#maxdonis

Max felt overwhelmed. In just a matter of time, the Four Masters had gone from helping them and Ring to disappearing in the blink of an eye. To be fair, this pained the brown-haired adult to no end and the words that Dragaux said still rang in his ears.

I think I have other uses for them.

That was right before he flew off as well and that only worried them even more. Max was taking a breather after having defeated him, their brown hues staring blankly at the floor.

"Max?"

Ring's voice attempted to break through the silence, but no response came out from his friend. It only pushed the silence back towards him. He tried again, floating towards the trainee. The arches above his diamond-like eyes curved down, making him look sad. And that's what he was right now.

"Max? Are you alright?"

Max soughed, pulling their knees closer to himself. "No, I'm not alright. ...What Dragaux did is awful and our hopes of helping fight against him are probably gone."

Ring could tell that they were disappointed, mostly in themselves. "Hey. Look, we'll try to find them in the other world, alright? Hopefully, we will succeed and everything will be okay!"

The twenty-three year-old found himself smiling at their partner's words. "Thanks, Ring. I hope so. Speaking of which, we need to get to the next world." Soughing, they brought themselves up and grasped the handles around Ring. "Let's just hope that we're not in over our heads. The last thing I want to happen is for us to have to fight them."

Ring nodded, the frown still on his features as the two set off, going to the Shrouded Land. Both couldn't hold back their gasps at seeing what was before them.

The sky was tinted in purple, small flames of the same color flickering around the place. Max felt a knot form in their throat and cursed underneath their breath.

"Wow...looks like this place was overtaken completely by the dark influence." Ring commented, looking up at Max. "We should probably go into town and find something out, huh?"

Max nodded and they went there, finding a lady with bobbed blue hair. She looked happy, but when she had spoken up, her words weren't one that they expected.

"Hey, was that Lord Dragaux flying past just now?"

"Lord..." Ring trailed off before it clicked. Wait, WHAT? "Lord Dragaux?!"

"Yes! He's protected by his guardians and trainers, the Four Masters!"

The happy tone of hers now worried the both of them. Ring echoed the last part and the lady looked at him like he was crazy, explaining that they had gyms here. But she did indeed seem nervous about even setting foot. When she left, Ring and Max exchanged worried looks that confirmed their fears.

The Four Masters had likely succumbed to the dark influence. This pained Max even more, but some relief released the weight on their shoulders when they visited the General Store. Honey and Hubby thankfully weren't affected at all and Max was able to get some smoothies.

Max said his goodbyes to the couple before heading back out. Max wanted to check up on Abdonis first, hoping that he hadn't been affected.

Well. He (Max) would be in for a surprise. When they and Ring got to Six Park, Abdonis was there in front of the gym.

"Ah, it's you again. Seems like you've gotten stronger. It's obvious on what sides we're on."

"...What?" Max felt like this was a blow.

"I gave my loyalty to Lord Dragaux. Seeing that you have not..." his smile turned into a frown and he crossed his arms. "I cannot let you go any further."

He walked into the gym and Max's emotions came back again. They gripped the handles, trying to keep them at bay.

"O-Oh no...this isn't good! Max, we need to go in and confront him!"

"A-Alright."

"Max?" he looked up, noticing that they were crying. "Hey, I understand that this is a lot, but we can do this!" he floated back in front of his partner for a moment. "I assure you that things will hopefully be okay, even if this is a surprise to the both of us-"

"I thought I could trust him."

"Huh?"

"I thought I could trust him and the others. I didn't expect them to get influenced by Dragaux so easily...and..." a sob left their throat. "I know we can save them but this just...in just a short time, it's too much. But...we need to do this."

Ring nodded, not having much to say. They walked in and got there, with Ring monologing that he thought Abdonis knew right from wrong.

Max felt the tears still coming down their face as they went up the stairs, seeing Abdonis there. Monsters were behind him, with two Steppers and one big one.

Abdonis laughed bitterly, flipping the one yellow strand of hair. "There you are. And to think I considered you a friend..."

"I did consider you one, too! How could you let Dragaux get to you?"

Abdonis frowned at Max's words. They didn't seem to faze him.

"He made an offering and now I am a friend of his. It looks like I won't convince you, so...lemme introduce you to Absploder!"

Max gritted their teeth when seeing Abdonis' back later retreat. The forenamed big Stepper - or Stomper was its species' name - came forward with its two friends.

"I'll see you later...Max."

Max tried to hold himself together before looking up at the monsters. They counted to ten. They needed to do this. Even if all this trust they built with the Masters ended up crumbling in the end, they knew they needed to thread it back by fighting through this. No matter how much it hurt.