Crossing of the Paths

by MMMAJ

Mewtwo can no longer stand living with humans, so he creates a dimensional portal and randomly wanders the web of infinite universes. This is the tale of the places he sees and the people he meets. T for violence and swearing later on. Pokemon:Zelda Crossover. This is Part 1 of 3 in my Travelers Trilogy series, and is a very lightly edited first edition.

11. Part II: Desert Wind Chunk 10

The Crossing of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
Part II: Desert Wind

A/N: I decided to split this book up and put it up it in chunks. This is the TENTH chunk and the CONCLUSION OF BOOK II! This is the big finale, the final shebang! We're done with Book II! But this is not the end of "Crossing of the Paths, no siree! I'm planning on a Third Book! WARNING: Many chapters in this chunk contain graphic violence, including blood, gore, and death. Also, there is a format change near the end of the chunk. We'll be changing from Anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter to Mysterius dialogue! It doesn't take effect right away, but you'll know when it does! And don't neglect the Author's not at the end of the chunk either, there's some important info there too! Now, on to the finale! There's a whopping 30 pages here, so get yourself some popcorn n and enjoy!

Chapter XXX

"Born in darkness yet made in thunder

Destined to tear many worlds asunder

Sitting in the East's Dark Cloud

Wreathed in shadow, hidden by cloud

Looked at by many yet seen by none

Plans all made yet steps undone

Searching through all time and space

An amorphous shadow without a face

Itself it battles through the ages

Same and different in many stages

If one side wins it also loses

Destiny neither side ever uses

And at their heart they are still one

A simple tragedy and a bond undone"

-Gerudo folk song from a poem written by the Ninth Yellow Tribe Elder. It is said that this Ninth Elder had many dreams about the inner workings of the Empire, and often wrote about what she saw.

Mewtwo slowly awoke to the sound of the Deku Tree's voice.

"Wake young ones, a storm doth brew now in the East." The Deku Tree said.

Mewtwo shook the sleep from his head and suddenly heard the low rumble of thunder in the distance. Yet another thing he hadn't heard for many months of his desert stay, he expected rain to come down from the sky.

"Good, I'm glad. I could sure use a lot of fresh water right now." Mewtwo said as Kalana slowly sat up.

"There is no water in the clouds I see; only malevolence that threatens to burn the last ones alive on this world. This is not a rainstorm." The Deku Tree said worrisomely.

"What? How is that possible?" Kalana asked, standing up now.

"You had several messages delivered to you in your dreams, am I correct Mewtwo?" The Tree asked.

"Yes, It told me I had a limited amount of time to come to the East." Mewtwo replied.

"I fear your time's almost up. A torrent of evils is preparing to fall with the coming of dawn." The Deku Tree said. "You only have this last night to meet your foes before everything here becomes nothing." Another rumble of thunder punctuated the Deku Tree's words. Mewtwo and Kalana stifled a shudder.

"We need to leave now then!" Mewtwo said hastily. "Come on, gather your things Kalana!"

"Before you go though, I want you to have something." The Deku Tree said, rustling his leaves. Mewtwo stood up, pausing from his packing.

At first, only a small twinkle of light was visible, but then it grew into a solid green glow. From the highest of the Deku Tree's branches came a glimmering green Medallion, perfectly round and with the Hylian Symbol for "Forest" carved into it. It floated down to Mewtwo, and he took it into his hands. He felt the elemental energy rush through him, the dense and satisfying feeling of putting down roots and growing leaves. It almost felt like just standing in the mild sun for a whole day and soaking up the nutritious rays of a friendly sun. And then, the feeling was gone and he was himself again. The Forest Medallion shone brilliantly in his hands. Mewtwo pulled out the Spirit Medallion and held it side by side with its brother of Forest. The two blazed with energy as they touched, each complementing the other, and then the surge was over.

"They are not whole without each other, the Medallions of old." The Deku Tree said. "The more of them you have, the more powerful they become. In this case the whole is many times stronger than just the sum of its parts. Alas, I do not have the other Medallions. Water, Fire, Shadow and Light are all hidden over the rest of Hyrule's remains. And you have scarcely the time to make it to the East before the Torrent is released. I have done what I can for you now. Go with the speed and the blessing of the Forest."

So Mewtwo and Kalana left the Deku Tree with many thanks and much reverence. They traveled just a bit farther Eastward before the line of trees broke again and the Eastern sky became visible. What met Mewtwo and Kalana's eyes filled them with dread. Black, sinister boiling clouds were churning in the Eastern sky, and bright red lightning flashed around the swirling center. At the center was the tip of a hideous black tower, with four sharp spires rising up to meet the insidious clouds. Jagged rows of ugly horns and spikes came from ever portion of the tower, which appeared to be many miles high. And from the tower came the most menacing energy either one of them had ever felt. It made Kotake and Koume seem like small flies. It practically exuded negative, horrific feelings of rage, sorrow, and terror. The cracks and rumbles of thunder echoed across the open field as the clouds roiled and grew bigger in the sky. Pure evil energy pulsated at the tip of the tower, flowing from the spires into the sky. The base of the tower was obscured by distance. Mewtwo and Kalana swallowed hard. Their knees nearly buckled under them from the sheer terror caused by the sight of the Dark Tower. And unlike the rest of the world, here existed a pocket of energy. Mewtwo didn't notice it at first, but he could once again utilize his abilities.

Once Mewtwo and Kalana got over the initial horror of seeing such a monstrosity, they noticed the area just ahead of them was bustling with activity. All along the horizon in the near and far distance stirs of dust indicated Imperial activity. Every hovercar and tank was heading inwards, toward the tower. And near the tower's base, a great hulking thing sat on the ground. It was oval shaped and black in color, and on its back three glowing circles extruded from its tail. All Imperial troops and vehicles were heading toward it at top speed. Mewtwo and Kalana gathered their courage as best as they could and moved forward towards the looming terror. They walked at their same pace as usual, but making sure they did not get anywhere close to the rapidly retreating Imperial troops and vehicles. Many hours passed like this, with them following the black clad vehicles towards the dark inner sanctum of the Empire.

When they got close enough, Mewtwo and Kalana saw that the oval shaped hulk had many openings in its side. Ramps lead up into its interior. The troops and vehicles were pouring into it. The whole of this construction must have been at least three miles long and a mile wide. It was no wonder that these thousands of troops and vehicles could easily fit inside. As they got closer and closer, the base of the tower became visible and the last few straggler troops made it inside the odd looking oval. Mewtwo and Kalana stopped dead in their tracks when they heard loud rumbles emit from the structure that the troops had entered, and the ramps slowly slid into the doorways and the doors shut. And then, a loud thunderous rumble discharged from the structure and the blue circles on its back blazed to life. With a deafening roar the entire structure raised off the ground, and it became apparent to Mewtwo that this wasn't some sort of oversized troop housing structure, but a troop carrier starship. The Empire had space travel technology. As the ship rose slowly up through the air, its circular engines roared to life to life with a mighty blast and it jerked up through the violently churning sky into the night. The once giant ship turned into a tiny speck and then disappeared through the clouds. A particularly loud crack of thunder gleefully called out as the clouds slowly grew towards the western horizon. The destructive force was getting larger and larger. Mewtwo and Kalana once again were only barely able to summon up enough bravery to proceed.

As the base of the tower grew larger and larger, Mewtwo became aware of the energy now hanging in the air. He tried lifting a rock with his powers to see if they had been restored. It obediently hovered over the now barren dry dirt.

"It looks like I can use my powers again." Mewtwo noted as he let the rock return to the ground.

"Good, we could use them here soon." Kalana said.

Kalana indicated to the surface of the tower, where jagged layers of spikes hid patrolling guards. Still, they only saw mindless men and women of various races, including Gerudos and others they couldn't recognize. Several mean looking energy guns protruded from all over the tower. And the hinting sound of the incantation drifted through the air again.

"Earplugs at the ready?" Mewtwo asked.

Kalana nodded and pulled out the ripped bits of cloth from her pocket and stuffed them into her ears. Mewtwo did the same.

"Invisibility at the ready?" Kalana asked.

Mewtwo nodded and skillfully pulled the energy from the air to cloak them both. They slipped completely out of all visible spectrums.

"We're ready." Mewtwo said heavily.

He and Kalana looked back one more time to the West. The demon clouds were now almost ready to touch the horizon, and were surely past the Deku Tree's forest and over the Vile Desert. Lightning spat hatefully down from them everywhere. Then, Mewtwo picked them both up and flew up to the door of the tower.

"The door is open…come on in."

Chapter XXXI

Only one Gerudo has ever had truly powerful foresight abilities, the Twenty-ninth Elder of the Red Tribe. She was a champion of old legends, saying that they were more than just myths. She said that they were all complete truths and that the prophecies laid down by the Hylian Sages would come to pass in the near future. She especially believed in the legends of the Dark Wanderer, saying that he would come during her daughter's lifetime. On her deathbed, she is rumored to have given one last prophecy before passing away. She said that the sky would rain bolts of destruction and that the desert would fall away into the Earth in a violent storm of hate. Not many have believed her, except her daughter.

Hadara sighed and walked through the desert sands as her mind roiled with worry. It had been five days now since her daughter Kalana and their odd friend Mewtwo had disappeared into the Vile Desert. The Red and Blue Gerudos had been searching Co-operatively for days, but they found nothing. Various reports saw the two moving off into the East, but none of their tribeswomen would dare go far to look. An evil feeling permeated the air there. And this morning, Hadara heard and saw a familiar and horrifying thing in the Easter sky.

That morning, she had only sensed it; A feeling of malignancy slowly creeping and brooding in the Eastern sky. But as the day of searching passed by, it became visible manifesting as ill-omened black clouds climbing over the Eastern horizon. Every now and again her ears would hear an almost inaudible rumble. As evening approached, they had grown into bloated wicked looking thunderheads. And she could tell they were not natural either. Lightning flashed a crimson red in amongst the clouds as they crept closer and closer.

She and the other searchers slowly trudged back to the village empty handed again at nightfall. The Blue Elder consoled her and tried to comfort her.

"I lost my daughter in almost the exact same fashion." She said. "I know how you feel."

"But Ciela's mind had been twisted by the Imperial mind control. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that Kalana left by her own free will." Hadara said.

"There's no way to tell." The Blue Elder replied. "She's not here to tell us is she?"

With that, Indiru strode up to them from the shadows abruptly. "Mother, it is time." She said.

The Blue Elder frowned in annoyance. "Time for what?" She asked gruffly.

"The wanderer, he is meeting the world's destiny." Indiru replied.

Hadara knew immediately what Indiru had meant. She remembered the stories her mother had told her. The memories of her description came flooding back to her. "And great clouds of evil will rain fiery death on the world in a mighty storm of hate. A great wave of dark death would wash over the desert in a deadly tide. And then the Earth would open up and swallow whoever remained. This will come to pass, if the wanderer should fail." The clouds were starting to gather, the time was coming. The satchel Hadara was holding dropped out of her hands. A sudden low rumble of thunder growled from the East. All three of them shuddered at once.

"Now comes the time when all will either fall or rise." Hadara said. "The turning point that all the legends have spoken of."

The Blue Elder looked out into the Eastern horizon, as if trying to explain where the clouds had come from, but the unnatural flashes of red lightning silenced her. A defying crack of thunder dared her to speak skeptically. "What is it that we should do?" She asked.

No-one spoke for a great few seconds, until Indiru finally got up enough courage to speak her mind. "Nothing….nothing but hope and pray that Mewtwo will arrive in time to stop this."

"I can't believe this nonsense!" A voice shouted from behind the three of them. Hadara recognized it as that of W'diri. "I never believed any of this dark wanderer nonsense and I think that you two are being foolish to worry so much about a simple thunderstorm!" W'diri said.

"We as a people haven't seen rain over the desert in over 4,000 years." Hadara snapped, her temper flaring. "And can you explain to me why the lightning is such a crimson red?"

W'diri scoffed. "It's unusual to have storms around here, who is to say they can't look unusual too?"

At that moment Hadara's staff appeared just inches from W'diri's neck. "Are you trying to get us all cursed?" Hadara growled. "Our fortunes already look bleak and you would bring more evil upon us with your words?" W'diri blinked. "Keep your mouth shut and don't make things worse than they already are!"

W'diri backed off and mumbled. After walking a few feet away, she turned to face them and spoke again. "You would bring down all our spirits with this talk of death and doom! Already we are living by a thread and would make it seem worse!" A sudden explosion sounded to the North that silenced W'diri before she could continue.

The Northern tower, which was looming on the horizon, trembled visibly. All the Gerudos in the village that were outside their huts stopped to look. Others in their huts poked their heads out to get a glimpse through the twilight. Not too far from the base of the Northern Tower, a massive oval shaped object was rising upwards in the air with a tremendous roar. Great blue circles shone blindingly on its back end as it slowly rose higher and higher. Its great black bulk menacingly turned to face the other end toward the dim sky. And with a great boom, it rocketed forward at an amazing speed up into the heavens. The shockwave from the last explosion washed over the village, knocking over those who stood and collapsing the more flimsy huts. A straw roof simply lifted off of one and flew several feet before rolling to the ground. The giant hulk that had caused all this became smaller and smaller in the sky. And on the Western, Southern, and Eastern horizons, more of these objects made their journeys into space. Only Indiru noticed how many there were. She poked Hadara and pointed at each of them as they disappeared into the sky.

After all the objects had all long faded and peace had returned, Hadara turned to chew W'diri out again, but she was nowhere to be seen. And Gerudos were now running around the village, some simply dazed and confused, others panicking with fear. Most of their people weren't as skeptical as W'diri was.

Hadara and the Blue Elder acted fast. They ran to the center of the square and stood on top of the small podium that always stood there.

"Silence!" Hadara yelled at the top of her voice. "Do not let fear cloud your judgment now! Do not scream and run like fools! Now is not the time for that!" The entire village turned deathly quiet once again.

"I know what these signs forebode," The Blue Elder continued as the Gerudos gathered next to the podium, "But it is not for any of us to truly see the future! We have seen some of the darkest days of this world, and we can live through this! If we pray to the Goddesses for safety we will be able to-" But the Blue Elder was cut off mid-sentence.

An ear splitting crack, and a bright flash of crimson filled the sky. A demonic bolt of red lightning arced through the sky, away from the clouds, and came down to strike the Blue Elder where she stood. She died instantly, one second a living being, a dried chunk of ash and carbon the next. The podium heaved up underneath them and burst into pieces, flinging Hadara away and turning what was left of the Blue Elder into a cloud of dust. Hadara tumbled to the stone of the square, her skin seared by the close proximity of the lightning, and pieces of stone fell and slashed her skin. A crater in the cobblestones was all that was left by the impact. As the full impact hit the crowd of Gerudos, screams and cries echoed and they all dispersed in a frenzy. Gerudos ran aimlessly, their minds driven to madness by fear and those of the Blue Tribe cried wails of grief at the loss of their Elder. Soon they had cleared the village and the square was practically empty and quiet. Hadara's vision was blurred, and she was half conscious on the stone from hitting her head. She didn't hear the soft footfalls of two Gerudos rushing up to aid her. Blackness swallowed her, leaving the growing black clouds as the last image she saw before falling into unconsciousness.

Fara and Indiru had almost been carried off with the frenzied Villagers when they had scattered and ran. They knew that Hadara was in trouble, and that they needed to reach her. They had been almost to the village borders when they managed to free themselves from the frightened rabble and run back to the square. Hadara was laying there unconscious, bleeding from several deep slashes on her arms and body. Blood oozed from a small split in the back of her head where she had hit the cobblestones. Fara quickly knelt down and opened a Red Potion. Indiru propped the Hadara's head up so that she would not choke on the potion while unconscious. Fara slowly tilted the magic drink down the Hadara's throat. A few seconds passed before she coughed and slowly returned to reality.

"Thank the Gods you're alive!" Fara said with great relief.

"Come on, you need to stand!" Indiru urged. "The same fate as my mother's awaits you if we do not move now!"

Hadara slowly stood on her stilly wobbly legs, there was still blood spattered where the cuts had been. She brushed herself off and looked into the eyes of her rescuers. Indiru looked as if she was struggling back tears, and Fara was holding a deluge of fear behind her eyes. Hadara had always been good at reading emotions through people's eyes.

Chapter XXXII

"Our guests are at the door. Shall we let them in?"

"Of course. We must be hospitable, it is only proper for ones of such high caliber."

"I see. We will set the table and invite them to dine."

"Good. Make sure that today's feast is especially delicious, I want them to be ripe for the plucking when the harvester comes to call."

"I understand. Should we escort the shorter one out after dinner?"

"Oh yes, it will only make the meal that much more savory for the one we're truly looking for. We may end up filling him before bringing him up to meet the host."

"And what of their fellows, the parasites?"

"They have lived off of our lifeblood long enough; let us give them a new kind of meal this night. The great feast is almost prepared, and the tablecloth is spreading. I'm relying upon you to set out the silverware."

"I have already cleared our people from the table, now let us close the trap. The forks and knives are ready."

"All we need to do now is to spoon up the prize and take the final bite."

A single, slow dripping noise was all that floated in the abyss; and feeling of cold stone and steel, and the sound of the slow dripping. Little orbs of water slowly colliding with damp steel. And two eyes opened in the dark to take in their surroundings. They saw a small square space, a steel floor and stone walls. A row of iron bars was barely visible in the gloom. And with no remembrance, the owner of these two eyes wondered how he had gotten to this place. He hardly remembered his own name, or if he was alone or not. He felt his strange suction cupped paws and suddenly he remembered that he was Pokemon, one named Mewtwo. As he slowly recovered from the shock in his mind, he felt cold steel pressing on his head. He reached a paw up and felt an unforgiving, steel brace that covered all of his head and most of his face. There were hose for his eyes and mouth, and it felt stifling to his mind and body. It extended down his neck and to his back, covering the small connection between his head and back. It ended down by his tail, where it dug into his flesh like some sort of parasite. Nowhere on it was a single crack or seam, and it was completely smooth where in transitioned into his body. No pain came from that spot either.

Suddenly gripped by fear and panic, Mewtwo remembered his purpose, the one it had taken him years to find, he needed to stop the Empire from destroying the world. He cried frantically and tried to teleport out of his cell. Suddenly, the machine on his head whirred to life. A light glowed red and it hummed slightly, and a streak of black light whizzed down from the section on his head back to where it merged with his body. There was no sign of the energy he had tried to use to teleport. He cried out in fear and tried again, but the machine busily stole the energy away again with a soft glow and hum. Mewtwo's panic grew to a desperate pitch, and he tried to grab onto the mechanism that was rendering him powerless. He tried to grip the smooth metal but his paws slid off like cloth on glass. He tried to find an edge where it touched his skin, but it was like a great edgeless dome. He cried and whimpered like a child as he scrambled hysterically to grip the collar on his head and back, and failed every time. When it was clear that removing the device was impossible, Mewtwo sat back, panting and whimpering in despair.

Mewtwo sat for a few minutes, wondering how and why he had gotten into this position. Had the world already been destroyed? Where was Kalana? Where the heck was he? He finally decided not to give up hope, and to hold onto the near impossibility that the world hadn't been destroyed yet. Besides, he was still alive, right? He stood up with new resolve and grasped the iron bars of his cell. They were sturdy and thick, and his weak arms couldn't budge them. A door was apparent, and there was a small input keypad where one could enter the code to unlock the door. The buttons were unusually large, in fact, they were large enough so that he, with his giant finger suction cups, could press just one at a time. With a normal pad, he would end up pressing 4 or 5 at once if he tried. But these buttons were almost 3 inches wide. It struck Mewtwo as extremely odd. He reached through the bars and felt the pad. It was cool and smooth with no markings on the buttons. He tried pushing one, and after a few seconds, the pad beeped softly.

Mewtwo started pushing sequences of buttons in randomly, trying hundreds of different combinations of increasing length, but still the pad would only beep once and the door would remain inert and immovable. After punching a combination with 15 values in and failing, he gave up and sat back in his cell again. He took the time to inspect his surroundings, hopeful to find a weakness or possibly even a hole in his cell. The back wall was made of solid, unrecognizable stone, as was the ceiling. The left and right walls were made of thick and sturdy steel, and so was the floor. The steel and stone seemed to meld together perfectly, as if the steel had been melted into the stone. The dripping water was appearing out of a hole in the stone the width of a pencil. The bars stood steadfast and the doorframe was welded well to the rest of the bars. The hallway outside the bars was steel as well, and completely dark except for an iridescent glow coming from a strip of small lights that were embedded in the stone ceiling. Mewtwo then noticed there was another cell across from his. He glanced into it and to his surprise, saw Kalana's unconscious form lying in it.

Mewtwo suddenly felt ten times better, it was good to know that Kalana was alright. She was facing away from him in her sleep, and the keypad on her cell glowed the same ghostly red that his did. He called up enough gumption to pierce the strangling silence with a crying attempt at rousing her.

"Kalana!" The word jabbed the silence deafeningly, but didn't last long in the close air. Kalana showed no signs of moving.

"Come on, wake up Kalana!" Mewtwo shouted louder than before. Still Kalana lied still on the steel floor.

Mewtwo reached his paws down into the large pool of water on the floor of his cell. He flicked the water across the hall, but only a scant few drops touched Kalana. No movement showed from her sleeping form. Mewtwo sighed in desperation, and then drew in a deep breath and let out a long, mighty scream. Kalana suddenly shuddered and breathed deeply, and Mewtwo's eyes glimmered with hope.

"Come on, that's it! Kalana, over here!" Mewtwo shouted.

Kalana slowly sat up, and shuddered violently for a few seconds. She turned to face Mewtwo with an expression that can only be described as extreme shock.

"How in the Evil King's name did we get here?" She said silently.

"I don't know, but we need to get out!" Mewtwo said desperately.

Kalana rubbed the back of her head and moaned. "Oh no…..how long have I been out? Are we too late? Are my people dead?" She said, her voice rising in extreme anxiety.

"Listen, I know as little as you do, but we need to hope for the best no matter how bad this looks! We need to find a way out of this!" Mewtwo said strongly.

Kalana nodded. "You've a voice of powerful reason my friend!" she replied. "Now, how-"

Kalana was cut off, thankfully not by a bolt of lightning, but by a deafening clang of a large bell.

The sound resonated through the stone and steel of her and Mewtwo's cells, and their clasped their ears in pain. As the sound slowly faded, the bell let out another clang that caused their heads to throb in pain. And after a third and equally loud toll the unseen bell fell silent. Mewtwo was about to wonder out loud where that had came from when a silent hissing sound of air pressure changing came from the far end of the hallway to his left. He stayed silent and strained to look around the corner, but the curvature of the hallway hid the sound. Kalana stood up to the bars and looked down the hallway. From her point of view, she could see much farther down the hall. She squinted into the darkness for a scant few moments and Mewtwo looked to her for her to tell him what she saw. There was a resounding silence for an eternal moment, and then as Kalana stared into the dark, her eyes slowly widened and her mouth dropped into a gape of sheer terror. She turned to Mewtwo, holding that fixed expression of surprise and horror, and Mewtwo's heart practically stopped. He didn't want to turn and look again, but he forced himself to.

Around the corner of the hall came two horribly familiar forms, floating in midair. Mewtwo's mind suddenly flashed back to his first and only tower raid with the Red Gerudos. It skipped past the maze of tunnels, the fights at the top of the tower, and stopped at the basement train station of the tower. The train pulled into the station, and after brief Gerudo-guard skirmishes, that nightmarish copy of him with the glowing red eyes floated off the train, mocking him and torturing the Gerudos. Back in reality, two identical black copies of Mewtwo floated down the corridor and stopped in front of his and Kalana's cells. They were wearing the same, demonic black armor Mewtwo has seen Giovanni holding in his nightmare, and their red eyes glowed through the dark visors.

Mewtwo recoiled back into his cell in horror. Right here in front of him were two more evil versions of himself, and one began punching a code onto the keypad of his cell. The other began punching a code on the door to Kalana's cell. They moved mechanically, not making a sound except the clicking of the keys on the pads. Mewtwo was too horrified to speak or move anymore, his body had frozen in dread. When the final button was pressed on the pad, the bars suddenly slid away into the floor with a soft whiz and the demonic copy began to step into the cell. Then, Mewtwo's body found the will to move again. Without his powers, Mewtwo could do nothing but lash out at this copy of himself with the strongest punch he could muster. He expected that the copies would be just as physically weak as he is. He found himself to be horribly wrong when the copy whipped up its paw and grabbed his arm before the punch could connect. It squeezed his arm tightly and began to twist, and Mewtwo cried out in pain. But the copy stopped before any bones broke. It tossed him to the floor powerfully with one stroke.

Mewtwo heard Kalana's scream as he hit the floor, and jumped up, getting ready to kick the copy with his more powerful legs. But before he could, his opponent used a powerful psychic attack to completely and totally paralyze him. He fell to the floor as stiff as a wooden plank. Kalana, who had been screaming continuingly, suddenly fell silent to this same paralysis. And before Mewtwo could think, he felt himself being lifted. A black psychic bubble formed around him and carried him out of the cell. From the way he was lying in this bubble, he could see Kalana frozen inside a similar bubble, being directed out of her cell by the other copy. He tried desperately to move, but all that he could move were his lung muscles. The rest of his body did not respond. All he could do is watch as he was lead down the hall, past a sliding pressure door, and through another cell block.

Doors quietly slid open and closed as Mewtwo and Kalana were carried past hundreds of empty cell blocks, and then up to a very large looking double sliding door. It slid open to reveal a small, cylindrical room. It was completely empty and dark save for another keypad on the far wall. Mewtwo, Kalana and their captors filled this little room and the double door slid shut behind then. The copy that was carrying Mewtwo reached a paw over and pressed three different keys, and suddenly Mewtwo felt the room begin to move. It accelerated upwards rapidly, and he realized that this was an elevator. He had rid one in the Pokemon world once, just passing time and having a bit of passing fun, but the situation he was in was so far from fun that the memory was almost lost on him.

Mewtwo didn't know how long they simply stood there in the elevator, going always upwards at tremendous speeds. Great pits of fear and despair now filled his stomach to the brim, and he would have vomited from horror if he wasn't paralyzed. He wondered if this was truly the way he would die, not by his own hand or natural causes, but by the hands of these demons that looked exactly like him. His sobbing was suppressed by the paralysis. And then, the movement in the room slowed and halted. The double sliding elevator doors slid open, and their captors carried them into another hallway. On his left side, Mewtwo saw another steel wall, but the right side had an all glass window-wall that caught Mewtwo's eye.

Out of that window he saw the desert of the world. He was filled with relief, the world hadn't been destroyed yet after all! He tried to shout with glee but his mouth didn't respond. The view from the window was many miles from the ground, and the plains below were darkened by the night and the layer of evil clouds. These clouds were now much closer and bigger in his view since they were so high up. The vicious red lightning lashed the sky like a web of maddened, jagged whips. The clouds now stretched far over the horizon, their border no longer visible. The flashes from the lightning illuminated the ground. The forest of the Deku Tree was in plain sight, and the red flashes reflected off of the leaves, creating a feeling of repressed rage in the foliage and the sky itself. And then, they walked past the point where the window ended.

Through many more overwhelmingly dark passages their captors took them, and Mewtwo's heart was filled with an increasingly powerful feeling of foreboding. As they turned yet another corner, a tall set of swinging doors showed itself. Their captors walked them up to these doors and they slowly opened by themselves. The room inside was pitch black, but then a blinding red light flooded down from the ceiling and illuminated the room. Instruments of torture were prominent everywhere; racks, cages, blades of varying sizes, and other indescribable devices. They were lead over to two opposite facing tables and made to lie on them. They were both strapped down to the opposing tables with sturdy leather bands. Suddenly, the paralysis wore off, and Mewtwo's mouth burst open, letting out a soulful cry.

"Why?" He screamed, "What are you going to do to us?"

But the two armored copies simply floated away, out of the doors and into the darkness. Mewtwo turned and looked at Kalana, who looked equally terrified. She then put on a look of grim determination and began to struggle underneath her bonds. The bands were nearly three quarters of an inch thick, and attached to the table well. Mewtwo tried one last time to charge a psychic attack; maybe he could cut the bonds with it. But that mechanical monstrosity on his head and back simply lit up and hummed, and nothing became of his attempts. He tried to wriggle his skinny arms out of the straps, but they had been tightened to his wrist width.

And out of the darkness beyond the doors, a new, identical form floated in. It was another of the demonic copies of Mewtwo, but this one wore no armor, and its body was covered in wide scars. It floated up to the two horrified prisoners with a sinister, wide grin on its face.

"Welcome, my friends, to the last place either of you will ever see."

Chapter XXXIII

"Do things proceed as planned?"

"We will begin the breaking soon milord. I plan on putting on my best."

"Do not underestimate the willpower of our guest. We may have stripped him bare, but his spirit is still potent. Remember our connections."

"Of course. I know the possible consequences involved in this undertaking. I have made sure that my subordinates know of the circumstances."

"So the cycle is coming full circle. I expect great things from you, Firetongue."

"I understand sir. Victory is now but inches away."

"Even so, the one second we let out guard down before victory, will be the second that victory manages to escape our net like a cosmic butterfly. I want this insect in my hand personally so that I may crush it."

"However did it come to this?" Mewtwo said in his mind. Slowly and painfully, cold steel clamps inserted themselves under his eyelids and pried them open. The unwanted picture of the torture room met his unwilling eyes once more, and he saw that demonic version of himself standing over him, holding what looked to be an energy whip. It smiled malevolently at him and pointed over to the table where Kalana had been strapped down.

"Now now now, we can't be taking a nap right this moment, It's almost show time!" It hissed at him in a psychic voice.

"What….what are you going to do?" Mewtwo shouted suddenly.

"Oh, once you find out, you'll wish you could close those eyes of yours, but I'm afraid that wouldn't be…productive. We need this session to be productive, so I need to effect a proficient reaction from you. And to do that, I can't have another outburst like that." The copy said. And suddenly, another band snaked across Mewtwo's face, binding his mouth shut. Without his mouth and his powers, Mewtwo was totally mute.

"I am the best of my trade, and I am proud of it. Tonight I'll be giving you a demonstration of my skills. Your friend here thinks that she knows the definition of pain. How little she knows that her idea of it is not even a pale shadow of what true pain really is." And finishing this sentence, the villainous demon copy opened its mouth in a wide gaping laugh. Jagged, uneven rows of razor fangs filled its mouth, and a streak of fire existed in the stead of its tongue. This fire jumped outwards, licking the air menacingly as it completed the hollow sounding laugh. "I am Firetongue, personal assistant to the Emperor himself, and he has asked me to give you both his fondest welcomes."

Firetongue floated swiftly floated over to the table where Kalana was restrained and looked down at her. The energy whip in his left hand glimmered and flickered with electricity. He raised it over his head and Kalana's eyes widened in fear as he held it there to savor the moment.

"I would ask you to say "Cheese" for your friend over there, but that would hardly be appropriate would it?" Firetongue said. Kalana saw the whip come down, and she tried to close her eyes, but the little steel clamps under her eyelids prevented it.

The lashes came quickly and violently, and the smell of burnt flash soon wafted into the air as the energy whip burned black streaks into Kalana's torso. No blood was able to escape from the blackened wounds, but the pain replaced it in spades. Kalana would have screamed, but her mouth was bound just like Mewtwo's. She writhed in agony under the searing heat of the fierce whip as it happily danced over her body under Firetongue's powerful hand. Mewtwo cried in emotional pain every time the whip landed on Kalana, feeling her pain in his mind. Every stroke made his own body cringe and the tears welled up in his bound eyes. Kalana's eyes seemed to scream for savior or death to come upon her now, and Mewtwo desperately wanted to give her either one. It didn't matter which to Mewtwo, as long as her suffering was ended.

And with as much deliberateness as he had started the whipping, Firetongue stopped. Kalana's body was almost completely covered with burns. She was close to passing out from shock. Her head lolled back as her body began to overload with the heat. Firetongue grinned and lowered the whip. He reached out his other paw, the black fur glistening in the red illumination of the room. A short burst of black psychic energy flowed from his paw into Kalana's body, and her burns slowly receded and disappeared. She was completely healed only after a scant few seconds. He forced her mind to complete consciousness with psychic intrusion, and inserted a small message into her mind via his own telepathy.

"I bet you're wondering why it is that I healed you?" He said to her. Her mind replied with sheer hatred toward him. He almost let himself chuckle and continued, this time to both her and Mewtwo. "It wouldn't be very productive to let you die now, would it? Why should I, when I can milk as many more rounds out of you as I desired? All I need to do is heal you before you tumble over death's brink and then bring you back to that same brink once more."

Firetongue then walked over to a shelf of other different items and deactivated the energy whip. The glowing strands disappeared, leaving nothing but a handle. He placed it onto the shelf and randomly selected another device. He lifted a medium sized titanium knife out of the selection and walked back to Kalana's table.

"Ready for round 2? No? Too bad!" He cackled, and stabbed the knife into Kalana's arm. This time the blood flowed just as readily as Mewtwo's tears.

With these words and each cut and stab, Mewtwo felt a growing new emotion under his despair. The familiar red haze began to creep into his vision as uncontrolled rage for Firetongue boiled upward through his mind. If he hadn't been gagged, he would be snarling in rage at this vile impersonator that was slowly bleeding Kalana with a rusty knife. He was losing control of himself, and he began to struggle and pull against his harnesses. He pulled until he felt the bones in his wrists began to crack. He felt the joints in his hips begin to dislocate, but his mind was absorbed with hatred. All he cared about doing was stabbing Firetongue through the heart with the same knife Kalana was suffering under. The machine attached to him hummed to life as it slowly blocked and absorbed an enormous amount of psychic energy that was boiling from Mewtwo's mind. Firetongue turned to him sand smiled that same malevolent grin.

"Good, get angry. Let it absorb you. That's what all of us want." Firetongue said. He brought his bloody paw up and his tongue of fire licked the blood off of his black fur. "It's only bringing us closer to our goal."

Suddenly, the mouth harness holding back the tidal wave of Mewtwo's rage snapped. "I will kill you!" he howled. "I will wear your intestines around my neck and I will feed your head to the sandworms of the desert! I will grind your eyes into gelatin and break every one of your bones into thousands of pieces!"

"That would make you happy, wouldn't it?" Firetongue asked, walking up to Mewtwo, still holding the knife. "Blood and death fascinate you, don't they?"

"Yours will be the most satisfying in my or any other world!" Mewtwo snarled. Suddenly, the band binding his left wrist fell loose on its own accord.

"Let me see you kill. Don't hold back. Do everything to me that you said and more." Firetongue said, and held the handle of the knife out to Mewtwo.

Mewtwo snatched the knife and did all his anger would allow him to do. He pulled back and lobbed the knife at Firetongue as hard as he could. The bloody blade spun through the air, fatally on target for Firetongue's head.

"Perfect." Firetongue whispered, and then disappeared. He had teleported out of the knife's path. The dagger flew right past, across the room, and landed blade first in Kalana's stomach.

In a fraction of a second, all the red-vision rage evaporated from Mewtwo's mind. His eyes grew in shock, horror, and grief. Kalana gasped and sputtered in pain and shock. Blood trickled down from her mouth and out from under the binding that held her.

Firetongue reappeared next to Kalana's side, smiling even wider than before. "As my brother said when you first met him, Surprise!" He cackled. "And I don't think there's a need to heal her this time, I'd say this run was productive enough!"

Kalana felt nothing as the last of her life slipped away from her. All that was left in her body was a stifling cold. She saw the terror in Mewtwo's eyes at what he had done, and she wanted to speak to him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault. She wanted to tell him that she forgave him. But the band over her mouth kept her last words from his ears. The coldness finally overcame her and she slipped away into oblivion.

"Wow, she didn't hang on long!" Firetongue laughed. He pulled the knife out of Kalana's inert body and walked over to the now traumatized Mewtwo. "Your aim was a lot better than I had expected! I was worrying that you might hit her somewhere that would be less painful, or maybe make her death a lot quicker, but you were right on the mark!" He hooted with vile laughter.

Four words echoed through Mewtwo's mind as Firetongue stood there, gloating over his perfectly executed ruse. "What have I done?" He asked himself over and over again. His last shreds of friendship, hope, and happiness were now gone. He realized this, and the sorrow was pushed to the back of his mind. The rage roared back up into him again, hundreds of times more powerful than before.

"And with your weak arms too!" Firetongue continued, "I thought the dagger wouldn't even make it all the way across to her table, but I guess I was wrong! Now, how-"

Firetongue was cut off mid-sentence when Mewtwo suddenly climbed off of the table in front of him. "I should have figured you'd free yourself given that I would unbind your arm! So what are you going to do, try to punch me like you did the centurions?" Firetongue said mockingly. He didn't even notice that the energy collar on Mewtwo's head was starting to glow and buzz violently as Mewtwo's energy overloaded the device.

Mewtwo acted out of sheer force of anger and lunged at Firetongue with all his weight. He threw the most powerful kick his body could muster. He was halted mid-air in an instant by a psychic barrier that Firetongue erected between them. The barrier then curved around his body to form another inescapable psychic capsule.

"To think that our connections run so deeply, you're pathetic!" Firetongue said, the humor gone from his voice. "I would kill you within an instant if you weren't bound to us by one fate."

This mysterious monologue was lost to Mewtwo, who was now more absorbed in rage than he had ever been in his life. And as Firetongue stared into his eyes with those crimson eyes, the psychic collar on his head finally overloaded and gave out.

What followed next was an indescribable wave of fury that blasted out from Mewtwo's mind. The tables, torture devices, and Firetongue, were all vaporized in an instant. The steel walls shuddered and cracked and the double doors were blown off of their hinges, where they proceeded to blow a hole through the next wall like tissue paper. The entire room bent into a glowing red sphere of molten metal. And when the energy storm disappeared and the walls cooled and hardened, Mewtwo fell to the deformed floor and sobbed. He sobbed until his dry eyes could produce no more tears and his lungs screamed from lack of air. The empty feeling that he usually got after every rage came again, just as gigantic and overwhelming as the rage had been. Without Kalana, he had no-one left here with him, alone in the tower and once again alone in life. His soul felt like it would implode on itself from sheer despair. He cried until he was so tired that he could no more than whimper. And as he sat there on his knees, oblivious to reality, he didn't notice the room shift around him as he was teleported through the tower. When he raised his head to look around, he found himself not inside what remained of the torture room, but inside a great dark hall. And on the far end of the hall, enshrouded in gloom, floated two great red, piercing eyes; the horrid, all seeing eyes of the Empire.

Chapter XXXIV

"We're nearly too late, we need to get down there right now, Captain."

"I'm sorry sir, but if we accelerate past our current rate, the Dark Ones will detect our approach. And besides, the reactors are already at 94, we would not gain much if we maxed them out."

"I see. Do what you can do captain. If we should not arrive in time however, the time-space continuum could be irreparably damaged, and it would mean our end."

"I know the consequences of failure, and what they are planning on the shriveled little planet. But if our ships were to push the slipstream any farther, we could risk failure before even arriving."

"I understand this captain. And I know that there are no other safe options when traveling in slipstream, but sometimes one must think through the situation instead of around it. Do you understand me?"

"What are you implying?"

"I understand there has never been research on the effects of collective energy use during a slip-jump, and we may end up doing one of the first tests of this variation."

"Are you saying we should attempt a mid-jump teleportation, sir? With all due respect, that's ridiculous! We could end up trapped in an interdimensional limbo for eternity! The basics of teleportation effects have showed the viability of dimension jumping during normal space, but who knows what would happen when we tried to open a dimensional rip inside a dimensional rip? The slipstream could implode, crushing us all!"

"As it stands Captain, we are already going to meet oblivion before we could make it to Hypalia. The Dark Ones have anticipated our actions and moved ahead their planetary Doomsday plan by many days. If we don't find a way to get to Hypalia sooner, then they will succeed in wiping us out before we even exist. And you know the Prime Objective of this mission. We are to stop the Separation before it can happen. It may mean our end, but it will also mean the end of the Dark Ones. There was never any need for so many universes to be thrown into chaos by our race's actions, and if we can stop the Separation, we will have ended thousands of years worth of fighting before it even started."

"…I see. You know that I highly disapprove of this stunt, but you will have my potency within the Collective Energy for as long as we live, even if it means death."

Crimson fury danced in the sky, accompanied by gleefully malicious cracks and rumbles across the land. Over the Hellishly lit Desert sands three Gerudos desperately flew to the East. Hadara, Indiru and Fara were pooling their collect magic essence to fly through the air at an extreme speed, deeper and deeper East. Indiru directed them to their goal, the safety that the Spirit Temple would award them from the inbound waves of death. The sky was completely dark, it was nearly midnight and the almost invisible clouds were outlined by the rapid successions of lightning. They flew for untold miles, covering in hours distances that Mewtwo and Kalana had taken almost two days to cross. It was as their last bit of magic wore out when the unfamiliar form of the Temple Tower's backside climbed over the horizon and rushed up towards them. They landed only a few feet from the Temple's stone square.

Hadara's eyes widened. She had seen many drawings and paintings of the Spirit Temple's outer statue on ancient scrolls. The Desert Goddess's hands reached outwards toward the violent sky, as if begging the storm to cease. She lowered her head and prayed the oldest and most sacred of the Gerudo prayers in the Ancient Dialect of Hylian. She and Kalana were the only ones in the Red Tribe who understood and spoke the much older, Ancient Dialect. The version that the Villagers spoke was modernized, almost completely different from the Ancient Dialect.

As Hadara knelt in front the Temple, praying in the Ancient Dialect, Indiru and Fara knelt next to her and prayed in Modern Hylian. As they begged for mercy and protection, a familiar red light pierced their eyelids. Hadara opened her eyes to see a crimson lightning bolt, maybe a foot and a half from her face, pointing between her eyes. It hung in midair for only a fraction of a second, and then violently arced back upwards in a jagged path that resembled a deflection. Indiru and Fara had been knocked backwards by the heat, flash, and surprise, but Hadara continued praying until the last syllable was spoken.

"Now, quickly! Get inside the temple to safety!" Hadara shouted, jumping up and grabbing Indiru and Fara by the arms. They rushed inside the doorway and sighed with relief.

"So what now?" Fara asked, leaning on the stone wall and looking out into the red illuminated night.

"All that's left to do now is watch and wait. We will surely know if Mewtwo succeeds or not soon. If he does, then these sinister clouds will dissipate and the world will heal into its old state of being before the Empire came." Indiru replied. "And if he should fail, then we will die a very fast, but painful death."

"But you said we would be safe here!" Fara shouted, her stress now apparent.

"I said we would be safe from the lightning here. It cannot move through the sacred stone of the Temple. But if the Armageddon should come after all, thick stone walls will not protect us from the Hellstorm that would ensue. The Red Elder knows." Indiru replied.

"And then the Earth would open up and swallow whoever remained." Hadara repeated, the memory of her mother's prophecy suddenly leaping out again.

Fara stuttered, and slumped to the Temple's stone floor. She mumbled, on the verge of sobbing with fear. Hadara felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. Normally, the Medicine Woman was one of the Gerudo village's strongest minded members. She would need to be, sometimes injuries would be ugly enough to cause any other villager to vomit in repulse. The fact that Fara was breaking down worried her dearly. Her soul went out to all her fellow Tribeswomen who had disappeared into the desert in panic not three hours ago. Most likely, many of them would be dead already since they had no protection from the vicious lightning above.

Finally, the pressure was too much to bear for Indiru. She had trained herself to ignore emotions ever since she had begun seeing premonitions as a child just entering the human equivalent of being 12 years old. She had told herself that all good things never lasted, and her ability was a sign that she would need to be above feelings. Now however, her mother had died just as she had seen it many months ahead of time, and it was too much for her. She only really noticed it when a single tear rolled down her left cheek, and before she could stop it, she was suddenly sobbing into her hands as she sat on the stone of the Temple floor.

Hadara had only known Indiru since they had arrived for this trading festival, but it was long enough for the sight of tears on her face to be even more uncomforting. The two strongest pillars she had known were crumbling as she sat there, waiting. She felt her own hundreds of years of emotional training shake like a short Earthquake under her, threatening to give way and make her cry just like Indiru. But she needed to be a stable pillar to these two, it was the last strength they would have left to cling to. If Hadara broke down now, they would all three go mad. Already she could see the dead scattered across the sands, slowly being absorbed by the unforgiving waste of the desert. She almost lost control of herself when a gentle draft came up out of the Depths of the Temple behind her and passed across all three of them like the tendrils of an unseen silhouette.

Fara bolted upwards, her tension powering her like a coiled spring.

"What in the Gods' name was that?" She almost barked.

Indiru lifted her tear stained face from her hands and paused her crying to look up into the Temple's main hall. She had dreamed about this place before, but never in great detail. And before her eyes, a ghostly figure stood at the top of the steps, staring down into her eyes. The figure was one Indiru had seen in her dreams too many times to count; the first Gerudo Elder, Nabooru. Nabooru's spirit was looking down her with a sad, wistful look. And she also looked happy at the same time. Within a fraction of a second she was gone, but Indiru had heard a message.

"Do not worry, he will succeed."

Hadara turned and looked to see where the draft had come from, but the Temple's hall was empty. Fara was still on coiled springs, ready to bolt out into the lightning if danger should come. And Hadara noticed that Indiru had stopped crying. She was just sitting there, staring into the Temple's Hall. Hadara looked into the hall again, following Indiru's gaze, but saw nothing. When she turned to look at Indiru again, she suddenly smiled.

"We are going to be alright." Indiru whispered.

"How do you know that? Did you have another vision?" Fara asked excitedly.

"No. Nabooru, whose spirit has been resting here for many thousands of years, was finally able to rest. She only wanted to see my face again before leaving this plane, and to tell me that everything's going to be alright."

Hadara did a double take to the Hall and then Indiru, and stuttered in confusion. "How is that possible?"

"The dogs of war may have been unleashed, ready to deliver oblivion to us all, but the dead tell no lies."

Chapter XXXV

"Weeks of waiting, many miles of walking, and Kalana's death….it all comes down to this." Mewtwo thought to himself, standing up and facing the dark alcove at the end of the hall.

The two glowing red eyes pierced the darkness like twin knives. They stabbed at Mewtwo, examining his every inch and the darkest recesses of his soul. Mewtwo did not let them affect him. Now was the time to stand, there was no backing down. He pulled in a deep breath and walked up to the alcove. His fear was gone, and the sorrow of Kalana's death had grown into something more, strength of will and thirst for revenge. He stopped just a few feet from the darkened throne, holding an energy sword.

"Show yourself now you coward! I've had enough of your little copies of me and now you shall fight me face to face!" Mewtwo shouted, pointing his energy sword at the two eyes.

"I will face you," A familiar dark voice replied, "But I'm afraid you haven't had enough of many things yet this night."

Suddenly, out of the darkness, the Emperor emerged from his dark throne. As the red light came down, Mewtwo saw that it was indeed another dark copy of himself, but with several differences. From the tips of all four of his paws, jagged yellow claws curved outward and ended in prongs. The normally flat ended horns curved upward and ended in sharp spikes. And from his back, a pair of fleshy, sinister bat winds opened up almost seven feet wide. Spikes grew from the wingtips. His eyes glowed violent crimson and his grin revealed jaws not all unlike Firetongue's, lacking the fiery tongue.

"Wha? Who are you? How is this possible?" Mewtwo stammered.

The Emperor landed in front of him, his wings gently folding behind him. "I have many names and none. I am known through many worlds and Galaxies as the Dark One, but you may call me Darkest."

"I don't care who you are now, or how this is possible, but I'm going to end everything now!" Mewtwo said, concentrating his power, and his energy sword doubled in potency. He swung as hard as he could for Darkest's head. Darkest smirked, and raised a psychic shield. The sword bounced off harmlessly.

"You're not letting me finish." Darkest said. "You wouldn't want to miss out on the story I'm about to tell you, would you?"

Mewtwo roared in anger and threw a gigantic psychic attack at Darkest. Darkest reflected it like a fly and paralyzed Mewtwo with a psychic jolt.

"Be calm for a moment, sit and listen. I can sense the confusion in your mind, allow me to quell it." Darkest said.

"You treat me like a valued guest after forcing me through one of the harshest mental tortures your friend could create! What is it you would force me to know now?" Mewtwo shouted telepathically at Darkest.

"Only the info which will help me attain the goal I wish to reach my friend. You will understand soon enough. Now then, you know vaguely about the spiritual sides of light and dark, am I correct?" Darkest asked. Mewtwo spurned him in defiance.

"My we're a strong soul aren't we? It's only proving what I'm about to say. You know how every side of nature has a dark and light side. It's like one of those monetary coins back on Earth; it's not complete unless it had both sides. Well, seven thousand years ago to this day, you tampered with this balance. After witnessing a tragedy of horrendous proportions, billions dead, you believed the guilt was on your hands. Your emotions tore you up past the point of mental insanity. You were so torn by the darkness inside you that with one mighty cry of sorrow, you split your physical and spiritual essence in two. What emerged from this rift was your two inner selves, your good, lighter side, and yours truly. You thought you were doing good by purging yourself of darkness, but you didn't know then that you were only just getting the real party started." Darkest said, flashing his jagged fanged smile.

"Your lighter side and I began our eternal battle almost immediately. Endowed with equal psychic powers and knowledge not unlike the original, we were evenly matched. We dueled with our powers for hours, until it was clear that neither would win. I managed to flee to safety in order to hatch my new plans for conquest and destruction of all the worlds I would see and touch. And I got my biggest idea from our collective past, the man known as Giovanni. His brilliant cloning technology was the key to propagating myself. I disguised myself for the time being and hired some fools to build a small laboratory for me. I paid them with platinum that I could easily chemically generate using my abilities. After the lab was completed I first experienced the rush of glee that came from warm blood on my hands, I stabbed them to death so that my location could remain a secret. Then I began cloning myself. With each new copy came an equivalent of doubling my power. Soon I had a brigade of myself and was ready to search out my better half."

"Even now to this day, we are still bound together in mind, Lightest and I. And he used it to his advantage to see my strategy ahead of time. There was only one way for him to win against me as well, he would need to copy my tactics and build his own lab. Our forces met in battle for the first time and our duel repeated itself. We were equally matched again in power, and once again I retreated. Events have repeated themselves like this for many thousands of years, only the scale continually grows. We have developed advanced fleets of starships armed to the teeth, and have both been pushing and pulling at each other's empires for thousands of years. My joy in this life has been to move my ships into new dimensions and to find worlds rich in resources and latent energy to harvest clean. After sucking planets dry, I then do what I love to do most, murder every single Inhabitant that survived the harvest."

With Darkest's words, the ceiling of the throne room suddenly slid open, and the crimson flashing clouds loomed close to them. They were standing on the very top of the tower, and the four spike-esque spires jutted upwards into the clouds. Around the spires, the clouds had receded, and inside this clear circular space, a monstrously large orb of black energy hung in the air. More and more energy was siphoning out of the spires into this orb, and it was growing slowly but surely. Its diameter was almost two-thirds of a mile in size, and it pulsed, almost ready to burst forward onto the world.

"This is the beginning of this world's end, Mewtwo. The final stages of the Darkness wave that will wipe this planet clean of life before I implode it like a black hole. And this is by what your scumbag Gerudo friends will all die painful deaths. As soon as it has accumulated enough energy, I will send it forward into the world and watch with glee as what few survivors roast alive."

Mewtwo was speechless as he saw Darkest holding out his arms in admiration of the Doomsday energy.

"Now, you may ask how this is possible. It is very odd to see your future self in the same time period as you isn't it? Well unfortunately, my war with Lightest has grown to a point where all the energy involved has caused some minor distortions within the dimensional continuum. You see, the spaces between dimensions do not exactly obey the laws of time to the letter. In some areas between high energy distortions, sometimes time is bent. Initially, when you left your own dimension, you experienced one of these distortions, caused by my towers. The singularity twisted time between your period and mine, depositing you seven thousand years in the future. You were supposed to have traveled through the dimensional tunnel many more hours without this kind of incident, to a war torn universe much farther away. There the disaster would take place and then your separation. Then I would be born to build my Empire and take this world. It's a rather strange paradox within the continuum, but so far I'm still here, so that means a separation will still take place."

Mewtwo suddenly grinned deviously. "But what if it won't?" He asked Darkest. "I now know never to do anything of the like in the future, even if I experience a disaster like that! And you will never come to exist!"

"You see, that's where I come in." Darkest said, glaring at Mewtwo. "It's another paradox for me to be responsible for my own creation, so I've been trying to induce the separation indirectly for months now. I've sent many disasters to you and your friends, trying to stress you emotionally enough to make you separate. I sent many sandworms, troops to attack your villages, and even an enslaved Gerudo, but something has been interfering with my attempts. I had to send you messages in your sleep to compel you to come to me. I knew that I could not affect you from a distance, so I had to take a risk by bringing you here. My last attempt was the mental torture that my assistant put you through. I took many precautions and made many safeguards to make sure that you would separate, but as usual, something interfered. Normally, anyone would have broken under that kind of emotional strain, but you have resisted. I'm still wondering how."

Mewtwo remembered Ai's words, "No matter what happens, embrace yourself, or all shall be lost." He smirked.

"If you're me, you'll remember a small girl with green hair and soothing voice. It was when we were children, and she spoke to us, trying to tell us how life is wonderful."

"What are you talking about?" Darkest snarled, his wings flaring and claws extending. The lightning filled sky pulsed with energy.

"The scientists had to wipe our memory, and we forgot until now. And one thing happened due to your little distortions, she came back to me in my sleep and gave me an important message, to accept myself no matter what happens. But your twisted continuum never had such a message, and that is the only reason you exist." Mewtwo said in a snide tone.

"Enough!" Darkness shouted. "Even if I have to create an even more unstable paradox by splitting you myself, I will do anything to ensure my own survival!"

A wave of powerful dark energy jolted Mewtwo, causing his body to suddenly jerk as stiff as a board. The dark, lightning filled sky began to blur and shift in his vision. A horrific tearing sound filled his head and he felt his body began to rip. Pain filled every nerve in his body and his mind began to feel like it was dividing. He began seeing double and his mind began to feel like two separate entities. But before the process could proceed past a permanent part, a sudden flash of light filled the sky. Mewtwo's mind was too much incapacitated from being half split to see it, but four glowing white starships streaked out of the clouds, firing bolts of bright blue energy.

"Noooooo!" Darkest bellowed, and raised his psychic shield. The bolts of bright blue plasma struck it with astounding force, and a small shockwave blasted outward from the impact. Darkest's shield held the blasts for only a few seconds, it slowly bent inward from the superheated gouts of energy. Together with the collective energy of his minions, Darkest could have easily reflected these projectiles, but he had evacuated almost all of them off of the planet for the Doomsday. What few centurions left in the tower sent their psychic energy to aid him, but it wasn't enough to hold one shield against almost 20 gouts of superheated energy. Darkest was forced to teleport away.

The four medium sized ships slowed and circled around the tower's peak. With darkest temporarily gone and his ships still flying away from the planet, they were unopposed. Their hulls glowed a brilliant reflective white and great charges of blue light glowed on the weapons turrets across their lateral lines. The plasma bolts achieved maximum charge and streaked outward into the sky. The blue boiling plasma arced upward into the clouds, screaming towards the unholy orb of dark energy that was collecting above the tower. They impacted the Doomsday energy and its surface twisted and distorted. It only held its integrity for a few seconds before the surface shattered and the energy exploded outward, a great and catastrophic explosion filled the flashing expanse of sky. The shockwave pushed the clouds like ripples in water, and the lightning suddenly stopped as the deafening explosion overwhelmed all else. The ships were knocked backwards and roiled belly up as the shockwave passed, but quickly righted themselves. And the tower on which a disoriented Mewtwo laid shook to its foundations.

As the shockwave spread across the heavens and the once violent clouds fell dormant, the four frigate sized ships descended down to the tip of the tower. Their engines hummed quietly as they hovered next to the tower's tip. Slowly, panels slid open and ramps extended from the gleaming hulls to touch down on the dark steel of the tower. A bright white light shone out of the door in the ship's side, and from the light strode what appeared to be another copy of Mewtwo's form. But he was far from sinister. His fur was pure white, and his tail a shade of light blue. His eyes were a brilliant deep blue, and they stared down at the still half split original Mewtwo with compassion.

"Help m-me.." One side of Mewtwo whimpered. "Get away scum!" The other side snarled. "No, help me!" the other side cried.

"Be whole." The light one said, and raised his arm. White energy glowed from his arm.

But as these words were said, a bolt of dark power screamed up through the floor, shattering the steel under the Light one's feet. He was thrown into the air, his skin burned and lacerated. Darkest burst up through the floor inside a psychic shield.

"Do not interfere with this Lightest!" Darkest roared, his eyes glowing scarlet. "This is destiny!"

"I will not let your chaos be unleashed on the universe! I will prevent it from happening!" Lightest cried.

Darkest screamed in rage and charged at Lightest, creating a huge, jagged, pronged sword of black energy. Lightest powered up his shield and formed two glowing blue spheres of energy. They met in flash of opposite energies above the now silent tips of the tower's spire. Lightest caught Darkest's sword between his two shields and shoved him back with a strong Psywave. Darkest grunted as he was thrown through the air and righted himself. He formed eight massive globes of black energy, which erupted forward in massive beams of darkness. Lightest's shield caught them and held them for a second before they curved away into the sky.

"You're at a disadvantage Darkest! You've only got a few soldiers to send you collective energy, whereas I've got the crew from four of my ships!" Lightest said, forming two smooth energy swords.

"All I need to do is stall for enough time until my own ships come to back me up!" Darkest rebuked. "They're on their way now!"

"It will be over by then," Lightest said, "I don't plan on letting you escape!"

The four shining starships then burst to life and flew a few meters away from the tower's tip. A bright fluorescent white energy shield extended from their hulls and encircled the tower. The energy rippled like water and formed a perfect sphere around the entire tower.

"We must re-merge or die!" Lightest cried, charging at Darkest with the two energy swords. Darkest reformed his black saber and caught the blades. What ensued was a furious dance of death. The three blades clashed in bright flashes of pure energy, and they parried, dodged and swung with phenomenal speed. Lightest caught Darkest in the foot with a mighty blow, slicing a steaming gash up his leg. Darkest screamed and fell backwards holding his leg in agony. Lightest pressed the assault and threw his two sabers at Darkest with incredible force. One missed while the other dug into Darkest's arm. Lightest the charged down at him with both his arms absorbed in light energy. He delivered multiple, devastating punches to all of Darkest's body. The energy surrounding his hands burnt great scars in Darkest's already black flesh. Darkest cried in rage and threw a great psywave in counter, knocking Lightest back several feet and burning a gash across his body. He then followed up with multiple beams of black energy, spewing them out of his hands. The beams curved randomly inside the containment bubble and then all arced toward the still shocked form of Lightest. Two of them struck home, burning holes through Lightest's leg. Lightest brought his shield back up to block the others before they could impact. He then righted himself again and pumped more energy into another attack. A massive orb of blue energy formed over his head, and electrical energy hummed in the air. And before Darkest could react, thousands of tiny blue bolts poured out of this orb, screaming straight towards him. They filled the air, and he raised his shield before they could reach him. They pounded on his shields continuously, slowly chipping away its integrity, bending his shield inward further and further. Hundreds of them spent themselves like this until his shield gave way and the five remaining landed on his body, creating great steaming concussions in his flesh. He fell limp, rocketing down and smashing on the steel floor of the tower's tip.

"This war ends now!" Lightest yelled, and flew down at Darkest with a great blue energy claymore.

Before the sword could reach its final destination, a great wave of energy flew up out of Darkest, knocking him backwards through the air. Darkest slowly stood, his wounds shrinking as he used his recover ability.

"It's far from ending!" Darkest boomed. "This world's power is becoming my own!"

Darkest abruptly held his hands up to the sky and three glowing circles materialized in his hands. They formed into three glowing Medallions, adorned with the Hylian symbols for "Shadow" "Fire" and "Water.

"There was a reason I captured this planet! Ancient powers neither of us could predict laid here. I could not collect all of them, but with these three I can balance out your little advantage and wait it out before my forces arrive!"

Darkest, now fully restored, charged anew at Lightest. Lightest had little time to react. He had recovered himself as well, but the speed that the Medallions were affording to Darkest was greater than his own. Darkest formed five large fireballs and lobbed them at Lightest. Lightest ducked to the side only to be struck in the back by two scalding hot balls of water. The skin on his back screamed and peeled. He grunted and turned to the fast approaching form, of Darkest. He threw thee massive psywaves at once, each with enough force to split a planet. Darkest's shield glowed a brilliant blue, red and black as it took the impact with little damage. And before he could raise his shield, Lightest felt Darkest's energy blade slice through the skin of his hip. Lightest saw an opportunity, and concentrated a great amount of energy into his hands, sending a beam of energy into Darkest's stomach. Darkest gasped in shock as his torso was almost completely gutted. He fell in free fall, but caught himself before he could hit the tower again. He used the power of the Medallions to use his recover ability twice as fast, and the hole in his stomach disappeared. He charged back up at Lightest, and the fighting began again.

The muffled sound of explosions filled the dark halls of the tower as a lone Gerudo ran up the steps as fast as she could. This particular Gerudo had been following Mewtwo for many days now, right up to the tower and inside. The Tiara shaped scar on her forehead burned as she climbed the steps. She carried a small knapsack filled with three treasures. She had watched as the Imperial soldiers had taken Mewtwo prisoner and stolen the Medallions from him. She realized that her ways were wrong as soon as they took him prisoner and implanted that machine on his back. And after the soldiers had taken him and Kalana up to the torture room, they had boarded small shuttles to leave the planet. It was easy pickings for her to retrieve the Spirit and Forest Medallions, along with the Light Arrows that Kalana had been carrying. She scoffed at the ineptitude and lack of caution that the Imperials were showing towards such powerful artifacts. And in the tunnels below the tower, in the deepest recesses of the catacombs which none of their troops ever wandered, an even greater power was hidden. She now carried all these in her knapsack as she ascended the last few steps up to the tower's peak. She knew this place well, they had tortured her here as well.

Lightest fell and hit the top of the tower with a rib crunching thud. His body was mangled and deformed from the punishment that Darkest was dealing out. He had no other ships with his escort, and Darkest's fleet would be arriving soon to back him up even further. He healed himself again and screamed aloud as Darkest's swords stabbed into his back.

Darkest leaned over and whispered into his ear, "Not quite so fun to be on the other end of the sword, is it?"

"We've repeated these battles many times before, you know that we're quite used to this pain." Lightest replied.

Darkest pulled the swords out of Lightest's back, and stood over him.

"This isn't one of our regular battles though, this is going to be the one that ends this war. I'm not going to say who is going to win however, I think it is quite obvious." Darkest gloated.

Unexpectedly, Mewtwo, the original, stood at his feet. His eyes glowed with merciless rage. He faced Darkest with two of his own energy blades. Darkest seemed taken aback for a moment, and then laughed.

"I figured that being half split would keep you incapacitated!" He said, guffawing evilly. "You must have reformed yourself! Now what are you going to do? I have your lighter side on death's door and three medallions in my possession!"

Mewtwo didn't show any emotion other than rage as he spoke.

"Me? No, I'm not going to do anything. They are." He said, gesturing to the four frigates still circling the tower. The energy shield encircling the tower shimmered and faded so that they could use their plasma weapons. The blinding orbs of energy formed on every ship, and the volley was released in a fury of boiling plasma. Darkest smirked and raised his shield. This time he had enough energy to reflect the shots. The plasma bolts clashed explosively with the dark shield before curving away. And Darkest laughed his maniacal laugh. But the distraction of these plasma bolts was enough to give Lightest enough time to strike. He formed two energy daggers and tossed them both up into Darkest's head-body connection. The little tube of flesh was severed, and Darkness cried in pain and alarm.

"No! You couldn't have!" Darkest cried, falling to the ground, now powerless.

"It's your weakness just as much as it is mine! You cannot win now, without your powers!" Lightest said, standing and healing himself.

Darkest grunted and reached a paw up to feel his wound. He frowned once, then smirked. "Once again you forget this World's power!" he bellowed.

Darkest held the Medallions up, and their energy replaced his completely. He used their energy to heal himself, and his head-body connection was returned to its proper state.

"That was a fairly good attempt, you would have beaten me then and there if it weren't for the Medallions!" Darkest cackled. "You aren't seeing every end of this battle, and it will be your downfall!"

"But it is you who is not seeing all ends!" A lone Gerudo voice cried. Ciela, the Gerudo with the Tiara-shaped scar, burst through a doorway carrying the Forest and Spirit Medallions. She slid them across the floor and Lightest grabbed them up. A huge burst of golden and green energy flowed forth from the Medallions in Lightest's hands, and they shots beams into Darkest's body, blasting him backwards into the sky. Lightest stood with energy anew, the Medallions healing him and refreshing him.

"You tell me that I do not see all ends when you're the one who is the most blind to them!" Lightest shouted. He charged two beams of raw elemental Forest and Spirit energy, and they blasted upwards and met the shield Darkest barely had time to raise. Darkest summoned the power of the Medallions he owned and the five elemental essences warred with each other in the air. It was a complete stalemate, Lightest had two Medallions and the energy support from his crew, and Darkest had three Medallions. They both pumped energy into their attacks, but neither made and ground. The entire sky shone from the power that was being exuded.

Ciela broke her stare from the battle and looked over at the Original Mewtwo which she had harassed so many times. She knew what she had to do. She pulled the Light Arrows and their bow from her knapsack and tossed them to Mewtwo.

"Break the deadlock! Put an end to it!" She cried.

Mewtwo nodded and pulled out an Arrow from the Quiver. He never knew how to use a bow and Arrows before, but something guided him in his mind. He knocked the arrow and Golden Light formed around the tip. He pulled the string back and the light intensified, almost blinding now. He centered his aim on Darkest, whispered a brief prayer, and let the arrow fly.

The noble Arrow flew straight and true, it's light grew stronger and stronger as it rushed up to meet the evil one. Its tip pierced Darkness's shield like a knife, and it embedded itself in Darkest's back. Darkest screamed a primordial cry of pain and rage and the pure good energy of the arrow burned through every vein in his body. The bolts of white light traveled his every nerve, filled his every sense, burning him inside and out. His shield gave way, and the beams of Forest and Spirit energy flew unopposed into his body, cutting basketball sized holes directly through him. When the last flash and glow of energy had disappeared, his limp body fell to the tower once more. His eyes were glazed and he was close to death as Lightest, Mewtwo and Ciela walked up to him.

"You were right, this war would end here." Lightest said, "But you were too blind to see its true outcome."

Ciela stepped forward, pulling one last item from her knapsack. "You may have conquered our world and taken most of its power and essence, but there was one force, buried by the ages, that you overlooked." She said, drawing a brilliant steel blade out of her pack. The sword had a blue handle with a single triple triangle marking above the hilt.

"The Sword of Evil's Bane, the One Blade evil ones may never touch, this is the Master Sword." Ciela said. "You came foolishly to absorb this world into yourself, never seeing the one instrument here that would be your downfall. Now, for all those you have killed, for my sisters, for the Hylians, for the Zoras and the Gorons and the Deku Forests, Be undone!"

Ciela raised the Sword of Evil's Bane and stabbed it down into Darkest's head. Darkest's body writhed and twisted and a look of pure horror entered his red eyes. And from the now glowing Master Sword, a pure energy entered Darkest's body, and he slowly turned to stone. The stone of Darkest's body then shook, cracked, and shattered into dust. Only a fell wind carried this dust away in a cloud of uncertainty as the three brave warriors stood victorious.

Conclusion

That fateful night when Mewtwo met his destiny, many Gerudo legends came to pass and many were thrown down. Those who had ran from the Blue Village in fear did not die by the hands of the storm, but they lived on to watch the lightshow in the Eastern Horizon that would mark their unexpected freedom. The clouds that were covering the world fell silent and disappeared. Hadara, Indiru and Fara were the closest, and they were able to witness the coming of the four starships as they moved East across the sky.

As Darkest met his end, a great thunder moved across the entire planet. The Empire's core had been destroyed, and one by one the dark towers that dotted the land collapsed into rubble. The sun rose over a renewed land, and as Darkest's tower in the East finally collapsed, so too did another Empire. Lightest had flown Mewtwo and Ciela away from the tower as it crumbled, and then said his goodbyes to both of them. Darkest's demise meant his as well, they were two halves and if one died the other would. The two heroes watched in sorrow as Lightest slowly faded and disappeared forever. The four ships hovering above the tower plummeted and crashed. Both Empires had fallen at once.

But before he had died, Lightest left Mewtwo a final message of hope.

"Ai was right, life is a wonderful gift. You must not let any of these happenings make you think otherwise. No matter what happens from here on, whether you decide to leave this dimension or not, enjoy the life you live. If you do, and you never let emotional stresses consume you, then this future shall never come to pass. This world will never have to go through what it did, and peace will return to many shattered worlds. Be happy, and live on as a whole."

End

To be Continued in Book III: Of Light and Dark

A/N: REVIEW THIS OR ELSE! I put thousands and thousands of gallons of feeling into this piece, and I WILL TAKE IT PERSONALLY IF YOU DON'T REVIEW! I've worked so hard on this chunk; it's taken a part of me to complete it. If I don't see any reviews on this chunk I will not hesitate to REMOVE this story from and not bother posting Book III. I'm serious. I've worked to hard on this to be ignored, so if you even remotely enjoyed this Book, review! Even if you're forced to leave an unsigned review, those still count! Just do ANYTHING to tell me that you know I exist! Thank you.