Chapter Text
Audrey paced around her tiny, spartan cell on the Xen Battleship. Her bed, if you could call it that, was a concrete slab with a blanket over it. Something which did her back no favors. As she walked, she could feel the soft buffeting of the waves, the only thing that reminded her she was on a ship, with her cell having no view of the outside world. Just the artificial glow of fluorescent lights that were turned off at night time. The irony of her, a member of Team Xen, being kidnapped by Melia of all people, was not lost on her. She’d finished the dinner that Aspen had brought her and was now waiting. She looked up at the trainer on guard, a blue haired man named Adam, looking straight ahead, paying her no mind. Audrey sighed and stared up at the ceiling. It would only be a matter of time until they made port in Akuwa Town and she’d be put in prison for real. At some point her crystal would be activated, putting her out of commission. The thumbed at the gemstone embedded in her chest. An ever present mark of her employment at Team Xen, put on display by her uniform. The whole situation only served to fuel an ever growing pit in Audrey’s stomach.
Audrey felt a change in the air and less than a second later, she was thrown off of her feet and onto the floor of the cell. Her head whipped around, trying to assess what was happening. The person guarding her cell seemed just as surprised at her at the violent shaking of the ship. Audrey wasted no time in sprinting to the bars of her cell. “Let me out of here!”. Adam looked at her, struggling to keep upright himself. “The ship is sinking you idiot! I don’t want to fucking drown!”.
“I can’t. I don’t have the key for your cell.”
“Then bust the fucking lock off or some shit! I don’t deserve to die in here!”. She started rattling on the bars of her cell harder.
“It’s just the water getting rough. Calm down.”
“We hit something! Just- get me out of here!” eventually resorting to smashing herself against them, as the trainer ignored her pleas.
The shaking of the ship suddenly stopped, and Audrey was sent clattering to the floor. She glared at Adam from the floor. He looked forward to the ladder once again. “What, you’re not going to check out what happened?”
“Not with you still in the cell.”
“If I had any fancy tricks to get out of this cell, I woulda tried them when I felt the ship shaking!” Audrey braced herself as she stood back up. There was a distinct lack of any sort of movement from the ship to throw her off balance. Even just that of the ship being lapped at by the waves. “Hey, do you… feel that?” Audrey asked.
“Feel what?”
“The ship’s not moving. At all.” Audrey looked around in confusion. “And, it’s humid too.”
“Alright, what kind of tricks are you playing?” Adam snapped at Audrey.
“Do I look like I can do magic? I’m just as clueless as you!”. Audrey shouted back.
“Likely story.”.
“What about me indicates that I do magic?! I work with computers for god’s sake! What the hell could I have done?!”. As Audrey blew up at Adam, he sighed and turned his gaze back to the ladder. “Fucking, come on man! Tell me! What magic tricks could I have done to… do whatever the hell just happened!”
“…”
“Yeah! Now you see my point. Prick.”. Audrey crossed her arms and settled back down onto her bed. Sitting alone with her thoughts led to no satisfying conclusions. It couldn’t be a fire, that didn’t explain the sudden humidity. The sudden humidity would mean a change in climate, but the water around Akuwa Town wasn't this humid, not to mention they weren’t this hot. The only thing she could think of was they got teleported, but that wasn’t the case because… come on . Besides that didn’t explain why they stopped moving completely. She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of someone coming down the ladder. It was Melia, who wasn’t the person she most wanted to see, but she was at least someone who might be able to answer her questions. “Okay, what the hell is happening here?”. Audrey demanded as Melia approached the cell door.
“What’s happening is you’re being handed off to the proper authorities.”. Melia unlocked the cell door.
“That doesn’t answer my fucking question!”
“You’ll piece it together once we get outside.” Melia gestured to the ladder. Audrey wondered if she could stun Melia. Throw a blanket over her, poke her in the eyes, gut punch, something. Though even if any of those worked, just looking at Adam filled her minds with how swift and likely painful her retribution for any of those could be. She grumbled and climbed up the ladder. For her cooperation she was rewarded with handcuffs placed upon her wrists. Melia would lead her off the battleship and out into the open air, where she was hit with the full force of the humidity. She silently cursed as her glasses started fogging up. She could see blurry images of crystal blue waters, towering green palm trees, and a small group of people crowded just outside the dockyard where the battleship was parked. She was on Terajuma, on the complete opposite side of the region. But how? Did they actually teleport? She was shoved forward as the group started walking. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her.
“How the hell did we get to Terajuma?” Audrey asked, trying to squint through the condensation on her glasses.
“You don’t know?” A purple haired girl responded.
“Fuckin’ should I?”. There was a vague murmuring in the group. “Look, I don’t know what you all think Team Xen can do, but teleporting battleships isn’t one of them!”
“If that’s the case, it’s good to know that Team Xen really is off our- Hey! Watch where you’re going!”. Audrey nearly walked into a girl in a swimmer’s outfit.
“I can’t! I can’t see a goddamn thing!”. Audrey shouted. Adam sighed.
“Get over here.” He grabbed Audrey by the arm and started leading her. She grumbled. Were she not currently functionally blind, this would have been an excellent time to try and plan an escape. Trying to squint through her fogged up glasses revealed a village previously obscured by the treeline. One that she was led to by the rest of her group. The group started talking amongst themselves. Audrey couldn't help but visibly deflate. On top of the humidity-induced blindness, her jumpsuit felt like it was baking her alive. It was designed for insulation, and trapped all of her body heat underneath it. The incessant chattering and bickering felt like it was going to drive her mad. It almost felt like a mercy when she heard that she was being taken away to a cell in Ranger HQ.
“Hey, watch it!” Audrey exclaimed as Adam handed her off to the two Terajuma Rangers who had escorted the group to Kakori Village. The female ranger turned to the rest of the group.
“Right, we’ll leave you to your own devices, but don’t cause trouble! Or you’ll end up like Xen Girl here. Have a nice night!”
“I have a name you know!” Audrey snapped.
“Alright, move it Xen Girl.”. Audrey felt a shove behind her, her prompt to start walking. Even from behind her foggy glasses, she could see people stop and stare at her being paraded through the town. She hunched over, trying to shrink herself. As if being physically smaller would make the memory of her smaller in their minds. Crossing the threshold into the lobby of the Ranger HQ blasted her with air conditioned air. Though welcome, she was still far from comfortable as her jumpsuit continued to trap her body’s heat inside of it. Worse still, she could still feel people watching her as she was marched through the lobby. It was only when she was in her cell that she felt the weight of being observed taken off her shoulders. Similar to how it was on the battleship, there was a guard at her cell, but one pair of eyeballs was far more preferable to a whole town’s worth.
The cell itself was down right luxurious compared to her cell on the battleship. There was a desk next to a bed, an honest to god bed, not some concrete slab with a mattress on it. There was a TV too, a tiny CRT one, but it was a TV! There seemed to be an actual bathroom with a shower, rather than just a toilet in the corner. The wonders of what a cell can look like when you’re held to ethical standards and aren’t just some terrorist organization. It wasn’t perfect though. Audrey looked up and spied a camera in the corner of a room. She scowled at it before continuing to take in the rest of the room.
The floor and walls seemed to be made of hardier material than the rest of the building, but it wasn’t like she was going to be busting through the wall anyways. The clock on the wall said it was getting late, and Audrey hardly expected visitors. The best thing to do seemed to be to take a shower and head to bed. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.
Breakfast, hopefully.
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The interrogation room Audrey was sat in was grey. Devoid of even what meager warmth existed in her cell. Audrey was handcuffed to the table. The older woman across from her stood up, looming above Audrey. She wore a grey uniform, stern look, and a name tag that read “Holly”. A name Audrey couldn’t help but feel didn’t quite fit her. She carried herself in a way that let Audrey know she wasn’t going to deal with any fucking around. She drummed her fingers before finally speaking.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m not answering any questions without a lawyer present.” Audrey responded, maintaining eye contact. Holly huffed in annoyance.
“You’ll get a lawyer after the current crisis on Terajuma has been dealt with. You wouldn’t happen to know what caused that, would you?”. Holly shot a pointed glare at Audrey.
“Lawyer.” Audrey didn’t flinch. “There’s gotta be at least one on Terajuma. If not, I’ll wait.”
“Why are you on Terajuma? Is your ending up here a coincidence, or are there more Xen operatives than you on the island?” Holly’s voice remained stern, with a hint of frustration behind them.
“You going deaf or something?!” Audrey raised her voice. “I’m not saying a damn thing without a lawyer! I know my rights!”.
“Listen here girl!” Holly slammed a fist on the table. “After everything your organization has done… theft, kidnapping, murder , what makes you think you have a place to demand civil treatment?”.
“First, I am a human being with rights, god damn it!”. Audrey tried to shoot up from her seat, only to be prevented by the shackles keeping her in place. “And second, I haven’t confessed to shit! You have no evidence I’m part of Team Xen!”
“How do you explain the uniform you’re wearing right now?”
“I plead the fifth.”
“You’re a long way from Unova, you know that girl?”. Holly leaned over the table, glaring down at Audrey.
“I am not answering any questions pertaining to your hearsay evidence without a lawyer present.” Audrey spat out her reply. Sweating slightly under the pressure.
“How about explaining why you were found on a Xen battleship in that uniform, hiding?”
“I demand to exercise my right to a lawyer.”
“What about the fact we have witness testimony of you working at Blacksteeple Castle? Where everyone kidnapped from Akuwa Town was being held.”
“I demand to exercise my right to a lawyer!”. The two locked eyes, staring at each other for a good, long while. The room was dead silent save for the quiet hum of a radiator in the background. It was only broken by Holly grabbing her radio.
“Bring the prisoner back to her cell. This interrogation isn’t going anywhere.”. She lifted her thumb off the transmission button, and glared at Audrey a final time. “The accommodations here are supposed to be for drunken tourists, not terrorist scum like you.”
“Tough shit.”. Rangers eventually came in, unshackling Audrey from the table, and started to lead her back to her cell. Audrey let out a small sigh of relief. If they tried again, she’d just have to do that trick again. Unless they managed to get her an actual lawyer, it would be a miracle if her lawyer wasn’t willing to throw her to the lycanroc. It would be an even bigger one if they weren't also so overworked they couldn’t put up a competent defense. Still, she didn’t actually need to hold out for a court case, just stall long enough so that Team Xen would be able to pull her ass out of the fire. Assuming they still saw her as valuable enough to pull out of the fire. Given the fact she was still alive, however, that felt like it was a fair assumption.
The rest of the day was uneventful. The most that happened was she had to ask the guard next to her cell if the sausage that came with her dinner was pork or not. He ended up not knowing so she played it safe and didn’t touch it. Other than that, there was whispering among the guards that night’s shift change that there had been some commotion on the beach. Apparently one of the girls in the group she had arrived in had turned to stone. Some people popped out of a pocket dimension or some such. Then Giratina showed up. It sounded like a load of bullshit to Audrey, and she made that opinion known when she overheard the rangers talking about it. She’d gotten out of the shower, and was getting ready to bed for the night when she noticed her TV was messing up. She was inspecting it closer when the words “Incoming Transmission…” flashed across the screen. A familiar, if distorted, voice came through the speakers, announcing that this was a transmission from Team Xen.
“Citizens and People of Terajuma Island. This is a message from the elites of Team Xen. Listen well. We arrived on Terajuma, and we have built a stronghold on Valor Mountain. This was accomplished in just a couple of hours. 30 days from this transmission, we plan on seizing the entire island in the name of Team Xen. This will result in the total destruction of Terajuma Island . You may be asking yourselves… How do we escape such a fate? There is but one option.” The screen displayed the images of six of the people Audrey had been kidnapped by. The bottom four were Adam, the purple haired girl, Saki Blakeory, and… the image of a Lapras. There were two that were high priority, Melia, as expected, and Aspen.
Audrey didn’t have time to ruminate on why the other trainer had been put as high priority, as the broadcast moved on. “Furthermore, we have reason to believe there is a member of Team Xen currently being held in captivity by these six. If these six individuals, alongside their captive, are offered to us, then the attack should be called off. The fate of everyone on Terajuma Island will be secured. However, even with this looming threat we understand that this information may not be enough to persuade you. To the group of individuals we mentioned prior, this is a message directly to you.” Audrey’s eyes widened as the screen cut to a stone statue dangling above the mouth of a volcano. As the broadcast continued to drone on, the guards at Audrey’s cell gave her a look. Audrey tried to wave them off, but they continued to just look at her.
She started pacing around the cell, thinking. She had a deadline for when she’d be rescued by, or at least handed back over to Team Xen by. But… she didn’t have any illusions that the group that had fought their way out of Blacksteeple would go for the latter. Meaning Team Xen was going to burn this island to the ground. What had happened to the residents of Akuwa town would happen to everyone on Terajuma in the best case scenario. It was far more likely that Xen would just kill everyone.
Or, Audrey thought, she was overthinking it. These kids beat Team Xen once, they could probably beat them again. If she wasn’t valuable enough to kill off as soon as she got kidnapped once, there’s probably a secondary contingency plan to get her back. Though, Xen did have contingencies upon contingencies for operating on Terajuma. They didn’t have their claws in it like they did Terrial or Floria. Plans that were no doubt being rolled into action as soon as they heard Melia and her group were on Terajuma. They’d probably already set up north of Jynnobi Pass, and isolated Mt. Valor. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed that Melia’s group was destined to fail. Somehow, she felt unable to comfort herself with the fact that she’d be free from captivity soon. Audrey decided it would be for the best if she slept on it. She’d have a clearer picture of the situation once she got some rest.