Seas of Magma

Beginning a Rescue

Archie had been in custody for a whole day before he was finally released, and once he was free, he immediately made his way back to the Team Aqua base, sighing as  he went to find Shelly.

"Shells! Ya got good news fer me?" He sank down in a nearby chair, pulling his bandanna off and running his fingers through his hair. "Last day's been pretty much hell fer me..."

The admin sighed and remained silent for a few moments before she spoke. "I wish I did, Leader Archie. But I've been unable to find Maxie at all, even checked out possible locations he could have gone to after leaving Seaworld. Nothing at all."

The Aqua leader tugged at his hair in frustration before he stood up. "Shit... that means we may hafta go on a wild Zangoose chase. Not what I wanted ta do but..."

Shelly stopped him before he could say much more. "I have a suggestion, but it's a risky. Why don't you go back to Seaworld and ask if anyone's seen where he went? Surely someone had to have seen him leave the place, and if he's a merman, he must have been with someone."

"It's worth a try." Archie nodded and stood up, setting his bandanna aside. "Come with me, Shells. Then if they don't wanna talk ta me, they may talk ta you." Nodding in response, Shelly set down the papers in her hand before the duo headed back towards Seaworld.

When they got there though, the entire building was cordoned off, police officers and employees wandering the perimeter. Archie kept his distance and asked Shelly to go forth and question them. After she'd been given a description of Maxie in his merman form, she asked the people around but very few had any reliable information. One did mention that they saw someone like Maxie being carried away by a cloaked man, and the cloak had a stylised M insignia on it. The admin relayed this information back to Archie.

"Someone from Magma? What it sounds like ta me. If they got their leader back, how're they gonna look after him now?" The sailor shook his head. "Looks like we hafta get back into contact with 'em. Okay. Shells, you head back ta base and I'm gonna go and speak with the Magma admins. They gotta know what's happenin'." The two them went their separate ways.

As Archie made his way to the Magma base, the armed guards that stood outside immediately raised their guns. He held up his hands in surrender. "It's only me! Guys, we got a situation and I need ta speak ta the admins. I think Maxie's been kidnapped." The guards, nodding in synchronicity, lowered their guns and allowed the Aqua leader to pass. Archie headed towards the offices, knocking on one of the doors. A severe-looking woman with wavy black hair answered the door, glaring at him.

"Any reason you would interrupt me while I'm working?" Her tone was bitter.

"I think Maxie's in trouble. Tell me yer one a' the admins, 'cuz this ain't somethin' I can tell ta the grunts."

The woman nodded. "I am. Name's Maeve. What do you want?" She was abrupt with him.

"Alright. Yer not gonna believe this but Maxie got turned into a merman." Maeve was about to speak but Archie held up his hand. "Please lemme finish. Okay, so we got no idea as ta why he was turned into that, but is he at the base? Apparently a guy wearin' the Magma logo took him outta Seaworld a couple 'a days ago..."

"I presume you found him like this at first." Maeve pursed her lips when Archie nodded in response, pacing around the office, her heels clicking against the stone floor. "If he had been brought back here in that form, we would have all heard about it. However, this is the first I've heard of it." She brushed her hair aside, looking back at the sailor. "From what you tell me, this sounds like someone has captured my leader and is trying to send a signal."

"Does Maxie have any enemies in his own team? Or people that he doesn't get along with very well?"

"Enemies? Well..." Maeve paused briefly. "There is Takeshi Steiner. Steiner has had his eyes on the leadership position of Team Magma for a long time, but he serves as a samurai of Kanto and so abides by a strict honour code. Unless... hmm..." She turned her back on Archie for a moment. "It is possible that Steiner may have abducted Maxie, and with him not being in his normal form... now that I think about it, it does seem very likely."

"Yer sayin' that this Steiner guy had it in fer Maxie?"

"Most likely." Maeve turned back to him and nodded. "From what you've told me, Maxie must have only recently been altered, and so would still be adjusting to his form. Steiner then had the perfect opportunity to strike, when Maxie was at his weakest. Anything else to note?" Maeve prompted him. Archie then explained about the situation with the harpooning. "... He was shot with a harpoon. Weakened further. Steiner wouldn't turn down that opportunity." Another pause. "He'd not turn down a chance like that."

Archie shook his head. "Steiner sounds like he's a pain in the ass, and a major one. Question is, how did he know ta go ta Seaworld? Was he trackin' Maxie? And did he plan fer him ta turn into a merman?"

There was a long hesitation before Maeve spoke again. "He doesn't use tracking devices, as far as I know... and as for whether he was involved in the changing, I can't be certain. But one thing we can be sure of, is if we find Steiner, we find Maxie. He does use a lot of internet-enabled devices and keeps his comm device on. There's a GPS tracker in all comm devices throughout the team, so we can always enlist one of our hacking experts to find Steiner."

"Okay. Then let's locate this bastard and make him tell us where he's got Maxie. I swear ta Arceus he ain't gonna get away with this..."