Warning, this fic contains graphic content, such a descpriptive violence and sexual situations.
When a scream broke the silence, it meant the harpies took down another tamer. They had swooped down upon the girl, tearing into her flesh with their talons. She was dead before her two 'girls could help and by then they too had been overwhelmed. The Harpies tore away the clothes with their talons and ripped into the soft flesh to feast. One of them managed to get the tamer's liver and flew off before any of the others could steal it away.
One of them was sucking on the face of one of the pokegirls, trying to pop out the eye with her tongue. What she got was a swift wing slap from another who wanted the tongue. The two squabbled with each other while the others ignored them while they started snapping off ribs to get into the rib cage.
The two going for the face struggle with each other, throwing out their wings to intimidate the other and threatening to kick. One of them backed off when the other nicked her shin with a talon, leaving the winner to go for the face.
One of them was just about to pull out the heart when a shot scattered all but one of them. The shot pierced her skull, killing her before she had a chance to realize she was hit. The flock flew overhead, frightened by the sudden attack. They scanned the area until another Harpy was hit and fell to the ground. If the shot had not already killed her, the fall would have as she twisted her neck. The other Harpies left their fallen and took off for safer hunting grounds.
The shooter, hidden away in the bushes, started breathing again after he took the deadly shot. He got up and cracked open his double-barrel rifle to unload the two spent cartridges and put it back in its holster. With t out of the way, he went to check on the remains of the dead tamer. They'd left her face alone as they went for her organs, but her rib cage was completely gone. Her body was soft and her bones were easily broken apart, making her an easy meal. Her pokegirls were tougher, so a few went for the faces and legs for the easier meat while the others fought with the ribs.
He took out his phone and made a call, getting a woman to pick up on the other end, who simply said, "Baron Hearth, I don't hear much from you. Got something for me?"
"Dead tamer. Harpy victim."
"Did you at least try and help?" the woman asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"She was dead upon my arrival. The target was a Harpy flock. She wasn't properly prepared for it. Sending a picture now."
"Her name was Gena Soto. Poor girl, so pretty and young. I'll tell the family about her fate."
"I'll gather up the remains for shipment. Anything on her pokegirls?"
"Just the two on record. What are their conditions?"
The man looked over to the two bodies and said, "Deceased. Harpies got them too."
"So I guess there isn't much to salvage from this one. You know the drill. Salvage any usable equipment and pokeballs and send the remains back. And do try and call me with more than another dead tamer. We don't talk enough." With that done she hung up. She liked to talk but she didn't like listening to the details of his work.
The woman was Flow, a Video Girl who Baron worked with when he found the remains of tamers. It wasn't much for work, but it did bring in empty pokegirls and salvaged pokegirls. This one was no different. If she had heeded the warnings of this area, she might have known to stock up on pokegirls before trying to hunt the Harpies. Her two 'girls were inexperienced with aerial combat and were easily swarmed. Harpies were easily captured but deadly when in groups.
Baron whistled for his pokegirl and went to gather the tamer's body. He pulled out his pokepack's digitizing wand and tapped her, converting the body to energy. Normally the process wouldn't work on a person, but with all life signs gone, she registered as just meat and bone. He had storage for five hundred pounds of weight, but she barely registered fifty pounds. The Harpies had eaten the rest, which made it possible for him to store the remains of the two pokegirls in the same pack along with her.
"I'm here!" came a call as an ATV drove in. The reason for the lack of a driver was revealed when the ATV transformed into a pokegirl. Ronda was his Mecha Musume and transport through these regions. She looked around and could smell the blood in the air. "So, what did you get this time?"
"Two dead 'girls off a dead tamer, mostly eaten, and two full Harpies."
"Cool. Guess we're having stew tonight. I'll get the harpies." Ronda used the pokepack she was wearing to digitize the two dead pokegirls and transformed back into an ATV for her tamer to drive.
The two ripped through the bushes until he found the trail and followed it along up to the edge of the mountain. Once he was there, he took the trail to a cabin he called home. The sound of Ronda's engine got the attention of the two pokegirls inside, so they came out to see him.
One was an Oddtits named Luna, who was bundled up because of the cold. The other was his Iron Chef, Paine. She was dressed in nothing but her apron and a pair of shorts, so she simply waved and ran back inside to keep warm by the oven. Baron tossed his two pokeballs to Luna and went out back to put the pokegirls out onto the table to be processed.
The two half-eaten pokegirls were first, since there was little left of them. Baron let Ronda head inside while he took out a large knife. The blade had a powerful enchantment on it that allowed it to split the shoulder and remove what was left of the arm. He carved the meat off the bone with skill and speed, tossing the bone aside into a pile.
His head twitched when he heard something behind him, only for his Boobgle, Summer, to wrap her arms around him. "You know how much I love you?"
Baron didn't reply, he simply thrust his knife into the dead pokegirl's thigh and broke it out of its socket with a twist. He stripped it down and handed the Boobgle the freshly-stripped bone, much to her delight. She sat down to gnaw on it while he continued. He worked fast, his knife slicing through muscle and sinew like it was butter. He cracked open the skull and removed the brain, putting it and the rest of the harvested organs into a bucket of water.
Sunny was once a Puppy he found sniffing around his bone pile one afternoon after a big hunt. She barked and snarled at him, trying to protect the bones. Instead of a bullet, she got a pokeball and a Diamond Stone he had salvaged from a dead tamer. With her in this form, she was useful for sniffing out prey and getting them into the open for him to taken down while they were distracted.
"Bring this to Paine." Baron handed the organ bucket over to Summer, who put the bone in her mouth so she could carry the bucket with both paws. While she was doing that, he hung the two Harpies upside-down by their legs and slit both of their throats, letting the blood drain out into more buckets. After a wait, he stabbed one in the belly, opening her up to the ribs, which he quickly sawed through with his enchanted knife. He opened her up and started to gather the organs into another bucket full of water, carefully cutting everything loose. He was careful not to rupture the organs or else he might spoil the meat. Paine could purify the food but she hated to see spoiled meat to begin with.
Baron removed the arms next, each severed with a quick chop, and one of the legs. She had strong thighs which would make for a nice meal and her hollow bones could be used for bonemeal. He knelt down and lifted her head so he could look into her dead eyes. He rubbed his thumb across her cheek but showed no emotion on his face as he ran his knife into her neck. The head came off easily enough and he tossed it onto the table. From there he removed the scalp, since good pokegirl hair had uses of its own. He split open the skull and removed the brains, putting it aside so he could work on carving off the skin and muscle from the bone. He paused suddenly, taking a moment to sneeze, before finshing off the skull and tossing it into the bone pile.
When he returned to take care of the other one, he found a trio of Wasps were investigating the scent of blood. He never heard them, meaning they must have been walking for some reason or another. But that didn't matter because they were trying to take his catch. His coat smelled of smoke and the scent of blood and bile was overwhelming, so they didn't know he was there yet. He knelt down and took a handful of cold dirt to rub on his face. They had infravision and could see his body heat, but the dirt would help hide hat too. In this cold area, a warm body stood out and anything that couldn't quickly hide was a target. He moved slow, keeping close to the bushes and moving through paths he'd made. This wasn't the first time pokegirls invaded his home. He knew these bushes better than any feral, so he knew how to move quickly and still stay hidden. By the time any of them realized he was there, he had already tossed a flashbang and ran up behind one with his knife out.
The flashbang stunned them long enough for him to slide his knife into the spine of the first and pull his revolver on the second. Her armored head couldn't stand up to the fire bullet he fired, which burned a hole through her face. He twisted the knife to sever the Wasp's spine and slit her throat before throwing the knife into the shoulder of the third. The Wasp didn't have enough time to attack him because as soon as she was on her feet, Baron's Iron Chef had her knives in her back. She lifted the 'girl up and held her there.
"So, we're having Wasp and Harpy tonight? Hold on," Paine sank her teeth into the struggling Wasp's neck, her teeth ripping through the shell like it was that of a taco. "Mmm, oh that's good. The shell is so crunchy and the meat is tender. I'm going to fry this one up right now."
Baron didn't stop her from dragging the dying pokegirl away. He tied ropes to the two wasps and pulled them up to drain. He went to work on their shells, carving them from the body in pieces so they could be worked into something useful. He couldn't let anything go to waste out here. But just as he was putting them away, he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Baron was gasping for air as his body was burning up inside. For within his stomach was a number of organic crystals that reacted to his stress by building heat. They were threatening to ignite once they get hot enough and the gas pressure was building inside him. His pokegirl heritage was the reason for this. His mother was a Komortar and he inherited part of her biology. He couldn't spit burning projectiles, but his stomach burned with such intence heat. His mother called this his 'Hearth Belly'. But right now, his stomach was threatening to burst if the fire inside him wasn't dealt with soon.
A quick hand slapped him on the back and a burst of flame erupted from his mouth. The pressure was gone now, but he was still hot inside. His Chrysalis, Misaki, knelt down and kissed him, passing cold air into his belly. Steam left their lips as her ice put out his flame. Normally he could handle this, but he was weak from hunger and didn't have the strength to tolerate the fire within. But now that his stomach's heat was put out, his body struggled to move.
Baron's Hearth Belly was a combination of blood traits. Iron Stomach and the heat version of Thermal Tolerance helped to balance his Combustion and Cold Blooded traits. The mixture left him in need of finding a balance or else risk death.
Luckily for him, Paine knew he was hungry and already had a bowl of soup ready for him. Misaki took it from her sister and raised it to his lips so the hot liquid would warm his insides but put out the fire. He took the bowl once his senses returned and gobbled it down, not wasting a drop. The next bit of food was a piece of meat still on the bone. He ripped into it and swallowed it chunks before he turned on the bone itself. His teeth cracked the bone to pieces and turned it to dust with ease. With some good food inside him to keep him warm and supress the fire, he felt a lot better.
"Thank you." He got up and nodded to the Chrysalis and Iron Chef. The pokegirls nodded back, looking rather happy with themselves. Misaki helped to carve up the other Harpy while he went to work on the Wasps.
Their shell still needed to come off first if he was to remove the flesh. He was still hungry and the smell only made it grow. Misaki knew that look on his face. The fire in his eyes that burned when he was about ready to let loose on something. She nodded and went to carve the rest of them as he left to the other table, the Wasp's leg in his hand. She heard him slam it down on the table and let out a primal growl.
His hunger got the better of him and he sank his teeth into the shell, ripping through it as easily as Paine ripped into the Wasp's neck. His teeth were almost as strong as hers and a pokegirl's shell could do little to stop him. He not only tore the shell apart, he ate it too. It crunched and snapped with every bite and he sucked out the marrow from the bones before devouring them too. But his hunger wasn't sated yet.
When he heard something moving in the bushes, he tossed a lump of meat that had fallen off in his frenzy and a Catgirl leaped out to grab it. She only seen the food, not the threat that just served her a last meal.
He removed his coat, shirt, and shoes as he prepared himself. The fire within ignited again, but this time it spread its heat throughout his body. Muscles grew in size and strength while his skin hardened and transformed into a mix of dragonic scales and hard shell-like plates around the sholders and back. His face elongated to form a muzzle with two tusk-like fangs jutting up from his lower jaw. Bones shifted and grew to allow these changes, popping and cracking under the pressure as they took their new form. His chest expanded to fit a larger set of organs.
Where what was once human, a tusked dragonoid now stood. He breathed in deep and cooled off so he could keep his mind clear. He slipped into the bushes, taking one of the many hidden trenches he'd dug long ago. The Catgirl was still licking her fingers clean as he made his way around. He was slow and silent as he stalked his prey, very much like how a Catgirl would. The smell of blood on her hands and the bushes around him hid his scent.
Then a branch snapped under his hand.
The Catgirl shot a look in his direction and leaped straight into the air, hissing and spitting at him as he pounced. He missed the surprise attack but he grabbed her head and turned, swinging her over and slamming her into the ground. Being a pokegirl, that blow wasn't enough to simply outright kill her. He didn't break any bones and none of her vitals were hit. She scratches at his hands and got to her feet, taking a moment to hiss at him again. He hissed back and snapped his teeth, which sounded something like rocks being struck together.
The Catgirl backed off and tried to run but he grabbed her tail and swung her over his head again and into the ground. She gasped for air and tried to fling dirt in his face to blind him, but the irritation to his eyes got his stomach burning. He breathed in deep and let out a stream of fire that set her fire alight. While she screamed, he threw her over his head a third time, throwing her into a tree. He ducked low and scooped her up with his mouth, his tusks impaling her. With tusks capable of ripping through steel, a Catgirl was no match against them. She was killed when he ran her into the tree again, sticking his tusks into the wood. He pulled his head up, carving two lines into the tree before backing up and slamming her into the ground.
Baron tore into her before the meat could grow cold, letting his hunger loose. He didn't tear the meat off the bone, he simply ripped off whole pieces and crunched them in his powerful jaws. He went for the limbs first, tearing each out of their sockets and turning the bones to dust with his teeth. His gullet had no problems handling the bone fragments as he gulped it all down.
He went for the organs nest, using his tusks to rip the entire rib cage out, flesh and all. When he looked up to scan the area, a piece of the intenstines hung from his mouth. He thought he heard something, but he must have scared it away. He slurped it up and took a bite out of the head. His tusks pierced through the bone and rip the tendon apart. In about three bites, all that was left was the spine, which he gnawed on as he returned home. The stones in his stomach helped to grind anything he didn't chew to a thick slurry.
Misaki was still working on the second Wasp when he sat down nearby, sucking the juices from the remains of the Catgirl spine. She playefully tossed him pieces of meat from the Wasp she was carving and giggled when one of them stuck to his tusk. She didn't care if she was preparing a pokegirl for food. Her breed ate anything they could catch when feral. It didn't make any difference to her if she was aware of this fact or not. They were going to go to waste anyways if he left them and that would simply feed more feral pokegirls.
"You are still such a heartbreaker," Misaki joked as Baron was about to take a bite out of the Wasp's heart. He stopped and looked at her, tilting his head to show that he didn't get the joke right away. Misaki broke out laughing as she finished up and washed her hands. "Oh, the heating system is dying again. Can you revive it?"
Baron got up and lumbered off to the cabin. Inside the heat-shielded panel as a set of crystalline stones he used to keep the house warm and the water hot. He felt the food in his stomach turn to ash as the heat built up in his stomach and he breathed a jet of flame on the stones. They absorbed the fire from his breath and glowed with new life, heating the air and water inside the cabin. He had to do this from time to time to keep it working properly. The system didn't recharge on its own, rather it fed off sources of heat, like himself.
Now that he was hungry again, he transformed back and was hit in the face by a cold, wet cloth. Misaki threw it at him because his face was still covered in the bloody mess of the Catgirl he ate. He cleaned off and tossed it back, then he took a look inside to see how dinner was coming along. Paine was nearly ready, but she was trying to find a way to purify the Wasp's poisons for her sauce and keep it tasty. While she and Baron could eat the poison as is for no effect, she knew it could easily harm the others. Given enough time, she would figure it out. She was an Iron Chef after all and they worked wonders on all kinds of dishes.
Baron looked over to his Chrysalis and asked, "Hotspring?"
Misaki nodded and echoed, "Hotspring."
The Chrysalis was his alpha pokegirl, with Ronda as his Beta. They have been with him through thick and thin and fought beside him for years. They were as loving as they were loyal to him and were willing to risk their lives countless times.
The reason he mentioned the hotspring today was because spending time in it was something Misaki loved to do. She loved it even more when she had someone to bathe with her, especially her tamer. Even if it was an artificial hotspring heated by magic, it still did its job well.
Misaki struck one of the magic stones with her foot and that woke up the circle, cleaning up the water and getting it hot for them. She didn't so much strip as she let her clothes dissolve into water and evaporate. Being a Chrysalis, she had fine control over her powers and could form clothing out of fine ice particles. Came in handy when she needed something to wear on the fly.
She slipped into the water and waited for him to get his pants off. He put his feet in first and slipped in, taking his usual spot to rest. He needed the heat to function because his body shut down when he got too cold. He had ways of keeping his temperature up but he also suffered if it got up too high. The hot spring was a good way to find a balance. Plus he could drink the water if it came to that. The purification magic was always on as long as the circle had power.
Misaki swam up and sat in his lap as she traced a finger across his neck and kissed his cheek. He sighed put his head against her chest, letting the heat soak into his tired muscles. She reached over to the mini fridge he kept nearby and took out some dried meat strips to feed him. She and her sisters only wanted what was best for him because of how hard he worked. He deserved their comforts after a long day in the cold.
His Oddtits, Luna, walked by and said, "Master, supper is ready."
"I'll be right out." He let Misaki get off and he got up out of the water. Luna, being the youngest of his group and most recent addition to his harem, blushed and ran back to the cabin. Baron didn't even stop to think about why. She used to belong to a young woman who traded her away for some ferals he salvaged. The tamer didn't see her value in a cold place like this, even though she'd been taming the 'girl for a few months before the trade. Even after half a year with him, she was still shy when he stood exposed like this.
Luna was waiting outside the cabin as he and Misaki walked up, the only thing to show the 'girl was part plant type was the deep red petals on her head. She was bundled up from head to toe in her thick coat lined with soft, warm fur. It was made from the fur of a Wooly Mammaryth he hunted some time ago so it handle the cold pretty good for her. She was hoping to get a special collar to shield her from the cold but she was happy to have her coat as the alternative. She worked hard so Baron could find the time to hunt and make more money. Once he had enough, he'll be buying some new things to help out.
The inside the cabin had an amazing smell that made even the stern Baron smile with hunger. Paine worked up a meal of perfection, like always, and she was proud of her work. She fried the Harpy legs and used the feathers and talons for her special gumbo. She'd also baked the Wasp with a drizzle of delicious poison sauce on top.
All of his 'girls waited for him to grab what he wanted before they filled their plates. The meal looked great and smelled heavenly. They all took turns picking up their choices off the dining table, so as to keep from fighting with each other. They once destroyed the table in their squabbles, forcing Baron to head out to get more food.
The group stacked their plates high with food and sat down in front of the television to watch a good movie. Baron stayed quiet as he ate and let his 'girls whisper among themselves about what was going to happen next in the movie. They watched this one many times before, but it never bothered them to do so again.
Halfway through the movie, Baron got up to get another serving. Paine smiled and went with him to get some more for herself. She loved to cook for him because he always ate so much. She was his first capture with Misaki, who was also his starter pokegirl; her job was to cool him off whenever he became too excited.
Paine found her desire to cook early on because her tamer also suffered when he was hungry. Her desire to become a cook led to her skills with a knife, though she always did wish to become something better back then. When she discovered she could evolve into an Iron Chef with a Metal Coat, she begged him to buy it for her. It took several good meals and a lot of hot taming to pay him back for it.
Paine looked over her shoulder to find her tamer serving himself another bowl of her gumbo while she cut another piece of Wasp thigh. With her breed's talents, she could use any part of an animal or pokegirl and make it into tasty food. She didn't like anything going to waste and would eat it herself if she had to. Luckily, her tamer would eat just about anything and didn't mind which part she used as long as she worked her magic. He even bit into a carcass more than once when he needed to eat.
When he returned, he sat down between Misaki and Paine, both of whom leaned on him for comfort. He looked over to see Ronda stroking Sunny's back while a sleeping Luna had her head on the Mecha Musume's lap. For a moment, Baron smiled, only for it to vanish when Misaki looked up.
She smiled too and laid her head back down when he ran his hand through her hair. She knew he had to put on a strong face. His condition made it hard for him to get too excited so he tried to keep his emotions in check, even the positive ones. But they knew why and understood that he truly cared for all of them.
One by one, the 'girls fell asleep with full bellies, leaving nothing left. There was still plenty of meat in the fridge, but with the way they ate, they would need more within a few days. Baron prefered to stay stocked up in case he burned up too often. He would vaporize the contents of his stomach whenever the flame ignited, so he was always left hungry afterwards.
Baron woke up the next morning with a start because Misaki, who had just recently been sleeping with him on the couch, hit the floor. She groaned and reached up to take the pillow for herself and went back to sleep. He stepped around her and went to the fridge to grab some breakfast. The smell of frying steaks woke everyone up, getting them to the table. Baron threw a few more steaks on the stove for them too.
Once he had something in him, he loaded up his weapons and put Sunny and Misaki in their pokeballs. Ronda was already outside and transformed while Paine and Luna started preparing some of the extra meat for sale. People around here used Baron to collect and smoke the meat for their pokegirls rather than have pokefood shipped out to them. Not many had the luxury of a psychic type to teleport stuff in. Just as he was about to leave, his cellphone rang with Flow coming up on the call display.
"I just wanted to let you know that I've been hearing reports of a Team passing into your area. Tamers have been turning up with injured or dead pokegirls. No tamer fatalities yet but they might be taking captives. I'll leave you the locations of the sightings on your map. You know the drill."
Baron hopped on Ronda and drove down the road that would lead to the western forest. That was where he might find them. The bounty on their heads would pay for new equipment and bullets. But first he was going to have to find them.
Without any warning, Ronda's tires suddenly stopped and he lost control. He was thrown off and hurtled into the bushes that softened his landing. He heard Ronda smash into a tree and the stone shell that encased her shattered. Whatever got her was nearby and he knew it was something dangerous.
The Gorgon who screamed when he severed one of her hair snakes proved that fact.
She failed to realize how quick he was on the draw and suffered the sting of his knife. But it was only because her hissing snakes gave away her position before she leaped. In that moment, his reaction time won out over her speed, which only put her in position for his blade.
He needed his rifle and the proper elemental round for it if he wanted to be taking this one on. His revolver was useless for taking her down quick because of her durable scales. But with the way she weaved among the trees, using them to push off and leap from different directions, he couldn't even get the time to get his revolver out. At least Ronda recovered and fired a bolt of plasma to drive the Gorgon off her tamer. But another flash of her eyes and the pokegirl dropped to the dirt, encased in stone.
Baron noted that the pokegirl was wearing a leather coat and her actions were being coordinated by an earpiece. She wasn't any feral from around here. The marking on the coat's shoulder told him she belonged to a Team. He ducked behind a tree when she tried a sweep with her gaze and used that moment to pulled something from his coat.
"I got you now! Huh?" The flashbang he tossed went off while he dropped into the hole his Boobgle had just dug. Sunny burst out of the ground beneath the Gorgon and smashed into her stomach while Baron emerged in dragon form and smashed her head with a heavy fist.
"Sunny, Dig!" Baron slipped back into the hole as the Gorgon shook the stars out of her eyes and took a swipe at him. The uppercut to her jaw kept her out as Sunny dug him out and filled up the hole behind him.
"Come out you coward! I will not be defeated by a pokegirl-wannabe!"
"Rather not," he said and ripped the rattle off the end of her tail with a bite. Sunny grabbed the distracted pokegirl and howled, causing her to try and flee.
The two struggled to hold onto her smooth scales as she struggled. When she turned back on them, she received another blow to the face, this time by Baron as he knocked her away from his pokegirl. They had to avoid her bite at all costs or risk whatever poison she had ready.
When she figured she wasn't going to get close enough to bite, she tried another gaze attack. Baron's knife flashed by her face and another snake head hit the ground. The knife was caught by Misaki, who nailed the Gorgon's tail to a tree with it.
"Both of you, move!" Misaki yelled as she unleashed a wave of water over her, capturing the pokegirl in a layer of jagged ice. "Now, you are going to tell me everything you know before my tamer serves you up for dinner."
Misaki swept her arm to the side, letting water gather and instantly freeze into a hard shell with sharp claws on the ends of her fingers. She melted the ice around the Gorgon's chest and used her icy claws to rip her coat open.
"I know your scales are tough to chew, but I can make do with these." She ran a claw across the Gorgon's breasts, drawing blood from one. When she tried a gaze attack, Misaki froze her eyes shut with a breath. "Now, tell me what you know."
"I will tell you nothing!" the Gorgon spat. She was durable, but she lacked the strength to get herself free.
Misaki sighed, tapping the Gorgon's breast with her ice claws, "Are you sure you won't reconsider?" A smile slowly spread across her face as she waited for the pokegirl's response.
"Get your filthy hands off me you-"
Misaki didn't care how hard she screamed. The noise only made the Gorgon's tamer leap out of the bushes, pulling off the earpiece she forgot to turn off. She recognized her folly too late when Baron pointed Sunny in her direction and she growled.
"I surrender!" she cried as Baron transformed back into his human form. He took out his revolver and fired his third and last fire round into her chest. As black smoke started to rise from her mouth and nose, she was dead before she hit the ground. The Team member who had been hiding beside her dropped her gun and pokeball and slowly got up to her feet.
"As you can tell, I have no patience for Teams. Just tell me where your headquarters is located and you'll get to live long enough to see the authorities."
The girl nodded and gave in. She had just witnessed how quick he was on the draw and that he didn't hesitate to shoot someone if he perceived a threat. What she didn't know was that Sunny's growls signalled to him that there was more than one person hiding in the bushes. Her nose could tell the differnce between the two, even while they were hidden.
When the Gorgon groaned in agony, Baron said, "Misaki, finish her off. We're heading home to prepare lunch. I'll get the body." He let the Team girl watch as his pokegirl ended the Gorgon's life.
"She's too heavy to just be moving around whole. Pass me your knife and I'll carve her up right here." Misaki caught his knife as it was tossed to her and went to work. The Team girl touched her ear when she felt blood dripping from it and realized he had knicked her ear. She stood there, shaking in her boots as she listened to Misaki carving into the now-dead Gorgon.
She started carving off pieces of the tail, taking her time to make sure the weight wouldn't be too much for her pokepack. She cut it pretty close due to the Gorgon's poison/rock type nature but it all fit. After gathering everything, she went to check on Ronda, who was just breaking herself free. This particular Mecha Musume was built for speed and endurance over strength. It was only when she built up enough power for a plasma shot that she broke out of the stone shell. Risking a transformation could have broken something other than the stone.
"You okay?" Misaki asked and the 'girl nodded. When she struggled to get the stone that kept her arm bound, Misaki smashed it with her icy claws, having no fear of damaging them. After that, she evaporated the ice and the two returned to their tamer.
Baron nodded to Misaki as he climbed onto Ronda and drove off. The Chrysalis knew what to do as she picked up the Team girl and took off on wings of ice. The girl screamed as she was taken up and spewed quite a number of obsceneties. Puffs of smoke passed Baron's lips as he coughed, not caring to be listening to her. He picked up the pace, drowning the girl out in the noise of Ronda's engine.
The drive back was simple enough and the girl stopped screaming when she passed out half way. Made it easier to carry her when she wasn't struggling and ordering the 'girl to be put back down on the ground. If she had tried to attack the Chrysalis, she would have gotten her wish the hard way. But Baron wanted information and he didn't know of any necromancers in this region. He also didn't want to have to call one and spend the money getting them here.
Once he got back, he dropped the Gorgon off with Paine and had the Team girl put on the couch. He'd already given Flow a call to say he caught one of the Team and killed another and she said she would call up the local authorities. The girl was to be detained and interogated for any more information she had.
"Paine, can you be a dear and fry these up?" Misaki handed the Iron Chef two mounds of flesh and ran off for the hot springs.
The Iron Chef jiggled them to check their weight, "Good size and nice firmness. Must have looked nice, too. Hmm, I'll saute these. Luna, get the potatoes. We're having fish and chips, minus the fish. Also, remind me to have Baron take me to the water some time in the near future. We could use some fish fillets. I hear the Magikoi are in season this year. Maybe a few Titacool will be nice too?"
"Paine!" Baron yelled from outside.
"Yes?"
"Did you forget to bring the smoked meat in again?"
The Iron Chef cursed under her breath and calmly called back, "Yes."
"Then get your pretty ass out here and help me deal with these damn Blade Bunnies! Some time before I burn the whole fucking place to the ground!"
Paine was out the door so fast that Luna didn't know why she was holding a knife and spatula. She never realized there were Blade Bunnies in the area. And they were after her smoked meat too! With her two butcher cleavers in hand, she leaped outside and charged at the group attacking her sisters and tamer.
She raised one of her cleavers and cried, "Swordwave!" Bycalling her attack, she gave the others a moment to get out of the way as she unleashed a cutting wave of chi that severed a Blade Bunny's tail. "Get over here!" she yelled as she pulled another in with her Vine Whip. She finished off the flailing pokegirl with her cleavers, chopping her apart. She produced a frying pan out of nowhere and blocked a tail blade attack. "Ha! Didn't expect that, did ya?"
She rushed to block the Swordwave attacks with her pan while the others moved for cover. She was about to laugh again when the pan fell apart, having taken its last hit. In her shock, she was tackled by the Alpha Blade Bunny and knocked to the ground. The 'girl gnashed her teeth as she tried to get at the Iron Chef but the pokegirl's vines held her back.
"Get off of her!" Baron roared as he transformed. He grabbed the Blade Bunny's tail and bit off the blade with a snap of his teeth. The 'girl screamed in pain as she was pulled off and swung around like he was in the hammer toss event, smashing her into her pack members. They didn't dare use their blades for risk of hitting their leader.
Baron brought her down upon one of their number like a club and roasted the both of them with his fire. He unleashed all that he had inside him, charing both of them under the intense heat. He caught a tail blade in his mouth and ripped it off as he left the fight to catch his breath. With the Alpha Blade Bunny gone, the rest were soon picked off and scattered by his pokegirls. Paine stayed to ensure the Alpha was properly burned so the others couldn't eat the body and become Alphas themselves.
As he lumbered towards the cabin, he transformed back into his human form and collapsed. The fight burned up too much and left him weak. Roasting the pokegirl like that took a lot out of him because he had to let loose with everything he had just to keep up the heat. But with all of it gone, his body was too cold and worn out to start burning again. Food wasn't going to ignite his fire this time. He needed quick action before his body shut down.
With his eyes growing hazy and his muscles cramping, he didn't have the strength to get to the cabin. He didn't fight back when a pair of arms dragged him away. He was dropped onto the couch, covered in an electric blanket, and was given boiling water to warm him up.
He sputtered and immediately grabbed the cup, drinking it all. When his eyes cleared, Luna and the Team girl were standing over him. His first instinct was to grab his gun but his holster was empty. Misaki was cleaning both it and his rifle on the rocking chair while Paine was preparing the food, which smelled like Blade Bunny bits and Gorgon gumbo. Sunny was resting by the fireplace, giggling away in one of her dreams. Baron figured she was dreaming of them in the hot spring.
"Why did you help me?" he asked and the girl looked away.
"Because your Oddtits is scary when she's mad. She threatened to put me in the oven if I didn't help."
Baron closed his eyes and thought about that for a second before he looked over and said, "You know I don't eat humans."
"I know. But don't forget that I'm not technically human; that and she has nice legs. I wouldn't mind getting a taste of her." Luna licked her lips and the Team girl promptly passed out. "I call dibs!"
The brass pan that smacked her upside her head stopped that real quick and Paine yelled, "Quit that! You got enough food as it is. Now go get the smoked meat before I tan your hide."
"Yes ma'am!" the Oddtits yelled as she ran out the door. She quickly ran in again to grab her coat and boots and ran out again.
"That 'girl," Paine uttered under her breath. "Misaki, put the young lady in Sunny's bed. I still need to handle supper and she doesn't use it enough as it is."
Baron laid back down and let the electric blanket keep him warm. She sneezed and a puff of smoke erupted from his nose. This was not the time to be catching a cold.