Wysteria stared at her monitor, scrolling through the endless game listings, most of which she already owned. The others drew no interest as they drifted up her screen.
This is useless, she thought, I'm wasting my time looking for something new.
However, just as she moved to turn her computer off, a listing caught her eye.
"Pokemon Mystery Dungeon?" she said aloud. "That's odd, where's the rest of the title?"
She clicked on the link, hoping to glean some more information, but found only a picture of the cartridge and a location to pick it up.
"I haven't seen anything like that cartridge before. And no rest of the title either."
She leaned back in her chair, looking out the window to the city and the night sky beyond.
You know what? I'll bite. Worst case scenario, I get mugged in an alley, and it's not like I'll be bringing much with me anyways.
She leaned forwards again, hands on her keyboard, ready to contact the seller. She typed out a quick message asking about availability.
To her great surprise, the seller responded immediately. "It is still available, but it won't be for long. Come pick it up now if you're interested, but it will be gone if you don't act soon."
Well, aren't you confident, Wysteria thought, smirking. Still, I can't say I'm not interested.
She quickly typed back: "I'll be there in 10 minutes."
Again, the seller's response was immediate. "Good. See you then."
She didn't know what possessed her to move so quickly, but in seconds her shoes were on and she was out the door of her apartment building in thirty seconds flat. She practically sprinted to her car, not bothering to put on her seatbelt as she sped off to the address the listing had provided.
She ended up at the front of an abandoned office building, its windows cracked and dusty. She knew she'd passed this place before many times, and it certainly didn't seem like the best place to buy a DS game. Still, she got out of her car and glanced around, trying to find anyone who looked like they were selling something. She walked closer to the building, slowly getting more paranoid.
Did I get pranked or something? At this point, I can only hope it's just a prank.
"Excuse me?" spoke a voice from behind her.
Holding back what would have been a very loud screech, she slowly turned to face who had addressed her. In front of her stood a figure cloaked from head to toe in fabric. A trenchcoat did most of the work, but a scarf and fedora completely obscured the figure's face.
"Excuse me," the figure said again, "but are you WYST6969?"
Wysteria snorted at the mention of her username, almost not noticing how robotic the voice sounded. She quickly regained her composure and answered, "Yeah, that's me."
The figure reached into one of its trenchcoat pockets and presented a cartridge. The very same Wysteria had seen in the listing. "I believe you came for this."
Wysteria nodded, her hand reaching into her pocket for her wallet. "How much do I owe you?"
The figure held up its other hand, signaling her to stop. She noticed how grey the figure's skin looked, almost like fresh clay. "You don't need to pay. Just take the game. I trust you have something to play it with?"
"Yeah," she replied, "I've got a DS back at the apartment. Why don't you want me to pay, though?"
This time, the figure did not respond, only thrusting the hand with the game in it forwards.
Okay, then. She slowly took the cartridge from the figure. As she looked over it, she noticed that, unlike every other DS cartridge she'd handled, this one was made from wood rather than plastic, only painted black to give it the same appearance.
"Well, thank you," she said, looking back up at the figure. Or, at least, where the figure was. She glanced in several directions but was unable to spot it again.
Well, that was weird. Whatever, I've got a game to play! Wisteria reentered her car and began the drive back to her apartment, her uneasiness slowly being consumed by excitement.
As soon as she got back into her apartment, her shoes were back off and she was once again sitting at her computer, rifling through a drawer in her desk for a while before she found it. My DS! She quickly ejected another game from its cartridge slot, barely acknowledging it before replacing it with her new game.
She turned her DS on, surprised at the amount of battery it had left, and launched the game.
Okay, new mysterious game. Let's do this!
The title screen was very simple, just showing off the game's title in plain text, along with a flashing play button. Maybe I got some kind of beta?
After she pressed play, she felt... strange. She stared at her screen, waiting for whatever loading sequence was going on to finish when she felt it. A pull.
Before she could even think to stop it, her head was entering the bottom screen of the DS, along with the rest of her body, her vision only graced with a mischievous smiling face before everything went white.
Kody sat on his bed, head in his hands. They'll never really understand me, will they? Nothing I say seems to matter to them.
He gazed out his window, seeing only trees and sadness. The morning sun poked out from the dense leaves, forcing him to look away. I never wanted to move here. I had friends back in town! Out here, nobody.
He glanced over at his phone, which was laying on the bed beside him. They told me I could still talk to them out here. They didn't tell me how terrible the signal would be!
He picked up his phone and turned on its screen, glancing for the umpteenth time at the one bar of signal that was able to reach him. He looked away, disappointed. I can't live like this. Stupid parents, wanting me to experience the "true outdoors." Here I am, and I hate it!
Suddenly, a message appeared on the phone's screen. Kody stared at it, surprised. I thought I couldn't get messages out here. This is the first one in days!
The message read: "You are needed, young Kody. You can be a hero."
"What?" Kody said aloud. "This must be some kind of spam." He shut off the screen and placed his phone back on the bed beside him, only for it to buzz with another message as soon as his fingers left it.
He picked his phone up again, turning on the screen once more. This message read: "Look out your window, Kody. You can help save us all."
He looked out his window and nearly screamed. Standing there was a tall figure, apparently dressed as a hiker. It wore baggy khaki pants, a button-up flannel shirt under a bright blue hoodie, brown boots, and a wide-brimmed hat that completely obscured its face. It held a phone in one hand and some small square object Kody couldn't recognize in the other.
Kody froze as it began to walk closer to the window, eventually reaching it and holding up the hand with the small object in it. It's a... DS cartridge? And wait, what's with the grey skin?
The figure used its other hand to point at Kody through the window. "You can be a hero, Kody," it said. "Take this."
Kody stared at the cartridge in the figure's hand. "Is this some kind of joke? I don't even have a DS!"
Almost mechanically, the figure reached into a pocket and produced a DS. "Easily fixable. Now take them."
What should I do? Kody thought. This guy's obviously nuts, and probably diseased, but I'm not doing much else with my time. What's the harm?
He reached for the window and opened it, and the figure thrust its hands at him. "Take them," it said again.
Kody reached for the DS first, then took the cartridge. When he did, he could feel how cold the figure's hands were. He looked down at his own hands, examining what the figure had given him further. Both the DS and cartridge, despite looking like regular plastic versions, were made of painted wood. That's odd.
"Well, I suppose I should thank you," Kody said, looking back at the window. To his surprise, the figure had disappeared. He leaned out the window and had a look around, but still saw no sign of it. Shrugging, he closed the window and once again focused his attention on the DS and cartridge.
He picked up the cartridge first, scanning the back to check for a title. "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? I've heard of those games before. My friends all said they liked them." He fell silent for a moment, before squinting at the cartridge. "Something seems a bit off, though."
It's probably fine, he thought, inserting the cartridge and booting up the DS. After a short moment, he'd arrived at the title screen. "Yeesh, you'd think they would put a bit of effort into the first thing we see," he said, pressing play. Immediately he felt a foreign feeling wash over him.
He stared at the screen, waiting for the game to load, when he suddenly tipped forward, his head being dragged toward the bottom screen. He screamed, but it was quickly cut off as his head was forced through the screen, followed by the rest of his body.
A beaked face with curious black eyes flashed for a moment in his vision before everything went white.
Cerise walked beside the numerous shelves of her college's library, searching for a very specific book. She'd asked the librarian numerous times about it, each time getting a variation of "the system says it's here, but I haven't seen it in weeks."
She needed to find it for a research project, and she was not giving up today. The library had closed an hour before, but she'd hidden behind a shelf when the librarian made sure everyone had left, so the whole space was hers to search. She'd combed the west wing of the library while it was open, and she was now searching the east wing. If that search also proved fruitless, she'd also search the middle of the library, which was made up of a grouping of tables surrounded by low shelves.
She rounded a corner, and, to her great surprise, there it was!
She rushed over to the small table it sat on, happy tears streaming down her face. "That's it! The Multiverse Theorem, Volume II!" She already had volume one back at her dorm, but it didn't have all the information she needed. She quickly tucked the book under her arm and hurried out of the library, staving off the temptation to start reading it on the walk back to her dorm.
It had gotten pretty dark since she began her search, so she had to rely on streetlights and the occasional passing car to light her way back. She'd always hated the dark with a fiery passion, so she quickened her pace when not under a streetlight.
This hate was further reinforced when a voice called to her from a nearby alley. Cerise froze. She hadn't heard what the voice said, but it sounded... enticing? She edged closer to the alley, not daring to exit the safety of the streetlight's bright influence.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed into the alley, very much loud enough to be heard by anyone who happened to be standing in it. But, to her surprise, no one revealed themselves.
I must have been just been hearing things, she thought, turning and almost colliding with a tall figure in a flowery dress.
"Oops, excuse me!" she exclaimed, scooching to the side to get past. Before she could walk any further, the figure stuck out an arm to stop her.
"I've been looking for you," it said.
Cerise stepped back to get a better look. The figure was almost completely covered by a sleeved dress with a red and blue rose pattern spiraling around it. An elegant green hat obscured the figure's face, tipped almost too far forward for a normal person to see anything. She knew, however, that whoever stood in front of her was indeed not normal.
Cerise gulped. "And w- why is that?" she asked shakily.
"I need you to take this," it answered. The figure extended an arm and opened its fist, revealing a DS cartridge.
"P- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon?" Cerise stuttered, reading the game's title. "Why d- do you need me to take this? Isn't it j- just some kid's game?"
The figure thrust its hand closer to her without answering. "Take it."
Without thinking, Cerise took the game from the figure's hand, noticing how cold and lifeless the hand felt. Is it just a trick of the light, or is its hand grey, too?
"Thank you," the figure said. "You'll need this too." A DS, grabbed from seemingly nowhere, was now in the figure's other suddenly outstretched hand.
She took it, fitting the cartridge inside it and sliding it into her hoodie's middle pocket. "Well, I guess I'll be going then," she mumbled, walking around the figure only to find her path blocked again. She looked up at the figure, now more annoyed than angry, and waited for it to speak again.
The figure made a point of angling its head down towards her. "Listen to me. When you get to somewhere safe, be it your home or somewhere else, you must play that game. Do you understand?"
Cerise put a hand on her hip. "Is that a threat?"
The figure shook its head slowly. "No. It is a plea. Many things you cannot yet comprehend depend on you playing that game, and while I cannot force you, I can plea. So... please?"
Cerise stared at the figure. A plea? That's not what I was expecting. She slid her hand into her hoodie pocket, curling her fingers around the DS. It was then she could feel it. Something about this feels... important. Maybe I really should play it when I get back.
She stared up at the figure, her heart filling with determination. "I'll do it."
The figure pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly, but not too tight. Its embrace felt cold, yet still genuine. "Thank you," it whispered, releasing her. It gestured in the direction she was headed. "Now go."
Her feet thinking for her, Cerise quickly rushed off. She heard the figure shout after her, "I'll see you again!" But when she turned around, it was gone.
When she reached her dorm, she hurried into her room, not surprising her roommates in the least. Closing the door behind her, she tossed the book onto her bed and sat down beside it. She took the DS out of her pocket and examined it. It's just a DS, why does it feel so important? Examining it further, she noticed the DS was made of wood. Odd, she thought.
She opened it up, and after a minute of testing the buttons, managed to turn it on. After more button pressing, she'd made it to the game's title screen. At this point, she'd mostly figure out the buttons, so pressing play was not much of an issue.
When she did, though, and was brought to a loading screen, a chill ran up her spine. She stared at the screen, transfixed, and only noticed her face was getting closer to the bottom screen when her nose was practically touching it. She didn't get to notice much else, however, as her entire head was quickly pulled into the screen, the rest of her body trailing not far behind.
She saw only a feline face with a deceptive grin before everything went white.
Maxwell laid awake in his tattered sleeping bag, listening to cars pass overhead. He had taken refuge under a bridge for the night. The noise of the city around him kept him awake, so all he could do was think.
I should have been a better son, he thought. But there's no way I could have possibly done that without becoming a different person entirely.
He stared up at the bottom of the bridge, almost wishing it would collapse on him and just end it. He still held hope, however, that his life could turn around.
I just have to put the effort in, I know it! The problem is figuring out where to start.
He turned onto his side, closing his eyes and attempting to block out the constant noise. There's not much I can do at the moment, but when I wake up I can surely figure something out.
Just as he felt himself starting to drift off, he felt a tap on his shoulder. What now? He sat up, bleary-eyed, and turned to face whoever had tapped him. Instead of the average passerby who stopped by to offer him help, or a "friendly" neighborhood police officer, he saw a looming figure wearing ripped jeans and a faded shirt with a happy face on it. Its face was shrouded in shadow by a bright yellow baseball cap.
Maxwell tensed up. Nearly everything about the presence in front of him unnerved him. "Can I help you?"
The figure extended its hands, one holding a DS cartridge and the other a DS. "As a matter of fact, you can. I've been looking for someone to give these to for ages, and it seems you need them much more than anyone else around here."
Maxwell took the items immediately, knowing by now to accept whatever help came his way, even if what he now held was only meant to entertain. "Thank you," he said.
The figure tipped its hat forwards further. "Much obliged!" it exclaimed cheerfully. "Do make sure to enjoy that game there. It was one of my favorites for quite a while."
Maxwell nodded, looking down at the cartridge and turning it over to read the title. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, eh? I believe I've heard of that before. I at least know what a Pikachu is!
When he looked back up, the figure had disappeared, despite him not hearing any footsteps. Maybe the guy just knows how to walk quietly.
He looked back at the DS and game, both now in his lap. I had a DS when I was a kid, but it never looked anything like this. He tentatively ran his finger across it, quickly realizing it was made of wood. He tested the cartridge and found that it, too, was made of wood. His face fell. Did this guy just give me fakes?
Now prepared for the worst, he slid the cartridge into the slot on the back of the DS and attempted to turn it on. To his surprise, and relief, the DS powered on without so much as a splinter going out of place. He quickly found out that it worked like any other normal DS, with no other differences besides the fact it was made of wood. Maybe I got a collector's edition? It's probably worth quite a bit if that's the case. He pondered going and pawning it off for a moment, before simply launching the game to see what it was about. It was already used when it was given to me, so I'm sure the pawnshop won't mind a little extra use.
Not even paying attention to the title screen, Maxwell pressed start. As the load screen showed up, he began to shiver uncontrollably. I'm not even that cold! What's going on? he thought, eyes locked to the screen.
Slowly, the DS pulled his face closer to its bottom screen. Still distracted by his shivering, Maxwell didn't take notice until his cheek was pressed against it. Without warning, the DS took his head into the screen, the rest of his body sliding out of the sleeping bag as it followed suit.
He was able to see a dark face with a smug smile before everything went white.