Tragic Kingdom: Act III
Chapter 10: Láppel Duvide
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
There was a bit of commotion outside the jail cells when Brock approached. The guard that had been knocked out before Redman's escape had been revived and was now being tended to by two Nurse Joys. Both of them looked up at Brock, as he passed, and both of them looked away too quickly to not be conspicuous.
Brock heard them mutter to each other in Joyese.
"Ji jao," Brock said to them. Hello. They both jumped and stared at him. He would have loved to taunt them more but he had no time. He had been given James' cell key. The blue haired man was pressed bodily against his bars, his face crumpled with pure fury and despair. His eyes widened when he saw Brock and he let out an animalistic noise of relief. It took some moments before he was able to speak.
"Let me out, please," James croaked. Brock was already turning the key in the lock.
"Is she okay?" James asked as Brock pulled the heavy door open.
"Misty sent Starmie to check on her, but-" Brock's radio crackled to life. Portsy had given it to him to keep in contact with Misty.
"Brock, you there *crackle*?" Misty's voice came through clearly. "Starmie, just got back- Jessie wasn't in her room?"
There was a silence, and then Misty gasped. "Brock, we have a -*crackle* -cking huge problem. Those *crackle* ...she's gone, Brock. They took her."
James was out of the door immediately.
Misty had heard Starmie's report as if through a fog, sound filtered through slowly and garbled, meaning trailed even further behind until she wasn't quite sure she had heard anything at all. It was just too vast for her incredulous mind to comprehend: not only had Jessie been taken from her room right under their noses, but that injustice was gradually taking free reign over her ship. It knocked her, right in her core, and she began to tremble with fury, like a struck gong.
She looked up, Pikachu and Portsy were staring at her from where they stood uncertainly in the ship's control room. Ash, however, was already moving to the door, his face set.
"Ash, wait," Misty said, quietly.
"We have to do something," Ash replied, also shaking with righteous anger. He was just about to open the door when it burst open, revealing a furious James.
"Where is she?" He demanded.
Misty turned to James. "We don't know."
"Fuck it," He breathed, his eyes looking strangely black and inhuman. "Isn't this your damn ship?"
"Watch it-" Ash began, but Misty interrupted.
"We've searched the whole ship. I don't know where they are," Misty said, her eyes were burning. She willed herself not to cry.
"There are no lifeboats missing," Portsy said. "But maybe they used a Pokemon to escape."
"I sent Charizard and Pidgeot out to scan the seas. They don't seem to be out there. There was only a school of Magikarp..." Ash supplied.
"Where the hell could they be?" Brock growled. Nobody spoke. On the monitors, guards swarmed the ship, checking behind doors, and in the corners of boiler rooms and down the length of corridors.
It was about 20 minutes later, that the head of security strode swiftly into the control room. Everyone seemed to unfreeze as if from a tableau: Misty had been watching the monitors, her eyes scanning franticly; Ash had been standing near her, his arm protectively around her shoulders; James had been leaning heavily on the desk in the centre of the control room, his knuckles white and his brow furrowed deep in concentration; Brock, Portsy and Pikachu were keeping an eye on the ship's peripheral cameras, that covered vast, unchanging swathes of blue ocean. Now, everyone turned at once towards the head of security. He was undaunted.
"We have found nothing, Captain...I'm sorry."
From the monitors, they had known she had not been found but still, James let out a whine of depthless pain. Brock immediately went to his side.
"I can't lose her again!" James pushed Brock away, and staggered towards the door.
"James, they found nothing, what can you do?" Brock asked, tears in his own eyes.
"Nothing," James' shoulders heaved as he began to cry. Everyone averted their eyes, curiously afraid to see James in such a state. "I failed her again."
He slowly left the room. Brock moved to follow him. "James-"
"Brock, wait, we've got another problem," Misty said.
"What is it?"
"Your mother in law," Misty said, her eyes flicking to the monitor where the Head Joy was sweeping through the corridors right towards them. Before her ran a terrified looking Joy.
Brock gasped.
Misty turned to him, eyes flashing, "Go deal with it. All of it." He obeyed.
There was another silence, whereby Misty took a deep steadying breath and said, "This is the last measure I can take." She flipped open a hatch on the dashboard, revealing a bright red button.
Persian dashed through the corridors, wondering where everyone was. He found himself becoming disorientated in the endless crossroads of corridors and doors. It didn't help that there was no one around, all the other guests had locked themselves in their rooms. The corridors had also emptied of security personnel.
Persian stopped at a corner, when he heard footsteps approaching. As he listened, he realised it was two sets of footsteps and they were coming from either direction. He waited, and saw James hurtling around the corner. James did not see him, so distracted was he, and abruptly the man vanished into a door in the corridor. It was not a cabin but some kind of storage closet.
Persian cocked his head, confused. James' face had been tear tracked and red. His expression a rictus of agony. The cat pokemon moved to follow him, just as the second set of footsteps rounded the opposite corner.
It was the Joy who had treated him. She was running as fast as she could, glancing over her shoulder, as if she was being pursued. Persian had no time to even wonder about her as suddenly there came the unmistakeable sound of a gunshot from the closet James had just entered.
"Shi-" Persian hissed.
"Misty, you can't," Portsy said.
"I have to," Misty clenched her first. To Ash, she said, "It's slightly illegal which was why...anyway...we don't have much time. I never thought I would have to use this, but here goes..." Misty deliberately pressed the red button. There was a silence and then a loud whine from a siren. Ash and Pikachu looked around in bemusement. The monitors on the walls around the room, most of which had been displaying standard security footage and technical data from around the ship, equipment and the water, blipped onto a new channel. Now every monitor was being utilized to show various security videos from around the ship, several were glowing in warm tones suggesting thermal imaging while others seemed to actively be scanning and identifying the faces of the people moving around the ship - at this stage, all of whom were the remaining security personnel.
But Ash noticed that even as the monitors showed the public areas around the ship, so too, did they show the private guestrooms. Inside the guestrooms, were ofcourse the guests who had no idea they were now being monitored. Ash glanced at Misty.
"It's an emergency measure, I have no choice," She explained quickly, preempting his question. "Right, Virtual Security mode has been initialized."
"What are your commands, Captain?" A deep male voice asked from all around the room.
"Vsec, Perform a ship-wide scan to locate passengers, Jessie, Redman, Mortaguy, Dolly now. If found apprehend. Also, bring up all of their passenger information," Misty instructed.
According to the progress bar that shot across the screen, it took the Vsec 9 seconds to perform the total scan. The message it returned was: "Error. Passengers not found."
There was a silence in the room.
"Rescan," Misty commanded.
"Passengers not found," Vsec repeated.
"It's just not possible," Misty said. "If they haven't left the ship, where are they?"
"They could've dived?" Ash suggested.
"Not possible in these waters, we're too near the Whirl islands..." Misty told him. "Only fools would take that chance."
The monitors all pulsed softly as the computer seemed to reaffirm its findings, but as Misty could herself see there was no sign of the missing passengers.
There was, however, a man running through the corridors, his blue hair whipping behind him as he ran, that Vsec outlined and scanned.
"Suspicious passenger found, autotrack initialized, passenger identified as James, what are your commands, Captain?"
They watched as James turned into a corridor, walking right past a shocked Persian and into a broom cupboard. On a different monitor they saw him entering the broom cupboard and take out his gun.
"What is he doing?" Ash asked, breathlessly, as James raised the gun to his head.
"No!" Misty gasped.
There came the faint sound of a shot that they could hear even from the control room.
Persian burst into the broom closet, toppling several brooms in the process, but he didn't notice, so focused was he on James, who sat on the floor, his eyes wide, and a burn mark streaked across his forehead.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Persian screamed.
"M-m-missed, hand was shaking," James muttered, lifting the gun again.
"Thank Mew above!" Persian swatted the gun out of his hand. It clattered to the floor, skittering away amongst the fallen brooms.
"You fucking idiot, what has possessed you?" Persian demanded.
"They took her, they took her, they took her, they took her," James said, distractedly, over and over.
"Who?"
"Them." James insisted. It did not seem as if he felt the pain of the grazed bullet wound.
"Mortaguy?" Persian said, his voice hitching as he said it. James nodded.
Persian hissed in fury. "We have to get her back!"
"No hope..."
"Don't you fucking say that to me," Persian snarled back, and then drew back his paw. He swiped James deeply across the face, further marring the man's pretty boy features. James took the blow limply, moving back with the force of Persian's paw and slumping where he fell.
"Just kill me," James whispered.
Persian drew himself up to his full extent. "No and I'll tell you why! Have you ever stopped to think? Just once? You know exactly who you're dealing with. This is Team Rocket. Who knows Team Rocket better than us? Who else would be able to find her? We have been preparing for this for years and years. Surely, by now, you should be ready...Surely, you can't still be so weak, so helpless." Persian said, tears flowing freely down his furry cheeks.
James looked at him, bloody and burnt, shaking terribly. The man was still lost behind those eyes.
"You know what they would do, just think," Persian said. "Don't give up on Jessie yet. Please James...Don't give up on all of us."
"...we have to get back to the control room," James said, rising shakily to his feet. "Now."
"I knew I could count on you, Jimbo..."
Misty and Ash turned again to the sound of James and Persian entering the control room, their eyes wide and mouths gaping.
"James!" Misty cried. "Are you alright?"
James ignored her. "There are two possibilities: one, they've left the ship, or two, they're still on it but they've found a way to hide…my bet is on the latter. It might be too late but Twerpette, this is your ship. Are you sure there isn't a place you may have overlooked. A secret trapdoor or hidden room?"
"No, this is my ship-...I- I designed it, I would know," Misty said, haltingly, fighting back her emotion.
"Do you have the blueprints?" James asked.
"Yes, I have a digital version right her-"
"I need the originals, do you have them?"
"Portsy?"
"I can get them for you, Captain." Portsy immediately moved to the cupboards at the back of the control room. He began scratching frantically through the files included there.
"Next, do you have files on all your passengers?" James asked.
"Of course!"
"I need those of Redman and Mortaguy," James said, striding towards the monitors which had now caught his eye.
"Vsec, call up file data on Redman Brone and - Mortaguy," Misty commanded.
The computer hardly processed the request when, "File Access restricted."
"What?"
"Vsec, show me the passenger data of Redman Brone and - Mortaguy," Misty repeated.
"File Access restricted."
"Vsec Captain override," Misty commanded.
The computer beeped again. "The system cannot complete your request."
"They've hacked the system," Misty said slowly. "My security system…"
Ash glanced over at her. The Captain was starting to turn redder, and her fury was starting to manifest in the fire that was igniting in her eyes, the way her hair seemed to be shimmering in the light. She was starting to burn, and he felt a prickle of fear and pride.
James did not look surprised, in fact he looked heartened. "This almost confirms it for me, they're onboard but they've managed to hide themselves."
"And the blueprints will show us where?" Misty asked. "I don't understand."
"I'm assuming your ship was built at the Vermillion City Dockyard?"
Misty looked at him, perplexed, "Yes."
"Persian," James whispered. The cat looked up at him.
"Can you organize a copy of the Vermillion files AQ-Z? Specifically the ones on the Aqua harbour syndicate," James said.
For a moment Persian stared at James, and there was a strange gleam in his eye. Then he nodded. "Right, boss." The cat went to the controls, then glanced at Misty. "Can I use your WiFi?"
Portsy turned back from the cupboards. "I have the blueprints."
He came to the desk in the centre of the room and spread out the broad sheets. James immediately began to fire orders. "Mark out for me the location of each security camera, numbered, in each room on this ship, get your security man in here to show where the search was conducted, I want this blue print double checked against the digital map you have of the ship. Now."
In five minutes, Persian had produced the documents James had requested. James was now bespectacled, and urgently speed-reading through the files that Persian had provided. It did not help that there was a fair amount of blood gushing out of his face. From their police days, Persian and James had wide access to many of the files pertaining to the Vermillion area. Persian had packed the documents in his luggage, as they were too precious to have left unguarded at Brock's mansion when all the staff were away. Ash, Persian and Pikachu sat alongside James, also reading, while Misty and the security chief scoured the ship's blue prints for, what James termed "anything suspicious."
"My theory is that through the small syndicate Aqua, Mortaguy was able to manipulate the construction of the ship. There may be a secret location on board that you are not aware of Misty. We have to find that place."
Everyone buckled down to work. The clock continued to tick.
"Jessie, where are you?" James muttered.
Jessie was in an ocean. She looked around but there was only a shimmering, changing blue. No, she thought she could see something. Somebody else. No, not somebody else…it was a body, a woman, a long watery curl of pink locks, but she was asleep, not drowned but resting. The girl was drifting down into the abyss of the ocean, darker and deeper. Her skin was turning bluer as she sunk. Her eyes were closed.
Jessie watched, longingly, envying the peacefulness of this ocean dreaming girl. How she longed to drown out the sound of the world above. This peaceful ocean girl was quiet, as languorous as her long hair floating on the current. Her hair was so unlike Jessie's own cropped mess.
Jessie swam laboriously closer to the sleeping girl. She tangled her hands in her hair and wound them into pink knots, then she pulled the girl closer. She was not gentle as she shook the girl, the girl who was just like herself, awake. The other girl's face did not twitch, did not even respond to the rough hair tugging and the shaking.
"Wake up!" Jessie screamed, but her voice came out garbled and bubble-like in the water. "Wake up! Wake up!" Swirling white clouds erupted upwards at her cries but the girl did not wake.
Jessie drew her hand back, and it closed into a fist. She closed her eyes as she drove her fist through the girl's cheek. "Wake up NOW!"
The girl's eyes snapped open, and they were glowing and blue like the ocean. Like sunlight piercing through the waves. Jessie barely had time to react. She opened her mouth to scream and the girl, like a torrent, was sucked right into her. She coughed, choking. The girl was gone.
It was now after four a.m. and they had searched the ship to no avail. Despite James' renewed hopefulness they had found very little. For the most part, Aqua was found to be a tiny relatively powerless group whom Mortaguy or Redman would have had few connections to. They had been reportedly more active in the Hoenn region, even before construction on Misty's ship had begun.
The blueprints revealed nothing. After seeing James turn to the window to hide his tears, Misty had excused herself. She sat in the bathroom, staring at the wall. She honestly did not know if she was capable of stopping. There was a soft knock on the door and Ash let himself in.
Ash saw that Misty's face was ashen. He was almost shocked to see her, perhaps because she looked so unlike herself. Her hair was somehow more vivid than usual, or perhaps that was just because she was so pale. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were such a bright painful blue. Ash took a step closer to her, where she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.
"It's all gone to shit," Misty whispered, her pale hand feathering anxiously over her knees. Even through her emotional exhaustion, her eyes were clear and sharp; Ash could see she was thinking hard. She almost seemed to be in a battle, planning her next move. But this wasn't a pokemon battle, this was slightly more complex, a melee. Ash sat down beside her, ghosting his hand across his forehead as if he could touch his old hat and twist it backwards.
"I know…I hope Jessie is alright."
"Who knows…anything could have happened to her…and I couldn't do anything. It's my ship and I couldn't do anything…" Misty whispered.
"It's not hopeless yet," Ash said, touching her arm. "We are going to find her. You're a great Captain, it'll all be alright." He said seriously.
"But every moment that she's missing…I can't help but wonder what they're…if they're…You think too much of me, Ash, really," Misty said, not looking at him.
"I've known you for almost my whole life, Misty, and if not my whole life, I've known you for all the important parts. I know you. You are more than enough," Ash said. "I promise, we'll sort everything out. Everything's gonna be okay. Jessie will be fine. I just know it."
Misty looked up at Ash. He had always been a die hard optimist. No matter what. But how could he say that everything would be okay, when they had made no progress, when the cruise had been ruined, when Jessie could be dead already or worse, when…
Ash gave her his hand. She accepted it, and he pulled her up and into a hug. She collapsed into him, allowed herself to be engulfed by his strong arms and warm body. She allowed herself to take strength from it.
Then she felt it inside of her as if she had shared in the flame that she knew burned inside of Ash. That burning. The indignity. The injustice. Misty looked into Ash's eyes, the strongest person that she knew, and she knew she could not give up. He hadn't yet.
"Ash," Misty whispered, glancing up. "I love you."
Then she left.
Jessie was alone now, under the sea.
She looked upwards. The surface was so far away. She was tired. She kicked her legs feeling weak and helpless. The ocean seemed to bear down on her now, an enemy rather than a friend. It threatened to smother her. The salt was burning her eyes, her lips, her throat. But she gathered herself up, and pushed. The dress billowed out behind her, waterlogged, holding her back, the memories of those days…
I am not who I used to be.
The waves became rough, and they plunged downwards, knocking the air out of her, knocking her down into the darkness. She kicked through them, singlemindedly staring up at the surface, and beyond that the sky, which she knew was there but couldn't see.
She felt herself growing fierce and angry as she fought the storm. She felt her power rising up inside of her. She felt the water starting to burn away around her, turning rapidly into steam and then into nothingness as it was burnt away by her heat.
She did not remember the exact moment that she burst through to the surface. All she remembered was the burning of her lungs, the sound of her heart beating too loud and too fast, and the warmth of the air above. She saw the sky and it was so blue, it hurt to look at. But she looked. And she raised her arms above her, as the waves buoyed her towards the shore, and she wept for the sky and the air and the world.
She crawled ashore. Not tired. Not broken. Not winded. She was clean and new. She was powerful and wise from fighting the waves. She looked back only once. There, the ocean stretched out to infinity, twisting and turning and frothing.
She felt the salty breeze on her face, and the sand gritty against her skin. It burned in the best way. The wind blew against her back, forcing her away from the ocean. She smiled one last time for the moments she had spent in the cold silence of the deep.
She was ready.
James did not look up when Misty swept into the room, her hair almost seeming to blaze with renewed vigour. "9 hours…" James moaned into his crossed arms. "She's been missing for 9 hours."
"I know, James, but I have an idea." Misty said.
The man looked up.
"Why not look for them where we know they are- or rather were and go from there?" Misty said to James, striding past him and going straight to the monitor. "It's slow and it might not work if they've hacked the system but it might just work. First, let's find the last point they were seen on the ship and go from there," Misty said. "Vsec rewind the footage to around 6pm the day before yesterday."
The monitors blinked and changed. Now they showed images of happy dinner goers, bustling corridors and the spinning hems of dancing dresses. The control room flickered brightly, as Misty ordered Vsec to hone in on the dining hall footage. They quickly spotted themselves, standing in similar places in the control room, where they had been watching the storm breaking over the ocean. On the monitor, Sandy, the hotel director came into the room to announce that dinner was ready. Misty felt there was an eeriness in watching herself motion through events that were so recent and yet felt so very far away, especially as she watched Ash and herself on screen, his hand seeming to ghost over the small of her back as they left the room. Elsewhere, Brock was leaving a perplexed Persian waiting in a hallway.
"There!" Ash said. He pointed to a dapper gentleman with a blonde headed daughter. The pair were just exiting their stateroom. They paused briefly, as Dolly seemed to say something to her father. The suave man smiled at his daughter and leaned down. The blonde girl reached up to adjust his bow tie, seemingly chiding him as she did so. They weren't alone for long. A red headed figure approached.
"Redman Brone…" Portsy said quietly.
"Who's that with him?" Ash asked. He was asking about the beautiful, curvy woman who was accompanying Brone. She looked as if she may have been a model in her younger days, with big startling eyes and shining dark hair that fell in waves down her back.
"VSec scan monitor 423," Misty ordered.
"Passengers identified as: Mortaguy, Brone Redman, Delilah Green and Dolly," Vsec dutifully reported.
"Pull up passenger info on Delilah Green."
Misty frowned as a progress bar appeared, and began loading. "Strange," she murmured. "What?"
The computer beeped stubbornly. "File Access restricted."
"So we know this Delilah is an accomplice…interesting…Track their movements from this point until now, can you do that VSec?" Misty said in a strangely quiet voice.
"Tracking," Vsec replied. They followed the group through to dinner, Dolly took Delilah's arm, while Mortaguy and Redman chatted with oily smiles. They arrived at the Water Lily and were seated, with one tubby man who had apparently been waiting for them. The man was staring curiously into space, a cigar coiling smoke from lips ajar, but he started when he saw Mortaguy and Redman and broke out into an unctuous smile. The cigar fell from his lips and they watched as he ducked beneath the table to retrieve it.
Redman, Mortaguy and Delilah all smiled tightly as he reemerged. Dolly touched his shoulder in concern.
"I know that man," James said quietly.
Jessie's eyes were closed. She had only closed them for a moment to block from her sight the faces of Mortaguy and Redman who stood smirking before her. She took her time, savouring the new feelings that were welling up inside her, and then she opened her eyes. The men's smirks had faded.
Hers had not.
"You just couldn't stay away," She said quietly. Her hands were bound behind her. Her legs were too. They had seated her on a chair. She imagined the room they were in was in some secret corner of the ship. It was dark and loud, as if the engines were nearby.
"Well, you and Mortaguy have some unfinished business, I hear," Redman said, looking intrigued at her calm expression.
Jessie laughed. "Of course, we do, don't we, Mortaguy?"
"Has she cracked?" Redman snickered to Mortaguy.
Mortaguy frowned. Jessie could see he was irritated by her attitude. This heartened her. Mortaguy took out a pipe and began filling it, before answering Redman, "She hasn't cracked." He walked over to Jessie and played with a lock of her hair. Suddenly, he raised a hand as if to hit her.
She did not flinch.
He played it off as if he were merely lighting his pipe. It began emitting a foul odour. It was unfortunately a familiar smell for Jessie. "No, she has definitely not cracked. She's just undone all my careful training."
He puffed on his pipe. "You see, she was like this when I got her. Unruly and ill tempered. I spent years trying to instill some discipline and control."
Jessie smiled softly, remembering those years, pretending they were fond memories instead of the nightmare they had been. She would not let him see her pain ever again. She would not let him hurt her ever again.
"You're smiling," Mortaguy said, quietly.
Jessie glanced into his face, as she started to feel her fury building. There was a halo of smoke gathering around him, his grey hair stark against the black, and his cheeks hollow.
"You're quite observant," Jessie muttered under her breath.
"Clearly," He said, grabbing her head and pushing her head down roughly. "My efforts have failed." Jessie lifted her head as soon as he had let it go. She muttered the words under her breath.
Mortaguy slapped her. "What did you say?"
"Fuck you, Mortaguy," She said lowly, and held back the tears and the fear that was threatening to paralyse her. She knew she had to be brave. She felt the ocean rising up around her but she fought free.
Mortaguy considered her statement. She heard the soft swish of tailored clothing. Mortaguy plucked a pokeball from the inner pocket of his jacket. She watched him closely.
Mortaguy released the pokemon within and then strode over to Redman.
Jessie locked eyes with the writhing purple monster that had materialized before her. She had dreamed quite often of seeing this pokemon again. In fact, she had not gone one day without thinking about Arbok. The creature before her was not like the one she had said goodbye to all those years ago. It was the same snake. Her friend, Arbok. But Arbok, like Jessie herself, was a shadow of its former self. It was emaciated and scarred and vicious and mad. It was as if its soul had been wrung right out of it.
Mortaguy was smiling.
Jessie could only see it from the corner of her eye, she could not look away as Arbok locked her into a paralysing glare.
"Redman, old chap," Mortaguy began.
Redman smirked.
"I think it's time we put the bitch down."
Jessie only heard the shot.
When Misty asked for the computer to scan the man's identity, this time, the computer beeped before the file was even requested. "Passenger unknown."
Misty sighed exasperatedly.
"His name is Clyde Whitaker," James informed her. "He doesn't look it - at all - but he's one of Team Rocket's most talented hackers. He was even involved in the development of the Porygon software back in the day. Terrible smoker. He must be doing Brone a favour, Mortaguy is far too insignificant to have anything to do with him."
"Jimmy, I got Whitaker on file," Persian said, sending the file in question whipping across the table towards James, who caught it and showed it to Misty.
"Misty, look," Ash muttered. In the background, as Whitaker had dropped his cigar, Jessie and James had entered the restaurant, only to be quickly whisked away by a maitre' d.
"Right, let's see where they go from here," They fast forwarded hastily, watching the events of the night whirl by. They see Jessie as she spots Mortaguy, her terror, and her subsequent escape from the restaurant. In that moment, James sees that Redman has spotted Jessie. He knows by the way the man has been carefully watching the room, always looking for opportunities to exploit, how his eyes narrow as Jessie leaves the restaurant. How he leans over to whisper in Mortaguy's ear. Mortaguy grins.
Not long after Jessie departs, the party stands and prepares to make it's way to bed. Redman has his arm around Delilah Green, and his hand keeps drifting lower and lower down her back.
Mortaguy takes Dolly back to their room, and puts her to bed, reading her a story, tenderly stroking her hair before turning off the light and returning to Whitaker, Redman and Delilah who have gone to the deck to smoke.
Delilah is leaning against the railing, as Redman pushes himself against her. She is smiling saucily, but her hands are on his chest, keeping him at bay. Whitaker is chuckling uncomfortably. Mortaguy seems to tell Redman off and the man withdraws.
"That bastard," James said, taking his eyes off the screen to glance at Persian who was hastily flipping through the G file.
"Got it, Delilah Vinesse Green, has only one arrest, for fraud, several years ago, and spent time in Vermillion prison. She was actually once known to be romantically connected to Giovanni," He said. "Oh, and she's supposed to be a Fox Pokemon Expert."
Nothing of interest happens after that, except the party continues to smoke late into the night. They have also opened a bottle of champagne, which makes Redman's already red face even redder. His roving hands rove even further until he is slapped by Delilah. Whitaker laughs nervously but Redman grows even redder and more furious. It looks as if he will raise his hand to strike.
Mortaguy calms him down with a few whispered words. The festivity of the evening seems to subside and suddenly there is a seriousness. The group huddles together, and it is quick and subtle, James sees money changing hands from Mortaguy to Whitaker. Afterwards, everyone returns to their separate rooms, but as they go, something seems to glitch out on the computer and they vanish.
She came to; it could only have been moments later. Arbok had lunged towards her but the shot had gone clean through his skull. He had collapsed in a heap at her feet, his purple head heavy against her leg. She could feel a thick liquid, pooling around her. It took her a moment later to realise that it was not just Arbok's blood that was coating the floor. Her foot slowly began to register the pain.
"How was that?" Mortaguy asked her.
She could only look at him. She had no words.
She was also losing consciousness as the blood drained away.
"Shit, I shot her," She heard distantly.
"Well, you pointed a gun at her, what were you expecting to do?"
"Kill the Pokemon, scare her a little. Not shoot her," She could feel rough hands moving over her body. Her leg was moved. The sensation shot through her whole body. She whimpered.
There was a muted gasp.
"That's a beauty...Well, she's not gonna be doing housework for a while," Redman said, and laughed.
"I suggest you stifle your amusement. This is only gonna make it harder for us. Is the ship ready yet?"
Redman snorted. "It's hardly a ship but no, Clyde hasn't gotten back to me," Redman frowned. "He's taking too long for my liking."
"And Delilah?"
"She and Dolly are fine. She just messaged me, they're on the craft. They're waiting for our signal."
"I want to leave now. Dolly must not be left alone for too long," Mortaguy said firmly.
There was some silence as the two men seemed to deliberate something. Jessie fought to keep conscious.
Then he spoke again. "Well, this ruins the fun. There were a few things I had missed about little Jessie here. I guess I'll save them for later...assist me."
She thought they might be dressing her wound, because she heard material tearing. She also heard that tune that Mortaguy loved to hum, as he had always sang when he cleaned her up after he was done with her.
It took her back. The ocean of fear was starting to rise up again. If she could not run, how would she escape? She could not think about it for long. She did not have a plan except to die with dignity. But she knew that Mortaguy had other plans for her.
"Wait, what was that?" Misty attempted to rewind. The group reappeared. But after they go to their separate rooms, they vanish again.
"How?" Misty breathes.
"I think I know the answer to this one," Ash said abruptly. "It's distinctive, see, here and here, those ripples in the air - that's a Zoroark, and I'd say about 3 of them working in tandem."
"A Zoroark?" Misty asked incredulously.
"Delilah is a fox expert, remember," Persian said. "It makes sense."
"That explains why they were unable to be found by security or Vsec, they're basically invisible," Ash said, now thinking hard. "It's not impossible to break a Zoroark's illusion however… I'm not sure I have the right Pokemon with me to try."
"Also take a look here, all of their rooms remain empty after this point in the night, security was given warrant to check every room, were all the guests accounted for?" James asked.
"Yes, everyone except for Redman and Mortaguy," Misty responded, having been debriefed by the security chief.
"So that may imply that Green and Whitaker are still in their rooms but assumed that we would not initially know they were accomplices. They also knew they would not be showing up in our databases, or on our screens because of the illusion. They must be planning the escape route, as it would just be a matter of time before we caught on..." James frowned. "We have to get to them before they escape. If we cut them off, we cut off Mortaguy and Redman."
"I'll go," Ash said, and Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder. "Pika!"
"Me too," James said. Persian moved to stand beside James. "I'm with you forever, buddy."
"Before we go, Misty what do the records say for the guests in Mortaguy's room and Delilah's?" James asked.
Portsy answered, "Mortaguy and Dolly X. For Delilah, it says, Delilah and Molly Green."
"There must be a fourth Zoroark, to pose as Dolly. Which one is real?" Ash asked.
"The one with Delilah, Mortaguy would never compromise her safety," James said.
"If Whitaker is not on the records, which room is his?" Ash asked.
"Isn't it obvious? There are only 4 empty rooms on this entire ship. These three are Delilah's, Redman's and Mortaguy's. That one is Whitaker," Misty said.
"I suggest we get Whitaker first, and then Delilah," James said.
"Ready when you are, boss," Persian purred.
She woke up again, and she was propped up against a wall. Mortaguy was gone. Redman sat directly opposite her on the floor, his long legs stretched out and his arms crossed as he observed her. He smiled openly, perhaps when she seemed visibly perturbed that he'd been there while she was passed out. They were still in the strange, loud room. She looked up, trying her best to avoid eye contact with the leering Redman, and watched a light on the ceiling flickering. This was strange. The ship was new.
"Let me go," She said, still looking up. She didn't feel she needed to look at him.
"Why would I do that?" Redman replied. "Perhaps Mortaguy waited for a little while for this moment, but I've waited years..."
Jessie didn't reply, her gaze had shifted immediately to him, and stayed there unmoving. He loomed now, he became magnified, he was everything she could see.
"What was it you called me, was it 'little man'?" Redman asked, laughing.
Jessie remembered that day, it was the same day they had been fired. She had not forgotten. She recalled having once called Redman a 'little man.' It seemed like a different world, one where she had ever had the gumption to say something like that. She almost laughed. It was unbelieveable.
"I was wrong," She said and she believed it. This is me. "You're not much of a man at all, let alone a little one."
Redman laughed again. "That's what I always liked about you, Jessica. You have a sharp tongue. No man likes a demure woman who takes it on her back." He came closer to her to curl some of her hair around his index finger. "Men like women who fight back a little."
Jessie felt nauseas.
"Don't give me that look," Redman spat at her. "Women like it, too. They like men who take charge." He considered for a while, her hair still in his hands. "Not like your Jame-"
"He's far more of a man than you'll ever be," Jessie said calmly.
"Hm, you say that now. It's because you haven't had a real man yet," Redman said, and he pulled her hair hard. She did not resist and he toppled her over. Her leg felt as if it had been submerged in a fire. She blinked back tears.
"I don't think Mortaguy will mind if I play with his toy a little," Redman said, to himself, as he took out a knife and cut the ropes that bound Jessie's legs.
She fought to keep conscious as her legs began to pulse in pain. She hardly noticed Redman had flipped her onto her back and was now straddling her. She heard the clinking of his belt.
The ocean was dragging her in, and how badly she wanted to dive in.
She struggled, but he was heavy and strong, and he was nudging her leg open with his knee. He had pushed her dress up until it pooled around her hips. Her hands were bound behind her back. She watched through bleary eyes as he began to move her other leg - the bandaged one. She bit back a scream and the world swam.
"You shouldn't have built up my expectations," Jessie managed to say. She could see his erection between the folds of his black boxers. "I'm disappointed."
He growled, "You won't be." He slapped her.
"God, you're tiny. Where is it, Redman?" She murmured, putting her last strength into her words. "I thought you wanted to show me something."
"Fuck you," He growled. She heard him rustling and swearing. Then she felt her face slam against the floor as he hit her again. "Fuck you. Fuck you."
She forced herself to laugh. "Look at you. You're so pathetic."
Stars exploded behind her eyes.
James, Persian, Ash and Pikachu had come to an empty room. It would have been a perfect ruse were it not for the steaming cup of coffee on the table and the laptop that had not yet gone into sleep mode. They had not given Whitaker a second to wait before they had burst into the room.
The laptop was still displaying data, which closely resembled the monitors in the control room.
"He's been monitoring us this whole time," Ash breathed.
"Then we don't have much time before he alerts Mortaguy, and Delilah, we can't let them escape, they'll be our hostages," James said.
"He's in the room now. We just need to destroy Zoroark's illusion," said Ash.
"I've fought one before," Persian said, almost absentmindedly. "The thing is, even if you can't see them, they're still there." Persian had been carefully looking at the shadows in the room, and had identified one that was oddly shaped and oddly placed. He swiped, and his claws connected. Persian held on, and for one brief heartbeat they all saw the huge Zoroark in the room.
There was something particularly eerie about it. Even Ash felt a shiver go down his spine.
Pikachu acted quickly, releasing an electric shock right at the Zoroark. It was merely a paralyzing attack, and Persian was unaffected as he preempted Pikachu's attack and leapt away.
"Nice work, Pikachu, good delivery," Persian said.
Pikachu winked at him.
"You're right, we should've worked together much earlier than this," Persian replied.
The Zoroark fell to the ground. In its arms was Clyde Whitaker, who looked as if he would scream with terror if he could just unlock his jaw.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," James said.
"Pika pika!"
"And the mouse, don't forget," Persian added.
"Clyde, long time no see," James smiled coldly.
"Miss us?" Persian asked.
Redman was standing next to her, clothed. His face was red and he looked furious. Mortaguy was back. She was leaning against the wall again, fully clothed. She knew he hadn't touched her.
"...and so Clyde's been compromised," Mortaguy was saying. "I think we're in a pickle."
"That's an understatement," Redman said, drily.
"They could arrive at any moment," Mortaguy said. "What should we do?"
They wasted no time hauling Clyde to the jail. "I'll stay here to interrogate him," James said to Ash. "You, Persian and Pikachu have to get Delilah and Dolly before it's too late. They've probably already been given warning to hasten their escape."
Ash nodded, and the trio departed.
They raced to Delilah's room. Like Clyde's it was empty, but Persian could not detect Zoroark anywhere. "I can't even smell them," Persian said.
Ash went to the balcony. He returned, windswept and shaking slightly. "That's because they've escaped. They were using...it pains me to say it..."
"Spit it out, Twerp," Persian demanded.
"A magikarp submarine," Ash said solemn faced.
"How do you know?"
"I just saw it sink below the waves, they must have had it waiting, somehow… they scaled the side of the ship, obviously invisible with the help of the Zoroarks..." Ash said.
"I'm starting to hate those foxes," Persian muttered.
"Should we pursue them?"
"How? Pidgeot and Charizard are already searching the seas, I wouldn't know how to get down there...we have Clyde, let's get back to James and see if he knows where Jessie is," Ash said. Pikachu leapt on his shoulder.
"Okay," They left.
"I just have one thing to say: I can't believe those assholes are using our submarine!"
"Do we take the girl?" Redman asked, not even glancing at Jessie.
"Yes, Dolly has been asking for her. We can't leave her," Mortaguy said. "I suggest we get to the deck as soon as we can, and get off the ship."
"How do you suggest we do that?" Redman says. "They've been scouring the ship for us, if we put one foot out-"
"-worse if we stay, they'll find us. It's inevitable." Mortaguy cut him off, and looked thoughtful. "I have to get to Dolly. I don't want her to get worried." Mortaguy added, more as an after thought to himself.
"Misty," The radio crackled to life. It was James. "Clyde blabbed. They're still on board. They're near the engine room, I'm on my way there. There was a secret room built into the ship. Your security crew must have found it during construction but assumed it was an oversight, they installed a camera but it doesn't function on the regular security network. Clyde removed it. Type in {run:= ClydeRules}; and it should link you through to the camera," James rattled off.
Misty immediately began typing frantically.
A new unlisted video display appeared and began fuzzily relaying footage, Misty waited for it to become clear.
"Daddy's on his way, Dolly," Mortaguy murmured into the phone. His back was turned to Jessie and Redman. "Don't worry."
There was a pause as Dolly said something back. "Check your coat pocket," Mortaguy said. "See? I told you...no problem, sweetheart, alright, Daddy has to go... See you later...love you."
Mortaguy put his phone away, taking his time to rejoin their panicked group.
"I just realised something," Redman said. "There's a porthole in this room."
"Elementary, my dear Watson," Mortaguy said, from where he leaned casually against the wall. "Do you want us to climb out?"
"Well, why the hell not?"
"It seems undignified. And stupid. The only Pokemon we have between us that can swim is Rhydon. Not ideal especially so close to the Whirl Islands."
"Fuck, I hate this."
"This is precisely why we should have thought to arrange a back up plan."
"Clyde never fucks up," Redman growled. "Never. What the fuck went wrong?"
"We can't dwell on it, let's just make a break for it, if we have to fight our way out…" Mortaguy said. He started opening the door, then he turned.
"Hey, Redman, what's that noise?" Mortaguy said suddenly.
"What noise?" Redman asked.
"Where's Jessi-?"
"I think we've got them cornered now," Misty said. "They're near the engine room in a concealed door." This was directed to the security chief who was rapidly relaying orders to his men.
"To think they put all their faith in this clown here," Persian said, indicating Clyde who shot him a dirty look from where he was handcuffed. "Let me contact James."
The radio crackled. "James, have you found them yet?" Persian said.
There was a pause as James appeared to deliberate. When the radio blared again, James sounded as if he were running.
"Nearly there…." There was a long pause. "There's blood-oh my-" The radio went dead.
"I'm still waiting for the footage to relay," Misty said, hastily. She began typing haphazardly.
"James?" Persian asked.
Misty's frantic typing filled the silence.
"James?" He asked again. "What the hell?"
"It's worki-oh my," Misty said.
"What-?"
Persian turned around and the sight that met him on the screen was not one he had expected so he blurted, "Oh my."
A/N: Took awhile to write because I moved to Japan this year...so yes, sorry about that! Happy New Year and please enjoy this chapter. Also please leave a review, if you have any thoughts about the chapter! Thank you!
