Oh boy. From the craziness of the new episodes to my own insane cliffhanger, this has been a wild time. Anyways, this is going to be much more dark than the previous few chapters, so this is a warning that there will be violence in this chapter. Sorry for the long hiatus, I had a lot going on and needed to get a new computer. Don't worry I'm still writing. *POKEMON AND STEVEN UNIVERSE ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
When some men look into a mirror shirtless it is to admire themselves. In other cases, it is to investigate some sort of blemish on their torso. In Giovanni's case it was both cases, but also not the case as he tapped the jagged pink shard in his chest impatiently. It had been months since the implant, yet he saw no change whatsoever in his physical ability. His impatience quickly turned to anger as he began to question if the Diamonds had lied to him. But he tried to brush that thought away when he remembered how it worked for everyone else who survived the procedure. But his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door.
"What?"
"Your clarity." Black Pearl announced opening the door. "Hunter J requests your presence at once."
He sighed and began to button his shirt up. "Send her in. That will be all. Leave us."
Black Pearl curtseyed for her master and closed the door to Giovanni's office behind her.
"What do you want?"
"You said it yourself Giovanni, I've already captured Xerneas and you no longer need me for Yveltal. So now it's time to pay up."
"Your job isn't done yet. I told you I don't need you to track Yveltal, we still have to wait for the bait to come to us first until the beast will show itself."
"What bait?"
Giovanni smiled evilly. "You'll see soon, poacher. In the meantime, you will be under my payroll until we get the proper bait. You'll just have to be patient."
Before she could respond, a deep rumbling came from down below at the gym level. "What the hell was that?"
Giovanni went to the intercom on his desk and rang Black Pearl "Pearl, what was that explosion?"
"Your clarity, the gym is under attack!"
"What? By who?"
"It's some sort of creature, the guards are no match for its power!"
Giovanni immediately knew what Black Pearl was talking about. "J, go to Kalos and await further instructions. Tell Jasper and Aquamarine to meet you there. I'll handle this."
The few Amethysts that were perched at the Viridian Gym were no match for the power of Mewtwo. Using psychic, he threw the quartzs across the arena and crashed through the gym.
"Giovanni! Come out and face me you coward!"
On the balcony above the battlefield, Mewtwo heard a slow, distinct clapping.
"Welcome home!" Giovanni welcomed his creation.
Mewtwo looked up to the sight of Giovanni now standing on the balcony wearing the same suit of armor that he was forced to wear back when he was under his control.
"I know I'm not one for hand me downs, but I think I made it work." he mocked the pokemon. "It's so nice of you to pay your old man a visit. Being back here must trigger so many memories."
"Such as when I was your slave?"
"I saw it more as a partnership."
"That's not the way I saw it, and you know exactly why I'm here. Release Xerneas! For you toy with powers that you couldn't even begin to understand!"
Giovanni laughed. "You should talk about messing with power you can't control! If memory serves, you got your grubby little paws on my cloning technology a few years ago."
"ENOUGH!" Mewtwo screeched so loudly the ground shook. "It's time I end this!"
"I'd like to see you try."
Mewtwo took the invitation to heart, charging up a shadow ball attack and launching it towards Giovanni. The attack hit dead on in a small explosion. If Mewtwo wasn't aware of just what Giovanni was capable of he'd assume his mission was complete, but what little hope of this ending quickly faded as the dust cleared and the Team Rocket leader was still standing, completely unfazed by the attack.
"That, was uncalled for." Giovanni goaded him, leaping down onto the floor and going for a punch.
The hit struck Mewtwo with enough force to throw him into the wall, giving him no time to use a counter attack. Shaking off the punch, he decided to try his luck with his signature attack, and using psychic, he threw one of the decorative columns from the wall into Giovanni. With him distracted by the collapsing structure, Mewtwo charged a second shadow ball at him.
This time the attack hit directly. And not wanting Giovanni to have enough time to recover, he continued with an assault of psychic attacks, eventually backing him into a corner. Just as Mewtwo was about to deliver what he believed to be the final blow, his opponent suddenly grabbed him and threw him into the wall, breaking through to the next room.
"This suit is powered by Xerneas themselves!" He boasted as Mewtwo was thrown into the conference table. "Did you honestly think that your pathetic little powers could stand up to the force of life itself?"
Mewtwo got up spitting the tooth that was knocked out clichely. "Funny, I don't recall you thinking of me as pathetic when you made me to be your weapon." He used psychic on the dozen or so conference chairs and threw them all at him.
"I created you to be the world's strongest pokemon." Giovanni corrected him, slapping each chair simultaneously away. "And no matter how much you gloom, or cry, that's all you'll ever be. Now be a good little pokemon, and know, your, place!" He now reached Mewtwo and threw him upwards through the ceiling, directly into his office.
Mewtwo once again charged his shadow ball and hit Giovanni again. He then continued his use of psychic on Giovanni's work desk and threw it across the room into him, splintering it into a thousand pieces.
Giovanni groaned in both pain and anger "do you have any idea how much that cost!?" He screamed throwing himself directly at Mewtwo.
The pokemon was ready for it though, having had enough time to counter with a psychic shield.
And with Giovanni now within striking distance, he was able to use psychic once more.
"You claim to be powerful," Mewtwo stated trying to remove the armor, "but without your little toys what are you? You're just a human. And I, am true power."
Giovanni, despite struggling against Mewtwo's psychic attack, began to laugh again. "You might have power. But I have something you don't have. Extra muscle."
As soon as he said this, from the warp pad installed in his office, an electric shock struck Mewtwo from behind.
"AH!" Mewtwo cried out in pain as the electric whip of Holly Blue Agate ran through his entire body. Losing his grip over Giovanni, Mewtwo collapsed to the ground.
"I called for her as soon as I heard you invited yourself, and of course after I took the time to change." He explained.
"This one will make a fine addition to your pokemon team my majestic, glimmering…" Holly Blue began to rant.
"My Diamond" will do for now Agate. And no, he doesn't deserve mercy after this feeble attempt on my life." He continued grabbing Mewtwo by the tail and throwing him violently back down to the gym battlefield.
Losing his energy, Mewtwo understood that he had gravely underestimated Giovanni, and was now paying the price. Knowing his time was dwelling short, he knew he had to make his last moments worth it, and began to focus all his remaining power into his aura.
But Giovanni couldn't allow Mewtwo to continue, leaping down and picking him up by his neck. "Ironic, you were created by me to be the most powerful pokemon in the world. And look where it got you." He then began to twist, until Mewtwo's neck let out a deafening crack, and his body fell limp in his former master's arms.
"A true testament to your power, oh gracious Diamond Giovanni." Holly Blue commended as Giovanni dropped Mewtwo's lifeless body to the ground.
"There's no reason to be excited Holly Blue. Knowing Mewtwo, he must've left a message to the Crystal Gems beforehand. Contact the other Diamonds. And tell them to get ready for the final invasion. And Pearl…"
"Yes, my Diamond?" Black Pearl asked crawling out from her hiding place in the closet.
"Clean up this mess." He said motioning to Mewtwo's body.
An overwhelming feeling of sorrow fell over Ash like a blanket as he lay on the couch.
"You alright?" James asked him, "you're crying."
He lifted his finger to his eyes and saw that he was indeed crying despite having no reason to at the present time.
"I'm, I'm sure it's nothing James."
"Hey!" Gary called out from the kitchen at Lion, who had decided to sleep on the spot his sleeping back was. "Get up yah stupid cat, that's my spot!"
Ash, Pikachu and James all began snickering.
"What's so funny?" Gary demanded.
"Sorry Gary, looks like you're not getting your sleeping bag back tonight." Ash teased him.
"Yep," James agreed, having known Lion and his behavior longer than Gary, "once Lion's made up his mind about something he's not budging."
Thankfully for Gary, Lion's mane began to glow as Steven leapt through it, gasping for breath.
"How'd Lars like the letter?" Ash asked getting up from the couch.
"He loved it!" Steven enthusiastically answered him walking towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. "He shesh tu kip your head up Asshh." he said as he began to brush.
"What?"
Steven spat out his toothpaste. "Sorry, he told to tell you to "keep your head up." causing Ash to smile. "Goodnight Peridot." he told the little green gem still sleeping in the bathtub, who gave no reply from herself being in such a deep sleep despite the water droplets falling on her face from the faucet.
"Goodnight Gary, night James, night Ash." Steven then told the others while crawling into bed.
"Pika!" Pikachu scolded him, upset about being left out.
Steven laughed. "And goodnight to you Pikachu. Now there's nothing left to do, but dream." he said collapsing onto his pillow.
But none of them were getting any sleep yet, especially not when there was a sudden banging on the door. "Seeveeeen! Ash!" Ronaldo called out.
"Argh," Gary groaned in annoyance, "It is way too late for this."
"Steven, don't open it!" Ash loudly whispered as he hopped off his bed and began approaching the door. "Tell him we're not home."
But Steven just ignored his brother and opened the door for their uninvited guest. "Ronaldo, it's the middle of the night."
"I know, but you guys HAVE to come to the lighthouse. I've found something…" he paused before he whispered the last part of his sentence suspiciously, "...weird."
"You've been finding something weird every hour since Greg got you that telescope." Gary complained.
"Gary, be nice." Steven reprimanded him.
"No seriously, you won't believe my latest discovery! There's something in the sky heading towards the moon!" he screamed pointing towards the sky.
"Can't you just call Mayor Nanefua if there's something going on?" Ash asked annoyed.
"Not a fourth time!"
"Uh guys," James said, having actually followed Ronaldo's advice and gone outside. "I think he might have a point."
Everyone followed him outside and looked up to the shocking spectacle in the night sky. Waving around was an enormous ribbon of a dark blue light.
"I told you!" Ronaldo boasted.
"What is that!?" James asked loudly.
"It's beautiful." Steven complimented in pure awe. "It's like something you'd see at the north pole."
But Ash wasn't too awed by the spectacle, because he had seen this before. "It's aura."
Steven looked at him surprised. "I thought aura was like, power?"
"Well, it kind of is bud. It's really hard to explain. Think of it like…" he tried to find a good allegory before seeing Pikachu jump on his shoulder. "...like Pikachu's electricity."
"How so?" Ronaldo butted in.
"Well, it's still running through him, but if he's powered enough, he can project and control it. The only difference is that the only beings who can control theirs is that only a few are powerful enough."
"So you're saying someone is projecting that?" Gary asked.
"From what little I do know about aura, yes."
On Steven's dresser, one of his pokeballs suddenly opened up. Now free, Deoxys flew out the door, pushing past the boys and began to levitate in the sky, screeching upwards at the aura ribbon.
"Deoxys, what's wrong?" Steven called out, but Ash already knew from previous experience what Deoxys was doing.
"Answering the call. Watch."
The pink colored stone in Deoxys's chest glowed, and just as Ash predicted, emitted a similar aura except it was matching pink.
"Certain pokemon are sensitive to aura as well, I think Deoxys wants us to follow it."
"But where is it going?"
Following Deoxys's gaze, Ash saw the origin of the aura. "There." he said pointing towards the moon.
Immediately after, Deoxys shot up and began going to the moon.
"Deoxys, wait!" Steven called after.
"Looks like we're going back to the moon." Ash joked going back to the house.
Before Gary or James could respond, Ash and Steven had already hopped on Lion's back and had traveled towards the moon base that once belonged to Pink Diamond. Once safely inside, Steven cast an oxygen bubble around them.
"Thanks Lion. Deoxys, where are you!?" Steven called out.
"There!" Ash exclaimed pointing to the upper level. Spinning in the air the same way a sharpedo would circle around its prey, was Deoxys circling the source of the aura. In the center or the enormous room was a large, blue orb. And slouched over weakly next to it, radiating the blue aura stream was…
"Mewtwo?" he asked worriedly.
The pokemon looked up gingerly at him. Both could see how he was greatly injured. As he tried to get up, he immediately fell.
"Mewtwo! Are you alright?" Ash asked trying to help him up, but his hand went straight through him. Remembering the last time he saw him, he realized it was because this was just a projection.
The pokemon coughed painfully on the floor. "I do not have much time left. I have gravely underestimated Giovanni."
"That's what we tried to warn you." Steven said "He has a shard of Pink Diamond in him."
"No," Mewtwo weakly protested. "There's more. He has Xerneas and has taken their power to control a weaponized suit of armor. If he gets his hands on Yveltal, I fear not even Arceus could stop him. I've channeled the last of my power to give you this warning Ash Ketchum. As well as to give you the last of my power."
"No, Mewtwo." Steven said beginning to tear up. "I can revive you like I did my friends Lars."
"Your power will not work." he assured him. "My mortal body has already been destroyed. All that remains of me is my aura. Please, Ash, come closer."
Now holding, or at least having his hands under Mewtwo's astral projection, Ash leaned in.
"Arceus cannot intervene, but I can." he whispered into his ear while gesturing to the orb. "This device is a viewing orb of the Earth. Using the power I give you, it will allow you to speak to your beloved."
"How do you kno-" Ash began to ask through his own tears before a blue orb began to glow from Mewtwo's chest and began to rise until it exited through his mouth and entered Ash's chest.
"Save us Ash." were Mewtwo's final words as his body burst into blue flames. At this point both Ash and Steven knew he was gone.
"What did he mean by that?" Steven asked.
Ash wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I think this thing here can let us see Lapis. Give me a second." he placed his hand on the orb's surface, and suddenly it glowed brightly. Within seconds, the moon base had faded, and they were now standing on the beach in front of the Temple.
"What the?"
"Oh, so that's how it works." Ash evaluated. "Just focus on where you want to see, and it'll show you. So let's see, if Lapis is in the Sinnoh region…" he closed his eyes and began to focus all his energy on the orb.
"Ash?" he heard Steven ask once before the same blue flames surrounded him, surrounding him in complete silence. After they faded, he heard animal calls. More specifically it was the call of wild Hoothoots. Opening his eyes, he found Steven was gone and he was standing all alone in the dead of night of a forest. As he looked around, he began to hear laughter and saw the faint glow of a fire in the distance.
Following it, he instantly recognized the navy blue stone on the girl whose back was to him. With his nerves shooting through his entire body, he began to mindlessly make his way towards the group. He saw Jessie and Meowth had seen him first, as they were both sitting to face him. His two former adversaries faces turned bone white at the sight of him. Turning around to see what upset them, Lapis looked him dead in the eye and her face turned from pleasantly entertained to shock.
"Hey Lapis, long time no see." was all he could think to say.
With her eyes still wide, Lapis stood up from the log and began to charge towards him, her eyes beginning to water. Knowing what she was doing, he extended his arms and began to run towards her, anticipating her warm embrace. But just as they were about to collide, she disappeared. He stumbled in place and looked around extremely confused, then when he turned around, he saw her behind him looking equally confused. Approaching her slowly and without a word, he gestured his hand up towards her cheek in an attempt to cup his hand onto it. But both looked in shock when his hand phased straight through her head.
"Ash Ketchum!" he heard Barry scream from behind them. "You just pop up after all this time? Do you know how much trouble we've gone through trying to find yah? I'm gonna have to fine-" he was interrupted by Cynthia grabbing him behind the ear and beginning to drag him off the same way Misty or Max would do to Brock.
"I think it'd be best if we give them some time to catch up." she announced to the others. They all got the message and retreated a bit into the woods.
There was an awkward moment of silence between the two, only the sound of the crackling fire and the occasional cry of a wild Noctowl in the night to break it.
Ash poked his finger through a tree trunk, oddly, he couldn't feel the cool, night air nor the heat of the fire, but he resented that he couldn't even feel Lapis's warm embrace. So close, yet so far away at the same time.
"How are you here?" she finally asked him. "And when did you get that?" She asked pointing towards the star center of his blue jacket.
"Honestly, I don't fully understand myself." he answered her. "Steven and I were using a viewing orb on Pink Diamond's former moon base."
"A viewing orb?" she asked a bit confused. "But those only allow you to see, not to be seen."
"I guess it was my sudden aura boost." he answered before realizing something. "Where was Looker?"
Pain returned to her eyes and looked to the ground in sorrow. "He's dead Ash. He sacrificed his life to help us escape."
He felt his blood run cold at the news. Until this, only one person he knew had died during his entire ordeal, Skinny, but the fact that a well built and well established man like Looker had lost his life in the battle against Homeworld. Then, he decided to ask the question that had been eating at his soul since she had left. "Lapis, why did you leave me in the first place even though you told me you still loved me?"
She looked to her feet in shame, "I, I thought I had no choice. Team Rocket and Jasper were after me, they still are, but I thought at the time if they got me I'd…" she began to stumble over her tears. "...I'd thought I'd lose it."
"Lose what?"
She took a deep breath in. "Our baby." she confessed. "Ash, I'm pregnant."
The silence was now deafening as he stared wide eyed. Horrified how he was going to react, Lapis backed away two or three feet crying even more heavily.
"Bu-I-" He stammered, completely lost for words. He blinked once hard, as if he thought he would wake up from this nightmare. But throughout his cocktail of emotions, he found one feeling he couldn't help but notice above them all and started to cry, and laugh. "I'm gonna assume it's mine." He jokes awkwardly before shyly smiling. "Lapis, why didn't you tell me before you left?"
"I was scared." She quietly answered him. "I'm so sorry Ash, it was horribly selfish of me to just abandon you and not let you know. Please if you could ever forgive me Ash-"
He immediately knew how to answer her, but because he couldn't kiss her, he did the next best thing, and pulled the lapis lazuli pendant she got him for his birthday out from his jacket.
She gasped through her tears. "You kept it after all I'd done to you. Why?"
"Because no matter what, whether world's apart or separated by life and death. Lapis, I will always love you." He answered through his own tears. "And the only thing in this world I'm going to possibly love more than you is our child."
Ecstatic to hear this, Lapis remembered what Ash did the night he first proposed and dropped to her knees, not knowing you were supposed to just get on one knee, and took his hand.
"Then in the time we have remaining together, Ash Ketchum, will you marry me?" She asked sobbing.
He smiled and dropped to be at her height as well. "Yes." He whispered to her.
As time felt like it stood still for the pair, separated by space, but united by love, Lapis put her feelings into words.
"It all became so lovely. Those bluest skies above me. Those funny feelings I had never felt before I met you.
I thought I'd stay awhile. I tried to learn to smile. So many colors I had be never even known.
Maybe I'll find myself sitting on that distant shore. Maybe I'm not alone. Then I saw the colors fading. Gentleness of light escaping. Shadows of my fear invading. Have I seen this all before? I know that there's something residing. That terror deep inside me. I couldn't understand how you could be so bold. Maybe I'd find myself smiling on that distant shore. Maybe I'm not alone."
After her song finished, they both stared at each other, and for a brief moment, they both felt as if nothing were wrong, Lapis wasn't living on borrowed time, Jasper, Team Rocket and Homeworld weren't after them, and Skinny, Looker and Mewtwo weren't dead. But their trance of happiness was broken by Ash looking behind Lapis and seeing the others all watching them through the trees. He could see both Cilan and Zoey giving teasing smiles and Cynthia giving an adoring look back at them.
"How do you plan on returning?"
"Looker died to get us the schematics to the warp pads Homeworld is using to go between worlds. We're meeting someone in the Hoenn region to activate them."
"And how long do you think we have before little Pikachu is born?"
Lapis chuckled. "We are not naming our child "Pikachu." I'm only about a month pregnant, and even if we don't make it back to each other in time, Cilan promised he'd take care of it."
"Oh." Truthfully, he wanted Brock to be the godfather, on account he was essentially a parent to his twelve younger siblings, but he trusted Cilan. Before he could ask her anything else however, everything began to fade. "No! The connection with my aura is fading!" he thought. "Lapis, I don't have much time. I'll wait for you. I LOVE YOU!"
"I LOVE YOU TOO!" she called out before everything went black.
"Ash? Ash!" Steven shook him awake.
He awoke with a gasp and looked around furiously trying to remember where he was.
"What happened?" Steven asked worryingly. After Ash explained everything, Steven could only look to his feet in shock.
"How long was I out?"
"All night." Steven answered, "The sun's about to rise."
"All night? But I was there nearly ten minutes." he thought, but then remembered how distorted everything got. He guessed it was pointless to try and explain.
Steven used the viewing orb to watch the sun begin to rise over Beach City, and after they both sat down together to watch, they both grew drowsy from their restless night. But as soon as Ash closed his eyes, he heard voices.
"But this is what you wanted." he heard a familiar voice talk down to someone. Ash opened his eyes to see the silhouettes of three figures standing in front of them, two of which he recognized as Blue and Yellow Diamond. The third figure was considerably smaller than the other two with enormous, curly, pink hair. "You begged us for a colony of your own." Blue Diamond scolded the smaller figure. "And now, all you want to do is be rid of it. First, there were too many organics, then their cities were too difficult to dismantle, and now these Crystal Gems? We're tired of your excuses, Pink."
"The Diamonds!" Steven screamed next to him.
"This Rose Quartz can't hurt you." Blue continued as Yellow remained silent. "You can't be swayed by a few unruly gems."
The figure they assumed to by Pink Diamond opened her mouth as if to say something.
"Enough!" Blue exclaimed. Then, as Pink lowered her head in shame, Blue changed her tone to a more comforting and supportive voice that reminded him of his mother. "You must understand, you are a Diamond. Everyone on this planet is looking to you. You don't even have to do anything. Just smile and wave. Show everyone you are unfazed by this little uprising. Your gems will all fall into line, and these Crystal Gems will be no more. As long as you are there to rule, this colony will be completed."
Both Blue and Yellow got up to leave, but as soon as Pink Diamond was all alone, another silhouette stepped into view wearing what appeared to be a tutu and was holding a familiar looking object in her hands.
"Mom's sword." Steven spoke under his breath.
"Is that, Pearl?"
They both watched in both fascination and horror as Pearl unsheathed the sword and pulled it back to strike Pink Diamond. Just before the blade struck, they both woke up. Looking at each other, they knew they had both seen the same thing. Steven quickly returned Deoxys to their pokeball and approached Lion, who had been sleeping by Pink Diamond's mural.
"Lion, we need you to take us to Pearl."