Chapter 8: Behind the Mask
It had been a week since the mission in Ecruteak City, and Marie had already been assigned a special mission. Giovanni had sent Marie to Mount Chimney in the Hoenn Region, where she was to try and acquire a special meteorite that was rumored to be in the possession of an organization known as Team Magma. It was early in the morning when Marie parachuted from a plane that flew over the volcanic mountain. As soon as she landed at the mountain’s foot she began the slow climb to the top. The ash and soot from the volcano covered her cape and uniform as she went up.
During the assent, all Marie could think about was how she had missed out on what was most likely her one shot at revenge against Lisa. Marie wanted more than anything to go out and hunt Lisa down, not to mention go after her cousin Andre, but she knew that neither of those things was possible. Though she was an elite agent of Team Rocket, she still had to follow orders in order to survive in the organization. And Marie knew that she could not simply leave Team Rocket whenever she wanted. Like it or not, she was stuck in her current role.
After a few hours of climbing, Marie had made it to the top. The sweltering heat from the volcano’s molten lava was overwhelming. Marie felt like she was back at Scorch Gate Prison. Immediately upon arriving at the top, Marie saw that the top of the volcano was crawling with men and women wearing mostly red uniforms that had hoods with little black horns on top of them. On the chests of these uniforms was a black shape that resembled a letter M.
Marie quickly ducked behind a large rock to avoid being seen and started looking around for her target. She quickly noticed a large red machine near the end of a small cliff directly over the pit of lava. Marie deduced that whatever the machine was it contained the meteorite she had been ordered to retrieve. She then began quickly devising how best to get to the machine.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” a voice suddenly said. Marie turned and saw a man approaching wearing a uniform similar to the other Team Magma members, only his seemed to have a cape. “It looks like we have a rat that’s trying to sneak in and ruin our operation.”
“I’m really not in the mood to deal with the likes of you.” Marie sighed. “I’ve had a bad week.”
“Well too bad, because I’m about to make your week even worse.” The man said with a sinister grin. “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Tabitha, one of the strongest members of Team Magma. And I’m going to make your life a living hell.”
“…It already is.” Marie said coldly.
“If you say so.” Tabitha shrugged as he pulled out two Pokeballs. “Go, Golbat and Mightyena!”
The first Pokemon that emerged from one of the two balls Tabitha threw was a large blue bat with purple wings. The rest of its body was essentially a single head with a large mouth, two small eyes, two small pointed ears, and a pair of tiny legs on the bottom. The other Pokemon that emerged, Mightyena, was a light-grey dog-like creature with black fur covering its back, tail, and legs.
“Go, Zweilos and Pawniard!” Marie called as she threw out two Pokeballs of her own.
As soon as Zweilos and Pawniard emerged from their balls, both of them began to glow with a white light and change shape. Zweilos had grown in size and gained a third head. All three heads had visible eyes and growths around them that resembled flower petals. The dragon had also gained two more pairs of black tattered wings, and its legs had receded into useless growths. Pawniard, meanwhile, had grown to five feet and its body became more developed. Part of the blade on its head had turned gold, and the blades on its arms had turned to white glove-like hands with curved blades protruding from the wrists.
“I see, so they evolved into Hydreigon and Bisharp.” Tabitha observed. “Well, I enjoy a challenge. Golbat, use Supersonic!”
The large bat screeched and sent out a ring of high-pitched sound at Hydreigon and Bisharp. The two Pokemon quickly managed to get out of the way, however.
“Dark Pulse Hydreigon!” Marie commanded. The three-headed dragon fired black energy rings from all three of its mouths, all of which hit Golbat and knocked it to the ground. “Now use Iron Head Bisharp!”
The blade on Bisharp’s head began to glow with a white light. It then lunged at Mightyena and rammed into it from the right side. Tabitha called back his two Pokemon with an irritated expression on his face.
“So you think you’re hot stuff, huh?” Tabitha asked angrily. “Well let’s see if you can take on all of us!”
With that, Tabitha whistled, getting the attention of the Team Magma grunts all around. As the small army began to converge, Marie pulled out a certain Pokeball and sent out Darkrai. The members of Team Magma all froze. Even Tabitha looked on at the Legendary Pokemon in terror.
“All of you… can experience my hell!” Marie shouted. “Darkrai, hit them all with Dark Void!”
Darkrai raised its arms up and formed a ball of black energy between its hands. It then threw the ball, which suddenly split apart into smaller balls and hit all of the members of Team Magma. They all fell to the ground asleep, caught in a terrible nightmare. Marie and Darkrai went over to the red machine on the cliff. Marie opened a panel on the front of the device and found the meteorite she had been sent to obtain. After pulling the meteorite out of the machine, she got out a cell phone and hit a single button. A few moments of ringing passed and soon Giovanni picked up.
“Report Noir Mask.” Giovanni ordered from the other end of the line.
“I have the meteorite sir.” Marie informed him. “We were right about it being in the possession of Team Magma, but they have been neutralized.”
“Good work.” Giovanni told her. “There should be a team waiting at the Jagged Pass to pick you up in a few hours. For now go there and wait.”
“Yes sir.” Marie replied before hanging up.
With the meteorite in hand, Marie called back Darkrai and began to head down the volcanic mountain. As Marie began her climb down, she once again thought about her current situation. Marie had long ago realized that by joining Team Rocket she had merely traded one hell for another. By making that deal with Giovanni to get out of Scorch Gate, Marie had bound herself to an organization that she loathed. Yet Marie knew that there was no longer any turning back.
It was perhaps for the best that Marie had long ago given up hope of ever regaining a normal life. For hope and despair are two sides of the same coin, thus one cannot exist without the other. By giving up hope, one can become numb to the despair and agony of hell. Marie had excepted that she had trapped herself in Team Rocket, and the only things keeping her going was her desire for revenge against Lisa and Andre. She did not know if she would ever get another chance at revenge, but until she did she would continue to loyally serve Team Rocket as Noir Mask.
TO BE CONTINUED
