Chapter 7: Backed into a Corner

May shivered and pulled her knees up to her chin. She wondered what was going to happen to her. As she looked around the damp, dark, draughty cell, she knew it couldn't be anything good. But as she shivered and felt afraid, she actually realised that she could die. This could be it. She looked around hopelessly. This was about the time Ash usually came in and saved her from the bad guys, but there was no messy-haired brown-eyed hero to drop in and rescue her this time. "Ash," she croaked, her voice breaking. "Ash, help. Ash..." She began to cry. "Ash, Brock, Max! Help...save me...Ash..."

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"Do you know what a serious offence you have commited, Agent 199?"
Kiro stood in front of a desk. Two guards stood at either side of him. The man sitting at the desk wore dark sunglasses. He had a hooked nose and short brown hair, and wide shoulders. He gently stroked a Persian at his side.
"199! Answer me."
Kiro stood silently, his mouth tight shut.
"Answer!" commanded Giovanni, annoyed.
"No I don't, sir," said Kiro, mocking the last word. "I was sure I did the right thing by saving a girl's life."
Giovanni quietly curled his hands into fists. "Were you, 199? You don't grasp that Rockets are not supposed to do the right thing?"
"No sir," said Kiro again, smirking.
"You don't, 199? Well maybe I should help you understand..."
One of the guards took hold of Kiro's arm and twisted hard. Resolutely Kiro kept staring at Giovanni, giving him the same twisted smile. The guard twisted harder. Kiro's brave face wavered - only for a second, but it was still enough to give Giovanni the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. Giovanni grinned nastily. "The girl will be interrogated and then killed. There is nothing you can do. I will give you a second chance, 199. You are very lucky. Go anywhere near that May girl and you will die. I will be watching you. Go. Training resumes tomorrow."
The guard let go of Kiro's arm and he walked out of the room. Once he was outside, he collapsed to the ground, rubbing his injured arm. "I'm sorry May," he said quietly. "I tried."
"What did you try, big brother? Did you try to save that girlfriend of yours?"
Kiro gave a start and looked up. It was Hana.
"Get away from me," he snarled. "Haven't you done enough?"
"Oh don't be such a sook," she said. "You knew her for about an hour. You can't have been too attached to her. Come on. We need to talk." She seized his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"There's nothing to talk about," said Kiro venomously.
"Actually, Kiro," she said with a strange, lopsided smile, "there's a great deal to talk about."

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The cell door opened. May threw her arms up to shield her face from the light. Heavy footsteps entered the room and pulled her roughly to her feet. He forced her arms down and tied them together, then said malevolently said, "Come with me." It was Rick. May followed him down a corridor, and then another. Tears streamed silently down her face and she was trembling so violently she could hardly walk. "Faster," said Rick, annoyed. She could hear the malicious eagerness in his voice. She envisioned the wall breaking open, Ash bursting in. Kiro coming around a corner to save her. They were just wishful thinking. He led her towards another corridor, and then pushed her in a door and slammed it behind her.
The room was small and dark. Giovanni sat at a desk, two silent faceless guards behind him. "Sit," he said. She stumbled forward and collapsed into a chair. One of the shadowed guards stepped forward and fastened a silver choker around her neck.
"Where," he began, "is Ashton Ketchum and his Pikachu?"
"I have no idea," stammered May truthfully.
Giovanni raised an eyebrow. He pressed a button on a small remote control and May felt a hot, painful electric current course through her body. She cried out in pain.
"Where are they?"
"I honestly don't know...OWWW!" howled May as a stronger current made her body glow slightly with electricity.
"Alright. Let's try again. Where are your Pokémon stored?"
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," said May resolutely, but crumpled as another shock resounded through her body.
Giovanni tried her for another few hours until she finally collapsed into unconsciousness. "Kill her," he said disgustedly. "She is of no use to me."
A guard nodded and slung May's body over his shoulder and marched out of the room.


Two hours later Kiro was fighting with his sister. "They messed with your memory. You realise that, don't you? It's brainwashing." said Hana.
Kiro crossed his arms. He had no argument for that, but he said, "They feel like real memories to me."
"Kiro, they don't take people under ten. And furthermore, you were itching to go. You didn't put up a fight." Her head drooped in a similar way to Kiro's. "You never said goodbye. It was just after...well we had a fight about something or other. You know how little kids are. I was furious with you. I came out of my room a few minutes later, and the car was leaving. Mum said you were going away and we'd never see you again. So I ran out after the car, and you pressed your face up against the back window and stuck out your tongue at me, and then the car was gone."
Kiro looked at her, his throat tightening. He was beginning to believe her. Her head was still down. A tear landed on her trousers.
"But...if there was no struggle, how did I get this?" asked Kiro, lifting up his overgrown, unkempt fringe to reveal the long scar, and the blinded eye.
Hana stared at it. "Kiro..." she said softly. "I didn't know...I..."
"Maybe they modified your memory," said Kiro, a trace of a grin on his solemn face.
"I guess we'll never know," smiled Hana.
They sat in silence for a minute.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.
"I'm sorry I never said goodbye," said Kiro.
"I'm sorry I turned you and May in," said Hana.
They stared at each other. Then, at the same time, the siblings said, "That's okay."
But it wasn't. Just because Hana was sorry didn't mean May wasn't going to die.

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