Chapter 36

Otto was coding a program he'd been working on with his laptop, still in the same place as Rachel had left him in. This time however Shade had joined his side, watching the large television with her eyes ogling the actress on screen. Some soap opera was on with Otto every now and then glancing up, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

Not taking her eyes off the actress she was secretly lusting over, Shade stared at the television without blinking until her eyes began to hurt. From what Otto could tell it was some half baked show about medical surgeons with screwed up lives and who constantly made horrid decisions involving life choices. If they were such poor decisions makers, Otto thought to himself, then why the hell were they allowed to make decisions on how to save a person they had under the knife?

"I would do her so hard..." Shade mumbled to herself, anciently speaking loud enough for Otto, as well as some of the other trainers watching as well, to hear her. Otto gave her a look of confusion, not realizing she swung that way. He had never really gotten to meet her nor did he hear her previous statements involving her sexual orientation on the account of listening to his music. In fact, there was a lot he didn't know about everyone, including Rachel and Matt's recent events. They had kept him in the dark ever since he'd arrived. Shade didn't notice him looking at her as she sat with her legs crossed.

"What's you're name again?" Otto asked her. Shade didn't bother looking away from the TV, too focused on the woman's cleavage on screen.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." she told him honestly.

"I'm Otto." he told her.

"Shade." she responded vaguely still with her eyes glued on the set. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you." Otto told her with lack of emotion, going back to his coding, tabbing away at his laptop at a moderately fast pace. Neither one of them took any offense to each others lack of focus, too busy doing whatever it was they were doing to care.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" A trainer said to his friend, both sitting on the other end of the long and curved couch Shade and Otto were on. "They can't do that!"

"I'm telling you the truth." The other trainer responded, who was wearing a long coat and tattered clothes. His friend, who was wearing almost identical attire, but was wearing a denim jacket instead, looked pissed.

"It's gotta be a rumor." the guy in the denim jacket told his friend.

The two of them kept going about with their conversation with Otto and Shade still minding their own business. However, Otto couldn't help but wonder what it was they were talking about. Otto was never one to care to pry into other peoples affairs, but on the account of being so socially deprived he was desperate for conversation of any kind. He raised his head and looked over at the two of them.

"What's a rumor?" he asked. Both trainer returned his question by looking back at him.

"The road to Cerulean is currently blocked off by some mercenary company." the guy in the long coat told Otto from across the lounge area in the lobby of the Pokemon center they were in. "They're telling everyone that Mt. Moon is too dangerous to pass thanks to Team Rocket."

The name Team Rocket made Otto wonder. Weren't they the bad guys in the Pokemon games? More importantly, didn't Matt and them need to head that way if they were going to get to Bill's?

"Did they say when they're going to be letting people pass through again?"

The trainer in the long coat shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied. "but knowing Gail Company and Team Rocket they'll be at each others throats for a while."

"Shit..." Otto muttered to himself, still with Shade glued to the soap opera actress.

"I still say it's a rumor." the trainer in the denim coat chimed in. His friend in the long coat rolled his eyes at him.

"Oh my god," he said irritated, "I was just there and they told me we can't pass the checkpoint."

"Maybe it was a misunderstanding or something." his friend came back. "Stuff like that happened all the time."

"Seriously? What do you think I am? Stupid?"

"I didn't say you were stupid," his friend responded a little offended. "I was just saying you probably misunderstood what they told you."

The two of them went at it with Otto closing his laptop and sliding it into his backpack.

"I better let Matt know." he said to himself.

As if on cue, Matt exited out the door that was behind the front desk with Amber and Sissy joining him. Coming in behind them after Matt had let them out of their Pokeballs, Bomber and Emie were both close behind to Matt. Amber went back to her station at the front desk.

On the other side of the Pokemon center lobby came in Rachel with the automatic doors sliding open for her along with Laurence, Doug, and Darrell following. They all headed towards the lounge area, going behind the large couch. Otto quickly hopped over it with everyone looking at everyone else.

"Darrell?" Matt said surprised, soon seeing Doug with him (who still looked sickly from being smooched by the man with the mustache). "Oh, hey Doug. What are you two doing here?"

Rachel butted in before the two of them could say anything.

"They're passing through as well," Rachel told Matt. "but they don't have a place to stay. Considering we get to stay for free thanks to you, I figured we'd let them stay with us."

Matt looked unsure.

"The VIP suites only have four rooms." he told her. "That's a lot of us already to fit into a single VIP suite."

"Nonsense." She told him, with Otto trying to get a word in between their conversation. "This is how I look at it: You and your Pokemon share a room, Otto get's a room, Laurence and I share a room, and Doug and Darrell share a room."

There was so much commotion going on after that that nobody heard Otto trying to talk.

"That's a lot of bed sharing..." Matt said. Laurence wasn't sure he was necessary comfortable with the idea either.

"My Lady," he told her, "I feel that it would be... less than proper for the two of us to share the same bed."

"And what about Doug and Darrell?" Matt added. "It might be a little weird for them to be sleeping together too."

"Why would it be?" Rachel asked. "They're a couple so I don't see it being that big of a deal."

Doug and Darrell looked mortified, with Doug almost throwing up again.

"We're not a couple." Darrell told her, getting irritated that everyone thought that Doug and him were gay for each other. Doug shook his head, holding his stomach in his sickness.

"I don't feel so good..." he murmured to himself.

"Oh..." Rachel said surprised. "I just assumed that-"

"To assume makes an ass out of people." Darrell interrupted. Laurence's purple eyes were set ablaze.

"Do not speak to my mistress with such disrespect." He told him sternly. Darrell shot him a nasty look, but said nothing as the crew continued to speak amongst themselves. Otto was still trying to get their attention, but with no such luck.

"But you guys don't mind sharing a bed if you had to, do you?" Rachel asked them worried. Doug and Darrell looked at each other, both shrugging.

"It's not that big of a deal, I guess." Doug told her sounding on the verge of vomiting.

"What about Matt?" Sissy asked a little upset. "I'm not too fond of Emie, Shade, and I all sharing the same bed with him..."

"Not to mention I don't think I'd fit..." Bomber impute.

"But Emie wants to sleep with Matt..." Emie told Sissy, who in return glared back at her.

"That's exactly the reason why I don't want you sleeping in the same bed as him. I wouldn't appreciate hearing you two going at it like rabbits, even more so with me beside you."

Matt smirked at Sissy, still with Otto trying his hardest to get their attention. He had now resorted to waving his hands around.

"So you wouldn't mind Emie and I fooling around anywhere else?" Matt joked. Sissy didn't find it too funny with Emie getting excited. Getting in his face, Sissy poked at his chest.

"Why the hell would I care?!" she yelled, desperately trying to keep the image of hating him.

"Because you're jealous?" Bomber asked her. Everyone started chuckling and giggling at his comment with Sissy's face turning red behind her dark orange fur. She snapped her head at him with her hands in balled fists.

"Nobody asked you what you thought!" she screamed. Bomber stumbled backwards a little, getting afraid of her. Matt put his hand on Sissy shoulder.

"Calm down," he said trying to sooth her, "I was only joking."

She smacked his hand away from her.

"No you weren't..." she said hurt. Matt frowned.

"It's a simple fix." Rachel told him. "Have your Pokemon sleep in their Pokeballs."

Sissy looked at Rachel in horror.

"I'm not sleeping in there!" she yelled. Emie frowned, nodding with Sissy.

"Emie doesn't really like her Pokeball either. The Pokeball is dark and scary inside..."

Bomber shrugged his wings.

"I don't mind doing that." Bomber told Matt. "I'm just thankful you've kept me out for so long, but it's not like you have to or anything."

"No offense," Shade said with her back facing everyone, still sitting on the couch watching TV. "I'm not really into the Pokeball thing either."

Rachel sighed, putting her hand on her chin in a thinking position.

"Hey," Otto said to everyone, "you guys..."

He went unheard once again. Rachel snapped her fingers with the light bulb in her head going off.

"I got it." she told him. "Have Emie and Sissy in their beast forms. That way it'd just be like sleeping with pets. That way there wouldn't be sexual tension, or at least I hope not."

Matt got mad at her imply he'd do anything to either one of them in their beast forms.

"I might like strange things," Matt told her, "but I'm not into bestiality!"

Rachel ignored him, looking over to Shade.

"That solves that, but what about her?" she asked. "Where's Shade gonna sleep if she's-"

"I'll just sleep inside Matt." Shade said, with the commercials coming on. She turned around and phased through the couch, walking over to Matt. Emie gasped as she saw Shade enter Matt with his eyes suddenly turning a light red. "That way it won't be awkward." she spoke through him.

Emie latched onto Matt in hysteria.

"NO MATT!" she pleaded. "DON'T EAT SHADE-SHADE AGAIN!"

Shade and Matt, sharing the same body, stared at Emie as she burred her face into his chest, sobbing as if she had lost a dear friend. Unsure if she were serious or not, Shade didn't know what to think.

"Nobody can be that dense, can they?..." Shade thought to Matt inside his head. Matt physically chuckled with his eyes returning to their deep blue.

"You obviously haven't gotten to know Emie that well, have you?" he came back.

Otto was at his breaking point with his face visibly red.

"FOR FUCK SAKE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "WILL EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP FOR FIVE SECONDS?!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking at him startled from how loud he had yelled.

"What the heck are you yelling about?" Rachel asked him with an unimpressed huff. Otto was about to snap somebodies neck. He put his hand on his head with his eyes clenched closed in anger.

"I'd tell you if you'd give me a change to actually say something."

"Then say it already." Rachel snapped. Otto opened his eyes, glaring at her.

"The road to Cerulean is closed." he told everyone. "Nobody is allowed to pass through Mt. Moon as of now."

Matt looked at his friend confused, pulling out the map that was in his inner jacket pocket, opening it up with a frown.

"But we have to go through there if we're gonna find Bill." Matt said aloud. Everyone frowned with even Doug and Darrell upset about that.

"How do we know it's not some rumor?" Rachel asked. The television behind them was in mid commercial before being interrupted by strange music. Everyone turned to look at the screen, even Amber who was sitting at her post.

On screen was an older male, presumably in his late fifties. He had gray hair that slightly stuck out beneath his military hat. Only the top part of him was shown, wearing a suit with an unfamiliar looking pin pinned onto it.

"Hello," he said in a fairly assertive voice. "this is General Gail from Gail Company informing all residents that as of now that Mt. Moon is under lock down. We apologize to everyone for this necessary inconvenience. We currently do not know how long this lock down will be, but assure everyone that this is only temporary. Thank you for your understanding."

The announcement cut out with the commercial coming back on.

"You still think it's a rumor?" Otto asked her sarcastically. She swore, looking at Matt a little worried.

"Why the hell are they locking Mt. Moon down?" she asked him.

"Someone said it was because of Team Rocket." Otto said.

Sissy's ears twitched with her eyes widening. Her expression grew almost enraged with her fists clenching again.

"Bastards..." she growled. "I should have known they'd screw something up while we were on our journey. They always do something..."

"Who the heck are they?" Rachel inquired.

"They're good for nothing scum that take whatever the fuck they want and do whatever they please!" Sissy yelled. "Those bastards deserve to die! Every last one of them!"

Matt was uncertain, but by the way she was acting it sounded like she had a few things she hadn't told him before about her past. A teardrop was forming in her eye, but she quickly wiped her eye as if she had something in it. Doug for some reason seemed a little more nervous with Darrell looking down at the floor as if ashamed.

"Isn't there another way around?" Rachel once again inquired with hope in her voice. Matt was staring at the map with his frown still present.

"According to the map it's the only way." he told her. "It's either that or we'd be forced to go through a cannon called Dead Man's Sliver. It doesn't appear to be travelable, or at least safely that is."

Rachel crossed her arms irritated.

"Well this is just perfect." her said sarcastically. "Now what do we do?"

Matt put his map away, looking at everyone, even Emie who was still clung onto him.

"Okay guys," he told everyone, "we've all been through a lot and maybe this is a good chance to settle down for a little and relax while we have the chance. There's no sense in getting upset at something we can't change. I spoke with Amber and she said our suite is finally open, so how about we all go upstairs and-"

"You!"

Matt looked behind everyone standing in front of him, being cut off by a young male in a white windbreaker with teal stripes. Looking exhausted, he stomped over in the direction of Matt with his finger pointed at him, creating a sense with everyone in the Pokemon center lobby staring.

"Shooting somebody with a tranquilizer is a cheap move!" Jimmy yelled at him. Matt looked at him confused with Bomber doing the same. Darrell and Doug awkwardly looked away innocently, acting like they had nothing to do with shooting Jimmy in the butt with a dart on accident.

"Who's this guy?" Bomber mumbled to Matt. He sighed, shaking his head at Jimmy.

"Look Jared-"

"Jimmy!" Jimmy roared. "My name's Jimmy, dammit!"

"Okay, whatever," Matt sighed, "look, I have no idea what the hell you're yelling about and frankly I don't care. I'm tired and just wanna relax."

"You're tired?!" Jimmy raved. "So am I! I've been running around some god forsaken forest thanks to some faceless freak in a suit! And I'm also tired of being made a fool by you! I'm challenging you to a rematch!"

Matt sighed, not in the mood for this crap. His Pokemon however seemed irritated by Jimmy, ready for action.

"I don't care who you are." Bomber told Jimmy. "You don't have the right to act like a jerk to my trainer."

Jimmy shot Bomber a dirty look.

"Did I say I was talking to you, bird brain?" Jimmy snarled. Matt felt Shade getting restless inside him.

"Nobody talks to him like that!" she shouted inside Matt's mind. "So help me, I'm gonna rip this guy a new asshole!"

"Calm down, Shade." Matt told her. "I don't like this guy anymore than you do, but I don't want you losing your cool."

"Don't talk to Matt like a meany face, you...you...meany!" Emie said grabbing onto Matt's hand. Jimmy started laughing at her.

"You've gotta be kidding me." he laughed. "She talks now too? God, she sounds retarded."

Emie's face grew red with Sissy gripping onto her bokuto handle.

"Nobody insults her but me!" Sissy hollered at him.

"Shut up, Mutt." Jimmy said harshly to her. "Don't you have something else to do like chase your tail or something?"

Rachel took a step forward and got in Jimmy's face.

"Keep talking shit and you're gonna have your nuts removed through your mouth!" she growled. Jimmy smirked back at her unimpressed.

"Oh, it's flat chest again." he laughed. "And what are you going to do if I don't stop talking?"

Rachel's eyes dilated, becoming silent.

"...What did you call me?" she asked him. Jimmy sneered in her direction.

"You heard me, flat chest."

Rachel blinked, quickly pulling her fist back suddenly. Laurence grabbed onto her arm before she could strike, holding her back. With his free hand, he adjusted his tie.

"Please forgive me, my Lady," he told her politely, "I feel that it would be improper for violence just yet. Allow me to demonstrate."

He made her lower her arm while moving her aside. Laurence stepped in front of Jimmy with everyone watching as he politely smiled at him.

"Who the hell are you?" Jimmy asked confused by the pale man in the suit. Laurence kept smiling, even at Jimmy's rudeness.

"No one of importance," he responded. "however, I disapprove of your harsh disposition towards my mistress and her friends. It's not very nice to go insulting people, you know."

"Like I give a shit what you think." Jimmy told him. "I'll do whatever the hell I want."

Laurence kept smiling.

"You remind me of a boy I once knew." Laurence told him. He put his finger on his forehead, thinking back years and years ago. "In fact, I believe it was actually here in Pewter city when it happened. He had a similar attitude like yours, however, I couldn't really blame him."

"And why is that?" Jimmy asked half caring.

Laurence kept smiling with his grin getting larger.

"Because I was killing his family." he responded.

Everyone grew dead silent, staring at Laurence with worry. Jimmy pulled his head back a little, not sure if he were lying or not. Laurence starting chuckling, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Now that I think about it I feel sorry for him." Laurence said with his smile still prevailing. "He didn't know what to do when I tore his father's arm off. Or was it his mother's arm?..." Laurence thought about it for a bit, soon remembering what had happened. "Wait, no it was his father's arm. I remember distinctly so because I had already torn his mothers heart out and ate it in front of him. Where was I? Oh! That's right, I had just ripped off his father's arm and tossed it on the floor. My men were busy dismembering the family's bodies afterward while I dealt with the son, who you resemble almost perfectly by the way."

Laurence began to laugh loudly at his own thoughts as everyone just stared mortified.

"This young son, about your age, naturally tried to raise a sword against me. After I cut his hand off for daring to defy me, I cut open his stomach while he was still breathing. You wouldn't believe how much he bled before he finally died. I was so impressed by his bravery that I took that very hand I cut off from him and put it in a jar. Come to think of it, I think I gave it to one of my soldiers as a present for their good work."

Laurence let out a sigh fueled by nostalgia.

"Forgive me," he apologized. "I didn't mean to ramble like that; it's a bad habit of mine."

Nobody knew what to say as Laurence put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder. To Jimmy, Laurence's touch was freezing cold. The purple in Laurence's eyes shimmered as he smiled at him.

"How about you come around another day when my mistress and her friends have settled in for a while. I'm sure Matt would be more than willing to have a rematch with you then."

Jimmy just stared at him wide eyed, nodding his head slowly. He backed away from Laurence, who let go of his shoulder. Keeping eye contact with him, he backpedaled away. After a few steps, Jimmy spun around and ran for his life out of the Pokemon center. Laurence once again adjusted his tie with smile. He turned to everyone, seeing them all staring at him disturbed. Doug was so freaked out he for some reason didn't feel sick anymore from being kissed by a man. The only one who wasn't necessarily freaked out was Darrell, who just stared at him in a whole new light. Actually, he sorta found a new respect for him.

"Shall we head for the suite?" he asked. Rachel looked at Laurence with a small and forced smirk on her face.

"That was...just you lying to scare him, right?" she asked. Laurence chuckled with one hand holding onto his elbow as he rubbed his chin with the other.

"Of course, dear." he told her. "I never put that lad's hand in a jar. That would have been just absurd."

"Wait," Otto said slowly, "so-"

"Let's just go upstairs already." Rachel interrupted, heading for the elevators. Nobody argued with her decision, gladly heading in the direction of where the elevator was after Otto grabbed his things.

Being given suite number two, Matt slid the key card through the door lock, opening it up. Everyone walked inside, seeing that it was just like the one in Viridian. The flat screen television was on the eastern wall with a couch facing it, looking like a square that was missing one side. The kitchen was also the same with a Refurbisher machine near it. Just like the last place, there were two doors on the eastern and western walls, being the rooms of the suite.

"Okay," Matt said, pointing at the farthest room on the eastern wall. "I call the room down there for my Pokemon and myself."

"I call the one over there." Rachel said pointing to the far room on the western wall. Otto looked over to the other remaining one on the west wall.

"I'll take that one." he said pointing at it.

"Then I guess Doug and I are gonna take the last one." he said motioning to the eastern wall room nearest to them. Without any other instruction, they all gladly moved throughout the suite in their own directions an intentions. Matt, Emie, Sissy, as well as Shade who was still inside Matt, made their ways to their room with Rachel and Laurence making their way to theirs. Doug and Darrell did the same with only Bomber and Otto left in the main part of the suite.

With his backpack hung over his shoulder, Otto made his his way over to the large television and set his backpack down. He zipped it open with Bomber wandering over behind the couch, lowering himself down to rest his legs. Having a large body, his head still was able to see over the couch, watching as Otto took out a strange device with a controller.

It didn't take Otto long to plug his ultimate game console into the television. He had made it a while back, calling it the UGC for short. It had almost every known video game known to man loaded onto it's hard drive, both old and new. Grabbing the remote that rested on the stand beneath the TV on the wall, he turned it on and headed over to the couch with his wireless controller in his hand.

Plopping down, Otto went through the list of games he had, selecting one that read: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He selected it with Bomber watching the intro play. He cocked his head at the screen, wondering who on earth the strange man in green was. He looked at Otto, seeing the same dark green color on his clothes, even on his bandana tied on his head.

"I've never seen this before." Bomber said to him "What is this?"

Otto turned his head, looking at Bomber who was still sitting behind the couch.

"Seriously?" he said surprised. "You've never heard of Zelda before?"

"No," Bomber said, still watching the character in green riding on a horse. "who is he?"

Otto narrowed his gaze at Bomber with a sigh. The classic misunderstanding of the title and the actual character's name proved that Bomber seriously had never heard of it before. He couldn't really blame him though considering they were both from different dimensions.

"That's just the name of the game." Otto explained. "The character's name is Link, not Zelda."

Bomber looked confused.

"Then why isn't it called "The Legend of Link?"

Otto laughed, pressing start and loading a new game.

"It's complicated." he told him. "You don't mind watching me play, do you?"

"I don't mind at all." Bomber told him cheerfully. "I'm actually rather curious."

And with that, the introduction of the game started playing.

Matt yawned, tossing his backpack onto the floor beside the large bed with Emie leaping onto the mattress. She rolled around playfully, extending her arms and legs, trying to mimic the sound Matt made when he yawned. Sissy took her bokuto from her side, laying it near Matt's backpack, sitting down on the edge of the bed with her hands in her lap. Matt glanced out the window of the room, seeing that it was now starting to get dark outside. He raised his arm up, smelling that he smelt bad.

"Ugh," he put his arms down. "I think I could use a shower too."

Emie's ears perked up, getting excited. She rolled over to her stomach with her cleavage showing through the top of her dark red tank top. Her upper left tooth protruded in her joy as she smiled.

"Emie wants to shower with Matt!" she said giddily. Sissy frowned, glancing at Matt with a glare.

"Oh god, yes..." Shade thought to herself unintentionally with Matt hearing her thoughts just as clear. Matt looked unsure back at Emie, momentarily glancing at Sissy.

"I don't know, sweetheart." he told her. "I don't think Sissy would like that."

Emie frowned, looking at Sissy, who had her arms crossed and her eyes shut closed.

"Oh..." Emie said saddened. "Why?..."

"Well," Matt said not sure what he should say. "I think she'd...um, feel a little left out."

Sissy huffed as if what he said were some cruel joke. Emie's face brightened when she got an idea.

"Sissy could join us!" Emie gleamed. Matt felt Shade within him growing excited beyond words. Sissy shook her head flustered.

"I will do no such thing!" She hollered.

"Oh, please, PLEASE, shower with the two of them..." Shade thought within his head, unaware the Matt could hear everything she was thinking on the account that they were sharing thoughts. "I really hope Matt forgot about me and showers with those two. Emie's a bombshell, but I'm sorta curious as to what that Growlithe looks like without her dress-thingy on. From what I can tell she doesn't have that big of boobs, but chances are she's got a nice ass..."

"She does have a nice ass." Matt thought back to her haughtily, making Shade startled. "You realize I just heard everything you were thinking, right?"

There was a silence within Matt mind.

"Hello," Shade thought within his mind in a monotone voice. "I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. BEEEP."

"That ain't gonna work, you pervert." Matt through back to her amused.

"...Fuck..." she swore inside his head. Like magic, she exited his body with Emie jumping up from surprise on the bed. Her face grew even happier, jumping from the bed and hugging Shade.

"Shade-Shade!" Emie beamed happily as she clung to her. "You're back!"

"Unfortunately..." Shade mumbled to herself. "I'll be on the couch if anybody needs me..."

Depressed from being unable to see either Sissy or Emie naked, Shade drug her feet towards the door and walked through it. Literally. Being a ghost Pokemon had it's perks, phasing through doors and walls being one of them.

Sissy sighed, still sitting on the bed upset.

"I don't care." she told Matt. "Go ahead and shower with Emie if you want. It's not like it matters."

Matt looked at her with sad eyes.

"Sissy," he told her, "if it bothers you so much I won't."

"I said I don't care." she repeated, standing up from the edge of the bed and moving to the side of it. She laid down on her side with her back facing Emie and Matt. He sighed, looking at Emie.

"Okay, Emie," he told her. "let's get cleaned up."

Emie jumped up and down with her chest bouncing along with her.

"Yay!" She giggled. "Emie and Matt get to shower together!"

Matt headed for the bathroom with Emie following. Before entering, he looked at Sissy one last time with a frown, still with her back facing him. He sighed once more, entering the bathroom with Emie, anxious to shower.

He closed the door behind them with Emie not hesitating when it came to taking off her clothes. She yanked down her gray shorts and threw off her tank top. Matt started taking off his pants as he watched Emie pull down her panties, kicking them to the side, nearly tripping over when she did so.

Matt pulled his shirt off, seeing Emie tugging helplessly at her bra. Unsure as to how the stupid thing came off, she kept yanking on it with grunts and huffs. Matt put his arms on her shoulders, turning her around with Emie allowing him to help her. He unhooked the bra with Emie pulling it off of her nearly the second he did so. Matt laughed, seeing Emie proudly toss the bra to the floor.

"You really don't like wearing clothes, do you?" he snickered. Emie turned to face him again with her ample breasts completely exposed. Matt kept eye contact with her as she shook her head with a smile that had her upper canine tooth sticking out as it usually did. She giggled when Matt poked her belly button, soon taking his underwear off. He kicked them off onto the floor along with his socks and shoes as he headed over to the shower with Emie right behind him, following with a spring in her step.

Matt and Emie entered the shower, turning it on with a surge of warm water coming out at them. Emie sneezed when water got in her nose, shaking her head with her ears folding back a little. The only thing she had on still was her collar, which was water proof, along with it being the only thing she was happy to wear. The bell on it made a weird noise as it 'jingled' with water getting into it.

Matt grabbed for the shampoo on the side of the shoulder, popping it open and spurting it some into the palm of his hand. He proceeded to lather the top of Emie's head with it, soon after motioning his hands down to her shoulders to lather more onto her.

"I should probably just stick to using shampoo on the rest of your body as well." he told her. "I'm not sure soap would be all that great for your fur."

She giggled as Emie allowed him to turn her around and lather her back with more shampoo from the complementary bottle of shampoo already in the shower. Moving his hands up and down her back made her coo, sounding comforted by his touch alone. She turned around when he stopped, watching him put shampoo in his own hair.

Emie stared at him with her smile soon fading. It was if she had suddenly became sad. Out of nowhere, she hugged him with Matt feeling the warmth of her body add to the warmth of the shower. She held onto him tightly with no sexual intent. Matt wasn't sure what was wrong, seeing her stare into his eyes with sadness.

"Are Matt and Emie lovers or only friends?" she asked him innocently.

Matt didn't say anything, looking back at her with a frown. He sighed, putting his hand behind her ear and scratched. She looked down with a frown, moving her head up against his chest and rested it there as he continued to scratch behind her ear. He continued to say nothing to her as she held onto him with the side of her head against his torso, still with him scratching behind her ear as the water ran down their backs.

Rachel was getting ready to take a shower herself, busily searching through her backpack for spare clothes, having brought a few pairs of everything before embarking on the journey with Matt. Laurence stood by her side as she pulled out her things.

"Will you be needing anything from me, my Lady?" he asked her politely. She pulled out a yellow shirt with her giving him a warm smile.

"I'm fine," she told him, "but thank you for asking."

He smiled back at her, giving a slight bow.

"I'll take my leave then." he told her, heading out the bedroom door. He watched him leave, unsure what to think of him. He was a true gentleman, but apparently had a sick sense of humor. Telling Jimmy that awful lie about killing a family and dismembering them was a bit much, even if he was just trying to scare him off. But, even though she knew it couldn't be true, what if he were serious?

"Don't be an idiot." She told herself with her clothes in hand, making her way into the bathroom that was in her room. She closed and locked the door behind her, setting her fresh clothes on the large counter with two sinks and giant mirror on the wall above it. Rachel started taking off her clothes, kicking her shoes to the side and working on tugging her socks off.

She couldn't help but think about what Laurence had said, even if it was just some fake story he made up. Was it even possible for someone to do that to someone? Rachel thought about it, completely undressing. Her train of thought stopped when she stared at her bare chest in the mirror. Sighing, she frowned at the reflection she saw, moving her hands up to her torso and placing them over her small breasts.

"Why couldn't I have been born with a C-cup?" she mumbled to herself. "I'd even be fine with a B-cup. Anything would be better than these puny things."

With her poor self image getting the best of her, she moved to the shower, entered it, and turned it on with water shooting out from the nozzle. The sudden chill made her shiver, quickly turning handle of the shower a little more to warm the water. Her muscles relaxed finally as the temperature of the water warmed up. She let her hands hang down, lowering her head down to let the water run down her back.

While doing so, she stared at her legs, getting a little more irritated. She never liked the way they looked, feeling that they were too twig like and lacking form. She put her hands on her hips, moving them up and down to feel the curve of her body. She had a natural hour glass figure, but it wasn't anything that great in her opinion. All she saw in herself were the flaws of her body.

She washed her body off, washed her hair, and repeated the process about three times, making sure she was squeaky clean. The entire time she had her mind wandering, thinking about how worthless she felt. Even if she didn't fess up to it, Rachel was a pessimist through and through. Everything she did was wrong in her eyes and every mistake she made was unforgivable.

Rachel felt guilty that she treated Matt like shit, even if he was used to her doing it by now. Even when they had been dating she'd constantly rag on him about everything. She'd point out his flaws, hoping that way he wouldn't realize her own. Every insult she threw at him was just her way of possibly distracting him from realizing that, in her opinion, she wasn't good enough for him. In the end, it didn't matter. She finally couldn't take being with him anymore due to the feeling of not being good enough, dumping him on the spot, telling him she wanted nothing to do with him.

Surprisingly, Matt didn't just abandon her like she thought he was going to do. Instead, he begged her to at least stay friends. Even if she were flattered by it, she pretended that she would do it only for his sake and not her own. In reality, she needed him as a friend more than he needed her as a friend. Sure, Matt sucked when it came to finances, but was always there when she felt like shit. He'd pick her up when she was feeling down, making her feel like her life had meaning.

Even after the romance between them was gone and after countless boyfriends afterwords, he was still there for her. Actually, he was the one who comforted her when her relationships crashed and burned like they always did. None of them usually lasted for more than a few weeks, with all of them being just as bad as the last.

Rachel realized she was spacing out in her thoughts, finally forcing herself to turn off the shower water with water dripping from her body. She stepped out and closed the shower door behind her. Not bothering to grab the towel on the rack nearest to her, she stood in front of the mirror and stared at her naked self. The longer she stared the more depressed she became.

To Rachel, she was not only unattractive on the outside, but she was on the inside as well. She was nothing but a burden to everyone, making everyone's lives harder than they needed to be. In truth, she thought she was better off dead. A tear landed on the bathroom floor as she continued to stare at the figure she saw in the mirror, almost repulsed by how much she hated it.

"I was kissed...by a man..." Doug repeated for what Darrell had counted to be the ninth time. Busily going through his duffel bag, Darrell sat on the floor with Doug lying on the bed in disgust. What Laurence had said to Darrell stuck in his mind.

"A man of masks..." he repeated to himself silently. He stopped arranging things in the duffel bag, leaning back against the edge of the bed that was positioned against his upper back. He looked up at the ceiling not sure what to think anymore. "Hey, Doug? Can I ask you something."

"Sure..." his friend told him, staring at the ceiling as well as he laid on his back on the bed.

"You remember how we met?"

Doug nearly snorted from the laugh he made.

"How could I forget?" he said. "You literally ran into me after you were running like hell. Nearly got shot too thanks to you"

Darrell chuckled, remembering as if it had happened yesterday. He was running from a farmer with a loaded shotgun in his hand in the small town Doug and Darrell lived in at the time. Darrell wasn't looking at where he was going, bashing into Doug as he was trying to escape. The farmer assumed Doug was with him, taking pot shots at the two of them, soon both running side by side through the small little town.

"You ever regret meeting?" Darrell asked him. Doug sat up and looked at him.

"Why would you ever say something like that?" he asked him upset. "You're my best friend, of course I don't regret meeting you."

Darrell laughed, shrugging as he reached inside the duffel bag once again.

"Thanks to me you got sucked into a life of crime." Darrell told him. "Not many people would have stuck with a Shadow Assassin from Team Rocket."

There was a silent pause with Doug looking at the back of Darrell's head.

"Let me ask you a question then." Doug said. "Do you regret losing your rank thanks to your good for nothing friend?"

Darrell pulled out a gray mask made of iron. There were holes for eyes with a line scrapped across the front of it, sorta looking like a line for a mouth. The multiple leather straps that were on the back of it were still good with the mask itself being in excellent condition. He held it in his hand, reaching in with his other and pulling out a black nine millimeter pistol of his, holding it in his hand and remembering what things used to be like..

"I don't regret meeting you." Darrell assured him. "You're the best friend I've ever had. At least you never shot at me like half the people I met in my days working in the higher ranks of Team Rocket."

"With me booting you down to grunt status thanks to me unable to handle anything on my own." Doug added with a sigh.

Darrell set the gun back down in the duffel bag with the mask still in his hand, standing up from the floor and looking at his friend with a serious look in his eyes.

"It's not your fault." he told him. "If anything I should be thanking you for that. Things were bound to catch up to me sooner or later." Darrell stared at his mask, seeing the stoic expression of the 'face' on it. "I'm surprised I lived long enough to be demoted in the first place."

Darrell thought to himself, still holding the mask in his hand with his grip tightening. How Laurence knew he used to be a Shadow Assassin for Team Rocket was beyond him. He finally forced himself to loosen his grip on the mask, letting it fall back into the duffel bag.

"Just be glad you're done with that life." Doug told him trying to be positive about the past. Darrell stared at the mask that now stared back at him as it rested in his duffel bag next to his gun.

"I hope so..." Darrell said quietly to himself.