Running through the forest, Ranma shouted after the Cheetit again. “Wait up! I said wait up!” The pigtailed girl was having trouble keeping up with the other woman as without a shirt to restrain her breasts, she couldn’t run as fast as she would have wanted...
Yes, leave it to Ranma to overlook something as simple as crossing her arms over her breasts.
Hearing the other woman cry out after her, Britanny turned her head to look over her right shoulder. She blinked her eye as the Tigress looked like an ant in the distance. “Oops...” Britanny mumbled as she came to a stop, allowing the other feline PokéGirl to catch up with her.
When she was finally able to catch up with the other woman, Ranma stopped, panting for breath. “D-damn...” she gasped out between a few deep breathes. “You’re fast.”
Beaming with pride, Britanny nodded her head. “Of course! Cheetits are the fastest of all land PokéGirls. Nothing can outrun a Cheetit!” Of course, left unsaid was that the Dameosaurs of the Dark Continent could outrun a Cheetit after a certain amount of time, (better stamina).
As she took a moment to regain her breath, Ranma-chan finally stood up straight from her hunched over state. Turning to look at the taller PokéGirl, she asked, “Are we almost out of this place yet?”
Nodding her head, Britanny energetically answered, “Yep!” She pointed down towards the path between the trees. “The exit’s right over there.”
Looking to where the Cheetit was pointing, Ranma caught sight of a crumbling stone building with rusted nine-foot high chain-link fence that stretched out from either side of it for quite a distance with a thick collection of fir trees behind the other side for support. The fences eventually ending as they hit into two raised stone areas, giving Ranma the idea that the forest was set up something like a boxed valley, at least at this end.
The structure itself looked as though it had definitely seen better days as not only were the bricks discolored and weathered, but the glass panes of the few rusted barred windows were broken. Most noticeable was that there were vines growing up along the right side, covering the brick beneath it completely. “What is that?”
“A border patrol house,” Britanny told Ranma as she started to walk towards it. Making sure Ranma was following her, the Cheetit continued, “It was used for border patrol by the Viridick back before the Great Disaster.”
“Border patrol?” Ranma asked as they reached the building, letting Ranma see if better and giving her the impression that it was an old building.
“Yep,” Britanny said as she placed her hands carefully on the door handle, making a solid screeching sound of rusted metal on metal as she pulled it open. “They were basically a special group of Viridick’s police officers that would check people coming and going, as well as to keep Feral PokéGirls from entering the city.” Holding the door open, Britanny looked at Ranma. “Go in, I’ll close it after.”
“Thanks,” Ranma said as she stepped in, getting a look at the place. Although dark, Ranma realized she could see everything rather well. Unknown to her, this was because of Cat-types having a sort of infra-vision.
What Ranma could make out was that the inside was comprised of dusty hallway with linoleum floors which were warped, causing lots of bumps and curvatures, making it an uneven walking space. Desks with chairs aligned either side of the hall, the metal structures dusty and covered with spider-webs here and there. With the exception of the numerous foot-prints in the thick layer of dust of the hallway, this place obviously wasn’t used for much.
Using her strength to pull the stubborn, heavy rusted metal door closed behind them, Britanny pulled it back in enough for the latch to catch. “I really need to get some oil for those hinges at some point. It’s getting harder and harder to open that damn door.”
“Why don’t you just take the door off?” Ranma asked the Cheetit.
“Because,” Britanny started to say as she wiped her brow of sweat with the back of her left hand. “It may not be used by Border patrol, but this place still serves its original purpose. Most Bug-types, especially the BuzzBreasts, aren’t smart enough to open doors, they can’t get in through the windows, and they can’t move past the fences.” She turned to her friend. “And we don’t want them to leave this forest unless it’s going further into the wilds off the beaten paths and away from the towns and cities.”
Blinking her eyes, Ranma brought up a very valid point. “Can’t they just fly over the fences?”
Shaking her head, Britanny explained, “Back when this place was run by humans, they made the fences and the roof with some sort of material that acts as a Bug-type PokéGirl Repellent that somehow is STILL going strong today. Rusted and shitty as they are, as long as they’re standing, the BuzzBreasts and such won’t move South. The only way in would be through this hallway.”
Accepting that, Ranma said, “Okay...” she waited for Britanny to open the door at the other end of the hallway when they reached it. Noticeably, as discolored as this metal door was, it didn’t screech nor did it have the same resistance in moving as the last one.
“Out we go,” Britanny said. Watching the other PokéGirl step out, Britanny followed after her, closing the door behind them once more. “Welcome to Route Two.”
Looking around the area, Ranma nodded her head. She could see that this place was definitely natural, but not as wild or intimidating as the forest. There was grass of varying growth all about, trees which seemed to have been placed around for aesthetic taste, and there was a nice beaten dirt path, giving Ranma an idea of where to go, unlike the forest which she had to depend on openings between the growth of trees to try and get around. Damn forest felt like a maze. “Nice place...” the Tigress said slowly.
Nodding her head in agreement, Britanny said, “It is.” She then started walking along again, noticing darker clouds coming in from the South. “Too bad the next sight isn’t...”
“What?” Ranma asked. Realizing that the Cheetit was walking again, Ranma started to sprint to catch up before walking in pace next to the other PokéGirl. “What’s not nice?”
“Viridick,” Britanny told Ranma.
“What, the city?” Ranma asked. She’d gotten that impression, since the Cheetit talked about the border patrol building as being made by the people of Viridick.
“It was a city...” Britanny said. At the Tigress’ confused look, Britanny explained, “With the exception of the PokéCenter at the furthest edge of town serving as a Hospital, Trader’s Post, and Inn for those coming in from the Fewtits to the North, the Kanto Region to the East, or my hometown of Phallus to the South, this place is a true ghost town.”
Ranma looked at Britanny. “Ghost town?”
The pigtailed Tigress for her answer when they came across a chipped concrete sign with the faded lettering, ‘Welcome to Viridick’. Walking past it they reached the remains of a stone street which was reduced to a cobble-like road, cracks and random stones here and there with random strands of dried yellow grass somehow struggling to survive here and there.
From there it got worse. The stone deteriorated further to being loose patches of concrete, and all the grass was either that same dry yellow or was withered and rumbling like dust. Scarce remains of buildings stood; a few portions of walls here and there. One piece of building still had a wooden door connected to the entrance that slowly swung back and forth on the breeze.
Looking around as they continued to walk further in, Ranma could only ask, “What happened?”
“The Great Disaster is what happened,” Britanny said seriously. “Viridick got the crap beaten out of it. Hurricanes, lightning storms, tornados, floods... hell, it even got hit by an earthquake, I think. Call it karmic retribution if you wish, since Viridick was the most anti-PokéGirl city in all of Johto back when there were still humans and this was a ‘PokéGirl League’.”
Looking up at Britanny, Ranma asked, “Anti-PokéGirl?”
“Yeah,” Britanny said. “Viridick, before the fall was run by its Gym Leader that was a known member of SEELE. SEELE was a hard-line anti-PokéGirl rights political group that started gaining power in the early 200’s. They were also fairly regulative of humans, requiring travel visas at the least. ‘Control Equals Safety’ was one of their slogans.”
Wincing, Ranma asked, “Why would they hate PokéGirls?”
“They just do because of what we were initially created for, and then used something that a Tigress named Mao Shin Mao did to further their cause,” Britanny said. At Ranma’s curious look, she replied, “Don’t ask. I couldn’t tell ya’ since I really didn’t study much about what life was like before the Great Disaster. Dealing with coming back from such an event was what’s important to us.”
Nodding her head to that, Ranma said, “I see...” she then blinked her eyes as she saw Britanny darting off towards the center of town. “Where you going?” She asked as she ran after the other cat-girl.
“To show you something!” The Cheetit called back as she ran through the rather desolate place and stopped by an area that surprisingly, had a few sparse bits of green grass.
Catching up, Ranma blinked her eyes as she saw Britanny has stopped at the statue of a man. The cracked statue was missing it left arm, but it was obvious that what was left from the position it was raised. A good amount of detail was worn, weathered down by elements; but still obvious that the man was supposed to be wearing a suit and glasses, even if the left half of the raised glasses were broken off. His features were also distinguishable as short messy hair with a goatee which only accentuated the meanest scowl that Ranma had ever seen.
Getting closer, Ranma went to the slightly moldy base, brushing back the stuff back off where she thought she could see the outline for a raised form. Beneath it was a tarnished plaque which was water-stained, but the carved-in-script remained. “Gendo Giovanni, Leader of Viridick City and Gym,” she read aloud. Looking up at the statue again, Ranma said, “The guy looks like a jerk.”
“If the stories I heard about him were even half-correct, he was,” Britanny affirmed. “Now c’mon, let’s get going. We can make it to Phallus in a few hours. That’ll get us there just before nightfall.”
*CRACK-A-DOOM*!
“ACK!” Ranma cried as out of nowhere rain broke out in a heavy down-pour.
“Damn it!” Britanny growled. “Rain wasn’t supposed to start until tomorrow!” Adjusting the shoulder strap of her box, she told Ranma, “C’mon! This way!” She shouted as she started running again.
“DAMN IT! QUIT TRYING TO OUTRUN ME!” Ranma cried out in indignation as she ran after the Cheetit, causing her breasts to bounce wildly once more.
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(Posted Sun, 10 Sep 2006 19:46)
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