July 19th, 1944, Temporal Pinnacle…
"Master Dialga?"
A bright light flashes and in front of Dusknoir stands a powerful looking being. Powerful, spikes on his back, 7 feet tall, 300 pounds, and steel plates for skin.
"Somehow I knew you'd show up."
"Good day Master Dialga."
"Well I doubt you're here to just say 'hello'."
"And you're correct. Sceptile sent me."
"Oh, haven't seen him in years, I'd love to catch up but please go on."
"He says there's another human in this world. That there may be another world ending event soon."
"Oh?"
"He wants to know what you know. If you know anything else."
"I'm afraid I don't. I could speak to Arceus if you would like that."
"That would be great. If you learn anything of value please share it with me via telepathy."
"Now that business is dealt with, how are things back home?"
Unknown Location…
"Mew? Are you here?"
A pink creature sharing Celebi's stature seemingly blinks into existence. There were a few differences, the long lashing tail being the most prominent. There was also the matter that Mew could levitate.
"Celebi! So good to see you!"
Mew floats down and hugs Celebi.
"It's nice to see you too Mew, but I'm afraid this isn't a social visit."
"What do you need?"
"You and Arceus are close friends yes? *Mew nods* Has he told you anything unusual lately. Perhaps involving a human?"
"No he hasn't. Wait. Human? You don't think do you?"
"Sceptile certainly does."
"Hold on."
Mew vanishes.
Two minutes later…
"He's refusing to speak about it."
"That can't be good."
Back at the Guild's Mess Hall…
Sceptile was eating alone when his companions walked in, grabbed some food and sat next to him.
They spoke in whispers.
"What's the word?"
"Master Dialga tells me Arceus is refusing to speak about it with him."
"What about Mew? They're close aren't they?"
"Same story."
"Damn. Guess we're just gonna have to trust that Arceus knows what he's doing."
"They say 'no news is good news,' but this is making me nervous."
"Yeah, last time we knew what had happened. This time we're being kept in the dark."
"For now let's just focus on the Guild. Nothing has happened yet."
August 25th, 1944, Dreamscape…
"Hello Logan."
"Arceus. It's been some time hasn't it?"
"Yes. I've been waiting for some good news to give you from your world."
"What news is this?"
"Take a look."
The scenery shifted to a rather damaged city, but with the Eiffel Tower in the background, Logan knew where this was.
"That's… Paris."
The scene shifted to show Americans escorting German prisoners out of the city.
"They… they've taken Paris back."
"Yes. It would seem the war is going well."
"I'm glad."
"We'll see how long that lasts."
"What?"
Reality, Gathering Hall…
"You three."
"Yes Celebi?"
"Its time for your first actual mission assigned by the Guild."
"What's the difference?"
"The standard mission is a request from authorities, victims, or civilians. This mission is assigned by us."
"So what's the job?"
"I'm glad you asked Rita. These requests are rarely dangerous, but they're important. This one is a simple mission about a town that hasn't been in contact for two weeks now. We're getting worried about them."
"Where are they?"
"Open your map please."
Logan does so.
"Here. In the Whispering Woods."
"That's 200 miles!"
"You'll be away for many days yes, but we give you all the supplies you need. Food, water, medical equipment, etc."
"Do we leave today?"
"If possible."
1600…
The group set out. The each carried a 20 pound pack containing all the supplies THAT person would need for the trip.
Logan was a bit loaded down because he also brought his Garand and pistol. About 28 pounds of weight that he would have to lug over 200 miles.
They took frequent breaks but had made decent time for the first 1/3 of a day. Having hiked about 25 miles.
August 28th, 1944…
It was around noon when they made it to the edge of Whispering Woods.
"Alright, this says we don't have to actually enter the dungeon to get to the town. We can just find it by heading east once we reach the edge of the forest."
90 minutes later…
"There it is. Woodland Willows."
"Looks peaceful."
"Im not so sure about that Wes."
"Why not?"
"I see a lot of red, and that tends to mean blood."
Logan readies his Garand.
"Only one way to find out. Get behind me."
Rita gets behind Logan, and Wes behind her. They slowly walk forwards.
When they reach the town, they do find a lot of red. Lots of blood, and lots of bodies.
"What… what happened here?"
They approach a Leavanny's corpse.
"Hold up."
Logan kneels down and checks the body.
He notices something odd.
"Here, in the chest. There's a bullet hole."
"But, you're the only one with guns."
"I think I WAS."
"You think there might be… another human?"
"Unless someone has developed guns here."
"Logan, we should leave. We know why they haven't been in contact. Our mission is done!"
"My brothers in arms wouldn't do this. If it is another human, it may be one of our enemy. Trust me, we don't want them running around with weapons when no one else has them."
"I don't like this."
"None of us do."
They went door to door, looking for any survivors, or for the killer.
"Sh. *Whipsering* Voices low. Someone is in here. I heard them walking. Rita, when I give the signal, bust this door."
Logan hands the pistol to Wes, Rita gets ready to break the door open, and Logan stands just in front of it, ready to shoot if the killer is the one inside.
Logan holds up one hand and starts putting up one finger after another.
1
2
3
He then makes a slicing motion with his hand.
Rita punches the door off its hinges and Logan and Wes run in.
Sitting in the room, terrified, is an Ivysaur.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT DON'T KILL ME PLEASE!"
"Calm down."
"I DONT WANNA DIE!"
"He's in shock. It's not him."
They spend a few minutes calming down the panicking Grass and Poison Type.
"What happened here?"
"We found an unconscious Zoroark. No one knew who he was. We thought he was lost, so we took him to the village to rest up. He had these wierd devices with him but we decided to leave them be. When he woke, his eyes about bugged out of his skull and he shouted something in some kind of language. We told him to calm down, that we wouldn't hurt him, and then he pointed one of those devices at us and-"
"We can piece together the rest."
They were planning on taking him to the Guild so that he could get some therapy and not have to be reminded of the horrors he witnessed.
Then they heard a scream.
Logan and Wes tighten their grips on their weapons.
They started to head towards the scream.
They witnessed a horrific sight.
A Lopunny was running for its life, and the Zoroark was right behind it.
The Lopunny was fast, but the Zoroark was faster.
When he caught up to it, he tripped it with his clawed hands.
The Lopunny quickly got up, but the Zoroark grabbed its shoulder, spun it to face him, then jammed the index and middle claws of his right hand into the Lopunny's chin, up into the brain.
"Oh my…"
The Lopunny fidgeted a few times before going limp. The Zoroark then let it fall.
The Zoroark was at least 6'4 and 240 pounds.
That wasn't what scared Logan though.
On the Zoroark's arm, was a red band. One that held the infamous SS that had come to be so feared.
This guy was a member of the Waffen SS.
He was tough, strong, and disciplined.
Logan acted quickly.
"DON'T FUCKIN MOVE!"
He aimed the Garand at him.
The Zoroark stared at him.
He smiled menacingly.
His blue eyes flashed for a second, before he vanished.
"What!?"
"Zoroarks can create illusions! He's turned himself invisible!"
"Everyone be quiet. Back to back facing outwards. Look and listen for shrub movement."
Logan and Wes kept swinging the guns around, trying to figure out where this elusive enemy was.
They must've kept that formation for ten minutes, the Zoroark looking for an oppening, before he made a mistake.
He disturbed a bush, right in front of Logan.
Logan aimed and fired in a flash.
He was rewarded with a spout of blood, and the Zoroark becoming visible again.
He was gasping for breath.
Logan had double lunged him. (He hit both of his lungs)
The Ivysaur's legs shook.
"It's over. I'm gonna live. Let's get out of here."
He started to walk off.
"A single survivor in a whole village…"
"One is better than none Rita."