Eevee cautiously peeked over the edge of the rowboat and looked up and down the island. There was no one in sight and he could hear the faint sound of saws and hammers coming from far off. Deciding he was safe, he stepped onto the dock and made a dash for the safety of the trees.
"There you are!" Vulpix shouted, leaping out from under the dock and tackling him around the legs. "I've been lurking there for hours waiting for you to get here. I've already put the other slaves to work and I can't waste any more precious hours of daylight waiting for you to show up."
"LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU DEMENTED WORKAHOLIC!" Eevee shrieked, but Vulpix had already hogtied him with a length of rope. She hummed a merry tune as she dragged him kicking and screaming around to the back of the island, which was filled with more planks and loose debris than a shipwrecked lumber barge. Their various 'friends' were scattered about the area, feverishly working at it with any tools they had at hand.
Venonat looked up as Eevee was dragged past and held out a manacled hand. "Help me…"
"Who said you could take a break?" Vulpix shouted, producing a whip from somewhere and wailing on the bug with it. "We're already too far behind schedule for you to slow down. Deck 4 was supposed to have been finished an hour ago!"
"Quite into it today, isn't she?" Zorua asked, walking over and tipping his hard hat in her direction. "Is this you're new look, Eevee? I think I like it."
"Why aren't you in chains?" Eevee asked, trying to wiggle free of his bonds.
"I'm the sub-supervisor in charge of the plans." Zorua said, consulting a clipboard covered in papers. "Vulpix, Burmy has been mining all morning and still hasn't struck any coal. I still think sails would be easier to use at this point."
Vulpix looked shocked. "Sails? What kind of luxury liner used sails? Besides, I came up with a better idea. It involves giant paddlewheels and Eevee doing a lot of walking in a circle."
"Now wait just a minute!" Eevee screeched.
"Very good, I'll get the contractors started." Zorua said, making a tick on his clipboard. "The delivery guys just dropped off the four hundred square feet of plush carpeting, which you need to sigh for here. And there's a line of applicants for the catering positions that you need to interview still."
"Put them all to work installing carpets and call it a placement test." Vulpix said, rubbing her hands manically. "Anything else?"
Zorua ran down his list and shook his head. "Other than we still need a name, nothing pressing. My suggestion is Highwind. It sounds just fabulous."
"I was thinking The S. S. Vulpix. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Vulpix looked down and saw Eevee had slipped off into a light nap and kicked him. "I said, don't you think?"
"What? Oh, yes, whatever you said…" Eevee muttered.
"Well, what would you call it?" Zorua asked.
Eevee looked out at the sea to get inspiration and jerked himself upright. "Metal Gear!" he shouted.
The two of them looked at him blankly. "That is a stupid name." Vulpix said. "First off, it's going to be made of wood, not metal. Secondly, I already tried working out how to turn it into a walking death tank, and the luxury cruise idea is worth a lot more money in the end."
"I thought those plans were a joke." Zorua said to himself.
"No! Look out there. It's a real Metal Gear!" Eevee screamed, gesturing with his head.
"Where?" they asked, straining they're eyes against the sun's glare. The sea was peaceful and flat, just like it always was.
Presently, Zorua said. "I think we should have a race to decide the name."
"Why?" Vulpix asked.
"Because it looks like Eevee already started." Zorua returned, peering down the beach.
"Ah. I wonder when he broke out from the ropes…"
"FREEDOM!" Eevee shouted, running for all he was worth.
He dashed over a broken bridge, climbed up a watchtower, rappelled down a rope onto the partially complete mast, leapt from treetop to treetop, high-fived a tree in the shape of a star which started to glow, turned back the way he came, teamed up with a small pink blob against an evil penguin with a hammer, and rode a rainbow all the way to Dream Land, where they crowned him King of Sleep! Or at least that's what he thought he did. What actually happened was a piece of the bridge collapsed five seconds after he started running and he landed on his head several times during the fall.
"Hurry up if you want to win, Eevee!" Zorua called cheerfully as he easily hopped over the break in the bridge, Vulpix hot on his heels.
"I already got the copyright to the name S. S. Vulpix. You'll never beat me!"
"Screw this for a wingull…" Eevee muttered around the brain damage, and took off in the other direction.
...
"You know what I don't understand the most?" Eevee muttered to himself half an hour later as he stomped along the muddy track and shoved dripping vines out from his face. "I tried swimming out to sea to escape, so how did I get lost inland? WHERE AM I?"
Suddenly, he put his foot down onto empty air and tumbled down a steep bank into a river. "Ok, ok, this is good. The water has to lead somewhere. I can just float on my back until I get out of this impenetrable jungle. You know, this could almost be relaxing."
On cue, the river took a sharp turn and threw him over the edge of the island's waterfall. Eevee performed a perfect belly flop into the shallow pool at the bottom and lay there for several minutes as the feeling returned to his body.
"I think I saw him over there!" Vulpix said from somewhere close by.
"Gotta hide, gotta hide!" Eevee sputtered, thrashing up the side of the pool. A cave not so subtly hidden by some ferns caught his eye and he dashing inside. After running head first into walls multiple times his eyes finally adjusted to the dark enough to see where he was. The cave was uneven with tree roots breaking though the walls, and every surface was covered with graffiti.
Out of curiosity, Eevee walked up to the closest one. "For a good ride, ask for Rapidash." he read. Looking around, he saw that most of them were along similar lines to this one save for a couple pictures along the opposite wall. We walked over and peered at them.
It turned out to be a picture of him and Vulpix, facing each other, which looked like it had been carved by a four year old. Looking around, he spotted a small rock on the floor and picked it up. After ten minutes of bashing it against the wall, he sat back to look over his handiwork.
"Is that Vulpix… picking its nose?" a voice asked.
"Yeah. Good, isn't it?" Eevee giggled. He paused and mentally played back the last ten seconds of his life, then turned around slowly. "Who's there? If I scream, my friends will be here in a second."
A hooded figure in a cloak was watching him from the shadows on the other side of the cave. "They'd be able to hear you over the massive racket from the construction work?"
"Don't underestimate my powers of crying for help like a baby."
"…Perfect…" the hooded said, then turned slightly away. "I don't really care about you, little Normal. I've only come to see the door to this world."
"What door?"
"That door. The only one in this cave. The one you are standing right next to, right now."
"Where?" Eevee asked, turning the wrong way.
The figure face-palmed. "Anyway… this door has been connected. Tied to the darkness, this world will soon be eclipsed, as soon as the door fully opens."
"You know, someone recently told me something similar." Eevee said suspiciously. "You don't have anything to do with my subconscious hallucinations, do you?"
"This is going to be far easier than it should." The figure said to itself. "You don't even know what's behind this door. You know so little."
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
"Well, it's been nice insulting you, but I've got places to be, worlds to concur." The figure floated backwards and disappeared into the far wall, leaving Eevee alone in the cave.
"What a nice guy." Eevee said, turning around and finally spotting to door. "Hey, who'd build a door all the way in here? I wonder what's behind it. Maybe candy!"
"Found you!" Vulpix shouted in triumph, rounding the bend in the tunnel and charging at him.
"OH NO, LET ME THROUGH! ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN HERE!" Eevee screamed without the least bit of irony, scrambling frantically at the door. Vulpic used headbutt! Eevee doubled over in pain!
Neither of them noticed, as Vulpix dragged Eevee's gasping form out of the cave, that the door had been cracked open and a few tendrils of darkness were swirling out of the crack.
...
Later that night, Eevee was tossing and turning in his sleep. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in his bed and stared out the window. Bolts of lightning were dancing out to sea around the island.
"A storm? The ship! It will be destroyed! Someone should do something!"
An hour later he was woken up again when a tree branch was blown through his bedroom window, showering him in bits of glass and leaves.
"Great. Now where am I going to get some sleep?" Eevee asked, rain blowing almost horizontally though the hole onto his head. He sat pouting in the sheets for a few more minutes before hopping out of bed and walking downstairs.
The first floor of his house was completely flooded. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this, as his mother was a Vaporeon, but it made the couch an uncomfortable place for a nap. He lay down on it anyway and was soon snoring like a sawmill, so loud that he didn't even hear when the storm blew the front door open. Within moments the couch was floating outside on a suddenly released river and drifted out into the sea.
Eventually the couch grounded on the island, tipping over and spilling its slumbering occupant onto the beach. "AHHH! How did I get out here?" Eevee sputtered, wrapping his arms around himself and looking around for some kind of shelter from the torrential downpour.
His eyes tracked upwards and froze. "WHAT IN THE GREAT MASTERBALLS IS THAT!" he screamed. A gigantic Shadow Ball was forming over the top of the island. Even as he watched it was getting bigger.
"It looks like an attack that will obliterate this tiny place you've got here." Poochyena observed.
"Oh, is that all?" Eevee said sarcastically. "And here I thought it was something… to… worry… about…"
"Get him lads!" the Poochyena yelled, leading a charge down the docks that piled onto Eevee before he could defend himself. Somehow he managed to squirm out from the heap of enemies with only minor mortal wounds and took off towards the safest place he could think off: the smaller island which was farther away from the shelter of the rock walls and covered in tall trees that were attracting most of the lightning. The Poochyena, not quite as stupid, didn't follow as he ran across the rickety bridge.
Zorua turned around as Eevee arrived. "Where's Vulpix? I thought she'd be with you?"
Eevee paused. "Vulpix is here too? This night just keeps getting worse and worse!"
"It doesn't matter." Zorua said, shaking his head. "The door has opened. We can finally leave this island. Just the two of us!"
"What about Vulpix?"
"Well… she can come too, I guess…"
"Oh no!" Eevee cringed at the thought. "I'm not going anywhere. This all reeks of a long adventure, filled with excitement and danger. I'm having no part of this!"
"This might be our only chance!" Zorua shouted, holding out his hand. "I don't intend to spend my whole life wasting away on this little island. I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
"That's easy for you to say. You ARE a dark type!" Eevee turned and tried to run back across the bridge, but suddenly the ground was covered in black energy that held him in place. Zorua was already sinking without any resistance. Eevee struggled against the dragging weight, but in the end it was no use. The darkness washed over him and the whole world went black.
...
But that wouldn't make an interesting story if it ended there, now would it?
...
"EEVEE LEARNED HIDDEN POWER!" A voice from nowhere said. "USE THE POWER WITHIN YOU TO BANISH THE SHADOWS!"
Light blossomed from the center of the darkness, ripping it away and leaving a stunned Eevee in the middle of a calm circle that even the rain wasn't falling in. Zorua and the darkness were completely gone. Eevee looked blearily around him before staring down at his palms.
"Holy crap…" he muttered, "I have superpowers!"
"Hey, the storm's died down a bit. Let's get him!" Poochyena shouted to his underlings. They charged across the bridge and soon had him completely surrounded.
Eevee grinned evilly. "Time for some payback!" Eevee used Hidden Power! All the Poochyena were crushed by the light! For some reason this caused them to burst into little green balls which were quickly caught up in the wind and blown away.
"Take that!" Eevee said triumphantly before a flying branch cracked him in the back of the head. When he could stand again he raced off over the bridge, trying to find any place he could get out from the storm.
The cave from earlier loomed up ahead and before he could think better of it he slipped inside. If he hadn't been keeping his eyes clenched shut against the rain he would have seen that someone had put a large door over the entrance. He rebounded off it and landed face down in the sand.
"Who put that there?" he asked no one in particular, getting back up and inspecting the door. Other than its existence, there seemed to be nothing special about it. But a closed door meant a dry cave, so he opened it and slipped inside. This time he could see his way through the tunnel because something up ahead was casting a glow.
He rounded the last corner and came face to face with Vulpix, who was standing in front of the door. "…Eevee?" she asked.
"I'm sorry!" Eevee stammered, edging backwards as fast as he could. "I didn't mean to barge in on you like this, I'm sure you are doing important things, I wouldn't want to bother you, please don't make me do any more heavy lifting!"
Suddenly, the door burst open and a dark blast of air flew through the cave. Vulpix was picked up by the wave and carried towards Eevee, who was caught against the far wall and pinned down by the gale. Right before they would have slammed into each other, Vulpix became transparent and vanished.
"SHE'S A GHOST AND WILL HAUNT ME FOREVER!" Eevee screamed, a little unbalanced by all that was happening. He ran out of the cave and nearly went over the edge of the planet. Right in front of him the world dropped away like it had been cut into a bottomless pit of nothing. The world seemed to only contain the shattered remains of the island and the humongous, swirling ball floating over it.
"I'm the only one left. Everyone I know is gone…" Eevee said thoughtfully, then started pumping his arm in the air and dancing around. "Yahoo! Eat it, everyone who isn't me!"
A giant, dark shape loomed up over his shoulder. "HELLO AGAIN, EEVEE."
"Oh, no…" Eevee said, turning around and going pale. "It can't be."
"BEEN A WHILE, HASN"T IT?" Mightyena said. "SO… WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?"
"I WILL NEVER TELL YOU ANYTHING!" Eevee shouted, letting loose with his Hidden Power. Without him realizing it, the attack took the form of a glowing sword which he held clamped between his teeth. He dove at the Mightyena and started hacking at his knees. Once again, this seemed to work really well for some reason and the Mightyena roared in pain.
Suddenly, and once again for no real reason, the giant shadow ball started sucking everything into it like a giant vacuum. Mightyena was the first to get dragged in, screaming all the way. "NO! I ONLY WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABout yoouuuu…"
"Serves you right, you creepy stalker!" Eevee taunted, clinging for dear life to a piece of what had been the ship's hull he'd been working on earlier. A piece of paper which had been tacked to the underside of the wood snapped loose and flew directly into Eevee's face. It read 'This timber is really weak. Need to replace this whole lot when I get a chance. –Vulpix'.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Eevee asked, just as the rotting wood snapped beneath his fingers. He was immediately sucked up into the swirling ball of death. "OHHSSHHIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiii…"