Mathilde's piercing gaze swept the cafe as she searched for any signs of shifty behavior. According to what Seth had told her when he woke up the first time, Lysandre had said that his base of operations was inside the cafe. This meant that there was a hidden door that needed to be found in order to reach said base. While she could have gone in alone, she knew that it would be against her better judgement to enter enemy territory without someone to keep her in check, especially since she wasn't in a very forgiving mood.

Diantha, seeing the cold expression on her friend's face, placed a hand on her shoulder as she stepped up beside her. "There are a lot of people here, and I know you're angry right now so do try to keep any damage you are about to cause to a minimum," she whispered.

Mathilde breathed in deep and exhaled, doing her best to keep herself somewhat composed before she set to work. Keeping hold of her sense of reason-while difficult to do-she made use of Aura Sight and distorted the world before her so that only the essence of those present could be seen. She knew that asking around would get them nowhere fast, so the quickest way to figure out where she needed to go was to get a sense for everyone's emotions all at once.

As she looked around the cozy cafe, one thing immediately stood out to her. The workers seemed rather normal from the outside... but as she suspected, they were all Mightyena in Mareep clothing. Her eyes locked onto a particular group of workers who appeared to be taking a break in a corner of the room where beanbag chairs and a bookshelf was located. A smirk dawned on her features as she nodded toward the area and began to make her way there, Diantha following beside her.

The employees stopped mid-conversation as they saw Mathilde and Diantha approaching. As the two imposing figures came to a stop in front of them, a sudden chill ran down their spines as they all met the icy stare of Mathilde. An uneasy feeling set in almost immediately after they made eye contact. They watched as her eyes shifted toward the bookshelf, alarm bells ringing in their heads as she turned her body to face it. Her eyes still shone with aura as she stared at the shelf, picking up several aura signatures behind it which told her everything she needed to know. Without warning, the shelf suddenly began to move as if on its own accord, revealing a door behind it. At this, the employees shot up and surrounded her and Diantha as they stepped toward the door.

"I'm sorry, but only authorized personel are allowed beyond that point," one of them said sternly, the others reaching for their pokéballs. "We're going to have to ask you to leave..."

"And I'm going to need you to step aside," Mathilde warned, her eyes narrowing.

"And what are you going to do if we don't?" asked the employee as he expanded the ball in his hand to release his teammate.

Sweat trickled down the side of Diantha's face. Those were words you just didn't ask Mathilde, or anyone carrying a sword for that matter. Right now, her friend was on a short fuse, and this man had just made the biggest mistake of his life and lit it.

"Diantha... tell everyone in this cafe to get out. Now..." Mathilde said flatly, knowing that Diantha was the more reasonable one at the moment and people would be more likely to listen to her without panicking than to the tip of her sword.

Sensing the growing instability of her friend's mood, Diantha immediately called everyone's attention to her and urged them all to follow her out. Being who she was, it was easy to accomplish since most would kill for a shot to even so much as be near her. Glancing back at Mathilde she sighed, hoping that she wouldn't hurt anyone too badly. Her hopes were shortlived, however, as she looked behind her as the doors shut to see four bodies hit the ground in a flash while a fifth one was held with a sword tip pointed at his neck.

I can't say I didn't see that coming. It seems like she is still in control of her faculties at the moment as she had the decency to get everyone out before she got physical. Still... I haven't seen her this angry in a long time...

She sighed as she turned to address the crowd, her mind racing with a multitude of unpleasant visions of what she'd find after Mathilde got inside the base. After alerting them to the situation at hand and telling them that the cafe was currently under investigation, Diantha sent them all away before turning around to head back inside. What she saw was that the door was open and the employee Mathilde was threatening was unconcious next to it. She glanced down at the other four bodies to determine if any of them were still breathing. Feeling a pulse on each of them, she gave a relieved sigh and stood back up to follow Mathilde.

Good, none of them are dead... at least, not the ones outside, Diantha thought, releasing Gardevoir to follow her deeper into the base. There's no telling what I'll find, but what I do know is that Mathilde moves very fast, she thought, wincing as she saw a trail of incapacitated bodies all along the hall.

The alarm had been sounded and Diantha could hear more Team Flare members yelling as they all hurried to the location they were told to defend. Rounding a corner, she spotted Mathilde standing in front of an elevator that was being blocked off by a multitude of Team Flare members and their Pokémon. Hearing footsteps behind her, Diantha turned her head to see that they had been surrounded by more of the enemy. It was exactly as Mathilde said, this was a trap set for Seth.

Multiple orders were shouted at once, giving license for the Pokémon in play to fire away with extreme prejudice. Fire roared down the hall toward Mathilde and Diantha from both sides. Gardevoir instinctively erected a protective barrier around the three of them, as the flames drew near. Mathilde shifted her body into a lowered stance, aura crackling between her hands as she crafted a bright blue rotating sphere between them. With a swift forward motion she thrusted her hands outward and released the ball of aura into the fire. While it took some force due to the amount of resistance against it, the sphere finally cut through the attack and parted the flames, missing the elevator on the way by as it blasted a hole in the wall behind it.

The sound of metal singing from a sheath was all that was heard as Mathilde took off toward the opposition, hacking and thrusting away until she reached the elevator. Turning around, Mathilde observed as Diantha had finished with her side, taking care to have put the enemy to sleep rather than the alternative.

"Have you contacted the police yet?" Mathilde said calmly as she flicked the blood loose from her sword before sliding it into the sheath.

Diantha looked down at the blade and cringed. She hoped to Arceus she hadn't actually killed anyone, even if they were enemies. Some of these people still had families and from the looks of things some of them were still young, late teens to early twenties by what she'd seen in passing.

"They should be on their way soon. I messaged them about the cafe so the LCPD should be arriving shortly..." Diantha replied, looking up at Mathilde with a raised brow. "Please tell me you didn't..."

Mathilde gave her a quizzical look and shook her head. "Diantha, we are working with the LCPD. I may be angry but I'm not stupid. I gave them all minor puncture wounds and cuts that will heal in a matter of days. Sure a few of them may need some stitches but it's not serious enough that they'll die..."

Diantha lowered her gaze to the injured bodies on the ground, relief washing over her as she saw that they were indeed still alive. Mathilde was terrifyingly precise with each deliberate strike she made. She was no medical expert but she did know a thing or two about vital spots on the human body and Mathilde had purposely missed every one of them, coming up shy of doing any crucial damage by mere inches. Mathilde's reputation truly preceeded her as Épée Maîtresse Bellerose. Steeling her nerves, Diantha moved through the sleeping bodies and followed Mathilde into the elevator after she'd opened it with the key she'd taken from the one who had been guarding it. They set the destination for the bottom floor, knowing full well that the entire base was on high alert. There was bound to be some pushback, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

"It sounds like he's making a mess up there," Derrick said, turning to Jacqueline who was adjusting the settings on her prized gauntlets. "And it looks like you're ready for another round with him huh?"

Jacqueline nodded, a smirk curving onto her face at the very idea of coming to blows with Seth again. She, and her two cohorts, were instructed to meet him at the bottom should he make it that far, and put him out of commission. Though he was strong, he wasn't likely to succeed without the help of Korrina like last time or even Mathilde who came to the rescue previously.

"These new suits Xerosic made are incredible. My reflexes have never been this quick before. The man's a genius!" Claude exclaimed as he dawned his helm and activated the expansion suit he was wearing. "We'll take him out so fast he won't know what hit him."

"Don't get cocky just because you're wearing that armor. You may be a decent fighter but Seth has far more experience than you. I'd advise against underestimating him..." Jacqueline said sternly. Especially since he's that woman's student...

The sound of the elevator approaching their floor was heard, prompting the three of them to turn their attention toward it as it made its descent to their floor. Jacqueline fired up her gauntlets and the others readied their weapons as they braced themselves for what was to come. But... as the elevator doors opened, they were met with something they were not expecting. Jacqueline's eyes widened out of fear. Her body began to tremble and sweat formed on her brow as she saw who it was that was stepping out of the elevator.

Since they weren't in an area where there were cameras to keep tabs on anything above, Claude, Jacqueline and Derrick had assumed that the alarm meant that Seth had invaded and was moving through the base. Seth was difficult enough to handle, but Mathilde? Jacqueline swallowed hard as she remembered how easily Mathilde ragdolled her cohorts back at the palace. She dispatched of an entire room without so much as breaking a sweat. This was the absolute worst case scenario and for the first time since joining Team Flare, Jacqueline began to fear for her life. To make matters worse, the Champion also stepped out of the elevator.

Mathilde said nothing as she observed the three in front of her. She could tell that they were a cut above the one's she had fought above and therefore probably had the information she needed. She could feel the fear coming from them and knew that it wouldn't be too difficult to extract the information she needed. Singling out Jacqueline as her intended target for information, she released a small amount of psychic energy into the air and ensnared the two males before flinging them to the back room, their bodies hitting the wall hard, knocking them out almost instantly. Approaching Jacqueline she cleared her throat to speak.

"I'm only going to ask you this once. You seem like a smart young woman so I will give you one chance to answer my question. Choose wisely and I'll do you no harm... choose wrong and well... you saw what happened just now," Mathilde said sharply. "Where. Is. Lysandre?"