Bab 24: Chapter Twenty One: Climbing up the ladder
We touch down on the ground and I jump easily from Arrow's back. Masaru is slower to follow, throwing one wobbly leg off at a time.
I hide a grin as he staggers down and Arrow catches him with an open muzzle.
"Steady now," I chuckle.
He glowers at me and steadies himself as quickly as he can under my judgmental gaze.
I draw Arrow back into his ball and we set off down what's left of the path. Pausing after a little while to pull our Team Rocket Uniforms on over our casual wear.
The building looms ahead of us and we make our way into the entrance. Goro greets us with glittering eyes, his dark face turning darker when his eyes landed on Masaru.
"Should I bring these to the Boss or should you?" I unzip my backpack and pull out the ragged burlap sack.
"You," he eyes Masaru. "You as well. Come along."
We follow Goro down the hallway and into the elevator. We rise upwards and my palms start to sweat.
I clutch the bag and try not to let my trembling hands show. Fear that they would know we had paid for the stones instead of stealing them was overtaking me.
Masaru glanced over and I could see my own fear in his eyes. He blinked once and the almost amber depths swirled with resilience.
It helped to calm me. Ding. We arrive and stroll out, towards the same large door from before.
Goro raps on it once we're standing there, admiring the fine woodwork.
The same golden haired woman answers, narrowing her silver eyes at me. I stare back, not letting her intimidate me. I resist the urge to snatch a ball off my belt.
Masaru doesn't say a word but also meets the woman's gaze. She drags her eyes over his entire body and I feel my skin start to prickle.
She jerks her head and motions for us to follow her into the smokey room.
The Boss is currently smoking a cigar, it's pinched between his thumb and forefinger. When we enter the room he stands up out of his chair.
"Crystal, go ahead and bring those to me." He motions at the bag I'm holding.
Crystal stalks towards me and holds out her hand, I pass over the bag and she opens it before bringing it to him.
He dumps it onto his desk, some of the stones falling to the floor and spinning away. A wicked smile cracks his face and he looks up at me.
"Fantastic! This is exactly what I needed!" His face has taken on a terrifying appearance.
I cast a look at Masaru but he's staring forwards glassily, an odd expression plastered over him.
"I live only to serve Team Rocket," I manage to choke out. I wait, motionless for what comes next.
The Boss puffs on his cigar thoughtfully, dropping ashes onto the floor as he did so.
I feel my palms start to sweat again and place them behind my back. I look at Masaru again, this time at his hands.
I notice his finger is twitching wildly.
Ah, at least I'm not the only one freaking out.
"I want you to do something else for me," I feel my blood run cold. What would he say?
Crystal sneers at me from her place beside The Boss.
"I want you to battle Crystal." He looks over at her and then at me. "You see, she's my most powerful Grunt. If you can beat her then you can take her place at my side."
I feel rage course through me as quick as a gun shot. Masaru reaches his hand out and places it on my wrist, trying to calm me.
"Sounds perfect," I force through gritted teeth.
With that Goro ushers us away and we make our way to the mess hall.
We both fall into whatever watered down stew they were serving. Dipping chunks of stale bread into it and gulping mugs of water.
Eventually I say, "what the fuck."
Masaru raises an eyebrow at me and straightens his shirt. "It's not like you have to sleep with the guy."
I glower at him silently and watch his finger start tapping the table.
"He means it literally, he wants you to stand there and… look nice and be strong. Or whatever." His face gets red momentarily and he looks away quickly.
"So then what? That's not the plan." I say bitterly.
"I mean, it kind of is. Once you're by his side I think you should challenge him. Drag him out in front of everyone." Masaru takes another drink from his mug.
He's right. Then we can finally get somewhere. "Do you think she'll be strong?" I ask, referring to Crystal.
"I think she'll probably be about on the level of Cleyera." Masaru pushes his plate away and sits back.
I bite my lip thoughtfully and notice Masaru is looking at me. "What?" I say.
"I don't know. I just wish this was all easier… so it could be over more quickly." He looks away, towards the front of the mess hall.
It's going on seven at night and I catch myself yawning. It had been a long fucking day.
We retire to our shitty room, he lays on his floor mattress and I climb into the wobbly frame of mine. My head is throbbing and I close my eyes.
I sit upright and it's completely dark. I hear Masaru's soft snores on the ground below me and I glance over at the clock.
It's four in the morning. Shit, we must have fallen asleep. I'm wide awake and don't know what to do.
Should I wake Masaru up?
As if he sensed my malicious intent, he began to stir. His eyes blink open in the dark and he turns towards the clock.
"Fuck," he mutters.
"I thought the same thing," I respond.
"You're awake?" He says groggily.
"I woke up right before you did," I yawn. "I don't know what to do now."
"I guess we can just hangout. I feel like I can't go back to sleep. We could get coffee." Masaru stretches and his back cracks.
"Coffee does sound fucking great," I stand out of my bed and in the process trip over his mattress. I fall to my knees onto it and he's looking at me, shocked.
I smile at him, embarrassed by my own clumsiness.
Suddenly a heat rises in me, something about him is so alluring. I struggle to make sense of what's happening.
"Can I ask you something?" I breathe.
"Sure," his eyes don't move from mine. They blaze with something unknown.
My heart pounds and I swallow the panic that's rising in my throat. "Where should we get coffee?"
A moment of silence before a smile cracks his lips.
"What?" I ask him, my chest beating wildly.
He stretches out his hand and places it on the side of my face. A streak of lightning courses through me. I lean against it, letting the tremors dance up my face.
I cast my eyes up and he's looking at me, eyes blazing again.
"Just fucking do it you idi-" I can't finish. His lips are on mine and my arms are wrapping around him.
Heat races down my spine as we kiss. Deeper I push myself into him and he's laying down. I'm on top of him.
Our souls intertwine as I take his breath and give him mine. His hands are all over me and I break away from him gasping.
"Fuck," I pant raggedly. "I don't know what came over me."
I look down at him. His hair is standing up all over the place, his shirt askew. He looks so fucking hot.
I climb off of him, my legs trembling. Fuck. What the fuck am I doing?
Lust tears at me and I close my eyes, leaning against a cold wall of the room. He's behind me now, bringing his face down to my neck.
My loins are fucking screaming.
I lean in, breath catching in my throat as he pressed his lips against my shoulder. Wild energy crashes down every piece of me.
He's next to my ear, I feel his rugged sigh in my ear.
I whirl around, wrapping my leg around him we kiss again. This time it's more animalistic, hungrier. A small moan escapes my lips.
He loses it.
Picking me up, I let out a small squeak as he tosses me onto the mattress.
"We shouldn't," I say breathlessly.
"Why not?" He pauses at his belt as soon as I say it.
"We will. Just not yet." I stand up and kiss him again. This time affectionately. "Lay down with me."
He does, twisting a hand into my hair and guiding my head to his chest as we do so.
I lay like that, feeling the rise and fall of him. We fall back to sleep like this and open our eyes again around six.
Standing and stretching we head to the mess hall and have our plates loaded with sticky oatmeal. It cakes my throat as I choke it down
Masaru is adding milk to his in order to thin the concoction. It works and I do the same thing to mine.
Today they'll probably make me challenge Crystal. I don't feel like it but I'll do whatever I need to in order to get this over with.
We finish eating and head back towards our room. I'm sure they'll beckon for me from there. Besides, I don't feel like mingling.
We sit in our room, which feels like a cell and play Sugoroku on the floor. Masaru is winning and I groan as a knock sounds on the door.
Goro awaits me as I open it. I look back at Masaru, who's already standing up to follow us.
For a moment I think about this morning. How his lips felt… I shake it away.
We make our way to the battle arena, where Crystal is already waiting.
She summons Drapion and I summon Nidoking. He roars and bangs against his chest, challenging Drapion with his gaze.
"Drapion use Crunch!" Crystal hurls the command into the boisterous stadium.
"Nidoking block it and counter with Ice Punch!" A bead of sweat runs down my neck as I wait to see what happens.
Nidoking bangs his fists together, shimmering ice forming over both of them.
Drapion darts forwards, pincer-like appendages glowing with a dark energy.
Nidoking throws his left wrist up, the icy gauntlet surrounding his forearm snapping under the pressure. His right hand swings down, bludgeoning Drapion in the skull.
Both Pokémon step back, Nidoking growling while Drapion shakes it's massive head.
"Aqua Tail, go!" Crystal grits her teeth and jabs a finger in my direction.
"Nidoking use Earthquake!" I grip my hat while he stomps his massive feet. The ground below us shakes and groans.
Aqua Tail connects as Nidoking is distracted and my vision is impaired. He groans and shoved Drapion away.
Earthquake hits and Drapion is flung into the air, body battered by pieces of stone.
"Come on," I whisper.
Dust begins to settle. I see grunts craning their necks and standing on benches to get a better view.
Nidoking is standing above Drapion, rattling the room with his bellow.
Grunts erupt, I hear shrieks and screams thundering around me.
I fucking did it. It wasn't a single hit this time. But I fucking did it. My brain is buzzing as I turn and lock eyes with Crystal.
She's glaring at me, her silver eyes sparkling as the beam of red light draws Drapion back.
I can feel her rage from here. Masaru is beside me now, pressing his side against mine.
A crowd of Grunts is surrounding me now. Whooping and hollering, throwing their hats up in excitement.
Suddenly they part and I know that The Boss is coming. He eyes me as he walks closer, a smile shadowing his face.
He looks predatory.
I meet his gaze triumphantly. "Is that what you wanted to see, Boss?" I'm disgusted with myself.
His smile broadens. "Come with me. Alone." He waves his wrist and the grunts disperse like bugs.
I follow him nervously towards a hidden elevator. We enter it together and he silently looks me up and down.
My skin crawls and I struggle to keep my confident appearance. I smile at him warmly.
We exit the elevator and he opens the heavy door leading to his office. He takes a seat and lights a cigar.
"Boss-" I start.
"Hm," he puffs the cigar. "Call me Krent, that's my name." He blows a smoke ring out.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Panic is rising in my chest.
"You'll wait here. Even when I'm away, this is where you'll wait for me." He looks up at me, pinning me under his almost black stare.
"Not to be rude but where am I supposed to sleep?" I can't imagine standing here like a statue for days on end…
"I'm glad you asked," he stands up. Suddenly I'm not glad that I asked…
I follow him tentatively around the back of the office where two doors stand. He opens one of them and reveals a small bedroom.
A metal bed frame sits near a tiny window. The mattress is thick and a dresser stands against the wall beside it.
A door is next to the dresser.
"Where does the door lead to?" I'm afraid of what his answer will be.
Wordlessly he opens the door next to this one. I grimace as the realization that it's his bedroom dawns on me. He says nothing, closing both doors and walking back towards his desk.
After three days of making coffee, emptying ashtrays and answering doors I was at the end of my rope.
Agitation bit at me constantly. Anytime Krent needed something, I got it for him.
I worked on building good rapport with him, which exhausted me. Most of it came off as flirting, which made me hate myself.
At night I lay awake, terrified that I would hear the door connecting our rooms open…
It was the fourth day when I decided to make my move. Krent was lounging on the small sofa in his office while I stood behind him.
I hold my breath and lean down, until my lips are level with his left ear. "You seem tense, sir. Would you like a massage?"
He leans back, into the sofa harder. "Just my neck, Jun."
My fingers try to recoil as I begin rubbing his neck, bile bubbling in the back of my throat.
I lean down again, this time letting my breath tickle his ear. "You know what I really want?"
"What's that?" His voice is far away while I clench his neck under my fingers. I feel him stiffen under my words though.
I stay where I am, lips mere fractions from his ear. "I want you to show me how fucking strong you are."
I lean across him, plucking the cigar from his fingers and taking a long drag.
He watches me with a wild light in his eyes.
"How do you want me to show you?" He tries to take the cigar back and I pull it away from his hand. Instead placing it in his teeth.
I let my eyes wander obviously to the bulge forming in his pants. Then with a small shake of my head I lock his gaze.
"Would you battle me?" I grab for the cigar again and he holds it out of my reach. I allow him to place it in my mouth.
"If that's what you desire." He says, holding a firm hand on the side of my face.
"Wanna make a bet?" I bite my lip and look at him. Repulsion is crashing over me in waves.
"Like what?" His eyes go hard and I go back to rubbing his neck.
"I don't know. If I win or if you win. That kind of bet. You can choose the prize." I work my thumbs into his neck and he groans.
"So you want a prize?" His hands come up and rest on mine. I don't like how far this is going.
"Yeah. I do." I let a tendril of my dark hair hang down and tickle his throat.
I hear his breath catch.
"You want something. Tell me." His voice is lofty.
I freeze, unsure how to wrench what I truly need out of this situation. "What if there were two bosses?" My heart is in my throat.
"What do you mean?" His voice stays calm.
"What if… I wanted to be like, a boss with you…" I play it off as coy but I'm fumbling.
He pushes me back and spins his chair around. When he's facing me he snatches me and I swallow a shriek.
He pulls me onto his lap and rests his chin on my shoulder.
"I like that. If you win you can rule by my side." He places his lips on my neck and my entire body shrieks at me.
Don't get me wrong. This guy is sexy. But he's so fucking evil. He's been kind to me. But he's a hardcore prick to everyone else.
"Shake on it." I say, firmly. He does.
The deal is done.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone