Zinnia's Multiverse Madness! (Roleplay, March 4-13)

[Dragonfree]

"Okay!" Jean smiled and reached for his right paw instead, holding it for a gentle shake. "I'm from a world with humans and Pokémon too! But Pokémon don't talk in ours. Do all Pokémon talk in yours?"

 

[IFBench]

Gen's trembling began to subside as he shook Jean's hand. "Th-thanks."

"Um...th-they...normally d-don't, but..." Gen trailed off, pondering what to say.

Maybe he could tell her. She seemed trustworthy.

"I...I'm a-actually from two worlds. My h-home world is one where P-Pokemon can't speak usually, but...I g-got sent to one wh-where there's no humans, and P-Pokemon talk," Gen said.

 

[Dragonfree]

"Ooh. So you've been to different universes before too? Dad was on this team of heroes in another world! That one also had Pokémon but no humans, so the humans all just turned into Pokémon when they got there. He was a Mightyena with Toxapex powers!" She pointed proudly at her dad, who rolled his eyes a little. "I hope I get to go to a world like that someday! It sounds really cool!"

 

[IFBench]

"It's..." Gen trembled, then said, "It's n-not cool. It's r-really scary. I..."

 

[Dragonfree]

Jean's face fell, ears drooping. "Oh." Gen did look scared. What kind of world had he gone to? Maybe it was like Pokémon Colosseum's world, or an even worse one. "Maybe you don't have to go back there? Maybe the person who brought us here can send you back to your home world instead."

 

[IFBench]

"I...I r-really hope so," Gen said, his trembling beginning to subside.

"Hopefully they can give me my body back, too..." he muttered.

 

[Dragonfree]

Jean opened her mouth in realization. "You're a human!" she said. "And you don't want to be a Pokémon?" Weird. She'd love to be a Pokémon! ...But she did know what it was like to be suddenly stuck in a body that was different and weird and had limbs the wrong length and not be able to do anything about it. Her shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry. That sounds bad." She reached out towards him, and hesitated again. "Do you want a hug?"

Dave squinted down at them. "Hang on. Human-turned-Pokémon named Gen? ...Do you know somebody called Saltriv?"

 

[IFBench]

Gen's eyes widened. Crap, he said that too loud! At least she was understanding, though.

"...y-yeah. I'd like a h-hug. Th-thanks," Gen said, before his ears pricked back up. Did this person know Saltriv?

"Uh, y-yeah. I know S-Saltriv. I...I'm on a search p-party with them," he said.

 

[Dragonfree]

Jean pulled Gen tight. He was so small; he could have been mistaken for a plush toy. But he was human in there after all. How long had he been like this? "I'm sure you can get your normal body back. There's always a, a sorcerer or somebody who can undo it."

Was there? There wasn't one for her.

"Maybe they'll send you back when you've finished your quest! Like my dad. He turned into a Mightyena but then he got sent back home after they saved the world and was a human again. Do you have a quest?"

"Oh, shit." Dave stared at Gen, scratching his head. "Saltriv was... with me on that dumb hero team in the other universe. Said the two of you are supposed to save the world from some shadow bullshit?" It was hard to believe someone'd expect that of them when he'd heard they were a couple of fifteen-year-olds; it was even more nuts when one of them was a ball of stuttering anxiety with body dysmorphia. Jesus. "What the fuck."

 

[IFBench]

Gen's eyes widened in horror, and his breathing began to speed up. "I...I n-need to save th-the world? B-but...I-I..."

Hyperventilating, Gen held tightly onto Jean, trembling as tears welled up in his eyes. "I d-don't want to be a h-hero...I c-can barely do a-anything like this...I j-just want to g-go back..."

 

[Dragonfree]

“Oh, Gen.” Jean squeezed him to her chest. Wasn’t she supposed to help? She didn’t know how.

“You know, a lot of the time in stories the hero’s scared and doesn’t want to save the world at first but they can do it anyway! You probably can, too.” Could he? She’d gone home. The ones who hadn’t had been shot. Will had been scared, and went on anyway, and he was dead.

She sniffled, clutching at Gen’s fur.

“Jean, no.” Her father sounded agitated. “Neither of you should be getting stuck with any of this. Get the universe-hopping fairy to just get Saltriv and get you both the fuck out of there. Kids aren’t supposed to play heroes.”

 

[IFBench]

"S-sorry..." Gen said, hugging Jean tighter, or at least as best he could.

"I...I'm r-really scared. I d-don't want to s-save the world...b-but what about S-Saltriv and Burhalla? I...I d-don't want them or their w-world t-to die..." he said. "I...I wish I c-could just be b-back home and human again...and...I w-want Saltriv and B-Burhalla to come with me t-too, since they're my f-friends, but then they'll probably miss their home, t-too..."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette stomped away, making herself sparse back in the sea of game booths. She took a couple minutes to examine the area, before setting down the water bottle and digging into her pockets. With a frown, she grasped Odile's ball, unlocked it, and pushed down on the release button. In a flash of maroon light, out popped the stupid tumbleweed bat and all her obnoxious glory.

"You need to calm the fuck down. You can't keep screaming in my fucking head when I'm trying to make conversation."

The Wrath Pokemon was silent now. Odette felt her already-waning patience disintegrating at a faster rate. "Oh now you're choosing to be quiet?"

Silence. Again. The only real sound from her was the flap of her wings as she kept herself airborne. Odette crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto her other leg, her glare growing more intense. "Nothing? Nothing to say at all? Really?"

Odile darted her eyes off to the side, but still didn't open her mouth. Odette sighed as evenly as she could. "I'm going to--"

"T̷͈̺͔͙̽̽̉̈́̈̈́H̶̡̬̖͔̬̜̪̮̖̀̇̀͌͌͜Ȉ̷̪̍̈́́̐̂̀̌͆N̵̛͎̦̈̑̊̂͛̑̔͂̕͠K̸̢̡͈̘͙̊̃̄̄͛͝ ̸̟̇̕͜͝F̶͎̈́͆̇͗͛̇̍̐̾̆̇A̶̧̭͓̲͎̱̞̘̩̬̒̈̂̎Ś̴̨̮̻̯̪̜͓̝̳̗͘T̴͈̆̏̾̿͂̉͒͆͌͗"

Odile made a quick maneuver around Odette, faster than the latter could react. However, when she did get her bearings back, she chased the little shit down in no time.

"Oh no you don't," Odette hollered as she tackled the mini eldritch terror out of the air and into another booth, effectively breaking the counter as she landed on it. Some pain shot up through her bare elbows as she hit the ground, but it didn't matter at the moment. All she cared about was getting the godforsaken Wrath embodiment back in the fucking Poke Ball. Gods, she knew better.

"Ỷ̴͔̥̓O̵͕͙͂̃Ù̵̳̀'̸͚̝͑̓L̵̡̤̉L̶̜͋̓͜ ̷͕͎̈N̶͕͂͜E̶̩̙̒̑Ṿ̴́̚Ȇ̶̢̫R̵̰͓̂̚ ̶̞̅́T̷̺̰͘A̸̻͛K̸̡̐̽É̶̥͛ ̴̧͉͗M̴̱̘̑͊E̴̻͘ ̸͂͊͜À̴̱͑L̶̨͚̋̈́Ī̶͇̘V̷̼̺͌͂Ẽ̷̗! Ĭ̸̘ͅ ̷̮͙͊͠A̷̜͗M̴̬͛ͅ ̷̺͊Ä̷͍ ̴̧̼͠G̸̤̈́͗Ọ̷̝͊̓D̶̫̍ ̵̞̓͒A̶̙̅͂M̷̘͓̕͠Ǫ̴͉̔N̶̹͑̈́G̵̭̏S̸̡̮͒Ţ̸͈͒̀ ̴͎̃M̴̥͕̍͝Ę̸̳̋̓N̴̨̊̈.̴̲͉͌ ̷̛̹̎" Odile wailed just before Odette clamped her hands over her mouth.

"You don't even count as alive, you fucking rat!" Odette seethed through clenched teeth as she tried to wrestle her legs around Odile as a form of restraint. When she managed to get a grip, she dug her hand back into her pocket and pulled out the specialty ball, and pressed on the recall button harder than she probably ever had before. With another flash of light, Odile disappeared, and Odette engaged the safety lock with a heavy breath. The relief didn't last long, because soon her head was full of noise.

Y̸̼̐̈́O̴̹͌̚U̶̡̓̅'̸̝̀ͅR̵͍͓͊E̶̗̬̒ ̸̘̋Ą̷̎͂ ̵̛͈̓M̴̰̾͌Ē̷̯̻A̸̪̅̈́Ň̶̬͉I̴̧̬͐͘E̸̲͘ ̷̪̇B̷̭̀Ō̷̜͔͝-̸̙̟͗B̷̺̀͋E̷͔͑̅Ą̵̑̀N̵̗̉̀I̵͍͘E̷̡̛̺͆ ̴̩̅͠S̷̫̎̅C̶̭͍̽A̷͖̹̐-̶̢̝̎L̴̠͝E̶͍͑Ȩ̸͓͊N̶̬̾̓͜Y̴͇̓͛ ̸͇̤̀R̸̞͗͂A̷͉̓-̸̰̓̃F̸̛̭̀E̷̮̓̑E̸̬͐N̸̻̲͐͗Y̶͎̺̅ ̸̬́M̵̠͍̽̐Ơ̵̢̛-̴͇͑M̷̜̊Ę̸͎̑Ȁ̷̪͖̚N̷͕̉̀Ì̷̯̲̾E̶̞̤͆ ̷͙̊̚F̴̧̪͌E̶̦͌̐-̵͓̙͝F̷̣́Į̵͕̚-̷̠̮̂F̸̮͑Ộ̴̤͋-̴̼͒̀F̸̪̟̆Ę̵́É̴͍͠Ṋ̸̡͠Ỳ̷̮͓͝-̴͓̀-̴͙͓̐

She hugged her legs into her chest and covered her head, as if that was going to help her at all. She zeroed in on the burning sensation in her skinned elbows, deciding that was a more pleasant sensation than the gibberish in her head.

Odile, please--

-̴̩̦̈́Z̶̗̓̓Ā̶͙̖-̷̝͆̓Z̶̩͇̑E̶͔̔E̷̞͊̃N̵̑ͅỲ̴̱͙̊ ̷͔̀B̸̘͛͑A̴̰͕̾͌-̸̱͌̌D̸̼̓̈́Ĕ̸̹E̵̡̍̐Ñ̸͚͂Ÿ̷̹ ̷̣̐T̷̢̞̋̄A̵̯̎̑-̶͍̰̈́F̴͖̍͛E̶̦͚̎̉E̵̮̹͒̑Ṅ̷̲͘Y̴̱͊ ̴̬͚͛̄M̷̤̹̃̾Ó̵͎̙̚-̴̟͓̆͝W̸̗̞͠E̶̱̅Ḛ̴͖̕N̶̻̋Ỵ̷̭̆̒-̴̼̙̿-̸̲͗ͅ

That was it. If she wasn't on sensory overload before, she was now. Without an adequate way to channel her anger, she settled simply punching the wall beside her. Once, twice, three times, four.

"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP."

With a hit that splintered the wood, and effectively sent a surge of pain up her arm, the gibberish stopped, leaving her alone with her thoughts, her scraped elbows, and bloody fists. But at least it was quiet. For a little bit.

"Now what happened here, Doll?" Dorien's voice washed over her like a shower of fucking battery acid, and she wanted to scream again. Instead, she glared at him over her shoulder, but found herself slightly jarred by the worry in his face. It was real to him, but to her it only seemed fake.

"Practicing my uppercut, why?" she said flatly as she flexed her fists, frowning through the pain. Hopefully it'd be his goddsdamned face next.

His frown became more prominent. Seeing her all bloody should have excited him, but it only triggered what was left of his guilt. All he wanted to do now was wrap those wounds up in bandages, then wrap her up in his arms. Really, even with a clear head, he couldn't keep himself straight. With a deep breath he leaned his elbows over what was left of the counter, resting his cheek against his palm as he stared at her solemly.

"I'll stay with you until you're okay. I'll be quiet, I promise." And he meant that.

 

[Virgil134]

"But it's interesting to see that you have writing in your world," Tiana continued. "I only learned the basics, it's a bit difficult when you have those talons." She pointed at Kalas's talons to make her point.

Kalas shrugged at Rodion. "That's a fair point. How do you do that, anyway? And how do you get the letters out in the open sea? I've read that the sea is so much bigger expanse than the land."

"My own paws are flexible enough to hold onto stuff to write, but 'mons that don't have that tend to use a band or some other kind of holder to keep things in place." Rodion explained. "It's not that hard to write when you have a piece of charcoal strapped to your paw."

The Floatzel leaned back against the railing of one of the attractions, before continuing on. "As for delivering letters, that's generally handled by a Pokémon that can fly. The sea in my world isn't that big, so it usually doesn't take more than about a day for a flier to get from one island to the next."

 

[IFBench]

During all the commotion, Zinnia had made it on top of one of the stands. The human shouted, "Everyone! I'm glad to see you're all enjoying yourselves, but let's shake things up a bit! We're going to be playing Truth or Dare!"

She looked, around, and pointed at Lusamine. "We'll be starting with you! Pick one, truth or dare?"

 

[Fusion]

Kora spun around to the "new" voice, instantly excited to hear that the games would finally get to start! To say she was excited to try and do dares as a human goddess would've been a vast understatement. It was a shame though, it looked like he wasn't gonna be the first one to go.

Vix, opting to simply let Dave and Jean comfort Gen since they honestly had more in common with him than her, was also relieved at the start of the games. It was the fun she was promised, and worst case scenario everyone gets embarrassed from the usual mushy truths and dares.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"We'll be starting with you! Pick one, truth or dare?"

Lusamine furrowed her brow. "Me? Why? I guess... dare?"

She didn't like questions about her personal life, after all.

 

[IFBench]

"Ride the Ferris Wheel, but from on top of one of the cabins!" the human said, smirking.

 

[Fusion]

Kora was flabbergasted! She called dibs on the ferris wheel like... at least three times! Maybe! If anybody should have such a fun dare, it should've been her!

Kora, still transformed as Robin, raised her hand and pouted. "But I called dibs on it already! Could I, like, go on the ferris wheel too?"

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa let him go and stepped away. Could he believe the reassurance? ...Not like it mattered. They'd forget the whole thing as soon as they were back. Dave exhaled.

"I mean, for the circumstances. Still battling fucked-up laws that say she can't be around people or leave the house during the day. Better make the most of this little trip because she's probably not going to be allowed in an actual amusement park for however many years it takes to vote in the right senators to repeal this bullshit bill." Maybe he should ask if she wanted to try any of the rides or something. Then again, if she hadn't asked, maybe he could get away from this without getting on any fucking rollercoasters.

"But, you know, we're still alive. No further murder attempts. That helps."

Koa's heart twisted as he listened. "Yeah." Not for the first time, he felt the familiar sensation of sympathy, wishing that universes were more like his. He'd never seen anyone like Jean before on his world but he felt like people would be nicer, at least.

He glanced over, briefly distracted by Jean and Gen. Wait, that Oshawott was... that Gen then? He chuckled inwardly. Small world. Or small multiverse, he supposed. What were the odds of somehow running into Saltriv's Gen?

For a moment, he listened to them talk. 'Kids aren't supposed to play heroes.' That's what Dave always said, and he was even younger than Saltriv. Probably best to keep his 'you can do it!' speech to Gen to himself.

During all the commotion, Zinnia had made it on top of one of the stands. The human shouted, "Everyone! I'm glad to see you're all enjoying yourselves, but let's shake things up a bit! We're going to be playing Truth or Dare!"

Koa turned his attention curiously to Zinnia. Truth or dare? Oh great. Well hopefully he could avoid anything to crazy, although he supposed it didn't matter either way. He'd forget all over again. Maybe this would be fun after all.