Yayaka
I don't even remember falling asleep, but I woke up, so I must have done at some point. The drawing Yuyu gave me was still in my hand. Looking down at it made my chest feel warm, and I smiled… But the smile died when I remembered what I promised myself I'd do yesterday.
This will be my last day at Flip Flap until I take out my darker self… I folded the drawing back up, tucked it into one of my weapon belt pockets, and tried to get myself to stand up, which was a bit of a challenge, because my muscles were aching from sleeping all hunched up for so long. Frag… Okay, not gonna sleep in a cupboard again if I can help it…
I got up, grumbling as I did, and left the cupboard behind, trying to work out what to do next. I never got the chance to tell Cocona and the others about the shadow that attacked Papika... Saying something about that seemed like it should be an idea, especially since it seemed to terrify Papika so much. I felt a twinge of guilt thinking about it. I should check up on her too, make sure she's okay, or doing better at least. Cocona's probably with her... That thought annoyed me, but at the same time, if that was the case, then the twins and Nyunyu might not have heard about the shadow's attack. I need to find them at least...
I had a rough idea where I was now, in Flip Flap, or at least I knew I was near the Thomasson, and that part of the base was separated from everything else, so I could cross the shelf along the pit... and then probably just wander aimlessly until I found someone...
A couple of beeps sounded from my shoulders, and I was really confused for a second, before I remembered I was wearing my Flip Flap armour still, and I'd never changed back into my school uniform. Clicking a button on the breathing mask, which was still on my face, I activated my visor again to see written instructions flash up on the screen quickly, giving me directions to another room at Flip Flap. Must be Toto. I thought it was strange that he seemed to know the moment I woke up, but it was probably just a coincidence. Either way, if he's contacting me, he must want to talk to me about something.
I briefly wondered how he knew I needed directions to wherever he was, and even then, how he knew where I was in the first place. Yuyu didn't seem to have any trouble finding me yesterday either... My question was answered, when I rose my left arm to stretch it, and felt the tracker Asclepius planted there all that time ago. That would explain it... I tended to forget the thing was there, it's been fused to my bones for years now, I'm just used to it.
Either way, I worked my way past the pit that lead to the Thomasson, and followed the directions Toto left for me on the screen, which ended up taking me to the medical room. When I got there, I saw Toto and Nyunyu both sitting at a table in there, playing chess. They were both wearing their Flip Flap equipment, which explained how Toto had managed to contact me, although he'd taken his visor/breathing mask off for the game he was playing… not that he'd really need it to beat Nyunyu at chess, he'd probably worked out every possible combination for every move the second she moved a piece…
Or he would have done before his head injury at least. Now, it was a little hard to tell if that was still the case. I mean, sure, when we played air hockey at the arcade, he was the perfect defense and nothing could get past him, but there, he only had one object to focus on. That, and when he was on the dance machine he probably got the highest score for that song on the planet, but that time, everything he needed to do was on the screen in front of him, so although there was a lot of information he knew what to do with it… Okay, he may still have been that way with chess, and be having zero trouble against Nyunyu right now. He might even have picked Nyunyu as an opponent for that reason. She wouldn't have known about his processing power beforehand, and how it seemed to have taken a hit, so she'd have no reason to worry about him… That or Toto was trying to teach her how to play chess, or how to think either about tactics, or how to think before acting… If it was that last one, I'd approve. Maybe it'd stop her pointing any gun she gets her hands on at everyone she sees…
"Hey," I said, announcing my presence, as I stepped into the room. Nyunyu's eyes never left the chess board, her intense gaze glued to the game, whereas Toto's eyes flicked in my direction and he nodded before, also, returning his attention to the game. There weren't too many pieces on the board, and it looked pretty even both sides, for number of remaining pieces, which made me wonder if that's because Toto was going easy on Nyunyu, Nyunyu having learnt fast how to play, or whether Toto's head injury had affected him more than we originally thought…
"You gave me instructions to head here, Toto. I take it you wanted to talk to me?"
Toto seemed hesitant, before finally nodding. He looked up from the chess board and spoke to Nyunyu. "Wish to speak to Yayaka alone… Can take chess board with you, so I can't cheat."
Nyunyu looked up at him, seeming a little confused. Toto smiled at her, and gestured with his hand towards the board. It was a second before Nyunyu grabbed the board, and lifted it quickly, but carefully, so none of the pieces disturbed as she left the room. I noticed as she walked past me, that the amorphous kid healing machine from Asclepius was pushed to the side of the room. Well, there was no point in returning it, I guess, but it was a little odd to see a piece of technology that was clearly Asclepius in Flip Flap's base.
"Necessary to survival," Toto said. I hadn't realised I was staring at it until he'd spoken. I turned back to him to see his head resting on his hands, which were connected under his chin. He looked a cross between thoughtful and sad. Troubled. Unlike most of the amorphous kid's expressions, that one was clear as day on his face.
"When you say that, what do you mean?" I had a bad feeling as I asked him to clarify.
Toto shifted a little, uncomfortable. The action seemed… heavy, like the sorta thing I'd expect to see from Doctor Salt, rather than Toto. I mean, out of the twins, I'd say Toto was the more 'energetic' of the two, and to see him like this… I began to worry a little. Maybe Toto knew what I was feeling, because he shot me a small smile, which I feel was meant to be reassuring, but to me, it just looked… sad.
"Flip Flap armour aids breathing in Pure Illusion… but not much else," he said. "Examination revealed dust from other world couldn't be removed from lungs… Permanent breathing difficulties regardless of equipment."
"But you seemed fine at the arcade. Hell, you were dancing like it's what you were born to do." After I'd said it, I wasn't really sure 'born' was quite the word I should have used.
If it bothered Toto at all, he didn't show it. "Have been to Pure Illusion since… Further damage done…" It was then that I noticed that he seemed to be taking deeper breaths, and bigger pauses in his sentences. "Unlikely I can dance like that again…"
He said that matter-of-factly, suggesting he wasn't bothered in the slightest, but his eyes betrayed his disappointment… As did his voice with the next thing he said, "Want to dance with Ruri-chan…"
Hearing that made my heart hurt a little, and I found it hard to look at Toto, so I looked back at the Asclepius machine. "Can't that machine fix you up, like it did for your head?"
"Would be nice… But running out of blood… Remaining samples going bad…"
I pulled up the sleeve of my Flip Flap gear and held my arm out, looking him in the eye. "If you need more blood to get it going, take mine," I said. His head twitched, as if he were surprised by my offer. Or maybe he was confused. "Asclepius needed my damn blood for something, because they kept taking it from me. My arms were basically a pincushion to them, so I'm used to it." I began to feel bitter at the thought of it, and of Toto's hesitance to take my blood. I reached out to grab a needle that was sitting on the side of the desk, and was gonna stab it in my arm myself, so he didn't have a choice, but when my hand touched the table surface, he slammed his hand down on my wrist, to keep it from moving.
"Hey, what the hell, Toto?! I'm trying to help!" I know I should have been controlling my voice, since he seemed to want to talk to me in private, but it was hard to do when he was making me mad. He took a deep breath, and I wasn't sure if he was trying to keep himself calm, or if because he'd just moved quickly, and the action was stressful for his body.
He spoke again, "Yayaka… Offer appreciated, but can't help… Not made from your blood."
I was about to yell at him, but what he said stopped me in my tracks. "You're… not made with my blood?" Then what the crapping hell has Asclepius been taking samples from me for then?!
As if Toto could read my thoughts, he answered my question. "Some samples from you taken, yes… Skin and hair… Helped attune to your DNA… But not made from you… Not me and Yuyu at least…"
'Not for me and Yuyu at least' I thought for a second about what that could mean, when the image of the orange-eyed girl who'd left the room a few minutes ago popped into my head. Someone Asclepius made to replace me, as Toto and Yuyu couldn't get into Pure Illusion together. They needed someone else. Someone who was pretty quick to get into fights, or at least seemed ready to aim weapons at anything that could pose a threat. She pulled a gun on Hidaka and Sayuri because they were part of Flip Flap. Turning weapons on people she doesn't know… Even then, the amorphous she was made from had been in my possession longer than anyone else who's come into contact with it…
Toto's mouth turned up in a little smirk as I worked it out. "Would only help Nyunyu," he said, confirming my thoughts.
…Wait a second, so if she's made from amorphous that's either Cocona's or heavily influenced by her, and my blood was used to create her... Then… in a way, Nyunyu's my little sister too.
I have a sister… Family…
I… didn't really know what to make of that thought.
We sat in silence for a little while, while I tried to take that in. Eventually I broke the silence, as I wondered. "But if you're sick, and need blood, can't you ask Yuyu? I mean, you're twins aren't you?"
"Can't heal naturally…" He said, tapping the scar on his forehead. "Includes normal blood regeneration… Blood taken from Yuyu would be permanent… Wouldn't be right…"
Wouldn't be right… Like if I broke up Papika and Cocona, just because I wanted Cocona for myself… I got mad thinking about that, and my hand on the desk tightened around the needle that was there, causing the glass to break, and shatter, causing me to hiss with pain as shards slashed my skin. It was an accident, I'd forgotten the thing was there, but a bitter part of me thought that I deserved it.
Toto lifted his hand from my wrist immediately, and walked over to one of the higher up cupboards in the medical room, finding some bandages and a bottle of what I'd guess was some sort of disinfectant. He got to work quickly, turning my hand over, and picking off stray pieces of glass, before applying the disinfectant (Which made me wince, and hurt more than the glass), cleaning the wound, and wrapped the bandages around my hand.
This wasn't the first time he'd acted as a doctor to me. Hell, the most recent time was in this same room maybe two weeks ago, as he helped me recover from the injuries, he and Yuyu inflicted on me so Cocona and Papika would take me back to Flip Flap, as Asclepius would have killed me if I returned.
He cares about me… Even though I'd just thought about when Toto and Yuyu had beaten me up pretty bad, I felt warm. They were doing it to protect me…
"Thanks, Toto." I said, when he'd finished. It wasn't long until I began to curse myself again though. I completely forgot to ask Mimi if she could use whatever power she had to fix the twins… And after what happened to Papika, I doubted she'd be happy to welcome me to any world she happened to be in. Hell, she'd probably launch me into the nearest volcano in the area to get rid of me after I unleased that shadow…
The shadow… I need to tell him. "When me and Papika were in Pure Illusion, she was attacked by…" I didn't really want to admit I was the reason behind the fact it existed, but he needed to know. "A shadow with red—"
"Red eyes?"
My eyes widened to the point I thought they could have rolled out of their sockets if someone tapped me on the back of my head. Shock was understatement for what I felt. "H-how do you know that?"
"Saw same thing…" He answered. "Attacked Cocona…"
Wait, it attacked Cocona? That… confused me. But why the hell would my shadow attack Cocona? I then had a thought that was worse. It seemed to be getting more aggressive every time I saw it… Maybe it doesn't care who it attacks, and it'll just go after anyone in Pure Illusion…
Mimi lives in Pure Illusion…
She knew something had attacked Papika, and seemed suspicious that I knew something about it. I know she was pretty much on the verge of kicking me out the moment after the attack, but still, that thing shouldn't be in Pure Illusion in the first place, and now it was free to… do whatever it wanted. And it's attacked Cocona and Papika, two of the kindest people I knew. I don't know if it had any intention of going after Mimi too, but still. Cocona might not have known her mother for very long, but with how much she cares about everyone, she'll probably be devastated if anything happened to her… And it'll be my fault if anyone gets killed by that thing…
I still don't know if Cocona's forgiven me for lying to her, but either way, if her mother ended up dead because of my shadow, and my stupid damn selfish wishes… She'll never forgive me…
Although my hand was bandaged up, I clenched my fist, tight, causing some splashes of red to appear on the white cloth, and fresh pain spread along the palm of my hand. And if any of the others got killed… I could never forgive myself…
"Yayaka?" Toto's voice was concerned.
"It's my fault…" I said. "I need to go to Pure Illusion deal with it…"
I turned to Toto and looked him in the eyes. Toto trusts me. He told me about his crush, and he told me about how Pure Illusion is affecting him more regardless of equipment…
I hated myself for the next thought I had. You can't get to Pure Illusion alone… If I asked him to come with me, he'd have a perfect reason to ditch the mission and head back to base. I could deal with the problem of my shadow being loose, and I can hunt it down and destroy it, and he can use a Hole device to go back home and be safe…
"Are nyu guys done talking yet?" Nyunyu chose that point to come back into the room, I'd guess taking the large pause in speech as a sign we'd finished. I wondered how much of it she heard, if she was listening in… I also observed, that she was no longer carrying the chessboard she and Toto were playing on, and thought she must've just dumped it out in the corridor, when I saw Papika's robot wheel into the room, carrying it a little precariously. A number of the pieces had tipped over, and I couldn't be sure, but I think there was one less on the board.
"Buu-chan came with a message from Salt-Sama and Hidaka-sama!" she said all of this, with one hand raised in the air. "They want a team to gather samples from Pure Illusion!"
I turned to Toto, and we exchanged a look. He could potentially die if he goes to Pure Illusion again… Not just from anything we'd face in there, but just by going… But I need him to come with me… If it was just me and Nyunyu, even if she did listen to my orders, I don't think I could just hand her a bunch of rocks and order her back to base without her being asked a bunch of questions when she gets back…
I'd never said anything out loud of my plans to him, but his eyes narrowed a little at me, and I felt a weak twinge in the bond between us that'd begun to form in the dusty world. Can he pick up on what I'm feeling, like Papika can?
Toto turned to Nyunyu, and replied to her, "We will go to Pure Illusion for Hidaka…"
"Okay!" having an answer, Nyunyu merrily wandered off, probably to pass the message on, or head to the Thomasson herself, if she wanted to come with us. Well, if she did, at least I'd have Toto with me which would be my main concern, but still, I couldn't help feeling guilty as I looked at him. Even though he seemed to know I wanted him to come with me, and he willingly said he'd go, I felt like I was using him. I should give him another chance to say no.
"Hey, Toto?" I felt awkward talking and looked away from him. "You don't have to come with us you know, not if you're that sick…"
"Want to go… Might be last time I can see Pure Illusion…" he said. He spoke as if it wasn't a big deal at all. I heard him shift from his seat, as he got up to head to the Thomasson.
I didn't get up and follow him for a little while. If we're heading out right now, I'm not gonna have a chance to say goodbye to Cocona and the others… I caught sight of some paper and a pen lying on one of the desks nearby, and quickly scribbled down a message for them, before chasing after him.
"WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG?" Hidaka roared as soon as I stepped into the Thomasson room.
I didn't bother replying and just strode into the room, and shut myself in the lower part of the Thomasson. I guess at least when I'm in Pure Illusion I won't have to deal with Hidaka at all… I didn't quite realise I was sharing the compartment with anyone until I felt Toto nudge his leg against mine. I wondered what the heck he was doing down here instead of being in the top compartment.
"Couldn't climb…" he said quietly, his voice muffled by his skull-design breathing mask. Nyunyu held her hands down for both of us to take, which Toto and I did. Toto then reached for my hand… and I hesitated. Not because the only hand I had free was the one that'd gotten cut up and earlier, but because I felt bad again about Toto coming along with us in his condition. He couldn't even manage climbing into the upper part of the Thomasson… He shouldn't be doing this…
"Yayaka… It's okay… Want to go…" He said quietly, still holding his hand out. I looked him in the eyes, trying to find any hint that he could be lying, and saw none. He knows I need him there. He's doing this for me…
"I'll keep you safe while we're out there," I promised, as I reached my hand out for his. I saw his cheeks rise slightly, as he smiled under his mask, before he closed his eyes, and I followed suit, trying to synch up my thoughts to Toto's and Nyunyu's.
It took a little while, as my mind kept drifting in other directions, so it took me by surprise, whenI felt the sharp tug…
I woke up and couldn't see my hands… Or not clearly at least. I pushed myself to stand up from being flat to the ground and… felt my square-shaped hand press against a completely flat surface. As my legs came together so I could balance, I thought I could sorta feel them slot into each other for a moment. What the hell?
I looked down, an action which was a lot sharper/jerkier than I was expecting and saw, much like my hands, that my legs were squares, and that my feet were just smaller squares connected to them. Something about this struck me as familiar…
I spun around, which thankfully, was pretty easy to do, but it was also really damn weird. I didn't move my feet at all, I just sorta… It's like I was standing on a record player, I was turning, and I could look around…
I'd say the place had tons of rolling hills, but there wasn't a smooth or rounded surface to be seen, so 'rolling' wouldn't quite be the right word for it. Actually, it was hard to say if they were even hills, they looked a bit more like those square pyramid things the Aztecs or the Mayans had built. One of them had a large building on it, which looked a bit like a European castle on it. Battlements sitting on the tops of high walls, and pointed towers poking into the sky. The sky behind it all looked pretty normal, I guess. A blocky black-blue gradient, with a large blocky white moon, framing the distant castle, dotted with a sequence of pixel-like stars—
Pixels. Like Sayuri's Super Famicom games. That's why it's so familiar. We must be in some weird video game Pure Illusion…
I heard a sharp hiss behind me, and then a series of beeps that seemed to be low pitched. Is someone talking? I turned around again, trying not to feel motion sick from spinning without moving, and turned to see Toto and Nyunyu both looking at me, and a text box below Toto's head, as if he had subtitles.
TOTO: "Breathing gear functional." The beeping stopped, just as text had finished scrolling on the box, and I realised that was supposed to be his 'voice' as he was talking.
YAYAKA: "You sure?" my beeps were in a pitch a little higher than his. Toto nodded, his pixel head seeming to tilt towards me, so a couple of lines of his silver hair were visible for a moment before going back to 'normal'. "Okay, but if you start to feel any worse, go back right away, got it?"
Toto nodded. A second later, Nyunyu's pixel arm rose into the air. NYUNYU: "This is weird!" her 'voice' was a higher pitch than mine, and also a lot faster. The text in her 'subtitles' appeared as quickly, mimicking her way of talking.
YAYAKA: "I can agree with that one, kiddo…" We might even have to be careful about talking in this world. If it's all text-based, anyone could read what we were saying if their eyes were good enough… As I thought that, I had a glance around the world again. Hidaka sent us out here for samples… Not that I was intending to return with anything from this world that the team was supposed to hand over, but we should probably at least look for something to give back. The only things that were close by were a few stray flowers sticking up from the flat green ground, but as I reached down to touch them, my fingers, like my legs earlier, just sort of 'slotted' into any gaps in the pixels of the plant life. I tried clenching my hand to grab at them, and I felt my 'fingers' connect with each other, but the flowers weren't affected. I wasn't really expecting anything to happen, even then if we brought some pixel-plants back, how would it look when it was in the real world? Would it still be pixels? Would it just be a leaf or a bunch of petals?
Either way, beyond the flowers, there wasn't anything I could see that might possibly be able to be interacted with. Not in this area at least. I tried to take a few steps forward and found I couldn't. I'd say it felt a bit like someone had just melded my feet to the floor, but I tried to lift my arm and go in that direction and it hit an invisible wall. Why my feet couldn't kick into it, I wasn't sure. I tried to turn myself, with my arms out (which probably made me resemble one of Buu's helicopter blades, with how turning in this world seemed to work for me) until I found a place where my hands didn't touch invisible wall, and there were only two directions. If this is like one of Sayuri's Super Famicom games, I guess that makes sense. You can only move forwards or back in those. The options we had were heading into some of the square hills, or to make our way to the castle. Well, if Sayuri's games taught me anything, it's to head to the nearest castle.
YAYAKA: "Follow me." I gave the order, as I lead the two of them up there.
I felt a little like there should have been music accompanying us in this world, but the only sounds that really happened was when someone was talking, which mean having to turn to face them, so I could 'read' their subtitles. Nyunyu saw a bug somewhere and asked Toto if she could catch it, which he said 'no' to. In fact, that was pretty much the only conversation that happened. I have no idea where the hell all these 'bugs' Nyunyu kept seeing were, it was pretty dark, and I was pretty sure she didn't mean bugs as in glitches either, as one time when I turned around to look at the pair of them Nyunyu was holding a long rod with a 'shimmering' sort of cone from one end of it, which I thought was a spiked club at first, but then realised, it was a bug net. Must be a collapsible gadget on one of her forearms…
We got to the castle and the door sort of flattened and shrunk, becoming one less pixel wide, before becoming a texture that was flat on the brick wall of the castle. I saw a few black squares and rectangles gliding on the flat grey brick walls, which I only would have guessed were insects by Nyunyu passing by me (not quite coming into contact with me, although the only ways we could move were a corridor forwards or backwards, we seemed to be in three separate 'lanes' so we didn't touch) and trying to catch one with her net. Maybe she could see more detail in this world than I could, because that's how Asclepius made her. I wondered if Toto had the same eyesight like she did, but when I looked at him, his visor was up. How much information on that thing is clear to him in this area? I activated mine too, to see, oddly, everything was as visually detailed as it should be. The bricks in here were rounded, and some were worn and taken damage, one was cracked... One of the insects Nyunyu was chasing was a beetle, the wings of which were buzzing wildly as it tried to fly away from the eager child (Nyunyu appeared as a 3D form on the visor, not a flat picture like she was in this world otherwise). I clicked my visor back down for a second, to see everything return to flatness. This is weird…
A beep came from Toto's direction and I heard his 'voice'. TOTO: "Seven hours air remaining." He sounded fine, but if I looked above his head, I saw a white speech bubble with a blue sweat drop in it. He's worried…
I was a little wary of the fact Nyunyu could look over at us and eavesdrop on our conversation, but she seemed pretty occupied in her mission to capture any available insects.
YAYAKA: "Toto, are you sure you're okay?"
Toto's eyes flicked in Nyunyu's direction, likely worried about the same thing I was, but seeing she was busy, he spoke willingly. TOTO: "Said I would come... Seemed to want me around... Why?" Much like his pauses in the real world, the game world replicated his speech, his 'voice' stopping momentarily before continuing like normal.
He didn't have to come along. He knows he can die, but he saw I needed help. Some part of me didn't really want to say my plan out loud, as if it would somehow say that I was the reason Cocona and Papika were attacked, but I knew I should tell someone at Flip Flap where I was and what I planned to do, and Toto was my best bet.
Can you whisper in this world? I wondered. I gave it a try. YAYAKA: ("You know how Cocona and Papika came under attack in Pure Illusion?") Well, to answer that, the text appeared to be a little smaller, and the beeping quieter, but that was it. Whether Toto was the only one who could see it or not, I don't know, but even then with Nyunyu's eyes, she may have been able to see it anyway, like how she knew the pixels in this world were insects.
Toto nodded in reply to my speech. I swallowed, before continuing. YAYAKA: ("I think… It's my fault that happened. I've… been hearing whispers in my head.") I lowered my head, ashamed about what I was saying. ("A darker side of me… It kept offering to take over my body because…") I paused. I knew I could trust Toto, hell I trusted him with my life, but good gosh that didn't make it any easier to finally admit, out loud, (well, in writing) and within earshot of someone else ("I'm in love with… Someone I shouldn't be") Okay, I couldn't tell him who, exactly, but still, that was really damn hard to say. I felt a little lighter, finally saying something to someone. It was a bit easier to continue and tell him the rest of the story. ("Basically, I tried holding it off and ignoring it, thinking it would go away… and it sorta has. The voice doesn't bother me anymore, but I think… it somehow disconnected from me, and is now a separate being in Pure Illusion. It's attacked two people I care about, and I feel it's going to be relentless, and attack anyone else it comes across… It's my fault it's out here… And I want to deal with it. Alone.")
I was still staring down at the repeating flagstone pattern of the castle floor below me. Toto remained silent, listening… or I hope listening. I really don't want to have to say that all out loud again… It was a while before I got a response, which I would have missed the start of if I hadn't looked up the second I heard his 'voice'. TOTO: ("Wanted me in Pure Illusion for easy escape?")
I nodded, feeling even worse. YAYAKA: ("Yeah… I'm sorry. I just thought it was the best way to strand myself in Pure Illusion so I can hunt it down alone. Papika looks like she's scarred for life, and Cocona… I don't know what happened when you guys went to Pure Illusion exactly, but…")
TOTO: ("You're in love with her.")
I felt my face heat up. Even though I was pretty much made of pixels right now, I'm pretty sure if Toto could see my cheeks from this angle that they turned a little pink. I didn't reply directly to that, but he probably knew he was right. YAYAKA: ("My best friends have been attacked by my shadow… I don't want any of the rest of you to get hurt either… I could never forgive myself if that happened…") Also, I didn't really want to face Papika again until that thing was taken down. Every time she saw me, she'd probably think of the attack. She has to hate me… And if Cocona learnt that it was my fault Papika was in that condition… ("I'm sorry, Toto. If I could go to Pure Illusion alone to do this, I friggin' would have, but instead I had to drag you along with me and risk your life, just so I could find some excuse to stay behind…")
Toto began to talk, and anything I said after that I said was blocked was blocked by his text box that appeared. TOTO: ("Yayaka… Could sense you needed me… Came with you willingly… Wanted to see Pure Illusion again... Not your fault… Not to blame… Promise.") Above his head a white speech bubble with a smiley face appeared. I looked at it for a while. He's trying to reassure me… I found it hard to believe him in my current state, but Toto wouldn't be saying something like that if he didn't mean it. I tried to smile a thank you at him, and a speech bubble with a smiley face appeared above my head. Close enough I guess.
NYUNYU: "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Her text box was large, and slid in past me and Toto, almost acting as a barrier between us.
YAYAKA: "What the crap?!" I turned my attention back to where I last saw Nyunyu, chasing the beetle, and saw she was gone. Hell, she was nowhere in the corridor. Something happened while we weren't looking. YAYAKA: "HOLD ON, NYUNYU!" I yelled, mentally cursing myself. Not the first time my selfish thoughts have hurt someone… Now because I was so focused on talking to Toto and explaining everything I didn't think to keep an eye on her…
I was running, as fast as I could, deeper into the castle. Flat flaming torches sat in brackets all along the corridor, casting weak halos of yellow light around the area. The 'windows' of the castle that showed the outside world were pressed flat against the wall, showing the starry sky outside, although the colours were starting to shift, a bold purple starting to rise behind the blocky hills. There were doorways strewn all along the building too, but if this was anything like 'Akumajo: Dracula', chances are they were just decoration and couldn't be entered… Okay, I admit I was curious to check it out, being Pure Illusion, there probably was more behind them, but that's not important right now. Nyunyu screamed. She has to be in danger… I made myself run faster. Toto was close by, but I could hear he was struggling with breathing trying to keep up with me. Sorry, Toto, I'd slow down, but Nyunyu needs help now.
It wasn't long until we found ourselves in a huge open room. There was a blob at the opposite end, tucked away, deep in the shadows, that was a little difficult to make out, but going by the silvery-blue colour that shrunk upwards, replaced by a face with orange eyes, it wasn't long before I realised it was Nyunyu. But what the hell is she doing there?
YAYAKA: "Nyunyu!" my 'voice' didn't change tone, but my text box shook with urgency, as I called her name and ran towards her. Dumb move on my part.
TOTO: "Yayaka…! Above!" I just about caught sight of Toto's warning and stopped dead in my tracks, my head jerking upwards as I caught sight of the four pairs of glowing eyes on the ceiling, red, blue, green and yellow, all stacked on top of each other. An enemy… In an instant, four sets of glistening fangs, shot towards me. I thought I saw a little text box flash up on screen quickly, but I had no idea what the hell it said, as I'd already jumped backwards out of the way. White text hovered in front of me, declaring the enemy's attack as a 'MISS!'
The room slowly lit up, orange pixelated light washing over the grey brick walls, highlighting the shape of the enemy; a four-headed dragon. It was strange to look at, beyond the bugs Nyunyu was chasing earlier, it was the only other life form we'd seen in the world so far, that wasn't Toto or Nyunyu.
Maybe I was so used to being around Toto and Nyunyu that seeing them pressed flat didn't seem strange to me, any details they were normally missing, my head kinda filled in the blanks of, but the dragon? Well, I've seen a few dragons in Pure Illusion in my time, but none that may as well have been a living, moving mosaic. The dragon's necks were all kinda short, and sorta bobbed up and down, along with its body, as if it was taking big heavy breaths. I really hope it can't breathe fire…
TOTO: "Yayaka…" I caught sight of him in my peripheral vision, but I had turn to look at him as there were a few lines of statistics above his head: HP: 3000/3000, which was on top of a coloured green bar, MP: 200/200 which was on a blue bar, and just a number 7 hovering below that in the air, which was followed by an empty bar which said 'LIMIT'. Should the number 7 be on the 'limit bar? Is that a glitch? Out of curiosity, I looked above my head and saw a similar set of statistics, although my HP was 5000, and my MP was 100, also I lacked a number '7', but had a LIMIT bar, which puzzled me. My LIMIT bar is empty too, so maybe that isn't a glitch… but why does Toto have it?
Turning back to the dragon, I saw it, too, had a set of statistics over its head: HP: 10,000/10,000, MP: 200/200, and another empty LIMIT bar. What the hell is a 'LIMIT' anyway?
I was about to let off a barrage of rockets, but I found myself unable to move, apart from looking around. My feet were stuck to the floor, and my arms might as well have been locked in place.
YAYAKA: "I can't move!" I said out loud. Again, nothing in my beeping voice changed, but my text box shook to show my urgency. My heart was starting to pound. How the crap can we fight this thing if we can't move?! I tried with sheer force of will to get some part of me, any part of me to move. We're just sitting ducks, it's gonna toast us and we're gonna burn! My mind flashed back to searing ashes amongst a grey and red world. Skulls charring and skin melting… And also to another scene, where I was trapped in a cage with Papika, being lowered into purple lava. Intense heat rising upwards, pouring, flooding, into my body, until I felt like I was boiling, being cooked alive… No… No, no, no… Once again, I was frozen on the spot, with no chance to move, staring a fiery death in the face. I could feel my pixel body shifting rapidly as I began to hyperventilate and panic. Not again! I can't do this again! I can't burn! I don't want to burn! I felt like wild animal that had just been trapped: terrified, confused, and desperate, for something, anything, to save me.
TOTO: "Yayaka!" His arms were out towards me, and a pale green glow shone from his hands. In my panicked mind, I thought for a second that he was doing something to kill me and put me out of my misery, which right then, I would have been pretty happy to welcome, but as the green light touched me, I began to feel cool. My heart began to slow, and my breathing became calmer, easier. Tenseness that'd worked its way into my body was starting to release, and unwind. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Toto's here. He's done something to help me. Nyunyu's here too. She's captured, but she's still here.
I am not alone.
I opened my eyes again and saw Toto's MP bar had gone down. I wondered what that meant, when the dragon in front of us shifted a little. I tried to jump away again, but nothing happened. Whatever Toto had done, it'd calmed me down, but I still couldn't move.
TOTO: "Not your turn, Yayaka."
YAYAKA: "What are you talking about?" He knows something about this world… I had just about enough time to think that when the dragon reared up on its hind legs, and its four heads smashed down on the two of us. I tried to raise my arms, as if that could somehow stop me being swallowed whole by two different heads, but I couldn't move…
I wasn't also in a dragon's gullet right now, which don't get me wrong, I was pretty thankful for, but also very confused about. Until the pain hit me. It felt like how I imagine getting a bowling ball dropped on your back would feel, although by some miracle, my spine wasn't broken, my ribs seemed fine, and I could still stand up. This doesn't make sense… Pain with no injury? I looked up at mine and Toto's bars, to see our HP had gone down. It's a life bar, like in the fighting game at the arcade… I'd gone down to around 4,000 HP, and Toto around 2,000. That one attack did that much?! At this rate, we'd be lucky to survive. We have to be able to do something, we can't die like this!
I tried again to move, but with no success. Come on, you stupid game world! I was about to curse, when I saw a text box appear in front of me with a selection of words: ATTACK. SKILL. STEAL. ITEM. An arrow was hovering next to the 'attack' option. Toto must have used a skill to try and calm me down, and MP is like the hearts in Akumajo: Dracula, letting you use skills.. He must have played a game like this before. He seems to know more about this than I do…
I probably should have asked him for help with this, as he seemed to have more of an idea what the hell was going on, but that idea didn't really occur to me at the time. I had a look through my options. ATTACKing would probably be an idea, but I felt that a kick from the boots on my Flip Flap armour wouldn't do too much. Can I transform here? I checked the SKILLS section next, hoping I might see something there that said I could, but the only options there were 'Heavy Kick, Wire Whip, Boost Attack, Rocket, Mug'… STEAL made me curious, but I wasn't really sure how that would help right now (actually, now I think about it, aren't Mug and Steal kinda the same thing?) and the last option ITEM revealed a number of things: Flip Flap armour, Amorphous, Rocket belt, Water bottle (those four were greyed out), Visor, Breathing masks (found it odd those two were separate items, when in real life they were connected, but there must have been a reason for that), and also explained where the hell the damn thing was, I can never keep track of it), Yuyu note, Yuyu drawing, Jacket copy, Necklace Copy (I'd guess the C was capitalised on the Necklace Copy because it was a transformation item)… and there were a lot more items listed in the inventory too. Apparently Toto had 559 Hole devices on him, in addition to his Flip Flap armour, Rocket belt, Breathing mask and Visor… the only other items he had on him, were Medical supplies, Noise grenades (that's new… since when did he have those?) and Arcade Keychain… He took the keychain Ruri gave him along? That made me smirk, as I found it kinda cute.
But yeah, I had a look through all of my options (neither Toto or the dragon had acted in that time, so maybe that's what Toto meant by it wasn't my turn, this battle is turn-based) and thought for a moment, before my curiosity got the better of me and I picked STEAL so I could figure out what it did.
I wasn't moving myself at all, so being flung forcefully towards the dragon was friggin' scary to say the least, and I could only pray that my theory that this was all turn-based was true, because if it wasn't the dragon could easily have jammed a claw through my skull, and killed me right there. To my relief, that didn't happen, and my arms shot forward automatically, as if I was picking something up from the ground. It felt like I was a puppet and someone was pulling my strings all over, forcing me to do these things. Suddenly, I was pulled backwards through the air, and I felt something heavy in my left hand and a text box appeared.
STEAL: Success! Obtained Nyunyu!
Wait, what? Looking down at my hand, did indeed, reveal I was holding the orange-eyed girl under my arm. For the first time, I think I saw her blink as she looked up at me.
And then she disappeared.
YAYAKA: "What?" I've said and thought that word so much this world that it was starting to sound like it wasn't even a real word any more. I went to look at Toto, to ask if he knew anything, only to see Nyunyu standing next to him. He'd taken something from one of the items on her forearms and threw it at the dragon, a thin rod that burst open in a flash of light. Some kind of grenade? Or a flare? I felt like it should have blinded me, but oddly it didn't and Toto and Nyunyu seemed fine too.
The dragon however only seemed to have one pair of eyes now, although it still had four heads. The yellow, blue, and red eyed heads had flat black clouds hovering in front of their eyes. The item must've done that.
Now Toto's turn was over, it was the dragon's turn to attack again. It took a deep breath, which appeared to have pretty good suction power, as I could feel my pixel hair move towards it as it inhaled. But if it's breathing in that means…
Splotches of orange and yellow erupted from every mouth on the dragon. Fire! I wanted to duck down or hide behind something to take cover, I could feel my body trying to move, but I might as well have been trying to fight against a mould that I fit perfectly into. Nothing I attempted resulted in a movement. I just had to stand there and take the hit… Stand there and burn…
So I was really damn confused when I felt the fire's heat, but there wasn't any pain at all. 'MISS!' 'MISS!' 'MISS!' '-400' Okay, at that last one, it felt a little like my hands were burning, as if I'd gripped something made of metal that was red-hot, but compared to what I was expecting, I was completely fine with that. Then a text box popped up 'YAYAKA's fire resistance has returned to normal!' which worried me a little. Toto must've cast a spell or something on me earlier to help resist the attack. If it hurt me that much with a fire resistance boost, and Toto has less HP than me… I looked at him. Sure enough, he was down to about 1,300, dangerously close to a third of his life bar. His limit bar had filled up quite a bit though, to around half, whereas mine was around a quarter… But that number 7 I mentioned earlier seemed to have gone down, to 6, which concerned me. I still wasn't sure what it was, but it definitely wasn't good… What's that sound? There wasn't any music or anything, but there was definitely something rhythmic in the air…
It took a second to realise it was coming from Toto. His breathing. The whole time in the world I've not heard him like that, and to hear him like that now, as if he was starting to struggle…
YAYAKA: "Toto, are you okay?" It was a second before he replied.
TOTO: "Am fine… For a while…" 'For a while?' Once again, I got suspicious of that lone number hovering above his head…
I waited for the text box to appear in front of me as the dragon had just taken its turn, but it never did. Wondering what the hell was going on, I turned and saw Nyunyu, like Toto and I, now had a set of stats above her head too. Looks like we have another fighter… And going by the fact the dragon was still at full health, we'd probably friggin' need her.
Nyunyu stared at the dragon for a while, and I wondered if she knew what was happening exactly, or if she knew what she had to do. I was about to explain when a text box appeared:
NYUNYU: "Do either of nyu have a sword or a lance?"
It was hard not to voice my confusion. YAYAKA: "What would you need one of those for?"
NYUNYU: "The books in Hidaka's lab said that dragons are always killed with a sword or a lance!"
Apparently Toto was just as confused as me.
TOTO: "No dragons in Hidaka's books…"
…But his comment hit me, and I suddenly worked out what Nyunyu meant. Hidaka's books didn't have dragons in them… but the old ones Cocona gave me, that were in his lab, did. I made a mental note of the fact that in addition to bugs and weaponry, she seemed to like storybooks, and I remembered that I wanted to find a way to thank her for saying the word 'trade' which persuaded Hidaka to let me stay at Flip Flap.
YAYAKA: "Hey, Nyunyu, those books you read were mine. I don't read them anymore, but if you like them, you can keep them." That gave me another thought. "If you like stories, Nyunyu, ask Cocona to tell you some. She has some really good ones."
NYUNYU: "Okay!" It seemed like the sort of moment she would have raised her hand in the air, if she presumably wasn't frozen in place. Well, I say that, she wasn't frozen for long, as she finally made her move. She drew one of the tools on her forearms, which extended into… a harpoon? Now that's an odd choice… But if this world worked with what Nyunyu said, needing a lance or a sword to kill the dragon, it may well have been our only chance of winning the battle. I was expecting her to throw it, but instead she raised it in the air, and a circle of light spread out on the ground beneath her, creating a wall of light. A text box explained what the heck just happened.
NYUNYU casts BARRIER! Party defences increased!
That… wasn't what I was expecting at all. Heck, is it bad that this time I was actually disappointed she didn't have a gun on her? But at the rate me and Toto have been taking damage, she might be on to something… I thought about the dust world again. Maybe it was a thing Asclepius programmed into her, to pull up a barrier in the risk of an attack that could take everyone out. Not the worst idea in the world …
…But it wasn't helping us kill the dragon. The text box with the four options appeared in front of me again, as I looked at our four-headed opponent. Its 10,000 HP bar was still full, although its MP had gone down a little after the fire breath attack. There's no option to run, and I doubt this thing will let us live… We need to take it down, and fast.
I had another look through all of my available options. Although I'd rescued Nyunyu, and that had given us another fighter in our team, the dragon wasn't going to go down any time soon if we carried on like this. Damage. We need to start dealing damage. I had a flick through my skills again, wishing I had more information on them. By the sounds of it, most of my skills sounded like single-target attacks. Is the dragon a single target? It was possible, but when Toto used the item earlier he'd managed to blind three of the four heads… Just in case, I ruled out Heavy Kick. Wire Whip might hit more than one head, but realistically it didn't look like it'd help too much in this situation. But if this is a game, and it's like 'Akumajo: Dracula'… I mean, the whip in that seemed pretty effective at taking out monsters.
YAYAKA used Wire Whip!
My body automatically moved as I pulled out a length of grappling wire from my weapon belt, and swung it in a circle a couple of times, before lashing out. According to this world, it was just a single-pixel-wide line, but I knew if I put my visor back up, I'd see the sharp barbed hooks at the end. The action was over in around two seconds, and if I could move, I probably would have winced, because as I pictured the hooked end striking someone, catching, and then being yanked back, with that force, that quickly, it would really friggin' hurt.
The dragon didn't seem to agree, and I felt disheartened when its HP went from 10,000 to 9,900. How the crap are we going to beat this thing?!
Toto's turn came around. I kept my attention on him as he acted, and watched as his blue MP bar dropped and he launched a bunch of rockets. I didn't see how much damage he did, because I was too busy watching as the 6 dropped down to a 5. I swear Toto's breathing got a little heavier at that point.
'Am fine… For a while…' I felt a jolt of fear as I made the connection. He has five turns left before he runs out of air… How his hours-long air supply translated into turns remaining in a game, I don't know, but the situation we were in terrified me a lot more than it did one turn ago. If we don't kill this thing in four or five turns…
But maybe we didn't need to kill it.
YAYAKA: "Toto! Use a Hole device on your next turn! Get out of here!" Again, the only hint of what I was feeling was the fact my text box shook.
As far as I was concerned, my turn couldn't arrive fast enough. For now though, it was the dragon's turn. The ground shook as it spoke.
DRAGON: "You are trespassing… Pay the price!"
It rose and stomped on the stone floor, causing large spikes to thrust upwards and stab at our feet. The three of us were launched into the air with the sheer force of the attack and we all landed flat on our stomachs. I felt like I'd just belly flopped into a swimming pool from high up, and the wind was knocked out of me. As I wheezed for breath, a white number, representing the damage we took, knocked my HP down to about half, and Toto below a third, and our LIMIT bars filled with red a little more. A text box appeared in the air.
YAYAKA and TOTO are Silenced!
I felt a wave of dread upon reading that and looked back over at Toto. His turn timer had gone down from '5' to '3', and his breaths were a lot louder than they were a few seconds ago. That took him down another two turns?! Did it damage his equipment or something?! I wanted to talk, order him again to get out of here, but the only thing that happened was another text box reminding me I was Silenced. I can't even call his name!
NYUNYU: "Toto-onii-chan!" Nyunyu had taken damage from the attack, and was down to around three quarters of her health. She didn't hesitate at all on this turn, taking action immediately. I saw her throw something at Toto, which just looked like a white blob to me, and I was desperately hoping it was a Hole and she was getting him out of there, and I stood there waiting for a black portal to show up. It didn't. Instead, a green pool of light washed over Toto as his HP rose to about 2,000, so he was back to two thirds of his life. She must have used one of the medical supplies. I would have growled in annoyance, but I guess at least Nyunyu was paying attention, and made it so that he'd be likely to take a hit next turn if he needed to. But there shouldn't be a next turn for him, he needs to get out of here now!
My four options appeared in front of me, and I went straight to the ITEM menu and hovered over the 559 Hole devices, and tried to select one…
Nothing happened. If I could have, I would have grit my teeth or something, but I couldn't move at all. Annoyingly, I understood exactly why it didn't work. I still haven't learnt how to use one… I cursed myself. Five hundred and fifty nine ways home, and I can't use a single one of them to save him…
I was getting more pissed off by the second, closed the items menu, and went to my skills and tried to select one of them.
YAYAKA is Silenced and can't use SKILLS!
Oh for frags sake! FINE! This dragon needed to be taken down, and the last time I used STEAL it did no damage. My only option was a plain attack. This had better deal a lot of damage…
I should have expected being pulled into the air and towards the dragon after the first time I came into close contact with it, but it caught me off guard, and made me feel a little sick, as I was quickly jerked forward, as it someone had tied a string around my waist and just sharply yanked me to the enemy, with one leg shooting out in a kick. I was then forced backwards, moving in the exact same leaping arc, to my original position, and saw the word 'CRITICAL!' followed by a nice, high number, which took the dragon to around 7,000 HP. If I could have smirked, I would have. That's more like it! But then I became worried again a second later. Toto's turn now. I tried to yell at him again.
YAYAKA is Silenced!
Damn it! The most I could do was look in his direction… No… maybe there was more… I tried to reach out for him, with the bond we had. I knew our connection was weak, but maybe I could send him a message… Use a Hole! I'll get Nyunyu back to you somehow! Just get out of here, Toto, or you're gonna die!
If my face showed any expression, I guarantee you I would have been staring so hard it would have looked like I was trying to shoot lasers from my eyes.
Toto's red pixel eyes flicked in my direction. Can he understand me? I saw him raise a flat arm up, like Nyunyu did when she used an item. That's it!
And then a green pool of light shone over me. I looked up to see my HP had gone back up… And Toto's '3' had gone down to '2'.
YAYAKA and TOTO are no longer Silenced! Finally!
YAYAKA: "You idiot! Why did you do that?! Why didn't you go home?!" I was surprised that my text wasn't in all capital letters to try and get across the fact I wanted to shout the whole room down. I wasn't ungrateful that he healed me, but still, he's on the brink of death, and he's not heading back when he promised he would.
If Toto had any emotion to his response either, it wasn't expressed. In fact, he only said three words.
TOTO: "You are injured."
His breathing was even heavier now than it was before, seriously struggling. He must've been winded like I was by the dragon's attack, but clearly it affected him more than he was willing to admit.
I was so busy focusing on him, I didn't realise the dragon had attacked again, until I felt its flat, heavy tail crash into my body, as if I'd just been hit by a truck, and all of us were knocked, flat to the ground.
NYUNYU is Stunned!
I looked over at her, to see she yellow lightning bolts flashing either side of her, and her body was twitching. I wondered how much of that was her being Stunned, and how much of that was pain, because looking up, her life bar was getting dangerously low…
They both need to get out of here. Fast.
Nyunyu being Stunned must have skipped her turn, as the four options appeared in front of me right after the dragon had finished its attack, and I suddenly remembered something. Hidaka sent us here for another damn sample from Pure Illusion… A part of me wondered if that's why Toto was hesitant to leave, because we hadn't fulfilled our mission. That might not be the reason at all, but if it got him back home faster, then fine, I'll take care of that right now.
I went into my skills and chose 'Mug' to see what the difference between that and my regular 'STEAL' option was. My answer was, basically a mix of ATTACK and STEAL, I did some damage, and managed to kick one of the dragon's teeth right out of its head.
Obtained: Dragon fang!
I tossed it in Toto's direction, keeping an eye on the dragon, watching as its HP sunk to 6,500.
YAYAKA: "There! You have a sample you can go back to Hidaka with, now stop being stubborn, Toto, take Nyunyu and get out of here!"
There was no response.
And I couldn't hear him breathing any more.
Shit, I can't be too late!
I turned to him, panicked, desperately hoping he was still okay and saw… he was perfectly fine. His countdown was still at 2, but… he was glowing. He hadn't used an item though, as far as I could see, but he had a glowing white aura around him. I wondered what was going on, when I saw his red LIMIT bar was full.
YAYAKA: "…Toto?" Please tell me he's still alive and that I can't hear him breathing is because of some effect of this world, and not because he's just a floating corpse or something, and the light around him isn't some angelic force taking him away.
He was kneeling next to Nyunyu, one hand on the girl's back. In his other hand rested a green pixel, an item of some sort, but I couldn't work out what it was. Not until he spoke at least.
TOTO: "Ruri-chan…"
The keychain from the arcade… The 'Arcade Keychain'. It was capitalised in the menu, just like my Necklace Copy…
That's when I recognised the kind of light around him, and realised why he had his hand on Nyunyu, a human made from amorphous...
TOTO: "FLIP… FLAPPING!"
He's transforming!
Unlike the flare from earlier, this light did blind me. The most I could do was close my eyes to defend myself from it, as my arms still refused to move. Even then it was still bright to the point of I'd be surprised if I had eyes when it had gone. When the light faded, I opened my eyes a crack (thankfully the light didn't destroy them), to see Toto hovering in the air. His feet weren't touching the ground, but he was in a combat stance that clearly said he was happy to punch the life out of anything that pissed him off. His transformation gear was a little hard to make out, what with everything in this world being a 2D pixel sprite, but at a guess, it looked like he was wearing some kind of martial arts gi. His silver hair looked like it was alive with ghostly white flames… Actually, now I think about it, he looked a bit like the martial artist character in the arcade game he and Yuyu played as, when they fought against the dragon guy.
His transformation came with a weapon too, like Cocona's and Papika's, although rather than being a giant sword, or twin energy guns, Toto's looked more like a sniper rifle, which made me think of the guns the old Asclepius soldiers used to have. Of course, like everything else, it was pixelated, but that didn't hinder Toto's next attack in the slightest.
TOTO: "Pure… Blank!" Unlike every other time in the world, that line wasn't accompanied by beeps, those two words were actually spoken with Toto's real voice, louder than I've ever heard him before. But that was nothing compared to the gunshot that erupted from the end of his weapon's barrel. I thought the dragon's breath was terrifying, but it was nothing compared to Toto's attack.
Along with a burst of grey, shifting smoke, a white-blue beam shot from the end of his weapon, in an attack that looked like it could easily have sliced the dragon in half. Heck, if this was real-life combat, I'd guarantee you, exactly that would have happened, or at least it'd have a hole melted straight through its body.
After Toto's attack, his LIMIT bar emptied completely, and his transformation faded.
I was happy to see that his attack had done as much damage as it looked like it should have caused… well almost. The dragon was down to around 500 HP now, and could probably be finished in a single attack…
Unfortunately, it was the dragon's turn now.
And it wanted revenge.
Once again, it inhaled deeply, before using all four of its heads in a focused attack on Toto. Two of the attacks came up with 'MISS!', as the dragon was still affected by Toto's attempt to blind it before, but the remaining two hits did enough to bring Toto back down to 100HP. He was already panting heavily from the minute he hit the ground, with the '2' turning to a '1', but the dragon's attack was too much, and now he was forced to kneel, with his hand clutching at the scar on his forehead.
It would have been Nyunyu's turn, but she was still Stunned, so the option box appeared in front of me instead of her. Before I took my turn though, I had to speak to Toto.
YAYAKA: "Toto… I can't use a Hole device on you, and you promised me you'd head back to Flip Flap if you felt yourself becoming worse…" I was thankful my voice was a series of monotone beeps at that moment, because I knew if I spoke, my voice would be cracking, and I'd be on the verge of tears. "You came here because you knew I needed help, and you know that I wanted you guys to leave so I could stay here, and deal with the shadow…" My throat was getting tight and it was getting hard to talk. "I don't know why you've stayed so long, but please… go back home with Nyunyu… I don't want you guys to die!"
I hovered over the 'Medical supplies' in the item menu, ready to use them on Nyunyu, before I spoke to Toto again.
YAYAKA: "Please, Toto. Go back to Flip Flap with Nyunyu."
I might have been able to take the dragon out that turn, but I didn't want to risk it. If I attacked, and it missed or didn't do enough damage, Toto might have tried to finish it off for me that turn instead of going back with Nyunyu, and risk his countdown hitting zero. I wasn't sure if that'd mean instant death or not, but I didn't want to find out. For that same reason, I didn't want to use the Medical supplies on him, even though he was on lower HP than Nyunyu and would logically need it most: It would be another reason to force him to retreat.
I took a deep breath as I used the healing item on Nyunyu. I wasn't really sure how the pixel bandages got from Toto's Flip Flap armour to my hand, they just sorta teleported there, but if it helped Nyunyu, I was fine with that. Nyunyu's HP went back up a fair portion and a textbox appeared.
NYUNYU is no longer Stunned!
Good.
Toto acted immediately, and I barely had a moment to pray he would go back home. He was holding a white pixel in his hands, which scared me for a second, that he was going to use a healing item on me, but he slammed it straight down at the floor and a large black Hole opened beneath him and Nyunyu.
Toto grabbed hold of the blue-silver haired girl and pulled her down with him. Toto's eyes caught mine for a second as he gave me one final message.
TOTO: "Good… luck…"
Apparently Nyunyu had one for me too.
NYUNYU: "Yayaka-" was about all I could make out before her subtitles disappeared into the Hole. Something shot upwards out of it though, heading in my general direction. Maybe the Hole being activated stopped the world's 'frozen pose' combat thing, as I was able to reach for it. My pixel-hands slotted around a weapon, specifically, the harpoon Nyunyu was using earlier. I would've called a thank you, but the Hole was gone by the time I caught the weapon. I hope they make it back to Flip Flap okay…
I turned my attention back to the dragon, which was preparing its next attack, holding the harpoon, ready to use on my next turn.
YAYAKA: "Bring it on, big guy."
Authors note: Sorry if this chapter ends sorta suddenly, I felt that was a good time to cut it off, as I felt the JRPG section was getting a little long, even though I could have squeezed another few rounds in, but the chapter is around 12k words, and I figure that's kinda enough.
I was originally going to have the team fight against a spider, and have Nyunyu run off because she wanted to catch it, but then I had a thought: There's actually quite a few spider monsters in Flip Flappers (Episodes 3, 6 and 12, so spider monsters appear in almost a quarter of every episode in the series), so I thought I'd go for something different. Part of me still wishes I'd gone for the spider now, because it'd link in with the rest of the series somehow.
I originally had a different idea for the Pixel World, but then I thought up the whole JRPG/Final Fantasy sort of thing, and I thought it was too good an opportunity to miss. Thankfully the other idea I have can work in almost any other Pure Illusion world, so I can hopefully fit that in later.
