The morning sunlight peeked throughout the castle windows, bringing the start of another glorious day for everyone.
Jango started to stir from his sleep. He stopped only to remember the wonderful time he had last night with Amanda. He was hoping that he could do something like that again with her next time.
He started to stretch and attempted to get out of bed. He felt something small on it. He picked it up and opened his eyes a little. Popcorn? Why is there popcorn in my bed? He moved his paw to the other side of the bed and felt something larger.
The object felt warm and cozy to the touch. It was really fluffy and smooth at the same time. Jango thought it felt like a cloud of relief. He sighed as he continued to stroke it, not knowing what it was at the moment. Man, this is really soft and…so warm. I didn't know I had anything this soft in my room.
As Jango recounted the events from last night, he went wide eyed. Wait a minute; did I even go back to my room last night? His thoughts were answered by a light snoring. He slowly turned his head and saw that what he was stroking so pleasantly was Amanda. He yelped quietly and retracted his paw, making him fall out of bed. His entire face was redder than usual. Oh man, that was embarrassing.
He got up to see if he woke her. Luckily, she was still sleeping peacefully. Jango sighed with relief. There was no way he would be able to explain that to her. He took another glance at her and smiled, thinking how beautiful she looked while she was sleeping. He chuckled a bit and pulled the tossed blanket over her. He tip-toed out of the room and slowly closed the door. Just as he did, he whispered, "Sweet dreams Amanda." Once he closed the door, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen.
As he entered, he got a bowl, some cereal, and a glass of milk for breakfast. He started to pour his cereal into the bowl while thinking. I wonder if the king will be angry at me for not showing up before midnight. True I brought Amanda back before midnight, but I did sneak us into the house. My only hope is that he went to sleep when we got back.
"Morning Jango." A voice said from behind. This particular voice made Jango yelp and toss some cereal from the box onto the counter. You guessed it, it was the king himself. "How did you sleep last night?" He asked as he sat down and pulled out a newspaper.
"Oh, fine, I slept fine." Jango said casually. Despite how he was hiding the nervous look on his face really well, his tail flame was flickering with his nervousness.
"That's nice. Where is my sweet daughter? She usually has breakfast around now."
"She went to bed a little late, so I think it would be best to let her sleep in for awhile." Jango began to eat his breakfast.
"So Amanda is still asleep. I shouldn't be surprised that you know this because you did sleep with her last night." That made Jango swallow his food too fast and he started to choke on it. "Jango, are you alright?"
Jango kept whacking the back of his throat until the cereal went flying out of his mouth. After some breaths of relief, he began to panic. "Okay look, before you say anything, it is not what you think. We only watch a movie last night and we may have fallen asleep right when it ended-"
"I know." Ampharos said.
"-and we weren't doing anything inappropriate, so what I'm trying to say is…" Jango paused briefly. "Wait, you knew?"
Ampharos puts his paper down and gave Jango a small smile. "Zangoose informed me of you're little plan last night." Jango made a mental note to thank Zangoose later. "When I saw you two asleep this morning, I thought it was kind of funny."
"Funny?!" Jango said flabbergasted. This was coming from Amanda's over-protective father who would probably send someone else to jail for doing that, but he thought it was funny with him.
"Jango, I know you wouldn't do anything inappropriate with my daughter because you are very trusting. There isn't one thing about that I would find wrong about you."
Jango looked to the ground feeling a bit guilty. That's only the stuff that you know of. "My king, with all due respect, I'm not exactly the most…'perfect' guy in the world."
"NONSENSE!" Ampharos yelled at Jango, making him flinch. "You are a great kid and I know it. In fact, maybe when you get older, I could even get you a spot on the royal guards."
"Really?" Jango said curiously.
"With your type of fighting style, you could make a good guard in the future." Ampharos got up and went to a brewing machine to make some coffee. "You have a good life ahead of you, Jango. I know the future is looking bright for you." He took his coffee and left the room, leaving Jango with his thoughts.
Jango started to wonder about the possibilities of staying with them. Staying here means that I could have a future to look forward to. A future as a royal guard, a future with freedom, a future with new friends, a future with…Amanda. As Jango thought this over, Jamison came in with a small package.
"Oh, good, you are awake. I got this package for you." Jamison handed over the package to Jango.
"Someone sent me a package? Who?" Jango looked over the box.
"I don't know, it said something on it that said I.A." Hearing that made Jango flinch uncomfortably. "Is it someone you know?"
Jango tapped his claws on the box. "Um, yeah. Someone from awhile back. Thanks, I'll open it later."
"Alright, see you later." Jamison left to continue with his chores.
Jango looked at the package and began to think nervously. This can't be good if it's from Inferno.
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Immediately after breakfast, Jango dashed up to the garden on the roof. He was holding onto the package tightly. He was getting nervous because he knew that this package was from Inferno himself.
I.A. was his code name if he had to deliver something or do missions himself. To others, it stands for Isaac Arthur. But, to fellow allies, it stands for Inferno Assassin. No one was able to catch on to the name or anyone who hasn't lived to see daylight ever again.
Jango made his way to the top of the castle to see the garden. He carefully looked around to make sure no one was present at the time. Whatever was in the package could not be seen by anyone else or his cover is blown.
Just as he was sure he was alone, he sighed and made his way over to the bench. He set the package in his lap and began to open it. It felt kind of light when he was carrying it. Maybe it was new supplies or weapons or bombs or secret plans for world domination. Whatever it was, Jango was not looking forward to it.
Once the package was fully opened, he saw the contents inside. However, upon seeing them, he had to do a double take to make sure he was looking at it right. Inside the box was his Draco uniform, the very one that struck fear into many hearts. He pulled it out to get a better look at it.
This was the very suit Inferno had specially made for him. The suit was designed to absorb attacks and lessen the damage to a miniscule amount of power. The mask aloud Jango's senses to be heightened to increase his awareness. The suit was light and very flexible, making Jango's movement fast and furious. This suit was the only reason why he survived his missions. His defense was not that great, so the suit helps out by acting as some sort of force field. It would take a major amount of power and energy in order to penetrate the suit and damage the wearer.
Jango was confused as to why Inferno would send this until he saw something else in the box. He pulled it out to see it was a tablet of sorts. These were the video messages Inferno would send to see how his assassins were doing. Judging by the blinking light on the top of it, Inferno was waiting for him to answer. With a gulp, Jango pressed a series of digital keys and started to show a live image of Inferno.
"Jango, good to see you. So you managed to get the package I sent you?" Inferno said as calm as ever.
Jango was trying to hide his nervousness. "Um, yeah, wasn't a problem at all."
"Excellent. So, have you made any progress in eliminating the princess?"
Jango was scratching the back of his head. "Well, you see my lord; I've made zero progress in trying to kill her."
Despite his calm look, Inferno had to raise an eyebrow on that. "Well, that is peculiar. With your vast records, you should have killed her by now."
"Well, it isn't as easy as you would think. Sense I was hired to be her bodyguard, I have to escort her everywhere making it difficult for me to eliminate her in public. Then there's the whole problem with her family always keeping an eye out for her sense they are cautious in some things. Plus, a friend of my last target is staying with them for awhile. There may be a chance he can figure out who I am."
"But there is still the effectiveness of killing her in her sleep." Inferno pointed out.
"Oh, that must have slipped my mind." Jango laughed nervously.
Inferno sighed in disappointment. "Jango, what is going on? You don't act this way all the time when I talk to you."
Jango sighed. "It's…really complicated at the moment." As far as Jango knew, Inferno doesn't know anything about the Hidden Blaze or its existence. Hiding it was really hard on some occasions, but that's a story for another time. "Inferno, may I ask you a question?"
Inferno shrugged. "I don't see the harm in it."
"Do we really have to take over Poketopia? Are you sure there isn't some other kingdom you can take over for your enjoyment?" Jango was really hoping he would have second thoughts.
Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. "Jango, you know Poketopia has the greatest amount of power and resources for our conquests. Taking it over will lead to big things in the future for the League of Assassins."
Jango tried to think of something else. "But…is it really necessary to kill Amanda in order to take over? Isn't there another way?"
Inferno was slowly losing his patients. "Jango, I told you that once an heir is killed and there is no alternate, the kingdom will go into a state of panic and the royal cycle will be broken."
Jango was slowly getting mad now. "Well, I say there should be another way to do this. I say that there has to be a way to take over without killing anyone."
Inferno was really losing his patients. "Jango, we are the League of Assassins. Everyone in it was trained in the art of stealth and deceit. But I trained you differently. I trained you to attack head on so I can strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. You were trained to demonstrate the true power of the League. Now, I order you to have the princess killed by tonight."
Jango has had it. "NO!" He snapped loudly.
Inferno was baffled, but angry. "Excuse me?!"
"I said NO! I've had enough of this. I'm tired of killing Pokémon and this entire mission. You may think I'm coldhearted, but the fire inside of me as finally melted through the ice. Ever sense I got here, I have been focused on nothing but the mission. That was until I started it."
"What are you talking about?!"
"I was treated with kindness and respect. I was shown things I have never seen before: a normal life. It was the best time of my life. I even learned that I still have family left. You promised you help me find my parents' killer, but you've done nothing. And you know what else I was shown."
"What?" Inferno asked in curiosity and annoyance.
"LOVE. I fell in love with someone who understands my problems. Someone who cares for me, who enjoys hanging out with me, who has the same interest as me. And do you want to know what the shocker is? The one I fell in love with is the very princess you sent me to eliminate."
Inferno had a deep glare, yet he also had an unnoticeable smirk. "What are you saying?"
"THAT I QUIT!" Jango's eyes changed from blue to red and his body was starting to emit steam. "Consider this my resignation." He grasped the tablet with one paw and began to crush it slowly.
"Jango, I'm giving you a direct order to-" He was cut off when Jango crushed the tablet, breaking the connection.
"I don't take orders from you anymore." Jango growled demonically. He threw the broken device to the ground and, giving it a death glare, it started to melt into nothing. He was growling dangerously was about to start throwing fire balls everywhere when he heard someone.
"Jango, are you out here?" Amanda said through the garden door. The door knob started to jiggle. Snapping out of his trance, Jango frantically put the Draco uniform back in the box. Once it was closed up, he stood there casually with the box when Amanda came out. "There you are. I was looking all over for you."
"Well, here I am." Jango said gesturing at himself.
Amanda rolled her eyes jokingly. "Whatever. Hey, do you want to watch some T.V. with me? I got nothing plan at the moment."
"I think that will be nice." They went to the living room. But on the way, Jango made a quick stop to his room and placed the box inside his drawers. "With no more assassins to worry about, my life just gotten a whole lot better." He shut the drawers, letting us see nothing but darkness.
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Inferno sat at his throne processing what just happened. One minute he was checking up on his star assassin, the next he suddenly quits. If this happened to anyone else, they probably would be devastated. But Inferno, he was…laughing?
He laughed in his throne in a dark and twisted way, finding his current situation humorous. Out of the shadows came an Alakazam wearing a white lab coat. He walked near his lord's throne. "My lord, what is so funny about this? Don't you realize that you have just lost your top assassin?"
Inferno ceased laughing and turned towards him. "Yes Dr. Psi, I know it looks that way. But in reality, it is all part of my plan for global take over."
"How so?" Dr. Psi asked questioningly.
"I will explain to you later. But what I need for you to do is whip up a special chemical listed on this." Inferno held up a sheet of paper in his claws. Using his Psychic, Psi took the instructions and read them.
"This is a very peculiar chemical, but I will get started on it right away." Psi left the room, leaving inferno in the room alone.
He chuckled darkly. "Oh Jango, you'll be in for a surprise when the month is up. Then that kingdom and the world will soon be mine."