Foreword: In a few days, I'll be moving everything (well, almost everything) to an easier-to-find account (easier according to my friends), Kazeto Tamashii. Just a heads up to everyone who likes what I write and to those of you who are wondering why this new name is posting up things I've already done. (She didn't plagerize it! Tamashii IS Mai! I swear! ...Sort of... ^_^;)
Of course, this doesn't explain why I'm putting this up on my Mai account. Well, nothing does, really. I just didn't feel like rushing and put both season one and two on my Tamashii account before putting this up. Having this sit around on Ziggy (Me laptop, in case you had forgotten, is nicknamed Ziggy.) is incredibly annoying. Like waiting for something exciting to happen, but knowing it's a month away. O_o (Speaking about waiting for things a month or more away, I wish summer break would come soon... ;_;)
Edit (4/8/03): If you really want to know when this will be happening, it should be after I get another "reply to the reviews" thing (episode 16). I want to reply to the reviews I get here before deleting this and reuploading it. Why am I deleting this and starting over again? Uh... I think some administrator for Fanfiction.net would be happy to kick my ass for putting up a story that was already up here... ^_^;
And oh yes, the dreaded number thirteen. Dun, dun, dun! (Actually, there may be something coincidential about this. Read through to get it!)
***
Episode 13--
All in Good Time
AOL Instant Messanger: Connecting... Connection complete.
RCSugar23: jude?
sk8tr_grl72: watz up, roxy?
RCSugar23: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?
RCSugar23: dammit, girl, i've missed you.
sk8tr_grl72: awww...
sk8tr_grl72: i feel loved.
RCSugar23: ...?
RCSugar23: WELL!?!?
sk8tr_grl72: chill.
sk8tr_grl72: i'm staying with my bro for awhile.
RCSugar23: y?
sk8tr_grl72: i'm in short supply of psychotic nerds.
RCSugar23: LOL
RCSugar23: no, really.
RCSugar23: making fun of preps isn't the same w/o you.
RCSugar23: are your parents making you live with him?
sk8tr_grl72: watz so bad about living with bill for awhile?
RCSugar23: no offense to your family, but
RCSugar23: your bro creeps me out.
sk8tr_grl72: LOL!!! :D
RCSugar23: no, really!
RCSugar23: he's the type of nerd who would make an english-to-klingon dictionary
RCSugar23: then stand outside dj mary's bedroom window for an hour, just to see her take off her sweater.
sk8tr_grl72: o, come on! he's too proud of his virginity to do something like that.
sk8tr_grl72: i can imagine him doing the dictionary thing, tho.
RCSugar23: LOL
There was a knock on the door.
"Jude? Do you need any help with your homework?" Bill asked from the other side.
sk8tr_grl72: o, shit. he's at the door. brb.
RCSugar23: ok.
"Nope. I'm good," Jude replied.
sk8tr_grl72: g2g FAST! ttyl, roxy!
RCSugar23: you 2, jude.
AOL Instant Messanger: Disconnecting...*1*
The program disappeared. Jude shut off the monitor and jumped onto her bed, where her open algebra book lay. Just in time, too. Bill opened the door and poked his head inside.
"Are you sure?" he inquired. "I have a little extra time. Perhaps there's something I can help clear up for you."
Jude shook her head. "I'm good. Really. I just need to study for tomorrow's test. My new bio teacher, Mr. Dean, doesn't even care that I didn't learn too much about this chapter back home."*2*
"So, you're studying for a biology test?" Bill partially stated, partially inquired as he completely stepped into Jude's room.
"Yeah," Jude replied.
"Right now?"
"Yeah..."
"Right." Bill nodded in disbelief before pointing to Jude's book. "That's an algebra book."
'Dammit!' Jude thought as she looked at her book.
Bill looked at her with half-opened eyes and a raised eyebrow. "Well...?"
"You heard the Instant Messenger, didn't you?" Jude asked cautiously.
"Halfway down the hall," he told her. "Next time you want to goof off when you SHOULD be doing your homework, at least TRY to be subtle about it."
"Point taken."
"Good." Bill began to leave the room.
Jude blinked. "Wait... That's it? No punishment or lecture or anything?"
"Jude, though technically, I'm currently your legal guardian, I don't wish to torment you by being a dictatorial parental figure," he replied.
"Uh... Thanks... I guess..." Jude cocked her head.
He smiled and left the room. Jude sighed with relief and began to put her book away.
"But in case you're wondering, the punishment will come AFTER you fail the test Mr. Dean had so graciously informed me about!" Bill called from somewhere down the hall.
Jude groaned. "Oh man..."
~~~
Bill closed the door to the cellar, leaned with his back against it, and sighed. Out of anything he had to deal with before, parenting a teenager had to be the most challenging.
"Aww... You look worried. Penny for your thoughts?" Ziggy asked.
"I sympathize for my parents," he replied earnestly.
"It's THAT hard, trying to keep an eye on her?" Ziggy smirked.
"Yes, but it's not as hard as dealing with you."
There was a pause.
"Hey!" Ziggy snapped. "What's that supposed to mean!!?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Bill replied with a grin as she made his way down the steps.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Congeniality!" Ziggy hissed.
"I was kidding."
"That's a lousy excuse!!"
Bill smiled. "You're right. I apologize, Ziggy."
"Good!" She smiled as well. "Then are you up for a shift?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"Great! I'll tell Jude!" Ziggy announced.
"Uh, wait, Ziggy," Bill said, stopping the hologram. "It might be best if you... just left her alone for awhile."
"Huh? Why?"
"She has a biology test tomorrow, and I wouldn't like to disturb her from studying."
~~~
We take a short break to take a glance at what Jude was REALLY doing in her room. She put aside her book and managed to get the Gameboy Advance (which she had bought with her allowance in a Goldenrod discount game shop) out from under her bed and began to play a classic Legend of Zelda game.
"Oh! Left! Left!" she whispered as she hit the buttons with her thumb. "Hyaa! Kill those baddies! Ha! The boss doesn't stand a chance!"
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
~~~
"I see," Ziggy said with a nod.
She smirked and rolled her eyes up to stare at the ceiling.
"And what might that look be for?" Bill inquired suspiciously.
"Nothing," Ziggy lied.
Apparently, she knew what Jude was doing up there, but she didn't want to tell Bill.
"Hmm..." Bill narrowed his eyes at Ziggy.
"Uh, don't you have a shift to go to?" Ziggy asked nervously.
"Hmm..." Bill closed his eyes. "I'll deal with you AND Jude later."
He shifted out.
"Damn, he's good," Ziggy muttered, about to follow him.
~~~
He shifted in. He was... in a forest. Alone. It was because of the fact that he was unaccompanied and not in some sort of rush that Bill decided to take the time to look over what sort of form he was in before anything else.
Purple fur, thin, dog-like limbs and body, long, thin, forked tail.
{Espeon,} he muttered to himself. {Ziggy!}
She appeared in a flash.
"Aww... How cute!" she cooed. "I've always wanted an Espeon!"
{I'll program one for you as soon as you help me get through this shift,} he offered. {Tell me, Ziggy, who is my charge, and what am I supposed to do for him or her?}
"Hmm... This is a bit unusual," Ziggy said as she cocked her head to the left and held it with her left hand. "Zero's not saying anything. She says that your host had always been wild -- born wild, raised wild, and evolved naturally through increased happiness during the day... And as for your mission, she says that Antiwarp will take you someplace, and the rest you can figure out on your own."
{That's strange,} Bill agreed. {Perhaps this is a test of some sort.}
"I'd love to see what she's trying to test."
{So would I.}
Suddenly, a new voice spoke up. "Well, well! If it isn't little Creampuff! ...And of course, Creampuff's boyfriend."
Ziggy puffed up her face as Bill blinked in a bit of confusion.
{B-boyfriend?}
"Oracle..." Ziggy let the air out of her cheeks and yelled, "Show yourself, you ugly prima donna!"
"Oh, my! Haven't WE become the catty ones?"
Oracle giggled and appeared, hovering before the top of a pine tree and floating down toward the ground. All the while, she had a hand on her hip and a hand in her hair as well as one knee bent. As soon as she landed, she dropped the hand in her hair.
"You've gotten chubbier since the last time we've met," Oracle commented.
"I'M NOT CHUBBY!!!" Ziggy argued angrily.
"As much as I'd like to argue that, I'm here for a reason," Oracle stated.
"What sort of reason, Prima Donna?" Ziggy sneered.
Oracle smirked. "I'd like for you to meet a couple of friends of mine..."
Suddenly, a red blur tore across the area and struck Bill with a Slash attack as well as knock him a few feet away. The red slash across his face began trickling blood, but he still stood up, ready for a fight. The red blur, a Scizor, reappeared next to him.
"There's one..."
A green light descended upon Bill and faded, revealing a Celebi. It gave him a sinister look and blasted at him with a Psychic*3* attack. Quickly, he dodged it.
"There's the other!" Oracle laughed. "Sic 'im, kids!"
"YOU DAMN SADIST!" Ziggy kicked at her again, only to find her foot sailing through Oracle's head, causing Oracle to crack up again.
"You're too much, Creampuff," Oracle said between laughs.
Meanwhile, Bill was trying to fight both Pokémon at the same time. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing too well.
Scizor started things off with a Quick Attack, followed by Bill's Sand Attack to Scizor, followed by Celebi's Solar Beam at Bill. Bill tried to use Sand Attack on Celebi, but wound up with a Slash attack to the back. Frustrated, he tried a new strategy: Double Team, followed by Quick Attack.
When Bill struck Celebi using Quick Attack, both psychic Pokémon slammed down into Scizor, and almost immediately after, Celebi's time-travelling ability activated.
Before anyone could do anything, the three Pokémon disappeared into a time warp with a flash of light.
~~~
The afternoon sun warmed his face. He groaned and opened his eyes. He was alone again, this time, in a park.
And his head felt like someone took a sledgehammer to it.
{Oh... god...}
Weakly, he stood up, shook his head, and got a good look around. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He knew where he was. The park... in town... near his lighthouse.
{What happened?} he asked himself as he blinked. {The last thing I remember was hitting Celebi. How did I end up back home...?}
He stood up and wandered around town. No one seemed to notice him, save for a few children who wanted to pet him. (These children, of course, made him nervous, so he did his best to shy away from them.)
And when he thought he'd walked through weirder things, what he saw next was even weirder.
A young man stood near a bin filled with fruits outside a grocery store, no doubt speaking with the store manager, a short, much older woman with a hose, intending on watering the fruits as she spoke to the young man. His eyes drifted to the bin every so often, noticing that there was so much water being put into it that pieces of fruit kept floating out of it. He listened to the woman chat as he held a plastic bag in one hand and a book in the other.
Bill was especially startled at the presence of this young man. You see, it was... well, him.
{How is this possible?} he asked himself as he ducked around the corner of the store, watching himself speak with the old woman.
"So, Dr. McKenzie," the woman addressed. "Are you married yet?"
"No, Mrs. Izumi," he replied politely. "I'm waiting until I'm at least twenty to take a large step like that in my life."
"Are you sure you wouldn't want a girlfriend at least?" Mrs. Izumi asked.
"Ah, no, that's alright," he replied with a nervous laugh.
'Wait...' Bill (the one in the Espeon) crouched lower upon realizing something. 'I feel like I've been through this before...'
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Izumi asked again. "My niece is coming to town, you see. She's looking for a good man to marry, and I think you two would make a LOVELY couple!"
'Say no! Say no! Say no!' Bill begged mentally.
"Ah, no that's quite alright, Mrs. Izumi. I'm quite happy being single."
'Thank god!' The Espeon sighed with relief.
Mrs. Izumi went on. "Are you sure? She's quite a lovely--"
"Oh my! Look at the time!" The human Bill interrupted as he looked at his watch and quickly waved to Mrs. Izumi. "It's been nice talking to you! I'd love to stay and chat a bit more, but I REALLY must be leaving!" He bowed, turned, and ran down the street. "Good bye, Mrs. Izumi!"
Mrs. Izumi blinked. "Was it something I said?"
The Espeon, in need of answers, followed his human self.
~~~
The human walked along the road, reading the book he was carrying, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Meanwhile, the Espeon following not far behind was assaulted with one feeling of déjà vu after another.
The two carried on like this... right up until the Espeon stepped on a twig his human self had stepped over. The twig broke in half, causing both to jump. The human turned around and knelt down in front of the Espeon.
"Hello, there," he said softly, putting the book and the bag aside. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you..."
Bill allowed his human self to touch the side of his head. The human hand moved the Espeon's head around as human eyes observed the cut.
"Hmm... It looks like you got in a rather nasty fight quite recently," he commented. "Come along. I'll take you to my home and fix you up a bit."
He stood and grabbed the bag and the book. The Pokémon could do nothing more than follow.
~~~
In the cellar, the human Bill carefully treated the slash across the Espeon's face. After that was done with, he excused himself and continued upstairs, leaving the Espeon to his own devices... literally.
He looked about and noticed something.
{The Time Capsule... It's not finished!}
He jumped off the desk he sat on and went over to examine the machine.
{How is this possible? Unless...} He began to pace as he thought. {Unless the legends about Celebi are true. If Celebi could truly travel through time, it could have taken itself, Scizor, and myself... right back to the day I became a shifter! THAT'S why everything seemed so familiar to me! I've done everything right before I ran the test! The test...}
He stopped. A thought came over him.
{If I can stop myself from running the test tonight, then I can stop all of this from happening,} he said to himself. {I could return to my normal life, and Antiwarp would never exist!}
He smiled, forming a plan to stop himself from running the experiment. That is, until his face fell upon a second realization.
{But then... If I never ran the test, then none of this would have happened. Everything I've done to help individuals, from Abbie to Jude, would all be undone. Ziggy would still be an old, forgotten program in the back of my computer... and then there would be everything to come!}*4*
He shook his head, slightly angry at himself for actually thinking about something as outrageous as coming up with a plan to change history.
{No! I can't change what has already happened!} Bill decided firmly. {If all of this was meant to happen, why bother tampering with it? And how could I even THINK of giving up shifting?}
He suddenly remembered what Ziggy had said about this mission. Antiwarp would take him someplace, and the rest of the mission was easy enough to figure out.
{If this is where Antiwarp is supposed to take me, then what am I supposed to do now?} he asked himself. {Why am I he--}
His eyes widened as he realized he wouldn't be the only one who would figure out what he had just said about changing history. That if he changed one moment, the moment he ran the experiment, he could stop himself from becoming a shifter. And if he wouldn't be the only one to figure this out, then...
{Oh no...}
~~~
{So, you've taken us to the day McKenzie became a shifter,} the Scizor summerized. {Nice choice.}
{Thanks,} Celebi responded. {But are you thinking what I'm thinking?}
{Hmm... What are you thinking?}
{Dr. Crocus wants to strip McKenzie of his powers, then kill him,} Celebi stated. {What if we killed his past self now before anything ever happens?}
{Then what about us? We had plans to take over the world with our powers!} Scizor pointed out. {If shifting never existed, we'd lose everything we already have!}
{So? There'd be one less person to get in our way,} Celebi replied. {Get rid of McKenzie now, and sure, we'll be normal humans again. But with him out of the way, even as humans we can get rid of anyone else who stands in our way to our rightful thrones!}
{Hmm... Good point,} Scizor said with a nod. {Alright! What are our plans?}
{Simple!} Celebi answered. {All we have to do is...}
~~~
"Here, Espeon," the human Bill said as he put a bowl of Pokémon food and another of water by his Pokémon self in the cellar. "Don't worry. I can't cook human food, but ironically enough, I'm quite good at making Pokémon food." He turned to the Time Capsule. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some work done. Just bark if you need me."
The human made his way over to the Time Capsule and began to work quickly. The Espeon watched for awhile, then turned his attention to the Pokémon food. First, came the cautious sniffing.
{Let's hope that wasn't an empty brag,} Bill muttered as he picked up one of the Pokémon food pellets with his mouth and chewed on it. {Hmm...}
He noted that it was a heck of a lot better than the stuff he usually attempted to make from scratch. And besides, at least these Pokémon pellets don't get up and walk away...
He continued to eat silently for awhile until, about fifteen minutes later, he turned his attention back to the human working. He slipped past the food bowls and sat near by, watching his invention slowly become complete.
The human sensed he was being watched and stopped to look behind him at the Espeon. The Espeon quickly curled up on the floor and closed his eyes, embarrassed as the human smiled.
"Oh, I don't mind if you want to watch," he said. "It's nice to have company while working on machinery."
The Espeon opened his eyes and stared at the human as the past self went back to work.
~~~
Not much longer later, the Time Capsule was finished, and Bill's past self began working on the program. Soon, he'd be able to watch himself step into the Time Capsule, taking the first step to his destiny... whatever it might be.
Suddenly, the door was knocked off its hinges. Scizor charged in, followed by Celebi. The red blur flew over the Espeon, aiming for the startled human. Quickly, Bill used Psychic to save his past self.
^Hurry!^*5* the Espeon cried mentally to his past self. ^Let's get out of here!^
Thinking it was his own train of thought, the human ran from the cellar with Espeon at his heels.
{You can't run from us forever, McKenzie,} Celebi hissed.
At the top of the steps, Espeon turned to his human self. ^Stay here. I'm going back downstairs to deal with Scizor and Celebi.^
"What...?" The human blinked as he watched the Espeon go back downstairs.
{I won't let you harm my past self,} Bill growled at Scizor and Celebi. {I can't go back to being a normal human being. Lives will be thrown off course if I'm not around to help!}
{You can try to stop us,} Scizor said, {but in the end, you'll die either way.}
{I won't let that happen!} Bill yelled as he used Double Team.
{We're not falling for that trick again!} Celebi announced as she began absorbing sunlight.
Her partner, however, used Slash, luckily on an illusion. The real Bill was still somewhere among the circle of Espeons, who, one by one, used Quick Attack on Scizor.
Celebi struck with Solar Beam. This time, it was aimed at her real, intended target, who narrowly evaded it. The illusions vanished, but he struck back with Psychic, knocking Celebi out of the sky.
Scizor cried out and picked up his fallen comrade.
{You haven't heard the last of us!} Scizor bellowed as Celebi used Teleport to take them both out of the lighthouse.
Bill sighed with relief and looked back toward the stairs to see his past self standing by the steps.
"You have a bit of explaining to do, little psychic," he said.
~~~
The human Bill sat on the steps, ready to hear the story (which had been stalled for five minutes until now).
"First thing's first," he finally said. "Those Pokémon wanted to attack me, am I right?"
The future self nodded. ^Correct.^
"Why?"
The Espeon sighed. ^Let me start from the very beginning.^ He closed his eyes. ^You see, I'm your future self.^
The past self blinked. "So... I turn into an Espeon?"
^Not exactly. Let me explain.^ He paused, opened his eyes, and stared at his human self. ^Tonight, I conducted -- or you WILL conduct -- an experiment using the Time Capsule Beta. Something happens. I think... Yes, you will trip and fall into the TCB, causing it to activate while you're still in it. Your body will absorb some of its programming, and you will become what I am. A shifter.^
"A... shifter?"
^One who can shift, or transfer their mind and soul into a Pokémon body.^
"So, you shifted into Espeon."
^Yes, but this is quite some time after I gained my powers.^ He cleared his throat... regardless of the fact that he wasn't using his voice. ^Now then, about these Pokémon. You see, some information will be stolen by Team Rocket, and they will create their own shifters under a Project Antiwarp. Antiwarp will then be abandoned, but they still... well, they're still trying to get rid of me. The Scizor and the Celebi are actually being controlled by shifters, and it was the fault of one of these shifters that put us both in this mess.^*6*
He stopped, looked at his past self with serious eyes, then continued.
^What I mean to say is, both of those Pokémon have interrupted past events,^ Bill (inside Espeon) continued. ^Bill, you MUST finish that program in time to run that test!^
"I don't know... I'm not so sure I want to participate in all this shifting business..."
The future Bill recognized this as one of his earlier thoughts about shifting. He sighed.
^Bill, if you don't go through with that test, lives will be off course forever.^
"What do you mean?"
^After I gained my powers, I've used them to help people. In the bodies of Pokémon, I've been able to change people's lives for the better. If I don't receive my powers, then everything will be undone, and who knows what would happen to the people I've helped?^
"Intense."
^Indeed.^
"But... I see what you mean. Alright." The human went over to his computer and continued working on that program. "I'll do as you say."
^You actually trust me? This is an unbelieveable story, after all.^
"True, it IS quite farfetched, but you should know why I'm trusting you anyways. You ARE me, after all."
The future self thought about it for a moment and smiled. ^Touché. I suppose I would know why you're not reluctant to accept my fate, right?^
The past self looked back and smiled. "Right."
~~~
{We've only got one more chance to get over there and stop McKenzie from going in that damn Time Capsule!} Celebi announced as Scizor carried her and darted forward, back to the lighthouse, after the grass psychic had time to use Heal Bell.
{And we'll get there,} Scizor replied. {Trust me, that ass hole won't live to go into a Pokémon's body!}
Suddenly, a Swift attack struck Scizor and knocked him out of the air. He and Celebi struck the ground in screams and thuds. Both looked up to see another Celebi floating beside a Mew, their attacker.*7*
{All those who want peace in the world follow Lady Aigori's command,} the stranger Celebi said, {and Lady Aigori has asked us to save the life of one Bill McKenzie. She claims he's one of the three born to bring peace to our planet. We won't allow you to harm him!}
{And what are YOU going to do about it?} the Antiwarp Celebi inquired. {I can match your powers completely.}
{You've made three fatal flaws,} Mew commented. {First, you've allowed us to see your weakness, egotism. Second, you've underestimated your enemy by not concidering stats. Thirdly, you forgot about me!}
With that, Mew used Ancient Power, striking both Pokémon and sending them flying backwards into a tree.
{Now, Celebi!} Mew cried.
Celebi nodded and flew forward. {I send thee back to the time and form you belong in! May you never cross time warps again!}
Celebi produced a gust of wind carrying sparks of light that struck, swirled around, and collected around the Antiwarp Celebi and Scizor. Soon, the sparks formed a wall of multi-colored light before brightening and fading, revealing nothing behind it.
{Thank you for your help,} Celebi said to his friend with a bow. {Now, if you'll excuse me, I must meet with the Prime and return him to his rightful time.}
{Of course.} Mew nodded. {Safe journey, Celebi.}
{Same to you, my friend.}
~~~
The Espeon stood guard near the steps. Surely Antiwarp's agents would be back. How soon was a different question.
The human continued working. He was near finished coding when he pased and looked over at his future self. He had his doubts, but he shook his head, clearing them from his mind. This had to be done.
Only moments later, the codes were finished, and he saved the program and stood.
"Finished," he muttered before looking back at his Espeon self with a smile. "Would you like to watch me run the first test?"
The Espeon looked back and thought for a moment. It would be interesting to watch, but...
^No, thank you,^ he replied.
No, he didn't want to watch this.
The past self shrugged. "Oh well, then."
He took the PokéBall with the Ditto in it and put it in the Time Capsule. Like it had before, when he tried to send it through time, nothing happened. When he took the PokéBall out, he stumbled, struck his head on the back of the Time Capsule, causing it to activate as he lay in his unconsciousness.
The Espeon closed his eyes and lowered his head.
{It begins,} he muttered. {I've conducted the experiment, and the rest is history.}
He opened his eyes to see Celebi there. He jumped up and got into a defensive stance.
{Calm yourself, Prime,} Celebi said gently. {I am not from Antiwarp. I'm here on behalf of Lady Aigori, who asked me to guide you back to your own time.}
Bill relaxed. {In that case, by all means, lead the way.}
Celebi nodded and produced a breeze with colored sparks floating inside. {I send both you and I back to the time you belong in...}
~~~
Bill and Celebi walked through the forest in the present. The first few moments were in silence, but Bill finally spoke up.
{Celebi, may I ask you something?}
Celebi smiled. {You ARE quite the curious one. Of course you may.}
{If I've tampered with my own past,} Bill said slowly, {why can't I remember any of it? I can't remember seeing an Espeon or being attacked by a Celebi or a Scizor... only the original course where I was alone all that night.}
{It's quite simple,} Celebi replied. {I've fixed your memory so that you can only remember what originally happened.}
{I see...}
The two could hear shouting. A little further took them to the clearing where Bill and the agents were before they went back in time. There, Oracle and Ziggy remained, quarrelling with each other.
"Yeah? Well, you're uglier than me!" Ziggy snapped.
"Well, at least I'm thinner!" Oracle replied.
"Well, at least I don't make blonde jokes come true!" Ziggy countered.
"Blonde jokes!?" Oracle sneered.
"Yeah! You're a blonde, and you're stupid!"
"My hair is white, dumbass! Not blonde!"
"White IS blonde!"*8* Ziggy told her. "And besides, if you see a difference, then maybe you're just an old bat!"
"Hey! I'm younger than you are!" Oracle fumed.
"You sure don't look like it, batty bat bat!" Ziggy smirked.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Oracle shrieked.
{I'm sorry. I'm afraid I must go,} Celebi said quickly before leaving.
{Oh boy...} Bill sighed.
Ziggy and Oracle were pulling down their eyelids at each other as they continued to fling insults. Bill blinked and stepped forward before clearing his throat.
{Um... Excuse me, but--}
Both holograms turned sharply to him, let go of their eyelids, and interrupted by yelling, "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"
He sighed dejectedly as they continued to go at it. {Oh boy...}
~~~
With no reason to be there, Bill shifted back. He sighed with relief at being back home in his normal body. Without a second thought, he went upstairs.
Not long after, he was stopped by the beeping COM device,*9* held up by a rather pissed off Jude.
"YOU SHIFTED AND DIDN'T TELL ME!?" she seethed.
"Well, I..." Bill smiled nervously. "I didn't want to bother you while you studied for your biology test."
"UGH!" Jude looked away, growled, and balled her hand in a fist as she looked down in anger. "Just great! I'm left out of yet another cool event because of my SCHOOLWORK!"
"There's a good reason for that," Bill told her as he placed a hand on her head (which, by the way, is a bad idea to begin with). "According to your school records, you're not that great in academics."
Jude looked at him with a sharp, fiery glare. Bill got the feeling he shouldn't have said anything and removed his hand from her head. She growled, gave something sort of a war cry, and attempted to tackle him. He moved out of the way and began to run off.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU WIMPY LOSER!!!" Jude screamed.
"What is it with women and me!?" Bill asked himself as he tried to get away from Jude's volcano-like violence.
~~~
In the darkened lab, Crocus and Chester studied a group of chromosomes.*10* So far, nothing seemed to be wrong. That is, until...
"Hold on," Crocus muttered. "There's something attached to that last autosome."
Chester increased the magnification and printed out information about this new segment.
"The sequence..." Crocus muttered as she looked at it. "It... It can't be... can it?"
Nearby, there were stacks of three-ring binders, in each one there were plastic sheets containing paper ones, each with unique information. She took out one and flipped to a certain page. There, she compared the last bits of nucleotide sequences.
"Strange..." Crocus shook her head.
"What is it, doctor?" Chester asked.
"The last bit of DNA on this autosome isn't human," Crocus explained. "I think it's the bit that gives McKenzie his powers. If we sever this bit, we can stop him from shifting permanently. But..."
"What?"
"It's strange," Crocus said again as she looked at Chester. "This is Pokémon DNA. From the glitch Pokémon, Missingno."
***
End episode 13*11*
---
Footnotes:
*1*: The AOL chat really doesn't have anything to do with the story (though I might bring Roxy up again sometime). I just thought it'd be fun to do. ^_^;
*2*: This is about a week after Antivirus. By that time, Bill had enrolled Jude into a local public school. How did the school get Jude's records quickly enough to admit her? The wonders of e-mail, my friends. XD
*3*: I'm not completely familiar with Celebi's attacks. Please forgive me if it isn't able to learn this one. ^_^;
*4*: He doesn't actually know what's about to come, but he knows it's something big. (Hai, this IS a foreshadowing involving his ultimate destiny!)
*5*: And sooner or later, I was going to use telepathy. Anything between ^ and ^ (save for underscores in the author's notes, which are smilies ^_^) are telepathic messages.
*6*: He's referring to Celebi.
*7*: I'm aware that Mew can't learn Swift naturally. But there's such thing as TMs, and Mew can use any one of them. -_-
*8*: I'm not sure whether it is or isn't. Old people aren't all blond(e), but if a young person would have white hair, it would most likely be blond(e), if you consider blond(e) to be any pale color hair. And if this makes no sense whatsoever, shut up. I'm tired. -_-
*9*: The COM device beeps whenever the shifter a watcher is assigned to shifts. It keeps beeping until the watcher responds to it.
*10*: I'm aware that there aren't chromosomes in blood. (If I can remember correctly from my own biology class, chromosomes exist during cell division, and blood cells are one of the few types of cells that don't divide.) I can't explain how Chester and Crocus could be studying a group of chromosomes, except perhaps they could have taken a few skin cells as well when they took a sample of Bill's blood. =/
*11*: First off, wow. Even I didn't plan on writing that last bit. ^_^ (It does have a bit of significance -- in fact, it's a foreshadow, but it's a foreshadow on something that's supposed to happen in the third season. O.o;) Secondly, if you're wondering about the coincidence about episode thirteen... in the REAL Pokémon series, episode thirteen is dubbed as "Mystery at the Lighthouse" -- Bill's first (and only) appearance. In episode thirteen (or at least known episode) of Warp Series, we go back to the beginning, the very first episode. As in, Bill's first appearance in Warp Series. Interesting, no?
Of course, this doesn't explain why I'm putting this up on my Mai account. Well, nothing does, really. I just didn't feel like rushing and put both season one and two on my Tamashii account before putting this up. Having this sit around on Ziggy (Me laptop, in case you had forgotten, is nicknamed Ziggy.) is incredibly annoying. Like waiting for something exciting to happen, but knowing it's a month away. O_o (Speaking about waiting for things a month or more away, I wish summer break would come soon... ;_;)
Edit (4/8/03): If you really want to know when this will be happening, it should be after I get another "reply to the reviews" thing (episode 16). I want to reply to the reviews I get here before deleting this and reuploading it. Why am I deleting this and starting over again? Uh... I think some administrator for Fanfiction.net would be happy to kick my ass for putting up a story that was already up here... ^_^;
And oh yes, the dreaded number thirteen. Dun, dun, dun! (Actually, there may be something coincidential about this. Read through to get it!)
***
Episode 13--
All in Good Time
AOL Instant Messanger: Connecting... Connection complete.
RCSugar23: jude?
sk8tr_grl72: watz up, roxy?
RCSugar23: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?
RCSugar23: dammit, girl, i've missed you.
sk8tr_grl72: awww...
sk8tr_grl72: i feel loved.
RCSugar23: ...?
RCSugar23: WELL!?!?
sk8tr_grl72: chill.
sk8tr_grl72: i'm staying with my bro for awhile.
RCSugar23: y?
sk8tr_grl72: i'm in short supply of psychotic nerds.
RCSugar23: LOL
RCSugar23: no, really.
RCSugar23: making fun of preps isn't the same w/o you.
RCSugar23: are your parents making you live with him?
sk8tr_grl72: watz so bad about living with bill for awhile?
RCSugar23: no offense to your family, but
RCSugar23: your bro creeps me out.
sk8tr_grl72: LOL!!! :D
RCSugar23: no, really!
RCSugar23: he's the type of nerd who would make an english-to-klingon dictionary
RCSugar23: then stand outside dj mary's bedroom window for an hour, just to see her take off her sweater.
sk8tr_grl72: o, come on! he's too proud of his virginity to do something like that.
sk8tr_grl72: i can imagine him doing the dictionary thing, tho.
RCSugar23: LOL
There was a knock on the door.
"Jude? Do you need any help with your homework?" Bill asked from the other side.
sk8tr_grl72: o, shit. he's at the door. brb.
RCSugar23: ok.
"Nope. I'm good," Jude replied.
sk8tr_grl72: g2g FAST! ttyl, roxy!
RCSugar23: you 2, jude.
AOL Instant Messanger: Disconnecting...*1*
The program disappeared. Jude shut off the monitor and jumped onto her bed, where her open algebra book lay. Just in time, too. Bill opened the door and poked his head inside.
"Are you sure?" he inquired. "I have a little extra time. Perhaps there's something I can help clear up for you."
Jude shook her head. "I'm good. Really. I just need to study for tomorrow's test. My new bio teacher, Mr. Dean, doesn't even care that I didn't learn too much about this chapter back home."*2*
"So, you're studying for a biology test?" Bill partially stated, partially inquired as he completely stepped into Jude's room.
"Yeah," Jude replied.
"Right now?"
"Yeah..."
"Right." Bill nodded in disbelief before pointing to Jude's book. "That's an algebra book."
'Dammit!' Jude thought as she looked at her book.
Bill looked at her with half-opened eyes and a raised eyebrow. "Well...?"
"You heard the Instant Messenger, didn't you?" Jude asked cautiously.
"Halfway down the hall," he told her. "Next time you want to goof off when you SHOULD be doing your homework, at least TRY to be subtle about it."
"Point taken."
"Good." Bill began to leave the room.
Jude blinked. "Wait... That's it? No punishment or lecture or anything?"
"Jude, though technically, I'm currently your legal guardian, I don't wish to torment you by being a dictatorial parental figure," he replied.
"Uh... Thanks... I guess..." Jude cocked her head.
He smiled and left the room. Jude sighed with relief and began to put her book away.
"But in case you're wondering, the punishment will come AFTER you fail the test Mr. Dean had so graciously informed me about!" Bill called from somewhere down the hall.
Jude groaned. "Oh man..."
~~~
Bill closed the door to the cellar, leaned with his back against it, and sighed. Out of anything he had to deal with before, parenting a teenager had to be the most challenging.
"Aww... You look worried. Penny for your thoughts?" Ziggy asked.
"I sympathize for my parents," he replied earnestly.
"It's THAT hard, trying to keep an eye on her?" Ziggy smirked.
"Yes, but it's not as hard as dealing with you."
There was a pause.
"Hey!" Ziggy snapped. "What's that supposed to mean!!?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Bill replied with a grin as she made his way down the steps.
"Well, thank you, Mr. Congeniality!" Ziggy hissed.
"I was kidding."
"That's a lousy excuse!!"
Bill smiled. "You're right. I apologize, Ziggy."
"Good!" She smiled as well. "Then are you up for a shift?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"Great! I'll tell Jude!" Ziggy announced.
"Uh, wait, Ziggy," Bill said, stopping the hologram. "It might be best if you... just left her alone for awhile."
"Huh? Why?"
"She has a biology test tomorrow, and I wouldn't like to disturb her from studying."
~~~
We take a short break to take a glance at what Jude was REALLY doing in her room. She put aside her book and managed to get the Gameboy Advance (which she had bought with her allowance in a Goldenrod discount game shop) out from under her bed and began to play a classic Legend of Zelda game.
"Oh! Left! Left!" she whispered as she hit the buttons with her thumb. "Hyaa! Kill those baddies! Ha! The boss doesn't stand a chance!"
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
~~~
"I see," Ziggy said with a nod.
She smirked and rolled her eyes up to stare at the ceiling.
"And what might that look be for?" Bill inquired suspiciously.
"Nothing," Ziggy lied.
Apparently, she knew what Jude was doing up there, but she didn't want to tell Bill.
"Hmm..." Bill narrowed his eyes at Ziggy.
"Uh, don't you have a shift to go to?" Ziggy asked nervously.
"Hmm..." Bill closed his eyes. "I'll deal with you AND Jude later."
He shifted out.
"Damn, he's good," Ziggy muttered, about to follow him.
~~~
He shifted in. He was... in a forest. Alone. It was because of the fact that he was unaccompanied and not in some sort of rush that Bill decided to take the time to look over what sort of form he was in before anything else.
Purple fur, thin, dog-like limbs and body, long, thin, forked tail.
{Espeon,} he muttered to himself. {Ziggy!}
She appeared in a flash.
"Aww... How cute!" she cooed. "I've always wanted an Espeon!"
{I'll program one for you as soon as you help me get through this shift,} he offered. {Tell me, Ziggy, who is my charge, and what am I supposed to do for him or her?}
"Hmm... This is a bit unusual," Ziggy said as she cocked her head to the left and held it with her left hand. "Zero's not saying anything. She says that your host had always been wild -- born wild, raised wild, and evolved naturally through increased happiness during the day... And as for your mission, she says that Antiwarp will take you someplace, and the rest you can figure out on your own."
{That's strange,} Bill agreed. {Perhaps this is a test of some sort.}
"I'd love to see what she's trying to test."
{So would I.}
Suddenly, a new voice spoke up. "Well, well! If it isn't little Creampuff! ...And of course, Creampuff's boyfriend."
Ziggy puffed up her face as Bill blinked in a bit of confusion.
{B-boyfriend?}
"Oracle..." Ziggy let the air out of her cheeks and yelled, "Show yourself, you ugly prima donna!"
"Oh, my! Haven't WE become the catty ones?"
Oracle giggled and appeared, hovering before the top of a pine tree and floating down toward the ground. All the while, she had a hand on her hip and a hand in her hair as well as one knee bent. As soon as she landed, she dropped the hand in her hair.
"You've gotten chubbier since the last time we've met," Oracle commented.
"I'M NOT CHUBBY!!!" Ziggy argued angrily.
"As much as I'd like to argue that, I'm here for a reason," Oracle stated.
"What sort of reason, Prima Donna?" Ziggy sneered.
Oracle smirked. "I'd like for you to meet a couple of friends of mine..."
Suddenly, a red blur tore across the area and struck Bill with a Slash attack as well as knock him a few feet away. The red slash across his face began trickling blood, but he still stood up, ready for a fight. The red blur, a Scizor, reappeared next to him.
"There's one..."
A green light descended upon Bill and faded, revealing a Celebi. It gave him a sinister look and blasted at him with a Psychic*3* attack. Quickly, he dodged it.
"There's the other!" Oracle laughed. "Sic 'im, kids!"
"YOU DAMN SADIST!" Ziggy kicked at her again, only to find her foot sailing through Oracle's head, causing Oracle to crack up again.
"You're too much, Creampuff," Oracle said between laughs.
Meanwhile, Bill was trying to fight both Pokémon at the same time. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing too well.
Scizor started things off with a Quick Attack, followed by Bill's Sand Attack to Scizor, followed by Celebi's Solar Beam at Bill. Bill tried to use Sand Attack on Celebi, but wound up with a Slash attack to the back. Frustrated, he tried a new strategy: Double Team, followed by Quick Attack.
When Bill struck Celebi using Quick Attack, both psychic Pokémon slammed down into Scizor, and almost immediately after, Celebi's time-travelling ability activated.
Before anyone could do anything, the three Pokémon disappeared into a time warp with a flash of light.
~~~
The afternoon sun warmed his face. He groaned and opened his eyes. He was alone again, this time, in a park.
And his head felt like someone took a sledgehammer to it.
{Oh... god...}
Weakly, he stood up, shook his head, and got a good look around. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He knew where he was. The park... in town... near his lighthouse.
{What happened?} he asked himself as he blinked. {The last thing I remember was hitting Celebi. How did I end up back home...?}
He stood up and wandered around town. No one seemed to notice him, save for a few children who wanted to pet him. (These children, of course, made him nervous, so he did his best to shy away from them.)
And when he thought he'd walked through weirder things, what he saw next was even weirder.
A young man stood near a bin filled with fruits outside a grocery store, no doubt speaking with the store manager, a short, much older woman with a hose, intending on watering the fruits as she spoke to the young man. His eyes drifted to the bin every so often, noticing that there was so much water being put into it that pieces of fruit kept floating out of it. He listened to the woman chat as he held a plastic bag in one hand and a book in the other.
Bill was especially startled at the presence of this young man. You see, it was... well, him.
{How is this possible?} he asked himself as he ducked around the corner of the store, watching himself speak with the old woman.
"So, Dr. McKenzie," the woman addressed. "Are you married yet?"
"No, Mrs. Izumi," he replied politely. "I'm waiting until I'm at least twenty to take a large step like that in my life."
"Are you sure you wouldn't want a girlfriend at least?" Mrs. Izumi asked.
"Ah, no, that's alright," he replied with a nervous laugh.
'Wait...' Bill (the one in the Espeon) crouched lower upon realizing something. 'I feel like I've been through this before...'
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Izumi asked again. "My niece is coming to town, you see. She's looking for a good man to marry, and I think you two would make a LOVELY couple!"
'Say no! Say no! Say no!' Bill begged mentally.
"Ah, no that's quite alright, Mrs. Izumi. I'm quite happy being single."
'Thank god!' The Espeon sighed with relief.
Mrs. Izumi went on. "Are you sure? She's quite a lovely--"
"Oh my! Look at the time!" The human Bill interrupted as he looked at his watch and quickly waved to Mrs. Izumi. "It's been nice talking to you! I'd love to stay and chat a bit more, but I REALLY must be leaving!" He bowed, turned, and ran down the street. "Good bye, Mrs. Izumi!"
Mrs. Izumi blinked. "Was it something I said?"
The Espeon, in need of answers, followed his human self.
~~~
The human walked along the road, reading the book he was carrying, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Meanwhile, the Espeon following not far behind was assaulted with one feeling of déjà vu after another.
The two carried on like this... right up until the Espeon stepped on a twig his human self had stepped over. The twig broke in half, causing both to jump. The human turned around and knelt down in front of the Espeon.
"Hello, there," he said softly, putting the book and the bag aside. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you..."
Bill allowed his human self to touch the side of his head. The human hand moved the Espeon's head around as human eyes observed the cut.
"Hmm... It looks like you got in a rather nasty fight quite recently," he commented. "Come along. I'll take you to my home and fix you up a bit."
He stood and grabbed the bag and the book. The Pokémon could do nothing more than follow.
~~~
In the cellar, the human Bill carefully treated the slash across the Espeon's face. After that was done with, he excused himself and continued upstairs, leaving the Espeon to his own devices... literally.
He looked about and noticed something.
{The Time Capsule... It's not finished!}
He jumped off the desk he sat on and went over to examine the machine.
{How is this possible? Unless...} He began to pace as he thought. {Unless the legends about Celebi are true. If Celebi could truly travel through time, it could have taken itself, Scizor, and myself... right back to the day I became a shifter! THAT'S why everything seemed so familiar to me! I've done everything right before I ran the test! The test...}
He stopped. A thought came over him.
{If I can stop myself from running the test tonight, then I can stop all of this from happening,} he said to himself. {I could return to my normal life, and Antiwarp would never exist!}
He smiled, forming a plan to stop himself from running the experiment. That is, until his face fell upon a second realization.
{But then... If I never ran the test, then none of this would have happened. Everything I've done to help individuals, from Abbie to Jude, would all be undone. Ziggy would still be an old, forgotten program in the back of my computer... and then there would be everything to come!}*4*
He shook his head, slightly angry at himself for actually thinking about something as outrageous as coming up with a plan to change history.
{No! I can't change what has already happened!} Bill decided firmly. {If all of this was meant to happen, why bother tampering with it? And how could I even THINK of giving up shifting?}
He suddenly remembered what Ziggy had said about this mission. Antiwarp would take him someplace, and the rest of the mission was easy enough to figure out.
{If this is where Antiwarp is supposed to take me, then what am I supposed to do now?} he asked himself. {Why am I he--}
His eyes widened as he realized he wouldn't be the only one who would figure out what he had just said about changing history. That if he changed one moment, the moment he ran the experiment, he could stop himself from becoming a shifter. And if he wouldn't be the only one to figure this out, then...
{Oh no...}
~~~
{So, you've taken us to the day McKenzie became a shifter,} the Scizor summerized. {Nice choice.}
{Thanks,} Celebi responded. {But are you thinking what I'm thinking?}
{Hmm... What are you thinking?}
{Dr. Crocus wants to strip McKenzie of his powers, then kill him,} Celebi stated. {What if we killed his past self now before anything ever happens?}
{Then what about us? We had plans to take over the world with our powers!} Scizor pointed out. {If shifting never existed, we'd lose everything we already have!}
{So? There'd be one less person to get in our way,} Celebi replied. {Get rid of McKenzie now, and sure, we'll be normal humans again. But with him out of the way, even as humans we can get rid of anyone else who stands in our way to our rightful thrones!}
{Hmm... Good point,} Scizor said with a nod. {Alright! What are our plans?}
{Simple!} Celebi answered. {All we have to do is...}
~~~
"Here, Espeon," the human Bill said as he put a bowl of Pokémon food and another of water by his Pokémon self in the cellar. "Don't worry. I can't cook human food, but ironically enough, I'm quite good at making Pokémon food." He turned to the Time Capsule. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some work done. Just bark if you need me."
The human made his way over to the Time Capsule and began to work quickly. The Espeon watched for awhile, then turned his attention to the Pokémon food. First, came the cautious sniffing.
{Let's hope that wasn't an empty brag,} Bill muttered as he picked up one of the Pokémon food pellets with his mouth and chewed on it. {Hmm...}
He noted that it was a heck of a lot better than the stuff he usually attempted to make from scratch. And besides, at least these Pokémon pellets don't get up and walk away...
He continued to eat silently for awhile until, about fifteen minutes later, he turned his attention back to the human working. He slipped past the food bowls and sat near by, watching his invention slowly become complete.
The human sensed he was being watched and stopped to look behind him at the Espeon. The Espeon quickly curled up on the floor and closed his eyes, embarrassed as the human smiled.
"Oh, I don't mind if you want to watch," he said. "It's nice to have company while working on machinery."
The Espeon opened his eyes and stared at the human as the past self went back to work.
~~~
Not much longer later, the Time Capsule was finished, and Bill's past self began working on the program. Soon, he'd be able to watch himself step into the Time Capsule, taking the first step to his destiny... whatever it might be.
Suddenly, the door was knocked off its hinges. Scizor charged in, followed by Celebi. The red blur flew over the Espeon, aiming for the startled human. Quickly, Bill used Psychic to save his past self.
^Hurry!^*5* the Espeon cried mentally to his past self. ^Let's get out of here!^
Thinking it was his own train of thought, the human ran from the cellar with Espeon at his heels.
{You can't run from us forever, McKenzie,} Celebi hissed.
At the top of the steps, Espeon turned to his human self. ^Stay here. I'm going back downstairs to deal with Scizor and Celebi.^
"What...?" The human blinked as he watched the Espeon go back downstairs.
{I won't let you harm my past self,} Bill growled at Scizor and Celebi. {I can't go back to being a normal human being. Lives will be thrown off course if I'm not around to help!}
{You can try to stop us,} Scizor said, {but in the end, you'll die either way.}
{I won't let that happen!} Bill yelled as he used Double Team.
{We're not falling for that trick again!} Celebi announced as she began absorbing sunlight.
Her partner, however, used Slash, luckily on an illusion. The real Bill was still somewhere among the circle of Espeons, who, one by one, used Quick Attack on Scizor.
Celebi struck with Solar Beam. This time, it was aimed at her real, intended target, who narrowly evaded it. The illusions vanished, but he struck back with Psychic, knocking Celebi out of the sky.
Scizor cried out and picked up his fallen comrade.
{You haven't heard the last of us!} Scizor bellowed as Celebi used Teleport to take them both out of the lighthouse.
Bill sighed with relief and looked back toward the stairs to see his past self standing by the steps.
"You have a bit of explaining to do, little psychic," he said.
~~~
The human Bill sat on the steps, ready to hear the story (which had been stalled for five minutes until now).
"First thing's first," he finally said. "Those Pokémon wanted to attack me, am I right?"
The future self nodded. ^Correct.^
"Why?"
The Espeon sighed. ^Let me start from the very beginning.^ He closed his eyes. ^You see, I'm your future self.^
The past self blinked. "So... I turn into an Espeon?"
^Not exactly. Let me explain.^ He paused, opened his eyes, and stared at his human self. ^Tonight, I conducted -- or you WILL conduct -- an experiment using the Time Capsule Beta. Something happens. I think... Yes, you will trip and fall into the TCB, causing it to activate while you're still in it. Your body will absorb some of its programming, and you will become what I am. A shifter.^
"A... shifter?"
^One who can shift, or transfer their mind and soul into a Pokémon body.^
"So, you shifted into Espeon."
^Yes, but this is quite some time after I gained my powers.^ He cleared his throat... regardless of the fact that he wasn't using his voice. ^Now then, about these Pokémon. You see, some information will be stolen by Team Rocket, and they will create their own shifters under a Project Antiwarp. Antiwarp will then be abandoned, but they still... well, they're still trying to get rid of me. The Scizor and the Celebi are actually being controlled by shifters, and it was the fault of one of these shifters that put us both in this mess.^*6*
He stopped, looked at his past self with serious eyes, then continued.
^What I mean to say is, both of those Pokémon have interrupted past events,^ Bill (inside Espeon) continued. ^Bill, you MUST finish that program in time to run that test!^
"I don't know... I'm not so sure I want to participate in all this shifting business..."
The future Bill recognized this as one of his earlier thoughts about shifting. He sighed.
^Bill, if you don't go through with that test, lives will be off course forever.^
"What do you mean?"
^After I gained my powers, I've used them to help people. In the bodies of Pokémon, I've been able to change people's lives for the better. If I don't receive my powers, then everything will be undone, and who knows what would happen to the people I've helped?^
"Intense."
^Indeed.^
"But... I see what you mean. Alright." The human went over to his computer and continued working on that program. "I'll do as you say."
^You actually trust me? This is an unbelieveable story, after all.^
"True, it IS quite farfetched, but you should know why I'm trusting you anyways. You ARE me, after all."
The future self thought about it for a moment and smiled. ^Touché. I suppose I would know why you're not reluctant to accept my fate, right?^
The past self looked back and smiled. "Right."
~~~
{We've only got one more chance to get over there and stop McKenzie from going in that damn Time Capsule!} Celebi announced as Scizor carried her and darted forward, back to the lighthouse, after the grass psychic had time to use Heal Bell.
{And we'll get there,} Scizor replied. {Trust me, that ass hole won't live to go into a Pokémon's body!}
Suddenly, a Swift attack struck Scizor and knocked him out of the air. He and Celebi struck the ground in screams and thuds. Both looked up to see another Celebi floating beside a Mew, their attacker.*7*
{All those who want peace in the world follow Lady Aigori's command,} the stranger Celebi said, {and Lady Aigori has asked us to save the life of one Bill McKenzie. She claims he's one of the three born to bring peace to our planet. We won't allow you to harm him!}
{And what are YOU going to do about it?} the Antiwarp Celebi inquired. {I can match your powers completely.}
{You've made three fatal flaws,} Mew commented. {First, you've allowed us to see your weakness, egotism. Second, you've underestimated your enemy by not concidering stats. Thirdly, you forgot about me!}
With that, Mew used Ancient Power, striking both Pokémon and sending them flying backwards into a tree.
{Now, Celebi!} Mew cried.
Celebi nodded and flew forward. {I send thee back to the time and form you belong in! May you never cross time warps again!}
Celebi produced a gust of wind carrying sparks of light that struck, swirled around, and collected around the Antiwarp Celebi and Scizor. Soon, the sparks formed a wall of multi-colored light before brightening and fading, revealing nothing behind it.
{Thank you for your help,} Celebi said to his friend with a bow. {Now, if you'll excuse me, I must meet with the Prime and return him to his rightful time.}
{Of course.} Mew nodded. {Safe journey, Celebi.}
{Same to you, my friend.}
~~~
The Espeon stood guard near the steps. Surely Antiwarp's agents would be back. How soon was a different question.
The human continued working. He was near finished coding when he pased and looked over at his future self. He had his doubts, but he shook his head, clearing them from his mind. This had to be done.
Only moments later, the codes were finished, and he saved the program and stood.
"Finished," he muttered before looking back at his Espeon self with a smile. "Would you like to watch me run the first test?"
The Espeon looked back and thought for a moment. It would be interesting to watch, but...
^No, thank you,^ he replied.
No, he didn't want to watch this.
The past self shrugged. "Oh well, then."
He took the PokéBall with the Ditto in it and put it in the Time Capsule. Like it had before, when he tried to send it through time, nothing happened. When he took the PokéBall out, he stumbled, struck his head on the back of the Time Capsule, causing it to activate as he lay in his unconsciousness.
The Espeon closed his eyes and lowered his head.
{It begins,} he muttered. {I've conducted the experiment, and the rest is history.}
He opened his eyes to see Celebi there. He jumped up and got into a defensive stance.
{Calm yourself, Prime,} Celebi said gently. {I am not from Antiwarp. I'm here on behalf of Lady Aigori, who asked me to guide you back to your own time.}
Bill relaxed. {In that case, by all means, lead the way.}
Celebi nodded and produced a breeze with colored sparks floating inside. {I send both you and I back to the time you belong in...}
~~~
Bill and Celebi walked through the forest in the present. The first few moments were in silence, but Bill finally spoke up.
{Celebi, may I ask you something?}
Celebi smiled. {You ARE quite the curious one. Of course you may.}
{If I've tampered with my own past,} Bill said slowly, {why can't I remember any of it? I can't remember seeing an Espeon or being attacked by a Celebi or a Scizor... only the original course where I was alone all that night.}
{It's quite simple,} Celebi replied. {I've fixed your memory so that you can only remember what originally happened.}
{I see...}
The two could hear shouting. A little further took them to the clearing where Bill and the agents were before they went back in time. There, Oracle and Ziggy remained, quarrelling with each other.
"Yeah? Well, you're uglier than me!" Ziggy snapped.
"Well, at least I'm thinner!" Oracle replied.
"Well, at least I don't make blonde jokes come true!" Ziggy countered.
"Blonde jokes!?" Oracle sneered.
"Yeah! You're a blonde, and you're stupid!"
"My hair is white, dumbass! Not blonde!"
"White IS blonde!"*8* Ziggy told her. "And besides, if you see a difference, then maybe you're just an old bat!"
"Hey! I'm younger than you are!" Oracle fumed.
"You sure don't look like it, batty bat bat!" Ziggy smirked.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Oracle shrieked.
{I'm sorry. I'm afraid I must go,} Celebi said quickly before leaving.
{Oh boy...} Bill sighed.
Ziggy and Oracle were pulling down their eyelids at each other as they continued to fling insults. Bill blinked and stepped forward before clearing his throat.
{Um... Excuse me, but--}
Both holograms turned sharply to him, let go of their eyelids, and interrupted by yelling, "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"
He sighed dejectedly as they continued to go at it. {Oh boy...}
~~~
With no reason to be there, Bill shifted back. He sighed with relief at being back home in his normal body. Without a second thought, he went upstairs.
Not long after, he was stopped by the beeping COM device,*9* held up by a rather pissed off Jude.
"YOU SHIFTED AND DIDN'T TELL ME!?" she seethed.
"Well, I..." Bill smiled nervously. "I didn't want to bother you while you studied for your biology test."
"UGH!" Jude looked away, growled, and balled her hand in a fist as she looked down in anger. "Just great! I'm left out of yet another cool event because of my SCHOOLWORK!"
"There's a good reason for that," Bill told her as he placed a hand on her head (which, by the way, is a bad idea to begin with). "According to your school records, you're not that great in academics."
Jude looked at him with a sharp, fiery glare. Bill got the feeling he shouldn't have said anything and removed his hand from her head. She growled, gave something sort of a war cry, and attempted to tackle him. He moved out of the way and began to run off.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU WIMPY LOSER!!!" Jude screamed.
"What is it with women and me!?" Bill asked himself as he tried to get away from Jude's volcano-like violence.
~~~
In the darkened lab, Crocus and Chester studied a group of chromosomes.*10* So far, nothing seemed to be wrong. That is, until...
"Hold on," Crocus muttered. "There's something attached to that last autosome."
Chester increased the magnification and printed out information about this new segment.
"The sequence..." Crocus muttered as she looked at it. "It... It can't be... can it?"
Nearby, there were stacks of three-ring binders, in each one there were plastic sheets containing paper ones, each with unique information. She took out one and flipped to a certain page. There, she compared the last bits of nucleotide sequences.
"Strange..." Crocus shook her head.
"What is it, doctor?" Chester asked.
"The last bit of DNA on this autosome isn't human," Crocus explained. "I think it's the bit that gives McKenzie his powers. If we sever this bit, we can stop him from shifting permanently. But..."
"What?"
"It's strange," Crocus said again as she looked at Chester. "This is Pokémon DNA. From the glitch Pokémon, Missingno."
***
End episode 13*11*
---
Footnotes:
*1*: The AOL chat really doesn't have anything to do with the story (though I might bring Roxy up again sometime). I just thought it'd be fun to do. ^_^;
*2*: This is about a week after Antivirus. By that time, Bill had enrolled Jude into a local public school. How did the school get Jude's records quickly enough to admit her? The wonders of e-mail, my friends. XD
*3*: I'm not completely familiar with Celebi's attacks. Please forgive me if it isn't able to learn this one. ^_^;
*4*: He doesn't actually know what's about to come, but he knows it's something big. (Hai, this IS a foreshadowing involving his ultimate destiny!)
*5*: And sooner or later, I was going to use telepathy. Anything between ^ and ^ (save for underscores in the author's notes, which are smilies ^_^) are telepathic messages.
*6*: He's referring to Celebi.
*7*: I'm aware that Mew can't learn Swift naturally. But there's such thing as TMs, and Mew can use any one of them. -_-
*8*: I'm not sure whether it is or isn't. Old people aren't all blond(e), but if a young person would have white hair, it would most likely be blond(e), if you consider blond(e) to be any pale color hair. And if this makes no sense whatsoever, shut up. I'm tired. -_-
*9*: The COM device beeps whenever the shifter a watcher is assigned to shifts. It keeps beeping until the watcher responds to it.
*10*: I'm aware that there aren't chromosomes in blood. (If I can remember correctly from my own biology class, chromosomes exist during cell division, and blood cells are one of the few types of cells that don't divide.) I can't explain how Chester and Crocus could be studying a group of chromosomes, except perhaps they could have taken a few skin cells as well when they took a sample of Bill's blood. =/
*11*: First off, wow. Even I didn't plan on writing that last bit. ^_^ (It does have a bit of significance -- in fact, it's a foreshadow, but it's a foreshadow on something that's supposed to happen in the third season. O.o;) Secondly, if you're wondering about the coincidence about episode thirteen... in the REAL Pokémon series, episode thirteen is dubbed as "Mystery at the Lighthouse" -- Bill's first (and only) appearance. In episode thirteen (or at least known episode) of Warp Series, we go back to the beginning, the very first episode. As in, Bill's first appearance in Warp Series. Interesting, no?