Ch.06 The Offensive: Crossing the Line

 

Celaboner City

 

Kelly was starting to lose all hope of ever finding Nikki and the longer she waited the more she was starting to realize how desperate the situation was. It would be like Arianna all over again, except the SexSlash was taken under all their noses. Trying to catch Andzral had been just as hopeless. The Duelist couldn’t dwell on that right now though. She had bigger problems on the rise.

One of Isabella’s drones had gotten a good enough position to look in on their Colonel’s battle and things were going good. That meant things were going bad for Kelly; he would be done soon and she would have to break the news to him after putting it off. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint him and if she didn’t get Nikki back or have something to show for her being missing she knew that he would be very disappointed.

Selena and Mina had been watching their Alpha work herself in to a full blown fit and were ready to call in Alexis when Arianna and Zianna teleported in. The War Hound huffed out an exhausted breath then looked to Kelly and shook her head. “Nothing, we’ve come across trace amounts of her scent but nothing solid enough to pin point her location.”

“Chances she’s still in the city?” Kelly asked harshly.

“Neither of us have the slightest idea. They run teleporters like we do so it’s difficult to pin anything down.” Zianna responded. “We can keep searching but if we aren’t careful we could run right into a trap.”

“A trap… it kind of sucks being on the other side of those again.” Mina sighed. “So are you going to continue to sandbag or will you go ahead and tell the Colonel now?”

“I’ll tell him when his battle is over. If we can’t do anything then there’s no reason to break his concentration. Besides, I still haven’t figured out how to break the bad news yet.”

Back in the park Emaline and Renae were continuing to look after Quinn. The Airmaiden had been oddly quiet since the others left to search for Nikki, just sitting on the ground and looking into the dirt. She didn’t so much appear to be in shock as much as lost in thought.

The Ice Princess moved behind her and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, we’ll find her.”

“It’s my fault, it’s all my fault she was taken. Marco is going to be furious with me.” Quinn sighed.

“How could you have known she would be attacked? The Colonel may be upset when he finds out but he’ll understand. He’ll worry about her but be equally happy that you weren’t hurt.”

Emaline nodded in agreement. “That’s right; Nikki can handle herself pretty good. He would be more concerned about them harming you.”

From the trees Alexis continued to watch the three of them interact but her focus locked on to Quinn. Something was bothering the Cherub but she couldn’t quite place what it was. She attributed it to Quinn’s Blank Mind blood gift in the beginning. But the level of grief the Airmaiden was displaying didn’t seem appropriate for what had happened. ‘Survivor’s guilt maybe? No that just doesn’t seem right. Worry over Marco being mad is more plausible but shouldn’t elicit this kind of response. Her eyes, her body language… something’s wrong.’

~~~~~

 

Readman Residence, Foreplay Island

 

Kitty was still holding the frying pan when she responded to the terrified screams of Erica. When she rounded the corner her eyes locked on the youngest girl still on her knees sobbing. In the doorway stood a young male, a little older than Nadia, holding a strange pokéball in his hand and looking down at Erica. As she stood there taking the sight in she could feel an attraction to the man, she knew exactly what the feeling was but given the circumstances it wouldn’t have an effect on her.

Campbell’s eyes looked up to see the Gun Bunny and he began to shift slightly to the side of the doorway. “Evening madam, I was just stopping by when…”

“HE JUST PUT NADIA IN A POKÉBALL!” Erica screamed as she got up to run to her aunt.

Kitty was just about to approach the young man when her sharp eyes caught a glint from one of the sand dunes a few hundred yards away. She couldn’t hear the crack of the APLM being fired through the high winds outside but could see the projectile on its way. She rolled around Erica and backhanded the Love Ball with the frying pan, imbedding it in the wall with a single hit.

“What did you do with my niece, where is she?”

Campbell laughed with a sinister grin as he waved the ball that was held in his hand. “Little Nadia is right here. Oh I wonder what she is now, doesn’t matter, we’ll have such fun later. Now how about you be a good bunny and let me pokéball you without putting up a fuss.”

Tossing the pan to the ground and pushing Erica further back Kitty summoned a pair of pistols to her hands. Despite her aggravation she calmed down, her breathing relaxed and eyes narrowed as she focused on her targets. “You have three seconds to drop that ball. One… two… “

“Don’t fool yourself. Hell, this isn’t even about you or them, it’s all about him. You’re just means to an end. Whatever it takes to make him suffer.”

“My husband is a researcher, what could Eric have done to anyone that would make them attack his family?”

Campbell had a slightly perplexed look on his face. “Who the fuck is Eric, Marco Readman is the cause of all this. I could be at home screwing one of my maidens but here I am.” His eyes cut to the Love Ball and a smirk appeared on his face. “On the other hand, if she turns into a maiden I could have a lot of fun. They’re always more fun when they struggle.”

“So this is just to torture my nephew? I thought Eric was being paranoid when he said we needed to be home in case something happened.” A muffled scream caught Kitty’s attention and made her turn slightly.  Erica was being held by a fox pokégirl with extra long ears and deep crimson hair. The gun that was once pointed just past Campbell whipped around and leveled off at the head of the Foxymaiden. “Put her down now!”

The Foxymaiden lifted Erica higher so that she was blocking her body, using her as a human shield, and stared down the barrel of the gun. “First you give up. Drop your weapons or she gets hurt.” She commanded and tightened her hold around the young teen’s neck.

“This is the last warning you’re going to get! You put her down right now or you’ll be lucky if I just kill you.” Despite the situation Kitty kept calm, she knew she didn’t need to worry. Her mind focused and she began to reach out.

Regardless of whether they admitted it or not Marco and Eric Readman were a lot alike, and this extended past just their physical appearance. Kitty, Vana, Catherine, and Eric had been together since he was still just a young tamer in the Indigo League. They had shared many experiences together and much like Marco, Avalanche, and the harem there were intense bonds of love and trust that kept them strong even when they fought with each other. And though not achieved as quickly as Marco had, there were delta bonds too.

Kitty’s mind reached out and contacted Eric’s while she kept her eyes on her four targets. ‘Eric!’

The rest of the family was still at the market and just getting ready to checkout when Kitty’s calm but urgent mental yell got their attention. ‘Yeah hun, what’s wrong?’

‘There’s a young man at the house, he managed to get Nadia into a pokéball somehow. A Foxymaiden, fire-type, is holding Erica hostage. I count one more with a rifle that fires pokéballs hiding behind the sand dunes around 300 yards in front of the house.’ Kitty quickly rattled off while never alerting those around her.

‘Why are they there?’ Vana asked as she pulled her dice from her pocket.

‘Something about us being a way to get to Marco. I can drop the one holding Erica and get her to safety and maybe do something about the one with the rifle but something about the boy is unnerving.’

‘Don’t harm the boy if you can help it.’ Everyone could feel the raw seething hatred drifting through Catherine’s bond and knew she wouldn’t be gentle on them. Not that they were planning on treating anyone who attacked their family gently either. ‘I am going to skin him alive before I juice him of every last drop of his blood.’

“Make sure the girls are safe first then you can do whatever you want.” Eric growled in quiet fury. ‘Kitty, we’ll be home shortly. When I give you the signal I want you to kill the one holding Erica.’

~~~~~

Celaboner City Gym

 

The harem was in high spirits after Carrie’s decisive yet quite unorthodox victory. Henrietta uncrossed her legs, stood up from the bench, and made her way towards Marco. Her long braided ponytail tossed over her should and the black flames flickering lightly around her collar. She made her way to Marco and pressed up against his side.

“So do you me want make to make it quick or drag this out a little?”

Marco crossed his arms and turned his head away playfully sulking. “Don’t tell me you want my opinion, I thought the jackass wasn’t going to be any use this round?”

“Big baby. I’ll drag this out a bit; don’t see the Alpha giving me too many problems… oh, well that’s different.”

On Erika’s side of the field things were looking grim. Aphrodite, the Vile Bloom had stood up but promptly took her seat again when Erica shook her head. Her finger traced down the line of her harem until it stopped on Eve. The cloaked Elfqueen rose from the bench and readjusted her bow and quiver, checked her daggers, and then proceeded to step onto the field. From the look of how she was dressed she was the all business type, there to get the job done and nothing else.

Henrietta stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled out onto the field. She wasn’t quite expecting the Elfqueen but wasn’t bothered by it either. It was now that she wished she was in her combat gear, her jacket wasn’t overly tight but it did hamper her movements slightly and against that kind of opponent a little bit could go a long way. The flames around her collar flickered passively and as she closed in on the starting line she began to undo the buttons to her jacket.

“Clean-up crew?” Henrietta asked with a broad smile.

“That I am, and you?” Eve nodded and readied her bow as her eyes narrowed.

“Same, though I’m not dressed for the occasion. Let’s have a good fight.”

“I’d rather it be short, I have a garden to tend.”

The countdown timer started and the group of on lookers watched the two girls in anticipation. Henrietta turned slightly to the side and planted her feet. She’d seen and fought plenty of elf pokégirls over the years, their bows were just a deadly as guns and at that range the arrows would appear to be nearly as fast as bullets. The buzzer sounded and Eve let the first arrow fly. Henrietta locked her focus onto the Elfqueen and she shifted slightly and let the arrow pass by her, never once moving her feet.

She whistled cheerfully and brushed off her sleeve. “Those things are pretty fast… but I don’t think you’re going to hit me from there.”

Eve’s only response was to raise an eye brow then fire another arrow but once again Henrietta dodged it without leaving her spot. The Elfqueen pulled two arrows and fired them simultaneously; limiting the margin her opponent would have to dodge by then pulled three more and fired them as well. Henrietta’s enhanced agility was doing her breed proud, her feet stayed planted but her body twisted and turned as each arrow whizzed past her, at the last second she summoned her flame pistol and fired down the field.

There was an explosion of energy in the center of the field as the two projectiles collided. When the dust settled and Henrietta looked across the field Eve was gone. She had just enough time to feel the presence behind her and dip forward while kicking backward and nudging the bow upward just as the arrow was about to be released. The arrow took off and shattered the skylight causing the rain to pour through. They both looked up, then at each other, no more than a hand full of feet between them.

Eve was tall; taller than Henrietta now that the two were close enough to tell. Neither one of them moved, just stared into each other’s eyes. Henrietta’s gun was down and Eve’s bow was still pointing upward. The tension was rising as the crowd continued watching, anxious for one of them to flinch or strike. The Blaze Rider suddenly felt pressure building up around her feet and glanced downward to see vines in the grass starting to snake around her shoes.

Eve took the break in eye contact as a chance to attack and lowered her bow to fire again but was rewarded with a bullet to her foot. Henrietta lunged forward to break free of the vines but was slowed down just enough to not get her hands on the Elfqueen before she teleported to the other side of the field. Summoning her magic she reached down and began healing her while concentrating on her plant control. Roots and vines broke through the ground as they took over the field and began to make their way towards Henrietta. Vines moved like tentacles to ensnare the Blaze Rider but the super heated chains she had taken off from around her waist and used as a whip was keeping them at bay.

Finally Henrietta had had enough of retreating and began internalizing her powers. The black flames that once roared around her collar vanished and with a savage yell she stomped on the ground. For a moment it didn’t seem to have any effect, then suddenly grass around her began to smoke. The smoke quickly erupted into a ferocious blaze that engulfed everything around her. Once the ring of fire had killed all the plant life around her she focused on her Pyrokinesis.

The spectators watched in awe as she controlled the flames, sending them behind her and scorching the earth up to the out of bounds line then sending them forward again to take over Eve’s side of the field. The Elfqueen could sense the despair in the plants as she watched them get engulfed in flames. The wall of fire was slowly inching its way in her direction and she couldn’t see through the flames well enough to line up a shot on the supposed pyromaniac. Her concentration left the plants and moved to her magical skills in a bid to put out the fire.  A loud rumbling was heard and as the winds picked up everyone was certain things had gotten serious.

 The rain clouds that appeared at the top of the gym ceiling roared to life and what started as a light drizzle became a full on downpour to combat the flames. The two girls each stood on their respective sides of the fields, battling with nothing more than willpower to keep their respective elements going. Heat from the flames raged against the high winds and a miniature funnel cloud was created right there in the middle of the field. Eve pulled her bow and began firing arrows into the storm, using the winds to give them odd trajectories on their way to their target.

Henrietta narrowly avoided an arrow that had curved around the cloud and started straight for her head then returned the favor by summoning a different gun. This one being a revolver firing a staggering .500 round that was far too heavy to be affected by the wind at their reasonably short distance. The round left the barrel with a booming explosion and upon impact took a chunk out of Eve’s hand. The Elfqueen dropped to her knees clutching her hand in agony, though still having the presence of mind to heal the damage; then sprung back to her feet.

The crowd was on their feet cheering loudly and Marco nodded in approval. “This is the type of match I like to see. You’ve got a tough one there Erika!”

The gym leader bowed politely. “You as well! But things are about to pick up now!”

“Glad to hear it!”

~~~~~

 

Andzral had kicked her feet up and was patiently waiting for word from one of the agents she had gotten into the gym. Last she heard, Marco was doing quite well and Campbell said he would call as soon as his job was done. That was over a half hour ago but she wasn’t overly worried about it. Dealing with girls could be a hassle for the young Breaker, then depending on what he may do when he caught them it could be hours before he got back to her. She continued to watch the show in front of her but gave an aggravated sigh. It was just getting good but from the sounds of things Marco’s match would be over in a matter of minutes.

Nikki was barely moving now but did her best to maintain her mental defense. Evelyn had gotten quite aggravated at the situation, she knew she should have been able to gleam more information from the Sexslash given the amount of time they had been at it. But at the current rate things were going she would just barely be able to get the information Andzral had asked for.

The Espea felt a slight tap on her should and glanced back to Andzral. “She’s really good.”

“What have you picked up so far?”

“I’ve got names, the location of the base, what breeds are in Avalanche, and I’m working on a list of people special to Colonel Readman.”

“Too bad you don’t have more time. Go ahead and wrap this up. I’m sure they would like to have one more go at Nikki here before all is said and done.” She spoke before her phone started to ring. She recognized the symbol on the screen and took a seat back in her chair before flipping it open. “Mr. G.”

“Andzral, I do hope you managed to do something about this mess.”

“I sure have, we’ve captured one of Readman’s pokégirls and are currently in the process of extracting information from her. After we’re done I plan on having her level-fived and sending her back.”

“No, I want her brought in. What’s the point of catching her then wiping her memory?”

“Trust me, this is the best option. She’s not high ranking so she’s worth destroying for my plan to work. By the time all is said and done Readman will be off balance and make mistakes. Hell, Campbell is at his home already, I’m sure attacking his family will have the results you wanted.”

“Andzral… if you didn’t belong to Haures I would tame you senseless for the job you’re doing. Good work, keep me updated and make sure any and all of the Readman women are sent directly to me. You’ve earned my trust as far as your plan goes, don’t make me regret it.”

“Of course not Sir, I just want to make sure my master is well taken care of when the time comes.” Andzral looked up to see Nikki being taken away by the male tamers and Evelyn walking up with a piece of paper. “One sec.” She mouthed to the girl.

“We’ll see how it goes. Keep me updated.” He said gruffly as he hung up.

Andzral took the paper happily and began to read. “Yep, Yep, Henrietta and Chesra huh? I’ll be sure to greet them properly.”

Evelyn let out a deep sigh as tears began to sting at the corner of her eyes. “Flip it over…”

Andzral did as instructed and clenched her fist in anger. “… Delilah, oh you’ve been a bad girl, working for SLOI under our noses. And Minerva is still alive; it always did feel like I should have killed her myself… Angelica has a son; she and I need to talk too.” She glanced back to Evelyn. “Dry your eyes, you did a good job.”

“Yes ma’am. We… we don’t need to tell Mr. G about Angelica do we?”

“That all depends on how he wants her punished. For right now he doesn’t need to know. Go back to the base; I’ll be home when I’m done here.”

The Espea was preparing to teleport away when a bone chilling scream caused her to turn around. The female tamer was holing up Nikki’s severed arm and hit her once over the head with it before placing it in a large plastic bag and sealing it. Nikki was put back into the pokéball and the tamer beckoned the Venuswhore who went and stood next to her master with pride. “Ok, preparations are complete. How long until we drop her off at the pokécenter?”

“Wait a half an hour after the match then drop the ball off.” She commanded before thinking through the rest of her plans. ‘This is going really well; I wonder how Campbell is doing?’

~~~~~

 

Foreplay Island, Readman Residence

 

“Look this is the last time I’m going to tell you! Lower your weapons or I’m going to hurt this girl.” Yelled the Foxymaiden.

‘I’m running out of time here. How long till you’re ready?’ Kitty thought to the rest of her family, her eyes focusing on the one holding her niece. She didn’t have to wait long. “Everything’s ok Erica.”

The Gun Bunny knew her sister was pissed by the loud gong of the large bell next to the house. Vana appeared silently behind the Thundermaiden who was lying down behind the sand dune with the APLM. She could have killed the girl right then and there but she needed to draw attention away from Kitty and her daughter. Looking towards the house she could see there were more girls that Kitty didn’t know about hanging around, with any luck they would be drawn towards her position.

Kate had continued to try and line up a shot on the bunny inside the house. She was impressed that she saw the first ball she fired let alone defect it and could have sworn that the gun the bunny held was pointed at her in the beginning. Campbell had finally shifted out of the way and she stared down her scope. The rangefinder had zeroed in and registered Kitty as a Gun Bunny then slowly nudged her to where to aim to make the shot. She sucked in a breath and was prepared to squeeze the trigger when she heard two soft plops in front of her.

Pulling away from the scope she saw two items rolling down towards her. They were roundish but had flat sides and little markings on them. Finally they collided with her arm and she leaned forward to get a better look. It was a pair of dice. “19 and 20… where did these…”

“Double crit… explode to confirm.” Vana spoke grimly before teleporting away. ‘NOW!’

The cluster of explosions was seen blowing a mist of blood and sand high into the air. Kitty snapped her head to look directly at Erica and fired, proving her accuracy by actually having the bullet flip the young girl’s hair before it tore a hole through the throat of the Foxymaiden. The Gun Bunny turned back and fired again, hitting the pokéball in Campbell’s hand, causing it to explode and Nadia to be released. She dashed forward and scooped the girl up before kicking, and though she collided with a barrier, launching the Breaker out the doorway.

Campbell skidded to a stop and looked around as quickly as he could to figure out what happened. His Iron Maiden dove and stood before him just as several bullets flew from out the house and impacted against her body. Kitty walked forward and stood on the porch, she’d had time to make sure the Foxymaiden was dead and now turned her attention to the man responsible for turning her niece into a pokégirl.

The Iron Maiden started forward to engage the Gun Bunny and she was ready to meet her head on. Kitty left the porch and circled to the edge of the house, things were about to get really physical and she wanted the girls out of the line of fire. Just as she neared the corner her eyes cut to the side and she spotted a Firemaiden. The fire-type didn’t spare a second thought, sending Fire Ball and Ember at the Gun Bunny. Kitty had dodged the attacks with little effort but was struck and knocked back by the Iron Maiden’s heavy blow.

“You stay away from Chuck!”

“You stay away from my family!”

Campbell checked his pokédex to see what had happened to Kate and visibly shook when she had registered dead. He didn’t have time to agonize over her death though, there were more pressing matters at hand. While the Gun Bunny was busy dealing with the Iron and Fire Maidens his Ice Maiden was attempting to sneak into the house from the back. She had made good progress but stopped as a swirling vortex imbedded into the wall caught her attention. Inching closer she tried to gaze into it, being drawn by its odd red color and strange sulfuric smell. Her curiosity was rewarded by a long nailed, pale arm, reaching through and pulling her in.

When the Ice Maiden opened her eyes she appeared to be in the middle of a wheat field. The sky was a blood red, the moon appeared huge and so close she felt she could touch it. She turned slightly and was forced to swallow a shriek of terror. There were bodies all around her, the bodies of her harem sisters. Impaled on a pike in the center of the bodies was Campbell, his severed head had been sown to his crotch and his dick shoved in his mouth.

“A vision of things to come.” Said the chilling voice from behind her. “This is the price those who attack my family are forced to pay… and I’m going to start by making an example of you.”

The Ice Maiden spun around to look behind her but there was no one there; just a tiny kitten lying on the ground. She knelt down and picked it up, finding comfort in the soft feel of its fur, and began to walk. The area was an eerie kind of quiet that caused her to shiver, something she had never experienced as an Ice Maiden. The howl of the wind rushing through the trees caused her to turn again then back away slowly from the sight she saw.

A black river seemed to be slithering towards her but stopped before reaching her feet. Pair by pair glowing red eyes appeared in the mass then a soft mewing was heard. She knelt down to get a better look and realized it was more kittens just like the one she was holding. Now that she thought of it the one she was holding hadn’t opened its eyes yet, just being content licking its paws. Finally she could see a faint glimmer of red and moved to put it down. Mewing lightly, the kitten yawned and opened its mouth to reveal hundreds of pin point sharp teeth then bit down on the maiden’s hand. Blood dripped from her hand to the ground and the kittens swarmed around the drops to lap at them.

The Ice Maiden dropped the kitten and held her hand then shuddered as the voice rippled through the air again. “My kittens do love the tasted of blood… and now they have yours.”

“Leave me alone! Send me home! I want to go home!” She cried, clenching her hand and sobbing. Blood continued to drop to the ground and the kittens began looking from the ground to its source.

“Home? You insolent whelp. You attacked my home, harmed my family; all to torture my nephew. You’ve harmed innocent children, and you want to go home? There is no home for you, only suffering, be happy for it won’t be for long.”

The kitten she had let down was nuzzling against her leg then bit into her Achilles tendon without warning. Once her knee hit the ground the kittens swarmed over her body. She tried to use her powers, freezing whatever she could, but it was to no avail. Hundreds of kittens and thousands of teeth flowed over her body, tearing the flesh from her bones and going back for more. Her shrieking echoed through the field and as she thought it was over the kittens suddenly stopped.

Catherine loomed over the downed girl before pulling her up by the hair. The kittens had done a number on her flesh, having nearly eaten her alive. The maidens pain filled raspy breathing was music to the Lucarda’s ears. “My minions have had their treat, now I’ll have mine.” She cooed before opening wide and biting into the girl’s throat.

Back outside Kitty had been on the receiving end of some heavy hits but was dishing it out as just good as she had gotten. Still she was on high guard, there were a lot more girls roaming around than she initially thought, but they were having their own problems. Vana had made her presence known and for those not versed in the combat tactics of an angry pokéwoman Lady Luck defending her home and kids, it was a scary sight.

Campbell made to approach the house when he got blindsided and knocked to the ground. Looking up he saw a man bearing a resemblance to their primary target. He climbed back to his feet, brushed himself off and was about to speak when he was tackled and knocked to the ground a second time. The blows came fast and with as much force as possible and if it weren’t for Eric being knocked back he would have tried to kill the boy right then and there.

The Breaker stumbled back to his feet with a little help from Orla and his Dark Maiden June. A Bone Maiden ran up shortly thereafter and all four of them were preparing to dive onto the man when darkness began to pool at his feet. A blood drenched hand emerged from the hole behind him as Catherine made her way to the surface, in her arms, the dried husk of the Ice Maiden she had taken not long ago. She tossed the drained body at their feet; only keeping the skull that she clutched in her hand.

“Alas poor maiden, I knew her briefly. While her life was short and wasted she made a tasty meal. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The Lucarda chanted before crushing the skull in her hands. Her eyes locked onto the Bone Maiden, the act angering the young girl.

Eric nodded and slid a hand on her hip as she moved in front of him. “Back to full power?”

“Of course Master, shale I dine on the empowered flesh this one has brought before me?”

“You can have what’s left after I’m done. Keep them off me while he and I discus what he did to my daughter.”

“Thy will be done Master.”

Campbell wiped some blood from his lip and took off his coat. “He made me bleed and scarred my beautiful face. Orla, June, Summer; he and I are going to fight, you subdue that bitch. I’m going to do things to her that would make Evan sick when I’m done with the old man. As a matter of fact no, I’m going to keep him alive long enough to watch me fuck both his daughters, then I’m going to kill him.”

The two groups separated and clashed at the first chance they got. Eric was surprised by how strong Campbell was before remembering Catherine saying he had empowered flesh. That didn’t matter to the angry father, he was in complete control, landing blow after devastating blow. Another tackle and he had the Breaker pinned, clutching his throat and preparing to squeeze the life out of him. But Campbell was oddly calm.

“I hope you didn’t waste all your energy fighting me just then.” He growled in a strained voice, his Monster Out blood starting to manifest. Eric pulled back to punch but Campbell caught his fist before it connected. As he looked down he could see the boy starting to change. Hair was growing on his face and arms at an incredible rate. His body was getting larger by the second, tearing out of his already tight fitting shirt.

A muzzle was starting to form and Eric knew he was in trouble. He pulled back as far as he could then dropped down again, jamming his knee into Campbell’s crotch then rolling back and away. “You fucking monster, I’ll die before I let you lay one finger on my girls.”

“If I can’t take you alive then that’s fine with me.”

Campbell stood to his feet again but this time at an even greater height. While before he was slightly shorter than Eric he now had the man by a full three feet. Sharp claws gleamed as they stretched out from his hands. Eric pulled a hunting knife from his back and prepared himself for the fight of his life. He’d intended to beat the young man to death or let one of his wives do him in, but the way things were looking it would be difficult if not impossible to survive the encounter. In if life Eric had only see one other Monster Out blooded human and she turned into a very large feline of sorts, this one appeared to be a werewolf.

The two men circled each other, waiting for one of them to make a move. Eric flipped the knife and caught it in a backhanded position, knife fighting wasn’t his specialty but it was better than being unarmed against the monster. The older Readman wasn’t as quick or agile as he was in his younger years but what he’d gained in that period of time was the knowledge of how to fight efficiently. Campbell came in swinging fast and Eric kept backing up and waiting for a decent opening to strike at.

The Breaker charged in fast and rammed Eric with a shoulder check causing the older man to hit the ground hard but roll back onto his feet. Pressing the attack Campbell lunged forward and slashed, narrowly missing and receiving a slice to his arm and chest then another solid punch to the head. Enraged, he slashed outward and struck Eric in the thigh; his claws were long and left deep wounds that would hamper the older opponent’s movements.

Eric looked around as he limped backwards away from Campbell. The trio attacking Catherine was down to a duo; the Lucarda made short work of the Bone Maiden by using the bones of the Ice Maiden and turning her into a pincushion. Kitty had killed the Fire Maiden but now had to worry about a Water Maiden and another Foxymaiden. He could tell she was starting to get tired, it had been decades since she really had to go all out on an opponent. Vana was the one he was actually looking for and from the way the Earthmaiden and Shy Maiden were trying to get away she was out for blood.

Eric sucked in a deep breath and yelled out. “Vana, Hand of Fate, need a Straight and Three of a Kind, in that order!”

The Lady Luck came to a halt in mid flight. “Yes Dear!” A deck of cards appeared in her hand and she began to shuffle at an ungodly speed. When finished her fingers tapped the top of the deck twice and five cards raised up facing away from her. Next she tapped two of the cards, those flew to the bottom of the deck and two more cards appeared. All the cards lined up then flipped over as she waved her hand past them. 2♠ 3♠ 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ , the cards began to glow and flip before a green and gold light shot from them, passing through the members of the family and bringing everyone back to full health.

She repeated the process a second time, shuffling her deck then tapping it. This time she placed her hand in front of the deck and shook her head before tapping all five cards. The cards shot to the bottom of the deck and five more rose up. One by one she slid her hand past the cards; K♠ 7♣K♦9♥Jokette. “Fortune favors the Lady Luck.” Once again the cards began to glow as their special abilities activated.

Campbell had closed in on Eric and launched forward to strike when the older man was suddenly surrounded by a golden light. Just as he was about to land the hit Eric Shot forward with a burst of speed and jammed the knife into the stomach of the Campbell Werewolf. Kitty had gone on the offensive as well, peppering the Iron Maiden with gunfire while laying into the Water Maiden with a series of kicks. But things changed when the entire area went black.

The winds had picked up and finally the clouds began to cover the sky. The Dark Maiden saw this as a fitting opportunity to use Light Drain and give herself the edge against the unknown pokégirl she fought. Catherine didn’t mind the darkness either but it was going to cause problems for everyone else. She’d been trying to gut the Dark and Barrier Maidens but their defensive capabilities had been giving her trouble. That changed when the Haste effect from Vana’s second Hand of Fate kicked in. The increased speed helped her to land devastating blows while the Protect and Shell spells absorbed the damage from dark attacks.

Eric on the other hand hadn’t been as lucky. The stomach shot from the knife had healed almost as quickly as he could pull it out and he took several nasty shots from there. Shell had been destroyed and Protect was the only thing keeping him from being knocked out completely. One particularly savage hit sent Eric to the ground with his knife being tossed away. Campbell snarled angrily as he grabbed him by the head, lifting him off the ground.

 “I wish Marco was here to watch this.” Using his other hand he drug his claw across Eric’s chest, leaving a deep gash. “Maybe my boss, he’s the one who ordered us to attack his family. No matter, you’re just the beginning, next to your wife and daughters that is.” Campbell prodded with a boastful laugh.

Eric hit as hard as he could hit and swung as fast as his arms would let him but it was no use. He just wasn’t able to do damage to the werewolf form of Campbell. The breakers laughing turned into a loud howl as the sharp pain surged through his shoulder blade. He was able to look to his side just enough to see tiny feet kicking him in his torso as the rest of the body dangled off his back. Shifting his body weight one way then the other he heard the high-pitched snap of a blade then saw the little girl fall to the ground but quickly get back to her feet and pick up the hunting knife she landed next to.

“Let go of my daddy!” Erica yelled with tear stained eyes and shaky hands gripping her father’s blade. Never the less her expression was set and she was willing to do whatever it took to rescue her dad, however short-lived the attempt would be.

Throwing Eric to the ground with a sickening crack Campbell turned and focused on Erica. “You little bitch!” He yelled while throwing a considerable amount of strength into a backhand.

Vana heard her daughter’s voice, all the women in her family heard it and all eyes went wide as they watched the scene unfold. They all tried to move at once but came under attack, it was too late. They all watched in horror and it was more than the Lady Luck could stand. With all the worry and anger coursing through her it was a difficult task to keep the proper tempo for metronome.

Erica saw the hit coming. It seemed like it was moving in slow motion, like she had time to count the hairs on his arm… then it connected. The young girl was airborne, crashing through a window and into the small table in the living room. She rolled off the table and hit hard on the ground before rolling into the side table next to the couch. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut; she wouldn’t scream out though, she was going to be stronger than that. Adding insult to injury something that had been teetering on the edge of the table fell off and struck her in the cheek, knocking a tear from her eyes.

She was having a hard time breathing and everything was starting to feel cold. Absentmindedly she figured it may have had something to do with the shard of glass jammed into her side. It didn’t matter at the moment; she knew she needed to get back out there, her dad needed help. And she also wanted to know what hit her in the face. Looking over more tears began to fall but she grabbed the offending item, the phone. “Call… Marco…”

_____

 

Celaboner Gym

 

The gym battle had picked up but things were still going fairly well. The fight had moved from ranged to close quarters combat, something both girls were particularly skilled at. Rain was still pouring through the opening in the skylight, mix that with the mud and ash form everything that been burnt and things were starting to get pretty messy. More tamers had wandered into the gym to get out of the rain and were treated to quite the sight.

Marco vaguely remembered hearing about pre-war videos and competitions where attractive girls would fight with one another in mud, jell-o, or any number of strange substances and didn’t quite understand the appeal until just that moment. They both looked filthy and incredibly hot as they wrestled back and forth. For Henrietta hoping that everyone would stay clean because of the clothes Marco had bought them she was getting far dirtier than any of the others. Her coat had been thrown clear of the field earlier and her shirt had been ripped open during the ensuing struggles, now she wore it opened with her sports bra covering her breast as a formality.

The fight would be extremely erotic if not for the sheer brutality of it. Punches, knees, and elbows where thrown with bone crushing force. Eve had pulled her living tree daggers and was doing her best to slice Henrietta to ribbons. But, despite her best attempts, the Echo Beta was keeping pace with little trouble. Even though neither of them had any intention of making the battle into a show it was turning out be quite the display of acrobatic skill.

Marco felt a light buzzing on his side and glanced down at his pokédex. The crowds yelling pulled his attention back to the field and he clicked the silence button at the top. Henrietta had managed to disarm Eve of one of her daggers and how they were locked in a quite impressive knife fight. Light cuts marked both of their bodies as the minutes went by but it looked as if it was going to take a while before things were settled.

He felt the buzzing pokédex again and pulled it from his side. “Second call from home? Must be important.” He said to himself before answering the call and placing it up to his ear. The first thing he heard was the loud scream and a number of gunshots in the background. “Hello, hello, it’s Marco, what’s happening?”

He could hear strained and raspy breathing as well as a slight gurgling from the pain filled voice on the other line. “he… help… us… mar… co (cough).”

“Erica! Erica what’s happened, what’s wrong?” He said urgently. There was no response, just a soft thud followed by a cracking sound. It was broken glass, he’d been through enough devastated buildings to recognize the sound. The delta bonded members of the harem could feel the waves of panic passing through him and were starting to become nervous. Finally he closed the pokédex and his mind linked directly to Henrietta’s. ‘Stop bullshitting and finish her now! Something’s happened at my parent’s house.’

Henrietta didn’t need to be told twice. Sacrificing a couple of decent blows she grabbed the Elfqueen by the throat and ignited. The flames from her body encircled both of them and began to slowly close in. Eve tried to strike back but Henrietta seized her arm, twisting it outward until the elbow snapped. Her scream of pain only helped to empty her lungs as Henrietta continued to squeeze. But it was still taking too long. Summoning her gun she pressed it up against her thigh and fire twice.

Erika’s return beam fired but Henrietta didn’t wait around to be declared the victor, teleporting to Marco’s side instead. “What’s happened?”

He reached out and took her by the hand. “I don’t know but we’re leaving right now.” He said as he recalled Ashley and Bernadette, they couldn’t teleport and he didn’t have time to waste getting everyone organized. “Erika, we’ll have to come back for the badge later!” She was about to speak but they had vanished before she could say anything.

When Marco appeared outside the house his fist clenched and he visibly shook in frustration. It looked as if a massive battle had taken place. There were bodies littering the ground, thankfully no one he recognized. It was quiet; whatever had happened since he got disconnected must have been the finale. The rest of Avalanche had finally caught up but as they looked around their faces were expressionless. They knew his family had been on the battle circuit in the past and knew how to handle themselves but the entire area was devastated.

Arianna lifted her head and took a big sniff of the air around them. “The air is choked with the smell of blood.” Her ears angled slightly and she took off towards the beach. “Over here!”

Vana and Catherine were gathered next to Eric, from the look of things he was still alive but was bleeding from several wounds. Chesra had already started casting when Marco had run up next to them. “What happened here?”

“Marco?” Vana asked as she turned. She didn’t expect to see him and was relived he was ok. “Thank god you’re alright… what are you doing here?”

“I got a call… Erica called me but we got disconnected?”

Vana looked up in surprise as she fought back her tears. “When did she call? We were too busy fighting. We were at the market when Kitty contacted us, she said some guy had shown up and was attacking the… oh god, the kids.”

Eric groaned and rolled over slightly as the healing started to take effect. “Erica… where’s Erica?”

“I don’t know, the last time I saw her… that monster.” Vana growled

“Who, what happened, where are they, where are the girls?”

Eric stood and braced himself against Vana, waving Chesra off. “I’m fine, I’m fine, where’s Kitty?”‘Kitty? Where are you?’

‘In the house, it’s Erica, it’s bad…’ Kitty sobbed through the delta bond.

The group quickly made their way inside the house. Marco stalled as he looked around; there was blood and glass all over the carpet near the end table. The phone lay on the ground nearby; it was covered in blood and pointed towards the trail leading into the kitchen. As he looked at the trail he could see the entire scene replaying in his mind.

*****

Her vision came back as she looked down at the phone. She had called but he didn’t answer. It must have been a few minutes ago, she didn’t remember there being so much blood. She had coughed again, covering her mouth and trembling with fear when she saw more blood escape. She’d seen plenty of TV shows and movies and knew it was a bad sign. It was getting harder to breathe, she couldn’t afford to waste energy trying to speak for nothing, instead she hit redial.

It was ringing, that was a good sign at least. Finally she heard a click, there was cheering in the background. ‘He must have been in at gym battle.’“Hello, hello, it’s Marco, what’s happening?”

She tried to swallow but it was too hard. More blood was filling her mouth and between that and how everything was starting to get really dark she was scared. Still, her brother’s voice brought comfort, no matter how confused he sounded. “hel… help… us… mar… co (cough).”

She couldn’t hold the phone anymore. It dropped from her hand and hit on the ground. As she started to walk towards the kitchen everything became fuzzy, it was getting cold too. Her vision had continued to fade in and out, finally she tripped and hit against the side of the kitchen table. Everything was fading to black but she could hear a voice, it was her Aunt Kitty. The young girl began to cry as she felt her aunt pull her into a hug then gasp, she’d told her to stay where it was safe and not to move but she didn’t listen. There was a sharp pinch of pain and the soft his of one of the med-dispensers she’d seen her mom and aunts use on occasion.

Suddenly she could hear more voices and things were starting to get warm again. Still, she was in unbelievable pain and breathing hadn’t gotten any easier. But she was warm and that was better than nothing.

*****

 

Alexis was kneeling next to the young girl and pouring healing energy into her. “It’s bad Colonel, she’s out of life threatening but it’s not going to be good.”

Eric fought back his tears as he grabbed his little girl’s hand. “How bad is it Alex?”

The Cherub tore open the girls top and began to examine the wound. Kitty had been holding the shard of glass in place but as soon as Alexis took over it fell off.  “Very bad. A piece of glass has broken off and is in her lung, I can heal the affected areas here and remove the extra air with the tools I have but she’s going to be in excruciating pain and will need surgery.”

“Do it.”

Alexis got to work immediately and soon enough the young girl was starting to respond. Her grip on her dads hand tightened and her eyes were squeezed shut in pain. “I’ll give her something for the pain but I need you to hold her still.” Vana had taken a hold of the other hand and squeezed back as she whispered words of comfort into her daughter’s ear. Alexis had pulled two syringes from her bag, one large one that was empty and a smaller one that was filled with a clear liquid. The liquid went into her arm while the larger one was plunged into her chest wall to remove the excess air. “I’m taking her to Sandstone General, if you have anything to say please hurry.”

Erica began to cough again but the pain was decreasing. Marco smiled and put his hand on her forehead. “How ya doing kiddo?”

“Marco… you’re here?” She asked before noticing her chest was exposed and trying to cover up in a defensive manner. The painkillers had taken effect and her limbs were feeling heavy. Marco saw her embarrassment and turned around for her comfort. “Dad? Thank god you’re ok.”

“She’s awake enough to be modest around her big brother, I think she’s going to be ok. That was a brave and stupid thing you did young lady.” Eric laughed and threw his arms around her.

Alexis cleared her throat and put her arms around the three of them. “I need you two to come with me; I don’t know her medical history.”

They teleported away and all was calm until a loud crash was heard. Marco was down and Nadia was curled up against his chest sobbing. No one knew she was there let alone saw where she came from but she had tackled her older brother with enough force to put a crack in the wall. His pokédex fell from his side and bounced once before flipping opened and activating. The miniature camera scanned everyone in the room, not bothering to mention anyone it had already identified but stopped on Nadia.

The female computerized voice sparked to life as it went to work. [Unregistered pokégirl in the area… Identifying… TOMBOY, the One of the Guys Pokégirl]

Marco blinked a few times then looked down at her. He did his best to maintain his composure as he spoke. Internally he was furious but by no fault of his frightened sibling. “What happened Nadia?”

“I was just sitting there watching TV, waiting for mom and the others to get back from shopping, when I heard a knock at the door. I… I went to see who it was and there was this guy there, a really good looking guy, I mean like model good looking.” She explained while starting to ramble.

“Ok, he was good looking, what happened next?”

“He asked me what my name was then bowed and took my hand. It was all incredibly stupid but I couldn’t help feeling a strange attraction to him. Next thing I know… he… he clocked me upside the head with this strange looking pokéball and I was down. Then I was awake again… but I didn’t know where I was… it was this strange empty space. I kept getting this strange voice telling me to do whatever that guy said. But then I was out again, Aunt Kitty had grabbed me and Erica then rushed us into the cellar. While we were down there Erica told me I had been in a pokéball. I… I yelled at her, told her she didn’t know what she was talking about… I mean I look the same, I feel the same.” Marco hadn’t said anything and she was starting to become hysterical, he just held her tightly and rubbed her back. “No! I’m not a pokégirl, I never went through threshold, it didn’t happen!” Her angry yelling turned back into sobbing as she buried her head in his chest.

Marco continued to hold her as she continued to cry. Kitty had walked over to the wall and pulled out the pokéball she had knocked there with the frying pan. “This is the same as the one she was trapped in, I shot and broke it to get her out and then took the girls to safety.”

Marco didn’t need to do anymore than see it to tell that it was a Love Ball. “Love Ball; a specially made illegal pokéball that can turn anyone with pokégirl DNA in their blood in to a pokégirl. I’m… I’m sorry Nadia, there’s no way to reverse the effects.” He glanced down and she wasn’t moving, closer inspection revealed that she had passed out. He turned slightly and shifted so that Kitty could take her. “Thanks.”

“I’ll put her in bed.”

Marco nodded and stood there silently until he heard the room door close then turned and put his fist through the wall. “Those fucking bastards. They came here, I don’t even live here! How the fuck did they know to come here?!”

Kelly swallowed hard and the others began to back away. They had seen their Colonel mad before but this was way different. Normally even when he was upset it was hard to tell, a snide remark, a slightly more authoritative tone when he spoke; they were subtle hints but they were there. Right now though it wasn’t hard to tell at all; he was yelling and pacing, sure signs that he was furious and they didn’t want to be near him at the moment.

“I may know how they knew to come here.” Kelly stated with her eyes cast down. “Nikki got abducted during your gym battle. She’s been missing for hours. We tried to find her… but…” The Duelist eyes shot from the ground to him then closed as she braced herself.

The hit was hard, a solid backhand, but it was nothing compared to the follow up slam against the wall. “You knew she was missing and you didn’t tell me?!” He yelled as he lifted her over his eye level and held her there pressed firmly against the wall. “They came here, attacked my family, nearly killed Erica and turned Nadia into a pokégirl! Why the fuck didn’t you tell me sooner!”

Kelly was too stunned to move let alone say anything. Her cheek was starting to turn purple and the bruise was rapidly forming. “We were trying to get her back… You were in the middle of your battle; I didn’t want to disturb you…”

“You didn’t want to disturb me?! So all of this is because you didn’t want to disturb me!” He yelled again, pulling her away then slamming her back into the wall, Carrie reached out to grab him but he turned and jerked away. “Don’t fucking touch me! How in the hell did she get captured and no one notice? Who was her partner?”

“Quinn.” Kelly stated as she choked back her tears. “Quinn had gone to the bathroom at the pokécenter. That was when Nikki came under attack by Andzral. There was signs of a struggle and Quinn was just getting back when she saw her being teleported away with a group of humans.”

His eyes cut to Quinn and she visibly shook when he looked at her. “She has a locator watch that keeps her from being put into a pokéball, why didn’t you track that… and where the hell is Isabella?”

“You ordered at least one person to remain at the office at all times so she’s there with Ilene. I asked her the same thing and I was with her when Nikki disappeared. We were busy watching the cameras and since everyone had a partner we didn’t pay much attention to the locator screens… I’m sorry…” She cried as she grabbed at his hand. “I failed as the alpha and I’m sorry.”

Catherine stepped forward and took him by the shoulder. “I understand you’re upset nephew, we all are… But we didn’t raise you to act like this. This isn’t how you treat someone you love and you know it.”

Marco dropped Kelly back to the ground then whipped around and pushed Catherine’s hand off him. “How the hell am I supposed to act?! What, am I supposed to put on a brave face, a smile? It’s my fault all this happened and I was too busy with a fucking match to realize what was happening. I should have been here to help, to protect everyone. And you!” He turned back to face Kelly. “I trusted you… you’re supposed to take care of everyone, keep everyone safe… you… I… ahh!” He yelled one more time before turning and walking out the house. “Get up! One of you bitches had better still be alive!”

Back in the house Kelly had continued to sit where he left her, hugging her knees close to her chest. He had been so angry with her; she could feel every bit of how angry he was. Carrie knelt down and pulled her into a tight hug, she could feel it too but there was nothing to stop him at the moment. He wouldn’t allow anyone to help, calm him down, or get in his way. They could still hear his rage fueled yelling from outside as he checked the bodies.

Chesra took a deep breath and looked to Catherine. “Well at least you killed them all.”

“We didn’t.” The Lucarda grumbled in disappointment. “When Vana saw Erica get hurt she lost it and used Metronome… a couple of times. The first one fired a Hyperbeam that killed the girls Kitty was fighting and almost killed Kitty as well. The second one made a tornado, and the last one was some kind of mass teleport. The boy, and the girls I was fighting disappeared somewhere. I doubt they will come back though.”

“What can you tell us about the male?” Mina asked.

“As Nadia said he was good looking, at least until he transformed.”

“Transformed?”

“Yes. Eric had insisted on fighting him one on one but during the fight he transformed into a Werewolf. After that things started going wrong; which is when Erica got hurt. Eric was in trouble and she came out and stabbed that bastard in the shoulder with a kitchen knife… that was when…” Catherine couldn’t say the rest but her eyes darkened as the memory replayed freshly in her mind.

“His name was Chuck.” All eyes turned to Kitty as she made her way back down the stairs. “The girl I fought told me to stay away from Chuck.”

Arianna growled viciously. “Chuck the wolf Campbell; he’s one of Tri Fotia and a Breaker. That’s who Evan was waiting for the night he died.” Her growling turned into a whimper as she heard another yell from her colonel. “How long is he going to be like that?”

“Until he finds a way to cope with the fact that it’s all his fault.” Jean said abruptly. All eyes turned to her and she shrugged like she didn’t know what the big deal was. “I’m not saying anything he doesn’t already know. Either someone is going to confront him and no, I’m not going to do it. He’s going to kill someone, or something drastic is going to have to happen.” She could hear him approaching the house again and backed out of his path.

“Dead, all fucking dead, there’s almost a dozen maidens out there and they’re all dead.” Marco grumbled again. His pokédex started beeping and he suppressed the urge to throw it out the door. “What is it!?”

The voice stammered a little bit as the girl on the other side tried to collect her thoughts. “It’s Isabella, I have…”

“Isabella! How in the hell did you not notice that Nikki’s beacon had vanished? It’s your job to monitor unit positions, how did you fuck that up?!” Kelly had stood and was about to speak up for the girl but the way he pointed his finger at her kept her from doing anything but standing there with her head down.”

“It was an accident Colonel, but I have her location again. She’s back in Celaboner City and appears to be heading towards the pokécenter.”

“Great news, we’re heading there right now.” He announced before hanging up. “Come on, Nikki’s been spotted back in Celaboner. Let’s go pick her up.”

Everyone in the unit held the same strange look on their faces but prepared to teleport back to the city. That was until Kelly spoke up and stopped them. “No, this is a bad idea.”

“What are you talking about? Nikki’s out in the opened, she escaped somehow, she needs to be picked up.”

“Nikki escaped? You think Nikki escaped from Andzral. The same girl who almost killed you, Chesra, and Carrie then fought toe to toe with Henrietta and walked out without so much as a scratch; you think Nikki escaped from her?”

“We don’t have time for this Major, but I tell you this…” He growled as he got in her face. “I will punish you after this is sorted out.”

The Duelist couldn’t sit there and watch the man she loved self-destruct any longer, reaching back and slapping him hard across the face. “Why are we here?!”

Marco held his cheek and looked down at Kelly. She was crying, she was scared, and she was mad. “You dared to… (slap!)”

“You said before, we can question any decision you make and if you couldn’t convince Chesra if nobody else that it was a good idea then it wasn’t. Chesra, is this a good idea?” The Archangel didn’t speak but shook her head. “There, it’s a bad idea. Answer the question, then you can yell at me. Why are we here; and I mean right here right now!”

“Because Erica called me for help… the house was under attack and she was hurt.” Finally he started to calm down and think. “If Nikki was captured and they got this location from her then there is no way she’s just walking around now. And why would she be heading for a pokécenter? If her communicator was broken then she would go to the police station and send out a call from there…”

He pulled out his pokédex and brought up the various programs Isabella had given him access to from her station. The first one pulled up the locator in the city as well as the 3D overlay. Whoever it was, they were definitely heading towards the pokécenter. Next he pulled up the cities surveillance cameras; he’d taken control of one near the pokécenter and was watching the direction the beacon was coming from. A few minutes went by and he saw two figures approaching the pokécenter.

Judging by obvious traits and positioning the first one was the tamer and the second one was a pokégirl, a Venuswhore. The video quality wasn’t the best but he could make out an eye patch on the female. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about the pair but that was definitely where Nikki’s watch was. They ducked into the pokécenter and after about five minutes came back out and started walking in the direction they had just come from. He tried to get a better look at her face and noticed she had removed the eye patch. Seconds later his pokédex started to chime, he was receiving a call.

“Hello?”

“Marco? It’s Erika, Erika Hikami, the gym leader?”

“Right, sorry we had to leave so abruptly. There was a family emergency.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You’re probably busy so I’ll get right to the point. I just received a network alert saying that one of your pokéballs was just turned in to the pokécenter. I wasn’t sure if you got the message since you can teleport to get around so I’m letting you know just in case you didn’t.”

Marco nodded even though she couldn’t see him. “Wow, thanks, I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick it up. Thanks again.”

“Not a problem, take care of your family and be sure to stop by again.”

“Will do.” He ended the call then looked across the girls. “Ari, Zi; I want you two tracking the girl who just dropped off the pokéball. Tam and Lily, I want you to get some scanners and catalog those bodies outside, let me know if there’s anything special about them. Everyone else get in position around the pokécenter and be prepared for an ambush or anything of the sort, we are on high alert. Move out.”

“Yes sir!” They sounded off before grouping and teleporting away.

Kelly was just about to leave when Marco grabbed her by the arm. Even though it was involuntary she flinched at his touch and looked at the ground. “You and I need to talk later.”

_____

 

Celaboner City, Outside the Pokécenter

 

Marco and the harem appeared a block away from the pokécenter and walked up from there. Avalanche had already gotten in position and was awaiting instructions. Elsewhere Arianna and Zianna were on the rooftops stalking the female tamer, but they knew they would be taking her in. Nikki’s scent and blood were on both girls as well as Andzral’s. They had already relayed the information they needed to; refusing to leave their colonel out of the loop again.

Marco entered the pokécenter and looked around. The place was empty with the exception of the Nursejoy sitting behind the desk who smiled and waved at him. “Afternoon sir, getting your harem healed after a battle at the gym?”

“How did you know I had come from the gym?”

The nurse blushed slightly. “You wear the suit quite well but it just looks out of place on someone like you; not that it doesn’t look good though.”

“Oh… thanks. No the harem is fine but I just received a message saying that one of my pokéballs was turned in. Would you be able to help me with that?”

“Yes sir, I’ll just need your pokédex to confirm the name. After that I can release the ball into your custody.” Marco handed her the device and waited while she looked up the information. “There we go. You’re all set. You should really be more careful though, tamers don’t just turn in full pokéballs. I asked the young lady for her information but she said she was just doing a good deed. She deserved some kind of reward so I had one of our magical healers fix her eye, she said she’d gotten hit by a rock during a fight with a feral.”

‘Yeah, fight with a feral my ass.’ Marco thought as he took the ball. “I hope I run into her later so I can thank her properly. But thank you for your help.”

“Not a problem Mr. Readman, stop in any time.”

Once they got back outside they teleported back to the office. Even though he scanned the pokéball and it came up as having a Sexslash inside he wanted to be in a secure location just in case something was wrong. Selena and Renae were on standby, ready to freeze the girl at the slightest hint of something wrong and Alexis was there to monitor her mental stability.

Marco released the girl and she manifested missing an arm as well as one of her eyes. She immediately fell to the ground screaming and crying in pain. The wound was still spurting blood and none of them were able to resist the urge to run to her side. Alexis started healing the girl and looked over her body. She had performed physical examinations on everyone in the unit and recognized the patterns her scales ran in, but there was a problem.

She stood up and shook her head before looking to Marco. “Get her back in the pokéball. We’ll put her in healer.”

Marco recalled Nikki and stared at the blood on the ground. “Was it her?”

“Physically yes, but… she’s been level-fived.”

The girls in the room weren’t delta bonded to him so Renae and Selena couldn’t feel the rage from earlier renew with a brand new fire. On the same note Alexis hadn’t been there for his rampage but got the details from the delta bonded members of the harem. She could feel the pressure building and didn’t resist as he reached down and grabbed her by the collar.

“What you mean she’s been level-fived?”

Her reply was to stare deeply into his eyes, then reach out and slap him. “Exactly what I said, she was level-fived. That’s her body but everything that made her Nikki is gone.” Marco glared down at her but she continued to look at him with the same soft eyes she always had. “I’m going to take her into dream time along with the others and we’ll do the best we can to show her who we are; but it’s not going to make sense if you’re not acting like the person we know you’re supposed to be.” She reached out and touched him gently on the same cheek. “You’re angry, I know, but I also know you don’t want to do anything rash and take it out on one of us.”

Marco clenched his fist and let out an aggravated yell. “I know, but… what am I supposed to do?”

“Well… I would suggest taking out your frustration on the female tamer whose pokégirl is wearing Nikki’s watch.”

He didn’t even bother to say thank you, just kissed her on the forehead and left the room before starting towards interrogation. He clicked his comm. unit and pulled up Zianna. “Zi, are you two certain that this girl is part of the group that abducted Nikki?”

“Yes sir. Ari went and rechecked the area Nikki was in when she was taken. The tamers scent is there along with more than sufficient amounts of her blood.”

“Good enough for me, bring her in and put her in interrogation room one. Do it in five minutes… and make sure she’s at least five feet away from the wall opposite of the one way mirror.”

~~~~~

Four minutes and thirty seconds later

 

Marco tapped his foot as he leaned against the table and waited for the signal from Arianna and Zianna. He had finally changed out of that ridiculous suit and back into his BDU pants. With only a few seconds to go he reached over and inserted a pair of ear plugs. On the other side of the one way glass sat Alexis, Kelly, and Chesra. The Cherub sat patiently and stirred milk into her tea before checking her watch. She saw Marco tap his ear piece then she reached over and turned off the microphone in the room.

Chesra’s eyes cut to the Cherub. “What’d you do that for?”

“You’ll see.”

He quickly slid the metal chair to a spot he had marked earlier and waited. In a hazed the female tamer appeared along with Arianna and Zianna holding her Venuswhore. She hadn’t even seen them approach before she got teleported and now she was in a cold room looking at the man she was supposed to be hunting. She didn’t really get time to dwell on it though.

The second Marco saw her he reeled back and punched her in the chest. The blow carried enough force to send her rocking back into the chair and to hit her head on the wall. She hardly had time to worry about that either. The combat knife came down with surgical precision, driving through her femur and with a savage twist he snapped the bone.

They could hear the girl’s scream from the other room and could actually see the glass vibrate as it resonated with the pitch. The glass on the door cracked and everyone in the room except Marco and the girl attempted to cover their ears. Arianna and Zianna fought through the pain and kept a hold of the Venuswhore as she lunged towards Marco in a fit of anger.

Kelly just stared speechless, her mouth wide opened in shock. “Son of a bitch… was that necessary?”

Alexis took a sip of her tea and shrugged. “Well her mind is completely opened. Considering she pretty much ordered her subordinates to rape Nikki, before and after the level-five by the way, I would say that she still has a long way to go.”

This new information put a frown on the Duelist’s face. “What about the Venuswhore?”

“She’s the main reason they captured Nikki in the first place. Andzral had done most of the damage but Nikki was still putting up a good fight. The female had one of Nikki’s eyes removed out of spite because Nikki nailed her with a rock.”

Chesra did her best to not look away from the scene. “If he wanted information he could have just sent you in there. This is…”

“Necessary!” Alexis snapped. “That’s exactly what the hell this is! Marco is furious and needs an outlet. Sparring with him while he’s like that is dangerous and he doesn’t need sex right now… which is good because it might prove equally dangerous. He was seconds from going off on me because I was giving him bad news, so if he needs to hurt someone then it should at least be someone who deserves it.”

Marco had left the knife in her leg then zip tied her limbs to the chair. His focus left her and move to her pokégirl. “Have her restrained and give her to Henrietta.”

Arianna nodded and launched her foot into the side of the girl’s knees with a forceful crack. “Yes sir, is she to be interrogated?”

“I doubt she knows anything her master doesn’t but just in case, take Jean along with you. This bitch and I need to talk.”

The tamer was hyperventilating and writhing in pain. It was all too quick and unexpected. “Please… please I’ll tell you whatever you want but please don’t hurt me.”

“No, I’m going to hurt you. But how much depends on what you tell me.”

_____

 

Two Hours Later…

 

Marco was sitting alone in the Operation control room going over the video data from the park where Nikki was taken. He’d watched everything leading up to the timestamp made for the distress call and things just weren’t adding up. From their position he couldn’t see Nikki or Quinn. He could see the tamers approaching from different sides but they stopped right outside the park. Quinn even passed by one of them. The tamer he had captured was unconscious for the time being but even she said that Andzral told them to stay put until they had gotten the signal.

The entire thing wasn’t making sense to him anymore. He was just starting to get aggravated when he heard the door open up behind him. He looked out the corner of his eye and could see the tiny body of the Duelist making her way closer.

“You… you said we needed to talk later?”

He motioned for her to come closer and cringed when she flinched and hesitated. “Yeah… have a seat.” He said as he patted his lap. She wanted to take the invite but sat in the chair next to him instead. “I deserved that… and that slap you gave me earlier.”

“I’m sorry; I should have contacted you the moment we found out Nikki had gone missing. You keep trusting me to take care of everyone and I keep letting you down.”

“You do.” He said directly, causing her to look at him. “But why? Why is it so difficult to contact me when something’s wrong?”

“Because…” She started then took a deep breath. “Because you placed me in charge. Even though Chesra is better suited for the position and would probably do a better job you put me in command over every one. Every time I fail at something I know I disappoint you… and every time that happens I feel like I don’t deserve to be around you. As the alpha I should be able to handle any situation that comes up… but I can’t. I couldn’t stop Arianna from running away, I couldn’t save Leona when she needed it, I couldn’t keep Nikki from being abducted, and … I couldn’t save you either. Gwyneth had taken you right in front of all of us and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop her.”

Marco reached out and placed his hand gently against her cheek. She winced in pain and he noticed she still hadn’t healed it yet. “You’re missing a key point in all but one of the scenarios.”

“What’s that?”

“Us…” She gave him a quizzical look and he shook his head. “Every time something happened that you couldn’t control, everyone else was there. All except this time…” He said as a thought popped into his head. He started rolling back the videos and focused all the cameras on the pokécenter.

“What are you looking for?”

“Quinn.” Her eyes narrowed and she focused on the cameras too. “As I was saying; every one of those times you had the rest of the team right by your side. Everybody was always there and we all support each other. But, why was Nikki alone?”

“Quinn said she had to go to the bathroom, she’d been doing that all day.”

Marco pulled up Campbell’s file and the list of pokégirls his mom and aunts had killed before they got there. They both watched as he typed in the cross-reference and shuddered when they saw the one thing they all had in common. “Maidens.”

“Do you think… Emaline and Renae?”

“No, Emaline was with me long before I became a problem for Team Rocket and Renae I caught after she was exiled. It’s just Quinn.”  Marco growled as he got out of his seat and started towards the door.

He and Kelly had made it to the lounge and looked across the all unit members and members of the harem. Finally his eyes locked onto Quinn’s. Alexis had mentioned that she’d been acting strange ever since Nikki had been taken and figured it was due to her feeling some form of guilt or responsibility for what happened. Oddly enough, that was exactly why she had been acting that way.

The Airmaiden caught him looking into his eyes and saw his raw emotions. He was hurt, he’d taken her in and treated her like family and she betrayed him. Even if she didn’t plan on things happening the way they did she was the direct cause of all the pain he’d felt that day. She didn’t have a choice now; she had to get out of there.

She was on her feet and out the door before Kelly could get the word out. ‘I have to get out of here; one of them is going to kill me if I don’t leave right now!’ She’d made it to the outside but stalled. They were already there, teleported from the lounge to the outside to stop her from leaving. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. Campbell just told me to check in every time I changed locations.”

Carrie’s chains rattled as they unwound from her armguards. “We trusted you! All of us, every one of us trusted you!” She screamed as she launched forward to attack.

Until then the Airmaiden had put up a good front as a horrible battler, now she didn’t have any choice but to let loose and show them all how good she really was. The Mistress was attacking fast but Quinn was staying out of range, using the wind to alter how quickly she was moving. She knew exactly how dangerous those chains were and made it a point to keep the distance as wide as possible.

A sharp crackling sound was heard from the distance and Quinn shot into the air just in time to avoid Ashley’s electricity, or at least she thought she did. The bolt turned sharply and began homing in on her position. With careful manipulation of the air currents around her she hit the ground again and closed in on Carrie. Both chains snaked wildly as she nimbly avoided getting cut and retaliated with Gust, sending the Mistress flying towards the Thunder Bolt.

Ashley saw the attack coming in at the last second and clapped her hands together before pulling them apart and splitting the energy, weaving them both around Carrie and back to their original target. Thinking quickly Quinn saw Lily standing by to engage and used Fan to draw her in. Once in range flipped over the Electric Whips and kicked the Belle Awesome into Ashley’s attack, electrocuting the girl and taking her out of the fight. She’d spotted an opening and thought she was free and clear to escape but fell to the ground in a pool of dark energy.

Mina was closing in fast, teleport hopping to throw off the maiden’s perception of where she would be attacking from. To make matters worse the ground started to rumble and massive walls shot into the air. They appeared to go several stories high and from out of nowhere a ceiling covered the sky. Kelly had had enough of the girl trying to get away and her labyrinth card would make things a lot harder.

Quinn was still stuck in the field of Dark Matter and was starting to panic. But the enclosed space could work for her too. Summoning her powers Tempest formed in the middle of the labyrinth and began pushing the others back. By now Chesra had taken flight, using her wings to guide her through the ever increasing winds and close the distance on the once again mobile Airmaiden. She was heading for one of the openings in the labyrinth but changed direction as a wall of flames blocked her path.

Emaline, Henrietta, and Selena had teleported to block her way while the others had regrouped and surrounded her. She knew she was done, they knew she was done. Just as they were about to attack a loud yell caused everyone to stop.

“That’s enough!” Marco yelled as he made his way through the chaos.

“No! We can’t let her go! Not after what she did, the damage she caused.” Carrie screamed and prepared to attack.

“What did I say Carrie? I’ve had enough…” He spoke in an elevated tone. He looked exhausted, the trials of the day had taken its toll on the man and he was just tired now. “Quinn…”

The Airmaiden didn’t know what to say. He had entered into the circle and put himself between her and everyone who was trying to kill her. She had hurt him so badly… seen firsthand the damage she had inadvertently caused, and he still stopped them. Finally she fell to her knees. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. If I had known I never would have helped them…”

“I know, I know.”

“You treated me like the others… like I was special.”

“Was any of it real? Did you ever really care about what you were doing, about us?”

“When… when I first laid eyes upon you… you were so nice, so friendly. I couldn’t understand why my former master was ordered to go after you. Then I really got to meet you, spend time with the others, you all did everything you could to help me. That night we spent together… it wasn’t just let me tame you and then I’m going to bed. We talked, I told you things… true things that Campbell doesn’t even know about me. You made me belong, whether I really wanted to or not you made me part of your family. And then I hurt you…”

“Did you know what was going to happen to Nikki?”

She stood up and grabbed him, franticly shaking her head. “No, I liked Nikki. I never would have let that happen if I was there. When I saw them taking her away I tried to reach her but I was too late… Then when we went to your home… I’m sorry, I’m soooo sorry.” She cried as she continued to stand there. She looked up into his eyes. They were the same soft eyes he had greeted her with when she came out of the pokéball.

The members of the harem and unit all stood around them in shock. They couldn’t believe he was so understanding, considering everything that had happened. One by one the lowered their weapons and prepared attacks, the fires died and the labyrinth wall vanished.

Alexis reached out with her mind and felt the intentions from her colonel. Her eyes narrowed and slowly she turned around then whispered. “I don’t need to see this.”

Marco had pulled Quinn into a tight embrace and a single tear fell from his eyes as she continued to sob. “I’m sorry Master Marco, I’m sorry.”

“I know Quinn… so am I…” His arms had slipped from around her and he placed both hands on her cheeks, giving her kiss on the lips. Then they slipped down, locking around her throat. The others looked on wide eyed as she started to struggle to breathe. He was too close for her to use any of her powers and she wasn’t strong enough to break the hold. His grip just kept getting tighter and tighter. He had pressure in the right spots as well, only adrenaline was keeping her up but she was fading fast. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks and onto his hands but he kept the hold, watching second by second as the life drained from her body. After what seemed like an eternity her grip loosened and her arms swung freely to her sides, she was gone.

Nobody moved, no one made a sound. They had never seen such a display in their lives and while it frightened them they understood as well. He cared for her and she betrayed him, betrayed them all. She was going to die but he was going to do it himself. He knew the truth, things would never be the same between them after what she had done, the least he could do was hold her one last time.

Marco continued to stand there and look down at the dead Airmaiden. “Someone give her a proper burial.”

That night found Marco sitting alone in the Operation Control room. He’d asked to be left alone, after what he’d done he didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. Scrolling through is pokédex he came upon the list for his harem and heaved a sigh. He’d have to do it sooner or later. Highlighting Quinn’s name in the inventory he slid it to the side and removed it from the list.

It had been a long day and tomorrow would prove to be even longer. He set his pokédex down next to the empty bottle of bourbon and was ready to set his head down when he heard a strange beeping. He thought it was coming from his pokédex but it didn’t sound quite right. His eyes continued to scan the room until he heard the computerized female voice.

[Data Decryption Complete, Data Decryption Complete. Access granted to all files.]

He eyes Evan Domico’s pokédex with a look of disgust. “Now I’m coming for you bastards.”

 

 

 

Delta

Echo

Indigo

 

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