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“You’re going to end up getting someone killed if you keep on ignoring your duties, you know that, right?”
Archie could only roll his eyes at such a blunt and completely false claim.
“Relax, Max. I know how to do my job just fine. You gotta put a lil’ more faith in me.”
“Then why are you always hanging around my store and not patrolling the other parts of the mall, you know, like how a security guard should?” Maxie countered, leaning against the glass display that protected dazzling gem stones attached to golden chains.
“Simple logic. All the big names jewelry stores in this place have their own types of security. That, and there’s more security guards in this place than just lil’ ol’ me. A small, family shop is more likely to be robbed than that fuckin’ ‘Every kiss begins with Kay’ place.”
“And if something like that were to every occur, which it won’t mind you, I can take care of myself. My mother can take care of herself. We don’t need someone to barge into our lives in the hopes of being our knight in shining armor.” At this point Maxie couldn’t have this conversation with hellfire in his voice like he used to. Instead, he raised his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. The mall was twenty minutes from closing and it was wedding/anniversary season, so people were coming in all day in the hopes of finding the perfect gift for their significant others. He has been dealing with moronic men all day. It didn’t look like he was going to get a break any time soon.
“Hey now. I’m not sayin’ I want something bad to happen to your store. I’m just sayin’ that I’ll be here just in case somethin’ does happen to your store.” Archie shrugged and pushed himself off of the display case. “Y'know there’s been a lotta talk 'bout some Team Rocket assholes runnin’ around Hoenn as of late.”
“And if any of them come here they will be met with a cranky Camerupt. You’re about to meet the same fate. Leave,” Maxie said boredly. Archie could tell that the poor man could practically go to sleep right here and now. He very well could since there wasn’t a soul in this wing of the mall at this time on a Wednesday night. Wednesdays were always rather dead in the mall to begin with. Who goes out on Wednesdays? No one, apparently.
“Fine, fine. I can take a hint.” Archie took a single step forward before turning around to meet Maxie again, prompting the other man to groan in frustration. “But I got a proposition for ya.”
“If I hear you out will you leave?”
“Yep.”
“What.”
“If I ever have to come and save your ass, you have to treat me to lunch.”
“No. Bye.”
Honestly, Archie should have seen that one coming. He did see it coming but that didn’t mean the dismissal hurt any less. “Alright, alright, fine. I’ll leave ya alone, cranky ass. I gotta make my rounds anyway,” he grumbled. Much to Maxie’s delight, Archie left the store.
Archie understood pretty well that he was really blunt and not subtle at all by spending all of his time near Madeline’s, a jewelry store ran by a Kalosian who didn’t have a firm grasp on the Hoenn language and her son, who could tell anyone to “fuck off” in at least eight languages at this point. Madeline herself was a delight to be around. She was so sweet and nice. Despite the language barrier, she always tried to give Archie a compliment every time she saw him. Maxie, on the other hand, was her complete opposite. He wanted nothing more than for his mother to stop being so friendly so Maxie could finally go a day without seeing Archie’s face, but even without her involvement Archie still found himself bugging the tired sales manager as if it was his favorite pass time, which it was. Now, Archie was no creep. He could understand “no” just fine. However, being able to release some of the pent up anger Maxie felt toward some of his customers toward a man with bulletproof skin seemed to help him out a lot. Over the months Archie has seen the man go from being on the verge of throwing a man out a window to being moderately annoyed with the world at worst.
Archie whistled a tune as he walked down the lightly populated tiled floors. He had to say, he did have a fun job sometimes. He was always a fan of breaking people up in fights. Most of what he dealt with was petty theft. When he could turn a blind eye on it he did, but that didn’t mean he always could. With ten more minutes until closing time, a lady made the announcement over the intercom and some of the smaller stores were already beginning to close up shop. People were beginning to head toward the doors and he had to poke a gentleman sitting in one of the mall benches to wake him up.
Finally, the closing announcement was made and he could feel such a relief wash over all of the workers ready to go home. His fellow security guards were calling in, telling the others that their section was clear. After doing a quick check of the shops in his section Archie was able to give his all clear as well.
Archie himself only had two more hours before he could call it quits for the night. He wasn’t on night watch, after all. He shouldn’t even be staying this late to begin with. He was covering for one of his buddies who called in sick when in reality he was on a date with a cute girl who worked in one of the tech accessories stores. If Archie wasn’t such a bro he would be home right now eating a TV dinner and watching a Kalosian film. He has been picking up on a few phrases by hearing them over and over again. Madeline gets absolutely thrilled when he butchers her language. He’s at least trying and Madeline knows that. It’s more than what everyone else has done.
An hour after closing proved to be just as boring as he remembered when he was regularly stuck on the night shift. Only a few store owners were left in the building. Madeline’s was locked up with a barred wall behind the door, but Archie could still see a light on in the back. Maxie must still be in. Archie stifled a yawn with the back of his hand.
This was going to be a long night.
He whistled as he walked past Madeline’s and down the now dimly lit section of the mall. The mannequins in the windows would be the only thing remotely human he sees until the end of his shift. It was possible that he could run into one of the other security guards, but knowing them they’re probably just standing around in one spot, watching the monitors, or asleep. All of those actually sounded like good ideas, but Archie also liked to get his exercise in. Tonight’s shift is cutting in with his home workout routine.
Right as he was thinking this was going to be a boring night, he heard barking followed by the crashing of metal. His head immediately whipped over to the sound. There was clearly something going on here. Without much hesitation, he threw out his own Mightyena who immediately pounced on him, wanting some love after being cooped up in a ball all day. Archie sputtered but still ruffled the creature’s fur before pushing him away.
“You’ll get to go home and eat here in a while. Right now we got a battle to win. Probably. I’m not entirely for sure what’s goin’ on, ol’ boy. Let’s go.”
Following orders, Mightyena charged ahead of him. His happy release quickly faded as bared teeth and pointed ears became apparent on his features. The sounds weren’t close to him, but they did sound like it was in his section.
And Madeline’s was at the very edge of his section.
Not bothering to call for backup, Archie ran with Mightyena only to see that his suspicions were correct. The barred wall that protected Madeline’s was ripped apart thanks to an aggressive looking Arcanine and Arbok. Two men clad in black stood in front of the store. A large red “R” was the only color their uniforms held. They no doubt would have been in the store already if it weren’t for a Camerupt, Mightyena, and a very angry red head blocking their path. Between the three of them, the skinny man in the middle was the one to be feared the most. He was wearing his coat so it looked like he was getting ready to go home. Any person who takes the bliss of leaving for the day away from Maxie is a dead man.
Without taking an order, Archie’s Mightyena leaped into the standstill, initiating the battle by lunging for the Arcanine’s neck. Maxie grit his teeth and ordered for his Pokemon to attack while the men were surprised with the sudden Pokemon attack.
Archie was quick to move to Maxie’s side. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I can’t say the same for the front of my store though,” he grumbled and shouted another order for his Pokemon to follow. Camerupt was making quick work on the Arbok while the Mightyenas were going after the Arcanine. The Arcanine was much larger than the two of them combined, but it couldn’t keep up with defending all of its sides. One Mightyena would take the hit from the enemy Pokemon while the other would lunge in attack.
“Arcanine, forget them!” the taller of the grunts shouted. “Use Take Down on those bastards!”
With a mighty roar, the large Pokemon charged right into Archie’s Mightyena, knocking the Pokemon off to the side, but it didn’t stop there. It kept on charging in Archie and Maxie’s direction. Even though Maxie was a mere second away from jumping out of the way, Archie grabbed his wrist and threw them out of the path of danger. They slammed into the floor and Archie was quick to shield Maxie from the shattered glass and other falling debris as the Arcanine kept going and slammed in the remains of the front of the store. Archie could feel his chest burning, not from something stupid like injuries or emotions, but rather, from the rage radiating from Maxie’s body. The man was quick to push himself out of Archie’s grip and got back on his feet.
“I hope you two are ready to face the consequences for messing with me, the great Maxie!”
“Cocky bastard!” the shorter of the grunts shouted back. “We’ll be taking what we want, including the keystones you got!”
“Keystones?” Archie mumbled under his breath, shaking the glass from his back. Surely they weren’t talking about the keystones that could trigger a mega-evolution. Not only were they rare, but they were also illegal for anyone other than government and research facilities as well as skilled trainers to posses. Why would they think Maxie had something like that?
Unless…
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. What I do know is that you two will meet your maker tonight. Camerupt-!” Steam blew out of Camerupt’s nostrils as lava erupted from his back. The grunts were barely able to miss the attack. Archie got back on his feet just in time for a flash of fire to catch the corner of his eye. Maxie’s back was turned to the still threatening Arcanine. Fire covered its fangs.
Letting his instincts take over, Archie shoved Maxie to the ground. He was on his way down to do gravity’s bidding as well, but sharp, burning fangs buried themselves into Archie’s shoulder before the large creature tossed him around like a ragdoll. Now, Archie liked to pride himself on his macho manly man toughness, but the pain was enough to make him shout in anguish.
“Archie!” Maxie shouted. Instead of staying down and watching with fear, he quickly grabbed a piece of metal debris and got to his feet. His mother must have known what she was doing when she signed him up for baseball as a child even though he hated everything about the sport. He twisted his hips and smashed the metal against Arcanine’s face, forcing it to release Archie and stagger backward, only to be met with Maxie’s snarling Mightyena.
Archie hissed in pain as he held his wound. Blood was quickly soaking his dark shirt. The world was fuzzy and he wasn’t entirely for sure if he blacked out for a few seconds. One moment they were dealing with a vicious Arcanine, the next it was gone and the grunts were making a break for it. He could have sworn that he was standing too, but he soon became aware of his kneeling state. Maxie’s hand on his not injured shoulder was probably the only thing that kept his upright.
“Archie! Archie, stay with me here,” Maxie demanded as he patted Archie’s cheek in the hopes it would prevent him from blacking out for another few seconds. His normal, irritated eyes were instead showing concern in the most extreme way possible.
“Team Rocket…” Archie mumbled, trying to get back on his feet but Maxie’s hand kept him down.
“One of your fellow security guards is currently chasing them with a Manectric. Don’t worry about them. Focus on me like you always seem to do,” Maxie said and snapped his fingers in front of Archie’s face just to make sure he had the man’s attention.
“You’re actually givin’ me permission?”
“You better not waste it.”
Maxie whistled and a brief moment later Archie felt a warm and fuzzy beast by his side. Maxie forced him down into a sitting position, leaning him against Camerupt’s overly warm side. Archie tried to protest and get back on his feet, but Maxie was persistent.
“Stay down,” he ordered. “You don’t need to be moving with that injury.”
“What? With this lil’ scratch?” Archie tried to laugh, but the slight movement was enough to make him wince in pain. He doesn’t think he’s felt a pain like this since the attack that lead to him getting an “X” shaped scar on his face.
Maxie bit the bottom of his lip as he rapidly thought about what to do next. He tugged off his coat and pressed it against the wound, causing Archie to shout in pain again despite his macho manly man wishes.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry, but it will help the bleeding while we wait for an ambulance. At least, I hope it does.”
“Ambulance? I don’t need a damn-” Archie was quick to cut himself off when he caught Maxie’s glare. Without leaving his side, Maxie pulled out his PokeNav and explained the situation to the operator on the other end before ending the call. He looked to Archie, then over at his completely destroyed store. At least they had good insurance, he kept on telling himself.
“So,” Archie started, wincing as he readjusted himself, “what’s all this talk 'bout keystones?”
“I’m just as curious as you are,” Maxie replied coolly. “As much as I’ve dreamed about it, I have never seen a keystone up close and in person, let alone sell them in bulk. Besides, my mother would kill me if I were to use our store for illegal activities like that.”
Honestly, Archie didn’t have a reason to doubt Maxie. He was cold and liked to keep his distance, sure, but he has always been an honest man that customers trust. Archie wouldn’t like him if he didn’t have that quality to him. “Well…maybe we could theorize this shit over lunch sometime?” he offered because now was as good a time as ever. Maxie seemed taken aback.
“Is now really the time to be asking me out?”
“Well, I did have that proposition earlier today.”
“Which I turned down. Besides, I think I did most of the work in protecting my store, thank you very much.” Archie wasn’t going to dispute that because Maxie was right. He didn’t really do much to help in the fight other than throw himself in harm’s way just to protect the man not once, but twice. Yep. Archie didn’t do shit. He actually felt kind of offended at the claim.
However, he did notice Maxie’s face soften up a little bit. “But…I’m sure that you will be given some time off to recover. Perhaps instead of lunch we can get dinner sometime when I have all of this mess sorted out?” he suggested, vaguely gesturing to the remains of his store.
Now it was Archie time to be taken aback, but he was quick to recover from his shock and smirked. “Sounds like a deal to me. Just please don’t make me shake on it.”
“I have enough of your moronic blood on me. I wasn’t going to.”