Mark scoffed as he reached back to take Sean's wrist. Pulling him closer to them, he blurted out to Nate. "Gee, can't imagine why no one would want to visit." Nate chuckled, leading them carefully down the tunnel as he replied in a light tone. "Ya. Well, they aren't the type to welcome visitors." The sharp sound of hammers beating on metal with the hiss of steamed water was making Mark anxious. This place felt like a torture chamber. Nate turned down into a side tunnel. Where a burly man covered in oil and sweat, yelled out to people farther down the chamber. "Hurry up with those bars!" Starting up the tunnel, a man grabbed the reins of a large horse to help pull it up and Mark recognized its type from Alola. The horse was impressive enough normally but this one looked much more muscular than normal. The large brown horse had huge hooves that were cased in thick red clay up to its knees. Its long black mane was wrapped into dreadlocks to keep it out of its way and its bangs were cut into a mohawk style to reveal its big stony glare.

A Mudsdale. The horse was harnessed to a large cart that was hauling at least ten tons worth of solid shiny metal bars. The Mudsdale's heavy hooves dug into the muddy floor, shaking its head as it snorted and pulled the load up the slight incline of the tunnel. The burly man tugged on the Mudsdale's bridle, yelling out phrases to encourage it to keep moving. Mark could see the sweat dripping off the Mudsdale, but it obeyed without hesitation. As they drew closer, the burly man yelled out angrily to them. "Out of the way!" Mark pushed Sean back against the tunnel as the Mudsdale trudged passed them. The task looked torturous even for a Mudsdale that could usually haul ten tons without issue. Nate tugged on Mark's arm to keep him going and Mark reluctantly followed. Just as the Mudsdale reached the top of the tunnel, another large man began leading his Mudsdale into the tunnel next. Reaching the room below, Mark gawked at the place. There was a line of men with Mudsdale's attached to carts that were being loaded with metal bars.

The men loading the bars were getting them from caged Melmetals and Meltans. By the cages, Team Rocket members were monitoring them to keep them docile and forcing them to create more bars of metal of a certain size and shape. Whenever one refused, the Team Rocket member pressed a button that exposed the pokemon to blowtorches. Since fire seemed to be the only thing it was afraid of. Mark tensed in disgust. He couldn't believe that Valor was allowing Team Rocket to do this! Walking around the masses of people were Valor's Rangers. Unlike other Rangers that he'd seen, Valor Rangers wore clothes made from thick black leather with bright red patches with Moltres on them. Their faces couldn't be seen beneath their protective gas masks and bright red hard hats. The Valor Rangers barked orders and scolded others that were doing the tiniest things wrong. Nate slowed to look around, uttering out. "They've changed since the last time I was here... What the hell is going on?" Mark swallowed, answering uneasily. "War."

Sean shook his head, asking softly. "Why...? What did we ever do to them?" Mark looked Sean in the eyes, answering with a saddened expression. "Do people really need a reason? Though greed seems to be enough." Nate leaned closer to them, interjecting softly. "My guess would be for power and control. Come on. We need to keep moving." Mark exhaled heavily as the temperature seemed to rise the longer they were down here. Sean stumbled to his knees, causing Mark to stop and grab him. Sean pulled at his jacket, whining out weakly. "It's so hot... I can barely breathe." Mark pushed the jacket off Sean's shoulders, cupping his heated face to see the sweat rolling off him. Nate picked up his jacket, trying to coax them on as he said. "Guys, we are almost there. We can't linger." Mark watched Sean lean against him like he was going to pass out, then told Nate. "He's not doing well in this heat..." Nate bit his lip, looking around as he said mostly to himself. "He's used to the cold and its about a hundred and twenty-two degrees in here." Mark looked at his own skin, seeing the beads of sweat rolling down his tan skin. It was really warm but only slightly unbearable to him.

Nate whipped sweat off his forehead with his shirt, then hit Mark as he pointed to a barrel that was nestled against the side of another tunnel wall. By the barrel, another Team Rocket member used a ladle to get some water and poured it over himself. Setting the ladle back, the man ventured back off to his job and Nate told him. "That should help him." Mark hefted Sean up into his arms and carried him over to the barrel. Nate rushed in to grab the ladle and scooped some water out to splash over Sean's face. Mark set Sean down on his ass, taking off his hat to get it wet. Nate then kneeled to make Sean drink, telling him calmly. "Stay with us, Sean. We can't stop. Not now." Mark used the moment to use another ladle hooked to the barrel to drink and splash himself. A passing Valor Ranger chuckled, telling his companion. "More of them can't handle the heat. They'd never make in Valor. We're forged in fire!" Mark glanced at them, watching them laugh and go about their day.

Thankful that they didn't notice Nate, Mark relaxed and told Nate. "We might have to carry him..." Sean staggered weakly to his feet with Nate's help, stubbornly uttering out. "No... I'm ok. I'm just... getting used to it..." Nate kissed Sean's wet cheek, telling him sweetly. "Hold onto me." Nate turned around, crouching to let Sean lay over his back. Nate hefted Sean up, wrapped his legs around his waist. Mark took the jacket from Nate, listening as Nate told him which tunnel to go into. They were halfway in when the mountain shook violently. Nate leaned on the wall to stay upright, while Mark stumbled to his knees for a few seconds. The moment the shaking stopped; the sirens mounted in the far corners of the chambers began to blare. Nate cursed, telling Mark sternly. "GO!" Mark ran quickly down the chamber, listening to the siren pause to allow a voice to blare out. "Intruder alert! Security breach! Lockdown initiated! Be on the look out for three Team Rocket impostors!"

Mark cursed, snapping out. "The fuckers on the boat must have done us in!" Nate pointed to an elevator, telling him sternly. "Get in quick!" Mark opened the metal gate wide for Nate to run in, then jumped in and slammed it shut. Nate kicked the button on the panel that pointed up. Within the tunnels, Valor Rangers were grabbing and detaining all the Team Rocket members they could. A group of Team Rocket with rainbow R's on their chest ran to their elevator from another tunnel. They had been trying to outrun the Valor Rangers after them, when they looked up in defeat upon seeing the large cage elevator rising without them. The second their eyes fell on them though, one of the young men, yelled out. "NATHAN!" Mark tensed for a possible fight, then snickered as the Valor Rangers grabbed them from behind and flipped them mercilessly to the ground. Nate let out a sigh, saying with light humor. "I'd love to know what makes me so special to these Giovanni's..." Mark chuckled with him, answering teasingly. "I'm a little curious myself... I thought the sex was good but damn..." Nate laughed and blushed a bright red.

The elevator jerked to a sudden stop as the power was cut off. Staring up at the couple feet left to go, Mark growled out. "Just fucking perfect... Now what?" Mark looked around at the solid rock walls other than a few grated air vents. The only opening was far above them. Nate carefully set Sean down, moving to the side of the caged elevator. Mark watched him use the surrounding rail to get up to the metal grated ceiling. Climbing it like monkey bars to the center, where he popped open an emergency hatch. Pulling himself up through it, he told Mark confidently. "We can use the emergency shaft ladder." Nate laid down, reaching down for his hand. Mark helped Sean to his feet, asking him with worry. "Sean? Can you do this?" Sean nodded, looking a bit sleepy but told him. "Ya. I'm doing better." Mark crouched to wrap his arms around Sean's waist, then lifted him up to grab Nate's hand. Nate grabbed Sean's hand to pull him up, while Mark hefted Sean up from below. Once Sean was up, Nate rolled onto his back gripping his ribs to pant with strained agony.

Sean touched Nate's arm, asking him with worry. "Nate? Are you alright?" Nate rolled stiffly to his side, answering gruffly. "Fine. Just used a muscle that I shouldn't have just yet." Mark decided to try and get up on his own. Using the railing like Nate had, Mark got to the ceiling and started across. Nate had made it look easy. It wasn't. The metal grating above hurt his fingers to grip onto. Getting to the center, Mark tried to pull himself up with his upper body strength and started to whine in pain. Holding the thin bars tight enough to do this was almost torture on his finger joints. Just before his fingers gave out on him, Sean reached down to grab him. Pulling at his underarms, until he could reach his belt to pull him up faster. Mark was thankful that Sean had long arms. Laying out across the top, Nate pointed to a grate and told them. "You'll have to remove one of those. It leads to a vertical shaft with a ladder that will take us to the next level." Groaning, Mark got to his feet and headed to the grate with Sean. The grate was held in place with simple levers that they slid open to lift it up.

Sean took one look inside the air shaft and stated out firmly. "Nope. Not happening. You can't pay me enough to do that." The mountain shook, causing Sean to grip the wall like a scared animal. The air shaft was a long stretch of tunnel that was barely big enough to let the average human through. Rolling to his feet, Nate told them confidently. "Just trust me." Mark let out a sigh, telling them softly. "You two should go first. If you fall off the ladder... I'll catch you." Sean shook his head, mumbling out. "I've seen movies where people get stuck in shafts like that. It's a piss poor design and I'm not doing it!" Mark leaned on the wall, asking him gently. "Claustrophobic?" Sean swallowed, replying softly. "I'd rather be encased in ice. At least then, I can try to dig out... I can't dig through rock. I can't do this." Nate moved to the shaft, telling Mark coolly. "I'll go in first. The tunnel is dark, but the shaft has emergency lighting that runs on a separate grid." Mark told him to be careful, then moved closer to Sean. Putting his hands on Sean's shoulders, Sean shook his head and pleaded out. "Please don't make me do this...?"

Mark shushed him, trying to calm him down as Nate climbed into the shaft easily and began pushing his bag out in from of him. Sean shifted anxiously, mumbling out. "I was wrong... I can't do this. I'm a nerd. I'm a good guy. I shouldn't be here... Just leave me behind. I wanna go home..." The mountain shook again, causing Sean to yelp as the elevator bounced a little. Wrapping his arms around him, Mark pulled him close and continued to shush him like a loving parent. Rubbing his back, Mark calmly told him. "Sean, you're ok. The sooner we get to the shrine. The sooner we can go home." Sean shook his head, mumbling against his chest. "Mark, please... I'm scared... I'm not that brave. I'm not an adventurer like you two." Mark scoffed, chucking out. "You're braver than you think you are. It's ok to be scared. Just take a few deep breaths and focus on all the things that come after this." Sean shook his head a bit slower now, refusing to look up from his chest. Kissing Sean's wet temple, Mark whispered to him wholeheartedly. "Sean... if you do this for me. I'll take you someplace far from here."

Mark lifted Sean's chin, giving him a little kiss that was full of a gentle passion. Sean accepted the kiss, then looked at him with big beautiful blue eyes. Giving him a small smile, he purred to him in a deep buttery voice. "I'll be right behind you." Sean turned to look at the grate and Mark stepped back. Sean shifted from foot to foot in front of it, taking deep breaths. Mark could almost hear the terrified fight he was having with himself. Wrapping his arms around him, he told him against his ear. "The longer you take. The more you'll talk yourself out of it. Just talk a deep breath and go. It's not even that long of a tunnel." Sean exhaled heavily, grabbing his arms to squeeze it. From within the tunnel, Nate called back. "Clear. Come to me, Sean." Mark slowly released Sean, letting Sean move to the grate on his own. Removing his bag, he pushed it in first and crouched to look inside for a few seconds. Then taking a deep breath, Sean shoved the bag in and crawled inside. From below voices began to grow louder as someone commanded sternly. "Recall this elevator! Quickly! I have others to check!"

Mark removed his bag, shoving it in the shaft as fast as he could. He had to wait for Sean to get farther in, before he rushed to get in. The elevator beneath his feet began to fall away, but Mark had managed to get into the shaft before he lost his footing. Sean stopped inside the shaft, asking shakily behind him as the elevator creaked and groaned its way back down. Mark reached over his bag to touch Sean's leg, comforting him sweetly. "I'm here. Keep going. You're doing great." Sean started to move and Mark slowly followed him but tried to give him some space so that he wouldn't feel crowded. The mountain trembled again, but it felt lighter this time and Mark wondered if it was because of the solid air shaft or the fact that he was laying down. Sean thrashed, slamming his arms and feet to the walls and he started to pant out in a panic. "They just moved! Mark!" Mark moved up to place a hand on his tense thigh, calmly telling him. "Easy, Sean. It's fine. Keep going. You're almost there." It was a lie. Mark couldn't tell that, but he hoped it would encourage Sean to keep moving.

It worked. Sean's tense body started moving again at a slow stiff rate, but he eventually calmed down enough to move faster. Sounding much closer now, Nate told Sean in a proud voice. "That's it, Buddy. Reach for me. I'll pull you out. I got you." Sean was suddenly pulled from the shaft, flooding the air shaft in soft white light from glowing strips set vertically up the new shaft that was wider. Nate encouraged Sean up ahead of him, then smirked at Mark as he said playfully. "Having fun?" Mark rolled his eyes, retorting in a growling voice. "Oh, yes. I'm living the dream..." Nate chuckled, helping him out and onto the metal ladder. Once he was out, Nate started up after Sean. While climbing, Mark asked Nate curiously. "Use this air shaft lot?" Nate snorted, smugly answering. "I was a Mystic dating a Valor... What do you think? There were less people after me then though." Mark chuckled, playfully grumbling out. "Have you ever NOT been in trouble?" Nate laughed softly, cooing back. "No. But I might retire as I get older." This time Sean chuckled, causing both Mark and Nate to grin. It was good to hear Sean starting to relax enough to laugh.

As Sean reached the top, Nate started to say. "You should be able to lift the grate. Just be careful not to-" Nate was cut off by the grate flinging open on its own before an inhuman hands reached in to grab Sean's arms to pull him out by force. Sean screamed and began to thrash, but the Machamp holding him was strong enough to keep ahold on him as he pulled him away from the opening. Both Nate and Mark screamed Sean's name, scrambling up the ladder faster. To Be Continued...