stood with his Dark Horses team in the middle of a large, living room-like area in the building; well, he stood with almost his entire team, as Azarika was not there at the current moment. In fact, Vice was sitting with his foot tapping up and down in annoyance, as he was waiting for the Dark Horses soro to ipakita up. The other Dark Horses were dotted about the room; Sniper lay on the couch, Willow stood against the back wall, Astra sat watching the pader clock tick, and Devin paced around the room; they were all trying to wait patiently for Azarika to ipakita up, but they were all starting to get a bit annoyed as well due to all of the waiting.

“Now where in the world is that fox,” Vice grumbled, crossing his arms in anger. “He told me that he would come right to help me as soon as I called for him! He told me that he had to go do something, but that he would be ready to come back and help me as soon as I called for him. I’ve tried calling him a few different times now and he won’t answer his phone!”

“Did he honestly tell you that he would come back and help as soon as you told him that you were ready?” Astra asked, turning her head slightly to look at the very angry and annoyed Vice.

“Yes, he did! That was the agreement we made!” Vice replied angrily. “I told him that if he went off to do his own thing, he had to come back here and help as soon as I called him back! And now he won’t answer his phone!”

“Some help he’s good for, then,” Devin commented, shaking his head slightly. “I’m not saying that Azarika isn’t useful, but he doesn’t seem to be very on time most of the time. I mean, you ask him to do something, and he either doesn’t ipakita up and you have to do it yourself or it takes him forever to ever ipakita up.”

I agree with what you all said. I think Azarika can be useful as he’s quite intelligent, but I certainly agree on the part where you all sinabi that he’s never on time or makes us wait forever on him. If I had to change one thing about him, that’s definitely what I would change.”

“Sorry to interrupt you, Vice, but what are you going to do now?” Willow questioned. “Are you going to try to call Azarika again? Or are we simply just going to stand around and wait until he finally does decide to ipakita his face to you?”

“I was thinking of calling him a few madami times, but if he still doesn’t answer his phone, then we don’t have any other choice other than waiting for him, considering that I have no idea where in the world he’s gone,” Vice sinabi as he began dialing Azarika’s number into his phone once more. He held the phone up to his ear, waiting for the Dark Horses soro to answer, but he still didn’t receive a call from the fox. He released a sigh before dialing the number a few madami times in an attempt to contact Azarika; every time he called, he was unable to receive an answer and instead just gave up and put his phone away.

“Let me guess, he still didn’t answer his phone,” Astra said, watching the look of annoyance and anger on Vice’s face twist into an even angrier and madami annoyed face as soon as he got off the phone. “I didn’t hear you talking obviously, so I figured that he didn’t answer, or that he answered and immediately hung up on you before you could speak.”

“Go with your first guess. That’s the correct one,” Vice replied bluntly, the annoyance and anger in his voice very obvious. He sat down in a nearby chair, just leaning back with a sigh. He looked up at the ceiling, feeling quite angry at the fact that Azarika was not answering his phone. He remembered Azarika telling him that he would be there when they were ready to continue with the plan, but yet the soro would not answer his phone.

A few madami minutos continued passing sa pamamagitan ng as everyone sat in silence, still waiting for Azarika to either call back or ipakita up; Vice figured that surely Azarika would see all of his missed calls if he checked his phone and call back, or at least come back to the HQ. Vice was beginning to grow madami and madami impatient, and so were the Dark Horses members as well. They all sat in silence, until Astra decided to attempt to break the silence.

“And he’s still not here,” Astra sinabi in a flat tone, which caused Vice to release an angry sigh. “Are you sure we can’t just ilipat on without him, Vice? Do you really need him here to do… whatever in the world that you were planning on doing? Is Azarika absolutely needed?”

“Yes, he is. I still need to talk to him about what the plan is to use the Rasoulin Seeker’s energy,” Vice sinabi through a sigh. “I also wanted all of you here to help and to act as guards, just in case the Seeker was to try to escape. As powerful as I am, Rasoulin Seekers can be a real handful to deal with alone.”

“How strong are they exactly?” Devin asked, tilting his head to the side. “I don’t really know if I’ve ever seen a Rasoul Seeker in action of any kind before. Are they really that powerful?”

“Yes, they are,” Vice replied. “Rasoulin Seekers are some of the strongest Nighless species that there are, not counting the heads of the Rasoul Dimension. Rasoulin Seekers have very powerful Rasoul energy that is further increased under moonlight, making them even madami powerful. On tuktok of that, they’re basically Bampira who can feed on Rasoul energy.”

“I knew the vampire part,” Devin said. “They honestly get stronger during the night while they’re in moonlight? Do you have any idea what makes their Rasoul work like that?”

“I have theories, a few of them actually,” Vice said. “But most of them have to do with some vampire-related things, such as that the fact that some Bampira are sinabi to not be able to come out under the sun. Some Bampira can only come out in shade or night. Maybe the Rasoulin Seekers’ Rasoul energy simply works that way.” His ears suddenly stood up as he finished what he was saying, and he turned his head to the side slightly, looking over at the nearby door.

“You sinabi theories,” Willow pointed out. “Are you not going to us those other theories as well? I noticed that you stopped talking there after you finished with that first theory of yours.” She noticed that Vice had turned his head, but she didn’t really know why he was doing so.

“Maybe later if I remember,” Vice said.

“Do you think you should try to call Azarika again?” Sniper asked Vice, tilting her head to the side slightly. Her facial expression showed that she still seemed to be a bit tired. She raised her hand up and rubbed her non-robotic eye slightly before releasing a quiet sigh. “It’s been a little bit since you last called him, so… I thought maybe you could try to call him again and since if he answered this time…”

“Did you also ever think about the fact that maybe Azarika’s phone is turned off?” Devin commented. “Maybe Azarika has his phone turned off, or maybe he has the phone ringer on silence so he can’t hear when you’re calling him. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t answered any of your calls, Vice.”

“Hm… Devin’s right about that,” Willow said. “Maybe Azarika doesn’t have his phone or the sound on his phone… on.”

“It’s not that hard to forget things under stress,” Astra said. “Maybe Azarika is off doing something that has him quite stressed. Maybe he’s forgotten to be waiting for your call if he’s under a lot of stress or pressure right now.”

“That doesn’t explain to me why he would turn his phone off,” Vice said. “I mean, if he suddenly got under stress, why would he just suddenly reach into his pocket, take out his phone, and then turn it off?”

“Maybe it was turned off before he even left here,” Astra pointed out. “Maybe his phone was on silent or maybe it was turned off before he even left, and maybe he’s forgotten that it was off and has forgotten to turn it back on for whatever reasons.”

“When do you think the guy will actually be back? I mean, how long has he actually been gone?” Devin said. “Surely he can’t be gone THAT much longer. Surely it’s not like he’s out hunting someone down or something such as that. Plus, if that was the case, then surely he would have taken us with him so we could all go!”

“I don’t think he’s out looking for someone, but then again, I never honestly know what in the world is going on inside Azarika’s head,” Vice sinabi through a sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if he even pays attention to what I say to him. He seems to, as he can always retell me what I told him if I ask him, and he almost always comes up with a workable plan when I tell him to, so I believe he does hear me, but moments like these make me wonder if he really does.”

“He never seems to pay attention to me either,” Astra said. All of the Dark Horses members wound up saying that Azarika barely paid attention to them either. They all continued talking and arguing about Azarika for a while longer, not even realizing the time that was going by, until a loud voice rose up above the others to grab attention.

“Oh please, I pay madami attention than all of you are letting on. I am highly intelligent, and I have a very high alertness. I always listen to everything that each of you say, and I’m always coming up with plans or responses to what you’re going to say even if you have not finished speaking. I may not be a genius, or some kind of rocket scientist, but I am smart enough to do what I am told to do. Also, I’m actually quite punctual. I even ipakita up early for many, many occasions,” The voice said, silencing everyone in the room; the voice belonged to Azarika.

Every head in the room quickly looked around, attempting to find the pinagmulan of the voice. They couldn’t see Azarika anywhere in the room, so they figured that he was at least close sa pamamagitan ng to where they were. They also realized that Azarika must have been there for quite some time to hear almost everything that they were saying, which made Vice quite angry when he realized this.

“Azarika! How long have you actually been here?! I was throwing an absolute fit because you weren’t here and wouldn’t answer your phone!” Vice shouted angrily, not having any idea where Azarika was yet. The yelling caused the other Dark Horses members to cover their ears in discomfort. “If you’re able to respond to that much, then you’ve heard quite a bit of that conversation!”

“There is not a need to shout, Vice,” Azarika’s voice said, sounding almost just a tad annoyed at Vice’s yelling tone. “Yes, I have been here for a bit and listening to your conversation. I was going to walk in and say that I was here, but when I noticed all of you were talking about me, I decided to stay here and listen to what you had to say about me. Also, I do not like to speak about myself and make myself sound higher than anyone else any bit whatsoever, so ignore mostly of what I first said. I was simply trying to state that I am not an idiot and I know perfectly well to listen to what everyone has to say and so on.”

“Then why in the world have you not answered your phone or walked in here in the first place?!” Vice hissed through his teeth, still sounding and looking quite angry at the Dark Horses fox. “If you listen to what I say, then why didn’t you listen to what I sinabi earlier?! I told you to come back and help me when I had gotten everyone else gathered up and was ready to proceed with the plan with the Seeker!”

“And I came back, did I not?” Azarika sinabi as he stepped into the room; he had been standing outside the room susunod to the doorway the entire time while he was listening and talking. He didn’t look quite the same as when he had left however; he had taken the hood of his magsuot ng bata off, and he unbuttoned the magsuot ng bata as well, which was left open like a long coat. Underneath the robe, he was a bright dayap green colored soro with a balahibo that almost seemed to shine or glow under light. He had bright neon white eyes, which didn’t appear to have an eye or a pupil of any kind. He also had an X-shaped scar that was located on his forehead above his eyes. He wore a darker blue mahabang manggas sando that had a white X disensyo across the chest of it, and white jeans that had blackish bands on the knees. He didn’t wear shoes of any kind, which left him barefoot; he also didn’t have any gloves on. He also wore a white scarf around his neck. He also had a large soro tail that seemed to be split at the end, almost appearing as if he had two pieces of a tail. All of the Dark Horses had to stop and stare at Azarika for a few short moments.

Vice was a bit surprised that the glowing soro had unbuttoned and taken down his hood, but sinabi nothing vocal. Azarika did notice Vice’s eyes widening, but sinabi nothing either.

“No one saw you in public like that, did they? I don’t want you to be getting recognized sa pamamagitan ng anyone anytime soon. We’re already in trouble with police anyway,” Vice said, narrowing his eyes at Azarika with a frown on his face.

“Not as far as I know,” Azarika replied, crossing his arms. “I only just unbuttoned the magsuot ng bata when I arrived here, for your information. I wore the magsuot ng bata the entire time while I was in public, and even then, I stayed in the shadows, not on the sidewalks. I highly doubt anyone was able to see me.”

“Well, I suppose I could have thought of that myself. Of course you would have stayed in the shadows,” Vice said, his expression still angry, but no longer narrowed at Azarika. “Anyway, I still want to know why in the world you didn’t answer my calls or why you didn’t just come on in and walk in the room.”

“My phone was on silent, so I was unable to see your calls until I just happened to check my phone when I overheard you talking with the others,” Azarika replied, with made Vice release a sigh of anger. “I left the phone on silent because I was sure that I would be back before you needed to call me, due to the fact that I did not think that I would be gone for long. Plus, due to what I was doing, I needed to keep my phone on silent and could not turn the sound on."

“You cannot punish me for not turning the sound of my cellphone. I have done nothing wrong, and I arrived here to help you. If you do not want my help and simply want to sit there and gripe at me, then maybe I should just simply turn and leave.

Azarika feared he was beginning to ramble but he wanted to make sure the lesson was learned. The other Dark Horses were becoming a tad shocked sa pamamagitan ng his rebellious attitude towards his leader, and Azarika could not hold back a smug feeling from feeling the same way.

“Now, I could not turn it on due to the fact that I was attempting to stay hidden. Like you sinabi before, I was attempting to stay in the shadows and go unnoticed, so if I turned on the noise, the sound would have gone off and would have attracted attention. I know that many people talk on their cellphones all the time, so that would not have been anything out of the ordinary, but the fact that I was hiding in the shadows and the fact that I was dressed in a black magsuot ng bata like a mysterious stand-out would most certainly attract attention, and people would not realize I was there unless my cellphone rang. Do you see the point that I am attempting to make?”

Vice thought over what Azarika had said, especially the last few things that he said, before releasing a quiet sigh with a slight nod. “Yes, I can see your point, and you’re right. I suppose your phone going off while you were trying to stay hidden would defeat you’re hiding. Like you said, I’m sure people would have ringing phones often in public, but you’re right, it would attract attention to you if you were trying to stay hidden, since it would be coming from someone who was hiding in the shadows and wearing a mysterious robe. Alright then, I… suppose I can forgive you for that since you made your point, but I’m still not happy with you.”

Azarika was not satisfied with Vice’s anger towards him, but he restrained himself. There was business to attend to. His own expression however was very poorly hidden. Vice could see how irritated his words had made Azarika, and could think of nothing madami to say that would not drag the conversation into a pointless circle.

“Let’s just drop it, alright?” Vice sinabi with a sigh. “I know I asked you, but now at this point, I’m afraid this conversation might just run in circles so let’s just drop it and ilipat on to what I wanted to speak about. I would say we’re all ready to attempt to do something with the Seeker’s Rasoul.”

“I had a few ideas to suggest on how we can do that,” Azarika began talking, but Vice held up a finger to silence the Dark Horses soro before he could continue speaking. Azarika raised an eye brow up towards Vice in slight confusion, confused as to why he would be told to be quiet if he was going to suggest ideas on what they could do.

“I have my own ideas as well, Azarika. While I don’t particularly want to interrupt you, I have something to say before you start with your ideas as well,” Vice replied, which caused Azarika to frown slightly. “I do believe I can work with the Seeker’s energy on my own.”

What Vice sinabi caused Azarika to look quite surprised, but a bit angry faced at the same time. “If you have figured out a way to do it on your own, then why were you so bent on getting me here to help you? You could have just done it on your own if that was the case.”

“No, I needed all of you here for guarding purposes, and to help me if needed,” Vice said. “Just because I think I can work with the Seeker’s energy on my own doesn’t mean that I can. Something could still go wrong, or the Seeker could still try to escape, so I need a bit of help just in case.”

“Just in case?” Azarika questioned. “I am not attempting to go against you here, but if you think that you are so confident in being able to do this, then again, why do you need us to be there and/or be guards for you while you attempt to work with the Seeker’s Rasoul?”

“I sinabi I believe I can do something with the Seeker on my own; I never sinabi I could and never sinabi I was confident,” Vice said. “Plus, while I’m trying it, if I break focus, it will stop working, as I’ve used this power before. If I break focus, it will kanselahin what I’m doing. If the Seeker tried to escape, it would break my focus when I would have to leap or run to catch or stop the Seeker from getting away.”

Azarika thought over what Vice was saying, closing his eyes slightly as he went into a deep, but brief, thought. “…I see. Alright then, I suppose that makes madami sense. That does explain why you need all of us to stand guard, but I do not feel like that explains why you need me specifically. Would the others have not been enough guards to prevent the Rasoulin Seeker from escaping? If so, why did you need to wait until I arrived?”

“I can’t work with the Seeker’s energy alone. I could kanselahin it or absorb it, but I can’t channel it,” Vice said. “I was wondering if you could channel the energy, as I don’t honestly know what you can do and what you can’t do, Azarika.”

Azarika stood in complete silence for a few moments, almost as if completely surprised sa pamamagitan ng what Vice had said. He took a breath as if he was about to say something, but then he paused back into silence for a few madami moments, before finally deciding to speak. “The way you were just talking, I was madami that sure that you could work with the Rasoul Seeker’s Rasoul. Can you not do what you just told me?”

Vice released a sigh, rubbing his hand against his temple in what appeared to be annoyance. “I can… somewhat work with the Seeker’s energy on my own, but I need help from someone or something that can channel the Seeker’s energy. Like I just said, I have the ability to kanselahin out or absorb another person’s Rasoul, but I can’t channel it OUT of the Seeker, and I highly doubt he would just willingly give me a piece of his Rasoul energy to work with.”

“And you think that I can channel the Rasoulin Seeker’s Rasoul?” Azarika asked, tilting his head to the side just slightly, though Vice didn’t notice right away that he did. “Are you just going to make that leap of thought and guess that I can channel the Rasoulin Seeker’s Rasoul?”

“Don’t judge me for it,” Vice sinabi as he crossed his arms with a frown. “Like I sinabi before, I don’t know what you can do and what you can’t do, so I was wondering if you could do such a thing to help me. I thought that maybe you might sa pamamagitan ng some chance have a power that would allow you to do so, or I thought that maybe you could at least make a machine or make something that could channel the Rasoul.”

Azarika stayed quiet for a few moments, thinking over what his response was going to be towards Vice before releasing what sounded like a sigh, though his facial expression never changed. “I have a small idea for what we can do, though I cannot say that it will work. I have never honestly tried it before.”

“Can you not tell me what it is, at least?” Vice asked, noticing that Azarika didn’t say what he could do in the last thing that he spoke. “Also, do you think you could pull it off, or do you think that you’re going to need to practice and put us even FURTHER behind?” He asked, sounding a bit angered as he sinabi that last part. Azarika didn’t respond right away to Vice, which made the Dark Horses leader think that the latter might be the one that was going to be picked.

Azarika took a deep breath before deciding to speak with his boss, seeming like he was beginning to get quite annoyed at the conversation that was going back and forth. “I can attempt to try it out whenever you are ready, since I can tell how impatient you are growing.”

“Well, after waiting what felt like a few hours on you specifically, I have grown quite impatient,” Vice sinabi through a frown as he stood up from where he was sitting and turned towards the door. “Is everyone ready to work with me? None of you are going to leave on me, are you?”

“No, sir, we’re not going to leave you. We’re all ready to work,” Every Dark Horses member in the room spoke except for Azarika, which caused Vice to turn his head at look towards the Dark Horses soro and gave a glare towards the fact that the soro did not speak.

“Azarika?” The Dark Horses leader asked in a stern voice as he continued to glare at the Dark Horses fox, who simply just kept staring pasulong and did not turn his head to look at Vice. Azarika simply silently walked over towards the exit of the room before giving a very small nod with his head, though he still never spoke a word to Vice.

“Do you think he was nodding to the fact that he would help, or just nodding to say that he heard you say his name?” Astra asked, turning her head to look at Vice as she walked towards the door along with the other Dark Horses. Vice simply shook his head at Astra, simply stating that he didn’t know what was going on in Azarika’s mind.

“Let’s at least hope that he won’t leave again, right?” Devin said.

“The Rasoulin Seeker is being held in the lower cells, correct? In the higher protected cells?” Azarika suddenly questioned, which caused a few of the Dark Horses to turn their heads and look at Azarika with a slight bit of surprise on their faces. Vice reacted with a bit of surprise himself before deciding to speak to the Dark Horses fox.

“And how exactly do you know that, Azarika? You’re correct, but how do you know that? I don’t remember telling you where the Seeker was. I only remember telling you that I had captured the Seeker, but unless my memory is going bad and I’ve forgotten, I don’t remember ever telling you where the Seeker was being held.”

“I know my way around our base, Vice. Not to patronize but I’m certain everyone here has at least searched for the Seeker’s holding cell, to say nothing of those who found it, namely myself,” Azarika informed, keeping his eyes pasulong as he turned with the rest of the Dark Horses and began walking through the different hallways on their way to go lower into the HQ to go to the Rasoulin Seeker’s cell. All of the other Dark Horses members except for Azarika were all curious to see what Vice was going to do, but Azarika himself chewed on the side of his lip just slightly, as if he was nervous about what his boss had planned.

“Alright then, I’m going to believe you, and I’m going to hope that Seeker is still asleep,” Vice sinabi with a sigh. “That would make this whole thing much easier if that Seeker is still asleep, but if he’s not… then, well, I suppose we’ll just have to attempt to make this work in any way possible.”

“A simply round of tranquilizer darts would fix that,” Sniper suggested. “That is unless you have other things planned.”

“You’ll all get to see what I have planned as long as it works, don’t worry,” Vice sinabi as he turned his head to look at Sniper slightly. He turned his head back to looking forward, continuing to walk through the hallways and down staircases to get to the lower cells of the HQ where the Rasoulin Seeker was being held. “As long as it works, that is.”

“Surely we can figure out something that will work,” Azarika nagkomento quietly. He waited for a few moments, but Vice didn’t respond back and simply kept talking to the other Dark Horses, so he assumed that Vice didn’t hear him. Azarika didn’t decide to say what he sinabi again, however, deciding to just leave it alone. None of the other Dark Horses members appeared to hear what Azarika had said, either.

After a few madami minutos of going through the HQ, the Dark Horses arrived at the lower cells where the Rasoulin Seeker was being held. They walked down the stairs and passed sa pamamagitan ng many empty cells, listening quietly for any sounds that would indicate that the Rasoulin Seeker was awake. They were unable to hear any sounds that indicated that the Seeker might be awake, but Azarika very quietly advised the others that they should remain cautious and quiet just in case the Seeker actually was awake and waiting for them.

The Dark Horses continued down the row of cells, heading towards one of the very heavily protected cells; the cell was heavily protected sa pamamagitan ng very thick, strong bars and a very strong metal door. It wasn’t impossible to break out of that cell, but it was certainly extremely difficult to do so and it would require a lot of energy and/or strength to break through it. Most people would not be able to break those bars and door, or at least that is what Vice thought. Arriving at one of the cells that was towards the end of the row, the Dark Horses all turned to look inside of the cell, and what they saw inside was the Rasoulin Seeker that Vice had captured, who still appeared to be asleep. A grin spread across Vice’s face when he saw that the Seeker still seemed to be asleep.

“So I believe the Seeker is still asleep,” Vice sinabi quietly, still wearing the grin on his face. He listened for any sounds out of the ordinary, but he was only able to hear the breathing from the Dark Horses, the Rasoulin Seeker, and himself. He turned his head towards Sniper, giving a small nod towards her. “You did well with making a tranquilizer powerful enough to keep him asleep this long.” Sniper responded with a thank you nod.

“What are you planning on doing?” Astra asked quietly, turning her head to look at the Dark Horses leader. “Now that we’re here, can you tell us what you’re going to do? Is it that big of a secret, or do you just not want us to know?” The other Dark Horses except for Azarika all turned their heads to look at Astra and Vice, thinking that she had just asked their boss a good tanong that they wanted to know as well.

“You’ll see what it is. Don’t worry, Astra,” Vice said, turning his head to look at the Dark Horses girl. “You’ll all get to see what I’m planning to do in due time, though I believe you all already heard me ask if Azarika could do something to channel the Rasoul energy. That’s what the first step to what I’m planning is. I need someone or something that can channel the Rasoul energy out of the Rasoulin Seeker so I can use it.”

Vice said, quietly starting to open the cell that the Rasoulin Seeker was in. He quietly began walking inside the cell, motioning for the others to follow him into the cell. After everyone was in the cell, they closed the cell back so the Seeker wouldn’t be able to just make a straight dash out of the cell if he was to wake up. “But I still say that you’ll get to see what I’m going to do here in a moment. Let’s just say that I’ll have much madami power if this works, and it should surely give us an edge against anyone who attempts to fight us.”

“Well, I hope it works for you, then,” Willow commented, standing near the door of the cell to guard it, just in case the Rasoulin Seeker was to wake up and tried to make a run towards the door. Astra stood sa pamamagitan ng the door as well, planning to help Willow guard as well.

Vice took a deep breath, thinking over exactly what he was going to try to do. He knew was he was going to try to do, and he hoped that it would work. He knew it would give him madami power and madami Rasoul energy to use, and he was hoping it would give him an edge against Mancer and Kyle and anyone else who attempted to go against them. He turned his head towards Azarika, who seemed to be staring off into puwang slightly. “Azarika.”

Azarika stayed in silence for a few moments before turning his head to look at the Dark Horses leader, wearing a slightly blank expression on his face. “Yes, sir? I am going to guess that you were going to ask me what I can do to help you in your plan, correct?” Vice nodded his head to what Azarika said, who kept the blank expression on his face.

“If you think you can help me, I would pag-ibig to see you try it,” Vice replied, turning his attention back to the Rasoulin Seeker. “You sinabi that you had a plan but that you had never tried it before. If you think it could work and could channel the Rasoul energy, then I want to see you try it.” Azarika responded with a quiet yes sir before focusing his attention towards the Rasoulin Seeker, preparing to do what he thought he could do to channel the Rasoul for Vice. Azarika’s face turned into a small look of what looked like worry or nervousness as he prepared to attempt to channel the Seeker’s energy out.