Taking Over the Shadows
Chapter 1- The End Is Where We Began
Author's Note: Hello. Finally getting on with this story. And, oh, the ideas my beta reader Morohtar Singod and I have come up with. *evil laughter*
Key:
Thoughts
Memories
Dead language
xXxXx- line break or time skip.
XxXxX- point of view switch.
Onwards we go!
xXxXx
"Who are you and how did you get in here?" The white-haired masked man glared at the unknown man standing beside Ghetsis, the one who had saved his and his brothers' lives.
The man stood with most of his face hidden in the shadows of the dimly lit room. All that could be clearly seen was a small smile that sent chills down the back of the Shadow.
The Shadow examined the man carefully. The man was six foot three with golden tan skin and appeared to be around 29 years of age. He had long, straight black hair worn in braid down his back. The little light glinted off of a golden cuff earring on his upper right ear and his amber eyes. A thin gold chain held a small piece of amber around his throat. He wore a plain, long-sleeve black v-neck shirt, light blue jeans and black combat boots. A black leather pouch was strapped to his right thigh. At the man's feet floated a Chandelure.
"Relax. I was just talking to him." The man turned back to Ghetsis. "So, are you sure it is all right?"
Ghetsis continued to stare out the window he was seated in front of. "I no longer care about what happens with Team Plasma. Do with it what you want."
An almost sad look flashed across the man's face. "Very well." He turned and started walking towards the Shadow. "As for your question earlier, my name is Nicgoli. It doesn't really matter how I got in here though." Nicgoli placed a hand on the Shadow's shoulder, a glint of amusement flashing through his eyes when the Shadow tensed at the touch. Leaning down, Nicgoli whispered into his ear. "It's a shame how easily he was broken by those children. If you truly want revenge on them, I may be able help you. Talk it over with your brothers. Then come find me."
Nicgoli walked out of the room, leaving behind a speechless and thoughtful Shadow to consider his options.
Nicgoli pulled out a phone and dialed. "Step one complete here. Now it's your turn."
XxXxX
"Got it." A woman hung up and opened the door she had been standing in front of.
Archie turned at the sound of the door opening. When he spotted the woman, his eyes narrowed. "I know you."
"We have met a few times before now, yes." The woman took a seat across from Archie's desk.
Archie examined the woman, trying to remember when exactly he had seen her before. Standing, she was five foot six with long, styled straight brown hair. With lightly tanned skin, she seemed to be around 25 years old. She wore a long-sleeve blue silk shirt and black formal pants with black stiletto heels.
The most noticeable of her features was her eyes. Her right eye was brilliant hazel, while her left eye was a vivid red.
"I remember know. You're that grunt that speaks that dead language." Archie leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Your name's Narcissa right?"
The smile that spread across Narcissa's was brilliant. "Iea lononvol! I wasn't sure that you would remember."
"Your eyes tend to remain in people's memories."
"I suppose they do."
"What are you here for? If I remember correctly, you worked under Shelly. She even recommended you for promotion a couple of times, but you wanted to remain where you were." Archie picked up a few papers from his desk and flipped through them.
"Archie are you seriously planning to retire?"
Archie stopped looking at the papers and looked at her face. At her sad expression, he set the papers aside and sighed. "I just…I'm tired. I still believe in the purpose that I created Team Aqua for, but I just don't think that I am the one who will help it reach that goal."
"So you are going to let someone else try."
Archie gave a huff of a laugh. "Whoever it is will have the convince the Admins that they deserve the position." He turned and started organizing his papers. "I wish you luck in your endeavors."
Narcissa stood and went back towards the door. With her hand on door knob she glanced over her shoulder. "I'm irritated that you are giving up so easily. But I will always respect you. Teejvio."
"Hey, you still have to convince the Admins."
"I know." Narcissa closed the door behind her and pulled out her phone. "Klade. Step one completed over here. Which means it's your turn. And remember what Dovan said about his bombs."
XxXxX
"Alright, alright. You worry wart." A man finished fastening a device to the spike of the building.
The man went and settled on the fence next to one of the satellite dished in front of the building. After a minute he fished the detonator out of his pocket and set off the bombs he had placed earlier.
"Huh. I guess I can see the appeal of these things. They're pretty to watch." The man stood and walked over to the hole that the explosives had created in the side of the building. As he entered the dust cloud that was just starting to settle he heard voices on the other side. Finding a large enough piece of rubble he settled to wait for the dust to disperse and listened.
"Commander Saturn! Are you all right?" A voice obviously belonging to Galactic Grunt called out.
"Yes, yes. I'm fine. You three there, go check the outside of the building!" The dust had settled enough by this point that the blue-haired Commander could be seen as he gave the order.
"No need. The outside is quite stable. It's how the bombs were designed to be after all."
Everyone whipped around, drawing poke balls and preparing to release the Pokémon when they spotted the man sitting on the rubble.
The man slowly stood up to his full height of six feet. He appeared to be twenty seven years of age. He wore a black trench coat over a plain black v-neck t-shirt, dark jeans and black combat boots. With lightly tanned skin and short, spiky black hair, he at first seemed only remarkable because of his height. Then the light shifted and his eyes came into view. Or rather, his right eye of icy blue color came into view. His left eye was covered with a black eye patch decorated by a sun stitched with silver threads.
The man gave a rather manic grin and leveled the gun he had been holding in his hand at Saturn. "Might as well tell your people to step down. I don't play well with others."
Saturn signaled for all the Grunts to stand down. "Who are you?"
The grin turned into a dangerous smirk. "The name's Klade." Klade kept a steady aim on Saturn as he got out a phone. Before he dialed, he glanced at Saturn, a question in his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea where Cyrus is, would you?"
"Of course not!" Saturn snapped, tense anger filling out the lines in his body.
"That's what I figured." Klade quickly dialed a number, which seemed to be answered almost immediately. "Step one complete over here. Thanks for the explosives, by the way. They worked a charm. Have fun over there."
XxXxX
"Told you they would. Got to go." The phone call ended.
Maxie threw the papers he had been examining onto his desk and leaned back in his chair. "So you're finally ready to come out of the shadows, Dovan?" He spoke as he looked the young man over.
"Well, not completely out." The young man of 25 cricked his neck as he put the phone aside. "I've been leading the shadows of Team Magma for so long; I won't be able to ever leave them completely."
Maxie looked over the young man that he had often considered to be like a son.
Dovan stood just an inch shy of six foot with lightly tanned skin and short brown hair that was always messy due to him always wearing the hood of his uniform up. His usual uniform consisted of a slightly modified version of the Grunt uniform, allowing him to blend with the Grunts with ease. He wore a full hoodie with the hood always up, hiding his face and, more specifically, his eyes. His left eye was deep hazel while his right was sea blue. The rest of his uniform consisted of formal black pants with black combat boots. When the young man was not pretending to be at Grunt rank he wore his proper Admin uniform, which was simply the exchange of his hoodie for a formal black and red overcoat with the Magma insignia on the right shoulder.
Maxie smirked a little. "Does this mean that you will stop wearing that hoodie now?"
"ME!(3) Absolutely not."
"I'd forgotten that you spoke that dead language." Maxie laughed at the shocked expression the graced Dovan's face.
"How could you? I'm always cursing in it." Dovan fiddled with his hood for a moment before lifting it and throwing his face in shadow.
"It just slipped my mind. I am busy preparing for my retirement." Maxie flicked through a few papers before selecting a couple and holding them out to Dovan. "I think it will good for Team Magma to have you in charge, but I know for a fact that Mack will not like it."
Dovan took the pages with a grim smile on his face. "I know. I never expected this to be easy." He walked towards the door, grabbing his phone and dialing as he went. "Step one complete on all our fronts. Which just leaves you. Good luck."
XxXxX
"Perfect timing." Crimson lips curled up into a cool smile. "They just arrived. Call you later."
The woman spun the chair she was relaxing in around to face the group that had just entered the room.
"Hello Giovanni."
Giovanni stood with Ariana, Archer, Proton, and Petrel surrounding him. Giovanni's faithful Persian stood guard in front of him, growling dangerously at the woman currently sitting at its master's desk.
The woman had long, straight silver hair worn in low ponytail that draped over her shoulder. Her eyes were a purple so dark as to almost be black and as cold as ice. The smile on her crimson lips had turned into an amused smirk that seemed even colder. Her pale skin seemed even paler with the black leather jacket with elbow length sleeves that she wore over her blood red tank top. Around her neck and left wrist was a metal studded leather choker and a bracelet. The choker had a comet shard as a pendant.
Slowly, the woman stood, revealing her dark skinny jeans with cargo pockets on the thighs. A studded metal leather belt rested slanted on her hips. The belt held six poke balls, and as the woman walked around the desk, they realized that she had released one of her Pokémon long before they had entered the room.
The Shiny Persian growled in response to Giovanni's Persian's threats as she walked behind her Trainer's knee high black combat boots. The woman stood at five foot eight and around 28 years old. She swiftly quieted her Pokémon with a gentle hand on her forehead.
"My name is Donmi." The woman pulled a sturdy black denim messenger bag towards her from the far end of the desk. Blood red embroidery decorated the front flap that she lifted as she reached in and retrieved a flash drive that she twirled in her fingers. She looked Giovanni straight in the eye. "I'm here to take over."
"And you expect me to just hand it over?" Giovanni spoke with a sneer, the Executives around him barely holding in their laughter.
Donmi slowly moved her eyes over the Executives, something in her gaze sending chills down their spines. Her lips quirked up in a secretive smile as she rested the flash drive against her bottom lip. "Well, you were planning on going on a training journey soon anyway. Let me be in charge while you're away."
Giovanni tensed as she spoke, as he had not mentioned his plans to a single person. He narrowed his eyes at the woman. "It would seem that you know things that are not common knowledge."
"Occupational hazard." Donmi shrugged. "Oh, you really don't know what I do. Just so you know though, blackmailing is my hobby."
"Which I assume is how you are going to convince the Rocket Executives to obey you." Giovanni crossed his arms across his chest.
"That's step two. I'm currently working on step one." Donmi withdrew a laptop from her bag and inserted the flash drive. "I have a deal for you Giovanni. If I can turn Team Rocket into something that is feared before you return from your journey, then you permanently hand over the leadership to me. If I don't, then I won't bother you again."
"You seem quite confident. Like you know what the problems are and how to fix them." Disbelief colored Archer's voice.
"And who would be stupid en—" Petrel began, before being interrupted.
"Three months. You have three months to try to improve Team Rocket. If you have not done so by then…" The cruel smile that graced Giovanni's face brought a smirk to the woman's face.
"Of course. You know Giovanni, I actually respect you. Which is why I decided to try convincing you without blackmail." Donmi reached down and stroked her Persian. "Now I might as well complete the second step. Which one of you Executives wants to see what dirt I have on you first?"
"I have nothing to hide from Giovanni." Ariana stated.
Donmi tilted her head with a smirk. "You're right. You don't have anything to hide from him. But what about your fellow Executives?" She set her computer on the desk and gestured at the screen.
Ariana came around the desk and examined the screen. Suddenly, she jerked back, all color draining out of her face. Hands trembling, she looked at Donmi, visibly shaken by what she had seen on the screen.
Donmi's smile seemed almost kind. "I simply ask that you listen to my reasons for things that I want done."
As Ariana walked back around the desk, Donmi pressed a few keys and gestured for Archer to come and see.
He wandered around and looked at the screen. "Well, that is impressive. The position you would have had to be in to get that shot…"
"My Gengar helped me with that one actually." Donmi looked at the screen as well. "Even I can't get into that position."
"Ah. That makes sense." Archer walked over and patted Proton on the shoulder. "Your turn boy."
Proton gulped as he watched Donmi click a few keys before he walked over to the computer. When he saw the screen, he froze, shame coloring his face.
Donmi rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.
Shakily, Proton returned to where he had been standing.
Petrel stomped over as Donmi changed what was on the screen.
As soon as he saw the screen, he swung at Donmi. "YOU BITCH!"
Suddenly, a knife was at his throat.
"Careful. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself now would you?" Donmi's crimson smile was full of danger as she gently pressed the blade into Petrel's neck. "Here's a good rule of thumb. Never underestimate me. I'm always full of surprises. And I am ALWAYS armed. I do not rely on my Pokémon for my protection." She withdrew the blade, leaving a thin line of beading blood behind. "You aren't as nice a guy as you like to think you are, Petrel." She did something on the computer. "Though this disguise of yours right here is rather impressive."
Petrel slowly lowered his arm and took a few steps away from the woman.
"If the four of you would leave, I would like to talk to Donmi alone for a minute." Giovanni sternly ordered his Executives out of the room.
Quickly they left, leaving the two of them alone with the two Persians.
"Training journey?" Giovanni raised a brow in question.
"What? Did you want me to tell them you planned to permanently disappear? At least this way they get to see you one more time and you get to pretend that you weren't planning to abandon them." Donmi examined the tips of her hair. "All the better for you, right?" She smirked as she put away the laptop. "I really am impressed that you caught on to what I was doing so quickly."
"You made it fairly easy for me." Giovanni gathered some papers from the desk. "I suppose that I will return in three months then. Good luck surviving. Petrel has quite a temper and he really holds grudges."
"Oh, please." Donmi gathered her bag and prepared to leave. "He was beaten by ten year olds…actually, all of you were. Because you held back." She looked over her shoulder. "I never hold back."
Donmi exited the room and saw the four Executives standing just out of hearing range of the room. She smirked and walked down the other end of the hall, her Persian following closely.
Donmi withdrew her phone from her pocket and dialed Nicgoli's number. "Step one AND two complete over here."
XxXxX
"Show off." Nicgoli smirked and glanced through the doorway he stood in front of. "It is rather surprising how many of Plasma's Sages were arrested and yet are out already."
"How many?" Donmi's amused voice sounded from the phone.
"All seven. And then there's Colress." Nicgoli's smirk turned into a smile as he listened to Donmi's laughter.
"Well, good luck. If any are going to give you trouble, I think it will be Colress." Donmi's voice was matter of fact as she continued to speak.
"Indeed. Well, I suppose I should get to work." Nicgoli sighed. "I'll call you after I tell Narcissa that I'm done, okay?"
"Fine fine." Donmi swiftly ended the call, allowing Nicgoli to get to the work.
Nicgoli put away the phone and entered the room where the Seven Sages and Colress waited. He smiled at them all, amused by the wave of unease that he saw wash through them. "Relax. I'm Nicgoli. Ghetsis has given me permission to take Team Plasma over. I hope you'll all work with me in turning Team Plasma into what it was meant to be."
Giallo's mustache quivered as he looked Nicgoli over. "And you think that you—"
"Can you really do it?" The Shadows appeared in the room in their usual sudden manner. "Can you lead us to our revenge?"
Nicgoli looked over his shoulder at them. "Quite easily. Are you in?"
A strong look of determination came over their faces. "We're in."
Nicgoli turned back to the others and raised a brow. "And the rest of you?"
Colress narrowed his eyes. "Do we have a choice?"
The smile that spread across Nicgoli's face would have been innocent if not for the dark undertone that lay in his eyes. "No. You really don't. But don't worry." Nicgoli turned and walked towards the door. "If you truly dislike how I handle things and want to leave, come talk to me."
Nicgoli left the room and dialed a number on his phone. "Hey Narcissa. Step two finished over here. Good luck over on your side. I'm gonna go chat with Donmi."
XxXxX
"The two of you. Are you together again?" Narcissa laughed as she flicked through a stack of papers before she went to talk to the Aqua Admins.
"No. But I certainly am trying." Nicgoli sighed on the other end of the phone.
"Oh, good. It's a pain to deal with you when the two of you are 'off'." Narcissa put the papers away and headed towards the room where Archie waited with the others. "I'm going to hang up and let you get to trying to convince Donmi to hook up with you again."
"Wish me luck." Nicgoli singsonged.
Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Luck."
She hung up and entered the room just as Archie was speaking.
"The person I have chosen to become the next leader of Team Aqua is Narcissa." Archie stated in a rather bored tone of voice. "This is not up for discussion. Whether or not you will follow her is up to you though."
Amber stood up. "And just who is this Narcissa?"
"Narcissa works- worked- under me. She—" Amber interrupted Shelly before she could get any further.
"She's a Grunt?! You expect us to work under a GRUNT?!"
"Would you chill, Amber? Narcissa is not just a Grunt. She's talented and quick thinking. She's probably smarter than all three of us put together." Matt shook his head at his fellow Admin's outburst.
"Wait, Matt. You're okay with this?" The look of shock on Amber's face was almost priceless.
"Sure, I'm slightly irritated, but I've worked with her a few times and she is quite capable." Matt took a swig of water from his glass. "You remember those times that we needed things translated from that dead language? There are very few people who know that language and she is one of them."
Shelly glanced at the doorway and smiled. "Well what do you think of this all, Narcissa?"
I shrugged as the other Admins turned towards me in surprise. "Quoug yu ozkosgoj.(4) I figured that Admin Amber would be against it, that Admin Shelly would support it, and that Admin Matt would be slightly irritated, but wouldn't be against it."
"What the hell did you just say?" Amber growled.
"Quearjm'g iea ryupo pmequ?(5)" Narcissa tossed her hair over her shoulder before turning to Archie. "So when exactly am I due to take over?"
"Effective immediately. Which means you get to move into my old office tomorrow." Archie had a rather mischievous grin on his face. "And I get to go on vacation. And I don't have to deal with Maxie anymore."
"At least not as an official rival." Narcissa tossed out flippantly, causing Archie to glare at her. "If that's the case, I have to go make a few phone calls."
As Narcissa turned to leave, Amber shook his head in disbelief. "Wait, that's it?"
Archie sighed and rubbed his temples. "Amber, Narcissa was recommended for promotion five times. Each time she asked to remain as a Grunt. She is a strong battler. If it really bothers you, challenge her to a Pokémon battle sometime. I don't care. It is no longer my problem. Now all of you get out."
Narcissa left without another word. As she wandered back the way she came she retrieved her phone and made a call. "Klaaaaaade. I'm dooooone. I'm gonna go get drunk, cause I'm in charge from tomorrow onwards. Have fun with your step two."
XxXxX
"Don't do anything stupid or reckless." Klade shifted his grip on his gun. "And congrats. Try not to get a hangover."
The sound of a raspberry being blown on the other end of the phone was heard shortly before a click signaling the end of the call.
Klade put the phone away and turned to Saturn as he reached into one of his pockets to withdraw a poke ball. "Mind showing me where the main office is?"
"Yes, but I don't exactly have a choice now do I?" Saturn said through his teeth as he looked down the barrel of the gun.
"Chill dude. All I'm wanting to do is turn this Team into something that it was originally supposed to be." Klade slipped the gun into a hidden holster and released the Pokémon he had retrieved.
When the Pokémon materialized, a Grunt screamed and ran as if a herd of furious Rampardos were chasing him.
Klade blinked, utterly startled by the Grunt's reaction to his youngest Pokémon. "What the hell was that all about?"
Saturn watched the Pokémon with unease in his eyes. "We had some bad experiences with Eevees before. Quite a few of the Grunts are still traumatized by them."
"Eevees." Klade gave Saturn a look of complete disbelief.
"Please don't ask. Even I still have nightmares about it." At the look Klade continued giving him, Saturn shrugged. "Let's just say that Eevees are part of the reason that Cyrus is nowhere to be found."
"Right… I'm going to make a call while you lead me to the office now." Klade glanced down at his small Eevee as he pulled out his phone and called Dovan. "Dovan? Step two is complete over here thanks to my Eevee Aeon. Still trying to figure out how that worked. Have fun on your end."
XxXxX
"Right. Fun. Wait, did you—and he hung up." Dovan looked at his phone. "His Eevee? Quou cho hasp?(6)"
"Do you have to talk in that language? No one understands you." A snide voice came from over his shoulder.
Dovan rolled his eyes. "Hello Mack."
Mack shoved past Dovan and entered the room where Maxie was going to announce his successor. Courtney and Tabitha were already there and waiting.
Dovan adjusted his hood and leaned against the wall as they waited for Maxie to arrive.
Maxie entered through the far door and kept on walking towards the one Dovan stood next to. "Dovan is the next leader. Argue amongst yourselves all you want. That's my decision and I am off to my retirement."
Maxie exited the room, leaving behind silence for a moment. Then Mack stood up and stomped out of the room. Dovan noticed that some money exchanged hands with Courtney and Tabitha.
Tabitha stood and came over to clap Dovan on the shoulder. "Just remember that if you slip just a little, I'll be that to take over for you."
"Gee, thanks."
"Aww, the two of you can just be so cute." Courtney joked as she came over to congratulate her friend. "If you do slip, I'll make sure he helps steady your footing before he tries to take over."
"Wouldn't know what to do without you." Dovan said as he returned her hug.
"Probably—" Tabitha began but stopped when Courtney stomped on his foot.
Dovan shook his head at his friends' antics. "I have to go make a few calls. Guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Don't get too drunk!" Courtney called after him.
"It is kind of scary how well you know him." Tabitha commented.
Dovan left the room and dialed Donmi. "All done here. When are we going to move on to step three?"
"Let's give ourselves a week at least to get settled into our new roles." Donmi stated. "Oh, and Dovan?"
"Ioc?(7)"
"Don't get to drunk." Donmi hung up, leaving Dovan spluttering.
Quickly Dovan dialed another number. "Narcissa? Quo fubo gerj meg ge tog gee jlamp.(8)"
"Vrucg.(9)"
xXxXx
Author's Note: I really can't think of anything to say. I have so many plans for this story and my others…gonna go write some mor now!
TRANSLATIONS!
(1)- You remember!
(2)- Goodbye.
(3)- No!
(4)- What I expected.
(5)- Wouldn't you like to know?
(6)- What the fuck?
(7)- Yes?
(8)- We have been told not to get too drunk.
(9)- Blast.
Well, there we go. All done for now.
I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional characters!