Chapter 9:
5/27 Meet the Boss
Team Rocket Headquarters was well hidden deep within Kanto, not actually that far from Pallet Town or the Xanadu Nursery. It was a tall steel building with armored walls and numerous satellite dishes. Madame Boss had started its construction seven years ago and had planned for there to be an enormous red "R" painted on the front. That was the one change that Giovanni had made, no "R", they were criminals no use in advertising themselves. It stood high on a rocky outcropping surrounded by stony hills. It was lucky for them that the area was pretty heavily forested or it would have been easy to spot for some distance. Displays of riches and power had been Madame Boss' weakness.
Inside two young Team Rocket agents stood nervously outside a steel door, clearly marked on the outside "BOSS". Truly it had been designed for Madame Boss, but she had never gotten to use it, and Giovanni couldn't bring himself to change it. Besides, he kind of liked it. The waiting room they were in was sparse with no real decorations to speak of except a couple of uncomfortable steel benches.
"What do you think the Boss wants with us, Jessie?" the purple haired young man turned to his red-haired friend.
"I don't know, James, how am I supposed to know?" she sniped impatiently. James didn't seem to mind her snapping at him. He just stared nervously at the door they were waiting to open.
"I'm sure this is probably Botch's fault," James frowned.
"It's Butch, how do you never get that right? That can't be true though, Cassidy is clearly the brains of the two, if it's anyone's fault I'm sure it's hers." Jessie corrected him. "God! I hate her with her blond pigtails and arrogant attitude!"
"It's Biff, he's the sneaky one!"
"Botch."
"Fine, Buzz, whatever, he's the sneaky one!"
The door opened and the two immediately fell silent. A Team Rocket grunt stood in the doorway eyes them with obvious disdain. "The boss will see you now." The two shuffled nervously past him as he rolled his eyes in their direction. Why in the hell does the Boss have a soft spot in his heart for those two? Any other Team Rocket member would have been . . . taken care of by now.
The door shut loudly behind Jessie and James as they slowly approached the large mahogany desk that stood before them. The large comfortable office chair was turned around so that their Boss couldn't be seen. James' stomach sunk even lower than it already was, which he hadn't thought was possible. He hated it when Giovanni started their little "meetings" with his back to them, it never bodes well.
"Jessie," the Boss finally said as he slowly turned around, his voice low and ominous. "You disappoint me. I took you in when you were orphaned six years ago."
"I know, I'm sorry," Jessie started but the Boss frowned down at her and she shut up. He was about the only person who could do that to her.
"When I did that it wasn't out of charity, or the goodness of my heart, as you should know. I did it because I expected some sort of recompense for my actions. I was supposed to get your loyalty and success in return. Once again you have failed to deliver on your end of this relationship, haven't you?"
"Sir! It's because we have to suffer at the hands of fools and those that are jealous of my beauty and James' charisma with Pokemon!"
Giovanni didn't look like she believed her.
"Let us lead our own mission. Give us a chance to do something without someone else bossing us around and we will not disappoint you, I swear it!" Jessie had approached the expensive desk and was leaning over it to get closer to Giovanni so he could see the fire in her eyes. James stood rooted to the spot, trembling.
"I wonder," Giovanni looked at the young man who hadn't said a word. "If your little friend over there has been holding you back."
"James? No! Sir, he is the one who is great with Pokemon and takes care of the little things so that I can focus on the big picture."
"You had better hope so, as I do intend to collect on your debt with me, whether it be in the form of your success, or in the form of a meal for my Persian." The large predatory-cat like Pokemon had gone unnoticed curled in a ball under Giovanni's desk. As if understanding the implication of Giovanni's words the Persian took to its feet and let loose a low menacing growl as it slinked around the desk.
"Absolutely sir," Just give us a chance to prove it to you, right James?" Jessie glared over her shoulder at her terrified partner. His gaze was stuck on the menacing Persian stalking toward him. "Right, James!" She reached back poked him hard with a pointed finger.
"Y-y-yes!" James blurted out, his gaze still stuck on the Boss' feline partner.
Giovanni sighed and steepled his fingers, Persian sense his change in intensity and gave another low growl before turning and rejoining Giovanni's side. "I have a mission for you then."
Jessie backed off ever so slightly and James returned his gaze to Giovanni's face.
"Team Rocket has been in the Pallet Town region, unfortunately, they were spotted by four new trainers likely from Pallet Town on their way to Viridian City. The work we are doing over there is of the utmost secrecy and we can't afford anyone even knowing we are delving into the region. I want the two of you to head over to Viridian City and find them before they can tell anyone what they have seen."
"We can't afford four unsolved murders in the area either so I need you to scare them back home or find some other way to guarantee their silence without calling attention to yourselves. Remember the whole point of this operation is secrecy, do not let yourselves be discovered and most certainly don't tell anyone who you are."
"Yes, sir!" the two young criminals saluted in unison.
"Since neither of you has caught a pokemon since the first one that we gave you to start out I will be lending another one to you. I still expect you to come back with at least ten new Pokemon as I expect from everyone else on their missions."
Giovanni took a Pokeball from a desk drawer and tossed it to Jessie. The redhead caught it easily. She pushed the button, unable to wait and see what he had given them. With a flash, a Meowth appeared in their midst. From the look on Jessie's face, she wasn't all that impressed but James was starry-eyed.
The cat-like Pokemon paused licking itself and looked at its new owners with only mild interest before turning back to resume grooming. James caught up in his excitement momentarily forgot Giovanni was watching and squealed scooping the Meowth up in his arms. With a growl, the Meowth took one quick swipe across James' face.
Startled the young criminal dropped the Meowth. Jessie blushed as she saw disapproval pass over Giovanni's face. With a flash, she retrieved the irritable Meowth back into its Pokeball. She grabbed her still shocked friend by the elbow.
"Let's get packing, James," Jessie's voice betrayed her underlying irritation. "We've wasted enough of the Boss' time."
The two hurried out of the office, the grunt that had allowed them in returned to join Giovanni in his office. He wasn't quite a simple Team Rocket grunt, he had been with organization clear back when it had been run by Madame Boss. There were few left who could make that claim. The hazards of the job were serious.
"I don't understand what it is you find acceptable about those two buffoons," the man motioned toward the door where Jessie and James had exited. "They couldn't take care of a rock, let along an important mission."
"Are you questioning my decisions?" Giovanni asked quietly, turning slowly and staring the long-time grunt eye.
"No!" sweat suddenly poured from the man's pores as adrenaline surged through his system. "Only an idiot would question your decisions." The man laughed nervously. Giovanni didn't respond or move.
"I just was hoping to gain some understanding," the grunt continued to try and backtrack. "I was confused."
Giovanni stared at him without blinking. "Persian, don't kill him, he might still prove useful someday."
"No!" the man screamed and turned, sprinting toward the door.
He didn't stand a chance.
Persian leaped from behind the desk and landed directly on the grunt's back. The man fell, the air whooshing from his lungs. He tried to suck in air but before he could suck in enough air the Persian bit down on his collar bone. It heard it snap. Pain exploded from his collarbone and he screamed with what little air had made its way into his lungs. It let go only rake its great claws across his back, once, twice and finally a third time.
The assault paused for just a moment and the grunt began to scream in earnest, nothing existed in his mind but the pain. It consumed his very existence. The Persian had merely been enjoying the torture as now it grasped his leg in its powerful jaws and bit down. Another bone snapped under the pressure. With a toss of its head, the Persian sent the grunt tumbling through the air. He landed with a thud and paused his screams to catch his breath. The man moaned and tried to move away from the Persian stalking toward but his every movement was agony. The Persian leaped again and landed with a paw on his chest. It slowly pressed its considerable weight on his ribcage. He gasped as a couple of ribs popped.
"I need him to be able to speak, Persian," Giovanni said calmly. He had been making a note in his log on his desk during the attack.
Growling, the Persian took one last swipe at the grunt's head, knocking the man unconscious.
Giovanni pressed about on his desk phone. "Fisher!"
"Yes?" came a voice over the speaker.
"I have another mess for you and your partner to clean up in my office," Giovanni's voice filled with annoyance.
"Right away, sir!"
"Exactly."
The Persian finished licking the blood from its pale maw and returned to its position behind Giovanni's desk, curled up in a slumbering ball.
Giovanni scoured the newspaper for hints of Team Rocket as two grunts raced in with cleaning supplies and dragged the mauled grunt away, streaking blood across the floor. Good thing he knew they would be cleaning it right away. Only he was allowed to make a mess in his office and no one knew that better than his cleaners. He sighed with annoyance. Why did that grunt have to go and ruin his good mood?
END PART 2: I Choose You!
Next:
Part 3: Gym Badge
