Poppin' Arms ~ Holding Cells

[Namohysip]

"Don't trust the cameras," Giovanni repeated. "In other words, you don't know who at least one spy is. I know which one wiped that footage, of course." He shrugged, then smirked, whether or not Starr was looking. It was audible in his voice. Cocky, confident, something between the two. He had no power, didn't he?

"Want a hint?" he asked, eyes trained on her. The book was still rotating near his head. "We could call this one... a freebie."

 

[Chibi Pika]

God damn it. What Starr wouldn't have given to punch him in the face right this instant. She tried imagining it. It wasn't as satisfying as she'd hoped.

He wouldn't tell her anything that wouldn't benefit him. Regardless of whether or not it was a lie. It could even be a truth that had the potential to make them do something stupid. Ignoring him was best.

...

"Tell me," Starr said. Her voice was cold, level, firm. No emotion allowed. Like the old days.

 

[Namohysip]

There was that glint in his eyes again, and Giovanni took a step back with his arms behind him. His tail flicked to the left. "One of them," said Giovanni, "is not who they say they are. One of your precious allies... has been dead for quite a while. To die so easily... they were weak. But at least now, their likeness is... more useful."

 

[Chibi Pika]

So not a traitor at all, if he was to be believed. An impostor. Starr hadn't gotten to know a lot of their Cibusian allies as well as her teammates had. Some of them... wouldn't take it well if they heard.

Diyem already knew it wasn't any of his recruits. Giovanni didn't need to know that.

"Are you saying you killed them?"

 

[Namohysip]

Giovanni tapped his chin, like he was considering answering that, or perhaps, more likely, what he would ask for in return. "I did say only the first piece of information would be free," he said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself next? For example... the reason you seem to be so interested in me in particular." He smirked. "You certainly know that I'm not your real father. It's not healthy, obsessing over alternate versions of him."

So, the spy had told him that, too, then...

 

[Chibi Pika]

On the outside, Starr's face was a cold, hard, unbroken stare. On the inside, she had to stifle the urge to scream.

He knew. How the fuck did he know. Sure, he had spies, but where the hell would the spies have heard it from?

Wait. Not many people knew. That fact alone narrowed it down, didn't it? Brisa and Cabot obviously, but neither of them would've gone around talking about it where spies could hear. There was Nate, but he'd been one of the most adamant about hunting down the spies, right? And then, at the same time Nate learned, there was--

SILVER.

Her eye probably twitched there. She could pass it off as anger. He'd be expecting her to be angry. She let her fists shake to accentuate it.

"I know you're not him. You've got more power than he ever did. And I was hired to stop you."

It was the obvious response. She even let her breath hitch a little. He was getting under her skin, wasn't he? He'd like that.

 

[Namohysip]

There was another glint in his eyes, but then it seemed to dim with a mild sense of confusion. But that went away next, and he tilted his head for a smirk. Boisterous, almost. "And it seems that you have succeeded. You have stopped me. Joule is no longer in my control. Darkwhite is... well. I'm sure you'll find out soon. And of course, my spies no longer have direction. But that does not mean they aren't a threat."

Giovanni leaned in, studying Starr again. "All I wanted was Eternatus to complete my plans elsewhere. I have been chasing it down for quite some time. All of this... does not matter, compared to that, and I suppose when this is over, I will have no choice but to cut my losses and find another, rare as they are. But I am no longer the great threat to Cibus, am I? No. Like I said before, my spies may not be working with me any longer. I am holding out for them to prove themselves later... but should that one get what they desire, you will be in an even greater peril.

"Unless, of course, you release me. Perhaps then I will help."

 

[Chibi Pika]

He'd been chasing Eternatus down. Was that why she'd come here? To hide? To recover? If that was true, then he'd only ever come here to get her. That was... the only reason Team Spectrum was here as well.

And the spies that had turned against him. She'd been assuming they'd gotten cold feet and tried to get out. That they'd deserted him. But now he was trying to pass them off as the real threat. Of course he was.

She took a step toward the cell. Distantly, as though she hadn't meant to. "Help in what way?" Still the cold voice, but with just a hint of a curious tilt. It wouldn't make sense for her to be convinced so quickly. She had to ease into it.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa's loping gait turned into a run as she approached the Guild from the park. Starr hadn't texted back a reply acknowledging that Brisa was coming, and she couldn't help imagining spies storming the cells or Giovanni pulling some bullshit scheme, or– or something! She muscled past some civilians and weaved by others. She had one hell of a bad feeling about this.

Dave was approaching the guild entrance as she drew near.

"Dave!" called Brisa, bounding to catch him.

He looked up at her, said something in greeting, made his usual expression of awkward discontent.

"Inside," barked Brisa. Dave looked askance, but he followed her all the same.

The cells had nobody present who oughtn’t to be there. Just Giovanni in his prison where he belonged, and Starr, with a neutral, impassive expression, paws lightly balled into fists, listening to Giovanni talk.

Brisa listened too until he finished, turneing her penetrating vision on the mewtwo in the cell, as if his body might hold anything but flesh and blood. As she did, she pulled up alongside Starr and tried to make eye contact for a moment. To give a small nod that meant I've got you.

 

[Dragonfree]

Brisa's text had been terse and urgent, which was a definite improvement over the way she'd used to text like she was dictating a letter from the 1800s and he was very proud of her, but made her sound pretty tense. He was already wary on his way to the guild, and when he bumped into her outside looking like she wanted to bore holes through the building, not even responding to his "Hey," ordering him inside like a misbehaving child due for a scolding, he was starting to wonder if she was doing the thing again.

No time to ask, though. Giovanni was inside, and although he was a little apprehensive, he honestly couldn't wait to come face to face with the fucker locked up and stripped of his power and get a good sniff of exactly what he was capable of. (He noted abstractly that he hadn't felt the Poochyena panic instinct since he'd evolved. Wasn't going to miss that one.)

The only people in the holding cells area were Giovanni, in his cell, looking smug as ever, and Starr, huge, giving him an impassive stare as he talked, looking every bit the part of the prison guard. He approached the cell silently, concentrating on his nose.

Dave used Odor Sleuth!

 

[Namohysip]

It was, as far as Brisa could tell, similar enough to Karat's body that there was nothing of note to discern otherwise. To Dave, there was nothing strange about his scent, though it seemed that, just barely, he seemed to be hiding hints of perspiration. Stress, irritation, impatience, it could have been anything. But he was not as calm as his demeanor otherwise suggested.

Giovanni, meanwhile, smiled a little wider, a little uncharacteristically expressive of him. "Simple," he said. "You release me, and I go on my way. Cut my losses and leave Cibus alone for the rest of its days. I will tell you the identity of every single spy, what they're doing, and why. You get to save Cibus, destroy the Blacklight, and all of your other... heroic acts.

"And I will then leave you all... alone."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave barked a chuckle. "Yeah, nice try, dumbass." He glanced back at Brisa, can you believe this shit, only to find her glaring at him. What was her problem? No way did she actually--

...Oh. No. She was thinking of Spirit's Edge, wasn't she.

He clenched his jaw, bit back the words he wanted to say, just turned a scowl at Giovanni. Brisa was hanging back in a very intentional way, deferring to Starr, for whatever reason. Why was Starr important? He couldn't tell for the life of him, but one way or another he suspected Brisa would never let him hear the end of it if he didn't let her take the lead. He glanced up at the Incineroar for a reaction. Concentrated warily on her scent.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Starr's ears swiveled to the door, where Brisa and Dave had just walked in. Shit. This timing... wasn't the best. But she hadn't gotten the chance to text Brisa and tell her to hold up. And at the very least, it meant that Dave could pick up on some bullshit. Hopefully.

She nodded to the two, eyes lingering on Brisa's for just a moment, and then turned back to face Giovanni. "So you're saying if we only knew who they were, we'd be able to stop them no problem. Makes it sound like they'd have been pushovers."

Dave wouldn't sense any strong hints of stress from Starr, but that wasn't to say they weren't there. Rather, there was an air of powerful restraint, like every ounce of concentration was going toward maintaining perfect composure. She wasn't allowing herself to give an inch.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Starr knew what she was doing. There was a world of difference between the wild fury Starr had shown just as she'd become a torracat and the sheer focus she was showing now. She'd got a grip. Good.

It wasn't enough to let her relax, but it was enough to keep her hackles down and her teeth un-bared. Enough to believe that Starr had a plan.

Brisa bit back a comment about Gio's offer. Flashed Dave a hard glance when he started up with his typical contemptuous dismissal. Don't give him anything.

 

[Namohysip]

"Humph..." Giovanni's smirk remained despite his apparent disapproval. "I thought you would have known better. I hate the weak. As if I would recruit them as part of my cause if they couldn't pull their weight. No. Knowing who they are... would merely give you a fighting chance. If you remain in the dark... Perhaps a lot more than Cibus would be in danger. Now, what would you rather have?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Well, that was one similarity between this Giovanni and the one she knew. He didn't seem to be bluffing on that. It was probably safe to assume they really were that strong. But Team Spectrum had beaten fucking Joule, so she wasn't all that impressed.

Starr allowed a bit of horror to creep into her stare. "You really think they'd be a threat to other worlds too?" Would he try to claim that her own word was screwed as well? That'd be something.

 

[Namohysip]

"Possibly," Giovanni said. "I was able to reach into whatever world Diyem hid in. It wouldn't be hard to reach further if they got more power... more knowledge. And greater intentions. I expand my empire... slowly. Carefully. In a way that is guarantees success. Others may be... more enthusiastic." Giovanni shrugged. "Who knows? It could become trouble for me one day. that is why I am offering to help you... should you take it. Or"--he stepped back, looking to the book, which flipped to the first page--"I will bide my time until I am free by other means."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Or we could end yer wretched life here, before you do worse harm to worlds elsewhere. You've forfeit all good faith already.

So much fer guaranteed success, when we have you beaten down an' captured. You've failed, an' we'll keep it that way.

Vague allusions an' conjecture are nothin' of substance when barterin' fer yer freedom. Give us somethin' real, you bastard.

Brisa bit her tongue. This wasn't that kind of argument. This wasn't why she was here.

Starr's got this. An' you've got her.

"How's our guest holdin' up in there?" she whispered to Dave, not taking her eyes off Giovanni.

 

[Chibi Pika]

For a moment, as Giovanni talked, Starr tried to imagine him as the one she knew. Well, slow and calculated was sure one thing they shared. But seriously... 'empire'? Get real. Then again, even if the scope was way off, it wasn't as though it had nothing in common with all that shit with the legends back home, all that propaganda about 'making a statement' or whatever the hell.

But that was then. This was now. If one of the traitors was the sort to pull some kind of hasty move to screw everyone over, well... Starr couldn't help feeling that improved the team's chances. And it would rule out any thoughts of blackmail or extortion, at least for one of them.

Starr let herself glance away slightly with a troubled look. "How do we know you'd keep your word if we let you go?" A bit of a predicatble question, but still worth asking.

God, Brisa and Dave didn't think any of this was real, did they? That'd be fucking embarrassing.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave could tell by his nose that Starr was acting, wasn't feeling the fear and apprehension telegraphed precisely in her body language, but if not it could've fooled him. Starr was way too practiced at this. What the hell. He watched her warily, half resisting the temptation to cut in, half too fascinated to want to.

At Brisa's whisper, he took a step back to mutter, "More nervous than he's letting on." Could Giovanni hear them? He half-wanted to comment on where on Earth Starr got this from, but he wasn't about to blow her cover as she was giving her Oscar-worthy performance. He concentrated on Giovanni's smell again, tried to detect any change.