“Everyone not ready for this?” Marcus asked as he looked around the room. Today was the day that he had his rematch against Elissa Ali for the Muscle Badge. “Muscle Badge. Sounds like something you'd order at a restaurant,” Marcus muttered underneath his breath. All of the girls seemed geared up and ready to go, which meant that Marcus was out of the door and on his way to the gym in less than three minutes.
Marcus payed off the Ponytaur that he had ridden to the Gym. Marcus followed his memory and the signs to the arena on the fourth floor. Elissa was already in the arena, running through drills with her harem. As Marcus looked around he could see that there were multiple people and pokégirls already filling into the stands. “Ho shit,” Marcus didn't know how many people were coming to watch, but he knew how many would be running for their lives once he released Sasha.
Marcus entered the arena, this time of his own volition. After stepping into the bright lights of the arena from the darkness of the tunnel Marcus was on the same level as Elissa, and she was still occupied with her training. Marcus quickly scanned the girls that she had out. He recognized two of them, the same Acrobabe and Armsmistress that had beaten him last time. As soon as people were able to pull their eyes away from Elissa's tone body and her harem's, they started booing at him, effectively catching Elissa's attention.
“Well, glad to see that you didn't chicken out.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. After having a second chance to see your naked flesh? There isn't a force on this earth that'd keep me from seein' that sight.” Marcus smirked at the annoyed look the Gym Leader's face. 'Yeah, she's really not happy to see me.' Marcus took his position at one end of the arena, Elissa taking her's opposite of him. Marcus pulled Sonja's ball from his belt, releasing the Wukong from her ball. “Let's see who she's calling out first.”
“The Gym Match,” the announcement of the referee got Marcus's attention, “will be between The Gym Leader of the Sweetjugs Gym: Elissa Ali!” There was a defining roar of applause that echoed throughout the entire arena as the referee called Elissa's name. “And the Challenger: Marcus Waters!” Marcus felt bad when his name was responded to by an equally loud roar of 'Boo's'. “The match will consist of a Five on Five match between Elissa's harem and the Challenger's!”
Marcus knew that Elissa was stacking the match in her favor, but then again, he couldn't blame her. Marcus quickly thought about the five girls in the harem that would work together the best, and it wasn't that hard of a decision. Marcus pulled the 'balls from his belt. He released his choice one by one, “Sonja, Anahi, Haleigh, Sasha, Jira.” Marcus plugged his ears at the screaming that accompanied the release of Sasha. Thankfully this time didn't bring about everyone in the stands releasing their harems in order to bring her down. Up on the screen, as plain as day, were the words 'JUGGUAR' next to Sasha's name. Marcus blinked as he realized something about the harems. All of Elissa's were human looking while his where much more animalistic in appearance.
Sonja looked around. The crowd was starting to calm down after it was made clear that Sasha wasn't a rampaging monster. She took out her staff when the ref gave the signal to get ready. “Listen girls. Keep Haleigh up as long as possible. She's about the only one able to handle all of them safely.”
Haleigh flexed her wings, flapping just enough to get her air born. “I'll support you from the air.”
“Yeah, just make sure you don't blow us away either.” Jira bounced back and forth from one leg to the other. She still remembered the embarrassing defeat she'd gotten at the hands of the Armsmistress, and it was time for payback.
“We hunt as a pack, we win as a pack.” Anahi didn't bother waiting for Marcus's order to transform. Her ears could pick out a few surprised gasps in the crowd as her body changed, her large wolfish body crouched on all fours. Anahi threw her head back, letting out a long and proud howl that promptly shut everyone up in the arena for a moment.
Sasha rushed forward when she heard the starting signal. She didn't have to look back, she could hear her harem sisters running behind her. Sasha was knocked backwards, the Armsmistress using Mach Punch to bash her with her shield.
Jira leaped over Sasha. The Jugguar was already getting knocked around and the match had just started. As she came down, Jira brought a flaming left foot down in an axe kick that could shatter boulders down on the shield of the Armsmistress.
Anahi snarled as Sasha flew past her. The one carrying the morning-star and shield was already fighting Jira, and the rest of her harem sisters were quickly coming up behind her. She ignored the one that leaped at Jira, lashing out with a barrage of Gatling Kicks. Anahi went for the girl resembling Haleigh, the leather winged one that smelled of rock and stone.
Sonja threw her staff as hard as she could. The spinning projectile was kicked away by the Herolee, providing the split second that Jira needed to recover and get away from the duo. Sonja summoned her staff back to her hands just in time to block a double Slash attack by the Herowu. Sonja was jerked forward as the dual wielding girl pulled back, realizing a bit to late that she was wielding twin hook swords. She quickly shrunk the staff down in size, causing the hooked swords to slide off the end.
Haleigh used Gust to blow back the advancing Acrobabe, not that the wind did any good. The Tumbling Pokégirl easily righted herself with Air Recovery and took off on a different path to her. Haleigh kept up, swooping into various battles to hit them with a Wing Attack before climbing back out.
Sasha tucked and rolled after being bashed with the shield. On all fours, mimicking Anahi, she ran around the back side of the opposing harem. She used Pounce, landing neatly on the back of the Herolee trading kicks with Jira. Her claws raked her backside, tearing off strips of flesh. She bit down hard on her shoulder, sending a large jolt of electricity through the girl's body. She let go when she felt several sharp twinges of pain in her right side. Glancing at her body she could see feathers embedded in her body, the white tendrils becoming stained with blood.
Anhai jerked her head back just as a glowing claw threatened to take her muzzle off. Her head snapped forward, jaws snapping close around the exposed wing of the girl. Anahi shook her head, flinging the Gar-Gal back and forth in an attempt to rip the wing out. Anahi let go, roaring in pain, as the girl left a Dark Blade lodge in her breast. The blade didn't cut anything more than fur and fat, but it still hurt like hell.
Haleigh banked right hard when a streak of electricity was aimed at her. As she righted herself she could see the girl that Jira had been fighting with first rise into the air with a pair of wings that weren't previously there. 'Fuckin' hell,' Haleigh kept low to the ground, weaving in and out of the battlefield. “Sasha!” Haleigh called the Jugguar's name as she went by.
Sasha broke from assisting Sonja with the Herowu in order to spin around. An electric charged Backhand caught the wing of girl chasing after Haleigh. Sasha leaped onto her back as she fell, pushing her face into the concrete as she skidded across the floor. Sasha brought her right hand up, a crackling ball of electricity floating just above her palm. Rolling Spark: II was much to slow to use in actual combat, unless you were up close and gave the girl no chance evade it. Sasha slammed the attack into the middle of the Armsmistress's back.
Haleigh hovered above the battle. A well aimed Gust was able to knock the Herolee back against the wall as she tried to use a Jump Kick on her. Haleigh swooped down as the Herolee was trying to get back up. Digging her claws into the girl's arm Haleigh took her up. She kept the Herolee disoriented, using Speed Storm to increase the speed of her flight. Haleigh dive-bombed the ground, dragging the Herolee across the floor as she leveled out.
Jira jumped over the thrashing tail of the Gar-Gal as Anahi went down, a Dark Sky nearly breaking the Wolf Queen's back. Jira struck out with her left leg, only to miss and end up in a Bear Hug. She could feel her conscious fading as the Gar-Gal squeezed. Unfortunately she was being held in such a way that prevented her from using her greater strength to break away. Jira took as much air into her lungs as she could. Her body heated up to the point of combustion, surprising the Gar-Gal enough for her to break away.
Marcus could only describe the battlefield as a cluster-fuck of activity. Haleigh was doing well with her hit and run tactics, helping out who ever seemed to need it the most at the time. He was pleased to see that the Armsmistress was the first one down, but his mood sank quickly once Anahi followed after. He watched as Haleigh tossed the Herolee into a Dark Sky attack meant for Jira. The Herolee didn't even have time to scream before she was bludgeoned by the falling rocks. With the Herolee now out of commission, his harem had the advantage. Sonja, Haleigh, Jira, and Sasha were still going toe to toe with Elissa's Gar-Gal, Herowu, and Acrobabe.
Sonja used her own version of Swordwave to counter the 'X' shaped one of the Herowu. With her's being fortified with a bit of magical power, it was just enough to neutralize the wave of energy. Sonja spun her staff, putting all of her body weight behind the strike. Out of nowhere a Takedown by the Acrobabe caused her to loose her footing, dropping her on her side. With her staff forgotten, all of the years spent as a 'Kapoeraa came back with a vengeance. With her foot that was still momentarily rooted to the ground Sonja lept sideways, keeping the momentum of her body going. Her hands were the first to hit the ground. She twisted on a single hand, bringing the other up to break the grip of the Acrobabe. Before the Acrobabe had a chance to recover Sonja landed on both feet. She jumped up, a standing Dropkick launched a strong Chi Blast that struck the Herowu in the legs. As she fell Sonja attempted to elbow-dropped the down Acrobabe. Her elbow left a small bit of shattered rubble as she missed, the Acrobabe rolling out of the way before the attack connected.
Sasha ran as fast as she could while boosted with Agility. A Takedown for a Takedown. Holding onto the Acrobabe was easy, it was grabbing hold of her that was the hard part. Sasha grabbed a fist full of the agile little bitch's hair. She used her hold to slam the human looking girl down, her teeth going for her shoulder. Blood filled her mouth as Sasha used Bite, nearly tearing off a large slab of flesh in the process. Every bit of flesh and body that Sasha could maul with fang and claw was. She was going for another bite when the girl beneath her was suddenly gone in a flash of red. “Buy me some time girls.”
Jira was buying Sasha as much time as she could. As she tried to kick the Herowu's head with a snap kick, her other leg was knocked out from underneath her by the Gar-Gal's tail. Jira fell, but not before having her kicking leg entrapped by the twin hook swords. There was a sudden pain as the Herowu began trying to cut of her leg with the swords. Even using Ignite didn't help her break free.
Marcus quickly reached for Jira's ball. She and Sonja were taking more than their fair share of a beating, and Jira was about to loose her leg. He recalled the tortured Blazicunt, saving her from further harm in the match.
Haleigh landed as far back as she could. Sonja was doing her best to help buy Sasha time for whatever she was doing, but it wasn't enough. “SONJA!” Haleigh gave her Alpha only milliseconds worth of warning before unleashing a large Whirlwind.
Sonja was quick to get out of the area, but so was the Acrobabe. The Gar-Gal was the only one to get caught up in the attack. Sonja ignored the quickly spinning girl to go after the Acrobabe. Using her staff as a pole vault Sonja was able to land directly between the Acrobabe and Sasha. “Where do you think you're going?”
“To lick me a kitty.”
Sonja raised her eyebrows several times lewdly at the comment. “Then I got one you can lick right here,” Sonja spun the rod in an upper figure 8, catching the Acrobabe under the chin. “Sasha, whatever you're gonna do, do it now.”
'Yeah, like I want to make the blast big enough to get killed,' Sasha thought. She had to carefully regulate the power level of the attack, otherwise everyone in the arena could be hurt, and she'd be dead for attacking humans. Sasha brought both hands together, a bright sphere of light shinning between her hands. “Throw on a fresh pair of panties and grit your teeth.”
Marcus shielded his eyes as Sasha dropped a Luminaire attack. The dome of light engulfed everything within twenty feet of the Jugguar. When he was finally able to see again Marcus was shocked to see just Sasha standing. “Fuckin' hell.”
Sasha was panting hard. The Luminaire technique was good for dealing damage to just about everything around her, but the only problem was that the attack also effected her harem sisters. She checked on her remaining sisters. Haleigh looked to be okay, but Sonja was out for the count. She turned to the Gar-Gal as she started to get to her feet. Sasha was quick to mount the girl, fist drawn to start pummeling her into submission, when she was stopped by the referee.
“The last girl standing is the Jugguar Sasha! The Challenger Marcus has won the match!”
Marcus quickly recalled his remaining harem. There weren't many pleasantries other that the obligatory hand shake and the awarding of the badge. Marcus's main concern was getting to the 'Center as fast as possible. He was on his way out of the building when he was stopped by another tamer.
“Dude, you seriously kicked Elissa's ass.”
“That's great, but I need to get my harem healed. Like, now.” Marcus tried to push his way past the man, but it wasn't working. No matter which way he moved, the tamer moved to intercept.
“Then why not use the healing machines here?”
Marcus blinked. “What?”
“Yeah, this place is like a serious Dojo and training gym as well.” Marcus followed the guy , making a silent promise that the guy was going to be severely hurt if it wasn't the truth. “There's accidents here all the time, so they got a few healing machines set up just in case.”
Marcus had to admit that the guy was right. In the free arena section there was a place where you could heal your harem, although it did have a price. Marcus paid the fee, which was several hundred credits per girl. While he was waiting he stayed around to watch some of the matches between tamers. There were several good ones, and ones that were clearly one sided. While he watched he was forced to indulge the other tamer in idle chatter. Marcus didn't tell the guy anything that he didn't want, such as his plans afterwords. When his harem had been healed Marcus collected them, taking them all out to the finest restaurant he could find that allowed harems to eat.
“You know,” Sasha leaned back against the headboard of the bed in their room in the 'Center, “that was one hell of a victory party you threw.” Sasha gingerly ran a clawed hand through Marcus's hair.
Marcus grinned, his head resting in Sasha's lap as she stroked his hair. “That was one hell of a victory you girls managed to pull off. I can't say I liked that last attack of yours, but it sure did the trick.”
Sasha smiled lightly. “I know it was wrong to use it, but I just wanted to pull off a win for you.”
Marcus nodded. “And you did. Sonja and Haleigh don't seem to mad about it, so I wouldn't sweat it.” Marcus was starting to drift asleep. The victory celebration had included one hell of a strip show, along with a whole lot of pole dancing and tamings. For some reason the girls had fun playing a few rounds of poker. Marcus had spent the entire time during the game tied naked to a chair. The winner of the hand got to do whatever they wanted with him for five minutes. Not that they did anything bad, and Marcus had to admit that he rather enhoyed the winners.
Sonja looked around at the harem. They were giving her a look of disbelief, although there were several that started to look at her with approval, and one particular girl with disappointment.
“Do you want to run that buy us again?” Shanti must have still been deafened after one of her potions blew up.
“You heard me right. I'm going to talk to Marcus about giving someone else the position of Alpha,” Sonja leaned back. While she enjoyed all of the perks that came along with being the head honcho when Marcus wasn't around, it was just to much work for her to care about.
“Who did you have in mind?” There was just the hint of resentment in Shanti's voice. She'd been working on making things a living hell in the harem, and now all her plans to to cause chaos and put the blame on Sonja was about to go down the drain due to an impulsive decision.
“It's. A. Se-cret.” Sonja waved her finger back and forth. Alll she had to do now was wait until Marcus got back from doing whatever it was that he was doing. After the celebration last night most of the harem had drunk and tamed themselves stupid, herself included.
Marcus didn't know why he was sitting around here at this time of the day. There were only pokégirls, mostly threshold cases without owners, around the Dojo. Marcus needed a bit of time to think, especially on how he was going to break the news to the harem.
“You've been sitting there for quite some time.”
Marcus snapped out of his thought and was brought back to the real world when one of the Dojo instructors came over. “Wha-? Oh, sorry. Just thinking.”
“Thinking about what?”
“How to tell six incredibly beautiful and super-powered women that I'm thinking about increasing their numbers.” Marcus shrugged. There wasn't any reason he needed to be telling the man any of this. Especially if he was just going to end up getting ridiculed over it.
“What do you think of some of the girls here?”
Marcus was honestly surprised at the change of topic. “They ain't bad. I'm not tryin' to be rude here or anything, but trying to rely solely on one style is a bit stupid. Especially when it's just a four fist style, not counting weapons.” Marcus figured it was just a matter of time before he was kicked out of the Dojo for that. If he wasn't being kicked out, then there was a VERY good chance he just issued a Dojo Challenge. What he didn't expect was to hear the older man break out in laughter.
“You know, you may be right. This is really just exercise to stay in shape. Why bother with physical attacks when half of the earth's pokégirl population is able to either avoid the attack all together, or shrug it off like a fly fart.”
Marcus shook his head. “I'm not sayin' it's useless.” Marcus stood up and left. When he entered the room he'd left earlier that morning he was glad to see that everyone was up and moving about. “We need to talk.” Marcus could tell he was the source of the sudden tension in the air. “I've been thinking about expanding the harem.” There was a mixed reaction in the room. Anahi seemed to be indifferent, and Shanti looked like she was about ready to explode. “Well?”
“It's something we all pretty much knew was coming. We just weren't sure when.” Sonja was relieved. She knew that it was only a matter of time, just like she knew it was only a matter of time before he got more when it was just her, Mika, and Marcus. “There's something I wanna talk to you about to.”
“Oh?” Marcus wasn't to sure what it was, but it had to be something important. Sonja wasn't the kind to actually warn someone when she was about to speak her mind. “What's that?”
“I think you ought to pick a new Alpha.” Sonja sort of shrugged as she said it, almost as if she was expecting backlash.
Marcus blinked. “You don't wanna be the Alpha anymore? What's up with that?”
“I just don't think I'm doin' that much. Sure, I've kept most of the creeps away from Rose, but that's about it. Hell, I'm a bit to selfish for the job if you ask me.” Sonja had been trying to monopolize Marcus's time, and yet she was unsuccessful in her attempts.
“You have anyone in mind?” Marcus was curious as to who she had picked out.
Sonja glanced around the room. She could see the eyes of everyone staring at her. They were all interested in who she had picked out to succeed her as the Alpha. “Anahi.”
Anahi's ears perked up when Sonja said her name. “Sonja is the pack Alpha.”
“And I'm passing that responsibility on to you. That is, if it's okay with Marcus.” Sonja looked away from the Wolf Queen to see what their Master had to say.
“If that's what you want then it's fine by me,” Marcus pulled out hid 'dex and switched the Alpha position over to Anahi. “But you're gonna kick yourself in the ass when you hear about what I'm planning on doing.” Marcus shrugged. “I'm putting half of the combatants into storage so I can train the new ones. I was going to rotate the remaining two in and out of storage with everyone, but the Alpha was going to stay with me at all times to make sure everything runs smoothly.” Marcus, and everyone else other than Anahi and Sonja, laughed at the look on the Wukong's face.
“Oh well. It's your loss. We'll be in long term storage, so we won't even have time to miss you.” Sonja rolled her eyes. “So when did you plan on starting?”
Marcus hadn't thought about that. “How about as soon as we leave town, so either later today or sometime tomorrow.” Marcus didn't know why, but he almost felt like he was betraying his harem by doing this. “So, any thoughts as to what you'd like in the harem?”
There wasn't really any answer, so Anahi spoke up. “No. Just no Hyperdolls,” Anahi grinned to herself when the members of the harem that remembered Breanna started laughing.
“Deal.” Marcus walked around the room. There wasn't really anything to do today, other than spend the entire day training at the Dojo. “How about we leave now?” Marcus was glad that everyone felt as restless as he did. “We're gonna have to decide on who's the first ones to stay out.” That statement caused a pause between his harem. “Anahi, Danika, and Rose. You three are excused.” Marcus ignored the sigh of relief coming from Danika. “The rest of you, I dunno, draw straws or something.” Marcus started packing what they had while the girls drew a card from a playing deck. The two highest cards were the ones that were first in line for the rotation. Jira and Shanti were the first ones to try out the new system. “I think I'm gonna switch one of you out every other day.”
Marcus had help gathering everything up and put away. He handed Jira the extra poképack and soon they were heading out of town. Marcus was thinking about how they were going to go to Cameltoe. It was true that he could just ride Danika where ever he wanted to go, but that wouldn't do any good for filling the empty slots in his harem back up. Marcus had taken the 'balls containing Sonja, Sasha, and Haleigh and placed them in the extra poképack. There wasn't any way he was going to store them in the storage unit at the 'Center. There might be an emergency and he'd need to use them to save his own skin.
“So which way are we taking?”
Marcus was snapped out of his current thought when Shanti asked him something. “Wha?”
“I asked if we were going through the caves or if we were going through the forest.” Shanti had been through both, and neither one took that long if you stuck to the paths. The Tamer's Cave was just a bit more deadly since you had to not only watch out for feral girls digging through the walls, ceilings, and floor, but the occasional cave in as well. The Salaam Forest was just denser than the trees that made up the majority of the Salaam Region of Hazzard. She herself used to live in the caves for a few decades until she was caught.
“Neither. They're to short to catch any real ferals, and I don't want to constantly tell people to get lost when they challenge me to a battle.” Marcus had his own plans. He was going to be taking the path almost no one took. He'd follow the southern edge of the mountains west to the ocean. Form there all he'd have to do is follow the shore north past the mountains and go from there. “We're heading for the ocean southwest from here.”
Shanti nodded. There wasn't going to be anyone out that far. The forest thickened the further it got to the western ocean, and other than pleasure cruises, there were only ferals out that way. “Sounds fun.”
Marcus nodded. They took the western exit of the city, striking off into the wilderness. This close to the city all they encountered were the more common girls. Titmice were abundant here, along with the Catgirls and other predators that preyed on them. The hours rolled on. When it was noon, he and his five girls stopped for lunch. They were enjoying a rather tasty casserole when the sounds of of someone battling reached them. “Get ready for war.” His released girls nodded. He put the fire out, following the sounds of battle. “No way.”
Marcus had to take a double take to see if what he was seeing was really true. His eyes weren't lying. Two Annt Queens were fighting over the territory. Their armies, one black and another a deep maroon, where tearing each other apart with no regards for their own safety. “Shanti, I want you to lay down some serious area spells. Jira, try and burn them to a crip. Rose, stay high and try pinning them with your flying attacks, but I want Danika to cover you. Anahi, you hang back here and make sure I don't die, please? I want both of those armies taken down ladies.” Marcus passed out the orders.
Shanti grinned she held her staff vertically in both hands, raising it above her head. An icy blue ring wrapped around the area the Annts were using to wage their war. The area surrounding the Annts began to darken as clouds formed from out of no where. “Ice Shrapnel,” Shanit's eyes glowed with power as she unleashed the spell. Within the icy blue ring large shards of ice began raining down from from the clouds, those that hit the Annts impaled them. Those that struck the ground exploded, firing smaller shards of icy shrapnel that bounced around the enclosed area.
Jira took to the trees, leaping from trunk to trunk. When she was over an area other than the spell that Shanti was casting, she took a deep breath. As she exhaled a large torrent of flames erupted from her mouth. The Annts wailed in agony as they were roasted alive. The fire didn't die out once it hit the ground. The Napalm attack was growing large enough to be considered a Flame Floor. She watched as the Annts tried escaping either by foot or by using Dig. She jumped down from the tree when she felt the tree starting to fall, several maroon colored Annts burrowing up from the roots of the tree. Jira wasn't strong enough to stop the tree from falling, but she was strong enough to change the direction. A Flamethrower ignited the tree so that any Annts trapped beneath it were burned to death if they weren't crushed.
Rose wasn't having to much trouble maneuvering through the trees. Most of the area was destroyed by the Annt's war. She rained down Feather Shuriken after Feather Suriken. The attack wasn't doing much damage, but it quickly added up. Several Annts screamed in pain as the sharpened quills penetrated their eyes, blinding them. Rose hovered, still in her more human form, above a group of Annts. Holding both hands before her she began blasting away with Mana Bolts.
Danika twisted and twirled through the battlefield. Every now and then an Annt would pay attention to her, trying to Bite or Chomp her only to fall through her body. It'd taken forever, but she'd finally managed to be able to use the Phase ability. Danika's clawed hand went straight through the exoskeleton of an Annt. Her hand grasped the Annt's spine. With a twist of her wrist Danika snapped the girl's spine. The Annt dropped like a Geogal. “By the Gods. There's no end to these damn things.”
Marcus watched carefully. He'd been keeping an eye out for the commanders of the Annts, the Annt Queens. He thought he spotted one of them, only to loose sight of her after a tree fell burning to the ground. “Rose! Danika! LOOK FOR THE QUEENS!” Marcus yelled as loud as he could over the sounds of battle. “Shanti, make sure the fires don't burn down the entire forest.”
Shanti nodded. She pointed the staff at the raging inferno that Jira had started. Slowly the flames began to gather, swirling around until it was a fiery vortex of death. She controlled the fiery tornado like a puppet, moving it this way and that. There were even more screams of pain as the Annts were sucked into the tornado before they were burned to death.
Anahi kept watch, even keeping all fours on the ground. She had to make sure that none of the Annts used Dig to get behind them. A scratching sound was coming from below them. Grabbing Marcus by the back of his shirt in a large hand Anahi pulled him away, “Shanti, below you!”
Shanti turned around as three black Annts popped up from the ground where Marcus was previously standing. Her free hand shot a beam of condensed magical energy that tore through on of the girls' back. A large hole was left, the close range Force Bolt sending the girl to the here after. Shanti jabbed the staff at the other two Annts. A cone of icy wind blew from the tip, freezing the Annts in place. “Bye bye.” Shanti held her free hand open. An orb of light shot out and struck each frozen figure, shattering them into rubble. She turned her attention back to the main battlefield, finding her tornado of fiery destruction gone. She'd taken her concentration away from it completely when there was the risk of Marcus being in danger.
Jira followed behind the tornado, roasting alive any Annts that possibly escaped it's destruction. When it dissipated Jira shoved both hands to the ground, sending up a protective wall of Flame Towers. Annts were starting to come up from underneath her protective wall, but each time they showed their head a Flam Kick nearly took it off.
Rose landed on all fours. She quickly changed forms, her right forelimb lashing out to nearly slash off an Annt's forearm. Another swipe across the jaw left the Annt disfigured and dying. Rose ran through the remainder of the armies, her claws ripping and shredding the bodies of the Annts apart.
Shanti calmly floated through. She summoned and dropped hundreds of gallons of burning liquid down the holes. When it looked like there was going to be an Annt emerging to escape from the burning liquids, or dig herself out, a Force Bolt was there to meet them as they emerged.
Marcus carefully walked around as Anahi finished tearing an Annt in two. “Good work ladies.” There was hardly anything left of either army. No matter where he looked the ground was littered with blood and body parts. “Shame we couldn't find the Queens.” Marcus muttered to no one in particular.
Anahi helped with clean up. There wasn't anyway she was able to track down the remaining Annts by smell, there was to much carnage surrounding them. She thought about trying to track them back to their nests, but that wouldn't work either. She finished off one of the few burned survivors. “We need to leave.”
Marcus knew that Anahi was right. The smell of barbecued Annts was sure to bring in any hungry ferals looking for quick and easy meal. Marcus retraced this steps, heading back towards where they where having their lunch. “What in the hell?” Marcus stopped behind a tree when he saw a figure hunched naked over their campsite. “Shanti!” Marcus whispered harshly. “Restrain her.”
“Fine, fine.” Shanti silently floated over until she was only a few dozen yards away. She stretched out her hand, a faint purple light encasing not only her hand, but the body of the feral as she tried to escape. The feral held her pose, frozen in place by her spell. “Okay, she's held.”
Marcus walked over and examined the feral. She was covered in dirt and mud, and her hair was practically matted to the sides of her face. “She's an Earth Maiden,” Marcus called out after examining the 'dex entry. “She'd be pretty useful, especially as a Dao.” Marcus had a great idea. “Jira. You battle her, force her to evolve. Shanti, you make sure she can't escape.” Marcus backed up to allow Jira and Shanti room.
Jira teased the now mobile Earth Maiden. She didn't have any trouble dodging the telegraphed attacks, or the ground. Shanti froze the girl in place if it looked like she was about ready to bolt. Jira figured that she must have been doing this song and dance routine for over ten minutes when the Earth Maiden finally began glowing. Jira squared up while the Earth Maiden finished evolving. When the glow died she gave the Earth Maiden a hard tap against the back of the girl's skull. There was a sickening thud as the girl went down. Jira stood over her while she was 'balled. “Okay, that was a bit to easy.”
“I'm just naturally that good.” Shanti flipped her hair with her free hand.
“Okay, okay. You both did a good job with her, and you all did an excellent job with those Annts.” Marcus kicked the casserole over. After that Earth Maiden got a hold of it, there was nothing left. He opted for picking fruit as he went along instead of trying to cook another meal. A loud cry overhead startled him, when he looked up he could see several Flying types heading towards the battlefield they just left. “Time to go.”
Anahi nodded. There wasn't much to put up from lunch, and her and Marcus were able to leave fairly quickly. The rest of her pack was placed back inside their 'balls, leaving just her to walk around with Marcus. The trees were already getting noticeably thicker the further they went, and soon they were so close together that Anahi was forced to revert back to her human form just to be able to keep the pace. They didn't encounter anything more threatening that the occasional Puppy until they started getting deeper into the trees.
“So, what did we get today?” Jira asked as she stroked the fire. The camp was set and supper was fresh rabbit stew. She'd been inside of her 'ball ever since the battle with the Earth Maiden, which meant that between then and now she was pretty clueless as to what had transpired during the day.
“Nothing much. We caught a few more ferals, but nothing worth mentioning.” Marcus shrugged. They managed to capture four Puppies, two Ladyiens, and a Spidergirl. Anahi had the toughest time with the Spidergirl, but she'd managed to pull out the win in the end. “Let's turn in.” Marcus had laid out the tents and sleeping bags already with help. As he walked towards the tent he pulled Shanti along with him. “You all can join in if you want.”
Marcus wasn't going to waste to much time with foreplay tonight. He pushed Shanti down on the sleeping bags, the Archmage complying with a giggle. Marcus reached down and unfastened the belt keeping her jeans on, pulling her panties down with the denim. “Look at you, already so wet.” Marcus teased Shanti, who did nothing than free herself of her T-shirt. Marcus's mouth sought out her breasts, tongue rolling around the sensitive nubs of flesh hardening under his touch. Shanti almost melted beneath his fingers that were slowly teasing her moist slit.
Danika didn't have the hearing of Anahi, but even she had to cover her ears when she heard Shanti screaming in the tent. “I seriously hate screamers.” Danika shook her head to clear her ears of the ringing. “Can we go and shut her up?” Danika slithered over to the tent. With her long tail she wrapped the copulating couple in her coils, bringing them out into the night. “Don't leave us out.”
“Is that guy ever going to go to sleep?”
“Will you shut the hell up? That Wolf Queen has better hearing than you might think.”
The duo watched over the tamer as he continued taming his harem. Sometime during the orgy, the Sphinx had managed to get a clear head to put up a barrier with crystals. It didn't matter. By the looks of things as long as a crystal had a direct path from one to another, the barrier was solid. The two of them had been hunting their prey for more than a day, ever since he won the gym badge in Sweetjugs. The Sphinx was their main target, everything was just a bonus if they were able to get away with it.
“Still, I've gotta envy those girls.”
A pair of dull yellow eyes glared at the Cheshire. “If you don't shut up,” the Daimon let the threat hang in the air.
The Cheshire quickly shut up. She'd seen what her Alpha had done to several other 'girls that had disobeyed an order given to them. And she was not about to be added to that growing pile of casualties. Time seemed to come to a complete stop as she watched the orgy. Finally it seemed like everyone was spent, the harem and Master falling into slumber. She waited for the order to start harvesting. During the wait the Daimon slipped off, probably to secure the remaining traps. When she returned she glanced at the Tamer and his harem before turning towards her with a nod. With a grin that lingered for a second even after her body had disappeared from view, the Cheshire quietly made her way down through the trees and to the campsite.
The Daimon teleported next to one of the crystals. She gently poked the air with a clawed hand, feeling the force-field under her nail. 'Idiots,' the Daimon knelt down, digging away at the ground beneath a crystal. With enough of the ground gone beneath the crystal the empowered gym fell away, breaking the barrier. She slowly crept over to where the Tamer was laying embraced by his large Wolf Queen. There wasn't anyway to move one without waking the other. Out of the corner of her eye she was able to see a belt levitating in mid air. Slowly one of the 'balls detached itself and enlarged. The capture beam shot out, recalling the Archmage. The Sphinx was the next to return to her pokéball. 'This would be a lot easier if we could just kill him,' the Daimon didn't know why they were ordered to leave the Tamer alive, but they were. She had thought about killing the Tamer and blaming it on the Cheshire, but the bitch was immune to any cycle higher than 3, and she wasn't.
The Cheshire worked with skilled practice. She took a glance around. There were still three girls left, the Nidogg, Blazicunt, and Wolf Queen. The Sphinx and the Archmage were already safely tucked away inside of their pokéballs. With only three choices left she plucked the second pokéball from the belt. She punched the recall button, and instantly knew she fucked up. The capture beam shot past the remaining Nidogg and Blazicunt to recall the Wolf Queen.
Marcus was dreaming of the taming that had just happened when he suddenly felt himself falling, and his head hitting a rather large rock. Combined with the sudden chill of the night air that was enough to wake him up. Marcus shot up into a sitting position. He took a look around. A startled pokégirl he'd never seen before was standing over him, her mouth hung open in surprise, while his Tamer's Belt floated in midair, along with a pokéball. “Wha-?” It took him a moment before he realized what was going on. “WAKE U-” Marcus's call of alarm was cut of as the 'girl standing over him kicked him in the chest. Marcus rolled backwards due to the force of the kick. He just hoped that his alarm was heard.
“Go! NOW!”
The Cheshire turned and fled, accidentally dropping the ball belonging to the Wolf Queen. She heard the Daimon chasing after her, meaning that in the surprise and confusion she had become visible again. 'Don't worry about it, just get to where we're supposed to meet,' the Cheshire began a series of short range telportations.
Jira shot up from a dead sleep. There was to much yelling going on to allow her any decent sleep. “Can you guys stop taming?” Jira rubbed her eyes, “It's gettin' so a 'girl can't even get any sleep ar-” the scene around her was starting to come into focus. Danika was next to her, waking up due to all the yelling as well. Jira saw Marcus struggling to get to his feet, as well as the sight of a furry, tailed, ass running away.
“SHE HAS EVERYONE ELSE! STOP HER!”
Jira got up and ran as fast as she could. As she ran after the girl she felt something crunch beneath her foot, as well as a slight pain as something dug into her heel. There wasn't any time to stop and dig it out, her sisters were being kidnaped.
Danika had barely managed to wake up when she heard Marcus shouting at them. She followed behind Jira, maneuvering around the released Wolf Queen. Jira must have stepped on Anahi's 'ball when she took off. “You're moving to slow, hop on.” Danika barely dipped as the Blazicunt jumped up enough for her to slide underneath. When she felt Jira's weight on her back she took off, twisting and winding her way through the trees without touching the ground.
Marcus eyed Anahi as she was released from her 'ball. “Anahi, her!” The Wolf Queen heard his orders, to his relief, but the demonic looking girl wan't staying around. Marcus grabbed hold of Anahi when she ran past him, after the Daimon teleported to the opposite side of the camp. He kept himself low against her back as they gave chase.
The Cheshire couldn't believe their luck. Sure they got the girl they were after, but the others in the harem looked like they'd also bring in a pretty credit. The Cheshire teleported backwards into the trees. She needed to see who, and what, was chasing her. She grinned when she saw the Nidogg with the Blazicunt riding on top of her. 'Bingo,' with that grin she teleported back in front of the two. She carefully made herself visible to the two, never getting to far ahead to be lost, and never to be so slow as to get caught. Once they were closer to the trap the Cheshire slowed down slightly, allowing the Nidogg to tackle her from behind. She clutched the stolen pokéballs tightly as they tumbled forward into a slight clearing. “Okay, okay, you caught me.” The Cheshire smiled as she used her telekinesis to activate the magical trap. The area surrounding them flashed briefly before the three of them were teleported away.
The Daimon couldn't believe how fast the Wolf Queen was, especially when there was a human riding on her back. 'We really missed out on this one,' she thought as she ran through a tree. She tried hiding in several of them, but a well aimed and powerful Slash managed to cut down the trees she was hiding in, leaving her having to flee once more. The Daimon's arm sent a tingling sensation through her body as a green rune flared up. “Sorry, but I can't play with you any more.” She bowed as a claw swiped through her head. Being evolved from a Ghost-type was useful, it meant that she could allow basic physical attacks like this to completely pass right through her. With slight smirk she teleported away, leaving the Tamer and Wolf Queen looking around for someone that was no longer there.
Marcus yelled at the top of his lungs when he realized that the pokégirl was no longer around. “Back to the camp, now!” Marcus ordered. He held on while Anahi ran, this time urging her to go even faster. He'd left the Poképack containing the remaining harem back at the tent unguarded. If whatever it was that Jira and Danika was chasing managed to shake them, then all they had to do was double back and finish kidnapping his 'girls. The campsite was coming into view, and there was no sign of it having been ransacked. Marcus hopped off of Anahi's back and ran inside the tent. In the corner, prompting a sigh of relief, were both poképacks laying underneath discarded articles of clothing.
“Come on, we need to find the others.” Anahi stuck her large head through the tent flaps. She moved back enough to allow Marcus to exit and climb back up on her back. She ran as soon as she felt his fingers grasping at her fur. Her nose easily picked up the scent of Jira's blood. It started back where her pokéball was laying in pieces, so the trail wasn't caused by the thieves. Danika's scent soon joined the duo's. By the smell of the trail, it was some sort of Cat-type. She followed the trail as fast as she could without loosing Marcus. There was a large clearing up ahead. When they reached it Anahi stopped suddenly, almost throwing Marcus off of her back.
“What's wrong?” Marcus looked around there was a clearing nearly twenty foot in diameter, and it was in a perfect circle. Parts of the trees that were inside of the circle were missing, as well as any and all grass. The ground was practically perfectly smooth, and showed nothing but dirt. There were a few wisps of steam rising up from the edges, which meant that whatever happened was recent.
“The trail ends here.” Anahi circled the perimeter trying to pick up on the scents. But no matter where she searched, the only smell she could find was that of freshly over turned dirt. She carefully stuck her claws through the ground. There wasn't any evidence of loose soil, meaning that whatever happened here probably wasn't the work of Ground type.
Marcus screamed as loud as he could in fury. In pain. In despair. Anahi let out a howl that mingled with his screams in the night. Marcus fell backwards against a tree and cried. He'd lost half of his harem in a single night.
Anahi gently picked up her crying Master and carried him back to the camp. He was silent for the trip, having exhausted not only his tears but his voice as well. Reluctantly she used his thumb print to access the poképacks. One by one she withdrew the remaining members of her pack, giving them the bad news in turn. Their reactions were pretty much all the same. Sonja moved over to hold Marcus, while the rest of them mourned the loss of their sisters. Anahi kept guard while the others slept. The sun was beginning to come up after several hours of watching the still night, and a change in the wind brought with it a new scent.
Anahi stretched as she stood up. The scent was definitely Canine, but it wasn't a feral. The scent of humans was heavy on the girl, as well as the scent of fabrics. Anahi didn't know if the girl meant any harm, but after last night's tragedy, she wasn't about to take any chances. She slowly snuggled into Marcus, waking him up in the process. “Pokégirl watching us. Canine, not feral.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and it was right in Marcus's ear.
Marcus tried his beast not to instantly jump at the message. Somehow he was able to keep a hold of himself, sleepily muttering an 'Mmhmm.'
Anahi slowly cut a hole in a the floor of the tent. She picked up a rock easily concealed in her palm. She woke everyone up in the harem, warning them not to make a scene. She stretched her arm out again, before suddenly hurling the rock at the intruder. There was a loud cursing as the rock struck the girl, where she wasn't sure. Anahi quickly followed up the attack. She tried to catch the stunned girl with a Magic Fist, but the canine escaped upwards.
Sasha roared as she used Kaiser Krash. The powerful bolt of lightning struck the girl, causing the blue furred figure to fall to the ground stunned. She staggered about as everyone else rushed forward.
Marcus grabbed the sword he'd placed under his pillow and sleeping bag last night. He threw away the sheath as he drew the blade. Anahi and Haleigh were already pinning the girl down, Sonja keeping her weighted staff across the intruder's ribcage. Marcus flicked his wrist, sending the point of the blade to the throat of the girl. “Who in the fuck are you? And where is my fuckin' harem?”
Notes:
Active Harem:
1. Anahi – Wolf Queen (Alpha)
2. Haleigh – Dragoness
3. Sasha – Jugguar
4. Sonja – Wukong