Kakuna Wars: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: A Flock Of Wolves

Bill's Cubone skin bristled, and he dropped the washcloth he was holding straight into the basin of bathwater. "HIM?" he finally said, his eyes never leaving the Abra's partner. "You brought HIM into...? He's a Gatekeeper! He works for Lt. Surge!"

"No," the Abra said quietly but forcefully. "He works for everyone. Bill, this is Piku. Piku, Bi--"

"We've met," the Raichu interrupted, noticing Bill's look of alarm. "I don't know what the rest of the Gatekeepers have done to you, Bill, but I'm willing to bet it has to do with three-quarters of this blasted organization being a flock of Midnight Lycanroc. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow the very same organization meant to keep the nasties out of our little corner of paradise only succeeded in keeping them in it."

Bill crossed his arms and looked down his nose at Surge's Raichu. "As Watson said on laundry day: no sheet, Sherlock. Aren't you the founder of the Gatekeepers? How did you let this happen?"

Piku blushed in embarrassment. "Well... technically I founded it, but official league rules mean that my human trainer is responsible for all legal aspects of the Gatekeepers foundation. Which would be worth a lot more if he wasn't still the same gullible sap that got his entire ship captured by the Almians and their mutant mutts."

"Yeah, about that," Bill put in. "I've been told that reports on when and how the war started were, to put in mildly, unreliable. And I've been told this by an apparently more pure-hearted version of ME, which I'm not even certain is as pure-hearted as his one last message tried to make him seem. Long story short, the message told me to contact this world's Brock. He hasn't been corrupted too, has he?"

An uncomfortable look passed between Help and Piku. "Should you tell him, or...?"

Piku took a deep breath. "You may have noticed that Sabrina... isn't. She's not Sabrina, that is. She's a Boneka model, something developed by the Robopon Corporation for the purpose of impersonating Sabrina. We're not quite sure how many Gatekeepers have been replaced like this, but..."

Bill could take a hint. "Brock's been acting funny recently, hasn't he?"

"He's stopped hitting on the ladies," Help answered. "Anyone with half a brain can tell that's not a good sign."

"Quick question," Bill asked. "How recent was this? Because if I find out it only started after Misty turned me into a Cubone, I swear to Dome I'll--"

"It was before you came," Help interrupted. "The Gatekeepers were suspicious that Brock was still teaching the ways of the Elder Gems, the Seelie Court of living stone that dwelt upon Mt. Moon. They recently arrested a man named Seymour for living among Clefairy and worshiping the Moon Stone."

"Can't say I blame them on that last part," Bill muttered under his breath. "You deify a bunch of rockheads and eventually you start acting like them."

"Do you not agree that religious freedom is important?"

"Look, in my world we have a saying: 'Your rights end at the tip of my nose.' The problem is that a good many people who say that are sticking their nose tips into other people's nose tips and expecting the other people to make way for them. If more people said 'My rights end at the tip of your nose,' then we'd have considerably less strife around, religious or otherwise." Bill paused for breath. "But when said rights include the right to be an idiot and encourage others to be idiots, on the emotional level I find it hard to think rationally on the side of the idiots. Plus I'm not a fan of rock worship, for reasons I would rather not explain."

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, THAT was unnecessarily frank and moralizing," Piku said bluntly. "Can we get back to the part where Brock is missing and foul play is suspected?"