Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Let's Slaughter An Anime/Game/Whatever Beyond All Recognition! Yay! ❯ Chapter 7

"A what?" Taser blinked across the table at his Rapidash companion. The two were separated by a large, lumpy concoction of five flavors of ice cream drowned in hot fudge and butterscotch. Radish had to peer around it to reply, grinning, her ears pricked excitedly.

"Hold a youth dance! Everyone's under so much stress, it'll do them good to get out and just have fun for once, and gives us girls an excuse to dress up."

"It sounds silly to me," Taser grumbled, poking his spoon at a half-buried cherry that had gotten lost in a melted swirl of strawberry and fudge. "I'm far too busy for such nonsense, anyway."

"You won't have to do anything! Sorcha and I will gather a committee andwe'lldoeverythingforyouwe'lldecorateandmakethepostersnadorganizeeverythi ngwe'llneedand…" Taser sighed. When she started talking like that he knew she was excited over SOMETHING.

"If you're doing everything then what do you need me for? I can just as easily work while this is happening. If it's permission you're looking for, fine."

"Absolutely not!" Radish cried, leveling her own spoon at him with an imperious expression. "If anyone on this station needs to relax it's you, Taser. You're going to go back to being just a plain old teenager again, even if it's just for one night. Besides," she gave him a mischievous expression. "I need a date, don't I?" Taser coughed on the cherry he'd been nibbling on. Radish just giggled, resting her chin on one hand. "If you're finished, let's go to the arcade!"

Geh, the arcade. She'd been bugging him about it since he actually trumped her score on Space Captain Amano. He'd been avoiding the place, knowing that if she got anywhere near that game, his score would be gone. He was running out of excuses though. He glared sourly at the uneaten mess of frozen sugar in front of them and sighed.

"Alright, we'll go," he muttered, climbing to his feet with a brief stretching of wings. Radish giggled and tugged playfully at one pinion, then darted away into the hall. "Radish, wait for…" he sighed, smirking helplessly, "…me."

"OOF!" Cord gasped as the comet struck him just short of the arcade doors. He stumbled back a step before recognizing the cheerful little speed freak Sorcha and Astra sometimes hung out with. "Ah, Radish!" he grinned, rubbing his chest, "What an honor to be trampled by you again."

"Again?" she blinked those large crimson eyes in bewilderment, then clasped her hands and hopped up and down, pleading. "Do you have a token? I reallyreallyreallyneedatokenTaserbeatmeatTHEgamethereallyimportantoneandIgo ttagetmyscorebackbutIleftallmychangeathomeohpleaseohpleaseohpleasegimmeatok en!!"

Cord held up his hands and leaned back, grimacing.

"Alright alright!" he cried, one hand digging in his coat pocket to fish out a silver coin. "Here, before you hurt yourself!"

"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyousomuch! Wheee!" she giggled and bounded past him, leaving behind a trail of indignant squawks and cries as she made a beeline for the game in question. Cord shook his head and chuckled, leaning against the wall and gazing out across the hall towards a distant viewport, watching the stars hang motionless. The engines were still out, after all.

"A beautiful thing, the void…don't you think?" purred a familiar voice beside him. Cord didn't bother glancing.

"Hello, Doctor," he murmured, tail tip curling slightly.

"The station is coming back together rather quickly, isn't it?" Magdalena mused, "a bit too quickly, I don't think I'm quite ready. The young Captain has proven himself more capable than I'd like."

"So why not just kill him?" Cord shrugged. It seemed a simple enough solution to him, and he was tired of all these intrigues.

"Silly boy!" she laughed lightly, reaching up a golden skinned hand to brush one cobalt cheek. "I can lift knowledge from people's minds, but not skill. I do need someone to handle this magnificent piece of machinery for me. The tragic prince would be so perfect were he still so very broken over his recent misfortunes and sudden burdens. I do so hate to devastate the child again, but he has to remain malleable."

"Devastate him again?" Cord frowned, finally giving her a wary look, one pale brow raised. "Just what did you have in mind?"

Berry-black lips curved in a sweet smile, warm amethyst eyes fairly glittering with some unfathomable glee as she caught one of Cord's silky locks between two fingers.

"I want to take away his strength," she giggled, stepping away slightly to glance into the arcade.

Cord had opened his mouth to speak again when there was a sudden, profound blast accompanied by a flash of light and shrieks from the gamers within. Astra stood calmly, magenta locks blowing furiously over her face as bits and pieces of debris sailed from the door. Cord's heart sank and he stepped forward, eyes wide with horror. She didn't…

"I did," she chuckled softly, taking his arm to stop him. "You don't want to go in there, dear."

"But Radish…"

"Where do your loyalties lie, Cord?" she smiled, and Cord realized to his dismay that this was as much a test for him as it was anything else. Winged ears fell down and he sighed, bowing his head slightly. Who was Radish to him anyway? He barely knew her. He had his own family to worry about. Magdalena smiled, taking his hand and drawing him away. "Come now, we'll let this unpleasant little incident play itself out without us. We can find other…entertainments while waiting for the dust to settle…I do believe we had a deal, after all, Cord."

"Yes," he sighed, his eyes lingering on the smoking arcade door, ears laying back at the shouts and cries from within. He would have to learn to ignore them…could he ever fully shut them out?

He'd have to learn. Quickly.

He simply turned away.

---

Nai'ia, despite her encounter with the other Vaporeon, had returned to the playground. Matrix would be there this time, and for once, he wasn't off playing by himself. A little girl his age, with silvery hair and large, indigo-blue eyes was romping about with him. Nai'ia smiled. If she made Matrix happy, then she was pleased enough. Quietly, she would settle behind her fence, away from the unwelcome eyes of passerby, to watch over her Eevee. She knew Cord had to be nearby, and that he was more than capable of looking after Matrix without her help, but…she felt it her place, nonetheless.

Matrix had gotten rather good at telling when she was around. Those large ears twitched and his eyes brightened. He simply knew. One small hand closed about his companions and he began to tug her off towards the fence behind which Nai'ia sat.

Nai'ia blinked as she realized he was bringing the little girl over to her.

Sure enough, Matrix looped around the edge of the fence and clambered over a thick pipe, helping his companion over after him.

"Nai'ia!" He chirped happily, flying into her waiting arms and snuggling soundly. She stroked his hair and ears affectionately, then gave him a questioning look. The little boy obliged.

"Nai'ia, this is Dawn, she's my new friend!" he introduced with such seriousness that Nai'ia just had to smile. "Dawn, this is Nai'ia, she helps Cord take care of me, and she taught me how to swim! She doesn't talk, but she's really nice!"

The silvery little girl kept her head down, scuffing one toe shyly at the ground as she mumbled something that might have been a hello.

"Dun' be scared, she won't hurt you!" Matrix frowned, squirming free and scampering back to her. "Nai'ia never hurts me, she won't hurt you either!" He took her hand and tugged the reluctant child over. Nai'ia lowered her head, trying to peer up into the little one's face…then finally used her fluke, putting it gently under the girl's chin and lifting it so she could see.

Dawn had the biggest, most soulful, most innocent eyes she had ever seen, and the most beautiful violet-silver skin that shimmered in the light. She also had bruises on her face. Nai'ia's fists clenched, eyes narrowing. One slender, vinyl clad finger reached out to gently trace over one of the darkened spots. The girl flinched away, lowering her eyes.

"I fell," she whimpered in automatic explanation, clasping her hands behind her back. Nai'ia shook her head, her eyes still darkened. She might have to go see just who was doing this to her…

Just then, Cord began calling for Matrix. The little boy's ears twitched again and he sighed.

"Awwa…I gotta go, Dawn, play with you tomorrow?" he asked eagerly, his fluffy tail wagging back and forth. Dawn smiled and nodded, and Nai'ia withdrew from her, thoughtful. The two children began to pick there way back out from behind the fence, and Nai'ia watched them go with a troubled expression.

She would have to see…

---

Dawson nibbled industriously at the end of his stylus, ruddy brows drawn as he studied his datapad. First the murder of the Captain and crew, and now a seemingly random accident at a local teen gathering. A video game had shattered violently, sending some poor girl to the hospital near death with large shards of casing and screen in her chest. They could be utterly unrelated…but he had his suspicions, due to rumors that the girl had associations with Taser, the Captain's son and insofar, his only stand-in. Jessie had insisted upon inspecting the site, however, that there was no possible way the game could have burst like that on its own in the fashion it had. Yet it had been clean of anything pointing towards a bomb.

"No chemical traces?"

"No Sir."

"No sign of outside causes?"

"Nope!"

"Perhaps stranger forces had done it?"

"Not that I could sense," she frowned, hovering in front of him upside down, her tail ticking in front of her nose. "A really, REALLY good psychic can hide his traces, however."

"I need hard evidence, Jess'," he sighed, gnawing even harder on the stylus. "We've been here too long an' gathered too little. Maybe we should take what small evidence we have in for analysis back home an' come back if we find anything."

"Please don't break that, sir, we've only got two, and they're expensive!" Jess pleaded, pointing to the abused stylus. Dawson blinked and took it from between his teeth with a sheepish look.

"Let's do that, shall we Jess'? I do hate t' break an investigation int' parts, but I think we'll make an exception."

"You know best, Boss!" the Mew grinned, flipping right side up. "I'll miss those cheesecake bites on a stick though…"