I did a story trade with two of my friends. One of them asked us to write this crazy complicated scene with a couple of her characters. They're both is upset, and one of them is having all these flashbacks, which eventually turn into hallucinations. And at the end everything breaks down and blends together until you can't tell what's real and what's not. I'm pretty much done. I just need to edit it. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would… at least. I've never written anything like it, so it was interesting to do.
AftermathAren't you ready to rest? You've been fighting so hard.
The voice was back, soft and soothing.
You've done so much. Why don't you let go.
Go to hell, I spat.
The voice paused. When it came back, it much nearer and clearer.
Ahh, that's you, isn't it? The Pokémon who foolishly sought to break my black prison. Mewtwo couldn't break free. What makes you think that you could do what he could not?
I hate you. What makes you think that you have the right to destroy this place? I will do whatever it takes to stop you. Every Pokémon here will stop you! No matter how powerful you think you are, you can't defeat all of us.
Mewthree gave a small chuckle. Of course. The same thing over and over again. Defeat, hate, destruction. That's all that exists in this world.
Maybe that's all that exists in your world. You're the one that brought it here.
I'm not the one that began the destruction. You, however, are wasting my time. I have better things to do that waste my time on you. And you're wasting your time if you think you can stop me.
…
Blood. I taste blood.
I opened my eyes and found myself staring up at the gray sky and the sharp point of Scyther Spire. I blinked, trying to get my bearings. I must have passed out after Mewthree took Mewtwo away. It was a wonder I stayed conscious enough for that. Even so, I felt like lead. Melting lead.
Words echoed in my head. I know you'd do the same for me. And yet I couldn't do anything for him. Not a thing.
"Cara?"
I tried to lift my head and groaned as I felt throbbing inside my skull. I managed to tilt my head around to see Link looking at me, concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," I groaned.
I heard movement and glanced to the other side. Mew was there. But I didn't see any of the other Pokémon.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"I already teleported them back to Charm Town," Mew replied. "I came back last to pick you guys up. I healed you enough so you could wake up, but you'll need to go to Chansey's clinic once we get home." She paused and heaved a sigh. "I'm lucky I was disguised as a Mudkip, or Mewthree probably would have taken me too."
"Honchkrow!" I tried to sit up. Mew floated to my side and transformed into an Infernape. She slung my arm over her shoulder and helped me stand up. Even with her support, every movement made me wince. Link shuffled his feet, wanting to help but unable to considering he was so much smaller than me now.
Mew nodded. "Yes, Honchkrow. We need to get back and see if we can catch him. Are you up to it?"
"Yes. Take us there."
"All right. Hang on."
And with the familiar swooping sensation, the three of us landed in Charm Town.
Everything looked so normal.
"Lucario and the others went to Tyranitar's gym to check up on him," Mew informed us. "Let's go."
She let go of me and waited to see if I could stand by myself. I impatiently waved her away. "I'm fine. Let's go!"
I started forward a bit unsteadily, but continued on, my jaws clenched together and my fists clenched despite my aching fingers.
The door to the gym was open, but just as we were walking inside, Lucario came sprinting out, banging into my shoulder. He didn't stop or even look back, but dashed across the town square.
"Excuse you," I muttered irritably. My head was buzzing with a churning whorl of emotions, but anxiety, exhaustion, betrayal, and loss were all overshadowed by anger.
Mewthree. I hate you.
I peered in through the door, but couldn't see anything beyond the screen that surrounded the arena. It wasn't until we came around the screen that I saw the reason for Lucario's haste.
Tyranitar was lying face-down on the arena floor, out cold. Jolteon was sitting next to him, checking him for wounds.
I whirled and charged back out through the door, Link and Mew following me.
Across the square, I could see Drapion and the rest of his team standing outside of Chansey's clinic.
Something else was wrong.
We rushed towards them to find that the door was open.
I didn't wait to hear what the others had to say, but went right in through the front door, wincing as my battered wings brushed against the doorframe.
Lucario and Infernape were already inside.
Latias was sprawled across the couch, her head hanging towards the floor. Chansey was on the ground across the room. Neither of them were moving. And Latios was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is he," Link asked, alarmed.
I felt a draft and looked over to see that the back window was broken.
"I don't get it," Link continued. "How could he have taken out Tyranitar and these guys?"
"It must have been easy," Lucario growled. Though his voice was quiet, the fury in his words was impossible to miss. "They must have invited him in happily. All he had to do was hit them at the right moment."
"I guess they wanted the Soul Dew," I suggested.
"That would be my guess," Lucario replied.
Mew turned back to her original shape and drifted over to Latios. She touched her with a glowing hand. Latios stirred slightly and one eye opened slightly.
"Are you okay?" Infernape asked.
Latios gave a small moan. Lucario lifted her up onto the couch properly. She flinched as she was moved.
"Latias," Lucario said seriously. "I know you're weak, but we need you to tell us what happened. Briefly is fine."
She nodded, swallowed, and then started to speak in a weak, quavering voice. "It was… Honchkrow. He attacked us. Before I passed out, I saw him drag Brother out the window." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Also… I think he had a folder with him. With papers in it."
Lucario cursed and leapt straight out through the open window. Mew followed, but I had to go back around through the door. Link followed me, and we saw Lucario's tail disappear into his office.
When walked into the entrance, we found Lucario kneeling next to an unconscious Lopunny.
"Please look after her," he called to us. He stood and ran into his office. We heard him opening drawers and shuffling through papers.
I turned Lopunny over onto her back and pushed a cushion under her head.
My head was still buzzing. How could this have happened? Right in the middle of town? In the middle of the day? Without anyone even noticing?
Honchkrow must have slipped inside, acting like he was on nothing more than a friendly visit. If he placed his attack right, he could probably have knocked out everyone before they had a chance to cry out. And when he snuck out the back of Chansey's clinic, he probably didn't have any trouble slipping through the back streets until he reached the forest.
I realized that my mouth was open slightly and smoke was rising up from between my teeth. Link was looking at me, concerned.
I swallowed and tried to relax.
Lucario reappeared in the doorway.
"What did he take?" Mew asked.
"The folder about Manectric's machine," Lucario replied flatly.
There was a stunned silence.
"He'll destroy it!" Link exclaimed.
Lucario shook his head. "I kept very little about that machine on paper. Honchkrow may have got the basic information about it, but he still doesn't know where it is or exactly how it works. But this also means that we've lost the element of surprise with the machine."
"Do you think we can catch up with him?" Link asked. "I mean, if he has Latios with him, he can't go to fast."
Lucario shook his head. "He couldn't carry Latios all the way to Mt. Labyrinth. There are undoubtedly other Pokémon helping him. We have no idea which way they went or how many of them there are. And we still need to figure out if Honchkrow did anything else while he was here."
"Are you sure he didn't take any other papers?" I asked.
"I'm not," Lucario admitted. "I need to figure that out. But as I do that, we need to rally the villagers. We need everyone to search the town and see if he did anything else. Or if anyone saw what he was doing. I'll be there in a minute. Can you start gathering everyone?"
Mew paused for a moment to revive Lopunny. Then the three of us headed outside to meet Weavile and her team. All of us were completely exhausted, and our nurse, Chansey, was still unconscious. But we had to gather the villagers.
All of us split apart to sound the call.
"Why don't you fly?" Link suggested. "It would be faster."
"I don't know how to fly," I admitted. "Maybe Mew can teach me."
Link stared at me in disbelief. "But whenever I've seen a Pokémon evolve into a flying type, they can always fly."
"That's probably because they're Pokémon. I'm not, remember?"
Link was silent.
"Besides," I continued, "I smashed up my wings pretty good when Mewthree zapped me. They're all achey and scraped."
"Well," Link said, "at least you can roar really loud, right? That will get people's attention."
"Good point."
…
Everyone finished searching Charm Town. The search revealed nothing new. Some of the Pokémon saw Honchkrow go into the dojo, or the clinic. But they hadn't noticied anything unusual, or heard any shouts for help. Nothing else seemed disturbed. Mew went to check on Manectric and the machine, but everything was okay with them.
And although Lucario was already exhausted from the fight, he still had to go through the rest of his office and make sure that nothing else was missing.
After the search was over, Link and I headed to the clinic, along with everyone else who had been injured. Several Pokémon from around town volunteered to help treat us. What with those that had been attacked by Honchkrow and those of us who fought in the mountains, the clinic was overcrowded. I and several others ended up on makeshift cots set up outside the clinic.
Mew, disguised once again, only took a couple sitrus berries. But Link and I needed much more treatment. Togekiss and Kirlia bandaged my wings and applied ointment to all of my scrapes and bruises. Link's treatment was much faster than mine since he was smaller and hadn't been zapped by Mewthree. Link came to join me when he was bandaged.
Although fatigue had set in long ago, I had no desire to lie down. No, I had the desire to bite something. To throw myself on my opponent and demolish everything with my flames.
Link looked nervous, concerned by the expression on my face. Finally I stood up. As I was about to walk away, Mew approached us and gestured for me to take a seat again.
"I don't want to sit still," I growled.
Mew stared at me for a moment. "Please sit. I need to tell you something."
I reluctantly obeyed. Mew glanced around to make sure that there was no one else within earshot.
"Cara, I understand that you're angry. And who can blame you? Anyone who'd been through what we have would be upset. Everybody is angry about Honchkrow. And we also have Mewtwo to worry about."
A low growl sounded in the bottom of my throat.
Mew continued. "The Cara I know did have a bit of a temper, but look at yourself."
My first thought was to demand how I was supposed to look at myself. But I bit back that retort when I saw Link. He glanced away from me, but not before I saw the concern on his face. Concern and… fear? Really? He was afraid of me?"
"Charizard have fiery tempers," Mew continued. "You should know. You have your memories back, and you've had a lot of experience with Charizard. You're not used to this new body yet. You need to return to yourself. Not some fire-crazed dragon intent on revenge, but the girl who used clever strategy and her connection to Pokémon to defeat those who were stronger than herself.
My thoughts flicked to the battles at the Pokémon League, and against Lance. My unconventional methods were what got me as far as I did. And for the battle against Giovanni, it was only my ability to communicate with Pokémon that let us defeat him.
And sure, I got angry plenty of times. And I overreact to things, even to stuff that is unimportant. But no matter how angry I was, it was only when I let myself cool down and get things together that I could rise above the danger.
I stood up again. Link and Mew started.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm going to go for a walk. I need to cool my head. I'm afraid I'll snap if I don't. I'll meet you at Arcanine's house."
I started to limp away from the clinic.
"Cara," Mew said. I turned to look back at them. "When your wings are better, I'll teach you how to fly."
Link gave a reassuring smile. I managed to return a weak smile. "That sounds fun."
"Thanks guys," I said before turning and walking away.
I waked out of town and down the cliff trail to the beach. It would be dark soon. The sun was already starting to set. It had been a very long and trying day.
I sat down on the sand. Now that I had my human memories back, this new body felt awkward all over again. Especially with huge wings sticking out of my shoulders.
I arranged myself as best I could, and closed my eyes. I breathed in and out slowly and deeply. I was never great at meditating. No matter how often I tried to clear my thoughts, they inevitably came back. But it was still a good way to relax.
I could almost feel the sun disappear behind the ocean as the warmth slipped away. I should get back to town soon.
I stood up, feeling like I had a decent grip on my emotions.
My tail flames cast flickering shadows in the sand and on the cliff. As I turned to head back up the trail, the shadows heaved up as a large dark shape moved beside me.
My heart rushing, I turned and opened my mouth to attack, but then a familiar figure appeared.
"Phantom," I gasped, choking back the flames that I'd almost doused him with.
"Sorry," the Darkrai said, floating up beside me. "I didn't want to disturb you, but I didn't mean to startle you." He hesitated. "Mew told us what happened."
I looked away.
"I know you remember us now," Phantom said. "Team Rocket once used me to try to capture Mewtwo. We helped him escape then. And we'll do it again. We'll get Mewtwo out of there, and we'll get all of us home."
"Thanks, Phantom. For everything. For coming all the way here. I need to see everyone. Now that I know them again."
Phantom smiled. "Yes, they'd all like that. Would you like me to help you up the trail?"
I hesitated, but felt my knees buckle slightly even as I stood there.
"I guess you'd better," I admitted sheepishly.
He let me drape an arm around his shoulder, and he supported me all the way to the edge of town.
As he turned to leave, I stopped him. "Tomorrow I want everyone either to be staying at Manectric's cave, or here in town. We can find places for them to stay. The final battle is coming, and secrecy is pointless now."
Phantom looked at me for a minute before nodding. He understood my concern about keeping everyone safe. He drifted away and melted into the shadows.
I returned to Arcanine's house and staggered up the stairs. Mew greeted me as I entered, but I don't even know if I responded. I was so exhausted that I passed out the moment I sprawled my huge body over the small bed.
…
"You're always protecting me."
"You'd do the same for me."
The words echoed through my head, over and over.
"Cara."
The voice was weak and distant. As though it could barely keep itself from fraying apart in the darkness of the dream.
"Cara."
Try as it might, the voice could not come in any stronger. I quickly reached out to it before it disappeared. When I took hold of it, the voice became a bit clearer.
"Once long ago," he continued, sounding pained and weary, "Mew sent you a dream of my birth and my anger upon waking in the world. Now I must do the same for you, for this poor, broken creature."
"He's broken and twisted," I responded darkly. "A cracked bone that healed wrong."
"So was I."
"You didn't do anything this bad."
"Didn't I? I wanted my storm to destroy the world."
"But he stole you! And Latios! He's probably going to take Latios's soul - the Soul Dew. And he's taking away everyone's free will! Making them do horrible things!"
"I did that too. I stole Pokémon and took control of a person's mind."
"Yeah! Only one person! Not hundreds of them!"
"I don't have the power that he does."
My thoughts blundered around, looking for a reply.
"I always thought that you didn't judge others," Mewtwo said, sighing warliy. "That you got to know them before you formed any opinion of them. Why are you so filled with hate right now? You weren't this bad with me. Even when I stole your Pokémon."
This sentence somehow left me stunned. Filled with hate? Was I still filled with hate? I thought I'd managed to calm myself down. As to judging Mewthree, hadn't I seen all I needed to know that he was evil? I tried to think of a reply. A reply that wasn't blurted out like everything else I'd said to Mewtwo so far. He'd reached out to me, past Mewthree's barriers, weak though he must be. And I was just arguing with him.
"I-I guess," I said slowly, "that I could understand your pain because of what Mew showed me. And stealing my Lapras, Jolteon, and Alakazam was the first thing you did to hurt me. With Mewthree, I've been seeing the suffering he caused since I arrived here."
I could almost sense Mewtwo nodding. "When I came to life, I was spoken down to, as though I was some fascinating thing they had found in the gutter and wanted to study. Shortly after, I was used by a person who pretended to be my equal, while secretly laughing at the control he thought he had over me. That was it."
"What do you mean, that was it?"
"Exactly what I said. If I told Mewthree about that, he would just laugh. What I went through is nothing more than a slap on the wrist compared to how he came into the world."
I shuddered as I realized what he was saying. "Is that why he's so much more powerful than you?" I asked. "Because they added more powers to him after his body was completed?"
"Yes. There is a small amount of machinery on his back and sides. That was implanted after he became conscious. And adding extra powers doesn't count for all the experimental tests he underwent. You say he is a cracked bone that healed wrong. That is an understatement. He is something that is shattered, which grew back together in a warped and twisted knot."
I felt something hollow in my chest and I swallowed.
"Ca-can he be helped?"
Mewtwo didn't reply. I wondered if Mewthree had noticed our telepathic conversation and cut it off. Just as I started to get worried, Mewtwo's voice came back.
"I do not know. A broken bone must be re-broken if it is to heal properly. But he is so broken that I don't know if he can ever heal. Could you bring yourself to love him? After all the hate you've been feeling towards him?"
I gave a small laugh. "Well, Pokémon are usually easier to love than humans."
Mewtwo seemed perplexed at this.
"I mean, there's plenty of humans that I love. But getting really attached to humans takes longer than it does with Pokémon. I guess?"
"I would not know. I am not human. Even so, in this case it would take more than you to help Mewthree. It seems to me that there are very few Pokémon here that do not hate Mewthree. That hate will only make Mewthree worse."
I remembered what Mewthree said when he tried to possess me for the second time. When I said that I hated him and that we would defeat him Defeat, hate, destruction. That's all that exists in this world. Now I knew how deep that resonated within him. It was all he'd even known. The only things he'd ever seen.
"Is there anything I can do?"
Mewtwo sighed. "Any attempts to help him would endanger you and anyone around you. I can't think of any way to reason with him. I-I had something I cared about. My clones. When someone protected my clones, I looked again and saw things differently. But for Mewthree, there's nothing that he cares about. His heart was killed."
There was silence until Mewtwo began hesitantly, "Cara?"
"Yeah?"
"Listen. If it turns out that I can't be rescued from Mewthree-"
I cut him off, refusing to hear where this train of thought would lead. "We will rescue you. Manectric's machine will be ready to go any time now. Maybe even within a day. We're all going to get up there and set you free. You and Latios."
Mewtwo seemed to be smiling slightly. But the tone of his voice when he responded was tired and not at all confident or convincing. "Okay."
