Ash strapped the bullet proof vest to his chest, slid his side arm into it's holster, and checked Espeons Pokeball on his hip.
"Arm it."
He stretched his arms out to the side, and Mewtwo hovered over to him, in its hands C4 and coils of wires, "Exactly as I showed you," He continued on, "I'd rather us not getting blown up before this actually begins,"
There was a grunt and he smirked.
The two of them stood in a canyon of barren rock, the sky overhead damningly blue for the mission ahead.
The final mission.
They were ready.
Team Rocket was in shambles across the world, and Giovanni was near powerless in this situation.
The Rocket headquarters had called in all reinforcements.
When he scouted out the location alongside Mewtwo, he counted near one thousand armed guards, Pokemon flying and patrolling around the grounds for him and the legendary.
But they wouldn't kill him.
They couldn't.
Ash heard a beep and then a click, he lowered his arms.
If he was shot in the chest, he'd be blown to pieces, as would all information surrounding Mewtwo. If the Rockets came within five meters of him, he'd blow himself up.
And after proper testing with explosives, he could take out the entire side of the headquarters from ten meters from the wall.
Ash glanced to Mewtwo, "You know what to do?"
'I do,' Mewtwo looked down the canyon to where they knew the headquarters sat,'we will retain telepathic link, but if for whatever reason we lose contact with one another for more then half an hour, I will bring down the structure,'
Ash nodded firmly, "Good, and make sure everything is gone. No one survives."
There was hesitance in the legendaries reply,'Understood.'
Ash left Mewtwo minutes later, walking down the center of the canyon towards the headquarters.
There were no nerves, anxiousness, hesitance.
Nothing.
There was no reason to feel anything, Giovanni was within his grasp, and in minutes.
This would all be over.
No more running.
No need to be scared any longer.
'Ash,'
'I read you Mewtwo,' He thought as he walked around a bend in the rock, 'loud and clear.'
Ahead of him the canyon opened up, a tall building shrouded in rock stood at the end. Flying types relayed around the building in synchronized search patterns like wraiths, across the terrain armed patrols with packs of Houndoom stood in posted positions.
'I'm in sight of the building, if I go silent start the countdown,'
'Understood... If that is the case, then good luck to you Ash.'
Ash traced his finger along the outline of his sidearm, his eyes locked on the building.
It would be seconds now until the alarm went, and the guards alerted.
He momentarily realized that the weather was fairly nice out. Sunny, clear blue sky, and warm. The world around him was alive and breathing, while he felt dead inside.
Was he really going to reflect on what had happened in the final steps of the hell he had lived through?
No, he didn't want to.
If he was to die that day, there would be no negative emotions from him. And if everything went as planned and Team Rocket was disbanded for good, well...
Good.
The alarm sounded.
A high whine which echoed through the canyon drawing all attention towards his position. He was still a hundred meters from the building, but he could see the Rockets swarming towards him from all positions.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Silently he drew his side arm and held it at his side, continuing in his walk towards them.
'Be on the look out for vehicles leaving the base,' He thought briefly as the Rockets stopped and aimed the weapons towards him.
"Stop where you are and drop your weapons!"
Ash stared at them blankly and continued forward.
The only way to stop him was buy putting a bullet through him.
And as he approached, they backed away from him like he was diseased.
They were scared of him.
He realized he didn't need the vest for insurance.
Because surly rumors had spread across the Rocket organization about the rogue Elite and Giovanni's creation.
And rumors no matter how small to begin with are always inflated to unbelievable proportions.
Ash stopped in the center of the crowd which surrounded him and looked around at Giovanni's grunts.
His eyes roamed across them, and then landed on a fresh faced woman, "Take me to him." He ordered.
Her eyes bulged beneath her cap as he spoke and she hefted her rifle threateningly, "Or else I blow you all straight to hell."
The hundreds of grunts stirred around him,'Mewtwo, flatten all of them except for the girl.'
It happened instantaneously.
All of the Rockets collapsed to the ground as if crushed by an invisible force, except for the woman who staggered back in shock.
Ash raised his sidearm, aimed at the nearest Grunt and pulled the trigger, the bullet taking him in the skull.
"Take me to him, or you're next."
She took a step back before turning to run towards the base, however her body froze in place.
Ash walked through the bodies which were all pressed to the ground towards her, eyes unwavering.
Fear swam in her eyes as her face drained of color.
He stopped in front of her, and raised the barrel to her forehead, "You tried to run?" He asked quietly, "you should have known better."
He pulled the trigger, but not before snapping the barrel to point beside her head.
Her body was trembling, and her eyes watered with tears, "I'm going to release you, and then you will take me to Giovanni. Because frankly I don't want to kill someone who was just enlisted into the organization. Understood?"
'Release her,'
She collapsed to the ground with her legs giving out beneath her, "Come on," He muttered, "I know you didn't sign up for this. What were you, a secretary who Giovanni put that gun in the hands of and told to get out there on the front lines? You still have a chance to get an honest job, so take me to Giovanni and I'll guarantee your safety."
He reached out with his left hand to her, and after a minute she reached out and took it. He helped her up, wincing as he did so as the muscles in his shoulder were not yet fully healed, and nodded for her to lead the way.
'Knock her out once I'm there, then get her out of the building,'
It wasn't so much that he cared for the woman, but he could easily tell that she had not joined team rocket as a soldier.
She wore light make up, had trouble carrying the weighty rifle, and just plain looked like civilian thrown into a horrible situation.
She may have joined Team Rocket, but he knew that every person had their own story.
They approached the building, and the doors opened for them automatically.
There were Rockets positioned all around the halls, but none made a move towards them, eying the vest he wore with unease.
He was on high alert now that he was in the base.
Giovanni was within the vicinity he was sure, but until his eyes fell on the Rocket boss, there would be no sense of relaxation.
A rocket could have an itchy trigger finger, try to play hero by hounding him...
Hell he could even be hit for knock out gas.
Nothing would really surprise him after everything he'd been through.
The woman led him up a staircase after he declined the elevator, and to the seventh floor. They walked together down the hall, and after a minute of silence she stopped outside of a single door.
"This is his room..."
Her voice wavered and she shrunk beneath his icy gaze, "Open it," He said tilting his head at the door, "then you can go."
She did, with a trembling hand, push down the lever, and then against the metal door.
It swung open a greased hinges, not a sound being made, and then lightly making a dull thud as it reached it's limit.
Ash wet his lips and slid his sidearm back into it's holster, "Thank you," He said quietly, "go now."
'Mewtwo,'
In his peripheral vision as he stepped into the dark room, he saw the woman begin to collapse before vanishing from sight.
Ash reached for the knife he wore on his hip and slid it out of it's sheath, before bringing the blade to a black wire which ran across his chest.
He severed it, and the light which signified that the c4 was armed dimmed.
He returned it to the sheath, and then stripped himself of the vest so that he only wore the tank top which had been beneath it.
The room was empty and dark.
And when he shut the door which had given the only light to the room, he was shrouded in total darkness.
The room was cold, and nipped irritably at his skin.
But he trained the feeling away, using his entire being to focus on hearing.
If he heard a single sound, he would put distance between it and him.
But it would prove unnecessary.
A light overhead flashed on, brightening the room.
At the other end stood the man he had been hunting for the last 7 years of his life.
Giovanni looked older then he had when this had all begun.
His hair had been overtaken on the sides with steel grey, and his face had begun losing it's untouched complexion in exchange for minor weathering.
He felt it then.
His blood running cold in his veins.
The head of Rocket stood before him, and if he so chose to, he could put a bullet through his skull in a heartbeat.
He could end it.
That fucking second!
"Giovanni."
But he wouldn't.
Not yet.
He needed answers.
Ash took a slow step forward, "Ketchum, you look well,"
"Well I've been busy, I'm sure you've heard about my little adventures,"
Giovanni's eyebrow rose, "How can I not have, now tell me Ash, just where are you hiding Mewtwo,"
Ash stopped a meter in front of Giovanni, meeting the older mans unwavering glare with his own, "Oh he's not hiding, he's around."
"Is that so?"
Ash shrugged, "It doesn't really matter though, the forces you had deployed around base are neutralized, and all that's left is..." He looked skywards, and then back to Giovanni, cracking a predatory grin, "you and I."
As he finished, he lunged forward throwing a hard right at the Rocket boss. But Giovanni ducked the blow, and stepped forward delivering a kick to Ashs gut winding him.
Ash clutched his gut and took a step back, "So you do know a thing or two," he muttered, "entertain me Giovanni, play with me, and then I'd like you to answer a question or two for me!"
Ash rushed him, unleashing an onslaught of rapid kicks and punches which were connecting and missing rapidly.
He felt like he had back at the Academy so long ago.
The hate.
The anger.
The fury.
The frustration coursing violently through his blood.
He saw red, he saw the face of the man who had taken everything from him.
He saw the face of the man he wanted to break.
To hurt.
To show true fucking fear!
Ash blocked a sudden left with his right arm, and quickly retaliated with a knee to Giovanni's stomach. When the Boss bent from the blow, Ash brought his elbow hard down on Giovanni's neck, sending him hard to the ground face first.
Without missing a beat, Ash kicked him swiftly in the side.
'How does it feel you son of a bitch! To-see-what-it-fucking feels like!'
He kicked over and over, adrenaline adding fire to his pent of fury.
Ash kicked him one last time, and felt no satisfaction as he felt Giovanni's ribcage give out on the right side.
The boss was bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and the grey suit he wore was completely disheveled.
But Ash took no notice of the little details.
He drew his knife and kicked Giovanni over so that he lay on his back, and when he was able, he pinned his shoulders down with his knees.
"I'm not going to kill you yet," He growled, "I can't bring myself to... God I can't! Not until you tell me why you chose me out of everyone! Why me!?"
His body shook from the rush, but he maintained control as Giovanni coughed up blood.
The boss had a crooked grin come across his face, "Oh! You would like to know wouldn't you 008?" He coughed, "but I know, that you can't kill me until you get that informat-GAH!"
Before he had finished, Ash had opened Giovanni's left hand wide open and cut his thumb, spraying them both with blood, "DO YOU WANT TO KEEP GOING!?"
"It's amazing how far you've come Ash, from that naive little trainer with his Pikachu from Pallet Town, to Sinnoh League Champion, and now Team Rockets finest weapon!"
"Why me?" He hissed, "Because I knew Mewtwo-" Ashs eyes flashed in remembrance with a question which Mewtwo had requested he ask, "how did you even remember him? Your memory was wiped along with everyone else s about the events at Mt. Quena!"
"My memory may have been wiped, but all of our electronics remained untouched. Files, documents, videos! We had everything from the events on that mountain!"
"Is that why you chose me? Because of my connection with Mewtwo, because I foiled your plans back then?"
"You'd like to know wouldn't yo-" Giovanni had a sharp in take of breath as his middle and ring fingers were severed from his hand.
"It wasn't then? Because that, other then those three idiots of yours, is the only interaction with Team Rocket I fucking had! So tell me Gio, what strange desire did you have to kidnap a fourteen year old to become the face of your fucking organization?"
He didn't know.
He couldn't fucking figure it out.
Why him.
Why
Why
WHY!?
"Why did you ruin my life!?"
Ash felt, a small part of him regretting asking that question as a glint entered Giovanni's eye.
"Ruined your life? Oh no Ash... No... Your life is far from ruined, not quite yet, not until I say it is."
Ash cut his forefinger, "And why's that!?"
Giovanni snarled, "Because you haven't killed me yet, because when- no if you do. Every action you ever took will come to face, your life will be in ruins the moment my heart stops beating... Because, everything you knew in this world, everything you believed and trusted was played by my hand!"
"Bullshit!"
But the crooked, evil grin he had only seen once before long ago, made him run cold.
"Then why won't you kill me?"
"BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME THE TRUTH!"
"I have no obligation to inform you of my plans,"
His anger and frustration was bubbling, he felt like he was on his final threads of composure, "Then tell me Gio, fucking tell me if I hand over your precious fucking clone! You want Mewtwo well fucking fine I'll hand him over,"
"Mewtwo is in a fight of it's own at the moment," Giovanni growled, "you don't believe I'd be so unprepared to take you both in do you?"
'MEWTWO! MEWTWO RESPOND!'
Seconds ticked by and he felt his unease spike.
He rolled off of Giovanni, and grabbed him buy the collar, dragging him out the door he had entered, and towards the staircase the woman had brought him up on in the first place.
They scaled it, Ash pulling Giovanni violently up the staircase until they reached the final floor.
Ash kicked the door open and pushed Giovanni out first.
It took great restraint to keep his hands from losing their grip on the boss.
Overhead, hundreds of Rockets flew on Pokemon backs, spiraling twirling and evading attacks which sprung from thin air.
Explosions rippled across the sky as Mewtwo dropped assailant after assailant to the canyon below.
'Where did they all come from...'
They had scouted miles within the HQ's range, and saw no force this strong.
None at all-
"You're defeat does not only end here," Giovanni said in the calm voice which he knew so well, "Mewtwo will be brought into our custody, while you... You're world crumbles down around you."
'Fuck answers!'
Ash released his hold on Giovanni and grabbed his side arm, snapping off the safety and placing the barrel to the back of Giovanni's skull.
But then the gun was kicked away from his hand, sailing over his head and off the edge of the building.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Ash..."
The soft voice which reached his ears caused him to go limp.
'No...' He felt an immense pressure in the corner of his eyes, and forced himself to swallow the lump which had formed in his throat.
He willed himself to not believe the voice he had heard, but as he turned his gaze to the left, his legs gave out beneath him.
"A-Aly...?" Her name caught in his throat as he stared at Alyssa in horror.
Alyssa stared back at him, through her bangs he saw her bright blue eyes.
She looked perfect. As if she hadn't been in a coma when he left her.
She was healthy, fit, his...
His best friend...
She walked over to Giovanni and stood beside him, her face emotionless.
"001," He greeted, "your timing is impeccable."
"No..."
She merely nodded at Giovanni.
"She...You can't be..."
He refused to believe it. She didn't... No she wasn't with Team Rocket. He would have known long ago, he would have confronted her! She was genuine with her actions and feelings!
"You never lied, Aly... You never lied to me! You aren't with Team Rocket!" His voice grew hoarse, "You can't be..."
"She has been since the beginning," Giovanni answered for her taking a step and delivering a swift kick to his side, "Undercover to keep tabs on you,"
Ash stared at her from where he lay crumpled on the ground, behind her explosions rippled across the sky, and Pokemon and Grunts fell thousands of feet towards the ground.
"But..."
"She's been my 001 for years now-"
He knew Alyssa like the back of his hand.
She wasn't a double-0, it was impossible!
"She can't be! She's to weak, she can't work in those kind of conditions! I would know, I know dammit! A double-o wouldn't stand for the hell she went through!"
"It's true-"
Ash silenced her with a cry of denial, "It can't be! I checked! You haven't been with Team Rocket long enough to have become an Elite! Your skills are inadequate, your body is to-"
Giovanni kicked him in the ribs once more, "You know of the lengths we go through to get what we want," He said looking up to the sky, where a blue streak, Mewtwo, sped overhead, "and don't believe for a second that you are the first subject of our memory manipulation experiments."
Wincing he looked between them both, "W-What?"
Giovanni's lip quirked upwards and looked to Alyssa who stood emotionless at his side, "To plant, or wipe a persons memory can be done with ease. To plant the memories of a daughter and wife that a man does not have into his mind is child's play."
W-What?
That...
That was impossible.
He had gone to Orre to meet...
He had met Alyssa's father months ago, he had gone to the old shanty of a home they had lived in, and had seen the photos of the young blond with her mother and father.
He had heard the remorse, anger, and sadness in her dads voice as he recounted the days leading up to Alyssa's sudden disappearance.
There...
There was no way that those emotions, those tears had been fake...
They couldn't have been...
"Then her... Family? Her dad in Pyrite?" He looked to Alyssa as he said it, "I visited him! I met-"
"An old member of Team Rocket with no significance," Giovanni stated simply, "a man who thought to abandon us to live with a women he met during a heist."
"You killed her?"
Giovanni flashed a grin, but did not respond, "Then... Who..." He looked to Alyssa, "Who are you?"
She remained quiet, and looked to Giovanni waiting for him to respond.
"It's not surprising that you haven't figured it out yet," Giovanni said walking over to the edge of the building and looking out on the battles raging out overhead, "but since you... Terminated 009, have brought Mewtwo within my grasps... I think you may deserve a reward."
A reward for killing Domino.
Domino.
His most prized Elite, the best of the best.
The one who did everything for him, who she obeyed no matter the cost.
Giovanni wanted to reward him for killing her!?
Growling Ash got to his feet and took an aggressive step towards Giovanni, "You piece of shi-AH!"
Alyssa's foot connected with his gut, making him double over clutching his stomach.
Giovanni continued on as if nothing had happened, "Domino and Mewtwo, well they go hand in hand with 001. I believe you know everything there is to know with Domino, how I found her alone on the streets when she was no more then 5 years old."
Ash stared at him silently, "How I had her trained after she tried to steal my wallet, how I made her into the perfect Rocket. Well it was that perfection, that made her perfectly eligible to be recruited into our experimentation's,"
"W-What?"
Giovanni turned to look at him, "Mewtwo was not our first attempt at cloning," He said bitterly, "thousands of tests had been done, all of them failures. We cloned Pokemon, animals, insects, people. Each time was a failure. A mutation, defect, abnormality in each of them... But then one of our scientists, Dr. Fuji-"
Ash remembered the goatee man well, the Rocket had been the one to administer the IV drips and whatever else they had used when wiping his memory.
"cloned his daughter, dubbed Amber-two by the researchers. Unlike all of our other attempts, she lived. Not a single side effect of the cloning process, she was a normal little girl. We were all surprised. Surprised enough that when she died two years later her heart stopped beating. She died."
"What does this have to do with Domino?"
"The year she died had been two since Domino had joined us. She was a perfect physical specimen. And her DNA was remarkably identical, if not superior to the original Ambers. So we took her DNA, and cloned her."
"It was a success. The resulting clone, although a few genetic differences which were altered during the process, was our first success. But we learned she was different then Domino because of the cloning process. She was physically weaker, shared no memories with her like we had originally envisioned. She was unfit for duties."
Ash wasn't dumb enough to not realize where Giovanni was leading this, and saw the ending easy enough.
But the entire...
Concept of the idea was...
Unimaginable.
Sure... They were the same height, had the same hair color, facial structure...
And...
And...
Taste...
He kissed them both. It had been remarkably the same.
He just never thought about it.
"But to remove her from the organization would be a waste. So I had her sent to the Orange Island Academies where she grew up."
But... She had only been here for two years before being sent to-
"But the academies are-"
"The Orange Island Academy is for underdeveloped recruits. Medically superior to all others. There were few who were enrolled there, and those who were, had... Disabilities which limited them to specific field work... But ten years after her enrollment, you came into the picture. And we had the perfect position for her to partake in."
"She was sent to Ecruteak Academy to keep tabs on you, but after an unexpected development... Well Ash, you know the rest."
His mind was reeling.
The...
The entire idea sounded surreal.
The person he grew up with didn't do what she did on orders...
She had laughed, smiled, and cried on her own accord...
Not because some guy ordered her to!
Ash looked up to Alyssa as he rose to his knees, "So... You're a-"
"Clone." Her head tilted miniscule as she confirmed his words.
He stared at her.
Her unmoving posture, the emotionless face, and dead blue eyes.
They didn't shine like they always did.
There was no light behind them, no... Sense of humanity.
He couldn't believe it.
He wouldn't believe it!
Even though he knew it was the truth...
"So now what?" He asked looking at Giovanni, "are you going to kill me? Wipe my memory again? What?"
Giovanni kept silent, black eyes fastened on him.
"I'm not kind enough to allow such an end to all of this yet." He said looking away from him and to Alyssa, "001, punish him."
Before the words had registered with him, Alyssa's foot had connected with the side of his skull, sending him rolling.
He didn't fight back as she kicked, and punched him repeatedly. Shoving him against the shut door to the roof where she brutalized him.
His lip was bleeding, and his nose was oozing blood. He figured it was broken.
She held him to the door, her hand grasping his throat beneath his chin.
The entire time his eyes remained fastened on her blue.
He couldn't figure out what Giovanni was going to do.
He was in his custody, and judging from Mewtwo's slowing pace in the sky, the same could be said for the legendary.
But was there really a use for him anymore?
If there was.
He had no idea what it was.
It would be best to remove the threat before it endangered everyone once again, so that very well could be what would happen.
And knowing Giovanni, he'd probably have Alyssa do it-
Her lips moved.
Not a sound escaped them.
And although he had never fully grasped reading lips, he had understood.
She kneed him in the gut, followed by a kick which sent him rolling towards Giovanni.
The boss walked towards him, and used his foot to turn his head to look up to him.
He seemed rather unimpressed, "Even after everything you've gone through, with your goal in reach, you give up at the very end. You and I both know, that even with that arm of yours you could defeat 001 in a fight, the same goes for me. But you won't, because you've fallen for your biggest weakness. Affection Ash, is what brought you here. What brought you to Team Rocket,"
What?
"What are you talking about..."
"Once Mewtwo is in our hold, you'll under go the memory wipe once more, as will it. We found faults in our tests, which led to your hallucinations. We have repaired those. You two will become partners, and then you will accept your right to face off against the Sinnoh Elite Four. You two will win, and then you will face the Master. I repeat, you will win."
Ash stared at Giovanni in confusion, "You really did plan to take over the League."
"In this world, there is no wider known position then Master and Champion. Presidents, governors, senates... They hold power, but compared to the power a Master has... Someone who is adored by the world, they can lead a revolution. And to have the Champions of the world backing them with support, slowly at first will the citizens follow, will they take the side of the Master to fight the government."
Giovanni crouched down in front of him, bringing his face within inches of his own, "While you may be Master, you will serve and obey me. You will be my puppet, speaking for me while my existence is known only by a direct few. Team Rocket will rule the world, but no one, will know."
He would think about this later on, and realized how ridiculous the entire plot seemed. But he also realized that it was all possible.
All it takes it one speech.
One action.
And with a snap of the fingers, tens if not hundreds of thousands would follow you.
It had happened before during the wars, politics, the economy.
For it to happen again is not something to be surprised about.
The saying was true.
It only takes one man to change the world.
"It was not because of you though, that you were brought to Team Rocket." Giovanni said standing back up, "you may not have had ties with Team Rocket in the past, but before you were born. Your father certainly did."
"My dad is a Trainer-"
Giovanni barked out a laugh, "Your dad is dead son," He said darkly, "before you were born your father ran wild with Team Rocket. He wasn't apart of the Rocket you know of. He was a member of Rocket that only the world knows of. The thieving, Pokemon stealing organization. He didn't know of the behind the scenes like you did up until you were brought in. But unfortunately, he knew enough to be able to desert us, and hand us over to the police for his own freedom."
Comprehending what was being told to him was hard, but he didn't argue the fact. He could deny and deny, and he could never accept that was the truth. But why would he? He knew fact from fiction, lie from truth.
So why not face it?
Why not accept it and move on?
"Why?"
"Because he found a lover," Giovanni said checking his wristwatch, "he wanted the chance to start a family, and have a normal life-"
Ash shut his eyes tightly and spat out, "But you wouldn't allow that would you? You found him some how and had him killed because he abandoned you all-"
"Yes, but more so that he turned us over to the government. His betrayal set us back 30 years in our plans, so we took our revenge. Because of your father, my mother died in prison, and our organization was in ruins. Call me petty, but before I had him killed, I learned that he had had a son. So before I shot him in the skull, I told him not to worry. That I would watch over you, and that when the time was right... You would join us."
"You chose me because of him..."
"You don't sound so upset about the fact," He remarked.
Ash grimaced as he tried to stand, "I never knew him, he was around the first year before he became a Trainer... Or I guess that was a lie by my mom to cover up... So really, I have no attachment towards him what-so-ever."
An explosion cracked in the sky, and the shock wave made him take a step back. The blue streak shot past overhead, and when it was over top of them, a streak of lightning collided with it.
Mewtwo was like a meteor as it diverged off of it's original path out of his view behind the building on the ground.
"Tell me one last thing," He muttered, casting his eyes to the ground.
"And that is?"
He lifted his eyes, and met Giovanni's, "Alyssa is a... Double agent of yours? Acting on your orders to pretend to be against you?"
"How do you think we knew of all of your movements? Your plans? It was all because of her?"
Ash nodded to himself and glanced back towards the blond who watched them both, "Well... She really is amazing isn't she?"
He heard Giovanni reply, "
"In more ways than one," Ash looked away from her, and to Giovanni, a malicious grin on his face.
The Rocket Boss's eyebrows dropped like thunder, and he took a step back, not liking the expression which had fallen on Ash's face.
"001 apprehend Ketchum this moment."
To Ash's surprise, Alyssa apprehended Ash, and Giovanni smiled maliciously at Ash.
"Affection is truly a weakness."