A/N
Thanks for reviewing: MUDERs, and AB
Mission Log #1
Task: 0612201907
Team(s): Relic, Heroik, Spend
Participants: Creme Cheez Sleezer, Bean Sanrice Sleezer, Shallot Cru Densluj, Salami Sleezer, Lady Tartar of the House of Sauce, Grape Galloping Gofer
Logger: Salami Lil Sleezer
Penner: Avoca Doe Toast
Our day started off fairly normal. Well, as normal as normal can be when you're in a new environment, I guess.
I'd just finished setting up my desktop at the desk. One of those eevee sharing a room with us seemed to be in disbelief that I'd lug it all the way here, but my friends had no such surprise.
I mean, why wouldn't I bother to lug it up here? It's a perfectly good computer, and no one at home would have used it.
The gang and I got up, ate breakfast with our roomies (who are rather obnoxious, may I add), and set out to the lobby to decide on our first mission.
The liepard at the desk suggested "0612202007". Obviously, we didn't know what the fuck that meant, and I'm sure that she knew that we didn't know. The bitch probably just got off to being asked to explain stuff, if you ask me.
Well, turns out, it's just the date the mission was submitted on, as well as which mission it was from that day, ordered by chronology.
It supposedly had to do with the missing pokémon that've been going on lately. Turns out, a few teams entered the Layer-Cove dungeon just outside of town, and never came back out, save for one member. Someone's gotta investigate, but the survivor was too scared to return alone.
Shallot accepted the mission, of course. Tart and I didn't get a say. Of course, I would have agreed anyway, as I want to find out what happened to my sister as well. It turned out, mom and dad had also accepted the same mission, so we'd be heading out together.
The expedition was set to start at ten in the morning, so we mostly just chilled for a while.
Shallot, Tart, Salami, Bean, and Creme hurried into the building and out of the rain.
The room was dimly lit with an orange hue. Many booths lined the walls.
A braixen walked to meet them with a bright smile. She had a large tophat towering upon her head, with the stick in her tail being perfectly straight and charred black. She reached up to adjust her large black bow tie before speaking.
"Welcome to the Firepit Diner, you five! I will be your server. You have a reservation?"
Creme tossed her head, standing up straight. Her tails shot out behind her, as one paw lifted off the ground.
"Greetings, Tomato! As a matter of fact, we do not!" she cheered, emphasized with a swish of her flowing tails. "I must inform you, however, we are not alone." She fell to her haunches, pressing her front-paws to her chin. "We have a vaporeon on the way!"
The braixen gave a nod.
"Lovely!" She raised her wand into the air with a swoosh. The spun around with great speed, before striking a foot-forward pose. She let her wand point to an unoccupied booth, with a stream of golden sparks spewing toward it. They fizzled out upon striking the table. "Sit there!"
The braixen's smile widened as Shallot gave a small giggle, with Tart and Creme giving a brief applause.
The group all walked over to take their seats. Tart sat nearest to the wall on one side, with Shallot scooching in next to her. On the other side, Salami sat between his two parents, eighteen brilliant tails curling in to hold him in a protective embrace. Shallot and Tart let their own tails fall over each other's, with a small bit of red tainting their features.
The waitress soon approached, giving a wave of her wand. A frown crossed her face. She violently wiggled the shaft, before pointing it toward the table. With one paw, she gave the backside a few firm jabs, causing six rolled up menus to pop out. She gave a satisfied nod, before backing off once more.
I sat stoic in my seat as per usual. It wasn't long before our guest arrived. The vaporeon approached the seat, taking the spot next to Tart and Shallot. We began our talk professionally. All business, no play.
Salami's cheeks flushed a deep crimson as his parent's nuzzled against his cheeks with bright smiles. His mother's tongue occasionally flicked out to groom any stray furs.
The three pokémon across the table looked on with barely concealed giggles. Tart turned to Shallot, noticing a hint of longing behind his gaze. Salami crossed his forelegs in frustration, though he wasn't about to hurt his parents' feelings by turning down their affection.
"So! Drinks!" Stated the braixen. She spun, then pointing her wand gesturing around the tablee.
Everyone listed their orders off one-by one. When finished, Salami gave a smile.
"Thank you, Ms. Tomato!"
The braixen leaned down to pet the vulpix's head. He flushed a bit more in embarrassment.
"No prob', Salami."
Shallot raised an eyebrow as his evolution departed.
"You know her?"
"Yeah. Uh, she's a part of Team Flip. Her family and my family became friends 'cuz of that."
Creme and Bean both gave nods of affirmation.
"That is quite interesting," Tart commented. "Do you, perchance, wish for your families to be more than that?"
Salami's eyebrow raised.
"Uh... What?"
"Well," started Shallot, "Ya' seemed awful polite back there. Eager, even. That's unusual for ya'." He waggled his eyebrows, leaning across the table. The vulpix pulled his head back a bit. "Ya' got a crush?"
"No."
Bean gave a sigh, placing a paw onto the fennekin's forehead. He carefully pushed the smaller fox back across my table.
"With all due respect, you two, please do not harass my son about his love-life." A small smirk cracked his lips. "He doesn't want everyone suspecting how often he 'accidentally' looks over when she's bent over for something." He felt both his son and wife kick him under the table, eliciting a small laugh.
Shallot and Tart both stared at Salami with evil intent.
Salami felt his ears pin-back, but was thankfully saved as their drinks were delivered.
"Okie-dokie, you guys. What do you wanna eat?"
Creme spoke up.
"One heapin' plate of spaghetti and meatballs, for all of us!"
"Will do. Anything else?"
Everyone looked briefly to one-another, before giving a collective shake of their heads. With a smile and a nod, Tomato walked off.
"So," started the vaporeon. Everyone looked to her. "Business now, right?"
"Right," Bean nodded.
"Well, my name's Grape? As you know, the rest of my team disappeared in the Layer-Cove dungeon?" The vaporeon turned her nose downward, her tail giving a dejected flick.
Creme gave a sympathetic smile.
"And, we're all going to save them, dear. Together. Tell us more about what happened."
As it turned out, a mission was filed by an alakazam. Their son, an abra, had supposedly gotten lost in the dungeon on their walk through on the way to the beach.
Grape and her team took the job. They were to look around the area to find the abra, and lead him back to safety.
Reportedly, the dungeon felt actively hostile. Not in any physical display, but just an unfriendly atmosphere. Grape said that it got worse the further they went inside.
Well, surprise surprise, there was no abra. Mid-way through the dungeon, they were ambushed by the alakazam who had filed the mission. They got bodied, and Grape just barely managed to escape into the water before their foe teleported away with the rest of the team.
Mommy said that we should probably give the incident-site a psychic scan. According to Grape, we wouldn't yet be able to access the site, as it was high-tide at the time. That part of the dungeon would be flooded for at least another hour.
Well, we ate and stuff. Food was good. We tipped Tomato, and then headed out.
"Okay, okay? Come along, I'll lead you to the dungeon?"
The group obeyed silently, trailing the vaporeon. They walked for about fifteen minutes, before Grape stopped at a guard-rail.
"Should be... Right down here?"
Tart gave a raise of an eyebrow, opening her mouth to speak. All that came out was a stupified croak as the water-type leapt over the side. The two teams of pokémon quickly rushed to peak over the edge.
Grape nose-dived down at high speeds. The particular area she had leapt from had no ground in the way; just a straight-shot down to the water. It was a tight fit in some spots, but the wood was never even grazed.
Everyone turned to stare at each other. No one spoke for several moments, until Shallot shook his head.
"Yeah, fuck that. I'm takin' the long way."
Our first journey into the depths of Layer Port. It wasn't really that glamorous. Mommy and daddy lead us expertly through the labyrinth of wood and steel, twisting and turning down and down. With each level we traveled down, what little sky-light passed through the clouds was completely gone. The spots between street lamps were left cloaked in an inky veil. The only positive was that level two above shielded us from most of the rain.
Level zero had it even worse. The oppressive smell of salt in the air attacked my senses, and the stray splatters of sea-water against my coat did not go appreciated. Not that it mattered much; we were already soaked from the storm, but it was just literal salt in the proverbial wound.
There was grime pretty much everywhere. While I, for sure, wasn't a fan, I swear, Tart bitched and moaned with every little speck of dirt that clung to her fur. I didn't say anything, as I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I think she may have noticed my death-stare because she shut up soon after seeing my face.
News-flash, bud. We're guild members. It's dirty work.
At one point, my cape got caught on a loose nail. It tore a bit. Just another of the many it's accumulated over the years.
Well, after another twenty minutes or so of walking, we finally found Grape.
"Took you guys long enough?" scoffed the vaporeon. The rest of the group leveled her with varying levels of dismay as they approached. Ranging from Creme's serene calm to Shallot's literally fuming ears, a whole rainbow of emotions were painted across their faces.
"If ya' hadn't noticed," growled the fennekin, "the rest'v us aren't exactly cut out to make such a jump."
"Yeah, fuck you," Tart added.
"In the eye-socket," concluded Salami.
Creme gave a sigh, curling her tails around the three.
"Oh, kids, you should really be less hostile," she lamented, putting a paw to her head.
"We're, uh, in our twenties."
"That's one-fifth as old as we are," Bean nodded. "Kids in comparison."
Grape stamped her paw.
"Like, come on? We've got stuff to do?" She turned to walk off. Everyone else followed.
Not too long after, I felt the sensation of soft grass under my paws as we stepped off from the planks of Layer Port. Oh, how I missed that feeling.
We approached the towering face of the cliff. With no more lights set up around, the fire-types of the group were relied on to create illumination.
I felt a nameless fear sink into my heart as I gazed upon the titanic entrance to the dungeon.
Red flags raised throughout my mind all the while during our approach. A brief glance about the group led me to conclude that most of the others felt much the same.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Shallot said from my left. Tart gave a small nod in agreement.
Mommy gave a noncommittal shrug.
"I don't sense anything."
I gave a shudder, nuzzling up to mommy's side. She leaned down to lick my head, which brought a warm comfort to my anxious mind.
"It's not about this mission, mommy. It's something... elsewhere. Elusive."
As we built up the courage to enter the dungeon, things started to become clear in their unclarity. The interior felt cold and hostile, as if our very presence was unwelcomed. A deep, discomforting cold sank into my mind.
"I... I think I was more on-track than I at first assumed," Creme admitted.
"Uh... What's up, mommy?"
"I really don't sense anything. Well, I can feel the outside, but It's as if my psychic abilities just end here."
"I'm feelin' it, too," Shallot added.
"While I am unable to empathize, I will confide that I feel the utmost negativity polluting the air."
Shallot glanced about the cave. The ceiling was too high above to be illuminated by his flames. The floor and walls were of a dark gray color, with an occasional pitch-black stone jutting from the ground. Various patches of sand, water, and dead sea-foliage littered the ground.
The crashing of ocean waves echoed all around in a deafening roar, It slowly became more faint as they proceeded deeper inside. Before long, an almost unnatural silence filled the tunnels. Only the signs of their own alien presence met with their senses.
They navigated through the various maze-like corridors, Grape bringing them deeper and deeper into the dungeon.
I couldn't sense anything anymore. Not even the outside world was visible in my mind's eye. I was completely cut off from any extrasensory ability I once had.
"My, uh, psychic is dead," I stated.
"Mine, too," Shallot nodded.
"I can still sense some things, but it's very faint," daddy added. Mommy gave a nod.
Grape gave a thoughtful hum. Tart seemed to stay quiet. Too quiet.
I turned to my right. The minccino was not there. I'll admit it, I screamed. Everyone else was startled by my shriek, assuming offensive stances. They, too, soon noticed her absence, and let out various loud noises as well.
Panic hit us all like a giga-impact. In retrospect, it was likely amplified by the uneasing energy filling the air.
I made a decision. I hate myself for it, and I don't think I'll ever stop feeling that way. I ran. I ran away, back the way we came, abandoning my friend in her time of need. Abandoning all of my friends. A bit more understandably, Grape fled with me, as she had no commitments to us.
Daddy fled further into the cave, followed by Shallot. Mommy's maternal instincts took over, and she pursued me instead.
We stumbled blindly through the dungeon. It took fifteen minutes of all-consuming terror before we stumbled out back onto the cliffside. My legs turned to jelly, collapsing under my meager weight. I covered my eyes with my paws. Grape sat quivering next to me, and mommy curled up around me.
The soothing whispers she let into my ears did little to make me feel better. The void left by every ounce of fear she drained from my soul was only filled with twice the volume of anger and guilt.
We waited outside of the dungeon. For twelve long, agonizing hours we waited. They never came back out. It was the dead of night when we called it quits and returned to the guild.
I felt empty as we filed our brief reports. Basil masked her dread well behind a mask of neutrality, but I could feel it. Maybe if I was stronger and could sense that well in the dungeon, I would have noticed something was happening before it was too late.
Barbie's stupid face was the last thing I wanted to see when I opened the door to the apartment, and I made sure she knew that. Team Waffle respectfully gave me space as I retreated to the room. Mommy stayed to comfort me for a while. She wept. A lot. She assumed I did not notice, but the occasional cracks in her voice gave it away. She left after a couple hours.
I stewed in my guilt and anger for a while. They both grew and grew as I laid alone on the bathroom floor.
It got to be so much that I couldn't bear it. I forcefully began to expel my fury in the form of fire. I don't know for how long I laid consumed by my own flames, but the next thing I clearly remember was waking up in the infirmary a day later.
According to the nurse, I'd actually manage to severely burn myself through the prolonged exposure.
I don't feel better. I'm just as upset as I was before, except now my fur was patchy and my flesh burned.
Mommy, Basil, and Barbie all came to visit me as soon as the word got out that I was awake. Tomato, as well, joined them as soon as she got on break. Avoca also arrived later, to take my in-depth retelling of events.
That's where I sit now, giving my full report. I swear vengeance upon whoever is doing this, now more than ever. I have to redeem myself from my cowardice.
Daddy, sissy, Tart, Shallot. I will save you.