Chapter 24: Repercussions
(05/19/99 1200 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
Branwyn settled back with her tea and looked across the table at her host. “You said that you needed to speak with me urgently and that you hoped I could help you with a problem. What problem?”
“Maeve.” Kathryn dropped a lump of sugar into her tea and stirred it absently. “I know that ye and yer Tamer were trying to help Devon when ye went and rescued Maeve and returned her memories to her, but she’s not the same person that she was before.”
“Shikarou warned that could be the case. Maeve remembers everything, including the things that happened to her after she was taken away.”
“Aye, he did and she does.” Kathryn sighed. “She’s a very angry pokegirl and she’s taking her anger out on the weaker members of the harem. I’m doing the best that I can, but she’s maneuvering things so that she and I will have a showdown over it and I don’t think I can stop it. She’s making it personal between us and I need some advice.”
Branwyn looked thoughtful. “What does Devon think about all of this?”
“I havna talked to him about it, this being harem business and all.”
“Kathryn, you disappoint me. I thought you realized that harem business is still his business.”
“Devon allows me to run the harem as I see fit. I feel sorry for ye if Shikarou won’t let ye do the same, but that is the way things work here.”
“Don’t give me that shit.” Branwyn smiled as Kathryn reddened. “Shikarou understands that it’s my harem but he knows just as much about what’s going on as I do, since he’s ultimately responsible for whatever takes place.” She frowned. “Sometimes he knows more than I do, but that just spurs me to figure out how he does it and copy his methods.”
She smiled. “However, I presume you didn’t ask me here to discuss personal styles of command. If Maeve is such a problem, then smack her down.”
“I told ye already, she’s making it personal between us.”
“You are the alpha and you decide if something is personal or not. If you are letting her dictate the terms of the encounter, she’s usurping your authority already.” She gave the Ladyien a piercing look. “You’re too proud aren’t you? You want this to be a personal matter.”
“Mayhap I do. I’ve never really liked her all that much, but she’d settled down after our fight when Devon made me the alpha. Now she’s worse than she ever was.”
“You’re not willing to take my advice and have the other members of the harem drag her out of bed and beat her to a bloody pulp every time she so much as flicks an ear at you, so what do you want from me?”
Kathryn stared. “Have ye had that done?”
“I ordered it when I worked at the Conservatory, and I’ve ordered it done to a pokegirl name Gwen who lives on Caomh Sith; inside the harem, no, I haven’t. Shikarou has assembled a harem that is willing to pull together so it hasn’t been necessary.” She sipped and put her cup down. “I was ready to order Dorothea beaten like that, but Shikarou settled her down without me getting involved.”
“However, if Ruiling ever tries to rejoin the harem, she’s got several beatings coming.” She got a dreamy look. “And every pokegirl in the harem has offered to help, however I’ve decided to let Circe hold her down while Helen carves bits off of her.”
“Is that likely to happen?”
“I don’t know. I do know that she’s back in Tomakomai, which means we may cross paths again and if we do, that bitch is going to pay for what she did.” Branwyn blinked. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be airing my anger at you. We were talking about you and Maeve. What do you hope to get from me?”
Kathryn sighed and looked uncomfortable. “I was hoping ye might be willing to help me train so I can get strong enough to beat Maeve without her knowing I was training at all. I know it’s silly, but that’s what I wanted to ask ye for.”
Branwyn looked surprised. “You want to train with another harem? How’s Devon likely to feel about this?”
I havna asked him about it. Would I have to train with yer harem?”
“I think so. Nanu would be a perfect opponent for you to practice on and the others will be happy to help.” She chuckled. “And it would give Shikarou a chance to spend time with Christopher, something I’m sure he’d love to do.”
Kathryn looked shocked. “Ye are not going to tell him are ye?”
“Of course I will. I wouldn’t try to keep this a secret from him even if I thought Elizabeth or Dorothea wouldn’t tattle just as soon as they could. In addition, Shikarou is an outstanding tactician and I’m sure he’d enjoy teaching you.” She smiled as Kathryn looked slightly worried. “Don’t worry; he’s not going to want to tame you. He understands your heart belongs to Devon and we keep his plate very full on purpose, and the addition of the Blazicunt, Marzia, gives him someone else who wants a lot of attention. Fortunately, he’s got plenty to give.”
“So ye will speak to Shikarou and then if he says it’s all right, then I’ll talk to Devon.”
“No, I think it might be better if Shikarou talks to Devon. They’re both Tamers and Devon will find this very interesting.”
Kathryn gave her a mulish look. “I dinna think that’s wise.”
Branwyn shrugged. “I don’t care what you think. You can talk to Devon or not, but I will be talking to Shikarou and I’m pretty sure he’ll be talking to your Tamer.”
“I dinna want to do this.”
“Don’t lie to me; it’s a waste of time. I’ll ask Shikarou to swear Devon to secrecy before they talk. That will keep Maeve out of the loop until you’re ready to let her know what’s going on.”
Kathryn mulled things over for a couple of minutes. “I dinna see where I have nae choice at this point, do I?”
“No. You can’t control me and you’ve convinced me to help you. I don’t like or dislike Maeve, but I don’t want my godson around that kind of a troublemaker.” Her eyes hardened. “I don’t suppose you need help with Rhiannon, do you?”
“No, I don’t. She hasna been a problem since we got back from the Dark Continent, for the most part. Why do ye ask?”
“Never mind.” I guess you still don’t know what that bitch tried to do. I do and one day I’ll be in a position to do something about it.
Kathryn frowned. “When are ye likely to talk to Shikarou about this?”
“Today. This sounds interesting and we tend to act on things like this fairly quickly. If I catch him by dinner, he’ll probably want to talk to Devon first thing in the morning.”
***
(05/20/99 0700 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
Devon rubbed bleary eyes and stared owlishly at Shikarou. “Do you have any idea what time it is? We Tamers are never supposed to see the sun come up, it’s bad luck.”
“I have a watch and the sunlight is good for you.” Shikarou drew his wand and created two pint mugs of steaming liquid. “Have some coffee.”
Devon took a gulp of his and sputtered as his eyes went wide. “What is this stuff?”
“Turkish coffee. Is there a problem?”
Devon stared at him for a moment and then took another much smaller sip. “This is your secret, isn’t it?”
“Pardon?”
“This is how you don’t sleep. You drink this stuff.” Devon motioned with the mug. “I haven’t had much and I’m suddenly wide awake.”
Shikarou chuckled. “Now you know.”
“So why are you here at such an ungodly hour?”
“I’ve got a complaint and a request. Which would you like first?”
Devon sighed. “I guess the complaint.”
“Someone needs to learn to do inspections of ranches. Branwyn doesn’t have time anymore and the next time someone calls us for one they are going to get told to and I quote ‘drop fucking dead’ end quote.”
Devon nodded. “Yeah, I knew that Branwyn is our only inspector. It just so happens I’m finishing up the classes necessary to become certified, but I still need to get some practice making inspections before I’m granted full autonomy. We’re supposed to have an inspection sometime in the near future; can I borrow Branwyn one last time so she can verify my skills?”
“You’ll owe me.”
Devon snorted. “Let’s see, I already owe you for returning Maeve to me, rescuing Lamya, Tess and Dima, and for getting Poppet off my back. Oh, yeah and you’re my son’s godfather too. I suppose that won’t add much to the balance.”
Shikarou marveled to himself. This Devon was more mature and much nicer to know. “I’ll try to keep things from being too onerous.” He frowned slightly. “Later, we need to talk about what you expect from me as Christopher’s godfather. If I understand it correctly, I’m supposed to be responsible for your son’s religious upbringing and I suspect mine is different from yours.”
“Don’t worry about that. I just want someone to help me keep Christopher out of the same spiral I ended up in with Poppet.” He shook his head. “I know you’re strong enough to make her stop whatever she might be doing if you think you need to and you’re far enough removed that you might see things happening before anyone else.” He snorted. “Considering your relationship with her, you might have a better chance at that then I would. So what was the request you wanted?”
“I’ll need your oath that, until I release you from it, this is between you and me only.”
Devon looked startled. “Very well, I so swear.”
“Without trying to step on your toes as a Tamer, are you aware that Kathryn talked to Branwyn yesterday?”
“She told me.” He sighed. “Maeve has some issues that she has to deal with but, Kathryn’s right, I’ve been too easy on her. She didn’t really settle down the first time I had her until my alpha kicked her around for a while and maybe she does need it again.” He frowned. “Don’t tell me you actually want to help train her?”
“I suspect that if you have a peaceful harem, then my godson will have a more peaceful life.” Shikarou smiled over his coffee. “If training Kathryn will help that to come to pass, then I’ve got a couple of weeks I can devote to the task, with your permission of course.”
“If you want to help, then what can I say but thanks.” Shikarou blinked in utter shock. “I understand that we need to somehow keep the training sessions a secret from Maeve, but I don’t see how that can be done.”
“I’ve got an arena in my tent. I hid it from you when you were staying with us, but I think it will work nicely for this purpose.”
Devon grimaced. “Maybe I should go to Vale and study magic. Hatsumi has taught me a healing spell, but there is so much more to this.”
“In a dozen years or so you may be better placed to do that.”
“Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to plan that far ahead? I’m just a little older than that.”
“Yes, I do. However at that time Christopher will be older and unless you have more children you will have the time. If you asked Faelan, he might be willing to put in a word for you.”
Devon looked thoughtful. “I think I’ll do just that. So when do you want to start training Kathryn?”
“If it’s possible, this afternoon would be perfect. She’s going to have a lot of hard work to do, is she up to it?”
“She’s a Scot and her honor is engaged. You could drag her across burning broken glass to get a win in that kind of situation and she wouldn’t complain.”
“That’s good; by the time I’m done she’s going to think I did.”
***
(05/22/99 0700 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
“Someone’s coming.” Nanu’s quiet voice jerked Shikarou’s attention away from the message he was recording for Tamara and he shifted on the bench as he looked around.
Tamara and her sister Belinda had a pretty strong rivalry and so he always sent them separate messages. He was careful to put slightly different information into each message so they had to be civil with each other long enough to find out everything he was telling them. Molly said it worked well, so he’d decided to keep up the game for a couple of more years.
Nanu recognized her first. “It’s Maeve.” She shrugged and resumed her position as his guard. Her pistols and knives gleamed and her neatly pressed gray camouflage halter top and shorts showed brightly against her white fur and long black hair. Her ears slapped idly against the backs of her knees.
Devon’s Mini-Top came to a halt in front of Shikarou and put her hands on her hips belligerently. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Shikarou’s ears flicked. “I’m dictating a message to a young lady and Nanu is standing guard.” Nanu’s eyes glittered with suppressed laughter.
Maeve’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I mean and you know it. I want to know why you are here at the Conservatory.”
His ears went very still but his voice remained conversational. “Maeve, I don’t like your tone. However, in the interests of peace, I’m taking a break from my responsibilities on Caomh Sith and visiting my godson.” He smiled gently. “So does that answer your question?”
Her head jerked in a nod. “Yeah it does, at least in part. Why is Kathryn spending so much time in your tent?”
“She’s got a problem and she asked Branwyn for help with it.”
“What kind of problem?”
“That is none of your business.”
Maeve’s eyes narrowed again and she leaned forward. “I asked you a question. What is the problem she needs help with?”
“I’m done answering your questions, Maeve. You are not Devon’s alpha and even if you were you have no right to demand anything from me.”
She slapped him, her enhanced strength catapulting him off the bench. Shikarou rolled to his feet as Nanu shot her twice in the thigh, the armor piercing bullets shattering her femur. “Don’t kill her!”
Nanu gave him an amused look. “If I was going to kill her, you’d be too slow to stop me.” She had to raise her voice to be heard over Maeve’s scream. As the Mini-Top started to crawl to her feet, Nanu chuckled and leveled her pistol. “Get up and I put the next one in your tiny brain.” Maeve froze. “Well, that’s interesting. It looks like she can be taught.”
Suddenly they were surrounded by pokegirls from the Conservatory security unit. Nanu holstered her pistol as Poppet showed up. “What is going on?”
Shikarou spat blood. “Maeve hit me and Nanu shot her. Twice.”
Poppet glanced at a Growlie. “Find Devon and tell him to get here right away.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She headed off at a lope.
“Heal her wound.” Another pokegirl hastened to do the Unicorn’s bidding as Poppet looked Shikarou over. “Are you ok?”
“She split my cheek but I’ll be fine.” He spat more blood. “It’s already healing.”
“THAT BITCH FUCKING SHOT ME!”
Shikarou smiled and winced when his cheek flexed. Bone gleamed whitely and Poppet paled. “Sounds like she’s feeling better,” he managed to get out.
“I’M GOING TO KILL HER FUCKING ASS!”
“Shikarou, don’t try to talk, you’re just making it worse.” Poppet turned. “Maeve, shut up.”
Maeve glared at her. “You aren’t my Tamer,” she snapped.
“I am.” Devon touched her on the shoulder. “Be quiet.” Paulette watched from behind him.
Maeve shook off his hand. “That bitch shot me and I want satisfaction.”
Devon looked at Poppet who shook her head. “Maeve attacked Shikarou and Nanu was defending him.”
“You don’t deserve satisfaction.” Devon’s voice was hard. “And you attacked my friend.”
Nanu touched Shikarou on the neck and spoke in a quiet voice. “Let me fight her.”
“Are you sure? Do you think you can win?”
“It doesn’t matter. You won’t let her kill me and I promise that, win or lose, she will know she’s been in a fight when I’m done.”
“Very well.” Shikarou raised his voice. “I think Maeve should be allowed to fight Nanu.”
Maeve broke off her argument with Devon as both of them turned to stare at him. Maeve grinned. “Fucking fine by me, but she has to lose the guns. Knives are fine, but no guns.”
“I don’t need guns to beat you.” Nanu gave her a nasty grin. “I don’t need knives to beat you either but, since they are allowed, I’ll use them.”
Maeve growled. “You’re dead, bitch.”
Shikarou ignored the exchange. “Devon, what do you think?”
“I said it would be fine!”
The kami glanced at Devon’s Mini-Top. “This isn’t your decision to make Maeve. Devon?” Her ears went flat and she almost hissed.
The young man frowned for a moment and then smiled slightly when Shikarou’s head moved in an almost imperceptible nod. “I guess that would be ok.”
“Thank you.” Shikarou gave him a slight bow. “Devon, would you run Maeve through a healing cycle? I’d like her to be at full strength for this fight. I’ll do the same for Nanu.”
Devon nodded. “That sounds reasonable. Poppet, would you show Shikarou where the arena is? I don’t think he’s been there before.”
Poppet nodded. “We’ll see you there.”
“Come along, Maeve.”
Maeve glared. “I’m going to beat her ass right now.”
Devon gave her a hard look. “Paulette, bring her. Since she’s going to be healed, she doesn’t need to be conscious for the trip.”
Paulette grinned. “You heard the man. Move or be carried.”
“Devon!”
“You don’t disobey me, Maeve, especially not in front of others. You’ve already attacked a Tamer, don’t make it any worse.” He led her off.
Poppet turned to Shikarou. “Do you wish to press charges?”
He snorted. “Am I the kind of person to do that?”
She smiled slightly. “Only if you see some benefit in it for you.”
“Point.” He shrugged. “Nanu wants to fight her, so that will be enough to satisfy me.”
He frowned as Bellona came winging in to land. Her wings shimmered into nonexistence as she walked over and spoke to Nanu. “I have guard duty now.” She glanced at Shikarou, sighed and used heal on his face. “You need to be more careful.”
He shrugged apologetically. “How did you know what was happening?”
She blinked. “You have a harem full of pokegirls with premonition and telepathy and you ask me that?”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m under surveillance all of the time, should I?”
“No, you shouldn’t.” Nanu smirked and began taking off her holsters. “Will you hold these for me, Shikarou?”
“I’d be honored to. I’ll need your pokeball too.” She nodded and handed it over along with her holster rig. “Now, let’s get you healed up. I know you weren’t injured but this will make sure you are at your best when facing Maeve.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
Poppet was watching with curiosity. “You have got to be the most stable Mini-Top I’ve ever met.”
Nanu grinned. “I’ve got a Tamer who I have to beg to let me rest from time to time and that seems to be what I need. The last time I spent the night with him he filled every orifice I’ve got at least three times.”
Poppet blinked. “Did he now?” She gave Shikarou a sidelong glance and he saw a flash of interest in her eyes.
“Yes, he did.” Nanu rubbed her bum in memory. “I was very sore afterwards.” She gave Shikarou an affectionate look. “He’s always like that.”
“Are you quite done? I seem to remember you are going to be late for your other favorite thing.” Shikarou sounded embarrassed.
“Fighting and fucking, that’s the best way to a Mini-Top’s heart.” Nanu laughed quietly and took his arm. “Now where is that healing unit?”
“You have a heart?”
She glared at him and then chuckled. “Everyone does. You just have to dig deeply enough in the chest cavity. You’ll find it.” They shared a laugh while Poppet looked at them as if they were crazy.
After they finished running Nanu through a healing cycle, Poppet took them to the Conservatory arena, which turned out to be a sandy clearing about thirty meters across. Trees ringed it on all sides and there was a judge’s box halfway across it.
Devon arrived a few minutes later with Maeve, Kathryn, Paulette and Siobhan. He nodded to Shikarou. “Are you sure you want to do this? Maeve is of higher level than your Mini-Top.”
Shikarou nodded. “Nanu is and that is enough for me.”
Devon nodded and led his little group of pokegirls across the sand to the other side. “I have radios; do you have a problem with that?”
“Not at all, in fact I expect you to use whatever resources you normally would. I will.” I will be using the communication spell I cast on the way here. He glanced off to the side as Branwyn teleported in. “Morning.”
She chuckled as she moved to stand next to her mother. “You didn’t think I was going to miss this, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. I was just wondering what took you so long.”
Nanu frowned. “There is no guarantee that I will win this battle.”
Branwyn nodded. “That is quite true. However, Nanu, you are one of ours and I will be here to see you battle no matter whether you win or lose, especially since this is your first official pokegirl battle since you joined our harem. I’m also recording it and later the harem will go over it together and critique it with you.” She smiled warmly. “The only way I wouldn’t be here to watch one of my sisters fight a pokegirl battle would be if I was in my pokeball awaiting my turn on the battlefield and, in that case, we would still record the fight for later review.”
The Mini-Top looked surprised and then faintly pleased, which seemed to surprise her even more. “Thank you, my alpha.” Nanu turned to Shikarou. “I am ready.”
He nodded slowly and frowned as he looked around. “Poppet, we don’t have a judge. Would you be willing to officiate?”
The Unicorn looked startled. “Damn, you do need a judge. Yes, I will.” She moved to the judge’s box. “Devon, are you ready to battle?”
He glanced at Maeve, who made a ‘get on with it’ motion. “I am.”
“Shikarou, are you ready to battle?”
“We are.”
Poppet picked up the official flag. “Begin.”
Do you wish for me to intercept Devon’s radio traffic?
“No, let’s see if he has any surprises.” Shikarou watched as Maeve advanced at a run. “Nanu, do you want me to command you?”
“Yes and no. Let me open the ball and after that cover for me.” She waited patiently as Maeve made it halfway across the arena before casting lightning. The bolt blasted Devon’s Mini-Top off her feet. Nanu dropped into a lope as she moved to meet her opponent.
Maeve rolled to her feet and charged, her arm beginning to glow with Chi power as she charged up her mega punch.
She looked a little worse for the wear, but Shikarou wasn’t surprised, Mini-Tops were weak to electricity and that bolt had obviously taken a chunk out of Maeve. He had a brief mental flashback to when Nanu had bitten Kebi on the tail hard enough to nearly sever it and Kebi had responded with a double-strength thunder attack down her tail. Nanu had barely survived the blast and was still giving the Ria a wide berth.
“Nanu, at the last moment use leap.” The Mini-Top bounced into the air as Maeve swung and missed. Nanu’s attack smashed her to the ground. She rode the blow down, driving her full weight into Maeve’s torso and leaped off as Maeve grabbed for her legs.
Before Nanu could get away, Maeve hit her with tackle, dropping her into the sand. She used pummel on Nanu and Nanu responded with a vicious nipple cripple attack. Maeve screeched and fell backwards from the rapid blows to her breasts. Nanu rolled on top of the screaming pokegirl and hit her with mega punch before jumping to her feet and backing away.
Maeve lay moaning for a moment before slowly climbing to her feet. She hissed something to Nanu, who responded by sticking out her tongue and cupping her groin. Maeve growled and closed cautiously, pulling her khukuri as she did.
Once she was close enough, Maeve lunged with a vicious swipe but missed as Nanu jumped into the air and hit her in the face with double kick. Maeve was knocked to the ground while Nanu used the momentum to flip in the air and land on her feet. Her hands flashed to her throwing knives and she hurled them into Maeve’s back as she tried to stand. Maeve went down, twisting as she clawed at the knives in her back.
Nanu dove at her with a double edge attack and the impact raised a cloud of dust. When it settled, Nanu was pulling her knives from Maeve’s body and wiping them off on her victim’s clothes.
Poppet dropped the flag as Devon and his pokegirls rushed onto the battlefield. “Maeve is no longer able to battle. Shikarou and Nanu are the victors.”
Branwyn grinned. “Take that, you bitch.”
Nanu grabbed Shikarou. “I won!” She tugged at his clothes. “I fought, can I fuck now?”
Branwyn grinned. “Into the woods with the two of you.” She watched with amusement as Nanu dragged their Tamer into the nearby trees.
***
(05/22/99 1000 Lairg, Blue Continent)
Devon looked at Bellona for a moment. “How are you? You look good.” She did, she’d put on muscle since leaving his harem and seemed much more relaxed.
“I’m doing well, Devon.” Her tone was noncommittal as she continued scanning the crowd for threats.
He turned to Shikarou. “You’ve been taking good care of her. I’m pleased to see that.”
Shikarou picked up his beer. “Thank you.” He glanced at Bellona. What else am I supposed to say?
She was still busy watching the other people in the public house. There’s nothing you can say that won’t either hurt his feelings or make him angry, so you probably shouldn’t say anything else.
So he changed the subject. “Maeve would have made a better showing if Nanu hadn’t opened with lightning. She took almost perfect advantage of Maeve’s primary weaknesses.”
Devon snorted. “Yeah, well, Maeve also might have done better if she’d listened to me and my instructions, but she chose not to and paid the price.” He glanced at his Nogitsune. “Siobhan here gives me less trouble than she does. I’m hoping her defeat by a lower level pokegirl will help.” A smile fluttered on his lips as Siobhan snickered from where she stood behind him. “Maybe I’m hoping for too much.”
“After you, she got weak Tamers and they let her be in control so long that it became a habit. She was gone for a year and it’ll take a while to get her used to your way of doing things again.” Shikarou shrugged. “Add in the Mini-Top’s normal attitude and you’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I don’t suppose your way of working with Nanu would be useful to me, would it?”
“Not unless you can frighten pokegirls with a look.”
Siobhan blinked. “Sure you can,” she stated flatly. Bellona snickered and the Nogitsune gave her an annoyed look. “You can’t frighten me.”
Shikarou sighed. “May I?” to Devon.
Devon looked curious. “She’s challenged you. Besides, this I want to see.”
“Ok. I don’t normally do this as a parlor trick, but just this one time. Are you ready, Siobhan?”
The Nogitsune put her hands flat on the table and leaned down to put her nose almost against his. “Scare away, human.”
Bellona chuckled. “Second mistake,” she muttered.
Shikarou folded his hands on the table and looked up into Siobhan’s eyes. Devon watched closely and jumped when Siobhan started and backed up suddenly, going into a defensive posture. Her eyes narrowed, her ears swiveled flat and her chest quivered as she growled softly.
Shikarou smiled and she relaxed, taking a deep breath. Devon watched the two of them closely. “How did you do that?”
“Please, don’t show him.” Siobhan’s voice was shaky. “I don’t want to see that twice.”
“Very well.” Shikarou turned to Devon. “It really isn’t that important, but the underlying principle is that I show them that I am a predator and that I consider them to be prey. Most creatures respond to that on a very basic and instinctual level and it happens that pokegirls are no different in that regard.” He smiled crookedly. “Actually, humans seem to be one of the few groups that have managed to learn not to listen to that part of their soul when it screams a warning at them. It appears to be a flaw in their evolution.”
Devon frowned and shrugged. “Sounds Greek to me.” He cocked his head. “Siobhan, do you owe Shikarou an apology?”
“That’s not necessary.” Shikarou picked up his beer. “She didn’t call me a liar; she just wanted to see it for herself.” He drained half the mug and glanced out the window. “So, how’s life in jolly old Lairg now?”
Devon chuckled. “Interesting. There’s a new Sheriff, but unsurprisingly enough, he’s another Godwin. He didn’t have any pokegirls, so the Mayor contacted the Blue League and requested two for him.” His eyes sparkled with humor. “I think they intended to sell them if they were rare. However, when the new pokegirls arrived, there was a bit of a shock.” He raised an eyebrow. “Poppet tells me that you may be to thank for that.”
“I don’t know if I should be thanked for it, but it was certainly my pleasure.”
Bellona frowned. “Ok, why don’t you stop patting yourself on the back and tell me what happened.”
“I thought they might pull something like requesting free pokegirls from the Blue League and they did. They asked for specific types, but the law says that if the request can’t be met, then suitable substitutes could be sent in their place. I had Aggie monitor for their request and I took care of it.”
The DragonQueen gave him a suspicious look. “What did you do?”
“Alice contacted some of her friends in the police community and found two pokegirls who were looking for a challenge. The new Sheriff took custody of an experienced Growlie and an OfficerJenny a few days later and they’ve been making him toe the line ever since.”
Devon grinned. “That’s not all, they’ve also been looking for corruption within the Lairg government and I think that what they’ve found is going to end up causing the Blue League to send down some investigators for some official notice of what’s been going on. The town might just get a long overdue cleaning.”
***
(05/24/99 0800 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
“May I have my son back while he still remembers me?” Leticia gave Shikarou a cross look. He was busy playing airplane with Christopher and the little boy was giggling as he soared around the room in response to the motions of Shikarou’s wand.
Shikarou nodded. “Of course.” The baby floated into his arms and he turned and offered the little one to the NurseJoy. “I thought you might enjoy the break from him.”
She nestled her baby in her arms. “I do, but it’s time for his feeding and my breasts hurt.”
“Ah.” He watched as Leticia carried the boy away and glanced at the smirking Pythia. “You have a comment?”
“I’m glad to see you like kids. You have several pokewomen who want some from you.”
He shrugged and stretched. “That might not be a bad thing. Then again, it depends on the timing.”
“Is there a bad time for a child?”
“Oh yeah. Personally, I think Devon is still a little young. The circumstances that resulted in Christopher weren’t his fault and he and Leticia seem to be making a pretty good go at it.”
Pythia gave him an odd look. “Will you breed me? I am, after all, the only one of my kind that we know of.”
“I won’t force you to have children, but if you want, I will.” Curiosity stirred in his eyes. How old are you anyway?”
“I’m four years old.” She smiled. “I was two months old when I was decanted and I’ve always looked like this.”
“Boy, are you in for a shock or three.” He frowned. “If you are the only member of your species, don’t we need to name you?”
“Pythia works.”
“Yes, it does. But that’s your name, not the name of your species.”
She tilted her head and licked her muzzle. “What would you call my species?”
“I’m not sure. We need to be thinking about it, though. Since you are my pokegirl, we want to do it instead of some idiot who has no clue what you are like and gives you and your kids some stupid name.” He snorted. “I don’t think you want to known as a HornFoxx or something like that.”
“No, I don’t think I want to be called that.”
They headed down the hall and outside. “Where are we going?”
“The tent. I want to see how Kathryn’s training is going.”
Before they could get there, however, they were intercepted by Ming Die. Devon would like to speak to you if you have a moment.
“Hello to you as well, Ming Die.”
The Alaka-Wham smiled slightly. Hello. Are you willing to meet with Devon?
“I am. If you would be so kind as to show me where he is?”
This way please. She led them back inside and to an office where Devon was working at his computer.
“Thank you, Ming Die. Please have a seat, Shikarou.” He settled back as Ming Die bowed and left. “We’ve gotten that request I warned you about for an inspection.”
Shikarou smiled sweetly. “Drop fucking dead. Now that’s out of the way, you want to use this to get your proficiency, right?”
Devon chuckled. “That’s right.”
“That’s good. If you come back later and want to borrow Branwyn again, it’s going to be time for one of those talks angry people tend to have. Where is it?”
“It’s at a ranch in the Sunshine League.” Devon typed in a command on his computer. “The Hina House Ranch in Blowjob.”
“They actually named a place Blowjob?” Shikarou shook his head. “Who the hell names a place Blowjob?”
“I wouldn’t talk like that to anyone from the Sunshine League,” Devon warned. “Most people are very proud of the names of the places they come from.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it. I only try to mock things that are hard to make fun of. Blowjob is just too easy.” He snickered. “Don’t go to Blowjob, it’ll suck the life out of you.”
“Are you done?”
“No, but I’ll internalize the rest.” Shikarou leaned back. Aggie, give me a report on the Hina House Ranch in or around the community of Blowjob. It’s in the Sunshine League.
The owner and operator is one Carlos Escobar. It’s been in operation for several years and has a shady reputation.
I want specifics on the reputation. Investigate the possibility that the rumors are true.
A complete report will take a couple of hours.
Then that will have to do. Have Selene shift satellites around if necessary to give me realtime communications with that part of the world. I’m not happy with letting Branwyn out of my sight for so long.
Shikarou gave Devon a direct look. “What do you know about this ranch?”
“It’s a ranch. Why?”
“Aggie says it has a shady reputation. Her words. When do you have to leave?”
“Not for another week. Please let me know what you find.”
“I will.” Shikarou rose to his feet. “I’ll tell Branwyn about this.”
“Thanks.”
***
(05/24/99 0900 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
“You really should think about putting a window in that door.”
Shikarou glanced at Pythia as he reached for the arena door. “Why?” He opened it and the door was ripped out of his hands to slam against the wall as he was smashed against the wall by a fierce wind that blasted through the doorway.
It died suddenly and he heard Kathryn’s voice. “Sorry!”
Pythia pulled him to his feet. “So we know when it’s safe to go in.” She was obviously trying not to smile, but her quivering ears gave her away.
He brushed himself off and tried to appear nonchalant. “Maybe you have a point.”
Once inside, he looked around. His harem was broken up into teams which were working to teach each other the attacks they knew in order to increase their individual flexibility. Yushiko and Branwyn were with Kathryn, who looked extremely embarrassed as she watched him. She relaxed when he waved and grinned to let her know everything was all right.
Shikarou glanced at Pythia as she shut and bolted the door. “Be off with you.” She nodded and flew off to join one of the groups. It was agreed that he was as safe here as he could be anywhere and this was one of the few places he didn’t get a bodyguard. Early mornings were usually for learning while afternoon training was for combat. In the mornings he either tended to circulate and assist where he could or else he spent one on one time with someone who was working on her magic. Today he was circulating.
When he got to Kathryn’s group, he stopped briefly and watched. He and Branwyn had discussed it beforehand and decided that they were not going to teach any of Devon’s harem any magic unless there was some kind of reciprocal agreement between the Tamers, which at this point didn’t exist. That meant they would focus on teaching Kathryn how to creatively use the attacks she had and work on her strength and endurance.
Afternoons would be spent fighting her until she dropped, healing her and fighting her more. It was rough on the Ladyien, but she was already showing a great deal of improvement and was starting to put on some muscle. It was also doing wonders for her confidence, which was one of the real reasons she did so poorly in fights. Shikarou suspected that Devon’s training program was going to get a serious revamping in the near future.
Kathryn was actually following the same training regimen that was used in Shikarou’s harem three days a week. Two of the remaining four days were spent resting. The other two days were for tactical training, where Branwyn, Pythia, Circe and Bellona got to be Tamers and command their own “harem”, which they used in combat against each other and against Shikarou. Bellona still needed a lot of work, but she had good instinctive tactical skills and showed a lot of promise.
During the tactical combat sessions, sometimes he was a Tamer and sometimes he played the part of a pokegirl and battled. This gave him a chance to get a workout and also let his harem know he was willing to take just as many chances as they did. On those days his harem got a lot of practice with their healing spells, since he didn’t have a pokeball and couldn’t be run through the PPHU.
Allowing your pokegirls to try to kill you was technically illegal, so the tactical battle days were on hiatus while they were training Kathryn. Shikarou missed them.
His reverie was interrupted when Elizabeth slammed into him and hugged him tight. “I DID IT!” She kissed him happily and spun him in a circle.
“That’s good. What did you do?”
“I learned it!” She almost bubbled with glee. “Finally.” Over her shoulder he could see Circe and Pythia watching with almost identical expressions of amusement.
Elizabeth tightened her arms around him. “Here, let me show you.” She closed her eyes and screwed her face up in concentration. Suddenly, they were standing on the other side of the arena. Her eyes opened and she giggled. “See, I teleported!”
“That’s wonderful!” Shikarou hugged her hard enough to make her gasp. “I’m so proud of you.”
Elizabeth beamed. “Thanks.” She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “I’ve been trying to learn this for so long. I’ve got a lot to learn yet, but I want to be more useful.” She grinned up at him. “I wouldn’t want you to think you could dispense with my services.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything close to that, but you have certainly given me another reason to keep you around. Now, you need to get back practice. If Branwyn catches you hanging on me during training, she’ll pull your name from the lottery.”
Elizabeth got one more kiss before happily returning to her training. Shikarou glanced at Circe. I’m pleased to see she mastered that move. Good job with her training, both of you.
The Alaka-Wham twirled an antenna in a slow circle She’s very enthusiastic. She still needs to work on her power and control, but she’s got the potential to be very strong. I suspect she wants to be one of your primaries and that will keep her working hard.
He nodded and continued on his rounds.
***
(05/24/99 1700 Blue Continent, 1000 Blowjob, Sunshine League)
“I don’t fucking believe this.” Carlos Escobar closed his eyes for a moment and then stared at his computer screen again. Nothing had changed. “Shit.”
Hephzibah looked up from where she was filing her nails. “I take it you aren’t getting that threshold Neo Iczel.”
“What? Oh, that. Who cares, we’ve got bigger problems.” He smacked his monitor. “Someone didn’t stay bought and now we are getting an inspection next week.”
The Succubus blinked. “We’re getting an inspection? We’ve never had one before, at least not that I remember.”
He gave her a withering look. “You idiot, that would be because I pay certain members of the government to keep this from happening to me. This is the first time they’ve failed to come through.”
“So, you pay the government inspectors off.” She shook her head. “They don’t make much, it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“The inspector won’t be a Sunny. We get inspected by someone from another ranch. Probably he won’t even be from the Sunshine League.” His mouth set as he scrolled down. “The inspector is coming from the Blue League. The Harris Conservatory.” He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “I know that one. Damn, I can’t remember.” He hammered keys and the screen changed. “Here we go. Oh, this one. Yeah, I remember it. It’s run by a pokegirl.”
Hephzibah looked up. “Pokegirls can run ranches?”
“Don’t go getting any more dumb ideas.” Escobar picked up a rubber ball from his desk and bounced it off the Succubus’ head. Her eyes glittered. “Don’t even think it.”
She watched him for a moment. Some day, she promised herself. “So how’s a pokegirl in charge?”
“There’s a human figurehead. His name is,” Carlos hit more keys, “Devon Harris. Hey, he’s on the inspection team as a secondary.” His eyes narrowed. “The primary is Branwyn Urufu.” More keys were abused and his shoulders slumped. “We can forget about bribing this one.”
“Why not?”
“Her Tamer just took down a fucking Widow, solo. I don’t have enough money to get her attention, much less bribe the bitch.”
“She’s a pokegirl?”
“Yeah, a Unicorn.”
Interest lit up Hephzibah’s eyes. “I’ve never tamed a Unicorn.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I doubt she’s here for a good time.”
“Well now, we’ll just have to see about that. So why is this inspection such a big deal?”
“First of all, they’ll check the books and might find the irregularities in our acquisition program. They might also find out that we’ve been dealing with the Night Watch. At best, I’ll get arrested and you’ll get wiped and sent to some combat harem. At worst, I’ll get turned into a pokegirl and sent along with you.” He snickered. “And some very prominent families might get outed for having less than pure blood, which of course could be bad for them; bad enough that they might take it out on us.”
The Succubus frowned. “I don’t think that would be a whole lot of fun.”
“Really? You think?” He snorted. “I’ve got a week, that’s not going to be enough time to get rid of my special girls.”
“Shoot them.”
“I’d rather shoot you, you stupid whore! They cost me a lot of money and no idiot from the Blue League is going to shut me down.” He reached for his com. “I’ve done enough favors for the Night Watch; it’s time they paid me back for a couple of them.”
“And if they don’t?”
“The Blood Continent is nice this time of year.” He tapped some keys. “Ok, they haven’t finalized their agenda yet, but there’s enough here I can go ahead and send a message to the Vigo letting him know there’s a problem.”
***
(05/28/99 0630 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
“Fuck!” Maeve stumbled forward and turned to glare at her tormentor. “Stop shoving me, goddamn it. Why the fuck are you doing this?”
Hatsumi gave her an even look. “You can walk or Hatsumi can carry you by your ears.”
“Damn it, the sun’s not even up.” Hatsumi shrugged. “Shit.”
“Hatsumi had orders. Get Maeve up and let her have her weapons. Then Hatsumi is to make sure you go to the arena.” Her eyes narrowed. “You do not want Hatsumi to carry you.”
“Orders? From who?”
“Less talk, more walk.”
Maeve started walking again. “Fine. Who ordered this, Devon?”
“No, Hatsumi’s master did not order this. Hatsumi’s alpha ordered this.”
“That bug is going to pay this time.” Maeve sped up. “I am going to make her regret this when I pull her wings off.”
She ground to a halt as she came out in the arena. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“You need to understand something right now, Maeve.” Branwyn smiled slightly. “I am not your enemy, but neither am I your friend. Shikarou didn’t do anything because he’s trying to be nice to Devon, but you keep that attitude with me and I’ll hurt you enough to make you evolve to Mini-Top all over again.” Her smile broadened. “I’m here to referee and I brought some muscle to enforce my decrees.” The smile vanished. “They will not hesitate to pound you into a bloody pool of contriteness if I tell them to.”
Maeve looked around. “I don’t see anyone else. Where’s Kathryn?”
“She’ll be along in a moment.” Branwyn’s smile was back. “Isn’t that right, Elizabeth?”
“If you say so.” Maeve whirled at the voice behind her. Elizabeth smiled. “Hi.” Her fangs gleamed in the predawn light. “Surprise.”
Maeve turned back to Branwyn. “Where is Kathryn?” Her tone was calmer.
“She’s on her way. We’ll just wait for her.”
Maeve folded her arms and fumed while Hatsumi moved to be near Branwyn.
Kathryn came along after a few minutes. The Ladyien looked around. “Good, everyone seems to be here.” She glanced at Elizabeth and back at Branwyn. “Should I ask why ye brought her?”
“I wanted some backup to enforce any judgments I might have to make.”
“Ah. Is she the only enforcer?”
“No, Pythia’s setting up the recorders.”
“Very well.” Kathryn turned to Maeve. “Good morning.”
“What is going on here?”
“I am tired of putting up with ye.” Kathryn’s wing cases fluttered. “So it’s time we had a talk about how life is going to be in the harem.”
“Oh really?”
“Aye. We can either have this talk now, or after I beat ye in battle.” Kathryn was working hard to use Branwyn’s advice to remain calm no matter what. “But in either case we are going to have that talk. Which way would ye rather it be?”
“Bug, I am going to enjoy this so much.” Maeve grinned. “Your ass is toast.”
Branwyn nodded. “Challenge given and accepted. Maeve, move to the other end of the arena.”
“Let her do it,” Maeve sneered.
“I told you to do something. Do it.” Maeve blinked at Branwyn’s tone.
“And if I don’t?”
“I brought a healing machine with me, Maeve. Do not test my patience.”
Maeve glared for a moment and then loped to the other end of the arena and turned to face her opponent.
Pythia spiraled in to land next to Branwyn. “The sensors are in place and I’m recording.”
The Unicorn nodded. “Remember when to stop.”
“I will.”
Branwyn raised her voice. “Maeve, are you ready to battle?”
“Yeah!”
“Kathryn, are you ready to battle?”
“Indeed, I am.” The Ladyien’s wing cases lifted.
Branwyn picked up the flag and waved the start. “Begin.”
Maeve advanced cautiously as Kathryn lifted into the air. The Ladyien glowed briefly as she used speed storm and then blurred forward in a dive attack. Maeve dodged and Kathryn screeched to a halt and spun in place.
Maeve hit her with uppercut, knocking Kathryn away and causing her to spin end over end for a few seconds until she could regain control. Maeve charged, but Kathryn used vortex before she could close.
The tornado threw the Mini-Top a dozen meters into the air and she squalled as she plummeted to the ground. She landed hard but shook it off and quickly rolled to her feet. Kathryn had used the time to grab some altitude and hit her with a dive attack, smashing Maeve into the trees surrounding the battlefield.
Branwyn raised her flag. “Hold. Maeve, return to the arena.”
Maeve appeared and paused, filling her lungs with several deep breaths of air before crossing into the battlefield.
Kathryn smiled as she hovered five meters up. “Yield and I’ll let this end.”
Maeve snarled. “Not a fucking chance.” Her khukuri whispered from its scabbard and she advanced.
“Suit yerself.” Kathryn’s squall attack blasted Maeve back out of the arena and once more into the trees.
Branwyn sighed. “Kathryn, if you deliberately throw her out of the arena again I will give you a penalty.”
“Aye. I won’t do it again.” She drifted backwards as Maeve charged and used leap to reach the Ladyien. Kathryn used her increased speed to dodge backwards and as soon as she had room, hit Maeve with vortex again.
When the Mini-Top hit the ground again, she lay still for several seconds before slowly climbing to her feet. She picked up her knife and in a smooth motion hurled it at Kathryn, who dodged it easily and used vortex once more.
Maeve crashed to the ground and didn’t move. Kathryn watched her for several seconds before landing.
Branwyn raised the flag. “You win.”
Kathryn grinned. “That felt good.” She turned to Hatsumi. “Pokeball?” The Demon-Goddess tossed her Maeve’s pokeball and the alpha recalled the Mini-Top.
Branwyn was setting up the PPHU. “Here.” Kathryn handed her the pokeball and the Unicorn cycled it through and released Maeve.
Pythia nodded to Branwyn. I am no longer recording.
Good.
Kathryn looked her over. “Aye, I beat ye. I am the alpha and ye will do as I instruct. I will not fight ye again like this. The next time ye misbehave, I will have Hatsumi and Paulette beat ye. If ye don’t believe me, ask Rhiannon about what happened to her when she started choosing which of my orders she wanted to obey.”
Maeve gave her a surly look. “I will.” She picked up her khukuri and slid it back into its scabbard.
“Good, ye do that and listen to what she says to ye.” She sighed and rubbed her chest. “Now get back to Devon’s.”
“Just a moment.” Branwyn smiled. “There’s just one more thing. Pythia.”
The G-Spliced teleported, coming out behind Maeve and grabbing her, lifting the Mini-Top and pinning her arms.
Maeve yelped. “What the fuck?” She tried to struggle.
Branwyn stepped up to her and drew Maeve’s khukuri. “Did you know I got my first Harris knife when I was four?” She slid the edge gently down Maeve’s chest as Kathryn stared in shock. Maeve froze. “I’ve been using them ever since.” Her eyes narrowed. “You attacked my husband. You attacked their Tamer.” She gestured with the knife at Elizabeth and Pythia. “If you ever attack my husband again, outside of a real battle, you and I are going to have another talk and you are really not going to want that to happen.” She touched Maeve on the nose with the point of the knife. “This is the only warning you are going to get.”
In a smooth motion, she cut Maeve’s throat to the spine. Maeve gurgled and blood sprayed over Branwyn and the surrounding sand. Branwyn leaned forward. “I’m serious.” She watched Maeve’s eyes glaze and returned the Mini-Top to her pokeball.
She handed the pokeball to Elizabeth. “Cycle her through again.” She turned to Kathryn. “Do you have a grievance against me?” She wiped the knife off on her dress and dropped it in a clean patch of sand.
Kathryn closed her mouth. “I dinna know what to say to ye.”
Hatsumi chuckled. “Hatsumi thinks you should say thank you.”
“She tried to kill Maeve!”
Hatsumi shook her head. “If the Unicorn had wanted to kill her, Maeve would be dead. Hatsumi thinks she gave a very good lesson.”
Elizabeth offered Maeve’s pokeball to Branwyn. “All done.”
Branwyn took it and handed it to Kathryn. “Do you have a grievance against me?” she asked again.
Kathryn stared at the pokeball in her hand and her mouth firmed. “No. I do not.” She handed the ball to Hatsumi, who tucked it into a pocket. “If she goes to Devon, I will have to tell him the truth.”
“I understand.” Branwyn shrugged. “We will deal with things as they happen. You’d better get back so you can get healed.” She looked down at herself. “And I need a bath.”
Kathryn nodded. “I’ll see ye later.”
***
(05/28/99 2000 Harris Conservatory, Blue Continent)
“Should I be mad at you and Branwyn?” Devon’s look was not quite a glare.
Shikarou smiled slightly. “No.”
“Your alpha almost killed Maeve!”
“Almost being the important word in that sentence.” He sighed. “I agree that she went a bit overboard, but the truth is that if Nanu hadn’t shot her, I was considering something almost as bloody as I got up, and her pokeball wouldn’t have been around to keep her alive.”
“Lovely, you’re both unbalanced.” Devon glared at the wall.
“No, I just don’t take being attacked very well.” Shikarou smirked. “Branwyn is unbalanced. So, how’s Maeve doing?”
Devon transferred his glare to Shikarou and then looked down. “She’s polite.” He glanced up. “If you tell me that I should be welcome, I’ll hit you.”
It took an effort, but Shikarou managed to keep any hint of the vast amusement he felt from showing. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I’m leaving for the Sunshine League the day after tomorrow.” Devon frowned. “We’ll be coming out near the city of Diversity and I’ll keep you apprised of our progress.”
“I appreciate that.” Shikarou leaned back. “You still want Branwyn to go with you? She could just meet you at the Hina House Ranch.”
Devon grimaced. “Yes, I do. While she’s crazy, it’s like Poppet being crazy. The only difference is she’s insane on the subject of you instead of the Harris family.” A tiny smile appeared. “As long as I don’t ambush you, I should be fine.”
“So how is your harem?”
Devon shrugged. “Quiet. Kathryn is as happy as if I got her a bag of raspberries and Maeve is polite. I know it won’t last, but things look ok. I think it’s a good start, at least until Maeve and Rhiannon butt heads.”
Shikarou snorted. “That one you should sell tickets to.”
“I’ll have to in order to pay for the damages to wherever we happen to be at that point.” He rubbed his forehead. “Did you ever find anything out about the Hina House Ranch?”
Shikarou grimaced. “Mostly rumor. Carlos has an unofficial reputation of being so crooked that he resembles a spring. However, the most interesting information comes from the pokegirl section of Tamer.net. There are several pokegirls who claim that they came from influential families who sold them to him under the table. Families that claim to be completely pure blooded and are in positions they would lose if it became known that they had daughters who went through threshold. Some of them belong to the most powerful anti-pokegirl group in the Sunshine League.”
He frowned. “Interestingly enough, the people they claim to have been are all missing. Some of them have been reported as runaways, some as just missing and a few are kidnapping cases. None of them have been solved and the police have no leads, at least not officially.” His ears slid halfway back. “In a curious turn of events, several of these were never reported in the press or anywhere by the families. No press conferences, no appeals for public aid, nothing. And several of the families received a lot of money around the time the girls left home. All of them received a good sum within a year of the disappearances; I guess some of them were smarter about it.”
“I haven’t had Aggie audit their finances, and at this point I don’t intend to. However, Branwyn will be using her to audit the Ranch and account for every centicredit that passes through there.” He shrugged. “Mainly to satisfy my curiosity. I suspect that even if we find some financial irregularities, they won’t be enough to get the Sunshine League involved, a very cursory search of his com records and email hints that he’s got a lot of friends in the Sunshine League. We’d probably have to find him over the body with the bloody knife in his hand before they’d do anything about it.”
“There are also a couple of indications that he’s involved with organized crime. There is a Team-like group down there called the Night Watch and they may have some links with him.” His frown returned.
“They’re pretty strong in parts of the Sunshine League, but you aren’t going near their stronghold city, fortunately. If you were, Branwyn would either not be going or I would be traveling with you.”
Devon stared at him. “Why hasn’t the Sunshine League gotten involved, if he’s working with these criminals? It sounds like you have enough rumors to start an investigation into the matter if nothing else.”
“They don’t know everything I do.” Shikarou looked modest and then grinned. “Aggie pulled these reports together from every jurisdiction and security organ in the Sunshine League as well as from Tamer.net. These groups don’t talk to each other very much and have not put things together as I have. Aggie is very good at her job.”
“Why don’t you send this to their attention?”
“That’s not my problem and would reveal that I have the capability to penetrate their security at will. They would not be happy to know that and would try to find out who could do it.”
“Why are you telling me this then?”
“First, my wife is going with you and I want you informed. If Escobar is as dirty as the rumors indicate, he may not be very happy about the upcoming inspection. I don’t know what his resources are, but forewarned is forearmed.” His mouth firmed. “And if he hurts Branwyn I will…” He blinked. “Let’s just say I won’t be happy and he doesn’t want that.”
***
Name: Urufu Shikarou
Age: 250
Residence: Caomh Sith, Blue Continent
Region: Scotland
Status: Active
Rank: 60
Security Clearance: Eta
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Species Name Level
Alaka-Wham Circe 69
Unicorn Branwyn 58
Milktit Helen 56
DragonQueen Bellona 50
Seraph Dorothea 49
Ria Kebi 47
Armsmistress Urufu Yushiko 46
G-Spliced Pythia 45
Sphinx Lorelei 42
Vampire Elizabeth 42
Blazicunt Marzia 39
Mini-Top Nanu 39
Hun Hanmei 28
Alpha Branwyn
Beta Bellona
Badges: Scotland: Stornoway, Rum Island, Glasgow
Ireland: Belfast
England: Plymouth,
Wales: Magicunt Village