The Crossing of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
Part III: Of Darkness and Light

A/N: Like Part II, I plan on posting this one in chunks as well. This is Chunk NINE. (Outdated portion of Author's note removed.)

Chapter XIX

Mewtwo choked and coughed as a thick liquid was forced down his throat. Suddenly he sprang into consciousness, his mind and body restored. He saw a Gerudo woman, kneeling over him with a half empty bottle of red potion. She had just brought him back into reality with a bracing dose.

"Quickly strange purple one! The battle is starting again!" She said, corking her potion and picking up her bow.

Mewtwo stood up and saw that he was still on top of the castle outer wall, and he heard booming explosions from the restarted battle. He turned and looked over the wall to see the Walkers stepping slowly closer to the barrier, and hundreds of tendrils of smoke curved through the air as their rocket pods emptied themselves. The barrier was rattling under the constant explosions of small missiles exploding against the surface. He also saw that the remaining 18 Centurions were climbing back aboard APC's and the 12 tanks were fleeing in between the legs of the walkers. The fighters that had been hovering around the carrier were now docking and landing back inside, having run low on fuel. The emplaced cannons were also silent, they were being lifted back into the carrier one by one. Mewtwo didn't know why, but he assumed that their power cores needed to be recharged before firing again. As the walkers crawled across the cratered no-mans land, their rockets pounded the barrier mercilessly and without relent. As entire racks of missiles reached empty, the whole racks were simply unattached and dropped, and new racks emerged from behind them on a rotating dispenser system.

The walkers were the only immediate threat left, and they could be dealt with easily with energy attacks, they were very fragile. But the barrier was about to break, and repairing it was the highest priority on Mewtwo's list. He acted quickly with a plan in mind.

"Everyone!" He shouted, "Put down your bows! They will not affect these walkers! I want for everyone who owns a green or blue potion to take them now, and then to send all of their magic energy to the barrier at once!"

In understanding unison, bows were lowered and potions were uncorked. As the barrier flickered on the absolute brink of shattering, an overwhelming surge of energy washed out of the bodies of the soldiers and into it. The barrier expanded three feet like an inflating balloon and grew extremely bright and thick. It was many times stronger than it had been originally. Now the missiles only bounced and slid off of it as if it were magnetically repelling them. The walkers then aimed their laser turrets and began to fire en masse into the barrier, still only causing small ripples. Mewtwo saw an opportunity, and picked up the Master Sword. He used the sword's energy once more to send a beam of energy forth, and it passed through the barrier and struck the leg of a walker. Where it struck, the walker's leg exploded violently, and the whole infernal contraption tilted and fell forwards. When it landed nose first on the ground its fuel tank exploded, setting off all the missiles it carried, which all exploded at once. The ensuing multiple eruption set off the walkers next to it, and then the walkers next to them. A hole in their line opened that was six walkers wide.

"Light arrows, now!" Mewtwo cried, and aimed the Master Sword again. Five bolts of white light moved out in unison and struck the legs of five separate walkers. Their legs exploded, these walkers toppled as well, exploding and setting off even more of their neighbors.

Mewtwo and the four Hylian captains fired until there were no more walkers left standing, and the battlefield fell eerily silent once more. Mewtwo squinted out and saw the remaining tanks and APC's being airlifted back into the carrier, and the last cannon docked as well. Five minutes of peace passed as the last few vehicles disappeared into the black hull of the carrier. Mewtwo was on the verge of crying victory, they head beaten off the entire assault. He smiled on the corner of his mouth but did nothing more to show his relief. Again his smile faded as a crimson glow began to form along the carrier's lateral line. Hundreds of individual plasma cannons left and right across the starboard plasma array began to collect charges, and a soft electric hum filled the air. The charges intensified and collected quickly, and soon the entire region was bathed in blinding red light. Mewtwo looked away as the light burned his eyes, and the hum grew to a moan of electrical tension in the air. Only a slight swishing sound was heard and the boiling plasma was released.

The plasma met the barrier before anyone could open their eyes. The barrier suddenly glowed red and the ripples across its surface were like tidal waves on an ocean. It bent almost six feet inward and snapped back harshly as the plasma charges were absorbed. Mewtwo opened hbis eyes in time to see the barrier bend as it did, and his blood practically stopped cold in his veins. Another round of these shots would pierce the barrier. Without need to wait any longer, he cried for a green potion. A Gerudo some ranks down the wall rolled it across the stone to him. He drank it in three gulps and felt the uncomfortable sting of the energy. Bu this time, instead of healing the barrier, he propelled himself outside the barrier and into the air. He knew that another volley of plasma would collapse it even if he did heal it, and he still had time before the needed charge was reached along their weapons array. This was his only chance, to kill or be killed. He formed all the energy from the green potion, and then took some from his own powers and forcefully took some from the Triforce, which once again failed to protest with any form of pain. The energy spheres this created were each over 110 feet in diameter, almost as big as the carrier itself. With great loathing and prejudice, he lobbed them both at the carrier as its plasma weapons only barely started to charge again.

The energy spheres flew slowly but truly, but before they could collide with the ship's hull, they first made electricly powerful contact with the ship's shields. The shields, normally invisible, suddenly flashed bright red. Where the two energies crashed, destructive full sized bolts of lightning arced through the air, the atmosphere of the world seemed to take a deep breath, and finally the shields gave way. The energy spheres burrowed through fifteen decks of strong alloy before reaching the ship's reactors and detonating them.

From space, other Imperial ships watched as a small orange speck formed down on the planet's surface, an explosion big enough and bright enough to see from space. Back in Hyrule, a mushroom cloud soared up into the air, the Forest was almost completely flattened, and the barrier flickered and just barely held through the explosion. Nobody in the castle saw what became of Mewtwo, the flash of the nuclear explosion blinded them and Mewtwo seemingly disappeared in the flash. Anything loose or not tied down in Hyrule field was hurled miles away, and the people of Hyrule were stunned beyond thought or speech. Their enemy, and their hero, had both evaporated within a second.

Chapter XX

Mewtwo again awoke to the uncomfortable feeling of a red potion being choked down his throat. He looked up to see a Gerudo soldier hunched over him, holding the red potion. She helped him stand and gestured out into the smoking remains of Hyrule. He stared dumbly at the destruction that sprawled across the land.

The trees of the Kokiri forest had been bent back on themselves, but were neither broken nor burned. The center of the field was now one enormous smoking crater, and where the radius had touched the Zora's river, it simply had been blown away. The waters of the river were now flowing directly into the crater. There was no trace of any Imperial vehicle, troop or ship in the immediate area beside the ever twinkling lights of the ships out in space. And even more frightening, the barrier was almost invisible and it flickered threateningly on the verge of fading out.

"Quickly! Does anyone have any green or blue potions left?" Mewtwo cried, grateful that there were no Imperial troops there to pound at the weakened barrier.

The soldiers around him rifled through their bags but none found the needed remedies. Mewtwo, now completely forgetting the odd way he had ended up back inside the wall, ran down the length of the wall to find the same result; empty potion bottles. He became desperate, not knowing when another Imperial ship could come burning down out of the sky. He reached one of the four corners of the wall and saw the Fire Medallion there in its place. It was only glowing at a quarter of its normal strength, but it was still giving energy to the barrier. He ran onward along the next section of wall, but still found the same result. His mind began to freeze up with fear, and he couldn't think of what to do next at all. Panic gripped him completely and all he could do was run and look at all the empty potion bottles lying on the stone.

A sudden feeling caused Mewtwo to screech to a halt and to look up into the sky. It was a familiar feeling, a feeling of foreboding, futility and sorrow. An icy chill ran down his spine and he was paralyzed with fear. He saw a single ship moving down through the atmosphere, catching a brilliant orange glow as it burned through. It slowly approached, slowing as it neared lower altitudes. It came to a stop directly in front of Mewtwo, only a few feet outside the barrier. It was the same size and shape as a dropship, but it was adorned with many more spines, at least ten large spines and hundreds of small ones. Intricate patterns flowed across the black hull, traced in what appeared to be blood. Its engines sputtered in the air before shutting down to let the hover drives take over. A small hatch on top opened up, and demonic laughter poured out. The soldiers around Mewtwo turned deathly pale, as pale as he already was.

"What have we here?" The all too familiar voice laughed. A pair of curved horns, blood red eyes and bat wings rose out of the small ship. "It seems that history has deviated somewhat."

Mewtwo fell backwards onto his rear end as Darkest rose out of the ships, staring down at the defenders with a malicious smile. The barrier weakly flickered between him and the brave soldiers. Darkest simply observed them all for a moment, his tail flicking and wings twitching. The Hylian and Gerudo soldiers cowered in anticipation, and Mewtwo remained completely paralyzed by fear. The night air suddenly stirred, a breeze blew past them all. Darkest suddenly grinned grimly, the sharpened fangs were orange and chipped.

"Now then, this is a bit of an annoyance." Darkest said. He flicked his wrist and a small dark energy ball hit the barrier and pierced it. Mewtwo gasped and cringed. The barrier flickered one more time before disappearing completely. Hyrule Castle was totally exposed.

"What to do first." Darkest said, scratching his chin. He looked down at Mewtwo and frowned. "Ah yes. You, my purple friend, are not supposed to be in this time period. I'm afraid I'm going to have to read your mind to find out why you're here, whether you like it or not.

A burning sensation filled Mewtwo's head, like a red hot poker had just been jammed through his skull. Again his memories were unearthed and dragged past his eyes, almost all of them at once and at a tremendous speed. Before he could react, it stopped and the feeling was gone. Mewtwo looked back up at Darkest to see him completely stunned.

"This shouldn't be possible!" Darkest said. "By now the Time stream should have already wiped me from existence, and yet here I stand! I shouldn't be too surprised however, odder things have been happening. Have you notice Mewtwo, that there has been no trace of Lightest or his forces? He has not showed his head to save you and your friend's crummy little necks.

"It shouldn't be possible! You and Lightest have always been linked psychically whether you liked it or not. You can always see the other's actions and you always plan point and counterpoint strategies!" Mewtwo said.

"I don't know how it is possible, but somehow the link has been severed. I theorize that it has been caused by all of your meddling in the time stream, adverse affects and all. And now Lightest doesn't have a clue as to what I'm doing here and he cannot stop me!" Darkest cackled.

It was at this point that Mewtwo realized how desperate the situation was, so he turned and tried to flee. But before he could get two feet away, Darkest grabbed Mewtwo with his psychic powers, preparing to initiate the separation. But before he could, two glowing arrows embedded themselves in his side.

Darkest cried in pure, excruciating pain. One Light Arrow was enough to cause his entire nervous system to burn like molten steel, and two was enough to almost completely incapacitate him. He dropped Mewtwo and fell forward off of his ship, sailing to the ground and hitting with a soft thump. The other Hylians, taking their cue, knocked their arrows and all aimed at Darkest at once. Darkest laid on the ground, trying to dispel the good energy from his body when suddenly almost 100 arrows struck him in the back at once. Thick black blood oozed from his eyes and mouth, and he couldn't draw another breath. But as the paralysis from the light arrows left him, he grasped his psychic powers and healed himself. Suddenly, all of the arrows were scattered, propelled out of his body by the rebounding tissue. He flew back up into the air, howling with rage and looking down at the Hylians. Again the light arrows flew upwards to attack him, but this time he was able to completely avoid them. He swiftly entered the minds of all the Hylian and Gerudo soldiers and fried them in one fell swoop. The soldiers, the insides of their heads now nothing but crispy black bricks, fell over instantly dead, every single one of them. Darkest then looked for Mewtwo, only to find him gone, slipped away and his energy signature hidden from his detection.

Mewtwo ran quickly and silently through the empty streets of Hyrule castle once more. He carefully hid his energy signature, trying his very best to avoid detection from Darkest. He had taken off into the streets as soon as he had been freed from Darkest's grip, and ran as quietly as he could through the shadows. The Triforce piece on his right hand stopped glowing completely, as if complying with his desperate attempts to remain hidden from Darkest. He heard a bellow of rage far behind him as he ran, and picked up as much speed as he could without becoming a noisemaker. Random screams peppered the air behind him, and Mewtwo knew that all the Hylians and Gerudos at the wall would be dead by now. He breathed as silently as possible, but his chest began to burn and he needed to breathe faster. Then he felt Darkest's presence moving, he was moving into the town to search for him.

Mewtwo ducked behind a small trashcan in shadow of a small shop as Darkest floated past, hardly a few feet away in the alley next to him. It was all he could do to remain silent, he had to physically grab and hold his tail to keep it from twitching in fear and knocking another trashcan over. This was a game of cat and mouse, and the cat in him knew that he was the mouse. He waited until Darkest was farther off before taking off toward the castle again.

Hiding behind a large box, Mewtwo looked and saw the inner drawbridge of the castle was close. But there was a fifty foot clearing between the drawbridge and the safety of the dark town. He would have to cross unnoticed in order to reach the castle. He didn't know what to do once inside, he hadn't thought that far ahead. But he was permeated by fear and panic and couldn't think about anything other than the present. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he knew Darkest would detect his energy if he tried to cloak himself.

"Where are you?" Darkness screamed at the top of his voice, it echoed through the entire town. Sweat nearly poured off of Mewtwo as Darkest stood still, now hovering over the town and scrutinizing it.

Mewtwo held his breath as Darkest hovered there, and had to bit his tongue in order to keep from sighing in relief when Darkest suddenly whizzed away, shooting out over the field to search there. When Mewtwo could only barely sense Darkest's presence, he quietly dashed across the stone and into the castle. From there, he ran aimlessly up flights of stairs, until he suddenly felt the fading energy coming from the magic item storage room. He opened the door and entered.

The items within no longer glowed at all, they had been almost completely sapped. He suddenly began to rifle through the piles of items, unsure what he was looking for. He shoved aside all manners of jewelry and trinkets, until he found a familiar blue colored instrument. The Ocarina of Time shone before him, right where Zelda had stashed it. His mind suddenly flashed, he put it up to his lips and played a song, one which was finally eked out of his memory by his panic and desperateness. The room spun around him, and the familiar blue light surrounded him. He didn't know which time period it would take him to, but he didn't care so long as Darkest wasn't there.

Chapter XXI

Mewtwo felt himself wake upon a soft silk-like bed, a familiar mattress. He opened his eyes and saw a white stone ceiling and around him lavish furniture. As he became completely aware, his memories of Darkest's pursuit and the Ocarina came flooding back to him; he leapt out of bed and rushed to the window. What he saw was Hyrule field, completely untouched with no signs of the barrage and invasion that it had withstood. There was no barrier, and dark clouds blotted out the sky. The Ocarina had taken him back in time again. He left the window, running up and down flights of stairs until he finally found princess Zelda.

"You look as though you've seen a ghost! What is the matter?" Zelda asked.

"How long ago was it that you made the proclamation of peace with the Gerudos?" Mewtwo asked, slowly controlling his fear.

"Just yesterday, you were there! Are you feeling alright?" Zelda asked.

"Yes yes, I'm fine. I'm going for a walk through town now." Mewtwo said, his mind roiling.

"Alright, but should you need anything ask any of the guards." Zelda said in a slightly worried tone. Mewtwo thanked her and left the inner castle.

The fresh air helped Mewtwo to think more clearly. So the Ocarina had taken him back just over a week, at the beginning of the softening period. Mewtwo was extremely anxious about the prospect of living through the entire invasion all over again. He knew there was no way the Hylians could win, no matter how much more energy they could gather for the barrier. Without Lightest's support, any battle with Darkest would be an exercise in futility. It seemed hopeless, and Mewtwo walked the entire perimeter of the castle trying to think up a solution. Every scenario he ran ended with Darkest coming in at the last moment and breaking the barrier. But when he finally hit upon the solution, it seemed nearly impossible to undertake.

"I need to find some way of contacting Lightest to tell him about the upcoming invasion. But how?" Mewtwo pondered as he walked past a potion shop. The big wooden sign depicting the three potion types caught his attention for the moment and he decided to go in. The shopkeeper, a hunched over old man, was carrying a large box full of potions with the help of a young apprentice.

"Hello purple one" The old man said, setting the box down.

"Hello potionmaster." Mewtwo replied, still deep in thought.

"Can I get you anything? Some potions perhaps, or maybe a bottled fairy or two?"

"No, no thanks. I don't have any money with me." Mewtwo said, looking at the rows upon rows of glistening bottles.

"The princess told me that should you come into the shop that I should provide you with potions for free." The old man said, setting a blue potion on the counter and gesturing for him to take it.

"No no, keep it for the Hylian soldiers, they will need it. Trust me, I know." Mewtwo said.

Mewtwo sat down in a chair in the corner of the room and began an attempt at Plan A. He tried to reach out into the universe to contact Lightest psychically. The farther he reached, the more energy he spent and the more the Triforce pained him. He sighed and gave up when the mists of space yielded nothing. Then, he reached over and grabbed a green potion off of the table. He drank a dose and used the energy to probe farther out with his mind. As he reached farther and farther, he suddenly experienced a block, a psychic energy blockade that completely turned his attempts back. He frowned and gave up the plan for good. It would have required too much energy to achieve anyway, even if he didn't have the block preventing him from reaching out any further. The reaches of space were just too vast.

Mewtwo's only other plan was even more farfetched that plan A. Plan B had him leaving thee planet entirely in order to seek out Lightest and bring him back to Hyrule. Although creating an airtight bubble with recycling oxygen for space travel wouldn't require very much energy, he could end up searching for years if he didn't know where to look. But the vivid Memory of Darkest's forces plundering Hyrule convinced him that he needed to do something other than sit and wait for it to come. With a grim resolve, Mewtwo set this new course for himself. He walked over to the Potion counter and spoke to the potion maker.

"I've changed my mind. I'm going to need 15 green potions and 5 blue potions, please." He said courteously.

"My my my, someone has something big planned eh?" The potionmaker asked, grabbing bottles off of the shelves.

"I have an extensive trip to make, through rather dangerous areas." Mewtwo said. He opened his knapsack and began placing bottles in it.

"Didn't the princess warn us not to leave the castle on the eve of the invasion?" The potion maker asked.

"I think I might be able to stop the invasion altogether." Mewtwo said, barely stuffing the last bottle into his cramped knapsack.

"Then may the gods speed you on your journey."

Mewtwo thanked the potion maker as he left, hoping that he had taken enough. If he were successful, the Hylian soldiers wouldn't need to use these potions to defend the Castle at all. The next stop was the Temple of Time. Mewtwo walked in, straight to the inner Temple and yanked the Master Sword out of the Stone. It came free with a clear ringing and Mewtwo held it in his hand as he discreetly left the Temple. He walked back to the inner castle and ventured to the armory. When he reached this destination, he rifled through the various weapons and their accoutrements until he found a scabbard that fit the Master Sword. He slipped the Master Sword into it and slung it over his back next to the knapsack full of potions. He then proceeded up more stairs until he reached the magic storage room. There, he searched until he found the Light Arrows and the Ocarina of time. He stuffed them into his full knapsack and left the room. His last destination was the Castle's food storeroom. When he arrived, the smell of various grains, fruits and salted meats met his nostrils. He grabbed another whole knapsack and stuffed it full of food. He grabbed anything that he could lay his paws on, breads, meats, cheeses, vegetables, and any other food that would keep for a long time. He wrapped them and stowed them away for his long trip ahead. He then walked over to corner of the room where a great keg of water sat. He proceeded to fill around 30 medium sized flasks full of water until he could carry no more. Weighted down with almost 300 pounds of supplies, Mewtwo limped out of the castle and onto the open grounds. He uncorked a green potion and brought it to his lips, about to drain it when he heard an angry shout.

"What in Din's fiery name do you believe you are doing?" Zelda roared, approaching behind him."

"No time to explain princess, I'm off on a mission to stop the invasion." Mewtwo said. He then downed the potion and implemented the energy. He formed the airtight bubble and lifted off of the ground, gaining altitude.

"You're going to get yourself killed!" Zelda cried after him. He simply waved back at her shrinking form as he sailed higher and higher.

The atmosphere eventually faded away and Mewtwo looked down on the planet. Mewtwo saw the black cloud cover had covered the entire world, blocking out the sun. On the darker side of the planet he could see lightning flash. He turned with a sigh and suddenly saw a jolting sight. A few miles away a small Imperial frigate was observing the planet, and at any moment it could notice him. Mewtwo hastily cloaked himself, using slightly more energy, and rocketed himself away from the planet as fast as he could. When he felt he had reached a safe distance, he let the cloak fade away and initiated the oxygen recycling effect. His muscles relaxed and he sighed with relief as zero gravity took away the wight of his supplies, which he let float around inside the eight foot diameter bubble. He felt the energy being used was miniscule, and the potion still flowed through him strong. He stopped for a moment to think.

"Concentrate." He thought. "Try to feel Lightest's presence."

After hovering motionless for several minutes, Mewtwo finally felt a faint flickering feeling. It was coming from an are of space at a 90 degree angle upwards from the direction he had taken away from the planet. Mewtwo took in one final breath of gumption and set off on this new course, hoping for the best and having prepared for the worst.

Chapter XXII

It was impossible for Mewtwo to tell how far he had traveled, or how many days he had been flying through the cosmos. Without regular intervals of sunlight amidst the eternal darkness of space, he completely lost all perception of time. His usage of potions was ,steady at around two a day, giving him around 10 days total traveling time total before he ran out and the Triforce would begin to drain him. He also chipped away at his food and water supplies as slowly as he could bear, trying to conserve as much as possible. He kept his speed and direction constant, rocketing through the emptiness toward the small glimmering feeling of light that he could feel in his mind. The Triforce pulled at him to go back, wanting to reunite with the other two pieces, and with these to pulling forces Mewtwo maintained a total bearing on where to go and where he should return after contacting lightest.

Complete isolation began to wear on Mewtwo's mind after a time, he missed Zelda and the Gerudos, and the total silence in space was maddening. Oftentimes he talked to himself, simply trying to make sure that he hadn't gone deaf. Time crawled on and on, and the isolation, darkness and silence chipped away at Mewtwo's sanity. He found himself humming Hylian folk tunes involuntarily at times, and he often fidgeted with the Master Sword and Ocarina to keep the feeling of total stillness from engulfing him. He did not sleep at all, he needed to be awake to maintain the bubble. With the longer passage of more time, it became increasingly hard for him to stay awake, and he played a dangerous game by dozing and waking when he felt the cold of space start to seep through into his bubble.

His eyelids became two ton weights and the absence of gravity caused his muscles to become lax and weak. He suddenly felt a prickling cold and jolted awake from the sleep he was about to drift into. The bubble refreshed itself and he slapped himself hard over the face to stay awake. It was no use, he soon repeated the action five minutes later.

He was on the verge of drifting off again when a sudden blazing red light flashed through his drooping eyelids. He jumped into full awareness when he caught sight of an Imperial ship approaching around fifteen miles off. It was monstrously large, the size of four of the carriers that had brought the invasion to Hyrule, and it was moving directly toward him. Another pulse of light rocketed forward towards him, and he quickly moved the bubble to dodge. Knowing that Darkest would never shoot to kill him, Mewtwo guessed that the occupants of the ship hadn't fully ascertained who he was. He assumed that they thought he was some sort of space debris and were shooting at him to clear a path. He hastily cloaked and moved off at double speed. At a safe distance he observed as the ship passed him by, heading in the opposite direction towards the planet where Hyrule was located. He felt shaken slightly, and redoubled his pace towards his goal with new resolve.

The Newfound resolve was slowly melted by the days however, Mewtwo was lullede again by the endless darkness and began to drift off again and again. His food supply began to run low and the sight of the potions slowly running lower and lower was enough to keep Mewtwo from completely falling asleep. By the time he only had Six potions left, he guessed he had been traveling for a week now. He felt ill, his body felt a horrible malaise and he needed sleep. He turned off course and entered the atmosphere of a planet that looked similar to Earth or Hyrule's planet.

The planet was indeed similar, it had an atmosphere of oxygen and oceans of water, but it was completely empty. Not a single trace of life existed anywhere, and the land was uniformly brown dirt with no mountains, rivers, or any other types of formations. It was here that Mewtwo chose to stop and rest. He let the bubble dissipate and set his things on the ground, using the food knapsack as a pillow. Completely and totally exhausted by going so long without sleeping, he fell into the deepest sleep he had ever experienced practically as he touched his head to the knapsack full of soft bread.

A/N: More battling, another trip through time, and now space travel! What could happen next? Continue reading on and find out! Review and I'll be happy. Thanks again!