Five: Search and Destroyed
We set foot in the hallway slowly. The place was narrow, made floor to ceiling of concrete. I felt foolish for having mocked my enemy mentally earlier, apparently underground bases were in their budget. Then I noticed a faded Team Galactic emblem set into the floor and understood they were just making use of what had already been here.
Annoyingly enough, the halls were only wide enough for us to move single-file. That was a problem, as whoever was stuck in the middle would always have someone in their line of fire. So, into his ball went Lucky. I wanted Spitpyre out and ready, watching my back.
It took a moment of deliberation, but I decided to follow the hall to my left. The hallway seemed circular, I could see as I moved that if I followed it long enough I'd eventually end up back at the stairs. Now that I was actually in the facility, the plaques on the doors were helpful.
A single door opened on the middle area, into a power room. Taking a quick peek inside, I saw a number of Voltorbs attached to the power grid for the facility. Nothing I could do for them until later, lest I blow my cover, I moved on. Every other door opened off of the outer rim of the hall. I passed one marked "Collection Team Staging Room," another marked "Patricia's Office, Admins Or By Appointment Only," and several others before reaching what seemed like the opposite side from the stairs. While narrow, the hall was longer than I'd thought, and more of an oval than a circle.
This door interested me much more than the others. The plaque was gold, rather than the silver and bronze used everywhere else in the facility. "Admin Arabella Ragno," the lettering proclaimed, also fancier than the others. She'd had it engraved in calligraphy, rather than the simple block letters every other door I had passed used. Typical. Give someone low ranked a position of authority, odds are at least 50/50 it'll go straight to their head.
Now, I needed a plan. I had no idea if my target was actually inside her office, or what the layout behind this door might be. I couldn't use Lucky's x-ray vision either, any signals he or I passed between us would be risky as hell in the quiet corridors. Especially since from my current vantage I could only make out four of the other doors, two to each side. So, the direct approach then. Go in, neutralize any threats save Arabella herself. Make it quick and quiet if possible. If we drew too much attention, take the target hostage and burrow my way out using Maiden. The concrete around us looked strong, but not strong enough to stop a Steelix from digging right through.
That settled, I lightly touched the back of my hand to the knob. I'd run across more than one crook who liked to protect their door with an Electric-type frying the doorknob if touched. Nothing happened. I gripped the knob and very gently turned it, finding it well maintained and thus silent. Nothing continued happening. I pushed the door open, stepped inside and closed it, and scanned the room all in one go.
Still, nothing happened. The room was unoccupied. Well, that was fine by me, I could ambush anyone who came in and have my back to the wall, ready to escape if things went south using my backup plan. It irked me to be waiting again, but it was Arabella's office. Surely she wouldn't stay gone for too long. So, I needed to kill some time.
I brought Lucky back out to watch the door, with Spitpyre still by my side as I set to searching the office. It was lavishly furnished, with wood panels over the concrete walls and a thick burgundy carpet. A plush leather sofa rested against the right wall, and lovely teak bookshelves on the opposite side. A single wooden chair, beautiful but none to comfortable looking, sat in front of a massive mahogany desk, behind which sat an office chair. It too was plush, and tall enough to loom over whoever had the misfortune of sitting before Arabella. The desk was almost pristine, just a small lamp, a PC, and a simple In/Out tray.
More promising was the all black file cabinet under the desk itself, tucked over to the left inside the foot cubby. I drew the drawers open and thumbed through quickly, idly thanking Arabella for being so well organized. It was actually easier to sort through her files than my own.
She must have been supremely confident no one would ever find this place. Financial records for dozens of shady enterprises in several different regions were being kept meticulously. Half of it alone would see her in prison for decades. I made a mental note of several of the locations she had listed. There were outstanding warrants on some of the people she'd put in charge of her drug ring in Kanto, her pimps in Johto, a few others of less import. Though most of them were wanted in a different region than their current assignments, that had never been a concern for me.
Oddly, there was no information to be had on her boss, save a brief memo jotted on her open appointment book. "Boss is getting paranoid, has forbidden all notations of his name and location in any records. We'll humor him, of course. Announce shredding of all such notations at this mornings meeting. Official designation when required to reference him in official orders will be XD000."
I was rooting around under the desk when Lucky gave a very soft growl. My tender head reminded me not to straighten up too quickly, so by the time I was able to sit up the door was already opening.
I had half risen from my crouch, hand falling to grip my sword, when the slowly opening door suddenly burst inward with a bang. Two Pokéballs rolled through the doorway, with both Spitpyre and Lucky leaping back to stand between me and the possible threat.
Before I had even managed to stand fully, the balls opened, out springing a blue East Sea Gastrodon and a Wormadam in a sandy cloak. Lucky immediately charged them, not waiting for orders as I scrambled to recall both of my Pokémon. Too late, his Wild Charge struck the Gastrodon and did absolutely nothing to the slimy Ground-type. Spitpyre didn't even get a chance to move as he was struck full force by a wave of Muddy Water. Screeching as his flame vents clogged and fizzled, the fowl crashed down unconscious. Unfortunately for yours truly, he'd been standing right in front of me when the attack hit. I was smashed back into the wall, and my head appreciated the second impact even less than the first. I was vaguely aware of a mild tremor in the floor, slowly building to something less gentle, when everything went black.
I drifted in and out of consciousness for a time. I was aware of a harsh female shout at one point, and though it was difficult to focus I was able to make out the words of Arabella as she tore into her subordinates for wrecking her office. If they made any attempt to defend their actions, it was lost in the ringing inside my head. Eventually I got close enough to really being awake to want to open my eyes, but the idea alone made me nauseous. Until a spray of cold water hit me in the face, at which point I was shocked into a mild jump that made me fall heavily onto my side even as my eyes flew open.
I managed to not vomit despite the jolt, if only just barely. Lifting my head, I could see just enough to take stock of my surroundings. The formerly pristine and fancy office looked like a disaster area. The entire place stank of stagnant water. The carpet was soaked, the PC would likely never work again, and the wood panel I'd struck was splintered and broken. In the middle of the room, a fissure had opened up into darkness below. Now I knew what that rumbling I'd felt was, the Wormadam must have used Fissure to take Lucky out in one go. Though I hate to admit it, Arabella was right. They'd really overdone it, especially seeing as the fissure hadn't been properly closed to complete the attack.
"He's awake ma'am," I heard, turning to see a Team Aqua uniform on one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen. Even with her face locked in a combination of annoyance and fear, that heart shaped face and button nose framed by strawberry-blond hair was lovely. Unless that too was the head trauma talking. Arabella waved an impatient hand at the Magma uniformed old man and punk-rocker looking Rocket she'd been berating and dismissed them, already turning to walk over to me.
"Well, what did we catch?" she eyed the room around her in all its devastated glory. "It had better be something important, if my office has been this thoroughly ruined for nothing..."
"Yes ma'am," the pretty girl hurried to answer, handing my card to her boss. "He appears to be some sort of fighter for hire." She leaned back from Arabella, evidently afraid of how her commander might react. She relaxed a bit when Arabella laughed, reading my card and crushing it in her hand.
"What are you here for boy? And how did you find me? I didn't exactly set up a mailbox out front after all. Come now, speak up," she continued to laugh. In fact, as my face contorted in rage, she only laughed harder.
In answer, I threw myself to my feet and tried to draw my sword, fully intending to make her original scar look like a minor skin blemish by carving out her eyes. Except my hand closed on nothing. Stupid, of course they'd take my sword. Arabella only laughed harder. So I punched her in the face instead.
Now, I don't normally condone violence against women. Even though my mother was one of the toughest humans I've ever laid eyes on, she taught me to be kind and gentle with girls when I was a kid and it stuck with me. People like Arabella don't count.
Her head snapped back and she staggered to the side, moving with the force of my punch if only a little. It hadn't been my best attack by any means, I was still dizzy after the blow to the head and having tried to rise so fast. The Aqua jumped back, just barely snagging Arabella's sleeve and hauling her back with her before she could fall right into the same fissure that had claimed Lucky in battle.
I launched a kick at Arabella's knee as she was pulled past, but my balance betrayed me and I nearly fell in myself. Lucky was still at the bottom, mewling pitifully but alive. It made me mad. I began stalking across the room when the bitch pushed her subordinate away and, taking a Pokéball from under he sweater, lobbed it straight at my head. I ducked, hand going to my own balls... and finding my coat was gone too. In the struggle I hadn't even noticed. Before I could sweep the room, hoping it or my sword was still here somewhere, the wings of a Golbat wrapped around me and sharp fangs bit deep into my right bicep. A numbness came over me then, as the Poison Fang took effect.
"At least," I thought as I once again fell fell unconscious, "It'll hurt less this way." Had I known I would survive this latest "setback" I might have felt more dread...