The Next Step

[Jim Raynor]

Ditto's eyes fluttered. For a moment, he sat in vacant bliss, unaware of where he was. A throbbing heat pulsing at the back of his skull quickly tore him from his reverie and into the present. He squinted against the low light, able to see his arms and hands as dark, featureless silhouettes before him. A spot of the steel bars resistant against the crawl of rust over its surface reflected the poor luminance in the room. Ditto breathed in; stuffy, mildewy air mixed with faint copper brushed through his nose.

He looked to his side. A clump of shadows barely rose and fell in time with a steady breath rate. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell who that was.

"Diesel."

The blobby black mass shifted around. A quiet grunt boomed off the grimy walls, intensifying what was a small sound.

"Diesel. Wake up."

More shifting, until a blurry oval arose atop the mount of inky blots. "What?"

"How long have I been out?"

The shadows rolled about, but Ditto couldn't make heads or tails of the movement. "A while. A few hours, maybe. Hard to keep track of time with no clock or sun."

Ditto caressed the dull ache at the back of his head. It flared as soon as his fingers made contact, and he pulled them away like he had touched a hotplate. He hissed through clenched teeth. "Have they come to check up on us?"

"No. Haven't heard a peep since the guard slammed the door shut and turned off the lights."

Ditto stood and treaded carefully to the bars. He ran gloved hands down their surface, feeling the flaky rust peel off in segments, brittle and old. Tightening his muscles, he tried to pull the bars apart, but despite their age, they held fast. He took a step back and kicked the bars, knocking thin chunks of rust off with each impact. The bars oscillated and creaked but again, stood firm against Ditto's efforts.

The tiles squeaked behind him. "Why don't you just trans-"

"Shhh!"

The room went silent. "What?"

For all of his worth, Ditto often forgot that Diesel was still a street thug. He didn't always see the the smaller parts that made up the whole. "We're being watched."

"How would you know?"

Ditto turned sharply to face the huddled black void. Diesel's outline was growing sharper as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. "This is Spook Eye. If he saw through my disguise, then there is definitely more to this room than we know about."

Diesel didn't speak after that revelation. Maybe he was absorbing a lesson from him. There was no way to know if Ditto was right, of course, but under these circumstances he wouldn't chance revealing his big secret to his biggest enemy.

Without the ability to transform, Ditto was out of options but to wait out whatever fate Spook Eye had planned for them. The cage would hold him in Giovanni's form, clad in black fatigues. He paced back to the wall, planted his back against it and slid down to his backside. He stayed that way for a few hours more, the silence punctuated by an infrequent grunt or phlegm clear from Diesel. It seemed they wanted him to stew, but patience was Ditto's specialty.

Part of him wondered why he and Diesel weren't killed on the spot. Torture perhaps, or an opportunity to draw information out of them. Unfortunately, the two weren't mutually exclusive. They had no issue with killing Vinny instantly, and shooting Shingles in front of the assault team rose no eyebrows. Ditto could see himself having strategic value, since he was identified as a mole and likely little else, but Diesel should've shared the same fate as the others. Maybe he had pissed off Spook Eye, and had a special 'reward' coming for him.

In any case, while not on his terms, this was a great opportunity to finally see this Spook Eye face to face. Whether or not they were planning to present them to him, Ditto was inside a holding cell of his gang. There must be some way to find Spook Eye from the inside.

A loud bang shattered the silence at the top of the staircase. Measured steps clomped through the dungeon, each louder than the last. The fluorescent bulbs flickered and buzzed as a figure reached the base of the stairs, the sudden rush of light searing Ditto's eyes. A guard dressed head to toe in black fatigues, minus a cover for his eyes, marched down the corridor of cages, rifle in hand.

The soldier reached Ditto's cage, jammed a key into the lock and twisted. The door creaked open. With the barrel of a gun in his face, Ditto sat motionless. Diesel shifted, but the gunman didn't readjust his aim. At least he wasn't jumpy.

"You two," he barked. "On your feet. Time for some interrogation."

Ditto rose to his feet, Diesel following in a slower motion. The guard stood back and let the captives walk through the cage door, hands in the air. He poked Ditto in the back with his barrel, and the two Team Rocket gangsters started their forced march out of their jail.

"Interrogation." Ditto glanced over his shoulder. "Enlighten me, mindless goon. How did you come to the conclusion that I am not one of you?"

"Eyes forward," was the stern reply.

Ditto obeyed, but he wasn't done. "It can't be the suit. It's identical to everyone else's. I doubt it was my movements, since I'm such a fantastic mimic. Perhaps it was-"

"It was your gun," the soldier broke in. "It had no flashlight. And it was a different model. Now shut up and walk."

"Ah," Ditto said curtly, voice low. The one aspect of his disguise that he couldn't tailor to the situation was the one aspect that gave it all away. Shame.

As Diesel ascended the staircase, Ditto couldn't help himself but try to push the guard's buttons again. "What sort of interrogation does Spook Eye favour, hmm? Electro-shock? Water boarding? Sleep deprivation? Making people wait pointlessly in a darkened room? Because if it's the latter, I can assure you that-"

The guard kicked Ditto in the back, knocking him onto the pointed edges of the stairs. Ditto groaned at the dull pains that radiated in thin lines over his chest. A cold, round object pressed against the base of his skull, soothing to the relentless pulse of his previous injury.

"One more word out of you, and I'll blow your brains all over the stairs. Got it?"

Ditto scowled, but stood in silence. I'll be sure to kill you first.