The Mask Maker

The Choices We Must Make

Ugh, what is it about her that I like so much? I haven't even seen her face! This is ridiculous!..I do wonder what her face looks like. What color are her eyes? Blue, green, brown...oh, stop it, Archer! You're doing it again. You have to get rid of this affliction, or else—

"Archer! Proton's been arrested!" Petrel yelled He was pounding at the door, which Archer had locked, as hard as he could. Archer was startled out of his daydreaming, but not early enough to catch what Petrel said. He opened the door.

"What was that?"

"Geez, are you deaf? I said that  PROTON'S BEEN ARRESTED!" 

"Oh. Oh! Oh my. Again? When? Where is he now?"

"In an Interpol van. We've got eyes on it. He shot up a distress flare and sent a signal not long ago. You should've gotten it on your phone."

Archer looked back into his living area from the doorway. Where was his phone? He hadn't had anything to do with it all evening. He was too busy pacing around. Suddenly, a grunt ran up to the both of them. 

"The Mask Maker or Morai or whatever her name is has been spotted following the van, sirs," he said breathlessly.

"How? Did she see the distress flare or something? We gave her one of our communication devices, but she should have only been able to send a signal herself, not see them," Petrel said.

"And she's been gone for weeks now. Does that mean she's back?" Archer asked a little too excitedly.

"It doesn't matter. Now we have to both rescue Proton and keep her away from Interpol. She has no skills for this situation. She's going to get captured herself, then it'll be a double rescue."

Archer and Petrel nodded to each other in understanding. They both went to get suited for the mission and each put in an earpiece, and they called on several grunts to go with them. Petrel boarded a helicopter along with a couple of grunts, while Archer and the rest of the team got into a small van. They were going as fast as they could, but one person was a few steps ahead of them. 

Morai was riding her Corviknight, trying to stay far enough a way so that she wouldn't be seen, but close enough to keep an eye on the Interpol van. She had seen almost the entire situation unfold. 

The trainer had been walking as her regular unmasked self in town, thinking about what Giovanni had said that morning, when a motorcycle sped past her. It was being followed by several unmarked police cars. She recognized the bike and the helmet and put two and two together. She had to rush home and change, making it the first time she had put the mask on since she decided to quit. She hesitated at first, but cared about Proton enough to try and help him. After she was changed, she couldn't find them again until she saw the red flare shot up in the distance by Proton.

 As she flew, Morai was trying to come up with a plan. She guessed that the van was probably armored and immune to a lot of attacks from the outside. It seemed her only option was to attack the front where the driver was. From what she could tell, the driver was a regular agent in a suit, while the passenger was a guard in riot gear. They were both hard to see. This wasn't going to be easy. 

Maybe I should turn back now while I still have the choice...but what will happen to Proton?

She shook her head.

"Corviknight, we're going to stop that van. You're going to use Air Slash and retreat to the sky. They're bound to look for us while they're stopped, so I'll use that opportunity to single one of them out, and then—! 

Corviknight squawked and started to falter. Morai gave a confused "Shh!" but realized the reason for its cry when she looked down. A grunt from the Team Rocket van had shot up a tether that attached itself to Corviknight's leg, then the van slowed to a stop. Now she was even more confused, not to mention annoyed. While Corviknight stayed stagnant in the air, she slid down the rope and jumped onto the van.