Arc 2, Chapter 11: Strats

Maxie stared at the ceiling, the gravity of what he could now do hitting him. No matter how powerful it seemed, it was an impossibly terrifying idea. To give up his life, no matter how much he could benefit from it, no matter how little it mattered in the circumstances, was a harrowing idea. He’d never seriously struggled with depression before, but that didn’t make it any less unnerving. It made him sick to his stomach to even consider it. It made Jacob sick to his stomach.

 

Maxie took a deep breath.

 

Calm yourself. It doesn’t matter too much if you die.

 

But to deliberately throw your life away like that-

 

It’s the only way!

 

No it isn’t! You can still try alternative methods!

 

This is the quickest and simplest way! You have to try it!

 

Briefly, Maxie looked around the room to see if there was anything he might be able to do the harrowing deed with. He couldn’t see anything that would make it particularly quick, though.

 

He looked down at his paws.

 

These could work…

 

He briefly tried to power them up with a scratch, but as he moved them closer to his neck, he chickened out. There was something deeply, terribly wrong about taking his own life with his very own hands. Something primal within him told him not to.

 

Just do it, Maxie! You coward!

 

Maxie lowered his claws.

 

Maxie stood up.

 

Maxie exited his room.

 

“Hello again,” Blaise said pleasantly. “Are you ready to wash your hands of this yet?”

 

“No,” Maxie replied calmly, walking over to the counter. A knife would be perfect, Jacob thought.

 

“Listen, Maxie…” Blaise started, “I know this situation is frustrating to you, but you have to let it go before it’s too late.”

 

“It’s already too late,” Maxie replied. Actually, forget the knife. If I do it like this, it won’t be painful. “I have to resolve it now.”

 

“…What do you mean?” Blaise asked, a notable uptick in concern in his voice.

 

“Because Steven has cur-“

 

He knew it would happen, but being cut off mid-sentence was bizarre.

 

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When Maxie awoke, his entire body felt like it was made of cement.

 

Again.

 

Mentally, Maxie resolved to never seriously consider killing himself again. There’s no need to go through the pain of dying, Jacob. You dipshit.

 

That bagel was beginning to feel weirdly hollow as he ate it. Sure, a bagel was a bagel, but he still had no plan, and the clock was ticking.

 

Most likely, doing the infiltration of the party ends in Steven retaliating by killing her. Or maybe she ended up the same as me in, like, five different timelines. I don’t know. But what I do know is that she’ll probably approach me if I go about today as I did the first time. That simplifies things. The hard part will be convincing her to actually not go through with her own plans. Or some modified version of the plan. I don’t know if me being there helped that heracross get caught or not.

 

…I’m just a teenager who’s in over his head, after all.

 

As Maxie stepped outside and started off for Wally’s hotel, he took a moment to breathe the cool air in. You remember what a nuzlocke is, right, Jacob? It’s like that. Just gotta keep your cool and do as many attempts at it as you need.

 

The tall buildings in Rusty Boroughs were almost unreal. They looked at once absolutely ancient and comparable to the buildings Jacob remembered from his own life. Like they weren’t built to be lived in.

 

Maxie shook his head.

 

Eventually, he found himself waiting for Wally. The hotel, in stark contrast to much of the rest of the city, was positively pristine. Jacob wanted to say that he could feel the money oozing out of it, but that was maybe giving it too much credit. There was, almost certainly, a corporate quality to it.

 

Eventually, it was time for Wally to come down, and for Maxie to do the whole song and dance of telling him that he was bored and-

 

Screw that. “I know this is gonna sound really random, but do you want to go hang out in the park nearby?” Maxie asked.

 

“That is, uh, quite random,” Wally observed. “But that sounds really nice, sure.”

 

Maxie was hit with a tiny pang of guilt. Aren’t you just using him now? This is silly. You’d never offer to go to the park with him. “Let’s just not make it weird, okay?”

 

“M-maxie? What do you mean by that?”

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

The park was just as oddly soothing as the first time, and Maxie still couldn’t figure out why. It was a very nice park, sure, but the scenery was so very drab. So why did he feel so calm? “Hey, Wally?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Isn’t there something… pure about this place?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Maxie sighed. “Well, I just feel… stupidly calm coming here, you know? It’s this… pleasantly empty feeling. Everything’s not okay, but it’s fine, you know?”

 

Wally was silent for a bit, as if he was considering Maxie’s words. “I know that feeling, yeah.” He sat down on the grass next to Maxie.

 

“Are you and Tiana still a thing? I know you made a move on her a while back, but I don’t think you ever told me how it went.”

 

“Nah, that ship sank before it ever sailed. It turns out, she’s with another guy.”

 

“Shit, dude. That’s rough.”

 

“Eh, no skin off my back,” Wally chuckled. “Not like a guy like me is getting better than an arranged marriage anyway…”

 

For a moment, all was quiet.

 

“Hey, Maxie?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What are you gonna do after all of this is over?”

 

“That’s…” Maxie trailed off. “I don’t know, actually.” Who even knows when all of this is gonna be over? How long would it even take to kill the Archbishop?

 

“So you’re just gonna head on home then, and life goes on?”

 

“What?”

 

“I mean, that’s the default, isn’t it? Life has to go on somehow if you don’t know what to do, right?”

 

“That… can’t be it. I’ll do something, it’s just that I don’t know what yet, right? If I do nothing, I feel like I’ll be letting someone down. I can’t just sleepwalk through life.”

 

“That doesn’t mean you have to sprint through it,” Wally pointed out.

 

Maxie chuckled. “Look at us. Roleplaying as philosophers.”

 

Wally scratched the back of his head. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

 

Maxie said nothing.

 

The silence wouldn’t stay long, though.

 

“Hello boys. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” a powerful feminine voice said.

 

Maxie turned around calmly to see a certain Thievul sauntering up to them, confidence in her eyes.

 

“Why are you here?” a somewhat startled Wally asked.

 

“Well, I’ve got a proposition for you two. Blaise probably told you two that going after the church is a bad idea, so he wasn’t doing it, right?”

 

Here it comes… “And your suggestion is?” Maxie asked.

 

“I need you two to create a little bit of a diversion for a while. Sounds simple, right?”

 

“And who exactly do you want us to divert? That bit seems important!” Wally added.

 

“Why yes, of course,” Anabel replied, a smirk still on her lips. “Archbishop Steven Snorlax, who will be attending a feast tonight at the Rusty Boroughs League Cathedral. I need you to keep him in the foyer for a while and buy my men time to sneak into his place and get some intel, to be shared with you of course. That’s all that I need you to do. In the event of an emergency, your safety will be guaranteed. Now then, do we have a deal?”

 

“Could you please explain how exactly you could keep us safe in there?” Wally asked.

 

“Well, let’s just say you find yourselves in a bind. I have some men who can—”

 

“You’ve going to condemn people to death for our sakes?” Wally asked.

 

“I assure you, my men would be more than willing to die. Besides, people die all the time.”

 

As Anabel and Wally got into what could generously be described as an argument over the ethics of sacrificing your own employees for the greater good, Maxie got to thinking. If Anabel’s plan continues, she will likely die as one of her men gets discovered. There needs to be some other version of the plan where that’s less likely to happen, right?

 

What was the problem with the original plan anyway?

 

I suppose you’d want to use the crowd as cover, but…

 

There must’ve been more guards. There’d be more because the Archbishop was there, right? He doesn’t normally live in Root City, after all, does he? This is Roxanne’s part of the Isles.

 

How do I communicate that to Anabel? I have to be careful not to come off like I know better than her…

 

“Hey, how do you know that your guys aren’t gonna get caught?” Maxie asked. “There’s a big feast, right?”

 

“I’ve done this plenty of times,” Anabel coolly replied. “I practically have the patrol patterns memorized at this point.”

 

“You don’t think they might change it up a little bit when the Archbishop is in town?”

 

“They should, but there’s no better excuse for you to be there, right?” Anabel pointed out. “I mean, it’d be strange for you two to show up out of the blue, no?”

 

There’s her reasoning. Now I just need to pick it apart… “Would it?” Maxie asked.

 

Anabel snorted. “What do you mean?”

Maxie took a breath before starting. “From his perspective, we’re—Wally and I, I mean—just kids. If the two of us show up out of the blue in the dead of night, he’ll probably conclude that we’re under some delusion we can force a confession out of him, maybe throw us in a cell at worst? Then you could do it when there’s less security. Hell, maybe if you waited until he left for his base in—what is it, Ever larger city? You’d probably have way less to deal with then.”

 

Anabel paused, taking in Maxie’s words. “I don’t disagree with your… modified proposal, but to suggest that we delay by what is likely several days to ensure safety… can you even guarantee that you’ll be around that long?”

 

“Well…” Maxie said. “Blaise will probably want a few days to tie up loose ends, right?”

 

Anabel’s eyes narrowed. “You’re grasping at straws.”

 

I need more leverage… time to be more assertive. “Listen, if I’m going to be personally risking life and limb for this, I’d rather do it when the chances of me being killed is lowest.”

 

“In other words,” Anabel started, “You accept the deal on the condition that the plan will only be carried out under the least risky circumstances possible? Is that right?”

 

Maxie took a deep breath. “That’s—”

 

“Uhh, Maxie?” Wally interrupted. “I don’t want to be left out of a deal that involves me risking my life too.”

 

Maxie blinked. “Well, uh, you’re welcome to not accept the deal.” He turned to Anabel. “You don’t really need both of us, right?”

 

“I would prefer having both of you on board. The more voices to stall for time, the better.”

 

There was an awkward silence.

 

“…Fine, I’ll do it,” Wally finally said. “But only if you’re totally sure that it’s safe,” he quickly added.

 

“Wonderful,” Anabel said. “Truly wonderful that we have a deal. I’ll let you know what the new date would be when I have it, then. I need to discuss this with my men.”

 

Maxie watched as the Theivul walked off, seeming a little too proud of herself. At least now we should have some safety in the proceedings… I just have to worry about not getting Wally caught in the crossfire.

 

“What the hell have you gotten me into?” Wally asked with a sigh.

 

“Hey, we just need to talk to one guy on a slow day for a while. What’s the worst that could happen?”

 

“We die?”

 

“Okay, just—” Maxie stopped. “So long as he doesn’t suspect anything, they probably won’t hurt us. As far as they know, our reason for coming was to say a prayer or two.”

 

“But we’re gonna act like we know something?”

 

“…Yeah? Look, we have a couple of days to figure it out. We’re probably gonna be in the city for what? A few more weeks?”

 

“That’s time I’d rather not spend walking into a potential death trap.”

 

“Well… We gotta get info somehow,” Maxie reminded him. “Blaise probably isn’t gonna help us from here.”

 

“I still think this is a bit of an extreme way of going about it,” Wally complained.

 

“If it comes to it, I’ll try to protect you.”

 

Wally looked away from Maxie. “That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

 

The silence that followed was deafening.

 

Maxie found himself laying down on the grass. Most likely, whoever I ran into will do much the same Steven did in our meeting. Therefore, the best practice would be to stall as long as possible by pretending that our true intentions are not to interrogate, but rather, a more innocent inquiry. “We could just pretend we’re interested in joining early on, and go from there. The fake interrogation could arise from there.”

 

“…Thinking about this is stressing me out. You wanna go for ice cream?”

 

Maxie blinked. “Ice cream? Really?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Do you have a problem with that, or…”

 

“No, no, it’s just… a little childish?”

 

“Childish?” Wally asked. “What’s so childish about it?”

 

“I don’t… uh…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“…I give up.”

 

Some time later, the two of them were at a stand, waiting in line for ice cream. Jacob hadn’t given up.

 

“We’re eating ice cream. We have to infiltrate the church maybe a few days from now and we’re eating ice cream.”

 

“First of all, we haven’t had any yet, so if you wanna leave, you can,” Wally pointed out, before lowering his voice. “Second of all, we’re going to be the distraction for the people actually doing the infiltration.” And don’t say it so loudly. Someone might hear, He added via telepathy.

 

“Don’t read my mind, you’re gonna freak me out.”

 

“I wasn’t, I sent you a message. There’s a difference.”

 

“What difference?”

 

“They are two different things, Maxie.”

 

“How?”

 

“…You’re not gonna take the explanation on good faith, I can tell.”

 

Maxie took a deep breath. I could probably just use my blessing… I can’t even be bothered with that right now, though. I have better things to be doing. Like not eating fucking ice cream.

 

Be a good friend, asshole. You just roped him into a potentially dangerous mission. He flaked on you last time. He doesn’t trust you.

 

Do you even like ice cream? When’s the last time you even had ice cream?

 

Shut up. Just get strawberry or something.

 

Is that even a common flavor?

 

Are you so out-of-touch that you don’t know what common ice cream flavors are, you dumbass?

 

“Maxie?” Wally asked. “You kinda spaced out there.”

 

“I’m fine.” No you aren’t. Your nerves wouldn’t be getting to you this badly if you were.

 

“If you say so…”

 

The stand was rather humble, all things considered. A lonely-looking Eiscue stood behind it, waiting patiently.

 

“You like chocolate, Maxie?” Wally asked. “I figure most people like chocolate.”

 

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

 

“Alrighty then…” Wally turned to the Eiscue. “Two chocolate cones, please!”

 

“Coming right up…” The Eiscue said with a depressing lack of enthusiasm.

 

A short while later, Maxie found himself eating a chocolate cone on a nearby bench with Wally.

 

“This is relaxing, right?” Wally said.

 

“I guess…”

 

“I like eating or drinking things when I get stressed. It’s relaxing. Especially cold things.”

 

“That doesn’t seem like a healthy coping mechanism,” Maxie commented.

 

“It’s not a coping mechanism, I just…” Wally trailed off.

 

Say something, you dumbass. He’s stressed out. You’ve stressed him out. You’re a horrible friend. This is all your fault. You—

 

“It was more for you, anyway,” Wally added after a long while.

 

“What?” Maxie asked.

 

“You haven’t been doing much to hide it. You’ve been on edge all day.”

 

“I am not stressed.” Liar.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

 

“I just want to get my justice, okay?”

 

“…It’s gotta be more than that. That’s been the case for weeks at this point, right? Why the sudden anxiety now?”

 

“What are you, a psychiatrist?”

 

“Dude. I don’t think you’re in a good mindset to be doing something potentially dangerous.”

 

“It’s gonna be fine. I will make sure of it.” You better. If this goes anything like last time your best friend is screwed. Don’t put him in your way. If anything happens, you’re the sacrifice. Keep your goddamn head in the game.

 

“Listen. I’m not gonna stop you when the day comes. But I think the stakes are a teensy bit higher than you’re mentally prepared for.”

 

If you screw up, you can just try again, right? Asshole. “I solemnly swear I will not do anything stupid.”

 

Maxie’s ice cream fell off the cone.

 

“Damnit.”

 

“Oh, so now you want ice cream?” Wally teased.

 

“This is different. The ice cream I already had was taken from me. I was invested in it.”

 

“That’s… a very roundabout way of saying you’re mad the ice cream fell.”

 

“Never mind,” Maxie said, brushing Wally off.

 

“You’ll hold yourself to that promise, right?”

 

“Do you mind if I make you make a promise?”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You’ll save yourself if it comes to it, right?”

 

“What?”

 

“Your life is far more important than mine.”

 

“Maxie.”

 

“What? I’m just saying that if I screw up, you shouldn’t be the one to pay for it.”

 

“That’s a horrible mentality to have.”

 

“It’s the only one that makes sense!”

 

There was a brief silence between them.

 

“…We shouldn’t be saying these things out loud,” Wally pointed out.

 

“Yeah, yeah…”

 

“…I’m gonna go.” Wally got down from the bench. “Dad probably is gonna ask a little bit more from me. You need to calm your nerves. I’m nervous about this too, but if you’re gonna risk your life, you need to take a deep breath first.”

 

Wally walked away without saying another word.

 

He’s right, you know. You’re way in over your head, you just don’t want to admit it. This is gonna end in disaster, he’s gonna end up with Steven’s gift—

 

Shut up. We’re waiting until Steven leaves. He’s not gonna be a factor. It’s Roxanne you have to worry about.

 

Have you even begun planning for that? You dumb, lazy moron?

 

No. Of course you haven’t. You didn’t think this through at all. Dumbass.

 

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get your head in the game. You need a plan for Roxanne.

 

Roxanne Probopass

Age: 28

Does not Qualify for Typing Magic

Ability: Magnet Pull

• Allows the user to slow down steel types and influence their movements.

Constitution -> 6/10

Physical power -> 6/10

Physical resistance -> 9/10

Special power -> 4/10

Special resistance -> 8/10

Agility ->3/10

Stamina -> 5/10

Intelligence -> 4/10

Charisma -> 2/10

 

Known moves:

• Magnet rise
• Block
• Harden
• Rock throw
• Iron defense
• Tri attack
• Smack down
• Thunder wave
• Rest
• Explosion
• Rock slide
• Stone edge
• Body press
• Sandstorm
• Earthquake
• Bulldoze

 

The Probopass who is largely responsible for the Holy League of Heavenly Kings’ activities in and around Rusty Boroughs. Often feuds with Norman, who she views as operating within her domain. Is also one of the larger actors in the church as a whole.

 

…She seems easy enough to run from, at least. As long as you’re not a steel type, she’s nothing too special.

 

You can do this, dumbass. Just don’t screw it up, like you screwed over Courtney, by giving the asshole who killed her easy access to the Manor.

 

Maxie took in a deep breath, just as Wally said. It didn’t make him feel any better about it, though. What was getting to him so much, anyway? It wasn’t like him to… obsess like this.

 

He’d have to settle for just walking home, though.

 

There was something particularly lonely about walking home under those circumstances. Some part of him felt like he was just leaving Wally out to dry. Like he was just using him.

 

True, he’d agreed to it, after Maxie had given him what seemed to be a fair opportunity to back away.

 

Of course, Wally had practically been coerced into agreeing. And Wally had already voiced his discomfort with it all.

 

Somehow, the fact that Wally expressed concern for Maxie as well made him feel even more alone. Like he couldn’t function without him. You’re a useless idiot and you know it.

 

When he eventually did make his way back to Blaise’s apartment, he had an incredible urge to lie down. He rather unceremoniously flopped onto the couch and stared at the ceiling.

 

The harsh electric lights stared back at him.

 

It was silly, but something about the stasis of this place placated him. Maybe the park did as well, but here he could at least hope to quantify it. There was a certain stability to the odd mix of natural lighting and electric lighting that felt truthful. Reliable. Here, at least, he was safe.

 

He wouldn’t be here long, though, right? He’d have to go soon once Roxanne was dealt with.

 

…Dealt with? Do I have to… ‘deal’ with her? My only target is Steven, right?

 

…But he has the rest of the church to fall back on.

 

Yes, somewhere in those negotiations with Anabel, I must’ve subconsciously accepted that I’d have to deal with more than just him. My enemy isn’t just Steven. It’s the whole church. And that means…

 

The weight of what Blaise meant when he said that the church was an institution. Advice he’d almost completely disregarded in the moment, and was now going behind his back to disregard even further.

 

Blaise would not like what Maxie was doing.

 

What would Blaise do when he found out?

 

Blaise walked down the stairs.

 

“Hello there. Boring day, I assume?” Blaise asked.

 

Maxie shot up, immediately at attention. “Uh, yeah, I was just hanging out with Wally, why?”

 

Blaise looked at Maxie funny. “…Right. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you we are leaving in two weeks.”

 

That’s… after we would probably be doing the infiltration. Good, good. “Oh.”

 

“Surprised?”

 

“No, it’s just… Well, I was getting a bit used to living here.”

 

Blaise laughed. “Ah, don’t worry. You’re free to visit from time to time. Just stay safe, you know?”

 

If only I had taken that advice… “Yeah.”

 

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