The Trial of Dreams and Memories (TMM 2)

Prison Takeover

"Do you know how long it's been?" Morai growled. She wasn't going to negotiate. She moved, but Ava was fast, and even though she didn't feel them, Morai still had injuries. She roared in frustration as the Team Rocket grunt used her stolen keycard to run out of the room. Morai took the guard's card and ran after her, tearing down anyone who was in her way. She had been given a new burst of energy, and the thrill of the chase only heightened it. If anyone she passed happened to look her in the eye, she added them to her chain of puppets and had them follow her, fighting her other foes off if she didn't take them down herself. 

It wasn't long before the familiar sound of the alarm came over the loudspeakers throughout the building and the halls were bathed in flashes of red. In the chaos of sights and sounds, Morai was thrown off of the chase a little, but it didn't stop her. Ava led her into a part of the prison she hadn't been to before and she nearly stopped out of habit, especially as the chase led the both of them to an elevator. The prisoner pushed herself a little harder to make it in before the doors closed behind Ava. Just as the Team Rocket grunt was nearly safe behind the steel doors, Morai stuck her fingers through and pushed them back open. Ava readied her electric baton, using its handle to push the button for the proper floor. 

"We use these for animal control," she said with a slight grin. "Do you deign to have such a title?"

Morai didn't care to answer. She went straight for the neck instead, and Ava held her weapon in both hands so that it received the bite, struggling to push back. Morai landed a couple of punches before the doors opened, allowing Ava to let go and run out. Morai followed right after her, running through a thick door Ava had the keycard for, grabbing her arm and throwing her to the ground. 

"Wait!" Ava yelled, dodging drops of sweat and saliva. "You need me. For one, I'm the only one who can get you the serum. Two, I know this layout better than you do. Look around you."

Morai obliged. She was in a completely new place. Like other parts of the building, the ceiling was much higher and the room itself was circular, or at least it appeared to be so. It appeared to be a dungeon, with a few floors of cells lining the walls. Her hypnotized guards arrived through the doors. 

"This was meant for you," Ava said, nudging Morai to get off of her and standing up. "Well, actually, there was one specific place made for you somewhere else. This was made to keep someone like me in the event of an infiltration, but it was also made to keep people under your hypnotization that couldn't be freed for whatever reason. If you happened to hypnotize a portion of the guard, they'd be taken here and locked away so they'd be useless to you."

Morai laughed. 

"Idiots," she said with a grin. "They've provided a place for me to keep all of them."

"Right," Ava said. "And they're coming any minute. I'd get ready."

Pollie had been consoling Maria on the garden bench when the alarm went off. 

"I don't think she loves me," Maria sniffled. "I don't think she can."

"She risked her life for you," Pollie said. "That's something." 

The commotion inside followed by the sounding of the alarm caused both trainers to jump up. This alarm was specific. The pitch and timing of its beeps coupled with the red flashing of lights meant one thing. 

"Oh no," Sheridan whispered alone in her office, standing up from her chair. "She's somehow gotten ahold of the serum."

"You think you can take them all?" Ava asked. "You're still not in the best of shape."

"As long as I can avoid getting shot," Morai answered confidently.