(A/n) Wow… not even up for 24 hours and already it's gotten four reviews… (That's a lot for a review-deprived person like me!) Wow, thanks a BILLION to you four people! (Even if you already knew the plotline Nire… but don't give it away! Help me finish "It followed me home!") Oh yeah, to Starlight the Wanderer… I'll check that story out sometime! Maybe next week, cause that's the only week of freedom I'll have at ALL this summer… And good stories didn't die! They were just buried alive by the abundance of AAML, "new Mewtwo" fics, hatefics, and the rest. But they're still there; you just have to dig deeper into the fandom to find them.

            Oh yeah, to QQQ… Stupid me, I forgot to mention this. This story takes place in the R/B/Y-G/S/C (but not Ruby/Sapphire) worlds, so this isn't the same Mewtwo from the anime. Plus Mewtwo was distracted by his thoughts when the Ditto/Golbats approached. Besides, I don't think Mewtwo really can read thoughts… And as for the Dittos… um… let's leave it, since I don't have a logical explanation for that. But thanks for pointing those things out! I never would have remembered them otherwise!

            Oh yeah, I'd also like to say I know NOTHING about cryogenics and cloning, so please don't point out any mistakes regarding them.

Chapter 2

            The group of bandits was gathered together in a small meeting room. Each person was more restless than the other. Quite suddenly, the two scientists burst into the room, notes in hand. The male scientist was carrying a large black lockbox, which he set down on the table. The lady scientist addressed the group.

            "Gentlemen! Our plan so far has been successful. Mewtwo's DNA is ours for our usage!"

            Some of the men clapped, but the others grunted and glared. The scientist held up her hand for silence. "Of course, you all know your duties." The second scientist, more of an assistant, unlocked the box, revealing five smaller boxes.

            "Within each box is a test tube. Each tube," the lady explained, "contains enough DNA to create one Mewtwo clone." The second scientist started handing out a box to each remaining member, save one. The others clasped their boxes protectively. "If the process is executed correctly, the clone will look exactly like Mewtwo, save for the markings, and will be in possession of incredible powers."

            The men muttered excitedly to one another. "However," the speaker called out over the noise, "there is a condition. Lights please." Her assistant shut off the lights and switched on a projector in the back of the room. The lady pulled down a screen and a slide of complex DNA strands appeared. "You all already know about how the DNA works. Most of you were there when the first Mewtwo was created."

            Three of the men nodded grimly, remembering the catastrophe. The lady clicked a button and the slide changed. This time, an apple was displayed on the screen. "But the previous experiment was different. MUCH different. This DNA is for creating clones of a clone. The DNA back at the old lab was pure. Un-cloned. MEW DNA. And of course, our top scientists were on it, so they were able to do all sorts of gene-splicing and testing. Mewtwo was designed to be as powerful, if not more, than Mew itself. But of course, we never got to test that theory…" she frowned, crumpling a piece of paper in her hands.

            "But anyway, the complication in this project is that rather than taking pure DNA, we took cloned DNA. There's a big difference, and since it won't necessarily be us creating these things, the finished results will not be like the real Mewtwo. Observe…"

            She pulled a laser pointer out of her pocket and indicated to the apple on the screen. "Suppose this is Mewtwo."

The others leaned forward, eager to hear this out.

"The DNA taken is going to be used to make clones of a clone. So imagine that we would clone this apple by cutting it." She switched the slide, now showing two halves of the apple. "So we have two halves, but neither can be equal to the whole apple. So the portions have almost equally divided the properties of the whole fruit."

"And what the hell does this have to do with the project???" yelled the man who hadn't received a DNA sample.

The speaker pointed her laser pointer right in his eyes. He yelped and fell over backwards in his chair, clutching his eyes. Pointer back on the screen, she calmly continued, "Anyway, if the apple is split into five equal portions, like the DNA we have, the portions will each only have 1/5 of the whole apple. So technically, the clones will have 1/5 of the power, intelligence, and stats of the original Mewtwo. Of course…"

She switched the slides again so now five unequal apple slices were displayed on the screen.

"… some portions will be more equal than the others."

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Deep within the Seafoam Islands, on the fourth basement, two Seels played on a small island. They butted heads playfully, trying to get the other to fall into the water surrounding the rock. Suddenly, as they prepared for another joust, there was a sudden distortion of the air and a small flash and Mewtwo teleported right between them. The two young Pokemon were so startled that they skidded to a stop and flopped squealing into the water, swimming away with the current.

Mewtwo panted heavily. Teleportation was a lot of work, but it was mandatory. He knew all about Dittos. He had encountered Dittos several times before and each one had, obviously, Transformed into Mewtwo. Even a Ditto/Mewtwo is extremely powerful, no matter how low its stats are; but it's a fact that if the Pokemon they morph disappears, they cannot maintain their morph. And seven Mewtwo morphs? If they had attacked the power would have blown the whole northern coast off the map!!!

Mewtwo shuddered at the thought. He had to stay in these islands overnight, just until he was sure the group of transforming Pokemon had broken up. There was no way he was going to risk any more… copies.

He looked around. Thinking about staying overnight was one thing. Actually doing it was another. This was the deepest, safest part of the Islands, but it was also surrounded by cold water. Mewtwo shuddered again. The only thing he couldn't stand, other than humans, was being wet. The island he was standing on was nothing but a massive boulder in the water, covered in gravel and rocks. Nothing but moss grew down here.

Using his psychic powers to light up the cavern, Mewtwo floated along the length of the island, searching for soft moss to sleep on. Apparently, the cave got colder as he moved on, but he needed something to sleep on so he kept going. He was so intent on searching the ground that he didn't notice what was in front of him until his face hit something soft, causing his light to go out. Floating backwards, he looked up as two large red eyes stared down at him, with light all of their own. For the first time in his entirety, Mewtwo felt the slightest bit of fear. But he was more surprised than afraid. The eyes shone brighter, illuminating the cave and the being they belonged to. Mewtwo had to shield his eyes from the intensity. Suddenly, the creature let out a ringing call, laced with the sound of a songbird, "CUUuUUUuuUUuUuUuU!!!!" This time Mewtwo had to hold his ears; the sound was so loud. Yet it was calming to him. But he dared not look up. Instead, he created a psychic barrier, and just in time too, because the behemoth shot a shining blue beam from its beak. Everything it touched was instantly frozen and the beam continued until the whole of the cavern was a giant ice cave.

Mewtwo's barrier took the ice attack for him, shielding him from the blizzard. The attack blasted against the barrier, and the Psychic Pokemon had to struggle to maintain it. But after only half a minute, the blasts began to silence. Once he was sure the attack was over, he looked out at his barrier, which was frosted over. Upon lowering it, he noticed that the shape of the barrier had stayed. He whipped his tail against it and quickly drew it back, recoiling at the pain shooting through his whole backside. There had to be at least an half an inch of ice there. He was trapped inside his own snow globe!!!

Once again, the creature's call sang out, this time laced with understandable words:

"Creature that interrupts my peace!!! You are one of great power!!! But none is greater on this Island than I, the all-powerful ARTICUNO!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The female scientist finished up her slideshow. "Now you all know your assignments. You must sell that DNA as high as you can. This project is too perfect to pass up! Follow instructions and we'll get the money we'll need in no time!" she turned to leave, then stopped and looked at the six men getting out of their seats. "Remember one thing: Do. Not. Get. Caught. And do not, under ANY circumstance, try and find Mewtwo." Then she re-entered her lab, her assistant trailing behind.

The odd man out, the one who hadn't received a DNA sample, growled and sulked out of the room. He was onto the whole scheme. And he would get that DNA no matter what! While the others left the building, murmuring excitedly among themselves, the last member trailed behind, an grin as evil as a Gengar's plastered on his face.

(A/n) Apologies to George Orwell. The "some portions will be more equal than the others" line is almost a rip-off of the line from "Animal Farm" (one helluva great book). But rip-offing and apologizing is the sincerest form of flattery… right? So please don't sue! And thanks again to all who read this; you're making my end-of-the-year a whole lot better. ^_^