TW: blood, violence, etc.


Chapter 36

The sirens stopped immediately after the gun went off.

Lilly screamed at the top of her lungs in response to the loud noise it made. I gasped, my hands flying to her back as they searched for a bullet hole. A moment later, something warm at wet fell on my shoulder. My eyes still fixed on the top of Lilly's head, I reached up and touched my ear. When I brought down my hand, I saw the blood. Thank goodness.

Furious, I tore my gaze away from her to look for the culprit. Giovanni was standing a few meters away. His poker face was as strong as ever, but his eyes gave away the excitement he felt. Next to him stood an admin with a handgun still trained on me, though he lowered it after Giovanni nodded at him. Behind the two of them stood at least thirty members of Team Rocket with Pokéballs drawn, prepared to provide backup at any time.

Though she tried to keep quiet, Lilly shook like a leaf with sobs. Doing everything I could to keep her out of their reach, I put an arm around her upper back and a hand on her head. I even went as far as to push myself off of the wall in an attempt to stand in front of her, but I nearly lost my footing again. If Giovanni found out how vulnerable I was in that moment, all hope would be lost. It was clear to me that I was not strong enough to get the both of us to safety, but by that point I feared that I lost the strength to transport even just Lilly away from the hideout. I ran through all possible options in my mind as quickly as I could, trying to think of anything that would get her out of this mess. If I gave up without a fight, perhaps there would be no mess to get her out of.

I continued to glare at Giovanni with all the hatred I had as I waited for him to speak. I did not know what he did to make me feel as though I was dying, but I knew that he must be involved somehow. "At last!" Giovanni's voice finally boomed as he clapped his hands together, "he so graciously returns to us!"

The members around us snickered in response. Though it had been a few years by that point, I recognized some of their faces. "But I will be the first to admit it," he continued, silencing them, "I was quite skeptical that you were actually going to come to this place."

He chuckled to himself as he took a few steps in our direction. "Tell me, was what we have so precious that you would risk your very life? I'm dying to know the answer."

I panicked for a moment; until that point, I assumed he took Lilly knowing that she was important to Ash in hopes of getting him to cooperate. But if he thought Lilly was important to me, he would not hesitate to use that to his advantage. No, I reassured myself, he could not possibly know.

"Lilly," Giovanni said in warning, "you really ought to step away from the creature. Think about your safety, there's no telling what it will do in this position."

When she didn't answer, he continued more urgently, "You don't claim to be ignorant, do you? Are you not aware of what it did to hundreds of innocent scientists and Team Rocket members? Or the alleged New Island incident?"

Lilly's gasp was audible, and my heart sank when I heard it. But I could not pretend to be shocked by her response, as she had every right to be afraid of me. I wanted to tell her that I would never hurt her, that even back at her home I could not bring myself to do anything more than scare her. But it was taking all my focus to remain upright, much less speak to her telepathically. As I watched him slowly approach us, Lilly's demands from a few minutes ago began to replay in my mind:

"We can't let them win!"

I felt another growl rise in my throat as I abruptly ripped her away from myself, turning her to face the crowd and winding my three fingers around her throat. I heard Lilly gasp in surprise and felt her grab at my forearm in resistance, but I held firm. "Careful, now," I snapped, locking eyes with him and raising my other arm to make it look as though I would harm her, "come no closer, unless you want me to use her as a . . . demonstration of the things you say I did."

Giovanni stopped in his tracks, but his face remained stoic.

"What, you're really going to kill the girl now? After all the trouble you went through to save her life?" he asked, his voice mocking me.

"I did come here for the girl, but I have no real attachment to this . . . human," I sneered, tightening my grip a little at the word "human". Lilly gasped weakly.

"Is that so? Then, have you come back because you missed me?" Giovanni asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I came because I owed Ash a favor. He begged me to save the girl . . . hut be warned, if you really are going to make me choose between her life and mine . . ."

Her neck still in my grasp, I lifted Lilly several inches off the ground.

"I think . . . we both know who would be alive in the end," I chuckled darkly.

Though I was mostly relying on my psychic power so that she would not be in any real danger, I heard her sob quietly at that statement. I was forced to remember the look of fear on her face when I threatened her with a shard of glass nearly a day ago. But for her sake I could not let it show; I quickly forced that memory back for the time being.

Giovanni eyed me knowingly for a moment, very obviously suppressing a smirk from forming on his face.

"You're right," he said smugly, "we do know."

Though I kept my intimidating demeanor, the rapidly rising level of confidence in his tone was making me feel uneasy. I gritted my teeth in an effort to focus, as I could not hold Lilly off the ground for much longer. Admittedly, I was counting on Giovanni to recall my long history of violence as he did and bargain with me for her life, but it seemed as though he had something else in mind.

"I'll bet you're wondering what I mean by that, aren't you? Here, allow me to refresh your memory."

He looked back at another member and commanded, "Play the recording."

Recording?

Someone with a remote pushed a button, and a speaker clicked on.

"Ash, I will fix this."

I felt the blood drain from my face at the sound of my own voice.

"What? No, leave it to the police! They'll be back any minute! Right, Mom?"

"The police do not know where the hideout is, and we are short on time. I have to be the one to save her."

"No, Mewtwo, don't do this! They said to bring you to—"

I heard myself tell him not to tell the police, that I had to do it alone.

"No Ash, he's right. You stay right here, young man."

There was a lot of background noise as Lilly's Pokémon began to insist on accompanying me, but a moment later my voice returned clear as day:

"You all listen! Not one of you is to accompany me to the hideout! I will return within the next twelve hours. If I am not back by then with Lilly, then you may attempt to rescue her."

"Mewtwo, stop, you don't know what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I am doing. Let go of my tail, now."

"Then what is it?!"

"I am saving the human who loved me, despite the monster that I am." The recording clicked off after those words.

I stood there for a moment, eyes wide with shock; in under a minute, Giovanni was able to completely call my bluff.

"Before I had heard that, I thought it was a massive blunder to bring her to the hideout. I actually came quite close to firing some people. But after listening to what the bugs picked up from the house once she was captured, I mean . . ."

He smiled in disbelief before continuing, "What a performance! It became obvious that she apparently does mean something to you."

I was too focused on holding Lilly up to become angrier at Giovanni. Something warm and metallic entered my mouth, I assumed my nose had begun to bleed again. Giovanni did not acknowledge it.

"Bugs?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"Butch here may have failed in capturing you, but he took the liberty of planting bugs before departing from the house with the girl on the off chance you returned."

"How did you find us at that house?"

"Ah, of course," he said, taking a few steps closer, "you must recall your encounter with the lovely Cassidy in the Safari Zone, yes?

My arm was shaking as he slowly pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and held it up for me to see. It was a photo of me hovering behind Lilly, looking at Cassidy warily.

"Our Cassidy was on a different mission to the Safari Zone, but miraculously still managed to get some photos of you with our special camera while you were invisible! The two had their suspicions, but they eventually came to the conclusion that you were hiding with her," he laughed, tossing the photograph on the ground.

The blood was steadily dripping to the ground, and I began to see black spots in my vision. I realized that this facade was pointless, he was just going to keep talking until I keeled over and he could scrape me up off the ground without a fight.

Unable to hold Lilly in the air any longer, I gently placed her back on her feet again and released my grasp, not taking my eyes off of Giovanni. She slowly turned around and looked back at me, tears swimming in her wide eyes.

Sorry, I thought that would work, was all I said to her, my attention still focused on Giovanni as I wiped my nose and mouth with my forearm.

"In short, not only did you come to retrieve Lilly, you insisted that you do it yourself!" he laughed, clapping his hands together again, obviously enjoying this, "Isn't that curious?"

I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. Then I levitated Lilly once more and brought her back to my side. She quickly wrapped her arms around my midsection and hid her face against my ribs. Low murmurs of surprise were heard from the group standing in front of us. I felt my face soften as I looked back at Giovanni, giving up the ruse entirely.

"Please," I said quietly.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What did you say to me?"

This was not something I had ever done previously, but I swallowed my pride and said it anyway.

"I beg of you, just allow me . . . to take her home."

Wrapping my right arm and my tail around Lilly, I began to lean against her for support and continued, "After that, I will . . . you can do as you wish . . . with me."

I had to pause to catch my breath again.

"I will cooperate . . . once I know that she is safe," I finished after a moment.

"Mewtwo, no," Lilly whispered, looking up at me fearfully, "you're not doing—"

"Stay out of this, Lilly," I growled under my breath in warning.

Giovanni's eyes widened in realization, then he laughed again.

"Ha! You're still trying to protect her, even though you're the one falling apart?" he wiped a tear from his eye, smiling to himself, "You really have become weak, haven't you?"

"No," I said in reply, "I have become . . . stronger than ever."

"Stronger? Do you hear yourself? You can hardly speak to me in full sentences! I'm impressed that you're still on your feet after this long."

"What do you mean? Why is this happening to him?" Lilly turned around and asked before I could.

"Mewtwo, you really aren't as cautious as you used to be," he said, ignoring her again, "Did you actually believe that your strength was being sapped due to extended use of invisibility?"

He laughed out loud at my confused expression, then continued, "Wrong! This could have not gone more according to my plan. All of our previous attempts to contain you have failed because we were attempting to limit your power, but we were not thinking broadly enough! I had a team of scientists create a device designed specifically to absorb your energy, should you ever set foot inside one of our facilities again. The stronger your endeavor is to evade us, the further you exhaust yourself."

He took a step closer to me, smiling tauntingly as he added, "You cannot even teleport to safety right now, can you?"

I stared at him in disbelief for a moment as everything he said sank in. Then I said quietly, "You . . . set me up."

"Though you claim to be the most intelligent and powerful Pokémon in the world, it's nice to see that you are still as easy as ever for us to . . . manipulate."

He drew that last word out for as long as he could, then lifted his right hand and wiggled his fingers slowly.

"Almost as easily as clay."

I yelled out in anger at that insult and started to push Lilly out of my way to fight him myself.

"Come closer, I dare you!" I bellowed, "You have no power over me, you spineless . . . pathetic excuse for a—"

Before I could take a single step, Lilly tightly gripped my arms with her small hands and used her strength to hold me behind her.

"Stop, Mewtwo! He's just trying to separate us, they'll probably shoot you as soon as they do," she whispered urgently.

At that moment the last thing I wanted to do was obey her, but in my weakened state I could not budge Lilly even an inch, much less fight Giovanni.

"Please, just let him go!" she finally cried out toward Giovanni, "Mewtwo doesn't belong to anybody!"

Then she seemed to address the rest of the members standing around us when she exclaimed, "And he deserves to live freely, as much as any human or Pokémon!"

"And when has that stopped me from using thousands of other Pokémon to further the aims of Team Rocket? Much less one that was created for the very purpose of doing our bidding. It's my property that you stole from me, don't you realize?"

"If you wanted something that you could control, you should have made a robot instead!" she said defensively.

He looked at Lilly condescendingly before continuing, "Don't worry! Once it's been reset, we can learn from our mistakes! We'll use what we already have to create an even better version of Mewtwo, one that is far superior to the current version. It's all in the name of science!"

I finally stopped struggling against Lilly's grip, too exhausted to continue doing so.

"We already have the tools at our disposal to accomplish that, but," he paused, taking another step toward us, "using this body will be much faster than creating a new one. It'll be just like recycling; don't you learn about that in school?"

"How can you talk about him like some kind of science project? He has feelings, just like me!"

Giovanni rolled his eyes at the words "science project." Lilly could not tell, but it was becoming increasingly obvious to me that Giovanni's patience was wearing thin from arguing with a young girl.

"Well, this is certainly . . . irritating."

He looked away for a moment, seemingly to contemplate something.

"I did not think you would stoop this low, Mewtwo. Using the girl to win your freedom is not your style."

"Leave her out . . . out of this," I growled.

"I'm afraid that her persistence is not giving me much of a choice right now."

Abruptly, he snapped his fingers; the sound echoed louder than I expected it to. Four additional men in the crowd ran to his side and trained their handguns on us.

Lilly gasped fearfully and pressed back into me.

"It would be quite a shame if we had to deliver a bloody corpse back home to her aunt. Really devastating, don't you think?" he asked, his voice darkening.

"That's enough, Giovanni!" I shouted, finally forcing her to get behind me.

The men froze, but they did not lower their weapons.

"I will come quietly," I said as clearly as I could, though I was beginning to slur my words together.

"Just . . . do not hurt her."

"That's more like it. I knew you would come to your senses eventually," Giovanni said, nodding to a woman who was standing nearby.

She walked up to us and stood in front of me expectantly, waiting for me to step aside. I glared back at her for a moment, though I knew that I could not avoid this fate any longer without risking Lilly's life as well. I released her from my grasp and moved back toward the wall, struggling to keep myself upright without her support.

"Mewtwo, wait! What are you doing?"

Her hands were ripped off of me by the woman taking her. I could only stand there and watch Lilly kick and scream as she was dragged away from me.

"No! Let go of me!"

"I relish in finally getting to take your life, but I don't think dragging a child into it is not necessary today. Wouldn't you agree?" Giovanni said, looking at his fingernails.

"Teleport! Don't just stand there!" Lilly cried, her voice becoming hoarse.

I did not dare to move or reply to her demands, afraid that they would hurt her knowing that I could do nothing to stop them.

"Mewtwo!"

Out of reflex, I stumbled forward a couple of steps when she screamed my name that loudly, but I stopped myself before I could go any further. I fell to my knees and closed my eyes, forcefully pressing my hands over my ears as I tried to drown out her voice.

That was when I heard Giovanni say, "Just enough to keep him still."

I opened my eyes just in time to hear four loud bangs as the Rockets fired their weapons, wounding me in the abdomen and legs. I cried out and was pushed onto my back from the force, writhing in agony as Lilly bawled furiously.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him!"

Giovanni nodded to an additional Rocket, who then tossed him an unfamiliar-looking gun. I was fighting to stay conscious as he advanced toward me with the strange weapon trained on my head, grinning broadly with excitement.

My eyes grew wide as I stared down the barrel. I feared what it would do to me while Lilly was present.

"The time has come for us to reclaim you, and create something far more obedient—"

He delivered a kick to one of my wounded legs.

"Something more loyal—"

He stomped on my chest. I grunted in pain and spat up blood.

"And something even more powerful than you!"

I could not believe the way that Lilly was screaming at Giovanni. Her voice then was even louder than when she had nightmares.

"Somebody shut that brat up," he barked without turning around.

I saw the woman holding her back put a gloved hand over her mouth and pinch her nose, preventing her from drawing breath. The desire to get up from where I was lying and rip the very air out of her lungs was overwhelming, but I was completely powerless to do so. I could only wheeze and glare furiously at Giovanni.

"Any last words?" he asked, taking several paces backwards before taking careful aim with the weapon.

With whatever strength I had left, I turned my head toward Lilly and did my best to speak inside her mind.

Lilly, can you hear me? Even now?

When her eyes widened, I knew my telepathy was still working.

Please turn away, or at least close your eyes. I do not want you to remember me like this.

She rapidly shook her head and kept her gaze fixed on me. Trying to read the thoughts in her head at that moment was like listening to static.

"No, then? Well, this is goodbye for now."

Do not blame yourself, I continued, you have given me . . . more than I can ever thank you for. I never deserved your—

As I spoke, the static slowly melted together and eventually vanished, turning into a low hum. Before I could really listen to it, a massive headache suddenly exploded inside my own skull, leaving me unable to form coherent thoughts or listen to hers. Instead, I thought about my favorite memories with Lilly, hoping that they would still reach her.

I finally closed my eyes, preparing myself for death.

Milliseconds before Giovanni pulled the trigger, a woman's scream echoed off the walls of the room. But the device quickly drowned her out, booming as loud as thunder when it fired.


I didn't want to say this before you read this chapter, but fun fact, this chapter is the idea that this fic was first based on when it was first created! So it's arguably the oldest chapter I've written. I hope you enjoyed it!