Revival Chapter 12:Thick Among Thieves
Yep, I'm updating early(in case you didn't notice, I update Fridays or Saturdays). Why? Because I love my readers, and I'm almost finished writing the first book in the "Aura Rising Trilogy:Revival" (throws confetti) Yay! Now, to celebrate, press that little review button...lol. Isn't it cute? Don't you just want to touch it?
Giovanni, head of Team Rocket, waited patiently for his next appointment, a man who called himself 'Archer', at the Rocker Headquarters in Viridian City. He hadn't heard much about the man; his agents couldn't scrounge any information on him unfortunately. Giovanni always liked to be prepared before a meeting, it always gave him an advantage. This time however, he was at the disadvantage.
His secretary buzzed him. "Sir, Mr. Archer is here."
Giovanni nodded. "Good, send him in." He kept one hand by a button hidden along the side of his desk, one that would activate a squadron of Rocket troops at a moment's notice. A second, more subtle button, held his pokemon. A prepared man was an alive one. As he shifted the tiw of his black suit around, Giovanni took a furtive glance at the concave mirror he had mounted in the corner of his ceiling. It appeared that there was an unusual bulge under the left side of the man's expensive jacket. Apparently Archer was sneaking in with Pokeballs hidden under his coat. The Rocket Executive made a mental note to fire the secretary for not noticing and taking them away. Giovanni wanted to have as many advantages as possible.
Archer entered the office, clad in a black business suit, his blond hair tied back, empathizing his cheekbones and facial structure. His ice blue eyes bored into Giovanni, making the Rocket Boss shift uncomfortably in the chair. Archer caught the slight movement and flashed a comforting smile, though to Giovanni, it reminded him of a hungry predator. Either way, the Rocket Executive wasn't going to show any weakness. Persian, Giovanni's prized pokemon, sat next to him, halfway asleep, its tail twitching occasionally, half lidded eyes studying the man carefully.
"Good afternoon Mr. Archer. Come take a seat." Giovanni gestured for Archer to sit, in a large chair in front of his desk, furthest from the door. Giovanni had to manipulate the situation as much as he possibly could. Archer sat down in the chair he gestured to, much to the older man's pleasure. Maybe Archer was much naïve than he had originally seemed. "May I ask what you are doing here? I don't get very many appointments, so I am curious."
"Well you don't seem to beat around the bush, do you?" Archer retorted sharply. "Very well then. I need a freighter ship."
Giovanni was taken aback. "Excuse me, a freighter ship? Do I look like a shipping company to you?"
"But you're a man of great power and clout. Surely with all your smuggling operations you don't have a freighter ship lurking in a port somewhere."
"And why would I give you a freighter ship, even if, if I had one?"
"And all available routes along the eastern coast, up to Half-Shell Cove."
"You're playing a dangerous game here, Archer," Giovanni growled. The last thing he needed was for this man to edge in onto Giovanni's lucrative smuggling trade.
"Only for a one time use. What's the matter, can't bribe some company to give me a free pass? Like I said, it is only for a one time use."
"I don't believe you. Why should I give you access to my ship and my routes?
"Because if you don't, you'll regret making said choice." There was a dangerous edge to Archer's voice, one that suggested that the man meant business. But despite the menacing tone, Giovanni wasn't going to cave in easily.
"Alright, let's say that I do give you the ship, and the best route all the way up to 'Half-Shell Cove'. What will I get in return?"
Archer raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, hands going behind his back, slipping under his jacket to unhook a Pokeball from his belt. He slid the ball into his shirt sleeve, hidden form prying eyes. Giovanni caught the action thanks to the concave mirror and he couldn't help but smile to himself. Archer was planning something and he knew every move. "Well, to answer your question Giovanni, you would get to keep your life in return, if that's what you value." He replied coolly, callously.
Giovanni stood up from his chair. "Do not talk to me that way, or so help me, you'll leave this office in a body bag," he threatened.
"Try it."
Giovanni was growing rapidly tired of the man, wanting to get rid of him, permanently. His hand went to the switch hidden in his desk, to release his pokemon. But Archer got to him first. "Furret!" he shouted, releasing the ferret pokemon. "Use 'slam' now!"
"Persian, use 'slash'!" Giovanni commanded. The cat pokemon sprang into action, his claws glowing white. Furret ducked under the lengthened claws and struck the cat in the chest with his long tail. Persian yowled in pain as he went flying into a bookshelf. Meanwhile, Archer leapt over the desk, hand pulling out a thin knife, as long as the length from the meaty part of his palm to his middle finger. He slammed Giovanni into the back wall, knife to the mafia boss's throat. Persian and Furret were in a standoff, their hackles raised as they circled each other, snarling and hissing.
"Like I said, the boat, or your life," Archer hissed, the knife still at the man's throat, pressing deeper, until a thin line of blood appeared, a stark contrast to the tan skin.
Giovanni swallowed nervously, sensing the cold metal of the knife. Now he was really going to fire the secretary for not noticing anything. Giovanni felt helpless, like the time when his gym burned down of unknown causes, which gave him a headache for days. He had no choice in the matter really; he could live with the humiliation of being defeated, he couldn't live with being dead. "Fine," he croaked. "You have your ship."
"And the route," Archer added.
"And the route," Giovanni wheezed, his vision going blurry. He felt a sudden release and he sank down on the wall, hand at his throat, gasping for air, the thin trickle of blood staining his fingertips. Archer sneered at the sight.
"Pathetic," He mocked scornfully. "The once 'mighty' Rocket is on his knees, weak and broken, like the feeble man you are, nothing more than a bloated man, acting as a parasite on the community. Well, no more." Archer returned Furret to his ball and stick out his hand. "The information?" he demanded. Giovanni pulled himself off the floor and snatched a Post-It note and pen. He scribbled down on it and thrust it to Archer, who took it gratefully. As Archer started to leave the room, he spun to the man on the carpeted floor. "So long, Giovanni," He spat bitterly.
Archer left the building, the eyes of the other workers in the building focused on him. He closed the glass doors behind him. He walked to a burly looking man about fifty yards, sitting patiently on a bench under a old oak, dressed in civilian clothing, the guise of a construction worker. "Bring it down," Archer commanded, once he got close to him. The man nodded and pulled out a detonation switch and pushed down the button on top.
Archer felt the heat roll off of him in waves as the building exploded in a rain of glass, metal and debris. With a groan, the building collapsed to the ground, like a mighty beast breathing its last. Glass fell from the sky in red molten drops, the heat from the explosion melting the shards in the air. Archer was victorious; he had cleared one of his biggest obstacles towards complete and total power. The whine of police and ambulance sirens reached his ears and he said, "Let's go," without watching the results of his labors. There would be time for that later.
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The office was a disaster; smoke laid heavily in the air and building materials, or what used to be, was in piles. There was nothing left of the room, but then, something shifted under a pile of beams and metal. A hand managed to make its way to the surface, a gold and sapphire ring dusty with the smoke and churned soot. The hand pushed some of the debris aside and Giovanni managed to pull himself out form underneath. He had survived the explosion, mostly due to the fact that the room had been built to survive just about any disaster, natural or man made. He coughed as he breathed in the air and looked about frantically, searching for Persian. A woeful meow answered his unspoken question and he shoved metal and wood aside, looking for him. He finally found Persian after a few moments, his leg pinned under a wooden beam, clearly broken. The persian yowled in pain as Giovanni moved the beam off the cat's flank and winced at the sight of blood staining the cream colored fur.
Giovanni lifted Persian in his arms and waited, unable to leave the room because of the instability of the now destroyed structure; any misstep and the building could collapse even more so. He ruminated for a minute, trying to discern what had happened. It seemed pretty obvious, after Archer left, Giovanni went back to work, trying to push the previous events form his head as he worked. Then, there was a loud 'boom' and the building start to shake, then groan as it started to cave in on itself. Giovanni managed to survive by flinging himself under the mahogany desk he imported from Hoenn, the desk was now destroyed to a pile of splinters.
He bit the inside of his cheek, his mind quickly running through a mental list of enemies he made over the years. He was a smart man, eliminating his enemies before they could enact revenge, but occasionally, a couple managed to slip through his fingers, and he assumed that they had now passed away or got out of the business. But for some reason, one name stuck in his head, Archer. It made sense, but at the same time, it didn't. Was Archer attempting to take over his hard earned enterprise, or was it something else? He didn't know at the moment, but at the moment, he didn't care.
As someone ancient once said, 'an eye for an eye', and even if it killed him in the end, Giovanni was going to take his revenge. Nobody bombed his headquarters so blatantly like that.
A shaft of light pierced the 'roof' of the room and a voice shouted down to him. "Mr. Giovanni! Are you alright sir?" ah, the Viridian City Police. How naïve they were in their dealings with him. Giovanni wore many masks in the city of green, one of a rich businessman, the other of a ruthless crime lord. There were others, but they were buried deep within his psyche.
"I'm fine! Thank you!" Giovanni shouted back. "But my Persian's hurt. His leg's broken. We need to get him to a Pokecenter right away!"
"I'll get to that right away!" The rookie ran off, presumably to get assistance. Giovanni stewed, a plan forming in his mind. Archer would pay for what he did. The Rocket head was going to hunt the man down and make him pay. He would destroy Archer's plan at every turn, chuckle as Archer raved at the failures.
But first, to figure out what he wanted with the ship.
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Stella watched in amazement as the freight ship was becoming loaded with supplied, soldiers, and their pokemon. She watched the scene unfold at the dock up high on a balcony, her brown eyes peering down. Captain Archer stepped up next to her. "Impressive, isn't it?" he asked softly.
She nodded in response. Archer placed a hand next to hers, on the railing. "Just wait until we're actually in combat. Then we'll really be impressive."
Don't worry, Giovanni will be bahck (laugh at the Arnold impression), but not until later. So while it may seem random now, trust me, nothing I ever do is random. Well, with my stories anyway; everything else is fair game :)
