"Those three have gone to you. Take a little extra care with them."
Giovanni's face filled the big screen in front of Vance, giving him the charge.
"Rest easy, Boss. I will."
Vance gave his word. If the Boss had gone so far as to raise it himself, plainly the three of them were on that ruthless man's mind.
No wonder that in the original story the three of them made such a hash of everything, no good at anything they turned a hand to, and nothing ever came of it; they were treated just the same as before.
"Mm. Is there anything else you need at your end? Speak freely."
"Nothing."
"Good."
The call rang off, and at that moment there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
"Click—"
James came in first, with Jessie and Meowth behind him.
"Sit down. Is there something?"
Vance said it easily, looking at the "trio".
"Branch Chief, sir, we'd like to apply to go out on a mission."
James said it with a determined face.
Several days had gone by since they reported in, and sitting in the base the whole time had nothing in it.
"A mission, is it."
Vance turned it over, wondering what mission he could give them. There was no help for it; the man above him had told him to look after them a little.
All at once a good one occurred to him.
"Here's what we'll do. Come along with me and have a look at the missions."
"Of course, Branch Chief, sir. Your orders."
"You needn't be so solemn. Let's go, then. The target is in the West District."
"Sir."
On the west side of Dark City there had been several underground powers, and the strongest of them was the outfit known as the "Suicune Hall".
But after the League's sweep a few days before, that outfit was gone — and not only that one. Every other underground power in Dark City had been ploughed over with it.
The cause of it was the attack on the League building in Dark City some days earlier, which had drawn the League's attention.
"Five years and then five years more, and I'm the big man at last."
A fat, middle-aged man with a gold chain about his neck, a drink in one hand and a cigar in his teeth, looked round the sumptuous hall in a great swell of satisfaction.
At last. He, Calloway, after more than ten years of struggle, was the big man at last.
The head of the old "Suicune Hall" had gone inside, nobody quite knew how, and the second man he had done for himself; third in line as he was, he had come up successfully. They were not called the "Suicune Hall" now but the "Mutual Aid Group", a legitimate organisation.
That was all thanks to his own scheming, too: he had seized the moment, made himself the boss, and brought off the change of face as well. The main line of business was much what it had been, of course — but still, there were differences.
Getting himself clear of that storm had cost him no small amount of trouble.
Sitting on the big soft sofa, he felt thoroughly pleased with himself.
What he did not know was that Vance was thoroughly pleased with his conduct as well, and had already taken notice of him.
Good, good. A man who could walk out of one storm would presumably manage the next one too.
"I want this little power taken in hand and turned into a force of ours under the surface, without the League finding out. Can the three of you do it?"
Vance looked round at the "trio" behind him and asked.
"We should be able to."
James said it hesitantly, not altogether sure.
Jessie and Meowth were the same.
Why start them at that pitch straight away? The three of them were still new to this.
"Should?? 'Should' won't do. Either you can or you can't."
Vance shook his head with a slight laugh. He saw the awkwardness on the faces of the "trio", and he could understand it.
"Here's what we'll do. Watch. I'll have somebody demonstrate it for you once."
Vance picked up his communicator, and at a single touch figures began moving inside that luxurious villa.
A moment later Talbot came out and respectfully invited Vance and the others in.
"Controlling a man from the shadows doesn't necessarily mean killing anybody. The main thing is to get the measure of the man you're controlling — his character, the way he does things — and then steer by whatever he cares about. One who sets store by his family, you threaten the family; one who sets store by money, you can tempt with money............"
Vance gave them the pointers, and the "trio" put on thoughtful faces and nodded slightly, as though they had it.
"You have it, then? If you have it, next time it'll be the three of you doing the work."
"We'll see it done."
The "trio" said it firmly.
On the other side of the room, Calloway, who had been taken in hand, saw the whole party come in with Vance at the centre of them, and thought privately that here was a real man of consequence.
At the same time he was full of grief and rage. He had made himself the big man with such difficulty, and how long had it lasted? Now he was somebody's underling again!
Damn it all.
As for resistance, he had resisted; a few moves and he had been pinned. And they had left him alive, so he must be worth something to them.
That being so, he probably would not have to die.
Once he had got that far, the ideas began to multiply in his head.
Good. Very good. So you want to be my superior, do you? Then he would grind out another five years, watch for the right moment, and he, Calloway, would certainly be master in his own house again.
How did the old saying go? Bend the body and keep to your station, and wait upon heaven's hour.
That was how he had come this far; at worst he would start again from the beginning. The picture of himself as master of the house drew the corners of his mouth up, and he lost himself in the enviable vision.
In his fantasy he outlasted every one of them, one after another, and only he remained.
What was the use of being so strong?
In this line of work, what counted was knowing how to endure.
Keep your head down and build up first.
"Oi — oi..., what are you gawping at? Our chief is calling you."
A shove broke into the daydream, and Calloway hurried forward.
"I'm Calloway. Is there anything, sirs, that I can be of service in?"
His tone was humble and he kept himself very low.
Staying alive was nothing to be ashamed of.
Vance signed to Talbot to go forward and deal with him, and Calloway was soon nodding and nodding again.
Then, with him leading the way, they went to the homes of the rest of the organisation and took them in hand one after another.
From that point on the power passed into Team Rocket's hands, brought quietly under their control without anybody being the wiser.
The "trio" watched the whole of it, with Vance putting in a word of explanation here and there so that they should get familiar with the procedure.
For a villain, abduction and intimidation were ordinary enough.
"Next time it'll be you doing it. Before you move, gather your intelligence first, and build the plan out of the intelligence........."
Vance fished a set of papers out of his storage space and tossed them to the "trio"; inside were suitable missions laid on for the three of them.
"Thank you, Branch Chief, sir. We'll carry them out to the letter."
"Good. Then I'll watch and see."
Vance said it with a faint smile, wanting to see whether they would prove as useless as they were in the anime.
And the outcome told him that the three of them were not useless.
Once they had their intelligence, it took them three days to bring the target down.
"Not so useless after all."
Vance said it with a hand at his chin, looking over the report the "trio" had sent in.
To have finished inside three days was not bad at all.
Vance thought for a moment, and laid on further suitable missions for the three of them.