The air inside the airship seemed to freeze. Giovanni slowly lowered the hand that had been poised to press the self-destruct button. He did not look at the unfamiliar young man on the screen. Instead, his abyss-deep gaze slowly settled on the young man beside him, who had maintained an absolute "calm" from beginning to end, utterly at odds with the surrounding chaos.
While the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole waited behind it.
In that instant, Giovanni understood everything. From the Genesis Gate's bizarre ninety-nine percent, to the Hoenn League's deadly surprise attack timed to the second, to Athena's seemingly flawless betrayal... all of it had been nothing but a smokescreen on the chessboard. The true player had been lurking beside him all along, playing the part of his most loyal-and sharpest-piece.
For the first time, he truly took a hard look at this young man he had always considered nothing more than a "useful tool." Looking into Ye Li's eyes, stripped of all pretense and filled with nothing but coldness and calm, he realized he had raised a tiger younger, hungrier, and better at biding its time than himself.
"You've done well." Giovanni forced the words out through clenched teeth. There was no anger in them, only the cold "approval" of someone surpassed by his own kind.
"You're too kind, Giovanni." Ye Li stopped pretending. He showed his hand.
He stepped forward and stood eye to eye with the Dark Emperor who had once frightened him.
"I never intended to betray you, nor did I ever intend to take your place." Ye Li's voice was calm and sincere. "Everything I've done was only to stop that insane plan that would destroy us all."
He pointed out the window. Below, Viridian City had become an utter inferno. The Hoenn