[X] My Assistant

[Umbrae Calamitas]

Sagira couldn’t blame Topaz’s ire. The drowzee had taken her down without hardly an effort and it must have been insulting. She wasn’t disappointed in the eevee, but she understood.

The drowzee was more powerful than seemed right. More powerful than Sagira would have expected a pokemon to be in the company of a petty thief. She wondered if, perhaps, the boy had acquired the pokemon in the same manner that he had attempted to acquire her wallet. It wouldn’t surprise her, to tell the truth.

She had been momentarily insulted that Ivy had decided that she was incapable of handling the drowzee on her own, but her elation and hearing that single word escape the girl’s mouth had been well worth whatever loss of honor she might have suffered. Silly. Such a pointless, idiotic word, but it meant so much coming from Ivy.

To see the Fang Over Fang again made Sagira want to jump for joy. She might have, if it had been appropriate. Almost did, even though it wasn’t.

Still, the grin was there, unrepentant, with no hope at it fading for a time. Not so long as she had that to think about. She hadn’t lost her Ivy, after all. That was a relief.

She recalled Topaz in a flash of red light, allowing Calypso to take her place against the psychic type, Ivy’s attack having failed to take down the remarkably strong pokemon. Calypso seemed righteously angry, and Sagira spared a moment to wonder if it was the fact that they were being forced to battle, or that Topaz had been taken down.

Truthfully, it could have been any number of things, or perhaps the vulpix was simply angry.

A rush of fire from the crimson fox did nothing to deter the drowzee’s inclinations to attack and he easily sent Calypso flying backward. She landed gracefully on her feet, dashing forward without hesitation, crying out in rage. Her leaps and flips sent her spinning midair toward the drowzee. Its eyes glowed with anticipation.

“Dreamer, poison gas.”

“Drow,” Dreamer replied slowly, opening his mouth wide to release the noxious gas in a sickening green cloud. The putrid gaseous mass enveloped Calypso, causing the vulpix to lose her carefully-constructed balance and uncurl herself from her ball. She let loose a cry as she was headbutted by the drowzee and tossed carelessly to the ground, skidding over pavement that tore at her fur. She stopped with a whimper, struggling to push herself upright on shaky forelegs, blood running from the cuts on her side. Her small chest heaved for breath as she staggered to her feet, stumbling to keep her balance.

“Dreamer, use psybeam and make dat fox eat dirt!”

“Zee!” Dreamer replied, focusing, his eyes narrowing. A thin, multi-colored, glowing beam erupted out of his head and shot forward, directly at the exhausted vulpix.

“Calypso!” Sagira snapped, snapped her hand toward the vulpix’s pokeball.

There was a sharp bark behind her, and then a flash of white and black on her left. A canine pokemon leapt over the shuddering vulpix and landed between her and the flashing attack. It continued its journey and struck him in the chest.

Only to have no apparent effect.

Sagira blinked, and then her eyes widened. “An absol?”

“I hope you are well, fire heart.”

Calypso’s eyes widened. “You…”

She was unable to finish her thought, as the drowzee apparently found his interference disgusting. He swung a large hand at the absol, which the canine ducked under, before leaping at the fat pokemon. He paws lashed out in a scratch attack that left the drowzee shrieking as it backed away, holding its hands to its face.

“You should know that one does not strike a lady,” the absol taunted the drowzee. It growled at him. “Oh, do show some manners.” His form flickered suddenly, and then slammed into the drowzee with a harsh quick attack. He launched off of the drowzee’s fat stomach, flipping in the air, and coming down with a scratch attack down the protruding abdomen of the pokemon.

The drowzee shrieked loudly and began to glow. The absol took the moment to retreat a safe distance away, as the form of the drowzee began to change.

When the white light faded, a hypno stood in place of the drowzee, eyes narrowed on the vulpix. It waved its hypnotic rune back and forth.

The absol ducked low to the ground and growled. “You can’t have much fight left in you, my yellow-bellied friend.”

The hypno growled at him, took a furious step forward, and abruptly toppled over in a dead faint.

After a moment of stunned surprise, the absol straightened, his muscles loosening. “Well, that was anti-climatic.” He turned to Calypso and smirked, bowing suddenly. “Until we meet again, fire heart.” With a sharp back, he leapt away.

Calypso stared after him, completely lost for words, her legs weak for an entirely different reason from before.

Sagira stared after the absol with a slightly startled gaze, but wondering eyes. “Malchior…”

[Master Houndoom]

At first, Jay nearly let Cammy drop to take on the white and gray blur that had leapt into the fray, over Calypso. Only the tightening grip of the riolu, both like a child wishing to be held at all other cost, and an observant battler letting her partner know that all was not what it seemed, kept Jay from following through with that plan.

The absol, because Jay recognized the species, savagely fought off the drowzee, overcoming it just as the beast (magnificent beast) drove it to evolution. It was poetic, the kinds of things that his mother would spend days trying to capture in a scene, trying to get just so, just right, in order to put that tiny, extra meaning into her films.

And then the absol was gone. Jay had seen it run off, but somehow it was still as if it had disappeared in a flash, in a burst of speed too fast for the eye to see. Certainly, it left three stunned boys blinking in it's wake.

And why, suddenly, was he thinking of the absol as an it. He almost always tried to figure out a gender, or at least assumed a pokemon was male until he found out for sure. But something, something he couldn't put a finger on, gave him the impression that there was both a male and a female inside the creature.

He shook his head rapidly against the thought, as if he'd been in a fog. That was the stupidest thing he'd ever thought!

"Your Jacket," Sagira said with an arched brow. Jay turned and crossed his arms, smirking at his opponent first, and then at the one who had challenged her in the first.

"What are you talking about," Jay's opponent sneered. "We let you win!" He was putting up a snide front, but Jay could see that there was no strength in it. It was like an arbok spreading his hood to make himself look larger. The last, desperate attempt to chase off enemies stronger than himself.

"If that makes ya sleep better at night, go ahead with that," Jay said. "But bottom like is, she beat yer pals pokemon, an' the prize is his jacket."

"Your. Jacket," she said again, holding her hand out.

Snorting, the boy who'd made the original challenge pulled his jacket and handed it to her. "A meowth pissed on it anyway."

Sagira chuckled, flipping the jacket over her shoulder, jauntily, and walked away. Without preamble, Jay turned to follow, Ivy scampering between them.

At first, Jay busied himself with Cammy. He pulled out the ultra ball he had gotten from his sister. "I'll tell you what, Cammy," he said softly, in his own voice. "This ball was a gift for my birthday. "I've been saving it for a special capture... I know you're tired. You can nap in here, and meet my team, and if you don't like being with me or them, I'll release you."

The riolu looked up at him at the last words, a look of surprised shock on her face. Before he could explain, she scampered to retrieve her cloak, put it on, then reached out to press the button, allowing the ball to suck her in. There was not even a struggle, and it clicked the capture official. Jay blinked, then glanced at Sagira, flushing.

"So... are ya still mad at me?"

Sagira looked over her shoulder, a small smile creeping over her lips. "Seemply make certain you do not trifle wiz me again."

-----

His face was square jawed, with a hint of jowlyness, as if he'd once been overweight and had been forced to lose the weight quickly. His jaw was paler than the rest of his face, but not overly. He may have had a beard a few weeks ago.

He walked into the Aqua building, looking around like he'd belonged there. He signed in at the front desk, giving the name Bryce Jamieson, and smiling at the severe looking security guard. She smiled back, coolly, but a smile nonetheless.

"So it's true," she said in a deep, almost manly voice. "They're moving that Magma broad?"

"Yes'm," he said deferentially. "With all this whoo ha over Lange and Bays and all of that, we've been instructed to take her somewhere safer."

"I'll go get he-"

"No need," he said, holding up his hand. "Orders from the Bigwigs. I have to get her myself, lead her out the back. You're to pretend I was never here."

The guard snorted. "Great. A Snow Job. If we get attacked, I'm quitting."

The man smiled a wide smile, showing too many teeth, and moved back to the holding area as if he'd designed it.

He gave the knock code properly, and when the guard inside opened the door, the man hitched his thumb behind him. "Snow Job. You didn't see me, you never met me, and you don't know where she went." The guard nodded and moved past him, but stopped.

"Careful of her," he muttered. "Weird things happen around her."

The man smiled tightly. "Not anymore, they don't."

When the guard left, the man closed the door behind him. He looked in at Victoria, who looked back, looking both interested and bored. "Hello, Victoria Brooks. I'm Albert Dawson. And we are going to help each other out."

-----

"OK, so why are we here again?"

Sagira smiled, pulling the field glasses down. "Because," she said, not bothering with the French accent since the three of them were alone on the roof. "I want to see this."

Jay shook his head and rolled his eyes, watching through his own set of field glasses. There, a street down and at ground level, an old man was pointing a shaking finger at three boys, who were being handcuffed by a small force of policemen, led by Officer Jenny and her Growlithe, who was pointing at the boys with his snout, sniffing the one in the middle to confirm the jacket that Jenny held in her hand smelled like him.

"Remind me not to piss you off for keeps, huh?" Sagira laughed, then led the trio down the stairwell into the hotel, to go back their room.

The TV was running, Hinata dancing to the music blaring from it, her hips shaking, the silk like skirt at her hips flaring as she twisted and turned in the air. Jay gaped, pointing at Hinata.

"Um..."

"TOMORROW," the TV interrupted, "on Geraldo Springer, the woman who's ordeal has captured the heart of the city. On MGMA, Geraldo SPringer brings you Linda Laird and her story of tragedy and triumph! Coming at you LIVE!"

Jay blinked, then grinned, looking at Sagira.

"I know what we're going to do tomorrow, Ferb!"

caught a level 42 female mute and slightly psyche-damaged (as approved months ago by Letan)

[Living Arrow]

Ivy hurried along the sidewalk, keeping her back straight and her eyes ahead. She was on the hunt. Ringing of heeled boot on the pavement followed her as she and the rest of the pack moved at speed, challenging the passers by to block their path. Nothing could slow them now – their target was set and their minds focused as one.

She trotted across another road, barely escaping the blaring horn of a taxi as it sped by, before turning into another alleyway and breaking into a sprint. Even in her styled shoes, Ivy was fast on her feet and speed was what she wanted most. The speed to grant her the ability to rescue her friend before he went too far.

*You’re too late… You know it…*

A black shape emerged from the shadows of a dumpster, his scarlet eyes locking with Ivy’s own. She frowned, growling softly to subdue his latent stubborn attitude and darted past him. One. Two. Three bounds and she launched herself at the fence, gripping the top and swinging her whole body over and above in a tight arc. When her boot found the ground on the other side, Alpha was already there and waiting for his next orders.

Ivy took a moment to collect her breath and think. She was nearly there. She could still save him!

“And that’s how we’ll get in.” Ivy finished, folding her hands into her lap calmly, her team mates watching her with a mixture of expression. Jay’s eyebrow was raised, thoughtful. Sagira was… well, Sagira was just staring.

“You’re really OK with just watching the building from the outside?” She demanded with disbelief. “We’re expected to believe that you won’t just run in and howl the place down like you usually do?”

Ivy sighed. There simply wasn’t time to talk about it – they needed to save Victor.

“If it comes down to it, yes.” Ivy admitted, lounging back against the wall. “I know I’ve been a pain and Victor wasn’t as nice as he could have been but-”

“As he could have been?! That little excuse for a Weedle was a f-”

“Catseye…” Jay interrupted quickly. Her sharp eyes turned on him with a glare. “That stain dirtying our recent lives has pushed our last nerves but Kylar… Ivy… Ivy is kinda right.” Sagira’s lips twitched. “She is the best recon we’ve got and when it comes down to it, we’ll be able to move around in there better than her. Especially if we find him.” His hand edged towards Sagira’s but a flick of her eyes dared him to continue. His fingers froze.

“You can’t trust me to be calm.” Ivy admitted again, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. “So I’ll just be the support on this one.” She opened her eyes a crack. “And I’m not ordering you around because of my rank, either. I’m suggesting how to move on – you guys can always say no.”

Sagira frowned with intent. Her eyes spoke volumes about her emotions in a similar way Ivy’s brothers ‘spoke’ to her. So much could be said with a look that could never be described in words and Sagira’s weren’t just expressive – they were loud!

“Point taken…” Sagira muttered. “But for the record, I am getting so sick of costumes.”

Ivy smiled to herself and made an excuse to leave the room. They would have to get some sleep before the mission and by the way Jay’s fingers intertwined with Sagira’s, Ivy felt that privacy was the most important thing for them.

“Alpha – time to bring the others in.” Ivy said quietly, unclipping the fifth Pokeball at her belt. “Remember – we keep distance until everything is clear. We don’t move unless I give the signal.”

The midnight Mightyena growled and nodded curtly.

“Tau!” Ivy’s Pokeball exploded open and her latest capture burst out in a rush, his leaf-wings spreading so wide that they touched both sides of the alley and folded over by several feet. Ivy reached up and stroked his chin. “We’re going to Fly now, OK?”

The Tropius squealed a high-pitched tone of agreement and lowered his wings, allowing Ivy to climb aboard. She hooked her knees around his neck as she settled on his shoulders before looking back at Alpha.

“Alpha – you stick with Epsilon. She’s the smallest and you’re the only one I can count on to keep her safe. Beta and Kappa can take care of themselves.” She confided in her brother, still worried that he might ignore her again. To her relief, he nodded and dashed ahead, disappearing at the mouth of the alley. Ivy swallowed hard.

*Don’t screw this up, Hedera. Victor is counting on us not to mess this up. We need to believe in each other to make this work – trust in the pack strengthens it. Don’t forget.*

“Alright, Tau. Let’s go.”

[Umbrae Calamitas]

Sagira was usually very adept at keeping her mind on the mission primarily and letting all matters that might interfere from taking precedence in her mind. Was she always successful? - no. But she did a fair job of it.

However, these were, in Sagira's mind, abnormal circumstances.

She was on a set!

Few people knew that one of Sagira's greatest dreams had been to become an actress. She remembered being in the Drama Club in High School - the only social activity that she had ever participated in outside of playing with Mattie. In ninth grade, the school had put on Romeo and Juliet, of course, incapable of breaking the habit.

Sagira remembered how everyone had rushed to sign up for their top three wanted roles, determined to get one of their favorites. She was still certain that she was the only one who hadn't signed up for either Romeo or Juliet, but she had no desire to play the part of a star-crossed lover. There was only one role that she wanted, and she remembered the months she had spent practicing for auditions, to ascertain that she would get that role. Genders didn't matter, since women weren't allowed to act in Shakespeare's time, so men were playing women and women were playing men in this play. By the time auditions came around, Sagira had her every line memorized and was the best of all of those who auditioned for Mercutio.

She didn't get the role. It was given to Sarah Jemini, a stuck-up girl in the Drama Club who hadn't the talent to play Abraham, with his whopping two lines, much less such an important part as Mercutio (who, for the record, had the best line in the whole damn play). She didn't get the role for talent, then, but because of who her father was - an expensive man with expensive tastes, who always got what he wanted.

Sagira remembered how she had been left to play Peter, an illiterate, horribly singing servant of Lady Capulet - something that Sarah didn't let her live down for weeks after the roles were assigned. It might have bothered Sagira still, after the play, except for how she had watched from behind the curtain before the play started, how her father and mother came into the theatre and her father argued with Mr. Jemini - Sarah's father - until the two of them were allowed to sit in the front row with Jemini's wife and driver, taking the vacant seats left open for no reason but to make Jemini feel important.

Sagira would fight tooth and nail to assure anyone who disagreed that her father still cheered louder than anyone during the play, and especially at her part.

Sagira never lost her desire to be an actress, but it stopped being a doable dream and became one of those you let float above the mountains you know you can never climb. After all, what you are able to do in life has nothing to do with your talent in that area, and everything to do with who you know. Sarah Jemini, despite being the worst actress that Sagira had yet to meet, had connections, and Sagira didn't. That was just how it worked.

Besides, a Pokemon Ranger was a good job, and that dream was one she could fulfill.

Still, being here, on this set, seeing the cameras set up, the doors back to the makeup studio, the microphones and lights and backdrops and curtains - it all excited Sagira in a way that she hadn't been since ninth grade, when they were auditioning for plays. She tried to hide the thrill that ran through her, but she didn't think she had the power to still it all. It was too much, the rush that raged through her blood at the thought of where she was and everything that might have been done on this very set! Her eyes tried to take everything in, threatening to make her dizzy.

A door slammed open, making Sagira twitch. She faced forward quickly and watched as a security guard rushed past them at a fast jog, a steel flashlight gripped tightly in his hand. Sagira and Jay watched him go, completely ignoring their presence. Either Ivy had been caught trying to draw their attention (not likely, in Sagira's opinion), or someone was in big trouble.

Sagira was about to step through the doorway the officer had come out of, but a hand on her arm stopped her. She looked back at Jay and he held up a finger to signal her to remain quiet. She listened, as he seemed to be doing intently, and heard the muffled sounds of voices. Jay's eyes roved the scene, taking everything in at a glance. Sagira listened to the sounds, but the cement floors and layout of the building kept the voices echoing and she couldn't pinpoint an origin.

"Where are they?" she asked, waving her hand ambiguously to signify the voices.

He clearly understood her meaning, as he grinned at her. "Elementary, my dear Watson." His left hand on the center of her back to steer her in the opposite direction, he made a motion with his right hand and she followed his direction toward a wall covered by a curtain.

Sagira glanced at him, brow furrowed, and he merely smiled at her in that manner that made it hard for Sagira to swallow, while her body wanted to melt like her already sloshy brain. "It's all about appearances here," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath tickling the side of her neck, as he reached out and pulled the crimson curtain back, displaying a door that she never would have found.

"After you, my panther goddess," he breathed against her neck.

Sagira kicked her brain into action with some reluctance and gently pushed the door open (after fumbling to find the handle with tingling fingers), slipping in as silently as a cat, with Jay following.

Hiding in the shadows, they could see Linda Laird, so close, but surrounded by an array of people. Sagira studied them all - they each clearly had a reason to be here.

"This won't be easy," she murmured, as they walked along the edge of the room, searching for an appropriate spot of entrance.

She could feel more than see Jay's smirk. "Leave this to me."

[Master Houndoom]

Sneaking into the studio was not hard, nor was sneaking behind the set. The security for this show wasn't the best, considering that it was run by a group of individuals that controlled the entire city, and still had a hard time believing that anyone would oppose their rule openly. The hard part was before them now; Linda Laird was surrounded by production staff, arms crossed, looking surly. While the staff likely didn't pose a direct threat, any one of them would just as likely call for help should any violence occur.

There were production assistants yelling about time, lights, camera angles, directors trying to get the scenery just right, camera, lighting, and electrical crews working to make those last few minor adjustments; they were all familiar sights and sounds to Jay, and he found himself disheartened to realize he'd missed them. Then an idea struck him. Sneaking along the set, he grabbed some hair gel from an abandoned hair and makeup table and started applying it to his hair, slicking it straight back as if it were freshly wet.

"What are you doing," Sagira hissed, her face incredulous. Jay simply smiled.

"There are three things I've learned in Jubilife that actually might come in handy," he said, buttoning his shirt all the way to the neck. "One, it's not what you know, it's not who you know, it's who everyone thinks you know. Two, if you act like you belong to a place, no one will ever challenge that. And three, no one will call you a liar if you act like you are expected to act." He waggled his brows at Sagira, who looked confused and a bit impatient. "Follow my lead. Act bored, but not dumb. You're above all this."

With that, he stepped out, confidently, in full view of whoever might be watching, trusting Sagira to follow him. When he got close to the catering table, he spoke loudly, catching the attention of everyone on the set.

"No, no, no! Dis is all wronk! You haff de junk foods, you haff de zoda pops, dis is terrible! Die shvartzen de himmen gruten blibben!" Already people were standing or turning toward them to question Jay's presence, but he strode on as if there was no problem. "Vere you not tolt to expect me? Bah! Hoennians and deir lack of de social graces!"

The head director began approaching Jay and Sagira angrily when Jay snapped. "Vere iss de Laird? I must talk to de Laird, achtung!"

"What's going on here? Who are you?!" The director was red faced, but Jay merely looked at him with exaggerated slowness and raised a single brow.

"Who-- Who am I? Who am I?! You do not know vis who you are speakink?!" Jay turned to Sagira, eyes wide, breathing through his nose as if he were truly outraged. "I am truly outrag-ed! You, who haff made ze spectacle of zis girl, haff put her up for me to see, callink me from Jubilife like a beacon in de night, danglink her as if she vere ze tasty wurmple unt I vas de seakink starfink for a last meal, do not know DIETR?!" He had, by this point, raised his finger and worked himself up into a self-righteous fury. "I am, vhat is de vord, in Jubilife, I am de Protégé! No, eis too small, I am de Prohibitionist! No, eis too limiting..."

"Prodigy," volunteered the director, sneering.

Jay pointed his finger at him. "Do not correct me ein de pooblic! Never correct me ein de pooblic!" Instantly, he was calm again. "In Jubilife, I am de Prodigy!"

The director looked at Sagira, his facial features briefly flashing of lust. "Look, miss, you look--"

"I see how it is you look at her. You dink she is de skit-ty, ja? You dink she vill giff in unt be purrink unt let you rub her toight, toight tummy, unt let you feed her de milken ein moomoo, ja?" He slapped the back of his hand into his other palm sharply, shouting, "NO!" and causing everyone to jump, startled. "She vill shred you like de absol, she vill tear you to tee-ny ti-ny bits, unt you vill be de ski-ty litter!" Straightening, he called out, "Bring the Laird to me now, ve haff vasted enuff of de time vith your sense of non-ness!"

"Look, Mr. Dietr-"

"Nein, nein! Mr. DIETR iss mein Vater."

The entire production staff blinked. "Your name is Dietr Dietr?"

Jay made a face. "Nein, nein, dat voult be ridikoolous! Mein name eis DIETR. Mein Vater's name eis Mr. DIETR. Ja?"

The director slapped his palm over his face. "Dietr, this is a closed set. You will have to wait until after shoo-"

"A clossed set, ja?" He turned, sneering at the director, stalking toward him. "If dis vas de closed set, vhy vas I able to get into it, vas you dinking off dat?! NO!" once again he slapped the back of his hand into the other palm, causing everyone to jump. "You are de director, you are supposed to be de smarty panties, tell me vhy dis vas not dought off!"

The Director's brow scrunched together, but before he had time to really think things over, Jay was leaning forward, in his face, a smile that was too sweet to be genuine on his lips.

"Get. Me. De. LAIRD!"

It was a very odd sight, to see a man so much older than Jay jump and rush, scampering over to Linda, and pulling her, gently but quickly, to where he stood. There was no recognition on her face when she looked him up and down, a sneer forming. "What?"

"You are de Laird, ja?" Jay did not wait for her to answer. "I am here to giff you de offer you cannot be refusink, I know dis. I am here to make you... de STAR!"

Linda's eyes hooded. "Not interested."

The rest of the studio personnel seemed surprised, taking a step back as if they feared DIETR's reaction. However, Jay smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Ja, ja," he said, consolingly, even with an air of understanding. "You haff been hurt by dis beast off a man, dis Jay Lange of whome has made vit der rapinkness. Ve understand dis, ja? You vant to make him suffer. Make him hurt for takink vhat vas yours to give unt take. He hurt you..." His voice was low, intense, and even Linda seemed taken in by it.

"De best vay to do dis is to show your story to de vorlt. To make dem see what a terrible, horrible man dis man is. To slander his name for all to see, so that he might neffer be safe... unt ve," he said, indicating Sagira and himself, "can make dis happen for you. More den dese, who haff, vhat, de city? Ve haff de vorlt."

Linda looked at him, and, evidently, saw something in his eyes. "Right. Hurt him. OK." To the director, who was now sweating, she sneered. "Show's off."

"W-wai--!"

"She hass said de show is off! Take unt hint!" With that, he and Sagira, one on either side of Linda, walked off the set, three heads held high. As they walked out, Jay began to hum. "Neffer goink to giff you up... neffer goink to let you down..."

"Why are you singing that," Linda asked with a hint of disgust once they were out of the studio. Jay waited until they had turned a corner into an alley before he answered, gripping her arm firmly. He could tell, by the alarmed look, that Sagira was doing the same on the other side, perhaps harder than needed.

"Because, Linda, you've just been Rick Rolled."

[Pumpkin King]

Victor stood on a stone bridge as the sun set behind Hoenn's mountains. The breeze blew his godly hair ever so dramatically and his expression was one of deep thought. It was a perfect scene planned out in his head, but Victor couldn't hold it for long. He for what seemed to be the first time actually felt ridiculous, though this was by far one of his least ridiculous moments. There were no exotic bird feathers for starters but that was irrelevant. The fact that he was pretending to be filmed while in the midst of a serious situation surpassed the absurdity of dancing a cancan in an extremely gaudy outfit.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. The little voice in his head answered with the only Spanish expression he retained from class: Comiendo mierda. He felt stupid but there was nothing else he could do. He couldn't rescue Victoria because he couldn't go anywhere near the Maw without being apprehended by Grunts. He couldn't search for his friends because 2 out of 3 them hated his guts and Linda was another story altogether.

Well, they were never really friends anyway, except Ivy of course. Sagira and Jay never seemed to like me. They probably just put up with me for Ivy... And then there's Linda. Victor suddenly acquired a foul taste in his mouth. Linda used him and the worst part was that he allowed it to happen. While I wasted time 'comiendo mierda', she took my spotlight. She used my name to get famous. She used my idea too! And now she's acting?! She left me in the dust?!

Victor recalled the last time he encountered her. He had gone to the news studio expecting to be interviewed when the producers asked him to leave. And why? Because that leech prostituted herself to the media and they wanted her instead of him. And what pushed him over the edge was that smug look on her face she had when their eyes met.

If it weren't for me, she'd be in the Maw right now being tortured for information and without her name ever being uttered in the news! He sighed and resigned to the ground. He didn't care that some mud got on his new jeans or that the wind was now blowing his hair out of place.

"Whatever happened to fair dealing?
And pure ethics?
And nice manners?
Why is it everyone now is a pain in the ass?
Whatever happened to class?"

Victor cut the last note of the first verse short, upon remembering the irony of the song. "Class," from Chicago laments the degradation of society, but is sung by two very unclassy women in an extremely unclassy manner. The parallelism of the situation and Victor's life shocked him.

"I'm just like her... if not worse..."

"Holy shit
What a shame
What became of class?"

Just then, a new Victor filled his designer clothes.

***

"You are absolutely sure of this, Victor?"

"Without a single doubt."

Victor was on the phone with Steven Brooks, Victoria's very powerful father. There was a pause in the conversation as he soaked in the information.

"It's not just another stunt for attention?" Mr. Brooks was not worried about his missing daughter because she was prone to do such things.

"No."

"Well, Victor, there's not much I can do without starting a war in Noverus, which would not help my situation at all. If she contacted you, then she's still alive, and if she can stay alive this long, she can manage. Now I have some things to do so if you don't mind-"

"What?!" Victor said incredulously. "You're her father!"

"A father with things to do."

"You're just like him. My father."

Mr. Brooks hung up, leaving Victor hanging. Victor knew that stung. Being compared to the person you hated was not pleasant. But how could someone be so callous when their own daughter was being held captive? Not lingering another moment more on irresponsible fathers, Victor turned to his butler Edward who had just brought a can of soda from the refridgerator. "That didn't work out how I expected."

"Plan B?" Edward offered.

"Wish I had one."

But Victor was determined. He needed to take action. However, the next action he took was a gasp when he saw a Tropius fly overhead the courtyard he stood in. He couldn't make much out of the figure on the Pokemon but if Aqua was on the lookout for him, he should stay away from his own home, which would lead to an easy capture.

"Where are you going?" his butler asked as Victor ran towards the gate.

"My only real home."

Victor went to the theatre in hopes of finding a peaceful place to gather his thoughts and sort out a plan without being attacked by Aquas.

This post has been edited by Pumpkin King: Feb 6 2010, 10:52 PM

[Living Arrow]

Ivy, atop Tau’s broad back, watched with frustration as Jay and Sagira hurried into the TV studio building. Kappa slid out from behind a bin near their entrance and signalled up to his master that everything had moved according to plan. Assisting in the surveillance followed by co-ordinating the insertion was pretty much the full extent of Ivy’s part of the mission but it did not leave her in the least bit satisfied.

“Oh, Tau.” Ivy stroked the Tropius’ great head fondly as she watched the street below. Cars roamed aimlessly. Pedestrians politely moved out of one another’s way. Pidgey pecked in the gutters. “Everything is such a silly mess. My friend Victor is in a lot of trouble right now but I know he is just being a dumb little pup – he’d never try and hurt us.” There was a long pause as her voice caught in her throat. “You’ll see.”

~

“That over-exaggerating bitch isn’t worth my time,” Epsilon snarled angrily, “nor is she worth the time you spend doting on her.”

Alpha’s crimson eyes studied the small Eevee intensely. Her muscles barely showed the tension that she was holding in them – she knew self control. Her eyes blazed with intelligence and yet the pink bow atop her brow screamed airhead. The way her tail wagged ever so slowly indicated her consideration. The smooth wiggling of her paws? Intent. Knowing what hid behind that cute exterior made the term ‘houndoom-in-mareep’s-clothing’ look like the understatement of the century.

“My sister is worth more than just my time, Eevee.” Alpha muttered, turning his attention back to watch the north exit of the TV studio building. “But you are right. Worth is not what should weave the fabric of our pack. It’s strength. I am the strongest we have but not just in my body.”

Epsilon raised her eyebrows.

“Hedera’s mind has been… weakened. She has lost herself recently and whatever she has regained is warped. So warped I fear she will never be the same again.” Alpha’s tone carried a faint hint of remorse but otherwise held firm and confident.

“Then why do you just allow her to command you and the others around so freely?” Epsilon demanded. “If you were Prime then none of you would get hurt so often – that includes Ivy.”

“Hedera.” Alpha corrected her quickly. “Our mother named her Hedera.”

“I go by the name she introduced herself.” Epsilon replied haughtily. “Looks to me like she has forgotten more of herself than you are ready to accept.”

“Even if she has, that doesn’t give me or anyone else the right to question her. She has been our leader for so many years itwould be completely disrespectful to question it.”

“And yet you disobey her?” Epsilon glared from the corner of her eye.

“It is for her own good.” Alpha snarled back.

“How so?” Epsilon rose to her feet to pace around Alpha’s crouched form menacingly. “As far as I can see you ignore her because you are nothing but disrespectful.”

“If I don’t do as she says, she won’t get hurt!” Alpha barked angrily. A man passing the alley spared the pair a lingering glance but moved on all the same. Alpha lowered his voice and moved his face dangerously close to Epsilon’s. “Whenever I battle. Whenever my new brothers battle. Whenever any of us fight, Hedera forces herself to join us. I can’t count how many times she has been to those human hospitals, how many broken bones I have had to help tend, how many tears I’ve had to watch Beta shed! She cares too much about our family and it puts her in immediate danger. If I stand back, she will also stand back – that is why I disobey her.”

The lingering stare in Epislon’s eyes was the first thing that Alpha could not read.

They continued to wait in silence.

~

“Let’s Fly, Tau.” Ivy squeezed her heels into the Tropius’ back, prompting him to take back to the skies. “The others can watch for any signals on their own for a little while.”

In the roaring quiet of the sky, Ivy was able to clear her head and escape from the world below. Although it was a little like being on a boat, the movement of her Pokemon was altogether more stable so her stomach did not feel queasy at all.

They soared above the city, passing over the hated shopping mall and out across the wealthy district. Ivy had never really been in that area of Noverus but it looked very grand, indeed. She wondered how many missions she would need to complete to afford one of the mansions with the biggest gardens – open space was important for her brothers – but decided that it was a fool’s paradise.

Winging back over the center of town, Ivy guided Tau to land in an alley a couple of blocks away from the TV station. An old theatre stood across the street from where she grounded her Flying-type and as she stepped out onto the sidewalk a familiar, perfect quaffed head pushed open the theatre doors.

“Victor!” Ivy hissed.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

Once upon a time I was falling in love, but now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do... a total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life, but now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say... a total eclipse of the heart

(Turn around) bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart
(Turn around) bright eyes, Every now and then I fall apart…

“Nipashe, do our ears a favor and stop singing that damn song.”

Nipashe, with her eyes closed, ending the song early, holding onto a humming tune for a time, until she had let it fade away slowly. With a gentle sigh, she opened light blue eyes to glance at her packmate. The brown-eyed absol was glaring sharply at the grass and she regarded him with a sympathetic look – one which he did not appreciate.

“I don’t need your pity, Nipashe!”

“No one said you needed pity, but my sympathies are freely given.” She regarded him with a curious glance for a time. “If you care for the fox so much, why not go and visit her?”

With a snort, he turned his head way sharply. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

A chuckle came from the other side of him, and the brown-eyed absol turned to glare at his violet-eyed brother. “She does have a point, Wajibu,” his brother commented with a smile.

“Oh, shut up!” Wajibu snarled. “You’re not one to talk, Adimu – randomly telling the kirlia that she’s beautiful and full of light.” He snorted. “What is it that the humans say? – pot, kettle?”

Nipashe rolled her eyes and stood, advancing toward the both of them offensively and making them rise swiftly to their feet. “Off with the both of you! Go visit the does and leave me to my thoughts without your interruptions!”

“Anything to avoid your singing,” Wajibu growled, dodging out of the way of her sharp swatting claw. He raced down the hill upon which they had all been lying and disappeared from view. Adimu waited some time, regarding Nipashe with worried eyes, but she did not meet his gaze, and he soon followed in the path of his brother.

Shaking her fur out, Nipashe sat down again and turned to the last of her brethren. “I suppose you have want to visit one of them, as well?”

There was silence for a time, the golden-eyed absol not turning his head to look at her even when he did choose to speak. “My heart bears no such desire, Nipashe, but if you wish to seek out the lost one, do not let me stop you.”

“It is usually Adimu who reads our hearts so well, Malchior - not you.”

“That song you sang,” he said slowly, after a time. “It is not one spoken lightly by you. You fear loss, Nipashe.” He finally turned his head to glance at her, golden eyes meeting light blue. “Again, those mother-instincts arise… or is it-”

“You know as well as I, Malchior, that my heart yearns only to protect,” she chided him sharply. “I love all of these creatures and wish none of them harm. There is nothing more there than that.”

“Of course,” Malchior said, turning back to stare down the mountain. “Forgive me, Nipashe.”

“There is nothing to forgive, Malchior.” Nipashe turned and left him to his contemplations, her mind taking its own turn. The song that she had been singing was one that she had heard days before – about the same time that she felt this disturbance in the mind of the kirlia. So wrought with distress and pain, so full of agony and desire and self-hatred, she pitied the poor creature and wished that she could do more.

She was, however, but one creature, and she could do only the force of one creature.

But perhaps one would be enough.

~*~

"I must not - care. I must not care. Not at all." Paladin shook his head rapidly when images of Hinata flashed before his mental eyes. In his mind, he could hear her laughter, but as always, there was no memory of it in his ears. Perhaps that was for the best, for it would make it that much harder to let go - that much harder to not care.

"I cannot care," he whispered, his body stiff as he stood on the ground. "I must protect Sagira above all else and I must be there for her, come what may. I must not care. I can't care if it hurts her - my friends will be safe. They will be safe."

And he would protect Hinata, too. He would give anything for her. Sagira would come first, but Hinata was second. Paladin could never love her openly - he could never allow her to see that he still cared. He needed her to find someone else to love her, and he would protect her.

He could imagine her, fiery and stubborn as she was, telling him not to act like this. He could see her in his mind, trying to get him to stay - to care - but he didn't dare. He couldn't risk the lives of those he loved - either Sagira or Hinata.

He stared back at his imaginary-internal Hinata, grateful that she wasn't real and so couldn't truly sense the tears and sorrow that rolled from his blue-green ocean eyes as he longed for her, and refused his desires. "If I don't grip the sword, I cannot protect you," he whispered softly to her, staring into her white-filmed eyes. "If I do grip the sword, I cannot embrace you."

He shook his head slowly, tears dripping from his head. "I cannot love you, my lady fair, though my heart would beg me to give in to it. I dare not. I dare not risk you. Find another to love, my lady Hinata, and I will keep my secret." He watched, in his mind, as her form faded away, until he was alone again. "I will protect you, my lady," he whispered, "and I will love you from afar." He buried his face in his hands. "But I must not care!"

~*~

Having Linda there to focus her attentions on was more preferable to the alternative.

Jay's performance had been stunning and brilliant - beautiful in a way that a planned performance could never be, because of how predictable it was. The thrill of the stage had lit a fire in her blood at the sight of him, the hokey Germanic accent done imperfectly on purpose, as though to patronize those that they fooled with the very fact that they didn't catch how off it was. It was subtle teasing, and yet he had been so obviously in character, so purely Dietr that Sagira's emotions flared through her at a rush.

She had been surprised, first, by his actions, and then impressed by his daring and his ability. That, however, turned into longing and then into a jealousy that she could not hide from. He was so good at acting - it came so naturally for him, it seemed. She wanted so badly to be an actress, but it could never happen for her. And here he was, completely brilliant, pulling off an accent that she had tried too many times to do and failed every time.

The jealousy came in a simmering burn, but it graced her simply and swiftly, and left again, replaced by awe at his abilities, and then a higher level of respect for him. He was far more talented than she had realized, and she wondered what other talents and hidden strengths he had kept from her.

But that was still back at the studio, and they were at the hotel now - a different hotel, actually. Sagira had insisted that they check out of the one that they had been staying in and move to a new one. It wasn't far away and perhaps she was being paranoid, but Jay humored her, anyway. She was grateful.

Now, the two of them were alone in the hotel room with Linda. Jay was playing "Good Cop" quite badly and, from what Sagira had just recently seen him accomplish, she knew that the act was purposely being ruined.

That didn't really matter, however. He could have been playing Angel Cop for all she cared. She was playing what he liked to refer to as "Don't Mess With Me Or I'll Claw Your Face Off Cop."

Sitting on a hard-backed chair, her arms tied behind her, Linda was stiff in her seat, but trying to keep a passive face. She looked incredibly calm. Sagira assumed that she figured the two of them couldn't do anything to her.

She loved proving people wrong.

She stood in front of Linda, pulling her clawed gloves on with slow, methodical movements. She refused to look at the girl or to give any sign that she was important - she wasn't. She was simply about to find out what it meant to mess with her or those she cared about.

Her gloves on, Sagira moved toward the girl, and she did not try to hide her stalk as she had been in public. Linda knew who she was now, and Sagira wanted her to know.

She walked around the chair with a slow, steady stalk, her hips swaying from side to side. She regarded her gloves thoughtfully, licking the claws on the tip of her tongue one by one. She smirked lightly when she thought she saw Linda twitch. Oh, she had only just began.

Standing behind her now, Sagira wrapped her left arm around Linda's chest as though they were old friends, and leaned her right cheek against Linda's left, her breath brushing softly against the girl's neck as she spoke.

"Linda, Linda, Linda..." Sagira raised her right hand and brushed the backs of her claws across the girl's right cheek. She felt her twitch away and smiled ferally, her teeth showing. "What ever will we do with you?" she whispered sweetly.

"I," drawled Jay, pausing to put on his sunglasses, "have a few suggestions. But you may not want to hear them, will you, Linda? No... because my suggestions take into accont that you accused me of rape..." He smiled at her, a smile that didn't even reach his nose, let alone his eyes. "Can I offer you a drink?"

Sagira purred softly against Linda's ear. "Naughty, naughty, Linda. You see, Jaybird usually gets to keep me on a bit of a leash, but it looks like you've gone and lost your life boat." Sagira tsked softly, wagging her finger just within Linda's peripheral vision. "Naughty, naughty." She trailed the backs of her fingers down Linda's right cheek again.

"I'm not telling you anything!"

Sagira clicked her tongue. "Oh, we know, Linda, we know. But see, we have ways of making you talk." She reached under the girl's chin and, with her right hand, dragged the tips of her claws gently across Linda's cheek, down her jowl, and over her throat - never hard enough to break skin, but she let the girl feel the keenness of her claws.

She kissed Linda gently on the cheek and purred in good humor at her ear. "Now what were you saying, Linda?"

[Master Houndoom]

Sagira was, in short, amazing. She had Linda shaking within seconds, and he was surprised the Magma agent hadn't wet herself by now. For his part, he acted bored, but in truth, there was nothing more interesting to Jay Lange than what Linda Laird had to say.

She trembled, keeping her eyes forward, but giving her fear away everytime her eyes flicked toward Sagira.

"Y-you two are the ones who stopped me in the Aqua building." She said it with a hopeful look, and Jay simply looked at her. "And you're Jay Lange." Jay's eyes hooded, indicating the line of questioning was not something he wanted to discuss.

"It was Victor's idea!" she blurted out, fascilitated by Sagira taking a step toward her. "It was all him, I just went along!" She looked at Jay pleadingly, beseechingly. "I went along with it because having someone with his influence in my pocket would get me back in their good graces!"

Sagira stepped toward her, but Jay held his hand up. "How'd that work out for you?"

Linda swallowed. "At first all he could think about was... getting back at you and... and your psychitic girlfriend-"

With a snarl, Sagira turned, picked up the phone in their room, yanked it from the wall and slammed it across the side of Linda's head, sending her toppling over with a cry.

Jay raised a brow at Sagira, who was standing over Linda, breathing heavily and holding the phone as if she wanted desperately to perform dental work with it. Linda stayed on the ground, sobbing in fear and pain.

"Sweety..." Jay began with a light warning tone. Sagira turned and glared at him, but Jay continued as if she were looking at him with interest. "You never start with the head... the victim gets all fuzzy..."

Sagira's mouth twisted in a grimace as Jay came over to pull Linda up. He looked at her, tilting her head from side to side, looking at the rapidly growing lump above and forward of her left temple. "What my girlfriend is trying to say, besides 'stop calling me a psycho,' is that we really need to know where Victor is."

Linda's eyes opened, releasing huge tears. "I... I don't kn-know..." Sagira growled low, and Linda started, sobbing. "I don't! I don't know!" She wept openly. "We met at his house, and I was always at... The stupid studio, or giving interviews! I thought he had a plan, but all he wanted was to make you look bad!" She sniffed, looking up at them. "H-he'd sometimes g-go to the theatre... He'd do... These silly songs and dances... Mitsy would have loved him," she said, spitefully.

Jay sighed. "That isn't a lot." He stood and stepped back, and Sagira stepped forward.

"NO!" Linda kicked backwards, nearly toppling herself, but Sagira caught her leg and held her there, teetering between upright and prone. "I... I'll be missed! Someone's coming to meet me at the theatre!"

"Who?"

"H-he helped me, s-so I'm helping him... Dawson. He's been gone, but he's back, and--"

Jay and Sagira looked at each other, pale and alarmed. Sagira pulled Linda to a sitting position, and pulled Jay to the corner.

"Dawson's loose?!" Her eyes were ful of equal parts fear and anger. "How did Dawson get loose?"

"I don't know," Jay said, "but we better call Bryce. Linda Laird suddenly became the least of our problems."

-----

Hinata lounged in the psychicscape. There, where she could see, was a room just for her. Soft, billowing drapes flowed inward through open windows. On the walls of this room were paintings, of the beautiful, romantic side of warfare: pirates and ninjas and knights and samurai, cowboys and secret spies and special forces. Pokemon in gladiator arenas, and martial artists glowing in combat. Most of the images were pulled from Jay's mind, from comics he'd read, or movies he'd seen, or video games he'd played. They reminded her of how Jay saw her, how she hoped Jay would always see her: strong, brave, overcoming her limits.

They reminded her, too, of a particular friend, and the loss of that friend filled her. The pictures began to crack and fade, smolder and burn.

Hinata ignored it, or seemed to. "It's good to have you here," she said with a smile to the figure in the corner. Dressed in slacks and an open white shirt, the figure leaned in the corner, looking out the window, a shadow obscuring all but his violet eyes. He looked at her, hints of kindness, compassion, affection in his eyes, and Hinata's heart throbbed, both painful and hopeful.

"Something troubles you, beautiful one," the figure said, leaning his head to the side but not bringing his face into the light. Even now, she couldn't tell if the body she was seeing was a construct of his mind or hers.

She waved a hand, intending to seem lazy, but the lump in her throat kept her from speaking for a moment. "It's nothing, Adimu, she finally managed, looking outside the "window" of her own mindscape, which were, not surprisingly, devoid of any imagery. She swallowed, taking a deep breath. "Nothing important."

There was silence between them for a short time, then Adimu sighed. "Lying," he said softly, with no him of reproach, disappointment, or anger, all emotions she felt keenly from herself, "serves very little purpose. I can see through it, so you're not deceiving me. No one else is here, so you are not deceiving them..."

"Perhaps, Adimu, I would like to deceive myself, have you thought of that?" Hinata snapped. She looked away, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered after a long silence. "If... if you want to leave, I won't blame you..."

Her mental eyes were closed, but she felt him, near, close enough to feel breath on her cheek. "I could not leave you in such a place."

Her eyes opened, and she blinked. The room, light and airy, was gone. In its place was a dungeon. Looking up, she saw the barest hint of light, a window at the top of a wall so tall her eyes could not see the end of it. The wall surrounded her, like a great tower of dark stone, and the bottom of it was damp ground. She lay, not on a duvet as in the previous room from before, but on the ground, her dress dirty, her skin stained with mud. And she knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she had always been here, and the airy, open room from before was the illusion she had created herself.

"No! I was happy!" Adimu looked at her, once again merely violet eyes in the dark, but with such compassion that her heart caught in her throat. She could feel the tears, thick a viscous against her cheeks. "I wanted to be happy," she whimpered, not even able to hate herself for the perceived weakness.

Adimu approached her, though nothing but his eyes showed. Still, they were enough, and Hinata watched them, holding on to the sight of them. "Is there anything I can do to bring a smile to your face? To bring your light back..?"

Hinata's mouth opened, and Adimu leaned in. She could feel hot breath on her cheek, and her knees went weak, and her mouth trembled, and she wanted what was about to happen.

An image, of a helmeted boy with sea green eyes smiling at her, of a kirlia with the same eyes battling with her, of him holding her back when she was about to wreak vengeance on humans that had hurt her trainer, of his soft touch and warmth and compassion broke through her mind, and she shoved, shouting in her mind, "NO!"

Adimu was across the round room, not hurt, not even angry, but his eyes were resigned. Hinata opened her mouth to apologize, tears thick on her cheeks again, but Adimu closed his eyes. "Do not apologize, my bright one. It was not my place to take such liberties, and I apologize for doing so."

"I am sorry, Adimu," Hinata whispered, her voice stronger than it had been. "I wanted what you were going to give... for a little while. I wanted... I wanted to forget. I... used you. I'm so... so wretched." Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she wasn't much happier with this new melodramatic Hinata, but it was, at its core, true; she had wanted him to kiss her to forget her problems, and she felt horrible for it.

Adimu's head shook adamantly. "You are far from wretched. You are sad, perhaps lonely, and missing something desperately, but that does not make you wretched."

Hinata felt her hands shake, and she put them over her eyes. "I do. I miss him. I hate what he's doing, but I miss him." She sighed. "Why is he doing this? Why is he... why?! Why is he turning away from me?!" In a fit of anger, she picked up a rock and hurled it. It bounced with a satisfying crash from the wall across from her, well away from Adimu's floating eyes.

"I can," came the weary, resigned voice of Adimu, "only tell you why I might, should madness strike me to abandon you. It would be duty. And fear, of having to make the choice between you and duty. It is not a choice I would wish on anyone."

"Choice?! Why would he have to choose? Unless I was the thre-- No, that's ridiculous! We protect our trainers together! He's being so stupid!" She paced, raging, but deflated quickly. "I... I still want him. I still want him... and I don't... I don't know what to do." She looked up at him, feeling guilty for asking after all that happened, but who else would listen? What do I do, Adimu?"

"Find him. Go to him. Convince him. With a bright star like you, only a fool would say no." He chuckled, then, fading, and though Hinata wanted to bid him to stay, she knew she couldn't. "He may take some persuasion, however."

As he faded from sight, Hinata sighed, wiping her eyes. "Thank you, Adimu."

Above her, the walls of the tower prison began to crumble.

-----

Why is the Hinata sad?

Siryn had spotted Paladin standing alone, staring out a window. She could not see his face, but she didn't need to. He was a smorgasbord of fear, sadness, grief, and determination. He was sad, and afraid, and afraid of his sadness. And seeing this, she wondered, if Paladin was sad, and Hinata was sad, and the solution was with each other, why were they still sad.

Paladin looked back at her, then turned back toward the window, saying nothing. Siryn was not accustomed to being ignored, and she found she didn't like it when she actually wanted attention.

Siryn has asked the Paladin a question! Why is the Hinata sad? Why is the Paladin sad? Why are the Hinata and the Paladin making each other sad?! Still, there was no answer, but Paladin's shoulder's tensed, hunching as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Siryn's eyes narrowed.

The Paladin is the cause of this, isn't the Paladin? Why is the Paladin hurting the Hinata, who only Siryn should be hurting but can't because for some reason Siryn likes the Hinata and the Hinata treats her nice?!

There was no answer, and Siryn screeched, hitting Paladin in the back before floating off in a huff. Before long she was back, telekinetically slamming a dark purple box in front of Paladin onto the windowsill.

Siryn likes the Paladin and wants to make kissy face with the Paladin, so Siryn got the Paladin a gift! Do not open it with Siryn nearby, Siryn is not ready yet! Siryn has the Paladin's version if the Paladin wants it! Good day!

Paladin blinked, surprised. Siryn...

Siryn said good day! With that, she floated out. Paladin could not see the scowl on her face, but 'heard', clearly, what she 'said' as she floated away. If Siryn cannot treat the Hinata the way Siryn wants to treat the Hinata, the Paladin should at LEAST treat the Hinata the way the Paladin wants to treat the Hinata!

-----

The knock was the agreed code, but still Sagira had taken Linda into the bathroom, holding a clawed hand across Linda's mouth to keep her quiet, while Jay made sure the people knocking were the people they expected. If Sagira let the tips of her claws dig a little deep into Linda's cheek, well, it was necessary to keep the girl quiet, wasn't it?

Jay called them out, and the two agents, two boys slightly older than Jay and Sagira, took Linda by the arm. As one of them went out into the hallway to make sure the way to the elevator was clear, the other lingered, appraising Linda.

"Not much to look at, is she?" the boy asked, looking bored.

Jay snorted. "Don't underestimate her. She's got news on Dawson-" Linda sobbed at hearing that name, but shrunk back when Sagira glanced at her.

"Holy crap, what did you two do to her?"

"A little intimidation. She'll get over it and be pissed off in an hour." Jay smiled lightly at Linda, who, oddly, seemed to at least appreciate the gesture. Sagira scowled, and Jay looked confused. Linda simply looked at the ground.

The other boy came back, looked at his partner, then motioned for Jay to follow. In the hall, without preamble, he began. "Look, you're being hunted-"

"Yeah, we know-"

"Aqua's in on it. They don't want their reps sullied." Jay's face looked shocked, and his hand went toward his belt, but the other aqua rolled his eyes. "Bryce put out an announcement that we were to back you up and help you escape if we found you, but you seem to be doing OK. I thought you'd heard, with the disguises and all."

Jay sighed. "We didn't want the local authorities looking for us. Or Magma. Our faces have been plastered all over the airwaves... or at least close enough look alikes."

"Yeah, well... if I were you, I wouldn't tell your girlfriend... she's only been with us for a little while, and--"

"We're what?!"

"I think she knows."

"Frank!" The other boy, pushing Linda along behind him, retreated into the hall, Sagira hot on their trail. Jay moved to intercept, but needn't have worried. She stopped at the door.

"Bring her back!"

"No, you're not going to kill her," Jay said longsufferingly.

"Frank, you weren't supposed to tell Smythe! You were supposed to let Lange tell her!"

"You knew," Sagira exploded, glaring at Jay.

"No!" Jay sighed, annoyed. "I just now heard from this guy!"

"I'm sorry, Joe, I thought they knew because of the disguises!"

Jay sighed. "Hey, tell Bryce Dawson is on the loose. He was supposed to meet Linda at the Theatre."

The boys looked at each other, then at Jay. "You two are going to the theatre, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I love showbiz," Jay groaned.

The two boys left with their prisoner, leaving Jay to deal with a spitting, hissing Sagira.

"Bring her back!"

"No. She needs to stay alive."

Sagira relaxed, since Linda was gone anyway. "Well... what about Victor?"

Jay walked her back into the hotel room. "Orders are that we're not to kill him either." Jay fell onto the bed, on his back, looking up at the ceiling. Sagira peered at him, beginning to grin as his mouth curled up into a smile. "But accidents happen."

"How much time do we have," Sagira said, her voice going low and throaty. Jay sat up, blinking, but before he could even answer, he was pushed down again.

Five minutes later, they left the room, red-faced, breathless*, but more focused on the mission.

[Living Arrow]

“Victor?” The boy stood next to Ivy plunged his hands in his pocket and rocked back and forth. “Nope. I’m Gray.”

Ivy shifted away from the unannounced citizen and scanned him up and down quickly before turning back to see Victor disappear from view behind the theatre doors with darting backwards glances. Irritated by her interruption, Ivy rounded on the boy and snarled. The person facing her couldn’t be more than a year her senior but looks-wise that made him appear at least 5 years older.

“No-one asked you.” Ivy snipped turning back into the alley to pat Tau’s head. She raised his Pokeball.

“He’s really cool.” The boy said quickly, stepping alongside Ivy and stroking under the Tropius’ chin. “Your Tropius, I mean. What’s his name?”

Ivy appraised the boy once more. He was a good head taller than her with curled brown hair that reached down to cover the tops of his ears. At the right age to shave, he was clearly lax about keeping a smooth jaw and so was decorated with a dark shadow around his chin and upper lip. White teeth sat within an easy smile and bright green eyes had lines in their corners - he clearly smiled a lot.

“Tau.” Ivy replied uneasily, clicking open the Pokeball. “Return, now.”

“Tropius are so good to fly on – they make the air smell even sweeter than normal.” The boy went on, oblivious to Ivy’s annoyance.

“Uh, yeah. I have to go.” Ivy excused herself, recapturing her need to catch up to Victor and talk to him. Everything depended on her! She’d prove to everyone how innocent he was!

“Oh? But I thought we could talk.” The boy said hopefully, his smile turning to a weak frown.

“Look, Silly-”

“It’s Gray.”

“Look, Silly Gray, I’m busy and in a hurry. I can’t sit around chitty chatting all day with a random bamdom! Just leave me ‘lone!” Ivy hissed, stalking away from the boy and across the street at a trot that made her heeled boots ring with urgency.

“But I didn’t get your name!” Gray shouted after her.

“It’s Ivy, durr!” She called back over her shoulder without looking. Without a second thought, Ivy discarded the boy named Gray from her mind and threw herself at the theatre doors.

~~~~~

Gray watched the girl named Ivy dash into the theatre and stood in that same position for some time, hoping that she would emerge quickly so that he could speak with her again. When she did not, he took to lounging against the wall of the alley, keeping watch over the building. Her small pretty face, shining eyes and funny way of talking stayed with him the whole time, keeping him company in the early afternoon. He remained there a little longer, extending his hopes to their limit.

“I suppose I’ll see you around, Ivy.” Gray said to himself, offering up a silent smile and reach to the back of his belt. “Let’s get out of here, Aria.”

The Altaria that materialised cooed softly, nuzzling her golden head into Gray’s chest. He kissed her sweetly atop her Shiny crown and moved to mount her a usual, her wings spreading wide and carrying him up to the clouds that they resembled so closely.

~~~~~

“VICTOR!” Ivy yelled at the expertly-coiffed head that had its back to her. Her ex-team member stood rigid in the middle of the stage, motionless. Ivy growled deeply in her throat and threw the hat off her head.

“You look at me when I’m talking to you!” Ivy screamed again, tears welling in her eyes. “Stop being such a flea-ridden Silly!!!”

Victor, still looking away, appeared to sag, his head drooping on his neck.

“Please, Victor…” Ivy’s voice began to wane. “You’ve got to come with me so we can prove that you’re innocent! You’ve got to!” There was still no response. No gleeful cries of agreement. No denial of the unspoken accusations. Fearing the worst, the absolute impossible truth, she silently slipped her feet out of her boots and removed her overcoat. “Please…”

~~~~~

“Sister has returned to the ground.” Beta informed Kappa, tilting his nose to the wind. He sniffed intently, truly pointing the sleuth in Odor Sleuth. He snagged the tiny particles of sweat from the air and gathered the scent into a palette of information that required reading.

She was… nervous… excited… angry…

“Yo, I’ve got her, too.” Kappa replied, waving his tails back and forth as he drank in the breeze. “She’s not very far away… but the scent is weakening, dawg.”

“You’re right.” Beta double checked the messages floating towards them. It was easy to misread them given the odour of gasoline, humans, food and garbage smattering the disatance between them and Ivy. Despite the difficulty, they both managed to power through and focus on the information being fed to them. “She’s gone into a building. Let’s move.”

“But Big Sis said to hold this position.” Kappa protested. “She hasn’t told us to come back yet.”

“It doesn’t matter – Sagira and Jay both left the building some time ago with the target. We might not have been called in but the mission is over.” Beta insisted. “It’s more important to watch out for our Prime right now.”

Kappa gave a nod of agreement and dropped to all fours.

“So what do we do?”

“We find other entrances to the place she’s in and take cover. There’s got to be a reason why she’s still in the area and the mission is live until she says so – we’re going covert until orders change.” Beta moved to the mouth of the alley. No uniformed Magma or Aqua were present.

“Shouldn’t we tell Alf and the dudette?” Kappa asked as he dropped down beside his brother. Beta’s response was a surprising growl.

“He knows already.” Beta snarled, sniffing again. “In fact, he’s way ahead of us.”

“But how-”

“Beacause he’s better than us – that’s how.” Beta rumbled, jumping into a run. “We’ve got to move fast!”

~~~~~

Epsilon pranced onto the top of the balcony, stalking the railing as she watched her so-called trainer below. It appeared that the over-emotional creature was finally taking some wise precautions and removing unnecessary skins to do battle on a familiar field. Her target hid his face in the shadows, not turning or even responding with his voice.

Epsilon’s teeth were bared without her even realising it.

A keening whine from Alpha made her stop pacing and drop back down, out of view. His large form immediately crushed her to the carpet as they watched from above, keeping their position a secret. She did not need to speak with him to know that he was angry with her for being reckless but she did not care – why should she? He wasn’t the boss of her. No-one was the boss of her.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

Jay and Sagira forwent the front door of the theatre in favor of the rear. Laird had graciously informed them – with some persuasion that she was supposed to meet Dawson behind the curtain, in the dressing room. It had been quite clear how she emphasized women’s dressing room that she had fought to make sure she didn’t have to enter the men’s. Sagira smirked at the memory as she had when she’d first heard it. There were two things that Linda was not: unpredictable and resolute. Once Sagira had played with her claws a little, it didn’t take long for the girl to cave and tell them anything they asked.

Watching her burst into tears was just an added bonus.

Sagira had been mildly concerned about Ivy’s whereabouts, but there was little doubt that the girl could take care of herself, even if she was acting far different from the girl Sagira used to know. Still, some things seemed to be going back to the way that they had been. Although the usage was less, Sagira couldn’t begin to describe how thrilled she was when she heard Ivy use the word “silly.” Things weren’t back to the way that they had been, of course, but they were still better than when Sagira had first seen her after her personality shift.

Casting that worry out of her mind, however, Sagira crept through the studio with Jay, their footsteps as silent as they could make them, their eyes trained for Dawson, wherever they might find him.

Sagira saw him first.

She had expected to be pissed off. After all, when she learned that Dawson was loose and that Linda was supposed to meet him, she began incredibly angry. She knew that seeing Dawson was going to make her even angrier.

But she hadn’t expected to attack him.

In truth, she didn’t remember dodging out of the shadows, or hearing Jay hiss her name, or leaping on Dawson. By the time that she was fully conscious of anything, Dawson was on the floor on his back, with Sagira sitting on his chest, her claws at his throat.

She gave a feral grin that would have made a tiger cry. “Hello, sweetheart, did you miss me?” She scratched at his throat, or tried to, but he grabbed her wrists – informing her that in her anger, she had stupidly forgotten to pin his arms down.

He grinned back at her, holding her claws away from his throat. “Not really,” he admitted, and glanced her up and down, noting her position in contrast to his. “You’re doing it wrong.”

She hissed, fighting his grip to claw at him, but he threw his legs up and kicked her in the back, flinging her over his head and sending her crashing to the ground behind him.

She spun to her feet with a hiss, her eyes narrowed into slits, her fingers splayed out and her body tensed for attack. Dawson laughed at her. “I’d call you a bitch, but it’d go against your nature, pussy-cat.” He sneered. “I guess whore will do.”

“Hey!” Dawson turned in surprise, only to rock back when a fist slammed into his face. “Don’t call my girlfriend a whore!”

Dawson jogged back a couple steps, holding a hand to his throbbing, swelling eye. “Well, isn’t this a surprise. I have to tell you, boy, time on the streets has made you look dumber.”

Jay gave a mocking look of shock. “I have to tell you, sir, time in the slammer has made you look old.”

Dawson gave a low chuckle, which quickly turned into a rowdy laugh, his head thrown back in mirth. “He didn’t tell you, did he?” he asked, clearly pleased. “No, I suppose he wouldn’t. After all, he’s playing the chess pieces, like he always does.”

“What’re you talking about?” Jay asked, narrowing his eyes.

Dawson grinned. “Your boss – Nathaniel. Bryce.” He chuckled, displaying all of his teeth. “If he actually cared what happened to your lot, he would have told you I broke out of jail months ago. I wasn’t in there a full day.” He sneered. “I guess the two of you don’t mean shit to him, either, huh?”

Behind Dawson, Sagira’s eyes were narrowed into slits, her hands clenched into fists at her sides so tightly that blood ran out between her fingertips from where her claws had pierced her palms. “I’ll kill him,” she muttered darkly. She shook her head slowly from side to side. “That self-righteous, manipulative, lying bastard – I’m gonna kill ‘im!”

Dawson chuckled.

“But first, I’ll deal with you,” Sagira said, turning her glare to the former Elite.

“Not likely,” Dawson said, sneering at her. He pulled a pokeball off of the left side of his belt. When he saw Jay take a step closer out of the corner of his eye, he yanked one off of the right side of his belt and tossed them to the floor, as he took a step back. “You two could have just let me get on with it, but no, you had to interfere. So now you’ll pay the price. Get ‘em, boys!”

Sagira took a couple steps back as the pokeball exploded open, revealing a large lobster-like pokemon. She grabbed the first pokeball that touched her fingers and tossed it forward, revealing Calypso in a flash of red light.

The crawdaunt hissed at her and Calypso crouched in expectation for battle.

“Let’s end this quick, Calypso!” Sagira said. She wanted to be as far away from Dawson as soon as possible.

The vulpix grinned as she dashed forward. “My pleasure!”

[Master Houndoom]

Sneaking into the rear of the theatre was risky at best, but was the lesser of two evils. The front of theatres were typically large, open spaces, with few places to hide as they made their way in. The rear, backstage, was just the opposite; close, crowded corridors with plenty of rooms and alcoves to hide to avoid capture.

Sagira had once again shown off her expertise, picking the lock expertly. Jay would have to ask later where she learned thes skills.

He wished there was a way to contact Ivy, to tell her where they were, but they didn't have their usual resources of communication devices, being on the run.

He wanted to think about all of this, Ivy and Sagira and where they all stood together. There was a definite change in the blonde girl, a shift back to how she'd been before this mission, but it wasn't complete, and didn't seem it would ever be a complete change back to the way Ivy had been. Jay worried, in the back of his mind, that Sagira would not take that fact well.
But for now, they had to find Victor, and more importantly, find Dawson, both to try to get him back into jail and because Ivy didn't know he was loose.

Sagira saw him first. With a hissing growl, she leapt out of the shadows they had been creeping in.

"Sagira," Jay hissed, reaching out to stop her. She was too fast, and by the time his fingers curled around the space she had been in, she was already spinning Dawson around to thrust her elbow into his solar plexus. "Dammit," he muttered, "why do you always do this?!" He stood as Sagira taunted Dawson, stepped forward as she was kicked off, and was already reaching for him when Dawson called Sagira a whore.

"Hey! Don't call my girlfriend a whore!" It was not the most eloquent statement, but the satisfying smacking sound of Jay's fist in the older man's eye more than made up for it.

Dawson sneered even as he held his eye. "Well, isn't this a surprise. I have to tell you, boy, time on the street has made you look dumber."

Jay's mouth dropped, exaggeratedly painting shock onto his features. "I have to tell you, sir," he said, making the word a slur, "time in the slammer has made you look old."

Dawson's eyes widened slightly, and he chuckled, then snorted, the laughed. Jay looked at Sagira, but her eyes were on Dawson. When he finally slowed down, the smile on his face was malicious.

“He didn’t tell you, did he?” he snorted mirthfully. “No, I suppose he wouldn’t. After all, he’s playing the chess pieces, like he always does.”

"What're you talking about," Jay growled. His stomach sunk uneasily.

“Your boss – Nathaniel. Bryce.” Teeth flashed in his mouth like a cat telling a mouse exactly what was in store for him. “If he actually cared what happened to your lot, he would have told you I broke out of jail months ago. I wasn’t in there a full day. I guess the two of you don’t mean shit to him, either, huh?”

Jay's teeth ground, and he could hear Sagira plainly. "I'll kill him," she snarled, briefly in her own angry world. "That self-righteous, manipulative, lying bastard - I'm gonna kill 'im!" Then she rose her eyes to Dawson. "But first, I'll deal with you."

Jay could see it in Dawson's eyes, that smug satisfaction, of knowing that there was nothing he enemies could do to defeat him. Jay knew the old man was thinking back, to the day he'd had Sagira in the hallway, tired, confused, and helpless, pulling her where he wanted her like a spider pulls a fly on his web. There were two major differences now, however. One, Sagira was not confused and sleep-addled. Two, Jay was right there this time, and more than willing to take this bastard out once and for all.

Jay stepped forward, but Dawson must have seen him. As he loosed a pokemon toward Sagira, he pulled another pokéball from his belt and dropped it. The pokemon released was a small, squat lizard that looked relatively weak, but Jay knew better. The lizard pokemon crouched and opened his mouth, hissing nastily.

"Not likely," Dawson said with an oily sneer. Jay pulled a ball from his belt and released Raven, who looked at the lizard and huffed a sigh, crouching low. After her first fight that morning, she was a bit stiff, but the berry she... "acquired" from her opponent had taken the edge off of the fatigue.

"Kecleon," Dawson said lightly. "Destroy that rat."

<<RAT?!>> Raven growled, her fluffy tail swaying. She crouched low, waiting for the command, happy when it came quickly.

"Quick attack, Raven!" Raven dashed forward, then skidded to a halt, stunned. Where the kecleon had been was an empty space now. But how had it moved so quickly?! It had been right there!

"Shadow Sneak," sneered Dawson, barely keeping an eye on Jay. The kecleon appeared right in front of Raven, who began to scramble backwards, and smacked her with a closed fist on her nose. Raven backed up, sneezing.

"Shadow Claw," Dawson said again, without looking. The kecleon grinned toothlessly, slashing forward with his claws burning with an eerie shadow-like substance. Before Jay could call out for her to dodge, she stood up, defiant. The claws passed right through her.

Raven narrowed her eyes. <<I was almost fooled. But those are not moves that can touch me.>> She looked back at Jay, who looked worried. Rolling her eyes, she cursed herself for sneezing. Smirking, she dashed forward and Bit down hard on the lizard's arm.

The kecleon staggered backwards, holding it's arm, but grinning, and the grin did not encourage Raven at all. She watched as the green tone of its skin turn darker, the yellow highlights become gold, and the red zigzag on its chest become crimson. The creature grinned.

"Sucker Punch." Owing to the surprise on Raven's face, the attack was not hard to pull off, and this time she did roll backwards, standing slowly. This thing was strong!

"Raven, Quick Attack!"

Before the other pokemon could react, Raven had become a blur, striking him in the chest. As soon as she made contact, the kecleon's color changed back to normal.

Jay's teeth ground, however. Raven staggered as soon as she was finished with the attack, and the kecleon still looked as if it had power to spare. Jay ordered more quick attacks. The kecleon tried Shadow Sneak again, but to no effect. Of course. A ghost move. Then why'd she sneeze?

As Raven skidded to a stop from a missed attack, the answer came. Dust flew up around her, causing her to sneeze again. Jay sighed a bit.

The kecleon had not been idle, but hadn't yet been able to land another attack. Raven was tiring, however. The dust gave Jay an idea.

"Sand attack! As much as you can!"

Raven turned her back and started kicking backwards with her rear feet, stiring the dust and sending it in the kecleon's direction. The lizard began to make hacking noises that had to be sneezes. He was silhouetted in the dust, but couldn't see directly. Raven grinned, an evil, malicious, eevee grin.

"Quick attack!"

<<Screw that. You're better than most, trainyman, but there's only one way for me to win this one.>>

Instead of a blur, Raven leaned back on her hind legs, then charged forward. She slammed into the kecleon and knocked it out of the dust cloud, slamming it into the wall. She bounced back, wobbling, and the kecleon staggered, shaking his head. She'd gotten it. One more...

As she approached again, the kecleon slashed up with his claws, catching her in the chest. Raven rose of the ground, growling in pain and frustration until she hit the ground, sinking to unconsciousness.

Jay's face was grim, and he glared at Dawson's back. As he returned Raven, another ball popped open, releasing Lady Jaye, who took one look at the situation. Her face sank into the same grim, glaring look Jay had, and she launched from his shoulder, striking the lizard. Instantly, his skin turned a greenish blue, with the yellow lines turning white. The stripe remained red, but faded to a kind of orange-red, like a sunset. Lady Jaye did not look impressed. She swooped around the hall and back down, slamming her claws into the kecleon and flying up before the kecleon could recover enough to attack.

Jay smirked as the kecleon leapt to try to catch Lady Jaye in the air, only to fall victim to her aerial ace attack, knocking it out of the sky and unmoving to the ground.

"Next," Jay smirked, Lady Jaye landing on his shoulder and smirking at Dawson as well.

[Living Arrow]

“Victor…” Ivy whispered.

“I’ve gone too far this time…” Victor’s voice sounded so sweet to Ivy’s ears – she had truly missed her dear friend and the mere sound of him brought her a delight that lifted her heart to her throat. Even so, the words he spoke we not what she wanted to hear.

“No no! It’s not too far!” Ivy protested, moving slowly towards the stage with her eyes wide with anticipation. “We can put a stop to all this silliness and show everyone that you’ve done nothing wrong! Trust me, Victor!”

Victor’s body still did not turn, his head hanging limply on his neck with the burden of defeat. Ivy had never seen him so low, so removed from his enigmatic demeanour. It was so sad to hear about these things but to witness it first hand made her feel almost physically sick. She wanted to reach out, to hold him, to hug away the pain and the fear he must be feeling and to replace it with the happiness that she knew she could fill him up with. She wanted to run alongside him in a sun-soaked meadow with all of their Pokemon and human friends in tow, basking in the delight of life like everyone should. She wanted so much right then that anyone listening would have been able to hear her streaming cry of prayers for joy and laughter that they all deserved.

“No, Ivy. We can’t stop now – it’s too late.” Victor’s voice was low and melancholy. As though he had been watching rain pour down his window for far too long and its sorrowful rivulets had somehow found a way to cascade into his heart. Oh, how Ivy wanted to dry up those inner tears!

“It’s never too late! Never!” Ivy insisted, her hands balling into little fists. “We can go home together! We can make it all better!”

“No, Ivy.” Victor slowly turned, his eyes red and tired. He was managing to hold tears at bay but they were fighting strongly against his urges not to cry. “We can’t make it all better.”

“But-”

“But my cousin is in Aqua jail!” Victor rounded on Ivy quickly, his eyes focused and sincere. “And I’m an outlaw! And there is nothing for me to return to where you call home!”

“But I’m there…” Ivy’s voice caught in her throat. Victor’s intense glare softened.

“I can’t go back.” He whispered to her. “And I don’t want to – Aqua took me in by force and now they’ve imprisoned Victoria. Why would I want to go back just to be faced with what they have in store for me? I’m going to be thrown in a jail cell – that’s not a fate I wish to see in my lifetime.”

“But if we just make clear that everything is a misunderstanding?! If we tell them all the bad things are just lies?!”

“Lies?” Victor huffed a grunt of a laugh under his breath. “If only.”

“What?” Ivy’s eyes widened. It wasn’t possible! “No! They are lies! They are!!!”

“Ivy, I’ve made some mistakes… mistakes that can’t just be swept under the rug – people won’t forget or forgive what I did.” Victor’s eyes carried sadness as he smiled for Ivy, trying to reassure her while crushing her hopes and beliefs with only a few words.

“You hurt Jay! And Sagira! And that hurt me!” Ivy gasped, her emotions desperately clinging for calm. “I told them again and again that they were wrong! I never doubted you, Victor! But you… you betrayed me!”

“There is nothing I can say to show how sorry I am.” Victor admitted. Something in him was defeated – there was no passion that Ivy could see that belong to his former self. “You were my only real friend and I-”

“Shut up.” Ivy’s eyes darkened. “Shut your stinking, poisonous mouth.”

Victor’s brows raised and he took a step back on the stage. Ivy was still amid the stalls but she had closed some distance between them as they talked. Everything about her had dimmed in mere seconds as the true light of the recent events had been exposed for her to see.

“You made a fool of me…” Ivy began to move toward the stage once more, Victor slowly edging backwards. “You hurt people that I love… I cannot forgive that, Victor… And you’re a criminal… You’re an enemy of Aqua… I have orders-”

“Ivy, we can-”

“- to take you down!”

With a primal roar, Ivy catapulted herself at the stage, leaping up to it with a single bound and thrusting a fist towards Victor’s face. He sidestepped and sprang clear, his feet nimbly granting him a successful dodge where he danced back across the stage to stop with a hand on his belt.

“Ivy! I don’t want to fight you!” Victor protested, tears finally leaking down his face. “Please, let me just leave in peace!”

“I CANNOT FORGIVE YOU!”

“Aurum!” Victor declared, throwing his Premier Ball out between them before Ivy could make another move. His Persian hissed and flexed his claws dramatically – completely out of character for the feline. It was clear, Victor’s Pokemon was willing to battle a human to protect him.

A deafening howl echoed through the theatre, making all on the stage flinch and search the darkness for its source. A shadow on shadows decended from above, lightly padding down at Ivy’s side, quickly followed by a small brown blur.

“Alpha, GO!” Ivy shrieked and in an instant a battle between old friends began.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

The crawdaunt had scars criss-crossed over his claws, deep and old, proving that he had been battling for a long time. That, in itself, was worrisome, but Sagira had thrown out a pokeball without bothering to check who she was sending into battle. Now she had a fire pokemon against a partial water-type, which was stupid, but she couldn’t call the vulpix back now. Calypso would never forgive her if Sagira recalled her from battle, just as Sagira would have been furious if someone had pulled her away from a fight. It was one of the things that the two of them had in common.

Groaning internally, Sagira chose to grit her teeth and let the fight continue. The vulpix knew what she was up against. Sagira could only hope that her own advisement and the training that the vulpix had undergone for years in Aqua would be enough.

“All right, Calypso, we know the fire attacks are useless. Keep on your paws and stay out of its claws.”

”You are quite the poet, but, of course, Calypso said. She gave the crawdaunt a sneer, her ears twitching. ”My, you are an ugly urchin, aren’t you?”

The crawdaunt clacked its claws sharply. Calypso cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Bring it on, big boy.”

With a hiss, the crawdaunt shot its right claw forward, snapping for Calypso. The vulpix sprang upward, leaping over the incoming attack, and landing gracefully on the crawdaunt’s large pincer. She posed prettily and gave him a pretentious smile. Angrily, he raised his left claw and brought it down at her.

“Quick attack away!” Sagira snapped, and the vulpix moved swiftly, dashing out of reach in a crimson blur. The crawdaunt’s claw continued downward and slammed into his other pincer with a deft CRACK. The crawdaunt let out a pain-filled hiss, the shell of its left claw crushed inward.

“You stupid lobster!” Dawson roared. “It’s a fire pokemon! Use a water attack!”

”Well, if it’s as stupid as you, you’re going to have to tell it what to do,” Calypso jeered, dancing lightly on her paws, her eyes never leaving the crawdaunt. It hissed angrily at her, and when Dawson commanded it to use bubblebeam, it ignored him and rushed at her with its claw raised.

”Stupid,” Calypso sang, rolling her eyes. Her gaze narrowed suddenly as she crouched, and then she abruptly disappeared.

She slammed into the crawdaunt a moment later with a faint attack, and then disappeared again, quick attacking away as it swatted at her.

”Temper, temper, my calamarian friend,” she said, standing prettily some distance away. ”I feel bad for you water types. You try and try, but your brain cells are drown at birth. It’s very sad.” She gave him a mock-sympathetic pout, and leapt out of the way when he slashed at her.

”Pee-you, my lobster compadre,” she said in her accented tone, ”I know that fish are supposed to stink, but there must be a better reason for your aim.” She raised a paw and waved it in front of her nose.

The crawdaunt leaned forward, hissing at her. ”Ah, come now, Sebastian, this is getting old, yes?” Calypso rolled her eyes, intoning boredom. ”Can we not end this? Just looking at you makes me need to wash myself.”

Hissing, the crawdaunt pointed both claws at her, pincers open. It had, apparently, had enough chasing her. Water merely gushed uselessly out of the broken left pincer, dripping to the ground, but a long stream of bubbles burst out of the right, slamming into Calypso and knocking her over. They exploded as they touched her fur, soaking her.

Lying on the ground, Calypso cried out, turned her head, and released a flamethrower.

The flames couldn’t stop or ever hope to overpower a water attack like bubblebeam, but they flashed against the bubbles, immediately causing an eruption of steam, and giving Calypso just a second of peace. She leapt to her feet and was assaulted with the bubblebeam again as she dashed away, her tails heavy with water and dragging on the ground.

The bubblebeam finally stopped and Calypso shook herself, water spraying everywhere. It dripped from the tips of her ears and ran down her legs, soaking the floor beneath her. She bared her teeth and growled at the crawdaunt, who let off a sound like a sharp, cracking laugh.

Sagira called out for her to use confuse ray, but Calypso ignored her. This was a personal slight now.

She dashed forward abruptly, flickering out of sight and then appeared beside the crawdaunt as she moved in a faint attack. He was ready for her, his claw coming down and clamping down over the front of her body, snaring her head and forelegs in his grasp.

“Calypso!” Sagira yelled, as the crawdaunt raised her from the ground and the vulpix cried out, kicking her rear legs fiercely, her tails waving maniacally from side to side as she fought to escape. Sagira grabbed Calypso’s pokeball from her belt and tried to recall her, but the crawdaunt moved and the snag-light missed the target, and again each time Sagira tried.

She heard Dawson laugh, and reached for another pokeball.

“Crawdaunt – ice beam.”

“No!” Sagira cried, but the crawdaunt unleashed the powerful ice attack from the same claw within which Calypso was trapped. The blue ball of ice coalesced into a bluish-white beam that slammed into the vulpix, and her cry of surprised and pain was cut off. The crawdaunt released his grip on her as the beam continued to fire, flinging her away.

Calypso crashed limply to the ground yards away, icicles tipping her fur and ears. The water that had previously coated her fur had frozen solid. Sagira watched as Calypso struggled to rise and was about to recall her and call someone else out, when she saw that ice had completely formed around her muzzle and had frozen over her nose. She saw the vulpix’s tails whip from side to side and Calypso slammed her head against the ground, before she realized what the problem was.

“Crawdaunt, blizzard,” Dawson said detachedly.

“Stop it!” Sagira yelled, running over to her vulpix.

There was a black and white blur out of the corner of Sagira’s eye. It dashed through the door and leapt over Calypso, slamming into the crawdaunt with a snarl and a howl, throwing the pokemon backward fiercely. Distantly, Sagira recognized that it was the absol again, but she ignored the battle and the fact, as she slid to the ground next to Calypso.

The vulpix’s crimson eyes were rolling in her head in terror, the pupils dilated. Her body was shuddering as she repeatedly slammed her head against the ground, trying to break the ice that had formed over her nose and mouth. Sagira tore off her gloves and grabbed Calypso’s face, placing the palm of her hand over the vulpix’s nose as she tore at the ice around her mouth with the other. She hoped that if she couldn’t break the ice away, maybe her body heat would melt the ice around her nose.

Behind her, a battle raged between the absol and crawdaunt. The absol was pissed, and he snarled and roared and howled, dodging the attacks that he could and taking those that he couldn’t dead on, as he attacked the crawdaunt ferociously, tearing into him with claws and fangs.

Cuts had formed across the crawdaunt’s body and more scars would take their place when they healed. The absol was dripping wet but still fighting as harshly as he had when he arrived, his fangs perpetually bared in rage. He glanced behind him, at Sagira and Calypso, and howled in rage and pain, lashing out at the crawdaunt.

Calypso struggled weakly, her legs twitching. Sagira grabbed her and wrapped her in her arms as she began to jerk convulsively, her eyes rolling.

It lasted for only a moment, before the vulpix’s eyes rolled upward and she sagged limply in Sagira’s embrace. Sagira cried out, tearing futilely at the ice around Calypso’s mouth. She heard a howl behind her of anger and pain, and she almost wanted to join in. She clutched Calypso to her chest, not realizing that there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

She couldn’t define what she was feeling. She was distraught, and afraid. She was losing – had lost – one of her pokemon. She had lost her, because she sent Calypso out without thinking, without caring to check on who she was sending into battle. She had lost her like she had lost her father, only this was worse, because there was no chance this time of changing it, and it was Sagira’s fault. And she was angry, because this was stupid, and pointless, and none of this ever would have happened if Dawson had never… gotten… free…

It was like a pressure that built, both the emotions and the pain in her head. It consumed her, took over her thoughts, overran everything about her, until she couldn’t see anything but darkness or hear anything but her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. She could still feel Calypso in her arms, her fur rubbing against Sagira’s pale skin, touching the scars on her bare hands.

Pain built up in Sagira’s head, concentrating on her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut tight – or had they already been? – and clutched Calypso to her chest. She clenched her jaws together, hissing through her teeth. She didn’t know how long it lasted, the pain and fear and sorrow and anger, but the pressure built and built, until, suddenly, it vanished.

Sagira’s eyes flared open, completely black.

There was something that seemed to erupt in the air around her, a concussive blast that exploded outward. The air itself seemed to shimmer as the force spread, and then the world shattered.

The absol yelped as, in the middle of a leap in the air, the force struck him and threw him off balance. He hit the ground and rolled as the crawdaunt grunted loudly as he was shoved backward.

The ice around Calypso’s muzzle shattered into fragments as the force hit her. She gave a wheeze and started coughing, her chest heaving for air.

Sagira nearly dropped her, her body sagging in exhaustion. The deep blue color of her irises had faded back in, her pupils returning to normal, but her eyelids were drooping and she felt like she might pass out, or at least curl up on the floor and go to sleep.

She held Calypso tightly, savoring the feel of the vulpix breathing in her arms, as she staggered to her feet, stumbling backward. She watched with slight detachment as the absol drove the crawdaunt into unconsciousness with a ferocity that would have frightened her if she wasn’t so emotionally exhausted.

Dawson recalled his crawdaunt with a curse and tossed out another pokeball. The vespequin rose out of a flash of red light, and the absol crouched low, snarling.

Sagira blinked. “Malchior,” she said, and saw the absol twitch at the name and seem to calm. He glanced back at her with crimson eyes. “Malchior… take her down.”

"With more force than a storm."

[Master Houndoom]

Jay grit his teeth, stumbling, as a force he had only felt once struck him in the side and sent him staggering. It had felt more to him as if someone had brushed past him rudely, knocking him off balance, but Lady Jaye had fluttered and squawked, as if buffeted by a strong wind.

Jay took a moment to glance at Sagira, narrowing his eyes as he saw her sag. She had, somehow, exhausted herself, but more distressing was the shivering, gasping vulpix in her arms. There were still bits of ice around her muzzle, and Jay's teeth grit harder.

"You're just a real dick, aren't you," Jay muttered, turning in time to see Dawson, who'd also been looking at Sagira with interest, release his next pokemon.

It looked like a type of child's toy, a flattened steel ball with turrets coming from around the middle, and two eyes peering out. Jay had seen this particular pokemon before, though, and his mouth twisted into a grimace as the forretress closed its shell upon itself twice with two resounding clanks.

"Spikes," Dawson said with a smirk, causing the pokemon to whir on its central axis and release black spikes that scattered across the floor. The absol that had appeared to help Sagira had already passed the area where the spikes were, and Lady Jaye, rolling her eyes at the same time that Jay did, fluttered off of his shoulder, took a circle over the spikes, and landed again.

"Oh, no," Jay said with an exaggerated sound of mocking concern. "The spikes have no effect!"

Dawson sneered at Jay, but instead of commenting, snarled his next order. "Mirror Shot!"

"Agility!"

Lady Jaye blurred suddenly, no longer where she had been. Due to her small size, the dimensions of the wide hallways wasn't the detriment to her that it would have been to a larger flying pokemon, and she dove from the wall on the other side of the hallway, striking the forretress with a wing attack. Dawson's pokemon skidded a foot away, but seemed otherwise unharmed. The bright flashing beam that had been emitted from one of its turrets passed harmlessly by Jay.

"Now let's get rid of these spikes!" Lady Jaye swooped down to the field where the spikes still lay, her wings pinioning up and down as well as back and forth. She began to spin, the winds around her whipping into a circular motion, until a miniature funnel formed, picking up the spikes and lifting them off the ground, contained by the small tornado. With a flick of her wings, Lady Jaye rose from the funnel and swept the whirlwind into the wall, putting the spikes out of the way.

Dawson chuckled, and before Lady Jay could right herself from the maneuver, called out, "Rock Slide!"

"What?!"

The forretress' turrets shout out a series of small rocks, each one hitting Lady Jaye, causing her to squawk in pain. Because she had been dealing with the spikes, she was not prepared, and she fell to the ground, favoring one wing, unable to fly. Her beak was pressed together in pain, but she refused to cry out more, and Jay's face, his mouth set in a grim line, recalled her.

"Wow, took her out quick. Maybe those spikes were more effective than you thought." Dawson's face was a mask of horrific glee, and Jay's eyes narrowed. He could feel, for the first time since he and Sagira had been forced to hide from Aqua because of this man, his calm shield he carefully tried to keep in place, beginning to slip.

"It's time for my ace in the hole, then," he said, deadly quiet. He reached for the last ball on his belt, releasing Cammy. She landed on the ground clad in the red hooded cloak she had been wearing as she'd followed him, and she pulled it off with one paw, dramatically, her back to Dawson. Jay almost chuckled, and approved of the showmanship, which seemed to annoy Dawson.

Then she turned, glancing at the trainer of her opponent, and all hell broke loose.

Her mouth dropped open first, her eyes widening as she took a step back. Her arms came up to guard an attack, as if it were expected, as if there were no other outcome, and she tripped and fell as she tried to retreat backwards. Her face was turned away, and her eyes tightly shut. Jay could see her throat working underneath the scar tissue there, and her chest heaved, but the worst was the sound of her breath, strained, hissing in an exhale. Jay got the impression that Cammy was trying to scream, that air was passing over where her vocal cords were, but they were no longer there.

Battle be damned, he thought, kneeling the catch her as her scrambling feet pushed her backwards over the floor. Her chest heaved again in that hissing scream, and Jay put a hand on her head, trying to calm her. She reacted in a thrash, as if fearing that she would be hurt from this quarter as well.

"Cammy! CAMMY!" He grabbed her up and cradled her, lifting her up and away even as she struggled, surprisingly weak for a pokemon he knew could break rocks with her paws. "Cammy, what is it?!"

Her red eyes opened, but there was no seeing in them, only fear, so palpable that Jay was caught up in it. Somehow, he could feel it, the fear in her, hands pressing her arms down as she struggled, her head thrashing, as if all of that were part of his body. The fear dug into his heart, and somehow he knew, could see, this man, Dawson, reaching down and doing the most horrible things to him/her.

His shield cracked, and he knew, in a moment of panic, he'd lose it. So he directed the anger, and fear, and grief that flooded him into the only place he could. Himself. He staggered under the weight of it, but, somehow, he endured.

"VIDEL," he shouted, almost too loud, and pulled her pokéball one handed from his belt. "Fry that--" He clamped his teeth down on the expletive, but Videl, usually taking a moment to hop about when released, merely opened her mouth as the light faded and sent a jet of flame from her mouth. Luckily for Dawson, she had assumed the forretress was the target.

With a shriek, it tried to spin away, but Videl's head followed it, sending the flame continuously to it as Jay held Cammy. Her struggles slowed, then stopped, but started again as Dawson, completely unconcerned for his forretress, said with glee that bordered on psychotic, "You've found my old riolu..."

Jay's head snapped up, and his voice shook. "What did you do to her..?!"

Dawson stepped forward, also, seemingly, forgetting both the battle with Jay and the one with Sagira. "I'd wondered where she got to... she had somehow gotten away from my office..." Jay began to tremble, and as Dawson reached for Cammy, Jay grabbed his wrist. Dawson's eyes widened in pain as Jay twisted it, pushing his back, then let go and slammed a palm into his chest, sending him staggering.

"I don't know what you did, but you're not touching her," he snarled, seeing, briefly, the world turn blue. Dawson's eyes widened, then his grin returned. He shrugged.

"I'll get her back when I've beaten your ass, kid."

"Your tank says otherwise," Jay snapped back, and indeed, the forretress was closed, unmoving, and Videl was peeing on it.

"SUNUVABITCH!"

[Living Arrow]

Mightyena met Persian in a clash of claws and teeth, fur flying from the outset as they tore into each other at the commands of their masters. Alpha’s teeth sank deep into Aurum’s claw as a swipe came by his face, causing the cat to screech wildly before slashing out with his free claw to tear at his opponent’s throat with lightning speed.

Ivy grit her teeth so hard that her jaw throbbed with latent pain which she ignored completely, her whole attentions turned on the friend that had betrayed her.

“Ivy, please stop this!” Victor pleaded, his eyes full to the brim with unshed tears of frustration and sadness. “I don’t want to fight with you!”

“You TRAITOR!” Ivy screamed back at him, her breath coming out in ragged snatches through her rage. “I won’t give up until you are stopped!”

”Then… that leaves me no choice…” Victor reached back to his belt. “Oxys, Mercury, Hydro!”

Victor’s Pokemon flashed out of their Premier Balls into a spread formation to surround the battling pair in the center of the stage. Aurum ripped himself free of Alpha’s grasp and bounded back, crouching low and springing up high into the air. As one the four Pokemon attacked.

“Crucify!” Victor yelled.

In a split second, all of Aurum’s reinforcements were immobilised as Beta and Kappa launched themselves out of the shadows and Epsilon darted out from Ivy’s side. With them held at bay, Alpha was able to dodge Aurum’s attack and pin the Persian to the ground by stomping a foot down on the feline’s neck.

“You have nowhere to go, Victor.” Ivy hissed. “Give it up.”

“How can I!?” Victor screamed back at her, his face flushing red with anger. “I know I have nowhere to go and that’s the problem! I want to live like a normal person – no pressure, no expectation – but no-one will let me! Sure, I could run away and live rough for a while before I found my feet, but why should I?! Everyone else got a fair shot at life, so why not me?”

“A fair shot?” Ivy choked. “A fair shot?! Where was my fair shot when my mother was killed?! Where was my fair shot when people who I looked up to filled me with so many drugs that I didn’t even know who I was anymore?! In fact, where were you?!”

Victor gasped and tears leaked from his eyes. “Ivy, I-”

“You what? Enjoyed how easy it was for me to do what you told me after I was poisoned? Dress me up, brush my hair. That’s all you wanted! To use me like a toy! I trusted you! Even after all this I believed that you were my friend – that you were in my pack.” Ivy’s own tears began to run free. “I was wrong.”

A silenced followed. The sound of plaintive struggle between Ivy and Victor’s Pokemon was all that passed between them as the pair regarded each other with angry, saddened, frustrated, tear-stained eyes. It took them a long while of seething glares before they both realised it was snowing.

Tiny flakes of immaculate white grew from motes of dust in the air of the theatre, swirling downwards to delicately touch skin and melt into icy cool droplets of water amid the tears on each trainer’s cheeks. The Pokemon noticed first, momentarily looking upwards in confusion before resuming their private struggles.

“Step away from my cousin.” A proud girl’s voice echoed across the room, accompanied by the appearance of a blonde teen who looked to be a female clone of Victor himself. Ivy didn’t need an introduction to know who that girl was. It was obvious. And, once they all saw the Froslass at her side, it was clear where the snow was coming from.

“I will stop you both before I let that happen.” Ivy snarled.

“Doubtful.” Victoria sighed, nodding to her Froslass.

Although she could see nothing herself, Ivy could tell that something immediately began to effect her Pokemon. Alpha, Beta and Kappa all loosened their muscles, releasing their captive Pokemon without a second thought. Epsilon barked angrily at them but broke her own concentration long enough for Hydro the Poliwag to slip out from her grasp and bounce back towards his trainer where a Premier Ball was waiting for him.

“The truth of the matter is that Victor and I shall be leaving here now and you are going to let us.” Victoria told Ivy pointedly as she walked up to the stage and joined her cousin amid the snowflakes. “And-“ Victoria broke off Ivy before she could speak. “You’ll do it because you are still Victor’s friend. I know about you, Ivy Kylarian. I know how close you and Victor once were and I very much doubt you have let go of that completely. The truth of this situation is that you are torn by your feelings and your sense of duty. By removing Victor, I leave you only with your feelings which gives us all something that we want – Victor to be free. Now, are you going to call back your dogs or do I have to convince you further?”

Ivy’s mouth worked silently. She wanted so badly to scream and yell at them but she also wanted them to go before anyone else got there. Victoria was right – she still wanted Victor to be happy, despite how sad he had made other people. Resigning herself to paralysis she bowed her head and held up her Pokeballs. No-one could have missed the death-stare that Epsilon gave her as she was recalled, followed by Beta and Kappa.

Victoria smiled and clicked open a second Pokeball. A fluffy white Altaria emerged, spreading its wings low for the cousins to climb aboard. Ivy watched on in silence as the Froslass turned her gaze upwards and a black wind shattered the stained glass window in the back of the theatre outwards.

“Ivy…” Victor whispered, looking back at her as Victoria commanded her Altaria into flight. Ivy wiped a tear from her cheek and placed a had over her heart. Victor smiled through his own tears and nodded to her. Then, as only fitting for the stage, Victor began to sing with the Altaria lifting him from the room and the theatre.

VICTOR: Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

VICTORIA: I'm through accepting limits
''cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!
I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down.

VICTOR AND VICTORIA: Unlimited
Together we're unlimited
Together we'll be the greatest team
There's ever been

VICTOR:
Dreams, the way we planned 'em
VICTORIA:
If we work in tandem:

IVY: I hope you're happy
Now that you're choosing this
I hope it brings you bliss
I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy, my friend:

VICTOR: So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Noverus
No trainer that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

Ivy watched in silence as her friend disappeared from view, gliding free from the building through the shattered window and hung her head with sorrow. Almost immediately she felt warm saliva dripping off her fingers and she knew then that everything would be alright.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

“Come now, my little puppy, let us not make this more difficult than it has to be.”

Malchior growled at the queen bee as she hovered before him. ”I’m afraid there’s nothing to it, love. Your companion has attacked the heart carrier of my packmate. I’m afraid such a thing cannot stand,” he finished with obvious reluctance, as he crouched low to the ground.

“If it must be, then it must,” she adding, smiling at him with patient understanding.

“Forgive me, my lady.”

“Of course.”

The battle was begun and the vespiquen moved first, as they both knew she would. Racing her slender arms, she brought them striking down in a fury cutter attack and slashed through the air and caught Malchior across the face even as he dashed forward.

The quick attack carried him swiftly forward and slammed his body into her dress-like abdomen. He leapt backward and away as she slashed at him, laughing lightly. It wasn’t a cruel or cynical laugh, but one clearly of pleased humor.

“You are quite good at this.”

”I’ve had my fair share of practice.”

“Clearly, my little puppy, but I do find myself curious. Why does one such as yourself fight for a human who lays no claim on you?”

”There is no sphere, whether mechanical or iron, that has yet to confine me. A soul, however, is far different from a body, and while this child may not have one, she has the other.” The feint attacked carried him swiftly from side to side. He dodged a strike, missed one of his own, and was thrown backward by another fury cutter attack.

”I must admit, my lady, that I, too, am curious. Why does a queen of such a heart as yours serve a man whose own is black and filled with cruel intentions?”

For a moment, watching the vespiquen retreat slightly, her face downcast, Malchior feared that he had insulted her. He did not dread such a thing because of what she might do to him for it, but because it would have been a sad thing to cast insult upon such a creature as this queen obviously was.

“I confess that I do not agree with this man’s methods, and no chansey would ever grace such a creature her egg. However, at one point in time, he protected my hive, standing alongside myself and my kin to defend it. Regardless of the fact that he may have done so for his own benefit as much as anything else, I owe him my life, as well as the life of those whose honey I share.” She bowed her head softly. “For that, I remain loyal to him.”

”None could ever deny your compassion, my lady queen,” Malchior admitted, ”nor your strength of heart. Let us end this swiftly.”

~*~

He fights for her, is loyal to her, and has found his place in this. It was meant to be. Wajibu nodded sharply, his brown eyes pleased as he gazed at Malchior – his finest student. You have made my proud, young one.

He turned with some regret to face Calypso. Here, on the psychic plane, he could take his soul form, and could see hers. Her pale skin, extenuated by the voluptuous locks of crimson hair that rolled over her shoulders, was soft under his skin as he held her arm gently. He stared down into her dark eyes with his own, his blue bangs falling into his eyes and obscuring the tan skin of his forehead. He gazed at her with regret.

”I hope you will be able to forgive me for leaving so abruptly, but there is no more place for me here. Malchior has found his place, but I can not remain a member of his pack beneath the shadow of this child.”

Calypso stared up at him with pleading eyes that slowly filled with tears. “We had no time…”

Wajibu placed his forehead gently against hers, closing his eyes. ”Right here,” he whispered softly, ”in these last moments, we have all the time we need…”

~*~

The battle raged, with the both of them attacking and dodging and defending, until it was no longer a battle. Now it was a dance, and they would circle each other and leap, and pass one another. The slammed into one another with the force of a waterfall into a waiting pool of water, or glide just over the other like a drop of dew down the edge of a leaf. Their gazes would match and their movements would synchronize, and then it was as though something deeper were happening. A great ritual, larger than the both of them, but understood by each of them as they began to understand each other. They were the same.

He defended his pack, as she defended her hive. Battlescars from years of fighting marred the onyx blade that adorned the absol’s head. The vespiquen flew with wings frayed by years of experience, a gown-abdomen that bore as many scars as he. Both had eyes hollowed by the knowledge and witness of cruelty and death, just as they shone with the thrill of, not combat, but a challenge.

Here, now, they were the same. In a great, time-long dance, they were partners – allies.

On the battle field where they stood, however, they were enemies.

They could not be both, not at the same time, and one could not hold one position while the second held another, for they were the same.

It was, at the highest point, tragic, that at the same time the two realized that they loved the other, they also realized that it could never be. The dance, the ritual, the call to mate and love and trust continued in a final encore of convulsive thrusts. It fluttered to a finale, like a moth fluttering in its final seconds, as life ticked to a close.

And all at once, it was over.

The vespiquen grabbed Malchior in slender arms far stronger than they looked, pinning his body against hers. He kicked her harshly in the abdomen and heard her grunt in pain. His claws tore into her flesh as he attempted to escape her grasp and she made a choking noise, but recovered and held him tighter. She stared down into his eyes and her own crimson gaze seemed to calm him. He watched with something almost akin to detachment as her body was surrounded by a violet aura, which glowed for a time, flowing around the both of them, before dissipating.

“How appropriate, that it should end this way,” she noted, sounding both somber and relieved. The whirlwind that Malchior had created moments before she snatched him up continued to tear up the floor around them. “A creature that, in one life, might have been my ally, now holding here as my death.” She smiled sardonically at the thought, clearly amused. “I am sorry, my little dark one, that it must end this way.”

Malchior stared up at her with pure regret in his eyes. “As am I, my lady.”

“Still,” she admitted with a smile, tilting her head slightly, “the dance… a thrill, a thrill.”

”But a memory, my lady,” Malchior whispered, as he watched over her shoulder as the whirlwind tore through the ground, racing for her back. ”A small moment of death that I would ask you to, please, forgive.”

She smiled, holding him close. “And I… of course.”

The whirlwind enveloped her into a second, ripping into her back and her wings. She threw her head back in pain as she cried out, her arms releasing him as the whirlwind consumed her. She screamed as it shredded her form, and collapsed to the ground as it disappeared with a final breathy kiss.

Malchior stumbled, staring at the vespiquen. She lay prone on the ground, the whirlwind not fully driving her into unconsciousness, and she struggled to escape it now, her mind clawing for some hold on reality. He could see her slipping, as her wings buzzed intermittently between the thrashing, wild convulsions of her body as she struggled to pull herself back up. Her pincers worked as he heard her gasping wildly for breath, her wings kicking up dust and debris as they worked to pull her up.

She seemed to pause, and then fluttered for a moment. Her movements stopped and, drawing a deep breath, she let out an amused, gently victorious “ha!” before her body sagged to the ground, completely spent.

Dawson raised his pokeball just as the violet aura erupted around the vespiquen again, and two orbs of purple light burst out of her. They rushed over to Malchior eagerly, and he reared up on his hind legs in alarm, as they thrust themselves into his body, enacting Destiny Bond upon him and finishing him with the very damage that had ended the vespiquen – a form of vengeance and a final admittance of her own power. The attack tore into him, forcing him to suffer every ounce of pain that he had caused the vespiquen, and he felt himself visibly sag, his tongue lolling out as he gasped for weak need of breath.

“How fitting… to bear the mark of my own blades…” Malchior tasted something coppery and heavy, as his mouth filled with liquid. He watched the crimson drink drip to the floor, before his legs gave out and he collapsed. His right back leg kicked in a futile attempt to rise, as his crimson eyes rolled in their sockets. His jaws were slightly open, the fur below his mouth staining red. He coughed blood, and then choked on the liquid in his throat, as it began to run out of his nose.

He gave an ironic laugh, as his strength left him and his head hit the floor. His eyes began to dim as unconscious stole him over, but he found himself smiling. The battle, the dance, ended in the same way that it always did.

It’s just a little death…

~*~

“Malchior!” Sagira cried, as she watched the absol’s eyes close and his body relax in the act of unconsciousness. He and the vespiquen had defeated each other, driven themselves and each other beyond their limits.

Clutching Calypso to her chest with one hand, Sagira grabbed a pokeball with another and threw it out immediately. She didn’t have any potions powerful enough to help Malchior, but she could take him to a pokemon center when this was over, or get Bryce’s help once they were back at the hotel base. After she killed him.

The pokeball captured the absol in its embrace, falling to the ground with a clatter. It barely shook, and she wondered if it was just the absol’s exhausted state. The light dimmed, however, and Sagira scooped the pokeball up as Dawson called out his next pokemon.

The hairy monster snarled at her in a rage and Sagira mentally swore. A shiftry.

“I want this over with!” Sagira snapped. “Umbrae, take that- Paladin?”

The kirlia had appeared in a flash, either bursting from his pokeball or teleporting. He positioned himself in front of Sagira, his arms held out. He stared at Dawson with eyes calm only in their similarity to ice.

”I will protect my lady fair,” Paladin said telepathically, his voice echoing outward for all present to hear. ”You, none of you, will touch her. I shall not allow it.”

Dawson chuckled, deeply and darkly, and he motioned for the shiftry to attack.

“This,” he said with a cruel grin, “is going to be fun.”

[Master Houndoom]

Inside of the pokeball, Hinata waited. Though they had been through so much, and he had proven time and time again that he not only wanted her around, but needed her, relied on her in the heat of battle as well as beyond that, it still made her nervous when Jay didn't call on her when there was combat going on. She remembered, constantly, how he'd send her in, allow her to growl, menacingly, in the general direction of the opponent, then call her back and let his father's flareon end the battle. It was humiliating at the time, and she'd run away after a while, but in the end, as he'd explained it, it had paid off; She had learned an attacking move. Since then, unless Videl had been more apt for the combat, Jay had used her.

So she monitored the battle. It wasn't hard to do, after a psychic pulse rattled her pokeball. Tracing that through her pokeball's wall (which, let's face it, was little different than communicating through an eggshell), she felt exhaustion, relief and fear, calm eroding to rage, and, suddenly deep, abject terror.

It absolutely broke her heart, that terror, and though she felt Jay's shield breaking, her mind went instead to the source of that terror.

Fail Fail he is here Fail Fail he takes me and I fail my new trainer hurts and I fail fail fail...

Hinata tried to comfort the source, alarmed at it's voice, alarmed that everything seemed to be taken for granted as already happening, and she tried to soothe the source. The source, instead, lashed out at her. It was a feeble, clumsy attempt with no strength behind it, like a child shouting at a monster she felt she had no power against, but it surprised her.

Hey, hey, who are you, she spoke to the voice, but the voice continued to rage and struggle. The source felt helpless, bound physically and tormented psychically, and could only react by screaming out.

Calm down! Calm down! You're safe!

LIES! YOU LIE, LIKE HE LIES, HE ALWAYS LIES! "ONLY A LITTLE MORE, AND YOU ARE FREE! ONLY A LITTLE PAIN! IF YOU DO NOT SHOW ME WHAT I WANT TO SEE, I CAN NOT HELP YOU"! NO MORE LIES!

Who are you?! The panic at the Source was causing Hinata anxiety, ramping up her own fear, making her insides quake. It was getting out of hand.

SLEEP! It was hard, to push the psychic command out. Nothing at all like communicating through pokewalls, but the boost she'd gotten from the fear helped, and she felt the source sag, sobbing. She did not manage to send the source into true slumber, but she did manage to pull the fight from her.

Now. Who are you?

He... calls me Cammy. I like the name. I always like the name, even when my name is not Cammy.

Who calls you Cammy?

There was a pause, and then. They call him Jay. I follow him. I keep him safe. I teach him. He catches me, and I am happy...

Hinata felt a headache coming on, and she knew that must be in her head, because there was no pain in the pokeball. You certainly don't seem happy, Cammy.

I am terrified. But he catches me, and I am happy...

Hinata's eyes hurt, now, too. I don't understand.

I know. I am not saying it right. I do not know why. There was, for a time, peace, and then, suddenly, but calmly due to the psychic suggestion. He is in danger. He is in danger always, but he is in danger now.

Hinata didn't even think, other than to acknowledge she never really liked her pokeball anyway. With a psychic twist and a pop, she released herself, floating in front of Jay just as a fighting presence appeared before her.

-----

Jay could feel Cammy relax in his arms, but his eyes, narrowed and full of hatred as they were, were on Dawson. "You're not getting out of here, you understand that, don't you?" It was bravado, but the odds were still in he and Sagira's favor. It was too bad, however, that Ivy wasn't around. They could have used the backup. Unfortunately, at the moment, there was no way to keep in touch.

Dawson sneered, looking at Paladin with a laugh. "I'm looking at the competition, and I'm not impressed. You're running out of pokemon."

Jay scoffed. "You are going to run out long before we're even close."

"You're down three, kid. She's down two." With that, still not looking at him, he released a tall, lanky pokemon with a body like a foot. "Lee, kick that mutt's as-"

A ball on Jay's belt popped, and Hinata appeared, floating in mid air. Dawson swore. "No matter," he grumbled, but Jay could sense a little bit of doubt in his voice.

Dawson, Hinata snarled. Jay could feel the itching presence of her looking through his eyes, and he did a slow sweep of the room to give her the best view.

Who's the new kid? Hinata asked, then shook her head. So that's Cammy. Sleep. Instantly, Cammy sagged, slumbering. Videl was back, snarling, but making no move to attack, which was just as well. Hinata floated forward, grumbling to herself about Paladin being overly headstrong.

I heard that, came a cold voice.

I know, I was thinking it loud, Hinata fired back.

Then the hitmonlee was attacking. It stepped forward and sent a kick, stretching it's leg to at least twice its length. Hinata, however, had disappeared and reappeared to his left. Without further word, she sent it reeling with a psybeam.

The hitmonlee stumbled clutching the top of it's head/body, but recovered quickly, shaking the psychic assault off. Hinata huffed out her breath. This was going to be a long fight.

Though it was against her judgement (after all, he had abandoned her), and not at all tactically sound (being a blind kirlia meant under no uncertain terms should you shift focus away from your opponent), she allowed a small part of her concentration to focus on Paladin. Being blind, she had only "seen" him in the mindscape they had shared, or through Jay's eyes. She'd often wondered if he'd look different if she could truly see him. She had, at one point, certainly looks beautiful in his eyes...

She shook that thought away angrily, sending the hitmonlee crashing into a wall as she teleported away from his jump kick. Despair was stupid, and a waste of time.

Still...

She 'looked' at him again, sighing, teleporting away from the now angrily flailing fighting type. He was fighting bravely, despite the fact that the only move he could damage the shiftry with made him laugh. At present the shiftry was holding glowing, spinning leaves at bay with sheer force of wind. From the look of the minor cuts on his face, the shiftry had only begun to do this.

"Quit playing with it and get a move on, Shift!"

Hinata glared toward the man who's voice sounded, but then reacted in horror. The shiftry had fallen to one knee, clutching his side, then fallen. Paladin hovered to it, and suddenly, Hinata knew.

NO!

As she shouted, the shiftry opened his eyes, slashing up with the longest of his leaves, sending Paladin gasping backward. The leaves fell where they were, and the shiftry laughed, like a rotten branch creaking on a windy day. The leaves rose again, this time covered in a dark aura rather than the bright colors they were represented in the psychic plane, and sent them at Paladin.

He crumpled, fell... Hinata could feel nothing from him.

NO!

She could feel the energy crackling around her, could feel the veins around her eyes bulging, and though the hitmonlee was between her and the shiftry, she send a large scale psychic attack into the hitmonlee, trying to get to the shiftry. There was the added effect of the fighting type hittin gthe dark type as her power sent it flying, but the shiftry only laughed.

She reached both arms toward it, screaming in rage. The air fairly rippled with the power she sent to it.

<<Idiot! You can't hurt me with your little mind tricks!>>

Suddenly, there was a cracking noise. The shiftry turned, wide eyes, to see the wall buckling toward him.

<<Aww, Fu->>

The wall crumbled, cascading mortar and wood and brick onto the top of the plat type. Hinata, panting, spit toward the pile of rubble, <<I wasn't aiming for you, ass!>>

The dark type rose from the rubble, laughing, and the hitmonlee from the wall opposite him, and both stalked toward Hinata.

[Living Arrow]

Ivy stood watching the sky beyond the shattered window for a while, her mind drifting upwards to play chase with the clouds. She almost caught them once but as usual they evaded her with their indesputably outstanding evapourating skills. How unfair for them to cheat in their little game!

A keening whine from Ivy's side drew her down from above to land back on solid ground amid her brothers and little sister. All four of her canid Pokemon looked to her expectantly. None of them seemed injured - for that, Ivy was grateful - but all of them seemed weary. Not from fatigue. It was almost as though they were tired... worried... Well, the boys anyway. Epsilon's lofty sideways glance stank of vanity but Ivy didn't care. She had just lost a friend. She didn't care about much else right then. Well, except for her love for her friends that she was still blessed with.

"Wassat, Alpha?" Ivy frowned, stooping to ruffle her brother's glossy midnight mane in her hands. "You hearin' sumfin?"

Beta whimpered low and nuzzled Ivy, too. Kappa rubbed his forepaws together nervously.

"What's goin' on, guys?"

Epsilon looked toward the stage door and growled, tail waving menacingly. A boom and the sound of something very heavy falling to the ground came from behind the stage, making all four Pokemon and human prick their ears up with undivided attention.

*****

"POW POW, MUVVA HUBBARD!"

Shadow Ball and Water Gun blasted through the air to knock the Hitmonlee and Shiftry right back to where they had just risen. Sagira and Jay turned back in surprise to find Ivy sprinting towards them, wait for it..... on all fours with all of her Pokemon around her. Her eyes were narrowed and her teeth bared in a primal snarl.

"Ivy?!" Jay gasped as the corridor suddenly became extremely crowded.

"She's back!" Sagira cried, a wide grin opening up her face.

"Geddown, Sillies!"

As one, the entirety of team Jay-Ira-Vee crouched or pressed themselves to the walls as a screaming Tropius roared from the rear, whipping up a powerful whirlwind in the confined space. The corridor instantly became a wind tunnel, knocking Dawson, Hitmonlee and Shiftry flat on their backs like dominoes. Dawson's shock was plain for everyone to see as he glared at the completed team and hissed something under his breath. Despite being caught off guard, the Elite was far from unprepared and in moments he was back to his feet.

"I's gonna kill 'im." Ivy growled, Alpha growling his agreement at her side.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

“Me first,” Sagira hissed, fluidly rising from the position of lying flat against the ground. She had recalled the unconscious Paladin and weary-but-thankfully-alive Calypso during the moments of chaos in between Hinata’s dropping the wall on top of the shiftry and Ivy’s arrival.

She had been happier than she had been in a long time, and to see Ivy racing like a dog into the room had been a visage welcome enough to nearly make her cry. She hoped things would be better now. She hoped.

But her mind wasn’t on the far future. She was focused upon the immediate future of pummeling Dawson into the ground and shredding his skin with her claws.

Hissing, gripping a pokeball tightly in her left hand, she pointed a claw at Dawson with her left. “Your eyes,” she said, and flexed her fingers, the metallic tips of her glove glinting in the light of the room. Beside her, she could hear Ivy growling in tune with her brothers. Dawson laughed.

“Ladies, ladies, please.” He flashed them a superior grin, and Sagira was reminded of that time after her first mission working with Jay. That sick bastard; the things he did…

With a snarling hiss that seemed to merge feline and canine, an odd habit she had apparently picked up from Ivy, Sagira threw her pokeball. It failed to open right away but, instead, slammed right into Dawson’s face. He choked and swore, bending over and gripping his nose as the pokeball ricocheted, hit the ground, and burst open.

Umbrae appeared in a flash of red light, standing tall and strong, but with a suspicious grin that helped bare his fangs. He shuddered in a snarling laugh, and Dawson raised his head, blood pouring out of what very well might have been a broken nose. “You bitch,” he swore.

“Umbrae, rip his balls off!” Sagira snarled. “I’m gonna make ‘im eat ‘em!”

With a snarl, the giant demon-like dog erupted from his standing position into a full-out run. The hitmonlee and shiftry moved in the way, leaving Umbrae to take one of them on, instead.

With a fierce howling “DOOM!,” Umbrae leapt at the shiftry and carried the shaggy ape right to the ground. The ferocious snarls of both pokemon merged into a chorus of pain and hatred, as they clawed, bit, and beat each other in a rolling battle across the floor.

Dawson chuckled and, wiping blood on his pants, gave them a farewell salute, before flipping the three trainers off. “’fraid I’ll have to take a raincheck on that, darlin’. But do let me know how that bitch riolu recovers, won’t you?”

Jay made a sound that Sagira couldn’t identify, either because there wasn’t a word for it, or because she couldn’t fully understand it beyond the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears as she ran after the retreating traitor. She heard the pounding of paws and feet behind her, and knew she wasn’t alone in chasing him.

“Get back here, you bastard!” Sagira snarled.

Dawson graced her only with a laugh, as he dashed through a doorway. Sagira ran after him, gritting her teeth and hissing through them sharply when she judged the space wrong and slammed her shoulder against the doorframe. She slowed, hissing, breathing deeply, and more jogged than ran by a thick burgundy curtain.

It was no surprise, then, when Jay passed her in a full-out run. She turned a corner to see Dawson’s head disappear as he slipped down a trap door in the middle of a stage strangely covered in melting snow.

Sagira swore when Jay dropped to the ground and slid through the trap door just before it closed. She ran to the floor and stomped on the door, then dropped to her knees and searched for a trigger, but couldn’t find one. She cursed repeatedly under her breath, her arm throbbing, and was about to stand up and go see where Ivy had gotten to, when all of the lights went out.

A deep, cackling laughter cut through the darkness, echoing around the stage. A light lit up in the rafters and she could see a man standing there, dressed in black with a cape, his face covered in a white mask. Her eyes narrowed. “Phantom of the Opera, huh? That’s old, cliché, and clearly not up to par with your usual tricks, you slimeball!” She drew her arms out to her sides and flexed her claws. “But I’m game.”

A thick wooden chandelier of candles hung from the rafters, the rope holding it up tied to a hook on the wall. Running over, Sagira grabbed the rope with one hand and then quickly pulled the knot apart with the other, waiting to be whisked to the rafters.

She stood placidly for a moment, before opening her eyes and looking to see the chandelier still hanging there.

“Damnit!”

Glancing up at the rafters, Sagira turned and dashed to the stairs, racing up to the rafters. Standing next to the railing in the rafters, Sagira scanned the area and saw Dawson disappearing around a corner. She didn’t stop to wonder how he had gotten up here and changed clothes so fast. She simply raced across the rafters after him, her eyes trained on his fluttering black cape.