Chapter 16:
Men in white lab coats monitored various scientific instruments. For the past few months a strange being had been forming in a tube of chemical solution. It was the size of a 10 year old child and looked somewhat similar to one, but yet, different. Its white skin colour was different to any of the people in the region. They monitored all its vital signs, including brainwaves, which were immensely powerful. A young assistant stared at the creature as it floated, hooked up to dozens of wires that led to various instruments.
"Don't stare at it for too long, it gets inside your head and drives you mad," A lab technician told a young assistant, "In fact, just last week, another assistant was left alone in the room for the night shift, and when we came back in the morning, we found him huddled in the corner, muttering an unintelligible sentence over and over. When we tried to get his attention and shook his shoulder, he screamed and ran. He jumped out the window of the 2nd floor and broke multiple bones."
The young assistant shuddered and broke his gaze with the creature.
"You know, according to the brainwaves, it seems to be living in some sort of comatose world, and with the brain we engineered it to have, it would be incredibly detailed and realistic." the technician continued to make conversation with the assistant.
"Really, so it's living in a dream world? Would it have a family in the dream world, a home, and a life?" the assistant asked.
"We don't know, but it is very likely, yeah kinda like a dream world. Our resident psychologist theorises that if someone were to wake up from a world they thought was real into the real world, they could potentially be very aggressive in the confusion it would cause. So when we wake this thing up, we want to do it slowly and carefully. With all the ability this creature has, if it became violent and turned on us, we'd all be killed very quickly, and we don't want that, so we must be extremely careful." the technician grimly said.
"Why the hell would they create something so dangerous? I only took this job because I desperately needed the money, I didn't know I was helping to monitor something that is so potentially dangerous!" the assistant said in a worried manner.
"You'd be even more shocked if you knew how they got the gene combination right, and it's a weapon, so it's meant to be dangerous." the technician replied.
"I should never have joined this organisation, I mean, they don't tell us anything, not even the name of the company." the assistant sighed.
"Well you're stuck here now, once you join you can't try to leave, or they'll kill you. They never tell people that when they join." the technician joined in with the sighing…
"Hey, wake up sleepy head!" a voice yelled.
Mateusz awoke with a start to the commotion and saw Mew, floating in the air above his face.
"What are you doing Mew?" Mateusz asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Waking you up, it's almost midday you know," Mew replied as he poked Mateusz to make sure he was awake.
"What, it's almost midday?!" Mateusz exclaimed as he bolted upright, "Why didn't someone come and get me earlier?" Mateusz said as his eyes widened.
"Because we thought you were going to wake up any moment anyway," Mew said before floating out of Mateusz's rectangular room.
Mateusz got up and went in the direction that Mew had gone in. He exited the cave and discovered a congregation of all the caves current inhabitants. Mewtwo was sitting by himself under a tree, arms crossed and looking unhappy with a scowl on his face. Joasia and Lifyra sat on a rock closer to the entrance chatting. Ubui and Mew were closer to where Mewtwo was.
"So what's going on you guys?" Mateusz asked the lot of them.
"Oh you're awake, took you a while, it's almost midday," Joasia looked at Mateusz.
"Yeah, kinda slept in a wee bit too much, what's wrong with Mewtwo, he looks unhappy?" Mateusz replied and asked.
"Oh, I don't know, he was like that when Lifyra and I came out," Joasia informed Mateusz.
Mateusz nodded and walked over to where Mewtwo sat with a scowl that could kill a dead person. Mateusz cringed as Mewtwo lifted his head and looked directly at him without changing his expression. Mateusz managed to regain his composure.
"Why are you upset Mewtwo?" Mateusz asked as he managed a smile.
"Take an educated guess," Mewtwo replied.
"Perhaps it was Mew?" Mateusz queried.
Mewtwo nodded his head in answer.
"I see…" Mateusz answered as he looked over at where Mew was.
Mew looked back at Mateusz and floated over to them.
"I think you need to do some exercise Mewtwo, you're getting a bit chubby in the thighs," Mew said in a teasing manner.
"And what sort of exercise might you recommend for me?" Mewtwo asked, doing the equivalent of cocking an eyebrow.
"I don't know; do something, anything to keep you from becoming fat, Mr. Chubby," Mew said with a taunting look on his face.
Mewtwo became increasingly annoyed and punched Mew. Mew flew backwards and Mewtwo walked away from the scene looking more annoyed than ever. Mew floated up from the ground where he had fallen and shook his head to clear any dizziness he had left.
"Are you alright there Mew?" Mateusz asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you see the look on his face though? It was so worth it!" Mew replied with a laugh.
"You shouldn't annoy him like that; it gets him in a bad mood whichis bad for all of us," Mateusz told Mew who still beamed from ear to ear.
"But it's fun! Please don't ruin my fun Mateusz," Mew said in a whining tone.
"If you find annoying people fun, then I think you need to get a hobby or something." Mateusz informed Mew before walking off to find Mewtwo.
Mateusz walked for a few minutes through the forest before finding Mewtwo, sitting in a tree. He looked to be in thought.
"How's the weather up there?" Mateusz called up to Mewtwo.
Mewtwo simply looked down at Mateusz without answering.
"May I join you up there?" Mateusz asked.
"If you must," Mewtwo responded before going back into his state of thought.
Mateusz began to climb the tree, carefully climbing upwards from branch to branch of the tall, leafy tree. Mateusz was nearly up to the branch that Mewtwo was sitting one and grabbed a branch near Mewtwo's branch to pull himself upwards. As he did this, the branch snapped and Mateusz plummeted toward the ground which was ten metres below.
"Ah!" Mateusz exclaimed as he fell.
Mateusz never hit the ground, instead, he found himself in Mewtwo's arms. Mewtwo had caught him just in time. Mewtwo released a shocked and slightly dazed Mateusz to the ground.
"H-how d-did you g-get to t-the ground so fast?" Mateusz shakily asked.
"I teleported down," Mewtwo bluntly responded.
"W-well, thank you, I think you saved my life j-just then," a very shaken and gracious Mateusz said.
"You're welcome," Mewtwo issued the proper response before helping Mateusz to his feet and declaring, "I think we should head back now."
"Agreed," Mateusz replied.
The two of them headed back to where the rest of the group were. Mateusz was still pale and shaky from his ordeal with the branch. Joasia spotted this right away as she looked at him.
"What happened to you Mateusz?" she asked with a look of concern in her eyes.
"I, uh, fell out of a tree and Mewtwo caught me just in time," Mateusz shared.
"Well that's good, glad to see you're okay," Mew interrupted the conversation.
"Yeah, I was pretty lucky; I had to be a good ten metres above the ground," Mateusz said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Mateusz went and sat next to Joasia on a rock, as Mew went off to fetch some lunch for the lot of them. Mew soon returned with some rather strange looking orange-yellow coloured fruit. It wasn't berries and Mateusz couldn't identify what kind of fruit it was as the fruit was entirely foreign to him.
"What's that fruit Mew?" Joasia was the first to enquire.
"These are woompa fruit; they are high in nutrition and very good for if you are growing," Mew responded with a nod as he looked at Mateusz.
"You think I'll grow?" Mateusz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You have been growing, you have to be a good inch taller than the first time I saw you, and you too Joasia," Mew replied.
"Oh," Mateusz mouthed.
"Anyway guys, dig in!" Mew announced loudly to the conglomerate of creatures sitting around.
Everyone grabbed a round, succulent looking piece of fruit each and took their first bites.
"Oh my gosh, this is delicious!" Mateusz exclaimed as amber coloured juice ran down his chin.
"Yeah, this fruit generally has that effect on those that haven't tried it before," Mew replied as juice ran down his own chin.
The group sat in silence as they enjoyed their juicy meal. They soon finished the pile of orange-yellow coloured fruits that Mew had brought for them all.
"Hey Mateusz, could we perhaps just call you Matt for short?" Lifyra asked.
"Um, yeah sure, I don't know why anyone else hasn't asked that so far," Mateusz said as he threw a quick glance at Mew and Joasia.
"What?" Mew asked as he made eye contact with Mateusz.
"Never mind…" Mateusz sighed deeply.
"Mateusz, Joasia, we will proceed with more training now, and we'll have Lifyra and Ubui come along." Mewtwo informed the group abruptly.
"Oh, okay then Mewtwo," Joasia replied.
Mewtwo turned and walked into the forest, followed by the group, including Mew who was coming along to watch. Mewtwo stopped in the clearing and turned to face the strange mish-mash group of creatures.
"Today we will do a simulated combat exercise, no-holds barred." Mewtwo announced as he looked at the group, "Lifyra, you will battle Mateusz, and Ubui, you will battle Joasia,"
"This is going to get interesting," Mew said as he watched.
Mewtwo directed Lifyra and Mateusz into different positions, as they were to go first, and they prepared themselves mentally and physically for the battle.
"So, are you ready Lifyra?" Mateusz called to his opponent on the other side of the grassy clearing.
"I sure am Matt!" Lifyra yelled back.
"I'm probably going to end up with some nasty burns," Mateusz winced and thought to himself as he eyed his sparring partner.
"Begin, the fight will go on until one of you forfeits." Mewtwo told them.
Mateusz decided to play it defensively as he wasn't entirely sure of his opponent's full capability. Lifyra on the other hand launched into full attack mode and charged directly at Mateusz like a steaming train.
Lifyra launched and ember attack to which Mateusz responded to by putting up a barrier that he had perfected the previous day. The mass of embers were harmlessly extinguished on his barrier.
Mateusz decided to risk an attack and try something new. He attempted to form one of the balls of bright, yellow light he had made a couple of days ago. He managed to form one that was stable, but now came the tricky part-throwing it.
Mateusz somehow managed this and the ball was launched forward with surprising speed. Lifyra barely dodged the sphere and it hit the ground near where she stood. The ball exploded with fantastic light and Lifyra was knocked over by the shockwave of the explosion.
Mateusz looked on in shock as he came to terms with what he had somehow managed to do. Everyone was staring at Mateusz with shock written on their faces, including Mewtwo.
"Whoa," Mateusz muttered.
Lifyra stumbled to her feet, clearly dazed from the impact of the shockwave. She shook the dizziness from her head and got ready to fight once more. Lifyra charged at Mateusz with force and attempted to ram him.
Mateusz threw his arms in front of him and a barrier was formed. Lifyra collided into the barrier and fell backwards. Mateusz decided to try another one of the bright-yellow spheres. He threw the ball of light and it just missed Lifyra, but the shockwave of its explosion sent her flying.
Lifyra stumbled to her feet once again and glared at Mateusz as the flames on her back flared. Lifyra launched an all new attack at Mateusz that consisted of a smokescreen. Mateusz couldn't see his opponent anywhere through the thick smoke. He soon saw a silhouette in the smoke, but far too late.
Mateusz was spear-tackled to the ground as Lifyra impacted him with surprising force and was subsequently winded.
"I give up," Mateusz coughed as he winced from the pain.
"I thought you would give up," Lifyra laughed triumphantly from on top of Mateusz's chest.
"Nope, I lied," Mateusz smiled as he regained his senses and shoved Lifyra off before pinning her to the ground.
"Hey! You cheated!" Lifyra exclaimed with a smile as she was pinned to the ground by Mateusz's bulk.
"Good use of distraction Mateusz." Mewtwo dryly commented as he watched on.
"Uh, I give up; I don't want to hurt Matt by trying to escape," Lifyra said.
"Nice try, I'm not falling for it," Mateusz replied, beaming.
"I'm being serious," Lifyra genuinely told Mateusz.
"Oh, okay then," Mateusz said as he stood up, releasing Lifyra from his grip.
The pair was then faced by Mewtwo as he eyed them both.
"You both didn't try hard enough, I expect to see you, Lifyra using more force next time, and you Mateusz, making less mistakes," Mewtwo commented coldly on their simulated fight.
"Give me a break Mewtwo; he looks so delicate and flammable! I don't want to burn him to a crisp!" Lifyra struggled to take the criticism.
"You should still try harder; it's not good enough that you didn't even try to escape when he pinned you down." Mewtwo continued, "We'll have Joasia and Ubui face off now,"…
Author's Note:
Sorry for not updating for so long! I had writer's block along with having things on that I had to do and go to so finally, hope you enjoyed chapter 16!
