Day 250

[from Electron]

Mere minutes ago, the blazing wreck in front of Electron had been a vibrant cruise ship, filled with hundreds of holidaymakers excitedly looking forward to a fortnight drifting through the Caribbean. Now, the ship's fiercely-burning remains were sinking rapidly into the harbour, taking those who had survived the initial explosion with it. A few had managed to escape and swim to safety, or float away among the wreckage, but Electron knew that hundreds, if not thousands of people had perished in the disaster, and he hadn't even had the chance to save them.

The words of his handler echoed in his head once more: “You can't save everyone. Maybe something happened that you didn't know about… but whatever the reason, someday somebody's gonna look you in the eye and ask you where you were when they needed you.” I guess that day is today, Electron thought to himself. I don't know what happened here, but a whole lot of people are going to be pointing their fingers at me and saying it's my fault these people died. I guess I'll just have to cope with that.

As more and more survivors began to flee the wreckage, Electron began assisting the rescue effort as best he could, saving as many survivors as possible. By the time the ship's wreckage had submerged completely, almost 200 people had been carried to safety, but that still left almost a thousand people unaccounted for. A thousand people who, most likely, had all gone down with the ship. It was an incredible death toll, and the more the number floated around Electron's head, the worse it made him feel.

Then the crime scene investigators arrived, and their immediate conclusion made the disaster seem even worse: it had been deliberate. Somebody, they said, had planted a bomb on board the vessel; the resulting explosion had torn right through the ship, causing it to sink within minutes. With the final death toll estimated at 937, it was the biggest loss of life on American soil since 9/11, and it had all happened under Electron's watch. It was too much for him to take. He sat down on the edge of the docks, staring blankly out into the blue-grey waters as he tried to make sense of it all.

He didn't know how long he had been sat there when he heard a sudden voice from behind him. “Hey. You're Electron, right?”

Electron nodded solemnly, but didn't feel up to speaking quite yet. The man duly continued: “I can't believe something like this would happen here. What kind of a person would just blow up a cruise ship like this? All those innocent lives...”

Electron let out a heavy sigh. “You know, you're not really making me feel any better,” he said.

“Sorry,” said the man. “But what if I told you there was a way to undo all this? To stop the bomb from going off, and save all these people? What if I told you that was possible?”

Electron turned to look at the man, and to his surprise he saw that he was another super. He was a tall, dark-haired man in a crimson bodysuit, with a white fast-forward icon emblazoned on the front. His words sounded almost too good to be true, but if they were true… “Who are you?” asked Electron.

“My name is Fast-Forward,” said the man. “SHRED heard about what happened here, and they sent me along to prevent it from ever happening. I have the ability to alter the speed of my passage through time, just like a DVD remote; I can pause, rewind, or even fast-forward into the future. And I can bring other people with me as well, so long as they’re holding onto me while I do it. So, what do you say?” Fast-Forward held out his hand. “How about we travel back in time together and erase this tragedy from the history books?”

It still seemed a little too good to be true, but Electron had no reason to doubt the man, and certainly nothing to lose by choosing to go along with him. He therefore nodded and took Fast-Forward's hand. “Sounds good to me,” he said. Fast-Forward pulled Electron back to his feet, and together the two turned their attention back to where the cruise ship had been just a few hours earlier, a few pieces of debris still drifting between the recovery vessels.

“This might be a bit disorienting,” said Fast-Forward. “Feel free to close your eyes, but whatever you do, don't let go of my hand until I tell you. Got it?”

“What happens if I do?” asked Electron.

The question seemed to give Fast-Forward pause for thought. “You know… I'm not actually sure,” he admitted. “It's never happened before. But it's not worth finding out now. Are you ready?”

“As ready as I'll ever be,” said Electron.

“Alright then,” said Fast-Forward. “Let's go stop a bomb.”

Fast-Forward took a deep breath, and suddenly the world around Electron grew eerily still and silent. The waters below them froze, and the air grew deathly calm. With no movement at all around them, the silence was so great that Electron could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, the sound of his breathing amplified a hundredfold. This wasn't just disorienting: it was downright unreal. Thankfully, this state of frozen time lasted only a moment, but what happened next was just as disconcerting.

The world around them now began to play out in reverse. The waves raced back out towards the ocean, the gulls overhead flew backwards through the sky at alarming speed, and the clouds rushed across the horizon as though whipped up by an almighty hurricane. Then, as Electron watched on in astonishment, the carcass of the cruise ship rose from the water, the rescued civilians zooming one by one back into it as it slowly righted and reassembled itself. The rescue crews and emergency response teams retreated from the scene in a flurry of lights and sirens. Finally, the debris scattered all over the harbour rushed back into pace as the almighty explosion played itself out in reverse, the massive fireball rapidly retreating back into the hull as the damage miraculously repaired itself. The cruise ship now stood before them in all its original glory, its white paintwork gleaming in the Florida sunlight.

Fast-Forward was not done yet, however. “We gotta go back far enough to give us time to search for the bomb, but not so far back that it hasn't been planted yet,” he said. “Of course, I don't know when it was planted, but I'm guessing probably some time last night, while everybody was asleep. So I'm taking us back to 8am, and that gives us… just over six hours, I think, until the bomb explodes. That should be more than enough time to evacuate the ship and have a good old search. You feeling alright, by the way?” he added. “I'm sure this must be pretty weird for you.”

“Well, you're right about that,” said Electron. “This just might be the weirdest thing I've ever seen. But… I gotta admit, it's also pretty damn amazing.”

Fast-Forward smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “Almost there.” A few moments later, the world snapped back into normal speed, and the pair found themselves standing before the unblemished cruise ship at precisely eight o'clock. “There we go,” said Fast-Forward, letting go of Electron's hand. “8am, give or take a few minutes. Ready to stop that bomb?”

Electron nodded. “Let's do this,” he said.

Day 245

As the two teenagers made their way up the front garden of the abandoned house, one was significantly more eager about the prospect of breaking into it than the other. He shone his torch at the boarded-up windows, trying to find a possible entry route, while his friend cowered behind him. “I'm telling you, Taro,” he said, “we really shouldn't be doing this-”

“And I'm telling you, quit being such a wimp,” said Taro. “We're here for a reason, remember?”

“But… if the ghost is real, then-”

Taro rolled his eyes. “For the last time, Souji,” he insisted, “there is no ghost. That's why we're here: to prove to all the gullible idiots like you that this whole ghost story is just a bunch of baloney.” Having found a promising-looking window, he held the torch out to his friend. “Here, hold the torch for me.”

While Souji held the torch, Taro pulled out a crowbar and began ripping off the wooden boards covering the windows. “Even if the ghost isn't real, isn't this still breaking and entering?” Souji pointed out.

“Sometimes, when you're doing investigative work, you gotta take a few risks,” said Taro.

With the boards removed, Taro put away the crowbar, took the torch back from Souji, and climbed in through the broken window. The room he found himself in was thick with dust, muffling his footprints; the beam of the torch illuminated the particles as they drifted lazily through the air. Shining the torch around, he saw that the room was almost entirely bare, with only a faded, moth-eaten rug and a few dusty pieces of wooden furniture scattered around.

Taro looked back to see Souji still standing outside, staring through the window with some trepidation. Taro shone the torch at his face, causing him to flinch and cover his eyes. “You coming in or what?” he asked.

Reluctantly, Souji climbed in through the window to join his friend. The two briefly explored the room, but it was clear that there was nothing of interest within it. Souji, however, was still uneasy. “Seems empty to me,” he said. “Can we go now?”

“Don't be stupid,” said Taro. “We're gonna search the entire house, just to make sure that-”

“Leave this place!”

A girl's voice suddenly echoed through the darkness, catching the two friends off-guard. The voice somehow seemed both timid and fierce at the same time, and though Taro was not intimidated, Souji certainly was. “Wh-what was that?!” he said.

“Leave this place at once!” the voice insisted. “You are not welcome here!”

Taro was still unfazed. “Relax,” he said. “It's probably just being played over speakers or something, as someone's idea of a practical joke. Come on.” He gestured to Souji to follow him, then proceeded through a nearby doorway in the direction of the voice.

Taro and Souji found themselves in a narrow, dingy corridor. Here, too, the air hung thick with dust. To their left, the corridor led to the front door. A pair of abandoned shoes still sat near the boarded-up door, a spider web stretched across the foot hole of one of them. To their right, the corridor branched into two, with one path leading upstairs and the other leading to another doorway. As far as they could tell, the corridor was deserted. “I don't like this...” said Souji.

“Please!” the voice called out, a measure of panic starting to creep into its tone. “For your own safety, you must leave at once!”

Taro, still undaunted, continued sweeping the corridor with the torch beam, in search of the source of the voice. Suddenly, the beam fell upon the figure of a teenage girl standing at the foot of the stairs, which had been empty just a moment before. The girl was thin, almost emaciated, and her skin was almost deathly white. She wore nothing but a stained white gown that hung loosely from her skeletal frame, and her long, matted purple hair hung down over her entire face, shielding it from view. She looked as though she had walked right out of a horror movie.

Souji let out a loud cry of terror, jumping behind his friend and trembling from head to foot. “If that's not a ghost, then what the hell is it?!” he cried out.

“I told you,” said Taro, staying rational. “It's just someone playing a practical joke. It's some chick in a costume, nothing more.”

The myserious girl dramatically raised a hand. “I am not 'some chick',” she declared, though her voice still wavered slightly. “You must leave now, for your own good!”

“I-I think we should do what she says-” said Souji.

“No way,” said Taro. “We came here to prove that that ghost is a phony, and that's exactly what I'm about to do.”

With that, Taro began to advance towards the girl. Strangely, the girl seemed to become more terrified with every step he took, and soon she began slowly backing away from him. “No, please… you must get away from here!” As Taro continued to advance, the girl's voice grew more and more frantic. “Al… alright, it's true! I-I'm just a girl in a costume! Please, you don't need to- NO!!”

But it was too late. Taro had reached forward and seized the girl's wrist. In an instant, his eyes shot open in pain and terror, his pupils rapidly dilating. Letting out a rattling gasp, he tried to pull away, but his body refused to move. An invisible force was coursing through him, stripping him of every last ounce of energy. The girl looked away, ashamed. There was nothing she could do now. There was nothing anyone could do.

The hand holding the torch grew limp, and it fell from Taro's grasp and clattered down the stairway, landing on the floor of the corridor below. A moment later, there was a loud thump, and Taro followed behind, collapsing down the stairs. His face fell into the torchlight, and Souji could see that his eyes were still wide open, unblinking, a look of agony and horror frozen on his face. Taro was dead.

As Souji gradually realized what had happened, his expression turned to one of abject terror, his entire body trembling. He let out a horrified gasp, taking a step backwards. “T… Taro...”

The girl also took a step backwards, flinching away from Taro's corpse. “I… I'm so sorry...” Her voice began to crack, as though she were starting to cry. “I… I tried to warn him...”

Souji continued to slowly back away, growing ever more terrified until his fear eventually consumed him. Letting out a horrified scream, he turned and fled as fast as his legs could carry him. “Demon!” he cried out. “Demon!”

Souji scrambled out of the broken window, and as he sprinted from the house, his screams gradually faded away. The girl sat down on the stairs and hugged her knees to her chest, her thin shoulders shaking violently as she began to sob. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, her once-powerful voice reduced to a pitiful whine. “I'm so sorry… so sorry...”

Day 237 (Catch-Up)

[from GodMode]


Jun found himself in a large stone room, lit by several chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings above him. Standing on either side of the room were at least forty people in long white cloaks identical to Kurumi's. At the far end of the room, behind an ornate table, sat five people in equally ornate chairs, each wearing white cloaks with golden lining. Jun guessed that they were the ones in charge here, and therefore, the ones with the answers.

Sure enough, Kurumi gestured at the high table. "Go and speak to the Elders," she said. "They will explain everything to you." Jun still wasn't sure why Kurumi couldn't have just told him everything herself, but at least he could now finally get some answers.

Jun nervously approached the high table, staring up at the five elderly people sat before him. Three of them were male, two female, and all were closely examining him as he approached. The man sat in the center was both the eldest, and presumably the most important, and he peered disdainfully at Jun over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Who is this boy you have brought before us, Kurumi?" he asked.

"His name is Jun Hanamura," she replied. "He has the power of the app. The Church attacked him, and I rescued him. Now that he is a part of this conflict, I have brought him here so that he may join us."

"We cannot force him to join if he does not want to," said the elder. "He must join us of his own accord."

"Join what?!" asked Jun, exasperated. "Who are you people?! I have no idea what's going on here, and she hasn't explained a thing to me!" He pointed angrily at Kurumi. "Why were those lunatics trying to kill me? What the hell is this app?!"

"Calm down, Jun," said the elder. If Kurumi has not explained the situation to you - and she really should have done-" He glared at Kurumi over the top of his spectacles. "-then I will be happy to answer your questions. I cannot, however, explain the nature of the GodMode app, for none of us here are able to explain what it is or how it works. All we know is that it appeared on the app marketplaces six months ago, and only a select few are able to access and install it. Its creator, its inner workings, the reason for its creation and release... all are unknown to us."

"So who exactly are you?" asked Jun. "What do you want with me?"

"We are the Order of the White Cloak," said the elder, gesturing around the room. "We have recognised that whatever the GodMode app may be, it contains the power to change the world for the better. We have dedicated ourselves to using the power of the app to help those in need, and to fight the evils of this world wherever they may present themselves. We also believe that should this power be abused, great harm will come from it. Our secondary mission, after helping those in need, is to prevent the misuse of the app, by those who would seek to use its power for their own selfish gain."

Jun suddenly recalled how Kurumi had told him to uninstall the app after he had been experimenting with its abilities. She hadn't just been trying to protect him; she'd been trying to stop him from abusing the app's power. "I see," he said. "So... what about the people who attacked me? Are they using the app for selfish reasons?"

The elder's expression changed slightly, betraying his hatred and sorrow at the mere mention of the enemy. "There is much more to it than that," said the elder. "The ones who attacked you were part of a cult named the Church of the Holy Binary. They believe that the GodMode app contains the power of God Almighty Himself, and that only they are worthy of using it. Anyone else who uses the app is, in their eyes, a heretic who must be put to death. This, of course, means that they have repeatedly come between us and our work. We have lost many members to the Holy Binary, and at present we consider ourselves to be at war with them."

"And now you want to drag me into this war?!" said Jun.

"No," said the elder. "We are not warmongers, and we do not intend to pack our members off to some battlefield to die. Should you choose to join the Order of the White Cloak, it will instead be your duty to travel to world, using the power of the app to help those in need and correct the injustices of this world. Only when attacked by the Church of the Holy Binary should you use the app's powers for warfare."

"But they will come after me, whether I join you guys or not, right?" said Jun.

"Most likely, yes," said the elder. "Even if you delete the app, they will know that you had used it in the past, and to them that still makes you a heretic."

Jun sighed. This was all too much. "I... guess I don't really have a choice, then," he said. "If I don't join you guys, I'll be dead in a week. Besides, if I can help people using this app, then... I'd like to be able to do that."

"You do have a choice," said the elder. "I will not pretend that you will be just as safe on your own as you will be under the Order, but nevertheless, it is entirely down to you whether you want to join us or not."

Jun nodded. He had made up his mind. "Then I wish to join the Order of the White Cloak," he said.

The elder nodded. “In that case, I hereby welcome you into our order.” He waved a hand, and two of the men standing at the sidelines approached Jun. One of them was carrying a white cloak identical to that worn by the others, and as he reached Jun, he draped it over his shoulders. The second man fastened it securely, and just like that, Jun was a member of the White Cloaks.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” said the elder. “My name is Shinichiro Kojima. Kurumi is my granddaughter.”

Day 240

[from Pokémon xTreme]

On the deck of the small fishing boat drifting off the Seafoam Islands, there stood two cloaked figures. One was the mysterious girl who had met with Dr. Christmas in the caves beneath the islands. The other was a tall man whose cloak bore a pale blue insignia in the shape of a glacier. Through a pair of binoculars, he watched as a portion of one of the islands' ice sheets crumbled away into the ocean.

“Do you see?” he asked. “The waters in Route 20, and further south, have warmed up by some 2.3°C over the past 100 years. The glaciers have receded by almost 30%. The Ice-type Pokémon who live in this area are running out of habitat. This is all due to the pollution being poured out by factories all over Kanto and Johto. There is nothing being done about this pollution, and the Pokémon here are being left to their fates. I'm sure you'll agree that it's about time drastic action was taken to correct this injustice.”

The hooded girl nodded. “I agree,” she said. “I'm sure the rest of us agree as well.”

The man lowered his binoculars. “It's almost time,” he said. “Soon, our plans will be put into action. When the time comes, will you be ready?”

The hooded girl nodded. “I'll do whatever it takes to save these Pokémon. They will get the habitat they deserve, one way or another.”

***

Meanwhile, at Mt. Moon, Taylor and Kieran's battle was already over. Kieran's last Pokémon, a Rattata, collapsed to the ground and fainted. Taylor had, once again, been victorious. “Dammit!” exclaimed Kieran. “How do I keep losing to you?”

“Don't take it personally, kid,” said Brandon. “Everyone Taylor's faced so far has lost to her.”

“And Kieran's beaten everyone he's faced so far, except for Taylor,” said Seth. He placed a comforting hand on Kieran's soldier. “Don't let it get you down, man. If you want, you can think of her as your rival, just like Brandon and I are rivals. It's healthy to have a rival, to help spur you on to greater things, just as long as you don't let it consume you.”

“I won't,” said Kieran. “I just wanna beat her one time, that's all. I wanna prove I'm as good as she is.”

“You are, sport,” said Seth. “You'll prove it one day.”

Taylor nodded, as though affirming Kieran's skills for herself, but did not say anything further on the subject. “So, shall we head up to Cerulean and heal our Pokémon?” she asked.

“Yeah, I've had enough training for one day,” said Kieran. “Let's go heal up and have lunch.”

“We'll hold off any wild Pokémon that show up on the way out,” said Seth. “Between us we could probably take out every Pokémon in this cave.”

Brandon, however, was already being dragged off by Emma. “Sorry, man,” he said, “I think you'll have to take care of that yourself. My girl has other plans, apparently.”

Seth shook his head, grinning. “Don't tell me she's dragging you off to some corner of the cave for a quick blowjob while I'm stuck with these two?”

“I sure hope so!” Brandon called back. He then turned to face Emma. “Seriously, where are you taking me?”

“Well, you said we're going to get lunch, right?” she said. “So I'm gonna take us to this nice restaurant I know over in Cerulean. It'll be like our first date. Just the two of us. We can get to know each other better… or at least, you can get to know me better. I already know so much about you.”

Brandon felt a slight sense of unease, but he managed to hide it behind a smile and a nod. “Sounds good to me,” he said. “Looks like we're splitting us for now!” he called back to the others. “Don't wait up for us!”

As Taylor watched her mentor walk off, she sighed. “How am I supposed to learn anything from him if he's spending all his time with her?” she asked.

“You know, to be honest, I probably shoulda warned you about his womanising tendencies back when we first met,” said Seth. “Mind you, I never thought he'd ever actually get a girl pregnant, let alone Nicole's little sister! If it was anyone else he could probably cut his losses and run, but I don't think Nicole's gonna let him do that.”

“I don't think Emma's gonna let him do that, never mind Nicole,” said Taylor. “She's been clinging to him like a Binacle the whole time she's been with us.”

“Well, I'm sure he doesn't mind the attention,” said Seth.

***

At Indigo Plateau, Alicia Martin nervously paced back and forth through the Elite Four lobby, nervously chewing her lip. To the uninformed, she could easily be mistaken for just another challenger, come to have a shot at the Challenge Belt. However, she was not a challenger: she was a member of the Elite Four, and Brandon's replacement. Though she was confident in her skills as a trainer, she was undeniably anxious about whether she measured up to the rest of the Elite Four.

Alicia's anxiety began to have an effect on the only other person in the room. Her name was Claire Voigt, another of the Elite Four members, and as well as being a proficient user of Psychic-type Pokémon, she also possessed some latent psychic abilities. She was sat on a chair with her eyes closed, trying to tap into her abilities, but as Alicia continued to walk back and forth, her calm expression faded into mild annoyance. “Would you relax and stop worrying already?” she asked. “Your negative vibes are making it hard to see.”

Alicia opened her mouth to say, “See what?”, but Claire, being the psychic she was, answered the question before it was ever asked. “I'm getting a message from Brandon,” she explained. “He's clearly in distress, and your negativity is causing interference. Let's see… 'Claire, if you're listening, Emma Williams has dragged me off on a date. You know I'm not the dating type. Please come save me. While you're here, I can introduce you to my new protégée. I'm sure she'll be excited to meet you. Also, tell Alicia to...'” Claire cut herself off, frowning.

“Tell Alicia to what?” asked Alicia.

Claire sighed. “He says, 'Tell Alicia to man the fuck up and stop worrying so much. She'll do fine. And if she doesn't, they can give me my old job back. Oh, but don't tell her that last part...'” Claire's voice trailed off again as she realized she had said too much. “Whoops. Sorry.”

Alicia rubbed her temple, letting out an angry sigh. “Tell him he's not helping!” she said.

“I can only read minds,” said Claire, “I can't reply to them. Yes, I know that doesn't make me much of a psychic, but it's good enough for most people. Also, he did have a point in amongst all the usual nonsense: you'll do fine. They wouldn't have appointed you to the Elite Four if they didn't think you could handle it. Now, I'm gonna go see what's up with Brandon, and rescue him from his crazy girlfriend. You stay here and man the fort, so to speak.”

“But what if a challenger comes, and you're not back yet?” asked Alicia.

“I have a feeling nobody's coming today,” said Claire. “Gardevoir?”

Claire's Gardevoir burst automatically from its Ultra Ball, turning gracefully to face her trainer. “What do you require, mistress?” she asked.

“Take me to Brandon,” said Claire.

“Yes, mistress,” said Gardevoir.

“How do you know where he is?” asked Alicia, as Gardevoir prepared to use Teleport.

“I'm a psychic, remember?” said Claire. “I know everything. Oh, and tell John tha-” Before Claire could finish, she and Gardevoir vanished in a flash of light.

“Tell John what?” Alicia asked the empty air.