-=-=-=-=-

Destiny's Child
by TG

(Part Ten of Fate's Game)


"The mind works in remarkable ways."

-=-=-=-=-

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

"What did I tell you about that..." Cassidy folded her arms in disapproval.

"It's not nice to use empathy on others..."

"It's alright, Cassidy. She just surprised me." The Joy smiled. "She's sensitive to shots, aren't you deary?" She smiled at the little girl.

The little girl returned the smile.

The nurse nodded to Cassidy before walking away with the syringe full of blood.

Cassidy looked down at the little girl. "Samantha, you shouldn't use your abilities on others. If she had been more sensitive, she might really have been hurt."

The little girl sighed. "I'm sorry, Aunt Cass. But I hate needles!"

Cassidy smirked. "I haven't met anyone who liked them yet."

"Aunt Cass, why do they have to keep me here?" The little girl looked around the nearly-empty medical bay. "I don't feel sick!"

"You might not feel sick, but feeling sick and being sick don't always happen at the same time."

"Is that why nobody's here but me? Or is it because they're afraid of me?"

Cassidy hopped up on the table next to the girl. "I'm not afraid of you."

"But you're different."

The female Rocket cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"You're fuzzy..."

Cassidy chuckled. "Fuzzy?"

The girl nodded slowly. "I can sense you're there, but you're in a foggy mist. I can't see what you think."

Cassidy casually brushed back some the girl's hair. "Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know. But ever since I learned how to speak, they've been trying to listen to everything I say. It makes me feel..."

"Exposed."

The little girl looked up at Cassidy. "How did you know?"

She smiled. "I sometimes feel like that. I usually feel alone at the same time. But I'm not leaving your side, okay?"

Samantha smiled and wrapped her arms around Cassidy. "Thanks Aunt Cassidy. Or should I call you..." She trailed off, watching Cassidy's anxiety. "I'm sorry..."

Cassidy blinked a few times. "W-What.. why?"

The girl laid her head against Cassidy's side. "I've been pushed on you..."

Cassidy smiled and put her arm around the girl. "Nonsense. I'm sure I would've had a child someday..."

"But you didn't get a choice."

The Rocket shrugged. "Sometimes we don't get a choice."

-=-=-=-=-

"Is she...?"

Doctor Joy shook her head. "I've given her a sedative, but she's still borderline."

Brock looked across the room at Rose. The teen was lying in a bed, a small machine attached to the bed generating a soft-green field over it. Occasionally she would try to sit up, but the field kept her restrained. "Kinza?"

The strange-looking Security officer walked back, holding a small box that chirped. "Sir, I checked her for chronal radiation, and it jumped straight off the scale. Before, when she had tried to alter the past, it was a constant rate with the amount of time she spent off her timeline. Now, the readings just don't make sense. It's like she's getting bounced through time every few minutes, for a nanosecond a jump. And every chronal burst is sending her synapses into further temporal degradation."

Brock sagged against the wall. Only four hours prior, he had watched a woman he cared a great deal for vanish from existence. Then word had reached Stratus that the young Sabrina of Level Prime had collapsed, and woke up thirty minutes later screaming. Jesse Musashi of that level was all that kept the girl from having to be put under heavy sedation. Now it looked like Rose would slowly go insane, that was if she didn't... "Death?"

Joy looked back at the girl. "At the rate her synapses are degrading, I'm not sure how long before brain-death occurs. But it will if we don't stop whatever is pulling her back and forth through time."

"Kinza, just what is going on?"

Kinza thought for a moment before an idea struck him. "Sir, the radiation matches up with her original timeline. If she's taken back there, the jumps may cease."

Brock looked at Joy. "Do you think she could handle the transport?"

Joy again looked at the girl, skeptical. "If nothing's done, she'll die. It might be worth the risk."

The President of the Stratus League nodded to Kinza. "You get a Scat Back warmed up."

-=-=-=-=-

Kinza looked into the back of the Scat Back. He shook off the feeling of déjà vu. "Let's get this show on the road." He plopped down into the seat and buckled up, watching the computer do the Pre-Flight checks. After the computer chirped at him, he pushed a button and felt the engines throttle up. "Up, up and away!" He quickly keyed in temporal coordinates, noting with amusement that he had them memorized. "Nothing like being prepared, ea?"

The sky darkened before the Scat Back as it slammed its way through the Trans-Dimensional Zone and space-time itself bent. Multi-color lights briefly flashed through the front observation ports before the ship broke out into... somewhere.

"Aww frack, not this again!"

Huge chunks of metal banged against the sides of the craft as it dodged its way into a sea of debris. Multiple warning lights flashed on the computer display. Then a real scary number popped up. "Temporal anomaly reading is 98%!! What the...!?"

The ship shuddered violently as more debris side-swiped the Scat Back's shields.

"Warning - Sensors have detected two Class A subspace anomalies. Anomaly One is at 36 mark 05. Anomaly Two is at 316 mark 25. Both register as possible Category 2 Wormholes. Extreme caution is recommended."

Kinza snorted at the last remark. Suddenly something smacked against the front of the Scat Back. It looked familiar... "Computer, scan the debris right in front of us."

"Organic... humanoid. Identification impossible due to-"

Kinza hit the audio. This was wrong, so very wrong. He backed the Scat Back away from the debris field. Then he saw it, or more like he saw what it wasn't. He turned the audio back on. "Computer, verify that this is the star system at Spatial Coordinates 491-P1-001."

"Navigational Array lacks the data to verify. Star system not in last plotted location. Attempt to lock onto nearest star in 5 light-year radius unsuccessful, no stars detected within range. Unable to make contact with local SAM relay units, units are not detected."

No stars, no planets, lots of debris... no SAM relays, that's really bad... and two huge wormholes. But where did the wormholes lead? "Can we launch two probes to study those wormholes?"

"Launching probes, please stand by."

Kinza watched the twin devices plunge towards two dark spots in the star field. Suddenly one vanished. "Computer, what just happened to one of the probes?"

"Probe 2 lost. The wormhole was generating an unstable gravity field that overloaded the probe's maneuvering thrusters."

Kinza looked at the debris. It was huge, much more than Exeter from the last time. Maybe more than even three Lexington-class ships. Kinza blinked out of his trance when the computer chirped. "What's the probe found?"

"Probe is reading trans-dimensional wormhole. Temporal signatures match with Spatial Coordinates 490-E0-001. Wormhole exits approximately twenty million kilometers from Earth, the third planet in the Solar System. Probe is detecting something inside the wormhole. Unknown object is exiting wormhole. Probe transmission lost. Collision warning, take evasive action!"

Suddenly the ship pitched violently. The ship lurched again as the star field disappeared. The debris outside the Scat Back shifted away and the ship became perfectly still. Kinza looked at the console as it flickered.

A voice rumbled through the ship, or more exactly it rumbled through the minds inside the ship. "It seems I missed one. My, how careless of me..."

The entire front of the ship was subjected to the view of a red eye. The eye was part of a huge black creature. It was winged, with dark-blue highlights around its eyes. A dark-red glow flowed around its body as hundreds of thousands of red creatures moved about it.

Kinza bowed his head and silently cursed Fate for letting him show up before the creature had left that level.

The voice returned. "I wonder if I squeeze it, if the juicy bits will ooze out, or if it will merely pop? Let's see, shall we?"

Kinza heard the ship groan as the hull was slowly crushed. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see the girl. "Oh, woke up to see us die, ea?"

The ship stopped groaning. The voice returned, carrying a hint of curiosity. "If my eye is not mistaken, I believe we have met human... twice, in fact. My, you do get around, don't you?"

Rose could only nod slowly.

"You even had the audacity to enter into my very essence to steal your friend back. This time, little one, there is no-one to save you."

Kinza watched the console flicker again, and shut off. So it was die of oxygen starvation, or be crushed. Talk about a rock and a hard place. Then the creature craned its neck and scowled at something behind it. Kinza felt the ship shudder as it was released and watched as the creature moved back towards the wormhole. He could just faintly make out 6 dots... could that be Captain Strom amongst them? It was hard to tell at this distance, and Kinza's attention was focused elsewhere as he heard the tell-tale whine of the engines coming back online. The computer chirped and began displaying a laundry list of bad news.

"Structural damage - 41%. Power Reserves - 14%. Shields - Down. Weapons - Down. Anti-Matter Containment - 62% and dropping. Engines - Functional."

"Mr. Button's gonna kill me... that's if I don't die first." Kinza quickly glanced outside. The creature was re-entering the wormhole, and there was no sign of the six people who had appeared. "Computer, plot a course that'll get us to all the nearest intact scanner nodes the fastest, then execute the flight plan."

Rose sat down in the co-pilot's chair with a haunted look. "I.. I remember now. I'm the only survivor..."

"Don't count us out yet." Kinza hoped those words sounded sincere.

-=-=-=-=-

Brock rushed out as the Scat Back landed. He watched the back of the craft slowly open. "Kinza, I thought you were taking her back?" He then saw all the debris in the back of the Scat Back, and the look on Rose's face. "What...?"

Kinza nodded back at the pile of equipment. "You're gonna have to take a look at this, sir. I don't think mine or the lady's words will do it justice."

As Brock watched the equipment being lifted out of the Scat Back, he finally noticed the damage it had sustained. Three huge impressions ran down the port side of the vehicle, ending in three holes. They looked like claw marks. Whatever had made them was huge.

-=-=-=-=-

"You look better, soldier."

Van weakly saluted. "Yes, sir."

Gasglow looked at Van as he lay in bed. "You really should be careful who you share minds with."

Van looked confused. "Sir, what did I do?"

There was a cough. Gasglow turned to see Cassidy and the girl standing in the door.

Van looked at the little girl. "Sir... I know her from somewhere..."

Gasglow turned back to Van with a hint of alarm. "What do you mean?"

Van stared at her, smiling when she smiled at him. "I don't know, I just do. Isn't that strange?"

Gasglow peered back at Cassidy with an unhappy expression. "It seems strange is the right definition for the last few days."

Van looked at Cassidy, but noticed she was avoiding eye-contact. He lowered his voice. "Sir, what's happened?"

Gasglow did likewise before recounting the mysterious events of the past week. He put a hand on Van's arm when he finished, seeing the boy's expression of shock and horror. "You didn't do any of those things, Van. Somebody manipulated you into doing their dirty work."

Van looked down at Gasglow. "Sir, do you consider the child evil?"

Team Blue's leader glanced back at her, then returned his attention to Van. "I don't know what to think of her. She isn't supposed to be here, yet I can't ignore the innocence I see in her eyes. I'm having all the same feelings about her that I had about you."

"About.. me?"

Gasglow nodded. "I was skeptical about taking you away from Team Rocket. I thought if the clone was perfect, then perhaps there was nothing I could do to change what it would become. But I could tell you weren't merely the genetic mark-up in your body."

Van shifted his gaze towards the ceiling. "But I'm still like Giovanni... detached, alone, and always too focused to see what's around me. When I was running Team Blue, it was just a kinder, gentler version of him running the show. Look at how easily I betrayed Butch and Cassidy, and all the horrible things I did."

Gasglow pulled back, taken a bit unawares by the sudden turn. The boy definitely shared Giovanni's mood swings, that was sure. "I really wouldn't invest too much in how you handled a 13-month crash course in running a secret organization. You were never ready for that much responsibility, and your natural leadership talents were never honed. Unlike Giovanni, who had plenty of time to watch his mother's criminal practices, and pick up all her bad habits. I blame myself for not making you a true second-in-command earlier."

"If you guys are finished bonding?"

Gasglow turned back, a bit annoyed at the interruption. "What is it Cassidy? I thought I said the child was to stay in the second medical bay."

Cassidy looked down at the little girl. "I think it's time she stopped being treated like a prisoner."

Gasglow walked over, staring at the girl. "And I think she's too dangerous without some sort of control. Letting her out of this facility would be like letting a dangerous animal roam loose."

Cassidy's expression changed from mild disdain to pure anger.

Gasglow was about to speak his mind when something thrust into his arms, or someone. He was only slightly taller than her by about a foot. But the girl buried against his chest sobbing still seemed little to him.

"P-Please don't fight..."

For a moment, the purely analytical side of him, the machine, thought about harshly rebuffing the girl for such a dramatic outburst. But quickly his human side interrupted with common sense and a dose of compassion. Gasglow awkwardly put his arms around the girl and sighed.

The ill-will drained from Cassidy's face, as well as some of the color. "We.. uh..."

"There is no fight." Gasglow glanced up at Cassidy, sensing her unease and inexperience. He slowly pulled the girl back, glancing down at her. "Is that better?"

The little girl nodded.

"Good. You are not a prisoner here, and this place is not a prison."

She looked up at Cassidy, then back at Gasglow. "What do you mean? What is it?"

Gasglow looked around. "This is a sanctuary, and you are being protected here from the outside world."

"A sank-too-wary is a safe place?"

Gasglow nodded.

"Why is the outside world bad?"

He shook his head. "It isn't bad, but it has bad people. Those people might want to hurt you."

"Because I can do stuff to other people's minds?"

Gasglow nodded. "You can do much more than change their minds. You'll be able to move from one place to another by just thinking of it, and maybe even move things around with your thoughts."

"Tell-lee-port-ta-shun and... tell-lee-kee-nee-sis?"

Gasglow smiled and looked up at Cassidy. "She's got a better vocabulary than some high school drop-outs." He then realized his mistake when Cassidy showed her confusion. "Different dimension, different schooling system."

"But I wanna see Uncle Butch..."

Cassidy and Gasglow shared an expression of shock.

-=-=-=-=-

"The Council Chambers of the Stratus League will now come to order!", the Sergeant-at-Arms announced. The amphitheater was packed with senior trainers, watchers, breeders, Pokémon, senators, council members, and the Lead Board members who represented the six major Pokémon groups, as well as the Chief Medical and Security Officers.

The President tapped his staff on the floor. "Members of the council, this is our first full session since Black Lugia over a month ago. As some of you may already know, Chairwoman Sabrina disappeared from Stratus approximately fourteen hours ago. With the approval of the Lead Board, I will be standing in as Chairman Pro Temp."

There was a loud chorus of voices in the crowd. Many were positive, while a few were skeptical. Brock tapped the staff and the room fell silent.

Brock cleared his throat. "Members of the council, I have called this body to full session because of events that have taken place in the past 14 hours in Stratus. As I have just explained, Sabrina has disappeared. What many of you are not aware of is that at that very moment, two other disturbing occurrences took place. The first was the collapse of her younger self on Level Prime. The second was a temporal event that attacked Rose Musashi, formally of Level 6.4 and now of our current Level Prime. Many of you may remember young Rose, she was one of the catalysts in our... ahem... successful battle against Black Lugia."

The council murmured in interest before he tapped the staff again.

"I will first update you on our progress with Sabrina. All scans of dimensional levels have been negative in locating her by any known process. We have contacted our other sources, and they have reported back that she has not been heard from or seen. I believe we must consider her disappeared and possibly destroyed."

A hushed silence fell over the crowd.

"Her younger self on Level Prime has been placed under close observation by our friends there. She is very incoherent, but we believe she knows what has happened to her older self. It is very likely the attack was psychic in nature, but so far we haven't been able to confirm or deny anything."

Brock walked over to the podium and picked up the data pad there. He switched it on, and the main display turned on. A single image was displayed, that of a Pokédex on the selection of Pokémon #25. Where the title would be was a sentence: "Beware - Lugia is returning!"

"Over seven weeks ago on Level Prime, this message appeared on numerous Pokédexes belonging to important Stratus League officials, high-ranking members of the Pokémon League, as well as others. This was shortly before Stratus and the Pokémon League received another warning on numerous, more-visible systems. At the time of this message, we lacked the foresight to understand the need for two warnings."

"That is, until 10 hours ago Stratus Time. It was then that a Scat Back piloted by our own Elb Kinza returned from an attempt to bring Rose Musashi back to her timeline. It was hoped that this course of action would nullify the temporal attack being waged on her. Instead, it left Mr. Kinza's Scat Back critically damaged and nearly cost both he and Miss Musashi their lives. What attacked them was this." He keyed up the next screen.

It was huge. Its black visage took up nearly the entire screen. The council chambers erupted into a panic, and it took several minutes before the assembled people and Pokémon settled down enough for Brock to continue speaking.

"Members of the council... Black Lugia is still alive."

-=-=-=-=-

"What do you know about Uncle Butch?"

The little girl smiled up at Cassidy. "I saw him when we first touched. I tried to talk to him, but he doesn't feel very good."

Gasglow looked at the girl, gauging to see if she was lying. She wasn't. "What do you mean you talked to him? You talked to him very recently?"

The little girl looked down at the floor, like she had been caught doing something bad. "Well.. I can't really talk to him, but the nice lady talks to him. She says he's very sick. I know I'm not supposed to use my powers..."

Gasglow looked up at Cassidy, but she shook her head to signal she didn't know who the girl was talking about. "Who's the nice lady? Is she someone you know?"

"Her name is Mew. When I thought about Uncle Butch, she was there and started talking to me. But she isn't always there to talk to."

Gasglow exchanged glances with Cassidy before he got the little girl to look into his eyes. "Is she only there when they leave the door to the medical bay open?"

"That's when I can hear her and we can talk... I know I shouldn't use my powers, but I was lonely..."

Team Blue's leader nodded to himself. "That's alright, nobody's angry with you over this. You see, we've been very interested in where Uncle Butch is. He's been missing for quite some time now, and we were afraid we would never see him again."

The little girl nodded. "Do you want me to ask Mew where he is?"

Gasglow thought for a moment. "How about we wait a little while on that. That way we're prepared to go find Uncle Butch right then. Okay?"

The little girl smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Gasglow looked up at Cassidy. "Until then, how about you follow Aunt Cassidy, and she'll take you to a place that's better than the medical bay?"

The little girl nodded and eagerly took Cassidy's hand.

Cassidy looked down at Gasglow. "Uh, where will that place be?"

"Take her to guest quarters. Just tap one of the panels outside and ask the computer, then follow the lights. I'll get things ready on this end." He nodded towards the open door.

Cassidy shrugged and left with the little girl.

Van peered over from his bed. "Sir, I'd like to come along on this mission."

Gasglow turned back to him. "I don't like that idea. You've played with too many psychics as it is."

"I'll use the psi-shield, there won't be any problems."

Gasglow walked over to the console at the end of the bed. "I guess... you look pretty good from the computer's point of view. I just don't like the idea of putting my second in danger, when he should be back here running the ship, as it were."

Van sat back for a moment. "I could argue the same of the captain. The second's supposed to be the one that takes all the risks."

Gasglow snorted. "Next Generation rubbish. Kirk would never tolerate Riker doing that."

The laughter momentarily startled personnel walking by MedBay 1.

-=-=-=-=-

"This is no laughing matter. What we have here is proof that even our previous tinkering did nothing to change the fate of Level Prime." He keyed a sequence into his data pad and a black star field appeared, with text on the bottom: LEVEL 1.0 - SCANNER 21 - U.N.S. EXETER. It was quickly pulled back to reveal a view of a blue planet. Above the planet sat seven ships, as well as a virtual armada of Scat Backs. "Mr. Kinza picked up nearly a dozen scanner nodes in the debris field he encountered. What you are about to witness has not yet happened, please remember that."

The view pulled back even more to reveal an eighth and ninth ship. The ninth ship appeared to be generating a blue-green field over the eighth ship. The display halted momentarily and over a dozen windows popped up with data for the nine large ships. Names like "Forrestal", "Exeter", "Olympia", "Huygens" and "Lexington" flashed by.

"As you can see, the UNS Forrestal is missing her main reaction core and has suffered severe damage. That damage appears to have been caused by a large anti-matter explosion. She's being towed by the UNS Olympia, apparently joining a massing of ships. So it appears the bombing run on Level 6.4 was unsuccessful in this timeline." Brock restarted the sequence.

The view switched to a different angle, with the words LEVEL 1.0 - SCANNER 04 - U.N.S. OLYMPIA emblazoned on the bottom. It was further away, showing the fleet from a fair distance. A dark-red glow was beginning to form over part of the planet, and steadily moved outward. Suddenly the monster appeared, out of nothing before the front group of Scat Backs. It was larger than the largest of the capital ships. It swept both wings out before it, and blue bolts of energy struck fourteen of the tiny ships, which exploded in a hail of debris that buffeted the others. Seven of the Scat Backs pulled off, obvious collateral damage from the fourteen explosions had taken a toll. The remaining front Scat Backs opened fire as the bird, apparently oblivious to the ravages of the vacuum of space, shielded itself. Two of the closer capital ships opened fire and the bird was momentarily thrown back, but it recovered. Its eyes burned an angry red, and three of the Scat Backs suddenly careened off towards one of the capital ships, exploding against the ship's shields. Four of the ships now opened fire, reigning hoped-for death on the monster.

Brock froze the view when multiple info boxes popped up. "As you can see here, the beast was sustaining a 7500 Terawatt power rating. It appears this Black Lugia is far more powerful, and makes expert use of its natural attacks, such as this next one." He continued the playback.

The monster swept forward its wings, sending a yellow-red energy wave that rocked the capital ships and sent the numerous Scat Backs pitching out of control. Several Scat Backs crashed into each other or exploded upon impacting the shields of a capital ship. The beast craned its neck and spat a blue-white beam at the capital ship it had thrown the Scat Backs at last time. The beam punched through the ship's shields and struck it. Its secondary hull suffered a huge breach and the ship was pitched back slowly by the blow. The running lights flickered as blue-white energy crackled across its hull. Brock froze the image. "What you have just witnessed was one of Lugia's most powerful attacks, a beam of electromagnetic energy." He continued the playback.

By now the entire planet was covered over in a deep-red glow. The beast fended off the assault of the remaining Scat Backs and capital ships. It swung around swiftly, striking six Scat Backs with its massive tail. The small ships were thrown behind the beast and could be seen exploding in the planet's upper atmosphere. The beast opened its mouth and a huge red ball flew towards the already-damaged ship. Four Scat Backs flew in front, apparently attempting to disperse the energy through sacrifice, but the ball flew onward as all four ships exploded. It struck the hull of the capital ship and slowly started to pass into it. From the perspective of the camera, a bright flash appeared from the bottom of the ship before a huge explosion engulfed it. A dozen Scat Backs exploded as the wave of energy struck them. The energy wave next struck a capital ship, sending it slowly careening backwards as its shields were penetrated.

The monster appeared to laugh as it thrust out its wings. The massive force of the explosion blew it back slightly, but most of the energy appeared to be absorbed into the creature. The red glow of the planet began to disperse away from it as the force of the explosion reached into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the remaining capital ships and Scat Backs were attempting a quick retreat back from the planet. The atmosphere of the planet visibly rippled and slowly began to spray away, as if one were blowing sand from the ground. Multiple tiny explosions could be seen ripping through the planet's surface as ground-based facilities were struck. The capital ships continued to back away as the planet was rocked with a huge blast. The very crust on one side of the planet was blown away and a rain of magma began to shoot outward. A second explosion sent ripples along the orange-red surface and the entire planet disappeared in a haze of red and white.

Nearly a dozen of the tiny ships exploded when the shock wave reached them, unable to leap for cover behind their mother ships. One of the capital ships was blown forward as it began to ride the shock wave like a surfer. The ships ducked behind the one identified as Forrestal as a huge dark-blue barrier appeared, shielding it and them. The capital ship riding the shock wave slid through the barrier and nearly collided with Forrestal, but dodged the bullet.

The audience in the amphitheater watched in morbid fascination as the view switched to another scanner still attached to the hull of one of the capital ships. The entire star system was engulfed, and it seemed forever had passed, when in fact the entire record of ultimate destruction lasted only three minutes. In the center of what was now nothing hung the creature, with no noticeable sign of injury! The entire audience grew silent. As the playback continued, hints of red began to form along the creature's body and it slowly extruded a mass of red creatures. Behind the monster, a small, black void began to form, blocking out the remaining star field.

Brock froze the playback. "Here you see Lugia creating a trans-dimensional wormhole. The readings indicate that it has suffered no energy loss whatsoever in doing this. We're forced to conclude that it has attained the new ability to cross the TDZ without a massive energy expenditure, unlike its previous incarnation. You will also notice that this Black Lugia does not display abilities associated with the Pokémon it has absorbed. I'm not going to show the rest of the playback, because we're all quite aware of the outcome." Brock tapped his data pad and a single image appeared: a huge cloud of debris. "Questions?"

The amphitheater was dead silent. Occasionally a stifled sob or bleak sigh would echo from the audience.

Brock tapped the staff gently on the floor, gaining their attention again. "So as you can see, we're not out of danger. In fact, it looks like our work is cut out for us. I've already halted the clean-up operations, and scans are being conducted on every possible level. As of the beginning of this meeting, though, we could not locate Black Lugia anywhere. Our scans have remained within the current timelines, so tracking it temporally has not yet been ruled out. Please feel free to send me any suggestions you might have regarding other probable courses of action. We will meet again in one week, or sooner if there is an urgent need. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned."

-=-=-=-=-

Brock plopped back into the chair before sighing. Will this nightmare never end? First Sabi, and now...

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Rose peeked in the door. "Uh, is it okay?"

Brock waved her in. "Please, Rose.. don't feel like a stranger. Sit down."

The girl carefully closed the door and moved to a seat. "Um, I'm sorry for all the trouble..."

The President smiled weakly. "Without your trouble, we'd be in worse shape. I hope you're feeling better? Doctor Joy said the visit to your level completely halted your time-jumps."

Rose nodded. "That's what I need to talk to you about. I know why the time-jumps were happening."

Brock sat back in his chair. "Please, continue."

"Aunt Sabrina wanted me to come back to that level..."

He straightened up. "Sabrina? What do you mean?"

Rose looked anxious. "She wanted me to warn you about Black Lugia, before she.. um..." Her lower lip began to tremble and tears welled up in her eyes.

Brock hopped out of the chair and walked over to Rose. He knelt down and put his arms around her, as she started to sob against his shoulder. One never stops being a father, even when the nest is empty. "Shhh.. it's alright."

Rose sat back, shaking her head from side to side. "No.. you're all going to die, and there's nothing I can do.."

Brock found himself smiling, even though he knew she was right, and if Black Lugia made it to Level Prime his past self was doomed. "That's just one possible future. It doesn't mean it will happen. You've done what that Sabrina hoped you would, you've warned us."

"But.. but Aunt Sabrina's gone here too.. She disappeared."

Brock put on a more serious tone. "There's no way that because that timeline occurred, she would disappear from here. I mean, I'm obviously dead there, but here I am talking to you, right?"

Rose swallowed hard and then nodded.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened to Sabrina. We just haven't found it yet."

A high-pitched feminine voice emanated from behind the door. "Now you have..."

Brock stood up as the door opened. "Excuse me, if you can just..." His voice trailed off.

A figure was standing in the doorway. She was small, and her appearance gave the distinct impression she was in her early teens. She had an almost elfin look to her, with mildly slanted eyes and ears that contained just the hint of an upward slope. Her large mass of pink, spiky hair was bound up tightly into a huge pony-tail angled back from the top of her head, adding almost four inches to her height. Her yellow-green eyes sparkled as she glanced around the sparse settings. "My, you Presidential types don't splurge on office decor... You should close your mouth, it might attract flies."

Brock snapped his jaw shut, looking down at the small girl. "I'm sorry, but you'll.." His voice trailed off again when a second figure walked in behind the girl. "Myamoto!?"

Myamoto smiled. "It's been a long time, Mr. Takeshi. Or should I call you Mr. President?"

Rose studied the older woman's face. "I.. I know you..."

The girl with the pink hair stepped sideways.

"Grandmomma!" Rose leapt from the chair and grabbed onto Myamoto. She sobbed for a few moments in the older woman's arms before looking up at her.

Myamoto's green eyes sparkled with moisture. "I.. I'm glad to see you, child. My have you grown."

Brock was stunned speechless. He idly stared as the girl with pink hair led him to his chair and carefully pushed him into the seat.

The girl wiped her hands as she walked back around the desk. "There, that's done.." She walked up to Myamoto and Rose, then cleared her throat.

Myamoto looked down at the pink-haired girl. "I'm sorry..."

Rose pulled back, looking between the two. She looked up at Myamoto. "I.. I'm the one that should be sorry. It's just that Mother's told me stories about you, and shown me your picture... I bet you aren't her, though..."

Myamoto smiled. "I'm not her, but I don't think she would mind the mistaken identity."

The pink-haired girl's voice raised in pitch, becoming much more noticeable. "I'm not trying to be rude here, but we're sort of running on a deadline. So if you two can just wait until later...?"

Rose blushed, looking down at the small lady. "I.. uh.. I'm sorry."

Brock rose from his chair. "Now just a minute, who are you?"

The girl's eyes twinkled as she smirked at Myamoto, who was blushing.

Myamoto coughed to clear her throat. "She's.. um.. my boss."

Brock fell back into his chair with a stunned expression.

The small woman tapped Rose's arm. "You can go now, little Rose. Say hi to your mom for me."

Rose nodded slowly and walked out, glancing at Myamoto. She waved to the older woman before closing the door.

Brock looked at Myamoto, then at the small woman. "You're Myamoto's boss?"

The woman put a hand behind her hand, looking a bit embarrassed. "Well.. not exactly 'boss'.. it's a little technical, but I guess you could say I'm a supervisor and go-between. I'm sort of a superior to a bunch of people."

Myamoto continued to look embarrassed.

Brock looked uncomfortable. "So I guess you're sort of my boss as well?"

The woman laughed nervously. "I guess you could say that.. Though I don't really work well with bureaucracies. Let's just say I'm a really important person and leave it at that."

"Well, uh, how should I address you?"

She thought about that for a moment. "You should just call me Miss Washuu. There's all kinds of protocols about how I shouldn't throw around my true name. It's all really boring stuff!"

Brock nodded. "Okay, Miss Washuu it is. For what reason should I have the honor of your presence?"

Washuu glanced around the room. Suddenly all the noise from outside stopped. "That should give us a little privacy! Now, I'm here because you, meaning Stratus not you specifically, have been banging around the multiverse. Well I'm here to tell you that your search for Sabrina is over."

Brock sat up in his chair. "Where is she? Do you know what happened to her?"

She waved her hands back and forth quickly. "Let's get that line of questioning sorted before we rush off. First, Miss Natsumi was pulled from Stratus under our orders."

Brock leapt from his chair. "What do you mean!? Who ordered her pulled from Stratus!?"

Washuu folded her arms and pointed at Brock, then moved her finger downward. When he sat, she nodded and her voice lowered, gaining a more serious tone. "I will expect you to show a little more restraint, Mr. Takeshi. Now for your follow-up questions... I mean that Miss Natsumi was lifted from Stratus, using the standard transfer from one place to another for spirit-types. One of my equals ordered her pulled."

Brock sighed and sat back. "Why?"

Washuu grinned. "Very good question, Mr. Takeshi. Miss Natsumi was pulled because an opening appeared in the list of spirits awaiting re-transfer back to life."

Brock looked at Myamoto, but she averted her eyes. "Miss Washuu, are you saying Sabrina's been reborn? I thought that was impossible since she isn't an angel or archangel, and her body was destroyed."

The small woman nodded. "I am saying exactly that, Miss Natsumi has been reborn. It's all a bit complicated for your young mind, but basically some strings were pulled to arrange a new body for Miss Natsumi. Once that new body was ready, she was transferred into it."

"How did you arrange her a new body? She's unique!"

Washuu grinned. "Miss Natsumi received a new body through a bit of work I like to call The Ryoko Method. I also wouldn't count her as unique. She's simply very uncommon... like a flower that only blooms in certain places at one particular time of the year."

Brock looked at Myamoto. "What do you have to say?"

"Sorry Mr. Takeshi, but Myamoto isn't allowed to speak about it. You'll also find Mr. Strom to be in the same position you are in."

Brock looked surprised. "You answered why she was pulled, but I want to know why the decision was made."

Washuu thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you the exact details of the decision. I can only tell you that my equal wants to 'get her ducks lined up in a row.' Silly Terrans and their expressions... Miss Natsumi isn't even related to water fowl!"

Myamoto and Brock shared amused glances.

Washuu put up her hand. "Before you ask, I can't tell you where she's at either. I can only tell you that she's safe, and very happy."

Brock sighed. "Well, what about her younger self?"

The small woman folded her hands behind her and nodded. "Ah yes, her past counterpart. Miss Natsumi's older self tried to lock onto her younger self to pull that little memory swap trick from before she originally died. It also appears that another future Sabrina on your Level Prime tried to do the same trick to the young lady who was just here, Rose Musashi. When you bring psychic episodes in proximity, they have a tendency to short out. In this case, our transfer process was fooled into thinking all four linked psyches were one, so it tried to draw them all out together. Unfortunately, before we could resolve the situation, the future Sabrina was destroyed. It left poor Rose with a bad case of temporal whiplash, and you folks with curiosity enough to stumble onto some future knowledge."

Brock looked between the woman and Mya. "What do you mean? Are you saying we weren't supposed to find out about Black Lugia?"

Washuu nodded. "Your people have a very bad habit of getting future information. It's served Stratus well, but it can hinder just as much as it can help. When you start relying on what you know of the future, it becomes a weakness. Do you understand what I'm saying, Mr. Takeshi?"

Brock nodded. "If we rely too much on foreknowledge, we might actually be hurting ourselves."

Washuu smiled. "Now about that younger Sabrina... Mya, you know what to do."

Myamoto nodded and disappeared.

Brock looked to where she had just been. "Is she going to help Sabrina?"

Washuu nodded. "She'll be back momentarily."

-=-=-=-=-

She drifted through the hallway of the hospital, looking at the multitude of people stopped in place. For some reason, her teleportation had been deflected to outside the hospital. She stopped and ducked behind a corner.

"Whoever it was that called the time-out is still around. I can sense them."

"Jesse, are you sure? I thought it might have just been Sabrina..."

"I'm positive. You go that way, I'll go this way!"

Myamoto drifted upward, hugging the ceiling as a woman with long, light-red hair walked by. She smiled to herself. 'Even alive, you're still sensitive to spirits...' She watched the woman turn a corner and go out of sight. Myamoto lightly drifted back down, then immediately leapt back to the ceiling when she heard another familiar voice.

"Aww, why da I git all da gardin' duties!? Dat girl's gonna git me kilt again, I jus' know it."

Myamoto slowly drifted along the ceiling, readying to duck inside of it. 'I can't take a chance whatever deflected me will keep me from moving through the room's walls.' She nervously watched Meowth as the feline paced in front of the door. As she passed through the entrance, her ears were assaulted by quiet sobs.

Lying in a hospital bed was a girl in her late teens, drenched in sweat. Her long, dark-green hair was matted to her, and she glanced around the room at unseen objects. Tears streaked down from the sides of her eyes, and her arms and legs had been strapped to the bed.

Myamoto stopped, taken aback by her appearance. What was more unnerving, though, was that the entire room was still operating in time. Then she spotted the likely culprit: a squat machine was sitting on a table, quietly humming to itself. She could sense it was interrupting her time-out.

A masculine voice called out from the shadows. "Fancy meeting you here, stranger."

Myamoto glanced around, then saw him. "Aren't you supposed to be aboard Exeter?"

"Time-jumps are wondrous things. What brings you here, time for another recruitment drive?"

Myamoto frowned and shook her head. "Washuu sent me to restore her mind."

"Ah, a bit of a foul-up upstairs. I heard about that, boy is Roy gonna be peeved with you!"

She nodded before walking over to the girl's bedside. "I see you put this room under lock and key."

"I heard the folks below us were having a problem with rats, real big ones. I figured it would be wise to take some precautions against any 'accidents'."

Myamoto smiled at the joke. She slowly laid her right hand over the girl's head, and Sabrina's eyes closed. "A very wise precaution. You realize I could have you reported for this?"

Sabrina moaned and struggled slightly, then sighed.

There was a touch of sarcasm to the man's voice. "Report a guy when he hasn't done anything yet, now that's bureaucracy at its finest!"

Myamoto nodded and removed her hand.

"So what's 'Little Washuu' got cooking? Or is that something I'll hear earlier.. er, later I mean?"

Myamoto smirked. "Better watch it, North... we can't afford for you to get hit with a temporal backlash."

"That's what they tell me back at base. Maybe I should start listening to them... nah!"

She chuckled. "Always the daring one. I hope we meet again under slightly better circumstances."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

Myamoto turned back. "Could you turn that off for just a moment?"

"Sure thing, Mya."

-=-=-=-=-

"That was a little longer than I planned, Mya."

Myamoto blushed. "I, uh, was having a discussion..."

Washuu smirked. "Mr. North is quite the chatterbox."

The blush got deeper. "Uh, Miss Washuu..."

She waved her hand. "No need to explain, Mya." She turned back to Brock. "Miss Natsumi has been restored."

Brock sat back in his chair, smiling. "Thank you, Miss Washuu. Now about Black Lugia..."

Washuu held up her hand. "One moment..."

The door opened. Strom stopped, glancing between Mya, Brock and finally settling his gaze on Washuu. It was obvious he was agitated.

Washuu pointed at the open door. "Please enter and close the door, Mr. Strom."

Strom closed the door a little hard, causing Myamoto to jump. He was about to speak when Washuu put up her hand.

"Before you speak, please be aware that I have just completed briefing Mr. Takeshi on exactly the matter you are here for."

The Captain nodded. "Good, so you mind explaining why none of us were informed of this decision beforehand?" He glanced at Myamoto, but she averted her eyes.

"Captain, I'm sure you are aware of the reasons. She's had this argument with you before."

He nodded. "That she has, and she'll have it again. This was totally against protocol and good faith with Denivan!"

Washuu nodded, her hair bouncing. "That may be Captain, but even her hands were tied. As I always have done, I abstained from voting. But I argued against this course of action, and so did she."

Strom seemed surprised. "You mean the council went to a full vote? Why wasn't Denivan notified of the proceedings? Or was this a deliberate subterfuge to absentee our two council members?"

Washuu waved her hand. "Captain, you know I can't discuss the business of the council, especially in front of non-privileged parties. Why, I bet Mr. Takeshi is more confused now than right after I told him his ex-wife had been reborn!" She winked at Brock.

Brock let out a soft chuckle.

Strom's entire demeanor softened. He turned his attention to Brock. "I'm very sorry about that, Mr. President. This really wasn't the time or place for this confrontation."

Washuu waved her hand. "Nonsense, I'm sure Mr. Takeshi can sympathize with you. She didn't ask me to do this because I make an intimidating opponent, now did she?"

Strom looked down at her and smirked. "Some of us aren't fooled by the size, ma'am."

Mya stifled a giggle.

Washuu nodded, smiling. "I think the most important thing everyone must remember is that Miss Natsumi is in a safe place and is quite happy there."

-=-=-=-=-

Samantha laughed. "Let's play again!"

Cassidy smiled. "Oh, okay.. one more match." She hit a key and the screen they were staring at switched from an empty stadium to a screen with multiple pictures of Pokémon.

Gasglow looked inside the door, smirking. 'Most powerful computer in the world, and all they're interested in is having it run some Pokémon battle game.'

-=-=-=-=-

End of "Destiny's Child"

Based on the original work...
_The Lugia Chronicles_ by R. A. Stott & Anni Ruecroft

Creative acknowledgment goes to...
Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek
&
AIC/Pioneer's Tenchi Muyo!


Characters from Pokémon anime (C)(TM) 2000 Nintendo of America, Inc. & GameFreak, Ltd.
Characters & situations from _The Lugia Chronicles_ (C) 2000 Denivan Media Services, Inc. - Used with permission.
Situations from "End of the Road" and "Return Journey" (C) 2000 Anni Ruecroft - Used with permission.
Title and character names from "Star Trek" & "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (C)(TM) 1963, 2000 Paramount Pictures, Inc. & Viacom, Inc.
Characters from "Tenchi Muyo!" anime (C)(TM) 1996 AIC/Pioneer, Ltd.