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.
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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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Chapter 21
(4/30/06 1330 Marco Island)
Raven was almost vibrating as she stared at Jamie. “Can you find him?” She snarled loudly when he nodded. “Misery is one dead rabbit.”
Jamie cocked his head. Find Virtue/Vice. If you cannot find her quickly, get Selene and Aggie involved. Inform father as to the situation.
I will.
Ginevra pulled Whisper’s pokeball from the PPHU. “Here, Raven. She’s all healed and ready to go.”
“Thank you.” Raven took the ball and released Whisper directly in front of where she was standing. In the same motion, she grabbed the cabbit by the throat and slammed her against the building they stood next to. Timbers groaned at the impact and Whisper gasped as the air was driven from her lungs. Raven made a fist with her free hand and placed it against Whisper’s forehead. “You have only seconds of life remaining unless you explain what Misery was yelling. If you twitch, I will finish creating my energy blade through your brain.”
Whisper shuddered slightly, as she fought not to cough. I have not done anything to Misery and I do not know why she would think that I have. She is my friend, as are you. I do not have enough friends that I would harm any of them. May I breathe now?
Raven nodded without loosening her grip and Whisper began taking deep, lung filling breaths. “Kerrik allows me to feed without having to kill unless I wish to. If I find out you have lied to me, you know what I will do.”
I will help you find him. I want him back as much as you do. A feeling of slow anger colored her thoughts. Misery will pay for what she has done and, perhaps, she will finally find the death she seeks.
Raven released Whisper so abruptly that the cabbit stumbled forward and almost fell. “Have you found him yet?”
Jamie blinked at the naked fury in her tone. “No, it may take more than a few seconds, but we’re working on it. Who is Misery?”
Raven’s eyes hardened. “That doesn’t matter, since you’ll never meet her alive again. She is nothing.”
Misery knew what she was looking for and immediately identified Kerrik as the object of her search. Something has obviously aimed her at him and we should identify what is taking place before we execute her.
“You may be right.” Raven let out air in a slow hiss. “Remind me of that when we find her, so I do not kill her out of hand.”
I have news. Virtue has reported Kerrik’s location to Cassiopeia in Bastion. He is in the Andes Mountains.
Whisper’s eyes widened as she twisted around to stare at Jamie. You are not telepathic. How are you doing this?” Her antennae uncurled to their full length. What is in your head?
“You’re sensing my twee. It’s given to my people and allows me to communicate with others who have one, as well as interface with some electronic communication devices.”
I have not sensed anything like this in Kerrik’s mind. Your pokegirls have one, too, except for Caitlin.
“I haven’t had Caitlin long enough to know she’s going to stay with me. I won’t give her one until I’m sure. We’ve located grandfather. He’s somewhere in the Andes Mountains.”
Misery has a lair there. She likes the solitude. I have never been there. She looked at Raven. Have you?
“Part of the price of my friendship with Alice was keeping my contact with Misery to a minimum and I have never had a reason to travel to that part of the world before.”
Jamie hesitated briefly. “If you’ll give me a little time, I can probably narrow down his location more precisely. The Andes Mountains are one of the longest ranges on the planet and that might help a bit.”
We will wait. Whisper’s eyes locked with Raven’s. It is for the best and you need to relax. Misery is strong enough that she is not someone you can easily dismiss. A direct assault might hurt that which you seek to rescue.
Raven growled in the back of her throat before driving her fist through the wall next to them. Turning, she stalked off.
I will keep her calm while you locate our kami. The maharani cannot afford to let anger cloud her judgment and endanger the safety of our tamer or me.
“Maharani?”
It means great queen. Raven considers alpha to be demeaning.
Ginevra grinned. “I want to be called the maharani.”
Madison chuckled. “I’ll bet you do.”
Jamie sighed as Ginevra’s tail whipped sideways. “Not now, you two.”
“The old one is in no danger; you know it as well as I.” Ginevra grasped Jamie’s shoulder gently. “If he could defeat the combined strength of the High Council of the last world we visited, then a single mini-top is no threat to him.”
“There’s always the chance that you are wrong.”
Her hand tightened and turned him to face her. “Kerrik Wolf is far tougher than I will ever be and I do not make that admission lightly. He will be fine. If your mood were lighter, I would bet you mastery of our harem that I am right.” He smiled slightly and she chuckled. “We will find that he is well and somehow in mastery of whatever situation he finds himself. As you are aware, he can teleport. If he truly wanted to, he would have already returned.”
“What about them?” Madison nodded in the direction of the departed pokegirls.
Ginevra flashed a grin that disappeared as quickly as it had come. “Let them worry. It is amusing that they either don’t know as much about him as we do or are unwilling to think about what he might do.”
Jamie was watching Raven and Whisper. “Normally, I try to resist your attempts to corrupt me, but in this case I think I’ll indulge myself just a little.”
“Good. Will you release Caitlin to appreciate the humor in the situation?”
“Not right now. I’ll wait until Whisper is gone so she’ll stay in a decent mood.”
Raven was back fifteen minutes later. “What is taking so long? I thought you could find him.”
Jamie shrugged. “These things take time. Calm down.” He focused on his twee. What is taking so long? Triangulation should be simple enough to do.
The communication device that Virtue uses is completely under her control. She reported that Kerrik was alive and reasonably health. She has not communicated since and she is not transmitting a beacon that we can locate. I will ask Selene to query her on a higher priority and see if she replies.
He just sighed. “As soon as I know something, I promise I’ll inform you.”
Vice would not respond to Selene but did reply to Cassiopeia’s query. She is giving coordinates and I’m downloading them to your pokedex.
Whisper’s head came around and she gave Jamie an expectant look. He grinned at her. “We found him. I’ll ask one of my mothers to bring a spare pokedex so you can use it to go get him.”
The cabbit’s eyes narrowed slightly and then she nodded. That is fair enough. I can understand you not wanting to lose your personal equipment.
Elizabeth appeared and looked around with a slightly worried look. “I have the pokedex. I’ve been told that Kerrik’s ok. I hope that’s true.” She handed the pokedex to Jamie, who gave it to Raven. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know who it was for.”
“That’s ok, mom.” Jamie hugged her. “Thanks.”
She grinned. “He’s kind of important to us, too. Who are they?” She nodded towards Raven and Whisper, who were standing together and examining the pokedex while Madison showed them how to work it.
“You’ll have to ask mother.”
A wary look appeared on the vampire’s face. “Does this have anything to do with why she’s been looking so smug recently?”
He just smiled slightly. “She has your answers.”
“I thought I was your favorite mother.”
“No, you’re my favorite mom. I’ve only got one mother.”
“Oh, boy, I’ll let Shikarou ask her. Bye.” She gave him a quick kiss and vanished.
Madison stepped back as Raven and Whisper shot straight up and curved off to the south. “Raven said it will take them almost four hours to get there.”
That would put their speed in excess of mach 2. That’s a fun fact that we should remember.
“I agree. I wonder if it’s their top speed.” Jamie shook his head and released Caitlin. “Caitlin, we’ve located Kerrik. Raven and Whisper have gone to get him, but, in the meantime, I think we need to get back to work.”
The demon-goddess nodded. “Will we have to clean up the battlefield?”
“It is littered with pieces of automobile.”
She smiled slyly. “Whisper did that, not me.”
“You helped.”
“Then, I’ll help clean up.” Her smile faded. “One of the reasons I was angry with Whisper was that I was led to understand by others that she’d toyed with my sister before destroying her. If their battle was like the one she and I had, I think that perhaps she was trying to avoid having to kill her until she had no choice. I can work with her now.”
Jamie eyed her briefly. “You’re sure?”
“I am.”
“What do you know about Misery?”
Caitlin shrugged. “Ginevra, I don’t know much about her. She’s like Raven, one of the solitary ones. Approaching them without permission is extremely hazardous.”
“Weren’t you solitary, too?”
She shook her head. “I arranged things so I wouldn’t be disturbed by locating in a location unlikely to be investigated. The more powerful pokegirls don’t care who find them and set up wherever they want. Then there are the solitaries. They’re not always unique, but whether or not there are more of their species, they are all dangerous and they aren’t visited without an invitation. Some, like Raven, have to kill to survive and some, like Misery is reputed to be, just like to kill. They tend to leave their homes to hunt or to seek out a human for sex.”
“What about Whisper?”
“No one is sure what she is, but it’s known that she prefers to be alone. Some think it’s because she likes being far from other minds that might disturb her.”
“Are they right?”
“I have no idea. As you’re aware, I’m not that fond of Whisper. Raven is my friend, but the fact that she’s friends with Whisper does not make me and Whisper friends.”
Jamie nodded. “That makes sense. Ok, ladies, we need to get to work.”
***
(4/30/06 1800 Andes Mountains)
Raven went into a hover and consulted the pokedex again. She looked around and pointed. “This thing says he is around here somewhere. I see a cave opening.” She glanced at her companion. “Can you detect anything?”
Whisper’s antennae quested slowly. He is down there and relatively unharmed. He says Misery is asleep and to come in quietly.
The archmage’s eyes hardened enough to resemble the stones whose color they reflected. “I will be quiet until I am standing over her corpse and have reclaimed my kami. Then, I will celebrate.”
We must be very careful. Misery is not like anyone else we know and I’m not sure if she can sense us coming.
“You’re right. We’ll treat her like one of our targets.” Raven’s fang gleamed. “After all, that’s what she is.” She pulled her staff from her pocket and murmured a spell. “Now we can see when there is no light.”
They landed silently near the mouth of the cave and slipped inside, Raven leading. Moving slowly, they entered the interior of the cave. It was filled with the refuse of a careless housekeeper, clothing and food containers were scattered all over the place and broken bits of furniture lay carelessly strewn about. As they moved deeper into the cavern, the piles of junk began to thin out until they finally stopped.
The cavern narrowed and then widened out into a second, smaller chamber that held far different items. Raven eased around an alabaster inlaid chess table while Whisper paused to glance over a collection of figurines made of gold and decorated with gems. She blinked at a display case stuffed with jewelry and moved on.
A heavy tapestry formed a curtain which covered the back part of the cavern and Raven slowly moved it aside to peer behind it. She waved to get Whisper’s attention and motioned the cabbit over to join her.
Behind the tapestry were several pieces of furniture, including a vanity, canopy bed and a couple of dressers. Everything matched and nothing looked damaged. Shreds of clothing were scattered in a line from the curtain to the bed; Raven stifled a hiss when she realized that Kerrik and Misery were in it, with her draped over him.
His head turned and he smiled, and slowly lifted an arm to wave them closer. When he shifted, Misery muttered in her sleep and curled around him. His lips moved and a whisper drifted through the room. “Give pack.”
Kerrik’s backpack materialized in front of Whisper and she picked it up and moved silently across the room to stand next to the bed. She held it out and he slipped his hand inside a side pouch to remove a small sphere, which he pressed against Misery’s neck. There was a flare of red light and she vanished into the pokeball. He stayed still until the capture light flashed and then sat up as several oil lamps in the bedroom ignited, only to dim when both pokegirls hissed and covered their eyes. “Sorry.”
Raven pulled the covers back. “Are you well?” Angry red lines ran over most of his body, but even as she watched, they were fading. Blood flecked the sheets and her nose told her that all of it was his.
He winced as he slipped his feet off the bed and sat on the edge. “She broke a couple of my bones when we were having sex and her claws are very sharp; other than that, I’m ok. I’ll be fine in an hour or so.”
“Give me that pokeball.”
He gave her a surprised look. “I don’t think so. Misery was more than half feral when she showed up and I can’t blame her for her behavior.” He looked at Whisper. “Please get out my PPHU.”
The cabbit nodded and began rummaging through his pack. I take it you have found something that justifies her actions. What might that be?
“She’s right. What happened was Whisper’s fault and yet it wasn’t something that she did consciously.”
Raven began to stalk around the room. “Explain.” Whisper glanced at her while loading Misery’s pokeball into the PPHU.
“Raven, do you remember what happened when we arrived at Whisper’s home?”
“I do have an eidetic memory.”
“When Whisper and I were bonding, her mind projected what was going on so strongly that it made you feel like you were with us and actually satisfied your libido’s requirements.”
She stopped to stare at him. “What does that have to do with Misery and how do you know what happened to her? I thought you said she was mostly feral.”
“She told me. You see, it turns out that Misery was coming to visit her friend Whisper while we were there. While you were outside doing loops a couple of kilometers away, it turns out that Misery was less than a hundred meters from the house when Whisper lost control.
The cabbit sniffed derisively. I did not lose control; it was ripped from me when our minds merged.
He smiled slightly. “If that’s how you want to think of what happened, be that way.”
I will.
“Raven, you reported afterwards that even as far away as you were, you felt as if you were involved in the act.”
She nodded. “I lost so much of my own awareness that I crashed.”
“Misery got it much worse than you did. She was knocked unconscious and didn’t awaken until we were long gone. All she knew was that she’d somehow been involved in sex with us and that Whisper was responsible for what was happening to her.”
“Something was happening to her? What?”
“Misery had this compulsion that she hadn’t had before and, because of it, she had to find something. She had a vague idea of where it was, but not exactly and wasn’t sure what she was trying to find. All she knew for sure was that Whisper was involved.”
He began pulling clothes out of his pack. “She ripped mine to shreds getting them off. Hers, too. Anyway, she hadn’t been to the area where she knew she had to go and so traveling there took a bit of time. From what I understand, she set out the day Whisper joined the harem and has been on the road ever since.”
Raven made a face. “I have no sympathy for her yet, so if that is what you’re trying for it is not working.”
“Misery arrived on that battlefield almost feral and suddenly knew she was looking for a male, specifically me. When her mind was overwhelmed by Whisper, she was bonded to me.”
“I do not think she’ll be staying that way for long. I can unbond her pretty quickly.”
Raven, she knew where the object of her desire was. That’s not the sign of an alpha level bond.
“I am already very close to hating you for this. I would suggest you not take her side.”
Kerrik’s eyes hardened. “She was delta bonded to me and, unless she dies, she’ll be mine for the rest of her life.”
Raven fixed him with a furious glare. “She can’t be. It doesn’t work that way. I don’t know a lot about delta bonds since we fighting pokegirls didn’t have to worry about them. I do know, however, that they’re very rare and that it takes a lot of time and a very strong committed relationship.”
Kerrik nodded as he began dressing. “That’s right. However, in this case, what I think happened was Whisper pulled all of us into a version of dreamtime. That provided the impetus for her to bond so tightly.” He paused. “It also suggests that the bonds I have with you two may have been affected. Probably they’ve been advanced a great deal.”
“That still does not explain what happened,” Raven insisted. “If she was delta bonded to you, she should have been able to come straight to you.” The archmage gave him a look of triumph. “Explain why she couldn’t.”
She is not a telepath and didn’t understand the nature of the bond. If she had, she could have used it to do just that.
Raven’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Have you forgotten that Misery was a snugglebunny before she became a mini-top? They are telepaths.”
They are touch telepaths, which is why Misery retained that ability even after she evolved. They are not true telepaths and cannot comprehend what true telepathy feels like, even when they touch someone who is. Touching mind to mind is much more profound than that. Whisper shrugged and gave Misery’s pokeball to Kerrik. I do not like this any more than you do. Misery was not someone that we had been considering for a third and I do not feel that she will be able to shoulder the same load that we will. She cocked her head and ran her fingers over Kerrik’s arm. You are not going to allow us to kill her, are you?
Raven’s shoulders slumped when he shook his head. “Why not? Misery is a disaster on two legs.”
“Why? What’s wrong with her?” His ears flicked curiously.
“Misery was raised to be a killer. She was tasked with infiltrating enemy command units and eliminating their ranking officers. Snugglebunnys are good at scouting. Killing is something that does not come easily to them because they are so empathetic. Killing by hand is even harder, since they feel the entire trauma each victim goes through, and then they get to feel them die. Misery couldn’t use firearms to eliminate her targets, and so had to kill her targets one by one if she couldn’t use a bomb.” Raven shrugged. “The fact that it hurt her, too, was considered of secondary importance to her missions. As a snugglebunny, she could touch people and know all the traps they had set up and all the passwords that they did. More snugglebunnys were being trained to do the same job when Misery evolved.”
“You didn’t think that something like this might happen, considering the trauma she was undergoing?”
Before Misery evolved, Kerrik, there had been no mini-tops. She was the first. They were not a planned evolution and the changes in Misery were rather surprising. Her sudden increase in aggression and her disregard for command structure, however, made her useless as an assassin and the development line was dropped. She is the only one of her kind. The other snugglebunnys were instead used as scouting elements and to prepare for Cowslip.
“Cowslip was planned? I was under the impression that it was kind of thrown together when it became obvious that Sukebe was going to lose the war.”
Raven snorted. “From the beginning, Sukebe knew that the humans would find his lairs. He intended for them to, and to that end left clues to help them on their path. Pokegirls were supposed to take the place of human women when it was discovered that they were infertile and, with him presumed dead, there would be no reason for them to be as hated since they were supposedly his pawns. The only thing he did not plan for, was the damned Chinese and the Red Plague. If they hadn’t done that, there would have been enough human men for all of the pokegirls, even if only a small percentage of the humans took one.”
It was intended that humans would compete for pokegirls, since we would be the only sure way to enable humanity to survive. Instead, pokegirls are becoming a pestilence because there aren’t enough humans to take them all before they can go feral. The snugglebunnys worked to find homes for as many pokegirls as they could, but Cowslip as envisioned would never happen.
“How do you two know all of this?”
Misery told us. She was considered for Cowslip but, as she is now, obviously she isn’t the type to make a human want a pokegirl. Studies indicated that a human who accepts one pokegirl is much more likely to accept another, or to help others find homes. Anyone terrified by one is not. Still, she had been a snugglebunny and as a killer could be used to keep the others in line and on the job, even as things fell apart. For that reason, she had to be briefed in on the operation.
“It’s my understanding that Cowslip was a need to know operation. Why did she tell you?”
Raven sat down on the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Whisper, Misery and I are all members of a special club. The only requirement for joining it is that you have to be ostracized by the rest of the pokegirl community,” she gave a bitter laugh, “such as it is. The reason doesn’t matter, be it my unsavory habit of having the people around me for breakfast, or Misery’s tendency towards blind rages or even Whisper and her dislike of most people. Not even the legendaries want us around unless they feel we can do something for them.” She raised her head and looked at him bleakly. “All pokegirls are social creatures, even us; so, after taking suitable precautions to avoid whatever issues we have from cropping up, we keep in touch and pass along information that could be useful.”
“Most of us were excited about Cowslip, hopeful that we would find homes among the humans, since we had been shunned by our own kind. When it became obvious that most of us weren’t going to be considered, it was a devastating blow and some of us gave up at that point. A couple of them even committed suicide rather than go feral forever. The rest of us have been going through the motions and trying to get by.”
That is why Raven is so possessive of you. I am, too; and if you keep Misery she will be as well. Of the members of our little group, most will never find a home and those that do will do anything in their power to keep it. The good witches are a case in point.
“Just how big is this club?
No one is completely sure, but we think that it numbers less than fifty. Now that we have a home, Raven and I will let the others know that hope still exists and we will try to get you to help us find humans for some of the others. Our friends in this club, if you will, will of course get a higher priority than the others.
“Not all of them will come here.” Raven folded her arms defiantly. “I am willing to help them find other humans, but I am not inclined to share with everyone.”
“What about Misery?”
She gritted her teeth. “I was hoping to add someone else to the family; in spite of her problems, Misery is a powerful combatant. If she will accept my rank as maharani, I will help her find a home here since it’s unlikely she will ever have another chance. The club was discussing whether or not she was going to have to be eliminated; if she is refused and goes berserker over this, the remaining members will have no choice but to kill her.” She gave him a curious look. “What are my options if she will not accept my authority?”
“I was wondering if you would accept input from me.”
“You are my human, even though you are not one; I’m engineered to want to make you happy.” She smiled slightly. “When you are happy, I am happy or at least more likely to be happy. That means disobeying your orders is counterproductive to my happiness”
Kerrik nodded. “You are my maharani. If Misery has problems with that, then you will have to explain it to her in terms that she can understand. Be as firm as you need to, and feel free to use the resources under your control to do so. She can always be healed afterward.”
I am not a resource.
Raven raised an eyebrow. “You are if I want you to be. Our male has placed me in a position of authority over you. You accepted it at the time. Do we need to fight over this?”
No. Bitch.
“I am no more of a bitch than you would be if you were standing in my place.”
Kerrik chuckled at the petulant look that appeared on the cabbit’s face. “Ok, ladies, how about we go back to the island and let my grandson know to call off whatever Shikarou and Branwyn are cooking up to find me.”
***
(5/2/06 1930 Marco Island)
“You wanted to see me, Kerrik?”
The kami waved Jamie into a chair and motioned for Ginevra to take the padded stool that many tailed pokegirls preferred. He smiled. “I think that would be the reason I asked you here.” He touched a control on his desk and a hologram filled the air. “This evening, the satellite reconnaissance showed that the Indigos separated again to see if they missed anyone else. I think that this will be their last breakup before they head straight here. It also seems to be a perfect opportunity to gather some intelligence on their plans.” The display zoomed to show one tamer heading northwest. “Care to fetch him for me so Whisper can go through his mind?”
“Why can’t you go yourself?” Ginevra cocked her head curiously. “You prefer to not delegate these things.”
The look he gave her made her sit up straight. “I would love to do that, but two things constrain me right now. First, this damned Colonel Wolf crap has made me the ranking officer on Marco Island, and both Captain Hernandez and the mayor agree that the ranking officer should have his feet nailed to the floor and stay here.” His look softened slightly. “I’d be willing to ignore them, but the second and more important fact is that right now my harem isn’t up to the job. I’m still getting Misery and Whisper settled in and, until Misery learns that not every target is supposed to be killed with extreme prejudice, then she’s useless on a mission where I want to take a prisoner or two. I think we’ll have to fight the Indigos, but if there’s a way to deal with this peacefully, then I’d like to know.”
“You could do the job yourself,” Jamie pointed out quietly.
“Before I had a harem, I’d probably have done just that. However, when I accepted Raven into my life, I agreed to play by tamer rules. That means I sit back and fret while my pokegirls throw themselves into the fun parts.” He glared at something only he could see. “In the long run, for several reasons, it’s the best course of action I can take. If word gets around that I can solve everyone else’s problems, then they’ll bring them to me to fix. They whine when I tell them that I have other things I’d rather be doing and it makes my ears hurt. Hopefully, when they see my pokegirls dealing with things, instead they’ll think to themselves that they gotta get themselves some of that.”
The three of them shared a grin before he leaned back in his chair. “So, do you think you’re up for a small journey? What I’d really like to do is grab him, have Whisper turn his brain inside out and then return him with no memory of getting snatched.”
“You’ll have to do the same thing to his pokegirls.”
“I know, Jamie. That’s why I chose the target I did. He’s the only one with no teleporting or flying pokegirls, making it easier for you to grab the whole group without having to kill anyone or anyone escaping.”
Jamie nodded. “I’ve been training all day. Will our leaving in the morning be sufficient or should we leave now?”
“I think in the morning is fine. We’ve been preparing the whole time; I just want to see where we need to focus until they arrive.
The young man nodded firmly. “Then we’ll leave before dawn and, hopefully, take him tomorrow night.”
***
***
(5/3/06 1000 Indigo League (Florida))
Madison hummed to herself as she rocked slowly next to Jamie. Ginevra was on guard while Caitlin stood ready in case of trouble. The duelist had her scout cards keeping tabs on the tamer that was their target while Jamie was waiting for an opportune time to take him.
“He’s got two pokegirls,” she reported in that vague voice she often used when looking through the eyes of her constructs. “One is an arachnae while the other looks like she’s a catnip.” She shrugged. “She might also be a solaria, but then sometimes I confuse the eva evolutions and the merrowl ones.”
“What’s the tail look like?”
“It’s a bottlebrush. That’s why I’m not sure, sir. It could be bushy tailed catnip or a slender tailed solaria.”
Her alpha spoke up. “What do the ears look like?”
“That’s right, I forgot about that. Her ears look like cat ears, not leaves. Catnip, it is.”
Caitlin shook her head slowly. “I’m astonished at the amount of information you have on pokegirls, but I suppose it only makes sense after three hundred years of research.”
Ginevra was completely still. “The arachnae will be the primary threat and we should focus on her.” There was a long pause. “Should we be concerned about a delta bond between them?”
The demon-goddess gave her a curious look as Jamie chuckled. “I don’t think so. The focus that causes the evolution to widow is rather hard to create and we’re not planning on killing or torturing anyone.”
“Widow?” Jamie pulled up the entry on his pokedex and handed it to Caitlin. She read for a moment and then gave a low whistle. “Damn. I can see where you would be concerned about something like that.”
“I’m not.” Jamie put the pokedex away. “If it was an easy evolution, there would be a lot more of them than we’d heard of. It’s not a reason to give someone a pass just because he’s got an arachnae.”
Madison giggled suddenly. “Sir, the catnip has persuaded him to let her blow him.”
Ginevra made a disgusted noise. “They broke camp less than an hour ago.”
Jamie perked up. “Are they getting started with the blowjob?”
“Yes, no, wait. The arachnae is arguing with them about something. My faerie dragon is too far away to hear but I think she’s unhappy about the timing or maybe she wants a turn herself.” She blinked and focused on Jamie. “He just put her into her pokeball and the catnip is taking off his pants.”
“Excellent.”
The demon-goddess cocked her head curiously. “I didn’t know you were a voyeur.”
“I’m not.” Jamie made a motion to Ginevra, who hopped out of the tree she was perched in and trotted over. “Both he and the catnip won’t be paying attention to their surroundings and he just got rid of his sentry.” His grin was hungry. “He just forgot one of the prime rules of taming.”
Madison chuckled softly. “Always make sure a taming can’t turn around and bite you in the ass.”
***
(5/3/06 1030 Indigo League (Florida))
Trevor groaned when warmth surrounded his cock and a tongue laved the head. “God, Sue that feels great.” The catnip purred around him and he moaned again as his balls tightened. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes as her ministrations continued.
He was just feeling his orgasm starting to build when a branch poked him in the side of the head. He reached up to push it away, only to pause when his fingers touched steel. Frowning, he turned his head to look into the muzzle of Jamie’s 10mm pistol. It touched his right eye and he shivered. Sue suddenly started coughing when he peed in her mouth in response to his sudden fight or flight response.
Her coughing stopped when Ginevra grabbed the back of the catnip’s head and slammed her backwards to the ground.
“Yuck, she’s covered in piss. Move and I’ll gut you.” Ginevra whipped the catnip over onto her stomach and drove a knee into her spine as her claws dug into the catnip’s hair and pulled. The plant type whimpered and tried not to struggle.
Caitlin was laughing too hard to say anything, but she searched through the tamer’s stuff quickly. “He doesn’t have a pokeball for her. He just has the one for the spider.”
Madison dug a spare from her pocket and pressed it against the catnip’s shoulder as she leaned down to whisper to the whimpering pokegirl. “If you fight this capture, we’ll just stomp you flat and then put you back into one. It’s your choice.”
“I won’t fight,” the catnip wailed in a low voice.
“Pathetic,” Ginevra muttered scornfully as the catnip vanished into the pokeball. “What is the reason to keep something like that around?”
Caitlin spun the tamer around and cuffed him with the restraints Jamie offered. “She might be more competent when she’s not drinking piss. That would probably throw anyone off, if it’s unexpected. During the war, the catnip breed turned out to be decent light jungle combatants.”
“Perhaps you could be right.”
“Of course I could be right. The question is whether or not I am right.”
Ginevra hissed. “Do not get smart with me.”
Caitlin gave Madison a quick grin as she replied. “I’m beginning to think you’re right on that. Getting smart with you may be a waste of my time.”
The duelist burst out laughing as Ginevra whipped around. “That is enough.” Jamie spoke firmly. “You two can settle this later.”
“Later we will, witch.”
“Ginevra, you might want to make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew in challenging me. I am pretty tough.”
“So am I, goddess who is not.”
Madison nudged her tamer as the two pokegirls glared at each other. “Can I sell tickets to this bout?”
“No, but you’ll probably be refereeing. Can you be impartial?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir, I can. I must say, this is much more interesting than working with Marvin.”
“Any regrets?”
Red hair swirled as she shook her head. “It’s sad that Marvin had to die for us to meet, but no. When Sadie Pokens rolls around you can be sure that I’ll be returning to you. I always had to think about it with him, but finally I would decide that Patsy was easier to deal with than an unknown tamer.”
“I’m flattered to hear that.”
“What is a Sadie Pokens and why would it roll?”
Jamie raised a hand. “First, we return to the island with our prisoner and then I’ll explain what we’re talking about, Caitlin.”
“I’d like that.” She flashed him a grin and her voice became sultry. “Maybe we can try what they were doing, but without the urine.”
“I would cheerfully assist by slamming you against the ground to help reproduce the complete experience,” Ginevra muttered.
Jamie laughed as he took Madison’s hand. “Gin, please bring our prisoner. Home, Maddie.”
***
(5/3/06 1730 Marcos Island)
Kerrik looked over the assembled officers, the mayor and his two assistants. “Ok, I’ll let Jamie explain what’s going on militarily, and then I’ll discuss the political side. Major?”
Jamie glanced at Caitlin, who gave him a reassuring smile. She’d helped him prepare this briefing and was confident he’d do well. “There are three Indigo tamers who make up the force sweeping this way. Each of them has two pokegirls, and their orders are to assemble all of the people in the region, here, on Marco Island. The island, while not a good place to set up a farming or industrial complex, has a couple of strategic benefits and is considered the best place to build a military base to both protect the inhabitants from ferals and to project the power of the Indigo league into southern Florida.”
“The plan is to create a fishing industry here in order to provide the primary source of food for you, and later for exporting. After the garrison is installed, a set of water specialist tamers will be sent in to build a seaweed farm for your vegetable needs. Later on, the land in the center of the island will be cleared and boobisaur will be used to purify it for crop production.”
“The league’s policy is to put everyone to work and anyone not pulling their weight will be made into an example for the others. It’s brutal, but it works; and they don’t figure they’ll have to liquidate a large percentage of the population before the survivors buckle down and get to work.”
“This means that the tamers who will be arriving in less than two weeks will fight when confronted. They’re trained to use team tactics against any non-league tamers they run across and, since they have only encountered singletons, it’s been a plan that worked well. They have no idea that you have any tamers and the fact that you’ve got a squad of them on call is going to come as a severe shock.”
“The fact is they’re not trained to fight teams of tamers and the tactics we’ve developed will work to maximize their confusion and limit their effectiveness.” He looked over the militia personnel. “We may have losses, but you all know that is part of the price we pay to protect those in our charge.” Hernandez nodded slowly.
Mayor Jackman stirred. “What would happen if we laid down our arms instead of fighting?”
“Their orders are to confiscate any tamed pokegirls they come across that don’t have tamers and to execute any non-league tamers who are unwilling to join them. Those that do decide to join will be shipped to Tampa for training and indoctrination. Right now, they don’t have time to deal with them in any other way. What intelligence we have indicates that their resources are stretched to the breaking point, which is what will make the political solutions the colonel has feasible.”
He waited for a few seconds to see if the mayor had any other questions before continuing. “We expect them to arrive before Mother’s Day. Part of their orders are to catch any ferals that they can and send them back to the closest base, which is in Tampa and two hundred kilometers away. That’s about a hundred and twenty five miles for you Americans.”
“What happened to Miami?” Carver frowned. “We were told that there’s a base in Miami.”
“The news we’ve gotten indicates that the Everglades are becoming a haven for water, plant and bug pokegirls and the ferals apparently consider Miami to be a prime feeding ground. The city is in the process of being abandoned and the evacuees are being sent to Tampa. They’d send some of them here, but they’d have to cross the Everglades to do it.” Jamie took a deep breath. “That means that Marco Island has been bumped up on their priority list, and it’s slated to become the southern region capital. They will fight to keep it and it’s more than likely that they’ll send additional forces when we destroy their advance guard. That’s where the Colonel gets to take over.”
Kerrik got to his feet and smiled around the room. “The Indigo League intends to turn Marco Island into the regional command center for southern Florida, and they also intend to use the fishing and kelp industry they’re going to construct here to feed Tampa. That means they will expend resources that they might normally not. It also means that the first plan we had, which was to make this place too expensive for them to take this generation, is useless. They feel that this is the best place to set up and they will send whatever force they have to make sure that you go along with what they want.”
Jackman turned gray as the kami continued. “It does not mean that all is lost, however. Once we’ve trounced the initial group of tamers, what you need to do is establish contact with the Indigo League. Use the leverage your tamers can provide to negotiate a settlement that won’t turn you into a work camp, like their original plans intended. Having trained tamers on site, that you can offer as the initial garrison, will help since they won’t have to weaken themselves somewhere else by shifting tamers; which they already have a shortage of, down here, to protect you. I’d make it a stipulation that your tamers cannot be sent somewhere else to patch a hole, however, lest they strip you of your protection to save somewhere else.”
“We’ve conducted some surveys from Haven and, in the four years since the Red Plague hit, the sea life has made great strides in recovering their numbers. Trawlers going into the Gulf of Mexico to fish should be able to bring in some pretty substantial hauls even now; and the numbers will only get better as time passes. You don’t have enough people and enough ships to really hurt them now and, as your tech declines, the situation will get better for the fish. However, this will be offset by the fact that we’ll be willing to help your fishermen learn how to use pokegirls to drive fish into your nets, so your catches will be more than sufficient for your needs.”
“This means that, if you set yourselves up as suppliers to Tampa, you should be able to supply most of their needs for decades. The biggest problem is going to be the backlash against scientists and technology. Nobody is making spare parts and so sail is going to make a big comeback. However, nobody knows how to do that well, either; that, when combined with the fact that your timber is still devastated, means you won’t be manufacturing sloops anytime soon.” He grinned. “However, I’ve spoken with his majesty, and he’s willing to provide you with ships at reasonable prices.”
He and Jamie exchanged an amused look. Shikarou had been more than willing to put the elves to work growing timber, and in a year they expected to have the equivalent of several hundred hectares of prime old growth forest ready for harvest. If the Indigos wouldn’t buy the ships they made from it, then the Sunshines, the Tropics, or even the Texans would. None of them had shipwrights capable of producing seagoing sail vessels in any quantity. Branwyn also wanted to sell engines as an option on the ships, and the potential ramifications were currently under discussion.
“All of this indicates that you should be able to get some fairly satisfactory concessions from the Indigos on how you conduct your life. It might not hurt to let them know that you understand that the way you want to live is only the way that they intend for the entire league to be, once they get settled in enough and can start relaxing their regulations. You might even offer to set up as a hub and train tamers who will be loyal to the league.”
The mayor suddenly looked very thoughtful and much less worried. Finally, he nodded. “I can work with that.”
“Why don’t we just join the Havens?” Carver looked around the room. “They’re the ones we should be working with, not the ones who murdered my brother in cold blood.”
Jackman looked away from the naked desperation in her eyes, but it was Kerrik who answered. “You can’t. Marco is too far from Haven for us to be able to protect you as you deserve. We’d have to evacuate everyone here to Haven, and not all of you would go. The Indigos would conquer you and make your life hell, at least the lives of the survivors. Anyone seen to be in open rebellion would probably get the axe.” He glanced at the mayor, who was busy conferring with his assistants. “However, anyone who wishes to immigrate from Indigo to Haven will be more than welcome, and we do protect our own.”
Jackman looked up at that. “Now, see here, sir, and stop trying to poach my militia.”
Jamie blanched at the look his grandfather gave the mayor, but Jackman didn’t know enough about Kerrik to be concerned. “Mayor Jackman, I will not be spoken to in that fashion. I am not an Indigo and I am not subject to your jurisdiction. I did not come to you and ask for help. I am not one who tried to undermine your training program by ignoring advice given and putting inexperienced tamers into a watch rotation they have no business with. In spite of all of the roadblocks you, Mayor Jackman, have thrown in front of us, you have control over, according to Haven standards, a group of partially trained tamers. They will still be a great deal better than anything a so-called league veteran will ever be. I have no doubts in their ability to give you the bargaining position you need with the Indigo League and, thus, I can consider my grandson’s obligations to you satisfied. Therefore, I must ask you if you are formally ending our relationship. If so, confirm it now, and my grandson and I will be gone before midnight.” He folded his arms as the mayor went white. “I await your answer.”
The mayor almost stammered. “There’s no call for anything that severe.”
“Then I’ll ask you to stay out of what was a private conversation between me and Teresa. At no point did she ask to join the kingdom, nor did I ask her to. She expressed a concern and I addressed it; when done, I then suggested a secondary solution to any who feel that life under Indigo control would be unacceptable.”
“I suppose you would be willing to grant her the revenge she wants?” Jackman almost spat the words. “Is that within your power?”
“Revenge? No, I wouldn’t grant her revenge. However, I probably could find out the name of the tamer who ordered a pokegirl to kill her brother; the last time I checked, murder is illegal in the Indigo League. Right now, they’re being practical and looking the other way; but if a Haven citizen asked for redress, I’d probably catch the murderer and try him under Indigo law, since they’re unwilling to do so themselves.”
“You murdered an Indigo tamer.”
“I don’t wander around killing people for fun. I killed a man who was trying to kill me and had already killed one of your militia, my grandson and one of his pokegirls.” He shrugged. “I didn’t know that Jamie was still alive when I got involved, but that would not have changed my actions. I acted to protect my people and yours, your honor.”
His ears flicked. “The two cases are not all comparable. Teresa’s brother spoke up against something he thought was wrong and was burned to death as an example to others. I came out at the end of a battle and found three people dead or dying, and a man getting ready to rape my grandson’s pokegirl. He immediately ordered his dark lady to kill me and my alpha. Raven and I were defending ourselves when they lost their lives.”
Jackman shot to his feet. “If that’s your interpretation of events, then that’s what it will be.” He turned to a shocked Hernandez. “Captain, I order you to prepare to defend the island with minimal force from the Indigo contingent. In the meantime, I’ll be preparing our message to the league once they’ve been defeated.”
“Yes, your honor.” He watched mayor sweep from the room and turned to Kerrik. “Minimal force? When did that come into the equation?”
Kerrik shrugged. “I think he’s planning to set himself up as the man who facilitated the great reconciliation, and probably end up as the governor of the southern region. That reconciliation might be hard to achieve if we turn all three tamers and their pokegirls into fertilizer.”
“What on earth makes you think that?”
Whisper moved out of the corner behind Kerrik where she’d been the whole time. I read it in his mind.
***
Name: Wolf, Jamie Harris
Age: 17
Residence: Kingdom of Haven
Status: Active
Rank: 45
HRA Rank: Major
Security Clearance: Theta
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Species Name
Demoness Ginevra
Duelist Madison
Demon-Goddess Caitlin
Alpha: Ginevra
Beta: None