[ti]story[/ti]STORY QUEST 2: Heart of Darknyas

Padma is alive. As soon as Fairytale had checked on that and reassured themself, their emotions had grown cold. They had recalled all their worried pokemon.

After all, they remembered that a certain story quest exists, and since they cannot direct their anger towards the corruption area, they can direct it at one who encourages others to visit said corruption area.

While they did not go there on purpose, others do. And Fairytale cannot understand that.

Perhaps, like them, they hate themself. But still, they would never have willingly relived the worst moment of their life with brand new framing. Not without some encouragement.

Their eyes are ice cold when they finally reach their location. Their body is trembling. And what seems like a hundred bleeding cuts litter their form. They should be bleeding out, with their injuries.

Icy gaze landing on the Bunya, their expression is blank with rage. "If you care so much about your precious 'snyanmples', go for yourself. Or do you not dare to?"

"So long as you send others and their pokemon to torments like that... You are no doctor. You do not heal nor do you help. You are a charlatan acting as a mad scientist. You care for no one and nothing, and you deserve to rot in the corruption for all I care." All the while their severe wounds continue to bleed.

"So, do try to justify yourself. Or, if you will not bother..." They tilt their head, and blood drips heavier from a neck wound at the motion. "Well. I can promise yourself I will never forget you, either way. I will be waiting, perhaps briefly or perhaps what seems like a lifetime... And I will remember. You will wish I had not."

Bunya inspects Yuze's Espurr. She taps its head with her pen, and stares deep into its unblinking eyes. "This thing's unnyaving!" she says, looking away.

She takes the sample from Yuze, and puts the little cat in the testing chamber. "Why is it always cats?" she asks, pushing the big black button and flooding the chamber with aerosol corruption.

"I mean, a Rattata would be more fitting, don'tya think?"

As the black mist clears away, the Espurr sits unchanged, unblinking. Bunya cocks her head to the side, waiting. "I'm sure it'll do something soon," she promises.

And it does.

Espurr's head bulges, the shape of its body distending in a clear line right down its middle. It's like watching jelly move in slow motion, and Bunya screeches in shock and delight as Espurr divides in two, forming a pair of identical Pokemon.

She stares at the pair of Pokemon, trying to pick out the original. "This shit's banyanas!" she says through a sharp-toothed grin.

Yuze's Esupurr has been Duplicated!

SEVEN/TEN SAMPLES SUCCESSFULLY COLLECTED!

If there had been a bustle of activity here at the start of this quest, it sure had died down since. This was ideal for Kallisto, for it meant that there was almost no one around to stop him when he approached the enigmatic and eccentric scientist and slammed his hands on the table.

❝Hey.❞ he growled, knowing full well that the first time he came here, he looked completely different. His adjustment to his current form had been plenty easier than the first time he spawned in the game, but there was something else that dragged its nails at the back of his skull; a phantom feeling that sent shivers down his spine. ❝You sent me to get a sample, but I--❞ he grimaced, remembering that he couldn't exactly blame her for not knowing what he was getting into. He knew she said that the corruption could affect his Pokemon, and he willingly agreed to it, not really stopping to think of how much this effect could be or other possible consequences.

Whatever was in Mistra, it was nothing like the rest of the game. It was nothing like the little glitch with Mom.

Parasite has been equipped.

❝Whatever's out there, it got me. How do I get rid of it?❞

After what had happened while she was looking for that lot of stuffuls, Rhaenyra suddenly remembered a message she received a while back about a certain corruption zone and warning not to go there. And honestly, still being a new player made her not even question it. But now, her curiosity was peaked.

The wolf hybrid entered the tent, expecting the see the Professor’s lab clean cut organization. Instead, she was meant with something else entirely. Pale golden orbs shifted over the new decor, taking note of the taxonomy and ecological charts as well as the strange looking vials and beakers of bubbling black fluid. It almost gave off a mad scientist vibes. However, her quick glimpse of the new layout was swift cut short when Bunya began to speak.

Left wolf ear twitched, gaze meet hers as she greets her. She twirls in her chair, abruptly opens a draw only for something to come jumping out. Rhaenyra flinches, observing as the woman scrabbles to gather the fish and put it back. Bunya makes a comment, though it goes ignored by the player and her facial expression remains emotionless and unbothered. In fact, Rhaenyra merely folds her arms over her chest and continued to wait. She was quick to move on.

Rhaenyra could see the sparkle in Bunya’s eye, a curious brow rose when she said it was alive. Her mouth opened, about to ask if it was like alive alive. But before she could form the words, the woman was quick to speak again. She explains that she wants her to go out there, against the Professor’s warning, to get more samples. The wolf girl hums to herself, wondering what on earth the game makers have in store for her this time around. “Alright,” she mumbled, her head high and back straightened, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Yeah, so, I woke up and it just. Stopped.”

Kazuki stands in Bunya’s lab, rolling the vial containing a corruption sample in his hand. Bandages have been wrapped haphazardly and tightly over his body to cover severe injuries, clearly in need of changing, but strangely enough, the gauze isn’t stained red or brown. It’s pitch black, as if dipped in ink.

His eyes are not on the pint-sized doctor but instead on the reflective surface of the experimentation chamber, as if ensuring that he’s still in one piece. The injuries are irritating, but he’s seen what happens when he lets the wounds flow, and he’d rather keep that shit plugged up before whatever’s inside him gets any funny ideas- assuming it’s still in there.

It should be. Or maybe reaching Tier 5 is what kills it?

“No more voices. And I didn’t even need any dewormers,” Kazuki snorts, proud to know he’d been right. He didn’t need any help. He had solved it just by following his gut.

“Anyway, this is the stuff you were asking for, right?” He can’t resist shaking the vial out of her reach, because she’s got to be the shortest NPC he’s met so far, and he’s curious if she has cat reflexes.

Upon learning about the experiment needing volunteers, however, he seems to pause. His mind immediately latches onto the image of a sleeping kitty face getting shot into the shadow realm, and the option is met with a deep mental NO.

“You’ve only been trying it on small subjects. Try something huge. Like a horse.”

He sends out his Mudsdale—"What the fuck?!"—who lands in a splash of tar. The mud around her hooves has come to resemble liquid asphalt, and even her mane now flops, limp and heavy and jet black over her head. Her body feels unbalanced. She looks like she's melting.

Mudsdale winces, spitting on the ground a fresh puddle of tar. She's never been an emotive pokemon, but it's clear she's distressed, her two sets of eyes flitting in a panic between her new body and the humans nearby.

Kazuki has stepped back, evading the tar splash by seconds. He knew his pokemon had been changing since he was infected, but the difference before and after his sudden jump in class stages is staggering.

"... Do you have any Ivermectin in those pockets?" is what eventually slips out of his mouth.

ROLLED 20 IN THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

Kazuki sends out the test subject, and Bunya clambers up on top of the nearest cabinet as the Mudsdale fills the lab, splashing liquid tar across Ash's pristine linoleum, and up the side of her desk. "What have you been feeding that thing?" she asks, her curiosity quickly overcoming her fear. She sits on the edge of the cabinet, watching the horse and banging the metal with each careless kick of her feet.

She jumps down, almost slips on the floor, grabs the sample from Kazuki, and leads the pair over to the sample machine. Thankfully it's large enough to fit Mudsdale, but only just, and with the horse crammed inside she inserts the sample and hits the fish-shaped button.

Black vapor fills the chamber, obscuring the inky form of the horse.

As the cloud clears, it's obvious something is wrong. Metal groans and glass crunches, and Bunya rushes to open the door and let out two Mudsdale. Bunya looks on in open-mouthed excitement as the parade of horses obliterates her flooring. "Another spontaneous division! That's my favorite result!" She dashes between the pair, making quick observations on the goopy horses. "Yep! They look the same to me! And don't worry about the damages. I'll send you an inyavoice."

Mudsdale has Spontaneously Divided

NINE/TEN SAMPLES SUCCESSFULLY COLLECTED!

This time, he did not go to Bunya with ill-concealed malice in his heart.

This time, despite the pain, despite the sting of failure, despite the blood that still danced between his teeth- he offered Dr. Bunya a soft smile. "Good evening," He greeted, putting down both a sample- a vial of not inky blackness, but something that looks rather red- and a pokeball down. "I heard you were testing the corruption on our pokemon?"

He regarded the espurr's pokeball only for an instant. But the espurr was not the point. If the corruption saw fit, he would be rewarded. Everything until then was just-

A test of faith.

rolled a 19 in providence