A Night's Echo Chapter 11: Deal With the Devil, a pokémon fanfic

I don't remember if I mentioned it but last chapter was named after the song "Unlasting" by LiSA (from Sword Art Online Alicization: War of Underworld), and this one is "Deal With the Devil" by Tia (from Kakegurui).

Some nicknames are used that may or may not make sense, so I will put the translation at the end of the author's note. If you would rather not know, or would want to guess and then check your answers, you can skip the translations.

Also, I tried many different writing styles in this chapter, just to experiment, so that includes a more visually creative writing style in some parts. There is a bit where just periods should cover your screen, I meant this to build anticipation and suspense, and to express the emotion of the scene, not to make the chapter appear to be longer. Also, the app autocorrected it, but the periods on each line were supposed to be of varying length.

I finished this chapter probably about a week ago, but I haven't been able to get it out until now. Sorry! As you may know, it's exam season, so that on top of my makeup work getting close to deadlines has caused me to be a little burnt out, so I struggled a bit to write this chapter, and it took a while for me to be able to look over it. Anyways, enough about me, enjoy this (crappy) chapter!

Green-Boy-From-Hoenn = Emerald

The Bitch = Platinum

Blonde-Chick = Yellow

Lolicon = Red

Money-Man = Sun

Ship-Trash = Blue

Bakuhoe = Green

I was skipping down the halls, singing. I feel like I know this place quite well, although it is only the second day. This place; I like this place. It may seem dark and dreary, but it has a warm, cozy feel.

Actually, this place might be a little too cramped.

As if proving my suspicions, I hear a scream from behind me. The Green-Boy-From-Hoenn is dead. Oh no!

I laughed to myself as I walked up to the front of the building. As I already knew, the door was boarded up just like all of the windows. If only I had brought my pokemon like The Bitch did! I'd be outta here in no time! Yeah right, escape is impossible! Pokemon attacks don't affect this wood for whatever reason.

Back to my original purpose for coming here, I search through our bags for a notebook or something of the sort. I found one in Blonde-Chick's bag. Ripping off a page, I grab a pen.

Scribble, scribble, scribble.

"Aha!" I exclaim as I add more. I laughed to myself as I stuck the notebook and the pen back into the bag. Well, I guess I didn't have to since she's already dead anyways.

Now for the note, who's bag does it go in? Maybe I'll put it in Lolicon's...

No, he wouldn't follow through. Hmm, this is actually pretty tough. The worst person here...

"That's it!" I stick the note in Money-Man's bag. I dust my hands off in a job well done, before deciding I was bored. A prank, yes, that'll do it.

"Let's see..." I dig around in Ship-Trash's bag before finding a volume of manga labeled "Red x Green doujinshi". I took it out of her bag and put it into Bakuhoe's bag. I laugh to myself yet again before skipping down the hall.

"EMERALD!" Ruby screamed at the top of his lungs. The boy lay dead on the floor just past the corner. A small splatter of blood was the only thing visible running down the hallway.

"No, no no no no nononononononononononononono!" He yelled as tears began streaming down his face. The others stood awkwardly at the corner, not knowing what to do. Although, a few of them were shedding tears themselves.

Ruby wiped his tears away, and stood up. He picked up the boy's body, and took it into a room, before shutting the door as he walked out. Red patted his shoulder as they walked back to their discussion room, where everyone sat in silence for a few minutes.

*Platinum was on the lesser upset side, but was by no means not upset. However, Green's suspicions began to rise. She didn't seem that upset, and she certainly wasn't voicing her worries over another being dead. Now that he thought about it, Emerald was the only one who suspected her. She is very suspicious!*

"What now?" Black asked. Crystal was now missing in addition to Gold, and another death has occurred.

"Well, it's really late, and I know I am tired." Blue mumbled.

"Yes! We need some sleep!" Pearl advocated. It was now just past four in the morning, marking 20 hours since they had entered the building. In that time, there have only been a few to get rest, and none have eaten.

"We do need sleep. We will probably have to sleep in groups; separated by gender obviously." Red spoke up.

"I agree, I will assign the groups. Red and I will sleep in one of the smaller rooms. Ruby, Diamond, Pearl, Black, and Sun get the master bedroom. For the girls, Platinum and Blue, and then Y and Moon." Green dictated.

"Why do I have to share a room with all of them?! No fair!" Sun whined.

"Well, it is for your safety. Even if there are two traitors in that group, the innocent can easily overpower them. As for Red and I, it would be too much to add ourselves to your room, and we trust each other." Green explained himself as Red nodded.

"What about us?" Moon asked.

"Well, there are only four girls, and no more large rooms. Tough luck." Green said rudely. Y scoffed at him before walking out of the room, the rest of the Gossip Gang following suit.

"I should- yeah..." Platinum pointed to them before going as well. Green sighed.

"C'mon, let's go." He waved at the boys before they trailed after him.

"I'm starting to get sick of the word 'before'. I hope it isn't used for the rest of the chapter." Y muttered.

They arrived at the entrance where they had left their bags. Each person had looked through their bag to make sure everything was still there and then put it on their shoulder(s).

Sun, although, had noticed the note. His eyes widened as he skimmed the contents, and he quickly stuffed it back in his backpack, which he then put on.

"Man, I'm hungry." He said, partly to distract anyone who might have seen his suspicious behavior.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten in hours." Red whined.

"Did anyone have food with their stuff?" Green asked. Everyone looked around.

"Well, I did, but Crystal made me throw it out right after we got here." Diamond sighed as he remembered the girl's recent behavior.

"Let's go to the kitchen and hope there's some sort of emergency non perishables there." Y spoke up.

"I guess, but I wouldn't feel comfortable eating that stuff." Green said.

"I know, it will be for emergencies only. Who knows how long we'll be trapped here." She said melancholically. They agreed that was the best plan of action, so they set off to the kitchen. And when they walked in-

...

...No.

Emerald's dead body was lying on one of the counters in the kitchen. Ruby and Blue fainted from shock as soon as they had walked in. Platinum and Moon had gasped loudly, grabbing on something nearby for support.

"Why would someone do something like this?!" Y cried. The rest looked somber, cursing at whoever the mastermind is in their thoughts.

"I-I guess we should move him before they wake up." Green pointed at the two on the floor.

*"Damn it!" Y yelled*. Platinum put her hand on Y's shoulder, looking at Green.

"I suppose that would be for the best." Platinum agreed, but Green glared at her. She just sighed, not wanting to deal with him right now. Green moved the body into a closet for now.

"Yo, get up." Moon slapped Blue in the face.

"*" Blue mumbled. Everyone gasped at her crude language, but she got up. Ruby woke up from the commotion.

Fully awake now, Ruby punched the wall as he cursed. He began to shout and cry.

"Are we just their playthings?! Is this funny to them!?" He wailed. Black put a hand on his back to comfort him.

Moon woke up.

"What happened?" She groaned. Red put his hand on the back of his head and chuckled uncomfortably.

"I, uhh, I accidentally knocked you out?" He struggled to say.

"How..." she struggled to form words, "you accidentally knocked me out?"

"Well, I was punching Green when he ducked, and you happened to be right behind him." Red explained.

"So, why were you punching Green in the first place?" Moon questioned.

"Well I found this in his bag," he held up a doujinshi with, questionable, drawings of Green and himself, "and he blushed when he saw me with it. Like, seriously dude?"

Moon tried to stifle her laughter when she realized what Red had found. Blue took notice of them when she was walking by.

"Hey guys, what's goin- you found it! I've been looking for that, it had disappeared from my bag!" She yelled ecstatically. She skipped off, humming to herself.

"What?" Red was frozen in shock.

"Let's go to the kitchen and hope there's some sort of emergency non perishables there." Y suddenly spoke up.

"I guess, but I wouldn't feel comfortable eating that stuff." Green said.

'This is familiar.' Moon thought.

"I know, it will be for emergencies only. Who knows how long we'll be trapped here." She said melancholically. They agreed that was the best plan of action, so they set off to the kitchen.

'No, wait! My dream! This all happened in my dream! Everyone! Stop!' Moon panicked in her thoughts.

And when they walked in-

...

...No.

Moon could see Ruby and Blue collapse in front of her.

"Damn, What an overreaction." Green sighed.

"How can you be so heartless!" Moon was almost in tears.

"Again, overreaction." He repeated. Moon looked forwards and-

"No, nonononono! This isn't what happens!" She cried. The cabinets were overflowing with food, and the counters were full of fresh fruits and vegetables. This is definitely not what happened in her dream.

"I think you need to eat." Black said, concerned.

"No, no. I'm fine, I'm fine." She reassured them.

"Then why are you repeating your words?" Red asked.

"Stop messing around." Green sighed.

Sun laughed, and the others joined in. It's times like these where they could momentarily forget the horrendous situation they are in.

A person yet to be revealed walked down the hallways. They held a bottle of a disturbing red substance, and a paintbrush.

"Kehe." They giggled as they drew unsettling pictures on the walls.

"This will freak them out." They said before bursting into laughter. Spending much time making the "paintings" as detailed as possible, the smile on the person's face was unwavering. A thought must have crossed their mind, for they stopped their hand at once.

"Should I warn them about that person's plan; it only has the slightest benefit for me. Nah...they can figure it out." The painting was resumed.

Hours go by. At least, that's what it seemed like. A simple look at the clock revealed that only a measly forty minutes had gone by.

"Tch, I still have way too much time. Oh, I know! I can have fun with -!"

With remarkable speed, the person had moved from one end of the building to the other. Entering a hidden location, the person met eyes with yet another person.

"Mghughhh!" Muffled pleads came from the person. They were gagged, so they could not speak properly, but their objective was clear.

"Ahh, yes! Time for some fun!" They yelled. They removed the person's clothing very slowly, letting the despair sink in. The figure was roaring in laughter.

They took a whip from a nearby table, full of "fun" objects. Uncoiling it, they laughed once again. They did not stop this laughter as they lashed the person's body, who moaned in pain. This continued for way longer than it should have.

(A/N: The person = person A and the person = person B; they're two different people, so I distinguished them by writing one of them in italics.)

"So what are we waiting for! Let's eat!" Sun yelled, impatient. The others had been distracted by Moon's antics, but he was starving.

"Yeah, I guess it's about time we did." Red said while patting his stomach.

"But what if, you know, it's not safe?" Diamond worried.

"I have to agree with you on that. There could be poison, drugs, parasites, small insects..." Green went on and on.

"We get it, the food could be poisoned." Platinum cut him off.

"Yes." He glared at her.

"Well let's see," Pearl looked through the food, "the canned goods should be fine."

And so, they starving teens flocked to the cans of food. One by one, they dumped the contents of their chosen food into a pot, which they cooked over a fire they had made under the vent in the safest way they could.

Obviously, this sparked the idea that they could burn down a wall to get out, but their plan was denied since it would be dangerous for the missing people, and it would damage the evidence they should leave for the police.

They were silent as they ate. To them, it was honestly strange how normal it was. Here they were, doing something as casual as eating with friends. Of course the setting, a death trap building, was not normal, but they couldn't help but cheer up, if just by a little.

The feeling was gone as they finished eating, however. If anything, they now longed to escape more than before; anything to return to that normal life they had once had.

It was only a single day that they had been trapped, but it felt like a year. So much had happened in such little time.

Sun wanted it. He wanted to escape this seemingly eternal hell. It was to the point that he didn't care if anyone else got out or not, as long as his life could go back to the normal he knew not so long ago. Well, maybe he hoped for the best for Moon.

But that's besides the point.

He wanted freedom, and tonight, he finally decided he was going to get his freedom.

"Everyone done?" Green asked as the teens finished their meals.

"Then let's get some sleep. Everyone remembered the rooms I assigned earlier?" He questioned the group.

"Yeah, 'Red and I will sleep in one of the smaller rooms. Ruby, Diamond, Pearl, Black, and Sun get the master bedroom. For the girls, Platinum and Blue, and then Y and Moon' Green dictated." Pearl copied a line from earlier in the chapter.

"Haha, very funny. Grab what you need from your bags and let's go to the rooms." Green said, monotonously.

They all got what they needed before heading to their room. It was four in the morning, so they were practically collapsing at that point. All but one fell asleep immediately.

Sun had made sure the others in his group were sleeping before he got up and grabbed a tool he had set aside earlier. Unlocking the door, he stepped outside and shut it again. He took the tool, which was a screwdriver, and took off the door handle, leaving it so that the door appeared shut from the inside, but a single push was all that was needed to get inside.

Walking around, he decided to do the same to Y and Moon's room. After much internal debate, he decided it would be too suspicious to try to pin the blame on Platinum again, and nobody would believe it had been Red and Green.

He went back to his room to hide the screwdriver, but discovered that the door had been pushed wide open.

Panicking, he decided he had to speed up his plans. He grabbed the letter that was in his bag and rushed to the rendezvous point.

"It just said to knock on the door and wait..." He looked around before knocking at the door. His hand fell to the side and,

krshh

The last thing Sun had heard as he collapsed to the ground was maniacal laughter. White started to fill his vision, but not before he got one glimpse of his attacker.

"It's...you..." His last breath escaped him, and he died on the floor.

* Don't know if I conveyed it well enough. Green is slowly becoming more and more suspicious of Platinum and the others. What could be going on?

* Y is yelling "damnit" because the word "before" was used again.

And I am finally done. I am not proud of this chapter in the slightest. As I said in the beginning, school has me feeling a bit burnt out, so this chapter may feel like it is a lower quality than the previous few. Honestly, all I had in my notes for this chapter was Sun dying because of the note. I guess all I had in my notes for last chapter was just investigation, debate, and Emerald dies, and it still ended up super long, but whatever. Anyways, I just made some of their earlier bits up on the spot, but don't worry, they're not meaningless. I try to never write in meaningless scenes in this story, so keep that in mind. Everything thing has a purpose, it might be minuscule or might hint at who the mastermind is, but it is a purpose nevertheless.

So... it's been about a week since I wrote that bit . I just haven't been able to post it. The next chapter will probably be delayed since this has been a very busy month for me and I just haven't been able to write much. Thank you all for the support, it means a lot, and I hope to get the next chapter out as soon as possible (most likely mid-June).