The Truth Behind the Smile - Ashuro's Story Revealed

Travel Multiversal
Friendly Chaos Chronicles

“The Truth Behind the Smile – Ashuro’s Story Revealed”

An RP between kamehamehadude and eshonen

Note: This episode is the official tie-in to Travel Multiversal Episode 1 (coming soon)

Claire: So this is your sister? She's really beautiful and cool-looking. ^w^

Skylar: She's the best. ^^ I miss her...

Claire: Aww, don't be sad.


*Claire wraps her long tail around Skylar and brings him towards her.*

Claire: Wanna know what I do whenever I start feeling down?

Skylar: What do you do?


*Skylar looks at her with his "sad puppy" face, blushing slightly as well*

Claire: I look in a mirror...and make a funny face; like this, see?


*Claire makes her signature Gligar face, complete with a smile and her tongue hanging out.*

Skylar: ....."pfft"...! *chuckles a bit*

Nikki: Hey guys, what'cha doing? *sees Claire* "Pfft"... You always make the funniest faces, Claire... Hey, show him the Wobbuffet face!


Claire: Okay! Wobbuffet! >w<

*Claire does a perfect facial mimic of a Wobbuffet.*

Skylar: ... OwO;; .....HAHAHAHAHAAA!!!


*Skylar can't help but burst into laughter, resulting in him starting to roll around on the ground. He accidently drops the picture in the process though...*

Nikki: Hey, you dropped something... Who...?

Claire: That's Skylar's big sis! She's cool-looking, isn't she?


Nikki: She's so beautiful...

Skylar: I know, right? That's what I told her countless times, over and over.

Nikki: ...and quite an interesting wardrobe as well.

Skylar: She liked to dress that way... *smirks* Maybe...you could try as well~?

Nikki: ...find one in my size and then we'll talk. See ya later, handsome.


*Nikki leaves the scene.*

Claire: I think I'll look for one in my size too.


*Claire leaves the scene.*

Skylar: OwO ...Okay then. Hmm... maybe someone else, like Ashuro want to know how my sister looks like? I mean, he knows how Blitz look like and everything...

*With that, Skylar goes to look for Ashuro. He soon finds Ashuro resting in a grassy field with Zero.*

Ashuro: Zzzz...

Zero: ^w^

Skylar: Heh, hey Ashuro; Ashuro? ...

*When it now seems like Ashuro won't wake up, Skylar takes out a piece of smelling salts and holds it up against his nose*

Ashuro: *sniffs* Achoo! *sniffles* What was that? *looks up and sees Skylar* Oh, hey Skylar; are you here to enjoy the nice, cool, relaxing weather as well?

Zero: Chipa!


*Zero flutters up onto Skylar's head.*

Skylar: That would be nice. But, there IS another reason I'm here... I finally found a picture of my big sister. *looks up at Zero and chuckles a bit*

Ashuro: Really? Is it alright if I see it?

Skylar: Sure you can. *hands over the picture*

Ashuro: ... Just from looking at this, I can tell that she was a great person. *Hands picture back over*

Skylar: ...Mehehe, you have no idea...

Ashuro: It...must've been nice to have siblings...

Skylar: yeah... thought they could be annoying at times... I still had so much fun with them...

Ashuro: Yeah...

*Ashuro stays quiet for a while; when Skylar looks up at him, he can see tears welling up in his eyes.*

Skylar: Hey pal, is something wrong? You look a little sad...

*Ashuro suddenly punches the ground hard, creating a giant fissure to open up along the ground.*

Skylar and Zero: OwO;;

Ashuro: IT'S NOT FAiR!! WHY?! WHY DiD WE HAVE TO LOSE THEM?! WHY ARE WE THE ONE'S WHO HAVE TO SUFFER SUCH PAiN?! IT'S NOT FAiR! IT'S NOT FAiR! IT'S NOT FAiR!


*Each time Ashuro says that, he pounds the ground with one of his fists, sending out shockwaves in the surrounding area everywhere.*

Skylar: Woahwoahwoah!!! This is not good... He's lost it. O_O;;

Ashuro: LORENZO, YOU LYiNG JERK!! I WAS JUST A KiD WHO HAD NOTHiNG SiNCE HE WAS 3!! YOU PROMiSED ME A HAPPY LiFE AND LOTS OF FRiENDS!! YOU LiED TO ME!! YOUR GOAL FROM THE START WAS TO JUST MAKE ME ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR EXPERiMENTAL WHiMS!!


*An aura of E-nergy flows from Ashuro's body; the wind force it creates starts to push both Skylar and Zero backwards some.*

Ashuro: IN 64 DAYS, YOU MADE ME SUFFER 64 LiFETiMES OF PAiN AND LOSS!! AND FOR WHAT?! SO YOU CAN TURN ME iNTO THiS?! PEOPLE ALREADY HATED ME BECAUSE I HAD AQiTiCAN BLOOD; BUT YOU, AFTER EVERYTHiNG YOU DiD TO MY BODY, ONCE I WAS FiNALLY FREE FROM YOUR CLUTCHES, EVERYBODY WAS OUT TO KiLL ME!! THEY WENT FROM CALLiNG ME "TRASH" TO CALLiNG ME A "MONSTER," AN "ABOMINATION!!" AND FOR WHAT, HUH?!

Skylar: ASHURO!!! Open your eyes and focus!

*Skylar plants his feet in the ground and throws his whole body towards Ashuro, giving him a powerful head butt to the forehead. They stand still. Ashuro having stopped yelling, Skylar holding onto his shoulders*

Skylar: ...I know it's hard...but we both need to live with it...

Ashuro: ...

Skylar: Ashuro... Tell me what's wrong... slowly...

Ashuro: ...

*Ashuro remains silent, as if he's in a trance, deep in thought.*

Skylar: Ashuro...? Hey, Zero, could you try get some help?

Zero: Chii-pa! Pachi-pachi...Cl...aire.

*Skylar is taken by surprise when he hears Zero speak Claire's name, even if it didn't come out all too well; he guesses that he's starting to learn how to say certain words now.*

Skylar: Okay...Claire... And?

Zero: Chipa-Pachipa...Scootah...Scootah.

*In his mind, Skylar thinks he's trying to say Scooter's name.*

Skylar: *nods* Yes, go on...

Zero: F-f-find...Claire...f-find...Scoo-Scootah.

Skylar: Okay, got it.

Zero: Chii-chipa!

Skylar: .....Wait... I'm the one supposed to go get them, right? (I still don't understand him that well… )

*Zero nods his head and starts to flying ahead of Skylar to lead him to one of them. Taking Ashuro under his arm, Skylar follows Zero. It's not long before they find Claire, who is still searching for an outfit similar to Tanya's.*

Claire: >3< Had I known it was going to be this hard to find an outfit like that, I would've just asked Sashi to make me one from the very beginning.

Zero: Pachii!


Claire: Zero! *cuddles Zero* What're you doing all the way out here, sweetie?

Skylar: This is why... *points to Ashuro* Oh, hello again, by the way.

Claire: Ashuro? Hey, Ashuro! Can you hear me? What happened?

*Skylar explains the situation*

Skylar: ...I think my head butt might have done something...

Claire: No, a single head butt wouldn't do this to Ashuro; he's in some sort of emotional shock. It was really alarming when you told me that he just flew off the handle like that; Scooter and I were hurt by Lorenzo too, but it looks like Ashuro was hurt the most...

Skylar: ...If there is anything I can do, just ask...

Claire: The one thing you can do is what you've been doing all this time, and that's being his friend; as long as you continue being his friend, he'll always be happy. Y'know, recently I've realized something when I think back to that time and the things that happened afterwards.

Skylar: ...What have you realized?

Claire: Ashuro gained a lot of friends, just as Lorenzo promised he would.

Skylar: O.O; Y...you're right...

Claire: Sort of makes you think, doesn't it? Lorenzo did such horrible things to him...but in the end, all of those things helped make him stronger and become the person he is right now; but that's also thanks to his former master, A.K.

Skylar: Excuse me, but who is A.K.?

Claire: The one who ultimately saved Ashuro from becoming what everybody around him was treating him like: a true monster. He took Ashuro into his home and raised and treated him as if he was his little brother. The two of them did everything together, so I guess that it's only natural that Ashuro became just like him as time went by.

Skylar: ...Like...how Arashi did for me... Except that we wandered around.

Claire: Well, I'd better get Ashuro home, now; he should snap back to reality soon. Thanks for your help, see ya later. ^w^

*Claire leaves the scene with Ashuro and Zero. Skylar's concern for his Nekofi friend makes him wonder what exactly happened to him.*

Skylar: ...what did happen anyway? ...No one's here to tell me, that means I'll have to... ugh... investigate... -_-; I'm a hunting wolf, not Sherlock Holmes, damn it...

???: *sigh* I don't get it; what can I be doing wrong?

*Skylar turns around and sees a very tall, bare-footed man with an afro walking his way; it was Scooter Bo, somebody who also knew of Ashuro's past.*

Scooter: I tried out all of the strategies in the book she gave me and my skills have gotten better than ever before. So why can't I still beat her? Is...is Chispa the only person I can't defeat in the world of gaming? Huh, hey...you're...Nikki's guy, Kybar, right? ^o^

Skylar: Um... It's Skylar. Yes, I'm with Nikki. And you are?

Scooter: Scooter Bo! When it comes to games, I can't be beat...except if I'm playing against Chispa, apparently.

Skylar: That video game girl? You know she's ranked as one of the top elite gamers in the world, right? And she's just on 12th place.

Scooter: ...it all makes sense now; at least now I know who my next ranked opponent will be once I set it up. Who knew the skill difference between rank 13 and rank 12 was so great...

Skylar: Okay..... Um, say, do you know about Ashuro's past?

Scooter: A little bit; about how far back do you want me to go?

Skylar: ...Does the name Lorenzo, ring any bells?

Scooter: *shudder* Unfortunately, yes, it does; Ashuro, Claire and I were that guy's guinea pigs for about 3 months; he didn't do anything to harm us physically, but mentally, he put us all through the ringer.

Skylar: ...Tell me as much you can... I'm worried about Ashuro... *tells him what had happened*

Scooter: Oh boy, I was afraid this was gonna happen sooner or later. Okay, I'll tell everything that I know...*stomach growls*...while we eat something sweet, that is.


*At a nearby cake shop, Skylar and Scooter sit at a table that Scooter had loaded up with multiple cakes and other baked goods.*

Scooter: *eating cake* Mmm-mmm-mmm! That's tasty; feel free to dig into anything you see in front of you.

Skylar: *grabs a brownie and chews on it* Thanks man.

Scooter: Okay, now where was I? ...Oh yeah, Ashuro. He doesn't know where he was born, but he does remember having a Mom and Dad. He was only 3 years-old when he lost them and had to start fending for himself. With him being born an Aquitican, he had it even tougher than the average orphaned child; I'm still amazed that he survived on his own like that.

Skylar: ...Go on, please.

Scooter: *Eats last bite of cake on his plate* Those 7 years he spent on his own were tough; nobody would help him or give him a way to live a decent life. I can't even begin to imagine how much he suffered during that time in his life. He was able to survive by fishing and hunting wild animals for food, occasionally having to steal food from the market district of town. I can go on and on for hours about all of the injustice he experienced, but let’s skip that and go right to the source of the problem: Lorenzo Saturn.

Skylar: That name seems to appear a lot when I'm around you guys... He's either A: Very important. Or B: Your enemy. And I'll go with answer B...

Scooter: And that would be the correct answer. Lorenzo approached Ashuro when he was 10 years-old, 7 years after the loss of his parents. He defended Ashuro from a mod of people who tried to chase him out of town; being the current boss of the Saturn Family AND founder of MASTER HQ, they all immediately recognized him, stopped what they were doing and went back to their everyday lives. From that moment on, I guess you can say that the two of them befriended each other. It wasn't long until Lorenzo asked him to help him out with a project of his; if Ashuro agreed to help him, he was promised him that he would make many new friends at the end. Ashuro immediately jumped at the offer and Lorenzo took him with him on his way back to MASTER HQ. *begins to eat an ice cream cake.*

Skylar: Really? Hmm... Continue when you feel like it, I see that you're busy with the cake... ^_^;

Scooter: *swallows* You should try some of this; it's really delicious. ^w^

Skylar: No thanks, I'm good. I'm gonna have a lot to eat for dinner afterwards anyway...

Scooter: That's cool; what're you having?

Skylar: Just some grilled meat and various vegetables.

Scooter: Sounds like Nikki's Mom and Dad's type of grub. *Takes last bite of the ice cream cake in front of him* Okay...let's see...oh yeah, I met Ashuro for the first time the moment Lorenzo walked in with him. He was so small and timid back then; it was like looking a little kitten trying to get a feel for its new home. For the first two weeks, the three of us did everything together; I had been at MASTER HQ for almost an entire year before that time, and Lorenzo was such a cool guy. On the third week, Lorenzo said that he had some business to attend to and that he would be gone for the next two months. He left for his trip, but strangely, he was back at MASTER HQ the very next day; when we asked him what happened, he simply said that everything had been taken care of a lot quicker than he imagined, so he came back extremely early. The day after that is when Ashuro nightmare began...*sips tea*

Skylar: And everything went downhill...

Scooter: You got that right. It was as if Lorenzo became a completely different person overnight; it surprised everybody at MASTER HQ. That day was also the day that Claire arrived; and the day both her and Ashuro became experiments...and I unknowingly assisted in the experiment as well; had I known what was really going on, I would've done everything I could to make things turn out differently.

Skylar: I'm sure you would... Don't blame yourself...

Scooter: Thanks. Before I can go into further detail about what exactly happened to Ashuro, I should tell you about my ability first. It might seem unreal, but after hanging around with all of us as you have, it more than likely wouldn't overwhelm you.

Skylar: Hey, this place is built on a strange set of circumstances... Go ahead.

Scooter: You see, like e-chan, Victora and even Nikki, I can manipulate reality. Unlike the two of them, I can only use mine through technology like computers, cell phones, video game consoles and stuff like that; basically, I can merge reality with the technological world. Say for instance...*takes a sky blue Nintendo DSi out of his afro and starts up the Pokemon Platinum game inside of it.* Take a look at my current team; I based it on the one the team e-chan used all throughout Sinnoh. Pick the Pokemon you like best and we'll continue from there.

*Looking at the screen, Skylar sees a Torterra, a Luxray, a Floatzel, a Togekiss, an Ambipom, and a Magmortar.*

Skylar: Hmm... I pick... the Togekiss.

Scooter: Alright, now watch closely.

*Scooter taps the Poke Ball icon on the touch screen to bring up Togekiss' stats; when the stat screen is up, an icon of Scooter's head appears next to the image of the Togekiss. Once tapped, a Togekiss digitally materializes right next to Skylar. Only mildly surprised, Skylar reaches out and pets the Pokemon on its head; it felt and acted just like the real thing as the Togekiss smiled, appreciating being pat on the head.*

Skylar: I...this is...how the...amazing...

Scooter: It is really cool...but it came with a price. *Motions for the Togekiss to come to him; when it does, Scooter takes some Poffins out of his afro and feeds them to it.*

Skylar: And, I dare to ask, what's the price?

Scooter: Oh, just the usual: being feared, shunned, mocked and cursed at; y'know, the basic outsider treatment.

Skylar: ...Because of this? Ridiculous... Ridiculous I say!

Scooter: That's what I thought to, but that's just the way some people act; if you're just a little different from them or you can do something that they can't, they see some need to make you feel bad about it. *taps the Scooter icon on the touch screen again and the Togekiss pixalates and disappears. Looking at the touch screen, they can both see that it is back in his team rotation* That was just a small example of it; I still haven't come up with a decent name for this ability yet. Got any suggestions?

Skylar: ...Hmm..."Pixel Reforming"?

Scooter: Hmm...that sounds pretty cool; I'll keep that one in mind. Anyway, I was using this ability to help Lorenzo out with his experiment. Basically, it was about being able to connect different planets, galaxies and universes together. He discovered that it was possible to send people far away to distant locations throught their dreams while they're asleep. He even discovered a way to control how time flowed in different areas as well. And with my help, it was made possible. On the last day of that first two week period, Lorenzo wanted Ashuro to be the test subject for the project; if it was successful, Ashuro could go anywhere and make all sorts of friends in hardly anytime at all. The next day came, and Lorenzo said that he'd have to put the experiment on hold for the next two months; apparently something came up that he had to go and take care of himself; thinking back...he looked...very worried when he told us both that, like he was about to cry or something like that. And thinking about that day more thoroughly, he said something that neither of us ever thought about much before he boarded his private plane. "No matter what happens in the future, please remember these past two weeks and remember all of the good times we had together." That time, he really DiD have tears in his eyes. The next day we awoke and saw that Lorenzo was back; when we asked him about why he was back so soon, he simply said that the matter was taken care of a lot sooner than he had thought. But something about him was different; the calm, relaxing aura he usually gave off just wasn't there anymore.

*Skylar is completely focused on the story and is chewing on some cookies*

Scooter: The day after he returned, I woke up and discovered that Lorenzo had decided to start the experiment without even informing me; something he'd never do. I walked into the lab and discovered Ashuro asleep in this capsule-looking pod attached to one of the many giant computers there. When I asked what was going on, Lorenzo said that the final parts of the experiment didn't require my assistance; the exact opposite of what he had told me weeks earlier. He also said that because of my hard work he had set things up so that I could compete in a game tournament where I had a chance to become one of the top 100 elite gamers of the world; and opportunity that I jumped at without a question. If only I hadn't been thinking of only myself at that moment, I could've figured out what was going on sooner and prevented millions of lives from being lost...

Skylar: .....THAT made me feel bad and depressed... Millions you said?

Scooter: The original program Lorenzo and I had put together was altered. It still sent Ashuro to whatever location that was chosen, but the time was altered so that one day for Ashuro while he was in the pod was equal to one lifetime of about 30 to 50 years. And at the end of each one...the planet was destroyed, with him on it. All of the planets destroyed in that program were destroyed in reality. Each of them were destroyed in various ways; nuclear warfare, the planet core being messed with, destruction by various alien races, you name it, they were all destroyed and there's no trace of them anywhere. Ashuro experienced that pain 64 times in a row; in 64 days, he lived 64 lifetimes of repeated loss. By the time we escaped, even though he didn't show it, he was absolutely terrified to get close to anybody. He actually believed that he was cursed and that anybody that got near him would die. When he suddenly reappeared in town after all that time, all those stupid people blamed him for all of those planets being destroyed and actually tried to kill him every chance they got. Afterwards, he tried to kill himself several times, thinking that the entire universe would be better off without him...

Skylar: .....You...don't think that... No, he couldn't have... I wouldn't blame him anyway...

Scooter: I can confidently say that he had nothing to do with the planets being destroyed; he was a victim like all of the innocent people on those planets.

Skylar: Yeah, thought so. ^^

Scooter: ^w^ He's able to keep a smiling face, but deep down, he's still hurting tremendously; I guess today was just a by-product of keeping all those feelings bottled-up for so long. I want to help him, but emotional injuries can't be healed like physical ones, so I'm just as limited as everybody else is with helping him in that regard. I hoped that helped in your wanting to know more about our little Nekofi friend.

Skylar: Yeah... poor guy... At least I got pictures of my big bro and sis... He’s got nothing... *looks at the pictures of Blitz and Tanya*

Scooter: Oh, on a lighter note, Aluma and her sisters are organizing at huge block party that'll take place downtown in a few days. If you're interested, you're free to come and have fun with everybody. I think this is just the thing Ashuro needs to pull him out of his depression...well, him AND Ookahara; he hasn't been himself for the past month or so.

Skylar: Sounds... Not that bad, actually... ^^

Scooter: Yeah, those four are gonna go all out for this one. It's gonna have that whole festival theme complete with plenty of games, rides, food, live theater, fireworks, everything you can think of; including a live performances from Annie Radd and DJ Candy...maybe that's the reason why Ookahara has been so depressed lately.

Skylar: Yeah... You know, I just hope we can have a normal day without this or that and just have fun...

Scooter: Same here.


*Scooter takes the last bite of the strawberry cheesecake in front of him and notices that he's eaten everything he had brought to the table. Seeing as he had already paid for his food, Scooter drinks one more cup of ice water and stand up to leave the shop.*

Scooter: Well, I've got to get going; now that I know who I've got to defeat to obtain the Rank 12 title, it’s time to really sharpen my game like never before. See ya later, Skylar.


*Just before Scooter walks out of the shop, he turns around to tell Skylar one more thing.*

Scooter: Oh, and if you happen to see Ookahara on your way home, please tell him that getting rejected isn't the end of the world *walks out through the door.*

Skylar: I will; bye!

*Skylar leaves the shop soon after Scooter does and heads to his next destination. Thinking back on Scooter's story, he can't help but wonder about the events that happened all those years back. Among all of those planets that were destroyed, could his home planet, Ookami, have been one of them?*

Skylar: I want to believe it but...I also don't want to believe it... *sighs* What should I do?