As Clemont was working on his machine for Lucario in his hideout he heard a thud behind him as he was working on it with a wrench. Turning round holding a finger on his wristwatch that called out his robotic security he saw the person he temporarily worked for followed by two figures dressed in black robes.
"Lucario. I see you brought you followers again."
The two undid their hood and the mad scientist saw Flareon and Jolteon still following the master thief like lapdogs. The and thief took a few steps forward and liked what he was seeing so far. The giant antenna that would be placed on the highest structure in the city seemed to be getting shape.
"Good. Seems you've been doing good progress to that machine."
"I assume this isn't a courtesy call to refill my generator?"
Still having plenty of power left the inventor didn't need a refill now but an extra visit to do that wouldn't be amiss. The thief nodded no as he went explaining how his night went.
"You are right but were wrong about that sub. Girls?"
"We managed to convince and send Vaporeon to dive and retrieve it. She came back from her swim and found nothing but a hole in the ground. Care to explain why you tricked our lord?" Jolteon spoke up as sparks came from her while Flareon ignited her hands in flames. Lucario raised his hand to hold them back forcing Clemont to drop the wrench and work on the massive jammer and search why his intel was wrong.
"A few minutes." He moved to his giant computer as it lit up. Going through numbers and documents flashing on screen Clemont scrolled through them giving the others no time to read it.
"Uh huh…I see…Clever…"
"What are you muttering about?" Lucario losing his patience demanded to know as Clemont stopped scrolling and showed a page. On it was the logo of the firm the submarine belonged too with a assignment from someone named Mr. Pyroar.
"One of Lysandre's aliases. He always loved his lions."
"This coming from the guy that is obsessed with the culture where they worshipped the furballs." Clemont bit his tongue before he told Lucario and the other two what it was.
"A counter form. They must have dived it up illegally not going through the normal channels. That form was a dud to throw anyone off but still make it seem like nothing was done illegally."
"And to keep others out of the loop like us." Lucario said.
"Lysandre is trying to be tricky. You really have no idea what's inside that crate he had dug up?"
"I really don't." Clemont still owed him an answer.
"How's your machine coming along? Will it be ready soon?" Ash directing his attention to the device Clemont worked on the builder responded.
"The build is going to plan. There's still the matter of getting it up there. Transporting from here to the top of Prism Tower without drawing attention is impossible." He can build it but getting to its destination is out of his hands. Lucario nodded at his question.
"I'll deal with the heavy lifting. Just do what you do best. Refill his generator before we go."
"Yes pharaoh." Jolteon agreed zapping the generator Clemont drew his power from. Ash then left and send Ursula and Chloe on their way for a patrol as they had to maintain their identity as heroines of the city and not his personal bodyguards. He had to visit a place he hasn't been too in quite a bit and having another person with him only drew suspicion towards him.
For once in quite a while Ash was all by himself with no one by his side. He always came to this part of town alone and he did not want others to think about him getting additional partners in crime. Heading towards a post office under control of a few mobs in town he headed inside. He was being waved through since the staff knew he was a local customer but still about a dozen camera's had their lenses on him.
Heading halfway to the vault there was a room filled with drop boxes that also functioned as mail boxes till he came to his own personal one. It was a drop box he had to get some jobs from other criminals in this town. His reputation as thief exceeding himself there were sometimes others that had need for his services and were willing to pay. He had to keep up appearances until he was ready to enact his plan and bankrupt Lysandre and the minor syndicates in town.
"Box 448."
Taking the key and opening it he took a quick glance as he took the papers out of it.
"Advertisement, advertisement, advertisement."
The drawback was he most of the time was bothered by paperboys just looking to get rid of flyers by pushing them in the boxes here. Nothing much of value or other requests from other criminals willing to pay handsomely for his service he emptied his post box. Throwing away the folders he didn't need he decided on a nice relaxing stroll through his future kingdom at his leisure.
Looking around the architecture the Lumiose City he saw a few banners hanging here and there with his mark. A few gold columns with his image and his royal garb on the streets would be buzzing even more with life as the market places did in times gone by.
"THIEF!"
"Huh!?" Hearing the yell of a woman with green eyes, a blonde ponytail in a classic beige raincoat she pointed to a man with a blue Mohawk, black leather jacket with spikes on his upper arms and ripped jeans running away in a hurry with a bag he snatched from her.
"That person stole my purse! Someone help!"
"Purse stealing? Amateur."
Normally Ash wouldn't care for such a minor theft since he was a big time player. Though seeing the punk run towards him he was feeling quite generous today. What king would he be if he allowed thefts like these to his minor subjects. Kind of confusing for him but as the purse snatcher approached he made his mind up.
"Got to send the right example for the girls."
He tackled the thief easily to the ground using his aura. A short struggle ensued as other people came to help Ash now he did most of the heavy work restraining him. The pink down at the ground now others called the police who were on their way. Not willing to stick around despite his good deed Ash took the purse and looked for the woman that it got stolen from.
He saw her and walked to her. The woman seeing him approach stepped back into an alleyway.
"Hey lady! I got your purse! I'm returning it to you!" Telling her there's no need to walk away the woman went deeper into the alley way. Turning a corner away from him Ash knowing the city well knew she was walking into a dead end.
"How do they do it?" The first good deed he tried to do with the victim being so ungrateful it got on his nerves. Rounding the corner himself all he saw was the woman and a brick wall behind her. Finally catching up to her his instincts started to kick in. Why would she run into a dead alley when all he wanted to do is give back her purse.
"Oh thank you young man! This town can use more people like you!" The woman suddenly seemed a lot more happy then before. With a bright and joyful smile she thanked the raven haired male for acting so quickly.
"It's nothing miss. Just don't run away when someone tries to give your purse back."
"Why don't you come closer and hand it over? I want to see if there isn't anything missing." Ash stepped slowly to her on guard but handed over the purse. Opening the bag she looked inside it.
"Luckily everything is still in there. Thank you." Finally giving a thank you Ash thought it was over with.
"But on second thought it seems a bit empty. Would you mind handing over something on you to fill it up?"
"A ruse. Should've guessed."
A bit amused the woman turned out to be a swindler herself he was going to enjoy knocking her out and leaving her in this dark and damp alley.
"They say never to hit a lady, but that's too late for me." His previous encounters with his slaves in mind Ash was going to break that unwritten rule again cause all is fair in his profession. Clenching his fist he punched towards the woman with the idea to knock her out and snatch her purse anyway for himself.
As his fist moved the woman dodged it by moving her head to the side. Surprised by her reflex she quickly kneed Ash in the stomach. Recomposing himself with a quick breath he performed a right side kick which she blocked. He then jumped up and with a left kick aimed for her chest kicking her off him.
"TARGET SHOWS MORE RESISTANCE THEN ANTICIPATED. UNIT AWAITING ORDERS!"
"The hell!?" The voice coming from the woman changed from young and sultry to a complete robotic tone. Ash was only getting more frustrated at the blonde woman in the raincoat that seemed more robotic the more she spoke. Ash got a hunch who build it though.
"I thought he only build tin men. He had that hidden away!?" Clemont always was dangerous on a budget but with infinite resources he could become a bigger problem than Lysandre ever will be. The woman seemed completely normal till her personality shifted. From her smooth skin and hair which mirrored a bright sun she seemed to realistic to be a machine. Thinking to himself that having Chloe power his generator was a mistake while clenching his fists he was going to tear it apart with his bare hands and send the scrap in a bag to Clemont.
"THREAT LEVEL ASSESED. CLASS C THREAT RECOGNIZED! PROCEED WITH NON LETHAL PACIFICATION OF THREAT."
"Not if I tear you apart first!"
The two moved closer to each other as fists and feet began to fly. Ash using an aura not bright enough to glow to augment his senses and speed found her hit too hard for a regular robot. Still her fists felt squishy against his arms as he blocked the hits. He felt her fingers bend and her touch was warm.
"THREAT LEVEL PROMOTED TO CLASS B! LETHAL FORCE NOT RECOMMENDED BUT AUTHORIZED!"
The woman uttered in the robotic tone. Ash hit her even harder until he decided to fight dirty. Jumping over her kick he reached out to grab her blonde ponytail aiming to pull at and hold her down in a painful way. His hand nearly touching it he swiped his hand towards her blond hair but his hand moved right through it without it feeling any grip.
"The hell!?"
A backwards kick from the woman send him flying into the brick wall. Bouncing off the wall he fell to his knees. Grinding his teeth in annoyance he was starting to get sick of her.
"I'm sure I was close enough to touch it. Was that a hologram?"
As Ash got back up the woman just stared with a cold look. Ash cracked his knuckles again ready for the second round. A flash of lightning struck in front of him. Seeing Chloe show up he knew the others were not far behind. Seemed they couldn't just lose sight of him so easily.
"Let's see how resistant you are with a couple thousand volts aimed your way. Should've known better Clemont."
Thoroughly convinced of being backstabbed the woman looked at the electric heroine.
"THREAT LEVEL A+ RECOGNIZED! LETHAL FORCE IS NOW PERMITTED TO ALL THREATS! LIMITERS REMOVED!"
"Go ahead! I'll make you regret you were ever created!" Resisting the urge to say master Chloe's entire body glowed. Furious that thing raised a hand to the pharaoh she was going to make whatever is in front was no longer there.
"UNIT RECEIVED ORDERS. RETURNING TO BASE NOW. INITIATE ESCAPE PROTOCOL."
With a massive leap she scaled the walls of the alley they were in. Jolteon crouched herself to give chase with her speed wanting revenge.
"Jolteon!" She did not leap hearing Ash yell her name.
"Pharaoh?"
"Leave her. I know where it is going anyway." The heroine's glow stopped as she calmed down. Ash told her next assignment as she looked over him to see if he was hurt.
"I appreciate your concern my dear but I'm fine. Thank you for protecting me." She nodded in approval withholding the bowing as they might be caught be a normal civilian. They had to keep up the act. Not many came into dead alley's so they can uphold their relationship for now but he rather not be spotted with her.
"Chloe, gather everyone else. Then take them to Clemont's hideout." He was a fool thinking he could trust the inventor with their deal. A mistake he and the rest of the girls will put straight soon enough.
"It will be done my lord." The heroine moved away with the speed of her powers. As Ash saw her vanish in the blink of an eye he punched the wall behind him. The hit so hard he punched a hole in it he needed more to vent and knew where to blow off steam. Frustrated he was going to make the mad scientist beg for forgiveness for assaulting him.
"Clemont, you've got some explaining to do. Before I leave your will in that coffin forever."
Told you guys I was picking this up again.
Seemed our future pharaoh hit a snag.
Later.