"I've been told." The admin inclined his head, his eye not leaving the thorn-covered mausoleum that mourns that Scorned's passing from this world. "It's still me, though."

How many times had Theo Beckett heard those words? After battles? After Kanto? After each of his colleagues ascends to divinity, one by one, leaving Team Rocket in the hand of gods instead of men.

There are so few mortals left. Only Howard, Lulu, and Theo remain unaffected. Yet Lulu reeked of Darkrai's influence and Howard commanded giants.

Theo Beckett is alone.

"I disagree. I think that she'd be glad that someone cared for her when the end arrived. It is the only consolation that we can offer to a replaceable gear."

---

THEO BECKETT

"Twice, actually."

He does not tell this man about the dream. Explaining it would be impossible. Explaining that he had killed Elisabeth twice now would make him seem mad, and madness was a perfectly justifiable reason to lop off Howard's head. They were all replaceable, after all.

"She was a traitor who thought herself above the reckoning of those above her. She thought herself a queen, but she was a simple witch sitting in a glass tower." Both knew what happened to those who sat in buildings forged from nothing but translucent glass:

They had stones thrown at them.

"You've read the report, I presume. Do you think her death was justified?" He turned to the older man. "Or is my execution imminent?"

---

THEO BECKETT

A long silence followed. Then, a sigh of relief. A hint that the man inside this mechanical form is still the same person that had been raised to the rank of Rocket Admin almost a year ago.

"But it's not up to you." The hierarchy was an ironclad thing, and it was ultimately up to declan walsh and Ulysseys Monroe to decide the fate of Admin Fox. If they decided that he would die, then Theo's words meant little. The admin would swing, and it would not be from the steps of Ever Grande. "We will simply see what happens."

One last stab from Elisabeth from beyond the grave, meant to destroy her assailant as his star crashed against the earth.

"On the contrary, I believe that it has been stalled." He admitted with a shrug. By killing her, I have stopped something. Ruination, ideally. Regirock did not agree with her."

The fight with Ting-lu was a mystery to them both.

---

THEO BECKETT

"It will certainly try."

It was foolish to expect otherwise. It was an event that had been ordained by those with a greater knowledge of the cosmic stage than Howard or Theo, but the admin loathed the idea of fate, even if it was an inescapable truth. He had told Elisabeth Fiorelli that fate was a lie, and yet...

...what was the rise and fall of empire if not a predetermined cycle?

"But I will certainly delay it as much as possible." Once he put PENELOPE LIVY in her grave. As for jayden cross... "We need dissent, but not what she brought to the table. We need something more... productive."

---

THEO BECKETT

"Dissent is productive. It is healthy, when channeled properly and used in manners that will actually result in change. What did Elisabeth do but sit in a corner and scheme?"

Her memory cannot harm him. Not anymore. His tongue is free to wag, and thus wag it does. If Theo decided to reprimand him now, he would simply shrug and bear it. They were alone. Even an insult could be turned into a lesson when not uttered in public.

"But, as the most successful wars have taught us, a constant change in command is... unwise. You and Underboss Quinn have been with us since Kanto. You are warriors." His eye fell upon the tomb with a harsh gaze. "She was not. If she were alive, she would undermine you both."

His eye flicked to Theo.

"You must block the promotion of any prospective underbosses until this war is over."

---

THEO BECKETT

"Even me."

What draconian organization promoted a superior's killer? There was no logic to it. Elisabeth's death had been brutal, ugly, and messy. There had been no decorum to it. No grand plan. There was nothing to it that made Howard commendable. He simply sat in his office and made Team Rocket wealthy.

Yet all Cillian did was kill. All Theo did was hold it together.

"It won't go to me. It'll go to Jayden or Barnaby, as it should. They are more fit." He straightened his hat. "But if the hand is offered, or if I forcefully grasp for it...

"...you must deny it. For the good of Team Rocket, Theo, you have to."

---

THEO BECKETT