CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
THE DEATH OF THE ELITE FOUR

-Hassel-

The Great One was not too happy about what we did.

I mean, we did sneak off to fight the anomalies without him knowing, which we knew would upset him. But the fact that we failed to kill them was what crossed the line.

Lars, Poppy and myself hadn't heard from our master for a couple of days. He, apparently, had isolated himself in his chambers. When we heard he finally wanted to speak with us, I knew that could only mean something bad.

Walking into the room, the first thing I noticed was how calm the Great One seemed. It was almost like nothing had happened.

"The Elite Four, welcome," he said. "I hope, over the last few days, you were able to think about what you've done."

"We are sorry, Great One," Lars said, bowing before him. "We should've never crossed you. It was an error in judgment."

"I gave you one job," the Great One said, still, surprisingly, acting calm. "You failed me, then you went behind my back."

Suddenly, Poppy was lifted up in the air.

"I should have never let you live," the Great One continued.

Then, with a gruesome snap of the neck, Poppy was gone, her body falling on the ground with a thud.

"You…" Lars started. "You're a monster!"

Lars then took off and dove towards the Great One, ready to attack. But the Great One was too powerful. He fired a hyper beam at Lars' left wing, leaving nothing of it behind. It was almost like the Great One wanted to take his time killing him.

Lars crashed to the ground, falling at the Great One's throne. He clutched the place of where his wing used to be.

"A monster, eh?" the Great One said. "I like the sound of that."

Then, before my very eyes, the Great One shot another hyper beam, this time directly at Lars' body, forcing him to disappear forever.

"If we die fighting, it'll be a warrior's death." I remembered Lars saying.

I stood there in silence as my great friends and allies, Lars and Poppy were now dead. I knew I was next. I waited for my execution, but it never came.

Instead, the Great One began talking.

"I should've told you sooner," he began. "The ancient texts, the threat of the end of the world at the paws of the anomalies. I made it all up."

I stared at him. What did he mean? Everything I've ever heard, everything I've ever known, was a lie?

"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.

"Because," he said. "You were always my favorite. My protégé. I knew I had to tell you before I killed you."

As I neared my fate, a sudden miracle occurred. The Great One tried firing another Hyper Beam, but only a slight fizzle of purple energy shot out of his paw.

"N…no…!" he stammered. "How could this be?!"

At that moment, I knew I had to get out of there while I had the chance. So I ran away.

"Come back here!" the Great One yelled.

But I couldn't stop. I kept running. Right out the door and down the halls. I was not going to die today. I was going to live.

And I was going to make sure the Pokémon I once called my master would pay.

-Udon-

I woke up that day with one intention. To find and kill Mewtwo.

I knew I couldn't do it alone. I would most certainly die. But I had nothing really worth living for anyway, so I figured it would be okay.

Searching through my mail bag, I grabbed something I thought I would need.

It was the piece of Ruffles' flannel. I had fashioned it into a bandana I could wear. That way I could feel closer to him.

I wrapped it around my neck. It was a perfect fit, but just a little tight. I didn't care, though.

Walking outside, it had stopped raining from the night before. It was a clear and peaceful day. Well, for everyone else it was.

I couldn't stop thinking of Mewtwo. He was constantly in my head. Even if I did manage to kill him, he would probably still be there.

Then, I stopped in my tracks. I saw a Pokémon I fought before. It was Hassel.

My paw began violently sparking out of control. Part of me wanted to rip him apart, but what if it wasn't him? Then I'd be murdering a complete stranger.

"Udon," the Pokémon said, running over.

It was Hassel.

I readied my paw to attack, electricity flickering like crazy off of it. However, I couldn't attack him yet.

"Thank Arceus I found you," Hassel said, out of breath. "I… I need your help."

My paw stopped sparking. Something about him was different. He seemed scared.

"Why would I ever help you?" I asked. "You've tried to kill me. Quite a few times."

"Look, I knew you would say no," he replied. "But my master, the Great One, has gotten out of control."

I was guessing by the Great One, he meant Mewtwo.

"He… he killed the rest of the Elite Four…" Hassel stated. "He told me the truth, about everything, about you and the others. You're not the bad guys."

"How can I trust you?" I asked. "After all you've done, I should kill you."

"That was before," he responded. "If I knew back then what I knew now…"

Hassel stopped. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Oh, Arceus…" he continued. "I should've never killed them… the anomalies… what have I done?"

He seemed to be telling the truth. I still couldn't completely trust him, though. What if he was planning something? He could cross me at any point.

"You and Mewtwo," I said. "Are you two—?"

"Him and I are done working together," Hassel stated. "In fact, he should be dead for what he did to my friends."

He looked me in the eyes, tears streaming down his face. He appeared to be sincere.

"That's why I need your help," he continued. "I need to kill him, but I can't do it alone."

It was an odd coincidence. Just as I was about to go off and finish off Mewtwo myself, someone comes along with the same agenda.

"I'll help you," I said. "But don't even think of stabbing me in the back."

"You have my word," Hassel replied, bowing at me.

Now, at least I had an accomplice in my mission. If nothing went wrong, we would finally defeat Mewtwo and put an end to his reign of terror.

Of course, nothing ever really goes to plan.