Japanese Title: Disappearing Friends! Who Can Be Stealing Everyone?!
Translation: Kakeochi Furenzu! Dochira Kotogadekiru Irassharu Shikkei Minasama?!
By: Pro_V
"Lance and Eevy, Eevy and Lance," Yuu-Yuu smiled wide, "It's the perfect match-up, I'd say."
"Yeah, but it's a dangerous one too," Skiff pointed out, "Peter's after both Eevy and Medira, which puts Lance and Jason in danger too."
"I have the feeling they were in trouble anyway. I think Peter's just waiting for the right chance to strike."
"Yeah, you could be right. Do you think Peter's actually nuts enough to challenge all of us?" he stopped when he received no answer, "Yuu-Yuu?" he turned around and looked frantically side to side, "Yuu-Yuu, where are you? Yuu-Yuu!"
*^~^**^~^*
The front door burst open with Skiff toppling in the door, "Hey, hey, hey, kid!" Luri caught him, "Calm down. What happened?"
Skiff looked up, heaving for air, "It's Yuu-Yuu," he swallowed, "She's gone."
"Gone? What do you mean gone? Speak up, boy!"
"Just that. She was there one second and gone the next. She just disappeared into thin air."
"All right. It's all right. Go get yourself some water and I'll tell Eevy," Luri sent Skiff towards the dining room and stopped, "I'll kill him."
*^~^**^~^*
"What do you mean Yuu-Yuu's gone?!" Eevy thundered, "I thought Skiff was with her!"
"I was!" Skiff leaned away, "She said something, I replied, asked a question and poof! She was gone!"
"Poor Yuu-Yuu," Misty muttered, "What do you think happened to her?"
"I already know what happened to her," Eevy murmured, "Peter's playing games. It's not safe for any of you to be here."
"Eevy, we're not leaving," Mizu jumped, "Peter deserves to get squashed and that's that."
"But what if it isn't Peter?" Jason swallowed and shivered, "What if it's some kind of Pokemon coming from the Moss Bogs?"
"Don't be stupid!" Medira cracked him in the forehead.
"But he could be right," Will looked overly thoughtful, "The Muk can get pretty big and there have been reports of supposedly extinct Pokemon coming out of there."
"Where do you think I got my Aerodactyl?" Lance muttered, "The fossils in that place all have significant DNA for cloning. Could be a Kabutops or Omastar."
"If it was a Kabutops," Sooney held her neck, "Eww."
"Stop it!" Eevy jumped up, "That's enough of that! We will find whoever or whatever this is and we will stop it," she turned for the door, "Until then none of you are to leave the Mansion alone."
As she was walking out, the group began whining. The Elite didn't want to spend their time with the others and the others thought they could take care of themselves. Eevy stopped and turned around, the vase beside her smashing for no apparent reason. The group quieted slowly and sat back.
"You heard me," she snorted and walked out the door, "Sorry about the vase."
*^~^**^~^*
"Come on!" Sooney said in a loud whisper, "Eevy won't even notice we're gone!"
"But Sooney," Beth shivered, "She said not to leave without one of the Elite."
"Shut up and let's go!" Sooney snatched her arm, "It'll be fine! We'll be back in two shakes of a Rattata's tail."
"Sooney! What if something happens? What'll we do?"
"Nothing's going to happen! Just come on!"
Beth and Sooney ran down the walk, but didn't get far. The ground collapsed right beneath them, sending them into a mad slide ride into the darkness. They hit hard ground and blacked out, never even having a chance to call for help.
*^~^**^~^*
"Where are they?!" Eevy slammed every door in the Mansion open, "Where are Sooney and Beth?!"
"We don't know," Will shrugged, "They were here early last night and now they're gone."
"My sister," Mizu quivered and started bawling, "My sister's gone."
"It's all right, Mizu," Eusine let her wail on his shoulder, "We'll get them back."
"Yeah, we'll find your sister and Yuu-Yuu and Sooney too," Medira nodded.
"Will you listen to me and stay here now?" Eevy snorted, "This can't be Peter. There's no way he's that fast and he's definitely not smart enough to pull this kind of stunt off. This is something else."
"Suddenly Jason's deadly Pokemon theory isn't quite as farfetched as it sounded," Morty swallowed.
*^~^**^~^*
Mizu was sitting in her room brushing her hair calmly. She was still upset about her sister, but she was going to try and remain composed. She sat facing the mirror and saw a huge shadow, too big to have been Peter, pass by the window in the reflection. She spun to see what it could have been, but there was nothing there. She sat staring at the window for a moment, trying to shake herself straight. Something unidentifiable reached in and snatched her throat, mouth and arms all at the same time, pulling her out the window behind her and through a tunnel in the dirt. As it pulled her, she cracked her head on the windowsill and fell limp. The ground sealed right above her and she disappeared just as Eusine opened the door.
"Mizu?" his heartbeat ran faster and faster each second he didn't see her, "Not you too. Mizu!" he noticed the chain with her old Blue Badge sitting on her bureau, "She never leaves without that. Eevy!" he turned and bolted out the door and slammed on Eevy's, "Eevy! Eevy!"
"I gotta get the door," Eevy shoved Lance away, "What, Eusine?" she asked in an overly annoyed tone.
Eusine reddened at the way his cousin and Lance were dressed, "Oops, sorry. But it's about Mizu!"
"What about Mizu?" Eevy's heart stopped, "She's not!"
"She is," Eusine nearly suffocated, "I went in to get her and she was gone. Her one window was wide open and her Blue Badge necklace was on her table. She never leaves without it. Eevy! I know something's happened to her!"
"This is getting worse and worse. None of the Officer Jennys could help at all because we have no clues," Eevy fidgeted around, "Whatever this is seems to be focusing on the girls, so just keep an eye out. But watch yourself, Skiff, Ash, Brock, Tracey and Morty too. Tell everyone about Mizu. And Eusine," she paused.
"Yeah?" he asked in a high whisper.
"I'm sorry."
He nodded, "Thanks," he closed the door and walked away.
Eevy left her hand on the door, "I don't believe this," she shook her head, "This can't be Peter. I can't stop it if I don't even know what it is."
"It's not your fault, Eevy," Lance comforted and wrapped his arms around her waist, "You didn't know this would happen."
"No, but I should have expected it after Yuu-Yuu, Sooney and Beth went missing," Eevy said sadly, "Whatever this thing is is really fast and really cunning. I'm starting to doubt this is Peter. I really am."
"Don't worry. We'll fix this," he brushed her hair to the side and kissed her shoulder, "I'm sorry about your friends, Eevy," he left his chin on her shoulder.
She leaned her head into his, "I'm so worried about them. They could be anywhere and they could be really hurt. I don't know what to do."
"How about you turn around and we'll finish what we started?" he coaxed, running his hands up and down her arms.
"Not right now," she put her arms out and around, snatching his to her sides, "I'm not really in the mood with all that's going on."
"That, I suppose, I can understand. I'll be waiting," he walked out the door while pulling his shirt over his head, "You know where to find me."
"What could be doing this? It's too quick to be Peter but way too stealthy to be one of the ancient Pokemon. The girls just disappeared into thin air. No clues or anything. Like they were just erased or something. But if it's not Peter or one of the ancients, what is it?"
*^~^**^~^*
Lisle was walking along the hall, eyeing all windows, doors and shadows carefully. She wasn't going to let one thing pass her attention. She wasn't paying quite enough attention to anything behind her and didn't notice the floor tiles coming up, pausing and slowly slipping down again and again. She stopped and turned quickly, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, so she continued walking. She heard some kind of growl and stopped dead in her tracks. She looked side to side, but there was nothing wrong. The floor tile she was standing on went straight into the air, causing her to lose her balance and topple off. She hit the floor with a hard slam on her side and started to stand. The same thing that grabbed Mizu wrapped around her foot and pulled her into the tunnel beneath the floor.
"Morty!" she wailed, "Morty, help me!"
As it pulled her along, she crashed her head into the edge of the tile, going lifeless and letting whatever it was pull her straight into wherever it was heading. Morty burst out his door, but he was already too late. All he saw was some dust and dirt puffing around the air. He hadn't any clue what from, but it was actually from whatever that was dropping the floor tile back down. He jumped over and looked frantically around the hall.
"Lisle? Lisle, can you hear me? Lisle? It's Morty! Lisle!" he started bugging out, not knowing where she could have gone or what to do, "Lisle. What is this?" he jumped up and ran down the hall, shoes scuffing the tile, "Evangelina!" he knocked wildly on the door.
"What are you doing, Morty?" Medira cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Medira, where's Eevy?"
"She's downstairs in the gym with Lance," Medira pondered his rushed nature, "Why?"
"It's Lisle. She's gone now too!"
Medira inhaled a short breath, "I'm so sorry!"
"Just go stay with Jason. Whatever happened to her happened here in this hall just now. I'm going to go get Eevy and Lance."
Morty took off and Medira looked to the floor, "In the hall?" she jumped up and clung to the rim of the wall, "No chances," she inched along to the stairs and jumped to the first one, taking off to Jason's room.
*^~^**^~^*
Lance continued beating on the punching bag as Eevy kicked and punched at air, "Having fun beating up the oxygen around here?" Lance asked as she let out another kick at nothing.
"It's called stress relief," she paused and stretched, causing her shirt to slide up and expose her stomach.
He brushed his hands together and whistled at her, "Well, it obviously works."
She threw her arms down and stretched her shirt down, "That's not funny! Stop that!"
Morty came flying down the stairs and that precise moment, slamming into his sister, "Eevy! Eevy, it's Lisle!"
"I thought your name was Morty," Lance snickered
"Man, shut up," Eevy shook her head, "What happened, Morty?"
"All I know is she screamed for me from the hall and when I got out there it was dead silent and she was gone. All that was left was a little puff of dirt and dust in the air. Eevy!" he started slightly crying, "She's gone."
"It's OK, Morty," she reached out and hugged him, making sure to keep her shirt down, "This is getting worse and worse," she looked over her brother's shoulder at Lance, who shrugged, "I'm so sorry, Morty."
"What's taking them, Eevy? What's doing this?" Morty shook, "What's happening?"
"We don't know," Lance broke in, "That's one of the reasons we came down here. To discuss what or who this could be."
"I'm sorry," Morty stepped back.
"No, don't be," Eevy shook her head, "You should have come down and I'm glad you did. I'm the one who's sorry, Morty. Don't worry. We will find her and everyone else. Soon."
"I'm just going to go to bed."
"You do that," she pointed him towards the stairs, "I'll find her, Morty, I promise you."
Morty tromped up the stairs as Lance stepped up behind Eevy, "This is getting worse and worse. Everyone's just disappearing," he said and put his arm over her shoulder, "Don't worry, Eevy. We're going to fix this."
*^~^**^~^*
Skiff suckered Will into going out to get his boats from the Moss Bogs and the two of them headed out the gates, "I have the strangest feeling this is a really bad idea," Will muttered as he kept walking.
"Yeah, well, I'm not leaving my boats in that glop any longer," Skiff snorted, "I'm going to get my boats, find Yuu-Yuu, and get out of here."
Will smiled wide, "You really like her, don't you?"
"Yeah, a bit," Skiff looked away, "But I just want to help her out. You know, get her out of trouble."
"What about the other girls?"
"Yeah, them too."
"That's what I thought."
"Hey, Master Will!" Victor bounded from the front gate.
"What the hell?!" Will bugged, "What are you doing out here, Victor? You're supposed to be up on the top floor of the Mansion!"
"Hey, I've got a job to do, and so does my sister."
"That's right," Vic nodded as she stepped up too.
"Skiff, go start with the boats. I'll be right down after I lecture these two," Will scowled at Vic and Victor.
"All right," Skiff started walking towards the bank, "I wonder who they were."
He stepped and noticed wet footprints from the Moss Bogs. He shook it off and kept heading for the water. He got to the edge of the water and looked up into the tree at the sound of something up there. He saw nothing, so continued towards his boats. That same something caught him around the throat and hoisted him into the tree. That silver line running through Will's mind was tweaked at the choking noises coming from behind him.
"Skiff?" he jumped around, seeing nothing, "Skiff! Skiff, where are you? You'd better answer me!"
"Victor," Vic whimpered up behind her brother, "Where'd he go?"
"I have no clue," Victor swallowed hard, "But I think we should listen to Will."
"Skiff!" Will ran to where he'd been and found his boat keys sitting in the grass, "Oh no, Skiff," he took they keys in his hand, "I wasn't watching. Eevy's gonna eat me alive," he spun to Vic and Victor, "We've got to get out of here! Whatever that was is still here!"
Skiff was flailing wildly on the branch above Will, bound around the wrists, ankles, throat and mouth. Whatever had him leaned him forward and slammed the back of his head into the tree. He fell unconscious with that…thing dragging him off.
*^~^**^~^*
"You two go in that room there with Lance and batten down the hatches. Eevy's gonna explode," Will said as he pointed to another door.
"All right," Vic nodded and dragged her brother in the indicated door, "Hi, big bro!"
"Vic!" Lance shot up, obviously not as thrilled as his sister, "Are you two OK?"
"We're both fine, but some kid named Skiff is gone," Victor slammed down on the chair.
"Skiff's gone?! Where's Will?!"
"He's breaking the news to Eevy," Luri shuttered in the door, "Be prepared."
"You what?!" the door slammed open just as Luri jumped out of the way, "Where is he?!" Eevy shoved Will into the wall, "Where's Skiff?!"
"I don't know," Will squeaked, "He just fizzled out of existence."
"How would you like to fizzle out of existence?" she poked him in the throat, feeling him swallow, "Go!" she pushed him to the side, "Keep an eye on everyone!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" Will toppled out of the room, dragging Luri behind him.
"Skiff's gone now too," Eevy muttered, "Great," she noticed she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought and spun around, "Hello!" she smiled wide.
"Uh, hi," Vic waved slightly.
"I am so sorry," Eevy snickered nervously, "Lance, aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Oh!" Lance stood up, "Eevy, these are my twin brother and sister, Victoria and Victor. Vic, V, this is the Champion Mistress of Eevolution, Evangelina Hikoboshi," he slapped Victor in the back of the head, "Behave yourself."
"Brother and sister, huh?" Eevy leaned into Victor's face, "Hmm…Yeah, I believe it," she smirked somewhat nastily, "He's almost as cute as you, Lance," she pushed him away and turned around, "You can call me Eevy," she shook Victoria's hand, "Charmed, I'm sure. I'd advise the two of you to stay in the Mansion. Something bad is going down here, and we don't know what."
"What do you mean 'almost as cute' as me?" Lance scowled at his sister's snicker and his brother's wide smile, "Hey you, don't get any ideas."
"Why?" Victor laughed, "Not like she's your girlfriend."
He turned at Eevy's low laugh, "Actually I am."
"Oops," Victor turned bright red, "Sorry."
"How old are you, anyway?" Eevy crossed her legs on the table, "Eighteen? Nineteen?"
"I'm twenty-three, actually," he looked her up and down, "You?"
"None of your business," she scowled.
"Keep your eyes in their sockets, Victor," Vic pulled him back, "Not for you."
"Hey, Eevy," Jason inched in the room, "Are you sane for the moment?"
"Momentarily," Eevy shrugged, "I suppose so."
"Good," Medira sighed and stepped out from behind Jason.
"Wow!" Vic slapped her hand over Victor's mouth, "Sorry."
"What is that?" Medira leaned away with Jason evilly eyeing Victor.
"Lance's brother and sister, Victor and Victoria. This is Medio Mistress of Fire and Dark Medira Kurayami. Jason's girlfriend."
Victor drooped, "Every girl is taken!" he whined, "Cruel world!"
"Yes," Jason nodded, "Especially these two," he pulled Medira over, "You don't know what we went through for them."
"Whatever," Victor slammed down in the chair, "So, what's been happening that we're not allowed out of the Mansion?"
"Someone or something's been stealing our friends," Eevy grabbed Victor's attention again, "We don't know who or what, but it's been doing pretty good at it. So far it's succeeded in getting four of my close friends and my brother's girlfriend."
"And you don't know where they went?" Victoria shivered.
"We have no idea where they could have gotten to," Jason frowned, "It's like they all disappeared from the face of the Earth completely."
"So…" Victor awaited a continuation, "What are you planning on doing about it?"
"We don't know what to do," Lance slouched, "Without any knowledge of where they went, we can't even attempt to stop whatever this is."
"Who knows if it's only after us?" Eevy added, "For all we know, our friends could just be random victims or something."
"And we don't even know if they're all still alive," Medira cringed, "For all we know they could have been killed the second they we kidnapped."
"Couldn't it be Peter?" Vic shivered, "He's done some weird stuff and he's not exactly palsy with any of you."
"It could be," Lance frowned, "But I'd seriously doubt it."
"It could very well be too stealthy and quick for it to be Peter, but it certainly is cunning enough," Eevy sat and thought this through, "He's got a million motives and about six billion weapons along with places to get it done."
"Are we playing an advanced Pokemon version of Clue or something?!" Jason bugged, "We're talking about a kidnapper, if not a murderer! We've got to figure out who or what this is before it gets any more of us!"
"But it could be a Pokemon of some kind," Medira nodded, "The Pokemon from the Moss Bogs aren't thrilled with the trainers filtering in and out, I'm sure. They'd have the speed and agility to avoid detection and so far all of the places everyone's disappeared from has been a place a Pokemon could get to relatively easily. A Pokemon with Dig could simply tunnel into the opening under the Mansion and come right inside. Or a Pokemon with Teleport could just zip in, grab somebody, and zip out in a matter of seconds."
"But we have no way of knowing who or what this is!" Vic burst, "What are we going to do? Just let this thing keep taking everyone until we're all gone?"
"There's another thing that's getting to me," Jason sat down, "Lisle was the only one we actually heard just before they disappeared. That fact leads to the conclusion that they were either gagged or out like a light when they were taken. If that's true, they'll all at least be injured."
"Which means the kidnapper's intention is definitely more than taking them into its custody," Lance frowned, "Which means they could very well be in more danger than we could be thinking. It makes no sense. How are there no clues? We've had our Pokemon search for scents, but they never find anything but the scent of the missing person. And that smell always stops directly where the person was last seen. Like they were vaporized."
"We've got to figure this out before someone else turns up missing or one of our friends returns injured, or even dead," Eevy swallowed and scowled out the window with a slight growl.
The Next Chronicle:
Falling Through
Notes
*Twilight Zone music in background* Cut that out! *Furret drops the tape recorder and music abruptly stops* Hairball...Anyway...As you can see, it's getting weirder and crazier and all around odder...So I'll leave you alone to figure this stuff out...
*^~^*Pro_V*^~^*
-=O~Her Pokemon~O=-