Disclaimer: I own Loren. That's it. Mewtwo, Pringles etc. belong to the big people. Of course my family belong to themselves, so I don't own them either. If you want to put Loren into your own fic, (I doubt it) then email me and ask for permission. Tom is a real person and owns himself. No stealing from me or I will destroy you! Read the fic.

Prologue

It was a clear summer day in the countryside. The sun was shining, birds singing, and a teenaged Mewtwo crazy caffeine addict was shooting Pringles cans with an air rifle in a barn. Odd? Not really. Very normal, in fact. He continued doing so for the next ten minutes, until he got bored of this and came out, closing the door behind him, hanging the padlock on it, but not locking it. He slumped down on his back on the grass outside the barn, looking up at the clouds, dreaming about getting a bigger gun to blast the Pringles cans with, when a black van pulled over and a group of men jumped out a grabbed the teen.

Despite his best efforts at battling them off, they managed, by means of overpowering, to pull the struggling teen into the van and tranquilize him. They then placed a hollow metal half sphere on his head and connected it to a computer. One of the men nodded to another, and the other pressed a button on the computer keyboard. The computer then showed a text saying 'Uploading'. A few minutes later it said 'Complete'. The man then pressed another button, and the monitor said 'erasing memory', then once again 'complete', after which the men carried him out onto the grass again, jumped back into the van, and drove off.

A few minutes later he woke up and muttered to himself: "Must've fallen asleep."

Schizophrenia

Chapter One

The rest of that day went quite like all the rest of my summer days. I hung around until ten, which is when I started watching movies, either on TV of on VHS/DVD. I got myself a midnight snack at around 12 to 1 o'clock. At about 2:30 I went to bed.

Warmth….. Comfort….. Silence….. "GET UP!" ...Never mind... "Nrugh" was all I could be bothered to say. "What?" Grumble grumble... "No" I rolled over on my bed, wrapping myself in a thicker layer of blanket. "Come on, get up. It's already ten o'clock!" That was my cue. That meant that there was no place for my consciousness here for another 3 hours. A small (as small as ten straight minutes of tugging, yelling, cursing, and grumbling can be considered) amount of struggling to get me out of bed later, my beloved sister gave up and went back downstairs. Praise the Lord.

I was finally awake. According to the clock on the wall it was ten to one. Okay. This is better. I might even get up now. And I did so. I pulled on my pants and made my way slowly downstairs, my muscles still tired and stiff.

Chris, my sister, was sitting at the table talking to my mother. I couldn't be bothered to listen in on the conversation. Instead, I simply snatched my mug off the table and made my way to the coffee machine, which already had a half-full pot of coffee in it. It was cold, but I didn't mind. I usually don't care about the temperature of my coffee, just as long as it has caffeine in it. I sat down on my place at the table and added the milk and sugar to my coffee, lazily getting together a late breakfast of the cereal sort. The kind that's supposed to taste like chocolate, but any actual chocolate flavour is purely psychological. I took a sip and let out a loud: "Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, coffeeee..."

"Coffee addict" was Chris' usual comment here and today was no different.

"Caffeine."

"Whatever." Typical me-and-my-sister conversation.

15 minutes and another cup of coffee later, I finished my breakfast and took my dishes to the sink where someone would have to wash them later. We didn't have a dishwasher in the country, so all the dish washing had to be done by hand. Most unfortunately, of course, my mother had the typical tendency of demanding that I do the dishes at the most inconvenient times. Namely, when I'm all comfy and warm on the sofa, watching a good movie about people my mother finds irritating.

I headed to the bathroom to wash my hands.

As I washed my hands, I had a glance at the mirror. As strange as it was, something wasn't quite right... Something was weird... Out of place…

"Hmm"

I finished rinsing my hands and I dried them, then went back to the mirror. I took a closer look at myself. Everything seemed normal, but something was very wrong... Checklist! Hair, normal. Ears, normal. Nose, normal. Eyes, Purple. Teeeeeeeeeeeeeethwhatthefk! My eyes were purple! My heart skipped about five beats. My eyes...Instead of their usual blue-green-turquoise colour they were a dark purple... I rinsed my eyes with some water, but it made no difference...

Still purple...

By the time I got out of the bathroom, I was slightly less through-the-roof about the sudden change in my eyes, and since Chris and my mother were still at the kitchen table, I did my best as to act normal. When I was out of their line of sight, I broke into a full sprint up the stairs and to look for a small pocket mirror. I found one in one of the drawers of one of those cases of drawers that just are about, but you can't say belong to anyone in particular. I sat down on my bed to look at my eyes once more.

Purple.

I hadn't imagined it. I pinched myself.

Purple.

I wasn't dreaming either. How could this happen? It's not every day that your eyes change colour. Your eyes are supposed to stay the same colour all the time. They may look different in different kinds of light, but there's no way turquoise eyes can look

Purple.

I didn't think I should tell anyone. Although it would be difficult to keep it a secret over a long period of time. For now, I would just have to wear sunglasses and avoid eye contact.

I just had to cope with it for the rest of the day. My mother asked me a couple times why I was wearing sunglasses inside, so I just said that I was on my way out. Since I hate lying, I headed out each time. Finally, at around ten, when everyone else went to bed, I was able to take off the shades.

By the time I went to bed, I had almost completely forgotten about my eyes. Watching random movies for 5 hours straight tends to pull you away from reality.

I scratched an itch on my ankle.

The next morning was not unlike the one before. Chris came and went, and at around one, I finally woke up. I sat up on my bed, and stretched my arms. "Good morning, sunshine." I looked out the window to see that it was actually another cloudy, grey day. "Or not. Hmph"

I pulled on my pants and jumped to my feet and- "AAARGH!" I felt an intense pain in my ankles as I set my weight on them and thus collapsed to the floor and familiarised myself with the flavour of the rug on the floor. I spat out a mouthful of the finest Finnish handmade floor mat, which didn't taste as good as it looked... Looks can be deceiving... "Ow..."

I turned around into a sitting position and thought I should investigate the reason of my collapsation. At first glance everything seemed fine, but when I pulled up the legs of my pants and saw the horror that was my ankles. "Oh Sheeeeet!"

My ankles were seriously deformed, nay, you couldn't call them ankles anymore. They were missing half of their normal substance and my heels were next to nonexistent.

"What in the name of all that has received the blessing that is caffeine?" This was just plain crazy.

I managed to scramble onto my bed once again and take a better look at my ankles. They looked like those of a dog or a cat. "Now I think something is going on. First my eyes turn purple, now my ankles get seriously deformed." I tried to stand up, finding out that it was practically impossible for me to stand normally, and I could only walk on tip-toes. "Okay. At this point I think I'd better tell someone."

I would advise against it.

"What?" I jumped up and hit my head against the sloped ceiling, which was only a few feet above my bed. I rubbed the sore spot on my head, simultaneously looking around for the source of the voice I hadn't really heard, but instead it had sounded in my head, almost like a thought.

You need not waste your breath speaking out loud. I am in your head and can hear all your thoughts.

How…Who are you? I gave the think talking a try.

I am Mewtwo

"WHAT!" Another bonk on the ceiling.

Yes. Although I do not physically exist outside you. You might think of me as your second mind.

Second mind? Haven't I got enough of those already…? Where did you come from?

You would not remember if I told you. Your memory was erased. Somehow I remember what transpired, despite everything.

Well if you're my second mind can't you just give me the memory?

You learn quickly

I know I suddenly remembered everything that had happened the day before yesterday, remembering some things that I should not be able to, because I had been out cold. So they put you in my head just like that?

Yes.

So how come I'm looking all funny now?

You are physically turning into me.

What? I started to panic. Would I have to hide for the rest of my life, afraid some crazy scientists and meat-picking media vultures wanted to study me and how I tick, never getting a moment's peace? Living in some ass-end-of-nowhere forest unknown to all mankind until some lonely bunch of teenagers crash-landed and came across me, thinking I'm some kind of monster, getting back to civilisation and telling their story, eventually having some playboy teens star in a movie about me, complete with Steven Spielberg and Sam Jackson?

No

What?

You will not have to go into hiding... For long

What do you mean?

You shall slowly mutate into my physical form over a period of one week. After that, you, or should I now say we, can turn back and forth at free will. My will be at the disposal of both of us, and we will also be able to change only certain amounts. For instance, you could sprout my tail and have my eyes, but otherwise look like yourself.

Are these free-will-mutations going to take a large amount of time?

No. Only a matter of seconds.

Well that's good. How long is this arrangement going to last?

I do not know. Until one or both of us dies, I assume.

Well since we're stuck together until we die, we might as well get to know each other. Although I don't think I need to tell you anything, seeing as I can just share all my info with you. I opened up my mind and let him find all that he wanted to know. Above all, my name: Loren. One final question.

Yes

Why me?

I do not know that either.

Right, well...um... What can I say? Welcome into my head!

The situation was getting difficult. My eyes were purple, so I wore sunglasses. My ankles were deformed, so I wore the slightly too long pants that I usually never wore. (I didn't have to worry about my mother noticing the fact that I was wearing them, since they were black, and I always wear black.) Also, my head had started developing two bumps at the top rear, which would obviously be my ears in a few days.

I had to get away from my family before my fingers started disappearing or I sprouted a tail. That was the problem. How to get away from your parents, and, in fact everyone for a week at this age. I was 14, so they weren't going to let me be by myself for a week, so I'd have to think of something quick.

After some thinking, I decided that going home would be the best alternative, but how to be there alone, without my parents saying something against it was another thing.

I needed help. I wouldn't be able to buy food looking like a cross between a human and...well... Mewtwo. I could only tell someone who would surely keep it to themselves. Someone I could trust. One name sprung to mind.

Tom.

My best friend since kindergarten.

I sat outside in the barn with my mobile phone, calling Tom on his own cell. I dearly hoped that he wasn't abroad. I crossed my fingers. The dial tone rang once. Again. Yess. This meant that his cell phone was on, meaning that he wasn't abroad. It rang three more times before Tom answered in his usual talking-to-me manner.

"Howdy."

"Howdy."

"Well vass?" This was also quite us-ish. We couldn't be bothered to speak one language, so our usual speech language was a mixture of Finnish, English, German, Swedish, French, Spanish, and Japanese..

"What's up?"

"Everything"

"Cool. Look... Something big has come up. I need to get away from my parents for a week. Any ideas?"

"Why?"

"Never mind that. I need your help now."

"Are you doing mafia work for you grandfather again?"

"Ha, ha." Inside joke. "No, really. Away from the folks. What to do?"

"Well..."

"I was thinking I could come home and we think of some kind of cover story."

"Any ideas?"

"That's why I'm calling you."

"Well... Um... You could tell them that you're coming to the country with me and my parents."

"I guess that'd work. I need to meet you when I get there. Come over to my house when I get there."

"I dunno, it's a long bike ride and I'm kinda tired..."

"Then take a bus. Please, this is very important."

"Mmmokay, but call me when you get home."

"Sure. Great. Thanks."

"Right, well see you then. Myyyye"

"Myyye."

I didn't know how I had done it. I had not only convinced my parents that I was going to the country with Tom, but I had convinced them that I needed to go right now. Now here I was, on the bus, leaving the country, and on my way to town. I had a huge suitcase full of stuff to take with me to 'The country with Tom' even though I would need none of it, as I already had all that I needed in town. I waved my family goodbye as the bus pulled away from the platform.

Are you sure we can trust this... Tom?

Yes, I'm sure. We've been best friends for about eight years now. I'd trust him with my life.

I believe that is virtually what you are doing now.

Perhaps so. But I know that I can trust him.

I certainly hope so.

Would you just relax? Here. Have some coffee. I took a sip from my cup, feeling the bliss brought by the flavour. I could tell that Mewtwo liked it as well, because he had the same body as me now.

I was finally home. The entire trip had taken about three and a half hours. Two and a half on the bus, then an hour getting home from the center of town.

I hardly had time to put down my luggage when the phone rang, making me quickly put down my stuff, take off my shoes, and dash to the phone. "Hello?"

"Howdy"

"Howdy. Where are you?"

"Got fed up of waiting, so I'm half way there on my bike. I see you've already arrived."

"Yeah. I got in the door about eight and a half seconds ago."

"Well I'll be there in anything between fifteen and thirty minutes."

"Okay. See ya then."

"Bye."

I put down the receiver and went to lie on the sofa. For the first time I could properly relax and not worry about people noticing either my eyes or anything else. I took a look at my hand. Two of my fingers seemed to have shrunk a small bit. In a couple of days they could be completely gone. The bumps on my head seemed not to have changed much, but they would.

I looked over to the piano at the wall opposite me. "Might as well play while I still can."

I got up and walked over the piano and brushed the dust off the seat and lid of the piano. I adjusted the seat to the right height and sat on it, stretching my fingers. I never cracked my knuckles before playing. That would be doing murder to them. I then started playing the main chorus of Für Elise, not needing the notes, as I knew it off by heart. Once I had played through the chorus about six times, (the rest still needed practice,) then I decided to brush some rust off my Trepak (nutcracker song, for all those who don't know) skills.

I kept playing for the next 20 minutes, occasionally taking a pause from playing proper songs that I could actually play, and just plinky-plonking various melodies I had picked up here and there.Right when I was starting to thing about taking a break, I heard the doorbell ring. I thanked goodness I had left the lights off. That way, if it was someone other than Tom, I could ignore it and they would think that no-one was home.

I quietly made my way to the door and peeked through the peep-hole. I saw, much to my relief, that it was Tom. I opened the door, and let him in.

"Howdy." He started the conversation in the usual manner.

"Howdy."

"So what's up? What's so important? And... Why are you wearing sunglasses and a beanie inside?"

"Just let me talk first, then you can drown me in your questions, seeing as my story will probably raise more than answer."

"Well, let's hear it."

"Not here, in the hall, come into the living room. Have a seat. But I must tell you. Before I start, you must promise you won't tell anyone." He agreed.

Once we were comfortably seated I began my story, down to every last detail. Mewtwo seemed perfectly dormant as I told it. I had to show Tom the proof to get him to believe me, starting with taking off my sunglasses to reveal my now purple eyes, moving on to showing him my freaky looking ankles, then finally to the bumps on my head, which had now become quite obvious.

By the end he seemed to be trying to decide between believing all that I had just said and calling a men in white coats. I noticed this and used my last secret weapon.

"You seem to not know what to believe."

"Yes."

"Then I'll just have to do my best at convincing you."

I then surrendered my body completely to Mewtwo, who got the message and took over. Tom obviously saw me flinch, as he took a worried expression. "Loren?"

"No."

"What?"

"I am not Loren." He was surprised by the unusually low tone of my voice.

"Then are you... Mewtwo?"

"Yes." He seemed to need more convincing. "Ask me any mathematical question that Loren would not be able to answer quickly." 'We' gave him a calculator.

"Um..." He started typing. "What's the cube root of five thousand nine hundred and thirty eight point one two eight?"

"Eighteen point one zero eight five two nine five." 'We' answered him about two seconds after he posed the question. He looked astounded.

"To the power of seven point two?"

"One billion one hundred and thirty nine million six hundred and seventeen thousand thirty three."

"Times two and forty five eighty sixths?"

"Two billion eight hundred and seventy five million five hundred and forty five thousand three hundred and four."

"Divided by two billion eight hundred and seventy five million five hundred and forty five thousand three hundred and four?"

"One"

He looked absolutely flabbergasted. After a few minutes of catching flies, he managed to say something: "Now I'm a believer."

We smirked.

"So all I want you to do is to buy me food for the next week, because I can't go to the shop looking like what I'm going to look like.

"Okay. I'm fine with that."

"Great."

Tom hung around a few more hours, until it started to get late, then jumped on his bike and rode home. This left me alone.

Well... Not quite.

We had better avoid illumination, as it may attract attention.

"I may have trouble moving around in the dark."

Mewtwo noticed I was talking out loud, and did so himself, seeing as there was no-one to hear. "Turn left."

It felt very weird to have myself answering to my own question, though not doing it myself. "Right." I turned left to find myself facing the mirror. I took a look in it. Considering the circumstances, I looked straight into my eyes. Purple, yes, but even stranger now. My irises weren't their usual, round shape, but instead they were narrow slits, like those of a cat.

"Ookay."

And so the first step of my revamping process comes to an end.

There aren't many changes in this chapter, but I plan to put in more character building in the next ones. Please, keep R&Ring!