Chapter 36 ; A New Dawn ; Part 2

Eli's eyes widened in disbelief, but the place he was in, the attitude and the solemn feeling of the simple-looking man in front of him... it was a hard pill to swallow, but he needed to play his cards right.

Eli's face didn't change as he nodded his head. Right now, he was playing chess on a fucking tightrope; a single mistake could lead him into a downward spiral.

"Your left leg is shaking." Giovanni looked down at their leg of Eli, which had been shaking out of the feeling of fear that the cat and the man had born down on him, even if it was passive and not a conscious decision. But his body had betrayed his mind, as Eli sucked in for air.

The air in the room felt thick, and the clock's ticking sound intensified.

"What.. what happened?" Eli's face did not change, but Giovanni slightly smiled at the stutter before taking a long sip of his coffee before standing up and re-adjusting his chair to face backward.

Eli tilted his head in confusion, seeing it before a large holographic screen appeared behind Giovanni, who pursed his lips seeing it.

A destructive red aura that consumed all life ahead of it on the large blue screen, ranging from flowers to even small pokemon, was caught up in it.

Eli raised his eyes in shock, although his face was still dull.

"Admin Arianna extracted you in the center of the red mass and even suffered a minor injury to her. Her power is incomparable to the rest of the admins, and it's quite an impressive feat for you to manage to force any injury onto her, much to her dismay that it did."

Although somebody would see it as a compliment, Eli knew the word's true meaning; he had made a potential enemy in a high place.

Eli's thought's about countermeasures were suddenly interrupted by a vulgar feeling coming out of his throat as Giovanni watched with his knuckles on his head.

Eli felt it claw its way up his throat before Giovanni muttered.

"Let's get down to Business, shall we?"

Eli felt the thick black-red mass come out of his mouth, spitting it onto a tissue he eagerly grabbed off his desk of Giovanni.

"You must have many questions; I'm sure about that." Giovanni chuckled, but his eyes were solemn and aloof, like he was looking down at a subject rather than a stranger. "But, let me tell you. You will die very, very soon." Giovanni's eyes sharpened, scanning Eli's face for subtle changes.

But he found none. A person getting told they are going to die would spark a reaction. But why not this boy?

"I gathered," Eli muttered, the fear he had before floating away replaced with a bout of confidence. "I'm surprised you thought I had the foolish idea that I would think I would come out of my plans alive." Eli's dark red eye's darkened.

Giovanni's poker face was suddenly betrayed by a large, bashful smile that caused Eli's hair to rise.

"I like your eyes, boy." Laughter filled the room before Giovanni held a piece of technology that Eli knew was called a "Tablet."

"Join team rocket and this tablet full of your data conducted by the best science team there is-"

"I accept."

Persian raised its head to hiss at the audacity of the boy in front of it, but Giovanni smiled.

"As expected of the son of -̸͉͖͚̜̠͂͆̏̌̈́-̵̩̮͖̲̔̋̈́̽͌͜-̷̖̠͔̺̀͛̈́̌͛͜-̵͚̦͉͉̇̆̾̋̾ͅ-̸̡̟̮̜̗̓͑̄͑̓-̷̻̥̦̗̣́͌̿̍͘-̵̢̰̦̯̳̍̌̍͠͠-̵͈̩̜̩̯̀̃̈́̏̌-̵̧̞͕͔̹̀̐͐̀͝-̶̦̮͉̙̭̌͂̆̄̚-̵̛̗̪̙̩͍̓̋͐̌"

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Eli's poker face instantly crumbled as chaos seeped throughout his body, making the room colder. Giovanni smiled, seeing this as he clicked his fingers.

Eli instantly returned to sanity before Giovanni nodded toward him.

"Welcome back."

"W-what happened to me?"

"You lost control, of course."

Eli looked around the room, confused, as he didn't remember the last three seconds.

"You are the sole survivor of the island. You will be given a Team Rocket member status, but.. an exception has been made for you. Since you are somewhat of a loose cannon that could explode and your origins in the slum and your somewhat crude training skills, you have been under mentorship with an extremely capable manager." Giovanni stated before passing over the tablet full of his biodata. "Do not be put under any impression; you are nothing more than a prisoner until we can determine more about you. Variables like you are what ruin a very delicate chain of being. Trust me, I've seen it before. You are dismissed."

Eli felt the pressure again, lifting him out of the chair and forcibly controlling his body to the exit.

The moment the door was shut, a shadow appeared in front of Giovanni before the somewhat small figure gave a bow, clamped their fist, and stretched their palms out, clumping them together.

"So I'm meant to teach this little shit?"

"My my, you not much older yourself to describe one as "little" and he's taller than you."

The figure clicked its tongue in annoyance before muttering.

"Easy to manipulate, has trauma relating to family issues and has a trigger word. He had unknown variables, such as his power and his ulterior motives. You sure we shouldn't just kill him?"

"Worry not , Janine."

"Whatever you say, boss. But I won't go easy on the kid."

"Do as you please."

Janine disappeared again, blending in with the shadows.