C.N. April 2014: Digital Distraction Part 25

It wasn’t hard to lose the other three players who were starting on the same strip of beach as he was. They wanted to head straight for the castle where the boss was, spurred on by the promise of a prize for the first ones to make it into the building.

Yami had no interest in the castle, outside of the fact that it could have been where they had been holding Yugi for the last two days. Instead he and Tea headed for the rendezvous point that he had been told about. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that it was a trap. The likelihood of them actually handing Yugi over was slim to none.

It didn’t help his mood that he hadn’t been able to convince Tea to stay back and let him handle the situation. With the others all spread across the island, she had been determined to stay with him and give him a bit of backup, even if there wasn’t much she could do.

He arrived at the cave entrance that had been mentioned well within the half an hour and was frustrated to find that there was no one there to meet him. Considering their insistence that he had to be there on time, it was rather rude of them to keep him waiting.

“I’m sure they’ll be here.” Tea told him as he paced the entrance to the cave, keeping an eye on the interior as he did so. “They told you to...”

Both of them froze as a pained cry emerged from the back of the cave. Yami knew the voice it belonged to, knew it better than he knew his own and he darted into the caves as a second cry could be heard. Yami darted around the tall pillars of stone near the back, only to find a tunnel that led further into the cave system.

Tea was hot on his heels as a third yell, weaker and softer than the first two echoed down the corridor, drawing Yami onwards until he emerged into a large chamber where a group of men in black, hooded robes were waiting for him, one of whom was stood over the fallen form of his light.

“Yugi!” Tea took in a sharp breath as Yami went to dart to the teen’s side only to have to stop short when one of the goons pointed a gun at his light.

 “I wouldn’t.” The ringleader sniggered as Yami tore his eyes away from the battered, bruised, bound and blindfolded form of his other self to glower at the speaker.

“Let him go!” Yami demanded. Yugi whimpered at the sound of his voice, only increasing the Pharaoh’s anger at the men who had dared to lay a hand on Yugi.

“About time you got here, Yugi.” The ringleader laughed viciously, “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.” A soft groan emerged from Yugi, distracting the Pharaoh. “I’d almost convinced him of it too.”

Yami let out a low growl at that, his hands balling into fists. He would never, ever leave Yugi in danger and that the man in front of him had even tried to convince Yugi otherwise royally ticked the Pharaoh off.

“What do you want from me?” Yami demanded, trying to calm down, knowing that staying furious wouldn’t help him work out a way out of the situation. There had to be a way out of the trap but Yugi was hurt and he couldn’t risk them shooting him.

“First off, hand over your deck and the Puzzle.” The ringleader informed him, holding out his hand for them.

Yami hesitated for a moment. If he handed over his deck and the Puzzle, he was giving up not only the most dangerous cards in the game, but Yugi’s most prized possession and the, so say, most powerful Millennium Item.

“Yami?” Tea asked, putting a hand on his arm. He could feel it trembling, though he couldn’t be sure if it was her trembling, or him.

“Of course if you don’t want to...” The ringleader shrugged, gesturing to the man closest to Yugi, who drove a boot into Yugi’s stomach. Yugi loosed a pained, winded gasp and tried to curl in on himself to shield his stomach from any more abuse.

“Leave him alone!” Yami snapped, ripping the Puzzle off and tossing it to the ringleader before his minion could kick Yugi again.

“And your deck.” The man smirked at him as he snatched the golden item out of the air. Yami, who hadn’t yet slipped his deck into his DimDisk, pulled the stack of forty cards out of his deck holster on his belt. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, offering the deck to the ringleader, hating every minute.

His foot hit a stone which skipped along the floor and, much to Yami’s shock bounced through Yugi. Yami was stunned for just long enough for the fact that the Yugi on the ground was a hologram to sink in, then he pulled back his deck, slipped it into his DimDisk in one smooth motion and called up his magic, pure fury unleashed at being tricked.

“Where’s Yugi?” He demanded, letting the Shadows run wild, swirling past Tea, leaving her unharmed, but blasting the minions away and slamming the ringleader against the wall, pinning him there.

“You’re Yugi.” The ringleader yelped, struggling, trying to free himself.

“My brother.” Yami growled at him, “The real Yugi, where is he?”

“Real?” The man looked confused before letting out a pained screech as Yami directed his magic to shock him. “I...”

“Yami!” The Pharaoh wheeled around to find Tea being threatened by the same mook with a gun who had been threatening the hologram of Yugi.

“Let him down.” The mook snapped at him, pressing the gun against Tea’s temple.

The Pharaoh glowered at him but did as directed, dropping the ringleader and drawing his magic back in, unable to do anything while his friend was in danger.

“You bastard.” The man behind him snarled as he picked himself up. The Pharaoh ignored him in favour of keeping his eyes on the mook next to Tea.

That was a mistake.

The ringleader drove something sharp into Yami’s arm and Yami reacted too slowly, blasting the man away to late to prevent him depressing the syringe and dosing him with something that caused his world to spin.

Yami staggered sideways, ending up leaning against one of the rock piles, as his mind swam and his vision blurred.

“Yami!” Tea struggled against the man holding her, frightened as she watched the Pharaoh’s legs give out, “Yami!”

“I...” He tried to get up, to fight whatever it was he had been drugged with, only to slip back to the ground, too dizzy to be able to get his feet under him properly.

“Take them both.” The mook holding Tea sounded smug as he lowered his weapon and Yami wanted to blast him, but he couldn’t see straight enough to trust his aim and he didn’t want to hurt Tea.

Several mooks advanced on him and Yami tried to push past the fact his world was swimming to defend himself, only for someone else to dose him and his world slipped sideways as he fell on his side. As he blacked out he was at least treated to the sight of Tea decking the mook who had made the mistake of letting her go.

Oddpart2: Y&H and the Broken Chains: Redo

The first thing Yugi was aware of as he drowsily floated back to consciousness, was that whatever he was led on wasn’t very comfortable. This thought was followed by the confused thought that it didn’t feel like his bed, either of his beds. They were much more comfortable than this, as were the various sofas he had slept on over the years.

The next thought confused his potion addled brain even further as he came to the realisation that the pillow he was resting his head on was bony.

His mind drifted hazily along as voices filtered in, only making the befuddlement worse as he slowly realised that he could hear all of his friends were close by, except for Ron. Yami was the closest. In fact it sounded like Yami was his pillow.

Just that fact alone had Yugi believing that he hadn’t actually woken up and this was all just heading towards some dream. He and Yami hadn’t spoken properly in months. He’d wanted to, so desperately, but Yami had been avoiding him like he carried the plague and the one time he had gotten to speak with his darker self, the wizards had reset their memories, so Yami hadn’t remembered it, going back to avoiding him the next day.

Still that didn’t stop him from listening to the conversation, which seemed to involve a weird combination of the notes he had been making over the last couple of months, duel monsters tactics and what they were going to do when they landed.

Yugi could hear the steady hum of jet turbines in the background, low and almost silent under the noise of his friends’ chatter, just increasing the belief that this was a dream, as he could think of no reason why he would be on an airplane unless he was either dreaming or somehow, miraculously, his friends had finally managed to shake free of their mental bonds.

And he didn’t dare hope for that anymore.

He could feel the chain of the Puzzle was around his neck for the first time since long before his fight with Yami back in January, its precious cargo resting on his chest. When he dared to reach mentally down a link that felt strained from months of lack of use, he felt Yami jump a mile, both mentally and physically, the pillow beneath him tensing for a moment, before Yami’s voice called “Shush, he’s waking up” To the rest of the passengers.

Yugi didn’t dare open his eyes. Even in his drugged up state, he didn’t think he could take it if he awoke from this dream to find his friends were at each other’s throats again. He needed the camaraderie he could hear to be real, needed his friends to be friends again, needed the support that they could offer and the ideas they might have to get them out of the mess they had been brainwashed into.

“It’s alright, Yugi.” Yami promised softly, running a hand through his hair, sounding almost sad and making Yugi realise that Yami had heard his train of thought, “It’s real and we’re nearly home. It’s safe to wake up now.”

“Y...Yami?” Yugi’s mouth felt dry, his tongue heavy and he slurred his darker self’s name as he tried to open eyelids that felt like they were glued down.

“I’m here, Yugi. And so are the others.” Yami replied, his tone gentle, “You’re safe now. We’ve got you.”

Yami had never lied to him. Even trapped beneath layers of memory charms and compulsions, the Pharaoh had been nothing but honest with him. If he said it was safe, that it was real, Yugi knew he could trust him.

He felt Yami mentally support him as he tried to pull himself out of the haze and join the world of the living once again, leaning on his darker self’s strong presence in his mind to give him the extra boost he needed to fight his way out of weight holding his mind down and finally open his eyes to find himself on an airplane, surrounded by his friends.

Movement was slow to follow, but Yami helped him sit up, giving him something to lean on in the real world too as his friends watched with various degrees of relief and anxiety on their features.

“You okay, Yuge?” Joey worried at him as Yami helped him get more comfortable.

Yugi nodded, words difficult when still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that after months of trying to free his friends from the control of the wizards, they were finally heading home, together.

He looked around as best he could, his body refusing to respond to his commands properly, something he attributed to the potion still in his system. Everyone from Japan was there, even Ryou and Bakura. Harry and Hermione seemed to have joined them, but there was no Ron and there was a huge black dog settled at Harry’s feet.

“You gave us a heart attack.” Joey informed Yugi with a rueful smile, “You should have called us.”

“I...” Yugi trailed off, looking away, discovering the airplane’s carpet was a bright white in the process. In all honesty he hadn’t expected them to come, even if he had called for help. His last words to Boh before he had taken the potion hadn’t been a cry for help, but an apology purely because he had fully expected not to wake up again.

“Yuge?”

Mystery Dungeon Novel - unfinished

“Where am I?

Am I dreaming this?

I feel a pleasant breeze.

…I hear a voice from somewhere…

I wonder who it is?”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Poke.

Poke. Poke.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

“E…Excuse me. Please, wake up.”

She rolled over.

“Come on, wake up!”

Shizuka opened her eyes, stood up and stretched, the forest surrounding her a welcome sight.

Until she realised she wasn’t supposed to be here…

“You’re finally awake! Great!” The Mudkip in front of her was grinning.

“Wh…where is this?” She looked around trying to see if she recognised the area.

“You were passed out here. I’m glad to see you’re awake!” The Mudkip said, watching her and wondering what she was doing. “I’m Jet. Glad to meet you. And you are? I’ve never seen you around before.”

“How am I even understanding you?” Shizuka asked, “I’m human.”

“Huh?” Jet looked incredibly confused, “You’re a human? But you look like a normal Charmander in every way.”

“What?” Shizuka held up her paws… paws? She turned around, trying to get a good look at herself. Catching a glimpse of something behind her she tried to see what it was by turning around, but the thing followed her… she stopped and looked over her shoulder. It was an orange tail with a flame at the end… her tail…

“It…It’s true! I’ve turned into a Charmander!”Shizuka yelped in her mind, completely confused, “But why? I don’t remember anything… I have to be dreaming…”

“Um…” The Mudkip, Jet, was talking again, “You’re kind of weird. Your name? What’s your name?”

“My name?” Shizuka thought, “I remember that at least. My name is…” “Shizuka, my name’s Shizuka.”

“Oh…” The Mudkip pondered this, “Shizuka huh? Well… It’s a funny name.” Jet giggled, causing Shizuka to wonder if there was someone else who could help her.

Before she could ask, however, a scared lady’s voice called, “Somebody! Please! Help me!”

“Huh? I hear shouts from over there!” Jet stated.

“I’ve befriended Mr State-the-obvious then.” Shizuka thought with a small smile as a Butterfree flew over.

“What’s wrong?” Jet asked the Butterfree.

“It’s horrible!” Butterfree replied, panicking, “My Caterpie fell into a cavern! My poor baby!”

“What?” Jet yelped as Shizuka frowned.

“A huge fissure opened in the ground, and my Caterpie fell in!” The mother continued, “He’s too young to crawl out by himself! When I went to get my baby, Pokemon suddenly attacked me!”

“Huh, you were attacked?” Jet asked, confused, “By other Pokemon?”

“Is it that strange around here?” The Charmander wondered as Butterfree continued.

“They must be enraged by the fissure and out of control… at least… that’s what I think.” Butterfree gazed at the ground, “I’m not strong enough to fend off those wild Pokemon. What will become of my baby?” It sounded like Butterfree was going to start crying… if Butterfrees could, “Oh! What am I to do?! Oh dear, oh dear!”

Jet turned to Shizuka, who already had an idea what he was going to ask, “This sounds bad, we have to go help!”

Shizuka nodded and they raced to the fissure, climbing down safely and reaching the bottom.

“What do we do?” Shizuka asked Jet as they looked around, “Caterpie isn’t here any more.”

“We’ll have to go deeper into the caves and try to find him,” Jet said, giving her an appraising glance, “What level are you?”

“Uhhh. I don’t know.”

“Well you’re quite small, so maybe you’re a low level like me.” Jet said, looking her over again, “What do you know?”

“Uhhhh.” Shizuka yelped and lashed out at a Wurmple that tried to attack her, her claws racking it, causing it to faint.

“Scratch, obviously.” Jet grinned, “So you must know Growl too.”

“Can we just go?” The Charmander asked irritably, “The sooner we find Caterpie, the sooner I can wake up from this dream.”

“Dream?” Jet asked, but Shizuka was already racing down a corridor, “Shizuka! Wait up!”

She kept on running, following the passageway around until she found a cross road, “Hey Jet, left or right?”

“Uh, right?” Jet hazarded, not knowing what the strange Charmander girl was up to. She dove down the right passage way, keeping an eye out for Caterpie, only to find herself in the first room they’d come to.

“Jet?” She asked as she noticed something gold and shiney, picking it up awkwardly with her paws, “What’s this?”

“Cool, you found some Poke!” Jet grinned, “It’s money, you can use it in the shops in town!”

Shizuka grinned and passed it to the Mudkip who had a bag of some kind, before passing Jet and heading back towards the passageway.

From no where, a Sunkern burst out of hiding and attempted to attack.

This time Shizuka was ready, using Scratch and knocking out the rampaging Pokemon. “I feel kind of guilty, knocking them out like this.” She said, looking over her shoulder before continuing, narrowly avoiding an attacking Pidgey, who Jet used Growl on before Shizuka used Scratch to defeat, “Why would they suddenly attack other Pokemon?”

“I think it might be…” Jet paused to Growl at another Pidgey, “The Earthquakes and things recently that’s disturbing the Pokemon and causing trouble.”

“What Earthquakes?” Shizuka asked as she took the other path.

“How could you have missed them?” Jet looked outraged as Shizuka took point and led them down the stairs, which, considering they were natural, were remarkably well made, “They’ve been shaking the island for days.”

“I’m not a Pokemon, remember?” Shizuka asked as she emerged from the stairs only to be assaulted by another Sunkern, which she Scratched and grinned, this felt natural, like she’d always known how to do this. Most of the rooms on this floor were empty, with no sign of Caterpie, other then some Poke and some Pidgeys that attacked without warning.

Finding the stairs to the next floor in the last place they looked, Jet took point this time, only to be assaulted by a Pidgey and a Wurmple, who the duo knocked out easily.

“What’s this?” Shizuka asked as she nearly stepped on a berry of some kind.

“It’s an Oran Berry.” Jet answered, still wondering how she couldn’t know about the Natural Disasters, “It heals you.”

“Cool.” Shizuka held onto it, “So what about these Natural Disasters? What’s causing them?”

“No one knows. The island was pretty quiet until about a week ago and then…” Jet shrugged, “Shizuka watch…”

A Pidgey used Tackle on her from behind, knocking her over. She Growled as she got up and counter attacked with Scratch, that had hurt… dreams didn’t hurt… “I’m not dreaming, am I?” She asked herself as she headed downstairs again.

“Where is this?” She asked Jet.

“You really don’t remember anything do you?” Jet laughed, “This is Tiny Woods, where a lot of low level Pokemon hang out.”

Shizuka let the words sink in as she heard someone crying, “Come on Jet, I think I hear someone.”

Jet’s fins were shaking. “I think it’s Caterpie.” He laughed, racing a head of her as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

She didn’t understand why it was so light when they kept going downwards until they reached the lowest floor, the trees that made up the walls of ‘Tiny Woods’ were too densely packed to let Pokemon in or out, but their leaves let light in.

They followed the sound of the crying to a Caterpie who was crying, looking for his Mother.

“We came to rescue you.” Jet said, not even waiting for Caterpie to turn around.

“Huh?” It asked, turning around. The Caterpie was tiny, it couldn’t be long out of the egg.

“Your Mum’s waiting,” Jet continued, “Let’s get you out.”

“O…ok.” Caterpie followed them, avoiding Shizuka nervously, avoiding the flame on the end of her tail.

Safely getting back up the floors and carrying Caterpie up the climb they got back to Butterfree without many words shared, even though Shizuka had millions of questions.

“My baby’s safe,” Butterfree smiled at them, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how I could ever thank you properly.”

“Oh, that’s OK!” Jet grinned at her, “It’s been dangerous lately with sudden quakes and fissures like that one. It was great to find your little boy unharmed.”

“Please, may I have your names at least?” She asked.

“I’m Jet.” The Mudkip nodded, “And this is Shizuka.” The Charmander nodded also.

“Cool.” Caterpie looked starry eyed.

“He’s, uh… staring at me adoringly…those sparkly eyes…It’s a little embarrassing… but this doesn’t feel bad either, it’s like I’m a hero. Helping Pokemon in trouble might be a good experience.” Shizuka thought, “Or at least until I find a way to turn myself human again.” She amended hastily.

“Thank you! Jet and Shizuka!” Caterpie said, loudly enough for the whole of Tiny Woods to hear.

“I know it isn’t really enough,” Butterfree said, giving her son a look to quiet him down, “But this is a token of our thanks. Please, accept it.” Butterfree gave Jet an Oran Berry, another blue one that wasn’t quite the same as an Oran berry and a pink berry Shizuka hadn’t seen before. “Thank you so much. Good-bye.” Butterfree and Caterpie left, leaving Shizuka feeling confused.

“Thanks for helping.” Jet said, turning to the Charmander once again, “You’re very tough, I was sure impressed.” Then he looked quizzical, “So, what are you going to do? Do you have any plans?”

“I suppose I should find out why I’ve been turned into a Pokemon, but I don’t know where to start or have anywhere to stay while I’m finding that out…”

“Listen Shizuka,” Jet continued as if she hadn’t paused, “If you don’t have a place to stay, you should come stay with me.” Shizuka thought for a moment, then nodded and followed Jet back to town, where he stopped outside a large house with flames in torches surrounding it. “Well,” Jet turned to her, smiling, “This is the place.”

Shizuka looked at it properly, it was orange and beige brick and kind of reminded her of a furnace. “Wow.” She grinned, “I can’t explain, but I’m happy! I’m a human being, but I like this place. I’m weirdly happy… perhaps it’s an instinct thing for a Pokemon… maybe this is what it feels like to want to wag your tail… It doesn’t matter! I’m happy!” She grinned, “maybe I feel that way because I’m a Charmander.”

“You’re impressed, aren’t you Shizuka?” Jet asked with a hopeful look on his face. She nodded in reply, “I thought so. I thought this would be a good place for you to live, Shizuka. I was sure you’d like it.”

“I have my own mailbox and everything?” Shizuka asked.

“Yeap, they deliver mail from Pokemon straight to your mailbox.” Jet’s face turned serious, “You know, like the fissure Caterpie fell into, there have been many natural disasters recently, because of those disasters, many Pokemon are suffering. I want to help Pokemon in these tough times. I want to help change things so Pokemon can live in peace.” He got all nervous and kicked his back feet, “So, uh… Well… I liked how you handled yourself when we rescued Caterpie. Would you like to join me on a Rescue Team?”

“What’s a Rescue Team?”

“You don’t… Sorry, I forgot, not a Pokemon from this island. A Rescue Team does the sort of thing we did today day in and day out, saves Pokemon who are trapped in Caves or places like Tiny Woods, escorts weaker Pokemon to their friends in dangerous places and generally are charged with helping maintain the peace.”

“So they’re kind of like the Police?”

“The who?”

Shizuka frowned, the memory there but just beyond reach, “I’m not sure.”

Jet laughed, grinning at his new friend and shaking his head, “You are defiantly weird, but I like you.” Then his eyes widened, “Our Team name! We don’t have one yet!”

“Isn’t it your team?”

“We’re the first two members…” Jet sounded embarrassed, “So Shizuka, what do you think would be a good name for us?”

“Uhhh.” “What do you call a Rescue Team?” “Tasukete?”

“What does that mean?” Jet asked, looking at her askance.

Shizuka thought for a moment and then grinned, “It’s a call for help.” She said proudly, having remembered.

Jet thought hard, “A Rescue Team who’s name is a call for help…”

“Nevermind, I can think of something else…”

“No, I like it.” Jet said hastily, “It’s a good name! In fact it’s perfect.” Jet took on a stance that Shizuka could only assume was a proud one, “Rescue Team Tasukete!” Jet grinned, “Let’s do good, starting tomorrow.” He headed off somewhere.

“Wait, Jet!” Shizuka called, “Where’re you going?”

“Home, to sleep.” The Mudkip yawned at her.

“But I thought you lived here?”

Jet laughed, “Sometimes, but since you’ll be living here now, I thought I’d go visit my old home.”

“I don’t want to kick you out of your house…”

“It’s fine, honest, I have plenty of places to go. Besides that house is very much for Fire Types like yourself, it’s too warm for me.”

“Then why did you buy it?” Shizuka asked, head tilted as she pondered.

“It’s big enough for a Rescue Team base and…” He stopped at Shizuka’s grin, she understood. “Anyway, I’m tired and I bet you are too…”

“Can you tell me more about what’s going on tomorrow?” She paused, “Please?”

“Sure.” Jet nodded, “Night Shizuka.”

“G’night Jet.” “Hopefully in the morning I’ll wake up from this crazy dream.”