Part 2

I remembered where they were, but the question was on how to get there. I could try "stealing" my helicopter but I didn't have the keys to the hangar, and the pilot was on vacation. Why didn't I think of it? And I thought I had everything planned out..... I could try walking, which now seemed to be my only option. But where were they? In jail again? In Tokiwa, maybe? Or between cities? I stared at the Ratta fur again. It almost reeked of Yamato. But where was she and her partner?

Miracuously, I didn't have to look far, because I saw them walking down the street. They were frightened, and I had no doubt to as to what. But I couldn't place their motive. Why would they steal these files? Plus, they weren't old enough to be alive then. Yet they still could have killed the police officer. That left the question of where the files were. All this thinking seemed to get me nowhere. But at least I was somewhere.

"Yamato!" I called.

"Nan da?!"

She stood there angry, and I was tempted to shove her down. But above all, secrecy. I couldn't do that. So I casually walked up to her, making my expression unreadable. But though she couldn't read my face, she could definitely read my voice.

"Yamato!"

She turned from angry to scared, and that's when I had doubts on her knowledge of the files. Maybe that fright was there because she thought she might be discovered? Or was it just because of the suddenness---probably Yamato wasn't used to be addressed in this kind of tone. Whatever the reason, she was shaking.

"N-n-nani?"

I didn't notice when Kosaburo moved away from her side and crept up behind me. Before I knew it, he had kicked me in the back. Protective, and unknowingly insubordinate and rebelling. But the only thing I could say at the time was sadly weak for the feelings I had.

"Chikusou!"

They then ran off, and it took me a few more minutes to start following them. Good, they didn't recognize me even using an undisguised voice. On the other hand, that cursed Kosaburo almost broke my back.

I finally caught Yamato at the busy corner street, where she was waiting for a red light, and dragged her down. I was glad, because Kosaburo didn't hear her scream which I muffled.

"Matté, Kos--Tatsuték--"

"Damé!"

I held her mouth closed, and she kicked me in the knee. I was forced to drop her and remove my hand, and she immediately demanded the reason for my aggressive behavior.

"What do you want, ecchi?"

I almost retaliated, angry and confused that I was referred to that way. But I took it, since it was my choice to do this, and one of my greatest mistakes.

"The files."

"Files? Oh, here they are."

She reached under her belt, and handed me a small, round tool, and handed it to me. I was disgusted to find out that she thought I meant "nail files".

"Don't be funny. Where are the files?" I was quickly reaching the point of threatening.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"The one you killed for-----I have someone dead in my office, killed by a Ratta! Years ago, someone else was killed, and both deaths were because of those files."

"Your office---you can't be-----Sakaki-san?"

"Nani?! I'm-----not Sakaki-san! He's---on vacation---in---Sekikichu City!" I forced the words out, losing confidence.

"Sekichiku City wouldn't interest him! Besides, how do you know that I killed whoever?"

Smooth and cool, as always.

"Your--Ratta----"

"My Ratta? You mean, this? Iké!!"

"Raa--tttaaa!"

It opened its mouth, and the teeth were blunt. It couldn't have made that kind of wound. It couldn't have made ANY wound, for that matter. It was as weak as water.

"Then I've found the wrong person......"

She eyed me suspiciously, trying to see through the facade, and getting dangerously close to the truth.

"You really remind me of the Bossu....."

"Uhhh.....lets get off the subject...can I work with you?"

"Doushité? Don't you belong with the other Dan'in?"

"Hai.....démo, I--the Bossu sent me on a mission here."

"He did? Well......okay......for awhile..."

I nodded, relieved that she believed me, and then I had to face Kosaburo.

"What the hell were you doing to my partner?"

"Nothing......."

This was one of the few times I heard him talk. But he was angry at me. Or maybe infuriated. It was then I noticed: I felt inferior.....to my own minion.

We walked to the Rocket Game Corner. When we arrived, there were more signs of that killer's Ratta. Then I was sure: Yamato and Kosaburo did not do it. But if not them, then who?

While they were selling coins for slot machines, I searched their stack of papers, hoping to find the files. That didn't seem to help, because those were theirs, and not mine. So I tried the tables, chairs, and then.........the crude shelf.

It was slightly tipped up, as if someone bumped his or her head on it. The shelf was five feet, seven inches of the ground. Whoever was here either jumped from the floor, ducked under it and then rose, or was the exact height of the shelf, and when moving hit it. But was there any way to narrow it down? All of Team Rocket was between 5'5'' and 6'5''. The shelf was only tipped a centmeter up. Jumping and hitting it was out of the question because that would be a short child, and Yamato and Kosaburo probably didn't let little boys who were trying to reach the ceiling in. And someone above 5'7'' would have tipped the shelf much more. The tallest might have broken it. I don't know why they put that shelf in: it was mostly for decoration, and you couldn't hold a book on it.

Then there was the exact height. He or she would have moved up the shelf only a little bit. I was thinking about who in the team was 5'7'', when I saw a huge hump in the floor. Maybe the killer hid the files there?

There were no footprints leading from it: he or she must have erased them.

"Iké, Dugtrio!"

"Trio-Trio-Trio!"

"Dugtrio, Dig underground! Find me that bump!"

Dugtrio burrowed underneath, and came up again, with nothing.

"Trio-Trio-Trio!"

"Nani?"

I looked underground, and saw a steel wall. Whatever was under there someone did not want anyone to know. It excited me, and I tried again. "Iké, Saidon!"

"Grrrrrrrroarrrrrr----roarrrrr-roarrrrrrrrr!"

"Saidon, Horn Drill!"

Saidon drilled through the metal, the scraps of it hitting the door. I heard Yamato and Kosaburo turning the key in the hole. Saidon hurried up, but when it saw what was there. fainted. I ducked down into the hole and pulled out............the dead body.

He was Dan'in, and most likely the delivery boy. The sight was sickening: only half of the corpse's skin remained, and the other half a grim, old skeleton. Blood lined the ribs, and the heart still didn't decompose, and it looked like the killer got him there. But the wound in the heart, it was strange. No bullets: it was like the Ratta wound. But the wound looked different than the officer's. This one was more precisely placed, and I couldn't figure why. But, it was a Ratta's bite, I eyed the door, wondering if Yamato and Kosaburo were really innocent....

I heard a turning of keys, the shaking of the doorknob, and saw the shadows of my minions through the door. I didn't care if they saw me here. The question was, would THEY care if they saw me here? Maybe they would think I was spying and knew their secret, but I didn't know for sure until they finally opened the door.

"Nani kus---AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Both fainted, and I was sure that it was because of the body and not because of the sight of someone in their office. As I looked at it, I felt kind of sick myself.

I left, having no more clues to the killer than I had last time. Maybe.....this wasn't working out. I wanted to find out where it was and who did it......

A few times I thought of telling Yamato and Kosaburo who I was, but my pride always interfered. There were too many suspects. I went over all of them. The four left were:Musashi, Kojiro, Nyasu, and Mondo, and then a few others. But did they have the intelligence to do it? And if so, why? And how? But I decided to follow Yamato and Kosaburo for a little while longer. Maybe I would find some evidence, something I desperately needed.

For almost a week I stayed, without any more hints. They didn't ask for much help: apparently they wanted to be alone, keeping apart from the other members, by their own choice, as I did. So I just walked with them, hardly speaking, making myself scarce, and searching.

Still, I suspected them. They weren't angels: they would backstab their fellow Rockets....But......how would I know if they did it? And how would I know if they had it? Then it hit me------only one way. Invade their personal belongings.

They didn't sleep that whole night, nor in the morning. So while they were preparing tea, I tossed a pill into their cups.

They didn't have much extra with them: only their PokéBalls and their clothes. A folder in a PokéBall? Hah! Unlikely. But a folder underneath clothes......that was a different story. I searched them with caution: I didn't want to be on the recieving end of their anger if the pill failed.

It turned from warm morning to a cold afternoon. And still there were no signs of the files. I was getting weary of this chase: I was ready to give up. But that afternoon, I was given some second thought on that, when they finally found me out.

The sun glared in my eyes despite my hat, and I couldn't see where I was heading. We were walking towards Headquarters, and I didn't notice the patch of rocks ahead, too busy thinking, and sight impaired by the sun. I tripped on an annoying rock as a result, fell on the ground, and my hat fell off. Yamato saw her chance and stomped on it before I could grab it, and the other one looked at me, surprised beyond belief.

"Bossu!" he cried.

"Sakaki-san?"

"What the hell are you doing around here?"

I replaced the hat, and snapped,

"That is---none of your con---"

Yamato, always the bold one, stepped up to me, eyes narrowed.

"Nani kuso?! What do you mean it's none of our concern? You're snooping around like a prowler, and you expect us to not wonder why?!"

Her partner nodded, smiling smugly.

"We heard about your little hunt. Since we're almost at the top, why shouldn't you tell us?"

"That is the reason I did this in the first place."

"So, you're saying you can't trust us?"

"Not with this."

"Sir, if you can't trust your own men with anything, then who can you?"

"I didn't expect it to be such a large occurence......but the crime was planned and even more unpredictable than I thought. It would have been taken care of sooner, but the perpetrator is smart."

"Hai, hai. Kudusai, can you tell us about it?" Yamato asked, a little more calm.

They looked at me. I looked at them. My pride slipped down another notch, and I didn't want to admit that they were right........but they were. The search didn't seem to be working, so I decided to reluctantly share the information. So I told them everything, about the mission, the double R files, the several murders along the way, and why I wanted it to be kept secret.

"Well......the sleazeball that did it probably was fired or close to getting there......" Yamato said.

"That's Musashi!" Kosaburo shouted. Musashi. That name rang in my ears like a cracked bell. Being the vain leader of a group that hadn't stolen a single Pokémon since they met with a certain boy, everyone knew them, and she and her two partners were the reason for much of my negative feelings. But Musashi was of little competence. How she could commit murder was beyond me.

"Musashi? She wouldn't have the brains to do something like that."

"The brains is Kojiro......" Kosaburo groaned. Kojiro. Of all the Rockets with little knowledge of Pokémon, he took the grand prize. What kind of brains did Kosaburo see in him? DEAD ones, I would say. But before they met with the boy, he did have brains. But after that, they melted.

"I know that we both hate them, but you're making guesses."

"Hmm.....how about the laboratory scientists?"

"I heard one was fired for something....."

"Maté! I did fire one.....he swore to get revenge..but I fired many Dan'in, some who vowed it and some who didn't...and that was a long time ago..."

"Démo, how would busting some heads and stealing a bunch of papers help him get revenge on you?"

"I don't know....Now Musashi, Kojiro, Nyasu, and the scientists are the suspects...."

"Nazé yo? I don't agree with my partner: Musashi and her helpless bunch of ameteurs are too soft: they even sided with that---Satoshi!"

"Working with those in the law are still a reason. They might betray me doing that."

"Have you considered someone not in Roketto Dan?"

"Iié, not yet. Who would know about the files besides someone in Roketto Dan?"

They both shrugged their shoulders and fell silent for a few moments. But then they looked into the shadowed trees, then gasped. Out of the woods appeared a tall, about 5'7'' girl with long red hair---it took me no time to recognize who it was. She was a Rocket, yet said none of that nonsensical speech, which relieved me, yet put other questions through my mind. But, she was who she was, which made Yamato, Kosaburo, and myself to shout:

"MUSASHI!"

"Hai, that's right! And look what I've got!"

What she did made me fume: she had the files! All my conclusions were wasted and Kosaburo's came out true: it was Musashi! The sight knocked the air from me. I didn't know what to say, except when she disappeared back into the foliage.

"You want me, come get me, Bossu!"

Boss. She never called me Boss to my face. And there was something strange about her voice. A little softer, weaker. She seemed shameless about angering me with flashing the files. Wasn't she usually terrified of me? Did she ever taunt like that, let alone steal something from the organization? But that didn't occur to me. The only thing that did was to get my hands on her........and give her what she and the rest of her failures deserved...........

TO BE CONTINUED

Comments? Questions? Flames? Send them to Blue9Tiger@aol.com Yes! Did it! Can you guess who the killer/theif is? It's none other than......oh, never mind. Come on, you KNOW it's not Jess, right? Oh, well. Believe what you believe. It might be, it might not be. Heh-heh. Anyway, look out for OTOSTDRF (loooonng name, huh?) and ATRRGPXII (lloooooonger name, huh?) coming to a website near you!
Until then, here's a big weirdo: signing off.