"Jessie's out of control," She whispered into James' ear. "You shouldn't stay with her."
"But I feel like I'm the only one she can turn to, other than you ..."
"That's over now, James," Cassidy pulled back slightly. A moment went by, but too quick to let her actually think. She leaned forward to James, thinking only of one thing ...
The kiss.
Time couldn't pull them apart, until finally James pulled back, his eyes wide in surprise. Cassidy shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts about what happened, but she was suddenly grabbed by her shoulder and spun around angriliy.
Jessie.
"Cassidy, what the heck do you think you're doing?!" Jessie screamed.
"Jessie! I was ... I mean ..."
"We'll settle this back at the dorms," Jessie said, grabbing Cassidy by one of pigtails and begining to drag her off towards the dorm room. Cassidy could feel herself getting angrier ... especially from the laughter coming in Bianca's direction.
***
"I can't believe you ... I can't believe you!" Jessie paced back and forth, barely able to control her anger, as Cassidy sat on her bed, her arms folded across her chest.
"Well, Jessie, you weren't exactly treating him good tonight," Cassidy snapped. "Or myself for that matter."
"Is that it? You just want me to cling on you all day and night? Cassidy, you're not my only friend! And I was coming back to James."
"You were not. You were off doing who knows what with Bianca."
"She's more exciting than you are, little miss 'Let's Go Bowling' brat!"
"You can't just treat your friends like this!" Cassidy screamed. "You can't just use them when you need to, then throw them away!"
"But you don't cheat on your friends and kiss the guy they like!"
Something inside both of them suddenly snapped.
"You're just jealous," Jessie sneered. "Jealous that I'm beautiful, that I have a guy ... and all you have are your little pigtails!"
"Oh yeah? Well ... I'm glad I kissed James!"
"You're WHAT?!" Jessie leaned over and slapped Cassidy square across the face. "You're like a little weed! A little, controling, bratty, vicious weed!"
"Well at least I don't smoke it!"
"Shut up!" Jessie slapped Cassidy again.
"That's it," Cassidy turned right around and slapped Jessie back. Jessie gave her a cold look, then grabbed her jacket and walked towards the door.
"From now on, we're no longer friends."
"Fine with me," Cassidy said smugly.
"Great. Goodbye."
Jessie walked out, and slammed the door.
***
Jessie switched dorms, and Cassidy had a room to herself. The night before exams, she and James went out to a club all night.
And the rest ... history.
~*~*~*~*~
Greed
Cassidy shuddered at the memory, placing the brochure back into the box. It had been her fault, she knew. But there was nothing to do about it anymore.
Shaking the thought out of her head, she reached into the box again and pulled out another picture, a picture of herself and Butch a few months after they joined Team Rocket. She grinned from ear to ear - a much happier memory than the one before. Her mind drifted back to that first day...
***
Cassidy was fresh out of Pokemon Tech, but her mind was set much differently than how it had been when she first enrolled. She was greedy; greedy for power, greedy for money ... and greedy for friendship.
She had been merely taking a walk in a park, when she heard a whisper behind her.
"Psst ... hey you ..."
She turned around and looked into the bushes curiously.
"Hey," A masked face appeared between the shrubbry, and smiled sinisterly. "Are you interested in joining Team Rocket?"
Cassidy paused. She'd heard of this notorious gang often in her classes, and always wondered if they were really as bad as they were described.
"Yeah, sure," She grinned, proud of her new attitude.
"Great, follow me."
***
"Good work," The voice came from the shadows, as a Persian curled up in the corner, eyeing Cassidy suspiciously. "And you, girl ... what's your name?"
"Cassidy."
"And you're interested in joining our team?"
"Yes."
"Wonderful. And what perfect timing ... we have just the partner for you."
A finger reached out from the shadows, and pressed a button on a small intercom sitting on his desk. Cassidy reached around and tugged on her pigtails like she always did when she was nervous.
"Roxanne? Send in the new member."
A few minutes later, a boy just Cassidy's age with teal colored hair and beautiful eyes stuck his head into the door.
"You called, boss?"
Cassidy jumped back a bit. What was wrong with his voice? He sounded like he had swallowed a frog ... but at least his looks made up for that.
"Butch? You said you were looking for a partner?"
"Yeah," The boy said, finally looking over at Cassidy. He paused a moment, then flashed her a friendly smile.
"Very good," The shadows chuckled. "Butch, I would like you to meet Cassidy. You two will be partners now, until further notice."
"Cool," Butch said casually, nodding at Cassidy. "C'mon, let's go."
Cassidy followed him, letting the door shut behind her, and letting out a sigh she had been holding in for ages.
"Talk about nerve racking, huh?" Butch grinned. "Don't be so nervous, everything will work out. They're always despirate for new members here. Oh, I'm sorry ... my name's Butch."
"I'm Cassidy," Cassidy said quietly, then laughed. "Sorry, it's just that we sound like something out of an old western movie ... Butch and Cassidy. Butch Cassidy."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Butch laughed. "So, where're you from?"
"Well, I just graduated from Pokemon Tech."
"Pokemon Tech? Isn't that the really high quality school?"
"I guess you could say that," Cassidy shrugged. "Anyway, I don't really have any Pokemon or anything ..."
"Neither do I. They'll give them to us."
"Good," Cassidy let out another sigh of relief. As she was walking behind Butch, she ran her hand through her hair, then straightened out her blue tank.
"So, why'd you join Team Rocket?"
"Just wanted to do something," Cassidy said. "I've always wanted fame, fortune ..."
"Well I wish you the best of luck," Butch looked back and smiled again.
An *adorable* smile.
"All we have to do is fill out a few forms, pick out our uniforms, and then we're good to go," Butch said, opening a door, then holding it open as Cassidy walked through. "It doesn't sound too hard ... at least, I hope it won't be ... by the way, cute hair."
"Oh, thanks," Cassidy tugged on her pigtails again. "People always told me that they looked stupid and babyish ... I don't know, I always liked them."
"Babyish? I think they look cute on you," Butch flashed her another one of those knock-out smiles, and Cassidy felt her knees shake.
"Butch? Cassidy?" The lady who sat behind the large desk lowered her eyeglasses to look at them. "A little young ... but you'll do. Here are the forms for you to fill out."
Cassidy took the forms and filled them out quickly. Ironically, she and Butch finished at the exact same time.
"Very good," The lady looked the over casually, then tossed them aside. "Here are your uniforms and your Pokeball ... go out and start stealing, have a nice day."
"She sounds excited," Butch muttered, taking his uniform.
"I'll be right back ... I want to try it on," Cassidy grinned, then rushed out the door.
***
"Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Cassidy stepped out in her new, black Team Rocket uniform. Butch looked at her with a grin, showing off his uniform that matched her own.
"We match perfectly!" Cassidy said happily. "And such a great color too!"
"Black?"
"Sure!"
"I guess you're right ... hey, what about this?" Butch held up a Pokeball, then tossed it on the floor.
"Raticate!"
"A Raticate?" Cassidy looked at the rat with disgust.
"We'll train him good," Butch said. "You wait ... we'll be the best, highest ranked team there is."
"They rank teams? Who's the highest ranked team right now?"
"I don't know ... they're up on that wall though," Butch pointed to a bulletin board on the wall, where several long sheets of paper were pinned. Cassidy immediately ran over to look at the teams ... then gasped.
"What is it?" Butch stood behind her, looking at the list.
"Jessie and James," Cassidy read the names of the highest ranked team with sheer hatred.
"You know them?"
"Not anymore," Cassidy grumbled. "I should've known Jessie would lead James to joining Team Rocket ... at least she's perfect for the job."
"So you're enemies?"
"Bitter enemies," Cassidy corrected him. "And I wouldn't care if I never saw her face again for the rest of my life."
"But with both of you in Team Rocket, that'll be pretty hard, don't you think? Maybe you should just ... resolve your argument?"
"Resolve it? I didn't do anything wrong," Cassidy said in a huff.
"Okay," Butch sighed. "How about we go get lunch, and plan what we're going to do?"
"That sounds great," Cassidy smiled sincerely.
"You know ..." Butch smiled at Cassidy. "I think I'm really going to enjoy having you as a partner ... you have the cutest smile ..."
"Your's is adorable," Cassidy replied softly, fingering a lock of her hair. Butch laughed softly, then took her arm.
"Let's go!"
~*~*~*~*~
Pleads
Her mind drifted again, to her last mission. What a misfotune.
She couldn't believe what she had almost done the other night. Her hand began to shake again, the thought of the tiny revolver sitting in it. She bit her lip nervously, staring at the wall, the memories flooding her head ....
***
"Do you really think this place will have an Articuno?" Cassidy asked.
"Well, if the boss is right ..." Butch sighed, as they both looked up at the Pokemon Center. "It's supposed to be a pretty offbeat center ... they might have all sorts of rare Pokemon."
"Then we'll have to check it out," Cassidy said. "And maybe this time we won't get arrested ... again ..."
"As long as Jessie and James don't ruin our plan."
"Right," Cassidy rolled her eyes. "But you remember what Giovanni said ... if they show their face, we get to turn them in! They'll get fired for sure!"
Cassidy burst out laughing, as Butch looked to the ground nervously.
"Butch?" Cassidy stopped laughing. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Giovanni ... he sort of changed his orders."
"What is it?" Cassidy's face dropped.
"He said that if Jessie and James ruin our plan, then we have to ..."
Butch shook his head, then reached into his bag. Cassidy gasped as he pulled out a revolver, and placed it into her hands.
"Orders are orders," She bit her lip, staring at the revolver.
"Well, they're probably miles and miles away from here. Let's go hold this place up, and get us some rare Pokemon!" Butch grinned, then grabbed Cassidy's arm, dragging her to the Pokemon Center.
***
"We'll just find those twerps again ... we can beat them!" Jessie said detereminedly.
"How could you beat them Your Arbok and Lickitung are beat," Meowth said, sighing. "They need a checkup, and fast."
"So does Weezing," James added.
"Alright ... a minor setback, but once we get them well, we'll beat the twerps!"
"How are you supposed to do that? Did you forget that you're a member of a gang of theives? Like some Pokemon Center will welcome you with open arms!" Meowth laughed. His laughter stopped abruptly with a kick in the head.
"Just let me think," Jessie said, then after a few moments of silence, grinned. "I've got it! There's a little rundown Pokemon Center not too far from here ... all we have to do is do a nice, clean holdup of the place, grab medicine, escape, treat out Pokemon, and we're home free!"
"Sounds genious!" James said, grasping her hand happily.
"Whatever yous two want to do," Meowth rolled his eyes. "Let's get going, then."
***
"I'm telling you, we have no Articuno!" Nurse Joy argued as Cassidy tied a rope around her tighter.
"If you won't tell us, we'll have to find it ourselves," She laughed, as Butch pulled a gag around her mouth. "Let's search the halls and all the rooms; that bird's got to be here somewhere!"
"I hope this all isn't for nothing," Butch said, then pulled out his revolver. Cassidy sighed and pulled out her own, just in case.
"It won't be. Besides, with only Nurse Joy here, it'll take her forever to get out of those ropes, and once she does, we'll be long gone," Cassidy reassured her partner.
"I guess you're right," Butch said. "Let's go then--"
He was interrupted by a window shattering behind them.
"What the ..." Cassidy whipped around, only to stare into a pair of icy blue eyes.
"You!" Jessie sneered with disgust. "I should've known you'd be here, taking everything all for yourself."
"And I knew you'd ruin our plan somehow, and get us arrested!"
"Jail's where you belong!"
"You belong someplace worse," Cassidy snapped.
Then she remembered what she held in her hand.
"Take one more step and I'll blow your head off," She threatened, pointing the revolver straight at Jessie. "I'm under strict orders to kill any two imbeciles who decide to interrupt our plan!"
"Haha, that doesn't include me!" Meowth laughed, but stopped as Cassidy pointed the revolver at him.
"Make that three imbeciles," She said angrily.
"You wouldn't dare to kill me," Jessie snickered.
"Wanna bet?" Cassidy grinned. "Butch, get me that rope."
Butch didn't say anything, just handed her the rope, as Cassidy gave the revolver over to him.
"I'll tie them up. You just shoot if they try anything."
Jessie followed Cassidy with her eyes and she tied the rope around herself and James, taking care to tie it up as tight as she possibly could. She then picked up a furious Meowth by its tail and held him up in the air.
"Little fleabag," She said with disgust.
"Rat with pigtails!" Meowth snapped back, trying furiously to swipe at her. She laughed, then pulled out a Pokeball, to which Meowth replied with a gasp of surprise.
"Been awhile, hasn't it Meowth?" Cassidy said, then opened the Pokeball up, capturing Meowth inside. "Looks like I've got a Meowth now."
"You let him go!" Jessie screamed, but Cassidy merely dropped the Pokeball inside her bag.
"Orders are order," Cassidy turned to Butch and shrugged. "Let's take them to one of the back rooms. We'll decide what to do from there."
***
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Butch asked.
"Of course. It's all a part of being a criminal," Cassidy smiled, then took hold of her revolver. "You go find the Articuno, and I'll take care of busines here."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Cassidy pushed him out the door, then shut it behind him. She turned with a grin to face her two captives.
"Having fun, Cassidy?" Jessie spat, a look of pure hatred on her face.
"Oh, lots of fun," Cassidy leaned back against the wall, fingering the gun carefully. "What a pretty instrument, don't you think? The last instrument I had was in sixth grade. That nice, shiny flute. You remember that flute?"
"Yeah, you let a dog tear it up. You were stupid, even back then."
"The dog took it from my hand," Cassidy glared at her, then looked back down at the gun. "I think this gun is much shinier than that old flute, don't you? Maybe you want to see it up close?"
"That's okay, I'll pass."
"You'll be seeing it soon enough," Cassidy smiled strangely. "I have complete and total control over you. Complete and total control."
"How exciting."
"Quit it with the sarcasm," Cassidy snapped. "I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out who to kill first, you or James ..."
"You kill James? Over my dead body."
"Thank you Jessie, that's exactly what I'll do," Cassidy said. "Or better yet, I'll kill him first at let you suffer for a while. How would you like that?"
"Don't you dare."
"Pure, sweet torture," Cassidy held the revolver, pointed at James. His jade eyes flashed pure terror, as his hand reached for Jessie's.
"You're lucky I let you go that night, Cassidy. I could've easily killed you."
"Yeah, right," Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Still bringing that incident up, are you? It was all your fault in the first place."
"You were just jealous of me."
"Jealous? I don't think so. You shouldn't have been mad anyway. It was all your fault."
"It wasn't Jessie's fault," James spoke quietly. Cassidy spun around a pointed the gun at his head.
"Did I ask for your opinion? I didn't think so. Stay our of arguments that don't concern you."
"It does concern me," James spoke up again, this time more loudly. "We were at the dance, and Jessie was outside, and you and I were dancing, and ..."
Cassidy squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out, but went wild and hit the wall, clunking dead to the floor.
"I've got two more bullets left," She said, pointing the revolver back at Jessie. "Two bullets for two imbeciles. Perfect. Any last words, Jessie?"
"I hope you rot in heck."
"I'll be seeing you there," Cassidy smiled smugly. "How about you James? Anything you and Jessie would like to say to each other?"
"Jessie, I ..."
"James, let me tell you something. This little witch here is about to kill us, so I want to let you know something. Even though I've beaten up on you, yelled at you, even betrayed you ... I've always loved you. Not only as a friend, but as ..." Jessie paused.
"I know, Jess. I feel the same way," James said quietly.
"If I wasn't tied up, I'd kiss you," Jessie said, glaring up at Cassidy evily.
"Don't look at me, I'm not about to untie you."
"Anyway, James, I just want you to know that I'll always love you no matter what, and wherever we end up after this ... I pray we'll be together."
"We will be, Jess," James squeezed her hand. "We'll always be together. Double trouble forever."
"This is too sweet," Cassidy rolled her eyes and sneered. "Are you through yet?"
"Yes, you cruel, uncaring, heartless little beast."
"Wonderful." Cassidy pointed the revolver at James.
"Goodbye, Jessica," James said quietly, slipping a rose into her hand.
Cassidy squeezed the trigger.
Unfortunately for her, though ... shot again went wild.
"Darnit!" Cassidy cursed at the gun. "Now I only have one bullet left!"
"Too bad," Jessie rolled her eyes, squeezing James' shaking hand again to let him know she was there.
"I get to choose who I want to kill now," Cassidy said, whipping around.
"I wonder who you'll choose."
"Will it be Jessie?" Cassidy pointed the revolver at Jessie, then pointed it at James. "Or James?"
"It'll be me, Cassidy. Just go ahead and say it," Jessie said, her face unreadable.
"Maybe you're right."
"I know I'm right. You hate me. All the years I was growing up, whenever something happened, I would always call you. You would have me over, and we would talk. You could always cheer me up."
Cassidy lowered her revolver slightly.
"You gave me Ekans. We went to school together. I could always trust you, even when I went through my wild stage, I still had full trust in you ... I guess it didn't seem that evidant at times, but I did."
She lowered the revolver again.
"But you betrayed me, Cassidy. Betrayed my trust, shattered my world. I couldn't believe it."
Cassidy's hands began to shake, as the gun fell to the floor.
"Of all the people in the world, Cassidy, I trusted you the most. And you betrayed me."
"Would you just shut up!" Cassidy screamed, violently wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I thought we would always be friends," Jessie glared at her. "But your jealousy ruined that. You could've told me, Cassidy. You could've talked to me."
"I tried, I tried!" Cassidy screamed again, turning her back to them, resting her arms on the wall in front of her, and burying her face to hide the tears.
"It's all coming back, isn't it? That revolver's right by your feet, Cassidy. Just pick it up, aim, and shoot. I'll be dead."
"Just shut up!" Cassidy sobbed, marching over to them and untying the ropes.
"I thought I could trust you," Jessie said coldly, still glaring at her.
"Why won't you shut up?!" Cassidy threw the ropes to the ground and pointed to the door. "Look, just go! Now! I don't want to see your face again!"
Cassidy threw herself against the wall again, her back heaving with her sobs. A tiny Pokeball dropped to the floor, containing Meowth, and Jessie picked it up carefully.
"Come on, James," Jessie said, staring at Cassidy. "You heard her. Let's go."
"But I feel like I'm the only one she can turn to, other than you ..."
"That's over now, James," Cassidy pulled back slightly. A moment went by, but too quick to let her actually think. She leaned forward to James, thinking only of one thing ...
The kiss.
Time couldn't pull them apart, until finally James pulled back, his eyes wide in surprise. Cassidy shook her head, trying to collect her thoughts about what happened, but she was suddenly grabbed by her shoulder and spun around angriliy.
Jessie.
"Cassidy, what the heck do you think you're doing?!" Jessie screamed.
"Jessie! I was ... I mean ..."
"We'll settle this back at the dorms," Jessie said, grabbing Cassidy by one of pigtails and begining to drag her off towards the dorm room. Cassidy could feel herself getting angrier ... especially from the laughter coming in Bianca's direction.
***
"I can't believe you ... I can't believe you!" Jessie paced back and forth, barely able to control her anger, as Cassidy sat on her bed, her arms folded across her chest.
"Well, Jessie, you weren't exactly treating him good tonight," Cassidy snapped. "Or myself for that matter."
"Is that it? You just want me to cling on you all day and night? Cassidy, you're not my only friend! And I was coming back to James."
"You were not. You were off doing who knows what with Bianca."
"She's more exciting than you are, little miss 'Let's Go Bowling' brat!"
"You can't just treat your friends like this!" Cassidy screamed. "You can't just use them when you need to, then throw them away!"
"But you don't cheat on your friends and kiss the guy they like!"
Something inside both of them suddenly snapped.
"You're just jealous," Jessie sneered. "Jealous that I'm beautiful, that I have a guy ... and all you have are your little pigtails!"
"Oh yeah? Well ... I'm glad I kissed James!"
"You're WHAT?!" Jessie leaned over and slapped Cassidy square across the face. "You're like a little weed! A little, controling, bratty, vicious weed!"
"Well at least I don't smoke it!"
"Shut up!" Jessie slapped Cassidy again.
"That's it," Cassidy turned right around and slapped Jessie back. Jessie gave her a cold look, then grabbed her jacket and walked towards the door.
"From now on, we're no longer friends."
"Fine with me," Cassidy said smugly.
"Great. Goodbye."
Jessie walked out, and slammed the door.
***
Jessie switched dorms, and Cassidy had a room to herself. The night before exams, she and James went out to a club all night.
And the rest ... history.
~*~*~*~*~
Greed
Cassidy shuddered at the memory, placing the brochure back into the box. It had been her fault, she knew. But there was nothing to do about it anymore.
Shaking the thought out of her head, she reached into the box again and pulled out another picture, a picture of herself and Butch a few months after they joined Team Rocket. She grinned from ear to ear - a much happier memory than the one before. Her mind drifted back to that first day...
***
Cassidy was fresh out of Pokemon Tech, but her mind was set much differently than how it had been when she first enrolled. She was greedy; greedy for power, greedy for money ... and greedy for friendship.
She had been merely taking a walk in a park, when she heard a whisper behind her.
"Psst ... hey you ..."
She turned around and looked into the bushes curiously.
"Hey," A masked face appeared between the shrubbry, and smiled sinisterly. "Are you interested in joining Team Rocket?"
Cassidy paused. She'd heard of this notorious gang often in her classes, and always wondered if they were really as bad as they were described.
"Yeah, sure," She grinned, proud of her new attitude.
"Great, follow me."
***
"Good work," The voice came from the shadows, as a Persian curled up in the corner, eyeing Cassidy suspiciously. "And you, girl ... what's your name?"
"Cassidy."
"And you're interested in joining our team?"
"Yes."
"Wonderful. And what perfect timing ... we have just the partner for you."
A finger reached out from the shadows, and pressed a button on a small intercom sitting on his desk. Cassidy reached around and tugged on her pigtails like she always did when she was nervous.
"Roxanne? Send in the new member."
A few minutes later, a boy just Cassidy's age with teal colored hair and beautiful eyes stuck his head into the door.
"You called, boss?"
Cassidy jumped back a bit. What was wrong with his voice? He sounded like he had swallowed a frog ... but at least his looks made up for that.
"Butch? You said you were looking for a partner?"
"Yeah," The boy said, finally looking over at Cassidy. He paused a moment, then flashed her a friendly smile.
"Very good," The shadows chuckled. "Butch, I would like you to meet Cassidy. You two will be partners now, until further notice."
"Cool," Butch said casually, nodding at Cassidy. "C'mon, let's go."
Cassidy followed him, letting the door shut behind her, and letting out a sigh she had been holding in for ages.
"Talk about nerve racking, huh?" Butch grinned. "Don't be so nervous, everything will work out. They're always despirate for new members here. Oh, I'm sorry ... my name's Butch."
"I'm Cassidy," Cassidy said quietly, then laughed. "Sorry, it's just that we sound like something out of an old western movie ... Butch and Cassidy. Butch Cassidy."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Butch laughed. "So, where're you from?"
"Well, I just graduated from Pokemon Tech."
"Pokemon Tech? Isn't that the really high quality school?"
"I guess you could say that," Cassidy shrugged. "Anyway, I don't really have any Pokemon or anything ..."
"Neither do I. They'll give them to us."
"Good," Cassidy let out another sigh of relief. As she was walking behind Butch, she ran her hand through her hair, then straightened out her blue tank.
"So, why'd you join Team Rocket?"
"Just wanted to do something," Cassidy said. "I've always wanted fame, fortune ..."
"Well I wish you the best of luck," Butch looked back and smiled again.
An *adorable* smile.
"All we have to do is fill out a few forms, pick out our uniforms, and then we're good to go," Butch said, opening a door, then holding it open as Cassidy walked through. "It doesn't sound too hard ... at least, I hope it won't be ... by the way, cute hair."
"Oh, thanks," Cassidy tugged on her pigtails again. "People always told me that they looked stupid and babyish ... I don't know, I always liked them."
"Babyish? I think they look cute on you," Butch flashed her another one of those knock-out smiles, and Cassidy felt her knees shake.
"Butch? Cassidy?" The lady who sat behind the large desk lowered her eyeglasses to look at them. "A little young ... but you'll do. Here are the forms for you to fill out."
Cassidy took the forms and filled them out quickly. Ironically, she and Butch finished at the exact same time.
"Very good," The lady looked the over casually, then tossed them aside. "Here are your uniforms and your Pokeball ... go out and start stealing, have a nice day."
"She sounds excited," Butch muttered, taking his uniform.
"I'll be right back ... I want to try it on," Cassidy grinned, then rushed out the door.
***
"Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Cassidy stepped out in her new, black Team Rocket uniform. Butch looked at her with a grin, showing off his uniform that matched her own.
"We match perfectly!" Cassidy said happily. "And such a great color too!"
"Black?"
"Sure!"
"I guess you're right ... hey, what about this?" Butch held up a Pokeball, then tossed it on the floor.
"Raticate!"
"A Raticate?" Cassidy looked at the rat with disgust.
"We'll train him good," Butch said. "You wait ... we'll be the best, highest ranked team there is."
"They rank teams? Who's the highest ranked team right now?"
"I don't know ... they're up on that wall though," Butch pointed to a bulletin board on the wall, where several long sheets of paper were pinned. Cassidy immediately ran over to look at the teams ... then gasped.
"What is it?" Butch stood behind her, looking at the list.
"Jessie and James," Cassidy read the names of the highest ranked team with sheer hatred.
"You know them?"
"Not anymore," Cassidy grumbled. "I should've known Jessie would lead James to joining Team Rocket ... at least she's perfect for the job."
"So you're enemies?"
"Bitter enemies," Cassidy corrected him. "And I wouldn't care if I never saw her face again for the rest of my life."
"But with both of you in Team Rocket, that'll be pretty hard, don't you think? Maybe you should just ... resolve your argument?"
"Resolve it? I didn't do anything wrong," Cassidy said in a huff.
"Okay," Butch sighed. "How about we go get lunch, and plan what we're going to do?"
"That sounds great," Cassidy smiled sincerely.
"You know ..." Butch smiled at Cassidy. "I think I'm really going to enjoy having you as a partner ... you have the cutest smile ..."
"Your's is adorable," Cassidy replied softly, fingering a lock of her hair. Butch laughed softly, then took her arm.
"Let's go!"
~*~*~*~*~
Pleads
Her mind drifted again, to her last mission. What a misfotune.
She couldn't believe what she had almost done the other night. Her hand began to shake again, the thought of the tiny revolver sitting in it. She bit her lip nervously, staring at the wall, the memories flooding her head ....
***
"Do you really think this place will have an Articuno?" Cassidy asked.
"Well, if the boss is right ..." Butch sighed, as they both looked up at the Pokemon Center. "It's supposed to be a pretty offbeat center ... they might have all sorts of rare Pokemon."
"Then we'll have to check it out," Cassidy said. "And maybe this time we won't get arrested ... again ..."
"As long as Jessie and James don't ruin our plan."
"Right," Cassidy rolled her eyes. "But you remember what Giovanni said ... if they show their face, we get to turn them in! They'll get fired for sure!"
Cassidy burst out laughing, as Butch looked to the ground nervously.
"Butch?" Cassidy stopped laughing. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Giovanni ... he sort of changed his orders."
"What is it?" Cassidy's face dropped.
"He said that if Jessie and James ruin our plan, then we have to ..."
Butch shook his head, then reached into his bag. Cassidy gasped as he pulled out a revolver, and placed it into her hands.
"Orders are orders," She bit her lip, staring at the revolver.
"Well, they're probably miles and miles away from here. Let's go hold this place up, and get us some rare Pokemon!" Butch grinned, then grabbed Cassidy's arm, dragging her to the Pokemon Center.
***
"We'll just find those twerps again ... we can beat them!" Jessie said detereminedly.
"How could you beat them Your Arbok and Lickitung are beat," Meowth said, sighing. "They need a checkup, and fast."
"So does Weezing," James added.
"Alright ... a minor setback, but once we get them well, we'll beat the twerps!"
"How are you supposed to do that? Did you forget that you're a member of a gang of theives? Like some Pokemon Center will welcome you with open arms!" Meowth laughed. His laughter stopped abruptly with a kick in the head.
"Just let me think," Jessie said, then after a few moments of silence, grinned. "I've got it! There's a little rundown Pokemon Center not too far from here ... all we have to do is do a nice, clean holdup of the place, grab medicine, escape, treat out Pokemon, and we're home free!"
"Sounds genious!" James said, grasping her hand happily.
"Whatever yous two want to do," Meowth rolled his eyes. "Let's get going, then."
***
"I'm telling you, we have no Articuno!" Nurse Joy argued as Cassidy tied a rope around her tighter.
"If you won't tell us, we'll have to find it ourselves," She laughed, as Butch pulled a gag around her mouth. "Let's search the halls and all the rooms; that bird's got to be here somewhere!"
"I hope this all isn't for nothing," Butch said, then pulled out his revolver. Cassidy sighed and pulled out her own, just in case.
"It won't be. Besides, with only Nurse Joy here, it'll take her forever to get out of those ropes, and once she does, we'll be long gone," Cassidy reassured her partner.
"I guess you're right," Butch said. "Let's go then--"
He was interrupted by a window shattering behind them.
"What the ..." Cassidy whipped around, only to stare into a pair of icy blue eyes.
"You!" Jessie sneered with disgust. "I should've known you'd be here, taking everything all for yourself."
"And I knew you'd ruin our plan somehow, and get us arrested!"
"Jail's where you belong!"
"You belong someplace worse," Cassidy snapped.
Then she remembered what she held in her hand.
"Take one more step and I'll blow your head off," She threatened, pointing the revolver straight at Jessie. "I'm under strict orders to kill any two imbeciles who decide to interrupt our plan!"
"Haha, that doesn't include me!" Meowth laughed, but stopped as Cassidy pointed the revolver at him.
"Make that three imbeciles," She said angrily.
"You wouldn't dare to kill me," Jessie snickered.
"Wanna bet?" Cassidy grinned. "Butch, get me that rope."
Butch didn't say anything, just handed her the rope, as Cassidy gave the revolver over to him.
"I'll tie them up. You just shoot if they try anything."
Jessie followed Cassidy with her eyes and she tied the rope around herself and James, taking care to tie it up as tight as she possibly could. She then picked up a furious Meowth by its tail and held him up in the air.
"Little fleabag," She said with disgust.
"Rat with pigtails!" Meowth snapped back, trying furiously to swipe at her. She laughed, then pulled out a Pokeball, to which Meowth replied with a gasp of surprise.
"Been awhile, hasn't it Meowth?" Cassidy said, then opened the Pokeball up, capturing Meowth inside. "Looks like I've got a Meowth now."
"You let him go!" Jessie screamed, but Cassidy merely dropped the Pokeball inside her bag.
"Orders are order," Cassidy turned to Butch and shrugged. "Let's take them to one of the back rooms. We'll decide what to do from there."
***
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Butch asked.
"Of course. It's all a part of being a criminal," Cassidy smiled, then took hold of her revolver. "You go find the Articuno, and I'll take care of busines here."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Cassidy pushed him out the door, then shut it behind him. She turned with a grin to face her two captives.
"Having fun, Cassidy?" Jessie spat, a look of pure hatred on her face.
"Oh, lots of fun," Cassidy leaned back against the wall, fingering the gun carefully. "What a pretty instrument, don't you think? The last instrument I had was in sixth grade. That nice, shiny flute. You remember that flute?"
"Yeah, you let a dog tear it up. You were stupid, even back then."
"The dog took it from my hand," Cassidy glared at her, then looked back down at the gun. "I think this gun is much shinier than that old flute, don't you? Maybe you want to see it up close?"
"That's okay, I'll pass."
"You'll be seeing it soon enough," Cassidy smiled strangely. "I have complete and total control over you. Complete and total control."
"How exciting."
"Quit it with the sarcasm," Cassidy snapped. "I'm having enough trouble trying to figure out who to kill first, you or James ..."
"You kill James? Over my dead body."
"Thank you Jessie, that's exactly what I'll do," Cassidy said. "Or better yet, I'll kill him first at let you suffer for a while. How would you like that?"
"Don't you dare."
"Pure, sweet torture," Cassidy held the revolver, pointed at James. His jade eyes flashed pure terror, as his hand reached for Jessie's.
"You're lucky I let you go that night, Cassidy. I could've easily killed you."
"Yeah, right," Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Still bringing that incident up, are you? It was all your fault in the first place."
"You were just jealous of me."
"Jealous? I don't think so. You shouldn't have been mad anyway. It was all your fault."
"It wasn't Jessie's fault," James spoke quietly. Cassidy spun around a pointed the gun at his head.
"Did I ask for your opinion? I didn't think so. Stay our of arguments that don't concern you."
"It does concern me," James spoke up again, this time more loudly. "We were at the dance, and Jessie was outside, and you and I were dancing, and ..."
Cassidy squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out, but went wild and hit the wall, clunking dead to the floor.
"I've got two more bullets left," She said, pointing the revolver back at Jessie. "Two bullets for two imbeciles. Perfect. Any last words, Jessie?"
"I hope you rot in heck."
"I'll be seeing you there," Cassidy smiled smugly. "How about you James? Anything you and Jessie would like to say to each other?"
"Jessie, I ..."
"James, let me tell you something. This little witch here is about to kill us, so I want to let you know something. Even though I've beaten up on you, yelled at you, even betrayed you ... I've always loved you. Not only as a friend, but as ..." Jessie paused.
"I know, Jess. I feel the same way," James said quietly.
"If I wasn't tied up, I'd kiss you," Jessie said, glaring up at Cassidy evily.
"Don't look at me, I'm not about to untie you."
"Anyway, James, I just want you to know that I'll always love you no matter what, and wherever we end up after this ... I pray we'll be together."
"We will be, Jess," James squeezed her hand. "We'll always be together. Double trouble forever."
"This is too sweet," Cassidy rolled her eyes and sneered. "Are you through yet?"
"Yes, you cruel, uncaring, heartless little beast."
"Wonderful." Cassidy pointed the revolver at James.
"Goodbye, Jessica," James said quietly, slipping a rose into her hand.
Cassidy squeezed the trigger.
Unfortunately for her, though ... shot again went wild.
"Darnit!" Cassidy cursed at the gun. "Now I only have one bullet left!"
"Too bad," Jessie rolled her eyes, squeezing James' shaking hand again to let him know she was there.
"I get to choose who I want to kill now," Cassidy said, whipping around.
"I wonder who you'll choose."
"Will it be Jessie?" Cassidy pointed the revolver at Jessie, then pointed it at James. "Or James?"
"It'll be me, Cassidy. Just go ahead and say it," Jessie said, her face unreadable.
"Maybe you're right."
"I know I'm right. You hate me. All the years I was growing up, whenever something happened, I would always call you. You would have me over, and we would talk. You could always cheer me up."
Cassidy lowered her revolver slightly.
"You gave me Ekans. We went to school together. I could always trust you, even when I went through my wild stage, I still had full trust in you ... I guess it didn't seem that evidant at times, but I did."
She lowered the revolver again.
"But you betrayed me, Cassidy. Betrayed my trust, shattered my world. I couldn't believe it."
Cassidy's hands began to shake, as the gun fell to the floor.
"Of all the people in the world, Cassidy, I trusted you the most. And you betrayed me."
"Would you just shut up!" Cassidy screamed, violently wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I thought we would always be friends," Jessie glared at her. "But your jealousy ruined that. You could've told me, Cassidy. You could've talked to me."
"I tried, I tried!" Cassidy screamed again, turning her back to them, resting her arms on the wall in front of her, and burying her face to hide the tears.
"It's all coming back, isn't it? That revolver's right by your feet, Cassidy. Just pick it up, aim, and shoot. I'll be dead."
"Just shut up!" Cassidy sobbed, marching over to them and untying the ropes.
"I thought I could trust you," Jessie said coldly, still glaring at her.
"Why won't you shut up?!" Cassidy threw the ropes to the ground and pointed to the door. "Look, just go! Now! I don't want to see your face again!"
Cassidy threw herself against the wall again, her back heaving with her sobs. A tiny Pokeball dropped to the floor, containing Meowth, and Jessie picked it up carefully.
"Come on, James," Jessie said, staring at Cassidy. "You heard her. Let's go."