Transition

So, here we go with the next story. There's only one more, after this! I most likely will not be posting any of the side stories, nor the sequel story, unless anybody really wants me to. (which I doubt)

This story pretty much focuses mostly on the kids; primarily Alice, Nico, and Drake. It also leads up to the finale of the series, with Nico and Shii playing a major role. Nico, feeling overprotected by his parents, begins questioning what he wants to do with his life, and Alice tries to convince him to join the clone of Dr. Blackstone in his shifty science projects. Meanwhile, Drake is oblivious to the entire thing, and it's finally revealed just who he is...






"So, how're you liking your new indoors job, Ziggy?" Naga smirked, walking into the laboratory of Tartarus Research Industries. Zee just gave his brother a hateful glare. "Blackstone's got me on a short leash...wasting my skills on some mundane, science-related task. I'm being kept pretty much under house arrest, here. Oh, and I've been having these dull pains in my hand, though I can't quite place why. If I had to guess, it would have something to do with, I dunno, maybe you breaking every bone in it?" he growled, facing Naga.

"Hey, you know what happens when you hit a girl. That was your own fault!" Naga quickly retorted. "Look," he sighed. "I know we don't exactly see eye-to-eye most of the time, but look at it from my point of view. You were going to kill my daughter's friends. My daughter's friends wanted to hurt or kill you. Sure, you didn't get to start some kind of revolution, but this way, nobody else gets hurt."

"You're too soft, Daryl. You have no business being in this line of work." Zee grumbled. "Yeah, yeah. Heard it a thousand times." Naga said, in a mocking tone. "So, guess the gang's back together, then. Sans Eos." Zee grumbled again. He was still sore about Eos taking over his group of rebels, but said nothing. His disapproval was clearly written all over his expression. "Almost like the good 'ol days, huh? You, me, your boyfriend." Naga smiled.

Zee blushed at that remark, and began stuttering. "He's not..we're not...he's....I mean....shut up!" he snapped. Naga grinned. It was almost like years ago, when they were working for Elvis. Except this time, Eos had been replaced by Randy, and Elvis had been replaced by Blackstone, and Blackstone was not nearly as tolerate of the mentally-ill Zoroark, Shii. And although June was still staying at Musashi's dojo and had no idea what her dad was up to, Naga's niece, Alice, frequently visited. She had been helping Eos some, but also hung out in the labs every so often.
Mostly to bother Randy.

He was not happy.

Well, Randy was never really happy ever, but this moment he was at a particularly high level of not happy. He crossed his arms, a growl emitting from his throat as he glared into an empty space. What he wanted to glare at, but doing so would acknowledge its existence, was a young tanned-skin girl with a head of wavy white hair. She stood about what Randy would guess to be 5 feet tall, although her posture made it seem like she was taller than even Randy. Her school-girl type outfit was covered in hearts, ribbons, and bows. Her yellow eyes looked up at Randy, pouting as she held a pink shirt that seemed to have hearts and glitter adorning its surface. The front of the shirt read 'World's Best Uncle'.

This girl was Alice, Zee's spoiled princess of a daughter.

"For the last time," Randy growled. "I am not your uncle, and I will never wear that shirt." The little girl pouted, at Randy's refusal. "Daddyyyy....Uncle Randy doesn't wanna wear the shirt I made, for him!" she whined, at Zee. Zee responded with a grumble of frustration; "Oh, for Arceus sake, Randy! Just wear the damn shirt, it's not gonna kill you!"

"Yeah, Randy! I think pink suits you!" Naga smirked. It most likely wasn't the wisest thing to say, but Naga was not known for his profound wisdom. Randy snarled at the brothers. "I am not her uncle, nor anyone's! Even if I was I would not advertise it with...that....thing!" he pointed at the shirt. His head whipped to Naga. "You're her real uncle, why don't you wear it? It'd look better on you than that disco Power Ranger look you're going for."

Naga flipped his visor up, staring back at Randy. "For the record, I do have one. And I wore it because I'm an awesome uncle. Secondly, what's wrong with disco and Power Rangers? I've got two awesome things going on, here!"

Zee growled in frustration at the three of them. "You! Shut the hell up. I'm still mad, at you." he snapped, pointing at Naga. "You, just humor the kid! Stop being such a whiner, about it!" he said, pointing at Randy. "And you," he said, finally pointing at Alice. "Just....stay out of trouble, for one day. Please. I've got enough to deal with right now, with Blackstone and Shii. God, I swear the place is even more chaos than it was, with Elvis running it..." he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. "I am not whining! I am merely stating a fact that I refuse to wear that shirt! I am not her uncle and I definitely do not wear pink with glitter and hearts. I'm not your slave, get someone else to wear it." Randy growled. Suddenly Randy's phone rang and he answered.

"What!? Fine!" he slammed his phone in front of Zee.

"It's Blackstone."

"I need all of Elvis' lab reports." Blackstone said over he phone. "Gather them up and bring them to me before 15:00." Zee groaned, clearly showing his disgust at Blackstone's orders. "This is stupid! I shouldn't be stuck here in this lab!" he grumbled, grabbing files and papers of Elvis'. "Daryl, why don't you take Alice to stay with June, for a while?" Alice pouted. She liked spending time with her cousin, but she would leave when she wanted to. "But I-"

"Alice, it's just for a little while. At least until Doctor Head-up-his-ass has me stop running around as his errand boy. Just..go with your uncle, please." Alice blinked, looking to Naga, then to Randy, most likely just to annoy Randy even further. "That uncle." Zee said, pointing at Naga.
Randy rolled his eyes, pointing at Naga and growling. "Still can't believed we're letting you hang around after what you did." he grumbled. "Now Zee's entrusting his daughter in the home of our enemy..great, just great." he grumbled and complained more, storming out of he room. "He's still family." Zee quickly retorted at Randy. "He could've killed us both while he had the chance, but he didn't. I know my brother. He doesn't agree with us completely, but he's no hero. Don't do anything stupid like last time, and we won't have to worry about him."

"As for Alice?" he continued. "What choice do I have? It's either go with Daryl, or..." he trailed off, looking at Blackstone and Shii, as he entered the room with Elvis' files. "Or stay here, with them."





Musashi sighed as he saw Naga once more, the dojo looking even newer than before. They had to add a few additions to the dojo with the expected new arrival. "Naga, why are you here, again? Lilith's already stated how she doesn't like you feeling her stomach."

"Mu-Mu, your words hurt me!" Naga said, with a fake pout. "I'm here because I dunno, my daughter's staying here? Why else would I visit a dojo in the middle of a swamp?" he snarked. Alice stood behind him, making a yucky face. "Yick, swamp."

"Ah, also her. This is my niece, Alice. You uh...wouldn't mind her staying here a few hours, would you?" Naga grinned. "I mean, don't really want her hanging around in a lab currently occupied by a raging Gyarados, a...very mentally ill Zoroark, and some creepy scientist clone, right? Certainly no place for a little girl." Naga continued. Musashi sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're lucky she is but a child, Naga. Fine, she can stay as long as she behaves. I mean it...behaves." he said, letting the two in. "I can't be having too much trouble around here while Lilith is still with child."

 

Doctor Hugo Blackstone sifted through the notes. "Hmm...hmmm..." he sighed, pushing his glasses up. "Sad, too sad. Elvis you fool, Darwin would be rolling in his grave if he saw these. You can't bring about my vision with war, you bring it with integration. If only CT hadn't squandered his potential, he has the patience to bring about the change I want. If only I could take that brain of his and just...put it in a child..mold that child from the start. That brilliance would be perfected when properly formed."

"...Like boy." Shii growled, from his designated corner. "Nick's a little too old for molding there, Scooby." Zee replied. Blackstone raised an eyebrow. "Nicodemus. CT's kid. Only one I know, at least. June said he has a sister, but she must be just as reclusive as her dad. Sheesh, you been living in a cave or something?" Blackstone walked close to Zee after giving a disgusted grunt to Shii. In his opinion, the rabid mutt should have been put down as a failed experiment, long ago. "CT has children, you say? Please, tell me more about these children." he said, grinning widely.

"The hell you asking me, for? I don't know the kid, just that he was in that tournament, about a year or so ago." Zee replied, nudging further from Blackstone. "You wanna know about the kids, ask him." he said, pointing at Shii. "He's the one who worked for CT, for thirteen years."

Shii grinned at that. A wide, toothy, devious grin. He hated CT's kids. Whatever Blackstone was planning, Shii would be more than happy to oblige. "Yes, ask Shii. Shii can tell you all about childrens."




Alice bounded in, her cousin running up to cheerfully greet her. "Oh, don't worry." Naga said. "Those two are perfect angels." he grinned. Musashi stared at Naga. "Mhm." he promptly closed the door on him and turned to the girls. Naga stood at the doorway, yelling "That was very rude, Mu-Mu!", before storming back off.

"Alright, Alice. You're in my home, now, so I'm going to have to give you a talk." he had them both sit down beside each other. "Now, if you're going to stay in my home, you're going to need to develop self-discipline. If either of you misbehave, you will receive a proper punishment. Punishments will include running laps, pushups, crunches, and so on. Any questions?"

June and Alice sat next to each other, both seeming bored with Musashi's speech. June just mock-dozed, as if it had bored her to sleep. Alice took it more as a challenge. "I have a question." she piped. "Who's gonna make me?"

Musashi narrowed his eyes, leaning down to get face to face with the cheeky Alice. Before he spoke, his hand whipped out and flicked June on the forehead. "I will, and I promise you that when I say I will do something, I very well do it. If that's not enough for you, I have a very hormonal pregnant woman who will not only be screaming at me, but very well might go off on you two if you misbehave and damage this home of ours. This dojo has gone through one massive amount of damage and we like to keep things orerly and in singular pieces. Now, am I clear?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know your stupid rules. I promise neither of us will misbehave, while we are under your roof." June said in a serious tone, holding up her right hand as though taking an oath. "But-" Alice started. June nudged her, to keep her quiet. "It is his house, Alice. While we're staying in his house, we should be on our best behavior." June said, with a sly grin. Alice blinked, and quickly put on a grin of her own. "Of course we'll behave, while we're staying here."

Musashi eyed the two girls. "Yes. See that you do, or I'll make sure you return to your fathers with very sore arms and stomachs from the pushups and crunches." he said. "Now, I have to go check on Lilith. You two behave and don't..and I mean DON'T...go into the moor."

Alice pouted, and turned to her cousin. "Well, now what?" June hopped up and headed out the door. "He said don't go into the moor. He didn't say anything about staying on the grassy parts." June said, grinning. Alice happily followed her cousin out the door, and definitely not into the moor.


"Y'know, Sashi, you don't have to keep checking up on me, every hour." Lilith smiled, her tail twitching back and forth. Musashi smiled at Lilith. "Now now, I have to keep seeing how you're doing. Especially with the fateful day coming ever closer." he felt her forehead, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "We have another guest I have to keep track of, Arceus knows what trouble June is going to try starting. Is there anything you need?"

"I'm fine, Sashi." Lilith smiled. She didn't need anything, nor did she really need Musashi's constantly checking on her, but she appreciated the gesture. "What other guest?" she blinked, tail still twitching. "Alice. Young tan girl. Naga brought her so we could watch over her." Musashi replied. "Naga?" Lilith blinked. She wasn't really afraid of him, so much as his brother. She didn't like him hanging around the dojo, but she didn't entirely hate him. "Who is she? Why did Naga bring her? Is he still here?" Lilith said, nervously. Musashi stroked her hair. "Calm down, Lilith; nobody but Naga is going to come here and pick her up. Zee will not be coming here, I promise. A young girl just needs someplace to stay for a little bit."

 

The girls were playing outside in an area that was not in the moor, but still plenty muddy. "So, you're living here, now?" Alice said, trudging through the mud. "Nah, not really. Only when my mom's out. Which is a lot. So I guess I do sort of live here." June replied, as she tried to catch a Tympole.

"Why don't you just stay with your dad?"

"I dunno. Says Mom legally won't let him anywhere near us, or something. Lilith usually takes me home, so Mom doesn't know Dad comes here to visit me." June replied, as she pounced at the small Pokémon. The Tympole hopped out of the way, causing June to land in mud. "Blech, stupid Tympole."


Musashi headed down, looking for the girls. When he headed out and finally spotted them, he glared. "You two..what did I say?"

June grinned, while holding a very muddy Tympole that wriggled out of her grasp and slapped her with more mud, before hopping off. "You said don't go into the moor. You didn't say anything about staying on the grassy parts, at the edge of the moor!"
"I was just following her!" Alice pointed, at her cousin. "I didn't want to get my shoes all muddy, 'cause yuck, but she said we weren't going into the moor so I followed her, but she didn't say anything about mud so it isn't my fault!"

June just glared at her cousin, who was trying to put the whole blame on her. "You're the best, Ally." she said, before swinging a glob of mud at Alice's face, much to Alice's surprise and disgust. "June used Mud Slap! It's super effective!" June shouted, as she ran off. Alice growled in anger, and went running after her cousin, slinging more mud at her.

"Don't argue semantics with me and hey! You two stop that right now, you're getting filthy!" Musashi shouted after the girls. "Don't make me have to hose you two down!" he ran after them, grabbing the two girls by their muddy arms and pulling them along. "Honestly, I said to behave yourselves."

Musashi brought the girls back to see a disgruntled Randy standing in front of the dojo, his arms crossed. "Randy.."

"Musashi. I'm here to pick up her." he motioned to Alice. "Come on kid, going home."
Alice ran up to Randy, but stopped to flick the mud off her wings and back to June and Musashi. She stood up straight, her expression smug, as she patted the mud out of her skirt and scarf. "I've had enough of this place anyway."

"Pfft, you're just sore 'cause you lost a mud fight!" June shouted back, shaking the mud from her face and hair, like a dog. Alice crossed her arms; "Hmph! Let's go, Uncle Randy."

Musashi raised an eyebrow. "..Uncle Randy?"

"Kid, for the thousandth time, I am not your uncle. Also, before you say it, I am never wearing that shirt. Now let's go, your dad's waiting." Randy growled. "So does that make him my uncle, too?" June quipped, before the two left. "Nuh-uh! He's just my uncle 'cause I say so!" Alice replied, sticking her tongue out at June, which June replied to with a "Nyeh!"

"Speaking of, I still have your shirt!" Alice said, holding up the now mud-splotched t-shirt. "There's a little mud on it, now...but you can still see the words and the hearts!" Alice grinned. "And I'm not leaving, until you put it on."

"I'm nobody's uncle!" he said. "I am also never wearing that shirt, now come on." he growled at Alice. This girl was more stubborn than her father; damn Disneyland Dad and his spoiled rotten princess daughter. Alice stood in her spot, refusing to move. "You are too my uncle. The shirt says so!" Alice grinned, pointing at the words that read world's best uncle. "And I'll happily go home with you, once you put it on." she demanded. Randy snarled. "I..am NEVER...NEVER...EVER! Wearing that shirt!"




Blackstone cleared his throat. "I see. I wasn't aware CT had grown such a family. The boy is naive, you say? You say trusting and innocent, I say moldable." he cackled.
Shii grinned, at Blackstone. Likely a tad creepier, than usual. "Yes, yes. Boy is...easily manipulated. Also is very goody-goody. Blackclone have to lie much, yes. Shii knows boy. Tell boy you're on good side, like him. He will work for us, yes."
"Right, great plan. Brilliant, even." Zee said, mock-applauding. "So how are you two idiots going to get him from there to here, without it being...y'know. Kind of creepy and suspicious? Oh, and let's not forget the problem his dad may have with it. You know, the freaking mafia boss Hydreigon? The guy who practically owns half of Castelia, and could wipe the floor with the both of you?"

Blackstone smiled. "Now Zee, you foolish fool. Of course we must research further, find someone young Nicodemus trusts, or will come to trust. In fact, you have a charming daughter close to his age, don't you? Your niece, as well? Are they not staying with a trusted friend of CT's? Now, if Nico could trust anyone, it would be them, wouldn't it? Slip in and talk to him, befriend him? Get this done, Zee, and you will find yourself in an improved position."

Randy growled when they returned, the shirt glaring pink on his torso. Blackstone looked at the two; "Ah, so you brought her. Good." Zee snarled at Blackstone, clearly in disapproval. "I told you I didn't want her in any part of this, Blackstone. And I especially don't want her going to that dojo, on a regular basis!"

"Any part of what, Daddy?" Alice said, as she skipped in. The only response Zee could come up with, was "Why in the hell are you covered in mud? Wait, don't tell me. June?"

"June." Alice responded, dryly.

"Silence, Zee." Blackstone snapped. He then smiled at Alice. "Your father needs a little help with a project, and it's real simple. You get to enroll in school, and all we need you to do is make friends with anyone you wish, but especially make friends with this one boy who'll be in your classes. Simple, no?"

Alice crossed her arms, skeptical of Blackstone, and her eyes briefly flashed a bright purple as she stared directly into his. "You're using me as bait. You want me to enlist in Musashi's classes, befriend Nicodemus, trick him into trusting you and working for you so you can convince him to be on your side and against his father's." she said, her eyes dimming back to normal. "Did I leave anything out?"

"No, and you're not going to do that. I won't have you in any part of this." Zee insisted. "And what did I tell you about reading people's minds?"

"You said not to read your mind." Alice scoffed. "Ugh, I sound like June."
"Whatever. Look, you're not going. She's not going!" Zee said, turning to Blackstone. "Why not?" Alice piped. "I can do it."

"I don't care whether you can, Alice. I don't want you anywhere near those people."
"They won't be a problem. As long as I just keep playing the 'innocent child' card, Musashi won't know any different. Trust me. I can do this."

Zee opened and closed his mouth several times, wanting desperately to say "no" and end it there, but for some reason all that finally came out was "Fine.", albeit in a snarl.

Blackstone cackled as he pushed up his glasses. "My my, perhaps I might not need Nicodemus' mind molded at all, with such a sharp child like you. Though, I suppose you hold no passion for science and molding you would be a waste of your already honed talents. I like her, Zee, she catches on fast and needs little to no explanation. Anything else you will need for this, Alice?" he asked, thoroughly pleased at how easy this has progressed.

"Less catching on, and more reading your thoughts. Psychics." Zee shrugged, still very displeased about this entire situation. "And before you say anything," Zee started, as Alice opened her mouth to answer Blackstone's last question. "No, Randy will not be going with you. And neither will I." Alice crossed her arms and pouted. "And why not?"

"Because we destroyed their first home, and nearly killed them?" Zee said, crossing his arms, as well. "You wanna prove you can do this, fine. But you have to do it, alone. If Randy or I go there, we'd blow the whole thing."

"But-"

"Alone, Alice. Daryl can take you to classes. You wanna do this, those are the terms. Deal?"

"But..."

"Deal?"

"Fine..." Alice grumbled.

Randy looked at Zee, he certainly had a point, and no way in hell was Randy going to be this girl's babysitter even more. "Look at you Zee, actually doing something that's not giving your daughter her way, all the time." Randy snarked, snorting.

"Yes yes, let her do it alone. Zee, you can handle that dimwit you call a brother, I have more important things to do." Blackstone said, walking away to his lab once more.

Zee nudged Randy, as he was on his way to find Naga. "Doesn't mean you can't help her out, with homework." he smirked.

He walked up silently behind Naga, and smashed both of his fists against the sides of Naga's helmet. "Oh god! Wh-THE RINGING! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Naga yelled, scrambling to get his helmet off. "You suck! No, wait...that's not an insult in your case..." Zee only responded with a smack across Naga's head, before he could come up with a proper insult. "You're taking Alice to school, tomorrow."

"What school? It's summer!" Naga replied. "Musashi's school. Turned out she liked staying there, and wanted to take a few courses." Zee said. "We are still talking about Alice, right? Miss Prissy 'gets Uncle Randy to do everything for her'?" Naga raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah. Spoiled princess, I get it. Look, it'll at least give her something to do other than staying around here all the time. And June'll have somebody to hang out with. Win-win. You gonna take her, or do I have to get Shii to dress up as your girlfriend?"

Naga shuddered at that. Shii was creepy enough, but having him illusion Eos? Awkward. "Alright, alright. Just...y'know. Weird that you want your kid taking classes from the guy you want to kill."

"Which I still plan to, but not now. For now, she's taking classes." Zee demanded. Randy grumbled and growled at Zee's comment. "Just take the girl to school, Naga! Nobody asked for your nitpicking." he crossed his arms over the words on the pink shirt he hated with the fiery passion of a thousand Slugmas. "Oh yeah, I'm also not the kid's uncle."

"Told ya' pink was your color!" Naga grinned.

 

A day and one black eye later, Naga returned to Musashi's dojo with Alice, this time enrolling her in classes. "Where's June?" Alice said, peeking in. "Too early. Sleep. Talk later." June grumbled, still half-asleep. There was no sign, so far, of the boy Alice was supposed to befriend.

Musashi moved into the dojo, swiping June on thee head with a paper fan. "Wake up June, time for class. Alice, you and June line up. As you know, the dojo lost many students with the revealing of hybrids, so the dojo's classes are down to only a few students. " Musashi then did a head count, seeing only the girls. He let out a long sigh. "One of which, is once again running late."


"Sorry I'm late Mavra set the backyard on fire again I promise I won't be late, again!" a voice rambled, as the door swung open and a young boy stumbled in and lined up next to the girls. Nicodemus Blackstone, now seventeen years old, looked much different than the wimpy kid who had entered the tournament a few years ago. He was taller, now, at just over six feet. He had also clearly been working out more, determined to become stronger and better hone his skills. He had physically begun to resemble his father, more, especially around the eyes and hair.

Alice stood up straight, prim and proper, as she glanced to eye him. She was having trouble reading his thoughts; a Dark type? They had failed to mention he was a Dark type. Alice didn't like Dark, Ghost, or Bug types. Likely somewhat because she was a Psychic, but also because she may have just had a fear of them, in general. It was common, them being the fear Pokémon, but how was she supposed to befriend somebody she knew she wouldn't like, and make it seem genuine? She had already insisted that she could do this, so she had to at least try.

If she could make it through these absolutely absurd and unnecessary classes, that is.

Musashi drew out a long sigh. "Nicodemus Blackstone, could you at least show up on time, once?" he rubbed his temples. "Alice, this is my more senior student Nicodemus, you two will be learning with him for today. Normally I wouldn't have you learn with the more advanced students, but today we will focus on conditioning. Nico, since you are late, you are demonstrating. Step to the front, please."
Nico nodded and stepped up, as Musashi instructed. Nico always blamed his siblings for making him late, but Musashi had likely heard every excuse, by this point. Malcolm sneezed and set the sofa on fire, Mavra duct taped the dog to the wall, it seemed like the whole household was nothing but chaos, most of the time. CT had stayed busy since the revolution started, and more-so after Ziggy's defeat, so Nico was more or less in charge of their home, while CT was working.

Alice couldn't read Nico's immediate thoughts, but he also wasn't entirely Dark type, so she was able to pick up on something. Maybe not direct thoughts, but emotions. He seemed stressed. Likely because of the chaos in his family. Maybe she could pick up on other feelings, even find some recent memories as well. Her eyes briefly flashed purple, as she watched him.

Feels like...he needs to be at home with his family, yet he also wants to strike out on his own, to feel independent, for once in his life. He's conflicted. Doesn't know what the future holds. Doesn't know what he's going to do, with his life. Perfect. A conflicted mind is an easily manipulated mind. Alice smirked as her eyes began to fade back to normal, watching the demonstration in progress.

"Now, Nico is already quite used to battle. Alice, you don't know, but a number of years ago this boy competed in a tournament with two other students here. They performed quite admirably for their age and training. Now, one of the fundamentals of self defense is of course... DODGING!" Suddenly Musashi drew one of his blades, slashing it quickly at Nico, knowing the boy would be able to dodge, if he didn't he took the extra precaution to swipe with the back o his blade..just in case he was distracted.

Nico dodged the swing of the blade, but only just barely. Although he had gotten better and stronger, there was still a lot he had yet to learn. It didn't help that he was, of course, very distracted. Family, friends, this whole revolution, life in general, everything seemed to be a distraction as of late. But he tried his best. With each swing of the blade, Nico rolled, sidestepped, and even used boulders formed from Stone Edge to dodge and block the oncoming swords.

Alice seemed almost somewhat interested, but this was all for amateurs. She could easily dodge oncoming attacks, by reading their thoughts. Maybe she should be the one up there, teaching everybody else a thing or two.

June, on the other hand, was bored. She had only been taking classes because she was living there, part-time, and her father thought it might be good for her. She just thought of it as more school and did what she always does in actual school, and fell asleep.

Musashi seemed focused on Nico, smiling as his swings were blocked and dodged. Then, with another swift movement, his blade was at June's neck. "Second fundamental, always be aware!" he said. "If this was anything other than a lesson you would be in quite the predicament June. I expect you to take these lessons more seriously. Alice? Are you taking these lessons in?"

"If this was anything other than a lesson, maybe I wouldn't have fallen asleep." June snarked, crossing her arms. "Besides, I doubt all the bullies in school would be carrying swords around. Really, what do I even need these lessons, for?" she continued to mumble, likely still grumpy from being awoken earlier than she would have liked. Alice responded to her snark, with a nudge to the ribs, which June did not appreciate. "As a matter of fact, I am very intrigued." she said, with a smug grin.

Musashi grinned. "Ah, so you wish a bullying scenario do you?" Musashi withdrew his blades, detaching them from his hip. "Well then June, perhaps you want some hands on hand to hand lessons then. That is, if you've been paying attention." He tossed his swords to Nico, hoping to Arceus the boy caught them or the punishment would be severe.

Nico caught the swords and swung them over his shoulder. "Go easy on her, 'Sashi. She's just a kid. And a girl." Nico smiled, taunting June. "Hey! I can fight just as well as you can!" June said, suddenly perking up. "I don't think you should taunt him, June." Alice cautioned, in a bored tone. "The hell I can't!" June shouted back, taking a stance. "Bring it on, Mu-Mu!"

"Come at me, then." Musashi said. June moved in, somewhat recklessly, and then suddenly the world began to spun for her as Musashi whirled around her, spinning her in place like a top before sweeping his arm, catching her by the back of the knee and flipping her onto her back on the dojo floor. "Now see, I didn't use my speed there. Not as much as I could. I simply moved before you did, June. Now, can anyone explain how I did that?"

Alice smirked when he asked that. It was something she was very familiar with, being a Psychic. "You anticipated her move, and countered it." she grinned. "Basic stuff. You would have known that if you didn't keep falling asleep in class, Juniper." June only responded with a grumble; "Suck up...." she mumbled, as she picked herself up and again stood to her feet.

"Very good." Musashi said. "If you can predict your opponent's move, then even a speed such as mine will fall to the wayside. If you want to prevent being predicted and countered you have to remove any unnecessary movements. Less movements makes you less readable. Perhaps June will learn more when she decides my classes aren't nap time."

"Better idea," June started. "How about you start having night classes? I'm a Dark type, I can't function in the morning!" she whined. "I'm a hybrid of two nocturnal species. If I can learn to be a morning person, so can you, June." Nico smiled. June pouted, crossing her arms. "Is that why you're always late?" she grumbled.

Nico's smile grew wider; "I said I learned to function in the morning. I didn't say anything about time management."

"Yes, you would both do well to learn some new habits." Musashi said. He sighed "OK, everyone take a break."


Musashi went out of the dojo to check on Lilith once more. He sighed deeply, he swore, so far Nico was one of his best students. Musashi never really expected such a thing from the little timid boy he knew him to be years ago. The Alice girl was smart and seemed eager, but something in his spine set him to be wary with her. Most likely due to the fact her father wanted him dead.

"I don't like it." Lilith said, pacing. "I don't like her, being here. I know, I know, she's just a child." she said, before Musashi could say anything. "But why is she here? He tried to kill you...he almost killed me! Twice! Why does he want his daughter, here? What if they want to destroy the dojo, again? Or waiting for another opportunity, to kill us?" she continued to ramble.

Musashi had a feeling Lilith would be freaking out. "Lilith, the baby. You have to lay down. I know Alice's father is..well..him..but she came to learn and maybe get some self discipline. Far as I know, Naga just brought her, himself. Naga wouldn't betray us like this, I feel it's on the up and up. Trust me, I'll keep an eye on her." Lilith arched an eyebrow at Musashi; "Sashi, I'm fine. I don't need to lay down." she sighed. "And I do trust you, it's him I don't trust. He's suckered Naga, before...what makes you think he wouldn't do it, again?"




Back in the dojo, June had decided to spend the entire break time, sleeping. Alice took the opportunity, to converse with Nico. "Hey, Nicodemus, right?" she smiled, extending her hand to him. "Just Nick." Nico smiled, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you, Just Nick." she grinned. She was cringing on the inside, from saying that horrible line. It got a laugh out of Nico, however, so as long as it was working, she could deal.

"So, Alice, right? You don't really seem like the sort to be here. I mean, you apparently already know quite a bit."

"My dad thought it would be good, for me." Alice shrugged. "And you're here, because..." she stopped, her eyes once again glowing, trying to pick up on his thoughts or emotions. "Because you feel like everybody thinks you're weak. Useless. Like you could have done more, in the past, but couldn't. You want to learn more, become stronger, more able, to feel like you can make a difference. Correct?" she said, eyes fading back to normal. Nico blinked, surprised she was able to read that much. "You might be part Dark type, but you don't hide your feelings very well." Alice shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." Nico sighed. "There's just been a lot going on, lately...I guess....it's mostly to prove to my parents that I'm not weak and I don't need constant looking-after...that I can be more responsible."

Alice smiled, at that. This was a perfect opportunity, to give him something to think over. "You know, I help around in the labs my dad works at, sometimes. We could always use an extra hand, if you ever...y'know. Wanna just get away from family stress. Who knows, you might even like it, there."
"Heh...was that a job offer?" Nico grinned, at Alice. "No, of course not." Alice replied, smiling. "Just...you seem like you could use a break. Just thought maybe, if you ever wanted to hang out, or something. If you wanted to prove to your dad you were responsible, it might be better than hanging around here, all the time."

"Yeah, maybe. It might not be such a bad idea, actually. If only to get away from Mavra..." Nico muttered. "I'll think about it. I should probably run it by my dad, first."

"Your dad, who thinks you can't do anything? Why would he say yes? Just tell him you're taking some extra courses, here."

"Wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of trying to prove I was responsible?"

"Will you ever have that opportunity, if he keeps you shut in all the time and never allows you to prove it?"

"Good point...I guess....yeah...I guess...he doesn't have to know everything, does he?"
Alice smirked, crossing her arms. "He's probably too busy right now to notice, anyway."



Musashi hugged Lilith, sighing softly. "I know you're scared. I swear, nothing will ever happen to our new dojo, nor to you. However, she's a child who has come to me for guidance. Maybe, just maybe, I could turn her away from her father's business. She could become another Nico...did...you just hear a thud?"

The thud was the hurried opening of the front door as a brown hyperactive blur tackled Nicodemus. "Hi, Nico!" Clem giggled. "Oh, I missed Mu-Mu's lesson, again!? Ah poop, Daddy never let's me leave on time. Oh, who's your new friend I've never seen her before Hi I'm Clementine you can call me Clem I'm Nico's friend so are you going back home again Nico huh huh huh?"

"Hff!" Nico shoved the over-eager Clem aside, after having the wind knocked out of him. "Um, n-no...I was...we're just taking a break, right now. This is Alice, she's new." he said, stepping aside and gesturing to the Swoobat girl. Alice held her head up high, in a smug expression. "Pleasure." she said, dryly, upset that this girl had interrupted her talk, with Nico. "I was just saying that Nick should come over and visit, sometime."

Clem let out a big long squeal of delight that one would think real life girls didn't let out. "You gotta let come too, please~? It's so boring and I'm bored and there's nothing to do and Nico always goes to fun places and I'm bored!" she said, clinging to Nico's arm.

"Clementine!"

"Yeep!"

Musashi tapped his foot. "What have I told you about banging my door open like that? You're going to leave dents."

"Sorry, Mu-Mu."

"I um...I don't even know if I'm going, Clem. Alice was j-just inviting me over, that's all." Nico said, trying to free his arm from Clem's grasp.

Alice crossed her arms. This is not how things were supposed to go. But then, what if Clem did follow them? Maybe they could find something to do, with her. Maybe she was a bonus. The girl seemed very loud, though. She couldn't let it slip that she was trying to get Nico to the lab, especially to Musashi.

"To hang out." She piped. "Maybe get some ice cream, hang out in town. I mean, we hardly have time to chat, in class. Might as well get to know each other a little better, right?" she smiled.
"Ice cream!?" Clem's eyes sparkled and grew almost twice their size.

"I see, bonding with your classmates to perhaps learn better together. Hmm." Musashi thought for a while. "All right then, you go have fun. Nico, be responsible. You're the oldest."
"But I'm older than Nico.." Clem pouted.

"Sorry, the most mature."

"Oh ok then. Wait.. Hey!"

"Yes, sir." Nico nodded, at Musashi. "Um, should we wake up June?" he said, pointing to the still-sleeping Sneasel girl. "Nah, she won't miss anything. Let's go, already." Alice insisted, heading out.
"Oh, um...I...I don't mean to s-sound rude or anything, but I don't really like ice cream." Nico said, following Alice. "I mean, I don't like the cold. Or cold stuff. Like ice cream. Is there, y'know...any other place..." Nico started, but glanced over to Clem. He clearly wasn't going to get out of this. "Or...o-okay. Ice cream is fine, I guess. I didn't bring a jacket, though..."

Alice walked with her head up straight, her expression still smug. She did not want to get ice cream, with these two. She just wanted to take them home. She couldn't give them any hints that she may have been lying, though, so perhaps ice cream wouldn't be all that bad. Maybe it would even give her more time to convince Nico to come back home with her, and meet Blackstone.

 

Clem hummed happily as she clung to Nico's arm, afraid he would run away at the very threat of fun. She let out another squeal straight from a cartoon. "There! Ice cream! Now! Must get!" she shouted pointing at the most colorful ice cream parlor within 100 miles.

"Okay, okay! Settle down, Clem! It's just ice cream!" Nico said, afraid that if she started running for the ice cream parlor, she might take his arm, with her. Alice just calmly walked inside and sat down. "Um...thought you wanted ice cream. Can I uh...get you anything?" Nico asked her.

"Well, since you asked..." Alice said, her expression seemingly innocent. "Strawberry, please?" she said, with a grin. "With sprinkles. Oh, and whipped cream!"

"Oh my god!" Clem giggled. "I want the super scoop chocoholics sundae!" she ordered, hugging Nico to her so tightly it was like she was ready to fuse into him. "Nico's such a gentleman paying for the ladies ice cream. Aren't you, Nico?"

"Clem, I...I can't breathe..." Nico muffled, struggling to get free of Clementine's hug.
"Your friend there seems like a handful." Alice said, as Nico sat across from her. "Yeah, sometimes...but we've known each other since we were kids. A little...hyper...but she's one of my best friends." Nico smiled, handing Alice her ice cream. "No wonder you're so stressed. Family, classes....her." Alice started, again trying to convince him to come back home, with her. "Hey, maybe you could both come over and hang out, after class."

Clem's eyes widened. "Oh my god, really!? Let's go, Nico, let's go!" she shouted in between larges scoops of chocolate ice cream with chocolate and chocolate and look more chocolate. She giggled happily. "So, we have to go back to Mu-Mu's silly class? Can't we just head to Alice's place? Mu-Mu's classes are so boring~"
"We can't just skip class, Clem. That would be irresponsible, plus Musashi would probably be worried about us." Nico said, starting to slightly shiver from the coolness of the ice cream shop.

"Actually, I think it's a great idea, Clem." Alice smiled. "I mean, you're the top student," she said, gesturing to Nico. "June and Clem don't pay attention to anything, and I already pretty much know everything he's been teaching us."

"I don't think-"

"Come on, don't you think he deserves to take a day off?"

"Well....I guess....but-"

"Okay, then!"

"Yay!" Clem jumped for joy, then realized she should sit back down and finish her ice cream when people began staring. "So um...when we finish..yeah." It only took a few minutes for Clementine to actually finish the large death by chocolate she ordered, her body jittering from the massive sugar rush. She once again grabbed Nico by the arm and yanked him out of the store. "Let's go, Nico!"

"W-wait, Clem!" Nico said, trying to stop the sugar-high Furret girl, before she got too far. "We...we don't even know where to go. And...and m-maybe we should at least let Musashi know-"

"We did let him know." Alice said, hopping out of her seat and calmly walking out. "We told him we were going to hang out. That's what we're doing, isn't it? He knows we're gone. There's no need to go out of our way to tell him we'll continue to be gone, is there?"

"Well, I...I suppose-"

"Alright, then! Let's go! It's not too far, from here." Alice said, leading them to the Tartarus Research Labs.



Clem stared at the place. "Oooo pretty. Let's go inside!"

Randy looked outside the window, his eyes widening a bit. "Um, Zee? Your kid is back, and she has friends. Two of them. One is..oh no...not her."

"Wait, this is where you live?" Nico said, surprised. "This...this is Tartarus! This is Elvis' lab!" he continued, now hesitating. "Used to be." Alice replied. "Don't worry, Elvis is long gone. The guy running the place now, has turned it around for the better." she said, leading them inside. "Hi, Uncle Randy!" she exclaimed, happily. "This is Uncle Randy! He's kind of a grump though." she said, introducing Nico to him. "I uh....I met him, once..." Nico said, nervously.

"Kid, I'm not your uncle..for the last time." Randy growled. "Hi, Randy!!!!" Clem shouted, giggling and waving. Randy groaned as he rubbed his temples. "You....you had to bring her, didn't you? Of course you did, anything to further torment me."

"See? Told you he was grumpy." Alice mumbled, to Nico. "Yeah...um...I um....I didn't know he was here...m-maybe I should go." Nico said, nervously. "Nonsense!" Alice said, dragging him along. "There's plenty to do, other than hanging out with Uncle Randy!" she smiled. "Maybe you could meet the guy Daddy works for. Show you how we've changed the place around, since Elvis left."

"Um...well...I...I guess....okay..." Nico stuttered, as Alice dragged him along. "Clem apparently already knows Uncle Randy, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind staying here with him. I think Drake is around here somewhere, too." Alice said, trying to leave hints at Randy to occupy the young Furret girl, while she took Nico to Blackstone. Randy growled and grumbled as he leered at Alice. He wanted nothing to do with his former teammate, pre-death. He stared at Clem for a minute, the girl smiling as her fluffy tail wagged. ".....Drake!"

A young boy, nine or ten of age and dressed in clothes that were tattered and worn, came bounding up to Randy, happily. Drake didn't stay at the lab as often as Alice did; he was only there, when Shii wasn't, due to Shii's dislike toward male children. Today, Shii was not there, and Drake was. He was also happy to see a new face and potential friend, as he didn't have many friends and everybody he knew seemed to turn him away. "Hi! Hi!" Drake said, eagerly bouncing up and down. "I'm Drake I haven't seen you here before what's your name can we be friends?"

Clem squealed happily. "Oh my god hi I'm Clem I'm new here and sure let's be good good friends."

"Oh dear Arceus, they speak the same language!" Randy shouted, storming off. "Hey, hey! Where ya' goin', Randy? Why don't you wanna stay here and hang out, huh? Hey, where's Alice? Does Alice wanna hang out?" Drake continued, still bouncing.


Blackstone looked up from his desk and smiled, pushing up his glasses. "Ah Alice, you're back. Hm? Who is this fine young gentleman you're bringing to my lab?" He said in a soft tone that could have won him an award in acting, or in this case bullshittery.

"This is my classmate." Alice smiled. "I thought maybe you could show him around a bit. Y'know, show him the place is better than when Elvis was around."

"I um....h-hi. I uh...I'm Nico. Er, Nick. Nick Blackstone. Nice to meet you and I'm sure you're doing all you can to turn Tartarus around, but I really don't feel comfortable being here..so I should um...I should head back to class. I'm sure Musashi's worried about us, anyway." Nico stuttered. "Nonsense, my boy." Blackstone said, draping an arm around Nico, taking him around the lab. "Take a look, Nick; amazing, isn't it? Science is always marvelous. Alice never takes much interest and it's hard to find someone to talk about the wonders of unraveling the universe's mysteries with."

"You sound like my dad." Nico mumbled. "He's always talking about some new science experiment, he's got going on...wants me to take over, some day. I just...I'm not sure if that's what I want to do." he shrugged. "I mean...I like helping people....and I guess it's sort of interesting how he's using Pokémon abilities for medicinal purposes, but I just...don't know if that's what I want to do, with my life."

"Now don't let me pressure you, Nick." Blackstone grinned, showing a whole table of amazing scientific displays. "Science is the very study of life itself. Think about it, there will always be mysteries to solve, things we don't know and want to learn. The world is like one big playground, a sandbox to dig around and discover trinkets. Trinkets we call knowledge and advancement. But I'm sure you aren't interested in the ramblings of an old man."

"Well, you two certainly seem like you're getting along. I better go find your friend..." Alice said, heading off. "..Before she destroys something..." she mumbled.


"Kid," Randy groaned. "I can't handle one of you, let alone two of you. I feel the headache already forming."

"OO yes let's hang out!" Clem squeaked. "What do you have that's fun here huh huh?"
"Fun?" Drake blinked. "Well, um...I found a rock, once. Oh, and this little ball with a bell in it that I think belongs to the resident dog." Drake said, taking off his hat and taking out a shiny, jingly ball, one that was made for either cats or dogs to play with. "You know, Shii's going to notice that's missing, sooner or later." Alice said, walking in. "I'll just get him a new one! If there even is a dog, here. I've never actually seen him..." Drake replied. "He's not a people person." Alice shrugged. "Shii?" Clem asked, finding that name familiar, like someone she had heabutted in the groin, once. Then Clem noticed the shiny jingling ball and stared at it. "Shiny~"

"You like shiny stuff, doncha?" Drake said, jingling the ball. "There's lots of other shiny stuff, in here. It's not very fun stuff, but it's shiny." he smiled. "Daddy said not to let you go running off again, after last time." Alice said, holding her head up, high. "Puh!" Drake crossed his arms, in a pout. "So I knocked over some stuff...broke some sciencey bottle things...caused a little fire...big deal!"

"More shiny things!?" Clem bit her lower lip in excitement. "Let's go, I want to see shiny things!"

"Sure! I mean...as long as Da-uh...Zee doesn't catch us. Or Randy. Or Mr. Blackstone. My not-uncle is okay, but we'd still probably get in trouble." Drake said, tugging Clem along. Alice perked up; "Uncle Daryl is here?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?"

"Yeah...ah....why wouldn't he? Silly me." Alice grinned, as she realized that if Naga caught her and Nico there, he would likely tell Musashi that they had skipped class, which could blow the whole thing. "Hm? Mr. Blackstone?" Clem asked, perking up. "You mean Nico's dad? How would he find out?"

"Mr. Blackstone is the guy Zee works for but I don't know a Nico who's he is he your friend do you think he'll be my friend too is he here can I meet him?" Drake said cheerfully, again bouncing up and down, excited to possibly meet a new friend. "I don't have many friends I'd like to meet him hey I should hang out with you more often can I go home with you?"



Blackstone smiled, pushing up his glasses. "Something there catch your eye, lad?"
"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking." Nico sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "I thought Tartarus had shut down, after Elvis disappeared. Dad said....Elvis did a lot of bad things, here. I guess they were rivals, or something." he shrugged. "There's been so much death, here...so many lives, hurt...it's just weird being here, now."

"Elvis was a fool." Blackstone said. "He didn't truly understand science, at all. It's shameful, really. A nice boy like yourself would be able to understand it so much better, use it for so much better. Not many kids your age find an interest in science these days."
"Do you really think I can, though?" Nico said. "I mean...I guess...I dunno. I like helping people...if I could help turn this place around, for the better...I...I s-suppose I could give it a shot. Maybe. Yeah. Sure, why not?" he smiled, nervously. "By the way, I never got your name."

Blackstone grinned. "Just call me Professor Stone, dear lad. Now, your father probably wouldn't like you being here so let's keep this between us, ok?" he asked. "And you can do all the research and learning here you could desire."

"My dad doesn't like me, anywhere. I was lucky, convincing him to let me take classes at Musashi's place. Don't worry, I won't say anything." Nico said, with a half-grin. "Speaking of, we should probably get back, before he tells my parents that I'm gone."



"Zee works for Nico's dad, too? I thought they didn't like each other." Clem said, confused. "But Nico will be your friend. Nico!" she ran up and yanked Nico's arm, dragging him to the boy. "This is Drake, he needs friends!"

"Yerk! Uh, hi. I'm Nick." Nico said, surprised at Clem's sudden dragging. "Um...it's very nice to meet you, Drake, but we need to get going, Clem. Musashi will be worried, and if he tells my parents..." he cringed. "Let's just get back to class."

"Hey! Hey! I wanna go! Can I go? Please?" Drake pouted. "No." Alice simply said, heading back with them. If she were to stay home, it may look suspicious. Might as well keep playing along, and go back. "But...." Drake pouted, more. "What could it hurt? Musashi doesn't have that many students, lately. A new face is welcome, I'm sure." Nico smiled, at Drake. Drake's eyes lit up as he bounced along in front of them. "Yay! New friends!"

Alice just grumbled and murmured to herself, the whole way back. She didn't like Drake. She especially didn't like the fact that he called her his sister and insisted they shared the same father. Clem pouted at returning, but was soon humming a happy tune as she clung to Nico. "Mu-Mu's gonna be so happy that a new student is coming!"

 

"I'm not happy." Musashi said when they returned, his arms crossed. "Where did you all go? And this boy...I recognize him, for some reason. Who is he?"

Nico stood in front of the others; "It-it's my fault, Musashi. We just went out for ice cream, and-"
"And we just lost track of time. It won't happen again." Alice said, interrupting Nico. "And I'm Drake! Are you Alice's teacher? Can I stay, too? Will you be my friend? I don't have many friends and it would be nice if I could come here and you would be my friend and I cold hang out with Alice more and her friends and we could all be friends!" Drake said, with a wide grin. "And he uh...just kind of followed us, back." Alice continued. Nico started to speak, but felt he didn't need to add anything more to that, since the kid did pretty much just follow them home, and Musashi didn't need to know where from.

Musashi sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yes yes, alright. For starters, you can all do twenty pushups, for losing track of time. Also, you should apologize to June, since she had to go through my private lessons while you were all enjoying your frozen treats."

Clem let out a loud groan.

"No complaints now, burn those calories."

Nico sighed, but he supposed it was fair punishment. They shouldn't have left like that, and he should have been more responsible. June, meanwhile, just watched the rest of the students. "Yeah, that'll teach you to leave me, like that! Maybe you should make them run laps and do crunches, too, 'Sashi." she grumbled.

Alice didn't want to do anything, just out of spite, but she figured if she was going to sell herself as the innocent child for much longer, she might as well oblige. Drake, meanwhile, was enjoying the exercise. "This is fun! What else can we do? I like this place! Can I keep coming back?" he said, happily. Alice decided she didn't want to hear Drake's voice any longer, and snatched his hat off and promptly stuffed it in his mouth. "Mff!" he said.

"Alice, be nice." Musashi said. "Just for that, you can run five laps around the dojo with Drake and Clem, and I don't want to see you slacking. Oh, and I almost forgot. June, I want to see you stretching. You worked hard, so don't want any of those muscles aching."

"Aw, come oooon!" June complained. "I worked hard, so I deserve a break! Like, tv? Maybe video games? ....Sleep?" she whined. "Yay! Running!" Drake shouted happily, as he burst out the door and happily began to run around the dojo. "Sheesh, that kid is more like a puppy." Nico said. "You have no idea." Alice grumbled.

"Now June, you have to have a proper cooldown stretching, otherwise you'll be sorely regretting it." Musashi replied. Clem ran around with Drake, giggling happily.

"Alice, I'm not seeing you running. Move it."

Alice sighed, heavily. This whole innocent child thing was getting more and more difficult, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep going. Drake, meanwhile, bounded back inside, panting heavily. "Okay! Running done!" he said, flopping to the floor, tongue hanging out. "Now what?" he said, eager for something else to do, even though he was clearly worn out.

June grumbled and complained some more, making it clear that she wasn't a very happy camper. "Worked all day and not even a tv break..." she mumbled.

Musashi looked at Drake. No one was really this excited during his classes. "Um...you go help June stretch, I suppose. Nico, why don't you go run with Alice. Make sure she's keeping a good pace."

"Okay!" Drake said, hopping up and running to June. "Hi, Ju-"

"Go away." June grumbled.

"But-"

"I said go away. Go bother 'Sashi."

Drake pouted, at Musashi. "She doesn't want me to help."

Nico went outside, only to find Alice sitting against the wall. "Hey, you're supposed to be running." he said, sitting next to her. "I'm not going to run. This is absolutely ridiculous punishment, and I refuse to do it." she huffed. "Well, you're new. And it was my fault, so you and Clem shouldn't have to take the punishment for it. I'll just tell Musashi you're keeping good pace." Nico smiled, at Alice.

Musashi sighed. "Drake, just stretch beside her." he said. "I hope you're running out there, Alice! Nico, how is she doing?"

"Just fine, Musashi!" Nico called, from outside. "We're uh...on lap four!" Alice might have flashed what could have been a genuine smile, for just a moment. "You don't have to take up for me, you know." Nico just shrugged. "I want to. What happened was my fault. Besides, like you said. What he doesn't now, won't hurt him."

"But stretching looks boring can't I run around some more-hey! Are those swords? Do I get to have my own swords? They look shiny, can I try them?" Drake said, still having plenty of energy to burn. "No!!" Musashi shouted, yanking the excited Drake away from his swords. "Those are my swords, for my use only. You will have to get into very advanced classes to learn weapons. You need much more self discipline, control, and focus before such a thing. Now, you will sit down and begin stretching a muscle that's not your mouth. Learn from Nico, a good honest hard working student."

"Classes? Student? Like a school?" Drake's eyes lit up. "I get to go to school, here? I've never been to a school, before! When can I start? Right now? What's the first lesson?" he said, grinning widely.

Nico came back inside, with Alice. "Five laps. Just like you said."

"And?" June piped up.

"And that's all." Alice said back. Nico just nudged her. "We're sorry, June. Won't happen again, Musashi." Musashi eyed them both. "You sure don't seem to have broken a sweat from five laps. However, since you're sorry, we can finish up this lesson. Nico, spar with Drake."

"What can I say?" Alice shrugged. "I just always look good." she smiled.

"I get to spar?" Drake said, eagerly. "Wait, what's sparring?"

"Sort of like practice fighting." Nico smiled. "You think he should spar? I mean, he's had no lessons, I don't think he should-" Nico was interrupted as Drake initiated a fight, with a headbutt. "It's a battle, then! I can battle! Come on, let's battle!" he said, bounding back. Nico just rubbed his head, it seeming to have little effect on him, most likely it being a Psychic-type move. "Hey! Well...I guess that might be good practice..." Musashi smiled, watching. "Come now, Nico. What have I said about awareness? Consider this a test for both of you to see what you know, and what you've learned."

"Well, alright, then. Battle, it is!" Nico smiled. "Since you're just learning, I'll start out with something a little light." he said, electricity crackling in his hands as he hurled a Charge Beam, at Drake. It wasn't a terribly strong attack, and Nico would feel bad if he hurt the kid, but he seemed to know enough about combat to at least try to dodge it. Instead, he threw out his hand and the Charge Beam bounced off the shield Drake had created. Protect, in fact. "Alright! Battle! Finally!" he cheered, bouncing up and down. "My turn!" he shouted, hands turning purple and dripping in goo, as he lunged a Poison Jab at Nico. Nico whirled around to dodge it. "Hey, you're pretty good, for a squirt."

"Uncle Daryl has taught me a lil' bit, but I mostly just learned it, from watchin' people." Drake said, stumbling back to his feet, after missing Nico. "He's my uncle, not yours!" Alice shouted.
Musashi smiled as he continued to watch. "Good good, not bad at all. Wonder what else Naga taught you." he said. "Go Nico go Drake, rah rah!" Clem cheered, dancing like a cheerleader.
Drake ran toward Nico, attempting another Poison Jab, only to be dodged once more. As Nico whirled around again, he sent another Charge Beam at Drake before he could set up another Protect, knocking his hat off. "Come on, kiddo! Give it all you've got!" Nico said, static still crackling around his hands.

Drake tried grabbing for his hat, but Nico sent another beam flying at him. "Focus, Drake! Come on, show me what you can do!" Drake huffed; nobody touched the hat. Nobody. He charged toward Nico, using Protect when Nico sent another beam of crackling electricity at him, and slid behind Nico, bouncing up to hit him with a Toxic just as Nico turned around.

"Okay, okay! Time out! This was a practice battle. Toxic and Protect are a little unfair, don't you think?" Nico said. "You said it was a battle." Drake grumbled, grabbing his hat. "And you knocked my hat off. I like this hat."

"Now Nico, a spar does not put a lock on any moves. I wanted to see what Drake could do and I'm seeing it. You weren't properly prepared, Nico; let this be a lesson in not underestimating your opponent. Now Alice, your turn. I want you to spar against Clem."

"Yay my turn!" Clem bounced.

"Yes, sir." Nico nodded, sitting down. "Sorry I Toxicded you." Drake said, sitting next to him. "Nah, don't worry about it. 'Sashi's right. I underestimated you." he said, ruffling the kid's already-poofy hair. Maybe I'm not cut out, for this. he thought to himself, while watching the two girls spar. Maybe Alice and that scientist were right....maybe I should try something different.


Alice stood in front of Clem, arms crossed. "You have got to be kidding me. You want me to battle that?" she grumbled. "Alright, but it does seem a little unfair." she smirked.

Musashi smiled. "Yes, I suppose it is a tad unfair. Clem, go easy for now."

"Aye aye~" Clem giggled.

"And begin."

Suddenly, Clem glowed white and started zig-zagging at high speed with her Quick Attack, zipping around Alice at a blinding pace.

"Yawn." Alice said, mocking a stretch. Clementine's attack was fast, she admitted, but all the build-up beforehand was just enough time for Alice to pick up on Clem's thoughts and dodge out of the way. The attack was too fast for Alice to pick up whether to dodge left or right, so that left only one option: up. "I'm Psychic/Flying." she sneered. "I may have tiny wings, but I can still hover. Now, dodge this." she smirked as her eyes started glowing a bright purple.

Clem zoomed right under Alice. "Eh?" she then grew a purplish outline an was flung to the other side of the room. After tumbling over a table she rubbed her butt. "Ow~ That smarts."

Alice floated back down, smirking. "Too easy." she grinned. "Come on, Clem! Alice is a pillowfist! You can do it!" Drake cheered. "Hey! If I could, I'd fling you across the room, too!" Alice shot back. "But you can't, 'cause you're a pillowfist!" Drake smiled. "I can't, because you're half Dark-type!" Alice said, crossing her arms. "Also a pillowfist!" Drake continued.

While Alice took time to argue with Drake, Clem zoomed up close and smiled. "Hi." she chimed before delivering a swift kick to Alice.

Alice stumbled over, quickly trying to regain her balance. Alice was fast. Really fast. She could read thoughts and dodge attacks, in an instant. However, if she was caught off guard, it would be difficult for her to get back in her swing. Alice was taken back. She didn't have time to get back into her groove and simply dodge attacks. She began to glow a bright, brilliant green. "You sure have a lot of energy. Let's get rid of some of it, shall we?" she sneered, as she began a Giga Drain.

Clem felt her energy being drained. Whining a bit, she began to glow again, her eyes glowing as she drew something random from Nico. Clem's Assist attack once again proved useful, a large chunk of stone forming in her hand and launching at Alice. Nico's Stone Edge attack was quite the lucky draw. Alice couldn't predict the attack coming, and she was unable to dodge the oncoming boulder. She winced as she felt its hovering presence over her, but there was no impact. Drake stood in front of her, fist glowing a bright orange as he slammed the rock down. "Don't hurt my sister!" he shouted, much to Alice's surprise. Alice blinked, a smile forming along her face. "Guess you're not so bad. Y'know. For a mutt."

Clem bit her lip. "I..I didn't mean to it's just."

"An Assist attack you can't control." Musashi finished. "Good job going around any predictions of your moves, though I would ask you to kindly refrain from using that move in sparring in the future, Clem. Alice, good work. You have a lot of potential, but next time no need to hold back. Clem here was once a very talented league fighter alongside myself and your so-called uncle Randy."

Alice grumbled and grumped, as she dusted off her skirt. "I wasn't holding back..." she muttered, under her breath. Drake just happily bounced up and down. "That was fun! Can we do it again? How about tomorrow? Can I come back, tomorrow? And the next day? And the day after that?"
"Well, sure, if your parents are fine with it." Musashi said, scratching his head at how excited this boy was. Musashi probably now had a student that'd be more of a hassle than Clem or June. "Very good class, everyone, but it's time for it to come to an end for today. Careful, on your ways home. Oh, and June, you need to bring order to that mess in your room before any television time. Don't know why I even bought that thing."

"Aw, come oooon!" June whined. "It's just a little mess! Can't I do it, later?" she complained.
Drake stopped bouncing, looking at Musashi. "I...I don't have parents." he pouted. "Does...does that mean I can't come back?"

"You have parents, Drake, you just don't know them." Alice started. She had yet to acknowledge Drake as her adoptive brother, but she figured after what he just did for her, she owed him. "Hey, Drake. Wait outside for me? I'll be out in a bit. I just need to tell Musashi something."

"Okay!" Drake said, again cheerful, as he bounded outside and began chasing some insects buzzing around. Musashi watched as Drake left. Clem soon bounded out after him, saying something about getting home before her daddy finds out she's been gone so long. "I should get going, too." Nico said, heading out. "Before Mom calls the police and tells them I've gone missing. Again." he shrugged.

Musashi looked at the tan-skinned child. "What did you have to say, Alice?"


Not many people knew much about Drake. In fact, Alice and Zee were likely the only ones. But she owed him. If Drake were to keep coming to school, here, then she was going to protect him, even if she wasn't entirely fond of going to school with her not-brother.

"If you're going to let him keep coming here, there's something about him you should probably know. It's something he doesn't even know, so you can't say anything. The only reason I'm telling you anything at all, is to keep you both out of trouble." Alice sighed, continuing. Musashi raised an eyebrow at Alice. "And what is this secret that you know so well, Alice?"

"I'm sure you recall a certain Zoroark. It doesn't take a Psychic, to know that he knows you and really, really dislikes you and Nick. He constantly mumbles about people, the two of you included. He knows things that make me think he's probably keeping tabs on you, somehow."

"That Zoroark is Drake's father." Alice sighed. "If Drake goes to school here, Shii will notice. If he sees Drake here, it won't end well, for anybody. Me, included, for letting Drake out in the first place. So you can either risk it and let Drake come back, or you can turn him away, and forget I said anything."

Musashi sighed. To think that mangy freakshow actually was capable of having a child. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I see." he headed outside, looking at Drake. "Drake, I'm sorry but... without any parents to know or give permission I...I don't think I can take you on for anymore lessons." he said softly, feeling like a world class asshole. Drake's expression instantly went from cheerful, to every kind of sad. "You.....you don't want me, either?" he pouted, eyes glassy. "I...I thought you said I could come back." he sniffled. "I...I could ask Zee...o-or Uncle Daryl or Eos or...or um...somebody..." Musashi clenched his teeth. The last thing he wanted to see was a depressed child. "I..no, I... I just worry about you safety; you're just..um...so young. Maybe if..if you're just quiet, you can just watch the classes. From a corner. Perhaps start by doing cleaning chores like um, that one moving picture thing, yeah."

"So....so I can stay?" Drake said, eyes lighting up in joy, once again. "You don't hate me!" he said, clinging to Musashi. "You...don't hate me, right?"

Alice sighed. There was no way Zee would let Drake attend these classes, and even if he did, Alice would get in trouble either way. Or maybe this could be even better. Maybe Drake could also befriend Nico. Maybe she could use this, to her advantage. "Alright, Drake. Let's go home." she said. Musashi patted the boy's head. "Right..no..I don't hate you. Um..there, there." he said, scooting Drake to Alice. "You two be safe going home, now. I'll be seeing you, tomorrow."

 

"Where do you think you're going?" Zee said, standing in front of the door, the next day. "Um...class?" Drake said, as he followed Alice. "You disappeared yesterday, had me in a panic, looking everywhere for you. What makes you think I'm going to let you go anywhere?" Zee said, crossing his arms. A smile crept along Drake's face as his eyes lit up. "You were worried? About me?" he grinned. "Wh-no! That's not what I said!" Zee quickly replied. "I...I mean...you know. You could've been breaking stuff, again." Drake's smile only grew wider. "You were worried about me."

"That's not the point! You're not going anywhere!" Zee insisted. "Daddy, it's okay." Alice piped in. "He's making very good friends, with Nick and Musashi." she said, nudging Zee. He got it. "Alright. Fine. Just...stay out of trouble." he sighed, letting the two out the door.
As the two kids left, Nico ran in. "Hi, Nico!" Drake said, cheerfully. "You're not coming to class?" he asked, bouncing as usual. "Uh, not today, kiddo. If 'Sashi asks, tell him I'm sick." Nico said, hoping Drake wouldn't say anything, at all. "Okay!" he said, bouncing off after Alice.

"Nick..."

"Zee..."

Not a word more was said, between them. The two traded glares at each other, as Nico left to find Blackstone. Nico had told his parents that he was at the dojo, with Musashi. He had told Musashi that he was staying home, today. What he was really doing, was staying at Tartarus, that day. Maybe he just wasn't cut out, for battling. Maybe, he thought, science was worth a try. Blackstone smiled at Nico. "Nick, my lad. I'm afraid Alice isn't here; she's left for school. Unless, of course, you're here for something else?" he asked. "Oh, yes..I know..I mean, no. That's not why I'm here." Nico stammered. "Look, I....I am uncomfortable, here...but I think maybe you were right. I don't think I'm going to be much of a fighter, like my dad. But if I'm going to get into this science stuff, I'd like a good reason why I should be working here, instead of Dad's lab."

Blackstone nodded. "Of course. Just consider this lab all yours. You're completely free to use this lab as you wish for whatever you wish. Just think of me as a guide, someone to confide in, to be mentored by."

"Well, the first thing I'd like to know..." Nico said. "Is what exactly it is, you do here? Elvis did a lot of terrible experiments, here. Alice said you've turned the place around, but you haven't said how. I don't want to work for anybody who's continuing Elvis' work."

"Understandable concerns." Blackstone replied. "You need not worry about a thing. The days of Elvis' research are long gone." he continued, a grin creeping along his face. Technically, it wasn't a lie. "We're looking more into technological advances. In fact, I'm sure you would be interested in our most recent project." He showed Nico a large glass chamber, many wires and lights displayed. "You know, genetics are very fascinating, and yet still so many mysteries. Low conception rates, dominant and submissive genes. You know how many diseases and weak traits get passed, genetically? Disorders? Imagine, Nick, a world without disorders, a world where couples will not have to worry about low conception, not worrying about passing dangers and diseases and weak traits. Huntington's disease, ADD, ADHD, weak eyesight, Down's Syndrome. We can make sure every child is a healthy child. So, what do you say?"

Nico was quiet for a moment, to take it all in. This was certainly one way to help people, and that's what he liked doing. This could be a huge breakthrough. How could he refuse? "Okay. I'm in." he smiled. "Excellent my boy!" Blackstone clapped him on the shoulder.
"Now, let's get started."



"Ah Alice, Drake. You two are here. Have you seen Nicodemus?" Musashi asked, the dojo filled with different children of mixed ages. "He said to say that he was sick!" Drake piped in, but was promptly nudged in the ribs by Alice. "That's what we heard, he means."

"He said...I see. Well, if he's under the weather." Musashi said, feeling slightly suspicious. "Drake, if you see Nicodemus again, will you tell him I want to talk to him man to man when he's..feeling better?"

"Okay!" Drake nodded, happily. "If he's still-" Alice quickly interrupted, before Drake could finish that sentence. "I'm sure he'll be just fine. Just needs a day, to rest. So, are we going to just talk about Nick all day, or get to lessons?" she smirked.

 

Later that day, Musashi stood in the street, tapping his foot as he froze Nico, with a leer. "Nicodemus Blackstone...feeling better already, I see." he beckoned to Nico.

"I...uh...y-yes! M-much better!" Nico grinned, nervously. "I was um...just on my way, actually. Kind of hoped I could still make it for the latter part of class. Guess I uh, missed it?" he shrugged, still with a nervous grin. Nico was a bad liar. A really, really bad liar, but he could deal with Musashi. A few extra pushups were preferable to what would happen if his parents found out where he was.

Musashi beckoned again. "Come, take a walk with me." he said. The two walked together, going down streets and around the moor. "You know, Nico, Drake is an awful liar. You, too, are an awful liar. Together, you make an incredibly terrible liar. You know, when I was around your age I first became a human, I also was determined to kill your father. That's my secret. Now." he looked at Nico. "What's yours?"

Nico sighed, as he walked with Musashi. He felt terrible, for lying. Or at least attempting to lie. And of course Drake would tattle, on him. Shouldn't blame the kid, though. He cringed at Musashi's last sentence. "I'm sorry. I...I shouldn't have...." he sighed. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm being pushed to battle or work in the labs or to take over Dad's business...but I don't think I'm cut out, for any of that." he stopped, for a moment. "I'm going to work at Tartarus." he said, quietly. "They've really turned things around. I could really be making a difference, there. Just....please don't tell Dad."

Musashi stared silently at Nico as he talked. "Nico," he said sternly. "Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into? Who those people are? Randy is there, Nico; I know him. He flooded our home under Zee's orders..gladly. Even now, we have to be wary of any plan they have, to kill us. I'm sure at your age you are having so many questions of...identity... but are you sure doing something like this is what you want? Arceus, Nico, you think I've been good at anything I tried that wasn't fighting? I still struggle living in a home with a pregnant Lilith, looking over a child and handling technology and paying bills. It's not about good or not good, and you are a talented young man, but it's about what you want to do. It's about what you like." he sighed deeply. "I'll keep this from your parents, but don't lie to me, anymore. Got it? If...if you need someone..an adult..to talk to, you can come to me, anytime. However, I want you to have a talk with your parents about these questions you have in your heart and give this Tartarus thing a big long deep thinking over before you make a decision you might end up regretting."

"I know." Nico sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied. But would you have let me go there, if I didn't?"

"All my life, every time I ask for permission, I'm treated with the same answers. 'No, it's too dangerous.' 'No, you'll get yourself hurt.' 'No, you're better than that.' I'm tired of having to live my life, always asking for permission. For once, this is my time to say 'This is what I'm going to do. Deal with it.' I know you have concerns, Musashi. But I've been there. I've talked with people, there. This could be a big opportunity, for me. I could help a lot of people, by working there."

"Maybe this could even be a chance to prove to my parents that I'm not weak and useless. That I don't need somebody to constantly watch over me. I'm sorry I lied, but this is what I'm going to do."

Musashi sighed. "Nico, you're practically an adult, now. At your age, I was traveling the world, fighting, searching. Well, it was a dark time for me. I know how difficult it can be, not knowing just who you are. I'm not going to lie, I think this is a big mistake."
"However, this is your mistake to make, and if need be, learn from. Your father won't learn of this from me."

"I don't think this is a mistake, but...thank you." he said, hugging Musashi. "For caring." Nico may have grown up, but the boy was still a hugger. "Also for not telling my parents, 'cause they'd kill me."

"Yes well, your father will probably kill me if he finds out I'm hiding this for you." Musashi replied, still uncomfortable with Nico's hugging. He patted the boy's head. "Now, you'd best get back before your mother worries herself sick...again."



Randy grunted as he sat in the headquarters. Alice and Drake had returned already, and Drake bounded off. "The Nick boy's going to help out in th lab. Seems too easy, really. So, does this mean you can stop going to Musashi's dojo now or what?"

"Well, it would be awfully suspicious if I just stopped going to class, right when Nick starts working here." Alice huffed, her head held high. "Besides, I owe that Furret girl one."
"Clementine?" Drake said, still excited from his first official day at school. "I like Clementine! She's fun! The dojo is fun! Why would we stop going there? I like going there! I actually have friends, there! Or, at least people who don't keep telling me to go away."

 

Musashi returned to his dojo as Nico returned home. The night went by, quietly. Unfortunately for the Blackstone home, the early morning brought on a frantic and loud ringing of the telephone as the sun just began to rise.

"Tell whoever it is, to sod off." CT grumbled, through the pillow he tossed over his face. He was not a morning person, and did not appreciate being awoken at such an early hour.

"It's Musashi." Lasciel replied, after answering the phone.

"I thought I told him to stop waking me up, so bloody early."

"Lilith is in labor."

"Tell her to stop it, and try again at a reasonable hour."

CT couldn't see Lash's glare, as he still had the pillow over his face, but he could feel it. "Bloody hell....alright, alright. I'm up."


Musashi panicked, as he paced outside his dojo. He chewed on his bottom lip, wearing it out as his shoes squished against the soft ground. He panicked less when he saw CT's vehicle drive up. "Thank Arceus! Hurry, please! She's screaming and she's in labor we have to do something!"

CT was quite rudely awoken once more, this time by Lash's fist against his shoulder. "Bloody hell, Lasciel! I'm awake!"

"Awake, with your eyes closed?" Lash scoffed, eyebrow raised.

"I wasn't asleep. I was resting."

"Sure. Get out, sleeping beauty."

CT groggily stepped out of the car, wishing it wasn't so damned early in the AM. "You know, Musashi, hospitals are a thing." he grumbled, only to be greeted with Lash's elbow in his ribs, this time. "The hospital's too far away. I..I think she might have to..give birth here." Musashi said, shaking and sweating. He grabbed CT by the wrist and dragged him inside. "I..I don't know what to do! Do I boil water or something? I'm completely lost!"

"Blast it all, Musashi...settle down!" CT grumbled. He was still groggy, and it took his brain more than a few seconds to process what he had said. He was just like this, when Nico was born. Two more kids later, and one tends to forget what being a first-time parent feels like. "Just...don't worry. Lasciel will take care of her."

Musashi stood beside the screaming Lilith, holding her hand. "Stay strong Lilith, we're all here. You can do this." he said, ignoring the crushing impact the mother of his child was putting on his hand.


The hours passed slowly, it seemed. CT stayed outside of the room, although it was rather difficult to go back to sleep, with all that screaming. June agreed. "Argh! I just can't get any sleep, around here!" she grumbled, sitting next to CT. "I wanna go hoooome." she whined. "Home, where I don't have to do pushups or stretches or chores and I can just watch tv and play video games!" she continued to rant. CT just ignored her.

Soon, the whole ordeal was over. Musashi held the newborn in his arms. Out of an innate sense of manliness, he held back his tears, or at least tried to, as he looked at the yellow-eyed infant. He smiled as he handed the baby to Lilith. "Our child." he said softly.

"Oh, great! Now I'll never get any sleep, around here!" June whined. "You know, you take quite a bit after your father. That's not a good thing." CT grumbled.

Lilith didn't fight back tears. She didn't even try. She smiled widely, as she held the small child in her arms. "So," Lash said, smiling. "Do you have a name, yet?"

"Well...we discussed names. You know, for a boy or a girl. It was one of the few times we had a fight." Musashi said. "Well, we chose one. Say hello to your new home Suki, our new daughter." Even CT couldn't help but smile, upon meeting Suki. June just greeted her with a "Sup?" and went back to bed.



Meanwhile, this was the perfect distraction for Nico to sneak off, to Tartarus, once again. Mavra wasn't exactly trustworthy, but at least she was a good liar. Maybe he could count on that, even if she did bribe him and threaten to use this, as blackmail.

Nico entered the lab, but wasn't greeted by a cheerful Drake. Instead, he was shoved against the wall and pinned down, by Zee. "Hello, Nicky. Looks like we're gonna be working together. This should be interesting." he said, with an eerie grin. Nico tried to shove him away, but his hold was too strong. "Hey, come on! What's your problem, Zee? Thought we had a mutual 'ignore each other' thing, going on!" Zee's grin grew wider, and his golden yellow eyes turned a bright, crystal blue. "Oh. Crap." Nico said, eyes widening. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you." he purred, illusion dropping. "For now. Watch your back, Boy. Science man has use of you, for now, but when Boy's job is over? Shii has you all to self." he grinned, releasing a stunned Nico.

"You! Scat!" Blackstone snapped at Shii. "Randy! Get him away from Nick!" A disgruntled Randy grabbed Shii by the hair and yanked him away. "I'm so sorry, Nick, some things have stuck around like a bad rash around here. Don't worry, he won't be allowed near you, again. I assure you."
Shii yelped as Randy grabbed him. "Shii wasn't going to hurt boy! Not yet. Just friendly warning." Nico was afraid of Shii. He had been, ever since he was little. Most likely due to the fact Shii wished him harm and tried to have him assassinated, once. He probably would keep his word, since he had nowhere else to go and it would risk getting him kicked out, but Nico was still afraid. "It....it's okay. I'm...I'm used to him. Sort of. Doesn't make him any less creepy, though." Nico gulped. Maybe this was a bad idea. Randy and Zee were there, but now Shii? Surely they couldn't all just be here, for a paycheck. "Um...is...is there anybody else I should know about, before I officially start working here?"

"There's Randy, Zee, that thing, and Naga. Along with Alice and Drake, of course." Blackstone replied. "Now, shall we get started?" Nico sighed. Naga wasn't so bad, and he seemed generally nice. At least there was somebody here Nico could trust. "Yeah. Sure. Further away from Shii I am, the better." Nico shuddered. "So, where do I start?"

"Well first, keep Drake a little secret from..that thing. It's best they never meet, if you catch my meaning." he said. "I have several projects sitting in the lab for you to peruse. After all, we need you to practice your analytic skills before hitting the big project."

"Oh, um...okay." Nico blinked. "I guess I'm sort of good with computers...and putting stuff together. I worked with Dr. Porter in my dad's lab, a lot. He taught me quite a bit." Nico said, smiling. Porter...he hadn't even thought about him. Porter was like family..family that wasn't overprotective, that is. What would he think, about this? Nico cringed, trying not to think about it. "Alright, then. Let's get started."
"Ah. Porter, hm? Sounds like an intelligent man." Blackstone said, smiling. He should pretend not to know him. "Now here's a computer, Nick, I want you to look at the different genetic samples, study them. It will be very important to learn them for our big project."

"He is." Nico smiled. "One of the smartest people, I know. I've know him, my whole life...he's like family." he said, sorting through the computer files. "So is Aurora...and Bruce...and a lot of people, there." he continued, smile fading. He suddenly felt like a gigantic let-down, to everybody. "....Am I doing the right thing?" he asked, softly. "Of course. How could something as wonderful as this not be the right thing? Come now, Nick, follow your mind. Quest for knowledge. Make this world a better place, with science." Nico went through more files. Old research of Elvis', new research of Blackstone's. He couldn't stop thinking about things. Was this the right thing? We he a let-down, to everybody?

His thought process was interrupted by a sudden slamming down of files, on the desk. "Boy wants to work here, start with this." Shii growled, giving Nico a very displeased glare. "Old project of Elvis. Never finished. Boy could do it. Good practice." he continued, as Nico flipped through the files. Shii didn't like Blackstone's work. Blackstone didn't like Shii. Shii was previously working for Elvis, however, and was determined he would one day return and therefor continued as much of Elvis' projects as he was capable of. Elvis would be very happy with him, for doing that. At least that's what he believed.

"These are notes, on gene splicing." Nico said, glancing through Elvis' files and notes. "Fusions. I can't...I can't do that. My dad said fusing Pokémon was wrong." he said, setting the folder down. "Bah..." Shii growled. "Fusing two together is no. Bad. Two minds being very confused, yes. Elvis wanted born fusion. A splice of both parents. Could never get it to work. Boy could. Good practice. Good start, yes?" Shii growled, sneering at Blackstone. "Yes, indeed. It's terrible just fusing two already developed minds together. There are far too many gaps in the success rate for such a thing. If we continued with that research, they'd be less mentally stable than this thing." Blackstone said, pointing to Shii. "However, working the genetics to make a fused breed with one developed mind, now that is true science."

"One fusion, one mind, yes. What Elvis wanted, yes. Never finished. Boy finishes, yes." Shii purred. "Want to play with genetics, start here, yes." he demanded. It wasn't a terribly important project. Just something on the side, that Elvis was doing. However, Nico needed to get the hang of things, and this was the perfect place to start.

"Well, Pokémon are either one parent or the other. In order to create a successful hybrid, an embryo of the female parent would need to be altered to contain enough genetic material of the other Pokémon, to force a true crossbreed. It's been done before, crossing spiders with goats, but it didn't create a true fusion. It only added just enough spider genetics to cause the goats to create small amounts of silk." Nico said, sounding quite a bit like his father. "My dad's tried something similar, but only ended up with a Pokémon of the female parent, with a few extra movesets. I don't see how it would be any different, here."

"Yet boy is two. Is possible."

"That's different. I don't see why this is so important-"

"No different. Figure it out." Shii snarled, trying to hold back or risk getting kicked out.

 

Back at the dojo, Musashi looked around. "You and Lash came by yourselves? Are you sure it was a good idea to leave your children back at home?" Before CT could reply, Clementine burst into the room. "Hi hi I'm here fo- oh my god baby!" she squealed loudly in delight, much to the chagrin of the eardrums of a few people, and ran over immediately to look at the new baby.

"Nng....hello, Clementine." CT cringed, at the squealing. "Didn't want to wake them." he replied. "Nick stays at home with his siblings, often. I trust him to take care of them. Why would you question him?" Lash, meanwhile, stayed by Lilith and the gawking Clem. June finally gave up any hope of sleep, and just watched tv. All babies looked the same, anyway. "Can...can I hold her?" Clem asked, gawking over the baby. "Her name is Suki." Musashi said. "If Lilith is fine with it, you can hold her but...be super extra careful, ok?" Lilith nodded at Clem, still very tired from the whole ordeal. "Not too much, though. She and Lilly both need their rest." Lash smiled.

CT raised an eyebrow. Why would Musashi ask that? Nick stayed at home with Mavra and Malcolm, all the time. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to check up on things, at home." he said, calling home, only to have the phone answered by Mavra. "Mav? You're up, early. Well, early for you."

"Stupid chirping birds woke me up."

"My, you're cheerful. Where's Nick?"

"Took Seymour for a walk. Said he wouldn't be gone, long."

"He left you alone, with Malcolm?"

"Puh, I can handle him for a few minutes. All he does is eat, sleep and poop."

"Right..." CT replied, rubbing his forehead. "Tell him to call me, when he gets back?"

"Whatever." Mavra replied, hanging up. She didn't know how long Nico would be gone, but she was good at lying. She could just call him and tell him to call his dad, and she'd work out a cover story from there. He owed her, though. Big time. And she was never, ever, ever going to let him forget it.




Time had passed.

Shii had been in and out of the lab for days or even weeks at a time. Nobody knew why, or where he went, and nobody dared ask because they were sure it was something quite ridiculous. He had also been, quite grudgingly, helping Nico in the labs off and on. It was a mutual dislike, but they worked through it. Shii was a lot smarter than Nico had previously given him credit for, but something about this didn't feel quite right. Data and notes had gone missing about the same time Shii left. He constantly talked about Elvis and continuing his research. He was obsessed. Eventually, a tiny Shinx and Houndour fusion went missing, along with Shii. It was the first successful born Pokémon fusion; one creature, not two minds as the previous fusions were.


Neither were heard from, again, after the latest disappearance.




Sevii Islands, Kanto:

The roar of the ocean. The sound of waves rushing back and forth against the sand. Sunlight. Wind. Everything he had taken for granted. One really does tend to miss the little things, when they've been locked away for so long.

There were footsteps, behind him. More than just one set, it seemed. "You have more research?" the man asked, not turning around. "No more. Were getting suspicious. Shii had to leave, yes. Shii stays here now, yes." Elvis sighed, in disappointment. "Shame. Who's with you?"
Shii grinned. A wide, eerie, vulpine grin. A small creature trotted up to Elvis: a natural-born Shinx and Houndour fusion. "Her name," Shii purred. "Is Artemis."




~end~