Island Wolf: Okay first off thank you to everyone for the reviews! You guys are awesome! :) Now I know that certain things in the chapter don't exactly correspond to the pokemon universe like highways, cars ect. but bear with me folks, hopefully it'll be a good read haha :) Now I realize there hasn't really been much Maxie x May action, but come on now, a real relationship takes time to build up and these two were bitter enemies at one point. Besides I firmly do not believe in that whole love at first sight thing XD just hang in there and you will see them gradually come together...eventually.
Discalimer: I own nothing as usual -le sigh-
May groaned softly as she roused herself to full wakefulness, blinking owlishly as she tried to take stock of her situation. Smothering a yawn she slipped out of bed and after a quick nuzzling from her canine companion she stumbled into the bathroom for a hot shower. After a hasty dressing session she quietly made her way to Maxie's office with a whining Mightyena in tow and entered in time to see the syndicate leader hanging up the phone. He looked slightly surprised at her entrance but the expression quickly turned into one of practiced indifference.
"Ah Miss Maple, you're punctual for once. I was just coming to wake you."
"What for?"
"I informed Steven of the events of the last 24 hours and he's ordered your immediate return."
"W-What? But what about the deal -"
"Something will be worked out Miss Maple, don't trouble yourself – I do not need you collapsing into another faint in my office," Maxie sneered, "I will be bringing you to Steven myself. Gather your things, I will be waiting for you by the elevator."
"...Yes Sir."
May sighed as she finished stuffing the last of her meager belongings into her duffel bag and looked down at Mightyena with a wry smile. The canine cocked his head to the side and gave his trainer a quizzical look. The young woman ruffled his ears and laughed.
"Well at least this little nightmare is coming to an end – no more 5 AM wake up calls from that crimson haired tyrant."
Hefting the bag over her shoulders with a slight grunt she headed out of the room, Mightyena walking alongside his trainer until they met an impatient looking Maxie waiting by the elevator. Without a word the two humans and pokémon stepped inside and rode in silence as they descended to one of the basement levels. She gave him a puzzled look which he blatantly ignored as the stainless steel doors slid open. The concrete basement was suddenly lit up by a series of motion activated lights, illuminating long rows of vehicles, from sports cars to vaguely militaristic looking SUV's and covered trucks. Maxie came to a halt in front of a sleek black car and May struggled valiantly not to smile – she'd honestly been expecting red. She unceremoniously dumped her duffel back into the back and called Mightyena back into his pokéball before climbing into the front passenger seat whilst Maxie started the car and revved the engine.
"Hm and here I was expecting to be bound and gagged, shoved into the trunk of a car and dropped off at an undisclosed location."
"That can be arranged Miss Maple I assure you," Maxie smirked as he put the car in drive and speed towards the far end of the garage as the wide steel door slid open to grant them passage. It was snowing again today, not as much as earlier in the week, but still enough to make driving treacherous. To her right stood rolling hills covered with snow and white capped pine forests. Maxie's side of the road took a sharp plummet down to the slate gray ocean far below. The brunette did her best not to look out at the cliffs and the pounding sea far below – it was giving her the bizarre sensation of vertigo.
"Where are we meeting Steven?"
"Lilycove...one might say its been chosen as neutral ground," Maxie replied, not taking his eyes off of the road, "He was quite incessant on getting you back after hearing about your little episode."
"Oh." May muttered, the leather upholstery creaking as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Maxie took notice of the nearly imperceptible movement and a nasty smirk formed on his face.
"Hm I take it the subject makes you uncomfortable Miss Maple? Do Mr. Stone's affections unnerve you so?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." The trainer replied sullenly as she folded her arms across her chest. Maxie's smirk broadened as he gave her a sidelong glance, a wicked gleam in his smoldering brown eyes as he observed her over the rims of his glasses.
"Of course you don't," He mocked, "You don't notice the way he looks at you, you don't notice the way he tries to shield you from every little potential danger. Please Miss Maple, I know you are not that naïve."
"Think what you will, I care not."
"Indeed, lying does not become you Miss Maple," Maxie smirked. He looked like he was about to fire off another barrage of insults when a flash in the rear-view mirror caught his attention. His sharp features creased in a frown as he caught sight of the black SUV that was now driving behind them at an unrelenting pace, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, "Hmm, it appears we may have some unwanted company. Miss Maple, look under your seat, there should be a black case – get it out and open it."
May did as she was bid, groping under her seat until her hand came in contact with a hard plastic case. She pulled it out and set it on her lap, flicking the latches open and pulling the case up to reveal something that made her heart leap into her throat.
In the case lay a sleek Beretta automatic handgun with extra ammunition. With wide cobalt eyes she glanced over at Maxie who again, ignored her as he kept steering with one hand whilst grabbing the Beretta with his free hand.
"Take the wheel for a second," He ordered calmly. May swallowed thickly and reached over, holding the wheel steady whilst Maxie slid the magazine into the weapon and flicked the safety off, holding the gun near his lap and returning his other hand to the wheel. He spared at glance at May and noted her sudden paleness and spike in respiration, "Don't start hyperventilating on me Miss Maple. You should realize by now that not all people use pokémon battles to settle disputes. Keep calm; now I need you to keep watching them and if I tell you to get down you might want to listen."
Without warning the black SUV speed up and nudged their back bumper; causing the car to jerk ahead slightly and eliciting an irritated growl from Maxie. May tightened her seat belt and braced her hands against the dashboard. She fought to contain a whimper as they were rammed from behind again; forcing Maxie to do a rather hasty manoeuvre to keep them on the snow covered road. The narrow mountain pass suddenly began widening to a broad divided highway. The SUV pulled to the side and accelerated until they were nearly nose to nose with their car.
"Get down!" Maxie snarled as the window of the SUV rolled down and the fierce tattoo of an automatic weapon beat over the roars of both engines. The side windows of the car shattered, sending a shower of glass and snow on the occupants. Maxie lifted his head and raised his own gun, answering with a hail bullets. The SUV backed off, returning to their original pursuing position only to open fire once again and shattered the back window and windshield. Maxie swore as one of the bullets grazed his cheek and he pointed the gun back over his shoulder to fire off a few answering shots.
"I suggest you hang on!" He said. Without warning he jerked the wheel hard over to the right and pulled a quick one-eighty degree turned before slamming the car into reverse. With a mad grin he fired over the dash, at the windshield of the oncoming SUV, shattering it. May saw a burst of red that splattered on the shards of glass and back of the seat and felt her blood run cold. Without its driver the SUV swerved wildly across the road before sliding into the guardrail and flipping from the sheer force, rolling into a ditch. May barely had time to brace herself when Maxie turned the wheel a quarter turn right, unbalancing the car, then a three quarter turn left, pulling another heart stopping one-eighty and slammed on the brakes. Ignoring the blood rolling down his cheek Maxie turned to May who was staring ahead, unblinkingly and shaking from head to toe.
"Miss Maple, you are unharmed I trust?"
May took one look at the bloodied syndicate CEO and scrabbled to open the door. Maxie sighed and flicked the automatic lock, trapping her inside. May flattened herself against the door in a vain effort to distance herself from him.
"You goddamn lunatic!" She shrieked, "You – you killed that man!"
"Miss Maple control your hysterics! As I'm sure you recall they tried to kill us first," He snapped as he put the car back in drive before any surviving gunmen could climb out of the totalled vehicle and start shooting again. He waited until her shrieks had died down to muffled whimpers and quiet sobs before trying to speak again, "Now then, obviously we're being tailed; we can't continue to Lilycove – unless you want to get shot at again. We'll have to head back to headquarters and report this latest incident. I fear the enemy may have already found us."
They drove back to Team Magma headquarters in silence. May didn't even bother retrieving her duffel bag as she scrabbled out of the car, taking great care to follow Maxie at a distance. At last the crimson haired man's temper seemed to get the best of him and he grabbed her by the arm with such harshness May was sure it would leave bruises as dragged her into the elevator.
"Miss Maple considering I just saved both of our hides I suggest you stop your snivelling and smarten up!"
"You killed that man!"
"He wasn't the first and he probably won't be the last!" Maxie snarled, "You seem to forget just who I am Miss Maple. I'm not your precious Steven, I'm not bound by the same pathetic morality you are. That being said I have promised not to harm you so stop your whimpering and follow me!"
He all but dragged her into his office and quickly dialled Steven's contact number on the secure vid-phone line. Steven's slightly hazy imaged appeared soon after and the Champion stared at the two with a puzzled expression.
"Steven we have a problem," Maxie growled as he dabbed at the cut on his face with a black silk kerchief, "We were tailed when we tried to get to Lilycove. We managed to evade them relatively unscathed. They're not pulling any stops here – they're prepared to use lethal force. I haven't had to fire a gun in a very long time."
"You were shot at!?" Steven gasped.
"I do believe that was the implication," Maxie replied derisively, "I think its safe to conclude that we may have been found – possibly even infiltrated."
"Is May alright?" Steve asked, trying to look past Maxie at his friend, "May?"
When the young woman did not respond to the Champion's calls Maxie turned and saw her staring unblinkingly at the window – the same glazed look in her eyes as she'd had just before she had collapsed not long ago.
"Miss Maple?"
"Its coming," She whispered, "Kyogre – its coming."
The dulled eyes suddenly regained their normal gem-like clarity and she turned to Maxie with an expression of pure unadulterated horror.
"Kyogre is coming we have to get out of here!"
"Too late." Maxie murmured, looking past May, out the massive windows. Beyond the cliffs the sea was heaving upwards – ice shattering and grey waves whipped into white foam from the explosive force of the great whale pokémon breaking through the surface. The deity pokémon of the sea opened its mouth, revealing rows of serrated white teeth, a sphere of golden energy forming between its jaws.
"A hyperbeam," May gasped as she staggered back from the windows. The lights flickered from such a massive power fluctuation nearby and the phone connection with Steven went dead much to the Champion's horror. With a mammoth roar the whale like beast fired. The massive energy beam slammed into the east wing of the building, tearing it to shreds, steadily moving across the bottom of the structure, decimating the foundations of the building in its wake. Maxie cursed the floor beneath their feet began to shake and crack as the structural integrity of the building was compromised. The windows shattered and the floor began to collapse as the lower levels began giving way. Kyogre roared and and slammed its great bulk into the water, summoning a massive wall of water and sending it hurtling at the crumbling building. Maxie instinctively grabbed May and pulled her down to the cracking floor as the wall of icy water crashed over them. The force and the sheer cold drove the breath from May's body. She opened her mouth to gasp but only water rushed in, burning the delicate tissue in her lungs and making her vision flicker. Her numbed body was barely aware of breaking the surface next to Maxie. She coughed and tried to expel the water from her lungs, whimpering at the stinging in her throat from the salty sea water. Through heavily lidded eyes she saw several bodies drifting limp in the unforgiving waves, debris every where and Kyogre looming high above them. She could hear the distant sound of helicopters, rapidly drawing closer. She tried to call out for help but even that required more energy then her body was willing to provide. Her eyes rolled back and she would've slipped back beneath the waves if not for someone's stubborn hold around her waist keeping her above the surface. Her fading gaze focused onto the grey skies overhead before darkness finally engulfed her senses and sending her reeling back into blissful oblivion.
Cobalt eyes fluttered open, but quickly snapped shut against the harsh florescent lights above. May Maple groaned and coughed as she made her way back to the realm of consciousness. Her bruised and battered body screamed at her, telling her not to make any sudden movements. She blinked again, vision gradually adjusting to the sudden brightness and she took the time to take stock of her situation.
She was laying on some sort of metal table – like the kind they used for medical purposes. That thought alone sent a shiver of fear crawling up her spine. The room was utterly barren – white linoleum floor and four white washed walls, the one directly in front of her marred by a large reflective glass window she couldn't see through and the thin outline of a door to her left. Without warning the door suddenly opened and a tall man with striking blue hair loosely tied back and clad in black robes stepped in giving May a disarming smile as he observed her over the rims of his tinted glasses. May tried to sit up but found thick leather straps on her ankles, wrists and torso preventing her from doing so. The stranger held up a hand in a gesture of peace and came to a halt by her side.
"Ah good to see you awake Miss Maple. You gave us quite a scare there May – is it alright if I call you May?" He said, not bothering to wait for an answer, "Now, I suppose you're wondering who I am hm? My name is Ardos and you my dear, are a very special girl."
"You – you're the leader of Cipher!"
"Indeed," Ardos, "And you are May Maple – champion class trainer despite refusing the title, and the extraordinary individual who singlehandedly brought down Team Magma and bonded with the ancient earth pokémon Groudon. Quite special indeed."
"So its safe to assume I'm at some kind of Cipher facility?"
"Oh you are perceptive, I quite like that," Ardos said, smiling as he nodded to confirm her suspicions, "Yes, and do you know why you are here May?"
"You want me to lead you to Groudon and awaken him."
"Oh not only that my dear May," Ardos smiled as he walked round the back of the table, outside her line of vision. She shuddered when he began playing with a lock of her hair and brushed his fingers against her pale cheek, "I want you to take command of Groudon after we turn him into a shadow pokémon. With your skill and Groudon's strength Cipher would be nigh on unstoppable, even with that meddlesome cousin of yours and my traitorous brother."
"I'll never work with you!" May spat. She heard Ardos sigh and he withdrew his hand. He once again, stepped into her field of vision with a slightly disappointed expression.
"I thought as much – you hero types are so predictable with your holier then thou attitudes. You think your so far above the rest of us. Let me illuminate you May – you're not. You're just as fallible and flawed as everyone else," He said, bringing his face close to hers. She caught a glimpse of his eyess, a pale icy blue reminiscent of a tundra wolf's, "There is no good and evil, no heroes and villains Miss Maple. Just those willing to further themselves in this world and those to simpleminded to see the brilliance of it."
"You're mad!" She hissed, "You're a cold hearted bastard who turns pokémon into fighting machines!"
"Oh don't be so melodramatic," He sighed, "I'm liberating them my dear, imagine not having to worry about emotions, not having to worry about getting your heart broken? Quite an enviable state of being I would say. But I can see this is not getting through to you so I will leave you be until tomorrow. That is when we shall start the process."
"Process? What process?" May said, straining against her bonds, panic leaching into her voice. Ardos merely smiled and drew forth a long syringe filled with a clear liquid. Without surprising care he took a cotton ball and cleansed the inside of the crook of her arm before piercing the skin with the needle and injecting her with whatever substance was in the syringe.
"Calm yourself May," He murmured, pulling the needle out and quickly disposing of it, "Its merely a sedative. Can't having you plotting any escape routes now can we?"
May didn't have the strength to respond. Already her eyes were growing heavy and her vision becoming blurrier with each passing second until at last she plunged into darkness once again.
Maxie growled as he paced the length of his cell once again. The tiny enclosed area was constructed of a hardened white material and a plexiglass like substance serving as a fourth wall complete with a door – locked from the outside of course. He glanced over at May who was in the corner of the cell, unconscious as she had been for the past hour. She'd been there, in that exact same position when he'd awakened. Other then some bruising he was relatively unharmed and after a quick examination found that she was too, though he took not of the bruise forming in the crook of her arm from what looked like an injection of some sort. Probably a sedative of some kind, either way he was glad for it – he didn't want to deal with her hysterics. It was painfully obvious they'd been captured by Cipher. He'd seen several uniformed guards, but they'd not spoken to him and besides Miss Maple he hadn't heard about the fates of his employees stationed at headquarters. A soft moan from the corner announced his companion's awakening and he braced himself for a gasp and a possible cry of alarm, but instead was quite surprised to her a barrage of slurred curses leaping from her tongue. He turned and watched the battered girl sit up, rubbing at her temples probably trying to deal with a massive headache. She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and frowned.
"Ardos is one arrogant asshole."
"As much as I'm glad you're not quivering or in hysterics I must say I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from you Miss Maple," Maxie commented with a sardonic smirk, "So I take it you met our, ah, host?"
"Yes – even offered me a job," May growled as she rose to her feet, albeit shakily, leaning against the wall for support, "Any clue where we are?"
"No – I woke up here, with you in the corner unconscious."
"Maxie – what about our pokémon?"
"Presumably being held hostage or the far more likely scenario of being turned into shadow pokémon."
"I swear if he's touched my pokémon he'll wish he'd never been born!" May said gruffly, but her glassy eyes said that she was close to cracking. Maxie turned away with a small nod.
"The feeling is mutual believe me."
"So...what do you propose we do?"
"Right now Miss Maple, there's nothing we can do except wait and hope that help comes to us."
"...we're doomed."
"In all likelihood, yes."
"Your really not helping the situation Maxie."
"I'm merely being realistic Miss Maple."
"More like pessimistic – and for the love of god man will you just call me May already? The Miss Maple thing is worse then when you used to call me 'girl' or 'child'."
"Why do you think I refer to you as that then hm?"
"You mean – you did it to intentionally aggravate me?"
"Of course," Maxie smirked, "You humiliated me all those years ago Miss Maple. I said yes to this whole endeavour so I could repay the favour."
"You're sick!" May spat, "You're no better then he is! I'm surprised you haven't already bartered for your freedom or joined their ranks!"
"How do you know I already haven't?" He shot back, striding towards her. May flattened herself against the wall and made a noise like an angry cat, "How do you know I'm not here to weaken your resolve? How do you know I'm not here to twist you into doing whatever they say?"
"Are you?" She whispered. Maxie brought his face close to hers and for the first time since waking she noticed he wasn't wearing his glasses any more and a few more strands of crimson hair had fallen loose to frame his pale face.
"What do you think Miss Maple?"
Desperately trying not to show any fear she did not avert her gaze nor did she try to shift away from the unwanted proximity, she held her ground, but still the barest flicker of unease crossed her pale features, "Get away from me!"
"Oh dear am I making you uncomfortable Miss Maple?" Maxie leered, placing two fingers under her chin to keep her from turning away. Without warning he was sent reeling by a sharp, stinging slap to the face. He staggered back several paces and brushed his fingers against the stinging flesh as he glared at the panting girl in the corner.
"I told you to stay away from me you monster!" She hissed, "I don't trust you – I never did trust you! I should've known you were plotting with them all along you self-righteous, egotistical bastard!"
"You really are stupid girl," Maxie spat, "Do you really think I'd give in so easily and side with the syndicate that just destroyed my own organization!? Do you know how much valuable information was stored at that base? How many of my people I lost?"
"As if you even care about them," May spat, "If you aren't with them then why did you even insinuate such a thing?"
"Because, Miss Maple, to put it simply I enjoy messing with your head," He sneered, "I enjoy causing you misery. I'm a vengeful man Miss Maple, and you humiliated me all those years ago and as I said before I had every intention of making you pay for it!"
"You vindictive son of a bitch!" May shrieked, "Just a second ago you feigned caring about your people and now you're telling me you're more concerned with getting revenge on me then getting out of here or gaining knowledge of any survivors? You're sick!"
"You forget just who and what I am," He spat, "I'm not your precious Steven or those so called friends of yours."
Her lips parted in what was sure to be a vicious retort when a loud electronic beep effectively ended the confrontation as the door opened and a man in a white lab coat accompanied by two Cipher guards walked in. The two guards seized May by either arm and began dragging her out of the cell, the man in the lab coat taking up the rear. Maxie smirked and leaned back against the wall. Good, perhaps a good old fashioned interrogation would knock her down from her high horse.
May struggled against her captors with all her might, clawing and biting like a wild animal as they dragged her through the pristine white halls. She was taken into a chamber much the same as the one she'd awoken in and strapped her down to the metal table. The two guards saluted and then left, leaving May alone with the man in the white lab coat, who she assumed was a scientist of some sort. He smiled, eyes hidden behind his tinted glasses, with a decidedly foreboding expression that May did not like one bit.
"Please, please let me go!" She pleaded – she was running out of ideas and the sight of the man pulling out a syringe sent her into a world of panic, "What do you want with me?"
"You, my dear, are a prime specimen," The man murmured as he rubbed the crook of her arm with a cotton swab dipped in disinfectant, much as Ardos had done, "One of the best trainers in the region, has shown great adaptability in a variety of situations, responds well to stimuli and has shown a most interesting ability to commune with ancient pokémon. Quite the pinnacle of Darwinism you are my dear."
The trainer winced as the needle pierced her skin, only this time instead of injecting her with some foul substance he pulled backon the plunger, filling the syringe with her blood. The scientist gently pulled the now filled needle out and inspected it for a moment before capping the syringe and carefully placing it in a sealed case.
"W-What did you do that for?"
"Hm? Oh sorry, yes I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give you a little insight on what we're doing – it will be most interesting to monitor your reaction as it could have an effect on our experiment."
"Experiment?"
"Oh yes! Now you've obviously heard of shadow pokémon," The man explained as he inspected the puncture wound created by the needle with a grin, "That process is now quite flawless. Even if snagged it now takes a very exact combination of variables to unlock the pokémon's heart – something I doubt that meddlesome David will be able to accomplish this time. Now shadow pokémon are often hard to control due to their nature – even our own Cipher personnel still treat their pokémon as if they have emotion, even subconsciously and this is what confuses the shadow pokémon and makes them wild and unpredictable, obviously harder to control then normal pokémon. What we're aiming to do is to create a new class of trainers who will be able to treat the shadow pokémon as they were meant to be treated, as machines, and we will achieve this feat by using a similar process on human trainers. In a way we will be creating the ultimate of battlers – a 'shadow trainer', if you will. The door to the human's heart will be artificially shut just like the pokémon, but of course it will be a far more difficult process to reverse. The human heart is very complex, thus it will be nearly impossible to revert a 'shadow trainer' back to normal. You, my dear, are going to be the first of this new class of human being – our prototype shadow trainer and you will be given the honour of commanding Kyogre, and Groudon when we finally get a hold of it."
"No! No you can't do that!" May screamed, struggling against the leather restraints with all the strength she could summon, "I won't! I won't!"
"You don't really have a choice," The scientist chuckled as he headed for the door, "You just sit tight – I have to go analyze your genetic structure and adjust my shadow formula accordingly. I'll be back in a few hours. In the meantime might I suggest taking a nap?"
May's screams of protest mingled with the man's laughter as he stepped out of the room and bolted the door shut behind him. She bucked and pulled against the leather straps until her limbs were sore and chaffed to the point of bleeding. Her voice had grown hoarse and after a while she gave up screaming as the tears of frustration cut tracks through the grime on her face.
"Now, now May, no need to work yourself into hysterics. You should really be thanking us, after all one might say we're unlocking your true potential."
"Ardos, let me go; this is insane!" May screeched as the blue haired master criminal entered the room, the lab coat wearing man following closely behind him.
"No, I prefer to call it brilliance," Ardos smirked, "Now then Professor Farren here has analyzed your DNA and created a very special injection for you. It will trigger certain changes in your genetic structure – slowly of course. Shutting the metaphorical door to your heart immediately would most certainly kill you."
May's resolve finally faltered and she let out a small whimper as the needle pierced her skin. A cold sensation washed up her arm as the clear fluid raced along her bloodstream. When it hit her heart, the palpitations were so intense she thought for sure it was going to stop beating altogether, but at last the icy feeling began to recede, leaving her with only a slight chill. Ardos smiled and brushed a lock of sweat dampened hair away from her pale face and she shuddered at his touch.
"There, there that wasn't so bad now was it?" He crooned, "Just one more thing for today – a little implant to keep track of you."
Professor Farren stepped forward again, this time holding a wicked looking metal device. He slipped it over her left wrist and pulled the trigger. There was the sound of a pneumatic mechanistic before a sharp pain shot up her arm. The scientist removed the device and gently dabbed away the blood oozing from the tiny puncture wound before running what looked like a scanner of some sort over her wrist. The softly humming device emitted a soft beep and Farren smiled at Ardos.
"The implant is function perfectly sir."
"Excellent," Ardos murmured as he inspected her wrist, tracing a long pale finger over her flesh again sending a ripple of fear running up May's spine, "You see this monitors your vital signs and gives us your precise location via GPS satellite so no running away for you. Now don't worry, you won't be turning into my perfect machine over night, no, no. That will take quite some time – first we have to weaken your resolve and crush that oh so annoying determination of yours. I find pain to be the most persuasive of my employees – it worked quite well on your pokémon. I must say I haven't seen such a splendid Blaziken in quite some time, but you should see him now! He's quite the weapon. You'll be returned to your cell now – I would rest while you still can May. Tomorrow is going to be far less pleasant."
Island Wolf: Ah finally we're getting towards the meat of the plot. I can tell you now I'm enjoying this far more then the beginning because its more fitting to my style I suppose you might say...plus I'll get to finally use my Biology knowledge :D oh wouldn't Mr. Baker be proud lol