We're barreling towards the end here, folks. This week is crunch time for me so you'll see the next very important, and highly sensual, chapter early next week at the earliest. I'll warn you early that there will be a slight perspective change since our hero here seems worst for the wear. Poor genetically altered guy.

Yes ... Mew is a wicked creature. The 8th movie only proved it.

There is a little gore in this chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 06: My Punishment

What happened to me ...

... and where am I now?

This place I found myself in gave me the same odd feeling as the gel that attacked me earlier. It was a place where nothing existed except for myself and a void of dark purple in all directions, like the night sky without any stars. Though there was no visible source of light I could see my own body perfectly. I was quite relieved that whatever that was did not harm me. That meant that I would be close to full strength when I got out of this place -

" No one leaves the Heart. Not in the way that you're thinking, anyway. "

The voice came so sudden from behind me; I did not sense it approaching. I turned in reflex to face a Pidgeot that appeared to be from ancient times. Pokemon from the past were considerably larger than their modern day descendants. It was huge by today's standards, and had a strange air about it. " Who are you, and what are you talking about? "

For a moment the Pidgeot looked surprised that I spoke at all, but it regained its composure. " I am a friend of a friend of yours. So long ago, during the war, the enemy Pokemon called me Thunder-Hawk because my gusts were strong enough to create the illusion of thunder rolling across the plains of the battlefield. " Then the bird chuckled. " Such powers are useless here, thus I am a common Pidgeot. "

" Lucario ... " The Pokemon may have spoke in riddles, but his name was the first that came to my mind with that description. Along with it came a flood of thoughts and memories that sent me into a panic. " I have to get back! Mother's ... " I flinched when I spoke her name. " Mew is going to - "

" Mother Mew will not harm Lucario. " The Pidgeot interrupted me with a certainty. " It would be foolish for her to bring harm to the only lifeline she has left in this region. This still must be a proud day for her; she'd been hunting for a Lucario since ancient times ... "

The airy way he spoke those words intrigued me more than what he said. " What are you talking about? "

Thunder-Hawk flapped his large wings to start up into the air. Though he flapped no wind was created in this empty void, just the illusion that the bird took off to circle around my head like a vulture. It was unsettling ... " This place, this tree, the legend that surrounds it's origins ... All lies. Deceptive tales thought up by a clever Pokemon! " The bird laughed madly. " No Pokemon is eternal, and yet the same Mew from my time lives within yours. No Pokemon is that long lived. Not naturally, anyway. "

The bird turned his wings upward to do a loop. " Mother Mew deciphered the power of the wave, the life force of this world, and figured out how she could use that energy to her advantage. Mother Mew lacks the ability to easily tap into and draw wave energy for herself so she depended on the longevity of the Wave Guiding legend to bring forth more Wave Guiders, and the naivety of the Pokemon she 'protected'. " Thunder-Hawk's words made me tense. It was all beginning to make sense ... " A Wave Guider who mastered their abilities will never fall prey to Mother Mew's ploy, but thus far no one has come close. As a result it is every Wave Guider's fate to come to an untimely end 'saving' Mother Mew from impending death. To make the legend go on and on ... "

" So ... " I asked my question just as Thunder-Hawk became swooping down to come to face with me. " Mew is using the waves of other living things to extend her own life? "

Thunder-Hawk slowed to a slow hover right in front of me. " That is correct. " He spread his wings wide. " Every Pokemon within the Tree of Origin will eventually be taken here to pay for 'crimes' committed within this society, but in reality be consumed by the tree itself, and every Wave Guider born will be lured to this Tree so they can give their lives for Mother Mew's longevity. "

" ... disgusting. " Hearing all that I had and forming my own conclusions, it was all that could be said about the Pokemon I once thought of as a mother. Today I feel shame in knowing that I spawned from the DNA on that monster. I too was a monster once upon a time, but I was a monster who accepted my mortality and the reality that came behind it. I grew to accept that one day I too will die, but today will not be that day.

This place, or the Pokemon in front of me, must have had the ability to sense the thoughts echoing through my mind. Thunder-Hawk blinked awkwardly before turning around completely. " Come. I will show you if you do not believe escaping is futile. " Thunder-Hawk flew and I followed fast as my telekinesis would take me.

The flight through the void seemed endless. It was a rare occurrence, but I felt as though I'd reached the point where I could fly no farther when I saw green light in the distance. Curiosity gave me the second wind I needed to finish the flight. The collection of green light that seemed endless upon the horizon revealed itself to be a collection of smaller green lights that were in turn bubbles floating endlessly through this open space. It was not until we were right upon the collection of orbs that I saw the significance in them. My stomach churned in disbelief.

Inside of those orbs were Pokemon. Hundreds upon hundreds of Pokemon of different species floating helplessly through this void of space. Judging by the way their bodies moved within the prisons and the expression on their faces they had entered a state of unconsciousness, or possibly become comatose. I came across an Apiom with pain etched in its features; eyes tightly shut with a grimace across the snout. The unfortunate Pokemon was obviously in a lot of pain, but when I went to touch it my hand was repelled by a pulse of strange energy.

" You cannot help these Pokemon where they are now. " Thunder-Hawk's words barely registered with this new shock. " They have reached the final stages of Mother Mew's divine punishment. " The energy that radiated from the Apiom's orb grew more intense. " Watch ... "

Apiom whimpered pitifully when the light of the bubble surrounding her grew more intense. It's breathing accelerated in a way that I knew all too well. I made an attempt to penetrate its mind to read its thoughts, but regretted it immediately afterwards. The long tailed Pokemon was screaming, calling out for help, and though I instinctively tried to pull at the barrier again with my powers I could do nothing but produce a shower of green sparks on the surface. Inner screams became outer ones in and instant, and though the Pokemon's pained dying screams could wake the dead none of the others in surrounding orbs appeared to respond. The screams became more intense as its body trembled. I myself had to back away from the noise. Against my better judgement I could not look away from the scene laid out before me.

I wish I did. The flesh of the helpless Pokemon inside began to rip away moments before the Pokemon's body erupted in a show of white and green light. It seemed the bubble that surrounded Apiom prevented the explosion from reaching beyond the small quarters. I could see it all; things that I did not thing I would ever see in relation to a Pokemon. It was a sickening sight, but the contents of the bubble simply faded away as if they never existed. I ... faintly knew about that fate. Pokemon do not leave behind physical bodies when they die. Every fiber of their being is broken down into pure wave energy and reabsorbed into the earth to be reborn again, leaving no waste.

... Or so I thought.

For a long moment I remained frozen from the sight that I just endured. I did not properly react until I felt a small item flow down one of my cheeks, tickling the fur and irritating me to the point that I had to wipe it away with my paw. Looking down, I noticed that the fur on my hand had become wet. The rest was self explanatory. " I will not die this way! " There was no mistaking that. I turned to face Thunder-Hawk again with renewed anger. " And I will not let anyone else die this way! "

Thunder-Hawk looked towards me with a frown forming. " There is nothing you can do ... "

" That may be. " I gathered the psychic power that I had in my body. It would be foolish to let it all go in one blow, but that one blow may be all that I needed to escape from this Hell. " ... but anything is better than just floating around waiting for death! "

It seemed that even here Mew choose to spite me. As I formed together the energy for my attack I felt another pulse of energy sweep through the area. At first I thought it was Mew come to claim another from her reserves, but this time the orb of energy formed around my body. The instant it took shape there I found myself paralyzed; my body locked into place by a force I could not control. The energy radiating from the orb around me sent my fur on end and created an uncomfortable tingling feeling that annoyed me to no end.

This could not be the end ...

I will not let her have her twisted way with me!

This anger that accumulated made it easier for me to release my psychic energy, and harder to remember the consequences of my actions with the deceased Apiom's orb before. The instant that energy hit the barrier around me it was sent back in wave so intense my body tensed instinctively to soften the blow. I had expected it to stop within a few seconds. It did not only continue, but the intensity of the energy rapidly grew stronger to the point where my mind and vision was blurred with nothing but the pain that it caused. I was still not accustomed to handling pain; and it was once in a blue moon that I felt so much at once.

In that vital moment I had lost all hope ...

I had actually given into my despair ...

I actually believed that my death was imminent ...

I threw my head back and released a scream.