Sam Mokoa
Sam entered the interrogation room. Kalini looked up at him, a donut in his hand. Sam stared at the donut. Kalini stared at Sam.
"...I asked really nicely for this," Kalini said at last.
Sam decided to ignore it, instead slamming the door behind him and moving to sit down.
"You sure came in quick," Kalini said with a friendly smile. "You don't run on Hawaiian time?"
"I despise the concept," Sam said immediately. "And I have a case to solve."
"Yeesh, you really aren't the friendly-" Sam ripped the donut from Kalini's hand, then tossed it in the trash. Kalini sighed sadly. "-type."
"As I said, I have a case to work on," Sam said with a glowering glare. He took out a folder and opened it. "Now, you are Kalini ʻŌpūnui. You've been accused of several different crimes since you were a teenager. No violent offenses, beyond a case of assault when you fought a clown at a birthday party."
"Usually people smile when they say that part," Kalini said without a hint of shame.
Sam didn't even look at him. "Now, the fact is, you've done your time. I'm sure you're up to something illegal, considering you have a file thicker than my forearm, but I don't care about you. I care about the vigilante."
"Guys like me don't tend to hang out with vigilantes," Kalini pointed out. "Hey, like you said. I'm a career criminal. I hear vigilante and I start worrying about ninjas attacking me! Hahaha!" Kalini laughed, a deep belly laugh.
Sam looked at him. "Really. How unusual. Because, you see, there are two things that work against you. First, the group of people at the first appearance of that vigilante and his animals-"
"Kahu Kiaʻi?" Kalini asked.
"The vigilante," Sam said with a sound like bones being ground under the heel of a giant. "Was seen with a man of your description."
"Jolly overweight Hawaiian man?" Kalini chuckled. "I hate to say it, but I fit a stereotype."
"Yes, you do. You were also named at the latest appearance of the vigilante. By men who have shown up in your files as acquaintances. One man, by the name of Adam, said, and I quote, "He's working for that crazy bastard with the dinosaur and the weightlifter."
"That doesn't sound like me," Kalini said.
Sam, however, noticed the slight bead of sweat on Kalini's forehead. His information had Kalini pegged as a small-timer. Smart enough to keep from getting arrested too often, but he was no hardened criminal. He wasn't going to stand up to the long hours of interrogation in store for him. Perfect.
"I'm not planning to hurt the vigilante," Sam said sternly. "But you've worked with the Silicon Dragons. You know what they're willing to do," Sam took out a photo and placed it on the table. It was an image of Sidearm. Then he took out another photo. Of a man covered in bleeding wounds.
"It starts with low grade superhumans. And then it explodes from there," he tapped the photo. "This is a cop who took down one of the Silicon Dragon cells. One of the few times they ever escalated a conflict to the point of insanity. He took out one of their assets by blowing up a torpedo in close range. Nearly died. All to stop one of the worst offensives they ever implemented."
Kalini stared at the image. If one looked closely, they could see bone shining from the massive cuts, shining pale white under the blood. He looked like he'd been torn apart by a wild animal. Shrapnel shone from some of the wounds. "God… is he alive?"
"He is. His team wasn't as lucky," Sam pressed a finger into the photo, his hands thick with calluses similar to boxers. "This is what happens to people who force them to escalate. I'm working on taking them down carefully. Knocking out their supply lines, taking out their lieutenants. But now? This kid has forced them to bring their A game. And it's going to be worse than it ever was."
More images. Of a man in a blue suit unleashing waves of ice on a crowd. A group of gangsters using lasers to rob a bank. Supervillains and goons with advanced technology and powers terrorizing others. "You're going to be in the crosshairs of this conflict. Even if you don't care about the people of Hawaii, you've got to care about yourself. This kid is going to get in a lot of trouble," Sam leaned forward. "That trouble isn't going to care about collateral damage."
One more photo landed on the table. A laughing clown stared up at Kalini. He held a knife, stabbed deep into the throat of a heavyset man with dark skin, blood pouring over pale white gloves. And all the while, the clown was laughing. One could almost hear it, the insane cackle of glee.
Kalini swallowed.
"Superheroes don't want to bring trouble… But they do. And it attracts more. Hell, maybe the kid wants that? Maybe he's looking for a good fight?"
"He doesn't want this," Kalini whispered, staring at the images of death and destruction. Then he stilled, realizing what he'd said.
Sam held in a smirk. "He doesn't? Then maybe you can help me understand him. Understand what I can do to keep us all safe."
"...I'd like to speak to a lawyer," Kalini said firmly.
"That's perfectly fine," Sam collected the photos. "We'll arrange that. In the meantime, please consider what I've told you. The kid might be honestly trying to help people. Maybe he has your sympathy somehow. But if he does, you need to remember one thing. The last time you tried to help him, you got shot at, and a man with multi-armed armor tried to capture him. He may be bullet resistant. But you aren't-"
The door sprung open. Sam looked over at it. His jaw dropped, the papers in his hand slipping just a bit.
"That's enough," the woman at the door said. She strode into the room with confidence, coming alongside Kalini. "Mr. ʻŌpūnui? I'm here on behalf of my employer. I'll be your representative on this case."
"Uh…" Kalini took the woman's hand, looking over at Sam as he shook it. Sam ignored him, staring at the woman.
She was a short woman, wearing a dark pink business suit, skirt, and heels. She had blonde hair tied elegantly into a ponytail on top of her head, light makeup around her eyes, and the legs coming out of her skirt were much more muscular than one would expect. She had bright blue eyes that sat on Sam's face, a hint of sadness within them.
"Hello, Sam," she said softly.
"...Mrs. Leech," Sam said with a rough growl.
"Roxy, Sam. It's always Roxy," she said in a long suffering way.
"Wow, look at that," Kalini said with a nervous chuckle. "Somehow the murder pictures were less awkward than this."
The little joke got an enraged blast of air from Roxy. "Murder pictures?"
Sam glowered. "Can I speak to you outside, Mrs. Leech?"
"Absolutely," Roxy strode out, ignoring Sam and almost hitting him with the door on her way out. Sam slammed the door behind him, leaving Kalini alone.
"...I'll wait here then," Kalini said weakly.
"What the hell are you doing, Roxy?" Sam said. A FBI agent nearby shuddered at the growling intonation of his voice and quickly walked away, shuddering in fear. Roxy, on the other hand, glared up at the much taller man.
"I'm doing my job. Defending a client."
"A criminal," Sam said.
"Even if he was guilty of any crime right now, he'd need a lawyer."
"And your employer put you up to this?" Sam asked pointedly.
"My employer doesn't matter," Roxy said.
"Oh, I beg to differ. That damn mobster…" he growled, raising a hand to his face to rub his eyes.
"You mean the guy who sells medicine to hospitals?" Roxy had a very smug look on her face.
"The guy who keeps testing every law against gambling that we have, yes," Sam glared at her. "The guy who appeared with almost no warning with a revolutionary new medicine, somehow manages to slip past every known law that forces years of testing on such medications to sell them years early?"
"Yeah, that guy, who has broken no laws," Roxy pointed out.
"Officially."
"And that's all that matters. The official things you can prove or disprove. You taught me that."
"I also taught you to do the right thing!" Sam snarled. "Not start taking lessons from your dad!"
"You son of a-" Roxy stopped, taking a deep breath. "Okay, that's enough. I would like to speak with my client."
"Giovanni waiting outside?" Sam said with a glower.
"Kalini is my client, Mr. Mokoa," she said with a voice far darker than her appearance would have implied. "Giovanni is simply footing the bill. And you can speak with him, on our terms."
Roxy brushed past him, striding quickly. Sam stared at the wall for a moment. Then he cursed and spun around to look at her.
"He's withholding information, Roxy!" Roxy froze. He continued. "On the vigilante. If he can help us find him, we can take the kid in. Make sure he stops antagonizing the dragons. If they try to match a superhuman and his animals… We're going to end up with a lot of people dying. You remember what happened the last time they were forced to go so far."
Roxy didn't look back at him, but she didn't walk away either.
"Tell your client to give up the kid," Sam implored. "If he doesn't… We might have a war on our hands."
"...Do you ever get tired of letting them dictate what you can and can't do?"
"What?" Sam asked, surprised.
"The dragons. You always hold back when it comes to them. You can't help yourself. You take down what you can, but… Sam, you've been at war with them for years," Roxy looked over at him. "You can't let fear of what they can do make you into a coward."
Sam's eyes widened. His fists tightened. "Roxy-"
"Sex slaves. Drugs. Guns," Roxy whispered. "Hell, Giovanni, the guy you hate so much? He's had his trucks attacked three times in the last month by them," she smiled sadly. "Sam. I know you're worried about the people. You want to keep everyone safe. But you aren't keeping people safe. You're just prolonging a problem."
Before Sam could speak, Roxy sighed. "I'm going to speak to my client about cooperating. But if he does, maybe you should think about how you want to deal with this 'vigilante' you're so worried about. Because I'm tired of being worried that someone else I love will get killed by a dragon."
Sam and Roxy met eyes. Then, on an unspoken agreement, they turned and walked away from each other.
Mahmoud Schahed/Kahu Kiaʻi
"I can't pronounce my new codename," I mumbled, staring at the screen in front of me. "There's something ironic about this."
I looked over at Mudkip. "Yours is easier. Mako."
Mudkip grinned smugly at me, which I returned with a smile of my own before looking around the group.
Gurdurr, Tyrunt, Mimikyu, Alakazam, and Slugma were gathered around us as I sat at the table, waiting for the time we'd be heading out. All of us.
I didn't want Giovanni to have any advantage over me that I could help. I'd take whatever I could from him, but the second he turned on me I wanted to be ready for it, it was a possibility any smart person would at least keep in mind after all.
I pushed the thought of my codename away and began writing again. "He's got to have at least one of the Nido royalty. Poison/Ground, so they'll be your responsibilities, Alakazam and Mudkip. If he has Rhyperior, then I want Gurdurr and Tyrunt on them. Since you've apparently hidden the fact you had Ice Fang from me all this time."
"Tyrunt!"
I sighed at the very obvious smugness Tyrunt had in his voice.
"Slugma, I know you have a weakness to most of the Pokemon he's been seen using, so you're on debuff patrol. Mimikyu, you deal with Deadshot if we have to."
"We may not be able to win," Alakazam pointed out solemnly. "Type advantage is important, but skill and experience will be on their side. And Giovanni knows the weaknesses of his own Pokemon. He's likely fought at a type disadvantage multiple times and won."
"Sure. But even a weakness you know about is a weakness. And we don't need to win," I continued writing on the computer, typing a long list of everything we might be able to do or prepare for. "We just need to escape. If we have to, I'll send an email to Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Barry Allen, anyone and everyone else in the League."
"Mudkip!?"
"I know, I know," I sighed. "I wanted to stay away from the League. But if I'm forced to fight Giovanni and Deadshot, or hell, anyone else they bring in, then the trigger gets pulled. I'll set up my email to have a message scheduled to head out to them in a week. If we die, then the email will go out to them."
Well, I said my email, but it was one I'd made for just that purpose.
If we died, then a week later, every hero with a public email I could find would get a long message full of information about them personally, and about the DC universe overall, as well as a list of my possible killers.
Better to be paranoid after all. Actually, people were out to get me, so it was really just caution.
"Dugtrio is the same as everyone else," I mumbled to myself. "But Kangaskhan… if he has one with a mega stone, we might be boned. Same with Gyrados. Exeggutor is yours, Slugma. Persian will be up to Gurdurr and Alakazam."
"Do you believe he only has three Pokemon as he said?" Alakazam asked.
"As far as we're concerned, he has a full team, three others, and a bunch of Mewtwo's and Doomsday's under his command," I snapped somewhat tersely. "I'm leaning for the side of 'plan for the apocalypse, be happy with a kitchen fire'... Okay. We'll keep working on this on the way. But we're going to meet with him. As a full team."
"Mimikyu?" the small ghost asked.
"Gurdurr," he sighed. "Gur."
Yeah. Persian really was that powerful.
"We'll deal with it," I sighed. "But right now, Giovanni is a possible ally. Unlike the Silicone Dragons."
"Silicon," Alakazam corrected me.
"Right, that. They're a threat that is actively trying to kill us. Hiring assassins even."
"Tyrunt!"
"No, it's not a compliment, it's a threat."
He did not look convinced.
"Okay. So. The dragons are after us. And Giovanni was telling the truth. His company, Rocket Unlimited…"
All of my Pokemon were giving me a deadpan look. Even Mimikyu looked like she didn't know how to take that.
"Look, I know how it sounds, but that really is what he named his company! Anyway, they've had three of their trucks attacked in the last month, all transporting products to hospitals. So we'll just agree we've all got somebody we hate more than each other, and work together. But we're taking everything we can," I chuckled. "Make your requests boys and girls. In the meantime," I closed the laptop. "We've got a meeting to get to."
"Welcome to the Restaurant Royale!" a very friendly man with pink hair said as I stood there. "How can I help you?"
"..."
His smile faded slightly. "Uh, sir. Are you okay?"
"No. It's not your fault though. I'm just trying to deal with instinctual hatred."
He stared at me, befuddled. I stared at his uniform. Then the uniforms of everyone else working there.
Team Rocket. They were all dressed like Team fucking Rocket.
The restaurant was weird. In my time in Hawaii, I'd gotten used to a certain ascetic. The islands were beautiful, and very much in love with it's tropical and relaxed style. Whereas Giovanni's restaurant looked like it was right out of Las Vegas, all ostentatious lights and marble pillars. At first, I thought it was just the outside.
But on the inside, there was so much more than that.
On one wall, were a bunch of those… I don't know, those machines with a lever that you pull? I'm not a big gambling guy, so it took me a second to remember they were called slot machines. People would go up to them, pull a lever, and giggle when they landed on certain images. Instead of coins, they would get a slip of a paper and rush into the dining room, handing those papers to the waiters. The tables looked like various versions of gambling games, including a roulette wheel, blackjack table, and poker game.
"I thought gambling was illegal in Hawaii," I mumbled to myself.
"Oh, it is!" the friendly pink haired waiter said with a nervous smile. On a second look, he was around my body's age. So still a teenager. He was very slim as well, and kept glancing away from my eyes. "That's just the theme of our restaurant and hotel! We don't have any real gambling, but we have fun games you can play for your meal! You haven't been here before?"
"No. Giovanni invited me," I said grimly, looking him in the eyes.
"Giovanni," he didn't hold my gaze for long before looking away. Then he looked up nervously and bit his lip.
Man. Weird seeing the awkward teen thing again.
"As in the boss? Are you sure-"
"Of course he is, Danny," Giovanni strode up to us with the confidence of a king, Persian at his side as he smirked at us. "But I suppose I may have forgotten to inform you."
"Mr. Giovanni, sir!" Danny swallowed nervously. "I didn't-"
"You are quite all right, young man," Giovanni chuckled. "As I said, I didn't think my guest would be arriving so early."
"Yeah, well, I'm a motivated guy," I said with a glare. "Let's take care of business."
"Indeed," Giovanni turned, waving a hand. "Follow me."
I looked over at the waiter, looking him up and down slowly. His Rocket uniform was bringing up old memories of punching Rainbow Rocket members. Then I sighed slowly. "Nice to meet you Danny."
Danny, who had been blushing the entire time I'd looked him up and down, nodded quickly. "Y-You too!"
I turned and followed Giovanni, glaring at his back.
"Seriously. Rocket uniforms."
"Is that a question or a statement?" Giovanni smirked at me. "Yes. The uniform of all my employees is the same in this world as it is in all of them. Is that such a surprise?"
"Not as much as the casino look."
"Did you know gambling is illegal in this state?" Giovanni sighed sadly. "What a shame! The joy of gambling, the risk, the reward! The sorrow of a luck running dry, the adrenaline of a streak that will never end! Honestly, if they want to make gambling illegal because of its dangers, they might as well do the same to surfing. Far less people die from gambling than they do from surfing."
"Surfing isn't proven to be addictive."
"You clearly haven't surfed before," Giovanni hummed to himself, looking back at me. "Hawaii sacrifices many things in an attempt to be seen as a wonderful island paradise. What sort of paradise has such… authoritarian rules?"
"I'm going to be as polite as possible about this," I sighed. "I don't really have strong opinions on gambling as a whole, beyond that most casinos are literally built to shaft the people who enter them. Past that, I'm not the kind of person you want to talk to about this."
"A lack of strong opinions is often a lack of strong will."
"Then it's my strong opinion that I give less than a fuck."
"Ha!" Giovanni chuckled. Persian laughed alongside him. "Very well. Oh, and you may release your Pokemon if you wish," he entered through a pair of double doors. Beyond was a small dining room filled with food. Kalini and a blonde woman I didn't recognize were sittingsat on one side of the table. On the other side was a muscular caucasian man with a tightly groomed mustache. He wore a black suit. But despite everything, I recognized him immediately. Lawton. "No one beyond these doors will say anything."
"Including the hot blonde woman?" I said, walking over to Kalini and the blonde woman in question. I sat next to Kalini.
"Well, aren't you cheeky?" she teased. "You flirt with every grown woman you meet, kid?"
"I don't flirt with anyone," I said with a sigh. "I'm just stating facts. Who are you, why does Giovanni trust you, and how's the shrimp?"
"Bacon wrapped!" Kalini answered my last question happily.
The blonde woman blinked at me, looking at Giovanni, then at me. "Well, I'm Roxanne Leech. Kalini's attorney, and Giovanni's legal counselor. I'll likely be your attorney as well if you end up arrested. Kahu Kiaʻi."
"Still can't pronounce that," I tried to hide my reaction to her name, but Deadshot was giving me an odd look. I must have revealed something.
Roxy Leech was a character in the DC Comics. A young woman somewhere around 18, who worked as a model while helping her dad, a get-rich-quick sleazysleezy type who hid some actual character under that greedy demeanor of his. They'd been important characters in Superboy's life.
This Roxy looked very different. For one thing, while she wasn't old, she wasn't a teenager. She looked about twenty-five or so. A grown woman, rather than a young girl still finding her place in the world. And a lawyer, rather than a model, or even the cop she'd later become.
Well fuck it, all my meta knowledge was useless. Darkseid was probably the good guy in this universe.
I pushed those thoughts aside. "Well, Ms. Leech, it's a pleasure to meet you," I held out a hand, which she shook with some bemusement.
"You're a lot younger than I thought you were. Have you even passed high school kid?" she said skeptically.
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" I shook my head. "I'm in the middle of a gang war now. And wars have always been the job of young men to fight on the behalf of old men," I said with a small glance at Giovanni.
"...Well, you don't talk like a kid at least," she was staring at me like she had no clue what to say.
"How fantastic to know we're all getting along," Giovanni said with a smirk. "But we have something else to deal with. Your ID, as promised."
"In a single day?" I asked, taking a file from Roxanne.
"It wasn't easy, I will admit," Giovanni said with a smirk. "I gained it through some expensive, discrete, and perfectly legal channels."
"Perfectly, huh?"
He read my skepticism with ease. "Oh, maybe only on a technical level. But what was I to do?" he sighed dramatically, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead. "A poor and beleaguered young refugee, looking for a home and a mentor? Ah, the story simply tugs my heartstrings."
"..."
"You gotta hell of a glare, kid," Roxy said to me.
I ignored her to open the folder. My name was listed as Mahmood 'Amir Baz. Huh. Wonder if Simon Baz is kicking around somewhere. Still, the name would work. He'd listed me as eighteen, which, thank god. It was likely because dealing with things that came with teenagers was more annoying. There was a passport, a social security number, all sorts of nice stuff.
"Thank you very much," I said at last. "And really, you don't have a problem with any of this?" I directed the last at Roxy.
"If it means we can take down the dragons, I'm in," she said firmly. Then she looked between us. "Also. You guys are aliens?"
"Isn't everyone on the crazy place we call Earth? Everyone is an alien to someone, ya know?" I said without a hint of humour. Then I took out my Pokeballs.
First was Slugma. She wiggled as she appeared, looking around and giving everyone a cute smile.
"A lava… slug?" Kalini said while cocking his head to the side.
"Slugma?"
"Okay, I guess so. Do they all just say their own names?"
"Some of us say much more than that," Alakazam said as he came into existence. "I assume we are here to brainstorm our plan of attack."
"To say the least," Giovanni was looking at Slugma, who looked up at him curiously. "If I'd known you had a Slugma, I would have requested some sort of metallic treadmill brought in for her. Maybe some minerals for sustenance. As it is, I cannot allow some errant employee to walk in and see that the new Hawaiian superhero has such a personalan association with me. Nor your secret identity for that matter."
"Mudkip," my starter said, hopping onto my shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at Persian. The cat smirked back, unperturbed.
"Yes, I suppose so," Giovanni watched as my Pokemon finished popping out. "Well. Now, we are gathered."
"Not bringing out yours?" I said.
Giovanni and I eyed each other. The tension in the room rose. Gurdurr strode over to stand beside me.
Then he raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Two flashes of light came from his waist.
They were massive. Not in height, as they were only around my height, but they had large and thickly built limbs like tree trunks, covered in thick plate armor. Their ears twitched as they crouched on either side of Giovanni, long tails waving. Deadshot stiffened as the tension in the room came to a head, and Giovanni and I kept our eyes on each other.
A Nidoking on his left. The purple-scaled Pokemon ran a tongue along his lips, looking at Mimikyu, Tyrunt, Gurdurr, then stopping his gaze on me. His fangs flashed.
A Nidoqueen on his right. She was less adversarial, simply sitting on her haunches and looking around the room with calm and peaceful eyes. Her blue scales glittered rather prettily in the light.
"Good, we're all here," I said.
Persian hopped into Giovanni's lap, while Tyrunt and Nidoking had a staring contest. Roxy swallowed nervously, clutching a bag to her chest. Kalini leaned back in his chair, looking like he was about to run.
"Time for a war council. Let's plan out how to kill an organization."