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Eddies

Chapter 50: Stupidity.

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 50:

J.B was dripping profusely in the humid, mid day sun as he called out commands to Destiny, who stood on the steaming sandy arena without even breaking a sweat.

Having to keep one eye on his pokédex, while still trying to keep his protégé in sight, had him cursing fluently. "Agility, then Faint attack, followed by... umm... Oh, fuck this... Fury swipes!"

"Language, Papa!" she called out to him mentally in reproach, although the sudden guffaw from his sparring partner had him wincing as he realised she'd left the mind speech open to their general audience.

"Yeah, try relaxing a bit more, Papa!" called out the Ranger opposite, who had been set as his opponent in training. The man's arcanine sniggered at his trainers wit, but didn't take his attention from his opponent for a second, blocking the faint with a short series of Flamethrower bursts that had Destiny dancing around the ring. As a training goal, she'd been banned from changing shape during the bout, so had to rely purely on her native dexterity and skills, not to mention the less advanced ones of her trainer which left a lot to be desired.

"I'm too bloody old for this!" muttered J.B to himself, as he tried getting his head around the series of moves they'd been practicing. Destiny's ongoing referral to him as "Papa" had him cringing yet again, and he'd asked her to stop doing it time and again, but the mournful look she gave him when he complained had him gritting his teeth. She really knew how to get into his head, the little shit, he cursed, but grinned despite himself as she managed to batter at the Arcanine, protective padding over her paws preventing her claws doing real damage to anything but his pride, but still sending him flying from the ring.

"Point, and match!" shouted out the session umpire as he called a quick break to their bout. The arcanine's trainer approached J.B from across the Arena, giving his hand a firm shake, before doing the same to a surprised zoroark.

"You're really coming along, Destiny. I'm increasingly impressed with your skills, and you sure gave Douglas here a real workout!"

The arcanine sniffed, shaking sand from his coat and still a little miffed at having lost to a newcomer, but he didn't object when the zoroark gave him a good scratch behind the ears, setting his tail wagging happily.

"I think he was going easy on me, Papa!" she accused the canine, who gave a wolfing chuckle, shaking his head vehemently. His trainer grinned and replied "Well, I think he thought you'd be an easy target. It'll teach him not to underestimate his opponent so badly in the future."

In the few days since they'd began their formal training, J.B was gratified to see that most of the Ranger's cautious attitude towards Destiny had taken a turn for the better. While still more than ready to return any jibes sent her way, she was eager to please her new "family", and gave no one any call to criticise her actions. Given enough time, he could see the dark ghosts from the Team Galaxy incident finally disappearing, although he knew the general mental scars would take her much longer to heal.

He had to give it to the Rangers, this training stuff was surprisingly hard work. The compulsory six hours per week every Ranger was rostered to spend in the arena with their partners was seen as a drudge work by many, but J.B could certainly understand the benefits in keeping the pokémon in top sparring condition and skilled against a large variety of opponents, as well as ensuring they worked well as a team. Tiring it may be, but essential to their work also.

However, as he and Destiny had been given a major "catch up" program to achieve, they were currently doing between three and five hours on-field training a day, in addition to all the theory and other practical work required. Luckily, much of the weapons-type training had been unnecessary, as J.B had to admit the Rangers operated with a pretty ordinary, not to mention antiquated, armoury.

Hell, even his Glock had drawn stunned amazement at the level of weapon refinement, as most of the officers were still using pocket rocket pistols from the "Dirty Harry" Magnum era. After a specific request from Barklay, he'd handed Tim's Glock over to their weapons division for stripping and possible duplication. Mind you, they might only be receiving second grade equipment through the portal from Sinnotech, but they certainly knew how to use it. Unlike the "if it breaks, just throw it away and replace it' mentality back home, the Rangers had full engineering workshops here that could manufacture and customise almost anything, and he had no doubts it wouldn't be long before Glocks became standard issue to the Rangers, too.

The five minute break between sessions went way too fast, and J.B groaned past weary muscles as his much younger sparring partner jumped to his feet, ready to continue. But to his relief, their session was cut short as a message from Barklay reached the gym, requesting J.B make himself available as soon as possible.

Giving his opponent a chuckle, J.B waved the letter at him and said "Duty calls. Have to let Destiny take a rain check on whipping you two further!"

The arcanine let out a yipping laugh as his trainer said dryly "It's OK, Papa J. We'll be waiting for you whenever you're ready", holding out his hand and shaking J.B's firmly.

As he left the gym with Destiny, a few others training in the arena sent them a wave, and he thought again how lucky they'd been to escape a much less negative outcome. He reminded himself to send the professor a thank you as soon as he could, as the lift doors opened to the upper administration area and they weaved their way through the desks to the Ranger Chief's office.

After knocking and being told to enter, they found Sin standing at the window, staring out over the cityscape. As they walked in, he turned, giving J.B such a clouded look that the police officer immediately wondered what had gone so badly wrong.

Motioning the pair to sit, J.B took a chair, while Destiny perched in her normal position at his side. After a pause, Barklay returned to his own chair, slumping down into it tiredly.

"Well, James, I have some good news and some bad news." he said, searching in his desk and cursing when he came up with nothing more than an empty bottle of scotch.

J.B chuckled and said "Isn't that always the case? What's the good news?"

Barklay gave the pair a long look before filling them in. "We've found Sinnotech, at last. Used your idea of searching for a high power usage facility and located them in an isolated packing plant in the mountains. Formerly an abattoir, I understand" he said wryly.

J.B gave him a sour look. "Some things don't change then, I guess. But what's the bad news?"

The Ranger chief leaned back, rubbing his thick hair with a meaty hand, and sighed. "We can't touch them. Not one bit. Government has ordered us to keep our distance, until we get the formal go ahead, or something else drastically changes."

J.B leaned forward angrily. "Jesus, Sin!! After what those bastards did? They're going to let them get away with it?"

Sin shook his head, placating the officer with both hands. "You have my word they're getting away with nothing, James. I don't give a ratticade's arse what those weak-as-piss government bureaucrats think. I plan on watching those bastards every move, and I will act immediately if they do anything remotely suspicious. Until then, I plan on continuing our preparations so we can be ready to go at a moment's notice!"

James sat back, as Destiny gave him a worried look. Patting her on the shoulder, he said "S'okay, sweetheart. It's alright.", and she nodded, looking relieved.

Still he gave the Chief a loaded glance. "Does this suggest there are those in the government here under the sway of these pricks?"

Barklay nodded grimly. "My thought exactly. I'm having my men look into the financial affairs of a number of those who protested against the Ranger's action a little too strenuously. If I find them dirty, they'll regret the day they were born, let alone ever took a bribe."

J.B nodded. "Understood. Still, the wait's going to be a hard one."

Barklay shot them a grin. "Not with your days so excitingly full of training. It's all good reports I'm getting on you, two, I'm glad to say. However, my current need is food, and plenty of it. I think I can write you a "Get out of jail, free" note for the trainers downstairs to sit out the rest of today's sessions, and you can possibly join me for a "Business luncheon", do you think?"

Stretching weary muscles, J.B shot Destiny a glance, receiving a vigorous nod in return. As they stood to depart, J.B said "I hope the wait to tackle Sinnotech again is a short one, Sin."

The Ranger Chief nodded, and as they left the office he said "You and me both, friend!"

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"They're doing WHAT?"

In the police section of the operational base at Darken Ridge, Cameron gave his aide an incredulous look, unable to believe what he'd been told.

His aide returned the look calmly, used to the occasional outbursts of his superior. However, he wasn't surprised this time, as the news he'd brought was grim.

"There's no denying it, Chief. I checked the intel of my sources most carefully. They've applied to the government for special powers to take full charge of this operation, and the intention is to reopen an isolated detention centre out west to keep the pokémon from public eye permanently."

Cameron looked aghast. "Are they fucking insane? Apart from the fact they've offered no real danger to anyone so far, apart from the odd stupidity brought upon by Jobes' own men, does he think he can contain the likes of Raikou and Entei if they have a mind to disagree with his decision?"

The aide shrugged. "I think he's underestimating them badly, Sir. But I don't think that would change his decision regardless."

Slumping back into his chair, Cameron breathed out heavily. "I think that comment is also the understatement of the century. I've spoken with Scott and that hairy partner of his, and they made no bones about how truly dangerous those three "legendaries" could be, if seriously pissed off. The fact they're behaving here is purely as a measure of friendship towards the Masters kid, and their general good nature!! That fucking idiot!"

Cursing, he slammed a hand on his operations desk, before a thought occurred to him. "What about that parliamentary attaché, what's his name...?"

The aide frowned. "John Parsons, Sir?"

Snapping his fingers, Cameron nodded. "Yes, him! Surely he had some input in this?"

His aide nodded. "Apparently, he was in significant disagreement with the general cabinet, and was quite dutiful in defending the creatures. I think his save at their hands has converted him to the fact they're really on our side. But while the Prime Minister was open to his advice, they were still voted down in the session, at a ratio of about three votes to one."

Cameron pursed his lip, considering the implications of this. Something smelt fishy as hell, he thought, wincing as he considered how he was going to break the news to the Rangers and their friends, not to mention how they would handle it.

Badly, was his opinion, but he couldn't blame them.

Still, he needed to see what Jobes had to personally say on the matter first, even if the gesture was futile.

Forgetting his aides presence, a quiet cough broke his thoughts, and he stared up at the man still standing before him in surprise.

"There's something else, sir." The man muttered, as Cameron gave him a wary look.

"I get the feeling I'm not going to like this either. Go on then."

The man took a deep breath and said "The informant advised that Jobes has made application to approach Sinnotech for further negotiations on the pokémon issue, sir."

Cameron looked the man blankly, before the information sank in.

"Oh, shit! Have they responded?"

The aide shook his head. "No sir. It's still being considered. No formal decision has yet been reached."

Cameron sat back. "One blessing, at least! When those three big guys hear of this little gem, all hell is going to break loose!"

Sighing, he said "I guess I'll need to have a talk with the general myself as soon as possible. Arrange an appointment at the earliest."

The aide nodded and left, leaving Cameron to his dark thoughts. Either way, things were heading for a confrontation between the pokémon, their friends, and the army.

Cameron just hoped the casualties on the armies side would be limited to just the majority.

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Unsurprisingly, the meeting with Jobes went poorly.

From the start, the army general was on the defensive, critical of the police using their resources to track the armies plans.

When Cameron pointed out it was deemed necessary due to the unnecessary secretive attitude of the army, Jobes fobbed off his excuses, sneering into the police commanders face and telling him it was only through his sufferance that they were still even allowed on site at his base.

Cameron lost his patience at that.

"So what exactly do you plan on doing, General? Give our potential allies, who have been more than tolerant at your bigoted and irrational attitude, a slap in the face? Even worse, conspire with their enemies against them?"

Jobes was furious at his attitude. "How dare you question my authority in this! These creatures pose as great a danger to this countries security as any enemy we have ever faced! They need to be controlled, contained and isolated!"

Cameron was incredulous. "Are you out of your fucking mind, Jobes?" he demanded, seeing the General flush red at his statement. "They have done NOTHING to deserve this sort of treatment!"

"They attacked my men!" Jobes roared across the desk, and Cameron hissed back "Because YOUR men harassed them on YOUR orders, you fool! Don't think for a moment we don't know where the command to treat them poorly came from! And yet, not one of your men was permanently injured. If that doesn't show excessive restraint, nothing will!"

Jobes stared at him, white faced, before finally containing himself. Tight lipped, he turned to the pair of M.P's guarding the door and said quietly "Gentlemen, please escort the Commander from this room, and have our men ensure he begins preparations to remove his forces from my base immediately. The presence of the police in this operation is no longer required, Commander."

Cameron was aghast! "Your base? I remind you who was here first, General!"

Jobes gave him a tight smile and said "And now I am ensuring you leave first, Commander. You have forty eight hours to be gone, or my men will remove you by force."

Escorted by the M'P's, Cameron left fuming, but threw a warning over his shoulder. "This isn't over, General. I think you're going to come to regret this course of action, one way or the other."

"Get him out of my sight!" Jobes roared, and Cameron shrugged off the M.P's hands on his arms as he left the tent, considering his own plans on how to deal with the army and the renegade bastard controlling them.

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Having finished a long, long night on patrol, Tony crashed in the barn loft in the early hours of the morning. He'd slept poorly for some reason, spending the night tossing and turning. The base felt... well, on edge would have been the best way he could describe it. Something was amiss, and he sensed it to the depths of his bones.

Still, his sentry duty had passed without incident, and with the sun streaming through the cracks in the barn roof he woke yet again with a large pair of furry arms around him, trapping him against the pokémon asleep behind him.

Tony sighed, a little frustrated at the big guys... well, clinginess was probably the best descriptive. Somewhat amusing at first, the novelty had began wearing off quickly as the pervasive presence of the pokémon had taken over his life.

Hell, it wasn't as if he didn't like the creature! Fact was, this was his adolescent dream come true, and knowing he had Suicune befriend him, for however long it lasted, was pretty amazing. But there was something about him recently; a possessiveness perhaps, that was starting to cloud their friendship.

Perhaps it was that he didn't seem to have a moments peace from the guy!

Others had begun noticing it, too. He'd been copping increasing flack regarding his "big blue bum chum", which wasn't at all appreciated. Not that Suicune seemed to care; after all it wasn't HIS future on the line! But Tony increasingly felt he was staring down the barrel of a seriously shortened military career, and even with the importance of the pokémon's friendship he had began wondering whether it really was worth the effort.

Groaning, he made to push the big legs away, only to have them tighten around him further. Almost snarling in frustration, he moved to extricate himself again, but froze as one of the heavy paws did the unexpected, slipping under his T-shirt front to begin a gentle caress of his bare stomach and chest.

Tony almost panicked, but assumed Suicune was still simply sleeping, and he tried pulling the paw away. That hope was dashed however, when warm breath blew against the nape of his neck, followed by a warmer muzzle which burrowed into his hair. A soft voice in his ear said "Good morning", as the questing paw moved down his stomach, past the top of his shirts, to reach past his boxer elastic and...

Oh Gods!

Frantic, the human lunged forward away from the paw, finding unexpected strength to escape the pokémon's clutches as Suicune snorted in surprise at his actions. When the big head looked up at his friend in confusion, a look Tony returned wide eyed, Suicune's eyes roved down the man's body, past the gap in his boxers, to stare at him in other areas most intently.

Tony watched the eyes move to his groin and panicked, shuffling back through the hay until his back was against the barn divider wall. When the pokémon looked up at him even more confused, he flushed red, embarrassed to the core at what had just occurred. Without further thought, he blurted out "What the fuck are you doing?", covering himself with his hands as best he could as the shocked Suicune's eyes flew wide, before his ears dropped, feelings clearly hurt.

"I just wanted... You know... I thought..." stammered the legendary, as Tony began a frantic shaking of his head.

"Oh, shit no!! Hell!! I mean... Is this why you've been hanging around me like this? Trying to get into my pants?" Tony spluttered, as Suicune turned away, head lowered further as he refused to look at his friend.

For Tonys part, a whole lot of things became uncomfortably clear, as he glared at his supposed friend incredulously.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding, Suicune! What made you think I would ever...? I mean, hell, you're an animal...."

Tony trailed off suddenly, not believing the words had left his lips, even as Suicune's head flew around to gaze at him in anger. The red eyes, normally so mild in the human's presence, spat fury into his face, and Tony hunched back against the partition wall in sudden fear.

"An animal, am I?" snarled the pokémon, lips curled around long fangs as he slowly stood to tower over the smaller human. "I thought we were friends, who respected each other? Yet you're apparently nothing more than another army clone, just like the snivelling human brethren you associate with!"

Angry despite himself, Tony shouted back "Yeah, maybe so, but I never expected to be your friend with benefits! How could you think I'd be interested? Do I look like a fucking fagg...."

Suicune lunged forward, pinning Tony to the wall with a paw, as sharp claws pricked the soft skin of the human's throat. As the huge face came closer, Tony shut his eyes in fear, missing the tears that began leaking down Suicune's face from red, swollen eyes until he was abruptly released a moment later to slump into the hay as the legendary fled from the barn, loud bangs coming from below as he threw the doors open and stormed from the building.

Fingers feeling the pinprick trails of blood from Suicune's claw tips on his neck, Tony gazed down the stairwell, mind finally snapping from his anger and allowing the words he'd said to penetrate his frazzled brain.

"Oh shit" he sighed, reaching across to grab his uniform shirt and trousers from the top of his pack.

How was he going to be able to get out of this one?

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Tony found Steph finishing up her shift much later that afternoon. One look at his face had her sighing in exasperation, and she dragged him from the medial facility to the Rec room, where they found a table out of the way and ordered a few chilled drinks.

When he kept his silence, sipping moodily from his beer and avoiding her eyes, she reached across and gave his cheek a gentle slap. As he rounded on her in surprise, she said "Spill it! I can pick that look from a mile away. What have you done now?"

Looking around to ensure he wouldn't be overheard, Tony leaned forward and said "Suicune cracked on to me this morning, big time! I sort of said things to him, and we had words, and well... He's left."

Steph tightened her lips, giving her brother a glare. "Words, huh? So, did you think about them first, or did your mouth just blurt out whatever first came to that thing you call a mind?"

Tony shot her an angry glance, but filled her in anyway. When he finished, he said defensively "Hey, I didn't do anything! I'm not the bad guy here!"

Steph stared at him a while longer, before shaking her head and looking away. Rubbing her face tiredly, she said "You know, I've had a few long chats recently with that big, blue friend of yours. Did you know that? He came to see me a few times, just to talk."

Tony shook his head and made to reply, but stopped as she held up her hand, forestalling him.

"Shut up and listen for a change! I may not know him as well as you do, but I know a few things about him you obviously don't! You spent so much time playing that fucking computer game as a kid, you'd think you'd have learnt a few important facts about these creatures, real or otherwise!"

Letting out an exasperated breath, she said "Do you have any idea how old he is, Tony? Any idea at all? How long he's walked the earth, generally alone and isolated, with only his two brothers for company? Do you?"

Tony looked at her mutely, and she sat back with a hiss. "He poured his heart out to me just a few days ago, telling me how much he valued having you as a friend, and how much he liked you. He really cares for you and then, when he acts on it wisely or not, you reject him utterly. What a great friend you are!"

Tony turned red, and replied angrily "If you knew what he wanted, why didn't you warn me?"

Steph ignored his angst and simply said "I shouldn't have had to, Tony. It's not my place to do so! You're the one spending all the time with him, so why didn't you see it coming? Shit, how fucking obvious does it need to be for you to see it? If you really valued his friendship, you should have been able to deal with it yourself, and defuse the situation. You know what he spilled to me? In all the eons he's lived, the only thing he's never been able to handle is the loneliness. Meeting you was the joy of his life recently, even if it started with a bang. Yet it seems when he finally finds a friend, someone he truly cares for, they turn on him, rejecting him completely."

Tony looked away, and muttered "You're not helping me here, Sis. Jesus, you didn't have him groping his paw down your pants!"

Steph shot him an angry look. "Oh, you poor fucking baby! May the world fucking end because poor little Tony gets some lonely guy feeling him up! But worse than that, you not only rejected him outright, you called him the one truly demeaning thing sure to devastate him completely. You called him the same terrible name that everyone out here who has degraded these poor guys has done. An animal! Congratulations on being a complete and total cunt, bro!"

Tony didn't reply, but took another long pull at his drink while avoiding his sisters gaze. Finally, when the silence was beyond uncomfortable, he gave a long sigh and said "I do like him, a lot, Steph. Just not that way. I know what I said was awful. It just came out, and I didn't mean it like that at all. But I said it, and I wish I could take it back, and just talk to him. Tell him what I feel, and that I'm... sorry."

Steph finished her own drink, putting the empty bottle on the table and stood to leave. But just before she went, she leant down and said "I think you're telling this to the wrong person, Tony. Your duty roster starts in less than an hour, so you're out of time now. But perhaps tonight, when you're out there all alone in the dark, without the friend who really mean something to you, you can think all about what you need to say to fix this, and who you really need to say it to, huh?"

Steph left, leaving him to his thoughts. Eventually, once his own drink was empty, he placed the bottle gently on the table beside Stephs, and left to get ready for his shift.

She was right, as always. He had a long night of thinking to do.

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Authors note:

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*I'm amazed how quickly a chapter can be written with a dedicated plot summary in place. Makes it simple just to write what the summary needs, rather than think up amazingly clever shit on the go. *

I have to do that more often. When I remember ;)

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Grinz. Steph is a dead ringer for my little sister. She'd rip God a new one, if she felt he had it coming ;) But for the story I did tone down her usual language some, since she can get a tad... offensive ;)

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*Now, before everyone jumps up and down at poor Suicune's treatment, it was vitally necessary for the plot, for a whole host of reasons I can't go into now, but that'll become apparent as the story continues. *

Besides, it's going to get a lot worse before long, so this chapter is a real cutie-pie one by comparison! ;)

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Naah, just teasin'. Or not.

You'll have to wait and see! ;)