Here to There
L.R.T.
"What...the hell...is that?!" Jessie screeched, clinging to James as they both stared in terrified wonder at the beautiful but deadly invention that rose from the ground under Geosenge Town.
"I don't think it's good," James replied, getting him a smack in the stomach from Jessie.
"Really? Think it's bad news, James?!"
"Well, you asked!" he argued, trying to keep his balance as the earth shook underneath them.
"Shaddup, da both of yas!" Meowth yelled, using his paw to point at the strange object in question. "I tink dat's da ultimate weapon..."
Jessie and James exchanged looks and turned their attention back to what had finally fully emerged, all but destroying the small town in the process. The twerps were there, of course - trying as always to save the day. This was one of a handful of times Team Rocket didn't mind them butting in. That kid had some kind of luck, after all and had saved the world plenty of times before. This should be a cake walk for him! Pikachu could zap the thing and - cue the confetti!- twerp saves the day again!
"Pikachu, use thunder -"
"No!" came the distressed voice of what had to be twerpette number ten at this point, "if you use one of Pikachu's electric attacks, it might cause the whole thing to blow! Geosenge Town would be completely flattened and we'd all be killed!"
The trio all looked at each other and swallowed hard, slumping down behind the ruins of what was formerly a home. "If the twerp can't do anything with Pikachu..." Jessie trailed off.
"...we're blasting off for good," James finished, sliding his arms around her and pulling her close.
Meowth jumped up on a pile of debris that had formed from the ultimate weapon's reveal, peering over the top and watching as the group of twerps argued back and forth, then tried to come to an agreement, then wondered what they do now...
"Maybe we can do something," James said out of nowhere, causing Jessie and Meowth to stare at him, wide-eyed. He slumped down slightly, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "I - I mean...why is it always the twerps that are the heroes? We've helped save the world before, too! We could do it again!"
His partners stared at him, then broke out into laughter. Jessie rested her head against his chest, patting it lovingly. Meowth laughed so hard he nearly fell. "What are we supposed to do?" Jessie asked with a sigh, catching her breath from the laughter.
"Well...we've made mechas before, right? This is..." He leaned around the wood pile to take another look at the monstrosity that had destroyed everything once before and was more than capable of doing it again, "...like that."
"Have ya lost whateva is left of yer marbles?!" Meowth hissed, hopping down from his perch. "Dat ain't no mecha! Dat's a destroyer of worlds!"
"Our mechas blow up enough that -"
"No!" Meowth said sternly. "I say instead of sittin' around here, tryin' to beat da twerps to savin' everybody, we get da heck outta dodge!"
Jessie nodded, looking up at James. "I'm with Meowth. This is too much."
He frowned down at her, lifting a hand and brushing a few flyaway strands of hair from her face. "What if they don't figure something out in time? What if we can't get out of here? What if it doesn't matter because this thing can destroy everything?" He leaned down, kissing her softly, murmuring against her lips, "We have too much left to do together..."
Smiling, she rested her forehead against his, looking into his eyes. "And we will. We have all the time in the world. Or...we will once we get out of here."
"Yeah, dis is nice and all..." Meowth said, rubbing the back of his neck with his paw - he still wasn't quite used to Jessie and James being together and the vast amounts of P.D.A. that came along with it, "but if we're gonna leave, we'd better get goin' right about now!"
James sighed and nodded begrudgingly in agreement.
The trio stood up and began to quickly make their escape, far and away from the entire Kalos region when suddenly a thunderous whirling sound came from nowhere, making them cover their ears.
James turned back to the center of town and saw that the twerps were nowhere to be seen. He frowned, moving his gaze up to the cause of the awful sound - the ultimate weapon. His eyes widened and he turned back to his team, yelling especially loud to be heard over the sound and their hands, "It's too late! I think it's been activated!"
Jessie and Meowth also looked up, a blinding white light beginning to emerge from the depths of the powerful machine. "We're screwed!" Jessie yelled.
The wind began to pick up, whipping the debris all around the trashed town. Jessie screamed, cowering down and covering her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Meowth did the same, ducking behind one of the homes that hadn't sustained as much damage as the others. James began to crouch down next to Jessie but stopped, unable to tear his eyes away from the light. It soon enveloped everything he could see and was quickly followed by the biggest explosion any of them had ever heard - and that was saying a lot.
It was so strong it launched huge rocks and boulders into the air, disturbing some of the ancient stones Geosenge was known for. There was a loud crash somewhere down the path to the north, like someone had just set off a bomb inside a building. James stood in morbid awe of the whole thing - it really did look like the end of the world. His eyes aimed upward, they widened as big as he could ever recall at the sight of one airborne boulder headed right for them - or more specifically, Jessie.
"Jessie!" he called out, charging at her and pushing her out of the way as the boulder landed with a "thud", barely missing her.
She slid across the ground, scraping up her stomach and thighs in the process, then stood up, looking around amidst the thick clouds of smoke that swirled about in the air in the aftermath. Coughing, she desperately looked for James and Meowth. "James! Meowth! Where are you?!"
Meowth came up next to her after following the sound of her voice, coughing as well. It took him a moment before he jumped up into Jessie's arms, clutching her with his claws. "We're alive! We really are indestructible!"
Jessie shook her head, wrapping her arms tightly around him as though he were a stuffed animal there for her comfort. "I don't see James!"
"He's around, I'm sure! He's got da best luck of da both of us when it comes to dis kinda ting."
She began walking, waving her hand in front of her face to disperse the smoke so she could see. She had only taken a couple of steps before hitting her foot on an oddly placed boulder. "Ah, fuck!" she called out, bending down to tend to her throbbing toe.
The dust settled eerily fast after that. As it floated away, disappearing into nothingness, Jessie saw where James was and why he wasn't responding. She screamed, her eyes filling with hot tears, the throbbing of her foot now a distant memory as she dropped to her knees next to him, staring at the boulder that now partly sat on his lower body. By some insanity, he was conscious, his face banged up and dirty, uniform nearly shredded. He smiled weakly up at her, groaning in pain as he lifted his hand to brush against her wet cheek. "I saved you," he managed to get out before groaning louder than before, a sound that ripped Jessie's heart to shreds.
Jessie nodded vigorously, taking his hand in both of hers gently, tears streaming down her face. "You did. You really did. You're a real hero, James." She swallowed hard as he kept the smile on his face, his eyes fluttering shut. "Now you have to stay with me so you can get your reward! Money...a - a huge parade! All the bottle caps you could ever want!"
"I already have what I've always wanted..." he choked out softly, a dribble of blood coming from the corner of his mouth, "I have you."
His hand fell limp from her grasp and she stared at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head and repeating, "No, no, no..." over and over. She leaned down, putting her face to his, her hand touching his scraped cheek gently. "You're okay...you're okay. You have to be okay." Her sobs became more violent the longer he went without moving or speaking. She brushed her lips against his softly, closing her eyes and finally wrapping her arms around him, holding on for dear life. "You can't...you can't do this! You can't leave me here all by myself!" Her head fell to his chest and she buried her face in what was left of his uniform, unable to do anything but scream. Her body was wracked with sobs, clutching the fabric of his jacket. "Please don't go..." she quietly begged, burying her face back against his body, her own body shaking with grief and anger.
Meowth came running up with the twerps, also covered in dust and scratched up. The group stopped abruptly when they saw Jessie and then what had made her so very upset. Meowth slowly made his way to her, not taking his eyes off of James's body the whole while. "He - he's okay, ain't he?"
Jessie looked up only to start sobbing all over again, resting her head back against her love's chest.
He shook his head, going to Jessie's side, still staring in disbelief at the scene before him. "He can't be..."
The twerps had no idea what to say, Ash and Pikachu remaining as the rest of his friends ran, calling desperately for help. All he did was stare at who was once his enemy, looking so peaceful despite his injuries. Ash was waiting for him to get up and the three of them try to make a grab for Pikachu but the moment never came. He felt his legs go out from under him, knees weak, and he fell to them, still simply staring. He was gone - really and truly gone. Not just "blasting off again" but gone. He would never see him again. After everything they had put him through on his journeys, he should have felt a tiny twinge of relief; instead he felt guilt and regret, never wanting this to happen to him - never wanting this to happen to any of them.
Pikachu tentatively went to Meowth, placing a paw on his back. Meowth broke down crying now as well, hugging Pikachu tightly and wailing what sounded like a sorrowful "meow", echoing across the now-empty town and reverberating against the trees.
Within moments formerly scared wild Pokemon peered out from behind bushes and trees, leafy branches and the underground. Meowth's sad song brought them out of hiding, lining the edge of the treeline. Some made sad, whimpering noises in return; others just looked on with long faces, their comrade's hurt becoming their own as well.
Jessie looked up at James's face one last time, tenderly brushing his hair away from his eyes - the way she always did - and it fell back into place - the way it always did. Softly, she said to him, "My hero."