Adventure's Past

Chapter 27 - Imprisoned

As Goh walked right behind, he looked around and noticed that there were more doors in different directions. "Where do those go?" He asked, pointing towards the gray painted doors. "Eh?" The guard grumbled, looking where Goh was pointing. "Oh, those are the other prisoners. We don't pay much mind to them, that's the jobs of the higher-ranked officers," he explained.

"Interesting..." Goh mumbled, making a mental note to remember where the criminals were. They reached the end of the hallway where a supposedly higher-ranked officer was stationed. "Going to see the scum today?" He asked the lower-ranked guard, who nodded and pointed at Goh. "He's coming along."

The officer raised an eyebrow, but waved his card in front of the security scanner, not asking any questions about Goh's presence. "Proceed," he stated, earning a nod from the guard and a side glance from Goh. Once they had gotten through, Goh could already see Giovanni; he was in the middle of the highly empty room, surrounded by extremely powerful windows and multiple security measures.

"I'll wait right here while you talk to him," The guard said, standing by the door. The distance from the door to the middle of the box-shaped room was noticeably long, most likely to ensure no chance of escape. "Would it be too hard for you to leave?" Goh asked. "It's top-secret information that the Professor needs from him."

The guard had a suspecting look on his face but sighed. "You seem like you wouldn't cause any trouble, so fine," he replied, stepping outside of the door, but still peering in through a small slit in the door. Goh smirked as he turned around. As long as the wretch doesn't hear my conversation, he thought to himself.

Giovanni was slumped over on a steel bench, unaware of Goh approaching him. It was only when he heard the banging on the window that he looked up and was met with the sight of the boy. At first, he didn't recognize him, until the memory of that fateful battle came rushing back to him. "You're that boy who helped stop my conquest," he said in a vile tone.

"You had that fire rabbit... thing. It stopped my Pokemon. You stopped me from ruling the world." He got up and stomped over to where Goh was calmly standing outside of the cell, punching the glass. He yelled out of fury and pain, quickly grabbing his fist and rubbing it. "What do you want? Can't you see I've already been caught?" He asked in a pained tone.

Goh chuckled and began smiling madly; his time as Mewtwo had been so utterly torturous and painful because of the man in front of him, so to see his own horrible experience projected onto the main cause of it was so incredibly satisfying. "What's funny, boy? Got something to say?" Giovanni asked, almost threatening Goh, who looked up and stared back at him.

"Magnolia."

That single, seemingly meaningless word seemed to physically punch Giovanni in the gut, as he fell to his knees and began gasping for air. "H-How do you know about that?" He said fearfully. "The only other being to know about that code word is Mewtwo." Goh leaned down to Giovanni's level and whispered, "Exactly."

Goh couldn't explain it, but there were so many emotions that cycled through Giovanni at that moment. It was neither fear nor sadness, but an odd mixture of both that resulted in Giovanni crying out, "Mewtwo? How are you inside of the boy?" Goh raised an eyebrow, surprised that Giovanni had already figured out his identity so quickly.

"So you do remember that code word?" Goh asked confidently. "Of course," Giovanni replied, standing up, still clutching his fist. "It's supposed to stop you from attacking me," he explained, eyeing Goh in awe. "By completely shutting down my entire body," Goh added, squinting his eyes at Giovanni.

"How are you even alive? The shock from being detached from the Zygarde core should have killed you?" Giovanni asked, pacing around his cell. "You clearly never understood my limits," Goh replied. "Of course, I lived through it. I just left as soon as I could to avoid the horribleness of humans."

"But where? Where did you leave to?" The question was a burning one; one that had plagued Giovanni's mind for years. "Away from humans. Away so that I could grow my strength and knowledge," Goh replied. "And now, I'm here in this form so that I may confront you in a way that seems proper."

"Why mention the codename? You didn't need to prove that you were Mewtwo by saying it," Giovanni asked, sitting down on his bench and covering his face with his hands. "I wanted to talk about Magnolia to show you how weak you were. The fact that you needed a failsafe in case I went berserk shows how much control you truly had over me."

Giovanni took a deep breath and looked up again; Goh no longer had a look on his face that resembled the boy that had rivaled him in the Cell War, but rather Mewtwo himself. It dawned on him that Mewtwo was correct. He truly had no control over him; instead, he only fueled the monster that was in front of him.

"Why come here? Why now?" Giovanni questioned Goh after a moment of silence. Pulling out the image of the fake Team Rocket members, Goh got closer to the window. "Is this your doing?" He asked in an interrogative manner. "Did you send these Team Rocket scum to do your desperate dirty work?"

Giovanni stood up and walked over, peering at Goh's phone. "These are new..." he grumbled underneath his breath. "I was told the entirety of Team Rocket crumbled your leadership?" Goh asked. "Is this untrue? Have you been conducting business through your containment?"

Giovanni shook his head and chuckled evilly. "No, I know exactly who's doing this," he answered proudly. "Well, tell me who it is and why they're doing it!" Goh yelled angrily; he had run out of patience and needed to know answers now. "They're putting a wrench in my plans to stop someone!"

"Calm down," Giovanni said, putting his hands up. "I don't know why they'd make an appearance, but I know they are." He began scratching his chin, which had grown a fair bit of stubble due to his confinement. "See, a few years ago, someone had managed to partially break in here to try to get me out."

"Really? Even with all this technology?" Goh asked, looking around. Despite his despising of humans, he did admittedly admire their technological advancements. Giovanni nodded and continued. "I remember them distinctively. Old Team Rocket members that I assume have gone and tried starting their own Team Rocket after my original one failed."

"And their names?" Goh questioned in anticipation. Giovanni closed his eyes and took a breath. "They were only here for a few minutes before the guards managed to drive them away, but I believe their names were Trent and Kiera." Goh nodded and closed his eyes. Trent and Kiera. I can't forget those names.

"Why do you need those names anyway? What harm are they causing you by trying to butcher my legacy?" Giovanni asked, pointing at Goh, who raised an eyebrow. "You're mad at them for trying to continue your legacy?" He asked in disbelief.

Giovanni raised his arms as if it was obvious. "Of course. Why do you think I didn't go with them when they tried to break me out?" He said conceitedly. Goh shook his head and turned his back. "I guess prison hasn't made you any better," he commented. "Not that any reforming will even matter in the long run."

"And why is that?" Giovanni asked, putting his hands against the window. "Because you and everyone else will hopefully be gone by the time you do become a better person," Goh replied, walking away from Giovanni, who realized what Goh had just said. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not done talking to you about what you should do with those wannabes!"

Goh scoffed and turned around as the guard began opening the door. "See you in hell, Giovanni!" He exclaimed with a level of passion and hatred that only a tortured being could elicit. As the guard walked over to Goh and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out, Giovanni sank to the floor, cursing himself for having involved himself with Mewtwo, to begin with.