The Mask Maker

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Morai closed her eyes. She wanted to see if her ability to sense fear or strong emotion could get any more specific than simply telling her that it was there and where it was. As far as she could tell, there was nothing more that she could do with this power. Someone was simply experiencing fear around the corner, and that fear was rising. 

The trainer walked quietly and stopped to peer around the corner at its source. A middle-aged businesswoman was being robbed by a younger man who had a Krookodile as a partner. 

"Give me all you've got, or Krookodile here will rip ya in half!" he demanded. The woman began to nervously hand her belongings over to the man as his partner closed in on her with its large jaws. 

"Hold it!" Morai called. All three of them stopped and turned to look at her silhouette across the way, her red eyes glowing in the darkness. 

"Who're you?" the man asked. Morai walked forward and pointed her thumb toward her wanted poster on the wall. 

"I'm something of a celebrity. Maybe you've heard of me? I'm nearly world-famous because I can do things like this." Morai took control of the man's Krookodile and had it open its jaws so that its own trainer stood precariously in their closing path.

"H-hey, how are you doing that?" he asked. He was trapped against the wall, lines of sharp teeth in every other possible direction.

"I'd try and draw it out for you, but I don't have the crayons nor the time," Morai said. "The only thing you should know is that this Pokémon's jaws will snap shut on my silent command."

"I'm a little confused," the woman interjected, holding her purse in front of her with two hands. "Are you saving me, or...?"

Morai let out a guttural laugh. 

"No!" she said. The woman's confused expression turned into a deep frown. "I just got a two for one deal. I don't care if you—" Morai quickly rearranged the entire scene. She put the two trainers against the wall and had the robber call his Krookodile back into its ball. She put herself in the middle of them so that her arms wrapped around their neck and covered their mouths with her hands. 

"Look at that," Morai whispered as she relinquished her psychic hold. "A police officer patrolling the alleys. Looking for me, no doubt. If only you could say something! I mean, isn't that frustrating? He's right there!"

She smiled behind her mask as the two started to let out muffled yells at the figure in the distance. She let it go on for a second, then she took control of them again and immediately released her hold. 

"You shouldn't do that too much, you know. Here, I'll help you out." The Mask Maker removed her hand off the woman and whistled. The figure in the distance immediately snapped to look at the source of the sound and started jogging in its direction. 

"Over here, officer!" Morai said. "I'd like to report an attempted robbery on behalf of this poor woman." 

The police officer was a tall, built man. He looked young, as if the job of patrolling the alleys at night had been handed off to the rookies. As soon as he realized who he was looking at, he looked away from Morai's eyes and pulled out his baton. 

"You!" he yelled, pointing the baton at her masked face. "Put your hands behind your head!"

"Tch, but I'm not the robber!" Morai argued in the same tone. As the officer reached for his radio to call for backup, the woman suddenly jerked forward and grabbed his wrist. He went to defend himself, but Morai's words gave him pause. 

"Now wait a second!" she proclaimed, lifting her mask. "Take a closer look. You wouldn't hit an innocent woman, would you?" The man's shoulder's slumped as he realized what was happening. The woman's lead hook caught him unaware as he was assessing the situation. He let his Arcaning out of its ball, but Morai took hold of it before he could issue a command.