So, as for Part III and on 'til the end, I'm just going to throw in this one HUGE disclaimer in right now so I don't constantly repeat myself here on out... XP

DISCLAIMER: As far as anime goes, I, T.R. Fanatic, do not claim ownership to Noir or Pokemon. Noir is owned by A.D. Vision, Ryoe Tsukimura, Bee Train, and Victor Entertainment, and Pokemon is owned by Viz Video, Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK, TV Tokyo, ShoPro and JR Kikaku.

Characters I own, are, as followed: Daisuke Yamamoto, Claude Blackhawk and General. Any new characters that appear after this WILL be posted as a character that I own at the end of the chapter, unless they are owned by the aforementioned companies.

Da da-da daaa! I have immunity from being sued! Hell, let's get on with it!

Forces of Darkness Part III: Italy

Chapter 12: On the Other Side

Sicily, Italy. O Month, XO Day 2010... (Daisuke's case: Day 2) 0500 hours.

The doors to the landing gears slowly opened as they closed in on the ground high above them. The monster truck-like tires slid out through the openings and readied themselves for the landing. About a minute later, the massive cargo plane made its landing at a Rocket base in a quiet part of Sicily.

The team of seven people and one Pokemon trudged down the steps, tired expressions on their faces and all with the same mindset: I can't believe I ate the whole thing...

"Well, we all made to the Sicilian Team Rocket base." General informed.

"Please, tell me that the sun, over yonder, is setting..." Daisuke mumbled.

"No, it's actually rising."

The weary team made a mass-face-vault while General checked the time on his watch.

"Please tell me you're kidding!" Jessie said.

"Between here and Korea, there's an eight hour difference in time." General informed. "When people in Korea go to bed for the night, people are waking up here, ready to start the day."

"Whoo!" Mondo cheered sarcastically. "Eight-hour jetlag! What could be better than that?"

"Ah, don't think of it as a bad thing." Daisuke said. "There is a way to cure jetlag in a day. But, I warn you, it's pretty harsh..."

"We'll do anyting!" Meowth said as he and the rest of the team groveled before Daisuke. "As long as we're not actin' like vampires!"

"Then, are you willing to stay up until 2000 hours?"

"Yes!" Cassidy cheered. "We wil- wait... twenty-hundred hours?"

"I know... staying up for sixteen more hours sounds horrible, but you should be glad it's not thirty-six hours."

"What idiot would want to stay up for thirty-six hours?" Butch asked.

Daisuke raised his hand. "I did it voluntary! An all-nighter at an anime convention and-" He stopped and saw his angry allies. "(Crap, I said too much!)"

"Damn right you did!" Jessie said as she, Cassidy, James, Butch and Meowth lunged at Daisuke with fists, nails and claws, causing a fight cloud to brew up.

"Going to an anime convention and leave us behind?" James asked. "What kind of person are you?"

"Oww!" Cassidy whined. "Daisuke, not the hair!"

"No, that was me!" Jessie replied.

"Why, you!"

Mondo and Kuroi watched from the sidelines in embarrassment.

"And, why aren't you going in there?" Kuroi asked.

"I'd get killed off easily when going up against Daisuke." Mondo replied. "Then, where would the team be without an excellent driver?"

"I see your point..." Kuroi said with a nod. Fearful creature...

(Scene: Cargo plane's hold.)

Back in the cargo hold of the plane, a lone Rocket grunt walked up to one of the wooden crates that was plastered with "FRAGILE" and "DO NOT OPEN" decals along the entire body of the box.

He knocked on the box a couple times, making the sound reverberate off of the bare walls and ceiling. He waited a few seconds before he knocked again, but a little more louder this time. Again, the sound echoed throughout the hold. Frustrated, the grunt kicked the side of the box, hoping that he was going to get a response from the inanimate object.

The top of the box popped off and buried with the colorful Styrofoam packing peanuts was Claude Blackhawk, struggling to the surface slowly to avoid contact with his bruises. He managed to stand up (after being cramped up in a small space for the past three or so hours) and shoot a packing peanut from his mouth, aimed at the grunt.

"I take it that this is what's going to happen when you go back to Japan?" the grunt asked. "Sitting at a small desk doing paperwork?"

"If I bring back Daisuke's rotting carcass, that won't be the case!" Claude replied, ever vigilant to capture Daisuke since the first day of his transfer.

"Ha! He's going to be a pile of bones when you get back!"

"Why's that? Did Noir finally get rid of the pest?"

The grunt shook his head. "No, we just arrived at a TR base in Sicily. Good luck finding transportation and all! I checked the surroundings and there's no sign of other aircraft or towers anywhere!"

"Damn..." Claude scratched his head, removing the rest of the packing peanuts that were clinging to his jet-black hair. "Well, what about cars? Any vehicles around?"

"We took the two Jeeps over to the garage to get them repaired, refueled and ready. But entry to the garage is prohibited until they're repaired."

"What about a car that's ready now?" Claude asked as he hopped out of the box.

"Whoa! Hey! Why are you in such a rush? What's the problem?"

Claude brushed off the rest of the peanuts that latched to his uniform. "I made a mistake... A very big mistake."

"That is?"

"Hiring Noir to do my dirty work was the dumbest thing I've ever, ever done. And I've been regretting ever since I hid in this box!"

"And hiring the assassin was dumb... why?"

"Don't you see? If she kills Daisuke, I'd feel left out; that I wasn't the one who truly killed him, but made it look like I did."

The undercover grunt folded his arms. "And the Chief will find out that you didn't kill 'em but lied in his face anyways... The next minute you'll be in the small desk doing paperwork!"

"And we're in full circle! For now, I hope that Daisuke keeps his guard up while I go to the border of Spain and France and see if that Soldat priestess can stop Noir from this useless chase."

"What Soldat priestess?"

"Oh, God..." Claude muttered, rubbing his forehead. "What was her name?" He snapped his fingers and pointed at the grunt. "Auntie Em!"

The grunt snorted as he held back his laughter. "Don't you mean Altena, Claude?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah... Altena... Right."

"Don't screw up that name now!"

"Yeah... I won't."

"Go out this door and take a left. You'll find a Jeep that can take you there."

"Thanks..." Claude turned and left for the parked Jeep outside.

Just hope you can make it on half a tank of gas... the grunt thought.

To be continued...

...Hmmm... This looks like a good place to stop the chapter. ...I think...