Ch.10 The Broken Heart

 

Apartment of Marco Readman, 0500

 

The soft and rather mewing yawn coming from his bed’s female occupant caused Marco to stir slightly before tightening his arm around her and pulling her closer. No issues had arisen from the mission a few days ago and today was his gym battle in Douchsiabag City. He didn’t have any super special plans for Team Rocket this time, hoping that after the beating they took last time and his assaults on their outpost they would wise up. Of course this didn’t mean he didn’t have several plans of dealing with them if they did attack.

There was another yawn and his bedmate slid her ass back against his lap and wiggled a little before rubbing her eyes. “Oh… that was a hell of a way to get to sleep.”

Reaching up with is free arm he brushed some of the hair out of her face. “You keep moving like that and it will be a hell of a way to wake up too.” He laughed before hissing in discomfort. “Mind moving your head, or at least taking those things off my wrist.”

Chris reached over to the nightstand to get her handcuff keys and without looking reached underneath the pillow and undid the part that was still attached to Marco. “Sorry about that. Been a while since I’ve felt that exhilarated. And… this has been a long time coming.”

“Thanks… I think… I really have no idea how to respond to that.” He said with a nervous laugh.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not looking for anything permanent; I guess it was just something I wanted to do before you got chained down.”

Now Marco was outright laughing. “I’ve never heard a woman put it like that. But I guess sooner or later I’ll have to curb my lecherous ways. Kelly and the others like you just enough for this to not be an issue, I suppose they knew it would happen eventually.”

“Knew it; suggested it, half of them were betting on it. I swear you’d be surprised at how often they talk about sex when you’re not around.”

“So… it’s more often than when I am around. That’s a whole lot of sex.” He yawned and tickled her stomach a little before kissing her on the cheek and rolling out of bed. “Let’s get rolling, a lot of prep work before I stick my neck out again.”

The detective pouted for a moment as she slid out of bed, keeping herself covered with the blanket, her brunette hair a tangled mess. “You sure know how to suck the fun out of the moment… was kind of hoping for more time with you.”

“There is still a shower that needs to be taken…”

~~~~~

 

Everyone had gathered around the table that morning for breakfast and a quick overview of their plans for the day. Chris was relieved that she wasn’t getting any strange looks from the others but figured that he had slept with all of them except for Ariel by then, there really wasn’t anything to be jealous of. The conversation began to focus on the gym battle and their lineup.

A nervous hand shot up. “I… I want to be in this battle.”

Marco took a moment to register exactly what he was hearing and indeed who it came from. It was the first time she’d ever made a request of anything aside from taming and he did owe her one. “Ok.”

“Ok?”

“Yeah, ok, Mina is taking place in the gym battle. I’m sure you have your reasons for wanting to be in it and I’m not going to ask what they are. You’ll be running with Henrietta and Chesra.”

“An all Beta line up, I guess you’ll be going for the throat this round.” Alexis stated with a chuckle and a sip of her tea.

“Something like that, and speaking of going for the throat I have something for you Alex.” Fishing around in his pocket he pulled out a small box and tossed it to the Cherub.

Alexis let it fly freely towards her head before stopping it with telekinesis and taking hold of it. She’d seen the type before and managed to contain her enthusiasm as she opened the lid to reveal her new medal. “A hundred kills… most would find it odd or at the very least disturbing to be happy about getting a medal for taking 100 lives. But they aren’t me.”

“There’s no one else like any of you. Each person sitting at this table is unique in their own way. Never the less, congratulations, you earned it.”

“Thank you Colonel. Oh, I received a message from what appeared to be a very upset Campbell. He was asking if Quinn had taken part in a mission a few days ago. What would you like me to tell him?”

Marco laughed maliciously. “You’re the psychology expert; I’ll leave it in your capable hands.”

“That’s quite cruel of you. Since this is an all out war against them now I’ll tell him that Quinn was forced to participate as an observer but stayed in the pokéball after things really got going. If she’s trying to maintain her cover as a weak girl then she wouldn’t have done much.”

“Sounds good, you can also let him know that there’s going to be another gym battle today. She just doesn’t know where yet.”

While everyone at the table had continued to eat Jean push her plate away and shivered. “We need to be careful today… the picture I’m getting isn’t clear but I’m feeling sick to my stomach over something.” Marco could feel it coming from her too. There was something that had her worked up and whatever it was it would be bad.

_____

 

Edo League, Oran residence

 

Angelica sat reading the update emails she’d received and let a curt smile form at the edge of her mouth. “I guess that’s what you meant when you said a storm was on the way.” She spoke towards the monitor.

“Who knew there was a Team Rocket facility in such a place? Colonel took a big wet bite out of someone’s ass with that move. Assuming it was him of course.” Delilah replied as she read the forwarded e-mail alongside the intelligence report from SLOI.

“No need to pretend it was anyone else. That facility wasn’t even marked on my maps so he had to wring the information out of someone.”

“You mean you didn’t know this site existed?” The Dark Queen asked, trying to gauge whether the Breaker was telling the truth or not.

“Oh no, I’m well aware of that places existence. I just never knew where it was. There are certain things you don’t forget, even from childhood. Hold on… I just received a message saying that Readman is doing another gym battle today. I have to give Quinn credit; she’s really managed to hang in there as one of his girls. I figured she would have cracked and given up everything she knew.”

Delilah sighed and shook her head. “That crafty bastard…”

“What?”

“Quinn’s been dead since the attack against his family. He figured it out that same night and killed her on the spot… well that’s what the report says. I’m certain there was more to it than that but it isn’t my job to pry into what he’s doing.”

“… Fuck. I think I need to reevaluate my idea of meeting with him in person again. Nothing in our files lead me to believe that he would be capable of killing someone who got close to him like that.”

“You’re willing to betray Team Rocket for the sake of your son. Campbell attacked his home, turned his sister into a pokégirl, and nearly killed his father all in one fell swoop. So you tell me; does he seem like the type of person who would do anything to get his revenge?”

Angelica stayed quiet while she processed the information and her options. The idea was for her to go to him directly for help but Delilah hadn’t informed them of her betrayal yet. Given the circumstances she was risking walking directly into a shoot first ask later situation. Another message appeared on her screen that she quickly copied and sent to Delilah. “They are calling all hands for this one too. Andzral will be taking the lead and I’ll be assisting her personally. I’ll try and keep my hands clean of anything that happens but if I have to make a choice on the fly it’s going to be to maintain my standing.”

“Given the amount of times you’ve objected so far I doubt much is going to change in your actions. Colonel Readman and his unit haven’t sent me a heads up yet for what they’re doing so I get to move on my own. I’ll have my team in place as well… as soon as I figure out where we’re going.”

“Copy that… I have a call incoming, any useful information I’ll run back to you.” Not giving Delilah time to respond she ended the call and opened up the next one. Andzral had her head turned and appeared to be watching something but turned back when the call went through. “Andzral, I got your messages, what can I do for you?”

“Where do you think Readman is heading next, Cinnibuns or Douchsiabag?”

“That’s actually a tough one; both are in pro-rights areas. It really doesn’t matter if we know or not. You should understand by now that waiting around for him won’t work, ambushes don’t work, and direct attacks are useless. I told Evan then and I’ll tell you now, it would have just been easier if I had shot him that first night and been done with it.”

“I thought you were going to be cooperative.”

“And I will be, but it’s not going to stop me from voicing my objections. Besides, given how desperate Mr. G seems to be to take him out I think someone else is getting tired of this shit too. Not my place to say anything though, trying to keep my head down.” Reaching over, Angelica took a sip of water. “As for the gym, my money is on Douchsiabag City. We both know that both places are already under surveillance, we can’t send anyone who went to any of the city’s before and if we did I promise they wouldn’t be getting away this time. Douchsiabag is a good spot for how they tend to do battle, the city of ninjas.”

“A ninja isn’t the only type of assassin. Just be ready for either location.” Andzral cut the call then looked at the paper with the information Evelyn had written down. “Hey, Kaia.”

The Mousewife entered the room still stirring her mixing bowl. “What’s up?”

“What do you think about giving up on going after Readman?”

“Is that really an option?”

“We’ve lost a lot already. Master is a fugitive, Tessa hasn’t been right for weeks; even Eve is feeling a way about what we’re doing. And what’s our future look like here, is there a future with Team Rocket?”

Kaia set down her bowl and took a seat on the desk where the papers had been stacking up. “Our future is what we make of it. We’re going to do what we have to for Al and that’s the long and short of it. If he wanted to turn himself in and give everything we know to the IGS or the SSI or SLOI or any of the other sets of initials out there, we could advise against it but we would follow him. Don’t tell me you’re having reservations now.”

“I’ve been getting lectured by Angelica again. It’s always the same with her about Readman; good person, too dangerous, blah, blah, blah.”

“Well he is. As far as I’m concerned at least.”

Andzral couldn’t help but stand, she never expected the Mousewife to say such a thing about the person who had caused her love so many problems. “How can you say that?”

Kaia pick up her bowl and started stirring again as she left the room. “Because I’m happy to see that research facility fall, happier than he probably was to take it down.”

Andzral sat back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Until I hear otherwise I have to stay the course. Then we can all figure it out together after the job is done.’ “Kaia?”

“What is it Andy?”

“I’m going to need that meat you prepared, I’ve got work today.”

“I’ll make you a sandwich.”

_____

 

Douchsiabag City

 

Avalanche didn’t have as much prep work to do as they did last time. Isabella’s cameras could be charged by solar power and were equally weather resistant. Equally useful was the fact that they didn’t have to register for a battle again. Once again Kasumi’s good standing with the gym leader was an asset to Marco in the others, though he knew it would cost him a headache eventually.

With the town being pro-rights then entire harem was out and about with the exception of Jean. The Kyubi requested to assist the other members of Avalanche with scouting the town before throwing up her area illusions. Like last time Ilene would be helping to boost her range and intensity once the battle was over and the other members of Avalanche would be roaming in pairs for safety. By now they figured that the heavy hitting tamers of Team Rocket would be making their way out and the Breakers would be following up rather quickly.

That wasn’t important to Marco right now though. Even if he wasn’t delta bonded to Mina he could tell there was something going on with her. She’d specifically mentioned not wanting be part of the harem and was marked as an auxiliary, now she was actively wanting to participate in a battle. Her normal playful and upbeat attitude was replaced with one of strict seriousness and apprehension. The look of the stress in her shoulders and the smell of the tension she was giving off was setting everyone on edge and she nearly jumped out of her shirt when Marco placed his hands on her.

“Ok, remember how I said you had your reasons and I wasn’t going to pry?”

The Kunoichi lowered her head before heaving a heavy sigh. “Going to pry aren’t you?”

“Oh yeah… spill it.”

“I… well before I joined the Invaders I was a student of the gym and one of their pokégirls. I was a mess back then, hard headed and always getting into trouble, pretty much taking advantage of the pro-pokégirl right stance of the city and my ninja training to do what I liked. Until one day I got caught…”

“What did you do?” Ashley asked.

“By that time I had been breaking into stores and stealing… I was a ninja, it’s what I did. I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut when I got caught and when I was to be punished I ran.”

Chesra nodded and gave her a pat on the back. “Yep, that sounds like you.”

“Thanks for that. I’m sure you know how things went from there; joined the Invaders, you guys came and kicked our ass, then joined Avalanche. I’ve come back a few times to check on things and discovered that I was expelled from the school and given a black mark. In the old days they would send other ninja out to execute me but I guess times have changed.”

“That explains why you’re tense but it doesn’t quite explain why you would want to go back.” Spoke Carrie as she tapped her sword with her finger.

Mina took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “There were a lot of heated words when they brought me in; things were said on both sides, accusations were made, and they called me a failure and disgrace of a ninja. Even went so far as to say they had wasted their time training someone as worthless as me. I… took exception to that.”

Marco stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed her by the shoulder. “You didn’t kill anyone before you left, did you?”

“No, that was one of the things I checked on during my return visit. No one died the night I made my escape, not for lack of trying on both ends. For me being such a failure I made it out clean.”

“Still didn’t answer Carrie’s question, why exactly would you want to go back there?”

“Because, they were right... I was young and stupid, undisciplined, impetuous, even dangerous to myself and to others. I’ve learned a lot in my years away from there and if nothing else I owe them an apology… we’re here already.” Mina took a moment to compose herself as she looked upon her old home.

The building didn’t look like much other than resembling an old dojo but she knew far better than that. Many had been trained in the art of ninjitsu behind those doors and the man who did the training was a force to be reckoned with. Kyo Koga was a firm believer in pokégirl rights and despite public outrage and government sanctions continued to teach and train them after Mao’s Rebellion.

Marco shook his head at the sheer ridiculousness of what he was seeing. “It’s like every time I see one of his statues it just screams out, Hey, Brock Was Here!” Instead of the normal pokégirls used by the gym leader the statues were of mythical ninja warriors each wielding a signature weapon.

Before they could walk in Mina turn and clapped her hands together before looking at each of them. “Please, I’m really begging you here, please let me take care of this. No matter what happens don’t say or do anything, especially you two.” She emphasized, pointing to Marco and Henrietta.

“Your bed you lay in it.” Henrietta scoffed.

“No, I know you Rietta. You act like a hard ass but you’ll just as quickly shoot someone for wronging one of your teammates as you would tell them what time it was. Colonel, you’re no better. All I’m asking is that you both keep it calm, at least until the battle starts. Then you can do whatever you like.”

Henrietta shut her eyes and crossed her arms in irritation. “See if I ever defend you again. This is your show, run it however you like.”

“Until I think you’re in mortal danger I’m going to stay out of it.” Marco relented.

“Thank you both.” Mina replied as she pulled a katana out of her pack. While it looked normal enough there was an engraving on the side of the sheath in the ancient language of the Edo League. “Let’s go.”

Once inside Marco walked up to the front desk and greeted the receptionist with a friendly wave. “Afternoon, I’d like to get a gym battle in today.”

The young girl behind the counter nodded and stuck her hand out. “Ok, just going to need your dex for a moment.”

“I’ve already registered here I just couldn’t make the battle then. Shouldn’t my name still be in the system?”

“Be that as it may sir, I will still need your pokédex. The league ranking system needs to be up to date on all battles, especially now that the championships are about to start.”

“You’re the boss.” He said with a smile, handing over the device and mentally cursing his bad luck. He really didn’t even need the badge. He already had the necessary number of badges to enter victory road. There were the prospects of entering the Indigo League Championship tournament or getting the last Indigo Badges needed to become a Grand Harem Master but those were just titles and nothing more, aside from a Grand Harem Master getting to dodge tamer callout if they wanted.

“Ok Mr. Readman, both Kyo Koga and Janine Koga are in today. If you give me a moment I’ll have someone show you the way.”

“That won’t be necessary Haibara.” Mina said coldly, turning the katana so that the clan’s emblem could be seen clearly. “I know where they are.”

“You know me, who are you? It’s no matter I guess, students are always welcome. Please go ahead, the masters can be found in the training room.”

“… You say that. Thank you.”

Making sure the others fell in line behind her she proceeded through the set of double doord and down the long hallway. Near the end the styling changed from modern Indigo League styling to Edo League. At the end of the stretch were a set of traditional shoji door, the silhouettes of the people inside could be seen as the group moved in a quick and fluid manner. Though it was faint Marco could hear steps being taken followed by stomps and thuds, sure signs that they were performing some kind of exercise. Mina hesitated from only a moment before sliding the door open and standing in the arch way.

All motion stopped and the attention of the students turned to the unknown intruders who dared to enter their dojo. The Masters on the other hand weren’t concerned about the tamer and harem just yet. That was until they saw their insignia on the katana Mina was holding. From out of nowhere a group of pokégirls appeared to the sides of Marco and his harem. Remembering what they had promised none of them moved as Mina stepped forward and waited for Kyo and Janine to approach her. Her eyes shifted around the room looking for something and once spotted her head lowered.

Kyo looked just a gruff as she last remembered him and while she was sure he didn’t recognize her immediately she recognized that look on his face. He wasn’t very happy. “You have one of our blades, but it’s missing the proper hand guard. Either it’s stolen, or you have been very lax in its care.”

Mina took a deep breath before kneeling before them and holding up the katana, the inscription on the sheath being presented for reading. Lifting the sword Janine spoke the inscriptions so everyone could hear. “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. I made decisions that I regret, and now take them as learning experiences… I’m human, not perfect, like anybody else.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked upon Mina but try as she might she still couldn’t tell it was her. “Who are you?” Without saying a word Mina pointed to the far end of the room where the name plaques of the students hung and more specifically to the one that was turned backwards. “Mina Lan.”

There was a faint murmuring between the students as the pokégirls moved and surrounded her, each pulling blades. “I guess they do still do it like the old days.” She spoke in nervous sarcasm.

“You dare to show your face in here again? After what you’ve done I should put you down myself.”

“Look, I’m trying to do the right thing here and I kinda feel like it’s blowing up in my face. Everyone was out of line that day; I was young and scared, I panicked and did what I thought was best for me at the time, survived.”

Janine prepared to unsheathe the katana but Kyo’s hand came down over the buttcap, preventing her from pulling it out. Looking to her father she handed him the blade then stepped back. Kyo read the inscription again before casting his eye over Mina and the others. “Strong words to live by… or die by.” Kyo noticed the faint twitch in Marco’s eyes as well as their current glowing, despite the relaxed posture and their being outnumbered he was ready to act at any time. “Who are these people with you, the vagrants you left our school for?”

“Oddly enough they killed the vagrants I left this school for. This is my harem… my family, out of respect for my request and wishes they haven’t done or said anything yet.”

“That’s rich; the human is following the orders of the pokégirl? I guess you just needed someone you could walk over. Don’t tell me, you’ve come for a match?”

Marco just continued to stand there and bite his tongue while trying not to take the obvious bait. After a hand full of seconds Mina turned around and looked up at him. “Well… say something!”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to do anything yet. Honestly was just considering the benefits of letting him cut your head off. It would be just punishment for putting me and the others in such a strange situation.”

“You can be such a massive ass at times. But I guess that’s why we love you.” Turning her attention back to Kyo she cracked her neck to the side and squirmed a little. “Look, can I get up now? I really hate this kneeling thing.”

Kyo arched an eyebrow before laughing. “I had never met a more lazy ninja or pokégirl in my life, is she like this with you too?”

“Only when she’s not pulling pranks. Actually our dear Mina here is quite the serious instructor when it comes to work. Not sure what skills she learned from you and what she picked up before we got her but I’ve never regretted accepting her. As for your question earlier, yes, we’re here for a battle.”

“I see that a lot has happened in her life. There’s been great strife, loss, sorrow… but those are lessons on their own.” Stepping forward, Kyo placed his hand atop Mina’s head. “You were an obstinate, arrogant, ignorant, disobedient child when you ran away. You attacked those that took you in, fought for your life, stole that sword, evaded death, and then dared to step foot back in here on several occasions.” Her eyes opened wide in realization. “Oh yes, I knew every time you came back and you were always gone before anyone could get their hands on you. But that’s not important, what’s important is that you found your place. If you hadn’t grown up then you wouldn’t be here, bearing your soul and this sword. You will never be accepted in the clan again but it is still good to see you.”

Mina managed to not cry as he spoke to her and when he lifted his hand she stood. “Thank you Master Koga.” Her eyes then cut to Janine, the look on her face didn’t look pleased about what was happening at all. “But things aren’t going to be ok between us are they?”

Janine didn’t even bother to acknowledge Mina’s question, instead turning to her father. “I’m going to fight this traitor’s tamer and I want her back if I win.”

Before Kyo could answer Marco started laughing. “No chance in hell. No way am I going to bet her life on a match; for nothing more than a useless badge. Even if I needed it to enter the tournament I would do something else.”

“You stay out of this; it’s none of your concern!” The whole room went quiet and slowly it dawned on her just how stupid that sounded. Apparently it didn’t go unnoticed by the students either as they started to snicker. “Fine! A regular battle, the traitor can fill you in on how we do things here.” She growled before storming off.

Mina prepared to turn back to Marco when there was another Kunoichi standing there. Dark blue hair and white eyes that held a look a great intensity towards Mina before softening. “I’ve missed you and this isn’t the way I wanted to see you again. But it’s good to see you none the less Mina.”

“Hinata,” She saw the emblem on her sleeve and bowed. “Alpha, congratulations. I suppose this means you’ll be in the match.”

“Along with Cherushi and Natsume.”

“The cat and the rat too, just perfect…”

_____

 

Base of Alphonso Haures

 

Andzral finished zipping up her sneak suit and tied her hair back. They had already received notification that Marco was in Douchsiabag City and was preparing to set out along with Tessa. In the back of her mind she thought on all the things that needed to be done. Readman was the main objective, just barely edging ahead of the capture of the rest of Avalanche. The more she thought about it the more she realized that Angelica may have been right, no chance they could all be captured.

Tessa tightened her belt and gloves then sucked in a deep breath. “Ready to get going?”

“You don’t sound like you’re ready. Get your head on right.”

“Andy… don’t overdo it out there. I know we’ll be working with Angelica and her harem as well as Campbell’s but I don’t like how this feels. I think we should… aahhh.”Tessa’s voice caught in her throat when Andzral grabbed and picked her up.

“Don’t you fucking say it! I am so damn sick of this miasma of fear surrounding Avalanche! Chesra, Carrie, Readman, Henrietta, Nikki, Arianna, Zianna, I’ve faced and beaten all but one of them without so much as breaking a sweat! Now maybe it’s because I don’t fear them, and maybe the reason I don’t fear them is because I’m just that good, but I don’t see the fucking problem that everyone else sees.” She yelled and continued to tighten the grip on Tessa’s neck before dropping her to the ground. “So if there’s anyone or anything to be afraid of around here, it’s me.”

Tessa continued to sit on the ground rubbing her neck before looking back up and her. “Without breaking a sweat? Ari broke your knee in that little fight you two had and you needed me to knock her out. So maybe we are afraid of them… but only a fool doesn’t recognize danger when they see it. And I’m not afraid.”

“Ari huh? Not bitch, or slut puppy, or War Hound, even Arianna, you call her Ari like you’re her friend. I know I left you with Evan and she was the only one you could count on then but things have changed. She’s not your fucking friend, she doesn’t like you; how could she? You let master rape and degrade her, beat her daily, cut off her tail. I bet given the chance she would kill you without batting an eye.” Picking up Chesra’s war hammer and placing it in her pack she turned her back on the Neo-Iczel. “You know what; just stay here if you’re not sure. I don’t need you getting in my way out there.”

“I’m going, there’s no question about that. We both have the same job to do and the same people we care about. So I’m not going to get in your way and I’ll be the one to take care of Arianna if we run into her.”

Haures entered the room just as the two were staring each other down again. “Just got the calls from Angelica and Campbell, they are both heading to our safe house in the city. You two need to get going.”

“We’re leaving now, let’s go.” Andzral said sharply before teleporting away.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately but get a grip. Andzral is running the show and I expect your complete cooperation in what she does. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir.” Her eyes closed in concentration before she teleported out. Instead of appearing in the city she was out in the middle of the forest outside of Lavenderriere, the same spot where she fought Chesra. “She just doesn’t get it… neither of them get it. Hell, I don’t get it completely… but Angelica understands. What am I going to do?” Her ears picked up the sound of laughing and splashing a short distance away and she took to the air to figure out where it was coming from.

From her position she saw children playing in what appeared to be a manmade lake. It slowly dawned on her that that was where the Giantess was said to have impacted. One of the kids spotted her floating above them and waved. She thought about going down to see them but teleported to Douchsiabag instead. When she arrived in the room the others were already seated and talking. Angelica and her harem were there as well as Campbell and a dozen Maiden pokegirls. Taking up spots on the walls were more Breakers, though their pokégirls were still in their balls to save space.

Andzral’s eyes cut to her skeptically. “I guess you did decide to show up. Campbell, has there been any word from Quinn?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Her information has been pretty damn accurate and I doubt they suspect a thing.”

“Wait, who’s Quinn?” Asked Tessa.

“Quinn is a member of my harem, an Airmaiden. I sent her to infiltrate Readman’s harem during Sadie Poken’s Day. She’s been feeding us information on Readman and Avalanche. Ever since my little visit to his home things have been on a downward spiral; sister attempted suicide, infighting with Avalanche, and just plain old falling apart. Oh, I checked on that thing you asked me about Andzral.”

The Bondage Elf raised her head. “And?”

“Yes, that Sexslash is still with the unit, apparently Readman just couldn’t find it in his heart to get rid of her.”

Andzral snorted in disgust. “What a push over. Now why was it that we just didn’t have her kill him in his sleep?”

“From what I understand he put’s most of them in their pokéballs at night and they never tame alone.”

“That’s wrong…” Tessa spoke in confusion.

Andzral turned slowly to face the Neo-Iczel. “What, what do you mean wrong?”

“When I was stuck with Evan, the War Hound and I had time to talk. She was always careful about not giving away specific information concerning Readman and Avalanche, but she was also homesick. There were nights where before we would get put into our pokéballs she would talk to Sevon and talk about how kind Readman was. Never once did she say that they were put into their pokéballs at night.”

Angelica looked at the ceiling to the invisible dark cloud that seemed to constantly hang over her head. She was hoping for a cut and dry mission where hopefully they would attack Avalanche, get themselves killed, and she just fade into the darkness. Here it was, not even five minutes in and things were already starting to come unraveled. “It’s true, that doesn’t fit the profile of the man we’re tasked with going after. He’s more the type to try and spend one on one time with his girls to get to know them better. It’s far more likely that they have an unusual amount of freedom for pokégirls.”

“If that’s the case then all the more reason for her to have killed him by now.” Andzral spoke quickly before looking at Campbell. “You said that she has Blank Mind; that would keep his psychics from finding her out. It’s true that she wasn’t given orders to eliminate him until recently, do you think she’s turned?”

Campbell clenched his fist in aggravation. “She’d better not have. She knows I’d beat her black and blue for such an act.”

“All the more reason for her to not want to come back.” Angelica replied flippantly, earning several harsh looks her way. To make her point she turned to address the Barrier Maiden Uma while focusing Telempathy on her. “Does our dear Campbell treat everyone well sweetheart? Does he hit you, hurt you, make you feel as if you’re not important? You all do a lot to please your master, has he ever said… thank you?”

Uma began turning red in frustration. “Master loves us! He’s only strict because he has to be, if he hits us it’s because we’ve done bad and we deserve it.” She glanced submissively to Campbell then back to the soft eyes of Angelica. “He can be rough at times but we know he loves us.”

“That’s enough Angelica!” Campbell growled.

Angelica smirked and continued her assault and barrage of questions. “Even if he never says it? I can see it in your eyes; you work hard for him, even when he’s not around you make sure everything is in order. You’re thinking, but he tames us and we enjoy it, isn’t that enough?” Uma’s lip quivered as she opened her mouth to speak but Angelica cut her off. “But has he ever really talked to you, asked about you, a simple how was your day? What about your opinion; I’m sure that whatever he decides for you is best but ask yourself, would he really care if you had an opinion at all?” Her eyes showed a slight hint of remorse for what she was doing to Uma. While under Campbell’s Charmer Mindbending none of these things would have ever been a thought and most pokégirls wouldn’t even consider what she was saying. Now she was forcing the girl’s emotions to directly confront them. “So, let’s say our dear Campbell sends you on a secret mission to deal with the dastardly and infamous Marco Readman, the devil that plagues your master’s boss; a man so bad that they are pulling up all the stops to kill him. But then you meet him; he’s friendly to you, the rest of the harem is friendly to you. You’re not getting yelled at, you’re not getting hit, he’s not even giving you orders; hell there are people out trying to kill him and take the people most important to him, he’s got better things to do. But, he asks you your name, where are you from, are you hungry, is there something wrong, would you like to talk about it? Now you’re confused; it’s got to be an act right, you’ll talk to his harem when he’s not around and get the real story. But they are the same way, everyone is nice to you and willing to help you in any way they can…”

Uma backed away, grabbing at her hair and tugging. “Enough; stop it! It wouldn’t be like that, there aren’t tamers like that! Campbell isn’t perfect but he’s better than the rest of them!”

Crossing her arms and sitting back in the chair Angelica let her gaze pass over everyone in the room. “I did that to her in under five minutes; that was all it took for me to make her doubt everything she’s known to be true. How much of the good life would it take to have most of these girls here spill the beans?”

“As impressive as that was Angie I think that speaks more to your own state of mind than of anyone else here.” Andzral quipped then pretended to not hear the muttering coming from some of the others. “Still, I’m not so foolish to ignore the opinions of someone who’s studied our target so thoroughly. Until we can confirm otherwise we’re going to assume that Quinn is bent. If Readman is as carefree with his girls as you say he is then she shouldn’t have a problem getting free for the meeting, set it up, we’ll get everyone in position first and see what happens.”

‘I’m sorry Marco, should we never meet I still want to say I’m sorry.’ “That would be the best way to tell, though I doubt she would be free to just walk around like last time. After all, you did capture one of his girls thanks to her help. The city is under surveillance and the members of Avalanche are more than likely roaming around or in position to strike when needed. Have we heard anything from our contact in the gym?”

“We couldn’t get a contact in that gym, damn ninjas are hard to deal with.” Tessa sighed. “This just seems too dangerous, too many different variables to contend with. If there was a way to draw them out or something then we might be able to stage an attack.”

“Impossible.” Croma muttered, the Cerberass having been silent along with the rest of Angelica’s harem. “Their tracking pokégirls have the scents of everyone important here and would more than likely pick us off one at a time if we came out into the open. This seems like a case of full frontal assault or no assault at all.”

Andzral nodded in agreement. “We can do that, but we have to play on his status with the Indigo Military. Like the police, his first duty is to the people of the Indigo League, he won’t risk fighting in the middle of the street.”

“That’s true, back in Lavenderriere they elected to retreat to the forest before fighting. We can try to have forces waiting in a specific area and push them towards it.”

Phoebe opened her eyes and pushed off against the wall. “There will be a lot of blood on this battlefield.”

At the table Campbell was looking at the messages from Quinn. They all looked perfectly normal, no hints of wavering loyalty or that she was even considering it. Still, Angelica’s statements made him mad and Uma’s response didn’t help to settle things either. In the back of his mind he knew that Andzral was right and that a face to face meeting was the only way to clear things up.

~~~~~

 

Douchsiabag City Gym, 1700

 

Mina tightened her gloves and checked her weapons one last time before turning her attention to Henrietta and Chesra. Both girls were their normal composed selves and didn’t seem to be the least bit worried about the prospects of fighting members of her old school. If anything Henrietta seemed to look bored with the whole thing and was almost ready to suggest one of the others take her place. Chesra checked her shield and sword then gave the Kunoichi a caring pat on the back.

“It’s been a long time since the three of us fought together for sport.” Quipped the Archangel.

Mina nodded. “The last time was in the Special Forces recreation picnic, against Typhoon… let’s try and win this time.”

“They really did a number on us back then, I always wanted a rematch.”

Henrietta laughed to herself and moved her second combat knife to her back. “You never did take losing well Ches.”

“Excuse me if I didn’t get as much practice at it as you have.” Chesra joked back. “I haven’t lost a gym battle yet.”

“I guess you count that fight against Seras as a draw. Fair enough, I guess it’s hard to lose when you never take place in the battle.”

“Cheap shot, it’s not my fault that Marco doesn’t feel the need to let me beat up on gym leaders more often.”

The three Betas turned to look out at the battlefield. There were a couple of reasons the Douchsiabag Gym was listed as one of the tougher ones to try and get a badge from. Aside from the highly experienced pokégirls, the gym had a tradition of forcing three on three team battles to play on the strengths of the ninja’s training. The battlefield was a large forest of thick bamboo and trees that made it difficult to keep track of opponents and nearly impossible for tamers to issue orders to their girls, effectively taking them out of the picture. Tamer pokégirls would have to rely on their own intelligence and their partners to make the best of the situation.

Marco looked over the field as well then cleared his throat to get their attention. “Ok ladies, no half assing it out there. Janine is itching for a fight and I want you to give her one. There’s not much of a type advantage so watch each other’s backs out there and try not to get separated. Mina, you have Alpha control for this fight, that being said I don’t want you to let your history cloud your judgment. Henrietta will have the easiest time locating them so use it to your advantage.”

Mina gave a firm nod then threw her arms around him in a hug. “Thanks again for letting me do this.” Hearing footsteps approaching she let him go and turned to look at Janine. “I hope things will be ok between us after this is over.”

“I can’t kill you so I’ll have to settle for denying the badge to your tamer. Father said that you were better off having left us, if you can prove that you were then maybe I’ll try to forgive you.” Janine spoke harshly before teleporting away.

The three girls stepped onto the edge of the field and they could hear the countdown timer starting. Cameras were hidden in the trees and would allow the crowd to watch the action on the large monitors stationed on the sidelines. Once the timer hit zero Janine’s girls shot forward to start their approach, leaping from tree to tree to keep the high ground.

On Marco’s side things were moving slower but with good reason. Mina and Henrietta turned to Chesra who had started casting. Once she was finished each of them had the mark of Dark on their foreheads, removing the main type of damage they would be coming under attack by. From there she manifested her wings and took to the skies while Henrietta and Mina charged straight forward. Like the other Ninja, Mina was keeping to the trees and letting Henrietta have the ground despite the Blaze Rider’s ability to follow her if she wished.

A few minutes had gone by and the crowd watched quietly as the two groups closed in on each other. Natsume had taken position in one of the trees and closed her eyes, focusing on her hearing to try and get the location of her enemies. Suddenly she heard a faint whistling coming towards her and leapt to another branch just in time to have a beam of light cut through the one she was standing on. Tracking the beam she looked up and saw Chesra preparing to send another shot from Artemis’ Bow and fired a shot from her own bow in retaliation. The shot whizzed past the Archangel before she fired again but in a different location. Following the path again she saw that Hinata had moved to cover. The third arrow landed next to Cherushi and it was painfully clear what was happening.

“She’s marking our locations for the others, we gotta move!” Yelled the Ninjanezumi.

“Too late.” Henrietta grinned maliciously with glowing red eyes.

Natsume had readied another arrow to fire but was knocked out of the tree by Mina who had teleported and dropped down from above. She didn’t get the chance to follow up though; Hinata had already changed locations and started flinging shuriken to force her to take cover. On the ground Henrietta had closed the gap on Natsume and was about to attack when she was pounced on by the Shadowcat Cherushi. Going with the momentum she rolled back to her feet while holding the girl and rammed her with a headbutt before throwing her to the side. Turning back to face Natsume she heard a heavy metal thud and watched Chesra deflect an arrow with her shield.

“Thanks, cat or rat, take your pick.”

“I’ll get the…” Chesra started then sighed when both girls had suddenly vanished. “Damn it.” Back in the treetops Mina and Hinata where having it out in their own way when the blue haired Kunoichi vanished on her. “Lost yours too?!”

The three gym leader pokégirls had teleported back to their first safe location to regroup and rethink their strategy. Cherushi rubbed her head in pain and aggravation while Natsume set her bow to the side and pulled her katana. Hinata looked to the sky for any signs of Chesra then leaned against the tree as she thought on a new plan.

Cherushi’s head finally stopped ringing as she hissed. “That dark one with the white ponytail fights dirty. I thought she was going to split my skull open.”

“This obviously isn’t the first time they’ve fought together, our best bet is to divide and conquer. We take out their aerial scout first then pick the others off one by one.” Ordered Hinata.

“That’s assuming they let that happen.” Natsume countered. “The way they move… it’s not synchronized but they don’t act separately either.”

“We have to make it happen.”

Marco’s girls were having a similar discussion on how to proceed with the battle. The first skirmish had gone fairly well with no one taking significant damage but Mina knew the match was far from over. They were trained to gather information and gauge the strengths of their opponents the first time out then use what they learned for precision strikes the second time. But she also knew that Janine was in way over her head. Dark attacks would be useless against them thanks to Chesra and Henrietta’s Infravision made it impossible to blend into the shadows.

“I know what Marco said I’m just asking; if it comes down to it, let me fight Hinata.”

Henrietta sighed and scratched the back of her head. “You’re really going to owe me for this; I’ve made far too many concessions for you in one day.”

Chesra nodded in agreement as well. “If it’s a battle bound by honor then who am I to get in the way.”

“Not saying anything you don’t already know but you two are the best… HEADS UP!” Mina yelled before shoving Chesra back.

A mass of shuriken, kunai, and arrows plowed into the spot the Archangel had been standing in and continued to fly towards her at an increasing pace. Just when she thought she was out of range several arrows impacted, imbedding themselves in her wings. Grunting in pain she dismissed them then cast a shield spell as she ducked for cover. Henrietta was on the move when a shadow caught her attention. Hinata had appeared out of nowhere; darkness pooled around her fist, and punched her hard in the face. Before the Blaze Rider could recover she’d taken several more shots and hit against a tree. They prepared to strike again when she suddenly ignited and sent a massive wave of fire outward to keep them from attacking.

Wiping some blood from her head she looked upward to see Cherushi laughing at her from the branch of a tree. “That’s what you get for fighting dirty. We can do it too.”

“You haven’t even begun to see fighting dirty yet!” Henrietta seethed. It didn’t take much to notice the sun shining behind Cherushi and from that position she was in the girl’s shadow. Taking a step to the side she let the shadow fall against the tree she had been leaning on then threw an elbow back to strike it, transferring the hit from the shadow to her opponent and knocking her out of the tree. Before the Shadowcat could hit the ground Henrietta shot forward and tackled her in midair, pinning her against a shoot of bamboo. “Now this is fighting dirty.”

Seeing her teammate in trouble Hinata teleport charged and tackled Henrietta away. The two of them rolled on the ground before getting to their feet and squaring off. The Kunoichi struck first, attempting to land a hit but was having trouble getting through Henrietta’s quick defense. Cherushi finally recovered from her tackling and joined Hinata in her assault on the Blazed rider but even then they having trouble landing shots. A solid kick sent Henrietta sliding backwards but she managed to stay upright. The two ninja made to pressed the attack when Mina suddenly vaulted over Henrietta and knocked Hinata away with a spinning kick.

The two Kunoichi locked on to each other, they knew they would face off sooner or later and now seemed just as good a time as any to test their skills. Mina came in low and fast, parrying Hinata’s first strike then retaliating with one of her own but also being blocked. Hinata threw a crescent kick but got it punched out of the air, spinning around she lunged forward and jabbed Mina in the shoulder with two fingers. It didn’t seem like much of a hit but Mina was quick to back away and rotate her shoulder.

“Oh no, I haven’t forgotten about your specialty.” Mina smirked. “Pokey bitch.”

“It should have worked… but you’re wearing some kind of armor aren’t you?”

“Maybe, but let’s see if you’ve picked up as many new tricks as I have.” Both girls lunged towards each other in a flurry of strikes. To the untrained it looked like a slap fight but the deadly precision required was a marvel all its own.

With Mina and Henrietta busy with their own opponents Chesra focused on finding Natsume. She made her way around a tree then ducked out of the way just in time to avoid a sword slash to the head. The Ninjanezumi flipped back once them hurled a kunai for a distraction before shooting forward again and slashing with her katana. Chesra let the sword impact against her armor then grabbed the girl by the arm before hitting her across the body with the shield. The hit was enough to send her rolling back but she managed to throw out a smoke bomb to cover her retreat then erected a sphere of darkness.

While her elemental ward prevented Chesra from taking damage from attacks it didn’t help her see in the sphere. Luckily she had years of experience dealing with Mina and fighting in the dark wouldn’t be a problem. What caught her off guard was the rattling of chains she heard. Thinking quickly she threw up her shield just in time to deflect the impact of whatever weapon Natsume was using. It was faint but she could hear the whooshing sound of something being rotated at a high speed.

‘Kusarigama; a chain, sickle, and weight. My armor can stand up to anything she can dish out but I need protect my head.’

The whooshing stopped and she threw up her shield again, deflecting another hit from the weight. What she wasn’t expecting was to get charged while her shield was up. Natsume had rushed her in a burst of speed, reaping the sickle across her torso, leaving a large scratch and almost making it all the way through. The problem Natsume had was that Chesra was far sturdier than she expected. While fast the Ninjanezumi wasn’t strong enough to knock her down and now she had come into the Archangel’s effective range.

Chesra threw a knee with enough strength send her out of the dome and against the bamboo. Before she could recover from the hit the Archangel was on top of her to press the attack. Taking her by the arm Natsume was thrown into the bamboo again then clotheslined as she sprung off, flipping once before landing on her hands and knees then running off. Normally Chesra wouldn’t have been able to catch up but the speed boost from her rings kicked in and the Chase was on.

Out on the sideline the crowd was cheering. Each of was the different fights were being displayed on the screens and from the look of it things were going in Marco’s favor. Ashley and Carrie were barely seated, leaning forward in excitement. The Betas were doing well but the girls on the sidelines were wishing they were in there. Bernadette relished the idea of fighting the ninja pokégirls and had hoped for another gym battle, still she had to admit that their opponents may have been more than she could handle.

“I’ve never seem Mina move like that. I mean I knew she was tough… she’s a Beta after all. But still, she’s going faster than normal.” Carrie spoke softly as she watched the two Kunoichi duke it out.

Ashley cracked a smile when Henrietta started hurling fire at the Shadowcat. “That’s the power of a good rival. It’s a shame I couldn’t get in on this.”

“Aye, tell me about it. I hope we win this… but I wouldn’t mind havin a go if we had to come back.” Said Bernadette.

“Maybe Marco will let you fight one in a regular battle… ewww. That is assuming any of them want to fight us after this is over, I think Rietta really just tried to shove her foot up her ass.”

_____

 

Douchsiabag City, Tamer Battle Area, 1740

 

Members of Avalanche had already started their rounds in the city. Kelly was running things from the office along with Chris while Selena lead from the field. With all of the Betas taking part in the gym battle Arianna and Zianna had control of their respective teams, though both of them chose to be down wind and on the outskirts of the city. Isabella was flying overhead and running her drones, making sure to keep tabs on the pairs as they moved across the city.

Alexis and Nikki made their way to the tamers battle district of the city for the second time that day. Normally there would be a danger of tamers trying to capture them but the collars they wore effectively took them off the market. Not that it would have done any of the tamers much good to try while they were wearing their watches also.

The Cherub had made a note of who was there their first time around and noticed a few familiar faces. One small group was the obvious thugs of the area. Being older than most of the tamers around they had ended their journey and settled for challenging newer tamers for pokégirls or cash. Since what they were doing wasn’t illegal the police couldn’t really do anything to stop them aside from warning newer tamers about accepting challenges. They had eyed both girls earlier but let them go without bothering.

On the other hand the pair of tamers still sitting in the shade had caught her attention. It wasn’t unusual for them to scan her and Nikki the first time but the second time they saw them she could see them pull up their pokédexes again then start talking into radios. As she thought about it they started to look familiar to the Cherub. But it wasn’t until Nikki started to tremble that she knew who they were.

The Sexslash’s voice came out in a quiver as she grabbed her partner and spoke. “It’s… it’s them… the ones who… who…”

“Stay calm, I know. We’re going to arrest them.” Clicking her radio she tried to contact the others but was getting nothing but static. The Tamers were still watching them and started to get up. Under normal circumstances she could have counted on any of the others in a fight but the way Nikki was acting she knew the girl was too shocked to act. “Come on, we’re going to leave then come back later.” She knew they had been found out when she grabbed Nikki to teleport and it didn’t work.

Checking her locator first Alexis and Nikki began heading towards the closest pair of teammates. Her powers expanded as she formed Psychic Illusion to make them invisible and started walking. Selena and Lily were about two and a half miles away from their position and without a tail they would be able to safely walk out of the area. Just as they were nearing the main street Nikki began to back up causing Alexis to stop. The eyes of the Sexslash were wide with fear and she tightened her grip.

“I thought that was you… um… Nikki was it. And I see you remember me too. Wait, is it still Nikki or did you get it changed after last time?” Andzral grinned maliciously. Nikki couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, just stared back at the Bondage Elf in fear before dropping to her knees. “And who’s your little friend here?”

“Andzral…” Alexis spoke softly.

“That’s my name, what’s yours, wait… you’re the Cherub, Alexis is it?”

Alexis’s mind began to race, she knew exactly how much danger they were in and that currently there was nothing they could do about it. “Yep, I guess this is just one of those days. So… how do you want to do this?” She honestly didn’t care what Andzral was saying, she just needed to buy some time to link her mind to Nikki’s. ‘Nikki, I’m not going to let you get captured by her again. When she attacks I want you to do whatever you have to do to escape. Run as far and as fast as you can.’

‘I… I can’t… I can’t leave you with them.’

‘You can and you will, I’ll be fine. The sooner you get away from me the sooner our backup will get here.’

Andzral began waving her hand in irritation to get Alexis’s attention while the pair of Team Rocket tamers made their way closer. “Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“What? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the best way to deal with you. Give me one sec.” She explained with a cheerful smile as she took off her pack and tightened her gloves. “You’ve been a remarkable thorn in our sides and at the end of the day it’s all for nothing.”

The Bondage Elf arched an eyebrow. “Are you seriously planning on fighting me? I mean kudos to you for being so brave but I hope you aren’t counting on her for backup.”

Slowly reaching into her pack Alexis retrieved her weapons of choice, three razor sharp chakrams. Her precision with the weapons backed by telekinesis was how she had managed to decapitate most of her opponents and earned her the title of Head Hunter. “I trust her to do exactly what she’s supposed to do.” ‘GO NOW!’ She yelled mentally while letting two of the bladed hoops loose from her grip.

Without warning Nikki jumped to her feet and ran straight through a group of tamers before hitting the battlefield. One of the Team Rocket tamers moved to release his pokégirls to give chase when his head popped off in a spray of blood. The other reached for his pokéballs as well but found it difficult to activate it without his hand being attached. With them out of the way and people screaming in a panic Alexis was free to give Andzral her full attention. The chakrams returned to her hand and she gently wiped the blood off against her pants leg.

Andzral pulled her katana from her sheath and tapped it against her shoulder. “How’d you do that without moving, wait you’re a psychic pokégirl. Good thing your powers don’t work on me.”

The tamer’s screaming was starting to bother the Cherub and with a flick of the wrist she threw the bladed hoop into his throat. “That was distracting… I guess you aren’t planning on going after her.”

“I don’t have a reason to, I ordered her to be level fived so I know there’s nothing of use in there. You on the other hand… you’re still planning on fighting me even though you have no chance of winning? You could save yourself a lot of pain and just come quietly.” Andzral’s eyes narrowed as she watched the chakram float back into the Cherubs hand, instead of wiping the blood off she licked the edge of the weapon clean. “But you’re not going to do that are you?”

“Wasn’t planning to. Besides, who says I have no chance of winning? Oh, and a fair warning, I have absolutely zero intention of bringing you in alive. The amount of time I’ve had to devote to taking care of your victims… I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

Andzral didn’t waste another word, shooting forward to attack the Cherub but missed as Alexis rolled to the side then flipped backwards. She was about to attack again but was forced to block as a hoop shot towards her head. The next two came in from the sides and the Bondage Elf hit the dirt to get out of the way. In that short time she’d lost track of Alexis but her eyes picked up the movement of the arrow just in time do hop back and avoid getting hit.

Alexis had enlarged her wings and was hovering thirty feet in the air looking down at her. “I see that someone isn’t a big fan of ranged combat.”

“You know what, I appreciate your earlier sentiment so much I’ll copy it.” With a flicker the Bondage Elf disappeared and teleported behind Alexis, also hovering in the air. “You won’t be brought in alive either.”

~~~~~

 

Kelly sat at the console next to Chris and continued to watch the locations for the ambush spots. Everything had been quiet until a team proximity locator started going off. After what happened between Nikki and Quinn none of the pairs were to move more than fifty yards from each other at any given time. Isabella reworked the locators so that if the designated radius was breached an alarm would sound and the radar would zero in on the two locations.

Chris sat forward and took control of one of Isabella’s drones. “Nikki and Alex are separated but it’s Nikki’s beacon that’s moving. I’m going to try and get a visual.”

“You do that; I’ll try and contact them on the radio.” A minute had gone by but she couldn’t raise either girl. “I don’t like this. Have you found anything yet?”

“There’s some sort of interference with the signals by the tamer’s battle area.”

That was all Kelly needed to hear, she attempted to teleport to the police station closest to the area but couldn’t. Reaching over she slammed her hand on the panic button for the radio. “Code red, I repeat, code red. Teammates possibly under attack at the tamer battle area, teleport jammer is active, all teams acknowledge and move to that area immediately!”

On one of the monitors Isabella’s flight camera flipped on and showed an overhead view of the area. Even with her magnifications it was hard to make out what was what due to the height she was flying at.  “Major, I’m getting police reports about two pokégirls without tamers fighting in that area. Everyone needs to get there now!” In the background they could hear the rev of her engines and the high pitched squeal of her quick descent.

One by one Chris watched all the blips on the radar start heading to that one spot. “Everyone’s moving, you go, I’ll keep my eye on things here.”

“Yeah, their jammer won’t be big enough to cover the whole city; I just need a drop point that falls out of its range. If you hear anything from either of them you contact me immediately.” The Duelist didn’t even wait for a reply before teleporting away.

_____

 

Douchsiabag City Gym, 1740

 

The gym battle was definitely going Marco’s way. There had been four different skirmishes between the two teams and it always ended with Janine’s girls running off to regroup but Marco wasn’t willing to let them off the hook so quickly. Things were picking up in a quite literal fashion. Henrietta had successfully burnt down half of the field over the course of the battle to make the point that she was done fooling around.

The Blaze Rider and Shadowcat were still going back and forth in the less scorched part of the forest. Cherushi fought hard and managed to back Henrietta into a tree but just as quickly as she had the advantage it was gone. Henrietta took her combat knife with both hands and thrust it over her head into the tree behind her. Cherushi thrust forward with her katana just as Henrietta flipped up and backwards. Planting her feet against the tree and kicking she leapt forward, grabbed the Shadowcat mid flip and powerbombed her into the ground before picking her back up and throwing her against the same tree. The force of the hit still left Cherushi dazed but that was the least of her issues, her eyes opened just in time to be met with a roundhouse kick to the head and knocked out.

“Mines finished.”

Chesra had to admit Natsume was pretty good; had she been a breed who didn’t wear armor things would have been much different. Her shield had been moved to her back over the course of the match and now they were locked into a impressive sword fight with weapons of different styles. The long sword wielded by the Archangel was far heavier than the katana and the Ninjanezumi would have been happy to capitalize on what should have been superior reaction speeds but she couldn’t. Chesra’s enhanced speed was far above anything Natsume’s sisters or other members of the school could do.

As Henrietta ran up she manifested her gun. “Chesra turtle!”

Hearing the yell Chesra dropped to the ground and covered her head. Natsume raised her katana in preparation to strike just as Henrietta fired, skipping the bullet off her shield and hitting the Ninjanezumi in the elbow. From Chesra’s position she spun and mule kicked Natsume high into a shoot of bamboo. She hit with enough force and high enough to have the bamboo bend backwards but when its elasticity kicked in it slung her back forward and into the ground. Chesra was already skyward and came down back first, crushing the girl with the shield. By the time she rolled off Natsume was out cold and both Chesra and Henrietta turned towards the direction both Mina and Hinata were fighting in.

 Both Kunoichi were worn out and bloody. Cuts covered Hinata’s arms and torso while Mina bled from head wounds; deep enough to bleed but shallow enough to not be life threatening. Exhaustion was evident on their faces; the battle having taken its toll on both of them. When Henrietta and Chesra appeared Hinata began to look around in a panic.

Hinata eyed the other two girls and moved her sword to guard any incoming attacks. “Where are the others?”

“Sleeping it off, the Shadowcat had some bad luck and that rat… she’s going to need a back massage.” Chesra explained rather flippantly. “We could just gang up on you and beat you senseless or you could save yourself some pain and forfeit but Mina here has requested a personal duel with you. Despite the things she’s done in the past she’s turned into a very honorable warrior.”

“I see that, if you’ll leave us to our affairs then.”

Henrietta leaned against a shoot of bamboo and crossed her arms. “I think I’ll hang right here, just in case she loses.”

“If I beat her then I’ll just beat you next.”

“You wouldn’t win.”

Marco continued to watch the view from the monitors and relaxed. The battle was pretty much over and his girls didn’t even appear to be winded. Everything was fine until he felt a sudden rush of panic from Kelly then heard the alarm on his pokédex go off. He was about to call when her voice came in over the comm. unit, there was light static but he could hear her clear enough and what he heard he wasn’t happy with. The mental yell to return was instantly acknowledged by Chesra while Henrietta appeared in front of him moments later holding Mina by the vest. The angry look she held was quickly forgotten when she saw how upset Marco was.

They could see Nikki’s beacon moving away from Alexis’s location. One team was moving to intercept her while the others were moving in on the Cherub. Most of them were miles away and there wasn’t any time to waste. He recalled the members of the harem that weren’t fighting and was about to give orders to the other three when Janine appeared before him.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, this match isn’t over yet.”

“I don’t have time to deal with you right now, someone’s in trouble and I need to leave.”

“If you leave then you forfeit the match, the choice is yours.”

“There’s no choice to be made. Do whatever you like.” He shoved past her before recalling Mina then turning on his throat mic.  “Rietta, we need to get to the tamer’s battle area as quickly as possible. All Teams: I’m currently leaving the gym and heading to the area, whoever is going after Nikki, I want her detained until we can confirm that it’s actually her. If she doesn’t give the proper confirmation code then kill whoever that is on the spot.”

Black fire erupted from the ground next to Henrietta as her hover bike took form. Taking her spot in front Marco jumped on behind her and lowered his head. The pair took off in a massive blast of fire and shot straight into the air while Chesra use magic to heal herself and reform her wings before casting Haste and taking flight. The Blaze Rider’s concern could only be felt by Marco but it was enough to set him on edge too.

~~~~~

 

Douchsiabag City, Tamer’s Battle Area, 1745

 

Alexis was in intense pain but wouldn’t give Andzral the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She’d forgotten about the girl’s ability to levitate just long enough to have one of her wings cut off by the katana and a deep gash left in her arm. But just as quickly as it happened she retaliated, landing a few arrows and a stab to Andzral’s side. The Cherub was right in her earlier assessment of the Bondage Elf’s dislike for long-range combat and as much as she would have enjoyed keeping the range long her opponent could teleport and she couldn’t. Alexis could have stayed in the air to fight but with the amount of pain she was in and the versatility of Andzral the ground was the place to be.

The girls stared each other down from behind their weapons. Most tamers had the good sense to vacate the area for self preservation while others were keen to get as close as they safely could. Andzral swept in fast and low, swinging in an attempt to take the Cherub’s feet off but she suddenly lost control of her sword and it stabbed into the ground. This came as just enough of a surprise to make her stall and Alexis struck back, taking her chakram and gripping it tight enough to cut through her glove she came up in a quick jumping slash and completely severed Andzral’s free arm.

“You little cunt.” Andzral growled through gritted teeth. “I’m immune to psychic powers, how’d you do that?”

Alexis squeezed her eyes shut to focus but had lost a lot of blood and hadn’t had a chance to heal yet. “You haven’t had the chance to fight a lot of psychics… or you kill them a lot faster than you’re trying to kill me. Either way; your body’s aura prevents psychic attacks from having an effect on you and that aura extends to your weapon to a certain length. After that length is up I can take control of it like any other object… how’s your arm feeling? That was for Nikki by the way.”

Andzral started to laugh as she stabbed her sword into the ground and gripped what was left of the appendage. Magical energy burst forth and her hand ignited in an attempt to cauterize the wound. “I fucking love you… you’re wasted being a part of the military. Come with me and I’ll make sure that Alphonso treats you well. Mr. G never has to know.”

“It could never be as good as the Colonel treats us… there’s nothing you could offer that would ever make any of us betray him.”

“Then I guess I owe Angelica an apology, Quinn really did turn on us.”

Alexis’s eyes hardened as she remembered that night. There weren’t many things that could get to the Cherub on an emotional level but that was just a bad day all around. “She never betrayed you… she was loyal up till the bitter end.”

“The end, what happened?”

“You did; sending Chuck to attack the Colonel’s family, tisk tisk tisk, you let something out you shouldn’t have. Even after he forgave her he still killed her with his bare hands. She wept, she struggled, then she accepted the mercy of his hands. He would have turned her eventually yes, but they could never rebuild that trust that she had broken.”

“But when, we’ve been getting information from her for weeks.”

A curt smile formed on the Cherub’s lips. “You’re welcome, I guess I screwed up somewhere along the line though. After Chuck questioned my loyalty this morning and asked for a meeting I figured something was up… too bad, I’ve already replied back and set him up to be taken in. The Colonel and his parents are quite interested in meeting the young man who disrupted their lives.”

Andzral had done the best she could with her arm and pulled her sword from the ground. “Last chance, come back with me or die?”

The two extra chakrams floated freely to Alexis’s open hand. “You don’t get options; it’s just die.”

Darkness formed around Andzral’s blade and she launched herself forward to engage. Even with one less arm her attacks came in swift and brutally, trying to force as much raw power on the smaller girl as she could, but Alexis wasn’t backing down. The Cherub had thought her explanation of how she was manipulating the weapon was sufficient but when Andzral attacked, she stopped the blade mid swing then spun inward while levitating the chakrams and attempted to disembowel her. Andzral realized that the Cherub was playing for keeps.

Andzral’s leather suit had done its job and kept the bladed hoops from getting to her skin but that was way closer than she expected it to be. The Cherub lacked the raw power of most of her opponents had brought to the table but seemed to be far more dangerous. Her sword was becoming a liability more than anything else and though the missing arm wasn’t bothering her much it would have been helpful to have all the same. They clashed again in a flash of sparks then broke apart.

In the distance Andzral could see two figures flying in at high speed; one was a pokégirl with wings but the other one was on a flaming hover bike and recognized her at first sight. ‘I don’t have time or the strength to deal with them… and this bitch has got to go!’  Spikes shot forward from her shadow, impaling Alexis through her stomach and chest in several spots. Using Beast Rush she shot forward and bit into Alexis’s throat using Crunch. She could hear the gurgling of the Cherub struggling to breathe between the choking on blood and her crushed larynx.

“It’s been fun and I almost wish we could have gotten along.” She spoke with the Cherub’s throat still in her mouth before jerking her head to the side and ripping it out in a spray of blood. Alexis dropped to the ground clutching at her throat. She could see Henrietta and the others getting closer and began to crawl towards them when the sword pierced through her heart from the back. “But I’m not going to give them the chance to bring you back to haunt me.”

Henrietta landed and looked upon the scene, she didn’t make a move, didn’t even approach, she just stood there as a feeling of deep emptiness took over. Marco moved around her and dropped to his knees when he saw Alexis, he felt his breathing catch in his throat and his voice eked out in a remorseful whisper. “Alex…”

“You have no idea what kind of pain in the ass she was to fight. You should be proud though; she fought well before I put her down like the bitch she is.”

Chesra landed next to Henrietta and was prepared to fight until she took everything in. Andzral picked up her severed arm and gave a salute with it before teleporting away laughing manically. The fire that naturally burned around Henrietta’s collar had lowered in intensity and just barely flicked as the others made their way in. Isabella nearly crashed into the battlefield but changed forms at the last second. She ran up while pulling a scanner out of her pocket then froze when she saw her Colonel and Betas around the body of the Cherub. Forcing herself to look away she followed the signal to the bodies of the two tamers then found and deactivated their jammers.

“Siiii… Sir… the teleport and … radio jammers have been deactivated. We are clear to enter and leave as we please now.” She spoke to Marco and into her radio to alert the others.

It took a moment for Marco to get back to his feet and though it felt wrong to do he turned his back on the body of Alexis. “Good work, contact the police and have them send units to cordon off the area. I don’t want anyone leaving here until we get a statement from them. AND I MEAN NO ONE.”

“Yes sir.”

Arianna had summoned Ashen Wings to get through the city faster and landed kneeling in front of Marco; she couldn’t turn around to face what had happened. “Sir, I can start tracking down Andzral and if she’s still in the city then I’m going to find her.”

Chesra was about to speak but Henrietta stepped forward. “No, we let this go for now… no more death today. Help with the containment of the scene.”

Arianna looked to Chesra for confirmation and took the nod as a sign to just do as told. “Yes ma’am.”

Chesra wanted to say something to her friend and partner but didn’t know where to start. She remembered how upset she was herself when Nikki was missing and how everyone had a hard time when Leona died but this was different. They were all there to watch what happened to Leona and while they could each take a little responsibility for her death there was nothing that could be done given what happened. Nikki had been sold out by a double agent and nothing could have been done about that either. While the SexSlash had been level fived her body was still there and her mind had been recovered as best as could be. Alexis died in the middle of combat, their enemies had outsmarted them all, and at the end of the day they were all too slow to get to her in time.

Avalanche had taken over the entire district and weren’t in the mood to fool around. Jean managed to keep herself together long enough to scan everyone who had been detained and anyone who saw what happened was to be thoroughly questioned. In the end, they hadn’t received any additional information until Nikki was finally tracked down and brought in.

The moment the Sexslash saw the look on her colonel’s face and the white sheet covering a body she dropped to her knees and began sobbing. Marco wanted to yell at her, hit her, to just do whatever he could to make her make sense of what had happened but Carrie’s firm and caring grip kept him calm and the emotional support he was getting from the delta bonded was helping him maintain his composure.

“What happened Nikki, why did you leave your partner alone with no support against Andzral?” He demanded as he reached to grab her only to be pulled back by Kelly.

“She… she told me to run. We saw a pair of tamers that had been in the park all morning and I recognized them. They were the same ones that… that… from Celaboner. I panicked and began to freeze up, she tried to radio for help but all we were getting was static so we decided to leave. We were just getting to the main street when Andzral teleported in front of us… I froze where I stood. Alexis linked her mind with mine and gave me instructions. She said that once she and Andzral started fighting I was supposed to run as far and as fast as I could. I said I would fight but she ordered me to leave, said that the faster I left the faster she would get backup. She said she wouldn’t let me be taken again...”

It dawned on Marco, Kelly, and Isabella what had happened. “She was counting on the safety protocol; I set up that system and all it did was leave her shorthanded when she needed help the most.” The Mecha Musume sobbed.

Kelly was taking it just as badly. “If I had just acted sooner, if I didn’t waste time trying to contact them and just told everyone to respond immediately she’d still be alive. “

“Hold it together you two.” Marco commanded. “You both did exactly like you were supposed to do. Nikki… it’s good that you’re ok, Alexis was looking out for you and you did what she needed you to do for her. This is just… one of those… things that happens…” Marco spoke in a strong voice but everyone needed time to deal and he was no exception.

Renae walked up holding a phone and handed it to Kelly. “It’s Quinn’s phone; Alex had set up a meeting with Campbell and is supposed to be there in three minutes.”

Marco wanted to let it go, there was so much going on he didn’t know what to do first and he was about to crack. Alexis deserved to be taken care of quickly and with due respect but her last action was to set up the man who attacked his family. He couldn’t just let the opportunity she’d given them go to waste. “Jean, Rietta, Renae, Emaline, and Carrie. Go to the meeting and drag that bastard in by his nostrils.”

The others nodded in agreement and were set to take off but Henrietta shook her head. “Send someone else Marco.”

He didn’t need to think or ask; it was enough that she said anything at all. “Ok, Ashe and Mina, go with them. Bella, I want them constantly tracked and I mean one of your drones designated to each of them. Understood?”

Isabella nodded and started pulling equipment from her bag. “It will be done sir; we won’t lose anyone else today.”

“Good, move out. I’m calling in one more person.”

_____

 

Base of Alphonso Haures

 

Andzral teleported in and instantly dropped to the floor screaming. Kaia and Jaleen rushed in followed shortly by Alphonso and Tessa. The Neo-Iczel didn’t have much remorse for Andzral considering what they fought about earlier but it looked like she had gotten in over her head for once. It was bad enough that her arm had gotten cut off but because of how she sealed the wound the arm couldn’t just be reattached. Tessa would have to cut off the burned area then regenerate it.

“Hold her down!” Tessa commanded and snatched the katana from her hand. The cut was quick and precise, taking an inch over the burns before she cast her magic to regenerate the arm.

Andzral’s struggling had ceased and she turned to thank Tessa but received a punch in the face. “The hell was that for?”

“For running off on your own and almost getting killed, which one of them hauled off and kicked your ass?”

Haures reached out and grabbed Tessa by the hair then pulled her off to the side. “I’ve had just about enough of your attitude.”

Andzral got up and pushed the two of them apart. “We don’t have time for this right now, where’s Campbell?”

Tessa idly rubbed her head before glaring at her master. “He said he was going to meet up with Quinn. She said she didn’t have a lot of spare time but was looking forward to seeing him. Everyone else hit the streets after you left and we haven’t heard from them yet. What’s wrong?”

“Quinn’s dead and I think she’s been dead for some time, Campbell is walking right into a trap. They’re going to kill him on the spot.”

“What makes you think Avalanche suddenly made the jump to murder and not capture.”

“I just killed one of their members… in front of her colonel and other higher ups. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just wiped him out the second they saw him. We have to give him the heads up.”

~~~~~

 

Douchsiabag City, Restaurant District

 

Jean took position in the coffee shop across from the location Campbell was supposed to show up at and had a changed her form to resemble that of a rather plain looking young girl. The other members of Avalanche and the harem had taken positions and were awaiting signs of his approach. Normally they wouldn’t have any idea of what to look for but Marco had called for some assistance and Vana arrived in short order. The Lady Luck would never forget the face of the man who attacked her family or the pokégirls that got away with him.

As the pair sat sipping their drinks Vana placed her hand over Jean’s to comfort her. “He explained the situation, how are you holding up?”

“It’s… hard.” Jean spoke softly. “She helped me so much, everyone really. I… I just can’t believe that she’s gone.”

“It’s going to be a difficult time for everyone. I’ve lost sisters to ferals and one even in a sanctioned battle, it never gets any easier.”

“I know… I’ll do the best I can to help the others but… Quinn’s getting a message.” {I’ll be thr in a sec} “Campbell will be here shortly, let me know when you see him so I can give the description to the others.”

With everything that had happened in the tamers battle area most of the foot traffic had been pulled there out of curiosity. That meant that a person walking down the street with a half dozen pokégirls would look out of place and that’s exactly what was walking down the sidewalk. Vana clenched her hand and cracked a glass with her psychic pulse the moment she saw him. The smug look of satisfaction plastered on his face while Uma clung defensively to his arm had her ready to burst out of the coffee shop and lay into him right then and there.

Jean began concentrating on her Area Illusion and altered the appearance of the rest of her teammates. It wouldn’t help if they were discovered by sheer luck so she toned down their excessive pokégirl features and beauty much like she did for herself and sent the mental orders that needed to be followed. Renae and Ashley were approaching from the front while Mina and Carrie came from a side street and would sweep in from behind. The others were overhead as lookouts, waiting for something to go wrong so they could attack.

Just as Campbell was nearing the zone he stopped and pulled out his phone. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something them pulled it away from his head to avoid the yelling on the other end. It only took a second for Carrie and Jean to dive into his mind while Ashley and Mina could hear Andzral due to their enhanced hearing. She was trying to warn him but they weren’t going to let their only chance slip away.

“Andzral I can’t hear you if you’re yelling like that, what are you saying.”

“It’s a set up you fucking clod, Quinn’s dead and you’re walking into a trap!”

Just as he registered what she was saying and began to back away Uma was bound by chains. His Ice and Fire Maidens move to help her but the chains tightened and tore her apart in moments. The Dark Maiden could feel the psychic aura pulsing from Carrie and attempted to throw up a Shroud of Darkness but Mina pressed the attack, taking her kodachi and slitting the maiden’s throats in passing. The last two, and Earth and Thunder Maiden respectively moved to Campbell’s side to protect him. There was a faint glint of light and a spark of electricity as Ashley’s pick came down and buried itself in the head of the Earth Maiden before dragging her out of the way and kicked Campbell into Renae. He struggled to break free but she was sucking the heat from his body and was seconds away from freezing him completely just to be rid of him.

“Please stop, don’t hurt him!” Screamed the Thunder Maiden in a plea for mercy.

Ashley ripped the pick out of the Earth Maiden and smacked the girl with the hammer side, knocking her out cold. “Shut it!”

Campbell’s struggling had ceased but now he was staring down the barrel of another problem. “Oh yes, this is the young man… the bastard that turned my daughter into a pokégirl. It’s a pleasure to see you face to face.” He was about to talk but her hand locked around his throat. “Shhhhh, no no no, don’t speak. Just save your strength.”

Mina was already on her comm. unit. and let out a relaxed sigh. “Colonel, we’ve apprehended Chuck Campbell, only casualties are his girls, one survivor not in a pokéball.”

“Excellent work, return to the office with him and we’ll put him in detainment.”

“I’ll send him back with the others but I… I need some time… somethings that needs to be taken care of.”

“Mina, I said return to the office.”

“… Later Colonel.” She removed her comm. unit and watch and stuffed them into her pack before turning to the others. “I gave Marco the heads up and you’re to take him back to the office. I’ll catch up later.”

_____

 

Avalanche Office, Following Morning, 0630

 

Marco sat alone in the Operation Control room with a stack of papers next to him. He just couldn’t find it in his heart to care. Catching Campbell and taking another one of Tri Fotia out of the running did nothing to ease the pain of losing Alexis. It wasn’t just him; everyone was taking it hard and trying to cope as best as they could. But the person they could turn to for help was gone.

There was the sound of a chime and he glanced at the monitor to see a new email had arrived. It wasn’t out of place considering what had happened but once he pulled it up he froze. It had been sent to him by Alexis. “What… how in the hell?”

Upon opening the e-mail a video started. Alexis was sitting at her desk sipping at a cup of tea but her normal fake smile was replaced with a look of stern seriousness. “Morning colonel… if you’re getting this then the time release expired and if that happened then I’m dead.” There was a short cut before the video had started again. Some time had gone by judging by the change in her hair and clothing. “Sorry, I had to update this due to recent developments. As I was saying, I’m dead and more than likely I fell in combat. I want to thank you Colonel; my time with you and the others was what I’ve always wanted, the chance to fight for what I believed in, the betterment of humans and pokégirls. It was how you started Avalanche and what I was happy to be a part of… No doubt you and the others are suffering, especially if I was the only one to die… but you’ve always told us never to act without a plan. Everything I’ve learn about psychology I passed on to Jean. She and I have different ways of thinking but she’ll be there for the others in ways that I can’t. Make sure the others accept her offer to help, they may resist a little but as always they will follow your lead. I also enclosed the access codes to my personal files on everyone in the unit and harem. I’m going to say that they are only to be viewed by Jean as my successor but I know you’ll look at some of them first. If you look at yours then try not to get offended… It was an honor and a pleasure, stay strong Marco.”

_____

 

 

Delta

Echo

Indigo

 

Beta- Chesra- Archangel	Beta- Henrietta- Charred Ghostrider	Beta- Mina- Kunoichi
Arianna- War Hound	Field Beta- Selena- Caphoochie	Zianna- Wolf Queen
Kim- Bombshell	Rebecca- Smokey	Renae- Ice Princess
Nikki- SexSlash	Lily- Belle Awesome	Isabella- Mecha Musume
Emaline- Fire Maiden	Alexis- Cherub- KIA	Tam- Catgirl
Ilene- Imp		Leona- Lamia- KIA

 

Harem

Chesra- Co-Alpha

Henrietta- Co-Alpha

Carrie- Mistress (M)

Ashley- Peekabu

Jean- Kyubi

Bernadette- Piratit

 

Handler

Christina Reynolds

Ariel-  LawFoxx