Red returned the Team Rocket HQ a few days later, earlier than planned. He had wanted to stay with Yellow longer, but more pressing matters had prevented it. He sat down by the desk in the communications room next to his office, pressing the receive button. Blue was already waiting on the other end, and she looked angry and disappointed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"Shield destroyed. No priority targets," she replied. Red nodded, understanding her anger. 'Shield' was the codeword for the Masked Rocket base. High priority targets meant Will and Karen.

"Secondary targets?"

"Two down, one on the way back," Blue reported. That was good, at least. Losing three higher ranking members would sting for the Masked Rockets, and having one to interrogate would be good for Red and his own team. While Blue was searching for Kanto bases, Janine was in Johto. She had found a smaller base there, but still no clue to where the HQ was.

"Are you coming back as well?" he asked, but Blue shook her head.

"No, we've found a second base outside of town. I'll report when done. Our electrical friend will return with the package."

Red smiled. They had no official codeword for Surge, but Blue did not like or trust the man, so she avoided saying his name if she could. It was a partnership born from necessity, just like his partnership with Team Rocket in general.

Surge returned with the captured Masked Rocket member just a few hours later, obviously having left long before Blue reported in. Red was unsure if he should reprimand her for the delay, or let it slip. He decided on the latter. She had been doing well, and he had not needed the information earlier anyways. Instead, he turned his attention to the man in the interrogation chair.

"Welcome," he said. The man gave him an angry glare, lips pressed tightly together. "Not feeling like talking? Too bad, that's what we're here for."

"The toxin is ready," Janine told him. She was standing next to a table by the wall, syringe in hand. She was barely recognizable with the lab coat, oversized protective gloves and face mask.

"Toxin?" the Masked Rocket gasped. "What ya mean toxin? I demand that you-"

"Demand?" Red asked, laughing. "No. You tell me what I want to know, or we inject you with this toxin. It'll give you horrible pain. In the end, you'll be begging us for the small mercy of death. I truly hope we can avoid that."

"What? You're insane! Giovanni would never-"

"Giovanni is gone," Red interrupted, his voice now cold. "I run this place now, and I find it hard to believe Giovanni would not torture someone if he had to. Actually, how would you know about that? Surge?"

"It is possible this man was in Team Rocket during the Giovanni era," Surge replied, shrugging.

"I remember you!" the man shouted. "I remember you! Please help me!"

Surge glanced at the man, his face a mask of contempt. Red knew Surge better than that though. The large man was uneasy. This was something far different from what they used to do, before Red took over.

"Just tell me what I need to know," Red sighed, leaning against the wall. "Start with your name."

"Eric Gunt," the man muttered.

"Grunt?" Surge asked, laughing.

"Gunt!" the man wailed back, trying to turn towards Surge, who had walked around to stand behind the chair. "I've punched men for that joke in the past!"

"Good for you," Red said sarcastically. "Where is the Masked Rocket base?"

"You destroyed it," Gunt answered, pursing his lips. "You ruined everything I worked so hard for. Ruined it!"

"Not that pathetic excuse for a base. The main one. The HQ."

"You think they'd tell me?" Gunt laughed. "I'm just a grunt."

"Janine, tell our friend about the toxin."

"It starts hurting after an hour. The pain has been described as equal to having needles pushed into every nerve ending on your body. After three hours, the victim's organs start shutting down. Small doses of antidote can prolong the time before that happens for up to four hours more."

"Well, that gives you up to seven hours of horrible pain," Red commented. In reality, only the part about the toxin being extremely painful was true. The body would automatically flush it from the bloodstream after a few hours, expelling the leftovers as sweat and other bodily fluids. He would have prefered not to have to torture someone, but speed was of the essence. Once the Masked Rockets knew they had taken one of their higher ranking members prisoner...

"Where is the base?" Red asked again, while Janine injected the toxin. Gunt stared at him, his fear-filled eyes betraying the calm face.

"Go to hell," Gunt gasped, flinching. The toxin was starting to take effect.

"Tell me where the base is," Red repeated. Gunt tried to spit on him, but drooled on his shirt instead. His pupils dilated, and he gave a wordless scream of pain. Red almost smiled, knowing this particular battle was as good as won. He turned to Janine. "Increase the dose."

"Sir?" Janine asked, frowning. She had told him before they started that too large doses might cause heart failure. She was too diciplined to mention this in front of the prisoner, but she was clearly hesitating. Gunt, however, had turned a sickly grey.

"Please," he whispered. "Please don't. I'll tell you. I'll tell you, just... No more pain."

"Very good," Red said, nodding. The scare tactic had worked. "Give him something for the pain, Janine." She gave him a sour look, but did as told. Gunt blinked a few times, licking his lips.

"Listen, I don't know where the main base is, I swear!" the Masked Rocket told him. "I've got something just as good though, maybe even better!"

"Such as?"

"Coordinates for the Masked Rocket map and comm center in Johto," the man replied. "It's a place that will let you see most base locations and ongoing operations."

Red closed his eyes, nodding to himself. Such a place could exist, if the Masked Rockets were less paranoid than his own organization. If it did, it would be the biggest mistake the enemy had done so far... and a very lucky break for Team Rocket. If he could get more men, he could take that base and launch secondary strikes against multiple enemy bases at once. Maybe they could even find the main enemy headquarters.

"Surge, take the coordinates from him and check them. Put our guest here in one of our largest cells, he's earned it."

"Yes, sir. And you?"

"I've got some planning to do. I'll call you when I need you," Red replied, sweeping from the room. He had not originally wanted to use torture, but now he was happy he had. If the information they had gotten was correct, it might have won them a major victory. "The ends justify the means," he sighed to himself, heading for his office. It would be another long night.