Captive of Magma

By Lucky-Racer

Rating: PG

Chapter 7

(A/N: I'm not having the "Previously on CoM bit this time, because it is irrelevant to this chapter. It doesn't even deal with Sasha at all, so putting it in first person would be weird :P)

The Boss strode proudly into his office at the Team Magma headquarters and sank down into his plush, Persian-skin, revolving office chair. He had kept it because it was so soft (a Persian is acat-like Poke'mon, the evolved form of Meowth) The chair was imported, of course, like many of the luxurious items that filled his extra-large office. The Boss smiled, what could he say? The Thieving Department (The one that that pestering 'Sasha' was in – boy, she was causing a lot of trouble lately) had been doing well this year. Part of the benefits had to go to him, of course.

"Sir?" A voice rang in from the little communication box built into the arm of his comfy chair.

He rolled his eyes. Everyone around here either called him "Sir" or "Boss". Why couldn't they ever call him by his real name?

"Are you there, Sir?" The feminine voice tried again, this time a little bit more urgent. She knew that if news didn't reach The Boss's ears on time, there would be serious consequences.

By the tone and pitch of the voice, The Boss guessed that it was his Secretary. If I call her "Secretary" all the time, he thought, I guess it's only fair that she calls me "Sir". "Yes, Secretary?" The Boss answered hesitantly.

Secretary breathed a tiny sigh of relief. "News of the Capture Plan have finally arrived," she said excitedly, obviously delighted. The happiness in her voice indicated that it had succeeded, but The Boss never wanted to take these things for granted. What if she was only kidding, and he was mistaken? If there was one thing The Boss couldn't tolerate, it was not being well informed.

The Boss tried hard to restrain his own excitement from showing in his voice. What would Secretary think then? That her own employer couldn't contain himself? He sighed. "Good news, or bad?" He asked tersely.

He could almost hear Secretary smile into the communicator, "Good, as usual. Phase One and Phase Two of the project has been sought out and completed." The Boss pumped his fist up and down in the air upon hearing this, glad that he wasn't having this conversation with Secretary on a visual communicator. Aside from a few failures in the Thieving Department last year by a certain amateur that went by the alias 'Sasha', this was a continuation of a success, 'no-failing-projects' streak that he'd been having for the past five years. And one weak link wasn't going to break it. You see, that's what this project was about – strengthening their weakest link (Sasha). The Boss didn't care if she was willingly or not. If she wasn't, well, then she'd get to see the bad side of The Boss.

"More detail, please, Secretary?" The Boss requested.

Secretary knew better than to deny The Boss a more in-depth report. "Well…" She began, "Your requested target proved himself quite difficult to capture, as you asked in Phase One, and even more difficult to contain, as you suggested in Phase Two. But after going through three cells, we finally settled on placing him in maximum security. He's obviously been captured/in prison before, but we aren't sure if he's been used as bait before. He's quite tricky."

The Boss grinned into the communicator. He remembered trying a project similar to this five years ago, but it didn't work so well. They were trying to imprison a Team Rocket member for ransom money, but the member escaped. If there was one good thing that Team Rocket had to its name, it was that their members were trained for emergency, and that included being taken as a hostage. Granted, Team Magma's 'no-failing-projects' movement began right after that project failed, The Boss being disgusted with failure and all.

His mind snapping back to the present, The Boss tried to think of a solution, finally coming up with none. After a sigh, he said, "Just keep him there for now. Commander Shelly will be looking for him soon enough," he winced slightly. He looked down at his black pants and traced the two white stripes on them over and over; it was the 'sign of recognition', one would say, that he was the Commander, the Leader. The cause of his wincing was none other than Commander Shelly, otherwise known as Isabel– the leader of Team Aqua. News of one of her underling's capture would not go well with her. "Commence with Phase Three, attracting the second target with the bait, the first target."

"Yes, Sir. I'm sure it will go well," Secretary assured The Boss.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "Report to me when you have more news."

"Yes, Sir!" Secretary said enthusiastically.

Rolling his eyes, The Boss terminated the connection on the communicator. He turned and looked at a wide paper sheet tacked to the wall, next to his desk. Neatly, it was headed "The Capture Plan". The Boss took an ink pen sitting on his desk and crossed out:
"Phase One – Capture Target One"
"Phase Two – Imprison and Guard Target One"
By the next line labeled, "Phase Three – Lure Target Two w/ Bait", he wrote 'progress pending'.

With a cold, heartless laugh, The Boss smiled in a feral way. "This is just too easy." With a final chuckle, he flicked off the lights and walked out of the room, to head out for his coffee break.

A/N: What'd you think, the chapter wasn't too confusing? I know it was kind of weird not being in Sasha's point of view, but the fact that she wasn't in the chapter at all kind of put a damper on that :P The plot now should be slowly piecing together. I didn't flat out say who 'The Boss' (lol) was talking about in his plans, but you guys should have a pretty good idea n.n

Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging for long, I promise another update by Sunday! Wow, I know, so many updates from ME ( can you believe it :D )

Wow, I'm so happy that that horrible old writer's block is finally over XD

I'mleaving onVacation with my family in a few hoursuntil Saturday. I hope you readers won't be expecting an update until Sunday :P

Thanks again to all my R & Rers lol : )