A lone pikachu wandered the maze. It was an ordinary morning like any other. Off for his daily routine of finding food, avoiding hostile mons. Avoiding any nasty guild members.

Avoiding a certain guild member that had taken up habitation in the maze. Though, from what he had heard in the grapevine, that one hadn't been seen for a while. Apparently, he had been preoccupied as of late by his latest catch.

The Pikachu let out a sympathetic sigh. He would not want to be the poor soul trapped within his paws. Nothing that came out of them came out right.

Suddenly, his ears lifted up, filled with an unfamiliar noise. A noise that was getting louder and louder by the second. 

He frantically looked around for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. But the noise got louder, and he couldn't pinpoint it.

His eyes went wide as a shadow fell over him. He looked up and saw...

Well, he didn't know what it was. The only thing he knew... was to run.

"HOLY LOST WAYS!" He screamed, running deeper into the maze as the giant... thing passed by overhead.

---

"I still can't believe I'm flying over a Mystery Dungeon in an alien ship!"  Ansel yelled excitedly, much to the annoyance of the two Avali on board.

"It's only a dropship." Khaun said flatly. 

"It's certainly a lot faster than going on foot." Nine chimed in. "Plus, we can avoid any unnecessary engagements."

"Wait, this isn't the thing you guys flew to this planet in?" Ansel's shock was very apparent.

"What? Pppht, no!" Eilumi chuckled. "This thing is just for planetary exploration. It's not even FTL-capable."

"And by that," Nine explained, "he means this dropship is not capable of traveling faster than light. You see-" 

"Nine, you can explain this all to him later, when we're back on the main ship." Eilumi interrupted. "Right now, we have a-"

"So there's an even BIGGER ship way up there?" Ansel said, his eyes wide as saucers. "Oh woooow, I can't wait to get there!"

"And the sooner we find our friend, and her friends, the sooner we can get back to it." Eilumi grumbled. "Something that so far, isn't going very well at all."

"It's not helping that we don't exactly know what we're looking for here." Khaun sighed sadly. "We've picked up a few signatures that resemble our target's species, but none of them matched either Loona, this 'Shia' person, or that rat-raider."

"Rat-Raider?" Ansel asks "Wait... I might have heard something about that."

Eilumi's attention was now on Ansel. "Go on..."

"Well... I've heard things. Rumors. I haven't seen this guy myself. Buut..." Ansel paused. "There's been word around the... shadier parts of Sandstone. About a raichu... 'Rai' I think his name is"

"... Really?" Eilumi asks flatly. "Who comes up with these names?"

"We come up with them ourselves. Particularly after we evolve." Ansel answered weakly.

"Evolve? How does that-" Eilumi was about to ask, but shook his head. "You know what? No. I'll ask later. Tell us more about this... ugh... 'Rai' guy."

"Erm, right." Ansel scratched his head with the back of his claws out of embarrassment. "Word is this 'Rai' guy is a ... how do I put this... 'definitely legitimate guild member' that hooks up, well, 'desperate' citizens for 'safaris' of Dynamo Sands-"

"And by 'safaris', you mean 'Find unsususpecting people inside this 'dungeon' to rape because they're, quote, 'savages', and therefore don't matter, right?" Khaun interrupted, his focus still on flying the dropship and operating the controls.

Ansel nodded slowly at the accusation. "How did you know?"

"Because the people we're looking for are victims of one of these 'safaris'." Khaun replied darkly. Ansel looked at the dropship floor sadly as Khaun continued. "It's pathetic that these 'Guilds' of yours allow such a creature within them-"

"He's not an actual Guild member." Ansel interrupted. "Or... At least, he doesn't belong to any guild. At least that I know of. He didn't belong to ours-"

"And yet your Guild allowed their second in command to just rape people in the open just because they tried to join or came for help. Or tried to speak up." Khaun counters. 

Ansel didn't try to counter-argue. He merely sighed defeatedly, before speaking.

 "Our world is fucked up, okay?" He said sadly. "Why do you think I want to leave it so badly?"

"I can't argue with you there." Khaun sighed.

Nine came over, and gave his head a light patting and petting.

"T... Thanks mister Nine." He said sadly. 

"Just Nine." 

"So anyway, is there anything else you can tell us about this 'Rai' guy? In particular, where he might be located?" Eilumi questioned.

"All I know is that he apparently has a hut of some sort in the maze." Ansel answered. 

"So he lives out here?" Eilumi asked. "How odd."

"Apparently so." Ansel replied. "I mean, what he's doing is technically illegal, since the slave trade was banned."

"Really?! I am actually surprised-" Khaun remarked, but Ansel continued before he could.

"-But it's not like anyone's actually enforcing it these days." He interjected sadly.

"I am no longer surprised." Khaun responded flatly.

"Unfortunately, I've only heard rumors, and never tried to 'enlist' his services, so I don't know where exactly he might be located." Ansel said with a sigh. "Especially since the maze changes all the time."

"This maze... changes?" Khaun asked.

"Yes, I believe part of Loona's memories showed the maze walls 'changing' on their own." Nine confirmed.

"But if I were you," Ansel suggested, "I'd be on the lookout for a small, inconspicuous looking hut in the middle of this maze-"

A beeping from the cockpit interrupted him.

"Like that one over there?" Khaun pointed out the window, at a small hut just a little ways away. He slowed the dropship to a halt just a little way away.

"Maybe?" Ansel said. "I dunno. Like I said, I only know it based on ru-" He stopped once he realized they weren't paying attention to him anymore. Instead, they were looking at some screens. 
On one of them was the depiction of the hut, with 3 orange signatures inside. One lying on a table, one standing behind the other, and the last one...

Quickly, the three of them scrambled from their positions, quickly picking a few items off some shelves. Eilumi picked an object out of a box and stuffed it in his coat.

"Wha-What's going on?" Ansel asked.

"It's them. We're here." Eilumi responded. 

"Wh-What should I do-" Ansel replied frantically.

"You stay on the dropship, Ansel." Eilumi ordered. "We'll handle this."

"But, but I-" Ansel tried to protest, but fell silent.

"Good." Eilumi replied. "This shouldn't take long.... And don't touch anything."

---

Once they beamed down, the three of them saw the door open by just a little. 

"Oh, Another vic-" They heard a voice mutter lustfully to itself. It must have thought it was audible only to itself, but the two could hear it just as easily as if he were right next to them.

The rat's head popped out from the opening in the door. His lustful eyes turned fearful once they laid upon what exactly he was dealing with. In particular, Nine, who, compared to everyone else on this planet so far, had been a giant.

And the dropship, hovering a short distance away. That more than likely scared him too.

"It's him!" Eilumi barked. "Let's get'em!"

Eilumi reached for his cloak, about to take out his gauss pistol. He'd neglected to take it with him last time, due to them being amongst a settlement. But now, there was no holding back.

"HOLY SHIT!" The overgrown rat yelled as the door slammed behind him, just as they'd arrived. 
Eilumi gave a few desperate kicks at the door, but it wouldn't budge. They could hear shuffling inside, objects being slid around in front of it.

"Shit, he's barricaded the door!" Khaun yelled, as Eilumi continued to try to kick it in. His eye shifted upwards. "... Roof?" He suggested.

"Oh screw this." Eilumi shouted as he took out a round, white object from his cloak. Khaun's eyes went wide when he saw this.

"Wait, Eilumi, that could-" But Nine's protests were too little, too late. Eilumi had already pressed the button and smashed the explosive device against the door. Khaun and Eilumi both jumped out of the way as it gave three quick beeps.

And then, there was a large, ear shattering explosion. Thankfully, the crew had special protections against ear damage caused by this sort of thing, so their hearing wasn't compromised. The same could not be said for the door, or the wall close to it.

"Eilumi you idiot!" Khaun yelled as he grabbed and shook him. "You could have injured the hostages! I know our pack cohesion hasn't been the same since we lost Eityu and Renali, but at least TRY to use your head a little bit!"

Nine meanwhile, burst through the hole in the wall that had been the door, his visor blood red with the most threatening expression it could muster, at the scene in front of him. One that he could see, even through the dust and smoke of the grenade blast. Of the little Shinx, dick in hand, about to penetrate a helpless Loona.

"First and last warning: Step. Away. From. Her."

The little Shinx, Shia, looked up at Nine with a terrified look. He raised his hands in front of him, nodded wordlessly, and backed away slowly, before turning and making a beeline towards a nearby corner. He put his hands over his head, and simply shivered.

Nine's expression softened, just a little, its hue returning to its regular blue.

"But... How? Why?" A weak, familiar cough choked out, just as the dust settled and Eilumi and Khaun entered the room. "I thought you didn't want me anymore?"

"We..." Eilumi replied, barely holding back a sniff. "We thought you wanted to return to this world. It wasn't until you left that we found out the truth. We're so sorry!"

"Hold on, this might sting a little." Khaun warned as he took out a self-inserting stimpack from his coat. He gently inserted it into the base of her neck, the healing liquid inside draining out into her body. He quickly pulled it back and tossed it off to the side once it was empty.

The medicine took effect immediately, as Loona began to move her fingers, followed by her hands and feet, and then her arms. She began to push herself up, but was still somewhat shaky. Eilumi and Khaun made a grab for her shoulders before she fell back down.

"Here, let us help you up." Eilumi offered while nodding to Khaun, and Nine, whose attention was now on Loona as well. The three of them helped her up, off to the table, and back onto her feet.

"I... I'm just glad-"

Loona suddenly stopped. Her eyes widened with realization. 

"Wait. I can understand you now?!" She yelled with confusion. "You can understand me now?!"

"Yes, our translation files updated just after these two decided to send you back." Nine informed, earning a look of shame from both Eilumi and Khaun.

"I'm... Not even going to pretend I understand what that means." Loona replied with a happy sob. "I'm just so fucking glad to see you guys again, you weirld little fluffballs, you!" The two Avalis suddenly found themselves hugged by the big, furry linoone, who then looked up at Nine. "And you too, big guy!"

Nine joined the hug, his huge protogen arms easily wrapping around the group as they happily wept at their reunion. None of them noticed Shia in the corner. He had stopped ducking in the corner, and had gotten up and watched the newcomers reunite with his fri- ... former friend. He was looking at them from the corner he was still in like he wanted to do... something, but ultimately looked away, ashamed.

"I cannot help but calculate that we are forgetting about something here..."

Suddenly, his visor went read, displaying a red exclamation mark. He quickly pushed the trio away from him, Loona being shoved roughly to the ground while his other two packmates were shoved off to the side.
Before any of them could ask just what was wrong with him, he was enveloped by a bright, electrical light. The large protogen's body convulsed and smoked from the surge of electricity, his electronic voice box making a flurry of mixed noises and screams, his visor scrambled and flashed pixels and colours as his body's systems were overloaded.

"SHUTTTI-I-I-ING D-DOOOOWwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnn" He groaned as his visor went dark, his body slumping over and falling to the ground with an ignoble thud.

And with that... Nine was dead. His Heart, and electronics both, had been stopped.