[Town victory] Vanilla Mafia!

[AbraPunk]

"Watch, like this," Mike puffed his chest and yelled, so as to be heard clearly: "What happens if Pinnochio says 'my nose will now grow'?"

Kent briefly stopped his fighting to stare at Mike. "Huh? The fuck are you on about?"

Purple clouds began to roll across the horizon. A wind picked up, carrying a bitter odor like the remnants of a forest fire of the ancient past. A swirl of darkness appeared high above them, right at the center of where they had all first arrived.

"So, you're all here."

He glanced at the sky.

Huh.

"Well, that's not concerning."

Really, it wasn't.

 

[Homestar!]

Everyone was having their meet and greet in a mostly friendly manner with no particular stress, for the most part, befalling them. The skies were blue; the grass was green.

And then... they both started, slowly, to shift a shade of red.

Purple clouds began to roll across the horizon. A wind picked up, carrying a bitter odor like the remnants of a forest fire of the ancient past. A swirl of darkness appeared high above them, right at the center of where they had all first arrived.

"So, you're all here."

The theatrics were right, as far as Mike could tell. The redshift, the voice, the abrupt end to the chaos served up with more chaos. But the phrasing didn't quite sound like one of Robin's usuals. She liked her games, sure, but she was a little more direct with Mike.

Was it possible she'd pulled other teammates into the dream game again? It wasn't something she did often, sure, but it wasn't entirely off of her radar, either. He shoved away the intrusive thought of 'this isn't Robin' and turned to face the whorl of energy.

 

[Flyg0n]

She watched as the sky warped, shifting into ominous colors and a strange voice was spoke. It almost reminded her of the power legendaries were sometimes said to wield. Had one of them set this game up?

Her gaze drifted around the assembled group again. No one else seemed to know what was going on. As she looked, she spotted something else that made her do a double take. It looked like a Purrloin, at least in face, though its colors were completely different and it had the body of... a human. Who was that?

Although she guessed that wasn't the strangest thing here.

"So anyone else know what's going on?"

 

[windskull]

So, the sky was now showing it's true colors. Red. Red like blood. Except not his blood because he was too cool and edgy but that was beside the point. Now there was a voice in the sky making eeriee and cryptic comments. Story of his life. He fought the urge to roll his eyes like a rebellious teenager that just got told to go to their room.

"And why are we here, 'oh great voice in the sky?'" That... Sounded wittier in his head.

 

[Fusion]

Everyone was having their meet and greet in a mostly friendly manner with no particular stress, for the most part, befalling them. The skies were blue; the grass was green.

And then... they both started, slowly, to shift a shade of red.

Purple clouds began to roll across the horizon. A wind picked up, carrying a bitter odor like the remnants of a forest fire of the ancient past. A swirl of darkness appeared high above them, right at the center of where they had all first arrived.

"So, you're all here."

Reme, having just arrived, had half a mind to turn right back around. The only reasons she stayed was the growing curiosity to learn the speaker of such an... interesting voice, and the sense that she couldn't leave anyway.

And, after taking a look at everyone else that had arrived before her... Where did she happen to end up? Pokemon... things that looked like more animalistic pokemon, a few of those duck-looking AI in their physical forms, and something she could have sworn was a human with robotic enhancements and white hair. Neither of those, to her knowledge, were natural for humans to have... at least the last time she read up on them. Oh, and a humanoid Vulpix and Purrloin. Ten seconds from home and it felt like she didn't leave at all.

It was quite a bit to take it all in, so Reme took a deep breath, held it for a moment, patted her satchel to make sure it was there, and exhaled before joining the group. "Well this is certainly not what I was expecting from accepting a letter in the mail. Greetings, I am Reme of the Azure Guild, although I have a feeling that last part hardly matters here."

 

[Dragonfree]

Jean could hardly contain her excitement as she looked around the field. A game full of intrigue and suspicion! And she'd been chosen to play it, along with... was that Wes from Pokémon Colosseum, coat flapping in the wind, engaged in a real fight with a... some kind of Pokémon she'd never even seen before?! (Nobody was telling him he couldn't fight, she noted with a small pout. Sure, he was older, but he was all the way human!)

More importantly... "A talking puppy!" Jean ran towards the Houndoom with a delighted squeal. "What's your name? Can I pet you?!"

Someone who... were they human? There was someone who looked almost like a young human, but with Vulpix tails taht were red instead of white, and bit of a different-looking face.

Hazel was most intrigued by them. She approached, slowly and cautiously, trying to look as unintimidating as possible, which was difficult for someone who looked like her.

She should be able to talk here, right? Some of the other species who shouldn't be able to talk were doing that. She was supposed to be able to as well. Trying her new ability out cautiously, she whispered to the odd human-ish. "Hello..."

Jean looked up. The speaker was... was that a Type: Null? The sad experimental hybrid created by the sinister Aether Foundation, before Gladion freed it and they became best friends? Her eyes widened. Maybe if there was no Gladion here, she could be her best friend, instead. She grinned. "Hi! Do you need any help? That mask looks heavy!"

Salem rose to a crouch, and looked anxiously about for potential allies.

And spotted another hybrid. Some kind of fox? A vulpix? She didn't look like a normal morph at all, not blended like Salem but half and half, mismatched, like reassembled dolls.

Salem nervously raised her voice and signed a wave of greeting.

"Uh, hello?"

And then she turned her head in the other direction to find... another Pokémorph. Not any of the eight of them, a new one. A kitty! A... Purrloin, maybe? She was a weird color but sometimes you did get Pokémon with weird colors. "Ooh! What's your name? Who made you?"

She was going to make so many new friends. She could hardly wait! Jean bounced on her feet, looking eagerly between all three of them.

That was when the environment shifted, the sky turned red, a dark swirl appeared in the sky. Jean stared up at it in wide-eyed awe. Just like in the movies, only happening in real life! Who was talking? Was this the person controlling the game? Like the 'dungeon master' in the game Jack and Gabriel liked to play?

 

[Chibi Pika]

More importantly... "A talking puppy!" Jean ran towards the Houndoom with a delighted squeal. "What's your name? Can I pet you?!"

"Talking, wh...? Why does everyone think I wouldn't know how to talk?" Okay, maybe she'd evolved a little early and sometimes people said she had a babyface, but still! She'd be full-grown soon! What the heck!

Maybe... maybe it was the other way around? Maybe they weren't very good at Pokéspeech. Some humans weren't. (That didn't explain the Lucario, though!) Oh, but... the red-haired human girl seemed really nice. And she wanted to give pets! Nnn... if Ebony didn't want everyone thinking she was a pup, then she shouldn't just accept pets from any stranger, right...? But... pets!!

...She gave in.

"My name's Ebony! Pets are good!" She did her best to keep her face to a normal level of excited.

The girl smelled a bit strange--not like most humans. Fire-type scent...? Also the girl had the Vulpix tails! (??!?!) Ebony sniffed one of the tails more closely--it was real!!

"You have tails!" Ebony blurted out without thinking. Wait, wait, she knew the word, she was sure of it. She'd heard it used for those guys... Pikachu, Absol, Flygon... "You're an experiment!"

 

[Dragonfree]

"Ebony! That's a pretty name!" The Sarah Hooter books had an Ebony! She was a Sneasel morph and not a Houndoom, but still. She rubbed the Houndoom's cheeks eagerly, admiring her bony horns. (Bony... like Ebony? Was that what ebony meant?) She'd never gotten to properly pet a Houndoom before! Her dad really didn't want her running up to strangers asking to pet their Pokémon, at least not when the Pokémon were big and evolved and scary. But this one didn't even have an owner and could just talk for herself! And her dad wasn't even here. She could probably get into a fight too and he'd never even know if she was careful. This'd be the best game.

"You have tails!" Ebony blurted out without thinking. Wait, wait, she knew the word, she was sure of it. She'd heard it used for those guys... Pikachu, Absol, Flygon... "You're an experiment!"

Jean grinned even more widely. She turned to brush her with her tails, curling them around the Houndoom's neck. "Yeah! Isn't it awesome? I'm a Pokémorph. My dad made me, and seven other morphs too! He's a really smart scientist. Normally we're the only ones, but look! She's a morph too!" She pointed excitedly at the Purrloin morph.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Ooh! What's your name? Who made you?

"I'm a Pokémorph. My dad made me, and seven other morphs too! He's a really smart scientist. Normally we're the only ones, but look! She's a morph too!"

Salem dug her claws into her palms a little. This was irregular in several ways far besides the strange scenario she was in. The dark skies overhead still loomed and few of the assembled persons, creatures and devices seemed to be perturbed. She was perturbed. She was perturbed enough for all of them.

"I'm Salem," she said, finding that the words flowed with unusual ease, "and though I was born a purrloin, I became part-human by choice."

She paused, intensely curious for a moment over why and how she was able to articulate herself so well. This was... She was lucid dreaming, maybe? It was something to think about later. She needed at least one other person to stick to, and the only other morph around seemed as good a pick as any.

"What do I call you?" she asked.

She gave a little wave to Ebony the talking houndoom. Maybe she was also a hybrid...? She seemed friendly. That was good, probably!

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Hi! Do you need any help? That mask looks heavy!"

Hazel was in luck! The odd human was not afraid of her! She seemed nice, too. "I... do not need help. It is heavy, but I am resilient enough to carry it."

But she was not the only one here who had taken interest in the odd human.

You're an experiment!

Normally we're the only ones, but look! She's a morph too!" She pointed excitedly at the Purrloin morph.

"I'm Salem," she said, finding that the words flowed with unusual ease, "and though I was born a purrloin, I became part-human by choice."

"Experiment..." she murmured. "We are... experiments." This place was quickly becoming overwhelming...

Even the feline who looked all like one piece said she was one. Said she-

"Wait," Hazel turned to stare at Salem, her rapt attention fixated on those last few words. "How? By choice? How did you become part human? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

 

[kyeugh]

Ferry squinted at the chatting girls, one a strange upright mon with calico splotches and the other a human with six fluffy auburn tails and a pair of ears like Ferry's own resting atop her head. Was she... a human-mon hybrid? Was that allowed? Somehow this was even stranger than the talking houndoom. He was so dizzy and overwhelmed that when the sky suddenly changed color, so quickly that one might have thought the sun was extinguished like a candle, he barely noticed. The calico mon's words confirmed his suspicions: a purrloin, made part-human by choice.

What... what did it mean? These people came from other worlds, right? He'd known about other worlds, of course—the cloth of reality was multitude, infinite, stretching between all times and choices and realities. Perhaps... perhaps where they stood now was someplace outside of the cloth.

They'd all been brought there. He wasn't sure why, but he knew that somehow. He glanced down at the envelope in his hands, and another burst of understanding blossomed in his mind. This was part of a game. They were here to play a game. His head pounded in frustration. He'd been pulled into this strange world to play a goddamn game? Was he a child, to be forced to play along like this? Were they all chidren? If he got his hands on the fucker responsible for this...

Even putting that sick joke aside, Ferry couldn't conceive of a world in which humans would be willing to dilute their blood with that of a mon. Had the mon done this themselves against the humans' will somehow? What had happened in their worlds to allow for their existences? Whatever it was, could he use that knowledge to advance his interests once he won this game and returned home?

He almost stepped forward to introduce himself and ask a few questions of the hybrids, but the masked horse creature piped up first, shouting questions excitedly, helmet clinking as she whipped her head around.

"Wait," Hazel turned to stare at Salem, her rapt attention fixated on those last few words. "How? By choice? How did you become part human? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

Ferry merely perked his ears, curious to hear the answers. Depending on what they said, he might have a few questions of his own... In the meantime, he cast his eyes down at the envelope, allowing its strange magic to flow into his brain and explain this world to him.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

The sunlight of the meadow was bright. Not as intense as a Hoenn summer's, but compared to the dim light of the cave he was just in, it was searing. Steven blinked and shielded his eyes, only able to manage a painful squint at best. Despite this, it was crystal clear he had been transported somewhere against his will.

This wasn't an entirely new phenomenon. Several trainers in Pasio had stated they somehow found themselves instantly warped to the resort island. But this wasn't the same. For one, Steven noticed, his eyes barely adjusted, the people here didn't seem to be trainers. In fact, there were hardly any humans at all, and the ones that were didn't have any partner pokemon with them.

The realization sunk in, and Steven's hand reflexively flew to his belt. His heart skipped a beat. Metagross's ball was gone. The rest of his team, too. Suddenly, the bright blue sky felt a lot less pleasant... A champion without his pokemon wasn't much of a champion at all.

Though, Steven thought, no one had seemed to recognize him just yet. Maybe it was because they'd not paid him any mind, with a nearby squabble that escalated to blows rather quickly, and the general commotion of so many people being thrown into this all at once. (He'd spotted a note in the hands of several others and surmised everyone here shared a similar fate.) Not that he minded not being the center of attention. It might be better that way, after all.

But, just as Steven has reassured himself that perhaps this strange situation wasn't all bad, the meadow decided to ruin things. The sky melted to the color of blood, and the grass turned to rust beneath his feet. The breeze carried a wash of sulphur, and for a moment, a single panicked, 'Groudon?!' darted through his mind. But the way the sun was blotted behind the ominous clouds proved his fear wrong.

However, that didn't eliminate the unsettling knot that formed in his gut. It twisted even tighter as a shadowy presence made itself known, materializing in the center of the field. Oblivious to the rest of the participants, Steven fixed the meadow's newest occupant with a stony glare. Introductions could wait.

He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

 

[Bluwiikoon]

hey I'm kind of getting nervous about this situation can somebody, uh, hold me or something thank u

[It is a strange day indeed when you see a little porygon-containing machine trembling and sweating.]

 

[IFBench]

"Of cour-our-ourse, friend!" PNS-NT said. Their arms separated from their main body, and pressed against the sides of the machine.

 

[Bluwiikoon]

"Of cour-our-ourse, friend!" PNS-NT said. Their arms separated from their main body, and pressed against the sides of the machine.

[Porygon squeaks appreciatively!!! They can't help but move closer to PNS-NT for comfort.]

[If everything wasn't turning super dark and scary with big loud voices in the sky, they'd probably be super excited and happy about this!]

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jean grinned even more widely. She turned to brush her with her tails, curling them around the Houndoom's neck. "Yeah! Isn't it awesome? I'm a Pokémorph. My dad made me, and seven other morphs too! He's a really smart scientist. Normally we're the only ones, but look! She's a morph too!" She pointed excitedly at the Purrloin morph.

Ebony closed her eyes and leaned into the pats. This was nice. It took her a few seconds to process what the Vulpix-human had said. "Your dad made you? Not Team Rocket?" Or maybe he was part of Team Rocket. But it sounded like she liked him, so he had to be nice. Maybe he ran away from them, like the one human who was friends with her trainer's friend!

She gave a little wave to Ebony the talking houndoom. Maybe she was also a hybrid...? She seemed friendly. That was good, probably!

"Experiment..." she murmured. "We are... experiments." This place was quickly becoming overwhelming...

"More experiments!" Ebony had no idea there were so many. She hopped from one foreleg to the other and wagged her tail as a greeting. All the experiments she knew back home loved to fight, but these ones didn't look eager to fight, so that meant that she was supposed to let them offer to fight. That was the good thing to do.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Kent sneered as he watched Wes get hit by the projectiles.

Hah, dumbass... can't even evade a basic attack, huh?

He concentrated his power into creating a dozen of those shadow tendrils. He shot all of them towards Wes at once.

Well. This was it. He supposed it wasn’t all bad—he’d just die, and then wake up from this awful dream, and it would be over with quickly. …Right?

Wes braced for impact—but the tendrils vanished into thin air before they reached him. His attacker was distracted looking to the sky and mumbling a snarky comment under his breath. Only then did Wes realize the sky had changed color, and he, too, looked up to see sinister clouds swirling overhead.

Oh. Of course. Of course nothing, not even the damn sky, could remain normal for more than five minutes.

Maybe he should just let this little gremlin end him anyway and he could get out of here sooner.

 

[Sinderella]

It seemed that most of Clovis’s fellow players were eager to get to know each other. Going as far as to make friends, apparently? He guessed it made sense, given mafia was a game of ally-ship and knowing who to trust, but he could hardly justify running into the crowd and presenting himself so soon. Not when he could stick back and observe. Play fly on the wall—a game a certainly excelled at.

His hand traveled to his coat pocket, and he felt relieved to find that he hadn’t lost his carton of cigarettes on the ride over to this godforsaken meadow. He pulled it out, flipped open the top, and went for his lighter…only to find that that was M.I.A.. A yell bubbled in his throat, and he suppressed it by sighing deeply.

“I fucking—“

So much for playing fly on the wall. Now he’d have to socialize to to curb his bad habit.

“Would anybody here happen to have a lighter on them?” He paused, observing the multitude of Pokemon and…Pokemorphs? Wild. “Or…at least be able to produce a flame?”

 

[Flyg0n]

He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

Hana tried her best to stay calm, even though more and more it was beginning to sound like maybe this wasn't a dream but something else, something more. Or maybe all part of the game?

Then she spotted one face among the group she definitely knew. Was that Steven Stone? A half smile appeared on her face and she made a beeline for him. Somehow, seeing someone, just one someone who didn't look like some not-pokemon or strange half-human or something else was comforting.

"Mr. Stone!" she called, half relieved, half frightened still. Maybe he might know what was up. Even if he didn't, the familiarity would be nice.

 

[Inkedust]

In the midst of all the chaos, the sky turned red. How dramatic. Altair could only roll his eyes in response. Was this supposed to be some kind of intimidation tactic? Would've been effective if he didn't already know what was coming.

Altair looked back at the sky, and roared in a voice that carried itself across the entire plane.

"GET ON WITH IT!"