[PRP] Belly of the Beast

[Shawn Darrow]

After a good bit of yelling, Shadow realized Tambrey was talking to him and glanced over. As his eyes were adjusting to the dark, he noticed that Lore wasn't the only one bleeding. Blood was all over the place, and glass pierced his teammates everwhere. Jerome and Hayes seemed to have their hair soaked in blood, and Xander had yet to speak, which was worrisome. Who knew how bad their injuries were? One thing was certain - if they didn't get help soon, the gamage would only get worse. Perhaps even permanent.

The teen's voice dropped to a low whisper. "They have to care, Tambrey," he told her. They can't just ignore us. We've got a lot of head injurires, which means a lot of people losing blood really fast." No, he didn't really have claustrophobia, but it was better if everyone thought he did, because then they'd realize he wasn't about to shut up anytime soon.

"If we can get them to shed some light over here, they might actually notice the state you guys are in. Call it a long shot, but I figured if they took the time to capture us alive, they're not going to want us to die from our injuries anytime soon." As for drawing attention to himself and possibly being shot...Shadow wasn't scared. Mentally, he dared those cowards with weapons to shoot.

This was the sort of thing he lived for, he trained for, so what did it matter if he died now? He had nothing and no one to lose; no other purpose in life. That was one good thing about being a street kid. You didn't have to worry about having attachments to family or anyone having to worry about you if you never came home. All the people he cared about were right there with him in that room - his fellow Rockets. And he would do anything to make sure they all got home safe.

"Xander, are you hurt anywhere? Just nod or shake your head if you can't speak. Hayes, are you and your partner doing okay? That looks like a lot of blood..." The dude who had wanted to bring his staff was scooting over to Jerome, though the grunt wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps that meant his own partner wasn't as severly hurt as he looked. The Spinerak-man, on the other hand...

"Uh...Tattoo-guy...you don't look so good. Did you break your arm? Try to stay awake, guys. If you think you're going to pass out again, say something. We have to look out for each other." It was probably all stuff they already all knew to do, but he felt he had to say it out loud to remind them that they were in this together. He had to keep up their morale, because as Shadow liked to think of it, when there was a will, there was a way.

As the most able prisoner among them, the teen grunt tried his best to take charge. The executive and elite who had originally been supposed to lead the mission weren't currently in any state to be making decisions and gving orders. He wasn't all that familiar with responsibility, but he really did care about his teammates, and that was all he needed to motivate and guide him through his efforts. He glanced over at Lore.

"Lore, man, we need you to be honest with us now. What happened?" he whispered, his face dead serious. "I saw your face when that purple-haired guy was saying he hadn't missed. What are they after? Information? Will the torture us for it? It couldn't have been the Sky Plate or the pokemon..."

The pokemon! Where were the pokemon? He couldn't feel the weight of Mairu and Kururi's pokeballs in his pocket anymore. They were Izaya's! He had promised to take good care of them! At least Celty had gotten away, but what of the twins? He wouldn't leave this place without them. That was, if they ever managed to leave this place at all.

"Doing anything is better than just sitting here," Shawn retorted quietly back at Aulus, whispering, but not without some force. "Like you said, they're probably not about to kill us just yet. Anyway, relax. If they're going to pick a bone with anyone, it'll be me. They still don't know our ranks, and a kid is easier to pick on - especially when he seems like he doesn't know anything." Like how to be scared when you were in enemy custody.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I said calm down, and I'll add shut up," Aulus growl-hissed to Shawn, "I'd rather we assess ourselves before we call their attention onto us. How about instead of yelling up at the Galactics first you'd asked that question first? Think that might have been smart? I do, and don't you tell me to relax and don't be an idiot; we're all easy to pick on right now, and somehow I don't think they're going to think a loud-mouthed kid is the brains or power behind the operation.... I think this is about revenge," he added, voice still very low, "we were talking over there," Shadow had blurted names but he still wasn't going to and nor was he yet going to call attention to rank, much though he wanted to, "and it makes sense. We destroyed their Machine, they want some payback. Whether that means getting information out of us or not I don't know, but I'm pretty sure whatever they have planned won't be nice and needs us to be alive."

He wanted to go home. Not back to base, home. Why had he got himself mixed up in all this crap? Why was he now semi-accustomed to seeing team-mates seriously injured? Why was being kidnapped by an enemy organization that would probably torture them or experiment on them not all that surprising?... But then he looked around at Hayes and thought about Claire. He was closer to them than he had been to anyone for a long time and... he didn't know. He didn't want to be part of this, to take these risks and be in these fights and be afraid as he was now but he didn't want to lose either of them from his life. Then again, he didn't want to lose his life. s**t. Was he the only one scared here? Well if he was he sure as hell wasn't going to show it; he was going to stay angry and then he could deal with it all. Anger was good, hot and sharp and strong. These bastards had hurt his friend and his team-mates, and were holding them against their will. Just as soon as they took these restrains off for even a second he would break their ******** necks, and he knew perfectly well that he could.  

[Tinnunculus]

"Heh." Hayes cracked a wan grin at the joke; the movement stung, and a few dried flecks of blood fell away from his lips. "Me too." With one eye sealed shut the other didn't want to stay open, limiting him to slightly blurry, monoptic vision that flickered at the edges as his bottom lip curled at the sight of Lore's arm. "s**t. Still bleeding?"

Whatever quiet conversation the mission leaders might have had was interrupted by loud yelling, made louder by the reflective surfaces around them. Short of shouting himself, there wasn't much he could do until the kid paused to breathe (and when he continued in a more normal tone of voice, it wasn't much better.) The blond shut his eyes for a moment, drew a breath, then looked up.

"Hey, Shawn?" he murmured back with a strained smile. "This stuff's dry - I'm good. S'okay. They want us alive, it looks like. We're also in a big metal sphere, so go easy on the talking."  

[Shawn Darrow]

"I'm not going to pretend to be smart or level-headed," the grunt shot back. "Sure, maybe I'm an idiot, but while I can still do something, I want to. I don't care what they think or what they do, but I'm NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS LYING DOWN!" His last sentence seemed more directed up toward the Galactics above them...or maybe just to the heavens. He didn't think he could calm down even if he wanted to. The kid was not used to have his freedom taken from him and he was having trouble figuring out how to deal with it. Much as he cared about his teammates, he had to face the fact that he wasn't in much of a position to help them, either.

But he didn't think just shutting up and sitting tight would get them anywhere. He needed to do something! It was like an impulsive need to get up and walk around when restless. If he didn't do something, his fear was going to set in, and that was the last thing he wanted, because he knew once that set in, there was no getting rid of it. He'd always had this silly idea that as long as he kept moving, the fear couldn't catch up to him or settle on him, which was why he loved running. Shadow couldn't pace in his room like he did to calm himself down, so all he could do was yell.

"This is so stupid," he growled in exasperation, slaming his back against the metal wall of the room. "Not all of us were even on the mission to destroy their damn machine. So they got a handul of Rockets. So what? Do they really think they can 'exact their revenge' on the few of us they've got and put a dent in the organization?" the kid wondered aloud. "They're always telling us we're disposable in training. Probably so we're not liabilities in times like these."

When Hayes spoke up, though, Shadow glanced over. There was that name again. The black-haired boy looked about to say something before seeing the strained smile. He hadn't even considered the idea that his yelling could have been worsening some headaches. "...Sorry," he murmured, looking away in embarrassment. Everyone else, including the smarter, higher-ranked Rockets, seemed to have given up. What was the point in fighting and struggling, then?  

[Loreven]

Lore winced along with the others when Shawn started yelling and making demands. He quirked an eyebrow, watching the Grunt's tirade. When Shawn paused to address him he blinked, "Simmer down, man. I haven't been dishonest with any of you. If I looked surprised out there it was probably about the grabby-thingie on my leg. Dunno if it caught the rest of you off guard but I know I didn't schedule that into my day. I usually save abduction by giant robots for weekends." He paused a moment to see if he got any laughs before continuing. Tough room.

"I know we're all a little stressed. This is hardly the pizza party we were looking forward to and I'll be the first to admit the decor in here leaves something to be desired.. I'm right there with you on the windows thing. They'd spruce the place right up. But let's try to keep our cool, alright? The others make some good points. We don't need to antagonize the angry men with the guns up there right at this very moment. We'll find out what they want with us and we'll figure out what to do as a group. Right? We're Team Rocket. We'll work together. Everything's gonna be fine as long as none of us fly off the handle and take matters into our own hands." He was offering his most reassuring smile as he said this.

After pausing a moment he added, "I'd follow that up with some team building exercises but I'm not sure all of us can stand up."  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey had gone silent for a while as the others talked, turning her head to watch who was talking occasionally, but always returning her gaze upward, toward those guarding them.

She'd heard what she thought were several good points and from either side of the thing, but nothing that made her feel any better about the situation.
As Shawn mentioned the machine destroying mission, she even actually felt a pang of guilt that, logically, she knew was misplaced; the fact they'd broken that was a good thing- a necessary thing. They wouldn't exist otherwise.

At the mention of the others being there because of it though, the guilt crept up a little; a few of them captured /had/ been there. Was that the answer?
Should those who had been on that mission reveal themselves?
No. She'd wait to see what the executives decided; uniform or not and whether Galactic knew who they were or not, Hayes and Lore were still the mission leaders; what they said went.

She found herself smirking, but it was hard to laugh much at all, at the things she heard from Lore finally.

Being restrained and able only to lie there while she listened certainly left her open to too many negative thoughts she decided. Instead of focusing on what Team Galactic might do to them...
"We need to agree with eachother." She offered, finally. "If it doesn't matter what we do at the moment, it at least matters that we agree on something, right? It might as well be that." She finished by agreeing, herself, with what the executive had said. "That we're a team; I think that's a good motivation."
Her voice was a little quiet, as she was still laying, looking up at the guards.  

[Natsuko-neko]

Xander blinked a few times to try to lessen the dazed feeling he still had as he watched everyone wake up and start talking. That was good, the yelling and the bleeding wasn't. When Shawn addressed him the blond gave a small smile as he blinked a bit more. "Fine. Just exhausted." After talking he cleared his throat. "And yeah, they don't want anyone dead yet." Though you would have thought that they would have taken care of some of the others injuries by now, at least the ones still bleeding out.

He looked over each of his team mates but there wasn't much any of them could do at the moment so instead he just concentrated on their words. Lore's joke at least got another smile from him, though not a laugh."Guess we shall just have to wait on the team building exercise. Maybe have the pizza then."  

[Blood_Goddess]

One of the Agents was making his way over toward Jerome, this movement drew the grunt's attention to the scarred man.
"Think I could go another round, how bout' you?" He replied with a weak bob of his head, this guy looked like he could beat the s**t out of more then a few Galactics.
He didn't expect anyone to check on him, but the fact that the team seemed to be concerned about one another hit pretty close to home for Jerome.

"D'nno" He replied to Shawn when the kid asked him if he broke his arm. "M'guessin' it is."

The Gangster feel quiet after that though, not having much in the way of desire to speak, but he payed attention to what the others were saying, glancing between the Rockets as they tried to calm the kid down, and tried to get their bearings as to what was going on.

"And beer." He added after Xander's comment.
Glancing back over at Aulus, Jerome leaned back over to his good side, trying to catch himself on his elbow without jarring his other arm too much.
"don't this count as team buildin'? figure out a way to all survive on rival turf." He didn't sound too gloomy about it. Though he didn't exactly have realistic hopes on actually accomplishing that, not in his experience.  

[Shawn Darrow]

Shadow's mouth twitched when he heard Loreven's reply. No, he hadn't ever accused the executive of being dishonest. Still, you didn't need to be dishonest to keep a secret. What bothered him most was that Lore's explaination didn't make sense. His expression had only changed after they had been grabbed, because the teen distinctly remembered Lore taunting the Galactic leader for having missed the Sky Plate. That meant they'd already hit their targets.

But he wasn't going to bring it up. If Lore didn't want to talk, chances were no amount of coaxing would get him to. Besides, there was a lot of confusion and stress going around as it was; no need to make it worse with his paranoid conspirises. It was probably nothing. But Shawn Darrow didn't answer the executive when he tried to give them a pep-speech.

He wasn't afraid of any guns, but he didn't want anyone hurt or killed on account of him, either. At the end of the day, he was still just an inexperienced grunt who didn't know anything, and despite the adrenaline rushing through his veins, he reminded himself he needed to learn self-discipline. He could be quiet; at least until it was clear what Galactic's intentions were.  

[Tinnunculus]

"We're off to a good start, then," Hayes mused. His wry half-smile would have been more pleasant if he didn't look like he was wearing haphazardly applied warpaint, but after Lore's little speech there was some humor in his tone. "Sounds like we're all agreeing to agree."

He would have adjusted his glasses then, but he was neither free nor wearing them. "Whatever else they want, they'll probably try to get information as well. Long as we're here, there's no reason not to - and if they had it already they would've used it. So. How d'we stay a team if they split us up?" It was half a genuine question, half something posed for the group's thought.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yea," he nodded to Jerome and bared his teeth in a snarl of (false) bravado, "one or two." Having established Jerome wasn't about to die either, Aulus turned his attention back to Hayes. How was he still sounding so calm? His face was covered in blood, he was contemplating torture, and he was still giving that wry little smile of his. Aulus was beginning to distrust that smile. He didn't know the answer to his partner's question then, all he could think about was what might be about to happen to them. Angry. Keep being angry or he'd be useless.

"Well we could all keep focused on how much we ******** hate Galactics for a start," he growled, starting to shift back closer to Hayes, totally because he was still meant to be trying to protect him even restrained like this and not at all just because he wanted to sit closer to his friend because <********> they were going to the tortured. Did nobody else have a problem with that? How were they joking about beer and pizza? He felt sick. Angry! He'd kill them, but he'd make them suffer first, suffer a hundred times whatever they did to him and his friends. Just let them try to break him, they would fail and they would rue the day they'd blasted in on them in this stupid pretentious ship!

"Maybe we should recite our motto like a mantra too," Aulus added, having paused for only a heartbeat while his brain free-wheeled with panic only just encased inside rage, but at least encased enough that it didn't show on his face or in his voice. "Other than that.... I suppose we have to remember everyone back at base, thinking about them - not betraying them - gives us a common purpose we can all remember, right?" For how long? He couldn't bear the idea of letting slip something that could harm Claire but he was already afraid that he might under pressure. He couldn't let them beat him, he just couldn't, and he wouldn't! He'd talked himself into plenty of difficult crap over the years, he could talk himself into silence, especially if he kept in mind that even if he did tell them something useful the Galactics probably wouldn't leave him alone, they'd just want more. Talking would never get him anywhere, so he would stay quiet and that was that, beyond of course killing every last ******** one of them once he got a chance.

Yes.

He'd start with that ice queen b***h with the stupid impractical Rapunzel haircut and then mow his way through the ranks until he got to that short one-eyed poofter they called a commanding officer. He would make the ridiculous pruple-haired little b***h squeal!  

[Kitomyx the Nobody]

"Um...I know I said I'd be quiet," the teenager whispered, turning back to face the others, "But the fact is I don't have a clue about these Galactics, and this is my first real mission, with or without them. Could someone fill me in?" With some effort, though his wrists and ankles were still chained, he managed to bring his knees up to his chin.

"I mean, I've heard they've been causing us trouble and all, but besides the latest stuff about what the Machine could have done, what are these guys capable of?" His brow furrowed in worry. "Have they ever captured Rockets before? Not counting Nyx.' Sure, he'd also heard that an agent had been killed in the last escape, but from the way it had been told, it had been an accident. He had yet to hear about anything particularly malicious that the Galactics had done personally to Rockets. "Would they really torture us...?"  

[Gwennythe]

The jokes, as much as anything Tambrey noted, seemed to be helping the group whether they all realised it or not.
They'd gone from arguing to joking and even suggesting, if maybe a little panicky, the things they should do, or be prepared to do, once the Galactics... did whatever they were going to do.
Even stuck in what was a pretty dire situation, her own mind racing along with its own nasty little conclusions, she had to admit that hearing the humour was just a tiny bit calming; enough to bring some reality to the light-headed panic that wanted to work it's way into a more prominent position than subdued within the grunt's brain.
"As long as we agree on something..." Tambrey's reply to what Hayes came back with was almost mumbled to herself. Then there was the question he asked. A good question and one she found herself trying to contemplate for a good few moments, as she listened to Aulus.
Recite the mantra? Think of what was left behind to protect?
Well, that second one seemed a little better than the first, to her, though her concerns extended beyond the people in the team; what if they went through Team Rocket and decided her family was connected enough to hurt, because of her? She was sure Team Rocket would have a file and that file would have a surname... and that surname could be traced back to her home. It might have been unlikely, with her at the rank she was, but from the grunt who spent most of her days fearing that she'd get recognized or caught out by someone who knew her, anything connecting her family to the Rockets was already a worry. Now there was a proper, awful, danger. With terrifying, world-rewriting potential.

Ack! She'd let her brain take off again and she'd almost panicked herself away. She couldn't think like that; not with everyone around and all those guards watching up there. If she cried, or anything like that, she'd give away something, some weakness. No one could be allowed to see that.

Tambrey closed her eyes and listened again. Something else to focus on.
Ah. Shadow; or Shawn, apparently, as he seemed to be called.
She listened to his questions, licked her lips to test how dry they were, or simply because she was nervous and it was something to do, then tried to answer with what she could.
"I've seen the things they build," She started "though I guess you have too now... Well, the know-how they've got t' build things like... this thing... 's also helped them nearly rewrite, uh, everything. Think... Danny Darko, but without that Bunneary, and extend the 'changing the timeline' across the whole of reality..." At least, that was how she'd understood it in the end. She began to worry herself now and bit her lip before continuing, with a little more obvious unease than she wanted "And yes. I think they would. They -shot- at us, unleashed pokemon on us, and they were aiming to kill. I don't think torturing us is something they'd be adverse too. Maybe before, but not now." The last was, at best, a guess. Like the others had said before, revenge was a likely motivation here.  

[Loreven]

After his little pep talk, Lore left the rest of the talking to other members of the group. He focused instead on not moving in an effort not to upset his wound. His passive smile was kept up and he nodded as good points were made.

Roughly an hour after their departure the speed of the Dusknoir started to decrease notably. The guards, who had been about as energetic as statues during the flight finally started to shift around. Wherever they were headed, it seemed they were arriving. As it slowed, the Dusknoir tilted to one side, then to the other, gracefully maneuvering to an abrupt stop. They'd landed. The muffled sound of voices could be heard outside but the surrounding metal was too thick to allow anything intelligible through.

A radio crackled overhead and one of the guards plucked a communicator off his belt. "Yes." He held the black box to his ear. "Understood." He clipped the device back to his belt, then trained his gun on the Rockets once more, "Okay, listen up! You're all going to go where we want you to. There's no question of that. In order for that to happen you have two choices. You walk or we put you out and drag you! This door's gonna open and the men and women out there will all be itchin' for the chance to put a tranq dart in your cheek! You behave yourself and there won't be any problems. Is that understood??"

"..it'd actually be easier to understand without the yelling.. the acoustics in here are pretty good.." Lore answered, sounding a little woozy.

The guard's eyes narrowed. With a loud SHUNK the mouth of the Dusknoir opened, turning the zigzagging line across one wall of the chamber into a massive door. On the other side light poured in from the Galactic airship's hangar. Two dozen Galactics wearing no-nonsense expressions stood outside, all aiming guns at the Rockets.

The guard above gestured with his gun. "On your feet and exit the vehicle."

- - -

[OOC NOTE: The ankle cuffs your Rocket is wearing don't completely impede movement. They won't be going for a speedy stroll with them on, but they can shuffle along.]  

[Natsuko-neko]

It had seemed like forever until it had come to this point and Xander figured the walk it's self was going to feel longer still for all of them. He gave the Galactic that had been yelling directions at them a flat stare, silently agreeing with Lore. He looked away when the door opened though, eying the guns the waiting Galactic's had. At least since they were darts they were highly unlikely to be something he was allergic to but the blond wasn't going to take the chance anyway.

It took a bit of maneuvering but he got to his feet then shuffled over to Tambrey. "Need some help?" He kept his tone light even when he glanced at the others to make sure they wouldn't hurt themselves more when or if they got up. It might be a bit hard to help with his hands behind his back but he would try.