I took an hour break from working on Treason, and this popped up. It takes place in the Indigo League, around 298 AS or so.
I was aiming for maximum story with minimal words. Enjoy!
-[***]-
Standard Disclaimers apply. Written by Micah Hakubi at feynman dot project AT SPAMOHMYGODHELPUSALL gmail dot com. You can guess the drill regarding contact.
The story is mine, the setting is not. We all give thanks to Metroanime daily for putting up with us messing around his in awesome world. Ahmen.
To quote Kerrik Wolf, "You should not read this work if you are under the age of legal consent wherever you reside. This work may or may not contain any and/or all of the following: death, dismemberment, violent acts, implied sex, explicit sex, violent sex, rape, cannibalism, blasphemy (depending on your religion), BDSM, torture, mimes, and just about anything unwholesome that you could consider."
Feedback welcome. I probably need the syntax abuse.
Major thanks to Kerrik Wolf for proof-reading and offering spelling and grammer abuse corrections for this chapter. All corrections are his, all mistakes are still mine.
-[***]-
Devenaugh's face as grim set as he watched the building burn. He could feel the heat lick up against his bare face - the coat he wore was only a meager amount of protection to the blaze that was busy consuming one of the largest homes in Travels.
He let out a gust of a sigh. The building wasn't gone completely. But given the pace of the blaze and the fact that Christopher Ballard had seen fit to decorate the grounds of his home with enough magically accelerated-grow trees to hide it completely meant there was an honest risk of the fire threatening the town it was buttressed up against. "Sear the building."
"NO!" Devenaugh didn't have the chance to react when Ballard made a rush for him, intent on throttling him bodily.
He didn't need to. One of the Charmelons on the brigade took it upon herself to catch his advance by sweeping her tail, taking Ballard's feet out from under him. That wouldn't have stopped him from picking himself up and resuming his course except that an OfficerJenny had also been moving, and used the opportunity to pin Ballard to the
ground.
"Mister Ballard, sir!" The OfficerJenny, who's name was Clarice, held the large man down with the ease of pokegirl-enhanced strength. "Mister Devenaugh is an authorized official of the League, and striking him is a criminal offense!"
"I'm not going to see my home BURNED, you miserable animal-fucking son of a WHORE!"
Devenaugh sighed. "Officer Clarice, Mister Ballard is clearly disturbed by the events of tonight. Perhaps a visit to the town jail would be enough to cool his head?"
"Yes, sir!"
Devenaugh turned away from the spittle-laden screaming as Ballard was hauled away. He was gratified to see that his firefighting teams had taken his order to heart, never mind the scuffle. The Ballard Mansion was already being seared to the ground, pokegirl fire attacks forcibly sucking up the remaining fuel so that the fire itself would eventually have nothing else to burn.
Devenaugh shook his head. The likely fallout of this night would probably rage for years to come. When the mansion of the richest man in town burned, fingers tended to get pointed in excess.
-[***]-
It was around three AM when Devenaugh returned home. He wasn't surprised that his son Gabriel was up, drinking coffee and reading a book as if he'd been doing so for the past hour and looking far too bright and aware for such an ungodly hour of the day.
Devenaugh had stopped being surprised by his son a long time ago.
Devenaugh slumped down at the kitchen table, wordlessly poured himself a mug of the hot brew and slugged down half of it in one go.
They shared the companionable silence, until it finally became too much for Devenaugh. He glanced at his son. "Do you know who did it?"
Gabriel didn't look up from his book. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you."
Devenaugh barked out a laugh. "Good." The night suddenly weighed down on him, his shoulders slumping as he suddenly looked decades beyond his forty years. "This isn't going to go away, Gabriel."
"Ballard can stir shit up all he likes," Gabriel still hadn't looked up. "Too many people in this town hate him. Besides, electrical fires -do- happen."
"The fact that you bring that up likely suggests that it wasn't."
Gabriel finally looked up, grinning. "Really?"
"Bad blood is bad blood, son," Devenaugh said softly. "You can't think of antagonizing any of the Ballard family."
"It won't be an issue."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
-[***]-
Angel tried not to sob as her slender limbs moved at speeds born from pure terror, trying to catalog the necessary clothing she'd need to survive out on the road. Food would be an issue, though hopefully she'd been paying enough attention at the locale butcher those
evenings she'd helped earn some money for her and her mother.
The elation of seeing Christopher Ballard's home burning down to the ground had soured in her stomach, leaving her shaking and weak. Justice, albeit a hard and brutal sort of justice, had finally been fulfilled. But that wasn't enough to keep the terror at bay. Worse
was the mind-numbing horror of what would happen if they actually caught her.
A sound from her bedroom door made her spin, choking down a shriek. She then had to try not to collapse and piss on herself from relief. "Gabriel, you fucker!"
Gabriel grinned in that typical manner of his, leaning casually against the door frame. "Hey."
Angel and Gabriel. The jokes had followed them ever since their childhood. Angel had hated them - only Gabriel's casual mannerism kept her from doing something permanent and irrevocable to a number of people.
She then had to hold back tears. Gabriel was her best friend, and she'd hoped that she'd be away before Gabriel could catch up with her. This was hard enough as is.
Then it occurred to her that it was roughly four AM in the morning, and she hissed out, "what the hell are you -doing- here?"
Gabriel smiled. "Came to see you, mostly."
Angel's cheeks went death-pale. "You can't," she choked off.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Angel, haven't we been over this before?" He smirked. "I told you, I know -everything-. I know you've been a pokegirl ever since you were twelve years old."
Angel couldn't hold herself up any longer. The events of the night came crashing down as she slumped to the floor of her bedroom. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it wasn't the right time."
"You shouldn't know about this," Angel whispered. "You can't. Nothing you can do now can help me. You -know- what they do to free pokegirls here!"
Gabriel smirked, and pulled out something from his back pocket. A pokeball.
Angel stared dumbly at the object. "But... but you said... You said you didn't want to become a tamer, how the hell do you have a pokeball!?" Her voice rose up to a near shriek at that last part, only to have her clamp down on her mouth when she remembered she was trying -not- to wake her mother up.
"I lied," Gabriel replied smoothly. "A lot. I've been a registered Tamer for the Indigo League for two months now."
"...how?"
"Correspondence. My dad's a League Fireman, remember? I've had an in." Gabriel straightened. "So. CardCaptor Angel, my best and only real friend in the whole wide world, would you do me the favor of joining my harem and becoming my Alpha?"
"You miserable son of a bitch." Even as she said that, she was tugging him toward her bed, trying her best not to cry despite the smile on her face.
-[***]-
"Are you sure you want to leave today?" Angel was trying to hold back a fierce yawn even as she hefted her pack.
"No one's really seen me for a week," Gabriel replied. "Leaving now is the best chance we have of slipping out unnoticed. And it'll be for the best, for you mother, when it comes time to explain everything."
Angel nodded slowly, reaching out to grip Gabriel's hand in a tight squeeze. "Gabriel, I've never said this, but-"
"Shhh," Gabriel held off further words with a grin and a finger to Angel's lips. "I know. I know everything, remember?"
Angel rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. "Then let's go, Master."
Gabriel nodded, only briefly turning away to glance at the town that was spread out beneath him. It would be the last time he saw his home, he knew, before he'd return in three years and successfully exact vengeance on the son of a bitch that was going to kill his father.
He made sure all the sorrow was wiped from his face when he turned back to Angel. "Let's go!"
-[***]-
A/N: This idea pretty cma eto be whole-formed while considering this and that. Gabriel Devenaugh is a relatively normal sixteen-year-old Tamer... with an abnormally powerfull precognition bloodgift. I liked the concept so much I thought it best to put it to paper. Of cource, the problem with such an ability is that it's a pain and a half to write for.
Hence this short.
[***]
CARDCAPTOR, the Card Wielding Pokegirl
Type: Very Near Human
Element: Magic
Frequency: Rare
Diet: Omnivore
Role: Variable Range Magical Assault and Support
Libido: Average to High
Strong Vs: Poison, Psychic
Weak Vs: Bug, Dark, Ghost
Attacks: Draw[*], Baton Hit
Enhancements: Enhanced Dexterity x4, Increased Sensory Perception, Enhanced Magic Attenuation, Youthful
Evolves: CardMaster[**](2nd Tier), ClowMystic(3rd Tier), StarMystic(Final), Duelist (battle stress, Duel Monsters deck nearby)
Evolves From: None
[*] This attack is dependant upon the list of Cards the CardCaptor has acquired.
Most pokegirls are assumed to be the result of Sukebe's war of revenge, the actions of the legendary Cocooner, or large groups of scientists working for good or ill. The CardCaptor breedline, however, is not such a creation. The CardCaptor and it's resultant evolutions(barring the Duelist) are considered the direct result of the efforts of one individual. Clow Reed, birth date unknown, a magical researcher and scientist of Chinese decent, is regarded by most as the creator of the CardCaptor and it's breedline evolutions. Others claim otherwise, saying that Clow Reed was a fraud whom simply claimed the work of another, or took the discovered results of Sukebe as his own. Regardless of these accusations, Clow Reed did in fact possess a CardCaptor, StarMystic, MysticAngel, and MysticKat in his harem before his death and destruction of his lab in 67 AS.
The CardCaptor, despite it's flexibility and potential power inherent in the magical system it utilizes, is not often regarded as a popular pokegirl. One reason is it's appearance; The CardCaptor, CardMaster, and ClowMystic all have similar appearance, that of a young teenage girl, feasibly anywhere from twelve to fourteen years of age, with little indication to display that they are a Pokegirl at all, unless performing their magics.
The second reason is a psychological one. CardCaptors are surprisingly independent pokegirls. While they do not display any traits that give any of the more strict Pro-Control Leagues an excuse to make them illegal or restricted, it's an acknowledged fact that CardCaptors have an inherent mental urge to seek out new cards to capture and add to their magical arsenal. This urge is so powerful that it's almost unheard of to find a CardCaptor in the harem of a settled Tamer, and there are several instances of a CardCaptor quietly, sadly, yet firmly leaving a Tamer's harem whenever it became clear that the Tamer in question had no interest in catering to the CardCaptor's need to seek out new Cards. Still, CardCaptor's are, almost as a rule quick thinking, sure to action, and surprisingly innovative. As long as their need to travel is met, they are surprisingly loyal to their Tamer, though they do not react well to cruelty.
A noted psychological quirk among the CardCaptor breed is their tendency to react favorably to expressed mercy or kindness from a Tamer. For example, one of the CardCaptor's weaknesses is their store of magical energy to power their Cards. Once wasted, the CardCaptor becomes severely weakened, and can fall into unconsciousness. Whenever found in this state, if the Tamer declines capture and instead heals the CardCaptor, the CardCaptor will express an almost fervent desire to join that Tamer's harem, with an increased chance that the CardCaptor will immediately bond with that Tamer. More than one rural individual, unsure, untrained, and completely unfamiliar with proper Pokegirl handling has found themselves delta-bonded to a CardCaptor and becoming a Tamer because of this.
Despite their near pre-pubescent appearance, CardCaptor's have a surprisingly healthy libido, with little shame in acknowledging this fact. They also enjoy dressing in clothes to accentuate their sexuality. Due to the CardCaptor's unusual appearance, this has gotten more than one Tamer in trouble until the specifics of the Pokegirl’s breed was cleared up.
A CardCaptor has two implements to focus their unusual magical abilities through; their Baton, and the Cards themselves. The design of the Baton varies from CardCaptor to CardCaptor, and is often a reflection of the Cardcaptor's attitude and personality. Where this item comes from or how it is created is unknown, beyond that it's intrinsically summoned by a CardCaptor upon thresholding.
The source of the CardCaptor's power, her Cards, are unknown and widely contested. Some say the CardCaptor intrinsically crafts the cards subconsciously as she grows in power before letting them loose to 'test' herself. Others say the Cards are actually contracted spirits the CardCaptor tracks down and captures with a source independent of the Pokegirl. Others say all the Cards a CardCaptor can capture are created and let loose the instant the CardCaptor thresholds. Despite the years of study, it's never been proved conclusively one way or another.
The Cards themselves can manifest in three separate forms; Card form, it's resting state, 'attack form', which resolves itself into whatever raw elemental attacks or abilities the Card in question can actualize, and Spirit form, a Pokegirl-like copy of the CardCaptor herself, albeit with stylized differences that can vary in any feasible way, depending on the Card in question. Most Tamers whom do not have a CardCaptor mistakenly think that this means a CardCaptor guarantees a literal horde of available Poképower. The reality is quite different. Even when manifested in Spirit Form, a captured Card still draws power from the CardCaptor herself. A CardCaptor with the willpower or capability to manifest more than two Cards at a time during battle is rare indeed. Even manifesting three to four Cards in Spirit Form to partake even such a casual activity as traveling can quickly leave a CardCaptor tired and helpless. It's worth noting that the Cards can occasionally manifest desires and actions independent of their mistress, though at worst it simply means a Tamer will occasionally have another girl to satisfy.
While the following list is, disturbingly, not complete, those Tamers whom have had CardCaptor's evolve into a CardMaster have consistently documented this listing of Cards on hand; Big, Change, Cloud, Create, Dark, Dash, Dream, Earthy, Erase, Fiery, Fight, Float, Flower, Fly, Freeze, Glow, Healer, Hope, Illusion, Jump, Light, Little, Lock, Loop, Lovers, Maze, Mirror, Mist, Move, Power, Rain, Return, Sand, Shadow, Shield, Shot, Sleep, Silent, Snow, Song, Sweet, Sword, Thunder, Time, Twins, Voice, Watery, Windy, Wood.
[**] The CardCaptor is unusual in requiring the above set of Cards before evolving to their next evolutionary stage, a potentially long process indeed. At some point whenever the necessary requirements are met, a mysterious event that CardCaptor's refer to as 'The Final Judgement' occurs. What this event entails is unknown, as CardCaptor's refuse to speak of it, but after the event, the CardCaptor usually evolves into their next stage, the CardMaster. A rare few, for whatever reason, do not, and are forced to remain as CardCaptor's, unable to increase their abilities as a Pokegirl and left with an unsatisfied wanderlust that they will never able to completely fulfill.
Most CardCaptor's arise from Thresholding incidents. Only a hint of Magical Pokegirls in a girl's family history is apparently needed for this to occur. It's been rumored, though unproven, that a year after Clow Reed successfully created the first CardCaptor, that several threshold events occurred that had the girls in question develop into CardCaptors. Unlike most Pokegirls, CardCaptors undergo threshold at around twelve years of age, though this can be difficult to tell initially, as no outward changes occur. Despite undergoing threshold, taming can still be put off without any ill side-effects until the Pokegirl fully 'matures', typically around the normal age of other Pokegirls(fourteen to sixteen).