Author's Note: I'm guessing that the few of you that are still following this "oneshot collection" are surprised to suddenly see it updated again after over a year. The major reason why this thing suddenly went dead is because I pretty much ran out of ideas for stories to add. Not only that, I had another project I was working on at the time of the last story. Then after I got that project finished, I had to adapt to certain changes in my personal life, such as a new job. Well, a few days ago I found myself rereading Mewtwo Zwei and the stories in this collection as a way to get over a small bout of depression that I seem to have come down with, and in doing so I found that I had some ideas about where to take this thing.
So for the next two weeks at least, I've decided to take a little break from the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX/Strawberry Panic crossover I've been writing to wrap this project up. That's right, I've decided to simply bring this "oneshot collection" to a close at this point. After reviewing the previous episodes of this thing, I felt like any other story I could come up with would only be a repeat of what's already been done here. The other thing is I don't really consider this to be a oneshot collection anymore. It hasn't seemed like one for the last three episodes. Therefor I'm just going to finally wrap up what I've got going here in order to take Amber's storyline to the next stage.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Project Z, Part 1
The sun had almost totally set as Lysandre sat at his desk looking over some papers. He was almost finished with his work when a black disc-shaped device began to beep. Lysandre pressed the button on top of the device, causing a beam of blue light to project from the front. The end of the beam took the shape of a woman wearing glasses. The woman in question was one of Lysandre's most trusted operatives, Malva.
"What have you to report," Lysandre asked.
"Not much, I'm afraid," the hologram of Malva answered. "There haven't been any sightings of Amber Drei since the incidents in Alola."
Lysandre sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "For five weeks now she's been laying low. It's infuriating that all we can do is wait until she and that Mewtwo of hers lash out at someone."
"I may have come up with a solution to that problem," Malva spoke. "It occurred to me this morning that there might be a way to make Amber Drei come to us."
"How?" Lysander asked as he leaned forward eagerly.
"Well we know that Amber Drei seems to be looking for the original Mewtwo created by Dr. Fuji," Malva reminded him. "If we got the media to report numerous fake sightings of Mewtwo in Lumiose City, we might get Amber to show up right in our own backyard."
"At which point we might be able to capture her," Lysandre realized. "How long would it take to set this trap?"
"Not long at all," Malva answered. "I just need to make some calls to a few trusted friends in the media. We can have our first Mewtwo sighting reported around the world by tomorrow morning."
"Very good. In the meantime, you and Alain should return here as soon as possible," Lysandre ordered. "I'll need you both on hand in case Amber Drei really shows up."
Malva nodded, and with that her hologram vanished. Suddenly running into the office a second later was a slightly overweight man with chalk-white skin. He was almost totally bald except for patches of red hair on the sides and top of his head, and a short red ponytail on the back that stood up like a flame. The man had red goggles on his eyes and a small pointed red beard on his chin. He was dressed in a suit that was almost totally red except for some white trim. A blue rubber glove covered his left hand, while the right hand was bare. The man's other glove was sticking out of the pocket of his jacket.
"What is it, Xerosic?" Lysandre asked as he rose from his chair.
"Sir! I thought you should know in person that our final search team has found fifth core," Xerosic reported. "They are brining it here to the lab as we speak and will be here by morning."
A triumphant grin formed on Lysandre's face. "Wonderful news! At last we can begin the next phase of Project Z!"
"Actually there is one problem," Xerosic informed him. "The device to control the cores hasn't reached maximum power. We just haven't collected quite enough Mega Evolution energy."
"How close are we to achieving full power?" Lysandre asked.
"Well we're actually almost there," Xerosic answered. "In addition to the energy being produced by young Mr. Alain, we've also been getting substantial energy from that clone woman you've had him chasing after."
"Of course… after all, we did create the belt for that Mewtwo's Mega Stone," Lysandre recalled.
"You did create those synthetic Mega Stones as a way to more easily produce energy for the device," Xerosic pointed out. "Even though Dr. Fuji's project did get out of control, our project regarding the stone we gave him is achieving its intended purpose."
"Indeed it is. I wanted to capture Amber Drei because I feared she might somehow derail our plans," Lysandre remarked. "But now that Project Z is almost ready for the next phase, perhaps we should consider changing our tactics. I think we should offer Ms. Drei an invitation to join us."
It was fairly early in the morning as Amber Drei awoke in her room at the Saffron City Sunset Hotel. The green-haired clone had been staying there for the past few weeks in the hopes that the original Mewtwo might actually show up in the city. So far though, her stay had been a complete waste of time. As Amber got out of bed and used her telekinesis to start the coffee maker while getting dressed, one of the pokeballs on the dresser burst open and Zwei emerged. The psychic feline had made it a habit to let herself out of her ball at about the same time Amber got out of bed.
"Good morning, Zwei," Amber spoke. "I trust you slept well."
"Amber, how much longer are we going to stay in this city?" Zwei asked. "It doesn't seem like Mewtwo Ein is going to ever make an appearance."
"It does seem unlikely," Amber admitted as she got her cup of complimentary hotel coffee. "Still, what little we do know about Mewtwo Ein seems to indicate that he likes to frequent this city for some reason. If we wait long enough, he might just come to us. Besides, it occurred to me that it might be best to remain hidden for a time."
"Are you worried about others like Alain coming to hunt us down?" Zwei asked. "Opponents like them are nothing before us."
"True, but they are annoying," Amber pointed out. "Until we can finally unite with Mewtwo Ein, it would make things easier for us to remain discreet."
"I suppose you're right," Zwei agreed. "And remaining in this city might give you another chance to encounter that young man, Quinton Mercury."
Amber's cheeks turned a bit red upon hearing Quinton's name. "I don't know why you would consider him a factor in me wanting us to remain here."
"You did seem to enjoy his company a great deal," Zwei reminded her with a small smirk. "And that night you spent with him was quite pleasurable."
"It was merely an opportunity to experience sexual intercourse to see what it was like, nothing more," Amber told the feline, her face becoming an even brighter shade of red.
"If you say so," Zwei responded.
Amber turned on the T.V. in the hopes of distracting Zwei from the topic of Quinton Mercury. The show that appeared on the screen was a broadcast of the morning news.
"…And in other news, sightings of the mysterious Pokemon, Mewtwo continue to occur in Lumiose City," spoke the blonde female newscaster on the screen. "This marks the sixth sighting in three days of the creature. Researchers continue to speculate as to why…"
"Lumiose City… that's in the Kalos Region," Zwei recalled. "I never expected Mewtwo Ein to show up there."
"Nor did I," Amber responded. "It looks like we'll be departing Saffron City after all."
It was the middle of the night as Alain waited behind a bush in front of Lysandre Labs with Mairin. The two had waited behind that same bush for the past five nights for Amber to show up, and for those five nights there was nothing. Both Malva and Lysandre seemed absolutely certain that Amber would show up there eventually, especially since the phony Mewtwo sightings they had concocted all reported that Lysandre Labs was there the genetically engineer Pokemon showed up the most.
"Looks like it's gonna be another quiet night," Mairin spoke with a yawn.
"Maybe you should go to bed," Alain suggested. "I can handle Amber Drei on my own."
"No way! I'm sticking with you," Mairin declared.
Before Alain could argue, he saw a small shape flying over the city in the moonlight. In moments he and Mairin could see that it was Amber flying through the air, and she was headed right for the lab's front yard where they were hiding. The two waited silently and tensely as Amber made her landing.
"Whatever happens, stay here," Alain whispered. "If the battle gets out of hand, run for cover. I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'll be careful," Mairin responded with a thumbs-up.
Amber had only been looking around for a few moments when Alain finally sprung out of the bush. "Amber Drei!"
"Alain?" Amber responded with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"My job," Alain answered as he pointed a hand at her. "This time I'm going to capture you!"
"You're welcome to try, but it will be futile," Amber responded. "I am a little curious though as to how you tracked me down this time."
Alain smirked. "Those sightings of the original Mewtwo that have been happening around the city? They were fake, a trap designed to lure you right here to this spot. Actually, I'm a little surprised that you feel for it, considering the name of the building we're in front of made it a bit obvious that this was a setup."
"…Lysandre, the name of your employer, and the one who funded Dr. Fuji's work," Amber recalled. "Had I bothered to remember the name, I likely would've realized that this was all a farce. It doesn't matter though. This battle can only end one way."
"I've had enough of your arrogance!" Alain declared as he threw out a pokeball. "Let's go! Charizard!"
The fire dragon burst from his ball and roared as he blew a stream of flames towards the sky.
"Go Zwei!" Amber called as she tossed out her own pokeball.
Zwei burst out of the ball and immediately noticed Alain and his dragon. "The boy and the Charizard again? I admire their persistence, but there timing is very inconvenient."
"I'm afraid we've been tricked, Zwei. Mewtwo Ein was never in this city," Amber informed her. "This was all a trap set by Alain's employer to get us here."
"And there's no way you're getting out!" Alain told them. "Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"
"Dodge and use Shadow Ball!" Amber ordered.
The keystone in Alain's Mega Ring lit up along with Charizard's Mega Stone, and in seconds the dragon's body lit up with a blinding blue flash that took the shape of an X. The light quickly faded to reveal Charizard in his larger black Mega form as a multicolored DNA helix flashed briefly above his head. With his transformation finished, Charizard breathed out a stream of blue flames at Zwei. The psychic feline quickly flew to the right and successfully dodged the attack. She then flew towards Charizard as a ball of crackling black energy formed between her hands.
Zwei got in close and launched the ball into Charizard's chest. The force of the attack managed to knock the dragon back about six feet, but it hadn't seemed to do much damage to him.
"Fight back with Thunder Punch!" Alain commanded.
Charizard roared and flew straight towards Zwei with incredible speed. When he got in close, the dragon swung his electrified fist straight up into Zwei's chin. The force of the attack caused Zwei to flip through the air five times before she stopped to hover above the battlefield.
"Use Psychic!" Amber commanded.
Zwei's eyes glowed blue as she aimed her right hand down towards Charizard. Charizard's body began to glow with a blue aura before suddenly being pushed into the ground by an invisible force with enough power to cause a huge crater to form in the ground.
"Dammit! You're not even taking me seriously, are you?" Alain protested. "If you were, you would've had Zwei Mega Evolve already!"
"That temper of yours only makes you easier to defeat," Amber told him. "You really should do a better job of maintaining your composure."
Alain gritted his teeth in frustration. "Charizard! Use Steel Wing!"
Charizard finally got back up and roared before taking off into the air towards Zwei. As he came in striking range, the dragon's wings began to glow with a white light. Charizard's right wing struck Zwei in the chest, knocking her back a few feet.
"Now use Flamethrower!" Alain commanded.
Charizard breathed out another stream of blue flames at Zwei. The feline crossed her arms to shield herself and endured the attack.
"This Charizard seems to have gotten stronger," Zwei told Amber.
"So it would seem," Amber observed. "Then I suppose it's time we stopped playing around."
With that, Amber's keystone and Zwei's Mega Stone both lit up, and suddenly Zwei's body gave off a blinding purple flash that took the shape of a Y. In seconds the light faded to reveal Zwei in her much shorter but more powerful Mega form. Zwei flew towards Charizard as a ball of black energy formed between her hands. The feline move in close and launched the ball straight into the dragon's chest. Charizard was knocked back a few feet but seemed to once again be relatively unharmed.
"Use Flamethrower again, followed by Dragon Claw!" Alain ordered.
Charizard breathed out another stream of flames at Zwei. Zwei dodged the attack by flying to the left, leaving a trail of afterimages in her wake. Soon after though, Charizard flew towards her with incredible speed as the claws of his right hand glowed and became longer. Then in a split second he slashed Zwei across the chest. Amber staggered back a step and clutched her chest as if she had been attacked as well.
"Impressive," Amber and Zwei spoke together. "You really have improved a bit. But you're still not anywhere near our level of power! Psychic!"
Zwei's eyes glowed red and suddenly Charizard's body froze as it gave off a red aura. With a movement of the feline's hands, Charizard was flung down into the street in front of the lab building with enough force to shatter the pavement. The dragon had already started to get up as the dust cleared, but as soon as he did, Zwei had already created a ball of energy four times the size of her body.
"Psystrike!" Zwei and Amber called out together as the Pokemon launched the ball towards Charizard.
The attack struck Charizard with an explosive force that created a blinding flash and knocked away the cars on the street that were parked nearby. The shockwave from the explosion also shattered the windows of the lab building. When the light faded, Charizard was on the ground and in his original form unconscious.
After a moment, Alain suddenly fell to his knees and slammed his fist into the ground. "Dammit!"
Meanwhile, Zwei returned to her original form and landed on the ground next to Amber. "That went much better than our last battle."
"Indeed. Alain and his Charizard put up a much better fight," Amber agreed.
"Enough!" a voice spoke. Alain and the others looked to see Lysandre emerge from the building, flaked by both Malva and Xerosic.
"I take it you are Lysandre," Amber deduced.
"And you are Amber Drei," Lysandre responded as he walked up to her. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"Alain told me once that it was you who funded the experiment that created Zwei and myself," Amber told him. "Why is it that you hunt us? Do you view us as a mistake to be eliminated?"
"To be perfectly honest, I never intended Dr. Fuji to create you, Ms. Amber," Lysandre admitted. "I only wanted him to create a Mewtwo in order to test out one of the synthetic Mega Stones I had created. After I did find out about your existed I merely wanted to contain you and Zwei to prevent you from causing any unnecessary harm to the world. But after much reflection, I've decided to change my plans regarding you. I would like you to join my organization."
"Wait, what?" a surprised Malva exclaimed.
"Lysandre! You can't be serious!" Alain responded as he got back to his feet.
"No kidding!" Mairin agreed as she finally emerged from the bush.
"Why do you suddenly want Amber to join your group?" Zwei asked.
"Because I can see that trying to contain you is an unproductive use of my time," Lysandre answered. "Clearly Alain is incapable of defeating you. And it occurred to me recently that you and I may be after the same thing."
"What do you mean?" Amber asked.
"You wish to create a better world, as do I," Lysandre explained. "I believe that if we work together, we can easily create the utopia that we both seek."
"And just what sort of new world do you wish to create?" Amber asked.
"If you and Zwei will join me in my office, I'd be glad to explain to you what it is I'm after," Lysandre offered as he waved his hand towards the lab building.
After a moment, Amber headed towards the lad with Zwei following close behind her. Xerosic went with them to escort them to Lysandre's office.
"Lysandre!" Alain spoke just as the redhead was about to head into the building. "Are you certain that Amber Drei might be able to help us create the better world you've been trying to make? From what I've seen, she seems only capable of destruction."
"Alain, you're about to learn that in order to create something new, you must first destroy something old," Lysandre told him, and with that he continued towards the lab building.
Amber was sitting in a chair in front of Lysandre's desk with Zwei standing behind her. Lysandre meanwhile was busy pouring two glasses of red wine for them both.
"I suppose there are many things about this world that you've yet to experience, considering you've actually only been alive for a few months," Lysandre remarked as he finished pouring the glasses. "An alcoholic beverage like wine is probably one of them."
"I have yet to try anything like that," Amber admitted.
"Then this should be a unique experience for you," Lysander responded as he handed her a glass before leaning against the edge of his desk. "This is some of the finest wine in the Kalos Region."
Amber took a small sip from the glass and flinched slightly as the bitter liquid burned a trail down her throat. "Not what I had expected."
"It is something of an acquired taste," Lysander replied.
"Like coffee was," Amber observed.
"Well, well. You've experience more of this world than I thought," Lysandre remarked.
"Amber and I didn't come here to share our experiences of the world," Zwei told him with a tone of impatience. "We came here to learn what it is you have planned for it."
Lysandre set his glass down and turned towards the window. "There was a time long ago when I would use my knowledge to help the people of this world, to make their lives better. I would go to places that had been devastated by disaster and conflict and do whatever I could to help the people there rebuild their lives. But rather than use the gifts I would give them to put their lives back together with their own strength, they simply became dependent on my assistance, expecting me to take care of them like they were spoiled children. It was at that point when I began to realize that the people of this world are selfish and greedy… not a people worth helping or saving."
"So you intend to simply destroy them?" Amber asked.
"And why not?" Lysandre responded as he turned back to face her. "This world had been made ugly by decadence and corruption! When a forest has died, the only solution is to burn it away so that a new and more beautiful forest can grow in its place! I will be the one to burn that forest down!"
"You intend to annihilate the human race?" Amber asked.
"Not at all. The uncorrupt, such as those who have joined my cause, they shall survive," Lysandre answered. "But the rest will be wiped away. Amber, I know that the reason you want to change the world is because of the way artificial Pokemon are abused. That abuse is but a small part of the inequality that exists throughout the world, but in my world, the beautiful world I plan to create, all shall be equal! It will be free of all greed and strife, and I want you to be a part of it! What do you say?"
After a moment, Amber put her glass down on the table next to her chair. "Very well. I find I'm curious to see what this new world of yours is like."
It was mid morning as Alain stood outside the lab building, looking at the damaged yard and the street that had been a battlefield the previous night. A road crew was already hard at work repairing the damaged street. Alain's mind was still reeling from Lysandre's offer to Amber to join his organization. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice when Mairin came out of the building and walked up next to him.
"Everything okay?" Mairin asked, getting his attention.
"I'm not sure," Alain answered. "I don't understand how Lysandre could ask Amber to join his cause. Lysandre wants to create a world where there's no greed or conflict, but it seems like Amber lives only to bring destruction. What's even more shocking is that I heard earlier that Amber actually agreed to work with him."
"Well… maybe Mr. Lysandre made Amber realize that the kind of world he's trying to make is the kind of world he actually wants," Mairin suggested. "All this time Amber's been trying to make a world where artificially made Pokemon are treated better. Don't you think they would in the kind of world Lysandre is after?"
"I suppose you're right," Alain admitted. "Still, what use could someone like Amber have in building such a world?"
"Well this is a pleasant surprise," a voice spoke.
Alain and Mairin looked, and standing before them was a dark-haired man wearing a blue-shirt with black slacks and a white lab coat.
"Professor Sycamore!" Alain identified. "What're you doing here?"
"Well, I just got back from a research expedition this morning and decided to come by here to check out these Mewtwo sightings I've been hearing about," Professor Sycamore answered as he approached. "What I didn't expect though was to see Lysandre Labs in such a damaged state. Do you know what happened here?"
"Well… it's a little complicated to explain," Alain spoke as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Professor! This is truly an unexpected delight," another voice spoke. The three looked to see Lysandre had emerged from the building. "I trust your research expedition went well."
"It did. What happened to your building?" Professor Sycamore asked.
"Oh… just a malfunction with a new piece of equipment we were testing. No cause for alarm," Lysandre told him. "Thankfully, no one was hurt. So Professor, to what do I owe your visit?"
"I came by to investigate the reports of Mewtwo sightings in the area," the professor answered.
"Ah yes. Well, I don't know how the rumors of those sightings got started, but I'm afraid you'll find nothing here," Lysandre told him. "You're of course more than welcome to look around, but I can assure you that you came all this way for nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have quite a bit of work to take care of."
With that, Lysandre headed back towards the building. Professor Sycamore watched him with a suspicious gaze as he left.
"Alain, I know you think very highly about Lysandre, but there's something about him I just don't trust," Professor Sycamore told him. "In fact I'm certain that he was trying to hide something from me just now. Do you have any idea what that something might be?"
"…No," Alain lied. "No idea at all."
"Well… okay then," Professor Sycamore replied. "I should be getting back to the lab. I hope to see you again soon."
With that, the professor walked off towards the direction of his lab. Alain and Mairin both watched him go.
"Alain, do you think it was okay to lie to Professor Sycamore like that?" Mairin asked.
"The professor simply wouldn't understand what Lysandre is doing," Alain answered. "Honestly, I don't really understand either right now. But I'm still certain that Lysandre is acting in the best interest of the world. I don't know why he hired on Amber to assist him, but I have total faith that he's acting for the greater good."
Mairin was on her way back into the lab building when she saw an open door to her left in one of the corridors. The room seemed to lead down to the basement level of the labs, and she noticed that a dim green light was streaming up from the corridor. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Mairin decided to investigate what was behind the door. The redhead saw that there was definitely a green light coming from the room down at the end of the steps. Within moments, Mairin reached the bottom of the steps, and in the room behind she saw a large cylindrical tank filled with an odd liquid that bathed everything in a green glow.
Upon hearing voices coming from inside the room, Mairin quickly ducked behind the corner of the door to hide. She was fairly certain that she wasn't even supposed to be there and didn't wish to get caught. In moments she found that the voices were of Xerosic and some lab technicians wearing red goggles. Mairin then soon noticed that there was something inside the tank. There were five green blob-like creatures resting at the tank's bottom in a circle.
Each creature had a large round head with a small beak-like snout and a large left eye. The heads also each had a small white circle that seemed to be a right eye that had never fully developed. The body of each of the five creatures ended with a hook-like tail, and in the center of each one's torso was a red hexagon that was reminiscent of a cell's nucleus. Mairin couldn't figure out what the creatures were, but it seemed like they were all asleep.
"What're you doing?" a voice spoke, causing Mairin to let out a startled cry. Mairin looked up to see Amber standing above her.
"Uh… hi Amber," Mairin responded in a nervous whisper. "I, uh… got lost looking for the bathroom?"
"That is a very unconvincing lie," Amber told. "More likely you came here because you were curious, which is the same reason why I am here."
"Um… you're not gonna tell anyone about me coming down here, are you?" Mairin asked.
Suddenly they both heard footsteps at the top of the steps. Someone was coming.
"It's safe to assume that Lysandre and his men wouldn't want you down here," Amber assumed. "There for it would be best if you left."
Amber waved her hand, and Mairin let out a startled gasp as she vanished with a flash of blue light. The green-haired clone turned her attention back to the footsteps and saw Lysandre coming down towards her.
"Ms. Amber. You should know that this is a restricted area," Lysandre told her.
"If this room has something to do with your plan to reshape the world, shouldn't I be informed of it?" Amber asked. "Or are we not truly working together like you said we are?"
Lysandre chuckled. "Fair enough. I suppose there's no harm in you knowing about this now. Very well. Come with me."
Amber followed Lysandre through the door into the lab. Once inside, she got a good look at the creatures inside the tank.
"Xerosic! How soon will we be ready to begin?" Lysandre asked.
"The device is now fully charged thanks to last night's battle between Ms. Amber and young Mr. Alain," Xerosic reported. "We just need to finish a few final calibrations. In half an hour, Project Z will be ready to launch."
"Project Z?" Amber asked.
"Yes. Project Z, as in Zygarde," Lysandre answered as he turned to face her. "Have you heard of that Pokemon?"
"Dr. Fuji essentially programed me with an encyclopedic knowledge of all know Pokemon," Amber answered. "As I recall, Zygarde is said to be a legendary protector of the Kalos Region."
"Yes. But it is only until very recently that Zygarde's true nature has been uncovered," Lysandre revealed. "Zygarde is not one creature, but a conglomeration of many; made up of hundred of organisms resembling single-celled life forms."
"And the creatures in that tank are five of those cells?" Amber deduced.
"More than that. These are Zygarde's cores," Lysandre explained. "To put it simply, they act as Zygarde's brain. The other cells are scattered and hidden all throughout Kalos, transmitting everything they see and hear back to the cores like surveillance cameras. Originally each Zygarde core was in a different remote location around the region. If any of the cells detected something perceived to be a threat the environment, the core for that area would gather the surrounding cells and assemble into a form of Zygarde that could easily eliminate that threat. In short, Zygarde is a living environmental defense system."
"Then I take it you've determined a way to take control of this system so you can use it to reshape Kalos and the rest of the world," Amber assumed.
"Precisely. My people and I managed to reconfigure the remains of an ancient weapon we found years ago into a device that will allow me to control the cores, and thus control Zygarde," Lysandre revealed. "It's powered by the energy generated by Mega Evolution, including the energy produced by you and Zwei. By the way, I should thank you for your contributions to the project during these past few months. Your battle with Alain late last night helped to put us over the top."
"If you have the means to control Zygarde, what possible use could Zwei and I be to your plans?" Amber asked.
"You can simply help us speed things up just a bit," Lysandre answered. "With both your power and Zygarde's, creating my utopia should only take half as long as originally planned."
"Sir! Calibrations will now be complete in twenty minutes," Xerosic reported.
"Excellent!" Lysandre declared. "Very soon, we shall begin the dawn of a new age."
Amber had teleported Mairin onto the roof of the lab building, where she quickly found Alain. Mairin immediately told Alain about everything that had happened down in the basement lab.
"…What I can't figure out is what those Pokemon in the tank were supposed to be," Mairin spoke as she finished her story. "Or what Mr. Lysandre's people were doing with them. Do you know anything about it, Alain?"
"This is the first I've heard of Lysandre keeping anything like that down in the basement," Alain admitted. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but maybe I should ask him about it later."
"You would be wise to mind your own business, Alain," a voice spoke. Alain and Mairin looked to see Malva approaching them. "That part of Lysandre's work doesn't concern you. Then again, I guess it doesn't make any difference whether you find out or not. From what I've heard, Lysandre should be starting any minute now."
"Starting what exactly?" Alain asked.
"Why his master plan to create a new world, of course," Malva answered.
"And how much do you know about it?" Alain asked.
"About as much as you, really," Malva admitted. "Even I'm not allowed down into that lab your little friend was talking about. The only ones admitted down there are Lysandre, his top scientists… and now Amber, from what I've heard."
"Ms. Malva, does Lysandre getting Amber to join him bother you too?" Mairin asked.
"Well, it did come out of left field, that's for sure," Malva answered. "But I'm sure he had his reasons. I have total faith in him and the world he's trying to create."
Suddenly the ground began to rumble. A few moments later, the yard out behind the lab building opened up to reveal some sort of hanger underneath. Rising out of it was a large and long black top-like object with four flat sides, each with a long rectangular multicolored fitted into it. Alain and the others saw Lysander standing atop a platform on the front of the ship, with Amber and Xerosic standing behind him. The redhead had on a pair of glowing red goggles, and a pack on his back with three thin mechanical tentacles, each ending with some sort of camera-like device that had a glowing blue eye. Covering Lysandre's right wrist was some sort of brown almost beetle-like gauntlet.
"What's going on?" a stunned Mairin asked.
Suddenly a circular hole opened up in the roof a few feet from where Alain and the others were standing. The trio watched as the tank containing the five Zygarde cores rose out of the opening.
"Let the new world begin," Lysandre spoke as he pressed a button on his gauntlet.
A bolt of red lightning shot from the tip of Lysandre's flying machine and struck the tank with the cores. The green liquid inside the tank turned red, and suddenly the eyes of all five cores snapped open. The tank shattered and several green lights suddenly shot up from everywhere and struck the spot where the cores were. Alain and the others watched in awe as the lights formed into a shape that became larger and larger. In a matter of seconds, the shape formed into a massive creature that hovered above the building.
The entity had a humanoid body with a height of over fourteen feet. It was mainly black in color, and from its rear grew a long flat tail with red hexagonal segments at the end. Several flew protrusions grew around the creature's head and neck, making it look as though it were wearing a crown. On its forehead was a white hexagon with a line through it, while two more white hexagons appeared to act as its eyes. Red hexagonal segments covered the lower half of its face like a faceplate. A pair of streamer-like wings hung from each shoulder, with lines of silver hexagonal segments decorating the middle of the wings on the right shoulder and gold segments decorating the left. Each arm of the creature ended with a set of three white hexagonal claws with red hexagons decorating the wrist, while the toe of both feet had a single white claw with more red hexagons underneath it. A line of red hexagons decorated its abdomen, and on its large chest was a zigzagging line of multicolored light underneath two lines of red hexagons similar to eyes.
"What the hell is that thing?" a startled Malva asked.
Mairin quickly got out her Pokedex to try and identify the giant Pokemon.
"Zygarde: The Order Pokemon," the Pokedex identified. "Zygarde is said to be able to take different forms to combat threats to the ecosystem. The current form seen here is said to be Zygarde's perfect form. The opening on its chest is speculated to generate an energy force that can destroy everything in its path."
Zygarde hovered away from the building and softly landed on the still broken street out front. Suddenly the glowing mouth on its chest opened up and fired a massive ray of multicolored light through the air towards a skyscraper in the distance. Upon being struck, the skyscraper caught fire and crumbled into a mass of flaming debris while a red line in the shape of a giant Z appeared in the ground around it. Alain, Mairin and Malva were all horrified by what they had just witness.
"Dear god!" Malva spoke as she covered her mouth.
Suddenly Lysandre's face appeared on the giant T.V. screen on the sides of one of the nearby buildings. "I speak to the people of the world! Many of you may know me as Lysandre, and today I officially reveal myself as the leader of the organization known as Team Flare! Though many of you view us as criminals, the goal of our organization has always been to create a better world, and today we are about to achieve that goal! I now have full control over the Legendary Pokemon known as Zygarde, and I am going to use its power to burn this current world to ash!
"Some of you watching me may think my methods evil, but they are in fact necessary! The world has become ugly and polluted, and must be cleansed in order to bring forth a world of true beauty! This day the wicked shall parish and the meek shall inherit the earth! Prepare yourselves, for a new golden age is about to begin!"
With that, Lysandre's face vanished from the screen. Zygarde then began to lumber through the city, crushing anything to come in its path.
"This… this can't be happening!" a horrified Alain spoke. "How could Lysandre do something like this?"
"Ms. Amber, if you would be so kind as to send out your Mewtwo, we can get this work done a lot faster," Lysandre spoke.
Amber nodded and tossed out a pokeball. "Go Zwei!"
Zwei burst out of the ball and paused for a moment when she saw Zygarde lumbering through the city.
"Finally! My dream is now becoming reality," Lysandre spoke.
"It's a pity that we'll have to eliminate all Pokemon in order to create a new world," Xerosic remarked. "Think of all the scientific knowledge they could've provided us with."
"Is that so?" Amber spoke. "Zwei! Attack with Ice Beam!"
Zwei nodded and fired a bolt of white light from between her hands through the air. The beam struck Zygarde in the back and caused a large patch of ice to form between its shoulders. The beast managed to shatter the ice by flexing its back, and then turned around to face Zwei.
"Xerosic, you fool!" Lysandre shouted.
"I-I'm sorry, sir!" Xerosic responded.
Amber levitated into the air and hovered to look down at Lysandre. "You never mentioned that you planned to cleanse Pokemon from the world, including those made by artificial means. You probably planned to eliminate Zwei and myself as well once we outlived our usefulness to our plans."
"Amber, please understand. Pokemon only serve to create the conflict that I'm trying to extinguish," Lysandre told her. "If I spared all Pokemon, they would only continue to be used as weapons of war or prizes to be fought over. If that source of conflict remained, the beautiful world I'm trying to create would only become as ugly as this one over time. But for you and the Pokemon like you, I planned to make an exception!"
"You lied to us before, and you're clearly lying to us now," Zwei told him. "You probably decided to have us join your cause because you thought it would be easier than trying to eliminate us."
"To be perfectly honest Lysandre I never seriously intended to join you in the first place," Amber admitted. "I was simply curious to see what your plan for making a new world involved. Now that I know, I'm going to put a stop to it. I find your methods to be too extreme. The world must changed, but the human race simply needs to be conquered, not destroyed."
After a moment, Lysandre smirked. "You're welcome to try and stop me if you wish, but you'll only fail in the end. Now that I have Zygarde under my control, no force on earth can defeat me!"
"Your arrogance shall be your undoing," Amber declared. "The gods of this world have fallen before Zwei and I, and Zygarde shall be no different. Your new world ends right now."
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: As those of you reading have guessed, I'm using this story to wrap up what I started with Team Flare in Mewtwo Zwei. I guess I should've done a bigger story with this particular evil organization, but I felt like I couldn't muster either the time or the enthusiasm to do a major story with Team Flare with everything I already have going with this AU and everything else I want to get going with it. Anyway, I decided to do what the anime did and have Lysandre use Zygarde as his ultimate weapon, mainly because I find Zygarde to be a very interesting Pokemon and a challenging opponent for Amber and Zwei. Plus Xerneas didn't seem that menacing an enemy, and as for Yveltal... I honestly don't know how Amber and Zwei could be able to beat that bird. For one thing they'd have a serious type disadvantage, then there's the fact that everything hit by that bird's death ray is instantly petrified.
Our next installment of this project will be the conclusion of the battle against Lysandre and Zygarde. After that, we'll be getting into our "collection's" finale. So until then, stay tuned.
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.
