The splash of cold water jarred him awake. The last thing he remembered was the angry face of some pokégirl before she hit him. He tried to sit up but groaned in pain, Henrietta’s bullet was held safe and sound in his shoulder. He was still wearing his clothes but all his pockets had been emptied, his pokéballs were gone, and his watch had been taken off.
'It's still bleeding so I guess I wasn't out that long. I hope everybody is ok...' "Henrietta." He moaned.
"Good to see that you're awake. Now where the hell is my master?" The Dark Lady glared at him with pain filled eyes. "Who took Richard?"
"Who’s Richard? What did you do with Kelly?" He spat back as he willed himself to sit up.
Marco looked around the room; the table that would normally be in the center was pushed against the corner. There were no windows, a single metal door, a single chair that was being occupied by the Dark Lady, and the makeshift bed he was sitting on. He winced as pain shot through his shoulder again then exhaled.
“Don’t you play dumb with me; if it weren’t so dark in there I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you. I picked you up by mistake and when it was finally calm enough to go back, he was nowhere to be found.”
“Well, I wish him the best of luck. If you got me, my team got him. If they do have him, rest assured he is fine.”
_____
“Where the fuck is my Colonel?” Kelly slammed her hand down on the table.
“Look girl, I don’t know who you are, who you’re talking about, or why I’m here. Now let me go!” Richard grumble.
“Well, judging by the bullet wound that we healed, my late harem sister shot you. It was difficult dredging the statement out of our only witness but you were seen fighting with the Colonel and your Dark Lady was seen murdering my subordinate.”
“What Colonel; I was sent to get Marco Readman, the retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Avalanche unit. He was named as an enemy of the Indigo League and I was told to bring him in.”
Alexis was pacing back and forth, her wings moving at the speed of a hummingbird in irritation. Her purpose for being there was twofold. The first was as an interrogation assistant, her ability the sense the intentions in others as well as her partial mind-reading, made her a true asset to the situation. The second was to keep Kelly from jumping over the table and beating their captive to death. She was really having a hard time with the second one. “He was telling the truth about not knowing that the Colonel was still in the military. The part about Marco being an enemy of the League is complete bullshit and everyone here knows it.”
Kelly took a deep breath and settle back in the chair, trying her best to compose herself. “Out of respect for my Colonel, I’m not hurting you right now. I shouldn’t even be here. I have a friend in the morgue in Cerulesbian, a missing tamer, and an entire unit of very pissed off people to see to. Now before I start to indulge my more vicious tendencies, in honor of my friend, I will ask one last time. Where is Marco Readman being held?”
Beads of sweet started to run down Richard’s face. It was unnerving that there were two childlike pokégirls interrogating him. But if what she said was true and Marco was still in the military, that made them members of Avalanche. “You aren’t with the Indigo Military; there are no records of your unit anywhere.” Kelly pulled out her ID card and slid it across the table for him to read. There it was in black and multi-color: Major Kelly (Duelist), Avalanche Unit, Security Clearance: TS-O. Richard ran his fingers across the lamination; his time spent checking the IDs of foreign government officials coming into play. ‘This is real. The print is right, the water mark, the chip, the picture… it’s all real. That means…’ “Look, I would like to help you but I have my orders. I don’t know the full details.”
“We are to be captured and turned over to some government official whose name he doesn’t know.” Alexis spoke as she balanced a knife on her finger. “I have to warn you that it really is pointless trying to deceive me, between the unit and his harem there are a lot of pissed off pokégirls who want their master, tamer, Colonel, and friend back. Make this easy and tell us everything you know.”
"Let’s try to be reasonable here. Yes, it's true that I was assigned to try and get the military pokégirls that were from the Avalanche unit. Right now, if my pokégirls are doing their job, Readman should be in the custody of IGS."
"You are currently unsure if he made it there or not, why is that?"
He took a deep breath and sighed. 'There really isn't any use getting things around these two.' "Because you have me. I'm hard on Gwyneth but she loves me and she'd try to get me back before she gave up her only potential bargaining chip."
"I feel her pain, the only reason I'm not handing you over to Chesra is because we need you to get him back." The sound of soft knocking came at the door. "Enter."
Ashley entered with a rolling try filled with different types of food. Instead of an actual knife and fork they were replaced with plasticware. Though her face was as fuzzy as the rest of her body it was clear that she had been crying. "Select what you would like to have for dinner."
"Thank you Ashley, how is Chesra doing?"
"She is fine Kelly."
The Cherub eyed her suspiciously. "That's a lie, what's going on?"
"She... we need to speak outside."
After Richard selected his plates the three of them walked outside into the hallway. Kelly was obviously grumpy and trying her best not to take her anger out unnecessarily, she was already going to have to apologize to Carrie when she saw her again. "Ok, what's going on?"
"Ches was pacing back and forth yelling about how it was all her fault, about not being strong enough."
"What happened next?"
"She took off towards the vault area."
Alexis suddenly started sprinting down the hall. "We need to stop her!" The others didn't waster a word, taking up the pursuit.
When they reached the vault room it was already too late. The holy light was beaming out through the door way and those who were already there cleared the way for Kelly to enter. The Armsmistress they knew was gone, in her place was a Warrior Nun. As the light finally dimmed Kelly made her way inside and Chesra turned to face her.
"What the fuck are you doing, what were you thinking?"
"Out of my way. I need to train and adjust to this new body." Her voice was stern with anger and conviction.
"You don't go anywhere till you explain what was going through your mind!" The Duelist stood between her and the door.
Chesra lunged forward with amazing speed, taking both of Kelly's hands and pinning them against the wall when they got into the hallway. She knew her sisters well, Kelly could summon cards to her hand directly but not if they couldn't fit. "My best friend was killed right in front of me; my master was taken right in front of me. Both of these acts, done by a Dark Lady, an infernal. I shall have revenge and send her to the grave in a blaze of righteous fire! If you wish to stand in my way, IF ANYONE WISHES TO STAND IN MY WAY! Then fight me, I could use the training."
Kelly's eyes were burning hot from frustration. "This proves just how little you thought about it. You evolved into a Celestial, the thing that Dark Ladies kill for sport. I won't stand in your way, nor will anyone else. You go and train... when the time comes I hope it was enough. Now release me and get out of my sight!" Chesra released her hands and she dropped to the ground.
The slow and heavy thud of Chesra's boots echoed through the hall before coming to a sudden stop. Kelly looked past her to see the Penance and the rest of the harem blocking her path. "Are you here to stand in my way, child?"
Carrie shook her head no and started signing. 'Without Master Henrietta you are the Alpha of the harem, Master Chesra. We will assist in your training and be prepared to help get Master Marco back.'
"Very well then, come… and please don’t call me master."
Kelly waved for Carrie to come to her. The Penance motioned that she would be along shortly and went to stand before Kelly. "Why are you going to help her, she is not in the right frame of mind."
'In all my years, they were the first ones to treat me with kindness and compassion, you all are. But I am Avalanche out of honor; I am in the harem out of love and trust. You are the Alpha of the unit; this means nothing to the harem. No disrespect, that's just the way it is. We want Marco back.'
Kelly sighed and looked at the Penance. "No offense taken. You have come a very long way since you first got here. I'm proud of you and Marco would be too. Please make sure to push Chesra as hard as you can. I don't know how much time we have."
'Master is fine, he may be in pain, but he is ok. I can feel it, you can feel it, and so can Chesra. That's why she is in a hurry.' With nothing else she turned and jogged down the hall to catch up with the harem.
Kelly was tired, it had been a trying day and it wasn't getting any easier. She slammed the vault door closed then pressed her PDA against the digital lock then punched in a series of numbers. "Until further notice the vault is off limits. Everyone get some sleep and we'll start fresh in the morning." 'Master... give me the strength to carry on.'
_____
East Cerulesbian City Hospital, 0120
The hospital had been busy ever since the incident at Selkie’s Secret. There were a number of trample victims, a few with cuts and scrapes, and a panic attack. The strangest to the staff though, was a burn victim. The female was dead at the scene but no one ever said anything about a fire and there was almost no burn damage to the building itself. The police were there taking statements from witnesses, the hospital staff was treating patients, and no one noticed the male and his two female companions making their way to the morgue.
"Ok love, we’re here, now why are we doing this?" Asked the male as he picked up a chart and started looking around.
"Because under normal circumstances I can't do anything about this. Even now I can't really do anything about it but it is my fault and I want to fix it." Said Delilah.
The other female put her arms around her friend and gave her a hug. "I really don't see how this was your fault. And I understand even less what you propose to do about it."
"Clair, it's my fault because I trained her killer on how to use the attack. As for doing something about it, I want to ask you a favor."
"You two pipe down, I think I found it." He pulled out the tray and read the paper attached to it. "Multiple third degree burns to the torso... and there are her effects... transported from Selkie’s Secret. Yep, this is the one."
While Delilah was looking through the personal effects of the dead girl, Clair was looking over the body. "Hey Dee, she's kind of... really dead. What are we going to do, bury her?"
"I have to agree with Clair on this one, even if we could help what would we get out of this?"
Delilah had found the wallet and was thumbing through the cards. "You said yourself that he would make a perfect addition, think of this as insurance. The last thing you want during a negotiation is bad blood."
"But how would he know you had anything to do with it?"
"The Cherub, I don't think I could be around them and not feel a little bit guilty. She would pick right up on that even without using her powers. There I found it, can I see your pokédex?" She ran the data on ID card she found and the information she was looking for came up. "Phillip, take a look at this please."
He read the card then the data taken from the pokédex and nodded his head slowly. "Ok I see what you're getting at here. We'll take the body with us, no reason to... (click)"
The lights went on in an almost blinding flash, in the doorway stood a doctor and a security guard. "Hey, this area is off limits, what are you doing down here?"
"Sorry sir, there were so many injured back there we didn't want to waste anyone's time having them show us around. I'm Phillip Wade with SLOI that's Shad..."
"Great, just great, I've got another set of acronyms coming at me. First the SII, then the IGS, now the Shadow League is here. For all this intelligence floating around my hospital, none of you seem to have a clue about what's going on. Now what are you doing here?"
"We are here to claim this body; it is instrumental to an investigation we are running. If that is ok?"
"Fine, just be sure to fill out all the necessary paperwork and she all yours. Now, please go back to the waiting area and see the head nurse on duty."
"Thank you sir, sorry for the intrusion and inconvenience. Let's go ladies."
Back in the reception area the three of them stood waiting for the head nurse. It was still very crowded so they did the best to stay out of the way. "Thank you two sooo much for doing this for me."
Clair shrugged and nodded. "You're welcome? I still don't see what you need me for." Phil handed her the card and the pokédex. "Oh? ... Oh! Yeah... I can do that and if I can't I know someone who can."
_____
It was 0500 at Avalanche HQ and there was still no word from Marco. Kelly was looking horrible; her youthfulness doing nothing to prevent her from looking old and tired. She hadn't been able to get much sleep. Most of the unit had slept in the TV area and found comfort in being around each other. As she stepped outside to get some fresh air the crackle of thunder emanated from one of the training fields. She teleported to a few of the fields before coming to the electric training field.
Ashley was standing there; sweat dripping off her fur, her arms dangling in exhaustion, and nine lights on the board. The furious hum of the rods informed Kelly that they were turned on and at one of the higher levels. A crash came from the field behind her. Two dark orbs were barely visible in the twilight of the morning. The clash of metal on metal rang out. Jean came tumbling out of the orb and rolled back onto her feet, her eyes glowing purple. She was sweaty, bloody, and worn out. Never the less she charged back into the fray.
Kelly shook her head in amazement. 'It’s good to see them so motivated.' She thought as the clanging was getting louder. She took a deep breath and whistled as loudly as she could. The fighting ceased and the orbs vanished. "How is everyone feeling?" All three of the girls dropped to the ground. "Yep that's what I thought. Come on, let's have a bath and get some food. Then you all need to rest."
Chesra slowly rose to her feet. "We can rest after we get Marco back. There is still more training to do."
Kelly stifled her anger and found herself wishing she had Marco's cool head gift. "I plan on getting him back as soon as possible and if you're all too exhausted to fight properly then you're just going to get yourself killed. I lost a friend too and I've lost my harem before... Chesra you were there for me then. Let me be here for you now. I'm not ordering anything, I'm asking as a friend. Please get some rest."
That short break was all it took for everything to come crashing down on the Warrior Nun. She went to the ground in tears, her screams of rage and sorrow finally coming to the forefront. "It's all my fault. How could I grab the wrong person, how could I let Henrietta die, how could I let you all down?! I failed at being his guard and at being her friend. You all trusted me to keep him safe and I failed you, I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for... I on the other hand do. Carrie, I'm sorry I yelled at you. There was nothing you could do to stop what happened. You did as you were asked, darkening the area. I was upset but that was no excuse, I'm sorry."
Carrie bowed her head and nodded before she started signing. 'It's ok, we're all on edge. It was strange though, I could feel a temporary link between Marco, Henrietta, and myself. Suddenly I could see from their eyes and they could see through each other’s, using my powers.'
"I guess that explains how Henrietta got her final shot off."
Carrie broke down crying, the thoughts of last night still fresh in her mind. 'I can still feel it, she was in so much pain. They both were desperate to get to each other..."
Though she wasn't signing anymore, Chesra could feel her sisters anguish. "Come on, we could all use a bath. Thank you Kelly, I needed to let that out."
A few hours later found Kelly and Alexis back with Richard. He'd been kept under constant surveillance since his arrival and discovery. All of his personal possessions had been confiscated and his clothes were thoroughly checked for hidden compartments. The two of them were waiting for him to finish his breakfast.
"I really hope that the Colonel is being treated as well as we are treating you." Kelly plainly stated while looking over his belongings.
Alexis shuddered for a moment and started tapping her fingers on the table. "I get the feeling that isn't the case."
Richard swallowed nervously and slid his plate off to the side. "Ladies, I'm not there so I have no control over what's going on right now." He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I was told to get Readman and bring him back."
"It just occurred to me... did anyone ever think to just try and call him in?"
"I'm just following orders, that kind of thing is over my pay level."
Kelly locked eyes on him. "The only reason you are being treated so well is because you are government and I assume former military too. If you were with one of the Teams this would be very different. I'm going to cut to the bottom line, we want the Colonel back. I will let you return back to your harem if he is returned to..." Kelly's necklace appeared to twist up on itself before going limp again. Seconds later Richard's phone started to ring. Kelly motioned for him to be quiet before opening it with a flip and put it on speaker. "You have reached the phone of Richard Spencer, who may I ask is calling?"
Gwyneth instantly recognized the voice on the other end. "You bitch! What have you done with Richard?"
"He is fine; in fact he's right here. What have you done with the Colonel?"
"Can I speak with Richard?"
"You didn't tell me where Colonel Marco Readman is yet? Where is he?"
"You won't hear anything from him till I know that Master Richard is okay!"
Richard knew that the conversation was going nowhere and all parties involved were getting irritated. "Gwyn! Shut the fuck up! If Readman is there put him on the phone, if he isn't then tell her now so we can move on!" Both Kelly and Alexis moved back in their seats when he started yelling.
"Master, it's good to hear that you're ok. They haven't hurt you have they?"
"Why are you not following my instructions? I am fine, but you won't be if you don't do as I instructed you to do. Now you either put him on the line or tell them where he is right fucking now!" The only sound that came next was the heavy thud of a door closing. "Sorry about that, I have to keep a firm grip on her sometimes."
"She had to leave, means that he may not officially be in IGS custody yet." Alexis stated as she angled herself to hear better.
The phone clicked and they could hear the open air of being on speaker phone. Next was the male grunt of someone in pain moving around. "This is Marco Readman, who am I speaking to?"
Kelly was careful not to sound too excited when she answered. The Dark Lady had already shown her hand when asking about Richard and the Duelist wouldn’t make the same mistake. "Colonel Readman, this is Major Kelly of Avalanche, have you been harmed?"
Marco picked up on her tone of official status and answered the same way. "Major Kelly, I've had better stays but I'm ok."
Gwyneth snatched the phone back away. "There, you heard him, now I want to get Richard back and I want him back now."
"Shut up Gwyn, have you checked in that you have Readman?"
"No sir and I haven't seen Delilah since she dropped me off last night."
"She works directly for the gentleman so don't worry about her. If you harmed the Colonel at all I want him healed and cleaned up." He looked over at Kelly and nodded.
Kelly looked over to Alexis who nodded in agreement. "This is how this is going to go. We are going to exchange prisoners; Spenser for Readman, only the harems will be present. Richard, how many are in your harem?”
“Only four, how many are in his harem?”
“Five since I will be attending. There will be no aggression on either side, a fair and even trade for our respective leaders. Is this agreeable?”
Gwyneth was almost jumping at the chance to say yes, before she could though Richard answered for her. “We agree to the terms you have set. When and where would you like to do this?”
“This afternoon in the Indigo Plateau, 1330 in front of the coliseum. I will warn you one time and one time only, only the harems will be there. Five from our side and four from your side. If you attempt to attack us while we are making the transfer the first thing I will do is rip Mr. Spenser’s head right off.”
The sound of Marco clearing his throat could be heard through the phone. “Major! There is no need for threats. I am certain that they just want this to be over as soon as possible. Mr. Spencer do we have an agreement?”
“Yes we do Colonel. DO YOU HEAR THAT GWYN, NO AGRESSION.” His voice was elevated but not to the point of yelling. “No snipers, no undercover agents, no…”
“I understand Master. A simple trade is all we are doing. (click)”
Kelly looked at her watch, it was just after 0800. They had five and a half hours before the deadline, but would show up an hour ahead of time to scout the area. “Mr. Spencer, do you believe she will stay true to her word and not attack?”
“I would bet my life on it.”
“Ah good, you understand exactly what’s at stake. So you have a Dark Lady, a Thundercunt, and a Sarama, who’s the forth to look out for?
“Sarama? Oh, you mean Minerva. She wasn’t one of mine and is dead by now.”
“Dead, I didn’t kill her… though it would make us even for the death of Henrietta. What happened to her?”
He took a sip of his water and settled back in his chair. “She failed the gentleman one too many times and was punished for it. But to answer your earlier question, there is a Shadow Girl and an Umbrea."
Something had been bothering Alexis bout how he was acting. It was strange that he didn't seem to be worried about not completing his mission give what was just said about Minerva. "Mr. Spencer I have to ask, what's going to happen to you when you report that you were captured by the enemy? I mean, realistically you have to fill out a report about what happened to you, then there is the fact that you were trying to capture a registered member of the military. I'm sure that's going to raise some flags with someone."
"Normally I would agree, but far as I can tell the man in charge is in a position where it doesn't matter. As for me being captured, nothing is going to happen to me or my harem. You keep the human in charge to make sure the job gets done, if they are taken hostage or killed then you're at the mercy of the harem to make sure it gets done. As you can see it can be unreliable, but I'm not going to complain. It may have been the only thing keeping me alive."
Kelly scoffed as if offended and turned her head. "We wouldn't have killed you, though the thought of what may have been done to the Colonel makes me want to break our deal... damn it."
"What's the problem Major?"
"I need to go talk to the harem. No telling how Chesra is going to handle the deal."
~~~~
It was 1030 when Kelly went to wake them. When she entered the room they were sleeping in Chesra was already awake and seated on the floor. Between her legs was a large leather-bound book with a cross on it. On her other side was a laptop and her sword. She raised her head to acknowledge Kelly when she walked in.
"So, what are you reading?"
"Apparently it's the book I get along with my breed. I'm also reading up on my new breed and learning more about my abilities. Don't worry I just got up not too long ago. What can I do for you?"
"You can get so more rest, we move at 1230. I heard from Marco and..."
Chesra was already on her feet, the book tossed to the side without a care. "How is master, is he ok, where is he, when are we going to get him?"
"Calm down, he didn't sound great but he should be fine when we get to him. We are doing a prisoner exchange, Marco for Richard, both sides have agreed to a cease fire for the duration. Only the harems are going to be there, plus myself. I'm telling you this now to stress the fact that we are just there to get to Marco back. The Dark Lady is going to be there and I don't want you flying off the handle and getting Marco hurt."
"You think I would do something to put master in danger?"
"The old you no, this new you is more volatile to internals and I'm taking that into account."
"That is fair, where and when?"
"1330, Indigo Plateau, in front of the stadium. I stressed the no aggression thing and promised to take Spencer's head right off."
"Did you get his harem composition?" The third voice came from the top bunk over were Carrie was still sleeping. The Nogitsune poked her head over the side.
"Yes I did, there are four total. A Shadow girl, an Umbrea, the Dark Lady, and a Thunder cunt."
Chesra had picked her book back up and took a seat on her bed. "I thought you mentioned a Sarama at the club."
"Yeah... she wasn't part of his harem and is dead. He said that she failed her owner too many times. Be on the lookout anyway, Alexis didn't sense and dishonesty but who knows what may change between now and then."
Chesra had laid back and closed her eyes. "True, we set off at 1230 to scout the area, correct."
"That's right, I'll come and get you." Kelly left, closing the door behind her. She needed to get more sleep herself but didn't have the time. She had made it to the kitchen and froze when she saw who was sitting at the table. "Mistress Vana, I guess you know the situation."
"I thought I told you to just call me Vana. I already have a cup of coffee waiting for you, I decided not to add any whiskey this time. Now tell me, what is the situation involving my son?"
"We have plans to get him back this afternoon. We are exchanging him for the captive we have." She took the cup with a nod and started spooning sugar into it.
"I see, and how is everyone taking the loss of Henrietta?"
"I'm sorry to say that there hasn't been much time to mourn her loss. Most of the unit was going over the building with a fine tooth comb to make sure our intruders didn't leave any surprises for us. It gave them something to keep busy with. So who told you?"
"Mina, she called me last night when she got in. There was nothing I could really do to help so I decided to stop by now. What about the harem, I don't imagine that Chesra is doing that well."
"She evolved herself into a Warrior Nun, then she along with the rest of the harem were training all night. I just told them the plan to get Marco back so they are getting some more rest before the dead line."
"Ok, and what about you dear? You seem to just be hanging on by a thread."
"It's only been twelve hours and I've been coping the best I can. I'm not allowed to fall apart, I have to be strong for everyone else and it's exhausting. Alex has been by my side to keep me from going off the deep end."
"You've done a great job and if he were here Marco would be proud of all of you."
"I wish I could have been there for him. He didn't sound good when we spoke briefly but he still had his head on straight.” Her eyes began to feel heavy as she narrowed them. “This is the only time Richard and his harem are going to get a pass, if I ever see them again..."
"Would you like me to be there when you do the exchange? They have run afoul of luck and must pay for their actions."
Kelly shook her head slowly, though she would like to have Vana by her side she knew she had no control over the pokewoman. It was going to be hard enough keeping Chesra from crucifying those responsible. "Thank you for offering but we got it covered, the numbers have already been agreed upon and I don't want Marco to be surprised when he sees you."
"That was pretty elaborate for a lie, I'll give you credit for that. I will stay here then and help with lunch for when you all return. Now please, go and get some rest. Your head needs to be in the right place for everything to work out."
Kelly could feel the weight of her head pulling her down. "Perhaps you're right. Call me if anything changes or if you don't see me by 1215."
"Will do, I'll let the others know that you're resting and not to be disturbed right now."
"Any problems can be sent to Mina." Kelly turned the cup upwards, finishing the last of her coffee and teleported away.
Mina poked her head from around the corner then walked the rest of the way in to take seat next to Vana. "I can't believe she would leave me in charge, she must be out of it."
"I’m sure your putting sleep powder in her coffee didn't have a thing to do with it. But you were right, that little bit was just enough."
"Where did she go though, her room is right up stairs and she normally won't teleport in the building. Not since that cake incident."
The Lady Luck sat back in her chair and looked into her mug as a content sigh rolled out. "She went to his apartment, it smells like him and that brings her comfort."
Mina looked up with a mischievous grin. "Oh yeah, I'm going to remember that one the next time she irks me."
Vana's eyes narrowed as she looked to Mina. "Do something like that and you'll start building up bad karma."
Mina gulped nervously. "Understood."
____
1229, Indigo Plateau, Coliseum district
Kelly and the harem had teleported in by the pokécenter and continued to the stadium from there. There were few people around right now but when there was a televised battle to be held the streets would be a mad house of activity. This was even worse when the league finals were being held. Streets would be cordoned off and the sidewalks would be full of food and game stands. Young children and pokékits would enjoy the carnival type rides and attractions, and the police would be out in force to make their presence known.
Today though, the only activity on the streets were a few cyclist, people out enjoying the fresh air, and tamers going to register for the next championship tournament. Then there was the guy surrounded by pokégirls walking down the sidewalk.
As with normal prisoner transfers his hands were chained to his waist and stuffed into his pockets. The chains were fairly thin but were also razor sharp and any extreme movements would cause them to dig in to the flesh underneath. All of his personal belongings were kept in a see through hard plastic case and stuffed inside a poképack. Mundane as it looked, the plastic was rated that only a x3 strength rating or better could open it without damaging its contents. They were doing a transfer in the public, in broad day light, with civilians around. Needless to say, everyone was tense and putting on a face to make it look like they were there for a good time.
The group had finally made it to the stadium and were only slightly surprised at what they found. Richard was sitting calm as could be drinking a cup of coffee. Gwyneth looked around the area and noticed the large bag of Blow Hole Doughnuts or Blownuts as they were normally called and a box of Coffee. The group made their way over to the other table and took a seat. Kelly was looking just as innocent as always but Gwyneth knew that she was very dangerous. The rest of the harem just didn't look directly in their direction but they knew they were being watched. They sat for fifteen minutes, neither side wanting to make the first move.
The ring of her phone almost made the Dark Lady jump out of her skin. "Hello?"
Kelly waved to her in a friendly manor before she spoke. "Good to see you again, the blownuts are a peace offering, a gesture of good faith if you will. I see that we are both military considering our captives are in the same state and we are all here early. Would you like to do this now or wait till the designated time?"
Gwyneth put on her best smile, as much as it pained her, and waved back. "I guess we can wait till the top of the hour before the switch. It's good to see you've been taking good care of Richard; I sadly can't say the same for Readman."
Kelly's smile wavered for a microsecond and she quelled the anger that was building up inside. "It was no trouble at all. We really must get together and discuss things one day."
She could feel the venom in the Duelist words and replied in turn. "That would be lovely, but we can save it for another time."
Time seemed to crawl by while the two groups were waiting for the deadline. Gwyneth had given up on the Duelist and found her attention completely on Chesra. The two were staring daggers at each other and one could almost see the tension in the air.
A patrolling OfficerJenny started to approach the two groups. Even though nothing appeared to be out of place her sixth sense was screaming danger. This feeling was amplified when she got closer and nothing but unfriendly eyes were looking her up and down. Against her better judgment she decided to ask what they were all doing there.
"Good afternoon sir, are you the legal guardian of this pokékit?"
Richard looked puzzled for a moment then realized that she must have been talking about the Duelist sitting next to him. "That's a pokégirl not a pokékit, and yes she is currently with me."
The officer tapped her foot impatiently and looked at the rest of the women at the table. "Well I'm going to need you to recall her and rerelease her just to be sure."
"I don't have a pokéball for her right now, may I ask why you are bothering us? We are just sitting here minding our own business."
"Because she looks like a pokékit and would be way too young to be in your harem. Now you can either recall her or you can come down to the station."
By this point Kelly wanted to hop over the table and break the officer’s neck. Instead she pulled out her ID and placed it on the table. "There ya go, now read it and get lost."
"That is a very rotten attitude you have there. Would you mind handing me the card?"
"Yes I would, we are all very busy and your interruption is not very welcome. Now you can either pick that ID up, read it, and leave. Or you let it sit there and then you leave. But either way you need to go."
The fierce look in the Duelist eyes made the officer waver for a moment. Finally her training was kicking in and she was going to make them do as she instructed. "I am an officer of the Indigo League and you will do as I say or I will have to arrest you, for refusal to obey a lawful order."
Kelly placed her hands calmly on the table and looked at the officer. "Where to start? You asked the tamer I'm with if he was my guardian before confirming whether or not I was a pokékit. He informed you that I in fact am a pokégirl not a pokékit. You then asked him to recall me and release me to be sure, which was reasonable. He informed you that I do not have a pokéball and asked why you were bothering us. You responded with unnecessary attitude and gave an order that he already admitted he would not be able to follow. At that point you issued an unlawful order." She reached over and took a sip of her coffee before continuing. "Now considering that I am very touchy about my appearance and you have been offending me the entire time, I placed my ID on the table for you to read it. But you insist I go the extra mile and hand it to you. By now it should be painfully clear that I'm a pokégirl, a Duelist if you're wondering what breed. Now you have three options from here. You can either: look at my ID and move along, you can just leave and forget you ever saw us, or things can escalate and you attempt to arrest us. I warn you though, that last one is career suicide."
It was perfectly clear by this point that she was no child and the threat at the end made the officer swallow hard. It was the Indigo Plateau after all, the capital of the Indigo League; it was hard to tell who or what kind of official she was dealing with. It was true that they still had to adhere to the law, but harassing one was never a good idea. She grabbed the ID from the table and looked it up and down. Though sheer will alone she kept from dropping the card and running from the area as fast as she could. Instead she placed it gently back on the table and slid it in front of its owner.
"My apologies for disturbing you, I was just trying to do my job."
Kelly took one of the extra cups and poured coffee into it. "Under normal circumstances I would commend you for it. Right now though, take this as a mutual apology and be on your way."
The officer took the paper cup gratefully and nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Just leave and don't return for the next hour, we should all be gone by then."
The officer left and Richard's phone rang just as she went around the corner. When Kelly answered the low laughter of the Dark Lady was the first thing she heard. "That was quite the show, for a moment I was considering making a ruckus just to see how you handled things."
"It would have been a shame to kill a perfectly good Jenny just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But now that I have exhausted all of my patience let’s get this over with. When Richard stands up I want Marco to do the same. Richard will leave his belonging on the table closest to you and Marco will do the same for his stuff. We will check and make sure that everything is there and then we will leave."
Gwyneth scoffed and looked directly at Kelly. "I've done a transfer before. You got here first so I assume you already have the teleport jammer set up."
"That's right, as soon as everything is verified we will go our separate ways and I'll turn the jammer off."
"Fair enough."
Both Marco and Richard stood up at the same time and started their walk. There were three tables between the two groups and they both were steadily approaching each other in the middle. The two men made eye contact and Richard moved his head as if to signal to the middle table. Marco nodded in agreement then looked over to Kelly and his waiting harem. In unison both men went to opposite ends of the table and sat down, placing their respective cases by their feed. Their harems were starting to get out of their seats but stern looks form each of their respective masters kept them in place.
"Colonel Marco Readman I guess."
"Richard Spencer of the IGS, I would shake your hand."
"But yours are chained to your sides too."
"Actually I was going to say I'd much rather shoot you. My time spent with Gwyn wasn't the best in the world."
Richard's face hardened at the reply. "I guess you would know that I wasn't harmed by your girls. They are really friendly, at most a few threats here and there but it could have been worse. They're all really great."
Marco's face flew through a series of emotions before settling on grief stricken anger. "I know, but one of them is dead. Gwyn made a special effort to remind me of that as often as possible. You IGS guys employ some interesting information gathering techniques. It felt like forever before she finally listened to me and decided to call your phone."
Richard hadn't been alive much longer than Marco but he was sure that they both had similar training. Any information that the Dark Lady got was probably useless. "This would normally be the part where I apologize for your loss and what was done to you, but I can tell by the way you're looking at me it would be pointless. All I can say is I was just following orders."
"And as a proud honor bound member of the Indigo Military I can relate. Just like in the same capacity I will figure out who ordered my capture and being them to… some form of justice."
"'Some form of justice?' The way you phrased that makes me not want to be around for it."
The two men glanced back at the others harems. Marco's look of anger and disgust, the opposite of Richards who wished he had a team like that. "Trust me; you don't want to be there for that. Not sure if you've ever had your nails pulled off, but it's not a feeling you forget."
"You know... I think under other circumstances we would have been good friends. Rivals would work if we had some kind of understanding or respect for each other. But enemies are what we are now. I do have a few questions for you though. "
"I answered enough of those last night, not going to happen."
"... fair enough, I guess this is where we part ways." Richard grabbed his case and stood up to walk away.
Marco did the same but cleared his throat to get Richard's attention. "I will give you some friendly advice though. Tell whoever is bothering me to stop and you personally I better not see again. You took someone very special and important from me and this is the only pass you get. If you see me you better kill me or run. If I ever see you again, anywhere, under any circumstances, I don't care if you're a crossing guard or at a parent teacher conference, I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to make it take a long time."
"They say the pokégirl takes after the tamer and your Major said that if I weren't military my treatment would have been different. I'll count myself lucky that her attitude didn't mirror yours right then." Without giving a chance for reply Richard returned to his harem.
Once the two were back with their respective harems they set to the task of taking inventory for their belongings. The simple things like wallets and various weapons were simple enough to inspect. Pokédex and pokéballs were a problem all their own. The pokédex would be used to verify that the pokéballs were with their proper owners, but would be purged the moment they got to their base. There had been cases of tracking or viral programs hidden on them before and it became standard procedure.
A few minutes had passed and everything checked out. The two groups looked at each other one final time before heading their separate ways. Marco's group walked about five blocks down the street before turning off the jammer and teleporting home.
____
It had been a full day since they had gotten Marco back but he had been keeping his distance. Even Chesra and Kelly gave him space. Alexis had explained that he was still grieving over the loss of Henrietta and he just needed time. They Kelly and the betas had gone back to Cerulesbian to try and claim the body, but all the records of her arrival had been cleared.
The harem and the unit all found it strange that the only one he would be around was Carrie. If given thought it made sense. She couldn't talk and knew he didn't understand sign language, so the best she could do was be by his side. Patiently listening when he would speak, this wasn’t often.
Alexis had done a medical screening when he arrived and was appalled at the poor job that was done. There were various cuts and burns that had been healed but left to scar over. But the most awful was the four spiral lines running the entire length of his left arm. From what she could tell, someone had wrapped wires around his arm then heated them. Worst was that he didn't want those healed.
Night was beginning to fall when Chesra teleported onto the rifle range. She found Marco and Carrie sitting together watching the sunset behind the mountains. From behind them she could barely see the rifle that he was holding, it was Henrietta's favorite. Chesra could still remember the times when the two of them still weren't getting along. She would come to the range and blow off some steam. After they became friends they would go there together and work on his aim.
As it got darker Carrie had disappeared from her vision and Marco appeared to just be there alone. "Carrie, go ahead and go back, we will be in shortly." The faint rustling of the grass and the sound of retreating footsteps were all that signaled her request was acknowledged. This was the first time she had spoken to him since he had gotten back. "How are you doing?"
He didn't respond initially, taking a deep breath and clutching the rifle. "I see you evolved, I guess if you were going to fight a Dark Lady a Warrior Nun could stand toe to toe."
She noticed that he didn't answer and wasn't willing to pry just yet. "Yes sir, do you not approve?"
"If it weren't for the fact that we already know each other I would be more upset. Right now I'm just happy that you're ok. I wish you didn't feel the need to do that but I understand why."
"We were all desperate to get you back; Kelly already reamed me for that. She wouldn't let me help interrogate Richard, it was probably for the best."
"Go and get her." There was no emotion to his words just an order that he wanted followed.
Chesra felt distant as she looked at his back and teleported away before he repeated himself. Moments later she teleported back with Kelly coming in seconds later. "You wanted to see me sir?"
Again he didn't bother answering the question. "How was Richard treated when you were questioning him?"
"Aside from his bullet wound being healed we didn't do anything physical to him. I asked questions, Alex monitored his responses, and we continued from there. Did we do something wrong?"
"That's not what I asked, how was he treated?" Marco didn't snap at her but his tone gave away his irritation.
Both Kelly and Chesra were confused. She was certain that she answered the question but didn't know what he wanted. More importantly she was afraid to ask. "We... we... when Chesra realized that it wasn't you she grabbed she placed him in a confinement room. After the dealings at the club we all returned and Alex and I went to see him. Alex did the healing while I went through his belongings. After the first round of questioning Ashley brought him dinner and we called it a night." Marco still hadn't turned to face either of them yet. "The next morning Selena took him breakfast and not too much later Alex and I started the questions again. During that time was when his Dark Lady called. After the phone call he was taken to the showers to get cleaned up, we had guards stationed the whole time, then he was taken back to his room to await the transfer." Kelly was starting to get nervous, he simply sat there waiting for her to finish. "With the exception of his discovery, he was not harmed or verbally abused in any fashion... that's... that's everything."
A handful of minutes had gone by and nothing was said. The silence was unnerving Kelly and Chesra but before they could say anything he finally spoke. "Good job." His voice was low to the point of being inaudible.
"Sir?"
"I said good job," he repeated in a louder tone. "He's not harboring any ill feelings to any to anyone here and I will use that to my advantage." Chesra and Kelly could hear the slide of a handgun ratchet then the sound was repeated a second time.
For the first time since they had been there they saw him move. The rifle was carefully slid onto his shoulder and he stood up, turning to face them. They could see the two handguns he carried in his hands and gave questioning looks to him. Even though Henrietta could summon her own weapons Kelly recognized them as ones Henrietta used to win a shooting competition against another unit. “Sir… is there something you… what are those for?”
“Go get the harem and the unit; we’re going to give Henrietta a final send off.”
Throughout the evening everyone had gathered on the range to pay tribute to their fallen sister in arms. Each firing a shot from one of her personal weapons. Marco was the last one to go. Her prized rifle held firmly in his hands. With a shaken breath he fired three rounds to complete the Twenty-one Gun Salute and slid a final round out of the magazine.
Finally he was starting to feel better. 'I failed to protect a friend, my subordinate, and a loved one... I guess now I get to choke on my own saying. If it didn't hurt, you didn't learn anything.' He slid the rifle round into his pocket and looked skywards. "I want to thank everyone for putting up with me while I come to terms with this. Her death will not be for nothing and will be avenged."
Chesra stepped to his side and spoke softly. "She died doing what she felt was necessary, protecting you. If she were here she would not want you to dwell, but instead remember the times you had together. If given the chance she would do it all over again, and everyone here would do it in her place."
Marco smiled weakly, he could understand the sentiment but it wasn't something he wants to hear. "As your commanding officer I am very proud to hear that. But as a tamer to you, and a friend to the others, that's a sacrifice I don't want any of you to ever have to make."
"That's not your decision Master, it's ours to make." Said Jean, she had seen how much he cared for everyone and how they cared for him. "You're a rare kind of person with a good heart. Don't let what has happened change you."
Before he could answer her he felt a pair of arms slide around his waist as someone hugged him tightly. Though he looked down he couldn't see the arms and reached down to where they were touching. The rough feel of the skin was Carrie for sure. "Thanks for keeping me company. Change is inevitable."
Kelly was relieved to hear his tone revert back to the caring man she knew he was. "Change is who you are and what you do. You create changes in others that they will benefit from.” It was true that over the half the unit was comprised of not outright criminal, but misunderstood pokégirls. “If it weren’t for you, most of us would be dead, feral, or in very crappy harems with little freedom.”
“I suppose you are right.”
_____
The secret location... in North Indigo… about 53 miles from Indigo Plateau
The large billow of smoke escaped The Gentleman, his irritation was certain. “… so let me get this straight. You actually DID capture Readman, and you managed to Kill one of his girls… then you gave him back?”
“They capture Master and we traded to get him back.” Explained Gwyneth.
“Yes I read that part, you were also in the Indigo Plateau, not even five miles from the main facility. You didn’t contact me or anyone else; we could have set up an ambush and taken them all from there.”
The Dark Lady tapped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. “Well if you read the report then you know that the only thing that would happen there was a blood bath, and it was going to start with Master and Readman. I was there when we tried to capture the Duelist and it failed.”
The older man didn’t like the tone he was getting from her and sat forward in his chair. “Well then why didn’t you just recall the pokégirls when you had a visual?”
Richard finished getting dressed and stepped in to the room taking a seat for himself. “Both groups are military, standard protocol for having your pokéball stolen is to transfer over to a backup ball. I’m not going to condemn Gywn for what she did, I WILL for not healing Readman properly but not for getting me out alive. Now unless you have further orders for me, I’ll be going.”
The area behind the Gentleman hazed for a second and Delilah appeared behind him. “Delilah, where you around when all of this was going on?”
“Yes I was.”
Richard arched an eyebrow and glared at the girl. The Dark Queen was just as imposing as ever, her glowing yellow eyes seemingly looking though everything around her. “Could you have assisted us in capturing?”
Delilah shook her head, her deep brunette hair waving behind her. “Observation and documentation, I will say though that Gwyneth made the right choice in attempting to get Spencer back. He is a perfect match for Readman.” The Gentleman reached out to grab Delilah but she moved to the side and out of his reach. “Do not assume you can just touch me when you like, if I’m going to assist you then you will take the help when I offer and be happy with it.”
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard from the older man and his hand ignited burning the armrest of his chair. “Whatever, Spencer your new orders are the same as your old ones. This time though I don’t need to see him. That is DOA, whichever one you’d like. Don’t care when you do it, don’t care how you do it, just get it done.”
“And how do you expect us to do that sir? Gwyneth actually tried to teleport to their HQ but I guess they turned the jammers on. It’s far too dangerous for us to just try and walk on… to the… I have a question?” Richard thought for a few seconds about something he was told and decided it was worth asking. “Did you ever… try calling him in?”
“That did cross my mind, but if he tells people that he has a meeting and then he goes missing, this will be the first place they start investigating. As for what you’re getting at, I’ll have scouts planted in all of the various gyms and plant a tracker on his Pokédex again. Never the less, you are going to be the one hunting him down.”
“Why me?” Asked Richard.
“You can call it a second chance at a capture, a punishment for not getting the job done, or praise for surviving the encounter with the elite pokégirls of Avalanche.” Explained Delilah.
The Gentleman cleared his throat. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. No matter what the reasoning is, you’re the man for the job. Now go, I’ll let you know when it’s time.”
_____
|
Alpha- Kelly- Duelist |
|
Delta |
Echo |
Indigo |
|
Beta- Chesra- Armsmistress |
KIA- Henrietta- CalamityJane |
Beta- Mina- Kunoichi |
|
Emaline- FireMaiden |
Field Beta Selena- Caphoochie |
Renae- IceMaiden |
|
Arianna- War Hound |
Alexis- Cherub |
Isabella- Mecha Musume |
|
Kim- Bombshells |
Rebecca- Smokey |
Zianna- Lupina |
|
Nikki- SexSlash |
Lily- Gloomy |
Leona- Lamia |
Harem
Chesra- Alpha
Carrie- Penance
Ashley- Peekabu
Jean- Nogitsune