Chapter Thirty Two

There wasn't enough coffee in the whole of System to quell Annie's headache.

The constant clattering from down the hall had kept her awake most of the night, and she'd developed quite the banger as a result. She lay sprawled on the table in a mass of feathers and irritation, watching the long fluffy purple skuntank tail as it swished back and forth while Web clattered around the kitchen. The sound was like a marching band, striking away at tin drums. Annie clenched her sharp teeth together and clawed at her head, letting out a pitiful groan that oddly enough caused the skuntank to freeze on the spot and cast her a wary glance.

"Is everything okay?" Web asked.

"Just dandy," Annie hissed.

The skuntank watched her for a moment, then turned back to her task... at a much quieter pace. The sweet sickly scent of stewing overripe berries filled the air in a mist of steam, creating a sticky condensation over the yellow windows.

Annie closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to drift off into a light doze. But she was rudely awakened by yet more clattering, followed by a shrill excitable voice. Her eyes snapped back open and she raised her head to berate the noise-maker.

A happy, gold and white face beamed at her from the doorway. Zip floated in a glass bowl, held up on a metal frame. Three long, mechanical legs spread out at even angles from beneath the bowl, while inside the water in a rubber shell was a steering stick. If she removed the mechanical components, the bowl wasn't entirely dissimilar to the kind humans kept their aquatic pokemon in when they weren't inside their pokeballs. In all fairness, it was rather small. Not much exercise space.

Zip didn't appear to mind this, however, as he nudged the stick forward and the legs skittered across the floor with all the grace of a tap-dancing araquanid with three left feet.

"Look at me!" he squealed. "I have legs! I'm a land pokemon now!"

"Now, now." Web turned towards him and placed her paws on her hips. "You might well be on land, but you're still a water dweller. I won't have any accidents while you're trying to find your land legs. Calm down in that thing."

Zip skidded to a halt and beamed at the skuntank. She returned his smile and waved a paw.

"Darn it, kid. Can't resist that smile." She turned back towards the stove. "Join us at the table and I'll dice you up some berries."

The goldeen cheered and turned his device towards the table. The long mechanical legs flailed at a seat, and he teetered dangerously backwards. Deciding to give up, the bowl lurched forwards, sloshing water onto the floor. He shoved the chair to one side, its feet screeching on the floor and echoing around Annie's pounding head. Zip gave the archeops a beaming smile and waved a fin.

"Good morning!" he quipped.

Annie grunted and propped herself on a wing-elbow while she swigged at her scalding coffee. It took every ounce of restraint she had to resist pouring it into the kid's bowl.

"Not a morning 'mon?" Zip asked.

She snorted and took a smaller sip. "On days like this, I can't stand anyone."

"Tell me about it." Waveform slumped into the seat beside her and shot the goldeen a glare as he eyed his contraption. "So it was you making all that racket?"

Zip's smile fell and he sank to the bottom of his bowl. "I'm sorry... but at least now I'm more helpful to you, right?"

The decidueye shrugged and reached across the table for the newspaper. "I suppose. It certainly beats carrying you around."

Web craned her neck around to eye the three pokemon. "Where's Trojan? He never misses breakfast."

"Probably sleeping," said Waveform.

"Aye, he said he wanted some rest," said Zip. "We were up most of the night!"

"So was I," Annie scoffed.

Waveform grunted and shook the newspaper open.

"You could always go back to bed," said Web. "No one is forcing you to stay awake."

"Sod that," said Annie. "If I go back to bed, my whole sleeping pattern is gonna go to whack. And that's gonna help no one in this... what was I running again?"

"A rebellion," said Waveform.

"Oh yeh, that." Annie slumped forwards and groaned. "It feels like there's a rock slide in my head."

Waveform let out a gasp and the newspaper almost fell out of his wing fingers. Annie looked up at him with a start, which she regretted as she placed a claw on the side of her head.

"Hey, it ain't that bad," she told him. "It's just a migraine."

"Not that." Waveform waved her off and lowered the newspaper to the table. "This. There's been some... beast thing... attacking Favicon City."

"Favicon?" Annie scratched her head and looked up at the ceiling. "Think I had one of those when I was a kid."

She followed one of the decidueye's fingers to a blurry photograph. Some blob-like thing hovered in the air above a skyscraper, its tentacles reducing the formerly splendid building to rubble while pokemon ran for their lives.

"You know what?" she said. "Some people really have nothing better to do than stand around watching a disaster taking photographs, do they?"

The owl pokemon fixed her in a glare.

Web crept behind Annie to look over her shoulder, and Zip's mechanical feet trotted over the floor as he joined them around the newspaper.

"What is that thing?" Web asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Looks like a tentacruel," said Zip. "But... they can't fly."

"It looks like a hoax photo to me," said Annie. "A convincing one. But until I can see what that thing is, I'm sayin' nothin'."

"The descriptions they have," said Waveform, "liken it to a tentacruel or frillish. But it apparently has no face to speak of, and is a silvery colour."

"Is it 'mon made?" Web asked.

"Witnesses said it looked organic. It was last sighted heading south-east from Favicon City."

Web's paws fell to her sides and she glanced out of the window.

"They say at the speed it was traveling, it could be at Meta City within three days," Waveform went on.

Annie looked up at Web and shrugged. "Wouldn't worry. By then our ship should be built, right? Besides, is it really gonna wanna live in this toxic swamp?"

Web said nothing as she wound her paws in her apron.

"You all right, Webber?" Waveform asked. "You've gone awfully quiet."

"It's heading towards pirate territory," she said quietly.

Waveform raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're not in Pulse City any more. We're here on System Ground." He sighed and retrieved his paper. "Besides. If they all bail on the place, they'll be easier to round up, won't they?"

She glanced at him and cleared her throat as she beat the creases out of her apron. "I guess."

Annie watched her as she strutted back over to the stove and idly stirred the steaming pot of berries.

"We could head it off," she said.

Waveform shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, and Web's spine stiffened. She looked back at Annie with a look of concern.

"Head it off?" she asked.

Annie nodded slowly, if only to avoid jiggling her aching head. "Yeh. We'll get that ship built and shoot that... blob thing... out of the sky."

"I wouldn't be so hasty," said Waveform. "Not only are space pirates never to be trusted, that ship of ours is never going to be up in the air in less than three days let alone enough time to head it off at Pulse City."

Annie gave him a sly smile. "You underestimate me, Mister Form."

Waveform dropped his paper and looked down at her with an unreadable expression, and a snicker came from the stove.

Annie slipped from the table with her coffee mug clasped tightly in her right claws. She sipped at it as she waddled from the room towards the stairs.

"Wait for me!" Zip skittered from the room.

"What about your berries?" Web called after him.

"Later! I'm needed to build this ship!"

The two remaining pokemon watched them leave, and Waveform let out a long sigh.

"She's got pretty high expectations," he said.

"And you want to start a rebellion with her," said Web. "I suppose there's worse captains, eh?"

"Oh, she won't be captain," said Waveform.

"I'd be wary of challenging her. I think she'd put up the fight. Besides." Web placed her paws on her hips and smirked. "You'd probably end up with a high rank regardless. She seems to have taken a shine to you."

Waveform raised an eyebrow and his beak fell open before twisting into a confused frown.

Web chuckled again and turned back to the stove. "Eat your berries, Mister Form."

...

The police station was ablaze with chaos. Crowds of water pokemon surrounded it, their voices mashing together in a crescendo as they demanded the talonflame be done away with. The look of fire behind millions of eyes made Macro visibly bristle.

He began to march towards the crowd, but Anchor grabbed the scruff of his scarf and tugged him backwards.

"Don't be hasty, Cap'n," he said. "That crowd will have your neck."

Macro glanced up at him and brushed dried string-shot from his scarf. It flaked away beneath his paw but left an unsightly grey residue.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" he asked. "That crowd is huge. We can't even get close enough to the station let alone inside it without being seen."

"I have an idea."

Macro almost leapt out of his skin. He fixed Lossy with a raised eyebrow and looked from the heaving crowd to the dewott and back.

"You have an idea?" he snorted.

She nodded slowly. "You have a huge bounty on your head. I could pretend to be apprehending you and get you through that crowd."

"And who's to say they won't tear your head off to get his?" Anchor nodded at the mawile.

"That's a rather morbid metaphor, Anchor," Macro muttered.

Anchor folded his arms and grunted. "It made my point."

"Listen to me." Lossy wound her paws together, cowering slightly as she scrutinized the crowd. "Everyone in Cyan City knows each other. I doubt they'd try to hurt me, or cause a fuss as I get you through. I can't speak for everyone, though, so I know it's a risk, but..."

Anchor sighed and rubbed his snout. "It's all we've got. I'm with the dewott."

Macro rolled his eyes and tried to smooth out his creased and unsightly scarf. "All right. Get us through, before they end up roasting Switch or something."

"It would increase my chance of getting you there successfully if I used one of your lasers against you," she said.

Macro's spine stiffened and he fixed Lossy with a glare. "I'm sorry?"

"Everyone knows you have a grass laser," she explained. "That crowd is full of water type pokemon. They'd be even more unlikely to start anything if they thought I'd shoot them with it."

Macro frowned. "But you're a meek little dewott."

"I'm also a mother. I'd do anything to get my babies back, and everyone here knows they've been taken now. It's all over the papers."

Macro rolled his eyes and let his paws drop to his sides. "Fine."

He stuffed one of his lasers into her paw, the action alone leaving him feeling breathless as though someone had taken one of his lungs. As the cold nozzle touched his back his blood turned to ice and he instinctively raised both his paws.

"Move," she said softly.

Macro kept one eye over his shoulder as he slowly walked towards the crowd. Anchor kept steady pace at his sides until he came to a sudden stop and looked down at his paws.

"You're probably gonna wanna hold onto these," he said, removing his gauntlets.

The dewott took them gingerly and tucked them under one arm. Despite the determined look on her face, she staggered slightly under their weight. Regardless, she pressed Macro forwards with the nozzle of the laser.

The mawile bit his tongue, reluctant to voice his discomfort. Was this really just an act? The look in her eyes and the pressure of his laser against his spine certainly made him doubtful.

Hundreds of eyes shot their way as they approached the crowd. Leers and scowls fixed on the space pirates, then traveled over to Lossy and her threatening laser. Her assumption was correct. Pokemon stepped back and parted to let her through, but not without the green flash of envy.

Macro resisted the urge to meet their eyes. More so because he was scared they'd see fear behind them. His pulse was racing, and it only worsened with every nudge from his own weapon.

The police station loomed before them, and the taut face of a blastoise leered down at them. When he spotted Lossy and the laser, his muzzle twisted into a sneer.

"Turning in the pokemon who were apparently 'helping' you?" he scoffed. "Trusting filth like that..."

"Just let me see Governor Jumper," she said bluntly.

"He's busy with the talonflame," said the blastoise. "Besides, what makes you think I'm gonna let you march in there with an armed laser?"

"If I remove it, he'll use the other one against me and run," she said.

The blastoise's eyes locked onto Macro's for a painfully long second. Then his large paw stretched down towards him and he wagged a claw.

With a sigh, Macro reached to his right holster and plonked his laser into the blastoise's calloused paw. His trusty weapon looked tiny as it was whisked away, leaving him feeling helpless. He reminded himself over and over he didn't need his lasers. He was more than capable of dealing with other pokemon with his own attacks. He'd dealt with threats the size of the blastoise officer. He'd even thrown them.

"If I hand over this one," Lossy said after she'd handed the blastoise Anchor's gauntlets, "he might still fight back. My aquatic attacks won't do anything to him."

"Then I'll take him through," the blastoise said with a smile, but Macro could see the smirk hidden behind it.

Lossy wasn't exactly blind either. Her tiny nose creased and the butt of the laser clicked as she tightened her grip. Macro's fur stood on end and he gave her a wary glance. One misfire and she'd blow a hole in his torso.

"Fine." The blastoise sighed and threw the door wide open. "Make it quick."

Macro staggered forwards as Lossy jabbed him in the spine. Biting back a remark, he strutted towards the door. He caught a sneer from the tortoise pokemon before it slammed shut behind him, drowning out the ruckus from the crowd.

Macro glanced back at the dewott. "Okay. We're inside. You can put my laser down now."

She jabbed it into his back once more and he flinched, almost jogging along the corridor. He looked up at Anchor with wide, pleading eyes, and mouthed the words 'help me'. The granbull gave him an apologetic shake of the head and kept pace beside him as Lossy marched them towards Jumper's office.

The office door was shut, and Macro found himself sandwiched between it and his laser as Lossy leant over him to knock politely. His muzzle crinkled as he shot her a sideways leer at the sheer irony.

"Come in," came Jumper's muffled voice.

She pushed the door open and marched the two pirates ahead of her. The frogadier was sat beside a floatzel, and the governor's expression switched from frustration to confusion to surprise then did a full loop back to frustrated. He cleared his throat and sat back in his seat, while the floatzel reluctantly discarded the paperwork he'd been slaving over.

"What is this?" The floatzel waved a paw at the two space pirates.

"It looks like two pirates didn't leave the city when I told them to," said Jumper. "What a foolish mistake."

The floatzel leant towards him and muttered, "Governor, I hate to question you-"

"If you wouldn't mind," said Jumper, "could you leave me to deal with this for a few minutes?"

The floatzel reluctantly rose to his feet and left the room, pausing to fire Macro a disapproving sneer. Once the door had closed - well, slammed - Jumper turned back to the pirates and a painful silence washed over the office.

"I thought I told you two that you could leave safely provided it was before nightfall." His eyes snapped onto Macro. "Clearly you didn't listen."

Macro folded his arms and shrugged. "I think you'll find we just didn't do it."

"You know what I think?" Jumper leant forwards on the desk and steepled his paws together. "I think you should watch your mouth while you're at the mercy of your own gun."

Macro glanced back at Lossy over his shoulder. "We're in. You can put it down now."

The dewott's paw trembled, but she kept the laser pressed into his spine. Her eyes were fixed on the frogadier, sparkling with tears.

"Do you think..." Her voice cracked and she visibly restrained herself from looking at the two pirates. "Do you think the grass army would trade them for my children?"

Macro's jaw almost hit the floor. Every word that popped into his head came out of his mouth as a strangled gasp, and his violet eyes flew to the dewott with stunned accusation.

"After all we've done for you?!" he roared.

"You didn't get them back," she whimpered. "I want my babies!"

"We're supposed to be here to clear Switch's name, not sever my head!"

Jumper was oddly silent as he watched the three pokemon. He leant his chin on his steepled paws and looked at each of them in turn. Finally, he let out a sigh and sat back in his seat.

"To be honest, Lossy," he said, "I understand your suggestion, but I highly doubt this army of grass types would see forty thousand credits a good substitution for bringing an end to an entire city. It might seem a lot of money to an individual, but it doesn't go far."

The dewott's arm slackened and she let the gun fall to her side. Her eyes went to the floor and her shoulders shook with sobs.

In one fluid motion, Macro snatched his gun from her grip and popped it safely into his holster. The weight sent a wave of relief through him and he let out a satisfied sigh. It was swiftly washed away when he met the frogadier's cold eyes, freezing him to the spot.

"You said you want to clear someone's name?" Jumper paused and tapped his paw on the table. "I sincerely hope you don't mean that talonflame..."

"Why not?" Macro asked. "I thought it would be a relief to you to learn that the grass army aren't liaising with Magenta City."

"No, but it would mean that yet another space pirate has invaded Cyan City."

Macro folded his arms and smirked. "Switch ain't a space pirate. He's a client."

Anchor leant towards him and whispered in his ear. "Don't give too much away, Cap'n."

"I ain't stupid, Anchor."

"I think you'll find my hearing is impeccable," said Jumper. "But, I guess locking an innocent pokemon behind bars is a crime in itself. If you can vouch that this talonflame is not in any way associated with the grass army's invasion, then I suppose I can let you meet him."

The frogadier rose and marched passed them towards the door. Macro watched him move, but his eyes met Lossy's and his fur bristled like a ferroseed. He grit his teeth together and waved a clenched paw.

"Tryin' to trade my life!" he barked.

Lossy stiffened and took a step back, her eyes going to the door. "I'm sorry! I... I just want-"

"I don't want to hear it," Macro hissed.

Jumper cleared his throat. "Excuse me. But there'll be no fighting here. Lossy, you are free to go. You two." He pointed at Macro and Anchor. "You come with me."

Macro watched the dewott skulk off, then followed Jumper out of his office. The frogadier paused to lock up then gestured for the two space pirates to follow him down the narrow corridor.

"We caught him early this morning," said Jumper. "He was flying over the city just before dawn. One of my officers shot him out of the sky with a water pulse, and he appears to have injured his wing in the fall."

"If it's Switch, he didn't hurt it when he fell," said Macro. "Unless he landed awkwardly. He hurt himself in a battle with a steelix in Raster Town."

"What on earth were you doing in Raster Town?" Jumper looked back with some surprise then shook his head and waved a paw. "Never mind. I don't think I want to know."

He paused at another door and unlocked it. It led into another corridor lined with cells. Each one was closed off with a sheet of shock resistant plexi-glass. Scowling faces, most of which belonged to water types, leered back at them. Macro counted three prisoners, separated by empty cells, until they came to the one containing a talonflame. The disgruntled bird sat huddled in a corner, and his yellow eyes lit up when he saw the space pirates.

"Macro!"

"Macro?" Jumper looked down at the mawile.

The space pirate said nothing as he watched Switch skitter across the floor to reach the glass.

"I thought I was done for!" the talonflame gasped. "They think I'm assisting some army with an invasion!"

Macro frowned and tapped his claws along his arm. "You're supposed to be on my ship. What about your wing?"

"I'm fine, honestly!" The way Switch held his left wing didn't spell 'fine'. "I whacked it a bit when I fell. Anyway, Matrix sent me."

Macro slammed his paw into his face. "Why would he send a wounded pokemon?!"

"I insisted," Switch said quickly. "Anchor sent message that he needed his heat tracker, and I came down here to deliver it. But... well... it was confiscated."

Macro exchanged glances with Anchor and sighed. "If you'd just remembered to bring it yourself..."

Anchor shrugged. "I'm sorry, Cap'n. But I thought it would be necessary to help find those kids."

"We also wanted to confiscate his watch," said Jumper. "But when we tried, he had a panic attack. Convinced us it's a medical implement." He leant against the cell and fixed Anchor with a frown. "So the weapon belongs to you? I already told you this invasion is being dealt with. Cyan City's army is planning a line of defense, and those two oshawott will be rescued. I'm reluctant to say you can't leave after what you've done, but at this rate I fear you never will and I will have to contact Socket. Turn all three of you in."

"What?!" Switch almost collapsed with shock. "No! Please! I told you, I can help you!"

Jumper turned to Switch and shrugged. "If you're innocent, I'm sure she won't harm you."

Switch trembled from head to foot but he never took his eyes off the frogadier.

Macro's heart was in his throat. He raised a paw to get the governor's attention. "That won't be necessary. We'll finish what we came here for and be out of your fur."

"I don't have fur," said Jumper. "And besides. What makes you think you're getting your paws on that disk? I was informed it's confidential information. Leave, otherwise you'll face a lot worse than being turned over to Luma City."

The reminder of Lossy's threat chilled Macro to the core and he tore his eyes off the frogadier. His jaw tensed and one of his canines poked from his lips.

"I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. "I'm takin' that disk back. It doesn't belong to you, or Socket. As for you." He pointed a claw at Switch. "You're getting your feathered tush out of this city!"

Switch ruffled his feathers. "You think I'm leaving this place knowing there's an army here causing trouble that I can deal with very well?" He spread his wings, flinching slightly. "I already told them I can help but they won't believe me! Instead they now want to throw my life into Socket's paws!"

Jumper ran a paw down his face. "One fire and flying type isn't going to stand up against an entire army of grass types!"

"And neither is an army of water types! They'd wipe you out before you even stood a chance! I've spent years helping other pokemon, I know what I'm doing! Let me help!"

Anchor looked down at the flustered frogadier. "How long has this been goin' on?"

"Since morning," said Jumper.

"Years, eh?" Macro chuckled. "Interesting. Okay, how about this?" He turned to Jumper. "You take Switch's help, and loan Anchor and me a couple of flying lasers. We'll wipe this grassy threat off the face of Cyan City."

"And what makes you think we have weapons here?" Jumper asked. "We're under a weapon ban."

A small smirk tugged at Macro's lips. "How do you plan on taking on this army? 'Cos like Switch pointed out, they clearly have the upper paw."

Jumper's expression fell and he tapped his fingers on his arm rapidly. A small sigh flew out of his lips and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine. We're armed," he said. "Like I said, we can handle this."

Macro chuckled, then burst into fits of gleeful giggles. He fell into the glass and stretched out a paw to hold himself upright.

"A law breaker workin' inside the law!" he gasped. "I love it!"

Jumper narrowed his eyes dangerously. "I strongly suggest you stop that, Hunter, or you'll find yourself behind glass."

Macro took a few deep breaths to calm himself and stood with his back to the glass. He fixed his playful smirk on Jumper and grinned.

"I think we're at an impasse," he said. "You're holding weapons outside of Socket's knowledge, while we're trying to not be caught by her goons. You turn me in, I spill the beans. You let me do my thing, we tell no one and you're safe."

Jumper pursed his lips and stood silently analyzing the mawile. For a painful moment Macro really wished he could better read an opponents' motives.

"I don't like that," Jumper said suddenly. "I'm not going to just let you roam free and take government property. You've already gone against my orders by staying here. If you want to 'do your thing' and escape with your lives, you can start by pulling your weight. I'll loan the two of you a flying module each and you can assist us in rescuing those twins and removing the threat from this city. Only then will I let you three go free, and only if the oshawott brothers are rescued unscathed."

Macro tutted and crossed his arms. "That's hardly fair. What if they've already harmed them? Ain't my fault."

"That is unavoidable," said Jumper. "But if they are harmed in the process of you rescuing them..."

Macro waved a paw. "Pish posh. We'll get them out. But my price for this job-"

"Is your life," said Jumper. "All three of your lives."

Macro's eye flew to the nervous talonflame. A few of his feathers had come loose and lay scattered on the ground.

"For the time being," said Jumper, "I'm going to put the two of you in your own cells. I have to run things by the tactical officer first. Make sure no one tries to earn themselves a quick credit by going after your bounty."

"You can assure that?" Macro asked.

"Of course. I'm the 'big cheese' here. My word is law until Socket overrules it." Before he unlocked the nearest empty cell, he turned to Macro and held out a paw. "Laser."

Reluctantly, Macro handed over his laser. Once again it left him feeling exposed and vulnerable. The cell door beside Switch opened and he was marched inside.

"Great," said Anchor. "This will be the first time someone's put me in a cell."

"Thank your stars it's only temporary," said Macro as he watched Jumper lock the glass door.

"So if we lose this..." came Switch's small voice. "What do we do? Flee?"

"There's a higher chance of us losing in battle than there is being turned over to Socket," said Anchor.

"You guys fret too much," Macro spat, sinking to the floor. "Don't worry, we got this."