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tired-pokemon-boi · 6 years

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Pokemon FanFiction Chapter 1: Who is this Girl?

“Charizard use Flamethrower!” Alex yelled from below to his Pokemon.

He loved this, the feeling of a Pokemon battle. He could see his Pokemon high up in the air, dodging and flying around his opponents Pokemon. Soaring as it battled a large cream colored Pidgeot the large orange fiery lizard pushed itself backwards and blew fire from its mouth. The bird screeched in pain as it took the hit and started to descend from the air. “Use Hurricane!” his opponent yelled to his own Pokemon. Pidgeot opened its eye and caught itself a few inches from where it took the hit. It lifted its wings and started flapping faster, its wings started to glow brighter and brighter until pure white. From the flapping wings, powerful bursts of wind smashed into Alex’s Charizard sending it flying backwards and smashing into the nearby wall. Alex could tell that Charizard had taken a lot of damage, and the Pidgeot’s attack seemed to never end. The gusts of winds were pushing Charizard further into the white walls, he needed to act fast. Was there any move he had that was super effective against a flying type? He needed a plan or he would lose, there had to something he could…

“HELLO, I’M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!”

Alex blinked as he remembered he wasn’t really in the battle, it was a battle simulation on his computer and he was actually in the school library. He turned to see who had poked his shoulder and yelled into his ear for his attention, rarely anyone talked to him from school. It was a girl, which confused him more. The first thing he noticed was her long red curly hair, she had it in a bun, the bun wasn’t like normal ones he could tell she had a lot of it and it seemed untamable. She was about as tan as he was, but her face was covered in small darker freckles. She wore a black tank top with a regular Pokeball in the middle with the words “PokeAcademy” underneath the Pokeball to symbolize the school they both attended. She also wore a red and black checkered flannel over top completely unbuttoned. He was confused as to why she was even wearing it if she didn’t have it buttoned all the way, I mean it was September and starting to get kind of chilly but why have it all unbuttoned? I mean didn’t she know he could see… He quickly made sure he was staring into her eyes. Her green eyes stared back into his for a moment and then looked away and he thought for a second she was blushing before her lips puckered, her eyes narrowed, glancing away from his and said to him:

“Is it okay if I sit here? All the other people are weird…”

He looked around the library and knew she was totally bluffing. The library was huge, the university was made for hundreds of students that came from all over the world, so there was no way the library would be that crammed that you had no room to be by yourself. He could see there were hundreds of other places to sit, other tables, chairs, computer areas, and he knew there were many more seats past the vast number of bookshelves and cubicles. But she was cute and she did ask him. Fine. He shrugged and motioned to the chair in front of him. She plopped down in the cushioned seat, opened her messenger bag with a black laptop that looked as heavy as a brick. He smirked at her laptop that had stickers of Ponytas and Mubrays all over it, so she was a horse girl?

She blushed and glared at him, “This is the only laptop I had at home, I’ve had it since I was little, so hush. Plus, it still works… I mean it has kinks and stuff but… hush.”

He smirked and continued to work on his holographic screen laptop that he bought a year ago. She began to boot up her laptop and fish through her backpack for a textbook. After finally grabbing her textbook she grabbed her pair of glasses that looked like something a very small child would wear and started flipping through the pages of her textbook. His smile widened, wait why was he smiling so much? He didn’t usually talk to people on campus, but more importantly he didn’t even know this girl! Yet though, her presence felt inviting and warm, he felt like he wanted to know this girl more. Usually the people on the campus annoyed him and he didn’t want to make friends. Everyone was an obstacle for him to obtain his goal, and he didn’t want friends, plus they especially didn’t want him…

“So are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to tell me your name, small one.”

His smile faded, he blushed for not realizing he had spaced out and had been blankly staring at her. He then quickly changed his face to be glaring at her after realizing what she had just said. Small one!? He ignored the nickname,

“ummm… the name’s Alex, what’s yours?”

She smirked as she began booting up her laptop and flipping through pages of Pokémon Types, The Advantages and Disadvantages,

“Bethany.”

They talked for a while and he found out she was in the same degree and year as him. He also found that Bethany was a transfer student from the Kanto Region Academy school.

“Oh hey, I’ve been to Kanto! Well kind of… more like the Sevii Islands with my family. But that still counts, right?”

She rolled her eyes, “No.”

She then placed earbuds into her ears and began typing away after reaching the page she was looking for and began to start working on something.

Okay, back to what I was working on then, he thought to himself. He started at this school two years ago, took every class possible to get his degree finished as soon as possible and now he was almost done with this school. That meant that in two more semesters he would get to take the exam and get his trainer license and be able to become a real Pokemon Trainer. I mean, everyone can become a Pokemon Trainer, however if you go to college, get good grades, and do really well on the exams, you can have sponsors who will pay for your journey, since for some reason his parents didn’t want to support his expensive dreams. Alex used to live in Opelicud City, a place where you could see the beautiful and powerful dragon type Pokemon flying through the night sky, where the powerful gym leader, Drayden lived and battled trainers that dared to challenge him. His parents had always wanted him to follow in their footsteps and become researchers, but that was not something Alex was really interested in. True he loved to over-analyze, theorize and plan out everything when it comes to certain Pokemon and the way a battle could play out, but he didn’t want to be what his parents were.

Boring.

Plus, there wasn’t a lot of money involved into it unless you were famous like Professor Oak or Juniper. The most important reason however was that becoming a researcher took a lot of time, so you didn’t have time to battle and train and stuff. That was a passion Alex could not just pass down. Alex wanted to become a Pokemon Master. He wanted to go out and experience the world, battle really strong trainers from tons of different regions, use many different kinds of Pokemon, and become a champion in every region. He worked so hard for his degree practicing every night on the battle simulator the school provided. He started to go back to his simulation when Bethany chimed,

“You know those computer battle simulations do not help you become a better Pokemon Trainer, right?”

He tensed and looked over his laptop again, “What do you mean? Of course, they do.”

He exited from the battle he was losing, opened the chart, and flipped his screen over to her.

“The Battle Simulator teaches you the idea of the 16 different types of Pokemon, it can show their EVs, IVs, Abilities, and gives you the ability to look at certain moves and whether or not they work for each Pokemon. It’s the closest thing to teaching everyone how to properly battle against all 807 different Pokemon including the legendary Pokemon and Ultra Beasts.”

She sighed, pulled out a notebook and opened it into a bunch of her scribbled out notes, “Yes but think about it, in the real-world Pokemon know more than just four moves. Plus, type advantages and these so-called “EV and IVs” don’t always mean everything in battles, they just might give you a slight advantage. You need to look at certain ideas like terrain, the care you give the Pokemon, the experience you have as a trainer, trust the Pokemon has for you, and the fact of the matter is, moves like flamethrower don’t have 100% accuracy boy, almost all moves can miss because Pokemon don’t just stand still in battle and let themselves get hit. How many battles have you participated for real anyway?”

Wow. He never thought of that before. He blushed at the second part of her statement- dang she could really make him blush,

“Not yet… I just got my first Pokemon since the academy only allows students to have their beginning Pokemon to second semester juniors and seniors. Plus, I never really participated in the school funded battle tournaments because well, I never had anyone to really participate with…”

He had always been considered the loner since coming to this campus, and also the big nerd. Nobody really talked to him unless you count the professors who might know his parents, or some students looking for tutoring lessons on certain classes he was excelling in. Other than that, nobody asked him to participate in real battles. Probably because he was boring or too nerdy…

Her eyes bugged out, she took off her small glasses and closed her laptop loudly, making him jump because he was kind of scared for that laptop seeing how old it was,

“Hey… ummm, I know we are talking about something important and all but… could we get lunch first… I actually have no idea where the cafeteria is because today is my first day here,” she then poked his shoulder from across the table, “and I pick you to take me there.”

He sighed but smiled, who was this woman?

Hey guys this is the first chapter of my FanFiction that I will be posting every Friday at noon! From now on the chapters will be broken into parts so they can be shorter and quicker reads for everyone! So the next chapter might be 2 weeks long rather than just one.

If you liked what you read please like, reblog and/or comment! Feedback is super important for me and it will make me want to keep writing! You can also ask questions or send me stuff in my ask box if you want more in depth stuff about my story or you just want to tell me how I’m doing! Hope you enjoyed!

#pokemon #bethany #fanfiction #alex #chapter 1 #tired pokemon boi

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emeraldwaves · 7 years

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To The Skies

Part 2 (Ao3) Rating: M

Summary: It was supposed to be a typical evening for Bakugou Katsuki. A masquerade ball, a night of serving the royal family as he always did. But when the party goes horribly wrong it's up to servant boy Bakugou to rescue the princess, Uraraka Ochako. His rescue mission is about to change both of their lives completely, and eventually Uraraka will want to reclaim her throne. Now, older, the two reunite, realizing their lives have gone in very different directions. Ochako, part of the Resistance against the horrible Academy, and Bakugou, a famed sky pirate, traveling the island clusters to find various bounties. Together, they fight to take back the home they once knew and loved.

WC: 7,524

He slammed his boot against the rock, the wind blowing his blond bangs across his forehead. A shit eating grin was plastered across his face, his brown gun slung against his shoulder as he licked his lips. He narrowed his red eyes, glaring at the caves in front of them. They were positioned close to the shoreline, and watched as a few row boats moved against the waves.

Lowering his goggles over his eyes, he adjusted the knob on the side of the lenses, shooting them forward to zoom in, looking at the cave entrances. As suspected, a few large, muscular looking men stepped out of the boats, walking directly into the caves. Exactly what the intel he'd been supplied had referred to. Idiots. They hadn't even checked to see if anyone was watching them.

Thugs, rebels, hiding riches on a small cave island to the far west of U.A, the main island in the cluster. But these weren't typical rebels. No, they didn't fight for the benefit of the people against the Academy, they only fought for their own greed, thieves. Most of their money was obtained through dirty means; stealing from poorer islands which barely had any resources to begin with, and most of them weren't above killing innocents to take whatever they wanted. The Academy wasn't going to do anything about it, so Bakugou Katsuki had decided to take matters into his own hands. It had taken almost a week to arrive at the location, especially having to use their stealth airship, but in the end it was all going to be worth it.

"They're never going to see us coming!" A cheery voice called behind him.

"Of course not, especially when you yell like that. It will be a complete surprise."

"Shut up both of you," Bakugou growled quietly, pushing the goggles back up his brow to look at the people now standing behind him. His crew of four stood, waiting eagerly for directions, or perhaps 'waiting eagerly' was too generous a phrase. Kaminari Denki and Jirou Kyoka were glaring at each other, as though they were about to break out into a fight over the minor dialogue they had shared moments prior. Bakugou didn't give a shit what they did, as long as they didn't blow their current cover. Todoroki Shouto looked positively uninterested, which didn't come as a surprise, and Kirishima Eijiro was tapping his large black boot against the ground.

"Did you find it, boss?" Kirishima asked, folding his arms behind his head, his attention on Bakugou once the blond had turned around.

"'Course I did," Bakugou grunted, stepping down off of the perch. "Who the hell do you think I am?"

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Kaminari asked, bouncing up and down. He took out his large stun gun. "I'm ready to go."

"We have the advantage right now," Jirou stated, tugging down on her deep plum corset. "There's no reason to jump in there."

"I'm actually proud the boss didn't jump down immediately," Kirishima teased, stepping past Bakguou to peer over the edge of their rock perch. Bakugou growled deeply, glaring at Kirishima. Yes, he was known for his more...explosive plans, but when he had such a strong advantage, he wasn't that much of an idiot...usually.

"Did you see any of what we came for?" Todoroki asked flatly, folding his arms.

"...No," Bakugou admitted. He'd seen the men, but he hadn't actually seen any treasure or anything of the sort.

"Then really nothing has been confirmed," he sighed, shaking his red and white hair back and forth.

"Shut up, half and half!" Bakugou said. "I know what the fuck I'm doing." He yanked his gloves out of his pockets, shoving them on his hands as he clenched his fists and wiggled his fingers. "We're going in."

"Finally," Kirishima said, stepping over the edge of the rock, and running down the side of the hill.

Bakugou wasn't too far behind him as he leapt over the edge too, following right after. "Let's fucking do this," he yelled, and Kaminari let out a loud holler as he followed suit.

"So much for any kind of stealth," Jirou sighed, running down the hill with Todoroki.

"I expect nothing less," he said, reaching his hand into his bag to pull out his fire and ice concentrates, loading the orbs into his gun.

Bakugou and Kirishima were already at the base of the cave, Bakugou wringing his hands together as he waited for the rest of his team. Once the other three entered the cave, Bakugou held his left hand up, shooting fire from the center of his glove across the entrance of the cave. "No one is going anywhere until we say so," he smirked.

There were echoes of voices deeper into the cave, and the storming of feet.

"Seems like they noticed," Todoroki muttered, pulled the large shotgun up with both of his hands to prepare.

"Sure did," Bakugou laughed loudly, running down the hall, the rest of the crew following close behind.

It only took but a minute for the men to realize there were unwanted guests in their not very subtle hideaway.

"Who the hell are you?!" One asked, running around the corner, but Bakugou didn't give them a chance to answer, shooting a large burst of fire from his other glove, causing the men to leap back. Kirishima wasted no time, leaping directly towards them, bringing his knee up to kick one of the men directly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, while he swung a punch at the second man, taking him out.

It was only a matter of time until more men came running up from deeper in the cave. Bakugou's explosions and loud cackling were anything but subtle.

"Guess it's time," Jirou grinned, running forward as she pulled two large rods from her bodice. Jumping up, she flicked her wrists forward, unraveling the electrical whips, her red skirt twirling around her waist. They buzzed loudly, the currents running down the full length of the whips as she snapped her wrist, wrapping the long lines around two men, smacking them together as she pressed the button on the handle, shocking them.

Next to her, Kaminari had brought out his stun guns, shocking the men running up a separate corridor, taking out three of them with three quick shots.

"That's three," he smirked, winking at Jirou.

"Please," she rolled her eyes. "I refuse to compete with you," she said, retracting her whips. "Besides it's way easier for you to shock multiple people fast with that." She gestured to the stun gun.

Todoroki stepped between both of them, clearing his throat as he held up his large shotgun, shooting an ice orb, towards a large group charging towards them, pinning their bodies against the wall of the cave. "Let's go," he stated, walking past them, the belts on his boots jingling with each step he took against the ground.

Jirou and Kaminari shrugged, walking forward after Todoroki.

From deeper in the cave, Bakugou and Kirishima were already making progress, Kirishima shaking out his hand after breaking the nose of one man. "Fuck," he cursed. "That one really hurt."

Bakugou scoffed, rolling his shoulders back as he let out a large huff. "We haven't found shit yet." He hooked a finger around the chain draped over his neck, swinging the small, pink crescent moon jewel back and forth. "It's all well and good we get rid of these shitheads, but I want to get the loot back."

"Always about the treasure," Kirishima sighed, shrugging as he shook his head back and forth. "Can't just have a good time."

"Oh, I'm having a great time," he grinned, letting the chain fall against his chest. He pulled down on his brown vest, stepping forward. "Their leader is probably deeper in the cave..." he said, taking some steps forward. "I refuse to leave here without the missing treasure."

The group made their way deeper, finally coming upon a clearing filled with crates and large boxes.

"J-J-J-Jackkkkpot!" Kaminari called out, tucking his stun gun into his belt.

"Fuck yes," Bakugou said, he and Kirishima walking over to a few of the boxes, yanking the tops open. As expected there were coins in many of the crates, though there were also crops, and piles of food the men had clearly pillaged from the smaller island villages. "Fucking thieves," he growled.

A scream rang out behind him, echoing against the high cave walls. Bakugou whipped his head around, seeing Kaminari's body smack against the wall.

"Denki!" Jirou cried.

"They have a gravity pulse," Todoroki commented, loading fire orbs into his shotgun. He shot at the two stout men holding the large device, both yelled, growling when they were forced to back up from the fire blasts which puffed out in the air.

Bakugou and Kirishima ran past Todoroki, glancing at the red and white haired male. "Ice!" Bakugou yelled. Todoroki nodded, loading an ice orb into the shotgun, shooting it on the ground. Bakugou and Kirishima jumped up, landing on the icy path. They crouched down, sliding forward towards the two large men.

Holding out his hand, Bakugou shot a flame in their direction, catching one of their jacket's on fire, while Kirishima slid off of the ice, doing a roundhouse kick straight to the other man's face, knocking him out completely.

"BOSS! Help!" the man on fire screamed, running back towards the clearing, but he slipped on the ice, falling on his behind as he scrambled to rid himself of the scorched jacket. He attempted to stand back up, slipping helplessly against the ice yet again.

"What the hell is-" a tall mustached man in a large top hat came upon the scene, freezing when he saw the man scrambling, his arms waving about like a clown.

"Jirou!" Bakugou called out, and the girl was quick to act. She pulled her whips from her belt, unraveling them as she flicked her wrists forward, wrapping them around the two men. She pulled them together. The stout man fell to the ground, dragging the man he had called 'boss' with him. The top hat fell from his head, rolling to the side as he struggled to free himself from the whips.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kirishima chuckled. "Those are electrical whips, can knock you right out with one shock," he grinned.

Todoroki had gone to check on Kaminari, helping him up as he limped towards the main scene, one arm wrapped around Todoroki's neck for support.

"Denki!" Jirou said, clenching her hands around the handles of her whips. "Are you okay?"

"...Fine..." he moaned. "My leg doesn't feel too hot, gonna have a lot of bruises...and I'm pretty sure I had the wind knocked outta me...but I'll live."

"Yaoyorozu will look at you when we get back," Todoroki said.

Jirou sighed, tightening her grip as she watched the men wince, unforgiving towards the men who would've hurt Kaminari.

"Who...the hell are you people?" the mustached man asked finally. "Are you with the Academy?"

"The Academy?" Bakugou barked. "Yeah right. We don't give a shit about the Academy."

"He hates the Academy," Kirishima laughed. Irrelevant, Bakugou thought, but it wasn't untrue.

"Then who the hell are you, and why are you breaking into our place?" the man grunted.

"We're the Explodo-Pirates!" Bakugou grinned, pressing his boot against the man's leg, taking out his gun from the holster. He pressed it against the man's forehead, pushing on his wrinkled skin.

"No. No, that's not our name," Kirishima said quickly, talking over a loud collective groan from Jirou and Kaminari.

"Yes, it fucking is," he glared, turning towards Kirishima. "It sounds fucking cool!"

"It's a terrible name," Todoroki said flatly.

"Shut up, half and half!" he growled, his shoulders trembling.

"I don't know if this is really important right now..." Jirou mumbled, pulling tight on her whip. The two men grunted, annoyed by the squeeze.

"What the fuck ever," Bakugou snorted.

"Okay...so you're pirates...?" the man rolled his eyes. "You just want to steal this from us, and leave us stuck in this cave until we die."

Bakugou rolled his shoulders back, slinging his gun onto his shoulder. "Fuck no," he yelled, leaning towards the man.

"You could say we're more like...bounty hunters!" Kirishima explained. "We'll get a nice bounty for turning your asses in, and we'll give these crops and money back to the nice people you took it from," he grinned.

"Even better..." the man grit his teeth, trying to wriggle free.

"Half and half, go put out that fire and call Tokoyami, we're done here. We gotta start loading up the ship," Bakugou said, punching the leader of gang directly in the face.

"Seemed reckless to me. You could've easily developed a better strategy," Tokoyami scolded as the crew, minus Kaminari and Jirou, stood on the bridge of the airship.

"Literally everything Bakugou does is reckless," Yaoyorozu scoffed, folding her arms. "I expect nothing less of our amazing Captain"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bakugou snapped, clutching the arm of the chair he sat in.

"It means exactly what I said!" she retorted. "You barely plan things out, and for all you know Kaminari could've died!" she said. "He's lucky he's only got a sprain and minor bruising! So damn reckless."

"We got the damn job done and no one is hurt, so I see no fucking problem," he glared, turning back around in his seat. "Did we set course for Bounty Island?" he asked, changing the subject as he stared out the large front window, the clouds floating by across the large sloped windows.

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes, while Todoroki shrugged, knowing it wasn't worth it to argue.

"Course has been set," Tokoyami said. He held the tablet in his hands, pulling up a small, holographic screen with a map. A tiny blinking ship popped up on the left side of the screen, moving extremely slowly. "The prisoners are locked away in the brig, and we have the cargo tied down in the hold."

"Good," Bakugou said. "See, no fucking problems."

It had taken over 5 hours to load the ship up with the amount of crates the thugs had taken. Even with some of the technology their ship held, it was impossible to load the crates on in bulk and safely. The crew was exhausted as a result, and though they were en route to their home island, everyone was feeling incredibly sluggish.

There was a collective sigh as the crew returned to their respective positions. Everyone knew arguing with Bakugou was a useless cause. He never saw himself as wrong, and he never was willing to cave. Hell, he was the self-proclaimed number one bounty hunter, and he had no intention of giving that title up.

Tokoyami took a seat next to him in one of the main navigation chairs. "We have stealth on currently, but thankfully there have been no patrols from the Academy in the area. No routine checks or anything, I've set course for the long way around, just in case."

"Yeah, yeah," Bakugou said, sliding the charm dangling from the chain back and forth. "The Academy doesn't come out this far, and even if they did, they can't touch us," he snorted. He ran his thumb over the pink jewel. Over the years it had grown a bit dull, but held up against the night sky at the right angle, it would shimmer in the light.

"It would behoove you to take the Academy more seriously. They're in charge of the main island clusters, they could destroy us quite easily, based on their numbers alone," Tokoyami explained.

With each word that escaped the man's mouth, Bakugou felt his shoulders shake, his body trembling. He wasn't an idiot, he was well aware of the fire power of the Academy, of how dangerous they could be. Hell, he of all people knew this first hand.

Slamming his hand down onto the arm of the chair, he stomped his feet against the floor. "Shut up," he growled. "You think I don't fucking know how terrible the Academy is. How...fuckin'...just forget it!" he snapped, shoving his hands into his pant pockets. "I'm going to my quarters. If anything happens come get me."

He didn't wait for any reply, the door swiping open as he walked by, closing with a loud whoosh behind him.

The last thing Bakugou wanted to admit was any sort of defeat against anyone, but especially the shitty Academy.

It had been 10 years. 10 years and the loss still stung. The memories often wrapped around his heart, squeezed it hard and made his chest tight. He was stronger now, the strongest he'd ever been. If you had asked for his opinion, he would've considered himself the best.

Lying on his bed, he held the chain over his head, his thumb and pointer finger gently twisting the stone around. Often times he wondered if Princess Ochako was alive. When he closed his eyes, he could see the scene perfectly. Her small figure walking up the ramp of the airship, pulling down her hat as hard as she could to keep her long brown locks tucked up inside.

He could remember the pain he felt when he swung his hand against one of the legs of the men charging towards him-how it felt like every knuckle in his fist had broken against the metal limb hidden under the man's pants.

He remembered struggling to get away, biting down on the man's hand to hit the ground running, literally. His small stature had assisted him in zig zagging through the crowd. Unable to find his way onto a commercial airship, he'd snuck onto a tiny open cargo ship. An illegal one, though Bakugou had been unaware of that fact until he ended up miles and miles away, on Bounty Island.

An orphan and alone, Bakugou had never felt like more of a failure. He tried his best to not think of that evening. All it did was evoke memories of rage and frustration. If only he had been faster, quicker, smarter...maybe he would've kept his promise to his mother. He'd vowed then, on his own, he would never fail so bad again

Well, she had gotten away safely, or so he hoped. He touched at the small jeweled ring she had given him. He wasn't sure why he had kept the damn thing. Probably to sell it if he was ever that low on money. But...even when he had been poor, he'd kept it. A constant reminder that he never wanted to fail again.

If she was alive, he wondered silently what she'd be doing. She was a Princess, so she probably was in hiding, since the Academy had gone on a hunt to eliminate all other ruling bodies. Still, Bakugou had been traveling all over in his time as a sky pirate and he'd never found her.

Not that he was looking.

Wrapping his hand around the ring, he punched his fist against the wall, the chain of the necklace jingling against the side of his thumb. "Dammit!" he cursed loudly.

He despised thinking about her, thinking about the Academy, that damn horrible machine. Either way, none of those things were his direct problem. Not anymore. Now he focused on his jobs, how he earned money, and keeping his damn dumb ass crew in line.

There was a loud pounding on his door, and Bakugou shot up, almost smacking his head on the ceiling of the wall above his bed.

"Boss! Boss! Come out, we're home!"

"God damn it, Kirishima!" he grunted, swinging his legs out of the bed as he let the door slide open. "Why the hell you pounding on this thing like there's some sort of emergency?!" he yelled, the door closing quickly behind him.

"Just excited to finally be back, Tokoyami told me to come get you," he said, walking in the direction of the main bridge.

"We've officially docked on Bounty Island, awaiting your direction," Tokoyami said.

Glancing around at his crew, Bakugou smirked, folding his arms. Damn did he love being in charge. "Alright," he barked. "Tokoyami, you check in the ship! Yaoyorozu, you and Jirou take Kaminari to the infirmary in town! Half and half, you and Kirishima bring the prisoners down to the drop off, and I'll grab the list of islands these items were stolen from. We can all meet at Bounty's Haven for drinks afterward!" he ordered loudly. "Move out!" he cheered, a large grin on his face as he punched his fist against his hand.

It was nice to be home again.

"Ocha!"

Ochako practically jumped out of her bed when she heard Mina's voice calling from outside the window of her small cottage. "Wake up! You gotta hear the news!"

She groaned, rolling over in her bed, pushing herself up. Her brown hair seemed to go in every which direction, but she crawled forward, leaning out the window anyway. "Mina?" she asked. "What could possibly be so important, you felt the need to wake me up this early in the morning!" she called.

"Iida has news!" she called up again.

"Alright, alright. I'll be down in a minute!" she said, moving to her wardrobe. First things first, she had to get dressed. She pulled up a pink skirt and placed her pastel pink vest over her white blouse. She desperately attempted to brush her hair, but gave up, choosing to tie a scarf over her head, the two longer pieces falling out to frame her face. "This is fine," she shrugged. She was only seeing Iida and Mina, the two people she'd spent the majority of her time with for the past ten years.

Slipping on her boots, she grabbed her bag and began to run to the main underground on the island.

"Good morning Ocha!" A few friendly faces waved as she ran by. She couldn't help but smile, waving back. The island was tiny, so tiny she could see the edges of the cliffs from the second floor balcony on her cottage, and so it was easy to recognize everyone's faces. The island had one small stream which flowed through the center, the water pouring over the edge as it disappeared into the clouds below. Wind storms often plagued the tiny area, forcing the residents to stay in their cottages, but Ochako had come to love it.

She had been lucky to find it, tucked away from the Academy, tucked away from any commercial airships, Ochako had been at an advantage when the Academy had gone on their witch hunt searching and murdering other rulers. No one had found her, and it was all thanks to...well...she could never quite remember his name.

A blond boy, loud, abrasive...but caring underneath his strange, hard shell. He'd saved her life, sent her on the airship, not looking back. That wasn't 100% true, however. Of course, there would always be a small part of her unable to let go of her home. Her heart would always reside there, in her castle. She loved her life now, yes, but there were times when she could remember the ballroom, the large golden room where people twirled about. She could imagine the large painted canvasses on the wall, depicting her family's history, and of course the giant glass doors which led out to the large balcony, overlooking the beautiful garden courtyard.

Yes, there was a part of her that wanted to take back her old life. Reclaim her throne, make her parents proud...which is why she had joined the Resistance. They were going to take down the Academy, or so they claimed. No one had been making much headway on it, especially not since regulations of airships had gone up in the past few years. It was next to impossible to travel from island to island undetected, especially to islands under the Academy's reign.

She sighed as she stopped outside the entrance to the main bar in town. There was a door in the backroom which led to an underground cavern, a small path of caves which all moved under the island. They were odd, and none of the island inhabitants seemed to know if they were man-made or natural. Either way, they were the perfect meeting place for Ochako and her fellow members of the Resistance.

"Good morning, Your Highness," Iida greeted, pressing his glasses up on his face after bowing to her quickly.

"Iida!" she scolded, giggling lightly. "I already told you, you don't have to call me that." She nudged his shoulder, and he blushed.

The moment Iida had discovered Ochako was indeed a princess, he had refused to give up on addressing her as casually as he had in the past. He'd been doing it for years, still it didn't stop Ochako from occasionally trying to get him to loosen up. Unless they were being more subtle, then he called her Ocha, like most of the people on the island.

"But you are one of the few remaining Princesses! We must follow protocol-"

"Aw c'mon Iida, don't be so damn uptight!" Mina teased, slapping his back.

Choking, he lurched forward, readjusting his glasses once more. "Ashido, I would ask that you don't injure me first thing in the morning!"

Both Ochako and Mina laughed, shaking their heads at the bespectacled man. "One of these days you're going to have to give it up, Ochako! Iida is never going to be casual with you again."

Ochako sighed, adjusting the scarf she'd tied on her head. "Anyway, what is the news you wished to share?" she asked.

"Ah! Yes!" Iida perked up, immediately looking excited. He placed his small tablet down on the table in front of them, pulling up a hologram document. "As you know, the Resistance has been building more force lately. With the travel regulations and airship checks, the Academy keeps pushing the public too far. Many people are coming to our side quietly. The underground information circuit has been buzzing lately."

"That is good news," Ochako hummed. In the past 10 years the Resistance had grown quite a bit, but next to none of their efforts had been successful. Most of their outward attacks had been met with failure, and any infiltration attacks were usually thwarted, spies disappearing with no answer.

The Academy was strong, stronger on a different level, and they'd spent the past 12 years conquering the island clusters. Due to their strength and intelligence, it was practically impossible to take them off-guard.

At first, the Academy had been a seemingly good organization. A group of intelligent men and women, working to gather history and knowledge of the clusters of islands. They developed technology, were researches--for years that was how the Academy functioned. It had always been full of elitists, and it was famous for being incredibly difficult to be a part of, however, most of their advances helped humanity.

Until they had begun developing robotics. Technology had been booming, robotic on the rise, and many of the members of the Academy began to realize their full potential as they replaced their own bodily parts with that of robots.

Now, with only a few actual human parts left, the Academy had ultimately come to decide they were the ones best suited to rule over the clusters. For years they'd been brainwashing the people of U.A, the main island, that they were the superior beings. 12 years ago, they'd begun secretly and slowly usurping various governments from various islands. And 10 years ago, was when they had taken Ochako's.

"Well, that's not all. News has been spreading about a few bounty hunter, pirate groups. Some are actually circling around the underground circuit."

"Really? Free hunters?" Ochako asked. There were only a handful of bounty hunters or pirates left that weren't affiliated with the Academy. The Resistance was constantly on the lookout for new groups or individuals who could help their cause, but lately it had become rare.

"Yeah, one group has been gaining quite the following," Iida explained. "Their name is..." he paused, adjusting his glasses as he stared at the screen. "The...uh...Explodo...Pirates?"

Mina immediately burst out laughing. "E-Explodo-Pirates?! Are you serious?!" Ochako snorted, laughing right along with her.

"T-That's what it says." Iida's shoulders trembled as he tried to hold his laugh inside.

"Are...Are they a real...group?" Ochako asked, covering her mouth as she tried to stop her uncontrollable giggles.

"It seems legitimate," he continued, clearing his throat as he regained his composure. "They've rescued and returned stolen goods for tiny islands all over the clusters," Iida explained. "And they're somehow incredible at avoiding the Academy's eye. There's no information on how they are doing so, but they are. They might be what the Resistance needs..."

"Definitely what the Resistance needs," Mina corrected. "No matter how...stupid their name is..." she cackled.

The truth was, the Resistance was not doing well. Ever since the airship regulations had come into play, it was almost impossible to meet in large groups. Since many of them lived on various outlier islands, they had been communicating through the underground information circuit, which was only so reliable.

The circuit had gone undetected for years, changing servers anytime anyone from the Academy got wind of any sort of open communication.

Things had been looking grim for the Resistance. The Academy was doing everything in their power to snuff them out, but many of them had worked to stay afloat, hiding out on undetectable small islands outside of the main clusters.

"Do you think they would have any interest in us?" Ochako asked.

"I don't know. Nothing on the circuit is giving me any information about their affiliation," he mumbled, scrolling his finger through multiple pages.

The problem was, Ochako had learned early on, bounty hunters and pirates were free to do as they pleased, their code lenient and carefree. Due to this, although most of them knew of the Resistance and the underground information circuit, none of them ever chose to engage. Instead they made money and did things on their own.

"If we had strong bounty hunters on our side, we could maybe get another group together, start up a new Resistance attack. It's been so long since we've struck..." Mina said.

"And now would be a good time," Iida continued. "Since we haven't done anything in a long while, it's possible they think we've realized our numbers are too few..."

"True," Ochako hummed, tapping her chin lightly. "We certainly would have the element of surprise..."

"Maybe we could try and get your island back, Ocha!" Mina smiled.

Ochako's breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, she found herself unable to answer. Take back her island? She hadn't even thought of the possibility of doing that so early on. Yes she had assumed they would launch some sort of counter-measure...but on her island? It had been 10 years, but her desire to go home had never faded.

Pursing her lips, she forced a smiled. "My island? I don't know if that is the most important one..."

"It's higher on the list," Iida said. "There aren't many royals left alive, if you take back your island and sit on your throne once again, you could be a figurehead for our movement.

She waved her hands in front of her body quickly. "I-I think we're getting way ahead of ourselves!" she said quickly. "This depends on finding more people, which means actually asking these people to join us."

Mina groaned, her excitement deflating. "I know you're right..."

"It's not good to plan so far in advance. I'd hate to get any hopes up," Iida said.

"Well, I wouldn't say we shouldn't get our hopes up," Ochako smiled. "New bounty hunters and new recruits could show big growths in our numbers! And if they know how to avoid the Academy in their airship..."

"True," Iida said, flicking his hand across the screen to close his tablet. "Still, we should plan accordingly. One step at a time."

"Well," Ochako began, "I guess this means we're going to Bounty Island," she grinned with determination, clapping her hands together.

The trip hadn't been a very pleasant one for Ochako, Iida and Mina. The three had squished themselves into a small airship, and had to fly as close to the lower layer of clouds as possible. They were thicker, making the ride far more turbulent. To top it off, Bounty Island was almost on the other side of the island clusters, so the ride had taken almost a week.

"I've never been so happy to stretch my legs," Mina cheered, stretching out. "I don't ever want to go back in there," she whined. "Especially with Iida," she said, narrowing her dark eyes to glare at the other.

"Flying undetected is no laughing matter!" Iida scolded. "We had to stay safe! If the princess-"

"Was kidnapped or taken, our whole cause would've been ruined...blah blah blah," Mina scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay," Ochako said, quickly trying to break up the fight. "Please guys, we're here, there's no reason to fight anymore!" she urged, putting her hands between the two. She understood where the frustration came from, the confined space, the long journey. They were starving for real food, and could all use a good night sleep. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed, taking in the fresh air. "First things first, I think we could all use a nice meal," she suggested.

"Oh my GOSH, Ocha, you read my mind!" Mina cheered, wrapping her arm excitedly around her friend.

"Well, we're in luck!" Iida said, pulling out his tablet. "If I recall, the best place for food here is a place called Bounty Haven...and that's where these...Explodo-Pirates like to hang out."

Mina snorted. "I'm still not over the name, I think I'm going to call them out on it!" she giggled, as Iida began to head towards the center of town.

"Please don't," Iida urged. "We want them on our side, not as our enemy. From what sources say, their leader is a bit explosive...hey, maybe that's where the name comes from!" Iida mused, looking rather proud of his possible discovery.

Mina rolled her eyes and began to walk faster, moving ahead of all of them. "Well let's hurry it up! I'm starving!"

The bar was located almost directly in the center of the island, and it was the obvious hub of the town. People were standing outside smoking, chatting, and the lights flickered on and off. There were a lot of cheers and loud noises coming from inside.

"Mm I take it this is more of a drinking establishment..." Iida commented.

"Yeah, it's fine, let's go," Ochako said, grabbing his wrist as she dragged him towards the door. The bar was indeed around a rowdy scene. There was a large circular bar in the center, a row of beer on tap circled around the large column in the middle. Seats around the bar were completely filled by patrons. Some were yelling loudly, laughing, clearly enjoying their time. Around the back and side of the bar, were large booths, with waitresses attending to the various tables. "C'mon," Ochako said, dragging her friends to an open booth near the back. "This'll do for now."

She sighed as she scooted into the booth, pulling up the menu on the tablet in front of her. Her stomach growled, feeling empty.

"Thank the Gods," Mina whined, collapsing on the table. "Do we even know what these people look like?" she asked.

Iida pressed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Mmm...I don't think so," he muttered. "All the information I have is that the people in charge are named Bakugou and Kirishima..." he admitted.

"Well, keep your ears out," Ochako said, glancing around the room. "Maybe we'll hear something. But..." she giggled, "for the time being...let's eat something!"

The three were quick to order something off of the menu, and wait for their food to come. Mina was quite emphatic about getting the chance to eat dinner, but Ochako kept searching around the room for some sort of sign, any sign of the group they were looking for. "Are you sure they're here?" she asked Iida.

"I promise you, the circuit said they had returned home after their latest job. I believe they're still here, it's barely been a few days..." Iida continued.

"It's hard when you only know someone’s name-" Ochako began to sigh, and as if on cue, they finally got the outburst they needed.

"IT'S CALLED EXPLODO-PIRATES!"

"IT'S A DUMB FUCKING NAME!"

Two boys were now half standing on a table a few booths over. The blond looked as though he were about to explode he was so angry, his forehead pushed against the red-haired boy's. His teeth looked sharp as he growled back the response.

"I'M THE CAPTAIN! YOU CAN'T JUST QUESTION ME!!" The blond screamed, stomping his foot down against the table, rattling all the glasses on the top.

Ochako's eyes widened as the two kept fighting, pushing back and forth. That had to be them...given they'd shouted their name all across the bar. Before she could say anything, Ochako was up and out of her seat, walking directly over to the table.

"AH! W-Wait!" Iida called after her, but Ochako didn't listen, making her way over to the table as she slammed her hand down on it, both boys jumping back as they looked down at her.

"Who the fuck are you!?" the blond boy snapped, glowering down at her. His red eyes stared at her as though she had interrupted the fight of the century.

"Yes..." the redhead said, jumping back down in the booth as he leaned across the table, blinking his eyes. "Who are you?" If it was an attempt to hit on her, it was a severely poor one.

Now, Iida and Mina had come up to stand next to her.

"Shut up, Kirishima!" the blond said, taking a seat.

"Ah," Ochako smiled. "You must be Bakugou, the leader of...Explodo-Pirates?" she said, trying to keep her face straight as she said the name. The blond looked pleased, grunting proudly in Kirishima's direction. Next to her, Mina snorted.

"Who the fuck wants to know?" The blond asked. He jumped down, and raised his eyebrow at the three people in front of him. Ochako swallowed. This man was certainly abrasive but she supposed it made sense. If people were asking about him, when he was constantly dodging the Academy...it was a precaution.

"Hello!" Iida said, looking rather nervous. "We are...part of the Resistance...since you are free agents...we were wondering if you would like to join our cause."

The blond burst out laughing. "Join the cause? Bakugou Katsuki has no 'cause'," he rolled his eyes. "Our cause is money. So yeah, if you wanna pay me, I'll join your cause." She could understand his desire for money...it was a necessity in this day and age. She didn’t blame them. And yet...

Frowning, Ochako grabbed the tablet from Iida's hand. "Your cause is money? Then why does the underground information circuit talk about you guys like your heroes. People who turn in their bounties, but then personally go and return the goods that were stolen. We might not be able to pay you, but we're helping people...we're trying..." she shook her head, correcting herself, "we're going to defeat the Academy, and let people live free lives!"

Bakugou stared at her for a moment, his red eyes softening. The others at the table stayed silent, all looking towards their leader for an answer.

"Forget it round face," he grunted. "I'm not going to do anything unless you can cough it up."

"...I didn't think a group with the name Explodo-Pirates would be such cowards!" she snapped.

"OI!" Bakugou yelled. "We're not fucking cowards. Hell no. We're the number one team on this damn island, hell, I'm the number one bounty hunter. You won't find better!" he growled.

"Then join us!" she yelled back, glaring at his face.

"FINE," he glared.

"GREAT!" she yelled back.

"Are...we really joining them, Boss?" Kirishima asked.

"I...guess?" Another blond shrugged.

"What?! No! They're not fucking paying us."

"But...you just said..."

Bakugou glared. "Shut up!"

"Look...at least meet us at the Bounty Hotel...and just hear us out," Ochako urged. "We'll be heading there now, if you come to the lobby in the morning...I'll assume you're in."

She turned on her heel, storming away, not waiting for an answer. What an ass! She didn't particularly want to work with him, but if he really was the best, they needed people like him. She hated conceding to that fact.

Iida and Mina stayed mostly quiet as they walked back to the hotel, not wanting to bother Ochako when she was clearly frustrated. "I...I just don't understand people," she said, stopping in the middle of the street. "How can they...how can they just live like this?! How can they be satisfied with living in fear of the Academy?!" she said.

"Look...Ocha...they might still come..." Mina said, a glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Maybe..." she mumbled, rubbing the side of her arm, but she didn't have a great deal of faith in the group.

The trio made their way inside. The hotel was tiny. The small little entryway was mostly occupied by the concierge's desk, though to the right were a few blue Victorian chairs which surrounded a run-down brown table.

"We'd like a room for the night," Iida said, and Ochako had stopped listening.

There was something about that Bakugou guy that didn't sit right with her. He was so strange, loud, mean, angry...for no reason. She couldn't believe she had tricked him so damn easily too...though she had a feeling she wasn't going to see the Explodo-Pirates here the next morning. There was something else though...something that tugged on her mind...like she had seen him before. Which was next to impossible...since she barely left her tiny island home.

Swallowing, she carried her small bag upstairs, staying silent. All that traveling for them to only be rejected? It seemed like such a waste. Maybe she had rushed into it too quick. She had been so excited when she realized who was sitting at the table, wanting to start their journey. And, of course, there was the small part of her which wished to return to her old home.

"We should try again tomorrow," Mina urged. "I mean we did come...all this way," she mumbled.

"Definitely!" Iida said. "Maybe if they're less...under the influence..."

"Maybe..." Ochako repeated, still feeling a bit disheartened.

She plopped her stuff down on the tiny bed, the creaking noise echoing in her ear. Out the small slim window, she could see a few of the airships near the docks. Most of them were smaller ships for private crews. She wonder which ship belonged to the Explodo-Pirates. It really was a stupid name. She flopped back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, the white paint cracking. It looked as though a piece would fall off onto her face if the room moved even ever so slightly.

What would their plan be now? By dawn they'd have an answer, and Ochako was certain it wouldn't be a good one.

His laugh kept echoing in her head, like a cruel prank, looping around and around. 'Join the cause? Bakugou Katsuki has no 'cause' the words repeated, she couldn't stop the track in her brain until...

Katsuki. The name sounded so familiar...as though she'd heard it before. But where though...

"Katsuki!" she gasped loudly, shooting up in bed. The images flashed before her eyes; the deep red eyes, the messy blond hair, the way his small hand had fit around hers. He'd given up everything for her...even possibly his life. Or so she had thought.

She'd always imagined if she'd found him, he'd look exactly the same--a tiny boy with determined eyes. But she was older, and obviously he would've been too. In fact, the man they had just met really did look like an older version of him...or maybe she was reading far too much into it.

Ochako closed her eyes, remembering the way the boy had spoke, how his facial expressions had twisted between annoyed and apathetic, especially when speaking to his mother...the resemblance was uncanny.

It was him. It had to be. Bakugou Katsuki was the boy who had saved her life.

#kacchako #katsuki bakugou #Uraraka Ochako #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #BHNA #BHNA Fanfiction #steampunk au #royalty au #AU #sky pirate au #chaptered #fanfiction #To The Skies #THANK YOU FOR READING

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theonyxpath · 6 years

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This week we present Leath Sheales’ Unity, the opening fiction to Trinity Continuum: Æon, currently available for preorder via BackerKit.

The room beyond the open door was minimalist, but spoke volumes about Nippon. The desk to the left appeared to be molded from a single piece of unknown material. Its writing surface washed gently with images of waves against the shores of the Home Islands. To the right was a couch and two single lounges, all arranged around a low coffee table that appeared to be a younger sibling of the desk. Both the desk and the lounge setting were arranged facing each other, with the entrance on one side and window on the other. The man who inhabited the office could easily turn his head to see the UN building’s inspiring view of Olympus and upwards to the sky where Earth glittered like a multi-hued jewel. He could stare straight ahead, ordering the wall to transform into a single massive vidscreen to show whatever he wanted. Or he could see who was entering his sanctum. As he was doing now.

Amina, rather than entering, was staring at his personal assistant who was standing beside the doorway, gesturing her through. She studied the assistant’s face carefully, leaning in close for detail. The assistant stared back at Amina with a pleasantly neutral expression. She took no offence at the scrutiny; part of her purpose was to invite it. The man in the office also took no offence, but did shift slightly with impatience. Amina saw this from the corner of her eye and took the hint. She walked through the doorway, moving to the lounges; the man gestured for her to do so and stood from his desk to join her.

“Nakamura-san, my name is Amina Buhari,” she introduced herself as they both sat. Her voice was smooth, her expression and body language indicating appreciation but not subservience. This was a meeting of equals, and Nakamura was slightly taken aback, though he quickly covered his surprise. “May I compliment you on the quality of your servant,” she said, steering the conversation into compliments and pleasantries, aiming to settle Nakamura but also keep him off balance at the shifting conversation. “I’ve rarely seen a robot so lifelike, especially the skin texture. The artificial pores and fine hairs are incredible.”

“Thank you, Ms Buhari,” Nakamura replied, unsure exactly what was the purpose of their meeting. He stopped after this short sentence, letting the quiet of the office envelope them, aiming to take control of the conversation by forcing her to fill the silence. Amina smiled, undeterred, as she prepared to completely unbalance him. “I’m from Æon, and I’m here to help.”

• • •

Yamashita Sachi threw herself around the corridor’s corner so quickly that she tracked wide and bounced off the opposite wall. The collision twisted her balance, forcing her to make several quick shuffling steps to keep from falling over. Her shoulder ached from the impact. Sachi grinned at the thudding pain down her arm and the increasing burning from her lungs. Pain meant life. She was still alive, despite the seemingly endless run of bad luck she’d experienced on this job.

Catching her balance had slowed her momentum. She didn’t have time to rest — the clock ticked onwards despite her success or failure — so she turned the scrabbling steps into purposeful bounds, driving her legs like pistons against the cold metal floor, forcing herself onwards.

Sachi had a small but powerful build. The combination of dense muscle and short limbs gave her natural leverage that she used mercilessly whenever opponents underestimated her. It also meant that she had to push twice as hard to outpace larger, leaner opponents.

Though she was physically fit — beyond fit — she panted as she ran. Her fitness came from growing up in the officially unpopulated sections of the Nippon arcology. She did what was needed to survive and avoided the authorities when they deigned to acknowledge these areas of the city existed at all. Her natural aptitude was greatly magnified after she escaped Nippon and was found by the Vitakinetic Order. The Prometheus Chamber transformed gifted human into perfection.

The shoulder ache persisted, which told her she’d incurred a heavier injury than simple bruising. It would have been a moment’s effort to know exactly how she was damaged, and probably not much more to repair it, but she didn’t want to waste the time. Even before her training she would never bow to pain, refused to let it be her master.

She found the location she was searching for deep within the abandoned sections of Nippon. With her senses pushed beyond normal human limits, her keen eyes picked up traces of booted feet on the floor. She smelled faint traces of antiseptic chemicals and human sweat. The corridor ended in a hatchway guarded by a crablike, many-armed drone.

Sachi increased her speed and tackled the robot, using her momentum to tumble both and forcing a moment of confusion too difficult for the machine’s mind to calculate. Her right arm kept her body tight to the robot while her left grabbed a retractable cable protruding from the pocket on her thigh. She worked to shove the plug into the bot’s hardware I/O port before it worked out enough to send a wireless distress call. She’d been trained in physical guerrilla hacking by some of the best Nipponese outcasts food could bribe, and had practiced the art more times than anyone should. The crab kicked out, trying to regain control, knocking her hand out of the way, but she twisted and brought it down again, altering her grip and position to avoid being crushed under its chassis. She snagged the plug into the socket on the third try and slapped at the minicomputer in her pocket. The scramble code was uploaded in microseconds and the maintenance drone twitched and scrabbled in pathetic machine distress as its brain dumped into an endless loop executing meaningless commands.

Sachi lay on the ground for a moment longer, allowing herself to breathe and smile at her success. Celebration was short-lived; time was wasting and she heard the staccato march of reinforcements. Either the drone had managed a distress call or she hadn’t lost her earlier pursuers as she’d thought. She rolled into a seating position and grabbed a miniature pry-bar from another pocket. The bar made short work of the door’s access panel and she had the minicomp’s cable into the port before the panel clattered to the floor.

• • •

Amina waited patiently while the robotic assistant served tea. Nakamura wore an expression of forced calm, though flashes of extreme worry and anger crept through. Though she didn’t make a show of it, Amina watched every micro-expression carefully. She was developing an understanding of the man, even in the silence.

Finally, the servant finished pouring and left, closing the door behind her. Nakamura couldn’t completely mask the slight tremble as he took a sip from his cup.

“As I said, Ms Buhari, I have no need of your assistance,” he said. She heard the lie, and even the hint of desperation in his voice. He wanted her help, but he needed to be persuaded.

“Let us speak frankly, Mr Nakamura,” she said, her voice confident and reassuring, “We know that your daughter, Yuna, was kidnapped while vacationing in Makaro-Shima. We know that the kidnappers told you not to contact anyone, and we know they forced you to use your position to pass hardtech designs to them.” She paused and sipped at her tea.

Nakamura appeared dumbstruck, all stoicism and pretense of ignorance gone. “But,” he said, “How?”

Amina shook her head slightly. “The how isn’t important, Mr Nakamura. What is important is that we also know that the kidnappers haven’t honored their end of the deal, and have demanded more.” Tears welled up in the man’s eyes and he lowered his head, avoiding her gaze. Amina’s expression showed sympathy and understanding. “I believe they’ve sent one of her hands as proof of their seriousness, yes?” She pushed at his emotional triggers. “That can be reattached, of course,” she said. Nakamura looked up into her eyes, elements of anger mixed with his grief. “I understand your nation distrusts psions,” she continued, “But Nipponese medicine is quite advanced. I assume your doctors have preserved it? If not, you also have other options that are remarkably life like.” Amina kept watching Nakamura; his eyes strayed to the door where the robotic servant had retreated. “As I said, Æon wants to help. We will find your daughter, and return her to safety.”

A tiny signal of hope penetrated the cocktail of confusing emotions Nakamura struggled to keep under control. “What do you need from me?” he asked. Amina smiled and nodded her head encouragingly. Everything about her said that they were partners in this, and that she and Nakamura had bridged the distrust for the greater good.

“First, tell me everything you can about the people who took Yuna.”

• • •

Jack cast a critical eye over the room. This work was normally Sarah’s job, but she had tasks elsewhere. Obtaining the information they needed had fallen to Jack, and he was doing what he did best — improvising.

He looked at the man hooded and bound to the old-fashioned chair in the center of the basement room, and to the semi-circle of holodisplays a few feet beyond. Jack kept the room dimly lit for his own benefit. His captive wore a blindfold that looked like a pair of antique aviator goggles. The biotech kept a firm seal around the eyes, to keep moisture out while wicking away tears that could lead to condensation on the inner lens. Though originally made to help neutrals visualize the myriad energy wavelengths that suffused the world, they had another setting that Jack was using now. Complete blackout. Not even a stray photon could pierce the biotech/skin bond until Jack allowed it. When possible, Jack preferred to work in darkness. Bright lights just added a jumble of chaotic wavelengths that he had to filter out and ignore.

Jack moved around the room, adjusting the position and angles of several screens once more. He went back to the man, pivoting left and right to check that the screens were precisely where he wanted them. Finally, Jack nodded his head, satisfied.

With the tiniest flicker of concentration, Jack tapped into the ever-present wireless signals and checked the time. He sighed. He needed the man to be awake for this. For a moment, Jack toyed with the idea of sparking tiny pulses into his amygdala to increase the chance of provoking weird, terrifying dreamscapes. He decided against it. He wasn’t a torturer, although the man didn’t need to know that.

The man jerked awake, moving his head in blind confusion and unconsciously testing his bonds before he even realized he was restrained. He tried to yell his distress but only muffled grunts made it past the gag across his mouth. More biotech. Almost complete silence, and it monitored the captive’s vitals to ensure they received enough oxygen.

“Hey, Mr Williams, good morning,” Jack said, though it was just past 8 in the evening. Jack wanted to increase the man’s confusion, the worry at what had happened in the lost hours would help cut his resistance. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to show you images, ask some questions, and you’re going to do your best to answer them.” More muffled attempts at speech. “No need to talk,” Jack continued.

He stood close to Williams and placed his hand on the man’s head. Williams tried to shake Jack’s hand away, but his bonds held tight. Jack pursed his lips and frowned in concentration. “That’s it,” he murmured, “Just relax and this won’t hurt a bit.” Crawling sparks played across Jack’s hand, jumping excitedly to Williams’ scalp. Williams’ hair stood from his head as it charged with static electricity.

Jack shifted his fingers and narrowed his eyes as he psionically pushed. He felt some resistance — unexpected, intriguing — and shoved. Williams grunted against the sudden alien feeling.

“Fighting makes it worse,” Jack murmured. He gestured to the surrounding screens with his free hand and several flared to life. Garbled, static-filled signals filled them. They may have been people or places, but were too broken to tell. Jack saved them anyway for later analysis.

Jack tapped the biotech lenses, commanded them to project images. “Now,” he said, “Recognize that place?” Williams saw a picture of his home, and several of the screens flared in recognition. Neural networks fired tiny electrical fireworks, racing across the brain. Jack’s fingers picked up the faint pulses. He couldn’t understand them — he wasn’t a telepath — but he could translate mental impulse into electronic signal through his psi. Jack noted the positive response and adjusted his fingers for a clearer signal. “How about this?” The image changed to Williams’ wife and children. Another positive, with more of the peripheral screens flashing with what Jack recognized as stress. “Good. Cooperate, and they’ll be fine. If not,” the images vanished from the lenses. More stress response.

“You and your associates like to kidnap people for money.” Jack fed images through the lenses, too fast for Williams’ conscious mind to register them all, but his subconscious surged with a mix of signals. He recognized some, but not all. “One of those people was a young woman from Makaro-Shima.” Another image and recognition response.

“I want to know where she is,” Jack said. The lenses rapid-flashed images of different cities. Jack watched for positive responses and honed in on suburbs and locales.

Williams struggled, trying to avoid giving away what he knew. The biotech lenses revealed Williams had closed his eyes. Jack curled his fingers and held Williams’ hair uncomfortably tight. He resisted the urge to hurt the man. Though Jack hated Williams for what he did, kidnapping was as close as Jack would come to emulating him.

“I’m not in the mood for games, Williams,” Jack hissed into his ear. With his free hand, he touched the lenses and surged a pulse through them. Williams’ eyelids spasmed open and stayed that way. Painless, and temporary, but terrifying to someone whose knowledge of psions came from sensationalized OpNet dramas. “You’ve lost your blinking privileges,” Jack whispered menacingly, “When your eyes dry out they’ll itch so much you’ll want to claw them from your sockets. Eventually, they’ll shrivel and die from lack of moisture. If you’re very, very good, I’ll let you have eye-drops when we’re done.”

Jack touched Williams’ stomach and another pulse triggered intestinal contractions; Williams barely managed to stop from soiling himself. “If you’re not good, you’re really not going to enjoy the rest of your short life.”

“Now, let’s continue with location.”

• • •

“What did they want, Mr Nakamura?” Amina asked, “What was so important that they kidnapped your daughter to force your compliance?”

Nakamura looked increasingly wretched. His façade of control had crumbled. He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. A lie, and one that Amina spotted easily.

“We often know more than we think,” she said, not directly calling him on his deception, but pushing him nonetheless. “When you accessed the files, you must have seen something. Some clue, however small, of what they took.”

“Maybe,” he said, “Maybe it involved medical research, a device that worked at the cellular level, some kind of genetic induction therapy?”

Amina nodded, “That’s good, Mr Nakamura, thank you.” She knew there was more information to be had, but she was patient. As upset as Nakamura was, he wasn’t a stupid man. He knew more than he was willing to say. Amina had time to work on him, to painstakingly draw the details out until she had the full picture.

• • •

Olivia stood at the computer terminal, mentally ticking through the instructions Sachi had provided, to access the command structures and take the corrupted files she’d provided. Olivia had a basic knowledge of hardtech operating systems but she lacked Sachi’s expertise. The display changed as Sachi had said it would and Olivia slotted the storage device into its socket. Though she faced the terminal, she wasn’t looking at it. Her head was cocked slightly to one side and her eyes were glazed with a faraway look. She straightened and backed away from the terminal.

A security guard opens the door, considering the control room. He thinks he heard something, and as far as he was aware, no one was scheduled to be working in here now. He can see most of the room from the doorway, and he can see one of the displays is active, running activity. He scans to the left of the room first, leaving his right side exposed.

Olivia pounced from the guard’s blind spot, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the room in a spinning motion designed to keep him off balance. As he stumbled she hooked her leg behind his and pushed his chest, sending him crashing to the floor. She quickly turned and shut the door to muffle any noise that could warn others.

The guard lands heavily, still unsure what was happening. Scrambling backwards, he grabs at the holstered pistol on his hip, drawing it and shooting at his unknown assailant’s back.

Olivia stepped to the right and ducked, as the laser’s beam burned a small, circular hole into the door. She dropped her left knee and rolled back in the opposite direction. The rapid changes were quicker than the still-shocked guard could track. He burned two more holes in the walls before Olivia was on top of him, striking quickly at his throat. He dropped the gun and gasped for air as she slid around behind him, locking him in a choke hold and pushing his head forward with her body to increase the pressure. He fell unconscious within moments.

Four minutes and 38 seconds after the scuffle, a routine patrol discovers an unconscious body on the floor of the control room. The guards quickly place the facility on alert and corner the intruder. She’s injured, but captured alive. Eventually she breaks under interrogation and reveals what she knows. By the time anyone comes looking, the illegal aspects of the operation have moved to a different location.

The terminal chimed in completion as the files finished installing themselves. Olivia grabbed the storage device and tucked it back into her pocket. She frowned and concentrated, sifting through the myriad potential futures, searching for the best outcome.

In four minutes and 38 seconds, a two-person patrol checks the control room. They miss the young woman who left the room minutes before, struggling to carry an unconscious guard in a fireman’s lift. They continue their patrol. Though they give the nearby washroom a cursory glance, they don’t think to check the cubicle farthest from the door where the woman holds the unconscious guard propped up on the toilet. They close the door and continue their circuit. The woman cuffs the guard with his own equipment and makes an impromptu gag from the torn sleeve of his shirt. When he is found an hour later, the woman has already escaped the building using the ceiling crawl space. The changes to the computer system aren’t discovered until it is far too late.

Olivia sighed and grabbed the guard’s arm, hoisting him up and lowering her shoulder to carry his heavy form. It was time to leave.

• • •

Amina took a minicomp from her bag and gestured to the wall. “May I?” she asked politely. Nakamura nodded and her Agent connected to the display. She sent several images across, some showing an illicit hardtech production facility, others showing a young woman missing her right hand being helped into an ambulance to be taken for medical treatment.

“I don’t understand,” Nakamura said, tears welling in his eyes.

Amina brought up other photographs. “We believe you do, Mr Nakamura. These show you meeting with the people who ‘stole’ your data. They were your business partners, were they not?” Nakamura shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He called for his assistant via cybernetic implant and was dismayed that she didn’t respond.

“The Nippon police picked up on your scheme and started hunting for you, didn’t they, Mr Nakamua?” Amina continued. “You got cold feet, but your partners weren’t willing to let you back out of the deal. They took Yuna, but it wasn’t enough. How many body parts were you willing to let them take before you’d admit your fault and seek help?”

Amina stood as the door opened and UN police entered, arresting Nakamura for his part in the criminal conspiracy. His expression turned from shock to fury.

“You witch,” he spat, “You read my mind, implanted information.” He snarled, “Illegal search, nothing will stand up in court.”

“I’m not a psion, Mr Nakamura,” Amina said with a sigh, “Not even a hint of latency. I took the test three times, to be sure. I’m as baseline as you, but I have been told I have a trustworthy face.”

• • •

“Come on, come on,” Sachi muttered as the door resisted her hacking. The door had its own minor Satisfactory Intelligence that didn’t want outsiders getting in — or insiders escaping. The SI’s firewall and countermeasures pushed back hard. Sachi pumped everything she had at the command systems, peeling back layers of control code, smashing the sides of peripheral awareness subroutines, searching for some way in.

Frustrated, she grabbed her pry-bar again and wedged it into the side of the door. She pushed hard, leveraging her entire body against it. She knew whatever additional security Nippon was going to throw at her would arrive soon. Metal screeched in protest and the door budged a fraction.

Sachi released the tension, took a breath, and flooded psi throughout her body. Bone density and muscle mass grew in seconds. Her skin rippled and bulged with the sudden increase. The fabric of her smart clothing resisted for a moment before relaxing fibers to meet new requirements.

She grabbed the pry bar and pushed again, this time her efforts reinforced by the sub quantum universe. The door moved further, opening a small gap between hatch and frame. The pry bar snapped. Sachi dropped the useless metal and drove both her hands into the gap, grinding her teeth together and pushing herself beyond her known limits.

The first droid rounded the corner. It was an old police interface model and looked mostly human, except for the perfect neutrality of its facial expression and the cold, dead eyes that saw Sachi. The lighter unit was slightly faster than bulkier models, and it blocked the path of the two clearance-and-destruction units that tried to round the corner behind it. Its original programming could barely have taken this situation into account, and the modifications made by the criminals who acquired it had slowed its processes. It sought additional instructions and that bought Sachi a few valuable seconds.

The door finally gave, snapping open and surprising Sachi. Her additional force threw it open so hard that it slammed back against the wall, denting it and twisting its hinges.

Sachi ducked inside and saw the combination hospital/laboratory/prison beyond. Dozens of malnourished, mistreated people lay strapped on wheeled beds. Some were barely conscious from whatever drugs the IV lines attached to the beds flooded into them. Others were barely alive, having been repeatedly subjected to hideous experiments. Two android nurses patrolled the room, ensuring none of the test subjects died before every scrap of data had been gleaned. Every victim wore a psi-inhibiting collar, keeping them from using their abilities except as their captors demanded.

Rather than immediately rushing to help the victims, Sachi scanned the room carefully, trying to ignore the noise of the security robots as they reached the twisted doorway with lethal intent.

I’m here, do you have what you need? She shouted silently with her thoughts.

Incoming, Sarah’s reply echoed inside Sachi’s head.

With a sharp buzz, a glowing circle flared to life to her left, and through it another room became visible. Five people hurried through it. Sachi felt Sarah’s mental link take hold and her brain processed the room from multiple angles, mingling her sensory input with the rest of her team.

As soon as the team arrived, Sachi ignored everything else and rushed to the teleporter. Rahmat knew what she wanted through the psionic link and held his hands outstretched to take hers. Their subquantum signatures mingled as the two psions combined their powers. To the Vitakinetic, each living template was distinct. To the teleporter, all space was one. Sachi pushed her healing though Rahmat and out into each victim at once. The effort was immensely draining, compounded by the reserves Sachi had spent opening the door. She slumped as her power faded, satisfied at the increased strength of life she could now feel within the room. Rahmat still held her hands — he needed the continued strength and sense of life — and steeled himself as he prepared to teleport everyone out and to safety.

The robots tried to react to the new situation but Jack worked faster. Lightning exploded from his hands, forking and jumping from robot to robot, overheating and melting their circuits. The lighter units simply stopped, their servos locked up. Instant emulated rigor mortis. The combat models seized for a moment, but they were built to withstand such attacks and their artificial brains kicked in redundant pathways while they rebooted primary function. These backup functions couldn’t keep Olivia at bay as she pressed the attack with pistol and taser in hand, not waiting to see the outcome of Jack’s assault. She already knew.

Standing back from the violence, Amina reached out and took the hand of the nearest ‘patient’.

“Who are you?” he asked, feeling stronger than he had in weeks. The air shimmered as Rahmat phased everyone out of the physical universe and translated them into subquantum particles.

“We’re from Æon,” Amina said as the room faded from view, “We’re here to help.”

Trinity Continuum: Æon and the Trinity Continuum core rules are currently available for preorder via BackerKit.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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