III : The Bandits
Desperate times call for desperate measures, that was the motto of Kip Kinnagen. Kip was, what would be described as, a bandit. He lead a pack of two others, two lunkheads named Steve and Dave. He wasn't sure which was which, and, to be honest, they didn't even know.
For the last four years, the three had traveled the ruins, looking for what they needed to survive, and killing those who had it.
Kip admitted he was no saint, and that he probably was a monster.
"If they think that, fuck them" was always his response. Dave and Steve always nodded happily.
They lived happily, until they got caught in some very nasty business. Kip had gotten drunk, near one of the Human Army bases. When he saw a woman outside of the base, he attacked her.
"I was just trying to have some fun" But it didn't matter, she had died.
The army has a different legal system when at war. You are tried the day after you are captured, you don't face your accusers, and, in Kip's case, you are executed at the end of the week.
Kip remembered every detail vividly. The "jail" was in the basement of a cement building on the base, the top of which was used for storing weapons. All the wall's were yellow or brown from urine, or God knows what. They gave him water, but not food, because he "wouldn't need it where he was going".
Now, most people don't relies just how hard it is to escape from an underground prison. There is only one way in, one way out, a flight of stairs. A guard is posted at the top, and the bottom. The sheer impossibility made his great escape more amazing.
"Tomorrow's the day I die, I die" Kip sung, just to annoy the guards. He sat on his cot, staring at the cement ceiling, which had blood stains running every which way. He was about to drift off to sleep.
BANG . A gunshot got Kip off the cot, and pressed against the iron bars. He strained his eyes, just in time to see the second guard back away from the entrance of the stairs.
BANG. The guard went down. Three people stepped over his body.
Kip recognized two of them as Steve and Dave, who smiled stupidly. But the third man, the one holding the gun, brought a look of shock to Kip's face.
"You, what do you want with me?!" he cried. The man smiled.
"Lets face it Mr. Kinnagen, you're a boil on the worlds ass. A pain, but little to nothing more" The man handed him an envelope. "Theirs enough money in there to keep you happy for the rest of your life, in some of the cities that haven't been destroyed. It will be yours, if you agree to take on a task for me"
"And if I refuse" Kip asked curtly. The man frowned.
"Then I guaranty, you will never leave this room"
"How do you know it not a wild Ninetales?" Dave asked. Kip looked up crossly.
"Look, stupid fuck, we haven't seen a completely wild pokemon in five years" Kip said exasperated. "Pokemon can't survive in the wild if theirs no food or water" Dave shrugged.
"Besides" Steve said, "The boss guy said this new would deactivate any powers by pokemon, and would unchange all sliders. All it did was put her to sleep" The Ninetales seemed to be absolutely peaceful.
The three were camped out at the remnants of someone's house. Their was a mail box, but the name had faded away.
"Look, if she isn't a slider, they're coming" Kip pointed out, "all we have to do is wait"
Brian and Rose had been concerned when Ninetails didn't show up, and now they marched through the remnants of a small neighborhood, east of the pokemon center. After calling out for nearly an hour, they could barely speak.
"She's got to be somewhere" Rose rasped.
"But, I don't get it, Ninetails would die before she got captured" Brian said, "and she would take her captors with her"
"Yeah, and she can sense when someone is approaching, so I don't see how anything could have happened" Brian muttered.
Sand was whipping every which way. It hadn't become a full fledged sandstorm, but it was on its way. The two could barely see a foot in front of them.
"Hey wait" Rose said, grabbing Brian's shirt, "listen"
"All I can hear is sand" Rose took off running.
"Rose, awe crap" Brian ran after. The two followed the sound of talking, which grew louder, until they came upon a house at the end of the neighborhood.
They came upon a dilapidated house, with three men in black leather, standing in front of a very unconscious Ninetails.
"Ninetails!" Rose screamed.
"What do you know" Kip said smirking, "I told you they would show up"
"What the" Brian rushed out, to find the three smiling men. "Who are you? And what's with the costumes? Were you trying to go for badass, or dumbass"
"I'm Santa fucking Clause" Kip said, "Who the fuck are you?" Brian spotted Ninetails.
"Let her go" Brian yelled.
"If you want her, do your little trick" Kip responded.
"Um, what the hell are you talking about?" Are these guys retarded? Brian
wondered. Kip then looked, to see Rose attempting to open the nets.
"You dumbfucks, why didn't you grab her?"
"You want us to?" Dave asked.
"Yes you stupid son of a bitch, GRAB HER" Dave shrugged, and lifted Rose off the ground, under her armpits.
Rose was already tall, and Dave stood a good eight inches over her. She slammed her fist into his side. Dave didn't move an inch.
"You know, if she were a slider, she could have escaped" Kip said.
"Probably" Steve agreed.
"What are you doing you morons?" Brian asked.
"Your not a slider either" Kip pulled out a gun, and aimed it between Brian's eyes, "So your fuck out of luck"
Kip got Brian to kneel in front of him. He prepared to fire.
"Let them go" a voice rang out.