Assassin Party

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#25 of Archive

Original Description: "Follow up to The Rival, you don't need to read it to fully understand the context of this story, but it's a good idea that you do just so you get an understanding of Opal.

Heard of that game, Spy Party? Used to be pretty big a few years back, but recently I had some videos recommended to me about it, and it got my mind working... This originally wasn't supposed to exist, there was a whole other idea when it came to a follow-up but I got this idea when working on The Rival (which is why they released within a week) and ended up working on both of these stories during my burnout period where I was on-off writing. It's pretty long, and a precursor to something big I've got planned and have also been working on while I've been inactive.

All characters belong to me.

Pokemon © Game Freak and The Pokemon Company."

Originally Uploaded: March 19th, 2023


"Ah, Ms. Roseman was it? Let me check the list..." the portly Sceptile bouncer dressed in a dapper tuxedo spoke with an acutely posh accent, raising the black leather clipboard from his chest up to his face, fiddling with the circular spectacles that sat just on the ridge of his nose, sliding it further down. A notable line had formed behind Jenny, stretching all the way to the elevator and pressing against its shuttered doors while it made its journey to the bottom of the skyrise picking up more partygoers. The bouncer slid his claw softly down the paper, taking extra care to ensure his claw didn't get stuck in the paper. It didn't slide long, quickly meeting Jenny's name close to the top of the paper, his pupils visually shrank slightly, hastily switching his gaze from Jenny to the paper multiple times. His posture hastily swapped from a foreboding sprawl blocking the crude chain-linked post to a slightly curt bow, unlinking one part of the post and ushering Jenny inside. "I'm sure ambassador Knoxx would like to meet you in person, he'll be by the bar I'm sure."

Jenny unlike herself, dressed to blend into the usual high society rabble, a black and gold sequined dress tightly clasped onto her body like latex, ending halfway down her thighs, and giving an ample boob window to allow the top of her cleavage to be exposed in all of their splendor, reflected by the lights as if it were oiled, Jenny used a rich shampoo with adequately improved the sheen of her fur, above her chest fur, sat a gold necklace which linked into a vertically tilted rectangle representing a gold ingot, it dipped slightly into her chest fur as it almost slipped between the slight gap between them. Covering her arms was a set of long-sleeved gloves that stretched to her elbows which complimented her black thigh-high socks which stretched from a pair of high heels of the same color. She even applied slight makeup to the outer edge of her eyes, with golden triangles painted onto the outer rim, starting on the nose and running to the edge of her head. Jenny curtsied in response to the bouncer and walked by him, the chain being refitted the second she passed by the post.

Right, time to navigate through this crowd then... Jenny thought to herself, she raised her left hand to the representative ear, and pressing against the earpiece sat inside for a few brief seconds, activating the small microphone hidden on the inner breast of her dress. "Hey, scales?" Jenny spoke into her microphone, the sound of rock music blaring in the background masked her voice to the partygoers, yet came through crystal clear for her partner. "You there?"

On the opposing highrise, opposing the penthouse patio, sat another, taller skyscraper. On Jenny's prodding, a window on one of the high floors overlooking the party extended open. Reveling in the hunched-over figure of a Milotic, her slender body reached down onto a leather suitcase. Her hands hastily slid the latches out of place and opened the suitcase. "Loud and clear." She replied. "I'm setting up over here, go indulge in your fantasy of being a well-paid rich person." in the dim light of the room, she pulled out her stashed clothes, all folded in a neat pile, carefully removing them from the case and placing them on the bed a few steps away from her setup.

"I'm sure you'd love to be the one down here..." Was the slightly teasing retort Jenny gave through her microphone. "It's got you written all over it."

"And you'd be right," Opal responded, removing the remaining clothes from her case. "Thing is, unlike you peasants, rich people love to talk... because we know how to."

"So you're making me try to fit into a group of people I have no clue how to talk to?" Jenny fired back a question. "Fine, how do rich people talk then?"

"Bequeath, pareidolia, idiosyncratically, flabbergasted, featherbrained, mawkish, epigrammatic, engorged..." Opal suggested, removing a bulky laptop from the bottom of the suitcase, and sitting it on the floor next to it.

"Those are just words," Jenny responded bluntly, bumping into a partygoer and taking a moment to apologize before moving on. "Words I don't know, either."

"Want me to use one in a sentence? My engorged sexcalibur outpaces the peasant." She paused for a second, noting the confused silence from the other end of the microphone. "That's rich person for 'I have a way bigger set than Jenny Roseman'."

"Dream on," Jenny responded with a slight mocking laugh. "You'll be singing a different tune when you're choking on it."

"Hmmm... I think I just changed to an ice type." Opal dismissed Jenny's poor pick-up, removing the false bottom of the suitcase, and revealing a dissembled rifle. "I don't settle for meat found in a dumpster."

"I'll polish it and put a pretty bow on it!" Jenny's reply oozed with sarcasm, along with a few shoves through the crowd, as she approached the bar.

"Ice. Type." Opal snapped, removing the rifle body from its case.

"Fine. I see our guy, get your eyes on the party." Jenny ordered before turning off her earpiece.

"Don't order me ar- poppycock, she turned it off..." Opal exhaled, setting the rifle body onto the floor.

"Hey, Ambassador Knoxx!" Jenny greeted the grizzled Hippowdon at the bar. "Great party you've got tonight!"

The Hippowdon turned, confused at the interruption to his conversation with his bartender, he was dressed in his finest, a sandy brown suit dressed his chiseled body, shell included. His tie tucked into his pants, a classic formal attire within North Caddia, complete with a Centrico flourish with a fedora sat on his crown, which wiggled with his movements. The confused stare in his deadshot eyes quickly faded into a warm greeting, widening his tree trunk thick stubs of arms into an inviting embrace. Jenny accepted the invitation wrapping her arms around his massive body.

"Jenny, my girl!" He greeted her, a firm grasp around her back straightened Jenny out slightly, like a rolling pin steamrolling over a glob of dough, he rolled his arm up and down Jenny's back. "It's great to finally meet you in person!"

"Likewise!" Jenny patted Knoxx's shell, though it didn't nearly have the same effect on him as it did on her. "I believe you invited me to discuss some biz?"

"Hahaha!" His laughter bellowed, though not nearly enough to overpower the music blaring over most of the party chatter. "Forgive Jenny, she's still learning how to communicate in the big leagues!" he announced to his barkeeper and the few eavesdroppers.

"In private?" Jenny whispered into his ear. Knoxx, thought to himself for a few seconds and nodded slowly.

Knoxx's chair screeched on the mahogany floor as he rose to his feet. Turning back to his barkeeper. "I'll be discussing a business proposition with Jenny here, thank any guests in my stead, please." His order was met with an affirming nod from the well-groomed Toxtricity in bizarrely casual attire for a party on this scale.

Opal removed the stock from the barrel, smoothly attaching it to the two white rods at the back of the rifle, giving a firm shove to ensure it was attached to the body. At the front of the body, removed the barrel from the case, and rolled it onto the shorter barrel at the front, making sure it was firmly set in place. On top of that, she removed a suppressor barrel from the case, doing the same process as the main barrel, rolling it onto the barrel and making proper precautions that the suppressor was attached properly.

"Many thanks once again for attending this party, although I'm assuming that's not what you're wanting me to say..." Knoxx wandered around his office, the sleek monitor sat atop a well-polished oak desk. Papers neatly filed into its cabinet draws. He leaned back on his sturdy office chair, he rolled a Caddian Cigar in his hand. "I hope you don't mind me having a smoke, I rarely get to enjoy a fine Caddian here with the embargo the government placed on us." He lamented, grabbing a metal lighter from his desk and igniting it.

"Don't act like you're circumventing the embargo yourself." Jenny smugly commented as she watched the cigar light up. "Your company or...?"

"My guys, obviously," Knoxx spoke before inserting the cigar in his mouth. "You'd know I take care of moving cargo and people."

"Guess this is me scratching your back in return then." Jenny shrugged. "Whose it you want done in?"

Knoxx locked eyes with Jenny, taking a puff from his cigar and tapping it against his desk. "I'm pretty sure my family is trying to rat me out."

"Whoa, I'm not killing your family..." Jenny scoffed, raising her hands up to her face.

"No, I know you're not." Knoxx pointed his cigar at Jenny. "I'm hiring the ocean to take care of them, traitorous bastards. Y'know I find it extremely insulting how people choose country over family these days."

"And I thought we were familial people..." Jenny faintly agreed.

"On that topic, and just a brief diversion if you will..." Knoxx piped up after another long draw of his cigar. "I checked our shipping manifest for the coming month and I happened to find that we are transporting one Morello Roseman..."

"Wait, Mori?!" Jenny spoke with a mixed tone of shock and delight. "Why... When is he coming?"

"September 18th." Knoxx briefly answered. "Seemed working for that idiot, Bulsara has finally caught up with him."

"But, last I heard of him he was in the army, fighting against the south!" Jenny argued, sounding more shocked than delighted.

"Deserted, don't blame the guy. Got captured and was tortured to the point they spooned one of his eyes out." Knoxx calmly drew from his cigar, watching Jenny squeamishly convulse at the image. "Joined up with an inferior and more brutal smuggling group, it seems. Shame sounded like a nice kid too. Well, from what Sal told me anyhow."

"...After you saw through his bullshit?" Jenny smugly questioned. With a short cough and a grin, Knoxx agreed. "Shit, you've put my mind on that before the job..."

"Ah, sorry." Knoxx apologized, refixing his fedora. "Just seemed like an appropriate time to slot it in."

"...Thanks for telling me though." Jenny gave a quick hug to Knoxx before pulling out.

Opal aligned the scope rail with the attachment rail on the top of the rifle body, sliding it forward, then adjusting it back after it clicked onto the rail. She removed the clip from the case and two feathered darts, placing them both into the magazine. Ramming the bolt in afterward and cocking it.

"So, the guy you're after, he's a state spy, no clue who he is but I know he got invited to the party." Knoxx removed the cigar from his mouth, pressing it into the ashtray situated on the desk and leaving it. "I wanted you on the ground so you could identify the accent."

"Nothing to go by, then?" Jenny asked, leaning against the wall, nervously tapping her fingers against it.

"I'm afraid the authorization from the Dyoon Dynasty was all I managed to get from my son before he got shipped out. Bastards made sure it was someone I can't recognize too." He turned to look outside the window, watching the rain bouncing from the surface, one last large puff of smoke from his nostrils adding to the smokey fog within the room. "He'll probably be trying to plant bugs on some of my antiques, collections, and statues. If he's cocky shit, he might try pressing some of our guys for the info, I'll be set up at the bar for the majority of the night to make sure he doesn't try that on my barkeep, and it should keep most of the security close to me."

"And once I get a possible confirmation?" Jenny pressed intently, moving away from the wall and joining Knoxx in gazing at the window.

"Get Opalescence to fire one of those 'Tranqelias' at him. She can only get a hit if he's on the patio, so I'll do something to pull the party out there, just tell me. Rain should clear shortly..." Knoxx wheeled himself over to the window next to Jenny, motioning out to the patio. "If I know our friend, he'll make sure those darts will get him mad drunk with just a little prick. Coax a confession from him, and deal with him in the bunk next door. Rest there tonight, I don't want anyone seeing that you're digesting someone."

"Thanks, Ambassador..." Jenny's acknowledgment brought a smile to the Ambassador's face.

He rose from his chair and delivered a firm pat on Jenny's shoulder. "If you pull this off without a hitch, I'll see about you and Opalescence becoming more involved with our operation." He moved over to his speaker again, turning down the audio and masking their voices.

"That's a great stereo you've got there Ambassador!" Jenny shot the off-topic compliment as she moved out of the room.

"Thanks!" He shot back a wink. He spoke one last line as Jenny exited the room, closing the door behind her. "and take care of yourself out there, my girl!"

Opal dipped her index finger into her mouth, coating it with some saliva and removing it, poking it out of the window. In the dwindling rain, the coating pulled to her right, towards where the window glass sat. The glob hastily peeled away from her finger, falling slightly and gently flying under the window out of sight. She sat her rifle on the ledge, sitting her head on the body and tucking the stock between her arm and elbow clasping it tightly in her armpit. She closed her left eye, using her right to operate the scope. The patio was completely devoid of any activity. Perfect. She aimed her rifle at the barbecue grill which had its rain cover sprawled over its top, aimed its crosshair far above it and to the left, accounting for the wind, and fired.

Pfffft!

As silent as a hiss, the pink-feathered dart took flight to the other building, gracefully floating down toward the lower section of the cover, suspended in the air for a few seconds as the wind ferried it directly to the button edge of one of the covers, just as she had directed her shot to land.

_They'll have to be at the boundary if I want the opportunity to get a precise hit on them._Opal thought to herself, pulling and shoving the bolt back into its place.

"Hey, idiot. Are you done talking to our guy?" Opal softly interrogated her microphone, awaiting the response in her earpiece.

"Hello, Opal." The voice tauntingly opened up. "Yeah, I'm gonna settle into the party and start looking."

"First. It's Opalescence." Opal snapped back into her microphone, to Jenny's delight. "And secondly, I've fired a test shot. I hit the barbecue close to the edge of the porch, you'll be required to bring our espionage connoisseur close to the edge if you want him to get hit."

"Understood, if you see anything suspicious like someone moving any of the ambassador's stuff, tell me. I know you can still see into what's going on in here, right?"

Opal adjusted her rifle's scope to peer into the party through the patio glass door, able to see back to the forward edge of the bar area, almost habitually, she trained her sights on Jenny as she approached the patio door. "Indeed, and I have an ingrate right in my sights."

"I'm sure you're blushing while you say that," Jenny spoke into her microphone, her lip movements syncing precisely on Opal's scope to her words.

"This rifle takes live ammunition too, you know." Opal warded Jenny, her finger slowly moving away from the rifle's trigger.

"Put one through mine, and Knoxx puts one through yours, Opal." Jenny stuck her tongue out to Opal who grunted in response.

"Sure..." A berated grunt exited her lips. "Let's focus on what we came here to do before we think about killing each other, which I'm fine about planning, mind you."

"Love you too." Jenny teasingly responded before severing her connection, with a slight chuckle and a visible, snarky grin on her face in Opal's scope.

Ting! ting! ting!

The atmosphere of the party was quickly severed by three assertive taps of the glass, the now-filled party all averted their attention to Knoxx, who in addition to garnering the crowd's attention, paused the music. He set the fork, the instrument he used to tap the glass back onto the bar counter, where the keeper instinctively grabbed it and sat it beneath the counter.

"Greetings everyone!" He announced to the party, his words received relative cheer and applause from the crowd. "It's brilliant to see such a fantastic mix of new and old faces at my gathering tonight!"

He paused, allowing the party to have a longer-lasting show of their appreciation before continuing.

"I would love to invite all of my special guests to join me, I know you all have an interest in viewing my collection and I'm proud to announce I've made a few additions to it!" He raised his empty glass to the crowd. "You know who you are."

Jenny's ears perked up, watching the small crowd begin to gather near Knoxx. Surely he wouldn't mind if she tagged along, right? She crossed the party, and the crowd instinctively parted to let her through as if she was some queen passing by a rabble of her subjects the sensation felt very... foreign.

"Ah, Jennifer!" Knoxx gave an approving nod to Jenny. "You're also interested in viewing my collection?"

"Indeed, Ambassador!" She responded with as much poshness and entitlement as she could muster, his agreeable reaction to her reply nailed a hint - it was convincing enough. The rest of the VIP crowd didn't turn and glare at her like some outsider dragging her muddy boots through their five-digit count clothing, that had to mean something, right?

Knoxx lead them past his office door and down the hallway, doors opposed each other down the lengthy, narrow hall, ending with a grand double door at the end of it. Knoxx placed both of his hands against it, shoving them open with all of his strength...

Jenny's eyes lit up with what she initially thought was the shine of whatever he has locked within this room, though the flash quickly died as her eyes adjusted to the unusually bright light of Knoxx's collection room. However, she couldn't see much of the room, as her body was blocked by a towering Aurorus, dressed in a frilly white dress, dipping her head under the doorway to even grant herself entry. In addition to her height, her body was also fairly built, similar to Knoxx, with big meaty arms, and legs, met with a slightly toned body, stalky throat and a beautifully decorated face. It was true that bodybuilding became a recent fad among most younger women in Centrico, Jenny recalled a television where the popular heartthrob mentioned his preferred type of girl - the type that could crush him right between her thighs. Though Jenny quickly noted the lack of work on her still developing abs, it seemed this one was toning up but wasn't to her preferred bulk before the party. Jenny followed behind her closely, before she paused upon entry, causing Jenny to collide with her hips.

Any slight suspicion Jenny had thought up was completely snuffed out upon hearing her speak. "Oh, sorry there, little girl!" She nervously chuckled. Centrican accent, without a doubt this giant was a native to the city. The Aurorus pulled Jenny into her hip, wrapping her arm around her and tugging her briefly.

"It-its okay..." Jenny sheepishly responded, partly feeling the pure euphoria from being dwarfed and partly embarrassed from letting herself collide. After a few long seconds, Jenny was freed from the grasp, slowly pulling away.

Knoxx cleared his throat as the small group filled the room, Jenny standing on her tiptoes to see above the other crowd member's heads, barely being able to the body of Ambassador Knoxx. "I've installed some protective display glasses in my collection, all locked tight and snug so I can finally say... Have a look around! Curious about anything? Feel free to ask!" With his command, the group suddenly split up, all crossing the room to various displays that had caught their eye. The display that immediately captured Jenny's eyes was the display that instantly became visible upon the crowd dispersing. An entire complete and pristine set of relic cutlery, a relic vase, and most importantly a relic crown. A rare find in human times for sure, but in the post-human era, even finding a mostly intact piece of relic cutlery or a shard that had come from a crown was extraordinarily rare. Jenny had recalled the folly sailor or two trying their luck to excavate the ocean her hometown sat next to. Even the odd large team would sail out and spend days at sea in the faint hope that they might find one of the extraordinarily pricey artifacts, all attempts had come up empty-handed, and here were those fabled items, all assembled in one place. They shimmered in the light, and sat atop velvet pillows, perfectly pristine and prepared to carry out their intended function but instead sat on display like it was Knoxx's personal museum. Knoxx stood next to his collection with a satisfied smile, like an archeologist who had dedicated his life to obtaining the pieces. It dulled the mystique of their legend slightly... Knoxx had clearly taken to obtaining extraordinarily expensive cutlery or old human artifacts which he had his people rip from wherever they originated so he could stash them away in his vault-like room. What had really caught her eye, however, was further up the displays, blankly passing by the other displays with not even a glance she had reached the end of Knoxx's proud collection, still empty display cases sat unfilled next to what was his latest and greatest addition...

Two electric guitars. One was made of a rectangular wooden casing, not focusing much on visual flare though it had engravings on it which had a metal theme, a teller of what band this axe had originated from. The other one however was more impressive. That classic flying-V body, crafted from fine maple mixed with a few areas made with plastic, and the foreboding raging Tauros implanted on the base guitar letting its anger out whenever it was played. The faded text painted down the strings read: 'The Bull's Balls'. Without a doubt, Knoxx had collected two guitars that belonged to the legendary hard-rock band: Shogun!

"Hah, I came running the second you spotted those, Jennifer!" Knoxx called out patting her on the back and staring into the case with an accomplished smirk. "Think you can play either of those guitars like Blunthorn?"

"Are these replicas?" Jenny questioned, prodding at the glass, despite the wear looking real, these had obviously had their monetary value played out of them, Jenny couldn't bring herself to believe the two pieces of Rock history that Knoxx had squirreled in his personal museum.

"Nope got 'em at an auction, cost me a fortune too," Knoxx answered, not helping Jenny's belief much but knowing what Knoxx already had stashed in his collection, it wasn't too surprising he'd go for something like this.

"Didn't realize you were a Shogun fan." Jenny returned, attempting to suppress her urge to act out playing the guitar. "As far as I'm concerned, after Blunthorn blew himself up and turned Pastoria into a wreck, the government suppressed the remaining members to keep making their music, it's all merch now."

"Terrorist was the word they used to describe Tony," Knoxx added, looking at The Bulls Balls while he talked. "Yeah, I liked their stuff, managed to get my hands on a few albums in black market sales and it all kicked off from there."

He let the silence hang in the air for a few seconds.

"I wish I was made an ambassador sooner, I would've loved to see those guys live." Knoxx nodded to himself, giving Jenny a few firm taps. "Anyway, don't you have a job you're meant to be doing?"

"Oh yeah..." Jenny hastily looked around the room, attempting to point a finger at something to try and get a better feel of the current situation, a few displays down stood one Pawmot, a crazed frenzy of desire in my eyes, clawing at the glass display in a feigned attempt to somehow break it. Jenny raised an accusing finger. "How about that guy down there? Seems like he's up to some trouble."

"Oh, Reggie..." Knoxx muttered into his right hand. "Let me deal with him, Jenny. I know this guy, he's just trying to get on my nerves..."

As he began to move towards the smaller Pokemon he parted with a suggestion: "Why don't you link up with the rest of the party? Doubt our guy is back here..."

As Jenny progressed out of the room, she saw a figure dart down the end of the hallway and out of sight, as if fleeing the display room. Jenny re-established a connection with Opal as she gave chase. "Think I've seen the target, caught someone fleeing one of Knoxx's rooms, lookout for anyone rushing into the party," Jenny called urgently down the microphone.

"Oh, so you've finally done something?" Opal snorted on the other end, focusing on the party.

"Just... find something, ok?" Jenny barked her order down the microphone, crossing the corner back into the primary party area. Unfortunately for her, it seemed the figure slipped into the crowd, masking themselves among the rest of the partygoers.

To the side of her, another Pawmot, his small body barely stood height with Jenny's chest, his body pressed against the wall and loosely dressed in formal attire, though his ability to tie a tie seemed to be lacking, leaving it undone and wrapped around his neck like a snake. He stood next to the wall practicing his moves before assumedly making his appearance on the big stage.

The second he noticed Jenny glancing at him, he halted his dancing, leaning against the wall and running a hand through the tuft on his head. "Hey there m'lady, checking out my moves?" He asked attempting to sound flirtatious though the rigid cuts of his voice ruined the seductive tone he attempted to put on.

"Yeah, smooth..." Jenny sarcastically answered, the Pawmot physically recoiled, and a rejected frown appeared on his face. "Hey, did you see someone barge through the crowd a few seconds back?"

"Sure I did, m'lady." He responded with a bow, an arm motioned over towards the bar. "Saw some guy in a bit of a rush force his way through the crowd, kinda sounded like you... no offense."

"None taken." Jenny sighed, looking past the gaggle of party attendees, barely able to see anything going on at the bar. "Thanks, good luck doing... whatever you're doing..."

Jenny skirted around the sizable crowd, giving small taps to the few protruding crowd members, who instinctively moved back into the fray. Closing in on the bar, Jenny sighted the usual bartender and the muscle stationed there since Knoxx took his leave. There were a few patrons sitting on the stools, and the common runner from the crowd who'd purchase as many drinks as they could physically cradle between their arms and run back into the crowd, spatters of the drink they spilled on the floor and the shiny plasticine notes of the Centrico Sau haplessly sat on the desk, only to be snatched by the bartender, and placed into the till. However, the most out-of-place Pokemon at the bar stood a Meowscadra, dressed in an incredibly well-kept tuxedo, fitting his natural magician appearance, cupped firmly around his neck was a black bowtie that sat just beneath his shirt collar. His shoes were leathery and brown, polished to an extreme finish, shining like a beacon in an ocean of darker-colored and less polished shoes. As Jenny approached, her ears picked up the tail end of a snappy conversation, "For the last time, I don't know about-" the Toxtricity barkeeper spoke with a dulled tone, glancing over to Jenny and giving her a trusted nod.

"Oh, Jenny!" He called out as Jenny assertively placed her arms on the table, squeezing next to the Meowscadra. "Here for something to drink?"

"Sure," Jenny nodded. "Is this dapper cat looking for a drink too?" Jenny motioned to the Meowscadra, who recoiled at the mention of him.

"Oh, please, I'm not much of a drink-" The Meowscadra poorly attempted to wave the offer away.

"Awwww!" Jenny cut him off, nudging his shoulder with her own. "Not even a few for me?"

"Like I said, not a drinker." He dismissed. "Plus I just met you-"

CLINK!

His words were cut off by the chatter of coins and notes hitting the counter, he watched as Jenny pushed them over to the barkeep, who happily accepted them.

"Fine..." He relented. "Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred." He ordered the Toxtricity who returned a bizarre gaze, before beginning to prepare his drink.

"I'll just take a cider," Jenny ordered. "Have you got any Caddian Nights?"

"Those are embargoed." The Toxtricity responded, aggressively shaking the martini. "Haven't been able to get a supply, though the Ambassador has a surplus of Seafarers Bourbon, and he still has some old Alestorm Circus-Ale before that also got embargoed."

"Idiosyncratically..." Jenny spoke the word Opal taught her in a curse, the surrounding people raising their eyebrows and glancing over to Jenny before continuing their drink. "I'll take a shot of Centrican Bourbon, then." Jenny requested, pointing over to the display bottle, the bartender nodded, shuffling back to retrieve it.

"I didn't expect a soft lady such as yourself to take to drinking such a strong cider." The Meowscadra spoke in Caddian directly to Jenny, the accent was a teller, but his preference for speaking the language compared to the usual Shinovan spoken in Centrico, sent a sudden chill through Jenny, her mind attempting to kick into her native tongue, which, she didn't talk in as much.

"When it's some of the only alcohol you can get your hands on, you attune your tastes." Jenny responded back, messing up the pronunciation of a few words slightly, yet still understandable to the Meowscadra.

"Angelo." He introduced himself, taking an acute sip from his martini seconds after his glass of Vodka Martini was pushed over toward him. He looked up at Jenny, patiently.

"Jenny." She responded in the same curt manner that Angelo introduced himself in, picking up the shot of bourbon passed over to her, and taking a swig.

"So... Jenny." Angelo began, pausing for a second, swiveling his head around the room, and motioning towards the balcony."Actually, how about we talk outside?"

A toothy grin spread on Jenny's face. "Perfect."

Angelo lead Jenny through the room, his lips pursed, and occasionally shooting a glance behind him, ensuring Jenny continued to follow him, every time Jenny thought she might be able to message Opal, she was caught off guard by Angelo's constant pauses, placing her firmly at his rear, the odd ear twitch or the constant watching. As the two reached the balcony door, Angelo wrapped his right hand around the handle, placing slight pressure onto it, tilting down and hastily shoving it open and exiting, Jenny hastily followed and the door immediately shut behind them.

"So..." Angelo. Spoke, striding up to the edge of the balcony, leaning over the edge, and watching the busy street below. "What's your deal, Jenny?"

"What's yours?" Jenny retorted, moving to Angelo's side.

"You know what I think?" Angelo suggested calmly, suddenly, he grabbed onto Jenny, grappling her arms from behind, keeping them secured behind her back, and using his slimmer body to attempt to lock the larger Eevee onto the banister. "I think, you're a hire from the ambassador, what is he hiding?"

"Really?" Jenny defensively returned. "I think you're just a bit paranoid-."

"Don't lie to me." Angelo snapped, cutting Jenny off. "I watched you exit his office, I saw you talking to him in his vault, and you arrived at the bar not too long after me."

"Just sounds like a coincidence to me-" Jenny attempted a rebuttal but was ultimately cut off by Angelo moving an arm to Jenny's head, forcing it to peer over the balcony, her sight tunnel-visioned, focusing on the ground and the massive building that stretched down to it, she began to struggle, attempting to push back yet Angelo proved himself an effective wall, barely allowing her to regain any distance. "Canwepleasejusttalkaboutthisawayfromtheedge?" She blurted out in one lighting-fast sentence taking no pauses to even think about the words that would come out of her mouth.

"Fear of heights, eh?" Angelo smugly questioned to an intense nod from Jenny, a wry smirk spread across his face. He pushed more of Jenny over the edge, her chest swaying over the balcony as Angelo's hand focused on the upper rear of Jenny's back. "Tell me what Knoxx is doing here. And where's his family? They were supposed to help me tonight..."

His interrogation was met by complete silence from Jenny, only the shuffling of their struggle could be heard.

"I'd speak while I still had the ability, I am known to have pretty greasy palms." Angelo teased. Jenny grit her teeth, trying to keep her eyes, and the instinctual habit to scream at the top of her lungs was building, yet managed to be stifled. Angelo prodded a little more, shoving the middle of Jenny's back, lifting her legs up, and having her body teeter over the edge, going over and falling at a moment's notice, only controlled by Angelo keeping a firm grasp on her legs. This was met by a cute "Oops!" which squeaked from Angelo.

Jenny couldn't keep her eyes shut anymore, opening them to see nothing but the city street below, and the slight motion of her body teetering over the edge. Her pursed lips began depressurizing letting out a slightly audible wail as they slowly began to deflate, her arms still gripping the ledge, a grip that intensified in a feigned attempt to keep herself secure.

Up in the opposing building, Opal sat at the window, her scope adjusted to the scene, watching Jenny struggle and helplessly flail around, she giggled for a few moments before the reality of the situation dripped in - if she goes, her paycheck goes. Readjusting the scope toward the upper body of Angelo, another few moments played out, Opal sucking in a breath of air and preparing to fire.

Ptoooo!

The noise of the suppressor firing was blanketed by the gust of wind, the dart whistled across the air, thrusting further toward the balcony and dragging to the right, and in only a few seconds, the pointed edge of the start pierced into Angelo's fur on the base of his neck, injecting the alcoholic fluid into his body.

"Argh!" He yelped, loud enough to be distinct, but quiet enough not to alert the party to the situation going on outside, Angelo reeled a few steps back, yanking the dart from his neck, dropping to the floor with a slight cliiiiiink but it was too late, the extremely high concentration of alcohol had already entered his bloodstream and began to take hold of his mind.

Jenny, as Angelo pulled away, almost shot herself over the ledge with her struggles, realizing her legs were freed, planting her back onto the ground and pulling away from the ledge, turning around to view her attacker, preparing to follow up with an attack if the Tranq failed.

Angelo looked up at Jenny, one eye twitching with a smile. He rose to his feet after a few attempts after tripping over himself a few times, Jenny dropped her stance. After his fifth attempt, he managed to successfully rise to his feet. Utterly shit-faced, he stumbled over to Jenny wrapping his arms around her. "Jennah! We gottuh go busty Knoxx for thuh Dyoon Dynastyy, iss you an' me 'gainst the wurld! I love you. I LOVE YOU." His slurred words sloppily escaped his mouth as he kept his tight grip on Jenny.

"Wow, that Martini really hit you, huh?" Jenny softly spoke, patting Angelo's head. "C'mon, let's get you laid down..."

Jenny secured Angelo around her shoulder his head resting on her neck, guiding him back into the party, skirting back around the crowd. As she passed the bar, Knoxx returned, taking up his usual spot in the corner of the bar, he watched as Jenny passed, a relieved smile beaming on his face, giving Jenny an approving wink as she proceeded into the room Knoxx provided.

For being a spare room, it was far superior to Jenny's room, the room itself was larger than Jenny's own small apartment, a door leading to the en-suite located to her left and the large queen-sized bed stared directly ahead of the two, the sheets were frilly and had a floral pattern, which crinkled and formed around Angelo's body, who was already knocked out and snoozing on the bed.

"Off to never-never land, huh?" Jenny cooed, removing Angelo's overcoat, flinging it behind her, and moving to unbutton his undershirt, slowly maneuvering the buttons through the holes, working her way down gradually.

"Smooth moves, Jennifer." Opal sarcastically commented, reopening communications between the two. "Almost falling off the building and arousing the whole party to the kerfuffle going on? Color me unsurprised."

"You could've shot the second I brought him out, y'know." Jenny rallied the criticism, "Do you know how difficult it was to convince him to get out there with me?"

"You amuse me, flailing around like the helpless girl you are..." Opal's snide remarks halted Jenny in her tracks. "I mean, that guy had no bulk on him whatsoever and there you were, him almost forcing you off and you, about to weep like a little weakli-"

Jenny forced the device off, opening the nearby window and hurling the earpiece out, thrusting it toward the ground. "I am. Not. A. Weakling." Jenny hissed. Closing her eyes and repeating the phrase. "I'm not a weakling, I'm not a weakling, I'm not a weakling... I'm just as strong as I was back home, my weight is to hide my ruthless strength..." Taking one deep breath, Jenny snapped out of it, returning to continue undressing Angelo.

Now the cat was entirely shirtless, as Opal stated, he hadn't much of a figure, most Caddian spies didn't train more to be stealthy or charismatic than imposing, usually fleeing at the first sign of danger. Jenny pushed him into a corner today, and he almost fought his way out of it.

"Now, let's get the rest off..."

Jenny slid Angelo's ornate leather shoes off along with the socks, slid off his belt, and rolled his pants down, along with his underwear right after, tossing it on the growing pile.

And now, her meal was prepared. Starting by forcing his legs together, Jenny began to chow down.

Sliding the bottom of his legs into her mouth, like pulling a rope into your body, Jenny heaved more of Angelo into her, his legs stretching and expanding her throat, preparing for the rest of the body awaiting entrance.

HHHMP- ULLLP!

As more of Angelo got funneled into Jenny, she moved her hands further up his body to his chest, touching his shoulder, and pulling him in... Her throat widened to the breadth of each shoulder on her body, Angelo's pelvis went in, unknowing, unaware and unable to fight back. Her tongue eagerly slurped up each inch of Angelo with each centimeter claimed, the spice of his natural fur tingled her tongue, yet mellowed Jenny's mind, keeping her jaw relaxed, no biting and soon, no licking, just pure focus on ramming Angelo into her body!

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH! UUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLP!

With a mighty force, Jenny pulled the rest of Angelo inside, with a slight pat on his head, fully incorporating Angelo into her maw and belly, and with one last firm ULLP! Angelo's resting head was banished into Jenny's body. Jenny slank up onto the bed, resting on her back, Jenny grabbed the TV remote from the bedside table, aiming it towards the Flatscreen TV mounted on the wall, and flickered to life.

...

"What does your gun mean to you?"

"For me? Gun ownership is a symbol of our democracy!"

"My gun is a part of my home, the ability to defend my property should be as accessible as a kitchen knife, or an oven."

"A firing range is a night out with the boys! Firing off a few rounds with your colleagues or friends is a responsible choice after chugging down shot after shot!"

"I kept my gun in tip-top shape, you never know when a lawyer, banker, immigrant, or someone with different political beliefs walks by you on the street! I always stood my ground! That was until those Socialist, Fascist, Communist, Liberal, Conservatives took our guns away!"

"That's right! Last year, the Centrican Senate amended our constitution to take our rights away. Without our heat-sinking missile launchers, how will we keep our shores safe? Fact: Many freedom-loving Centricans have moved from the big city over to the growing Virtue City, which has a devolved parliament that has defended your basic rights. Fact: Without our homemade firearms, we've lost a leg of income and the firearm business has had to retreat underground. Fact: Illegal firearm imports from nations such as North and South Caddia and Astona have Quadrupled in the past six months alone. Which has helped fund their wars, continuing the boats shuffling wartorn Caddians away from their island. You can help, vote yes for proposition 34 to legalize all firearm and munition ownership once again, and cut those foreign governments away from our teets."

...

"You hurled MY Earpiece out of the window?" Opal aggressively questioned Jenny, after breaking her way into the room just a few seconds prior. What had been a party invite for the both of them and a night of joviality had instantly degraded back into bickering. Opal had dressed appropriately for the occasion too, though Jenny was accustomed to seeing her naked when she encountered Opal in her apartment, Opal clearly knew how to style herself for the occasion, A large red silk dress, which ran down the majority of her snake-like body, ending just above her legs, yet allowing the rest of her body to spill out behind her, seemingly so, tailored to fit her body type. The dress had a black, regal, floral pattern carefully stitched in thread onto the silk, it ran for the entire dress, with a vine border at the choker and at the parting by her legs. Her arms were accessorized with all sorts of bangles, a flashy wristwatch, and other expensive jewelry, with a red leather handbag idly swaying from her left elbow. On her head feeler, two square hooks on each side were clasped onto them, like earrings and coated in gold.

"You were insulting me!" Jenny argued back, sitting up from her slouched lie. "I didn't want to hear you drone on and on all night!"

"You could've just... Perched it on the bedside table?" Opal motioned towards the mahogany-crafted table that sat next to Jenny.

"Sorry!" Jenny raised to her feet, with exaggerated movements and an aggressive tone. "Not my fault you're always putting on airs!"

"Oh please." Opal sighed, her head buried in the palm of her right hand. "You wouldn't know what that idiom means."

"There you are, you're doing it right now!" Jenny pointed to Opal's current stature. "There's a difference between on-the-job banter and being a massive bitch!"

"You believed I was talking in banter?!" Opal scoffed, retracting her head slightly, like a bow preparing to fire. "I cannot surmise how much-"

clic-click!

The argument was offset by the unlocking of the bedroom's door, the doorknob tilted down, and the door silently swung open, both of them turned to meet Ambassador Knoxx, who shuffled into the room and hastily shut the door behind him.

"Bad time, ladies?" Knoxx jovial asked with a slight chuckle after his question. "I heard a heated argument in here, you two were going at it so loud I could just hear you over the music."

"I would offer my sincerest apologies, Ambassador, but it's Jennifer who should be the one offering her apologies." Opal motioned towards Jenny with a formal bow.

"Hmmm!" Ambassador Knoxx scratched his chin for a few seconds. "Why should Jenny be apologizing, seems to me you barged into the room I provided for her and began arguing." Jenny silently nodded, agreeing with his point.

"She threw my earpiece out of the window, that was top of the line!" Opal argued, a smug grin on her face.

Knoxx, did a double take, a bemused look on his face, which turned into slight frustration. "So that's why you almost blew Jenny's cover? Because of some replaceable earpiece?!" With the ambassador's frustrated response, Opal hastily wiped the smug look off her face. "If either of you want a place in my organization, you need to work as a coherent team."

"Well, we got the job done didn't we?" Opal disputed, motioning to Jenny's enlarged belly, still digesting Angelo within.

Knoxx placed his hand on Jenny's belly and immediately retracted it after a few seconds. "The main part, yes." He claimed. "But it's not done, the target isn't gone, Jenny is still digesting him."

Opal's face went as white as a sheet. Only managing a soft. "Oh."

"Oh, indeed." Knoxx sighed. "Take this as a lesson, both of you."

"Not to throw expensive equipment out of the window?" Jenny suggested, Knoxx approvingly nodded, which Opal joined in on.

"I guess I shouldn't have been that severe when mocking Jennifer..." Opal added, Knoxx once again, approved, and Jenny contributed.

"Reconciliation." Knoxx raised a finger. "When it hits the fan and the team starts to pull, reconciliation can change the tide between life or death when you're on the job."

The two girls remained silent.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't expect both of you to get along instantly, but the more you work together, the more cohesive you will be, and I could use a synergetic duo of skilled assassins in my organization." Knoxx lectured the two, who silently agreed.

"I don't think Jennifer is a skilled assassin mind you..." Opal commented under her breath.

Knoxx caught the comment, swiveling his head and glaring at Opal. "Opalescence." He sternly spoke. "I think both of you did a good job this evening, neither of you could've gotten the task done without each other."

"He's right," Jenny remarked, raising herself out of bed, her belly tugging further down to the ground. "You saved my life tonight, Opal."

The room remained still as both of them were stunned by Jenny breaking the ice.

"He had me on the ropes, and the only reason he's in here now..." Jenny motioned to her belly, giving it a few firm pats, a gush of air arose from within mid-sentence and expended through her mouth.

URRRRAAAAP!

"...Is because you were a good shot."

Opal, pressured by Jenny's words and the non-verbal prodding from Knoxx, responded. "If it wasn't for you finding and getting that guy out on the balcony and putting your life on the line for me to get the best shot possible, he'd still be at large..."

Knoxx approvingly nodded, he spoke only one word. "Reconcile."

Jenny extended her arms out, walking towards Opal, once she realized what Jenny was trying to do, she stood there and allowed the embrace to occur.

Jenny wrapped her arms around Opal's back, Opal copied, and the two were locked in an embrace for a few seconds, Jenny patted Opal's back, and Opal just strengthened her grip. Knoxx stood in amazement for the duration of the embrace, only breaking after...

BLAAAAARP!

Jenny's belch signaled the two to break the embrace, and took a few steps to retract, only giving a respectful look to each other a few seconds after.

"Well, that's certainly some progress!" Knoxx happily praised Jenny and Opal, patting them both on the back. Knoxx reached into his jacket, and pulled out two envelopes, passing one to Jenny and Opal.

"Consider it a signing bonus." He winked at them both. "My number is in there, I'll be in touch."

As the two began to dig into their letters, Jenny unconsciously clawed the upper sides of the envelope, and ran a claw down the sealer, while Opal carefully unfolded the sealed envelope, both of them removed a small piece of paper with the ambassador's number written on it, but more importantly, a massive wad of cash was enclosed, it was big enough that it caused the envelope to expose its bulge, yet both were surprised by how much was enclosed.

"This must be... 10,000 Sau..." Opal quickly discerned, quickly counting the stack of 100 Sau notes in her hand, though keeping it together with the plastic band that kept the stack uniform.

"I thought the job was 2,500 each?" Jenny called over to Knoxx, who had begun the process of leaving the room.

"It's a signing bonus." Knoxx reiterated, tilting his head to look slightly behind him. "It's a taste of what's to come if you stick with my organization..."

The bewildered glance Jenny gave prompted clarification. "You'll get what you're owed from our mutual friend, I paid him in advance."

"It's an off-the-books transaction." Opal gave Jenny's stomach a few teasing taps. "In your social class, you call it a tip?"

"I thought all funds from clients had to be given to the fixer first before they can get paid?" Jenny asked, which prompted a chuckle from Knoxx.

"Not when you're dealing with them in person, I always treat my own well." He replied, hand on the door handle, he spoke one last time before exiting the room. "Welcome to the team."

"We did it?" Jenny excitedly asked Opal.

"We did it." Opal responded, even her cool composure couldn't conceal her excitement. "Drinks are on me."

...

"Do you crave excitement?"

"Do you crave action?"

"Do you crave the adrenaline that comes with watching fights to the death?"

"Centrico City's biggest underground fighting ring is now on the surface!"

Ding Ding!

"It's the winner eats loser contest all the big movies are about!"

Ulp!

"We take the neediest, desperate, and unfortunate of society and make them brawl!"

BRRRAAAAP!

"Hey, I'm Jack Howitzer. You probably know me from blockbuster action flicks like Napalm, Liberator, and The last 2 patriots, the one with the 20-minute lovemaking scene. Whenever I want to crave the same pummelings and devouring I recreate in movies, I love risking my life in the ring, beating up foreigners is what this great nation was built on, and I recommend other Pokémon give it a try, you get paid for it!"

"The surface menu! Located in the Glenhall Combat Zone!"

...

The morning sun pierced through the window of Jenny's bunk, and forgetting to shutter the curtains before she entered her slumber, the shining beams on her eyes stirred her awake. Laying on her belly was Opal, still dressed up from the party before, Jenny was immediately hit with a burning headache, met with the smell of alcohol on her breath. She groaned, softly moving away from the bed, making sure not to disturb Opal with her movements, an empty glass rolled onto the floor as she removed herself from the bed, another glass of many that had ended up on the floor during the night. Thankfully, even with the drunken joviality that the two shared, nothing ended up damaged, not even the glass cups that were on the floor had the faintest chip on them.

Jenny slowly stumbled across the room, teetering into the bathroom, she pulled on the string latch to light up the impressively large en suite, the massive multi-person shower and sauna on the other side of the bathroom had evidence of being used throughout the night, yet Jenny couldn't remember ever using it.

Jenny grasped the cold water tap, loosening it. She scooped up the water that flowed from the tap using her hands as a bowl after it garnered enough water to suffice, she threw it on her face, the sudden splash of freezing cold water grounded her back into reality, though her head was still killing her, the haziness had for the most part, faded.

She looked down and noticed that her belly was a lot less visible than before, mostly due to the fact that her breasts had significantly enlarged themselves, Jenny couldn't resist groping her left breast with her right hand, it was a bit of a guilty pleasure of hers, to grab and play with the recent gains on her body, especially when they continued to grow after previous contracts had their calories burnt away, yet the pudge always remained. She reached behind her back, grabbing her right buttcheek with her left hand. Yep, an improvement there as well, as for her nethers, she could feel the added weight to her balls, causing them to sag down, the euphoric feeling, causing it to rise, the pressure building like a volcano. This sudden issue needed to be dealt with. Urgently.

Jenny shut the bathroom door behind her, the tension mounting even more. She could feel it beginning to touch the paint of the door when she was closing it, the tip of her shaft felt a cool sensation against her heat, and by the time it was shut, the tip was forcibly pressing into the door, demanding room to expand even further.

Jenny simply flicked the lock, and hobbled towards the shower, closing the shower door behind her, turned on some rock music on the shower's built-in stereo, set the temperature to a hot enough temperature to produce enough steam to cloud her judgment without scalding her, let the water flow, and began to stroke.