Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or the internet fandom Pokégirl. Rightful property is CN and Metroanime.
A/N: Yes, I know, I did another disappearing act on everyone. I just can't seem to get anything in my life to stay calm. Something keeps popping up and keeping my hands tied up. I do really apologize to everyone who has been waiting for updates on all my work. I'm really trying my hardest to get them done for you all. I know some have really gotten impatient, but I can't do anything about that. I have a life and I have responsibilities that come first. Fanfiction is my hobby, not a life, and it doesn't pay the bills, so until it does, real life beckons. But enough with the melancholy let's get back to the adventure, shall we?
xXx
Teen Titans: A Pokégirl Adventure
Chapter 2
One moment Robin was sitting in his bed, flipping through the channels, trying to find something that wasn't smut, the next he was thrown out of bed as a massive explosion rocked the room. He landed on his side, groaning painfully as he hadn't had time to brass himself. "Not this again!" he moaned, sitting up as fast as he could.
Getting back onto his feet he almost rushed to the door to go investigate what had happened, then he remembered Raven. She was completely defenseless and he was in a foreign place. Hell, he was in a completely different universe! He couldn't just run off and leave her alone. Yet at the same time he couldn't just stand idle, either. Another explosion rocked the room and he decided on a different course of action. If he wasn't going to be able to confront the danger and stop it, then he would get Raven away from it.
Running over to the bed, he started to scoop her up into his arms. "Come on, Raven. We're getting out of here!"
"Thank you, I wasn't sure if this was the girl I was sent to kill," a voice said from behind him.
Reacting on instinct, Robin spun around, drawing his Bo Staff and swiped at whoever was behind him. What greeted him was a girl with very pale skin and dressed in sleeveless black robes, just before he saw his Bo Staff pass right through her, completely unharmed. "What…?" Robin managed to mutter before the pale girl reached out faster than his eyes could catch and grabbed his throat and yanked him up off his feet.
"You're a quick one! If I was any other Pokégirl, that might have hit me…and maybe even hurt, too. Too bad you had to encounter one of my kind," she said and smiled evilly, revealing a set of fangs. She then used Aura of Fear on the human, wanting to see how long until he wet himself.
Robin felt a strange feeling wash over him, like someone just dropped grease on him and he felt himself starting to become extremely scared. He had no idea why he was so frightened, but he understood what would happen if he gave into it. Using the mental training he learned from Batman, he suppressed his growing fear and, as soon as he started, it vanished.
"What the? You're not afraid?" the Vampire hissed, angry her technique didn't work when she saw how calm he remained.
"Scarecrow's Nerve-Gas has more of a kick than whatever you just tried on me," Robin retorted, managing to smirk at her even as her grip painfully choked him.
"Humph, this would have been easier if you just gave into it," the vampire stated and narrowed her eyes. "But I can only blame that it is fucking daylight outside. So you're lucky my powers are hampered greatly because of that. Yeah, that's probably why." She shrugged and suddenly tightened her grip, making Robin gasp and clutch at her hand, trying to force her to let him go. "This will just have to do…"
Throwing her arm to the side, she sent Robin flying and crashing head first into the room's wall. Apparently, these people didn't believe in rock sheet, because the wall was harder than it looked when his face collided against it and he swore he heard a metal 'cling' before he lost consciousness, then slumped on the floor like a ragged doll. The Vampire Pokégirl smirked at her handiwork. Once she was finished with the grey-skinned bitch, she'd drain him dry, too…After all, she was given orders to kill the girl…and any witnesses.
"Better get this done with before that Jokette blows up this fucking place and me along with it," the Vampire murmured, then took a step toward Raven's bed, giving her a once over. "Hmm, girl's really hot…Let's see if she's my type…" Leaning over, she hissed as she exposed her fangs and grabbed the leotard material that protected the girl's neck and ripped it away. Then she started closing in the distance of her mouth to the neck and sank her fangs into delicious warm flesh.
The moment the blood touched her tongue, the Vampire's eyes rolled back in complete ecstasy. Just the small amount that pooled into mouth made her have a sudden orgasm. It was…so…good! The Vampire actually had to stop just to let her body calm down from the massive orgasm she had just experienced, finding herself laying halfway on the bed and panting hard. "S-shit! W-what kind of blood was that?"
She had never tasted blood like that before or have it affect her so strongly, and it was frecking day time! She shouldn't have experienced anything save an appeasement to her constant thirst for blood, but this girl's blood was ambrosia for a creature like her! Its essence surged through her body like nothing had ever before and it made her core just bursting with pure, hard pleasure. She was sure if she checked herself, she'd find her legs completely drenched from how hard she came. The blood was powerful and energizing somehow. She couldn't explain it but as she rolled what few droplets were still in her mouth, she could feel it tingle her tongue greatly.
It was then in that moment when her head returned to clarity…she couldn't kill this girl. Her blood was too precious! And deep down, the Vampire knew she'd never settle for any other kind of blood again. She had to have this blood all to herself. "Fuck that old bastard and his orders! I'm not going to kill someone's whose blood can have me cum with just one taste!"
Quickly thinking of a plan, the Vampire knew she was going against her master's orders, but she could not bring herself to kill this strange girl. She wanted to keep drinking that orgasmic blood as long as she was able to! She'd have to make a run for it. She couldn't go back to her master. Even being a Dark-type, that bastard had ways of pulling the truth out from her and she wasn't going to risk being caught. She also had to consider what Vale would do to her if they caught her. She had unleashed a Jokette in a frecking Pokécenter! Like hell they would forgive her for that, even if she was following her master's orders.
They'd string her up, naked, and let the sun work on her before they gave her a merciful death, assuming they didn't put her through a Cycle 5 Mind-Wipe. That would be worse than death, because she knew she'd still be addicted to the girl's blood and would never be satisfied with any other kind. So running was her only chance! "You're mine, girl..."
Working herself to stand on shaky legs, the Vampire got back up, and then picked up Raven from the bed. "Come on, my pet. We're gonna go find a nice quiet place…just for the two of us."
Just as she was going to phase through the floor like she did when she snuck up on the boy, she cried out in alarm when a series of kicks bombarded her side. Dropping the girl, the Vampire hissed in anger and looked to her side to see an OfficerJenny glaring down at her, one fist clenched while the other had handcuffs spinning on one finger.
"Hold it right there! You're under arrest!" Asa declared.
Asa had originally gone to check who was attacking the Pokécenter, but when she was halfway down the hall, she remembered she was supposed to guard and protect the Outworlders. Good thing she actually did was she was told, otherwise she wouldn't have been in time to have caught the Vampire trying to sneak off. This time for sure, she knew she had a criminal and she wasn't going to let her get away.
"Damn your breed!" the Vampire snarled and started to retaliate. She actually felt her abilities work fine for her as she used Dark Blade to create a sword of darkness in her hand and slashed at the OfficerJenny. Normally, this move would have drained her badly, with it being day time, but whatever was in that girl's blood gave her dark powers a huge boost.
Not expecting the Vampire to actually fight back so quickly, Asa almost had her throat slashed out. At the last second, she managed to use Evade and dodged the deadly attack. She tried to use Counter but the Vampire surprisingly dodged her speed with even greater speed and moved in to stab her. Forced to use Evade again, Asa moved around to attack from the side, but tripped on something and fell right on her ass. It probably was a good thing, too, because just as she fell, she saw the dark blade slice where her head had been, cutting off a few locks of her blue hair. After she landed, she looked to see what tripped her and saw that she had stumbled over Robin's body. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she cried out before she realized he was out cold.
"You're gonna be!" the Vampire promised with venom in her words as she dove at her prey, her eyes glaring in a near berserk-like manner.
Asa panicked and tried to look around desperately. She then noticed a staff-like weapon resting next to where her left hand was and quickly grabbed it. Rising it as fast as she could, Asa managed to block the Vampire's Dark Blade and parried it away from her long enough to scramble back onto her feet with a quick roll back. Using the staff as her new line of defense, Asa held it up at the ready.
"Humph, that stick won't last long against my attacks," the Vampire mocked.
"It'll be enough to bring you to justice!" Asa replied, hoping to the Thousand Gods that this staff would hold out for her.
The Vampire slashed at her again and Asa blocked it with the end, greatly relieved when the staff was able to stop the blade again, and then she stepped forward and pushed blade away and swung the other end of the staff at the Vampire's head, catching her just above the eye. Not expecting her blade to be repelled, she snarled angrily when the OfficerJenny got in that lucky hit and stumbled back some. Obviously, the blood she drank had given her powers some needed strength, but not enough to really be a threat. Maybe if it was nighttime, her attacks would be more powerful.
She'd have to get her prize and run for it. Growling at having to actually run from a simple OfficerJenny, the Vampire concentrated and used her Aura of Fear again. The sudden exposure to fear made Asa pause and shake, just as she was moving in to hit the Vampire with the staff. The Vampire then used Dark Mist and flooded the room in darkness. Thanks to her Dark Googles effect, she didn't have to worry about being blinded by the dark. She could see clearly her foe and watched as she stumbled around, afraid and confused.
The smart thing would have been to just go for the girl and phase right out of the building and make a break for it. Yet, the Vampire could not allow this police-bitch to get away without paying her back for hitting her in the head with that stupid stick! She was going to make the OfficerJenny suffer and suffer greatly. With her Dark Blade in hand, she rushed forward and impaled it right in the police Pokégirl's abdomen. Asa's face jerked in agony as she dropped the staff and her hands shakily reached down to grasp the object that had stabbed her.
"Should have minded your own business, bitch!" the Vampire sneered and twisted the blade.
"Argh!" Asa cried out as blood came out of her mouth and she lost strength in her knees.
The Vampire yanked the blade out of her defeated foe and brought it up to her mouth, licking at it. No sooner had she did, she spat it back out. "Fuck…it's like I thought. Normal blood just doesn't cut it anymore. I need that girl's."
"…Sorry, but this blood bank is closed. Azarath Metrion ZENTHOS!"
All the darkness in the room suddenly started swirling around the room as a white hue glow coated it. The Vampire was startled when it pooled her and constricted her, binding her arms to her side. "The hell?!" she yelled and looked behind her.
Raven was sitting up from the bed, pulling her cloak over the ruined part of her leotard. Her eyes and one hand were glowing as she did and focused her powers to keep the Vampire bound. Her eyes shifted to where Robin was lying on the ground and the dent in the wall…where a little blood spot was dripping. Looking down she saw the side of Robin's head bleeding and a coldness washed over Raven as she glared at the strange vampiric woman. Doing what the Vampire had done to Robin. Raven swung her arm to the side and slammed the Vampire into the wall…then pulled her arm back and did it again, and again, and again, and again.
She didn't stop until the Vampire's face was a bloody mess and sagged in the air, completely knocked out. Just for good measures, she threw her into the wall once more, and then encased her in an energy bubble that'll hold her until she could be properly dealt with. She hissed then as she felt a stab of pain in her neck, but soon forgot her own discomfort in favor of checking Asa, who was bleeding out all over the floor.
"Who are you?" Raven asked, kneeling down beside the OfficerJenny and putting her hands over the wound, using her powers to make a tourniquet-like pressure over the wound.
"…H-Hyper…p-potion," the officer muttered, her hand trying to reach for a pouch attached to her belt. "H-Hurry…"
Not sure what she was talking about, Raven went for the pouch and found a purplish-pink spray bottle. "Is this it?" Raven asked quickly.
Asa nodded hastily and pointed at her wound. "A…A-apply it f-for me…"
It took Raven a moment to figure out how the bottle worked, finding she could squeeze it to make it spray out its healing content. Being quick as she could, she removed the energy tourniquet she had created and started spraying the deep wound. Instant relief washed over Asa's face and Raven watched in amazement as the wound rapidly healed as she sprayed. As soon as she had her strength back, Asa took the Hyper Potion from Raven and removed the top of the Hyper Potion and guzzled the rest of the contents. When she had downed the last drop of the potion, healthy pink flesh was exposed through her uniform where the stab wound had once been.
Throwing the empty bottle to the side, Asa started to stand back up, and said, "Thanks…I almost was a goner there."
Raven stared at the now smooth flesh that once was a gaping wound. "What was in that potion?"
"Good old healing," Asa remarked. "My partner always makes sure I keep a Hyper Potion on me in case of emergencies. I'm glad I listened to him." She then realized she was talking to the girl that had broken the magical barrier of Vale. "…You recovered pretty fast."
"…Yeah," Raven murmured, averting her eyes. "Help me with Robin."
Complying, Asa went over to Robin but didn't touch him, save for checking his pulse. It was very faint but he still had a chance. "Wait here! I'll try to get a NurseJoy or at least find another potion to use!"
"No need," Raven said and placed her hands over Robin's head and closed her eyes. This part was really gonna suck. She channeled her powers and applied a healing spell she normally used on the team, but the backlash was always experiencing their pain due to her empathic ability. Her head exploded with agony, as expected, and she winced some, biting her lower lip, until her body naturally dulled the pain. When she was done, Robin was stirring awake and rubbing where his head was struck.
"Ugh, what hit me…?" Robin moaned.
"Your head into that wall, but your companion here healed you," Asa stated plainly, glad this girl knew a healing spell. She really had to be a powerful mage if she knew a variety of spells.
"Raven?" Robin said quickly and looked around and spotted her. Instantly looking happy. "You're okay!"
A faint smile rose up on her face, inwardly touched by his concern, even if he just had his head smashed into a hard wall. She helped him back up onto his feet and they stared at each other for a moment. Asa found herself suddenly feeling like an unwanted third party. The two quickly broke the moment and amazed her by how professional they suddenly looked.
"Let's deal with whatever's attacking this place," Robin stated, and then started for the door.
"Hold on! Whatever is going on out there will more than likely be highly dangerous! Citizens shouldn't…" Asa said, but only watched as the two costumed teenagers simply shared one more look, and then turned away from her and started running, leaving her alone in the room. "W-wait for me!"
As soon as they were in the hallway, they ducked when the entrance to the lobby blasted open by some kind of energy attack. From the ruined doorway, a creepy, feminine laughter echoed out from the lobby and both Titans froze.
"Is…that?" Raven said, slowly turning her head to Robin.
"…It couldn't be?" Robin uttered in total disbelief.
Asa hadn't heard what they said. As soon as her ears had picked up that laughter a mixture of fear and righteous need for justice swelled up inside her. "…It's a Jokette! By Sukebe's balls, it's a frecking Jokette!"
"Jokette? Wait, you mean…that's a Pokégirl? There's a frecking Pokégirl version of The Joker…here?!" Robin said, his mouth twisting into a snarl of rage.
"What the hell else laughs like that? Of course it's a…" Asa paused and looked at the teenager. "Wait a minute. Did you say Joker? You have male versions of those nightmarish lunatics?"
Robin whipped out a Birdarang and what looked like pellets from his Utility belt, already falling into the mindset of how to deal with that kind of foe. "Yeah, but there's only one Joker where we're from and that's too many!"
"Then you're lucky to only have to deal with one. At least you're taking this threat as serious as it needs to be," Asa remarked, smirking some at the masked teenager. Seeing how calm and collected he was…kinda made him look hot in her eyes.
"You can say I'm an expert with dealing with this kind of lunatic," Robin stated, then looked at Raven. "This isn't like fighting Slade…It's going to be extremely dangerous."
"…I-I know. I can feel her out there. Her mind…it's shattered completely. That thing out there is more of a monster than anything," Raven replied, having sent a mind probe to gauge the level of danger. What she sensed made her almost wish she'd rather fight Trigon again than face the Pokégirl out there.
"Be my luck that I left most of my gear back at the station! Damn, this is really going to be hard without a gasmask," Asa murmured.
"…Don't tell me this Jokette uses gases, too?" Robin moaned.
"Yeah, she's got an attack called Smilex Mist. It's deadly stuff and she can literally breathe it out like air. Don't inhale any of it…or fucking let her kiss you…that'll ensure you die," Asa warned the Outworlders. "Damn, I wish we had a Dark-type right now."
"…Dark-type?" Raven said with a questionable brow.
"Yeah, Dark-types are ideal against Jokettes as they're Magic/Psychic types. None of their psychic trauma can affect them and Jokettes love to torment their prey mentally as well as physically," Asa added.
An almost wicked smile rose up on Raven's lips. "...I'll handle the dark stuff."
"Anything else we need to know?" Robin asked, looking ready to charge ahead.
"Yeah, Fighting-types are a second good choice, and it so happens, my breed is pure Fighting-type," Asa replied, cracking her knuckles. "Ghost-types also good to have but since we don't have any of those with us, we'll just have to rely on fighting moves and whatever your scary friend there is gonna do."
"Dark and Fighting types, huh? That's fitting," Robin smirked those two things reminded him of his adopted father and mentor: Batman. "Titans!...Er, almost forgot." Robin paused and looked at Raven.
"Just say, go," Raven rolled her eyes.
"R-right, GO!" Robin shouted and dashed straight into the lobby.
Asa almost slapped herself in the face. What was he doing announcing their arrival, and what the hell was up with Titans? Was that a team name or something? Well, considering their both dressed up like comic book heroes that might be the case. Either way, Asa had a feeling she'd be ending up trying to keep the boy from getting himself killed. She was just passing the doorframe when she caught something flying right for her head. There wasn't any time to dodge it, but she didn't have to as suddenly something flew by and intercepted the flying projectile. When she paused to look, she saw that weird boomerang the boy had whipped out impaled in the wall, trapping a Joker Card that was leaking out a nauseous green mist.
Staring in amazement, Asa turned her attention back to the fray and saw the two teenagers fearlessly confronting the Jokette. She could not believe how they could face down one of the Pokégirl worlds' most dangerous evolutions like it was a normal thing. What kind of crazy world did they come from? If they knew the horrors that Jokettes were known to inflict on every unfortunate soul to cross their path, maybe they wouldn't be so fearless. She had to save them before it was too late and jumped into the fray.
The Jokette was mildly impressed with her latest victims. They didn't seem to think she was a threat when they came charging in; something she plan to rectify very quickly! The boy she saw holding a funny-looking throwing projectile had her laughing even more than before due to his ridiculous outfit. Seriously, he went out in public with those color schemes? He was a walking bull's-eye with such bright colors. The girl, though, now she looked rather interesting. She wasn't sure if she was a Pokégirl or not and that was the only thing that slowed down her wild assault, as it actually distracted her some.
So far after her new 'outlook' when she was tricked into evolving, nothing seemed to spark her interest. Everyone died too quickly before she could even throw out a pun. Really, what were Tamers made out of these days? Couldn't handle a few knife blows to the chest or losing a limb here or there, it was just sad. And what pansies! The whole time they were whimpering and crying for her to stop. If she hadn't checked before cutting them off, she'd have sworn none of them had any balls. In fact, she was just starting to make a nice bloody collection, when the odd duo charged in and interrupted her fun. She was almost startled enough to take pause until she saw they were actually going to fight her. Now that got her excited!
"Little kids wanna play in the big leagues, huh? Let's see how long you last!" the Jokette giggled madly as she smiled insanely wide, flipping a switch-knife she just conjured out of thin air, while hiding a few cards she had also made behind her back.
It was really odd for Robin to see a female version of one of his worst enemies, but he had seen some weirder things. Her body language was exactly like The Joker's; springy and yet completely calm and ready for anything. That's why he wasn't surprised when the Jokette fainted with the knife just so she could try hitting him with five cards from behind her back. He ducked down under them, but was thrown off his feet when one of the cards exploded, throwing him straight at the Jokette. He saw the Jokette smiling at him expectantly, holding the knife at the ready to impale him as he flew at her, but then Robin surprised her when he started flipping around in the air, almost like a cat regaining its equilibrium and got his plated feet out in front of him.
The knife was kicked to the side just enough for him to slip his legs around the Jokette's arm and with all his body weight and the momentum from the explosion, Robin grappled the Jokette's arm and swung it around, yanking the Jokette off her feet and slamming face down on the ground. He swung himself around so he'd land on her back, pulling the arm up into a painful arm-lock, and then started to twist it. "Stay there…or I break it."
"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep," the Jokette smiled from over her shoulder as she twisted her neck to gaze at him madly.
"Get away from her! Jokette's have insanely high pain tolerance!" Asa cried out in alarm.
"Shoulda warn the runt sooner," the Jokette giggled as she started twisting her body around, surprising Robin with her strength.
He tried to go for breaking the arm, but the limb was tougher than he had expected! She easily broke out of his grip and grabbed his throat and started crushing it. "Mmm, you got spunk, kid. Maybe I'll rape you first before I kill you, EAHahahahahahaaaaa!" She then began to raise the knife to stab him in the shoulder to make him more 'cooperative' for her before she began having her way with him.
"Let him go!" Raven shouted as her eyes glowed and she chanted. The wreckage around her was surrounded in her energy and she launched it straight at the Jokette, nailing her and Robin. The objects knocked Robin out of the Jokette's grip and sent him crashing into the desk counter of what remained of the Pokecenter lobby.
It was a bit harsh to target them both, but she knew Robin could take the blow and would actually be ready for it. Asa was completely shocked that the girl would target her own companion, though. "What the hell was that?! He was your friend!"
"I just saved his life," Raven stated plainly, levitating more things to toss.
Asa looked back at the scene and was astonished when she saw Robin kick off the debris he was hit with, seemingly unfazed from having been hit by his own teammate's attack, and then leapt back into the fight. "…What kind of boy is he?" Asa said in awe as he she watched Robin once more fearlessly attack the Jokette.
For anyone, especially a young Tamer, they would have to have been blessed by some good Bloodgifts to be this confident against a Jokette. Only veteran Tamers with a very powerful harem would have a chance against the insane clownish Pokégirl, and yet, these two were working in complete harmony, and both were human! Although, from what she saw, the girl, Raven, had traits that would almost mistake her for a Pokégirl. Robin was the only one that seemed to have a handicap against the Jokette, but he never showed any signs of being bothered by it. It was like…he didn't care if he was fighting someone that clearly was more powerful than him. He fought on because…
It's the right thing to do… Asa thought in complete awe.
Feeling suddenly inspired, Asa joined the fight with even more vigor and dashed straight at the Jokette and used her Takedown move. Having braced herself, Asa buried her shoulder into the Jokette as hard as she could. The blow mildly distorted the Jokette enough to wonder why she was suddenly moving in an odd direction against her will. Asa used that moment to capitalize on the Jokette as she started using Gatling Punch on the insane girl's head, drilling her skull into the cracked, burnt ruins of the lobby floor. Tiles were flying up from around her as she put all her energy into that attack.
Robin was astonished by the power Asa actually had. He hadn't expected such a plain looking person to pack that much strength. "Whoa…"
Raven had the same impression, but she started to worry when she saw that Asa wasn't stopping. It looked like the police woman was actually 'trying' to kill the psycho. "This is getting out of hand."
"Huh? Y-yeah, you're right. Asa. Stop! You're going too far!" Robin shouted at the OfficerJenny.
"Not far enough!" Asa retorted as she tried hitting harder.
The whole time the Jokette was laughing madly as her skull was literally being buried into the floor. That should have warned Asa that something wasn't right, but the officer was too focused on trying to crush her skull to realize the danger she was in now. The Jokette's arms whipped out like snakes and caught Asa's arms, then even as the sound of bone was snapping about, the Jokette turned her head back in its proper position and let loose a powerful Roar attack right in Asa's face. The attack distorted Asa as her eardrums blew out and blood came squirting out from her ears. Asa screamed, even though she no longer could hear anything, rolling her head around in agony as the Roar continued.
Robin and Raven flinched back, not expecting such a loud sound to come out of the Jokette, but even they found they were suffering from its affects as their ears were almost shattered from the attack, forcing them to try covering their ears and fall to their knees. The attack finally ended but Asa was too distorted with pain to do anything now. The Jokette laughed wildly and kicked Asa off her, then calmly got back onto her feet and started brushing the dirt off her suit. "Points for effect, but you just didn't quite have enough punch!"
Having decommissioned the officer Pokégirl, the Jokette now turned her entire attention on the two Titans. "Hmm, now what should we play next? Oh I know!" She clasped her hands together and then opened them to reveal an entire deck of cards and began flexing them in her hands. "…Let's play 52 Pick Up! If there's anything remaining of you, I'll be sure to use it as a sex toy, Aahahahhahahaaaa!"
She aimed the deck at them and was just about to unleash mayhem, when suddenly a person jumped out of nowhere and slammed a wooden sword right into her arm, throwing off her aim and sending the cards flying away to her side, causing random explosions, Smilex Mist to pump out, slice through what was left of the furniture and building, or burn up harmlessly from the explosions. Some of the exploding cards were close enough to throw the Jokette off her feet and crash down on the floor, burning her purple suit up some.
Robin was just starting to recover. The numb pain in his ears had started to reduce to an annoying ringing. When he looked up he saw a guy that looked around the same age as himself, wearing a black practice Gi and a purple blindfold, barefooted and barehanded, yet, the guy turned is head in his direction and started moving his mouth. The ringing made it impossible to hear anything, but Robin was trained to read lips. The guy was asking if he was still able to fight.
"I'll manage," Robin replied back, hoping he hadn't shouted it out. "Who are you?"
Watching his lips, he read: "Esper, we'll have a better introduction later! That Jokette is already getting back up!" the blindfolded teenager warned, bringing up his bokken, but pausing and hissing out a curse. He had channeled way too much energy into his attack when he got the drop on the Jokette and it cost him his weapon. The length was completely broken in half and what was left was a mess of splinters. It was completely useless now. "Blast…I thought I could get at least one more strike with this thing!"
Robin took notice of his blight and quickly reached into his Utility-belt and pulled out two Birdarangs and slammed them together. As they connected, they reconfigured into a sword and he tossed it over to Esper: "I want that back after the fight."
Esper without moving his head reached out with his arm and snatched the hilt of the weapon and gave it one practice swing, smirking as his sharp hearing listened as the singing metal sliced the air. "No promises."
That raised a smirk from Robin then looked over to see Raven having recovered. She noted his blight and raised her hands to heal as much as she could before the Jokette was back up. Robin appreciated it. It wasn't back to being perfect but the ringing was gone and he could make out some noise again.
The Jokette looked at the state of her clothes and snarled viciously. "I just got this suit!"
"Cry me a river…" Esper muttered, readying his new weapon.
"How about I use your blood instead!" the Jokette roared and launched straight at him.
They broke their formation to avoid the Jokette as she came at them and conjured a massive cleaver that was insanely too big to move. Clearly that wasn't the case for the Jokette, who wielded it as if it weighed nothing, as it slashed through the ceiling as easy as butter and buried itself into the floor. If there was any doubt just how dangerous the Jokette was, it vanished after watching that. This insane Pokégirl was literally no joke.
Robin drew an explosive Birdarang as Raven readied her stronger attacks. Raven channeled her power through the floor, bringing up her hands. In response, a bird-like claw made of black energy rose up and tried raking its claws at the Jokette. The attack was a feint to force the lunatic Pokégirl to abandon her ridiculous large weapon in favor of not getting sliced, because as soon as the Jokette moved to dodge the claws, Robin threw his Birdarang. The weapon struck the Jokette in the skull and blew up, throwing the Pokégirl and crashing into the wreckage, laughing madly as she did.
She did not at all seem fazed by the damage, even as bits of her hair were burning. As she ripped herself out of the rubble, she kept on laughing and said, "Oh, this is getting better! Such carnage! Come on, babies…let's bring this how place down over our heads!"
"We have to stop her! She literally can bring this whole place down on us!" Esper cautioned sharply.
Robin was beside himself. It was like fighting The Joker if he had superpowers! If the real Joker had just a fraction of power like this Pokégirl did, all of Gotham and the world would be a darker, bloodier world. Just what was the man who created these creatures thinking of? Had he somehow seen the real Joker in some way? Seen his viciousness and thought, 'Hey, just what I need to win my mass Genocide war!'. Whatever pain this man Sukebe had suffered did not forgive him in Robin's book for creating this rampaging psycho before him. Sukebe was just like all the other mad scientists he had ever known. Only in this world, his actions changed the entire state of this earth…what would it have been like if he had won?
"We're ending this now," Robin stated firmly, then looked at Raven. "…Raven…get dark."
Raven inhaled some. That was the first time Robin gave the order for her to go demonic. It was their code phrase they came up together after Raven revealed her…other side when she had nearly killed Dr. Light. It was only to be used under desperate measures and she knew Robin would never ask her to do dive into that side of her unless it was absolutely needed. He must have realized just how dangerous this female version of the Joker was and saw there was no other choice.
So with a heavy heart, Raven slowly locked her eyes on the smiling, pasty face woman…and showed a crooked smile with sharpening teeth. "Tell me…Are you afraid of the dark?" From under her hood, a second pair of eyes opened up as her original set glowed crimson red.
In that same moment, Esper flinched heavily and jerked his blindfolded face to Raven. "T-that feeling…I-it's the same as…as!"
"Dear old daddy? Oh, yes…it should…I'm his daughter!" Raven hissed with a sinister glee, not taking her eyes off the Jokette.
Esper fumbled back a few steps. He could not believe what was happening just now. The daughter of his sworn enemy of his people, the one responsible for their mass exodus, stood before him and was unleashing such an evil aura. It was just like his…
"You're the bloodspawn of Trigon? Why?…Why would my father want me to protect you?!" Esper said in bewilderment, looking ready to raise his sword to strike Raven down.
Raven glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Questions like that…And like for instance why a native Azarathian is here in the first place…can wait till later. For now, focus on the real threat."
"And which is that?" Esper snarled through clinched teeth.
"The one that has been trying to kill us!" Robin reminded, pointing at the Jokette as she summoned a pair of smaller cleavers in both hands.
Raven snarled wickedly as she started growing taller and the edges of her cloak started to move with a life of their own. "She's mine…"
From under her cloak, black tentacles lashed out and took the Jokette by surprise.
"What kind of Pokégirl are you?" the Jokette muttered before she started dodging the tentacles, slashing at them with her cleavers.
"I'm not a Pokégirl…whatever that is!" Raven retorted, unleashing more tentacles and trying to ensnare the Jokette with them.
Esper could not see the spectacle, as he had refused to remove his blindfold, but his Mind's eye was telling him where she reached out with that evil power. It blocked out his senses, leaving only a trail of darkness to his inner vision. It was like the essence of darkness itself. Devouring everything it touched, including space itself. What would happen if the Jokette was to get grabbed by one of those things? Would she also be devoured? Or was there something far more painful waiting?
He turned to Robin, who seemed content to let Raven fight the Jokette alone. "Why…are you companions with her?"
Robin moved over to where Asa had fallen, checking to make sure she was all right. He only responded when he felt her pulse was still going. "Because, she's my friend, my teammate. Seeing as you know Trigon, you should know it's only because of Raven that Trigon isn't invading this world, too. She defeated him even when her prophecy dictated she and all of earth was doomed. She changed her fate and saved the earth."
"But…why would a bloodspawn of Trigon do such a thing?" Esper asked in bafflement.
"She wanted to protect everyone," Robin answered as if it was obvious. "She might seem scary…but her heart is in the right place."
Esper was beyond overwhelmed. The enemy that he had sworn to take his revenge on, who had forced his people to become outcast…was already defeated: By his own daughter…
"Yeah, I was shocked, too, when I found out," Robin added when he saw the still stun-struck expression on Esper's face.
"How did you come to trust her?" Esper asked softly.
"Because she gave me her trust and told me the truth. Even before I knew, I'd trust Raven with my life, and always will," Robin stated, full of confidence with a true smile, but soon that smile fell when he noticed something strange with Raven.
The fight should have been over with by now. Normally, when Raven went Demon on someone, she'd have won the fight. But as she was fighting the Jokette, she was starting to move slower and slower and her face was a picture of pain and frustration. "Raven? What's happened? Are you okay?"
She answered even while swiping her tentacles at the Pokégirl. "…H-hard to focus, vision…getting blurry…"
Robin started to move in to help her. The Jokette beat him, though. She realized the weird, dark girl was getting weaker and capitalized on it by firing what looked like a missile of energy from her hands, striking Raven right in the chest…or where she assumed was her chest from her odd height growth. The attack felled her and Raven collapsed, reverting back to her normal form and seemingly unable to get back up. The Jokette was going to blast her again right on the spot, or would have had Robin not jumped back into the fray, drawing his spare Bo Staff from his belt and smacked the Jokette's arm to the side, cancelling the attack.
Esper finally snapped out of his self-doubt and joined Robin. He may not be too sure of the girl Raven, but she wasn't the threat at the moment. The Jokette was and if she wasn't put down, then there would be no chance of figuring anything if Raven was one or not. Reaching out with his senses, save for his sight, he mapped his environment until it was clear in his mind's eye just where everything was, as he dashed straight at the Jokette. Thanks to his training, he knew without having to really see that the Jokette was twisted at an odd angle because of Robin's blow. He knew she was just trying to straighten her torso up to retaliate. It was also how he knew when the duck down low as she tried to surprise him by kicking her leg, having seen him coming at her and slashed upward with his new sword.
A satisfied grin spread across Esper's face as his blade sank into the Jokette's hamstring, cutting right to the bone thanks to the added energy he channeled through the sword. He drew the blade down, slicing it out of the leg and then rolled away to avoid any random counter the Jokette might have tried to get him with, like a face full of Smilex Mist. The Jokette barely grunted when the blade cut into her flesh. It might have sent any pathetic Pokégirl screaming in pain, but to her, it didn't even registered, like getting a slight paper cut if anything, but she was finding not feeling hardly any pain had its drawbacks. She didn't understand just how badly he injured her until she lost control and feeling in her leg, making her fall straight down.
"Damn, brat!" she cursed, rolling over and looked to see his attack had gone deeper than she thought. She could clearly see her own bone. Had he been trained better with that weird sword technique, he might have severed her entire leg with that strike. That just made it all the more reason for her to not let him live long enough to not get that good.
She didn't have much of a chance to make good that promise as pellets from nowhere swarmed over her and exploded, ripping a surprised yelp as they actually scorched her enough to hurt.
Robin landed next to Esper and looked frustrated when he saw the Jokette still moving. "What does it take to beat her?"
"More than we got," Esper admitted bitterly, bringing up his sword and tightening his grip. "We got to end this fight before more of the Pokecenter suffers any further damages."
"Don't count on it!" the Jokette screamed, managing to crawl out of the smoking wreckage and glaring with pure, insane hatred at the boys. "Forget fucking either of you…I'm gonna use your balls for brass-knuckles as I beat your damn skulls until they cave and splatter your brains all over the floor!"
Both boys paled and readied for whatever kind of attack might come from the now enraged Jokette. She was just starting to get back on her feet, seemingly her leg was healing itself enough for her to stand on it, but just as she getting her balance, a force slammed into her back, propelling her off her feet. From behind the in the smoky background, a figure strolled through and an arm swiped through it, creating a gust of air that dispersed the smoke to reveal: Greg.
"Hey there! I miss anything?" Greg said with a causal smile as he walked over to the two startled boys. "Esper, hey buddy! Surprised to see you here!"
"Greg!" Esper perked up hearing the familiar voice, then ran over to where he heard the voice. "Greg, I got to tell you what happened. I know…"
Greg put a hand out on Esper's shoulder. "Later, kiddo. Let's handle the problem here, then we'll tackle the next one." He gave a lazy gaze at the situation, then stopped when he saw Raven and Asa on the ground, out of commission. He spotted the blood leaking out of Asa's ears and a hardened expression steeled over his face, then he scanned the ruined lobby. "This is a place of healing and peace. Carnage like this should never have tainted its walls."
He rose up a fist, showing off a metal-plated glove he now wore. The fist started to glow with a sphere of energy for a moment and he slowly shifted into a taijutsu stance. Robin could not stop himself from admiring the stance. The posture Greg took was, as best he could describe it: flawless. He held himself in a semi crotch, sideway style. His arms were perfectly arched on either side of his body, leading with his right shoulder and arching his left arm slightly behind him. His footing was solid and yet looked like he was ready to kick off the ground. He was coiled and relaxed…perfect stance.
There is no such thing as a perfect stance… Robin thought to himself.
All the training that he endured under Batman's mentorship taught him there was never a perfect stance. There was always a weak point in someone's fighting style. An angle of their limbs or an inch off with their footing. Greg's style had none of those imperfections. It should be impossible, he knew that. His brain kept telling him over and over it wasn't possible, but his eyes kept saying it was.
The Jokette had lost what little patience she had. She dashed straight at Greg, conjuring two machetes in each hand. She started to let out a Roar attack when Greg turned into a blur of action. Neither boys saw how he attacked because he was moving at a speed their eyes were untrained to keep up with. Robin was surprised he couldn't, having witnessed a speedster's powers firsthand, there was always a blur to trail. This guy wasn't leaving a trail of any kind. He was moving so fast the only way to tell he was still attacking was the way the Jokette was being twisted and jerked around by his strikes. By then it stopped, the Jokette was lying on the ground, smoke coming up off her body where fist-like imprints were burnt into her creamy-pale flesh.
Greg stood over her, appearing out of thin air, with his boot planted on her throat, then pulled out a Pokéball and let it drop on her demented face. It struck her face and the ball opened up and the Jokette was consumed by a bright, red light and was sucked up into it. The ball shook three times and then it stilled after a mechanical click was heard along with a confirmation ding.
"…Really hate Jokettes. One of Sukebe's worst creations," he said idly.
"Greg!" Esper yelled in relief, pulling off his bandanna.
The policeman turned to the two boys and waved lazily at them. "Sorry you guys had to be put through that. I tried to get here as soon as I heard what had happened," Greg said, as he walked over to Asa and tried to search her pockets. "Damnit, I told her to always keep an Hyper potion on hand…"
Robin quickly came to her defense. "She did. But she had fought this other girl, I'm assuming was another Pokégirl, who was trying to kidnap Raven."
"Tell me everything that happened, now," Greg said, becoming deadly serious again, reaching into a pouch on his belt and taking out his own Hyper potion and worked on getting Asa to drink it.
"She could make her body become transparent when I tried to attack her. My Bo Staff went right through her as if she was a ghost, then tried to use some kind of mind manipulation to make me abnormally afraid," Robin explained.
"Had to be a Pokégirl for sure. What kind?" Greg asked, but then remembered who he was talking to. If he had known the kid would have stated that first.
"…V-Vampire," Asa voiced up, drawing everyone's attention to the recovering Police Jenny. She took the Hyper potion from Greg and downed the rest of the healing elixir. "Geh, that's better. The Outworlder girl was attacked by a Vampire. She was drinking her blood when I stumbled in on her to check them after the Jokette started rampaging."
"The girl! I need to see her neck wound!" Greg said, gently but quickly letting go of Asa, and ran to where Raven had fallen.
Robin was right by his side and kneeled down by Raven and gentled lifted her head up and tilted it to the side, stroking a few locks of her hair out of the way. Greg instantly spotted the puncture marks and frowned deeply. Robin didn't like that response, but wanted to hope for the best, and said, "She just lost some blood. Raven will recover if she can rest." His hopeful wish was dashed and replaced with worry when Greg leaned in to examine the wounds closer.
He took out a glove from his patrol-belt, putting it on quickly over his right hand, and then carefully started to squeeze around the puncture wounds. It hadn't completely clogged due ot the limited amount of blood left, but Greg worked it until a little fluid started draining from it…and it didn't look like blood. "Damn it…The Vampire injected her when she fed. Probably when Asa startled her during her feeding," Greg said with a narrowed brow.
"Injected her? With what?" Robin asked urgently.
"We got time but if we don't treat her soon, your friend is going to turn into a Pokégirl…A Vampire Pokégirl to be exact," Greg explained, then took in the state of the Poke Center. "Hmm, we need to see if this center can still treat her, otherwise we'll have to transport her to another center, fast!"
"What do you mean she'll turn? Like into a real vampire?" Robin panicked.
Greg took off the glove, careful to roll it inside out to contain the fluid that was on it. "Being an Outworlder, you wouldn't know this…but there are certain kinds of Pokégirl that can transform a human into a Pokégirl. Vampires are one of them. If she's not treated in seven days, the transformation is permanent. She'll be a Vampire for the rest of her life," Greg informed, giving Robin a sympathic gaze. "In this world…turning into a Pokégirl, any kind…is forever. We can't undo Sukebe's work. The man was just too damn advance with genetics for our current knowledge to reverse, if ever."
A grunt came out of Esper. "Probably the best thing to happen to a spawn of Trigon…"
Esper was suddenly kissing the floor when Robin reared up and punched him in the face. "Shut it! You don't know Raven at all! She did everything to protect my world from her own father! She's a hero, regardless of what any of you think!" Robin shouted angrily.
Esper was left a little dazed, but mostly by the revelation, not the actual hit. "…A hero?"
"Yes, and if not for her, I'd have been dead or worse a number of times. So don't you ever think ill of her against around me. Got it!" Robin warned, then reached down and retrieved his sword Esper had dropped when he was struck down. Quickly, he reverted it back into two Birdarangs, then tucked them back into his remaining ones. There was no telling if he was going to be able to replace them, or any of his equipment in this world. So every piece had to be reserved or retrieved if possible.
Robin turned back to Greg. "Please, help my friend."
"Like I said, we got time," Greg said with a patient smile. "She only just recently got injected wi…Agh?!" he suddenly froze.
As did Robin, Esper, and Asa when their muscles locked up.
Appearing in a flash of multi-colored light, a girl with red skin and small antenna on her forehead, a large bust that seemed to float more than be supported by whatever undergarment she had on under her partly opened robes. She spoke with a near apathic tone: "My master demands I take the girl. She is a blight to all that lives in existence. It must be erased." The strange girl's eyes then shined white, and Raven was lifted off the ground and vanished in the same light as did the kidnapper.
As soon as she was gone, everyone could move again.
"Fuck! That was Fais's Alpha Alaka-Wham, Kelli!" Greg cursed, jumping to his feet. "Was he the one responsible?"
"Not just him…all of them. All of the Azarathian refugees," Esper said bitterly. "My father tried to warn me…told me to save that girl. T-they killed him because of that, Greg. Fais killed my father!" He balled his fists in anger.
Greg moved toward Esper and placed both hands on the grieving boy. "You were brave to do what your father sacrificed his life for. I swear on my soul, Esper, he will be avenged, his killer brought to justice. His death won't be in vain."
Esper tried to keep from crying. When that failed, he put his bandanna back on to hide the shedding tears. "We need to hurry…or they'll kill the girl."
Greg checked Asa one more time. "You ready, Asa?"
"Yeah, I'm ready to arrest every single Azarathian that was responsible for this crime!" Asa replied with vindication, picking herself up and dusting her arms off.
"Good to hear," Greg said, then spoke into a receiver that was in his sleeve, opening a link to his police station. "Vale Officer Greg to control. Poke Center has been recovered, with heavy damages, but we have a situation with one of the Outworlders."
"It'll have to wait, Officer Greg. All mages and officers are to converge immediately to the Arcana Sanctum…and repel assaulting forces," a static voice replied.
"The Arcana Sanctum? So that's the plan, huh?" Greg murmured mainly to himself, then replied back. "Got it control, heading there now!" He cut off the radio and pointed at the boys. "You two are coming with me! I think we'll find your friend there."
"Raven? Why would they take her to this Arcana Sanctum?" Robin questioned.
"Because that's where the portals are guarded. Where the Azarathians first entered our world. They're going to break in and flee back through it," Greg said. "They're going to escape with your friend...We have to stop them before that happens, at all costs."
xXx
