Yeah, second chapter up fast, w00t! I know, I'm awesomely nice, and since I AM you should review. XD Okay, okay, kidding. Well, actually, please do. (laughs at pitiful attempts) Okay, anyways, yeah, here's where the REAL story begins. And you shall meet the strange character DL - me - and find out how strange she REALLY is. Enjoy. ;3
(Secret Pokemon Laboratory, 9:45 a.m.)
Professor Cedar paced in his lab, his graying spiky chocolate hair waving in the air-conditioning, worrying heavily over the loss of connection that had lasted for over an hour now as his Alakazam watched him anxiously. Where is she? With DL being the most important link for their project, he needed to keep tabs on her and protect her at all costs. He frowned, knowing that nothing could disrupt the signal for the network, unless –
"Something powerful is blocking the signal…on purpose." He looked up at the screen and muttered, "Dear God…" He jumped out of his seat and sprinted down the hallway, paying no heed to passerby that looked at him oddly, until he got to the main room and commanded, "Someone get me a link to DrakenHart's computer! Try to find some kind of connection, fast!" As the people in there hurried along to carry out his orders, he stood there tensely with his anxious fingers twitching with his unease. They're not fast enough, he cursed to himself as he watched them furiously typing and clicking, they need to hurry! Anything could have happened by now! She could be injured or stuck or –
"Professor!" A surprised voice caught his attention, snapping his head to look at the researcher pointing at the screen. "Th-the signal suddenly came back!"
"What?" The aged man leaned over the counter and placed his palms flat onto the cool surface as if to steady himself, staring at the screen with his eyes slightly squinted to look at the incredible words telling him that she was back online. Immediately, he saw her typing the words, with the system that allowed literal live feedback on her keyboard as she typed, erased, and then typed more. Finally, he collapsed into a chair and sat back, nearly blown away by the simple sentence she had finally decided on leaving him as a note.
"I need to talk to Proff privately. I'll be there in a minute."
"How can she…" She was miles away and it took a helicopter ride that lasted two hours to set her down at her current location. So how…?
Suddenly, they heard a shriek from outside, and the Professor hurriedly got out of the chair and exited the room to find one of the personnel had fainted because, out of the blue, DL had appeared in the room, accompanied by her two Pokemon and a highly unexpected guest. Standing there in the midst of humans, the Ultimate Pokemon, Mewtwo, had his arms crossed and was glaring at everyone there like they were Trainers waiting to snag him. But the only Trainer there was DL, and so that was the reason that the Professor was so anxious; Mewtwo could easily defeat them if they ever got into a battle. To show he wasn't dangerous, he held up his hands and said calmly to DL, "Megan, you wanted to talk to me?"
She nodded, her long brown hair bobbing with her head as her chocolate eyes watched him like a hawk as they always did, and unnerving him almost more than the Legendary did. She always had this cautious look about her, as if she was examining everything closely and looking as far into things as possible, and it gave her that edge that the researchers needed to collect their data. She was a bit small for a girl of her age, but everyone on that project knew that size did not stop her from doing whatever she wanted, whether it was intimidating someone or getting something high up on a shelf. She liked to climb up to high places and look down at people, which explains why they first met her on the roof of a building while she was trying to get a glimpse of Mewtwo (there had been word that he was roaming around that city). Whenever she was walking barefoot (which she did a lot) she would pick up things with her feet like an Ambipom would with its tails, and people would joke about her 'monkey feet' only to get a fist to the face. She was a rather…violent individual at times, to be honest.
Prof. Cedar motioned for the others to move away, and as they obeyed he suggested, "How about we get to a place more private like you requested?" She nodded and offered that they go to the room they provided her (although she rarely used it), and the Professor found himself walking beside Mewtwo as he floated behind the girl that barely reached his chest. He glanced over to the Genetic Feline, but he quickly looked away when the Psychic-Type turned his glare to him without even moving his head, sending shivers up the man's spine by the deadly promise kept within them.
And DL just hummed along as she smiled at her Haunter, almost skipping through the door as she turned around to fall backwards onto her bed in a sitting position. How she could be so cautious and alert and yet happy and oblivious was beyond him.
What an eccentric girl, he thought to himself as he let the girl's Pokemon in first, careful not to step on the Raichu's tail before walking in himself, waiting for Mewtwo to get through the door before closing it softly with a click, shutting them into the privacy that DL requested. All eyes landed on her, and she looked at each individual before opening her mouth and officially starting the important conversation.
"Well."
As soon as that word left her lips, everything seemed that much more serious; the jagged smirk that was a trademark of a Haunter was thinned into a simple line of grim anticipation on Hunter's face, and Butterscotch had small sparks of unease twinkle upon its cheeks. Mewtwo's appearance didn't change too much, since he was already in that kind of mood, but the Professor's demeanor became a bit stressed and impatient as he wondered what was happening and why a Legendary was suddenly in their lab. DL, however, remained the exact same way she had come in, with a sort of neutral face on that had no smile or frown, revealing nothing to the old man and making him even more nervous. What was going on?
"Professor," her voice was the only one brave enough to pierce the silence and begin this rather awkward meeting, but, then again, she called for the conference in the first place. "I have some things to discuss with you."
"You could perhaps begin with what happened for the hour you suddenly disappeared," he suggested, looking at the Psychic-Type nervously as if thinking of how rude that sounded. But the Legendary had his eyes closed and looked as if he had lost all interest in the humans, so he looked back to DL, waiting for an explanation. The young girl looked thoughtful for a moment, as if she had to debate on whether or not to tell him, before she finally nodded again and shifted a bit as if to get comfortable.
"Well," she drawled on simply, "I had been sitting at my position like I've been for so long, when I thought I had heard something and turned my head to look around. At first, I assumed it was nothing, or perhaps it was a small Pokemon running from something, when suddenly I heard a low type of droning sound that was familiar to me because I had always tried to listen closely to it. I whirled back around, but, to my amazement, by then I was already surrounded by the Regis, well over my height and blocking me from running by locking their hands together. I tried to look over them to find out if there were anymore but, alas, I'm too short." She crossed her arms and pouted as she always did on the subject, bringing a small smile to the Professor's face before he covered his mouth at her glare and pretended to be clearing his throat. Yeesh, she always looks scary when she's angry. He then motioned for her to go on, and she laid down on her bed to get herself comfortable while she began this long talk.
"Well, they weren't alone…."
(DL's Hiding Place, 8:30 a.m.)
As the girl stood frustrated that she couldn't see anything over the Regis' big heads, she finally saw something towering over them and gasped. The giant Ozone Dragon was standing (at least, he was touching the ground) with his claws crossed as he looked down at the human before him. He looked a bit triumphant, as if he always liked to come in and ruin the humans' plans, but as she looked up at him all she could think about was how she finally got to meet a Legendary in person. She grinned uncontrollably and mumbled, "Finally! It's been years since I started this project…."
"Project?" Another voice came into her thoughts, and her eyes widened as the Regis moved away and there stood Mewtwo in all of his man-created glory, looking as awesome with his cape as he did when she was chasing him across a city and he was flying high above her. His cape flapping in the wind, it sounded like a flag on a pole while it whipped and snapped as if it was trying to tell her something. It seemed that the word 'project' brought anger to his eyes and made his appearance seem that much more threatening. She, again, grinned at the sight and punched the air triumphantly, looking about as happy as a full Munchlax. "Yes!!"
"You, human," the Genetic Pokemon directed her attention back to the question, and after a moment of tilting her head curiously, she smiled and nodded, as if accepting the question and showing she was going to give an answer. "Well, I work for these people who want to know about Pokemon, but they're too lazy to get off of their fat butts to do anything," she said aside, "so they tell me where to go and what to look for, and I do it!" At the look he gave her to elaborate, she continued happily, "And so, they wanted me to try to find the Legendaries so they could learn about them, and I sit here with my telescope and watch you guys!" Then, after a moment of thought, she put a finger on her chin and mumbled to herself, "That sounds kind of ominous, doesn't it? 'I'm watching you with a giant telescope'…eep."
"No world domination? No weapons of mass destruction? No kidnapping and stealing our powers?" She shook her head for all of those, and the feline Legendary crossed his arms and looked dumbfounded. "Wow."
"Don't worry, Mewtwo," the green serpent above them both rumbled, "me and Ho-oh have been watching this one for a while. She's okay."
"You've been watching me watch you?" She twirled her finger in a circle and asked, "Isn't that, like, an endless loop?"
"Since you are out of Dialga's range," the giant dragon started, "and Palkia can't focus on you, you are as of now unknown to the Legendaries, except for the ones you see here. And Arceus, of course." He motioned to the Regis beside him, who beeped and whirred in recognition as she waved at them. He then looked at Mewtwo, as if waiting to continue, and the feline glanced at DL once before nodding. Rayquaza cleared his throat and said, "We would like to propose something to you, Ms.…?"
"I'm called DL!" She nodded and smiled, looked childish with the way she looked at the dragon and feline Legendaries as if they were her heroes. Then, on a side note, she added, "My real name's Megan, though. Megan Renee DrakenHart."
Rayquaza's mouth seemed to twitch at the last name, which she noticed, but she didn't ask because a gleam in his eyes showed that it was his secret. She gave a mental shrug before she asked, "Well, what's your proposal? Sorry, but I can't get engaged." She stood there in all seriousness as she put a hand to cup her mouth and whispered, "The scientists at the lab would have my head if I came back married."
"Err…." A bit put off by the strange girl, Rayquaza blinked and lost his train of thought, to which Mewtwo sighed and quickly picked it back up by explaining, "You humans have always thirsted for knowledge, correct?"
"A-yep!" She nodded enthusiastically.
"And, whatever you don't understand, you like to destroy."
"That's true."
The Ozone Dragon seemed to have gotten back in the game as he said, "In order to prevent the same thing from happening to us, we want you to study the Legendaries and let the humans know about us, so that any rumors are dispersed and we aren't threatened by you."
"Sounds about right…." After a moment of thought, she suddenly asked, "What's blocking my signal? I can't hear the annoying buzzing sound my connection always makes when it's up and running. Drives me nuts, really."
"That?" Mewtwo flicked his gaze over to the Regis, where Regirock was looking down at his feet (or at least, he was doing the equivalent) at a box that had been crushed by his enormous weight. DL frowned and mumbled, "Phooie…Cedar's not going to be happy about that. That's the third time this month." (Ha, and he thought it was something powerful doing it on purpose…but a Regi just stepped on it. Ha.)
He asked, as if to make sure of the fact. "So you'll do it?"
She looked back at Mewtwo, her eyes gleaming, and said, "Gosh, I'm being asked by my favorite two Legendaries (besides Darkrai and Articuno) to watch and talk to them and be able to record data, without getting into trouble or injured?" She smiled widely and answered, "Hell, yeah! I'm gonna help!"
"Alright," Mewtwo nodded at her enthusiasm, before tilting his head and asking, "Do you carry any Pokemon with you?"
"Uhh, yeah." She took out two Poke Balls and let out Butterscotch and Hunter, who looked around in surprise before she patted the Raichu's head and looked at her Haunter encouragingly. "This is Butterscotch and Hunter, my two-and-only best friends."
"Creative nicknames," she thought she heard a Regi mutter and she glared over at them and spat, "Well, you try to think of a nickname in the middle of a battle of life and death!" They flinched back a bit, mumbling something about 'reminds me of Manaphy' as she 'hmphed' and looked back at the Genetic Legendary. "What about 'em?"
He motioned towards the Pokemon and suggested, "Perhaps one of them could come with us – after all, some of the Legendaries are now being assigned secretaries or assistants after Mew complained about Heatran and Pedal."
"Well, I wouldn't be able to part with both without losing my sanity…." She frowned, looking between the two while debating on whether or not it was worth it. She looked at Hunter and asked hesitantly, "Do you mind going with them? I mean, I might not see you for a long time…."
The Ghost/Poison-Type nodded with a smirk and encouraged her with a tingling lick. She laughed and jokingly protested, "Hey! Stop stealing my life force! That's twenty years that you've taken from me now!" Then, she gave him a hug as best as she could (it's creepy getting hugged by something that has hands but no arms) before suddenly she slapped her forehead and cursed. "I forgot! The Proff needs to hear about this!"
"'The Proff'?" Rayquaza's confused tone showed he wasn't used to not knowing things, and so she explained who it was she worked for. "And I have to tell him about this!"
Mewtwo's eyes narrowed as he inquired warily, "Is he trustworthy?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "The only thing you can't trust him with is a bag of donuts."
"Then it is decided," Rayquaza nodded at her in thanks, "you will go and tell your superiors while we tell ours."
"Err," DL raised a hand in questioning, "well, I needed to send him a message, so…could I get a ride to the lab? It's kinda far away, and I want to tell him really quick. Ya know, since my connection has been smooshed." She glared at Regirock, who seemed to look away and make whistling-like beeping sounds.
"I can send a message through your connection easily," the Genetic Legendary spoke up, "since you humans don't protect your possessions." After she asked him to say a simple note and he sent it, Mewtwo nodded. "Very well." She silently squealed and ran over to his side, beckoning her Pokemon close to her as the Psychic-Type concentrated. He opened one eye and asked bluntly, "Where?"
"Right…here!" She pointed at her map where a distinct dot was drawn, and he scanned it for a moment before closing his eyes again and summoning his power. Before they Teleported away, DL cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted to Rayquaza, "Tell Darkrai I think he's emo!" She grinned as the Ozone Dragon laughed, a nice deep rumbling sound that echoed in her eyes even after they were gone.
(Secret Pokemon Laboratory, 9:52 a.m.)
"And then we came here, and that lady fainted, and now here we are!" She summed up the story with a, "Cool, huh?" Prof. Cedar could always count on her to be as immature as possible, even with something as monumental as this. That was one thing that would never fail.
"So…?" She tilted her head like a cat, ironic because Mewtwo was standing right across the room from her. It still amazed the Professor how such a strange little girl could cause such interest in the Legendary Pokemon, and he wanted to have a long talk with DL after all of this was in place. She then asked him, "What do ya think?" Then, getting a spout of determination, she told him, "No matter what you say, I'm gonna do this anyways; I've been dreaming of this moment and I don't need a bunch of white-coats and lazybones to –"
"Save your breath, Megan," Prof. Cedar waved his hand at the girl, grinning as she pouted at him for interrupting her, "because I agree. I'll help."
"Yay!" She leapt up and jumped over to hug him, and he laughed at her enthusiasm as she said, "Thanks, Proff! I won't letchya down!" Her Haunter in the background glared at the Professor, looking a bit jealous that his Trainer was hugging someone other than him. Butterscotch looked up at him and encouraged him, "Rai rai, raichu!" (Don't worry about it, Hunter! It's just giving thanks!)
She's like an adopted granddaughter, Prof. Cedar chuckled and nodded at her, still smiling as she let go to do a little 'happy-dance', before the Legendary clearing his throat alerted them that he was still there and looked rather impatient. His arms were still crossed, and now one of his feet was slightly tapping anxiously. DL, for some reason, laughed at his impatience, and acting as if he wasn't one of the sacred Legendaries that watched over them she told him, "Oh, stop being such a sourpuss! I'm coming, I'm coming!" It was amazing that she could get away with that, but apparently, she was important to the Legendaries, for Mewtwo only sighed and looked away from her. For some reason that made her laugh again, and both her Pokemon and the Professor couldn't help but sigh and shake their heads at her strangeness. It seems that, no matter how close you were to her, no one would ever get her.
She then skipped out of the room, stopping to find several people waiting outside eagerly. She put her hands on her hips and sassed them, "What? You think that there's a show or something? Go on, be the little lab mice you are and scurry!" She shooed them away, to which they gave her sour glances before leaving, and she dusted her hands off and said as the others walked out into the hallway, "Well, now that that's taken care of, let's get rockin'!" She grinned widely and turned to the Legendary feline expectantly, who looked at her for a moment before turning his head to look at the old man without a glare. (Omigosh, that's a breakthrough!) "Does she always act like this?"
Cedar nodded. "You're going to have your hands, wings, and paws full with her."
(DL's Hiding Place, 10:25 a.m.)
"So…." Mewtwo flinched at that word. Oh, how he loathed that word now, after the human girl had used it so (he gritted his teeth) many times as they sat cross-legged at her camping site, with him floating of course. The Regis were gone already, so he was the only one left to be tortured. He then moved only his eyes to look at DL as she asked curiously, "What do you do at the Legendary Palace-Thingie-Ma-Jig-A-Mer-Bob?" It was innocent enough, although the way she drew out that sentence made him want to Psychic-strangle her. It would be quick, probably break her neck in a second so it would be painless, but Arceus would have his head, and then he would have to explain…. Not wanting to do that, he instead decided to cope and endure. It would end soon enough. "…I deal with troublemakers."
It was short and to the point, but obviously it raised more questions as she said, "Oh, so you're like a deputy or a sheriff of sorts?" It was more of a statement than a question, really, but she said it in an inquiring manner. The image of him in cowboy garments seemed to make her grin, and he didn't like that grin at all. Made it look like she was planning something. "Do you ever encounter any really bad Pokemon or humans there?"
He actually admired the fact that she was thoughtful enough to not forget that it wasn't just Pokemon or humans messing things up, but both. That was a momentary thought, however, as he shook it from his mind and answered, "Not particularly; they're all the same power-hungry individuals who can't properly screw in a light bulb." That made her laugh, and yet again he wanted to strangle her. So much laughing. So many questions. And so much twitching. She just wouldn't sit still. For Arceus' sake, she's almost more problematic than Mew!
"So," there went that word again, "is there anyone there you particularly want to kill?" It seemed she was mocking his choice of wording, and that irritated him to no end, but no, he had to play cool, he was better than her (a Legendary, for Arceus' sake!) and wouldn't sink to her level. As they sat there waiting for Rayquaza's word of approval saying that the coast was clear, he found that it was hard to keep his sanity around this being…Megan, was it?
"Mew."
"Well, duh, other than him."
Well, at least she carries some common sense. "…Hn, Heatran."
She tilted her head like a cat, and even he could feel the irony of that. "Why? He – she –err, they haven't, like, done anything mean to you, have they? I mean, what, did they just walk up to you and say 'hi'?"
It's creepy how much she knows about us already… He shivered, feeling a bit exposed with a human knowing so much about them, but then he shook it off and answered stiffly, "Once or twice." And it was horrible….
"Oh, well, just say you don't wanna talk to them." She shrugged. "Simple as that."
"You're not very subtle," he asked wryly, "are you?"
She grinned. "Subtle as a Gyarados."
"Of course." And how she does her job is beyond me.
"Hey, what was it like to be cloned from Mew?"
The question was so unexpected he actually lost his poker face and looked at her in surprise, but then he quickly summoned it once more and looked at her as if he couldn't care less about the subject, although on the inside he was seething with anger.
"Painful."
"Well, it was worth it, wasn't it?" She gave him a boyish grin that had started to become a nuisance. "I mean, you're a perfectly wonderful Legendary now, right?" He snorted, and she looked at him in surprise and said jokingly, "What, is Mr. Ultimate feeling not so great today?"
"How about this," he instead shot back, "you get created by and tested on by humans because they think that they can and that they're better than you, you get duped by a gang leader who just wanted to use you for your power, you plot the destruction of the world, and you have it blow up in your face like an overfilled balloon and watch it all fall apart, all the while having a little pink brat floating around your head and talking to you at hyper speed as if he just had five tons of coffee."
After a moment, "…Is your emo rant done?" Her two Pokemon looked at each other anxiously, but Mewtwo didn't get the memo in time. Despite his urge to Psycho Cut her right there, he decided against it and instead just nodded (that rant did make him feel a bit better), and then she looked at him with that grin still on her face and said, "Well, you live in a poor house where you have an older sister who constantly humiliates you, puts you down, and ultimately makes you feel like crap, and you have a two little brothers who get everything and never get into trouble, instead blaming it on you because they like to see you squirm, and then you get in the middle of a life-and-death fight with a Pokemon you can't defeat and watch as your parents sacrifice themselves to buy you time to run as you watch your house burn to the ground with all of your precious childhood memories, (deep breath) you get separated from your siblings with no clue how to contact them in any way, you getting kidnapped by a bunch of bandits before (thankfully) being saved by a Haunter, who is your only companion other than a Raichu that was your father's, you have to steal from people just to live for a while because no one cares about a little kid running around the streets talking to herself like she's crazy, you get constantly harassed and hassled by people bigger, better, faster, stronger than you and having to escape and survive by the skin of your teeth, (deep breath) and you finally get a job where you have to work for a bunch of snooty-ass scientists who think that they can step all over you and work you to the bone all the while insulting you and your abilities, and you can't do anything about it because they're your boss and pay you, and then have a bunch of Legendaries suddenly pop out of nowhere and tell you what to do with a look that says 'or else' on their faces, all the while keeping a smile on your face and a bounce in your step as you try to find the truths and hidden secrets of your family's history." She tilted her head to the side a bit, still smiling although now it looked a little strained with all of that ranting. "Sound hard?"
Mewtwo eyed the human, not necessarily in a new light, but perhaps at a different angle. "I can see how that's not a normal human's lifestyle."
"Nope!" She seemed so jolly, it baffled him, and he could only hope that he wouldn't lose his sanity like that as they heard the whooshing of air above them signaling the Ozone Dragon's arrival. They turned to the approaching Legendary, who gave them a slight bow and smirked at the human's confused look, and Mewtwo said, "Is everything clear? Can she go?"
As Rayquaza nodded, DL looked at them in surprise and asked, "Wait, I'm allowed to see them? Now? As in, face-to-face? Well, maybe face-to-foot…most are so damn tall…."
"Yes…."
"Awesome!" She grinned widely and punched the air triumphantly once more, and the two sighed before Mewtwo turned away and Teleported. She blinked and said, "Wait…what? How will I get there? Fly?"
"Actually, you're really close." Rayquaza lowered his body down so that she would be able to reach him, and as she gaped at him he explained, "Although Mewtwo is an extremely powerful Pokemon, he likes to conserve energy, and so we agreed that I would bring you there."
"Oh…my…Mew…." He looked amused that she used a Pokemon's expression, and she said, "Are you serious?"
"As serious as Mewtwo himself."
She smiled and told him, "I can die right now and have no regrets…. Well, actually, I've always wanted to try tofu, but –" She shrugged and climbed up, finding it hard to grip onto anything because he was so sleek, but she then discovered that there were fin-like things towards the middle of his back as well as low on his tail, and as she recalled her Pokemon into their Poke Balls he looked back at her and asked, "Ready?"
She grinned and gripped his back tightly. "Ready, Freddy!" As he started to rise from the ground and she felt the winds pick up around her, she pointed towards the high skies and shouted, "Off to Neverland!"
Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),
DL ('Dragon Lover')
