Chapter 1 – The Encounter

JapansAce stared into the long barrel of a gun in a state of utter disbelief, her claws fifty feet away from her beside the only pillar holding up the ceiling in their desolate, empty house - the mysterious gunner having knocked them away from her in their duel. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. As she laid helplessly in that little corner, trapped by the gun, she couldn't believe what had become of her once dear friend. She whimpered softly, tears in her eyes, hoping her friend still had some compassion left within him to spare her. Why did she not bring her toaster with her?! Why did she forget?! It seemed almost foolish now. If she had it, maybe this wouldn't have been the outcome it is now... but...

"It is no use to struggle. Nobody knows you are here. You should feel priveliged to be my first victim."

The voice sounded rough and gravelly. JapansAce remembers it well, even though it had been distorted beyond recognition. She choked back tears, unwilling to believe what he had become.

"N-No... Please don't..."

"It is hopeless. Nobody can hear you."

"P-Please..."

With that, JapansAce's world seemed to explode as, almost as if in slow motion, she sees the gun readjust itself, a flash of gunpowder and a bullet emerging to pierce her armour and lodge itself in a device over her heart. JapansAce screamed as the device was destroyed and she felt an electrical surge run through her body. The world around her faded into nothing. She could see the gun and the mysterious person no longer as she collapsed in total darkness.

At that moment the wall opposite to JapansAce was blasted open, revealing a vast number of people.

"Turn around slowly and drop the weapon!"

The mysterious gunner whirled around and stared at the mob. The speaker was a white-haired boy with a long staff. His hands seemed to crackle with electricity, his eyes fixed on the gunner, which widened with shock.

"DayBunny?! It's you?!" MagicsOwner exclaimed in shock.

DayBunny tore his gaze away from Magics and flicked his eyes rapidly through the giant mob. He immediately noticed people he recognised a long, long time ago, long before that fateful day. His eyes darted over StrangerD3RK, his cousin BlissBunny, Hatake, HidekiHinata amongst many others. His glowing eyes quickly flicked from one person to the next, until they found Pypski, and there his eyes seemed to linger.

Pypski had been avoiding DayBunny's gaze, but as DayBunny's eyes fell on her she looked back at him, and she was shocked to see DayBunny - not the creature which he is now, but the DayBunny she had known so well and had accepted into her club TeamRocket so many years ago. His eyes looked normal, and there was no trace of whatever it was that had affected him. His lips moved, and Pypski heard a voice inside her head. Distorted no longer, the voice of DayBunny rang in her head, making its presence known to Pypski, and nobody else:

"Help me..."

The voice startled Pypski. She broke her gaze and quickly shook her head from side to side in disbelief. She looked back at DayBunny, but no longer can she see his previous self. The creature which DayBunny had become was now grinning wickedly, and his mouth opened. No longer was the voice what she used to know. No longer can she herself only hear it.

"I'm so glad you came to rescue your friend. But you're too late. If she survives she will be in a very deep coma. Better to give up right now."

DayBunny grinned more broadly. It was a grin full of malice, The real DayBunny was nowhere to be seen, hidden by this mysterious entity.

"I hope you have a pleasant day..."

He appeared to adjust something on his gun.

"...Because things are about to get hot."

He carefully aimed his gun at the pillar...

"I'll be seeing you."

...and pulled the trigger.

A fireball erupted from DayBunny's gun as he laughed evilly. Magics followed the fireball along its path with his eyes and watched in fear as it struck the pillar. He stared, mesmerised, as the pillar began to crumble. He heard voices shouting around him and people hurrying around doing things unbeknownst to him. He watched as the top of the pillar fall off with a deafening crash, and stared blankly as the pillar itself began to teeter dangerously.

"I've got Jace, now let's get outta here!" a voice shouted.

"Don't forget her claws!" a second voice was heard.

"Did she bring her toaster?" enquired a third.

"No, I don't think so. Let's get out before this room collapses!" said the first.

"DayBunny broke her respawn device, we'll have to fix that before she can wake up and tell us anything useful!"

"Has anyone seen DayBunny and Pypski?!"

"I thought Pypski was with you!"

All the time, Magics stared into the room... until he was splattered in the head by a barrage of small round objects.

"Magics, let's go!" said the unmistakable voice of Overlord Momo, one arm free, a big pile of Momo fruits in the other, as the pillar finally collapsed with a crash.

"I can't believe it... it was DayBunny?" Magics asked, his eyes still glassy and transfixed at the place where the swaying pillar was.

"Let's go! Or do you want to die...!" shouted StrangerD3RK urgently. The ceiling was looking dangerous now, and could collapse at any minute, yet still Magics had not moved...

"I'm leaving you in here if you don't come!"

At these words Magics snapped out of his trance. He looked around, bewildered. His eyes darted across the room, searching for DayBunny, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Come on...!" StrangerD3RK tugged on Magics's arm, the pile of Momo fruits falling to the ground with a series of squelches.

Magics gave in to the force, and obeyed. As the two ran into the sunlight outside, they heard a tremendous crash from inside. The ceiling finally collapses as Magics and StrangerD3RK rushed out into the sunlight.

A cacophony of voices greeted the pair as they approached everyone else.

"Does anyone know what happened to Pypski and DayBunny?"

"I don't know, I wasn't watching."

"I think he disappeared after he shot the pillar."

"Did he take Pypski too?"

"I'm not sure, but if he did they could be anywhere!"

"We need to get Jace to a doctor!"

"We could take her to Lauren, she's got a clinic in Hillville, I hear she's a most excellent vet-"

The speaker was cut short as someone slashed his face with JapansAce's claws.

"Hey, what gives?! Why did you do that?!" Viewtifulboi retorted.

"She's not an animal!How dare you suggest taking her to a vet?!" said Tamani indignantly, petting a nearby Moo Cow.

"I was only kidding... sort of..." Viewtifulboi replied sheepishly.

"We';; tale jer tp pme pf tje Mirses." Birou said with a slight tone of finality.

A silence greeted Birou's comment. Everyone looked puzzled.

"...What?" said Magics finally.

"We'll take her to one of the Nurses, asterisk," replied Birou. "Sorry, I have a lot of LSD today."

"Why did you just say "asterisk"? And are you on drugs?!" Viewtifulboi demanded.

"LSD is Lilliyan's Speech Disease, View... QQ..." replied Birou.

"What about the asterisk? And the QQ?" asked View.

Birou was spared the need to answer.

"Hurry up guys, I don't know how long Jace will be like this, if we waste any more time she might not survive."

"Watch out! Here comes a tornado!"

As if by instinct, everyone quickly took out a small card, held it in their hands, and began chanting while the tornado bore down upon them. Suddenly, the children begin to disappear one by one to reappear at their respective schools, moments before the tornado lifted up the remains of the destroyed house and scattered the pieces all over Neo Kansas.

Pypski and Daybunny sat on top of a pyramid in a lonely desert. Their only companions were grotesque Mummified Jackals and Wandering Mummies, which occasionally tried to attack them, but ended up circling the base of the pyramid in frustration, unable to reach the pair.

"Why did you bring me here, Day? If that's who you really are?" asked Pypski. She had avoided looking at DayBunny since she met his gaze in the house which he had destroyed minutes earlier. But she did so now, and to her surprise saw the face she was so familiar with. Pypski broke her gaze and shook her head slightly again, but this time DayBunny did not change back. Pypski looked away from DayBunny again and into the desert night, and when the latter finally spoke, DayBunny's voice was no longer distorted, but back to normal.

"I need your help."

"With what?" Pypski asked curiously.

"I can't carry on like this. I need something new."

"How can I help you with that?"

"Stay still for a few minutes."

"What? How-"

Pypski was cut short. DayBunny had aimed his gun at her and quickly fired a bolt of lightning, stunning her into an absolute silence. Pypski can only watch, horrified, as DayBunny began to change before her very eyes into the same hideous creature she had seen in the house. This time, however, he glowed an ominous green. A shapeless green mist floated out of DayBunny and into Pypski while both watched in horrified silence, DayBunny having returned to his normal self. Pypski glowed the same ominous green that DayBunny had done a second before, and almost immediately a huge shockwave emitted from Pypski as the mist fused with her, blasting the pair off the pyramid in opposite directions, and both landed hard in the sand.

Pypski, now transformed into the same hideous creature as that which she had seen DayBunny transform into before her very eyes, immediately picked herself up and walked away, transforming back into her normal self as she did so, and her green glow faded into the distance. DayBunny had been dazed by the shockwave and the fall. He stared up at the sky blankly, the silvery moon reflected in his eyes, as several Undead Jackals and Wandering Mummies approached him. Suddenly, the moon was no longer visible in his eyes, which widened in shock and horror.

It was all over in less than ten seconds.