Episode 10: Night Terror

Mewtwo seemed more relaxed when the medication kicked in. He held still as Deoxys checked on the wound from the back. "It's less time than I planned for. That's good."

"I hypnotized the pharmacist to get it."

"At least you didn't call attention to us."

"Yeah. That's clean." He drifted back. "It still looks nasty, though."

"It will for a while. Now we just need to keep the humans out of this room. My energy signature isn't going to be strong enough to be tracked like this."

"I see."

He looked over to Deoxys as he tied another one of the cloths around the wound. "What's on your mind?"

"I ran into another one of the immortals, Heatran. He tried to get me to come with him, but I got away."

"Did he follow you?"

"No, I knocked him down."

"While in Guise? Good work."

"Mewtwo, why are they after you? He called you dangerous."

He snorted. "They would say that."

"But why?"

"They didn't even know about my existence until I blasted my way out of the lab I was born in."

"You were born in a lab?"

He nodded. "I was cloned from Mew originally, but there's something special about her DNA. It is capable of shifting itself into new forms while she is alive and conscious. Any form, really, as she can turn herself into any Pokemon. Or human, I suppose. I was too young to know how to do it on my own, so they experimented on tampering with my genes."

"Is that why you look different?"

"Partly. They didn't know how to manipulate it either." He paused. "It was painful. But no matter what I did, they never stopped the experiments. Then they cut off the Transform ability I naturally had by fusing human DNA in with mine. That transformation was the worst."

"So you ran away, huh?"

A dark look came to his eyes. "I killed almost all of the ones who tortured me. Then I ran for it. But I missed the most important one and he torments me to this day."

Deoxys felt a chill of horror. "You killed them?"

"Things won't change unless something drastic happens. Killing is often the fastest way to get my point across. Besides, they deserve it. All humans are either cruel or foolish. I will..." he yawned.

"You'd better get some sleep," Deoxys said, hoping it was just the medication affecting him. But it might not be.

-+-

"I'm not sure you should be doing this," Cresselia said when they met her at New Moon Isle. "I don't want to deal with him thinking he's more important that he is."

"You have to admit that he will be most effective against Mewtwo," Suicune pointed out.

"Right. But he can cause just as much trouble."

"He hasn't actually killed anyone in centuries. So let's just try."

She sighed. "Fine. But you'll have to report to the whole council if something goes wrong."

The four legendaries approached a black obelisk in the center of the island. Yellow Unown script shone on its glossy surface. Entei got up on his hand legs and touched the obelisk with his forepaws. "Awaken, Darkrai the Antagonist. We have official business for you."

A little reluctant, Cresselia bowed her head and made a crescent glow. A black aura enveloped the obelisk. A deep chuckle filled the air, then the aura left the obelisk. Darkrai smiled and made a mocking bow. "You called, beautiful?"

"They called you," Cresselia replied sharply.

"What for? I haven't broken any of the bonds of my power."

Entei spoke for the group. "It's not you who's the problem right now. It's Mewtwo."

"Mew's son? Can't you have her deal with it?"

"She's biased," Suicune said.

"The council has decided to kill Mewtwo and assigned us to the task. However, he is being difficult. We want your help."

Darkrai's smile widened as he put one of his hands to his chest. "Kill him? Oh I don't know about that. You could get me into trouble so easily with that."

"He's already a marked Pokemon, so there will be few repercussions." Entei twitched his tail. "If you want to avoid trouble, for some reason, you could merely track him for us. He does not know how to hide his aura, yet he manages to make himself difficult to find."

"You really want him dead, huh? He must have caused major problems if you'd ask me for help."

"Would you please help us?"

"Since you ask so nicely, I couldn't politely refuse, now could I?" Closing his eyes, he reached out into the air and seemed to pluck at invisible strings. Cresselia watched attentively; she could hear those signals as well. Then Darkrai laughed softly. "There, now?"

"Where is he?" Entei asked.

The dark one looked back at him. "I do not lie when I say that he is currently hiding in a holy place of Sinnoh. His junior brought him there to recover from serious damage. So if you mean to strike with deadly intent, now would be the time."

"A holy place in Sinnoh? Which one? There's close to a hundred spots that match that description."

"I can't narrow it down either," Cresselia said. "He is weak now, harder to pick out of the strong holy aura."

"But he sleeps," Darkrai pointed out. "I will find him by our ways. From that point, we'll see." His body faded out to black, then vanished.

"We'd best start making a sweep of the region," Raikou said. "If we can't find him, we'll have to find him through Deoxys."

"I'd rather not go that route," Suicune said. "We can't break the young one's trust." They were gone in a blink.

Cresselia looked at the obelisk and sighed. "I hope this was a good idea."

-+-

The walls were made of wood. Treated wood, so it wasn't like he could just burn the place down. But Mewtwo had destroyed the staff who tormented him, so he couldn't care less what happened to the building. The question was, why was he here? He should be injured and resting in Sinnoh, not examining this old building in Kanto.

And certainly not back in time, right after he had escaped.

Normally his dreams weren't this vivid, but that was one explanation. There was also Celebi to consider. Since she contacted Deoxys when he fought the Johto trio, she might be trying to get rid of him now by throwing him into the past. It wouldn't help their cause much, he thought. It made the reasons he was trying to subjugate the humans fresh again.

Mewtwo wandered around in the ruins, his mood wavering between bitterness and inner pain. As he came upon doorways and halls, he checked for any movements. Any reason for a battle; the tension seemed to choke his heart, irritating the three bullet wounds. Nothing moved, save for dust or papers fluttered by the air from vents. One door after another, and another, and another, nothing...

He stopped. The next door would be the lab library.

All this time, he hadn't considered where he was going in the lab. He was just moving about. But he didn't want to go by the library right now. Besides, it would make more sense to go to the security control room. He decided to go there instead.

"Why? Are you afraid?"

Turning sharply, he saw Giovanni in the hall as well. He still had that irritating absence of presence that kept Mewtwo from sensing him or his intentions. And that clean-cut professional appearance that held no clue to his corrupt nature. "What are you doing here? I don't remember running into you."

"What are you doing here? And why do you not go down there? Is it because of him?"

"That doesn't matter!"

"It does, because," he nodded and pointed to the library, "you claim to hate all humans, but you care an awful lot about that one's death."

"Why should it matter to you? It's just a statistic to you, isn't it? Just another person you killed."

Giovanni waved back towards the rest of the lab. "Aren't they just statistics to you? Just some people you killed? Is that one only important because you linked with his mind as he got killed?"

Anger burned through his mind, but the recent wounds clenched at his chest. They would restrict any power he tried to use. "I'm surprised you even remember him."

"But then what do you know of him? Do you know his name?"

Mewtwo fired Psychic at him. Although he definitely hit, it didn't do a thing. He tried Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Earthquake, Ice Beam... but Giovanni just stood there. The walls around them crumbled to dust, leaving them in a strange space: a place of white tiles surrounded by murky violet fog. Gold and silver lights occasionally flickered deep in the fog.

And his energy seemed to drain at an incredible rate. He'd never gotten this fatigued in a single battle. While his injuries explained some of that, he suspected something else was draining him. It got to the point where he could barely keep himself standing, even by his mental powers.

Giovanni just stood there, unharmed.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying to hide his exhaustion behind anger.

While Mewtwo expected him to smile smugly, his expression remained cold. "You are like your father, aren't you?"

"What?"

Showing no emotion, he raised his hand and created a dark aura. "Dark Void." It flew out like but entirely too fast for smoke. When it struck him, his exhaustion overcame him. He did not fall unconscious; instead, he fell out of a waking state.

"If you were even awake to begin with."

-+-

Deoxys looked over the festival, but it didn't seem as enticing as before. There was too much to worry about now. And he didn't have any money. Mewtwo had been right about that. As Deoxys looked back at the Cathedral, he couldn't even sense him. Which was good, as nobody else should notice them. But it was also bad, because Deoxys wasn't there with him.

Or maybe it was better that he was out here. Heatran said that Mewtwo wouldn't hesitate to kill him. And maybe that Abra had been asking who would protect him from Mewtwo. But no, his adopted father had taken care of him, so he wouldn't hurt him now. Right?

"Ah man, I've got to learn how to do that hairstyle," a familiar voice said.

Deoxys looked around and spotted the teenager from earlier, the one with the black mohawk. He was walking with a girl with long purple hair. "Why would you want your hair to look like a bi-colored Qwilfish?" she asked.

"But that's totally got to be the new style. I saw a kid with the same kind of thing earlier." They then walked further into the crowd and he lost their voices.

Kid? Deoxys looked down at himself and realized that his Guise form had somehow grown a lot over the period of one day. But he hadn't thought to change it. Everything about this day was unsettling. Why was that?

Something came to him. His psychic senses detected a sharp increase in aura. Aura was given off by all living beings, but the one... ones giving off this increase had to be powerful. Worried, he crept towards them.

Over in the trees, well away from the festival, Deoxys spotted a group of Pokemon. More immortals? Heatran wasn't among the group and they all seemed to be Psychic or part-Psychic. Would they sense him?

The one with a yellow head-growth, like a helmet, spoke. "I know it's going to be an inconvenience, but we've decided to put a teleport lock over Sinnoh. Mewtwo is here and the chosen executioners are seeking him out."

Executioners? Deoxys felt a pang in his heart. So they considered him that dangerous... but what should he do? He loved his father, but he certainly was a killer and criminal.

"Well none of us seem to be able to pinpoint his location any better than Darkrai did," another one said. "What are we to do now?"

The yellow headed one put his hands together. "Our priority should be finding the child, Deoxys. We believe that he is in danger or will become a danger if he remains in Mewtwo's care for much longer. But he has shown himself to be strongly and blindly loyal. Choose your words carefully when you encounter him. We cannot afford to earn his distrust."

"But we must help him. He shows a lot of promise and could do great things in the world. But the way he's going now, he will simply cause chaos and pain just like Mewtwo does."

Deoxys' whips trembled. What was the right thing to do?

-+-

Mewtwo awoke to a throbbing pain in his chest. His mind felt muddled, although glimpses of the dream remained in front. Trying to dismiss the ruined lab from his mind, he got up to take another dose of the painkiller. He didn't see Deoxys in the storage room. Maybe he was out exploring the festival. Although he tried to be angry about it, all he felt was a passive acceptance.

He might have been too harsh back then, telling him they couldn't waste time. As it turned out, it didn't matter in the end what they did. Cyrus got the Plate. If they had wasted time, he might have avoided getting shot.

After taking the medicine, Mewtwo undid his bandaging and examined the wounds. They were healing, but he still had several days left for fully recover. It would be long and boring. In the past, he had found some project to pass the time. But with the painkiller this time, his mind was working slower than normal. At least it also kept his aura weak, so fewer people could find him.

'Mewtwo?'

He recognized the telepathic touch. 'I'm awake, Deoxys. You can come in.'

Instead of using the door and possibly alerting someone, he teleported in. "How are you?"

"Still weak. Exhausted, actually. I've slept so much it's hard to get up."

"Did you take your medicine? You were still sleeping when the time came for the last dose."

He nodded. "I did."

"Good." Deoxys started looking around the room, drifting along.

Mewtwo watched him. His eyes weren't quite looking at the things around them, indicating that his mind was working at something. "Is something bothering you?"

His silent response answered for him, as he gazed downward and his limbs stilled from their usual twitch-and-curl motions.

"Did they harass you again? Various ones have bugged me over the years."

Deoxys moved closer to the couch. "Mewtwo... how many people have you killed?"

If it had been anyone else, they would have been getting too personal. But from him, Mewtwo felt something wasn't right. It wasn't that he was ashamed... he'd never be ashamed of that. Never. "Why do you want to know? It's not important."

"But it is, to them. To their family and friends. To the Pokemon who knew and loved them. One death affects so many people. How many people have you affected through murder?"

Mewtwo felt a chill. He normally didn't think about that. It was unnecessary. He was out to change things, to make the world better. If he was too sensitive to death like that, nothing would ever get done. He had come up with detailed proofs of the necessity of his methods. But when he saw Deoxys' face, he was at a loss for words.

Deoxys was disappointed in him. And disillusioned? Mewtwo knew that his partner couldn't stay childish forever, but he had expected to keep his faith and admiration.

When he spoke again, his voice was a little colder. "You aren't even thinking about them."

"It's..." but all words seemed worthless.

"You're too dangerous and you don't care about it. You speak of the humans imbalancing things, but you are doing the same thing." He put his hand to his chest, reluctant but feeling something was necessary. "I've gone wrong in following you. But they said if..." his fingers tensed.

Despite his pain and medication muddled mind, Mewtwo knew what he couldn't say. "How could they be so cruel to you?"

"Do you care about those you've been cruel to?"

Mewtwo looked over to where there should have been a wall. Instead, it was Giovanni... no, that false Govanni from earlier. The wall was gone, replaced with that odd murky fog.

"What are you doing here?" Mewtwo asked sharply, especially disturbed by his intrusion on that moment of weakness.

"What are you doing here?" he echoed. "This is my realm, my world." He raised his hand and cast Dark Void again.

Mewtwo found himself on a frozen ocean. Nearby, the bright tropical beach waved and wobbled, as if it were the water instead of the ground. Various colored couches flew overhead in great flocks while trees played leapfrog on the shore, causing great splashes of sand when they landed. Off in the background, a grandfather clock seemed to tick.

Giovanni stood on the ocean with him. "My realm, my world," he repeated.

Looking critically at him, he noticed that he was still calm, still serious. Not a sign of his usual pride and smugness showed. Mewtwo turned to face this person. "You aren't Giovanni."

He blinked, and his eyes turned red. "You've noticed."

Clenching his fist, he realized who he was up against. "If your world is a nightmare, you must be Darkrai."

The whole crazy scene flickered like a television losing its signal. The false Giovanni's hair flung itself out, growing down to his knees and turning snow white. With his clothes flapping and warping, he reformed himself into his regular ghoulish form. "That is so."

This was not good. Due to the Dark-type's immunity to Psychic powers, Mewtwo could not read a thing about Darkrai. Not his mood, not his thoughts, not his motive, not his intentions, not his level... and Darkrai probably had a far higher level than the Johto trio, as he was reportedly far older. Many of Mewtwo's best skills would do absolutely nothing to him, while the simplest of his opponent's skills might blow him away. And that wasn't even considering this was 'his realm' instead of the real world.

The ghoul waved him to come closer. "While you are here, why not talk with me for a while?"

"Why should I? What have you been doing to me?"

"I have been doing to you? My power is that of dreams that break down your defenses, blossom off your fears and hates. I have the power... but when you come into my realm, it is your own mind that becomes your worst enemy. I know little of what you see now."

Mewtwo didn't trust him. If he was lying, then he knew things no one else should know. "What did you see with me?"

"Just the general, nothing really specific. You have an Oedipal complex, don't you?"

He frowned. "That would require me to be in love with Mew."

"Ah right, neither of you would appreciate that. Maybe half of it, then. What's your title, by the way?"

"I don't know. And I don't really care anymore."

"Really? And why would that be?"

"This is all about some legend, isn't it? That there are a thousand legendary Pokemon who are both stronger than normal and much harder to kill. And these thousand apparently helped the Original One to create the world, then got sent into hibernation only to be awakened when their powers are needed to keep the world running smoothly."

"That's the gist of it."

"And each of these thousand has a title that describes their position in the universe, their powers, and their duty. Like you, I think."

Darkrai nodded. "That's right. I'm the Antagonist."

"Antagonist?"

"If you check with the Plates, they'd say, 'Challenger of heroes, the Antagonist has dominion over nightmares. He separates the strong souls from the weak and drives them to become stronger.' And that's pretty much what I do."

Mewtwo shook his head. "Isn't that ridiculous? The one who organized the universe made you specifically to be a bad guy?"

"That's not how it is," Darkrai countered. "I'm a challenger, not a bad guy. I don't do this gig for the love of it. I do it because that's what my power is. I will use it to the best of my ability."

"So then you don't want to do this?"

"I want to. There are some bright points. But my mind and heart are connected to people as they confront the dark mysteries of their souls. It's a painful thing to go through... you know that."

"I thought you said you only knew the general aspect of dreams," he snapped.

He looked puzzled for a moment, then repeated, "Just the general... were you mentally connected to someone at a bad time?"

"I don't want to talk about that."

"Then you were."

Mewtwo waved his hand, trying to dismiss the subject. "That's not the point here! If this title is supposed to describe who you are, then you must have been made to fit that title. So does that mean our lives are controlled from the start? I was created by humans; I am who I am because of what those fools did. If I have some title, does that mean that it was all predestined? If that's so, then Arceus is ******* crazy and evil."

Darkrai rubbed his chin. "Ah yes... that would be something to worry about."

"In that case, I don't want to accept any title given to me by him."

"Her."

Mewtwo crossed his arms over his chest. "Figures."

"You know, I was concerned about that before I learned my title. I was first aware of being prayed to as a cruel god. The ones who called me into being didn't just want to massacre their enemies. They wanted to torture them. So if I am a member of the original thousand, why did I come into the world through a bloodthirsty tribe?"

"Because this world is crueler than people like to admit."

The ghoul shook his head. "No... there is a theory..."

"Theory," he said skeptically. "So you don't know any of this for certain?"

"No. Do you know Arceus' title?"

"It's not the Original One?"

"It's The Mask. The Pokemon named Arceus is The Mask of The Original One."

"Then why do people call her the Original One?"

"Because that's what the humans and the normal Pokemon believe. But not even she remembers exactly what happened at the creation of the universe. We know we were there. If you are one of us, your primal memory is still completely submerged. But from time to time, it comes out as undeniable truth."

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes at Darkrai. "You're just trying to mess with my head still."

"You wish it were so, so you could deny it. Mew's theory, and so far no one has come up with anything better, is that we were not in these forms when we were part of the Original One. When a call for power comes out, for any reason, good or evil, the caller draws upon a primal force to bring into the world. So what happened with me is that my tribe wanted their dark god to be alive. They managed to call a primal soul, me, and form me to their call. The titles are not set when the universe was made. The titles are set when you take one of the Plates and ask for it."

"So no predestiny?"

"No. Actually, when I first asked for my title, the Plate wouldn't tell me. It said I wasn't ready. I had to learn something first."

"What was that?"

Darkrai smirked. "Have you learned it? You really should find a Plate and ask for yourself. If it gives you a title, then the other hands cannot kill you. If it doesn't, you might learn something about yourself instead."

"I think you are just messing with my head. That, or my medication is stronger than I thought. So Mew came up with this theory?"

"Yes. She's incredibly intelligent. Of course, you would know that firsthand."

"What's her title?"

"She is The Mother of All, for her unconditional love for everyone and anyone." His eyes softened some as he considered it. "She even loved me when everyone else feared and despised me."

"I don't believe it," he muttered.

"You should," Darkrai shot back with such sharpness that Mewtwo nearly jumped. "They asked me to help kill you. But you're the son of Mew, so I can't do that to her. She's suffered a lot for your sake the past three decades. It's about time that you stop being a blind fool and accept her."

"I have my reasons," he replied defensively.

He calmed down. "I suppose you do, although you've misunderstood the truth. Or maybe you don't realize it. Will you seek one of the Plates again?"

"Fine, I will. I don't expect much from it, though."

"Good, then it'll surprise you." Darkrai smiled. "I have been watching you for a while now. Some of your accomplishments, or just the attempts, have been impressive. If you were part Dark type, I'd be severely tempted to take you on as an apprentice. Without a title, there's still a chance for that kind of change in you."

Mewtwo snorted. "No thanks."

"Your loss. I'll send you out of the dream world now. One last warning; don't do anything conspicuous for a little while. I want to see the others be forced to admit that they were wrong."

-+-

Deoxys hovered by the couch, watching Mewtwo. He slept there, his wounded chest still covered with the white cloth. With his slow, steady breathing, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

He sighed in relief. When he'd returned to the room, his father had been shuddering and mumbling in some nightmare. He was worried that he might hurt himself further. But whatever it was, it had passed.

Checking the clock, he realized that it was late. The festival was still going on, but within the sturdy Cathedral, not a sound of it came to them. He could sense what the other Psychic Pokemon had done. Due to a massive aura interference, teleporting was now impossible. Even if it wasn't there, it was senseless for them to move. They would have to hide here and hope it was good enough.

He still wasn't sure what he should be doing, but he knew that Mewtwo needed him. So Deoxys would be here to protect him.

-+-

When this chapter was first posted, it confused a few readers. Just in case that happens again, here's the key to deciphering it. Mewtwo fell asleep at the end of the first scene; all other scenes of his POV are dreams affected by Darkrai. The scenes from the POV of Deoxys did happen, as he's been awake during this time.