Ch.15 Perception of Death

 

Maximum Security League Corrections Facility, 'Big Jenny', 0645

 

Disciplining pokégirls in the Indigo League was as simple a matter as it was in every other league in the world. It generally started with confiscation and from there any number of horrible things were on the menu. For the rare it meant being handed over to the Hunter's Guild to be 'reformed'. This was the PC way of saying repeatedly raped until their minds were numb then handed off to guild members as needed.

The not so rare and some rare still were generally fortunate to be euthanized for pokéchow, poképower or other poképroducts and that be it. Otherwise the girl in question could end up in one of the many programs researchers ran. This ranged from behavioral studies, fertility state, and taming habits to checking for enhancements and elemental weaknesses, the latter being 'Testing to Destruction'.

Humans who broke the law had it far easier. Generally it was the result of doing something stupid or letting their pokégirl do something stupid. Fines were normal and jail time was used to produce necessary items or help with construction projects and cheap labor. These were normally the run of the mill petty crimes such as petty theft, public indecency, drunk in public, and disturbing the peace. Then there was what lies beyond that.

‘Big Jenny’ housed some of the worst the league had to offer. Members of criminal team made up the majority of its occupants, along with murderers, human rapist, burglars, and kidnappers. Since being in a criminal team usually meant that the person fell into one or more of those categories  it was no surprise they were all lumped together. No one serving time in Big Jenny would be there for anything less than ten years, with the average being twenty-five and the worst of the worst getting life or the death penalty.

Big Jenny herself was the first maximum security prison constructed after the emergence of criminal teams. Made by the same team responsible for the construction of the Indigo League IRS building the prison was on a large piece of land in the middle of nowhere. The surrounding community was mostly made up of the prisons employees with the general fair of shops and recreational activities.

The Prison was separated into different quadrants. Males had one side while females had the other and then they were split again between those who had blood gifts and those who didn't. The staff of the prison was slightly diverse and while there were human officers they were heavily supplemented with pokégirls. Officerjenny were in the majority of the pokégirls while a dedicated few Nightnurse ran the infirmary. Iron Chef assisted human cooks while various Elf pokégirls home grew whatever vegetables were needed. A real slap in the face to criminal team inmates came in the form of the Calamityjane and their evolutions heading up the blood gift wings. A little extra force was required to keep potentially dangerous and gifted humans in line and the multiple evolutions of GhostRider were tailored to the situation.

The warden along with his LawFoxx and Fight Rider ran the prison and lived out in the surrounding town. While Big Jenny was a league run facility no one understood the prison or the inmates better than Warden Barnett and his girls. His facility was the perfect model of maintained order and any who attempted to disrupt the order were punished severely.

Naturally escape attempts had been made but usually ended in failure. Trying to overcome the guards physically was impossible for humans and only authorized pokégirls were allowed inside. Riots had occurred in the past but were quelled with remarkable speed using the help of physical and psychic abilities.

_____

 

It was time for the morning shift change so the guards would be switching out. One of the minor security issues that had never been given much thought was actually with the pokégirls themselves. Having a multitude of girls that were genetically the same meant that with the exception of slight differences in height, hair style or color, and possibly accents they all looked the same. This caused some slight confusion and gave the girls a little leverage when it came to trading shifts. Sarah made her way into the changing area to get her unflattering work uniform on. The uniforms for females and pokégirls were purposefully made to be bulky and distort their figures. The government had deemed it cruel to have attractive guards teasing the inmates, intentionally or not. Roll call would be in a couple of minutes so she couldn't afford to be late.

"Morning Sarah, how was the weekend?" Greeted one of the other Jennies.

"Uneventful as always." She responded quickly. "Yours?"

"Same old same old... You sound different, catching a cold?"

"Little bit of a sore throat, should be fine by the end of the day though."

"Right, I heard there was some kind of bug going around. Did you check the duty posting on the way in?" Sarah coughed once to clear her throat and shook her head. "We have the male wings this week." She sighed. "There's nothing to see and they still make comments."

From the other side entered a Calamityjane and Ghostrider. The Jane chuckled as she started stripping out of her civilian clothes. "Poor bastards won't be getting any for a while, may as well let them dream."

The Ghostrider laughed as well. "Well I'm sure these walls may have seen more than their share of hot prison romance. At least before they started doing one inmate per cell." She checked her watch and began to rush. "Better hurry, you know how they hate it when we're late."

~~~~~

 

The day had progressed with little issue and it was time for yard hours. In the center of the prison was the greenhouse where the elves grew their vegetables as well as the central guard tower. From the tower the whole courtyard was visible and guards patrolled the outer walls at regular intervals. Fences separated the male and female sections and any inmates getting within ten yards were asked to back away nicely before action was taken. It was just as well considering the two sides weren't allowed to interact with each other.

Time in the yard was the only time those with blood gifts got to interact with those who didn't have any. There was generally some mild resentment between the two sides but certain individuals had things fairly easy depending on what powers they had. If a person could create fire then lighting cigarettes was a quick way to make friends. One such individual sat alone smoking, well away from the majority of the population. He was an older man but a fresh inmate, only being sent there a few months ago.

Sarah had spotted the man and made her way over as she conducted her rounds. The other guards stayed close to the larger groups to make sure everything was civil so there was no one around him. "Afternoon." She greeted with a cheery smile.

The man hardly gave her a glance. "Unless I've done something wrong you have no reason to bother me. Leave me be."

Sarah's voice changed slightly as she let out a quiet laugh. "That's a fine greeting, former Chief of the League Alphonso Haures."

Now she had his attention. "Do I know you?"

"I'm a little hurt, how could you forget the voice of your huntress."

_____

 

Avalanche Office

 

That time off was exactly what the unit needed before getting back in the swing of things. Carrie and Kelly were back on positive terms with each other and Mina's fears were laid to rest. Tam had rejoined the unit and was welcomed back with the relentless Ex Training session. True to her word Kelly had contacted General Butcher to inform him of the training and Hiyori was sent along to take part. Little did he know it was a package deal. Butcher, Marisa, and Teá took part too.

The experience turned out to be quite educational and enlightening for everyone involved. Marco discovered the hard way that Butcher was still combat ready and could fight on even terms despite his age. Equally, Kelly discovered that Hiyori wasn't the prissy bitch she originally thought. Going toe to toe against the Dire Wolf was an opportunity none was willing to pass up and while the majority of her fights went well others proved to be much more difficult. The Alpha and Betas all proved to be formidable in their own ways while Zianna did her best to try and match her blow for blow.

The true reason behind the training session was for Marco to get a better picture on Jean's new abilities. Her evolution into the mystical and highly sought after Kyubi wasn't as big a shock as she had hoped for and while her physical abilities were still on the meager end of the spectrum her psychic and ghost abilities were hard to combat. Hiyori, Chesra, Mina, and Alexis were all on hand for her test and it was discovered that with careful manipulation of her energy the dark-types were still susceptible to her illusions. In the same light the impressive psychic minds of Hiyori and Alexis continued to have a difficult time telling what was real and what wasn't.

Alexis was quite impressed with Jean's ability to come up with reasonable illusions to test the teams but she knew there was potential for more. Having a base understanding how to strike fear and manipulate emotions was one thing but after the Cherub was done Jean would have the knowledge and understanding destroy her opponents without laying a finger on them. Thanks to Dream Time and Jean's newly enhanced intelligence it didn't take long for her to grasp the advanced concepts of psychology. What was already a dangerous and cutthroat pokégirl was being honed into a devastating and relentlessly precise adversary.

It took a lot of convincing, just bordering on begging, but Kelly and Chesra got Marco to let the Imp join in the unit. It was discovered that Ilene was a former assistant at Vale and while still a poor spell caster under optimal circumstances, she was capable of teaching the two pseudo mages a great deal. Her usefulness didn't end with magic either. Isabella was able to put her ability to reduce size to great use when working on tiny electronics.

It was unfortunate but Chris and Ariel couldn't get the time off to join in the training. Even though the criminal ring behind her abduction had been dissolved something about the area still seemed off. Crime had dropped and the corrupt officers were dismissed but the difference could hardly be felt. Marco had offered their services but the detective insisted that the police force could handle things.

~~~~~

 

The unit was getting set up for their leader's next gym battle and this one was going to be a struggle between the good news and the bad news. The good news was that Sapphron City's political stance was border line Pro-Pokégirl Rights. The bad news was that the city was roughly four times the size of Lavenderriere with a population to match. Trading the population size for the freedom to move around and not raise suspicion was considered well worth it in their eyes.

Given Marco's running trend for gym battles it was unlikely that going to register early would yield an immediate battle. Something always seemed to get in the way and it was that bad luck that kept allowing his enemies to stage their assaults. It was a cold truth but Avalanche was going to try their best to turn that predictability to their advantage.

Marco was still busy going over the lineup for the battle when something buzzed past his head and startled him. On reflex he flung his hand out and struck the object causing it to fall to the ground and smoke. Isabella rushed in seconds later, slightly upset at the destruction of her latest invention. 

"Colonel, what'd you do that for?" The Mecha Musume whined.

"How was I supposed to know what the hell that was... what the hell was that anyway?"

She picked up the pieces and gave it a once over before setting it on the table and letting Ilene off her shoulder. "It’s a quad-gyroscopic remote controlled drone with a miniature telescopic camera that sends both audio and visual data across astounding distances with limited stealth capabilities." She announced with much pride. "What's the damage look like?"

The imp had opened a small hatch and was peeking around inside. "Some of the electronics are fried, the motors are off line from the axis, and the solar panel is cracked."

"Sounds kind of flimsy?" Marco remarked, earning a hurt look from Isabella. "But if it does everything you say it does I can't wait until you have it working again." He added as a consolation. "How many are you planning to make?"

"I've already made two dozen. They've been in development for a while but after that incident on the island I decided to step up production. It's very intricate work but Ilene here is making things easier."

"Just trying to help out where I can. It's the least I can do for you all not killing me or having me conditioned." The Imp replied with a firm nod before enlarging her body and sitting on the edge of the table. "Thank you by the way."

Marco crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "That thanks belongs to Chesra, Kelly, and the others. Honestly I was still on the fence about keeping you around and that Moon Bunny was of absolutely no use to us. But I'm glad you've found your place."

"Thank you sir. So what are you working on?"

"I'm currently trying to figure out the battle order for the gym battle I'm planning on having. Sabrina Ortiz is said to be a top notch battler and just as ruthless as Integra. This is the first time I see it necessary to have both Henrietta and Chesra in the battle. Bernadette won't stand a chance and we can't afford to give up a round. Ashley isn't a bad choice but given her fighting style she may as well be a fighting type."

Isabella shrugged. "The same could also be said about Carrie. I've seen her battles."

"True but Carrie's powers combined with that sword also make her quite unpredictable. And then there's Jean."

"It's scary what she's capable of doing now. All things considered I'd say she is the best starter." 

"I reluctantly agree. I'll present the idea to the harem and let them decide." He thought for a moment longer then chuckled to himself. "Of course I could always take Kelly off the non-combat list and send her onto the battlefield."

"You know I wouldn't mind." Was heard from around the corner. Kelly had finished her morning run and stretched one last time before taking a seat in her chair. "It took me a while to figure out you were just placating me with that position on the harem."

Marco sucked in a breath and put on his best grin. "Oh am I now?"

"Come on, you're a horrible liar just like I am. Rietta and Ches are in control of the harem and the non-military harem members will only listen to them and you. I don't have any real say in what they can or can't do so I'm really just taking up a spot. Besides you made it quite clear that the harem is none of my business."

"Yep, knew that would come back to bite me." He groaned before urging her to come over then pulling her into his lap. "Well you're not wrong and if you really want to do a gym battle all you have to do is ask. Though I pity most girls who would have to fight you."

Kelly sighed and laid her head on his chest. "You always say the sweetest things when we back you into a corner. I know you would let me battle to my heart’s content but you need someone to lead the unit while there are people setting up to kill you, so I'll let you off the hook this time."

"Much appreciated, is everything else in order ladies?" He asked, addressing all three girls.

Isabella nodded quickly. "Yes Colonel, there's a hotel not far from the gym so that's our primary staging point in the city. I still can't believe that none of us thought to get everything ready the day before you register for your battle. This will give us a lot more time to get in position."

"She has a point. But, I guess last time we didn't know what to look for, and the gym battle was taking precedence as well as your other errands. Now we know the face of our enemy." Kelly guessed.

"Speaking of knowing the face of our enemy that was the reason I was giving the drone a test flight. After going through all the video data on your dex I came up with some reasonably clear shots of Evan Domico and Angelica Oran. My drones will be moving around the city and sampling facial data from anyone who comes into view of the cameras, if it registers either of them as being in the area we'll be alerted and all the drones will lock onto their positions."

"Too bad we don't have any information on Chuck Campbell. Sevon told us that he specialized in maidens and was known as The Wolf, other than that we have nothing." Marco griped then pulled up Angelica's picture on holo-screen. Sevon gave them every detail she could, including the reason behind the bad blood between the two Breakers. It just raised more questions about the female and left them in an awkward position where she was involved.

Kelly noticed the mental conflict he was having and tried her best to put him at ease. "If the Guard Maid was right then there's little chance of seeing her when we move. If we do though we can try and take her alive... but if it turns into too much of a hassle we'll be forced to take her down."

"I'll be leaving you in charge until my battle is done, do whatever you need to do."

~~~~~

 

Later that day Marco decided to meet with the harem to figure out who would be taking what positions. Bernadette and Ashley understood why they were ill suited for the battle and gracefully agreed to sit it out. There was no question in Chesra taking part but the other three each had their strengths and weaknesses for the battles. While it was true that both Jean and Carrie had gotten quite powerful since being in the harem and evolving, Henrietta was far stronger with more combat experience. That just left Jean and Carrie to decide between themselves and to everyone's surprise the Kyubi conceded instantly.

"I figured you wanted to test out your new powers in actual combat." Marco stated while still shocked. 

As he looked at her she appeared to be a little off. Her appearance since her evolution had changed only slightly, combining her personal preference with what she knew her master liked to see. She kept her fur though lightening it to a more fire red and turning the cream pure white. Her hair was much longer and done to resemble Carries style from Cerulesbian before the hearing while her ears remained as pointed normal fox ears. Even though she loved all nine of her tails she kept them sealed away to keep them out of the way. The only time she would let them free was when she was out in the open or when taming with Marco. He had a true appreciation for the look and feel of her tails so she made sure to keep at least one out when they slept together.

Today though she appeared to have trouble staying focused and appeared to be in a daze. Her eyes were dark and puffy signifying that she hadn't slept well. Marco placed a hand on her forehead and could feel how hot she was. When she was still a Dark Kitsune that was normal but now it could be the start of a problem.

"You've got a slight fever and it looks like you could use more rest. We can postpone the battle till you're feeling better."

"I'll be fine by tomorrow... I'm not sure about taming but are we still sleeping together?"

"Sure, but you go ahead, I'll check on you in a little bit." Jean nodded weakly then teleported away. "Well that takes care of that. Is everyone else feeling ok?"

"I believe so, it's not often we get sick but it hits hard when we do." Chesra replied. "I think the rest of us are fine to battle."

"Good to hear but I want you all checked out by Alex just to be certain. We head out in the morning so get it done today."

_____

 

Random location in the Indigo League

 

Evan was surprised at how quickly Arianna had taken to training his new girls and thought it was a shame that she wouldn't just relent and be loyal to Team Rocket. She didn't take excuses or no for an answer and anyone with the nerve to defy her was swiftly dealt with. She was still making death threats to Evan but she almost seemed to be playful about it now. Pamela feared the worst but couldn’t figure out what kind of game the War Hound was running.

The girls that were in training were beginning to behave like the first batch, stuck in a strange position between fear and awe. The Warcat, Mini-Top, Foxymaiden, and Vaporita would do whatever she commanded just to not be on her bad side. The Griffon decided to test her battle mode against her instructor and was successful until Arianna decided to use her powers. When the Darkness vanished Arianna was standing on the girl’s throat and seriously considering finishing her off as an example to the others.

They were all sitting around the campfire eating in silence, all except for Arianna. The War Hound sat in a tree looking over the horizon and thinking quietly to herself. She knew that sooner or later her new trainees would be called upon to fight against her unit and like the last batch they would fall.

"Miss. Arianna," Called the Vaporita. "Would you come here for a moment?"

The War Hound teleported from where she was to right behind the girl. "What is it?"

As usual the girl maintained her composure and turned around. "We had some questions about your old unit if you don't mind."

"I do mind, they are my family and I refuse to betray them anymore than I already have."

"It's nothing intrusive Miss. We were just wondering what they were like. It's obvious you care a lot for them and for a lot of us we've never been in a harem like that. What was it like to be a part of something so grand?"

Arianna took a seat on the ground and let out a soft laugh. "So you want to know what Avalanche was like. They are the best, hands down; they know it but will never openly admit it. As long as the colonel tells them there's someone out there who's better they will keep training. No one in the unit is a slave or tool to Colonel Readman. Everyone has their own space, their own opinions, and is free to express them even if they conflict with his. He never abused us and rarely raised his voice if he could help it. When it was time to train everyone was involved and everyone grew stronger together."

The Mini-Top took a bite of her stew and settled back. "Guy sounds like a bit of a pushover." She spoke abruptly before covering her mouth.

Arianna laughed when the others shushed her. "Oh you would think so; he has a vicious temper and wouldn't hesitate to put his foot down. But he also cared about us and no one wanted that to stop. And in case you think we were being blindly loyal he didn't tame us."

"He didn't tame you?! Then why listen to him?"

"How he got us to follow him was far crueler and much more effective..." She paused as they looked to her, each wondering what he did. "He respected us; body, mind, and soul. I was with him for ten years and even though I could tell he was interested he refused to tame any of us in the name of being fair. That changed a little when he became a tamer and took two from the unit with him... but that's neither here nor there. Those are the girls you have to fight against; Lord and Master Domico won't let me fight alongside you so your deaths are pretty much guaranteed."

The Foxymaiden shook her head. "Pretty much doesn't mean certain. If we fight as a team we might be victorious."

Sandra shook her head in disagreement. "As one of the two to survive that last fight against them and the only one of those two who actually fought, I can tell you now that it's not that easy. The girl I fought was more than just tough and they somehow took out a Crystalline Giantess. If we fight together then they fight together and if they fight together we're going to lose."

"Not going to say that you're filling me with much hope right now."

"Kind of makes me wonder why we're training so hard." Remarked the Warcat to the aggravation of the others.

The Foxymaiden shook her head and laughed. "Because if we don't Miss. Ari will kill us. The more we train the better our chances of survival."

_____

 

Edo League, Oran Residence

 

Sevon's return caught everyone by surprise. She had been gone for long enough that Phoebe had given up hope and was actively upset with Angelica. In the end she was overjoyed to see the Guard Maid return unharmed. Angelica was glad as well, she was beginning to think she was wrong about Marco but her assessment had proven true.

Even though everyone was glad to see the Guard Maid certain precautions had to be made. The first and most important was that Sevon was thoroughly tamed and her allegiance confirmed. After that she was interrogated for any information she had on Avalanche.  She was surprisingly reluctant to share information about them but she also didn't know much either. They had been very careful about what was said around her and sight alone wasn't enough to get an accurate picture of the unit composition.

Croma was obviously interested in Zianna considering the connection. Discovering that both of her sisters were alive came as a shock and put her in a very awkward position. The more she looked at a situation the less she liked about the direction things were headed in. If Evan failed his next attempt at killing Readman then all three Breakers would be called in to deal with the situation. Against those numbers even Avalanche would have problems.

In the days that had passed since Sevon's return Angelica and her harem returned to their training. She had been monitoring the data traffic for any mentions of Readman and coming up with her own plans for when he resurfaced. Officially, unless she was called on she didn't have to deal with him since she was on the other side of the planet. Unofficially she had her own plans to put in motion and was waiting for him to resurface so everything could be handled at once.

~~~~~

 

Angelica stood in the center of a ring of candles placed on post at various heights, focusing on the saké cups on the back of her hands. In the corner stood her master, a grizzled pokéwoman of a Grand Mistress, watching closely to make sure the form was correct. The precision and focus needed to perform the exercise and not get burned was critical considering the liquid in the cups was very flammable.

Angelica pulled in a calming breath and closed her eyes. "You are aware that I hate doing this."

"Which is a shame since you're good at it, begin."

Angelica raised one hand until it was just at eye level while pulling the other close to her chest. In a swift motion she dropped her raised hand and spun, catching the lowered cup with her palm and using the thrust from the other hand to snuff out a candle then catching the first cup on the back of her free hand at chest level. The movement was done and over within a few second and she didn't spill a drop.

As she continued her exercise the cups kept changing positions and getting harder to manage. By the time she was at the last candle one cup was teetering on her elbow while the other balanced on her shin. Slowly she rotated until lined up on the last candle and struck at a blazing speed. Thrusting forward with the cup holding arm, she clipped the wick with her finger tips then caught the cup that was on her shin, that same leg went back and gracefully cushioned the first cup on her calf before dropping to a knee.

"Well done Mistress, a flawless performance." The Grand Mistress spoke with pride. "I remember the first time you tried to do that."

Angelica set the cups on a table off to the side and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I remember you not telling me that you changed the liquid from water to vodka. Letting me set myself on fire wasn't nice."

"I know Mistress, but you did well without knowing. Had I of told you you would have been overly cautious." She said with a curt smile before going to her knees and handing over a towel.

Angelica followed suit and toweled off her head "I understand that now Sensei. Have the others been training like I asked?"

"Yes Mistress, I've been running them through the gauntlet since your request and return. Though you never explained why exactly."

"Soon we will be forced into a battle I'm not going to be happy with. Before that I want everyone to shake the rust off."

"So this concerns that man you have been ordered to kill. The kind hearted dangerous one. Croma said she did well against her opponent, but Phoebe will need to improve her skills if she intends to face that Wolf Queen again."

"Phoebe has no interest in that girl; her fight was for the sake of getting Sevon back. After we debriefed her no one was really interested in fighting Readman or his harem."  As she spoke her emotions leaked out projecting an aura of apprehension. She had a firm understanding of why they felt the way they did.

"I can understand their feelings. Most of the others were in the harems of soft hearted and kind tamers before they crossed your path and he may remind them of those people. But you've never been one to show mercy or your gentle side to anyone outside the harem. What makes this man so special?"

Angelica would never admit that she could be motivated by infatuation. Even if that were the case there was the woman that was fighting by his side as well as the harem that looked to him she would need to deal with first. Still, she needed to be honest with herself and her harem. "With scars like mine getting told you're beautiful doesn't go far... unless someone really means it. Something about him makes me nervous... a good kind of nervous."

The Grand Mistress reached out and took Angelica's hand. "I've been training you since you were just a child and I know why you're feeling this way. He sounds like a kindred spirit to you. But I don't want you to get your hopes up. You're his enemy and he's yours, something extreme must happen for you to even get close to him and even then I doubt he would trust you."

"Yes Sensei," She stood and bowed. "Any confrontation will be extreme when his girls are involved and with Evan calling on Campbell things are going to get intense... I do have a question for you though."

"You can always ask what you like."

"You've been with Team Rocket since before I was born, where do your loyalties lie?"

The Grand Mistress stood as well and looked into Angelica's eyes. "As they have been for the last thirty plus years, my loyalty is with you. You aren't like the others and I'm glad for that, but whatever direction you walk I'll be right behind you."

"Thank you."

The pair left the dojo and started down the dirt path. As they continued down towards the river a red light was seen flashing and warning them to stop. Further away there were three post set up with balloons tied to them and floating spastically in the harshly blowing wind. A minute had gone by while they waited and continued to watch the balloons. Suddenly all three exploded and the light flashed green.

Angelica pulled her pokédex from her side and checked the location of her Gun Valkyrie. The exact location was registered at a mile and a half way and forty feet off the ground. It was an impressive shot to make considering the distance and high wind speed. Even though the Gun Valkyrie was a natural sniper her Gun Bunny spotter deserved just as much credit.

"Nice shot girls, training is over for now." She spoke softly into the pokédex.

"We'll be in shortly Mistress." The pair replied before hang up.

The Grand Mistress nodded in approval. "Their accuracy almost makes up for how bad they are in hand to hand combat."

"That's not very nice Sensei. I'll be counting on their skills specifically when the time comes."

"I'm not saying anything you're not fully aware of Mistress. Though actual combat isn't their passion they are a perfect team when it comes to marksmanship."

_____

 

Sapphron City, 1000

 

When it came to sheer size and population most towns and cities paled in comparison to Sapphron City. Having the fourth largest population in the league and being the largest Pro-Pokégirl Rights city it was easy to see why it was so popular. The majority of that popularity came from Silph Co. being primarily located there, most tamers found it cheaper to get pokéballs from the source.

The members of the harem that had never been there marveled at the sights and sounds of the city in the early morning. Dozens of people appeared to be moving one way or the other and while there were plenty of humans roaming around there appeared to be just as many unattended pokégirls. As expected that made it all the easier for Avalanche to slip in undetected.

It pained Marco to leave Jean at home but she hadn't gotten better like she expected and carrying her around on his belt wasn't going to do her any good. The rest of the harem had checked out healthy and the Kyubi insisted that they shoot for the gym badge without her. Times like these made him wish he had kept more girls that he had captured. But he favored quality over quantity and the six that made up his harem were very high quality girls.

"Jean would have loved this place." Ashley commented as she watched shops open and people move around.

"Not like she hasn't been here before." Henrietta replied. "She helped win a badge against an assistant gym leader but was promptly sold after her usefulness was up."

Carrie shook her head in disgust. "What an idiot that tamer was, bet they'd want her now."

"The same could be said about you too love." Marco spoke softly while pulling the Mistress and Piratit close. "You're a very rare breed of pokégirl and most tamers would pay a fortune for you."

"You always say the sweetest things."

Ashley waved her tail in mock irritation. "Well excuse me for just being uncommon."

"Very funny Ashe, you ended up being worth ten times what I paid to get you."

"You mean I wasn't worth that from the very start." She joked back.

Chesra hit her lightly on the top of the head. "No one here forgot what you were like in the beginning. But you straightened up eventually."

"Oh? And you two were both model pokégirls when Marco got you?"

Marco laughed when Henrietta started the innocent whistling. "Chesra was for the most part; Henrietta knocked out one of my teeth and almost broke my neck."

"Oh come on, I thought you forgave me."

"And I did. One can always forgive but one can never forget."

"Smart ass." As they got closer to the gym she noticed the small crowd gathering around a van. "Oh what fresh hell is that about?"

Closer inspection revealed the van to be part of the broadcasting team from the Pokégirl Sports Network. Cameragirls were roaming the area and taking photos of passersby while the announcers were speaking to gym assistants. The conversation didn't look like it was going in the favor of announcers. Of course Marco remembered them from the battle in Cerulesbian City. 

"I think we have yet another reason for me to be attacked after the battle." He said quietly as they attempted to sneak by without being seen. Little good that did, just when he thought he had gotten away clean the yell of his name stopped him dead in his tracks. "And here we go."

The business suit wearing Farfuck'd ran up enthusiastically and greeted them with a beaming smile. Marco's first impression of the girl after discovering what breed she was was suspect at best with her reminding him of human or pokégirl Weather Bunnies. "I knew it was you! Now we might have something worth recording."

"Ms. Riko, how's it going this morning?"

"A lot better now that you're here and it's going to be Mrs. Doyen soon. Greg and I are getting married." She clapped happily while showing off her ring.

'I'm not even going to ask.' "Congratulations, so how are things great now that I'm here?"

"With Sadie Pokén's starting next week and the gyms being closed until the following week we're looking for some great battles to end the week with. Naturally that means going to the toughest gyms we can find."

"Naturally."

Greg threw his hands into the air and made his way over to them. "They say the gym won't be opened for battles for another eight hours and even then they're not sure if Miss. Ortiz will agree to the televised battle."

"Shit, Greg, you remember Mr. Readman don't you?" Riko motioned towards the group.

"Right, from Cerulesbian City, that broadcast was a hit. So what brings you to Sapphron?"

Marco let out a sigh but then thought better of the situation. "Pokégirl battle, or that's what I was planning but if what you said was true then I may need to hold off until tomorrow."

Riko latched on to Greg's arm. "We can't let this opportunity pass us by, there has got to be something we can do to get this battle on the air."

Ashley started to giggle to herself as an idea formed in her head. "Oh man, Kelly is going to be so pissed at me."

"Want to clue us into what's so funny Ashe." Marco asked while scratching her head.

"You can call Kasumi, I bet you she can do some convincing on your behalf."

"Yep, Kelly would strangle you, Ashley has a point though. Kasumi mentioned her and Sabrina being on good terms with each other so it couldn't hurt to give it a try." Henrietta laughed.

Marco grumbled something inaudible, pulled the pokédex from his belt, and dialed out while stepping away from the group. When the video receiver picked up on the other side he was greeted to the topless form of the petite redhead rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and still looking dazed. He honestly wanted to look away but couldn't move his head.

"Marco? It's ten in the morning, what's the matter?"

"Can you put a shirt on or something? I have a favor to ask you and it's hard to concentrate."

She disappeared off screen for a couple of minutes then came back with a bathrobe on. "You're no fun (yawn), what can I do for you this morning?"

"I'm in Sapphron City with PSN and am trying to get a battle with Sabrina Ortiz. The gym section is still closed and won't open for another eight hours, even then it was said she may not agree to the televised battle. Is there anything you can say to change her mind?"

"Sure, she and I share a few common bonds and get along famously. I'll give her a call and see what the deal is."

"Thanks, I'll owe you one."

"Give me a real date and we'll talk about how you can pay me back."

"Forward as always, I'll see you later." He hung up and went back to find his harem chatting it up with the announcers. "Kasumi said she was going to make a call and see what she can do. What are you all going on about?"

"I was just telling them how much they've changed since the last time I saw them. Everyone looks different except for Ashley here. Where's your Alpha and the Dark Kitsune?" Riko continued chatting while Greg had gone off to speak with the producer.

"Oh Jean? She's a Kyubi now and she's not feeling well. Kelly is at home taking care of her."

That was partially a lie. Kelly and the rest of the unit were already roaming around the city. Isabella's drones were in place as well but wouldn't be activated until Marco had started his match. Ten minutes had gone by while the two groups talked when Kasumi teleported in with Sapphire. The tiny Gym Leader was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and sipping at a cup of coffee when she spotted the group.

Though groggy and a little out of it she was still was quite happy to see Marco and his harem. "Morning Marco and harem."

"Morning... are... are you hung-over?" He asked with a slight laugh.

"It was a hell of a party, so yeah... little hung-over. Damn it's bright out here." She explained then took another sip of her coffee.

"Sorry to disturb you, you didn't have to get out of bed for this?"

"Brini insisted that I see her in person to hash out the request. She should be out shortly." The doors to the gym seemingly opened outward on their own and out strolled Sabrina. Quickly the Cameragirls shifted around to start taking pictures of the ominous and powerful Gym Leader. "And she says she needs to work on her charisma."

The two Gym Leaders approached each other and stood face to face long enough for some photons to be taken then shook hands and gave each other a hug. Sabrina was a good bit taller than Kasumi but photos would look great after editing. "Kasumi, you're looking well." Sabrina spoke in an almost monotone with a hint of irritation, her long dark green hair being held in place by psychic power.

"You too Miss. Dark and Brooding."

"Pleasantries finished, what's this favor you need, we are having some technical issues at the moment."

"I've heard; the gym won't be opened for another eight hours?"

"Yes, there was a break in last night. Minor vandalism but our computer network was tampered with. Even with the technicians and Video Girls working on it it's going to take some time to repair. Now, your favor?"

"Right to business I see. I have someone I want you to meet, Mar..." Kasumi began to call over.

"You're going to introduce me to Marco Readman, the man who bested you in a gym battle and are currently interested in." She spoke abruptly while maintaining her monotone.

"... You could strip the color out of a rainbow you know that." She laughed and motioned him over. "Yes, this is Marco Readman, Marco please meet Sabrina Ortiz."

He greeted her with a smile and stuck his hand out to shake hers. The second they touched a shock went through Sabrina's body. Her mind was quickly invaded with images of the man she was touching. A grim premonition of his fallen body with his harem gathered around him. Never the less she kept her composure and didn't let on what she saw. Experience had taught her that the premonitions weren't always right and getting someone riled up over a mistake never ended well.

"Miss. Ortiz, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, since you're the reason behind this meeting and the favor is more so yours than Kasumi's what can I do for you?"

"Right to the point, I'd like a gym battle with you after the gym is opened again."

"That's fine; we can even run the battle on PSN like the announcers are hoping for." She said quickly before turning to walk off.

Marco gave a slight smile and a chuckle at the situation. "That... seemed fairly painless."

The Gym Leader turned slightly. "You say that now but wait until the battle starts. One of the few things Kasumi and I have in common is that we don't get to battle often. Most tamers don't have the fortitude to win against us. I'll see you tonight at eight, be prepared." Sabrina started to leave again but stopped when a thought hit her. "Kasumi, I need to see you inside before you leave... it's important."

"I'll be right in." Kasumi waved before turning her attention back to Marco. "That went well."

Riko walked up moments later along with a Cameragirl. "That went great; we got everything we needed to promote the fight. Photos of the handshake, an awesome sound bite, and Kasumi where you were standing, just perfect. This will make a great commercial."

"Glad someone is happy about this." Marco sighed heavily.

"Don't worry, your harems gotten a lot stronger since you fought me. Sabrina is tough but I think you can handle it. I'll see you after the battle tonight, now for me to see what she wants."

"Thanks again Kasumi." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and watched her walk off. "Guess we better get prepared."

_____

 

1500, 'Big Jenny', Common Area

 

The inmates of Big Jenny were afforded quite a number of luxuries as long as they were on good behavior. Of those luxuries watching TV was seen as a simple way to pass time. Though the guards had the final say in what was on the inmates got to vote on what programs they watched. Since the majority of the population was male sports and news were in heavy demand. The guards didn't care; it kept them occupied so watching them was much easier.

Haures sat back and pretended to watch the TV while he thought about the plan to get out. Andzral was now in the form of a Calamityjane so she could be in the blood gift wing and had been watching over him. Due to the nature of the facility there wasn't much time for them to be alone or update him on recent events. She had learned a lot about the guard rotations and specific areas in the weeks she had been working there. She had also run into other Team Rocket members who were serving time but they weren't important to her.

The TV channel was turned to PSN and was running highlights of tamer battles that had been held at various locations across the league as well as the placements for the morning's Prussian Derby races. Haures's ears perked up and he gazed towards the screen when he heard the name Marco Readman. True to their word the Cameragirls had put together a flashy commercial, showcasing highlights from Marco's match in Cerulesbian City and some of the best matches Sabrina had fought in before ending with the glamorized photo of the two of them shaking hands. 

Fire erupted from Haures's hand as he thought back to how he got put in prison in the first place. The other inmates quickly began to move away as the guards moved to surround him. Excessive use of powers was strictly forbidden and measures were quickly taken to quell potential riots.

An Aqua Rider moved in quickly to confront him. "Prisoner 47384, stop using your powers immediately or you'll be detained and thrown into solitary."

The flames tapered out and he stood up with his hands raised. A Calamityjane came up behind him and motioned for him to move. "I'll take him back to his cell." The Aqua Rider nodded and went to regain order with the other prisoners. After they had gotten out of earshot Andzral spoke up. "Is everything ok Master?"

"That bastard Readman is still alive and will be doing a battle in Sapphron City. I guess Domico's been slacking on trying to kill him."

"He tried but got beaten by the rest of Avalanche based on what the report said. But he claims there were technical difficulties and issues with his partner Angelica."

"Must have been some major of an issues if she didn't get the job done. Not our concern though, have you figured out a way of getting me out of here?"

"A couple of things came to mind but they built this prison to be pokégirl proof. They have nearly every type of jammer ever made running through this one building Master." She said in a dejected tone.

"I don't want to spend my final days in here Andzral. I've got nothing but time one my hands while I'm in here but try and be quick about getting me out." He said as he stood facing the inside of the cell and waiting. The Calamityjane and GhostRiders always like to shove the inmates into the cells. Andzral did as she had seen the others do and pushed her master inside but was caught off guard when he grabbed her wrist and yanked her in too. Haures was quick to ground his body into hers as he pressed her against the wall and seized her mouth in a forceful kiss. "Hopefully that will motivate you to think harder."

The Hunter Bondage Elf didn't want to leave the position she was in but if she didn't exit the cell soon the alarm would sound. "Right now I'm trying to figure out a way to hide under your bed." She spoke in a breathy voice. "I promise I'll figure something out soon Master."

_____

 

Sapphron City Gym, 2000

 

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Children, and Pokégirls. We are coming to you tonight live from the Sapphron City Gym with this Pre-Sadie Pokén's Day battle for the Mind Gates Badge. Tension is in the air and the crowd is on fire right Riko."

"That's right Greg, and with this particular challenger vying for the illusive Mind Gates Badge it's guaranteed to be an intense battle. Some of you may remember him and his harem from the spectacular battle where he cooled off the red hot Kasumi Lizuka and since then has managed to acquire badges from Prussian, VerMuffEatin, and even Lavenderriere. The rookie, and we're using that word lightly, Tamer Marco Readman."

The crowded gym burst into cheering as Marco and his harem made their way out. "Can you hear that excitement Riko?"

"Yes I can Greg, yes I can. For those of you who watched the last broadcast you're going to see some familiar names coming up, right Greg."

"That's right Riko. Apparently the only addition to his harem since his match in Cerulesbian City is the Piratit Bernadette. But that doesn't mean things haven't changed since then. While the names may have stayed the same he is practically running with an entirely new harem composition."

"Harsh trials and even some misfortune has put together one powerhouse of a harem and here they are; Ashley the Peekabu, Bernadette the Piratit, Carrie the Mistress, Chesra the Fallen Angel, and Henrietta a Blaze Rider GhostRider. Unfortunately Jean, whose gone from Nogitsune to Kyubi, is under the weather and couldn't be here today, Kelly the Alpha Duelist is taking care of her. We wish her a speedy recovery."

"To get a few of those evolutions some bad things had to have gone down and speaking of bad things here comes the Gym Leader Sabrina."

The crowd was cheering even louder than before as Sabrina made her way out. While her harem walked or floated beside her their pokéballs hovered in circles around her waist via telekinesis. "Sabrina could run an ice gym with her frigid disposition and cold-hearted approach to dealing with opponents who dare to set foot in her gym. Never the less she is a psychic with amazing power and runs a harem of the same. For those of you seeing them for the first time here they are: Candance the Espea, Jackie the Haunting, Psylocke the Psinin, the amazing Spiderwoman Riley, Cheshire Willow, and Alaka-Wham Alpha Sarah. Not many tamers can boast that they've claimed victory over Sabrina Ortiz to earn their badge, let's see if Marco will be one of the few who can."

"He just might be, Tamer Marco holds an impressive battle record so far at 9-0-1, and that tie was dealt by the Gym Leader Guile in VerMuffEatin' during a three on three team battle. But the rules here are different than those other gyms, right Riko?"

"Right you are, instead of first to three it’s the best of three. A pokégirl can be used one time and one time only during the match, after the round is over both tamers must select a new girl for the next round. There are no time limits and no ring outs due to the nature of the battle field."

Marco and the others felt right at home when the sections of the metal floor slid open to reveal the battlefield. Though not as deep as the one they had at home and without padding on the pillars the field reminded them of The Pit. The pillars themselves looked as though they were designed to shift around slightly and were in symmetrical positions in the ground. Marco spotted the Spiderwoman stretching out and figured that was probably the main reason behind the pillars.

"A little touch of home; right ladies?"

"I guess; I've been fortunate enough to avoid getting sent into The Pit so far." Ashley quipped through gritted teeth as she waved to the crowd.

"True enough, everyone fighting today has been in once by now. I'm pretty sure it's standard fare for the Gym Leader to select their girl first. The winner of that round selects first for the second round giving the opposition a chance to counter, same goes for the third if it goes that far." As he spoke the Spiderwoman leapt onto one of the pillars and waited for her opponent to enter the field. "That one is all yours Rietta. She's going to be hard to pin down and she can sense when attacks are coming. Take things slow and I'll figure it out as it happens."

"I'll be sure to remember that while I'm rubbing her face in the dirt." 

Henrietta jumped from their platform and onto one of the pillars. It was fine for the girls to start either on the pillars or on the floor as they saw fit. Most that were confident in their abilities would rather start on the pillars than give a blatant advantage to their opponent by letting them have the high ground. The countdown timer started and the crowd began to chant while waiting for the match to start.

~~~~~

 

"Here we go Greg, Henrietta vs. Riley in round one. Who do you think has the fight?"

"That was a solid pick by Marco Readman; even though Riley has a massive advantage in agility Henrietta's been known to dish out some heavy damage with a great ability to evade hits. Fire and gun fire are going to be put to great use in this round."

"Here we go!"

~~~~~

 

The buzzer sounded and both girls started towards the center, jumping from pillar to pillar. Once in range the battle was on. It was one thing to engage in hand to hand combat on level ground, it was something else entirely to do the same when a misstep meant a twenty foot fall to the lower level. Both girls leapt and flipped around on the largest pillar in the center each trying to find a good angle. 

Being fairly even in physical ability made for an intense fight in the tight space. Fancy foot work was on the menu and the pair had that in spades. Henrietta threw several quick punched that were narrowly avoided then was hit with a kick that sent her sliding back till the tips of her boots were the only thing keeping her up. Seeing the opening, Riley fired a ball of Impact Web, hitting with enough strength to launch Henrietta off the pillar and pin her to another one.

~~~~~

 

"Ouch, that was a brutal shot by Riley and Henrietta is left dangling on the post."

"Yeah but Riley better follow up quickly because it's not going hold the Blaze Rider for long."

~~~~~

 

The Spiderwoman shot out two web shots against a pair of pillars before jumping backwards and slingshotting herself towards Henrietta like a missile. Skin melted from Henrietta's head as she switched to her battle mode and the flames burned through the web. Riley was almost in range when Henrietta dropped from the pillar, with a spin she slung her chain out and wrapped it around the Spiderwoman's ankle before pulling down and dragging her along.

Once they were both among the pillars the fight resumed. Riley's ability to cling to surfaces served her well while trying to keep out of Henrietta's grasp, leaping from pillar to pillar and trying to stay above her opponent. She soon realized that things had gotten serious when Henrietta summoned her gun and started opening fire. Bullets were whizzing past her as she narrowly avoided each shot but with every shot that missed a chunk was taken out of her cover. Henrietta let out an aggravated yell, dismissing the revolver and summoning a machine pistol.

Sweat dripped from Riley's cheek as she started to feel the temperature rise. Henrietta grinned with malicious intent, her new weapon morphing into an enchanted form. "I'm about to take the term Bullet Hell to a whole new level."

Riley dove for cover as Henrietta opened fire in a nonstop barrage of fire imbued bullets. She wouldn't be able to stay in that spot for long. The stone pillar was being torn apart under the bombardment and chips of hot concrete sprayed around her. Regular guns would have run out of ammo long ago but due to her enhancements Henrietta had an unlimited supply of bullets. Thinking quickly Riley made her way around the pillars and began firing webs in an attempt to distract her opponent enough to make her lost focus.

Sure enough the gunfire stopped but as the Spiderwoman peeked around a pillar she was faced with another problem. Henrietta had completely vanished from where she was standing leaving behind a pile of empty shells. Slowly she made her way out and got a better look around. She couldn't hear well over the cheering crowd and her senses hadn't picked anything up.

The sudden tingling didn't come as a shock and she dove to the side just in time to avoid the pillar that fell in her direction. It was the same one that she had hid behind and its base was torn to shreds, no surprise it finally fell over. She started to walk again when the tingling puller her attention up. Above her looking down Henrietta was lining up to open fire again. Riley spun behind one of the thinner pillars and fired a web from each of her wrist snagging the Blaze Rider around the ankles and pulling her back down.

~~~~~

 

"Those two are really going at it down there Greg. This appears to be Henrietta's fight but it's not over till it's over."

"That's right Riko, Riley is showing some amazing skill at avoiding the gunfire but she can't seem to get any solid hits in."

~~~~~

 

Back on the floor both girls were having an impressive fight over the machine pistol. Riley's agility was helping her in maneuvering around Henrietta but after the gun was dismissed they were stuck staring each other down. Punches and kicks were flying again with neither girl taking a hit and as the crowd cheered everyone knew it would come down to the wire. Both girls locked hands in a struggle for dominance and after the first second of that Henrietta pulled ahead.

Webbing shot from Riley's wrist encasing both of their hands and locking them together. Henrietta pressed on, forcing the Spiderwoman back against a pillar with a harsh thrust. Riley retaliated, her kicks coming in fast, the first hitting Henrietta in the chin from there she draped that leg on the Blaze Rider's shoulder and the second kicked off the pillar before jamming it into Henrietta's stomach. That knee caused Henrietta to fall forward with enough force to drive them both through the pillar.

~~~~~

 

"My god what a hit, both girls are down and neither one of them appears to be rushing back to their feet."

"That was massive damage dealt on both sides and I would be surprised if either girl got up after that."

"I know what you mean Riko and it doesn't help that they're both still stuck together."

~~~~~

 

"HENRIETTA! GET ON YOUR FEET!" Marco yelled.

Both girls groaned in pain as they maneuvered to get back to their feet. Henrietta was the first to stand and firmed up her grip before driving her head down in a massive head-butt. The force was enough to drive Riley back to her knees and knock her into a daze. "Welcome to hell." The black fire around her collar died out as her powers internalized. Suddenly she ignited, the web melted away from her hands but she kept her grip tight. Fire encircled them both and slowly began to close in.

Riley began to struggle as hard as she could, every sense she had was warning her or the danger she was in but there was nothing she could do. Her panicked breathing turned to full on screams of pain as both girls were engulfed in fire. Sabrina couldn't stand to see the Spiderwoman in such pain and recalled her, bringing an end to round one.

~~~~~

 

"That was one of the most brutal things I have ever seen. It looked as if Henrietta was willing to kill them both if it came down to it."

"Henrietta was fine Greg, her fire wasn't burning her and even if it belonged to someone else Blaze Riders can absorb fire."

Henrietta teleported back onto the platform with the rest of the harem and with a savage twist she cracked her neck, she was still in her battle form and they could see the vertebrae going back into alignment. "She wasn't too bad but she never stood a chance."

Marco shook his head and handed her a towel. "Good work."

"It didn't look that easy from up here, hell; I thought she had you for a moment." Ashley said before handing the rider a recovery drink.

"Well I mean... there's always a chance I could lose but it wasn't very likely. Riley was good but she couldn't handle the fire." The skin reformed on her head to show a sinister smirk as she took a drink. "I guess you've got the next round Carrie. Better make it a good one."

The Mistress stood and lowered her hood down to cover her eyes. While she wasn't anywhere near as shy as she used to be old habits die hard. She wanted to give Marco a hug but she was already in her battle gear and had cut him up before because of it. "I'll give it my all, I always do." 

Carrie started towards the platform when a red light suddenly turned on. While the debris that was blown off the pillars stayed in place any pillars that were broken or damaged sunk into the floor. A matter of minutes went by and new ones shot up to replace them putting the field back to symmetrical design on both sides. The light turned green then shut off signaling they could enter the field again.

Once again Carrie started to move forward only to feel a hand grabbing her shoulder. She turned see Marco wearing a glove he had purchased from Lux and pulling her back. "Master?"

He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Good luck out there."

~~~~~

 

"And we're back with round two of Tamer Marco Readman vs. Gym Leader Sabrina Ortiz. Marco has the lead after Henrietta's blazing victory in round one, will the next round be the end of the match or will Sabrina tie things up?"

"I'm not sure Greg; it looks like Marco is sending his own psychic onto the field. Listen closely you pokégirls out there; the last time we saw Carrie she was a Penance and now she's a Mistress. We have one special tamer on our hands."

~~~~~

 

Carrie made her way onto the field at the main pillar and waited for her opponent to enter. The crowd began cheering as Psylocke left Sabrina's platform. Light brown hair and a skintight body suit, connected to each boot was a sheath containing a Kodachi. Her eyes were concealed by mirrored snowboarding goggles and a lengthily bandana tied at her forehead. The two of them moved to the second pillars from the center and waited for the countdown to finish.

Carrie let her cloak envelop her and raised her head slightly. "Nice goggles."

"Thanks, so you used to be a Penance? Congratulations; never thought I'd see the day when I would face a Mistress in combat."

"Thank you, it was really rough going for a while but here I am. I guess we're both pretty unique." Carrie chuckled.

"Both of those are right; Pretty and Unique..." Grinned Psylocke though thinking somberly. "Well it’s almost time now; I'm going to have to beat you but how about we grab a drink after the match."

The countdown timer finished with a buzz and the fight was on. "Fine, first round is on the winner."

Howling winds picked up around the Psinin causing Carrie's cloak to flap backwards. A thrust of her hands forward using Wind sent Carrie sliding backwards off the pillar and falling down with a yelp. From there Psylocke began to generate a furious amount of wind, the tornado from Tempest forming on the center pillar and getting larger by the second. Thinking quickly, Carrie undid her cloak and let it fly away.

The Mistress wasn't expecting that when the battle started and from the look of things it was about to get worse. She gripped her sword and began to concentrate. Though there was no physical difference she was now harnessing the power of the Crystalline Giantess. With a swipe of her sword she sliced clean through the base of the pillar shielding her from the wind then launched a spinning back kick and sent it flying. It broke through several other pillars before shattering completely and sending everything toppling towards the Psinin.

~~~~~

"Holy crap! The last time I checked Mistresses weren't that strong! That pillar cleared half the field taking everything it touched with it and buried Psylocke."

"You've got that right. That was a quick end for the... wait, do you see that Greg?"

~~~~~

 

The mound of stone began to vibrate then burst outward revealing the unscathed Psinin. Current Shield and a psychic barrier had kept Psylocke safe but she seemed quite disturbed by the display of raw power. She sent out a psychic pulse to try and get a feel for her opponent and what she found made her quiver. She could see the intense amount of energy pulsating from Carrie's sword as well as feel the evil radiating from it.

'I have no idea what that sword is enchanted with but close range combat is definitely out of the question.' While she was thinking Carried appeared to vanish but she could feel the change in the air pressure around her and she dove out of the way.

Carrie emerged from the shadow of the pillar that was closest to the Psinin and attacked. At that range she had the clear cut advantage and was pushing Psylocke back in an attempt to do some damage but Blur caused the Mistress to lose track of her opponent again. An intense gust of wind hurled Carrie through a pillar and flat against another before the first came down on top of her. Her stay under the rocks was short lived as they suddenly exploded outward. Blood dripped from a cut on her head but thanks to her regeneration it began to heal almost instantly.

"I have to admit, you're hard to pin down." Carrie growled as the chains on her arm guards unwound and began to hover around her.

Psylocke pulled the two Kodachi from her boots and began to summon Wind Blade through the one and Psi-Blade through the other. "You're one to talk. How can you be so strong?"

"I drink lots of milk."

Psylocke outright laughed for a moment. "Tamer or Milktit?"

"... Good one."

Friendly small talk finished the two prepared to engage in battle again. Carrie struck first, slashing with her sword ignited. While there was no reaction from the Psi-Blade the Wind Blade sent a giant flame over their heads, surprising both girls. Psylocke was the first to recover and did a spinning slash, connecting with both blades. The blade striking against Carrie's chain vest not doing damage was to be expected but the other made full contact with her leg and bounced right off. Once again the Psinin was confused and backed away in time to avoid a retaliatory strike.

Carrie spun her sword once before stabbing it into the ground in a wave of Hell Fire, now it was her turn to be impressed. Fire engulfed the entire floor but the current of wind surrounding Psylocke kept her from getting burned while increasing the intensity of the blaze. The angry howling Carrie heard before was starting up again and this time it was sounding much worse. Psylocke leapt into the wind and was carried back to the center pillar where her powers continued to grow.

Storm resistant glass shot up from below to seal the crowd away from savage winds and the debris it was picking up. Now that they were sealed off the winds from Super Cyclone were reaching their peak. The eight tornados circled around the field picking up anything not nailed down and a few things that were. Everyone had lost track of Carrie in the tornados and all thought the worse when her sword came flying through the air and stabbed itself into the glass on Sabrina's side of the field.

Marco's eyes flashed as he activated his Aura Sight and looked onto the field to locate his girl in the mess of activity. Finally he spotted the pulsating deep purple streak being forced through a spin cycle of the multiple tornados. 'Can you make it into the center!?'

'I can't see! I don't know where I'm going!' She yelled back mentally.

'Look through my eyes!'

Carrie began to concentrate as best she could on the delta bond. Her vision suddenly switched views and she was on the outside looking in, she could see the trail of light she was leaving behind and it was starting to make her dizzy. Focusing again she saw through the storms and into the center. The Psinin resembled an orchestra conductor, manipulating and guiding the storm as she saw fit. Her shadow was moving sporadically but it was enough for the Mistress to work with. Through effort she was able to shed her chain vest and broke it apart in preparation to make her move.

The Shadow Teleport came quickly, sending Carrie from spinning around the field to right in front of Psylocke. Her hair was a twisted tangled mess and she looked thoroughly pissed off as she glared at the other girl between bouts of motion sickness. Psychic energy gathered between the two girls and like a magnet the pieces of razor chain were being drawn around them. The separate links began to spin in the opposite direction of the tornado's winds and closed in. Her arm guard chains flew in from out of nowhere and wrapped around Psylocke's ankles before digging themselves into the pillar to keep her from escaping.

One by one the links of Carrie's vest shot towards their owner via Psylocke's general direction. The first link pierced through the Psinin from behind and tore a clean hole through her upper leg. A quick psychic pulse alerted her to the rest of the chains swarming around her and the first one proved just how dangerous they were.

~~~~~

 

"Things are looking bad for Psylocke Riko."

"I agree Greg but you have to give her credit. For not being able to leave that spot she's doing an amazing job of avoiding the chain links."

"And with good reason Riko, I got a chance to see those chains up close earlier and I've seen ancient Edo League blades duller than any one of those links."

~~~~~

 

While Psylocke did an admirable job of dodging the chain links she was quickly being overwhelmed. Small nicks were turning into large gashes and with her breed’s low durability it would only be a matter of time before she took a critical hit. Carrie's vest was halfway reformed but the remaining links moved to encircle Psylocke. The Psinin sucked in a quivering breath as the spinning links picked up speed and their circling shrunk in on her. 

Carrie hardened her glare in concentration. "First round is on you."

"It's not over yet." 'I hate close range but I don't have a choice.' 

As Psylocke lowered her arms the howling winds came to an end. Everything that was airborne came crashing down and when the dust settled the only pillar left was the center one they were standing on. Understandably, the rest of the field looked as if a tornado had torn through it. The chain links had ceased moving as well but continued to hover, each lining up a shot to pass through the Psinin.

Without warning Psylocke through her arm back and activated Fan. Carrie was caught off guard when she was suddenly drawn into her opponent then hip tossed to the ground. Psylocke continued to hold her down as Squall blew directly on Carrie's head from her other hand. The strength of the wind forced Carrie down onto the pillar as she struggle under the pressure. As her struggling began to slow one by one her chain links began to fall to the ground. Eventually the flailing ceased and her arms fell lifelessly to the ground.

Since it was unclear to what kind of if any damage Carrie was taking when she stopped moving the countdown timer started. If she didn't move in the next ten seconds she would lose the round. Marco was busy screaming into her head from the delta bond but it was all for nothing. She was out cold and the match was a loss.

On Sabrina's side of the field they should have been cheering in victory but all eyes were drawn towards Carrie's sword. Marco tracked their gaze to the blade and cringed when he thought of the trouble it could cause. "Chesra go, get that back before one of them decides to touch it."

Chesra gave a firm nod and teleported away. The Cheshire Willow was just about to place her hand on the blade when her wrist was seized from the side. "Touching that is I'll advised."

Sabrina could feel something off about the blade and motioned for her girls to back away. "What manner of weapon is that?"

"It's a cursed sword. Dark-types are immune to the psychic pull, Carrie used it back when it was still a Penance and it's become attuned to her body. Anyone else to even touch it will be prone to intense bouts of rage." Chesra explained quickly before teleporting to the other side of the glass and pulling out the blade. Her next stop was the center of the field to retrieve Carrie. Psylocke had decided to take a seat and wait for the Mistress to wake back up. The chains were still wrapped around her ankles and imbedded in the ground so she wasn't going anywhere. "That was an excellent fight, nice work."

"Thank you, she was really tough but I guess she doesn't have much experience fighting Flying-types."

Chesra bent down to start healing her student. "Not ones who can use wind like you did. She did well for a first attempt but it obviously wasn't enough."

Carrie sat up with a startled expression and looked around frantically. Her eyes fixed onto Psylocke and she let out a disappointed sigh. "You suffocated me."

"A little bit... um... you mind getting these chains off from around my feet?"

The Mistress stood and summoned her powers, the links to her vest began to hover and reform around her body. As that was happening the arm guard chains dug themselves out of the ground and shook free of debris before reattaching to her arms. "All better... I guess I owe you that drink."

_____

 

Sapphron City, Avalanche Safe house

 

While most of Avalanche was in the gym waiting for the match to conclude Isabella and Ilene were tasked with monitoring the city. Her drones were performing well for their first run but some of the software was giving her issues. The facial recognition was spotty at the start but after some tweaking was working properly. It recognized the faces of the unit members but those photos were taken under optimal circumstances.

The pair was caught off guard when the door opened behind them and Hiyori entered. "How's it looking out there Staff Sargent?"

"Sargent Major Hiyori, everything is running smoothly. We weren't expecting you."

The Dire Wolf looked at them directly and kept her voice firm. "You two are the only ones who know I'm here and I'd like to keep it that way. Ilene, you're coming with me, I'm going to need your assistance. Isabella, continue what you're doing."

"Ma'am." They both spoke in unison. Much like Kelly's word carrying Marco's weight when he wasn't around the same held true for Hiyori and Butcher. To keep their Colonel out of trouble they would do as told unless it was going to directly harm Marco or anyone else from the unit.

Once out into the hallway Ilene fell in behind Hiyori. "What will we be doing?"

Another voice came from the shadows further down the hall. "You'll be assisting me while Hiyori stands guard."

~~~~~

 

Elsewhere in the city Evan Domico sat alongside Sandra and his Griffon in an empty corner of the crowded bar. PSN was running the battle live and they were waiting for the final battle to finish so they could make their move. Campbell was supposed to have met him there earlier but called to say he was running behind.

It had occurred to Evan after the fact that Arianna could have somehow been directly responsible for the failure of the last mission. This time he would keep her in the ball until all was said and done. "That Mistress got her ass handed to her, guess she's not worth taking after all."

"She may have lost but she's incredibly powerful none the less." Sandra replied back as she took a sip of her milkshake. "She looks worth capturing to me."

"I agree with the Alpha, not like she'll put up much of a fight. If everything I understand about their harem and delta bonds are true half of them won't be able to fight after we take him down."

Evan took a sip of his beer and grabbed the Griffon by the back of the neck. "That's your job Griffon; you kill Marco Readman when I give you the signal. After that we move in and return the girls who are out in the open, the ones that aren't stunned are to be knocked out. You do your job right and I'll think about naming you."

"Yes Master Domico."

_____

 

"And we're back with the final round of this impressive challenge for the Mind Gates Badge. It's all tied up at one a piece and it all comes down to this. What are your predictions for the final round Riko?"

"As you said it's the final round and nine times out of ten that means it comes down to the Alphas to duke it out. Though Marco Readman's Alpha has been used the least in battle besides Bernadette she's the Alpha for a reason and with the type advantage over Sarah the smart money goes to Chesra... assuming that's who he uses."

"Well it appears to be as you called it. Sabrina just sent Sarah out to the field and Chesra is heading out too. The field has been reset and in a few moments the fight will be on."

~~~~~

 

Chesra and Sarah met on the center pillar while the timer continued to countdown. Both fairly even in height the Alaka-Wham had a few inches due to levitation. Eyes closed in intense concentration she spoke softly to Chesra. "Your tamer's profile says you don't fight often in battle, why is that?"

Chesra crossed her arms and shut her eyes as well. "I'm asked to take a back seat and let the newer girls develop their powers through battle. It's not my choice, but I don't mind, Master Marco knows when I'm needed for a win."

"Mistress Sabrina is the same. It doesn't take a genius brain like mine to know you would be saved for the last fight. Everybody knew it when they saw you." Both girls opened their eyes when the thirty second chime went off.

"If that was the case then why waste Riley on the first battle? Henrietta was an easy pick to counter her."

"No matter the combination all scenarios ended with you being the last pokégirl to face. I'm the only one powerful enough to stand a chance against you, though admittedly it isn't much of one."

"I suppose it's good to know the threat I present... and the one you present as well." The ten second chime sounded and both girls moved to their starting pillars. "Good luck!"

"And the same to you!"

The final buzzer sounded and the round began. Sarah was quick to bring up as much debris as she could using telekinesis and hurled it toward Chesra at the other side of the field. Halfway there it dropped out of the sky and fell to the bottom level with a heavy thud. Seconds later three of the pillars crumbled for no apparent reason. 

Chesra pulled her new hammer from behind her back and summoned her wings. She left her side of the field and rolled once in midair before unleashing a massive wave of dark Feather Shuriken and Gust. The attacks were headed for their target at incredible speed but Sarah pulled up chunks of broken pillar to shield her from the hit before firing them back at Chesra. The Fallen Angel nimbly avoided the smaller pieces of stone while using her hammer to destroy larger pieces. 

The one mistake many dark-type pokégirls made when fighting a psychic-type was assuming nothing the psychic dose is going to hurt them. Chesra remembered Alexis proving that to be a grave miscalculation when she dropped a cart on Mina using telekinesis. Psychic attacks didn't have any effect on dark-types but weather being thrown physically or by using telekinesis, a brick was still a brick. Oddly the same held true for psychic barriers, it was still a barrier and being a dark-type didn't mean she could just walk through them. On the other hand Chesra was a member of delta and getting through things was what she did best.

~~~~~

 

"The opponents are done getting a feel for each other and things are about to heat up."

"I agree Riko, both girls appear to be keeping their distance but it's about to get real exciting. Following Chesra's breed lineage she's going to favor close range combat."

"Right Greg and that seems like something Sarah is going to want to avoid at all cost."

~~~~~

 

The battle seemed to be turning into a strange game of send and destroy. Sarah was hell bent on keeping Chesra as far away as possible, sending full pillars at her at regular intervals. Chesra didn't seem to mind, a fairly impressive amount of stones was building up between them and both girls had plans on putting them to good use. This had gone on for five minutes and neither was showing signs of fatigue.

All of a sudden every stone and chunk of pillar began to levitate and raise high to the top of the stadium. Chesra's plan was complete but as she looked around the thought of the collateral damage made her hesitate. 'Master, I can handle this but I need you to get the protective glass back up.'

'Will do Ches, be careful.' Marco thought back before yelling to Sabrina. "Quick, get the glass back up!"

Sabrina looked skyward towards the mass of floating pieces and nodded. The shatter proof glass shot back into place and locked in just as everything came tumbling down. Chesra was about to strike when it dawned on her that she made a mass miss calculation. Throwing caution to the wind her hands few into a fury of signs and gestures in an attempts to access a never before preformed magical spell. Glyphs of magic energy shot from her hands then locked into place in a giant circle around the Sarah before a loud creaking was heard.

As a rule Chesra like to keep things as precise as possible when fighting. The thought of accidentally causing damage to innocent bystanders weighed heavily on her. That was the main reason why she preferred to stay away from attacks and techniques that increased in strength based on a pokégirl’s willpower. What had started as a simple gravitational field meant to pull the falling stones onto Sarah’s side of the field turned into an intense gravity well that pulled all the debris towards that one location and pulled Sarah to the ground. A massive cloud of dust kicked up and the arena shook from the impact.

The match was thought to be over until Sarah teleported into the open holding her back. From the look of things she managed to get a barrier up before the impact but the weight of the increased gravity and being forced to stand on her own feet was playing hell on her back. That was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. Now that she was out in the open Chesra was closing in fast and when everything went dark she knew she was in for it.

The reason most fighting-types lose to psychic-types is that it's almost impossible for them to reach the more fragile psychic without getting hammered by abilities. For someone like Chesra who learned to fight first and use abilities second, nothing Sarah could do would stop Chesra from dealing damage and in a flash it was all over. When the lights came back on Chesra was standing over the Alaka-Wham's bloody and unconscious body.

~~~~~

 

"Well... I must say, that was rather anti-climactic. Riko?"

"That's what happens when you send a dark-type after a psychic. At two to one Tamer Marco Readman takes the win and earns the Mind Gates badge. We'll be back with the match highlights after these words from our sponsors."

~~~~~

 

Chesra teleported back to Marco's platform and humbly accepted the praises of her harem sisters. She knew the round wasn't much to get excited about but a win was a win. Still, at the rate they were going at and the other responsibilities they had there was little chance of them making it to the league championship this year.

Sabrina and her harem approached their platform along with Kasumi. The redhead wore an expression of intense worry but tried to look upbeat. "Well Mr. Readman; that was certainty an interesting final round. I really need to be more careful around magic and dark pokégirls." She said with an odd laugh.

"Never going to say it was an easy win. Just like Kasumi you have a top notch harem."

"Well thank you, yours is just as powerful as Kasumi said." She stated and pulled the shorter girl into a hug from the side then pulled out a small case. "I present to you the Mind Gates Badge symbolizing your victory in Sapphron City."

"It was an honor to battle against you; we'll have to do it again some time."

Sabrina's smile wavered for a moment as she began to walk off. "Sure thing..."

Kasumi continued to stay around while the girls made their way to the locker room. Even though Sabrina had warned her friend against telling Marco about the premonition she couldn't sit there and not say something earlier. What bothered her the most was that he didn't seem to be worried about it either. It caught her off guard when he slipped an arm around her waist but she fell in and sobbed lightly into his chest. The rest of the harem was away getting changed and that was the only chance she was going to get to talk some sense into him.

"Do you have to do this? Sabrina is normally pretty accurate about these things but they can be avoided."

"There's no need to worry about me, I'll be fine. But I want you to go back home where it's safe. I promise I'll call you when I get home." He said in a reassuring voice.

"What... what if I don't hear from you?"

"Then things got so hectic I forgot or I'm dead. If it’s the second then I'm sure you'll find out quickly enough. But for now, I need to go to the bathroom." 

She began to sob again and hit him lightly on the chest. "Asshole..."

_____

 

Silph Co. Skyscraper, 2100, half an hour after the end of the match

The Silph Co. Building was easily the tallest in the Indigo League mainland and from its roof top offered a breath taking view of the entire city. The two girls perched on the ledge weren't there for the view though.  Nearly a half an hour since the end of the match and there were still people exiting the building. The Gun Valkyrie and Gun Bunny maintained their position and continued to wait for their targets to enter the designated zone.

Their headsets gave a low chime to alert them to the incoming communication. "Mistress to Removal Team, no sightings on my end. Anything from yours?"

The Gun Bunny clicked her headset. "Removal two to Mistress, no signs of targets Romeo or Epsilon. We'll continue to hold until you come with extraction."

Angelica had left for Sapphron City the moment she heard about Marco being there. Since she was on the other side of the world when the call went out she wasn't registered as being a part of the mission. To keep from being located by the other Breakers she left her Team Rocket pokédex in the Edo League but this was an opportunity she wouldn't be able to pass up and nothing was going to get in her way.

She had taken position in the Cutiepie Coffeehouse to watch the match from their TV and view the entrance to the gym. Now that the match was over the whole area was bustling with activity. The coffeehouse was packed and she naturally was able to blend into crowd.

By the very nature of pokégirls it was hard to tell members of the same breed apart from another. In the same light she was also starting to feel like she had seen some of the pokégirls walking around before. If the setup was the same as last time then she could be certain that members of Avalanche were close by.

Finally she saw their targets. "Mistress to Removal Team, Romeo and Epsilon are moving into the zone. Prepare to take your shot."

The Battle Angel Chio looked at the wide opening and instantly knew the sniper team could make the shot with ease despite the distance. "Are you sure this is ok Mistress. I mean, you're interfering with Mr. G's wishes."

"He'll get what he wants and that's all he's really concerned about. Besides, no one knows we're here; none of this will blow back on us. Just be ready to leave." Angelica spotted an adorable specimen of a Bonemaiden strolling by and waved to get the girls attention. "Excuse me."

The girl pointed to herself in slight confusion then started her way over. "Yes ma'am?"

"Would you be a sweetheart and run this over to the gentleman standing over there. I'm kind of shy around men and have a hard time getting their attention."

The Bonemaiden favored her with a sympathetic smile and took the piece of paper that was handed to her. "I'd be delighted to."

_____

 

Sapphron City Gym, 2105

 

As usual Marco had his entire harem out as they left. The spectators from the match waved and gave them congratulating cheers as they passed by. He didn't bother mentioning Sabrina's premonition to the harem or contacting the unit about it either. To him it seemed better that way, they were already on the lookout for potential threats and being extra paranoid wasn't going to help matters. Avalanche was intermingled with the crowd for extra security after Isabella informed them that her drones were receiving some kind of interference.

One of the drones finally registered Evan Domico in the area and alerted the unit to his location. That warning came too late; the entire harem was knocked aside from behind while Marco was pinned down and mauled by the Griffon. They recovered quickly enough but the damage had been done. Human bystanders began screaming and running from the supposed feral while death came from Avalanche in all directions. 

The battle mode Griffon tried to flee the scene but her capture and death came quickly. Avalanche quickly made it to their fallen colonel and were visibly shaken by what they saw. His chest had been completely crushed and half of his face was torn off, there was no question to weather or no he was alive. Never the less Alexis and Chesra were doing everything in their powers to heal him.

The unit’s grief turned to intense anger as they heard the snickering laughter coming from across the way. Evan stood with Selena by his side, reveling in the horrified looks on their faces. They wanted to go and end his life right then but they were frozen in shock. The knowledge that they failed to protect their leader was too great.

Evan was just about to rub it in when something bumped into him. Apparently the Bonemaiden was too focused on the scene playing out before her that she kept moving and walked right into him. The way he was looking at the group gave the girl pause as she looked up.

"What do you want?"

It pained her to take her eyes off the group of girls mourning the body of their dead master as she handed the man the note. "Ssss som some lady asked me to give this to you."

Evan snatched the note out of her hand and gave it a questioning look after he finished reading it.

[MEMO]

I said I would shoot you given the chance.

 

"WHERE DID YOU GET..." Was all Evan got out before the first shot ripped through the right side of his chest, the glowing beam of energy burning through him. As he fell a shot was heard and a second hole punched through slightly higher. There was no beam with the second shot and the extra observant could see the bullet strike then dig into the ground. It all happens so quickly Avalanche didn't have time to make sense of it all. Sandra caught her master before he could hit the ground and teleported away while the now blood soaked Bonemaiden ran screaming from the area.

The ladies of Avalanche didn't care enough to even attempt going after him. One by one they fell to their knees around Marco's body. The only one who continued to stand was Carrie but she wasn't blinking either so it didn't count for much. Slowly the body began to fade from existence.

"Damn it, almost got him." Was heard in a familiar voice from behind the group. Head's slowly turned and eyes widened in a mixture of emotions when they saw Marco standing there Next to Jean with Ilene resting on her shoulder. "Um... somehow I don't think a simple I'm sorry is going to get me through this."

The harem and unit knocked him flat as they tacked him to make sure he was real. Kelly clung to his shirt, eyes streaming with tears, and determined not to let go. "Why, how are you still alive?"

"I think someone's gun is jabbing my kidney." He joked to her intense frustration. "I was never there, that was part of Jean’s Area Illusion."

"But... when?"

"Let me explain, it all started last night after we went over the battle order."

 

(Flashback)

"So you're telling me you're fine, not sick at all?"

"That's right Marco. While Hiyori was teaching me the Edo language we started talking about the next gym battle. We know Evan Domico is going to try to kill you again... But this time he's going to get you."

"I see you have plenty of faith in me." He said smugly and took a seat on the bed.

"Of course I do, which is why I'm going to be casting a giant illusion over the area and set you up to be killed. That pompous ass will take the bait for sure."

"Granted you have a good point, how are we going to guarantee that they actually attack me again?" He took the blank stare she fixed him with as him having asked a stupid question. "Well yeah... that's going to happen no matter what. So we let him take a shot at me and ambush him when he tries... No, if I'm still alive he's going to keep his guard up, I have to go down hard and make it look good." His head lowered when another thought crossed his mind and the only way around it. "We can't tell the others about this."

Now it was Jean's turn to be surprised. "What, why not?"

"I don't think any of them could fake how they would really act if I died in front of them. It has to be natural emotion or he may not buy it."

"His profile does say he would get immense pleasure from seeing them so distraught."

"Right, you're going to continue to be sick tomorrow and set things up with Hiyori. I need to call Blizzard and my mother for a favor."

(End Flashback)

 

Kelly was still gripping his shirt when she glared up at him again. "What did you need from Blizzard?"

"They went in last night and screwed up the computers to delay the gym opening. My mother called a friend of hers at PSN and sent the announcers to the gym on the assignment. It wasn't just pure luck that they were there. Mind you this was all speculation with the general hope that I would get attacked. It wasn't a sure thing until I got to the gym and met Sabrina."

"What be the wicked witch havin to do with this?" Bernadette asked in her uncontrolled piratical accent.

"When we shook hands she got a premonition of my quite gruesome death and you all being around me. She didn't tell me but she told Kasumi which was just as effective as telling me. That was when I knew this would work. After the match I sent Kasumi home to keep her out the way and while I was in the bathroom Jean created her illusion and went to work." While things were being explained Hiyori teleported next to them shouldering a rifle and looking disappointed. "Hiyori picked up Ilene earlier to boost the range of Jean's illusion and was in the room over ours setting up to shoot Evan after he dropped his guard."

"I hit him but someone else shot him first, his body shifted and I missed his vitals."

Now everyone was confused. "Wait you mean we weren't the only ones trying to kill him? But who else knew he was here?" Tam asked.

Marco thought for a few seconds. "I have a pretty good idea who."

Back at the top of Silph Co. Angelica watch the unit through binoculars. A slight smirk formed on the corner of her mouth. "Clever bastard."

_____

 

Sandra teleported into the clearing and laid Evan down to get a better look at his wounds. Frantically she started releasing the pokéballs knowing she would need help to keep him from bleeding out. The Mini-Top and Vaporita were the first ones out followed quickly by the Foxymaiden, Arianna, and Pamela.

"Pam, Mini, get over here! I need help holding these wounds closed while I heal him."

The three girls got to work quickly while Arianna and the others stood back. "What the hell happened?" The Foxymaiden asked to figure out if anything else could to be done.

Sandra continued to dig through Evan's pack as she spoke. "Griffon is dead, we were just wrapping up the mission after killing Readman when this girl handed Master Evan a note. Next thing I know two holes punched through his chest and..." Everything stopped to trace the deep rumbling growl to its origin.

Moist spots could be seen forming on Arianna's face as she growled in hatred. "Mini, Foxy, Vapor, seize them."

The Mini-Top didn't spare a second thought in pulling Evan's pistol from its holster and firing two rounds through Pamela's chest. The shots weren't enough to kill the Killer Queen but it would keep her from moving for a few seconds. The Foxymaiden and Vaporita lunged at Sandra to try and get a hold of her but she vanished using teleport and leaving Evan behind.

Pamela crawled to her feet and summoned her whip. She lashed outward to try and keep the others at bay but was surrounded and captured with a minimal fight. "Release me this instant, your queen commands it."

"They won't let go, I told them seize you and they obey me. Tie her to the tree." Arianna wiped her face with her sleeve and moved to stand over Evan's struggling body. Her hand went gently across his cheek and down to his waist to grab his knife. "I'll deal with you in a little bit Lord and Master Domico." Pamela's struggling against her bonds did nothing to raise the War Hound's spirits but she was going to make the most of her revenge. "Do you know why your powers don't work on them?"

"You tell them to release me right now you whore."

"Your powers don't work because I got to them first, I got their respect." She stated plainly as she caressed the cheek of each girl. "They don't even notice your presence because mine eclipses it. They are afraid of Evan but they fear the power I possess. These three aren't idiots either, the Warcat I could give a damn about and the Griffon being dead saves me the trouble of killing her myself. And you... you have no idea what I'm going to do to you."

Hours passed and both Domico and Pamela were dead. Arianna bathed in a stream nearby to wash the blood and gore from her hands. All the while the Mini-Top, Foxymaiden, and Vaporita watched over her; each wondering what would happen next.

Arianna finished getting dressed and going through the last of Evan's things before slinging the spare poképack over her shoulder. She started to leave when her hand was taken by the Foxymaiden. "Where are you going, what's going to happen to us?"

"Not to sound harsh but I don't care what happens to you three. If you want my advice, lay low for the next two days then make your way towards a city. It will be Sadie Pokén's day so if you play your cards right you might be able to find a good master... though never as good as the one I lost."

The Vaporita nodded. "Where are you going?"

Arianna heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm going the fuck home."

_____

 

Avalanche Office, 0000

 

Arianna gazed at the building from the outside. It felt like it had been such a long time when she was home. But it wouldn't be home anymore, Marco was gone, she was free but the cost just didn't seem worth it anymore. She opened the door and peered inside, there was no activity at all.

'Maybe everyone left already? No, this is still our home; Chesra would demolish the whole damn thing before she let someone else have it.'

Her first stop was the kitchen; it had been a while since she had good food. There was plenty in the fridge but she didn't feel like eating. The memory of all the meals had at that table along with the unit came flooding back to her. It would never be like that again. She vaguely remembers when Marco was capture after his gym battle in Cerulesbian City, the whole unit slept in the lounge.

She was just rounding the corner when the door to a guess bathroom opened with a puff of steam. The scent hit her nose and her eyes shot open. There standing in the doorway and drying his hair stood Marco. "Holy shit, I've lost it now."

The voice caught him off guard and he stepped back. "Ari?"

"No... You're dead, that bastard said you were torn apart by a Griffon." She gaped at him is if he were a ghost.

Marco reached out and pulled her into a forceful hug. "Arianna, you escaped, fuck it's good to see you."

The War Hound couldn't help breaking down. Her Colonel was alive, he was happy to see hers. After all the time she was gone he welcomed her back with open arms. Heavy footsteps were heard coming from the lounge as Zianna ducked down to get into the hallway.

"ARI!"

 

 

 

Delta

Echo

Indigo

 

Beta- Chesra- Fallen Angel	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	Alexis- Cherub	Isabella- Mecha Musume
Emaline- Fire Maiden	Lily- Belle Awesome	Tam- Catgirl- School
Ilene- Imp		Leona- Lamia- KIA

 

Harem

Chesra- Co-Alpha

Henrietta- Co-Alpha

Carrie- Mistress

Ashley- Peekabu

Jean- Kyubi

Bernadette- Piratit

 

Handler

Christina Reynolds

Ariel- OfficerJenny