Hey everyone!
I know its been FOREVER since I posted a thing. Well the thing is so much has happened! Going on trips to Japan, getting a PS4 and getting addicted to FFXV, looking up youtube videos, watching Steven Universe, ducktales, Stranger Things(for the seventh time I kid you not), Working at work, being with family. SOO MANY THINGS! But as I stated, I'm continuing this thing til the bitter end...or I overdose on tons of sugar; whichever comes first. But for now, enjoy chapter 32, and chapter 33 will be done when Blanche13 finished evaluating my work as to prevent blatant plagiarism.
Caio for now!
...
You know when you watch all those adventure or action movies with the bad guy's lair being unnecessarily complicated? How they attempt to stop the hero with booby traps, puzzles and henchmen? This is EXACTLY how it felt! The lighting of this place was normal like an office building, but that's it! Team Magma flunkies walked around and chatted with each other like it was a social event or something!
Pelipper and I moved when they were occupied with their conversations and crept far away enough to avoid suspicion. Its pretty funny how long it took to observe their surroundings in one direction at a time. Does Maxie think that's effective, or is it because his minions are too lazy? I wonder if the security guard working the security cameras is slacking off too, because I'm sure there's a ton here and not a single alarm has been raised yet.
These thoughts were occupying my head as I stole around the main lobby. This place was very big by the way. The walls were a dark grey with its counterpart of the tile being a lighter hue. Just like any lobby, it had comfortable seating of dark brown couches with cherry wood coffee tables nestled in the four corners of the room. By the stairs, was a generous looking vending machine next to a coffee cart. Hanging on the only lone wall, was a large, sleek t.v. screen. While I was curious to wonder why nobody bothered to turn it on, I didn't feel like sticking around long to find out. What really got my attention was a circular, orange-colored thing built into the floor. The appealing factor to it, were the Team Magma henchmen materializing in and out from it. One of them would stand on top of the platform, wait a minute, and then in a beam of light, disappear without a trace. When somebody came in, the beam manifested from the platform and made the person appear. In short, that thing was a teleporter.
Wow; Maxie may be a complete loser, but he can at least make something useful. My turn!
Getting to that teleporter device turned out to be yet another easy task. All it took was a few quick glances and a bold barrel roll. I stamped my feet on the pad with full confidence in the mechanism. Within seconds, my body felt light, along with having my stomach dropped. Uaoh! That was…really nauseating…I feel like throwing up. Fortunately, the urge didn't last long and it felt like my stomach rebounded quite smoothly. Hey! I'm in another room! Man, this sci-fi stuff is awesome!
The new room I was in looked more closer to Maxie's environment; or at least what nerds like anyways. While the color palette and texture was still the same, the room was designed to be more like a lab. Modern machinery consoles curved to make a large circle around a tall, crimson suit. It looked like a cross between an astronaut suit and one of those old deep sea diving suits. Next to the suit was an old scientist who busied himself with staring intently at one of the many glowing screens and buttons of the consoles.
I was forced to venture close because of the next teleporting pad being near by that area. Although, curiosity was beginning to override against my better judgement to move on. His back was fortunately turned to me; effectively blinding his sight to me-
"Not so fast!"
My body immediately froze. Dam it! Now I'm hafta strangle the old man….or maybe just karate-chop him out cold.
"Its always the same with you punks! Trying to scare me by coming up from behind! But its pretty pathetic when you can't keep those noisy shoes quiet at least!"
EH?! So he noticed me right off the bat?! But I'm May Maple! A.K.A the master of stealth! Oh ghritana, my pride hurts!
"Now be off with you before I inform our great leader of your useless stupidity. I'm very busy,"
He waved at me dismissingly without turning around. Epiphany struck me harder than a ton of bricks. While this man could sense my presence, became too comfortable with his need for isolation and discomfort from the young grunts. As a result, he mistook me for an employee instead of an intruder. Hehehe, this guy MIGHT get fired when I'm through with this place!
"M'kay,"
I moved away from the suit, consoles and old man in favor of going onto the teleport pad. One last look at the scene caused a diabolical smile to light up on my face. Invading the base is gonna be a piece of cake.
…
For the next hour, getting around the base was confusing, but otherwise not very difficult. So far nobody caught me; let along grow suspicious of intruders. Although, there were times I jumped on the wrong pad and ended up in the room I was previously in. Finding stuff though, made up for the unintended backtracking.. Obtaining a secret stash of chocolate strawberry flavored camerupt bits had been a highlight.
The only thing that bothered me so far was Maxie being MIA. I'm pretty sure a guy as conceited as him would blare out his presence. Well he did steal a submarine not too long ago. Maybe he's somewhere gloating about it to his stooges. Hmmmm….at least I can make up for it by trashing his base.
Right now, I was in another room filled with office equipment and boxes. Apparently Team Magma wanted to be an EXTRA BORING criminal organization by adding a division akin to a salaryman's workplace. Time to move the next place!
I quickly sought out the next teleport pad (which always seems to be across the room and not next to the other one for some reason) and jumped on. The scene changed, and I found myself in a long hallway. Geez, you'd think think he designed enough of those. But while I didn't get caught yet, proceeding with caution was still a smart thing to do.
My back smacked against the wall to begin sidling along with it. In case anyone came along, I could at least attack first. At the rate my luck was going though, it was safe to say that nobody was gonna come across my path.
As I kept going along the hallway, it became apparent that this was no ordinary one. It only became revealed when its end had turned into…. a room?! The realization shocked me since it felt like I had to walk five minutes to get here! Who in their right mind would want to make a trek like this?! Erm, there's a framed picture of Maxie on one side of the wall and a dartboard with my face on the other. I'm pretty sure Courtney sleeps here.
I cautiously walked in and found it to be empty of the terrible admin. Good; the last thing I needed to have break my stealthy streak was that crazy lady bent on destroying me. From how the room looked, strangely enough, it wasn't as creepy as I thought it would be. There were those two things that I mentioned to indicate Courtney's obscure touches; and upon inspection, a very identical doll version of Maxie lying in a neat bed on its side. Other than that, everything else resembled a normal room. A closet of clothes (only consisting of the same Team Magma attire), a dresser, an office chair parked under a metal desk and a small laptop. Ooooh; a laptop. Maybe Courtney's got some deep, dark secrets in that thing.
Being too eager to pass it up, I moved over to the device and again, made sure nobody was here before going through her digital stuff.
Let's see….no password, sweet! Makes my life easier. Okay, lotsa files here….her desktop background is another picture of Maxie. Hm, this file is called 'enemies to crush'. Wow! There a lot of pictures of me in here. Some include some very close shots of me asleep whenever I camped outside. I don't feel very comfortable about that. Do I want to delete this file? Of course I do! *Click!* Now! Time to look at Maxie's file!
Hmmm, yep. Its pretty much the same as mine; loads and loads of pictures. Just like most of mine, they were taken in secrecy. Geez, Courtney has some real serious prob-
My heart nearly froze. Every thought I had in my head immediately halted. I nearly swore that my eyes were playing a sick joke on me. I can't even begin to describe the shock I felt from that tense moment. There was only very few things that could turn me into a statue of cement. Staring at a young Maxie in a white lab coat with a Team Rocket logo was one of them…..That guy…..he is so dead! I'm going to strangle that scrawny-BANG! THUD!
…
….uuugh…my head hurts soooo muuuch...it feels like…somebody hit it with a frying pan. Now that I think about it, what the hell did I do to make it hurt so badly? Hey! Why do I have a hard time breathing?! And my arms and legs feel tied up!
Being in realization of discomfort by my senses, I forced my eyes to open; although it still felt confusing. Everything was in doubles that shifted constantly. Another factor that incurred my headache. Hell, even these voices I was hearing were garbled like low-pitched gibberish. Ugh, trying to think right now is super hard.
I ended up stubbornly using my legs to rise on my knees. They were surprisingly comfortable against a soft rug underneath them. As things finally started clearing up, a new scene came into focus. It looked like I was in a room that was the love child of a bedroom and office. The carpet was a deep burgundy color with the walls being that SAME dark grey color and metallic texture. But yet another hint of contrasting evidence were hung on the wall. People, Pokémon and degrees; all framed around this place in a neat order. A small bed with red sheets folded in a triangle shape had rested on top of the mattress in a corner with a black dresser. On the other side of the room was a small space with tile instead of carpet.
A teleport pad occupied that space along with two pairs of shoes. One of them was mine. The other pair were boots that sobered me up real quick.
I looked ahead; seeing the perfect view of an obsidian-colored desk. Many typical office supplies like tall paper stacks, a stapler, pens and pencils, ect. Sat on top of its space. Mesmerized by paperwork on the other side of the desk was-
"MAXIE!"
The events in which had occurred earlier came back to ignite my rage. I jumped to my feet and realized for the first time that rope had been tied around my torso. HAH! As if something inconvenient will stop me! My legs made a powerful push to make me dive towards the despicable fiend. Already, imaginary sounds of his screams filled my ears.
However, reality made me squeal first.
I was halfway across the room when something yanked me back. My body violently landed against a modern red couch with metal frames; that really hurt.
And after recovering from the failure, I saw that not only had there been a length of the rope tied around one of its legs, but the couch itself was welded to the floor! NRRRRRRRRRRGH! He is really infuriating!
"How curious…" Said the main trigger of my anger. He was casually writing down complex formulas on paper. "I mean, how could anyone just trespass a compound while forgetting about all the security cameras? Although, I should count myself lucky: The intruder was just a nosy, little girl,"
"Bite me Rocket trash! You're so full of shit and hot air! Wait til I get untied; I'll punch you so hard, your thug boss is gonna feel it!"
The leader of Team Magma suddenly stopped what he was doing to lock on in my general direction.
"Bite me, Rocket trash! I found out who you really are! Wait til I get untied; I'll punch you so hard your thug boss is gonna feel it!"
The leader of Team Magma suddenly stopped what he was doing to lock in on my general direction. Ah-haaaah….so I struck a nerve with him, eh? Maybe now I can egg him on into stepping within my range and attack-"Haha…ahahaha!"
Okay, now I'm confused.
Maxie had been incredibly surprised by my comment about his past. His stare was on par with a bewildered magikarp. But in the next moment, he bursted out laughing like a maniac. Hell, that laugh was even creepier than the time we battled on Mt. Chimney!
When he eventually stopped being weird, Maxie got up to open hos filing cabinet. Imbued with slight excitement. All those folders he had in there were extremely organized, thick and bland. It seems that my words sparked some sort of interest, but why? Ugh, its better that I don't think about it too much.
"You really are a clueless, naïve child. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows that Team rocket disbanded years ago. But then…..I guess that says so much about you, doesn't it?"
"What did you say to me?!"
"I'm not in the custom of stuttering or mumbling. Are your ears AND head not working?"
"ARGH! Shut up and fight me!"
"No thank you, Miss May Maple. I'd rather not personally tangle with the daughter of an inexplicably violent gym leader,"
WHAT?! How does he know my name?! More so, how did he know who my dad was?! Either way, I'm sure he know a lot more than that. No wonder he sounded so….peppy….in his own nerdy way.
Meanwhile, Maxie went back to his desk and opened the file to rifle through it. I could only stare in anxiety of what the dork would say next.
"What, no rebukes or smug comments? I thought you were at least smart enough to anticipate what the opposition would naturally do? After all, simply underestimating a viable threat would be my undoing; and that's where Giovanni utterly failed. I may have been his minion at one point in my life, but I never really cared for his savage tactics. Even less for that ridiculous Neo Team Rocket; take over a city or two and they're suddenly considered dangerous,"
Of course Maxie took joy in tearing down my pride as he talked about how stupid I was. It even felt like he belittled all the stuff that happened in Olivine! How can he act so heartless? Can't he just shut up for once?!
"But enough about the past, let's talk more about you,"
"Don't you get tired o hearing yourself talk?"
"No, but I'll bet that you're probably dying for your mother's grilled mackerel and rice, aren't you?"
"….Have you….been to my house?"
And just like that, a cruel smile made itself known on his lips. He had been waiting, just itching to get on the subject. But if that didn't creep me out, the picture that fell off his desk certainly did. It was a picture of me with dad going in the door to my house; the time where mom had been really pissed about Sycamore getting abandoned in the forest.
My skin felt clammy with knots twisting in the pit my stomach all at once. I think….I'm gonna puke. But as I looked up, I could see my enemy taking pleasure in my horror while enjoying a drink. His eyes stared at me very maliciously as he took a sip.
"Oh I have. And its interesting how much you differ from your hospitable mother. Just a pity that you didn't inherit her common sense or elegantness. But don't worry; I prefer studying and observing my opponents rather than using underhanded moves like taking hostages. As devious as you make me out to be, I have standards,"
While this was clearly the LEADER OF TEAM MAGMA telling me that, a feeling of relief eased my chest. Maxie at least was honest about the things he said…..yeah I'm going to need to take a shower for having that opinion. But right now there was the matter of addressing why I'm here.
" So…." I began; showing some annoyance. "Why am I here then? Are you gonna kill me? Experiment on me?...eat me?! Do your worst, nerd!"
That last assumption invoked a laugh from Maxie, and he took nearly a minute to recover from the comedy of my logic. Tch, laugh it up; I'll make sure to hit you extra hard when I free myself. He's so irritating like Archie in his own special way!
"And there it is: The never-ending active imagination that drives the mind of my minor foe! But fortunately for you, I don't feel like putting in that kind of effort. Rather, I can be content in the knowledge of having my enemy captured and being at the mercy of Team Magma!"
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He's so dam bloated.
"But I think I can spare a moment or two watching you fall into despair! Observe!"
Maxie then reached into his coat and pulled out: A SMARTPHONE! Hang on a sec. Is that a camerupt phone jack on there? Wait, why was he even pulling that out? Did he plan on boring me to death? Well it would be soul-crushing to make me watch that one movie involving sentient emoticons, but it'll take a lot more than that to make me fall into any kind of despair.
"Social networking is such a popular thing to do these days; even I, The Great Maxie have become somewhat enthralled with it,"
He began playing with it while I struggled to untie myself. Maybe if I managed to get loose, I could beat up the nerd while he's off guard and escape. My head turned to the length of rope and latched my teeth onto it. Maxie made no effort in stopping or objecting to it; making me begin to feel that any attempt was futile.
"Ah, here we are! The new trending uploads on MewTube. Have you seen them yet? It might be worth your while,"
"Plegh! What the fuck do I care for?! I don't want to!"
"Are you sure? Take a look,"
"I said-"
The words that were prepared to burst out of my mouth metaphorically (and maybe literally) got lodged in my throat. Whatever dignity I had left, crumbled as my gaze identified a video titled 'Trainers Gone Wild: Lilycove Edition'. More specifically, it was a clip of me in the Lilycove Department Store going through whatever madness had possessed me.
Just to make matters more humiliating, the horrified look on my face caused an eruption of maniacal laughter; coming from Maxie of course. I turned a bright shade of red. Now I really wish I was watching that terrible movie instead!...okay, maybe not.
"AHAHAHAHA! To think that your hatred towards me ended up serving as entertainment! I think I'll favorite this!"
"…."
"What? No screams or swearing coming out of you yet? I'd thought for sure you would at least settle for calling me a name. Well then….what about this one?"
The source of agony switch to another video titled 'Contest Spectacular Fails'. This time, I got to witness a clip of me on the stage of Lilycove's Contest Spectacular. I already knew what was gonna happen.
"I don't feel so-*RETCHES*"
There it was! Although, instead of seeing the contents of my breakfast, it was a photoshopped rainbow. Good Arceus! It was even more embarrassing watching myself do it! My enemy however nearly fell over from laughter. Even Courtney wasn't this cruel!
"Stop it you bastard! Aren't you satisfied with your torture already?!"
"Far from it! And if you think I'm out of ideas to torment you with, then be prepared to endure the versions with animals, emoticon faces and parodies! AHAHAHAHAHAHA-" *Riiiiiing! Riiiiiiing-Click!* "Oh, hello,"
The devil was suddenly interrupted by my saving grace in the form of a phone call. I had been spared for the moment and sweated profusely from the agonizing pain of witnessing my social decapitating. Now more desperate than ever, I chewed harder on the rope. It was still too tight.
"Oh? Finished already? Well….I am in the middle of something, but I don't see why I cant push that aside. I'll be there soon,"
Maxie put down his phone and went into his desk cabinets. My teeth were getting tired from only making a small tear in the still sturdy rope that tethered me to the couch. He looked like another matter was occupying his mind, but I'm sure he didn't forget about me.
When the devious Team Magma leader was in view again, my body stiffened in surprise. In one hand was a packet of papers, while the other grasped my pack and pokeball belt. That overconfident smile was plastered all over his face again. Maxie stood up with the packet and left my stuff on his desk before coming my way. Casually tossed it my way; hitting me square the face. That dick. But in a strange turn of events when I recovered from the assault, I took one look at the words printed on the top page and recoiled in disgust.
"A job application?! What sick joke is this?!"
"Oh its no joke; I have Tabitha do things like that for me. By the way, you'll have to fill it out using your mouth of mankey feet,"
A ballpoint pen hit me in the forehead. "HEY! Stop throwing stuff at me you callous bastard!"
"You know, when I first heard about you and your tasteless behavior, it certainly bothered me to no end. I just had a difficult time standing your delinquency…"
"Are you even listening?! Giratina, I hate you!"
Despite my irritable but obvious confession, Maxie didn't react to it like I hoped. Instead, the man wandered back to his desk so he could play with my stuff. Yeah you keep doing that; don't be surprised when I break your arms for messing with my things.
"But each time you kept intercepting me, I began to form a rather bold opinion about your tenacity; that fiery devotion of yours, if you will,"
He unclipped Chirpie's pokeball and examined it like some sort of ancient artifact.
"…..Work for me, May Maple. Despite how annoying your violent nature is, even you can understand the importance of humanity and its need to prosper in the world-
And I'm just gonna stop you all right here for a second….HUH?! Just HUH?! Where the hell was this coming from?! I break into this guy's lair with intent to beat the ever-loving shit outta him, and he offers me a job?! Okay, I'm gonna kinda go back to reality now…..sorta…..
As you would expect, that bombshell of a request he casually spread out left every inch of my brain struggling to think what fucking angle he was going for. Me plus Maxie should equal DON'T PUT TOGETHER! It was surprising that my jaw didn't drop or have my heart stop from the mind-trolling stupor. Although when my brain began to bounce back, a bunch of sentences started being processed to come out of my mouth. Some like:
"….WHAT?! Work for you?! ME?! That's…..that's-"
I never said they were good sentences.
"You'll be starting out on a salary of 1,500 Péni per hour on a ten hour shift. That's four days a week including every other weekend; although you'll be a per diem status with no-"
"HELL NO!"
This time, I was coherent enough to shout at the top of my lungs and grab Maxie's attention. A rare bewildered expression crossed his face as he was broken out of a usual monotone reverie to meet my fiery gaze. I stood up so I could get as close as I could to his desk.
"Don't think you can do whatever you want with me! Yeah I'm tied up in your office with no escape, but I'm still my own person! Sure; you're smarter and older than me, but I'm still May Maple: The trainer who gonna be the world's most awesome trainer ever! And just like my dad, I'll never give in to your fancy bribes! You'll never have me, got it?!"
The anger that sprouted outta me like steam from a kettle simmered down with a heaving breath. I didn't take my eyes off of Maxie's to let him know that I wasn't gonna be some pushover like the rest of his minions. Maybe he'll be finally fed up with me and kill me or something, but who cares? At the very least, I wasn't going down like a coward!
Our gazes were locked on each other: a feeling of wills trying to push one another into submission. An atmosphere of fire tensed up the room. The moment felt like it would have lasted for an eternity…..if my enemy didn't burst out laughing. What a way to undermine a more serious moment.
His laughter continued unabated for two full minutes in near tears. My face flushed with heat and turned a cherry red. By the time he finished, Maxie almost turned purple himself.
"Now there was something I didn't expect today: A silly teenager saying silly things. But as tempting it is to harass you more, something rather important sprang up. And so, we must part ways for now. When I come back however, that job application better be filled out completely and neatly if you ever want to see your Pokémon again,"
"What?! You just said a minute ago that you don't take hostages!"
"Yes, but I prefer to call this 'bargaining'. As in, if you don't do what I say, you'll get absolutely nothing in return. Plus, I'd like to keep my office in one piece when I see it again. I'll lock them in my desk for safe keeping,"
Unceremoniously, he put my stuff back in the cabinet of his desk. Then, straightening himself up, Maxie casually strode away to leave the room. However, my oppressor stopped momentarily; almost out of earshot to say: "And by the way, I expect a minimum of three work references; non-family related,"
"Get the fuck outta here already!"
" I just might stay. That pouting face is perfect fodder for taunting,"
Despite what he threatened, Maxie resumed his exit to whatever he planned on going to. I was alone once more to contemplate what consequences were in store for non-cooperation, and then resumed my escape. From how available the options were, chewing through the rope was the only viable one. Although, being buff enough to flex- break the rope would've been nice. My teeth began again to chew the same tasteless rope. But as I started, the sound of the teleport pad humming made me halt my progress. Maxie's back already? Dam, he didn't play around!
I turned my head to expect sarcastic comments and an overconfident ego. Courtney was here instead.
Oh yes, it was truly the creepmaster herself; vacant stare and all. Why was she here anyway? Did Maxie think girl power would score brownie points? Hm, I can't imagine him doing that. Hang on, she's walking towards me now. "So whaddya wa-EUGH!"
You know in hindsight, I really should've (by now) associated Courtney violence every time we met. Maybe that sudden kick to the jaw will remind me from now on. Speaking of, dammit that hurt!
I fell on my side from the force of her kick; which left my jaw throbbing in pain. But that wasn't enough for her. I then felt the thickness of her boot collide with my very still sensitive stomach. Saliva was thrown up in disgrace. That demon really put injury to Maxie's ins-OH ARCEUS!
Her foot cocked back and smashed against my stomach yet again. This time, putting more effort into inflicting pain. Coming up with a retort was difficult considering how much my brain focused on all the trauma that it and the rest of me was enduring. Only when Courtney appeared satisfied enough with her morbid art, did she stop to drop her vision on my gaze.
"….Hello…."
"*Cough* Fuck you-EUGH!"
"Be quiet please,"
With yet another boot to the stomach, I was prominent to be silent in the face of her yandere-like oppression. The evil incarnate leisurely walked around my injured body; purposely kicking aside the packet of papers. Courtney broke her creepy fixation momentarily to go towards Maxie's desk. Oh shit, she knew where my Pokémon were! The rope chafed my skin as I tried pulled my body free.
*Rattle, Rattle…Rattle, Rattle*
Huh?
*Rattle, Rattle* "…..Locked. Oh well,"
I couldn't help but release a breath of relief that exhaled from my worried lungs. Maxie was a grade 'A' asshole, but was somewhat thankful that he was paranoid enough to take extreme measures. Courtney came back to settle on tormenting me in a physical manner. Bleak eyes searched my face for anything she could use to her delight. She then allowed her hands to reach deep into her pockets to pull out….a chocolate bar? Well she did say she liked chocolate. Tat being said, I didn't enjoy the way she stared at me while opening the candy and enunciating each bite.
In about halfway into it, she stopped and cleared her throat.
"Our Great Leader is still here
…..when he leaves…bye-bye May Maple,"
"…Like I leave?"
"Oh yes….."
Using her other hand, she reached into another pocket and took out two coins. Courtney carefully laid them out on the floor next to me.
"….For your eyes…"
And there it was! It wouldn't be Courtney without the promise of death! Honestly, its not very funny when Maxie leaves me alone with this very obtuse admin. Speaking of her, she knelt down to better intimidate me; or strike me squarely across the face.
This time I shamefully teared up from the pain of infliction. It throbbed annoyingly; ensured that the area would bruise. The vile woman silently stood back up and finally decided to leave me alone for the time being. She even got bold enough to conjure up a very excited smile that accompanied an uncharacteristic skip in her step. It wasn't until I was by myself again, did I curl up in a fetal to cry like a crybaby.
I'm….*sniffles*…..I'm such an idiot!
*In Roman/Greek funeral pyres, a coin was put on both eyes of the deceased so in the afterlife, they could pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx
*To be continued in chapter 33*
