My Clandestine
By PDOTL
Their first and only mission success was supposed to get them recognition or, even better, a vacation and a bonus. He had no doubt Jessie and James were off having fun in the Mountains right now, like he heard them exclaim when they were handed their ridiculously huge paycheck. For him, he was supposed to be the top cat again, lounging around and eating the best food in town all day long.
He winced and curled in on himself, his forehead pressing into his knees.
Instead he was here in a cage, a bigger freak than ever. One experiment gone right. For Giovanni maybe. But for him, the test subject, his life was in a bigger hole than ever.
Meowth's ears twitched at the sound of heavy boots stomping through the concrete corridor. "Here, kitty-kitty," one Rocket crony cackled. The second one smirked with a lingering leer. Meowth shivered and clutched his singular blanket closer to his body.
He followed them with his eyes as long as he could, until the darkness down the hall swallowed all but their laughter. His eyes weren't as good at seeing in the dark as they used to be. The whole place seemed like it was swimming in darkness. It was unnerving. He reached up and felt the gold coin still fixed on his forehead. That was his only comfort right now. The cold, smooth metal; a piece of him for all his life.
His ears twitched again as the loud bang of a door shutting echoed through the halls. His hearing was the only thing salvaged from his former abilities, his ears the only thing, besides his coin, that signified what he used to be. Everything else was gone. He had no tail, no whiskers, no paws. Just smooth skin and delicate human hands and feet. He had no fangs, no fur, just straight flat teeth and sandy, brown hair, that hung frustratingly in his face.
He silently crawled over to the bars and held onto them with his new opposable thumbs. The blanket pooled precariously around his hips.
It had been about two weeks now, give or take a few days. It was hard to distinguish when a day ended and a new one began when you were in stuck in a cage in a windowless basement storage room. Meowth had to depend on his internal clock to figure it out. But he feared his instinct was much less dependable than before.
He stopped his contemplation and his ears drooped in disdain. It didn't sound like anyone else was coming. While he was regularly being fed, he had a creeping sensation he'd soon be forgotten. If what he overheard from the scientists' hushed conversation was correct, they had perfected the transformation. It seemed now they would be able to keep their heightened senses; smell, hearing, sight, all. Not much use for him anymore.
"If only I had a pin or something…" Meowth muttered as he eyed the pad lock on his door; low-security, they didn't have much faith in him being able to break out. Even if he was still a Pokemon they probably wouldn't have cared much.
"No, shut up," Meowth muttered again, he backed away from the side and sat down, glaring at into the darkness. "Feeling sorry for yourself, that's no way for a Rocket to act. So what if I'm weak, I still have my brain, my wit. If nothing else, I can trick my way out of this."
Persian patiently followed after his master as they traveled the dark basement halls to where all the newly trained lackeys were waiting. With his transformation a complete success, Giovanni was eager to put his newest crime unit into hands he could trust.
Barely a day after the experiment, Persian was walking just as gracefully on his new long human legs as he did on four paws. Besides his body not much had changed, his eyes and ears worked just the same no matter the annoying chestnut fringe blocking his vision. He'd have a haircut soon enough.
For the most part their odyssey through the darkness was uneventful, tramping through unused conference rooms, crowded storage rooms and dusty labs. It was after five minutes his ears twitched and the familiar scent of one of his own tickled his nose.
"Hmm, it should be just through here. Really I should get rid of this space, its totally intolerable," Giovanni muttered in annoyance, stepping over papers that had spilled out of a collapsing cardboard box. At his comment, Persian noticed something move in the dark, he noticed it was in a cage, but it wasn't until they got closer he could make out the little figure sitting in the middle of it.
Persian could see it stiffen in shock, breathe shallowly in surprise. Giovanni didn't even glimpse that way. The thing about humans, they noticed little unless it was right under their noses.
The cat-human stopped, stared. The little form stared back, though his eyes did not seem as focused as his own. He could see him perfectly, especially his silver colored eyes, round and openly expressive. Very human. The other's ears twitched as Giovanni came back to his side. "Our first partially successful experiment in that area. Could only salvage his superhuman hearing, he was not perfectly done like you," Giovanni said thoughtlessly. Silver-eyes ripped away and focused on the crime boss, in the dark in was hard to see, but Persian clearly read the unrestrained anger.
Giovanni made a beckoning gesture and started to walk off. Persian hesitated once before catching the younger's gaze. "Farewell, little Nyasu."
Giovanni was talking; rallying the troops, before introducing their new leader. Persian was sitting off to the side, highly annoyed with no window to look out of. Giovanni mentioned him by name, he was gestured, and he came up in front of the low class criminals' shifty eyes. He said something, he couldn't really remember what, talking to humans was new to him.
Seemed like things were over. They were to meet in the forest outside town and venture off from there, inconspicuously of course.
As the men were leaving, gathering what they brought, Persian stepped up close to Giovanni and looked him straight in the eye. "That little Meowth." Persian said, his voice gruff and low. Giovanni briefly glanced at his once favorite Pokemon before going back to watching the men leaving. The man did not show any signs of wanting Persian to continue. He plowed on through anyway. "I think he could be more useful to me than if he was in that cage for the rest of his life," he said, still sounding as unconcerned as ever.
"Meowth was part of a two man unit that repeatedly failed and cost me money," Giovanni more stated than gave an answer. Persian scoffed inwardly. Humans, always ruining everything for Pokemon. "I have used him the way I have seen fit, other than that I don't see his worth," Giovanni continued none concerned.
"Then his presence here is not needed?" Persian asked nonchalantly. Giovanni turned sharply and stared at his subordinate. "It's not like you to care what happens to other Pokemon," Giovanni said, not accusing. Persian looked away silently and gazed through the open door, noticing figures stopped in the storage area not twenty yards away.
"These are new recruits, yes? And Meowth has been around the world, hasn't he? His experience makes him a value to me among those I can't necessarily trust." Giovanni smirked and reached into his pocket. "Very well, I see your point." He produced a key, heavy, bronze and dull.
Meowth resisted the urge to hiss at the humans. Even as a Pokemon he tried not to let his animalistic instincts get the better of him. But these guys were just obnoxious; trying to poke him, whispering cat calls and calling him pretty kitty. This is more embarrassing than getting beat by that twerp all the time, he thought as his face got hotter and hotter.
"I believe you all had an order given to you by Giovanni-sama," a deep, rich voice spoke from the darkness. The men immediately straightened up and got out of the area as soon as possible.
Meowth watched them leave, half amused at their hasty retreat and half relieved. A loud clanging interrupted the relative silence. Meowth's ears twitched, he turned toward where the padlock was and saw the humanoid from before pulling a key out of the lock and letting the door swing open.
His savior looked down at him, his face blank, his dark eyes glowing. "You work for me now. Be grateful." They stood in silence. Persian started to walk away. He heard the little one's feet patting against the metal floor of the cage until he stepped on the linoleum. The brunette turned and stared. "Leave the blanket," he commanded. Even in the dark he could see Meowth's face grow red and his brow furrow. Persian glared expectantly, Meowth let the terrycloth slide down from his shoulders to his waist.
Silence. "You're naked," Persian stated. Meowth glared.