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Eddies

Chapter 42: Wriggly...

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Eddies 42

"What the hell?" shouted J.B, leaning over the large timber desk to hover menacingly over Commander Barklay. The Rangers leader wasn't impressed, and scowled at the off-world officer, who refused to back down. Finally, leaning back into his chair Barklay gave a sigh. Reaching into his desk drawer for a bottle of scotch, he then fished out a pair of faceted crystal glasses, placing them on the table. Pouring a generous helping into each, he handed one to J.B, motioning him to take the seat opposite. Zorua, standing beside J.B, watched the confrontation with wide eyes, worried at the anger between her trainer and the Ranger leader.

J.B paused, scowling at the delaying tactic, but eventually capitulated, dropping into the padding and taking a long pull from the scotch. Wrinkling his forehead at the dry taste, he continued to glare across the desk, even as Barklay cleared his throat.

"They knew we were coming" he said without preamble, swirling his drink moodily in its glass.

J.B's mouth thinned. "I thought this was supposedly a covert operation? How the hell did they find this out?"

Barklay stared back, his chair creaking as he leaned back. Zorua, lying on the timber flooring beside J.B, dropped her head to clean her paws, but her ears followed the conversation, flicking back and forth between the pair.

Barklay sighed, and said "I don't know. Not a situation I'm comfortable at all with, believe me. The place was a setup; exterior security patrolling to make it seemed like business as usual, but the inside was, for all intents, a gutted shell. Administration and laboratory systems had been removed, and the place was deserted. As far as your friends go, after Scott's group relayed their intention to follow up on a human presence deeper in the facility, no further contact was received from them. Even if the building was electrically insulated, given the issues during the prior operation against Sinnotech, our enhanced equipment should have been able to cope with the interference. It didn't."

J.B mulled the information over, before saying quietly "Then they dropped the building down on top of them, huh. Any other casualties?"

Barklay shook his head, refilling his glass and motioning with the bottle towards J.B, who declined the top up with an absent shake of his head. "We were fortunate that our other officers were able to escape the structure before it collapsed."

"Almost seems as if they were waiting for Scott's lot to arrive," J.B pondered out loud, and Barklay nodded.

"Yes, that is our thought. It seemed overly convenient. Given the bad feelings Sinnotech had for Scott and Storm, it certainly is possible, although if you're willing to drop a building on someone specific, the grudge would have to be fairly hefty."

J.B sat back, reaching down an absent hand to Zorua, caressing her soft ears gently as he considered the information. Finally, he brought his gaze back to the Ranger leader, and asked "Are they dead, do you think?"

Barklay shrugged, polishing off the rest of his drink with a final gulp. "Unknown. Without removing the entire building off them, which would take months of demolition work, we have no real way of finding out. But with three legendaries backing them, I hold out some hope."

J.B sighed. "I should have gone with them, damn it. I might have..."

"Died with them?" Barklay finished sombrely, looking down at Zorua, who returned his gaze steadily. "You know why you couldn't go. You have more to think about than yourself now. She's too young to be involved in so risky a mission!"

Zorua gave him a droll look, ready to interject, but J.B scratched her neck and said down to her "He's right. We don't have to like it, but they're the facts."

Zorua turned away, unhappy but resigned with the decision. With the conversation concluded, Barklay stood, pushing from his chair and leaning a meaty hand across the desk to help the surprised J.B to his feet. "We can but wait and hope. Until then, I feel the need for a long liquid lunch break, if you know what I mean."

J.B took the hand, and the assistance, and followed the Ranger leader and Zorua from the office, softly closing the door behind them.

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After retrieving Storm from the toilet block, Scott and Chris made themselves scarce, heading to the further reaches of the zoo. In the Australian animal section, Scott found himself surrounded by a mob of curious kangaroos, many of whom seemed bemused by the scent coming off him. The area was relatively deserted, with several animal shows underway elsewhere drawing the bigger crowds and the pair had soon found themselves alone in a section of the park adjacent to the zoo walls.

"What do they want?" he asked Chris nervously, fending off yet another inquisitive nose that seemed intent on investigating his pockets.

Chris smirked broadly at the Ranger's plight, and said "Be careful. They have a bad habit of biting people in the balls, you know."

As the Ranger started, hands coming forward to protect his crotch, the youth began laughing loudly, even as Scott became aware he'd borne the brunt of the joke. Returning a dry grin, he reached out, scratching one persistent individual on the neck as Chris drew his breath.

"Probably, they can smell pokemon on you" Chris eventually said, wiping his eyes as he smirked at the Ranger's discomfort. Scott nodded, eyeing the curious looking creature. Seeing them hop around had stretched his incredulity, but there was no denying the evidence before his eyes; this world was crazy!

Finally, he sighed and said "I should let Storm out. He'd get a blast seeing these things." The Ranger pondered a second, before continuing "That, or want to eat them. You never know with him."

Chris laughed, and went to respond, but was distracted as two small, familiar forms began heading their way.

Nodding at the pair, Chris gave Scott a loaded stare, and the Ranger turned slowly to see them approach, his lips set as his brow drew down.

"Now, what do those two want?" he said softly, as the two kids made it to within a few feet of them. Even as he stepped forward, one of them looked up and said "Umm, sir. I know we did wrong before, but we want to say we're sorry, and... Umm..."

"Yes?" said Scott, giving them no leeway.

Kicking the sand in front of him with eyes downward, the second kid said "Well, we were wondering if we could... you know... Say sorry to the typhlosion, too?"

Scott paused, giving Chris a glance. Chris shrugged, not knowing what to say. The Ranger looked around, seeing no one near, and sighed. "Why do you want to do that?"

The first kid piped up "Well, we sort of got him in trouble, didn't we. So, you know..."

"You want to say sorry. Right" said Scott dryly. "Not see him again or anything. Just that, huh?"

The pair squirmed a bit, but nodded anyway. Finally, Scott took a good look around, seeing no one in the area, and said "Alright, but you make it quick. We don't need any more issues to add to our growing collection."

The pair nodded agreement, even as Scott shooed the remaining 'roos from the vicinity. No need to spook any more animals, he thought wryly, unclipping the pokeball from his belt and releasing the typhlosion.

Storm materialised within the familiar ruby light, causing the mob of 'roo's to scatter in alarm. As they raced away, he stared after them in bemusement and said "What the fuck are those things...." but trailed off into silence as Scott put his palm to his face at the foul language in front of the minors. Spinning, the pokemon caught the wide eyed stares of the two kids watching him in awe, and froze, giving his partner a surprised glance, before turning to them with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, I know you two, don't I?" he said ominously, even as the smaller one began quaking nervously. But still, the pair held their ground, and Scott put a restraining arm on Storms' shoulder, preventing him continuing.

"They want to say something to you" said Scott, a reluctant smile quirking his lip as Storm gave him a surprised glance.

"Yeah, we're sorry." said the older kid, and the younger nodded vigorously. Storm raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms and said gruffly "That was stupid, what you did. I could have eaten you!"

The older kid grinned suddenly, and stepped forward. "I don't think so, mister." he said, and Storm gave a bark of laughter, teeth flashing in the afternoon sun.

"No, you're probably right. You probably taste bad" the typhlosion said, as the pair moved closer, eyeing him intently. Resigned, he held out an arm, and the kids ran fingers through his fur, marvelling at the feel.

Giving his partner a loaded look, Storm said "This is keeping a low profile, is it?" Scott simply shrugged, not offering any excuse.

Retrieving his arm, Storm eyed the drink Chris held, holding out a paw for the large container, which was handed to him with a chuckle. Taking a long pull from the straw, Storm rolled his eyes and began answering the questions thrown at him by the pair. Where'd you come from? Where'd you learn to talk? Are you here long?

Leaving them to their conversation, Scott joined Chris and chuckled, leaning against the zoo's outer wall beside the youth. "Might as well let Skyy out" he said quietly. "We're still alone, and you can't let Storm have all the fun."

Hearing him from several meters away, Storm rumbled out "Yeah, I'm a bloody information booth! How exciting for me!" before resigning himself to answer the kid's multitude of questions.

Chris shrugged, unclipping Skyy's ball and releasing the lucario, who took note of the strangers talking with Storm with a squeak of surprise. Still, Skyy didn't hesitate, joining in with the pokemon Ranger, to the awe filled surprise of the kids.

As the pair distracted the young humans, Chris said "So, how long do you think the transport will be?"

Scott shrugged, raising his wrist to check the time on his pokedex. "I hope not too much longer. We have a lot to do." he replied quietly, turning off the device and crossing his arms on his chest. Even as he did, a loud crackle resounded through the area, as the park intercom came to life, an unknown voice resounding through the enclosure.

"Can Scott Rivers please return to the administration building immediately. Scott Rivers to the administration building."

The pair chuckled at the timing, as Scott stretched, releasing the kinks from his neck as he called out to his partner. "Have to go, Storm. Finish up there, huh?"

The typhlosion nodded his head, before giving a few final words to the kids. The younger surprised him by throwing his arms around his waist, giving him a big hug, which the typhlosion returned tentatively, patting him on the head awkwardly.

"Gotta go, kids. Don't tell no one about us, alright?"

Beaming they nodded, before shaking Skyy's paw and hurrying back towards the main zoo area. As the two pokemon returned to Scott and Chris, Skyy smirked at his partner and said "That was fun! Human kids are pretty funny here!"

Raising an eyebrow, Chris said "Oh?"

Nodding, Skyy continued. "They wanted to know if more of us were coming. I told them I didn't know. I think they were hoping for a pokemon to be their partner, too."

Chris chuckled, wrapping an arm around the lucario as he joked "Yeah, everyone needs a whole mess of trouble following them around everywhere! What would life be without it?"

Triggering Skyy's pokeball, he returned the lucario before he had a chance to reply, and joined Scott and Storm laughing.

"You know he's going to give you an earful when he's out next, right?" said Scott with a laugh, returning Storm to his ball even as the typhlosion made to comment.

Chris grinned, pointing to the device as Scott clipped it back on his belt, making sure it was tightly fitted this time, and said "I think I won't be the only one."

Chuckling, the pair made their way back towards the admin office, even as the slanting afternoon sun shone down on them from above. As they walked away, Chris sighed and said "Shame we didn't get to see the drop bears. They're really cool."

Scott nodded absently, even as they continued towards the office, not noticing the broad hidden smirk from his young friend.

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The look of disgust on Suicune's face was priceless.

"They're bugs!" he said, his entire body shuddering as he looked at the writhing mass held in the human's hands in disbelief.

Raikou put a paw to his face at his brother's subtlety, but had to admit to himself the things did look pretty revolting.

Rodney gave the blue legendary a broad grin, reaching down onto the sheet of bark he carried and plucked large, wriggling larvae from the makeshift plate with long fingers. "Good tucker! Lots of protein!" he said firmly, sticking it between his teeth and biting the insect in half. Chewing noisily, he gave Suicune a smile, showing off the masticated mess coating his teeth. Suicune blanched, gave a loud gulp and bolted into the nearby bushes where he began retching violently.

Laughing, Rodney held one out to Raikou, who shuddered and refused firmly. Entei, who had been following the exchange intently, shrugged and bent over the bark plate, slurping up the slippery menu with gusto. The aboriginal man gave him a clap of approval on his shoulder, popping another witchetty grub in his mouth.

Raikou shook his head at his brother's inherent ability to eat anything, and asked their guide again how they might be able to contact their friends. The dark skinned human swallowed his mouthful, licking his lips absently to remove dribbling juices and told him "Well, we should be able to make the settlement in less than an hour, once your squeamish brother there stops puking his guts out. Bit of a lightweight, is he? Where's his sense of adventure?"

Raikou made to answer, when a loud wail emanated from the trees. "They're bugs! You're eating bugs!" Suicune cried out, before he gagged again, groaning despondently.

Rodney chuckled. "Well, a good breakfast should fix that. I got some bacon and eggs back in my cabin. Should fill even you lot up!"

Entei looked up from his devoured grubs, green mottled slime still coating his whiskers, and said in confusion "This isn't breakfast? I thought this was breakfast!"

Rodney laughed loudly, patting the confused pokemon on the neck. "Naah, brother. I'm just fucking with ya! We don't eat witchetty grubs no more, less we have to. I prefer pancakes myself!"

Raikou raised an interested head, even as Entei gave the human a bemused look, before shrugging and returning to his meal. No point wasting good food, he thought absently, scoffing off the remainder of the wriggling mess with pleasure.

Behind him, Suicune groaned again, and returned to his noisy misery.

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When they returned to the Administration block, Scott and Chris were surprised to find the building deserted. After knocking cautiously and receiving no response, Chris poked his head through the rear door they had entered the park through, but even the few administration staff present earlier were missing.

Pulling his head back out, Chris glanced at Scott and shrugged, even as the Ranger pushed past him into the complex, scoping the place with steely eyes. The light was still on in the manager's office, and he motioned to Chris to follow as he weaved his way past the empty desks, stepping into the office to find the zoo manager sitting behind his desk, hands resting on the timber veneer surface and staring vacantly at the wall opposite.

At Scott's approach, he looked up with a start, eyes widening in recognition, before he motioned them to empty seats. Scott dropped heavily into his, while Chris did so more warily. But the silence lengthened until, uncomfortable with the situation, Scott cleared his throat and asked "Is our ride here?"

The manager, who had been staring at his desk absently, looked up to meet his gaze, before shaking his head. Finally, he gave a sigh, and Scott raised an eyebrow at the odd behaviour.

"Is there something else then?" he asked, confused by the managers vagueness.

The man gave them both a loaded look, before turning his computer monitor around to let the pair see the screen. On the desktop was a running program, showing the footage from multiple security cameras positioned throughout the park.

Chris blanched, giving Scott a horrified stare, but the Ranger simply set his lips grimly and asked "What's the relevance of this?"

The man gave him another unreadable glance, before flicking his mouse on his desk, enlarging one particular camera which had been positioned to monitor the kangaroo enclosure. As the pair watched, the image was rewound, then played back to show a zoomed picture of the pair of trainers, followed by the approach of the two kids and subsequent release of Storm and Skyy.

Scott made to stand, an angry retort on his lips, when the manager held out a hand, forestalling his outburst. In a quiet voice, he began speaking as Scott resumed his seat.

"I've been doing this a long time now" he said, leaning back to stare at the pair sitting opposite. "Too long, I think sometimes. It used to be a passion, but the never ending demands of running a complex like this takes its toll. Hell, if it's not some screaming kid who fell over his own arse on the sidewalk, it's some screaming parent who has misplaced said offspring. Then, there's the never ending battle to keep the place financial, whether it be through corporate or private funding. It's always something! Now, I simply go through the motions. All the passion I once held for the place has gone, and it's just another day at the office. I miss that, you know... The passion..."

Petering off moodily, he returned to watching the screen in front of him, as Chris gave Scott a confused look. The Ranger shook his head slightly and moved his hand telling him to keep his silence for the moment.

Even so, the manager noticed the gesture and gave him a wry grin. "You probably wondering what I want, I bet. I don't blame you. I ask myself the same question every day."

Scott leaned forward, and indicated the quiet building around them. "I gather you haven't shown that footage to anyone else then?"

The manager shook his head. "No, I haven't. Nor will I. One of the reasons I asked everyone else in here to take an early lunch for the next hour; a privilege of being the boss here. After that little stunt in the toilet block, I thought I'd keep an eye on you two, and try to figure you out. There's something about you... I couldn't place it earlier. Even now, I'm not sure what you're about."

Scott sat back, looking at the manager thoughtfully. "I wonder the same thing, too. The issue is, you saw something that you really have no business involving yourself with. You do understand that, don't you?"

Giving him a searching look, the manager nodded slightly. "I guess I do, at that. But that doesn't change the fact that what I saw was... Well, remarkable!"

Standing, the man paced to the rear of his room, before spinning to give them an almost desperate look. With his palms spread, he rested against the back of his chair, gripping the heavy fabric with whitening knuckles and continued "This place... this life... it's the same thing, day in, day out. For as long as I can remember now, all I've wanted was to witness something remarkable. Something that would tell me that everything everyone has always told me is incorrect, and that all those know-it-all smart arses who told me my life could have been better spent were full of crap. That there is more to life than this bullshit, tedious existence..."

Scott sighed, and nodded. "I do understand, believe me. The question remains though. What do you really want?"

Dropping to his desk, the man said quietly "I just want to meet them, too, like those kids did. Nothing more. Just that."

Scott looked at him thoughtfully, before reaching a decision. Leaning forwards, he held out his hand to the man, and said sombrely "Scott Rivers; Pokemon Ranger."

The man took his hand in a firm grasp, and said with lip twitching into a smile. "Bob Greaves; desperate for a miracle."

Scott laughed abruptly, giving the man a broad grin, and said "Well, a miracle is beyond my means, I'm afraid, but perhaps I can offer you something else. Just don't say I didn't warn you..."

Reaching for his pokeball, Scott released his partner, even as Chris did the same with Skyy. As the shadowy forms solidified before them, the awed smile that bloomed on the managers face was priceless.

It seems some people's definition of a miracle was a little easier to achieve than others.

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Authors note:

If you've ever seen anyone eat raw witchetty grubs, you'll know exactly how Suicune felt, believe me.

They're much better cooked.

But I hate drop bears. Nasty bastards rip your face up after dropping from trees above, if your happen to walk below them. One of the reasons I have a large pair of eyes sewn on the top of my bush walking hat, you know. They won't have a go at you if they think you're looking...

But the ending of this chapter is somewhat melancholy... not to mention a little personal.

I've always hoped someone would do for me what Scott did for Todd.

Hell, my life is good enough. I have most of the things I could ever need already fulfilled.

But it doesn't fill that empty spot, deep inside...

Perhaps it's what everyone needs? What everyone is looking for?

I dunno...

That something that's different. That one miracle.

Show me that little something, that discredits everything everyone has always told me is fact.

Bring that little bit of magic into an otherwise dull, mundane and often seemingly pointless existence.

I'm still waiting....

One day, maybe...