Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ Poke Walk ❯ Where The Ragged People Go ( Chapter 2 )

Poke Walk: Chapter 2 - Where The Ragged People Go

Disclaimer:

Pokemon is a copyright of Nintendo. The characters of "Magical Twilight" are the property of Pink Pineapple {Japan} and SoftCel Pictures {USA} from the ideas of Akane Shinshakan and Kinya Watanabe. The characters of Tenchi Muyo are the property of AIC, Hiroki Hayashi, and Yousuke Kuroda. The characters of Urusei Yatsura are the property of Kitty Films - Fuji TV, AnimEigo, and Rumiko Takahashi. The characters of Bubblegum Crisis are the property of Studio AIC (Anime International Company), JVC and AnimEigo.

Some other characters and situations used with permission.

Special Disclaimer:

Pokegirls and Pokewomen come from the Pokewomon Forum at http://disc.server.com/Indices/169881.html.

"Wild Horses and Pokegirls" is the creation of Metroanime.

C&C, MSTs are welcome E-mail: kelvins.choice@att.net

I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there

     The Boxer - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

Looking for the Places Only They Would Know

     "The world is interesting," Oyuki thought as they marched through the forest. I had doubted I would ever attract anyone's attention, she thought wistfully of her Tamer and Harem sisters.

     "Liv, you must have collected all the troubled ones," she told the Witch.

     "Are you complaining?" Liv asked peevishly.

     "No, I am grateful," she replied, "But it is . . . unexpected that you would have chosen me."

     "He chose you," Liv replied nervously.

     Interesting, the Megami thought. People often mistook her for an Ice Maiden, her name 'Oyuki' and her manner almost invited that. When they found she was a Megami, they passed on her, while it hurt, she understood. Megami were supposed to be fun-loving, wild spirits. She was more like the Ice Maidens, controlled and logical. Until she got truly angry. A gentle Tamer, even if the Storm Demon and the Seraph are his primary concern, he will not neglect the rest of us, she thought, I suspect that Taming will prove . . . interesting. I wonder how someone brought up outside the entire Tamer mythos will take to Taming.

     I am facing some problems, she thought, But he seems to care about doing the best he can. She glanced around the group. Jeff had taken point, much to the Seraph and the Storm Demon's displeasure. And weren't they surprised being on the same side of any argument, she thought. Ritsuko had taken the rear, watching, everything. Who will be the Alpha? she wondered, Should I try for the post? She smiled at that possibility. She wondered, Will he even have a set Alpha?

     Suddenly the column stopped. Jeff was holding up a fist and listening.

     'A demon like you should know better!' Oyuki recognized the voices.

     "Quick! Into the woods," Kiyone suggested. "Please," she implored.

     Jeff was about half a step behind her.

     Good to see he listens, Oyuki thought as she and the others concealed themselves.

     "Big Brother, can't you make them stop?" a little girl asked a young man as they walked through the completely empty trail.

     "I thought threatening them by making Mihoshi my Alpha would work," the boy replied sadly.

     Oyuki watched from concealment as a minor 5-way war passed by, one she had always managed to avoid at the ranch. She had very definite preferences and opinions, logically arrived at. But I know enough not to express them, she thought.

     "Why isn't Kiyone here to help?" Mihoshi managed to turn Oyuki's Harem-sister's name into a long whine. Mihoshi's hair was still smoldering from the last exchange of fire from the two heavy-hitters.

     Oyuki and the others waited in the underbrush for several minutes, until the scene was safe, Tenchi and his Harem hadn't doubled back.

     "Friends of yours?" Jeff asked Kiyone archly, reslinging his mammoth rifle.

     "You could say that," Kiyone admitted embarrassedly, "As a friend she's fine, as a constant partner . . . " She hugged herself and shuddered.

     "Ah, I've had some relatives like that, delighted to see them on Thanksgiving. Would gleefully kill them after a week," Jeff said, smiled and shrugged.

     The procession continued. Oyuki held back, waiting.

     As soon as the others were out of sight, Sasami stepped out of the bracken.

     "He does seem kinda scary," Sasami told Oyuki, "But it's good you have a Tamer you can't scare off."

     Oyuki raised an eyebrow at the laughing girl, a Megami-Mama, practically a NeoLegendary, not just a Megami.

     "And what of you?" Oyuki asked, "Convinced Tenchi to make you his Alpha?"

     Sasami shook her head sadly. " 'If you aren't old enough for Taming, you aren't old enough to be Alpha.'" She glanced around nervously and leaved close. "None of them get much Taming, they keep interrupting him. When they start to get Feral, I put them all in restraints so Big Brother Tenchi can go to one, then the next." She shrugged, then grew serious. "He's not the one, is he?" Sasami asked.

     "No, but I think that the Psidyke's secret city might have a dreadful accident which removes all traces of it," Oyuki said, "I just hope he's not too gentle, either with us, or the conspiracy. You could always introduce 'Big Brother Tenchi' to Tsunami."

     "No, it's kind of fun. Besides, it would break Ayeka's heart, and where would she find another Tamer?"

     "True."

     ; "Too gentle?" Sasami asked curiously, "You always said you wanted a gentle one."

     "He may need a bit of coaxing and reeducation," Oyuki said uncomfortably, "It will prove a challenge, for all concerned."

     "Surely he knows . . . " Sasami seemed amazed and shocked.

     "I don't think he has quite assembled it all in his mind," Oyuki said, "Possibly willfully. He doesn't want to understand."

     Sasami giggled at that, then ran off, "See you, Oyuki."

     "Go with the Lady, Little Lady," Oyuki prayed as she turned and walked briskly to rejoin the others. She discovered Jeff and Mara had turned back to find her. Both wore matching worried expressions.

     Interesting, Oyuki thought. "I needed to use the bushes," Oyuki admitted.

     "Ah," Jeff said, "Good point. I have paper . . . " he offered.

     "As do I," Oyuki replied as Jeff headed into the bushes himself.

     "You need any help?" Mara shouted after him, but remained on the path beside Oyuki.

     "Ah, no thank you," he shouted back, and hid behind a tree.

     Oyuki merely stared at the Storm Demon.

     "I didn't do anything," Mara replied defensively. "Besides," she added quietly, "The sooner we get him used to the whole idea, the sooner we all get what we want."

     "And just what do you think I want?" Oyuki asked, the temperature dropping noticeably around her.

     "You're an elegant Pokègirl, and here you are tramping around in the woods. I can guess what you want. Or at least one of the things," Mara replied, folding her arms and smiling smugly.

     "Perhaps - we - should inform the others about the halt?" Oyuki suggested, then followed the girl to the rest. Very interesting, Oyuki thought happily.

     There was another Pokèranch on St. Helen's Island, between the Masaki Pokèranch and the town Of St. Helen's. Oyuki considered advising they stop there, meeting with the other Pokègirls there.

     Not just to show off my new status, she thought, Although it might be nice to show 'the Old Pokèmaids' have a Tamer. I'm also worried that our new Master may not be prepared to be a Tamer. His respect for us might make him assume we are like pure-line girls. While under normal circumstances that is quite diverting, in Taming, it might prove counterproductive.

     He had stopped short of the ridge and was crawling forward. Kiyone, Misato and Mara followed using the same ground-hugging movements. Ritsuko restrained the rest.

     "Something's not right at the farm," Ritsuko explained, "I'd say it's just nerves, but Kiyone agrees, so we stay here."

     Oyuki nodded and waited, watching her Tamer squirm across the ground, she liked what she saw.

     "Somebody's at that farm," Jeff said, watching events through the powerful scope of The Gun, "A lot of people milling around. Do those battles usually involve lots of people on each side, a grand melee?"

     Liv strained her ears to listen, she wanted to be up there beside him. Patience, she told herself, If I want to be Alpha, I'll have to delegate.

     "I've never heard of one," Kiyone said, the others nodded or made sounds of agreement.

     "What did you say Widows looked like?" Jeff asked, zeroing in on something that looked like a Spinnenangst.

     "They look like that," Misato told him, nodding in the direction of the spider-like Pokègirls.

     Jeff aimed and fired, reloaded, acquired another and fired, reloaded, acquired, aimed and fired. He reloaded a fourth time, stood up and advanced into the battle. "You stay here. That's an order!"

     "Isn't there something fundamentally backwards about a Master charging into battle with his combat Pokègirls standing on the outskirts, safe?" Mara asked in frustration.

     "We should advise him," Kiyone suggested, and with real venom added, "And frankly, I hate Widows! They give all spider-types a bad name!"

     "Okay, Seraph, we'll go `advice` him to use his Pokègirls to keep his flanks clear, a practical demonstration," Mara said as she spread her wings and launched into the air, a moment later Misato followed.

     "Let's go!" Liv shouted, running down the hill after the others.

     "You do realize we're charging INTO a pack of Widows?" Sylve asked as she stood and ran. The sound of their Master's rifle echoed over the hills.

     "Don't remind us," Ritsuko said, keeping up with the younger Pokègirls.

     "I don't think there'll be any in a moment," Liv suggested.

     Their charge didn't matter. Jeff had charged into the rear quadrant of the Widows, set up, and dispatched the last two as they closed in on him.

     "You do realize that's impossible," Ritsuko yelled to Kiyone, "No gun can kill a Widow, especially not with one shot!"

     "Don't argue with success," Kiyone shouted back, "Maybe the Widows don't know that!"

     "I thought I -" Jeff began.

     "Do you have any idea what happens to your Pokègirls if you die?" Mara asked as she landed next to him and grabbed his collar, then added with all her sarcasm, "Master?" She was shaking him to emphasize every word.

     "Mara, Darling, it's worse if you actually kill him," Oyuki commented as she rested a hand on the Storm Demon's shoulder, frost forming there.

     Interesting, Liv thought.

     Mara smiled, brushed the nonexistent dirt off his lapels as the frost vanished. "Master," she said sarcastically, "We'll all get reprogrammed, then sent to other Tamers . . . if we aren't destroyed outright."

     Jeff blanched at that, then centered himself. "What you don't understand," he replied coldly, he gestured at the dead Widows, "Is that I am in no danger. Protecting you and the others is the threat to me - DOWN!"

     All of them hit the ground. Something screamed overhead and exploded a distance away.

     "There's no Pokègirl can do that!" Mara exclaimed.

     "That's enough, dammit! THAT'S ENOUGH!" He charged off towards the enemy, before any of them could react.

     "What are those?" Oyuki asked in terror at the huge inhuman beasts. Larger than a Widow, with a large rounded head turning this way and that, in the middle of their massive squat body. The long, stiff nose spouted flame and an explosion occurred some distance away.

     "They're Team Rocket!" Kiyone shouted as she pointed to the large red 'R' emblazoned on their sides.

     "I can't watch," Sylve said and hid her face as Jeff, their Master, scrambled up the side of the pack leader. He yanked up a plate at the top of their head, and dropped something inside before leaping off.

     The jet of flame and smoke the creature fired through the top of its head at their departed Master seemed to exhaust the monster. Its head ceased moving and it came to a complete stop. Jeff repeated his poisoning of the other three, although the last one tried to hit him with its nose.

     "Those are tanks," Kiyone told them as she clambered up to head after their Master, "Armored vehicles like these were used to fight Pokègirls."

     "And he just walks up and poisons them?" Liv asked, getting a weird look from Oyuki, the Historian, and Kiyone, the techno-nut.

     "They're like trucks," Kiyone told her, a little too patiently.

     "Still," Oyuki said, "If he wasn't a boy, I'd say he was some kind of Legendary, taking on tanks that way."

     "What Legendary would put up with you lot?" Mara asked.

     "Legendaries cared about staying alive," Misato told them as she landed, "The fight is three way."

     So you can talk, Liv thought.

     The Seraph pointed.

     There were the dead Widows, and a few Pokègirls, the Team Rocket infantry, and a separate force that also had two tanks similar to Shermans, rather than the four Pershing-esque four Team Rocket had deployed. All three groups of `armor` had been going after the farm's people. The two human-led groups had stayed away from the Widows.

     Suits me just fine, Jeff thought, Now that I've taken out the primary targets. Pick the worst threats and work my way down. He glanced at `his` Pokègirls, who had settled in to attack Team Rocket infantry. They work well together. A Seraph fighting side-by-side with a Storm Demon, and the rest are so random, that nobody can quite figure out what they're doing. But Sylve is shielding them while they collect the wounded. Kiyone and Oyuki using my Pokèballs to contain the most seriously wounded.

     "I hope father can deal with all the newcomers," Oyuki called.

     Kiyone laughed, "Maybe Noboyuki will finally get tired out!"

     Jeff remembered about the `Male Vixxen` who helped run the ranch, and wondered how he would deal with suddenly having dozens of Pokègirls to deal with.

     "The battle seems to be - AIIE!" Sylve shouted and collapsed. A bolt of something had smashed into her shield and propelled her into unconscious. The others flattened to the ground.

     "That's a blaster!" Mara called as she and Misato headed for the ground in a series of random evasive maneuvers, like a pair of leaves in a tornado.

     She sounds afraid, Jeff thought.

     "It could cut any of us in half!" Mara added.

     Okay, with good reason, Jeff thought, One advantage to already being dead is I know I'm dead. Maybe they still think they're alive, if they have an independent existence and aren't just phantasms. Jeff finished casting his spell, stood and headed towards the rear of a heavy concrete bunker, he had seen the source of the `blaster` and suspected what the blaster-wielder was trying to do.

     'Uh - ' he heard Kiyone say, he glanced up and she was pointing at him, he gestured them forward.

     Come on, he thought, Trust me. He had confidence in the spell he had cast, he couldn't cast the fireballs and lightning bolts that so hallmarked most mages, but his defensive spells were first-rate. That shield has held off the bolts those Spinnenangsts were tossing around, it will hold off that blaster.

     "Are you crazy?!" Liv shouted at him, "I don't have anything to protect us from that!"

     Jeff watched them glance around, gauging the cover, realizing that all the Widows were dead, the unmarked troops were making a mad assault on the Team Rocket survivors, who had taken up a position between two concrete buildings. The blaster is giving them a tremendous advantage, Jeff thought, Those troops are already losing heart, come on girls, while the others are distracting them!

     "Well, he is our Master," Ritsuko said as she stood up.

     I don't think I like that attitude, our Fuhrer commands that we must die, let us die with a smile on our face and a song in our hearts, he thought, as the blaster bolts splashed against an unseen wall some 15 meters from Ritsuko. Good, now you see, but hurry! He urged them forward.

     Oyuki stood up, followed by Kiyone, through the scope, he saw the foul expressions on Liv's and Mara's faces as they followed. Every single Pokègirl ran at their best speed.

     They trust me, just not that much, he thought as a flurry of blaster bolts and other projectiles spent themselves uselessly on the wall. They reached the end of the building without any problem. Am I glad of that, he thought as he accepted a desperate hug from all the girls except the unconscious Sylve. "Who has to look out for whom?" he asked, then smirked, "I'm going to cut through this wall, Kiyone, Oyuki, these people know you?"

     "Yes, both of us, pretty well," Kiyone said, Oyuki nodded.

     "Then you two start herding them out, there's about fifty people in there." No, I am not going to explain how I know that, he thought at their aghast expressions, There are some things you are better off not knowing, like my early training.

     "We are ready," Oyuki assured him, smiling, "I take it we are going to `greet` the Team Rocket forces as they break through the other side," she said with a predatory gleam in her eye.

     "That is the plan. No quarter asked or given, if it's awake or moving, it's a fair target."

     "You do know these walls are steel reinforced concrete 3 meters thick?" Kiyone asked.

     "I'll pay for the repairs," Jeff replied.

     Steve Miller was not a particularly brave man. He'd inherited the ranch from his father, as his father had. He'd never seen the point of 'Pokègirl Adventures' that popular culture seemed to require of everyone dealing with Pokègirls. He'd always felt that growing up around them, and the terrible storms that lashed the island seasonally, were more that sufficient familiarization and crisis training.

     'You can see a lot just by looking', was his watch word, and he watched. Unfortunately none of it had prepared him for a combined assault by Widows, Team Rocket and a third unmarked force. Such a combination was unthinkable on so many different grounds.

     The bunker had been a storage and storm shelter from the seasonal storms. The builders had never intended it as a bolt-hole against a determined attack. The St. Helen's City Police, the warrior Pokègirls of the Masaki Ranch, and the Golden Navy base were so close, for gods' sakes, he thought. He, his ancient bolt-action rifle and his Pokèwife, a Charamanda, were all that stood between his customers, his Pokègirls and Pokèkits, and whichever side was cutting through the heavy steel doors. The customers are the first concern, he reminded himself, Your sons will carry on as long as the Ranch maintains its spotless reputation: for even-tempered Domestics. I almost wish we had some of those maniacs Masaki and his ranch specialize in. He watched the yellow dot eating through the heavy metal bar and locks that no storm had ever shaken. Whoever is cutting through, they know their business and the best place to do it. He looked at his wife and a few of her parthenogenic daughters, near duplicates of their mother.

     "We'll give them a hot time when they get through," she assured him. He thought her smile was forced, more for the customers than for him.

     Will it be enough? he wondered.

     "Poppa! Poppa!" one of the younger Evas tugged at his arm and pointed at the back wall.

     He turned and saw something that chilled him to the bone. A man-sized section of the concrete was glowing bright orange, shading to yellow.

     "It was red, poppa, when I first saw it, I did good poppa? I did good?" the little Eva asked him excitedly, heedless of the danger it represented.

     His mind stopped, the walls were 3 meters of steel-reinforced concrete. Even his wife and all her daughters together wouldn't be able to burn through that way. In the space of that thought, the wall had gone to white, with pieces of molten concrete dropping onto the floor. The man-sized hole appeared, the brilliant white faded quickly to yellow, then orange. Kiyone and Oyuki from the Masaki ranch stepped through as the last of the red color faded.

     They look as shocked as the rest of us, he thought.

     "Come on," Kiyone urged as she touched the now-cool concrete, not believing it herself, "It's safe and we've got reinforcements coming."

     Miller let Oyuki and Kiyone lead the children out first. He glanced back at the door, wondering whether they would cut through before everyone escaped.

     Oyuki stared at the children, then at the door. She had an expression on her face that was more typical of Ryoko or Akeya. She gestured at the door and summoned a wall of ice easily 5 meters thick covering over the door. "We now have sufficient time," she said. The moving yellow spot that had consumed their attention for the past few minutes was gone. He doubted either Team HyperRocket or the Widows would have retreated, from his experience, they would have torn the door down and killed most of the people once they had what they wanted.

Asking Only Workman's Wages

     Her Master, Jeff, walked from around the front of the bunker where he'd done, whatever he had done to the Team HyperRocket and the unknown forces.

     Miller thought they might be Limbec Pirates, Kiyone thought, as she watched the kids who had come just to get a pet, and instead, had a bit of an adventure. Miller is already selling the parents on keeping the pairs that formed in adversity, Kiyone thought, wishing someone, anyone, could have taken her as a kit to a good home, she was more than a little jealous. 'Let's go to Masaki's to find the fighters, and stop by Miller's to get a nice pet for little brother or sister.' Nobody ever thought they could get a nice Tarantella or two at Masaki's, somebody to grow up with a nice family, making clothes or artwork. I never was much of a fighter compared with the others, and not `cute` enough to be a good pet. She sighed, pushing her regrets aside. I have a Tamer and I'm going on a great adventure! As if I wanted adventure.

     "There are buckets of people to round up," her Master said, he was too wobbly to be giving orders, he tipped his hat to the Charamanda, Mrs. Miller, "Beg pardon ma'am, but I believe I'm going to fall down now." He moved off slowly.

     Kiyone prepared to follow him. Mara beat her to her Master's side, swooping down like a raptor and then gently took him under an oak tree that had miraculously survived, helping him lie down and cuddling him up against her.

     Kiyone frowned as she felt another stab of jealousy.

     "Your new Tamer?" Mrs. Miller asked, her tail twitching at the sound of arriving police and military.

     "He did buy us, but he hasn't Tamed us yet. However, he certainly knows how to fight," she told the Pokèwomon.

     Oyuki approached. "We should begin securing the prisoners and healing the wounded."

     Kiyone wandered to the front opening of the Miller's storm bunker. The Team HyperRocket types were all just lying there, expressions of abject horror on their faces. They had seen something and fallen unconscious. I wish they'd all died, she thought, I hate those monsters. "Yeah," she told Oyuki, who had silently followed her, "We might as well make ourselves useful." She glanced over at Mara and her Master. "It's not like we'll be doing anything else for a while."

     "Okay, triage, we find those who will not survive without help, they are first priority. I'm glad I have good relations with the OfficerJennies. I have a sinking feeling our Master is going to need all my influence," she told the Megami.

     "I suspect you are correct." Oyuki regally strode out in front of her, headed to where the others waited.

     "That's impossible," Lestroud, the lead OfficerJenny said, as Kiyone took aim at the corpse of a Widow, already dissolving under the attack of its own venoms.

     "Yeah," Kiyone said as she threw a heavy rock, smashing the head chitin of her target, "But they're all dead, or they wouldn't let me do that."

     Colt, a police Growlie was gingerly examining a hole in the side of one Widow's head. "Three centimeter hole, what was he using? A cannon?"

     "Ask the Matron, Ritsuko, she's got custody of it right now," Kiyone said, "Look, I don't know how he did it, I agree it's impossible. He just fired at a couple, then walked down behind them and fired some more. One shot for each. Even you couldn't match that, Lestroud."

     "I wouldn't be stupid enough to shoot Widows any way," Lestroud said, "Must have done your heart good, watching somebody go through them like that."

     "If Ritsuko and the Seraph, Misato, are to be believed, he helped deal with the Spinnenangsts and Brusellia," Kiyone told her.

     Lestroud whistled her amazement. "If all this is to make me feel better, it doesn't. The idea of dealing with someone who acts like the Widowslayer scares me."

     "First, like I said, take the guns away, then he's a lot safer. Second, as long as he understands you are the legitimate authority, he'll be polite and respectful. I've never met anyone so tied up with manners as this guy," Kiyone explained

     "So he won't break out of a holding cell because it's bad manners?" Lestroud asked incredulously, "He sounds like so kind of nut. That also doesn't explain what happened to the Team HyperRocket types at the Miller's door. Most are out cold, some are dead, none of them have a mark on them. Whatever he did, he could do again. I'm going to have to call in some powerful mystics and psychics until we know what we're dealing with, and what the heck is a 'Field Researcher' anyway? Something new?"

     "Something old," Kiyone told her, "According to Oyuki, it's almost two centuries old, it just isn't used anymore."

     "Why not?" Lestroud asked.

     "Well, for one, how many Pokègirl were captured here?"

     "Almost ninety," she replied.

     "And how many would a Tamer, who took part in this action, get for his efforts?" Kiyone asked.

     "They'd probably divide up half to two-thirds assuming they weren't all stolen and could be returned to their owners."

     "As a Field Researcher, he gets none," Kiyone said flatly, "No salvage rights."

     "That's insane, who'd agree to that?" Lestroud demanded, "Oh, he really is crazy, isn't he."

     "He's got a Seraph, a Storm Demon, a Witch, a Megami, a Shieldmaiden, a Matron - "

     "And a Tarantella," Lestroud said.

     "Yes, and they aren't trying to kill each other. I think we can't figure out if we should be afraid of him, or for him," Kiyone said, "I still think you've got nothing to worry about. About the only way you could set him off, would be police brutality, or threaten one of his girls."

     "That may be a problem," Lestroud said despondently, "Milgrew is back from the mainland."

     "Crap! When?" Kiyone asked.

     "This evening. I hope I can process him and get him out of here quick," Lestroud said and headed to confer with her fellow officers.

     "Crap is right," Colt said as she approached, "I was hoping to get a look at that cannon."

     "It's evidence right?" Kiyone said, "Also, you might just show him your machine shop, and ask to borrow the gun. I have a feeling he's going to want to share the wealth. Also, you'll want to see his pistol. It's a 11.5 millimeter."

     "11.5?! What does he shoot with that?"

     "Widows. Dead," Kiyone told the Growlie.

     Jeff woke, someone had handcuffed him to a chair, he moved his bare feet and felt the cold steel around his ankle. And manacled, he realized. The officer who was watching him brightened when he looked at her. The stern face and carefully-styled red hair which screamed 'take me seriously' warred with the uniform that the tailor had designed to flatter her full figure and show off her legs. It left him with the impression of a kept woman trying to be taken seriously. Maybe deserving it, he thought, Well, considering the `uniforms` Katsuragi and Doc Akagi 'SEM-PAI!' wear, I guess that's the source of the woman's costume. Akane was right, I am a pervert, he thought.

     "Are you up to answering questions?" she asked, pleasant voice and attempt at softening her expression warned Jeff of trouble.

     "I believe so," he replied. She is a serious examiner, he realized. "However, if my memories are accurate, you're going to toss me in the nut ward and throw away the key."

     "Let's start simply." His admission did not disturb the officer. "Name and any aliases."

     "Jeffrey Kevin Davis, also called the Sixth Children, Roku-kun, Raccoon, and the Scholarly Dragon. Since Japanese had a hard time with Jeffrey Davis, I went by Roku-kun or Raccoon when I was there."

     "Japanese?" she asked.

     "The Edo League, I guess, is the modern name." He didn't recognize about half the equipment in the police squad room. Some was too modern, other elements looked like they would have been standard issue in 1850. The way the architecture mixed them disturbed him. He also noted the several dozen, pretty females, some were close enough in appearance and mannerisms to the interrogating officer to be her sisters or twins, others only shared bilateral symmetry and upright bipedal posture with humanity. They were all still physically attractive, as if they'd been constructed with that specifically in mind. Terrific, if this is a hallucination, what does all this apply to? What does it mean? he silently asked himself, And why are they all glancing at me? They aren't acting as if I were the threat to their fellow officer.

     He felt a little naked without his suit coat, vest, tie and hat. A bunch of police officers were off in the corner trying his hat on, and laughing. He'd seen that before, all too often. Sometimes I think that's the best test if something is female, he thought, Does she try to steal that stupid hat.

     "Excuse me, officer . . . I didn't hear the question," he apologized.

     "Place of birth?" the police officer asked, losing a bit of her temper at his inattention and the growing laughter behind her.

     "Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. Excuse me, officer . . . " He hoped she'd give him her name, this time.

     "OfficerJenny."

    ;  Breed name, he thought, Okay. "Thank you, officer. What is so entertaining about my hat?"

     She angrily stood up. "Put that back in the evidence locker!" she shouted.

     Somebody just declared the All-you-can-eat Chocolate Festival has become a spinach-eating contest, he thought of the expressions on the female officers' faces. One girl with long black hair, except for the two white stripes down the middle, sheepishly put the hat back in its box and primly took it away, pausing only to stick out her tongue at the OfficerJenny who'd retaken her seat and had her back to the `skunk`.

     "Occupation?"

  &nbs p;  "Exterminator or assassin, depending on your point of view." That got her attention, he thought. "I told you my memories were screwy."

     "So, you meant to kill those people?"

     "Where I'm from, slaughtering children is a bad thing. When people do bad things, there's an implied contract that society permits you to do bad things back to them, until they desist or surrender, whereupon you must be nice again, or they die, then you must justify yourself to the authorities." I said it plainly, he thought, But she wasn't ready to hear that. Should I wonder how many of those who died I killed? No, I don't really care. I had little choice in any case. How many of the innocents would have survived if we hadn't intervened? That's a better question. Not bloody many, is the answer.

     "Date of birth?" the OfficerJenny stammered, she obviously wasn't used to dealing with people like him.

     "February 13th, 1932, old calendar." I could actually hear a pin drop, he thought, She's ready to scream, but she's thinking better of it.

     "You are claiming to be over 300 years old?" she stammered.

     "No ma'am, I know I am only sixteen years old," he said and shrugged, "I told you my memories are a bit . . . let's call it strange. The only explanation I have is, I must have tangled with something that decided to have a little fun with me. I didn't even know what a Pokègirl was until someone told me. Like I said, strange."

     She sighed. "After you attacked Team HyperRocket, you engaged the renegade League forces, why?"

     "They were the only groups specifically shooting at the children, even the Widows hadn't been doing that. I thought I'd deal with those clearly in the wrong, and work things out from there." Again you're chilled, he thought of the poor OfficerJenny interviewing him, Sorry Officer, I'm not the least bit remorseful. I am a soldier, I happened on the beginnings of a massacre, I took actions I deemed necessary to protect the life and property threatened. If I'd come across a mugger with a sock full of sand, I wouldn't have used lethal force. "Officer, they had armor and at least five platoons of infantry. If you know of a better way of handling the situation, I'd be interested in hearing it. From your expression, and that of your fellow police officers, these renegade League forces and Team HyperRocket are very bad news."

     "I'll ask the questions here," she said shakily.

     "Of course officer, I apologize." Now you're really flustered, he thought, You can't fit this in a law enforcement template, you can't make this a gang fight or a riot. Especially when one of the participants, a mass murderer, isn't fitting the profile. And you either can't or won't switch to a military paradigm.

     "Jenny, please take Mr. Davis to a cell."

     Another woman, nearly identical to the interrogator stood. "All we have left is the interrogation cell. Team HyperRocket and the League people filled all the others. I don't think it's a good idea to put him in the cells with them."

     The interrogation OfficerJenny nodded.

     From her expression, he thought, You expect me to slaughter them if you locked us up together. I might, depending on them.

     "Why do I get the feeling I could handcuff you to a chair with a paperclip, sit you in the cafeteria, and I'd find you there the next day?" the new OfficerJenny asked.

     "Well, I'd probably be behind the counter cooking, but I've no where else to go. And as long as neither I nor my companions are in any danger -" He shrugged as they unchained him from the chair.

     The OfficerJenny led him to a room. "They are being well treated," she assured him. The room had a table divided by a screen, and several chairs. "I'd like to see them as soon as practicable," he said, and got no answer. He selected one of the chairs and sat down, his feet flat on the floor, and tried to go to relax. I can detect them easier in the spirit realms, he thought, I can already sense the hidden observation systems, so, I'm being watched. Well, if I'm under observation, 'To Thine Own self be true.' he thought, I'm going to follow it. I can also cover the spirit plane to make sure they're all right, and get some eyes and ears out to find the rest of those Team HyperRocket clowns, maybe the renegade League forces.

     The blonde Pokèwomon, a Megami, who extended her powers to probe the figure in the interrogation room. Her eyes snapped open and she began screaming and backing away from the wall nearest the interrogation room. Two OfficerJennies and a Growlie tried to restrain the normally calm Megami. After several moments, she calmed down.

     "I . . . I don't . . . " she said, sighed, gathered herself together before continuing, "I do not believe he is a law-enforcement threat," she told them with a quavering voice.

     "Just Law Enforcement?" An OfficerJenny asked, "You acted like he was an Eva with an Angel Stone."

     "I . . . I need to talk with the other Pokègirls who accompanied him," the Megami demurred.

     The OfficerJenny nodded and led her to the evidence locker where the Pokèballs were kept. She nodded and the officer left her alone with the Pokèballs. The Megami released her fellow Megami, Oyuki.

I Come Lookin' for a Job, but I Get No Offers

     "How could you?!" the blonde Megami demanded of Oyuki.

     "Because when the boy appeared at our ranch, he had a Malakim and a Storm Demon with him, neither seemed inclined to tear him or the other to pieces," Oyuki replied coldly. Glancing around the evidence room, as if sight and sound, she absorbed all the details instantly.

     "Do you have any idea what a disruption he is?" she asked.

     Oyuki gave her a wintry smile. "I know that he is willing to be guided, controlling him will be impossible, but he can be trusted."

     "You haven't seen what I have," the blonde argued, turning away from Oyuki and shivering visibly.

     "I can say the same. What you have seen, how do you explain his healing technique of absorbing wounds. How do you explain his courtesy and respect?" Oyuki asked, feeling a superiority over her Megami `sister`, "I believe they are his true nature as well as a habit intentionally ingrained."

     "He is filled, powered by corruption and death!" the blonde shrieked.

     "That is not an answer," Oyuki said crossly, "You fear what he might be. I know he can be whatever we ask, if we give him the reasons."

     "You can't reveal everything!" the blonde said aghast, covering her mouth.

     "You are assuming we can keep anything from him," Oyuki replied, shaking her head, "Do you have any other who could stand against what's coming? Perhaps Typhonia? Or one of reborn At-Muffs? His function is to destroy such creatures. He is as much a weapon as Sukebe's original Pokègirls, against enemies far more formidable than anything we have faced. He could be our weapon, with correct prompting and if we trust him."

     "It is too dangerous," the blonde admonished.

     "It is not only your decision. And he is here. What do you propose, kill him?" she asked disdainfully, "How? Leave him to the authorities? Who would pour lies in his ear and send him against who knows what? Let him discover the truth bit by bit with no one to put it in context, no one to moderate his passions? And when he moves, against what, and whom?" She stared at the blonde. "Yes, he is potentially the most dangerous force on the planet, and with that, one of the most deadly, but the others should be made aware, he is just a frightened, lonely boy, not a man, except in the ways of fighting and of killing."

     "We don't manipulate people." The blonde drew herself up into a tower of arrogant condescension.

     "We guide them all the time," Oyuki said, "That is what I am proposing."

     "You are already considered cold-blooded," the blonde told her, obviously agreeing with that analysis.

     "You assume a lack of histrionics means I don't care."

     The blonde noted the thick frost covering every surface, including her own robe, only their exposed skin and Oyuki's robe seemed immune. "Do not take a clear view of the entire situation as either callousness or apathy," Oyuki warned, "I am no Ice Maiden who's cold logic disguises nothing but a frozen wasteland of thought that can justify anything."

     "I . . . apologize," the blonde said through chattering teeth. The frost faded with the `Ice` Megami's ire.

     "By all means, inform the others. I would welcome their help, but I suspect that there may be other hidden dangers." Oyuki put her hand behind her back to keep the other Megami from seeing her clench and unclench her fists.

     "I will tell them," the blonde said, "But you don't have too many supporters among the Council."

     But considering Tsunami, Washu and Granny are among them, Oyuki thought, As well as a few of the oldest and most experienced. I need no others.

     "I need to interrogate the others as well," the blonde said worriedly.

     Oyuki nodded and vanished into her Pokèball.

     The Megami centered herself and released the Storm Demon.

     "Wheeeeree is he!? Is he hurt!?" the creature advanced the instant she materialized, intent on mayhem.

     "He is unharmed, just resting," she said quickly, waving her arms placatingly, preparing a defense.

     " 'Just resting', that's what they said about Norwegian Blue, and we all know the Mounty's Python ate her," the Storm Demon countered, pacing the room nervously.

     "You are unharmed, and he seemed as concerned as you were," the Megami told her.

     "Hmm," the Storm Demon sneered, stopped pacing and crossed her arms, staring daggers at the Megami. "I'm fine."

     The Megami nodded. Interesting, she thought, I was expecting a ravening beast. I've seen more anger at a council meeting, and that's between Megami. "The others were unharmed." There is disdain, she thought, studying the creature.

     "Of course, 'Never suffer a woman to be harmed,'" she said with real fury, raising her fists as if to strike, then lowering them in defeat, adding softly, "Idiot."

     The Megami decided not to enquire. "He seemed concerned about all of you." Strange, no demand 'me more than others?! she thought, She stares and waits. All this from a simple bond? Must be a Delta-bond. But all our reports say that's impossible, as would be Domestication, even with regular Taming they are practically uncontrollable, she mentally shrugged, So much for conventional wisdom. "I need to know what happened."

     "What can I say? Charge of the Nuts' Brigade, guy doesn't think Widows are a problem and killed these Steel-type beetles just as easy."

     "Steel-type beetles?" the blonde Megami asked.

     "Dark green, long noses, shoots explosions," the Storm Demon told her petulantly, "Ripped their heads open, dropped in something, and they died."

     He destroyed TANKS? The stolen ones and Team HyperRocket? the Megami boggled.

     Oyuki considered the future as she rested in her Pokèball. She didn't make her visions of the future widely known, because she only saw disasters and the way out of them. The day before the boy arrived, I saw a young man despairing the death, or assassination, of his Pokègirls at the hands of my fellow Megami, she remembered, Suddenly, they were on the defensive as he destroyed the assassins and those who'd sent and concealed them. It rapidly escalated out of anyone's control, and the slaughter was terrible. Granny, Tsunami, Washu, Ama, Britannia all were destroyed in a single blow. I immediately saw the simple solution, I would accompany him, temper the deeply buried passions within. I also know that the typical 'fixers' among the Megami community would not be able to either handle him, nor smooth things over when they failed. My vision of a meeting between my new Master and Belldandy, the 'nicest, kindest, gentlest -' Continue until nausea ensues, Oyuki thought of her eternally clueless rival, That meeting, entertaining as it would be, would also be a disaster. And even Bell couldn't stay calm in the face of a charging Widow. Nevertheless, I saw him do it. I also saw `she-who-must-not-be-named` achieve her goal and exterminate the human race. The idea that there was someone who could find these kinds of threats, cut through all the webs and shadows, and lance the monster in its lair - She shuddered at that, even the peace-inducing waves of her Pokèball couldn't overcome the dread of someone actively seeking out the darkest, deepest pits in her world and eagerly unroofing them to let in the light, yet be so vastly darker than anything he uncovered, and yet no threat to her. It doesn't make logical sense, she thought happily, Only passion could explain it, and that I have a way of dealing with.

     She considered her allies among the council, They might support my somewhat radical new agenda, that the alternative was to lose an entire generation of the finest Tamers, Researchers and Pokègirls in a series of nearly useless battles to divert what even the most incognizant members of the council know is coming. To strike at the real problem's heart with a single swift stroke, with a weapon forged exactly for that purpose, she considered within her Pokèball, That ferocity comes when someone no longer cares whether they live or die, as long as he carries out the mission. 'If you save the entire world, then any day is a good day to die.'

     Jeff looked around the bizarre landscape. "Looks like Picasso trying to do a Van Gogh pastoral during his cubist period, with a hint of Jackson Pollock."

     "An apt enough description, greetings my sister."

     Jeff turned to face the tall woman, who was an odd and exotic mix of pink and steel colored skin. That the steel color just happens to cover her naughty bits is probably intentional, he thought while saying, "I could disagree with that on gender, or compositional lines."

     The woman laughed delightedly as she approached. "Oh, ever-so-subtlety he prepares for battle, or is that lust?"

     Jeff blushed at that, but refused to be distracted. This is a mental construct, he thought, And I have a good number of years experience manipulating those. "I assume you came to talk."

     "What about a Taming?" she asked, pouting.

     "If you're going to waste my time, I see no point in remaining," Jeff answered. I can touch the Spirit realm from here, I can leave as I wish, he thought.

     "Then I will show you the past." She gestured.

     Now they stood in a laboratory out of a mad scientist's dream. The woman stood beside a mirror image of herself floating in a glass tube, wires and tubes running in and out of the body in the tube. The girl who had brought him here was shuddering as she stared at the body within the tube.

     At her within the tube, Jeff realized.

     Over 2 dozen tubes with similar girls floating in them, with wires and lines running in and out of them, enclosed Jeff and his guide. One tube was dark and stood open. The liquid, wires and tubes lay on the floor.

     "The war had ended, and we'd lost. The coward slipped in here, stole one of us," she said softly, caressing the surface of the glass tube, "He could have taken all of us. The sequence for the tubes was the same." She turned to him, her expression one of pleading, as if she had no meaning, unless someone else understood. "We would have served, it was all we were, all we knew."

     Then fury clouded her face. She drove her fist through the image of the past, the entire room shattered, returning them to the pastoral.

     "His MASTER, did not want that, oh no, better the irony of having one designed to destroy him serve him, alone, half-mad, such a pretty piece of revenge."

     "Yes, he had a sick sense of humor," Jeff agreed, "One reason I enjoyed my last jest on him so much. Who'd have thought Commander Ikari would have such a sense of humor?"

     "Has," she said, approached him, not an imposing warrior, just a lost girl, "I felt what you and the others did. And I rejoiced. Then - then I felt them scratch at the tomb he'd left here. Ripping it open and glutting themselves on what they found within. 'We won't use it for ill-purposes because we're good people,'" she said with real bitterness.

     "Oh, GOD!" Jeff groaned, "In the meantime, all their `good` works and successes feed their hubris. I take it they haven't cracked the final secret."

     The woman laughed and shook her head, "No, as you know, the final secret requires a certain humility, stepping from 'the Universe is nearly within My Grasp' to 'it cannot be fully understood, no matter what' is too big a leap for their Master researchers who approach asymptotically."

     "However, a clever kid with no preconceptions and reputation to polish might stumble across it." He looked at his fists, he'd never noticed his clenching them, he relaxed them, closed and opened his hands slowly. "So that's why I'm here, I thought it was over." He sighed. "It will never be over, will it?"

     "Perhaps, I did not bring you here, I merely - "

     "Saw a sharp sword and realized you needed some cutting done," Jeff interrupted, "Yes, it's happened before like that. Very well, what can you tell me?"

     "First my name, I am Cyber At-Muff. Your enemy, you well know and I will not speak his name."

     "Gnarly," Jeff said.

     "Did you stake him to the ground and subject him to puns?" Cyber At-Muff asked.

     "NO, we locked him in a room and played 'It's a Small World' on continuous loop. Now, shall we get back to business?"

     "Certainly," she said, smiled, "About that Taming."

     The Megami spoke to the OfficerJennies. "I don't think he intended to murder, although he fully intended to kill."

     "That's quite a contradiction." Lestroud, the senior OfficerJenny, said.

     "No, he is a soldier. He saw military forces committing an atrocity and he acted as a soldier would to protect civilians. He used sufficient force against the enemy, to ensure they would be no threat to his rear on his advance."

     "Neutralize as in drop explosives into a confined space? Neutralize as in use something that kills without marking his enemies?"

     "As I said," the Megami patiently told them, "He viewed the situation as military, he treated the enemy as enemy soldiers. He harmed none who surrendered in the slightest. I believe that under military law, he would be found to have acted properly. Also, if he hadn't, your arriving officers would have faced several fully-functional tanks, ten, perhaps twenty Widows, as well as the infantry of Team HyperRocket and renegade League members. You would have been so badly outgunned," she explained cautiously, "They would have slaughtered you before you even knew what was killing you."

     "You don't like him," Colt spoke up.

     "I find his existence . . . disturbing." She began to pace the room. "Like an optical illusion made flesh. He is and he isn't, in an extremely disturbing way. Even now," she pointed, "Sitting in your interrogation room, he isn't really there."

     Lestroud spoke up, "How is that possible?" She checked the monitors. "Heart rate and breathing are a little low, but he could be sleeping."

     "Actually, he's dead," she told them, let the shock die down, "By our definition, but he will fully recover." She walked over to Colt. "Now do you understand why I am disturbed?"

     The others nodded or looked confused. The Megami had the feeling they were more intrigued than repulsed.

     He does have something that makes you want to trust him. she remembered what Kiyone and Misato had said, As if when he's there, things are going according to plan, she thought, As when we simply follow the Will. She shook her head. Maybe that's what ails Oyuki, she's normally more level-headed than that.

     "What the Hell is going on? Is this a police station or a coffee klatsch?"

     The OfficerJennies blanched at that voice. The Megami frowned as she remembered her first meeting with him.

     "Why him first thing in the morning?" the Growlie, Colt, asked.

     "The prisoner!" one of the OfficerJenny's stammered and rushed from the room.

     I wonder if Oyuki `foresaw` this? the Megami asked herself as she beat a hasty retreat from the station to make her report. And avoid Inspector Milgrew 'Big' Jones, the mayor's son.

     Jeff found himself shaken to full wakefulness. He'd escaped from the informative, but extremely amorous cyborg and had briefly felt the spirit of each of the girls who'd accompanied him. They were all extremely worried about events, but otherwise fine. He tried to resist thinking of them as `his`. After what I felt them going through, he thought, I'm never going to put them in there again. Each girl had her own mantra. But they kept repeating credos of submissiveness and obedience, to me, he thought with disgust, The `better` and more earnest affirmations received with intense sexual gratification. The Pokèball rewarded any lack of insistence or any insincerity` with pain and nausea. Disgusting.

     He'd also checked with his allies in the Spirit Realm, and they were still with him, and still as eager to help. And most of them found my current situation hilarious, he thought sardonically, 'Fear me and my dark power!' And the laughter never ceases. Until I told them how everyone treats these Pokègirls, then they got as angry as I did. Maybe this is Hell.

     "Up and at'em Sleepyhead," an unpleasant voice ordered. The voice had an equally unpleasant face and body attached to it.

     Jeff considered himself an excellent judge of character, seeming decades of being a shaman and walking the spirit realm tended to do that. You often saw beneath the surface. What he saw beneath the surface of this man, was the opposite surface, there were no hidden depths separating them, nothing in between.

     An OfficerJenny rushed in, slightly different haircut and shape of her eyes, but otherwise identical. She looked panicked. "Inspector," she said diffidently, "I'm sure that Officer Lestroud's report is very complete, on -"

     "Never trust a Pokègirl with what you can find out, man-to-man." He smiled at Jeff.

     Jeff returned a half-hearted grin.

     "They're pretty to look at, and fun in bed, but they don't have the stomach for a proper police interrogation."

     You, sir, are an idiot, Jeff thought of the man, No wonder the girls have to run everything.

     Jeff wondered which of the primitive `persuaders` he would employ first. Then he noted the drawer in the interrogation table. For placing listening devices no doubt, he thought, Ah, that old gag.

     The man opened the drawer and slammed it on Jeff's fingers. The OfficerJenny reacted more than Jeff did. He simply stared at the man. The hand he slowly pulled out of the drawer was bloody and misshapen, far more than one drawer slam should have produced, but Jeff wanted to put an end to this quickly. Jeff stared at the mangled hand. "Ouch?" he offered dismissively, "I bet that smarts," he said as he turned his mutilated hand this way and that, dispassionately and carefully examining it. Clearly not what he was expecting, he thought.

     "You expect me to believe what you told Pokèhips here?"

     "No," Jeff said truthfully, noting the OfficerJenny's slow burn at the slur. "Neither did Officer Lestroud, nor did I expect you to. I don't believe it is the truth, but it is what I remember."

     "So you're claiming it's the truth?" the man asked, "How stupid do you think I am?"

     What is this, multiple choice? Jeff wondered glanced at the OfficerJenny's desperate prayer that he say nothing. Out loud he said, "I never said you were stupid. I clearly said what I remember is difficult to believe. I have no explanation why those are the things I remember."

     "Maybe you need more persuasion, to remember better?"

     Jeff braced for the blow, he'd studied acting at Harvard, or remembered he did. Especially how to receive a blow theatrically. The punch knocked him out of the chair he was chained to most satisfactorily, and he also remained on the floor his chained arm outstretched to its anchor point. He'd also closed his eyes, ceased breathing and slowed his heartbeat as much as he could. His old teacher could manage to appear dead even to Jeff's best spells, but Jeff was nowhere near that good.

     A boot prodded him. "Hey, wake up." More urgent prodding. "You can't fool me."

     A woman's hand touched his wrist, then his throat. "Nothing," the OfficerJenny said. The man roughly checked what she had told him, confirming it for himself.

     There was some unintelligent stammering and shuffling across the floor. Jeff resisted the urge to stand up, break the chain and lurch after the man. He wouldn't think it was funny after all, he thought as the door opened and slammed.

     The OfficerJenny stood and walked to the wall-mounted phone and began calling for medics.

     "Is someone hurt, I am quite a skilled Healer," Jeff said as he stood, stretched, yawned and reseated himself, "Sorry, my boredom threshold is extraordinarily low. I guess getting bored to death isn't really just words to me."

     "You're hand," the OfficerJenny said worriedly.

     "Oh, sorry, it is rather hideous," he said as he began popping the bones back in place with his other hand. The OfficerJenny writhed at each pop, as the bones slipped into their proper places. Then the skin crawled together absorbing the blood, "Much better. See?" And she's freaked out, he thought, Let that get back to whoever she reports to.

     "Do you have a Blood Gift?"

     "Not that I know of, how would I contact the Red Cross to find out?" he asked, "Actually I'm a magic user." Now she's really afraid, he thought.

     Another OfficerJenny walked in, a much older and burlier one, "Would you be willing to help feed our . . . other guests?" She smirked about something, then hid it.

     "Excuse me ma'am, but to what?" he asked hopefully, "They told me I can't eat them myself," he added morosely.

     "That would be correct," the older OfficerJenny said brightly, "It's against policy to feed tainted meat to prisoners."

     The younger OfficerJenny seemed shocked at the byplay, but looked to ashamed to rebuke or take part.

     Why does simply treating them as people elicit such reactions, even from the officers themselves? he wondered. "Just out of curiosity, ma'am, how many of officers of all types are there?"

     "About twenty-seven human officers at the central station, here, about 50 OfficerJennies and some thirty additional types, from Growlies like our armorer Colt, to `nonstandard` types like Jesse, a Baleena who specializes in blue-water rescues. We're the only major police station from Mount Baker Island to the Newberry Caldera. We never have enough officers to cover it, even with Tamers and the Navy's help."

     "Then why was Kiyone turned down, repeatedly, when she applied?" he asked coldly.

     Both OfficerJennies squirmed at that. "You just met him," the older one said, "And he . . . well . . I guess the best way to say it is he doesn't like it when an unattached Pokègirl says 'no'. He listens, but he doesn't forget or forgive."

     "I think I am going to press charges against him," Jeff said darkly. After all, he thought, A wealthy human's word carries more weight.

     "Then you should have stayed dead until the medics arrived," the younger OfficerJenny chided.

     Good, you can unwind, he thought.

     "Ah 'the best laid schemes o' mice and men, Gang aft a-gley'," he said. "Often go awry, Bobby Burns, To A Mouse, 7th stanza," he explained.

     I wonder if they've mastered the cloning technologies that created Rei and Kaworu. Of course they have, this is you're hallucination after all, he thought, I just wish I knew what part of me makes all the females this way.

     "Aren't you going to ask what you have to do?" the older OfficerJenny asked.

     "I remember doing every job from herding cattle to fighting monsters to short order cook. There's very little I can't do, or haven't done. Most of it to earn my daily bread, so I'm pretty good at most of it."

     "Including mass murder?" the younger asked warily, glaring at him.

     "I've been a soldier most of my life. I'd prefer an enemy that wouldn't start anything, or failing that would march onto the field and challenge our champion to a duel," he explained, "I'd love it if they just surrendered when I showed up. But I haven't been that lucky. So, I've had to be willing to kill, to protect the folks back home."

     The images that the Megami had accessed in the prisoner's mind hadn't been pretty, and the entire squad room had whispered about the Megami's reaction to them. It was the real reason Officer Block had selected this prisoner to help them. Several of the officers, human and Pokègirl, had been assaulted while serving the prisoners' dinner last night. If anyone can handle himself, Block thought, This one can. The Pokègirl officers were also curious what he'd do if one of the Pokègirls was attacked by the League hardcases or Team HyperRocket. No Pokègirl is comfortable assaulting a human, Block thought, Even with just cause. Although protecting kids makes it a lot easier, and that's what he did.

Just a Come on from the Whores on 7th Avenue

     The taunts and catcalls didn't bother Jeff. The two officers, OfficerJenny, Block, and a massive, catlike officer, Minerva, were both livid. He wasn't exactly sure all of what Taming involved, but he had a pretty good idea, and while their suggestions were colorful, he doubted they were anatomically possible, for either participant.

     "So little boy, what's it going to be?" one hard case taunted Jeff as he stayed out of reach. "You all Tamed by these bitches, or are you gonna Tame them?" The man made a complicated gesture with his fingers.

     "Excuse please, man not making sense any," Jeff said in broken English, Jeff set the food tray in front of the bars and slid it through with his foot. They'd given him his boots back at least. Another man's hand darted low and grabbed empty air. "Officers, these mens, granny's old club, always with the picnicking cheeks." He pinched his cheeks. "Is possible they like mens and not womens?"

     That set off all manner of catcalls and whoops from the other cells, and denials from the men about whom Jeff had asked.

     "When our brothers learn of our captivity they will rise in their righteous might and smite this place. Killing all who are not with us!"

     "Yes," Jeff replied, still in character, "At 16:37 this afternoon, using the ream-minder of their minary hard worn. The asshole will consecrate on that wall of the building." Jeff pointed to the end of the corridor. "I have already founderied a plan that will ensnare all of your 'righteous brothers' join you. Either in here or in pothead's failed. I have no pre-fences. But the people around here seem to think diffidently."

     It should have sparked a riot, but despite the `happy, idiot` tone, something in his tone and manner, an old Shaman's trick of appearing as `other` than human, `other` than mortal, etc., indicated he'd gladly and easily kill every one of them in the cell block, with a word or a gesture, except he wasn't supposed to. The inmates made no more trouble for the rest of breakfast.

     Then the officers took him upstairs and made Jeff go over every aspect of the battle plan: force distribution, armament status, Team HyperRocket bases where they were holding the munitions, contingency plans, everything.

     "Where did you learn all this stuff?" Captain Spaulding, the human officer in charge asked.

     "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Jeff replied. How am I going to explain a Victorian-era street urchin, a Civil War-era guerrilla from the `Kingdom of Jones` and a Greek mercenary from Trajan's time scouted all this out for me? You'd laugh yourself sick and you definitely wouldn't believe me.

     "The plan I've outlined to counter this, will give you a classic double-envelopment, which should encourage their quiet surrender, or a battle of annihilation, your choice."

     "I know what you'd chose," Spaulding said.

     "Well, I'd start with the latter, and let them pick the time to switch to the former," Jeff admitted, "I suspect you'll start with the former and go to the later only in desperation."

     Jeff was back in the interrogation, manacled to the chair and awaiting the assault. The girls arrived in pairs, Misato and Mara arrived first. Minerva, the massive Battlecat police officer seemed stunned that a Seraph and a Storm Demon arrived together, and civilly. Mara rushed forward, then paused, approached slowly and sat in his lap, putting his hands on her shoulders.

     "You okay?" Jeff asked as Misato knelt beside them.

     "Isn't that my line?" Mara smiled, she leaned close, "Why don't we scandalize everybody?"

     "I think you two managed that just walking in here," he whispered back.

     Mara pouted cutely and gave him a powerful hug, wrapping her arms, legs and body around him. She released him and stood up as sensuously as she could. Misato remained close but aloof, until Mara scooped her up and plopped her down in his lap.

     I don't know which of us froze more from that, Jeff thought as he stared at the positively stricken Seraph, I would have preferred she kept her distance.

     "Isn't that cute?" Mara said, taking a cutesy pose of her own, "They only get that way around those they love."

     Misato looked ready to run or throw up, an expression Jeff had only seen on the face of the Misato he knew, when she was too drunk and there was a bathroom in her path. The Seraph slid off his lap, bowed and moved to the corner of the room, as far away from him as possible. Drawing her wings in close and hugging herself tightly.

     Suits me, he thought, Although the blush is worrying.

     They left and a few moments later, Ritsuko and Sylve arrived.

     "You okay?" Ritsuko asked, "You took a bad hit during the fight."

     "Just exhausted, too much magic too quickly. Like standing up too fast," he replied.

     "I'm afraid you didn't get to keep any of the Pokègirls you rescued," Ritsuko said, "They'll be staying at the Masaki Ranch, until the Millers got everything rebuilt."

     "Good to hear. You haven't been mistreated" Jeff asked carefully.

     "No, the mayor's son hasn't harmed us. We know about him," Sylve said as she gingerly checked his hand, "Unlike someone else."

     "I'm not hurt. It would take more than a 'Tokyo handshake' to put me out," Jeff reassured them, "Ritsuko, how are Misato and Mara, really, they were a little too good at their masks."

     Ritsuko smiled, "They are worried, about what's going to happen." She glanced at the guard. "I'd like to convince them not to worry, but I'm sure they'd resent me telling them."

     He chuckled.

     Oyuki's and Liv's arrival was definitely colder than Ritsuko's and Sylve's departure. "I am glad you are well," Oyuki said. Liv kept glancing sulkily at the walls and the floor.

     "I take it you've seen this place before," Jeff said to Liv.

     And she jumps as if shocked, Oyuki thought with amusement, It's no secret.

     "Don't worry, I'm the one in trouble," Jeff said, he leaned towards Liv, "I've gotten in trouble before. Just bake a file in a cake and . . . Oh, I never taught you to cook. I'm DOOMED!" he wailed.

     Liv smirked, so did the guard.

     "I don't believe you should worry," Oyuki said neutrally, hiding her smile, "They can only execute you once."

     "Oh, that is good news. So when they chop my head off, they can't hold me anymore?"

     "No, you can legally just walk away," Oyuki assured him, nodding to confirm. Officer Minerva just shook her head.

     Jeff chuckled, then grew serious. "Have they encountered any more of those Spinnenangsts?" he asked.

     "Not that they have mentioned," Oyuki told him, then pulled a small ledger book, "I will be applying for the bounty on them, and on the Widows, as soon as my Master gives the order."

     "Well, you'll wait until Hell freezes over," he said angrily, "I'm not your 'Master', I expect you to think on your own and speak up for yourself. I may be the one who has to make the final decision, but I expect participation and even reasoned argument. And if I'm about to do something abysmally stupid or dangerous, I will be very put out, whether or not I survive, if you all keep mute about something that's obvious to you. My `Imperial Dignity` isn't worth even a broken eyelash."

     "Let her send in the forms for the bounties," Liv said quietly.

     "Okay, Oyuki, please take care of the paperwork," Jeff said, he paused, "I take it that the bounties are substantial."

     "Quite," the police Battlecat said and grinned.

     "20,000 for confirmed kills of Widows, 22,500 for the Spinnenangsts. The total I estimate at 677,500 credits," Oyuki explained, she saw Liv's eyes nearly bug out of her head, "Assuming the standard percentage of the kills are credited."

     "If a Pokègirl kills a Widow herself, does she get the reward or does the human Tamer?" Jeff asked, fascinated by the possibility.

     "The Tamer, they do not allow most Pokègirls to handle electronic money, only actual cash," the officer Minerva explained.

     "Liv, remind me to cash out some of the bounty for each of you. What exactly is the buying power of a credit anyway?" Jeff asked.

     "That bounty is a year's wage," the Battlecat told them, "For 10 Chief Inspectors."

     "Sounds like you could make a good living killing a couple of Widows a season." Jeff watched the Battlecat fall out of her chair. "What's that about?" he asked incredulously.

     "Is he serious?" the officer asked as she got to her feet.

     "He has more than thirty to his credit, Widows and Spinnenangsts combined," Liv said, enjoying the police officer's distress.

     "I take it Kiyone is out with the police awaiting the attack," Jeff suggested, "If you feel the need to assist, and if you feel you need it, you have my approval. I'll help where and when I can."

     "From inside a locked room?" Liv asked in disbelief.

     "Such things do not hamper a Master mage," he said, waving the concern away, "My magic is . . different," he said in a frightening tone.

     Alarms sounded. "Right on time," he said. Many explosions sounded from outside. Oyuki and Liv dashed from the room.

     "Where are you going?" Liv asked as she followed Oyuki.

     "Back to storage if you wish. I intend to defend my Master," Oyuki said fiercely. Liv grumbled something but stayed beside Oyuki. The pair arrived at the site of the battle. Many of the Team HyperRocket members were lying around, many badly wounded. Kiyone was standing, glancing around in shock.

     "What happened copper?" Liv asked Kiyone.

     "The rockets, they just exploded, right out of the tubes," Kiyone ignored the insult, she moved forward carefully along with the OfficerJennies, the Growlies and the other officers. Concussion and shrapnel had done the job of subduing the entire Team HyperRocket force.

     "Start arresting the lightly wounded. Take the seriously wounded to our guest, he's a healer," Lestroud ordered. They started hauling them in, Oyuki also began using her powers to ease the pain of the burns.

     They brought the worst to see Jeff in the interrogation room. Most of them were those nearest the heavy rocket launchers they had used. I have to admit, I'm tempted to refuse, but these people are people are trying to behave like police, not soldiers, he thought, Weird, I did it to them, now I have to fix them. Well if their rockets hadn't detonated right out of the tubes, then we'd be the ones in trouble. He'd stripped to his shirt sleeves soon after he began.

     A NurseJoy, who looked like an OfficerJenny with pink rather than green hair, arrived as he finished with the last of the 'will not survive without immediate help' cases.

     "Are you a medic, or a patient?" she asked, smiling at him.

     "I'm a transference healer, just give me a few minutes to rest." He washed the blood off his hands as he sagged against the table.

     "Well, hurry up. Those . . . gentlemen hit someplace else. They hurt a bunch of kids."

     Damn them! Jeff thought as he closed his eyes, tried to force the weariness away, I could curse, corrupt or kill them, let them all turn to bile. No, don't waste the energy, save the kids first, then curse them all with having tangle-tongued lawyers.

     The police station squad room was a mess. He smelled the odor of scorched flesh. He guessed the other group had used incendiaries. Not phosphorous, Thank God, he thought, Smells like . . . Sterno? They tried to use jellied alcohol?! Thank you Lord for giving me stupid enemies!

     There were some forty kids who'd been brought in, a mix of minor and major injuries. Jeff lamented his profligate use of his energy healing the Team HyperRocket types. He glanced at the teenager who wore the odd facial markings he'd seen on the other girl, and on Belldandy and company. The girl was absolutely freaking out, she clutched her wand to her chest and cried despite Oyuki's attempts to calm her down.

     Well men run everything, time to take advantage of that, he thought as he advanced, taking on his insufferably calm 'evil overlord' persona.

     The girl looked at him and her eyes got wider as he bore down on her, glowering the entire way.

     "Look at me!" he commanded, adding more than a little of his true nature to the force of his command, Oyuki gulped and stepped away. "Focus. We've got a lot of wounded. Follow the NurseJoy's directions, do what she tells you and move on to the next case. Concentrate on doing your job. Repeat that back to me."

     She gulped and clutched her wand tighter to her chest. "Focus, we've got a lot of work . . . wounded. Follow NurseJoy's - " She said and grimaced. "NurseJoy's directions, do what she tells me and move on to the next case. Concentrate on doing my job . . . but my owner isn't here?!" she wailed.

     That was something I hadn't considered, he thought as he eased his threatening manner, became the sympathetic higher power. "Your owner would want you to help these other kids. You want your owner to be proud of you, don't you?"

     She nodded, tears in her eyes.

     "And you'd want any Pokègirl looking after your owner. You'd want her to be doing her best, right?"

     She nodded.

     "Then go and do your best," he said and pointed to the NurseJoy.

     She scurried off.

     More to be away from me than to help, he thought.

     "You look terrible," Oyuki told him as she helped him to his feet.

     "You should see the other guy."

     "I have, in a cell without a mark on him."

     Jeff only nodded. Oyuki led him to the first casualty.

     The rest of the `operation` was a nightmare. Work on the ones who wouldn't make it first, some even he couldn't help, they'd inhaled fire, burned their throat and lungs. He had to drag the young Pokègirl away from one of those.

     "I can save him!" she shouted.

     "At the cost of how many? We only have so much magic, at least I do. How much have you got left?"

     "Not much," she admitted, hung her head, crying in weariness and frustration.

     "Then save all the people you can with what you have. You aren't allowed to use it on just one when three others could live. Unless that's your owner, tell me why she's worth three others."

     She grimaced and raised a fist. "I hate you." She punched him with little force. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

     He let the tantrum go for a few moments then caught her hands. I can't let her `unwind` completely, he thought. "Fine, hate me all you want, you want to vow to dance on my grave and spit on my ancestors, but we've got work to do. You can kill me later." He turned her and pushed her back into the room. Oyuki shot him a glare and escorted her to another child.

     She's looking rocky too, he thought as he returned to the fray.

     "And then it was over," Jeff said and sighed. Thirty-seven of forty-three survived, he thought exhaustedly, I'm spent, no juice left, no more rabbits in the hat. Not even any of the medical supplies, I used all of the stuff I bought at Masaki's. He wasn't even aware who was draping his arm over her shoulders and where she was leading him. I wouldn't care if it was to the gallows, he thought, barely able to keep putting one foot in front of the other, If it would cease what I've seen, what I can still smell, I wouldn't care. His head drooped to his chest, closed his eyes depending on whoever carrying/dragging him somewhere.

     Whoever it was, laid him down on a couch, he couldn't imagine a leather bed, at least not in a police station, someone pulled a soft, warm cover over him and someone lay beside him, wrapping her arms around him, pinning him against the back of the couch.

     It better be one of my Pokègirls, he mentally kicked himself for that thought, They aren't my property, no matter how everyone else behaves. He wondered if he could sleep after what he'd seen, without a marathon of healing and spellcasting, beaten down and drained emotionally and physically.

Now the Years Are Rolling by Me

     It was the angry voices that woke him, one male and several females. He was still wearing his clothes that stank of scorched flesh and medicines. The door to the office he'd been sleeping in with Mara burst open.

     "Why did you let my son die?" a distraught man shouted and charged at him.

     Mara woke suddenly and sprang between the men, she hissed menacingly. The man got the message.

     Jeff sidestepped to one of the room's chairs, keeping Mara between himself and the man, he turned it towards the man. "Please sit down." It wasn't a command, Jeff was too weary for that. Please, just be reasonable, and then let me go back to sleep! he thought as the man stood there, trying to decide. He relented and sat. Jeff pulled up a chair to face the man. Mara hopped up on the desk and sat like a gargoyle. Suddenly she pounces, he thought, Son, son died only one boy.

     "Sir, your son's lungs were just too badly burned. There was nothing I could do."

     "You saved Pokègirls! After you condemned my son to death." The man started to rise out of his chair, a movement atop the desk caught his eye. Mara was merely examining her claws as she extended and retracted her long, razor-sharp talons, she smiled at him, displaying her fangs. The man retook his seat. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't work like that. The only people I treated after I examined your son had only minor injuries, mostly I just disinfected the area and applied anti-burn paste. The Pokègirl I healed, I used a potion, it couldn't have helped your son. I couldn't do anything for your son. I'm sorry, you have my deepest condolences for your loss - "

     "You treated Pokègirls and - "

     "I also treated those Team HyperRocket freaks," Jeff replied angrily, "If I'd know your son and his classmates were on their way, I'd have let those terrorists die, but I didn't know until I was done with them." Jeff mastered his anger. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't strong enough to help your boy after all that."

     The man seemed to lunge forward. Jeff caught him before the man collapsed on the floor. As the large man began bawling, Jeff looked at Mara, then looked at the door, indicating she should leave them alone.

     Look at that face, he thought as she left and closed the door behind her, And placed her ear against it, ready to charge to my defense. He let the man cry himself out, then Jeff dropped his pen on the floor. Mara, Misato, Kiyone and Ritsuko all charged in, ready for trouble. The others and a cloud of police Pokègirls waited in the wigs.

     "I should have protected them, I should have protected him," the man said sadly.

     "Unless you were the commander of the local militia element, or a Legendary in disguise, there's very little you could have done," Jeff assured him. The OfficerJennies led the man away. Jeff sank back in the chair. I don't think I can stand up anymore, he thought. Mara and Kiyone picked him up under the armpits. "That's right, treat me like a sack of potatoes." They didn't drop me, he thought as the pair situated him back on the couch, Odd that.

     Kiyone looked at Mara. "Flip you for it."

     Mara didn't say anything. She grabbed Kiyone at the waist and shoulder and spun her through a full 360 and, with a glance at Jeff, set her down carefully. "I win," Mara said as she sashayed over to the couch and lay both of them down, draping one wing over him like a blanket gathering him against her body.

     Just like before, he thought before he closed his eyes and the world slid away from him.

     The sounds of paperwork being done woke him again. From the sun, it's midmorning, he thought as he raised his head from the `pillows` Mara was providing.

     The man working at the desk had the look of any long service sergeant/petty officer. "Sorry about invading your office," Jeff apologized.

     "Just so you didn't do any Taming on my rug."

     "No, we used the light fixtures," Jeff said trying to get the rest of his brain to catch up with his `gag` reflex before he talked himself into trouble.

     "Somehow I doubt that. Tamers are usually tired early in the morning, for a very different reason. There's a shower back there and some clean coveralls."

     "I don't want to disturb -"

     "If I let you use the girls' showers, they wouldn't get any work done all day."

     "I smell that bad?" he asked.

     "Not bad, strong."

     Jeff surrendered to the man's hospitality and superior knowledge of the Pokègirls working for the department. Five minutes I can be clean, a few minutes after, dressed and back in Captain Spaulding's office. I am not going to mention Groucho Marx, Jeff thought. While he was showering, he found that someone else had some ideas.

     "Sorry, Captain, he'll be delayed a bit," Mara told the officer once the shower went on and she padded across the room after her Master.

     "Understandable," the captain returned to his paperwork while Mara slipped into the bathroom and out of her clothes. I've been a `good girl` long enough, she thought as she shivered at the scent of him. I understand part of it is just the burnt flesh smell, but the most important part was how weak and helpless he'd felt in my arms. The main reason is I am going to be first, she thought proudly, Let the others squabble over who is the Alpha, I'll still be his first. She flexed and extended her wings in delicious anticipation. Calm, calm, don't scare him off, she reminded herself, You've felt how nervous he gets when the talk turns to Taming.

     Then he stepped out of the shower, his scarred body glistening with water. She felt his horror at anyone seeing the scars that crisscrossed his chest and legs, and she finally understood that the two were related.

     That explains a lot, she thought as she knelt before him, her wings closing in behind him, The best part isn't scarred or damaged, and not bad. Little scrawny like the rest of him, but nice. She took full advantage of his momentary indecision.

     "Mara?" he worriedly asked as she took his manhood into her mouth, letting her tongue play over the head while her fingers played with his balls.

     It took most of her control not to use her claws and teeth, just to add an element of `spice`, just to remind him how dangerous a Pokègirl was his, body and soul. No, she thought, He's scared enough as it is, she thought as she bobbed back and forth slowly, pausing at the end of her stroke to flicker her tongue over the tip before gliding back down. We've got time, make him want it next time, she reminded herself as he hardened in her mouth. Her tongue rubbed and dragged on his shaft as she moved back and forth. She risked a glance up and saw he had given up trying to understand, and was just enjoying her. She moaned in appreciation, speeding up her strokes, running her finger tips over his balls and her wings over his back. Scars there too, she thought, idly wondering at their cause. Good, he's relaxing the right way, she felt through her Bond with him while he grew hard in her mouth. Too bad it's not two-way, she lamented, Then he could just know. The image of her Master pinning her against the wall of the shower and pistoning in and out of her until she screamed for mercy, made her moan all over again.

     She felt his legs trembling, she smiled and began bobbing faster while she reached around the outside and grabbed his ass with both hands, lifting him slightly off the ground and kneading that flesh with her fingers. Let him know what a powerful Pokègirl is his, she thought delightedly as he panted in response, she could feel how much he was enjoying this, how his iron grip on everything was slipping ever so slightly. Fall and I will catch you, go and I will follow, Master, she thought happily, feeling her own excitement at her Master's groans of pleasure, Don't toss him on the ground and ride him till he comes! she reminded herself, This is all part of the plan.

     Then he came with a groan, and fell back into the support of her wings as she greedily slurped and sucked every drop before licking him completely clean. She stood slowly, lowering her arms to keep him just off the ground and drawing him into the embrace of her wings, she could feel the heat coming from his body, could smell the scent that told any Pokègirl with a nose that 'this is a man!', she saw the look of contentment and peace in his eyes. She held him against her, just to feel his heart beating, and let him feel hers. All my other Taming, I was strapped down and `serviced`, a drill press and a syringe of semen would have been just as `romantic`.

     "Feeling better, Master?" she asked coyly rubbing herself against him, "Did you like it?"

     "I don't like being called 'Master'," he said, "The - "

     "You don't like being called Master? Well, fuck that and fuck you!" she told him in an irritated tone. Why bring that up now? she wondered.

     "I believe that's your intention."

     "I'll call you whatever the Hell I please," her angry words were at odd with her actions as she gently laid him on the tile floor, then engulfed his manhood in her mouth, slowly teasing it back erect. Oh, you like that, she thought, The defiance too, okay you sneak, I'm in charge now.

     Her Tamer's moans of pleasure told her she'd made the right decision. I may be yours, but that doesn't mean I'm subservient, she thought, when he reached for her bare ass, she shifted out of reach, This is on my terms, not yours. I'm not a stupid Succubus who needs reminding who's in charge, but I'm not your puppet either. I'm your Pokègirl, she thought about him and what she was doing, with the echo of his thoughts and his feeling in her mind, and her cells reacting to his DNA, she felt wonderfully acquired, Possessed? No, claimed. Reclaimed, ha. She settled over him. "Last chance to say 'no', Master," she teased and laughed at his frown, "Not that I'll listen, I'm taking what's mine. You."

     You don't know how yummy you look Master, she thought of his flushed skin and sweat streaked hair, Ritsuko may be able to explain all this to you, but I'm going to show you. She slid done over him, gasping at how different it felt, with her Master inside of her instead of some random Tamer. She felt his reaction almost immediately. He isn't going to last long, she thought, After all the battles lately, he's probably about to burst at the seams. All that tension, he needs to learn to let go. A moment later he did.

     As he collapsed, she once again licked him clean, immensely enjoying the taste of their mingled essences. Once she was done, she carried him back into the shower and rubbed a soapy wash cloth over him, letting the hot water rinse and relax him. She could feel how tired he was, tired after the battles, and tired of living. She remembered watching one of her fellow Elemental Demon die in a battle, the Pokègirl's odd last words came back to her now, 'What's always been so terrible about being one of the few, is we only seem to get fewer.' I didn't understand why she simply gave up, Mara thought, Maybe I do now, you just get too tired to go on. Well, Master, she thought as she muzzled him happily, That isn't going to happen to you, or me.

     "He's all your's," Mara said as she set Jeff in the chair. She smiled broadly, wriggled her hips and left.

     "I'm not going to ask how you did that," Captain Spaulding said, "Although I do think you'll get a chuckle out of the military manual they prepared on dealing with Elemental Demons of all types, and Storm Demons were among the worst."

     "I'd enjoy reading it," Jeff said, feeling slightly out of reality.

     "I'd like to thank you for all the help yesterday, and for not breaking Milgrew in half. It's not like any of us could have stopped you."

     "I've seen the man's future. Leaving him alive is the greater cruelty I assure you," Jeff said. Plant the seeds for the `prophesy` I'm going to leave the mayor's son with, he thought.

     "And the attack, I was going to ask how you knew, but if you really have the gift of prophesy . . . "

     "I don't, although I do have a good eye for tactics and strategy," Jeff replied, "Team HyperRocket seems to use overwhelming firepower and a fierce reputation to accomplish their objectives. So all I had to do was figure out the path of maximum resistance that led directly to their goal. Through the thickest wall during a shift change."

     "Funny how all their rockets malfunctioned like that," the Captain said innocently.

     "It wasn't fair from my end, reassembling a pack of idiots just so they can stand trial to be hanged seems like a waste, especially considering their diversionary attack . . . I regret doing even that. Sorry, I've been a soldier all my life, you take care of your own and those who got caught in the crossfire first, the enemy you leave for dead last, after they've surrendered."

     "We're police. Tempting as it is, we can't do that," the Captain said, "Now I have some questions about what happened at the Miller's, then the League is going to have some questions, since it was their people you blew up."

     "No problem. Standard disclaimers about my past apply."

     "I read it, let's start at the Miller's then."

     Jeff's Harem
Oyuki - Megami
Kiyone - Tarantella
Sylve - ShieldMaiden
Misato - Seraph
Ritsuko - Matron
Mara - Storm Demon
Liv - Witch

TARANTELLA, the Dancing Spider Pokègirl A.K.A. the Upside-Down Spider Pokègirl

Type: Very Near Human
Element: Bug/Fighting
Frequency: Rare (Domestic in Golden, Tyroon and Amethyst Continents), Extremely Rare (Domestic elsewhere and Feral)
Diet: Human-style foods, insects, silk
Role: Domestic/Industrial and light combat
Libido: Low, High with a favored master or after eating masses of silk
Strong Vs: Dark, Normal, Steel
Weak Vs: Fire, Flying
Attacks: Dance, Leer, Sing, Scratch, Sword Dance, Sting, String Shot
Enhancements: Enhanced Agility (x3), Enhanced Strength (x2), Web Spinners, Poison Sacs, Can adjust Poison type, Retractable claws
Evolves: Wolf Spider (orgasm), Xerablondi (battle stress)
Evolves From: None

     Called the 'upside-down spider' because their retractable `fang`, more of a stinger, located where most animal-types would have the base of their tails, and the spinnerets in their head produce their luxurious and silky hair. For this reason, their hair is usually long and either loose or in a single braid. The Tarantella appears as a human girl with an athletic figure about 5.5 - 6 feet (166 - 184 cm) with a B to C cup size, both height and bust tending towards the lower end of their ranges. The major difference is the rich and vibrant color of their hair. Their hair can change color as the Tarantella produces different colored silk for weaving, although they have a `natural` or default hair color, which is often unusual. Their `fang` is usually retracted and thus almost invisible. Therefore, they are easily confused with Megami, Ingenues, or any almost human-looking Pokègirl. Almost all are skilled weavers and make their own clothes, equipment and home furnishings/decorations out of silk of their own or their sisters' manufacture. They weave their products by hand at a very rapid rate. They are exceedingly haughty about this and are very competitive with other silk manufacturing methods: Arachnae, Spinnertit, Spidergirl, silkworms, other spiders. They enjoy eating such 'inferior products', from damaged silk clothing even the occasional spider web, and use the food to make a 'much superior product'. Tamers should be aware, if the silk available is more than two to three square yards/meters, the first thing the Tarantella will want to make is a cocoon to enclose herself, her Tamer and possibly a Harem mate or two for some . . . quality time together.

     The Tarantella can adjust the venom she uses initially only Sleep Venom, Poison Sting, and the venom that gives the Pokègirl her name. This Tarantism venom is a modification of the Paralysis Venom, except the victim dances wildly and uncontrollably, unable to attack or defend until the poison wears off. Other venoms may be learned. The Tarantella loves to sing and dance, preferably with others. (Don't let them near the wallflowers at the dance!)

     In combat, she will use her Tarantism venom first, if possible. They do not use their silk for webs, although some use string shot with a preprepared line. The claws in her fingers and toes are retractable, but too weak to be suitable for the more advanced claw techniques. Feral Tarantellas will line their dens with silks and retain enough intelligence (and pride) to use their silk products as a lure. Domesticated Tarantellas are often used to manufacture silk items as home industry or in larger facilities, with large groups of Tarantellas or their evolved forms happily working on projects together. Tarantellas and their evolved forms are both haughty and extremely anxious, approaching a full-blown Inferiority Complex, regarding their spider origins and people's attitudes in general. (Although they agree, the feelings towards Widows are totally justified). When encountering other spider-type Pokègirl, who are 'letting down the side', their insecurity manifests itself as an intense effort to get the other spiders to live up to a higher standard: in combat, Taming and especially making silk products. While this makes them a good choice for Alpha, Tamers need to monitor this, to keep it from becoming too grating for them and their harem. Also of concern to the Tamer is the aftermath of the Tarantella failing to meet her own or another spider-type's high standards. A supportive Tamer, particularly at such times, will earn the Tarantella's complete loyalty.

     There are rumors that the Tarantella and its evolved forms have a venom that combine the effect of Recovery+ and Stamina drinks and Love Sting (with full rather than half effect on a bonded Tamer). The rumors cannot be confirmed, neither the Tarantellas nor their Tamers are talking. Some references to a pre-Sukebe dance called 'the horizontal bop' have been made, but research remains inconclusive.

[Author's note: I know the spider is spelled tarantula, but the dance is spelled Tarantella]

OFFICERJENNY, the Police Pokègirl

Type: Very Near Human
Element: Normal
Frequency: Uncommon, usually found at police stations, has never been found in the wild
Diet: any human style food
Role: police officer
Strong Vs: None
Weak Vs: None
Libido: Average
Attacks: Arrest, Handcuff Bondage, Glare, Dodge, Tackle
Enhancements: A natural law enforcer
Evolves: None
Evolves From: None

     OfficerJennies, or Jenny as they are called, are police Pokègirls, they tend to uphold the law by nature, and are not born in the wild. They are usually born from a police human and Normal-type Pokègirl couple.

     OfficerJennies make good Alphas, not because of their fighting skills, but because they tend to think great strategies for combat and are great leaders. They also have a high level of detective intelligence, and can solve very complex puzzles.

     OfficerJennies are very hard to find in a civilian's Pokègirl Harem, since they usually have a great need to join the police force of their cities as soon as they have their Threshold.

     For some unknown reason, all OfficerJennies have green hair. But they do use different haircuts and hairstyles.

MEGAMI, the Goddess Pokègirl

Type: Very Near Human
Element: Psychic/Magic (Celestial)
Frequency: unknown (all leagues)
Diet: human style diet
Role: varies
Libido: varies
Strong Vs: varies
Weak Vs: Sad faces, crying, and Domina-types
Attacks: Smile, Cry (all others vary)
Enhancements: Varies
Evolves: Megami-sama (mechanism unknown)
Evolves From: Cherry (mechanism unknown), Drag Queen (mechanism unknown), Goth (by Sarcastic Goth sub-type only; mechanism unknown), Rooder (Passing the Trial) (others possible)

     Megami are the most mysterious of the Pokègirls. The number that exist is unknown as the number seems to change every time there's a poll. It is not recorded if there are feral Megami or not. It had never been discovered if they evolve or not. No information exists to answer the question, "Do other females spontaneously evolve INTO Megami?"

     Not much is known about Megamis because few people understand how they even GOT a Megami when they think about it logically and those who do have a Megami either don't ask or don't think it's a big deal. When a Megami shows up, they are acknowledged as if they had always been there.

     The only consistent numbers of Megami are from pokècenters and hospitals, where Megami are often found with various other nurse-type Pokègirls.

     Megami have NO average stats when compared to other Pokègirls. They are either excellent or lousy at something. Their skills, attacks, defenses, enhancements and roles are all unknown because of this.