An7: I know, right? I didn't expect hogwarts to be in Scotland either... On a serious note, I chose North Korea because its the closest bit of isolated land to Japan. Don't get too het up about it :)
Mac had finished his conversation with the pilots and was sat back down with Latias.
She had yet again taken residence in the window seat, even though it was dark outside and there was nothing to see. According to the flight map, which Latias had spent the past ten minutes looking at and trying to figure out, they were just flying around Sweden. Mac was glaring at his laptop.
"Mac?"
He turned to face her.
"Why can't we go straight there? Why do we go in wobbly lines?" Her finger trailed across the screen and followed the blue trail that the airplane was leaving.
The question sounded childish, but Mac had to remind himself that Latias knew nothing of airplanes or governments or anything like that.
"That's because that country has said we can't fly through it, so we have to go around."
"Why? What country would do that?"
"Well, that one. It's either because the pilot hasn't bothered to file a flight plan, or because the air above that country is already full, or even because the air traffic controllers in the country don't want to deal with us, like if they're on strike."
"Right," Latias didn't understand much of what he said, but had decided on another pressing issue to nag Mac about.
"Mac? You said there was food in here? Where?"
Mac sighed at the question, it was just so typical of a toddler. Where are we? When are we eating? Next thing you know, she'd be asking if they were nearly there yet.
"Well, there's a trolley like on the train. But if you're hungry now I guess I could ask the attendant?"
She gave him puppy dog eyes and Mac conceded.
"Alright. What kind of thing do you want?"
"Human food!"
"Okay? That's the only stuff they have. I mean, sweets, crisps, drink?"
"Meat?"
"No. Not until they give out the in-flight meal. How about some sweets or something?"
Latias considered it.
"Okay, but can I have more than last time?"
Mac thought two bags she had last time was enough really, but Latias clearly didn't hold the same view.
"How much more?"
"Can I have six this time?"
Six was a ridiculous number. Not to mention the cost, although that didn't really matter.
"Six? I don't think that's healthy."
"Not having any meat isn't very healthy either. Bianca says I've always got to eat at least a third of my weight every day. More when I'm in season, which I am."
Mac grimaced. He didn't need to know that last bit, but he had to ask.
"Season?"
"Yeah. Season, heat, time of the year. What?"
Mac dismissed this with a wave of the hand before she went into more elaborate detail.
"So you want more food?"
"Yep. I've got carnivore teeth for a reason."
When Mac was young, his father had read him a story called 'The Tiger Who Came for Tea'. Short story shorter, the tiger ate everything in the house. Mac could see an identical situation with Latias in replacement of the tiger. And the plane replacing the house.
With a sigh, Mac got up from his seat and walked to the front of the plane, where the trolley was parked. Behind it was a different attendant to the one who had taken them to the pilots. She was avidly playing Angry Birds on a tablet.
"Err...hi?"
She looked up and Mac realised that the question he was going to ask would be difficult to phrase, especially since he was going to ask if they had anything that fulfilled the definition of 'meat' just in case. 'What's the meatyist thing you have?', 'I'm looking for some dead animal' and 'Can I have some breasts?', all seemed unsuitable. The last one especially as the woman seemed particularly excessive in the chest department.
"Yes?"
"Err...what is there to eat?". The moment he said it, Mac felt dumb.
"Well, we've got crisps, chocolate and some sweets right now. But the in flight meal will be served in about 15 minutes."
Latias wouldn't be pleased, but she would have to deal with it, because there was no point in buying more food when they'd get their own meal in a few minutes.
He thanked the attendant and returned to his seat.
Latias noted him coming back empty handed and instantly scowled.
"MAC! HUNGRY! WHERE'S FOOD?"
"Food is in the microwave. You'll get it in a few minutes."
"But I'm hungry NOW! And there's not berries or anything!"
In the garden, or indeed anywhere outdoors, Latias always had a pretty much unlimited access to whatever fruit she could sniff out. And if it was meat she craved, Latios was always there to hunt for her, or at least watch over while she caught something. There was no such freedom in the compressed metal tube.
"Hey, I'd have it sooner too, but microwave cooking times are limited by the laws of ph-"
"HUNGRY NOW!"
Secretly, Mac wondered if her persistent and slightly annoying attitude was what she was normally like, or just what she was like, 'in season'. Unfortunately, the thought wasn't secret enough, and Latias overheard.
"Hey! That's not fair! You try growing eggs inside you without a partner, because that is what MY body is trying to do! Oh, wait, you can't. Because that's all males are here for - to help the females make the offspring. That is ALL you do. I hope Latios isn't like you... "
Latias had, up until now, sounded like she'd rather not talk about her pending relationship with her brother, so it seemed odd she was now talking about it as if they were already 'mates' .
"Was that last bit meant to be in your own head?"
"No. Wait...about Latios? Yes. Go away. No! Don't leave! I need you to get home!"
Latias grabbed hold of Mac's arm and clinged to it tightly, even though he was sat down and had barely moved. If this was what Latios had to deal with as Latias' mate, Mac felt sorry for him. Yet again, Latias read his thoughts.
"Well you shouldn't! The whole point of being near a male is that it makes you all good and happy! Especially if they're really powerful. That's why you've got to show off as much as you can. That way, you get the best mate, and the best mate is bo-"
"LATIAS. TOO MUCH INFORMTAION."
"What? All I was saying is that I would totally-"
"NO!"
"Interesting thing here, the exact opposite goes for Latios. He'll be completely rational until he catches the scent of me when I'm in season, and then h-"
Mac lost it completely and put his hands over his ears, making the lalalala noise as well. Considering he was in the first class of the airplane, it looked awfully stupid. It was pointless too, because Latias was sending the thoughts to his brain, not his ears. Covering them did nothing.
"Latias please just STOP!"
The voice in his head silenced itself.
"Thank you. Now do you want to see something cool?"
"Can I eat it?"
"No,"
"Well then no."
Mac gave her a 'You still have to sit with me for another three hours' glare.
"Okay. But this better be cool. Otherwise I might have your arm for meat."
Mac couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Warily, he lifted the lid on his laptop and swivelled it is towards Latias, pointing to an icon on the screen.
"You see this? This is that engine." He pointed through the window to the jet engine outside the plane.
Latias couldn't have looked more bored if she was trying. Even worse, she was trying.
"And?"
Mac honestly thought she'd be more interested.
"Well, I've logged into my computer at work from here. I can look at its stats and remotely control the engine from this laptop, right here."
"And?"
"Err...I can do that to any engine on the planet."
Latias served up some perfectly tuned sarcasm.
"Fantastic. Now you can crash the plane with the push of a button?"
Mac rolled his eyes at her and looked back at the screen.
"Well...you can see what other planes are around."
"No thanks."
Mac slammed the laptop lid down and sat back, making a point that Latias was making things difficult. He decided to make things difficult for her.
"Are you this moody all the time, or just when your in season?"
She shot him dagger eyes, much to his delight. Mac couldn't keep his face straight though, and cracked into a grin after a few seconds. Latias didn't change her face. She did psychic him though.
"You're as annoying as Bianca. Yes. I just want to be with another male of my own species, okay? I'll be much better after some private time with my mate. There, I said it. Anyway, I thought humans were meant to be polite about these issues."
"Yeah, but you're not human, are you? I bet your pokemon friends go on about seasons and heats and mates all the time."
This was true, but not the point that Latias was on about.
"Yes, but YOU'RE human. And MALE. You're not meant to be interested in this kind of thing."
Mac knew her point, but was going on simply for the conversation.
"Well yeah. But this is a different world I'm going to right? Things could be different and I need to know."
Latias shrugged her shoulders, a motion that wasn't well rehearsed and consequently looked somewhat robotic.
"Well, your world doesn't look much like mine at all. I don't think I'd be able to even tell you half of what goes on. I think the best way for you to learn is experience."
Mac nodded whilst staring at the back of the seat infront. It was a whole new world he was going into. Three hours on a plane wasn't going to be enough to learn about it. He'd just have to wait and see.
A voice spoke down from the speaker in the ceiling.
"Hello everyone, I'm just here to tell you that our assistants will be passing through the cabin shortly to offer the in-flight meal, this is included in your ticket price and is as-ordered when you got your ticket."
Latias turned to Mac, excited.
"Finally! Not that the kind matters, but what meat did you order us?"
Mac got that jittery, sinking feeling inside his stomach. The same kind you got when bad news slowly starts to dawn on you. He never thought that this predicament could be seen as dire, but right now he had every right to panic.
"Err...I don't think I DID order anything."
Latias lowered her gaze at Mac as the assistant stepped out into the isle.
"What do you mean, 'Didn't order'? I'm hungry Mac. Starving. I NEED FOOD!"
Mac was the first person that particular attendant got to. She was wheeling a trolley with trays slotted in the side.
"Good afternoon Sir, can I ask you what you ordered when you got your ticket?"
Mac rubbed the back of his head and explained, Latias' eyes drilling into him the entire time.
Latias WAS starving. She hadn't had proper meat for weeks. At the Team Rocket HQ all she'd been given was some sort of chemical mush that had everything it needed, and nothing else. No tasty bits or anything.
Things had gotten better with the rawst berries this morning and the 'mouse', as Mac called it. But it just wasn't enough to keep her going. It was a good job she wasn't needed to fly, because she doubted that it would be possible while she was this hungry. The energy drinks on the train seemed good for incredibly short bursts of flying, but again, they weren't sufficient.
"That's okay sir, all the tickets had a meal booked. Just choose what you want now."
Mac breathed a sigh of relief. The trolley had labels above each slot for a tray, with the contents written on the label. It wasn't an in-depth description - in fact, they just had 'BEEF', 'CHICKEN', 'VEGETARIAN' or similar on them - but it was good enough for Mac's need.
He glanced at Latias and gestured for her to pick a tray. She immediately pointed to the one labelled 'COD'.
Mac slid the tray out with some assistance from the attendant, before picking one himself. The attendant moved down the plane, leaving Latias and Mac to their meals.
Airplane food had improved in the past two years. The A350 even had room for a kitchen, so - even though the vegetables and other sides were blatantly microwaved - the meat was properly cooked.
Mac rested the tray on the flip-down table infront, peeled the clingfilm from around it and disposed of the film in the mini rubbish bin at the side if the chair.
Latias was not having such an easy time. She'd managed to flip down the table, but the clingfilm was providing an obstacle.
From Mac's perspective, it looked like Latias was unaware of the film's presence, and that she was trying to just grab the battered cod with her hands, which immediately just slid off the cling film.
From Latias' point of view, she couldn't pierce whatever it was that was stopping her from getting to the fish.
The smell was almost driving her crazy, it was the first fish she'd smelt in weeks, but she didn't have claws in her human form and Bianca's fingers seemed useless against the transparent film. There was seemingly no way to puncture it. Or at least, that's what it looked like.
Latias eyed the sharp edge on Mac's laptop. It looked easily capable of cutting the barrier.
Before he could object, she nabbed the computer from his lap and swung it down on the tray, before casting it aside and checking the damage.
The fish had been mashed up, and that was about it. The film looked stretched, but the force had been more of a bludgeoning than a cutting and it remained unbroken.
With a sigh, Latias placed her nose as close to the tray as possible and inhaled the smell.
"I love fish," she pondered sadly, also transposing the thought to Mac, who was sat stunned from when she'd used his laptop to seemingly crush her tray.
"Can't you get the foil off?" Mac asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked genuinely sad.
"No."
Mac sighed and put down the plastic knife and fork he'd just picked up. He reached over to Latias' tray and in one swift movement, removed all the clingfilm. Instantly, Latias started picking up pieces of the fish with her hands and putting them in her mouth, before chewing excessively.
"Latias, the knife and fork?" Mac politely tried to point out. Latias didn't even hear him, too absorbed in her food. Or rather, too absorbed in eating it.
It tasted so good. It was the first fish she'd had in over a week, and she'd never actually done that before. She'd scarcely gone two days without it at home. Even though this fish was cooked and battered, it was still infinitely better than any of the meals she'd had as of late. It wasn't the best fish ever, but after the long wait to eat, it certainly tasted like it.
Mac watched as in seconds the plate was picked clean of any trace of the meat. He hadn't even started his, and Latias had already chewed down an entire battered cod. And barely eight seconds had passed.
Latias looked up at him, eyeing up the meal he had yet to tuck in to.
"Aren't you hungry?"
Mac put an arm around his food.
"Yes, I am. But you ate that cod so quickly, I didn't even have time to start my food. Do you eat like that all the time?"
Latias started picking up the chips - again with her hands - sniffing each individual one and then eating it, whilst psychicly answering Mac's question.
"I LOVE fish. We have it all the time at home. When I say 'we', I mean me and Latios. Bianca says we're 'sea faring mammals' or something like that. But it means we like fish. And hunting it is SO easy! Me and Latios can chat while we hunt, they're that deaf."
Mac was eating some mashed potatoes that had blatantly come out of a can, and didn't want to respond verbally, so he just nodded. Latias continued.
"We love going hunting for fish. It's not that difficult, really, because we're faster than anything in the sea. Plus fish are stupid."
Mac had finished his mouth full and chuckled at Latias' personification of fish. Then again...
"So, you DO have other animals in this world? Like cod? And salmon?"
Latias considered this for a second before answering, still eating the chips.
"Well, yes. But not in the wild. You can only see them in special centres where they're bred for food. Bianca buys them for us to eat."
"But I thought you caught them? You just said you hunted them?"
"Well, yeah. Bianca buys the special fish, but we also catch normal fish. Like magikarp, or febass."
"Right...so...are magikarp and febass pokemon?"
"Yep. And tasty ones at that."
"And you hunt those ones?"
"Yep." Mac looked like he needed more information, so she carried on.
"Well, Alto Mare is an island, so we're surrounded by sea. And where there's sea, there's fish. So we hunt fish most of the time. There's a few parks and stuff so we can hunt land pokemon from time to time. But they're not that big and there's often loads of tourists, so hunting in them is difficult."
Mac wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this explanation of animal behaviour, so he diplomatically shoved another mouthful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.
Latias, meanwhile, had finished her meal entirely.
"Are you going to eat that meat or not?" She asked, looking down at Mac's tray with the untouched slab of beef waiting on it.
Mac sighed.
"Well, I was, but if you..." He didn't get to finish the sentence as Latias reached across and picked up the beef in her hands, before bringing it up to her face and starting to tear corners off with her teeth.
"Or just take it. I guess that's good too." Mac was annoyed, because he hadn't eaten much throughout the day either, but on the other hand, Latias probably did need it more.
An hour later, and Latias had drifted off to sleep in the seat next to Mac, but he couldn't do the same. He was too busy thinking.
Their escape had been difficult, put simply, yet they'd managed quite easily. And there weren't any police at the airport. They hadn't locked him out of his work computer, which he could use to take down airplanes. No one had even circulated a description of him to the guards at the airport, which would have been easy to do through the radio. Or perhaps they had, and none of the security had recognised him.
But that part was so easy, it was almost like they wanted him to escape. But why?
Then again, they had shot at him and Latias. That was a big sign that they were trying to apprehend them. And yet...they'd made it.
Mac was idly watching the global overview from his work computer as he pondered their escape. Right now, they were flying over Burma, after a rather roundabout detour.
Mac lazily tracked a new engine that had started up just east of their position. There were over two hundred in his view, but he'd filtered them out over this one because it was categorised as a prototype. It'd be interesting to see how it performed. He'd even made the program outline it red.
Mac raised an eyebrow as the stats showed the engine - and therefore the plane it was attached to - jump from 60 feet altitude, to 20,000 in under half a minute. The updates weren't regular, but all the same. That one went like a rocket.
Another thirty seconds later, and the dot had moved eleven miles. It's speed clocked through at over 1000 miles an hour. The scale didn't go past that, apparently for 'security reasons'.
Mac considered typing in his password and clearing the message, but it wouldn't be worth it. The password was sixteen completely random characters and the engine was probably just some military test, hence the secrecy.
Mac froze.
The dot was heading towards them. And hadn't he just said that it was probably attached to some military thing? There were many possible explanations, but in reality, it could only really mean one thing.
The military were after them again. This time in mid-air.
Mac clicked through the settings on his laptop, trying to find out more. The only thing he could find out that wasn't locked out was that the engine was built by one of his friends in research and development, and that it was too big to be attached to a missile.
So it was a plane. Supersonic, probably a prototype jet fighter with missiles and guns. Heading for them.
Mac reached for his bag, and shook Latias at the same time. She woke with a start to find Mac rummaging around at her feet.
"Mac? Are we nearly there?"
Mac carried on looking in his bag, but answered at the same time.
"Yes. But we may not be if I don't do something quite quickly."
Latias detected panic in his voice, and decided to read his mind for the rest of the details. She didn't like what she saw.
"They're going to blow us up?"
Mac had found the item in his bag and shielded it from Latias' view as he closed the bag again.
"Well, it's a possibility. So we need to get away. Now."
Latias didn't like the way he said that last bit.
"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"
Mac turned and looked her in the eyes, unsure of how to deliver the next sentence.
"I'm sorry, but this has to be done. Don't panic. "
Latias got worried when Mac shakily got up out of his seat. She went into complete panic when she saw that Mac appeared to be holding a gun, and was stepping into the isle of the airplane, looking somewhat crazy.
Mac shouted at the top of his voice, also waving the gun in the air, attracting the attention of every single passenger at the front on the top deck. Whatever it was he was doing, it did it effectively.
"EVERYONE LISTEN UP! I WANT YOU ALL TO MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE. THEN GO DOWNSTAIRS AND WARN EVERYONE ELSE. THIS PLANE IS UNDER ATTACK. DON'T LET ANYONE ELSE COME UPSTAIRS."
There was a shocked silence. No one knew quite weather to believe to boy at the front of the plane. Was the gun even real?
Mac stopped shouting and answered the majority's doubts.
"Yes. This is loaded." He paused to take aim, then fired a shot. It smashed right into a CCTV dome in the ceiling. He turned around and shot another dome, before re aiming and taking out the final one just above the entry to the cockpit. It was a medium range shot and Mac was secretly pleased he'd made it. But that didn't offset the jelly in his legs.
There was a pause as the 20 people considered the best way to leave. This ended when a woman screamed and caused a mass panic that sent all the passengers scampering to the back of the plane.
Mac looked at Latias, guilt etched into his face. Latias just looked shocked.
"What was that for?" She couldn't have sounded more accusing.
Mac sighed and steadied himself on the chair.
"I could explain, but we've got two point five minutes until some bad people arrive with some much bigger weapons than this." He waved the gun to make his point. "Please just do as I say?"
Latias trusted Mac, she really did. But the last person she saw with a gun was trying to kill her, so she was understandably nervous.
"What do you want me to do?"
Mac put it bluntly.
"Transform into the flying thing. We're going to hijack this plane and get as far as we can. If that doesn't work, we're going to have to bail out quickly. Both of which are things I need you in your flying form for."
This was crazy. Latias knew that. The stress was clearly getting to Mac, but now he'd shot half the plane, they weren't exactly in a position to sit down and possibly have another meal. But then again, was he honestly suggesting that they bail out of the aircraft in mid air and fly away unscathed? She could, no problem, but Mac? Humans were awfully fragile and died very easily.
Mac tried to reason some more.
"Please? I've shot the cameras, I've sent everyone downstairs. The only people that will see the dragon you is me, and the pilots. And they won't have any proof. We've got two point two five minutes left."
It was stupid to keep waiting, Latias realised. Whether she liked it or not, Mac's plan was the only way forward now. She might as well go with it.
Mac sighed with relief as Latias stepped out into the isle, before she started glowing blue. A second later, the blue settled down and the red dragon was revealed. Her face was looking more fearsome than usual.
At the front of the plane, the hostess was on the plane phone to the cockpit. Whispering, she was describing everything that she could figure out, hidden behind the trolley with the phone cord stretched to the limit.
"They're planning on hijacking us. Small gun. Yeah. The engineer and his assistant. Yes. Wait, what?"
The assistant pushed the phone to her ear, but the call had gone dead. Which was impossible, unless someone had cut the cord that spanned between the wall and the phone she was holding now. With dread, she looked up to see what had done it.
Latias had bitten on the wire, cutting it in two, also keeping both ends in her mouth. When the attendant looked up from behind the trolley she looked fit to pass out there and then. Mac pushed past Latias and went to help her.
He patted Latias on the head to look more friendly, before offering a hand to the attendant. She sat dead still, shocked. Mac continued regardless, in the softest voice he could muster.
"I am so sorry about this. Do you want help getting up? No? Okay. That's fine. Listen, we're not going to hurt you, but me and my friend - Latias, the big red dragon - are being hunted by the military. We've got two minutes before they get her and try to kill both of us. I can stop them, but I need to get into the cockpit to use the radio and talk with them. Could you let us in, please?"
This all proved too much for the poor woman, and she collapsed to the ground, passed out.
Mac groaned.
"Great. She was supposed to tell us the password, now how do we get it?"
Latias was already there with an answer.
"I read her mind. The numbers to get in to that door are 2194880571"
Mac would have kissed Latias if she didn't look ready to kill. He shoved his way back through to the keypad in the door and pressed the numbers as Latias said them again. It was too easy.
The numbers glowed green, but the door stayed locked. A light labelled SPEAK lit up on the keypad, and he remembered that he had to talk and get the pilots to open the door. Time to persuade. Latias hovered and watched as Mac did his best to persuade the pilots.
She was glad to be in her real form. It certainly made her feel safer. She could smell better, see better, and fly. The plane could explode now and she'd be able to just fly away, with perhaps a few minor cuts. She'd be lost. But alive. Which would probably be more than what Mac could say. Speaking of him, she listened to his reasoning.
"Look on your radar? Behind us? What can you see? Nothing? Because there isn't. You've got a high tech fighter plane heading this way, and they're after me and my friend. They're going to kill us. They've tried already. And they'll kill you too if they think it'll benefit them. They'll blow up the entire plane if they think it'll make sure the job is done. Let me in, I can radio them. I can fix this." Mac was pleading by the end.
The SPEAK light went out. It was replaced with the co-pilot's voice a few seconds later.
"We can't do that. We have already received radio communications, we will be making a landing at our alternative airport, where you will be apprehended by the relevant authorities. The plane behind - I have been assured - is to escort us. We will not open the door. Please take a seat, we will be landing shortly." There was a click and the voice stopped. The keypad turned red.
The voice was formal, final. Mac didn't believe the transport plane story, even if the pilots did. If it was just an escort, why was the engine and attached plane a prototype travelling over 1000 miles an hour? You didn't send a prototype to escort a plane home, you sent one to exterminate everything on board said plane. One thing was sure though. They weren't going to open the door. Which meant he was going to have to.