Keiko's ears flinched and laid back sharply. What she expected to hear was the sound of flesh and bone of the four newcomers being torn apart, but instead her claws scraped against a broad, steel-emboldened wing with sparks leaping off the surface, belonging to none other than the tall and mighty Empoleon, Naida.
"HA!," the knightly penguin laughed off Keiko's attempts with a satisfied grin, "YOU T'INK YOUR CLAWS ARE SCARY, LITTLE FOX? YOU T'INK YOUR LITTLE ROCKS KEEP NAIDA AT BAY? T'INK AGAIN! IZANAGI, NOW!"
"AWAY WITH YOU, 妖怪!"
Before the rampaging fox-jackal hybrid could rear back for another strike, Keiko let out a harsh gasp as the wind was forcefully slammed out of her, being sent a great distance by the sheer force of Izanagi's swinging tail. The two taller hunters both seemed to still have fighting spirit surging through their veins despite their grisly back wounds, and the dark dragon huffed out an ember of vindication upon seeing the kyuubi-esque creature slam against the tree. The coordination was well done, but there was something missing...
"GCK--!!"
"May the Will of the Rose still the beast."
And to top off the well-synergized combo, Perceval fired two extensively long thorns not just into, but THROUGH Keiko's arms, pinning her to the tree. The raging fox snarled from both agony, ire and outright vexation over being in this position. And as though it wasn’t frustrating enough for her...
"E-Everyone... g-get up, please, nene...!"
Meanwhile, as this was going on, Kari was sending Heal Pulses to the wounded four that had arrived to the scene in the nick of time. Ciprian, Dycae, Blayz, and Miru and his team all felt a tender, pink light surrounding them before blessing them with reinvogiration. Before they knew it, their wounds had vanished, or at least had healed up considerably. Ume, Miru's female Meowstic, didn't let this gracious assistance go without repayment.
Tapping into her Assist move, and with the luck of the draw, the yellow psychic feline managed to draw out Kari's Heal Pulse, returning the favor to Momoko, Nori, Perceval, and even Kari herself. All four of them being bestowed with this rose-colored warmth helped bring them back to a proper fighting spirit, no longer feeling drained from Keiko's life-reaping attempts.
Blayz, ever alert, pointed out to everyone that Keiko's struggling from her position, and Dycae added in that it looked as though the thorns might give, if not pop off with her arms with how vigorously she was swinging her shoulders. Hearing this, Perceval called out to everyone for the following command:
"EVERYONE, UNLEASH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ON THE MONSTER! WEAR HER DOWN!"
Without a moment to spare, everyone unloaded a barrage of special attacks on the pinned Lucaritales, with Momo leading on with a direct hit Thunder Wave, and quite a seemingly powerful one at that.
"A-AGH--!!" howled Keiko in pain, her claws flexing and entire body jittering from the electricity viciously coursing through her body. Noting how Ume did not use a psychic attack, Momoko had to chime in the following:
"AVOID USING PSYCHIC ATTACKS IF YOU CAN! She doesn't seem to respond to them as much!" With that detail noted, Miru, albeit hesitant, he took the Gardevoir's word by firing off an Energy Ball instead. True, it wasn't as effective, but it was something and Keiko certainly felt that. Ciprian followed with yet another Moonblast, keeping her embedded in the tree, while the others summoned the will for their own long-ranged attacks.
And to top it all off, out of nowhere, something whisked by as a thin blur, striking Keiko right in her forehead.
"ARGH--!!"
Oooh... this one sunk in deep, possibly pinning through into the tree as well. Keiko's face was cemented in the steep pain of all she had weathered, letting out shrieks as she struggled nearly in vain. In response to this normally fatal suffering, the orb on her ponytail flashed a light blue, as two whispy orbs of light with pained, melted 'faces' curled around to heal their vile captor.
"HAHA, ANOTHER BULLSEYE!," yelled the triumphant yet familiar Scottish voice. Everyone glanced back to see where both the voice and arrow originated, seeing none other than the Viridian Vixen herself, proudly poised in her retribution.
"Hoo is 'AT fur ye, ya sneaky li'l she-devil?" Camellia called out, her grin wide and valiant, as a mysterious green light emanated off her shoulder. "Ye think YOO're the'only one wi' a puckle o' tricks up 'er sleeve? Ah can play fox jist like ya, ye monster!" To emphasize her poiny, Camellia undid the ringing diamond choker around her neck, showcasing not only the wound she recently suffered, but something else.
"Ah've hud dances wi' death himself in th' past, lass, an' Ah got oot of it every time! AH CAN DAE IT AGAIN!"
With morale boosted, and tides looking favorable, Momoko opened her fans. With a surge of psychic strength willing up within her, she felt as though the time was right...
♂ <—- Leave this in my ask if you want to see an AU where our characters are gender-bent
---
(( In this AU, Ross has a deeper red and more angular features as well as a more typical male Scizor build, looking closer to his mother. He’s still playful as well as openly friendly, but trades the occasional bouts of flirtatiousness with being a dork and making jokes to help people warm up to him as a manager. Quite a likeable guy, even if his jokes and antics make Dylis here groan. You can see she gets her fill of Ross’s antics, but they still get along quite well. Ross probably tries to incite some interest out of Dylis to join the League as well, despite having no interest |D; ))
I wasn’t surprised when I found myself back here in this place, since the files these folks possess have done me more good than any of them newspaper articles back in the library.
However what DID surprise me was when one of the cops called me in, saying something about their chief wanting to speak with me.
Was I nervous? Not really, didn’t do anything wrong here and I seriously doubt some of my past ‘deeds’ reached very far. So why did they want me? The hell if I know, best I go with them anyways to see what’s wrong.
I find myself sitting on a chair before the guy, who’s a very tough looking Granbull. The fella has the whole getup when it comes to cops, such as the vest and pants and even a shiny badge that says ‘Police Chief’ on it. The guy looks very tired though, making him much less intimidating than he would’ve been.
“So, what’s up chief?” I ask, leaning back slightly as I cross my arms over my chest.
He takes a quiet breath before beginning. “I’ve been hearing word that you’ve been going through our files.” The guy didn’t look mad or anything, so my first thought was that I wasn’t in trouble for that. “Our officers have informed that you said that these recent killings were not in fact by ‘The Rhapsodist’, correct?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, they don’t match up with ‘em.”
The fella’s face wrinkles slightly as he rests his hands on his desk. “I’m rather curious on that, so could you elaborate?”
“Well,” I start. “I’d hate ta’ admit it, but the Rhapsodist fella got class. He’s very clean with his kills, ‘cus he’s all about tryin’ ta’ make his work...beautiful.” My face twists into a frown when I say those words. “Those recent killin’s? They ain’t like anythin’ tha’ guy has done. All of 'em are brutal and incredibly messy, can’t imagine the guy suddenly changin’ his mind on how he kills things.”
I tap my chin. “If I remember correctly, there are three ways the Rhapsodist kills folks. He either stabs ‘em in the heart with a poisoned claw, beheads ‘em, or shoots a bullet inta’ their skulls.” I notice the Granbull’s eyes narrow at the mentioning of ‘bullet’. “But them other killin’s? It’s nothin’ like those three, I’ve seen limbs sliced off and faces torn apart. Whatever did that to those folks is an animal compared to tha’ Rhapsodist.”
“Then it appears we have another killer on our hands.” The Police Chief sighs, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.
“Yep.” I agree grimly. “However even though I plan ta’ hunt the Rhapsodist down, I ain’t gonna leave you folks hanging. If there’s a killer on the loose here, I plan ta’ deal with her just as much as the other fella.”
Upon hearing my words the Granbull relaxes slightly, a thankful smile spreading on his face. “Shadowjack, I’m happy to hear that you’re willing to help this city of ours.”
I wave him off. “Ain’t no problem, chief. I’m a bounty hunter, even though I make a livin’ off of huntin’ down bounties...I ain’t gonna leave folks in danger when there’s other trouble roamin’ around.”
“Very well.” The Granbull nods. “However, I have a proposition for you.”
This catches my interest, causing me to raise an eyebrow. “Yeah? What proposition ya talkin’ here?”
“The city of Hanara wants to collaborate with you in bringing this criminal to justice.” He says firmly. “Many families have lost their loved ones to this killer and we do not want many more to suffer. So in order to find them, we want you to work with us.”
Work with them? I ain’t too much of a big fan with reporting to folks, but I think I can make an exceptio-
“But we do not want to risk drawing too much attention.” He continues, interrupting my train of thought. “So we wish to assign one of our best to work beside you.”
Now that causes my thought process to hit a screeching halt.
Oh HELL no!
My eyes narrow in irritation. “Chief, I mean no offense.” I growl. “But I work alone. I got my own way of workin’, so I don’t want other folks ta’ get in my way.”
He nods his head slowly. “That’s understandable, from what I’ve heard you do indeed wish to work alone. So this asking a great deal from you.”
No shit.
“However,” He chuckles. “We plan to pay you for your efforts, since it’s only expected. So if you work with the city of Hanara, we will pay you $500,000 if you assist us in bringing the killer in through any means possible.”
At this point my jaw drops, just hearing that much made cash registers go ringing in my ears. That’s a very large number, never had a bounty ever reached that high.
Now this makes me reconsider my stance. Sure I work alone, but...that’s a great deal of money I’d be passing up there. Yeah I was planning on bringing dealing with the killer myself, but if the price for working with someone is that much money...then I’d be set for a good long while.
Eventually I crack a grin. “Well, ya make a hard bargain.” I chuckle, extending a gloved hand to him. “Ya got ya’self a deal, chief.”
He smiles as well and shakes my hand firmly. “We are glad have your assistance, Shadowjack.”
Releasing his hand I lean back in my chair again. “So,” I start. “Who’s the one that’ll be my partner?”
The Granbull reaches for one of them hand-radios and speaks a few words into them. A few moments later the door to the office opens.
“Police Detective Angelina Shade will be the one working with you.” He answers.
I turn my head to look at said cop only for me to pause.
Now, the first thing that pops into my mind is that she’s definitely rather stunning. She’s a Zoroark, but not an ordinary one. Seeing the grays and blacks on her form makes me assume that she also has Mightyena genes, making her a hybrid.
Another thing I notice is that her her mane is actually cut rather short and tied into a ponytail, I’m not too surprised though since having long hair would kinda work against ya when ya work for the force. She has the same navy uniform like the rest of the cops and even a shiny badge. However what also strikes my attention are her bright red claws and face markings as well as her sky blue eyes. She has a cool smile on her face and holds her head high, giving herself a confident air.
Yeah, now I’m starting to think I made the right choice.
Suddenly another thought crosses my mind on what the chief said earlier.
“Detective?” I repeat, looking at the Granbull questioningly.
Angelina however was the one that answered me. “I’m more 'involved’ than you think.” She grins.
The Granbull nods. “Indeed, Angelina may be one of our Police Detectives...but she’s also one of our best Under-Covers. Since we don’t wish to draw attention to ourselves and her skills are also some of the highest in our ranks, she is the one we will be assigning to work with you.”
I stand up from my chair and approach the gal, I open my mouth to properly introduce myself before a loud ringing sound is heard. I turn my head to see it’s the chief’s phone on the table, his face grows more serious upon seeing the name on the screen of the phone.
“I am sorry for this but I must ask you to leave my office, this is an important call.” He apologizes, his expression slowly softening back to its normal self. “However, I would like to wish you two the best of luck.”
I give a two-fingered salute. “Thanks chief, greatly appreciate it. We’ll do our best and bring her in.”
He nods his head at me thankfully. Heeding his wishes the two of us turn and make our way out of his office.
When the door closes I turn to face the gal, putting on my most charming smile. “So even though we probably already know each other’s names, we still haven’t technically properly introduced each other.” I chuckle.
Her cool smile widens somewhat at this, although she doesn’t really look impressed by my charming attempts. “That is quite true, however I want you to call me Trixie.” She lets out a very short chuckle. “It’s the name I go by when out in the field, since I don’t want people going around knowing who I truly am.”
I nod my head. “No worries here, I’ll be callin’ ya that from here on out.” I respond with a wink. “But even though ya probably know my name, I think I should still say it anyways. I’m-”
“Dycae Brask.” Trixie interrupts me, causing me to freeze. “I’ve read your files, so there’s no further need for that.” She shakes her head slightly, more in amusement than anything.
Now, at this point my whole ‘charm’ switch has been flipped. Now I’m feeling INCREDIBLY pissed. Why?
She said my actual name...in public...where everyone can hear...
My lips morph into a scowl as I glare daggers at her. “Do not...say...my name...again...” I hiss.
She tilts her head slightly, her face looking more unimpressed than confused. “What? Not proud of it?”
My hands clench together as I feel my blood boil. “Ya don’t deserve ta’ speak it.” I growl. “To ya, I’m Shadowjack and Shadowjack only.” I lean forward, my eyes narrowing. “Got it?”
Her own eyes narrow in response. “Deserve? I don’t know about you, but a name is a name. But if you want to feel better, fine.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m going to be calling you ‘Shadowjack’ anyways while we’re out there, but if you want to hang onto that name like that even when we’re in a place like this...fine. Be that way, not that it matters.” Her own claws clench as her voice grows an edge. “However I’m going to give you a warning, don’t talk to an officer that way. You could’ve caused a lot of trouble, but since this is first impressions...I’ll let it slide.” Her smile returns. “So don’t do that again, got it?”
I swear, I want to punch her in the face. The way she smiles...now it seems like I’m just some sort of kid who’s throwing a temper tantrum, as if she’s above me.
I take it all back, I regret my decision. Fuck this gal, I want nothing to do with her.
At this point I’m gonna denounce the whole thing and stomp right inside the chief’s office to call the ‘collaboration’ off, however before I could even begin I hear some chatter coming from the girl’s radio.
I don’t know what the hell they said but apparently the damn fox knows, seeing that her eyes widened. She quickly unclips the ‘speakie-bit’ from her vest and brings it to her mouth. “We’re on our way.” She speaks into it. The gal clips it back onto her vest before looking at me, her expression now serious. “Look,” She begins. “Bad start or no, we’re going to be working with each other.”
Like hell we are.
“I’ve just received a call, apparently another body was found.” Now this causes me to pause, my anger faltering for a moment. This didn’t leave Trixie’s notice. “Yeah, so we both need to head there immediately to check out the scene.”
She turns and starts walking out, only to stop at the end of the room to look back at me when I didn’t follow. “You coming?” She asks in annoyance.
I shake my head and growl softly. “Yeah yeah, I’m goin’.” I growl before following after her. “This better be worth it...” I mutter under my breath as we leave the station.
"It started as early as my childhood, to tell you the truth!" Chortled the jolly Bisharp as he went straight for the Gothitelle's order, happily and flashily cooking it away as he began to tell his journey of inspiration.
"Ever since I was a child I was enthralled not just by the taste of my mother's cooking talent, but how cooking could be so simple in some cases, yet particular and complex in others! It was like, ah, how do I say this... it was like watching chemistry, except this is chemistry you could eat! Sort of like that! She taught me as much as she could before I took charge of leading my own life, which was what spurred my desire to cook, to a NEED to do so. That was when I truly decided to become inspired and experiment with various dishes given what my new home's surroundings provided. The resources were different, so it was like a challenge! A fun challenge to see how new different ingredients worked!"
Takeshi broiled the steak and simmered it with light spices and sauces, tossing in some other ingredients as the stove made a soft hiss, all while Doki eyed the two men in fascination over their gear.
"Being limited in what I could do proved to be beneficial, especially when having new company come into your life! Bonus points if the company was as hard to please as my friend Athena. The fact that she was the one that made such a recommendation and realizing my potential as a cook was saying a LOT, let me tell you!" Takeshi remarked with excitement, grinning over how his skill managed to even reel in some compliments from such a grouchy Gallade. Soon enough, the meal for the Gothitelle was almost to completion, setting up the last touches as he approached the counter.
"Working as a chef for the Kirikuisine, a humble little food stand that specializes in exotic seafood as well as flavorful pastas and cheesy meat dishes at the Altiel Battle League of all places!” He chuckled heartily. “I don’t like to brag, but... I've never felt more proud of myself to work in such a grand establishment!" The green-eyed Bisharp beamed, almost as much as Doki did who admired the Scrafty's hood. Before letting himself get carried away, Takeshi finally set the food down for Haos, bowing afterwards as to allow the Gothitelle to take in the succulent sights and scent of the meat-based dish.
As much as I hated the gal’s guts at this point, I still had questions that needed answering.
When we stepped out, Trixie used her illusion powers to make her appear like a normal Zoroark. Her uniform was replaced with a simple shirt and pants, I almost expected her to go with no clothes.
In fact, I’ve noticed that the few folks I see walking the streets are wearing some sort of clothing. Not a single Pokemon is wearing nothing.
Course that’s one of the questions I asked, and she responded with how this city strives to become as modern as human cities. So this place has the latest technology they can afford or build, all Pokemon wear clothes, that sort of bit.
But my focus ain’t entirely on other folk’s fashion, since I also want to know how they’re handling this killer business. So there are other questions to ask.
What she told me is that one of the things they’ve done is put a curfew in place, no folks are allowed out after eleven.
They also constantly have cops patrolling the streets, keeping an eye out for any unusual activity. Course they haven’t received any reports of anything that can be classified as ‘unusual’, I kinda figured that since none of the files had anything useful.
Eventually we arrive to the place which happens to be a rather small home, the folks here work quick since the place is already swarmed with cops and police tape. As we approach it she lets her illusion fade off, revealing her true self.
One of the cops glances at us and pauses, his eyes widening. “Detective! I’m glad you’ve arrived!”
Her expression now lacks the unusual smile, now it’s a stern frown. “What’s the situation?” She asks.
The cop cringes. “Not...good. The body was reported an hour ago, I’ll definitely say that it’s very...messy.”
Now I’m not an impatient person, but I’ve got better things to do than to listen to this right now.. “I’ll check it out.” I say suddenly, pushing past the two and ducking underneath the tape.
“Hey!” The cop called. “You can’t-”
“He’s with us.” I hear Trixie interrupt him, but I don’t need to look back to see that she’s clearly annoyed.
I walk past the various cops, they give me odd looks but don’t stop me as I make my way to the house. I keep my eyes constantly scanning everything, looking for any signs of...something.
When I entered through the door that’s when the smell hits me, the smell of death. Now sure this may seem like some made-up thing that you only read on story books, but let me tell ya...it’s very real.
It’s a kind of nasty smell, not necessarily something rotting...but it’s the kind of smell that you’d never want to experience. Not sure if it’s just me that can smell it, but I know it’s there...
I eventually arrive to the room, the sight of the scene causing me to falter. The stench of blood is incredibly strong here, and looking at the body makes me almost want to hurl.
What I’m looking at is what I can only assume is a Raichu gal, or at least what’s left of her.
Blood is stained all over the place, her body is absolutely covered in massive gashes and stab wounds. Her face? It’s extremely disfigured, almost left in nothing but tatters.
Now I’ve dealt with some horrific scenes before and I even looked at the pictures of the cases of this killer, but...it’ll never compare to seeing it in person. I could feel a sick pit swell in my stomach, I had to quickly close my eyes and collect my thoughts to prevent myself from emptying my lunch.
“Okay Shadowjack, do your stuff.” I whisper quietly before opening my eyes.
I quickly get to work, inspecting the body closely and the various surroundings all the while taking great care not to get myself dirty. I check the furniture, the various hallways, even the windows in case the killer forced one open.
When I eventually get back to the crime scene I see Trixie standing there, her arms crossed. “Find anything?” She asks, her tone just as cool as we first met.
I’m surprised she’s handling this scene very well, but then again...she’s probably been dealing with these things for a while now. I mentally give myself a kick as I recollect my thoughts, since I need to show this gal how I run things.
“From what I can see, whoever did this didn’t force their way in.” I begin slowly. “Don’t see any sign of breakin’ and enterin’, so whoever the killer is...they were let in.” I pause for a moment before reconsidering. “That or they had some form of access here, whether it be a key or just really good at lock pickin’.”
I turn my gaze to the body, wincing slightly. “As for her? I’m not too sure on the specifics, but whatever did that to her must be really sharp. I can only assume ta’ be claws due to the shape and how the gashes are lined next ta’ each other, ain’t nothing the Rhapsodist can do.”
My eyes glance to the side to see another cop writing everything I’m saying, heh...I kinda expected Trixie to be doing this stuff since she’s supposed to be a ‘Detective’.
“So it’s essentially the same thing we’ve been finding.” She responds flatly. “Shadowjack, we’re not clueless. We already know about the claws, how there’s never any sign of breaking and entering, basically the whole thing you just said. The reason why I asked you is because I wanted to know if there’s anything else you’ve noticed that we do NOT know.”
I feel my teeth grit together. “Then perhaps ya should’ve told me that in the first place.”
“Did you find anything else then?” She asks tightly.
“No, I didn’t.” I growl. “Nothin’ out of the ordinary besides the damn body here.”
Her eyes narrow at this. “Shadowjack, you will need to watch your language.”
“My language?” I laugh sarcastically. “Why ya care about language? There’s a fuckin’ dead body here, like there’s gonna be kids here anytime soon.”
"It’s because we need to have at least a sense of respect.” She hisses in response.
“Respect? I don’t know about ya, but ya don’t deserve respect from me.” I fire back.
At this point the cop who’s supposed to write things down could only watch helplessly as the two of us continue to throw back words at each other, the conversation becoming more heated as time passes.
“I know people like you.” She snarls, her calm visage now broken. “You’re the kind of individual who thinks that their methods are far superior, that they stand above others despite the fact that this is a WORK FORCE who perfected our methods.”
“Know me? Ya don’t know shit about me!” I respond heatedly. “In case ya don’t realize, there’s a reason for my reputation. I’ve gotten work done, my methods have proved ta’ work better than anythin’ a cop could ever hope ta’ pull off!”
“Uh...excuse me?” A voice suddenly calls out.
“WHAT?!” We both scream in unison, turning our anger to the one that interrupted us.
The cop could only shrink back in fear, his eyes filled with terror. “Uhhh...” He stammers. “Someone...wants to see...you?”
We turn our gazes to another cop standing beside him, his expression just as terrified. I swear, if they get spooked by the pair of us...then they have no place in the force.
“This conversation isn’t over.” Trixie growls lowly before walking past me.
“No it ain’t.” I mutter back.
The two of us leave the house and head back outside, the city air smelling far better to me than the scent of blood. We brush past several cops before ducking under the tape again.
“Who is it that wanted to see us?” Trixie asks one of the cops. Before they could respond another voice pierces through.
“It was I, my dear.”
I turn my gaze again to the source of the voice and I could feel my heart stop. The one who spoke is a Gardevoir, however that’s only the beginning.
This gal...is absolutely stunning, one of the most beautiful gals I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes upon. Although most Gardevoir are known for their green hair, this lady is actually purple.
Her flowing hair goes way past her shoulders and down to her stomach, and her white skin is bright and lustrous. Adorned on her shapely body is a fitted dress of a very rich purple, just like her hair. It goes down all the way to the ground with a decorated train on the end, however it also has a slit on the side to grant more movement as well as a better look of her legs.
She wears a matching pair of elbow-length gloves and boots, each lined with dark purple fur. On her body are what I can only assume are light purple markings of vines, matching with similar designs on the back of her dress.
The biggest thing of all is her face, how that she has mismatching red and pink eyes...and how that she has a very kind yet playful smile on her face.
“Did I break him?” She asks Trixie jokingly, also snapping the Zoroark out of her own confusion.
The hybrid quickly shakes her head. “Orchid? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be out and about!”
The Gardevoir merely laughs and waves the detective off. “There’s no need to worry about me, Trixie dear. I am more than capable of taking care of myself after all!” She turns her gaze to me, her smile becoming mischievous. “Besides, I’m very curious of who this handsome rogue is~”
Trixie opens her mouth to reply, but I quickly beat her to the punch. “Handsome rogue? I greatly appreciate the compliment~” I respond in kind, putting on my signature smile. I bow slightly before softly taking her hand and bring it to my lips for a kiss. “I am Shadowjack, it’s my greatest pleasure ta’ meet ya acquaintance.”
Orchid giggles in response, from the corner of my eye I can see Trixie giving me an extremely dirty look. “My my, devilish yet also gentleman! Such a dangerous combination~” She softly pulls her hand out of my grasp and brings it to her face, covering her mouth. “But the pleasure is mine, Shadowjack. I am Orchid Felici, however Orchid will simply do~”
I bring myself back to my full height, never letting my grin waver. “Then Orchid it is, a very fine name too I might add.”
Her smile widens. “You do realize that if you keep flattering me, I might change shade?”
Prepare to shoot back another witty response, however Trixie decides to ruin it by butting in. “As much as I’d love to watch you two flirt, there are more pressing issues to focus on.” She says through gritted teeth.
Yeah, fuck you too Trixie.
Orchid blinks a few times before gasping quietly. “Oh! Dear me, I’m awfully sorry...it appears I’ve forgotten the reason why I came here.”
The Zoroark rolls her eyes before giving a strained smile. “It’s alright Orchid, just...tell me what’s up.”
Excuse me? I’m here too?
“Well, I’d be rather dishonest if I said that I wasn’t here because I felt like I was getting too cooped up indoors.” Orchid chuckles quietly. “And I’ve caught word of a bounty hunter looking into the recent killings, so I also wanted to see him for myself.” She flashes me another smile. “And I’m quite glad I did~”
Upon seeing Trixie’s impatient expression, she lets out a quiet sigh. “It appears I’m getting sidetracked again...” She shakes her head a few times. “The reasoning is to tell you that I desire to assist you in this investigation.”
Now, I’m gonna be honest...I never thought I’d see someone recoil so hard. So when I saw Trixie’s reaction, I half expected her to fall over.
“W-What?!” The Zoroark stammers. “A-Assist us? How?!” She quickly gathers her composure, letting out several quiet breaths until her cool expression returns. “I don’t...mean any offense Orchid, but...how exactly can you help us? You’re not the kind of person who...dabbles in this sort of thing.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Perhaps, but my family are the ones funding everything after all so I have some idea.” This makes me blink, but she continues. “However I don’t want to simply stand around while other people are getting hurt, it makes me feel...rotten. I wish to provide some sort of assistance, even if it’s a little.”
Trixie sighs in defeat. “Yeah...sure... If you want to help Orchid I won’t stop you, hell...I doubt the chief will say no to you either.”
Heh, not that I’d blame him.
Orchid’s shining smile returns instantly as she pulls the Zoroark into what I can assume is a tight hug. “Thank you dear, I greatly appreciate it. I’ll do my best to assist you in any ways possible.”
“O-Orchid...we’re in public...” The hybrid gasps, causing the Gardevoir to release her.
“Right...on duty... Sorry.” The Psychic-type laughs awkwardly. “However as good as it is to see you two, I know you both have a job to focus on. So I’ll meet you both again soon, so take care will you dearies?”
She doesn’t really give us any time to respond as she turns and walks away. As I feel my gaze drift a little down I notice her hips are swaying as she walks, when I glance back up I notice her glancing back at me with a mischievous smile.
Eventually even her purple colors vanishes into the streets of the city, leaving us alone with the rest of the folks.
I couldn’t help but look at Trixie, thinking back to her past reactions...such as the dirty look she gave me when I kissed Orchid’s hand and how flustered she acted while the gal hugged her.
Could it be...?
“Girlfriend?” I ask cheekily, a smirk clear as day on my face.
I swear I never flinched so hard when the gal turns to me with what I can only explain as fire in her eyes. “No...she isn’t” She growls dangerously, her claws twitching as if she wanted to rip my throat out. “She is a very close friend of mine.”
Now...I’m unsure if that’s actually the case, but seeing how she acted...I have no intention of pushing the topic any further.
“Yeah...alright...” I respond slowly, rubbing the back of my neck.
The Zoroark shakes her head before turning away. “Come, we got work to do.”
Colette @ Dycae "You look like the kind of guy who's gotten into plenty of scuffles and gone toe to toe with some tough opponents. Care to tell me a story of what your greatest battle ever was~? How did you triumph and how would you rate its difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10?"
I look up from the files again, curious on who’s approaching me this time. To my pleasant surprise it’s a Lopunny gal with a striking bandanna and necklace.
I remember someone asking me the same question a few months ago, which I responded with a story about my tangle with a feral Garchomp. Now I could just tell her the same story, but that ain’t no fun. Gotta share other things with other people, since how else will people know about all the things you’ve done?
Placing the files down I put on my most charming smile. “Plenty of scuffles is puttin’ it lightly.” I chuckle. “Definitely got into a lot of fights, but that’s kinda expected due ta’ my line of work.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms, thinking back. “There’s a couple that stand out real big ta’ me, one of them bein’ this fight with a Gardevoir.”
“The thing about Gardevoir’s is that they’re Psychic-types, and Psychic-types can be the most dangerous out of most folks. So if there’s a Psychic-type on the loose that needs ta’ be taken down, most cases they’ll either send a powerful Psychic-type after ‘em or a team of Pokes.” My smile weakens. “This place had no Psychic-types ta’ handle the Gardevoir gal, so I volunteered along with a few other folks ta’ take her down.”
“Let me tell ya, that fight was really somethin’. Even when we managed ta’ track her down and corner her, she fought somethin’ real fierce. Constantly picking stuff up and throwin’ with her mind powers, sendin’ out blasts of force, pickin’ us up and throwin’ us, the works.” I shake my head. “Now she couldn’t simply jus’ attack our minds or crush us with her telekinesis stuff ‘cus we are constantly wailing on her, making her always movin’. If we give her even a slightest bit of breathin’ room, we’d get fucked over pretty hard.”
“Now while the fight was goin’ on, I made sure ta’ keep some of my abilities hidden. ‘Cus if the moment is right I can get an edge on her, ya know? So when she picked up another one of my comrades for the umpteenth time, I decided ta’ take the initiative.” My smile returns in full force. “I used my ol’ Feint Attack ta’ teleport right on her and strike right at her chest with one of my cracklin’ knives, and my aim kinda was a lil’ too good. Hit her dead on the horn, combined with the force of my hit it caused ta’ thing ta’ shatter into a million pieces.”
Upon remembering the expression on her face, I couldn’t help but frown. “Now I meant ta’ take her down and bring her back alive - which we did, but that hit really did a number on her. Never heard someone scream so loud before, and she could barely even move after that.” I couldn’t help but cringe internally. “An’ I don’t know too much about Gardevoir stuff, but if them horns are able ta’ grow back...I can say for sure that the gal’s horn won’t. With how much electricity I was pumpin’ into my knife, I ended up cauterizin’ the wound. So in a nutshell, she’s gonna be hornless for the rest of her life.”
“But had ta’ end the fight quickly, so I did what I had ta’ do.” I say with a shrug of my shoulders. “We’re lucky we got out of that fight with only a few scratches, no folks died thankfully. But we took her down and brought her back, so we accomplished the job either way.”
“As for a rating, I’d give that fight an 8 out o’ 10.” I chuckle. “Definitely one of my more tougher fights, since Psychics ain’t somethin’ ta’ sneeze at.” I rest my hands on the table, flashing her my charming smile again. “Hope that satisfies ya pretty mind.”
One thing I can say though is that not all of my story was straight, such as I was the one that got caught again by her Psychic grasp but managed to free myself with it. But those kind of things I’d like to remain secret, since I don’t want the world to know what I can and can’t do. This sort of thing is an ace up my sleeve, so I’d like to keep all knowledge on it to a minimum.
The trail has grown cold, the tracks left by The Rhapsodist grow fainter with each passing day.
It infuriates me, just when I thought that I finally had a lead...I ended up losing it.
I let out a growl before pouring the strong drink down my throat, I close my eyes as the burning liquid trickles down and collects in my stomach. With a soft sigh I rest my elbow on the counter before me, with a small nod the bartender moves to get me another drink.
Heh, it’s been a while since I’ve come to one of these places. I don’t often drink unless it’s for a special occasion, that or if I’m just more down on my luck than usual.
I’m sure as hell not a drunkard, my pops made sure of that. I don’t always drink this stuff when things don’t go my way, but today...I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to just take a break from everything.
Resting my head on my arm I let my gaze wander to a newspaper laying beside me. Many people say that there’s no use for these things, since that now there’s television and smart phones and other stuff that give you the news. Unlike those folks I don’t use technology that often, so I tend to appreciate these things more than people realize.
And let’s be honest, there’s nothing more satisfying than feeling those pages when you’re flipping through them.
With a soft sigh I decide to pick it up and read it, since I don’t have anything better to do.
The bartender places another glass in front of me, I give a small nod in thanks and place a few more bucks on the table. With my freshly refilled drink in hand I begin to read, however I notice that the paper has been turned to a random page somewhere in the middle. Since the front pages always have some sort of eye-catcher, I might as well as flip it to the front and start from the beginning.
I raise the glass to my lips as I flip the paper over, however the amber liquid it never reaches my mouth.
My body stands frozen as I read the giant black words, the stirring of hope inside me starts burning more than the alcohol in my belly.
The Rhapsodist strikes again!
Innocent civilian found dead in Hanara City!
I look closely at the picture, showing a black and white photo of what I can assume is a bloody alleyway.
My damn luck...I couldn’t believe it, just when I thought the trail was gone...it actually followed me here.
Abandoning my paid drink I quickly jump off my chair and dash out of the place, the destination in mind is the police station. Because if any people who have any information on the crime scene...it would be those fellas.
Now here’s to hoping that they’ll actually share what they have with me...
...
[1 hour later]
“This is all you took?” I ask as the cop before me hands me a small stack of photos.
“Yup, everything.” He says. “The scene, the body, all of the nasty things.”
I expected some sort of resistance at first when I asked for information on the the killing, but apparently being a bounty hunter makes me a go-to person for looking at this sort of stuff. None of them had problems of letting me in and giving me everything they have, which makes things all the more easier to track this bastard down.
I look through the photos, making sure to note every detail from the blood to the marks on the body.
And speaking of which, the corpse...it didn’t look good at all. From what I can see their face got completely torn off, along with several massive gouges in numerous places with a missing leg to boot.
It is...incredibly messy, such a death must’ve been extremely painful. In fact...
The more I look at it, the more I can’t seem to put my finger on it.
The Rhapsodist...his kills are often very clean. They either have a bullet to the skull, a poisoned stab wound in the heart, or a removed head. Sure there would be other injuries due to struggles like on that Shala girl, but...this is just overkill.
No...The Rhapsodist wouldn’t brutalize their kill, it’s just not their style. This poor girl got pretty much torn apart like some sort of animal did this, and I’d hate to admit it...but the masked bastard has class. He’d never do something this messy, since I wouldn’t think this would make some ‘perfect poem’ or whatever the hell that sick fuck does.
So now that brings a new question to my mind.
Who killed her?
...
[PoV: Shiki]
[Location: Unknown Road, Far Off From Unova]
I glance at the paper in my grasp, its ink slightly worn from the unforgiving elements of nature.
A foul individual must’ve littered a day ago or so, defiling the beauty that is nature due to their sloth. They were unable to hold the patience to dispose of it properly, so they sluggishly released it from their grasp...to allow it to taint the world with its artificial ugliness.
I would’ve crumbled it up and stuck it in my jacket to throw it away later, but the text on the front causes my eyes to narrow in suspicion.
The Rhapsodist strikes again!
Innocent civilian found dead in Hanara City!
...What? I do not recall visiting such a place, nor killing anyone in the past few weeks.
The more I read of the article of reading a Pokemon dying through brutal means, the more infuriated I become.
No...I would not kill one through ‘brutal means’, there is no beauty in mauling one’s body. It is barbaric and animalistic, death must be beautiful in order for it to be perfect.
These damn fools, associating me with a classless murderer. Have they no shame? Have they no knowledge at all?
The paper crumples in my grasp as I stash it into my jacket, a low hiss escaping from my maw.
No...I cannot let this stand, I will NOT be mocked by their stupidity and be mistaken for a beast that kills with no cause.
But what also infuriates me...is this killer, who has taken a great art and sullied it with their savageness. I will find this other killer, and I will show them the beauty that is my work.
No...I will show all of this ‘Hanara City’ of my work, so that they will never mistake an animal’s kill with my work ever again.
I look through the various files before me, consisting of police reports and past newspapers. Sitting on the table is a warm cup of green tea, something I don’t drink too often.
I’m not normally a tea kind of guy, but I thought I might need something to drink since I’m gonna be up for a long while. Lately I’ve been doing plenty of research on anything involving this new killer, since even though I’m dealing with The Rhapsodist...the fact that there’s another killer on the loose and most likely within this city means bad news.
I’ve been here for a couple of hours and librarian here was kind enough to refill it a few times, so I’m gonna make use of their generosity while I look through these damn files.
“Mind if I sit here?” A voice suddenly speaks, rousing me from my thoughts. I glance up with a questioning look only to pause at the particular gal standing on the other side of the small table.
The gal appears to be a Salazzle with strong Scrafty genes, seeing the orange skin and the hair-like frill on her head. Her clothing is also quite striking, the material almost like silk. She wears an open-vest that leaves her stomach exposed, gloves, what I can assume to be a sort of hood and face mask laying at her neck as well as a scarf, and a fitted pants that cover all the way to her toes and tail. The color is a deep dark blue that seem to contrast to her orange skin, and adorned the various articles of clothing are interesting designs that seem to be of a sort of gray color.
I couldn’t help but whistle internally, 'cus she’s quite a piece of work.
The gal’s eyeing me with an almost playful smile, her interest in me being quite obvious. I couldn’t help but set the files down and give her my own charming smile. “I don’t see why not.” I answer, gesturing to the seat opposite me.
“Why thank you kindly~” She grins before sitting down, resting her gloved hands onto the table. She doesn’t seem to have a book of her own, so that means that she asked to sit down for the sole reason of being close to me. This causes my smile to widen somewhat as I push the files aside, since I can read them later.
I open my mouth to speak, but she immediately beats me to the punch. “Let me guess...” She hums, looking at me in the eyes with a thoughtful look. “...Shadowjack, right?”
I blink at this, somewhat surprised that she knows who I am. However I quickly recover. “Ya got that right, missy.” I chuckle. “But seein’ that ya know my name, isn’t it kinda rude that I don’t know yours?”
My tone contains no trace of irritation, in fact it’s more playful. The Salazzle grins in response. “Oh? I see no reason why it would be rude, but then again I wasn’t really into manners.” She giggles and shrugs her shoulders. “But hey? Why not start now?” She extends a gloved hand towards me.” You can call me Ash.”
I reach over and shake with my own gloved hand. “Pleasure’s mine, Ash.” I smile. “Gotta ask, what brings a pretty gal like ya in a place like this? Don’t see a book anywhere with ya, so did ya come here just ta’ see lil’ ol’ me?”
Ash leans back in her chair, scratching the side of her head. “Heh, dream on boy.” She chuckles. “The reason why I’m here is because a companion of mine and I need to do some research, something on interdimensional horrors in the shape of Scizors and other such things.”
I blink again, unsure of how to respond to this. ‘Interdimensional Horrors in the shape of Scizors?’ That’s a rather...specific reason in order for it to be a joke.
She laughs quietly at the look on my face. “Yeah, sounds stupid huh? Trust me, I can’t believe it myself.” The Salazzle glances to the side, as if looking for someone. “But don’t tell my partner I said that, he wouldn’t be too happy about it.”
“Uh, alrighty then.” I respond lamely. Deciding that I needed it, I take a small sip from the green tea. I let the warming liquid slide down my throat and grant the relaxing feel that I desired, with a contented sigh I set the cup back on the table.
“So, if ya was supposed ta’ do research...why ain’t ya doin’ it?” I ask, giving her a cheeky grin. “Am I that too irritable ta’ extremely attractive gals?”
She lets out a rather ‘unlady-like’ sort. “Mostly ‘cus I thought that ol’ Firesword doesn’t need my help, I kinda needed to rest my feet anyways since we’ve been chasing this thing for a while.” Ash stretches her arms, causing her joints to emit several audible pops. “Can’t blame a girl for that, I’m used to walking long distances because I used to be a scout...but this is kinda overkill.”
“Scout?” I ask, my interest growing. “Watcha mean?”
Ash blinks before realizing why I’m confused. “Ahh, I forgot that we’re not known in this region.” She chuckles before gesturing to her clothes. “You see the clothing I wear? It means that I’m a part of a guild called the ‘Guardians of Twilight’.”
My confusion is still quite evident on my face, so she continues.
“The best thing I can describe us is that we’re a bunch of monster hunters, we basically set out to capture or kill deadly things. It can be powerful feral Pokemon, hybrid experiments gone wrong, Ultra Beasts, and other stuff that basically rampage and cause trouble.” She pulls out a small silver disc from the cloth of her pants, on the disc is what looks like moon with an arrow piercing it. “The guild has three divisions, I’m a part of what’s call the ‘Night Hunters’.”
I sit back in my chair and cross my arms, now fully interested in this ‘guild’. “So ya’re the ones that go out and hunt things thing?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Kinda, we’re the bulk of them. We tend to go out and handle the minor things or at least check out dangerous situations, just in case we need people from the other branch.” She puts the disc back in her pocket. “There are two other branches, ‘Night Watchers’ and ‘Night Wardens’. The Night Watchers are the scouts, they keep an eye out for any trouble as well as investigate things. I used to be a Night Watcher, but apparently because of how good my fighting skills was they bumped me up to a Night Hunter.”
I nod my head slowly. “And the Night Wardens?”
She grins. “The Night Wardens are the ones that take out the big ones, they work in teams to fight powerful monsters and stuff to either kill or capture them. Now the thing we’re hunting, we’re not too sure on it...but me and Firesword are some of the best Night Hunters in the guild. So if this thing proves to be too dangerous, we can head back and have them send in a team of Night Wardens.”
As I was processing this information, another voice speaks up.
“Ash, what are you doing?”
I turn my head to see a Scyther wearing ornate armor that contain the same colors and markings as Ash, but the biggest thing about him that catches my eyes is his scythes...or more like ‘lack-of’. Instead they’re replaced with metal curved swords, although I don’t know the names of those specific weapons...I can tell that the guy wasn’t born with them.
The look in the fella’s eyes though, I know for a fact that ‘humor’ isn’t in his vocabulary.
“What?” Ash asks, her playful smile never leaving. “The guy was curious, so I thought it didn’t hurt to tell him about us.”
“You know the dangers of telling others.” He growls, giving me a very hostile look. “The guild has many enemies, you shouldn’t be telling random strangers what we are and what we do.”
“What? It’s not like we’re inconspicuous.” She responds dryly. “I mean look at us, no one else wears this sort of clothes. If we had any enemies, they’d recognize us instantly.” Her lips curve upwards. “Not to mention we’re in a place where no one has heard of us, so unrustle your jimmies.”
Unable to come up with a reply for this, he lets out an annoyed huff and shakes his head. “Nevertheless, we need to get going. This place has nothing, which isn’t surprising. So we best move on and see if we can find any information on its whereabouts, before it kills more people.”
With a sigh Ash stands up from her chair. “Fine fine, but you can’t blame me for simply wanting to talk.”
“Find a different subject next time then.” He says flatly before walking away.
She watches him leave before turning to me, her playful smile quickly returning. “Don’t mind the guy, he just acts like he sat his ass on his own swords while they’re on fire. He’s actually kinda nice, for a grump that is.” The Salazzle takes a deep breath and pushes her back with her hands, causing several more pops to be heard. “But I gotta go, since otherwise he’ll be in more of a pissy mood. So nice talkin’ to ya, hope to see ya around.”
With that she leaves me alone in the library again, staring lamely at the direction they went.
