Chapter 32: MEDAFOOOOORCE!
We clashed. I used whatever motivation I could to charge up the most powerful energy attacks I could and slammed Queen X with everything I had. She controlled my life—and my friends' lives—from the start. She was behind everything the whole time. All because one of her X Parasites copied Kel-Zich and went back in time, revealing my existence to her. She made Zoroark rip me out of my former life. She pulled everyone's strings—Zoroark's, Zark's, Zork's, the Space Pirates, Commander Tierney's…everyone's, in order to shove us through a series of events so innocuous at first, but were truly sinister. She forced me in situations where I'd reveal everything I knew, all in order to jeopardize my chances with my new friends…and eventually copy me and all of them, too. She even resorted to getting Samus fired!
But that wasn't enough for her. The moment she found we were still alive, she inflicted torture after torture on us. A stomach-slashing parasitic spider. Dissection again. Killing very good Pokémon friends. Turning the entirety of Gaijin City against us. Prison. Publishing all 10 books without my permission. An unfair trial. Execution. She even murdered her three loyal followers simply because they finally showed a compassionate heart for the first time in their rotten lives! And all for what? So that she could make the Chozo's worst fears come true and end galactic civilization? Ridiculous. It was time to end this now.
We had no idea how close we were to beating her, but what quickly distracted me was something even more important: A bunch of X Parasites had somehow gotten away from Queen X and were headed towards the last of the alien diplomats headed out the door. I quickly stretched out my wings all the way to the back and absorbed them all in time.
Unfortunately, that little pause in our assault was just enough time for Queen X to unleash a new wave of X Parasites that quickly morphed into various flying Pokémon and Space Pirates with jetpacks of their own. Samus quickly ordered me, "Amy! We'll handle these guys! You go after Queen X!"
I followed her advice. This time, though, Queen X repelled me with a dark energy attack of her own. We basically ended up shoving each other back and forth in a battle of attrition.
No matter how hard I tried, she wouldn't stop unleashing X Parasites and turning them into more Pokémon-X's. And right after I finally manage to hit her between rounds of copying, she then tried to confuse me by creating copies of herself. Luckily, they were much weaker than the real her, but she exploited those gaps in my focus to create even stronger army soldiers, especially that of Dusknoir. Soon, we were drowning in her army faster than we could defeat them.
Right when we were about to be overwhelmed, the last person I ever expected to help us flew in through the ceiling at that very moment and shot several blue lasers at Queen X's exposed back. No, not a person. A robot. A good robot.
It was the Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator…EVE! And WALL-E crawled through the ceiling, waving and chirping, "Yoo-hoo!"
"EVE! WALL-E! What are you guys doing here?" I asked, dumbfounded. EVE didn't answer; instead, she swooped in and shot several blasts from her laser cannon at Queen X's army. They all disintegrated into X Parasites, and I tried to catch them all, but Queen X tackled me before I could grasp the last few. I could only watch in horror as they headed straight for her…
…and passed right through her, having no effect whatsoever. The X Parasite looked confused. It tried to attack her again and again, but to no avail. EVE then tried to shoot at it several times, but her laser cannon had no effect, either. Even Queen X's jaw dropped in disbelief. "I don't get it," she gasped. "On the BSL, my subjects could infect those Security Robots and the Nightmare, but…?"
"I get it!" I triumphantly replied. "You can only infect biological people and stuff! You can't infect pure robots at all!" I then slammed her with the most powerful energy attack I could.
Right then, a door opened in the back, and an army of robots came charging through it. Not just the door. Some more flew though the ceiling, too. And they weren't just ordinary robots, either.
"Wha—what's going on? Who are they?" panicked Chikorita.
"Chikorita! They're here to help! They're Medabots!" I explained.
Right then, several hologram screens popped up around us. They showed views of people (and various aliens) whom I guessed had to be their Medafighters. I recognized several faces, including Ikki Tenryo, Erika, Karin, Koji, that Kenyan guy (I forgot his name…oh yeah, Victor), and Samantha, though there were many, many more Metafighters that were completely unfamiliar, especially the aliens. It confused me at first, since I though they were supposed to be from the 22nd Century, but I quickly kicked that thought out of my mind. I couldn't lose focus when fighting Queen X. And in the center of the room popped up a 3-D hologram of…Mr. Referee!
"Metafighters, ready? Metabots, ready? ROBATTLE!" he exclaimed before immediately turning off. Finally! A Robattle (sort of) with real Medabots!
"You heard the man! Time to get Meta-busy!" exclaimed Metabee from somewhere back there.
"ATTACK!" shouted Rokusho. Yes, the real Rokusho this time!
The Metabots charged. They might've all been about only 3 feet tall on average, but they packed an insane amount of speed and power as a whole, and demonstrated as much variety in their attacks as Pokémon or even Digimon ever could. Queen X had to double her multiplying speed just to keep pace. Metabee's orange lasers and missile launchers took down a whole row of Space Pirates. Even though he couldn't fly, he was really into it. Grovyle let Rokusho hop on the Jet Star and drove him through a bunch of Honchcrow-X's, slashing every one. Rokusho was so accurate that Grovyle could just focus on absorbing the X Parasites. And Peppercat leapt into the air several times, each time successfully taking down a swarm of Crobat-X's, with her signature electric shock attacks. I could go on and on, but the point was, it got to the point that the Metabots were defeating so many of Queen X's army, my friends and I only had time to fly around and collect all of the X Parasites before they re-formed into other creatures. But we managed to have time to blast Queen X whenever possible, as she was the source of all of this insanity.
But then she became smarter. She unleashed swarms upon swarms of X Parasites again, and this time, she turned them into exact copies of us to confuse us, and the Medabots. Several times, one would attack, say, Big Amy, and she'd say, "OW! Hey, I'm on your side!"
And another copy of Big Amy (actually a Jigglypuff-X) would respond, "No, wait, I'm on your side! She's an X Parasite!" And since the Medabot would be hopelessly confused, the real Big Amy would have to blast and absorb the impostor to convince him. I tried to keep track of the real Queen X, but there were so many clones of her, we ended up fighting for another hour, and we were still no closer to beating her, if that at all. At least all of those X Parasites kept replenishing our energy, allowing us to keep fighting for hours on end.
The tide turned in the most unexpected way. Two capsules, one with green gas, the other with orange gas, were thrown into the chamber from that hole in the ceiling. They exploded and released their gas all over us. My friends and I glowed with a green aura, while one of the Queen X's glowed with an orange aura. The real Queen X. Finally, I could tell who where the important ones here!
"What?" the real Queen X growled. "What is this? Who threw those things in here?"
We soon got our answer. A hologram screen popped up. It was Jumba! "Heh heh heh!" he laughed, holding up a few empty capsule containers. "Queen X, you have been naughty, naughty little girl! I simply couldn't watch while you punish innocent civilians like female carbon-based humanoid part of mosquito food chain."
Queen X paled. Even as we charged right for her and pummeled her as hard as we could, she didn't seem fazed. In fact, she continued to talk. "Jumba Jookiba? Wait. Are you saying that you…?"
"Yes. I made you. Part of very foolish science experiment, to be exact. Now I know I've made terrible mistake. Bye-bye! Oh, and can female carbon-based humanoid part of mosquito food chain hear me? Let her know I cheer her and friends on to correct terrible mistake and save galaxy! Heh heh heh!"
Queen X was seething with fury. "You're lying…you're lying! That's completely impossible! There's no way a lower-life form like you, could've made someone like me! I'm the alpha girl, I'm superior, and I can kill each and every one of you!" Looked like he found her weakness.
"Is true. You were merely product of little boy Jumba's mind when he fantasizes taking over whole planets! Heh heh! Do you remember first day when I release you on Planet SR-388? Do you? Do you?"
She paled again. "No way…that little kid all the way back then…that was you?"
"That's right! I, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, am your daddy, and I'm officially authorizing use of time out!" With that, the video turned off and disappeared.
That revelation completely broke her, and she stopped resisting any more. Even my friends were shocked. "That was Jumba Jookiba? The guy you met in prison?" gasped Big Amy.
"That's right!" I replied. I brought my biggest energy ball right down on Queen X's head. It was enough to finally defeat her!
She collapsed in an explosion and completely disintegrating, shouting "NOOOOOOOOO!" But we couldn't let our guard down yet. She revealed her true form, the form I remembered seeing when she infected me all that time ago: She became a living conglomerated fusion of a whole mass of Core-X's, complete with spiky outer shells. The Metabots fired immediately, but all of their shots kept bouncing off Queen X's shell.
"Everyone, stop!" I shouted.
Before I could say anything else, Samus added, "Listen to me! Queen X's weak spots are her eyes!" I guessed Samus had already used her Scan Visor on this form of Queen X. Everyone understood; yet remained confused. Queen X didn't even have any eyes in this form, did she?
All we could do was fly away as fast as we could from her monstrous mass while catching any X Parasites that floated out of her, which was easier said than done considering how she almost took up the entirety of the chamber! Finally, we saw it. One of the eyes on one of the Core-X's opened! We shot at it.
"There's another one here!"
"And here!"
"Back here, too!"
After about 20 of those eye-blasting sessions, a massive eye opened up at the top, and I released the energy blast I'd been charging up. As Queen X shuddered in pain, I understood what to do. We had to fire into each eye as they opened up before the big eye at the top opened. Samus then exclaimed, "That's it, Amy! That's the only way to damage it!" Lucky Samus. Her visor could tell when we were actually hurting our enemy and when we weren't.
While we continued, Queen X's massive, spiky bulk ran over many Medabots and crushed those who got wedged into corners, except for the ones who could escape through the bottom. It was really sad, though. I was hoping we wouldn't have any more casualties, but it was so like Queen X to spite me like that, even in her true form. Nevertheless, more Medabots (and even the Welcome Robots and Security Robots) flew in to take their place, some even to carry the injured Medabots out back to their Medafighters.
I have no idea how long it took, maybe 30 minutes, but after 8 more blasting sessions of her true eye, her outer shell finally collapsed. Her insides shrunk down to a huge gelatinous orange pulsating blob. My five friends and I all charged and plowed right into her. "YES!" we shouted. Finally, we could all absorb her and end her threat once and for all!
Except that we couldn't.
Her quivering, gelatinous mass seemed to resist us every which way possible. We kept up the struggle. But right then, I noticed something odd. There was a greenish orb thingy buried deep inside her. Samus managed to scan it and told me, "That thing! Amy, I think that's the way to beat her!" I immediately tried to swim my way toward it, but it was no use. She focused all of her pressure to stop me.
"Guys! Help me out here!" I shouted.
Luckily they did. Big Amy, Chikorita, Grovyle, Kirby, and Samus all backed me up. "All right, on my count! Three…two…one…GO!"
They shoved me in right as I unleashed the charge of energy I've been holding in to propel myself forward. I collided with full force into the green orb thingy and attacked it with everything I had.
Nothing happened…except for an odd ringing sound. "Never…" I heard Queen X growl. "I'll never…let you inferior beings…absorb ME! NEVER!" The ringing sound grew louder and louder. I couldn't stand it anymore and had to cover my ears.
Right then, we heard the announcer outside shout, "And something's coming this way! It's…it's…a whole swarm of them! Everyone move away!"
Queen X laughed and explained to me. Her booming voice sounded like telepathy at this point, probably because she didn't have a mouth anymore. "So someone told you about my failsafe system, huh? Get ready to die horribly, inferior beings. All of my subjects are coming back to me now. All of them. Even the ones that I used to conquer that other universe these past four weeks. Muahahahahahaha!"
So the good news was that we'd actually be able to rid the galaxy of X Parasites. The bad news was that, judging by Queen X's evil laughter, they would make her absurdly, astronomically, and obscenely more powerful than ever before.
It's very true. From above Capital Planet Earth, an interdimensional portal opens. A huge swarm of thousands—millions—of X Parasites comes through. All around Gaijin City, the fake versions of our six heroes suddenly decompose back to X Parasite form and fly to the Galactic Federation building. On Planet Portania, the X Parasites trying to copy Arceus and Dusknoir immediately leave their hosts and come flying, being automatically transported through a wormhole. Same thing for the X Parasites on the Space Pirate Homeworld. But most importantly of all, on Planet SR-388, all X Parasites, no matter what form they're in, abandon whatever form they were copying and head toward the same point in the atmosphere, where Queen X reopened a portal.
The swarms burst in from the ceiling, the door, a portal leading to SR-388 that suddenly materialized on the wall in front of the High Council seats, and three other places I didn't suspect. We had no choice. "Guys! Try not to let any of them reach Queen X!" I shouted, pushing myself out of her gelatinous mass. The six of us threw ourselves in the way of the different streams. I took the biggest stream, the one from the top, and spread my wings as far as I could to catch them all. All the Medabots in the room watched with anticipation and held their fire, waiting to see if their assistance would be needed further.
Who were we kidding?
No matter how many X Parasites I absorbed, more always seemed to slip past my grasp and merge with Queen X. I could feel a rush of energy, the biggest energy boost I've ever received. I was absolutely glowing! I was overflowing with so much energy in my arms, my legs, my wings, everywhere…I wondered if I would go into hypermode or something. Luckily, that never seemed to happen, though it felt like if I didn't unleash all that energy at once, and fast, I'd explode.
As it turned out, Queen X used all of her subjects to regenerate her outer shell, her complex superstructure, and finally, her previous physical form. The six of us unleashed all of our extra energy on her, and it looked like we hit her square on.
Then we found that she actually split herself up into 50 perfect copies or so, like Dark Samus, except 10 times better. EVE and the Medabots went into action again. I groaned when I found that we had to start all over again.
The second time around was much harder. Not only was Queen X stronger, she became much, much smarter. First, she unleashed a swarm of X Parasites that formed themselves into…people. That is, people with white lab coats. Samus gasped, "It's those researchers!" and I immediately realized that they were those same people that the X Parasites killed on the BSL Research Station. The only reason they were infected in the first place was so the X Parasites could gather information, so why the heck was Queen X sending them out into this kind of battle?
We quickly realized the horrifying answer.
Sure, Samus and I had no problem going to town on these people, and neither did our friends. But every single Medabot in the chamber suddenly froze. Even if they pointed their blasters at the Researcher-X's, something seemed to paralyze their shots. Not even Rokusho seemed to be able to swing his Chanbara Sword at all. And unless my ears were fooling me, we could hear…warning bleeps from them.
Queen X smirked in triumph, "Ah-HA! Just as I thought. You may be Medabots, but you all still follow the Laws of Robotics. Remember Law #1? 'A robot must never injure a human being'."
"No way…" I gasped.
"Hey! No fair! What about us?" shouted Chikorita.
She stared at my Pokémon friends as if they were total idiots. "You're Pokémon. You aren't nearly as fragile as human beings. So you don't count. Suckers!" She spat at them and unleashed a new wave of X Parasites, but this time, all of them turned into copies of me.
I continued to blast Queen X, but I noticed that Big Amy and Chikorita were much more reluctant and kept flying away, trying to avoid actually attacking my imposters. But Grovyle had it the worst; after he attacked just one time, he stood absolutely still and just stared in petrified horror.
"Grovyle! What are you doing?" I shouted at him. "The real me is the one with wings, remember? I'm right here!"
I don't think he heard me at all.
One of the Me-X's staggered back and screamed at him, "How could you DO this to me, you murderer? My dad told me that true friends never hurt each other! NEVER!"
Hearing my lines stolen like that…and seeing the absolutely anguished look on Grovyle's face…made something inside me snap. Hard. "Oh, for crying out LOUD!" I exclaimed. I zoomed down there and angrily unleashed an explosion of light energy at my impostors, absorbing them all in the process. I was so furious that I completely forgot about Queen X until it was too late.
Flashes of Ice Beams filled my ears, and the pain of a thousand ice arrows stabbed around my body. I barely had time to scream before the air solidified around me and trapped me in an irregularly-shaped mound of pure ice. I couldn't move. I wasn't even sure if I could breathe. And to my horror, all my friends were trapped inside, too. Even Samus. But at least they had air holes.
"Sorry, guys…there were too many of them for me to handle alone," gasped Samus.
"D—d—don't you h—h—have any w—w—weaknesses at all?" chattered Chikorita in desperation.
"No…" she replied. "None. Except this…and that was after they infected me…"
"L—l—like that S—S—Spiritomb guy…" noted Big Amy in dismay. "N—n—no fair…"
Outside, I saw what they were talking about; where the Ice Beams came from: a whole army of SA-X's, perfect clones of Samus. They began to surround us. Queen X glowered at us, "I wonder why it took me this long to think of this, hm? Oh yeah. So you'd think you'd actually have a chance. New flash, Metroid brats. You never did. I can make as many copies of the most powerful bounty hunter in the galaxy as I want!" She then smiled at me and continued, "Amy [you know who]…remember that movie Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones? Well guess what. This time, I have the clones…and you've got the droids. You know who won that one." She gestured at all of the hopelessly paralyzed Medabots for emphasis.
Every single one of the SA-X's raised their Arm Cannons and opened up the Missile Chambers. My heart nearly leapt into my throat when I realized what they were about to do. Queen X gloated, "That's right, inferior being. You know the quickest way to kill a Metroid. Now you shall all know how they felt. Too bad you can't say anything anymore. Muahahahahaha!"
I shut my eyes and braced myself. Not even Samus could blast herself out of this one. The SA-X's would unleash their Super Missiles, shattering the ice…and our bodies along with it.
Right then, four bright lights filled the chamber, distracting the SA-X's and nearly blinding us. I gasped in disbelief. Metabee glowed with an orange light, Rokusho glowed with a blue light, Arcbeetle glowed with a red light, and a yellow aura surrounded Warbandit. The four Medabots with the rare Medals necessary for such abilities positioned themselves against each corner of the chamber and aimed at Queen X and her SA-X army. Could it be…? Could it be…?
Queen X completely lost her composure, and froze in place. "No way…impossible! Y—you all can't—NO—!" It never occurred to her that she could simply fly out of the way.
"MEDAFOOOOORCE!" the four Medabots shouted as they unleashed four massive energy blasts at Queen X and the SA-X army. The heat from their blasts was enough to melt the ice we were encased in, too. I remembered the Medaforce. Only those four Medabots, with those four Rare Medals (golden hexagonal "souls" for Medabots that came from ancient times) were capable of a high-energy attack known as the Medaforce. I groaned when I remembered how I made a fool of myself in 6th grade in a game of kickball thinking that the Medaforce would allow me to kick the ball all the way to the woods. Instead, I got tagged out before I even reached first base. But this was no joke. This was for real. It took a delay of seven long, lonely years…but the Medaforce finally came to save my butt for the first time.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Queen X screeched for the second time that day as she disintegrated back into that massive multiple Core-X that was her true form. Finally, we beat her…again!
We were all stunned. We thought the Medabots couldn't attack anyone looking like a human, not even Queen X. Rokusho explained, "You happen to forget the second law. A robot may not injure a human being…or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Looking back on it, I wondered how that was possible since it conflicted with the first law, but I eventually guessed the four of them finally managed to figure out that X Parasite copied people didn't count as human beings.
Samus slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Of course…!"
"Thanks, guys…!" I could only gasp in gratitude.
My friends and I then sped around the room reabsorbing the flying X Parasites while the Medabot army focused their attention on the multiple Core-X mass that was Queen X. Once again, we helped them shoot the eyes in the correct sequence in order to shoot out the big eye at the top. Once again, it took another 30 minutes. Actually, 45, since we now had to shoot 30 eyes in a row before revealing her weak spot, and she only kept it open half of the time.
Finally, her true X Parasite form was revealed once more. We charged and tried to absorb her once more. There were no more green orbs inside of her, so we thought we could do it again…but as it turned out, she was even harder to absorb her this time. She zapped us with an electric field on her surface!
"I don't get it! Why can't we absorb her?" shouted Chikorita in dismay.
Queen X growled, "NEVER! I'll never let you! EVER!" and zapped us again. She was even stronger than before.
Samus quickly ran the Scan Visor over Queen X and explained to us, "All of those X Parasites made her too powerful! Even all of us combined only have few strands of Metroid DNA! I remember this—it was just like when I fought the SA-X. I beat her, but I couldn't absorb her until an Omega Metroid came and defeated her for me! Guys, we don't have any choice! Only a 100% real Metroid has any chance of stopping her now!"
We all hung onto Queen X, and I spread my wings all over her to keep her from moving too far. She writhed and squirmed and sent jolts of energy through us, but we never let go.
Meanwhile, seeing that they could do nothing more to help, most of the Medabots followed their Medafighters' orders to retreat out of there. EVE and WALL-E helped to escort the ones with injured legs, and even those whose functions had ceased entirely. Some, though, like Metabee and Rokusho, decided to stay, just in case Queen X tried something again.
Kirby complained, "But you said awl the Metwoids are gone!"
"Yeah! What are we supposed to do now?" added Grovyle.
Samus pulled out the thing that made us all gasp: Essence Sight's stone circle with ancient writing. She explained, "We have to repeat what they did. We have to bring the Metroids back to life. And according to the Law of Equivalent Exchange…one of us has to go."
Big Amy, Chikorita, Grovyle, and Kirby gasped. They all looked in my direction. I looked around recognized the exact scene from that Dimensional Scream. We were here, at the Galactic Federation, with the stone circle placed on top of Queen X to keep her from flying away. Kirby and my Pokémon friends had already docked their Air Ride Machines around the edges of the circle. It was just as Kel-Zich had predicted. It would be me.
And right then, I understood everything. I knew it would come to this all along. I knew there had to be no choice. Maybe it was destiny, or maybe it was some kind of freaky sick failsafe system of my universe, but whatever it was…it was just like the climax of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. Just like Sherlotta, I suddenly realized everything that had to be done. Ha. Echoes of Time…Echoes of Time…Didn't I call Team Pecha's previous adventures Amy, Chikorita, and the Echoes of Time? Something told me that everything was coming full circle right then.
"You're weaving? Pwease don't weave us…pwease…" groaned Kirby.
Chikorita burst into tears. "I meant what I said before! I always knew you were a good person inside…and truly good people are way too hard to find for me. Please…don't go, Amy! I never would've gotten this far without you, I swear! If you really wanted a happy ending for us…you…" She paused and sniffed. "I thought we told our story so nothing like this would ever happen again. You know our story way better than either of us ever could! And yet, you…I don't know I don't know if I can take this pain again! I've lost my Amy once…I can't lose another! Not again! I just can't!"
So did Grovyle. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you. Just don't do this to me, please…"
"But, Grovyle…don't you know how I feel? You were willing to give up your life to save the future. You yourself said that you'd rather live a short life doing the right thing. I…I've always wished…I could—"
"But it's NOT FAIR! You never had anything to do with this…! I know I had to do this once too…but somehow…I don't want…" He then shouted at me, "Don't you get it, Amy? I love you! I always did! Just not the way Gandrayda thinks. You, my Amy, Chikorita, Celebi, Samus, Kirby…all of you! But you most of all! Funny, isn't it? I realized this just now. And now you're…you're…" He slammed his fist on the stone tablet in agony. "Why does this always happen to me?"
"He's right," agreed Samus. "You really don't have to go this far for me. For us. I'm sorry I thought you were nothing but a lazy good-for-nothing civilian. You already gave me the first birthday party I've ever had! You taught me not to judge people that quickly…that friends are worth having…and worth fighting for. If you die…won't you be contradicting everything you've ever taught?"
Finally, Big Amy bounced right up and gripped me on the neck, hugging me as tightly as she could. "Little Amy! D—didn't we promise to be best friends forever? Don't you want to go home? Do you really have to make the same sacrifice that I did? I mean, you have a choice this time, right? Chikorita and I almost made a mistake with Darkrai, remember? How do you know…this isn't a mistake? I…I never even sang that song I made for you…" She sobbed uncontrollably again.
I patted her on the back and whispered, "Amy, Amy…You can feel it too, can you? When Kel-Zich said we were one and the same…I think…I now know what he meant. All this time, there was meant to be just one Amy, and one Amy only. And I already chose who should live. You. You're the true Amy in this universe. You always have been."
I then addressed them all, starting with Samus. "Samus. In my home dimension, your story is a tragic one. It doesn't have a happy ending yet…and maybe it never will. When I swore to you that I would do whatever it took to get your career back…I didn't mean just that. I also promised that I would do whatever it took to give you a happy ending. Samus. I want to give you a chance to see that baby Metroid again. I want you to know what true happiness is like. I think you've been denied it for way too long. I always have…ever since I was 11 years old."
Then to Kirby. "Kirby…Look after the true Amy for me. I know you two were always meant to be best friends." Then to Chikorita. "Chikorita. I know. It kills me inside to put you through this again…but I promise you. I'll make things right for you. I'll make sure you and your friends live happily ever after, so no one would ever go through this again. I'll make sure you have the family you've always wanted."
Then Grovyle. "I think I know what you mean, Grovyle. I love all of you too. I always have. That's what Celebi and Gandrayda really wanted to tell us. Pure love…is the best in the world. It doesn't have to be romance. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I know it's not fair that I have to leave right when we all love each other the most…but like you said, this is something I live for. To make things right again."
And finally, I stood up and addressed them all. "Guys? I'm really glad I met you all. I don't regret a second of it. I really don't. You guys proved you were way more than just figments of my imagination. You proved that you all were real friends. And that's why I know that…this is the right thing to do."
Queen X replied smugly from beneath us, "Ha! Even if I go, at least I'll be taking you with me, inferior being! You do know that you're sacrificing yourself for another energy-sucking parasite, right?"
"Shut up! You're ruining the moment!" we shouted at her, gripping her even harder.
Big Amy stared at the center of the circle and remarked, "…I'll have to give up my Dimensional Scream—no, my Echoes of Time power too…right?"
"Yeah. I think you understand now." I placed her down. Finally, I decided to use the same last words that Big Amy said to Chikorita. It felt so right for the moment. "Seriously, though…Thanks for being my best friends. I loved the times we played…the times we explored…the times you all stuck by me no matter what. You all taught me what made life worth living. My life was too short, but…I wouldn't have traded any second of it for anything in this universe or any other. Speaking of which, I'm the Master of this Universe, remember? I know this is the only way to make things right again. I know it."
Samus started the process. As the Metroid DNA flowed out through her arms into the stone circle, I was worried that it would make her vulnerable to Queen X again, but it didn't seem like an issue, as the stone tablet itself seemed to be repelling Queen X by itself. We had to hold the tablet up in the air with our Air Ride Machines to keep it from falling down. Next was Kirby, and his Jigglypuff ears vanished into a glow of green energy that flowed to join the buildup of green energy in the center. Then Chikorita, then Grovyle, and finally, Big Amy. Just like in my vision, she was the one who ended up glowing the brightest.
The Dimensional Scream—no, the Echoes of Time, huh? Seeing her sacrifice its power got me to thinking. Who knew that the result of a bunch of evil genius scientists' work could actually end up saving the future of an entire planet? If I remembered correctly, she could even use it to talk with Grovyle and Celebi in the future…but that was only assuming that she and Chikorita would be stuck in the past the whole time, just like in the games. But thanks to Queen X's efforts, they ended up seeing him again, and if she gives up her powers entirely (even though she's almost never needed it anymore)…it'll be too sad if they have to go. If only I could allow them to live together somehow…
And that was when I somehow felt that the only way to solve everything...would be if I had to go.
"But before you go, Amy…I'd like you…to hear this," whispered Big Amy.
"I'm listening," I replied. Was she about to sing?
She was.
Every night in my dreams, I see you…I feel you…
That is how I know you go on…
Far across the distance and spaces between us,
You have come to show you go on…
As we go on…we remember…
All the times we've…had together…
And as our lives change…come whatever…
We will still be…friends forever…
Near…far…wherever you are…
I believe that the heart does go on…
Once…more…you open the door,
And you're here in my heart and, we'll go on forevermore…
As we go on…we remember…
All the times we've…had together…
And as our lives change…come whatever…
We will still be…friends forever…
You're…here…there's nothing I fear…
And I know that we'll remember you…
We'll…stay…forever this way…
You are safe in my heart and, we'll go on forevermore…
Wow…such a beautiful song! No wonder she could never sing it before. Only for situations like these could she ever sing so beautifully. I was surprised at how well both songs meshed together, like a heartsong from Happy Feet, but it convinced me that maybe…just maybe…we were one and the same. I knew all the lyrics, too. I remembered listening to both songs over and over again the day before I went on this crazy adventure. So I sang along with her, and for a second, it felt like our voices sounded the exact same. I didn't know how she knew the famous theme from Titanic or that Friends Forever song, but it convinced me that maybe…just maybe…we were one and the same. [And best of all? They were songs I was confident that many, many people would know the tune this time.]
I stepped onto the center of the plate. I'll admit I was worried as to how much it would hurt, or how it would go, or how long it would take, but as the green light began to envelop me, it didn't burn or sear or even feel painful at all. It was…warm. Maybe that was why Ray of Hope didn't seem so scared when he sacrificed himself. Ray of Hope…Ray…Like Ray the Cajun Firefly from The Princess and the Frog. Why'd I think of him now? I guess maybe the two guys weren't so different after all. I guess it wouldn't be too bad to go out honorably for a noble cause, like them.
I looked at each of my friends in turn, and suddenly remembered several famous lines I wanted to say before my time was up. They were the perfect lines for assuaging their fears…and I believed in every one of them.
"I'll…be…right here," I whispered, pointing to my heart.
Chikorita sniffed and whispered back, "I'm gonna miss you, Little Amy…! We all will!"
"And I'll miss you. All of you. Keep me close…in your dreams." YES! I've always wanted those to be my last words. E.T. and Entei really knew how to say goodbye.
The green light changed to a brilliant gold and filled the entire Galactic Federation chamber, exploding out of the stone circlet. It washed over my whole body…and I floated into it with no more fear at all. Goodbye, everyone…goodbye.
To be continued…
Coming up next: Everything comes full circle at last. All questions answered, all truths revealed…all for the sake of the rebirth of the most magical creature in the galaxy. Amy Vee Purima and I are truly…One and the Same.