Chapter 6 – Encounter
As the group finally begins moving again, Cade and Darman notice Mewtwo acting strangely, as if uneasy about something. This is especially true when he's near Sarah, but neither Cade nor Darman believe it isn't possible for him to feel certain emotions, and so rule out the most likely possibilities as being impossible. Despite this, Mewtwo is almost certainly loyal to them, or at least to Sarah, but in order to prove himself, he will have to fight his former comrades, whom he has proven to have no love lost towards him. This will be an even bigger problem in the case of Cade and Darman, as they will have to confront their old unit. The Delta Force Four is back, and out for revenge.
"Looks like you were pointing us in the right direction after all Mewtwo" said a slightly frustrated Cade, "This road seems much easier than the one I pointed out." "Remember Cade, I can sense many things, including magnetic fields, so as a result, I have a well-developed sense of direction" Mewtwo replied as he floated a head of them, with Sarah just ahead of him. He had been feeling uneasy around Sarah since the previous night for no apparent reason, or at least that was his own belief. Perhaps it could have had something to do with all that lay ahead of him; he couldn't defeat Raynar K'Tal, so how could he possibly believe he could defeat an entire army? He knew Neo-Cyclone was powerful, too powerful to be acting alone; something else had to be at work here, but what could it be? Furthermore, once he finds the answer to that question, how will defeat that to ensure Neo-Cyclone's downfall? All these questions were going around in his head, but something else was on his mind, something far more pressing. Something was in the air, a feeling of suspicion and danger. "Get down!" Mewtwo shouted as he pushed the others to the ground. A pair of blurs streaked over their heads and landed in front of him. It was a Weavile and Hitmontop, one of them Cade and Darman recognized all too well. "Johnathan Matthias" Cade said, "I should've known you'd follow your father's footsteps." "Well if it isn't the two biggest screw-ups ever to serve in Cyclone and the Ultimate Weapon himself" John taunted, the ex-bandit wary of the two former commandos along with Mewtwo when he noticed Sarah and was almost certain of who she was, "You're Raynar's daughter, I presume?" "Yeah, and he told me about you!" Sarah replied angrily. "No need to get angry…yet" replied the Hitmontop, whom Sarah knew as Westley. "Look guys, we don't have time to screw around with you two, so we gotta go" Cade said. "Not yet, the party's just begun!" replied a voice from behind them. The group spun around to see a Seviper, the one that had just spoken, and a Garchomp. "Scylla…Vance…" Cade muttered. "Master Lettos has ordered us to take you down" Scylla, the Seviper, said coldly. "Long time no see traitors, but this is the end of the line for you" replied Vance, the Garchomp, "Delta Force Four, attack!" "Roger Delta One!" replied the others as they attacked, with Mewtwo pushing them back to prevent them being swarmed. "Let's take them on one-on-one" Mewtwo said, "Come on!"
Sarah was up against Scylla, and already, Sarah knew she was in for a tough fight. "You have your father's courage and your mother's looks, but none of either's skill!" Scylla taunted as she lashed out with Poison Tail, the attack barely missing Sarah as she quickly leapt away from the lethal arc of the former's tail blade. Sarah attempted to strike back with Fire Punch, but her strike was blocked by Scylla's blade, the latter of whom then slashed Sarah across her midsection. Sarah recoiled back in pain, gripping at the area she had been slashed. "Give it up child, you can't possibly fight Neo-Cyclone and hope to win!" Scylla taunted yet again. "I'm…not…done…yet!" Sarah replied as she stood up, now starting to emanate a blue energy field as her aura began building up. At this Scylla laughed and replied "So you wish to fight on in the face of certain defeat? How amusing…but your efforts are already doomed to failure!" "Like you said, the party's just begun!" Sarah replied as she charged an Aura Sphere, which she fired at Scylla. The Seviper's eyes widened in surprise as the attack slammed into her, causing her more pain than she thought Sarah could inflict upon her. "So you've got some fight in you? This is gonna be fun!" Scylla replied with a wide grin as she lunged at Sarah with Poison Fang. Sarah evaded and counterstriked with an Aura-boosted Fire Punch, which for one reason or another hurt Scylla even more. "Clever little sneak!" Scylla exclaimed as she brought her tail around in a Night Slash attack; Sarah teleported out of the attack's arc and reappeared behind Scylla before sending her flying with Psychic. Scylla hissed angrily as she recovered from the shock and turned back around towards Sarah. "You're really starting to annoy me!" she hissed as she attacked again, only for Sarah to teleport away and use Aura Sphere again, this time landing a critical blow. Scylla was knocked flying into a tree, upon which she felt herself losing consciousness. "I…don't…believe it!" she managed to say just before passing out.
Cade, meanwhile, was up against John, who was easily a match for him in terms of skill, speed and power, if not superior in each of those factors; it would all come down to who made the first mistake. Cade and John both maximized their speed and attack power with Swords Dance and Agility before staring each other down, each waiting for the other to move. "C'mon Cade, show me what you've got!" John taunted. "With pleasure!" Cade shouted back as the two leapt at each other at such blinding speed that one could barely see them at all. Both of their attacks collided with a loud metallic clang, Cade and John both using Night Slash. They pushed each other apart and began circling at high speed, each testing each other's defenses and holding back aggressive moves as they analyzed each other. Cade was the first to strike, his attack missing as John back flipped over his head and struck with Brick Break to the back of his head. Cade was knocked flying by the intense attack, but his armored carapace held firm, and so he quickly recovered. "I wonder how is it you got that X-shaped scar between your eyes" John asked, already knowing that he was the reason behind that injury from fifteen years ago. "You know why that is all too well!" Cade replied as the two charged at each other again, John prepared to attack Cade when the latter suddenly grabbed John's claws in his pincers before throwing him against a rock and following up with Brick Break, this time sending John through the rock and skidding across the ground into a tree. John staggered to his feet despite the pain he was in and rushed Cade one last time with Crush Claw, with Cade charging at him as well, but just as they passed, Cade evaded and attacked with X-Scissor. The two came to a halt, and John, critically wounded, fell in defeat.
Darman was up against Westley (We'll refer to him as Wes from now on), and like his counterpart Cade, his strategy was a high-speed, all-out offense, but unlike Cade, he couldn't afford to take hits, so he had to be much more evasive. "C'mon Rockhead! Show me what you got!" Wes taunted. Darman used Swords Dance to raise his attack power before attacking with Stone Edge. Wes leapt out of the way before using Bullet Punch. To his surprise, Darman had turned around and blocked the attack, catching Wes' fists between his blades. "Damn!" Wes shouted in frustration before Darman threw him back. By the time Wes was back on his feet, Darman had used Dig, and was underground. "Hey Wes, behind you!" Darman shouted as he popped up behind the Hitmontop. Wes used Rolling Kick, but missed as Darman ducked back into the hole. Darman reappeared off to the side a few yards away and shouted, "I'm over here!" Wes attacked again, but again missed as Darman ducked back into the hole. This continued for quite a while until there were nine holes arranged in a circle, Darman popping up in the middle. "There you are! Take this!" Wes shouted in frustration as he leapt into the air to use Hi Jump Kick from directly above; little did he know that Darman had anticipated this, as this was his plan all along. He fired Hydro Pump into the hole he had just popped out of, a high pressure blast of water flowing into the tunnels he had dug. The holes were at an angle, so just as Wes was an inch from Darman's head, he was hit on all sides by Hydro Pump. By the time the water abated, Wes was on the ground, as wet as he was unconscious.
Mewtwo, on the other hand, was in a high-stakes battle with their leader, a Garchomp going by the name Falke. "Well well XM-2, you seem to have grown since we last met!" Falke taunted. "It's Mewtwo!" Mewtwo shot back furiously as he attacked time and time again, his Psycho Cut attacks colliding with Falke's Dragon Claw. Falke eventually broke through Mewtwo's defenses and slammed him into the ground with an intense attack. Mewtwo stood back up and flew high into the air, with Falke in pursuit. "Fool, you can't escape from me!" Falke shouted. "I don't intend to!" Mewtwo replied as he back flipped in mid flight, reversing his direction so that he was face-to-face with Falke before launching a Shadow Ball attack down at his adversary. Falke took the full force of the attack to his head and slammed into the ground below, but despite this intense blow, Falke stood right back up and attacked again with Giga Impact; Mewtwo teleported out of the line of fire only to reappear right in front of Falke as he came to a halt. "Dammit!" Falke exclaimed. Mewtwo brought back his fist before slamming into Falke, shouting, "Focus…PUNCH!" In less than three seconds, Falke had been plowed head first into the ground at near Mach One, although he was still able to stand back up. "Alright…that's enough…" Falke said as he grabbed each of his fallen comrades and ran off into the distance.
"Hmm…that was a waste of time…" Mewtwo said as he looked around, "Anyone from Neo-Cyclone want to be next!" "Mewtwo, don't antagonize them!" Sarah exclaimed as she ran over to him, "When we find them again, you can beat them up as much as you want, but until them, let's just concentrate on traveling." Mewtwo looked at Sarah, then back in the direction Delta Force Four had retreated in. "Well…alright, but when we find them next time, don't expect me to pull my punches…" Mewtwo said while putting a subtle emphasis on the word 'punches'. Understanding, the pun, Sarah smiled and replied, "You know something Mewtwo? You can be really funny when you want to be." Mewtwo seemed to blush slightly at this, and based on how quickly he looked away, he probably noticed. "Let's go…" Mewtwo said as he started back down the trail with Sarah, Cade and Darman following close behind. "Very strange, Mewtwo's behavior has changed considerably" Cade said, "He's nowhere near as aggressive as I remember him to be." "You're right, he has changed, but what could be causing it?" Darman replied as he thought when he realized what it must be, "Aha! It all makes sense now!" "What?" Cade asked. "Nothing Cade" Darman replied, "I'll tell you about it later."