From: Maria Rocket <mobius101@aol.compactpika> Subject: [PW!] Dark Reunion Date: Thursday, February 10, 2000 1:51 AM >Seth frowned. "The *last* thing you want to do in front of an elevator >full of police at a crime scene is announce, 'Hey! I'm a Rocket!' That >tends to put you at the head of their suspect list. At this point, >we'll be lucky if they just put out a search for your dead body: they'll >assume - without asking - that you had something to do with that." Seth >pointed between two trees, over the outskirts of the city, to where a >recessed crater in the side of the skyscraper still rained debris on the >unfortunates below. > >Maria put her hands on the younger generations' shoulders. "He's new. >Everyone's allowed some mistakes." > >Mimic's gaze shifted skywards. "Mimic think Mimic see something." > >Seth and Aerie relented, dropping Estro on his feet. > >Maria stared him in the eyes. "But don't do that again, ok?" Not >waiting for a response, she glanced at the time travellers again. "Now, >about that window?" > >Aerie smiled and shrugged. "We *were* trying for a dramatic exit. So >sue us." > >"...umm, ahem..." > >Seth shook his head. "Aer...we were the curtains. We were going to >stick around and see what the cops made of everything, see if maybe >they came up with a clue." > >Aerie raised an eyebrow. "You were...? That explains why I didn't see >you on the ledge. I was one of the bricks, preparing to fall." > >"...EXCUSE MIMIC!" > >Estro, Estro's drowzee, Maria, Seth, Aerie, and Slasher all turned to >face Mimic at once, but only one of them got a word in first. "Sian?" > >Mimic pointed towards the skyline. "Is island heading where Mimic think >island heading?" > >Six sets of eyes followed Mimic's line of gesture. Far away, and >disturbingly high above the horizon for those not used to seeing the ATR >base, Ivory Island floated at a noticeable clip directly towards the >most infamous Rocket base bar none. > >Estro saw it first. "They're heading..." > >"...for the bottle Rocket." Maria frowned in concentration. > >"This is *not* good." Seth ticked another understatement off an >imaginary quota. > >"Sian!" Slasher paused in pondering what would happen if he were to >open his younger self's poke ball right now, sensing that more important >matters were at hand. > >Aerie turned towards Estro, eyes smiling with a chaotic glee she had >learned from her father, but only experienced when things seemed out of >control yet she had a plan. "Estro. Wanna make up for that little >snafu earlier? Have your drowzee teleport us to that bottle. There's >going to be lots of Rockets there; you might even meet the Boss himself >- or things could go bad and we could all die very messy deaths. It'll >be fun either way." > >Seth's eyebrow twitched. He hadn't heard Aerie say "fun" in *that* tone >of voice since... > >"DROW!" > >****** > >"Right. The *top* of the Bottle. I thought it was rather clear Aerie >meant the ground around the bottom." > >"Mimic think Mimic remember cap on top of bottle last time Mimic was >here." > >"Well, someone's opened the bottle. There's a ladder over here. We can >climb down if you walk..." > >*SPLOOSH* > >"...or, in Estro's case, *swim* over here." "Help!" Estro flailed about in the water. "It's pulling me dow-llup...!" He disappeared beneath the soda. Maria kneeled down and reached in to grab him. "It's only soda!" Then she was gone as well. Everyone stared. "Sian!" The bottle was shaking beneath them, sensing the intrusion. Fighting to keep themselves from falling off the sides, the others slipped into the soda as well, and were soon lost in the crackling liquid. *** First thing Maria realized as the current swept her away, was that it tasted stale. It was strange soda, but she remembered it from the last time she'd been there. It had not been like this. There was something wrong with it. It flipped her over and over, until she caught on a hard surface. She kicked as hard as she could. Much like the tide coming in, she floated out of the crack she had created. Then the soda went down in that part of the bottle, and she floated to the floor. She looked up. It was dark. The smooth surfaces of the corridor reached up farther than she could see, and seemingly forever in both directions. It was a dull, dark green. Maria pulled herself up. She had never liked this place, and it looked more....'wrong' than it had in the past. A strangled hiss echoed over her head. She shivered, though there was nothing there. She looked around her. "Mimic?" Yet, there was no one else around. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists twice. Then she started walking. There had been a way out before, she would find it again. Each step clapped loudly though the corridor. She wondered if she would be able to hear the footsteps of the others if she was close enough. She stopped and listened closely to the eerie silence. Suddenly, there was the sound of shattered crystal behind her. She froze. Then turned around slowly on the heels on her boots. Her heartrate went up, yet somehow, she wasn't that surprised. Where the corridor had been, was now a doorway leading into a black void. "I know this is an incredibly stupid thing to do...but so was trying to pull whatshisface out of here in the first place," Maria muttered. Head lowered, she walked inside. There was no sound. The silence out in the corridor was a racket compared to where she was now. It was like a vacuum. She stopped where she was. Everything in the room was pitch black. She couldn't see where it stopped or started. If there was a ceiling, she couldn't see it. If there were stars, she would believe she really had walked out into the void of space. The only light, was a faint blue glow emanating from a small table just a few feet ahead. On one side of it sat a figure so dark, she could barely distinguish anything being there, as it nearly seemed one with the rest of the room. If it were to move away from the table, it would surely disappear from view entirely. On the other side of the table, however... The cloaked figure had his fingertips poised over a chess piece. His strange eyes were focused with concentration. If he noticed Maria, he didn't choose to show it. Finally, he slid the piece forward with one finger and withdrew his hand from the board. Then he nodded to his opponent and rose from the table. This forced Maria to turn her eyes upward, as he towered over her. Then she saw the shimmering white wings. "This isn't a good place to be right now," Dreadite rumbled slightly. "Is there something you want, or are you simply lost?" Maria blinked, as if coming out of a trance. She couldn't quite remember anymore the last time she'd seen him... He gave off his own light, and looked like an angel. But she could see the shadows in his eyes. "I...I'm..." And there it was. Of course. She was ATR....and this was Dreadite, a bad, terrible, no good leader of Team Rocket! She clicked off entirely. As a good ATR, she had to take him out! She pulled her Wigglytuff Launcher out from her trenchcoat. "...I'm here to kill you!" There was no sound when she fired, but the Wigglytuff came screaming out of the weapon all the same. It had the same malicious smile on it's little Pokemon face that Maria had. Seeing Dreadite, it knew it's target, and began to inflate at an excellerated speed. "WIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" Dreadite disappeared. "--TUFF!!!!" There was an explosion so loud you could feel it....though Maria still couldn't hear it. The Wigglygoo was all over the place, even on the dark figure still sitting by the chess set. It seemed to sigh, and shook the glop off one of the pieces. There was no need though, since the exploded Wigglygoo quivered as it always did, and zapped back into the gun's Pokecontainer with a red flash as usual. Dreadite reappeared in the same position, glaring at Maria in disbelief. "What's the meaning of this...!?" Maria was fuming. She hated it when they dodged... She put the gun away. "I don't care how big you are..." She cracked her knuckles. "You're coming with me....preferably dead!" Despite what had just happened, Dreadite really hadn't expected anything like what she did next. Which is why he found himself completely off guard when Maria smashed into his stomach with her elbow. Just as that registered, she had somehow managed to jump up and kick him right in the chin, sending him up....and then crashing to the ground a few feet away. There was no sound, except for Maria's hard breathing. But this time, Dreadite felt the boots coming across the floor. Thwap. "ARGGH!" Maria found herself pinned to the floor under his foot. She struggled, but now that she was down, she just couldn't get up. "Get off me you bastard, don't you know you shouldn't treat a pregnant woman this way!?" Of course, she meant to try to rip his head and wings off the moment he released her... Dreadite scowled down at her. "Cry all you want. If you really are pregnant, then I'll be doing your unfortunate child a favor." He narrowed his eyes. "But first, I want to know *why* you turned traitor. This isn't like you..." Maria shook with rage. "Let me up! I don't owe you any explaination!" Though the more she thought about it, the more it confused her. Her mind tried to skip away, but under the boot of the matter, she couldn't escape it. After all, she had once been under Dreadite's command...not this literally....and she had not attempted to bring him in then. Why not? She'd had plenty of opportunity....but, she couldn't remember ATR. ATR...that hadn't even been in existance back then, so how could she have possibly been with them? Maria blinked. Her head hurt. She had been a Rocket? A real one? But that was impossible, she was an ATR... Yes, that's what that man with the funny hat had told her...she was an ATR. She'd always been an ATR.... Wait a minute. Her eyebrows knit together in a painful knot. And suddenly, it all unraveled. "Damn ATR!!!" She screamed. "If I ever get my hands ahold of the scum who screwed up my head, they'll never recognize the remains!!!" Dreadite blinked. "....." Maria took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she had her rage under control again, she tapped her nails once on the floor. "Dreadite....let me up." He watched her suspiciously for a moment, then lifted his boot off. "I'm not even going to ask. Just don't do that again. Ever." Dreadite brushed his hair off to the side. Team Rocket was full of psychos, but sometimes he could never quite see it coming. As Maria pushed herself up, he looked up sharply at the doorway. His eyes glowed with an evil grin. "Well well well....so you've come back to me, have you?" Maria turned around to see who Dreadite was talking to. Her pupils narrowed with fright. Mimic was standing there, looking as if he were caught between entering and bolting. Maria looked between her leader and her lover, and clenched her fists. "No..." TBC? (Lewis, just to inform you, Seth, Aerie, Slasher, and Estro are currently in another post, so be on the look out. ^^; As for this post, Adrian, Drae, either of you can pick it up. ^^ ) ~Maria R "Psy yie yie..." --- http://purplestudio.webjump.com --- "R is for Rrrah...Rrrah...Rocket!" - Meowth --- Rocketshipper Forever! --- TEOTWAWKI