Indigo League Military Base, Home of Jodie Sabastian
Henrietta stood on the stoop of the building and tapped her foot as she tried to wait patiently. They hadn’t seen the Enchantress for a couple of months and she was actually looking forward to catching up with her. They didn’t really start out as friends considering she was the one who gave Marco the enchanted rings he used to fight her, but her constantly scolding him for his ‘abuse’ of her abilities always brought a smile to her face.
“One second… I’m coming…” Was yelled through the door in a muffle, quick footsteps moving across the wooden floor and the door was flung open in a rush. “Sorry, had to take the cookies out of the oven. Long time no see, come on in!” The Enchantress said with a big smile as she ushered her inside to get settled at the table. “You look good, albeit a bit darker than the last time I saw you.”
Henrietta smiled pleasantly and tried her best not to be annoyed with the Enchantress’s overly chipper attitude or comment on her appearance. “Hi ya Jodie, how’s Carl?”
“He’s good, quite good, just got promoted to Staff Sargent. How about you, how are the others?”
The smile on her face faltered for a moment. “We’re doing ok… we’ve lost some teammates, Leona and Alexis.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that, how’s Marco taking it? He’s always been a pleasant fellow, if a bit of a push over.”
“He’s hanging in there, it’s been rough on us, hell most of the past year’s been rough on all of us. Fighting, killing, getting killed, coming back… as I said, it’s been a bit rough.”
“I see… I think, but never the less it’s good to see you. I remember Green Bond saying that the Colonel got some work done from her a few months back. Heavy enchantments but a pretty good deal for some kind of chain?”
“Yeah, actually that’s one of the reasons I wanted to see you, aside from catching up. I needed to have something enchanted, but it may be a little tricky.” She tilted her head slightly to suck up the delicious scent of the cookies and her mouth began to water. “Those cookies smell delightful.”
Once again Jodie gave a beaming smile. “You know I don’t work for free, or cheap, but I’m really worth it.”
“I know that you’re worth it but on top of the normal services I’m also buying your silence. If you take this job then you’re not to speak a word of it to the Colonel or anyone from Avalanche. Agreed?” Henrietta asked sternly causing the smile to fade from Jodie’s face.
“That won’t be a problem, if you want me to keep it quiet then that’s what I’ll do. All I need to know is what you need me to enchant.” Henrietta reached into her poképack and pulled out a long cloth bandage rolled into a tight coil. Jodie looked at the bandage then back at Henrietta as she pulled out two more and placed them on the table. “Ok… what’s the joke?”
“No joke, I need you to enchant these. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to need so I just got a whole bunch.”
“And what exactly would you like me to enchant them with?”
“I want them to be inflexible and indestructible once they are wrapped around the affected area, though I guess I would need some way of taking them off again.”
“I can do that but it would be incredibly hard to move in them… I could make them indestructible and nullify any kind of kinetic force brought against whatever you’re trying to protect. Now when I say nullify I don’t mean full absorption into nothing, the kinetic energy will have to go somewhere, at best I can make it so that the force of any blows is transferred through the bands and out the other side. You won’t take any physical damage but the impact can still move your body if it’s great enough. Is that acceptable?”
Henrietta nodded and pulled up her personal account on her phone. “That’s fine, how long will it take and how much will I owe you?”
“It shouldn’t take me more than a day, two at the most if I take a break during the process. As for the payment… with materials and labor, let’s call it an even 100k. Discounted of course since it’s been so long and you guys are some of my best customers.” She glanced back at the items again then shook her head. If it were Marco asking for the items then she would only venture to wonder what he was up to but with Henrietta there was no clue. “I’m not going to bother asking what you need these for, I’m sure it’s dangerous so I don’t want to know. Just be careful.”
“Thanks for not prying. I need to get going now, appointment to keep and all.” Henrietta sighed as she stood up and started for the door. “Thanks again, payment on delivery?”
“You know it.” Henrietta was just out the door when Jodie tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a small container with some of the cookies. “Something for you and the others.”
“Thanks.” ‘These will be long gone before they ever knew they were around.’
_____
Two Days Later, Avalanche Office, 0930
It was finally the day when they would travel to Cinnibuns Island to compete for the Volcano 1124 badge. Marco had been about as understanding as could be expected with Mina getting the Heart of Soul badge and didn’t yell all that much. Her reasoning was pure enough and he appreciated her concern for everyone else’s emotional wellbeing. That didn’t get her out of trouble but it lessened the damage.
Most of the unit sat around the table eating quietly while some of the others were busy with preparation. Not that there was much to do. They couldn’t just take over a public building just so Marco could have his match in peace and he honestly didn’t feel like going either. But there were only two more gyms for him to hit and then his job as walking bait would be over. After that, if Team Rocket wanted him they would have to come out into the open and confront him or risk attacking his family again. The second option didn’t sound good so the few members of the unit who continued to object to not being in the city would instead be sent to watch over his family.
Kelly would be fulfilling her non-combat harem member role again so she could keep a closer eye on Marco. In addition to that Ilene took the second non-combat slot so she could stay close to Jean and Chesra. The Kyubi would be displacing her master’s image while he was concentrating on the battle so even though he would be standing in one spot it would appear as if he was in another. Of course if Jean was called on to fight in the match the Imp would move and bolster Chesra’s powers for the shield she would place around him. Initially Marco was opposed to the idea but had to compromise with the unit for the sake of them not being pissed off at him all day.
“You guys are really quiet this morning.” Marco stated gruffly.
“Because our Master is being a complete idiot.” Ashley mumbled to the surprise of the others. “I mean it’s not like this isn’t the what… fifth, sixth time we’ve been through this. It could be more, I’ve kind of lost track.”
Mina tilted her head to the side then looked up in deep thought. “Well technically he’s been targeted for attack at every gym except for Pewtit and VerMuffEatin’, the first because he wasn’t important enough yet and the second because they thought he was dead. So I guess that’s six so far.”
“Well if Ashley’s just talking about gym battles then this is number ten.” Chesra corrected.
Ashley just shook her head. “Like it matters… not like our opinions are important.”
They all found it disturbing when instead of being mad their master and colonel started to laugh. “So I have two of you telling me not to let your emotions and constant complaints affect my tactical assessment. Then I have the rest of you all pissy with me because my tactical assessment is keeping you from wasting your lives protecting me…” He wiped his eyes then looked across the table at all of their upset faces. “What, it’s funny.”
“Just great, you’ve graduated from idiot to asshole.” Ashley sniped.
“Well pardon me for wanting to keep everyone safe Ashe, how about I let you come up with a plan for making sure everyone is safe and happy?”
The Peekabu was left stunned and stammered for a moment. “Then I think they should proceed as normal, taking up positions around the city.”
“Well everyone but me is happy with that which means everybody isn’t happy, try again.”
Ashley frowned and crossed her arms. “What, how is that fair? If you’re the only person who’s complaining then couldn’t you just deal?”
“I could but then that would defeat the point of being in charge; and this is me ‘dealing’. Besides, I make the rules, I set the schedules, and at the end of the day I have to come to terms with the fact that my plans have put two of you in pine boxes. So, before I really start exercising my authority in ways that you wouldn’t enjoy, let’s go with the tried, tested, and reliable method of you shutting the hell up and just doing what I say.” Ashley and the others were startled by the harsh tone he’d taken and resigned themselves back to eating in silence. Marco knew he was being a bit harsher than normal and he couldn’t quite understand why. She didn’t deserve what he’d said. “Look, I’m sorry, I guess today just has me a bit irritated for some reason.”
Henrietta raised an eye brow but didn’t take her eyes off her plate. She wasn’t really in the mood to eat. “Whatever; have you decided on the official battle order yet?”
“It’s going to be up in the air for the most part. Carrie, you and Bernie are going to be sitting this one out. Rietta, let me know if and or when you feel like fighting. I want a strong start so Jean and Chesra can decide between themselves who’s going to take the first round.”
Jean raised her hand and spoke up. “I’m sure we’ll all feel a little better if I can concentrate on fully displacing your image while on the field, Chesra can have the first match. Between her and Ashe we should be able to get through most of the gym leader’s harem.”
“Left outa the fray again, haven’t been in the gym battle since Lavenderrier.” Sulked Bernadette. “Almost feel as though that one loss blew my chances of ever being in the gym battles again.”
“Well it didn’t.” Marco spoke quickly. “And trust me, when it comes to fighting in Viridick City, you’ll be on the front line. With the exception of Douchsiabag City and maybe Celaboner, you were at a major disadvantage at the other gyms we went to. I know you haven’t gotten many chances to fight in the gym battles but next year you’ll be fighting in the Indigo League Championships.”
“Aye, that makes me feel a bit better.”
Their meal was interrupted by the soft sound of bells and soon after that Vana and Nadia entered the room. The Tomboy was looking much better after having completely come to terms with being a pokégirl. She hadn’t told her parents yet but she was strongly considering joining Kelly’s brother Terrence on his tamers journey.
“Mom, sis, what brings you two to our neck of the woods?”
“Morning everyone; Nadia needs to talk to Kelly for a bit and I need to talk to you Marco.” The Lady Luck spoke cheerfully, before glancing over at Henrietta. “I may want to talk to you later too.”
Nadia moved to her brother’s side and gave him a hug before whispering in Kelly’s ear. The Duelist blushed red then stood up. “Got to go Marco, girl talk.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to know the details about you two making plans for her to hook up with your brother for taming.” Marco said gruffly earning rueful looks from both girls. “What, just because I accept what happens and think it’s a good idea doesn’t mean I want to know about it, think about it, or that I have to like it.”
Vana grinned maliciously. “Then I guess its best that you not know about us walking in on Erica with some boy in the basement.”
“WHAT?!”
“I kid son I kid; that kind of thing is still a few years off I believe.” She laughed, his reaction being as priceless as she expected.
“That’s not funny.” Marco sighed. “Well now that my blood pressure’s up let’s go talk. Everyone else can finish up and we’ll be moving out in three hours.” Marco and Vana moved to his shared office and got seated. “Something wrong mom?”
“No dear, I just wanted to tell you there’s going to be a change of plans.”
“What kind of change of plans?”
“Instead of sending some of them to the house to look after us we’ll be coming to your gym battle.” Marco leaned back in his chair and began to think. “Since you insist on us being looked after and we insist on you being safe it just seems easier if everyone’s in the same spot.”
“You do have a point, I don’t want you guys to be in danger… but the only ones who know what you look like and who you are are either dead or in custody. This would also keep the others from bitching at me for the rest of the day.”
She gave her son a once over then reached forward to feel his head. “Have you been feeling ok recently? You look as though you’re under the weather.”
“Healthy as normal I guess, though I suppose I’ve been a bit irritable.” He let out a deep sigh as he looked at Alexis’s picture on the wall. “I miss her… her and Leona. If I don’t have to risk the lives of the others then I won’t.”
“Fair enough; the rest of the family will already be seated by the time you get to the gym and we’ll be rooting for you. Give em hell.”
Marco let out his first genuine laugh of the day and rocked forward in the chair. “The gym is part of a volcano, pretty sure they’re use to hell.” Just as Vana got up and was about to leave a thought passed Marco’s mind. “What were you going to talk to Henrietta about?”
“If you don’t know then I can’t tell you.” Vana stated with a sly grin as she walked out the door.
“What? That doesn’t make any sense… women…”
_____
Secret Base of Alphonso Haures
Andzral sat along with Tessa looking over the map of Cinnibuns Island. No one was 100% certain that Readman would be going there but given his options it was the safest bet. She’d managed to remember where the forces that had been attacked last time were picked off and marked the areas as places for her tamers to stay away from. Well she would have but Angelica had been placed back into leadership for the operations. Both Gerard and Andzral didn’t agree with their boss’s decision but they weren’t going to question it either.
Tessa’s eyes focused on the list of casualties to the organization. “That’s a lot of people we’ve lost; some low levels, some high levels… it’s almost too hard to believe.”
“To be fair we did kind of send them conga style right to them. Having Evan get killed was a rather hefty loss and really didn’t do much to help the moral of the others. When your boss gets the axe from a girl he had in his possession for that long it makes the others not want to go near them.” Andzral nodded in agreement. “Whatever the case we’re going to have to tread carefully. Mr. G. isn’t thrilled about having to go into the field and we’ll probably be forced to look out for him.”
“But I thought he had to personally go after Readman this time. He was getting special pokégirls and everything.”
“I know his type, he’s too privileged to know how to do anything for himself. Us, we’ve had to live, actually fight and survive. But not him, he’ll be there because he has to be but his contribution will be minimal. This is more so in the hands of Angelica and I’m not sure how much I trust her right now.”
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. “If the big boss trusts her then we should be able to. Besides, you don’t trust me either.”
Andzral rolled her chair back so she could look directly at Tessa. “It’s not so much that I don’t trust you, but I know what you’ve been through. If you were to run off then I wouldn’t be surprised… as long as you know I’d have to come after you. And when I caught you… yeah.”
The eyes of the Neo-iczel hardened. “I’ll take that under consideration if I ever decide to run away. As long as you remember that a fight between us isn’t that simple.”
_____
Avalanche, Training Field
Jodie dropped by an hour after they had finished breakfast to give Henrietta her enchanted items. Now she was out on the training field with a sack of eggs. She wrapped a pair of eggs around three separate post then took a few steps back. Moving to her stance she lunged forward and threw a punch at the bandaged eggs. Her fist struck cleanly but only the post moved, the eggs contained inside didn’t appear to have even shifted.
From the side she caught sight of Arianna making her way up and waved her closer. Henrietta unwrapped the first set of eggs just as Arianna walked up. “What ya got there?”
“A little something I had whipped up. You’re a bit stronger than me, give that other post a hit with everything you got.” Arianna stepped up to the next post and wound up before striking it. The hit was hard enough to knock the top half of the post clean off and dig the bottom half out of the ground. Henrietta was quick to teleport and catch the half of the post then brought it back and unwrapped the eggs to reveal they were undamaged. “Not a scratch.”
“Holy shit... is that why you’re so hard to beat?”
“Nope, this is just a little something extra I needed to get. All the other times we’ve fought were legitimate.” She explained and summoned a fire enhanced handgun. Taking aim she fired and watched the bullet explode as it contacted the bandages. Once the smoke cleared it was easy to see no damage had been done.
“Not bad, how about something a little bigger?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
Reaching into her poképack she retrieved her sniper rifle then grabbed Arianna and teleported away. Their landing zone was roughly a half mile away, a trivial shot for the pair working together. The loud reverberation of the rifle fire echoed through the area and the impact left a crater where the post once was.
“… ya know, I don’t think we thought that one all the way through.” Arianna laughed to herself.
“Well I suppose if I plan on getting hit by something moving that fast and hitting that hard then I have bigger problems.” Looking around she didn’t see any trace of the item. “Think you can find it, it should have Jodie’s scent on it.”
“Sure, just give me a moment.” Sticking her nose into the air she began searching out the scent of the Enchantress. It only took her a few moments to pick it up and fifty yards away she found the smoldering remains of the post. “So maybe you shouldn’t have enchanted your rifle with fire.” It didn’t stop her from being amazed that the bandages were perfectly fine and the eggs appeared to be too.
“I must say, if… if you ever need something en…chant…ed then Jodie is worth the money…” Henrietta was barely able to get out before vomiting.
“You ok?”
“Stomach’s bothering me but I’ll be fine for the match.”
Arianna gave her friend a pat on the back. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll just take a short nap before we head out.” Henrietta groaned weakly.
The pair headed inside after retrieving the enchanted bandages then went their separate ways. Henrietta had just made it to her room when Vana seemed to appear out of nowhere. The Lady Luck still appeared to be in her joking mood but held a motherly look.
“How ya feeling?”
Henrietta held back the urge to vomit again then shook her head clear. “Fine… Thanks for asking?”
“Just making sure, apparently Marco has been pretty irritable lately and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t giving you a hard time. But I see you’re still being your oddly overly amendable self.”
“Everything is fine Vana.” Henrietta eyed the Lady Luck to see what she was dealing with. As far as she was concerned Vana had a habit of poking her nose where it didn’t belong and with little regard to whoever she was snooping on. “Look, I know what you’re doing and I know why you’re here, had to warn Jean and I’ll warn you too, don’t pry into my business.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t have to pry, a mother knows these things. But I’ll give Marco a friendly heads up.” Vana grinned.
Fire flickered off Henrietta’s collar in aggravation. “Don’t you dare.”
“Then you better talk to him before I do.”
“It’s my business, not his or yours, and the way he’s been acting… I’m not sure if I want it to be his business.”
Vana paused to think about what the Blaze Rider said. It was true that Marco had become detached, angry, and difficult to deal with after everything that had happened. “I understand why you may feel that way and you’re right, it’s none of my business. But remember why you fell in love with my son in the first place, he’s in an odd spot right now and part of that is your fault.” Vana sighed and leaned against the wall. “I’m not going to say anything right now, but I still want you to tell him. Sometimes it takes something drastic to make a man reevaluate his priorities… Talk to him, tell him and I’m sure you’ll be all the happier for it.”
Henrietta nodded before entering her room. “I’ll think about it.”
“It’s the least I could ask for, just don’t overdo it out there.”
____
Cinnibuns Island, 1200
Cinnibuns Island, not so much a tropical paradise but an industry community. The entire thing was owned by Mishima Heavy Industries and most of its residents were also employees of the laboratory and power plant. This of course did nothing to stop the building of the Cinnibuns Gym to draw tamers and beef up the economy. Tall buildings made up for the limited space on the island and provided breath taking views for those visiting from the main land.
Marco and the others weren’t there for the view though. He was hoping that fate would finally cut him some slack and have his battle start soon. There weren’t many other tamers around yet but judging by the current time they would be arriving soon. For tamers who didn’t have water type pokégirls to swim them across or couldn’t find other means of getting around the islands there were scheduled ferries. That effectively meant they could plan the best time to reach the gym with the fewest people around. It hadn’t really occurred to any of them that there may be a lot fewer around for a different reason.
The group entered the lobby to check in for his gym battle and noticed that the few tamers and staff around seemed to be focusing on the televisions. Finally it dawned on Marco that the Indigo League Championships had finally gotten underway and the opening battles were taking place. Never the less he was there for a reason and wanted to get things over and done with.
The girl sitting behind the counter glanced over to Marco, then back to the TV, the battle was just heating up and forcing her attention to split. Glancing back again she looked past Marco and to Eric. “Mr. Readman,” Now that her attention was gained she focused on the older man and the women with him. “Kit and Cat, you guys are looking good.”
Vana stepped up and waved to the woman. “Abbigail, it’s been too long.”
“It has been Vana, how are the kids?”
“Well Tasha had her baby a few years back and Marco and the younger ones are standing right in front of you.” Vana spoke with pride and threw her arms around the shoulders of her family. “I thought you were a researcher?”
“Oh I am dear, but sometimes you need a break from the field. Working here keeps me close to the action and when I’m ready to return the lab is but a few miles away. But we have plenty of time to catch up later, what can I do for you all today?”
Marco stepped forward and placed his pokédex on the counter. “Yes, I’m here for a gym battle, I guess the tournament has everyone else busy watching.”
“Over a hundred contenders this year including some hot and heavy repeats from last year. I guess you’re a little behind.”
“If it’s the age thing you’re talking about then yeah, military service has put me behind. Otherwise… well yeah, military service still put me behind.”
“Oh, I thought you needed a few more badges. No matter, I’ll set you up for the battle, which badge is this going to be for you?” She asked with a polite smile as she started typing.
“The eleventh,” Marco watched her fingers slow to a crawl and he flashed a grin. “Shadow League’s been kind to me.”
“I see.” She nodded and continued typing before plugging in his pokédex. “And you’re all set. The locker room is opened and Professor Walnutsume should be there soon enough.”
“Thanks Miss. Abbigail.”
“Please, call me Abby.”
_____
Edo League, Oran Residence
Angelica had tucked her son in and was blissfully asleep in her bedroom when her monitor started beeping. Rolling out of bed she noticed the beeping had stopped and there was a message left. She wanted to go back to bed but with the time difference she knew it could only be one thing. Marco was on the move and she would have some calls to make.
Her eyes were still slightly glazed over when she felt a warm cup move into her hand. “Thanks Cirra.” She mumbled to the Gun Bunny. After taking a few sips of the coffee she stumbled to the monitor to check the message. It only took a few moments to listen to what Gerard had to say and she settled back into her chair with a smile. “Just like I thought.”
“Mistress, wake the others?”
“No Cirra, go to bed. Our target is in Cinnibuns but we’re letting him go this time.”
Cirra took the time to brush the hair out of her eyes before focusing on Angelica. “What?”
“Gerard decided that this wasn’t the right time to go after Readman, so he’s getting a pass today.” Angelica chuckled to herself before stepping closer to the Gun Bunny. “I think he’s gotten cold feet.”
“Mistress… I could go with Jenna, set up, take him out as he leaves the gym.”
Cirra shuddered as Angelica placed her hand gently against her cheek and unzipped her fleece vest. “You remember what happened at the ferris wheel, I could of lost you both that night.” Cirra nodded and pressed her head deeper into the touch. “That same man I was talking so kindly with has become unhinged. His girls have your scent,” She leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. “they would take you and Jenna both, and all I would be able to do is pray they didn’t kill you. So when I ask you to stay here and go back to bed, I’m asking you not to risk your lives, and not to make me miss you.”
“Bed, with you?”
“Of course, I know how you hate to sleep alone.”
______
Cinnibuns Gym, Locker Room
The members of the harem were gearing up for the match, putting on their normal battle uniforms. Henrietta had first tried wrapping the bandages around the outside of her t-shirt but when she tried to bend over she discovered that the magical field prevented her from being able to move properly. After a little thought she put on one of her vest to increase the spacing then started wrapping again.
Ashley noticed her struggling a bit then came over to help. “Let me give you a hand there.” Henrietta relented and put her arms up so the Peekabu could make it all the way around her. “So what’s this for?”
“A little added protection… I’ll explain later.”
Jean sighed and closed her locker door. “‘Don’t ask, it’s none of your business, let it go, I’ll explain later’, that’s all you’ve been saying lately.”
“I believe I also mentioned killing you at some point and time. Now I said I’d tell you later and I’ll tell you later, but for now let’s just focus on the match.”
Carrie clipped her sheath to her side and placed her hand against it. “There are just some things people don’t like thinking about or remembering… should of killed David when I had the chance.”
“You didn’t let him get away unscathed, I wasn’t aware you could do such a thing with a needle and thread.” Chesra laughed though her concentration was focused on deciding between her War hammer and long sword.
“I’m no Seamstress or anything but I picked up some skills for when I was preforming. That was more so me expanding on how much I failed at it in the beginning. But considering all the things he did to me, I should have sown his lips to his asshole.”
Marco knocked lightly on the door to get their attention. “That would have been fun to watch. Let’s go ladies, I want this over and done with!” He clapped in a rallying gesture.
The group seemed to have renewed energy as they left the locker room and started towards the battlefield. Considering that the championships were currently being held the stands were quite full. The island was pro-pokégirl rights and the workers for Mishima Heavy Industries always enjoyed watching tamers attempt to get badges from Professor Walnutsume. There wasn’t much special about the Cinnibuns gym battlefield. Being in a dormant volcano made it unreasonably hot but other than that it was a regular dirt field.
From one side Marco and his harem could see their opposition. The Battle Catgirl and the Catgirl Warmech were two quite imposing pokégirls and the Hellcat was no different. Not that the Growltit, Fire Foxymaiden, and Rapitaur appeared to be easy wins either. They were huddled together, whispering and pointing at the different girls Marco had with him. From the look of things the battle was going to be a wild one.
Marco’s harem was getting seated on the sideline when they were approached by Professor Walnutsume. The man seemed rather cheerful with his cigarette and waved politely. “So you’re Eric’s boy, nice to meet you Marco.”
“I’m sorry, he hasn’t told me much about you. But it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” Marco explained, shaking his hand.
Walnutsume laughed. “Oh, well that’s good I suppose, don’t want the secrets of my harem getting out. I must admit though, you’re pretty old to still be on the circuit.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting that since I started last year. But that just means the battle will be more interesting, traded in my youthful exuberance for wisdom on the battlefield.”
“I see… well its best two out of three rules for my badge, may the best harem win.”
“Best of luck to us both.” Marco watched Walnutsume make his way back to his side of the field. He couldn’t hear what he said but judging by the disappointed groans of five of his harem and how the Foxymaiden had nodded she would be going up first. “Change of plans, that one is all yours Ashely.”
Even though Marco had apologized earlier the Peekabu was still upset about what he’d said to her. “Yes Master, I’ll just keep quiet and follow orders, Master.”
“Okay, admittedly I had that coming. What I said earlier was stupid, and uncalled for, and goes against everything I believe in, and while I can’t promise it won’t happen again, if and when it does I will always say I’m sorry for being an idiot. There will never be a moment when you all aren’t free to speak your minds and tell me I’m wrong. I was upset and irritated and all I wanted was to keep everyone safe, so I’m sorry for neglecting your feelings and opinions.”
Ashley turned her head in a huff then sighed. “Damn it, you’re not supposed to be good at apologizing. But apology accepted, I was being kinda bitchy to you too and I was also out of line when I said your feelings were less important than ours.” She nodded then looked cross the field to her opponent. “Now let me get out there and kick her ass.”
“That’s my girl.”
~~~~~
Both girls made their way to the center of the field and waited for the countdown timer to finish. Ashley’s picks were still attached to her back and gleamed in the light like they were hungry to be used in combat. Her tail was stiff and electricity crackled in short bolts around her body when she moved into her stance. The countdown timer finally reached zero but oddly neither girl made a move. The once cheering crowd began to quiet and watch in anticipation, waiting to see who would strike first.
Kelly continued to stand by Marco’s side and crossed her arms. “A precision based fight… Ashley’s learned a lot. In the beginning she would have just ran headlong into the battle, now she’s waiting for her opponent to make the first move so she can counter attack.”
“Ashe has the edge in quite a few categories and neither one of them have full on weaknesses to the other. This is going to come down to a critical hit.”
Back on the center line the two girls continued to stare each other down in their respective stances. But for as much time as Ashley had devoted to improving her skills she was still young and impatient. “You know, you could move at any time.”
“Well aware, you can do the same.” Fiona answered back. “Personally I can stand here all day.”
“Uh huh.”
While Ashley continued to stare at Fiona her concentration shifted to her powers. Sparks formed around her fingers and continued to grow until her entire hand was electrified. Without warning a condensed bolt of electricity fired towards Fiona’s foot. In the heat of the moment the Foxymaiden hopped backwards and released a fireball in an attempt to stall the Peekabu but Ashley’s speed had her whizzing past it before striking with an electrified palm thrust. Fiona was barely able to knock the palm out of the way and struck back by igniting and attempting to tackle, but Ashley out maneuvered her thanks to her agility.
Now that there was some movement on the field the crowd was cheering again. Each time one struck the other would counterattack but get blocked or outplayed. This had gone on for nearly ten minutes with neither one getting the better of the other. But the longer the fight went on the more ferocious the attacks were becoming.
Marco watched on for any kind of advice he could give Ashley but her fighting style just didn’t mesh well with her actual abilities. “I never could understand why she prefers to fight at close range when most of her stronger abilities are long range.”
Kelly’s eyes kept moving to different areas in the stadium to make sure the others were actually paying attention to their surroundings. “You do remember her background, she got in a lot of trouble for hurting people using longer range abilities. It could just be a mental block.”
“I suppose you could be on to something there.”
The pace was picking up on the battlefield. Fiona had backed off to put some distance between them then let loose with a flame thrower attack fit to burn the young Peekabu to a crisp. But Ashley wouldn’t be done in so easily. Electricity began to surge around her body as she ran to avoid the flames, all the while circling in closer and closer on her target. At the last second she darted forward and pounced, tackling the Foxymaiden with Thunder Impact and knocking them both down before springing back to her feet. Fiona attempted to get back up but Ashley spun hard, striking her with an electrified Tail Slap and sending her rolling.
Being electrified was enough to shock Fiona back into action and her counter attack was brutal. Igniting her body she charge forward and began to spin, striking Ashley several times over and forcing her back. Without warning she sprung forward and drop kicked the Peekabu to the ground before flipping backwards. Fire appeared to rain down from the sky and splayed harshly as Ashley tried to shield her face. With her opponent distracted Fiona began harnessing the full force of her fire abilities. Flames burst from the Foxymaiden’s body to create a massive wave of fire that began to tower into the sky before lurching towards the Peekabu.
“Ashe, Static Barrier!”
Crossing her arms in front of her face, Ashley pulled in all of her stored electricity then released it in a massive ball around her just as the flames engulfed her. The crowd fell silent with everyone waiting for some kind of sign that she was either ok or needed to be recalled. Seconds passed by with the flames staying in that one spot when suddenly the electric ball shot out. Ashley had emerged from the blaze without a scratch, electricity buzzing around her in contained fury. A rumbling could be heard from overhead and the cheering crowd knew what was coming next.
“Peeeeeeeekaaaaaaaa!!” She yelled and threw her arms forward. Twin bolts of lightning shot from her hands as Thunder Flare screeched loudly and electrocuted Fiona.
The Foxymaiden took the full force of the attack and stumbled but was barely able to stave off the paralysis, but that was the least of her worries. Blinding light enveloped the Peekabu as lightning came down and coursed through her body. Her once yellow fur had darkened to a light shade of brown and she appeared to of gotten taller. Her now electric blue eyes focused on her opponent as she raised a hand, pointing a finger down the range.
Fiona was still shaking the effects of the earlier attack but could feel her fur bristle and her hair stand on end. Ashley’s evolution was finished and in a piercing primal scream she cried out. “Raiiiiiiiiiii!”
A beam of lightning flew from the sky and straight towards Fiona but just before it could contact she vanished, recalled by Walnutsume who just shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not happening.” He released Fiona on the sideline and she looked to the field to see the massive crater left behind where she once stood. “Wasn’t about to let you get hit by that.”
Ashely still stood in the middle of the field, her excess electricity digging into the ground around her. Raising both of her hands she fired what appeared to be a beam of electricity out of the gym that disappeared over the ocean. Now that she’d burned off the extra power she started back towards her sideline. Her body began to feel heavy and a sudden wave of exhaustion rolled over her. Just as she was about to drop Kelly appeared and caught her around the waist.
“How ya feelin?” The Duelist began to worry when she didn’t get a response. That was until she heard the snoring. “She’s out but should be fine.”
Marco ran to meet them on the sideline and gave the newly evolved Ria a once over. She’d definitely gotten taller and bulkier. Just like the last time she’d passed out, her ambient energy was left unchecked and everyone’s hair was standing on end. “She looks good. We can go ahead and let her sleep it off here, Chesra, you’ve got the next battle.”
The Archangel stood and let her upper set of wings stretch out while she picked up her war hammer and shield. “Let’s see if I can end this, right here right now.”
“Just be careful.”
Chesra moved to her starting line and waited for Professor Walnutsume to make his choice. Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her hammer when the Warmech Catgirl leapt from her sideline and onto the field. The Archangel had seen plenty of pokégirls during her time with the military, both on bases and in the field, but it was the first time she’d ever gotten a chance to see a Guyver bonded pokégirl. She wouldn’t fully know what to expect and would have to play the fight as it happened, something she hated doing.
Rei Rei’s body armor was already formed around her, he helmet feeding useful data on her opponent. The tentacles used to form her armor retracted from around the head to reveal the face hidden underneath. She appeared to be a Catgirl like any other but Chesra knew better, they would both be in for a fight.
“Another celestial, I hate fighting celestials.” Rei Rei sighed. “They’re always such big babies when they lose.”
“And I see you and I are really going to enjoy ourselves.”
The countdown timers sounded and the helmet reformed around the Catgirl’s head. Chesra lunged forward, using her wings to carry her the full distance, and swung her hammer in an upward arch. Her intention was to knock her opponent off her feet but Rei Rei dodged to the side and countered, striking Chesra across the chest with her forearm blades. The attack only glanced across Chesra’s armor and left her open to a shield bash that knocked her to the ground. Chesra brought the shield down again to try and crush the girl into the ground but using her hands and feet she braced the impact then kicked the Archangel away.
Reforming her second set of wings Chesra launched herself at Rei Rei again and swung downward just as she backed away, but followed up by flipping forward to ax kick the girl in the head. The Warmech dodged the second hit by a narrow margin and leapt high into the air. The armor around her hands quickly morphed to resemble cannons and with a loud whine she fired her Pressure Cannon. Chesra lifted her shield and moved her wings behind it to block the attack but she was knocked flat into the ground by the strength of the sonic attack.
Landing several yards way Rei Rei dusted herself off and waited to see if there would be any response from the Archangel. As she spoke her voice sounded digitized, a byproduct of the Guyver bonding. “Come on, don’t tell me you’re done already.”
Chesra’s war hammer seemed to appear from out of nowhere and struck the girl in the head, snapping her head back and knocking her to the ground. “Far from it.” She growled then grimaced when she looked at her shield. The force of the blast had almost turned it concave and cracked the center. Rather than have more damage done to it she unstrapped it from her arm and threw it towards her sideline.
Rei Rei jumped back to her feet and shook her head in aggravation. “Well fuck you too!” Instead of throwing the hammer back at Chesra she tossed it out of bounds. Her armor began morphing again, adding blades to her feet and elbows to go along with the ones on her forearms. “Let’s see what you got.”
Chesra arched an eyebrow when she saw the Warmech Catgirl move into a fighting stance. “Anyway you want it.”
“That’s the way I need it.” Rei Rei quipped.
The pair started at a slow walk that quickly became an all-out sprint towards one another. Rei Rei opened up first, lunging with a bladed forearm. Chesra went to her knees to slide under the strike then shot up midway through, tackling her in midflight and driving her to the ground. Both girls quickly rolled back to their feet and wound up to strike, stepping with enough force to shake the ground they punched. The force of the hits sent both girls backwards but they were quick to recover and dive back towards each other.
On the sideline Marco’s harem continued to focus on the intense battle that was taking place in front of them. Chesra almost seemed to be taking the fight personally. “I don’t think she’s going to win this one.” Carrie muttered under her breath.
“That be something we agree on then.” Bernadette replied grimly as she crossed her arms and sat back. “God forbid I be in there. That’s one tough girl.”
Henrietta continued to gently stroke the sleeping Ria’s hair. “Chesra’s having a hard time getting through Rei’s armor. Not to mention that sonic attack took more out of her than she’s letting on. The fact that she’s fighting a Catgirl may not be helping either.”
“Rei? I though her name was Rei Rei.” Ilene commented from Jean’s lap.
“It just sounds stupid when you say it twice.”
“And what does her being a Catgirl have to do with anything?”
“Chesra use to be an Armsmistress, that breed has a bit of a kinship with felines and doesn’t like to hurt them. Too bad the felines don’t seem to have the same problem.” Henrietta shifted slightly as she saw Chesra take a number of brutal hits and get knocked to the ground. “This is just about over.”
The Archangel stumbled back to her feet and wiped the blood from her lips. It didn’t seem to matter what she tried, the Warmech had her number and was taking her apart one hit at a time. “You’re pretty good, who trained you?”
“I’ve been around for a long time youngin, fought in more battles than I care to remember. You’re a tough cookie, I’ll give ya that, but you’re a few years shy of being on my level.”
“Then I guess I just have to do the best I can.”
Chesra charged forward and faked an attack to provoke a response from her opponent. Rei Rei read the motion a head of time and rotated inward, striking Chesra several times before shoving her back and connecting with an uppercut that sent her skyward. Using the gained distance, Chesra summoned her wings one last time and spun hard. High winds roared without warning and a massive tornado formed in the middle of the field.
Rei Rei’s armor morphed again, the tentacles digging into the ground to try and anchor her from being pulled up but the force was just too much. Soon she was airborne and heading towards a waiting Chesra who appeared to be gathering energy for a final attack. But the Warmech wasn’t going to make it that easy. Forming the armor around her arms back into cannons she fired a massive blast downward, increasing her speed and shooting past Chesra before she could react then morphed them again.
Even in the high winds Chesra could hear the violent humming of power being taken in and by the time she turned to keep her eyes on her opponent it was too late, the power of the Megasmasher beam rained down with all its fury. Chesra had managed to get her shield up but it was too late. The blast hit with such force that it pushed Rei Rei higher, drove Chesra into the ground, and completely dispersed the tornado all at the same time.
The Warmech’s reentry wasn’t nearly as bad as one would expect, touching down with enough force to dig a small hole. Her arms were completely useless after that last attack but she knew that the match was hers. With a hop she slid down the side of the hole Chesra made upon impact and stood next to her. To her surprise the Archangel was still conscious. “So, how ya doin slugger?”
Chesra wanted to move but couldn’t. All of her wings broke when she hit the ground but they were the only thing that kept her from being knocked out. “Ni… nice… counter…”
“I’m happy it worked, god forbid I have to fight using only my feet. I mean I’ve done it before but it’s a lot harder than it seems.”
“You… you should of fought Henrietta…” Chesra said softly just before passing out and being recalled.
Marco was astonished, he never expected Chesra to get beaten the way she did. Both girls had put up an amazing fight but the Warmech Catgirl didn’t even seem to be winded after all that. To compound his problems he saw the final girl enter the field, the Battle Catgirl. He knew she was the alpha and probably even stronger than the Warmech. Looking to the rest of the harem each of them wore mirrored looks of disappointment and shock.
He handed Chesra’s ball to Kelly as he made his way to them and looked at Jean. “I don’t know what to say… I know you’re going to give it your all but this one might not be winnable.”
Just as the Kyubi stood up she felt a hand grab her by the vest and pull her back down. Henrietta heaved a sigh and stood up. “I’ve got the edge in this fight, keep our man safe.”
Jean nodded and Marco met Henrietta with a firm look. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“Yeah… I got this… But one thing…” She said with a shaky voice. “No matter what happens out there, you don’t recall me.”
“But what if…”
“No! No what if, no conditions, I don’t care if I’m about to die, you let that happen before you recall me. I know it doesn’t make any sense, you deserve an answer and you and I really need to talk later, but I swear, if you recall me during this battle I really will kill you the second I come out of that ball. No time to explain or apologize, I will shoot you in the fucking head and deal with anyone else who comes after me the same way. Do we have an understanding?”
Marco reached out and took her roughly by the arm before going nose to nose against her. “Oh we have a deal, and we will talk about this later, and you’d better have a damn good explanation for all of this when we do.”
Her breathing came out in a harsh growl and she had to resist the urge to both headbutt him and break his wrist. “Fine, now let me do what I do best.”
Henrietta stomped her way out onto the field and towards the starting line. The battle between Chesra and Rei Rei had left the field a scarred mess, small and large holes would make running a chore but the Blaze Rider wasn’t planning on doing much of that. Her aggravation grew when her opponent crossed her arms and started tapping her foot impatiently. It just gave her more reason to beat the girl to a pulp.
“Took you long enough to show up. After what Rei did to your friend I figured your tamer would call it quits.”
“I think you should appreciate the fact that I’m willing to come out here and kick your ass. The alternative wouldn’t have been pretty.” Henrietta said sarcastically. “You would have had nightmares for weeks.”
“What, the fox? Haven’t ran into a fox yet that I couldn’t beat.”
“Then you’ve never fought a Kyubi. But that’s not important, you get to deal with me and I’m in no mood.”
The Battle Catgirl’s metallic fur shimmered as she shifted to her fighting stance. “I hope you can back up that mouth you’ve got. Otherwise you gonna end up like your friend.”
The buzzer sounded and the Catgirl prepared to charge, but stopped when she saw the fire licking around Henrietta’s boots. “What’s your name girly?”
“Nuku Nuku… why?”
Henrietta moved into her stance and ignited, black flames coursing around her body like an uncontrolled inferno. “Just wanted to know.” ‘Such a stupid name.’
Nuku Nuku swallowed hard, she knew Henrietta was a Charred pokégirl at first sight but the black flames were putting her on edge. In the back of her mind she was starting to think she actually would have been better off fighting the Kyubi. Never the less there was a fight to be had and she was planning on winning. But when she brought up the pokédex that Professor Walnutsume had developed for her internal systems she knew the battle would be much harder than she was expecting. Henrietta had her outmatched every which way possible and as far as Nuku Nuku could figure her opponent knew it too.
Throwing caution to the wind the Catgirl decided to strike first, lunging forward and attempting to land a punch. But Henrietta stepped inside the hit and countered with an elbow to the girls chin then followed up with three more quick strikes before knocking her away. If not for her enhanced durability Nuku nuku would have been left reeling from the force of the attacks, but she quickly countered with Quick Attack, landing a number of hits before leaping back then pouncing forward to strike again. The second string of attacks wasn’t as successful, landing only two hits before being grabbed and forcefully thrown to the ground. She tried to get back to her feet but soon found herself airborne when Henrietta punted her into the crater Ashley’s Thunder attack had made earlier.
Henrietta really had to give Jodie credit, the enchantress knew her stuff. Not only had she not taken damage from the attacks to her abdomen, the Catgirl wasn’t even hitting with enough force to move her. She didn’t have time to be too impressed though. Nuku Nuku came leaping out of the crater with her hands coated in plasma and looked thoroughly pissed off.
“Hey! Just how deep was that hole anyway?” Asked the Blaze Rider in a mocking fashion.
“Not as deep as the one I’m going to put you in missy!”
The Battle Catgirl charged forward again to reengage Henrietta in hand to hand combat. The fire that circled Henrietta’s collar vanished then reformed around her hands and as the Catgirl got closer she switched to her defensive stance. The first Plasma Strike came in fast but got deflected along with the three that came soon after, but when the Catgirl slid back and kicked sand into her face she got tagged with several hits then tripped and sent to the ground. Running forward Nuku Nuku flipped and came down knees first into Henrietta’s stomach then spun and kneed her in the side of the head. She was prepared to continue her assault but a massive eruption of fire caused her to back away.
Henrietta slowly lifted herself off the ground, her face twisted into an expression of pure rage. For the first time since she became Charred the skin began to melt from her head and chest. “I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!”
Nuku Nuku was astonished and scared witless. Even living on an island where Charred fire types thrived she’d never seen such a display of unbridled fury unleashed. Towers of fire shot from the ground as if the volcano itself was actually about to erupt. Thinking quickly she activated her thrusters to get as far away from Henrietta as possible then brought her cannons online. Taking into consideration that the flames were getting higher and closer, and then to make matters worse Henrietta started her approach, she took aim.
The sounds of several explosions was enough to wake Ashley from her evolution induced slumber. Glancing up she noticed that her head was in Ilene’s lap and the rest of her body had been draped across the rest of the harem. “Ugh… huh… what happened?”
“You evolved in the middle of your battle and almost turned that Foxymaiden into a pile of… ash… that’s kind of funny.” Ilene laughed to herself. “Chesra lost her battle and now Rietta seems fit to set the whole island on fire. The Battle Catgirl is trying to keep her at bay with Arc Shot but a massive wall of flames is a pretty hard thing to find a target through.”
“I evolved?” Ashley asked in a panic as she looked at the fur on her arms then maneuvered her tail around to see the lightning bolt tip. “I evolved…”
Jean continued to keep her eyes on the battle but voiced her concerns. “You ok there champ?”
“Yeah… yeah, I think so. I just didn’t think it would happen on its own.”
“You’re pretty young but you’re strong too. It doesn’t surprise me.” Jean said in a comforting tone as she ruffled the girl’s hair.
“I suppose you’re right. I wonder if Marco would be willing to spend the night with me tonight?”
Carrie shook her head. “Normally I’d say it wouldn’t be a problem but there seems to be an issue that he and Henrietta need to work out. Otherwise I would have happily traded with you.”
“Thanks for the consideration.”
Out on the battlefield things were steadily going downhill for Nuku Nuku. The intensity of the flames was screwing with her sensors and also making it difficult for her to focus. Combine that with the fact that she was getting shot at and things were looking grim. Fire was starting to surround her and she didn’t have any options left, with a loud boom her thrusters activated and she launched into the air. From overhead the scene was worse than she could of imagined. The entire field was a blazing inferno and with the rising heat she was forced to shield her face and lose track of Henrietta.
That was until the Battle Catgirl was hammered in the back of the head and sent flying back to the ground. She slowly made it back to her feet and was relieved to find that the fires had been extinguished, then she was seized roughly by the shirt. “Let me go!”
Henrietta never said a word, just reared back and punched the girl in the side of the chest. Even through the armor she could hear the girl’s ribs breaking but continued to hit her in the same spot repeatedly. The Catgirl tried to break the hold but was in blinding pain from the constant barrage. Soon she began coughing up blood and was thrown face down into the ground. Henrietta didn’t spare a second thought in grabbing the girl’s arm and breaking it at the elbow.
From the side line it looked as though the enraged Blaze Rider was going to make good on her threat and actually kill her opponent. Marco could sense the anger coming from her but didn’t know what had set her off. “Rietta! Stop!” He yelled as loudly as he could then attempted to link to her mind. ‘Rietta stop it now, you’re going to kill her!’
‘Then that’s on her tamer for not recalling her!’ She thought back as she continued to pummel the helpless girl. Finally she eased off and picked her up before teleporting and dropping the girl inbounds at her sideline. Walnutsume and his harem were forced to shield their faces from the heat she was still giving off and looked down at the barely breathing girl. “Recall her now or I’m taking her back to the center field and picking up where I left off.”
Walnutsume toggled the pokéball to bring the girl back but before he could say anything Henrietta was gone. Marco and the others looked around but she wasn’t at the sideline or anywhere in the stadium, she’d left completely. He wanted to leave the gym immediately but instead went over to Walnutsume’s side of the field.
“I’m really sorry about that, she was out of line.” Marco spoke in frustration. “She and I will be having a talk about this later.”
The professor wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his head. “I’ve seen a lot of fire types with bad tempers but that one takes the prize, she actually would have killed some other pokégirls… wouldn’t mind studying her though. Never the less my dear Nuku Nuku will be fine after a healing cycle, and it is in the nature of pokégirl battles after all. Twas a pleasure to fight with you.”
“And the same to you.”
_____
Apartment of Marco Readman, 2200
Marco had been trying to get a hold of Henrietta since her disappearance earlier at the gym but she was nowhere to be found. He knew she would of taken off her watch and put it in her poképack to keep from being tracked so he didn’t have any choice but to wait for her to show up. What was worrying him the most was her emotional state. During the gym battle she was nothing more than a vicious ball of anger fit to destroy anything that got in her way but things had changed.
Entering the house he kicked his boots off next to the door and made his way to the bedroom, flipping on a few lights as he moved. The bed room was still dark but as he reached for the light switch he saw a pair of glowing red eyes. He knew it was Henrietta, he could feel her emotions as if they were his own and it began to put him on edge. There was a great sadness coupled with uncertainty and fear.
He flipped on the light to get a look at her and swallowed hard. The fire around her collar was low but that didn’t concern him as much as the silenced gun she was pointing at him. His hand dropped to his side and twitched slightly. The move wasn’t intentional but she fired anyway, destroying her pokéball before he could recall her. He was startled, both by the shot and by the fact that she seemed relieved.
“So…”
“Shut up Marco… just shut up and sit down.” She said in an almost pleading tense breath.
Marco took a seat on the bed and pulled his over-shirt off. He couldn’t shake the feelings she was giving off and the look in her eyes was starting to remind him of Quinn. “Not again… not you…”
Henrietta blinked a few times in confusion then reached out with her mind to feel his emotions. “You… you think I’m here to betray you don’t you?” She asked slightly hurt.
“You can’t blame me for thinking such right now. You, sitting there depressed, pointing a gun at me, just destroyed your pokéball. So yeah…”
“Well I’m not, I just couldn’t risk you trying to recall me before I was finished saying what I have to.”
“Well the floor is all yours.”
Henrietta sat back in the chair and dismissed her gun. “I don’t like what you’re changing into. You’ve become consumed with death and vengeance and those aren’t the characteristics of the man I fell in love with.”
Marco’s fear and disappointment was gone but now replaced by anger. “And why exactly the fuck do you think that is? Every time I turn around someone important to me is getting hurt. Hell you were the first of the casualties. You think I like this, having my loved ones threatened, people hurting my friends and family? Do you Rietta?”
“I know you don’t, but I also know you have no idea how that you’re becoming just as bad as them. I can see it, everyone else can see it, and none of us want that for you.”
“And as soon as I’m done dealing with them I’ll go back to normal and none of you will have to worry about me anymore.”
Henrietta sighed and took a deep breath. “And if it’s never over, if they keep coming after you and the people you love.”
“Then I’ll just keep doing what I have to do until there’s no one else.”
“There is always someone else…” There was a slight quiver in her voice and she waited for it to subside before she spoke again. “Let me tell you a story. Once… many, many years ago there was a family; a mother, a father, and a daughter. Though not really their daughter, she was a feral kit he had stumbled across and brought home. His wife couldn’t have children of her own so the kit was welcomed into their home. The father was part of the police force, a detective, his job was to go after the worst of the worst when it came to criminal teams. He was good at what he did and had an amazing arrest record… but there was always work to be done and he did what he had to do. His specialty was undercover work, it kept him away for months and months at a time and left the mother and daughter alone. Well when someone as good as him goes after criminals as bad as the one he went after they tend to make a lot of enemies.”
Marco favored her with a questioning look. “I get what you’re trying to say but...”
“Shut the fuck up and let me finish!” She yelled, Marco put his hand up in apology and nodded for her to continue. “As I said, he made a lot of enemies. One such enemy was a criminal team underboss, a bad person with a worse reputation and a penchant for revenge. It didn’t take long for him to figure out the detective had a family and to go after them; killed the mother and kidnapped the daughter.
Now, of all the things this underboss was into, pokégirl fighting was one of his favorites. This was bad for the little girl who also happened to be a pokégirl. I believe she was only seven or eight at the time of her first fight. She was thrown into an arena along with another girl, surrounded by hooting and yelling team members. The other girl came right at her but the detective had taught his daughter well, it didn’t take much for her to overpower and beat her opponent… but that wasn’t enough. The fight overseer threw a knife into the pit and told her to finish the other girl off. But the daughter refused, every time the girl would get up she would knock her out again. This went on for nearly an hour before the underboss got fed up. He jumped into the arena and killed the girl who kept losing, then the daughter was taken away to be… punished.”
Henrietta paused to take a sip of water and look to Marco to make sure he was still paying attention, then continued. “Eventually the daughter was brought back to the arena to fight again. Her opponent this time was a girl she roomed with. They had talked to each other when given the chance and were friendly but now they were forced into a fight to the death. Both of them had been punished before and weren’t willing to let it happen again. The fight between them was savage and brutal but in the end the daughter won. She’d hurt her friend badly and couldn’t believe what she’d done, then the knife fell to her feet. She stood there as the mob cheered her on but the look in the downed girls eyes kept her from moving. That was until the underboss started to get up. The daughter dropped to her knees and stabbed her friend in the chest repeatedly. When she was done she looked up to see the underboss standing over her, he hit her then explained she had taken too long and was to be punished again… that was the last time she ever hesitated in a fight.
Over the years the daughter had grown up and continued to fight in the arena death matches. But after a while she wasn’t allowed to fight as often. She could draw a crowd but betting on her was bad for business, so she was made to be entertainment. But the underboss had grown fond of her and took her to bed with him every night. She was still in her mid-teens despite having been there for decades and he saw her as his perfect trophy.
One day there was a new face in the arena. New to everyone else, but familiar to the daughter. He was pretty quiet for the crowd they normally drew but managed to blend in, or so he thought. it didn’t take long for him to get spotted by the underboss though.”
Marco leaned forward, having been drawn in by the story. “It was the detective wasn’t it.”
“Yes it was. After losing his wife and daughter he devoted his life completely to the job and finding the ones responsible. It took him over twenty years but he did eventually end up in front of the man responsible… and his own daughter. He didn’t recognize her, it had been that long, but she knew it was him at first sight. You see, the detective had left the force long ago, he was there for revenge, revenge at any cost. He did what he had to do to get there.
The detective made his move to attack the underboss and the daughter broke his neck, killed him on the spot. She couldn’t believe what she’d done, broke down right there. The underboss was proud of her, he never had to say a word… she did it on her own. But his pride was short lived, the daughter turned on the underboss and killed him too. After all those years she had gotten good at killing people as strong as she was, imagine how easy it was for her to kill those that were weaker than her. It took a while but she systematically murdered every single person in the arena before releasing the captive pokégirls. In the end she did what she had to do.”
“Right… and I get that somewhere in the middle of this story there’s supposed to be a lesson for me.” Marco sighed and moved to rest his back against the headboard. “To be honest I don’t blame the detective, his family was taken from him and he wanted his revenge. If something happened to you and the others, even if I died trying I would keep trying. It’s a shame that the daughter was the one to do him in.”
“The lesson here is that both the father and the daughter did what they had to do; one to survive and the other for revenge. The daughter killed her father because she had been conditioned to kill and killed the underboss since… well aside from her own personal reasons she knew it was why her father was there, and everyone else because they had the bad fortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time while doing the wrong thing. You said you didn’t see anything wrong with the detective going to such lengths to find the man responsible for ruining his family, neither did he. You see the detective had done a lot of things to find the underboss, pretty much became the same kind of criminal, went back on everything he stood for. He did what he had to do… sensing a theme here?”
“I do… but I’m not that bad off. I haven’t done anything so… out of line.” He said with no lack of uncertainty.
“You murdered that female tamer, correction, you tortured then murdered that female tamer in cold blood. Alexis could have plucked whatever information you needed out of her tiny mind, hell she was talking after you split her leg like a piece of wood. I understand that you were upset over Nikki but be honest, a lot of that was just for you.”
Marco looked at his hands for a brief moment. “Fine, but what does that have to do with the price of tea in the Edo League?”
Henrietta had finally had enough of Marco’s denial. “Because I’m pregnant you dumb shit!” She blurted it out without thinking. “I don’t want my girl ending up like the one in that story.”
Marco’s brain had stopped functioning after Henrietta’s announcement. “Wait… what? Pregnant…? How?”
“How what? I can answer a few hows. Since after the incident in the research facility, parthenogenesis, and I wasn’t sure how to tell you until now.”
Grabbing the side of his head he rolled over and laid down on the bed. “Please tell me you’re the only one who was hiding this from me.”
“The only other person who knew was Alexis. She gave me a physical after I became Charred then told me, had a good laugh on my behalf. Then there’s Elise whom I’ve been going to see at Sandstone General, which mean Ariels may know, and your mom knows… you ok over there?”
“Yeah… yeah, parthenogenesis, they are going to be just like you.”
“That’s doubtful simply because I wouldn’t allow such a thing. That’s the main reason we needed to talk, I love you but I refuse to have my child around such a destructive individual.”
“Our child… and I’m going to change that. I promise.”
Henrietta raised a skeptical eyebrow but smiled none the less. “Since when is it ‘our’ child, and why do I find it so hard to believe that?”
“Because you know me that well… we still have to deal with things as they come at us, but I won’t be going out of my way to look for trouble. As for the things I’ve done, thinking along lines like that ends now. And yes ‘our’ child, she may not be my blood but she’ll never know the difference either. As long as you all are with me your children are my children.” A thought popped into his head and caused him to abruptly sit up. “You reckless bloody fucking idiot!”
“What, what now?”
“You entered a fucking battle while you were pregnant. What if something would have happened to you? You know I can’t allow you to fight anymore.”
“I knew that would be the case. I had Jodie make some magical items that kept me safe… though the idea of what Nuku Nuku could have done kind of set me off. Hey… is it just me or is that a really stupid name?”
“Don’t you change the subject, I still get to be pissed off for a while.” He laid back on the bed and tapped the spot next to him, urging her to come over. She moved to sit next to him and laid her head on his stomach. “I’ll get you a Maternity-Ball in the morning.”
“Thanks.” The pair stayed there for another few minutes before Henrietta sat back up and started to leave. “I need to go back to the office, there’s a lot of apologizing I need to do but I think it will get overshadowed rather quickly. That and I think Ashley wanted to spend the night with you, she deserves it.”
Marco watched her get ready to leave when another question entered his mind. “Hey, why did you decide to tell me that story?”
“You’re a lot like that detective, I just wanted to give you a heads up to the danger before you go so far that we can’t get you back.”
“And what makes you think he and I are so much alike?”
Henrietta bit back her tears and smiled. “… Because even when it’s a bad idea, girls still tend to go after guys like her father.”
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Alpha- Kelly- Duelist |
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Delta |
Echo |
Indigo |
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Beta- Chesra- Archangel |
Beta- Henrietta- Charred Ghostrider |
Beta- Mina- Kunoichi |
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Arianna- War Hound |
Field Beta- Selena- Caphoochie |
Zianna- Wolf Queen |
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Kim- Bombshell |
Rebecca- Smokey |
Renae- Ice Princess |
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Nikki- SexSlash |
Lily- Belle Awesome |
Isabella- Mecha Musume |
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Emaline- Fire Maiden |
Alexis- Cherub- KIA |
Tam- Catgirl |
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Ilene- Imp |
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Leona- Lamia- KIA |
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Harem
Chesra- Co-Alpha
Henrietta- Co-Alpha
Carrie- Mistress (M)
Ashley- Ria
Jean- Kyubi
Bernadette- Piratit