This is my disclaimer. If it's not mine, it's not mine. If it's yours, it's not mine. 'Nuff said.
And, yes, I am aware that there are AU elements here.
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Russell looked around again as he strolled up the walk toward the house. It was in a well-off neighborhood, with neatly manicured lawns and gardens displaying their wealth and success to their neighbors. Around the side of the house, he could see Emma, Mr. Wyatt's ElfQueen, working on the roses.
He was worried about Brenda. His girlfriend had missed school the last two days, and had now been taken off the class roster. That usually meant one thing: Threshold.
They had known it was coming. With a Armsmistress for a mother, and an Alaka-Wham for a grandmother, Brenda had always been a very high Threshold risk. He had promised her that if she did, he would become her tamer, so she wouldn't need to go to a ranch. He had even gone so far as to arrange it with her father in advance, with a conditional contract of sale (10 slc and other valuable considerations). They were hoping she followed the Psychic bloodlines of her grandmother, as opposed to the Fighting of her mother, even though it was less likely. But she had gotten her grandmother's intelligence as a bloodgift, and Threshold usually followed the bloodgifts. He knew, however, that he would still love her either way.
So he was very concerned when she was refusing to take his calls.
Reaching the front door, he knocked and waited. After a few moments, Sorcha, Brenda's mother opened the door.
“Russell.” Her voice held a deep sadness. “You...Should have waited. You'll see her in a few days.”
He could see that she had been crying. “What's wrong? What's happening? It is Threshold, isn't it?”
She looked down. “It is. But not what we expected.” He waited, expectantly. “She asked that we...” She started to tear up again.
“She asked that we Level 5 her afterward.'' Sorcha broke down in tears. “Oh, come on in. Maybe if you talk to her...”
Russell was stunned. Whatever she was thresholding into must be horrible for her to want to effectively commit suicide afterward. He pushed past, heading for her room., his mind filled with images of Magicunt, Naga, and Pollita.
He opened her door quietly, fully expecting to see his Brenda undergoing an agonizing transformation, and not wanting to startle her. What he saw surprised and confused him.
She was sitting in her window seat, legs drawn up to her chest, staring out the window. He could see the ravages of tears on her cheeks, and the hopeless look on her face. Her lush red hair, so reminiscent of her mother, now had streak of blond through it, and her face, always beautiful to him, had become even more lovely. He saw no signs of the horrific transformation he had been dreading.
Hearing his footsteps, Brenda spoke, mistaking him for her mother. “Hey Momster, just, like, put lunch on the dresser. I'll eat later, but right now, food is not of the good.” Her voice held none of her usual energy and life; instead, it held a deep pain and despair.
And a thick Valley Girl accent.
He froze at the sound of the accent. Only a couple pokegirls developed that accent. And only one usually turned blonde. He looked at her fingernails, and noted the gold flecks now adorning the nails. Brenda never pained her nails, and disdained the girls who spent enormous amounts of time with their makeup.
He walked over, and knelt by her seat, and touched her arm. “Bren.”
She turned and saw him. Her lip quivered for a long moment, then her face broke, and the girl, soon to be Bimbo, threw herself into his arms and wailed.
“Russell.”
He looked up from the article he had been studying on his pokedex. Brenda had cried herself to sleep in his arms a few hours before, and he had put her into her bed. He figured it was unlikely she had gotten much sleep the past couple days.
He had made good use of the time, doing some research, and having a long talk with Brenda's family about the future.
“Bren.” He stood and hugged her.
She stood and enjoyed the love she always felt in his arms. It had been like this since they were little kids. He could always make her problems go away with a hug and a caress. She always felt so safe with him.
Then she pushed back from him, and turned away. “You shouldn't have come, Russell. I didn't want you to see me ..lose my mind.” Her voice was slow and controlled, as she fought the accent that burst out anytime she didn't concentrate.
Russell reached out and took her by the arm. He steered her to a sofa, and sat down with her.
“I'm glad I did, though. You were about to get me really upset.”
This brought her head up, startled. “What? How?”
“Your parents told me about your plans. Had you succeeded, I would have been very irate.”
She looked at him, a bit mystified. Then she closed her eyes, and almost visibly forced her failing mind to function. “Why? You have always said that the thing you loved most about me is my mind. My intelligence. You loved that I could hold an intelligent conversation. I won't have that anymore.” Her voice cracked a little at that. “I'll be a hopeless moron who will get distracted by waiving a piece of foil at me. That which you love will be gone. I won't even remember you after the Level 5 Taming Cycle. I won't be your Bren anymore. You'll have to give me a name, cuz I won't even have that. Maybe call me Charlie, or Algernon.” Her voice started to get a bit hysterical. “I can feel it going, Russell. I can feel my ability to think slipping away. I was looking at my homework from last week. And I could remember all the math symbols. I could even remember what they are supposed to do. But I can't make them work, Russell. I can't do the problems. I can't follow a logic problem now, even though I remember the steps. It hurts to remember being able to think, and not being able to do it now. And I don't want to see every one's pity, when they realize what I've become. And your pity would kill me.” She stopped,and took a deep breath, regaining some control of herself. “ I know you promised to be my tamer and take care of me, but I release you from that. You can just get rid of me at that point, so I won't be holding you back.” Her voice and eyes both had gotten more than a little wild by the end of her little speech.
He reached out and took her hands, and pulled her toward him. She went with it, thinking he was pulling her into a hug. Instead, he pulled her past him, and down over his lap, face down. Her eyes widened as she recognized the position, just as the first spank came down.
After a half-dozen fairly hard swats, he let her back up, and sat her down again. She was too shocked to say a word, and just stared at him, her mouth open.
“First. While Charley is a decent girl's name, Algernon is not. It's a boy's name. And I will not be changing your name anyway. I happen to like your name.”
“Second.” He held up a piece of paper. “This is the contract I have with your dad. As of when your first Threshold symptom appeared, you were officially a pokegirl, and therefore, officially mine. I will make any decisions about Level 5 cycles, not you.”
“Third. While I know this has to be traumatic, it's not necessarily forever. Evolution is an option.”
She had regained a bit of her aplomb. “To what, Russell? There's only two options. A Pyrebear is just as stupid as a Bimbo, just without the accent, and with a rather irritating habit of setting shit on fire at random intervals. And a Glamorpuss? They may be more intelligent, but they are totally consumed with being pretty. And they're actresses. “ Her tone of voice managed to cram the vast depths of her disgust into the one word. “You know how I feel about those wastes of skin. I think I'd almost rather be a Bimbo. At least as a Bimbo, I won't know how much I hate myself.”
He looked at her for a moment. “Wow. You must be further along than I thought. You've already lost the ability to count.” He held up three fingers. “How many fingers do you see?”
She pushed his hand away. “3. But what's that got to do with anything?”
He raised the hand again, counting off fingers as he went. “One: Pyrebear. Two: Glamorpuss. Three. “ He trailed off, the last finger sticking up, waiting for her to finish the count.
“Well, there's the Hyperdoll, but it's not like that's an option. NO ONE wants a Hyperdoll. It's listed as one of the most unwanted evolutions of all time. They only happen by mistake, and you are way too smart and too caring to let that happen accidentally.”
His voice got quiet. “Define 'unwanted'.”
She stopped. “What?”
“Define 'unwanted'. I define 'unwanted' as an evolution that will make my Bren miserable. Making the Bimbo 'one of the most unwanted evolutions of all time'. I could never be happy with you as a Bimbo. Did you know,” he said, holding up the pokedex he had been reading when she came in, “that in cases of Threshold Bimbos that became Hyperdolls, they regained, on average, 98% of their pre-Bimbo intelligence? They have a whole series of highly unpleasant character flaws, but they are just as intelligent as they were before Threshold. And once they come to respect their tamer, they become Redeemers. One of the more powerful of Celestial types: very strong fighters, and capable of becoming mages, as well”
Her accent was back in full force, as her shock robbed her of even the awareness of it's existence. “Are you, like, seriously talking about *trying* to evolve me into a Hyperdoll? Tamers with Hyperdolls are, like, laughed at for being morons. And the Hyperdoll, like, makes their life, like, miserable. They can never get rid of her and she's, like, a total self-centered bitch!”
He smiled as he reached out and stroked her cheek. “I would never get rid of you, anyway, Bren. You are mine for life. And I would much rather have you as you, even in full Hyperdoll bitch mode, than have you as vacuous fuck-toy. So yes, I am fully intending to evolve you to a Hyperdoll, with full knowledge beforehand of the consequences.”
“So here is how we are working this. I had a long talk with your family, especially with your grandmother. And while they were very unhappy about the idea, they did agree. You will finish your evolution, but instead of thinking of it as having your mind die, you will be thinking of it as going to sleep for a long time and dreaming. As soon as you finish with Threshold, your grandmother will make you forget all about this, so you won't know it's coming.”
Brenda interrupted him. “Why remove the memories? And why was my family unhappy?”
“To both questions, because the evolution to Hyperdoll is based on you being mistreated. If you are aware that there is a reason for mistreating you, you won't feel mistreated. Even as a Bimbo, if you thought that I was being mean and abusive in order to help you, you would likely revel in the abuse, and the evolution would never happen. So your grandmother will suppress the memories. " He took a deep breath and blew it out, obviously not liking the next phase of the plan. “Then I abuse you. Verbally, emotionally, whatever it takes. I hate that part, but it is required. I can't even have someone else do it, because then you would be attached to them when you evolve to Hyperdoll.”
He took another deep breath and continued. “Once you become the Hyperdoll, everything changes. The memories will have been locked up with a trigger, set so they are unlocked at the sight of yourself in a mirror as a Hyperdoll. According to Gram, they will then take about a half hour to fully emerge. So you will remember why I abused you, and we can start healing. I will, obviously, stop any kind of abuse as soon as the evolution happens, and hopefully, the way I treat you now, the way I have always treated you, combined with knowledge of why I did what I did, will help the anger you will feel as a Hyperdoll ease. Then we can begin the long road to Redeemer..”
“How long will this take?”
“To evolve to Hyperdoll from Bimbo, probably 6 months to a year. It takes a lot of abuse to force that step, which is why Hyperdolls feel so much anger. Usually it takes years of abuse and neglect, but it's never been done intentionally before, either.”
She gulped at the thought of what she would have to go through to make this plan happen.
He noticed, and said, “Unless you'd rather the alternatives. Bimbo for life." She paled. “Pyrebear. 'Oh, bother, I set the sofa on fire again!!” She giggled, a bit nervously. “Or Glamorpuss. 'I'm ready for my closeup, Mr Giovanni!' “ She looked revolted.
“So, Hyperdoll?” He asked. She hesitated, then nodded firmly, committing herself to the path. “Good. Now, the step from Hyperdoll to Redeemer has never occurred in less than 2 years. I hope we can make the record books, but I'm not going to count on it. If it takes 10 years, I will make it up to you for every harsh word or blow it takes to get you to Hyperdoll.” He reached out to softly caress her face.
She leaned into the caress, reveling in the feelings of love that she knew he would have to withhold from her for a long time.
“Will you stay with me? Until I'm fully Thresholded, I mean?”
He tenderly pulled her onto his lap. “You are going to be going to sleep for a long time, and you will have many nightmares. But I will hold you until you are asleep, and I will be there waiting for you when you wake up.”
“GOD DAMMIT, you worthless Slut! You messed it up again! Can't you do anything right? No taming for a week! You don't deserve it!”
Slut watched Master stalk away, feeling totally miserable. She'd done it again. He had trusted her to make dinner, but she'd missed things, and gotten the gravy wrong. She knew she wasn't very smart, but she did try. But it was never good enough.
She knew that he had once loved her, before she became Slut. But Slut was here now and now he hated her.
She could hear Master sob behind the tent, then the distinct sounds of vomiting. The food must have been really bad!
Slut collapsed to the ground, wincing from all the wounds. Everything hurt, and her arm hung at odd angle. But Master's harsh words hurt worse than all of it together.
Master had wanted her to fight as his first in a gym battle, and she had been so thrilled that she could finally do something for him. But her opponent was an Amazonchan. She had the skill and training Slut could not match. Oh, Slut had gotten in a few good shots: The bitch was now missing an eye and an ear. But she had only accomplished that much from a desperate need to prove herself to Master. The Chan had then beaten her methodically, never enough to put her down, always small, punishing her for her master's arrogance. And Slut tried so hard to win, for Master, that she kept getting up. Far beyond where she should have stopped, she kept coming. The Amazonchan stopped the punishment, looking oddly at her as she got to her feet yet again.
Finally, the Amazonchan, with a nod from her tamer, moved in for the finish. Slut got in one last desperate shot, her fingernails opening up a long gash along her opponent's jaw. Then it was over. The strike left her to collapse at master's feet. She looked up, dreading Master's expression. The pain she saw in his eyes hit her like another blow. She let out a sob. She just couldn't make him happy. No matter what she did, no matter how much she loved him, she couldn't please him. His words were simple, and disgusted.
“Why do I even bother?”
She winced, cringing as Master's hand came up, but it was just her pokeball. She felt despair. She still wasn't good enough to make him happy.
In a flash of insight that would have taken her breath away had she not been so miserable, she realized that she would never be good enough, never make him happy, no matter what she did. The full force of the despair swept through her, and as the red light hit her, and she was sucked into her ball, she began to glow.
The battle over, Russell's opponent walked over to present him his gym badge. “A good battle, Mr. Nash, if a very odd one. I must admit, I have never seen a Penance used in a gym battle before.”
“Thank you, sir.” Russell turned to the NurseJoy, and handed her three pokeballs. “Please run them through a full healing and energizing cycle, Annette.”
The pink-haired nurse flushed with pleasure at his use of her name, and winked at him. “Yes, sir. I'll be right back.” She walked away with more than a bit of swing in her hips.
He watched her go for a moment, then turned back to the gym leader. “Sorry, but no matter how many times I watch that, it never gets old.”
The gym leader laughed. “I understand, my friend, I understand. I am the same way." His eyes, too, trailed the gently swaying posterior. Then he shook his head and turned back to the conversation.
"OK. I understand your use of the Penance. She was surprisingly effective, even against a fighting-type. And I understand your use of the Cherub. That little girl is scary competent. Interested in selling her? I'd make you a very attractive offer.”
“No thanks. I'm very happy with her.”
“Oh, well. Watch out, though. There are many who would challenge you to take her.”
“I know. But I'm not too worried.”
“After seeing her battle, I can see why. But what I don't get is your call of putting your *Bimbo* in the battle. Especially after you had already seen what I had picked. You had to know she'd lose. And I couldn't hear what you said to her, but what ever you said just crushed her. Now, I don't normally tell tamers how to treat their pokegirls, but I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't remind you what can happen if you mistreat a Bimbo. “
Russell looked at him, a sad half-smile on his face. “I know.”
“You know. Yet you're doing it anyway?" The gym leader raised an eyebrow. “I don't get it. You are caring and empathetic enough to earn the trust of a Penance. The local branch of the Church of 1000 gods would canonize you. Literally. Yet you are, intentionally from what you just said, abusing a Bimbo, knowing full well what might happen.”
Russell opened his mouth to reply, when The NuresJoy came striding back, her formerly smiling face set in a snarl.
“Here are your pokegirls, sir.” Her tone of voice was harsh, and it was clear that she was spelling the last word c.u.r.
“NurseJoy, you are out of line!” The gym snapped. “Apologize, now!”
“To this abusive cretin?! “
“I don't care what your opinion of him is, you will still treat ..”
He was interrupted by a whoop of joy from the 'abusive cretin' in question, who was standing with his pokedex in one hand, and the trio of poke balls in the other., and a look of pure happiness on his face. He quickly droppped two balls into his belt, and activated the third. His Cherub appeared, blinking. “How can this girl serve ….”She trailed off at the look on Russell's face. “She evolved.” He nodded happily, his head moving so rapidly he resembled a pre-Sukebe bobble-head doll.
The Cherub let out a squeal of happiness and gave him a huge hug. “This girl is so happy. For Master and for his Brenda. Shall this girl prepare for her awakening party, Master?”
Russell nodded, handing her a credit chip. “A fatted calf, Michaela, a fatted calf.”
She got an evil grin. “As Master wishes.” She reached out to take the chip, but he held it for a moment.
“Figuratively, Michaela. Figuratively.”
Her shoulders slumped and she pouted cutely in mock disappointment, then she teleported away.
He turned back to the other two, a huge smile still on his face. “Sorry. Very Good News.”
“I'm guessing I was a bit late with my warning, then?” The gym leader's face was neutral.
“Your warning would have be too late even before she finished Threshold. “
The Nurse finally picked her jaw up off the ground. “Good news!? Which case of abuse do you consider good news? The Hyperdoll or the Penance? “
Russell was about to answer, when the gym leader spoke up. “Before she finished... Oh. Gods. I think I understand now.” His voice was amazed. “I'm not sure I believe it, but...I think I'm right.”
It was Russell's turn to raise an eyebrow, and even Annette stopped her rant to hear what he had to say.
“She was your girlfriend before she Thresholded.”
Russell nodded. “Yes” His tone invited the other man to continue in his speculation.
“She was reasonably intelligent. And you valued that about her.”
“She was brilliant. Top student on our school. Her grandmother was an Alaka-Wham, and Brenda got her smarts.”
“To someone with that kind of mind, a Bimbo has to be one of her most feared evolutions.”
Annette gasped, her hand going to her mouth as she figured out what was going on.
“The two normal evolutions of Bimbo aren't very smart, not compared to the Hyperdoll, who actually returns to pre-Bimbo intelligence, whatever that was.”
Russell grinned. “I'd rather be stuck with her forever as a Hyperdoll, than let her remain a Bimbo.”
“I assume the abuse is over.”
Russell looked almost offended. “Of course. But I always tried not to think of it as abuse. If I did, I wouldn't have been able to continue. A tamer's job includes training his girls, getting them more experience, so that they can evolve. She just required a different type of training for this evolution.”
The gym leader shook his head. “You are either a certifiable genius, or you are totally taming insane. Or both.”
“Risk in proportion to gain.”
Annette was just staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
The gym leader looked at his nurse and chuckled. “That story, my boy, will keep me in free drinks for a month, at least. Go, son. You have a party to prepare for, a girl to welcome back, and I have to go get my NurseJoy's brain rebooted.” He took her by the elbow and started to steer her away. He looked back over his shoulder. “Keep in touch, kid, let me know how everything turns out. ”
Brenda came aware slowly. She examined her memories, her mind working clearly for the first time in many months. She remembered who she was. Damn it! She had asked Russell specifically to have her L5'ed. But of course, he'd ignored what she wanted. Typical of a man. Why she'd ever thought HE would be different, she would never know. She went back over what little she could remember of the past couple years. Her memories of Bimbohood were a hazy miserable nightmare of crushing despair and constant, unrelenting horniness. That little shit had let her stay at the ragged edge of feral for months, choosing to spend his time with his other girls instead. This was the man that had claimed to love her. Obviously, he just wanted a free pokegirl. Well, he got one. Now he got to deal with her.
Brenda thought about her new-found clarity. Obviously, she had evolved. Not to Pyrebear; she was much too clear for that. And she could detect no trace in her mind of the vanity of a Glamorpuss.
She snarled silently to herself, in the hazy confines of the pokeball. That only left Hyperdoll. Which meant he hadn't just mistreated her, he had done it repeatedly, and long term.
She'd trusted him to be her tamer, and he had abused it. And her.
He'd made her life miserable. She was looking forward to returning the favor.
“Are we ready?”
Michaela looked around at the room. The sound system was playing a song that Master had said was 'their song'. Her favorite foods were waiting in warming pots on a table off to the side, and he had made up a banner that read “Happy Awakening Day”.
And there was a full length mirror on the wall.
“This girl is ready, Master. His Brenda will remember. She may take a while, but she will.”
He looked at his other girl in the room. Mary. She had really been a challenge. Gaining her trust had meant that he could never have her and Brenda out at the same time, or his treatment of Bren would scare her back into the skittish wreck she had been when he had found her. As she had progressed, he'd explained the situation to her, but he had not introduced them, for fear of Mary regressing. So this was the first time that the Penance would meet Bren. “Are you ready, Mary?”
She nodded, her hands moving quickly in sign language. <<I am, master. Be strong, beloved. You know she will be angry. But you will win her back, my love. Just like you brought me back.>>
He smiled at the mute girl, giving her the simple hand sign for <<I love you.>>
A hand fell on his shoulder. He looked up at Mr. Wyatt. “You'll be alright, son. She'll remember.” Behind him, his wife, and her parents nodded encouragement.
“I'll be helping with the memories.” Grandma said, her reddish antenna standing at attention, ready to help. “Just be you.”
He nodded, thinking again just how lucky both he and Bren were, that her parents still cared about their little girl, even after she had become a pokegirl. So many parents washed their hands of their girl, and sent her away, never to speak to, or of, her again.
He brought out the pokeball, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He raised the ball, and the familiar red light appeared.
The girl now standing in the room with them was the same height as she had been, and her facial features remained essentially the same. But there the resemblance ended. Her chest was even more pronounced than before, and she now looked like she had been working out for years. Her body was no longer soft and well padded, but now had firm, smooth muscles similar to an Amazonchan. Her neon pink hair flowed, unbound, to past mid-back.
She looked up, and her eyes fell on Russell, and her lips peeled back in a snarl. With an angry expression on her face, and tuning out the rest of the room, she stepped toward him, and opened her mouth to speak.
Before she could get a word out, he spoke first. He had planned this for a while, knowing full well from his research what kind of mood she would probably be in right now.
“What is your name?” His snapped out question, took her aback.
“What? You know my name, you bastard.”
“Then tell me. What is your name? The one your parents gave you.”
“Brenda Wyatt. Why are you asking me? You know that." She snarled at him.
He didn't answer her, but held out a piece of paper to her. “What is on this sheet?”
She glanced at it for a moment. “Maxwell's equations. What the tame does that have to do with anything?”
His face lit up with a huge smile. “This morning, love, you couldn't even recite the alphabet. Welcome back, Bren.” He pointed to the side, and her eyes instinctively followed his pointing finger to the full length mirror on the wall.
She stared at herself appraisingly. She looked good. She liked the hair far more than the burnt orange crap she'd had before, or the ditz-mop she'd had this morning. She flexed an arm, reveling in the muscle tone. No way he'd 'forget' to tame her now. She'd just pin him down and take her taming.
Unbidden, an image arose in her mind.
He lay on his back on the floor of her room, his bare chest glistening with sweat from their exertions. She sat straddling his crotch, slowly riding him, as her tears dripped on his chest.
“Don't forget me, Russell. Bring me back soon.”
His hand reached up to cup her cheek, and rub the tear from her face. “As soon as I possibly can, my love. You'll be a Hyperdoll before you know it.”
The memory ended, and she jerked. When had that happened? She didn't remember anything like that. It almost sounded like she'd known ahead of time that he was going to abuse her.
She pushed it away, turned back to him. “What did you just do, asshole?”
While she had been caught up in the memory, the Cherub had been filling a bowl from a pot on the side table, and pushed it into her hands. She looked down, as the smell hit her. Curry. Her grandmother's curry. Another memory floated up.
She was sitting in her parent's kitchen, playing with sparkly crystals in the sunlight. Russell was at the stove with Grandma, learning to make curry.
“Remember the smell, Russell. If I can't be there to make it, you'll have to. Smell is the sense most linked to memory, so it has to smell right. The closer to this it is, the more it will help her remember.”
She just stood there, staring at the curry. “Grandma's curry?” Her voice was small, almost vulnerable. She looked at him, bewildered, for a moment, before the hard look started to fall back over her face.
Before the sneer could reappear, though, she heard a voice from behind her. “Brenda.”
She spun, startled. “D-Daddy?” She then saw the rest of her family. “Mom? Gram? “
She sat in the comfortable chair in her parent's living room. Russy loved her, and was gonna take care of her, and she was gonna get all kinds of Hyperdolly goodness, whatever that was. Russy told he was gonna get her a Hyperdolly, and It was all of the good. Now her gram just had to do something psychic-ey to her, and they'd be ready to go.
“Close your eyes, dear.” Her gramma spoke quietly to her. ”You're going to sleep for a while, and you'll see us again when you wake.”
Bren didn't really understand, becuz she'd just woken up, and all she had to do was open her eyes, and she'd see them again, but she didn't wanna open em, because Russy had just told her to close them, and there was no one else in the world for her but Ru..Master, it wasn't like she had a family or anything, only Master. He was everything.
She peeked open her eyes. Master stood there with 3 people she didn't know, with an anguished look on his face. Well, she knew how to cheer him up. Without a care for the strangers in the room, she slid off the chair to her knees in front of him. “Can I help Master be happy again?” Her hand reached out to caress his crotch...
She shook her head to clear it. Taking a big step back, she stared at her grandmother, her eyes wild. “What did you do to me?”
“Why remove the memories?” she asked . “And why was my family unhappy?”
“To both questions, because the evolution to Hyperdoll is based on you being mistreated. If you are aware that there is a reason for mistreating you, you won't feel mistreated. Even as a Bimbo, if you thought that I was being mean and abusive in order to help you, you would likely revel in the abuse, and the evolution would never happen. So your grandmother will suppress the memories." He took a deep breath and blew it out, obviously not liking the next phase of the plan. “Then I abuse you. Verbally, emotionally, whatever it takes. I hate that part, but it is required. I can't even have someone else do it, because then you would be attached to them when you evolve to Hyperdoll.”
He took another deep breath, and continued. “Once you become the Hyperdoll, everything changes. The memories will have been locked up, with a trigger, set so they are unlocked at the sight of yourself in a mirror as a Hyperdoll. According to Gram, they will then take about a half hour to fully emerge. So you will remember why I abused you, and we can start healing. I will, obviously, stop any kind of abuse as soon as the evolution happens, and hopefully, the way I treat you now, the way I have always treated you, combined with knowledge of why I did what I did, will help the anger you will feel as a Hyperdoll ease. Then we can begin the long road to Redeemer.”
Bren backed away, shaking like a leaf. Her eyes rolling madly as more memories returned, she turned and ran out the door.
“Michaela!” Russell snapped.
“This girl will follow, Master. Master's Brenda will be safe.” The Cherub tapped her eyes, forming a Dark Goggles effect, and teleported away.
Brenda ran. With little care as to where she ran, the buildings passed by in a blur, then the fields, then the trees.
Her mind was in turmoil. The anger she felt as a Hyperdoll wanted nothing more than to lash out, to hurt them like they hurt her. They took her memories, her thoughts, even her memory of her family, and then he abused her, berated her. She'd have done anything to make him happy, and he had crushed her.
But her newly-reawakened rational mind was remembering more and more with every minute that passed. Their agreement, how he stayed with her, held her as she cried in terror as her mind died, whispering soothing promises to help her get her mind back. She remembered the look on his face sometimes when she was a Bimbo, when he didn't know she was looking, the look of sadness and misery. She didn't understand it at the time, but she did now.
A war was taking place in her head. Brenda vs. the Hyperdoll nature. The cage match from Hell, she thought wryly.
Finally, she stopped running, sinking down to sit in the dirt at the side of the road, shaking as the two sides of her waged a vicious battle for control. She sat in the deepening twilight, knees drawn up to her chest, hugging herself, rocking lightly against a tree trunk.
The prey was slowing. The hunter felt elation. The trees had prevented her from stooping down and taking it before, but now she would take it on the ground. She landed a short distance away and crept closer on three legs, holding her bad hind leg up. The food was just a few feet away, against a tree. She gathered herself, and leapt.
Brenda's thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the darkness. She looked up, startled, to see a draconic form hurtling silently at her out of the deep shadows, claws extended. She started to get to her feet to dodge, but she knew even as she did so that it was hopeless. The Dragoness was too close and moving too fast, and she couldn't move nearly fast enough from her current position. In that instant, as the Hyperdoll was distracted by the threat, the part that was Brenda started to gain the upper hand. 'Not that it matters now.' In the extreme slow motion that happens in life-and-death situations, she had one thought. 'Goodbye, my Russell.'
A glistening shaft of ice flew out of the tree above her, and drove the Dragoness to the ground. She roared in agony, and tried to stand, but a second, shaft of ice pinned her to the dirt, her most feared element piercing her thick armor with frightening ease. She panicked, and wrenched the shaft from the ground, as she scrambled now to escape.
A third shaft took her in her hip, and she collapsed, unable to even crawl away.
Brenda was on her feet at this point, and was backing away from the Dragoness, and from the tree. A small form with a bow dropped lightly to the ground from the branches above. Brenda relaxed as she recognized Russell's Cherub.
The girl looked at the feebly twitching Dragoness, then pulled a pokeball from her pouch, and touched it to her prey's forehead. The Dragoness vanished in a flash of red, and the capture tone sounded almost instantly. The Cherub looked up at Brenda with a cocky grin. “Master's Brenda is OK?”
“Yes.” The danger over, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Thank you. Mika, isn't it?”
“This girl is Michaela. Master's Brenda used to like using nicknames for everyone”, the Cherub corrected with a smile, but the message was clear that she would prefer the practice stop.
“Sorry. Thank you, Michaela.”
The Cherub grinned. “Of course. This girl has to protect her future alpha.”
“Alpha? I barely evolved from Bimbo. There is no way I'm going to be alpha. “
The tiny girl strolled up to Brenda, smiling sadly. “Master's Brenda will be Mistress. This girl sees Master's thoughts and intentions. Master's thoughts are always on his Brenda. Even when taming this girl, Master thinks of his Brenda. Master cried himself to sleep every night with how he had to treat his Brenda to get her back. Tore his heart out every day, but he did it for his Brenda. This girl prays to the IS that someday she finds someone to care for her the way Master cares for his Brenda.” Michaela had tears glistening in her eyes by the end of her statement.
Brenda tried to think of something to say, but Michaela shook her head. “Master sent me to watch over his Brenda. Is his Brenda ready to go back to town yet?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Let's go.”
She turned to begin the long walk back, but Michaela grabbed her arm. “No. Easier way.”
The world shifted around them as they teleported.
“You keep doing that, and you're going to damage the carpet. Then you'll have to pay for it.”
Russell paused in his pacing. “Sorry. I'm just worried. They've been gone for quite a while.”
“I know, son.” Valor Wyatt, Brenda's father placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “But you have to trust your girl. She said she'd keep her safe. Brenda probably just needs some time. If you want her to adapt smoothly, you have to give her the time. Remember, you're trying something that, from every bit of documentation and research I can find, has never been tried before. You can't rush it.”
“I know that, sir. It's just hard. I'm worried about her.”
“What have I told you about calling me sir?”
Russell shook his head with a wry grin. This was an old game. “Val.”
“Better. Now, you said you were worried about her. Not them?” His voice was teasing.
“Michaela? No. I watched that girl take out a Medra. By herself. But Brenda's only training is as a Bimbo, not as a Hyperdoll."
“Don't worry, Russell.” Sorcha put in. “I've fought Hyperdolls before. First, they are almost never well trained, because they almost never feel like it, and they always think they are good enough already. Second, even without any training, they are maddeningly hard to take down. She'll be fine.”
Russell nodded, but resumed his pacing. Only to stop short as the two missing ladies appeared silently in front of him.
To Brenda, it seemed like the world exploded into a billion motes of light, only to reform in the hotel room. She didn't even get a chance to look around before she was engulfed in a huge hug.
Shocked, she froze. She recognized her 'attacker' as her tamer, but she didn't know how to deal with the situation. The Hyperdoll was losing, but was still in the fight, and it objected strongly to the familiarity.
Then his scent hit her. Clean. Masculine. Just a hint of spicy. And very, very much Russ.
Triggered by the scent, the memories flooded in. Hugs. Kisses. Lying entangled in the afterglow of a wonderful taming. Years of time spent together.
And his promise to her. 'You are going to be going to sleep for a long time, and you will have many nightmares. But I will hold you until you are asleep, and I will be there waiting for you when you wake up.'
The tears, which had refused to come before, started to fall, and she broke down. She cried out her sorrow, her pain, her happiness.
She never even noticed when the others left, or when he moved them to the sofa, and sat, pulling her into his lap.
After the tears stopped, she stayed in his lap, enjoying the closeness. She had really missed the cuddling.
Finally, she shifted, and sat up. Turning to face him, she realized she hadn't been the only one who was crying. She reached out and gently wiped away his tears, then leaned in and kissed him.
Deciding the mood needed to be lightened, she teased, “So, how long do you figure until I jump to Redeemer? You think you'll make the record book?”
Rather than responding, his smile faded. “ Umm, yeah, about that...” he reached under to his belt, and pulled out his pokedex. A couple touches brought up an obviously bookmarked article. He passed the 'dex to her. “Read the highlighted section.”
With a raised eyebrow, she took the device, and started reading.
A few minutes later, she stopped reading, her eyes searching out his. “You have verified this?”
“As much as possible. Everything I can find confirms it.”
“So while, as a Hyperdoll, I have regained almost all of my pre-threshold intelligence, the Redeemer follows much more normal lines, and when I evolve, I'll be above average, but not much above. But I'll be a powerful warrior.”
“Yep.”
She thought about it for a long moment, then shrugged. “Not as good as I'd hoped, but vastly better than a Bimbo. I can live with it.”
He picked up a box from the side table beside him. He passed it to her.
She pulled the top off, and reached inside. She pulled out a gleaming titanium collar, with a fitting in the front. Prominently displayed in the fitting was a large stone.
She gazed at the collar, turning it over in her hands, then looked inside. Suddenly her head snapped up and she looked sharply at him. “This is a Collaris deluxe model.”
“It is.”
“Do you trust me that little?” Her voice held deep hurt and anger, as the Hyperdoll personality made a reappearance.
Realizing the assumption she'd made, he grinned at her. “Hardly. It may be made by Collaris, but it's payload is anything but standard.”
She raised an eyebrow, the irritation fading somewhat.
“4 doses of P-Med Max, 5 of P-Med All, 4 Recovers, and a pair of Recover Max. All injectable with either remote activation, or voice command. The P-Med All triggers automatically when an adverse status is detected” He touched a couple studs on the side, and a hidden compartment opened, dropping out a small vial. “6 Wake-up Max sublinguals. I couldn't get them in an injectable format.”
Her eyes were huge. This collar, and the meds in it, probably cost more than a Very rare pokegirl would. But it would not only keep her alive, it would keep her in any serious fight FAR beyond the point where a normal Hyperdoll would go down.
Putting the vial back in, he turned the collar to display the stone. “And an Everstone.” his voice was soft. “If you decide you want to remove it, that's fine. But don't do it to make me happy, because it won't.”
She was at a total loss for words. Her eyes tearing, she just nodded.
He popped the collar open, and reached up to place it around her neck, waiting as she swept her hair out of the way.
The tears falling freely down her face, she kissed him fiercely. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.” She pulled back, and stood up, pulling him up and started to pull him toward the bedroom, a purposeful gleam in her eyes.
Suddenly, she was engulfed in a bright white light. It pulsed for a moment, then was absorbed into the stone in the collar around her neck.
Both of them stood there for a long moment. Then he grinned. “Looks like my timing was impeccable.”
She nodded, then kissed him hard again. “Bed. NOW!”
He laughed happily as he allowed her to drag him into the bedroom and close the door.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this, my first foray into publishing my writing. I appreciate praise, welcome constructive criticism, and roast brats over any open flames. Please let me know what you thought.