Title: Return
Rating: T, mostly for Language
Genre: Undecided
Summary: The two ninja bugs have to return to Sokudo's hometown. But why is the Ninjask so reluctant to come back?
Author's Comment: The official story that explores Sokudo's past. It probably won't be as long as Attract, but hopefully it's have as much interest. I honestly don't have too much else to say about this one, except to say 'Enjoy!' :D
Chapter 1: Objection
"Oh, hell no," Sokudo grumbles, a soft hiss beginning to rise from his throat. "Hell no!"
Hovering in front of the Task Board, the Ninjask glares heatedly at the 'MANDATORY' sign over which the task in question is posted under. This task seems very simple: steal some valuable moondust from a Shedinja named Loren. Seems like the perfect assignment for someone like him, where theft is one of his favorite hobbies. Sure he'll have to deal with another Shedinja, but if it's anything like Kowai, he can probably handle it. The problem that has Sokudo so ruffled lays in where this whole thing is located. Mossy Village... How the memories swarm so rudely into his head, fueling his agitation.
Floating beside him is Kowai, silent as it watches its brother fume for reasons unknown. The Ninjask was in such a good mood earlier, letting it have some extra Cuddle Session time and everything. But that changed quickly when they arrived at the board. It doesn't understand why, but it's soon about to find out when Sokudo turns his attention to his leader, said Gabite busily posting up another task paper. Hearing the insect's snarls, the dragon mentally prepares himself for the bombardment guaranteed to come.
"I ain't doing this one, Gunpowder!" he hisses. "You can't pay me enough!"
Taking a breath, it takes a few seconds before Gunpowder turns to his employee. "Ye ain't got no choice, matey," he tells the angry bug. "We be needing some moondust and Mossy Village be the only place to get it."
"Fuck this stupid moondust bullshit!" Sokudo hisses. "Shedinja can make that fuckin' dust, right? Well, here ya go." With that, he shoves Kowai closer, earning a startled chirp from the husk. Hesitating for a second to ponder how it got involved, it turns back to its brother, its voice confused.
"Brother, what's moondust?" it asks.
"Exactly," Gunpowder responds instead. "Not every Shed be able to make the dust, matey. Loren's the only one who can make it, and yer going there and takin' it from 'im."
"Like hell I am!" Sokudo hisses, crossing his arms as his glare flickers back to the board. "Look, if it was any other place, I'll do it. But I'm not setting one claw in that village, so find someone else."
"Again, ye have to do it and it ain't up for debate." Gunpowder says firmly, earning another sharp hiss from the Ninjask. Turning away in fury, it takes a few minutes for the cicada to calm down enough to cast another glance at the task. Then his eyes migrates to the papers Gunpowder's posting and an idea pops into his head.
"How about I do all these other Tasks, and Kowai can do the moondust one!" he says, immediately hearing an anxious whimper from Kowai.
"Brother!" it starts to object. "I don't wanna go there by myself! I don't even know where it is and it's full of strangers!" A soft growl comes from the shed at the thought of all those other strange Pokemon and Sokudo sighs. He should've known better than to think that plan was anything but doomed from the start. Giving a huff of frustration, he again glares at the paper in question, his mind conflicting on what to do. He can't go back, and he'll have to do anything necessary to save himself his fate. Even if that meant-
"Fine, then. If that's the way it's gonna be..." he mutters. "I quit!"
At this, Gunpowder sputters, his eyes wide. He certainly isn't expecting this ultimatum at all and for a moment, he isn't sure how to react. Surely, Sokudo is bluffing as he's made it clear multiple times that this is his dream job, and he can't honestly be willing to end it over some task. But that assumption quickly changes when he sees the Ninjask pull out his Rogue badge and makes a move to throw it on the ground.
"Hold on there, matey," Gunpowder intervenes, holding up his claws to stop the Ninjask. "No need to be so rash..." As much as Sokudo got on his nerves, the ninja is a valuable member of the Guild and few shared as much passion for the job. He can't afford to lose him... Glancing back and forth between the troublesome Task and the one currently held in his claws, he decided that maybe he should do a compromise... "Alright, matey, here's what me be thinkin',"
"I'm listening," Sokudo utters in acknowledgement, his badge still held in his claw.
"If you can do this Task," He waves the paper held in his claw. "Then I'll let ye off the hook."
"Deal," Sokudo makes no hesitation in agreeing, reaching out for the paper only for the dragon to pull it away.
"But," he emphasizes. "only if you and yer brother complete this job. If ya can't, ye gotta go to the Village."
"That's bullshit!" Sokudo hisses, not liking where this is heading at all. Leave it to his leader to pull something like this.
"That's compromise," Gunpowder tells him firmly. "And it be better than nothin', right, matey?"
Growling at the Gabite, Sokudo casts a glance at his silent shed before grumbling incoherent words under his breath. As much as he didn't like it, it is indeed better than nothing and at least he can keep his job. And he has full confidence in completing whatever task this was. He looks to the paper in question, snatching it from his leader's claw before looking it over. "Gambitville, great... Gotta go back to that desert town..." He snorts. "It doesn't even say what I'm supposed to do there."
"That be on purpose, matey," Gunpowder tells him. "Ye need to have another one of them interviews with the mayor before he tells ya anythin'."
"But why interview me again if I already took it?!" Sokudo asks indignantly. "Hell, working there was the first job I had as a Rogue!"
He remembers it clear as day, even though he was still a Nincada when he last visited Gambitville. Sure, the desert was a rather unpleasant place to be, but he remembers having a reasonably good time there. The place was full of criminals and he had gotten into several fights, but it was well worth his while as most of those fights he started. Plus, he certainly left an impression on the mayor during their last interview, what with his little Nincada self making a scene of the whole thing.
At least returning there will relieve him of some of his tension, as well as halt or at least stall his fate. So despite his irritation of him having to retake the interview, he is more than happy to stuff the paper into his bag before pulling out the Travelling Scarf.
"Alright, Gunpowder, I'll be back whenever," He glances a bit at the horizon. "If you don't hear from me or Kowai for a couple of weeks, assume the worse." His tone is practically defeated and he sighs as he ties the scarf around a purring Kowai. Casting a look at his employer as the dragon resumes organizing the tasks, he ignores the frail homing instincts beckoning him towards Mossy Village and instead turns towards the direction of Gambitville.
Checking to make sure Kowai's ready one last time, he takes off.
"Wow, Gambitville looks even more like shit than usual," Sokudo grumbles as he and Kowai arrive within the old dusty town. It looks almost abandoned, although he can clearly see other Pokemon in their homes. It's almost like they are afraid to come out. He's certain the mayor had something to do with it, what with him being a practical dictator when it comes to the law. He'll probably hang you at the Gallows for sneezing in the wrong direction.
Speaking of the mayor, Sokudo casts a quick glance at Kowai, noting that the Shedinja is already nervous, like it can sense what's to come. Well, the husk will just have to suck it up, because Sokudo's not going to fail this mission just because Kowai's a little fidgety. Taking the other end of the Traveling Scarf, he leads the Shedinja towards the location of the last interview: the courthouse. Looking up at the massive, imposing building, he's about to go in when-
"Brother!" Kowai shrieks in panic and the Ninjask startles before looking over at the shed, expecting danger of some sort. But there's nothing as the Shedinja whimpers loudly, shuddering almost convulsively as it stares at the building. Its voice is panicked and desperate, and Sokudo's certain he hears a small cry coming from it. "Don't go in there, brother! P-please!" It backs away a few feet, pulling the other end of the scarf out of Sokudo's claw. "I-I wanna go home now!"
Sokudo tilts his head in confusion. He expected Kowai to be anxious, but this...? The shed looks close to crying, it's so fearful. Clearing his throat, he looks back at the building's door before shaking his head.
"We have to do this, Kowai," he tells it. "I'm not going back until I finish this job..." He'll be damned if he ever had to go to that stupid Mossy Village. "So man up and let's go." He goes to open the door again when Kowai screams.
"Noooooo! You'll get hurt, brother!" it cries out, earning another cringe from the Ninjask. Taking a breath, Sokudo doesn't even look at it this time.
"It's fine, Kowai," he reassures in an irritated tone. "I've done this before and it's nothing to worry about." He opens the door and sees Kowai retreat even further away, its sobbing choke-like cries echoing through the empty town.
"B-Brother! PLEASE! Let's just g-go home! Go home where we can cuddle... PLEASE!" it pleads desperately, its shuddering body almost causing it to fall to the sandy ground. Hesitating, Sokudo finds himself a bit torn on what to do. Kowai seems more freaked out than usual, but he doesn't want to give up before he even started. Making up his mind, he flies into the building.
"Fine, you can wait out here then." With that, he disappears and Kowai whines even louder. Floating closer, it jolts back frequently as if unable to control itself in its panic. The voices in its head sure isn't helping the situation.
Go in there, the calm voice whispers. You have to protect your brother.
DON'T YOU DARE GO AN INCH IN THERE! the normally savage voice demands in a panic matching Kowai's. YOU KNOW WHAT'LL HAPPEN IF YOU DO!
You have to put your fear aside, the other voice insists. If it's as bad as you think it is, then Sokudo's in danger. You have to protect him.
FUCK THE NINJASK AND RUN!
Whimpering as it feels its mind tear in two, it turns back and forth between the door and the horizon leading to home. Crying to itself, its black mist writhes in indecision before Kowai forces its whimpers to stop. Floating inside the building, it decides that it can't let its brother go in there alone.
And frankly it doesn't want to be out here all alone...
"Brother! Wait for me!" it calls out, the Ninjask turning to it as if expecting it. Wasting no time, Kowai hurries to him as fast as it can, pressing itself into him in a cuddle. Sokudo tolerates this for a few seconds before pushing it away, taking its scarf and pulling it after him towards another set of large double-doors. The Ninjask flinches as Kowai lets out another scream, its fear skyrocketing as it fights every instinct of self-preservation.
Opening the door makes it even worse, and Kowai freezes before it practically collapses on the ground with a sound thump, as if stunned by its own terror. Looking at it, Sokudo decides that the best thing is to leave it here and he slips through the partially opened door and closes it.
Looking about, he sees that nothing's change since the last time he's been here, a regular-looking courtroom with rows of seats and a tall judge's podium. Scattered here and there are Keystones and one is even settled on the podium. Flying to that particular one, he reached out a claw and taps it firmly.
"Jury! Jury, I know you're in there!" He barks, seemingly talking to the air. "Wake your ass up!"
At first, he gets no response before the markings on the Keystone begins to glow a violent red and Sokudo quickly flies back onto the defendant's chair. A large swirl of energy explodes from the stone, soon taking the form of a Spiritomb. But this individual is quite unlike the norm. Instead of purple or blue, it is a very bright red color, faint hints of purple visible along the jagged edges. Green orbs circle the body in clear agitation before the bright yellow face forms, a frowning glare evident.
And perhaps the most disturbing aspect is the chorus of savage, demonic voices echoing words in the background as the main gravelly voice speaks up. "Who dares break the noon curfew to disrupt our rest!?"
His swirl-shaped pupil settles on Sokudo and the Ninjask hears the chorus shouting for him to be hanged for the disturbance. He tries to hide his intimidation, only his twitching wings giving away his nervousness as he speaks up. "I'm here for an interview. Maybe you remember me?"
The main Spiritomb soul is silent, glaring him up and down as the other spirits muttered incoherently amongst themselves. Finally, after a few moments, Jury gives a soft growl. "We don't recall any Ninjask that's ever visited our town."
"But we have seen a few Nincada," one of the voices pipes up loud enough to be distinguishable. "Perhaps this Ninjask is one of them?"
"Be silent," the main voice barks, his eyes narrowing as Sokudo speaks up.
"Actually, I was one of those Nincada." he tells the ghost.
"Told you!" the other voice says triumphantly and Jury gives a snort before hissing to Sokudo.
"Name?"
"Sokudo."
"Guild?"
"Rogue."
At this, the Spiritomb growls deeply, the orbs spinning around him at an even faster rate. "Yes, we remember you now. You may have denied being a criminal back then, but surely with your Guild that has changed, and we cannot allow criminals to work here."
"There you go again," Sokudo grunts, crossing his arms. "I said it before, I'll say it now: STOP making assumptions based on my Guild! That's prejudice!" He almost allows a smirk to grow on his mandibles. He remembers saying the exact same ridiculous thing on their last meeting, and remembers the resulting look of confusion on the Spiritomb's face before his little Nincada self made a proclamation of how Jury must've been jealous because he's too awesome to handle.
Unfortunately, the ghost doesn't look confused this time as that spiral-shaped pupil bores into him. "Let us see your papers, then."
Sokudo hears the other voices demanding his papers, some even making death threats towards him. Opening his bag and digging through it, he keeps an eye on Jury, noting how the Spiritomb begins glancing towards the door. The Forbidden Pokemon starts giving another low growl, but thankfully, he chooses to stay on topic as Sokudo pulls out his Rogue papers and flies over to place them in front of the mayor. Despite his trouble-making past, he feels very confident showing Jury his papers. After all, although he has done many criminal acts, he has never been caught for any of them, so...
Jury scans his paper intently, as if looking for something specific. Jury grumbles to himself in some conversation Sokudo can't quite make out. Every so often, the Spiritomb will glance at the door, still looking bothered, but still choosing to ignore it for now. Meanwhile, Sokudo just hovers haughtily, waiting for the Spiritomb to approve him. But approval isn't what he gets when Jury glares at him.
"There's another member on your team. Why is he not here?" he asks suspiciously and Sokudo stiffens when the other voices begins calling him out, accusing him of hiding something, of trying to cheat the interview somehow. Gathering his wits quickly, he clears his throat.
"My brother didn't want to come, so-"
"LIES!" Jury interrupts with a shriek, the Ninjask cringing back. "We can feel another presence by the door. You mean to tell us that's not your brother?" the ghost growls. "Because if that's the case, then we can punish the intruder for trespassing."
"No, that's my brother," Sokudo tells the mayor quickly, surprised by how fervently he said it, like he's trying to save Kowai from such a horrific fate. "What I meant was that it doesn't want to come in here, 'cause-"
"Nobody's exempt from this interview, Mr. Sokudo," Jury states, his voice calming down in a disconcerting fashion. "Bring your brother in here, or get out of our town."
Taking a breath, Sokudo tries to think of a way around this, but he knows there's no escaping it. Nodding softly, he flies towards the door and opens it, seeing that Kowai has recovered and is now pacing back and forth just beyond the door's threshold. The husk is muttering to itself, obviously debating as to whether it should head inside. However, upon seeing Sokudo come out safe and sound, it practically squeals with relief as it throws itself against him.
"Brother! You're okay!" It whimpers as it snuggles tighter, resisting Sokudo's gentle push to get it away. After a moment, it looks at him. "We can go home now."
"No, Kowai." Sokudo tells it, taking the scarf. Kowai already gets the idea from the gesture alone and it begins to cry again.
"Brother, no! Don't! I don't wanna go in there, please!" it begs as Sokudo begins tugging it towards the courtroom. Sokudo says nothing in response, soon finding himself in a game of tug-of-war as the Shedinja tries to pull away. "NO! PLEASE! BROTHER!"
But Kowai's struggles and protests proves useless as the Ninjask manages to get his shed into the room and closes the door. The shuddering Kowai cries hysterically and one glance at the Spiritomb gets a piercing shriek out of it. Fueled with unimaginable terror, the Shedinja pulls away from its brother so hard that it tears the Travelling Scarf in half, sending both insects stumbling. Kowai quickly recovers however and blindly dashes behind one of the rows to hide, its sobs echoing through the very building's foundations.
"Kowai, come on!" Sokudo hisses firmly, only to be ignored. Looking to Jury to explain this unruly behavior, he freezes when he sees the look on the Spiritomb's face. Something bad's about to happen, he knows it.
Before anything else can be said or done, Jury disappears into his Keystone and Sokudo looks about, wondering just what's going on. His confusion only gets worse when the Keystone closest to Kowai starts to glow and Jury erupts from it to confront the terrified Shedinja. Kowai screams as it jerks around to face him, shuddering convulsively as it backs itself into the wooden seat behind it.
"GO AWAY!" Kowai shrieks, forcing out a defensive hiss. However, its sad attempt to intimidate doesn't work as Jury looms over it, the orbs streaking light around him from spinning so fast.
"How DARE you get within an INCH of OUR fair town, you DISGUSTING creature!" Jury shrieks back. "We will NOT tolerate the likes of YOU here! Polluting our atmosphere with your mere criminal PRESENCE!" The other voices are adding their rage as well, calling for Kowai's death and continuing to berate the husk with threatening and demeaning words.
"GO AWAY!" Kowai repeats desperately, pushing tighter against the seating behind it although it can go no further. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"Hey!" At once, Sokudo appears in front of Kowai, not wanting to get involved but taking his promise to protect the Shedinja very seriously. He glares at the enraged Spiritomb, feeling Kowai huddle against his back. "What the hell are you doing?! Back off!"
But this does nothing to change Jury's position over them, sneering as he glances between the two bugs. "So you ally yourself with evil? And you wish to work in our town?! You'll be lucky to get the Gallows for such treachery, Ninjask!"
"What treachery?!" Sokudo demands. "You're the one ganging up on my BROTHER! It hasn't done anything to you, so BACK THE FUCK OFF!" He honestly has no idea what's going on here, why there's such hostility between the two. All he knows is that he has to do something about it and quick. Who knows how much paperwork he'll have to do if Kowai dies! "And whaddya mean 'evil'?! Kowai's fucked up, but it's not evil!"
At this, the Spiritomb looks at him dead in the eye, his glare still strong as he studies the Ninjask. "You can't sense it?"
"Well, I'm sensing you being a complete jackass!" Sokudo retorts. "Leave Kowai alone, and let's just finish this fuckin' interview so we can all get the fuck out!"
"The interview's over, Mr. Sokudo," Jury tells him in no uncertain terms. "We will not be hiring criminals in our town and you both are clearly criminals."
"No, I'm not!" Sokudo denies automatically, even though it's the truth. He can't lose this interview, but it seems as though he has no choice in the matter as Jury again speaks up.
"Allying yourself with a criminal is a crime in and of itself," the mayor states firmly. "It would do you two well to get out, before we make a public example of both your executions."
"BULLSHIT! BULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHITBULLSHIT!" Sokudo exclaims. "You have no proof of Kowai, or more importantly, ME being a criminal! Show me one spot on my fuckin' application where it shows anything like that!"
He's hoping the Spiritomb will comply with that, offer him the chance to get Kowai to safety. But luck just isn't on his side as the Spiritomb's eyes narrows maliciously, the pupil darting to Kowai and a low snarl coming up from the ghost. Kowai automatically gives another defensive hiss and the little Shedinja jolts away when one of the green orbs shoots towards it. Once more giving into self-preservation, Kowai makes a dash for the door with a panicked cry, but it doesn't go far before Jury disappears and reappears from a Keystone just behind it, striking it with a wave of dark energy typical in a Pursuit attack.
Squeaking, Kowai only feels a wash of pain before it falls to the floor, shuddering a bit before falling still.
"Shit!" Sokudo hisses as he flies to his brother, checking the shed for damage before glaring at the mayor, who continues to leer at the fallen husk before growling out his words in a low tone.
"Get. Out. Now!"
The Ninjask cringes, looking back and forth between Kowai, the door, and Jury. He can't believe this is happening. If he can't complete this mission, then he'll have to go back... Maybe he can still salvage this, make it so he can still get this job done, perhaps with a compromise. But he knows it's useless now, and he's certain that if he makes any further objections, he'll be hanged.
Sighing, he gathers up the motionless body of his brother before beating a hasty retreat back to Tao Village.
