Author's Notes

I don't really have much to say today since I am uploading this at 2 in the morning. I am very tired, but I wanted to get this out to you guys today. I also want you to check out the Discord servers I mentioned numerous times before because I post things that are related to The Guardian on the server. I also post announcements regarding the status of certain projects there so I don't have to post entire chapters telling you that I am going on a hiatus, or something like that. Without further interruption, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 12: Set In Motion

"The lights green! That means go!" I yelled at the driver in front of me. It was just my luck that we caught rush hour, and now the damn houndour woke up! Talk about adding insult to injury.

"Where's my mama!" Inferno panicked. He's been screaming that for the last five minutes, and it's done nothing to help my temper.

"Can someone please shut him up before I decide to rear end this asshole in frustration," I complained. "Good god. If he doesn't stop, I'm going to take him back, and throw him into the fire."

"How could you say that?! That goes against everything we represent at the PLE." Ghost replied in shock.

"I'm inclined to agree with Na- Grim. He is way too noisy, and we can't stop him from crying." Violet said. She almost let my name slip. That would've been interesting to explain. I hate the name I was given. All it is anymore is just one big scar. Everything that had brought me to my knees happened when I wore the name with pride.

"What did you almost say?" Ghost asked, having caught Violet's mistake.

"I stuttered, and that shouldn't be something we're focusing on. We need to focus the child that currently sits in your arms and how to calm him down." Violet replied with her usual smirk.

"Do I look like someone who could care for him?" Ghost yelled in frustration. "I'm don't even resemble him in any way! Why don't you put your illusion powers, which is the only reason why you're part of Titan, and make yourself look like his mother."

"It's not a half bad idea," I interjected. "If it gets Inferno to shut up, and I can focus more on the road, and more importantly the driver in front of me." Violet sighed, and her form began to shift into that of a houndoom. It was almost scary how close she got to the damn thing, and if I didn't know that was her...

"There ya happy. Just don't allow Inferno to touch me or else we may have a problem." Violet explained.

"And how might we have a problem. You zoroark are the masters of disguise, and being brushed up against shouldn't break your illusion." Ghost said to Violet.

"Well, unlike most zoroark who get taught how to control since when they were a zorua, I didn't have that luxury. I had to live most of my life in captivity, and there were no zoroarks who were kind enough to teach me, so forgive me if I am a little shit at my illusion skills." Violet growled in response.

"And how come that came to be?" Ghost further inquired. Violet barred her teeth and stared back at Ghost.

"I'll do more than tell you why." She growled. One problem always leads to another. Fucking hell...

"Both of you cut it out before I have to get involved and you both should know that that isn't pretty," I said, breaking up the fight. "Now, both of you shut up, and let me focus on driving without having to worry about you two plus Inferno tearing up the back of the truck." Ghost crossed her arms and looked out the window, while Violet did the same in houndoom form. Inferno was sitting in between them looking at Violet in confusion. So far, the day has been hell, not including my visit to the old Lair.

After making back to the HQ, we had a lengthy discussion about the fate of Inferno. I opted to find someone within the base to take him in under their wing, but Ghost argued that I should take him as a punishment for blowing up the Lair. Violet took my side, and for the last thirty minutes, we have been going to every squad's door looking for someone to take him in. Right now we were standing outside of the quarters of the infamous Wrecker Squad waiting for their commander's answer.

"For the love of fuck! It has been five minutes, and they haven't gotten back to us!" I groaned, leaning against the wall.

"Well, maybe you should accept your punishment and take him in." Ghost argued. Ghost is slowly making her way to my shit list because of this. Just shut up and let me work on finding him a family.

"Guys. We are not going to begin this again. Inferno is asleep, and we do not want to risk waking him." Violet said, moving in between both of us. Ghost crossed her arms and sent one of the meanest faces I had ever seen at me. Not wanting to be outdone, I sent one right back. That was enough to fuel a wicked staring contest that resulted in a victory for Ghost.

Before it could escalate even further, the commander of Wrecker Squad cleared his throat, effectively breaking up our "staring" contest. "We would be happy to take Inferno in, but on one condition. We need him to evolve into a houndoom before we bring him in. We can't afford to train with the number of operations we take part in now. I wish you the best of luck with training him. Have a good day." He then retreated into his Wrecker's quarters without giving us a chance to ask any questions.

"Was that guy even human?" I asked. His sentence sounded more like a fucking email then it did actual human speech.

Ghost had the most prominent shit-eating grin on her face that said: I told you so. "Guess who still has to caretake for him!" Ghost sang. "That's right. You do Grim. YOU have to take care of him. No one else has to help you." If her goal in life is to try to piss me off deliberately, she is doing an excellent job at it.

"I'll help with Inferno, Grim. We could be his parents." Violet said, with a huge grin. I don't even know if she knew what she just suggested.

"Alright. Since I have to, we can be Inferno's figurative "parents," I sighed. "If word of this get's back to Joker, he's going to have a field day."

"Violet, don't help him. He needs to learn from his mistakes." Ghost said, just having to add her cherry to the cake. Friend or not, if she keeps this going, we are going to have some significant problems. And by we, I mean her.

"What kind of a friend are you!" Violet said in shock. "I would do anything to help him out, and I thought you'd do the same!"

"Ya, I used to feel that way, but that was before I realized how much of an ass he could be. That doesn't even include his complete disregard for the rules of the PLE." Ghost said, her voice laced with venom. Having stayed silent for the entire ordeal, I decided to speak.

"Ghost, for the love of God, Arceus, whatever. Shut your fucking mouth before it gets you into a fight you know you can't win. If I were such an asshole, I wouldn't have taken a bullet for Violet and Basilisk. And I don't disregard the rules. If I did, a lot of things would've been done differently. But you know what? You don't care, so I'll treat you the same way. Come on Violet, we're taking Inferno back to our quarters, and we are going to be the best damn parents the world has ever seen." Along with Violet, I turned my back on Ghost and walked away from her.

After we got a reasonable distance away from her, I stopped. "Violet. Are you alright?" I asked her. For the short time Violet has been with the PLE, Ghost had been one of her only friends besides me, and I know for a fact no one comes out of something like that unscathed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Nate." Violet said, continuing to walk. Yeah, it didn't take a detective to tell me that she was hurting a lot from this. Goddamnit. This is my fault. I shouldn't have done that even though she was an asshole. That's something I'm going to have to fix later.

I caught back up to Violet and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Violet. I should've acted that way, and I promise I'll make it better." She stopped walking.

"Please don't. You're in the right here and have nothing to apologize for. Besides, we weren't close. As far as I could tell, Ghost was using me to get closer to you. You could say she got what was coming to her." She grinned.

"Damn. Even I didn't notice that." I smiled.

"Well, there is a time when the student surpasses the master." She's grown so much.

(One Hour Later)

I sighed as I examined the blade of my knife as Violet snored behind me. I should clean this thing. It still has dried blood from Fang on it. I played around with the knife some more before I felt something tug on my pant leg. I looked down and saw that Inferno had awakened from his name and was staring at me.

"Nummies." He said, staring up at me with the cutest eyes. The weirdest thing is that he wasn't asking for his mommy again.

I shook Violet awake and scooped up Inferno. "Wait, why isn't he crying for his mom?" Violet asked. I shrugged in response.

"He needs to eat," I said, walking out of our quarters. "I think something similar to what his mother feed him should work." Violet agreed with me, and together we walked to the mess hall. Being an hour early to dinner was great because there were fewer people here, which meant a shorter line. "Hey, can you grab my whatever the main entree is today while I attend to Inferno," I said to Violet. She said yes, and I went to find something that was similar to what Inferno ate.

"Can I help you with something?" One of the mess hall staff asked as we approached him.

"Yeah, do you have any rare steak?" He nodded and went into the kitchen. He came back with a plate with a single T-bone steak from a miltank and gave it to me. Now I was playing a dangerous balancing game. In one hand was Inferno, and in the other was the steak.

I made it the table without incident, and let out a sigh of relief. I put Inferno down next to Violet and placed his meal in front of him. Inferno immediately dug into his meal, which, to be honest, was an unsettling sight. I couldn't help but picture him doing that to one of the bodies back at the Lair. I shivered at the thought of that. Such an innocent child corrupted by the actions of his mother.

"Well, it looks like we won't have to help him eat," Violet joked. "Oh, by the way, the entree magikarp fillet." I nodded my thanks and began to eat the fillet. It reminded me of the salmon meals I used to enjoy back at home. Huh, that has been one of the only positive things I've thought about from home.

"When will I get to see mommy again?" Inferno asked, taking a break from eating.

"It's going to be a while till you see mommy again. It's going to be so long that she handed you to uncle Grim, and aunt Violet." I responded. Satisfied with the answer, he went back to eating. I looked at Violet, who gave me the thumbs up and went back to eating. I smiled knowing that nothing could ruin this moment. With Arceus and some of her children backing me, I could take on anything without suffering to much damage, and with the bonus of healing at a faster pace, I am nearly invincible. I never thought I'd say this, but when John said I'd be a good father, I guess he was right. I'd do anything for the small family I'm a part of now. Even Inferno was included in this family. Maybe I won't be handing him over to Wrecker Squad.

(Elsewhere)

In front of the ruined Lair, stood a lone figure. He wore a cloak and carried a sword that was similar to the one that The Fallen Knight used. "Report." A voice said through his earpiece.

"It appears as though he deviated from the original plan. The troops have thoroughly searched the area and cannot find the corpse of the child. Sources from within the PLE report that he has taken in the child. They also tell me of an opportunity to take. Recently, he fought with a "friend" and said friend seeks revenge. They could become a resource for our cause." The figure spoke.

"Acknowledged. Recruit this asset and lead him into a trap using the intel from one of our trafficking camps. Remember: we want him alive. Failure to do so results in your termination. Do not fail me. Knight out." The voice on the other end said.

The figure scaled the wall of the building opposite the Lair and made his way towards the HQ. Once he reached it, the guards stopped him from entering. "We need to see some I.D." They said. The figure took his blade out and quickly cut down the two guards.

"Clean up at the entrance." He spoke before entering the HQ. "I also require additional help locating an asset. They go by the name of Ghost and is a grovyle."

"Roger that. According to our inside sources, Ghost is currently roaming the hallways near sector B on the map."

The figure nodded and made his way to sector B. With luck; she had not entered her quarters. He caught Ghost outside of Titan's quarters. "May I have a word with you?" He asked, grabbing her attention.

"Listen, I am in no mood to deal with your bullshit. Beat it before I beat you." She waved him off.

"I can help you get revenge." She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.

"What did you say?"

"You know exactly what I said. My associate is interested in helping you get revenge on the man that has and is tarnishing the reputation of the PLE and your name. He already stole a friend from you and is working on turning your entire squad against you. Are you interesting in getting revenge?"

"I'm listening." Under the cloak, the figure smiled. Everything was going to plan. Today was the day the world began to change for the better, or so he believed.

Play "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Bon Jovi

Author's Notes

So I decided to do something different with the formatting of the story this time. Let me know if you liked it and if I should continue to do it in the future. Have a good morning/afternoon/night depending on what time of day you're seeing this.