An Author's Note: I'm not even going to hide it, because it's so obvious. Yes, the game is basically Pokemon. Heck, I can't help it. It was either Pokemon or the Legend of Zelda, and I chose Pokemon. I don't own Pokemon. That honor goes to Nintendo.
Chapter 2
A Nightmare in 8 bits
Most of the time Quackerjack used his great toy making skills for creating weapons to fight Negaduck, and the other criminals of St. Canard. He loved it. He loved building toys with real rockets and bullets and things that exploded. However, as much as he loved making weapons, Quackerjack's real love was toys. Real toys, not weapons, were something that he adored with all his heart. Sometimes, he just needed to make something that didn't explode in your face.
Quackerjack grinned to himself as he finished the last little carve on his wooden horse's tail. It was finished, or at least the carving part of it was finished. Quackerjack leaned back and admired the small horse figurine he had just made. The horse was throwing its head in the air, mouth open in mid whinny. The left hoof was raised as if ready to step, and the right hind leg was thrown backwards.
"It's beautiful, isn't it Mr. Banana Brain?" Quackerjack lifted his doll up and smiled.
"It is! What are you going to paint it?"
"Oh, I don't know! So many colors!" Quackerjack gestured at the cubbyholes to his left side, which housed small bottles filled with paint. "Brown maybe! Or maybe red! I like red!"
"Neon green!" Mr. Banana Brain exclaimed.
Horses aren't green. Headboss interjected.
"Who cares? It'll be fun!" Retorted Mr. Banana Brain.
The entire point of that horse was to make it realistic. Painting it green would be counterproductive. Red is a perfectly nice color.
"Okay! Red I think! We can build him a saddle or something and make that green!" Quackerjack reasoned.
Christmas horse. Bloody brilliant.
"Yeah, I thought so too!" Quackerjack said as he reached for a tiny brush.
What have I said about talking aloud to me in public? You look insane.
"I think its fun!" Said Mr. Banana Brain.
You would. Megavolt just stopped looking at us with that same look. You remember that look? That look that Robert always gave us? That Father gave us? Do you want that, Quackerjack?
"No…" Quackerjack shook his head and concentrated on the paint bottles. Better that then the voices in his head. He knew that it was strange enough talking to Mr. Banana Brain, who never shut up. At least Headboss didn't talk to the others. Maybe Headboss was shy?
Quackerjack selected a rather nice, brownish red color and began to paint the muzzle of his horse. He smiled as each brush stroke brought his simple wooden creation to life. Or, sort of life. Wooden things didn't move around, unless Bushroot wanted them too.
Quackerjack frowned at that thought. He hoped the fact that he had just carved a horse out of wood didn't offend Bushy. Bushroot didn't like people eating veggies, or at least he didn't like watching people eating veggies or fruits or anything from a plant. Even stuff like corn, which really wasn't the actual plant, made Bushroot slightly greener. He said it was like watching someone eat hair and toenails. Quackerjack was more of a meat eater himself, so he had no problem eating mostly meat when Bushroot was around. Still, he didn't want Bushroot to be upset by his carving.
"Aww, who cares? You can't always be catering to other people. You had fun, that's all that matters!" Mr. Banana Brain said.
That's not right, Quackerjack. You know that. Bushroot has helped you a lot.
"I…don't think it will bother Bushy."
"What will bother me?"
Quackerjack jumped a bit in his chair. He had shown his friends how to get to his secret lair, and trusted them all to keep his secret.
"Er…I carved a horse out of wood." Quackerjack smiled and held up his horse to show Bushroot. Bushroot smiled at the small figurine.
"What does it do?" He asked.
"Nothing. It's just a wooden horse." Quackerjack said. "You have to use your imagination, you know?"
"Ah, I thought you only did dangerous toys."
"Mostly, yes. But I love making these older things. Isn't he just precious! Look at his little horsey face!" Quackerjack cuddled his horse, accidently getting a bit of the red paint on his cheek.
"It's very detailed." Bushroot said admiringly. "But was there something you thought might bother me?"
"Well, I did carve it out of one of your friends…" Quackerjack said a little guiltily.
Bushroot smiled gently at his friend. "Quackerjack, if I were to get upset at everyone who cut or carved wood I'd be mad at the entire world, and what kind of life would that be? It's fine."
Quackerjack's grin grew even bigger. He finally noticed the two devices that Bushroot was holding. One of them was green, the other red. They were odd, rectangular shaped boxes with buttons on the sides. "What are those?" He asked.
"They're called Portis. Portable gaming system things. Like the Wiffletrons your company used to make, but from a different company. Aix, I think."
"Aix?" Quackerjack frowned. He remembered them. They had indeed been a competitor of Whiffledork. He hadn't liked them any more than WBI. "They took over the game market after Whifflely went under." Quackerjack gave the things in Bushroot's hands a glare. "What are you doing with those…things?" He asked.
Bushroot gave Quackerjack a steady look. "Megavolt and I saved some police from Dingo. He was raiding a sports store and stealing gym equipment. The cops tried to stop him but…well you know that right hook his has."
Quackerjack was still frowning at the things in Bushroot's hands. "And?"
"Well, the cops were so grateful that they gave us four of these things. They even come with a free game. Something called Virtuimon." Bushroot said.
"You don't think there's anything suspects about that?" Quackerjack asked. "Do you know how much those things are worth?"
"Not as much as they used to be after…you know." Bushroot said. 'They really dropped the price on them. And Megavolt already though there was something funny about them, so he took them apart and studied them. He said they look clean. Nothing wrong with them at all." Bushroot held out the red one. "Here, it's for you."
Quackerjack trembled in rage. "That…is a video game."
Bushroot frowned.
"Reggie, I hate video games!" Quackerjack resisted the urge to slap the thing out of Bushroot's hand. Bushroot didn't mean any harm. "You know that! I hate Whiffle boy! I hate Aix even more! I hate them all! Children sit in front of them all day! Getting fat and lazy and pale like slugs when they should be outside playing! What about my toys! No one plays with my toys because they're caught up in those things!" Quackerjack started to jump up and down and tug on the ends of his hat. He couldn't help it. Video games just made him so mad!
"I never agreed with Robert in helping those WBI bastards, and I sure as hell don't like Aix! Virtuimon? What crap!"
Bushroot frowned at him. "It's a good game, Quackerjack. It's not like Whiffle Boy at all. It's so much more detailed and interesting. It even has an actual story, not just walking around shooting things." Bushroot walked past his angered friend and placed the red Porti. "I understand that you like your old toys. I know that, but you can't live in the past all the time. There are more than one ways to have fun." Bushroot placed a hand on Quackerjack's shoulder. "Relax. Just because people like video games doesn't eliminate the need for real toys."
Quackerjack huffed and gave the device a killing glare. Bushroot sighed. "I'll come back when you're in a better mood."
"I was in a perfect mood until I saw that!" Quackerjack hissed. Bushroot shook his head and let himself out the door.
Quackerjack controlled himself for a good ten minutes, then he grabbed the Porti up and threw it violently against the wall with a mighty roar of rage.
"That felt good!" Mr. Banana Brain said.
Maybe Bushroot is right. We should try it before we condemn it.
"This time I'm on Mr. Banana Brain's side!" Quackerjack huffed back to his worktable and began to paint his horse. After a few hours he felt better.
"I think those things are haunting us." Mr. Banana brain announced as Quackerjack and he walked into the greenhouse, where the rest of the team had been hanging…and playing those damn games. For the past week his three teammates had been playing those Porti things in their spare time, locked and focused on those little screens like zombies. It was frustrating.
Megavolt looked up from his yellow Porti and shook his head. "You really should try this, Quackerjack. It's a pretty good way to kill a few hours."
"Hours of you lives you'll never get back." Quackerjack sneered.
"Studies agree that work and all play can cause stress and shorten your lifespan." The Liquidator smiled up from his own blue Porti and smiled at Quackerjack. "You need to take life less seriously, Quacky."
"Me? Serious?" Quackerjack laughed. Nothing, not even his friend's obsession with the Things could keep him down.
"Have you tried yours at all, Quackerjack?" Bushroot asked.
"Hell no."
"You really should." Megavolt said.
"Hell no, again."
"Hehehehe, bet you can't figure it out." Megavolt challenged.
"What's to figure out? It's a video game!" Quackerjack snorted. "A baby could figure them out!"
"Yeah right. This isn't Whiffle Boy, Quackerjack. It's a lot more complicated than that." Megavolt said.
"Uh huh. Right! Oh look, Megs! A flying pig!" Quackerjack pointed behind Megavolt, who jumped a little bit.
"What? Where?" Megavolt turned around. When he saw no pigs he turned around with a frown. "That's not funny, Quacky."
"See! Your brain is rotting from that game! Soon you won't remember your own name."
"It's Megavolt." Megavolt said.
"You just wait!" Quackerjack said.
"I still bet that you can't figure out this game." Megavolt said.
"Really? How much?" Quackerjack said with a sneer.
"Hmmm, ten bucks?" Megavolt said.
Quackerjack, who once could spend hundreds of dollars on toys back when he actually had a home, considered. Could he come up with that if he lost? Wait, he, lose a game? Pleease.
"Deal." Quackerjack shook his rat friend's hand.
"If you can't get to the third temple in a week, you own me ten bucks." Megavolt said. "I'll even let you ask the rest of us for advice, but only once per friend and only three questions."
"Oh, I love it when the games get all ruley. Rules are just another word for challenges!" Quackerjack grinned.
"Uh huh, yeah." Megavolt grinned. "You'll be begging me for help soon!"
"Yeah right! The flying pig is back!" Quackerjack pointed. To his disappointment Megavolt didn't look.
"That doesn't work twice, Quackerjack."
"Give it a few hours, and then you'll forget!" Quackerjack laughed. Inwardly, though, he felt a bit sick.
He was going to have to play a video game.
Yuck.
Later that night Quackerjack was glaring at the red thing on his desk with pure loathing in his eyes. The Things huge, single screen seemed to glare back at him with a malevolent green glow. The Thing was hateful, just hateful! Still, if he didn't get up his nerve to play this stupid thing then he'd lose his bet with Megavolt, and Quackerjack hated to lose.
"Alright, take it one baby step at a time. First, pick up the Thing and turn it on…where the hell is the one switch?" Quackerjack gingerly picked up the Thing and examined it. Oh, there was the on/off switch. After a taking a deep breath, Quackerjack flicked the switch from off to on.
Quackerjack snorted when he saw thing Thing's Aix logo bounce on the screen with a happy little ding noise. "Okay, the noise is at least not as annoying as the Whiffledork theme…" Quackerjack continued to watch as the styles A that looped into an X disappeared and was replaced by a spiral with the words Freaky Games appeared. That made Quackerjack snort again. Video game developers were getting weirder and weirder. All of a sudden the screen flickered and a small box appeared. The screen flashed once and something with a huge maw appeared, teeth gaping and mouth opened wide. Startled, Quackerjack nearly dropped the Thing. He watched, taken aback, as the camera backed up to reveal a turtle like being, squatting on all fours, with huge spikes on its shell and a horn on its head. It continued to back away and a another creature, a huge creature with the long neck and head of a snake and a dinosaur like body, almost akin to a sauropod, stalked into the screen. The two beings faced each other, and with a huge artificial screech the two rushed at each other, and the screen went dark.
Quackerjack blinked. "Well…I already have no idea what is going on." He muttered as the title screen finally came up. Said title screen depicted a rather nervous looking young duckling standing beside a small creature that looked almost like a smaller, two legged dinosaur, but with a fiery mane and tail.
"Aww…that…that…that's the cutest thing I've seen in my life." Quackerjack said. He held up Mr. Banana Brain. "Don't you agree?"
"No way!"
"Yeah, well, you're an old sourpuss anyway." Quackerjack put down his doll and finally pushed the start button, which brought up a menu. Deciding not to bother with the dumb options, who had time for that? Quakerjack instead immediately pushed the start button and sighed when a elderly duck appeared on the screen and stated to yark at him about Virtuimon, which apparently in this little game "world" were creatures that live side by side with people and blah blah blah, yack yack yack, good grief not even Wifflebore was this long winded! After the annoying old duck got done telling Quackerjack about the Virtuimon being reflections of the inner soul or some such pseudo psychological or pseudo enlightened malarkey, Quackerjack finally got to a screen that wanted his name, even though the still confused looked young duckling on the screen didn't look a thing like Quackerjack.
"Oh! Never got to use my own name on Whiffle Boy! Let's see…just call myself Jack in this I suppose. Why not?" Quackerjack smiled a bit as he typed in the name. Okay, so many there was more to this then Whiffle Boy…but then again that wasn't hard.
To Quackerjack's annoyance, the game now wanted him to name his "rival". Good lord would this thing not let him play? In his annoyance Quackerjack chose to name the "rival" Whiffle. It seemed appropriate. After a bit more snooze inducing babble from the old duck the game really began. He saw the image of the little duckling shrink and finally became an eight bit sprit on a screen.
"This is taking an absurd amount of time." Quackerjack tapped his foot. "Why do they even like this?" He stared down at the image of the duckling, which was now sitting in a virtual town…thing. At least Quackerjack guessed it was a town. Those looked like buildings when seen from overhead. Quackerjack frowned and moved the directional pad around a bit, and the duckling moved. Nothing shot at him. He kept frowning. That was odd. Shouldn't things be shooting at him?
This was going to take a bit…
It took Quackerjack a good ten minutes to figure out that the game wanted him to go to a hilly area with a stone, where apparently he was supposed to "chose his destiny", or some such nonsense. All that really happened was the old duck from the beginning, whom Quackerjack was beginning to hate with a passion, and his "rival", which Quackerjack was also beginning to hate for the downright rude lines associated with him, showed up. A few more tedious lines of dialogue later and now Quackerjack had to choose one of four little creatures.
The first creature was a tiny turtle, like a baby form of the one from the beginning. It had a small horn on its nose, little bitty flippers, and goofy expression. Quackerjack just couldn't pick it based on the expression. The second creature was a small sprout, a sprout that looked a lot like Bushroot. Quackerjack considered it for a few moments, and then decided to look all of the things. The second looked like a small, depressed looking hawk, with lighting coming from its feathers. Once again, Quackerjack just couldn't pick it. It looked far too sad. Quackerjack looked at the last creature, and grinned. It was the adorable fire thing from the title screen! He decided to go with this one. It was cute.
After this Whiffle the rival chose the turtle, which Quackerjack snorted at. A goofy looking critter for a goof! Nice. Whiffle challenged Quackerjack, who scoffed a bit. Now, even though he hated the game, Quackerjack had played Whiffle Boy before, mostly during testing for Robert. He had no problem telling the rest of world how terrible it was, even though he was the only one who thought that. So, when Whiffle challenged him to a battle, Quackerjack assumed that the mindless shooting was to start now. Instead, what he got a strange menu screen with the words "Fight" "Item" "VMon" and "Run" on the screen below a back view of his little lion/lizard/fire thing and his rival's dumb turtle thing facing his creature.
"Okay…let's see…"
About thirty minutes later and Quackerjack was ready to grind the entire Thing, game and all, in a blender on high. Why was this so damn hard! It seemed that he just couldn't win any of the battles, even with the easy menu based battle system. Oh yeah, he liked it a lot more then the shooting of Whiffley, at least this system required some thought. However, despite getting past the lake and the mountain trail to the first "temple", apparently the game's entire goal was to fight and beat the masters of these temples, for what true reason Quackerjack still really didn't understand, he still struggled with it. Oh sure, his little friend, whom Quackerjack had decided to nickname Virty, for lack of anything better to call it, was good at the normal enemies he was coming across, but the second time he faced his "rival" Quackerjack was again trounced, and even harder this time. Apparently the turtle could now spit water at him, which the fiery creature that Virty was just couldn't handle that well. It was very frustrating.
What was even more frustrating was the temple itself. Inhabited entirely by people with huge rock Virtuimon, whose blows took care of little Virty in about a single stroke, the place seemed impossible.
It was time to ask one of his friends for help. Not Megavolt, he'd just gloat. Bushroot would probably be the best. He'd probably be the nicest about this. So, he put the game system in his pocket and started towards Bushroot's greenhouse.
As he traveled he couldn't help but take out the game again and continue to play around with it. He thought that if he just fought those little enemies that sprang from the grass he might get it! He was reluctant to admit that the game had him stuck and stumped. However, it also was surprisingly addictive. It was amazing how much even he wanted to keep it up. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Was he…starting to like this? Would this be a betrayal of his most closely hold principles? Was he a sell out now?
Just because you're horizons are broadening does not mean you're a sellout.
"Maybe…but I still think this will rot your brain."
A lot of things can rot a brain if taken to the extreme. Doesn't mean it is all bad. Just think, Quakerjack, if you took this hatred of video games to the extreme. What would you be? What kind of terrible extremist would you be?
"I don't want to talk about it."
Very well.
Quackerjack tried to put it out of his mind. It didn't matter…it didn't.
Perhaps if he had been paying attention he would have noticed that something was wrong at the greenhouse. Usually there would be some sort of noise as Bushroot interacted with his plants. Quackerjack barged in through the door, as the place was practically a second home to him by now. He was almost knocked down by a frantically barking Spike. This finally tore his eyes away from the little screen.
"Whoa Spike! What's wrong buddy?" He placed a hand on the trap's head. Spike whined and nudged him, running off to the other end of the greenhouse. Quackerjack stuffed the still active game into his pocket and went after Spike, who was jumping up and down in a corner of the greenhouse.
Quackerjack rushed over and looked down at the three discarded Portis on the ground. A yellow one, a blue one and green ones. He knew them. They belonged to his friends.
"What the-"Quackerjack started to say, then he heard something shuffling behind him. He turned just in time to see a flash of light, then, nothing.
"Nyaaaaa? Nya!"
Quackerjack groaned and opened his eyes. It must be stormy or something. The sky was an ugly grey color…wait…what was that bouncing beside him?
Quackerjack turned his head and gasped. Right beside him was small, round bipedal dinosaur, with a small mane made entirely of fire. It had a rounded, adorable nose and two big grey eyes. It had a long, tufted tail, the tuft at the end also made of fire. It was reminiscent of a lion's tail. It had two pointed ears that swiveled around towards him. It also had a little tooth sticking out of the corner of its lower lip. It was very cute.
"What?" Quackerjack said.
"Ny!" The little thing cooed and cuddled up to him, hugging him with all the enthusiasm of a toddler. It rubbed its head against Quackerjack's shoulder, still cooing. All of a sudden Quackerjack recognized it.
"Virty?" He asked. The little thing cooed happily and bounced around, nodding in agreement. "Huh…wait…if you're here then…" Quackerjack looked around and found himself somewhere in what appeared to be badly pixilated mountains. The same mountains he had been training Virty in before he entered Bushroot's greenhouse in the real world.
"Noooo! I'm in the game!" Quackerjack moaned as he tugged the ends of his hat. "I can feel my brain melting as we speak!"
"Auuu?" Virty looked at him, head cocked. The creature's lip began to tremble and a little tear formed on his face.
"Huh?" Quackerjack looked down at the upset Virtuimon. "Oh…dang it." Quackerjack patted the thing on the head. "I don't mean it that way, Virty. It's just that…well…" Quackerjack smiled at it. "I like you, you know. You're very cute."
This was enough to cheer it up, and Virty gave Quackerjack another hug. Quackerjack smiled. When you meet the things in person they weren't bad at all. Virty was downright adorable.
"Well, what do you say me and you get a look around, okay?" Quackerjack stood up, and Virty gave a little squeal of joy and scrambled up to perch happily on his shoulder. Quackerjack patted him on the head.
There has to be a way out of here! The others could be in trouble.
Yes, that was true. Still, it was hard to be upset with Virty around. The thing was a bundle of joy and energy. Just the kind of playmate that Quackerjack liked. He started in what he thought was the general direction of the last patch of grass he had been training Virty in. It wouldn't be that hard even from here he could see the little row of rocks that pretty much consisted of the liner path through the mountains towards the first temple.
He had only gone a few steps when a big mouthed, scaly thing, like an orange crocodile with a huge rounded mouth and a pair of useless looking bat wings, burst from the grass and howled at him. Virty snarled and leaped in between Quackerjack and the gator/bat monster. To Quackerjack's amusement and astonishment a small box bounced in front of him out of thin air. It was the battle menu box.
"Er…okay…do I touch it?" Quackerjack tried to poke the box, but he couldn't seem to reach it. "Alright, that's not going to work…voice command maybe? Fight." To Quackerjack's pleasure the box changed to attack list. Virty had only three attacks: Nip, Sneer, and Cinder. "Virty, Cinder." To Quackerjack's pleasure Virty obeyed and shot a small glowing cinder at the gator/bat. The enemy trembled, and Quackerjack saw a little bar jump up beside the thing's head, which decided to about half a meter. The gator/bat recovered and lunged at Virty with its claws. To Quackerjack's astonishment Virty didn't even try to dodge, but instead took the blow, which took mostly all of his health.
"Virty! What are you doing! Why are you just standing there?" Quackerjack jumped a bit in astonishment. Virty gave him a confused look while the other monster just stood there as if waiting for something. "Oh, just Nip it and finish it off!" Virty jumped back towards his foe and gave it a smart nip on the nose. The gator thing howled and disappeared in a flash of pinging bits.
Quackerjack stared at Virty as it bounced a bit in joy. "You know, I think I just discovered your biggest weakness, little buddy."
Virty looked up and him and cocked his head. "Nyaaa?"
"Look, you can't just stand around waiting for your opponent to attack you. You need to at least dodge them!" Virty looked confused, so Quackerjack smiled and placed a hand on the little monster's shoulder. "Don't worry. If anyone can teach you basic dodging maneuvers, then it's a clown!"
Virty cooed in an affectionate manner.
"Alright buddy, dodge ball time!" Quackerjack was thankful that his toys had survived the trip here. He grinned at the still cooing Virty, who seemed eager to try this out. Quackerjack tossed a ball at Virty, who attempted to dodge. Virty managed to dodge two balls before Quackerjack had pelted the little thing with five swift strokes, flattening the thing against a wall. Quackerjack grinned and bounced over to his Virtuimon, and dragged him to his feet.
"Nice try, little guy!"
Virty looked a little shocked. The eagerness in his coo went down a few notches.
"Keep up! You have to do this for hours in the circus! Hours Virty!"
Virty moaned a bit as he followed Quackerjack across the mountain river, jumping from identical rock to identical rock at a frightening pace. It was especially hard for the fire monster, as he was very much afraid of water. Quackerjack didn't seem to realize this, or simply didn't care in favor of his brilliant training program.
Virty screeched at his hind claws slipped on the rocks and nearly fell into the water. He gazed down at the water as he trembled over the edge, moaning in terror. A hand reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him back. Virty looked up to see Quackerjack grinning at him.
"Don't worry, little guy. I got you." Quackerjack said.
Virty smiled at Quackerjack in joy. His master wouldn't let him fall!
"The key to a limber body is lots and lots of dancing."
Virty stared at Quackerjack in disbelief.
"Look, it's about flexibility. The same muscles you use to dance can be used in combat. You need to build your strength. Now, step to the right like this…"
Virty followed Quackerjack's moves, still with a puzzled look on his face.
"Alright, now. Cinder!" Quackerjack bellowed as he threw a ball into the air. Virty growled and fired his cinders at the ball as it passed over his head. He pegged it. More balls flew through the air and Virty shot each one down as they passed over head, all save one. The last one sailed over Virty's head, and almost reached the ground.
Virty hissed and a stream of fire flew from his mouth, incinerating the ball.
Quackerjack stared as another text box appeared: "Virty has learned Firebreath."
"I am never going to get used to that."
"Are you tired?"
Virty looked up from the ground and nodded. The poor thing looked exhausted. His little fires were starting to burn lower, especially on the one on his tail. His ears were drooping and his eyes were following his ears in the droop.
"Aww, I guess I worked you a bit hard today…at least I think it's still today. It hard to tell time when the sun doesn't move…in fact I don't think there even is a sun." Quackerjack sighed and sat down next to his Virtuimon. He grinned and started to stroke Virty's mane. "I want to go home, Virty."
Virty cooed and started to rub against Quackerjack's hand. Quackerjack smiled. "I wish you could see it, buddy. There's a burning ball of flame that travels around the world each day…at least that's what it looks like. Actually the world travels around it, but…anyway. At night it's replaced by a white ball. We call it the moon. We have things like cars and planes and boats…and food. I wonder what will happen if I can't find food…will I starve? And my friends. My friends are out there somewhere; I just wish I knew where. I wish I know what to do…"
Virty sighed and cuddled up next to Quackerjack. How could he make this better? The poor Virtuimon was so happy with Quackerjack, but he could tell that his friend was missing his real home, this other place that was out of Virty's comprehension. He didn't know what to do either.
"I need to find a way back, Virty. I need to get home. I…suppose we could try for that whole temple thing? I can't think of anything else to try…"
Virty purred in happiness. His master was staying to play with him!
He was so happy!
"You think you're ready?"
"Nya!" Virty jumped up and down nodding.
"Then it's Playtime." Quackerjack grinned at the badly pixilated door to the first temple. He placed a hand on the door, but to his annoyance he found himself literally warped into it, instead of it opening like a normal door.
"Okay, there's another thing I'm never going to get used to." Quackerjack said. He looked around and noticed a man standing in right in front of him. He looked normal enough, save for the vague and expressionless look on the duck's bill. There was no emotion there, no feelings of happiness or sadness or even plain normal boredom. There was nothing there. Nothing at all. It gave Quackerjack the creeps.
Ignoring the feeling of heebie jeebies, Quackerjack walked up to the expressionless duck and said "Hey, where's the boss here?"
"Welcome to the Earth Temple. Here you'll face Earth Virtuimon. They're strong against…" To Quackerjack's irritation another text box appeared in the air, the text was familiar to Quackerjack as he had already read this part back in the real world. He sighed and tried to talk to the other again, but the text box just repeated.
Quackerjack decided to move on. There was obviously nothing to learn here. He walked forwards past the stone pillars, as well as passing the two foes he had already defeated when he had been playing in the real world. He focused on the small pedestal that the leader of this place was standing on. He remembered that this guy had two very high level rock monsters.
"Alright." Quackerjack said as he and Virty got on the pedestal. "This time I going to beat you." Quackerjack ignored the text box that appeared this time. Instead he studied his foe. The leader of this temple was a mole, a small, stout mole wearing brown suspenders, a white shirt, and brown work pants. Finally the text box ended, and from behind the mole a huge rock monster appeared.
In many ways this Virtuimon was like the mole in appearance. It had a long mole nose and long mole claws and small mole eyes. However it also had three vertical lines of razors running down its back, which whirled around on its back. The thing swiped at Virty with its long claws, a blow that previously had taken the poor little guy down in one blow.
This time, however, Virty snarled and leaped easily out of the way, the slash didn't even graze his long tail. Quackerjack grinned. It had worked!
"Firebreath!" Quackerjack bellowed, and Virty blew his long line of fire at the mole Virtuimon, which trembled. The health bar for the thing appeared and decreased by a third. Now it was once again the foe's turn, and it whipped its tail at Virty, but Virty dodged easily again. Quackerjack repeated his command, and Virty blew more fire at the mole. The health bar dropped again. However, to Quackerjack's annoyance a text box appeared. Again.
"Lord Earthen used Red Stone. 150 Health is added to foe!"
"What! That's not fair!" Quackerjack snarled.
"Nyaaaa!" Virty agreed.
"Come on, Virty! Firebreath!" Virty nodded at Quackerjack and seemed to put a little more behind the attack this time. To Quackerjack's pleasure the fire now took off half the enemies' health bar. The next blow from the mole was dodged as well. Quackerjack grinned, this was easy! One more Firebreath did it. Quackerjack grinned.
His grin wilted a tad when he saw the next one. It was huge, a beast whose head scrapped the ceiling, and it was made entirely out of smooth, flawless green glass. Its mouth was primitive; merely two hook like protrusions from where its head was supposed to be. The rest of its body was long and snakelike, with two little waving paws about five feet down from its head. Two more little feet were much further down, around the tail area. The thing lunged at Virty, who jumped and slid around to its back, where Virty administered a little more fire to the thing's head. The glass snake went for Virty, who jumped again, and the snake's hook's collided with its own back. The health bar decreased even further, and one more Firebreath took the snake down.
Virty gave a little cry of joy and leaped towards Quackerjack, who grinned and hugged the little guy. He then gasped when Virty began to flicker and blink. A handy text box appeared again: "The power of your soul is flowing through Virty! He is changing!" Quackerjack blinked at the text box. What in the world was it talking about?
"Virty! What's happening to you?" Quackerjack stared as the image of something else started to overlap his little friend. Quackerjack gasped as the other thing's image blinked fully into existence, totally eliminated his friend.
Standing there in Virty's place was a creature very much like the original Virty, but much taller, with long arms and even shaper claws. Its red mane of flame had extended, and a long tuft of it had grown on the top of Virty's head, this long mane of fire hair extended down between the shoulder blades. Two short, saber fangs had appeared on the top of its mouth, and its snout was now longer. The thing gave Quackerjack an adoring look and purred at him.
"Virty?" Quackerjack asked. The beast nodded.
"So…you can change form…that is so cool!" Quackerjack hugged his Virtuimon again, who purred happily.
Quackerjack had been ignoring the text boxes that had appeared after Virty's transformation, but he remembered that they had said something about going down the mountain to the sea, towards the next temple. Since he had no idea what to do next, and having no other option, Quackerjack thought that this was good advice.
We have to find a way out of here.
"I know Boss, but do you have a better idea?" Quackerjack asked the air. Virty cocked his head and raised his eyebrow at Quackerjack. "Oh, I wasn't talking to you, just the Headboss." Virty kept looking at Quackerjack funny.
Unfortunately, no. Let's go. And stop talking aloud to me. Even the virtual dragon lion thing thinks you are nuts.
Quackerjack nodded. "Come on, Virty, let's get moving."
Virty jumped around in excitement, and the two turned and left the temple.
"I hate this maze of rocks! Hate hate hate!" Quackerjack snarled as he turned down yet another turn in the dang mountain maze he was now trapped in. You'd think when the game said "path down the mountains" it would be an actual path, not a maze!
Virty purred at him and rubbed his head against Quackerjack's shoulder in an attempt to comfort his master. Quackerjack grinned and patted him on the head. They had been jumped by several different monsters, but Virty had taken care of them all. It almost made Quackerjack's earlier frustration with the game seem silly. Apparently all you really needed to do was level the silly thing up until it could overpower everything around it. That was funny to Quackerjack, for some reason.
As they turned the next bend in the boring rock maze, Quackerjack noticed that they now were in a long hallway, with a dark area in front of them. Hoping this symbolized the exit, Quackerjack picked up the pace. He passed through the portal, and to his relief he found himself in a new chamber. In fact, this "chamber" was not really a room, but a representation of a clearing or maybe a valley. It was kind of hard to tell with a game environment. Quackerjack managed two steps before he was frozen to the floor.
"What the-"
"GRRRRR!" Virty's mane stood on end and sparked. He was staring down at the other end of the chamber/valley thing, and Quackerjack followed his Virtuimon gaze. He gasped at what he saw. Standing in a circle, amongst a pile of stones that looked very much like Stonehenge in England, was a group of dark robed figures holding reaper's scythes. There were several Virtuimon herded in the center of the circle. One by one the reapers held their scythes over the Virtuimon.
A text box appeared: "To the Dark One…we offer these beasts!" There was a flash of flickering screen, and the Virtuimon in the center vanished to nothing.
Quackerjack's mouth was hanging open. "This…this is a children's game…right?"
Another text box: "A child! Get his Virtuimon!"
Assuming that they meant him, as the reaper people were now turned to face him, Quackerjack snorted. "I'm not a kid!...but then again the character in this game was supposed to be a duckling…maybe that's how I look to all of you…or maybe it's just in the script…" Virty was giving him a confused look. "Oh well, who cares! You'll take Virty over my dead body!"
"No one can resist the Profane! Attack!" Said the text box.
"Someone really needs to talk to Aix about their rating system…Virty!" Quackerjack grinned. "Ready for some more Playtime?"
Virty grinned a sharp toothed grin. He stepped forwards as more monsters appeared to challenge him. "Firebreath!" Quackerjack instructed, and Virty shot at the first challenger, a ball of blue spikes with the head of a cat somewhere in the middle, with a tail at the other end. It dropped the thing to half heath, but soon more monsters appeared, a mole creature and a water turtle, and begin to gang up on Virty. Quackerjack had taught the monster how to dodge, and while the training had helped Virty's dodge rate, he was not invincible. The other monsters were ganging up on the poor thing, and Quackerjack was getting worried.
"Hang on, buddy." Quackerjack pulled out his pogo stick and started to bounce over the monsters. He scooped up Virty and began to bounce to the other end of the room. Over the heads of the monsters. Over the heads of the "Profane".
"Weeee! Take that!"
"Hahahahahaha! Jaaack! Having fun! Quackerjack! Quackerjack!"
Quackerjack nearly fell off of his pogo stick. He hadn't used his whole name! Wait…that wasn't a text box! Quackerjack turned his head and once again nearly fell. There, in the background of the still Profane npcs, was a dancing one. It looked like all the others, but was in motion, instead of standing still. Something grey and metallic was flashing near the bottom of this figure's robes. As Quackerjack watched the figure removed its hood, to reveal the grey muzzle of a laughing wolf. Quackerjack's eyes widened. He knew this wolf! But it was impossible!
"Delaine! No! It can't be. You're dead!"
"Hahahahaha! Jack and Owen and Alec! You remember! You remember! Here is the Metalfoot! Where is the Throwback? Hahahahaha!"
Quackerjack closed his eyes and looked away. "You're not real! Just a bunch of bits and bytes! Not real!"
"You want real! Go to the truck by the beach! Find the Glitch! But it will eat you, Jacky! Eat you! Eat you! Then the box will be all ours! Metalfoots and Throwbacks! Ha!"
Quackerjack pogoed through the black portal on the other side of the room, and the wolf's mad laugh was cut off. Quackerjack didn't even pause. He kept bouncing away, his eyes closed in terror.
Quackerjack finally came to a stop about three miles…game miles, away from the mountain. He was too tired to go any further. He collapsed to the ground, still apparently stunned. Virty also hoped off the pogo stick, leaping in terror for his master.
"It couldn't be…it couldn't." Quackerjack didn't even seem to notice Virty, he was too shocked.
It was him. It was Delly. It was Metalfoot.
"Delly's dead, I was there! That's why Darien…Dar..."
It wasn't anyone's fault. Not yours. Not Robert's. Not Carl or Aria. No one. It was Delly's decision to look, and to drag Dar into it. He shouldn't have done that. Robert knew that.
"But he's gone! He shouldn't be in a game!"
I know…why…it makes no sense! For once Headboss seemed to be at a loss.
"He knew their names! Our grandfathers!" Quackerjack shuddered. He finally noticed Virty, who was now making a sound similar to a rusty teakettle. Quackerjack hugged Virty close, as much to comfort himself as to comfort his Virtuimon.
"I'm sorry. I'm scaring you, aren't I? But I just saw a ghost, Virty! The ghost of an old friend I thought was dead!" Virty purred and cuddled up against Quackerjack, who was starting to feel a little better. He looked down at Virty and smiled.
"Delly said that if I found a truck on the beach I'd find my way home…but he also said something about a glitch…what do you think, buddy? Should we risk it?"
Virty seemed to think, and then he nodded vigorously.
Quackerjack smiled. "Thanks for this. Let's go!"
Quackerjack stared at the truck on the beach. It looked like just a normal white truck. Two doors. Flatbed. You could find a hundred trucks like this in St. Canard. But this truck…was different. He could feel something…something wrong.
It's corrupt.
It is corrupt." Agreed Quackerjack.
Don't do this Billy.
"Billy's dead. I must." Quackerjack said. Virty was giving him an odd look again. Quackerjack smiled. He walked over to the truck and touched it.
Instantly the world began to warp. The pixels that made up this artificial place began to flash and scatter, some grew to the size of dinner plates, others shrank, and others changed colors. An awful sound filled the air. . Like the sound of metal scraping. The sound of words forming in the air, but to slow to say anything. Yes, there was a word there, but Quackerjack couldn't figure it out.
The pixels begin to condense, became somewhat solid. Like a half finished Virtuimon, a creature of small haphazardly shaped boxes. Yes, there was a form, but like the sound it made it was too distorted to make sense to Quackerjack's brain. It was like those creatures he had read about long ago in his father's horror books (which he hadn't been allowed to read, but had done so anyway). A form so terrible and incomprehensible that its true self was unknowable. This was like a piece of something awful and terrible, but unformed in this plane.
And it was staring straight at Quackerjack. It was different from the other inhabitants of this world. In this world things looked at you, but they didn't see you. The monsters, the people, none of them saw you. Except Virty. Virty had seen him. So had Delly.
And so did this.
It didn't just look at Quackerjack. It saw him. And Quackerjack was afraid.
It shifted. It came. And Quackerjack was frozen. But Virty wasn't. Virty hurled himself at his foe with a roar and a blast of fire. The Glitch seemed to recoil and hiss. It reached forwards and swung at Virty, who dodged. The corrupted pixels attempted to wrap themselves around the Virtuimon's throat, but Virty was slippery as an eel. Firebreath after Firebreath was shot at the Glitch, but it seemed to cause little damage. Finally, Virty made a small slip up, and the Glitch caught him. It descended on Virty like a swarm of bees, and Virty squalled in pain.
"No!" Quackerjack pulled out chattering teeth and tossed them at the Glitch. They disappeared in a flash. Quackerjack didn't hesitate anymore. He grabbed Virty's arm and dragged him out of the Glitch. Quackerjack pulled his Virtuimon behind him and shoved, getting him out of the way. He didn't notice that the Glitch had turned its attention to Quackerjack. The Glitch reached for him, and took him.
Quackerjack screamed this time, as the Glitch washed over him. He could see his skin started to pixelate, and break. He felt like he was being torn apart. Being split and absorbed. Becoming part of the Glitch. It was eating him, just like Delly had said. He could feel his mind start to break. Quackerjack fell to his knees, and then even his knees gave. He dropped to the ground, his very essence disappearing. It…didn't hurt anymore, but he felt so weak. So…less.
Quackerjack looked up and saw Virty began to flicker. He closed what remained of his eyes. Some friend he was! What a failure!
"Gaaaaoooo!"
Quackerjack opened his eyes and gasped. Virty hadn't been absorbed! He had changed again! He was almost as tall as Quackerjack now. He stood proudly on four huge, stout legs with large claws at the end. His mane had fully formed, huge and fiery. His face was now long and draconic, with even longer teeth. Fire tufts had formed at his elbows and ankles, and the flames blazed brightly. Virty roared again and his tail shot out behind him, flaring up like a rocket. The fires on his legs burst to life as well, and Virty shot at the Glitch as if launched by a rocket. Virty collided with the Glitch, swiping with his paws and biting with his fangs, totally independently of Quackerjack, and all on his own. With mighty swings and bursts of fire, Virty pushed the Glitch back, and off Quackerjack. Almost at once Quackerjack felt himself returning, and he felt stronger. Quackerjack struggled to his feet and watched as Virty beat down on the Glitch, which shrank and shrank, and finally was gone.
"Virty! You did it!" Quackerjack smiled at Virty, who roared and blew fire into the air. The world's pixels returned to normal, to Quackerjack's relief. There was a popping sound, and Quackerjack turned around to find a small hole where the truck had been, a swirly hole like a drain.
"Well, either that is the way home, or a black hole that will crush me into a tiny paste! I think I'll chance it!"
"Aroo!" Virty reared and placed his paws on Quackerjack's shoulder, as if trying to keep him from going.
Quackerjack smiled and hugged his Virtuimon, one last time he believed. "Virty, I understand. You want me to stay. I'd love to stay with you, but I don't belong here! My home is the real world. And my friends could be in danger."
At the mention of his friends Virty growled savagely. "Oh, I see. Resentful of them are you?"
Virty nodded vigorously.
"Virty, you risked your existence to help me, right?" Virty nodded at Quackerjack, who gently stepped back and placed a hand under the monster's chin. "You care about me, that's why you saved me, and that's why I saved you! That's what friends do. But Virty, the same thing you feel for me, right now, is the same way I feel about my friends in the real world! If I abandon them then what kind of friend would I be?"
Virty nodded, and then placed his paws back on the ground. He grunted and nudged Quackerjack towards the hole. Quackerjack patted him on the nose, and then started to walk towards the hole. Virty followed close on his heels. Quackerjack paused.
"You think you're coming with me?" Quackerjack asked. Virty nodded. "Okay, I guess we could try it!"
Quackerjack and Virty stepped through the hole together. All they saw was light.
"Get back here, you little beast!"
Quackerjack blinked at what he saw. He was back in Bushroot's greenhouse, and he was greeted by an odd sight. A rooster wearing a red shirt and blue jeans was chasing poor Spike around the greenhouse, firing at the poor trap with a strange device in his hands.
"Stop that!" Quackerjack bellowed.
"Huh?" The rooster turned. "Didn't I get rid of you? No matter. You'll be back in that game world soon enough!" The rooster aimed the weapon at Quackerjack.
"Gaaaaoo!" Virty, who had been seen, despite the fact that he was a huge yellow and red fire beast, jumped over Quackerjack and collided with the rooster. With a single sweep of his paw Virty knocked the device out of the rooster's hands. Virty then stuck his huge maw in the rooster's face and growled.
"A Virtuimon! Impossible!" The rooster gasped.
"Who are you? And what is this?" Quackerjack picked up the strange device. It looked…familiar.
The rooster laughed. "You don't recognize me, Quackerjack? I'm Aloysius J. Mandelbum! From Whiffle Boy Industries! And that's the Molecular Digitizer!"
"Wait wait…Molecular…this is the thing you used to put people into the Wiffledork game-"
"Don't you DARE insult the name of Whiffle Boy, you idiot!" The rooster's eyes bugged out in anger. He seemed to forget the fact that Virty was still sitting on his chest. "You out of date, backwards fool!"
Virty snarled at Aloysius, who glared at the monster. "I never would have thought that you would betray Whiffle Boy like this! You, Quackerjack!"
"WBI's dead, just like my toy company." Quackerjack said with a hint of sadness. "But this…you put my friends in the game world, right?"
"I knew that the four of you would probably come after me if I went forward with my plan, so I struck at you first! Plus, I wanted to make sure it still worked!"
"Mind telling me this plan?" Quackerjack asked, wanting to keep the rooster talking as he fiddled with the Molecular Digitizer. He was looking for a reverse switch of some kind. It was pretty obviously that this guy had used it on his friends.
"What do you think? I want justice! Aix tanked WBI after that explosion! It's all their fault! There's and Negaduck's…and yours!"
"…me?"
"You're the one that raised Negaduck's ire, Quackerjack, with that museum of yours! And your stupid company was always holding WBI back! Toys, what garbage! Out of date, stupid plastic trinkets! What kid would want to play with your idiotic wooden crap?"
Quackerjack stopped fiddling with the device and stared at the man. He was silent for a long while. This man…he sounded so much like Quackerjack when he was taking about video games. Almost identical. It was eerie, and strange, and uncomfortable. It was like hearing a recording of yourself, and Quackerjack wasn't sure he liked what he heard. After staring Quackerjack shrugged and started to fiddle with the Molecular Digitizer some more.
"So you were going to trap the Aix people in their own games?"
"Exactly. Then Negaduck!"
Quackerjack sighed. "Negaduck doesn't play games."
"Hah, I still would have gotten you and Aix! And to think I almost considered asking you for help."
"You should have asked. I know a really nice mental institution."
"I bet you do, you lunatic."
"I'm not the one sticking people in video games. Talk about mad science!" Quackerjack grumbled. "Besides, I never would have agreed to your plan anyway!"
"Scared?"
Quackerjack glared at the rooster. "I would never do this to another person. Not in this reality!"
Aloysius grumbled, and Quackerjack returned to the Digitizer. This might take a while.
A few hours later found Quackerjack lining his friends game systems up in a neat little row. He aimed the Digitizer at the yellow one and fired. The thing shook and spat out a very irritated looked Megavolt, who jumped up in anger.
"Who hit me with the game teleporter thing! I'm gonna shock them so bad they'll forget their own names!" Megavolt shouted.
"Over there, under Virty." Quackerjack pointed at the still definite rooster. Virty looked up and nodded at Megavolt.
"Hey! That's a fully transformed Blazeleo! How'd you get him?" Megavolt stared at Virty admiringly.
"Training montage." Quackerjack said smugly. "His name's Virty."
"Virty? How original." Megavolt scoffed.
"Oh yeah? What'd you call yours?"
"…okay, so I named it Bob."
Quackerjack laughed as he fired the Digitizer two more times, making the Liquidator and Bushroot appear. They both seemed fine as well, if a little annoyed.
"Hey guys!" Quackerjack grinned at his friends. "I got a real Virtuimon! Say hello to Virty!" Virty looked over to the four and purred with pride.
"Your affection for this beast is disgusting." Aloysius growled.
"And your criminal record has just landed you a free jail cell! Do not pass go or collect three hundred dollars!" The Liquidator snarled as he took the prisoner from Virty, who was giving the water dog a leery look. "Some restrictions apply, void where prohibited." The Liquidator continued as he dragged Aloysius away.
The other three chuckled a bit and even Virty seemed to be laughing. Then, all of a sudden, the beast flickered in and out, like a bad light. He screamed a bit in pain. Quackerjack rushed to his friend's side.
"Virty! What's wrong?" Quackerjack hugged Virty around the neck, then twisted his head to Bushroot and Megavolt "Guys, what's wrong with him?"
Megavolt studied the weary looking beast. "He's a virtual creature, Quacky. He…he might not be able to survive in our world for long. You have to send him home."
Virty howled in protest, but Quackerjack was nodding in agreement. "Virty, here. Stand next to this Porti…" Quackerjack sighed as Virty shook his head savagely. "Virty, you have to. I don't want you to fade away…look!" Quackerjack waved the Digitizer under Virty's snout. "I bet you I can modify this! I can bring you back to visit! It's not goodbye…not forever! But it will be if you stay! Please, Virty!"
Virty gave his master one last look, and then a rather juicy lick on the face. Virty padded over to the Porti and sat down. Quackerjack gave his friend on last look, and fired the beam at him. Virty vanished in a flash of light, back to the game world from where he came.
"I'm sorry." Bushroot said.
"It's alright. He belongs there." Quackerjack said. Then, something occurred to him. "Bushy? Do you know someone named Metalfoot?"
"Metalfoot? Isn't that the name of the leader of the Profane in the game?" Megavolt asked.
"Yeah, it is. The Profane are the main villains of the story. Why do you ask?" Bushroot asked.
Quackerjack shook his head. He didn't want t think about this. "No reason. None at all."
Quackerjack walked over to the game and picked it up. For a moment he saw his little Virty, in bit form, bouncing up and down on the screen. Then, the image blacked out, and the game returned to its previous form. The little avatar of Quackerjack had been restored, and the game looked normal again. Quackerjack opened the menu and peered at his VMon list. There was Virty, still fully transformed, and still there.
Quackerjack smiled, and saved his game.
Later that day, Quackerjack was back at his lair. He was looking at a photo. It was an old, yellowed photograph, dating back to the 1900s. Three faces smiled up at him. A duck, very much like himself, dressed in a jester's costume like his own. To the ducks left, with an arm thrown over his shoulder, was a big wolf. A wolf with a metal peg leg. Quackerjack didn't even look at the other figure, to the duck's right. He was only looking at the wolf.
"Metalfoot." Quackerjack shook his head. "Metalfoot…"
No. Don't think about it.
"Right. Bad idea…but if Uncle Alan comes back…"
Talk to Uncle Alan, but don't think of it. This…this is not good to think of. You are unbalanced enough.
"Yes boss."
Quackerjack walked over to his completed wooden horse. He smiled and placed his red Porti next to his beloved toy.
Quackerjack stared at the two. Old and new. Traditional and modern.
Somehow, it didn't seem so wrong anymore. To like video games.
At least sometimes.
Quackerjack turned and went outside. He had games to play. Sometime he would come back to play with Virty, but right now the sun and the wind called, as did the open sky.
A/N: The Profane, and Metalfoot, have been ideas for this series for a while now, ever since I started it. However, they were not initially going to appear, but I needed something to take the place of Team Rocket. And, since they are tied into Quackerjack's storyline, obviously, it seemed right to have them start to appear.
The idea of the truck and the Glitch comes from two Pokemon rumors. One is that in the old games you could find a Mew by checking under a truck (which never worked for me), and the other was the infamous Missingno. The Glitch is basically Missingno.
No I was not going to put Ash in this. You are welcome. I like the games more, anyway.
Aloysius J. Mandelbum is from the new Darkwing Duck comics, the 2011 annual to be exact. I don't own a copy, but I did manage to skim one. It's on my Christmas list, though.
Next time: Gizmoduck. Everyone knows the name. Everyone fears the name. A ruthless metallic killer. What is he doing in St. Canard, and what will Negaduck do when the vicious metal marauder comes to town? And who is this old duck that Bushroot must protect? Find out, next time.