From: "MechaGojira - (Witty Phrase)" <jorgenospam@rocketpunch.net> Subject: [PW!] Captive? Perhaps. Date: Monday, February 09, 2004 10:54 PM "Yes... let me just... crawl closer... closer..." Dan Ando slowly nudges his way across a wooden beam, suspended twenty five or so feet above the floor. He aims his camera, centering the lens on what lies beneath... a Pokenapping operation! These crooks are definitely connected to the truck Dan chased near Saffron City, as the truck they are loading Pokemon into is almost identical. Dan moves further in, trying to center a shot of the truck itself. "There seems to be... something under the truck," he murmurs, leaning over the side carefully. As he moves, Dan suddenly slides off the beam, wrapping his legs and camera strap around the beam quickly, as to not fall to the ground. He sweats profusely, worried that he may have been seen. He looks down. Slowly. Carefully. Everyone is oblivious. "Excellent," he thinks. He tries to crawl back onto the top of the beam. "Psst. Kid..." A man in a black uniform walks onto the wooden plank from a small, metal rafter it connects with. "Something tells me you don't have a press pass." The thug draws a knife from his silver belt holster, cutting Dan's strap and sending him falling to his doom. ==== PokéWars! Captive? Perhaps. MechaGojira ==== As Dan slowly comes to, he realizes that he is alone in a corner, tied to a chair. He looks around, observing the "room", which seems to have been carved into a cavern. The black walls all have "counter-top" styled tables laying against them. There are no stairs, and the vent Dan had entered through, across from the wooden beams beneath the ceiling, is now sealed off. There are only a few days worth of trash and clutter sitting around, indicating that these thugs have not been here very long. As for himself... has been tied to a plain chair for at least an hour, his mouth taped over and his hands and feet taped as well. He is feeling weak and numb. On the floor beneath him lies a roll of film, crushed; his camera is on a table, a mere few feet from him. THUD Dan's head recoils from a rear impact, as he lets out a muffled yelp. A short man in a black and gray uniform walks up from behind him. "And we'll be makin' sure you never get out to talk, punk." The short man, much older than Dan as told by his salt-and-pepper mustache, bears an emblem on his uniform: a shiny black circle which surrounds a silver Earth. A gear is engraved onto the Earth. "Fmm...logo." Dan's voice is barely audible. "Don't you mind nothin' of ours." The thug walks off to bark instructions at others in the same attire. Looking around, Dan sees cages filled with Pokemon; Magnemites, Pichus, Arons. Mostly Electric or Steel types, from all around the world, being fitted into the back of the truck. "Load 'em up. We're to be outta here in 5," the man with the graying hair shouts at the rest, "and, as for you, newsie... you'll find your stone tomb to be rather comfortable, AHAHAH!" The crooks finish their operation on time, and leave Dan in his corner as they depart. A large shutter closes, locking itself from the outside. The room is left with little light. Dan struggles, trying to break free from his bonds. As that proves to be useless, Dan decides to try something else. Hop hop hop THUD Hop hop hop THUD Hop hop hop... SMASH! Dan shatters the flimsy wooden chair against the rocky wall behind him, scraping his knees and shoulders in the process, as he rolls on the ground. He stops to breathe for a moment, and then makes his way out of his loosened straps. Pulling a small toenail cutter from his pocket, he breaks through the thick packing tape rolled around his ankles. He then staggers towards the simple table across from him, taking his camera. He looks around once again, and runs to the opposite corner of the room, against the wall where the truck was being loaded. He presses his hand up against the wall and drags it down, feeling the rough rocky texture. He finds a small item, and checks it closely. It is a tiny box: a microphone and spycam, which Zoffy had snuck onto the wall a few days earlier. He shuts it off, and places it in his pocket. After half an hour of struggling with a switch mechanism, Dan treks back to his room in Cerulean, a little sore from the ordeal. ...but the soul (and the search for facts) still burns... -- MechaGojira #28 http://www.rocketpunch.net jorge[at]rocketpunch[dot]net