Morai trudged up the stairs to find the area completely deserted. The taste of flesh and blood lingered on her tongue, and blood dripped down her chin onto the broken stone pathway. The trainer looked up at the disaster she had caused, a waterfall of white cascading down the mountain, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
"Where is everyone?" she whispered under her breath. She didn't bother to consider the question too long, as the possibility of escape had given her a small burst of energy. The captain was still unconscious in the boat, and she had no way to control it or him. She bowed her head, trying to clear her foggy memories of the area. She took the path leading east out of the village, past the Tapu's shrine.
"Where is it now that all of this has happened?" she grumbled, albeit stepping carefully and quietly past the entrance. "It let me live, and I did this. I guess everyone has made that mistake with me recently. If Interpol finds me after all of this...what will Sheridan do to me, or have done to me?"
Morai shook the question out of her head again, determined to find the next step in the plan still forming in her head. She trod along into the dirt, passing a few motels that had been abandoned. Her body was tired, but they were still too out in the open for her liking. That is, until she heard a voice.
"Hello, Champion," Giovanni said. Morai backtracked to find him standing in the doorway of the last hotel before the dessert. She squinted her eyes, questioning whether it was really the boss of Team Rocket or some hallucination created by her serum and exhaustion-addled brain.
But then she remembered Fearow. And Maria. And how Maria was taken by Fearow. And how everyone this side of the island had seemingly disappeared.
"What have you done with everyone?" she asked, almost drowsily. Her concern didn't really shine through in her voice.
"Do you mean her?" Giovanni answered with a bigger smile, stepping to the side to reveal Maria. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, a knife to her throat. At this, Morai seemed to find a new burst of energy.
"Let her go!" she growled. "Or I'll rip you to shreds. Again."
"Come inside," Giovanni calmly answered. Morai sighed and did as requested, realizing that she didn't exactly have the upper hand.
"I see you've already ripped someone to shreds," he continued, lowering his eyes to the lower half of her face. Once Morai was inside, he blocked the door, Maria at his side. He had pocketed his blade. Decidueye's Pokéball was on the opposite side of his belt, away from his own Pokémon.
"Let me unlock those cuffs," he said. "Arceus knows I've learned how to pick those locks after years of being in my line of work."
Morai looked at him with apprehension.
"Oh, come on. Unlike you, I don't bite."
Morai reluctantly turned around, eyeing him as he took the blade back out and began to maneuver it around the lock mechanisms.
"I say, you put up quite the fight out there, like a true Team Rocket member would!" he laughed. "I guess they haven't been able to stamp out your fighting spirit in prison. That's good."
The serum's effects are at least semi-permanent, then, if she still looks like this after all this time.
"I'm not a member of Team Rocket," Morai answered, quickly turning around and backing away once she was free. She tried to keep a strong structure, but she was struggling to stand up straight. "I thought I made that clear when I beat up your executives and drank your blood. I see your scars, by the way. How have you explained those away?"
"I haven't," Giovanni answered. "It would take away from Team Rocket's hard work in your creation. You did what you were supposed to do. You can rejoin Team Rocket, Morai, and put your life back on track to becoming the most feared and powerful trainer in the world. You can still crush your past under your own foot, leaving no memory but the terrifying bloodstained face of the true you."
"It's not the true you!" Maria exclaimed. Giovanni let her continue her argument without scorn. "You've done this once already, and look where it's gotten you!"
"Yes, Morai, look where it's gotten you," he agreed, a sense of wonder in his voice. "Look at you! The closest to perfection and power you've ever been. And with this, you'd get even closer."
He pulled out a vial of that illustrious red serum, knowing it trumped all other arguments. Morai immediately perked up.
"Let Team Rocket save you from this predicament and it's yours. I know the executives will be glad to see you, to settle past mistakes."
Morai stepped forward, ready to accept his offer if it meant she'd feel the serum coursing through her veins again, but Giovanni put a finger up.
"Now, now," he said, "We can't just forget the fact that you did go against the whole of Team Rocket. I'm afraid that our previous arrangement no longer works. I was giving you whatever you wanted at no cost, but this time it must be bought with your loyalty. Prove it by sacrificing the girl."
Morai was snapped out of her trance.
"What?" she asked.
"Well, Miss Maria isn't here for nothing," Giovanni answered with a small chuckle. "When her blood lies on your hands, this serum will be in your veins, and you will feel like yourself again."
Morai flexed her claws and gritted her blood-stained teeth.
"...No," she said, trying not to look at the seductive glow of the vial in his hand. "Let her go and leave."
"Oh?" Giovanni said. "I doubted what my sources told me, but I suppose it really is true. You actually care about someone. Maybe that Sheridan's efforts really have begun to wear on you...maybe you've grown soft and weak."
"Let her go," Morai said. "Or I'll do what I've done before."
"I'd like to see you try," Giovanni said, throwing out a Pokéball to release Persian. "Fight, and prove your strength."
"You don't have to!" Maria pleaded. "Morai, you can't fight in this state! I'll be alright!"
"She's lying," Giovanni grinned. "Which means she cares about you, too. Go on then. Fight for her life or trade it for your dear old friend here."
Morai looked at Maria's eyes, which fought with the serum for her attention.
Maria...ever since we met you've been kind to me for a reason I don't understand—something I don't think I even can understand. Even amidst all the blood I've spilled, you stood beside me, untouched by my cruelty. I can't love, but I can at least do this...for you. Because I...because I care.
Having no Pokémon of her own, Morai bared her teeth at the feline. No red came to her eyes, and she was reminded of her glaring disadvantages. Still, she circled the Persian.
If my life has become nothing but a search for another fight or taste of blood and violence, I can at least end it with one act of true meaning...fighting for your life.
She lunged, digging her claws into the Pokémon's hide. They were both relying on natural instincts, Persian not using any special attacks and Morai abandoning much of her martial arts skill in favor of what had become her natural weapons. Despite having an obvious size disadvantage, Persian, like any Pokémon, was literally built for battle. It raked Morai clean across the side and front of her torso, leaving deep marks not unlike what she had often dished out. Still, Morai fought with everything she had despite her exhaustion and the black serum fighting against every action she took. She clawed and even began to bite again. Giovanni was pleased at the sight, knowing that Team Rocket's serum had continued its job even after leaving her system, while Maria was slightly horrified.
Morai did still use strikes in her fight, and when Persian pinned her to the ground she managed to hook an arm around its neck, applying a choke she assumed would work on Pokémon the same way it worked on humans. She let out a cry as she did so, gritting her teeth as she squeezed with the little strength she had left until the creature fell unconscious. She stumbled to her feet, struggling to breathe as black blood ran from her wounds. She immediately lunged again, reaching for Giovanni, but he drew his blade.
"No need," he said, pointing it straight at her. "I've seen what I wanted. You can have your nurse back. I just hope she can tend to your wounds properly."
The Team Rocket boss nudged Maria forward into Morai's arms. Morai began to sink to the ground, and Maria went with her.
"Of course," he said, holding the serum back up, "you could still take me up on my original offer. She's right there in your arms. Do what you've been wanting to do, Morai. Do what you're built to do!"
"Morai," Maria pleaded, taking Morai's hand and squeezing it as she drew close to her neck. She had been pushed to the edge, the adrenaline in her system competing with the serum and urging her to continue her violence. "I thought I might have to convince you not to bite me one day, but I didn't think I would be competing with a drug designed to be addictive to you. I'll take care of you. Don't worry about that. You don't need the serum. It will hurt you. I can help you."
"Leave," Morai growled at Giovanni. "I...don't want it."
Yes you do. Shut up. Not for Maria.
Morai collapsed until she was lying fully on the floor, and Maria took her head in her lap.
"Why would you want a beast like her?" Giovanni asked. It was an honest question. "Why would you endlessly care for someone designed to prey upon most anything that breathes?"
"What have you done with her?" Maria asked, replying with a question of her own.
"Nothing she didn't want," Giovanni calmly replied. "She wanted power, and I gave it to her. Once she realized what she could become, she wanted more, and I gave it to her. She's not the one trying to change back. Everyone else is trying to change her."
"I'm sure she didn't ask for the...bloodlust," Maria argued. Morai had closed her eyes and was seemingly unconscious. "That's a terrible curse."
"Well, nothing comes without a cost, especially not what was granted to her. It has become a part of her very being. I'm sure she doesn't mind it that much anyway, given her already violent disposition."
"You needed something you could control her with aside from the serum," Maria said. "No matter her power, she can't resist the taste for blood that you gave her, you monster! She's doomed to fail, no matter how hard everyone tries to help!"
"Take it up with my scientists," Giovanni said, taking her stolen Pokéball and tossing it back to her. "I can't take all the credit. Have fun caring for your monster. Don't be surprised when she finally turns on you."
"She won't," Maria insisted. "She wouldn't."
"She will. She traded the ability to love for the power she has. Whatever storybook fantasy you've drawn up in your head won't compete with this," Giovanni answered, holding the serum up once again. "It doesn't matter who you were before. If you're willing to lay down everything that makes you human at its altar, it will bless you with inhuman power and petrify your heart so that it cannot love. That's what she did. She might care for you now, but you have my word that her hands will one day be stained with your blood."
With that, he left.
"Oh, Arceus. Morai?" Maria asked, feeling her neck for a pulse. "Morai?"
Morai opened her eyes and coughed.
"We need to get you onto this bed," Maria urgently said. "I'll help you."
"I'm fine," Morai said, curling up onto the floor. "Just let me rest."
"Morai! You're bleeding! You're bleeding black blood!"
"I'm...fine..." the trainer insisted, shoving Maria's hand away. "It's the serum. I just need to sleep it off."
"Morai, I need to help you, but I can't if you don't let me. You're too big for me to lift without your cooperation. You need to trust me on this. If you don't let me help you'll die."
The Mask Maker groaned, taking hold of Maria's arms as she struggled to her feet. When she made it, she wrapped her arms weakly around Maria.
"I'm glad you're alright," she said, unaware of the uncharacteristic action she was taking.
"Yeah, thanks to you. Now lie down."
Morai collapsed on the bed and Maria went to work assessing the damage.
"I suppose this blood is nearly the same as regular blood. Its color would suggest that it's not getting enough oxygen, but because of the serum I can rule that out. I'm going to need a first aid kit. Don't go anywhere," she half-heartedly joked. Assuming the nurse position she had shucked on her first day of seeing Morai, Maria booked it to the main office. Unsurprisingly, there was no one to be found, so she rifled through everything until she came across the humble medical supply closet. She grabbed everything she could and made her way back to the motel, where she found Morai reaching for the door.
"No, no, Morai!" she pleaded. "You have to lie back down! You're unstable!"
"I don't want to go back..." Morai mumbled.
"You won't make it anywhere if you don't let me help you!" her new nurse insisted, gently but forcefully pushing her back and guiding her to the bed.
"I'm sorry for the invasiveness," Maria said as she resumed her work, "but I'm going to have to remove your vest and at least unbutton your shirt. You took a nasty claw to your torso."
She rushed to unbutton the unsurprisingly difficult eye-shaped buttons on Morai's vest. After she took it off, she unbuttoned her shirt.
"Again, sorry for the—oh?"
There was nothing there. At least, nothing but two scars where other things had been. They seemed like they had begun to fade, but were still fairly recent.
"Morai, I don't have much time to question you, and you don't have to answer, but what happened—"
"Lost 'em in a fight," the trainer weakly grinned. "You should see the other guy."
"...Did Team Rocket do it?" Maria pushed. She unbuttoned the rest of her shirt to find another scar below her naval.
"Mhm," Morai answered.
"Did you...want it?" Maria asked.
"Mhm," Morai answered again. "It all got in the way. I didn't need or want 'em, so I got rid of them. I feel better without 'em."
"I see..." Maria said. "Well, I'm glad you're happy. I hope you weren't running around and fighting while you healed! That could've been really bad!"
"They probably kept me in for as long as I needed," Morai answered.
"I can't believe I didn't notice," Maria muttered.
"Does that...change however you felt about me?" Morai hoarsely asked.
"No," she answered honestly. "I can understand it, I think. I just caught so caught up in tending to your wounds that I wasn't expecting it, is all."
Morai lied quietly, at least between groans of pain, hoping that if she let Maria finish her work, she could still leave. It was less of a plan and more a hopeful delusion created by exhaustion, blood loss, and serum wrecking her body and brain.
Maria moved to Morai's face after cleaning and bandaging everything else with the limited supplies she had. She got up onto the bed and took Morai's head in her lap, cleaning her face more than bandaging it.
"Who...did you bite, exactly?" she asked. "You came here in handcuffs and had already been shot with the correct serum. Does that mean you fought with...Pollie?"
"Yeah," Morai said, mustering the strength to get up. "I did what I had to to escape. She's alright, I think. But you should go tend to her, too."
"I can't, if you keep trying to leave!" Maria said, holding her head down. "I think Team Rocket is still out there, fighting with Sheridan and the rest of the International Police. That is, unless Giovanni has called them off. Either way, with the entire island on lockdown, Interpol is going to find you. It's better they find you here, not actively dying, than trying to run for the third time and having to catch you—which will be easy, at this point."
"I'm going to wake up in prison, chained to...something, probably," Morai weakly argued. "Before I got shot, I had the most fun today than I have in...however long I was stuck there. Not to mention that it was your dart that did me in! You tried to shoot me!"
"I know, I know," Maria said, holding onto her so she wouldn't get up. "But don't worry about that right now. You're here with me, and that's all that matters. I tried to stop you from leaving because...I like you, whether you like me or not, and I knew that you leaving would hurt everyone in the end. Including you."
Morai groaned, but stayed put.
"You'll have me there," Maria continued. "And...Waffle Day! You'll have Waffle Day!"
"Not according to Pollie," Morai argued. "And that was before I nearly bit her hand off."
"You—Alright, well, I'll still be there. We can continue as planned, dancing and practicing archery and...we'll find other things to do, too."
Morai sighed, keeping her head in Maria's lap. Everything else in her mind had dulled except for the voice of Shadow Morai screaming at her to run. Run and escape or keep her head up and fight until she goes down.
"Maria," she groaned. "I don't...want to...go back..."
"...I know," Maria said with a small smile that began to turn into a frown. She put her hand on Morai's chin, gently closing her mouth and tilting her head upward a bit to finish adding small bandages to the cuts she had sustained. When Morai shifted her gaze up to look at her she quickly smiled, the corners of her mouth fighting to turn back down into a concerned frown. "It'll be alright," she said, brushing her thumb along Morai's cheek. "Just relax."
Maria began to hum the melody to the music Morai had written for her, and soon she was adding words here and there, creating a little song as she held the monstrous-looking trainer's head in her lap. She could tell that Morai had begun to relax as she sunk into the bed more and became less rigid. Maria kept her hand below her chin, admittedly trying to keep her mouth shut so that she didn't have to see her sharp bloodstained teeth. She kept a finger on Morai's pulse, worrying that what looked like sleep could be her falling into deadly unconsciousness.
Morai didn't know how much time had passed, but she heard something. She was barely aware of her surroundings, barely able to feel what she was laying on anymore, but she felt the cool air on her skin where Maria had moved clothing away to reach her wounds. It made her feel vulnerable, and she didn't like it. She weakly reached to button her shirt back up, but Maria began doing it for her.
"You bloodthirsty—!"
It had been Pollie's voice. Morai could barely see her, instead seeing a blur of dark hair and the colors of the guard uniforms. Unintelligible exchanges between her and Maria ensued before another voice arrived. Morai tensed up when she made it out to be Sheridan's voice. Sheridan held Pollie back from approaching with the raise of a hand. Instead, she went to the bedside herself. Morai felt Maria's hand tighten around her wrist as she approached. There wasn't clear anger or concern in her expression. It was simply businesslike.
"No..." Morai mumbled. "You can't take...me...I'm not..."
"Doctor, can she be tranquilized in this state?" Sheridan asked, looking down at her with a small frown. The chief had clearly been involved in some kind of conflict. The large blur of The Doctor appeared beside her.
"Oh my...she could, most likely, but—"
"Then do it, please," Sheridan ordered, cutting him off.
"There's no reason," Maria pleaded. "She's hurt. She can't hurt anyone now, Mrs. Sheridan."
"And she definitely won't when she's fully unconscious," Sheridan replied flatly. "Doctor, if you will..."
The Doctor sighed, taking a vial and syringe and pulling out a smaller than usual dose of tranquilizer.
"No!" Morai weakly protested, trying to move her arm. Maria moved it for her.
"Mrs. Sheridan!" she implored. "Please."
"Maria, if you don't cooperate, you will no longer be allowed at the prison. Yield now or give up the future. It's your choice," Sheridan said.
Morai felt her arm lowered to her side again, and The Doctor took it with a sigh.
"No..." she whispered again, shaking her head.
"I'm...sorry, Morai," he softly said, putting the needle into her arm. The already dull sounds and sights of the room began to really fade away until all she could hear were muffled voices.
"Will she make it directly to the prison in her state?" Sheridan asked.
"That should be the case."
"Good," Sheridan said. "I want her kept unconscious while the serum leaves her system. Then I am to be notified immediately once it's completely gone and she's stable enough to move."
"Mrs. Sheridan...what are you planning to do?" Maria asked.
"That's to be discussed later," Sheridan answered coldly.
No. No. I don't want to go back. I won't. You can't take me.
Do you feel it now?
Hm? Again, Morai? Why do you always appear when I'm on the verge of dying?
You forgot what it felt like. You've spent the past several months so intent on ruining your own life that you forgot what it felt like to protect someone else's. I had entire regions to fight for, and the burden of their lives rested on my shoulders. Now you have one person, and in exchange they give you warmth and peace. Is that so bad?
