Chapter 15: G.U.I.L.T
Amy, Chikorita, and Grovyle approach the end of the Forgotten Wasteland and can see the new, revamped, multi-tiered Treasure Town in the distance. But no one is rejoicing. Grovyle is turning the past few horrific events over and over in his head, while Amy and Chikorita aren't speaking to him at all.
Grovyle: (Now that I think about it…were my actions really necessary? She was too easy to beat, after all. And she didn't even fight back. But before my finishing blow, my Amy was about to disappear. Why was that? Was I not supposed to kill her? Maybe something else should. After all, she knows way too much about us. And she was disturbingly similar to my Amy. I couldn't have her using her unnatural knowledge against us. But still…)
Chikorita: (I feel so bad! I shouldn't have blabbed about how she wrote everything that happened before I met Amy! If only I didn't, then…but still. We forgave her. Why couldn't Grovyle do the same thing? What is wrong with this guy?)
Amy: (Grovyle! Why did you have to hurt her like that? Why? She never did anything to you! Wasn't she your friend too? There's no way she could turn evil in the future, anyway. I could feel it. That evil lady couldn't have been her at all. Little Amy was the best friend I've ever had…I thought we could be friends forever…)
Finally, Grovyle can't keep silent any longer.
Grovyle: Amy? Chikorita? You do know that as soon as we get to Treasure Town, we can find out how to get back into outer space, right?
Chikorita (finally snapping): GROVYLE! How could you? You want us to just forget about her?
Grovyle: Gah! Even you don't understand, Chikorita! She's our enemy! You know perfectly well how she's going to turn against us. Take it from me. The worst kind of enemy you can face is one who gains your trust and betrays you when you least expect it. You should be thanking me for saving your lives for you.
Amy (also snapping): THANK YOU? What if she was innocent? What did she ever do to you?
Grovyle (growling): You…have…no idea. She has the same first name as you. She has the same interests and skills as you. She's even left-handed, just like you! So I got suspicious. And then we find that she knows everything about us! Not only that, but she wrote everything that happened to us. She was the one who was torturing us our whole lives, not Darkrai! That right there should be enough proof for you.
Chikorita: But we forgave her! Why did you have to try and kill her?
Grovyle: *sigh* I just told you!
Amy: I don't know…it felt like you were killing me too…
He hugs her in shock.
Grovyle: No! Don't say that! I'd never let anything happen to you. Ever! Guys, can't you see? She was going to do the same thing to you guys just like Dusknoir did to you!
Chikorita: She was NOT! LIKE! DUSKNOIR! AT ALL!
Dusknoir: What about me?
From the direction of Treasure Town comes the one and only Dusknoir. Oddly enough, none of his Sableye lackeys are with him.
Amy and Chikorita (freaking out): AAAAH! DUSKNOIR!
Dusknoir: Calm your nerves, children. You cannot comprehend the degree I've yearned for another opportunity to meet you.
Chikorita (getting furious): You really are evil, Dusknoir…you killed all those people…
Amy: You're a MURDERER!
Dusknoir (shocked): Pardon…?
Grovyle: Amy! Chikorita! Calm down—Dusknoir's a good guy now!
Chikorita (ignoring Grovyle): Stay away from us, you—you—!
Amy: Don't pretend you don't know! You killed all of those Planetary Investigation Team people!
Dusknoir: How did you uncover that information…?
Amy: Shut up, you scumbag! YOOM…TAH!
The Hyper Voice knocks Dusknoir down, and Grovyle has to restrain the two of them before they can attack any further.
Grovyle: Amy! Chikorita! LISTEN TO ME! Don't let the past fool you! Didn't I tell you that he reformed himself? There's no more Primal Dialga for him to follow anymore! He is the respected manager of the bank in Treasure Town now! Now can you calm down for a few minutes and let him EXPLAIN?
Amy and Chikorita (glaring): …Fine.
The two girls finally stop struggling and calm down, but they still eye Dusknoir coldly and suspiciously.
Grovyle: Forgive them, Dusknoir. On our space adventure, a Pokémon named Zoroark dug up all of Amy's forgotten memories and forced them to live through them all.
Dusknoir: It's quite all right. Rest assured, girls, that my personality has undergone a 180-degree turnaround since our last encounter. Funny you'd mention Zoroark, though. Why don't we traverse to Treasure Town? I shall elaborate in further detail.
Grovyle: Good idea. Let's go, guys.
Amy and Chikorita (still glaring): …Fine.
Dusknoir leads the way to the bank and exchanges friendly greetings with everyone in town, relaxing Amy and Chikorita a little bit. They climb the stairs and navigate the maze that's more like a city. Finally, they reach the bank and travel to the room at the top. Though it's an ectoplasmic dark room suitable for Ghost types, Dusknoir lets in some light to calm their nerves and so they can see. They sit down.
Dusknoir: …and this is my living quarters. Please, make yourselves comfortable.
Grovyle: So what do you know about this Zoroark, anyway?
Dusknoir: Ahem. Zoroark read about Team Pecha's illustrious exploits, and for some unfathomable reason, he began to regard Darkrai, the engineer of the conspiracy behind the attempted collapses of the temporal and spatial fabrics, as his hero. As a consequence, he subsequently developed a hatred of Team Pecha. He defiled relics, rended written records to shreds, and assaulted any and all helpless Pokémon that Team Pecha championed, especially other Jigglypuff's and Chikorita's. He even had the nerve to denounce all-female exploration teams everywhere. Then one day, he went too far. When his assaults on Temporal Tower and Spacial Rift were barely averted, we decided to have him permanently exiled into outer space.
Amy: Why outer space? Why not the prison?
Dusknoir: Not even our technologically advanced incarceration facilities could contain his unnaturally advanced strength and intellectual faculties. We deemed him too dangerous to exist. Today his whereabouts and actions continue to be a mystery.
Chikorita: Not anymore. He's working with the Space Pirates.
Dusknoir: Space Pirates? Ah, that reminds me. Please regale me with updates to your journey so far.
So Amy, Chikorita, and Grovyle tell Dusknoir everything, from when Team Pecha met Samus Aran to the time Grovyle almost killed Little Amy.
Dusknoir: …I see…Zoroark continues to commit deplorable crimes. Anyway, you have reason to believe that this "Amy [you know who]", the human we previously saw, will become malicious in the future?
Grovyle: That's right.
Amy: B—but that can't be true!
Grovyle: Amy. Chikorita. We saw the proof with our own eyes.
Dusknoir: Actually, Amy may have a point.
Grovyle: She does?
Amy: I do?
Dusknoir: Most veritably. Why would a being from the future visit her past self? Only one rationale: to change history.
Chikorita: Change history? How?
Dusknoir: Either the doppelganger despised what she became and wished to steer her past self on a new path she preferred…or it was merely a crucial step in an elaborate machination.
Amy: What do you mean?
Dusknoir: Considering the mental workings of Zoroark? Assuming he's conspiring with this future human, he probably advised her to stage an act so that you all would come to believe that she would become malicious.
Amy: …if Little Amy is actually innocent…!
Grovyle: No, I'm pretty sure she's not.
Dusknoir: You did have the gall to murder anyone you fixate as your enemy, Grovyle. Perhaps Zoroark wished to take advantage of your tendency to do so.
Chikorita: But why have Grovyle kill Little Amy? The evil lady would disappear because of that paradox rule, right?
Dusknoir (thinking hard): …It can only mean one thing. That malicious female was not really your human friend at all. Perhaps a surreptitious adversary? Or maybe even a doppelganger? Just a thought. You abandoned your friend in the Forgotten Wasteland, correct?
Grovyle: Yeah. Why?
Chikorita: Th—the monster…?
Dusknoir: An unknown being has been observed prowling around the territory. Or at least, it was first observed to be an unknown being. Even though its sightings have all but vanished, Pokémon continue to be killed. This is very disturbing.
Amy, Chikorita, and Grovyle continue to think.
Dusknoir: But that's beside the point. Well, Amy and Chikorita? Have I provided you with sufficient evidence to convince you of my true motives?
Amy and Chikorita: Not really…
Grovyle: Dusknoir, I think we should explain to them what happened after I shoved us back into the future.
Grovyle and Dusknoir tell the story otherwise known as Special Episode #5: In the Future of Darkness, which players of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky would recognize. By the time they finish, Amy and Chikorita's brains are in a complete moral scramble. They can't stop their tears.
Amy: W—well, jeez, I dunno…I—I mean, I want to forgive you, b—but…somehow…I just can't…
Chikorita: She's right…You still killed all of those Pokémon on the Planetary Exploration Team, and all six of those people, and…hurt Big Amy so badly just…
Dusknoir: Like whom?
Chikorita: Just like…Grovyle…with Little Amy.
Amy: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS! How could you DO this to her? HOW COULD YOU?
Amy and Chikorita jump out the window and land on the ground. Dusknoir and Grovyle rush up to the window and shout down at them.
Grovyle: Hang on a second! Where are you guys going? What are you doing?
Chikorita: She's innocent; I know she is! We're gonna save her, and you can't stop us!
Amy: True friends never hurt each other! Never!
With that word, they run off, leaving Grovyle speechless.
Dusknoir: Fascinating, isn't it?
Grovyle: What?
Dusknoir: You chose not to believe their assertion that this human is innocent, and simultaneously, they chose not to believe YOUR assertion that I too am innocent.
Grovyle suddenly sees the point Dusknoir is making and staggers against the wall as a wave of guilt sweeps through him. His face blanches, and he has trouble talking, as if a 2,000-ton weight suddenly dropped on him.
Grovyle: Wait a second…you don't mean…if she WAS innocent…then…
Finally, he can't take it anymore, and falls out the window, leaving a very confused Dusknoir staring out the window in the general direction the three of them went.
Grovyle: Amy! Chikorita! WAIT!
Dusknoir: … … …? (Sometimes I wonder if I ever fully comprehend these beings.)
Amy and Chikorita, with Grovyle behind in hot pursuit, run all the way from Treasure Town back to the Forgotten Wasteland.
Amy (shouting as loud as she can): LITTLE AMY!
They encounter a shocking sight. There are two Little Amy's, one facedown and all slashed-up, the other on her hands and knees, gasping for breath. They're both wearing the same sailor suit outfits.
Me: Big Amy?
Chikorita: Wha—wha—why are there two of you?
Me: Oh, you guys! Thank goodness you're here! You…you were right, Grovyle. That one you helped kill…she's not me! She was pretending to be me and had this horrible, horrible trap for you guys!
Amy: A TRAP?
Me: Yeah. Thanks, Grovyle. Thanks to you, I was able to finish her off once and for all.
Grovyle: Interesting. Tell me about it.
Me: Well, you see…Those Pokémon captured me when she found me. She told me her nasty trap for you guys, and she fooled them into tying her up in my place. You have NO IDEA how loudly I screamed when Big Amy and Chikorita saved that fake. By the time I could escape, every single Pokémon ran off to chase you and that fake. Took me a while to get through that jungle, and even longer to get off that cliff. By that time, I saw the fake like this and found she was still trying to stay alive. So I kicked her a few times like so and I finished the job for you.
Amy (glancing at herself): (Hey, I'm not disappearing…I'm still alive!)
Chikorita (paleing): Oh my gosh, I…I had no idea…
Me: Anyway, that was really close. What I'm saying is, don't worry about killing the real me. I'm right here, and…let's be friends forever!
The three of them hug in relief. But Grovyle still has his suspicions.
Grovyle: I see. So you could kill her without having our Amy disappear.
Me: Wait, what? What are you talking about? She was going to disappear?
Grovyle: Yes. I was about to unleash the final blow, when she started to disappear. So I couldn't finish the job. I'm not sure why.
Me: …Huh. Weird. I don't know, either.
Grovyle (glaring): …You said you finished the job, right?
Me: Yeah! She was biting the dust as it was, so it was way too easy.
Grovyle (sniffing the air): (Something smells funny here. Literally. Let me try something.)
Without warning, Grovyle aims a Leaf Blade at her neck. To everyone's surprise, she sees him coming in time and dodges, crushing Amy and Chikorita in her suddenly iron grasp.
Queen X (smirking evilly): How did you know I wasn't the real Amy [you know who]?
Amy: *Ack*—*gasp*—What?
Chikorita: (No way! No way!)
Grovyle: I only smelled one of you back in the jungle. Now there are two smells. Besides, the real Amy [you know who] would never be able to dodge an attack that fast…or dare crush my friends like that! Now PUT THEM DOWN!
Queen X: Make me.
She sends dark energy surging through them, making them faint, and throws them right at him. He dodges, and ferociously claws at her with the fastest Leaf Blades he can muster, but she dodges them all easily. Then quick as a flash, she pins him down by the throat. She's crushing his neck so hard, he can't even get up.
Grovyle: *gack*…Who…are…you?
Queen X: I'll show you, exactly the same way I showed her!
With a surge of dark energy, he faints too. In their subconscious's, all three of them see the massive gelatinous blob known as…
Queen X: My name is Queen X. Now I shall rid the galaxy of your meddling presences…you, the Heroes of Time! Muahahahahaha!
Meanwhile, Samus Aran and Adam Malkovich have arrived at Capital Planet and finally succeeded in attempting to barge into Galactic Federation Headquarters. Samus is standing outside of Commander Tierney's office.
Samus: Commander Tierney? I know you fired me…but I've followed your orders to dump those stowaways back where they came from…
Silence.
Samus: …Commander Tierney? They said you're in here…can you hear me?
More silence.
Samus: Okay, I'm coming in now!
She scans the keypad next to the security door, activating it, and inputs her number (which, by the way, is 13576). The door opens, and she steps inside the office. But Commander Tierney is nowhere to be found. Samus just stares, confused. Then she suddenly hears a thumping sound from behind the wall behind his desk.
Samus: (What's in there?)
Though there are two doors for her to choose from, she blasts the door on the right, activating it. She enters it and hears the thumping noise to her immediate left. It's an iron door. She kicks it down and finds herself in a dark room lit only by a glowing band of light lining the ceiling. She finally sees who was making the thumping noise, a tied-up elderly man banging the wall with his head. Ouch. That must hurt, considering how he's using the part on his head that has no hair.
Samus: Commander Tierney! What are you—?
He looks to HIS left, sees her, and explodes in rage.
Commander Tierney: WHAT THE [f*%?$] ARE YOU DOING HERE, SAMUS?
Samus (completely stunned): Wha—wha—who did this to you?
Commander Tierney: Cut the [c#!%*] and get me out of here! NOW!
She blasts the ropes off of him, and he runs out of there and back to his desk. Several glasses of water later…
Commander Tierney: …It was those Space Pirate sons of a [b$*?#&]s! They tied me up and—
Samus: I get it. That wasn't the real you. So what about my employment?
Commander Tierney: What about it?
Samus: Your impostor ordered me to dump those stowaways back to Planet Portania where they came from…so do I still get my job back?
He stifles laughter and slumps down onto his desk, smacking his forehead.
Commander Tierney: Samus Aran…hahaha…you never cease to amaze me.
Then he can't take it anymore and explodes in a rant again.
Commander Tierney: HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING CRACK? I mean, what the [f?%!$]-in' [h#*&!$] were you THINKING? Did you really follow that jack[%&?*#]'s orders, which clearly violated Regulation 34.623: Under no circumstances can terminated employees continue to TAKE orders? [D&!$%] straight! We terminated your [d%!#%]ed employment one [f#*$%]-in' MONTH ago! After you crashed the BSL Research Station as if it were a piece of [s%?#&], remember?
Samus (paleing): What? I thought they gave me one more chance—
Commander Tierney: Jack[!%?#$] imposter! You couldn't even turn on your [f%?#]-in' SCAN VISOR to check?
Samus: I—
Commander Tierney: And isn't that our Suit Deactivator Beam prototype? You [f!%?#]-in' STOLE it, didn't you?
Samus: No sir, I—
Commander Tierney: GIVE ME THAT!
She hurriedly hands the Suit Deactivator Beam gun back to him as he leans over his desk and swipes it from her at the same time.
Commander Tierney: Now unless you want me to charge you with breaking and entering, theft, drug abuse, and insanity on your permanent record, get the [h%?#$] out of here before I call security! NOW!
Samus dashes out at a breakneck pace, now feeling guilty for doubting her newfound friends and trying to suppress her tears again.
Samus: (He didn't have to cuss so much. I got the point. They were right. They were never trying to get me fired at all! I don't know how, but that Zoroark gave me false hope all along. What was I thinking? High Command would never give me a second chance for something like that. I should've faced the facts. I was already fired. Simple as that.)
As she runs through the hallways and rides down elevators, she formulates a plan in her head, and by the time she reaches Adam, she already knows what to do.
Samus: Adam! Planet Portania, now!
Adam: Whoa, whoa, Lady! We just came from Planet Portania. Why—?
Samus: JUST DO IT!
They drive back to Planet Portania in a hurry. Samus explains everything to Adam along the way.
Samus: …They were right! They were all right! That wasn't the real Commander Tierney, so they were telling the truth! (I feel so bad now…)
Adam: So now that you know for a fact that they weren't trying to mess up your career, we're finally going to actually rescue them?
Samus: EXACTLY!
They emerge out of hyperspace, enter Planet Portania's atmosphere, and run a DNA scanner over the landmasses, searching for their four friends. Oddly enough, the scanner picks up one of them…flying up towards them at full speed.
Adam: …It's Amy [you know who]! How—?
Samus: No! It's that homicidal future version of her we told you about!
Queen X: Well, well, well. Samus Aran. Nice to see you again.
Queen X shoots a dark laser pulse at the ship from her hands, which Adam dodges in time.
Samus: Adam! Give me manual control NOW!
Adam: Right away, Lady! (At least no one's in the ship anymore.)
Samus steers the ship, expertly dodging all of Queen X's lasers, and returns fire. But no matter how many lasers hit, Queen X simply conjures up a shield that repels every blast.
Adam: Yeah. That is definitely not Amy [you know who]. I don't even think it's her from the future.
Queen X: I figured out why you two crashed the BSL Research Station, you know that?
Adam (sarcastically): Well of course you'd know that! You're Miss Omniscient, remember?
Samus (whispering): Wait. Adam. I think I might know who she really is. Prepare yourself for a fake crash-landing now.
Adam: WHAT? Why are you—?
Queen X: Take THIS!
While Adam was distracted, Queen X shoots a dark laser at a critical section of the ship, shutting the propulsion systems down. The ship starts to free-fall, and they start shouting in order to hear each other over the roar of the atmosphere.
Adam: LADY! WHAT ARE YOU DOOOOOING?
Samus: DISCONNECT YOURSELF AND TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!
Queen X: Muahahaha…
The ship flies closer and closer to the Forgotten Wasteland, where the genetic signatures were the strongest. Adam disconnects himself out of the ship's computer and into the mysterious black box. Samus wrenches the black box out and turns into Morph Ball right before impact.
SFX: KA-BLOOIE!
Queen X: Goodbye, Samus Aran…and hello, Amy [you know who]. (I'm you…from the future.)
She opens a portal to just a few hours into the past of the Space Pirate Homeworld and enters to tell her host the awful lie. The Morph Ball rolls out of the smoldering wreckage unharmed. She rolls all the way to the unconscious forms of both Amy's, Chikorita, and Grovyle. She unrolls out of Morph Ball and turns on the Scan Visor. The information that pops up confirms her worst fears.
Samus: Oh no…oh no no no…I knew it. They're all infected…
Adam (voicing from the black box): Don't tell me…They're all infected…with G.U.I.L.T. (Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin)?
Samus: Adam! Be serious! It's way worse!
Adam: What? What could possibly be worse than the seven strains of G.U.I.L.T. (Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin)?
Samus: The X Parasites!
Adam: No way! No…freakin'…way! We crashed the station; we restricted them to SR-388! How the heck did they get on this planet?
Celebi: GROVYLE! NOOOOOO!
Out of nowhere, the pink shiny Celebi zooms towards them. She screeches to a halt in midair when she and Samus see each other.
Celebi: EEK! It's—it's you!
Samus: You're that crazy alien pixie girl! What are you doing here?
Celebi: I'm that what? Now just wait a second here—!
Celebi glares and starts to charge in anger, but Samus points her Arm Cannon, forcing Celebi to stop in midair.
Samus: Stay back! If you get any closer, they'll infect you too!
Celebi: What about you, huh?
Samus: I have resistance. I can take it. Now, unless you tell me which of your leaders can help us—
A major earthquake rocks the whole place. Actually, not just an earthquake. The whole place is starting to distort. The sky is being ripped apart by purple lightning, too.
Celebi: EEEK! The entire time-space continuum is collapsing!
Samus: What in the world are you talking about?
In space, Queen X successfully comes back from the past after ensuring her existence. She doesn't fly very far when she sees everything being distorted and ripped apart too.
Queen X: (Huh? What? Why is this universe being ripped apart? Did I mess something up? No way!) *sigh*… (I have no choice. I guess I'll just have to get out of here and conquer another universe.)
She opens a dimensional portal to a nearby universe and escapes through it. Meanwhile, on the hidden Planet Chozodia, Old Bird and Gray Voice reach the very center of the mountain outside their village. It's a chamber with a huge, ancient, convoluted contraption shaped like a jump gate. The gate is a giant vertical ring stretching from the floor to the cave ceiling, and there are consoles and computers underneath it all. They both man a console on either side.
Old Bird: Gray Voice. You are aware that this procedure could go wrong, correct?
Gray Voice: Yes. But if we do not attempt this…the universe has no hope.
Old Bird: Very well. Target area: Planet Portania, Quadrant 3, Section 005, Area 51.
Gray Voice: Activate Teleportation Warp Gate!
The gate lights up. It charges up enough energy in only 10 seconds, and then it activates in a flash of energy, lighting up the whole room and sending a beam straight through the mountain into the sky. The two Chozo duck for cover.
Old Bird and Gray Voice: (If this fails…and if we fail to save her in time…this whole universe is doomed.)
On Planet Portania, Quadrant 3, Section 005, Area 51, Samus and Celebi notice a field of energy materializing around them, the crash-landed purple ship, and their four X Parasite-infected friends.
Samus: Wha—what the heck is going on?
Celebi: I don't know! You're the super-smart alien genius here!
The field traps them where they are. It fills with more and more light energy until it saturates the area so much, Samus and Celebi have to shut their eyes. A click, the sound of an explosion…and everything within the energy's range is teleported out of sight.
Samus and Celebi: WAAAAAAAAAAH!
—The End of Act 1—