Wouldn't she be grey-clad? Black-clad now? She's not wearing her pikachu costume any more.
brought back so many memories.
brought me back so many memories.
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Monsters Of My Own
- Thread starter DesertChocolate
- Start date
brought me back so many memories.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah, I see you subscribe to the Worm way of describing memes. Shall I suggest Le epic troll meme?
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Aw, poor Mimikyu. Just wants to be cute and everyone thinks she's scary. 
Maybe they could accidentally-on-purpose leak a video of her doing something cutesy? From there the Internet would do the rest quite happily.
Maybe they could accidentally-on-purpose leak a video of her doing something cutesy? From there the Internet would do the rest quite happily.
10
Alakazam and I headed out once we got a meal. Of course, I had to take a different team. Because someone, who knows who he is, was jealous as hell.
------
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dinosaur had barked, clutching at my shirt with his jaws, being careful not to rip it. Still stretching it though... "TY, TYRUNT!"
"Dude, Mudkip and Mimikyu being famous on the internet isn't as big a deal as you think," I said with a sigh, walking alongside Gurdurr. Tyrunt must have been trying to be gentle, because he wasn't ripping my shirt. Instead, I ended up dragging him along the ground, his tail wagging. "And there is no guarantee we'll end up in a fight.
"Gur."
"Look, we went a whole week without a fight. Compared to most meta types around her, that's a vacation. It might be months before we end up taking on someone else.
Gurdurr gave me the most skeptical look he could, which I ignored in a manly way.
Tyrunt continued to growl as he was pulled along with me. "RUNT!"
"All right, fine!" I stopped and grabbed Tyrunt by the tail, lifting him till he was face to face with me. "You can come! But don't complain if you end up bored."
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dino roared.
"Yeah, yeah, all villains will bow before your might and power," he gave me a nod, taking my sarcasm like I was just stating obvious facts.
Wish I had my dinoboy's confidence.
"Okay, Gurdurr, Tyrunt, Al, and… Slugma?" I called out to my lava girl as she walked towards the forge. "You wanna come?"
"Slugma!" she shook her head, smiling. "Slug!"
"Again? Sweetie, we've got a mountain of jewels and material by now!" we all looked over at what I was beginning to think of as her treasure trove. She'd been hard at work. As far as I knew, some of the things she brought up were near impossible. It had started with peridot jewels. Then, when Gurdurr had asked for other materials. So she started finding aluminum, iron, titanium, and gold. Freaking gold. Not a massive amount, but she got about a pound or so. It still represented a huge amount of value. Tyrunt, the proud rock/dragon that he was, loved to roll around in that pile of valuable minerals while Slugma happily joined in. Nice that he and Slugma got along so well.
"...Slugma."
"Wait. Why do you sound guilty?" I asked pointedly.
"Slugma," she said sadly.
"A promise… Okay. Fine. But you'll tell me what's going on soon?"
Slugma perked up, and nodded quickly, running over to me and leaping into my arms. I hugged her tightly for a moment, her warmth spreading into my chest. She rubbed her nose against mine, then hopped off to head towards the forge, in a much better mood. Such a sweetheart.
"What about you two?" I asked Mimikyu and Mudkip.
"Mim!" Mimikyu held up her damaged Pikachu costume, then went over to her sewing table.
"Mudkip," the small starter Pokemon said, rubbing his belly. Hungry for fish, huh? He ran over to the harbor and dived in, ready to terrorize Hawaii's coastline. Hopefully, he didn't grab any more sharks...
"Okay then," I turned to look at the trio behind me. Gurdurr, who would be helping to pick new things he needed for our constant construction project. Alakazam, who was my only way back to Honolulu, and would be sensing where my quarry was. And Tyrunt, who wanted to find a glorious battle so he could prove his dominance to the world.
"Let's go," I placed a hand on Alakazam's shoulder while Gurdurr and Tyrunt joined us. We disappeared in a spinning flash.
------
Honolulu. Just as nice as the last time. I walked through the streets on my own, enjoying the nice weather. I had been rushing around so often, working out, taking care of my Pokemon, worrying about things all the time.
I tended to enjoy any quiet I got nowadays. Once I'd left Alakazam to guard the teleport point, I headed out. Time to find Kalini.
Alakazam was able to track his mind in a general sense, a perk of having rifled through it before and the fact that he was still in the relative area of the city, which made it easier. Aside from it not being the most exact thing to begin with. In a crowded city getting even the general area was hard enough. I had to actually look for him once Alakazam managed to get the basic area down.
I ended up in a part of town that was a lot less pretty than the rest of Honolulu. Granted, it wasn't as bad as other places I'd lived in before, but it was still an apartment building covered in graffiti.
I looked around the place for a moment, walking around before going up the steps to begin going through the apartment proper. One group of guys sitting on the steps of the building gave me dirty looks. I walked past them without worry, and none of the wanna-be tough guys said a thing.
I reached a courtyard in the center of the apartment complex, where an empty pool sat in the center with some broken tables strewn about. I was beginning to despair that I would ever find Kalini without desperate measures when I noticed a woman sweeping the bit of sidewalk directly in front of her apartment. I approached her.
"Excuse me, miss?" she looked up at me. The older Hawaiian woman looked me up and down, her hands tight around her broom. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find Kalini? Big guy, really likes money?"
"You think everybody knows everybody in this apartment?" she scoffed.
"They did in my hometown," I said with a shrug. "If you don't know, it's fine, I just want to ask him something."
"...Well. You ain't a dragon. They don't take them as young as you," she said idly. Then she shrugged. "Fine. He's over in that apartment," she pointed at one a few doors down from hers.
"Thanks!" I said, rushing over to that door. I knocked a couple of times, then stepped back. For a long moment, no one answered. Then the door opened.
And a revolver was pointed at me. I stared at the gun for a long moment. Then at the face of Kalini. "Did I do something I'm not aware of?"
"Shut up," Kalini hissed, looking around. "You alone?"
"Aren't we all?" I lied with a shrug. "You were a lot friendlier last-"
"Get inside, damnit!" Kalini stepped back, gesturing to me. "Or I'll shoot you in the eye."
I walked in, trying to hide how scared I was. Bullet-resistant didn't mean I couldn't get my eyes shot out after all.
"...Nice place," I said as Kalini guided me by gunpoint into his home. The apartment was covered in garbage, a bachelor pad in every way. Funny, that his boat was so clean, but his apartment-
"It's a shithole," Kalini scoffed. "But it'll work for now. Sit on the couch. I have some questions."
I plopped down on the ratty couch. He sat across from me on a wooden table, the revolver in his hand quivering. He stared at me. "Kid. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Looking for help, to be honest. Mind not pointing the gun at me anymore?" I said.
"This is the only reason I feel safe talking to you," Kalini replied. "...Kid, what the hell did you get me into? I mean… I'm thankful, that you kept the dragons from taking me. But those animals with you. And the way you just, tanked bullets. Are you an alien?"
I thought about that. "Well, kind of, yeah."
"Goddamn it," Kalini whispered. He groaned, rubbing the top of his head. "Why me?"
"You want me to be honest?"
"Please."
"You were the one guy who was willing to take me, wouldn't ask questions, and would take cash."
"...I need to change my business model," Kalini said under his breath. "So, when you helped me-"
"I just wanted to help. I didn't have any weird Batman gambit hiding in the background. Just, wrong place, right time."
"...I'm in a massive amount of trouble, kid," Kalini slowly lowered the gun. "Nobody else seems to know I was there that night, but the dragons are hunting me."
"Weren't they kinda doing that already?" I noted, still ready to bring out Gurdurr if need be, but relaxing.
"Yeah, cause of business. Now though?" Kalini shook his head. "They know I was there and that you helped me. They want you kid. Beating them like that, becoming the joke of every internet stooge. Their reputation took a hit. And those guys are all about their rep. Their 'honor'."
"Were you thinking of turning me in to them?" I asked.
Kalini looked surprised at the thought. Then he scoffed. "Man, alien kids are pretty cynical. No. All that would get me is getting killed. Besides. You saved my life. I'd rather be alive and in trouble than dead with you getting away. Still… What are you?"
"A teen from another world. With a group of alien animals on my side," I leaned forward. "Kalini. I'm sorry man. But I just want to make a home in this world until I can get back to mine."
"Hn," he scratched at his neck. "Yeah? And what do you want me for?"
"You're a smuggler. You sneak weed into the state on a regular basis, right?"
"Oh come on, you gonna get mad about that?" he said with a grimace. "Weed is harmless man, just makes people relaxed-"
"I don't give a fuck about you bringing in pot," I rolled my eyes. "I just want to ask you. In your time, you've probably met some unsavory types."
"I know a couple guys who cheat at poker, sure."
"Know any who can make me a real boy?"
"Hm?" he seemed to think about it for a moment. "I might know a few guys. What are you looking for, exactly?"
"A driver's license, social security maybe? Anything a person would need to be able to keep someone from realizing they aren't from Earth."
"Well, I know a few guys who can make licenses," Kalini scoffed. "Seriously, kids can do it with the right sort of printers. But if you want something that will stand up to more scrutiny than that, I have someone I trust. Old buddy of mine. But what's in it for me?"
"Money, I guess?" I said immediately.
"Fat load of good that'll do me when I'm hiding from the dragons," Kalini scoffed. "No, I need protection, kid. I need your promise that you'll have that, what'd you call it? Muddy-mick? That it'll have my back."
"It's 'Mudkip'. And of course, man. I don't mind having people's backs while they have mine."
"Good. Just as long as you keep me out of the hero shit," Kalini grumbled.
"I'm not a hero," I scoffed. "But yeah. I'm down for that. You help me get a fake identity, and I promise you get my Pokemon to help you if you need protection."
"Poke-what?"
"Pokemon. Pocket monsters," I answered. "Anyways. How much will it cost me to pay this guy?"
"Well, if we're faking you from the ground up, then it'll be a bit. But I promise. My guy is worth it," Kalini said with a chuckle.
"Good. Then let's go meet him."
"Eh? Right now?" Kalini asked, surprised when I got to my feet.
"Sooner the better. I need an identity if I want to make headway on getting what I need. I can scrape together stuff for now, but soon I'll need an identity to get the really crazy stuff."
"You aren't planning on building a nuke, are you?"
"Like a nuke is worth a damn in this day and age."
"Wow. Aliens are hardcore."
------
Kalini led me to his car and drove us to our future friend. Well, his current friend, my future friend.
"So Adam's a good guy, been working out of Honolulu for the last couple decades," Kalini said. "Our story is gonna be that you're an illegal immigrant from the middle east, Qurac will work. You speak any Arabic?"
"A little bit. Mostly the Eastern kind."
"That'll work, Adam ain't too worldly. Just stand there and either be quiet or speak Arabic and we'll be out of there in ten. At most, he'll need a day to get his stuff together to help you."
"What if he recognizes me?"
"That's… a good point," he looked towards the back of his car, then quickly back at the road. "We'll get you to wear a coat or something. Maybe you can borrow my old glasses?"
"What am I, Clark Kent?"
"Who?"
Oh right. Well, if it worked for him…
"Sure, give me the glasses."
Kalini pulled into a business district, heading to a part of the area that had a bunch of warehouses. I looked at him skeptically as we drove through the sketchy area.
"You aren't about to murder me, are you?"
"What?" Kalini stared at me. "Kid, no. You saved my life I would-"
"I was joking. You know. 'Cause this place is so sketchy?"
"Oh. Well, uh, that's really funny," he didn't look like he believed it. I sighed a little. Guess, despite how cool he was being, he still didn't know how to deal with me. That was fair.
While he had pretended to get over my particular brand of weirdness very quickly, he still had his revolver close at hand and kept watching me very carefully out of the corner of his eyes. And when he realized I had pokeballs on my waist, he apparently remembered how Mimikyu had appeared. So he flinched when my hand got close to them.
Something to deal with later.
He parked the car near one particular warehouse. We got out and Kalini walked around to the back of the car, opening it up to reveal a messy trunk. "Okay. Take this, this, this, and these."
A red-flowered hawaiian t-shirt, trucker hat, jacket, and coke thick glasses landed in my arms. I took the last ones and stared at them. "How blind were you?"
"Don't make fun of your elders," Kalini grumbled. "Besides, LASIK fixed my eyes. Don't know how it did it, but it worked."
"Well, we live in a world of miracles, don't we?"
"Why are guys your age so snarky?"
"Because guys your age are supervillains, so we had to find our own niche. Snarky asshole is better than a murderous psychopath."
"This is Hawaii, there are no murderous psychopaths. The heat of the volcanoes drives them off."
I think joking around like this was calming to him. We both got walking after I looked even more like a shitty tourist than ever, put my pokeballs in my pocket, and entered the warehouse. The place was chock full of shelves with tons of machinery on it, making the big warehouse into something like a storage area for all sorts of weird stuff. I could recognize a car engine.
The instant we entered, two guys were at our sides. They stopped us there, both glaring at us. They were big dudes, around the size of a fridge each.
"Kalini," one of them said in a voice like a foghorn.
"Heya, boys. How are ya?"
"Arms up," the other guy said.
"Man, I remember you guys being a lot cheerier," Kalini listened though, as did I. The guys patted us down. One of them pulled out my pokeballs and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged. He twirled them in his hands, then placed them back in my pockets.
Then one of them took out Kalini's revolver. When the guard gave Kalini a pointed look.
"I mean, does it surprise you? We all have guns. You'd have been weirded out if I didn't have one."
The guards shared a look. The foghorn voiced one then put the revolver in a metal bin, inside of which were a couple of knives, more guns, and a couple of metal boomerangs. "Go ahead."
"Always a pleasure, boys," Kalini nodded towards me and the two of us started walking. Even as we strode away, I could feel the guard's eyes on me. A couple more seemed to appear from the shelves, walking over to escort us.
We strolled through the place before coming upon a series of metal fences in the center of the large space, forming a large cage. I entered the cage first, Kalini following me. Inside was a desk, a bunch of metal file drawers, and skinny as a rake man. He was dressed very effeminately, with some heavy makeup, a thin red silk shirt, and some very heavy looking rings on his fingers. He looked at us with eyes ringed by pink makeup.
"Kalini," his voice was very high. He leaned back in his seat, giving the bigger man a hard look. "Been a while since you've visited. Make a guy think he isn't wanted."
"You know how it is, Adam. Time flies," Kalini said.
"And it makes you avoid me, apparently. But you're here now. What do you need?" Adam waved a hand lazily. "I know you don't visit unless you need something."
"Yeah, I suppose I'm an asshole. But hey, I always remember your birthday."
"The only person who does," Adam said a little louder than needed.
The guards around us winced in unison.
"So how about this," Kalini leaned forward. "I'm being paid to get this guy some ID. And you're the best in Hawaii at this."
"Not a hard ladder to climb," Adam said, though he looked pleased. He looked me over. "So who's your boy toy?"
"As-salaam 'alykum," I said with a wave.
"Kid came over from Qurac," Kalini looked over at me. "You know how rare it is we get Middle Eastern guests. But, he doesn't have any ID. Needs one to work in the country."
"Sob story I hear pretty often. Less so from Qurac… How'd you meet?"
"Game of poker."
"Really?" Adam sighed. He brought his head up to stare at the ceiling. "...Kalini. You know I like you."
"..." Kalini's eyes narrowed. My fingers twitched. There were a lot of guards around us. "Yeah. We've been friends since forever."
"Yes. So I'm sure you appreciate what it would take for me to do certain things," Adam sighed. "You can't put a price on that sort of loyalty… Or you couldn't. Then, someone put up 1 million to get you to the dragons."
Guns were pulled out, one by one. Kalini and I kept our eyes on Adam, Kalini swearing. "Adam, you son of a bitch."
"Hey, I have needs, Kalini. I'm sorry," Adam actually did look sorry. "If it helps, they're going to keep you alive. I let them know you were here. They just want to know something from you. As long as you tell them-"
"Adam, these are the dragons! They aren't going to let me go when I tell them what they want!"
Adam frowned. "What the hell are you keeping from them?"
He didn't know? I slowly backed away from Kalini. That was when I realized that none of the guns were trained on me. They were all focused on Kalini.
I coughed, Adam looking at me, and tried to bring up my wary fear to blind panic. "You- you shoot me?" I said in an approximation of the sort of accent my mom had.
"You?" Adam said, blinking. "Uh, no. Kalini, the dragons were after you and your solution was to fleece some immigrant kid?"
Kalini stared at him, surprised. "Uh, well."
"We have to kill him now, boss," a guard said. "Kid saw too much."
Adam looked at his guard. As they were all distracted, I got to my pokeballs.
A snap of sound and a flash of light erupted from my pocket. The guards and Adam spun around, but I was grabbing Kalini and ducking behind one of the cabinets. "Gurdurr, Protect!!"
Bullets started flying. A metal I-Beam flashed forward, glowing with blue-white power, then spinning at impossible speeds. Gurdurr's wrists and hands moved with beautiful grace, moving the big blunt instrument like it was a cheerleader's baton. Bullets dropped to the floor as Gurdurr growled in rage.
Tyrunt was holding something in his jaws, which he tossed back to me. I grabbed it, but didn't do anything just yet. Instead, I looked at Gurdurr and Tyrunt.
"You have more of those things!?" Kalini shouted. I ignored him.
"Boys. Go kick some ass. Leave them alive."
"Rururururu," Tyrunt chuckled under his breath, staring at the cage around us. He jumped towards the metal, teeth snapping out. A squealing noise that made me wince, even with the sound of bullets around us, then Tyrunt was through. Ancient power flowed through him from the earth and surrounded his body as he ran up to a guard, who screamed just before he was hit in the chest by an enraged dinosaur. The guard was sent flying back into a shelf of machinery, sending a few hundred pounds of metal tumbling over. Tyrunt landed on the guy's chest and reared his head upwards.
"GRRRAAAAAAA!" he roared, the sound echoing through the area. One guard pissed himself. Another one, the guy with the foghorn voice, went running for it, screaming.
Gurdurr, in the meantime, jumped towards Adam. The effeminate man shouted, grabbing a shotgun from under his desk, pointing it at Gurdurr, and firing. The shells hit Gurdurr in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Oh god, he's-!"Kalini began to say.
Gurdurr snapped up to his feet, raised his I-beam to block another shotgun blast. He had some damage to his chest, but instead of a bloody mess it was more like a case of mild road rash. He raised his I-beam and smashed it into the desk in front of Adam, the wood smashing apart into shrapnel and sending Adam and his guard flying back.
"He's alive?" Kalini asked, shocked.
"He's tough as balls," I said as I finished putting my mask on, my voice slightly muffled by it.
Gurdurr shielded himself from Adam's guards and grabbed the shooter by the ankle as he shattered Adam's shotgun, Adam shouting. He swung the guy around and left Adam on the floor.
"FUUUUCK!" the guy screamed as Gurdurr ran out of the cage swinging him over his head while twirling his I-beam before tossing it like a javelin. The steel weapon sliced through the air and smashed into the ground near three men, cratering the concrete floor and sending them diving for cover from the flying rubble. Still holding one of the guards, Gurdurr rushed in and used the guard to hit another guard.
In case of emergency, bad guys can be used as blunt instruments.
The guy in Gurdurr's grip stopped shouting once he'd been used to send one of his friends to the ground. He let out another grunt noise when Gurdurr made a home run worthy hit to knock another guy away, At that point Gurdurr sadly lost his grip on his new weapon when the guys pants tore off. The pint-sized powerhouse stared after the newly released guard, who flopped onto the floor as an unconscious heap, then at the ripped pants still in his hand before tossing the pants aside. Gurdurr raised his fists, then clenched them. The muscles on his body tensed. After a moment, the veins across his body began to pulse. And he began to grow.
"What the hell," one of the guards said in horror.
Gurdurr grinned at the group around him. One of them shot him again, but he ignored the small marking the bullet made across his bicep. He Bulked up, gaining five inches in height. His muscles were even thicker around now. His eyes were lit with gleeful rage.
Someone shot him again. Gurdurr ran for that guard, a fist raised. The guard tried to block the punch, but Gurdurr's knuckles broke through his guard and embedded itself deep in the guy's stomach. The poor bastard's eyes widened in horror and pain, saliva flying from his gasping mouth as he went rolling back.
"Gurdurr!" the fighting-type roared, grabbing his I-beam.
"FUCK ME!" someone shouted in fear. Then Gurdurr was on them.
Tyrunt ran through a metal shelf, his teeth smashing apart a car engine resting on one of them. He bashed his head into another guard, then stone chips went flying as he took a shotgun blast to his head.
"Runt?" Tyrunt looked at the guy who had shot him. His eyes narrowed. "TY!"
"Die already!" the guy shot him again and again, pumping the slide after each shot.
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dinosaur roared. Purple energy, the power of dragons, surrounded his tail before Tyrunt jumped forward into a front-flip. A stone tail surrounded in power tore through the shotgun and sent metal scrap flying about. Still flipping forward, Tyrunt slammed his head into the guy's face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.
Once Tyrunt landed, he ran for a group of guys. Ancient power flowed once again as he ran, this time ripping chunks of concrete out of the ground to float around him. Just as the guards were realizing their bullets were doing almost nothing to him, the chunks of concrete lifted by Tyrunt's power flew forward and slammed into them in a wave, sending four men flying back.
Kalini and I walked over to Adam. The man was lying on his back, staring at us in horror. In the background, Tyrunt and Gurdurr were cleaning up the last of his men.
"Okay then," I said, looking at him through my mask. "Maybe we should renegotiate exactly what you'll be doing for me-"
A loud sound, like a laser blast out of Star Wars, came from behind me. Gurdurr shouted in pain. I spun to look at him.
Gurdurr was kneeling on the ground, clenching at his chest. He looked pissed. I looked the same direction he was. A man stepped forward from the shadows
He was average in height, but well-built. He had long red hair that fell around bare shoulders. He wore a metal vest of some sort over a green undersuit, a white cloak around his shoulders. A single long metal arm was stretching out from under the cloak, with a big blocky thing on the end.
"Well, well, looks like this party is getting interesting," the redhead grinned, blue eyes flickering around us. Tyrunt slid to a stop next to Gurdurr, who grew just a bit larger as we watched the guy walk up to us. "I came here to kill a stooge, and instead I find the big money!"
"Who the hell are you!?" Adam said, coughing. Kalini placed a boot on his chest, Adam cursing as he was forced to the floor.
"I'm the guy with the power around here," the guy laughed. "I hope you don't surrender monsters," he eyed Gurdurr and Tyrunt. "Because SIDEARM wants a real fight!"
He spread his arms, grinning widely.
"...Who?" I asked, blinking.
"Sidearm! The most feared mercenary on Earth."
"That's Deathstroke," I said immediately.
"Yeah, I was going to say," Kalini added.
"Deathstroke, for sure," one guard said off to the side.
"Gurdurr!"
Another laser blast hit Gurdurr in the chest. He slid back, growling angrily.
"I'm killing all of you now," Sidearm said angrily.
Tyrunt roared his defiance. I grabbed a gun. Gurdurr twirled his I-beam. And Sidearm started trying to kill us.
------
Author's Note: Next chapter, Kahu has his first hero v. villain fight against SIDEARM. The myth, the legend, the nightmar- Oh, nobody knows who he is. Well, he's a random Superboy villain who caused random trouble for Superboy. He has multiple robot arms thanks to a tech suit.
But yeah, Kalini, Kahu, Gurdurr, and Tyrunt versus Sidearm. Let's have some fun.
Also, please support me on Patreon, where the next two chapters are already uploaded!
------
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dinosaur had barked, clutching at my shirt with his jaws, being careful not to rip it. Still stretching it though... "TY, TYRUNT!"
"Dude, Mudkip and Mimikyu being famous on the internet isn't as big a deal as you think," I said with a sigh, walking alongside Gurdurr. Tyrunt must have been trying to be gentle, because he wasn't ripping my shirt. Instead, I ended up dragging him along the ground, his tail wagging. "And there is no guarantee we'll end up in a fight.
"Gur."
"Look, we went a whole week without a fight. Compared to most meta types around her, that's a vacation. It might be months before we end up taking on someone else.
Gurdurr gave me the most skeptical look he could, which I ignored in a manly way.
Tyrunt continued to growl as he was pulled along with me. "RUNT!"
"All right, fine!" I stopped and grabbed Tyrunt by the tail, lifting him till he was face to face with me. "You can come! But don't complain if you end up bored."
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dino roared.
"Yeah, yeah, all villains will bow before your might and power," he gave me a nod, taking my sarcasm like I was just stating obvious facts.
Wish I had my dinoboy's confidence.
"Okay, Gurdurr, Tyrunt, Al, and… Slugma?" I called out to my lava girl as she walked towards the forge. "You wanna come?"
"Slugma!" she shook her head, smiling. "Slug!"
"Again? Sweetie, we've got a mountain of jewels and material by now!" we all looked over at what I was beginning to think of as her treasure trove. She'd been hard at work. As far as I knew, some of the things she brought up were near impossible. It had started with peridot jewels. Then, when Gurdurr had asked for other materials. So she started finding aluminum, iron, titanium, and gold. Freaking gold. Not a massive amount, but she got about a pound or so. It still represented a huge amount of value. Tyrunt, the proud rock/dragon that he was, loved to roll around in that pile of valuable minerals while Slugma happily joined in. Nice that he and Slugma got along so well.
"...Slugma."
"Wait. Why do you sound guilty?" I asked pointedly.
"Slugma," she said sadly.
"A promise… Okay. Fine. But you'll tell me what's going on soon?"
Slugma perked up, and nodded quickly, running over to me and leaping into my arms. I hugged her tightly for a moment, her warmth spreading into my chest. She rubbed her nose against mine, then hopped off to head towards the forge, in a much better mood. Such a sweetheart.
"What about you two?" I asked Mimikyu and Mudkip.
"Mim!" Mimikyu held up her damaged Pikachu costume, then went over to her sewing table.
"Mudkip," the small starter Pokemon said, rubbing his belly. Hungry for fish, huh? He ran over to the harbor and dived in, ready to terrorize Hawaii's coastline. Hopefully, he didn't grab any more sharks...
"Okay then," I turned to look at the trio behind me. Gurdurr, who would be helping to pick new things he needed for our constant construction project. Alakazam, who was my only way back to Honolulu, and would be sensing where my quarry was. And Tyrunt, who wanted to find a glorious battle so he could prove his dominance to the world.
"Let's go," I placed a hand on Alakazam's shoulder while Gurdurr and Tyrunt joined us. We disappeared in a spinning flash.
------
Honolulu. Just as nice as the last time. I walked through the streets on my own, enjoying the nice weather. I had been rushing around so often, working out, taking care of my Pokemon, worrying about things all the time.
I tended to enjoy any quiet I got nowadays. Once I'd left Alakazam to guard the teleport point, I headed out. Time to find Kalini.
Alakazam was able to track his mind in a general sense, a perk of having rifled through it before and the fact that he was still in the relative area of the city, which made it easier. Aside from it not being the most exact thing to begin with. In a crowded city getting even the general area was hard enough. I had to actually look for him once Alakazam managed to get the basic area down.
I ended up in a part of town that was a lot less pretty than the rest of Honolulu. Granted, it wasn't as bad as other places I'd lived in before, but it was still an apartment building covered in graffiti.
I looked around the place for a moment, walking around before going up the steps to begin going through the apartment proper. One group of guys sitting on the steps of the building gave me dirty looks. I walked past them without worry, and none of the wanna-be tough guys said a thing.
I reached a courtyard in the center of the apartment complex, where an empty pool sat in the center with some broken tables strewn about. I was beginning to despair that I would ever find Kalini without desperate measures when I noticed a woman sweeping the bit of sidewalk directly in front of her apartment. I approached her.
"Excuse me, miss?" she looked up at me. The older Hawaiian woman looked me up and down, her hands tight around her broom. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find Kalini? Big guy, really likes money?"
"You think everybody knows everybody in this apartment?" she scoffed.
"They did in my hometown," I said with a shrug. "If you don't know, it's fine, I just want to ask him something."
"...Well. You ain't a dragon. They don't take them as young as you," she said idly. Then she shrugged. "Fine. He's over in that apartment," she pointed at one a few doors down from hers.
"Thanks!" I said, rushing over to that door. I knocked a couple of times, then stepped back. For a long moment, no one answered. Then the door opened.
And a revolver was pointed at me. I stared at the gun for a long moment. Then at the face of Kalini. "Did I do something I'm not aware of?"
"Shut up," Kalini hissed, looking around. "You alone?"
"Aren't we all?" I lied with a shrug. "You were a lot friendlier last-"
"Get inside, damnit!" Kalini stepped back, gesturing to me. "Or I'll shoot you in the eye."
I walked in, trying to hide how scared I was. Bullet-resistant didn't mean I couldn't get my eyes shot out after all.
"...Nice place," I said as Kalini guided me by gunpoint into his home. The apartment was covered in garbage, a bachelor pad in every way. Funny, that his boat was so clean, but his apartment-
"It's a shithole," Kalini scoffed. "But it'll work for now. Sit on the couch. I have some questions."
I plopped down on the ratty couch. He sat across from me on a wooden table, the revolver in his hand quivering. He stared at me. "Kid. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Looking for help, to be honest. Mind not pointing the gun at me anymore?" I said.
"This is the only reason I feel safe talking to you," Kalini replied. "...Kid, what the hell did you get me into? I mean… I'm thankful, that you kept the dragons from taking me. But those animals with you. And the way you just, tanked bullets. Are you an alien?"
I thought about that. "Well, kind of, yeah."
"Goddamn it," Kalini whispered. He groaned, rubbing the top of his head. "Why me?"
"You want me to be honest?"
"Please."
"You were the one guy who was willing to take me, wouldn't ask questions, and would take cash."
"...I need to change my business model," Kalini said under his breath. "So, when you helped me-"
"I just wanted to help. I didn't have any weird Batman gambit hiding in the background. Just, wrong place, right time."
"...I'm in a massive amount of trouble, kid," Kalini slowly lowered the gun. "Nobody else seems to know I was there that night, but the dragons are hunting me."
"Weren't they kinda doing that already?" I noted, still ready to bring out Gurdurr if need be, but relaxing.
"Yeah, cause of business. Now though?" Kalini shook his head. "They know I was there and that you helped me. They want you kid. Beating them like that, becoming the joke of every internet stooge. Their reputation took a hit. And those guys are all about their rep. Their 'honor'."
"Were you thinking of turning me in to them?" I asked.
Kalini looked surprised at the thought. Then he scoffed. "Man, alien kids are pretty cynical. No. All that would get me is getting killed. Besides. You saved my life. I'd rather be alive and in trouble than dead with you getting away. Still… What are you?"
"A teen from another world. With a group of alien animals on my side," I leaned forward. "Kalini. I'm sorry man. But I just want to make a home in this world until I can get back to mine."
"Hn," he scratched at his neck. "Yeah? And what do you want me for?"
"You're a smuggler. You sneak weed into the state on a regular basis, right?"
"Oh come on, you gonna get mad about that?" he said with a grimace. "Weed is harmless man, just makes people relaxed-"
"I don't give a fuck about you bringing in pot," I rolled my eyes. "I just want to ask you. In your time, you've probably met some unsavory types."
"I know a couple guys who cheat at poker, sure."
"Know any who can make me a real boy?"
"Hm?" he seemed to think about it for a moment. "I might know a few guys. What are you looking for, exactly?"
"A driver's license, social security maybe? Anything a person would need to be able to keep someone from realizing they aren't from Earth."
"Well, I know a few guys who can make licenses," Kalini scoffed. "Seriously, kids can do it with the right sort of printers. But if you want something that will stand up to more scrutiny than that, I have someone I trust. Old buddy of mine. But what's in it for me?"
"Money, I guess?" I said immediately.
"Fat load of good that'll do me when I'm hiding from the dragons," Kalini scoffed. "No, I need protection, kid. I need your promise that you'll have that, what'd you call it? Muddy-mick? That it'll have my back."
"It's 'Mudkip'. And of course, man. I don't mind having people's backs while they have mine."
"Good. Just as long as you keep me out of the hero shit," Kalini grumbled.
"I'm not a hero," I scoffed. "But yeah. I'm down for that. You help me get a fake identity, and I promise you get my Pokemon to help you if you need protection."
"Poke-what?"
"Pokemon. Pocket monsters," I answered. "Anyways. How much will it cost me to pay this guy?"
"Well, if we're faking you from the ground up, then it'll be a bit. But I promise. My guy is worth it," Kalini said with a chuckle.
"Good. Then let's go meet him."
"Eh? Right now?" Kalini asked, surprised when I got to my feet.
"Sooner the better. I need an identity if I want to make headway on getting what I need. I can scrape together stuff for now, but soon I'll need an identity to get the really crazy stuff."
"You aren't planning on building a nuke, are you?"
"Like a nuke is worth a damn in this day and age."
"Wow. Aliens are hardcore."
------
Kalini led me to his car and drove us to our future friend. Well, his current friend, my future friend.
"So Adam's a good guy, been working out of Honolulu for the last couple decades," Kalini said. "Our story is gonna be that you're an illegal immigrant from the middle east, Qurac will work. You speak any Arabic?"
"A little bit. Mostly the Eastern kind."
"That'll work, Adam ain't too worldly. Just stand there and either be quiet or speak Arabic and we'll be out of there in ten. At most, he'll need a day to get his stuff together to help you."
"What if he recognizes me?"
"That's… a good point," he looked towards the back of his car, then quickly back at the road. "We'll get you to wear a coat or something. Maybe you can borrow my old glasses?"
"What am I, Clark Kent?"
"Who?"
Oh right. Well, if it worked for him…
"Sure, give me the glasses."
Kalini pulled into a business district, heading to a part of the area that had a bunch of warehouses. I looked at him skeptically as we drove through the sketchy area.
"You aren't about to murder me, are you?"
"What?" Kalini stared at me. "Kid, no. You saved my life I would-"
"I was joking. You know. 'Cause this place is so sketchy?"
"Oh. Well, uh, that's really funny," he didn't look like he believed it. I sighed a little. Guess, despite how cool he was being, he still didn't know how to deal with me. That was fair.
While he had pretended to get over my particular brand of weirdness very quickly, he still had his revolver close at hand and kept watching me very carefully out of the corner of his eyes. And when he realized I had pokeballs on my waist, he apparently remembered how Mimikyu had appeared. So he flinched when my hand got close to them.
Something to deal with later.
He parked the car near one particular warehouse. We got out and Kalini walked around to the back of the car, opening it up to reveal a messy trunk. "Okay. Take this, this, this, and these."
A red-flowered hawaiian t-shirt, trucker hat, jacket, and coke thick glasses landed in my arms. I took the last ones and stared at them. "How blind were you?"
"Don't make fun of your elders," Kalini grumbled. "Besides, LASIK fixed my eyes. Don't know how it did it, but it worked."
"Well, we live in a world of miracles, don't we?"
"Why are guys your age so snarky?"
"Because guys your age are supervillains, so we had to find our own niche. Snarky asshole is better than a murderous psychopath."
"This is Hawaii, there are no murderous psychopaths. The heat of the volcanoes drives them off."
I think joking around like this was calming to him. We both got walking after I looked even more like a shitty tourist than ever, put my pokeballs in my pocket, and entered the warehouse. The place was chock full of shelves with tons of machinery on it, making the big warehouse into something like a storage area for all sorts of weird stuff. I could recognize a car engine.
The instant we entered, two guys were at our sides. They stopped us there, both glaring at us. They were big dudes, around the size of a fridge each.
"Kalini," one of them said in a voice like a foghorn.
"Heya, boys. How are ya?"
"Arms up," the other guy said.
"Man, I remember you guys being a lot cheerier," Kalini listened though, as did I. The guys patted us down. One of them pulled out my pokeballs and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged. He twirled them in his hands, then placed them back in my pockets.
Then one of them took out Kalini's revolver. When the guard gave Kalini a pointed look.
"I mean, does it surprise you? We all have guns. You'd have been weirded out if I didn't have one."
The guards shared a look. The foghorn voiced one then put the revolver in a metal bin, inside of which were a couple of knives, more guns, and a couple of metal boomerangs. "Go ahead."
"Always a pleasure, boys," Kalini nodded towards me and the two of us started walking. Even as we strode away, I could feel the guard's eyes on me. A couple more seemed to appear from the shelves, walking over to escort us.
We strolled through the place before coming upon a series of metal fences in the center of the large space, forming a large cage. I entered the cage first, Kalini following me. Inside was a desk, a bunch of metal file drawers, and skinny as a rake man. He was dressed very effeminately, with some heavy makeup, a thin red silk shirt, and some very heavy looking rings on his fingers. He looked at us with eyes ringed by pink makeup.
"Kalini," his voice was very high. He leaned back in his seat, giving the bigger man a hard look. "Been a while since you've visited. Make a guy think he isn't wanted."
"You know how it is, Adam. Time flies," Kalini said.
"And it makes you avoid me, apparently. But you're here now. What do you need?" Adam waved a hand lazily. "I know you don't visit unless you need something."
"Yeah, I suppose I'm an asshole. But hey, I always remember your birthday."
"The only person who does," Adam said a little louder than needed.
The guards around us winced in unison.
"So how about this," Kalini leaned forward. "I'm being paid to get this guy some ID. And you're the best in Hawaii at this."
"Not a hard ladder to climb," Adam said, though he looked pleased. He looked me over. "So who's your boy toy?"
"As-salaam 'alykum," I said with a wave.
"Kid came over from Qurac," Kalini looked over at me. "You know how rare it is we get Middle Eastern guests. But, he doesn't have any ID. Needs one to work in the country."
"Sob story I hear pretty often. Less so from Qurac… How'd you meet?"
"Game of poker."
"Really?" Adam sighed. He brought his head up to stare at the ceiling. "...Kalini. You know I like you."
"..." Kalini's eyes narrowed. My fingers twitched. There were a lot of guards around us. "Yeah. We've been friends since forever."
"Yes. So I'm sure you appreciate what it would take for me to do certain things," Adam sighed. "You can't put a price on that sort of loyalty… Or you couldn't. Then, someone put up 1 million to get you to the dragons."
Guns were pulled out, one by one. Kalini and I kept our eyes on Adam, Kalini swearing. "Adam, you son of a bitch."
"Hey, I have needs, Kalini. I'm sorry," Adam actually did look sorry. "If it helps, they're going to keep you alive. I let them know you were here. They just want to know something from you. As long as you tell them-"
"Adam, these are the dragons! They aren't going to let me go when I tell them what they want!"
Adam frowned. "What the hell are you keeping from them?"
He didn't know? I slowly backed away from Kalini. That was when I realized that none of the guns were trained on me. They were all focused on Kalini.
I coughed, Adam looking at me, and tried to bring up my wary fear to blind panic. "You- you shoot me?" I said in an approximation of the sort of accent my mom had.
"You?" Adam said, blinking. "Uh, no. Kalini, the dragons were after you and your solution was to fleece some immigrant kid?"
Kalini stared at him, surprised. "Uh, well."
"We have to kill him now, boss," a guard said. "Kid saw too much."
Adam looked at his guard. As they were all distracted, I got to my pokeballs.
A snap of sound and a flash of light erupted from my pocket. The guards and Adam spun around, but I was grabbing Kalini and ducking behind one of the cabinets. "Gurdurr, Protect!!"
Bullets started flying. A metal I-Beam flashed forward, glowing with blue-white power, then spinning at impossible speeds. Gurdurr's wrists and hands moved with beautiful grace, moving the big blunt instrument like it was a cheerleader's baton. Bullets dropped to the floor as Gurdurr growled in rage.
Tyrunt was holding something in his jaws, which he tossed back to me. I grabbed it, but didn't do anything just yet. Instead, I looked at Gurdurr and Tyrunt.
"You have more of those things!?" Kalini shouted. I ignored him.
"Boys. Go kick some ass. Leave them alive."
"Rururururu," Tyrunt chuckled under his breath, staring at the cage around us. He jumped towards the metal, teeth snapping out. A squealing noise that made me wince, even with the sound of bullets around us, then Tyrunt was through. Ancient power flowed through him from the earth and surrounded his body as he ran up to a guard, who screamed just before he was hit in the chest by an enraged dinosaur. The guard was sent flying back into a shelf of machinery, sending a few hundred pounds of metal tumbling over. Tyrunt landed on the guy's chest and reared his head upwards.
"GRRRAAAAAAA!" he roared, the sound echoing through the area. One guard pissed himself. Another one, the guy with the foghorn voice, went running for it, screaming.
Gurdurr, in the meantime, jumped towards Adam. The effeminate man shouted, grabbing a shotgun from under his desk, pointing it at Gurdurr, and firing. The shells hit Gurdurr in the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Oh god, he's-!"Kalini began to say.
Gurdurr snapped up to his feet, raised his I-beam to block another shotgun blast. He had some damage to his chest, but instead of a bloody mess it was more like a case of mild road rash. He raised his I-beam and smashed it into the desk in front of Adam, the wood smashing apart into shrapnel and sending Adam and his guard flying back.
"He's alive?" Kalini asked, shocked.
"He's tough as balls," I said as I finished putting my mask on, my voice slightly muffled by it.
Gurdurr shielded himself from Adam's guards and grabbed the shooter by the ankle as he shattered Adam's shotgun, Adam shouting. He swung the guy around and left Adam on the floor.
"FUUUUCK!" the guy screamed as Gurdurr ran out of the cage swinging him over his head while twirling his I-beam before tossing it like a javelin. The steel weapon sliced through the air and smashed into the ground near three men, cratering the concrete floor and sending them diving for cover from the flying rubble. Still holding one of the guards, Gurdurr rushed in and used the guard to hit another guard.
In case of emergency, bad guys can be used as blunt instruments.
The guy in Gurdurr's grip stopped shouting once he'd been used to send one of his friends to the ground. He let out another grunt noise when Gurdurr made a home run worthy hit to knock another guy away, At that point Gurdurr sadly lost his grip on his new weapon when the guys pants tore off. The pint-sized powerhouse stared after the newly released guard, who flopped onto the floor as an unconscious heap, then at the ripped pants still in his hand before tossing the pants aside. Gurdurr raised his fists, then clenched them. The muscles on his body tensed. After a moment, the veins across his body began to pulse. And he began to grow.
"What the hell," one of the guards said in horror.
Gurdurr grinned at the group around him. One of them shot him again, but he ignored the small marking the bullet made across his bicep. He Bulked up, gaining five inches in height. His muscles were even thicker around now. His eyes were lit with gleeful rage.
Someone shot him again. Gurdurr ran for that guard, a fist raised. The guard tried to block the punch, but Gurdurr's knuckles broke through his guard and embedded itself deep in the guy's stomach. The poor bastard's eyes widened in horror and pain, saliva flying from his gasping mouth as he went rolling back.
"Gurdurr!" the fighting-type roared, grabbing his I-beam.
"FUCK ME!" someone shouted in fear. Then Gurdurr was on them.
Tyrunt ran through a metal shelf, his teeth smashing apart a car engine resting on one of them. He bashed his head into another guard, then stone chips went flying as he took a shotgun blast to his head.
"Runt?" Tyrunt looked at the guy who had shot him. His eyes narrowed. "TY!"
"Die already!" the guy shot him again and again, pumping the slide after each shot.
"TYRUNT!" the tiny dinosaur roared. Purple energy, the power of dragons, surrounded his tail before Tyrunt jumped forward into a front-flip. A stone tail surrounded in power tore through the shotgun and sent metal scrap flying about. Still flipping forward, Tyrunt slammed his head into the guy's face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.
Once Tyrunt landed, he ran for a group of guys. Ancient power flowed once again as he ran, this time ripping chunks of concrete out of the ground to float around him. Just as the guards were realizing their bullets were doing almost nothing to him, the chunks of concrete lifted by Tyrunt's power flew forward and slammed into them in a wave, sending four men flying back.
Kalini and I walked over to Adam. The man was lying on his back, staring at us in horror. In the background, Tyrunt and Gurdurr were cleaning up the last of his men.
"Okay then," I said, looking at him through my mask. "Maybe we should renegotiate exactly what you'll be doing for me-"
A loud sound, like a laser blast out of Star Wars, came from behind me. Gurdurr shouted in pain. I spun to look at him.
Gurdurr was kneeling on the ground, clenching at his chest. He looked pissed. I looked the same direction he was. A man stepped forward from the shadows
He was average in height, but well-built. He had long red hair that fell around bare shoulders. He wore a metal vest of some sort over a green undersuit, a white cloak around his shoulders. A single long metal arm was stretching out from under the cloak, with a big blocky thing on the end.
"Well, well, looks like this party is getting interesting," the redhead grinned, blue eyes flickering around us. Tyrunt slid to a stop next to Gurdurr, who grew just a bit larger as we watched the guy walk up to us. "I came here to kill a stooge, and instead I find the big money!"
"Who the hell are you!?" Adam said, coughing. Kalini placed a boot on his chest, Adam cursing as he was forced to the floor.
"I'm the guy with the power around here," the guy laughed. "I hope you don't surrender monsters," he eyed Gurdurr and Tyrunt. "Because SIDEARM wants a real fight!"
He spread his arms, grinning widely.
"...Who?" I asked, blinking.
"Sidearm! The most feared mercenary on Earth."
"That's Deathstroke," I said immediately.
"Yeah, I was going to say," Kalini added.
"Deathstroke, for sure," one guard said off to the side.
"Gurdurr!"
Another laser blast hit Gurdurr in the chest. He slid back, growling angrily.
"I'm killing all of you now," Sidearm said angrily.
Tyrunt roared his defiance. I grabbed a gun. Gurdurr twirled his I-beam. And Sidearm started trying to kill us.
------
Author's Note: Next chapter, Kahu has his first hero v. villain fight against SIDEARM. The myth, the legend, the nightmar- Oh, nobody knows who he is. Well, he's a random Superboy villain who caused random trouble for Superboy. He has multiple robot arms thanks to a tech suit.
But yeah, Kalini, Kahu, Gurdurr, and Tyrunt versus Sidearm. Let's have some fun.
Also, please support me on Patreon, where the next two chapters are already uploaded!
I love how the random guard also felt it necessary to mention it was deathstroke
TheLurker
Random Omnipotent Lazy-As-Fuck Being
- Location
- The space beyond the stars
Well you know how it is, somebody poses on deathstroke's title and you either speak up or risk deathstroke materializing out of thin air to put every bitch-ass fraud in the room six feet under.
- Location
- England
At least it's not Arm-fall-off-boy? Although his arm may well fall off by the end of the battle.
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wait, your IRL hometown or the Pokemon hometown? Because if it's the latter, that's not saying much since most hometowns have, like, three houses.
Man, if Sidearm lives through this, Deathstroke's gonna murder him.
Radical Sway
Space Cowboy
- Location
- The Bebop
Deathstroke probably doesn't even know who this jabroni is, which is probably an even worse insult to be honest for Sideguy given the apparent ego.
11
"Kid, I regret taking you on a boat ride!" Kalini shouted as we ducked behind a file cabinet, dragging Adam along. A laser blast shot through the top part of it, sending metal and burning paper flying.
"In my defense, you overcharged me for it," I said as I checked the gun I'd grabbed. After making sure it was loaded, if half-empty, I leaned my head out of cover.
Gurdurr swung his I-beam at Sidearm, who blocked it on one of his arms. Three metal arms, sprouting from under that cloak of his. How many could he create?
Tyrunt dug his teeth into an arm and was waved around by Sidearm.
"Let go damnit!" Sidearm shouted.
"Tyrunt!" the little dinosaur shouted. At first, one could mistake that cry for one of determination and rage. Then, you would notice the happy gleam in his eyes as he went flying through the air.
"Well, I guess he's always been an adrenaline junkie," I sighed.
As Tyrunt enjoyed the impromptu roller coaster ride, Gurdurr brought his I-beam around to block a laser shot. He grimaced at the power of the laser hit, but managed to keep his ground, spinning the weapon in his hand to lash out at Sidearm. The supervillain raised a gun in a normal hand, shooting Gurdurr in the chest, but the tough Pokemon ignored the bullets to lash out at his opponent.
"What do we do? Should we be helping them?" Kalini whispered.
"No. We have our own opponents," I said firmly.
Three guards were still standing. Adam was staring at the fight as Kalini held him by the neck in one meaty hand.
"We'll take those guys down while I keep an eye on the fight," I said with a frown. Same basic plan as always. Some of the team would clean up the adds, while the rest would tank and dps the boss.
Yeah, I know, it's cliche for a nerd to fight using video game terms, but they work for a reason.
I looked at the gun in my hand with some distaste. There's a certain mindset that you need, to be willing to use a gun to kill someone. It's why soldiers spend so much time in basic just getting that mindset.
I just had my experience punching people with everything I had to take them down. I wasn't willing to kill anyone.
Still, we had three guards to deal with. I'd do what I could.
"Knock him out," I told Kalini firmly. "I'll take care of those guys.
"Wait, wha-" Adam began to say, right before a meaty fist slammed into his face, bashing him into the ground. Adam gasped, then took another, then one more punch, finally passing out.
"Damn. Forgot how tough he was," Kalini said, shaking his hand with a wince. In the meantime, I got to work.
I crouched out of cover, watching out of the corner of my eye as Tyrunt was sent flying back when the arm he'd been chewing on was finally bitten off clean through. Gurdurr went in on the side Tyrunt had ripped the arm off on, smashing a fist into a cursing Sidearm's side. The merc took a fist capable of breaking steel with a loud shout of pain, rather than an explosion of blood and bones.
So that suit was able to protect him. At least around his waist and chest.
"Break his legs!" I shouted as I went from crouching to running. One of the guards, a guy who was looking around, presumably for Adam, looked up at me. I flipped the handgun around and tossed it at his face with everything I had.
I think that action surprised him more than the actual impact. Not often someone throws a gun. It hit him in the face with a lot more force than I expected, sending him onto his ass while he fired a shot into the air. I jumped up and landed on his chest with both feet, kicking down and smashing him onto a floor covered in discarded metal and broken concrete. He gasped in pain, but still managed to raise his gun. I grabbed his head, raised it, then smashed it back into the floor, doing it twice before he was out like a light. He'd likely need medical attention, but better hurt than dead.
I heard a loud gunshot, and felt pain in my shoulder. Fuck, again? I rolled with the shot, rushing behind a shelf that had survived the onslaught Tyrunt, Gurdurr, and Sidearm were dishing out. The guy who shot me, a large white man with a bent nose, ran after me, sensing weakness. I grabbed a mini-fridge off the floor, spun out of cover, and chucked it at him, surprised at how light it was.
"JESUS FUCK!" scar-nose ducked under the fridge, which smashed apart behind him. He rose up to have a small kitchen sink bounce off of his chest sending him right back down.
"Why is there so much shit in here?" I mumbled. Ignoring that point, I ran over to him as he tried getting back up. I didn't have time to think. All I could do was attack the first vulnerable spot I saw. I brought my fist up, then came down with all I had.
My fist sunk deep between his legs. I felt things shifting under the blow. He stared at me with a look of pain and deep betrayal, followed by a wheezing gasp that was an octave too high. I was so worried he was going to get up again that I followed that up with a kick. In the same spot.
"Too… far," he gasped out, twisting into the fetal position.
"In my defense, you shot me," I said with a look at my shoulder. Then I looked at the fight.
Tyrunt had a dent in his side where hardened flesh had taken an impact. Gurdurr's muscles looked even larger than before, but he had a few more bleeding scrapes. Still, they looked more or less okay considering they were fighting lazer tentacle man. I looked around for the last guard.
He was gone. For a moment, I was worried he'd gone for his boss, but Kalini and Adam were still hiding. Well, Kalini was hiding, Adam was passed out.
Damn. Would have been nice to have kept him from escaping. But fine. That left me room to help.
I ran over to where everyone was fighting, picking up a chunk of concrete and tossing it as I went. One of Sidearm's metal limbs smacked it out of the air, but that left Gurdurr open to hit him in the leg. He screamed, glaring at me.
"You done hiding behind your monsters, you coward!?"
"That's kinda my thing, to be honest," I said without shame. Seriously, I was closer to 'wrestling an Onix' Bruno than most Pokemon trainers, so trying to accuse me of cowardice wasn't going to work. "Gurdurr, Drain Punch!"
He went in with one of my favorite fighting moves. Sidearm raised a laser cannon to fire at him, but I threw another chunk of concrete, picked up a piece of discarded pipe and yelled at my dinosaur. "Tyrunt take care of one of those arms!"
"GUR!" a green orb surrounded Gurdurr's fist. Sidearm's laser cannon was sent spinning as a concrete chunk hit it, and the fighter punched Sidearm in one of his real arms, some of the scrapes across his body healing.
Sidearm shouted. "Damnit, just-"
"Tyrunt!" a proud shout filled the area. Tyrunt's ran across the rocky field. For just a moment, I could see power flickering across his jaws. Then, to my surprise, his mouth started to glow… blue?"
"Wait," I frowned, trying to think of which of his moves made his teeth glow blue.
The mini-T-rex ignored my confusion to attack Sidearm. The merc swiped one of his arms at Tyrunt.
"Get the hell away from me, you stupid lizard!"
Chilled air surrounded Tyrunt's mouth just before he bit down on a steel arm. And ice flew across the span of the arm, Tyrunt clenching tightly with his arms and legs waving happily.
"ICE FANG!?" since when did he know that? No time to ask that question, I broke into a run. The metal cracked as extreme cold spread through it. I swung the metal pipe in my hand into the arm like I was going for the home run. The metal, already stressed by Tyrunt jaws and Ice Fang, exploded into shards. It was actually kinda refreshing, the sudden burst of cold everywhere.
"Since when could you do that!?" I shouted while Gurdurr swung his I-beam around to bash Sidearm in the chest, sending him back a step.
"Tyrunt."
"What are you talking about, of course I needed to know about it!?"
"Ty."
"Yeah, and Mudkip having ice powers already doesn't mean you can't use them too!"
As I was flabbergasted by Tyrunt's weird thought process, Gurdurr blocked a bullet on his I-beam, giving us a scathing look. "Durr!"
Right, back to business. I looked over at Sidearm. He was down two arms, thought I could see they were slowly repairing themselves. Really slowly, but still enough to be worrisome. "Don't suppose you'll surrender?"
"And ruin my rep!?" Sidearm shouted. "Sidearm always gets his man!"
"I'll be sure to inform the League of Assassins they have competition," I said with a scoff. "Come on," I grabbed another rock, hefted the rod in my hands, and nodded at Tyrunt and Gurdurr. They nodded back. "Take him down!"
"Gur!"
"Ty!"
"Bring it on!"
We rushed for each other, Tyrunt in front of us. Sidearm shot at him, getting some chips knocked off but ignoring them to attack him with draconic energy surrounding his tail, spinning to slash at Sidearm. The supervillain sidestepped the tail swipe, allowing it to cleave through the ground he'd been standing on, then blocked Gurdurr's I-beam on his last robot arm. I hit him in the face with a rock. Repetitive, but if it worked on people in the Pokemon world...
"Ugh!" his lip split, he kicked out at me, getting me in the stomach, but Gurdurr uppercut him in the chest. He shot at me, but Tyrunt jumped in front of me to tank the bullets, while I threw the rock in my hand at him. Sidearm shot the rock out of the air with impressive aim, but Gurdurr headbutt him in the face, then Tyrunt bit down on his last arm with ice fang again, Gurdurr smashing apart the arm with a drain punch.
"Motherfuck-" Tyrunt's forehead hit Sidearm's. Dazed, he staggered back. Gurdurr and I came in.
Sidearm grabbed my shirt, pulling me close while kicking the pipe in my hand away. We fought for a moment before he twisted my arm around so that my back was against his chest. I was about to fight away, but he brandished a knife, holding it to my throat. We all stilled.
"Y-Yeah," Sidearm said, his breath rank. "That's what I thought. Tell those two to back off, or-"
"No," I said, scared, but not stupid.
"No? Who the fuck are you messing with kid!? I'm the best in the world, I'll rip your throat out!"
"Dude, the top ten mercs are Deathstroke, Deadshot, Lady Shiva… seriously, you have to go down the list a few dozen pages before you even get consideration."
He growled. "I'm gonna kill you, if you don't tell them to back-"
Fear and anger filling me with adrenaline, I snapped my head to the side with all my strength, our skulls clacking together. His knife was away from my throat. I yelled, about to hit him as Tyrunt and Gurdurr rushed to help.
A gunshot rang out while a bullet ripped through his hand. He screamed. The knife clattered to the ground. Another bullet got him in the foot, sending him tumbling to his ass. "What the hell!? What the-"
I kicked him in the face at the same time what looked like a tranquilizer shot hit his neck. For a moment, Sidearm stared up at me. "Gonna… ki-" he laid back, eyes slowly closing. Then he finally passed out.
Gurdurr, Tyrunt, and I looked around. He came out of the shadows.
"...You really listed me second to Deathstroke?"
"...I mean, only cause I didn't know you were aiming a gun thing at me," I mumbled, staring at him in shock and fear. "Seriously, what are the chances you'd be here!?"
What the hell was wrong with the luck in my life?
"Grrrrrr," Tyrunt growled.
"Don't," I whispered, trying to keep very still as my shock turned into wary caution. "I'm betting he was watching the fight the whole time. What are those, armor-piercing?"
"And rubber, just to keep you on your toes," he said casually.
I looked him up and down. White mask made of some sort of hardened material, with a single red eye lens glowing softly over his right eye. A red suit with black armor over select parts of his body. A pair of gun barrels strapped to the top of his wrists, one pointed at us, the other deceptively hanging lazily by his side. A large rifle strapped to his back. Floyd Lawton. Deadshot.
"You here for the bounty?" I asked.
"Didn't know there was one until these guys tried to fight you over it," he said. "I'm here for something else. Stop that," he said when Gurdurr shifted slightly. "I know you can block bullets. But you can only block what comes your direction. I'll kill both of them before you can move an inch. And if I do die, or even get stressed, the bombs around us will blow us all away."
How did he set up bombs!?
"I'm not here to fight, Kahu Kiaʻi," It took me a second to realize he meant me. "Not over chump change. I'm here because my boss wants to meet you."
"If the next words out of your mouth are Luthor, Ra's, or any other wanna-be world conqueror…" I warned, trying to keep still.
I was scared. Well and truly scared. Sidearm had been dangerous, but only because of his arms. Even then, my Pokemon had been able to take them down. Deadshot…
In most universes, he had been able to face the League and even give them a damn good fight at that. I trusted my Pokemon, loved them. But the last thing I wanted was for them to rush forward and attack Deadshot. Even if he was bluffing about the bombs, he was smart, experienced, and capable. He wouldn't be standing there, after seeing us take down a man with enhanced armor, unless he knew he could stand there. I wasn't willing to test how many armor-piercing shots I could take.
"Those guys aren't my type. For multiple reasons. And besides. If they wanted you dead, then you never would have seen me."
True.
"He's asking to come here," he reached into his pocket. Tyrunt stepped forward.
Pain filled my head as something small smashed into my skull. "Fuck!" I shouted in pain, staggering back.
"Next one will be a tank round," Deadshot said. "Pick. Your friend, or your pride."
Tyrunt stared at me as I held the spot I'd been shot in. Then he stepped back, his jaw tight and closed. Gurdurr glared at Deadshot, glaring angrily.
Deadshot thankfully didn't goad Tyrunt. The prideful dinosaur likely would have rushed forward if he had. Instead, he took a note out of his pocket and placed it on the ground, placing a piece of concrete on it when a breeze was about to blow it away. Then he rose up and looked across us.
"You're a lot better than most superheroes I meet," Deadshot said. "Most tend to be bad listeners."
"That's cause I'm not a superhero. I'm just a guy trying to survive."
"Hn… Meet us there in one hour."
"An hour, seriously?"
"He'd like to make this quick. So he stayed nearby. See you in ten minutes."
He turned and began to walk away, only to stop and look back. "Tell your big friend to come too. Boss wants to ask him questions."
"Fuck me!" Kalini shouted in the background.
Deadshot turned and walked away, leaving us behind.
"...Kalini!"
"Damnit kid, my life has gone to shit since you showed up!" Kalini shouted, popping his head up like a scared gopher.
"Just come out here," I said, stepping forward to pick up the note and looking at it. I sighed at the sight of the address. It was closer to where Alakazam was waiting. That would work.
"Tyrunt!" stone jaws grabbed a piece of metal, and the little guy shook it back and forth in a fit of rage, stomping his feet as he screamed angrily.
Gurdurr just stared at the ground, leaning on his I-beam.
"Calm down," I said to them. "We won against these guys. Deadshot, one of the most badass of the badass, decided we weren't worth taking on without attaching C4 all around us and prepping with armor-piercing rounds. Have pride in that, guys."
Tyrunt only chewed angrily at the metal in his mouth. Gurdurr seemed just as unconvinced. They didn't have the knowledge I did.
"We need to hurry, before a sniper round takes out one of our hearts, or the cops show up to investigate the gunfire and lazers," I said with a sigh.
"Can't we, you know… Run?" Kalini asked, walking over to join us. "He must have left by now!"
"..." I pointed at his chest. Kalini, Gurdurr, and Tyrunt stared at the same spot.
A single red-dot rested there.
"Oh, come on," he whimpered.
"Let's go," I turned to leave, only to stop. Hm…
I turned back and looked at a safe. It had survived all the crap that had happened, and rested there. Well… We did come here to get fake ID. Adam had to have a few hidden away. And hey, Adam had tried to screw us over. We couldn't call the cops on him, since he would tell them about Kalini, but we could still get payback.
"Tyrunt," I pointed at the safe. "Use Bite."
The dinosaur's eyes flashed.
------
Author's Note: And yes, I do think Deadshot would have won that encounter. The Pokemon are badass, VERY badass, but Deadshot, in many universes, has taken on far stronger opponents and come out on top. Even if we include him being beaten in the Young Justice universe by Superboy in his only appearance, that was Superboy on Shield, the drug that gave him full Kryptonian abilities. Being beaten by a full-blooded Kryptonian is nothing to be ashamed by.
Combine that with one thing. Prep. Deadshot had prepped. He set up panels he could shoot to give himself extra angles, had bullets prepared specifically for the encounter, and bombs set up that were attached to a heart monitor in case he did die. Now, if they were evolved, that might be a different story, but he's still a very skilled and smart opponent with a lot of experience. He might lose against a Tyrantrum and Conkeldurr, or even separately, but that's an argument for the future.
Besides that, Sidearm. Sidearm has only one advantage. Lazer arms. He may be a merc with some experience, but Gurdurr actually has more experience fighting than he does. I'd actually say that if the two do end up fighting later, Gurdurr will have a better chance.
But he is a legit threat. Lasers did some real damage, and Gurdurr and Tyrunt will need to heal from them.
As for who Deadshot wants them to see, that's probably gonna be the owner of Big Belly Burger. The guy needs new mascots.
Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where this chapter was released four days ago and the next one is currently available Chapter 12 is a good one, I promise.
"In my defense, you overcharged me for it," I said as I checked the gun I'd grabbed. After making sure it was loaded, if half-empty, I leaned my head out of cover.
Gurdurr swung his I-beam at Sidearm, who blocked it on one of his arms. Three metal arms, sprouting from under that cloak of his. How many could he create?
Tyrunt dug his teeth into an arm and was waved around by Sidearm.
"Let go damnit!" Sidearm shouted.
"Tyrunt!" the little dinosaur shouted. At first, one could mistake that cry for one of determination and rage. Then, you would notice the happy gleam in his eyes as he went flying through the air.
"Well, I guess he's always been an adrenaline junkie," I sighed.
As Tyrunt enjoyed the impromptu roller coaster ride, Gurdurr brought his I-beam around to block a laser shot. He grimaced at the power of the laser hit, but managed to keep his ground, spinning the weapon in his hand to lash out at Sidearm. The supervillain raised a gun in a normal hand, shooting Gurdurr in the chest, but the tough Pokemon ignored the bullets to lash out at his opponent.
"What do we do? Should we be helping them?" Kalini whispered.
"No. We have our own opponents," I said firmly.
Three guards were still standing. Adam was staring at the fight as Kalini held him by the neck in one meaty hand.
"We'll take those guys down while I keep an eye on the fight," I said with a frown. Same basic plan as always. Some of the team would clean up the adds, while the rest would tank and dps the boss.
Yeah, I know, it's cliche for a nerd to fight using video game terms, but they work for a reason.
I looked at the gun in my hand with some distaste. There's a certain mindset that you need, to be willing to use a gun to kill someone. It's why soldiers spend so much time in basic just getting that mindset.
I just had my experience punching people with everything I had to take them down. I wasn't willing to kill anyone.
Still, we had three guards to deal with. I'd do what I could.
"Knock him out," I told Kalini firmly. "I'll take care of those guys.
"Wait, wha-" Adam began to say, right before a meaty fist slammed into his face, bashing him into the ground. Adam gasped, then took another, then one more punch, finally passing out.
"Damn. Forgot how tough he was," Kalini said, shaking his hand with a wince. In the meantime, I got to work.
I crouched out of cover, watching out of the corner of my eye as Tyrunt was sent flying back when the arm he'd been chewing on was finally bitten off clean through. Gurdurr went in on the side Tyrunt had ripped the arm off on, smashing a fist into a cursing Sidearm's side. The merc took a fist capable of breaking steel with a loud shout of pain, rather than an explosion of blood and bones.
So that suit was able to protect him. At least around his waist and chest.
"Break his legs!" I shouted as I went from crouching to running. One of the guards, a guy who was looking around, presumably for Adam, looked up at me. I flipped the handgun around and tossed it at his face with everything I had.
I think that action surprised him more than the actual impact. Not often someone throws a gun. It hit him in the face with a lot more force than I expected, sending him onto his ass while he fired a shot into the air. I jumped up and landed on his chest with both feet, kicking down and smashing him onto a floor covered in discarded metal and broken concrete. He gasped in pain, but still managed to raise his gun. I grabbed his head, raised it, then smashed it back into the floor, doing it twice before he was out like a light. He'd likely need medical attention, but better hurt than dead.
I heard a loud gunshot, and felt pain in my shoulder. Fuck, again? I rolled with the shot, rushing behind a shelf that had survived the onslaught Tyrunt, Gurdurr, and Sidearm were dishing out. The guy who shot me, a large white man with a bent nose, ran after me, sensing weakness. I grabbed a mini-fridge off the floor, spun out of cover, and chucked it at him, surprised at how light it was.
"JESUS FUCK!" scar-nose ducked under the fridge, which smashed apart behind him. He rose up to have a small kitchen sink bounce off of his chest sending him right back down.
"Why is there so much shit in here?" I mumbled. Ignoring that point, I ran over to him as he tried getting back up. I didn't have time to think. All I could do was attack the first vulnerable spot I saw. I brought my fist up, then came down with all I had.
My fist sunk deep between his legs. I felt things shifting under the blow. He stared at me with a look of pain and deep betrayal, followed by a wheezing gasp that was an octave too high. I was so worried he was going to get up again that I followed that up with a kick. In the same spot.
"Too… far," he gasped out, twisting into the fetal position.
"In my defense, you shot me," I said with a look at my shoulder. Then I looked at the fight.
Tyrunt had a dent in his side where hardened flesh had taken an impact. Gurdurr's muscles looked even larger than before, but he had a few more bleeding scrapes. Still, they looked more or less okay considering they were fighting lazer tentacle man. I looked around for the last guard.
He was gone. For a moment, I was worried he'd gone for his boss, but Kalini and Adam were still hiding. Well, Kalini was hiding, Adam was passed out.
Damn. Would have been nice to have kept him from escaping. But fine. That left me room to help.
I ran over to where everyone was fighting, picking up a chunk of concrete and tossing it as I went. One of Sidearm's metal limbs smacked it out of the air, but that left Gurdurr open to hit him in the leg. He screamed, glaring at me.
"You done hiding behind your monsters, you coward!?"
"That's kinda my thing, to be honest," I said without shame. Seriously, I was closer to 'wrestling an Onix' Bruno than most Pokemon trainers, so trying to accuse me of cowardice wasn't going to work. "Gurdurr, Drain Punch!"
He went in with one of my favorite fighting moves. Sidearm raised a laser cannon to fire at him, but I threw another chunk of concrete, picked up a piece of discarded pipe and yelled at my dinosaur. "Tyrunt take care of one of those arms!"
"GUR!" a green orb surrounded Gurdurr's fist. Sidearm's laser cannon was sent spinning as a concrete chunk hit it, and the fighter punched Sidearm in one of his real arms, some of the scrapes across his body healing.
Sidearm shouted. "Damnit, just-"
"Tyrunt!" a proud shout filled the area. Tyrunt's ran across the rocky field. For just a moment, I could see power flickering across his jaws. Then, to my surprise, his mouth started to glow… blue?"
"Wait," I frowned, trying to think of which of his moves made his teeth glow blue.
The mini-T-rex ignored my confusion to attack Sidearm. The merc swiped one of his arms at Tyrunt.
"Get the hell away from me, you stupid lizard!"
Chilled air surrounded Tyrunt's mouth just before he bit down on a steel arm. And ice flew across the span of the arm, Tyrunt clenching tightly with his arms and legs waving happily.
"ICE FANG!?" since when did he know that? No time to ask that question, I broke into a run. The metal cracked as extreme cold spread through it. I swung the metal pipe in my hand into the arm like I was going for the home run. The metal, already stressed by Tyrunt jaws and Ice Fang, exploded into shards. It was actually kinda refreshing, the sudden burst of cold everywhere.
"Since when could you do that!?" I shouted while Gurdurr swung his I-beam around to bash Sidearm in the chest, sending him back a step.
"Tyrunt."
"What are you talking about, of course I needed to know about it!?"
"Ty."
"Yeah, and Mudkip having ice powers already doesn't mean you can't use them too!"
As I was flabbergasted by Tyrunt's weird thought process, Gurdurr blocked a bullet on his I-beam, giving us a scathing look. "Durr!"
Right, back to business. I looked over at Sidearm. He was down two arms, thought I could see they were slowly repairing themselves. Really slowly, but still enough to be worrisome. "Don't suppose you'll surrender?"
"And ruin my rep!?" Sidearm shouted. "Sidearm always gets his man!"
"I'll be sure to inform the League of Assassins they have competition," I said with a scoff. "Come on," I grabbed another rock, hefted the rod in my hands, and nodded at Tyrunt and Gurdurr. They nodded back. "Take him down!"
"Gur!"
"Ty!"
"Bring it on!"
We rushed for each other, Tyrunt in front of us. Sidearm shot at him, getting some chips knocked off but ignoring them to attack him with draconic energy surrounding his tail, spinning to slash at Sidearm. The supervillain sidestepped the tail swipe, allowing it to cleave through the ground he'd been standing on, then blocked Gurdurr's I-beam on his last robot arm. I hit him in the face with a rock. Repetitive, but if it worked on people in the Pokemon world...
"Ugh!" his lip split, he kicked out at me, getting me in the stomach, but Gurdurr uppercut him in the chest. He shot at me, but Tyrunt jumped in front of me to tank the bullets, while I threw the rock in my hand at him. Sidearm shot the rock out of the air with impressive aim, but Gurdurr headbutt him in the face, then Tyrunt bit down on his last arm with ice fang again, Gurdurr smashing apart the arm with a drain punch.
"Motherfuck-" Tyrunt's forehead hit Sidearm's. Dazed, he staggered back. Gurdurr and I came in.
Sidearm grabbed my shirt, pulling me close while kicking the pipe in my hand away. We fought for a moment before he twisted my arm around so that my back was against his chest. I was about to fight away, but he brandished a knife, holding it to my throat. We all stilled.
"Y-Yeah," Sidearm said, his breath rank. "That's what I thought. Tell those two to back off, or-"
"No," I said, scared, but not stupid.
"No? Who the fuck are you messing with kid!? I'm the best in the world, I'll rip your throat out!"
"Dude, the top ten mercs are Deathstroke, Deadshot, Lady Shiva… seriously, you have to go down the list a few dozen pages before you even get consideration."
He growled. "I'm gonna kill you, if you don't tell them to back-"
Fear and anger filling me with adrenaline, I snapped my head to the side with all my strength, our skulls clacking together. His knife was away from my throat. I yelled, about to hit him as Tyrunt and Gurdurr rushed to help.
A gunshot rang out while a bullet ripped through his hand. He screamed. The knife clattered to the ground. Another bullet got him in the foot, sending him tumbling to his ass. "What the hell!? What the-"
I kicked him in the face at the same time what looked like a tranquilizer shot hit his neck. For a moment, Sidearm stared up at me. "Gonna… ki-" he laid back, eyes slowly closing. Then he finally passed out.
Gurdurr, Tyrunt, and I looked around. He came out of the shadows.
"...You really listed me second to Deathstroke?"
"...I mean, only cause I didn't know you were aiming a gun thing at me," I mumbled, staring at him in shock and fear. "Seriously, what are the chances you'd be here!?"
What the hell was wrong with the luck in my life?
"Grrrrrr," Tyrunt growled.
"Don't," I whispered, trying to keep very still as my shock turned into wary caution. "I'm betting he was watching the fight the whole time. What are those, armor-piercing?"
"And rubber, just to keep you on your toes," he said casually.
I looked him up and down. White mask made of some sort of hardened material, with a single red eye lens glowing softly over his right eye. A red suit with black armor over select parts of his body. A pair of gun barrels strapped to the top of his wrists, one pointed at us, the other deceptively hanging lazily by his side. A large rifle strapped to his back. Floyd Lawton. Deadshot.
"You here for the bounty?" I asked.
"Didn't know there was one until these guys tried to fight you over it," he said. "I'm here for something else. Stop that," he said when Gurdurr shifted slightly. "I know you can block bullets. But you can only block what comes your direction. I'll kill both of them before you can move an inch. And if I do die, or even get stressed, the bombs around us will blow us all away."
How did he set up bombs!?
"I'm not here to fight, Kahu Kiaʻi," It took me a second to realize he meant me. "Not over chump change. I'm here because my boss wants to meet you."
"If the next words out of your mouth are Luthor, Ra's, or any other wanna-be world conqueror…" I warned, trying to keep still.
I was scared. Well and truly scared. Sidearm had been dangerous, but only because of his arms. Even then, my Pokemon had been able to take them down. Deadshot…
In most universes, he had been able to face the League and even give them a damn good fight at that. I trusted my Pokemon, loved them. But the last thing I wanted was for them to rush forward and attack Deadshot. Even if he was bluffing about the bombs, he was smart, experienced, and capable. He wouldn't be standing there, after seeing us take down a man with enhanced armor, unless he knew he could stand there. I wasn't willing to test how many armor-piercing shots I could take.
"Those guys aren't my type. For multiple reasons. And besides. If they wanted you dead, then you never would have seen me."
True.
"He's asking to come here," he reached into his pocket. Tyrunt stepped forward.
Pain filled my head as something small smashed into my skull. "Fuck!" I shouted in pain, staggering back.
"Next one will be a tank round," Deadshot said. "Pick. Your friend, or your pride."
Tyrunt stared at me as I held the spot I'd been shot in. Then he stepped back, his jaw tight and closed. Gurdurr glared at Deadshot, glaring angrily.
Deadshot thankfully didn't goad Tyrunt. The prideful dinosaur likely would have rushed forward if he had. Instead, he took a note out of his pocket and placed it on the ground, placing a piece of concrete on it when a breeze was about to blow it away. Then he rose up and looked across us.
"You're a lot better than most superheroes I meet," Deadshot said. "Most tend to be bad listeners."
"That's cause I'm not a superhero. I'm just a guy trying to survive."
"Hn… Meet us there in one hour."
"An hour, seriously?"
"He'd like to make this quick. So he stayed nearby. See you in ten minutes."
He turned and began to walk away, only to stop and look back. "Tell your big friend to come too. Boss wants to ask him questions."
"Fuck me!" Kalini shouted in the background.
Deadshot turned and walked away, leaving us behind.
"...Kalini!"
"Damnit kid, my life has gone to shit since you showed up!" Kalini shouted, popping his head up like a scared gopher.
"Just come out here," I said, stepping forward to pick up the note and looking at it. I sighed at the sight of the address. It was closer to where Alakazam was waiting. That would work.
"Tyrunt!" stone jaws grabbed a piece of metal, and the little guy shook it back and forth in a fit of rage, stomping his feet as he screamed angrily.
Gurdurr just stared at the ground, leaning on his I-beam.
"Calm down," I said to them. "We won against these guys. Deadshot, one of the most badass of the badass, decided we weren't worth taking on without attaching C4 all around us and prepping with armor-piercing rounds. Have pride in that, guys."
Tyrunt only chewed angrily at the metal in his mouth. Gurdurr seemed just as unconvinced. They didn't have the knowledge I did.
"We need to hurry, before a sniper round takes out one of our hearts, or the cops show up to investigate the gunfire and lazers," I said with a sigh.
"Can't we, you know… Run?" Kalini asked, walking over to join us. "He must have left by now!"
"..." I pointed at his chest. Kalini, Gurdurr, and Tyrunt stared at the same spot.
A single red-dot rested there.
"Oh, come on," he whimpered.
"Let's go," I turned to leave, only to stop. Hm…
I turned back and looked at a safe. It had survived all the crap that had happened, and rested there. Well… We did come here to get fake ID. Adam had to have a few hidden away. And hey, Adam had tried to screw us over. We couldn't call the cops on him, since he would tell them about Kalini, but we could still get payback.
"Tyrunt," I pointed at the safe. "Use Bite."
The dinosaur's eyes flashed.
------
Author's Note: And yes, I do think Deadshot would have won that encounter. The Pokemon are badass, VERY badass, but Deadshot, in many universes, has taken on far stronger opponents and come out on top. Even if we include him being beaten in the Young Justice universe by Superboy in his only appearance, that was Superboy on Shield, the drug that gave him full Kryptonian abilities. Being beaten by a full-blooded Kryptonian is nothing to be ashamed by.
Combine that with one thing. Prep. Deadshot had prepped. He set up panels he could shoot to give himself extra angles, had bullets prepared specifically for the encounter, and bombs set up that were attached to a heart monitor in case he did die. Now, if they were evolved, that might be a different story, but he's still a very skilled and smart opponent with a lot of experience. He might lose against a Tyrantrum and Conkeldurr, or even separately, but that's an argument for the future.
Besides that, Sidearm. Sidearm has only one advantage. Lazer arms. He may be a merc with some experience, but Gurdurr actually has more experience fighting than he does. I'd actually say that if the two do end up fighting later, Gurdurr will have a better chance.
But he is a legit threat. Lasers did some real damage, and Gurdurr and Tyrunt will need to heal from them.
As for who Deadshot wants them to see, that's probably gonna be the owner of Big Belly Burger. The guy needs new mascots.
Please consider supporting me on Patreon, where this chapter was released four days ago and the next one is currently available
Chapter 12 is a good one, I promise.
I hope the pokemon team becomes considered its own hero team, instead of just being a solo hero and his pets. They deserve it!
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
First I laughed. Then I checked Tyrunt's weight and found out he weighs 57 pounds. Light for a rock dino, but still not easy to just fling around like that. Sidearm may be a dolt, but he's not a complete pushover.
12
"I have to wonder how it is that you get into more trouble in this world, than you do in mine," Alakazam said in my mind.
"I blame the DC universe screwing over superhumans," I said back.
I was driving through the city with Kalini, the two of us alone now. Gurdurr and Tyrunt were in their pokeballs to rest. I'd had Kalini drive us close enough to Alakazam that we could reconnect, then simply leave.
Deadshot was likely still close. If I could have Alakazam remain a secret weapon for now, watching and waiting from on high to intrude on any fights, we would have more of a chance to survive an attack. So he stayed at the bare edge of his mental range to me, moving along nearby and keeping an eye on us. I couldn't say I was surprised Alakazam couldn't sense Deadshot near us. The guy was likely a mile off, aiming a rifle at a bunch of panels he'd bounce a bullet off to kill us or something. Or was that just the Suicide Squad movie?
Whatever the case, I had Alakazam stay out of sight, keeping up a psychic barrier around him. He was also ready to switch places with one of us if needed. Ally Switch, basically a rougher version of teleport that could only be done close range.
"Kid, can you please talk to me?" Kalini said, drawing my attention to him. His knuckles were tight around the steering wheel, sweat dripping off his face. "I'm kind of freaking out. Who the hell was that guy?"
"Deadshot. One of the best mercs in existence. He's a damn strong bastard. I think there was something about a death wish in there."
"So he wants to die?" Kalini sounded hopeful.
"Yeah, but he uses that to become even more badass. No plan is crazy if you don't give a fuck if it'll work," I sighed. "I'm more worried about his boss. Who the hell wants a piece of me?"
"Everyone? Maybe they think you have alien tech hiding somewhere? Is your ship around?" Kalini asked.
"Yeah, I left it in a volcano," I said sarcastically.
Kalini turned to look at me.
"I didn't come by ship, I came by a portal," I said with a sigh. Well, a portal and a divine llama.
"Can you not be sarcastic?" he said, glaring at me. "I'm dealing with a lot of crazy shit here man! I'm trying to help you, so you-"
"I know, I know," I sighed, shaking my head. "Believe me, I get it. I just tend to lean on anger and sarcasm when I want to deal with things. It helps me focus better than fear does… We don't know what the boss wants from us," I leaned forward, thinking aloud, Kalini and Alakazam listening in different ways. "But he wants something. That means we might have some negotiating room to keep a bullet from entering our heads. It depends on what they want of course, but it's an opening."
"You think they want to capture you?" Kalini suggested.
"If they do, they had their opening. I'm worried about Deadshot killing us, but if he tries to capture me, it's gonna be a lot harder now that we're wary. And he could have killed us earlier if he wanted us dead. So we have something this guy wants, and he doesn't want to kill or capture us to get it… Okay. Here's the plan. Hold this," I took Tyrunt's ball out. "As we go in. Tyrunt being away from me gives us an unexpected angle of attack."
"How do I let him out?"
"You don't. There's a safety that only lets me release him deliberately. But Tyrunt will come out when I call. When we get to this place, stand well behind me."
"Are you sure?" he said uncomfortably, wiping away some sweat as he turned the car to go left. "I mean, you're a kid."
"I can also tank bullets," I reminded him, feeling some pain from my shoulder as I said that. Man, the wounds in my chest and back were still painful as well. "You can't. If I get shot, then I'll make a good shield to keep you alive."
"That's not- Kid, that isn't a normal thought to have!" he said, staring at me until the car behind us honked for him to go.
"Of course it isn't," I rubbed my eyes. "If that does happen, I'd hope I have one of my Pokemon stopping the bullets. But we aren't dealing with normal, we're dealing with bullshit. So our solutions are going to be shovels."
"That's a terrible analogy," Kalini mumbled.
"Yeah well, this plan is all we've got. Go in, be ready to fight, hope to escape with our lives and souls intact. Got it?"
"You always operate with that weak a plan?" Kalini asked.
"Not weak. Flexible," I said with more confidence than I felt. "If things go wrong, I would rather we don't fall apart because not every last part of our plan went our way. A simple plan doesn't break as easily."
"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense," Kalini calmed down. "That's how a lot of my jobs went well. Too many guys try to get clever with stuff."
"...Well, we have some time. Wanna talk about yourself?" I asked.
"Not really. I wanna hear more about your world."
"Mine?"
"Yeah. Not often you hear a lot about an alien world," Kalini said with some awe. "What was it like?"
"Like Earth, but with Pokemon," I said, thinking of the world he would actually be thinking I was from. "Well, not quite. Different tv shows and other media. We have a universal form of currency, and our tech is both more and less advanced than the stuff in this world. But the big difference is the Pokemon."
"Really now?" Kalini sounded interested. "So there are a bunch of those little guys you can bring out with those, whatcha ma call em?"
"Pokemon. And yeah. They're like animals. Just, you know. Sentient. Or sapient, I could never tell the difference. Traveling in the wilderness there was a real adventure."
Kalini nodded slowly. "Sounds dangerous."
I thought about that, leaning back, wincing as my now cleaned, shoulder and back wounds shouted at me. "I mean, it was dangerous. But only as much as any other wilderness environment. Well, yeah, a lot of Pokemon have weird powers and abilities, but as long as you don't intrude on their territory like an idiot running into a wolf den, you're fine."
Not strictly true of course. But still… I'd been so focused during my journey across the Pokemon world. My Pokemon and I had traveled across plains, mountains, deserts, cities, and deep in caves.
"There was this time," I said softly. "Where I stopped to make camp in a place called Eterna Forest. And I only had Mudkip, Mimikyu, and Gurdurr then. We sat in the forest, and a bunch of Dustox and Beautifly, these moth and butterfly looking Pokemon, were flying around together that night. The moon was really bright, and uh, we ended up drawing the attention of other people. Some trainers. And we didn't really talk. Just, sat in the moonlight, with all of our Pokemon out, watching the Beautifly and Dustox dancing around together, coming down and playing with our Pokemon."
Why had I forgotten that? That moment in the moonlight, sitting with Pokemon trainers and Pokemon, watching Mimikyu and Mudkip play with other Pokemon, laughing when Gurdurr ended up in an arm-wrestling match with a girls Primeape. Why'd I forgot…
"I wish I had been there," Alakazam whispered in my mind. Startled, I reached out to him mentally, but he didn't add anything to that.
"That sounds beautiful, brother," the older man said, smiling softly. "Me and my wife, before she died. We had a small cove we would go out to together. Just sat in the boat, fishing together. Making, well, something you're too young to hear about," he turned and gave me a wink, which I returned with a grin. "Ah, ku-uipo. I miss her… It is good, hoaloha," he said. "To have these memories with those you love."
"It is," I admitted. I chuckled. "Actually… I do have a few funny stories too. Like uh… Well, Tyrunt's awesome. He's always got my back. But he's a prideful little shit, and I love him for it. And one day, that kind of led to him making a huge mistake."
"What did he do?" Kalini asked.
"Well… he was out in the forest, on his own. And he found a big stack of what he describes as 'obviously food set aside for an alpha.' And clearly, Tyrunt was an alpha. So he ate it. All of it. Next thing I know, Tyrunt comes sprinting out of the woods, roaring at me that he did nothing wrong. Then I hear the stomping footsteps. All of a sudden, a tree explodes apart. And-"
I hesitated, thinking of how to describe the Pokemon that appeared.
"Ok. Imagine mixing a panda with a gorilla. Add the shape of a sumo wrestler. Now, make it 7 feet tall and able to shatter trees with a punch and tank anti-tank rounds like candy. That is a Snorlax. Damn thing chased us right up until we jumped in the lake. And to this day, Tyrunt still thinks he did nothing wrong."
Kalini laughed, shaking his head. I laughed as well, but on some level, I was also thinking. Despite everything… Well, the Pokemon world was a hell of an experience. Maybe I'd be able to make some here. Before I went home.
If I survived the next encounter.
------
We came upon the area closest to the address given to us. I stared up at it.
"...That hotel is too nice," I decided after a moment.
It was tall, around 30 stories, with all the hallmarks of a building that guys with my constant income felt nervous about walking into, the sort of place where even entering the lobby had me worried a security guard would jump me.
"Maybe there'll be food?" Kalini said, pulling up to the door. I passed him Tyrunt's pokeball. As we came out, a valet gave us a skeptical look. Then a man stepped over to him.
"Take the keys," the man said confidently. "They're guests," the small comment was followed by the valet apparently taking him at his word, taking Kalini's keys quickly. As the valet rushed off, I looked the man up and down. He was a black man, with very tight dreadlocks on his head and freshly pressed suit. He nodded to us. "Right this way, fellas. He's on his way."
We shared a look.
"Well? Come on," he said, eyeing us.
We followed him. Through a lobby full of overly fancy types. To an elevator, where we waited as it went up an uncomfortably high number of floors. And finally, out to a large room.
The place looked like it belonged in a magazine. It must have taken up an entire floor, with marble floors and exquisite, but not over the top, furniture. In the back was a balcony, with-
"Food!" Kalini rushed forward, his teeth flashing as he rushed forward to take in the bounty before him.
There was a whole bevy of dishes there, a flash of colors all across it. A weird mix too. There were Italian dishes like spaghetti, cannoli, some Hawaiian things I recognized and even some Japanese foods like sushi. All placed for the best possible display that made them look delicious and beautiful. I ignored it, despite a small growl of hunger I felt. I stayed back and away from the balcony.
"Boss is gonna be here soon," the black man said casually. "I'm gonna head out. You two have a good day."
"Any chance you gonna tell us who your boss is?" I asked before he could say anything.
He gave me a look. "You don't know?" when I shook my head, he laughed. He was very condescending, looking at me the way you would someone who was just way behind in every way. "Well, you'll find out I guess. Later, brat."
I grumbled at the reminder that I was a teenager as the chuckling bastard walked out. He entered one of the elevators, and headed down.
"...Hey, you want some of this?" Kalini asked me.
"Not until I know I'm safe," I said immediately. "Last thing I want during a fight is to have seafood bouncing around in my belly."
Kalini looked over at me. "Kid, I-"
The elevator opened again. I watched them carefully. Deadshot came out of the elevators. He was wearing a hat and trenchcoat over his armored costume, presumably as a nod to the art of disguise in a public place.. For a moment, I felt annoyed I hadn't simply attacked as the doors open, before dismissing the thought as overly reckless.
The assassin looked around carefully. After a while, he nodded behind him.
A man followed him. He was wearing a trenchcoat and a hat, both a dark inky black. I couldn't see his face, but he was only slightly smaller around than Deadshot was, meaning he must have been pretty damn built. The two of them came towards us, Deadshot slightly behind and to his right. The man spoke.
"Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you both," his voice had a hint of a growl to it, just enough to make me worried. He sounded… I don't know. Intimidating. He reached up for his hat and swept it off his head, smirking at me. His hair was cut close to his head. His eyes were narrow, focused, like arrows, flinty black pupils taking us in.
"No fucking way," I staggered back, slamming against the table. I stared at him. "W-What!?"
"Yes, I suppose I am a surprising sight to you," the man said smugly.
"How are you even here!?" I shouted, unable to control myself as I clenched at the table behind me, feeling my knuckles fill with pain, my eyes wide.
"Believe me, I would not be here if I had a choice."
"Uh, excuse me?" Kalini said, sounding worried. "Who are you?"
"Ah, my apologies," the man tossed his hat onto an empty spot on the table, walking over to grab a piece of sushi off the table. "I forget, sometimes, that my reputation isn't quite what it once was," he unhooked some buttons on his trenchcoat with one hand and swallowed the sushi in his other hand with a smirk at me.
"My name is Giovanni," he removed his trenchcoat, placing it on a chair, before sitting down and spreading his arms slightly in an inviting gesture. "Now. Let's eat."
------
Author's Note: Nothing I write in this spot will matter. We know what you wanna talk about. See you guys later
And thank you again for your support. I love you guys. My Patreon is available as always if you guys want to support my work and see it earlier than the rest of the world.
"I blame the DC universe screwing over superhumans," I said back.
I was driving through the city with Kalini, the two of us alone now. Gurdurr and Tyrunt were in their pokeballs to rest. I'd had Kalini drive us close enough to Alakazam that we could reconnect, then simply leave.
Deadshot was likely still close. If I could have Alakazam remain a secret weapon for now, watching and waiting from on high to intrude on any fights, we would have more of a chance to survive an attack. So he stayed at the bare edge of his mental range to me, moving along nearby and keeping an eye on us. I couldn't say I was surprised Alakazam couldn't sense Deadshot near us. The guy was likely a mile off, aiming a rifle at a bunch of panels he'd bounce a bullet off to kill us or something. Or was that just the Suicide Squad movie?
Whatever the case, I had Alakazam stay out of sight, keeping up a psychic barrier around him. He was also ready to switch places with one of us if needed. Ally Switch, basically a rougher version of teleport that could only be done close range.
"Kid, can you please talk to me?" Kalini said, drawing my attention to him. His knuckles were tight around the steering wheel, sweat dripping off his face. "I'm kind of freaking out. Who the hell was that guy?"
"Deadshot. One of the best mercs in existence. He's a damn strong bastard. I think there was something about a death wish in there."
"So he wants to die?" Kalini sounded hopeful.
"Yeah, but he uses that to become even more badass. No plan is crazy if you don't give a fuck if it'll work," I sighed. "I'm more worried about his boss. Who the hell wants a piece of me?"
"Everyone? Maybe they think you have alien tech hiding somewhere? Is your ship around?" Kalini asked.
"Yeah, I left it in a volcano," I said sarcastically.
Kalini turned to look at me.
"I didn't come by ship, I came by a portal," I said with a sigh. Well, a portal and a divine llama.
"Can you not be sarcastic?" he said, glaring at me. "I'm dealing with a lot of crazy shit here man! I'm trying to help you, so you-"
"I know, I know," I sighed, shaking my head. "Believe me, I get it. I just tend to lean on anger and sarcasm when I want to deal with things. It helps me focus better than fear does… We don't know what the boss wants from us," I leaned forward, thinking aloud, Kalini and Alakazam listening in different ways. "But he wants something. That means we might have some negotiating room to keep a bullet from entering our heads. It depends on what they want of course, but it's an opening."
"You think they want to capture you?" Kalini suggested.
"If they do, they had their opening. I'm worried about Deadshot killing us, but if he tries to capture me, it's gonna be a lot harder now that we're wary. And he could have killed us earlier if he wanted us dead. So we have something this guy wants, and he doesn't want to kill or capture us to get it… Okay. Here's the plan. Hold this," I took Tyrunt's ball out. "As we go in. Tyrunt being away from me gives us an unexpected angle of attack."
"How do I let him out?"
"You don't. There's a safety that only lets me release him deliberately. But Tyrunt will come out when I call. When we get to this place, stand well behind me."
"Are you sure?" he said uncomfortably, wiping away some sweat as he turned the car to go left. "I mean, you're a kid."
"I can also tank bullets," I reminded him, feeling some pain from my shoulder as I said that. Man, the wounds in my chest and back were still painful as well. "You can't. If I get shot, then I'll make a good shield to keep you alive."
"That's not- Kid, that isn't a normal thought to have!" he said, staring at me until the car behind us honked for him to go.
"Of course it isn't," I rubbed my eyes. "If that does happen, I'd hope I have one of my Pokemon stopping the bullets. But we aren't dealing with normal, we're dealing with bullshit. So our solutions are going to be shovels."
"That's a terrible analogy," Kalini mumbled.
"Yeah well, this plan is all we've got. Go in, be ready to fight, hope to escape with our lives and souls intact. Got it?"
"You always operate with that weak a plan?" Kalini asked.
"Not weak. Flexible," I said with more confidence than I felt. "If things go wrong, I would rather we don't fall apart because not every last part of our plan went our way. A simple plan doesn't break as easily."
"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense," Kalini calmed down. "That's how a lot of my jobs went well. Too many guys try to get clever with stuff."
"...Well, we have some time. Wanna talk about yourself?" I asked.
"Not really. I wanna hear more about your world."
"Mine?"
"Yeah. Not often you hear a lot about an alien world," Kalini said with some awe. "What was it like?"
"Like Earth, but with Pokemon," I said, thinking of the world he would actually be thinking I was from. "Well, not quite. Different tv shows and other media. We have a universal form of currency, and our tech is both more and less advanced than the stuff in this world. But the big difference is the Pokemon."
"Really now?" Kalini sounded interested. "So there are a bunch of those little guys you can bring out with those, whatcha ma call em?"
"Pokemon. And yeah. They're like animals. Just, you know. Sentient. Or sapient, I could never tell the difference. Traveling in the wilderness there was a real adventure."
Kalini nodded slowly. "Sounds dangerous."
I thought about that, leaning back, wincing as my now cleaned, shoulder and back wounds shouted at me. "I mean, it was dangerous. But only as much as any other wilderness environment. Well, yeah, a lot of Pokemon have weird powers and abilities, but as long as you don't intrude on their territory like an idiot running into a wolf den, you're fine."
Not strictly true of course. But still… I'd been so focused during my journey across the Pokemon world. My Pokemon and I had traveled across plains, mountains, deserts, cities, and deep in caves.
"There was this time," I said softly. "Where I stopped to make camp in a place called Eterna Forest. And I only had Mudkip, Mimikyu, and Gurdurr then. We sat in the forest, and a bunch of Dustox and Beautifly, these moth and butterfly looking Pokemon, were flying around together that night. The moon was really bright, and uh, we ended up drawing the attention of other people. Some trainers. And we didn't really talk. Just, sat in the moonlight, with all of our Pokemon out, watching the Beautifly and Dustox dancing around together, coming down and playing with our Pokemon."
Why had I forgotten that? That moment in the moonlight, sitting with Pokemon trainers and Pokemon, watching Mimikyu and Mudkip play with other Pokemon, laughing when Gurdurr ended up in an arm-wrestling match with a girls Primeape. Why'd I forgot…
"I wish I had been there," Alakazam whispered in my mind. Startled, I reached out to him mentally, but he didn't add anything to that.
"That sounds beautiful, brother," the older man said, smiling softly. "Me and my wife, before she died. We had a small cove we would go out to together. Just sat in the boat, fishing together. Making, well, something you're too young to hear about," he turned and gave me a wink, which I returned with a grin. "Ah, ku-uipo. I miss her… It is good, hoaloha," he said. "To have these memories with those you love."
"It is," I admitted. I chuckled. "Actually… I do have a few funny stories too. Like uh… Well, Tyrunt's awesome. He's always got my back. But he's a prideful little shit, and I love him for it. And one day, that kind of led to him making a huge mistake."
"What did he do?" Kalini asked.
"Well… he was out in the forest, on his own. And he found a big stack of what he describes as 'obviously food set aside for an alpha.' And clearly, Tyrunt was an alpha. So he ate it. All of it. Next thing I know, Tyrunt comes sprinting out of the woods, roaring at me that he did nothing wrong. Then I hear the stomping footsteps. All of a sudden, a tree explodes apart. And-"
I hesitated, thinking of how to describe the Pokemon that appeared.
"Ok. Imagine mixing a panda with a gorilla. Add the shape of a sumo wrestler. Now, make it 7 feet tall and able to shatter trees with a punch and tank anti-tank rounds like candy. That is a Snorlax. Damn thing chased us right up until we jumped in the lake. And to this day, Tyrunt still thinks he did nothing wrong."
Kalini laughed, shaking his head. I laughed as well, but on some level, I was also thinking. Despite everything… Well, the Pokemon world was a hell of an experience. Maybe I'd be able to make some here. Before I went home.
If I survived the next encounter.
------
We came upon the area closest to the address given to us. I stared up at it.
"...That hotel is too nice," I decided after a moment.
It was tall, around 30 stories, with all the hallmarks of a building that guys with my constant income felt nervous about walking into, the sort of place where even entering the lobby had me worried a security guard would jump me.
"Maybe there'll be food?" Kalini said, pulling up to the door. I passed him Tyrunt's pokeball. As we came out, a valet gave us a skeptical look. Then a man stepped over to him.
"Take the keys," the man said confidently. "They're guests," the small comment was followed by the valet apparently taking him at his word, taking Kalini's keys quickly. As the valet rushed off, I looked the man up and down. He was a black man, with very tight dreadlocks on his head and freshly pressed suit. He nodded to us. "Right this way, fellas. He's on his way."
We shared a look.
"Well? Come on," he said, eyeing us.
We followed him. Through a lobby full of overly fancy types. To an elevator, where we waited as it went up an uncomfortably high number of floors. And finally, out to a large room.
The place looked like it belonged in a magazine. It must have taken up an entire floor, with marble floors and exquisite, but not over the top, furniture. In the back was a balcony, with-
"Food!" Kalini rushed forward, his teeth flashing as he rushed forward to take in the bounty before him.
There was a whole bevy of dishes there, a flash of colors all across it. A weird mix too. There were Italian dishes like spaghetti, cannoli, some Hawaiian things I recognized and even some Japanese foods like sushi. All placed for the best possible display that made them look delicious and beautiful. I ignored it, despite a small growl of hunger I felt. I stayed back and away from the balcony.
"Boss is gonna be here soon," the black man said casually. "I'm gonna head out. You two have a good day."
"Any chance you gonna tell us who your boss is?" I asked before he could say anything.
He gave me a look. "You don't know?" when I shook my head, he laughed. He was very condescending, looking at me the way you would someone who was just way behind in every way. "Well, you'll find out I guess. Later, brat."
I grumbled at the reminder that I was a teenager as the chuckling bastard walked out. He entered one of the elevators, and headed down.
"...Hey, you want some of this?" Kalini asked me.
"Not until I know I'm safe," I said immediately. "Last thing I want during a fight is to have seafood bouncing around in my belly."
Kalini looked over at me. "Kid, I-"
The elevator opened again. I watched them carefully. Deadshot came out of the elevators. He was wearing a hat and trenchcoat over his armored costume, presumably as a nod to the art of disguise in a public place.. For a moment, I felt annoyed I hadn't simply attacked as the doors open, before dismissing the thought as overly reckless.
The assassin looked around carefully. After a while, he nodded behind him.
A man followed him. He was wearing a trenchcoat and a hat, both a dark inky black. I couldn't see his face, but he was only slightly smaller around than Deadshot was, meaning he must have been pretty damn built. The two of them came towards us, Deadshot slightly behind and to his right. The man spoke.
"Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you both," his voice had a hint of a growl to it, just enough to make me worried. He sounded… I don't know. Intimidating. He reached up for his hat and swept it off his head, smirking at me. His hair was cut close to his head. His eyes were narrow, focused, like arrows, flinty black pupils taking us in.
"No fucking way," I staggered back, slamming against the table. I stared at him. "W-What!?"
"Yes, I suppose I am a surprising sight to you," the man said smugly.
"How are you even here!?" I shouted, unable to control myself as I clenched at the table behind me, feeling my knuckles fill with pain, my eyes wide.
"Believe me, I would not be here if I had a choice."
"Uh, excuse me?" Kalini said, sounding worried. "Who are you?"
"Ah, my apologies," the man tossed his hat onto an empty spot on the table, walking over to grab a piece of sushi off the table. "I forget, sometimes, that my reputation isn't quite what it once was," he unhooked some buttons on his trenchcoat with one hand and swallowed the sushi in his other hand with a smirk at me.
"My name is Giovanni," he removed his trenchcoat, placing it on a chair, before sitting down and spreading his arms slightly in an inviting gesture. "Now. Let's eat."
------
Author's Note: Nothing I write in this spot will matter. We know what you wanna talk about. See you guys later
And thank you again for your support. I love you guys. My Patreon is available as always if you guys want to support my work and see it earlier than the rest of the world.
GameDragon
Too Hot To Handle
- Location
- Challenger Deep
Well. That's definitely a twist I'd never see coming in a million years. I was expecting something like Luthor in order to pay for Deadshot, but man, Giovanni is just... so good. Props for that.
I wonder how Giovanni managed to hire deadshot. Talk about money and power
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
...that suggests that the portal that brought our protagonist here is not an isolated incident. Who knows who or what else has been brought in over the years?
Also, relevant topic of discussion: is Giovanni a member of the Light, or no? I suspect we'll get more clues to this in the next update but I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts regardless.
Also, relevant topic of discussion: is Giovanni a member of the Light, or no? I suspect we'll get more clues to this in the next update but I'm interested in hearing people's thoughts regardless.
RexHeller
Title Incoming. Please Hold.
- Location
- Somewhere else.
So, clearly, Giovanni has been here awhile if he has enough resources to hire Deadshot. This leaves a couple of questions.
1. Does he have Pokémon or not. Having them means that he would be able to use them to build up a resource base faster, plus he has his beat sticks. If not, that means he built up money and influence, likely his own gang, from nothing but his own intelligence and charisma. Not sure which is scarier.
2. Which Giovanni is it, as that likely changes his goals. Regular Giovanni would probably just want to get home as well, which could lead to an offer of alliance. Rainbow Rocket Giovanni, if I remember correctly (haven't played ultra sun or moon) might be here on purpose since his thing was reaching out across universes.
1. Does he have Pokémon or not. Having them means that he would be able to use them to build up a resource base faster, plus he has his beat sticks. If not, that means he built up money and influence, likely his own gang, from nothing but his own intelligence and charisma. Not sure which is scarier.
2. Which Giovanni is it, as that likely changes his goals. Regular Giovanni would probably just want to get home as well, which could lead to an offer of alliance. Rainbow Rocket Giovanni, if I remember correctly (haven't played ultra sun or moon) might be here on purpose since his thing was reaching out across universes.
Hydrochlorinate
Semi-Professional Human
- Location
- Somewhere, enjoying winter
Yeah, we wanna talk about how Snorlax is obviously a bear and not a panda gorillaAuthor's Note: Nothing I write in this spot will matter. We know what you wanna talk about. See you guys later
- Location
- MI
....... Wait..... Cadmus can clone kryptonians, beings famous for having impossible DNA..... Please tell me Giovanni doesn't still have that damned fossil of Mew's eyelash. If the powerscale from the games and movies is to be believed, the Rocket's magnum opus is an existential threat and could go toe to toe with the leagues heavy hitters.
13
Giovanni. The leader of Team Rocket, and later Rainbow Rocket. A man who had managed to take on some of the most powerful trainers in the world and taken them down. A guy who had a small army of idiots working for him… but also had some legit dangerous men and women under his control. A few with legendary Pokemon.
Oh god… Mewtwo. He might have Mewtwo. A Mewtwo with a Mega Stone.
I could feel Alakazam in my mind as he girded himself. We knew, for a fact, Giovanni was dangerous. Insanely so. But Mewtwo… There was footage of Giovanni and Mewtwo going toe to toe with the Alolan Champion and several others. I did not feel up to taking on that level of psychic power.
I'd made a mistake. I should have taken my chances with Deadshot.
"Before we begin," the most infamous man in Pokemon history said. "I believe Mr. Lawton, you mentioned that Kahu Kiaʻi's Pokemon had sustained injuries?"
I had yet to sit. Neither had Deadshot. Kalini did, making sure he was behind me, though he seemed to have lost his appetite. Giovanni, in the meantime, was casually dining.
"Yes. If that's what the dinosaur and the construction worker are," Deadshot said without a hint of emotion.
"Well. Can't have that, can we?" Giovanni reached into his coat and pulled something out. A large bottle, the kind you would use for hand sanitizer. He placed it on the table and gestured. "I imagine a potion would help with that."
"...How much of that do you have?" I asked.
Giovanni smirked. "More than I need, less than I want. But we'll speak about my resources, or lack thereof, later. For now, why don't you bring out your Tyrunt and Gurdurr."
I stared at him. Then I reached for my belt. If he wanted my Pokemon dead, they would have been dead. Poisoning them in front of me would do nothing. Just in case though.
"Mind cutting your thumb and-"
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed a steak knife and sliced it across his thumb, blood dripping onto the balcony floor. He showed me the cut, a deep one that had lacerated into muscle, then spritzed the cut with some of the chemicals in the bottle. He rubbed it for a moment, then lifted his thumb up to display it.
"I'll be damned," Kalini whispered.
I took my pokeballs out and snapped them open. Tyrunt and Gurdurr came out and looked around. Their eyes landed on Giovanni, and they stared. Tyrunt's jaw slowly lowered. Gurdurr's hands tightened on his I-beam.
"Well!?" Alakazam said in my mind from wherever he had hidden. "Ask him questions!?"
I grabbed the bottle and sprayed some of the potion into my hand, lowering to rub it across Tyrunt's various wounds. He winced at the feel of the chemicals slightly burning, but relaxed as he began to heal.
"How are you here?"
"The same way you must have, I assume. By the benefit of a higher power," Giovanni said. "Would you like to hear the story? I'm quite interested to tell it."
We met eyes for a moment.
"...Yeah. Yeah, I want to hear it," I said softly.
"Wonderful," Giovanni leaned back. "I'm curious. What is the last thing people in our home know about me? So that I'm not repeating myself when I tell this."
Our home?
"He thinks you're a native of our world," Alakazam whispered. "I assume. His mental defenses… I cannot read him."
"Then just analyze him with my eyes. Memorize every bit of his body language. We'll figure him out," I whispered.
"Which version are you?" I asked. "Are you the Giovanni who fought and was defeated by Trainer Red? Or the one that created a multi-dimensional army and tried to take over mine?"
Giovanni grinned. "Ah. So that's where you're from. Yes. I was the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket.
"Was. Not is. Curious," Alakazam whispered.
"You fought the Alolan champion and his allies to try and keep a hold of the Aether Foundation. And you disappeared in a flash when you got beaten."
"Oh?" Giovanni chuckled, pouring himself a glass of wine, watching as I rubbed potion across Gurdurr. Tyrunt's mouth had closed, and he was beginning to growl. Giovanni was unimpressed. "Then I will tell my story from there."
"I left that world. And I travelled to others. I visited worlds of such beauty as would put tears in the eyes of the most hardened of men. Places that would make nightmares cower in fear," he casually sipped at his drink. "Before I eventually was pulled, against my will, into a world I had been avoiding. A world where time did not exist, where physics had no hold."
Giovanni sipped more wine. "Where I was trapped. For what must have been months. I walked in that horrific darkness. In that… hell," he shrugged, drinking more. "Until the warden saw fit to kick me out."
I thought quickly, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "...Giratina? The Distortion World?"
"Ah. You understand," Giovanni placed his glass down and looked at Kalini. "Tell me, you are Kalini ʻŌpūnui, correct?"
Kalini looked at me. I nodded, finishing my healing of Tyrunt and Gurdurr. He looked back at Giovanni, though his eyes flickered at Deadshot, who was standing there… menacingly.
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Let us say, like me, you had just released one of your finest friends and employees, allowing them to live their dream. And your reward for that, is to be pulled into a world you had only some knowledge of, and forced to survive in that desolate world. Months in hell, feeding on scraps, hunting for a way out, only creatures like these," he gestured to Tyrunt and Gurdurr. "As your friends and allies. And when you are released, instead of going home. A being of immense power and influence decides to force you into another world. What would you do, Kalini?
Kalini stared at me. I ignored him, instead thinking.
Damnit. There were differences. But I'd have to be blind not to realize the similarities between our situations.
"I'd probably try to find a boat," Kalini said. "Get back to my business."
"Ah. Very nice. And please, eat, all of you," Giovanni laughed, a big belly laugh. "This is too much food for me and Mr. Lawton, and I'm afraid he never removes that mask when working."
Deadshot didn't agree or disagree. Only watching everything.
"...Tyrunt, Gurdurr. Eat as much as you can," Tyrunt looked at me, confused. Then at the table. Then a dinosaur was on the table happily shoving piles of chicken into his mouth, grabbing portions of spicy pork as well.
"We must be subtler, Mahmoud," Alakazam warned me. "Being confrontational won't-"
"Do you have Mewtwo?" I asked, Alakazam sending a pulse of annoyance at me. I sent back my reasoning very quickly, but stayed focused on Giovanni as I did.
"I do not," Giovanni watched Tyrunt eating quickly and savagely. "But then, I suppose you have no need to believe that, do you? It seems my bad reputation has spread rather quickly, hm?"
"Blame fake news," I said, making a joke ahead of its time. "Giovanni. You came to this world. I'm guessing, based on your approval of Kalini, that you're back to your old tricks."
"Only some," Giovanni looked me in the eyes. "Let me ask you something. Do you believe me to be a fool?"
"Huh?" I asked, surprised. Oh shit, did he know about Alakazam?
"I have been in this world for some time. Travelled through it, studied it. And I know well what my attempting to return to my old business would bring upon me. I cannot beat the League and their allies," Giovanni shook his head sadly, though he was still weirdly smug. "All those foolish 'villains' currently fighting a losing battle for scraps of non-existent power. What idiots."
He waved at Deadshot. "Mr. Lawton knows the type well. Those who lose themselves in grudge matches and moronic displays of machismo. And fail to obtain any real power."
"Not exactly my wheelhouse," Deadshot said drily.
"So what is real power, to you?" I asked.
"Freedom," Giovanni leaned back in his seat and looked out at Honolulu. "The ability to make any choice I wish and have the world bend to allow it. I won't sacrifice that for reasons as vague and immaterial as sadism, pride, or simple stupidity. So, in this world, I am the successful businessman, Giovanni Giovanni."
"Giovanni twice?" Kalini asked, befuddled. He was also chomping into a big chunk of meat as he spoke.
"My mother was a fan of repetition," Giovanni said without a hint of humor.
I thought on that. So the reason he claimed he wasn't going all, 'I will complete my evil schemes!' was… pragmatism? He didn't have the resources or overpowered Pokemon he'd had in our world. So he decided to instead just become a normal businessman.
I could almost accept that explanation. In the world of Pokemon, the strongest trainers made the big decisions. Strong Pokemon allowed you to go wherever you wanted, to get money off battles or any other way you wanted. It took a specific mindset to have the dedication to actually train a Pokemon to that level of power, but anyone who did would find a life of wealth and power.
But in this world, there was only one thing that gave you that equivalent level of power. Money. People might think it was metahumans and super-science, but those things weren't helpful on their own. They were much better for building money. Lex Luthor, for example, had a massive amount of power, more than most countries. In fact, his attempts at supervillains were the greatest risk to his power. When he stopped being a supervillain, and focused on being an amoral businessman and scientist, he ended up in a much better place overall.
On the other hand, Killer Croc and Captain Cold, examples of people who used meta power and science tech for villainy never seemed to find themselves anything but temporary pleasures. And when they did, a spandex wearer took them out.
Considering all of that, Giovanni actually made a lot of sense. Back in the other world, having strong Pokemon was the path to power, and a person with loose morals would find it easier to just steal them.
But that still left a couple questions.
"So how are you making money then?" I asked Giovanni.
He quirked an eyebrow. Then he looked at the bottle he'd left on the table. The bottle that, in our world had stuff capable of healing anyone, Pokemon or human, as long as you applied the correct amounts. Granted, it was possible to overdose on it like any other medicine, and it didn't cure literally everything. But the medical profession in the Pokemon world was a whole lot easier thanks to miracles like that.
"The simple potion. In our world, a common and easily reproducible product. Here? Well, it took some time to find the scientists who could reproduce it. The capitol to begin making more. But once I did, hospitals seem to love it," Giovanni smirked. "And the FDA, as they call it, is an absolute joke to work around."
"You're selling potion to hospitals," I said, deadpan.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" he bragged. "I may not have had the resources of my organization, but I had the time, and I had the ingredients, depleted as they were from my months in the Distortion."
Berries, then. All the top trainers had a bunch of them. I'd run out, but Giovanni likely had a whole farm's worth when he came here.
Damn. It was simple logic, but it WORKED. Sell the weakest version of potion to hospitals. Make a fortune. Then, if you needed more money? Sell burn heal to fire stations. Sell the upgraded super potion to militaries. Sell antidotes. He had an entire centuries worth of advancements in medicine from the Pokemon world, and he could milk the DC universe as much as he wanted.
"...Ask him the big question," Alakazam whispered.
"Why are you even telling me all of this?" I said at last. "I doubt you wanted me here just to brag."
"I actually do like bragging," Giovanni said, smirking at the little look I gave him. "Young man, I am very proud of all I've accomplished. I see no reason to be humble about what I've gained and lost. To this day, the only loss I've ever accepted was from those young Alolan trainers. And I'm quite proud of them for the prize they gained in my loss. The only person I've been able to speak to about this is Lawton, and I'm afraid he is harder to impress than you are."
I didn't know how to take that.
"But no. That is not the reason. Nor are your Pokemon. While fine specimens," he looked at Tyrunt and Gurdurr. The fighting-type was leaning against his I-beam, listening closely to every word. Tyrunt was digging through a pile of meatballs and chomping happily into the meat, absolute joy on his face. "I have no need for them."
He didn't have Mewtwo. But he still had Pokemon. Likely fully-evolved, extremely well trained. Footage I'd seen on the news in Sinnoh had shown a Nidoking that had shaken apart a building with an Aqua Tail attack. Not Earthquake. Aqua Tail.
Earthquake had been worse.
"In fact, I would have loved to ignore you," Giovanni smiled at my glare. "I don't wish to seek out conflict. But your arrival, the people you have contended with. They draw questions. Questions I wish to ask."
"...You know, I might answer those questions."
"Kid," Kalini said dangerously. I held up a hand for him to wait a moment.
"Giovanni. I want to ask one more thing first," I said, leaning forward to look at him. He watched silently, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Whatever you want to ask. Do at least one of those things constitute a service to you?"
"Oh?" he pretended to think about it. "Possibly."
"Ask away then."
His lips flickered in movement. He drummed his fingers against the table.
"How were you sent here?"
"Arceus pushed me through a portal," no need to tell him I'd been hunting his idiot subordinates.
"Arceus, truly?" Giovanni's eyebrows lifted. "Now why would the creator of our universe decide to waste time on you?"
"I have a way with people. Next question."
For the first time, his smirking smile disappeared. I felt a slow chilly trail come down along my spine, goosebumps following it. Then the smirk came back.
"So Giratina exiles me here. Then Arceus pushes you in. I wonder… Well. You appeared in this world, and eventually came into conflict with the Silicon Dragons. Deadshot here tells me there is quite a bounty for your death. Why have you gone against them?"
"I didn't do it on purpose," I scoffed. "They just ended up in my way twice. Seriously, this last fight with them was the only time they actually came after me."
"Far luckier than I am, then," Giovanni looked over at Lawton. "I've been dealing with them for long enough that I've had to hire Mr. Lawton simply so they will be forced to back off."
"Dealing with them?" I asked.
"As enemies," Giovanni shook his head. "They are… persistent. Obsessed with their strange 'honor' code."
"How exactly did you end up making an enemy of them while selling medical supplies?" I asked pointedly.
Just as pointedly, he responded. "I imagine when they realized what a huge advantage even a bit of potion allows in battle. And organised crime always tries to influence businesses that make money. Something that, I'm sure you know, I have some experience with."
...Fair. As a tried and true master of the 'spam full restores and revives until you win' method of battle, I knew the value of a healing item. And gangs loved having a hand in businesses. All sorts of ways to take advantage of the right connections.
"Wait, are you okay with Lawton and Kalini knowing about all this?" I asked as though it had just occurred to me.
"Uh, kid," Kalini said nervously. "Maybe we can just forget that I'm here?"
"I'm afraid I can't, Mr. ʻŌpūnui," Giovanni said. "You know of this young man's… unique qualities. That makes you a person of interest. For multiple reasons. You knowing anything about me is negligible by this point," he chuckled. "You should be proud, Mr. ʻŌpūnui! You're privy to information few on this planet have any idea about."
"Ah… well, fuck me," Kalini sighed.
"As for Mr. Lawton, he is a professional. As he put it, as long as the information, or lack thereof, I give him does not bite him in the buttocks, he does not care, is that correct, Mr. Lawton?"
"I said ass, actually."
"Indeed. As long as it doesn't bite him in the ass. And honestly, he is my most prized business associate and bodyguard. What I know, Mr. Lawton knows."
Now wasn't that just adorable?.
"Now. Kahu. What do you plan to do from here on?" Giovanni asked me. "Will you allow the Silicon Dragons to continue chasing you? Hounding anyone you associate with?"
"...You want me to take them out," I said darkly. Tyrunt growled. Gurdurr clenched his I-beam tightly in his fist.
"It would be of benefit to me, yes," Giovanni admitted. "But that doesn't mean that it doesn't help you."
"Why me then?" I asked. "Why not have Lawton take them out from two miles away?"
"Because I need Lawton at my side," Giovanni said. "As for why you? Because you have Pokemon. You have a power I understand, a power I can help you with. I need someone like you, Kahu. You've had a habit of disappearing after every battle, which means you have some skill in staying somewhat hidden. But I've also seen how you and your Pokemon fight. I've seen powerful Pokemon, powerful trainers. But not many as vicious or willing to get their hands dirty."
That would be the pissed off adult inside me.
"If I aid you, provide you with the tools and weapons you need," Giovanni leaned forward to meet my eyes. "Then you can take care of a thorn in both our sides. In some ways, you would be taking care of a thorn in the sides of Hawaii in general. Help the people of this land, Kahu Kiaʻi."
"...Dude, seriously?"
"Too much?" Giovanni smirked. "My apologies. I've only recently gone legit. I'm not great with these sorts of speeches."
Legit my ass. Maybe he was following the laws of this world, but I doubted he was some moral paragon.
"...Okay. Let's figure this out then," I finally sat down, my legs thanking me. I reached for a lobster and cracked it apart, digging in for the meat. "You're right. I don't want the Silicon Dragons chasing me or Kalini around anymore. And I do need resources. But if you want my help, we're gonna have a fucking contract."
"I'll have a notary of the public come to join us," he said jokingly. "A contract, really?"
"Not a real one. I just want to make sure there are defined lines in this little endeavor. Maybe you're on the up and up. Maybe you really do just want to shut down a bunch of dickheads and are using the sudden weapon that dropped into your lap. Maybe your plan after this really is to just say goodbye and go about your business," I narrowed my eyes. "But if not, well… We'll make our amends in the end."
Giovanni stared at me. For a moment, just one, things got tense. Lawton's eyes were focused on all of us. Kalini swallowed as sweat beaded on his forehead. Tyrunt chewed slowly on a chicken leg.
"...Then let us make a deal, shall we?" Giovanni said levily.
"Part one is done," Alakazam whispered in my mind. "Now we'll need to prepare for the next. When we begin to confront the Silicon Dragons directly."
That was when Lawton spoke up. "You gonna have that alien on the roof join us now or what?"
I stared at him, shocked. Before I could answer, Alakazam spoke. "Ah, so he finally decided to say something."
Alakazam sent me a flicker of amusement when I sputtered. "You knew that he saw you!?"
"He's a very observant human."
My Pokemon are so damn weird…
------
Author's Note: There were going to be other perspectives. And then, all of a sudden, Giovanni demanded to speak. He's one of those characters where writing him is kinda addictive. It just ended up with me having the others respond to his presence, rather than Kahu overtaking him.
Which, honestly, just kinda makes sense. People think charisma is about being so nice people can't help but like you, but anyone with a bit of thinking will realize that it's more than that. It's the ability to dominate any social setting. Whether that means being nice, mean, tough, gentle, real charismatic people can control a room with just the emotion and words that fit the audience and the situation best. Even with all his distrust, built from childhood in one world and news in another, Kahu stayed.
Hopefully, I made that clear.
In the meantime, the next chapter of MOMO is currently up on Patreon, and the next chapter of Dial is gonna be published soon. Please consider supporting me, as I'm close to being able to do this full time, and supporting me there gets you all these chapters early!
Oh god… Mewtwo. He might have Mewtwo. A Mewtwo with a Mega Stone.
I could feel Alakazam in my mind as he girded himself. We knew, for a fact, Giovanni was dangerous. Insanely so. But Mewtwo… There was footage of Giovanni and Mewtwo going toe to toe with the Alolan Champion and several others. I did not feel up to taking on that level of psychic power.
I'd made a mistake. I should have taken my chances with Deadshot.
"Before we begin," the most infamous man in Pokemon history said. "I believe Mr. Lawton, you mentioned that Kahu Kiaʻi's Pokemon had sustained injuries?"
I had yet to sit. Neither had Deadshot. Kalini did, making sure he was behind me, though he seemed to have lost his appetite. Giovanni, in the meantime, was casually dining.
"Yes. If that's what the dinosaur and the construction worker are," Deadshot said without a hint of emotion.
"Well. Can't have that, can we?" Giovanni reached into his coat and pulled something out. A large bottle, the kind you would use for hand sanitizer. He placed it on the table and gestured. "I imagine a potion would help with that."
"...How much of that do you have?" I asked.
Giovanni smirked. "More than I need, less than I want. But we'll speak about my resources, or lack thereof, later. For now, why don't you bring out your Tyrunt and Gurdurr."
I stared at him. Then I reached for my belt. If he wanted my Pokemon dead, they would have been dead. Poisoning them in front of me would do nothing. Just in case though.
"Mind cutting your thumb and-"
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed a steak knife and sliced it across his thumb, blood dripping onto the balcony floor. He showed me the cut, a deep one that had lacerated into muscle, then spritzed the cut with some of the chemicals in the bottle. He rubbed it for a moment, then lifted his thumb up to display it.
"I'll be damned," Kalini whispered.
I took my pokeballs out and snapped them open. Tyrunt and Gurdurr came out and looked around. Their eyes landed on Giovanni, and they stared. Tyrunt's jaw slowly lowered. Gurdurr's hands tightened on his I-beam.
"Well!?" Alakazam said in my mind from wherever he had hidden. "Ask him questions!?"
I grabbed the bottle and sprayed some of the potion into my hand, lowering to rub it across Tyrunt's various wounds. He winced at the feel of the chemicals slightly burning, but relaxed as he began to heal.
"How are you here?"
"The same way you must have, I assume. By the benefit of a higher power," Giovanni said. "Would you like to hear the story? I'm quite interested to tell it."
We met eyes for a moment.
"...Yeah. Yeah, I want to hear it," I said softly.
"Wonderful," Giovanni leaned back. "I'm curious. What is the last thing people in our home know about me? So that I'm not repeating myself when I tell this."
Our home?
"He thinks you're a native of our world," Alakazam whispered. "I assume. His mental defenses… I cannot read him."
"Then just analyze him with my eyes. Memorize every bit of his body language. We'll figure him out," I whispered.
"Which version are you?" I asked. "Are you the Giovanni who fought and was defeated by Trainer Red? Or the one that created a multi-dimensional army and tried to take over mine?"
Giovanni grinned. "Ah. So that's where you're from. Yes. I was the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket.
"Was. Not is. Curious," Alakazam whispered.
"You fought the Alolan champion and his allies to try and keep a hold of the Aether Foundation. And you disappeared in a flash when you got beaten."
"Oh?" Giovanni chuckled, pouring himself a glass of wine, watching as I rubbed potion across Gurdurr. Tyrunt's mouth had closed, and he was beginning to growl. Giovanni was unimpressed. "Then I will tell my story from there."
"I left that world. And I travelled to others. I visited worlds of such beauty as would put tears in the eyes of the most hardened of men. Places that would make nightmares cower in fear," he casually sipped at his drink. "Before I eventually was pulled, against my will, into a world I had been avoiding. A world where time did not exist, where physics had no hold."
Giovanni sipped more wine. "Where I was trapped. For what must have been months. I walked in that horrific darkness. In that… hell," he shrugged, drinking more. "Until the warden saw fit to kick me out."
I thought quickly, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "...Giratina? The Distortion World?"
"Ah. You understand," Giovanni placed his glass down and looked at Kalini. "Tell me, you are Kalini ʻŌpūnui, correct?"
Kalini looked at me. I nodded, finishing my healing of Tyrunt and Gurdurr. He looked back at Giovanni, though his eyes flickered at Deadshot, who was standing there… menacingly.
"Yes. Yes, I am."
"Let us say, like me, you had just released one of your finest friends and employees, allowing them to live their dream. And your reward for that, is to be pulled into a world you had only some knowledge of, and forced to survive in that desolate world. Months in hell, feeding on scraps, hunting for a way out, only creatures like these," he gestured to Tyrunt and Gurdurr. "As your friends and allies. And when you are released, instead of going home. A being of immense power and influence decides to force you into another world. What would you do, Kalini?
Kalini stared at me. I ignored him, instead thinking.
Damnit. There were differences. But I'd have to be blind not to realize the similarities between our situations.
"I'd probably try to find a boat," Kalini said. "Get back to my business."
"Ah. Very nice. And please, eat, all of you," Giovanni laughed, a big belly laugh. "This is too much food for me and Mr. Lawton, and I'm afraid he never removes that mask when working."
Deadshot didn't agree or disagree. Only watching everything.
"...Tyrunt, Gurdurr. Eat as much as you can," Tyrunt looked at me, confused. Then at the table. Then a dinosaur was on the table happily shoving piles of chicken into his mouth, grabbing portions of spicy pork as well.
"We must be subtler, Mahmoud," Alakazam warned me. "Being confrontational won't-"
"Do you have Mewtwo?" I asked, Alakazam sending a pulse of annoyance at me. I sent back my reasoning very quickly, but stayed focused on Giovanni as I did.
"I do not," Giovanni watched Tyrunt eating quickly and savagely. "But then, I suppose you have no need to believe that, do you? It seems my bad reputation has spread rather quickly, hm?"
"Blame fake news," I said, making a joke ahead of its time. "Giovanni. You came to this world. I'm guessing, based on your approval of Kalini, that you're back to your old tricks."
"Only some," Giovanni looked me in the eyes. "Let me ask you something. Do you believe me to be a fool?"
"Huh?" I asked, surprised. Oh shit, did he know about Alakazam?
"I have been in this world for some time. Travelled through it, studied it. And I know well what my attempting to return to my old business would bring upon me. I cannot beat the League and their allies," Giovanni shook his head sadly, though he was still weirdly smug. "All those foolish 'villains' currently fighting a losing battle for scraps of non-existent power. What idiots."
He waved at Deadshot. "Mr. Lawton knows the type well. Those who lose themselves in grudge matches and moronic displays of machismo. And fail to obtain any real power."
"Not exactly my wheelhouse," Deadshot said drily.
"So what is real power, to you?" I asked.
"Freedom," Giovanni leaned back in his seat and looked out at Honolulu. "The ability to make any choice I wish and have the world bend to allow it. I won't sacrifice that for reasons as vague and immaterial as sadism, pride, or simple stupidity. So, in this world, I am the successful businessman, Giovanni Giovanni."
"Giovanni twice?" Kalini asked, befuddled. He was also chomping into a big chunk of meat as he spoke.
"My mother was a fan of repetition," Giovanni said without a hint of humor.
I thought on that. So the reason he claimed he wasn't going all, 'I will complete my evil schemes!' was… pragmatism? He didn't have the resources or overpowered Pokemon he'd had in our world. So he decided to instead just become a normal businessman.
I could almost accept that explanation. In the world of Pokemon, the strongest trainers made the big decisions. Strong Pokemon allowed you to go wherever you wanted, to get money off battles or any other way you wanted. It took a specific mindset to have the dedication to actually train a Pokemon to that level of power, but anyone who did would find a life of wealth and power.
But in this world, there was only one thing that gave you that equivalent level of power. Money. People might think it was metahumans and super-science, but those things weren't helpful on their own. They were much better for building money. Lex Luthor, for example, had a massive amount of power, more than most countries. In fact, his attempts at supervillains were the greatest risk to his power. When he stopped being a supervillain, and focused on being an amoral businessman and scientist, he ended up in a much better place overall.
On the other hand, Killer Croc and Captain Cold, examples of people who used meta power and science tech for villainy never seemed to find themselves anything but temporary pleasures. And when they did, a spandex wearer took them out.
Considering all of that, Giovanni actually made a lot of sense. Back in the other world, having strong Pokemon was the path to power, and a person with loose morals would find it easier to just steal them.
But that still left a couple questions.
"So how are you making money then?" I asked Giovanni.
He quirked an eyebrow. Then he looked at the bottle he'd left on the table. The bottle that, in our world had stuff capable of healing anyone, Pokemon or human, as long as you applied the correct amounts. Granted, it was possible to overdose on it like any other medicine, and it didn't cure literally everything. But the medical profession in the Pokemon world was a whole lot easier thanks to miracles like that.
"The simple potion. In our world, a common and easily reproducible product. Here? Well, it took some time to find the scientists who could reproduce it. The capitol to begin making more. But once I did, hospitals seem to love it," Giovanni smirked. "And the FDA, as they call it, is an absolute joke to work around."
"You're selling potion to hospitals," I said, deadpan.
"Brilliant, isn't it?" he bragged. "I may not have had the resources of my organization, but I had the time, and I had the ingredients, depleted as they were from my months in the Distortion."
Berries, then. All the top trainers had a bunch of them. I'd run out, but Giovanni likely had a whole farm's worth when he came here.
Damn. It was simple logic, but it WORKED. Sell the weakest version of potion to hospitals. Make a fortune. Then, if you needed more money? Sell burn heal to fire stations. Sell the upgraded super potion to militaries. Sell antidotes. He had an entire centuries worth of advancements in medicine from the Pokemon world, and he could milk the DC universe as much as he wanted.
"...Ask him the big question," Alakazam whispered.
"Why are you even telling me all of this?" I said at last. "I doubt you wanted me here just to brag."
"I actually do like bragging," Giovanni said, smirking at the little look I gave him. "Young man, I am very proud of all I've accomplished. I see no reason to be humble about what I've gained and lost. To this day, the only loss I've ever accepted was from those young Alolan trainers. And I'm quite proud of them for the prize they gained in my loss. The only person I've been able to speak to about this is Lawton, and I'm afraid he is harder to impress than you are."
I didn't know how to take that.
"But no. That is not the reason. Nor are your Pokemon. While fine specimens," he looked at Tyrunt and Gurdurr. The fighting-type was leaning against his I-beam, listening closely to every word. Tyrunt was digging through a pile of meatballs and chomping happily into the meat, absolute joy on his face. "I have no need for them."
He didn't have Mewtwo. But he still had Pokemon. Likely fully-evolved, extremely well trained. Footage I'd seen on the news in Sinnoh had shown a Nidoking that had shaken apart a building with an Aqua Tail attack. Not Earthquake. Aqua Tail.
Earthquake had been worse.
"In fact, I would have loved to ignore you," Giovanni smiled at my glare. "I don't wish to seek out conflict. But your arrival, the people you have contended with. They draw questions. Questions I wish to ask."
"...You know, I might answer those questions."
"Kid," Kalini said dangerously. I held up a hand for him to wait a moment.
"Giovanni. I want to ask one more thing first," I said, leaning forward to look at him. He watched silently, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Whatever you want to ask. Do at least one of those things constitute a service to you?"
"Oh?" he pretended to think about it. "Possibly."
"Ask away then."
His lips flickered in movement. He drummed his fingers against the table.
"How were you sent here?"
"Arceus pushed me through a portal," no need to tell him I'd been hunting his idiot subordinates.
"Arceus, truly?" Giovanni's eyebrows lifted. "Now why would the creator of our universe decide to waste time on you?"
"I have a way with people. Next question."
For the first time, his smirking smile disappeared. I felt a slow chilly trail come down along my spine, goosebumps following it. Then the smirk came back.
"So Giratina exiles me here. Then Arceus pushes you in. I wonder… Well. You appeared in this world, and eventually came into conflict with the Silicon Dragons. Deadshot here tells me there is quite a bounty for your death. Why have you gone against them?"
"I didn't do it on purpose," I scoffed. "They just ended up in my way twice. Seriously, this last fight with them was the only time they actually came after me."
"Far luckier than I am, then," Giovanni looked over at Lawton. "I've been dealing with them for long enough that I've had to hire Mr. Lawton simply so they will be forced to back off."
"Dealing with them?" I asked.
"As enemies," Giovanni shook his head. "They are… persistent. Obsessed with their strange 'honor' code."
"How exactly did you end up making an enemy of them while selling medical supplies?" I asked pointedly.
Just as pointedly, he responded. "I imagine when they realized what a huge advantage even a bit of potion allows in battle. And organised crime always tries to influence businesses that make money. Something that, I'm sure you know, I have some experience with."
...Fair. As a tried and true master of the 'spam full restores and revives until you win' method of battle, I knew the value of a healing item. And gangs loved having a hand in businesses. All sorts of ways to take advantage of the right connections.
"Wait, are you okay with Lawton and Kalini knowing about all this?" I asked as though it had just occurred to me.
"Uh, kid," Kalini said nervously. "Maybe we can just forget that I'm here?"
"I'm afraid I can't, Mr. ʻŌpūnui," Giovanni said. "You know of this young man's… unique qualities. That makes you a person of interest. For multiple reasons. You knowing anything about me is negligible by this point," he chuckled. "You should be proud, Mr. ʻŌpūnui! You're privy to information few on this planet have any idea about."
"Ah… well, fuck me," Kalini sighed.
"As for Mr. Lawton, he is a professional. As he put it, as long as the information, or lack thereof, I give him does not bite him in the buttocks, he does not care, is that correct, Mr. Lawton?"
"I said ass, actually."
"Indeed. As long as it doesn't bite him in the ass. And honestly, he is my most prized business associate and bodyguard. What I know, Mr. Lawton knows."
Now wasn't that just adorable?.
"Now. Kahu. What do you plan to do from here on?" Giovanni asked me. "Will you allow the Silicon Dragons to continue chasing you? Hounding anyone you associate with?"
"...You want me to take them out," I said darkly. Tyrunt growled. Gurdurr clenched his I-beam tightly in his fist.
"It would be of benefit to me, yes," Giovanni admitted. "But that doesn't mean that it doesn't help you."
"Why me then?" I asked. "Why not have Lawton take them out from two miles away?"
"Because I need Lawton at my side," Giovanni said. "As for why you? Because you have Pokemon. You have a power I understand, a power I can help you with. I need someone like you, Kahu. You've had a habit of disappearing after every battle, which means you have some skill in staying somewhat hidden. But I've also seen how you and your Pokemon fight. I've seen powerful Pokemon, powerful trainers. But not many as vicious or willing to get their hands dirty."
That would be the pissed off adult inside me.
"If I aid you, provide you with the tools and weapons you need," Giovanni leaned forward to meet my eyes. "Then you can take care of a thorn in both our sides. In some ways, you would be taking care of a thorn in the sides of Hawaii in general. Help the people of this land, Kahu Kiaʻi."
"...Dude, seriously?"
"Too much?" Giovanni smirked. "My apologies. I've only recently gone legit. I'm not great with these sorts of speeches."
Legit my ass. Maybe he was following the laws of this world, but I doubted he was some moral paragon.
"...Okay. Let's figure this out then," I finally sat down, my legs thanking me. I reached for a lobster and cracked it apart, digging in for the meat. "You're right. I don't want the Silicon Dragons chasing me or Kalini around anymore. And I do need resources. But if you want my help, we're gonna have a fucking contract."
"I'll have a notary of the public come to join us," he said jokingly. "A contract, really?"
"Not a real one. I just want to make sure there are defined lines in this little endeavor. Maybe you're on the up and up. Maybe you really do just want to shut down a bunch of dickheads and are using the sudden weapon that dropped into your lap. Maybe your plan after this really is to just say goodbye and go about your business," I narrowed my eyes. "But if not, well… We'll make our amends in the end."
Giovanni stared at me. For a moment, just one, things got tense. Lawton's eyes were focused on all of us. Kalini swallowed as sweat beaded on his forehead. Tyrunt chewed slowly on a chicken leg.
"...Then let us make a deal, shall we?" Giovanni said levily.
"Part one is done," Alakazam whispered in my mind. "Now we'll need to prepare for the next. When we begin to confront the Silicon Dragons directly."
That was when Lawton spoke up. "You gonna have that alien on the roof join us now or what?"
I stared at him, shocked. Before I could answer, Alakazam spoke. "Ah, so he finally decided to say something."
Alakazam sent me a flicker of amusement when I sputtered. "You knew that he saw you!?"
"He's a very observant human."
My Pokemon are so damn weird…
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Author's Note: There were going to be other perspectives. And then, all of a sudden, Giovanni demanded to speak. He's one of those characters where writing him is kinda addictive. It just ended up with me having the others respond to his presence, rather than Kahu overtaking him.
Which, honestly, just kinda makes sense. People think charisma is about being so nice people can't help but like you, but anyone with a bit of thinking will realize that it's more than that. It's the ability to dominate any social setting. Whether that means being nice, mean, tough, gentle, real charismatic people can control a room with just the emotion and words that fit the audience and the situation best. Even with all his distrust, built from childhood in one world and news in another, Kahu stayed.
Hopefully, I made that clear.
In the meantime, the next chapter of MOMO is currently up on Patreon, and the next chapter of Dial is gonna be published soon. Please consider supporting me, as I'm close to being able to do this full time, and supporting me there gets you all these chapters early!