Fear Itself

The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself
Chapter One
The Fauss Chronicles
Pokémon: Gastly
Characters Needed: 20-30k
Characters: 3,546
Warning! Some mature themes.
Note: This will be a series; every chapter will have a new target Pokémon, but the main characters will be in every one.​

The moon cast chilling shadows on the forest below, the night calm and still like a living painting. A light breeze rustled through the treetops, creating a soft hum that filled the night sky with its pleasantly natural tone. Nincada buzzed in the darkness as Kricketune sang their own songs, birthing a musical effect no man-made instrument could compare to. However, these small moments in history matter not when compared with the enormity of history itself. So, while our story may begin in this insignificant moment, the malevolent being we call history will make it certain that it will never be forgotten.
One lone being flashed through the foliage, leaving whispers of sound in its wake. It raced towards the edge of the grove, finally breaching its choking reach with a sigh of relief.
An opaque orb of gas floated at the threshold, eyes closed as its tiny, harsh pants echoed in the sudden silence. Bright eyes snapped open as a form of living dusk itself raced out of the woods, hands aflame with red fire and a look of pure hatred on its face. The little orb gasped and took off like a shot, form blurring as it tried to out-run its personal demon. The lights of the city ahead burst into view like millions of tiny fireflies, and the creature behind him screamed in agony, rocketing backwards like death was on its tail.
Fauss, as the tiny being had been titled by his parents, let out a grateful sigh, for once happy that the humans had moved their colony of ever-day to these lands. It certainly saved him more than once from his relentless pursuer. Happy that he'd escape for now, Fauss floated into the city limits, staying low to the ground and rushing around the spotlights caused by the tall alien rods that lined the streets. He reached a large plank of wood and metal that smelled of sweat and waste without being seen, reading it slowly and surely. He was never more thankful that he'd been taught to clumsily read what the humans called English, and followed the bright letters with his eyes as they rose and dove in their strange dialect. Avangaurd City was painted on the board in a looping style, years of wear creating many tiny cracks in the acrylic.
Fauss gasped as footsteps suddenly sounded behind him, simultaneously scooting back and turning. What met his sight was unexpected- a tall human with a menacing dog creature at his side. The beast reached its commander's waist, horns white as bone curling from its skull and fur as black as coal. Its eyes burned like embers, and it seemed to have ribs on its outside, like a twisted nightmare brought to life. Dented shackles encased its ankles, and Fauss had to stop a tiny whimper of fear from escaping him as he saw its tail- tipped with a triangle, like the old stories his folks had whispered of demons and the ruler of death itself.
The human had it on a leash, and scoffed when the creature started snarling. "Honestly, Houndoom. Knock it off." The beast - a Houndoom, Fauss realized, filing the information away for a time where his life wasn't in danger - gave a jerk forward, its chain straining as the human stumbled. He steadied himself angrily, looking almost as vicious as his pet. "Houndoom! Stop it!"
The hound did no such things, butting it's horns in the air with a wild howl as it broke free of its leash, the handle slipping out of its trainer's fingers. "Hey!" Fauss barely caught the human's startled yell, for he was too busy fleeing into the alleys of the city, eyes wide and glazed with fear. He heard the dog's pants behind him, and let out a screech as he felt hot breath passing through his back. Finally, he turned another corner, coming upon a dead-end of brick and mortar. A way out!
Fauss could have jumped for joy, had he any legs. He sped up, meeting the wall with a soft puff of cold air as he heard the dog ram into it with an angry howl. The tiny gas-being grinned as he came out on the other side- and passed right through a human. It jumped in shock, turning to him as he froze in a mix of despair and defeat. Then his unlikely victim's face lit up under the warm glow of the streetlights, and he felt his negativity ebb away.
The human was a girl, with gentle hazel eyes and a mess of brown hair falling to her shoulders. She seemed frightened of him, for some odd reason, before curiosity took over. She was short enough to be a whelp, he decided, and weighed his options before deciding to stay put. The little girl stumbled forward, a tiny smile on her face and eyes full of wonder. Fauss blinked at her, and she giggled, dimples appearing on each cheek as she stretched a hand forward and tried to pet his head.
Her fingers fell through his body, and she gasped, before another laugh followed the moment of disbelief. She raised her hand back up, chubby fingers skimming over his head like a pianist on keys. "Gastly," she whispered, and Fauss muttered a soft "Gastly?" in response.
The moment was ruined when he heard loud stomps behind her, and he moved just in time to dodge a meaty hand swiping at him. "Go on, get!" Fauss looked up, staring into the face of a towering man with a disgusted grimace on his face. "Ya mangy creature, get!"
The little girl whimpered eyes cloudy. "But daddy! He's not bad!"
The man, apparently one of the girl's parents, sneered. "Not bad? All of the wild ones are bad, little bird. That's why we keep 'em in the Pits."
'Little bird' pouted, moving closer to Fauss with a protective air. "You can't hurt 'im, daddy!" The Gastly took that moment to flee, racing away as the chuckles of the tall man and the tiny sobs of the whelp followed him.
The Pits. They were rumored to be terrible places where humans kept both wild Pokémon they'd captured and those bred specifically for fights, to compete in matches to the death. Their full name was The Gladiator Pits, but nobody called them that. Humans were a vain species, and they brushed over their own dark history with family-friendly nicknames and a shiny charade of what exactly The Pits really were.
They were a series of underground chambers; carved out beneath each city large enough to be of any monetary value. The only way in were tickets or participating, which meant that only the richest of the rich and the scum of the Earth got in. In this way, they kept their horrid acts to themselves, and if they ever needed to take someone out, it would be easy to smooth over. The big fish were killed by the little fish, and the dirt was taken care of by the dirt. It was all a cleverly planned facade, designed to increase income and get rid of what they saw as an infestation.
Hundreds of species, all crowding their Earth.
So what better way to deal with them... than to kill them? And why not make a little profit on the side? It wouldn't be harming anyone- well, not anyone important. And with that, The Pits were born, out of vanity, greed and the need to be on top of the food chain.

~*~​

That little girl was one Finch Gloren. She'd been born and raised in Avangaurd, and she never left. She had felt the need to, of course, as the city was almost suffocating in its self-assured pride. The citizens let murder and torture of comparatively defenseless creature slide, as long as their families were fed by nightfall. It sickened her, although she could say nothing.
What could a seven year old say? She might be much more aware then others of her age, but she had no right to stand up in the crowd and be the one in history to shout no. Most likely, she would never have that right. The young girl sighed, her father having removed her from the scene of her encounter with the Gastly and dumped her in her room. She sat on the edge of her bed; knees drawn up to her chest and tiny frown on her round face.
She raised her head to look up at the stars out her bedroom window, a few strands of brown hair stuck to the tear trails left by pent up frustration. Why couldn't the world just be... kinder? More fair? More equal? It didn't make sense to kill another species simply because you could. It was murder disguised as a righteous act. "Why can't the world be better, moon?"
The glowing orb levitating in the dark tapestry of midnight didn't offer her a reply, and she sighed, rubbing her eyes and climbing up to the top of her bed, slipping under the covers and hugging her tattered Eevee plush tight. She whispered a soft prayer, before nodding off with a sleepily calm face.
Cresselia, please hear my plea. Bring good fortune to the Pokémon trapped in the Pits, and don't let anything bad happen to Gastly.
She dreamed of a tiny blue Gastly, and smiled.

~*~​

Fauss floated past rows of houses along the streets, jumping up a good two feet as a large Rattata squeaked and ground its large teeth at him before scurrying past and retreating into a storm drain. The Gastly winced, passing the creature quickly and rushing through the maze of different buildings. Finally, he reached what he presumed was the center of the town, as an enormous building stood there. It was bathed in moonlight, casting an ominous shadow across half of the city. The monstrosity seemed like a hulking beast, laying in wait for the perfect time to strike.
Its windows looked like massive eyes, watching his every move with their dull glassy surfaces. Fauss swallowed dryly, inching towards it slowly as if approaching a wild animal. Finally, he darted inside, going right through the glass double doors and stopping in the middle of the entrance. The main room was large, a lobby of sorts, with cream marble floors and a frigid temperature. It made his gaseous body shiver, and he frowned, floating around the room as he observed it.
It was rather dull, like trees in the time between autumn and winter- sticks, without leaves or snow to cover their bare hides. However, minute sounds from a door to his right led him to hover towards it, one fang sliding over his lip as his body turned on its side in his version of a tilt of the head. After a moment’s indecision, he braced himself and rushed forward, clearing the door. He found himself floating above a spiral staircase covered in plush red carpet, headed straight down. Lamps on the sides of the steps lit the way, and Fauss let out an interested "Gastly?"
He edged towards the top of the stairs, before moving through the freezing air until he made it to the middle of the staircase. Gathering himself, he held his breath and let his body drop. The gas holding up his tiny body flickered and vanished, and he plummeted like a stone. Air rushed past his sides, and he choked on a breath as his levitation kicked in just before he hit the ground floor. Fauss let out a shaky sigh, smiling in relief before skimming quickly over the floor, following the noises he'd heard earlier.
He passed through another door, this one pure steel with no visible handles, casing the noises to louden considerably, and he winced as the cacophony bombarded his sensors.
Screams of every kind, loud and screeching, low and bellowing, the dying sounds of hundreds of lives flooded his very soul. It haunted him, that sound; it made his skin crawl as if bugs had seeped into his skin and started scrambling in different directions, their tiny legs scuttling along his sinew. He stood stock still like a man with a gun to his head, before shivering and slowly floating forward. He stopped at the sight of what looked like a room, but its front was covered in a chain link wall attached to the side walls. Looking down the long hallway in front of him, both sides were teeming with these cages, and the sounds were coming both from them, and from beyond the dark, ominous door at the end of the hall.
Fauss turned to look inside the first cage, and flew backwards as a large red beast rammed into the cage's front. It had a ruddy orange pelt with a main of long sandy fur, and black stripes zigzagged across his fur. Dull brown eyes stared through Fauss from the dog's sallow face, and as the Gastly inched closer he noticed that the creature was painfully thin. His skin seemed to be thin enough to draw a gush of blood with a nick, and Fauss could see his ribs sticking out painfully from his sides. Reading a small tag attached to the cage, he whispered a soft "Arcanine?" to the Pokémon.
Its floppy ears perked, and its foggy eyes gained a certain spark of awareness. It woofed at him softly, and Fauss felt his eyes water, quickly passing through the cage and lowering himself to the Arcanine's face level. "Please, brother. You do not have to hide from me."
The Arcanine blinked, before it sat heavily on its bony rump, ratty tail wagging. He gained a wolfish grin, leaning forward to examine Fauss with an appreciative eye. "Ah, you're a wild one, aren't you?"
Fauss blinked, before offering a smile as ways of a positive answer. "Yes, I thought so," the Arcanine continued, tone warm. "I haven't seen another Pokémon that didn't want to kill me in years, son. No need to be frightened."
Only then did Fauss realize the mist around his body was flickering with anxiety, and he grinned sheepishly, gas glowing a brighter blue as he blushed. "Sorry, brother. I just... these are the Pits, are they not?"
The Arcanine's ears went back on his head, and his tail stilled. After a few moments of somber silence, punctuated by the rattling calls of the fellow slaves, the Arcanine sighed. "Yes," he rumbled solemnly. "These are the Pits."

Footsteps echoing down the hallway shut everyone up, and Fauss shared a glance with the Arcanine before slowly disappearing. He jumped when a human male sauntered into view, skin shining with sweat under the dim lights hanging from the ceiling. The man stopped, turning his head slowly to eye the cage, and the dog woofed at him softly, stock still as his hackles slowly rose. The man chuckled in a way that sent chills through Fauss' body, and Arcanine growled in response, a sound much more menacing than anything this man could produce. However, the man - a patrolmen for the slaves, from the looks of things - did have a tiny black object in his pasty palms.
He raised it threateningly, a taunting smirk on his oily face. "Come on, ya little mutt. I dare you." Arcanine growled a bit longer, letting the sound taper off as he backed away slowly, tail lowering in a submissive stance. The human nodded, portly body jiggling as he laughed and turned away. "That's what I thought."
If looks could kill, that man would be very, very dead. Fauss flickered back into view, hovering over Arcanine's bowed head with a worried hum. "Arcanine?" His voice was a mere whisper, but it seemed as if everything started up again at its cue. The other slaves started up again, calling out their cries for all to hear. It was as if they thought that if they screamed loud enough, Fauss wondered, perhaps someone would listen.
The battered Arcanine raised his head with a sigh, front legs sliding down before his torso met the ground with a dull thump and a weary wheeze. "I'm getting too old for Pitting, kid. I can't take it. Pretty soon, I'll be gone."
Fauss spiraled downwards, using wispy tentacles of the gas surrounding him to pull up the dog's face. "Don't say that! If you say that, y-you..." His eyes grew cloudy, and the particles around him pulsed. "You might die."

If Arcanine replied, the sound was lost when lights attached to the cell's ceiling suddenly flashed on. They glowed a deep crimson red, flooding the hallway with demonic shades. The round man from before returned with quick steps, shoving the bars on the front of the cell aside after he'd unlocked one side of them. They collapsed into each other, staying piled to one side as the patrolman inched towards Arcanine with a sick grin. "Looks like your time's up, mutt."
For such a fat man, he moved quickly, sidestepping the dog's weak attempt to bite him and grabbing the scruff of his neck. Fauss quickly blinked out of sight when the guard's head turned in his direction, teeth gritting together in anger and frustration as the man dragged Arcanine out of the cell and down the hall. The Gastly followed, their trio greeted by mournful cries from the other slaves. Arcanine's head was bowed and his tail dragged along behind him, fur slick with dirt and sweat that shined under the red lights. His body creaked and moaned with every step, and his stumbling steps were reminiscent of a man being led to the gallows.
After what seemed like forever, the Guard stopped at the metal door at the end of the hall, name tag glinting as it shook on his worn uniform's breast. Conner Daniels, it read, and Fauss swore to remember that name for all time. Connor opened the door with a grunt of exertion, sweaty palms sliding off the handle and pushing Arcanine through. Fauss managed to swoop through the door before it slammed shut behind them, hovering over Conner's shoulder as he led the dog down an iron spiral staircase. Their footsteps echoed ominously, soon swallowed by the sounds of crackling fire.
The space below the staircase glowed a warm orange, and waves of the scent of coal and oil hit Fauss like a face-full of death. As they descended, it became almost overpowering, and a Pit came into view as the staircase ended. The Pit was in an oval shape, surrounded by a short cement wall with an electric gate in front of the stairs. Bleachers huddled around the sides, full of eager faces. They ranged from high-class citizens in fancy, wrinkle-less clothes, to the lowest of the low- the slave trainers. They were crowded around the walls, grinning and whooping excitedly like animals.
Daniels flipped the electric gate off for a moment, pushing Arcanine inside the Pit with a boot to his side before flipping it back on the moment the dog's last hair crossed it. Fauss hovered over it, invisible to the eye but able to see from a bird's eye view. Another gate was at the opposite end of the Pit, and a shadow was led through it by another guard, this one thin and shaky. He pushed the opponent in, revealing it to be a muscular, wild-eyed Infernape. The monkey surveyed the Pit, observing the sections on fire and the miniature mountains that lay scattered across the area.
A voice boomed from speakers set in the corners of the room, causing Arcanine to whimper and his fur to stand on end. "Ladies and gentleman! Get ready for a match to remember! A match to the death, Arcanine versus Infernus, the reigning champion of the Fire Pits!" The crowd cheered, clapping and hollering as both contestants grew agitated under the noise.

~*~​

Fauss winced as a bell was rung, and Infernus whooped with crazed eyes, darting forward with foam gathering at his lips. Arcanine whimpered, backing up with shaking steps. Infernus stopped a few feet from him, stirring up dust with a smirk. The ape held up a hand, motioning him to come forward with an air of confidence. "And Infernus starts the match off with a cocky Taunt!" From Fauss' viewpoint, the Infernape was malnourished but muscular.
It looked like a primate with brown skin and tangled white fur, blue fingers and fire flowing from its forehead like a torch. Its tail twitched as it waited for Arcanine to respond, and the golden plates attached to its wrists, ankles, shoulders and chest glinted in the distracting light of the fires. Its body grew tense as Arcanine took a step forward, muscles bunched as it lowered itself to the ground. Suddenly, kicking up a plume of dust, Arcanine rocketed forwards, hitting Infernus in the center of its chest with his head. "Oh, and Arcanine steps it up with an ExtremeSpeed!"
Fauss could hear the dull thud of bone meeting muscle from feet above them, and winced as Infernus went skidding backwards with a pained screech. The Infernape struggled to get up as Arcanine dug its claws into the dirt uneasily, tail keeping time like a ticking clock.