Adventurous Anthros
The Ruler of the Underworld(Season 1 Chapter 19)
Story by TheAnnonymousKat on Furaffinity
All characters belong to their respective owners, this fanfiction is a nonprofit project for fun, please support the official release of the respective series shown.

During a quiet morning the day after the incident with the burning building, Kat was enjoying a bowl of cereal for breakfast, more specifically a bowl of Plus Ultra cereal, a cereal with a fruity flavor that had All Might on the box doing his iconic flexing pose. It had been a long time since Kat had a bowl of cereal, and the hybrid thoroughly enjoyed the fruity taste of the processed food. As Kat enjoyed his breakfast, the TV in the kitchen was on and it displayed the news that talked about the incident with the burning apartment yesterday. A professional looking woman stood near the apartment that Kat had entered as it was on fire yesterday,
"Standing behind me is the building that was set ablaze yesterday, while there was quite a bit of property damage and investigators are still trying to find the source of the fire, no one was killed during the ordeal thanks to the amazing hero team The Righteous Paragons," said the reporter. Kat gave a quick sigh upon hearing the news,
"I guess my contributions weren't enough to get noticed, though that's fair I suppose, all I really did was save a dog, plus it's better if not a lot of people know about me" Kat thought to himself dismissively. After Kat finished his cereal he walked over to the sink to wash his bowl, though almost immediately after turning the water on he heard Sulley behind him,
"Morning Kat," said Sulley in a friendly tone,
"Morning," Kat replied, turning his head towards the monster. Kat noticed that besides Sulley stood Jon, and a girl with long dark hair that had a small amount fixed into a bun in the back while still having a generous amount that went down to her breasts at the front in the form of two strands that were neatly put through round purple crystal hair beads and a much larger amount that went down to her rear in the back, the girl had dark grey eyes, wore a purple kimono over a pinkish beige colored dress that had a large pinkish purple cloth tied like a ribbon behind her, a necklace of large beads with a large nine shaped emblem in the center around her neck, and a pair of wooden sandals on her feet. Kat took a bit to get a good look at the lady before asking her-
“Ah, hello, who would you be?”,
“I’m Maya Fey, it’s nice to meet you cat guy,” said the lady happily,
“It’s actually just Kat, with a K,” Kat replied with an embarrassed expression,
“I see, so are you another hero who lives here?” Maya inquired,
“You could say that yeah, what brings you to our humble base?” Kat inquired,
“She was framed for murder and pursued by an assassin, though we made sure she was alright,” Sulley explained,
“What did you guys do to that assassin?” Kat asked,
“Let’s just say he’s missing a few teeth… and a number of his bones were broken when we were finished with him,” Jon explained vaguely,
“I see… but wait, you guys were assigned a protection mission yesterday right? That mission was about Maya?” Kat asked,
“Sure was,” Sulley replied,
“So you guys pulled an all nighter then?” Kat asked,
“But of course, the best protection is the kind that never sleeps,” Jon replied,
“How do you guys do it? Like I’m no stranger to staying up super late but even I need sleep from time to time” said Kat,
“I’m used to staying up for long periods at a time,” Jon replied, unintentionally giving off an intimidating aura,
“And I’ve done plenty of work late at night for the factory,” Sulley explained,
“I see, well in any case I’m sorry to hear that you had to go through all that Maya,” said Kat empathetically,
“Ah it’s ok, it wouldn’t be the first time I was framed for murder or put at the mercy of an assassin, I cope with it by staying positive,” Maya explained with a smile,
“I see,” Kat replied, Sulley then let out a loud yawn,
“Someone should be coming by to pick her up in a little bit, can you make sure nothing happens to her Kat? I could use a nap,” Sulley explained, rubbing his eyes,
“What about you Jon?” Kat inquired,
“I’m going to my own room… to…. Meditate….” said Jon awkwardly, causing Kat to tilt his head,
“Meditate?” Kat inquired,
“Yes Kat, meditate, not particularly difficult to understand, now can you watch Ms.Fey for us or not?!” growled Jon in annoyance,
“Sheesh ok, if you want to take a nap too that’s fine, I’ll watch Maya for you two,” Kat replied,
“I’m Meditating!” said Jon angrily,
“Then go meditate! Whatever,” said Kat dismissively, Jon and Sulley then left the kitchen and went to their rooms, leaving Kat and Maya alone. Maya walked over to the counter and sat on one of the stools that were available as Kat resumed washing his bowl with the sponge that was conveniently left near the sink,
“It must be nice living in such a nice building, huh?” Maya asked,
“Yeah, it is,” Kat replied, taking another look at Maya,
“Say, Maya? If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with your clothes? I’ve never seen anything like them,” Kat inquired,
“Oh, well you see, I’m a spirit medium, and these are the typical clothes for a spirit medium where I’m from,” Maya explained,
“What’s a spirit medium?” Kat asked,
“Someone who uses spiritual power to communicate with the dead,” Maya explained,
“So… like a necromancer?” Kat asked,
“N-No no! I don’t use dark magic and bring corpses back to life or anything like that, it’s purely just communication using spiritual power,” Maya explained,
“I see… what about the nine emblem thing around your neck, is that also a typical thing for mediums to have?” Kat asked,
“Nine emblem…?... Oh! You must be talking about my magatama, well I don’t know about all mediums, but I do know that it’s a charm that’s very precious to me,” Maya explained. After Maya's explanation she went silent for a bit before speaking up again,
"Though, speaking of my magatama, my sister actually told me about you," said Maya, causing Kat's ears to perk up,
"Oh yeah? Is your sister a fan of me? Can I meet her sometime" Kat asked hopefully,
"Um, I think that'd be pretty hard," Maya replied, causing Kat to raise a brow,
"Huh? Why?" Kat asked,
"She's dead," Maya replied casually, causing Kat's eyes to widen,
"What?! I'm so sorry, it must have happened recently, right?" Kat inquired,
"Actually no, she's been dead for a few years now," Maya replied, once again causing Kat to raise a brow,
"Huh? But, I've only been a hero for a few months now, how would she have known about me?" Kat inquired,
"I already told you, I can communicate with the dead, I talk with her spirit when I can," Maya explained,
"Oh ok, that makes a bit more sense, though is your sister like, always around me?" Kat inquired,
"Of course not, that's not how spirits work, she's just seen you on a few occasions," Maya explained,
"Well ok, but what does she want you to give me?" Kat asked,
"You'll see, just do me a favor, close your eyes and stay still for a bit," Maya instructed. Kat was confused, but did as the medium instructed,
"Ok good," said Maya as Kat heard her approach him. As Kat kept his eyes closed, he was unsure of what to expect, though suddenly felt Maya hold his hands,
"This might seem kind of odd, though in just a bit you'll be familiar with what I'm doing, I'm going to give you something to help you on your journey," Maya explained. Just as Kat was about to ask what Maya was planning, his eyes suddenly opened on their own to reveal that they were glowing white, and the world around him seemed to dissolve,
"This again?!" Kat thought to himself.

When Kat opened his eyes, he once again found himself on top of a Station of Awakening, this time the station was primarily purple in color, had sunflowers and magatamas implemented into the design, Maya was the focal part of the Station, and the people displayed in the smaller circles was a man with spiky dark hair wearing a business suit, a woman with long dark hair, a small beauty mark in the corner of her face, a dark business suit that somewhat exposed her chest, a small light colored scarf and a magatama, a small girl who had clothes similar to Maya, magatama included, and dark hair that was fixed into a sideways "8" shape in the back, a man with a bulky looking appearance wearing a trench coat, had a small pencil behind one of his ears, a small bandaid on his jaw and whose dark hair seemed mostly like a buzz cut though it did have three spikes on one side, a man that wore a business suit, had dark hair that was parted, and a white cravat, and a man with hair that was spiked upward who also had a small beard on his chin. After Kat got a good look at the station he looked up to see Maya standing across from him,
"You've been to a place like this before, right?" Maya asked,
"Yeah, it's a place called a Station of Awakening, I've been to ones belonging to a witch named Zero, and a woman named Belle," Kat explained,
"Yes, and both of them gave you an ability, right?" Asked Maya,
"Well Belle did, Zero didn't," Kat explained,
"Ah, then you likely have yet to help her," Said Maya,
"But wait… you said that you wanted to give me something, so are you giving me a new ability?" Kat asked,
"Yes" Maya replied,
"But… I haven't helped you either," Kat replied,
"You will, just think of me getting an IOU in return, besides I actually have two abilities to give you, so I can give you the second one at another time when you've earned it," Maya explained
"Jeez, all this talk of abilities and helping people, do I really need to go through this?" Kat asked,
"You'll see just how important the abilities are in due time, but enough talk, I grant you a new ability to help you on your adventures!" Said Maya before the world around them dissolved to white.

Kat opened his eyes to see he was within what looked like a visiting room to a detention center, on the same side of the room as him was the man with the short spiky hair wearing a business suit he saw on Maya's station. In person the man had an average build and an upright posture, giving him a professional appearance. On the other side of the room behind a screen of glass was Maya, who seemed frustrated, and was in the middle of a conversation with the man,
"It's hopeless! If you defend me, you'll lose, I'm sure…" said Maya hopelessly,
"Stop it!" Said the man angrily, his sudden response caused Kat and Maya to jump. Maya then stared back at the man with her eyes wide open before tears started running down her face,
"...Help me…. Nick, help me… I'm scared" said Maya through her tears,
"So that guy's name is Nick then?" Kat thought to himself as he saw the two have their conversation,
"Don't worry, I will. When is the trial?" The man apparently named Nick asked,
"It sounds like tomorrow" Maya answered with her head hung and despair in her voice,
"Alright, I'm going now," Nick replied as he stood up from his chair, causing Maya to perk her head up,
"Wait." Said Maya before she slipped something into a small compartment on the glass divider that allowed visitors to give items to the people who are locked up and vice versa, as long as the items were permitted to be given between the two parties of course. Through the compartment, Maya gave Nick a jewel that Kat immediately recognized as Maya's magatama,
"This jewel… This is called a Magatama. It's a magical charm and it's always protected me. Give this to Pearly… and I'm sure she'll lend you her spiritual powers." Maya explained. Promptly after Maya's explanation, the world around Kat faded to white again.

Kat looked around to see that he was now in some sort of Japanese village, specifically near a walkway between two buildings that resembled houses, there he saw Nick and the small girl he saw on Maya's station talking,
"Mr.Nick… Umm… are you sure it's ok for me to have this magatama?" The small girl asked,
"Yeah, it's ok. I was told to give it to you." Nick replied, causing the young girl to gasp,
"But, I can't take something like this!... All I really should do is charge the magatama with spiritual energy" the young girl explained, causing Nick to tilt his head,
"Spiritual energy?" Nick inquired,
"Oh! This must be "Pearly", the girl Maya was talking about… though I'm willing to bet that's just a nickname and her real name is Pearl" Kat thought to himself. Suddenly the magatama glowed with a mystical green energy in Pearl's small hands, causing Nick and Kat's eyes to widen. Pearl then offered the magatama to Nick, and with a completely serious expression said-
"Please take this. I'm sure it will be helpful."
"What do you mean?" Nick asked as he gingerly took the magatama from Pearl's hands,
"It will let you see a person's secrets," Pearl explained before the world around Kat once again dissolved to white,
"This again?!" Said Kat in annoyance and confusion.

Kat then found himself in a room inside what he assumed was apart of one of the buildings that were still in the same village as the previous event he saw. The room had minimal furniture, two floor mattresses and a sliding screen for the doors, within the room, Kat saw Nick in the middle of a conversation with a woman with red hair, a white beret, an orange shirt with some sort of kanji designed onto it, a long brown skirt that went down to her ankles and brown heels, while Pearl stood next to him,
"I want to ask you about the victim, Dr.Grey." said Nick, causing the woman to lightly konk herself on the head as a gesture of confusion,
"I, like, totally don't know him." Replied the woman before sticking her tongue out, further adding to her clueless gesture. Suddenly, the room around them turned photo negative for a second before completely disappearing, making I seem as though Kat, Nick, Pearl and the red haired woman were standing in the middle of a dark abyss. Then a rattling sound was heard as chains suddenly appeared from nowhere and appeared both in front of and behind the woman in the shape of X's before a large red and yellow lock with an odd design suddenly appeared in front of the woman, and seemingly connected to the chains. Kat and Nick were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the chains and lock, though Pearl and the woman seemed unfazed by them, the woman didn't even seem to notice them,
"Aaack! What is that?!" Said Nick in surprise before the world around Kat dissolved to white once more.

Kat opened his eyes to see he was once again at Maya's station, and similar to what happened when he was at Belle's station, an odd feeling resonated throughout his body and he was enveloped by a light green energy as he was somewhat lifted off the ground and cradled by an invisible force as part of his chest glowed in the shape of a Magatama,
"This ability will help you find the truth, you'll be able to see when someone is hiding a secret from the "Psyche-Locks" connected to their heart, and possibly be able to get the secret out of them by presenting proof of their dishonesty, though be careful, if you make a mistake you can end up hurting yourself, this ability is passive and activates when it needs to, you have the option to lend this ability to someone, however they can only keep the ability for up to a day, and you're unable to use the ability yourself for as long as you have it lent, this ability is called- "Magatama Sense!"" Maya explained. Kat then landed on his feet as he stopped glowing and turned his attention towards Maya,
"Ah ok that's cool, so that's one of the abilities you wanted to give me?" Kat inquired,
"Yep, make good use of it, and be sure to help me out when I need you," Maya requested,
"Ok then, I will," Kat replied before the world around him dissolved to white one last time.

Kat opened his eyes to see that he was once again in the kitchen in the Anthros Of Justice base, upon looking around Kat saw that Panthro stood near the entrance to the kitchen and had an expression that implied the panther had been staring at Kat for a while,
“It freaks me out when you do that, it’s like you’re possessed or something,” said Panthro bluntly,
“Oh, hey Panthro, what’s up?” Kat asked, ignoring Panthro’s previous comment,
“Maya, your ride is here,” Panthro explained, pointing towards the entrance,
“Oh wow, he got here a lot sooner than I thought!” said Maya excitedly,
“He is Nick right?” Kat asked,
“Well I call him Nick, everyone else calls him Phoenix, Phoenix Wright,” Maya explained before walking towards the entrance,
“Anyway, I’ll see you some other time Kat, take care of yourself until then,” said Maya as she left the building. After Maya left Panthro turned his attention towards Kat,
“So, did Maya give you a new ability like Belle did?” Panthro asked,
“Yeah, something to do with secrets and locks,” Kat explained vaguely,
“Sounds neat,” Panthro commented,
“Yeah…” Kat replied with a sigh,
“Something wrong kitten?” Panthro inquired, noticing Kat’s sigh,
“Are there any new leads on Zero?” Kat asked, Panthro shook his head in response, causing Kat to sigh once more,
“Didn’t think so,” said Kat in disappointment as he headed to his room. Panthro turned towards Kat and said-
"Kat, we're gonna find her, don't worry," in a comforting tone, which caused Kat to stop walking and suddenly turn towards Panthro,
"You keep telling me that! But when are we going to find her?! It's been so long since we started the search that she could very well be dead by now!" Said Kat angrily,
"I know, but we're doing all we can!" Panthro replied,
"No we aren't! Why don't we go to the Syndicate's base, beat their asses, and save Zero?!" Kat asked angrily,
"Because nobody knows where the Syndicate's base is! Several people have been looking for a while now, and besides there's no guarantee that we'd win in a team fight against the Syndicate, even one of their members is incredibly strong, you should know that better than anyone!" Panthro replied angrily. After a tense moment of furious expressions being exchanged Kat seemed to calm down, and Panthro followed his lead and did the same,
"What even brought Zero up?" Panthro asked,
"... You remember when me and her fought before Mercenary and her travelled with us to Beast's castle?" Kat asked,
"Yeah?" Panthro replied inquirously
"Well, promptly after the fight, I saw Zero's station, which was actually the first time I ever saw a Station of Awakening, so seeing Maya's station reminded me of Zero's, which reminded me of Zero herself," Kat explained,
"I see…" Panthro commented,
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, It's just frustrating, knowing when someone needs your help but not being able to immediately help them," Kat explained, Panthro walked over to Kat and put a hand on his shoulder
"Yeah I know, I think it's a feeling we heroes know all too well," Panthro explained, then without another word, Kat continued towards his room.

When Kat got in his room, he lifted up his mattress and retrieved Zero's grimoire, Kat figured it was a good place to hide the spellbook considering how the base to the Anthros was in the middle of nowhere. Kat stared at the cover to the grimoire for a while as Zero's words echoed in his mind,
"Promise me that if something happens to me, you'll keep looking for my grimoire, and you'll keep it safe,"
"Was she really more concerned about this Grimoire than her own well being?". Kat thought to himself as he skimmed through the pages, he couldn't make heads or tails of what was written in the tome as it was written in a language Kat had never seen before. After a minute or so of fruitless reading, Kat sighed and promptly returned the grimoire to its hiding spot before the hybrid heard a knock on his door,
"Yeah?" Said Kat inquirously,
"Kat, it's Winston, I was about to do some world hopping with Mercenary and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along," Winston explained through the door,
"World hopping? What's that?" Kat inquired,
"You know, like going to various worlds and doing some things," Winston explained,
"Ah I see…. I mean, I guess, where do you guys want to go first?" Kat asked,
"Well actually, I was wondering if we could go to your home world first so you could introduce us to your mother," Winston explained,
"What? Why?" Kat asked,
"She seems like a nice woman," Winston explained,
"Uh… I don't know," said Kat,

Before Kat knew it, Winston, Mercenary and him were enjoying a cup of tea in Eliza's living room, the hybrid begrudgingly agreed to introduce them to his unsuspecting mother under the condition that they don't mention anything about Kat and her being related, and don't ask for anything personal such as her last name or Kat's baby pictures,
"Oh this is so lovely! Y'know, earlier I was thinking it would be nice if you came to visit me today Mr.Kat, but it's even better that you brought some of your friends," said Eliza happily,
"Friend is a strong word, I don't know either of them well enough to consider them friends, they're more like, temporary co-workers for me," Mercenary explained,
"Ah I see, well as long as you boys get along I suppose that's all that matters, though you know Mr.Kat, the next time you bring friends, I'd appreciate it if you called first," Eliza requested,
"I don't have a phone," Kat replied
"No? A young man like you doesn't have a phone by now?" Eliza inquired,
"I don't trust them, they can be traced and hacked, it's a risk to carry them around," Kat explained,
"Y'know Kat, if that's what you're afraid of, you should get a phone from Hero Resources, those devices have impeccable network security," Winston explained,
"Well either that or you guys can give me my communicator already," said Kat in annoyance,
"You haven't given him a communicator yet? I'm no pro hero, but aren't those things kind of important for your missions?" Eliza inquired,
"It takes time for the communicators to get made," Winston explained,
"Ah I see, so how goes the hero work? Did you boys ever find that girl you were searching for?" Eliza inquired,
"No, and that girl is Mercenary's friend by the way," Kat explained,
"Oh is she?! I'm sorry to hear that your friend is missing Mr. Mercenary," said Eliza sympathetically,
"It's alright, it wouldn't be the first time she was in a tough situation," Mercenary explained,
"I see, still I hope you find her soon… oh, you know what would go great with this tea? Cookies! I'll go and make a fresh batch right now, do you boys have a favorite flavor?" Eliza asked as she stood up,
"I don't really care," Mercenary replied,
"Same," Kat added,
"Do you uh...maybe have Peanut butter?" Winston asked while blushing,
"I think so Mr. Gorilla, I'll be back in a few minutes," Eliza explained as she made her way into the kitchen and out of earshot of the Anthros. Kat then turned his attention to Mercenary,
"Say Mercenary, why did you want to go world hopping? You usually don't want to hang out with us" Kat asked,
"Well, it beats staying in the base all day, besides, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get to know you better," Mercenary explained,
"Me?" Kat inquired,
"Yeah, I mean, you've had your heart set on finding Zero, which would help me if she could find a way to turn me into a human, and I appreciate it. That and you respect my personal space," Mercenary explained,
"Zero doesn't respect your personal space?" Kat inquired,
"Nope, in fact I've caught her sleeping on my chest on more occasions than I can count," Mercenary explained,
"I think that's a common issue for us Anthros, we have such soft looking fur that everyone wants to snuggle with us," Winston explained,
"Truthfully, I've had urges to snuggle up to Panthro's chest, it looks so warm…" Kat thought to himself,
"What are you blushing about?" Mercenary asked, causing Kat to look away in embarrassment,
"Nothing," Kat replied,
"Though y'know Mercenary, if you ever change your mind about wanting to join the Anthros, we'd be happy to have you considering how much you've helped us on the missions you've been apart of," Winston explained,
"Thanks, but no thanks, I think I was made to be a mercenary" Mercenary replied,
"Your alias makes that clear" Kat thought to himself,
"Though when is Adam going to take his full hero test?" Mercenary inquired,
"Soon, I'd say in a week or two," Winston explained,
"He should probably study for it then," Mercenary commented,
"Hero tests are unexpected, they aren't the kind of things you can study for," Kat explained,
"You know that from experience?" Mercenary inquired,
"Let's just say a lot of weird stuff happened in mine, and I passed it by the skin of my teeth," Kat explained,
"Though it's different for everyone, I found my hero test to be fairly easy, though that may be because I had hero experience prior to joining Panthro," Winston explained,
"Oh yeah? Were you with another hero group or something?" Kat inquired. Suddenly the room around Winston became photo negative, before the world behind Winston transformed into a dark abyss, chains appeared from nowhere and surrounded him, and three Psyche-Locks suddenly appeared on the chains. Kat's eyes widened upon seeing the chains appear before him, though Winston continued with his response,
"Uh, no, nothing like that, just… freelance hero work," Winston explained,
"Psyche-Locks… Winston must be lying to me, so then.. he was on a hero team? Why would he want to keep that a secret?... Unless he has bad memories of the team, and if I remember correctly, the amount of locks reflects how deep the secret is. Well, either way I don't have any evidence to break the locks right now, so I should just remember to confront Winston on this subject another time…" Kat thought to himself as the world around Winston returned to its normal state,
"Kat? Are you ok?" Winston inquired, noticing Kat's silence,
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kat replied before he took another sip of his tea,
"Your mother makes some good tea by the way," Winston commented,
"Funny enough, I think this might be my first time trying a cup," Kat explained with a smile,
"Oh yeah? Then this must be a learning experience for all three of us," Mercenary commented with a smile. The three Anthros then proceeded to have a great time, things went by quickly as the Anthros talked as they enjoyed quite a bit of tea and eventually cookies once Eliza was finished baking them. After the three Anthros spent a decent amount of time at Eliza's house, Mercenary suggested visiting his home world, which Winston and Kat had no objection to, and with the help from Winston's Gate Hopper, the three Anthros were in Mercenary's world in no time.

After quite a bit of exploring, Kat and Winston saw that Mercenary's home world was in medieval times since modern technology seemed nowhere to be found. As the group explored, they made their way through the kind of town you'd see in an RPG, people in ragged clothes walked around and performed a number of activities, making the environment bustling. Though as they headed through the towns, Mercenary had his cloak hide his face and insisted that the group kept a low profile, Kat and Winston were confused by his instructions, though decided to listen to him since he had experience in his world. After the group were a good distance away from the town and into the woods, Mercenary finally uncovered his head,
"What was that about?" Kat inquired,
"Some people don't take too kindly to Beastfallen" Mercenary explained,
"Is that why you want Zero to turn you into a human?" Kat inquired,
"That's the main reason, yeah. Between rioters and witches after your head, it ain't easy being a Beastfallen in this world," Mercenary explained,
"Sounds terrible, but why do you keep coming back to this work then? Why not just permanently leave it in favor of somewhere more accepting of Beastfallen?" Winston asked,
"Because this place is my home, I was born here, it doesn't feel right to just leave it behind. besides, the whole Beastfallen situation isn't as bad as it was a few years ago, so maybe that's a sign that the issue will eventually become non-existent," Mercenary explained. After walking in silence for a bit longer, Mercenary abruptly walked off the path and deeper into the woods,
"I'll be right back, I think I had too many cookies," Mercenary explained as he went out of sight,
"Actually me too, just a minute," Winston explained as he walked into the woods in a different direction, leaving Kat alone on the path.

After a minute or so, Kat heard what sounded like a pained groan coming from a direction in the forest neither Mercenary nor Winston went. Concerned that the noise may be coming from someone who was injured, Kat immediately went towards the groaning to investigate. After passing many trees, Kat saw a small clearing not too far from the path he and his comrades were on, and within the clearing he saw a large rock, and a large red creature leaning against it. Kat's eyes widened upon catching a glimpse of the creature, and he immediately doubled his pace towards it. Upon entering the small clearing, Kat could see that the creature was large, humanoid, red with large blue bull horns coming from his head, smaller dark red spikes coming out of his back, a spiked tail, and he was wearing an animal fur loincloth silver gauntlets with blue spikes and large leather boots with steel soles. Kat could see that the creature had a number of bruises and slash marks on his body, and it confirmed that it was the same creature who let out the pained groan by letting out another similar sounding groan. Kat carefully approached the creature,
"Excuse me, are you hurt?" Kat asked redundantly, it was clear as day that the creature was hurt, the true purpose of Kat's question was to see if the creature was ok with receiving his help. The creature managed to open his eyes very slightly before weakly speaking,
"Kaz…? Is that really you?" The creature asked with faint hope, though Kat was simply confused,
"What? No, my name isn't Kaz, it's Kat," Kat explained, the creature then rubbed his eyes before opening them once again, this time wider,
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm seeing things…" the creature explained,
"It's ok, though can you tell me what happened to you?" Kat inquired,
"My castle… the Underworld… I was attacked… Von Bloot…" the creature explained weakly,
"Von Bloot?!.. I kind of thought the Syndicate was behind this…" Kat commented. The creature then coughed up a bit of blood, catching Kat off guard,
"We should save the talking for later, though real quick, can you tell me your name?" Kat requested,
"Cha...or…" the creature managed to reply as he wiped the blood from his pointed muzzle,
"Don't worry Chaor, I'm going to get you some medical help," said Kat confidently as he walked over to Chaor, grabbed his large arm, and draped it around his neck before helping the devil-like creature up. Chaor was quite heavy and large, being roughly twice Kat's size, but it was nothing the hybrid couldn't handle. Chaor was barely conscious, so he couldn't help very much as Kat tried walking with the underworlder leaning his weight against him. It wasn't easy for Kat to move while helping Chaor, though the hybrid had powerful legs, and fortunately, he wouldn't have to go very far to get back to the path.

As Kat was getting close to the path with Chaor resting against him, it reminded him of the elevator test Uni put him through some time ago. In the distance Kat could see Winston and Mercenary on the path looking around,
"Kat? Where did you go?" Winston asked,
"Winston, we need to put the sightseeing on hold, we need to help someone!" Kat explained as he moved closer to the path,
"What do you mean?" Winston asked as Kat saw him approach, likely moving in the direction of his voice,
"Kat, who is he?!" Winston asked in surprise upon getting a good look at the person Kat was supporting as Mercenary moved closer to them,
"His name is Chaor, and he's hurt!" Kat explained, Winston turned his head to Mercenary,
"Mercenary, is he someone from this world?" Winston asked,
“I don’t think so, the denizens of my world are humans and beastfallen.. Unless he’s like a demon that some witch summoned,” Chaor explained,
“Regardless we should help him, he said he was attacked by Von Bloot!” Kat explained,
“Kat.. I admire your good heart, but think about this for a second, there’s a possibility that this Chaor guy is working for the Syndicate and faking being injured as part of an elaborate scheme to attack us and our team, I’m not saying he is, but it’s a possibility, and considering that the Syndicate tricked us two times recently, I think we shoul-” Winston tried suggesting before Kat cut him off,
“Fine! If you don’t want to help him give me your damn gate hopper thing! I’ll take him to a hospital!” Kat demanded angrily as he held one of his hands out expectantly,
“What kind of hospital do you plan on taking him to?” Winston asked,
“I-I dunno! A demon hospital? A cleric? Does it matter?! Are you gonna keep asking questions until he bleeds to death?!” Kat asked angrily, Chaor suddenly blacked out and was completely dead weight against Kat, though Mercenary walked over to Kat and helped him support him,
“Ok, Ok! I’ll teleport us to the base and treat his injuries in the infirmary since you trust him so much, just keep a close eye on him, I’ll have Athena run a background check on him, we’ll get everything sorted out,” said Winston reassuringly as he got the teleportation device out of his pocket. Mercenary sighed as Winston took his device out,
“So much for exploring my world, it is what it is though,” Mercenary commented casually as Winston teleported the four of them back to the base.

When the Anthros returned to the base with Chaor, Kat and Mercenary carried the red devil into the infirmary and onto the operating table before Winston told Mercenary that they could handle the rest, so the tiger nonchalantly went to do other things in the base. Kat and Winston then spent the next several minutes patching up Chaor, though by the end of those hectic minutes, all of Chaor’s wounds were disinfected, covered in either bandages or gauze and Chaor was resting comfortably on the operating table. Winston exhaled deeply and wiped his brow,
“Thanks for the help Kat, I have to say, you know a decent bit about first aid,” said Winston commendably,
“What can I say? When you travel alone for so long, you pick up certain skills.. I’m sorry for snapping on you earlier,” Kat explained with his feline ears drooped,
“It’s quite alright Kat, after all, I know how it feels to want to help someone more than anything else, it’s just that I didn’t want to see you getting hurt, y'know, especially since the incidents with Alessi and Rubber Soul” Winston explained. Thinking back to the night his identity was stolen and put through the mud, and the day he was turned back into a child and humiliated wasn’t easy for Kat since he didn’t look back on those days very fondly, though Kat knew the only thing he could do about those days was to learn from them so history doesn't repeat itself. After Winston’s explanation, things got quiet between he and Kat for a bit before Athena spoke up from the computer that sat at the other end of the infirmary,
“I’ve finally completed the background check, to my understanding, the creature on the operating table is none other than Chaor, the ruler of the underworld from the world of Perim,” Athena explained,
“Ruler of the Underworld?.. I mean, he has the looks for such a title,” Kat commented,
“Is there anything more you can tell us about Chaor or Perim, Athena?” Winston inquired,
“Certainly, Chaor’s world is a world similar to Sulley’s in the sense that it’s a world that is split between a world of humans and a world of non human creatures, the creatures are in Perim, and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, though in the world of Perim, there are four tribes; The Overworlders, who resides on the surface world and are composed of all sorts of creatures, a good amount of them are forgiving and helpful by nature, The Underworlders, who reside in gigantic areas below the surface and consists of fairly ruthless creatures, The Mipedians, who live in the desert and are comprised of anthro reptilians, and the Danians, who live in certain areas of the Underworld, and resemble humanoid insects the size of humans,” Athena explained,
“I see, so then Chaor is like the leader of the Underworld tribe,” Winston commented,
“Is Von Bloot from the same world as Chaor by the way?” Kat inquired,
“He is, in fact, like Chaor, he is also an Underworlder.. Why do you ask Kat?” Athena inquired,
“Just a gut feeling is all,” Kat explained. Kat and Winston got a good look at Chaor, they mended his wounds and made his condition stable, but it looked as though it would still be some time before the underworlder was even conscious enough to talk, let alone talk about what happened with Von Bloot,
"This is frustrating… isn't there anything to do that can speed up his recovery?" Kat asked,
"Not unless you know some healing magic," Winston replied, causing Kat to sigh,
"No…" Kat replied reluctantly
"Actually, in this situation, we don't need healing magic, it'd be better if we got some healing mugic" Atena explained. Both Kat and Winston looked confused,
"What's mugic Athena?" Kat inquired, causing Athena to display heptagons of various colors,
"Mugics, are special artifacts in the world of Perim, they are essentially condensed chunks of magical power in the shape of heptagons that play a song when used, though not every tribe can use just any mugic, the different colors indicate which tribe is able to use the mugic, blue for overworlders, red for underworlders, yellow for mipedians, and brown for danians," Athena explained,
"What about grey, Athena?" Kat asked, noticing that Athena displayed a grey heptagon among the varying colors yet hadn't talked about it. Athena adjusted the information displayed on her screen so that only the grey heptagon was displayed,
"Grey is generic, Kat, any tribe can use those mugic, and that's good for us since most Underworlder mugic involves dealing damage or causing negative effects to another creature," Athena explained,
"So if we can render Chaor conscious enough to use a healing mugic on himself, he'll be in much better condition and be able to tell us about what happened with Von Bloot," Winston speculated,
"So what mugic are we talking about?" Kat asked,
"Minor Flourish, it's a mugic that can heal any creature, though not by very much, Minor is in the name for a reason, so you'll need to grab two or three.. and a Mugician's Lyre,"
"What's a Mugician's Lyre?" Kat asked, Athena then displayed a strange instrument that looked like a lyre with a trident head shape,
"You see Kat, creatures can't simply cast as many mugics as they want, think of it like having limited mana in a fantasy game, they must replenish their casting energy through various means, one of those different means is by playing this instrument here," Athena explained,
"Well ok then, if all it takes to heal him is some heptagons and a musical instrument, I can go to his homeworld and retrieve them real quick," Kat offered,
"Do you know where you're going Kat?" Winston asked, causing Kat to give an awkward laugh,
"No… I don't," Kat admitted,
"Not too far from one of the gates of light in Perim is a bazaar, and within the bazaar, is a shop that sells generic equipment, meaning both generic mugic and generic battlegear, you should be able to get what we need from there," Athena explained,
"Ok then, the only problem is I don't have any money.. not that it matters since I'm pretty sure the currency in Perim in different anyway," said Kat as he walked to the gate hopper,
"You can try bartering, it's what many of the denizens in Perim do… oh, and Kat?" Said Athena as a sheet of paper suddenly came out of the printer in the infirmary. Kat grabbed the sheet of paper and studied what was on it, though it looked like a bunch of symbols that were unfamiliar to him,
"Mugics have notes carved within them so the creatures are aware of what mugic they are using, those are the symbols for Minor Flourish on the sheet of paper, memorize the symbols and memorize the order as to avoid getting the wrong mugics," Athena explained,
"I'll keep it in mind," said Kat before he left the infirmary for Winston's lab,
"Good luck Kat," said Winston encouragingly on Kat's way out.

After making his way to the Gate Hopper, sending himself to Perim, making his way to the bazaar and finding the generic gear merchant Athena was talking about, Kat was in the middle of negotiations,
"You want a brick of gold for the three mugics and the Mugician's lyre? I was told you had a deal going on where the Lyra was included for free with the purchase of any three mugics," Kat commented as he took a careful look inside the mugics to make sure they had the correct notes,
"That's true, the brick of gold is for the three mugics," the vendor explained,
"Why are they so expensive though? These are Minor Flourish mugics right? I heard they don't even heal very much damage," Kat commented,
"Supply and demand, Minor Flourishes are pretty rare around these parts, of course if you don't have a brick of gold on ya, I might be able to settle for something else, what items you got on ya?" The vendor inquired,
"Um… my clothes…" said Kat as he twiddled his thumbs in embarrassment,
"Sorry cat man, I'm not really interested in apparel.. though what about that gemstone around your neck? I reckon I could sell that for a high price," the vendor commented,
"My gem? I would, but it'll just come right back to me, believe me, I've tried selling it before…. Oh! But I know what I can give you, how about Kunai?" Kat offered excitedly, though the vendor gained a confused look on his face,
"What's kunai?" The vendor asked. Kat then summoned a small vortex of dark energy, pulled a kunai from it, and showed it off to the vendor,
"This is a kunai," Kat explained,
"Hmmmm… I've never seen that piece of battle gear before, plus it's pretty small, I don't think it'll cut it," the vendor explained,
"I can make more! How many do you need for it to be a fair trade? Forty? Fifty?" Kat offered,
"A hundred and fifty" the vendor replied bluntly,
"A hundred and fifty?!... I mean.. I can definitely get that many for you, but it's gonna take a few minutes," Kat explained
"I've got time," the vendor replied.

Several minutes later…
"One hundred and forty seven.. one hundred and forty eight.. one hundred forty nine.. one hundred fifty!" Said Kat with a sense of satisfaction as he slammed the last of the kunai down in front of the vendor to complete the deal. The vendor then handed Kat a bag that contained both the mugic and the lyre,
"Please doing business with ya," said the vendor with a smile,
"Thanks, you too, though if you'll excuse me I I have somewhere I need to be," Kat explained before he took a device out of his pocket and pressed it to warp back to the base.

Upon returning to the base and walking back to the infirmary with the bag of items in hand, Kat was surprised to find the rest of his teammates around a resting Chaor and turning their attention to Kat as soon as he entered the room,
"Kat, why is there a devil man in the infirmary?" Panthro asked casually,
"Because he looked like he needed help…" said Kat awkwardly as his ears dropped,
"Ok, that's fine and dandy, but we're not a hospital, you can't just bring someone in because they're injured, for all you know this guy could've been dangerous," Panthro explained,
"He doesn't look dangerous though…". Kat replied,
"He's big, and he has horns, spikes and a tail," Jon replied,
"So does Sulley," Kat replied,
"Hey…." Sulley replied, slightly offended by what Kat could have been implying,
"The difference there being you know what Sulley is like as a person, did you know anything about this Chaor guy prior to taking him here?" Doggie asked,
"No.." said Kat admittedly,
"That's the problem Kat, we don't know what Chaor's intentions are," Panthro explained,
"Relax, if he tries anything I'll take full responsibility for it," Kat explained,
"Why are we talking about Chaor like he's a dog?" Kat thought to himself,
"You have an awful lot of faith in someone literally called the ruler of the Underworld," Leomon commented,
"Well, Panthro had faith in me, despite being a thief," Kat replied with a slight blush,
"Heh, that's true," Panthro replied. The conversation between the Anthros was cut short when Chaor groaned and opened his eyes, Kat walked over to him and spoke very calmly,
"Chaor, do you feel any better?" Kat asked,
"...barely…" Chaor managed to say. Kat dug through the bag he was holding and retrieved one of the mugics,
"Here, cast this on yourself, it'll make you feel better," Kat explained as he offered the mugic to Chaor,
"Give it to me," said Chaor as he managed to take the mugic. The mugic then floated up in the air as some ghostly energy came out of Chaor's body and entered the airborne mugic,
"Minor Flourish.. heal me," said Chaor weakly. Suddenly a few notes rang out from the mugic being used before an inexplicable ray of light came down from above and washed over Chaor’s body, within the seconds that the light touched Chaor’s body, the Underworlder’s wounds healed at a rapid rate. After the light dissipated Chaor sat up and rubbed his eyes,
“Do you feel any better?” Kat asked,
“Little bit, you got any more of those things?” Chaor asked.

After Chaor had used all three of the Minor Flourishes and replenished his mugic casting energy with the lyre, Chaor seemed to be in a much better condition than how Kat found him,
“How do you feel now?” Kat asked,
“Better, I appreciate it,” Chaor replied bluntly,
“Since we helped you out, do you mind answering some questions for us?” Panthro asked,
“Yeah, sure,” Chaor replied,
“From what I understand, you became injured because of Von Bloot?” Panthro asked, causing Chaor let out a low growl,
“Von Bloot… yeah, it’s coming back to me, that treacherous coward came to my castle yesterday… but he was different, unnaturally bigger and stronger… and he had a girl with him,” Chaor explained. The Anthros exchanged confused looks,
“Like… a creature girl?” Winston inquired,
“She was a human girl, she had long white hair” Chaor explained, causing the Anthros’s eyes to widen,
“Human girl…” Leomon commented,
“Long white hair…” Jon commented
“A member of the Syndicate had her…” Sulley commented,
“Then that means…” Kat attempted to add, but he was so caught off guard he had trouble finishing his thought aloud,
“Zero…” said Mercenary, finally completing the collective verbal thought of the Anthros. Chaor raised a brow,
“You all know that girl?” Chaor asked,
“She was someone who the Syndicate captured some time ago.. We’ve been looking for her,” Doggie explained,
“Well I don’t really know anything about a Syndicate or Zero, all I know is that yesterday, Von Bloot showed up to my castle out of nowhere, used a power I’ve never seen from him before, damaged me to the point where I was bleeding and bruised, and caused ME of all people to retreat…” Chaor explained angrily,
“So even being as damaged as you were, you managed to make it to those woods?” Mercenary asked,
“Yeah.. I was well enough to move at first, though the longer I kept my injures the way they were, the harder I was finding it to move forward…” Chaor explained,
“You were probably losing a lot of blood…” Jon suggested,
“That might have been it…” Chaor replied,
“So you’re saying Von Bloot could still be at the Underworld castle?” Kat asked,
“He has to be, he’s wanted to get me out of the way and rule that underworld for as long as I can remember, there’s no way he’s left it already,” Chaor explained. Panthro took a minute to contemplate what to do with the information he was given, before he spoke up,
“Chaor.. You might not care about this, but Von Bloot is a member of the villain team, the Syndicate of Malevolence, thus one of our greatest enemies. Not only that, but he also has with him someone we’ve been searching for, for weeks, so if you would, just leave it to us to take down Von Bloot,” Panthro offered,
“Not a chance, that harpy is my problem, I’ll take him down on my own, besides, he isn’t the only one you have to worry about, he took control of some of my finest warriors,” Chaor explained,
“Then let’s all go,” Kat suggested, causing the rest of the Anthros to turn their attention to him,
“What are you talking about?” Chaor asked,
“Well, since it’s your castle, you’d know the area the best, and since you got a taste of what Von Bloot is capable of you’d know what to expect upon a second encounter, and if there are more people to fight it would make sense to ally yourself with a large group of experienced fighters,” Kat suggested, causing Chaor to ponder,
“Kat, are you sure you want to go through with a plan like that, you’ve been with a few of us from time to time, though you’ve never been with us on a full team mission,” Panthro commented,
“No, but just yesterday I was with the paragons during a team mission, and since I’ve gotten to know you guys so well, working alongside you should be a piece of cake,” Kat explained,
“It’s no simple mission Kat, we’re taking on a member of the Syndicate,” Doggie replied,
“I’ve faced Syndicate members before.. And sure, the result wasn’t always favorable, but I’ll have more of you guys by my side to make sure I don’t do anything stupid,” Kat replied,
“I think we should go for it, Kat’s been there for us when we needed him, we should trust him,” Sulley suggested,
“Y’know what?... I’m with Kat for once, I’ve been itching for a proper battle anyway,” Jon explained,
“I’m also in favor of this team plan,” Leomon added,
“Count me in as well,” said Winston, causing the other Anthros to look at him in surprise,
“What? If my family are going to do something dangerous there’s no way I’m not going to help them out,” Winston explained,
“Sulley, you’re the most sensible out of all of us, if you have faith in this idea, who am I to disagree?” Doggie asked rhetorically with a smile on his face,
“Getting Zero back is the whole reason I’m with you guys, so of course I’m going,” Mercenary replied. Chaor let out a deep sigh,
“Alright, I'm usually not one for working with people who aren’t fellow Underworlders, but I’m feeling adventurous, so I’ll give this idea a try,” said Chaor with a smile. Panthro exchanged looks with the rest of the Anthros in the room, each of them had a hopeful smile on their face,
“Well? What’s it going to be boss?” Kat asked, catching Panthro off guard though immediately causing him to chuckle,
“Fine, we’ll go to the castle first thing tomorrow for this operation, we’ll spend tonight coming up with strategies and getting rest, and while we’re at it we should get into contact with Adam to see if he’ll be able to help us with this mission, failure is not an option Anthros, get ready to kick some Syndicate butt and save Zero tomorrow,” said Panthro hopefully before the team immediate went to make preparations for the big mission they had tomorrow.

End of Chapter 19