12

“Your sure you wanna go out in this?” Danika stared outside. The weather out towards Pousse looked to be getting pretty bad.

 

Marcus took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Most of the storms'll keep to the south end. As long as we stick to the north end of the mountain range we should do just fine.” Marcus had heard reports that there was a storm out at sea, and that it might hit the the coast as a hurricane. Marcus was hoping to hit Pousse before the storm hit them, if it would hit them. “Come on. We better get going.”

 

Danika nodded, she lowered her back to allow Marcus to climb on. She made sure he was situated firmly where her human torso met her snake-like body. When she was sure he wouldn't fall off, Danika took off, the back half of her body waving behind her. Marcus was laying flat on her back, keeping himself clear of her wings.

 

Marcus didn't have much to do while flying other than thinking. Thinking about what could have kept Mika from contacting him for so long if she was in trouble. Marcus was suddenly thrown for a loop when Danika suddenly rolled to the side. A shock ran up through his leg as he turned upside down. “What the hell?” Marcus didn't remember giving Danika the okay for a landing.

 

Danika saw a cave on the side of a mountain and took it. The storm was only getting worse, and Marcus wasn't as tough as a Pokégirl. “We're landing for now. Hang on tight.” Danika rolled as another lightning struck close to them. She ignored the protests from her Tamer.

 

Marcus grumbled as he tried to get the fire going. The storm had gotten worse, the winds reaching hurricane strength gales. Marcus moved further back into the cave. The fire was finally started after he released Jira. The Blazicunt didn't even need to try and put any effort into the fire. “I'm really starting to hate storms.”

 

“It's okay.” Jira sat down next to Marcus, warming him up with her Heat Aura. It wasn't long before Marcus as asleep in her arms, the day's exhaustion catching up with him. She listened to the sounds of the fire, the crackling fire mingling with the raging storm.

 

Danika stirred. She'd slept with the bags still attached. She was just to tired to deal with the them. “Marcus, can you give me a few more minutes?” She murmured when she felt him trying to rummage through the packs. When he persisted she groaned and stood up, as much as she could with her large snake-like body, and turned around. What she had expected wasn't what she saw. Instead of her Master, there was a small, ugly, sickly little girl holding onto the sack that Marcus kept the Evolution Stones in. 'The stones!' Danika hissed as she lunged for the stones. She failed to catch them, the small little Pokégirl jumping back out of the way before Danika was able to get her hands on her. “WE'RE BEING ROBBED! WAKE THE HELL UP!” Danika was putting her tail down. From now on, they all slept with at least one of them on guard duty.

 

Jira's head snapped up. Marcus had fallen asleep on her lap, and he had only moved when she moved him so she could lay down as well. “GO!” She pointed her finger towards the fleeing girl. As Danika slithered after the girl Jira woke Marcus up, explaining to him what had happened.

 

“Just fuckin' great. As if I didn't have enough problems.” Marcus grabbed the rest of his packs and tossed them to Jira. The Blazicunt would be able to carry them better than he was. As he followed Jira into the back of the cave he released Rose, Shanti, and Sasha. “Shanti. Lights.”

 

Shanti nodded. A quick muttering later and four orbs of light faded into existence. She had to thank Danika later when she got the chance. The Nidogg had left a deep gouges with her claws for them to follow. “They turned down here.” Shanti rummaged around in a different pouch she'd made until she found what she was looking for. “Your mother wanted me to make sure you got this,” Shanti said as she began drawing out a roll of pleather that was way to long to have fit in the pack.

 

Marcus blinked as he watched a pouch the size of a fanny pack produce a roll of leather that was about as long as he was tall. “How in the....” he whistled once Shanti untied the leather straps and unrolled the sheet. Attached to it by small ties was a large assortment of blades. “She wanted me to carry that?”

 

“No, she wanted to make sure your options stayed open. And I'll tell you one thing, this thing was about to make my pouch fall off my hip.” Shanti readjusted the pouch she'd pulled the roll of weapons from. Without the additional weight on her pants it felt like she was as light as a bird.

 

Marcus barely had time to reach for the weapons when Danika returned, a few scratches here and there, but holding onto the bag of Evolution Stones. “What happened?”

 

Danika smiled sheepishly. “I got tired of waiting, and I didn't want her to get a head, so I used Phase and got in front of her.” Danika blinked as she noticed the large sheet of weapons glinting in the light. “Where'd those come from?”

 

“Long story.” Shanti grabbed the stones and placed them in a pouch before laying the sheet out, rolling the weapons back up, and restoring that in her pouch as well. “So, shall we get back to the mouth?”

 

Marcus was surrounded by most of his harem as they made their way back up to the mouth of the cave. For the first time, Marcus assigned a watch. He had it set up so that there wasn't more than two turns per night. With everyone taking watch, all of them were able to get some sleep.

 

Marcus woke up when the sun's light assaulted his eyes. “D?”

 

“Right here.” Danika had been up for a while. She yawned slightly, her turn for watch having ended with the rising of the sun. “You're gonna have to ride on Rose. I'm way to tired to fly.”

 

Marcus nodded as he pulled two balls from his belt. Ever since he'd accidentally left it on one night and a released all of his harem in his sleep, he'd gotten into the habit of taking off his belt at nights. One 'ball was used to recall Danika while the other was used to release Rose. “Danika's tired from her watch, so it's up to you to fly.” Marcus slung the extra pack across his back. He waited for Rose to stretch and change forms before climbing on top of her back. It was different from riding on Danika. Here he had the room to move about, on Rose it was similar to riding a slightly thicker Ponytaur.

 

“Marcus, be a dear and hang on for a minute.” Rose began to climb when she got Marcus's permission. When she was high enough she shifted back into her more human like form. That meant that Marcus was left falling until she caught him by the leg. She pointed her free hand at herself, casting Haste. Once she felt the spell working properly she quickly shifted forms again, ducking underneath her free-falling Master before taking off towards Pousse.

 

Marcus didn't mind the flight. With Rose using Haste every now and then the trip to Pousse was quicker. The city lights were illuminating over the horizon just as the sun began to settle behind the mountains. Rose, who was feeling tired, was swapped out for Danika. There was no reason to over work the girls when the city was right there, and he only had two girls capable of flight. 'Well three. But Shanti's a bit to eccentric be trusting my life with when I'm in a hurry.' Marcus thought as Danika snaked through the skies. When he landed Marcus recalled Danika, keeping the girls safe in their balls.

 

Marcus swore more in the next few days than a drunken Piratit that had just stubbed her toe. No matter where he looked, he was unable to find any trace of Mika, and the torrential rains made it impossible for Anahi to track her by scent. After a couple of days Marcus had no other option than to give up and pray that Mika was able to send him another message. With no leads, and his time running short, Marcus was forced to return home to Wood.

 

Marcus pulled out his 'dex and began to record the PokéBattle. “April 12, 300AS. Marcus Waters versus Amir Jahaad. Salvage Rules, best out of three. Prize for winning is either my Sphinx, Rose, or Amir Jahaad's Ronin, Jade.”

 

Sonja was worried about Marcus. He had been absentminded ever since getting back from Pousse, and it was starting to bring everyone down. Hopefully, this battle is just what he needed to take his mind off of things. Sonja stretched as she took the lead. Everyone was gathering outside in the courtyard of the dojo for the battle, with the exception of Jira. The oversized Chickenlittle wasn't happy with the thought of getting her feathers wet, and the fact she was a Fire-type only strengthened her resolve.

 

“Sonja. I want this quick and clean.” Marcus tapped the matted fur on Sonja's shoulders.

 

The Wukong jumped in between the two Tamers. “Sure thing,” taking her shrunken staff out from behind her ear, Sonja enlarged it until it was roughly as long as her for arm. He held it out in front of her like a sword, waiting for her opponent. Her opponent turned out to be a damn Amachamp named Sheeva. The four-limbed mountain of muscle completely dwarfed her, and yet Sonja was sort of excited. “This might not be so quick and clean....” Sonja's reply was cut short when the Amachamp slammed all four fists down on the ground. The Sonic Wave almost caught her off guard. Sonja pole-vaulted over the shock-wave towards the Amachamp. Her staff shrunk quickly before extending it over her head. With the weight of the staff pulling down Sonja smacked the Amachamp over the top of her head.

 

Marcus would have called it quits if any other girl were hit over the head like that, but the Amachamp hardly seemed fazed. Marcus didn't think that very much damage was going on. The Amachamp was to slow to catch Sonja, and Sonja just wasn't strong enough to deal any real damage. It was beginning to look like the match was going to end in a draw. Just as Marcus was going to make the suggestion to call it a draw the Amachamp seemed to freeze in place. “What just happened?”

 

“Electric-fried.” Sonja pointed her wand sized staff at the Amachamp. The staff began to glow before a red beam shot out and hit the girl squarely between the chests. Sonja barely had time to fire off another one before the Amachamp shook off her paralysis. Sonja waved before her body wavered out of existence.

 

Sheeva cursed as she looked around there was no sight of the stick carrying monkey girl. Listening didn't do any good, most of the sounds she could hear were drowned out by the rainfall. She tried to look for the splashing where the ape would have to walk, but there wasn't any sign of that neither. “Okay, where are you,” she muttered under her breath. She took a step forward just as she felt something blast her in her back.

 

Sonja was having to much fun. She was using her staff to get around. She'd rise up into the air and fall in the direction she wanted to go. The Amachamp was to unfocused to even look for a small pen sized spalshes. Sonja was able to hit the Amachamp with another Enfeebling Ray. She landed in a tree in the courtyard. The Amachamp was still looking around for her on the ground which was what was so funny. Sonja decided to play a bit more before finishing her.

 

Sheeva screamed as she ran at the ape girl. The skinny little twig had materialized right in front of her and was shaking her ass. Sheeva brought both right hands back and tried to Pummel the girl into playdough. She cursed as her hands when through the simian's ass, causing her to fall face first into the mud. Enraged Sheeva slammed all four fists down on the ground repeatedly. She heard shouts of complaints as the ground started shaking. The quick, multiple uses of Shock Wave was enough to turn the combined attacks into Earthquake. She spotted the Monkey-girl falling out of a near by tree. Taking advantage of her prone feature Sheeva tried to lift a large boulder off the ground.... only to find that she couldn't even budge it.

 

Sonja laughed as she stood up. “You're not picking up anything like that for a while.” Sonja used her staff as a bat as the Amachamp threw a smaller rock at her. There was only one problem. Sonja hadn't quite gotten the hang of the Amachamp Strength spell, and the Amachamp was still way to difficult to damage. 'Okay, time to keep her busy.'

 

Sheeva growled. She'd never been this weak before, not even as an Amachop. Her body was moving slower that she was used to, as if she was trying to wade through a large deep pool of water. Her four arms came in handy when she needed to block the rapid assault from the Wukong. 'Damn bitch,' Sheeva swore in her mind as she tried to grab hold of the assaulting staff, but she was unable to catch it. She was finally able to catch it with all four hands when it came in to jab her in her face. “Got yo-” Sheeva's snide was cut short when the end of the staff erupted with Mana Bolt that caused her head to snap back upon impact. Reluctant to loose her advantage Sheeva held on.

 

Sonja grinned as the Amachamp refused to let go of her staff. She extended it, causing one end to anchor into the ground while the other took the Amachamp up off her feet by the chin. The attack was enough of a surprise that the Amachamp was lifted off of her feet and knocked backwards. Before the Amachamp was able to completely right herself, Sonja took the staff and shrunk it down to a little more than a foot and thew it.

 

A Wukong's staff, unless wished, is virtually impossible for any pokégirl to lift. Sonja found that out when even Rose, who was the strongest when in her battle form, was barely able to budge the staff unless Sonja wanted her too. The mystical weight of the staff struck the Amachamp in her face. The blow was enough to simply bloody the nose, but that wasn't were Sonja ended. After the strike the staff was summoned back into Sonja's hands. The Wukong took to the sky, using the staff as an express elevator to the heavens. With the height, and leverage, Sonja's next strike caused the Amachamp to sink into the ground. Sonja had lengthened her staff and used the earth's gravity to allow the pillar to fall on the prone Amachamp.

 

“Enough!” Amir Jahaad yelled as he recalled the fallen Amachamp. Amir Jahaad pulled out his second girl, “Kali. You better not fail me.” Amir Jahaad released the Elephuk from her ball. When he realized what the girl was that Marcus released, he could only stutter. “Yo-you have a Dracona as well? I want to change the rules of the match. The winner gets the prizes previously agreed upon, but also gets another pokégirl of his choosing from the other Tamer's harem.” 'Easy win...'

 

“You can take that offer and stick it up the ass end of a Widow,” Marcus wasn't about to change the conditions of the match just because the guy was beginning to get greedy. It was already bad enough that he has to deal with people always coming after him for Haleigh and Rose individually. “Haleigh. You be damn careful. See that necklace?” Marcus waited for the nod, “Good. That's an Ice Crystal.”

 

Haleigh gulped as she stepped forward. Elephuks were Ground Types. That was good news with the rain coming down like it was. But the fact that the girl was also sporting around a necklace that gave her access to Icy blasts wasn't. Haleigh brought her spear up and got ready. Unlike Sonja, Haleigh was a bit more reserved when it came to attacking.

 

“Quickly!” At Amir Jahaad's orders Kali quickly took a knee. Her trunk extended as it flared with a pale blue light. Almost as if she was sneezing, the icy blast of energy was like a silent canon blast. A trail of ice was formed as the ball of energy shot above the ground. It disappeared in a violent hiss and explosion of steam as it meet with a burst of blue fire from the Dragon-type.

 

Haleigh shivered. Even through the heat of her Dragon Rage she could feel the wave of cold air blow past her. 'I am NOT getting hit by that,' Haleigh readied her spear, pointing it up towards the Elephuk. Haleigh waited for the Elephuk to make her move, but the large pachyderm based girl seemed to be thinking along the same thing. Haleigh glanced back at Marcus, who gave her a nod of his head. Standing straight up she stuck her spear into the ground, point first. She flexed her fingers, getting them ready to take some damage.

 

Kali blinked as the Dragon-type stuck her weapon in the ground. She shot off another ice blast, one that was dodged by the Dracona. Kali stood up and stomped her right foot on the ground. The Earthquake was enough to cause the Dracona to loose her footing.

 

“Tackle!”

 

Kali charged at the order. There wasn't much that the Dracona could do with no footing and a nine foot, half ton of muscle rushing at her. Kali caught the Dracona square in the chest, sending her flying backwards. Kali had to take a moment to stop, at which point she nearly trampled several by standers. When she stopped it was facing the same direction that the Dracona was sent flying.

 

'Holy fuck that hurt,' Haleigh was surprised that she didn't break the wall from the impact. Haleigh pulled herself up and started to dust herself off, only to find that the Elephuk was charging her again. Haleigh sprinted out of the way, leaving the Elephuk to clash into the wall. “Am I going to get in trouble for that?”

 

Kyuri shook her head. “Not as long as you win.” The Sayjin crossed her arms as she watched the second battle of the match. Ever since her son had returned the number of battles being held had been steadily increasing.

 

Haleigh didn't wait for the Elephuk to start another charge, especially if she wanted to get away from being punished by Kyuri. While the Elephuk was charging back through the open hole in the wall that she created, Haleigh fired Dragon Torture. The beam of light split dozen of ways. There wall took some damage as several of the split beams hit the stone. The majority, however, peppered the Elephuk's body as she tired to charge through the wall. There was the sounds of explosions, as if someone had lit a string of Panthress firecrackers on the pokégirl's body from contact.

 

Kali had to close her eyes as one of the explosions caught her just above her right eye. Her body was feeling tingly, the result of being hit with all those explosions. As she opened her eyes her right one automatically went shut. As she brought her hand up she was able to see blood on her hand before the rain washed it away.

 

“Haleigh, don't stop!”

Haleigh rushed forward while the Elephuk was busy with her eye. The Elephuck was a lot like the Amachamp before in the regards that she was tougher and stronger than her, but she was faster. Using her speed to her advantage, Haleigh was able to duck and weave through the three flailing limbs to get another deep cut on the opposite side of the Elephuk's face. With blood pouring into her eyes from both wounds Haleigh had the definite advantage.

 

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Haleigh was to fast for the Elephuk to land a solid hit, even with her Master shouting out orders. Marcus was worried for a brief second when Haleigh was caught in Kali's trunk, but Haleigh nearly cut through the trunk with several swipes of her Dragon Claw attack. Even Marcus felt a twinge of pain at the thought of someone hacking away at his nose to the point where it threatened to fall off. The game went back and forth for a while, though Haleigh definitely had the upper hand. Blinded, and with her nose threatening to fall off, it was only a matter of time before the Elephuk's Tamer recalled her. “That's two wins in a row. I'll thank you for handing over my new girl.” Marcus had to practically pry his winnings from Amir Jahaad's hands. “Thank you very much.” Marcus closed his 'dex as the recording stopped. With that done and taken care of it was time to take a quick trip into town. Instead of taking everyone, he simply balled Haleigh and Sonja, taking them with him.

 

The trip to the 'Center was just the first in a long line of visits. As the rainy season dragged on, the number of challenges for Haleigh and Rose increased. Even Shanti and Danika got their fair share of aspiring tamers trying to win them. Marcus made a fortune selling the girls he won back to their Tamers. There wasn't much to do other than train accordingly to his family's schedule. Both Marcus and his harem ended up following the same schedule for training, even if the methods were a bit different due to the differences in strength and body structures.

 

“It's about damn time.” Marcus stretched as the fourth day of sun light worked on drying out the soaked Earth. The Rainy Season had officially come to pass, and with the Dry Season came a few changes. The best of which came in the forms of Shanti and Haleigh evolving. Shanti was now a fully evolved Archmage, while Haleigh became a Dragoness. “Hey Shanti, you ready to go?”

 

Shanti nodded as she grabbed her staff. Unlike Sonja, her's was custom made. In the center of the white ash staff was the Amber that Marcus had bought for a previous member of the harem, and at either end of the staff was a Mana Crystal. She had to bribe, and suck, her way into getting them, but Marcus eventually folded. “Sure am.” Shanti made sure that she was prepared. It was the first time in a long while that she was going to be spending any time alone with Marcus. “Just one moment.” She tapped Marcus on the shoulder with her staff, a momentary flash of light flickering from the contact. She then did the same to her, only with a wave of her hand. “There we go.”

 

Marcus grinned. He might share a bit of his mother's dislike of magic, but it was quickly becoming less and less. Even his mother was starting to warm up to the idea of magic, especially once she found out that it could be used to increase a person's physical training. Kyuri was especially fond of the gravitational spells. “What was that?”

 

“Just a quick spell to make sure we aren't bothered.” Shanti had grown tired of all of the challenges issued just so some tamer could take the chance of getting one of them, and this Invisibility spell was a great fix. Of course it didn't completely hide them from view, it just made them invisible to anyone they didn't want to be seen by that didn't have magical or psionic powers.

 

“Ahh.” Marcus grabbed the pack and began walking out of town. He ignored the offer to make his clothing water and mud proof. It was half the fun of hiking. Once they were a good ways out of town Marcus had to make up his mind about which way they were heading. He really wanted to re-challenge the Gym in Sweetjugs, but now that he had his Storage License he wanted to see what was being offered at the Booby Valley Ranch. There were several 'girls on the website he'd seen that he was interested in.

 

Shanti gently brushed her hand against Marcus's. The muddy path towards the river didn't even dirty her boots thanks to the repellant spell she cast upon all of her clothing. Completely water and stain proof. She stepped aside as someone came down the road, not wanting to run into them and ruining the spell's effect. “So, what do you plan on doing?” She was hoping that there was enough time for a quickie or two.

 

“I'm heading straight on through to Sweetjugs. There's no need to head south when there's a better ranch to the North.” Marcus grabbed a berry from the side of the path. There was slight spice to it as he bit down, but it was still tasty none the less. When they got to the river, a simple levitation spell was all that was needed to cross it. They didn't move from the beaten path, which made travel much quicker. It wasn't until the reached the end of the sonic markers that Marcus even thought about releasing anyone else. Deciding against it Marcus swatted Shanti on her ass, much to her pleasure.

 

“We catching more 'girls?” Shanti asked as she sashayed ahead.

 

“Nope. I don't feel like catching anything that we ain't keeping or can't get a decent price for.” Marcus snapped off a large branch and began breaking off the smaller branches until it resembled something like a walking stick. He just raised an eyebrow as it was jerked from his hand magically by Shanti before the outer bark dissolved to leave a smooth stick the size of a quarterstaff. “Thanks.”

 

“Welcome.”

 

Marcus yawned as the sun began to set. The trip so far was pretty uneventful. Him and Shanti ran into a flock of Pidgy and several dozen different Titmice, but nothing threatening. Shanti was busy placing crystals around a clearing while he released everyone else to help set up the tents.

 

“So, what're those crystals for again?” Sonja walked around the area, looking at the amethyst crystals making a square. Shanti was levitating a fifth crystal into the air until a shimmering pyramid formed around the area.

 

Shanti rolled her eyes. “For the fifth time. They're protection crystals. They make a barrier surrounding them so that anything outside that's weaker than me, or doesn't have my permission, can't enter.” Shanti had spread the crystals in a square around them, giving all of them plenty of room to stretch and move around. Anyone of the harem members, Marcus included, could leave and enter at will as long as they had the crystal shard that she gave them.

 

Haleigh stretched. She was loving her new body. Before she was only about the size of Marcus, being barely taller than her Master. Now, with the exception of Anahi in her battle form and Sasha, she was one of the tallest members of the harem. “Come on, I wanna go for a flight.”

 

“Okay, okay. Loser get's to pleasure the winner!” Danika shot off into the air. Ever since Haleigh evolved her, Haleigh, and Rose had been taking flights together. Every now and then she'd carry Marcus on her back and the four of them would enjoy seeing the world pass below them. Every now and then they'd race, but without using magic it was usually Haleigh that won.

 

“Seriously?” Rose shook her head as she spread her wings. Tonight's flight was going to have to be done without her. She had other things in mind. Her body changed forms as she quietly stalked her prey. She folded her wings tight against her body as she prepared to pounce. She landed lightly on top of Marcus, grinning as she lightly pinned her Master down beneath her. She was about to give Marcus as kiss when she was pulled up by Sasha.

 

“Not without me you're not. It's my turn tonight.” Sasha flashed a toothy smile before turning around on Marcus.

 

“Don't I get a say in this?” Marcus rolled backwards, only to be trapped by Anahi. It was obvious that he didn't. “Guess not. Well, tell you what. Let's get in a bit of practice and then we can have some fun.” Marcus could tell that the trio were reluctant to agree, but agree they did none the less. “Sonja! Let's go play in the trees.” Marcus felt like he was trying to walk through an Arachnae's web as he exited the barrier, Sonja bouncing along happily behind him.

 

Sonja grabbed hold of Marcus's hand at the pinnacle of his jump. Using his momentum along with her strength Sonja practically tossed Marcus to the next branch. She watched as her Master effortlessly caught a branch with both hands.

 

Marcus grinned in joy as he let go of Sonja's hand. This was one of the things he lived for. The world rushing past him, the wind in his face. It was only a matter of seconds before he was forced to quickly grab a branch. While the branch looked sturdy enough to support his weight, the branch snapped like dried kindling. Marcus let out a cry of pain as he fell.

 

Sonja gasped as she watched her Master hit the ground with a thud. She rushed over to him, wincing at what she saw. Marcus looked like he had been put through a tenderizer. His body was completely torn up, and there were still thick thorns embedded in his body. She lightly shook him, calling out his name. When he didn't answer Sonja carefully pulled him onto her back, running as fast as she could back to the campground.

 

Shanti, in order to try and stave off boredom, had made small replicas of Anahi and Sasha out of flames and was watching the figures fight it out. When she looked up she could see Sonja sprinting back towards camp. At first she didn't see anything wrong, but when she recognized Marcus's bloodied face hanging over her shoulder, the Archmage was up and moving.

 

“What in the hell happened?” Shanti was wide eyed and in a rush as she helped Marcus down off of Sonja's back.

 

“We were having fun in the trees when a branch broke. He would have died if it wasn't for all the branches.” Sonja began helping Shanti removing the thorns with magic.

 

Shanti carefully removed a large thorn from the side of Marcus's throat. She healed the wound as she pulled out the thorn, preventing a major loss of blood. “What the hell were you doing in a fucking locust tree!” Shanti was close to stabbing the Wukong in the throat with the thorn she'd just extracted. She tended to the rest of his face, using an extraction spell to pull the thorns out of his face.

 

“We didn't run into it on purpose.” Sonja ordered the rest of the harem to stay back, with Haleigh fetching Shanti's potions from her packs. She slowly helped roll Marcus over so they could remove the thorns in his back. With Marcus now stable, at least according to Shanti, Sonja was able to help Marcus heal. 'I can't believe I threw him into a thorn tree,' Sonja used her staff as a wand to heal a large gash across Marcus's tattoo.

 

Shanti, being an Archmage, was able to heal Marcus without interfering with the magical properties of the tattoos Marcus had. Slowly she helped Sonja roll Marcus onto his front so they could tend to his back. The tattoo on his back was proving to be the most difficult. Before now she'd never needed to heal Marcus on this scale, and the tattoo was causing a slight interference. With what she knew, a Tat's magic ink only worked when the pattern remained unbroken. She was having a time repairing the tattoo on his back so it'd work like it'd supposed to. She was starting on one end of a large gash across his shoulders when she felt a difference in the magic through the body. “Stop it NOW!”

 

Sonja jerked back when Shanti yelled at her. Startled, she accidentally sent a surge of magical power through the tattoos. She and both scooted back away from Marcus when they saw something happening. Marcus's hair was growing, and not just on his head. What body hair he had was becoming longer and thicker, and his tail was even lengthening.

 

Shanti was shocked at the changes that were starting to over taker her Master, but that shock quickly turned into a determination that had the Archmage using her powers to nullify the magic in his body. Thankfully the spell didn't affect the healing spell she'd already applied to Marcus. She wanted to see what had changed on his body, but there was still the matter of the wounds. “You, get the hell away from him.” Shanti stretched out her hand, hitting Sonja in the chest with a Force Bolt. She swore under her breath as she raised both hands over Marcus's body. “I'm sorry, but this is really going to hurt.” Shanti closed her eyes and focused. Her magic washed over Marcus's body. With it she felt all of the remaining wounds, and the thorns that created them. Taking a deep breath she levitated his body before ripping out the remaining thorns. She wanted to cry when she saw his body jerking in silent agony, but she forced herself to continue healing his body.

 

Sonja was tempted to crack the Archmage in the head for the Force Bolt, but Shanti had started levitating Marcus about chest high off the ground. When Shanti started lowering Marcus to the ground she didn't even realize that she'd been holding her breath. She let out the breath she'd been holding as she glared at Shanti. “What, in the fucking hell, was that for?” Sonja stood up, breathing heavily to try and keep herself calm.

 

Shanti waved Sonja off. She bent down, examining the changes that occurred to Marcus. He seemed taller, even if only by a few inches. There was the thicker body hair, and the hair on his head was longer. She began pulling off his shoes, socks, and all the rest of his clothing. She sighed, there wasn't much that had changed. He was a bit taller, and that was it save for the increased thickness of his hair.

 

Sonja got tired of Shanti blowing her off. “Look bitch, I'm the Alpha. Not you.” Sonja grinned. That got Shanti's attention. “You heard me. I'm the Alpha. You ever attack anyone else, much less me, without Marcus's approval, and I'll see to it you're gone. Are we understood?”

 

Shanti started rummaging through her pack, the one that Haleigh had brought over to her. “Yeah, I get it. But I'll attack you again if you're using magic on Marcus's body and you fuck it up.” Shanti carefully brought Marcus's head up and opened his mouth. Taking a swig of the potion in her hand she used her mouth to administer the medicine.

 

Sonja glared at the human looking Archmage while she administered the medicine. As much as she wanted to deny it, the slight changes to Marcus's body were her fault. 'I could always blame it on Shanti. Tell Marcus that she didn't warn me about potentially fucking up his body while healing the tattooed area,' Sonja thought a bit on that last part. There wasn't any way to tell how Marcus would take the news, which meant that the best thing to do now was just to wait and see how it all played out. Her thoughts were put on hold when she saw that Marcus was beginning to come around.

 

Marcus felt like twelve pounds of ground Minotaura crap stuffed in a twelve ounce sack. “Ugh..... what happened?” Marcus kept his eyes closed as he brought his hand up to nurse his headache.

 

“You grabbed hold of a weak branch on a locust tree, about a hundred feet up,” Sonja carefully helped Marcus up to his feet. “You're lucky to be alive.”

 

Marcus wobbled a bit, catching himself on Shanti and Sonja.

 

“You'll be okay in a minute or two. You just need to finish letting the potion run it's course.”

 

Marcus looked over and down at Shanti. 'Wait, why am I looking down?' Marcus looked around. Sonja looked like she had grown shorter too. “Hey, Sonj. Stand up straight in front of me.” Marcus's eyes trailed the Wukong as she did what was asked. With a bit of pain, and help from Shanti, Marcus stood straight up. He remembered always having to look at Sonja square in the chin, he wasn't tall enough to look her in the eyes. But now he was almost staring her directly in the eyes. “What's going on?'

 

Marcus listened as Haleigh began telling him what happened. Both Shanti and Sonja looked away, almost ashamed of how they were acting once they heard it from the point of view from a third party. “Both of you....” Marcus glared at the two of them, “thanks.” Marcus smiled, much to the shock of Sonja and Shanti.

 

“You mean..... you're not mad?” Shanti asked quietly, her hung head barely lifted so she could see him.

 

“For what? You both tried to save my live, and guess what? You both succeeded. Hell, you even made me taller.” After a life time of being barely five foot six, Marcus was nearly five ten. 'The Gods must have answered this prayer personally. Thank you Jesus,' Marcus wasn't exactly Christian, nor Catholic, nor any of the other Jesus worshiping religions, but that didn't stop him from thanking the most popular deity. He gave them a hug at the same time, only disappointed once he realized one thing. “Fuck. This mean's I'm not breast level with most of the breeds now.” Marcus grinned as most of the harem laughed at his joke. “So..... whose turn was it?”

 

Shanti smiled, kissing Marcus on the lips before turning the innocent smile into a much more mischievous one. “It's all of ours. We've gotta make sure your new body is up to par.” Shanti stood back, levitating Marcus over to where the tent was. Instead of crawling inside with him, she had the tent laid flat, turning it into a large mattress.

 

Jira stretched as she woke up. Being the first one up had it's advantages, one of which included a wake up blowjob for Marcus. She was leaning over Marcus when movement caught her eyes. She looked up to see a Rack or Pidgy actually sitting on the barrier. Jira scared her away with a quick blast of flames. Unfortunately the special wake up for Marcus would have to be put on hold. With her emission of flames Marcus and the entire harem was starting to wake up. “Damn ferals.” She pointed to the top of the barrier, “Pidgy.”

 

Marcus stretched as he helped with breakfast. Sasha was able to hunt down several feral Chickenlittle eggs. The eggs didn't seem rotten yet, and with the help of Sonja and Anahi, the entire harem was soon scarfing down fresh omelets. Shanti seemed content to picking up fruits and berries along the way to eat. Since they weren't traveling with a pregnant Dildo Queen, the trip was so much shorter this time around. Once they got to Cherrybust Marcus decided to take the shortcut to Pousse. Danika seemed excited about the prospect of being able to travel by sky once again.

 

Without the storm the flying was much quicker. Danika took only a few hours to reach Sweetjugs from Cherrybust. “Oh come on.” As soon as he landed, Marcus was struck in the face with a challenge for Danika. “Dude, is there any way we can postpone this? I'm about ready to challenge Ali.” Marcus could see that the guy was just waiting for an excuse to try and use that damn forfeiture law. To bad for him that it wasn't against the law to decline challenges. With a 'Piss off,' Marcus entered the 'center. He reserved a room for the next few days, just to be on the safe side.

 

“Well girls, it's up to you. You ladies wanna wait and train a bit more before taking on Ali, or do you wanna get it down and over with today?” Marcus asked. The room was big enough that everyone, including Danika, was able to fit in. Anahi seemed content to lay down with her head in his lap, letting him stroke her fur behind her ears.

 

“I say we wait until tomorrow,” Sasha was nearly flattened by the combined look of Sonja and Jira.

 

“We were humiliated last time. There no way in hell we're waiting for our rematch.” Jira growled. To be fair, only Anahi managed to win. Both her and Sonja were utterly humiliated in the way they lost their fights.
“So let's go now.” Sonja stood up and started heading out the door.

 

Marcus knew that there wasn't any reasoning with them, so he agreed. The trip to the gym was uneventful since he 'balled everyone but Sonja and Jira. Marcus was working with a memory that was roughly six months old, and yet he was still able to find his way. He was able to catch the last bit of a match between a tamer and one of the Gym's assistants. When the match was over he went down to schedule a match for himself, causing him to run into Elissa Ali, the Gym Leader herself.

 

“What in all the Hells are you doing back here?”

 

Marcus couldn't blame her for the way she was acted. She was made into fool twice in the same day by him and his father. “I'm back for a rematch.”

 

“After the beating you got last time? Don't think I don't remember the sight of you leaving with your tail between your legs.” Elissa smirked.

 

Marcus returned the smirk with a smartass comment. “Trust me sweet-cheeks, that wasn't my tail you got a glimpse of.” Marcus smirked even harder when he saw the look of disgust on Elissa's face. Marcus turned his attention to the electronic sign up. After putting his name down he got a number and a time. “I'll be seeing you tomorrow at three o'clock.” With that Marcus gave a weak two fingered salute and walked down the stairs.

 

“Hey, you looking for a battle?” Marcus had found another kid that was probably several years younger than him. In order to get ready for tomorrow he'd been scouring the town for matches. There wasn't any of them that were accepted with Salvage rules, which meant that out of two dozen offers none were accepted. “No Salvage rules.” Marcus waited while the guy looked him over, as if he was sizing him up. Marcus grinned when the younger Tamer accepted the offer. “Great. Follow me.”

 

“I'm sorry, but we'll have to find some place outside to battle. A few members of my harem aren't very popular around the city.”

 

Marcus blinked, but he agreed to it in the end. The Tamer lead him to the outskirts of town, one where it looked like multiple battles had taken place. They took opposite sides of the field, leaving plenty of room for the battles to take place. “Okay, Sasha. Let's start out with you.” During the walk Marcus had explained Sasha's appearance, and the tamer seemed to be doing the same to his girl. At first glance the 'girl looked to be a badly colored Tigress, lime green fur and yellow striping. “Gotta be a Warcat.”

 

“You know, it's nice not having people screaming their heads off whenever they see me.” Sasha could deal with the wary looks she was getting, as long as she didn't have to listen to them screaming in a panic. She recognized the breed of her opponent too. There weren't many cat types that had that distinct coloration. Sasha stretched, warming and loosening her muscles before the fight. “She a Warcat?”

 

“Yeah. She's got you beat in just about every category. She's stronger, tougher, faster,” Marcus could tell that his pep-talk wasn't doing much good, “but she's pure Fighting. Keep a constant electrical charge running through you and you'll be able to hurt her just as much as she does if you get hit.” Marcus just hoped that Sasha was better train than the Warcat.

 

Sasha walked out to meet the Warcat in the middle of the field. “Here's some luck for ya.” Shasha held out her hand, thinking that the Warcat would take it. 'Bitch,' was all the Jugguar thought when the Warcat backed away and settled into a low stance without taking her hand. Sasha got into hers, bringing both hands up, palms facing out.

 

Marcus blinked, and it seemed that the two of them changed places. Quick Attack was meant with Quick Attack. There was a loud crack of thunder, meaning that Sasha had used one of her electrical attacks while moving.

 

Sasha barely had time to react. If it wasn't for constantly training against girls that were faster than the Warcat on a daily basis she'd surely be on the business end of the Warcat's claws by now. 'Bitch tried to seriously gut me,' Sasha flexed reflexively. A Static Barrier was thrown up in a split second as the Warcat tried her hit and run tactics again. The Warcat screamed in pain as her body convulsed with electricity. Before the shock wore off Sasha's right hand sprang to life with an Electric Blade. The blade crackled with electricity before Sasha swiped at the Warcat.

 

Marcus was excited. The match was going pretty well so far, but that could change in a heart beat. Marcus let out a disappointed sigh when he saw the Electric Blade connect with nothing but air, the Warcat practically falling backwards to avoid the slash. The attack fizzled out of existence, it's time span used up. “Get back,” Marcus muttered under his breath. Sasha wasn't fast enough though. A large left foot caught his Jugguar in the stomach as the Warcatgot to her feet.

 

Sasha doubled over while falling back, the foot knocking the wind out of her. She stumbled backwards, falling to her ass. She watched as the Warcat stood back up, towering over her. With a smirk Sasha threw her left hand out. Electricity sprang from her fingers, converging into a single bolt of lightning that struck the Warcat in the chest. Standing up quickly, Sasha followed the Thunder Bolt with an electrically charged Uppercut. With the Warcat still dazed from the Thunder Bolt Sasha pressed her advantage. He fist became a crackling blur as Lightning Punch met Gattling Punch in a barrage of punches.

 

Marcus held his ears. Each strike of the Gattling Punch sounded like the clash of thunder, indicating that Sasha was using Lightning Punch to increase the damage. “ENOUGH!” Marcus shouted at the top of his lungs. Sasha must have heard him. The Jugguar jumped backwards, staying in her stance with fists charged with electricity. “You calling it quits?” Marcus shouted over to the other tamer. It didn't look like the Warcat was getting back up after the electrical barrage. Marcus couldn't believe it when the Warcat began to stir, her Tamer refusing to count the match over.

 

“Oh like hell you are,” Sasha gathered the energy needed for her Kasier Krash. The electrical attack left off a loud boom of thunder as the flash of lightning superheated the surrounding air, causing the thunder. She winced at what she saw. The torso of the Warcat was smoking, her clothing blown off and her chest scorched from the attack. Sasha let out a silent prayer of thanks as the Warcat fell backwards. “That should do it,” she didn't move though, waiting to see if the powerhouse feline was getting back up. After a few moments, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the girl wasn't getting back up.

 

“Come on back Sasha. You did great,” Marcus recalled the Jugguar, allowing her to rest in relative peace until he could get her healed. “Shanti, let's give you a go next,” Marcus pulled the Archmage's 'ball from his belt after securing Sasha's to it. He released the Archmage, trying to give her advice when he realized that the other Tamer had released his girl as well. “What in the hell...” Marcus's voice trailed off as he pulled out his 'dex. The girl was definitely one of the Snake-types, but which one was hard telling. Marcus cursed as the 'dex told him, in a not so direct way, that Shanti was royally fucked.

 

“That's a Gods damned Kissitalcoatl. She's a god damned magic sink hole.” Marcus couldn't believe his luck. His most potent magic user, facing off against a girl that couldn't STOP generating a Null-Magic field. He reached behind him, grabbing the handle of the K-bar behind his back. “You want to forfeit?”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Shanti took the K-bar from Marcus, “Don't forget, I wasn't always an Archmage.” She tossed the knife up in the air, catching the handle so she held it underhanded. She had left her staff with Marcus. Since there wasn't any point in using magic, all she could do is bash her opponent in the head with the staff, but that could ruin her handiwork. There was no way she was going to allow that to happen.

 

Marcus hoped that Shanti wasn't being over confident. As of late he'd never seen her do anything without her magic, even if it was something as mundane as causing the remote control for the television to change the station itself. “You're sure about this?”

 

Shanti rolled her eyes. “Just sit back, stop worrying, and enjoy the show.” She was pleased to see that Marcus was taking her advice. Her tamer had held up his hands in defeat, and was allowing her to do as she pleased. She walked confidently out to the serpentine girl. She held the knife in her right hand, keeping it up in front as her rear guard. She waited for the Kissitalcoatl got in position, which involved flying in circles around her. Shanti rolled to the side when a shimmering bolt of energy was shot at her.

 

Marcus didn't know how that was possible. The Kissitalcoatl was supposed to be a magical sink hole, and here she is slinging around mystical bolts of energy. 'Damn hypocrite,' Marcus watched as the flying Serpentine-girl fly by Shanti, trying to nail her with a Wing Attack.

 

Shanti rolled backwards, imitating what she saw everyone doing everyday. She threw her free hand forward, causing the Kissitalcoatl to flinch. Shanti blinked as her Force Bolt failed to materialize. She looked up to see a smirk on the Kissitalcoatl's face when the girl realized that Shanti wasn't able to cast any spells. 'That's right,' Shanti kept faking the usage of her spells. Shanti left a keep gouge on the side of the Kissitalcoatl as she used Wing Attack once more.

 

Marcus grimaced as he saw the slash on the side of the Kissitalcoatl. The cut ran from just under her right wing and down to her hip. “Ouch.” Marcus wasn't even aware that Shanti had been paying attention to their workouts. As far as he knew, ever since evolving, she'd been immersed in her arcane arts. “I hope she knows what she's doing.”

 

Shanti threw her hand out again, grinning as the Kissitalcoatl kept flying right at her. 'That's right,' Shanti knew she surprised the Kissitalcoatl with Needleshot. Shanti ducked as the Kissitalcoatl flew over her, her hands trying to dig out the embedded needles in her face. Shanti watched as the Kissitalcoatl crashed into the ground,writhing in agony as the needles in her face slowly poisoned her. Shanti focused on the K-bar in her hand. A sickly green mucus began to run down the hilt before dripping off of it. The blade wasn't long enough to be considered a sword, but the Toxic Sword technique still worked. She danced into the thrashing body of the flying serpent, slashing here and there at the elongated body.

 

'She hasn't always been an Archmage,' Marcus repeated in his mind. Shanti wasn't using any spells he could think of, and yet she was using Poison techniques. A quick search through the 'dex showed that the entirety of the moves she used all came from the Dark Elf move list. “Well shit on me,” Marcus mumbled to himself as he watched Shanti continuously poison the much longer girl.

 

“Enough!”

 

Marcus looked up when the Tamer shouted. “Shanti, stop!” Marcus called the order. The Archmage stopped, the K-bar inches away from penetrating the Kissitalcoatl's right breast. There wasn't any call for it, but Shanti stepped on the 'girl's hand on her away back, something that he'd have to deal with. “What was that?” Shanti gave him a confused look, “You know what.” Before she had a chance to reply Marcus recalled her, but not before taking back his knife.

 

“Next.”

 

“Alright, hold your damn Ponytaurs,” Marcus replaced Shanti's ball on his belt, drawing Jira's. He released the Blazicunt, admiring the round, red-feathered ass he saw when she materialized. “We're two for two. Everyone but Rose and Danika are battling this guy.” Marcus pointed across the field to the Tamer. “So far it's been all over the board. A Warcat and a Kissitalcoatl.”

 

“Who took them out?” Jira was busy stretching as she listened to Marcus give the details of the matches. With their Gym match tomorrow, this would be a great way to see who was fit to fight and who wasn't. “So Shanti took care of the magical void. Nice.”

 

“Yeah, except afterwards she stepped on the girl's hand just to do it,” Marcus told her.

 

“Talk about bad sportsman ship.” Jira hopped back and forth a bit, keeping the blood flowing. “Any idea of what that girl is?” She asked when the Tamer released his girl. From what she could see, the other girl might have been a fighting type. Long feathers decorated her hair, while her leather clothing looked much like the halter tops and buttflaps that Danika wore. She wasn't sure, but she could swear that there were painted lines across her face.

 

Marcus checked the 'dex. “Bhooty. Fuck the Gods,” Marcus rolled his head at the typing. When Jira gave him a questioning look he relayed the typing.

 

“Ghost and Fighting. This is going to be a bitch.” Jira walked out. She heard Marcus yelling at her, telling her to fight from afar. 'Yeah, I'll try that,' Jira thought. She was much taller than the Bhooty, but the Ghost didn't look like she was giving up. Jira twisted her body, keeping her left side pointed at the Bhooty. She used her Heat Aura stopped the girl from getting to close from attacking, keeping her a good twelve feet away.

 

Marcus thought the match was pretty even. Jira and the Bhooty were doing nothing but keeping each other on their toes. The Bhooty would throw a few pale green, translucent axes at Jira, and Jira would respond in turn with a few Fire attacks. It became a bit easier to tell who the winner was going to be when the Bhooty disappeared from sight.

 

'Oh fuck,' Jira looked around, trying to see where the Bhooty had disappeared to. It was pointless however, 'cause no matter where she looked she just couldn't find the Bhooty. She was looking at Marcus when she felt a sharp pain in her leg. She looked down, seeing the handle of a throwing knife embedded in her right leg. She tried grabbing for it, but the handle and knife dissolved out of existence, leaving not a single feather on her leg out of place. She retaliated with a Flamethrower from her left hand when she felt another of the Phantom Blades strike her left thigh.

 

Marcus racked his brain. He could barely get a glimpse of the Bhooty, and she only materialized long enough to throw a knife at Jira before disappearing again. 'Come on. Think you bastard,' Marcus could only think of one solution. “Fire Spin!”

 

Jira lashed out randomly with long, circular kicks. Her legs, already ignited, began sending out waves of flames, much like a Burning Swordwave. Jira was in mid spin when she heard the Bhooty cry out in pain from the flames. Jira jumped, spinning in midair to fall down on the ground. When she landed on the ground her left leg was pointed in the direction of the Bhooty. A large cone of flames erupted from her foot, blasting the Bhooty.

 

Marcus was really beginning to appreciate teaching most of his harem that style. It was some old style that came from before the war in Edo. Some style called Ditangquan or something. What ever it was it was supposed to mean 'Ground Tumbling Boxing'. Marcus wasn't so sure Jira was going to be pleased about ruffling her feathers like that by spinning on the ground, but the Blazicunt quickly recovered from her prone position to close in on the Bhooty.

 

Jira felt a twinge of pain as she spun on her shoulders, the small points at the tips of her feathers digging into her skin. She ignored the pain, pushing off of her hands and onto her feet. Even though she had her back towards the Bhooty, Jira advanced. A series of back hand springs, accompanied by an arc of flames that kept the Bhooty in place, until she was close enough to bring her foot down on top of the Bhooty's collar bone. She felt, and possibly heard, the bone snap, at the same time she felt a deep pain in her gut. Looking up Jira could see the handle of a tomahawk sticking out of her. Before she could get away, there was another one in the back of her leg.

 

Marcus could barely watch the fight. For every attack Jira was landing, the Bhooty seemed to be landing an equal number of hits. Marcus had been hit with those Phantom blades before in his youth, and he knew first hand that the pain that was felt from the ghostly blades was all to real. While he watched, the two traded more blows. While she didn't look to have much of a scratch on her, Marcus knew that Jira was just as hurt as the Bhooty. If not than even more so.

 

“Call this one a draw?” Marcus recalled Jira after the other Tamer agreed. The Bhooty was pretty well trained, especially if she was able to keep up with Jira. Marcus could tell that neither one of the two combatants seemed pleased with the end results, but it was just the way somethings ended. Marcus placed Jira's 'ball on his belt. He was grabbing another when the Tamer started to walk away. “Hey! What's going on?”

“I'm sorry, but I'm being called away for something.”

 

Marcus blinked as the guy just walked away from the battle. He held Anahi's 'ball in his hand, staring down at the orb in his hand. “Well shit.” He replaced his Alpha's pokéball on his belt, turning around to head back into the city for rest before tomorrow.

 

 

Active Harem:

1. Sonja – Wukong (Alpha)

2. Anahi – Wolf Queen

3. Jira – Blazicunt

4. Shanti – Archmage

5. Haleigh – Dragoness

6. Sasha – Jugguar

7. Danika – Nidogg (Non-Combat)

8. Rose – Sphinx (Non-Combat)