Hey….

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, you see, this annoying-ass virus decided to corrupt my computer, infect it, and basically make it a steaming zit full of coded mess and a whole buncha shit.

I didn't like it.

BUT, thankfully, we were able to deflect it away, using an ACTUAL virus scan that worked. Trust me, you never want that virus.

Anyway, as a little review, last chapter Magnus managed to make his Dad and sister accept him as dead, and realize what terrible people they were. Unfortunately, his brothers and mom did not feel the same way.

So, before I start to ramble, here's chappie 10.

Chapter 10

I sat there, taking it in. The lights had gone out long, long ago, yet I just stayed there. In the old oak tree in my old front yard. I felt so weird. There wasn't a way to describe it, really. I was bursting with happiness, yet the rational, 'good' side of me told me I shouldn't be a selfish little asshole.

But was I?

I didn't think so, but the little voice was shunning me. "You were giving an unfair revenge. You shouldn't play with their emotions! You aren't any better than they were to you! You don't deserve to feel happy."

My conscious self collided with it. "But I AM happy! If I didn't do this, they would never change, and who knows what would happen then! I would never be happy, even in my new life. I deserve to be happy."

"I'm not saying you don't deserve to BE happy, but FEELING happy by making others grieve is not what you do to get it. You deserve to BE happy, but after this, you don't deserve to FEEL happy. I refuse to let you be."

"Why are you telling me NOT to feel? I can ignore you all I want!" I plugged my ears, singing slightly, trying not to hear anything.

It didn't work. "No you CA-AN'T!"

"Oh, REAL mature, rational James."

"You're one to talk, conscious James."

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck YOU."

"That's not very nice."

"May I repeat? You're one to talk."

I made myself stop talking to myself. (What a weird sentence) Once the rational me had shut up, I calmed down, and climbed down the tree trunk, yawning. "Yet another night up late."

Out of the tree, I walked up the street, enjoying the cool early spring breeze. It made me shiver, and for once in my Pokémon life, I was cold.

I smiled, thinking, 'You're such a fool, James.' I let out a sigh, and continued to walk. The sidewalk began to hurt my paws, so I jumped into the grass, and let the cool dew that was beginning to form cling to my legs. Sometimes there could be an advantage to being this short.

Have you ever had a moment where you wished your life was a musical, so you can just spontaneously break into song and dance, and NOBODY would feel awkward?

Neither had I, 'cept for now.

Was I really this happy over just two people accepting me as dead? When I worded it that way it sounded overly awkward, but it was a rational thought!

Or so I thought, but yet again, rational James told me it was a dumb idea.

Even I don't like the rational me.

I walked through a garden patch, smelling some of the petunias as I went along. Was I lost? I didn't think so at the moment, but then again, when was the last time I went to my old house and not get escorted home by an ambulance? Or Droop, for that matter. I frowned slightly. I wasn't lost, this was probably one of the smallest towns in Johto, it shouldn't have been so hard to find my way home. I yawned again. I glanced up at the sky, and watched the stars for a few moments. A breeze picked up, and I shivered again. "Jeez, it's really windy tonight…"

I got up, and began to walk again. There was a simple way to do this, go to the 'rich' part of the neighborhood, and then just find my home. Simple enough, right?

Wrong.

It turns out that I didn't even know what part I was in right now. The houses were either middle or upper class, and I didn't know which. "Dammit, Droop, you were supposed to come pick me up…" I muttered to myself, glaring at all the houses.

Sitting down on my sorry ass, I thought of a plan. If I didn't know where I was, technically I could just find a good landmark I could remember. But there wasn't one, really. Crap. There weren't any parks or buildings nearby… Except one.

The school could be pretty creepy looking at night.

Especially when all the lights are out.

And when you know there are predatory birds through out the grounds.

Creepy was kinda understating it! I kept my eyes completely peeled open, and I skittered across the playground. Glancing into the trees, I spotted nothing. A good sign, or so I thought. I didn't know much about my species, except they are rodent-like, and could quite possibly become dinner for a hungry enough bird. I fled the playground, and hid near a street lamp nearby. I had to get across the schoolyard now. Not so hard, right? From there, I could find Lily's home, and soon be in a nice, fluffy soft mattress. Not a spooky school underneath the only lit street lamp. This was how horror movies started. My mind began to play the horror movie soundtrack as I crawled through the schoolyard.

I was pretty sure that the wind was getting colder. It was starting to hurt, almost. I stayed in the shadow of the building itself as I crawled through the grass next to it. The dew on it clung to my underbelly, and I shivered again. Peering around the corner, I saw nothing more than the front of the school, the small quad, and yet another lone street lamp. I furrowed my brow at the cliché, but continued through the schoolyard nevertheless. The wind began to ferociously blow, and flung me forward a bit. I was pounded by what felt like angry force, but I couldn't tell. All I knew was that it made me scared.

I yelped as the wind smacked into me, and sent me tumbling head-over-heels into the street lamp. It had a good Minun dent in it now.

"Ow." I muttered, rubbing the back of my head. But out of nowhere, a strange horned sheet barreled into me, sending me, yet again, tumbling through the grass. I winced as I poked the point where the sheet collided with me, before I jumped up to face my attacker. It was nowhere to be seen. I narrowed my eyes, searching for it.

I don't really know how to describe what happened next. To put it bluntly, my head was suddenly enveloped in some warm, wet place, and I was flailing like a moron.

"AAAAUGH!!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!!" I wailed, yanking at whatever was on me. The cloth was wispy, and I couldn't get a very good grasp at it. Realizing my stupidity, I began to charge, and released a thunder at my attacker.

That seemed to work, as it released my soaked head, but it also made it mad, seeing as whatever it was fired another powerful wind at me. Still blind from the attack, I wiped my eyes, and tried to find my current foe. I saw the weird purply wind come toward me, and I endured the strange sensation again, before catching a slight glance of the attacker again, before getting the powerful spike to the chest. I attempted to fire a good discharge at it, but that failed miserably, seeing as I was still attached to the rampaging thing. We hit the brick wall, and I felt the cloth slide through me. It wasn't a very pleasant experience. I quickly recognized the Pokémon. It was a Shuppet.

I ran toward the street lamp, coaxing it out into the open. Obeying to my thoughts, it flew out of the building, and rocketed toward me, its head spike pointed at me. I flung my fist forward, and as it collided with the spike, the electrical blast enveloped it, but the force built into the spike came into me as well. And just like ragdolls, we flew away from one another, tumbling toward the ground, and skipping like a stone across the quad into another patch of grass. My eyes whirled for a few seconds, before I leapt to my feet, and jumped out of the grass patch. I was greeted by a lump of black energy. I was like having a pillow of cream cheese set on fire flung at your head, and then having it absorb into your skin. No matter the feeling, I was back in the grass patch again. "The fuck is this thing?!" I muttered, heaving several breaths before leaping out of the patch, once again. This time, I used a discharge, and I hit the Shuppet. It cried out, and flopped toward the ground, before retaliating with another head cling. It hurled toward me, before opening its maw and latching to me. It tried to crunch my skull, (and it did a good job of it, too) but I used a Thunder Fang on its tongue.

Have you ever had a live wire attached to your tongue? Or have you tried putting an AC battery to your braces and watching the sparks fly off? Well, both hurt, although the former had to hurt much more, because the Shuppet wailed, and let go of my head, and flopped to the ground. This time, it didn't get up. All that was left was a sheet, with a few holes cut into it.

I panted, and looked at the cloth. "The hell?"

I gingerly touched it. The fabric was silky smooth, and oh so cool. I picked it up, and felt an intense ominous feeling in it. Obviously the spirit of the Shuppet was still inside it. I looked around. Nobody was here.

The cloth vibrated slightly. Feeling sudden mercy, I gathered up the rest of the cloth, and carried it out to the street. Avoiding the light, I began to walk up the street, still holding the sheet. "Oh, James, you're feeding yourself Ponyta shit." I muttered to myself. Once again, like an annoying little ass-munch, my rational side said, "It is the right thing to do, you know. Even if it attacked you in vicious blood, and wanted your soul."

"Thanks for the wonderful pep."

"Always here for that, darling."

I rolled my eyes. My sleep deprived state was going to kill me. It was making all sorts of dumb decisions that the perfectly sleep content James wouldn't make. And although I was thinking this through, I couldn't let go of the sheet. I couldn't just drop the unconscious Shuppet body and let the wind take it away. Granted, that would be a rude awakening, to find one's self wrapped and tangled thoroughly in a tree, but that's what happens.

I stopped, and then looked down at what I was holding. That was something that didn't make the most sense. Why was I holding a SHUPPET? They were supposed to be about I-don't-know-how-many miles north from Johto! Hoenn was definitely closer than, say, Sinnoh, but damn! How far had this thing traveled?

That's what also kept me standing there like a dolt. Was I holding a male or female? I would've found it quite awkward to be holding a guy, but overly cliché and uncomfortable to be holding a female.

I bit my lip, before continuing. For now, it was just gonna be that. It.

*****

I was guessing 2 AM when I got home. Sneaking through the hole in the fence, and yanking the still unconscious cloth through it as well, I snuck around to Droop's bush, and heard some light snoring. That indicated he was somewhat asleep. Deciding to play a trick on him, I draped the cloth over my head, making sure the holes for its eyes were facing mine as well. I giggled in anticipation. Then, on my tip-paws, I crept around to where he was perched, and took the biggest inhale I could, before letting out a high pitched wail similar to the Shuppet's. That seemed to wake him up, as he levitated a foot in the air and screamed, "AAAAUGH! PLEASE DON'T EAT MY SOUL!!!!"

Droop fell back into the bush and stared wide eyed at me. I laughed out loud and said, "Oh my Mew! You are the biggest sucker in the WORLD!!!"

Droop blinked. "Magnus?"

I cackled, and then said, "Yup! And boy, did you fall for that one!"

He blinked several more times, and then rubbed his eyes with his wings. "What the hell are you wearing?"

I stopped cackling, and then sheepishly said, "A Shuppet…"

His eyes widened.

"What? It's a little tight, sure, but it was worth it."

His eyes didn't shrink, but he whispered, "Since when did your eyes glow like that? I thought they were supposed to be brown…"

"Well, I-" I paused, "Wait, what?"

"Your eyes are glowing blue." He said, looking at me like I was stupid. "And purple, and a tad bit yellow."

"Uh, I don't think they- URK!!!" I gagged, as my neck tightened suddenly, and I began to rise off the ground. The sheet fluttered, as the Shuppet revived. I flailed my legs, trying to get out of it, but that failed miserably. I was stuck, in a Shuppet.

Once realizing what was going on, Droop gulped, and remained silent as the Shuppet glanced around. It was at that moment when her eyes shrank into a glare, and then violently shook. "What the hell are you doing?! Get out of me!!!" It yelled, flailing and trying to get me out of it. I was gagging, for most of my air pipe was getting choked, and it didn't help that my body was getting flung around like a ragdoll. Droop watched helplessly as the both of us swirled around the yard, smacking into every object there was.

"OW! Stop- URK- hurling me into this shit!" I yelled, gagging along the way.

"You deserve it for knocking me out and then wearing me as a costume!" It yelled back, continuing to flail its body.

"That's what you- URK- get for trying to eat my face!"

It stopped, and then abruptly began to concentrate. It felt like my head was filling with tons of gas. My eyes felt like popping out.

There was a quiet opening and closing of a door, and then I saw a light from a flashlight getting shone at us. The Shuppet screeched, and I fell out of it as the Shuppet fell unconscious again. I coughed and gasped for air, before hearing the sheet get caught. The flashlight beam followed me down, and I was bathed in a silhouette of a pink Skitty flashlight cover. I gazed at my rescuer, and saw her, standing in her Pink footy PJ's, and a plush pink blanket tied around her neck like a cape. Droop retreated into his bush, and Vanessa gazed down at me with disdain. "I thought you would be better than needing a five-year old to rescue you at three in the morning." She huffed, picking up the sheet and holding it in front of her. A stupid grin swept across her face in an instant, and she pranced away, instantly forgetting being annoyed at me. I had to dash to keep up with her, she was quite fast, the little bugger. Her cape flapped behind her, it was almost perfectly flat she was running so fast.

I followed her up to her overly pink room, where once I was inside, she shut the door, and then looked down at me, her grin still from ear to ear. She bent down and grabbed me, and carried me to her bed. I blinked, and she put me on the floor next to it. I looked up at her stupidly. "What are you doing?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. She bent down and lifted up the bed skirt. My eyes widened as at least eight pairs of glowing red eyes looked my direction. They began to whisper and cackle in excitement, before Vanessa pulled out her flashlight and shone it on them. The Banettes, who were a little more durable to the light than the Shuppet had been, screamed in terror. "IT'S THE EVIL ONE!!!!"

"TO THE CORNER!!!"

They all screamed and went to huddle in the corner. I looked up at Vanessa in shock. "What?" She asked, eyebrows high. "So I junked a few toys, what of it?" I looked at the sheet that was still in her hands and her eyes followed. On the sight of the sheet, her face lit up again, and she bounced away from the bed, (where sobs were starting to issue from) and over to a knocked over laundry basket. Once nearby, she said, "This is where I put these guys." She said, holding up the sheet, and pushing it into the laundry bin, along with a toy from a nearby pile. "After a few months they end up under the bed." She said, her stupid grin still plastered to her face. "Although sometimes a few will just end up there by themselves. But it's most annoying when they spend all night whispering or crying."

I looked back to the sobbing bed, and then nodded. I could see how that could get annoying. Vanessa bounced back to the bed, where she promptly curled up and fell asleep. I shook my head, before gazing back into the laundry bin. The eyes were back, and they were even angrier than before. I gulped.

"Once I'm out of this, you're soul and body and mind and conscience and thoughts and memories will all be MINE…." It said menacingly. I cringed, before recoiling. "Not before the five-year-old gets in the way. If she can shatter a whole bunch of your evolutions then you are certainly not going to do much."

Her eyes softened, before drifting down to a sad form. "I'm sorry, I get a little hot-headed…"

"I know the feeling."

"It's just that, I hate losing." She said, evil tone returning.

"I'm sorry."

"But of all things, why wear me as a costume?" She asked suddenly.

This caught me off guard. "Uh…."

"SPIT IT OUT OR I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!!!!!" She ferociously screamed, instantly popping my bubble.

I sprang back, and flinched. She recoiled in the same way. "I'm SO sorry! I just burst randomly…"

"I was just trying to get a laugh from my friend! Jeez!"

Vanessa grunted in her sleep, and muttered, "I don't want marmalade on my French toast…"

The Shuppet's eyes furrowed in curiosity. "Is that girl insane?"

"Closer than you'd think."

"I don't believe we had a very good introduction."

"Well, how do you suppose we remedy that?" I asked, smiling stupidly at her.

"Don't get cocky, Minun, or I'll rip it, and all other things off." She growled.

"Magnus." I said, holding out a paw.

"Gale. Pleasant to meet you, Magnus."

"Pleasure's mine, Gale." I said, smiling warmly.

*****

*****

*****

I'm reeeeeally sorry for taking so damn long on this chapter update…. I know how to judge my updates, but I had writer's block and lack of ambition…. Plus several plot bunnies, but one of those is already up. And for those who even read this, its about Pokémon this time. You may or may not like it. (Shelby)

Oh yeah, and if you don't mind, take time out of your day and tell some friends about this story, and fanfiction altogether. Send them a quick, 'read this story' or something. I get better ambition the more people I have waiting for an update. (hintity hint hint)

But, that's all for now, until next chapter, (which may not be here for a while) BYEZ!!! X3