Fragments of Time {Backstory} || Will & Karen
“When the sun turns gray and I become tired
of looking at your many-colored shoes
I will give you balloons for all the holes
we speak too much to fill. Who believes
in air, nowadays? Or do you prefer tea
with the dried fruit I will have to throw out
the window of your room? Because I want
this to stop I want this to stop I want this”
- Driven by a Strange Desire by Mónica de la Torre
♦♦♦
Goldenrod’s Main Street was bustling that day - that’s the first thing that Will noticed as he and his partner stepped out into the crowded street to make their way towards their destination. Perhaps the city was no busier than normal, but the pounding in his head and the sweat on his palms was trying to convince him otherwise. The second thing that Will noticed was how lightheaded he felt. Could he pull this off? The task was a fairly simple one, but screwing up was out of the question. For the theft that would be occurring, the consequences regarding the law meant little to the psychic. After all, he’d stolen before...and had done even worse things. What frightened him the most was the idea that messing up meant he could go back to being alone....forgotten. Now that he’d finally been accepted into something, even if it was the most infamous criminal group around, he didn’t want to lose that. It was necessary that this went over well.
Will walked a step or two behind his partner, eyes examining the way she parted the crowd before her with her confident walk. For a moment, the figure before him served as a distraction from the crime, his eyes lingering on the curves of her body. Every so often, a breeze would cause her hair to fly into the air, revealing the soft skin of her shoulders, and Will would be forced to smirk at the sight. She was pretty - that was a definite - but apart from that, the boy knew little about this mysterious woman he’d been partnered up with. His first impression had carried words like “sultry” and “sexy”. What had been her first impression of him?
Making their way through the crowd, Will with his hands in his pockets, his partner brushing a strand of hair from her face, the two crossed the street and made it to the targeted location. It was a hotel - huge glass doors at the front, a few steps leading to them, and plenty of well-to-do patrons passing in and out through those doors. It was obvious that the pair couldn’t just waltz in, even if they were currently dressed to the nines. They were going to have to find another way in.
Being no stranger to street life, Will began walking to the side of the hotel, motioning for the other to follow him. They made their way down the alleyway beside it and towards the back of the building, where Will felt sure they’d find an alternate way in. It was a correct intuition, as, when the boy peeked his head around the corner, he saw one of the hotel chefs tossing out a bag of garbage. Such a simple action suddenly brought back a swarm of memories regarding digging through the trash for food....but....now wasn’t the time for reminiscing about such pleasant things.
When the chef had disappeared back inside, Will and his partner snuck towards the door, not saying a word. Arriving at it, his hand slowly wrapped around the doorknob and pulled, revealing a long hallway.
The young psychic let out a sudden sigh of relief, incredibly thankful that the door hadn’t let straight into the kitchen. Silently, the Rockets began to make their way down the hallway, carefully sneaking past any open doorways. The pair had almost made it to another set of doors when a voice cried out from behind them. They turned. It was the chef, waving around a huge knife. Will felt himself gulp involuntarily.
“OY! What’re you two doin’?? Only staff’s allowed back here! You guys’ve gotta clear out - yeah - out those doors right in fronta ya!! Arceus, meddlin’ kids!”
Both teenagers let out a sigh.
“Damn,” Will said, relaxing a little, “that was too close.”
The couple passed through the doors in front of them and found themselves in the lobby of the hotel. Will flipped open his recently-acquired PokéGear to check the time. 1:45 PM. They were right on schedule. The boy watched through his mask as his partner revealed a piece of paper which told the name (Anton Monèbux) and room number (222) of the man one of them would have to intercept. Will glanced towards the front desk, noting the receptionist, the guestbook, and two inconspicuous packages which sat on a counter behind him. Bingo. He turned back to his partner.
“You gotta find the guy. Let me get the package. There’s no way you’re gonna be able to sneak back there and do it - not with that guy guarding ‘em. But...I’m not gonna have to sneak. Just...trust me.”
He looked back down at the PokéGear. 1:48. They had twelve minutes before the man would come downstairs to retrieve the package. Preventing him from getting it would be a tall order, but they had no other choice. The psychic sighed and watched his partner make her way towards the fancy elevators of the hotels, then turned his attention back to the front desk. Here went nothing everything.
Will strolled over to the desk and got behind a man who was obtaining his room key, an expensive suitcase at his side. The boy eyed it, wondering what it was like to be able to afford something as nice as that suitcase looked. Inside of it must have been plenty of well-made, luxurious clothing, shoes, and toiletries. His cheeks grew slightly red.
When the man finally moved away and it was Will’s time to approach the desk, the kid found himself shaking. Normally, he was hardly a nervous person, but....it felt like his entire future was on the line right now. This was different than stealing a sandwich or putting on a magic show in the park. This was....real criminal activity.
Will gazed up at the receptionist, who looked at the masked psychic suspiciously.
“Hel...lo. Are you looking for your parents, young man? What are their names, hm?”
The teenager frowned.
“Excuse me?” he asked, quickly covering up his nervousness and putting on an act,”Do you not know who I am?”
Will crossed his arms and looked at the receptionist with as much commanding power as he could muster at his small height. He huffed and conjured up an incredibly snooty voice.
“I am Anton Monèbux’s son, of course! He sent me to pick up his package! Don't keep me waiting - I'll be sure to let Father know if you do~.”
“I wasn’t informed that Anton Monèbux had a son. You do realize that you look absolutely nothing like Mr. Monèbux, right?”
“Huff! I was adopted, of course! How offensive! My father does everything he can to give back to the community, sir. And that includes adopting poor, worthless children like I used to be. Oh...I've seen the faces of so many other little boys, desperate for a home, and finally finding one with Father. The first time they look up with their huge eyes and say 'Daddy' - it's absolutely heartwarming.”
As the exchange went on, Will duly noted as the receptionist began typing on the computer before him, staring at the screen intently. Will’s eyes moved to the plain packages on the back counter. He was going to have to be ready to do this at a moment’s notice.
The receptionist looked back up at the young psychic.
“Hmmmm....it says here on Poképedia that....Mr. Monèbux has no children. You’re lying.”
Will threw his hands into the air, causing an outright commotion.
“Wha?? This is an outrage! Someone must have changed the description of the page!! There’s no other explanation!!”
Before the receptionist could speak again, Will looked at the packages and began his work. Using his telepathic ability, he began to slowly wiggle one of them forward, trying to read the name on the shipping label, but it was too far away. As the man before him continued speaking about Will’s blatant lie, picking up the phone to notify authorities, Will mentally summoned forth both of the packages and grabbed them in mid-air.
Suddenly, the boy heard a female’s voice behind him, calling his name. He turned - perfect timing.
“Karen!! We have to get out of here!"
Will looked back at the receptionist once more.
"Good sir! Tell Father 'thank you' for me~!!"
As Karen ran towards Will, he reached out to grab her hand and pulled her out the glass doors and into the streets, rays of sunlight instantly streaming into their eyes. They continued to run, Will never letting go of his partner or the packages, only focusing on their escape. After he felt that they were far enough away, the psychic pulled Karen down a dimly-lit alleyway, a old fire-escape looming above them on the side of an abandoned building. Home.
Will sat on the steps of the fire escape and began laughing, pushing his hair out of his face. They’d done it. They’d managed to get in and get out with the package of Anton Monèbux, one of the richest men in Johto, and they had absolutely no clue what was even inside. The psychic sat the Monèbux package by his side and handed the other to Karen.
“Here. You do the honors.”