It's sickening. It reminds Gavin of Kanto, of a grisly reality to which he'd sooner bury in his past. Yet there exists a twisted sense of satisfaction, now, as he watches his sister mutilate the man who'd taken advantage of her.

"It'll be my turn next, Silph." Gavin looks up from the phone to stare coldly into the blank, oozing eye socket of Hoenn's famous business mogul. "You'll like that even less, I fear."

You hurt my sister.

But he does not offer up his reasoning for the hatred that burns so bright in his amber glare. Not yet. FERNANDO SILPH still had some time under the 'care' of Rocket's scientists and the M.A.G.M.A project before confidentiality could be assured.

Lulu Flint's voice draws Gavin away from her handiwork.

"So she says." Any other time, Gavin might've dismissed it for theatrics, but... "I've had no word from the boss."

In other words, I'm not worried about it, yet.

Katherine Fairburne's other texts don't concern him. Gavin hands the phone back to Lulu.

"If anyone can extract information, it's you. I doubt there'll be much, but..." His shoulders lift. And then he sneers. "But we'll strip him for parts, first."

THE MAGMA PROCEDURE

THE MODIFICATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF GENETICS TO MAGNIFY AVATARS

WHAT SHE TAKES FROM HIM is the only spoil he’ll relinquish. for she can exact her toll on his body. pain, torture, brute force. his body is nothing but a vessel that abides by the same laws of any other mortal. he bends and breaks like the rest of them.

but as sure as the pain numbers every nerve in his face, so does the fight she incur from him. his body continues to thrash within his confines. the constant spasms help pull his attention away from his still leaking wound.

“neevvveerrrrrrr.”

his voice starts to crack. his throat throbs, dry despite the dripple that pools around the edge of his lips.

“onnnnneeeeeee.”

nothing happens as they wheel him away. whatever it means, whatever he calls for, it goes unanswered. it’s just gibberish.

to everyone else.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Cillian Quinn Lulu Flint

THE MAGMA PROCEDURE

THE MODIFICATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF GENETICS TO MAGNIFY AVATARS

HIS POWERS ARE EXHAUSTED. team rocket’s MONSTER TRIO pushed him to his very limits. it’s the only reason he doesn’t gas them with tapu fini’s mist upon his awakening. their ambush in slateport is what saves gavin from having lulu slit his throat open.

if only he could summon just an ounce of his power. maybe then lulu would have realized the depth of his mercy.

“nev—”

his voice is inaudible from the soundproof room. from their previous experiments, the quinn siblings reveal just how potent their MAGMA machine can be. but even the porous padding that lines the wall cannot silence the croon of their laser.

his screams are overshadowed by the constant croon of the beam. it strikes him straight in the chest, forcing him to cough up MISTY TERRAIN. gas bleeds from his pores and the mist immediately sinks. lifeless. pitiful compared to how he used to summon it.

the power no longer binds to his will; they are forcing it from him.

harvesting it.

tapu fini’s last form of defense is to bust open the gate to the afterlife. the legendary pokemon may not be with him, desperately ushering ALEXANDER STONE deeper into rocket territory, but the powers hinge off fernando’s body.

eyes peer out from the sunken MISTY TERRAIN. soulless expressions form into countless heads. the people he’s summoned. the spirits he’s manipulated. some, lulu hold close to her heart.

some, he’s used against her.

the head of an arcanine snarls in aggression, eyes linked onto the closest person. it launches itself, ready to maul and mince.

it looks to kill.

but as sure as the laser continues to dig into fernando, so too does his last defense. the head dissipates before it can reach anyone.

his body gives out, limp with the occasional convulsion.

and from the ashes of defeat, rocket gains their grandest treasure: the physical manifestation of hoenn’s most experienced avatar.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Cillian Quinn Lulu Flint

Lulu Flint presses the phone back into his hands mere moments after he'd done the same to her, and Gavin blinks down at the device, momentarily stymied by the twist in expected procedure. He shouldn't be — his sister is manic, alarmingly gleeful in her torture of FERNANDO SILPH, and it's obvious that her mental state is impacted.

Pressing his lips together, he pockets the device just as Lulu had pocketed an eyeball, and follows her at a brisk pace.

The sound of the absorber spinning up still inspires a bone-deep sense of dread and anxiety within him, the phantom memory of its agony inflicted upon him nestled in the depths of his psyche.

It brings him a sick sense of joy to see Silph endure the same.

"This is what you deserve."

He doesn't know, at this point, whether Silph can even hear him.

He doesn't care.

"Bring him to one of the experiment labs."

I'm going to destroy him.

Unfortunately for Gavin, he'll never get that chance.

Gavin shifts his gaze from FERNANDO SILPH to meet the matching amber eyes of his sister.

Don't kill him yet.

Gavin gives a soft grunt of acknowledgement.

"Sustain life," he orders of the grunts, "but don't do him any favours."

He cants his head, eyeing Lulu Flint quizzically.

"What do you want him to see?"

"I've seen his nightmares."

"You've seen mine, too."

He hasn't forgotten their conversation at the lighthouse. It haunts him when he thinks of her, how readily she'd seemed to accept the end before his own alarm had altered her course. So he'd thought. But had it, really?

"He is one man," Gavin agrees, "but so long as we have him in our custody alive, the League will never stop hunting us. You've seen what they do when we keep prisoners too long."

Miro. Lykos. Schwartz.

FERNANDO SILPH.

"How do you propose dismantling the League, Silph Co, before that happens?"

He wants to help Lulu Flint achieve her goals, but realism chains him to his reluctance.

"You really think they'll buy that?" Gavin's expression implies his own thoughts on the matter, lips pursed and forehead lined with doubt.

Please, give me this.

He wants to. He does. But he's also seen how quickly these things can go wrong.

"Of course we're trying. But we've been trying for years. Losing Silph isn't going to suddenly make the entire League easier to manage." Folding his arms, Gavin leans his weight against one of the submarine's cold metal walls. Icy pressure against his spine doesn't improve the mood. Please. Had she ever asked him like that, before? "How much time do you think you'd need to take out Silph Co?"

The League seems an impossible titan in a short span of time; a single company, no matter how large, felt more manageable in comparison.

Lulu Flint FERNANDO SILPH

A few days. Gavin swallows around the lump of doubt in his throat, nodding. He can give her that. He owes her that much, after everything she's been through on account of that monster.

They've kept other prisoners that long, why not Silph?

"I can give you a week," he vows, gravity heavy in his tone. And, with utmost faith, "You will do this."

She's smarter than anyone I've ever met.

Lulu Flint FERNANDO SILPH