Episode 057: Enigmatic Dilemma
Author Note: Okay, so it has effectively been exactly two years since the last update. I had recently written off the story as being completed as incomplete as I have become quite busy with college and have grown interested in other things that does not include Pokémon. However, during Christmas break I went through some of my reviews to the story and realized that I let down a lot of people who were honest and truly into this adventure involving some of my original characters. Two days ago I decided that I would start the "second season" to the series and post the 57th episode on the 31st of December, 2008, exactly two years from the final posting. That is exactly what I am doing. I also decided to make it a little longer than a typical episode's length, almost 20 pages instead of the normal 10 - 15 I do. This is partly because I decided to recap as much as I could on the past episodes so you don't have to go back and read them (also, I needed a refresher too, that was two years ago man!). In any case, after refreshing myself, I noticed that my previous episodes, 1 - 56, are just horribly written, at least to my standards. I might go back and give those a touching up eventually too, but we'll see. You'll probably notice with this new episode that I no longer write the settings in "present tense" form and have switched to the more common "past tense" form. You might also notice some additional differences, it has been two years lol. But anyway, I just want you all to know that I didn't abandon the story. I do live a busy life and I will be doing 17 credits this Spring at the university I attend so don't expect as frequent of updates as I used to, but do expect updates! If I'm going too slow for you, send me an e-mail and give me a textual smacking around. Since it's over the internet, it's technically not assault and I might like it. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this probably very surprising kick off of the second season. I look forward to reading your reviews on and off the site, since it's pretty much those reviews that keep me writing this story despite my expired interest in Pokémon. Cheers and happy holidays!
Forgotten Instincts
Episode 057
"Enigmatic Dilemma"
By Darfix
A deafening silence engulfed the area in which this primitive "trial" took place as Darfix' mind tried to digest and process the words that were just spoken to him. Regicide? He was now being blackmailed into committing regicide? Did this miniscule canine look like a contracted hit man to these Mightyena? Surely this was a joke!
"You'reâ�"joking right?" the Eevee asked of his captors while maintaining a look of total disbelief, his right brow lifted over the other to further express his demeanor.
"Your friend has been imprisoned in your place and charged with a heinous crime, it is up to you to decide if we are joking or not," the chief Mightyena, Xauro, reminded the Eevee.
Darfix found himself thoroughly held by the balls. Though it wasn't his fault that Niktsu had deflowered the virgin Poochyena, and at quite a young age, the Flareon was still his friend and he couldn't simply abandon the male, however stupid he may be, because of one foolish act. On top of it all, in retrospect, Darfix cannot help but to conclude that if it weren't for Destiny, he probably would have done precisely the same thing that Niktsu did if he were in the Flareon's situation at that time. However, the thoughts regarding Destiny only caused him to further realize what kind of a pickle he was in. He effectively had his mind in a dozen different places with a dozen different concerns, objectives, and responsibilities. An assassin had to be sharp witted and alert at all times. What odds did he honestly have pulling off this kind of a mission under the noses of an entire tribe of Mightyena?
"Sirâ�"with all due respect..." the Eevee started, but was promptly interrupted.
"Do you accept the mission or not?" Xauro asked once more with a pretty convincing growl attached.
Clearing the now enormous lump in his throat, the Eevee hesitantly nodded his head and squeaked as he tried to speak, "I do..."
The expression on the chief Mightyena's face changed immediately to one of delight. "Excellent! I will have one of my advisors explain the mission to you in detail and you will be on your way. Do not worry, your friend will not be harmed while you're away..."
Such a realization was hardly refreshing giving the circumstances. Darfix' mate was being held captive by the nut job he made a deal with in order to change himself back into an Eevee from an Umbreon, he was effectively responsible for the death of his mate's father, a great number of his friends were unaccounted for and probably searching for him now, Niktsu was now being held against his will with the hope that Darfix might complete an impossible mission to assassinate a young princess Poochyena, and to top it all off, even if he did manage to complete that task, Niktsu still had to fight to the death with Tardro, the male Mightyena that desperately wanted to remove Xauro from power at any cost. Two insurmountable obstacles remained between just securing Niktsu's survival that all hope seemed pretty much lost. Not only that, the threat that Tardro would stop at nothing to make sure that the Eevee failed his mission was always possible as well.
"Guards, please take our friend here to be briefed on his mission," the chief spoke to a few soldiers that happened to be standing near him and Darfix at the time.
"Yes sir!" they both replied in unison as one moved to pick up the Eevee by the scruff of the neck like usual. Darfix didn't even resist, his brain was too busy trying to swallow the magnitude of the situation as if it were long expired broccoli.
Meanwhile, back by the white water rapids, Kyotsu and Edge were both fortunate, that the Zigzagoon had forced her body into the Vulpix' side just in time to avoid the speedy Thunderbolt attack directed at the two of them by the Raichu behind them. The force caused by the push, as well as the combined power of the Thunderbolt and Flamethrower crashing just at the tips of their hind paws, was enough to send the two small mammals sliding down a steep incline opposite the waterfall. The annoying factor was that the added push caused by the elemental attacks threw Edge's calculations off enough to ensure that the speed in which they fell down the incline was less controlled than originally planned.
"Dammit!" Cyanide hissed, "Kamikaze! After them!" he ordered up to the steel bird who currently was doing nothing more than observing. "Keep them busyâ�"slow them downâ�"whatever it takes!" the commanding serpent added.
"Roger, boss!" the Skarmory responded promptly to the Seviper and proceeded to swoop down in the direction that Edge and Kyotsu were now headed.
"The rest of you..." Cyanide added, staring at the Raichu and the Houndoom, "Pursue themâ�"I'll try to cut off their retreat!"
"Aye, aye, cap'n!" the Raichu responded, jumping up onto the Houndoom's back and holding himself there with his tail. The Houndoom howled once quickly and jumped down onto the same incline that Edge and Kyotsu had taken. The dog was quite graceful on his paws and actually managed to maintain traction while running down hill.
Cyanide observed as the three cronies did as told. Now all he had to do was slither on down the long way and hope that his quarry would either be captured, or stalled long enough so that he could lay a trap himself.
The trip down the incline proved to be quite uncomfortable, even before the two small critters discovered that they were being followed. Kyotsu was on his stomach sliding down face first while Edge was on top, using him like a toboggan, though unintentionally.
"Bah! Dammit girl! Get off me!" the Vulpix muttered as he tried to right himself, but in doing so, he caused the Zigzagoon to lose her grip on him and slide off, causing the two of them to down fall downward separately rather than entangled. The entire surface of the hillside was extremely slippery, probably caused by the mist and mildew from the nearby waterfall. However, it was muddy too and was rapidly soiling the pelts of both quadrupeds as they careened out of control down the slope.
"I saved your tails back there!" Edge countered as she managed to stabilize her paws enough so that she could almost slide down as if riding on skates, "And this whole effort to save you from the start has definitely displeased my boss! I don't think his only plans are to can my ass for my lack of..."
"Save me!?" Kyotsu responded in what sounded like an insulted demeanor as he managed to stabilize himself a little now as well, following Edge's example, "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been in need of saving! Things were going fine until you showed...!"
The Vulpix was interrupted as another Thunderbolt crashed between the two of them, effectively crystallizing the mud where the electric charge hit. Both Zigzagoon and Vulpix spun their heads around to witness the Houndoom and Raichu in hot pursuit, both with menacing looks on their faces.
Edge turned to Kyotsu with a look of dread plastered on her features, "I think now's the best time we call for a truce..." she told him in a desperate tone.
"Fine, fine!" the Vulpix quipped in response, trying to turn himself around so that he could respond in kind to their pursuers. Already he was working up a Flamethrower to launch back at them, but it was difficult to pull a one-eighty with so much forward momentum.
It was then that Edge spotted the bottom of the hill, a largely muddy mass of turf and soil. Such a formation could spell a painful end to the motion of any object, or objects, sliding down the hill. It would probably be wise to act sooner than later.
"Vulpix!" she yelled to Kyotsu as she tried to direct his attention to the road block ahead. Kyotsu turned his head now to look for himself. The sight proved to be unnerving, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat caused by the brewing of his Flamethrower, "Oh, come on!" he cried in frustration.
As the two quadrupeds brainstormed a brilliant escape plan, a second Thunderbolt was already en route at their six o'clock. The strain of having to concentrate on two fronts simultaneously proved to be too much for the two as the third Thunderbolt of the day managed to score a direct hit in front of them, instantly crystallizing the mud again and eliminating the slippery surface they were both relying on to maintain their forward motion. The end result would be similar in effect to jamming a bike tire while the bike was in motion. Edge's and Kyotsu's front paws hit the dry surface, causing their hind ends to fly forward over the front of the bodies. Fortunately, this meant that their bodies would not crash painfully into the mud pile, but it also meant that they would overshoot the barrier and crash on a more firm surface, back first.
The two close their eyes and scream together in terror as they both share some brief air time together before gravity and friction brings them to a painful stop.
The Houndoom gracefully leaps off of the muddy landscape before hitting the barrier and manages to swiftly land right over the two damaged bodies. This only left the Skamory to fly down to his comrades and support them in ensuring that their prey surrendered quietly.
As Edge and Kyotsu stirred, both in extremely dizzied states, growling filled their ringing ears from the Houndoom standing overhead. Kyotsu's wound on his forehead had split open a little greater from the crash and he generally was sore all over. Edge had only managed to add to the pain on her right hind leg in addition to the new bruises and sores she had on her body caused by the fall. Surrender was really the only option the two of them had.
The Raichu hopped off of the Houndoom's back and placed his right paw over Edge's right hind leg and his left paw over Kyotsu's, holding onto the two of them. Despite the intense flinching Edge produced as a result of being grabbed on her badly damage hind paw, the Raichu grimaced in a victorious manner, "The boss is going to be mighty pleasedâ�"especially since we managed to do this without Cyanide's help..."
The Houndoom grinned at the biped's words as he lowered his muzzle to give the flinching Zigzagoon a sloppy lick all the way up the back of her neck, "Hehâ�"he might even give us a little reward before he decides what to do with these two..."
The Skarmory hovered overhead, grinning despite the fact that he hadn't really played a significant role in the capture of the two mammals. All that mattered was if they had managed to get away from the ground-based critters, he could easily pursue them until they grew too tired to continue running.
Though Kyotsu had pretty much accepted defeat, giving the condition of his body, Edge wasn't ready to throw in the towel. Considering how damaged she was, she attempted to use a Flail attack on the Raichu holding her in attempt to free herself. She kicked up her free hind leg and smacked the bipedal rodent in the chops with the force of a karate chop, causing the Raichu to double back and let go of the two hind paws he had in his hold.
"Yow!" the Raichu yelped as he brought his now free paws to his face and held onto it in discomfort. Kyotsu wasn't prepared for Edge's plan to make a move in time, but the Zigzagoon quickly bolted up and made a dash for the woods. This attempt, however, ended in failure as the uninjured Houndoom lunged for her like a cat on a mouse and easily pinned her down with one of his large paws.
"Hehe, it's entertaining watching you like this, Edgeâ�"no longer confident and full of snide remarks," the Houndoom whispered into her ear with a teasing tone, "You always seemed so cool and impervious to capture..."
Now that Edge had made an effective distraction, which was her intent to begin with, Kyotsu shot up onto all fours and tried to bolt off as well, opposite the direction Edge had gone. With the Raichu still holding his face, which now had a bleeding nose to boot, the Skarmory swooped down to try and snatch the fleeing Vulpix. His efforts proved to be unnecessary.
As Kyotsu made haste for the wilderness, his feeling of escape was extremely short lived when the scythe-like end of Cyanide's tail came crashing down in front of him, narrowly missing his nose. Kyotsu immediately screeched to a halt, but bumped into the large snake's blade-like tail. Nervously, he poked his nose up and peered up at the serpent, his body shaking like a nervous puppy.
"Now, now," Cyanide hissed, sticking his tongue out at the small male vulpine. "Our job wasn't to kill you, but the boss specifically asked that we keep you from interfering with your Eevee friend's taskâ�"a job that Edge here failed to do. Regardless, we'll be needing you to come with us, I'm sure the boss is dying to meet you..."
Kyotsu now felt about as useless as a mime in a vocal talent competition. Giving the nature of these beasts now gloating about their successful capture of their former comrade and the male she was ordered to distract, there was no telling what they had in store for him or Edge. Hearing directly from the Seviper that Darfix was on a job also didn't do well to ease his tensions. He now realized how little he knew about the situation going on, thus adding to the degree of helplessness he felt. He glanced in Edge's direction and frowned gravely, only managing to whisper a soft, "I'm sorry..."
By now, Niktsu had managed to get as comfortable as he probably was going to, considering the situation he was in and that his friend, Darfix, was basically being ordered on a suicide mission based on one foolish move made by the Flareon himself. Taylie, the young Poochyena that had kept Darfix company while he was stuck in his "cell" had vacated by the time Darfix was ushered out, but had managed to return now that Niktsu was the new occupant. She stuck her small little muzzle through the hole in the hollowed out stump that she used last time, again with a small piece of meat in her chops.
"Mr. Flareon?" she called to Niktsu in a cute, innocent voice. "Are you hungry?" she asked, whispering so as to not catch the attention of the Mightyenas guarding the Flareon's quarters.
Niktsu's ears twitched and he turned to the sound of the voice with curiosity. "What's this?" he whispered to himself, slowly getting up and walking towards the tiny hole. He smiled slightly as his eyes fell on this unexpected sight, "Hmm, I thank you for the food little one, but I think you better get going before you get in trouble..." he said, lying down next to the hole and lightly nipping the meat out of her muzzle.
"Oh, no, sir, it's alright," the little canine replied, licking her lips free of the tasty residue left by the meat. "If I do get caught I'll only get scolded a little..." she insisted.
Niktsu spent little time swallowing the small piece of meat. After he did, he licked his lips and glanced down at the tiny muzzle again, "Well aren't you a brave little girl, hmm?" he said, sighing slightly with relief. Now he had someone to talk to, at least for a little bit. "But you know what? If you could check on princess Skylia for me and let me know how she's doing, that'd really make my day..."
"Really?" she asked, a little surprised but sounding eager to oblige, "I can do that, sir, I'll be back in a flash," she told him, sounding so eager to please, even if the one she was pleasing was a prisoner to her chief. She stuck her little nose back out and promptly darted off to carry out her objective.
Niktsu shook his head slightly and had a slight chuckle to himself. What a cute little thing she was, but he had learned his lesson about dealing with young Poochyena girls; not that there was much he could do about any desires he might have from within the holding area he was currently in.
The Poochyena pup bounded through the inner circle of the pack's lands, passing up another holding area that currently contained the Mightyena, Tardro, who had tried to forge a way to have his son, Takashu, seed the chie'fs daughter so that he himself could sneakily make his way to becoming chief of the pack. His plan was foiled when Niktsu managed to mate Skylia first and due to the rules of this particular pack, both Tardro and Niktsu were to be placed under arrest giving that both accused the other of wrong doings. Tardro at this time was barking loudly at the Mightyenas tasked with guarding him.
"This is an outrage, you know! Surely you don't put faith in our chief's decision to detain me! You were there! You saw the truth! It's obvious that damned Flareon wronged the chief's daughter!" the enraged male yelled as little Taylie scooted by.
"Sorry sirâ�"Xauro ordered us to guard you until the Eevee carries out his mission..." one of the guards responded to his former superior.
"Bahâ�"that mission is suicidal for such a small, weak creature..." Tardro muttered to himself. That was when it hit him, however. If the Eevee was proven to have failed the mission, he would be released and Niktsu would be found guilty. Freedom would be at hand! Now if only he had someone to give the task of disrupting or killing the Eevee...
"Guard, I demand to speak with my son for a moment..." Tardro ordered after a short pause to think about his plans.
The second guard rolled his eyes a bit while the first one, fairly loyal to Tardro, stuck his head into the hollowed out tree and agreed. "Sure thing, sir, I'll have him sent to you right away."
With that, the first guard bolted off and away from the unappreciative Tardro, who continued to grumble to himself in annoyance and frustration. The only thing on his mind was making sure that he could get out of her so he could work on plan B for overthrowing the current ruling family of this tribe and position himself as grandmaster of all these Mightyena.
By now, a great distance away from the Mightyena pack or the waterfall where Edge and Kyotsu were being detained, Tiasha, the adult female Mightyena and Niktsu's former romantic interest, Subaki, Kyotsu's younger sister, Litivia, the former Vulpix slave to Zathan's tribe of perverts, as well as the young Eevee girl Konya, had all risen up from their rest to continue their search for the lost members of their party. Since Niktsu had left in anger over a fight he had with Tiasha and Kyotsu left to find Darfix, the small group of females had felt pretty alone, that is to say in exception for Tiasha, who will stubbornly hold to the believe that Niktsu owed her an apology before she owed him one. As the leader of the group, she did what she could to calm the worried nerves of the other girls with her.
"There's nothing to worry about," Tiasha told the rest of the pack, "If anything jumps out at us while we're looking for those foolish males, I'll scare them off, alright?" she said, mostly to Subaki and Konya, who were the most worried about venturing in the woods with such few numbers.
Subaki, who at least had the will to find her brother working for her, managed to swallow the lump in her throat and nod, albeit nervously to Tiasha's statement. Litivia was living entirely on the fear that she might never find the first male she ever came to love mutually, Kyotsu, Subaki's brother. Konya on the other hand was just flat out terrified, being the smallest in the group and the only one without any significant special attachment to any of the missing males.
"On top of that, it won't be too difficult to find them," Tiasha added in a confident sounding tone, "I have a great nose and they all have distinct odors. If I catch a whiff of any of them, we'll be on them before any of you can get a chance to slap them for wandering off," the Mightyena told the other girls, trying her best to keep them calm and relying on her to lead the group.
"The important thing is to keep our heads and wits about us..." she added. Tiasha, however, despite her demeanor, was going over the argument she had with Niktsu in her head. It annoyed her to high heaven that she actually loved this male, despite the fact she didn't want to be very open with that knowledge. How tough would she look anyway if she got all girlish and shed a tear for her lost love in front of these younger girls anyway? Besides, as far as she was concerned, it was entirely Niktsu's fault, and that was before she even realized he slept with another girl, let alone a very young version of herself...
The dynamic four continue trekking through the woods, unaware that their targets are spread out over great distances and that they would more likely than now, be searching for days if not weeks before having any success in their search.
Meanwhile, Edge and Kyotsu were being carried back to Yukon's den. Kyotsu was being held over the shoulder of the Raichu, the fear of being electrocuted pretty much working as a deterrent from the male attempting to make any kind of an escape. As for the now moderately injured Zigzagoon, she was being carried by the nape of the neck in the Houndoom's mouth. The Skarmory flew overhead and Cyanide slithered in front of the prisoner transportation convoy.
"Hehe, I so can't wait to see what Yukon has planned for your little girlfriend, Vulpix..." the Seviper continued to tease. "He'll probably let all of us have a little fun with her before slowly dismembering her and feeding her to his underlings. Or maybe he'll feast on her flesh himself, I know he likes small, furry creatures..." the snake declared with soft, menacing laughter.
Kyotsu groaned as he remained held over the Raichu's shoulder, "That's pretty fucked upâ�"but she's not my girlfriend..." he told them, doing his best to hide the fact that he was worried for Edge in a number of ways. After all, some of these males were a lot more endowed than she was probably built to handle. Not only that, being eaten after being manhandled and raped didn't sound like a pleasant ending to such misery.
The Houndoom grinned, though unable to talk clearly with the female's neck scruff pinched between his teeth, "Mmm, I plan to take first dibs if Yukon allows itâ�"I still remember the first time she joined and tested her feminine wiles on meâ�"such an evil bitch..."
"Don't forget the time she used that feather on me when she was tested in her ability to convince a male to comply to her requests!" the Skarmory chimed in from above.
All three of the other males gave each other awkward glances before Cyanide pointed out, "Kamikaze, you have steel ballsâ�"you shouldn't even have felt that feather..."
"I know!" the Skarmory replied excitedly, "She's just THAT good!" he insisted.
Edge simply rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her fearless nature, though in truth she was more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life. What these guys were talking about doing to her only constituted a small fraction of some of the things she's witnessed them do to other prisoners, and that thought scared the confident temptress right out of her...
Meanwhile, Darfix had been escorted to a rather large, hollowed out tree where he was told he had to wait for the "Tactician". His escape route was guarded like usual, but he had been waiting for some time and by now almost dozed off in a sitting position like a high schooler during a physics lecture. The waiting was only made more annoying by the entrance of the "Tactician" showing no regard for the tired Eevee's condition.
Just as the Eevee was about catch a Z or two, a sudden outburst filled the den as a very shaggy, skinny, older male Mightyena entered. "Hey-ho! It's been awhile since I had to give a mission detail to an on Mightyena!"
The fur on Darfix' spine rose up quickly, his body reacting much like a cat being surprised when in a similar state. He practically rose up onto his tippy paws, his claws extended as he spun around to address the crazy looking Mightyena. "Hey! What in the hell was...!?"
The aging Mightyena interrupted the Eevee with some more of his maniacal laughter, "Cool your jets, lad! You've got yourself a very intriguing mission here! Yes indeed! Murdering of a princess, my, my, can't get any more interesting than that, can it?!"
The Eevee had managed to recover, slightly, from the initial shock caused by the Mightyena's unconventional entrance, but it wasn't easy to do now that the old man was going on about an assassination like it was the grand prize on some kind of a game show. Darfix lifted one of his hind paws to scratch at his fluffy cheek a little, not looking at all amused, "Errâ�"right, I was told that you would..."
"Yes, yesâ�"an interesting mission indeed," the Mightyena interrupted once more as he rolled with his nose what appeared to be some kind of a map etched into a soft bark by what was most likely the claw marks of other Mightyenas. He placed his paw down on one of the bigger markings. "You are currently here," he told the Eevee as he moved his paw a few paces up, or north, of the position he had just pointed out, "And your target is here, the foolish little princess known as Fukiya. She'll be guarded by a fairly heavy contingent of the pack's best royal guard which could prove difficult to bypass..."
Darfix groaned and nodded his head in a sarcastic manner, "Nah, you think?"
"Indeed, I do! But all you have to do is axe the pretty lass and report back here with her tail, and ear, or something to prove that you did the job! Easy huh? Then your friend gets to fight to the death and you can all be on your merry way!" the Tactician told Darfix, as if it were no big deal.
"Rightâ�"so killing her isn't already asking enough, you want me to mangle the corpse too? I'm sure I'll have no trouble explaining that one to her father or the guards..." Darfix replied, maintaining his sarcastic, unenthusiastic demeanor, though the old Mightyena doesn't quite seem to notice.
"Oh, there is an easy way around that, little fox," the old dog told the Eevee.
"Oh really? And what is that?" Darfix asked after a rolling of his eyes.
"Don't get caught..."
To Be Continued...
Episode 057
"Enigmatic Dilemma"
By Darfix
A deafening silence engulfed the area in which this primitive "trial" took place as Darfix' mind tried to digest and process the words that were just spoken to him. Regicide? He was now being blackmailed into committing regicide? Did this miniscule canine look like a contracted hit man to these Mightyena? Surely this was a joke!
"You'reâ�"joking right?" the Eevee asked of his captors while maintaining a look of total disbelief, his right brow lifted over the other to further express his demeanor.
"Your friend has been imprisoned in your place and charged with a heinous crime, it is up to you to decide if we are joking or not," the chief Mightyena, Xauro, reminded the Eevee.
Darfix found himself thoroughly held by the balls. Though it wasn't his fault that Niktsu had deflowered the virgin Poochyena, and at quite a young age, the Flareon was still his friend and he couldn't simply abandon the male, however stupid he may be, because of one foolish act. On top of it all, in retrospect, Darfix cannot help but to conclude that if it weren't for Destiny, he probably would have done precisely the same thing that Niktsu did if he were in the Flareon's situation at that time. However, the thoughts regarding Destiny only caused him to further realize what kind of a pickle he was in. He effectively had his mind in a dozen different places with a dozen different concerns, objectives, and responsibilities. An assassin had to be sharp witted and alert at all times. What odds did he honestly have pulling off this kind of a mission under the noses of an entire tribe of Mightyena?
"Sirâ�"with all due respect..." the Eevee started, but was promptly interrupted.
"Do you accept the mission or not?" Xauro asked once more with a pretty convincing growl attached.
Clearing the now enormous lump in his throat, the Eevee hesitantly nodded his head and squeaked as he tried to speak, "I do..."
The expression on the chief Mightyena's face changed immediately to one of delight. "Excellent! I will have one of my advisors explain the mission to you in detail and you will be on your way. Do not worry, your friend will not be harmed while you're away..."
Such a realization was hardly refreshing giving the circumstances. Darfix' mate was being held captive by the nut job he made a deal with in order to change himself back into an Eevee from an Umbreon, he was effectively responsible for the death of his mate's father, a great number of his friends were unaccounted for and probably searching for him now, Niktsu was now being held against his will with the hope that Darfix might complete an impossible mission to assassinate a young princess Poochyena, and to top it all off, even if he did manage to complete that task, Niktsu still had to fight to the death with Tardro, the male Mightyena that desperately wanted to remove Xauro from power at any cost. Two insurmountable obstacles remained between just securing Niktsu's survival that all hope seemed pretty much lost. Not only that, the threat that Tardro would stop at nothing to make sure that the Eevee failed his mission was always possible as well.
"Guards, please take our friend here to be briefed on his mission," the chief spoke to a few soldiers that happened to be standing near him and Darfix at the time.
"Yes sir!" they both replied in unison as one moved to pick up the Eevee by the scruff of the neck like usual. Darfix didn't even resist, his brain was too busy trying to swallow the magnitude of the situation as if it were long expired broccoli.
Meanwhile, back by the white water rapids, Kyotsu and Edge were both fortunate, that the Zigzagoon had forced her body into the Vulpix' side just in time to avoid the speedy Thunderbolt attack directed at the two of them by the Raichu behind them. The force caused by the push, as well as the combined power of the Thunderbolt and Flamethrower crashing just at the tips of their hind paws, was enough to send the two small mammals sliding down a steep incline opposite the waterfall. The annoying factor was that the added push caused by the elemental attacks threw Edge's calculations off enough to ensure that the speed in which they fell down the incline was less controlled than originally planned.
"Dammit!" Cyanide hissed, "Kamikaze! After them!" he ordered up to the steel bird who currently was doing nothing more than observing. "Keep them busyâ�"slow them downâ�"whatever it takes!" the commanding serpent added.
"Roger, boss!" the Skarmory responded promptly to the Seviper and proceeded to swoop down in the direction that Edge and Kyotsu were now headed.
"The rest of you..." Cyanide added, staring at the Raichu and the Houndoom, "Pursue themâ�"I'll try to cut off their retreat!"
"Aye, aye, cap'n!" the Raichu responded, jumping up onto the Houndoom's back and holding himself there with his tail. The Houndoom howled once quickly and jumped down onto the same incline that Edge and Kyotsu had taken. The dog was quite graceful on his paws and actually managed to maintain traction while running down hill.
Cyanide observed as the three cronies did as told. Now all he had to do was slither on down the long way and hope that his quarry would either be captured, or stalled long enough so that he could lay a trap himself.
The trip down the incline proved to be quite uncomfortable, even before the two small critters discovered that they were being followed. Kyotsu was on his stomach sliding down face first while Edge was on top, using him like a toboggan, though unintentionally.
"Bah! Dammit girl! Get off me!" the Vulpix muttered as he tried to right himself, but in doing so, he caused the Zigzagoon to lose her grip on him and slide off, causing the two of them to down fall downward separately rather than entangled. The entire surface of the hillside was extremely slippery, probably caused by the mist and mildew from the nearby waterfall. However, it was muddy too and was rapidly soiling the pelts of both quadrupeds as they careened out of control down the slope.
"I saved your tails back there!" Edge countered as she managed to stabilize her paws enough so that she could almost slide down as if riding on skates, "And this whole effort to save you from the start has definitely displeased my boss! I don't think his only plans are to can my ass for my lack of..."
"Save me!?" Kyotsu responded in what sounded like an insulted demeanor as he managed to stabilize himself a little now as well, following Edge's example, "If it weren't for you I wouldn't have been in need of saving! Things were going fine until you showed...!"
The Vulpix was interrupted as another Thunderbolt crashed between the two of them, effectively crystallizing the mud where the electric charge hit. Both Zigzagoon and Vulpix spun their heads around to witness the Houndoom and Raichu in hot pursuit, both with menacing looks on their faces.
Edge turned to Kyotsu with a look of dread plastered on her features, "I think now's the best time we call for a truce..." she told him in a desperate tone.
"Fine, fine!" the Vulpix quipped in response, trying to turn himself around so that he could respond in kind to their pursuers. Already he was working up a Flamethrower to launch back at them, but it was difficult to pull a one-eighty with so much forward momentum.
It was then that Edge spotted the bottom of the hill, a largely muddy mass of turf and soil. Such a formation could spell a painful end to the motion of any object, or objects, sliding down the hill. It would probably be wise to act sooner than later.
"Vulpix!" she yelled to Kyotsu as she tried to direct his attention to the road block ahead. Kyotsu turned his head now to look for himself. The sight proved to be unnerving, causing him to swallow the lump in his throat caused by the brewing of his Flamethrower, "Oh, come on!" he cried in frustration.
As the two quadrupeds brainstormed a brilliant escape plan, a second Thunderbolt was already en route at their six o'clock. The strain of having to concentrate on two fronts simultaneously proved to be too much for the two as the third Thunderbolt of the day managed to score a direct hit in front of them, instantly crystallizing the mud again and eliminating the slippery surface they were both relying on to maintain their forward motion. The end result would be similar in effect to jamming a bike tire while the bike was in motion. Edge's and Kyotsu's front paws hit the dry surface, causing their hind ends to fly forward over the front of the bodies. Fortunately, this meant that their bodies would not crash painfully into the mud pile, but it also meant that they would overshoot the barrier and crash on a more firm surface, back first.
The two close their eyes and scream together in terror as they both share some brief air time together before gravity and friction brings them to a painful stop.
The Houndoom gracefully leaps off of the muddy landscape before hitting the barrier and manages to swiftly land right over the two damaged bodies. This only left the Skamory to fly down to his comrades and support them in ensuring that their prey surrendered quietly.
As Edge and Kyotsu stirred, both in extremely dizzied states, growling filled their ringing ears from the Houndoom standing overhead. Kyotsu's wound on his forehead had split open a little greater from the crash and he generally was sore all over. Edge had only managed to add to the pain on her right hind leg in addition to the new bruises and sores she had on her body caused by the fall. Surrender was really the only option the two of them had.
The Raichu hopped off of the Houndoom's back and placed his right paw over Edge's right hind leg and his left paw over Kyotsu's, holding onto the two of them. Despite the intense flinching Edge produced as a result of being grabbed on her badly damage hind paw, the Raichu grimaced in a victorious manner, "The boss is going to be mighty pleasedâ�"especially since we managed to do this without Cyanide's help..."
The Houndoom grinned at the biped's words as he lowered his muzzle to give the flinching Zigzagoon a sloppy lick all the way up the back of her neck, "Hehâ�"he might even give us a little reward before he decides what to do with these two..."
The Skarmory hovered overhead, grinning despite the fact that he hadn't really played a significant role in the capture of the two mammals. All that mattered was if they had managed to get away from the ground-based critters, he could easily pursue them until they grew too tired to continue running.
Though Kyotsu had pretty much accepted defeat, giving the condition of his body, Edge wasn't ready to throw in the towel. Considering how damaged she was, she attempted to use a Flail attack on the Raichu holding her in attempt to free herself. She kicked up her free hind leg and smacked the bipedal rodent in the chops with the force of a karate chop, causing the Raichu to double back and let go of the two hind paws he had in his hold.
"Yow!" the Raichu yelped as he brought his now free paws to his face and held onto it in discomfort. Kyotsu wasn't prepared for Edge's plan to make a move in time, but the Zigzagoon quickly bolted up and made a dash for the woods. This attempt, however, ended in failure as the uninjured Houndoom lunged for her like a cat on a mouse and easily pinned her down with one of his large paws.
"Hehe, it's entertaining watching you like this, Edgeâ�"no longer confident and full of snide remarks," the Houndoom whispered into her ear with a teasing tone, "You always seemed so cool and impervious to capture..."
Now that Edge had made an effective distraction, which was her intent to begin with, Kyotsu shot up onto all fours and tried to bolt off as well, opposite the direction Edge had gone. With the Raichu still holding his face, which now had a bleeding nose to boot, the Skarmory swooped down to try and snatch the fleeing Vulpix. His efforts proved to be unnecessary.
As Kyotsu made haste for the wilderness, his feeling of escape was extremely short lived when the scythe-like end of Cyanide's tail came crashing down in front of him, narrowly missing his nose. Kyotsu immediately screeched to a halt, but bumped into the large snake's blade-like tail. Nervously, he poked his nose up and peered up at the serpent, his body shaking like a nervous puppy.
"Now, now," Cyanide hissed, sticking his tongue out at the small male vulpine. "Our job wasn't to kill you, but the boss specifically asked that we keep you from interfering with your Eevee friend's taskâ�"a job that Edge here failed to do. Regardless, we'll be needing you to come with us, I'm sure the boss is dying to meet you..."
Kyotsu now felt about as useless as a mime in a vocal talent competition. Giving the nature of these beasts now gloating about their successful capture of their former comrade and the male she was ordered to distract, there was no telling what they had in store for him or Edge. Hearing directly from the Seviper that Darfix was on a job also didn't do well to ease his tensions. He now realized how little he knew about the situation going on, thus adding to the degree of helplessness he felt. He glanced in Edge's direction and frowned gravely, only managing to whisper a soft, "I'm sorry..."
By now, Niktsu had managed to get as comfortable as he probably was going to, considering the situation he was in and that his friend, Darfix, was basically being ordered on a suicide mission based on one foolish move made by the Flareon himself. Taylie, the young Poochyena that had kept Darfix company while he was stuck in his "cell" had vacated by the time Darfix was ushered out, but had managed to return now that Niktsu was the new occupant. She stuck her small little muzzle through the hole in the hollowed out stump that she used last time, again with a small piece of meat in her chops.
"Mr. Flareon?" she called to Niktsu in a cute, innocent voice. "Are you hungry?" she asked, whispering so as to not catch the attention of the Mightyenas guarding the Flareon's quarters.
Niktsu's ears twitched and he turned to the sound of the voice with curiosity. "What's this?" he whispered to himself, slowly getting up and walking towards the tiny hole. He smiled slightly as his eyes fell on this unexpected sight, "Hmm, I thank you for the food little one, but I think you better get going before you get in trouble..." he said, lying down next to the hole and lightly nipping the meat out of her muzzle.
"Oh, no, sir, it's alright," the little canine replied, licking her lips free of the tasty residue left by the meat. "If I do get caught I'll only get scolded a little..." she insisted.
Niktsu spent little time swallowing the small piece of meat. After he did, he licked his lips and glanced down at the tiny muzzle again, "Well aren't you a brave little girl, hmm?" he said, sighing slightly with relief. Now he had someone to talk to, at least for a little bit. "But you know what? If you could check on princess Skylia for me and let me know how she's doing, that'd really make my day..."
"Really?" she asked, a little surprised but sounding eager to oblige, "I can do that, sir, I'll be back in a flash," she told him, sounding so eager to please, even if the one she was pleasing was a prisoner to her chief. She stuck her little nose back out and promptly darted off to carry out her objective.
Niktsu shook his head slightly and had a slight chuckle to himself. What a cute little thing she was, but he had learned his lesson about dealing with young Poochyena girls; not that there was much he could do about any desires he might have from within the holding area he was currently in.
The Poochyena pup bounded through the inner circle of the pack's lands, passing up another holding area that currently contained the Mightyena, Tardro, who had tried to forge a way to have his son, Takashu, seed the chie'fs daughter so that he himself could sneakily make his way to becoming chief of the pack. His plan was foiled when Niktsu managed to mate Skylia first and due to the rules of this particular pack, both Tardro and Niktsu were to be placed under arrest giving that both accused the other of wrong doings. Tardro at this time was barking loudly at the Mightyenas tasked with guarding him.
"This is an outrage, you know! Surely you don't put faith in our chief's decision to detain me! You were there! You saw the truth! It's obvious that damned Flareon wronged the chief's daughter!" the enraged male yelled as little Taylie scooted by.
"Sorry sirâ�"Xauro ordered us to guard you until the Eevee carries out his mission..." one of the guards responded to his former superior.
"Bahâ�"that mission is suicidal for such a small, weak creature..." Tardro muttered to himself. That was when it hit him, however. If the Eevee was proven to have failed the mission, he would be released and Niktsu would be found guilty. Freedom would be at hand! Now if only he had someone to give the task of disrupting or killing the Eevee...
"Guard, I demand to speak with my son for a moment..." Tardro ordered after a short pause to think about his plans.
The second guard rolled his eyes a bit while the first one, fairly loyal to Tardro, stuck his head into the hollowed out tree and agreed. "Sure thing, sir, I'll have him sent to you right away."
With that, the first guard bolted off and away from the unappreciative Tardro, who continued to grumble to himself in annoyance and frustration. The only thing on his mind was making sure that he could get out of her so he could work on plan B for overthrowing the current ruling family of this tribe and position himself as grandmaster of all these Mightyena.
By now, a great distance away from the Mightyena pack or the waterfall where Edge and Kyotsu were being detained, Tiasha, the adult female Mightyena and Niktsu's former romantic interest, Subaki, Kyotsu's younger sister, Litivia, the former Vulpix slave to Zathan's tribe of perverts, as well as the young Eevee girl Konya, had all risen up from their rest to continue their search for the lost members of their party. Since Niktsu had left in anger over a fight he had with Tiasha and Kyotsu left to find Darfix, the small group of females had felt pretty alone, that is to say in exception for Tiasha, who will stubbornly hold to the believe that Niktsu owed her an apology before she owed him one. As the leader of the group, she did what she could to calm the worried nerves of the other girls with her.
"There's nothing to worry about," Tiasha told the rest of the pack, "If anything jumps out at us while we're looking for those foolish males, I'll scare them off, alright?" she said, mostly to Subaki and Konya, who were the most worried about venturing in the woods with such few numbers.
Subaki, who at least had the will to find her brother working for her, managed to swallow the lump in her throat and nod, albeit nervously to Tiasha's statement. Litivia was living entirely on the fear that she might never find the first male she ever came to love mutually, Kyotsu, Subaki's brother. Konya on the other hand was just flat out terrified, being the smallest in the group and the only one without any significant special attachment to any of the missing males.
"On top of that, it won't be too difficult to find them," Tiasha added in a confident sounding tone, "I have a great nose and they all have distinct odors. If I catch a whiff of any of them, we'll be on them before any of you can get a chance to slap them for wandering off," the Mightyena told the other girls, trying her best to keep them calm and relying on her to lead the group.
"The important thing is to keep our heads and wits about us..." she added. Tiasha, however, despite her demeanor, was going over the argument she had with Niktsu in her head. It annoyed her to high heaven that she actually loved this male, despite the fact she didn't want to be very open with that knowledge. How tough would she look anyway if she got all girlish and shed a tear for her lost love in front of these younger girls anyway? Besides, as far as she was concerned, it was entirely Niktsu's fault, and that was before she even realized he slept with another girl, let alone a very young version of herself...
The dynamic four continue trekking through the woods, unaware that their targets are spread out over great distances and that they would more likely than now, be searching for days if not weeks before having any success in their search.
Meanwhile, Edge and Kyotsu were being carried back to Yukon's den. Kyotsu was being held over the shoulder of the Raichu, the fear of being electrocuted pretty much working as a deterrent from the male attempting to make any kind of an escape. As for the now moderately injured Zigzagoon, she was being carried by the nape of the neck in the Houndoom's mouth. The Skarmory flew overhead and Cyanide slithered in front of the prisoner transportation convoy.
"Hehe, I so can't wait to see what Yukon has planned for your little girlfriend, Vulpix..." the Seviper continued to tease. "He'll probably let all of us have a little fun with her before slowly dismembering her and feeding her to his underlings. Or maybe he'll feast on her flesh himself, I know he likes small, furry creatures..." the snake declared with soft, menacing laughter.
Kyotsu groaned as he remained held over the Raichu's shoulder, "That's pretty fucked upâ�"but she's not my girlfriend..." he told them, doing his best to hide the fact that he was worried for Edge in a number of ways. After all, some of these males were a lot more endowed than she was probably built to handle. Not only that, being eaten after being manhandled and raped didn't sound like a pleasant ending to such misery.
The Houndoom grinned, though unable to talk clearly with the female's neck scruff pinched between his teeth, "Mmm, I plan to take first dibs if Yukon allows itâ�"I still remember the first time she joined and tested her feminine wiles on meâ�"such an evil bitch..."
"Don't forget the time she used that feather on me when she was tested in her ability to convince a male to comply to her requests!" the Skarmory chimed in from above.
All three of the other males gave each other awkward glances before Cyanide pointed out, "Kamikaze, you have steel ballsâ�"you shouldn't even have felt that feather..."
"I know!" the Skarmory replied excitedly, "She's just THAT good!" he insisted.
Edge simply rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her fearless nature, though in truth she was more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life. What these guys were talking about doing to her only constituted a small fraction of some of the things she's witnessed them do to other prisoners, and that thought scared the confident temptress right out of her...
Meanwhile, Darfix had been escorted to a rather large, hollowed out tree where he was told he had to wait for the "Tactician". His escape route was guarded like usual, but he had been waiting for some time and by now almost dozed off in a sitting position like a high schooler during a physics lecture. The waiting was only made more annoying by the entrance of the "Tactician" showing no regard for the tired Eevee's condition.
Just as the Eevee was about catch a Z or two, a sudden outburst filled the den as a very shaggy, skinny, older male Mightyena entered. "Hey-ho! It's been awhile since I had to give a mission detail to an on Mightyena!"
The fur on Darfix' spine rose up quickly, his body reacting much like a cat being surprised when in a similar state. He practically rose up onto his tippy paws, his claws extended as he spun around to address the crazy looking Mightyena. "Hey! What in the hell was...!?"
The aging Mightyena interrupted the Eevee with some more of his maniacal laughter, "Cool your jets, lad! You've got yourself a very intriguing mission here! Yes indeed! Murdering of a princess, my, my, can't get any more interesting than that, can it?!"
The Eevee had managed to recover, slightly, from the initial shock caused by the Mightyena's unconventional entrance, but it wasn't easy to do now that the old man was going on about an assassination like it was the grand prize on some kind of a game show. Darfix lifted one of his hind paws to scratch at his fluffy cheek a little, not looking at all amused, "Errâ�"right, I was told that you would..."
"Yes, yesâ�"an interesting mission indeed," the Mightyena interrupted once more as he rolled with his nose what appeared to be some kind of a map etched into a soft bark by what was most likely the claw marks of other Mightyenas. He placed his paw down on one of the bigger markings. "You are currently here," he told the Eevee as he moved his paw a few paces up, or north, of the position he had just pointed out, "And your target is here, the foolish little princess known as Fukiya. She'll be guarded by a fairly heavy contingent of the pack's best royal guard which could prove difficult to bypass..."
Darfix groaned and nodded his head in a sarcastic manner, "Nah, you think?"
"Indeed, I do! But all you have to do is axe the pretty lass and report back here with her tail, and ear, or something to prove that you did the job! Easy huh? Then your friend gets to fight to the death and you can all be on your merry way!" the Tactician told Darfix, as if it were no big deal.
"Rightâ�"so killing her isn't already asking enough, you want me to mangle the corpse too? I'm sure I'll have no trouble explaining that one to her father or the guards..." Darfix replied, maintaining his sarcastic, unenthusiastic demeanor, though the old Mightyena doesn't quite seem to notice.
"Oh, there is an easy way around that, little fox," the old dog told the Eevee.
"Oh really? And what is that?" Darfix asked after a rolling of his eyes.
"Don't get caught..."
To Be Continued...