[X] My Assistant

[Master Houndoom]

The relief and joy that Sagira had felt watching Ivy charge down the hallway was contagious, and Jay found himself grinning ferally.

"Geddown, Sillies!" was the only warning he got. Sagira took it literally, but Jay kicked back against the wall, recalling Cammy, Hinata, and Videl. He nearly tripped over something wrapped against his foot, but recovered in time to brace himself against the wall as the tropius' whirlwind sent Dawson sprawling.

Sagira was the first one up, but Jay pushed off of the wall as he gave the sly smile that curled Jay's lip. Dawson's last two pokemon stepped forward again, and Jay laughed out loud when Sagira's pokeball embedded into Dawson's face. Umbrae appeared, ready to attack the trainer, only to have to deal with the Shiftry. The hitmonlee crouched, readying a kick that would severely hurt the demon dog.

Jay's hand fell to the most familiar spot on his belt, and Hinata appeared in front of the hitmonlee, surprising him, which kept him from attacking. She waved a paw in his general direction. Uh uh uh. I'm not finished with you yet.

The veins around her eyes bulged, and the hitmonlee crashed back into the wall behind him.

"But do let me know if that bitch riolu recovers, won't you," sneered Dawson, and Jay saw red, gritting his teeth and snarling out a swear word in french. As Dawson left and Sagira gave chase, Jay moved to take off as well.

He, again, nearly tripped, and looked down. A red, dusty cloak was wrapped around his foot. The cloak belonging to Cammy. A sense, something, told him it was important, not to be discarded, so he bent down to pick it up, stuffing it in his belt to hang like a flag before he took off.

Sagira was merely jogging, having lost Dawson, but the path was clear to Jay. Around the curtain. It was almost as if he could see his quarry, his prey, as a slightly brighter figure ahead of him, through curtains, through walls. When Jay rounded the corner at a full run, he saw Dawson at center stage, being lowered through a trap door.

There was no time to stop him conventionally. The mechanism that lowered Dawson was already rising again, and Jay dropped into a baseball slide, dropping through the hole in the stage onto the lowered platform, and then off of that. A slight tug on the tips of his hair told him that if he hadn't gotten a haircut for this disguise, he'd have been caught, but that wasn't important right now.

Under the stage was a labyrinth, one that Dawson was, judging by the speed of his receding footfalls, quite familiar with. The halls - more tunnels than anything, which allowed actors and stage hands to provide props and lower actors during performances. Stage magic at it's best.

Jay did not slow down, following a sort of pull that he somehow knew would lead him to Dawson. He was taking corners at speed, trying to catch up. There was no real way to properly free run through this environment, but he was confident he was gaining. He turned a corner, and all of his instincts shouted at him to duck. He lost his footing in his surprise, and that is what saved him from an elbow to the nose, instead catching him as a glancing blow to the side of his head.

The momentum moved him past Dawson, and the man laughed. "Not so stupid as you look, boy," he snarled, reaching into a cubbyhole in the wall. "But, then, you're here alone. So maybe you're stupider than I gave you credit for."

His hand came free, and a pokeball came out with it. Red energy exploded from it, and Jay was confronted with a wild eyed, slavering granbull.

For a moment, Jay stood, blinking in confusion. By his count, Dawson's six pokemon were either down, or fighting. Then his lips quivered, and he had to struggle to keep a straight face.

"What's so funny?!"

"I'm just picturing you with a cute little snubbull."

Dawson's face went red with fury. "Bull! Attack!"

Jay ripped a pokeball off of his belt and released Siryn. She rose, bobbing to head height, narrowed her eyes, and intoned, Siryn doesn't like you!

"Nice intro, Siryn."

Does the Jaytrainyman like it? Siryn worked on it for weeks!

"Bull, Hyper Beam that little bi-"

"OH SHI-"

Why aren't people finishing their sentence-- oh darn.

The bulldog pokemon opened its mouth, light inside it growing until it exploded from her mouth. Jay hit the floor, but Siryn was enveloped, and Jay had the sudden desire to kill Dawson as many times as he was allowed, and a few times he wasn't.

When the light cleared, there was a distinctive hole in the wall behind Jay... and Siryn was blinking at the bulldog, heat and smoke around her, but no damage to her.

Siryn cannot believe uglyface missed! She gave a wicked smile. Now it's Siryn's turn! It's time for PAYBACK!

Despite it's obvious power, Hyperbeam is still a Normal-type move, and Siryn is a pure Ghost-type pokemon, and therefore immune.

[Living Arrow]

Down the corridor and around a bend. Out onto the stage that Ivy had just left. The broken window up above went unnoticed as Ivy caught sight of Jay disappearing through the trapdoor in the stage and Sagira pounced after him. Almost immediately after, shadows consumed the theatre.

Ivy hesitated when the lights went out. Instinctively, she dropped to the ground a froze stock-still, listening for movement around her. Alpha's warm breath drew close to her - a welcome presence in the gloom - while Sagira could be heard scrambling for a lock mechanism or something where Jay had gone. A sinister cackle tore through the near-dark but just as Ivy filled her lungs to yell, Alpha's wet nose was pushed against her face.

A keening whine, almost silent, from his large Mightyena maw warned her to remain still and calm while a few short nudges indicated where they should move next. She growled low, questioning his intentions but his nose only pushed harder. She reached out to take hold of his mane, scratching him lightly to confirm that he take the lead and with that, they were on the move.

Back into the corridors and to the top of a short flight of stairs. Alpha galloped ahead, soaring down the flights with a single bound - Ivy not far behind. He slowed as he approached a dor, sniffing at the floor with his ears pricked forward.

"Alpha! I needs to go help!" Ivy hissed, drawing up next to him. "We can't go running off like this!"

"Mhhhrrrrr." Alpha's throat rumbled.

"In there?"

As though the fates were responding to that very question, the door splintered and exploded outwards, a wide beam of shining orange-white light demolishing everything in its path. Ivy gasped and threw herself to the side, a piece of doorframe connecting with her side and cutting a deep wedge out of her hip. She screamed, slamming against the wall and sliding to the ground. Breath was ripped from her lips as she was winded by the impact and set her struggling to gulp in air.

"Alpha?" Ivy managed to get out as his large grey face appeared at her side. His eyes were narrowed with anger and his fangs were bared. "Alpha... we's got to help..." Her Mightyena surged with rage, a threatening growl rising in his jaws. "H-help me up..." She gasped, gripping to his mane so he could drag her to all fours. She panted next to him, dust around them settling slowly. Jay's voice could be heard nearby - just beyond the broken doorframe. She whistled low and in an instant, Alpha was launching himself toward the sound of battle. Ivy followed as quickly as possible, holding a hand to her side where blood ran freely between her fingers - warm and sticky like her favourite Combee honey.

Ivy heard Jay's startled voice before she saw him, seeking his tall body out in the dimly lit space under the stage. What she found, however, was Alpha roaring with unbridled frustration - his limbs completely ensared by a thick Spiderweb, held in place by a monstrous Ariados. A snide laugh welcomed her.

"So the bitch and her bitch got caught out by my bitch?" Another mocking chuckle. "How ironic!"

Ivy hissed and fell to her knees. "You let 'im go!"

"Let him go?" Dawson laughed. "Or you'll do what, exactly?"

A knife span into Ivy's free hand. The feeling of the cool wire hilt in her hand felt familiar and yet she knew she had only pulled one once before. It was almost as though someone else had taken over - deciding her movements before she could question them.

"Or I'll cut out your neck!" She screamed, lunging towards the man with spittle flying from her mouth accompanied by a primal roar.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

“Get back here!”

This was getting to be ridiculous, and Sagira was getting pissed. She had chased Dawson across the ramps above the staff, under ropes that held up the props, and even over a shelf littered with wires and errant tools, which tripped Sagira and sent her sprawling, but seemed to give Dawson no trouble.

Sagira saw a flash of black cape disappear around another corner. She leapt over a coil of thick black wire and dashed around it after him.

She stumbled to a halt when she found herself facing a metal door. She blinked at it, and saw a heavy padlock locking it from this side. She opened her mouth slightly, looking around. She couldn’t see Dawson anywhere, and there was no way he could have leapt over the side. It was a twelve foot drop to the floor, at least. She glanced down, then looked up quickly, blinking away vertigo.

The sense of anger and rage was fading with the adrenaline. She was confused and, more than that, tired. She wanted… something – a break, a long vacation, some time with her friends – with Ivy and Jay. She wanted it, needed it, and she knew that she deserved it – they all did.

She wasn’t sure if she heard or felt the presence behind her, but it was suddenly there, a force at her back, leaning over her shoulder. She felt his breath against her neck and, pulling her lips back over her teeth, she spun, fingers extending and claws slashing forward.

Her hand stopped abruptly, her wrist snagged in midair by his black leather glove.

She stared into the face of the man before her – the phantom – and she thought his face looked thinner behind the mask than Dawson’s. She blinked at him and saw him frown slightly, his hand holding her arm above her head as he stared into her face.

“You,” he said slowly, cocking the eyebrow that she could see, “are not my angel.” He tilted his head to the side. “Hm.” He released her arm and Sagira felt her feet go out from under her as the floor opened up. Sagira let out a scream as she fell through the trap door and landed hard on the ground. Her head hit the floor and with a flicker, everything went dark.

~*~

Umbrae raised his head sharply from the fallen body of the shiftry, his muzzle stained red with blood. He turned his head and growled low, a sound that came from deep in his throat.

He turned to the painted dancer, who had finished off the fighting type well enough.

“White Sight,” he growled sharply to her, ”my alpha needs me. Find yours.”

With a howl that echoed throughout the theatre like a hell demon’s death knell, he turned and leapt into a run, disappearing deep into the theatre to find Sagira, pulled by the strange power that flowed through her blood and touched even him.

~*~

Sagira groaned, mumbling something about over-extravagant masked men, as she curled her extended left arm inward and rolled over onto her back with a slight grunt in pain, the muscles of her right shoulder pulling from where she had already ran into the doorframe. Apparently, falling hadn't helped. She tried to shrug her shoulder slowly and cried out before she could finish the motion, shuddering as she tried to relax on the floor. She hissed through her teeth. It seemed to take a long time for her muscles to relax, but she let her mind fade off into a fuzzy place where the pain became distorted. She drew a slow breath.

A whimper at her side brought her back. She opened her eyes and hissed, shutting them tightly when a meager amount of light stabbed against her irises and her head split with a searing pain. She moved to curl into a ball but forced herself to remain still, so she didn't hurt her should anymore than it already was.

Slowly, she raised her left arm above her head and reached upward with her eyes still closed. A clack of claws and a soft huffing brought with it the feet of thick, warm fur and a cold, wet nose. The houndoom rubbed his face against her hand, whimpering in worry.

"I'm all right, Umbrae," Sagira said softly. "I just fell." Technically, I was dropped, or perhaps dumped, but that's besides the point.

Umbrae pulled away from her hand and, after a moment of blindly groping for him, Sagira lowered her arm over her chest. She heard movement just there at her head, and a paw settled near her ear as Umbrae apparently made himself comfortable. A moment later, a long, wet tongue slid over her forehead, pulling at her hair. Sagira hissed initially in surprise and slight pain as Umbrae licked what was apparently a cut on her head, but the heat of his tongue and breath was soothing and she soon relaxed.

It was some time later - Sagira honestly didn't recall how long - when Umbrae rose to his feet and Sagira found that, though it was uncomfortable, she could open her eyes and even force herself into a standing position.

"Ow, shit, my head," she mumbled, clutching her skull as blood rushed to it with throbbing glee. "If I ever see that phantom again, I'll kill him."

"I imagine that would be quite redundant."

Sagira looked up sharply, then hissed as her brain attempted to explode. "Ungh... Umbrae, tell me I am not going nuts."

He snorted gruffly, shaking his head from side to side. "I have a code against making false statements."

I really am hearing you, aren't I? she mused softly in wonder.

The houndoom's crimson eyes glittered in delightful amusement. "You are psychic." He snapped to attention before Sagira could comment. "However, there are more pressing matters to attend to. The predator is loose, the pale wolf and your mate are not with us, and our forces are debilitated." He shook his body harshly, growling. "It is not safe to be so spread out! We must find our allies. We are stronger together."

Sagira nodded slowly, her thoughts elsewhere. "You're the one with the nose, Umbrae."

"Then follow, my alpha." With a sharp bark, he took off running, Sagira stumbling initially but then following behind.

Umbrae trotted swiftly rather than dashing at a full-out run, knowing that Sagira wouldn't have been able to keep up with him, and he wouldn't have been able to hold the speed continuously, anyway. It was best for him to save that rush of strength for a moment when it might be needed. His sharp nose and eyes kept constant vigil as he led his alpha through the catacombs that she had fallen into, in search of their allies.

As they ran, Sagira pondered in this strange ability to understand Umbrae suddenly.

"You are psychic."

It was true - she was psychic. But she had hardly expected it to lead to this! Seeing lines of color that told how people and pokemon were connected was one thing; having insane dreams about her missing father was one thing; linking to Ivy from a distance in such a way that she borrowed her speech pattern was one thing - but hearing her pokemon speak?! And what's more, a dark-type pokemon? Weren't they supposed to be impossible to understand or to see for psychics and psychic-types? It had something to do with cancellation...

"Or I'll cut out your neck!"

"Oh, that does not sound good," Sagira groaned, as she heard a familiar snarl from down the hall. Sagira and Umbrae both broke into a sharp run, the houndoom overtaking her easily. "Give them a warning, Umbrae," Sagira gasped, the adrenaline in her system pushing out her previous thoughts on her psychic powers and the pain in her head.

Umbrae threw his head back and howled loudly. "DOOM!"

Sagira raced into the room after him, not considering that she hadn't heard him speak to her again, even when he cried out. Her mind was focused instead upon the world of colored lines; usually set back behind the real world, it was suddenly prominently overlaying her vision. There were flashing crimson lines connecting Ivy and Dawson; lines that splintered and cracked, with edges like jagged rocks. It was clearly not a good sign.

"Sagira!" Jay gasped. "Stop her!"

If Sagira had taken the time to think about it, she probably would have come first to the conclusion that she didn't much mind the idea of Ivy stabbing Dawson in the neck. Of course, hindsight probably would have led her to the knowledge that the girl's doing so would probably end her up in prison - all three of them, probably - and their pokemon put down.

But Sagira didn't take time to notice it beyond the flickering red light that seemed to surround Ivy's side. She knew, somehow, that the girl was injured, but took no more account of it.

Sagira lunged forward, grabbing Ivy and dragging her back. The girl fought her and Sagira hissed when her right shoulder was jostled, but she gripped Ivy's hand in her own and dug her thumb sharply into a pressure point in the back of the girl's hand. With a cry, the knife clattered to the ground and Sagira kicked it toward the wall away from Dawson, as she dragged Ivy to the ground and pinned her against the floor.

"Be a good dog and sit," she gasped.

[Master Houndoom]

Hinata "watched" Umbrae go, which, in reality involved more ears than sight. Umbrae was nice enough, but she hadn't the access to him she had with Videl, who was psychically open enough for her to talk to and even link with. It had taken some practice even for that to come about.

As such, the limitation of not being to speak more directly to Umbrae, who had run out of earshot, had a predictable effect given her mood lately: it annoyed the crap out of her.

'My alpha needs help,' she thought with a sneer. 'Find yours.' Well, duh! I thought, instead, I'd take in a radio show, or grab a latte! 'Find yours.' Honestly!

She snorted once, then concentrated, seeking out her trainer's unique thought patterns. Finding them, she concentrated, and with a pop, disappeared from the hallway.

Siryn will survive! Siryn will survive!
As long as uglyface only knows normal moves Siryn knows Siryn will stay alive!
Siryn has all her life to live
Siryn has more psychic attacks to give
Siryn will survive. Siryn will survive! HEY HEY!

Siryn was dodging and moving, enraging what Hinata perceived as a very angry presence that thought she was the best there was at what it was that she did, and that what she did was not pretty. Hinata rolled her eyes, then Siryn's thoughts interrupted her own.

Now the Hinata will see what a real battler can do!

Siryn had turned toward Hinata, who was next to Jay, in order to stick her tongue out at the kirlia. Hinata could sense the granbull's malicious gleeful, could feel her elation as she opened her mouth wide and made a leap toward Siryn.

Look out!

She hadn't even thought about it. She simply disappeared from Jay's side, and reappeared behind Siryn, who was spinning around to see what she should be looking out for. The granbull's teeth clamped down on Hinata's side, causing her to shriek in pain.

"Hinata!"

There was an explosion in her mind, of agonizing physical pain and red hot anger, but the anger washed over her like a small wave, across her and then back, and managed to keep her from fainting. She popped out of the granbull's mouth, her long lower fang leaving a slash across Hinata's back. Surprisingly, Siryn did not attack, nor did she retreat. She imposed herself between the granbull and Hinata, puffing up angrily. Something dripped on Hinata's leg.

Uglyface does not hurt the Hinata! Only Siryn hurts the Hinata, and only in ways that are metaphorical and therefore not quantifiable! Quieter, despite her rage, Hinata heard a sad, lonely voice, more like a little girl than the strident voice Siryn usually spoke in. Why did the Hinata do that..? Why did the Hinata save Siryn..?

Hinata tried to sit up. She wasn't hurt. Not badly. Not to the point of fainting. It just kind of hurt to breathe. A little. And to move. It didn't hurt to smile, so long as she didn't move or breathe.

The world was going dark. Hinata smiled at Siryn, thick tears leaving her eyes. That's what sisters do, she mentally whispered, but Siryn did not hear.

There was a pop, and a snarling yelp, and a mote of fire hurled between Hinata and Siryn, landing on the granbull. Dawson sneered and held up another pokeball, which he must have retrieved from the cubbyhole. An ariados, larger than any seen before, appeared on the ceiling, and spit a net of webbing at the sound. Videl yelped, and there was a thud as she hit the wall, stuck fast and struggling.

Jay grit his teeth, but his frustration was interrupted by the arrival of a dark whirlwind of fury. Alpha leapt past him, causing Jay to cry out in surprise, only to be ensnared by the ariados as Ivy came around the corner.

"What, so the bitch and her bitch got caught out by my bitch?" Dawson laughed. "How ironic!"

"You let 'im go," Ivy snarled, shakily. Jay looked back. It was obvious she was injured. Before, however, he could stop her, as Dawson mocked her, she pulled a knife, a wire-wrapped handled knife with a combat blade, from it's sheath and screamed at him, standing up to charge him.

"DOOM!"

Umbrae raced into the room, snarling, with Sagira coming in behind. "Sagira," Jay gasped, "stop her!"

For a wile split second, he chastised himself. She wouldn't care if Ivy stuck a knife in Dawson, it would serve him right. The next second, he was surprised, gratified that he hadn't voiced this opinion, as Sagira moved to control Ivy. Jay turned back to Dawson.

"Getting crowded in here," he sneered, and Dawson sneered back.

"Not for long. Your pokemon are dropping like flies."

Jay stepped forward, then looked back. A plan. He needed a plan.

Hinata, how are you doing?

Oh, fine, the searing pain is nothing, the blood dripping down my back isn't distracting me at all. Off topic, you wouldn't happen to have a potion on you, would you?

Fresh out, sorry, he thought, apologetically.

What use are you, then.

Jay sighed. He hadn't wanted to do this, but he had no choice. Hina, get everyone to cover their ears. He smirked, then pointed, hoping Siryn understood.

"Siryn, show him why you got your name."

There was a slight pause, as Hinata explained to Siryn how she got her name, and then the misdreavus opened her mouth, wide, and deafened Dawson and his pokemon while the rest covered their ears.

[Living Arrow]

Ivy’s breath was snatched from her lungs as Sagira’s arms wrapped around her waist and fire flared in her side. With no air in her, Ivy couldn’t scream out to alert Sagira to the freely bleeding wound below her ribs and instead had to endure as they fought for control. The pain was so excruciating that Ivy’s mind seemed to detach completely to remove itself from the world of hurt but something kept grabbing at her consciousness to leave her stranded in the searing ache.

Sharp claws dug into Ivy’s wrist, finally drawing a wail from her lips as the knife was freed from her and clattered harmlessly to the ground. Sagira’s weight almost instantly fell upon Ivy’s smaller shoulders and, as one, they tumbled to the ground.

"Be a good dog and sit!"

“I can’t!” Ivy struggled helplessly under Sagira. The pain of her injury flared angrily every time she fought against her restraints. “I’ve got to fight! He’s got to pay!”

“He will, but he can’t pay if he’s dead!” Sagira grunted as Ivy bucked and kicked desperately under her. “Just calm down and we’ll sort this out!”

Slowly but surely, Ivy’s tension left and her muscles relaxed enough for Sagira to have the confidence to stop squeezing the girl’s wrists so hard.

“Alpha! He’s got my Alpha!” Ivy cried, tears actually leaking from her eyes. She was so tired! But her brothers came first, they always came first! “My Alpha!”

Ivy could hear Sagira’s sharp snatch of breath as she scanned the room. “Umbrae?”

Spots of fire flew up at the walls, burning clear through the webs spun by the giant Ariados and dropping both Videl and Alpha to the ground with tired yelps. Even with Sagira crushing her, Ivy was able to whistled her call to Apha who scampered to her quickly, his low growl softening as Sagira took her weight off Ivy’s back.

“Eaaaasy, doggie…” She muttered, remembering all too well what it was like to be bitten by the Mightyena. With a squelch, Sagira edged to her knees and found them warm and wet. Ivy groaned as she rolled to her side, a dark pool collecting all around her.

Ears closed! Was all the warning they got. Ivy blinked with confusion but Sagira’s hands were already protecting the smaller girl’s ears. When Siryn began to scream, Ivy instantly understood and threw up her arms to clap her hands over Sagira’s.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

“Ivy!” Sagira gasped, though no one could hear her beyond the hands clasped over their ears or the screeching of Siryn. The blood pooling beneath Ivy was thick and too red, however, and it was impossible for Sagira to ignore.

Her lips pulling back to reveal her teeth, Sagira hissed in anger. She pulled away from Ivy when Siryn was done screaming and rose swiftly to her feet, turning swiftly, yelling for Umbrae. It might have appeared graceful or even been intimidating, if the sudden explosion of dizziness hadn’t caused Sagira to stumble as her vision turned black, her eyes crossing. With a gasp, she crouched, nearly dropping to her knees, and lowered her head, breathing deeply. Nausea bubbled up within her, bile rising in her throat, and she struggled with the need to vomit as her head began to pound again. She didn’t think she had hit it so hard…

She managed to win over the urge to throw up, and rose to her feet, slower this time. Dawson was laughing at her, looking incredulous.

“Are you serious? You’re going to keep battling?” He roared with laughter and stomped down sharply. The board he hit made a clattering sound as it lifted, revealing a hidden compartment, and Dawson reached down, grabbing another pokeball.

“This one will finish you all.”

“Hadn’t we ought to have met our end already?” Sagira asked snidely. She hoped she didn’t look as bad as she felt.

“I never liked quick, painless endings.” He tossed the pokeball. “Blow these bitches away, Boomer!”

The exploud appeared in a flash of red light, roaring. Sagira moaned, gripping her head. “Just what I need…”

There was a sharp snarl, quickly followed by another, and suddenly two black and brown blurs were racing each other across the room. There was a screech of pain as the two houndoom leapt into the air at the same time, and came crashing down on top of the ariados.

Snarls tore at the air as their teeth tore at the flesh of the arachnid, the spider screaming in pain, saliva and yellow-green blood splattering the floor.

There was a ripple of darkness in the air – a shimmer – and both Videl and Umbrae was abruptly thrown backward with twin yelps. Videl twisted nimbly and landed staggering on her feet, but Umbrae couldn’t adjust fast enough and slammed down heavily on his side. Breathing heavily, he staggered to his feet as the ariados, with cuts and teeth marks oozing blood, turned to them with a sharp, eerie hiss.

“Fury swipes, you useless thing!” Dawson snarled.

“Fire Fang!”

The simultaneous cry of Jay and Sagira sent the two houndoom rushing forward. Videl was faster, leaping up and sinking her flame-drenched fangs into the ariados’ outer skeleton. Umbrae limped quickly and bit down sharply just moments after, their fire racing into the ariados’ bloodstream. Smoke rose up from beneath their mouths and they both jerked away sharply, as the ariados let out a screaming hiss and turned, running in the opposite direction, its back covered in flames.

It ran haphazardly, without looking where it was going, and one combined roar from Umbrae and Videl sent the panicking arachnid racing right into Dawson.

With a curse and a scream of pain as his coat caught fire, Dawson stumbled backward, struggling to reach the ariados’ pokeball. There was a clatter as something fell out of his pocket and rolled across the floor, and then the ariados disappeared in a flash of red light.

Dawson turned to see what he had dropped.

In the center of their gathering, there lay a Fire Stone.

Dawson let out a yell of shock and anger, as Calypso, exhausted though she was, trotted to the Fire Stone. She raised her leg, looked up right at Dawson, and slammed her paw down on top of the Fire Stone with a sharp “Pix!”

There was a flash of golden-red light from the fire stone, and then Calypso was enveloped in a fierce white light.

“No!” Dawson yelled. He gnashed his teeth together sharply. “Boomer! Hyper Beam!”

“Calypso!”

The white light surrounding the vulpix had altered shape, growing larger and smoother, and as the exploud opened its mouth, a harsh golden-white ball taking shape within it, the light began to fade.

In the place of the small crimson fox, there now sat a large white fox with thick, illustrious fur and nine tails tipped in orange. Her head was bowed, but she raised it with slow elegance, gazing past the exploud and directly at Dawson. Her crimson eyes began to glow a deep, bloody red.

”I must insist you aim that elsewhere.”

The exploud’s eyes widened in shock as he was suddenly lifted off of the floor. The white hot ball of light in his mouth flickered and he was suddenly thrown backward. The hyper beam exploded, the ball shooting forward in a streak of energy, aimed straight for the ceiling.

The exploud crashed into the far wall as the building rumbled, dust and small stones falling to the floor. Everyone seemed to stop, taking a moment to look up. Dawson was the first to move.

“Uproar!”

The exploud struggled to its feet and opened its mouth. A sharp explosion of sound burst forth, the concussive force slamming into the very air and sending everyone in front of him crumbling to the ground. The building began to rumble ferociously, growling as stones crushed against one another and the foundation began to give way.

There was a flash of crimson light as Dawson recalled the exploud. With a grin, he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small round bird that fit into the palm of his hand.

“It’s been fun, but I have more important things to deal with than the lot of you.” He cupped the natu tightly and Sagira thought, studying the creature, that the bird’s eyes looked dead. “Have fun getting out of here,” he said with a laugh. There was a blip in the air, where he was there one minute, and then suddenly gone.

And then the roof caved in on top of them.

~*~

Sagira hissed sharply as the nurse pressed a cloth dipped in peroxide against a gash on her head. The nurse clucked disapprovingly, but otherwise ignored Sagira’s groans and curses and hissing. She slapped a bandage on Sagira’s head with a sharp motion, then grabbed a pen light and started flicking it in Sagira’s eyes.

“Would you stop that?!” Sagira screeched.

“I need to see if you have a concussion,” the nurse explained tartly.

“I have a concussion! It’s on my damn chart!” Sagira swatted away the pen light, but the nurse jerked her hand away too quickly. “Get that thing outta my face!”

“You should be grateful I’m taking the time to bandage you up-”

“If it’s that much of a hassle, go back to chatting on your cell phone and let me go see my friend.”

“Miss Kylarian is in surgey-”

“I don’t care where she is! I want to see Ivy, damnit!”

“If you insist on speaking to me like that, I’ll have to sedate you.”

Sagira’s eyes narrowed sharply, and she hesitated a moment, thinking, before pushing herself off of the table and pulling out the IV.

“What are you doing?” the nurse demanded.

“Signing myself out,” Sagira said matter-of-factly.

“You can’t sign yourself out!”

“The hell I can’t.”

“I’m going to need a sedation team in here!” the nurse yelled out into the hallway.

Sagira cursed. Pulling off the hospital gown, she started yanking on her clothes, ignoring the minor nausea caused by way too many pain medications in her system. She threw her coat on over her shoulders and shoved past the nurse.

She felt a small but firm hand wrap around her arm.

“If you want to keep those fingers, I suggest you let go,” Sagira hissed low.

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes,” Sagira hissed.

“Let her go, Denise.” The sound of another nurse’s voice called their attention and Sagira jerked her arm out of the first nurse’s grip, as the other added, “Your boss called and affirmed that you are allowed to leave. You’re to return to headquarters immediately.”

“I’ll go when I’ve reconvened with my teammates,” Sagira said sharply. She shoved past both nurses and strutted into the hall with her nose in the air. “That will be all, Nurse Ratchet.”

[Master Houndoom]

Jay sighed. His own arm was done up in a sling, and he grumbled as, trying to make the hard plastic chair comfortable, his shoulder twinged.

He'd been closest to the exploud, and therefore closest to the falling debris when it happened. A huge chunk of masonry slammed down on his shoulder, keeping him from giving chase until he could dig his way out. Seeing Sagira, bleeding from the head and woozy, and Ivy, clutching her side and pale drove all thoughts of chase from his mind.

He recalled his pokemon except for Videl, and Sagira and Ivy did the same with Umbrae, Calypso, and Alpha, and the three humans, with an honor guard of canid pokemon, made their way from the rubble to a hospital with, according to Bryce, known Aqua sympathies. If Alpha, Umbrae, or Videl remembered at all the scuffle of earlier that day, they did not show it, though Alpha took point, with Umbrae and Videl flanking the group, and Calypso taking the rear guard.

Having Linda in custody must have been the proof Aqua needed, because they stopped hunting the trio and were putting out counter stories to refute the damage Linda and Victor had done. The orderly who'd set up the sling was, by all evidence, upset that the rape charge was not true, and stalked off after a rough fitting muttering under his breath about scum getting away with things. He was too tired to disabuse (with emphasis on abuse) the orderly of the notion that Jay Lange was the horrible person he'd been reported as being.

His arm hurt, along the deep, puckered scar from his previous injury, and a little beyond. He'd felt the nerve twang as he'd sat heavily in his exhaustion and twitched again now as he remebered it.

Sagira came out of the curtained area where a pair of nurses had been trying, unsuccessfully judging by the look on the nurse poking her head out, to treat her injury. It was, however, cleaned and bandaged, and though Sagira wobbled alarmingly at one point, she grit her teeth and made it to the seat next to Jay, muttering viciously under her breath about interfering nurses.

Jay put a hand on the inside of her forearm, and she looked down at it, calming her ire from red hot anger to sullen annoyance. Jay, too, relaxed, his nervous tension giving way to a kind of calm anticipation.

Before she could ask, and before he could offer, the door banged open. The pair were on their feet, already reaching on their belts for defense, when a nurse peered at them, guiding a bleary eyes Ivy.

"Oh, there ya are," the nurse cooed cheerfully, "this one has been askin' aboutcha, don'tcha know?"

Jay held back a broad grin, leaving it to a small smile. "How is she, ma'am?"

"Listen ta you," she chortled good naturedly, "yer makin' me sound like a grandmother or a schoolmarm! Haahaahaa!" The laugh was almost a bray, but softer and full of genuine good cheer. "Oh," she said, cutting across Sagira, who had opened her mouth to re-ask the question, unconsciously, "she's fine. Just a little wobbly, what with the anasthesia... She's a fighter, isn't she!" Again, she gave that soft, near braying laugh. "Give her something to eat when she can stand it, and this baggy," she held up a small bag and rattled it importantly, "has pain medication, but she has to eat or at least have a glass of moo moo milk with it, or she'll get a little pukey!"

Sagira looked at the bag warily, but Jay took it with a smile. "Thank you, Nurse..." He trailed off and raised his eyebrows, and the nurse smiled.

"Foreman. You kids take care of yourself, and I don't want to see you here again," she admonished with an exaggerated wag of her finger and another laugh.

As the trio left, Nurse Foreman hurried to a phone, inputting a long series of numbers before dialing the actual number. The longer series would encrypt and reroute the call, making it impossible for all but someone who'd built the encryption method to trace the call. After a short wait, she smiled into the receiver; as a further precaution, she was only using the audio handset.

"Sam? It's Skitty. Yes, he's been through here. No, honey, I don't know details, only that they were caught up in an accident." After a pause, she pressed her lips together. "Well, Sam, I don't think that's going to happen. He's too headstrong."

There was a longer pause, and Nurse Foreman smiled. "Yes, he's a good boy. And the girl who's hand he was holding was just gorgeous!" She didn't tell Samantha Lange, as it would upset her, but she wished that Jay, and his companions, had been found by the Rebellion rather than Aqua. It would be much easier to keep an eye on them if they were in her group.

-----

The cameras caught an angry Sagira Smythe charging down the corridor toward the office of the lead for Sector B, Nathaniel Bryce. Technicians were silent as they watched her, some cameras in that hallway focused on her livid face, the others taking in her entire body, clad once again in a skin tight body suit, but with a jacket over it that went down to mid thigh.

Another form rushed after her, catching her just outside the door, and a few of the techs closed their eyes and sighed in relieve. The pair, for one of them was Jay Lange, his hair no longer styled to disguise his identity, but still as shockingly bright as Sagira's alarmingly short hair. They leaned together in what could only be imagined to be hissed conversation, and one tech leaned over and turned up the gain on a set of microphones near the boss' door. They would never be able to hear what was going on inside, but now they would hear when other approached the door. It was supposed to be used only in case of invasion, and the techs all agreed, silently, that while they may be on the same team, Smythe was ready to invade that office, and invade Bryce's face with her claws.

CODE

Smythe: What are you playing at?! He *lied* to us!

Lange:  Are you telling me you believe *Dawson* over Bryce?

Smythe: We were never told *Dawson* was free. Bryce *knew*, and never told us! Ivy got *hurt-*!!

Lange: (pause) Do you trust me or not?

Smythe: Dammit, Jacob--

Lange: For the record, I know the answer is yes. Sometimes you need to be reminded. I want you to follow my lead.

Smythe: I don't need you to fight my battles!

Lange: You're right, we should have known. He should have told us Dawson was on the loose. But you can't go charging in there breathing fire and demanding answers!

Smythe: Why not?!

Lange: Because he's expecting it from you.

Before the technicians could ponder the meaning of the last sentence, a loud bang shocked them into looking at the camera, which was not in sync with the audio. Lange had, in the pause, turned and kicked the door open, charging in and shouting, too muffled by the directionality of the microphones to be heard. The door slammed shut, and the technicians blinked, until one, a new girl with flowing strawberry blond hair and freckles, moaned, "Aww!"

-----

"What the hell?!" Jay put his hands on the desk, slamming them down, ignoring the other person in the room, a short, busty blond woman who had been lounging in a corner until the door slammed open. "What are you, playing chess with our lives now, Old Man?!"

Bryce, for his part, was trying to keep his expression neutral, but the surprise of his lock breaking and the accusations were causing emotions to flit across his face. Anger, guilt, surprise, and, to the well practiced eye of Officer II Langestrat, a hint of a smile.

"Look, kid, yes, he got away, but you'd been through enough..."

"TAUROS DROPPINGS!" Jay bellowed, reaching down. His hand swooped to a plain coffee cup and hurled it against the wall, where it shattered. "You didn't think he might, oh, I don't know, come after us?!"

"Jay," Sagira said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Bryce looked up at her, and she shot him a nasty look, but otherwise didn't react. "This won't get us anywhere. He doesn't care."

"Look here," Bryce said, sitting back in his chair. He seemed stunned. "If I didn't care, I'd have sent you two right out again after him. What would I have to gain--"

"The same damn thing you'd have to gain for sending an untrained field agent out on a mission to try to trap Dawson into screwing up! That worked out for you, didn't it?!" Jay leaned right into Bryce's face, and it was a mark of Bryce's self control that he didn't lash out at the youth for the implied challenge.

"Jay," Sagira said, pulling him, gently, back. Jay's eyes remained on Bryce, who allowed the pause to continue.

"By the time you two had recovered, it was out of our hands. Sector C took over," he said, nodding to the blond, who smiled and waved in a mock coquettish way, "and it's been out of my hands since. Gag order."

"That," Jay said, glancing briefly at the woman, "never stopped you before."

"What do you want, Lange? I thought you'd had enough to deal with, so I hid it from you."

"You manipulated us."

"Tauros droppings," Bryce snorted. "The last time I tried that, you two ended up doing what no one thought you could. If I had wanted to manipulate you, I'd have told you he was out there and let you exhaust him while we took his weakened ass out once he was finished with you."

Sagira grinned, a feral, nasty grin. "I wouldn't count on him 'finishing' with us. It took him nine pokemon just to get us to a standstill.."

"Yeah, nine to take out your sixteen..."

"He was down to three and we had a lot left!"

"And he still got away."

Jay huffed, bringing the two back to the matter at hand. "Lange, I'm not manipulating you. Now go back to your quarters before I dock your pay for my door."

With another glare, Jay yanked the door open and left, leaving Sagira to sneer at Bryce. She followed soon after, and Langestrat, amused, kicked the door closed with her toe.

"You're right, Nate. They're good..."

Bryce had his head in his hands. "I didn't expect Lange... he's usually the calm one..."

"He played you, Nate." Langestrat plucked a piece of candy from the bowl on Bryce's desk, making a show of unwrapping the sour ball and putting it in her mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

"The coffee cup he threw? The one your daughter made you was closer to his hand."

Bryce looked down, then shook his head and chuckled. "Little punk set me--"

Hem hem.

Bryce and Langestrat both reacted in surprise as the small ghost type floated through the door. Siryn has a message from the Jaytrainyman.

Bryce looked out of the corner of his eye at Langestrat, who was composing herself with shaking hands. He filed it away for the time being.

One, the Jaytrainyman wants to keep his team with the Sagiracatgirl, and wants to add the Ivydoggirlprettyface to his team as well. Siryn thinks he is being greedy, but whatever. Two, the Jaytrainyman wants to be alerted to anything to do with the Dawsonuglyfacebrushnoseshavylip. Three, the Jaytrainyman wants a pay rise for him and the Sagiracatgirl and the Ivydoggirlprettyface. Four, the Jaytrainyman wants coffee dumped on BossmanBryce's head. Siryn will do the honors.

The last sentence was said so matter of factly, that Bryce was nodding before he'd realized what the ghost had said, and he looked up just in time to see the coffee cup Melissa had made him overturn and shower him with room temperature coffee. The misdreavus left, cackling, in near perfect harmony with Langestrat's laughter.

When she had finally stopped, wiping her eyes, Jamie grinned at him. "You're going to give in to each of his demands, aren't you?"

Bryce mopped coffee from his eyes, but was grinning wolfishly, checking to see if the door was secure. "Yes. They're my best team, after all."

[Living Arrow]

Ivy didn’t know exactly when she had passed out but she knew how many times she did it, drifting in and out of the real world while her dear friends carried her to the hospital. Twenty three…

“Whys do I remember the silliest things?” She moaned, coughing thickly as a numb hammerfall resounded in her side. Through cracked eyes, she squinted down at herself and pushed down the covers. Somehow, someone had slid her into a sitting position to sleep and miraculously, she had not fallen over. The bedsheets crisply drew down to reveal her pale blue hospital gown, stained dirty brown-red around her ribs.

“Weedles on toast!” Ivy grit her teeth and tentatively peeled the gown back to find a haphazard line of stitches tracing below her ribs and partway across her stomach. The staining of her gown, it seemed, was superficial as the wound did not appear to be bleeding anymore.

“Oh! Yer awake!”

Ivy shut her eyes and leaned her head back. Nope. She was wrong. It was tenty four.

“Now, are we gonna be a bit more calm this time and not try to gnaw through our IVs?” The voice went on. It was so cheery and… and…

“’Course not, Silly.” Ivy muttered, examining the woman through slitted eyes. “I’s done slept enough without you making me go dreamy again…”

“Well, ent that good to hear!” The nurse clapped her fat hands together happily. “I suppose that means you’ll be seeing your friends now?”

“Well, durr!” Ivy kicked her legs over the side of the bed an instantly regretted it. Dizziness hit her like a ton of bricks and she fell back on her side, producing a hiss of far-off pain.

“And now it looks like we’re gonna repeat what happened last time…” The nurse sighed, helping Ivy steady herself.

“Well, if you’d let me go see them in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this place.” Ivy grumbled, accepting the aid to her feet where she tottered precariously. The nurse firmly set Ivy still and arranged for a robe to be draped over her shoulders.

“If you had gone in the first place, you’d probably be back in surgery.” The nurse giggled. “Now who’s the silly one?”

“First pl-?”

Crap! It was twenty five!

*****

Ivy walked up slowly to the beaten oak door and took a deep breath. He was on the other side. She contemplated leaving but Alpha’s reassuring breath on her fingertips was all she needed to lift her arm and strike the knocker. Even that small movement was enough to flare the pain in her healing wound but she managed to hold down the gasp sufficiently to turn it into a sniff.

She patted down the hem of her mint green, thigh-length dress and wiggled her toes on the doorstep nervously. A small backpack in the center of her back carried all of her other brothers and Epsilon – she could feel them all silently cheering for her and it made her smile. But smiles weren’t appropriate right then…

The door clicked and swung wide, the breeze generated ruffling Ivy’s shoulder-length brushed-gold hair. The man that appeared there looked surprised to see her and, much to the young girl’s shock, instantly saddened.

~

“You know I was doing it to help you, don’t you, Ivy?” Officer Crichton’s bumblebee voice cracked even as he spoke, his eyes glistening. “You weren’t supposed to get hurt…”

“You lied to me.” Ivy said bluntly, her tea untouched and stone cold still sat in her lap. “A lot of people have lied to me… But I didn’t think you would.”

Officer Crichton’s wet eyes finally let free a single tear.

“I… I…” He stammered, his strength as far removed as the Aqua badge that decorated his mantelpiece. “I was thinking of you – you have to believe that. You do believe that, don’t you?”

There was a long pause. Ivy’s glittering eyes bore into Crichton’s resigned stare and only the strength of her heart managed to hold back her own tears watching the old fool cry. The constant clicking of the grandfatherclock in the corner thrummed on as Ivy let the question go unanswered, trying to decide on how to best answer it. Though it took some consideration, Ivy finally came up with the response. She delicately placed her cup of tea on the nest of tables next to her before…

The sound of steel grazing fabric sang in the sitting room, heralding the appearance of the combat knife that had been forced into Ivy’s possession the day of the brainwashing. Crichton flinched at the sight of it, edging back in his chair as Ivy examined the shining silver blade in her grasp.

“Does this scare you?” Ivy asked simply, stroking the keen edge of the donated weapon. “Does seeing me with this scare you?”

Crichton gulped and worked his mouth but nothing came out.

“Does this scare you?” Ivy repeated, this time pressing the edge of the blade to her wrist – enough to imprint on her flesh but not enough to cut. Crichton moaned.

“If this is making you uncomfortable, let me know.” Ivy insisted, drawing the knife to her palm. “After all, seeing me in pain is what you were trying to avoid, so you say. I wouldn’t want you to see that, but then again, this is what you made me, isn’t it?”

“Ivy, I-”

“ISN’T IT!?” Ivy shrieked, the knuckles on the hand holding the knife going white in a flash. She leapt up from the chair, in an instant at Crichton’s throat. Alpha remained motionless in the prone position he had occupied since he had entered the Officer’s home.
Crichton gulped nervously, cold steel flat against his neck and equally steely eyes glaring directly into his own.

“Next time you want to help me,” Ivy hissed, “don’t.”

She flung the knife loosely across the room without breaking gaze from her once-mentor. He stared wide-eyed at her.

“Try to make me someone who I’m not again and I can’t guarantee this Ivy will come out on top.” She snarled, turning away and clicking her fingers for Alpha to follow. The Mightyena rose to his full height and paralysed Crichton with fear, a low growl emitting from his throat as he, too, turned and stalked from the house.

Once an orphan. Once a child. Once a beauty. Once a murderer. Forever a sister. Eternally a friend. Ivy Kylarian walked from the Wealthy District with her head held high and her future, for once, well and truly in her own hands.

*****

“And you’re sure you’re up to this?” Came the question.

“Well, I am qualified, Silly!” Came the chuckled reply, complete with eye-rolling action.

“And you’re sure you can keep up?” The interrogation went on.

“Puh-lease!? Them sillies will be the ones keeping up with me!” The laughed reply produced a couple of other chuckles in the room.

“Then I guess it’s official,” Nathaniel Bryce stepped back from Ivy and looked her up and down in her complete Aqua Uniform. “Elite II Class, Recon Specialist, Ivy Kylarian. Welcome to your new team.”

Ivy looked to the left at her two team members, both stood tall and watching her with smiles. Sagira and Jay. It was finally done.

The Pack had come together at last!

END OF RP!!!