I - THE WRATH OF CASH (Doraemon Reimagination Series)

4 - TWO HOURS EARLIER

The team is just lying there by themselves on the floor, mindlessly thinking about 'stuff'. But some common questions occupied all of their brains at that moment. Each of them might be very different from one another but this was one of those times when all of them had the same thing to worry about.

What do we do now? How long do we have to hide in here? Can we even stop Cash from what he's planning to do? But we're just a bunch of scared little kids! We have nothing in common. When even experienced Time Patrol teams couldn't catch Cash for so many years When they didn't stand a chance, what good are we? What can we do different? Maybe this is sick obsession of being heroes, like all kids have at our age. But what will we do? If we fight, then we'll most probably lose and if we don't, being trapped in this island we have two choices; either we move out of this hideout and risk getting caught soon or we starve to death in here. Such a mess!!!

Doraemon glanced at each of his team members for a few seconds, examining their conditions and their way of reception of this critical situation. He startled along with Shizuka and Betty when suddenly, Gian got up on his feet and stormed towards Nobita. Grabbing him by his collar, he picked him up in the air from the floor and shouted, "All of this is your fault, Nobita. You know that right? If you hadn't forced us to come to this island, we would never have been in this mess in the first place."

Suneo stood up too and supported Gian's words by saying, "Yeah, I would be lying in my bed playing video games and eating pastries made by my loving Mama. Now I don't even know if I'll ever get to see her again."

Nobita voiced in his defense, "I might've brought you guys here but you were the ones who jumped like hooligans on hearing the information about a treasure being on an island somewhere in this sea. So you can't blame me for everything that's wrong. You might be here because of me, but you stayed because of you."

Gian pulled up his right fist up into the air ready to pound Nobita, saying, "You better keep your mouth shut if you don't wanna get beat up into a paste, Nobita." Nobita screamed, closing his eyes out of fright of getting fisted down by Gian again.

Shizuka stood up right before things got violent and snapped, "Stop it." All the others looked at her, including the three. Shizuka was standing in the corner, her shining eyes moist and heavy with tears. She said with her voice cracking up once in a while, "Stop fighting please. Stop! There's no use blaming each other for what has happened. It's our misfortune. Admit it or not, we're all in this together now. So we better try to get along for at least the time we are on this island and until the time we get out. (Joining both her hands and trying to be convincing while crying softly) Please, I'm begging you guys. Don't fight. Be there for each other not against each other. Please!!!"

Doraemon added after a short moment of silence, "Shizuka's right. We can't succeed in stopping Cash or getting out of this island, if we act like kids. We need to be brave; braver than ever to get what we want. Okay? WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER. Only then we have a chance against Cash and his men."

Gian realising the validity of their point, let go of the collar and gently brushed the wrinkles off Nobita's shirt. Both Suneo awkwardly sat back on the floor with his knees folded, right palm on his forehead and Gian leant against a wall with his eyes closed. Nobita sat down too, followed by Shizuka who hid her face beneath the skirt between her folded knees.

After about three minutes of pure silence, Nobita spoke up in a depressed tone, "You're right!"
Everyone got distracted again and looked at him to hear what he had to say further.

Nobita pulled his face up at everyone else from the floor and continued, "This is all happening because of me. I was the one who dragged Doraemon in here to go on a stupid treasure hunt. It was my plan to bring Shizuka along. It was my plan too of bringing Gian and Suneo onboard as pirates. All of this happened because I was so selfish; selfish to get others help me fulfil my dreams on going for a treasure hunt adventure."

Gian shook his head and said, "No it's not. I was hungry so I just acted out, I'm sorry....."

Nobita interrupted before Gian could finish his sentence, his voice sounding more assertive than it has ever done before, "YES, IT IS, Gian. And I know that. You might've acted out but you said the truth. It is my fault. And if anything bad happens to any of you guys....(looking away)....I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

Suneo said pitifully, "Come on now, Nobita. Please. Don't say that." Nobita didn't reply.

Captain said finally hearing the kids for a while, "You kids are brave enough to get the job done. I've seen it with my eyes before on this island. Nothing will happen to any of you, I assure you. The way you can fight, you all will be fine. It's just that we are all losing hope. We can't lose hope now. Not now! We have to pull ourselves back together and figure out a way to handle the things."

No one said anything even after hearing the entire talk from Captain. They just listened quietly. The conversation though incomplete, ended there.

Doraemon looked at everyone, one by one, and uttered to himself, "God, what are we gonna do now? How will we do anything with this team? This is no great spirited team. A worthless cat robot without his gadgets; (looking at Captain, who was sitting thoughtfully at one corner of the room) A captain of a pirate ship, too wounded to fight back; (looking at Betty, who's been quiet this whole time, standing at a lonely corner) A fighter but a sister first, too desperate to get back his only younger brother; (looking at Gian) A school jock and a bully; (looking at Suneo) A scared homesick Mama's boy; (looking at Shizuka) A sad, overwhelmed girl, trying her best to be strong, being the only one holding everyone together and keeping them sane right now; (looking at Nobita) And then there's a heartbroken, frightened boy who is constantly blaming himself for everyone else's trouble."

Almost an hour passed by. Gian couldn't control himself anymore and said, "I'm going out for awhile."

The others freaked out on hearing that casual sentence and stood up. Doraemon said, "Wait, where do you think you are going, Gian?"
Captain said, "Yes kid, there are people out there hunting for us."
Shizuka said, "Gian, you can't say 'I'm going out' and just leave."

Gian said angrily, "I'm done. I can't go even a minute by not eating something. I think I'm gonna die if I don't eat something right now. I'm going out in search for some food. I can't just us starve to death, right? So, I'm going out to get some food from the island."

Nobita said from behind, "Wait, I am coming too."
Gian denied, "What?! No way. I can't take anyone with me. It's too risky."
Nobita argued, "Don't be foolish. You don't even know where to get good from this island. You haven't even stayed here. I did. I can help."
Gian said, "No. You're not."
Nobita added, "Too bad. Like it or not, I'm coming with you, Gian."
Gian, raising his fist, said, "You want a beating now or what?"
Nobita said boldly, taking a step forward, "Come at me, sparkplug. But it won't matter. I'm going anyways."

Shizuka screamed, "SHUT IT! BOTH OF YOU!!! WE ARE ALL GOING. WE DECIDED THAT WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. SO WE STICK TOGETHER. WE DON'T SPLIT UP."

Everyone was looking at her with jaw dropped mouths and gaping faces. She calmed down and said, "You guys calm? Let's go then. Come on, Doraemon. Nobita, lead the way."

Saying this, she left and so did Doraemon. After the two, others followed along, including Nobita and Gian.

*About half an hour later*
"Wait, did you hear that?" asked Gian.
"Hear what?" repeated Doraemon.
A soft shushing sound amongst the bushes could be heard much more clearly by everyone in the team.

"You definitely must've heard that," whispered Gian again.
The others nodded their heads slowly in affirmation and closely looked at the direction from where the sound was heard.

"Suneo's the one in lookout at that direction!" added Doraemon when after a couple of seconds, Suneo emerged out of the dense trees and bushes, running in panic towards them, yelling, "Run! Run! They found us. They're after us. Run! Now!"

Hearing that, a vigorous marathon started in no time, with the team being chased by some goons; the same men dressed in white uniforms and a helmet covering their faces, only this time they had all their weapons out in their hands. The chase began....

to be contd.....
(So here's my next part of the story. I really hope you liked it. Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below. Correct me if I'm wrong. The fifth part will be up soon.)