Hi everyone!
Welcome back and thank you for waiting. If any of you have been with me since the start then this should be some familiar characters here. Layla is an important character to me as she is the one that started this all, my first ever fanfiction was with her and I'm so happy to be rewriting her story for the last time. I hope you enjoy this story as it will have a different pace and dynamic than the last one. Layla isn't going to date Lance, that much I will say, we all know who Lance belongs with ;)
So, as usual, I take themes from the manga/anime/games to create my own canon. If the differences are written I will explain them in my author notes or if you have questions feel free to message me!
Without further ado,
Enjoy!
1998 - Team Rocket Base somewhere in Kanto
"Again."
Dom's voice reverberates through the makeshift battlefield, his voice is cold and commanding, leaving no room for hesitation. His dark eyes trail across the screen in front of him as the psychic pokemon rights itself in the armor he designed for it. The metal plates glide silently as the psychic type lifts its hands towards its opponents; several Grunt pokemon clearly standing no chance against it trembling in fear.
They've been training for years now, these pokemon know what's going to happen, but it still catches them off guard each time. The brainwave monitor spikes to an impressive level, far above any other psychic type's level, then stabilizes, as it should with the armor. It's designed to keep it under control and slowly introduce its full strength to the pokemon. Across the way, the several pokemon float about the room, their pained cries music to Dom's ears.
The rocket grunts watching the display show a mix of awe, fear and pity for their pokemon subjected to its power.
To Mewtwo's power.
"What is the point of this?" The pokemon demands, their dual tone voice making the grunts flinch.
Dom steps away from the screens watching the subjects lower to the ground and scatter to get as far away from the psychic type as possible. From the sound of their voice, Dom knows they've reached the limit of their patience and waves off the grunts to collect their pokemon and leave. They do so, scrambling much like their pokemon did once released, the echo of the doors shutting reverberating around the last two in the room.
He approaches Mewtwo with practiced ease, this pokemon could easily dispose of him if they wanted, but they wouldn't. Their thirst to hone their power keeps them here, keeps them training under Dom, when they could easily figure it out for themselves in the outside world. But what is 'the outside world' to a pokemon kept in captivity it's whole life?
Grown in a lab and transported to a battlefield soon after waking up, Mewtwo isn't aware of just how big the world really is.
"I'm trying to fit the armor to you," he explains in a calm voice. He learned early on that yelling at them only made their willingness to stay decrease and only made meetings with Giovanni more prevalent. Now he has to reason with the pokemon like a fool. "It has to match your power, not hinder it. The more exercises we do, the better it will be."
"And why do I need this armor?" The pokemon raises an eyebrow. Their purple eyes always seem to stare right through Dom when they converse. It's unsettling to say the least, it was even more so when the pokemon first spoke to Dom before he even knew they could talk.
"Your raw power is... immense," Dom paces in front of them. "You want to control yourself and you want to be powerful, yes? You need to start small, the suit of armor matches you to a new power level after every few sessions. It's tedious but you're the first of your kind. The only of your kind. We don't know your limits and so we must be careful."
The pokemon considers this, their eyes searching Dom's for a lie before glancing down at their hands. Dom watches in fascination as the pokemon considers themself. He's amazed by the constant intelligence they've shown after coming out of their growth cycle two years ago. Day by day, Dom isn't sure what they know and what they don't know. They're clearly suspicious of Giovanni, but seems to trust Dom somewhat during these sessions. At least, trust enough to let him perform test after test after a presentation of what he's about to do to them.
"I understand."
With that, the pokemon turns and floats back to their holding chamber, a massive machine that arches over a platform. It's connected to the main computer Dom has access to so he may monitor Mewtwo 24/7, its brain activity and if it speaks to itself out loud. Claws reach out from beneath the floor to pull apart the armor, retreating them to the bulk of the machine for repair and testing.
Dom watches the process with reserved fascination, he had the machine built after the one destroyed on One Island. Dr. Fuji's work has been... phenomenal. A word Dom never uses for people other than himself. Without Fuji, none of this would be possible and it's a shame he's not here to watch his project grow.
Once the process is done and Mewtwo begins to rest in the tube, Dom turns back to his platform. Most of what he said was a lie and Team Rocket is lucky Mewtwo hasn't figured it out yet.
The armor isn't just a balance for their powers, it's to control them while they're in it through constantly monitoring its brain waves. There was a massive surge on the island before it was destroyed, that much was recovered from the computer and not much else. Luckily for Giovanni, Dom is well versed in manipulation through chemical and inventive means.
One wrong move and it puts them into a deep slumber, a vulnerable state meant for reprogramming. After the destruction of the island there's none of the memory serum left; the only thing Dom cannot replicate.
That secret stays with Fuji.
The only thing to do would be to weaken them to a manageable point and convince it Team Rocket is on their side. At least, that's what Dom wants to happen, but they haven't made that contingency yet. It's another project that falls on him to plan, it seems he's the only one around here capable of doing anything worthwhile.
He turns on his heel and heads back to the platform to file away the session's readings. Two year's worth of growth stored on this computer, all that meticulous work Dom has done leading up to something big. Giovanni has plans for Mewtwo and that's the only reason Dom's here.
The immense strength of the pokemon lies hidden in their training sessions, he can see the progress climbing each day. The biggest regret is not having the scans from that day. The day Mewtwo destroyed the lab on New Island, killing most of the lab crew except for two people. He considers them lucky to have witnessed such a display, raw power magnified by rage. Giovanni truly doesn't understand the sort of weapon he owns, and for that, Dom will consider him a fool.
He recalls the young girl that was there too, a shame she wasn't around to witness their bond grow. Giovanni prevented any contact with her, wanting to know how she will grow organically without a single hint to what's inside. An admirable endeavor, but Dom's logical mind sees no point in it. If she's the control, she should be here.
With growing frustration, Dom makes his notes and saves them before closing out of the battlefield to head to his office. His mind spins with ideas, plans and work to keep Mewtwo under control. He's getting close to losing them, and that would be a complete waste of resources.
In his office, he sits at his desk and stares at the piles of papers strewn across the top of it. For weeks he's been looking for a way to slip in a bit of control on the pokemon. Pokeballs don't have an obedience factor in them, pokemon caught in them want to stay, and Mewtwo is too volatile to trust them to want something like that. No, if Dom is going to get them to stay, it'll have to be controlled.
Knock. Knock.
"What is it?" he glares at the door.
It squeaks open and a grunt pops their head through. "Giovanni wants a meeting with you, sir."
Fuck, he hates meeting with him.
"Fine. I'll be there."
The door shuts and Dom grabs a folder of notes for the leader of Team Rocket. In the mirror of his office, his face changes from a young man to an older man, one closer in age to Giovanni. He's found Giovanni is more likely to listen to someone he assumes has more experience, in this case a man in his early thirties. He's gotten funding for personal experiments and gets to train Mewtwo on his own, a real treat considering the pokemon is Giovanni's brainchild.
He adjusts his uniform and exits the office, locking the door behind him, and strolls down the halls to the main office. From his understanding this HQ was built for Mewtwo's arrival and training, leaving it small but filled with appropriate machinery and materials to ensure the Pokémon's cooperation. Dom was impressed with the Rocket leader's ability to toss money around on the building and maintain it with a small, special squadron of rocket grunts.
Only thirty grunts know of the existence of Mewtwo, an order Giovanni created once the pokemon destroyed the island, to keep everyone safe and out of sight of the G-men. Dom understands Giovanni's brother is a high ranking member of the G-men, someone who knows how Giovanni operates and is a capable opponent. It'd be a shame to lose the pokemon to them, have it turned loose to explore the world Mewtwo must be kept secret until they're completely under Team Rocket control.
Then everything will fall into place.
Dom reaches the office and steps in without knocking. He nods a hello to the man in question and his Persian beside him. Giovanni is a man used to getting his way, it's clear in the way he sits, the way he stares and the way he talks. He's a bulky man, tall with a voice sharp enough to cut you with the right words. Every time Dom has met with the man, he's been in perfect condition, hair gelled back, freshly shaven and dressed in expensive, tailored suits with shining shoes. Clearly, a man with the time and money to care for himself no matter the mission.
Despite his look, Dom doesn't care about this man and is only here for Mewtwo. So he draws himself up and speaks in a plain tone. "Training was successful today."
"And short," Giovanni interjects. "What is happening?"
"Well, it's questioning us," Dom sighs, as if speaking about a rowdy teenager. He crosses the room and takes a seat in front of his desk. "I think it knows we're up to something and we need to come up with a way to control it faster."
"That's what you're here for," Giovanni grumbles, petting Persian's head. "What do you suggest?"
"The girl," Dom replies, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. He doubts Giovanni will agree, but it's always worth it to rile him up a bit. "She's supposed to have this bond with it. Why not let them grow together?"
"Do you think I could maintain her?" Giovanni frowns. "She's the child of my brother, it's not plausible to take her and keep her hidden from the world. I may have money but not enough for the movement, building and destruction of a new base every few months to keep her out of sight of her father."
A hiccup Dom didn't expect. Makes sense, however, despite the executives working for Giovanni; Aaron is resourceful. He'd no doubt sniff out his daughter at every turn.
"Besides, she's a child," Giovanni continues. "If she were to be here into her teenage years, what makes you think she wouldn't rebel with him? With no sure way to control them both, it's safer to keep them separate. Control one, then you'll have the other."
"So, we're working on Mewtwo first as it's the cheaper, easier, option?" Dom raises a brow.
"It doesn't know any better. Since it's conception it's been under our care, what does Mewtwo know of the outside world?" Giovanni poses. "What does it know of freedom? Or of the strength it so desperately wants? Nothing. It knows what we tell it and the less it knows-"
"The more it relies on us," Dom finishes with a smile. "I'm going to need some more experiments."
"You understand Mewtwo's brain chemistry better than anyone else here," Giovanni nods. "What is it?"
"I've found a window of opportunity," Dom opens the folder and plops the scans on his desk. "While its control of its power is getting better, there are moments in which he's vulnerable. Times when its emotions are getting the best of him, leaving his mind open for control."
"How?" Giovanni frowns, looking at the scans.
Dom sighs, a little frustrated having to explain every little thing to him. It's a good quality for a leader and Dom hates it. Just as Giovanni wants Mewtwo clueless to the outside world, Dom wants him clueless to the inner workings of his experiments. "He's in an emotional state, creating instability in his mind. The suit has a component that connects to his brain, if I can find a signal to project to it at that time. It's ours."
It takes a moment for Giovanni to say something. His eyes roaming the sheets and seeming to drink in Dom's words. The armor given to the pokemon can curb its power, but it's still new technology, it needs refinement. For refinement, Dom needs research and so he sits back once more.
"I need to look for a subject," he states.
"Do you have time? As you've said, it's becoming aware."
"I'm sure you're aware of my history with the Natsume's?" Dom raises a brow. At Giovanni's nod, he continues. "As admirable as it is to create a circle of psychics, I am here to exploit it. I have a list of those and there's one person I'd seen who can do it."
"Where?"
"Here in Kanto."
"I will allow you to seek them out, I cannot spare any grunts from here," Giovanni nods. "You cannot explain what you're doing and why."
"Yes, thank you," Dom stands, taking back his files and heading to the door. "It will be ours soon."
"For your sake, it better be," Giovanni threatens with a final wave.
Bastard, Dom growls stalking down the hallway back to his office.
He shuts and locks the door, pulling up the list he had referenced earlier and scanning it for the subject needed. It's been years since he practiced his abilities with a group, let alone ones he considered friends. The Natsume's are a powerful family, their daughter second to none with even master human psychics. As much as he wishes he could experiment with her, Giovanni's project holds a stronger interest.
"Let's make some progress," he grins, holding up the file of Juniper Ostergaard. "You'll do just fine, dear."
