More on Sebastian's daddy issues...
So, decided to actually write something for the theme week (Family) again. This is a prequel of sorts to my prompt Secret, so it's helpful to read that first if you've not already (or at least after.)
59. Desert
The moon shone in the cold night sky.
This is it, Wolfgang thought, as he looked down at Canalave Harbor. Everything's been leading up to this.
He breathed in the salty ocean air. It tasted wonderful. He shivered. How did he, Professor Wolfgang Johann, considered the most brilliant of any of Team Rocket's scientists, the most gifted and treasured, end up here in Sinnoh, on the bridge, staring down into the deep?
Mew. That was it. Mew.
He'd gone along with the project at first with no problem. In fact, he'd signed off on the initial plans himself. To be behind something so huge, so monumental... it would leave the Johann family with a legacy to be proud of. Even if just among themselves and the rest of the Team. It was the kind of thing he'd dreamed of since he was a young boy.
But then the talks of money... of selling the cries... selling the clones even... It was no longer about the research, was it? Just another means of improving the bottom line...
Wolfgang never tricked himself into thinking Team Rocket was a humanitarian organization by any means, but for his work, his pride and joy to be commoditized like this, was beyond the pale for him. He wasn't about to let it happen.
In the course of one meeting, Wolfgang realized he was living a lie.
And it had come to this. Not suicide, of course. No, he was simply going to disappear.
But in a way, wasn't it? Wasn't he effectively killing off Professor Johann as far as anyone was concerned? Wasn't that part of his life, that part of his past, essentially about to die? It was the only way Wolfgang knew of to escape this lie he'd holed himself into and still be able to pursue his dreams. Escaping one lie with another lie. The irony amused him.
What a believable lie it was. Wolfgang had been fighting depression ever since his daughter's death. For him to be driven to suicide over the course of a mission wouldn't be so hard for his subordinates- or the boss, for that matter- to assume. They'd weep over the tragedy for a day or two, and, knowing the ruthless efficiency of that department, quickly find themselves a new head. He'd be a distant memory before they even had a chance to forget him.
Wolfgang hesitated for a second. He'd planned this out well before the plane so much as left the ground in Kanto. Swimming to the island across the water wouldn't be such a hard job, he'd done much further on his swim team in college. It was the current that was the problem. One miscalculation and he'd be swept away, Sharpedo chow. It wasn't too late to turn back.
He thought of his family, what little he had left. Before going, he'd kissed his wife, Ama, and hugged Sebastian, just like always... Only this time, he wouldn't come back. He'd contact them somehow once he'd settled in under a new identity of course, but so much as setting foot in Kanto in the presence of them would be completely out of the question.
And if he died in the process of his faux suicide, if he was swept away and drowned or eaten or worse... Everything. Wasted. He'd never get the chance to warn them, to pull them out before it was too late...
Enough, Wolfgang decided. He was done second guessing himself. Wolfgang pulled off his lab coat, the one with his Team Rocket ID badge still clipped to the breast pocket he'd tucked his suicide note in, and dropped it on the bridge, a crumpled plie of white. His picture stared up at him from the badge like the victim of a murder seconds after the gunshot.
"Goodbye," Wolfgang said coldly to the picture, diving into the depths below.
As the sun began to peek over the horizon, the professor was gasping for breath on the sweet dry land he'd reached. He'd made it. As he pulled himself up, a tall, lush tree caught his eye. The rowan. A tree steeped in legend, considered magical by some, life giving...
That would be his new life now. Rowan.
Thousands of miles away, in Kanto, 21 year old Sebastian took some notes in the lab. He hated it, especially when he had homework to finish for his Advanced Chemistry class, but it was part of the agreement... this part-time work was the reason he had said homework in the first place. Giovanni's mother had come to an agreement with his father long ago to pay for Sebastian's tuition on the grounds that Sebastian follow in his footsteps and spend some time directly working with the Team. It was boring, and more than anything, he wanted some work slightly more of his caliber, but these things happened, he supposed...
"Sebastian!"
Sebastian looked up. "You know I can't talk right now, Gio. Namba's going to give me hell if-"
"This is important, Sebastian. I think you should step out with me." Something about Giovanni's expression and tone of voice told Sebastian he was sincere. He followed him out to the hall.
"Get it over with, then," Sebastian said.
"It's your dad," Giovanni said. "He disappeared in Sinnoh."
"...what?" Sebastian asked, not sure he was hearing things properly. "He's... gone? No..." He didn't want to believe it. Their relationship had been strained for some time, since they seemed to agree on nothing, but that didn't mean Sebastian didn't love him like any son loved his father... He'd learned so much from him, after all. And now... gone?
"I'm sorry, Sebastian. They found his lab coat on the bridge over Canalave Harbor. Everyone's positive he committed suicide." Giovanni reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder supportively. "Mother was going to tell you and your mom later, but I thought it'd be best if I broke it to you first."
Sebastian stared at the tiled floor below him. Tears rolled down his cheek, dropped to the floor. The wet drops gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. "Right," he said, pulling away from his friend's embrace. "Thanks."
Something told Sebastian things would never be the same again. He had no idea.
Oh, and I have no idea if there actually is a "Canalave Harbor" or anything. I pretty much just screwed around with the map trying to find a good place for a character to commit suicide and settled on Canalave, since it has a bridge and all. I hope I never again have to run my cute little sprite up and down the bridge in Pearl trying to imagine them jumping off it.
59. Desert
The moon shone in the cold night sky.
This is it, Wolfgang thought, as he looked down at Canalave Harbor. Everything's been leading up to this.
He breathed in the salty ocean air. It tasted wonderful. He shivered. How did he, Professor Wolfgang Johann, considered the most brilliant of any of Team Rocket's scientists, the most gifted and treasured, end up here in Sinnoh, on the bridge, staring down into the deep?
Mew. That was it. Mew.
He'd gone along with the project at first with no problem. In fact, he'd signed off on the initial plans himself. To be behind something so huge, so monumental... it would leave the Johann family with a legacy to be proud of. Even if just among themselves and the rest of the Team. It was the kind of thing he'd dreamed of since he was a young boy.
But then the talks of money... of selling the cries... selling the clones even... It was no longer about the research, was it? Just another means of improving the bottom line...
Wolfgang never tricked himself into thinking Team Rocket was a humanitarian organization by any means, but for his work, his pride and joy to be commoditized like this, was beyond the pale for him. He wasn't about to let it happen.
In the course of one meeting, Wolfgang realized he was living a lie.
And it had come to this. Not suicide, of course. No, he was simply going to disappear.
But in a way, wasn't it? Wasn't he effectively killing off Professor Johann as far as anyone was concerned? Wasn't that part of his life, that part of his past, essentially about to die? It was the only way Wolfgang knew of to escape this lie he'd holed himself into and still be able to pursue his dreams. Escaping one lie with another lie. The irony amused him.
What a believable lie it was. Wolfgang had been fighting depression ever since his daughter's death. For him to be driven to suicide over the course of a mission wouldn't be so hard for his subordinates- or the boss, for that matter- to assume. They'd weep over the tragedy for a day or two, and, knowing the ruthless efficiency of that department, quickly find themselves a new head. He'd be a distant memory before they even had a chance to forget him.
Wolfgang hesitated for a second. He'd planned this out well before the plane so much as left the ground in Kanto. Swimming to the island across the water wouldn't be such a hard job, he'd done much further on his swim team in college. It was the current that was the problem. One miscalculation and he'd be swept away, Sharpedo chow. It wasn't too late to turn back.
He thought of his family, what little he had left. Before going, he'd kissed his wife, Ama, and hugged Sebastian, just like always... Only this time, he wouldn't come back. He'd contact them somehow once he'd settled in under a new identity of course, but so much as setting foot in Kanto in the presence of them would be completely out of the question.
And if he died in the process of his faux suicide, if he was swept away and drowned or eaten or worse... Everything. Wasted. He'd never get the chance to warn them, to pull them out before it was too late...
Enough, Wolfgang decided. He was done second guessing himself. Wolfgang pulled off his lab coat, the one with his Team Rocket ID badge still clipped to the breast pocket he'd tucked his suicide note in, and dropped it on the bridge, a crumpled plie of white. His picture stared up at him from the badge like the victim of a murder seconds after the gunshot.
"Goodbye," Wolfgang said coldly to the picture, diving into the depths below.
As the sun began to peek over the horizon, the professor was gasping for breath on the sweet dry land he'd reached. He'd made it. As he pulled himself up, a tall, lush tree caught his eye. The rowan. A tree steeped in legend, considered magical by some, life giving...
That would be his new life now. Rowan.
Thousands of miles away, in Kanto, 21 year old Sebastian took some notes in the lab. He hated it, especially when he had homework to finish for his Advanced Chemistry class, but it was part of the agreement... this part-time work was the reason he had said homework in the first place. Giovanni's mother had come to an agreement with his father long ago to pay for Sebastian's tuition on the grounds that Sebastian follow in his footsteps and spend some time directly working with the Team. It was boring, and more than anything, he wanted some work slightly more of his caliber, but these things happened, he supposed...
"Sebastian!"
Sebastian looked up. "You know I can't talk right now, Gio. Namba's going to give me hell if-"
"This is important, Sebastian. I think you should step out with me." Something about Giovanni's expression and tone of voice told Sebastian he was sincere. He followed him out to the hall.
"Get it over with, then," Sebastian said.
"It's your dad," Giovanni said. "He disappeared in Sinnoh."
"...what?" Sebastian asked, not sure he was hearing things properly. "He's... gone? No..." He didn't want to believe it. Their relationship had been strained for some time, since they seemed to agree on nothing, but that didn't mean Sebastian didn't love him like any son loved his father... He'd learned so much from him, after all. And now... gone?
"I'm sorry, Sebastian. They found his lab coat on the bridge over Canalave Harbor. Everyone's positive he committed suicide." Giovanni reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder supportively. "Mother was going to tell you and your mom later, but I thought it'd be best if I broke it to you first."
Sebastian stared at the tiled floor below him. Tears rolled down his cheek, dropped to the floor. The wet drops gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. "Right," he said, pulling away from his friend's embrace. "Thanks."
Something told Sebastian things would never be the same again. He had no idea.
Oh, and I have no idea if there actually is a "Canalave Harbor" or anything. I pretty much just screwed around with the map trying to find a good place for a character to commit suicide and settled on Canalave, since it has a bridge and all. I hope I never again have to run my cute little sprite up and down the bridge in Pearl trying to imagine them jumping off it.