Charmed
By Jillypuff
Rating: PG-13
Part 7
The blond sighed as she was escorted from her jail cell down the hall by a few various Officer Jennies and their dumb Growlithes. She wondered idly how Butch was doing, and if he had blabbed to the authorities yet. But it doesn't really matter now, she reminded herself. After all, she had made up her mind.
She was going to confess.
One of the Jennies sat her down at a table in handcuffs. The officer began to pace, while the others sat down and watched.
"Now listen here, you dirty poacher!" she barked out. "Are you going to tell us where Team Rocket's boss is, or do we have to put you in solitary for another week?"
The young woman looked down at her feet. She didn't want to betray Giovanni like this, but she was sure he was prepared for things like this. She looked back up at the blue-haired woman and nodded.
"I'll talk," she whispered.
Jenny smiled patronizingly at her. "That's great! Now, where is Team Rocket Headquarters?"
The girl couldn't bear to look her captor in the eyes as she muttered, "In the Viridian City Gym."
All the Jennies gasped, and immediately started talking mutedly to each other, while the Growlithes barked. The leader of the women sat down grinning.
And Cassidy let out a shuddering sigh, wondering how much of her soul had just been lost by selling out on the organization that had been a family to her.
* * *
"Meowth, Fury Swipes! OK, Fury Swipes it is!" yelled the battle-impassioned cat. He, Persian, and Giovanni had been in beautiful Costa del Sol for the last three days, training and having a good time. At that moment, they were having a mock battle, with Giovanni ordering Persian's attacks, and Meowth taking care of himself.
"Persian, Agility," ordered Giovanni stoically. The pampered creature tried to avoid Meowth's claws, but she was a housecat, as opposed to him, who had grown up on the streets of Hollywood. His attack felled her easily, and she collapsed. Giovanni nodded approvingly, and went off to find some Potion.
Looking at the female cat lying at his feet, Meowth was amazed to find a small inkling of pity for her. True, she was a Persian, the most despicable of despicable, but she wasn't a fighter, and he had still gone full out on her.
Maybe I should have been easier on her, he thought reluctantly. He went over to the classy cat and nosed her. "You all right?" he asked gruffly.
"Don't touch me, you filthy creature!" she hissed, pulling away from him as if he was poison.
Meowth was injured by her harsh words, though he chose not to say it. "Fine, have it your way, bitch," he muttered, sauntering off and almost running into his master as he came back with the medicine for Persian.
"Hold still, Persian," he murmured as he gently dabbed the Potion in her cuts. She meowed slightly and scurried off to a corner, obviously feeling better. Giovanni sweatdropped and turned to Meowth.
"Good job out there," he informed the cat, gently scratching him behind the ears just where he liked it. Meowth felt a surge of happiness he had not felt since he was top cat. Suddenly, he didn't give a Rattata's ass about Persian.
Giovanni smiled at him. "You've definitely gotten a lot stronger while you've been dealing with Jessie and James. You should be ready to evolve in no time."
With those words, Meowth felt like his heart was going to explode. Out of the corner of his eye, he could swear he saw Persian looking at him with compassion, but he couldn't care less at that moment.
"Sir," he said tightly, "I thought we'd agreed that I didn't have to evolve unless I wanted to." That had been one of the conditions Giovanni had agreed to when he hired Meowth to work for Team Rocket.
Giovanni looked at him blankly for a moment, then realization swept across his face. "Oh, that," he replied. "Dear God, Meowth, are you still refusing to evolve? Don't you want to grow up and find a mate and get stronger?"
"Not at the expense of who I am!" Meowth retorted. Giovanni rolled his eyes and left. Persian, looking curious, strolled over.
"So, furball," she began. "What is it that you have against Persians?"
Meowth bristled internally at the much-hated name, but ignored it.
"They're too damn stuck-up and arrogant for their own good, " he replied. "Of the three I've had any real interaction with, one stole away my Meowsie, one replaced me for Cassandra, and then you stole my position as top cat."
Persian nodded. "I suppose those are good reasons. But if you don't want to evolve, then why did you use one of your wishes?" Seeing her counterpart's dumbfounded gaze, she chuckled. "All Persians can tell how many wishes any Meowth has left. We're attuned to it."
The tomcat shrugged. "Jessie and James kept bugging me," he told her. "But I didn't really want to." He then proceeded to tell her what had occurred. As Meowth finished his story, Persian looked more and more dismayed.
"Oh, dear," she muttered. "Meowth, what have you done!"
Meowth
looked up at her, very confused. "Huh?" What did I do?
"Don't you know anything, you stupid creature?" Persian said in a disgusted tone. "If a wish is used when the Meowth doesn't want it to be, that wish is cursed. It will invariably turn on its caster." She cocked her head. "Oh, that explains why Giovanni-" The cat suddenly shut up, realizing she had said too much.
But it was too late. Meowth turned on her and pinned her to the ground.
"Explains what? What did Giovanni do?" he snarled at her.
The feline whimpered underneath of him. "I'm not supposed to tell!" she wailed.
"Tell me!" he growled. ""Or I'll rip that pretty little jewel right off your head!"
"Cassidy confessed…" she began slowly, "…and she told where the base is…and Giovanni never liked your team…" She paused, but Meowth shook her impatiently, causing her to finish rapidly.
"…sohe'ssettingthemuptotakethefallinsteadofhimandpleasedon'tkillme!" she screeched.
Meowth dropped her, stunned at the idea of Giovanni betraying his partners. Sure, they weren't the most successful team, and he did prefer to cut his losses…but how could he do this?
It's all my fault, a
little voice in his head whispered to him. If you hadn't let Jessie make
that wish, you'd all be in the cabin right now, making more useless plans to
catch Pikachu and watching the two idiots build up sexual tension. All your
fault…
No way! he retorted
angrily. Even if it was my charm that made the wish, it was Giovanni who did
this. I'll go talk to him. Maybe I can still bring him to reason.
And so the cat dashed off, in search of his master and betrayer.
* * *
Persian watched as the brave
young Pokémon dashed off to try to save his friends. She shook her head, amazed
at his foolhardiness. Does he want Giovanni to kill him?
"Meowth…" she began, and then paused, sorting for all the new thoughts and feelings she had for him. A few hours ago, she had felt nothing but contempt. But now, for some strange reason, Persian found herself on his side.
"…Good luck," she finished.
You're going to need it.
* * *
Jessie propped her legs up on the desk, relaxing. The last few days had been lots of fun for her and James, although it hadn't been totally without work. There were those few minutes sorting through all the new Pokémon the other teams had stolen…The bishoujo grinned. She was loving every second of this.
James came in, looking as happy as she felt. He quickly sobered and got down to business. "The blue team grabbed a Fearow and a Dewgong today," he announced. "And the red team lost their mascot. A Mankey, I believe."
The Rocketeer nodded. "Make sure to give Calamity and Jane a bonus next payday," she responded. "Will and Bonny lost Mankey, huh? Hmmm…give them Raticate. He's been idle since Butch and Cassidy were arrested again."
James nodded and grabbed Raticate's Pokéball from the shelf. He left the office. Jessie went back to her daydream, which involved the beach and a familiar blue-haired bishounen attending her and rubbing sunscreen on her back…
Before it progressed much further though, said bishounen came running back in at breakneck speed. "Jessie!" he hollered. "Get up! We've got to get out of here!"
Jessie was up in a flash. "What's going on?" She ran over to her partner. "James, tell me!"
"Jessie, we're-"
At that moment, the Viridian Officer Jenny, along with five deputies and six Growlithes, came storming in. "Freeze, crooks!" she yelled, as the Growlithes growled menacingly in agreement.
"-being raided," James finished weakly.
Before either could move, two deputies had grabbed hold off their arms and were searching their bodies. Arbok and Lickitung were grabbed from Jessie, while James was relieved of Weezing, Victreebell, and Raticate. The two were handcuffed and dragged outside by a gloating Jenny. "At last, we've apprehended the leaders of Team Rocket!" she said perkily.
"Leaders?" James asked shakily.
"Don't try to deny it, pretty boy! We know who you are. We had inside information," Jenny said smugly.
Out of the cop car came a blonde convict with awful hair, escorted by another two guards. Jessie's heart wrenched as she recognized her ex-best friend.
"You bitch!" she screamed at Cassidy.
* * *
Cassidy was bewildered for a moment when she saw Jessie and James brought out before her, but then she realized what had happened. Giovanni must have known what I was doing and set up these two to take the fall, she reasoned.
"Now, tell us the truth, you dirty brat," Jenny said cheerfully. "Are these two the leaders of Team Rocket?"
Next to Jenny, Jessie raised her head wearily and looked right at Cassidy.
"Don't," she whispered.
Cassidy looked away, filled with guilt at what she was going to do.
I'm sorry, Jess. But I can't help you. God knows what they'll do to me if they find out that they didn't catch the leaders of Team Rocket. And I can't betray Giovanni again.
Please forgive me.
"Yes," she replied in a low voice. "That's them."
Jenny grinned and motioned for the deputies to take them away. James looked at Cassidy with bewilderment and disbelief. As for Jessie, Cassidy couldn't bear to look at her.
The pair was loaded on the truck. Just before the door closed, Cassidy pulled away from the deputies and put her hand on Jessie's shoulder.
"Jess…" she began.
Jessie turned and, without warning, spit at Cassidy's face. She barely noticed the saliva dripping off her face, too disheartened by the pure hatred she saw in her once-friend's eyes. Without a word, Jessie pulled away and stepped into the car. The deputies ran over and grabbed Cassidy, letting the police cruiser drive off. One pulled out a gun and kept a bead on Cassidy, ensuring that she wouldn't run off again.
But she was too busy crying to even consider it.
To be continued…