o0o
She sat back and watched the trio step past the stone gate. Their bickering, thankfully, had ended some time ago. Now they were quite, when they did speak she got the impression that they had gotten serious. That had been the best part of this mission so far.
I wonder if they know what they're looking for, Missy mused as she watched.
Team Rocket's very well informed, I think they should have some kind of idea Mistress, Ninetails replied.
She picked up her cup of tea and took a long drink. The warm and nutty tea was a delightful, but brief retreat. Still, this wasn't something she wished to do often. As she placed the cup down she began to watch the trio intently. It was like a movie of real life, she dived into its fascinations.
They approached the center of the small town. Three stone pillars stood tall ahead of them. They were surrounded and adorned by cute fences and lily flowers, the ambient rays of the waxing moon penetrated the darkness. The trio stopped and stared at the monument of stone ahead of them.
"Jessie," James gently said.
" What's up?" she replied.
" The report from Pierce said that the entrance would be northwest of here," he explained.
" He also said that the mission would be dangerous," she paused as she looked into his eyes. "You're not believing that other report we got?"
James trembled before he replied, " But what if there really are vampires?"
Meowth snickered as he crossed his arms. " It's a bunch of phony-baloney, if there were vampires I think the two of yous would have been eaten already."
They had been informed of the situation, but they didn't believe it. That put them at a great disadvantage. It was just as dangerous as it was amusing. Missy smiled as she set down her drink.
Mistress, it's not very funny, Ninetails dourly pointed out.
She rolled her eyes then replied, It's amusing Ninetails.
" Meowth's got a good point," Jessie said in an attempt to reassure him, but James was not convinced.
" What if they're waiting for us," he suggested.
" Waitin for us," Meowth repeated, he shook his head in disapproval. " No, it was just a hoax from Head Quarters."
" Don't be ridiculous James. Besides even if they were, we'd blast off before they even had the chance to get us," Jessie explained.
Blast off, now that would be amusing, Missy pondered to her companion.
Her attention was drawn back to the screen as Meowth put his paw out. "We'll take it to the stars, Vampires or not, we're Team Rocket, and we didn't come here to lose!"
" We'll burry Team Flare in our dust," Jessie excitedly proclaimed.
James grinned at her. " With Team Rocket blasting off faster than the speed of light."
Together they triumphantly proclaimed, " They should just surrender now because Team Rocket's going to win this fight!"
They're so supportive of one another, their such good friends, Mistress, Ninetails said as she awwed them.
Missy leered on as she watched them. Now if they could only fix their stupidity.
I think that's what makes them such good friends Mistress, Ninetails replied.
She snickered at the remark, then nodded in approval. As she regained her composure, she put her mind back to their task. Missy leaned back and noticed that ninetails had done the same.
Let's see what they can really do, Missy said as she eyed the group.
James took a cell phone like device from his pocket. The screen lite up and projected a map of the town. A red X had been placed on the map in the Northwest.
" That must be the entrance to their hideout," Jessie mused. " I wonder what's inside?"
James tapped on a button and opened a folder. " Says it's not their headquarters but high ranking officials have been spotted in the area."
"Do we have any more information?" Jessie asked.
James's finger shifted around the screen as he searched through the various folders. " We don't have anything."
" Damn," she muttered.
" You know, at least they won't recognize us in these trendy outfits," Meowth said.
Jessie rolled her eyes and replied, " Meowth, this look is quickly going out of style." She crossed her arms and huffed. "Thank goodness, I don't know how much longer I can stand this."
James closed the screen and put the device back into his pocket. "We'll be out of these soon enough."
" Right," Jessie agreed.
The trio picked up their pace as they made their way through town. They passed darkened homes, the residents in a restful slumber, completely unaware of the danger outside of their doors.
They made their way down a darkened path and approached the lonely hills and the boulders that lie ahead. They continued for a bit before they came to a large stone. Not too far ahead of them a pair of guards stood.
It was almost an act of instinct, Jessie and James looked down at the cat.
" Perhaps he-" James started, he abruptly shut up as Meowth smacked them both.
" Oh no you don't, I'm sticking with you two," he said.
Jessie's eyes narrowed at the cat. " That's not what I was going to suggest."
" Missy disappeared she made it look-" James was cut off once more by the cat.
He shook his head no. " I'm not going to just disappear into the twilight zone."
She growled in disapproval. " We'll just carry him in, if they ask we can say he was the source of the disruption."
" I can get on board with that," Meowth agreed.
Jessie beckoned the cat to jump into her arms. He did so with grace and agility. When he slumped it was elegant, he played his part well.
As they moved forward they had grown quiet once more. Calmly, they carried on.
Missy teleported her teacup to its proper place and began to prepare herself. Despite their best efforts, she had already concluded that this charade wouldn't last forever.
She glanced over to her companion and was delighted to see the fox had followed her lead. Together they watched the trio approach the guards.
Two young men dressed in Team Flare attire stood guard at the stone. The group was forced to stop as he shined a torch into their eyes.
" What took you so long?" he asked.
" We got held up by this," James replied as he gestured to Meowth.
The other looked up, then said, "All that commotion was caused by that pokemon?"
Jessie cleared her throat when she spoke it was eminent that she was trying to sound like a guy. " It was caused by a horde of crazed meowth. This was the only one we could get ahold of, the others ran off," she explained.
Missy snickered when Jessie spoke, it was too cute, she had managed to sound like a man. To her amusement, both guards had seemed to buy into the notion.
The guard nodded as he looked at the pokemon. " This isn't a Kalos pokemon, when you return to your station I want a full report from both of you," he ordered.
Jessie and James nodded in agreement, together they said, " Sir."
With those words, he pressed a concealed button. The stone dragged across the dirt as it revealed a doorway.
Without hesitation, they stepped inside. Ahead of them was a set of stairs just past that was a steel door.
James quivered as the stone slid behind them. Jessie, gently leered over to him, it was an unspoken remark.
Together they made their way down the stairs. James stopped short of the door, but Jessie moved past him. Without a second thought she opened the door, James was quick to follow her.
She was deliberate, straight forward, Missy pondered if it would be enough to overcome her short-sightedness. Transfixed by the complex interworkings of this mission she watched with great anticipation.
Ahead of them was a massive room, filled end to end with computers and their rival. Nearly every monitor was occupied.
Missy quickly counted them fifty on the floor. Ahead of them resembled a command post. Two men dressed in the white Team Flare uniform flanked a large man dressed in a red suit. Beyond them was a pillar of wires hung, the start and end were deep in the cavity.
She peered around the room, the occupants were busy. Ahead of the command post, she spied a doorway on the left side of the room. On the opposite side there was a closed door.
James looked over to the doorway before he glanced at Jessie and whispered, "Over there."
Jessie nodded in agreement. Their stride quicked as they made their way to the door. The anxiety they quietly concealed was starting to show.
Missy's thoughts burst into words, " This is just great, their going to give themselves away at the gate."
They were bound to do it at some point Mistress, Ninetails gently replied.
I understand that, I'd rather not fight the entire group, she said with a sigh. Let's see how this plays out.
She gestured at the screen, then took a deep breath. It wasn't an ideal predicament, regardless, she began to prepare for the inevitable.
As they approached the command post it seemed as if the pair would bolt. Surprisingly, they managed to keep their cool.
Their pace slowed as one of the men at helm asked, " Did you find the source of the disruption?"
They froze and turned to him. To their dismay, he had turned to them.
Missy scowled as she looked at him. The color of his skin made her reminisce of the living dead. The red goggles that concealed his eyes did nothing to quell the image.
This stout man, dressed in the ghastliest shade of red. To top it all off it was his hair, a style that made his scalp appear to be split three ways.
" Curse the living dead," she muttered, as she began a search to discover what species this individual was.
Jessie and James did their best to stand tall. " Sir?" they asked.
At least they have their instincts, she said as the computer displayed the results.
Ninetails cocked her head, her brow raised in surprise. What a strange-looking human, Mistress.
She shook her head as she read the results. Whatever, there was a time and place for this conversation, and this wasn't it. She snatched Vivollion's ball and replaced it with emolga's.
" You two have been away for a while?" he inquired.
" We encountered a hoard of crazed meowth, Sir," James explained.
He put his thumb to his goatee and meddled with it for a moment before he asked, " Just a horde of meowth, how strange. This is the only specimen you obtained?"
Jessie swallowed as she cleared her throat, then replied, " Yes Sir."
He gestured the open doorway. " Then take it to the lab, I'm certain the Professor will want to get a good look at it."
" Yes Sir," they said together.
The minute they stepped forward he said, " It's the other way."
There was nothing left to do but wait. The gig was up, the only thing she needed now was an opportunity.
The pair froze, and took a look around. Pairs of red sunglasses stared back at them. All eyes, all ears, transfixed on the trio.
The man let out a laugh, then said, " I thought we might be in trouble."
The duo were whimsically fast. At that moment, Jessie and James somehow managed to change their attire. They threw their disguises to the side.
James took a pokeball from his belt and replied, "Make it double."
Meowth propped his head up and added, "Then it better be triple."
Jessie's eyes narrowed as she snatched a ball. " Nobody steals my line's, it's supposed to go like this." She cackled malevolently, then proudly said, " Prepare for trouble."
" And make double," James followed.
" To protect the -" she stopped short as he threw a ball.
" Probably not from this," he shortly said as the pokeball burst open.
A long lavender and white octopus-like pokemon had manifested on the floor. Malamar, a psychic and dark type was threatening. At its tentacles flailed about, and wide blue eyes narrowed at the team, its hostility showed.
" Psycho cut," he ordered.
Malamar's movements were swift. The pokemon's tentacle burst with purple power as it charged at them. In a leap of faith, Meowth kicked Jessie back as he lept from her arms.
As Jessie was knocked out of the way she cried out," No!"
Meowth tensed up as he prepared to take the attack. Just before the blow she swallowed her pride and teleported the pokemon to safety.
Malamar grunted as it struck the wall. The force of the attack rattled the room. Dust and debris covered the area.
Meowth arrived at her side, and gawked as he took a look around. It was apparent that he had many questions. Frustrated by this implied disruption she closed her arms then firmly said, "No."
" But-"
" No."
Mistress-
No.
Her answer was final, she didn't want this kind of trouble at the moment. Instead, she put the computer to work. With a command, the computer began an attempt to gather data from the operation. She sneered as she watched the diagnostic screen, it had discovered an encrypted firewall.
" Oh my gosh," she growled as she franticly began to implement countermeasures.
" Whoa," Meowth awwed as he watched the screen.
Ninetails yelped at Meowth in a response.
The cat looked back at the fox then said, " Ninetails, says your one of the greatest computer hackers in the world." He leered at Missy then asked, " Wait a minute, I thought you were a scientist?"
Missy took a deep breath and calmed herself before she gave him an answer, "I am many things."
She sighed in frustration as she encountered another roadblock. She made quick work of it and continued the prosses.
As the dust settled and the echo quieted down, Jessie and James looked on in terror. They threw their pokeballs. A pokemon that resembled a gourd that had been carved like a jack-o-lantern, appeared before her.
Ahead of James, a small lavender octopus manifested. The pokemon looked to its companion, she took note that they were both enraged.
Missy kept her cool as she analyzed the gourgeist and inkay. She frowned at the information. There wasn't much to think about they didn't have a chance.
Meowth stepped forward and leered at the screen. " We gonna get out and help them?"
" I'm not going to rush it," Missy replied while entered another code.
" We're not going to let you get away with that!" Jessie shouted. " Gourgeist, send them blasting, shadow ball!"
" Inkay psybeam!" James commanded.
A ray of pink and purple light shot out in front of the small pokemon. A large ball of darkness jetted alongside its attack.
" Psycho cut," their opponent ordered.
Malamar brought it's tentacle forward as it charged with energy. The pokemon lounged itself into the attacks and pressed forward.
" You can't just do that to our friend and expect to get away with it!" James shouted, he made every effort to conceal his true emotions.
Jessie put in the same effort as she added, " We won't let you!"
" Shadow ball!"
" Psybeam!"
Both pokemon growled as they unleashed their attacks. They were more vibrant than before, and packed a punch. Malamar grinned as the energy struck it. The force of the attack was greater than anticipated. The pokemon growled before it crashed into the floor.
"You're not going to help them!" Meowth shouted as he watched the battle.
Missy watched as the injured pokemon staggered up. It shrilled as it stared its opponents down.
Her attention quickly returned to the computer. She watched in horror as she accessed the mainframe. The data was rapidly being deleted, in a bid of desperation, she attempted to snatch what she could.
Her anger grew as the download failed. " Damn it!"
Meowth crossed his arms. "Now can we-" he was cut off by ninetails. The fox yelped briefly then stopped, he looked at the fox than to Missy. " I didn't realize-"
" Realize what? How important that data is, or -" she stopped short, this pokemon could talk to humans. Instead, she took a breath to calm herself. " It's not your fault," she explained as she looked back at the screen.
The pokemon's trainer frowned as chatter filled the room. He looked over to the team then to the men behind him. " This matter is mine and mine alone, only I can be held accountable for this."
Inkay grunted as it stared at their opponents. Gourgeist's eyes narrowed as it let out a snarl. For the moment the battle had paused. Narrowed eyes and judgmental looks came from all parties.
" I get it, but we can still fix this. Lookin at this situation I say we should get out there," Meowth said.
" You not the one who says, let alone gets to tell me what to do," Missy slowly replied.
Meowth turned from the screen and jumped onto her lap. She scoffed with disappointment as the cat leered into her eyes.
She returned the look. "You know not many-"
Missy was taken aback as he interrupted, " Let me outta here, my -"
" They'll be fine," she interjected.
Meowth brought his paw up and reveled a claw. " You can sit in your pretty pokeball fortress all day, but if you don't let me outta here-"
She teleported the cat next to ninetails and said, "Listen."
The trainer reached out and showcased Jesse and James. " I pity my opponents," he announced to the room.
Undeterred they stood firm and ready. The look in their eyes was fierce, like a ticking timebomb. If she revealed herself too soon, it could all go wrong.
A murmur of chatter echoed briefly before he spoke again, " They don't understand the progress they've been made to fight against."
He took a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. A projection appeared past the command post, it displayed a simple blueprint for the exterior of the weapon. Other then the fact that it was now underground, it looked very similar to what it had been before. It was a decoy, what had been projected would provide no answers.
" What you see here is not a so-called doomsday device your team has informed you of," he explained.
Jessie and James sneered, but didn't utter a single word. He looked at the pair then to the ruble. He took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders as he relaxed.
He looked down, perhaps in shame or perhaps as an act of deception. " I see, I don't take kindly to surprises. Surprise me you did, let me start over with an introduction, I am Xerosic, one of the leading scientist for Team Flare."
" I'm one of the scientists involved with the creation of this invention. It is a machine so glorious that, that aging will be a thing of the past, it will resurrect the dead, and dismantle all imperfections, we'll even be able to bring back your friend," he explained with great conviction.
Missy shook her head as she listened to the nonsense. "Lunatics," she muttered.
" Can you imagine a perfect world?" Xerosic asked.
Jessie and James looked at each other before they stared at the ruble. Missy couldn't tell what they were saying, but they whispered to one another briefly.
" Common you numbskulls haven't you figured it out," Meowth nearly shouted.
The duo turned and faced Xerosic. Jessie smirked, huffed, then replied, " We do envision a perfect world."
" That's one where your not in it," James added.
Their pokemon cried out with confidence as they prepared to continue the battle. Xerosic scoffed at the team. " The feeling's mutule," he deadpanned. "Psycho cut!"
Jessie bit her lip as she reached for another pokeball. The ball burst open in her hand. " Counter!"
Wobbuffet cried out as its body was surrounded by a clear, reflective energy. As the pokemon made contact Xerosic and his team fled their post.
" And we're up," Missy said as she stood up.
Malamar shrieked as it was struck back by the energy. The pokemon was launched into its trainers work station. The area shook from the force of the blow, dust and debris filled the room.
Missy wasted no time, she snatched her umbrella and opened it just as she teleported into the chaos. It did a splendid job of keeping the dust away from her, that gave her a huge boost of confidence. She smirked with delight as she tossed emolga's ball into the air. The pokemon squealed with joy as it took to the air.
She drew her screwdriver and made quick work of connecting it to their system. Her screwdrivers yellow crystal shimmered in the dust. Elegant and disruptive, she smirked as she prepared the attack.
" Emolga were hooked up and ready to go." The flying mouse shrilled with excitement as it prepared to attack. " Thunder," she jovially demanded.
A burst of golden energy formed into a mighty bolt of lightning. As the attack unleashed it dispursed into the surrounding computers. She focused on their processing chips, and directed the attack through them. Screams of pain were followed by panicked attempts to dodge the eruptions of sparks.
She smirked as the pokemon landed on her shoulder. She glanced over to the mouse, then uttered, " I could get used to this."
Her victory was short-lived, the dust had started to settle. She turned and accounted for the fallen. So many of them, it was such a short-lived battle. She spied Xerosic and his henchmen sprawled out on the ground near the exit, this was a relief.
She turned and faced Jessie and James, to spite their grievances they gawked at the outcome.
" What?" she asked. "Let me guess Zager would have done it differently."
" What took you so long?" James asked in disbelief.
Jessie stomped her foot and approached her. Her temple had grown visibly larger, almost as if she were going to have an aneurism. "While you've been hiding-" she paused out of anger.
Missy decided to keep things simple, and teleported Meowth and ninetails to her side. The anger and despair melted away as their jaws dropped. She paid little attention as she caressed emolga's neck, as the cat ran over to them.
The trio hugged one another, emolga cried out in joy as they watched. Missy nodded at the pokemon with approval before she returned it to its ball.
Tenderly and jovially Meowth explained what had happened. The cat looked over to her and said, " I didn't think you were gonna help, then you took down the house."
Missy rolled her eyes then replied, " Patience always pays off."
" I don't think we could have done it without her," James said, he was still amazed by what had occurred.
Jessie looked away and scoffed, if she had something to say, Missy felt it would have been out of ignorance.
Missy looked over to James and reached out her hand. "I'll be needing my pokeball back."
Meowth gawked as he looked at the tardis. " That's like no pokeball I've ever seen."
Missy rolled her eyes at the remark. " You'll never be in another one like it."
James eyed the tardis in fascination. " You all were in there?"
" Did you shrink yourself?" Jessie asked.
" Doesn't work like that," she replied as she placed her hand on her hip. And pondered the fastest way past this inconvenience. " Shrinking, no I would never do that get stepped on." She closed her umbrella and sent it back to the tardis. " Teleportation kiddies, that's all I'm going to say. Now can I please have my pokeball back?"
James nodded, then presented her with the ball. " Thank you," she graciously said as she accepted the tardis. Immediately, she placed it back into her jacket.
She could tell that they still had questions she didn't want to answer. With this in mind, she looked over to the laboratory. " Let's get going."
Jesse huffed in outrage. "Who put you in charge?"
"No one, if you want to be in charge do your own assignment, it's that simple," with those words she turned and made her way to the lab.
She was slightly miffed as a second pair of paws, followed by another pair of footsteps. She glanced back and acknowledged Meowth. She growled he had brought a camera it took consideration to keep her tone calm.
" Shouldn't you get on with your assignment?" she asked as she opened the door. She reached in and fished for a light switch.
" This is our assignment," James replied.
She found the switch and the lights illuminated the small room. The room didn't resemble a laboratory in the slightest. She spied the tables, all overloaded with magazines current and old.
Jessie picked up a magazine and scoffed. "Karen Kariden made the cover of PokeGirl Top Model."
" Were supposed be gatherin data," Meowth interjected.
Jessie scoffed as she looked at the cover. " Data, this is an insult to all of modeling."
" Not to mention a complete mess," James added as he looked around the room.
She drowned out their conversation as they began to bicker about the model. As she made her way she studied the magazine covers, they were mostly current, none of them were more than a hundred years past the present year.
As she carried on, her ears picked up on Meowths hastened footsteps." Shouldn't you be with your masters?"
" Masters," Meowth gasped in disbelief as he uttered the word. " No, I'm my own cat."
Ninetails yelped back at him. His glance narrowed at the fox. " That's none of your business."
Curiously Missy asked, What did you ask him?
I asked him why he acts like a person, Mistress, Ninetails replied.
We're all individuals, she replied. That individual is uniquely strange.
It didn't make sense to keep a paper record of mediocre events, there was far too much to keep a record of. The only thing they could have been constructing would be a timeline. Advanced time traveler would have had some record of these events. For such a strange and unknown world even the tardis had data concerning pop culture.
Meowth jumped onto a nearby table and snapped a photo. "Somebody really likes to listen to music."
Missy hummed as she glanced at a magazine for a western movie. She looked away as she shunned her desires. Puzzled, by his observation, she asked, " How do you figure?"
" The scores, don't ask how I know it, but from what I can recall all of these movies had original music," he explained.
She was half tempted to ask but decided against it. She mused as she looked at the piles and made her way through the room. Meowth scurried around and took a few pictures. His startled yelp broke her mental silence.
Missy sighed in annoyance. " Deary, I saved your life today the least you could do is be careful."
Meowth ignored her as he continued to shift through documents. "Look at this."
The pokemon had stumbled into the first stack of many. He peaked up at the first, then looked at the second, then the third. The cat's eyes narrowed in speculation.
" What is it?" James asked, as he and Jessie approached.
" What would they want with all these flyers?" he mused as he shifted through the papers.
She stepped next to him, intrigued by his discovery. She picked up the pastel flyer and looked it over.
Castelia City Classic F.M.
Proudly Presents
Ralph Reed
Live
Friday August 2nd
We here at Castelia City Classic F.M. 98.7 are always proud to play the beloved classics and up and coming composures. We were stoked when asked to host the world wild debut of Enigma. The lastest composition from the whimsical mind of Ralph Reed.
In partnership with the Castillia Symphony Orchestra, The Fleur Music Preservation Foundation, and The World Radio Association are enthralled to present this concert to all lovers of music new and old, to your car or your home, for all of those in Unova and abroad.
The flyer droned on for a bit more, but she had read enough. Fleur, Lysandre was lacking in the creativity department. She glanced over several copies of the flyer, and this deepened her suspicions. Every single one of them had the presentation time changed for various regions and cities.
Missy teleported several copies to her study, she needed to look into the matter further.
Jessie watched her with amazement and the green eyes of jealously. She huffed as she looked away. " You don't have to be a showoff."
Meowth placed the flyer and the floor and snapped a picture of it. " There's nothing wrong with doing things the old fashion way."
James reassuringly smiled at his partner. " Who needs super tech when we've got email."
His attempt to soothe her had failed, Jessie continued to leer at him. Disgruntled by their pettiness, she decided it was time to move on.
" I think we have everything we need from this tinder box," she said as she walked off.
The dissuasion had worked, the rest of the group moved quickly as they join her. She looked out at the room. From what she could tell, nothing had changed. It wouldn't stay that way for much longer.
" Common kids," she said while she stepped over a fallen assailant.
Jessie growled back in frustration. "We're not kids!"
" I'll have you know I'm a completely independent adult," James added.
" You guys are more like overgrown teenagers, " Meowth half-jokingly replied.
Missy scowled as she pressed forward, she rounded the corner and entered the hall. The corridor was well lit and devoid of any sort of entrance or exit. In the distance, she spied another door.
I can't wait for this to be over, she said out of frustration.
They're not the worst of the bunch Mistress, Ninetails replied.
No, their the worst we've dealt with, she dryly replied.
Jessie paced next to her, then proudly said, " Were fashionable, responsible, members to Team Rocket."
Missy wanted to sigh but couldn't bring herself to do it. " You can be whatever you want to be, so let's stop this mindless conversation and find out what's behind door number three."
The group approached the door, unquestioningly, Jessie attempted to open it. James joined her, together they used all of their might and achieved nothing. Missy drew her screwdriver and scanned the area. When she discovered the lock, she disabled it.
The door automatically opened. There was a large thump as they fell to the floor. Jessie looked over to her and growled before she shouted, "Why didn't you do that in the first place?"
She laughed at the question before she replied, " It's called patience."
Jessie growled at her response but she did her best to ignore her emotions. They seemed to fade away as they entered the room at the bottom of the cavity. As they entered door closed itself, a security precaution she presumed.
Jessie, James, and Meowth awwed at the sight. Curious about what had been done she made her way to the control panel.
" What in the world is this," Jessie said as she attempted to gather her bearings.
" We'll find that out later, let's get this on the record," James replied.
She looked up at the hanging wires, there were so many that they would have made a good rope. They wrapped around a dome of glass that encased the weapon. She stepped over to the control panel and looked at the interior. A triangle connected the vacant slots, around them were elegantly carved symbols. they were was almost alchemistic in design.
Ninetails interrupted her observations. Mistress, they started recording.
She drew her screwdriver from her pocket and scanned the area. It informed her that the weapon was missing four components, three of which were the spheres, the last being a key.
" Still needs a key, no surprise there, I've never seen anything like this," she said partially in truth this machine was still foreign to her, but mostly because she had to.
Meowth jumped onto the controls and gawked at what he saw. " Whoa, just wait until the boss gets a look at this."
Ninetails looked up and yelped at the cat, but he paid her no attention. That was her cue, Missy spun around and was confronted by James. He held his phone ahead of him.
" Are you filming this?" she asked.
Before he or anyone else could utter a word, her ears picked up on quiet, careful, and approaching footsteps. She looked over to the door, James had done the same.
"Did you hear that?" James whimpered.
" Shhhh," she whispered.
" We defeated-" Missy threw out her arm and silenced Jessie.
She turned to the camera and aimed with her screwdriver. "Shows over."
James's eyes widened with disbelief as his phone ceased all recording. He might have said something if there hadn't been a bang on the door. It jarred as it began to open.
The Rocket trio gasped in fear. Unswayed, Missy quickly engaged the lock, her screwdriver hummed as the room was sealed. Whoever was on the other side attempted to open the door again.
" Well, this has been fun," Missy sarcastically said as she began to enter coordinates for their escape. She reached out her hand. " Common now we haven't got all day. Take my hand we'll be on our way."
She was unphased as Meowth leaped onto her shoulder. "Common guys, we gotta get outta here."
Hesitantly, Jessie, and James joined her. They steadily took her hand as ninetails leaned into her side.
With the press of a button, the dirt walls infused with crystal and glass. They shimmered as the room began to spin rapidly. The crystals blended into shades of lesser-known colors. As they traveled pigments of blue began to show beyond the green leaves of trees in a forest. They had arrived at their destination.
The trio released themselves immediately. She watched with pleasure as they keeled over. Missy decided to keep the emotion to herself. She checked the vortex manipulator the date was September 13th, 2016.
James fell over his eyes swirled in dizziness. " Looks like Team Rocket's spinning out again."
Missy sighed in annoyance as she took a seat on a nearby tree stump. Oh bother...
Travel sickness had done them in for the moment. There was nothing left to do but wait. Ninetails took her side, together they watched the trio flail and roll on the ground. As the minutes past, they slowly began to come to their senses.
Ninetails crooked her head. I wonder how long they'll be like this Mistress.
Hopefully not much longer, she replied.
Jessie staggered as she attempted to get up. She fell over, then tried once more. Her eyes bulged as she looked at Missy.
" What did you do to us?" she demanded.
Meowth jumped to his feet and rubbed his head. " Looks like we've been out for a while."
" Maybe five minutes," Missy replied.
" Yes, five more minutes," James dozily said as he rolled over.
" We're not stupid!" Jessie shouted while she stomped over to Missy. " There's no way we've been out of it for five minutes! How did we get here? How long have we really been out for?"
Missy frowned as she looked Jessie in the eyes. She wondered how they weren't already aware of the fact that she was a time traveler. She hummed quietly to herself as she decided how to best answer the question.
" Well?" Jessie added.
" Oh right sorry deary," she absentmindedly answered as she teleported her umbrella to her hands.
Jessie stepped back in fright as she did this. Missy's grip tightened around the handle she looked Jessie straight in the eyes. "Didn't your boss ever tell you not to mess with the girl with an umbrella?"
" No, he said to capture ya," Meowth answered while he rubbed his head.
" Other than the reward?" she inquired.
Meowth put a thumb to his chin. "Now that you mention it, he said you were dangerous..." he trailed off in recollection. His eyes grew wide with excitement. " Said, you were a time traveler."
That answer brought her great delight. "Bingo!"
Jessie's gaze softened as she looked at Meowth then back to Missy. " Wait, did we just travel through time?"
" Oi, your only a few hours ahead," she said with sarcastic enthusiasm.
James propped up at the news. It was apparent that he had a request.
"Wait if you're a time traveler-" he began.
Missy didn't want to hear the request. "No."
" But-"
" No, that's my final answer," she said with a huff. "Now look, in a few minutes I'm going to be on my way so I need you all to listen carefully."
Jessie crossed her arms and snorted." Why should we take orders from you?"
Missy smirked, then replied, "Because introductions are important." Jessie still hadn't bought into her request. "How about this, if you don't you won't walk out of their alive."
Jessie sneered, but she was in no position to argue, Missy found herself grateful that her ally had accepted this truth. The group gathered around her and listened as she told them of the events that happened before she arrived.
They were impressed by the fact that she spent a great deal of time with their boss. For whatever reason, this had earned her some veneration with the group. As she explained the details, Missy put great emphasis on the fact that Meowth should do most of the talking.
As she finished filling them in she asked, "Any questions?"
The way they looked back at her made her want to scream. She could tell that they had so many questions. She took a deep breath and calmed herself before she asked, "Pertaining to your part?"
They looked to one another and sighed in disappointment.
James frowned then replied, " I think we can handle this."
Jessie nodded in agreement, Meowth confidently smirked then said, "Just leave it to me."
Do you really think they can pull it off, Mistress? Ninetails worriedly asked.
I think they'll manage to get the job done, she replied.
She entered the coordinates for Team Rocket Headquarters. As she punched in the numbers she entered a quick calculation, and precisely set the vortex manipulator to follow behind her exit. She was confident in her abilities, but was bothered by how quite the group ahead of her was.
She glanced up at them, then gave them her full attention. The trio were amazed, either by her skill or device, she disregarded it as human fascination.
Ninetails pressed up against her leg. Just before she pressed the travel button to go she bid them farewell, "So long."
With the push of a button, the leaves on the trees meshed with the sky. In a blue blur time-shifted in the shadows, before darkness surrounded them. The air became stagnant before it blew away in the winds of time. Her travel was short, in an instant and a flash of bright light they arrived at their destination.
Giovanni winced as the light faded. "You're on time."
" Just as I said, safe and sound," she replied.
Missy took a seat and looked back at the screen, Jessie, James and Meowth were still on the line. Their eyes widened with amazement when they saw her.
" What? Said I was on my way back," she explained as she reclaimed her seat. She looked up to the trio and said, "It's good to see that you pulled it off."
" Right," Meowth said.
Giovanni nodded in agreement. "Is there anything else to report?"
" That's everything sir," Jessie reported.
" Hold your post and wait on further instructions," Giovanni ordered.
They all saluted and said, " Sir."
Giovanni pressed a button on the remote and ended the transmission. His fingers swiveled across persian's head while he asked, "Did the tardis manage to get any of their data?"
Missy leaned back into her chair. "No they wiped their hard drives, but I managed to snatch this."
She focused on the flyers, then teleported it to his desk. Giovanni pressed a button and the lighting in his office returned to normal. He picked up the pieces of paper and looked them over. "Jessie and James sent me a picture of the same flyer, the time zone was Galarian."
He set the paper down and took a drink of his coffee. "My people are researching the matter."
Missy hummed at the news. " I'd say he's up to something, but I think we're beyond that." She took a deep breath and held in a yawn. Her day had become ridiculously long. " The Fleur Music Preservation Foundation is a sponsor, I don't think Lysandre's any good at the name game," she abruptly explained.
Perhaps he wants us to find him Mistress, Ninetails suggested.
He wants us to crash his parties, she replied. No, I don't think it's intentional.
Giovanni set the flyer down and took a sip of coffee. " Perhaps, he's made himself easy to track through history."
" No, the groups he keeps in his company are very public, I think he likes the attention, and I think he's just as aware of how time works," she explained as she recalled her previous encounters.
" He knows we can alter the course?" Giovanni inquired.
" I think he's certain of it, the Professor has to be knowledgeable, they wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise," she attempted to explain.
" Penrose," Giovanni inquired.
She smirked while she leered at him, for a man with so much interest in science she was bemused by his lack of insight. She did her best to hide her emotion as she began to explain the science, " The Penrose Process..." she trailed off as she thought of the best way to describe the science.
Technically it was named after the physicist who thought of the theory, she couldn't blame him for his lack of knowledge. "Penrose Process is a theory about the extraction of energy from the edge of a black hole."
Why didn't you say anything Mistress? Ninetails asked.
He likes to study ninetails, I just thought he knew, she lazily answered.
He had another sip of his coffee as he took in the information. "It's the perfect name for a former Team Galactic member." He set down his cup and asked, "Is it possible?"
Missy quickly pondered over an acceptable answer. " There's a lot of generators extracting that kind energy, but you're a long way from that."
The answer was sufficient enough, Giovanni smiled. " The worlds of tomorrow," he hummed.
She waited patiently for another question, thankfully, this subject wouldn't be lingered on.
Instead, Giovanni had regained his focus. "She's just as good as you are. Well then, I think we should delve deeper into these matters."
" I'm all for that," she quickly agreed.
" Then again, it could be a trap," he suggested.
" Could be, I think the benefits outweigh the risk," she replied.
" I can agree with that," he quietly said.
Missy got the impression that he was also hiding his fatigue. " Well, when do you want to want to go see the show?"
" I think we should head out in the morning, ten AM?" he quickly replied.
She wanted to let out a sigh of relief but didn't want to expose the fact that she was exhausted. Instead, she nodded in agreement. "That works for me."
" If you can fish up any data on the concert that would greatly be appreciated," he requested.
Missy looked back, in an attempt to hide her confusion. " I can't guarantee my data will be different, but sure, I'll look into it."
He gave a nod then leered over in thought. It hit her like a bolt of lightning, the schematics to talk to the pokemon. There were too many factors involved. The last thing she needed was the team having access to that.
In a bid to buy herself more time she asked, " You look tired? That's a change."
He grinned as he leaned back into his chair. "I'm only human."
" Right, I have my limits too, I should be off," she said as she got up.
" Then I'll see you tomorrow," he replied.
As she walked to the door she calmly replied, " See you then."
She and ninetails strolled out of his office and into the hallway. She had managed to deter his prying for now, but she would need a solution soon. She didn't want to overthink it, she rather not bother with anything at all. As she made her way to the elevator she ignored the curious glances from the office works.
You both looked exhausted Mistress, Ninetails said with a yawn.
You don't look so chipper yourself, Missy replied.
She tapped the button for B-5 with the end of her umbrella. Ignored the jolt that marked their departure.
The fox yawned again. It's been a long day Mistress.
After a moment, the elevator doors opened. The hallway ahead was vacant. It was quite, it was nice not running into anyone.
Very long day, they're only going to get longer from here on out, she replied as she entered the hallway.
She shunned the thought, truthfully she felt her tiredness had derived from a very long day. As she entered her lab and set the tardis down to transform. When it did, she didn't bother to enter through the door. She just teleported them inside, and prepared for a much-needed nap.
Authors Notes: It's good to be back. I've been away for a while, had a lot of personal things going on. My struggle isn't over, that doesn't mean I have to give up. With things the way they are, I hope this story brings you joy.
Please leave a review, I'd love to hear your thought, ideas, theories, really just anything. Take care, and stay safe out there.