Disclaimer: You know the deal. I own literally nothing.
/run Chapt.
There are days when Markus had to look back on the last few weeks and marvel. The landscapes were what he'd always wanted. Crumbling ruins of 'modern' civilization, the remnants of an old world that couldn't survive the fires of war, let alone the social upheaval which followed… There had been a point in his life he'd genuinely wanted to start World War 3, just to see what would happen, and yes… So he could watch the world burn.
Other days, like the current day, he had to wonder just what in the hell was wrong with people. And what was wrong with HIM that he found himself in these situations. He was laying flat on the ground, a pair of binoculars over his eyes and observing what looked like a dinky little shed out in the middle of god's nowhere. It looked like a dinky little shack, but Markus had his doubts due mainly to the number of people he'd observed going in.
At least twenty people were supposedly within a shack that, by all rights, looked like it might seat five comfortably.
'Now' Markus thought to himself. ' 'Why are you watching this building out in the middle of goddamned nowhere?' I hear you ask in my fevered imagination. The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind…. Not really.' Even mentally, he couldn't resist turning his thoughts to a song. 'The answer is simply that these people are likely pokegirl thieves, possibly murderers, but I'm not going to jump to that conclusion because that'd be *dumb.*' he sighed as he adjusted himself slightly beneath the bush.
This bush was getting uncomfortable. There was a stick around there somewhere that had likely broken off a billion and three years ago, petrified, and waited there just so it could get between his legs and make this whole exercise as uncomfortable as possible. He could be having Pythia scry on the joint, but he'd already tried that, and they'd either gotten a magic type of their own to counter it, or they had some other defensive measures in place. This didn't speak to a poorly-funded operation.
Those kinds of countermeasures usually meant that there was a powerful Magic type inside, able to block things as they came up, or they had gotten an Enchantress to make a ward or something to keep prying eyes from seeing inside with anything but mundane means. Neither of which was cheap. Combined with the fact that there was probably an underground section, given the number of people he'd marked down as having been inside at its peak, and you've got either a very well prepared group, or a well funded group.
Well funded COULD make someone well-prepared, but being well-prepared was an option of its own, since if you knew what you were doing, you could get just about anything done. Especially with pokegirls involved. And Magic was just pure hax powers, so no telling what all might be involved. For all Markus knew? The moment he moved to try and sneak or break in? They'd be alerted and ready for his happy ass with a small army of pokegirls.
And he'd seen at least one of them owned a Bombshell, which meant bad things for him in an enclosed space, since she could survive her own detonations. Markus was fairly certain they'd turn his insides into 'outsides.'
It was safe to say that, given the proximity to the out-of-order sonic emitters Broyce had mentioned, that these guys didn't really have the best of intentions. Part of Markus missed the Kunoichi he'd never had the chance to remember. With no cell reception, Markus was fairly certain that if they had the ability to contact people, it was with a secured network. He couldn't even call in for backup… Sure, they'd probably still be there… it'd taken him a few days to get to the broken Sonic Emitters, and a few more days to find this place when he left the road, but it was the principle. There's no telling if they were already moving base somewhere after Broyce managed to get away.
Then again? They'd been unable to rob or subdue Broyce, so who knows? Maybe he stood a shot? Maybe all they actually had were numbers?
While the sun was still high in the sky, Markus withdrew to a safe distance, making sure to break that stupid fucking twig into several small pieces before throwing them into the forest away from himself. Once he felt he was out of sight, and made sure of such by finding a boulder to go 'behind' in relation to the shack, he called out Salohiel.
The Archangel appeared in the now common to his eyes red beam of light and stretched. She brought all four of her wings out from hiding and let them extend a few times before retracting fully. She'd been out last night for her 'Taming night' and was getting the kinks out of her muscles after being 'confined' to the Pokeball for the morning.
"I don't think you realize just how annoying it is, to be in one of those things." She sighed as she worked her shoulders to loosen the muscles there. "So. Are we attacking them, at last?" She asked, a glint in her bright blue eyes.
"Yes, but." Markus nodded, using one of his favorite phrases. "First? We're going to capture one of them. A party left not too long ago, heading back toward the road. Do you think you can take them by surprise? Or should I send Xiao with you for a full assault?" he asked.
"I can do it, Master." Salohiel grinned. A chance to show off a bit after four years of training? Yeah, she was gonna take it!
"Okay. That way." Markus pointed. "There's a path leading to the road, hidden from the ground, but it should be visible from elevation."
That was apparently all Salohiel needed to hear, as she took off with a mighty 'whoosh' sound, all four wings flapping to give her the lift for ascent. High in the air, as she loved being, Salohiel looked down to the ground to see if her master's directions were accurate. The man could get someone lost on an 8 mile stretch of straight road if he tried giving complicated directions. Luck, it seemed, was on her side today as she spotted the group of five Tamers, four males, one female. All dressed in typical 'punk' fashions, with exaggerated accoutrements such as spiked bracelets, chokers, the hints of tattoos beneath their shirts or going all the way up their arms… Anything 'rebellious' was in full evidence. One even had the symbol for 'Anarchy' printed on his shirt.
Salohiel had to wonder why people did that. By buying the shit, the young man had supported capitalism and the establishment he supposedly wished to tear down. Not to mention that Anarchy always left a power-vacuum which was, historically, always filled by an authoritarian government. See also: The Leagues. 'Anarchists' almost always simply wanted to tear down 'the system' to replace it with a new Hierarchy having *them* on top. Still, while Anarchy-boy had seemingly singled himself out in Salohiel's mind, she wasn't going to capture him. No, she planned to confront them, and see how things went. If they reacted poorly, despite her bearing a collar Markusing her as being owned by a Tamer, then she'd kill the lot of them save for whichever one she felt like at the end.
She had very little doubt she could outdo any pokegirls they might have on them, and the humans themselves no matter how well trained were not as good as any pokegirl. No amount of Blood Gifts could accomplish that, since it was diluted due to the baseline human genetics acting as a ground for the more robust power in a pokegirl. This was why humans needed pokegirls, after all.
Ego-trip aside, Salohiel watched the party of probable-thieves for a while from on high. She followed them as they made for the road. It would be an hour and a half hike from their hideout to the road, going at a normal speed. If she let the go that far, that is. Instead? She watched them for a few minutes before descending, alighting on the ground in front of them with an Energy Blade formed in her hand. It took the form of a longsword, simple and plain save that it was made of golden light.
"Holy fuck balls!" One of the Tamers shouted. Up close, Salohiel could see that one of them was wearing headphones and had been bobbing their head along to the music before her entrance. "Guys? Why is there an Angel in front of us?" The male who'd spoken up asked his comrades.
The female Tamer took out her 'Dex and with a quick scan informed the others, 'She's an Archangel, guys. Says she's owned by a guy named Markus. Probably got a chip on her somewhere." Her voice had a distinct tone of disappointment.
"Your Tamer know you're out here?" One of the males asked.
Salohiel looked at the group. So far? They weren't acting in the stereotypical fashion Team-Wannabes acted, so she was vaguely hopeful these people weren't the thieves her Tamer thought they might be.
"Yes, yes he does." She said. "He sent me out ahead to investigate if rumors of a band of marauding rogue Tamers operating in this area were true, and if so, to capture one for interrogation."
"Your Tamer a cop or something?" The girl asked, looking distinctly unimpressed.
"It is the duty of all Tamers to stop criminal activity in the wilds, effectively policing themselves." Salohiel said, not really saying one way or the other.
The Tamers looked uncomfortable. Archangels were some of the preeminent Celestial Pokegirls, with good reason. They evolved from an Angel, who was originally a Blessed Pokegirl of another breed, and kept any enhancements that their original breed had. It was a Force Multiplier, to be sure.
Of course, any plans the female or headphones guy might have had about lying their way out of this were ruined… The guy with the Anarchy shirt spoke up, shattering any chance they might have had.
"Well, if your Tamer's not around? All that chip means is I'll have to be extra sure to 'search' every inch of you." The lecherous grin on the young man's face gave no doubt as to what he meant by 'search.' The fact that he and two other Male Tamers sent out Pokegirls brought a small smile to Salohiel's lips.
"I'm going to assume, then, that you are members of a criminal group, with designs to steal me away from my Tamer?" She asked, wanting things perfectly clear.
"Give the girl a prize!" The 'leader' of the trio of morons laughed. "She figured it out! Now, Ari, knock this bitch out!" He shouted to the spider-girl he'd called out. Given the Markusings, she'd probably guess Arachnae. The other two now-visible Pokegirls nodded at the Arachnae and all three of them bolted in to get close.
"You know? With how quickly those other two followed his orders… Are you two even Tamers?" Salohiel asked, glancing at the two cronies to the head idiot. The girl and headphones-guy stood back, with headphones calling out a young woman with a heavy shield which she placed between them.
With that, however, she had no more time for witty banter and instead fended off the first two comers with slashes across their chests using her Energy Blade. If she had to guess? A Goth and an Ingenue. The Arachnae tried to use the cover of her comrades to land a bite, fangs in her mouth practically dripping with poison, only to get a boot to the chest which sent the spider-taur flying backwards and into a tree.
This was followed by Salohiel flapping her wings, though not to take off. The feathers hardened and flew at her attackers in a wide arc, leaving three people standing under their own power, mainly by dint of them being behind a steel kite shield, which itself was pierced with feathers. It was likely relatively thick and enhanced by the girl's power, given that the feathers didn't look to be sticking in deep enough to go through it.
Two sets of hands raised from behind the shield as three men lay grasping at cut throats and attempting to stem the spurting flow of blood onto the cold hard and uncaring ground. The Arachnae was just recovering when she got 'balled by Salohiel, picking up the Pokeball from her bleeding would-be attacker and recalling the girl before she could cause any more problems.
Behind the Shieldmaiden, as that's what Salohiel assumed the shield-bearing Pokegirl to be, the two tamers looked pale and scared out of their minds that they might be next. The Shieldmaiden, however, simply kept her shield between her Tamer, herself, and Salohiel.
"We surrender?" Headphones finally spoke up, removing said headphones from his ears and hanging them over his shoulders around his neck.
The female Tamer nodded emphatically. "Yeah!" She agreed. "We surrender! Just don't kill us, yeah?"
Salohiel nodded. "Good puppies. Keep it up and I'll be inclined to believe you were forced to be here."
Headphones sighed. "No, not really. Kind of, but not at all." He said. "We were part of the group from the start, but it was originally just, like, a club. Ya know? Bunch of us didn't wanna live in a city, bound by all those damned rules, but then Keres came in, took over, and next thing we knew, we had like, four times our original number, but Keres was telling us to go out and break shit, take shit, that kind of thing, man." He nearly whined. It had been fun while it lasted, yo.
"And why did you not stand up to this 'Keres?'" Salohiel asked.
"Because, yo!" The girl shouted. "He's got, like, a full Harem of super-girls. A Dark Queen, a Neo-Iczel, a fuckin' Mazouku… He's even got one the 'Dex doesn't even recognize!"
Salohiel stopped at hearing that. That lineup was not something to take lightly. Sure, she could take out these relative weaklings. Taking on a lineup like that? Full of Infernals of ostensibly high power and long years of training? And a Neo Iczel was not something to sniff at… Not to mention the unidentified Pokegirl? That would only spell disaster.
If it was a new breed, just developed, or mutated from another breed, or if it was a breed that had avoided being found for over 300 years? Either way meant an unknown opponent with no idea of their capabilities. That was never a good thing when planning a battle.
Salohiel nodded. "Since you two seem to be caught up in this mess, rather than active participants, I will remember that you did not attack me, rather shielded yourselves behind a barrier and gave me information." She said, looking at the two surviving Tamers and the Shieldmaiden. "I'll be taking the spider-girl with me. The rest are yours to do with as you please, though I recommend a full Taming Cycle for them, and a quick retreat for you two and whomever else was originally just looking for a safe place to live away from the city." Hey, she was an Archangel. Not a cop.
"You wouldn't happen to have a layout for that hideout, would you?" Salohiel asked. "Or a way to bypass any traps? A general guess as to who and what is inside?" A note of steel in her voice let the two of them know that this was not actually a request.
The two looked at each other for a moment, having a brief but silent conversation before they scrambled to gather the remaining Pokeballs on their fallen 'companions' and then looked at Salohiel.
"The only safe way in is through the front door, and that's guarded by Jake. The password for the week is 'Nutty-berries.' Jake's an alright guy, but a bit slow, and easy to order around. I think that's why Keres keeps him around. He's got a Trollop, but that's it." Headphones explained.
"Yeah, after that you've only got to get through everyone else. Katie still has that Dark Elf, doesn't she?" The female asked.
"No, she 'tithed' her to Keres last week." Headphones spat out the word 'tithed' with disgust.
"Oh, right… Well, she's still got her Kunoichi, right? And the Dildorina." The female tamer nodded, trying to think of everything.
"Everyone else has either a few good Pokegirls, or one good one and some they keep for bedmates. We've only been doing this kind of thing for a few months, ya know? Not all that long to get a good stock of stolen Pokegirls. Near the back is a stolen Healing Unit. Keres has been using it to give stolen girls level 5's." Headphones went on.
Salohiel got the information her Tamer needed… Maybe not what he wanted to hear, but certainly need-to-know information for the assault. Looked like it'd be guerilla tactics for a while, whittle their numbers down. Given the information, the group sent out a party every few hours, one to patrol the area for ferals to capture and for intruders, another to go to the road to keep watch for wandering Tamers to challenge, rob, and to 'dispose of' in such a way as the Ferals hide the crime.
It wasn't the smartest way to run things, to be sure, but it was OK for a beginner not looking to stick around for too long. And plenty of patsies to pin everything on when they leg it outta there.
Salohiel let the two go after that. They both took off into the woods, running as though she might change her mind about letting them go. Most might be surprised to see a Celestial Type be so ruthless as to kill people, let alone kill those who'd surrendered, but Salohiel had seen more than enough in her time as an Angel and before to know that Evil only flourishes when Good is too weak to do what was needed, or too blinded by self-righteousness to stop at just what was necessary.
When she returned to her Tamer's location, deciding that waiting there for the potential search party was less important than informing her Tamer of the information she'd gathered, she found him sitting with Pythia over a bowl of water, which she was using to scry *around* the area, seeing if they could memorize the patrol routs the criminals took around their hideout.
"We might not be able to see inside, but you never know what you'll find out by looking around." Markus said, giving the blond witch a one-armed hug.
When Pythia let out an 'eep' the spell dissipated. Without giving her time to apologize, Salohiel walked up and set a hand on her shoulder. Another 'eep' was heard as the witch nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Salohiel!" Pythia tried to scold the older Pokegirl through hissed words. "You scared me half to death!"
"Only half? Don't worry. I'd see your soul safely to the Gates." Salohiel said, playing on the joke of Angels in general. "But I have news."
As she relayed the information Markus was making notes in his Pokedex, in an app designed for Pokegirl Tamers to design hunting strategies on. It had an index of common pokegirls and methods noted for success, a review system for which plans actually worked, and a planner section. That last one was what he was using at the moment, simply modifying the objective by putting 'Pokegirl being hunted' in place of the hideout and putting in the details they'd been able to figure out… It was a bit of a stretch, to be sure, but several breeds of Pokegirls DID gather Ferals to their service while Feral.
Still, the new information was disconcerting.
"An unidentified Pokegirl?" He asked. "Did you get any details?"
"Only that she is almost always with this 'Keres' character." Salohiel shrugged. "Beyond that I don't see how she could be any better than the rest. Infernals and a Neo Iczel? All bad news for us, no matter how you look at it."
Markus nodded before pulling Pythia into his lap where he sat on the ground. He wanted something soft to hug, damn it. So he leaned on her and rested his chin on her shoulder from behind. "Crap." He said. Already, he was wondering. Had he been so out of touch with the community that he hadn't gotten a memo about an updated entry? A new one, perhaps? Or was this a result of someone thinking about adding a new breed, and him just getting the shaft because of it?
"...Heh. Shafted." He said with a low laugh.
"Master?" Pythia straightened slightly, wondering what her Tamer was thinking. Was he thinking of 'giving her the shaft' right here!? In front of Salohiel? 'I mean… it's not like I didn't get eaten out by Xiao… Or fucked right in front of her… but Salohiel?' Her thoughts went a mile a minute as her face burned up. Her imagination was going out of control… Maybe she just wanted to see how Salohiel would react?
"Huh? Sorry. Said that out loud, I suppose." Markus said, relaxing slightly as he thought.
How was he going to crack this nut? How on earth was he going to not only get inside, but take down whoever was leading this shindig before the others all dogpiled on top of him and his half-strength harem? Why was there an unknown breed? The traps were also a concern…
Pythia's thoughts came to a screeching halt, the train derailing and crashing, killing thousands of little motes in her mind before inexplicably exploding. So much for seeing Salohiel's face...
Salohiel simply waited for her Tamer to get the hints she'd dropped for him in her report. Namely, to have her and Xiao go out and incapacitate the patrols as they came out and try to draw the enemy out of his hidey hole. 'Incapacitate' in this instance meaning 'knock out, kill if needed, remove from picture.'
"We could…" Markus began, seeing Salohiel's eyes brighten. "We could use Pythia to continue scouting, while you and Xiao go about, killing off the idiots on patrol. If they're too stupid to run? That's their damned problem, not ours."
Bit more 'lethal' than Salohiel thought he'd go, but it worked. She could show mercy if needed. He didn't say she couldn't. She wasn't utterly without feeling, after all. And if they surrender? Then what else was she supposed to do?
Pythia nodded and leaned back a bit into her Tamer's embrace, letting the headache of scrying dissipate a little as she closed her eyes. Keeping it up was a pain, especially because she couldn't control it entirely and had to constantly regulate the flow of magic so that it wouldn't literally blow up in her face… Maybe she could convince Markus to let her just brew some potions for a while? That always calmed her down.
"We'll start in an hour." Markus said. "Since we've started, we can't exactly stop until we've gotten what we need to do done." Once their people stopped coming back, the whole group would be on edge, which would only make it harder to predict their moves.
"They'll panic." Pythia said, visions flashing behind her eyes of what might happen, the most likely events. "At first, a few will come out, looking for their fellows, but when those don't come back, either, they'll begin panicking. The escape tunnel will be used by a few, but the rest won't make it out for some reason? Then they'll be sent out through the front door. I can't see why, but it looks like they're more afraid of what's behind them than of what could possibly be in front of them."
Markus nodded. "Then we let them run, take a few out to keep them running, but I'll leave that to Salohiel, since she cuts such an impressive figure, Miss Angel of War." He grinned at Salohiel over Pythia's shoulder.
Salohiel nodded and, trying not to disturb her 'sister' in the Harem, took Xiao's Pokeball from her Tamer's belt and released the Slicer. Of course, said Slicer couldn't let the opportunity to pose go, as she stretched out and spun her Guan Dao about with a flourish.
"We doing this thing?" She asked, looking at the assembled group. At Salohiel's nod, she grinned wide. "Wonderful. I've been getting antsy."
What followed was, for Markus, an object lesson on just what his previous self had been doing for the last four years with Salohiel as his sole POkegirl before their 'vacation' to Celaboner's Game district.
Salohiel was magnificent, an apparition of glory like unto how Maark always imagined Archangels. For a while? She indeed used a glorious sword of light, but after a few minutes of battling a stream of Pokegirls, seemingly attempting to use rudimentary group tactics to overwhelm the much more powerful Pokegirl, she switched to a spear, if 'spear' was an accurate term for a shaft of light and a 'bladed' triangular potion at the tip which extended the weapon nearly by a foot.
She nearly took. Tigress apart with a swipe of her wings, hardened and looking more like steel than feathers for a moment. She nearly literally disarmed an Amazon who was trying to punch her in the chest. The less said about what happened to the snake-girl? The better.
Meanwhile, Xiao was fighting an AmazonWu, who seemed to have taken exception to a slicer horning in on the 'exotic weapons' Markuset, as she used a pair of hook-swords. Their quality showed through, though, as Xiao's Guan Dao, a gift from her mother, cut through the waste of metal which were the Amazon's weapons. Not to say she got off scratch-free, to be clear. Even broken, the blades were blades, and Xiao's hands were bleeding rather heavily from the Amazon's strikes to both her weapon and the girl wielding it. This made her grip somewhat unsteady and slippery from the bleeding.
Markus watched all of this from over Pythia's shoulder, hugging the girl from behind while she sat on his lap with a scrying bowl on her own.
"Salohiel's doing well, master." Pythia noted. "You've trained her well."
Markus felt like he'd been punched. He hadn't done shit, personally… It was his native doppelganger. He *hated* taking the credit for someone else's work, and seeing Salohiel demolish her opponents with what looked like ease, he was less than pleased with himself. His own abilities would probably have fallen far short of that.
Still. It was cool as hell to watch. Like watching a Marvel movie in real life. Feathers sharpened to knife-like edges flew at opponents, a spear of light sewpt opposition aside, and winds followed in the wake of her flight.
Xiao was nothing short of impressive as well, as she and her opponent began really pulling out the stops, taking the fight to the trees around them, barely touching with. Foot or hand before, like some scene out of Hero, they went flying back at each other. It was only when both of them had taken and given their fair share of hits, Xiao's top hanging on by a thread over her left shoulder while the right hung down nearly exposing her chest, her body littered with cuts from the small broken blades the Amazon had landed after her weapons had broken, while the Amazon's own body was littered with cuts on her torso from where she'd been unable to dodge in time or from when Xiao had taken the pointed pommel of her Guan Dao and used it when the blade was still moving from the last swing, that the two stopped and caught a breath.
Without a word, both Amazon and Slicer launched themselves at each other. It was only when the Amazon fell to the ground, having been struck by the blunt side of the Guan Dao, that the fight was over. Xiao landed and then moved to check her opponent before removing the broken blades form her hands. Then? She moved back into the fray, this time targeting the Tamers while they tried in vain to throw more Pokegirls at Salohiel, hoping to tire her out.
Markus couldn't help but wonder if this was a callback to a scene from the War of Revenge… The POkegirls available to the mooks on patrol would probably have been enough to take on Xiao alone, pretty easily, or the random ferals of the area… but Salohiel was a final evolution, a final form if you wish. She had over a decade of time as a matured Pokegirl to train, and lord only knows how long as an Angel to get used to being one, then her evolution to an Archangel, which seemingly only enhanced what was already there? It must be terrifying to fight one in the wild.
It certainly answered the question of why people kept Infernal Pokegirls. Because Feral Celestial Pokegirls can be downright terrifying.
As Xiao attacked the humans giving orders and throwing Pokegirl after pokegirl at Salohiel, their attention was diverted, and Salohiel was allowed a moment to approach and demand their surrender, while they could still recall their Pokegirls and potentially get them healed.
To a one, they surrendered.
Markus was still more than slightly put out. He, personally, had had nothing to do with Salohiel's training, and she was awesome. Xiao was shaping up to be a good choice as well… Maybe he just had a thing for Fighting Types, but hey. Sexy Martial Arts girls. Nothing wrong with that. Still. It was a bit of a reality check. Archangels were no laughing goddamned matter. The fact that he had one was surreal. The fact that somehow he'd been training her alone for 4 years was beyond fact that she could take on 5 Tamer's Harems, newbies or low-class thugs or no, was badass but also utterly batshit insane.
'Now,' Markus thought, 'I understand why most Tamers stick to ferals, at first. Tamer Battles are brutal if you're not around people of the same general experience as yourself.'
It was a long-running theme in a lot of stories that a new Tamer would stick mainly to fighting Ferals for a few months. Hell, he'd written that kind of thing as well. But it was sinking in just how much damage a single Tamer could do, let alone a lone trained Pokegirl. Salohiel, while certainly not a Seraph, was still very powerful. Xiao, despite being a baseline evolution for her breed, was stilll impressive. Humans were, indeed, the squishy ones in this world.
Markus made his way over, after setting Pythia back on the ground, since her spell's need was passed, towards where Xiao and Salohiel had encountered the scouting party. When he got there, Xiao was standing guard while Salohiel had taken to the air, to see if any might have run, or if there was another patrol. A sane leader wouldn't leave the full patrol to a single group at a time, after all. If anything, they'd have a small group spread out with radio communication so they could report in as needed, and coordinate things. The fact that none of these mooks had a radio meant that they were probably meant to be expendable.
At least, that was Markus's thought on the whole thing.
Everything looked to be going well, including following Pythia's vision of the future. Right up to the explosion. The explosion that filled the air with smoke and flames for several dozen feet above ground and all around the 'base.'
Everyone, patrol party included, looked on in awe as the flames descended upon what remained of the shack. Each of them looked at each other, then to Markus, then to Salohiel who had flown overhead, then back to Markus… Confusion reigned.
"What… The fuck…" Markus asked into the ether, staring at the explosion.
"You didn't do that, then?" Asked one of the patrollers.
"Nope. Got nothing on me that could have. We were planning on having to fight our way inside and disable whatever you guys had what was blocking Pythia's attempts to scry." He explained, still dumbfounded by the sight.
"Well… Shit." The unofficially-elected speaker for the group cursed. "I don't suppose, given the circumstances and our word that this is probably the last you'll see or hear from us, you'd be willing to let us go, would you?" He asked.
Markus nearly nodded, but thought better of it. "You're all morons. I can trust your word about as far as I could throw a Giantess." He said.
"True, but we're morons with a good sense of self-preservation, even if it does need to be beaten into us every so often." The other Tamer countered.
Markus pondered. He couldn't bring himself to actually kill them… it was one thing to talk about it. It was another thing to kill in self-defense. It was an entirely different thing to kill people who'd already been defeated in cold blood.
It wasn't Salohiel who spoke up to be the 'angel' on his shoulder. Pythia was still too busy looking at the flames with what could only be called 'big boom syndrome…' It was Xiao.
"Master? I say we let them go. Dragging them to a city to turn them in would be impossible with only the four of us." Xiao said. Markus could only think to agree. 5 people, potentially with more Pokegirls, dragging them the whole distance to Sapphron City, or even to Celaboner, would be a massive pain in the ass, not to mention unlikely to work. One or two? Maybe. But 5? Not likely. And trying to single out one of these idiots without killing the rest? Also unlikely.
The fact that he thought of killing them even after all of this really disturbed Markus, but he took comfort in the fact that it disturbed him.
"Fine." He said. "Get out of here. If i see any of you again, I'll be contacting the police." He sighed. Not. Enough. Data.
After the group scattered, and Markus and his small harem found themselves alone and looking at the still-burning ruins of what used to be a thieves den hidey-hole. Pythia was enjoying the show, with a look of admiration on her face that was, to say the least, disturbing. This hadn't gone according to her vision, but Markus was fairly certain she was enjoying the sight anyways.
Salohiel didn't like letting the criminals go, but the logistics of dragging them to the city stopped her from making a fuss about it, while Xiao sat next to Markus as he pondered just what in the fuck he was going to do now.
He'd detoured from his original plan in order to take care of this problem, because he'd wanted an adventure. What'd gotten instead was a lot of moral ambiguity cloaked in righteous fervor. Salohiel sat down on Markus's other side, wrapping a wing around both him and Xiao, enfolding them in a sensation warm, feathered, safety.
With little else going on, Salohiel finally took out the Pokeball she'd taken from the feral-feeding idiot who'd lead the initial attack on her. The Arachnae, he'd called Airi or some such? She didn't feel the need to commit the name to memory.
"I took this." She said. "From one of the marauders. Figured he wasn't going to be using her anymore, and she might be useful in capturing Ferals." She explained.
"You took a dead man's Pokegirl?" Markus asked. "Wonderful. And how am I supposed to register her as mine? That ball belongs to someone else, and I didn't exactly win her in salvage, ya know?"
"Technically speaking, you did Master." Salohiel countered. "He made it quite clear he intended to steal me. I took that as a challenge to a salvage match on your behalf. All we do is report the attempted theft to the police in VerMuffEatin' City. They'll scan my mind, find out that I am telling the truth, and then assign her to you as Salvage. Better that than trying to find a buyer for her, which would cost the league money before it made them any. They might fine you for it, and charge you for the reassignment, but otherwise it's all perfectly legal. Criminals who operate as part of an organization give up many of their rights when discovered as such." Her lecture sent Markus about wondering just why in the hell the League was so blase about murder, but he supposed that killing criminals meant fewer prisoners to feed, cloth and house.
"The Indigo League is really not a proponent of 'rehabilitation' is it?" He asked.
"Rehabilitation is expensive, time-consuming, and only available to people not terminally stupid." Salohiel said, shrugging. "Teams or team-like organizations are classified as 'terminally stupid' by default."
It took Markus a few days before he was willing to really move from that area. He set up his camp in the woods, built a fire, and took a few days to himself, reading through some of the books on his 'Dex. It wasn't every day you really found evidence that you were, in point of fact, in a world wherein the government could and would ignore your death if they thought it would be too much of a hassle to care about your wellbeing, or if you'd proven willingness to break the law repeatedly.
He was too used to 'innocent until proven guilty' and 'Better to let a thousand guilty men go free than let a single innocent languish in prison.' In this world it was 'watch what you say' and 'Do unto others before they do unto you.' At least in the wilds, anyway.
He stared at the Pokeball with a 'salvaged' Pokegirl inside it. Salohiel had handed it over and he'd taken it, which in his mind meant that if this was a crime he'd be a party to it, but at the same time he couldn't muster any feelings of sympathy for the Tamer who'd been killed for it. He'd wanted to take what was Markus's, so Salohiel had taken what was his and his life for the offense.
Was this how Archangels were? Glorious apparitions of might and war, to be sure. It was that last bit that scared the shit out of him. War. He'd know OF it. He'd never been IN it. This didn't count, but it was certainly a glimpse of what could happen in what, to Markus's sensibilities, could only be called a more 'socially primitive' world. Might made Right.
Still, he took a few days to consider. During the day, he'd let one Pokegirl out at a time, just to spend time with them individually and work with them on some basic training, since he was out in the middle of god's nowhere anyway.
Xiao he had going through Katas she'd already learned, along with examining her weapon itself for ways she might be able to improve her use of it. He had her fighting the few Ferals making their way back into that portion of the forest now that the hideout was gone and the patrols had stopped… he'd even caught a Firemaiden drawn to the explosion! He honestly didn't think he'd keep the girl… he knew enough about Firemaidens to know they were trouble at the best of times for his personality. Still, sparring and fighting Ferals was a good way for a Combat-Pokegirl to gain experience and learn more about her abilities.
The night with Xiao out involved both of them finding a small secluded point along the river nearby, bathing in the cool water after the day's exertions, and him pounding her ass once again… Markus didn't think he'd ever get tired of that, if he were utterly honest with himself. The night ended with her on top of him, him still inside her from behind, and both of them going to sleep in a relaxed (and sane, thankfully) pile of loosened muscles.
Pythia's day out of her ball was spent working with her through basic magical theory, having her run him through what she knew, having her *teach* him as much as she could. Markus knew one main thing about academics. You can learn a lot by teaching, answering questions you'd have never thought important enough to ask. It was an interesting lesson, especially when she wanted to go into Potions and show him how to brew some of the basic kinds… She insisted SHE be the one to prepare the ingredients, thankfully, because Markus wasn't ready to get into deep theory on brewing just yet!
The night was even better, as she decided to make a game of sitting on his lap and trying to name the constellations while he tried to distract her. He one, to her chagrin, but who in the hell suspected otherwise? She was sensitive, damn it!
Salohiel's day out was the second to last day he spent there. Most of the day was spent in quiet contemplation, along with a bit of light exercise. Salohiel seemed perfectly happy to hear that Markus wanted to get back into the Martial Arts, and seemed oddly knowledgeable on the subject. She was more than happy to run Markus through some basic Katas she 'remembered' while explaining the theory in graphic detail of the philosophy behind the kata, the motions, and the styles themselves.
Markus wasn't going to complain. He'd rather have a wide base to work from with firm foundations than to build a tower as high as possible, but supported with toothpicks. That night saw Salohiel practically pounce on him the moment they were in his tent. Unlike the others, Salohiel preferred privacy, and while she started off fast, she immediately slowed down, let him take control, and kept things going long and slow for the night. Slow and loving, that would be the best way Markus could have described it.
The fourth day, however, he kept to himself. He bathed, laid about for a few hours reading, did some of the practices he'd worked on with both Pythia and then with Salohiel, and still found himself with hours of daylight left. He looked at the Pokeball containing the Arachnae again. For about an hour he contemplated things.
Part of him wanted to destroy the Pokeball, re-capture the girl, and then put her through a Level 5 Taming Cycle. Why? Because. He didn't want to be reminded he was indirectly responsible for someone's death every time he spoke to the girl. But he didn't want to rob her of her memories, either. Objectively, a level 5 would be for the best. He didn't want to risk the girl going apeshit on him and killling him… but he also didn't want to be *that guy.*
Ultimately, for the sake of survival, he'd probably have to be 'that guy' but for today, at least, he decided to give it more thought before he did anything too rash. The rest of the day was spent just reading on his Pokedex, relaxing, and smoking a few cigarettes. He needed that, just a day to his goddamned self. He was used to having hours upon hours in which he was, effectively, alone…
Well, as alone as you could get when you had a cat who seemed to believe it her sacred duty to chase off the demons that lived around you at every opportunity. Loudly.
Still, it was a much revitalized (And refreshed) Markus that laid down that night. It was odd, after a few weeks of having someone in the bed, to be alone in it. It felt good, for the usual loner that was Markus. The morning came, and with it the realization of what an idiot he'd been to not leave someone on watch. But not having a Nocturnal Pokegirl and not having been in the mood himself (Needing his sleep) Markus had let it completely slip from his mind.
When he settled down, and made sure that everything he needed was still inside his tend, and looking outside he saw that the only thing missing was the leftover stew he'd had in the pot… the pot itself was still there and cleaned out… he relaxed and set about cleaning up his camp site. No sense in leaving the place a pigsty. When he finished cleaning everything up, he called out Salohiel.
"Good morning Master." she said, stretching after she noted they were not in the middle of combat, or a challenge, or something equally silly.
"Good morning, Salohiel. I've gotta say? Yesterday was… relaxing. It's nice to be getting sex, and sex I actually enjoy, nowadays… but I need some 'me' time, ya know?" he asked, laughing.
"I know what you mean, Master." Salohiel nodded, a slight quirk of her lips that might have been a smirk showing itself for a moment.
Markus caught it, and thought for a moment before slapping his forehead lightly. "Ah. Right. When we get to VerMuffEatin' City…. GOD I hate that name… Redpriest, why do you do this to me?" he asked the ether before getting back on track. "When we get there, I'll give you, Xiao and Pythia a day off to do as you will."
"So. I take it you didn't claim the Arachnae?" she asked.
"No." Markus said, firmly. "And I won't until she's been put through a thorough cleaning, healing, and Taming cycle. I'm not sure what level, just yet, but I'm debating the value of a level 5…" he sighed.
"Do it, then." Salohiel shrugged. "If you think she'll be more valuable to you as a blank slate? Then do it. It'd give you the ability to mould her from the ground up. It's not something I'd recommend for a lot of Pokegirls, mind you, but it's still something to consider." she explained. "She's salvage. When we get to VerMuffEatin' City, they'll note that the Pokeball isn't registered to you, ask about it, and as long as you just say she's Salvage, they won't investigate. But we SHOULD inform the authorities so they can keep an eye on this area, and then they will investigate and find that she is, legally, salvaged. Her tamer died when he attacked a more powerful pokegirl than he could handle, or he challenged me by claiming he'd just remove my anti-capture chip, and I defended myself against an identified criminal."
Markus was getting lost. He knew that she'd explained it before, but god damn the laws were going to be a pain in the ass to re-learn. The Indigo League's legal section of the Primer was not something he could recall off the top of his head.
"Let's just head out." he said after a few moments of attempting to recover his train of thought from the jumbled mess of a crash it'd suffered.
The duo packed up the camping gear, and set off once again. The walk back to the road was much more comfortable with a somewhat worn path to follow, then Markus set himself on the road with his rollerblades and began skating down the road once again. Salohiel flapped her wings and took off into the air, flying low, but keeping up easily with her ground-bound Tamer.
The next few days were spent in the fashion of a normal hiker, it seemed. Markus would rollerblade for a while, with Salohiel keeping watch in the skies, letting him know of any interesting Ferals that she spotted. It was also an interesting chance she had to test out her flight, now. Maneuvering with 4 wings instead of 2 left her with a much greater control over her flight paths, even if it did take some getting used to. She could still fly with just 2 wings by dismissing the second set, but 'full plumage' as she'd come to think of it had its distinct advantages.
Markus, meanwhile, listened to her advice, and even expanded 'interesting' to include any Ferals that Xiao could get some good practice on. Salohiel, from what he could tell based on what he'd seen at the hideout for the thief ring, was more than capable of taking care of herself in a lot of situations with the more common breeds. Xiao needed the work. As did Pythia.
Pythia's first actual battle, since she DID need the experience while Tame rather than just when she was Feral, had involved a nice, easy opponent. A Feral Titmouse had wandered into the camp, and Pythia, being the least-trained of all of the girls in his Harem, was the one he wanted to 'test out.'
Granted, a Titmouse probably wasn't the best subject for a test, but he did find out that Pythia's Mystic Bolt was pink-colored. Pythia was usually the Pokegirl Markus had out for a night, partially to let her experiment with her magic, learn as she went, and expanding her notes and observations via letting her use a new document on his 'Dex, which he'd then observe and read later for his own edification. He'd always been a fan of the 'wizard' concept in fantasy games, and Magic always seemed like the best way to not be a cheerleader for a Harem, in his mind.
He wasn't letting her get by with just experimenting with Divination, either. Much as he enjoyed that school of magic and the potential applications thereof? He needed Pythia to be more than just a glorified fortune-teller. He had her working on her Mystic Bolts, Summoning spells, and even beginning explorations of Black Magic attack spells. Salohiel was a bit of help in that, since she remembered a few of the lessons she'd gotten on such things even if she refused to actually use those spells.
Xiao was, when she wasn't fighting Ferals during the day, allowed to relax a bit. When she was called out for a fight, afterwards she'd walk along with Markus, he'd take off his rollerblades for those walks, as they talked. Salohiel would often join them as they walked along the road.
When they left the road, to avoid Sapphron City by as wide a margin as possible while still making progress to VerMuffEatin' City, Xiao was out all the time along with Salohiel. Markus was nowhere near stupid enough to rely on his own reflexes and Salohiel's ability to warn him when they were away from the safety of the Sonic Repellers on the road.
Still, it was a good time. He made quite a bit of progress over the next week or so, since he was taking his sweet time in moving and going at a leisurely pace rather than balls-to-the-wall running through the wilds like a complete fool. The motto of this universe was ''where Men are the soft squishy ones' after all. So he took his time, let Xiao fight to her heart's content against the plethora of Ferals they ran into, him capturing several for sale or auction, while letting Pythia experiment with her magic while they were out and about.
VerMuffEatin' City was… Well, it was bright. A port city, Markus could smell the salt air of the sea, a smell he hadn't gotten since that one time he'd gone to the Pacific Ocean when he was a kid for a cousin's wedding. It was nice… if you likes military bases. Given that Markus remembered his dad being in the Air Force throughout most of his childhood, he was somewhat used to it.
His first stop was the entry gate for the city, since he needed to let the city officials know he was there, among other things…
"Name, Tamer ID, and purpose of visit, please?" A uniformed guard asked. Markus wasn't stupid enough to think it was a request, so he produced his Pokedex.
"Markus W. Here for tourism, mostly. Maybe catch a few Water types at the port, maybe see how badly I'll do against the Gym." He offered a laugh, but the guard remained stoic.
"Keep the good humor. You'll need it." He said, taking the Pokedex and scanning it into the gate's computer. When the light turned green and the gate opened, the guard handed Markus's 'Dex back. "You're clear for entry. Enjoy your stay." He said.
Markus beat feet rather hastily to get away from the humorless guard. He knew the guards probably had to be like that, under orders and all, but still. He didn't like it.
His first stop was the police department's office. V.C. Police were just as militant as the rest of the town's governmental infrastructure. When he approached the desk, a uniformed police officer sat and nearly glared at him from behind bullet-proof glass as a Growlie stood nearby on Markus's side of the glass, seemingly ready to pounce if he pulled any kind of 'funny business.'
"I'd like to report an attempted robbery, Salvage, and discovery of criminal organization in the woods separating Sapphron City from Celaboner." Markus said, keeping his words as short as possible while Salohiel stood silently behind and a step to his left. VerMuffEatin' City was about as Anti-Pokegirl as you could get and not be Viridick, if Markus remembered correctly, so Salohiel's public display of subservience was probably for the best. At least for now. The beach was another matter entirely once you got down the coast a bit.
The desk sergeant slid a piece small stack of papers through the slot at the bottom of the window and his voice came through a speaker. "Fill those out in the waiting area. You will then be interviewed and your story corroborated via psychic investigation." The officer said.
"Salohiel here was the potential victim of the theft, sir." Markus explained, trying to keep a respectful tone to his voice. "She was the one who was both nearly robbed, nearly stolen, and involved in the salvage battle. The opposing Tamer was less than obliging to the idea that she was owned already, and given current information on his organization, likely planned to wipe her mind after the theft. I'm not sad to say that the would-be thief got his just rewards for breaking the law, sir."
The sergeant raised an eyebrow at that. "Flattery gets you nowhere." He said. "But it will be taken under advisement."
An hour of filling out paperwork, and then half an hour of waiting found Markus sitting in an interview (interrogation) room with one female officer and what he could only assume was an Alaka-wham. Thankfully, Markus was an 'all-round picture' kind of guy, so a huge set of tits didn't really set him off.
The female officer set up a recorder and began to speak. "Interview for Case Number IC dash VC dash 2937021. Inter-city incident, reported to VerMuffEatin' City Police department, twenty-first precinct. Interviewing Officer Samantha Grace. Psychic Pokegirl interviewer Chance Cleareyes. Witnesses-slash-claimants, Markus W and Pokegirl Salohiel, Archangel species." She said for the record.
Samantha then sat down. "So. You wish to claim that you were nearly robbed, your Pokegirl nearly accosted, stolen, and that there was a small criminal organization inhabiting a small building between Celaboner City and Sapphron City on Route 7. Correct?" She asked. When both Markus and Salohiel gave verbal affirmatives, she continued. "Archangel Salohiel claims that she confronted a group of Tamers on a footpath from the building to the road, suspecting them to be 'marauders going to rob people' to quote your filed paperwork." She looked to the Alaka-Wham next to her.
"Her thoughts confirm this. The Tamer's thoughts confirm that he sent her to do so, acting under suspicion based on damaged Sonic Emitters on the road, and testimony provided by another travelling Tamer… Broyce?" She was diggin for the name, and found it rather easily.
Markus was scared, now. His mind was private, damn it! He had shit in there he never wanted shared, because it wasn't the best of things in the world, for fuck's sake! The Alaka-wham's voice came through in his mind, he'd never experienced anything like it, but always thought you'd be able to feel it when someone was rooting around in there…
'First off. No, no you can't. Not without psychic abilities of your own, and secondly, do not worry. I am here only to find details on the incident in question. Anything else is between yourself and a much-needed psychiatrist.' Markus could feel the slight notes of humor in Chance's mental voice. 'Thirdly, 'thought crime' is not yet on the books. It only applies when applying for a Tamer's License…. Please stop thinking of that song, by the way?'
Markuss thoughts immediately turned to classical music, which he enjoyed when not listening to Power-Metal, and away from 'I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves' as he had been… Hey, she'd asked nicely and had explained her purpose in his mind. No point in being *that* impolite, right?
Chance seemed to relax almost imperceptibly. "The Tamer's thoughts confirm. Both viewpoints are in line. Though technical, Salvage Rules apply, as do loss of legal protections for those who live outside of the law. Archangel Salohiel's acts count under self-Defence clause number 5927, provision P pursuant to the ability of Pokegirls to keep themselves from being stolen by necessary force." Chance nodded, and Samantha gave a small smile.
"Good. Then there IS a Fine for not reporting this immediately, and the charge to transfer ownership of the salvaged Pokegirl outside of an officially registered Salvage battle. This is why we always tell people to register these things in both parties' Pokedexes as soon as possible, but given the death of the other participant, and his criminal status, the charge and the fine come out to…" she trailed off to do some mental math.
Chance spoke up almost immediately. "Two-thousand seven-hundred ninety-eight Credits, Mistress." She said.
Samantha nodded. "There you have it. The fine and the charge will be deducted from your accounts. The Fine, first, of seven-hundred ninety-eight Credits, and if you cannot pay the charge for the transfer of ownership, the pokeball will remain in impound until such a time as you are able to pay, or trade something of equal value." She explained. "Any questions?"
Markus shook his head. "No, Ma'am. You've been nothing but helpful and clear. Thank you." He felt robotic, saying that, but he did mean it.. She'd been more helpful than he'd expected… Sometimes Anti-Pokegirl sentiment could work in his favor, he supposed? Could this be because of how VerMuffEatin' basically viewed Pokegirls as property, and property that protected itself from theft in a lethal fashion was the norm in this society? Ah well…
'It is." He hears Chance's voice in his mind again. 'Pokegirls are allowed to defend themselves, it is seen as our place to *want* to be with our rightful owner, and Pokegirl Thieves are assumed to know the risks they take enough to not be protected from their own mistakes.'
Markus left the police department a bit lighter in both wallet and spirit. He wasn't in trouble, and the psychic type hadn't gone digging in his head! And he'd come out of the whole ordeal with a new Pokegirl…. Kind of a half-loss, on that one. It wasn't that he didn't want an Arachnae. They used to be one of his favorite breeds to ponder. He'd always loved Driders in DD, mainly due to their connection to the Drow, but Arachnae were always quite entertaining for him, in thought anyway. The problem was that the number of Ferals he'd caught had him well over the limit for a Tamer, even with a non-combat slot, but he really only wanted to add a few at a time, so he could have time to integrate with his current Harem, whom he was *still* getting to know.
He still had to train Pythia so she'd be able to get some experience against tougher opponents without necessarily having to rely on Xiao or Salohiel… he'd always hated having that one Pokemon in games that he was leveling up, and it'd almost always turn out to be the one that'd survive, which he'd sacrifice to revive his more powerful pokemon… But in this world? That'd just be cruel as hell… And he didn't want to even consider that option.
So when he got to the Pokecenter, he was still waffling. Most of the common breeds he'd caught? Those were no-brainers. He put them up for sale immediately. A few Bunnygirls, a bunch of Titmice, a couple of Kitsune, even a Flowergirl who'd wandered into his camp one night. They were still Feral, though, so his prices would be low, but he had a lot of them. The Firemaiden was confirmed to be a former Domesticate who'd gone Feral, so he put out some notices that she'd been found, captured, and that he was willing to return her.
Then he proceeded to send all of his permanent Pokegirls in for a cleaning, healing, and light Taming Cycle level 2… He still felt dirty about it, but when weighed against his survival? It seemed a fair price to pay. The Arachnae, though? It had been transferred to his ownership. She was sitting in a standard-issue Pokeball, likely unaware of anything that had been going on for the last week and then some…
The Arachnae he put down for a Cleaning, healing and Level 5 Taming Cycle along with the full suite of his T2's. THAT he felt disgusting about. He was wiping the girl's mind entirely. But then, she'd seen her Tamer killed, she'd been owned by a Thief… And who knows how much he'd already influenced the girl. Who knows if she hadn't been wiped before by the guy he'd claimed her from… Too many variables he didn't like, and too many points of failure to leave to chance.
It was with a heavy weight on his mind that he finally got himself a room and waited. The small rooms were just like he'd envisioned them, at least. Small, but comfortable for a temporary stay. He took a shower, got as clean as he could while luxuriating in the feeling of having *soap* for the first time in weeks… You don't use soap in streams, damn it! He got his clothing to a washer/dryer, put all but the bare essentials (A pair of boxers and pajama-pants) in for a thorough cleaning themselves, and then went to bed, trying to ignore the thoughts plaguing him of how he was wiping away someone's mind for his own benefit.