Taschmonchen Ch. 10

# Ten - An Egg

Author's Note: This one focuses on a bar. So... Alcohol warnings. And also grief warnings, because of previous chapters. Neither will be much connected to the sex.

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Blauer rubbed at her neck, sitting against the tree and glaring at the three people across from her.

The quietest one was Yiska, to no surprise. The woman was still shaking from how close to death she'd come at the hands of a monchen. Either that, or she was even more petrified of "him", whoever that was, than she was of actually dying.

"Moonbound was created as a team." Jakob said slowly, "We thought that... Maybe monchen came from the stars. I know it sounds far-fetched, but they just appeared out of nowhere. Why would they not be aliens?"

Blauer nodded, "Aha. And?"

"At first, we were... Just a community. Everyone equal. Everyone voting on what we should concentrate on. We were not organised. Just various groups of friends. People who learnt to give in to their curiosity." Jakob took a very deep breath, "That... Changed. Recently."

"He'll kill us... And Miauzi..." Yiska sobbed, tears flooding down her face.

Splunk crossed her arms, sneering, "Who says I won't? Always wanted to eat a frog. See what the fuss is about."

"Enough." Blauer groaned, "They're dealing. They're trapped by him, Splunk. They want out. Helping us, might give them that. We can be... Friends."

Yiska glared, "Fuck you."

"Oh wow. She can be a bitch. I never realised." Blauer rolled her eyes.

Jakob sighed, "He was a friend, to both of us. Personally. Before all of this began. We introduced him to Moonbound. You are not simply asking for us to betray those we care for, but a deeply close friend, as well."

"A close friend who would murder your ass." Splunk laughed.

Yiska sighed, staring at the ground and sniffling, "He wasn't like that. Not before... All of this. He was a trainer. One who failed out of the program, but a trainer nonetheless. He trained Miauzi, before we took over."

Miauzi nodded, "He was nice! The Guild just failed him, 'cos Akte said to. B-bastards."

"Akte X are... Difficult." Blauer sighed and agreed, "They rejected my first two papers on monchen. Too much original research or some shit. Took Rotor's straight away, but he always wins."

Splunk frowned, looking at her with concern.

"Akte are a fraud." Jakob said quietly, "I don't expect you to believe it. But they don't exist. I tried very hard to penetrate their business. Both I, and Yiska."

Blauer shrugged, and winced at the movement on her neck. "So? All corporations are shady fucks. Doesn't mean that they don't exist."

"Not like this." Yiska sighed and sat up, wiping her eyes and reaching down her bra to pull out a small square of paper. "This is... Jakob, I, and... Some others, you may recognise."

Splunk took the photo, and snorted in surprise, "Da fuck now?"

"Show me." Blauer ordered.

The monchen considered eating the photo, and then handed it over. Blauer stared, and then looked up and back down again. "The fuck now?"

"You see Nurse Penny, and Nurse Jenny." Jakob said sadly, "And all their sisters. Along with Yiska, and the first generation of her clones. Myself, as well. We're all... Clones. We were created by Akte X. Yiska and myself were freed when they shutdown a program aimed at cloning a new army of trainers, to harvest monchen, and well... Their eggs."

Blauer went white and nearly threw up, remembering Flare.

Yiska sniffled, "I don't even know if I'm the original. About seven of me broke out, before they... Could dispose of us."

"Only four of me." Jakob said tightly.

Splunk paced back and forth, her liquid form beginning to boil. "Clones. I would say it's bullshit. But that's the kind of bullshit a big place like Akte would do. Clone trainers, nurses, cops. So that they can harvest people like me. The monchen are just a fuckin' crop to them."

"Cloning monchen was also on their path." Yiska sighed, "When we escaped, it was at the hands of the trainer we spoke of. He helped to shut down the program, by destroying so much infrastructure that it would become too expensive to explain to shareholders. At least, that was the hope."

Miauzi grinned, "I slashed the power generators! It was so much fun."

Blauer winced, forcing herself upright, and trying to pretend her arm wasn't tingling. "He was fired. Akte was protected. Government couldn't admit what they'd been part of. Right?"

"Correct."

"Bullshit." Blauer rejected it, "Never ask a conspiracy theorist for a nut, Splunk. They'll cum all over you."

Splunk frowned, and shrugged, "Eh. Oh well. So... We burying these idiots?"

"Not a murderer." Blauer snorted, and then winced. "Fuck. Well, I am. But not like this. Piss off, you three. Don't hang around."

Splunk put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her gently, "You're not a murderer."

The Moonbound twins wasted no time in vanishing, but Blauer was a little lost. Her brain was ticking over, connecting the dots, and she really wished that it wasn't. Cloning was so difficult, because it led to so many mutations. You had to direct the breed, hold its hand. Be a mother for the genetic process...

The roots of the pact shouldn't have taken so long to form inside Flare. An hour was the longest that Blauer had ever heard of, and she'd studied monchen her entire life. The professor had taken the lead, she could have...

Blauer shrugged off the schunden and reached into her bag, pulling out a ration bar. She frowned, biting her lip as she ran through the various chemical reactions in her head. Testing her theory and trying to guess where things had started to go sideways.

Splunk bounced up and nibbled a little at the wrapper, before smiling sideways at her, "So... We goin' back, I take it?"

"No. Headed to Trintown." Blauer said dismissively.

The schunden crossed her arms, "Don't block me out."

"I don't like saying things before I'm sure. Been burnt too many times." Blauer shook her head, "I'm not a trainer anymore. Trintown will have work for a washout like me. A place to rent, etcetera."

"Place for me to eat?"

"It's a city. Bigger than Eastre City."

Splunk nodded slowly, "... Ever been, before? Or just know this, 'cos you know everything?"

"Once. School trip, when I was tiny." Blauer shrugged. "Trintown started as an industrial place. It's where we found the first trinnchen. We harvested their radioactive material to build a reactor. City now has three... We also built our first nuclear weapons from monchen, there. History isn't always a nice thing."

Splunk frowned, "What's a... Nuclear weapon? Radiation 'n shit make every human sick. Permanently. Poison the ground. Why would you use something like that?"

"Kill the world, if you can't have the world."

Splunk shivered, her entire body rippling, "That's fucked."

"Yup. We banned them."

"... Trintown, huh?" Splunk looked through the forest, "I s'pose it's a place to start over. To let the memories settle. To remember, but not get stuck."

Blauer finished the bar and handed the wrapper to Splunk before moving off towards the path again. "Day's walk, at least. Come on, if you wanna. You can go home, where people care, too."

Splunk skipped along with a sloshing sound and kissed her on the cheek. "Nah. Not letting you outta my sight, cutie."

Blauer wasn't as sure as she had been, about anything. Yiska and Jakob weren't consistent on a single thing. But Blauer did know one thing.

Rita was a liar.

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"Welcome to Trintown!" A bright voice said, quickly palming a flyer in the direction of the two of them - which Splunk promptly ate.

As the paper fizzed inside Splunk's translucent mouth, the police officer smiled at the two of them, and produced a second flyer. "Trainers are expected to register their monchen with the Research Centre, in Trintown. Monchen also have a curfew, I'm afraid. We've had too many incidents where someone has tried to steal them recently. There is little leniency for newcomers, so make sure to remember it."

Splunk fizzled faster, glaring.

Blauer nodded tiredly, "Is it still six at night?"

"That is correct. Always nice to meet someone who has done their research." The officer smiled, "I take it that you've come from Eastre City? Might we inquire as to the purpose of your visit?"

Blauer frowned, "That's a difficult one. It is personal, but certainly not pleasure. I expect you'll get a full report once I check in with your Research Centre, though. Oh. We encountered Team Moonbound on the road, too."

"I am sorry to hear it. Travel can be difficult. But that is outside my purview." The officer smiled even broader.

Splunked burped a bubble of gas into the woman's face, and grinned just as broadly. "Tasty. But your inks are pretty toxic. Don't want that getting in the dirt."

The officer staggered briefly, before righting herself and smiling, "I am afraid that you will now be detained. Once the fine is paid, your trainer may be able to release you. However, if she loses her license, you will be sent to an education facility first, as she would no longer be able to train you."

Blauer sighed and rubbed her face, "Bitch. Get out of our way. You have no monchen, and I'm not a trainer anymore, neither. She's a wilding. Don't be stupid."

The officer reached for her pocket. Splunk's spit hit her in the face.

The woman fell to the ground, screaming.

Blauer walked along guiltily, headed down the steel-plated pavement in the direction of the tall building overshadowing the entire city. The Research Centre. Second-biggest one in the entire world. It was there that most monchen grew up, became the feral women that everyone knew.

Better than a farm.

Splunk popped a cheek idly, "S'rry."

"She was a bitch. She deserved that." Blauer shrugged, "And... I don't really care, anymore. About anything."

The schunden shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe she didn't. She just... Really rubbed me the wrong way. The fuck is with that curfew? And trying to arrest me for having a bit o' gas? I've had drunks puke on my face and didn't feel the need to drag 'em off to a cell."

"Trintown's a military town. Remember?" Blauer shrugged.

Splunk grimaced, "Fantastic."

"Team Moonbound stole their name from here, actually. Probably meant to be some kind of idolising reference, I guess. Probably insults the locals." Blauer said. "There was a team of monchen, back before we worked out the trainer thing. Just monchen, no humans. There were seven of them. They fought like hell to protect the city from the wilding clans, human invaders, and all sorts of bullshit. Even fought some wildfires."

"I've heard of them!" Splunk said excitedly, "I found a model in the trash once. A schaffunchen. I thought it was cool and kept it for a bit... But uh... Midnight snack? Only found out after that it was worth about two thousand points. Expensive meal."

Blauer frowned, "Schaffunchen. They tried to clone one of those once, too..."

"You're still doin' trainer shit." Splunk said with a deep frown, "Gotta move on, gal. Only way to respect the choices you've made."

She shook her head, "No, I uh... I'm just thinking. Don't worry about it. We're heading to the Centre to hand in my license. It will let Rita know where I am, but... I can't give myself the temptation. To try and get forgiveness, or throw some excuse, and go back to it all. Not... I need to do it. For Nixie and Eve. For Flare."

"Can I see the license?" Splunk grinned.

Blauer rolled her eyes, "No one looks good in a license photo. Here."

"Aw. You look adorable." Splunk grinned and kissed the picture briefly, before handing it back. "So proud. How old were you?"

"About... Six days ago?"

Splunk stared, "Holy fuck. What happened to that girl!?"

"She killed her monchen."

The schunden flinched and looked down, just plodding along as the two moved further into the city. There were no sirens, which meant that no one had been sent to detain them yet. That honestly surprised Blauer. She'd heard a few myths and legends about the ruthless efficiency of the Trintown military.

She hadn't put Moonbound and Trintown together when she'd first met the twins.

Trintown's Moonbound were the first story in a long list of fantastic fighters and soldiers. People who would go out and change the world, to protect the interests of the town. They'd invented vehicles that could float through the sky, or pound down their steel roads, and fitted them with monchen enhancements. Blitzchen shielding and froschen splatter rounds.

By tradition, the city's mayor was a retired member of their armed forces.

Even the Research Centre was run by their military. It wasn't officially a part of the trainer's network. Independently operated, but respected by everyone. Akte X had tried a takeover bid a couple times, of course. As had Coolbuzz. Both had suddenly had corruption investigations opened on them by the town.

Rita had interned here, when she was first starting out. Back when she was a new adult and stumbling around. Not the woman who wore the mark of losing an eye to a blitzchen as some sort of badge of respect. A blitzchen that Blauer had seen in action, and knew would... Hold... Back...

"You're thinkin' again." Splunk said worryingly.

Blauer nodded, "Yeah. Nothing I can do about it."

"Do about what, precious?"

She sighed heavily, "I think... I think Rita had something to do with Flare's death. I also think she did something to Blissbun, and that's why she's such a bitch and a half. And that the two go hand in hand. I've got no evidence, no pull to find any, and I shouldn't give a fuck. But... I do."

"Roter works with Blissbun, don't he?"

Blauer winced, "Yeah."

"Gotta warn your ex, then. Even if he won't listen." Splunk insisted. "I mean... I don't see Rita as a monster. She's a sweetheart. Taken care of me. After the... Farm... Rita was there when I got to the town. She made sure I wasn't bothered."

Blauer shrugged, "Not my ex. I'm a monster. You don't see me as one. Most monsters don't stand out in the daylight."

"It was an accident." Splunk insisted.

The trainer grimaced, no longer certain if it had been. Probably not the intended outcome all the same. But an accident only happens if you didn't know the risk. If you saw the danger, and ignored it, then it was your personal fuckup. The world should come down on you for doing stupid, so that next time you didn't.

How much brighter would the world have been, if Blauer hadn't undercut Roter? If the two of them had ended up with a monchen each, and gone their own ways?

Roter with Flare. Seeing everything that the beautiful feuerchen could be. Teaching her to dance with the fire, beneath the falling rain. Showing her how to fly and soar, bursting into flames in the sky above.

The sob escaped from Blauer's throat before she even realised she was crying.

She found herself on hands and knees, skin burning to touch the hot metal pavement, as tears streamed down her face. Her shoulders quaked and her entire body trembling. She yelled and screamed inside her head, trying to force herself to suck it up. To stand up and march into the building. To admit she'd ruined her whole life and just see it done.

All she could think of was the last moment. Flare crying. Little drops of pain turning to steam, as she stared red-faced out at the world, and... Regretted what was coming. The flames burning through the back of her eyeballs, as she turned into nothing more than a concussive explosive force.

*Done being a total bitch? Ready to put an egg in me?*

Blauer sobbed, her head dropping against the burning steel. She hadn't been ready. She would never be ready.

There was no world in which she was prepared to face the trauma of being a trainer.

Not one who could both care for their monchen, and then turn around and kill them all, just for the hope that maybe, just maybe, they might find a way to save them all.

*This is a researcher position. High stress. Not everyone can hack it, so approach it with that in mind.*

She wasn't up to it. Blauer hadn't been stressed, she'd been taken and snapped in half.

The guilt of what she'd done was like a living thing, eating her alive. Taking away every ounce of strength she had to stay alive. The world would simply be better off if she was dead.

*The wassechen isn't required to do such a primitive thing. We are a research centre. Eve? There's a pill in my back pocket, could you fetch it, darl?*

Blauer stopped crying.

Splunk hugged her tightly from behind, silently.

The trainer stood up, shrugging the monchen off and rolled her jaw, "Sonuvabitch. That's how she fucking did it."

"Blau?"

She clenched both her fists, "Rita killed her. Anaesthetic, derived from the magical essence of both a schlachen and blattchen. That was a fucking lie. It was... Something else."

"Come again?"

Blauer grimaced tightly, "A small red sphere. Blattchen essence would have turned it purple, if it wasn't synthetic. Two toxic types would make sense to dull things, so I... I didn't even..."

Splunk took her head in hands, "Blauer. What's going on?"

"I didn't kill her." Blauer said, instantly feeling lighter. The whole world tearing free from her shoulders tumbling down behind her. "Rita did."

The schunden frowned, "Rita...?"

She nodded firmly, and then wiped her face quickly. "Rita gave Flare something, right before the procedure. She told me it was something, and it wasn't. She lied."

Splunk winced, "... Are you sure? She's been doing this a long time."

Blauer's stomach dropped as she put it together. "Fuck me... No wonder it didn't work... Uh... Rita published a paper last year. Long term control and stabilisation of blitzchen embryos through pact compaction utilising feuerchen essencing."

"I... Eat trash..." Splunk said slowly.

The trainer winced, "Rita implanted a second egg. A blitzchen egg. It was red, because it was surrounded by feuerchen shit. Not literal shit. Cum, blood, and other stuff, processed into base elements."

"Blitzchen..."

Blauer flinched, "Rita deserved to lose more than an eye."

Splunk stared. "No. No! She wouldn't! She's not a farmer! She wouldn't... Do... That! She couldn't!"

"Go ask Blissbun if you don't believe me. She'll let you know." Blauer shrugged, and cracked her neck. "As for me... I'm going to go cut this license in half."

"If you're right, and I'm not saying you are, then someone has to get in Rita's way." Splunk recovered quickly.

Blauer shrugged, "Sure. But not from inside the system. Working with the system, will perpetuate the system. Whoever is in charge of Moonbound has a point. Things are fucked. It's time that they got put under a bit of... Pressure."

"You and I can't pressure wash the entire fucking world." Splunk crossed her arms. "But you can do something here, if you prove you're right."

"If I'm right, then it was approved."

Splunk's bottom lip wobbled, "That doesn't make sense. And you know it."

Blauer shrugged, done arguing. She knew she tended to jump to conclusions. That was something that Roter had always told her off for. However, most of the time, the conclusions she jumped to were correct.

She still needed to prove how fucked up things were in the research world, and she would. But not as a trainer.

She walked through the slow-turning glass door and into the freezing interior of the Research Centre's reception. Finding herself at the back of a line of a lot of trainers and monchen. She sighed and settled into position, though she felt unbalanced.

Splunk hadn't followed her inside. Maybe the schunden heading back to Eastre was for the best.

The temperature of the reception was beyond uncomfortable. Before Blauer was halfway through the line, her chest was aching. It didn't matter that she was wearing a trainer's outfit, designed to tackle all and any climates - especially rapidly changing climates. She was still shivering, and her nipples hurt like hell.

By the time she got to the front desk, her teeth were chattering, and she struggled to speak. "B-blauer. Tttrainer."

"Yes, you were already flagged by the surveillance system. How can we assist you, today? You don't appear to have an appointment." The reception said tiredly, as their froschen grinned from behind them, and licked a giant icy pole.

Blauer lifted her trainer card and put it down on the benchtop. "D-de... Deregister."

"You are already registered, miss. You are not due for a renewal for six months, after your audit. You have passed every hurdle with... Top marks. Well done." The receptionist idly looked at the psychic paper in front of her.

Blauer shook her head, "N-no. I'm out. I'm done. Deregister, not register."

"Oh. Oh, honey." The girl looked at the paper file and up again, "Oh, you poor thing. We've just heard. There's no need to run away. Your mentor has already said that it wasn't your fault. Take some time. You'll be okay."

"Fucking deregister me!" Blauer exploded angrily, grabbing the bench, "I am never going to be a motherfucking trainer! I don't wanna be. I am not going to be. Never! Flare died, because I was too fucking dumb to notice. But I am never going to forgive Rita for what she did! Cut me out of the trainer registry, because I'm gonna burn the fucking thing to the ground!"

The receptionist took a quick and deep breath, "I am sorry for your pain. A stay has been placed on your file, to stop any... Rash... Actions. I cannot change that, and I am a person. I would appreciate it, if you did not yell at me."

Blauer shrugged, "Sorry. Whatever."

She turned and walked out of the building, leaving the license behind. Stumbling as the gentle sun felt like walking into a furnace by comparison. She held her chest, blinked, and started walking down the street.

She didn't really have any direction in mind. She just wanted to try and walk away from a life that wasn't going to let her go that easily.

Didn't matter. If she never showed up again, there was nothing they could do about it.

It didn't take her feet long to find their way to the nearest bar. There were posted guards on the door. Ostensibly police, but the pilzchen by their sides weren't exactly civilian grade weapons. They didn't ask for ID - they already had her face on a piece of paper by the time she walked up.

She drifted inside the bar, pausing only a moment to look in surprise at a poster in a corner. It was among a group, all thrust, bent, and overlapped onto a billboard. Nothing important. Just an advert for cheap clothing.

Blauer gave a tiny little smile as she saw Blissbun laughing as she took a water balloon to the chest, and Shade ducking underneath a grown leaf to protect herself from another.

A little shadow at the edge of the poster might have been Roter.

She was happy that her rival could find some semblance of peace in all of this. That maybe Blissbun wasn't totally dead inside, after what Rita had done... If she had done it. Maybe Blauer was just an idiot, looking for someone else to blame.

"Early in the day." The barman frowned, "Drunkenness is a crime in Trintown, newbie."

She looked at him coldly, "My monchen died yesterday. Wanna fuck with me?"

"Nope." He said quickly, and waved a hand to a stocked shelf, "What are we mourning with?"

Blauer frowned, running numbers in her head, calculating the quickest and cheapest way to get utterly plastered. She shrugged, "Screw it. Screw it all. Uh... Never had the Feuwater. Is it all that cracked up to be?"

The man frowned, "That's... More for the heavy drinker, lass. It burns the tongue, the throat, and even the gut. Lots of people dare each other to see how much they can drink before they keel over. Before they get gaoled for it."

"Favourite among the feuerchen?"

He shook his head, "Nah. Those lasses don't tend to drink at all. Makes their flames go out if they drink too much. And a bald feuerchen is nothing to laugh at. Horrifying sight... Shit. They were one, weren't they?"

Blauer smiled sadly, "Yeah. Research Centre job over in Eastre... I miss her. Miss her making me focus, instead of realising what a piece of shit I've been my whole life... Forget it. I'm in a mood. Whisky, I guess."

"Tell me about her." He asked with a concern, pouring two glasses and passing one to her, before sipping his own.

Blauer tossed it back in one hit, giving a little flinch as it hit her head. "I got three monchen, from the professor. They were sisters, or just about. Didn't want to leave each other. Promised them everything... Fought Moonbound... Roter... Got Flare pregnant. She died."

"Fuck, lass." He winced, "Three? You must be a hell of a something, if they trusted you with that."

She looked blankly into her empty glass, "Nope."

"If a professor of monchen trusted you, then you were worth something. Worth something to Flare, too, by the sounds of it."

Blauer shrugged, "Looks can be deceiving."

"I... Trintown has an event. Something the city puts on, every weekend. There's one tomorrow."

She sighed, "The Battle Arena? Not to be rude, but... Go fuck yourself."

"Yeah, the arena." He agreed, "And I get the sentiment. You're not a trainer, anymore. I wasn't suggesting it. I'd be a cunt, if I did."

Blauer looked up tiredly, "So, what's your saving grace for the trash heap on your seat?"

"The Arena needs a new manager." He shrugged, "They've had the job listed for three months, but no one has managed to prove themselves yet. Someone who knows the needs of monchen, and can keep them safe. Policies, protocols, not a lot of face time."

She frowned, "What happened to the last? Retired? Got blown to fuck?"

He grinned, "I retired to run my bar. A lot less stressful than having morons trying to sneak nuklchen onto the battle floor."

Blauer blinked, running his face through her head, "General Iobi. Wow. I... Owned a signed one of your trading cards, as sad as that sounds. Roter had two."

"Roter..." He frowned, "You've said that name a couple times. Rings a bell... Oh. You must be Blau, yeah?"

"Blauer. Close enough." She smiled sadly, "Nice to hear the heroes know the nobodies."

Iobi shook his head, "Not even. Rita asked me about you. Asked me to assess your battle proficiency test, that Morganlatte made you take. One of the best I'd seen, even if it's just an exam."

"Rita's a bitch. Don't mention her to me. Not right now."

His face changed, going softer, sadder. He nodded very slowly, "Oh."

"I know why Flare died." Blauer said glumly, looking back to her glass, "I could use about six more of these. Nothin' I can do about shit. I really wanna kill y'all."

He poured her glass and sighed, "Rita's... Experiments... She and I never saw eye to eye, on that. Not much any of us could do, though. She's one of the Thirteen."

"Thirteen?" Blauer snapped to attention and pushed aside her glass.

Iobi winced, "Heard of them, then?"

"Something to do with Moonbound. Assholes with monchen that are too powerful to take down. Government issues alert to run if you see them. Do not attempt to engage." Blauer said quickly.

He nodded, "That's the short of it. Not all are in Moonbound, though. Orion, Stevie, some of the others. A few of us went another way. We were... We were all in the same year of the training academy, here in Trintown. Graduated together."

Blauer shivered, "Hell of a graduation class."

"Telling me." He gave a small laugh, "Stevie already had Zilan by her side. Orion had his little Miauzi, though, technically he didn't graduate. He was blacklisted by the Registration Board, after he got into a fight. Can't have a trainer who doesn't obey the law."

Blauer frowned, "Sounds like you don't agree."

"The fight was a wildling that made it onto the training grounds." Iobi winced, "Poor thing was out of its mind. Got knocked in the face by a pilzchen, the mushroom monchen. Blind, half-insane, and entirely pissed."

She winced, "To get to training grounds, in that state... I'm guessing some kind of legendary scale monchen?"

"A schaffunchen. The best of them." Iobi said grimly, "I personally saw that thing turn an entire barracks, monchen and people included, into nothing but ash in about half a second. I ran. Orion... He stood. He stood, and he fought. Saved us all."

"Pythagoras." Blauer swore in shock.

Iobi grinned, "I can make it worse. When Orion stood and fought? He didn't have a monchen. He went at it alone."

"... Death wish?"

He laughed, "You'd think, right? Risking lightning, thunder, scalding, burning, poison and psychic attacks. But... It worked. Orion wrestled the schaffunchen to the ground, and knocked it out. Then, the motherfucker actually tamed it."

Blauer's jaw dropped, "You have got to be shitting me. What kind of barkeep are you? Tall tales, much?"

"Now, now." Iobi laughed and waved to a picture on one of the walls, "Have a look, yourself. There's the graduation picture. Orion's on the left, off-stage. We all wanted him there."

Blauer moved over, and stared at the innocent looking picture. Looking at each of the Thirteen, and the man who had a schaffunchen leaning on his shoulder and kissing his cheek. The white-haired monchen still covered in black ash from something.

The story was... Plausible. Somehow. But something else caught her attention.

"Rita and... Blissbun...?" Blauer stared in surprise, "I thought she only got Blissbun recently."

Iobi looked over, "Eh? That's not Blissbun. Dunno who Blissbun is. Who you looking at, lass?"

"The blitzchen."

"Damn." He sounded pained, "That was Bale. She... She died."

"Bale." Blauer stared at the photo, picking out the genetic history. A history that would only make sense if Blissbun and Bale were related. Something that shouldn't be possible.

Iobi sighed, "Just got me tellin' stories, don't ya? Bale was... A painful one. Rita and she went out on rescue duty. Powering up some towns that had got wiped out by the wildfires on Ashfall."

Blauer barely remembered the event. She'd been too young when it happened. A series of wildfires had got out of control, and swept across half the continent in the space of two weeks. Some people had blamed monchen, protesting for laws to lock up the fire-types. Others had just gone out and beaten some to death.

Turned out it was a couple of dumb kids. No one asked for them to die.

"They got caught in the second wave?" Blauer asked sadly.

"Worse." Iobi took a deep breath, "It was a fight. Can't say everything, there's some clearance on that event. But it's public knowledge that Rita went up against Stevie. Two duked it out on the edge of a town. Rita lost. Stevie won. We all lost Bale."

"Fuckin' Zilan." Blauer winced.

Iobi frowned, "Uh... Can't say how you know her... But Zilan ain't all that. She just... She'll do anything Stevie says. And Stevie and Rita, well, their rivalry goes all the way back to our training days. Stevie went into the military, and then Moonbound. I stayed in the military. Rita went over to the Research Centre."

Blauer sighed and turned, "Well... Roter met a verfolchen. Stevie and Zilan saved him. I... Was around. But useless as shit."

"Verfolchen!" Iobi said in awe, "They actually exist?"

"Would have thought you'd have heard by now. I posted the research paper." Blauer shrugged and sat back down at the bar.

He laughed, "I retired, kid. The bar."

"Not a kid." Blauer responded automatically, and sighed, "Things are... Always so complicated. Wish I could just download it all into my head, sometimes. Toss it all inside an enCube of something."

Iobi grinned, "World's looking brighter, everyday. Even when it's raining. Especially when it rains."

"Flare didn't have to die." Blauer scowled.

He flinched, "I... Lass... I ain't got anything to say that'll soothe your aching heart. Not today, not tomorrow. Sometimes, no matter how much we fight it, shit... Just happens. Outside of your control. Or sometimes you make a mistake, and it haunts the rest of your life. My ex-girlfriend is a serial killer, and no one can stop her. Life... Life has a way of kicking you, when you're down."

"You dated Stevie!?" Blauer burst out laughing.

Iobi laughed back, "What? No! Pretty sure that lass is gay. Uh... No, I dated Rita. She was my girl, and I was her boy toy. We fooled around, and fooled around some more."

"Not to be mean, but... Why'd you break up?" Blauer asked curiously.

He shrugged, "Distance. She was in research, I was deployed overseas. We kept missing each other and eventually... We just weren't there for each other, anymore. So we said goodbye."

"Ouch. I'm sorry."

Iobi shook his head, "Nah. It was for the best. We were never much of a good match. Both adored Bale, and after that... Yeah. We both hurt. Better to walk away, without ruining things further."

Blauer frowned, "Wait. You called Rita a serial killer. So you're not exactly on good terms with her."

"Ideologically opposed, physically attracted." Iobi shrugged.

She nodded and tapped her fingers on the bartop, thinking. Then thinking some more. Drawing the lines for what she was going to do, what she needed to do. "... How pissed would you be... If I went after her?"

"Don't. You'll just die." His voice went flat.

Blauer glared at him, "Try me."

"No monchen, no -"

His head hit the bartop, and Blauer rested her shattered glass beside his ear. "Maybe I'm taking a little inspiration from Orion."

"Fast, lass. You are fast." Iobi groaned, "But... Still dumb."

The hair on the back of Blauer's neck stood on end, as she felt the breath on it. She turned around slowly, holding up her hands and swallowing as she found herself eye-to-eye with a monchen with interlocking metal strands for hair.

"She was just making a point." Iobi said tiredly, "Let her go, Nadz."

Nadz sneered, and took a half-step backwards, baring her teeth, which were a series of metallic hooks. The kind that wouldn't let go, once they bit down into something.

Blauer swallowed, "Um... Sorry?"

"Nadz is my monchen." Iobi explained, "Been together since... Oh... Two years after I graduated? Met her on a mission to secure the eastern continent."

She nodded slowly, and wanted to sprint out of the bar in absolute terror. She knew exactly what kind of monchen Nadz was. And all of the research materials claimed that it was an untrainable monchen. A wild monchen that would not hesitate to kill.

Nadz picked up the broken glass and crushed into in her mouth, sneering at Blauer.

She swallowed and smiled weakly, "Uh... How about that tab? I think I'm done drinking."

Iobi laughed, "Nadz is a nuklchen, obviously. Radioactive walking weapon. She was being abused, used for war, so I freed her. She... Feels the need to keep me safe. She won't attack you, in my bar. Or with radiation. Not about to poison the place I live."

"Aha. How many points do I owe?" Blauer said with strain.

"On the house." Iobi shrugged, "Least I can do, for one of Rita's victims. Just... Don't. Going after her, is going to end worse than picking a fight with Nadz. Rita would end you. And everyone you have ever cared about."

Blauer turned and ran.

She made it as far as the door, before running face-first into Splunk who half-burst around her, soaking and sucking her into the jelly-like substance. Warmth filled every inch of her, especially a fiery little thing that was feeling neglected, before Blauer slipped backwards and out of the schunden.

The ex-trainer shivered and coughed, her cheeks going red as she tried to find her words.

"Ah, sorry about that. Scared her. Come on in!" Iobi called out, "How can I help you, lass? Just remember that drunkenness is a crime in Trintown, even for monchen."

Splunk looked around with a broad grin, "Actually, I was looking for this thing. Ta for entertaining her."

"She's your trainer?" He said in surprise.

Splunk's face fell. "No."

Blauer sighed and turned, "Splunk is... Wild. She's got a thing for me. So she looks out for me. But I guess... Our relationship is a bit closer to you and Nadz, than it is to trainer and monchen."

The nuklchen gave an angry red-eyed glare.

Splunk coughed in shock, bubbles popping as they flowed through her body. She quivered and seemed to be actually shrinking from all the air escaping her.

Iobi frowned, "I see... Do you mind staying for a bit? I don't think I've met a monchen like this one, before."

"Trainer." Splunk snarled, before dragging Blauer over to the bar and hopping onto a stool. "Takes a shitload to get me drunk. So don't hold back."

Blauer thought about leaving, before giving in. "Splunk is... Something new. She's a schunden, officially. Rita helped set her up in Eastre."

"Ah. I think I remember something about that." He nodded, as he began to shake a cocktail, "I might have just the thing for your taste, then, lass. Unsafe for human consumption, but it's a mixture of roganberry, fear essence, and psychic plethora."

Splunk laughed, "Dude. My job? I'm a trash compactor. I don't know what the fuck you just said."

"It'll taste like berries, and give you a massive adrenaline rush." Blauer explained, "Whilst also plastering you on your ass."

Splunk slapped a wet hand on the bartop, "Damn right! Bring it on!"

"Do you remember anything about your... Birth?" Iobi asked as he poured out a little cocktail glass, before placing a little floating cloud above it.

Splunk stuck a finger in the floating cloud, drinking it idly. "No. And I wouldn't tell you, if I did. And it's fucking creepy how everyone asks that fucking question."

"Just... Hopeful." Blauer said sadly.

Splunk shrugged, "So? I'm hopeful you'll let me stick my tongue between your legs at some point. Doesn't mean I mention it every thirty seconds!"

Blauer stared.

The schunden shrugged, her cheeks going a little pink, "... You noticed I have a thing for you."

"I'm not talking cunnilingus in front of the barkeep, though!" Blauer shouted in embarrassment.

Iobi frowned, "Not that this is not adorable, but kid... You're new in town. Arranged a place to stay, yet? The curfew will come sooner than you expect."

"Fuckin' curfew." Splunk foamed at the mouth.

"There was no choice." Iobi said, pained. "A terrible thing, you're right. Too many monchen have gone missing recently. Two dozen in one day, even. Someone is taking them."

"Moonbound? Akte?" Blauer couldn't help herself.

Iobi shrugged, "The stress of such things are now beyond me. I have retired."

"One of the Thirteen."

Splunk spat out her drink, "What now?"

Iobi sighed, "I do not have the answer. I don't want to know the answer. I have offered you a job, served you drinks. That, I think, is more than enough."

"One of the Thirteen." Blauer nodded and shrugged, standing up, "Well, I'm gonna go find a hotel. Cry a bit, and then wish I was dead some more. You can finish your drink, Splunk."

"Monchen must not -"

"I'm wild." Splunk said and stood up, "And really don't like your rules. So unless you wanna find out if I can absorb radiation, how about you shut the fuck up?"

Nadz snarled, flicking her metallic hair over her shoulder.

Splunk blew her a kiss.

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Splunk looked around the tiny hotel room, and smiled nervously, "What lovely... Cheap... Blinds?"

"Yeah, it's a shithole." Blauer collapsed onto the bed and stared up the ceiling. "Didn't revoke my trainer card, by the way. Rita put a stay on the account. Probably to make me come back or some shit. I left it behind, though."

"So you don't want to stay long. In case she comes." Splunk sat down backwards on the only chair, leaning her arms on the back.

Blauer shrugged. "I don't want to see her. She might come find me. I'm probably gonna hit her, if I do."

"I owe... A lot, to Rita." Splunk said slowly, "And I barely know you. All the same... I am really into you. Really. So I want to believe you, even if it's awful nightmare shit you're imagining."

She shrugged tiredly, "Does it even matter? Flare's dead. I abandoned Nixie and Eve. Left them with Rita, who might be a complete monster... I'm the monster."

Splunk winced, "No. You're not."

"Instead of arguing, how about a story to help me forget I exist?" Blauer took a different track. "If it isn't too shitty to remember it. You said you met a neunschwanzchen? Just once. You want to find them again."

The woman sighed and slurped through the chair, climbing onto the bed and splatting beside Blauer. "Yeah. It's painful, you've got that right. They're the one who saved me from the farm."

"That's... Something."

"I thought it was a dream." Splunk lifted up a hand, looking through it at the ceiling. "There was this dark-skinned foxgirl just sitting in the room outside the cell. I yelled at her to run. Tried to warn her. She just... Laughed at me."

Blauer winced, "I'm sorry."

"One of the guards came out. Blitzchen bitch." Splunk sighed, "Smacked me with a bolt, and then she tried to hit the fox and... The neunschwanzchen just spread her tails. All nine of the black furry bushes. Never seen a blitz shit themselves until then."

Blauer laughed, "Really hope you're not being literal."

"Might as well be. The blitzchen got pasted through the side of the concrete cell wall. And out through the other one, too."

Blauer rolled onto her side. "So... She didn't mean to save you, then?"

"Nope." Splunk shrugged. "Don't much care. Still owe her everything."

Blauer smiled sadly, "Hope you find her, some day."

"Hey, you promised to help. Don't get to test me, until you do." Splunk grinned back at her, before frowning. "Did you really get a job offer, whilst trying to get drunk?"

She shrugged, "Yeah... That guy? That was General Iobi. He retired from running Trintown's Arena. They want a new manager. I think I'd rather let Ryker fuck me."

"I have no idea if that means you want it or not." Splunk said flatly.

Blauer rolled her eyes, "Ha. Ha. No. I don't want the job, and I don't want to fuck Ryker!"

"You stink when you talk about him." Splunk said jealously.

Blauer winced, "Shit. Do I want to fuck him?"

"Something." Splunk reached over to stroke Blauer's cheek, "I think... I think you wish you could be him, to be honest. Someone people listen to. Someone who can imagine things."

She grabbed the monchen's wrist, "Are you seriously attempting a pity fuck, right now?"

Splunk blinked innocently.

Blauer laughed and sat up, "Pythagoras, woman! Yes, you're a hottie. But no, I am really not up for a tussle in the bedsheets."

"There's only one bed..." Splunk said sweetly.

The ex-trainer looked down in exasperation. "Fine! I admit it. I wanna fuck you, too. Just not right this neutonian second!"

Splunk's cheese turned a rosey red. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Blauer rolled her eyes, "But right now, I wanna cry myself to sleep. I don't know how to be there for you, or anyone else."

The monchen nodded, and then pushed Blauer back down on the bed. Giving a little riggle before beginning to enwrap her.

Blauer gave a breathless gasp as the heat hit her, and absolutely ignited her downstairs.

Splunk kissed her cheek, the two now one. "Ssh. Time to sleep. You miss her. You're allowed to hurt. Even if you don't reckon."

"Mmm..." Blauer gave a small whimper, biting her bottom lip. Splunk had no idea what she was doing.

"It wasn't your fault."

Blauer took a deep breath, "Please stop."

"It was never your fault." Splunk snapped, completely missing the meaning.

Blauer could feel herself beginning to clench. She was trying to fight it. This was absolutely the wrong moment to get so horny.

Splunk had been instantly attractive. Blauer hadn't noticed it when they met. She'd been too stressed and hurting, but the woman not giving a shit about anyone... That had been attractive.

It now being anyone except Blauer...

"I'm gonna cum." Blauer said breathlessly.

Splunk shot back to her side of the bed, "What!?"

Blauer's eyes rolled back in her head. Her toes curled and feet cramped. She juddered on the bed as the waves washed through her.

She panted, staring at the ceiling.

Splunk crawled over, looking down at accusingly. "What. The. Fuck."

"You're the one who crawled inside me!" Blauer exclaimed, "What did you think would happen!?"

"I didn't cra..." Splunk trailed off, as a lightbulb just about appeared over the top of her head.

Blauer crossed her arms.

Splunk winced. "Yup. My bad. Want me to... Run you a bath? Shit. I... I kinda just... Want me to go?"

"Was not entirely involantary." Blauer said quickly. "And uh... I am really in the mood now. If you want to try something else. This is real consent."

Splunk grinned slowly, and then ducked down.

Blauer's hand immediately found the woman's wet hair, scrunching it in her hand as the tongue slithered into her, reaching deep inside her.

The tongue curled inside her, dragging backwards slowly as Splunk's nose nestled into Blauer's clit. She wanted more. Deeper. Faster.

She could feel Splunk grin, as the monchen continued to tease her. Slow, steady, but pushing a fizzing bomb of excitement up and into her.

"Come on." Blauer moaned. "Give it to me."

The monchen utterly ignored the most sensitive places, the deep one that Blauer craved. Dancing around it, leaning towards it before stopping short. Curling around with her prehensile tongue, and showing off just what she could do.

For so much talk about the two of them, it was more raw than Blauer had thought. Even gripping the bed and staring at the ceiling, she had enough sense to notice that this wasn't without emotion. It wasn't just a physical attraction, even if the two of them would probably treat it that way.

A little ball of doubt hung heavy inside her chest. She'd already ruined every relationship she'd had. Was she about to curse Splunk, too?

Going after Rita would guarantee it.

Thoughts shattered in an explosion of light, as Splunk gave her what she needed. Blauer's mind was lost as she let out a groan to fill the entire room, a panting moan that stretched out until she had no breath left to give.

Face red, toes curling into a crunch, and her hands wrapped and lost in the loose bed sheets, Blauer stared up at the roof, trying to let out a sound, a squeak. Something had to give. Every inch of her was bearing down, trying to hit the moment.

Splunk slowed, nuzzling in deeper, firmer. Blauer bit her lip to stop from yelling in frustration, before the monchen suddenly was back into it.

"Y-yes!" Blauer yelled, and then she felt herself let go.

Splunk bubbled and came up laughing, looking over at her as the cum on her face slowly dissolved away.

Blauer panted heavily, "Shit..."

"Aw. Guess you're tuckered." Splunk said, before dropping beside her on the bed. "Eh. I can wait a minute to get my turn. But you totally went all trainer on me, there."

Blauer shook her head slowly, sadly. "No... I... You know I'm bad for people, right? I'm going to get you hurt."

"Girl, I'm wild. I do what I want. That's me whole thing." Splunk said in exasperation. "I know lil ol' humans think they need to go around protecting the poor monchen, but I am every inch the woman you are. I can fight, because I have had to. My whole life. Stop trying to take care of me. It's insulting."

Blauer smiled sadly, "Sorry. I'm..."

"A failure." Splunk nodded.

The trainer glared, "Thanks."

"No, you are. You've failed at everything. You've been very clear on that." Splunk nodded, "But what you don't seem to get, is so have I. A fucking farm? Seriously? I was on a farm. Don't get much more of a screwed up piece o' shit than that. But... We're young. We have a chance to try again. Especially you, who will outlive me by a factor of four!"

"Your math's wrong." Blauer stated, and then shrugged, "But... Point taken. I can start again. It's just..."

"... Rita."

"Yeah."

Splunk sighed and scratched at her head. "I dunno what to think about that. But I do think we should both talk to... Your ex. He might have a head for this. Roter sees stuff you don't. Team up. You'll find the truth."

Blauer blanched, "He's not my ex. And... Ew. I do not need to talk about Roter, right after sex."

"You stink." Splunk sniffed the air, "So... Get over it. You like him. Don't have to fuck him to ask his opinion on this... Compact... Egg... Thing."

Blauer laughed, "Compaction. But... Okay. We can go back to Eastre. Find Roter. Blissbun needs an apology from me, if nothing else."

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