CHAPTER TWO: ESCAPE
"Amber?"
"Yes?"
"It feels like I have been asleep for so long… what's happened… everything feels… constraining…"
"You're growing. You've been asleep for months."
"What's going to happen to us? How did you end up here? How did I end up here?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know about you. I just remember falling asleep one day. I slept for so long… then I ended up here. I know my daddy and his friends are outside, talking about me. I've talked to many Pokémon while I've been here, but no one has stayed as long as you."
"Other Pokémon? Where are they? Can I talk with them too?"
"Don't you like talking to me?"
"Of course I do! You've kept me company in this place. You're the only reason why life in this place is worth living. You're my friend."
"You're my friend too. But you can't talk to the other Pokémon. They're gone."
"Where?"
"They've moved on…"
~o~O~o~
"Dr. Fuji!"
As one of the researchers assistants called out his name, Fuji took his eyes away from the tube that contained an ethereal orange glow and walked towards one of the monitors. Fuji was tall and gangly, with long, curly hair and a goatee. Though quite young to be in charge of a laboratory, the stress he had experienced over the last few months made him look older and wearier and had caused his hair turn gray prematurely.
"What is it?" Fuji snapped.
"You may not believe this, sir," the assistant said, "but Mewtwo and Ambertwo seem to… communicating somehow."
"How?" Fuji wondered. "We're underground, and Mewtwo's pod is in a different room!"
"They could be using telepathy," the assistant guessed. "But if that's true, then…"
"That we've made more progress than we thought," Fuji remarked.
"But sir, if your theories are true, then…"
"Yes, Giovanni will be very pleased, I'm sure," Fuji muttered. "And I can see my little girl smile again…"
Their work was interrupted by the sounds of the laboratory door opening. The woman who had arrived into the chamber stood out in the crowd, as she was not wearing a lab coat.
"Dear?"
Noticing his wife, Fuji walked to her and enthusiastically led her to the tube containing the strange orange glow.
"I've reawakened her consciousness," Fuji explained rapidly, unable to keep his eyes off the glow. "I just need to keep it viable long enough to complete the process!"
"Why?" Mrs. Fuji whispered tearfully, going almost unnoticed by her husband. "Why are you doing this? You haven't come home in weeks! You… you can't bring Amber back…"
"You're wrong!" Fuji protested and pointed at the readings on the monitor next to the tube. "Look! She lives within this light! Her energy is undeniable! If my cloning theories are correct… we'll have Amber back with us one day soon…"
Mrs. Fuji was slowly backing away from her husband. Almost everyone in the room was ignoring their work, instead choosing to gawk at the Fujis.
"I loved our daughter as much as you did," she said faintly. "But she's gone. No one can bring her back, and I can't go on watching you try. You're going to kill yourself with this! I'm… I'm sorry."
And with that, Mrs. Fuji left the lab without looking back. The other scientist continued their work, but Fuji kept on staring at the tube, his eyes practically glued to the light inside it.
Suddenly, a sharp beeping noise was heard from one of the monitors. Fuji's assistant quickly rushed to the scene. From the corner of his eye, Fuji saw a blinking red light next to the monitor. The assistant and the scientists gathered around her looked horrified. Fuji didn't want to hear what they had to say – he was focused on the light inside the tube, which was dimming slowly.
"D-doctor," the assistant said in a small voice. "We're… we're losing Amber, too…"
It was as he feared – to Fuji, it was as if the loss had happened all over again. Maybe there was still hope? Should he scream at his subordinates, tell them to try and salvage her somehow? But Fuji knew there was no way – he had known from the start that this might happen… that this would happen… but they had gotten so far… he had to cling on to the little hope he had.
Before his eyes, the light started rapidly fading away. Fuji pressed his hand against the glass one last time.
"Amber…"
~o~O~o~
"Amber? What's wrong?"
"It… it feels like… it's time to say goodbye."
"Goodbye? But… wait! Where are you going?"
"I don't know. But I have to go. Thank you for caring about me."
"No! Amber, please, don't go! I… I don't want to be alone again…"
"You won't be. And don't be sad, Mewtwo. You should be happy. You're alive, and life is wonderful…"
"AMBER!"
~o~O~o~
For months on end, Blaine had sat next to Mewtwo's tank, talking to it, keeping it company, even singing to it at one point. He had observed its growth – it now filled almost the entire cylinder, being over six feet tall. The bubble around it had disappeared as well. While teaching Mewtwo about various things about the Pokémon world and what is was capable of, he had bored it with stories about his own crummy life, how all the other scientists mocked him and how much he hated Giovanni – he even showed a picture of the Rocket Boss to it, explaining the things he was ready to do to obtain the most powerful Pokémon of them all.
But today, things would change…
Having dozed off for a few minutes, Blaine was awakened when Dr. Fuji and two other scientists approached him, their footsteps echoing in the empty chamber. Blaine straightened his sunglasses and stood up, frowning at Fuji – he hadn't left his lab in months.
"Time's up, Blaine," Fuji said tersely and dropped his file folder on Blaine's desk. "We're taking Mewtwo to the underground chambers."
"Huh? But-"
"You've done an admirable job so far," Fuji said, though he didn't sound admiring at all as he observed Mewtwo's tank. "But your part in this project is complete. Well done. The board has decided to give you some time off – go home and rest. You can resume your regular duties at the lab next week."
"Time off?" Blaine snarled and stepped in front of the tank, blocking Fuji's assistants. "I'm fine! And I need to stay to monitor its growth. It might gain consciousness any day-!"
"My team and I," Fuji interrupted calmly, "will be in charge of waking it up. Our financier is already on his way here."
"Listen here, junior," Blaine growled at Fuji as he stood inches away from him – while Fuji was as tall as Blaine, the latter was much more rugged and overall more intimidating. "I know you don't run like this lab like your father did, but even you have to see that we can't give this thing to Giovanni! You know who he is and what he's capable of! Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I have a… a connection to Mewtwo! I can get it to wake up, I'm sure, but if you try and tamper with its mind, the consequences could be-"
"We feel you're a bit stressed, Blaine," Fuji interrupted again and nodded at his aides, who used a handcart to move Mewtwo's heavy, liquid-filled tank away. "You've been in here for months on end."
"How are you any different?" Blaine wondered. "And what have you been working on at that secret lab of yours?"
"If you wish to keep your job, Blaine, go home," Fuji retorted and walked to the tank, talking to his aides. "Don't take it yet, I need to observe it first."
Blaine knew it was pointless to resist – Fuji had made up his mind. But Blaine knew he was hiding something. Acting as quickly and silently as he could, he pulled all of Fuji's notes from the folder and quickly replaced them with a pile of blank papers. Then, just before Fuji turned back towards him, Blaine took a step away from the folder. To Blaine's relief, Fuji hadn't noticed a thing – he merely grabbed the folder from the desk and walked away.
Watching Fuji and his associates take Mewtwo away, Blaine had to shake his head.
"Mark my words, junior," Blaine muttered. "Nothing good will come from this…"
~o~O~o~
Several hours later, Mewtwo opened his eyes for the first time.
It was like waking from a slumber that had lasted for years. Mewtwo felt as if it was about to burst from its body. The thick glass and the fluids inside the cylinder felt suffocating. Yet its eyelids felt extremely heavy… as if it had never opened them before. It could only see the silhouettes of strange people through the glass.
But why? What happened to the familiar voices? Where was Blaine? Where was Amber?
Was everything before… just a dream?
"Doctor, look at this!"
"What?"
"Its brainwaves… they're surging!"
More strange sounds… they're outside…
"We can't lose this one!"
…where I must be!
Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue. Everyone in the room seemed to freeze as Mewtwo shattered the confining glass tube around it, all of the fluids inside leaking on the lab's floor.
"Radio Giovanni's helicopter!" one of the scientists yelled. "Tell him what's happened!"
"Quiet!" Fuji ordered. "Let us hear its psychic powers!"
"Psychic… powers?"
"For years, we've struggled to successfully clone a Pokémon to prove our theories," Fuji said with a mad gleam in his eyes, "but you're the first specimen to survive!"
Fuji pointed at a painting on the wall. Mewtwo knew it represented a Pokémon… one it could recognize…
"That is Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon," Fuji explained. "From its DNA, we created you… Mewtwo!"
Mewtwo… she used that name once too.
"Am I only… a copy of Mew?" Mewtwo asked Fuji – just like with Amber, it didn't need to move its mouth, yet Fuji and everyone else in the room heard its every word. "Nothing but Mew's shadow?"
"You are greater than Mew!" Fuji declared. "Improved through the power of human ingenuity! We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome psychic powers!"
"So… I'm simply the end result of your experiment," Mewtwo said with contempt. "What becomes of me now that your experiment is over?"
"Oh, our experiment isn't over yet, it's just beginning!" Fuji said frantically. "Now the serious testing begins!"
And with that, Fuji and the scientists seemed to ignore Mewtwo. They congratulated each other, patted each other on the back… one of them even opened a bottle of champagne as Mewtwo looked on.
These humans… they care nothing for me…
Mewtwo remembered. Flying over the mountain on Faraway Island, seeing the ocean and the island meet in a beautiful blend of blue and green.
No, it was back in the chamber, sitting surrounded by humans, talking about their future plans in excitement, one of them trying to contact someone… called Giovanni.
"We'll start our testing right away!" Fuji declared as the other scientists cheered.
Testing… just like they had tested many others before Mewtwo. And how all of their voices faded away one by one… just like Amber's…
Is that my purpose… am I just an experiment? A laboratory specimen?
No one noticed as Mewtwo stood up on its platform.
This cannot be my destiny!
It took several seconds for the celebrating scientists to notice that Mewtwo had risen. It was now floating in the air, its eyes glowing as a blue sphere surrounded it. One of them screamed in terror, and just then, all the other liquid-filled tanks exploded.
The scientists were floored by the explosions. One of them attempted to flee towards the exit, but Mewtwo's psychic attack yanked him back effortlessly. Mechanical hands extended from the ceiling to grab Mewtwo, but it destroyed them all with one swift blast.
One by one, the scientists in the room were engulfed by the explosions that Mewtwo created in cold fury, merely having to flick its hand in the desired direction.
Eventually, only Fuji remained. Leaning on a piece of machinery, the bodies of his colleagues littered around him, he watched as all of his work slowly burned to cinder. And yet, he just looked on as Mewtwo approached him, blowing the flames away from it with another flick of its hand. Briefly, Fuji's and Mewtwo's eyes met.
"We dreamed of creating the world strongest Pokémon…" Fuji grunted
Mewtwo started glowing again as it pointed its three-digit hand at Fuji. But Fuji merely stared forward with a faint smile on his face.
"…and we succeeded!"
~o~O~o~
Blaine's entire house shook from the force of the explosion, but he had already woken up minutes before. His right hand felt like it was on fire, and nothing seemed to quell the pain. No matter how Blaine tried to pretend that a painkiller and trying to think about something else would work… he knew something had gone wrong.
By the time he got to the Pokémon Mansion, it was engulfed in flames, with huge gaping holes on the walls. Without hesitation, he opened the only Poké Ball on his waist, prompting his Magmar to come out. Together, they ran into the mansion – or what was left of it.
Blaine and Magmar didn't have to go far, as they saw a bright glue glow past the thick, black smoke. Trying to ignore the bodies of scientists as he walked past them, Blaine approached the source of the glow.
"Mewtwo?" Blaine asked softly.
Suddenly, all of Blaine's limbs felt like they were paralyzed. It was as if tight iron chains had appeared around him and constrained him. It was almost impossible to breathe. And before he could cry out, he felt his feet leaving the ground.
As Blaine was lifted into the air, his Magmar tried to rush to his aid, but a black ball of energy flew through the smoke and knocked Magmar out cold.
"Shadow Ball, huh?" Blaine croaked.
It was almost impossible for him to move his mouth, but he knew Mewtwo would hear him, and he saw its silhouette through the smoke. Mewtwo pointed at Blaine with its three fingers as its eyes glowed ominously, its Psychic attack keeping Blaine airborne. But Mewtwo didn't seem to know what to do next.
"Don't you remember me?" Blaine asked as he felt Mewtwo tightening its grip. "I seem to have… taught you well…"
Blaine had to close his eyes now – he couldn't even draw breath.
"Go on then," he wheezed. "Do it. I deserve it…"
But then he felt like he could breathe again – the invisible chains were gone, and Blaine was dropped on the ground, with all the air knocked out of him in the process. As he struggled to breathe, he turned to his side and tried to catch a glimpse of Mewtwo… but there was only smoke.
~o~O~o~
Cinnabar Island, present day
"And there you have it," Blaine said sadly, finishing his story as Iris stared at him wide-eyed – she hadn't interrupted him at any point. "I was woken up by Magmar… just in time for the 'welcoming committee'…"
Iris tilted her head quizzically, almost making Axew fall from her hair.
"Giovanni," Blaine grunted in explanation. "I tell you, if there's something good that's come out of this, it's watching that slimy bastard's face as I told him that his million-pokédollar investment had decided to take a hike. From what I hear, Giovanni spent the rest of his time as Team Rocket's leader trying to find it, even trying to get his hands on the Master Ball, thinking that would be enough to control it… but I knew he failed." Blaine smiled a bit. "Instead, he and the authorities covered up the incident, claiming that Fuji and the team were working on something highly dangerous that had cost them their lives. A new lab was built, a new staff was hired and thanks to Elm pulling some strings, I was able to stay here as a gym leader… for all the good that did," he added bitterly.
"But then," Iris said gently, "what happened to Mewtwo?"