Ch 09 In Which We Find Out What The Heck Sparky Is

Chapter 9: In Which We Find Out What The Heck Sparky Is

 

Brig of the Bloody Dagger 12 Hours until the Rescue Attempt

 

Well Sparky was as her name indicated an Electric type from what Corren could gather. She had not gone to the trouble of actually saying her breed’s name; her behavior though spoke more than her breed name could.

 

She was to put it lightly, very talkative and very energetic, and from what he could tell of her description of herself a Very Near Human. She apparently had blonde and black hair and enjoyed sun bathing, to keep up her tan. Of course he could not confirm any of this as fact, considering that he had yet to see her face to face.

 

She seemed like a nice enough person, if a bit grating on the nerves with her constant talking about this and that, she already knew his name, or rather his pen name. She seemed interested in learning about him, which was sort of odd for him as not many women had wanted to know a lot about him aside from Meiling and a few girls from back home, and they were mostly female coworkers that were going out with some of the male coworkers that he was friends with. So no luck there for him.

 

It was quite odd getting to know a person by speaking to them audibly and not being able to see them. The most similar experience in his life he could compare it to was making friends and getting to know people on the Pokecenter website. Of course he was talking to a person, and not reading text, but the level of detachment he felt was similar. They couldn’t see one another’s faces or expressions; it felt like having a phone call almost, now that he thought of it.

 

There was one thing that really struck him about her though, and that was her Latino accent, it wasn’t nearly as heavy as an immigrants English would be,  but it was still fairly noticeable.

 

“So I take it you aren’t from Indigo?” Corren asked, once he had managed to grasp the origin of her accent.

 

“You got that right; I am from the southern half of the Sunshine League. Nice enough place, nice and warm, people tend to be okay. But I got sort of bored there and decided to go abroad. This was back when I was still human by the way.” Sparky said this last part with a depressed sigh, that most would have had to strain their ears to here, given how far away she was, he didn’t however given his oddly strong hearing.

 

Corren immediately picked up on it, even if Sparky hadn’t meant for her depression to be that noticeable. His brow furrowed at hearing this, a few different scenarios went through his mind at hearing this.

 

 

“Do you mind if I ask how this happened Sparky?”

 

Again she sighed nearly inaudibly, but still loud enough for him to hear. He sort of got the feeling she was giving a resigned nod as she started speaking.

 

“I guess I don’t mind telling you…you seem a lot more trustworthy than most, especially more than the trash that did this to me.”

 

Corren’s lips formed a scowl at hearing her confirm one of his suspicions. Meiling who had been quiet up until now let out what sounded like a growl from deep in her throat. Her expression however was one of sympathy for their fellow inmate.

 

“It was a Team wasn’t it? “Meiling asked, her question sounding more like a statement. Her derision for the word Team clearly evident in her voice.

 

“I figured as much, either that or a late Threshold.” Corren muttered in reply to Meiling’s query. Her face was now set in a light scowl, likely brought up by the mentioning of the Team organizations. She did however nod her head and mouth ’I figured you'd get it right.’

 

Corren for his part just smirked in response, he was proud of himself, even if it was basic common sense for anyone that read Pokegirl stories as much as he did. Still he felt strangely proud that Meiling was impressed. She hadn’t voiced that but he…got this vague feeling that she was regardless.

 

“Was it by Loveball or Jusenkyo water?” Corren inquired, all feelings of self-satisfaction gone, now sounding completely serious.

 

“If I am right about this hunch…well let’s just say I have a certain group that is officially on my shit list.” Corren muttered just loud enough for his cellmate to hear. Meiling gave a grave nod, her eyes showing her outrage at what had happened.

 

The sound of a deep inhalation of breath brought him out of his negative thoughts in regards to the Teams for a moment.

 

“I-i-it was a L-L-Loveball! They just came out of nowhere and ambushed me from behind! There was so much pain a-and just so much darkness…and then there was that VOICE that kept telling me to obey them! It just wouldn't stop!” Was her reply, as she proceeded to break down and begin to sob.

 

Corren just growled in response, much as Meiling had no more than a moment or two ago. Meiling on the other hand just looked a bit impassive at hearing this, but her expression quickly turned into a deeper scowl, her eyes oddly enough seemed to become a brighter shade of aqua than her eyes normally were and they almost seemed to glow?

 

“Team Rocket.” Corren and Meiling concluded as one, Corren sounding grim, Meiling on the other hand sounding murderous.

 

An inhalation of breath amongst the audible crying of their still unseen companion confirmed her shock at the two so quickly coming to the same conclusion about the identity of those that had done this to her.

 

“Damn that bastard Giovanni, the character that the son of a bitch was based on was bad enough, but this guy really takes the cake with this one! I thought the usage of Loveballs was illegal in Indigo, no surprise that they are still fully operational here! Fucking hypocritical bastards!!!”Corren all but snarled this last part, his eyes were narrowed in his rage, Meiling was looking at her former Master's apparent other dimensional double oddly.

 

It took a few seconds before Corren apparently had managed to realize just how worked up he had just been, and let out a slow deep breath to allow the tension and anger to fade away.He looked over at Meiling, to see her giving him an odd look. He gave a sheepish smile, and would have probably rubbed the back of his head in embarassment if he could move his hands. It was then that a thought occured to him.

 

“Hey Mei, I have got to know has there been any big news out of Crimson lately?” Corren asked grimly, his tone now thoroughly serious. She was a bit surprised though at the use of the name HE used but she refused to break down in front of her new companion again, even if he looked so much like HIM it was scary.

 

“Aside from some sightings of some Team grunts here and there hasn’t been anything going on in the last few months since the Athena Incident.” She noticed his eyebrows nearly go into his hairline at the mention of that, making a mental note to ask about that later.

 

“That maniac Athena was killed by some kid they called the Widow Slayer. Ended up losing his life in the process though, which is unfortunate, but Athena had managed to turn into some abomination that had no listed weaknesses. He had to use some super powerful final move that used up far too much chi; he ended up dying from wounds and the energy loss. Kid had a powerful harem that he left behind; I really hope they are in good care. That all happened about three or four months ago though.” Meiling reported all of this like a dedicated servant would to her master or mistress, though she still managed to place her own opinion in there as well, it just showed that despite her laziness while guarding the gates, this Meiling was an improvement over the Hong Meiling that he had grown to like as one of his favorite characters.

 

The Hong Meiling that he had encountered in the games and fan work was kind of dumb and despite her impressive skills, she tended to just be lazy, unless she was practicing her Art. Sure she could rise to the occasion, but aside from her combat prowess she seemed like a bit of lazy ass that never learned her lesson, given how many times he’d seen her get stabbed by Sakuya’s knives in the doujinshi.

 

The Meiling before him was very similar but was markedly more intelligent and much less lazy than her counterpart from his world. Okay, who was he kidding this version of Hong Meiling was a lot smarter than the one depicted in doujinshi from his world!

 

“Hmm so that did happen here too then…must have been remnants of Team Rocket then.” Corren concluded with a thoughtful nod.

 

“And did you hear anything concerning the state of the Limbecs at this time following the destruction of much of those loyal to her?” Corren asked with his expression still set in fairly serious look.

 

“As you said a lot of the Limbecs were wiped out thanks to Athena enlisting their aid. The majority of the Limbecs are disorganized at the moment. And if you think that is bad, the Goths of You Know Where are even more disorganized after the chaos that was caused by an Author that came from the Sunshine League.” She reported this part with a smirk on her face.

 

“Hmm…sounds like it might have been the work of one of the two authors that frequently wrote there, one of them much more so than the other. I bet it was Kelvin that ripped Sanctuary a new one. Do you have any idea what happened to him?” Corren concluded it had to be Kelvin’s Choice, the man struck him as the kind that if he was wronged by some one in a big way, especially  by the Goths ,  then he’d get even and then some. The Protagonists in many of his stories were utterly bad ass, so he could only assume that Kelvin would bring that same attitude with him.

 

Meiling frowned though, instead of telling him ‘yes’ like he had hoped, which likely indicated the opposite of good news.

 

“He seems to have gone missing from what many of the Mistress’ informants have reported.” Meiling replied with an apologetic half smile.

 

Corren’s hope and expression deflated like a balloon that had the air released slowly from the bottom. His smile and eyes seemed to darken gradually as thoughts and probable causes for the disappearance went through his mind.

 

'What in this world could take out Kelvin!? He's one of the most intelligent and resourceful of the Authors I can think of!? Maybe he isn't gone, maybe he's just lying low? God I hate not knowing how someone is, when I'm worried about'em!'

 

Shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts he gave a halfhearted attempt at a reassuring grin in return.

 

“Any other Authors that have been reported by your Mistress’ contacts Mei?” Corren asked bluntly, he just wanted to get all the information he could get regarding the Authors that he could at one time.

 

“Yes, an individual only known to us by the abbreviation SoL.” Was Meiling’s immediate reply, her expression noticeably brighter than before.

 

Corren’s expression and demeanor visibly brightened in response to this.

 

“No surprise there, he’s a resilient one, not to mention that he probably has a bunch of resources to call on. That and knowing him he probably either invoked the power of some archaic deity, or somehow found a way to bring the Sailor Senshi to his aid.” Corren was smirking by the end of this.

 

“Sailor Senshi?” Meiling inquired in confusion. “That anime about those middle school girls that ran around in those really short skirts that were popular in Japan around the beginning of the War?”

 

“Yeah, that’s them. He had this habit of writing a lot of Alternate Universe stories about them in the Pokegirl World, man were they ever entertaining. Especially one of his longer works, Scott in Pokegirl Land!”

 

“Let me guess, the name of this SoL person was Scott? “Inquired Meiling likely guessing this based on the abbreviation.

 

“I am honestly not sure about that. A lot of us used assumed names in our stories; I even have one picked out for whenever we get out of here.” Corren replied, a smirk still on his face after recalling SoL’s works in his mind.

 

Meiling’s expression seemed to light up at this, seeming to know where he was going with this.

 

“Is it going to be HIS name?” she asked this part hesitantly though.

 

“No I wouldn’t do that to you Meiling, having me around has to be painful enough as it is right? I mean according to you I am an almost perfect copy of him. I wouldn’t want to steal the only real thing that you have of this universe’s version of me, your memories of him aside. I am thinking of taking a name that is of the exact same meaning though. It is close enough to my real name, and of the same meaning as his own, so it should be easily remembered.” Corren finished this with a reassuring smile to Meiling, who looked a bit touched at the consideration given by the man that so resembled her beloved first master in both appearance and behavior.

 

“I’d like for you to be able to call me by whatever name you feel like though. It is up to you, but if we’re both near enemies call me by the assumed name whenever  we decide to start using it.” Corren concluded.

 

“Sounds good to me….” She  replied, almost tempted to call him by that name, but they had yet to truly interact beyond speaking, they had yet to even touch hands with one another! She could not claim another human male as her superior without the expressed consent of Lady Remilia herself as it were!

 

The sound of the Pokegirl known as Sparky clearing her throat from a few cells over broke the two of them from their private conversation.

 

“Are you feeling better now Sparky?” Corren asked in response to her cleared throat.

 

“Yes I am Mr.Skyblazer.” Was her clearly spoken reply, her voice no longer sounding nealy as broken as she had during her earlier surge of emotions.

 

“You don’t need to call me that you know, just call me Corren.” Was Corren’s slightly embarrassed reply. He didn’t get addressed with respect like that often so he was a bit surprised and was honestly embarrassed by being shown it so openly by someone he did not even know by sight.

 

 

“But I would prefer if I could sir, I overheard some of what you and Miss Meiling were discussing…I thank you for your concern and want to get rid of those trash.I truly wish to see no other go what I went through.” She seemed genuinely thankful for this, and not a little surprised by how she was able to hear him so well.

 

“Umm how much did you hear Sparky?” Corren inquired as he has a bad feeling about this.

 

“Well…all of it sir including how you enjoy the works of an author named SoL? Who in Sukebe's name calls themselves Shit out of Luck!?” Explained a hesitant sounding Electric type Pokegirl of unknown breed, however towards the end of her explanation her tone turned incredulous.

 

Corren and Mailing took a moment to look at one another and burst out laughing in unison.

 

“You didn’t even find the fact that I am in enough trouble to warrant having an assumed name any thought? You found the name SoL more surprising then that!?” Corren let out between laughs.

 

He had managed to settle down and slowly stop laughing after a few moments of deep breathing, Meiling on the other hand was still lost in the throes of laughter.

 

“She thinks that his name means ‘Shit out of Luck’!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Exclaimed the vibrantly red haired Hunter Kishi, who was laughing loudly at Sparky’s remark.

 

Corren gave her an amused look at her exclamation amid her cackling, he had just the thing to say in response to that too.

 

“Do you know what his name means Mei?”Corren asked, his grin turning into a full blown amused smirk.

 

This caused Meiling’s amusement to immediately grind to a halt. Her expression immediately turned sheepish and her cheeks colored slightly in embarrassment.

 

“Uh not really I just thought it was something like Soldier of Luck or something like that?” Was her embarrassed reply, she looked down at the ground so that her hair would cover her more intense blush.

 

Corren stared at the sight before him and had to resist the urge to call such a sight cute out loud, that’d just further her embarrassment. She did look quite cute doing that though.

 

 

“You were actually pretty damn close with your guess Mei, the word for the last part of the acronym is Love not Luck, but that is close enough. No need to feel embarrassed about that, since you were the closest. And Sparky don’t feel bad about us laughing please, it’s just really funny that you went with the traditional definition of that acronym. ”Corren explained, even though he could not see the unknown Pokegirl that he only knew as Sparky, he got the impression she was smiling based on the way she sounded when she replied.

 

“I guess it’s pretty funny, but admit SoL is more commonly used as ‘Shit out of Luck’, a lot more common than ‘Soldier of Love’ is anyway…but what sort of trouble could you be in that requires you to go by an assumed name? And really if you are in here, you have to be in some sort of trouble with the Limbecs.” Sparky stated, her reasoning was surprisingly sound, it seemed she had a pretty good head on her shoulders and was able to reason things out quite well despite his initial impression of her. This just led him to wonder just what kind of Electric type she was.

 

 

“Well shit…” Corren muttered,  as the answer metaphorically hit him in the face, boy he felt sorta dumb now, the signs narrowed down the choices to only a select few. It was her hait colors that did though. 

 

Meiling, who had been thinking over something since her embarrassment had subsided, looked at Corren curiously as she heard him curse to himself.

 

“What is it?” Meiling inquired, curious as to what he had come up with. Her first master had a similar habit, so it was a reasonable assumption that this alternate version of him could also have such a habit to.

 

“Just figured out what breed Sparky probably is.” Corren said in reply, he was fairly certain of his guess to, not many breeds of the Electric typing fit the criteria that Sparky had.

 

“One of the Tesla breeds right?” Meiling said a smirk on her face. It was a smirk that said ‘Hah! Got it before you!’

 

“You’re evil you know that…let me guess women’s intuition?” Corren remarked dryly.

 

“Maybe that too, but it was mostly based on my past experiences with that evolutionary line. Most of the examples of both those breeds that I have encountered have acted in a similar manner when not on duty. They also tend to have good logic and reasoning skills.”

 

It occurred to Corren that he had yet to answer Sparky’s questions, and she was either being awfully patient or was eavesdropping on his and Meiling’s side conversation.

 

“Sorry I didn’t answer your questions right away Sparky.” Corren apologized, hoping that he hadn’t said too much in the conversation that he was having with Meiling, as well as hoping he hadn’t annoyed the potentially Tesla line Pokegirl to badly, by not answering her immediately.

 

“No problem, oh and you’re both right I was turned into a Tesslass by those damn Team grunts. My mom was a Tesladama.So if I had undergone threshold, or been born a kit this is what I would’ve been.” She still sounded a bit emotional when the topic of her ‘change’ was brought up, but it didn’t drive her to tears this time. This was certainly good, since it meant that she wasn't likely to break down again anytime soon, he was almost as useless as a certain aqua transexual around a crying girl, let alone a potentially well formed and attractive one.

 

“Have you been tamed at all?” Meiling asked seemingly at random, though it was a good question, as it wouldn’t do for their only intelligent source of conversation aside from them, to go Feral.

 

“Umm…yeah sort of…yes I guess I have but it was with that really nice Psi-dyke that was around here the other day. You see I was beginning to feel really weird, and I guess Melanie, that was her name, noticed that I was beginning to go feral.”Sparky admitted shyly, Corren could practically hear the blush in her words.

 

‘Hmm…not that surprising to hear that she’s a bit shy about the subject, she WAS just an ordinary human girl until recently.’ Corren mused to himself, only to be interrupted by the sound of giggling coming from his cell mate.

 

 It was when Sparky had mentioned Melanie the Psi-dyke, that Meiling broke down laughing once again, which caused Corren to groan slightly, and for Sparky to immediately ask what was so funny.

 

“Let’s just say that I and Melanie got off on the wrong foot when we first met.” Corren replied vaguely, not really wanting to bring up what had happened when he first arrived on the ship.

 

Meiling, who was still laughing at this point continued to do so even harder  so, at his rather lame attempt at not answering the entire question in detail.

 

Corren grumbled quietly to himself, so as to avoid provoking any more questions from the seemingly sharp eared Tesslass imprisoned not that far from them.

 

It was just as he was about to change the topic of conversation that something unusual occurred. Well something even more unusual than anything he had seen in the two or more days he’d apparently spent in a world that had until reently, been completely fictional.

 

From seemingly thin air, what could only be considered a gap or rift in the air opened up. Starting out as a mere crease of darkness, the opening or maybe portal continued to expand until it was approximately a little under a meter in width and about two meters in height. What was truly unusual about this anomaly that had caught his immediate attention was the fact that at each end there was a pair of red bows. Also as odd perhaps even more so is what was revealed to be within the opening. A dark purple background with numerous eye shaped markings became visible as the gap in the previously empty space before them expanded until it was at the previously mentioned size. Corren could have sworn he’d seen one blink. Meiling on the other hand only looked pleasantly surprised at the appearance of this anomalous portal like thing before them.

 

Corren began to wonder what was going on, and just why the heck that odd portal thingy looked so familiar, when an outline of a figure became visible in the strange rift in space before them.

 

It would have been hilarious; he would later muse, to have been able to see his expression when he laid eyes on another familiar form, one that had appeared quite literally out of nowhere.

 

The being before them stood a little over six feet tall,if you included the blonde furred fox ears atop its head, and appeared to be near human in appearance. The figure appeared to be very much female, despite the somewhat baggy oriental styled clothes she wore, and had nine fluffy blonde tails that were white tipped swaying from atop her behind. The Pokegirl, as his mind corrected him, as his first thought had been youkai, had hair equally as blonde as the fur of her tails, which was cut to just past chin length. Her face bore a serene expression, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face.

 

It was just after she had stepped out of the rift before them, that the blonde furred Kyubi began to speak.

 

“Greetings to you Mr. Skyblazer and Miss Hong, I bring you good news on behalf of both my Mistress and Lady Scarlet.” The blonde fox eared woman stated with a bow. It was at Corren’s quick intake of breath, that the still smiling vixen turned her now open golden eyes upon him.

 

“I take it that you already know who I am, and whom I serve based on your reaction Mr. Skyblazer?” The vulpine woman asked with a knowing smile and phrased her question in such a way that it sounded more like a statement.

 

Meiling turned questioning eyes towards her companion, Sparky began to ask who the other voice she could now hear belonged to, and Corren gulped a bit at the expectant look the blonde was giving him.

 

“Umm…You are indeed correct, Ran Yakumo, servant of Yukari Yakumo.” Corren replied after a moment’s hesitation, Meiling’s eyes widening in surprise, Ran’s eyes closing as she smiled in a distinctly fox like way.

 

“Mistress Yukari greatly anticipates meeting you Mr. Skyblazer, as does Lady Scarlet from what my Mistress told me. You can expect a rescue party to arrive sometime within the next half a day or so. These should be faces both of you are very familiar with. ”Ran teased with a small Knowing smirk.

 

Corren was the most visibly surprised out of the two occupants within the cell, though Meiling looked quite startled as well. The fact that not only Meiling and the other occupants of the Scarlet Devil Mansion existed here, but the possibility of other characters from the Touhou series also being here was pretty much confirmed by the arrival of Yukari Yakumo's familiar/servant Ran.

 

“Oh and a word of caution, expect things to get a bit…crazy within the next 12 hours or so. Mutual Allies of both my Mistress and Lady Scarlet will be arriving soon as well. So just hold on tight, you shall both be in a safer location by the end of this day.” Ran stated in parting with a final bow and a smirk on her face. She stepped back into the portal and disappeared without a trace. This left Corren and Meiling starring at each other in shock, Sparky all the while vainly attempting to gain their attention.

 

 

“Mr. Skyblazer!? Meiling!? Who is this Ran Yakumo lady!? And who is Lady Scarlet!? Come on answer me!”

 

Boy…things had just gotten interesting eh?

 

 

Pokedex Entry:

 

The breed didn't survive the war very well. Bred for loyalty, especially to their usual Ballisticunt commanders, the Tesslasses were usually quite reluctant to flee, and so most of the breed was wiped out along with Sukebe's forces. Still, enough survived, through various means, for the breed's numbers to slowly rebuild, although they are still a rare Pokégirl to encounter.