The Horror of an Elite Ability

11:00 pm, June 26th

No. 64, Surfer Street, Near New Bark Town's Port

-/Tell me what you can and can not do, again,/- Kai said, his breath rattling around him.

The moon was grinning thinly today. Bright yellow street lights had lit up Surfer Street like tiny suns lined on a single path.

Far at the end of the street, into a corner claimed by the shadows for themselves, Dementor-Kai's tattered robes billowed noiselessly behind him. He levitated above the ground like a mass of foul black mist, as a thin layer of frost crawled about him, freezing anything and everything.

Item-M was standing behind him, lost in awe of Kai's appearance. She had her signature Akatsuki robes on her, the color of her hair matching the blood-red clouds perfectly. There was a time when Kai did not know the meaning of these robes. Now that he did, he wondered if he would have handled things differently.

No. The answer was a plain no.

Her master had commanded her, and she must reply. Such thoughts must have passed through her head for Item-M to snap out of her mooning expression.

"I have a Master Ability," she told Kai. "I can control paper figurines within a radius of 800 meters, depending on the size and their numbers. There is no limit on numbers, either. Once given an initial command, they can function on their own. To get live feedback, though, I must use a combination of MP and SP."

-/A Skill?/- Kai asked.

Item-M shook her head. "No, master," she answered. "In Elementary Abilities, you lay the foundation. In Advance Abilities, you explore the depths of the Ability. The further one can explore the Advance Ability, the better one would become. Master Abilities are the cornerstone of top-Contestants' power. In this stage, one must learn to combine the Ability with Stats and Skills. Before I fell to the 1st floor, I had just mastered imbuing Chakra and Mana into my paper figurines."

'No wonder,' Kai reflected. 'No wonder she is so strong.'

"If I haven't lost my Ninja and Magical Aptitude Ability, I could do much more using my paper dolls," she continued. "Now, they are only good for fooling and spying. I can use my HP to solidify one paper figurine, though."

Kai remembered the huge Shuriken and how it had cut the Gatling gun's barrels and Mariah's hands like butter. Then, one more possibility struck him.

-/Can you make paper dolls of me?/- Kai asked, expectantly. The things he could do with a bunch of him running around an enemy…

His breath rattled unknowingly.

The dark of the night hid the blush on Item-M's rosy cheeks. "I can," she whispered. "But I must examine every single detail of your body first, master. How you walk, sit, run, think, and the many facial expressions. I must take every little detail of your body, from head to toe, into account. Even then, I am not sure about the results. I have never done it before. It's easy to make paper clones of oneself. I had Arcanine Pokemon before, so I know it too. But…"

Kai had already stopped listening to her.

'I can, she said.' Kai smiled. -/Do whatever it takes./- he commanded her. -/Before "that" time comes, you must have at least one paper clone of all my forms./-

Item-M kneeled, accepting the command gracefully.

Suddenly, hundreds of tiny paper insects came crawling from all directions. They went to Item-M and whispered in some unknown language into her ears, before disappearing into her Inventory. No, they weren't Items, or so Item-M had told him. The size of her Inventory was already big enough to surpass an entire mansion.

The only things she lacked were Items to fill it up.

"It's a man," Item-M told Kai. "He is on the No. 64 house's roof."

A moist, salty night breeze found the corner they were hiding in. Kai turned to look at her from under his hood. She stepped back.

-/Bring him out./-Kai said, melting into the shadows.

*

*

"Haha! I didn't know I would have big tits for dinner today." A thick, manly voice echoed in the surroundings.

Item-M, wearing a black overcoat and black trousers, was running down the alley, close to Jimmy's house. A brown-haired, gaunt man chased her, catching up to her with every next step. There was a Pokeball in his hand, just on the verge of being thrown out.

"Stop!" he shouted. "Don't make me do this, love, or both of us will regret it."

Item-M sent back a disgusting look. When it seemed like she was about to take a turn, she paused and threw a Pokeball.

"Totodile, I choose you!"

Surprised, the Order's Contestant threw his Pokeball too. "Come out, Seviper!"

Both Pokemon materialized out of a blue flash. This end of the street was deserted, with only one lamp lit some dozens of meters away. It wasn't dark, but the vision wasn't clear enough to notice the exact coloring of the Pokemon, either.

"Totodile!" The Pokemon cried with a courageous attitude.

From the opposite end, a hiss echoed. "Seviperrrr!" This hiss had come from over 8 ft tall snake-like Pokemon. It was covered in black scales, with several markings on its body that looked like yellow hexagons and purple-colored scars. It had elongated red fangs that protruded from its upper jaw and fierce red eyes. Its tail was partially red and had a blade-like shape.

"Totodile, use Water Gun!"

"Seviper, dodge, and use Poison Tail!"

The Pokemon Trainers shout out almost simultaneously. A long, powerful Water Gun shot out from Totodile's mouth. But Seviper slithered away effortlessly. Its long body covered the distance between them in one long sweep, and then it whirled, lashing out with its tail, which was now glowing purple.

The tail hit Totodile head-on and sent him flying.

"Haha!" Northman bellowed. "That's it? Come with me, slut! I will be gentle with you."

Item-M rushed to help Totodile up. "Totodile! Are you OK?" she asked concernedly. "Come back. You did great."

A blue ray of light hit Totodile from the empty Pokeball, and it vanished to its security.

Item-M snapped her head toward Northman. "Never!" she said spitefully.

"Oh! You still have some fire left in you?" Northman jested, licking his lips. "Maybe after seeing this you won't refuse me."

The moment Northman finished, a cloudy, vacant look took over his eyes, and he sat down. Seviper, who was hissing wildly before, suddenly looked conscious of things more than a magical beast should have.

Some 300 meters in the air, Kai observed these changes. The real Item-M hovered beside him on her huge paper wings.

"A Skinchanger!" she exclaimed. "He must be from a powerful organization to know this Multiverse Interdependency."

Fortunately, Kai wasn't clueless about these terms anymore. Elementary Skinchanger was an Ability one could get in the GOT world. These Contestants could enter the mind of a beast and control its actions.

As he recalled this info, he saw Seviper's slithering becoming deliberate, and an evil intent filling its hisses.

'It's almost like a cheap copy of my Slither Steps and Elementary Snake Language,' Kai concluded. And that conclusion brought out his anger and disgust.

As Seviper wrapped itself around the paper Item-M on the ground, its tail tearing at her clothes, Kai plunged in a dive toward the Pokemon. The paper Item-M couldn't resist for a second and crumpled instantly.

Seviper/Northman hissed confusingly, his hisses maddening with every passing moment.

It was then Kai landed in between the Pokemon and Northman's true body.

A mass of silver mist burst out of him, solidifying into Selene.

-How dare you taint the name of serpents?- Kai hissed furiously, sucking out Pokemon's happiness with every breath. -How dare you let a human take over your consciousness?-

-Unworthy beast!- Selene snapped, agreeing with an angry hiss of her own.

Seviper hissed in denial, thrashing its tail and head here and there. Kai could feel Northman losing control over the beast at that moment, horrified, hearing the language coming out of Kai's mouth.

-Know what you are,- Kai hissed sharply, gliding towards the Pokemon. -Remember. Remember!-

-Or die!- Selene's hiss had an edge sharper than Kai.

Seviper gave out the last struggle and fell, the Skinchanger within its mind bombarding against the walls of the beast's consciousness .

-I…- Seviper hissed, looking up at the dark tattered robe of Kai, billowing behind him. -I remember. They caught me, made me their slave, forcing me to do their bidding. I… I have fallen.-

Kai's shriveled, skeletal hand reached for the Pokemon head and rubbed its black scales. -Worry not,- he hissed, spreading despair to the Pokemon's bones. -I will free you from all these worldly desires. I will redeem you.-

-I am Redemption!- Selene hissed, lunging at the Pokemon.

And behind them, Northman screamed, shouting out words that sounded like incomprehensible hideous hisses.

**********

AN: We will be skipping the traveling part. Will resume 2 chapters/day (or 1 long chapter) from the day after tomorrow most probably. Enjoy!