A/N:

Hey, good to see you all again! Since this is the closest update to the date, think it's worth mentioning that this fanfic is now (about) one year old! Glad that it wasn't just a phase that I picked up and was eventually going to get bored of.

Now, I think it's only fair to warn everyone that the next chapter might take me some time to write - there is going to be a lot to cover. I'm thinking it'll be the length of one of my older chapters. Once you read this chapter, you'll understand why that is. Trying not to spoil anything, you know? Anyways, hope that you all enjoy reading the latest addition to the story. Also be sure to check out Into Darkness if you enjoy my style of writing.

One year later and I still don't own pokémon...

Thanks again to Lunar Knight Archangel for peer reviewing and proofreading! Glad to have ya back man!

"…" - Spoken dialogue

Italics - Michael's thoughts

'Italics' - Telepathic dialogue

/\/\/\ - Lemon Scene


Fighting terrorism is not unlike fighting a deadly cancer. It can't be treated just where it's visible - every diseased cell in the body must be destroyed.

-David Hackworth


Ch. 21 - The Second Tour

The days rushed by, and the first of March creeped upon them, signaling the beginning of the Twenty-Fifth Squad's second tour. Michael, Zeke, and the Commander stood at the base's landing port as they watched the Chinook approach from the distance. After nearly four months, Michael would be reunited with the rest of the only family that he had left. He grinned as he imagined what the ride may have been like - Alex rambling on and on about some new technological advance that nobody else likely cared about, or Thomas and Samuel trying intently to overlook the other.

But with whatever tensions may be among the Twenty-Fifth, they would stop at nothing to finish what they had started and destroy the remnants of Douglas's creation. And when the time came, none of them would hesitate to put a bullet in his head. All in due time… Right now, he was more focused on the helicopter as it landed.

"Well, I guess this means we're officially back to work," Zeke stated.

"Maybe. But if all goes according to plan, then we will effectively postpone the need for our services. Once we've put Stone in the ground, Kanto should finally be stable, and everything will calm down."

The helicopter touched down on the landing pad, and soon, the five Reapers on board stepped out.

. . . . .

After the reunion, Commander Hawkins scheduled a meeting for the start of their second tour of duty. Mainly, he had said, the point of the discussion would be to highlight their plans for the upcoming months.

"So to recap what's happened as of recently: Stone's admins have been taken care of, and with the death of Higgs and the seizing of their financial assets, they are in a world of hurt. My guess is that they are being extremely cautious of every move they make. We've shut the border down indefinitely until we are absolutely certain that every last person involved in trafficking has either been killed or captured. For the time being, his father is also in our custody. Granted, Steven's voting record suggests that he doesn't see eye-to-eye with his son, but we cannot take any chances. Not when Douglas has sold as many lives as he has, and certainly not if he plans to bring about a civil war in Johto."

"Wait, you've brought in the champion of Hoenn?" Kevin asked. "What the hell is that gonna do to their league?"

"That's their problem," Wesley said with a shrug. "In our defense, Hoenn is not having to deal with traffickers on their front door. At least, not as of recently. It wouldn't exactly be wise for them to fight us on this, either. This is by far for the greater good."

"Fair enough."

"Do not fret over the champion's wellbeing. He is anything but a prisoner here, and has been cooperative in every manner. Likely you'll see him wandering around the base. But back to the situation at hand - as of now, both the Reaper program and the CIC are diverting all resources to taking down Stone."

"That's good to hear," Thomas said.

"Yeah," Samuel added. "Shit, if he manages to spark a conflict here, people like Michael and I will be some of the first to be targeted." Admittedly, though, that was a good point. Both Ethan and The Assembly mentioned their hate of relationships between pokémon and humans…

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit," Wesley replied. "That, as well as the fact that we don't want our fucking country to break apart, is the reason that Stone is our number one priority. As we speak, Kanto is being throughly searched in an effort to locate his main quarters. When we find him, that part of the map won't be habitable for the next hundred years. We will call in an airstrike unmatched by any non-nuclear detonation."

"Hell yeah," Kevin said.

"But, until that day comes, we are to be ready to shut down any operations that he attempts otherwise. And that brings us to what we'll be doing this upcoming week. As a result of the sheer loss of personnel Douglas's organization has suffered, chances are that he's gonna need more people - both for grunt work and the higher-up stuff. Our sources suggest that he may be planning a prison break in Pewter in order to fill some vacancies."

"Arceus, that'd be chaotic. Kanto has had more than its fair share of instability for the decade. I don't know what a prison break would do over there," Michael stated.

"Nothing good, that's for sure. If we find the rumor to be true, then we will act accordingly. In the meantime, I expect you each to be ready as you usually would. It is still very well possible that we may dispatch any of you at a moment's notice."

After he had concluded, the Reapers were given permission to leave. As soon as they left the room, Michael released his five pokémon.

"Sooo… how'd it go?" Layla asked.

"About the same as it usual does. Need to be ready like always."

"So nothing's changed then," Charlotte said. She lightly shook her head, before noticing Samuel among the others. "Hey there. Long time no see. Do you have Nicole with you?" He simply rolled his eyes before withdrawing the ball from his pocket and releasing the golden vulpine. The two foxes wasted no time in speaking with one another, almost as though they hadn't conversed in ages, when in reality it had only been a matter of days since their last video chat.

"Cackling like a bunch of children," Ver murmured.

"Hell, I should probably let mine out too," Alex said, before doing just that and letting Lillian and Greninja join the others.

"How was everyone's break?" Michael asked as they headed towards the stairs.

"Not very eventful," Alex admitted. "Kinda a relief to be back, you know?"

"Gonna really be a relief when Douglas is outta the picture," said John.

"Seriously, his time can't come soon enough. For him and The Assembly," Thomas added, receiving a slightly irritated look Samuel.

"Oh? Thought you might actually be supportive of those assholes." Fuck, Samuel. Why'd you have to go and say that? But to everyone's surprise, Thomas shook his head.

"No. I've been giving everything a hell of a lot of thought these past couple of months. I'm no alt-rightist." Samuel wasn't expecting to hear that; that was for sure.

"So then you've had a change in beliefs?" The large Reaper took time in giving his answer as he carefully selected his words.

"I don't think so. I never supported their violent methods… and I can't get behind their ideals, for that matter."

"Well that's a shocker," Samuel replied.

"I don't believe it," Nicole piped up. "You dislike pairings like ours, and you're disgusted by our union. Though Sammy's done nothing to earn your hate, he still has it. All because he has the feelings he does." Her words came out in a fiery, bitter tone, and if looks could kill…

"Look… how someone else lives their life is none of my business. I've come to realize that, and I'm sorry for the shit I said awhile ago. But I never said that I hated you, Sam, even though I disliked what you were doing at the time. I'm sick of all the walking on thin ice, for fuck's sake." Despite his previously angered demeanor, Samuel was caught in a situation where he wasn't sure how to respond. But unlike him, Nicole had something to say.

"Well if that's the case, that's good to hear. But what you said… you've got me wondering…" Nicole said to Thomas.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well… you said that you disliked what we were doing at the time… what changed that view?" Good luck getting out of this one, bud.

"I uhh… I just came to think that there really isn't anything wrong with it…"

"Uh huh, sure…" Nicole didn't sound too convinced by the tone of her voice. "And that's it? You just up and decided that it was time for a change of heart?"

"…Yep."

"Alright, if you say so…" Hell if she's not onto you Thomas.

"I mean… what's the harm in it? It's not immoral or anything. If it was, Arceus wouldn't have made reproduction a possibility. I just think that the people like Stone who would advocate for killing those in such a relationship need a bullet to the head," he said, as though trying to throw Nicole off of his trail. His words, though, had an unintended effect.

"I understand why you would feel that way," a voice to the side said. They turned to look at its origin, and came to face none other than the champion of Hoenn himself.

"…Shit. Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—."

"No, as I said, I understand," the older trainer said. "I would be ready to put an end to Douglas as well if I were in your position. After all he's done…" The silver-haired trainer looked nothing like how he did on television - the casual yet sharp look that he had always been known to display had been replaced with that of emptiness; a look of emptiness that Michael had very well experienced.

"I'm sorry for how he turned out," John said.

"It just… doesn't make sense," Steven said, shaking his head. "He hadn't talked about any of it. All of a sudden, he's gone one day and authorities are raiding my house. I hadn't heard a word about him ever since he took off… and then I get told all of this…"

"It just really hits home, doesn't it?" Michael asked. "You never see it coming."

"See, he actually went through something similar," Alex said, before shooting Michael a glance. "That is… if you don't mind me telling him…"

"No it's fine. I've come to terms with it all."

"Michael here got hit up with the news that his father worked for Douglas as the second-in-command of the whole shitshow."

"I'm… sorry to hear that," Steven said. "How were you able to cope?"

"Not easily. At least, not at first. I wouldn't say we were really close to begin with, but… it still hurt to find out that he was doing what he was doing. But really, it forced me to think about where my priorities were. And you know what I came to realize? Everyone that's really important to me is in this building. I didn't need the father that would rather kill those he doesn't agree with."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I made the mistake of confronting him about his profession - if you can even call it that. I should've waited for us to take him into custody, but I wasn't thinking clearly. I wanted to know then and there, you know? Well that worked out great. I told him that him and the others in his organization had no souls - that they were worst than the people they sought to do away with. But what really got to him was when I told him I was involved with my girls here."

"Not supportive?" Steven asked.

"You could say that. He tried to kill me."

"Oh…"

"He died that night; I put a bullet right in his heart. I don't know how much this supposed to help - you clearly still have some sense of attachment to Douglas."

"He's my son. Of course…"

"Maybe. It takes more than genetics to make a family. I will say that I am right-winged - very - but I despised everything about what Ethan Higgs and all those who worked for him stood for. I am not related to that; he is not my family." He motioned to his fellow Reapers and his girls. "This is."

"That is… a good point," Steven said, "but Douglas is still my child…"

"And he is still our target," Kevin said, clearly without consideration for the champion's circumstance.

"I understand that. But if I could ask anything of you all and your authorities, it would be that you bring him in alive." Despite his prominence, his desperation was apparent - his desperation for them to spare the life of the sole person responsible for several thousand ruined lives.

"You know we don't have much of a say in that," John replied. "We are prepared to do what we need to - that is, if we even have a hand in the confrontation at all. More than likely an airstrike will be called in right on his ass. I'm sorry… but I don't know what else to tell you…"

"Alright," Steven said with a nod, "I guess I'll just have to hope for a miracle." He stood silently, likely letting it all sink in. It was unlikely he'd ever see his son again - not alive, at least. That was a sickening thought, but not one that Michael could offer any insight towards. Why the champion could still harvest some sense of positive emotion towards a terrorist he had no idea. He had quickly come to terms with Ethan's death, hadn't he? Why couldn't the champion severe ties with Douglas? Maybe it was just something about being a parent that Michael didn't understand - having brought someone like this into the world.

Steven left their presence soon after, leaving them uncertain as to his next course of action. The larger-than-life character that the media had displayed had not been present over the course of their discussion. No one could say for certain how all this would affect Steven's career; only time would tell.

. . . . .

The call had come two days later. The Commander had alerted the Reapers that they had indeed confirmed the intentions of the terrorists - a full-scale prison break was their plan to retrieve more thugs for grunt work. The plan of engagement was to assign Reapers over the perimeter of the Rossner Correctional Facility and to have over two dozen CIC personnel on standby.

"Wait… three of us are going?" Thomas asked.

"Yes. With the previous unrest at the border, we need to keep some specials ready to go at all times," Wesley replied. "So it's been decided that you, Samuel, and Alex will remain here while Kevin, Michael, and John will head to Rossner. Since you won't be playing a part in this mission, the three of you are now excused." As such, they got up and left.

"Now here's the map of the area of interest." The table lit up, and a display of the prison complex and the surrounding areas appeared. The Rossner Correctional Facility bordered the outskirts of town, with a series of apartments stretching along the east side of the building. Nearly two-hundred yards south of the entrance was a small branch off of the main highway system, which veered away and towards Route 16, and rolling hills were the sole occupants of the northern and western corners of the map.

"As you all can see, the enemies could be come from any direction. The highway would provide for a means for them to move large amounts of forces relatively quickly, so we're going to have to blockade it. That leaves the apartments and the hills. It would be highly unlikely that they would attack from the north or west, since they'd be exposed, so I'll be shifting our focus to the apartment complex. The CIC will be taking care of the highway and the more vacant areas, just to make sure we don't leave anything uncovered. More than likely though they'll make their appearance from one of these buildings. If that happens, the CICs will gradually make their way towards you."

"So where exactly are we going to wait?" John asked. "I mean, if we rush in there in full suit, that'd be more than obvious…"

"Our sources suggest that the attack will take place from any time between midnight and two in the morning. Darkness is on our side here."

"Makes sense."

"So the three of you will keep on the lookout for anything unusual. Thinking that here might be a good area for coverage," he said, pointing towards the tall, wooden fence surrounding the apartment complex. "If you see anything suspicious, then don't hesitate to infiltrate the buildings."

"How do you prefer we take them out?" John asked.

"Whatever works best. I'll leave that up to the three of you to decide when the time comes."

"Alright."

"Well, I suggest that you all get some rest. You've each got a long flight ahead of you in the morning."

Once they had left the room, Michael was stopped rather abruptly by Alaina. "Hold your horses," she giggled. "How did it go?" she asked sweetly.

"Great," he said, pulling her into a hug. "I uhh…"

"You're going on a mission, aren't you?"

"…How'd you know?"

"Why else would you be called in there?

"Good point," he admitted. "Yeah, we just got booked for a mission tomorrow. I swear, every time it seems like we've taken care of the last remnants of Stone's organization, some other sorry son of a bitch pops up and messes shit up."

"Such is the nature of your job." She gave him a soft kiss to the cheek, then nuzzled into his neck. "Well, I guess you better hurry up and speak with Zeke."

"Huh?"

"He wanted to talk with you about a very important matter. He was so awkward, too - coming and asking for permission from the rest of us."

"Permission? For what?" She simply smiled and shook her head.

"That's for him to say. He asked to speak with you about it in private."Huh, that's strange.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. But this is a topic that the two of you need to discuss. Just don't be too late, alright?"

"Alright." The two of them walked hand-in-hand down to the residency hall, where Alaina went into their quarters and left him to himself. "And hey," she had said, "be sure to take it easy on him. He's really nervous about this." Whatever that meant, Michael would have to find out in a moment.

He approached the zoroark's quarters and knocked. It only took a few seconds for the door to open - he had surely been expecting a visitor. "Hey bud. You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah…" he replied in an uncertain, almost distant, voice.

"Lighten up man. Surely something couldn't have gone wrong. Not here, at least." He nodded, closing the door behind him.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just… not sure how to go about this."

"Bud - it's me. Not like you're in for a job interview or some shit like that." Zeke took a seat at the table, followed by Michael. "So what's up?" He paused for a second, then took a deep breath.

"I've given a lot of thought to this lately," he started. "About what the hell I'm gonna do after the military…"

"You're not thinking about calling it quits on us, are you?" Michael asked.

"Nah - not for awhile, at least. But the truth is… the day'll come when I won't be cut out for this line of work anymore. Not everyone is immortal, ya know."

"…That's true."

"I've been in for years now, and hadn't really taken into consideration what I was going to do - where I was going to go. I don't have any family; I was taken in by a shelter when I was young. Once I've hit the point where I can't keep up any longer, I'll have nowhere to go. The wild… that shit just ain't for everyone - definitely not for me. Nor is that whole captured lifestyle. So to be frank about it, I wasn't really sure what the hell to do."

"Well… you've got a good bit of time before you need to worry about anything."

"For now, but one day I won't. Not gonna let myself get caught off guard with something like this."

"Gotcha…"

"So," Zeke continued, "I was thinking it over the other day… and… you can legally possess one more member of your team…"

"Yeah, that's tru—wait… what?" Michael asked. "I thought you weren't into the battling thing…" If this hadn't come out of the blue…

"I'm not - not really. But I know your style. You don't keep the others in their balls, and I doubt you'd make any of them battle if they didn't want to."

"No, I'd never do that." As much as they loved the fights, Michael had no intentions of starting out in battling. All he had wanted was companionship in the girls, and he had received all that and more. "No, my girls have always been the most valuable part of my life, and I'd never force a single one of them to do something they didn't want to."

"I know. That's why… I mean, if you're up for it…"

"Zeke," Michael said, cutting him off, "you know I'd be up for that. You're like a brother to me, and I'd be more than happy to have you join us." But there was still something that Michael didn't understand. The zoroark had previously taken pride in his independence - he didn't need the help of a trainer to make a living for himself. Granted, Michael was more than happy to help his comrade, but it seemed like such an odd thing for him to ask. What had sparked this? "Although… I can't help but wonder - what made you change your mind? I thought you didn't want a trainer…"

"You're right - I didn't. But there's a difference between a trainer and a friend. All this time I've been with the Reapers, you haven't treated me like a pokémon once. Me or your girls. I could live with that. Not being belittled, or forced to fight like some caged animal. And I know that you wouldn't do that to me." He tapped his metal-coated claws on the table, anticipating Michael's response. "So uhh… what do you say about that?"

"I think that we just got the sixth member of our team."

. . . . .

The girls had only positive things to say about the decision, commenting on how timid he had been in first asking them. When the time came, Zeke would leave with them, making their team a completed one. And as for the issue regarding his lifespan, Alaina could simply give him the ability that she had bestowed upon all of them. And that wouldn't be an issue for at least another ten or fifteen years.

Plans of the future after the conflict filled his mind. Maybe they could buy a nice suburban home and Michael could finally put his degree to use. Or he could stay within the ranks of the military and pursue a career as a commander, or perhaps even a general. No one said he had to leave, and his experience could prove useful in advising and training the future generations of Reapers. One thing was certain, though - for now, he was happy. From the bonds he had formed here in the military to the glaceon cuddled into his side, he truly did have everything he could possibly want.

Michael figured that he better be mindful of the Commander's words. After all, he would be on a helicopter in less than nine hours. Yeah, should probably get to sleep. "Alright sweetie, I think I better call it a night. Gotta head out early in the morning."

"Oh, alright." She lay her head onto his chest and softly sighed as he caressed her chin.

"Want me to keep the TV on?"

"No, that's okay." Michael reached for the remote. He hadn't really been paying attention to the mythological movie that had been playing; rather, he was more focused on his alone time with Elise. But as he shot a quick glance at the screen, Michael couldn't help but feel mesmerized by the ominous scene before him.

A trio of gardevoirs, their natural elegance tainted from countless millennia of aging, surrounded a small, rounded table. One held a spindle in her shaking hand, then stretched out the coiled string to its full length. The one adjacent to her quickly measured it, then nodded to the final sister.

"The time has come," she all but whispered. The third gardevoir grabbed a small instrument from the shadows - shears . The other two stretched the string out, to which she placed the razor sharp tool around the midpoint. The camera drifted over the table, and a light snap sounded as the string was cut.