THEME SONG: Midnight Blue – Slayers the Motion Picture


Michelle scrunched up her eyes against the plaintive moans that seemed to echo from the other side of the tent. It seemed as if she were sleeping in a tent with a giant, white cocoon, perpetually crying, crying, crying.

What do you say when a cartoon character dies? Did it hurt? Did he bleed? Was he ever even real? Michelle lightly tapped the shiny pink gem that proclaimed her to be Reality – but it didn't magic up any answers. And on the light and white side of the tent, Rachel still lay, choking on her own inconsolable sobs.

Inconsolable. Whenever anyone came near her, Rachel just screamed louder, begging to be left alone. Semi-traumatised. Semi-heartbroken? But I'm the one who has to sleep with it, thought Michelle, semi-bitterly.

Yeah sure, they had all been shaken, and there had been a few tears from those the closest to Richie, but Rach had done nothing but cry, and mumble something about a lily. It just seemed to bring everything home for them – Erin being targeted had been one thing – she had survived it. And whilst they had been battling the immense fire, and trying to save her, the rush of adrenalin had covered up most of the fear, until it had been replaced by the happiness and gratitude that nobody had been hurt.

But now, as Michelle thought about it carefully, she felt an uneasy stab in her stomach. This was no children's cartoon anymore – someone, seeming real to her at least, had died. And Erin, the girl she had known for years, who she saw everyday at school – could so easily be gone too.

And Mia, as she had gotten far too close to the flames. But Richie… was… gone. Gone. Final. The end. Game Over. But, Michelle thought, shivering underneath the warm pink blanket, this wasn't like a Pokémon Gameboy game, where you could just curse under your breath and restart from Karen when Lance's Aerodactyl creams you.

Everything could be a potential weapon – an aid in your ultimate downfall. Whatever was doing this, obviously had a great deal of control. Would Michelle unwittingly start a chain of events that would kill her just by doing something as simple as having toast for breakfast? And when would they come for her? There was no apparent order yet… would her turn come tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Never? Now?

We mustn't trust ANYONE outside the group.

Michelle didn't even notice that she fell asleep, fearing for her life.

~*~

One of a kind…

Two of a kind…

~*~

Rachel staggered out of the pink and white flap, and into the eerily stillness of the campsite. The only noises were her compressed sobs, the occasional crackling from the dead fire, and the sounds of life from the cyan and amber tent; Karlie was groaning and Erin was talking to her in hushed tones.

Rachel winched as she heard Karlie vomit again, and without thinking, began to make her way to the tent; to see her friends.

Something shot through her. She stood, staring with hard eyes at the orange and blue tent, her face bronzed with dancing colours from the still glowing kindling.

No. Karlie was never your friend. All she cared about was Tracey, and herself, and Tracey and her. If she had cared about you in the slightest, she would have DONE her damn job and protected him for you. She let you down, she let Richie down, she let the whole damn group down.

Fighting back another hoarse cry, Rachel ran towards the trees, following Richie's footsteps earlier in the evening, when he had made the drastic mistake of leaving the others to come to find her. She didn't halt when she felt things that would normally have repulsed her brush against her legs, or when she arrived in the clearing.

She kept running, eyes and fists clenched shut in pain. Suddenly, she realised what she was doing, and her eyes flew open in shock. Had Richie's eyes been closed? Is that how he hadn't seen the rocky precipice that was looming up in front of her? There were so many questions: why hadn't he used his Pokémon? Why had he run towards the cliff anyway? Why him? Why wasn't he alive godammit?

Jesse and James had survived much worse than falling off a mountain, and hell, Ash was always sliding down the bloody things. Why did Richie have to die from falling down a cliff?

Rachel slowed, then stopped as she ran her hands over her short blonde hair, and looked out at the ironically pleasant view from the cliff-top.

"Why…" she murmured sadly, sniffing.

"Who would you rather have died instead?" inquired a voice from behind her, and Rachel skidded backwards from the cliff on instinct. A woman stood behind her; a woman with long, long crimson hair, and a collar that covered everything but the equally crimson eyes.

"Y-you're… are you the woman from Riny's dream?" Rachel breathed, never taking her eyes off her. Velve arched her eyebrow, and moved to the left, with a swish of the purple, velvet robes.

"Would you rather you were dead?" she continued, ignoring the question. "Or maybe you wish that 'Riny' was dead? Oh, but I know," she scoffed, watching Rachel scramble to hold the small white gem of her pendant in her hand.

"You wish that Passion was dead, don't you?" Rachel frowned, but remained silent. "You can't hide anything from me," Velve snapped, advancing on Rachel, backing her up further and further against the cliff.

"Its not fair," Rachel protested weakly, blinking back fresh tears, and helpless as Velve pried her fingers away from her pendant with gloved fingers.

"Someone had to die," Velve growled. "Sooner or later you'll all be dead. But it's not your turn yet… I think you know whose turn it is next…" she leered down at the terrified girl.

"I don't know what you mean! Leave me alone!" she began to struggle, but stopped in horror as her foot slipped off the cliff. Velve stared at her for a minute, before tugging gently on her pendant and returning her to the ground.

"This isn't your precious kiddy-cartoon anymore, Soul," Velve spat at her. "See, the people who write that never want the characters to die. But guess what? There's a new writer. And she's quite the opposite; she wants everyone to die."

"Why?" Rachel continued to stand defiant, despite the fact that she had never been so frightened in her life.

"Too bad, Soul…" Velve sneered, as she tightened her grip on Rachel's pendant, sending what felt like an electric shock coursing through her. "Looks like you've gone-" Rachel stared upwards, stricken in pain as Velve began to fade. "-black."

Alone on the cliff once more, Rachel fell to her knees, clutching her pendant as she breathed heavily. Looks like you've gone black. Rachel shivered, and tried to stand up, but her legs wobbled in protest. Groaning, she released the pendant from her hold, and gasped.

Where had once hung the pretty, clear stone with the nickname Rach and the kanji of Soul on it, hung a pure black gem.

"No…" she whispered, hoarsely, as the black gem began to glow with a dark aura. It surrounded her – poured in through her mouth, her nose and her ears. She could feel it, like a thick smoke infiltrating every part of her body. "Karlie…" she sobbed, as she felt the heaviness close in on her heart, and she closed her eyes in pain.

The pendant stopped its unearthly glow. She slumped forwards, and clawed the ground with her fingernails. "Karlie…" she repeated, as she tucked the black necklace so it was hidden underneath her top. "It's your turn. You have to make up for your mistakes," she muttered, opening her eyes.

And even in the limited starlight, it would have been plain to anybody unfortunate enough to be watching, that Rachel's normally doe blue eyes, now shone as deep a crimson as Velve's.

~*~

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair the next morning, with the newly reduced group of sixteen. Nobody could resist keeping maternal and paternal eyes on Rachel, who seemed to be coping a lot better than the night before, as she ate her sausage and chatted with Ash about the what the accommodation in the Indigo Village was like. Having Rachel be so light, improved the mood slightly.

"Sarah!" yelled Duplica, with her mouth full. "Wake up or all the breakfast will be gone!" Duplica did a quick head count. "Who are we missing?" she asked, in puzzlement. Trish gave her a 'shut-up' glare, but Erin spoke up hurriedly.

"Kaz. She's not hungry…" Everyone turned to look at the orange and blue tent, where Karlie still lay. "Actually I'm afraid that if I give her anything, it will just make her worse…" Erin confided quietly. "She hasn't eaten since yesterday lunch-time, and she's vomited so much there must be nothing left inside her."

"Hey guys!" called Sarah, running into the middle of the circle still pulling her arm through the sleeve of her top. "I had the BEST dream!" Everyone stopped and stared at her, wondering who was going to be the first to shake her and scream 'one of us DIED last night'. Sarah ignored the lack of enthusiasm.

"It was that girl with the dark hair again!" There was a murmur of apprehensive excitement from the group, and all gave their attention to Sarah. Except for Rachel…

That's Jacqui, a voice in her head hissed. Don't listen to anything that comes from Jacqui – she's just trying to confuse and manipulate you. Only listen to me. Let the others believe what they want- it will all be over for them soon anyway.

"She told me that she was sorry about what… what happened," she said hesitantly, with a flicker of a glance to Rachel. "And she says that she's sure that we'll be able to do something for him... one day... when this, when this is all over." There was silence.

"A-are you sure Sarah?" Tracey asked, hesitantly, and Sarah nodded, beaming to strongly for anyone to feel the other way inclined. There was a sigh of relief around the circle, as people began to stand up.

"Okay then!" yelled Ash, turning his hat around, and holding out his balled up fist. "The sooner we get to Vermillion, the sooner we get on the St Atlantis! The sooner we get on that boat, the sooner we get to the Orange Islands, and to that field!" There was a half-hushed cheer, as the group began to collapse the tents, with a new spirit in their hearts and a new found hope. Mia felt it most of all, especially when she looked at how peaceful Rachel seemed to be.

~*~

Jacqui. You stupid, insolent cow. What do you think you're doing interfering?

(I thought we were in this together. All I wanted was a decent and interesting story.)

It's what you're getting. Why aren't you satisfied?

(They don't deserve to be lied to. They don't deserve to be possessed. They don't deserve to be picked off one by one. They are real people.)

But you're confused. This IS what you want, Jacqueline. You're just tired and shocked. Besides, they're not real people. They are characters. Your characters.

(My… characters…)

They are for you to do with as you please. Do you understand me?

(I… I… yes.)

That's a good girl.

~*~

"I think I'm gonna throw up again," whined Karlie, as she slowly made her way down the route.

"That's impossible Kaz," snapped an over-tired Erin. "You have nothing to throw up!"

"Look, the sooner we get to Vermillion Harbour, the sooner she gets to lie down," soothed Trish, as the group made their way slowly to the back of Vermillion City.

"I have a headache…" Karlie whined again. "And I wish, I really REALLY wish, that they would just STOP! PLAYING! TYPE! WILD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The soft background music faded away, and Karlie smiled nauseously. "Thank you," she muttered.

"So. Maria…"

"Don't call me that."

"Got it." Gary sweatdropped, as the pissed-off auburn brunette strode along side him. "Um, Mia… about that ah… kiss, thing…"

"You call *that* a kiss? That wasn't even a kiss. It was an *attempted* kiss. I got to your gut before you got to my lips," Mia stated, with a smile twisting her top lip.

"Yeah well – you understand it didn't mean anything… right? It was just… hormones… and I was you know, lying on top of you and all… and I.."

"Yeah yeah, calm down! I understand," smirked Mia, folding her arms across her chest.

"Good…" breathed Gary, his face becoming less red.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt as the redhead in front turned around and waved.

"We're here!" Misty called. "Everyone get your money out cos there's a lot of us to queue!"

Ugh, a boat, Duplica shuddered. Of course, she wasn't going to let on that she was just a teeny-bit afraid of the water. Not in front of Todd anyway.

"We all have to share the SAME ROOM?" Jesse yelled, a red stress mark rapidly appearing on her forehead.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Tracey shrugged. "You always sleep near James! It's a big room!" Jesse made a disgusted sound.

"Hey Jesse," Ash called, frowning slightly. "We have a problem – we have to put Pikachu and Meowth into Pokéballs."

"MEOWTH??" gasped the cream-coloured Scratch Cat. "Dere's no way Me-owth is going in one of dem Pokéballs!"

"You have to," interrupted Misty. "This is a classy cruise-ship – they don't allow loose Pokémon, except on the Pokémon deck."

"Well you try to get the stupid cat in," resigned James, scratching his head.

"If I can get Togepi into a ball, I can get Meowth into a ball," Misty grinned.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the redhead chasing the cat, the rest of the group were queuing up, next to the small ticket hut to purchase their tickets. Rachel was first; she smiled sweetly at the old man in the ticket booth. He smiled back: with her blonde hair and blue eyes, Rachel could be very charming.

"Thank you," she primped as she tore her ticket from the machine that had processed it, and turned around to face the next person in line; Karlie.

"You're next!" she said, sweetly, before making her way alone up the boarding plank. "Yeah you're next all right," she muttered darkly, her eyes flashing over with the deep red, and her black gem bumping up and down softly against her chest.