Despite how awkward things became after the confrontation, the two were able to push past it, acting as if nothing happened.
However, just as things began to return to their normal routine, they were forced to change it again.
The clones were ready, carefully shipped to their new destinations, their respective scientist right behind them.
Sebastian was focused on his work, his mind forgetting the incident at the cafeteria, the clones being on his mind.
When he first arrived at his lab, he was astonished how well furnished it was, given equipment he never thought he'd get to see, let alone use.
The team that Fuji picked was indeed excellent both in credentials and their personalities when speaking with them.
They were friendly like their head researcher, but unlike him, weren't overly chatty, giving space when needed. It was like they were picked solely for him and no one else in the world.
At least one of them was a woman, Cassie being her name. He guessed that her placement was likely to help play a maternal role for when the clones are born.
It makes sense really, while a male could fill such a role, a woman is far better suited, especially when going by instincts.
Women are at times more docile with children and baby Pokémon, so it's only natural that a child would turn to a female more than a male.
The rest of the researchers had their own specialty, some he was really pleased to hear as much as the woman's.
One specialized in DNA itself, Davin being his name. He would read the strands well enough to point out oddities or anomalies before and after the clones began to grow.
His talent made it easier and faster to do minor tweaking during the beginning stages of their development shortly before they were shipped off.
Sebastian actually recognized him, seeing him working with Fuji in the lab while repairing the DNA. So to get him as a member of the team, he felt oddly flattered.
He was also a devote researcher with the Mew species, so his knowledge would come in handy if needed when they're born.
Another of the researchers was named Joel, a name that seemed rather suitable to someone who had been born and raised in Kalos. It was him that he would work with when reading about the new evolution and take notes. Not only that, he specialized creating the synthetic embryotic fluid used to sustain the lives inside the tubes.
Cassie also specialized in the same field for the fluid, but also creating machines to mimic heartbeats and such. Therefore, they would be turning the test tubes almost into artificial wombs that they could see into.
That man though, Joel, he's exceptional in his main field of study. He's intelligent, very friendly, and a talented cook, his father apparently being a well-known chef in Kalos. Because of it, they often got treated to various recipes from the man's homeland than bland meals or nonstop takeout.
But his knowledge regarding this new evolution, one he called Mega Evolution was fascinating, drawing the other in.
He had been told that this young man had once studied under the infamous Augustine Sycamore, making him all the more valuable.
As for the rest, they were all recent graduates, but with excellent marks in the medical field, particularly cloning.
Fuji made sure that his team was well balanced, to support him for when he's stumped, knowing he had no worries about turning to them for help.
It also meant that if he had to leave, he could safely leave the lab in their charge, picking the one the rest respected and listened as much as they would listen to him.
He could only imagine what Fuji's team must be like, if they're like his or completely different.
Does he have more people because of the multiple projects compared to him?
Wouldn't surprise him if he did, he was told before they separated not only was he cloning the Mew and his daughter, but the Kanto starters too.
That alone showed he had way more on his plate, course so does he when he thinks about it.
Not only does he have this project to work on, he still had to work on his other projects, having neglected them enough.
He was just glad that he had been picked for this, even agreed to participate, at least he has a partial excuse for some running late.
Once his other projects were done, he found himself becoming further engrossed monitoring the clones.
They were tiny right now, barely any form and shape to determine what they'll look like, but he was sure they would be amazing as they get bigger.
Before they were due to leave, Fuji gave him several notebooks to write down their progress as well as personal thoughts.
They even came up with names to give these creatures, more so by how much alteration they had to do to ensure the clones would live.
Mewtwo…
A fitting name really, they are clones, yet it sounded powerful, knowing they would be powerful.
He wouldn't be all that surprised if they end up stronger than the originals, where someone may confuse them as originals, not the other way around.
Both were determined to ensure they came out healthy; they came out powerful, that whatever killed them in the past wouldn't repeat so easily.
Not only were they going to be blessed with a new name, but have a secondary name to go with it.
They decided to use the term Alpha for the male, being he had been found first, and likely would be born first if all goes well.
It'd be a fitting name, a strong name if they decided to actually name him that than call him by his new species' name.
The two he's working with, the clone on the left would be Beta, being the second sample found, the other called Omega, having been the third found.
While there were other samples, they're currently on ice, safely protected from thieves and decay. These samples were stored back in headquarters where they would be safest from such things.
They were completely unknown, but assumed to be more of the species they're working on due to being found within the vicinity of the ruins.
As for whether they're all female, they weren't sure, not wanting to mess with them more than they had already.
The months that passed by, Sebastian found it moving by to quickly despite how slow the clones grew.
As Sebastian walked in, greeting his team, gaining fondness of them, before focusing his attention the twins.
He carried his notepad and a pen pulled from his pocket to take some notes down.
"To think we all in a sense looked like that when first conceived," Davin stated with a small laugh.
He had taken specially prepared cleaning supplies to wipe off any dust and potential grime off the tubes.
"It really is amazing how small and helpless we looked in our mothers' wombs," Sebastian replied as he finished taking notes.
Walking away, he put them in his own assigned locker, stretching his arms to let the joints pop back into place.
"What color do you think they'll be?" the other asked.
"Who knows, they could retain the original color or come out entirely different."
At this point, he was focused on another matter, remaining attentive in case he was asked something or the other decided to continue conversation.
He was already pulling out several books, Joel coming over, both reading various books regarding Mega Evolution.
Many of these books the lab assistant had brought from home, some having been signed by the very people who wrote them.
"I'm sort of hoping they'll be a different color. It'd give them more individuality as a new species," Davin laughed as he finished, walking off to put things away.
"Very true," he spoke, reading the books, taking notes in another book.
It was like this for a while, something he was pleased with, though when he got called back to headquarters, it wasn't as pleasant as he would have liked.
When he and Fuji arrived to hand in their reports, they also ended up having to help with restoration on various data.
Apparently someone not only broke in and stole most of the samples collected, particularly the ones Fuji found at the temple, but hacked into their computers as well.
Not only were samples stolen, but the data Fuji put together in order to restore and successfully clone them were as well.
Whoever stole them were talented, not even the best of Giovanni's own men able to find out who or where they may have gone.
At first, it was suspected that one of them or one of their team members was responsible, but after investigating, were all cleared.
Once the dust began to settle, both men took some time to catch their breath and take advantage of the time they have to hang out. It would be a few days, a week at most before they're due to return to their respective labs.
During this, Fuji had taken Sebastian out for drinks, even dragging along several others he managed to make friends with.
How he managed it was beyond him, but dared not ask, he seemed to have this spell to captivate most people. He just had this magnetic personality, attracting people much like how he had been.
It was also obvious he wanted the younger man to socialize more, not wanting him stuck with only one friend, possibly his research team, while pushing others away.
And by some magic, it began to work, sure Sebastian didn't like all the people Fuji brought, he at least got along with a few, one of them named Tyson.
They were somewhat similar personality wise, albeit he was more social, having seen him joke with others time to time.
He was also intelligent, meaning if the two started going into more scientific conversations, he'd actually have something constructive to say.
He didn't have to pretend to be smart, and if there was something he didn't know, he would let them know in some manner. He wasn't embarrassed about asking; something the scientist couldn't help but feel a little envy for.
Tyson was also a bit of a ladies man; not that either could blame him; he was much younger or appeared to be. So it wouldn't be a surprise he'd be popular with the ladies, as for whether he actually slept with them or not, they dared not ask.
The only thing Sebastian found a tad annoying were some of the man's bad jokes, although Fuji somehow thought they were hilarious.
Sometimes the older man would tease him about how he should ask Tyson for some dating advice. The younger man would of course retaliate about how he should too being he's single as well.
They were comfortable with each other to say such things, knowing if another were to make that joke, it would hurt. But with each other, it was friendly and comforting, no malice behind their words.
They were simply content spending time together when they can, going out for drinks, watching a movie or two at a hotel or theater. It could be just the two of them or a handful of others they could tolerate, the younger one mostly.
Soon enough, their innocent fun had to end, returning to work until the next time they're called back.
As Sebastian returned, he shared what happened with his team, the others worried, but grateful he and Fuji defended them all.
And like that, they continued on, at some point, Sebastian given another project to capture the legendary beast, Raikou.
Being this was a legendary Pokémon, he had to study what he could about it, know what the best solution would be. From there, find what sort of cage, tank, whatever they need would work best.
While a Pokéball could work just as effectively, it was also something they couldn't waste time on. With what it can do, battling was almost impossible without proper resources to trace its patterns to properly trap it.
But it wasn't just that, the power it possesses was immense, chances of actually beating a legendary Pokémon was slim.
Therefore, he worked tirelessly on this project, sending people out, giving orders on collecting samples or obtaining books regarding Raikou.
During all this, he would take small breaks, checking on the clones and his team, finding a sense of pride as they slowly grew bigger.
But he also found himself beginning to feel this protectiveness over them as well, knowing he can't get attached. If he did, he may not have the strength to let them go once they're born, let Giovanni take them.
He knew that his team was getting attached too, seeing how they fondly stared at them, chatting or giggling how cute they were going to look as they got bigger.
The man wanted to scold them, snap at them that they're scientists, not soon to be parents, but it constantly got lodged in his throat.
He wanted to stop it, not because they were scientists, but go through the pain he's gone through once. He didn't want them to go through that pain of having something precious taken away.
Within months, almost a year, he nearly completed his latest project before called back to headquarters to send in his report about it and the clones.
Upon his arrival, he later found Fuji, though his normally chipper demeanor was gone, almost wiped clean.
Seeing that unnerved the man, knowing something was wrong, knowing he had to find out what's wrong.
Fuji promised to be there for him, so it's only fair to do the same for him, for the man he considered a friend.
After sending in their reports, taking a few days to themselves before returning, for once Sebastian dragged the other out.
He took him to a bar, sitting themselves in a more isolated booth to give themselves privacy. The music was loud, enough to drown most of their voices from eavesdroppers, but not enough to not hear each other.
Once alone, drinks in hand, the younger man surprised when the other had asked for their strongest liquor.
Now he knew something was wrong…
"Thomas, what's wrong?" Sebastian asked, his face filled with concern.
Hesitantly, he placed a hand on the older man's shoulder, seeing him physically flinch, a choked sob escaping.
He prayed that whatever left his friend in this state, it wasn't serious.
As morbid as it'd sound, he'd be content to learn the starters died, or even Project Alpha regardless of the importance.
Just so long as…
"Mewtwo's all that's left," he answered, another soft sob escaping.
Sebastian felt his blood run cold at those words, watching as the man buried his face into his arms, sobbing heavily now.
"Wh-what happened?" he stuttered, still shocked by what he heard.
"I don't know, Shi, I just don't know. Everything was perfect; there was no disease, no impurities in the fluid, nothing. And yet, something happened. Something killed not just Amber, but the other clones too. We almost lost Mewtwo, we barely managed to save him. I have no idea what will happen now. I don't know if he might have brain damage after what happened."
"What happened to him?"
"His brainwaves were off the charts, we thought he was unconscious, maybe dreaming. We could only assume that he must've kept some sort of telepathic connection with Amber and the clones. He must've sensed their passing and became distressed. We had to inject a serum to suppress those emotions, erase the memories if there were any. I feel horrible doing that to him. He's so little, so fragile to go through that."
"Shit…" the other cursed, clenching his eyes shut, feeling so helpless. That is until a thought came to him, realization dawning on him. "We're not done yet, Tommy, we can still bring Amber back!"
He had to bring the man back to his old self, to know not all is lost, that there's still some hope left.
Not only did Fuji have more samples of Amber's DNA at the island, but he had given some to Sebastian as well.
"I know, but I don't know if I can try again. I failed so many times to bring her back, I don't know if I can ever succeed."
"Of course you will! You're her father, you love her and I know she loves you! If she's anything like you, she would want to come back, to be back with her family."
Sebastian tried to hold his tears back, to try and be strong for the other man, but between the news and the alcohol, he found himself crying too. He wasn't bawling like the other had been, but enough tears flowed to show his pain.
He gripped the other man's hand, unable to let go, afraid if he did so, he would lose his friend, his only friend.
Looking at him, Fuji felt a small smile form, realizing that he was right about what he said.
Unconsciously, he reached out with his free hand, wiping the tears from the younger man's eyes, careful of his glasses.
"Thank you, Shi. I honestly don't know what I would do without you," he chuckled softly as he pulled the other close, hugging him tightly.
Unsure if it was the alcohol doing this, but Sebastian felt himself relax, smiling in return as he hugged back.
He never felt so comfortable around another person, not since Meiya tricked him, damn near destroyed his trust in others.
Pulling away, both starting to feel a bit better, the older one gave him almost a shy look, something the other found oddly cute.
"How are Beta and Omega doing?"
Taken off guard a little by the question, realizing how much he stared at the other, he felt his face heat up as he sipped his drink.
"They're doing really well, no exceptional," he answered with a sheepish grin forming. "Beta though gave us a tiny scare."
"What happened?"
"We thought something happened as she somehow got bigger than Omega, not by much though. It appears to have been a natural occurrence, so we were relieved of that."
"I see, that can happen sometimes," the other chuckled dryly.
"To be honest, I never watched a fetus grow, not like this. The only ones I ever got to see were in jars from universities. It's so strange seeing them get bigger, regardless of how slow it is."
Appearing more relaxed than before, Fuji gave his friend his familiar smile, the one that made the other feel relaxed as well.
"Shi, if things turn out perfect with them, could you…"
"I'll do what I can to bring her back using this method."
"Thank you, you're a true friend."
"You'd do the same for me."
Feeling much better, the older man wrapped an arm around him, his cheeriness returning more and more.
"If that's the case, then drinks are on me!"
The younger man couldn't help but laugh, knowing that this wasn't the alcohol talking. His friend was back.
Not wanting to ruin the mood, he joined his friend, allowing himself to let go a bit more and drink more freely.
They had a couple of weeks before they had to return, so a night or two like this shouldn't hurt.
Tried to fit the time sequence between following the anime's chronological order and estimate how long the cloning process likely would have taken.
No matter how fast cells grow, it would take a while, especially with something like what they were doing with Mewtwo, right?
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