Infection
My head hurt, I felt sleepy. I could hear someone calling my name, so I slowly forced my eyes open.
"Rolan!" Yuri suddenly put his arms around me.
"W-what...?" I mumbled sleepily.
"You wouldn't wake... I was so worried..." I could hear him sob softly.
"I'm alright." I forced a smile trying to remember what had happened. Looking around the blank cement room, I noticed there were a few others inside here. However, none were people I recognized.
The image of the gray skinned creatures replayed in my mind. Looking down at my hand, I realized it was wrapped in bandages. The feel of the alien's tongue was still there. I then noticed Yuri had some bandages wrapped around his neck.
Someone treated our wounds.
"You two must be from Uzbekistan's Storm Wolf?" A short green-haired boy asked arrogantly. He wore a yellow and orange jersey; if I remembered correctly he must be,
"Taiwan's Mach Tiger..." I mumbled unconsciously.
"Not just any player, but the captain of the team, Napa Ladam." Though he was shorter than us, It felt that he was staring us down.
Yuri spoke up, "Um... Do you have any idea where we are, Napa-san...?"
"Were you attacked by strange creatures too?"
Yuri and I both nodded.
"Well, besides the fact everyone here was attacked, we know nothing." Napa sighed, "Talking to you guys was a waste of time. Bye bye!" He added arrogantly before leaving.
I hate people like him. I searched the walls and floor along with Yuri hoping to find some exit, but of course, no hope.
Yuri leaned against the tiredly wall and slowly sat. His breathing was noticiably heavy and his face flushed.
"Yuri!?" I placed my hand over his head and sure enough, he had a high fever. Now, of all times.
"I-I'm okay... just a little... tired?" My friend mumbled as he smiled. I could tell it was forced.
I realized I was wearing my team jacket still and immediately took it off and put it over Yuri's shoulders.
"Ro...lan?"
"Don't worry, I'll find a way out of here."
It was then a strange holographic monitor appeared in the center of the room. A blue-skinned man was shown on it. It wore clothes I've never seen before and its hair had two antenna-like flicks on it.
The people in the room slowly gathered around it.
"Hello, Earthlings." He spoke in a deeper voice than I expected, "I am called, Bitway Ozlock, a member of the Galactic Federation Council."
"Galaxy what?" Someone spoke my exact thoughts. Instead of answering, the man, Bitway, continued.
"There has been some changes in your petty FFI tournament, which is why you all were brought here." A sneer formed on the man's face, "You were replaced by players representing their respective planets."
What?
"In other words, Aliens."
The room was silent for a second before one person yelled out, "Yeah right! Like we'd believe that!" And murmurs of agreement rose from the small crowd.
I didn't know if the others experienced the same thing we did, but I remembered the grey creature, the alien, take my and Yuri's form before my eyes. It explained a bit of the 'replaced' in Bitway's speech.
"If you don't believe me, here are the first round games of the 'FFI V2'." Bitway slowly swung his hand downwards as if summoning the screens forth. I scanned them and found one featuring our team's match against Laos' team. Yuri and I were in them!?
"How is that possi..."
Suddenly from behind, a door appeared on the wall and a similar creature to Bitway, but female entered. The door shut and disappeared immediately after she walked through it. She had a slightly lighter hair colour compared to Bitway and it covered her left eye, but had the same 'antennas'.
"Enough chit chat, Ozlock."
"Fine... I leave them in your hands, Despina Laks." Bitway smiled before the hologram disappeared.
Her mouth curved into a smile, "While the aliens impersonate you guys, we'll have you work for us. Don't worry. No one will notice your disappearances..."
"What do you mean by work?" I forced myself to keep my voice from trembling.
The alien then noticed Yuri's condition. "Well, well. Do we have a sick child?" She frowned, "Getting worried over nothing... earthlings are certainly a peaceful, weak, vulnerable race." She then grabbed Yuri by his jersey collar and unwrapped the bandages around his neck to examine the wound.
"Stupid Gins, told them to be careful where they take the DNA from..." She growled as she put Yuri down. She then whispered something I was barely able to catch, "Patience, it's for Iksaaru, patience..."
Iksaaru?
As if she was a completely new person, her entire attitude towards us changed, "I will show you to your respective rooms, please, this way."
Though still unsure of the current situation, we all obediently followed the alien. Because Yuri was too weak to walk, I carried him on my back.
The alien, I think named Despina, took the group through the halls throwing the closest 7 or 8 into the room, telling them that it was where they would rest. Yuri and I were put in a room with 6 others, one of them was Napa which we met earlier.
The single door in the room was locked and the only window was much too small to fit through. Not only that, but the view from it suggested that we were in space.
"Haha... Must be a picture taped to it..." A blue haired boy in a red uniform laughed nervously.
The ponytailed girl in the same uniform as him frowned, "With moving images?"
"T-they have holographic images... Anything's possible." He mumbled.
As the others talked I lay Yuri in one of the beds provided.
"Is he okay?" A blond girl asked. She wore a yellow and blue training jersey with the Big Waves emblem on it.
"Haha... I-I'm okay..." Yuri sighed though he didn't look fine at all.
The girl turned to me, "What do you think of the 'alien' stuff? Do you believe it?"
I thought for a bit, "There is more evidence pointing towards yes than no at the moment."
"I see..." She mumbled.
"Everyone, gather!" Napa yelled.
"Quiet!" Dark green haired growled as he held his ears, "This room's tiny enough for us to hear each other just with whispers."
"Well, what is it?" The ponytailed girl frowned.
"Since we never properly introduced ourselves, considering the current situation we are in, I believe we should get to know each other." Napa smiled triumphantly, "I'm Mach Tiger's Captain, Napa Ladam! Wachooo!"
"What's with the random cry at the end?"
"You in the red! Your next!" Napa pointed at the blue haired boy.
Scratching his head the boy sighed, "Choe Sin-Jae... Call me Sin-Jae. From Fire Dragon."
"From the same team, Sim So-Yeon." The ponytailed girl next to him said.
Next the dark green haired boy introduced himself, it was obvious he wasn't enjoying doing so, "Tamir Nasir, team's Shamshir."
"Big Waves, Marsha Arc. Everyone calls me Shark, so please call me that." The blond girl smiled.
It was my turn, "Rolan Lazarev and the one sleeping is Yuri Averin, both in Storm Wolf."
Napa scanned the room, "Besides the last three, I have heard if your names. First time participants, right? Wacho?"
"Could you really stop that?" Sin-Jae growled, "What's with your team and that cry."
"Heheh, trademark..."
"Not cool at all."
"Anyways" So-Yeon clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, "Let's try to wrap our heads around our current situation."
"Doom, we're all doomed." Tamir cried as he buried his face into his arms.
"Uh... Super negative..." Sin-Jae sighed.
"It's not my fault! It's been more than a day, A DAY, since I had my last Arabian Coffee!"
"Huh?"
Tamir clenched his fist in rage, "I can't survive without at least a cup of Arabian Coffee a day..."
So-Yeon continued the conversation, "So we can agree that we were abducted by aliens?"
"Don't ignore me!"
Aliens... it seemed possible. I never was a big Sci-Fi fan, but the idea of life forms apart from ones on earth always interested me.
"Hey... are you sure he just has a fever...?" Shark asked.
She was next to the sick Yuri and I quickly went to see what was up. Shark showed me the wound on Yuri's neck. A strange dark marking was forming from it and seemed to grow slowly from it.
"What is this?"
Shark shook her head, "I-I don't know... but I don't have a good feeling about it..."
I put my hand over my friend's head once more; it felt even hotter! "Yuri!?"
I started to panic and it got difficult to breathe.
"Rolan, calm down!" Shark said as she slowly rubbed my back, "Breathe; breathe in, breathe out."
I tried to focus on her instructions. In, out, in, out.
"Hey, are you alright!?" Sin-Jae gasped and the others in the room gathered, well besides Tamir who was still cursing to himself.
Sin-Jae noticed the wound on Yuri's neck, "Is this from the alien you were attacked by?" He asked me.
I nodded and showed him my palm with the bandages wrapped around it, "They licked our blood and took our forms..."
"Different from ours..." The blue hair boy said as his face turned pale from remembering the experience. His teammate, So-Yeon held her mouth as if she was about to throw up. I decided not to ask.
"Hm... We just got scanned by some kind of ray from their eyes." Napa stated, "How about Big Waves?"
Shark jumped at the question. Her face started to turn bright red, "I'd rather... not..."
"Ours was similar to yours, Napa." Tamir mumbled. At least he's still listening to our conversation..."
"Seems this wound is definitely the cause of Yuri-kun's fever. Show me your wound, Rolan-kun."
I unwrapped the bandages and showed my hand to Sin-Jae. It had a black spot like Yuri's, but was fading rather than growing. I remembered what Despina had said.
Stupid Gins, told them to be careful where they take the DNA from...
She knew! I quickly ran to the door and banged on it as hard as I could. "Hey! Despina!" I yelled, "I know you're there! Open the door!"
I felt someone grab my hand. It was Sin-Jae.
"You're opening your wound, stop it!"
I looked at my hand as blood started to trickle from the wound once again. Unable to use the dirty bandage again, the Korean player ripped two pieces of his own jersey. He told me to hold one piece, bunched up together in a fist, while he wrapped the second to hold it.
"Is it too tight?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"Good. Try not to do much with that hand for a while. Cuts on the palm can open easily." He nodded.
"W-what about Yuri?"
"I'm sorry, but I believe he has some kind of infection." Sin-Jae said slowly, "We just have to wait and hope his body can fight it off..."
"Yukimura, I intrust you with group E-9." A short feminine boy sighed as he threw a pile of papers in front of an elven boy.
Yukimura bowed his head, "Yes, sir..."
"After you find the earthlings, proceed to bring them back here before going to earth." The boy added.
"Xion-san, why is that?" The elf asked.
The boy kicked his feet onto the table as he took a sip from his drink, "Knowing the existence of the aliens will cause the clueless humans to panic. I was instructed to keep them until the preliminary rounds are completed."
"Understood. I will leave immediately with the rest."
"We're counting on you all." Xion smiled, "Melfelse is counting on you all."
Next episode preview
Yuri's sickness started to get worse and worse, however Despina refuses to do anything for him. When we lost all hope, a new alien broke into the ship claiming to come to save us? Next Storm Wolf: Injection
All the players from the representative team are actual characters from Inazuma. Despina is also from Inazuma.
Rolan Lazarev-Storm Wolf-MF 1st
Yuri Averin- Storm Wolf-DF 1st
Choe Sin-Jae- Fire Dragon-DF 3rd
Sim So-Yeon- Fire Dragon-FW 2nd
Napa Radum- Mach Tiger- DF 2nd
Marsha Arc (Shark)- Big Waves-MF 1st
Tamir Nasir- Shamshir-MF 2nd
Thank-you for reading, please review XD and tell me what you think of this story...
Until next time.