Elisabeth Fiorelli's fate was spreading. Good. Even if the accounts of her death were greatly overexaggerated, letting the League know that Elisabeth was mortal and fallible was a good thing. It made her more human, in spite of the fact that she had returned from the great beyond.

Perception was the greatest armor one could cover themselves in.

"I'm sorry. I know you two must've been close." Howard shrugged, his visor gleaming. Behind him, one of the grunts slouched slightly, before being elbowed back into position by a colleague. He found her claim of change ridiculous. The only way that Penelope Livy could change that would please Howard was one that left her six feet under. "Know that she died with dignity."

A lie, but nothing Elisabeth did was dignified. She put on a front, just like everyone in Team Rocket. Yet that hadn't stopped her from folding under the weight of a metric ton of rock.

"As for me, Team Rocket values results. I delivered. She did not. I suspect that if I had failed in Petalburg, my head would be on a spike for all to see."

Not that this woman would recognize him. He hardly recognized himself anymore, when he looked in the mirror.

"Not that it matters, though. Every single member of Team Rocket is replaceable. We are a machine of interchangeable parts." He spun an empty Pokeball on the table, before watching it slowly roll to a stop by Penelope's hand. "Care to gander on why I killed her? It involves you, actually."

---

PENELOPE LIVY
+10 (post)
+50 (recall a thread)
+50 (describe le Pokeball)

As she asked why he still drew breath, Howard simply steepled his fingers together, wordless in his response.

He still lived because Team Rocket was drunk on victory. They had supped from the chalice of success after the crippling failure of Mossdeep and it had made their gazes giddy and their eyes wide with delusion. The death of an underboss that few had truly loved was a wound that felt superficial.

Nobody knew how valuable Elisabeth Fiorelli truly was until she was gone. He suspected it was the same with this woman. Howard hated her. Shred hated her. He suspected that many of her colleagues hated her.

Yet without her, they were... lesser. Everyone needed somebody to hate, to bring themselves to greater heights. They needed someone to covet, and Penelope Livy was a very easy woman to envy.

"She was contradicting an order from Team Rocket's highest authorities. I made an executive decision on the battlefield and excised her." His eye flicked to the guardsman, before continuing. "Without her there, I became the highest authority in Petalburg, barring Walsh and... others."

Arceus above, he hated the grunts behind him. Filthy Kantonian rats.

"As for who 'ordered' the execution, well..." He pointed a thumb at the Regirock standing behind him. Its face held no emotion, but it still stared daggers at Chi-yu, its pattern flashing. "It recognized her. It recognizes you. You both reek of Ruination."

---

PENELOPE LIVY
+30 (post)
+50 (recall a thread)
+50 (describe le Pokeball)
+50 (antagonistic dialogue)

"It's not a threat."

The words come quickly, their intention perfectly plain. The admin could weave a web of lies, but the woman who sat at the pinnacle of the HBIC was not some errant grunt that Howard could humble with a wave of a hand, nor could he outplay her on a chessboard where they were both equal opponents.

No. When dealing with schemers, it was best to crush them without much care. Elisabeth had taught him that, before she had crawled her way out of hell.

"I never had the fortune to be born into nepotism like many people in this world." He smiled without humor, thinking of FERNANDO SILPH and jayden cross and Remiel Calcifet . "To me, business is a transaction and money is worthless. That's why we barter with cities instead of credit and lives instead of gold. There is only so much value in this world, Penelope. Otherwise we would mint an infinite amount of coinage."

He tapped his hand against the table. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. It was a mechanical motion, done by a clockwork doll instead of a human. How fake it would sound on an audio recording. Yet that falsehood was what made it genuine.

"Blood? That, we will never run out of." He paused to consider her request. It surprised him. It disgusted him. It impressed him. She went for something truly irreplaceable: proof of Kanto's commitment to Team Rocket's cause. "And you've chosen expensive blood indeed."

He cocked his head, musing on her words.

"Rustboro as well, then. I'm sure that CIAN MAHER can find a nice warehouse in Fallarbor to call his gym in the meantime."

---

PENELOPE LIVY
+40 (post)
+50 (recall a thread)
+50 (describe le Pokeball)
+50 (antagonistic dialogue)
+50 (learn something)
+50 (respect)
+50 (tag)