Day 1
The Badak Tribe
Quickly Madison scrambled down the rope net ladder and into their orange raft. She was soon followed by a familiar face.
"Eli!", she cried happily. She had been disappointed about being separated from Sakura, Kero and Li, all that lost footage...but now with Eli at least things wouldn't be a total waste! Eli smiled his usual mysterious smile at her before taking his seat.
"Looks like were on the same tribe."
Madison nodded brightly,"Yep."
Soon the raft had filled with the rest of their tribe mates. Madison held up her camera to film. She sure had an interesting looking tribe... After a few moments of blank stares Madison went along and introduced herself.
"Oh I'm Madison, please don't mind me filming, it's what I love to do. Once the game is over I can send you all a copy of this tape. It'll be our own personal Badak version of survivor", Madison finished with in friendly voice.
"Well that sounds like a nice idea Madison, thank you for taking the time, now if you'd be a dear and pass those paddles next to you, over to me, we can get to our island", a kind old lady said with a great big smile that matched her size. Madison nodded and handed them over.
"Thank you, now who wants to row first? When you all get tired we can switch off", the old lady continued in a gentle voice. A few hands raised in the air, including Madison and Eli's.
"Very good", the old lady smiled as they started to make their way across the water. It was a pleasant trip to the island, they traded a few times, but there were no problems. When their raft finally floated up to the waters edge the tribe rejoiced. Madison filmed this happily. After their small celebration, they all pulled the raft up to higher grounds and then looked around their new campsite. As she filmed Madison couldn't help, but notice the little boy who stood by himself. He didn't seem quiet scared as he did slightly nervous. Curiously Madison walked up to him.
"Hi", she smiled. The boy looked up in surprise.
"Oh hi, you must be Madison", he smiled back.
"Uh-huh, and you are?..."
"The name's Tommy, it's nice to meetcha Madison", Tommy introduced with the innocence and charm only a boy as young as he could have.
"Well it's very nice to meet you too Tommy. Do you know anyone else on the tribe?", Madison asked glancing around for a friend of his, but they remained alone.
"Nope, just you, but some of my friends are on other tribes", the boy grinned.
"Oh I bet you miss them, it must be scary doing this alone. I at least have a friend, well two now that I meet you", Madison said kindly.
"Thanks. It makes me a bit nervous to do this alone, but not scared, of course I used to be scared by these situations, but not anymore. I have friends that believe in me and I know my inner strength", Tommy answered.
"Wow, it's sounds like there's a really good story behind that, would you mind telling it to me another time?", Madison wondered interestedly.
"Sure", he replied brightly.
"Hey you two, over here, were making plans for our shelter", a young woman with long blonde hair called to them.
"Coming!", they both called back.
"Okay, so everyone's here?", the old lady began. They all nodded.
"Perfect, now-", the old woman was cut off by some strange music.
"To protect the world from devastation..."
"To unit all peoples within our nation..."
"To announce the evils of truth and love..."
"To extend our reach to the stars above..."
"Aww", a boy with black spiky hair grumbled as he smacked his forehead in irritation.
"Jessie..."
"James..."
"Team rocket blasts off at the speed of light..."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
Silence. The man and the woman who had just recited the insane poem looked defeated.
"We really need Meowth...how could he have been put on another tribe, torn from us?", the man whimpered.
"I know it's not the same with out him James, but suck it up! The show must go on", the woman snapped. The whole tribe had small eye's with the exception of the spiky haired boy, who looked just as glum as the man and the woman.
"I know I've asked this a million times before, but do you have to say the whole thing everywhere you go? Can't you just do the end so they know your names, and that your with team rocket?" the boy asked tiredly. There was a long paused. The woman cleared her throat and the man straightened up.
"Well if it isn't the twirp", the woman sneered acting as though the sight of the boy put a bad taste in her mouth.
"What luck, looks like your going to get voted off the island and lose your Pokemon", the man laughed hideously. The woman glared through slits in her eye's at the man before banging him over the head.
"Quit laughing you idiot", she seethed. "And twirp, forget it, it's team rocket policy to recite our pledge."
"Since when you do follow polices? You break one every time I see you it's called fashion", the boy scoffed satisfied. The woman's face blazed red.
"Why you little punk!", she raged.
"Jessie, calm down, we'll show him later", the man insisted. Breathing deeply the Jessie shot daggers at the boy who stood in a quiet relaxed manner, as if he had gone through this a million times before. Finally all the color drained from her cheeks.
"That's better...", the man said brightly. Jessie sent him another threatening glare.
"Well since we now know for sure that we have all our tribe mates, why don't we begin work on our shelter?", the old woman spoke, breaking the tension. Both the man and woman mumbled why not and joined in. "First things first though", she continued. "If it doesn't take too much time, I'd like everyone to explain who they are so I know all your great names", the old woman requested sweetly. They all agreed to it and decided that they'd love for Jessie and James to start first, since they all wondered if there was a sane reason for what they just saw.
"Hello", Jessie began. "I'm Jessie of team rocket, only the most greatest organization dedicated to stealing Pokemon in the entire Pokemon world, no one's better than us." The boy with the spiky hair snickered. Jesse twitched.
"So if you're the best why can't you seem to capture my Pokemon? I mean we've been at this how many years now?", the boy asked unimpressedly, for he knew team rocket's true nature. "If I'm going to be stole from, I'd like it to happen...not the endless run around." Jessie looked like she was going explode again, fortunately her partner noticed this and cut in before any exploding could be done. "And hello I'm James, Jesse's partner in crime, for I also work for team rocket", he announced.
"Okay, thank you, next", the old lady said looking towards the spiky haired boy.
"Hi I'm Ash, a Pokemon trainer, who will become a Pokemon master someday. I have three friends here on the island, but are on other teams, that accompany me on my journey", Ash finished.
"Question", a young woman piped up, her hand in the air.
"Yes?", Ash said nodding towards her.
"Well, I don't mean to be a nuse, but what is a Pokemon?", the young woman asked. She looked to be an intelligent kind of person with her short blue hair and smart looking glasses.
"Ah, Pokemon are...are...you've never heard of Pokemon?", Ash questioned them all after having some difficulty finding the right words. They all shook their heads no.
"Help me out here", he said glancing over at team rocket. Jessie and James looked thoughtful for a second.
"Pokemon are like pets, except expensive pets that fight. They have powers, and they can grow in power, also increasing their worth", Jessie tried. Ash cringed, but what did he think she was going to say? After all she was Jessie.
"Pokemon can also be man's best friend. They're loyal and will stick with you for life. I remember a Magickarp I had once..." James added as he began to trail off. James's explanation had been better, but Ash figured the only way for them to understand was to see with their own eye's. In a flash Ash threw out a red a white ball that burst with light, out of that light came a cute yellow mouse looking creature.
"Awww", the girls sighed. Jessie and James eye's turned to dollar signs. Ash wasn't worried, they had no escape route, they were on an island...
"This is Pikachu", Ash informed smiling at his friend, though giving it space. Pikachu wasn't happy, it had been confined to a pokeball and had been in one until now.
"Can I pet it?", a girl asked with short brown hair. "I'm used to these types of creatures."
"Ahhh, actually, I don't think that's a good idea right now. You see, Pikachu especially doesn't like to be in pokeballs, these things, and isn't too sociable right now", Ash explained with a sweat drop.
"Oh", the girl mumbled drawing her hand back. Next it was a boy around Tommy's age.
"Hi, I'm Cody and I'm a Digidestain. My friends on this tribe are, Kari, Ken, and Sora", he announced. Tommy perked up.
"Did you say you were a Digidestain?", he questioned looking excited. Cody blinked a few times.
"Well yes, so are they", Cody answered motioning to the three people beside him, "But...why would you care? Do you know what a Digidestain is?" Tommy looked as if he was about to burst with delight.
"Of course! I am one!", he cried happily.
"Really?", Cody persisted in disbelief.
"Uh-huh, my friends are too", Tommy rambled on.
"Hi Tommy, I'm Kari, it's lucky that we met you, we're always looking for new Digidestain", the girl with the short brown hair spoke up.
"It's lucky that I met you, I didn't even know if there were other Digidestains!", Tommy exclaimed. "Boy my friends will never believe this..."
"Yeah, our friends will be surprised too", a girl next to Kari chimed in. "I'm Sora, and this is Ken." Tommy smiled at them both.
"Nice to meetcha." When things finally settled down again the next person introduced herself.
"Well I guess I'd say five's a crowd, and I don't want the little one to blow up or anything, but I'm a Digidestain too." Tommy, along with the others, jaws dropped. To be honest no one had really noticed her before. She hadn't said much and tended to stay clear of the tribe, so to hear that she was a Digidestain too, blew their minds.
"Wow", they all breathed.
"This is amazing, I can't believe it, we've found tons of new Digidestains and in only ten minutes!", Sora gaped.
"Yeah well, it's really no big deal...", the girl replied dismissively. "My friends and I try to keep low profiles."
"You mean your friends are Digidestains too?", Ken asked now seeming almost skeptical about the possibility. It just struck him odd that all these Digidestain were put on this show.
"Yep", the girl answered simply, acting as though the fact bored her. "Oh and by the way, I'm Rika."
"Well this is great that you've all found something on common, but I believe there's still quiet a bit of you we still next to get to know, so let's move on", the old lady suggested warmly. They all nodded and looked to the next person. It was the young woman with blue hair and glasses.
"Me? Oh, hello, I'm Amy. I also happen to be a Sailor scout, which is the crime fighting side of me. They are many other scouts that save the world with me, some of them are here", Amy said informatively as she looked over to the people standing next to her. "Hi", they smiled. "I'm Mina, this is Lita, and that's Darien." Everyone smiled back in greeting. Moments later the next person spoke up.
"Hi my name's Robin, I work with a team of super heroes that help me save our city from destruction, I suppose much like the sailor scouts", Robin shrugged. Next was a woman with long brown hair.
"Hello I'm Lin. I work in the spirit world for little next to no money, which is why I'm playing this game", she stated straightforwardly. Everyone nodded. Then came a bright looking blonde woman "Hi everyone I'm Mihoshi, and I just wanted to say I can't wait to get to know you all better. Here's a quick fact about me. I work for the galactic police force with my partner Kiyone who is on another tribe. I know she must miss me. I miss her...", Mihoshi babbled looking rather depressed quiet suddenly. Recovering, everyone cleared their throats and then put on a happy face for her. Finally it was the old woman's turn.
"Hello all, I'm Zeniba, and I'd like to say I'm quiet a powerful witch. I have an evil twin, whom Lin, sadly, works for. I live in a wonderful house in the spirit world with a nice friend of mine named No-face who is actually on the island too, then again so is my sister...", Zeniba remarked grimacing at the thought, Lin joined her in this. Once everyone one had finished with their pleasantries, and no one could think up any more questions, the shelter building began.
"Let's see...", Zeniba thought aloud, searching her tribe for the right people for different jobs. "I need, someone to fetch water, someone to get firewood, someone to start a nice fire, someone to get bamboo frauns, and someone to help build the shelter. Now I don't care who does what task, as along as your not straining yourself with it, if you need help, please ask for it, I'm sure someone will be happy to assist you", Zeniba continued with a reasonable tone. They all nodded.
"Well then, let's get to work!", she finished enthusiastically. Everyone cheered. It took only a few moments for things to come to order. Ken, Robin, Darien, Lita, Lin, Eli, and Zeniba all opted to help construct the shelter, while Cody, Tommy, Rika, and Jessie decided to get the bamboo frauns. "Kari, Sora, Madison, Mina, and Mihoshi, went along and got some fire wood, leaving Ash, James, and Amy to making the fire and getting the water. Cody, Tommy, Rika, and Jessie quickly made their way into the jungle so the shelter building could start.
"This sure is a dense Forrest", Jessie was complaining as she fought with a vine.
"Ahem, I think you mean jungle", Cody quietly corrected.
"Whatever, it's still terriblely musty, hot, buggy, and over grown", she persisted through flinched teeth, now struggling with the vine.
"Yeah...what did you expect?", Rika asked sending her a strange look. Too caught up in her vine problem, Jessie let that comment slide, but any more comments from that girl and she'd get to know the real Jessie. Tommy stopped to try and help Jessie, but it was pretty worthless, she insisted she would get out of it herself. Rika then stopped also, followed by Cody. With a small sigh of irritation Rika called out, "It's okay, you can come out now." Jessie froze from her unavailing fight with Mother Nature to raise an eyebrow at Rika.
"What can come out?", she questioned. Tommy and Cody looked at Rika with curious expressions.
"You'll see...", she answered looking impatient with whatever she had called. Suddenly it appeared, though what had appeared was nothing like anything they had expected.
"Sorry, I was deep in the jungle", it apologized, bowing at Rika.
Rika's face softened with a small smile.
"It's okay Renamon", she replied as the creature stood to it's full height. It had jumped down from a near by tree and resembled an overly large yellow fox that walked on two feet. Though, beneath it's imposing exterior it had an almost graceful and elegant way to it. Jessie, half rolled up in a vine, mouth was agape, not sure whether to be scared or happy to see it.
"Maybe it's valuable?... A new kind of Pokemon perhaps? But it talked, didn't it? That's impossible!", Jessie thought, thinking things over in her head, whilst eyeing the strange being with stunned interest. Tommy and Cody on the other hand looked at the fox like creature with bright eye's.
"A Digimon!", they both cried happily. It had been awhile since both of them had been in the digital world, and nothing was better than seeing a Digimon after all that time. Filled with love and respect they could have only gained by spending time with these amazing beings, they immediately introduced themselves.
"Hi, I'm Tommy, and I'm a Digidestain", Tommy beamed.
"And I'm Cody, I'm also a Digidestain, and it's nice to meet you Renamon, it's been awhile since I've got to be with a Digimon, I can't tell you how nice it is to see one again", Cody explained joyously.
"Well...", Renamon began, a little shocked herself by the forwardness of these new people. "It's, ah, very nice to meet you both." Turning towards Rika she added. "I didn't know there were other Digidestain?"
"Yeah well I didn't either, but here they are", Rika shrugged.
"Wait-", Cody spoke up, something had just struck him. "We're not in the digital world, so how's your Digimon here with us in the real world?", he asked. Tommy's eyes grew wide with wonder, he had wanted to know that too. Rika dove her hands into her pockets in a careless way seeming to think a moment before looking up at them and resorting with, "Yours can't come out of the digital world?"
"Well they do sometimes, but they can't be out all the time...", they both answered. Again they stared at her awaiting a response. "Well...I guess something went wrong with the digital codes and...here she is", Rika replied simply.
"Oh", they both nodded, though that was not the answer they were looking for.
"Whoa!" Crash. "Awww..." Everyone's heads snapped towards Jessie who had finally unrolled herself and now laid upon the dirty jungle floor. They all stared at her with small eye's. Getting to her feet, she looked Renamon in the eye.
"So, you're a Digimon? A talking Digimon?", Jessie questioned, as she brushed herself off, meanwhile still holding her gaze.
"I bet you're real rare...", she continued. Renamon blinked.
"Um not really...every Digimon can talk, and so yeah..."
"Enough of this. Renamon, she steals other creatures called Pokemon for a living, and she's trying to scope out your worth, well ha, I'd like to see you try and steal Renamon, she isn't like those dumb weak Pokemon your used to, she's an intelligent butt kicking machine, I wouldn't mess with her if I were you", Rika threatened. Jessie glared at Rika. We'll just see about that...she thought her, eye's flickering.
"Ahem, I don't mean to interrupt, but we do have a shelter to make, and it is getting late...", Cody trailed off suggestively.
"Your right, let's get those bamboo frauns", Rika agreed taking the lead with Renamon close behind, followed by a delighted Tommy and Cody...Jessie brought up the rear. In another part of the jungle, Kari, Sora, Madison, Mina, and Mihoshi, all were searching for firewood. Luckily it had been plentiful near the beach, so they didn't have to venture too far.
"So, what's it like being a Sailor Scout?", Madison asked Mina interestedly with one hand holding her camera and the other dragging a piece of fire wood to their pile they were collecting to carry back to camp.
"Dangerous", she began on a serious note, "But kina fun too", she added a bit brighter.
"Actually their hasn't been any real trouble to deal with lately if you exclude the fudes between Serena and Raye." By the puzzled look she was getting from Madison, Mina smiled and mumbled, "It's a long story..."
"So do you film anything in particular Madison? You seem pretty at ease with all this magic and weird stuff around you, I mean for someone who isn't, um...", Sora searched for the right words. Madison looked understanding in a cheerful way, she a been waiting to ramble about Sakura, Li, Kero, and all the others.
"Gifted in a magical way? I don't mind, it", she winked. "Anyways, I film magic actually. My friends are Cardcaptors, and they must fight evil and collect all the cards set accidentally lose by my best friend, Sakura", Madison stated with starry eye's just at the thought off all the great footage she had accumulated over the years.
"Wow", they all breathed.
"That's sounds like a whole lot of fun, I like my job as a galactic police officer, it's quite rewarding to solve a case, though my partner, Kiyone, always insists it's her handy work and intelligence that gets the job done, I let her think what she wants so I don't hurt her feelings, but I know I'm the smarter one of the bunch", Mihoshi chimed in, adding herself to the conversation. They all smiled strainedly at her and sweat dropped.
"Well since were on the topic, what's it like being, what do you call it? Digidestains?", Madison continued. Sora and Kari nodded, then looked thoughtful. "Hmm, I guess, fun, scary, dangerous, magical, and joyful all at the same time. I love my Digimon, Gatomon, she's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I just love spending time with her", Kari answered, looking a bit remorseful. "Though I haven't seen her in awhile..." Sora nodded again. "I haven't seen Biyomon either..." Both girls looked sad for a moment, but then perked up. "This looks like enough, huh?", Kari said implying to the decent pile of fire wood they had. "Yep", all the girls smiled happily. Just as they were carrying them back, out of the jungle stumbled Jessie and the others, Rika and her were considerablely more dirty than the boys, who carried their bamboo frauns with small eye's. What had happened?
Flashback...
"That's it you brat", Jessie exclaimed lunging after Rika after she had quietly insulated her. Falling into a pool of mud they fought.
"Get off me you old witch", Rika grumbled. Jessie turned even redder.
"Old witch! You're in for it now!", Jessie steamed. Forcefully, after a very tiring struggle, Rika finally managed to heave Jessie off her.
"Man...how much do you weigh?", Rika panted. That was it, Jessie took on an insane look. Rika wasn't intimidated, but Tommy and Cody had seen enough and begged Renamon to step in. She did so out of respect. Jessie charged towards Rika only to hit what felt like a brick wall. Looking up, her eye's met with two cold, dark, piercing ones. Swallowing, she backed off.
End flashback...
All the girls exchanged confused looks, then sweat dropped. Guess they would never know... Then a creature walked out of the jungle that startled them all, causing them to lose their piles of fire wood. It was Renamon. Snapping out of it, Kari and Sora smiled wider than they had before, it was a Digimon, most likely Rika's or Tommy's, though neither of them could tell since then had never seen Rika or Tommy's Digimon.
"Wow", Madison gasped grabbing the camera with both hands to steady herself.
"What do you think of your first Digimon Madison?", Sora asked amusedly after seeing her starry eye'd expression.
"It's so great! Boy Kero and Yue will be sooo jealous", she snickered. Nobody bothered to ask... Quickly they all picked up their piles and continued on towards camp. They got their in time to see the fading looks of shock upon everyone else's faces at the sight of Renamon. Of course, Ken was grinning.
"-Nice to meet you Renamon", he was saying.
"Same here", she nodded seeming to better respect all the attention she was getting as she became more comfortable with it. Madison zoomed in on Eli's charming face, capturing a look of deep thought. Ash looked skeptical at it.
"So It can talk? Heck even Meowth can do that, what so special about Digimon?", Ash asked without thinking, and that was something one should never do especially when Digimon are in question. Renamon narrowed her eye's. She had gotten a surprisingly more warm welcome than she had anticipated, due to all the respectful Digidestains here, but for those who were not that friendly, she didn't plan to be so nice back.
"Well, let me demonstrate then", Renamon began darkly. "With your permission that is Rika...", she then added quickly, though she knew her owner would never turn down a chance to show her true colors.
"Most certainly, send out one of your Pokemon Ash, Pokemon are fighting creatures, aren't they?", Rika persisted, challengingly. That was Ash's weakness, he couldn't, and wouldn't back down now. Turning his cap around he replied with, "You're on." Jumping forward from beside Ash was Pikachu. Renamon stepped forward and so the fight began. Ash called out an attack first, "Pikachu, thundershock now!" After having done this a million times to team rocket, Pikachu let out a powerful explosion of electricity. With perfect timing Renamon stepped out of the way. A stunned looking Ash stood on the opposite side of the battle field looking rather baffled.
"Renamon you know what to do..." Rika said confidently, a hint of pride in her voice. Renamon smiled, not missing this hidden message and sent her attack full force.
"Diamond storm", she cried. Suddenly a burst of what looked like pieces of sharp ice shot out at Pikachu. Ash's face grew gave, he knew that attack would be much more powerful than anything he had encountered in the Pokemon world, and it didn't help that he didn't know what was going to happen to Pikachu. With a split second left, Ash dove and grabbed Pikachu out of the way. The sharp shards had barely missed them.
"What are you doing?", Rika demanded.
"I forfeit", he mumbled, he didn't like to have to do it, but Pikachu could have been really hurt, and with no Nurse Joy around...
"Well, that's the smartest thing you've said all day", Rika remarked, though the coldness of her words didn't reach her eye's. Somehow she was touched by the measures Ash had just went through to pull his Pokemon out of the fight. Ash's ego was only merely damaged, whatever Rika had to say had no affect on him, he was used to hearing it from Misty.
"Well if were all satisfied with ourselves, why don't we finish up work here?", Zeniba appointed patiently. Everyone agreed to it. There was a pleasant bustle around camp again as everyone did their assigned jobs. Madison, now done with the firewood, was helping Eli build the shelter while at the same time rewinding her most recent footage, the beginning of Ash and Rika's battle.
"Oh, this is going to be so good", she giggled delightedly. Eli smiled at her, completing the roof. Ash had started a great fire with Charziard, lucky it was the only fire he started...Then, with help from Amy and Squirtel, Ash collected all the water the camp would need for awhile. Jessie and James, after many failed attempts to make themselves useful, sat on a lone patch of sand and planned devious plots to capture Renamon and Pikachu. Tommy and Cody, now done with their work, sat around the blazing fire and shared their Digimon experiences. Ken and Eli had gotten to know each other, and found they had plenty in common, both had been evil and tried to ruin their friends lives, both were now good, but struggled with the guilt they still carried, both were serious and determined individuals. Lin and Zeniba converstated over the last few bamboo frauns placed in the shelter, while Kari and Sora were busy getting interviewed by Madison who was interested by their adventures. Robin, who had to be the quietest on the tribe, stood at the waters edge in deep thought, though no one could tell what he was thinking about so intensely. Ash was playing with Pikachu, getting shot evil looks by team rocket, along with the sweet looks Mihoshi was sending Pikachu. ( It's so cute! ) Amy, Lita, Mina, and Darien, were enjoying some time talking about how Serena, Rini, and Raye would hold up...this made for a very humorous conversation. Meanwhile Rika, again, was keeping her distance from the rest of them, joined by Renamon in calm, watchful, silence. As the night wore down, Zeniba suggested they all gather around the fire and share ghost stories before heading off to bed. The tribe with the exception of Mihoshi, found this to be a good idea.
"I guess I'll start", Zeniba said in a low raspy voice, in great contrast to the cheerful and light one she usually spoke with. Everyone leaned in close, breathing softly, as to not break the moment. Zeniba cleared her throat..."It was a dark, cold, and rainy night. I was sitting alone in my warm house watching the rain drops splatter against my window when I suddenly felt a strong presence. I knew it couldn't be close to me, but it was close to my sister, Yubaba. I saw quick flashes of a great shadowed figure inching slowly through the streets on the way to my sister's bathhouse. I smiled for a moment, this would be interesting, but then a thought still prodded me, this dark thing, I couldn't see it clearly...what was it?", Zeniba questioned, the firelight reflecting off her face with an eerie orange glow. Madison swallowed in nervous anticipation as she filmed. Every set of eye's were round with wonder as Zeniba continued in a velvety tone, "I was then overcome by a horrible stench like you could never imagine. This, thing, smelt something awful. Again I found a smile on my face as I now knew for sure that it was going to invade Yubaba's bathhouse. The vision of this hazy creature was becoming clearer...", Zeniba went on, her voice rising as she approached the climax of her story. All heads where drawn as near as possible, not wanting to miss a word. Madison shivered. "This thing was...was...A stink spirit!", Zeniba cried out, everyone screamed on impulse. Then they all blinked stunndly. Why did they scream? What was a stink spirit? Was it even scary? Zeniba let out a cackle of laughter at their once terrified faces. Lin had been the only on not to scream as she knew it was a stink spirit Zeniba was talking about, she was there at the bathhouse with Chihiro on the night it arrived, and come to think of it...it wasn't actually a stink spirit at all, really a rich river god who had been polluted. Jessie was eyeing James with an unamused look.
"You scream like a girl", she scoffed.
"Hey-", he protested.
"Um what is a stink spirit?", Robin piped up, his eyebrow raised. The others also looked questioningly at the old lady. Her cackling finally subsided, and she gently answered with, "Why my dears it's a nasty, grimy, smelly, spirit that no one wants to come into contact with." Mihoshi shrieked,"Not, smelly, grimy, and dirty!" They all sweat dropped.
"No offense Zeniba, but don't you have anything better than that to tell?", Lin asked surprisedly. Zeniba laughed again. "Well of course, but I want you to all sleep tonight", she answered sweetly. They nervously sweat dropped again.
"Now who's next?", she added looking at Lin beside her.
"Okay, me", Lin grumbled. "It's called The Day When Haku Reappeared", she started making her voice vibrate spookily. Madison was getting scared again and tugged on Eli's sleeve. This story sounded to be promising..."Well, the day started like any other, I got up got dressed and headed down stairs to work. Strangely enough the mood around the workers seemed to be lighter than before, everyone was smiling. It didn't take me long to figure out why. Haku, the evil henchmen, was missing. Everyone was rejoicing, except the new girl Sen. She was worried about him. Personally, I think he had her brain washed...", Lin whispered in a matter a fact way. Everyone nodded and Lin continued. "Anyways, it turns out he had been gone for awhile, causing everyone even more joy, but then Sen disappeared too...Sen was my friend so naturally I started to worry. I waited a while though, so see if maybe she'd return, but at long last, she didn't. Distraughtly I went looking for her. I searched the bathhouse first and turned up nothing. Finally I decided to go down to the boiler room, where Kamaji works, he might know where Sen is...Down, down, down, I went, my heart beating fast. Soon I reached the sliding door that opened into the boiler room, slowly I slid it open...Then my heart stopped and my blood ran cold, do you know what I saw?...",Lin wondered as the tension mounted. Everyone except Zeniba, who shook her head yes, hastily shook their heads no.
"It was...Haku!", she exclaimed. Again everyone screamed terrified screams. Yubaba broke into more laughter. Then, as before, everyone blinked suddenly. That wasn't scary...
"What's so scary with that?", Kari finally spoke up. Everyone nodded.
"Well I guess you had to be there...", Lin muttered. Zeniba smiled kindly at her, "Thank you for sharing Lin, I'm sure they were all scared, I mean you heard them scream", she ensured. Next it was Mihoshi.
"Okay...a scary story huh? Well I was at a carnival on a case with Kiyone, she had told me that we were to go undercover to capture a thief that was hiding out here. So there I was walking along, watching people win prizes and ride the rides, It began to look like lots of fun so I decided to try some of the activities out. I mean Kiyone had said to act natural, and what was more natural than participating? Happily, I went and bought a pop first and an elephant ear, then I won a stuffed bear, and then, finally I finished off my day with a few roller coasters. Well when I got off the last one, Kiyone came walking up to me, though it looked more like stomping, but anyways, she asked me what I was doing, and I told her that I was acting natural, but for some strange reason she didn't seem to happy about it, but that's what she had said to do. She told me I should have been looking out for the thief and not having fun. I reminded her that having fun was apart of acting natural. I think she got the message since she didn't yell again and her face turned red. She then tried to drag me to our police car, but I wanted to make it up to her, so I offered to win her a prize, but she refused. So I tried to offer her my pop, but that's when it happened...", Mihoshi said, her voice trembling. Everyone who was practically sleeping through the first part, perked up, finally the story was getting good...
"The...the...the pop sprayed all over her! But then even worse, I felt my stomach flip flop and the next thing I knew I had puked all over my new bear...it was sooo horrible...I think I rode too many roller coasters...", Mihoshi wailed. Everyone had small eye's.
"There, there, it's all over", Zeniba said soothingly. Mihoshi sniffed.
"Wasn't that the scariest story yet?", she asked as she wiped her eye's. They all nodded, as to not hurt her feelings. Shortly after it was Robin's turn. "It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was home alone in the T-tower. Everybody else had gone grocery shopping...Or so I thought...", Robin began in his usual captivating and mysterious voice. This got everyone's attention again, finally, a scary story...
"I was playing video games, and had just beaten Cyborg's record, when I heard a sort of rattle. Curious, I stopped to check it out. Slowly I inched for the noise, it was coming from the fridge. Reaching out I grabbed the handle and whipped the door open. Nothing happened so I peered in, just then a blue, fur covered, monster jumped out and leached onto my face!" Everyone really screamed this time. "Panting, I tried to fight it off, finally it fell lifeless to the floor. Again I looked into the fridge to see if there were anymore blue, fur covered, monsters. Sure enough, tons of them were on the shelves, and what looked like a green mouse ran out from behind one, it turns out I wasn't the only one home, it was Beastboy and he was eating the blue, fur covered, monsters!", Robin went on. Everyone grimaced disgustedly at the thought of this...that Beastboy must just be awful..."But I guess it turns out that the blue, fur covered, things, were actually old, moldy, Tofu and not monsters at all. It was a close brush with the paranormal though...", Robin finished. His story left everyone with quezzy stomaches.
"Ahem, well thank you Robin, next", Zeniba smiled. It was Jessie's turn now. "This story is called The Day The Pretty Girl's Hair Got Chopped Off", Jessie started. Everyone sweat dropped, this sounded like a Mihoshi story repeat. "There once was beautiful girl who went in search of something in the woods. It was a large Forrest, but she didn't care, she could still hear the hum of what she sought, she gracefully, skillfully, elegantly, perfectly, softly-", Jessie was cut off by James who was clearing his throat. Everyone stared at Jessie with looks of confusion. "Well, yes, anyways, beautifully, she stepped out from her hiding place to ambush the thing she was in search for. There it stood, unsuspectingly, it was the right time and, in a split second she lunged after it, but it reacted with lighting speed and chopped...chopped...chopped", Jessie stammered becoming emotional. "The girl's beautiful long, flowing, captivating, full, shiny, stylish, silky-" Again Jessie was interrupted by James.
"It cut off your hair", he blabbed absently. Jessie's face filled with horror.
"How dare you James, this is a story, this isn't real", Jessie objected sending him a lethal glare. A burst of laughter erupted from Ash.
"Wait a sec, I remember that, wasn't it a Scyther that hacked it?", he questioned.
"Yeah, yeah it was", James confirmed, looking as thoughtful as a small smile appeared on his face, the memory was humorous. "And for weeks she pestered us about how her hair looked and we always had to say it looked nice whe-", James was silenced by a sharp jab in the side. Jessie's face burned red as she stood up then charged off in a huff. Everyone's small eyes followed her until she disappeared into the shelter.
"Well...", James began. "I guess it's my turn now." Everyone nodded slow nods. "Hmmm, oh here's a scary one, it was Princess Day, and we were unfortunately in town. The dark and evil Jessie laughed with gruesome delight, as today, in fact just like everyday, she'd get to employ her slaves, but at least she'd have an excuse now, if some caring soul asked what is wrong with her two bogged down companions. Yes the day was a most disastrous one, one filled with evil laughs, from dawn till dusk, she'd drag her poor thankless servants around, shop to shop, mall to mall, and a small break at a cafe. By night fall the poor man and his Pokemon were very close immobile. But she still laughed, that cold laugh...HA HA HA HA!", James exclaimed. Everyone jumped, but instead of feeling scared they ended up feeling bad for James.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I know what your going through, I mean I can only imagine what it'd be like to have to live with Jessie 24/7, very scary I guess...", Ash said offering his condolences. Next to go was Cody. He looked a little uncomfortable for a moment, but then mumbled, "There has been many scary moments in my life, but usually they were life threatening, mostly dealing with the life of my friends and Digimon, so I don't think I have anything to add", he stated somberly. Many eye's went downcast. Things as far as scary story telling were going, weren't getting any better, just sadder it seemed.
"Why don't we call it a night and save some story's for tomorrow night?", Zeniba suggested with the understanding that things weren't exactly going as she had planned. Everyone nodded in satisfied agreement. Quietly they all crept into bed...