Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
This work is the property of Kerrik Wolf (saethwyr@ (SPAM) hotmail.com). Please remove (SPAM) to contact me.
You should not read this work if you are under the age of legal consent wherever you reside. This work may or may not contain any and/or all of the following: death, dismemberment, violent acts, implied sex, explicit sex, violent sex, rape, cannibalism, blasphemy (depending on your religion), BDSM, torture, mimes, and just about anything unwholesome that you could consider.
The pokegirl universe was first documented by Metroanime and to him all of us who reside or visit there owe a debt of thanks.
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Bhavacakra
Six
(02/12/-09 1900 Cheyenne, Wyoming)
Misery pulled her 15mm submachine gun around and checked the magazine one last time as she stood in the doorway to the prince’s room. Whisper and Raven waited silently in the hallway near the door to the stairwell. The archmage had jammed the release bar on the door so thoroughly that not even a telekinetic pokegirl could open it from the other side without making a lot of noise and that only if she could somehow see this side of the door since the window had been blacked out with duct tape. Any other attackers would have to tear the door open or batter it down to get onto this floor.
It was possible that attacking pokegirls could pick some other place on the floor beneath or above them and blast their way through the ceiling or floor for ingress, but the only real way to counter that was to remain mobile and respond quickly to signs that such a breakthrough was happening. Otherwise they’d all have to huddle in Naruhito’s room while waiting for their foes to make the first move. That wasn’t a good plan since it left all of the tactical mobility in the hands of their enemies. Kerrik also knew that most pokegirls weren’t big on patience or defensive tactics. Combat oriented pokegirls liked to go on the offensive whenever possible and, since he knew that all he had available were combat pokegirls, he had to play to their strengths.
It was time for a sitrep. He kept his voice low. “Whisper, what can you sense? I know that several of the pokegirls are probably dark types that you can’t read without their permission, but not all of them might be that way. Historically they weren’t.”
There are several pokegirls around the ambulance. They have killed the driver when he attempted to flee and are clearing the entranceway of witnesses. While unlikely, pokegirls familiar with psychic types might be able to sense my presence if I probe them too deeply. Therefore I am keeping my contact light and I’m specifically not attempting to access either their memories or see through their eyes. I am not sensing any psychic pokegirls on their part, so either they intend to sweep the hospital one floor at a time or they have intelligence on the location of their target.
“I think they have intel,” Misery commented quietly from the doorway. “If they didn’t, why not just cut the support columns on the first floor and bring the whole building down.”
She has a point. They have now cleared the ER and are moving up to the second floor. Their intelligence, if any, may not be comprehensive as it appears they are moving onto the second floor and clearing it of life as well. There was a pause. Raven suggests a simpler answer. She thinks they don’t want anyone behind them.
“Either works, but she’s probably right.” Kerrik’s ears flicked, “And as far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t matter which it is. They’re on their way here, and that’s what’s important. Can you tell if they’re using the stairs?”
Without going deeper into their minds I cannot be sure. However, the minds that I sense do appear to be changing floors in the area where the staircase is, at least according to the maps you had me memorize. If they’re not doing that, then after they killed everyone on the first floor they headed over next to the stairs and walked in a couple of circles before tunneling through to the second floor.
Raven laughed at the cabbit’s comments. “Some pokegirls are that stupid.”
Whisper cocked her head. They are moving up to the third floor. I do not believe that they have a psychic pokegirl with them since I detect three people that they missed. While it is possible to lose the scents of prey in all the blood spilled by the other targets, a telepathic pokegirl would have easily tracked their terror.
“You sound like you’ve done this yourself.” Nurse Defenbaugh’s voice was soft, too soft for Whisper to hear with her ears.
Misery twisted around to look at the nurse with an expression that was both fierce and oddly gentle. “We have. Before Kerrik accepted us into his life, we killed people. We’re far better at it than those coming for Naruhito.” The gentleness died and her lips drew back from her fangs in a hungry grin. “They think they’re an assassination team, but we’re going to kick their asses without bothering to take any names.” She glanced at Kerrik and turned back to the hallway.
Kerrik’s ears flicked as he shook his head slightly. “That’s the plan, anyway, but in all honesty the other side didn’t come here to lose.”
Whisper’s head came up. They are moving to the fourth floor. Her eyes suddenly went wide. There are babies on that floor and they are moving towards them. A lot of babies.
She and Raven turned to stare back at Naruhito’s room. Raven had a horrified look on her face. “We have to defend them!”
Kerrik moved to the doorway and raised his voice. “It’s part of the distraction. Ignore it.”
Raven’s face went pale. “You heard her, there are babies there!”
Wolf ears were as flat as voice. “And nine out of ten of them will die when the Red Plague comes through. Of the survivors, they’ll all be dead in fifty years. I said ignore it. Our business is to protect Naruhito.”
Raven and Whisper both gave him desperate looks. Raven’s voice sounded like it was breaking. “Please, Kerrik.”
He knew from that response that the choice was his and that they would obey his dictates. Someday they would forgive his decision. And as he opened his mouth to deny Raven’s request, he realized that somehow, someplace, she’d become more than a pokegirl to him and that what she wanted mattered too. “Go down to the fifth floor and tunnel through to four. Take Whisper with you and catch the bitches. Misery and I’ll try to hold them off until you get back here. Hurry.”
Raven spun around as Whisper unblocked the door with her telekinesis and in an instant they were both gone. Kerrik ground his teeth. “Misery, block the stairwell door again and get back here.”
“I’m on it.” As the mini-top dashed forward, Kerrik turned and drove his right hand through the wall next to the door. Plaster shattered as he opened his hand and slashed the inner wall with his claws. He jerked backwards as there was a pop and the smell of ozone. All of the lights on the floor went out for a second before the emergency lighting detected the power loss and came on, leaving spots of light surrounded by vast pools of darkness. Beeps from the rooms around them as well as Naruhito’s equipment indicated that only the lighting circuit had opened.
Kerrik looked around as his eyes automatically adjusted to the change in lighting. “I blew the lights? I don’t fucking believe this shit.” He pulled his hand free from the wall and glared at the burns. “Un-fucking believable.”
Misery appeared in the doorway so abruptly that Toshi grunted in surprise. “Good idea, but the emergency light in this room kind of backlights us.”
“I only wish I’d done that on purpose.” He growled loudly and carefully licked the back of his burned hand. “Destroy that damned light.”
Misery summoned an energy blade and almost nonchalantly tossed it through the center of the emergency light. It made an odd noise and died. “That wasn’t on purpose? Then what was it?”
Her tamer snorted in disgust. “Poor judgment and bad temper.”
Misery gave him an amused look. “Aren’t I supposed to be the angry one?”
“Bite me.”
She leaned close and licked his neck. “Anytime, anywhere.” She winked. “Just not here and not now, since the superbadass bitches on their way here would expect me to share and that would just piss everyone off.” The mini-top moved back to the doorway.
Kerrik tried not to smile. “Everyone?”
She didn’t look back. “Yep. I’ll be pissed at them for expecting me to share you. They’ll be pissed when I tell them to go fuck themselves. You’ll be pissed since, because I’ll be fighting them at that point, you won’t get any bunny pussy and I know how much you like that.”
Kerrik chuckled in spite of himself. “While I can’t speak for anyone else, you just may have a point as far as I’m concerned.” He glanced back at a choked noise and realized that Naruhito was trying very hard not to laugh out loud. His guards and Defenbaugh all looked like they didn’t quite comprehend what was being said while Moirai laughed loudly.
The door to the stairwell rattled softly. Instantly Misery fired a three round burst. The 15mm submachine gun thundered and the explosive rounds blew fist sized holes in the door in a line at waist height. She yawned in the ringing silence afterwards and spoke in a conversational tone. “I’m glad you put flash suppressors on this thing or I’d be half blind now. You think I got anyone?”
“I’m sure you got their attention, but other than that, doubtful. Play for time. Taunt them.”
“I will.”
The door exploded off its hinges and spun down the hall towards them. Black shapes boiled behind it only to drop to the floor and slide backwards into a pool of night when Misery’s thrown energy blade ripped the door into pieces and continued on down the hall. The mini-top laughed. “That’s right, you whores, I’m here and your dumb asses are in some deep shit!” She dropped her voice. “We’re off script already. There were only two umbrea that Shikarou fought and I’m pretty sure I counted three shadows. I’m not sure on the identification for any of them.”
A voice hissed from the darkness. “Sister, you interfere with something you do not understand. Join us and let us wipe the stain of humanity from this place.”
The mini-top snorted. “You remember that promise from the Creator that we’d all have humans of our own? Well, you ugly bitches, I got mine and you can go fuck yourselves.” The light seemed to grow dimmer as she was suddenly cloaked in darkness. The dark bomb the umbrea had lobbed exploded when it hit her dark shield, blasting the walls on either side of Misery and shattering the walls in a spray of masonry and glass. She grunted as part of the blast leaked through her dark shield and fired another burst up the hallway. A yelp indicated a near miss. Her voice was low and slightly strained. “They’ve taken cover inside the rooms. If I reply in kind with area attacks, I’ll kill the people in the rooms around them. If I don’t, I’m kind of limited on my responses to them. Your call, Kerrik.”
“My life is not worth theirs.” Naruhito struggled to sit up. “I forbid it.”
Kerrik glanced at him. “Human, don’t presume to give me orders.” He turned back to Misery. “We’ll try to hold them without demolishing the building until Raven and Whisper can return. If things get too ugly, you are to evac Naruhito to someplace safe.”
He watched her long ears flick. “What about you?”
“I am not going to die at their hands here or now.”
Misery fired another burst. “I understand and will obey, although your orders suck.”
“That’s my rabbit.” He frowned. “Something’s not right. You’re only one pokegirl and I’d have swarmed you under by now. What the hell are they doing down there, having lunch?”
“I don’t smell food.” The mini-top suddenly crouched and let an incoming chi blast sail over her head. One of Naruhito’s guards had slid over to peer out the doorway and the bolt took him in the face. His head shattered like glass, spraying the room and its occupants with bits of blood, bone and brains.
Kerrik glanced around the room. One of the other guards had thrown himself over Naruhito, sparing him the worst of the mess. Moirai unwrapped her wings from around herself and shook them slightly to get the worst of the gore off. Nurse Defenbaugh was getting some towels and wipes from a drawer. She used one of the wipes to clean off her glasses as she spoke. “Nobody wipe or open their eyes until I clean your face. You can drive the bone into your corneas.” She flinched when another chi blast punched a hole in the wall but kept moving from person to person. Kerrik waved her off when she turned in his direction. She nodded and went to help one of the guards.
Misery didn’t look behind her as she kept watch. “What happened? I smell blood.”
“A guard decided to decorate.”
“With his blood?”
Kerrik chuckled. “Brains, too. I’m going to need a bath after this.”
“Damn. That wasn’t smart of him.” Her ears flicked. “In other good news, it sounds like they’re massing to rush me. I can hold all three of them off, but only if I’m free to do what I need to.” Her hands moved as she changed out the half expended magazine for a full one. “If not, things are going to be close. I hate fighting in buildings.”
“Don’t let her kill the other patients fighting for me.” Naruhito motioned for a guard to help prop him up. “I insist.”
Kerrik growled softly. “It was so much easier when Japanese nobility thought they were better than anyone else and nobody else’s life mattered. Whisper, I’d really like to know you and Raven are on your way. Where in the fuck are you?”
We are finishing up with the attackers in the maternity ward. We’ll be there as soon as we can.
“Fuck.” Kerrik and Misery spoke at the same time.
The mini-top crouched again. “Here they come.” She fired another burst and was rewarded by a long scream of agony. “Suck on that, bitch.” Then she was busy firing short bursts while weaving to dodge more attacks. “They’re dodging more than attacking,” she grunted out between shots. “I don’t like it.”
Suddenly, blood fountained across Kerrik’s back and painted the wall in front of him as the nurse screamed. He whirled, his hand blurring as he drew his pistol. Shots popped as he spun to see two guards shooting at a large figure in the darkness.
The muzzle flashes revealed a centaur figure encased in black spiky armor. The nine millimeter bullets bounced off of the armor without any effect. She hissed as her warm equine scent filled Kerrik’s nostrils.
The noise behind him grew louder as Raven and Whisper hit the attackers in the hall from behind.
A second figure, smaller than the nightmare, and unnoticed by the tunnel visioned guards, streaked for the bed and victory. Kerrik fired so quickly that it sounded like one shot, putting three rounds in the shadowcat’s side. The explosive rounds functioned as designed and blew a huge crater in her chest. The pokegirl’s momentum carried her forward even as she fell until Kerrik’s thrown pokeball took her in the leg. She vanished in a red flare as he swung back towards the nightmare and put a single round in her front right hip as she started to trot forward. There was a bright flash as the round detonated on her armor and she screamed in agony as the shaped charge shattered her hip.
He stared at her over the sights and then lowered the gun. “Run. If you stay, I’ll have no choice but to take my chances with causality.” The nightmare stared at him in a frozen tableau until he began to raise the pistol again. “Your choice.” She stumbled backwards and through the wall to vanish.
Raven lunged past him and swept her staff in a glittering amethyst arc to shatter the wall outward and reveal the slowly falling snow. “I’ll catch her.”
“Let her go.” The archmage turned to stare at him as a light wind began blowing the stench of death from the room. “I’ll explain later.”
She nodded and spat blood. Her hair had been scorched short and blisters covered her face and neck. “You’re the boss. We’ve caught the ones we can. The rest, except for that nightmare, are dead.”
“And us?”
“I’m healing, although I hope you like short hair on me for a while.” She smiled and winced as a blister on her cheek popped. “Whisper has some burns too. Misery’s a little chewed up, but she’ll be fine and you’re covered in blood.”
He put his pistol up. “None of which is mine. All I am is dirty. Can you make me a light?” He raised his voice as Raven summoned a brightly glowing sphere. “How are you and your surviving guards, Naruhito?”
“Bring the light over here!” Defenbaugh was trying to save the guard who’d been torn apart by the nightmare. She stopped when the light revealed the extent of the dead man’s injuries. He’d been chopped into pieces by the equine pokegirl’s dark blade and was beyond help.
Naruhito’s eyes glittered in the light. “I am unharmed, Mr. Wolf. Thanks to you and your creatures, so are my remaining guards.”
“They’re called pokegirls and I’m sorry two of your men had to die.” He glanced at the hallway. “Whisper, be on the lookout for that tactical team. We’ll want to be gone before they get up here.”
I am watching for them.
Kerrik dug a phone out his pocket and checked it. “Here’s a cell phone. You should be released in a few days. When that happens, give me a call. I’m programmed in as Kerrik. We’ll take you to Japan at that point and give you some tools to deal with what’s coming.”
“You know the future?”
“In a general way, yes, I do.”
“Do we defeat the monsters, I mean the pokegirls?” He stumbled over the unfamiliar word.
Kerrik eyed him briefly. “I’m not sure how to answer that. Sukebe will be defeated, but pokegirls become a permanent part of the world.”
“Sukebe?”
“He’s the one behind all of this. I’m not sure if the Americans know about him being back yet.” He shrugged. “And there are more important things to worry about Naruhito. Things we will discuss before you go home.” He looked at Whisper. “Take Raven up and have her heal Jamie. Then come back here and let’s go home before the Army gets here.”
Raven’s eyes narrowed. “Misery, post!”
The mini-top hurried into the room. She was holding a handful of Twinkies in one hand and an opened Coke in the other. “You bellowed, my maharani?”
“Watch Kerrik.”
“Gladly, my maharani.” Misery leered at Kerrik briefly until Raven and Whisper vanished. Then she leaned against the wall and tore open a Twinkie pack with her teeth.
“Where did you get the food?”
She flashed him a grin. “It turns out that some vending machines on this floor made the ultimate sacrifice during the battle. It was so noble.” She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and bit into a pasty. “Go figure that just the locks would be destroyed so the goodies would be available.”
Kerrik shook his head and snatched the Coke from her hand. “Fancy that.”
“Hey!”
(02/13/-09 0730 Horse Creek, Wyoming)
Raven teleported into the kitchen, coming out standing on the table. “Did you know that our favorite deputy sheriff is here again? I wonder what Keyes wants this time?”
Kerrik lifted his plate away from her boots. “Off the table.” Quickly he shoveled his breakfast into his mouth and dropped the plate in the sink as she hopped to the floor. “I have no idea why he’s here this time, but if he visits any more I’m going to start charging him rent.” He piled his hair on his head and pulled his hat over it.
Can you do that?
“I can throw his ass off my property if I’m willing to tolerate the fight that it’ll cause.” Kerrik stomped for the door and headed outside.
Whisper’s eyes narrowed. The deputy sheriff is not alone.
Kerrik came to a halt and stared. “Shit. I wish you’d been a few seconds faster with that.”
Sorry.
The first thing he noticed was that Deputy Sheriff Patrick Keyes wasn’t in uniform. The second was that the deputy was on the passenger side of his civilian car and holding the door open so a tall woman could get out. She looked up and her eyes met Kerrik’s. She smiled. “Hello.”
He nodded slowly. “Tamara. I wasn’t aware you and the deputy knew each other.”
Nurse Defenbaugh nodded. “I know just about every law enforcement officer in the state from my time in the ER.” Her eyes were still kind of hollow, but she looked like she was recovering quickly from the events of the previous night. His already high estimation of her increased another couple of points.
Keyes held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. “I’m not here in an official capacity, Wolf, and neither is Tamara. Before you do anything someone would regret, you need to know we come in peace.” He looked around. “Can they hear me?”
Inside his hat, Kerrik’s ears tried to go flat. “They?”
“Pat showed up last night at the hospital, Mr. Wolf. I told him what happened. It was kind of surprising when it turned out he knew your name.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to come here and thank you for what you did. Your friends, too.”
Say the word and their bodies will never be found.
“They might have left word with someone that they were coming out here.” He shook his head. “Stand down, ladies, but remain alert.” He raised his voice. “Both of you come inside. Keyes, if you draw that gun you’ve got in your boot, all of Tamara’s skill won’t keep you alive. My ladies don’t like threats.”
Moirai has decided that she does not want her presence to be known here and Misery is taking her to the mountains until they are gone.
Keyes’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “You do have some under your control. This must be that secret program you’re involved in!”
“If you say so, then that must be it.” Kerrik ushered them inside to see that Raven had put out some refreshments. She was also the only pokegirl in sight, but her amethyst hair glittered in the sunlight coming in the window. “Tamara, Patrick, this is Raven. She’s a pokegirl.”
“I’m an archmage.” Raven shook hands with both of them. “As Tamara is aware, there are two other pokegirls here, but we decided it would be best to take things slowly so as not to spook the deputy.”
Keyes bristled. “I don’t spook easily.”
“Boo.” Misery appeared behind him and blew on his neck. Keyes whirled and backed up against the wall. The mini-top nodded. “I’m something that would spook most men, deputy. And considering what I am and what I can do, you have good reason to be afraid of me.”
Tamara didn’t move. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Misery.”
The nurse blinked. “Your parents were bastards to name you that.”
It was Misery’s turn to look surprised. “Well, I don’t have any parents and I chose this name for myself.”
“No parents? You’re an orphan?”
“No pokegirl has parents. We’re all created in artificial wombs and decanted after we’re grown to maturity.” Raven settled down at the table and gave Kerrik an inquiring look. He shrugged and nodded. “We come out of the tanks as adults. I look like I’m in my late teens but I am really only ten years old. As we grow up, most of us will be able to have children, with the help of human males.”
Keyes looked interested. “There aren’t any male pokegirls?”
“No. There is a species of pokegirl that has a penis and can help pokegirls to breed, but she’s rare and most of us prefer real males.” She glanced at Kerrik. “I know I do.”
“How did you turn them to our side?” Keyes’ eyes widened as he looked past Kerrik and the kami knew Whisper had entered the room.
“Pokegirls were created by Sukebe to be the sexual partners of men. Apparently he has some control issues. You have to make them your sexual partner and they’ll obey you, more or less.”
“Who?” Tamara was also staring at Whisper. The cabbit was wearing jeans and a lace up bodice the same shade of green as her fur over a poet shirt. She was quite the sight.
“Do you remember Jim Sukkoto?”
Keyes snorted. “Who doesn’t? That freak created women animal slaves. It was perverted.”
Kerrik poured himself some tea. “Actually, that’s what Linda reported and isn’t the complete truth. However, it doesn’t matter. Sukkoto is Sukebe. Pokegirls are part of his revenge on the human race, especially the women, for what Linda did.”
“He wants revenge on humanity for her outing his crimes?” Tamara looked shocked.
Kerrik sipped at his tea. “No, he wants revenge on humanity because his mind snapped after they killed his creations. He loved them and they loved him.” He looked up from his cup. “I’d do horrible things to the people involved if someone hurt women I love. His desire to punish everyone for the crimes of a few is a sign of his madness. But even in that madness, his genius continued and he created pokegirls to take the place of women.”
“Why would we ever choose them over women?” Keyes looked indignant.
The news has some reports of an unusual illness that’s showing up, one that causes cramps and bloody discharge from a woman’s vagina. That is the Bloody Flu and it, too, is part of Sukebe’s strategy. Most of the women who get it, and almost all of them will, will be rendered infertile by the contagion. Whisper sat down next to Kerrik and poured herself some water. It does not affect pokegirls and because of this, if a man wants children, he will have to claim a pokegirl and wait for her to become a pokewoman.
“Oh my God.” Tamara stared at them. “What can we do?”
“Nothing.” Kerrik finished off his cup. “It’s already started and there’s nothing you can do except try to survive.”
Keyes watched as Raven fixed him and Defenbaugh a cup of tea and accepted it with a smile. “You said they could be controlled if we had a sexual relationship with them. How does that work?”
“Having sex with a pokegirl will usually cause her to imprint on the person she’s having sex with. For the most part, she comes to see him or her as the pack leader or master of their relationship. Some pokegirls will try to dominate that relationship, but most won’t. Pokegirls can’t really imprint on each other, they need a human to be their pack leader.” He watched Raven give the nurse a cup of tea. “In most cases a pokegirl will obey her master over all others and can then be turned against the other pokegirls.”
“Like you did last night.” Tamara cradled her cup and blew on the steam.
“Exactly.” Kerrik leaned back and reached out to stroke Misery’s ears. The rabbit pokegirl gave out a contented purr and leaned closer. “Something in their genetic makeup makes them crave the attention of a human and you have to reinforce that bond on a regular basis. However, once you have that bond, you can pretty much do whatever you want with a pokegirl and she’ll come to like it or at least justify it in her mind. They’re the ultimate abuse dolls in the hands of a cruel person.” He held up one of the mini-tops’s ears. “With a normal pokegirl I could shred this ear and while she’d scream and possibly cry, she wouldn’t fight back.” Misery gave him a sharp look and he chuckled. “Misery isn’t normal in that way. She’d rip my head off or die in the attempt. It’s one of the things I value about my ladies, the fact that they can be as strong as I can.”
He turned back to a shocked looking Tamara as he resumed stroking Misery’s ears. “It means that anyone with the slightest hint of an abusive personality will be able to blossom with a pokegirl and they will. The future holds darkness for many pokegirls, and it is a darkness they will embrace and convince themselves is really love.”
“That’s hideous!”
“Not all owners will be that way.” He shrugged. “Some will treat their pokegirls as animals while others will treat them as friends. But the government doesn’t want them to be treated as friends. The government will want pokegirls to be treated as tools in the coming war.”
“Do they want you to treat your pokegirls like tools?” Keyes watched his eyes intently.
“What they do or don’t want me to do with my pokegirls isn’t important.” Kerrik snorted. “I’ve done what I came here to do and in a few days we’ll be gone.”
“Where will you go?”
“You wouldn’t believe me and I’m not going to try to explain it. Eventually we plan to settle in Texas.”
“Why not here?”
“Texas is filled with people who don’t like to be told what to do. I like that mindset.”
“What about the farm you have here?”
“I’ve made arrangements for the taxes to be paid and a caretaker to keep an eye on the place. Other than that, I’ll let the place go wild. Someday we’ll return to see what’s here.” He glanced at Raven and raised an eyebrow.
The archmage looked at Whisper, who looked at him. The preventatives for the Bloody Flu and the Red Plague were in the tea they drank.
Good. Kerrik turned back to his guests. “Do you two want to stay for lunch?”
(02/16/-09 0500 Horse Creek, Wyoming)
“Now open the backpack like I showed you and focus your will.” Raven pointed the open mouth of her tamer’s backpack at the field and did as instructed. There was a loud noise, like the thunder generated by a nearby lightning strike and light flared. When it died down, the field was empty.
Kerrik patted her on the arm. “Good job, although the noise and light is a sign that you need to focus harder.”
“Where are the goats and cows?”
“Where are the goats and cows?”
“In the backpack. There’s a pocket dimension in there where they’ve been stored in perfect stasis. They’ll be fine there until we return to our time and release them in Texas.”
“Now we do the rabbits and the chickens?”
“That’s right. After we drop of Naruhito and before we head back, we’ll hit the areas around where fighting has gone on and grab any other livestock we can. They’ll help us set up a ranch back in Texas.”
“There used to be deer and stuff on the mountain. Can we stop in Texas and pick up all we can find there? They won’t be missed.”
Kerrik grinned. “That sounds like an excellent idea.”
(02/16/-09 0730 Horse Creek, Wyoming)
Even though he was expecting it, Kerrik jumped when his phone rang. He opened it. “Wolf.”
Naruhito’s voice replied. “This is Kōtaishi Naruhito, Mr. Wolf. I will be released from the hospital shortly and am calling as you requested. When will you be able to return me to Japan?”
Kerrik glanced at the four pokegirls sitting at the table and watching him. “Today. We’ll be waiting when you’re released.”
“Thank you.” The prince broke the connection.
Raven looked around as Kerrik put the phone away. “Ok, we know that there will be a surveillance team looking for Naruhito to be released. Shikarou’s group spotted a pair of garters, but as we’ve learned from the fact that the force composition at the hospital was completely different from what Shikarou reported, what he encountered isn’t likely to be what we’ll face.” The combat team at the hospital had been three umbrea, the escaped nightmare, two blazicunts, two growlies, a tigress and a shadowcat. One of the umbrea had been killed along with the tigress. The rest were in pokeballs and slated to go to Naruhito along with the others they’d caught. “We intend to avoid contact as much as possible. The tactical team is still at the hospital and if we got into a pitched battle with other pokegirls, they’d be as likely to shoot at us as at the other side. Kerrik isn’t interested in having us caught between two attackers. I’m not either.”
Moirai cocked her head. “How do we do this then?”
“Kerrik will wait for Naruhito to be released while we keep watch. Once the prince is on the street, Kerrik will lead him someplace where we can retrieve him and bring him here.”
Moirai’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t like that plan. It puts the prince at risk. What I think we should instead do is,” she vanished into a red cloud of energy that was sucked into the pokeball Misery held out.
The mini-top snickered. “It must suck for her to be around so many people with minds that she can’t read. You never know who to try to keep an eye on.” She handed the pokeball to Kerrik. “I was prepared since I thought the bitch would try to horn in. Please continue, maharani.”
Raven looked at Misery and laughed. “I was finished. Once he’s here, we’ll brief him on pokegirls, probably tear up some of the landscape giving demonstrations and take him to Japan.”
“Where are we going to take him?”
Shikarou took Naruhito to Mount Tarume near the city of Tomakomai. I’m the most widely traveled of all of us in that part of the world, but I’ve never been to that part of Hokkaido. I have been to Mount Fuji and there is a JGSDF base there. Its name is Komakado-chūtonchi and it’s a training and operational facility for artillery and armor. It’s close enough that one of the Naruhito’s guards can bring aid quickly while we protect him. It’s easily the best place to take the prince.
“That sounds good to me.” Kerrik eyed the pokeball containing Moirai for a few seconds before stuffing it into his pocket. “She can make her case with Naruhito to be his pokegirl on her own time, not ours.”
Misery drained her glass. “Then let’s go.”
Name: Wolf, Kerrik
Age: Unlisted
Residence: Kingdom of Haven - Currently Texas League
Status: Active
Rank: NA (5)
HRA rank: Colonel
Security Clearance: Omicron
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Raven Archmage
Whisper Cabbit
Misery Mini-top