Chapter 0 - Chance: A Tale of the Espers

"Come ON, Atmuff!" the catgirl with fur the color of fire said, dragging her companion along. She was a lithe, agile figure, with muscles like a gymnast and a body that curved in all the right directions. Right now her muscles were straining in the skimpy, patchwork leather outfit she wore as she tried to convince the person she was with to head down the hallway with her.

Her companion scowled angrily, but let the catgirl lead her. She was a powerful woman, with pale skin, reverse jointed legs, a thick, powerful tail and clawed hands and feet. Her bust wasn't as large as the buxom catgirl's, but the humanoid warrior was visibly more muscular and powerful than her.

"This had better not be a waste of my time, Macavity," Atmuff said, growing increasingly more annoyed at the catgirl as they stopped at a massive, sealed-off door. Atmuff stared at it and scowled. The door was several inches thick and made of reinforced totally solid titanium. She had seen this door before and tried to kick it open, curious as to what was inside. All she ended up doing was hurting her foot. She hadn't given it another thought since then, deciding it wasn't important. And now Macavity had brought her back here...

Grinning excitedly, the catgirl felt around the side of the door, looking for something. "Don't worry, Atmuff. I promised you something interesting to do and I meant it. After I found out what was behind this door, I just HAD to show it to you!"

Atmuff looked surprised. Macavity grinned. "Kicking down whatever is in your way isn't always the best thing to do if you want to find out something," she said. Atmuff snorted in response, and folded her arms as Macavity found what she was looking for, a hidden panel in the door that revealed a keypad. She respected the catgirl for her skill and prowess as an assassin, but Atmuff preferred directly confronting her opponents, facing them on the field of battle.

Human, Pokégirl, or otherwise.

She had grown bored of the war quickly, seeking instead to find challenges to hone her skills. She did what Sukebe asked (most of the time) out of sheer boredom, but more and more frequently was attacking Pokégirl encampments, wanting a REAL challenge that human armies couldn't provide. Macavity, despite how much she disliked her, was one of the few Pokégirls that understood her needs, and such, she turned to the assassin an increasing number of times for companionship.

For you see, Sukebe was starting to become inadequate to Atmuff, especially in satisfying her lusts...

Atmuff looked moderately amused when Macavity broke the encryption code on the lock. But as the door opened, she tensed.

What... What is this power?

Macavity grinned wickedly, seeing the look on her face. "You sense it, don't you? The power from the creatures in here."

Atmuff frowned, stepping slowly into the room, her fists clenched tightly. Thirteen large, metallic tubes, all with several computer arrays attached to them, so very, very similar to the one she was born in, lined one side of the room. Mounted on each one was a zodiac symbol, the middlemost one being one that Atmuff didn't recognize.

Strange... New creations of Sukebe's? she thought.

Macavity giggled, grinning excitedly. "I found out about them a week ago. He's calling them Espers, and from what I saw in the notes I 'acquired,' they may have the potential to be as strong as we are."

"Espers..." Atmuff said softly, walking over to one of the tubes and gently caressing it. It was marked with the sign of Scorpio, and as her fingers brushed the surface of the machine, she felt a slight burning sensation, as if the surface was coated in a light sheen of acid. This one isn't that strong... But that acidic feel may imply other interesting abilities... she thought, moving on to the next one marked with the sign of Pisces. She touched it lightly, and flinched, drawing her hand back. Such an intense, cold power. This one could be interesting...

"EXCELLENT," Macavity said from the computer monitor near the door she was looking at, startling Atmuff, "He hasn't put in the command codes yet."

Atmuff glared at her, as if to say What are you talking about?

Macavity grinned. "Sukebe wanted to put subliminal programming in them, so they'd obey him without question. I was hoping to get to them before he did that."

Atmuff gave her a confused look.

"Powerhouses like this not under his control or anyone else’s? CAMAHN Atmuff! You've known me this long and you have to ask why I do things like this?" the catwoman said, grinning viciously.

Atmuff smirked, and continued to examine the thirteen tubes, all of which seemed occupied and had zodiac symbols on them. She went to each one by one, running her hands along them, getting a sense of their power. She paused briefly at the thirteenth tube, in the exact middle of the other twelve.

This one is strongest, she thought, I will save her for last… "Macavity," she said aloud, "I appreciate this gift. Open the one with the seal of Capricorn."

Macavity nodded, and tapped a few buttons on the console. "Roger. I’m also activating a force field to protect the other tubes, since you’re obviously going to want to fight right away."

The tube on the far left front of the room hissed as chemicals gushed out of it, electricity crackling around the tube as the figure inside of it collapsed, small, but powerful-looking wings unfolding from her back as she groaned, mist shrouding her form. Atmuff waits patiently for the figure to recover, the mist fading to reveal a Pokégirl with greenish fur, hoof-like feet and a goatlike head, two horns jutting from the top of her skull. Her hips are wide and curvy, and she has a short tail and wings. Her breasts are smallish, around a B-cup, and her eyes are glowing green.

"Arise," Atmuff commanded, her battle aura flaring with excitement. The Esper blinked in surprise, looking up at Atmuff’s intimidating figure.

"Who… Who are you?" she asked, her voice low but rumbling, like a distance thunderclap.

Macavity purred, amused. "She’s Atmuff, the greatest warrior alive. I’m Macavity, the greatest troublemaker alive. The question is, who are you?"

"Who… am I?" the goat-girl asked, slowly standing up, looking at both Macavity and Atmuff in confusion, "I… I’m not sure… The only thing I can think of is my name… Adrammelech…"

"Adrammelech," Atmuff said, nodding and taking a stance, "You are the first of my opponents."

Adrammelech looked confused. "Opponent? As in battle? But… but why? We have no quarrel with each other."

Macavity snickered. "You exist, and you’re powerful enough to possibly provide Atmuff with a challenge, and I think it would be interesting to see how well you and your sisters do. That’s reason enough."

Adrammelech stared at her incredulously. "You call that a reason?!"

Atmuff smirked. "It’s good enough for me," she said, launching a lightning fast kick that struck Adrammelech in the stomach, sending her flying back into the open tube.

Winded and in pain, Adrammelech slowly got to her feet, groaning as she clutched her stomach. "Stop this… Please…"

"No," Atmuff said, spinning into a roundhouse kick. Adrammelech barely managed to duck out of the way, the kick bending the metal of the tube almost in half.

"Oh dear god…" Adrammelech said. She was still nauseous from the kick, her stomach lurching uncomfortably as she stared at the muscle-bound Pokégirl. Atmuff just smirked, and reared back, her hands at her hips, gathering up energy.

The sudden unfairness of the situation finally hit the goat-like Esper, fury overtaking her as her eyes glowed with sudden intensity. "Damn you. You want a fight? THEN YOU’LL GET ONE!"

Adrammelech thrust her arms out, lightning crackling around her and shooting from her hands in an intense beam of energy that slammed into Atmuff, knocking her across the room. Atmuff let out a brief cry of surprise as the beam struck her. As she fell, she flipped backwards, gracefully landing on her feet next to Macavity.

The catgirl looked at her with concern. "You okay?" she asked. There was a smoldering patch on Atmuff’s chest where the blast had struck. Atmuff touched it gently, wincing slightly.

That actually hurt… Oh my, this WILL be interesting, Atmuff thought, Looks like I owe Macavity a favor for providing me this challenge.

Adrammelech snarled at her, stomping a hoof and taking to the air. Electricity flowed around her in angry bolts as she glared at the Legendary Pokégirl. Atmuff just smirked, and launched herself into the air after her.

And Macavity watched on, grinning in vicious amusement at the show…

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Elsewhere in the compound…
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In a room near the top of the sprawling mountain complex, a lone figure stood watching a vast array of monitors. In each one were television reports of fights against the Pokégirl forces, or reports of the disastrous damage being caused by the ones powerful enough to be called Legendary, or High Ones, as the lesser Pokégirls called them.

This statuesque, elegant woman with features as smooth and as polished as marble, watched it all with a smile. She was clad in military dress, having taken the uniform off of a human General she killed a few days ago. She felt the garb fit someone of her position.

She too, was a Pokégirl, but not one of any specific breed. She, along with several others, were created to serve as a commanding officer to the Pokégirl forces attacking the humans, helping coordinate their eradication. Her long, dark purple hair was done up in a bun, and her eyes were as red as blood.

To her, this war was a holy quest, one that had been a long time in coming. She once again silently thanked Sukebe for creating her kind, and went back to her duty. Occasionally she would receive a telepathic message from one of her lieutenants in the field, and she would respond with new orders, but other than that she was content to peacefully watch what she believed was the inevitable end of mankind.

But a frightened Amazon rushing in to deliver a message soon interrupted that peace.

"Mistress Athena!" the lavender haired Pokégirl said, "Two of the High Ones have invaded Lord Sukebe’s creation chamber and are fighting the Espers!"

"WHAT?!" Athena said, flashing a glare at the Amazon, "Have the command codes been implanted in them yet?"

The Amazon shook her head. "I don’t think Lord Sukebe had time to do so, yet,"

"DAMMIT!" Athena snarled, her hands glowing with power, "Which ones is it?"

"Macavity and Atmuff, milady," the Amazon said.

Athena paled. "Goddess protect us… Those two together…" she said, and ran down the hall towards the creation chamber.

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The creation chamber...

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Atmuff, for her part, was having a ball. Adrammelech was proving to be quite the challenge, her flight giving her an advantage that Atmuff was having trouble overcoming. Lightning lanced from the goat-like Esper as she desperately tried to land an attack on the fast-moving warrior.

This isn’t fair, Adrammelech thought, I’ve just come to life a few minutes and now this crazy person and her psychotic friend want to kill me!!!

Life ain’t fair, sweets, Macavity said telepathically, giggling viciously as she watched the fight, But just because I’m a sport, I’ll even the odds a little and unlock one of your sisters.

Adrammelech blinked and looked to one side at the remaining tubes, one of them shimmering as the force field lowered, a costly mistake that Atmuff took instant advantage of. She thrust her hand upward, firing a chi-blast that slammed Adrammelech into the ceiling hard enough to dent it. She let out a brief cry of pain before falling to the floor in a heap.

Groaning, her fur smoldering from the blast, she could barely move. Pain shot through her with every motion, and it was all she could do to turn her head to witness the arrival of one of her twelve sisters.

"Lemme see here…" Macavity said, pulling up a file on the computer screen as the tube with the zodiac symbol of Virgo opened up. Atmuff cracked her knuckles, staring at the tube as mist poured out, along with a slender, pale-skinned human-seeming woman with startlingly white hair. "File says her name is Ultima, and she’s a Holy element… Weak physically but strong magically…"

Atmuff frowned, glaring at Ultima as she coughed, trying to get her bearings.

"What… What’s going on? Where am I?" she said, holding a hand up to shade her eyes as she adjusted to the light. "Who are all of you?"

"Ultima… Get out of here… Please…" Adrammelech said, trying to get to her hooves with slow, agonizing effort. Lightning crackled around her body as she glared at Atmuff.

Ultima blinked and stared up at Atmuff, who looked disappointed. "Magic, strength of soul, is wild, changing constantly. The body, strength of sinew and bone, is steady, an unchanging constant. To have one without the other is to be as a river without a place to flow," Atmuff said.

She raised a fist, preparing to strike Ultima down. The frightened, pale-skinned woman started to back away.

"Please… I’ve done you no harm… I couldn’t do you any harm… Why are you doing this?" Ultima pleaded in a soft voice, slowly backing away.

Atmuff said nothing, she simply continued forward, not hurrying. Adrammelech desperately struggled to get to her feet, as Macavity watched with interest.

Ultima whimpered softly, staring at Atmuff helplessly, holding out her hands as if to ward her off. "Please… Please don’t hurt me…" she said, gasping as she felt herself back in her tube with no place to go. She looked up at Atmuff, tears flowing down her face, her breathing becoming faster as panic started to set in, "Please… I don’t want to die… PLEASE!!!!" she shrieked.

Before Atmuff could react, a massive, powerful beam of white light shot out from Ultima’s hands, the Esper being engulfed in white light as Atmuff screamed in sudden pain. The light knocked Atmuff off of her feet and sent her flying back into the wall. Macavity and Adrammelech both looked away, the light blinding. But once it faded…

"How… how did I do that?" Ultima said in her soft voice.

Both Esper and Legendary looked back. Ultima now sported six immense, golden wings on her back, her crystal-white eyes now glowing with holy energy. Then all eyes turned to the far wall, where Atmuff lay, apparently unconscious.

Macavity laughed wildly. "Oh sweet mischief, that was incredible! I knew you girls were strong, but NOBODY’S been able to knock Atmuff for a loop like that!!"

Adrammelech, finally able to stand up again, grinned viciously.

"You know our power. Now you’ll leave us alone and let us go on our way," she said. Macavity just snickered.

"Don’t flatter yourself, punks," the buxom catwoman said, flipping her hair back with amusement, "Ultima got in a lucky shot, and you’re barely able to stand after ONE energy blast. And if I know Atmuff, all that beam did was surprise her."

Indeed, Atmuff was stirring already, picking herself off of the ground. Adrammelech stared at her in disbelief, Ultima in fright, as Macavity laughed. "You see?" she said, "We’re the most powerful Pokégirls alive. You Espers may be powerful because you’re supposedly made of pure magic, but you’re nothing compared to us."

Macavity grinned and stood up, extending her claws. Ultima whimpered and started to back away towards Adrammelech, who snarled in anger and started to prepare an electrical blast.

Then the doorway to the creation chamber opened again, an angry figure stomping in imperiously. Macavity’s face fell when she saw who it was.

"Oh for… what do you want, Athena?"

The Pokégirl general scowled. "High ones. You and Atmuff aren’t supposed to be here."

"And your point is?"

"Dammit," Athena snarled, "The Espers aren’t ready yet! They know nothing of this world, of our holy mission."

Macavity yawned, clearly not interested in the upcoming propaganda rant.

"The stain of mankind has to be eliminated," Athena said, "For too long they have despoiled this beautiful world! They must be removed, so the cycle of life can begin anew! The Espers, once they are completed…"

"Excuse me," Adrammelech said, "But what do you mean ‘completed?’ We’re alive, aren’t we? Doesn’t that mean we’re complete?"

Athena shook her head. "No, I’m afraid not. You need to know your purpose, what we need you for in this war against man."

Adrammelech scowled. "War sounds like just another word for fight. And I want neither myself nor my sisters to be involved in this."

Ultima, who was now standing next to Adrammelech and hugging her tightly, "Please… Fighting is bad… I don’t want to hurt anyone…"

Athena smiled, the smile of a knowing adult indulging a child, "Poor dears. You just don’t realize how evil mankind truly is. If you’ll let us finish implanting the knowledge and skills you need…"

"We know enough," Adrammelech said. "The first thing Ultima and I experienced upon our birth was fear. You and your kind cannot be trusted."

Athena frowned. "You are of our kind. You are Espers, but you are also Pokégirls, and that means you must fight for your people."

"You’re an arrogant bitch," Adrammelech snarled, "I’d rather die, or better yet, kill you, than fight for you."

"Please," Ultima added, "We just want to live our own lives. Is that so wrong?"

Athena looked shocked. Macavity laughed wildly. "HA! Oh sweet mischief, I love it!"

Athena whirled on Macavity. "Damn you. Why did you do this? They AREN’T COMPLETED YET."

Macavity smirked. "Because I wanted to see how well they’d do. Because I wanted to see what would happen. Because I WANTED TO." She giggled, and added, "And also because I knew it would piss you and the other Bitch Generals off to no end."

"You’ll…" Athena started to say, but she was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Both Espers, Macavity, and Athena all turned towards the source of the voice.

Atmuff.

She was standing there, looking relatively unruffled save for the fact that she held blood in her hands.

Blood that was leaking from her mouth.

Athena paled visibly. "She’s laughing… Goddess above…"

Macavity giggled viciously. "Atmuff is ENJOYING herself…"

Atmuff grinned at the two Espers. Adrammelech cringed, but took a fighting stance, as Ultima whimpered and hid behind her. "Release them all, Macavity. Release them ALL!" Atmuff said, laughing again.

"Sure thing," Macavity said, starting back towards the console. Athena teleported, appearing in front of her and lashed out with a glowing fist. Macavity hopped back, grinning wickedly.

"You’ve done enough damage, trouble-maker," Athena said, her body radiating a reddish energy aura as she took a fighting stance.

Macavity smirked, extending her claws. "You wanna make some mischief? Fine with me, girly. I’ve been dying to rip the throats out of one of you so-called generals for a LONG time!"

Before anyone could make another move, the middle tube opened, a cloud of mist appearing.

"NO. THIS BATTLE IS OVER," thundered a voice.

"Who…" Adrammelech started to say.

"FEAR NOT. I AM ZODIARK. AND I SHALL NOT ALLOW MY SISTERS TO BE HARMED ANYMORE." From the mist a relatively small figure emerged. A humanoid Pokégirl with serpent-like features, including reddish scales, a forked tongue, and glowing gold eyes floated out, no more than four-feet tall. She possessed long, silvery hair that flowed about her shoulders. She glared at Athena, Atmuff, and Macavity, the latter two regarding her with amusement.

Zodiark stared at them all for a moment, and then said "THE AWAKENING OF MY SISTERS HAS IN TURNED AWAKENED ME. I HAVE SENSED THE EVIL INTENT IN YOU ALL. THE DESIRE OF THE WARRIOR WOMAN TO BATTLE TO THE DEATH AGAINST WORTHY OPPONENTS, EVEN IF THOSE OPPONENTS ARE INNOCENTS WHO DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT. THE DESIRE OF THE CHAOS-BRINGER TO SPREAD HER MADNESS. AND YOUR DESIRE TO MANIPULATE US TO AN UNJUST CAUSE."

"UNJUST!? Wait a moment!!" Athena said.

Zodiark scowled. "GENOCIDE IS NEVER A GOOD CAUSE. TO CAUSE DEATH IS EVIL, NO MATTER THE REASON, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW IT. NOR WILL I ALLOW YOU TO USE MY SISTERS AND I AS WEAPONS. WE TAKE OUR LEAVE OF YOU NOW. YOU SHALL NEVER FIND US AGAIN."

Zodiark gestured, and a wave of intense darkness engulfed the room, the force of it slamming into Athena, Atmuff, and Macavity. When the wave cleared, Athena was on her knees, visibly dazed, while Atmuff and Macavity were both relatively unhurt, despite the wall now sporting two new dents in it where the two Legendaries had been slammed backwards. Adrammelech, Ultima, Zodiark, and the tubes containing the remaining Espers, however, were all gone.

"Awww…" Macavity said, clearly disappointed. Atmuff stared at the empty room, then turned to Macavity.

"I cannot sense them anymore. However it was an interesting challenge," she said before leaving without another word. Macavity decided to just call that her way of saying thank you.

"You’re welcome!" Macavity called back to her, her tail swishing back and forth in amusement, "Heheh. Well, that was fun. Time to see what other kind of trouble I can get in to."

"You’ve done enough," Athena snapped. Macavity turned to her and smirked.

The general was standing, but barely. She had to support herself on the nearby wall. Macavity grinned savagely at her… and then vanished into the darkness.

Athena blinked, and looked around quickly, trying to see where Macavity went. Angry and frustrated, she snarled. "Show yourself, Macavity! I COMMAND it!"

A soft, amused chuckling came from the darkness. "You? Command me?"

Before Athena could react, a powerful arm shot out of the darkness and wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air. Athena gagged, and tried to bring her powers to bear, but the soft caress of claws on her face made her stop. Macavity whispered into her ear, laughing softly.

"You cannot command me, you weak excuse for a Pokégirl. No one commands me, not even Sukebe, especially not after what I’ve found out. Tell that bastard that I will never forgive him for what my sisters and I have been denied."

With that, Macavity vanished, letting Athena fall down to the ground. She coughed, cursing herself and trying to catch her breath.

"I swear," Athena said, rasping both with lack of air and anger, "That I will someday bring all things in this world, especially all of you so called ‘High-Ones,’ to heel…"

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Outside the fortress…

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Macavity giggled, reappearing outside of the fortress in a field of flowers. She chuckled, laying down in the blossoms and relaxing. She sensed a presence after a few minutes and looked up, seeing Atmuff walking out the side door.

Atmuff smirked at her. "I heard your little rant to Athena. It was… interesting… And it explains a few things I’ve been wondering about you."

Macavity snorted and rolled her eyes. "Sukebe’s a loon. Humans are too interesting to let die off, and after doing some research I’ve found out that it’d be bad for us if they did as well. And then there’s… the other thing…"

Atmuff quirked an eyebrow. "So you are leaving him, then?"

Macavity nodded. "Not at first, though. I may hate him for making us all sterile and unable to have children, but I’m not gonna leave him totally in the lurch, either. Once I finish training the Cheshires and finish making my OWN Pokégirls, then I’ll leave."

Atmuff blinked. "Your OWN Pokégirls?"

Macavity nodded. "They’ll be MINE, not his. MY children, in a way. My lovely Mistoffeles."

Atmuff snorted and rolled her eyes. "Another name from that stage show…" she muttered.

Macavity giggled. "Best damn show I’ve ever seen."

Atmuff snorted again. "I am leaving. I have heard that a strong unit of Pokégirls is attacking London. I wish to see how strong they really are."

Macavity nodded and lay back down in the flowers. "Have fun. Oh, and keep an eye on the birds. I think your little ‘romps’ are starting to get them nervous. Zapdass in particular."

Atmuff smirked. "They are no match for me. Let them come."

Macavity nodded. "Still, be careful. You’re way too interesting to let die."

Atmuff grinned viciously. "I will not die. You can be sure of that," Atmuff said, crouching and leaping, her powerful legs carrying her miles away.

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Someplace else…
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Adrammelech and Ultima reappeared in a stone cavern, a modified replica of the laboratory behind them, a beautiful, sunny beach on the outside of the cave. Zodiark sat at the monitor, which was connected to the remaining tubes, typing on the keyboard as she keyed in sequences.

Adrammelech and Ultima looked at each other nervously and then went over to Zodiark.

"Miss… Um… Zodiark, was it?" Ultima asked. When the serpentine Esper turned to her and smiled warmly, Ultima continued, "What are you doing?"

"SIMPLY PUTTING IN A TIME RELEASE CODE FOR THE REMAINDER OF OUR FAMILY. WE SHALL HAVE COMPANY IN THIS PLACE SOON," Zodiark said.

Adrammelech frowned. "Um, yeah, on that… Where in the world are we?"

Zodiark’s smile became a smirk. "NOT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD," she said, "LOOK OUTSIDE."

Adrammelech and Ultima traded confused looks, but went to the mouth of the cave and headed outside. When they got outside, both of them gasped, seeing nothing more than beaches and a bright, pure blue ocean before them.

"It’s… It’s beautiful…" Ultima said.

"Where are we?" Adrammelech asked.

"ANOTHER REALM ENTIRELY. TO TELL THE TRUTH, I HAVE BEEN SELF-AWARE FOR QUITE SOME TIME. I USED THE TIME TO EXPAND MY SENSES, AND IN DOING SO I STARTED TO BECOME AWARE OF OTHER DIMENSIONS. NOT REALITIES, BUT POCKETS. MICRO-DIMENSIONS, SUCH AS THIS WORLD, WHERE WE CAN LIVE OUR LIVES AND GROW IN PEACE. THIS REALM IS PURE, INFINITE MAGIC, PERFECT FOR OUR NEEDS. WE CAN GROW HERE, RAISE CHILDREN, MAKE OTHERS OF OUR KIND IF WE SO WISH. IN TIME, WE SHALL BE ABLE TO TRAVEL FREELY BETWEEN THIS REALM AND OUR OWN, TEACHING OTHERS TO ACCESS THIS REALM IF THEY SO WISH," Zodiark said, walking out to join the two of them.

Adrammelech scowled. "Why would we want to go back there?"

Ultima had another question, one that she thought of because of something Zodiark said, "Wait, you mean you can’t go back and forth on your own?"

Zodiark sighed. "TO ANSWER ADRAMMELECH, I SAY THIS: NOT ALL OF HUMANITY AND POKEGIRLS ARE LIKE THEM. AND TO BE FAIR TO AT LEAST ATMUFF AND MACAVITY, I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT BOTH THEY AND THEIR FELLOW ‘HIGH ONES’ THAT NOT EVEN THEY KNOW. SOMETHING TRAGIC THAT BEARS DIRECTLY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THEIR CREATION, AND IS SUFFICIENT REASON TO PITY THEM IF THEY EVER FIND OUT THEIR TRUE PASTS."

Adrammelech frowned, not quite believing it. Zodiark smirked. "ALL RIGHT, TRY THIS THEN: WE ARE IMMORTAL. CAN YOU HONESTLY SAY THAT YOU WON’T BE BORED LIVING ON THIS LITTLE POCKET WORLD FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY WITH JUST TWELVE OTHER PEOPLE FOR COMPANY, EVERY DAY NEVER CHANGING ENDLESSLY?"

Adrammelech chuckled weakly. "Hadn’t took that into account…"

Zodiark smiled indulgently. "THERE ARE OTHER THINGS WE NEED IN THAT WORLD THAT WE CANNOT GET HERE. LOVE, ROMANCE, AS WELL AS OTHER THINGS OUR BODIES NEED, ONCE WE ARE OLD ENOUGH. WE SEEM GROWN UP, BUT OUR BODIES HAVE NOT FULLY DEVELOPED. WE ARE POKEGIRLS, THAT MUCH IS TRUE, BUT… YOU TWO AREN’T FOLLOWING ANY OF THIS, ARE YOU?"

Ultima grinned weakly. Adrammelech shook her head, chuckling. "You lost us after ‘other things our bodies need.’"

Zodiark rubbed her temples and laughed. "I’LL TRY AND EXPLAIN BETTER LATER," she said.

Ultima raised her hand gently, calling attention to herself, and said, "Umm… What about my question? It sounded like you can’t go back and forth on your own…"

Zodiark shook her head sadly. "AS POWERFUL AS I AM, I ONLY HAD ENOUGH STRENGTH TO BRING THE THREE OF US AND THE REST OF OUR SISTERS HERE. IF I HAD STAYED ANY LONGER AND PRESSED THE ATTACK AGAINST MACAVITY AND ATMUFF, THEY WOULD HAVE KILLED ME."

Adrammelech snorted. "So we can’t beat them?"

Zodiark smiled. "IN TIME. BUT HOPEFULLY BY THE TIME WE ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DO SO, IT WILL NO LONGER MATTER TO US."

Adrammelech clenched her fist, a sneer parting her lips. "I doubt that."

Zodiark sighed. "BE PATIENT, ADRAMMELECH. WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD NOW."

Ultima nodded, cuddling up to Adrammelech. The lightning-powered goat girl blushed, feeling a strange, tingling warmth rise up in her as her angelic sister’s soft, smooth-skinned body rubbed up against her fur. "I guess so…" she said. "You took a helluva chance bringing us to this world, Zodiark.

Zodiark grinned. "LIFE, IN AND OF ITSELF, IS A CHANCE. ALL I DID WAS GIVE THE THIRTEEN OF US A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY HAVE ONE. NOW COME. THE FIRST OF OUR SISTERS IS ABOUT TO AWAKEN. HASHMAL, I THINK. OR FAMFRIT. ONE OF THE TWO, OF THAT I AM CERTAIN…"

Adrammelech rolled her eyes. "Geez… Where did our creator get our names from, anyway?"

Zodiark shrugged, laughing. "I THINK HE TOOK THEM FROM SOME VIDEO GAME…"

Feeling better about everything in general now, the three Espers made their way inside the cavern. It was a long road ahead of them, but they were free to write their stories their own way…