Chapter 17

"A Desperate Struggle"

Several hours later, Maxie returned to Karania's cell and unlocked it and entered it and walked to the back of her cell where Karania was sitting on the small bed in her cell and grabbed her by her wrist, "You're coming with me! I'm taking you to be brainwashed to do what I desire and nothing you say will change my mind!"

"No! I beg you, please don't do this!" Karania cried trying to fight Maxie off but it wasn't working as he was twice as strong as her and could easily overpower her futile resistance towards him.

Maxie sneered at her, "Then I suggest you start cooperating! I'll make you work for me one way or another!"

Karania didn't reply and continued to put up a desperate struggle.

"No? Then I guess it's brainwashing you prefer."

Karania's eyes went wide and she tried to get loose, but it was futile as she couldn't get away no matter what she did.

Maxie rolled his eyes, annoyed at Karania's actions. He stopped, gripping her shoulders firmly, and looked her dead in the eye. "There's the easy way, and the hard way. I'm not going to let you get out of these. You're choosing the hard way right now. Do you think that's a wise decision?" he asked calmly.

"There's no way I'll even think of helping you!" Karania cried. "If I stood against you in the Groudon incident, why do you think I would change my stance?" Karania shot back.

"Don't test my patience, girl. I guarantee you'll regret it." he narrowed his eyes at her.

Karania didn't answer and just continued to struggle.

"Are you deaf!" Maxie growled.

"You won't get away with this!" Karania cried. "My friends will stop you!"

"That's it! I'm not putting up with this anymore!" Maxie bellowed, and grabbed her wrist again.

Karania continued to fight and tried to get out of his grasp, but it was to no avail as Maxie easily overpowered her and jerked her out of her cell to take her to where he would have her brainwashed.

The room was small, and empty at that. Maxie shoved her to the far side of the room, tapping his foot impatiently. "I'll keep you locked in here, without food or water. When you're ready to cooperate, you will.

"I'll never change my mind! You'd have to kill me before I would even consider helping you!" Karania cried.

"That is something I wouldn't do. I respect your beauty..." Maxie smirked.

Karania blushed, "Thank you for the compliment, but I still won't help you."

"I didn't expect you to." Maxie exited almost immediately, locking the door from the outside.

"You'll gain nothing by doing this!" Karania cried.

Maxie shook his head, that awful smirk still lingering on his face. He began to walk away.

Karania ran to the door of her cell hoping and praying that she would be able to get it open, but to her disappointment, it wasn't and she knew at this point in time that Maxie was going to follow through with his threat.

Tabitha knocked on the door, a bowl of steaming stew in his hand. "Man, this stuff sure looks gooood..."

Karania turned around and looked at him not understanding what he was going to do.

"Boss said I could give you some... but only if you decided to cooperate. It smells reeeeeally good, too."

"It looks like it, but I can't... It goes against everything I was taught..." Karania replied.

"Guess you won't be getting any then," Tabitha replied.

Karania walked back to the bed in her cell and began to prepare herself for another day without food.

"Aw, c'moooooon... you know you want some... all you have to do is say a few little words..." he taunted.

Karania sat down on the bed and didn't answer.

"Hmph, fine, be that way." Tabitha shrugged, and began to walk away. "But you can't last forever, y'know!"

"I'll die of hunger before I'll even consider helping him!" Karania replied with fire in her eyes.

"Fiery you are. I didn't expect that."

Karania ignored him and didn't answer.

"Aren't we miss anti-social?" Tabitha muttered as he left the prison compound

Tabitha walked into Maxie's office, closing the door behind him. "Hey, Boss. Karania isn't cooperating... she's been acting like this for a week now, and she said she'd rather die than help us. Don't you feel sorry for her at least a little bit?"

Maxie sighed, "What do you want me to do? I need her powers to make my dream a reality. I must bend her to my will to do that, so if she won't cooperate what do you want me to do?" Maxie said while starting to get angry.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Find an easier way?"

"How weak is Karania now?" Maxie asked Tabitha trying to figure out what his next course of action should be.

Tabitha tapped his chin for a moment. "Eh... I'd say maybe she could last another week."

"You mean she could die within the next week if she doesn't eat something?" Maxie inquired.

He nodded. "I think so."

"I can't allow her to die..." Maxie said frowning. "I'm going to have her brainwashed, she may not like it, but I'm not just going to stand here and watch her starve to death..."

Tabitha didn't reply, but merely shrugged.

"Go fetch Karania! I want you to bring her to me! I want to see her current condition! Well? What are you waiting for? Go get her!" Maxie cried.

"S-sorry!" Tabitha rushed out the door, wanting to get Karania to Maxie before he became more impatient than he already was.

Maxie tapped his foot upon the floor while he waited in strained silence for Tabitha to return with Karania. Maxie didn't know what state of health Karania was currently in, but he hoped to find out as soon as Tabitha returned with her.

Shortly after, Tabitha returned to Maxie's office, holding Karania by her wrist. "Well?" he asked.

Maxie nodded and looked at Karania trying to see if she was alright. Tabitha led Karania closer to Maxie and that worked for a few steps before she stumbled and fell forward and Maxie moved quickly to catch her.

"See?" Tabitha said.

"Yes, I see now..." Maxie led Karania over to his sofa and had her sit down. "Tabitha, I want you to take Karania to the infirmary, she's too weak at the moment to be part of my plan..."

"I thought you said you were gonna brainwash her," he replied, helping Karania to her feet.

"I still am, you fool! I just want her to recover enough strength so that the brainwashing process won't kill her!" Maxie exclaimed annoyed that Tabitha was asking so many questions.

"Fool? That seemed kind of harsh, man..." muttered Tabitha as he walked out the door.

Karania followed Tabitha weakly but stumbled again as they left Maxie's office and nearly fell again.

Tabitha pulled Karania to her feet once more. "Come on, it's just a l'il bit further."

Karania tried to stand up but she felt dizzy and too weak to walk and she felt like she was going to faint she felt so weak. Karania followed him a few more steps before she staggered and fell to the floor too weak to keep moving.

He rolled his eyes. "The things I do for you, Maxie ol' boy... I should quit." He sighed, and carried Karania to the infirmary, grumbling along the way.

Tabitha reached the infirmary and took Karania inside and carried her over to a doctor so he could take a look at her and see how she was and what condition she was in.

The doctor tweaked his glasses, looking at Karania. "What happened?" he asked.

"Maxie tried to bend her to his will by starving her to make her cooperate, which she refused to do and she ended up like this... This has been going on for at least a week..." Tabitha replied.

The doctor rolled his eyes. "I see... I truly don't understand what he's planning... I don't care, either." he sneered, taking Karania from Tabitha.

The doctor took Karania over to a bed and pulled the covers back and set her down upon it, before he gave her a nightgown to change into and pulled some curtains around her bed so she could change into it if she was able to.

"Finished?" the doctor asked.

"Yes..." Karania replied weakly.

"Go lay down on one of the beds in here. I'll give you some medicine in a moment."

Karania nodded and did as he had instructed her and laid down on one of the beds and eased herself under the covers of the bed she had selected.

The doctor began to search through his cabinet for a moment, before finding a bottle of some sort of strong medicine before he opened the bottle of the energy tablets, and plucked two from it, then handed them to Karania. "Take them. Oh, wait." he filled a glass with tap water, and handed that to her, also. "It's stagnant, but it's the best I've got..."

Karania took the medicine and made a slight face at the taste of the water she had just drank to wash down the medicine the doctor had given her.

"I suggest you get some rest, Karania. It's... all I can tell you to do, really."

Karania pulled the covers on her bed up around her and closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep like the doctor had suggested that she should.