His name wasn't even Tabitha. "Tabitha" was just a pseudonymous username, an anagram for "habitat." Oh, he'd been really proud of that bit of cleverness on the forums of his unofficial Team Magma fan-site, which he'd poured hours into. He remembered typing endless lines of code long into the night just so Team Magma fans could have a compendium of team info and a meeting place on the Internet app. And of course he made sure it was protected from prying legal eyes by a plethora of protocols and passwords obtainable only by those on invite-only encrypted mailing lists, and on top of it all it was located in the infamous "Darkrai Web" of unindexed sites. But Leader Maxie himself had the site taken down when it was in full swing, on account of its "infringing on Team Magma's intellectual property rights" or something of that nature.
Old fool. What did he know about modern fair use laws, anyway.
At least Tabitha had gotten a job out of the whole ordeal. And he'd been promoted to Administrator in a year's time, a remarkable accomplishment for one so young. Even more remarkable was the fact he'd been offered a job in the first place. Leader Maxie was notoriously hard for underlings and admirers to impress. Maybe he'd just seen something special in the tenacious young programmer. Or maybe he knew deep down that he was behind the times.
If there was anything Tabitha was sure of now, it was that Maxie was holding Team Magma back. The Great Leader was how old? 40? 45? He certain looked forty-ish, but he never would say his age. The closest he got to doing so was prattling on about the years he'd spent in an academic career at Hoenn University. As far as Tabitha was concerned, forty-ish was too old. Old enough for Maxie to have lost his edge, to be on the cusp of slowing down. Team Magma needed a leader who was youthful, with strength to drive the team towards its goals and enough knowledge of internet recruitment to swell the ranks with grunts eager to serve the Magma cause. Someone, for instance…like Tabitha.
Yes. There was no better person for the job.
He often thought about how easy it would be to get rid of the only obstacle blocking his path to power. The Leader was thin, frail, no doubt weak. Tabitha never did see him participating in strenuous exercise routines in the hideout gym. Instead he just inspected the rows of recruits going through the physical activity drills while he gave out "encouragement," as he called it. Tabitha was barely able to suppress laughter while listening to him. Good Arceus. How could someone be so self-absorbed, so shortsighted as to think talk of his own accomplishments would inspire anyone? But then, Tabitha knew that the Leader's shortsightedness would be an advantage when the time came to enact his plan.
It was for nights in his bunk that Tabitha reserved contemplation. For months now, his thoughts had followed the same cycle. He would strike while the team was on a geological expedition, probably visiting one of those volcanoes Leader Maxie loved so much. He would offer to escort the Leader as he went to investigate one of the cliffs high above the lava. It would just be the two of them, of course. That pesky Admin Courtney would be left behind to watch the grunt groups carrying out whatever inconsequential soil surveys they'd been assigned to. She'd be unable to witness Tabitha's moment of ultimate triumph. And that suited Tabitha just fine.
Oh, he could see it now. He and the Great Leader would be standing on that precarious cliff. The old fool, mesmerized by the glowing river of heat far below, would lean perhaps a bit too close to the edge. Just a little too close. And then, of course, Tabitha would help him get closer to the dangerous substance he adored. Would help him with a strong shove to the small of his back. Maybe he wouldn't even have time to scream. He would become one with what he loved.
Then would come the mourning, the remembrance. But those would quickly be over and done with, elbowed aside by other matters. For Team Magma would be left leaderless, wouldn't it? Leaderless, that was, unless Tabitha stepped up to the plate. And of course he'd be willing to do so. Grateful to be given the opportunity, even.
After all, what better way was there to honor the Great Maxie's memory than to lead his team to heights he'd never dreamt of?