Origin Story: Part 1 - Haunted by the Truth

CH18: Scheming Disorder

"It's great to see you here, Boss. We weren't expecting you so soon," the head Rocket agent of the base smiled sweetly, though Giovanni felt that something was off.

He noticed that there were about two grunts standing guard, only two, and usually his arrival would case a lot more uproar. But, he shifted his hand into his pocket, where he kept one of his strongest fighters, and he silently hoped that his persian would either get over to his side already or, at the very least, be helpful to his grunts standing outside. "My previous engagements were moved. Regardless, I hope you can show me your base of operations, Shane. This is rather new, right?"

"Indeed. We've only been up in operations for six months. Mainly used to resupply the cargo ships, but we also store some of the stolen goods as well," the agent explained, leading the man into the shabby building.

The man kept a calm look on his face, but he could tell something was wrong. Not only could he feel it in his nerves, but the lights in the building were turned off, with the only light coming in through the front doors. As soon as the doors closed behind him the world went dark around him, his eyes glaring from behind his shades, noticing that Agent Shane had suddenly distanced himself from him.

He heard people shifting from all four sides towards him, and with an irritated snort he suddenly shifted downward, kicking out his right foot as he placed his hands upon the ground, causing a young man to yelp as he was tripped underneath his feet, and with a swift kick he spun, kicking another approaching man right in the face. He held up his bare hands, gripping them into fists, and noticing the hesitation of his opponents, he smirked and suddenly spun on his heel, kicking the nearest young man in the face and causing him to fly into a box of crates and overturned barrels.

But before he could do anything else, he heard a gunshot, barely missing the side of his face as one stray light turned on in the building, revealing a man he wished he wasn't seeing. "Antonio," he growled underneath his breath, while the man simply smirked slyly in reply.

"Giovanni. I wasn't expecting to see you till tomorrow –"

"What's the meaning of this?" he snorted, his hand shifting into his pocket while he turned his other half to face the man, hoping the boy didn't notice his movement. "What have you done?"

"You let down your guard, Giovanni. You left your little~ hidden base to come out into the open. Why not try to take you out? And while I'm at it," the man smirked slyly, placing his hand upon a stack of crates beside him, with his gun aimed towards the older man's face, "maybe take a little apprentice~ while I'm at it."

"Apprentice? What are you talking about? –"

"Don't be a fool. I'm talking about that girl you've been looking for. My spies told me you are searching for a little girl, and at first I didn't think anything of it, but then I remembered you have a son~" he grinned crudely, causing the man to huff in response.

"You leave the girl out of this –"

"Gio, Gio," he grinned darkly, slowly walking up to the slightly taller man with his gun pointed at the man's head, "you are in no~~ position to start making demands. Besides, you walked into my~ territory. What did you think would happen? Huh??"

"I think your ego is getting too big for that brain of yours, Antonio," Giovanni huffed, not daring to flinch away from the gun that was pointed right at his head, refusing to show the man any weaknesses. "... What do you expect to accomplish? You really think taking me out will place you at the head of Team Rocket?"

"No, but I have enough of your followers~ on my side to make it fairly easy. You made a mistake in betraying me, Giovanni, and now –"