So, I'm uploading this a day early because it's one that I've been looking forward to writing for a while, and because tomorrow will be rather busy, so I'm unsure if I'll be able to get the chapter done on time. I also tried to separate this chapter into two, but both of them were much too short for my liking. So, I'm just going to have to suffer from my terrible ability to do simple sums, and have the story slightly shorter than I would like.
Chapter 45:
Plans of the Enemy
When Max wakes up, he feels himself lying on cold hard ground. At first, he's very confused as to where he is and what happened to him. But then, he opened his eyes and had a look around. He's in a big green hall, one that fades slightly when he focuses on one part of it for too long. With a jolt, Max realises where he is. He stands up and looks around. He seems to be alone, but he knows that he isn't. "Rayquaza!" he calls, his voice sounding rather faint. "Show yourself! What do you want from me?" In front of him, a figure appears. Rayquaza in their human form. "Good to see you too Maple," Rayquaza says. "As polite as ever I see." Not in the mood for small talk, Max cuts right to the chase. "What do you want from me?" he asks. "And why talk to me in your human form?"
Rayquaza began to walk away from him. "I have a few things that you must see," they tell him. "I find it easier to present visions to people while in this form." Max doesn't like the sound of this. "I thought I told you I want nothing to do with the Jade Orb anymore!" he replies. "This has nothing to do with the Jade Orb," Rayquaza hastens to reassure him. "I am here to give you a warning in regards to Team Terra however. Come with me. You must see this." Then, they resume walking. Max is unsure of this, but decides to follow the Legendary. As he does, he feels himself flying forward a bit, before stopping right next to Rayquaza.
Neither of them speak as Rayquaza leads him to the giant orb where Max was shown the visions of Team Terra carrying Rayquaza a few months ago. "How come you're able to talk to me now?" Max asks. "I thought you said it was because I had traces of your Aura on me from The Jade Orb? But I haven't had it for like a year." Rayquaza thinks about this. "In truth, I know not," they admit. "The storm I summoned to speak with you may have helped me with this, but there's something special about you that allows me to continue this conversation. I do not know what that is though. However, there are more important matters that need to be discussed." They stop in front of the orb, and Rayquaza raises their arms. The orb glows and images begin to appear on it, just like last time. However, unlike last time, the orb seems to grow bigger and envelop the two of them. Max is temporarily blinded by the light coming from it.
When he can see again, he's standing outside of his house. "How did we get here?" he asks. "We are still inside my mind," Rayquaza replies. "All I am doing is showing you exactly what I can see from up above." "And why didn't you do this back in Kalos?" Max asks. "I was low on my strength at the time," they reply. "Now, you must focus. This is important" Max turns his attention to the area around him. Its still raining, and raining hard. He can barely see in front of him, but he can just about make out his house. Then, he spots something that makes his heart stand still. A hooded figure walking up the path towards his house. At first, he thinks it may be his father coming home early. But, the figure is too small and thin to be his dad.
He steps forward to get a closer look, and sees that the figure is wearing a mask. A Team Terra Admin mask. Max stifles a scream and backs away. "You needn't worry Maple," Rayquaza tells him. "This is but a vision. He cannot see nor hear you." Max watches as the Admin walks up to his house, then stops in front of it. To Max's bewilderment, all he seems to do is stare. "He's been doing that these past few nights," Rayquaza explains. "I do not know what he is doing here. But if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say he's looking for you." Max looks at the Admin, and notices he seems to be staring into the windows. "I do not know what they want from you," Rayquaza goes on. "But I'd advise extreme caution over the next few days.
Max stares at the Admin for a few more seconds. "Where does he come from?" he asks. Rayquaza gives him a suspicious look. "A cave about a kilometre outside of Petalburg," they say. "May I ask why you wish to know this?" Max doesn't answer this, but Rayquaza is able to figure it out anyway. "You wish to follow him?" they ask. Max just nods. Rayquaza sighs. "I would advise against this," they say. "For all you know, that could be exactly what they want you to do." "I don't care," he snaps back. "This guy is up to something, and it could threaten my friends and family. I have to find out what it is!" "Even if you end up playing into their hands?" Rayquaza asks "I won't be," Max replies. "Because I know what to expect." Rayquaza sighs. "Then I wish you luck," Rayquaza replies. "Please, try not to get caught by them. The world may suffer greatly for it." Before Max can ask what that means, Rayquaza vanishes, along with his mind palace, and Max wakes up in his bed again.
As quietly as he can, he climbs out of bed and sneaks over to the window. Realising it probably wouldn't be very smart to poke his head out to look through the window directly, he picks up his Rotom Phone and holds the screen up to the window to act as a mirror. Through the mirrored screen, he can see the Admin standing there, staring at the windows. Sending a silent prayer to Arceus that he won't be spotted, Max watches through the screen as the Admin continues his search for him. Eventually, he seems to give up. He turns around and begins walking away from the house. Max watches him go, and debates to himself whether or not he should follow. On one hand, he may get caught and captured by the Admin and his cronies. But, the thought of finally making some headway on stopping the Tremors is to great. So, he makes up his mind, and sneaks out the back of his house.
When he steps outside, he almost immediately regrets this plan. The rain assaults his senses, and he feels extremely cold very quickly. But, he wraps himself up in his coat, pulls his hood over his face, and follows after the Admin. As he does, he keeps thinking to himself, "Oh this is so fucking stupid! What the Mirror World am I doing!?" And yet, he continues to follow after the Admin. As he does, he starts to think about how his friends and family would react if they woke up to find that he wasn't there. "I can already imagine that conversation," he says to himself. "'Oh, it's ok guys, I just stepped out at night during a thunderstorm summoned by a Legendary Pokémon to follow a murderous lunatic who's hellbent on capturing me. Don't worry, I'm not crazy!'" After a few more seconds, he adds, "Except I've stepped out of the house at night during a thunderstorm summoned by a Legendary Pokémon to follow a murderous lunatic hellbent on capturing me." He keeps walking for a few more seconds before realising something. "And I'm talking to myself," he mutters, "excellent."
He keeps following the Admin as he leaves Petalburg and heads further into the forest. The rain falls harder as he follows him, and Max starts shivering from the cold. At this point, he really wants to turn around and head back home where it's warm and dry. But, he's come this far, so he may as well continue. Eventually, his resilience is rewarded when he spots the Admin walking into a cave. No longer as concerned with stealth as he was before, Max breaks into a run and reaches the cave. He spends the next minute or so enjoying the warmth flooding through his body again, then he turns his attention to the reason he came into this cave in the first place. He creeps further into the cave and spots a bunch of crates and boxes lying around. He crouches behind one of them, hoping the thunderstorm outside will mask his sounds.
The Admin is standing not to far away from where Max is hiding, talking with two other Team Terra agents. "Are these shipments ready for transport?" he asks. Max realises that it's Admin Bannai speaking. "Yes sir," says one of the agents. "These power supplies are all packed up," says the other. "Good," Bannai replies. "The machine is running low. Don't want it completely drained before we have the chance to properly utilise it." Max's heart jolts. They're talking about the machine that activates the Tremors, they just have to be. Bracing himself, Max risks a peek over the boxes. Bannai's back is to him, and the other two agents are too busy looking at their Admin to notice Max poking his head over the crates. He tries to get a look at the boxes, but he can't see them. So, he takes another risk and creeps along the boxes to get a better look.
When he can finally see the box full of power supplies for the machine, he spots something written on it. "Fragile! Handle with care. To be transported to Sub-Admin R on base MC." Max smiles to himself. Although he doesn't know what MC stands for, he finally has a lead on where the machine that activates the Tremors is located. After making doubly sure he can't be seen, Max discreetly pulls out his phone and snaps a picture of the information on the box. Deciding he's tested his luck enough, he turns around and begins to sneak out of the cave. But, right as he's about to step back into the storm, his phone begins to ring, loudly. Silently cursing his luck and his sister, who's the one calling him, Max answers the phone. Immediately, his ears are blasted by May's worried shouts. "WHERE IN THE MIRROR WORLD ARE YOU!" "SSSSSHHH!" Max pleads, sneaking towards the mouth of the cave. "What do you mean sssshhh?!" May demands, lowering her voice only slightly. "Do you have any idea how worried everyone is!?" "I know, I'm sorry," Max whispers. "But could you talk quieter please?!"
May finally seems to register something. "Why are you whispering?" she asks. "Please don't be mad," Max tells her, before explaining where he is. "ARE YOU INSANE!?" May demands, earning another begging shush from Max. "I'm sorry," Max tells her. "But I was curious. Also, I've got a lead on where the Tremors are being launched from!" Now May seems interested. "Do you?" she asks. "Where?" "Hold on I'll send it to you now," Max says, before pulling his phone away from his ear and going to send the photo. It is only then that he notices the conversation has stopped. Dread courses through his body as he turns around to see why that is. Bannai and the other two agents are looming over him, mad glee in the agents' eyes. "Well hello there Maple," says Bannai. "So nice of you to pay us a visit.
He reaches for him, but Max is out of there in a flash. "May I'm going to have to call you back," he says. "They just found me!" Then, he hangs up the phone, ignoring May's protests. Then, he sprints away through the storm. He tries to remember which way he came from, but it all looks the same in the rain. The drops completely cover his glasses, making it virtually impossible to see. Then, things get worse, as he hears and feels bullets fly past his face. Turning his head back, he sees that the three agents have pulled out their guns and started shooting at him. He keeps running, swerving to dodge their bullets and the trees. Then, his phone begins to ring. He fumbles with it and sets it up so it floats beside him, then answers it. "Where are you?" May asks him. "I don't know!" he calls back. "Bit busy running here!" "I can tell!" May shouts back. "Just try to work out where you are! Bonnie has your Gallade ready to teleport you out of there!"
Liking the sound of that, Max takes hold of his phone and goes to the map. He finds where he is on it and sends the location to May. "I'm there!" he says. "Hurry up, I'm being shot at here!" "Hold tight," May says. "Bonnie is sending him now!" A few seconds later, Gallade teleports in front of him. Max tries to grab hold, but he misses. He turns to run back, but the bullets from Team Terra change that plan, and force him to keep running. Gallade tries again to get to him, but he's hit with a bullet before Max can reach. While he gets out of the way to use Heal Pulse, Max is forced to keep running. Suddenly, without warning, the ground gives way beneath his feet. Max has just enough time to register that he's just run off of a small cliff, before he begins to fall. Before he can fall very far, Gallade teleports right next to him and grabs hold. He teleports the two of them out of there, and back into the Maple house, where Max comes face to face with a very angry older sister. Seeing the look on May's face makes Max almost want to take his chances with the cliff.
Now things are beginning to come together! Hopefully I'll be able to update this tomorrow as well, but that's not looking very likely as it stands. Fortunately, even if I can't update this tomorrow, it'll still be coming out on Saturday. Now that the side fic is finished, I have Saturday's free to update this again. Hopefully I don't burn out while writing it. See you either tomorrow or Saturday.