authors note:ITS SUNDAY BOYS...and you know what that means...
"State your name and age, loud and clear for the court to hear."
"Avery Higgs. I'm nineteen years old."
I'd never been great at public speaking, or talking in front of crowds in general. And right now... a thousand eyes burned into me. A stern, cold wall of hatred gazed back as I stared out into a miasma of angry faces. I scanned their frigid, angry eyes, looking for any sign of a friend. Of familiarity. And I found it.
Mom was there, in the front row. She was sitting behind some guy in a gray suit. And as I sat there, a flood of recognition filled me. I realized that guy...he was my lawyer. They'd caught me. Caught me with Eva, and with Chastity. They'd found the video of Angel and I...Red Ebony and I. All of these people... they knew everything.
Mom was sobbing into her handkerchief.
My heart broke. Yes, all of this made sense, I remembered it now. I was in court because I made love to my precious Pokemon partners.
The judge was some obese guy with a curly mustache, and looking at him, I could tell he loathed me. As did everybody else in the room, but especially the prosecutor who'd asked me the question.
He was a tall man and beyond handsome, with hair of pure white and eyes of blue. And he locked them on me as he smiled. Something about him was familiar, but his identity eluded me. His cold, inhumane eyes burned like blue fire as he swept across the courtroom- standing directly across from me. Challenging me.
"Right. Mr. Higgs... what age were you when you began raping Pokemon?"
"...Nineteen.." I answered. And I shook my head. " I didn't rape them. I love them."
The crowd became impossibly loud. They jeered and they booed. They threw things at me. I had to cover my ears, it hurt to know that they thought this way about me. Mom was sobbing even harder now. She didn't understand. None of them understood.
"Right... I'd like to call a witness to the stand your honor."
"Permission granted." the judge nodded.
My heart broke as a familiar form appeared. She had long, curly brown hair. And green eyes framed by black glasses. Freckled and beautiful. Mabel... I stood up and reached out for her.
"M-Mabel- you don't understand! I'm sor-"
My shoulders were seized by an invisible force and I was slammed back down in my seat. My head felt dazed and foggy, I couldn't focus. This was miserable.
"Hello. Introduce yourself to the court please, tell us why and how you know the accused." The white-haired guy smiled.
Mabel nodded solemnly. "My name is Mabel Foster. I'm sixteen. Avery was my first boyfriend. I loved him... but he broke up with me."
The white-haired guy nodded. "So a pedophile on top of a Pokephile."
Mabel shook her head. "We never had sex, sir."
She was defending me...the next words shattered the meager hope that'd crept inside me. Mabel looked me right in the eyes, and hatred like fire glinted back at me.
"He's not just a pedophile...He tried to rape me."
Guilt threatened to crush me. It felt like I was sinking through the floor, endless black misery filling my chest, acid filling my throat and threatening to burst free. I was going to be sick. That day was one of my biggest regrets. It haunted me around every corner and refused to leave, like a bug in my brain. If Mabel had been a weaker girl...I might have raped her. I'd like to say that I would've pulled myself together enough to stop myself but I'd made so many choices these past weeks I never thought I'd make.
Tears streamed down my cheeks and I couldn't gather the strength to wipe them off. The crowd gazed apathetically back. They didn't care that I hadn't been myself that day. Neither did Mabel...and neither did I.
I could make excuses for myself but that wouldn't change what happened. Crushing my teeth together, I forced my body to move. Slamming my fists down on the podium I stood up. "I'm sorry Mabel!!! ! I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted to-"
The invisible force slammed me down again, so hard my teeth clattered together and pain fogged my brain. I was woozy, that acid black feeling in my throat again.
"Why do you think he broke up with you?" The blue-eyed man questioned further.
"Because Avery is sick in the head. He wants to have sex with Pokemon..." Mabel looked right at me. "He never did anything to me because Avery is a Pokemon rapist, sir. The worst kind of scum there is."
My heart shattered into pieces.
I loved Mabel. I loved her shy smile, her warm green eyes. I loved walking home with her after long classes. I loved the way she helped me when I was struggling with my schoolwork. She was kind, she was gentle, she cared about the well being of people around her. She was so sweet, and I never, ever deserved her. When she told me she liked me... it was one of the best days of my life. We'd dated so briefly, and I wanted her to be by my side every day. If only she'd accepted the possibility of Poke-love, if only she understood...
Something flickered. A slender form, with green pigtail like growths on her head. Did I know it? Yes...I think I did.
"Master, please open your eyes!"
The prosecutor swept his hand out, and just like that, the strangely familiar form disappeared.
"Court is in session! And I will not have any disruptions!" The white-haired man in the suit snarled.
Lady? The name entered my head and vanished just as fast.
"Calling forth the next witness!!!"
Mabel faded away, replaced by another familiar face. A face curtained by long, straight black hair. Her make-up was flawless, dark mascara and ruby red lipstick. Deep brown eyes surrounded by thick lashes stared into me like lasers, full of hate and accusation. My girlfriend, Juliet Harmon. I stared at her, mouth agape. "J-Juliet! I have to tell you something..." I hadn't expected to see her so soon. I wasn't ready. Amara... poor Amara... When I tried to explain it, I felt like my mouth was forced shut.
The man with the white hair smiled mysteriously and turned toward Juliet. "Please. Tell the court about yourself."
Juliet nodded. "Of course. It's my fault he's like this. I was... well, I enabled his sickness. I was quite "sick" myself for a while-"
Juliet would never say that. If I had to say one thing about my girlfriend for sure it's that she understood the true nature of Poke-love. The suited man glared at me as awareness flooded me. It faded as fast as it came and he smiled, grinning.
"That's right. Settle down Mr. Higgs. We have one more witness after this and you wouldn't want to miss that...now Miss Harmon...tell me more."
Juliet nodded. "I'm sure you know Vanessa. You read the case, you know why Avery's here. He...caused my sister to die." I trembled as tears slipped from her deep brown eyes. "He had the chance to tell her to leave...he could have shouted it. He could have told her about a boy he saw being tortured there, Luke. But for some reason he didn't. He left. He left them at that table."
The prosecutor nodded. He turned to me, a sinister smile on his face. "That's right. I did read the case. I know all about that mansion. The blueprints of the place, what went on in every room...truly the stuff of nightmares."
His eerie blue eyes burned into me, chilling me to the core. He knew everything...
"So tell me Mr. Higgs-"
Juliet stood up, eyes wide and accusing. "Tell me Avery!!!"
I could do nothing but sit there as the entire crowd stood and started throwing things at me. Knives and rocks that I had to duck to avoid. Sharp pain pierced every inch of me as Juliet spoke, as one with the prosecutor...two voices overlapped.
"Why did you walk away from that table? Why did you kill Amara Harmon? You coward!!!!
"You coward!!!" The crowd screamed. They started to jeer and boo. My mother just sobbed.
"How could you Avery? That poor poor girl..." She wept. "That poor girl... that poor girl...that poor girl..."
Mom. I'm sorry. I'm not the man, the son, I wanted to be. I should have been stronger. I should have been braver. I should have...
"Poor girl indeed..." The prosecutor sighed, his voice sad. "Let's bring out the final witness to Mr. Higgs guilt. The worst victim of the accused...and the most forgotten. Or rather...ignored."
Juliet was there one moment. And the very next...a small girl replaced her.
A girl with tan skin, long blue hair, and golden contacts. She was staring at me with sad eyes, broken eyes. She'd seen so much, been through so much. Her face was beaten and bruised, and she...she wasn't herself. Usually so strong and brave the girl before me was weak and terrified. She needed me.
She always needed me. And I ignored her. Always caught up in my own self-inflicted misery. Because of that...
"Zoey..." I whispered. "Please...please forgive me."
Zoey shook her head. "Big bro..."
She hadn't called me that in so long.
"I can't forgive you." Zoey trembled. "If only you'd kept a closer eye on me...you would have known. That Jack was...preying on me. I showed him so much of myself, big bro. You saw the pictures didn't you?"
I had. I'd seen every photo she sent him. They lingered in the back of my mind. Every filthy text. Hatred filled me to my core. Toward myself, toward that bastard Jackson Wainwright...
"You knew something was off, big bro. The way I dressed, how Jack was buying me things, when you looked inside my room you knew...and yet..."
The man in the suit shook her head. "Show him what happened because of his neglect."
Zoey nodded. The judge watched with beady narrowed eyes as my baby sister marched to the center of the courtroom...and undressed. Her body was as abused as her face. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. I broke down, sobbing, as her genitals were revealed.
"No..." I screamed as I saw the state of them. A girl her size could never take a Bouffalant.
The prosecutor put a hand on Zoey's shoulder and stared at me hatefully.
"You think you're some kind of hero!!! This young girl. Your sister. The poor, poor, poor girl. Raped repeatedly and beaten by a man, her tiny pussy destroyed by the cock of a Pokemon more than double her size. You're a monster Mr. Higgs! You let this happen!"
"I let it happen," I whispered.
"That's right. You ran off to rescue a dead woman. Unable to face what really matters. The family you failed. The family you continue to disappoint with poor choices and neglect."
"I know!!! I know. Arceus, I know, please stop! Please make it stop! I can't ...I can't handle this anymore forgive me!"
The man sneered. "Make it stop? Only you can make it stop. You're a victim of your own useless decisions!!!"
He seemed so tall now, standing over me. Black and white, blue eyes burning.
"You don't deserve forgiveness, Avery Higgs."
A familiar green and white form appeared once again, this time right before me.
"Master, wake up! It's a dream. Please..."
Those icy blue eyes locked onto me. The man with the suit and the red tie began to laugh and his body flew into the air, dissipating into a black and misty form. He began to fade away. As he disappeared for good he whispered in my ear.
"Mr. Higgs.. I am the master of this mansion. This nightmare is just beginning... take from me and I will take from you."
I woke up with a gasp. My entire body was hot and dripping with sweat. It was the middle of the night. Eva and Chastity were deep asleep but Lady was awake. She was sitting in my lap; the small psychic/fairy type stared at me with her huge red eyes, full of concern.
I didn't have to say a word about my dream. She already knew. My throat was tight and I felt tears drip down my cheeks as I remembered the humiliation of those revelations in front of such a huge crowd; remembered the look in my mother's eyes.
Mabel, Juliet, Zoey.
'I'm sorry master. You didn't hurt Eva. Or Chastity. You're no rapist. Your heart is pure... That's why I love you. I think anyone could see that.'
I couldn't find it in me to scold Lady as she whispered in my mind. The beautiful Kirlia leaned forward and pressed her tiny white hands onto my racing heart.
'Calm down. It will be okay... I will always be here for you. I will never look at you like they did...'
When had my baby Ralts grown up? I was so busy in this messed-up mansion I hadn't been able to see my little one's evolution. Now, a young woman sat on my lap, not the little lady I used to see.
Her soft, yet pleading -and oddly maternal-voice brought me the comfort I desperately needed. It struck a chord in me. I was still terrified from that nightmare but I felt my fears melt away as Lady stared me down. She smiled when she noticed my body lose tension, shoulders slumping and eyes drooping shut.
"That's it, master. Go to sleep." I whispered.
My trainer's handsome face drooped as his eyelids shut. His head was back on the pillow, and he fell deep asleep seconds; this time without nightmares plaguing his mind. I sighed with relief. That had been... well, startling was an understatement. It'd been terrifying.
One moment we were all deep asleep in his bed. The next I knew I was forced awake by an overwhelmingly powerful myriad of emotions coming from my master. So powerful I couldn't even breathe. It'd felt like I was drowning. One look into his mind pulled me inside in an instant, but I managed to bat away the terrible energies that threatened to take over me. My love for my master was more powerful than any Pokemon would ever dare to compare. I would die for him. I had already almost died for him. I would gladly do so again until I... well, until my eyes finally did close for the last time.
I wasn't like Eva or Chastity. Maybe before, when I was a Ralts, I was the same as them. Hungry for my Master and desperate for attention. But I found evolution had brought with it a new understanding of the world, an attunement with masters emotions, and infinite patience. Master loved me, far more than those two, because I understood him inherently. Inside and out. I would never say it to their faces, such a fact would do nothing but hurt Eva or Chastity, but it was a fact nonetheless.
I let out a soft sigh and pressed my head into Master's chest. Listened to his heartbeat. It was calm and slow now but before it had seemed like it was going to burst from his chest. I thought back to the nightmare I'd just witnessed. An ice-cold shard of fear flooded my chest. That man with the blue eyes... I had no doubt. It was the same Pokemon that I'd seen flying above that woman. An evil, sinister force like nothing I'd ever seen. I had to stop him. Had to stop the woman.
Against his wishes, I've been exploring master's mind while he was unsuspecting for the past few days and nights. He was getting better at knowing when I was in his head, but I was getting better at hiding it, and getting better at exploring the terrain inside his head; better at finding all his secrets: His lust, love, everything. All his memories were so chaotic and rushed, stuffed into a period of a few weeks. Meeting Eva, saving me, discovering the love that can exist between a human and a Pokemon, mating with a Pokemon for the first time, mating with a human woman for the first time, discovering his best friends betrayal... and of course Vanessa. The terrifying and sick human woman that'd trapped us all here.
I had no doubt in my mind. Vanessa was the woman with the monster from the other day. I'd seen her for myself, both within his head and strutting through the hall. She thought she was in complete control, of everyone here. But I saw the strings.
It was him. She was nothing. All she did was feed him, blissfully unaware of the greater powers at play in this place
I leaned up and gently kissed Master on the lips. He was still asleep but his mouth opened slightly on instinct. I didn't dare do anything dirty or uncouth like I wanted to in that moment. No... Master would kiss me like an adult when he was ready to. I couldn't help but smile. His lips were so soft...
I slipped off him and hopped onto the floor.
I made it halfway across the room when a familiar sound came from behind me, but heavier than usual.
I turned and met the accusing glare of Eva, my sister.
She was a new Pokemon entirely now, all dark fur and red eyes. She narrowed her gaze at me. "Where do you think you're going? We're not exploring. It's nighttime. We should both be sleeping with Avery."
Bizarre she even called addressed him as such.
Cold annoyance filled me as I shushed her. Eva was older than me, and she'd known Master longer, but she was so childish in comparison. Why couldn't she just let me slip away? I had to do this on my own, she would only get in my way! I liked Eva, of course. She was my sister, but she was also...
Well...inferior. In every meaning of the word. And I was about to prove that.
I stared at Eva. In a moment, her accusatory expression changed to confusion...and then fear. I felt a throb of pain in my head from the effort. She was resisting far better than I expected especially since this was my first time doing so with her. But I was stronger mentally, she couldn't resist forever. I watched with satisfaction as she fell deep asleep in seconds. I let out a heavy sigh, slumping slightly as exhaustion filled my frame.
No. I couldn't be tired yet. There was too much I had to do.
I turned around and headed back to the door. Yet another noise disturbed me. This time of the human variety...would everything stand in my way tonight? I turned with a scowl.
"Jacky..." the woman called Marissa mumbled. She was twitching on the ground. Apparently putting Eva to sleep had made my hold on her slip. I didn't dare risk putting her to sleep again. I needed to save all my power for Vanessa and her master. Marissa's eyes snapped open and she gasped, sitting upright.
She looked around wildly, then stopped panicking as her gaze settled on me. "You...O-Ouch..." She whispered as she rubbed the back of her head, apparently in pain from where Master had banged her head against the wall yesterday. Apparently in too much pain to function...because she fell back asleep.
I cocked my head. That human was an interesting one. Pink hair and big blue eyes. Apparently she had been the one to raise Eva. She was an annoyance to master, but I knew she was no threat. Her mind was in shambles from what I'd done to her. Patches of memories stitched together here and there ...so much so she barely knew who she was anymore. Master had lingering fears revolving around the woman. I hadn't told him yet that what I'd done to her was irreversible, even if I wanted to.
It would only make him feel more guilty.
Marissa Wainwright was a different woman nowz only traces of her former self remaining. She was a woman who had committed a great deal of sins that she once felt no guilt over. Now, they lingered in her mind like a miasma, a storm. Unavoidable, her ego taking over when before she had been blind to her ways. She was desperate to redeem herself in the eyes of the brother she was in love with. In some ways, I felt guilty for doing such a thing.
Dad would be proud of me, no doubt. But mother...she would never excuse it. Messing with minds to such a degree was... well, it was immoral, because in many cases it caused permanent damage, like in this case, but I didn't feel too bad. She was a better human being now. She'd done it to herself. She'd hurt even and more importantly...she'd made an enemy of master.
Made an enemy of me.
I gave her one last disgusted look and left the room. I had a more important enemy to face.
Going into my master's dreams, tormenting him not just during the day but during a peaceful night of sleep? Accusing him of horrid things, stabbing into his vulnerable places? It was unforgivable.
What I was about to do to Vanessa was far, far worse. I wouldn't hold back.
