Guzma x Reader The Earth's End

III

You picked absentmindedly at the food in your bowl, some kind of soup made of a thick broth and vegetables. You wondered where the veggies came from. Cans maybe? You didn't have much time to think about it, because just then there was a soft knock on the door of the room you'd been given.

J poked his head in, the lower half of his face still covered by a black handkerchief. "Heya girlie. Boss wants tah see yah. Yah done eatin'?"

The deeper voice and thicker accent made you realize that it wasn't, in fact, J that had come to get you. Just another one of the many men that seemed to look just like him. How many could there be? Were that all related?

The J-lookalike gave a quiet cough and you realized he was still waiting for an answer. You put the bowl on the nightstand and nodded. You'd barely been able to eat anything. Your stomach felt tight from nerves.

The bluenet fully opened your door and motioned for you to leave, taking your arm and leading you on when you walked past him. The house you'd been placed in was one of the ones closest to the mansion, so it wasn't a particularly long walk, but your stomach growled and you were starting to regret not forcing yourself to eat.

If your escort heard your body's complaints he didn't show it. He only pulled open the front door of the large house and nudged you inside, closing the door and leading you up the stairs.

"Back in tha day, this paht of tha stairs wasn't usable." He turned right where the stairwell forked and motioned to the noticeable nicks and scratches on the step's surface. "Big ol' chandelier in tha way. But when our boy made this place Home, he got a few of us to move it." At the top of the stairs, he motioned to a door. "Makes it easier to get to our boy, see?"

The man knocked on the door and there was an answering, "WHAT?!?"

"Yo, Guzma! I got the girl here!"

"THEN OPEN THE DOOR YOU NUMBSKULL!"

The bluenet opened the door and put a hand on the small of your back, ushering you inside. It was dark inside, the only light provided by a single, dirty window. The walls were haphazardly splattered with paint, quite unlike the rest of the place, and for some reason, there was a three person bed. You preferred not to think about why he'd need a three person bed.

Guzma himself was sprawled in what was almost a throne, propping his head up on his hand and looking at you with those storm grey eyes. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Ya done starin'?"

You quickly looked away, blushing as Guzma burst out laughing. "I was jokin' doll! Don't be so shy." He got up and walked forward until he stood directly in front of you.

Oh Arceus, he was bigger than you thought.

You looked up at him, forcing your legs not to shake. His eyes wandered over your body and you fought the urge to punch him in the jaw.

Guzma flashed you a grin and said, "Yeah, you'll do just fine."

"Excuse me?!" You stepped back, covering your chest with your arms.

He rolled his eyes. "Not as a breeder, idjit. As a worker. If you decide ya wanna stay, you gatta earn your keep. 'Sides..." He rubbed the back of his neck and fidgeted. "Even if it was like that, I doubt it'd work. Kinda figured none of us can make kids now, ya know? Anyway."

Guzma brushed past you, obviously uncomfortable with this topic. "Follow me," he growled. "I'll show ya around. K, get back to work."

K nodded and gave a mock salute before turning and sliding down the banister to the first floor.

Guzma grabbed your hand and tugged you behind him, heading for a broken window. "Be easier to just show you the town from the roof first." He led you out onto the roof of the building where you stood next to him on a board walkway, obviously added on by someone who had little to no idea as to what he was doing. At least it seemed stable.

Guzma swung his arm around to gesture to the entirety of Po Town. "This here's Home. Capital 'H'. Used to be called Po Town, or Team Skull Base, or whatever. But it ain't that anymore, ya hear? The walls, they keep us safe. Keep out all those messed up Pokèmon." He pointed to the right and said, "Over there's where you're stayin'. That half a' town is where the workers are usually assigned to sleep. Builders, teachers, caretakers, gardeners, those kinds of people. Over there is-"

"Wait, gardeners? You can grow things?"

Guzma gave you another grin. "Yep. This place ain't really on many maps anymore, and even if it is, people usually assume it's abandoned. No point bombin' near an abandoned town, eh? So the dirt's still good."

You looked out over the small town again in amazement. This little town, with only two even rows of little houses, a mansion, and a single road down the middle for it all, was the only spot of hope you'd seen in this barren world.

Guzma rested his elbow on the top of your head, much to your annoyance. You stepped away from him and he laughed. "Anyway!" He motioned to the other side of town, "That's where the runners stay. Not many of them, maybe just short of a dozen. They're the ones that can go outside the walls. The one that watch our territory, bring back people to be judged and people to be welcomed. They're in charge of gettin' us foodstuffs and clothes and things like that."

Guzma walked along the board walk until he reached a balcony and motioned for you to follow him. He opened the door that led inside and let you go in first, leading you to the banister and looking down to the first floor of the building. "This," he said, "is my home. My advisors, closest friends, second in command, they all stay here with me."

"Second in command? Who's that?" The second you asked the question you regretted it. Guzma just kind of... Shut down. His eyes went blank, his expression dropped, even his voice went flat.

"Her name was Plumeria. She's dead."

He didn't say anymore and you didn't want to ask. Desperate for a subject change, you said, "Why do you call this place Home?"

Guzma relaxed and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. You let out a small breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding.

"Come on, I'll tell ya while we walk." The two of you walked down the steps and out the door and as you walked through Po Town- through 'Home', Guzma started to explain the name.

"Pretty sure it started with the little ones. Started making little doodles 'bout their home. Said the place was home, so why shouldn't that be it's name? Their caretakers didn't see nothin' wrong with that logic, and it kinda spread from them. 'Sides, it fits better than Team Skull, dontcha think?"

You looked down at the ground as you walked. Ever since you'd heard the name Guzma you'd had the feeling that it was a name you'd heard before. And of course you had. He was the leader of the most feared gang in Alola, after all. "Why?" You said quietly. "Why help these people? Why make this place a home? You are... Were evil. Why change so drastically?"

"Come on. I'm sure Mary will want to meet you." Not even acknowledging that you'd spoken, he turned and walked in a different direction, leaving you to scramble after him.