Chapter 8 – Feelings

After having a very strange dream, Mewtwo has become more doubtful and uncertain as to what the future holds. Regardless, he, Sarah, Cade and Darman continue along their path. Little do they know that Neo-Cyclone has a plan to defeat them, and they are nearly ready to implement it. Hopefully, the four of them will be prepared for Neo-Cyclone's attack, or else their journey could come to a premature end.

"There's a clearing just ahead" Mewtwo said as he floated above the group to see ahead, "We can rest there for a little while." Sarah could barely contain her relief; the four of them had traveled an astonishing sixty miles in just over eight hours, which was no easy feat on foot. "Finally!" Cade exclaimed, "Next thing on the to-do list: get something to eat!" "My thoughts exactly" Darman replied, "I haven't eaten for three days, and only now am I beginning to feel the effects of a lack of food and sleep along with constant traveling. Just as they entered the clearing, Mewtwo gestured for the group to stop. "It's quiet…too quiet…" Mewtwo said as he focused on his surroundings. He detected five auras, four of them being without a doubt the Delta Force Four. "Your cover's blown! Show yourselves!" Mewtwo shouted. "You're mistaken, there's only one" replied a voice that to Mewtwo was vaguely familiar, "It seems your Aura-sensory abilities are not yet perfected if you fell for THAT one!" Suddenly, Mewtwo sensed something attacking him from the side; he ducked and rolled away, catching a brief glimpse of the assailant. It was a shiny Lucario, one that Mewtwo knew all too well.

"Derek!" Mewtwo exclaimed, "I haven't seen you in over fifteen years, what the hell are you doing here!" "I should ask you the same thing Mewtwo" Derek replied coldly, a sharp contrast to the mischievous smart-aleck everyone knew from over fifteen years ago. "My cousin!" Sarah exclaimed, "Why did you attack Mewtwo!" "Yeah, spill the beans kid!" Darman replied, baring his scythes for battle. "How can you think about food at a time like this!" Cade shouted angrily. "It's a figure of speech Cade!" Darman shot back, silencing his comrade. "Sarah K'Tal, daughter of Raynar and Eva Sorenson K'Tal…" Derek said with a hint at a smile visible on his face, "Raynar told me about you not long after you were hatched…I suppose you wonder what happened to me, and I'm willing to share…about a year after you hatched, I left Arcceonn and began working as a freelance explorer, and in that time I had seen many amazing sights…however, I also witnessed many an injustice, and I felt so helpless knowing that most of them go unpunished…" Sarah could sympathize with Derek's thoughts on the subject, but something didn't seem right; where could he be going with this? "But that was when I met him…the ex-Cyclone General, Dallon Lettos" Derek continued, "He had an image of an ideal world devoid of greed, hunger, strife, wars, poverty and all wants or needs…so I joined Ne-Cyclone as a General…and I've been ordered by Master Lettos personally to take you out!"

At that, his palms began glowing, and from them extended two blades made purely of Aura. "I'll handle this one…" Mewtwo said as he readied his own Aura and leapt into the attack using Focus Punch. Derek rolled out of the way of the attack and struck Mewtwo in the back of the head with Blaze Kick. Mewtwo staggered from the blow, literally seeing stars from the force of the impact, but was already counterattacking by using his tail. Derek leapt away from the attack by front-flipping over Mewtwo and landing in front of him before striking him again with Blaze Kick, this time right under the chin. Mewtwo was knocked flying by this impact, which was stronger than the first. "What's the matter Mewtwo? Don't tell me you haven't gotten stronger since Raynar beat you last!" Derek taunted. "I've become a thousand times stronger!" Mewtwo shouted furiously as he fired Shadow Ball at Derek. The Lucario raised an Aura Shield in front of him and deflected the attack back at Mewtwo, inflicting the same attack upon Mewtwo, but with twice the usual strength caused by the rebound. Mewtwo was slammed higher into the air, this time with Derek pursuing and slashing him several times with his Aura blades before slamming Mewtwo back into the ground with Aura Sphere. Derek landed not too far away and smiled as Mewtwo stood back up.

"What now Mewtwo, haven't you learned that the only way to defeat your Shadow is to face it directly?" Derek taunted. Mewtwo was about to reply with a smart-aleck remark when suddenly he remembered his dream. What is the one advantage Derek has over me? Mewtwo thought as he assessed his foe, his eyes coming to rest on his Aura blades. Of course! I need to fight fire with fire! Mewtwo thought as he extended his Aura into blades extending from his forearm. "You're going down hard!" "We'll see about that, now won't we?" Derek remarked as the two of them attacked each other again. This time, Mewtwo had the upper hand, as he was able to force Derek's blades aside and strike him repeatedly before Derek leapt away from the last strike and fired Aura Sphere. Mewtwo used Barrier, the attack slamming into it and rebounding back at Derek, slamming him into a tree. "You're good, but I'm better!" Derek shouted as he leapt back to his feet like nothing had happened. Mewtwo attacked again with Shadow Ball, Derek launching Aura Sphere in reply. The two attacks collided in a massive explosion that launched both combatants flying, flattening nearly every tree surrounding them. Even through the smoke, the Derek's blades and Mewtwo's blades glowed blue and purple respectively. They were no more than blurs, moving almost too fast for the eye to catch. Eventually, however, the blue blades disappeared, and when the smoke cleared, a very frustrated Mewtwo stood alone, the blades disappearing.

"He ran away!" Mewtwo exclaimed angrily. "Mewtwo! You're okay!" Sarah shouted as she ran over to him, knocking him over as she ran into him before tripping over and landing on top of him. Mewtwo was caught off guard by this and found himself quite embarrassed to end up in such a compromising position. "Uh…Sarah, please get off me" Mewtwo said flatly. "Oh, sorry…" Sarah replied as she got off of him and stood back up, Mewtwo following suit. Cade and Darman each gawked at what had just happened, Cade in disbelief at what happened, Darman in disbelief at why he thought it happened. I was right! he thought, That complicates things…

Later that night, the group had set up camp and was going about different tasks, save Darman and Sarah. Mewtwo had gone to a nearby river to wash himself up and to treat his wounds while Cade had gone off to gather food, despite the fact that Darman knew where at least half of that food would end up: Cade's stomach. "It seems I was right…" Darman muttered, intent on Sarah hearing him. "About what? Derek?" Sarah asked. "No…it was a tragic reunion, I'll admit that, but that's not what I'm talking about" Darman replied. "What do you mean?" Sarah asked. "You know what I'm talking about" Darman replied, giving her a knowing smile. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise; "What the…no! It's nothing like that!" Sarah exclaimed, blushing quite noticeably. "Oh sure it isn't, right!" Darman teased, "I can tell exactly how you feel towards Mewtwo, and every bit of evidence points to infatuation!" Sarah was about to protest but was unable to find a word for a suitable response, instead turning away, blushing even brighter now from embarrassment. "There's nothing to be ashamed of Sarah, just don't expect him to return your feelings" Darman replied upon noticing how embarrassed she was from his needling, "Mewtwo is an artificial creation and doesn't have the emotional capacity that naturally born pokemon do." "He does too!" Sarah shot back angrily at Darman's insensitivity; she may have been unsure of herself, but she was still very protective of Mewtwo regardless of how she felt towards him. "Oh really? He never seems to show certain ones…" Darman replied flatly. "Hmph! You're just like all the others from the old Cyclone, insensitive towards others and grumpig-headed!" Sarah exclaimed furiously as she stormed out of the camp. "Sarah, wait!" Darman shouted, but it was already too late. "What have I done…" he muttered as he ran after her.

Sarah ran through the forest alone; she didn't care where she was going, she just needed to find a spot to think and clear her head. Soon enough, she came to another clearing where a river ran through and stopped. She walked over to the edge and sat down, sticking her feet into the water and relaxing. "I need to clear my head…why did I get so worked up like that!" she thought aloud. "It's because you were defending something" a voice replied. Sarah spun around to see Mewtwo sitting upon a branch high in a tree, staring right down at her. He lowered himself from the branch before floating down to the ground and landing in front of her. "Why did you follow me?" Mewtwo asked, "Is something wrong?" "No…nothing's wrong" Sarah replied sheepishly, "I came here by accident." "Accident? I think not" Mewtwo said flatly, "What's on your mind?" Sarah fidgeted slightly before she replied, "Well…you see, it has to do with emotions…" "You're unsure of your feelings towards a certain something" Mewtwo answered. At that, Sarah nodded in reply only for Mewtwo to add, "I can assess your feelings for you if you're willing to let me into your mind…but I need you to trust me if I do." Sarah hesitated slightly before replying, "I trust you…go ahead." At that, Mewtwo closed his eyes and began to probe her mind. He was immediately bombarded with emotions; whatever Sarah felt, it was strong. He probed deeper and deeper until he found what he sought and identified what it was.

Mewtwo's eyes shot open in surprise at this; Sarah took note of this and asked, "What's wrong?" Mewtwo, blushing slightly, turned away from her before he said, "I…need to go somewhere…" Just as he was about to leave, Sarah grabbed his shoulder and said, "You still haven't told me what you saw." "I…uh…Well…" Mewtwo began, trying to find another way out but not finding any. "Alright, I'll tell you…" Mewtwo replied, "I sensed many things; compassion, happiness, desire…and slight uncertainty…that all points towards one emotion…you know which one I'm talking about, right?" Sarah, realizing Darman's suspicions had now been confirmed, blushed even more now. "I must say…I'm flattered…thanks…" Mewtwo continued when suddenly an idea he had never thought of once in his entire life came to his head; maybe things could be taken a bit…further. Mewtwo wiped some sweat from his brow before adding, "But something tells me that maybe you seek something more." "Something more?" Sarah asked when suddenly she realized what he had implied. "I don't know Mewtwo" Sarah replied with a mischievous smile, "Let's find out…"

Meanwhile, Cade was in high spirits, snacking on some Salac Berries he had found as he walked back to camp. "Who would've thought all those berries would be right there!" Suddenly, he heard noise behind him. He spun around to find himself face-to-face with Darman. "Why did you come after me?" Cade asked in a slightly irritated tone. "I didn't" Darman replied, "I pissed off Sarah, and now I'm trying to find her." "You never were good with females Darman" Cade teased. "Yeah, you were the lady's 'mon alright…" Darman replied wryly when he heard a faint noise. "As for Sarah's location, I have a vague idea of where she might be…" Darman said as he turned around and walked in the direction of the noise, gesturing for Cade to follow.

Eventually, the two of them made it to the edge of a clearing only to see…well, let's not get into specifics shall we? Shit! Darman thought as he pushed Cade into the bushes, following suit soon after. "What did you see?" Cade whispered as he peeked through. "You naughty boy Darman…" Cade teased in a whisper. "I knew this would happen…" Darman said when suddenly he remembered something to do with what was happening. He grinned slightly and held out a scythe towards Cade and whispered, "Pay up." "What the…for what!" Cade whispered in reply. "You remember our side bet, do you not?" Darman replied in a hushed tone. "What the…" Cade began when suddenly he remembered, and he had no choice but to pay up, "Here you go…one thousand poke, spend it wisely…" "Thanks Cade, now let's head back to camp and leave the two of them in peace" Darman replied before the two of them snuck away back to the camp.