A/N — Aye guys, I'm back with another chapter!
TO MY BEAUTIFUL REVIEWERS —
mysteryreader6626 — aw thank yew :)
darkdemon5 — Once again, happy birthday! I really wanted to write a one-shot present for you, but school piled up and I am very sorry. Also, thank you for the beautiful quote XD
justsomerandompokemonguy — Haha, thanks, I always appreciate your reviews X3 Also, yes. Blue is just a crazy fangirl that makes everyone better LOL.
Pale1357 — LOL, mine is frantic too XD Well, after specialshipping.
Shidake — Seeing that they message each other so much and obviously, I would think so too. Also, about Emerald's name "hacker", tbh I actually got that from a friend I play with. Her name is Hacker(random digits), so I just picked it for him. The other reason being because she's blonde and short like him XD
Just Another Kid — HAHA THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS :)))
TheGamingPyro — I know right, lol.
TheRunAwayPanda — Yay! Congrats :) Also, thank you so much!
AlexaTheHedgehog — LOL. I am not offended at all. But I'm sorry that I barely put them in the story with smaller parts. Also, the reason I'm not offended is because I do it too, LOL. Sometimes I go into some fanfics purely only for specialshipping because I'm crazy for them XD
TrainerBubbles1 — LOL. That's my username for this game lmao. And trust me, I ALWAYS want cake XD Also, thank you! And I really needs to write more romance! TT^TT The love radar needs to ring more lol.
Loveon — Haha, thank you :) I'm happy that you are!
YAAAAAAAY! THANK YOU SO MUCH! LIKE SERIOUSLY GUYS, Y'ALL BEAT THE RECORD AGAIN *cries horribly* I LOVE YOU SO MUCH :))))))
Chapter Eleven — The Nostalgic Feeling (Part I)
Sapphire could've swore that she felt her heart stop when she heard Ruby's phone alert.
Ruby, on the other hand, was partially shocked and confused of what was happening. All he knew is that Sapphire was sending a message to himself, and that it probably meant that she was a player in the game. Many thoughts ran through his head, and one of them was that he didn't want her to know it was him.
Slowly, he grabbed his phone, wondering which player sent him a message. If it really was Sapphire, then it would be a game player's address. If it was from a regular person in reality, then it would be in the text message. Bracing himself, he checked it.
Just as he thought, it was a game player: Sapphoro911.
While Ruby was surprised that she was Sapphoro, part of him found himself stupid that he wouldn't notice an obvious name. Sapphoro too! Sapphoro is the person who he talks to all the time, plays with, and hangs out with when he's bored because she's an amazing gamer. That meant in reality, he was playing the game with Sapphire. He didn't know how to feel about that, considering the two argue non-stop when they're near each other.
Ruby began to think again when he thought of the possibility of Sapphire being Sapphoro. Would that mean that she was in the same predicament as him? Should he talk to her about the whole "some men are going to come and kill you" thing? Questions were running through his mind, wondering whether or not he should be open to her about his identity online too.
But then again, maybe it's not her.
Many people are on their phones at this time of day, and those many people could be his friends. Sapphire just happened to coincidentally be sending a text at that moment, right? Could that happen? And people can just choose weird names because it's an RPG game, so why not? Right?
That thought left Ruby's mind when he recalled her talking about Sparkles. Yep. Sapphire is totally Sapphoro.
"So who is it from?" Sapphire asked, watching him with anxious eyes.
"U-Umm," Ruby hummed. He pretended to check his phone again then he put it away in his pocket. "It was just from Blue. She wanted to tell us to her cafe on our break."
Sapphire quirked an eyebrow. "Ya're in contact with Blue?" she asked.
"Yep," Ruby lied with a smile. "Anyways," he pushed up his glasses, "I'm going to be with Rald because he needs help preparing the other station. You know how he is, the kid who looks like he's about to hurl when romance is involved. I gotta go, call someone over if you need help! See ya!"
Before Sapphire could say anything else, Ruby had already sprinted away. The brunette sat there dumbfounded, wondering why he left in such a rush.
"Give me some beer."
Blue turned over when she heard a customer say something. Look at the customer up and down, she kind of wanted to laugh. It was a man in his mid thirties with a mohawk haircut, dressed in the stereotypical biker outfit, tattoos all over his arm. The fact he was at their Pokémon themed cafe was already funny enough, despite his weird getup.
"You do know this is a school cafe? Use the menu," Blue said, tossing the menu onto his table.
The biker slammed the table with his fist, scaring some of the nearby tables. "Go buy some. Isn't the customer always supposed to be right?!" he shouted, causing a scene.
"No, that would be really annoying," Blue retorted casually, not frightened by his behavior. "Also, Mr. Charles, stop acting like that even though you're the theatre teacher. I heard that you were getting into three roles at once, but being a wannabe gangster with fake temporary tattoos isn't going to help you."
Usually she would do her fake nice act or mess with him, but they were busy enough with some of the chefs down. Plus, she kind of thought the theatre teacher was weird enough on his own. She didn't feel like dealing with him.
Mr. Charles rose up from his chair with an attitude, but Blue could see the tears forming on the edges of his eyes. "Whatever!" he yelled, stomping out of the classroom and pushing her down in the process.
Blue inwardly groaned as she scrambled to pick up her notebook and pen.
"Try not to make the customers cry, would ya?"
She stopped when she heard a familiar voice. It was none other than Green in his beautiful charmander suit.
"Are you going to help me up, or are you going to leave a poor maid on the floor?" she asked playfully.
Green rolled his eyes, before offering her a hand. Once Blue accepted his help and made skin contact with him, his vision went pitched black all of a sudden.
He opened his eyes and suddenly, he's at a bar. His hand, or the hand of the person he was seeing through, was playing with the straw in their martini drink. In front of him, Green saw a girl. He couldn't make out her face, but she had short brown hair and scratches all over her arm and neck, along with bandages. He tried to see who she was out of curiosity, but her face remained unknown and he could only see her talk.
"I don't need your help, and I don't need to work with you," she told him, frowning.
"Oh yeah?" Green recognized it wasn't his voice, but someone else's. The voice was much deeper than his. "Tell that to your hair. I remembered when it was longer, it was covered with blood."
"Shut up, Gary," she sniped. "Also, stop following me."
"I can't do that. One of your 'besties for life', Summer, is also one of my friends. I told her I would help you. I can't be going around breaking promises, or that'll make me look bad. Well, if I could ever look bad," he replied, playing around with the girl.
She didn't seem to take it too well, considering she slammed the table and her tone shifted. "Don't talk as if you know her," she hissed.
"Well, I do. I can prove it too," he told her, his voice sounding cocky. "Why don't we make a deal and head down to her secret office? If we ask her and you find out that she's my friend, then you have to be in my care for a year. But if you win, which is not possible, then I'll leave you alone and we'll ever see each other ever again. You ready to make that deal, Leaf?"
The girl hesitated to take his hand, but in the end, she did. "Deal."
Suddenly the scene changed. Instead of a classy bar, Green saw that girl Leaf stand over the edge of a volcano, smoke rising from behind her. He couldn't see her face since the only light source, the lava, was behind her, but he could make out her overall physique.
"We had a deal," he heard himself say. It wasn't arrogant like before, but instead, more serious.
She turned her body to look at the opening inside and then back at him, and it was at that moment Green saw her face. Her bright blue eyes flashed a look of sadness as she looked back at the volcano crater and then back at him. Green recognized that her face shared similar features to Blue, but she was much older and with shorter hair.
"Sorry Gary, but I couldn't stand it anymore," she said, tears forming. "I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
Without warning, she leaned back and prepared to fall into the pit. Green can feel the person's heart jump, and in his point of view, he rushed over to her, taking a jump into the volcano himself. The bright light emitting from the lava blinded him.
Green shot open his eyes. He quickly sat up and tried to calm his breathing when he realized he was panting so hard that it felt like a heart attack and he was suffocating. Putting a hand on his heart and another on his head, he wondered what the heck happened and where he was now. Not only was his heart beating like crazy, but his vision seemed to be blurry too.
"Are you okay?"
He jumped in his seat when he heard a voice, startled. He turned to the direction of the voice, only to see a blurred person next to him. He squinted, trying his best to see who it was. He could make out her hair color and features, but everything seemed so vague. For a second, he immediately assumed it was the girl that he saw in the bar and at the volcano, and it was another vision.
"Leaf?" he mumbled, surprised his voice came out. Usually, when those weird images flash in his mind, he could never control the body and his voice was always muted.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, staring at him oddly even though he couldn't her face expression.
Green tried to rub his eyes in an attempt to clear them. Once he actually did, he got a clearer version of the person in front of him. It was Blue— not Leaf.
"Oh, it's you," he grumbled, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.
He finally calmed down and noticed that they were in the nurse's office and that he was in a bed.
"Really? That's the greeting I get when I carried you here?" Blue fumed, narrowing her eyes at him.
She rose up from the stool she was sitting on and placed her hands on her hips. "Y'know, you weren't exactly the lightest person in the world. Also, who is 'Leaf'?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him, getting curious all of a sudden.
"It's nobody," Green answered, not wanting to answer. He moved the covers off of him, and tried to get out of the bed he was in.
"Ah, ah, ah," Blue said, waving her finger around and blocking his way with her leg. "You shouldn't get out of bed. As I stated the other day, you're sick. It must've been you overworking, which is funny, seeing how much you don't care about things. The nurse said you're off duty for the day."
"Don't be ridiculous," Green hissed. "I'm fine."
His head did feel woozy and warm when he woke up at first, but it was nothing new. It felt fine too; his heartbeat was regular and his vision returned.
"I'm just going to say this because I am a saint as always," Blue started. "As the student president and class president, I demand that you stay in the infirmary, or I will tell the teacher that you took drugs and that you are a delinquent."
"I'm so tired of your dumb antics. They wouldn't believe that you spouted that an A+ average honor student— me, takes drugs. There's zero proof of me taking drugs too because it never happened," Green retorted. He honestly doesn't know why Blue continues to bother him, especially after he pissed her off earlier in the week. Green couldn't read this girl.
"If it's records, I can change them," Blue bragged, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
Green rolled his eyes. "And you're calling me the troublesome person," he mumbled. "I'm going back. I can't afford to have a horrible grade."
Blue continued to block his pathway. "As much as I want to see you in that supes adorbs costume, I'm not letting you go. If Yellow were here, she would've slapped you upside the head and tell you to stay in bed!"
"Don't be stupid. Yellow would never hit someone on purpose," Green said, not believing in her word.
"How would you know? You're only her math tutor while I'm her best friend," Blue retorted, pointing her thumb at herself proudly.
"I was also her tutor in self-defense, and that girl wouldn't even hit a tree, let alone a human being," Green replied, remembering how she was crying that the tree was hurting. Tutoring Yellow was one of the things he regretted. She might be nice, but she was lacking in so many things that gave Green a hard time.
"Okay fine, she wouldn't hit you, but she would shout at you for leaving bed! Yellow is super scary when she's nursing someone stubborn!" Blue shouted.
Green couldn't imagine that, but he didn't care to. "She isn't even here, and I doubt she'll leave Red."
Blue scoffed. "You don't know that! Yellow might be in the most romantic moment ever with Red, but when it comes to helping a person out with health or sickness, she'll come running!"
"Maybe, but that's not what I meant. I meant that she's with Red in the kitchen, and they can't leave it because the cafe is so busy," Green clarified.
He wasn't dumb— he knew Yellow likes Red. She would always stare at him or glance his way when Red came to visit during Green's tutor sessions. He was just not getting pulled into Blue's little schemes and he didn't want to hear her talk about Yellow and Red like she did occasionally.
"So what? Even if Red stays, Yellow can come!"
"Red's cooking skills are as good as a monkey. He's going to keep her busy away from me," Green stated. He didn't even know why Blue was using Yellow as a threat to make him stay in the bed.
"Thanks a lot, Green!"
A sarcastic tone came from someone behind the curtains. Green recognized that voice immediately and saw his silhouette through the curtain, along with a shorter silhouette.
Red.
Red pulled the curtain open, revealing himself and Yellow to the pair. "I really thought my cooking was pretty good since you always came over and ate it!" the boy said, frowning and taking offense to that statement.
It was hard to take the guy seriously, considering the pikachu costume he was wearing.
Green rolled his eyes. "Boiling water and pouring it in a cup full of noodles does not count," he responded. "Why are you two here?"
"I was here the whole time! Yellow and I just finished talking to the nurse outside about keeping watch," Red replied. "Also, I was the one who carried you, so you should be grateful."
The brown-haired boy shot a look at Blue when her lie was revealed, and she casually whistled and looked the other way.
"I mean, why are you here?" Green clarified. "Isn't the kitchen low on staff?"
No one wanted to answer and there was a long pause between the four.
"Red accidentally burnt the rest of the cakes and caused a fire, so we were kicked out," Yellow answered hesitantly since Red and Blue didn't want to. "I came to help just in case you felt bad. You had a slight fever."
"I'm fine," he replied, getting up from the bed.
"No, you're not!" Blue shouted, slapping her hand on his forehead hard and hurting him in the process. As he ripped her hand off and rubbed the spot that hurt, Blue pointed at him. "He's burning up, Yells! Go nurse him to death!"
"I'm fi—" Green was about to repeat, but then he stopped when he saw Yellow.
A dark aura surrounded Yellow that scared Red and Blue despite the costume. Her usual soft eyes were as sharp as a demon, and in a deeper voice that surprised everyone, she said, "Stay in bed now."
Red took one step away from her.
"Ooh, I just got the chills," Blue stated, covering her arms as Green climbed back into bed.
Blue found this persona of Yellow's hilarious. She knew Yellow would never hit someone, but she would use her stubbornness to make the person obey her. The other thing she found funny was that Green actually listened to her. Well, with Yellow's burning aura, she couldn't blame him.
At least this will make him stay down for a while, she thought.
"Uh, Yellow...?" Red mumbled, looking at her with a nervous look. Yellow continued to glare daggers at Green to notice Red calling her name.
"Hey Red!" Blue exclaimed. "Do you have the time?"
"Huh? Oh, sure!" he replied, quickly pulling out his phone. He turned on the screen and read the time, "It's 1:43!"
"I'm only going to be with you for twenty minutes, so let's hurry up and choose a stand to be at," Crystal told Gold once she started her break with him.
Crystal didn't feel like going to an attraction, especially with Gold, so she suggested getting a small snack or something. Gold was fine with it, and now they were outside, looking around at the freshman's food stands together.
"Sure! Super Serious Gal, what are your interests?" Gold asked, raising his voice as they passed through the crowd so she could hear him.
She shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really think of a stand she wanted to go to and she wasn't picky. "Well, I didn't really plan anything, so you can choose."
"Alright! In that case, follow me! I know where we can go to make you stop frowning!" he told her. "I'll do you a favor and prevent those wrinkles!"
Crystal started to blush in embarrassment. "I don't always frown!" she hissed. "This is my straight face! How dare you say that!"
Gold waved it off as usual. "It's fine! The serious look goes great with your face!" he complimented her.
She couldn't really tell if it was a compliment or not though.
Gold grabbed her hand suddenly, making her stiffen up at the sudden contact. She tried to rip her hand away, but his grip was strong.
"Hey! Let go of me!" she yelled.
"If I do, you'll get lost in the crowd! I can't spend my twenty minutes looking for you in the crowd!" Gold replied, grinning at her.
After ten minutes, Gold continued to lead her down the path of never ending stands, still undecided on which one they should choose to hang out at.
"Do you want food, or a souvenir?" he inquired.
"Souvenir? Like what?" Crystal asked. She didn't think there was anything to keep at these stands.
"I know a fishing booth that's run by one of the older teachers at the front. Last time I went with Yellow, she won all of the fish then freed them into the ocean. The teacher got so upset that she got banned from it in the first year, but that didn't stop her. Yellow tried to show up the next year as a girl, and she got banned again! Wanna go?" Gold asked, turning to her.
Crystal chuckled at the story, finding it amusing, but she quickly hid her smile when she realized Gold was staring.
"Ah! I saw that," Gold shouted, pointing at her. "You actually laughed! I know that under all your seriousness, you laugh!"
Honestly, Crystal didn't get the impression he had of her, but she couldn't blame him.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and looked the other way to avoid eye contact. "You were wrong. I just had a weird icky feeling that something was in my throat."
Did she find the story funny? Yes. But was she going to give him a chance to take advantage of this? Nope.
"Uh huh," Gold said, obviously skeptical. "So anyways, let's go to the—"
"Gold and Crystal?!" A familiar voice called them.
The two turned to the right where they heard the voice call them, and found Diamond and Pearl waving at them from their respective booths. Gold pulled on Crystal's hand, and the two went over to their booths.
"Yo, how's it going, guys?!" Gold greeted cheerfully, going some weird handshake with the duo. Crystal didn't understand what that was, but she still greeted them politely.
"Hey there!" Diamond greeted him, his mouth full of candy. "You guys on a date—"
"—No," Crystal quickly denied, cutting him off. "We're just checking out the festival together since our break is at the same time."
"Then why are you guys holding hands?" Pearl asked, raising an eyebrow.
Crystal looked down at her hand. The whole time while strolling down the rows of stands, she had totally forgotten that she was still holding hands with him. Quickly, she ripped his grip off and let go, causing Gold to frown.
"We were just trying to not get separated with all the crowds. It's rush hour after all," she explained to them.
Gold quickly recovered from his frown and his mouth curled into a grin. He tossed an arm around Crystal's shoulders, causing her to stiffen her body again.
"But we are on a date!"
"Aw that's nice," Diamond acknowledged.
"Yeah no," Crystal denied once again, tossing his arm off before crossing her arms. She quickly tried to change the subject and get away from this unwanted attention. "Anyways, what are you guys selling?"
"Candy," Pearl replied. "Well, maybe if Dia doesn't eat it all."
"Don't worry! I won't!" Diamond promised, though the candy in his mouth didn't help him. "I'm selling western food if you guys are interested!"
"I had lots of fun when I was in your place!" Gold reminisced. "I remember that I didn't care and I just ate the whole supply when my classmates weren't looking. When people came to buy the food I didn't eat, I would charge them extra to replace it and then pocket some of the money for myself. I really miss those days!"
Crystal narrowed her eyes, upset about that. "Gold! That's so horrible!"
Gold obviously didn't seem to care. "Hey, you have to do what you have to do!" he told her. "Plus, it wasn't fair that us students had to work while the teachers cash the money and split it among themselves."
"The earned money goes to school funding!" Crystal informed, rubbing her temples. No matter what she said stuff to Gold, she knew he wouldn't change from his troublesome self, so she just gave up at this point.
"Can I get some candy please?"
"Of course!" Pearl replied, running to go get some behind him. "What would you like?"
"Anything is fine," Crystal answered, rummaging through her skirt pockets for the payment.
"Woah, Super Serious Gal! This is our first date, so you should let the guy pay and tell me if you want something," Gold told her.
Crystal just ignored him and continued to pay for the lollipop Pearl chose. She unwrapped it, tossed the wrapper away into the nearby trashcan, then shoved it into Gold's mouth. "It's not for me, so it's fine if I pay."
Gold took the lollipop out of his mouth then grinned mischievously. He shoved it into Crystal's mouth suddenly, and the girl turned red. She didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment.
"Aw, but it should be!" he teased, laughing at her reaction.
Quickly, Crystal spit the candy out onto the ground and wiped her mouth. Shooting him a glare, Crystal walked away from the booth, completely upset. After buying another lollipop to go (or more like taking it), Gold followed after her, yelling stuff about how it wasn't that serious and how she should lighten up, and Diamond and Pearl watched them.
"... Wow," Diamond remarked, not knowing what to say about that.
Pearl shook his head disappointingly. "I don't get how that guy gets with so many girls."
"Are you sure it's okay to ditch the cafe?" Yellow brought up.
She, Blue, and Red decided to all stay in the nurse office despite the low staff problem. At first, Yellow was going to stay because she was going to make sure he's okay as a good acquaintance, but Red and Blue said they wanted to stay too to help Green. Red just wanted to stay with them because he was bored, and Blue just wanted to ditch work and relax a bit and maybe take this time to spy on Yellow and Red. Green wanted them to all leave.
"It's fine! We're making Green feel better this way!" Red reassured her.
"Not, you're not. I can't even sleep because you guys talk too much. Get out," Green grumbled.
"Well, it's boring for us too, so stop acting selfish and let us just talk it out," Blue replied.
"Then leave," he said.
Red got in between them. "Alright, calm down guys. We didn't take a break all day, so let's just chill out for a while."
He didn't really know what the heck was going on with Green and Blue since Green never tells him anything and Blue was hot and cold randomly, but he thought it'd be best to meditate the tension.
"I agree. We've been working so hard since morning!" Yellow mentioned. "What time is it now?"
Red got his phone out and checked the time again. "1:58," he answered. "Is something wrong? You keep asking for the time every three minutes for the last fifteen minutes."
"Yellow and I were planning to take our break at 2," Blue replied for both of them. She got up from her seat. "Anyways, we should get going. I want some cotton candy, and I think Red should be enough to keep Green company!"
Yellow nodded, acting casually despite the nervous wreck she was inside. "I'll come visit Green later!"
"Well, that's fine— Oh wait!" Red called after them when they were about to leave. "I totally forgot! My phone is a minute and thirty seconds late. The real time is actually 1:59... wait no, now it's 2!"
The girls gave him confused looks. "What?"
BANG! CRASH!
When they heard and saw the window get smashed, all of them cringed. Red quickly tackled Yellow who was closest to him onto the floor when he saw it happen, using his body to cover her from the flying glass. Luckily, Green and Blue were a bit farther from the window, and Green had used his blanket as a shield to block any shattered glass that flew in their direction.
Green stared at the broken window. "Red, Yellow, are you two okay?!"
Red raised his head to look at the damage too, Yellow still in his arms. "Yeah, I think we're good—" He stopped talking when he noticed something at the window, or rather, someone.
There was a man dressed in all black attire at the window, being suspended by a rope. Everyone finally noticed his appearance when he stepped on the window sill and suddenly appeared. Red's eyes trailed down to the item in his hand, and he was struck with fear.
"Get down!" he yelled, shoving Yellow's head to the floor again.
Yellow shut her eyes tightly, trying to get through the situation.
"Are you still mad, Super Serious Gal?"
"No, I'm not."
Her eyes averted to the school's clock. 1:59 PM. It's almost time, she thought.
Crystal walked faster through the crowd, ignoring Gold's protests and whines that followed from behind. After finally reaching the end of the stalls and hitting an isolated dead end, she turned around suddenly, surprising Gold. He accidentally bumped into her since he didn't expect her to just randomly stop, making the girl fall to the floor.
"Oops! Sorry!" Gold apologized, giving her a hand.
She took it and mumbled a thanks before turning on him. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but I kind of promised Soul to do it even though it sounds unreasonable."
Before Gold could question her, she snatched the lollipop he took from Pearl's booth earlier and hit his head with the hard candy.
"Ow!" Gold cried.
Crystal tossed the candy onto the floor then gripped his shirt collar. She yanked his shirt closer to her, and asked with a serious look, "I know you play Pokérune since you have an obsession with Pokémon, so I'm going to ask you something. Are you here to kill me?"
"Huh? What?" Gold asked, pulling away from her, breaking her grip.
She sighed in relief. "Never mind. Judging by your reaction, you probably don't even know anything about it, and I'm just jumping to conclusions that you're one of the fourteen," she said. Gold irked her, but he didn't deserve any of this. She knew better to go along with Soul's stupid plans.
"I'm sor—" Crystal stopped mid-sentence when Gold just widened his eyes all of his sudden, his face expression turning to one of horror. She furrowed her eyebrows, and turned around to look at what caused it. She barely caught a glimpse of what spooked Gold because he shoved her onto the floor and wrapped his arms around her, embracing her.
"Move out of the way!"
"What are you doing?!" she cried, trying to shove him off.
Crystal stopped the struggle when she saw something fly towards them in the corner of her eye and redness entered her vision. The red liquid flew in mid-air in front of her view, making her widen her eyes. She was struck with fear when she stared down at Gold's body that became heavy. With a shaky hand, Crystal reached to touch the wound on his arm to see if it was real.
It was normal for Gold to mess with her, right? Why would he suddenly get shot by someone? There was no gunshot sound either.
As she touched the wound and opened her hand, her heart dropped momentarily once she realized it was real. Seeing the ugly shade of red and the strong smell of it made her feel like she was going to puke. Bracing herself, Crystal dared to look at the source of the leak. When she saw the bloody hole in his shoulder, she started to shake more. Suddenly, images of that wound from somewhere else flashed in her mind and she remembered seeing something like it before.
The structure, the place, the bone showing, the blood dripping. The nostalgic feeling made her feel sick.
Crystal's shrilling shriek was heard as she finally broke the silence between them.
"GOOOLDDD!"
"Why am I here?"
Not only did Soul drag him out of the classroom a bit earlier than their break, the two were in the bushes behind all of the stands. Silver should've known better than to listen to her when she said she needed him for something.
"I need to watch Crys! It's my duty as her sister to back her up!" Soul answered, looking determined.
"Why am I here?" Silver repeated.
"Because I don't want to do it alone," she replied. Being in the bushes behind everything in an isolated area wasn't really her ideal situation. She didn't talk to anyone else in the class besides Gold, Crystal, and Silver, so she decided to drag Silver with her.
"I'm leaving."
"No wait, Silver!" Soul grabbed his hand, and Silver immediately took it back. "Don't do that! If your sister was here, she would tell you to not leave a girl alone! Shouldn't you respect her wishes?"
Silver gave her a look, obviously not taking in the bait. "I'm still leaving."
"No, don't leave me!"
Soul tried to go after Silver and follow him, but suddenly she was shoved onto the floor by him. "Hey! I know you're mad, but you don't have to get so aggressive!"
Silver didn't pay attention to her though, and Soul fell silent and got up, wondering what he was looking at. A man stood in front of them, dressed in all black with a gun in his hand. Remembering the games warning, Soul backed away slowly while Silver just stared at him.
Many thoughts ran through his mind at this moment. If the game's warning was real and he was found, that meant Blue was found too and she was in the same predicament. He wanted to run and help his sister, but he couldn't leave. Though Soul was taunting him about his sister's wishes and he was about to ditch her earlier, he couldn't just leave the girl with some random killer that was after him. Then again, maybe the man wouldn't care about Soul and just go for Silver and she can get away.
His silver eyes were on the gun that was pointed at them. Obviously, they were at a disadvantage, so the best tactic is to run away to find Blue and deal with Soul on the side.
"Hey," he quietly called Soul, his eyes still glaring at the man. "You're a teenage girl, right? Well, since you're so strong and reliable, you distract the guy while I run."
"What?!" she exclaimed, alerting the man. She lowered her voice in a hush tone. "Why don't you distract him and I run away instead?"
"No, now do as I said. I have somewhere I need to be," he told her.
Where's my prince charming when I need him?! Soul inwardly screamed, upset with the plan.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the man's gun go off, and quickly she jumped to the side and behind Silver. Silver continued to have a stare down with the man, wondering what his intentions were since he wasn't shooting off his gun towards him, nor was he attacking constantly. The man was just standing still, and it was as if he was observing or looking at something. Silver couldn't properly tell what it was though.
"Ah!" she shrieked, clutching to his clothes.
"Don't use me as a shield," he grumbled, ripping her grip off. The last thing he needed was to be restricted in case the gun goes off again.
"Sorry, but I can't help it!" she shouted back. "I'm scared, okay?!"
Soul regretted being useless in this situation, but she didn't know what to do. She wasn't as strong as Crystal who knew karate, and now some psycho is just trying to shoot her and Silver for no reason. Crystal. She suddenly remembered what Crystal told her to do if she was ever in this situation.
Her sister's voice popped up in her head. First, be calm.
Soul's eyes started to become watery, and her tears flowed down her cheeks. There's no way she could be calm in this situation! She couldn't stop shaking for starters.
"T-There's only one guy..." she croaked. She tried to reassure herself. "If Crys can do this, then so can I."
"What are you talking about now?" Silver hissed, confused as to what the heck was mumbling about.
Without answering his question, Soul jumped out in front of him then started to sprint towards the shooter, praying repeatedly in her mind that she doesn't get shot. The man broke out of his focus and started to fire his gun at her, hitting her straight in the leg with two bullets. Soul screamed in pain when she felt it but with the last bit she had with her other leg, she kicked him in the stomach and started to fight for the gun. Mustering all of her strength and ignoring the pain in her leg, Soul grabbed his arm with one of his hands during the struggle for the gun and flipped him over, the gun finally falling out of his hands. Finally, the weight of gravity and Soul's body reached her limit and she fell to the floor, unable to support her leg anymore. The shooter took this chance to reach for the gun again.
Silver saw the scene and rushed over to help her. He sat on top of him and now instead of Soul, he was the one fighting for the gun. The redhead threw multiple hard punches at his face, trying to make him let go, and finally, the shooter did, but not before he pulled the trigger again.
Silver cringed when he felt pain coming from his right arm, and he clutched the injury.
Soul's bawling and panting got louder as she tried to recover and process what had happened. She looked over to the man, whose face was a bloody pulp now that Silver punched him till he was unconscious. Then she looked back at Silver who had a gaping wound in his arm. And finally, she looked down. Her previously white sock was now stained red as the injury bled through. She winced at the pain as she pulled the sock down and the blood continued to spill out.
"It hurts," she mumbled, crying even harder.
She wiped her tears. At least she did what Crystal taught her correctly, but she needed to stop the bleeding.
"S-Silver," she called. "We need to call for help!"
Silver didn't react to her. He stayed in his spot still, staring at his blood stained glove.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
As he continued to gaze it, his heart started to beat even faster, the sound of it drowning out the sound of Soul's voice.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
The feeling he got while staring at it— He didn't know how to put his finger on it, but it wasn't fear that made his heart beat faster. No, it was something else.
Excitement.
His mouth curved into a wide smile, suddenly feeling exhilarated. Soul watched him, and it alarmed her as she found the smile to be creepy since he was just staring at blood with a large smile on his face.
"W-What's wrong?" she tried to ask, but she got ignored once more while he was in his trance.
Silver couldn't control his thoughts, but somehow he thought the color of the blood on his hand was beautiful. The pain, the color, the texture— all of it, made him feel comforted. It was a very nostalgic feeling, a light feeling as if he was in paradise for a moment.
Ba-dump.
"What the heck ya think yer doin'?!"
While manning the front of the obstacle course in case visitors came, Sapphire heard a soft sound of something flying at her. Immediately, using her instincts, she dodged them all of the objects flying her way, and they ended up colliding with the counter behind her and some of the students. Thankfully, the bullets barely grazed them if anything. When she had looked to see who had did that, a man dressed in a black coat with sunglasses appeared at the front. The man stared at her silently before throwing his empty gun onto the floor and pulling out a small pocket knife.
Sapphire let out a growl, becoming hostile. She didn't think it was true, but turns out it was.
As she got on four feet like an animal, she yelled a warning to him, "If ya're from that stupid thing from last night, ya came for the wrong person! I use ta be on the wrestling team and I'm not afraid ta break yer neck!"
The man ignored the warning and rushed towards her with the knife in his hand. He thrust it at her, and Sapphire dodged the attacks with ease, punching him square on the face when she had the chance. The man backed up, trying to regain himself from the strong attack. After a second of recovering, he continued his assault, this time even faster now that he wasn't underestimating her. Sapphire tried her best to dodge the attacks again, but her movements weren't keeping up with his, and she ended up getting grazed on her cheek. She growled again when she felt the injury and jumped at him, however, something pulled her back and dragged her away.
Sapphire looked up to see who was tugging her shirt and she immediately threw a punch at them, thinking it was another enemy. Ruby barely dodged her punch and put his arms up to stop her.
"Stop it!" Ruby told her.
"Prissy Boy?!" she exclaimed in surprise. "This is the wrong situation ta pick a fight with me! I'm a bit busy!"
"I know! We should run!" he suggested, grabbing on her wrist.
Before Sapphire could stop him, Ruby threw a tray and some food at the man and then used the opportunity to get pass him and drag Sapphire outside into the hallway. The man was about to follow the pair until he felt something bruise him from his back. Turning around, Emerald was there with his homemade gun. He had shot pieces of metal that were hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to pierce.
Sapphire stood her ground and yanked Ruby back once they got a bit farther from the classroom. She didn't think he had the strength in him, but he was very forceful when he was dragging her away.
"I have ta go back there! I'm not running away!" she yelled in his face, yanking her wrist out of his grip. "Didn't ya see that guy hurt our classmates?!"
Ruby jumped in front of her and put his arms out to block her way. "Okay! Everyone knows you're a barbarian who can't dress and fights justice!"
Sapphire narrowed her eyes, getting even more impatient to go back. "What are ya, dumb? Did ya hear what I just said?! Move out of the way! Who's going ta defend the students if I don't go back?!"
"No one is hurt! I got most of the students to go out in the other entrance! Sapphire, we have to leave! Think about it, that guy has a gun, and you're a girl in high school. You might be a muscly barbarian, but even you can't handle that guy!" Ruby argued, gripping on her wrist again.
Sapphire tried to shake him off. "That guy is after me!"
He stared at her, his eyes saying he already knew. "Yeah, I know! That's why we have to leave!"
"Ya can't stop me from going back! Ya can't make me!" she growled, getting up in his face.
Ruby didn't back down. "Really? Because I think I can."
"Platinum!" Candice screamed, rushing to help the girl.
While the two were idly chatting in the courtyard of the school to get away from the crowds, some guy jumped out of the bushes with a knife and attacked Platinum. Luckily, Platinum noticed him quickly, and she was able to move out of the way before it pierced her. The knife ended up scratching her cheek as a result.
Candice went over and hugged her friend, and Platinum froze, realization suddenly hitting.
"T-The game was telling the truth," she muttered quietly, her breath getting heavier as panic rushed in.
"What?" Candice inquired, not hearing what she said.
"The game..." Platinum tried to repeat, but her voice was getting lost.
She couldn't calm down, and she felt her heart pace even faster to the point she felt suffocated. It didn't make sense. How did he know it was her? How did he find her? Why was he doing this? With all her thoughts jumped up in her mind, the culprit of her injury stepped closer to them. Platinum's heart continued to speed up even more as he edged closer, and suddenly, she felt dizzy and she felt herself lose consciousness. The last thing she could hear before blacking out was Candice calling her name.
She saw an arrow fly through the air in front of her, landing on the bulls-eye of a wooden target. She noticed her surroundings was some place in the woods. The sound of ambiance filled the air for awhile as she stared at the target until a rush of footsteps come from behind her. Turning around, Platinum saw two men in their twenties and a temple behind them. One of the men had black hair and the other had blonde hair. Platinum observed that the blond one had a more formal outfit.
"You really are the greatest, Dawn! Good job!" the black-haired man praised, a goofy smile on his face. Platinum made a correlation that his smile shared similarities to Diamond. He was much taller and older than the boy though.
The blond-haired man beside him just looked at her uncomfortably. "I mean, it was amazing, but I still think you're a bit too... traditional. Don't you think using a gun is more efficient? It's faster and the bullets are lighter than a case of arrows."
His friend frowned at his remark. "Barry, that's not nice."
"I'm saying this to be considerate. You were probably thinking the same thing, Lucas," he replied. He made eye contact with her. "Most of the group already uses guns. You shouldn't be using such an unreliable weapon when a gun can do more damage and have better results."
Platinum saw whoever's body she was in flip her long blue locks behind her shoulder. "I do not wish to use something that is a double-edged sword. The gunpowder could hit me in the eye and the impact it gives me afterwards could be disadvantageous." Her voice was very light, and she talked in an unfamiliar way, very stiff and formal.
Barry let out a sigh and Lucas chuckled. "I think it's pretty cool that you're holding up the tradition as a priestess," Lucas complimented.
"Thank you."
"Summer and May are priestesses too, but you see them using other weapons," Barry pointed out.
"You mean a fishing pole and fists? If anything, my weapon is much better."
"Okay, fine! You're not the weirdest one of the group! Just make sure to not regret it, okay? It can turn bad for you if you run out of arrows," Barry told her, looking worried.
Lucas gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Dawn! When you run out of arrows in a fight, we'll have your back! Don't forget that!"
The scene suddenly changed. It was much darker and she was inside some building. It was difficult for her to make out where she was because her vision kept getting blurry. When she wiped her eyes with her arm, it suddenly got clearer and she saw that her hand was wet. Some black device was pressed up against her ear and a weird static noise was heard.
"Lucas! Barry! What's happening?! Can you hear me?!" Platinum heard the girl's voice again, but this time it was frantic.
"Barr—'' It was Lucas. The static noises kept interrupting him. "Get down! Ah— Dawn, abort! Abort! Get out of there! Ah, don't touch hi— No! Leaf— Summe—" She heard a loud gunshot through the electronic before hearing a loud 'THUD' and a crash. "Dawn..." A small whisper comes through the device. "... Run."
Her heart raced as she tried to get through to him, "LUCAS! LUCAS!"
No answer. The line went dead.
She threw the device onto the floor in anger then looked around. Bodies laid in front of her in a pool of blood, three of those bodies wearing a different uniform than the others. She went over to shake them awake, but they remained unconscious. She was the only one left.
"AAAAHHHHH!" she shrieked with frustration and whimpered once she realized she was alone. "Help! Someone help! Please..."
"Don't worry."
The screaming stopped.
A man stood there in front of her, his face unidentifiable due to the lighting. She saw his mouth curve into a grin, enjoying the sight of her breakdown.
"So... you're the last one left, huh? I'll ease the pain nicely. After all, we need you to be alive."
Quickly, she scrambled to grab the bow and case of arrows beside her, keeping her eyes on the man. She successfully grabbed her bow in time, however, when she reached for her case of arrows, she ended up grabbing air. It took her a moment to realize: she ran out of arrows.
He began to walk towards her, amused. She jumped in her spot and cringed at the sound of his footsteps.
"S-Stop it..."
He ignored her and kept walking.
"Stop it..."
The footsteps kept going.
"STOOOOOOOP IT!" she shrieked, high pitched.
She stood up and ran towards him, throwing out random punches. He easily dodged them and caught her wrist, gripping it tightly and making her wince. Desperate in panic, she tried to grab her wrist back, but it wasn't working.
"I REFUSE TO DIE! I REFUSE FOR THEM TO DIE!" She screamed in his face at the top of her lungs, throwing small punches at him. The sight became more blurry and she could feel the wetness touch her cheeks.
Suddenly, something sharp pricked her neck and her body became heavy. He released her wrist and she fell onto the floor, landing on her back. As she laid there, the only thing she could see was the window on the ceiling, and Platinum finally saw the identity of the person through the reflection. It was a girl with long blue hair in her twenties in a long robe. She had Platinum's face.
The man who was with her peered down, covering the ceiling with his head.
"I already told you. We need you and your friends to be alive."
Platinum regained consciousness.
She found her body laying on the grass, and she sat up, not even remembering what had happened or why she had collapsed. She looked around to get her answers, and once she saw the scene before her, her heart stopped again. Candice laid on the floor in front of the girl in a small puddle of blood, unconscious. Beside her, the man who had scraped her earlier was holding a knife with something dripping down it.
It was Candice's blood.
"Help..." was all she could say at this moment.
She knew it wouldn't reach anyone. The air was silent, and there was no one around but Candice, the man, and herself. Platinum felt dumb. She chose this place because it was isolated, so of course there wasn't going to be anyone that would hear their screams, or her voice.
The realization that she was alone again hit her.
Fear and anxiety rushed into her, and Platinum felt it devour her as that vision of that girl flashed through her mind.
A dead body of her ally was in front of her. The culprit. Her uselessness in the situation with no fighting experience. It was exactly the same as that other situation.
Platinum felt like glass right now.
Fragile with no protection, easily broken.
The sick feeling of nostalgia broke her.
The room was dark. Sabrina sat against the wall on a desk, her legs crossed, very nonchalant. A group of men dressed in the same black uniform stood in front of her, saluting her. Her bright pink eyes flickered over to them when they called for her attention.
"Commander Sabrina. Are you sure we don't need backup and reinforcement for targets seven's and eight's spot?" one of the men in the group asked her. "The boss told us that they were inhuman and difficult to handle. One grunt wouldn't be enough for the mission.
The purple-haired girl didn't seem to be fazed by the question. With a look of calmness and cleverness, she replied, "Please, don't be silly. They're just a group of people with problems. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they died right here and now."
