Chapter 10

The Balance of Power

Mewtwo walked through the halls of the palace. An underling snapped him a crisp salute. In frustration, Mewtwo blasted him out of the way and continued on. The underling's last moments were spent in burning pain induced by his master's blast.

He walked past Gannondorf's chambers. He would have gone in to report, but seeing that he was out on an "Errand," he decided not to bother. Instead, he went into Bowzer's 'throne room' and spoke with him about the mission.

"So," Bowzer asked as Mewtwo entered, "How'd it go?"

Zelda showed up Mewtwo stated, as though that explained it all.

"And that weakling beat you?" Bowzer demanded.

Trust me, she'd mop the floor with you, too. Mewtwo snapped in reply.

A low, rumbling laugh issued from Bowzers mouth. "Your power isn't half of what you claim it to be if you couldn't handle even one prissy little princess," he assured Mewtwo.

So, you see this as a failure of my power Mewtwo demanded. Before Bowzer could answer, Mewtwo continued on. My power is different! One simply has to look at what power itself is to see it! So tell me, Bowzer, what is power to you

"Power is something to strive for. Wait, I take it back. Power is the result of that strife." Bowzer answered. Then, smiling widely he said, "I have put in the effort, that's what makes my power greater then yours!"

Mewtwo chuckled. Maybe that's what power is to you, but to me, it's completely different. Power is a gift, one that I have possessed sense birth. That's what sets our powers apart. The fact that you have put in effort and I have not is irrelevant, my good dino-turtle.

"Explain," Bowzer commanded, shrugging the insult to his race off.

Mewtwo sighed. All right then, I shall tell you my story Mewtwo deliberated.

I was not born he explained. I was made by Giovanni's scientists, in a laboratory. Basically, I was a test tube baby, the success of an experiment that had failed so many times before.

"What was the experiments purpose?" Bowser asked, rising to his feet with curiosity.

If you'd sit down and shut up, I'd tell you Mewtwo responded. Bowzer scowled, but he complied. Satisfied that all interruptions down the road had just been silenced, Mewtwo continued his tale.

The purpose of the experiment he explained Was to make a poke'mon whose powers could match or even surpass those of the legendary Mew. For years upon years, scientists worked to make their dream a reality. Countless failures took place due to miscarriages in the test tubes, or the Poke'Mon produced would not have enough power, and thusly be terminated. Their last attempt was me. The scientists were thrilled at their work...

Until, that is, I broke out of my test tube, killed everyone in the lab, melted the computers and torched the facility. Upon this happening, Giovanni himself came to the wreck site to confront me. He found me standing amid the smoldering rubble wondering about my purpose. He beguiled me into thinking that my purpose was to fight for him, and he did so by offering me a device that would focus my power, supposedly strengthening it tenfold. What a fool I was to believe him...

I defeated countless enemies for my new master Mewtwo stated. Bowzer listened quite fascinated, pouring over every word Mewtwo said. No Poke'Mon could stand up to me. You can't imagine how boring it is to fight one weakling after the other day after day, month after month. After a year, I had honed my power to the point of perfection. With no further need of him, I killed Giovanni, cast his technology down and flew off to find my own purpose.

I wandered for weeks trying to find a purpose. After a long time, I decided that my destiny was to become the most powerful being on the planet; to answer to nobody and run my own life, the life of a free Poke'Mon. None would master me except for me. It was this thrilling sentiment that compelled me to go into hiding, stealing the genetics of the most powerful Poke'Mon on earth and engineer them, perfect them so that they would be superior to the rest. It took years to perfect the process, but I eventually created superior copies of every species known to man.

I easily bested them all. I quickly found the reason for their ease of defeat to be a lack of combat experience. Therefore, I found the best course of action and took it. I called the best Poke'Mon trainers to my castle to engage in a tournament with me. I turned the tournament on them, unleashing my creations upon their counterparts, just to see if my theory was correct. Unfortunately, it was not. My Poke'Mon easily bested those of the pitiful trainers who came to face me. But then, a glint of something caught my eye.

I turned from the battle to see the legendary Mew streaking through the sky! I eagerly engaged it, but it didn't seem to want battle. Perplexed, I continued unleashing my attacks on it, only to find that in its innocence, it was wholly happy. Touched, I destroyed my creations and allowed my aspersers to return to their homes. I traveled with Mew for a while trying to live the peaceful life that it lived, but was not contented with this lifestyle. Seeing my evil roots emerge once again, Mew had no choice but to engage me on the field of battle once again. This time, though, I killed Mew, and left its dying corpse lying on the dirt. I found this to be the first contentment I had in a long time.

I was never defeated again. I hunted down all of the legendary Poke'Mon and defeated them in turn. With no Poke'Mon left to stand up to me, I began a brief campaign of destruction...

Until, that is, I met Mew once again. Somebody had revived him, I think, although I can't explain the life that found him. We fought again, but neither of us was able to defeat the other. We realized the futility of the battle and, with a nod, we went our separate ways, both of us knowing that we'd meet again, and each of us knowing that if we didn't become stronger, we'd be defeated.

That was when I met you and Gannondorf. He promised me great rewards of awesome power if we agreed to help him in his goal of taking Hyrule's throne. I was enticed, so I helped him release the Master Hand. You should know the rest yourself.

"An interesting tale," Bowzer stated. "I won't bore you with mine.

"No no," a familiar voice stated from behind Mewtwo. "I'll agree with you about Mewtwo having an interesting tale," Gannondorf stated, "But I think we DO have plenty of time to hear your story." He eased himself into a chair and got ready to listen to Bowzer.

"... If I must..." Bowzer said.

"You must," Gannondorf replied, smirking.

"Fine," Bowzer spat. "As you know, I've been after the throne of Mushroom Kingdom forever. Mario, Luigi, Peach and their stupid dinosaur pets have been able to thwart my plans every time. I can't think of a plan to get past them." Bowzer chuckled. "Hell, I've even let my sons try to beat them and entered go-cart races to win the money necessary to BUY Mushroom Kingdom from them! I wasn't quite expecting Mario and Luigi to enter, though. They beat me good in those races...

"At any rate, I was in my dungeon one day wondering about how to defeat the quartet of heroes when you came to me, Gannondorf. You told me that you'd help me take Mushroom Kingdom if I'd help him take Hyrule first. I hastily agreed, and the three of us broke the Master Hand out of his prison. This was all a part of your master plan."

Yes, it seems now that your plan has failed, Gannondorf. What now Mewtwo asked.

"I'll explain in a moment. But right now, I have some questions for Bowzer. I'll start off simple. Why do you want Mushroom Kingdom so bad?" Gannondorf replied.

"For the same reason you want Hyrule," he stated, smirking. "I want to be powerful."

"So why not run for president of someplace else?" Gannondorf wondered.

"You kidding? No place can rival the Mushroom Kingdom's power, save for possibly Hyrule, and I didn't particularly feel like moving way out there to take over!" Bowzer replied.

But you've dragged yourself way out here to the Dark Castle to be a part of this alliance. Why Mewtwo asked.

"Well, I might have moved to Hyrule a few years ago, had it not been for my ego," Bowzer explained. "I just have to know that I can beat the Mario brothers and their friends before I become Mushroom Kingdom's King."

"I see," Gannondorf said. "Unless Mewtwo can think of something, I think that's all the questions we have for you."

I do have a question, but it's not for you, Bowzer. Gannondorf, what were you planning on having us do next Mewtwo reiterated.

"Nothing," Gannondorf stated.

"What?" Bowzer asked.

"Nothing," Gannondorf repeated.

I see Mewtwo observed You want to let them bring the fight to us. And what then

"We react. The last thing they'll expect us to do is let them waltz into the castle. When we do, we'll lock the door behind them with Mewtwo's power and my magic, creating a seal that not even Zelda can break. Then Bowzer and I will unleash our minions throughout the castle to search out the past heroes of the land," Gannondorf explained.

They won't know what hit them Mewtwo stated.

"Mushroom Kingdom will finally be mine!" Bowzer bellowed.

"Yes," Gannondorf said, "You two will be rewarded greatly." He returned Bowzer's evil smile. Then, he walked out of the room and left his two fools inside of it, laughing hysterically. "What you don't know," he muttered, once he was out of hearing distance, "Is that as King of Mushroom Kingdom and the most powerful being on the planet, you will get in my way. Your reward will be the taste of your own blood, when you've finished out your usefulness."