Content Warning
This section is the Halloween episode, and features a lot of visualizations of very intense violence and mental anguish.
Also, just as a heads up, there is some content that wasn’t… directly present in the original telling of this tale.
To be transparent, I think this is the first time I’ve watched OCs (mine or my friends’) be brutalized and traumatized in the ways they were here, and it freaked me out. Enough that Anita’s story was watered down, to get me through the night. I appreciate that DM Winter keeps the players’ emotions in mind, but I also feel embarrassed that I caused the story as she wanted to be neutered, because I couldn’t hang.
As part of a larger plan to get over my newly realized fears, I have received the general idea of what was supposed to happen to Anita, and have attempted to fit it into the story. While I can’t say it’s exactly how Winter wanted it to happen, I hope I at least get close to her vision.
I’m not kidding, this one gets really gruesome. It got… a little hard to write at times. But that’s ok. I’m learning.
With everything sorted out, the party decided it was time to head to Professor Olive’s and figure out this costume for the Smolives. They walked by the festival again, where they saw… the Dreepy from before! It was carrying off cotton candy from another stall, and the gang was determined to see where it was going. They followed behind it, eventually entering a dark, creepy forest. Selene tried to catch the Dreepy but it kept moving, farther and farther away. Selene ran after it, to Anita’s dismay. But her and Rio followed their friend, deeper into the darkness…
The forest seemed endless, and as the Dreepy got farther and farther out of site the gang started to realize they were lost. Eventually, after completely losing the Dreepy, they ended up at a strange, run-down looking mansion. None of them knew anything about this mansion, but a quick search showed that it was, apparently, still pretty active and popular. Though it didn’t seem like there was an author of the articles they were seeing, but… that couldn’t be THAT out of the ordinary.
If only that was the only weird thing that happened.
The gang decided to try and make their way back home, with Selene using her GPS to lead them. They left the clearing… and then suddenly walked back into it. Rio and Anita were convinced for a bit that this was just a prank, supposedly not seeing anything wrong when they looked at the GPS. However on Anita trying it, the GPS initially screwed up, just going back to the webpage for the mansion. Only this time, the site seemed to highlight a very threatening message across it’s pages, warning them that they needed to leave. However the map did end up loading eventually. The gang tried again… and then ended up back at the mansion again.
Anita was beginning to get scared, agreeing with Selene that something was wrong. It also didn’t help that across all of this, the time never changed. It just always stayed at 11:13.
And then, the calls. All three phones rang, at the same time. Rio was the only one who answered, and it was his mom checking in. Except, as news to Selene and Anita, his mom had actually passed not too long ago…
A voicemail was left on Anita’s phone, and an unknown voice just said: “HELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPME-” until Anita ended the message.
NOW the whole party was convinced something was wrong. Very wrong. But there wasn’t much time to consider everything before the Dreepy suddenly appeared! And then another creature appeared, this one huge and shadowy and massive and dangerous and very, very, very hungry. It ate the Dreepy, before turning its eyes onto the gang. With no other options, they returned all of their Pokémon and were forced to sprint to the mansion, managing to hide inside before it reached any of them.
Only… now what? They were in this mansion, with no real idea of what was going on or where else they should go with that beast outside. Trying to use the Pokédex showed no Pokémon, only the message that none of them were safe. Rio at least noted that they didn’t have any other options, so they took out some Pokémon (Anita got out Tynamo for light, and Swanna for defense) and began exploring.
The mansion was mostly dilapidated, except for a very clean and well-stocked dining table full of all kinds of food. The entire gang was immediately nervous about this and simply looked from afar, to potentially get some hints about where they were. After they started following some footprints, they also saw that the table changed, now holding their favorite foods… like Anita’s dad’s pastries, exactly as he’d make them…
They did not eat that food.
Going further down the hallway caused further problems, as all of them ended up with their own scares. Rio was pushed over by something. Selene was almost dragged into the ground by something that grabbed her. And when Anita looked in the resulting hole in the ground, she saw herself… and Eevee… eating her dead body…
Anita reeled from the shock, but her friends calmed her down and they began trying to go up a nearby flight of stairs. After attempting to ascend, Rio was suddenly strung up on invisible “strings”, suddenly unable to move. His Golbat, who he summoned earlier, was called to help, but he… didn’t do anything. He just watched as Rio was suddenly unreachable from the rest of the group, and then yanked away, higher and higher through the floors… wait, how tall was this mansion supposed to be?
Selene questioned Golbat, trying to understand why he didn’t help his trainer. Golbat didn’t respond. In fact, none of the Pokémon really seemed alerted by anything going on…
Anita and Selene both realized what was up, and started trying to flee their Pokémon.
The Pokémon who were out began to attack, transforming into more horrifying versions of themselves. Selene’s Morelull attached itself to her, trying to drain her lifeforce. Tynamo grew massive, and began to consume the stairs as it advanced towards them. Anita tried to focus on Selene’s predicament, but Selene urged her to continue, assuring she’d be ok. Anita fled up the stairs, and thankfully Selene was able to escape and catch up. Eevee also suddenly exited his own Poke ball… the two decided to stay away from him.
They also both received separate texts from Rio: “Where are u?” That… didn’t really make sense, that was so casual, and… they were sent at 13:13. The two just kept moving, sure this was another trick.
Agreeing to stay close, Anita and Selene continued their trek up the stairs and into a large maze of hallways. They held hands and attempted to navigate the maze, making sure to never let go as they searched for Rio. Selene was suddenly wracked with a sudden sharp pain in her back, though nothing appeared wrong… She was also plagued with fatigue periodically as the two went. Anita was doing her best to make sure Selene was still with her, trying to keep up some level of confidence despite screaming inside.
As they walked, Selene started occasionally seeing weird mannequins. They were always posed in weird ways, but they weren’t on their intended path so they paid little mind. At one point they saw both Dreepy and Eevee, and they tried their best to stay clear of the Pokémon.
They also heard… Rio? Wait, RIO??? And he was near!
Only, they now had to contend with one of the mannequins, who was right in the way of the path they heard Rio shout from. They agreed to, on three, sprint past the mannequin and just… go. Just move forward. And for a moment, it seemed like it worked.
Until they realized there were more mannequins. A lot more.
The pair ran, and ran, and ran, getting placed down more and more paths randomly, until one of the figures grabbed Selene. Her arm was slowly turned into wood, leading up to her shoulder before she was able to get free and keep running, running, running… until there was silence again.
Selene was in dismay, seeing that her hand was suddenly wooden, unfeeling, unusable. Anita wanted to scream, or cry, or curl in a ball, but she just hugged Selene instead to comfort her.
The two eventually got up and continued. Rio screamed again, and the two realized they were actually really close to the room he seemed to be in! They entered the room, finding a bed covered in blood, and a note. No Rio.
Selene was dismayed, but for some reason Anita kept sharp(ish). Maybe in determination to see that all of her friends made it out, she just… blocked it out. Blocked out the need to scream, blocked out the need to wallow, blocked out the pain. She took the letter, and the two read it:
“It’s not a Pokémon, but only one of their ilk can defy them.”
Selene began wracking her brain, trying to understand this, but her own emotional state just made her inconsolable as she felt useless. Anita keep focusing on the note to try and figure it out, but a new message appeared on it:
“Don’t trust Selene right now.”
There wasn’t enough time to consider this though, as a nearby toy chest started rattling, and an Eevee poked out. Though, this was clearly not a normal Eevee. It had massive, sharp, bloody teeth and demonic eyes, and slowly stood on it’s hind legs to reveal that it was incredibly tall and deadly. It began walking towards them, intent on devouring them…
Suddenly, the REAL Eevee(???) appeared, trying to attack it. Multiple Swifts failed, but a bite angered it as it threw Eevee into the wall nearby. Anita and Selene checked on Eevee and confirmed, it was the real thing. Anita and Eevee tried another attack, as Anita put a couple pieces together; bite worked again, though the demonic Eevee was still approaching. She then considered… “One of their ilk”… this seemed to be a ghost, so… Dreepy?
With no other options in that room, the three of them fled back into the hallways.
Anita started calling for Dreepy, desperate now to see if it could help them escape this hell. They didn’t hear any responses, and Selene started to feel heavier and heavier, clearly out of it from her personal experiences. Except, she also started feeling… heaver than that… like she was intentionally dragging them down…
Looking back, Anita was shocked to not see Selene anymore; she was dragging a mannequin with Selene’s hair and clothes. The mannequin was digging its feet into the floor, causing the extra friction.
The second part of the note began to make sense. Anita didn’t know when this switch would have happened, but it was clear, this wasn’t Selene. For the first time since going up the stairs, she let go. She kept running and calling for Dreepy, with Eevee on her tail and the Demon Eevee farther behind and chasing.
Eventually she heard the Dreepy! With pure adrenaline, she made it to roughly where it was, farther down a hallway. As she tried to catch up she realized a new obstacle; the doors had mouths, popping in and out and trying to bite the Dreepy and then her. She did what she could, dodging them while reassuring Dreepy that they needed to work together to escape. The Dreepy seemed to get it, but suddenly, as they were almost in the clear, Eevee and Anita were grabbed by one of the door-mouths and dragged into the doorway.
They weren’t dead, but they were suddenly in a dilapidated-looking kitchen. It didn’t really look like any specific kitchen, but as the two got used to their surroundings, they did see some… familiar things. photos that her dad did hang up in the café kitchen. Specific utensils that he’d use regularly. More pastries, exactly like they were before. Anita and Eevee tried to find an exit, when they suddenly heard very familiar voices.
It was Anita’s parents. Though, there were some startling differences. Her dad sounded a lot quieter, maybe… weaker than normal? There was still that comforting tone, but it sounded more strained. On the other hand, her mom sounded louder, and fiercer than normal. They were arguing.
“SHE NEEDS TO LEARN TO BATTLE, SHE CAN’T JUST LIVE WITH NO DRIVE”
“Why can’t she just find her way herself?”
“HER WAY? WHAT WAY IS THAT? SHE HASN’T FOUND ANYTHING IN HER LIFE, JUST DRIFTING FROM PLACE TO PLACE WITH NO FOCUS”
“What if that is her g-”
The first voice is cut off.
“I’M GOING TO MAKE SURE SHE HAS THE FIGHTING SPIRIT, HER AND THAT LAZY EEVEE. RIGHT. NOW.”
Though the entrance wasn’t ever found, multiple locks activated. The pastries were suddenly missing too.
For a while, Anita was mostly reeling over the way her mom sounded. That couldn’t be right, she was tough on her but… this sounded… evil. And her dad was just trying to help… why did they start fighting over this anyway, wasn’t there some understanding of this between them? Why… was she so harsh towards him?
But another realization occurred, after considering her “mom’s” words.
There weren’t any other Pokémon, any trainers, anything else in that room to actually battle. And Anita couldn’t actually get any other Pokémon out.
Were they supposed to “battle” each other?
There was no way, they couldn’t! That’d be… insane! Especially right now, of all places, when they’re in peril and her friends are missing, and…
Anita and Eevee agreed, there was no way they’d do that. That was an insane ask. Anita yelled out to her “mom”, defiant in her plan.
No response.
No worries, eventually this weird trial would end if they didn’t participate. Her mom would never really torture her or Eevee like this. No way.
Minutes passed.
Minutes became Hours.
Hours became an entire day.
And then more.
There was a realization early on that, despite the kitchen being furnished, there actually wasn’t any food. The pastries were the last food they saw before this started. They tried not to think about that though it was hard to really ignore the pains of hunger. There were times when a familiar set of footsteps could be heard from outside, as the amazing smells of food wafted into the kitchen. All kinds of foods; desserts, steaks, veggies, all kinds of delicious foods… Dad was bringing something to eat, to make this right…
Every time, without fail, the steps would be interrupted. Plates would crash outside the room, and the aromas would disappear. Leaving the pair hungrier than before.
More days.
Weeks.
Time just seemed to stretch and contract at this point. Nothing felt right, and the hunger just raged.
Until almost on cue, both of them snapped.
Anita cried out, declaring that fine, mom won, she’d battle.
And eat.
Eevee seemed on the same wavelength, so their battle began.
Despite the obvious size difference, Eevee was way more nimble, being able to find many opportunities to strike. He managed to find his mark often, full on digging his teeth wherever he good and tearing off flesh. Her limbs quickly amassed multiple messy holes, bleeding and showing more innards. A couple fingers were lost as well.
Anita was bloodied and full of pain, but the pain began to subside as she almost went feral, with a fighting spirit that became more of a nullifying force that told her to kill. Friends didn’t matter, nothing mattered anymore. She just needed to live, to fight, to eat, to kill.
She tried to fight back, attempting brute force swings to down her target once and for all. She did manage to get some hits in, even as her body was screaming from the previous wounds. But Eevee was faster and more ferocious. A bite into her side, a bite directly in the center of her stomach, a bite into her hip. More torn-up limbs. Blood.
Anita couldn’t even feel the tearing. Couldn’t feel the blood. Wasn’t aware that you could see bone.
Fight.
Eventually, Eevee leaped, right for the face. It was a near miss, but as he passed by, he caught her eye. And out it went.
This pain brought her back down to some semblance of reality, and she reeled back into the wall behind them. A massive picture, one of the ones her dad specially picked for the café, fell off the wall and onto both of them, knocking them both out and stopping their brutal fight.
Anita flashed in and out of consciousness, with the feral need to kill flashing in and out, overtaken by pain. Her mother’s harsh voice flashed through her head often. This seemed to happen for ages. Rage. Mom. Nothing. Mom. Nothing. Rage. Rage. Mom. Rage. Dreepy. Nothing.
Wait, Dreepy?
Anita and Eevee both woke up around the same time, and sure enough, the Dreepy was hovering above them!
Seeing the Pokémon made the fog in her head start to recede. Memories were still rolling back in amidst the haze, but she was happy to see a friend, and she was happy to see Eevee after getting out from under the picture. Eevee seemed happy as well, though he was also noticeably bruised and battered. The door out of the kitchen was open, and they had fresh(ish) air once again.
Dreepy flew behind them, to the wall where the painting was. Only, something else was there. A mirror. Even more, Anita recognized it from some discussions she was privy to at the academy: it was a scrying mirror, something with magical force and abilities. She walked over to it and touched it, not considering that she was only using four fingers to do so now.
Suddenly, all kinds of people flashed on the mirror. Her parents, as she knew them for real. Her other family, with extended members appearing. Some of the others she knew at the Academy. Aurel. All of their Pokémon. Every time someone new appeared, she regained more and more memories. And eventually she was feeling herself again, minus one missing fact in the fog…
Then they appeared. Rio and Selene.
And everything clicked back into place. Anita and Eevee remembered why they were there, and who they still needed to save.
And god, the two of them looked BAD in that mirror. They were in some sort of cement room, trying to limp out of it. Both of them had various gashes and injuries all over. Rio’s legs were really out of sorts, it was impressive he was walking at all. Selene suddenly had a whole in her chest. While Anita still had a ton of pain all over, she knew that her friends still needed her, and she let Eevee and Dreepy both know that they needed to find the pair.
Dreepy agreed, and then went… into the mirror! Rio and Selene could even see it! For a moment Anita assumed it was a one-way deal, with Dreepy having no information on what actually to do next. Thankfully though, she was able to call to it, and it heard her and returned. She asked it if it knew how to get to where they were. The Dreepy just offered it’s little hand, and started slowly guiding Anita towards the mirror, and then into the mirror…
Suddenly the floor was gone for a moment, and a sharp pain as Anita’s already-demolished body hit the ground. She reeled for a moment, but eventually got her bearings and realized, she was with Selene and Rio again! None of them really considered their injuries, just happy to see each other after all this time… As the one who could walk the best, Anita propped up the others, and the trio slowly walked to the exit of their current room.
It turned out that they were in the mansion’s cellar, and the exit led outside again! Having fresh air, after so long, was amazing… But they weren’t done yet.
The mansion seemed to have one last gambit, and it was a LOT. The trees surrounding it became thicker and thicker, taller and taller, until it wasn’t actually forest at all, but instead a squad of more mannequins ready to stop any escape. The moon glowed an eerie red. And the mansion itself suddenly exploded with two more foes: The beast from the beginning, and the Demon Eevee. Anita discovered that their Poké balls were functional and their Pokémon were all… normal again. It was time for the final stand.
Rio and Selene were both weaker, and could only get a few Pokémon out to help. Anita, seeing her friends in this state, fired back up with the fighting spirit she had earlier in that cursed kitchen. Here, however, it was different. Here, it felt purer, she had her faculties about her, and she was more than ready to do what she could for her friends. She still felt pain all over, but was fired up beyond that pain. She summoned ALL her Pokémon.
The war was intense. Selene’s Growlithe and Woobat handled the mannequins with mighty flames to burn them down. Rio took on the shadow beast with Golbat and Toxicroak’s skilled attacks. And the swarm of Anita’s team began decimating the Demon Eevee. Anita felt good about this, the battle high was in full swing.
Until it wasn’t.
Suddenly the demons gained an upper hand out of nowhere. Multiple Pokémon were injured. There was fight in the gang, but it was waning.
Dreepy disappeared in response, flying… into the moon? The world seemed to shake after this, and a MASSIVE tail snaked down from the moon, crashing into the remains of the mansion before setting near the gang. A deep voice instructed “Get On”.
Though confused at first, Anita figured there wasn’t anything worse to try, if it meant her friends would be ok from the injuries they had. She helped Rio onto the tail, and it pulled him up behind the moon. After some convincing that she’d make sure the Pokémon were ok, Selene followed him.
Anita was ready to fight to the end, to keep all the Pokémon alive, her fighting spirit burning… way too bright, really, ignoring that she was still definitely bleeding and very fucked up. However, the tail… returned? But, she couldn’t leave yet, the fight was still on, the Pokémon needed someone to stay with them.
The large tail ignored her logic, wrapping around her and pulling her up as well.
“You idiots…”
The three of them suddenly started waking up, outside of the forest they’d entered. All of them had remnants of the pain they’d felt, though they soon realized they were all fine. Anita felt all over, but had none of the bites in her that she remembered having. She only had a trace of that intense desire to fight, and soon it was gone altogether. She checked, and Eevee was fine. She made sure to give him a big hug.
The three of them began to realize, it was… a dream of some kind? They certainly all had the same one, so that was weird. Out of curiosity Selene checked online and, as it turned out, that mansion had actually been destroyed by a fire, a century ago. They also checked, and the time was… 11:17.
They spent a little time considering what had just happened, but Anita ultimately didn’t want to think that hard on it. She was just happy that she was with her friends (who she also surprised with a big hug.) Her and Rio ate the cotton candy that was near them after all of this (to Selene’s confusion), and the three headed off to Professor Olive’s place, for real this time.
Eventually they did get that text: “Where are u?”