The room was so bright that May had to shield her eyes for a moment before opening them again slowly. The whole room was white, covered with ice and frost. The small light of the lighter reflected enough to light up the whole room. The temperature had dropped dramatically from sweltering heat to biting cold. She shivered and felt Drew pull her closer, warming her up with his body heat.
Two people lay unconscious on the floor, Carlos and Damon already crouching in front of them, checking for pulse.
"Hail to the ice queen!" She jolted at the familiar voice she had heard only seconds ago. The only difference was that the voice which was previously full of malice and coldness now was so exuberant and full of laughter that it makes you want to smile.
May looked up to see the same face. Silver blue hair were hanging lose around his shoulder and the grey eyes, previously so full of evil intent, were now dancing with amusement. His face was dirty, but the huge smile more than made up for it. Grey eyes met her blue ones and widened.
"Hey, May! You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!"
She heard a sigh behind her and Drew's hold on her tightened, "Careful, Akagi. That's my girl you're talking to."
She felt a thrill race up her spine and smiled, a blush working its way up to her cheeks.
Kei Akagi just smiled and turned to Shu, his grey eyes big and hopeful, "So, boss! How did I do?" Shu Hayden glared at the younger boy. Kei's smile wavered, "Boss?"
"You…." Shu took a deep breath, "IDIOT!"
Kei flinched back as Shu continued, "Did you know how much trouble you caused? What were you thinking? Did you know that you almost had us against you if you had not called Miyuki? We almost believed that you have sided with the enemies!"
Kei gave him his best wounded-puppy expression. But before he could say anything, he was smacked in the head by Miyuki, "Shut up with your antics, Akagi."
Before he could turn on Miyuki, Ayame interrupted calmly, "Guys, we managed to beat them with the element of surprise. But it won't take long for Maxie to come looking for them. And call his team."
"She's right." Daichi said, "We need to do something. Quick."
"But we don't know where Maxie is." Chiyo said.
"Uhm, guys?" May turned around when Drew spoke. Everybody turned to him. "Maybe Ditto can help." Ditto peeked from where he was hiding himself behind Drew.
"You!" Kei suddenly flew off in rage, causing Ditto to flinch and retreat behind Drew's leg, "You son of a-!"
"Calm down, Kei!" Ayame commanded as Daichi physically restrained him.
"But you don't understand!" Kei wailed, "It led me to the alley and-!"
"Yeah, yeah! Took you to the alley, got you kidnapped and replaced by Brodie…now shut up!" Damon interrupted from where he and Carlos were crouched over the two unconscious people. "Look at this. The face mask was so very perfect. He mastered the behavior perfectly."
As Damon spoke, Carlos removed the mask covering the man's face carefully. The face underneath was a different one, with an orange mark under his eye, the trademark of Brodie. The hair were grown out and dyed to match Kei's hair color. A quick examination of eyes showed the use of lenses. The clothes were Kei's, as was the ID card in the pocket. A full search coughed up Kei's wallet, complete with his license, a photo of all 8 administrators with Kiyoshi and Madam Suzuki, and his house keys in the pocket.
"He did it so thoroughly and perfectly." May muttered in awe.
"Got us completely fooled." Ayame agreed.
"Not that it takes much to do that." Kei grumbled, causing the others to glare at him. Kei pouted, "What? Did you really think I would betray you?"
There was actual hurt in his eyes this time, causing Shu to soften his gaze, "We're sorry, Kei."
Kei rolled his eyes, still pouting, and replied with a quick "Its fine."
"Ditto." The purple pokemon pushed through the crowd gathered around his master and plopped down at his side. "Dit dit ditto. Ditto. Dit."
"He say," Drew said as Roselia translated for him, "that master did the wrong thing. He shouldn't have done this."
"Ditto. Dit. Ditto dit dit ditto dit dit. Dit dit ditto ditto."
"He will lead us to Maxie. He will help us because Groudan should not be woken up. He wants us to destroy the stone."
"Why do we trust him?" Kei glared at the Pokémon grudgingly. One look from Miyuki made him wilt almost instantly.
"Now, how should we proceed?" Shu questioned at last.
"May I suggest something?" May asked.
"Shoot." Kei replied.
"We are all dressed as guards except Miyuki, Ayame and Kei. Kei can swap clothes with Brodie, tie up his hair and all. Pretend that he's Brodie."
"And then you all go with him as guards to Maxie," Ayame continued as she understood May's plan, "and knock him out."
"That's brilliant." Others agreed.
As Shu and Daichi were getting Kei's clothes off Brodie, Miyuki cleaned Kei's face.
"You look terrible." Miyuki muttered as she wiped his face.
"Hmm." Kei agreed, staring at Miyuki as she wiped a dirt line on his forehead with her thumb. Up close, she smelled like winter and ice. Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she focused on getting rid of dirt on his face. He stared at her mouth as she touched her thumb with her tongue and then attacked a particularly stubborn spot on his cheek. Too late did he realize that she was saying something when she glared down at him.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Get up and change your clothes." Miyuki repeated, slightly irritated. Kei looked behind him to see Daichi holding the black clothes, an amused smug grin on his lip.
Kei scowled and snatched his clothes from the red head. He began unbuttoning his shirt and he was about to take it off when Miyuki shrieked, "Not here! You are not undressing here!"
Drew and Daichi took pity on him and covered for him while he changed. In the mean time, the others had bounded Courtney and Brodie –wearing only his boxers- together and gagged both of them.
Kei felt better, if not slightly disgusted, in his own clothes. As he came to the group waiting for him, he saw Miyuki holding a comb like a knife. "Sit down."
He obeyed without a word and while the others laid out the plan before him, detailing how he was to proceed with Maxie, Miyuki tugged and ran her fingers through his hair.
Needless to say, he wasn't very sure of what he had to do once he met Maxie.
Okay so I deeply apologize for this sudden haitus. BUT! I have the story completed, and the updates will be, at max, every alternate day so...yeah.