Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Let's Slaughter An Anime/Game/Whatever Beyond All Recognition! Yay! ❯ Chapter 6

Cord was a little nervous about stepping back into the Inne Somnia, knowing Astra would be there. He needed to practice a bit more at keeping Magdalena out of his surface thoughts before doing that, and so he'd end up spending more time down at the gym instead of the coffee shop. Serike, unfazed by the results of their last spar, was bouncing around the larger boy, trying to tease him, unsuccessfully, into another spar. Matrix perched adorably on a bench, swinging his sneakered feet and licking messily at an ice cream cone.

Suddenly those big ears perked, and he slid off the bench, handing the ice cream cone to a bewildered Serike. Cord looked up and blinked. Silhouetted in the frosted glass of the door was a Vaporeon. But surely Nai'ia wouldn't be so bold as to come out at the peak of the day? Matrix hopped and strained to reach the door handle, then pulled it open with some effort.

"Awwwa!!" his expectant expression fell away and his large brown eyes shimmered. "You're not Nai'ia!" he pouted, stepping back as the stranger swept inside.

He wore a dark brown trench coat (popular around here, ne?) and rather than Nai'ia's sapphire mane, his was a ruddy color caught back in a long ponytail at the back of his neck.

" `ello," he greeted in a slightly accented voice, "Might I have a word with you two?"

Cord blinked, his tail curling nervously as the man produced a badge and credentials, flashing them briefly before tucking them away again.

"Name's Dawson," he smiled warmly, extending his hand. Serike was the one who took it, brows raised in bewilderment. "I'm here from Earth t' investigate the murders, most especially of the late Captain of this ship."

"Cool! All the way from home, eh?" Serike grinned, "You gotta gun, right? Hey lemmee see it!"

"Eh heh, it's no toy, young man!" he held up his hands, stepping away from the exuberant Jolteon. "Now let's be serious, I need t' know if you two've seen anythin' odd around here lately."

"No, nothing at all," Cord replied smoothly, his heart beating fast now, though he tried to look cool.

"Nah, I mean, besides the actual accident or whatever it was," Ri concurred, shrugging. "But hey, if you're here, I guess that means communications are working again! That's great, cuz I need to go make a few calls…"

"It was no accident, friend," Dawson shook his head and sighed, then blinked as the little Eevee began to giggle. Something pink was tickling at the child. He stepped aside with a sigh, revealing a tiny, tiny woman not much bigger than Matrix, with pink hair and large blue eyes. She was poking at the boy with her tail and giggling right along with him!

"Jessie!"

"SIR!" the woman hopped up straight as a rod, saluting sharply.

"Stay on task, this is serious," he chided, whisking his fluke back and forth, then turned back to the boys. Jessie floated up behind Dawson's head and made mocking faces at his back. Cord blinked. Floating? Ah yes, she was a Mew! He stiffened slightly, swallowing hard. He needed to get out of here. Just what he needed, another powerful psychic to potentially pick his brain. It would look awfully suspicious to just flee, however, and he found himself rooted to the spot. The Mew, however, didn't seem to notice him at all, having turned back to teasing Matrix with her tail. The little child tried to catch it, giggling. Dawson just sighed and rolled his eyes at his assistant. "Very well then, thank you, young sirs, an' you have a good day!"

Cord had never been so relieved to see someone leave.

"So," Serike grinned, bouncing his way back in front of Cord, "About that spar…"

"No, Ri," Cord sighed, rubbing at his temples. "Not today."

"Awwwa, come on Blueballs!!" Serike had to dodge rather fast to avoid getting cracked upside the head by the Dragonair's baubled tail.

"You know, Serike, that old joke stopped being funny back when I was ten," he growled irritably, then blinked as Matrix reached up and took his hand. "Ugh, your hands are all sticky from that ice cream," he chuckled, reaching down to pluck the child into his arms.

"I had chocolate!" Matrix nodded sagely. Serike quietly chunked the by now melted cone in the trash.

"I can see that," Cord murmured softly, poking the little Eevee's nose. "Let's go get you cleaned up, hmm?"

"Okay!" Matrix grinned, then wiggled his fingers at Serike. "Bai bai Ri Ri!" he peeped cheerfully as Cord toted him off towards the men's room to be cleaned up.

Cord was just finishing up with wiping down the squirmy ice cream fiend when the room shuddered, the bathroom mirrors shivering and threatening to crack in their moldings. Matrix squealed, trying to stay balanced on his perch on the edge of the sink. Cord put him down, then bolted out of the bathroom, casting about wildy for the source of the blast.

The first surprise was that Nai'ia was out and about. What was she doing here? The second surprise was that she was killing Serike. The poor Jolteon was pinned to the wall, his toes several feet off the ground, his body pinned there by a forceful column of endless water that was rushing forth from Nai'ia's hands. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips peeled back in a snarl, tail stiff and fluke spread aggressively.

"Nai'ia!" he cried in horror, coming as close as he dared to the enraged Vaporeon. "Nai'ia stop!! You're going to kill him!" he knew that was a ridiculous thing to state…she obviously WANTED to kill him. Serike struggled uselessly against the inexorable force, trying to get his head out into the air. If he wasn't crushed to death, he'd certainly drown.

"Nai'ia! Please stop, he's my friend!" he begged. The Jolteon was a nuisance at times, but Cord rather liked the little spark…and besides, Dawson hadn't been gone for very long…if he'd heard the crash, there was a possibility he might come back. He had to think fast. Matrix was still huddled under the sink in the men's room but… "Nai'ia, calm down…! Please…Matrix is here….you don't want him to witness a murder, do you? To know you as a violent person? Would you thrust that knowledge on him? Please, for his sake, Nai'ia, stop!!"

Nai'ia faltered, the apparently sourceless stream of water thinning slightly at the mention of her beloved little Eevee.

"Come on, Nai'ia," he coaxed softly, shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other. "Let him go…let him go…"

The woman's face softened, the water cutting off rather suddenly. Serike fell to the floor on his hands and knees, coughing and gasping, soaked blonde spikes falling into his face. Nai'ia didn't give him a second look. She simply walked away, and Cord watched after a moment before kneeling beside Serike.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"I think I've broken a few ribs," he gasped, crossing his arms over his chest. "Who the hell was that? I couldn't hear through the water to tell what you were saying, but thanks for talkin' her down, man…I thought I was going to die there…"

"Let's get you to the medical ward. What did you do to provoke her, anyway?"

"Nothin' much," he grinned weakly, "Just a friendly pat on the bottom was all."

"Serike?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a bigger idiot than you know."

"I'm pretty sure I have an idea now." he chuckled, then winced as Cord helped him to his feet. "But I tell you what, she was one helluva babe. Almost worth dying for."

"You're hopeless," Cord chuckled.

----

What a place, Dawson thought as he headed down the street. It looked just as though he were walking down any other street, in any other neighborhood. Sunshine shone merrily down from a cloud dappled, blue sky. Shop keepers swept their front steps or offered passerby samples, children chased one another on the sidewalks, women chatted happily over tea as they sat at umbrella covered tables. The only things missing were cars and pollution. There was no greenery, however, and the enormous support struts and occasional wall were stark reminders of where he really was; in the belly of some enormous, drifting metal beast, with Earth left so very far behind. Nonetheless, it was a utopia for many.

And prison for some, he also noted as he passed an obscene reminder scrawled in bright paint on a district wall. Already, the automatic maintenance system was scrubbing away at it with tiny mechanical brushes. Even so, it was still a reminder that class warfare was still alive, even in Utopia. With that incident at the bridge, there might even be warfare of a different kind. The work had obviously been done by a Water, and if more occurrences were to follow, paranoia and hatred could take their course. It was not a pretty prospect, especially in such an enclosed space as a ship. But insofar, things seemed quiet, and he'd not yet run across evidence of finger-pointing.

"A'ight Jessie, what've we got so fa'?" he murmured, trying to keep his mind where it belonged.

"Hnn," the Mew floating along beside him scratched her head, peering at a data pad held in her other tiny hand. "Just what we already knew before we got here, Boss," she replied. "Three hundred and seventeen dead, at final count, and no witnesses."

"Drowned?"

"Not many of them, I'm afraid," Jessie replied, making a face. "Apparently the sheer force of the deluge crushed most of them or impaled them on the resulting debris. Those who weren't killed that way seemed to have been finished off anyway when the water struck their main power grid. Something was wrong with the insulation, but the pipe was too mangled to perform any kind of analysis. For all we know it was intentionally cut to produce just that kind of effect. Also, there were definite traces of elemental energy."

"Surely it would've taken more than just one person t' create that kind of destruction. P'raps more'n a few at that. I don't like what that points to."

"Terrorists on board, sir?"

"No," he replied thoughtfully, pausing at a food stand to peruse the goods. "Terrorists have demands and causes. This was just too quiet. Somethin' else is going on. Jessie, why don't we-"

"Oooh, cheesecake on a stick!!" Jessie crooned, floating to a different stand with an excited squeal. Dawson sighed. The Mew was easily distracted, something not too uncommon for her type. But she was good where it counted, and had saved his tail fin more than a few times.

He turned away from Jessie's happy discoveries and gazed out across the street to a playground. It was nearly empty, save for a few toddlers and their watchful parents, but something else caught his eye. Something was skulking about behind the playground fence. Maybe he was just averse to people prone to sneaking about, but he felt the urge to investigate anyway.

Nai'ia pressed her hands to the metal slatted fence, watching the children play with a kind of forlorn wistfulness. Matrix was not among them today, but she would get to see her little Eevee later, she knew. Slender, gloved hands fell away from the fence with a sigh as she turned to leave…and suddenly there was a flurry of motion before her, something falling from atop the fence to face her. Her eyes widened. He was…

"Stop right there!" he cried, and that was all she needed. She hissed defiantly…even hatefully…at him, then turned and bolted. The man blinked, then gave chase, reaching for her. "Stop, I only want to-"

He'd be cut off quickly as she paused unexpectedly and spun, pounding him soundly with her tail and sending him into the fence with enough force to bend it. He groaned, sitting up and shaking his head, then hopped right back up to his feet, staggering only briefly before running after her again.

And he'd find himself flat on his back again, this time after running into something large and rather solid. After the stars cleared, he sat up, blinking. It was the boy from the gym.

"Sorry `bout that," Dawson apologized, grimacing. There was no way he'd catch her now, but he had to try. He got back up and tried to walk past the Dragonair…only to have the boy take his arm.

"Please don't," he said, giving the detective a cool look from beyond falling, colorless forelocks.

"D'you know that woman?" Dawson asked, taking back his arm and straightening his coat. Ugh, now his head hurt…

"She's my sister," he replied, "I'm sorry she hit you, but you did kind of scare the hell out of her, pouncing down on her like that. Why were you bothering her, anyway?"

Dawson sensed a bit of danger and took a step back, frowning. He'd already taken a few lumps and didn't particularly feel like being pummeled by a damn near seven foot tall guy for suspecting a relative of his.

"I didn't mean to scare her, but she was behavin' a bit suspiciously. She always do that? Hide behind things, I mean?"

"She's shy," came the uncomfortable reply.

"I see," Dawson frowned, eyeing the uneasy teen. "Say, I don't mean anythin' by it, but y' sister's a Water type, so I've just gotta ask, where was she the day of the attack?"

"You suspect my sister?" those dark eyes narrowed, his large frame suddenly looming, and Dawson took another step back. The woman had been acting strangely, and people didn't usually simply run away from him, shy or otherwise.

"I've just gotta ask, please, I don't want any trouble, I jus' wanna do my job!"

The Dragon furrowed his brow briefly, then shrugged.

"She was with me, at a local coffee shop, Inne Somnia," he replied.

"Can you provide proof of that?"

"That's a stupid question, of course I can't," the boy smirked. "I don't keep receipts that long, and anyway, it wouldn't prove anything other than I myself was there at that time. But we were there with a third party, Astra, a Mewtwo. Ask her, if you need another opinion. She can usually be found there. Ask around, someone will know where she is. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home."

"Well then, thank you very much f' y' time," Dawson nodded, watching him sweep past, the wind from that voluminous black coat rustling the Vaporeon's rust colored hair.

"You're suspicious, aren't you?" came a chirp from behind him. Dawson had gotten so used to the Mew's abrupt comings and goings he couldn't even be startled anymore.

"The way she hit me was odd," he replied. "It was almost as though she were trained."

"Any idiot can smack another idiot through a wall with the right tail, yanno! And the people here are big on fights, it keeps them occupied. I would imagine she IS trained."

"Thank you," he grumbled, giving her an acid glare. "I don't know, Jessie, something's trippin' off m' instincts, here. I definitely want to interrogate that one."

"I'll bring the aspirin then!" his assistant giggled. "You're gonna need it once her big brother there gets done with you if you go near her again!"

"Well then, we'll just have to make sure he's not around," Dawson grinned up at the levitating little woman.

"How are you even going to find her again?" Jessie asked with a swish of that long, whiplike tail.

"It's just a ship, Jessie, an enclosed space. A big ship, but a ship. How hard could it possibly be?"