Skyline Gang: Trial of Darkness

Chapter 22

"What...is...THAT?!" Sprout exclaimed over dramatically. However, given the circumstances, it was well warranted. Not too long after the Gang caught up with Candi, they started to head in the direction as to where Dude and Misty ran. It wasn't that difficult; just follow the blackened trees. They found Dude's rucksack on the way. He must have dumped it to not be burdened by the weight. When they continued to play catch up, the sky started to darken, blanketing the area in semi darkness. The air started to feel cold. Something suddenly appeared above the canopy not too far away. It was dark and round, like the top of a dome. The appearance was so sudden, everyone froze in terror. They couldn't comprehend what it was or how it just appeared. It felt familiar somehow, like they had seen something similar to it before.

"That's where the temple is..." Bud shuddered, immediately analysing where they were.

"Dude and Misty...they're both trapped in there!" Candi shouted in distress. Now that sight of the dome made some sense. They had seen it before, but from the inside. When they were first trapped in the Skyline. If that really is the temple there, there was no way that they could get in. At least, not at first glance.

"But what could have caused this?" Mimi whimpered, Rainbow keeping by her side. However, he couldn't bring comfort. He was just as scared as his humans were.

"Bud! Didn't you say that the darkness thing was supposed to NOT come?!" Pip suddenly shouted, caught between distress and mild anger. "What's that then?!"

"There is extremely little information on the Sceptre of Shadows. There was a chance that I was wrong with my findings." Bud said, colour draining from his face. His body started to shake as he realised one of the many mistakes that happened since this adventure started. As he muttered, his hands slowly rose to his head, lightly tugging at his hair. "There was a chance that the Sceptre wasn't supposed to stop this darkness from coming; rather being a key to summon it...maybe even bring something or someone that can control this darkness. I tried to warn Dude of this! I should've been more upfront about it! I should leave the Skyline Gang immediately!"

"Don't be so dramatic!" Pip's voice immediately snapped him out of it. Bud froze up, almost shutting down. Rainbow did his self appointed duty right away. He encouraged Bud to start focusing on him. The soft fur was enough to help with starting to calm him down. Seeing this, Pip continued to take charge. Someone had to right now. "Right now we've got a rescue mission to get on with! If they're not dead already, Dude and Misty will need our help!"

"Are we sure that we should be saving Misty?!" Sprout exclaimed, gesturing to the area and the dome. "She caused this in the first place!"

"It's not her fault! Something is behind this! I can feel it!" Candi protested, speaking up about her instincts. She needs to provide the benefit of the doubt. She didn't care if the others didn't believe her. "I can't explain it, but I can always sense when something isn't right with Misty. Like right now. She probably didn't know about what was going to happen."

"That's hard to believe right now." Sprout muttered, crossing his arms.

"Let's just focus on saving Dude first. If he vouches for Misty, then we'll save her too." Bud concluded, finally regaining his composure. No one rose against the idea. It's not like they could plan anything else as of right now. Focus on one thing at a time. Find a way in safely, get Dude out. If Misty is in danger too, divide and conquer. Plan a separate rescue mission with any details that Dude might be able to provide. With that in mind, they started heading out the dome. As they started to break into a light jog, Mimi started to think back to the night before. Dude was so scared of the Sceptre because of their last encounter with Dawn. He was bitterly reminded all the time because of how close he was to death that day. He spoke honestly to her, and yet she treated his words like they were just paranoia from him. Her friend was in a way giving a sign that he wanted help, but she didn't do much other than tell him to rest. Should she have taken his words more seriously? Should she have done more? Too late for regrets. Just focus on the here and now.