#mewtwo as death? sign me up!

[sweetwhitechoco]

OMG, YESS! 😍💖

"And I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or any other fancy way. I'm death, straight up."

I'm a bit late doing it, but this is what happens when an idea blossoms in a discord chat freshly after watching Puss In Boots: The Last Wish XD

[loupy-mongoose]

Warning: Contains potentially heavy and uncomfortable subject matter.

PREVIOUS NEXT (DEATH WARNING)

ARC START | CHRONO

~~~~~~

Lavender crashed out through the floorboards and outermost wall of the mansion, following after the larger Mewtwo. Blinking against the sudden brightness of the full sunlight, she spotted him lying stunned in the mansion's overgrown backyard. He hastily shuffled onto his hands and knees.

Suddenly, Lavender's ears rotated back, catching creaks and crashing. Her eyes widened, and she spun around in horror; the mansion was collapsing.

MOM, DAD!

Before she could rush in, however, the two Mews appeared in a zap of light.

Seeing with a sigh of relief that they had escaped the mansion's collapse, she turned back to her target.

Nico was hovering now, giving a sad look to the three Lindens. He met Lavender's furious eyes, and returned with a look of sorrow and regret--a look that caused a sudden twinge in Lav's mind.

Then, he turned and dashed off.

Lavender's blood boiled

You're gonna hurt my dad and run??

She sped after him.

All the while, she ignored a tiny nagging feeling in the back of her mind as hot tears streamed from eyes...

~~~~~

Without warning, Randy transformed into his human form.

He laid in the yard, trembling, wide-eyed and gasping. Akoya nuzzled up into his neck, speaking gently to him and purring.

At first he didn't seem to notice her. But gradually, his breathing steadied, and he lifted a shuddering hand to seek out Akoya's warm pelt.

For a bit, they laid together as Randy slowly managed to calm down.

I don't want him to come back, Akoya...

She looked at him, her purr faltering.

Is that selfish of me?

Akoya laid her cheek on his.

...If it's selfish of you, it's selfish of me...

Randy went on as if he didn't hear her.

C-can he even come back?

...Was he ever gone...?

The blue Mew flicked her tail, uncertain what to think or do. M...Maybe we should try to get back to Fuji...

Randy placed his hands on his head and shook his head desperately. I can't transform... I can't risk losing Randy...

Akoya licked his cheek in understanding. Her ears went back as an unpleasant idea struck. I can try to teleport us there myself... O-Or to a closer Pokemon Center... It would be hard, but... I think I could do it...

Randy didn't respond immediately.

...

Where's Lav?

~~~~~~

Nicodemus flew over the ocean north of Cinnabar, keeping close to the island. His cloak flapped behind him.

As she rushed to catch up to Nico, Lavender readied another swirling sphere of energy. The gap between them closed, and he glanced back at her just as she launched the spere.

He braced for the impact, wobbling slightly in his flight with a grunt before steadying.

Gritting her teeth, she psychically "grabbed" a portion of the ocean in front of the fleeing 'two and launched it upward. Nico swerved just in time to avoid it, careening toward Cinnabar's shoreline.

Lav roared and launched another sphere at him, this one smaller and slightly looser as her anger grew, hijacking her control.

This time the force caught him off guard, sending him rolling and finally sprawling onto the island's shore. Groaning and gasping, he propped himself up on his arms.

Lavender halted and held her position over the ocean water, her teeth bared and face streaked with tears. Her breath was sharp and ragged, and her eyes wild.

Why aren't you fighting back?!

Nico looked up at her, meeting her eyes. His own still showed no signs of anger, but a deep despair.

You want me to?

Lav glared down at him. Her gaze turned downward as she prepped a Shadow Ball.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

She launched it down into her own reflection.

Then, she hovered there, motionless. She was wracked with gasping sobs. Her attack bubbled back, splashing her with ocean water, but she didn't notice.

Suddenly, a voice spoke in her mind.

Lavender

She snapped to attention.

A hasty explanation was mentally run by her as she attempted to control her breathing and emotions.

She met Nico's eyes, now realizing what the nagging feeling had been...

Guilt and shame flooded through her. Fresh tears stung her eyes, and she sobbed again.

...I'm sorry, Nico... It wasn't your fault...

Then, she flew off.

It was mine...

~~~~~~

Lavender arrived to find her dad lying in the grass in human form. She felt her blood freeze, but had to remind herself that she could still feel him, and he was breathing. He was still with them.

At least...

She hoped it was him...

Dad...?

He looked up at her as she came into his field of view. He looked exhausted, his eyes shadowed by the feelings he silently grappled with. She was happy to see relief in them, but her heart broke all over again at the agony he seemed desperate to conceal.

His voice was hoarse and shaky. Lav, a-are you okay?

Lav struggled to control her own voice. I-I'm fine, Dad... H-he didn't... a-attack me at all...

She kept part of her thought to herself.

I wish he would have...

She took a sudden sharp breath, trying to distract herself. There were higher priorities now. S-so what are we doing? Dad can't transform, so how do we get back? It's half the region away, or more!

Akoya had a serious look on her face. I'll get us there. I have to. Whatever it takes.

She closed her eyes and sighed. It was clear she wasn't certain about her ability to get them from here all the way to Lavender Town...

She began focusing. Alright, brace yourselves... Unlike the instantaneous teleportations they'd done in the past, Lav could feel her mother attempting to build up the power to accomplish this mission.

Maybe I can somehow share my power...

Feeling desperate to help, she began to focus her own energy toward the blue Mew. Akoya jolted very slightly, the only hint that she felt any change.

Then, after a moment...

They were gone...

~~~~~~

PREVIOUS NEXT (DEATH WARNING)

ARC START | CHRONO

I'm sorry.

This should've been a comic. This part deserves to be to be a comic, and someday I would like to come back and draw it. But right now, I just can't bring myself to, and I didn't want to let that stop progress.

I don't want to disappoint people, but... I dunno. I still have a slim hope of hitting my goal, and I don't want to get hung up and ruin that chance. I want to move on...

Anyway, I hope the read was enjoyable enough. And on the bright side, I've started work on the next part, so there's that at least! :)

[theredlanternavenger]

Rango, 2011 (but the characters are Pokemon)

So basically, there's this Genesect, who's shiny and red and also tortured by Team Plasma so badly. Like in that one movie, he was the leader of his own pack but the other four died and he was left the only survivor, but the aftereffects of what he suffered were too great that he went insane and forgot how to fight, so Team Plasma just dumped him in a desert and left.

While trying to survive, the red Genesect meets a flattened Sandshrew, who has to "get to the other side" and speaks in riddles, but Red also gets some helpful advice from him, to find water, he must first find "Dirt", and just like that, he's sent on his way. But just when he's going tired from the heat, he gets attacked by Yveltal, who will be taking the place of the hawk, and narrowly escapes.

One nightmare later, he meets a female Scizor named Beans who, for some STRANGE reason, has the tendency to freeze mid-sentence, and rides with her to her town, which turns out to be the "Dirt" that the Sandshrew told him about, and is also suffering from a water shortage.

Red meets a young Sylveon named Priscilla, has that "funny-looking" exchange, stumbles into a saloon, where he drinks a lot of cactus juice and tells a lot of lies about himself, and that's where the legend of Rango is born! Just then Bad Bill (who's a Lucario) appears and sh!t goes down and Bill ends up challenging Rango to a duel.

Just when things were getting intriguing, Yveltal shows up again and scares off Bill and his goons, and the chase is on. As he's running, instincts from 3 billion years kick back in, and Rango fires a shot from his back cannon, which ends up knocking over the water tower and flattening Yveltal, killing it!

But, alas, Yveltal was the one thing keeping Psycho Jake (who's a Mewtwo), the desert's worst outlaw, out of town because a Mewtwo may be powerful, but he's still no match for a Legendary.

Anyhoo, Rango's taken to Mayor John (a Mega Charizard X) and made sheriff, promises to get the water back, and spends the night guarding the bank only to end up giving some bank robbers, a family of assorted Ground-type 'mons, a prospecting permit. The next morning, he wakes up, and learns that the bank's been robbed!

So Rango makes up a posse comprised of himself, Beans, Wounded Bird (a Pidgeot) and other Dirtonians, (Priscilla really wanted to go with her hero but ended up staying behind), whence they track down the robbers and have that standoff and that chase and then the truth comes to light.

After the posse comes back to town, Rango has a meeting with the Mayor and realizes what's happening and gives his "believe in that there sign" speech to the Dirtonians, only to be interrupted by a Mewtwo, who happens to be Psycho Jake, who exposes the so-called "hero" and drives him out of town.

While wandering aimlessly, Rango ends up fainting on a roadside and meets the Spirit Of The West (who's still Clint Eastwood) and remembers that side of him who's an apex predator and reunites with the Sandshrew and finds out where all the water went. He offers the Ground Gang a deal, comes back to town, challenges Jake to a duel, which ends up being a stalemate, buying time for the water to come back, and the "You ain't got the nerve." and "Try me" exchange happens, but alas, the Mayor's goons have Beans hostage!

And so Genesect and Scizor end up trapped in a slowly filling tank, while Mayor Mega Charizard X is about to kill the Mewtwo who'd been a faithful asset to him for many long years, but then Rango manages to break the glass in the nick of time and save everyone.

In the end, Jake recognizes Rango as a Worthy Opponent™ and personally drags the Mayor out of town for trying to kill him earlier, and so the Genesect completes his journey, from humble beginnings to the legend we sing of today. And although he's certain to die...from a household accident, which account for 65% of all unnatural deaths, the people of the village will always remember, the name of the one who saved them.

[ceriseisland]

Top 10 minor/secondary characters in pokespe (Gym Leader/Elite 4/Team members/other NPCs).

10. Bill. Love how he keeps getting caught up in dexholder events against his will, especially in the yellow arc. He's just a poor college grad who didn't sign up for this

9. Trevor. Idk why but I like how he's the narrator of XY. I feel like he could have gone through an interesting character arc had XY been better executed

8. Norman. I've talked before about how Norman is a much more nuanced character than people give him credit for, and I'm also surprised just how many people I've talked to who feel the same way. While he isn't a good person, it's cool that people recognize that he's at least an interesting character, which is a definite shift from the way people used to view him

7. Blaine. Like ive said before I love how he does some mad science and bonds his body to Mewtwo then sets himself on fire to cure himself of it. What a madlad. Also his arc in RBG about accepting Mewtwo from the way Red interacts with it is great for the overall narrative of the series. He deserves all the screen time he gets

6. Cheren. Honestly adjusting Cheren's personality from the games to have him be the friend who takes care of everyone makes him so much better as a character, especially his friendship with Black. I used to dislike Cheren's mini joining-team-plasma arc, because it doesn't make sense and is really indicative of how BW views itself by the end, but now I think it's just funny. He's like hey I'm evil now. Okay I'm done being evil

5. Steven. His death hits hard and I appreciate that. Having him die in Wallace's arms gets me every time, especially with how Wallace calls the president and dampens the news that the threat is over with the fact that their champion is now dead. I also think it's funny how he starts out as the noble champion who sacrificed himself to save everyone to a millionaire who misspells his own name to the son of a ceo who hurt a group of indigenous people and drained the life energy of his own pokemon. Like yeah, of course ORAS is about the needless conflict between the two groups but also what the Stone family did to the draconids was way worse than what the draconids did to them, so the vibes Steven gives off have slid down a slope, but maybe that's just me

4. Emma. While I don't think her parallels to X are that well executed, I get what he was going for. I think she could have been great if Kusaka had cared about giving X any sort of structured growth. Also she's precious and I want to protect her

3. Lorelei. I think it's interesting that it seems like Agatha influenced and possibly manipulated her beliefs as a child. I'm sure she always would have hated people, but I doubt she would have gotten to "all people need to die" without help, which is something Agatha doesn't seem to truly believe either, except it lines up with her real goal of sticking it to Oak. In that way she makes a good parallel to Green, especially with Green's line to her about being guilty of fighting the wrong battle. It also makes her comeback as a good guy in FRLG even better

2. Wallace and Winona. I love love LOVE how they function as parallels to Ruby and Sapphire's relationship in RS and the emerald arc. It's a plot device I've never seen elsewhere, where two mentor figures have a relationship that mirrors whatever state the protagonists' relationship is in. It's also adorable how they act like Ruby and Sapphire's parents post-RS. Their little found family dynamic is so important to me

1. Courtney. Not only is she a great character but the function she plays as a parallel to Ruby is great too, with how they refect each other's worst traits. It also makes their friendship cool, and adds weight to her redemption. Genuinely one of the best characters in the manga. Wish she would marry me :(

[forgxtmxnot]

@littlesilverplatinum has sent: -Bc I'm a slut for this theme: Write meta regarding religion/religous beliefs - all muses-

send me a topic to write a meta about my muse on       [Always accepting, specify muse] 

// Guess I’ll have to answer to this across all of my other blogs as well JHBSDJHBSD

// Agatha was born in a traditional family for her time- meaning religion was a big thing during her childhood, however she never truly developped any resemblance of faith. She was the odd one out of her siblings (she used to have other 5), instead of dedicating her time to the church/her faith- she actually dedicated it on her studies

Interestingly- it may have been this lack of faith in her life, that allowed her to study ghost types in a critical- analytical manner.

I like to imagine that a reason, for ghost types not being as well- researched as the other ones could have something to do with their existance likely clashing with religious beliefs. Making them into some kind of taboo in most regions, so there is a certain resistance to seeking them out as research subjects.

TLDNTR: Agatha’s contact with religion is pretty limited to her childhood- her time living in her parents’ household, once she left it- she abandoned it completely. Even to this day, she has never opted out of this decision.

Read more bc of the length.

// Much like Agatha, he too was raised by religious parents. That as expected- didn’t take Blaine’s carreer interest too well, in his case- there was a huge intereference from his parents in an attempt to hold him back from it.

From trying to talk him out of it, to dragging him into religious cults- to try and convert him. Despite all of their attempts, Blaine succeeded in getting into college- and away from their grasp. Needless to say how becoming a scientist- was pretty much the death of his bond with his parents. There were attempts to try and amend things later on, but- they all flew past Blaine- who was way too keen on his studies/researches/trainning.

“As a scientist, I am not trying to find- nor explain God. I’m here to deny his existance.”

It’s safe to say how after his experience with his parents, he has become spiteful- of just about anyone who holds a religious belief (regardless of what it could be). In his eyes, they look ignorants- making fools of themselves- sheep in a herd. He looks down upon them all. Interestingly, the only ones who seem to be the exception to this are Pryce and mr.Fuji.

ALSO when the case of the Mewtwo project, was brought into the public’s knowledge- the religious crowd in Kanto were amongst the first ones to condemn the experiment solely off their beliefs.

Pryce alongside his wife and children hold religious beliefs, they have faith. They were introduced since very early on their lives- and did the same thing to their kids.

Contrary to what people expect- his faith NEVER got in the way of his studies when he was going through the process of applying to the professor position. If anything, he cherished the fact he could comprehend/study their God’s creations.

Pryce’s faith serves AS A MAJOR inspiration for his artistic work, a few of his ice sculptures carry a heavy religious subject/them to them or depict a scene from their myths/religion’s story.

Don’t assume that his passion for his faith, makes him into some kind of radical religious man- he is incredibly level-headed. And isn’t shy to show how his faith, has influenced him in certain aspects.

Team magma was some kind of cult- Tabitha’s faith was entirely poured onto Maxie, he acted and behaved just like a fanatic. Seeing their Leader fail miserably, was his wake up call.

Tabitha before joining the organization, he had a pretty empty head- his parents didn’t even bother to introduce him to a religion.

He was very easily PERSUADED BY TEAM MAGMA’S PROMISES.

Even after this whole fiasco- Tabitha has never joined any cult/religion. He really doesn’t wish to return, to what he used to be.

// Being part of a kalosian family, but born into Hoenn- a far away land from his parents’ homeland meant that there weren’t much- if any at all places where they could follow their faith.

Juan is the middle sibling- meaning that he and his younger sister, had literal no contact with religion. The same can’t be said for the older brother- who had some of it, very early on his life.

To an extent this was benefential for Juan- he never struggled with coming into terms with his own sexuality, and he could have a neutral look into art and performances when he was studying it.

Truly the only time in his life he had the most contact with it, was during his time in Kalos- when he was in college. Since then, his contact with it, has been kept to a minimun.

 Palmer isn’t all that different from Pryce- as in he was introduced since very early on his life, he and his wife follow their religion- as much as they can. But he opted, to keep his son out of it- keeping his contact with it minimun.

He decided to leave it up for his son- if he is interested in it, then they will give him their teachings. But so far, it is pretty evident how Barry isn’t showing any interest to it anytime soon.

Currently he isn’t as religious as he used to be, which isn’t a good thing in his eyes- he really wished he had the time to dedicate some time to his faith.

Religion for Riley, is an interesting case. In both households he was raised in- arceusism has ALWAYS been present- especially in his mother’s. Who would “use” it, as some kind of shield from what Riley was.

She really was affected, after his father left her before their child was even born. She saw Riley, as some form of God’s punishment for her sins. After he was taken away from her, she went on to try and become a nun at a church- in an attempt to redeem herself.

At his adoptive family- things were a whole lot tamer, they weren’t as driven by their faith as his mother was. For the most part he ignored religion, for the exception of the subject of rebirth- something that compliments his belief of being related to Sir. Aaron.

The belief of being the legendary knight’s rebirth, is definetely fed by all the stories within the arceusism. He uses them in some distorted way, to support his idea.

His interpretation is the only correct one, he won’t even give a care about others. Try to deny it, and you’re bound to find yourself trapped in a nonsensical argument- clearly nothing more than just RIley’s projections of what he deems to be right/the truth.

Brendan has never followed any religion- but travelling the world, has given him the chance to get a taste of what is out there! He is most definetely intrigued by it, and finds them to be fascinating.

His mother wanted him to be introduced to it, when they still were living in Johto- however her plans didn’t come into fruition due to them moving into Hoenn sometime later. It frustrated her, but at the same time, never mopped about it.

If anything, now that her son is exploring the world- she can’t help but be thrilled by his fascination to the religions found throughout the regions.

When Rowan set out to go through his evolutions research, he NEVER had any goal to go against the arceusism’s views of the world and creation. Because for the longest time, he used to be a believer/follower of it- however it was his interaction with people that drove him out of his faith.

But look and behold- he managed to put out something, that basically goes against the principle of the World’s creation. Because of it, he was shunned out of the cult- and to this day there is a huge resistance to accepting his thesis/work.

A newly wed couple, is gifted a pokemon egg- as a sign of their union by the church. This is how Rowan came to obtain a Togepi, who later evolved into his Togekiss- which was gifted to them by his parents.

Thankfully- not having his religious belief around, it meant less one thing he had to be concerned/stressed about when he came to have his affair with Richard.

[miileskine]

I'm gonna keep writing beginnings to things I like whoop ;;

((also does anyone even know about Giant Robo anymore? I friggin love it and highly recommend it if you like anime soap operas with robots and super powered characters that are never explained. It’s like only 7 episodes long, too! ;w; ;; ))

Silver never quite enjoyed the long drives it took to get to M2’s mansion base, having to traverse winding mountainside roads and usually in the rain, the only light coming from the passing streetlamps, but he’d admit that having Yellow there made it a bit more bearable.

“What do you suppose Red’s going to have us do?” Yellow asked quietly.

He could sense her apprehension easily, despite her sitting in the passenger seat beside him as he focused on the road. He raised a hand to rub at the side of his left eye, which was empty and a constant reminder of his inevitable, impending rematch with Kotone that was ahead of them. He flicked one of the buttons on the eyepatch screen covering the empty socket and smirked. “What else? Probably go after the final ball ourselves.”

Yellow sighed softly. “You’re probably right.” She glanced out the car’s window briefly as they continued passing by streetlamp after streetlamp. He hadn’t the faintest idea what she was hoping to see, as the dark night and rain was all that could be visible even in the flashes of light. “Just can’t trust grunts to do these important jobs nowadays.”

“I wouldn’t put too much blame on the poor, dead bastards.” Silver shook his head, his smirk turning bitter. “They ran into an unexpected complication.”

Yellow gasped softly. “You don’t mean. Has the IPO finally deployed Treecko?”

Silver remained silent and Yellow had to sit back in her seat, reeling. They finally arrived at the mansion and were ushered inside by a cloaked, masked warrior. No doubt the personal bodyguard M2’s magnificent 10 had issued to Red for this plot. It directed them to a large dining hall where a fireplace was burning brightly, thrumming and the only source of light to the room. Red sat at the head of the table, idly swishing around the wine in his glass.

“We need that attaché case.” Red spoke directly, eyeing Silver and Yellow coldly. “Without the final Premier Ball inside it, the full extent of Elm’s Eye cannot be realised.”

Silver nodded shortly. Yellow, on the other hand, stepped forward and pressed a hand to her chest, gesturing outward with the other. “If I may inquire, what is M2’s plan here once the Eye has been fully activated?”

“What else?” Red smiled, a very chilling air to it as even his red eyes seemed to gleam with sinister delight. “M2 wants control of the world. Are you perhaps doubting the effectiveness of the plan?”

There was something else to this. Silver just wished he could figure it out before it all unfolded in front of them. The Tragedy of New Bark was a far-reaching and well-known event, after all. Still, unable to do much else, Silver stepped forward to place a hand on Yellow’s shoulder, to stop her from protesting unnecessarily. “Not at all. We’ll get the attaché for you.”

“For all of M2.” Red clarified as he stood and turned his back to them. “Wally will be going with you, since the IPO’s own Experts of Justice have gathered as well and insurance is always a nice, safe bet. Now, a toast.”

The masked warrior stood from where it had been resting in the corner and flew over to Silver and Yellow, handing them each a glass of wine. This part, Silver was very familiar with. They accepted the drinks and the three of them raised their glasses in unison, repeating their organisation’s motto.

“Together, allegiance or death, Mewtwo.”

//

Professor Oak ran along the top of the train as it passed through dark tunnels and emerged again and again, panting and holding an attaché case close to his chest. He couldn’t let them have it. It couldn’t fall into the wrong hands. But he had been running for too long now and his chest and throat were burning, his legs growing heavy in exhaustion.

“End of the line, Professor.” His pursuer, a masked individual who was clearly an executive of that M2 organisation, laughed haughtily as his shoes clicked against the metal tops of the train. Professor Oak stumbled and fell to his knees, nearly dropping the case but holding onto it for dear life. His pursuer, who was accompanied by another man in a mask and trench coat, continued advancing, far more relaxed than he had any right to be. “If you’d kindly hand over that case, we may even find it in our good hearts to spare your life.”

“Everyone will die if I hand this over to you.” Professor Oak spat the words out. “I’m no fool.”

“Trust me, I was counting on that.” The man pulled out a gun and aimed it down at the Professor, grinning cruelly. “Now, are you willing to sacrifice your own life for what you believe? Or will you play nicely and give us that case?”

Oak turned his back on them and held the case tightly, shutting his eyes and praying to dear Arceus, please let them not get this case.

A single gunshot fired and Oak waited. But nothing came.

He opened his eyes and glanced back to see that the other person had pulled out a gun and it was smoking. The executive whirled on them, holding his hand as it bled and gritting his teeth together. “What are you trying to pull here?”

“Obviously, we’re pulling a robbery on this robbery!”

A different voice shouted out and caught the attention of both Oak and the executive. Another train was passing by on a track just below theirs and, standing on top of that one, was a guy easily recognisable as Gold, the Gambling Whirlwind, one of the IPO’s own Experts of Justice.

Gold held out his arms and grinned. “C'mon, jump for it all ready!”

The person in the trench coat shoved past the executive as they threw their disguise off, revealing themself to be Crystal, another member of the Experts of Justice. She grabbed Oak’s hand and hauled him into her arms before leaping off the side of the train to land on the other one. Stubbornly, she hadn’t landed in Gold’s arms and instead shoved the Professor off onto Gold as she snarled, “Get a move on, we’re not out of danger until we’re back at base!”

Gold rolled his eyes, but then more gunshots rang out as the executive attempted to fire at them. They quickly took cover and Crys had fought too long undercover to let Professor Oak die here. She had no other choice. She grabbed both Gold and the Professor’s arms in hers and closed her eyes, concentrating on the IPO’s base.

“Hey, cut that out.” Gold snapped, yanking out of her grip and putting the Professor down in order to draw his own weapon of choice, a telescoping pool cue. “We’re not that hard-up yet that you have to resort to using that power.”

Crys ground her teeth in aggravation. “Well, what do you suggest we do, then?”

“Agent Crystal, Agent Gold, can you hear me?”

A boy’s voice she didn’t recognise came from the star ring communicator on her finger. She looked down at it in surprise, holding it up to her ear to hear it better. Gold, on the other hand, frowned down at it. “What d'you want?”

“If you can, run to the end of the train.” The boy directed. “Backup has arrived!”

Gold scoffed and mumbled something, but that was all Crys had needed to hear. She hefted Professor Oak back up into her arms and, in the brief pause of the executive needing to reload his gun, stood. “Sorry, Professor. Gold, let’s go!”

“We’re not really about to let a kid bail us out, are we?”

Despite his protests, Gold took off running right beside Crys on this one. The M2 operative shouted after them and attempted to give chase atop his own train, but the tracks were diverging now and the two trains were heading their separate ways. Crys and Gold ran to the end of the train and, at the boy’s urgings, jumped off and into the city’s dark ocean.

Surprising all of them, a robotic claw shot out of the roof of the boat passing beneath them and caught the three of them. It held them carefully it its huge metal palm as the rest of its body slowly emerged, as if rising from the depths of the ocean itself.

“It can’t be!” They could hear the M2 operative shouting incredulously. “Treecko?!”

Sure enough, once the giant, towering robot had fully emerged, it was revealed to be the IPO’s secret weapon itself – Treecko. And there, riding on its shoulder, was the robot’s master, Ruby.

The boy, smirking so confidently, pulled up his wrist, where a PokeGear was strapped, and shouted into it. “Treecko, let’s go!”

Treecko let out an intimidating metallic trill, then began stomping forward and towards the train. Every step it took shook the city around it and Crys was sure she could hear the windows cracking and the signs rattling in collateral damage. The M2 operative jumped inside the train and Crys cursed under her breath, recognising its design to be that of a Caterpie fighter. They should’ve noticed that earlier. It transformed and turned to face them, its antennae becoming fearsome-looking horns and its treadmill legs extending out spikes for better traction and maximum damage.

Ruby, not intimidated in the slightest, swung out his arm towards the Caterpie fighter. “This shouldn’t even be a challenge, Treecko. Leaf Blade!”

Treecko responded again and swung its free arm out, the blade attached to it blocking the Caterpie from connecting. It shoved the Caterpie back, then grabbed its horns with its free claw and crushed them in its grip. Ruby pumped his fist out in a punching motion.

“Now! Finish it!”

Treecko pulled back, then launched its claw forward and sliced through the Caterpie’s body as if it had been butter, not metal. They could hear the M2 operative screaming as the Caterpie exploded in a fiery spectacle. Ruby, satisfied, looked down at Crys, Gold, and Professor Oak, safely in Treecko’s other claw.

“How are you doing down there? Are any of you hurt?”

“We’re fine, just fine!” Gold yelled up at Ruby.

Crys was too in awe to speak, a sentiment which Professor Oak seemed to share. She’d heard about Treecko, the IPO’s greatest weapon it had managed to reclaim from M2, but this was the first time she’d ever seen it in action. And to think it was being controlled by such a young child!

Their mission had been a success. With a quick command, Ruby had Treecko extend the wings on its back and rocket out of their and then they were flying through the sky, on their way safely back to the IPO headquarters.

[lil-purplebird]

Handle with Care - Chapter Twelve

Fandom: Pokémon

Rating: NC-17

Genre: Romance/Drama

Words: 22,220

Pairing: Mewtwo/Mew

Summary: Having been loving mates for five years, Mew desires for a baby, even though Mewtwo feels the opposite, believing he cannot have offspring. As strong as their bond is, receiving nothing but bad news and unfortunate events slowly tears them apart and pushes their relationship to the edge. A fragile heart can break in any hand that handles it for too long. It can be put back together as many times as possible, but it’ll never be the same.

Note: while the fan fic is still on-going, uploading the chapters are going to be sporadic at best. The chapters may be uploaded daily, weekly, or whenever I get banners finished.

Can also be read here.

Time no longer mattered the more Mewtwo allowed himself to be consumed by his research. As a parallel of his nomadic days, he wandered in search of answers, a light at the end of the tunnel, anything that could be of help. He was plagued by dreams, perhaps nightmarish visions, of the Mew he once knew and loved taunting him with happy has-beens and what-ifs. And that was if she let him near her. In person was a whole different experience.

He had taken Dr. Mime's prescription to heart and made his first attempt to talk to her in weeks, but it wasn't the progress he had expected. She never once looked at him, nor showed she was listening, and her silently getting up to head outside could've caused him to snap had he not been so willing to try. At the very least, he knew she wasn't going to leave the house for long periods of time if she was intentionally avoiding him, though the cold rejection made him take pause from trying again.

But there was a question that had been bothering him for some time, shackles fastened to his heart that only Mew had the key for. It had caused sharp stings when it first came to mind, and the longer he pondered on it, the more it adapted to gentle squeezes to dull the pain. He couldn't bring himself to approach her about it, yet as he wandered out of his study to prepare a quick meal, the window of opportunity was open that very moment—literally, as she was seated on the windowsill. Back still turned to him, as usual, though her tail swayed slightly from the breeze.

He hadn't gotten a good look at her in quite some time, he realized. The distance between them had blurred some details on her he used to be wary of, and he was certain she wasn't so frail before. She was still eating so she wasn't losing too much weight, yet she just looked so loopy, so out of it. Perhaps she developed insomnia, or she found a way to hypnotize herself—a thought that made him ill to his stomach.

Shaking off the dark thoughts, Mewtwo stepped forward to be behind her. "Mew?"

Outside of her tail's uninterrupted swinging, she didn't make any movement from her spot at the window. It was hard to tell if she was even listening. He took a breath to coax himself into speaking his mind, consciously raising his voice to ensure she could hear him.

"Mew... when did you love me?"

She remained silent. His hands clenched, a reflexive tic he had been meaning to break.

"I am sorry for asking such a ridiculous question. I have just been bothered by it lately, and..." He trailed off, unsure how to continue. It had been such a long while since he last talked to her that he hoped his voice hadn't grown jittery. It couldn't be helped that his mind kept berating him for thinking of such stupid concerns because of course he knew the answer to that. If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have requested becoming his mate for—

"...I don't remember."

He felt his heart being ripped out of his chest, and the fragile hope he had desperately been clinging to slipped from his fingers. Despite being spoken in such a soft monotone, it echoed in his ears until it overtook his thoughts.

"What about you, Mewtwo?" He flinched, having not expected the inquiry, not when he was just barely comprehending it. "When did you claim to love me?"

Mewtwo fought to steady himself and cover his new weak point, but he was already losing it when his eyes drifted downward. "I... still have feelings for—"

"I don't care about what you feel now. I asked when."

She didn't even wait for him to give a response when she suddenly swerved around in her seat. The dull glint in her irises caused him to drop his stare again as a chill struck the raw hole his heart was dangling from. He wasn't focused on anything in particular, trying to pull his thoughts back together when she let out a harsh scoff.

"Not that it matters. It's typical of a male to have eyes only for the body."

His figure twitched at the accusation, wondering if it was actually just a coincidence Mew caught his gaze hovering on her lap for that split second. He didn't follow after her when she got up and strode by without another passing glance. The click of a door down the hallway snapped him out of his frozen state, and he cracked the sill with his fists upon crumpling to his knees.

*~*~*

A vine snagged the hammer mid-swing, allowing Mewtwo to blink down at the splintered wood he had been working absentmindedly with, feeling his co-workers' stares on the back of his head. It was unusually silent at the playground, though he hadn't been paying close attention to their chatting or bickering, if any. They had found the time to construct a long-overdue addition to the park as planned, though the clone had randomly decided to re-work the previous structures so he could have time to himself. That hadn't even been an hour ago.

His jaw locked up slightly, knowing Vic's words before he voiced them. "You should go home, Mewtwo."

The memory of Mew sneering at him still hadn't faded from mind, her words continuing to eat away at him. Shaking his head, he stated, "No, this is my top priority right now." He jerked his arm to free it, but the Flycatcher Pokémon tightened his grip on the tool.

"We have it under control," he said, eyes narrowed in concern. "You've been working yourself to exhaustion one-too many times, and frankly, we can't stand by any longer. Go home to the mate."

"I have nothing to return home to." He managed to yank the hammer free, but he instead gathered up the broken wood as he rose to his feet.

Mewtwo couldn't tell anymore if he was lying to himself to excuse why he was pushing himself to work longer hours. Even with his testy attitude, he was still making the attempt to converse with Mew in spite of her rebuff from that moment. Yet, there had still been no progress, no sign she was waking up, and his pessimism was catching up to him.

Swampert snatched the wood to stop the clone as he was passing by, sternly meeting his glower. "Just so you know, I respect you, 'Two," he said, voice low. "Even when one of us—or at least me—irritated you, you've done so much for us and never expected anything in return. So I think it's about time for us to rectify that." He eased the bundle and hammer out of his hold, looking tense as if expecting to be lashed out at. Mewtwo felt a painful twist in his gut for even thinking it. "I can only imagine the pain you two are going through, but this is nothing to work yourself to death over. Leave this to us."

So much for working his woes away; he must really be a wreck if he could be talked into going home. Though even with such bitter thoughts, Mewtwo had no energy to spare to be dismissive toward his peers for looking out for him. His expression fell slightly as he turned to catch their silent nods.

"I should at least stay on the sidelines—" he started only to be interrupted with gruff throat clearing.

"We've already made up our minds," Wiles spoke up, puffing out his chest. "If it'll make you feel better, we're not going to rush this, but we'll finish with or without you."

"Fingers crossed, boys!" Rugby crowed, then eyed his paw as it flexed.

When Swampert patted his back, the feline closed his eyes in defeat, feeling a small smile grace his mouth. "I will hold you to your words," he yielded. "But I will not hesitate to return should you call for it."

In agreement, they let him go without another word. He dusted himself off as he was passing the construction barricades, glancing over his shoulder when he heard someone jogging up to his side. Goddard didn't slow from the eye-contact, which he had to tilt his makeshift hat to do so.

"I'll walk you home," he offered.

"No need—"

"I insist."

Mewtwo didn't have the energy to argue, so after the water fowl gave a webbed thumbs up to the others, he allowed him to follow. He half-expected for it to be in silence to give his thoughts a break, but almost as soon as the park was out of sight, Goddard took the opportunity to speak.

"Sir—I mean, Mewtwo. Sorry if this comes off as insensitive, but..." He quickly trailed off, a frown on his beak. "No, I shouldn't. It was stupid to even think about..."

Not wanting there to be awkwardness between them, the clone gave in. "Ask away."

He nervously scratched at his chin, the gem on his forehead shimmering as his head canted. "Nngh... before... before things turned out for the worse, erm... Well, I mean, were you excited? Or proud about it? The egg, that is."

Mewtwo had figured he was going to ask about the egg during his stuttering, clearly trying to approach it carefully. He couldn't blame him for his hesitance with such a raw subject. "...There was a time, yes," he responded, his tone soft-spoken. The memory of him smiling down at the egg in his hand had faded into the background as time passed, so although he couldn't recall that fleeting feeling, his behavior showed in his mannerisms and stance.

Goddard seemed to relax some. "So... it's normal to be worried about an egg, then?"

"I would assume so, given how fragile they are."

"Yeah, this was stupid of me to ask," he muttered, slumping his shoulders with a sigh. His gaze strayed over to the treetops. "But it's just that I still remember how you looked with the egg, and I was kind of... expecting that to happen with me... Kind of like it did for the others, you know?"

So Mewtwo hadn't imagined it when the Azumarill walked away from their yard. "Congratulations."

Goddard got more flustered from the sudden praise. "W-Well uh, Aqua hasn't—she hasn't laid it yet. She's supposed to any time now, and uh... Thanks."

Nodding and looking up as the house came into view, the clone then swerved sharply off the path. His colleague let out a quack of confusion, but hurried up to his side. "Whoa, what was that for?"

He paused right beneath a tree and leaned his back on it, keeping his gaze down. "Let me know when Lil is finished."

"Oh, huh?" The Duck Pokémon peered over at the house. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all. It... just has been a while, is all."

He didn't want to go into more detail, and luckily his companion caught on and turned back to the path to keep watch. Eyes glued to the splotches of light filtering through the trees' shadows, Mewtwo undid the tool belt to drape it over his forearm when it started chafing. Right then he noticed from the weight a few tools were missing, though he had no use for them at the moment. He trusted they would be returned to him later in the day.

"Oh, here she comes."

Pleased he didn't have to wait long, he stepped out into the sun when the Lilligant was in earshot, looking light on her feet in spite of the solemn visit. Their gazes crossed paths as he wordlessly nodded to her, expecting to pass by when she stopped with a graceful twirl. "What's troubling you, Mewtwo?" she asked softly.

"It is nothing to be concerned about," he answered, a little too hastily. He didn't wish to be rude to the Flowering Pokémon, though as relaxing as the atmosphere was around her, he was still a little petulant.

If she noticed, she didn't let it show on her petite face. "I dropped off some herbs for Mew," was what he scarcely heard, but it got him to pause and look back at her. "They're for aromatherapy, though I do recommend using the rosemary for tea. They should relax her."

Goddard sighed, hands rested on his hips. "More like you need them most, gotta be honest."

Despite the quick shrewd glance he sent his colleague, Mewtwo knew he couldn't argue with that. "Thank you for your help," he said. "Even though it may not seem like it, Mew is grateful you have been looking out for her."

Lil's leaf-like hands rested before her waistline. "I sadly don't have much to offer, but I just want you to know Tangrowth and I understand what you're going through, and are willing to listen if you ever want to talk."

He blinked in surprise. It was all on him for not making an effort to befriend Tangrowth, and therefore learn of it, but it was suddenly hard to take in. They were still newly-mates, coming up on their first year, and yet they hit this cruel roadblock. From what he could tell with Grass-types, fertility was hardly an issue between them—although as he came to expect, there were exceptions.

Not wanting to press for details, he carefully worded out his inquiry, "Is... it hard?"

She glanced down in thought, her sparkling scarlet eyes glazing over for a moment. "Sometimes. I know it's outside of my control, I just can't help feeling really bad about it because Tangrowth would like a few sprouts, but he still chose me despite it. So we had decided together very early on to instead put that mindset into raising strawberries. Though admittedly, we're growing a bit too much." She giggled, like that of tinkering bells as she blushed. "In fact, I'm actually inviting the whole community to come pick strawberries next harvest. I'm hoping you and Mew will join us, though you don't have to pick them if you don't want to, Mewtwo."

While he wouldn't express it out loud, he wished her optimism was contagious. "Thank you. I... hope we can come, too."

Lil put her hands together under her chin. "Oh, good. Tangrowth would like to talk to you more, but I guess he hasn't said anything since he's a bit shy. So I'll pass along to you that he and I had prayed day and night that your egg would hatch."

"You are too kind."

Her face lit up as her eyes smiled sweetly, then her flower crown twitched as she turned to their silent peer. "Oh, congratulations on the egg, Goddard."

He jolted. "Eh? How'd you know—did she lay it already?" A wheeze was squeezing its way out of his beak.

"No, I just knew."

Mewtwo politely cleared his throat to hide a chuckle. "Thank you for checking in on Mew," he said, body half-turned to resume walking. "And thank you for the generous offer."

"Not at all." Lil waved, swaying like she was in the breeze.

"And Goddard, I appreciate you accompanying me home," he added to his colleague. "Please return my tools when you are finished with them."

Steady on his feet again, the water fowl smiled. "Sure thing, 'Two—I mean, sir! Er, uh... yeah, sir."

He smiled in amusement, and made his way to the house. He didn't show it on his face that he could sense their worry swelling until he reached the bottom of the slope, keeping his back turned as his calm demeanor dropped. By then the pair had left, and Mewtwo felt the weight of solitude pushing down on his shoulders. Approaching the front yard, he paused to lean against a fence post for a quick breather.

Once he talked himself into entering his home, he nearly knocked over the basket of herbs that had been left on the floor. Hissing under his breath, he snatched it up as he stepped inside, barely glossing over Mew laying on the couch, back to him, until he noticed how unusually stiff she was. Her breaths also sounded irregular, like she was having trouble breathing or was trying to hold it in.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Eh?" she choked, her shoulders wincing. "U-Um... why should you care?"

That wasn't what he wanted to hear, but her response was good enough. "I just talked to Lil," he reported with a huff, hanging up his hat and tool belt. "It was considerate of her to bring you herbs, but it is rude to leave them in front of the door."

She made no other movement to look at him, though she was stabilizing her breathing. "You can have them," she murmured. "Why don't you grow your own garden?"

Mewtwo's knuckles cracked when he swiftly flexed his fingers, trying to keep his composure. Right as he was walking past to drop the basket off in the kitchen, he happened to take a second glance, noticing the tips of her ears were red. "Are you sick?"

Possibly because of his tone of voice, she twitched again, almost curling in on herself. "N-No..."

Her timid reaction concerned him, though he counted down in his head before speaking up again. "If you need assistance—"

"No, I do not!" she snapped, swiftly sitting up to leer over at him, her face flushed. Even with faded eyes, it was the most emotive she had been in weeks, but he wasn't fazed by the outburst.

He broke the gaze to leave the room when he did another double-take at the couch. "Mew, did you wet yourself?" he asked, watching as she tensed again. "Is that what happened?"

With pursed lips, she hurried into the kitchen before he could get another look at her face. "...I'll clean it up right now."

Mewtwo didn't immediately correct her that he knew from the scent it wasn't urine. They never brought attention to it, but it wasn't entirely abnormal for Mew to have what the humans called a "wet dream". Since they'd first mated, there were nights he'd get up for a drink or for the bathroom and find her face flushed and breathing slightly more rapid, then he'd connect the dots to her cleaning up in the morning. There had even been a few times he himself had such nocturnal emissions, but occurrences became scarcer over time (and he'd counteract such dreams by then being spontaneous with Mew). What he found a little disheartening in this case was the time and place; she had to have only been napping on the couch anytime between when he left and when Lil visited.

Scanning the cushions once more, something caught his eye that got him to lean in for a closer look. Pinching one of the clumps of rosy fur, he instantly gritted his teeth. Damn it, Mew... if you would just let me help you...

He stood back up just as she paused in the entryway to glower, a damp washcloth clenched in her grip. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she seethed, voice deathly quiet as her tail whipped at the base. "Why're you sticking your nose in it?"

The accusation rubbed him the wrong way, but he knew her thought process would have her take his words and spin them against him. Instead of talking back to her, he just swiped his finger across his muzzle as he walked into the kitchen to store the herbs away, intentionally keeping his back to her. There was no indication she got the gesture, no other sound came from her nor did she follow him, making him crack a sly smirk. But as he let the moment sink in, he got more and more upset with her and with himself.

It was shameful how easy it had become to turn their backs on each other when she wasn't fighting him off. He didn't like raising his voice to her in the slightest, and their arguments would just end up going nowhere, but at least it was some form of communication. At least she would acknowledge his presence instead of ignoring him, but he never could shake off Mime's statement about it.

If she was indeed thinking of him, why would she actively avoid him? He would understand if she was angry with him, but he sincerely wished to talk about it. And yet, she seemed... content with locking him out.

What is the point of us being mates if she refuses to reach out?

Mewtwo nearly dropped the herbs he was putting away when his body racked with shivers. It was a dreaded question that kept popping up now and then, but it had stayed in the recesses of his mind where it belonged. He didn't want to consider it so soon, not when he was certain there was a better solution to their problem. Casting her aside to let her fend for herself was something that could prove disastrous in her current, vulnerable condition. If not sooner, it would become apparent later.

Shaking his head clear, he stared down at what still needed to be sorted out until his eyes drifted to the cluster of lavender buds. Glancing down at where dust still clung to his fur, he let out a slow sigh through his nose. Perhaps his co-workers had a point in sending him home, and Lil was kind in sharing her remedies with them. There was more to Mew's condition than she was letting on, but any form of relaxant would help with rational thinking and soothing the body.

Filling up a tea bag with the buds, he finished storing the herbs away then carried it with him for the bath. Mew wasn't in the front room, and the bedroom door was still cracked open as he passed by, so she had to have left the house—odd that he didn't hear her, although he was that deep in thought to tune everything out. Closing the door with his tail, he took out the washcloths and a towel from their shelves and stepped up to the tub, checking it for residue before turning the knob all the way. Once hot water was coming through, he pulled the drawstrings and dropped the tea bag right by the drain, and then wet the washcloth to rub on the soap.

The clone spent the next few minutes scrubbing himself down, eyeing the light pouring in through the frosted glass. It felt silly of him to think about bathing close to the afternoon when he could still head back outside at any time, perhaps minutes after getting out. There wasn't even any guarantee Mew would want to take an early bath, let alone an herbal bath on her own accord. And with her being out at the moment, she may not return for a while without him tracking her down to drag her back. He snorted at the thought, mentally kicking himself for acting too hastily—or desperately, he felt in this case.

Mewtwo nearly reeled from the combination of heat and lavender scent as he shut off the tap. Either his sense of smell was too strong, he used too much of the buds, or a little bit of both. If it was already too much for him, Mew would be overwhelmed by it as well. Perhaps he could soak first to test it out before turning it over to her, but if the steam was going to fill up the room with the scent, that alone could have the same effect. And personally, he didn't want to come out heavily smelling like lavender, even though the house was going to be permeated with it throughout the day as is.

Just as he sat back down, he heard the door open, but only managed to catch a glimpse of pink before it was slammed shut. It should've been a small relief she hadn't been gone for long after all, yet his brows furrowed as he felt his morale start to sink. She was becoming more difficult to read as time passed. So she thought about an early bath after all, but wasn't she aware it was occupied if she didn't want to stay?

The thought bothered him. They hadn't bathed together in months, so he shouldn't have been so disappointed by her reaction. Did he honestly expect her to take in a good look, or for him to quip about the intrusion before she could turn away? What good would any of that have done?

As soon as he finished his rinsing, he pulled out her seat and checked the bathwater before exiting the room, rustling the towel over his torso. He paused when he unexpectedly spotted her sitting by the door, arms and tail curled around her knees. She didn't even glance up at him, though he quickly averted his gaze in the off-chance she were to yell at him for staring.

"I already prepared the bath for you," was all he told her before he strode for his study. Just as he was closing the door, he watched her slip inside, and he slowly took a breath.

*~*~*

Steam coated the water and left condensation on the tiles, carrying the faint scent of lavender through the room. The tap was still dripping while Mew peered dully down into the tub, eyes hovering on a tea bag sitting by the drain. She wasn't going to soak after washing, anyway, but that was a suspicious sight. Just what the hell was Mewtwo plotting in getting her to come out smelling nice? Was he trying to tell her something about her hygiene? What was his end goal here?

"How disgusting," she darkly muttered.

Plopping herself on her step stool, she soaped up the wet washcloth, but didn't stop even when the bar snapped under her fingers. The squishes were nothing but white noise, and the tinge of fir mixing with the lavender was more of an annoyance than sweet. Wringing the cloth tight, she ignored how the suds dribbled onto her thighs, then balled it up to rinse and repeat.

Mew blinked rapidly upon recognizing her drowsy state, letting the gnarled washcloth hang from her fingers as she stared at the floor. Focusing her vision, she could just make out her dark reflection, but it was mostly a blur. It was probably for the best; she didn't want to see what she looked like. Sitting back, she noticed something else moving before her. Squinting, she could just make out a familiar figure looking at himself as well—no, he had his eyes on her.

Glancing up, the feline wanted to tell Mewtwo off for coming into the bath, but she couldn't find the voice for it. It had been a long while since they last washed each other, she could at least give him that right to get it out of his system. Letting out a small huff, she whirled around in her seat and held out the washcloth over her shoulder. "Do your thing, and then get out."

Nothing happened, not even a breath sounded. Her jaw hardened as a vein throbbed in her temple, her fingers curling tighter against the cloth. The silence was maddening, making her squirm impatiently.

"Well?" she hissed. "What're you waiting for? It's getting muggy in here, and I want to get out, but I'm not leaving my back dirty." She hadn't even washed her front, but she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction, knowing him.

There was a shift in the air, and Mew let out an exasperated sigh—only he didn't take the cloth from her. She flinched as the tips of his fingers raked slowly up and down her back, almost in a massage. Her mouth opened to snap at him, but she straightened her spine in response. With no resistance, her arm dropped to grip the back of the stool as she raised her head, eyes falling shut. She felt her frustration melt into the blissful darkness, deeply breathing in the heat that enveloped her.

His hands put more pressure on her lower back as he bent down, firm lips feathering the nape of her neck. The feline sharply sucked in air through her teeth, brows knitting upon recognition. "That's not what I meant!" she groaned, though she couldn't will herself to shrug him off. Her head tipped back when the clone leaned in further to circle around, nose skimming the soft flesh beneath her chin. "Mewtwo, you jerk..." was her next breath, steadily losing her train of thought. "Oh, Mewtwo..."

Her diaphragm went taut beneath antsy fingers, tracing along grooves of her sternum and edges of her rib cage. He mouthed her jawline, suctioning his lips to a faint, but rapid pulse as her heart pounded harder. She couldn't bring herself to turn her head in his direction, though she was twisting in attempt to get him to move. She was vaguely aware the washcloth had fallen from her grip, but she was more focused on how slick his touches were becoming due to perspiration.

Purposefully or not, his hand slipped to her thigh where soapy water still lingered. With it smeared on his palm, he immediately glided over to cup her groin, an action Mew knew he planned, but still found herself floored by it nevertheless. Scarcely able to tell the difference between fluids, she lifted her hips with a mewl through parted lips.

"N-Not fair—ooh!"

Slipping off the stool, Mew used it as a headrest as he quickened his pace, about to rub her raw. As she kicked out a foot, her toes bumped against an object, which she hazily noticed peeking over was phallic in shape. Scarcely moving from her spot, she dragged it over and squeezed it between her legs, gasping at how it pushed against her entrance when Mewtwo withdrew from her. She twisted it around using her thighs, marveled by the way it slid along the folds and put the perfect pressure on her clitoris.

"Please," she whimpered. "Take me, Mewtwo..."

He didn't take heed, his way of teasing her. A little frustrated at his lack of a response, Mew lifted herself and held his penis in place as she lowered herself onto the tip—only to struggle getting it to penetrate.

"Nngh... why can't you get in?" She bit back a yelp from an angled push, blinking down at the oblong shape. "O-Oh... when did you get so round? And so thick...?"

Abandoning the attempt at penetration, Mew hugged the base of the shaft and leaned in for a lick, moaning at its slick surface. Mewtwo never tasted that good, she recalled, but waived it off the harder she kissed it. As her mouth closed over the head, her tongue brushed against odd bumps she knew weren't there before, though it was driving her wild. How had she not noticed it before?

For a moment when she squeezed him, Mew wondered if he climaxed, but it was a sharper pressure that caused her to choke. Shoving him away, she was accosted with water and swallowed more stray droplets wrong, bending forward to cough her lungs out.

She flinched when the door opened a little too hastily, and she blearily stared wide-eyed at Mewtwo as he looked her over. "Are you alright?" he asked, sounding a little strained.

Something deep down inside her flipped from his concern, a prickling reminder of how he was checking up on her. It was quickly overridden with irritation at his interruption. "I'm fine," she snapped, still a little breathless. "How long have you been out there?"

"I was in the study when I heard you coughing."

Her ears flattened, not liking that he had an immediate answer. "That's a lie. You just want an excuse to come in here to peep on me."

The clone's brows twitched. "Why would I do that?"

Mew didn't know the answer to that, but she still didn't need a reason for why he had to barge in. She crossed her arms across her chest, twisting her back to him. "You've got a good look at me. Now get out!"

Mouth set in a thin line, Mewtwo roughly shut the door when he left. She waited until she was certain he wasn't listening in before grabbing the shower nozzle to turn it off. Refusing to get in the tub, she remained curled up where she sat, growing numb from her damp fur.

*~*~*

The lavender buds gone to waste, Mewtwo had to reconsider using the herbs as they were, but he held off on making any tea or more herbal baths with them. At first, he had to pick which stalks he could hide near where Mew would sit, knowing she'd throw them out if she found them. When that wasn't working, he extracted oil from a few when she was out that he decided to squirt near the furniture, by the windowsill, in the corner, wherever he felt she could still catch a whiff. But then she was moving around, and staying outside longer—which would've been a good thing for her to get sunlight and air if he wasn't trying to talk to her.

He sought to approach her about why she was regularly avoiding him and to figure out what it was about the attempts at aromatherapy that bothered her, but as always, she was dodging the questions or making accusations. He hated having his words twisted around and being condemned for showing concern for her personal welfare. It frustrated him that Mime had to tell him to "keep it up" when he gave the first progress report, because the doctor chose to hone in that she had "newfound" energy in leaving the house. She wouldn't let him accompany her, which was the desired effect in mending their relationship, but having any interaction with the outside world was seen as positive, even if he felt otherwise.

Every other night, the clone continued to do his research, including going back through the texts he had previously read to see if he had overlooked anything. Looking more into depression was a good start, though he felt it went deeper than moods. It had to have manifested sometime in her past, perhaps a previous trauma she had repressed that got triggered back to the forefront. Maybe there was something from her childhood that affected how she viewed adulthood, or just the lack of a parental figure in general. She had to teach herself, after all. It was probable she had gotten the wrong information of how to act or behave like her own species, instinct notwithstanding. She also had multiple mates in such a short amount of time, which had to be rather unusual behavior even in Pokémon. Her obsession (not a desire like previously thought) with wanting kittens had to have played a role—

Mewtwo suddenly halted his skimming and went back a couple of pages until a lone word popped out in italics.

Addictions.

Something clicked in his head he had been looking in the wrong direction. She was depressed, of course, but what led to it? Was she always depressed, or was it after the loss of the egg? She kept saying she "missed" him, always putting emphasis on it. What did she mean by it, exactly?

It was clear the textbook was only touching upon the subject given it took up a page-and-a-half. The main addictions mentioned were drug and alcohol abuse and how it caused chemical deficiencies, but that wasn't Mew. No, he had to go more into behavioral.

He searched through over half of the books he had on him until Mewtwo believed he found it. There was not much of it written (and the text noted it was considered debatable), but what he read brought him pause. He reviewed it, paused some more, and then read it again out loud, slower to take it in:

"...'distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationships involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by the individual only as things to be used'..."

And the memories came rushing in like a tsunami.

"We must have sex for a month."

"There appears to be no sign of ovulation... Mew cannot remember her last heat cycle—if at all."

"Every one of them... they didn't care for me!"

"She had about fifteen mates prior to you, Mewtwo, give or take a few."

"Please take me with you as your mate."

"The night we met, I hated myself."

"I had thought for sure that he was going to be the one."

"I want kittens."

"You're no different from them! None of those bastards cared for me, so why should you?!"

"It's always the male that leaves. The female has no right in saying who goes and stays."

He remembered the dark thoughts he had after they had their fight and she went after Marjorie. There were all of the accusations that flooded his mind afterwards of her lying about her past mates and using him for sex. All the times she was coy, eager, brought to tears... how easily she yielded to him their first night... He wasn't in the clear, either, for having unintentionally fed into it once he accepted his libido, but he was uncomfortably correct.

"Oh, Mew..."

He shakily pushed himself up out of his seat.

*~*~*

"Ha... mmm—ah!..."

Pushing tiptoe on the mattress, Mew gyrated her pelvis to rub flesh against the palm of her hand before her fingers pinched. She pursed her lips and pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth in attempt to silence herself, but the temptation to sigh was too great. Flipping onto her stomach, she grazed her lifted clitoral hood along the wrinkled sheets and gasped into her pillow.

She didn't know where she was going with her thoughts of Mewtwo, if he was still licking her or allowing her to grind her hips into his abdomen. He was more-or-less just there gazing down on her and not making a sound. She once questioned his silence, wondering why only the sounds of her breaths and heartbeats filled her ears when usually she could hear his groans and the bed crackling under his weight. Not to mention the headboard sometimes thumping the wall whenever he got rough, which she hadn't heard in a while, either.

"Ooh..." She shakily reached out to grab the bars, and hoisted herself up to thrust her hips as hard and fast as she could. Outside of clitoral stimulation against his midriff, she didn't have the body mass to reproduce the same weight and friction to get the right rhythm she was looking for. But it didn't matter that she couldn't get Mewtwo rocking with her, she felt like she could still become one with him from the way she sank into him.

"Ah-ah-ahh—HA!"

Mew trembled and froze as she gauged the moistness between her legs, but her orgasm still held off. She was just in reach, a few more brushes should do...

"Mewtwooo..."

Her eyes blearily opened half-lidded, still feeling his name linger on her lips. She ached and twitched from ballasting herself, and though her skin was hot, the cold emptiness of the room kept her from feeling her own body heat. That was because he was always the source of warmth, from the way he would run his hands over her pelt as he held her to his chest to how his body would loom over her and shield her from moonlight. The back of her neck prickled from the thought of him behind her, noticing her pillow had replaced him without her knowing.

Swallowing to rehydrate her throat, Mew turned her head to look at the door like she expected him to be standing there, watching and waiting, perhaps even enjoying the view. He only just wanted to see her from a different angle, was all? Eyes drifting downward to watch him stroke himself, her claws restlessly tapped the bars as her hips jerked involuntarily. A squishy pillow was a poor substitute to his firm abdomen, but it had to do. She couldn't let him down.

Shifting her weight, a sharp gasp sounded deep in Mew's chest as a thick sheath suddenly pushed against her opening and slid past the tight walls. Tightening her grip as Mewtwo took her, she angled her pelvis while still keeping in contact with the pillow. Normally he didn't do it from behind because she liked looking at him, but for tonight she'd make an exception. At the risk of friction rubbing her raw, it wasn't often she felt two textures simultaneously touching her bead.

Panting thickly, Mew tearily glanced up to find Mewtwo had stepped up to the bed, penis still in hand as he hovered over her. She scarcely focused her vision past it at the lustful smirk that graced his face, feeling her mouth water as she crawled forward without further enticement. Grabbing onto him, she leaned forward to lasciviously lick it, running her tongue along the length of the shaft. The thought about its wooden taste was nothing more than a blip on her radar, her mind too clouded with desire. She couldn't take him fully into her mouth, although it didn't stop her from trying.

"Mewtwo... you're too big for me," she mewled, her lips cradling the tip. "Oh, God, you're so big..."

The withdrawal from between her legs left behind a wet prickle as she got off the mattress. She gingerly climbed on top of Mewtwo's lap, wondering for a brief moment why he wasn't laying a hand on her to aid in her balance. As she lowered herself on his erection, she twitched at the smooth push against her entrance—and she struggled to burrow him inside.

"H-Hey... why aren't you coming in?" she whimpered, wriggling her hips and stroking his girth. "Mewtwo... Mewtwo, please..."

She trembled the longer she couldn't open up further, her breath catching in her lungs. Something wasn't right, she always accepted him inside. She could take him with little difficulty, albeit not fully. Her thighs hugged around his stiff circumference when her vaginal walls constricted at the thought, feeling hollow, incomplete.

As Mew lolled her head back to meet his heated gaze, a thought teased from the back of her mind: Why not make him jealous? Make him beg to give you a good fuck.

She furrowed her brows slightly, unsure what that meant, but her eyes trailed back down to the pillows. Slowly licking her lips, the feline got up to return to the bed in a kneel, pulling one of the cushions between her legs. Running her palm along the creases, she skimmed her vulva on its surface for a test. A tingle spread upward into her abdomen, and closing her eyes, she hurriedly put pressure to curb the growing throbbing in spite of her need for penetration. Her stomach knotted, unused to the idea of her putting on a show for him, yet she was faintly acquainted with the smooth, rhythmic strokes.

"Aahhnnn... oooh... sh-shit..."

With a well-timed shift and squeeze of her thighs, she slipped her paw below to pull back the sticky clitoral hood and purred, rocking her pelvis in quick successions. Movement beneath her sent her sliding onto her backside, repositioning her legs out from underneath to keep them from cramping. Glancing up with a breath to find herself once again sitting in Mewtwo's open lap, Mew paused in thought, noticing his eyes had softened, as did his figure. He rolled his hips forward, and the feline was mesmerized by the rippling curves and perkiness that wasn't on him before—it was oddly feminine. Another feature she found unusual was she couldn't feel his genitals beneath her, but there was something wet pushing against her that took her a moment to register.

Since when could Mewtwo change sex? was her puzzled thought.

The feline realized she became breathless after another slick skim, and once she regained her bearings and stretched out a foot on a thigh, her hips lurched forward to keep pressure to her folds. Mewtwo moved against her, and with a deep sigh, Mew fell back a little bit and returned the thrusts. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she watched themselves gently rock back-and-forth against each other, taking in the size difference and musing how she could even rub up against anything. In her mind's eye, she recalled a vague memory of being in a similar flexible position, though she didn't have to stretch that much. What she had liked about it was how much her body cried in need for penetration every time flesh meshed, yet relished the lack of it all the same. Even long after the years had blurred the memory, it still remembered that heavenly sensation she had shared with another...

Oooh... oh God, that's good...

Sweat cascading down her body, Mew propped herself on her elbows and spread her thighs to quicken the grinding, panting through her teeth. The clone shifted again to go rougher, showing off some plentiful bounciness that made her gasp from the sight and lament that they couldn't press their chests together without parting. Fantasizing she had her own pair to caress, she let out a string of mewls at the warm moist rubbing on her entrance, even trembling from how frequently their clitorises flicked together.

"Yes, yes, oh Mewtwo, yesss!" she moaned, adverse to tearing her gaze away to tilt her head back, hands kneading her chest. "Ohhh, harder, push harder! It feels so good... so smooth... ooh!"

Hurriedly scrambling to her knees, Mew ballasted herself over Mewtwo's writhing figure and wildly lurched her hips, even angling more to stay connected. Hanging her head for a moment with a groan, her fingers crept up her hot figure, taut abdomen quivering at the touch. Before they reached her watering mouth, she whimpered when her lovely mate prodded and circled her puckered lips, the knobbed ends coated in thick fluid—her fluid—and a curiously furry texture. She opened wider to take it in, swiping her tongue along the underside.

"Mmnngh—mm-mm-mmMM!"

Mew staunchly flattened their puffy cores together at orgasm, her eyelids fluttering and drool dripping out of her mouth as the object pulled out. She blearily watched her tail flop to the side, and once she slumped in exhaustion, stared down at herself. Her thighs still hugged the pillow to herself, her eyes slightly widening at the glistening wet spot that covered the entire bottom half. Slowly, she bucked to brush her throbbing vulva across it again, finding intrigue with its cooling stickiness and loving how it felt, but she missed the reciprocating pressure of a partner. Then she noticed the pinned tail, and as it bumped against sensitive flesh from sliding away, her figure spasmed and she tossed back her head with a startled gasp. Without meaning to, she met Mewtwo's familiar needy gaze as he eagerly jutted his erection more against her raw mound.

Although she had found herself grown used to (and wanted more of) the curvaceous Mewtwo, she managed a smile at how passionate he had become. "M-Mew... two... Ah... you ready to do it for real?" With wavering breath, her eyes closed and spine arched as he pricked her entrance, and her mate shifted forward to push her backward on the bed to claim her.

*~*~*

The sheets rumpled in his grip as Mewtwo fell to his knees, body limp. Resting his forehead on the mattress, he breathed heavily, vainly trying to divert his thoughts elsewhere while still thinking of Mew. He tried to button his lip to soften his sobs, but when her big, bright blue eyes locked on his gaze in yearning, he couldn't help a throaty groan.

There was no getting around that he could no longer hold back. It had been too long since he last held her, last kissed her, last knew her. He was beginning to forget her loving caresses, her gasps at his ear, her heel digging into his thigh, her tail looping around him as he entered her tiny body. He had five years' worth of memories to sift through, but they weren't the present time. Interspersed were fantasies of what he had wanted to do with her, of what he would like her to do. As much as he loved her, she was so reserved in bed, always having to be goaded with his touches into reciprocating. What he would give to have her take the initiative more, like when they were in the back room of the clinic and she took him into her mouth...

Mewtwo sat trembling as he watched himself unsheathe. She just had to be so delicate, didn't she? He could hardly be rough with her out of fear she'd break under him, and she could scarcely fully take him. That lack of trust in himself to not hurt her kept him from expressing his wishes and going all out.

You like having sex with her, he reminded himself, swallowing as his throat went dry. Stop over-analyzing it. So what if you cannot go all the way in? Not everything needs to be perfect.

A headache was steadily thrumming to life the more he struggled to think of something else, yet words such as "succession of lovers", "things to be used", and "addiction" mockingly circled around him. It didn't help that the voice in his head transitioned to Mew's like she was there whispering them in his ear. His member twitched from the thought, burning in need for her touch.

This is wrong. I should be with her to help her. And help myself—no, just her! It is Mew who needs help, not I!

Mewtwo gasped when fingertips gently skimmed his penis, and glancing down, he ran his thumb along the weeping tip as he pulled back the foreskin. What he'd give to have her there and bury himself into her frail. If she were any bigger, she could comfortably sit in his lap and throw her limbs around him, squeezing him closer to better match his momentum and breathing. Perhaps she could have a fuller chest, as well? Would she be firm pressed up against him, or would she be pillowy? Could she whisper her naughtiest thoughts against his mouth, and would she beg as his hands ran along her bouncy figure?

"O-Oh, Mew...!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when objects clattered around him, removing his hand as he whipped his head around. There was no one else in the study with him, yet his books, papers and tools had been scattered on the floor. Exhaling a trembling breath as his heart pounded against his rib cage, Mewtwo moved to stand, but his knees were wobbling too much and his groin too hot to ignore. Hoisting himself to sit on his bed, he gawked at the mess before dropping his gaze.

Was I...?

He opened and closed his hands for a long moment to let it sink in, taking notice of how his softening member twitched the longer he dwelled on it. It felt like something in the back of his mind was scratching to get out, pleading to take over for a while. It was going to drive him mad if he didn't do something about it soon.

...should I...?

In an abrupt movement, Mewtwo strolled over to the door just to pause before it, staring at the wood. He didn't know why, exactly, he thought he felt Mew's presence outside. It was faint, possibly a result of them not being as close anymore, but it was her. Perhaps she had been startled by the noise and was coming to check it out—a thought that got his hand hovering at the doorknob, thinking about what expression she might have on her face. If they could talk it through, however, they could come to a solution together, perhaps even reconcile...

The tender notion then faded as quickly as it came, leaving behind an aching void. He was foolish for getting his hopes too high. Besides, he heard nothing beyond the door to indicate she had even considered leaving her room. Such a daunting thought accompanied him as he picked up a few books to return to his studies, but he couldn't take in any new information.

*~*~*

"This has been troubling you for a while, now?"

Staring listlessly at the floor, sluggishly kneading his brows, the clone nodded as Mime jotted down some notes. "It has only just been a week, but I can barely stand it," he murmured. "The more I fight it, the more I know deep down I am going to lose."

The morning sun still had of yet to ease its spindly rays into the study. Mew had her appointment earlier, which supposedly played out no differently from the last session in her being uncooperative in answering questions. He couldn't get a good look at her when she left, but she had seemed more restless. Mime had of yet to bring up anything that was said between them, which he concluded meant there were more private matters brought up as a result of the rift separating them getting wider. And as they jumped immediately into probing his mind as soon as he sat down, he was quick to get to his current state.

"Why does the thought of masturbation bother you so much?" The doctor took a quick sip of what little was left of his drink. Mewtwo couldn't figure out why it was Mew even bothered putting tea together if she wasn't going to touch her share. "It's clear here you do not enjoy it, so there should be no reason to be fretting over it."

Eyes drifting back down, he sighed through his nose. "It is because she is not there with me. I think about her so much that I sometimes wish my thoughts would manifest her before me, and we would be together again." Now that he was hearing himself speak his thoughts, he was aware of how much it sounded like he was sniveling. He had legitimate concerns, but there was a lack of coherency. It was somewhat embarrassing.

"Does it have any correlation with your lack of sleep? You've been studying well into the night, I take it?"

Mewtwo scarcely passed a glance at the textbooks he had sloppily shoved under the bed. "To be frank, I am unsure anymore. I only ever seem to have erotic thoughts, which just get worse the more I look into it. I thought a change of subject would help."

He was being vague about what he had been reading up on lately, but he trusted Mime to catch the hints he was dropping and push for more information. For some odd reason he didn't mind wanting to share his findings, even if it was just to clear his conscious.

Mouth scrunched in thought, the Mr. Mime scribbled down another note. "Have you ever desired sex before Mew?"

"No." The clone paused in remembrance, and not just for good measure. "At least... not in that way. At first the concept disgusted me, then upon looking into it further on a biological standpoint, I became intrigued by its hidden intricacies. Yet I had no desire for a mate, so my body never had a reaction. The night Mew and I consummated our relationship, I suppose that was awakened in me, though I did not recognize it. After some time passed, I realized I liked it, and that soon grew into a love for sex."

"That's normal."

He almost chuckled, wishing he could believe it. "So I love sex because I love Mew. Or do I love Mew because I love sex? Which was it that awoke inside me on that night?"

"Males develop emotional bonds with their mates through intercourse," Mime explained. "That's just how dopamine works."

Mewtwo could believe it. He never dwelled on it, having always been too high with bliss each time they rested after intercourse, but he had found it curious how easily he opened up to Mew a little more as they lay together. It had tended to ebb by the morning, though gradually over the years, it steadied out to where he equally enjoyed his time with her at all times of the day. She became his closest companion, and before he knew it, he had stopped inwardly struggling over the thought.

Perhaps that was due to all the sex they had, and subconsciously he knew that had a grip on his emotions. His mind, however, wanted to prove it wrong. "That may be how nature designed it to work, but Mew and I defy nature just by being together. I had to have loved her before we became mates. After all, she had fallen in love with me by then."

"How did you know?"

A quick palpitation of his heart almost kept him from answering. "She told me. Why else did she come to me to become my mate?"

There was a small rattle behind him that perked him up, but he figured Mew had just left the house and he dropped his eyes again. Mime hemmed as he mused, "Your stress levels need to decrease if you wish to help Mew."

"But if she loved me," the clone continued, his thoughts running off the rails again, "then why did she leave me?"

"Mew never left you, she isolated herself."

He just shook his head for a moment. "I do not like being alone. I was alone for so long that I became numb to it, to the point you could say I was used to it. Yet I feel like despite the circumstances surrounding my birth, I was not meant to be alone. My creators were there, but I had no connection to them. I was the only one of my kind by design, and it was as if the weight of the world closed in around me."

There was a sudden flash of an image that went by too fast to comprehend, but there was a feeling of nostalgia that lingered. When he tried to think back to it, Mewtwo hissed from a sharp throb in the back of his head. He was aware Mime got to his feet, and hurriedly turned down any aid he offered. Gently massaging his temple, he took slow deep breaths to dull the ache and quell his trembling.

"I... I had dreams in that cultivation tank," he whispered. "At first I thought they had happened, but I have no memory of them, so I wrote them off as just dreams. They were the most realistic dreams I have ever had, however... It is not a pleasant feeling to have, so I do not dwell on it much anymore. But there was a time when I went looking for that place in my dreams, even sought out the faces..."

"Faces of whom?"

He gritted his teeth as he fruitlessly tried to recall the images. The best he could conjure up was a simple white dress, perhaps the shapes of small Pokémon. "I cannot remember. I get excruciating headaches just trying to think back to it..." His gaze drifted to the sunlight that finally started seeping in, a sight that he oddly wasn't happy about. He seethed at the tiny pools of light, almost daring them to touch his skin.

Dr. Mime seemed to have noticed his mood, but didn't comment on it. "What was your life like before coming here, Mewtwo? Were you always alone?"

Still leering at the light, he shook his head as he slumped back in his chair. With the confidentiality of their session in mind, he answered truthfully, but sparsely, "I had created clones like myself to combat my loneliness, albeit for a more selfish reason. I was close with them, but at some point we all parted ways. The odd thing is I did not mind being alone after that. Perhaps it is because I had a choice in the matter, and I chose selflessly to let them all live their lives. I had made my own decision to live the way I did, and I was content with it."

Mime hadn't written anything down in some time, which Mewtwo was secretly relieved about. He listened intently with small polite nods here and there, and he hardly showed a reaction to the glimpse of his past. "And yet you fear loneliness," he noted, his tone of voice calm to show he had no intention to poke holes in his statements. "Perhaps that was one reason why you chose to become mates with Mew, because the opportunity presented itself to combat it?"

He mulled on it for a moment to gather his thoughts. "I had been used to the concept of loneliness that if I did fear it, I was unaware of it. I had taken it for granted, but five years living with Mew allowed me to recognize the opposite feeling of what I had known—of what I was missing. The thought of turning her down that night is almost alien to me now."

"Would you have asked Mew to be your mate?"

Mewtwo's brows furrowed in discomfort before shaking his head. "Never on my own terms. If we had gotten to know each other longer and I had developed an interest in mating, I could have considered the thought, but I do not believe she would have been my first choice. What got a hold of my attention then was she was the one to approach me, and it was difficult for her to do. She was the most... nervous I had ever seen from her."

"Nervous" was too simple a word to describe what she was like that night. He used to smile fondly at the memory, but further analysis brought to light the implications behind her anxiety of being less "nervous" and more "desperate". She was bold in telling him her feelings, that he admired, yet he had felt something breaking under pressure that she tried to keep at bay. As much as she ultimately had him wrapped around her little finger that night, it was an emotional tug-of-war that they called a truce on to join in union.

Mime shifted his weight as he picked up his cup. "Want my educated guess?" he asked for permission, which Mewtwo nodded for him to continue. "You observe a lot, Mewtwo, soaking up information one after the other and seeking out answers to get a better understanding of how or why the world is the way it is. Curiosity is a trait that's commonly associated with younglings, but it's healthy to ask questions, to stimulate cognitive development. This is because you cannot gain experience from just being a bystander, you must become a participant."

The doctor paused to finish his drink, giving the clone a moment for it to sink in how perceptive the Mr. Mime was. He recalled the many crossroads of life he had come across that crafted his character: his many accomplishments and mistakes, the lessons he learned, the wonders he saw, the people he met. Every crucial point of his life was a result of him taking action when he could've easily remained an observer. How much more different would his life had been if he had been more accepting, more quiet, or just more obedient? Could he have still chosen his own path as readily?

"If you had chosen to not accept Mew as your mate," he resumed, cup still in hand, "you might not have been able to learn of your fears, at least not as fast. You would still be walking the earth and still be content, as you put it, but would you have ever faced your fears? Ever come to terms with them? Ever been able to live?"

Mewtwo winced slightly at a quiet whisper in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to bring it to Mime's attention. He could sense the session had come to a close from the way he wrote something down on his clipboard and got up from his seat, and prolonging it sounded selfish. While he felt the doctor would be intrigued by his thoughts, learning about why "life is wonderful" was a long-term goal he wanted to answer on his own.

"I find it interesting how you two are so far apart from each other, and yet you share the same concerns," he mused out loud.

The feline blinked in surprise. "We what?"

Mime quirked a brow, tucking the clipboard under his arm. "I've been doing a little digging of my own, and found it's quite common for two psychics—of any species—to share psychosis. But it almost always leads to disastrous results."

Mewtwo wasn't liking what he was eluding to, but he cautiously leaned in. "...we have become psychotic?"

He canted his head from side-to-side. "Not necessarily. Psychics have to be extensively trained from a very young age to control their powers to keep their minds from falling apart, but even the most senior of psychics can fall victim if they're not careful. There's a human term for it: folie à deux—madness of two. It's been mostly documented with lower-leveled and poorly-trained psychics, so I just can't help wondering the effects it'd have on someone of yours and Mew's stature. You're still grounded in reality for the most part, it's just been Mew who seems to straddle that line. And from what she's told me, she must like it that way."

As much as he wanted to know more about the condition, something told him the double entendre was intentional. "Pardon?"

"I don't feel it's a coincidence you're just as hung up on your lack of sex as she is, Mewtwo." He gave a stern stare that made him nearly look away. "I've told you to talk with her. When you're not, she loses what it's like to have companionship while still desiring it. It will become more and more difficult to get her to stop engaging in fantasy the farther away you two drift from one another. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't gone off looking for an actual body yet."

Unintentionally, Mewtwo rose to his feet with clenched fists and teeth, his gaze hardening. "What are you implying, doctor? That Mew will become a whore?"

Mime was unfazed by his sudden behavior. "That's not what I'm saying at all. How about you, Mewtwo? Have you ever had or are currently having thoughts of Mew being a 'whore', as you're accusing her of?"

His mind cruelly overlaid a recording of himself reading the definition over an image of Mew sprawled beneath another male, one of many he had thought of in the past week. Quickly regaining his composure, he shook his head and went over to his desk to hunch over it. "...I... I do not want to believe it..."

"Pokémon being promiscuous is nothing new, but putting such human terms on their behavior is hardly fair." He found himself agreeing with the doctor, though he still couldn't relax his tense muscles. "Many Pokémon have multiple mates in their lifetime, although that typically means having offspring with different mates. And mating for pleasure is limited to a few species, it seems, though exceptions exist. I'm going to be honest that given the rarity of her species, it's plausible she was just prone to it."

"If she is tired of me, she should have just left," Mewtwo hissed before he could stop himself, whirling back around to face him. "But it was Mew who suggested we be mates for life."

"...I see." Dr. Mime let out a slow sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced outside. His voice then lowered, "This community is quite the oddball, Mewtwo. Most everyone here has had more than the one mate, and yet the mates they do have are the ones they are raising children with. And here, of all places. This is not a breeding grounds, it is just someplace humans don't travel to much."

"What are you getting at, doctor?"

"Outside of you and I, no other Pokémon here has had human interaction. My hypothesis is the Pokémon who have congregated here with their mates are all wired differently from the general population. And as the need for companionship is hard-wired into our DNA, like-minded individuals will always find each other, someway." He gave a small, sad smile, age showing once more on his face. "Mew has everything she needs here to recover, but only if she allows it, and if you are open to it. I know you truly care for her, Mewtwo, but something has got to give if you two are to move forward."

At that, Mewtwo reluctantly dropped his eyes to stare at his hands, his destructive hands.

He offered to go with Mime back to the clinic for the mere purpose of returning the books, but the doctor insisted he keep them on hand a little while longer. And as he lingered in the doorway to watch him depart, his thoughts went over what he said as well as the concerns of their neighbors. Glancing at the bare soil that once flourished with Mew's handiwork, he wondered about the gift of herbs Lil had dropped off. They were more for calming purposes than seasoning, and far as he knew they hadn't been touched since he stored them away.

He hadn't used all of the sprigs, but there was a limited amount, and he was running out of a few of them. While grateful for the gift, he knew they couldn't keep leeching off their neighbors' generosity. Even if it was just to calm her down with scents (which she was consistently rejecting), he had come to accept he wasn't doing a proper job at it. But on the off-chance it were to start working, he'd need to have the knowledge to do it, as well as regular access to supplies. Though in being honest with himself, it was so he could have a way to clear his head.

Mewtwo thought about telling Mew he was heading out, but as the bedroom door had been closed since leaving the study, he believed she was getting a little more sleep. Besides, he figured he wasn't going to be out long, and he'd be back in time to fix themselves breakfast. And so, he exited the house to take his first step to starting his new nurturing hobby.

*~*~*

One of the hands running along Mew's chest slid up to poke its knobbed fingers inside her mouth, subduing her moans just before she curved from soft skims between her shoulder blades. Breathing sporadically through her nose, the feline rubbed her cheek against the muzzle nestled in the crook of her neck, writhing her hips in tandem with the pelvis digging into her backside. A leg snaked over her thigh to draw her closer, and the unoccupied paw raked grooves down her abdomen. Their tails coiled out of reach, tips stroking, with the thicker appendage easily pinning the smaller of the pair.

There was movement as her partner feathered up her face to lick at her ear, bringing her to bend backwards without breaking skin contact to catch a quick kiss. The freed fingers held her by the chin to keep her still as their tongues danced and explored, Mew's heart fluttering from the dual wet texture of their mouths and between her legs. Without parting, she half-flipped onto her back until their chests brushed, dropping a hand to knead a firm breast.

Mewtwo was going the extra mile, having remembered her unfulfilled desires and changed much more than physique to meet her conveniences. It had taken a few trysts and some trial and error before the transformation could come smoothly, now at the point where the clone was ready at first eye-contact. Not that the rosy feline wasn't satisfied to begin with, it was just that the new form tired less and was softer on the body no matter how rough they would get. Though it amused her that the sex had gotten better as a result...

She sighed into the kiss from the memories. Even as their pelvises met and slowly rocked in yearning, Mewtwo still fondled her, burying deep inside to blindly search for a raw spot. Mew whimpered and swerved her legs around to rest them on the shoulders, sinking far enough into her pillow to sloppily break away and gaze up at her beautiful mate.

"We know she's not real."

Her eyes snapped over to peer at what had to be a mirror sitting at the foot of the bed. At least, she thought that was what she was seeing, but it was just a lone figure of herself, staring at them with contempt. Brows furrowing slightly at the interruption, Mew muttered, "Why should it matter?"

A shrug, glassy eyes narrowing mischievously. "Because the real one feels better."

As Mewtwo pecked along her chest, she winced from a small twist to sensitive flesh. "What real one?" she grunted out.

Her reflection's face curled slightly into a devious smile. "'What real one', indeed."

A moan escaped her parted lips as the clone sat up to impatiently grind their crotches together, her ankles slipping from the momentum. Mesmerized by how the breasts and curves swayed, their hips gyrated with irregular speed for a few rounds without parting. Mew's heated cries then petered out upon noticing her other self hadn't moved from her spot, let alone changed her expression. Growing self-conscious about her performance, the feline reached up to grip tighter and lunged harder against her, breaths shortening out over swift slapping flesh.

"Hah-ha-ahh, Mewtwooo—AAUGHH!"

Her voice suddenly contorted with anguish at a bolt shooting up her legs, a result of harsh penetration. Feet still hovering at Mewtwo's hips, she was distraught to find he returned to normal in size and anatomy inside her, though their eyes didn't meet. She convulsed from the increasing thrusts, realizing the pain had extended further into her abdominal cavity like a dull knife searing into her flesh.

"Mewtwo, wait!" she gasped, tightly gripping the pillow. "Y-You're too far in! It hurts!"

A quiet laugh vibrated at her ear, hands gently cupping her jaw from behind. "'It hurts'?" was the coo. "But don't we like pain?"

Mew threw her head back more to gape up at the sly smirk plastered on the illusion's face. Her legs tingled from the blood rushing to her hips, having an unsinkable feeling Mewtwo wasn't going to slow down any time soon. Shaking her head, she whimpered, "O-Only the good pain!"

"But if pain hurts, how can it be good?"

Her eyes fell shut with another cry, growing nauseated from her rocking. "Mm-mm-mm... M-Mewtwo hurt me..."

"Oh, yes," her double sighed, sounding lost in a memory. A paw gently slid up to touch her cheek, slowly tracing a circle, and she realized it felt too real to be a mirage. "He was very sorry, wasn't he? Though he never did apologize for the other time he hurt us, has he?"

Mew squirmed once she dropped from her face to her chest. When their eyes met, a sinister gleam flared in her still-faraway gaze, and her paw slipped down her figure to cup her clitoris. Sharply gasping and bucking her hips, the feline reached up to push her away only to end up fondling hers as well.

"If he were like the other males, we'd have left him a long time ago, wouldn't we?" she purred, slowly swaying to her touches. "At least then, he wouldn't have had the chance to hurt us."

Distantly, she realized Mewtwo had pulled out of her, but he didn't move away. Her abdomen quivered when his hand caressed it, weaving around her reflection's arm but moving no further up than her ribs. Mew darted her gaze between them, her breath catching at the smoldering look they shared.

"So why does he stay?" her other self continued to whisper, leaning in closer. "Why do we still want him inside, even though he hurts?"

A quiet whimper was silenced when their lips touched right as their fingers entered each other. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds until she pulled away for Mewtwo to take her place, hardly giving Mew room to breathe. The difference in pressure sent her mind spiraling, opening her mouth out of habit for him as she stroked his jawline with her other paw. Images flashed through her mind's eye of her mate holding her, seeing him shrouded in moonlight, covered in dust, reclining in the bathtub... resting on his side as they held hands.

"It's because he's a good lover."

Mew couldn't tell if she said it against his lips, or if it was from the mirror image of her. She mewled when his thick digits also fondled her, not seeming to mind the second hand already preoccupying itself with her. Pushing up on tiptoe to encourage them to go deeper and flattening herself on the bed, she slinked her tail between his thighs.

"But that's a lie."

Her heart skipped a beat when Mewtwo forcibly lifted himself from her like she burned him, yanking her tail away. Exposed and aching, she mourned the loss of his touch and dropped her hands until another twist disoriented her thoughts. Turning her head, she froze at the icy glare drilling into her soul.

"It's because you don't love yourself."

Even if she wanted to, she had no rebuttal to give, instead quietly admitting to herself there was truth to it. Laying a paw over her heart, she willed herself to break the gaze upwards for the ceiling, thinking of the nights she and Mewtwo had worked at trying to get her pregnant. "I-I just..."

"What good will having kittens do for you?" was the retort. She winced at the harsh tone and from when a hand roughly caressed her stomach, claws lightly scratching her skin. "You were happy to know you being infertile meant having all the sex you could milk from him."

"No, that's not—" Her voice stuttered when her reflection compressed herself into her side, mouth peppering along a shoulder. A leg hooked over her hips to roll her closer while the petting increased. "Get off!" she gasped, shoving her away.

"That's all you're ever good for, sweetheart," the shadow drawled, licking her lips. Her frosty irises roamed her body as she giggled. "You're just a good fuck. That's as unmotherly as it gets."

Mew rapidly shook her head, trying to crawl away from her prying eyes only to find herself in a warm lap. She let out a yell when strong hands held her down, spreading her legs for room. "Hey, wait!" She shivered at the lecherous smirk on Mewtwo's face as he rubbed his erection against her slick entrance. Looking up to find her double smiling fiercely and her fingers suggestively hovering parallel to her clitoral hood, she didn't need an explanation for their intentions.

"I've gone mad," she whimpered to herself, eyes tearing up. "I'm in a bad dream."

Chuckling under her breath, the second Mew strode forward with a swing of the hips. "Your fantasies get wilder every day, toots. But it's what you've wanted."

"I-I didn't want this! I swear!" She tried to throw off the hand when she was gripped by her chin.

"But you do want to know what it's like to mate with another of your species. It's why Mewtwo's so irresistible." Mew gritted her teeth to bite back a whine, squirming uncomfortably from the intrusive erotic thoughts that suddenly bombarded her mind. "And with two of us here before him..."

"No!"

A commanding look was shot up at Mewtwo, and he released her, allowing her to be swept up in the other's tail and pulled into a body hug. Try as she could to fight her way out, she was forced to keep eye-contact as her figure was felt up, unhurried and sensual to relax her tense muscles. She could scarcely stay afloat, but was too tangled up in the appendage and probing limbs to even fall away. A teasing nip to her neck got her to jerk and grab on, her breaths growing shallow.

"Why're you doing this?" she managed to choke out, scrunching her eyes shut as a finger stroked her mound.

"Because it is what you want," was the sultry purr, snouts bumping when she raised her head. "Deep down, you want to mate with another Mew, but alas, it's just been you." She chuckled, her breath ghosting over her lips. Mew's mouth dropped in a strangled cry when her labia was pried apart, feeling hot liquid oozing down her inner thigh. "Mm, slippery. Just the way Arceus intended."

She was then pushed to the bed, her assailant straddling over her hips. Wrists pinned above her head, the feline looked up in time to watch her duplicate lean in for a full-body massage, putting the most pressure on her abdomen. She found it difficult to breathe from the added weight, but more-so as she twitched against her each time her teats were stimulated. Her legs flailed to kick her off, but they were wrestled down in return and entangled beneath her.

"Stop fighting it," was the demand, angling her backside upward. "You like how it feels. Yield yourself to your desires as before."

Weakly shaking her head, Mew gave a pitiful mewl, "No, please..."

"And leave Mewtwo unsatisfied?" A nod was gestured in his direction with a click of her tongue. "You're such a bad mate and a bad tease. This is a rare sight for him, so at least have some courtesy to give him a good show."

Her eyes flickered briefly over to where he sat, taking note of the thin film of sweat being smeared along his swollen penis. Quickly turning her head away, she whined at the lick to her jugular, feeling her vaginal muscles automatically squeeze. "I-I..."

"Would you like to be on top, instead?" came the muse, a smile quirking on her lips. "That should be more empowering."

With little effort, she rolled themselves over so Mew was forced to peer down at her shadow. Her neck too tense to keep up for the moment, she collapsed into her hold, their lips meeting as a result. A hand gripped the back of her head to prevent her from moving away, the kiss growing in vigor. She hardly could keep up, her muffled protests quietening down to contented moans as she became accustomed to letting her partner lead, their bodies pressing closer. The only ineptitude she felt was whenever they tongue-kissed overtly and messily, done to give Mewtwo a better view.

Gradually they slowed, resorting to licking and nipping each others' lips to catch their breaths as hands wandered. The rapid sound of wet flesh came to a grinding halt as a groan rumbled from the clone, and Mew choked on a gasp when she felt drops of sticky fluid splash over her back, returning her to her harsh reality. Feeling a little sick to her stomach, she squinted down at the bottom feline, disturbed by how she leered beneath her lashes.

"Turn around, slut," came the growl, tongue between her teeth.

Gulping, Mew shakily lifted herself to turn in a half-circle, purposefully avoiding looking at her lone spectator. Resting once more on her belly, she glanced down at the glistening mound, hesitantly pulling it back for a better look and feeling herself widen as well. When she flicked the fleshy nub, she, too, jerked from the same touch. Easing a leg to the side to make room for her head, she cautiously leaned down to pucker her lips on the clitoris, wincing at the skim of teeth from below.

That shouldn't be happening, her thoughts whispered anxiously. How am I—

"Lower," was the murmur behind her, claws pricking her hindquarters.

She tried again, brushing her lips to sensitive flesh. The movement was also mirrored between her legs, making her breaths quicken and her stomach to churn. "No, I-I can't...!" she attempted to gasp.

"Do as I goddamn say!" came the hiss, and she squealed in surprise. "Use your tongue and lick me like the bitch you are!"

Mew half-expected Mewtwo to step in and stop it, perhaps even pull her into his arms where she belonged, but a swift glance in his direction crushed that hope. Trembling, she gave in to the demand and ran her tongue along the bitter folds, trying to ignore the same sensation being done to her but failing. She couldn't prevent a moan from emitting in her throat, didn't miss the slight differences between the slimy textures. They started to move their hips, as much as they held tighter to keep themselves still.

There was something about her scent that was catching her off-guard. It might've been the familiarity of it, making her question what was her species' natural musk, but it was being covered up by the pheromones. Pheromones, she realized, that she shouldn't have even been affected by if they were coming from herself. And yet, it got her to think past the wild tang that bit at the tip of her tongue to delve deeper and faster, getting the same treatment in return.

Was this how Mewtwo felt each time he had his head between her thighs? Although she wasn't a fan of the taste and couldn't speak for him, did each lick and each breath drive him just as crazy?

Her neck still ached, and there was a pinched muscle in her back, but she didn't want to be snapped at again. Pushing her cheekbone into the inner thigh, Mew dabbed at the side of her clitoris, keeping brief contact as she circled around it and ended with a gentle suck. She fought back a whimper as her pelvis spasmed, nearly ramming herself into her partner's face.

"Having a hard time up there?"

It was an oddly teasing tone when it had been just minutes ago she was getting jeered at. She wet her dry throat, still keeping her head down. "U-Um... I can't hold this pose..."

She heard a soft apathetic scoff until it was replaced by a sigh of disappointment. "You need to work on your flexibility. Same goes for your technique."

"But I've never done this before."

"You were thinking it earlier." She yelped in shock when a hand smacked her behind. "Now get up, but don't get off."

Taking it easy to stretch out her back, Mew scooted herself into a sitting position while remaining on her knees, glancing over her shoulder to find a look of boredom on her reflection's face. She raised a brow up at her, then rubbed a thigh to her vulva, a tingle coaxing out a startled gasp. "H-Hey, no!"

"You should know your likes and dislikes, what gets you hot and bothered. You're still on top, so now act like it."

Unable to counteract, the feline gently pushed the leg away, then lowered herself to sit crisscross with a shaky moan. Like her partner had expected it, her hips immediately elevated to roughly grind against her, and passing a glance to their enchanted spectator, they then rolled in sync as voices fervently climbed. Flesh wasn't fully touching outside of some pressure and skimming to the clitoral hood, yet she could feel themselves become slicker and stickier with each swaying motion, accompanied by a yearning to be filled with something, anything. When grasped tightly in place, a succession of hard bucks got her to coo and push back more firmly in return as a pleasurable numbing spread further up her body, licking her lips in anticipation and hugging the bent knee to her chest. And for a euphoric moment, their duet crescendoed as their thighs squeezed and groins melded from a suction.

Flipping herself around to better look her in the eye, Mew kept a leg hooked over a thigh and straightened out flat, letting out a wailing sigh upon resting together at the pelvis. Their hips hastened their rocking, finding herself loving how their teats brushed every now and then the higher their ecstasy soared. Blinking down at her mirror image, she wondered what it was about her sharp, devious gaze that bothered her.

She jerked at a furry, bulbous end stroking against raw flesh. "Fuck me with your tail," was the command, just as she wriggled it inside without missing a beat. "Shove it in if you have to."

Whimpering, Mew obeyed, finding it not as strange a sensation as the thought implicated, and she slid through the cavity with ease. Then again, her tail was acclimated to her size, even though it wasn't enough—

As a pair of hands gripped her hips, she whirled her head around with a gasp. "Wait, what're you...?!" She could scarcely finish before Mewtwo entered another orifice, and she let out a scream at the stretching, yet odd stimulation that came from the penetration.

She didn't realize she had stopped pumping until her head was yanked back by the ears. "Harder, you fucking whore!" her partner barked. "Move your ass!"

"Ah—AHH, AHHGH!"

"Ooh, you like that, don't you?" The laugh that burst out of her throat was cruel. "If you want more, sing for me, toots. Tell me you want me."

Mew really didn't, she wanted to have ended it long ago. But something inside her broke, too overwhelmed by everything she was taking in. Now she couldn't speak her thoughts, not when her voice was betraying her with moans that wavered from increased momentum. Sighs echoed in her ears, and her lips constantly craved for kisses, no matter how biting. Their legs were in a tangled mess to stay joined, almost pulling her away from physical contact with Mewtwo who appeared very invested in their sexual escapade. Before she knew it, she couldn't pick out his touches from her double's, and presumed he stepped back to give them room to tussle about and explore each other uninterrupted. Then losing herself to lust, she abstained his presence in favor of her shadow who knew the right parts, the right touches, the right positions to gratify the female body.

Once their mouths wetly parted for the umpteenth time, Mew noticed her vision hazing over and her hips pounding wilder as her groin went numb against her partner's thigh. Her arms strained to hold herself up, pulling harshly at the sheets as her head tossed back with every cry. Shifting beneath her with a naughty smirk, her reflection raised a leg to rest on her shoulder, slipping their mounds together with a squelch without slowing. Panting heavily, the rosy feline whimpered and buried her face into her hot collar, feeling her heart was about to pop.

Right at the very cusp of her orgasmic throes, she was flipped over and pinned onto her back, clefts smashing at an angle. Her voice tightened from a high-pitched scream, keeping her pelvis lingering in reach of skin contact as her thighs squeezed and figure quaked. She closed her eyes when they rolled too far into her skull, her hands reaching for something but only grasped space.

"Ooh, she came her brains out!" was scarcely caught in the void, a weight lifting from her. "Looks like Mewtwo never got that far. Well, as they say, 'No one knows you better than you'."

Air burned her throat as she struggled to remain conscious and steady herself. Sinking into the mattress, her fingers snagged the sheets above her head only to wince from the aches in her muscles. She was briefly aware of her double looking down at her, the thinnest of smiles on her face.

"That's a good girl," she murmured, leaving behind an electrical current each time she stroked her face. "Rest up, now. I'll take over from here."

Mew clenched her fists as she braced herself, but nothing came of it. She looked over in slight confusion at Mewtwo the moment he went up to the shadow from behind, wrapping his arms around her torso. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she moaned in encouragement, reaching back to pet his cheekbone right as his mouth pecked her neck.

The feline's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as she helplessly watched her mate ravish her other self. The passion increased when he ran his hands over her tiny body and nipped her skin with a growl. "H-Hey," she weakly rasped out, trying to lift her head. "What're you... he's..."

The icy stare silenced her as their tails entwined, a devilish smirk on her lips. "Just relax, Mew," she cooed, "I'm only fulfilling my duty as a mate. Just sit back and enjoy the show for once, maybe take some pointers." And she turned her head without breaking eye-contact to kiss him, moaning deeply as his tongue plunged into her mouth. The wet sucks between their lips seemed to increase in volume, laughs rumbling in their chests.

Mew's thighs involuntarily squeezed at the sight of Mewtwo cupping her crotch, taking in how his knuckles flexed as he pumped his fingers in-and-out of her. Her mate never touched anyone else but her and her alone, and his movements affirmed his loyalty. He knew the workings of her body, how to thrill her and get her to think of nothing else but of how his body felt draped over her. He valued their intimacy, building it up to levels she could've never dreamed of to the point she'd beg for him to please don't stop.

Even if the female he was fondling looked like her, it was obvious she wasn't her. Her touches were too possessive, her figure too curvy, her voice too husky. She looked at him with lustful eyes, not adoration. She kissed him too sloppily with such a dirty mouth, not bothering to try matching up. She was too loose, too loud, too wild to be her.

How could Mewtwo not see that? Was he too blinded with hormones to notice he was with the wrong one? Did she hypnotize him into thinking she was her?

Mew fought back a sudden wave of nausea upon remembering that night. Some of it was a blur, but only because it felt like she was more of an observer than a participant. Her body had moved and writhed to his touches like clockwork, yet her mind was left behind to pick up the pieces. She had the desire to love him back and strengthen their bond, but she was stopped by a thin barrier that she couldn't break, no matter how weakened it became when he had dived into her heart for a look. Even then, the knowledge of the egg's fate had been looming over her head like a guillotine, and with it the reason why she couldn't be in full control.

Mewtwo knew that and had tried to dance around the subject, to keep her in blissful ignorance so she wouldn't feel it when it eventually sliced through her. As a result, however, his heart wasn't in it. It hurt him just as much as it hurt her that they couldn't fully love each other.

She just couldn't recognize in time that he shared her pain with her.

"Oo-OOOOH!"

Mew covered her mouth at the sight of him burying his face directly into her double's vulva, tongue drawing crazy circles over her folds and lapping up her fluids. Tiny paws gripping his head, she humped in tune to his movements, nibbling her lip. She dreamily glanced over at their little voyeur and let out a pleased laugh, loosening her tail to drop between his legs. He jerked under her touch, aiding her to stroke in the right spots.

Tears trickled down her cheeks. She didn't want to watch anymore, didn't want to know of the fire in his irises burning the brightest she had ever seen. If she had the strength, she could get up to pull them apart, snap him out of it, and remind him of why he chose her as his mate.

"Ah!"

Her other hand had slipped its way down her body without her knowing, sinking into her puffy core to plug herself up. Her fingers weren't of his girth, the size she was most attuned to, but she just needed something to impede the throbbing. Biting down on her knuckles to stifle her sobs, she squirmed to get into a more comfortable position without drawing too much attention to herself.

Harmonious yowls broke her concentration, and her eyes refocused on the copulating pair, Mewtwo hunched on his knees and her other self on her face, pelvis in the air. Though her expression was unpleasantly distorted, there was a smirk quirked on her lips. "Ahhh, fuck, that's the spot!" she crooned, quickening her pace. "Plow my pussy deep, Mewtwo! I want to feel it all!"

Even though she couldn't find her voice, Mew felt her lips mouth the words and leave herself in a buzz. She wouldn't have dared say them, she felt her actions were more important, yet Mewtwo responded rather positively to such vulgarity. The act was too crude, too feral to even be enjoyable—but there they were, lost to euphoria and to themselves, not caring about who could come across them.

The Mewtwo before her was a different creature at this point, but she couldn't help feeling envious of the Mew he risked crushing beneath him. It was a side of him that may not even exist, yet he was confident enough in his little mate to show it to her. For all the times he believed himself unnatural as a product of science, the insatiable driving force of nature came instinctively to him as it did her.

She missed him... she missed him so much...

With a heavy sigh, Mew tipped back her head as her tail reached an opening, envisioning herself switching places. "More... more, Mewtwo..."

*~*~*

As he stepped onto the path for his house, Mewtwo's stream of positive thoughts kept flowing towards Lil, feeling he couldn't thank her enough for her help even with the impromptu visit (though it was no real surprise she was a morning person). He thought it a little embarrassing he was starting up a garden in the winter season, yet her gentle smile convinced him otherwise. She happily gave tips for the herbs and lent him the containers so he could start it indoors, although from the way she had danced about gathering them up, she was more excited that he was even taking up gardening. Far as he knew, being more adept in tinkering with scrap metal meant he couldn't possibly have a green thumb, but he didn't want the herbs to go to waste.

"Although what would Vic say?" he smirked to himself, amusing himself with the most viable responses of the pitcher plant should he ever learn of his new hobby.

He almost came to a stop by the fence, briefly sensing a disturbance in the air. Unsure of its origins, he inhaled deeply and hoisted the items in his arms to psychically sort them out. He had a good picture of how he could reorganize his study to be better suited for the plants, which he would get started on right after their late breakfast—

"...Mewtwo!"

Blood ran cold so fast that he trembled and collapsed on a knee. It was muffled, yet the urgency in the tone sharply rippled through his body. Without a second thought, he dropped everything at the gate to hurry inside, nearly stumbling over the threshold. "Mew, what happened?!" he gasped, poking his head into the empty kitchen.

There came a sneer from the back of his mind, telling him he was crazy for being frantic until her cries interrupted it. Shooting his gaze down the hall, Mewtwo ran to grab the doorknob to find it locked.

...locked? Why would it be locked?

"...more, Mewtwo... your cock feels so fucking good!"

He stood frozen as he listened to Mew shout his name again beyond the wood. On top of her no longer sounding as urgent as he thought, she was audibly out of breath, but that didn't bother him as much as how brazen she became. It was rare for her to use harsh language even in anger, and the concept of "dirty talk" wasn't something they considered. He shook in place, heart pounding in his ears as he cursed under his breath.

Something was wrong.

Telekinetically, he turned the lock just as he heard the creak of the bed followed by another string of moans. "Mew, are you all ri—?" It was when he shoved the door open that he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

Mew, draped upside-down over the edge of the disheveled bed, had an unfocused stare as her gasps became irregular, drool slipping down her cheek. Her raised hips gyrated to the rhythm of her paw and tail, which was plunging deep into herself at an angle. The other hand, palm slick with sweat, was tightly gripping the sheets hanging around her head and yanking it with every thrust out of passion.

"O-O-O—OHH! Oh, harder, Mewtwo! Fuck my brains out!"

The clone was sure his mouth was agape from the shock of what was displayed before him, but he couldn't feel his numb body apart from the icy chill that continued to run up his spine. He could scarcely stand to look at her as she deliriously writhed on the bed, and yet he couldn't turn away as if mesmerized. The taunting nag hovered in the back of his mind as if to further rub it in his face:

She sometimes screamed your name during sex, remember?

"Mewt... Mewtwoooo... God, yesss..."

Mewtwo involuntarily gulped as her moans echoed in his ears. The way she mewled his name triggered the bitter loneliness that made his core throb with every hollow heartbeat. His vision struggled between her puckering lips and puffy groin, suddenly unsure which to focus on. His curiosity went to a dark, sick place in wondering just what it was she was thinking of, in how it was she could pretend to enjoy herself without shame. And rising up from the depths was frustration he had been hoarding for a long time. He loathed that he was still around and still willing to make it up with her, and yet she refused him to instead replace him with some false image he couldn't see nor hear.

And he wondered if that Mewtwo could pleasure her tenfold than he ever could.

As her panting grew heated, Mew's tongue weakly ran across her bottom lip, her back arching and tightening in preparation. Her voice started to peter out, the sheets further rumpled in her fist, her midriff quivered when she ran her paw over her exposed teats, and tail blurred as her parted legs quaked from holding herself up. Feet firmly planted on the mattress, her body thrusted long and hard as her head tilted further back and her mouth widened with an inhale.

That all came to an abrupt halt once they made eye-contact.

Mewtwo shivered at the recognition that sparked to life in her wide, teary eyes, and noticed he hadn't been gripping the doorknob. Swiftly removing her paw and tail from between her legs, Mew rolled to sit on her knees and hide herself, her lower half visibly shaken up. The flush on her face darkened, drops of sweat clinging to her.

"M-Mewtwo..." she croaked out.

His heart painfully squeezed from the whiplash of her tone going from heated to timid. Trying to regain his composure, he just shook his head and waved his hand around. "No, no... d-do not mind me, Mew..."

"Mewtwo, I-I'm sorry!"

"Do not get up, Mew... That was rude of me to barge into our bedroom." He swallowed to find his mouth had gone dry from the strong scent that permeated the room. "If I had known you were going to be... busy..."

"Mewtwo, please! Don't be like that!" Tears cascaded down her cheeks, her sobs bursting from her chest.

He turned his head to finally avoid her gaze when his throat tightened. "I just remembered I need to be somewhere. I would like to return in an hour for breakfast, but I could always stay out longer."

"STOP IT, I'M SORRY!" she screamed over him.

"Actually now that I think about it, I may be home tonight at the latest. Do not wait for me." He then quickly pulled the door shut and rushed back to the front room, narrowly keeping his balance. His hand just touched the doorknob when Mew ran into his back, taking hold of his sides.

"NO! DON'T GO, MEWTWO! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!"

"I-I am late enough as it is..."

"JUST SAY IT, MEWTWO!"

"No... no, I will not..." Mewtwo pried her off, pushing her back far enough to momentarily exit the house and close the door shut, psychically jamming it.

From behind the wood, he heard her wail and claw anywhere between the knob and the boards themselves, continuing to scream for him to not leave and chanting her apology on repeat. Too caught up in her own grief, she never once teleported outside, to which the clone was glad she didn't. Gagging back his sobs as the taunting image of her orgasming rapidly flashed in his mind, he collapsed against the door when his legs gave out, twisting his body to shield his now-flaccid genitals.

*~*~*

It was one of the longest days of his life. Unable to face anyone in the community, he had left to take a breather on the farthest side of the mountain range where he'd be left alone, but his attempts to meditate were futile with the intrusive damning thoughts. What once was his safe haven for self-reflection, solitude became his self-torture and a battle of wills he had no probable chance of winning. And he didn't.

He had tried to convince himself it was normal, that in their current situation it was the only way to find temporary relief, but he knew in his heart it wasn't. Mew had never once touched herself—as far as he was aware of. He wasn't always around her, there were days he was gone for long hours, and it was rare of him to be away overnight. If she had ever gotten urges at any of those times, it was possible she may have had a way to release it.

No, he knew her long enough to know she was too reserved for such a thing, even around him. So why did she do it? When did she start doing it, and how did he not know of it? There was no way it was her first time judging from her cries and position.

Exhausted in heart, mind and body, Mewtwo carefully timed out when she would start on dinner before he would step back through the door. He kept his entrance quiet, hovering in the living room to avoid seeing her in his line of sight, not ready to confront her. What prevented him from doing so was the heavy atmosphere that still pressed on his shoulders, a sensation he couldn't shake off. As much as he wanted to forget what he had seen and done (and he was positive he could wipe out his own memory on a whim), something nagged at him that it wouldn't make a difference.

He grunted under his breath as his loins started to burn again in need, looking for a distraction from the mental images. His eyes fell upon the table by the couch, and stared at the white envelope laying there. Within moments, he felt his insides drop as a memory flashed by, remembering he had not been happy about the delivery. He shakily picked it up and held it to the dying light as the sigma glinted at him. It hadn't been opened; that tidbit left an odd taste in his mouth.

Carefully, he peeled the sticker off and pried it open. A single, laminated card was tucked inside, front facing him. Taking it out, he gaped down at it, looked it over, and reread it. Then he barked out a small laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

He received it months ago, and yet the printed date was only a few days away.

"You have got to be kidding me," he scoffed, yet couldn't stop smirking. He readied himself to rip the invitation in two—but stayed frozen when he noticed his hands were trembling.

"No, don't!"

Mewtwo snapped his head up to find Mew in the kitchen entranceway. Her face was still dark, but her eyes shone of anxiety. His brows furrowed a little that this was what she greeted him with after the events of that morning. "Why are you so concerned?"

"He thought of you, Mewtwo! Don't just throw it away like that!"

For a brief moment, he questioned how it was she knew what it was since it was left gathering dust; then it occurred to him the envelope had nary a speck on it. His heart ached at the thought Mew kept it unopened since it was he who was invited, even though she was the one who convinced him. Glancing down at the invitation, he let out a sigh through his nose.

"He will not get offended." Mewtwo tightened his grip on the card, and managed to tear halfway before Mew snatched his wrist to stop him.

"But you should respect his thoughts! You should go to the ceremony!"

Forgoing another question of how she knew it hadn't yet happened, he pulled himself away. "I cannot trust you can take care of yourself."

Her shaky hands continued to hover. "I will, I promise! If I have to, I'll stay with one of the girls while you're gone! But...," and she clenched them as her voice grew thick with melancholy, "...the nights will be lonely."

Mewtwo's core quivered from a sudden image of her curled in bed with both paws between her thighs. She ducked her head to avoid his gaze, quickly returning to the kitchen. Dropping the invitation on the couch, he followed after her, pausing by the table. She shot him a brief glance before turning her back to him and picking up a knife to chop a small bundle of celery.

"It's nothing, Mewtwo..."

As static as he was, he couldn't help shivering, sensing the uneasiness emitting from her. She had to be berating herself for stepping out of line after what happened. Staring over at the window as the last of the sun's rays dimmed, he slowly exhaled.

"Mew... please be honest with me," he muttered, noticing he sounded sober.

"I'm busy right now," was her quick response, her posture not once moving from her place by the stove. She started to chop louder, vainly making the attempt to end the conversation.

"I just want a simple response from you is all."

"Can you do it later?" Her voice was more strained and the slices even louder and rougher, as evident from the small pieces flying off the countertop.

"I have held off on this for far too long. Procrastinating will only make this more difficult."

The shunck! of the knife cutting the board pierced the air, Mew's ears flattening and shoulders rolling back. She remained in place, not moving to even crane her head for a glance. The only visible sign was the tip of her tail flicking in an irritable manner, and right arm trembling.

Silently and warily, Mewtwo strode into the kitchen to turn on the light above the stove, standing where his shadow wouldn't overlap with any part of her. He cautiously eyed the knife still in her hand, finding no reflection on its blade from the angle it had sunk into the cutting board. Then glancing at the boiling soup, he reached over to turn down the gas, keeping her and the knife in his line of sight. Though he knew she could see the movement at the corner of her eye, she remained still.

Straightening back up, he inhaled long and deep. "Do you want to stop being my mate?"

He heard a strangled gasp interrupt her breathing until she slowed it down. Her body twitching and squirming in discomfort, she continued to refuse looking at him as she quickly scooped up the celery to throw into the pot. It was a reaction he expected, but he did not want to play the quiet game.

"Answer the question, Mew."

"It's a silly question," she mumbled out, reaching for another bundle to chop.

He telekinetically slid it further down the countertop. She tensed and flattened her ears, her jaw locking up. "Fine, let me reword it. Do you want to end our relationship?"

Given where they stood, normally, Mewtwo would have disregarded the knife to drape his arms over her as he watched her make dinner. If not pouting about the teasing "keep away" game, she would be chatting about her day or anything on her mind, rolling her eyes or smirking at any joking remarks he would say. The kitchen would be livelier, more welcoming, their countenances brightening the atmosphere.

That moment had slipped past his fingertips a long time ago.

Despite the stinging silence, it was like he was the only one talking, his voice on an endless loop by reverberating off the gray walls. He remained still, numb to the growing emptiness inside as he waited for her to react, keeping an eye on the knife. Judging from how much she struggled to steady herself and breathe, she never thought he would ask such a biting question—or she was having second thoughts.

"I..." She paused to take a few more breaths. "I need time to think on it."

Mewtwo welcomed her response, knowing she was going to need it. "I will give you until after dinner," he stated, and then left for the study.

Just as he reached the door, he heard the knife sink once more into the cutting board as she sobbed. He stood in place, hand trembling on the knob, fighting back any conflicting emotions that were bubbling up. And he was losing.

*~*~*

Try as he might, as much as he wanted to, he could not convince himself that it was the right thing to do. They could talk about it all they want, even as civilly as possible, but whatever the decision was, nothing good was going to come from it. It was as if they were in a stalemate, yet were unable to, or refused to reconcile.

Such thoughts made it hard for Mewtwo to eat as he sat in the living room, waiting for Mew to finish. Where he sat, he could peek over at the kitchen to see her engrossed in her dinner, positioned so she wouldn't have to see him. The discarded invitation was still within reach, though he tried to keep it out of his peripheral each time he cast his eyes about. He didn't need anything else to add to the problem, and he hoped it would stay out of the conversation.

Mew got up to wash her bowl by the time he found the motivation to gulp the soup down. It was stone cold, but such a trivial detail didn't bother him. Whatever gave her a few extra minutes to collect her thoughts, even if it left a knot in his stomach. Just when she came into the living room, he exited to wash the rest of the dishes, avoiding looking over at her. He glanced over at her bowl on the rack, frowned at how poorly-cleaned it was, and rewashed it without a word. He tried to ignore how his hands shook, and to look past the size differences between the dishware, and not to think about how they were able to calculate the amount of food to prepare for the two of them with such normal-sized pots. It was almost pathetic how much he was stalling to reminisce about just the kitchenware. They weren't even made by his own hand like the house, yet Mew never minded.

Mewtwo forced himself to return to the living room, and briefly hesitated sitting down next to her. She made no attempt to move from her side nor stop him, which he took as a silver lining. The heavy atmosphere had lightened up some, but it still made him shift as he thought on the question once more.

There was no turning back now.

"I will ask again, Mew," he started off somberly, glancing over at her. His mate looked frail and limp, her pale skin more visible through her thinning fur. She only breathed, not a twitch to be seen on her. "Do you want to end our relationship?"

Her eyes remained distant, but she had heard him. "...I don't know..."

"Why do you not know?"

She covered the right side of her face. "I feel I should know..."

With a quiet grunt, Mewtwo turned away to pinch his brows. As much as he despised hearing the "I don't know" answer, it was her default response. It was already taking all of his willpower to remain calm and keep his thoughts on the matter at hand. If he wanted their talk to go well regardless of direction, getting into a shouting match was going to do much more harm. Though secretly, he was a bit relieved her saying "I don't know" guaranteed them an excuse to talk it over.

"...you're asking because you're not happy... isn't it." From what he gathered in her soft tone, it was more of a statement than a question. It pained his heart for her to point it out, but it was an excuse to spill his thoughts.

"Neither of us are happy. I cannot remember the last time either of us smiled, or were able to be confident that we were happy together." When he glanced over, her expression was still unchanged, though an ear flicked. "We no longer talk to each other like we used to, neither do we have nice things to say about one another. We no longer do anything together such as eating at the same table and sleeping in the same bed and... dating... Hell, we do not look at each other anymore. There is no life in this house, no interaction. We are always exhausted, we reject any support our... friends have tried to give us..."

Mewtwo had to pause to breathe. "There is literally no 'we' anymore... if it was ever 'we' and 'us'. It is just two strangers who happen to live under one roof. It is possible that if this relationship was never a 'we' relationship, then everything we did was more of a 'friends with benefits', so it goes in human terms. That was not what I wanted from the start, and I hope—I plead that is not the case."

Mew had dropped her arm and hung her head, but she remained unresponsive. It was almost insulting that she was coming off as emotionless while he spilled out his heart for her to see.

"So I will ask one more time. Mew... do you want to stop being my mate? It is just a simple 'yes' or 'no' response."

Her fingers twitched in her lap. "You're going to get mad," she murmured.

"I am not going to get mad," he whispered back, fighting back a shiver.

Mew opened her mouth in attempt to speak, but her voice kept cracking. There was a hint of a tear in her eye, though he wrote it off as either tiredness or her getting frustrated at herself for choking up. He slightly turned his head away, wondering if she wasn't comfortable being looked at to answer.

"...N-No..."

Mewtwo closed his eyes and covered his face, trying to muffle his sharp inhaling. He knew she was going to say that, and it pissed him off. But as much as he couldn't trust himself to keep calm, he held it in for her sake, waiting for more of her response.

She breathed enough to raise her voice. "No, I don't want to end this relationship. But because we're not happy, it should be the right thing to end it, right? It's just that... it's going to be so awkward. I don't want to not be with you anymore, but if we end this relationship, would that mean ending our friendship?"

Once he cleared his mind, Mewtwo straightened up. "If you feel it is the right thing to do, we will go our separate ways," he muttered.

She shook her head. "I don't want to... b-because we... we did so many things together... so many happy things. And..." He caught her shyly glancing up at him, her face flushing. "...And we had sex... Many times."

Her feeble voice pricked a hole in his heart. "What are you getting at?"

Her gaze faltered as she hugged her arms close. "You can wipe memories... right? If we separate, you will have to wipe my memory of this, or I'm never going to move on."

"I refuse," he interjected, brows furrowed. "I only resort to that technique when necessary. Erasing all memory of our relationship is going to do more harm than good. That is at least five years' worth of memories, Mew."

Her grip tightened. "I don't want to be sad anymore, Mewtwo... it's just that..." Struggling to keep her voice steady, she got up. Her tail dragged on the floor when she moved for the entranceway, quivering in place. "Even if we're not in love anymore, even though we don't talk like we used to... for some reason, I don't want to leave. We were happy. I know it because you were able to smile. I... we made this place our home, put our hearts and love into it. I love being home with you, Mewtwo. E-Even if we don't ever have children, we still have each other, and that is why we were happy."

She hiccuped from her sobs and braced against the wall. "I did this... everything that went wrong here... It was a mistake to care for that... that egg. It... she ruined—no... I ruined everything. I ruined our lives."

Mewtwo got up and startled her when he grasped her head to look her firmly in the eye. "Mew, no one is at fault, not you, nor Marjorie. She made a mistake, and she wanted a solution. She thought of you and how much you wanted a child." His hands began to tremble, and he quickly swallowed down the tears when her eyes lightened up. "You happily agreed to adopt the child—we both did. It just somehow was not meant to be. No one knew it was defective, we discovered it too late."

"I discovered too late, Mewtwo!" she exclaimed, jabbing herself in the chest when she pulled away. "It was you who knew something was wrong, but I refused to listen! Everything that happened is all my damn fault! Don't pretend it isn't, Mewtwo!"

He shook his head. "No, not everything is your fault. I turned a blind eye myself, believing you were happy... but you really were not. And as your mate, I should have caught that. Everything that got worse happened because I let it happen."

"Mewtwo, no—"

"Stop pretending it was all on you, Mew!"

"No, it wasn't just the egg! I-It wasn't just that... it was before then..."

"I know, Mew."

"Then why didn't you say anything?!" she wailed. "Why did you pretend everything was okay for five years?! God, Mewtwo, I trusted you! I loved you!" She hiccuped and rapidly shook her head. "And all while I couldn't even trust myself!"

She dropped her face into her hands in a vain effort to hold back her bawls. At the risk of setting her off, Mewtwo carefully reached out for her, cradling her close when she sank into his chest without hesitation. Although concerned she was sending mixed signals, he pressed his cheek between her ears as he rocked her, finding himself glaring at the thin moonlight streaming in from the kitchen and wishing a cloud would roll over. He didn't need to be reminded of their happier moments underneath the silver rays, neither he nor Mew were worthy of it. For it to shine on a stressful moment was like the moon mockingly spit on their faces.

He tilted his head to look behind him, laying his eyes on the invitation. Then burying his face into her temple, the clone gingerly murmured, "Let us leave tomorrow."

It took a bit more of silence before Mew's reply could be audible. "You sure?"

He briefly rubbed her shoulder. "Think of it as a vacation. It will give us a few extra days to breathe."

She sniffled and squirmed in his hold. "...thank you..." She lifted her head with a hand at her nose and mouth, tears slowly slipping down her red face. "Um... can you stay with me tonight?"

Mewtwo gritted his teeth to block the sobs bursting from his throat, but managed a small nod of assurance. "Of course... dear."

A tiny beam of gratitude graced her face, and she wiped her eyes before ducking her face into the crook of his neck. He held her close for her to weep it out as he made the rounds of securing the house for the night, purposefully taking his time. As he entered the hallway, she squeezed tighter.

"Mewtwo... how big is the other bed?" she murmured, still keeping her head down.

He paused in front of their bedroom door, mulling on her question. "It is fit for one person," he answered after a few moments of silence. "Why do you ask?"

She shifted as her head turned, but didn't pull away. "I defiled our bed..."

Mewtwo shivered, staring at the door. "It is all right... it was about time to make a new one anyway."

Upon pushing the door open, she let out a shuddering breath, curling more into his arms. "Don't! Please..."

Pausing to stare at the lunar rays as she sobbed into his chest, try as he could to push the unsettling memory from mind, he could still feel the heavy weight in his stomach rooting him in place. The atmosphere was unusually stifling, and not because he hadn't stepped foot inside for months. Mew was deeply troubled by whatever she did inside, a dark curiosity he knew better than to further probe.

She relaxed a little when he pulled it closed and he changed course for the study. It was still cramped, but not as suffocating, and the bed looked more welcoming. Like custom, he gently tucked her in on her side of the bed, allowing her to use the fuller pillow, then quickly tidied up the room to open it up more. Once the curtains were drawn to shut out the night sky, he hesitated to climb in himself, gauging the width and how scrunched up she'd be against the wall if he took up residence. Her eyes gleamed from tears when she glanced up at him, a look of concern in the blue depths.

"Is something wrong?" she whispered, hugging the pillow closer.

He didn't sugarcoat his answer. "There is not going to be enough room for you if I join you. Besides, I need to do some nightly reading before I retire to bed."

She sat up and scooted closer to reach out to him, but didn't even graze an arm. "No, it's... it's okay, Mewtwo."

"Are you sure?"

Slowly, she nodded, dropping her hand and stare to the blankets. "Y... You don't have to fall asleep, but... I want you to stay."

"I am not going to leave the room."

"No..." She then smoothed out the flat pillow, shyly meeting his gaze. "Here... with me..."

He silently chewed it over, fighting off a chill creeping up his back. He watched her eyes glaze over, looking almost as though she fell into a trance while taking him in. The clone saw a glint of what he interpreted as desire, perhaps longing. She didn't appear to be aware of her change in expression, even when he heard her breath start to hitch in her chest.

On any normal night, he would have fallen upon her without hesitation and made love with her well into the twilight. However, the differences between then and now were visible in the gap that separated them. He could lay a hand on her as he did earlier gathering her in his arms, yet he would receive no reciprocating stir in return. She could plead with her eyes, perhaps even envision the same scene as he, but she wouldn't handle any physical touch without breaking.

Mewtwo didn't deserve to be in the same bed, let alone the same room as Mew. He felt unworthy to even look at her, a broken soul he had unknowingly assisted in wrecking further when he wanted to help her. He had failed her and himself time and time again, and there was no rewarding failure.

And yet, his body disobeyed and slipped into the covers, facing her as they lay down on opposite ends of the mattress. As he thought, even when he chose to lay as close to the edge as possible, there was little wriggle room for the two of them, and they couldn't look away from each other. She didn't look uncomfortable being in close proximity to him, however, in which a cruel tease at the back of his mind reminded him that all she had to do was stretch out a paw and stroke his chin, and he'd be putty in her hands.

He blinked down at the open left hand, her delicate fingers nervously curling as if hiding themselves from his gaze. Her timid voice broke the silence, "Can... can we hold hands?"

He was going to ask, but chose to hold his tongue as he gently took her paw to lay in his palm. She grasped his thumb, shivering as his fingers brushed along the outside of her wrist. Her eyes drifted not in coyness, he realized, but in shame.

"Are you still going to be here in the morning?" she anxiously asked, pulling her tail close to her chest.

Though he had no intent to leave in the middle of the night, Mewtwo couldn't blame her for asking it. So he answered her with a nod, "I plan to."

Mew briefly crossed visions again and slightly hiccuped on a couple of breaths, tightening her hold.

[theangrypokemaniac]

It will never cease to amaze me how Ma and Pa James are universally seen as bad parents despite not abandoning their son, all just because they ask he marry Jessibelle.

You mean they desire a daughter-in-law who's the closest thing possible to Jessie, without actually being Jessie?

There is room for manœuvre! Ma and Pa could accept her in the future.

Yet, Giovanni, a proper villain, canonically greedy, ruthless, callous and cruel, is generally regarded with fondness by the fandom.

It's not even in the sense of liking his character, but not his personality: people relish him.

Everyone can apparently forgive his criminal acts, his delight when causing suffering in others, of inadvertently almost triggering Armageddon by creating, then baiting Mewtwo. Oh no, he's ship-worthy this one, a charismatic rogue with a heart of gold.

He tried to murder Team Rocket.

Ma and Pa don't want James dead! They hope he'll settle down, get married and start a family. It's not such a unreasonable wish from parents.

Maybe their plans interfere with James being with Jessie, but so do the Boss's. Ain't no romance at the bottom of the sea. The only ships there are wrecked.

And yet he is popular. I've not found a single bad word about old Gio. How can this be when he made an attempt to kill three favourites?

It disgusts me portraying them nowadays as on first name terms with him and such great pals, because that's not who Team Rocket are.

They weren't designed to be evil in his sense, meant instead as pantomimic villains capable of heroic behaviour given the opportunity.

Part of the tragedy and charm of the actual trio was their devotion to a worthless master. I tend to associate Jessie and Meowth more with the organisation than James, because they're two impoverished orphans who have nowhere else to go.

Joining gangs is the closest thing they know to family, hence both starting off as petty thieves. Being part of something bigger, and wearing a uniform, is like relatives sharing features.

I also wonder, neither having a father, if Giovanni is a paternal figure to them, and that's why their slavish worship goes far beyond normal loyalty to an employer.

James has a life beyond Team Rocket. He may not want to go back, but it is there as an alternative. He probably only signed up for membership because Jessie did, not from an independent leaning.

It's telling that he was the one thinking of life once they'd left, as in his eyes it wasn't a permanent status.

Giovanni would be openly rude and insulting, to the extent they cowered in terror when speaking over the phone, but nevertheless all they did was to please him.

Irrespective of the constant electrocution and starvation, they carried on for his sake, to bask in his praise, to make him proud. They loved him so much even his abuse was taken as warmth.

The implications of the scene are appalling. He's already a multimillionaire but the Boss can't resist another piece of fraud, however needless, because he revels in illegality.

That he chooses Jessie, James and Meowth for this task is not a coincidence; to him it's killing two birds with one stone, or three with an airship. He's not only ridding himself of useless agents, but profiteering from it too!

The bloody nerve!

He could simply sack 'em if so bothersome. It'd be a kindness in the end, forcing the trio to seek alternative employment, in which they'd no doubt thrive and be happy.

If he had no care whether they lived or died, that's at least a neutral attitude. Yes, remaining unmoved at their death is cold, but on the other hand, their survival doesn't bother him either.

Were there a mission vital to his schemes, but highly dangerous, you can understand his reasons for sending them. Might as well risk minor figures whom he won't miss. If they succeed, he's only gained; if they fail, he's lost nothing.

No, instead he actively plots their murder, and in a rather offhand action, just to show how little they matter.

He intended that to be their last conversation, with the audacity to pretend it's promotion. Even knowing that, he showed not a quiver of remorse, rather laughing to himself at his future windfall, as if recuperating the expense of their wages in one go.

Had it been up to him, they'd have drowned, with their final thoughts dwelling on how they'd failed to live up to his faith in them.

I love this scene so much, because it means 4Kids thought that young children would

Know what an insurance policy is

Be able to extrapolate that Giovanni is planning to commit insurance fraud

Understand that insurance fraud is a crime

…but they didn’t think those same kids would be able to comprehend rice balls

[mysidewriting]

Through the Storm

Through the Storm Page "Soundtrack" From the Start--Previous Chapter

Chapter Twenty Seven

We barely made it back to the house, the winds of the somehow stronger storm nearly toppling the plane out of the sky at least five times. The landing was rough again, an outer piece of the plane having cracked off once we struck the ground, yet the crazy old man didn't seem to care. Trees had toppled over in the woods surrounding the cabin and one of the windows on the second floor had shattered inwards. I rushed into the house to let them know about the hazard, just in case they hadn't noticed it and was met with a wall of noise. Frantic shouts echoed loudly though the halls, tons of voices mixing and warping to make this mess of sound that made my head hurt. Red, Gold, Krys, Cynthia, Hau, and Lillie were all nestled in one room, no one seemed to notice Gladion and I walking in. Too busy bickering about something. I was just about to say something when...

"Moon! Holy shit!" I looked up just in time for Gold to ram me into a crushing hug, knocking me back into a wall in the process. "You got mewtwo right? We need to get back to that beast in the ocean now!"

I pushed him off of me, pulling the ball holding the aforementioned pokemon out of my pocket and holding it up for everyone to see. "Yes, we got mewtwo. What happened while we were gone?"

Cynthia spoke up, "There's three of those machines spread all across the island. One of them is near kyogre and is half of the reason the storm is as bad as it is." She shook her head.

"Aqua took Green." Red said flatly, the only sign of his concern for this being in the line of his brow... for those who knew him that was more than enough. He was wrecked about it.

So we had our work cut out for us then, three machines, a crazed legendary, a friend held hostage by some idiots, and... "What about that woman?" I asked after nodding sympathetically to the distraught Red. "Did you find her, Cynthia?"

She nodded, "I saw her, but she had a chimecho teleport her away before I could even talk to her." Great, that would make things even more complicated then. We'd have to get rid of the chimecho before we could even think about catching her. I imagine mewtwo would be able to help with that as well, if it could move quick enough to catch such a tiny Pokémon.

Gladion stepped backwards towards the door of the room. "So, why are we all still here then? Shouldn't we go to kyogre?" He said with this contemptuous look on his face before heading out. He's really anxious to get moving...

"Absolutely." Cynthia said and her words encouraged everyone else to get moving as well. Red, Gold, and Krys rushed to the front door, Gold trying to get me to follow with them but I held back a moment.

Hau and Lillie were still seated in the room, they were in charge of holding base and not technically supposed to leave. I didn't like the idea of them being here alone though, sure nothing would happen here... but they'd be out of the loop. If something serious happened it would be hard to contact them about it. A terrible thought appeared in my head of days going by with them sitting here alone... all of us... I shook myself.

Lillie smiled to me when she saw me hesitating right in the doorway. "It’s okay, Moon, we don't mind staying back." She said, like she could read my mind. "We'd be more hindrance than help." She stood and brushed her hands against her pants.

"No!" Hau said, looking flabbergasted. "We can fight too! We can help!"

She shook her head, smiling sadly to him. "We'd just be another two people for them to watch over. It'd make it more dangerous."

I frowned, she was right, and judging by the defeated look on Hau's face - he realized it as well. She stepped over and gave me a tight hug, "Be safe, please."

I hugged her back just as tightly, "I'll try my best. We'll be back as soon as we possibly can." Hopefully it's quick and easy.

"Moon?" Gladion's voice preceded him popping back into the room, his momentum stopping as he saw Lillie and Hau. That worried confusion vanished from his face and a smirk replaced it.

"You too!" Lillie snapped, hugging him as well. "Stay safe, and keep Moon safe too! I need you two back here!"

His head bobbed, as he pat her back. "We'll be fine, Lillie. Promise."

Hau shouted, "I expect some killer stories about kicking all those evil guy's butts into space!" He grinned widely.

Why does this goodbye feel so bittersweet? I don't like it. It doesn't feel right. Gladion wrapped an arm around my shoulders, I looked up into his eyes that blazed determination and certainty. "Ready?" He asked.

I sucked in a long breath and let it go slowly. "Yeah."

Kyogre was a huge monstrosity of a Pokémon, each time it moved it sent waves crashing to the ocean shores. Each roar made my ears ring and swirled the clouds into an angry cylinder above it. It was like a living, breathing hurricane... and it wanted all of us dead. I didn't even want to think about what it was capable of doing if we got any closer than the cliff we stood by. So fighting it head on was not an option at all. I refused to send either my or Gladion's silvally towards the thing... there was no good angle of attack anyway, no land for them to stand on. So destroying the machine was our best option.

Cynthia lead the way into a cave dug into the side of a cliff, the only way there being to shimmy down a narrow pathway... much smaller than the one in that cave had been. She showed us exactly where to step, taking it slow so no one fell... it was death if we did.... and I had never clung to a dirt wall so hard in my life. With the wind whipping around like crazy and the torrential down pour, it felt almost impossible to get into the dugout. But somehow we all managed and I was so glad to stand on solid ground again.

The cave was pretty deep, like a mini base of operations for Aqua and that woman. At least that was how Cynthia put it. I had my silvally stand at the entrance and hold an invisible psychic barrier up over the hole. Gold and Krys stayed back with her, promising to shout if they noticed anyone coming or any significant change in the terrifying beast below. Red and Cynthia followed Gladion and I deeper into the cave, all of us sticking close to the shadowed walls. Voices were audible from deep within and I definitely recognized that low, rumbling laugh as Archie's. I thought we were done with Aqua, had completely put that whole mess behind me and mostly blocked it from my memory... but I guess they needed a bit more of a shock to get them to disband. My memory flashed a few snapshots from those days - of Lillie crying, of my friends behind bars, of Gladion being electrocuted and punched. The thoughts had my blood boiling by the time we saw the first person. I halted our little parade and waved to Gladion to release his pokemon, the silvally popping up next to me a moment later and trying to nuzzle me and lick my face. Gladion grabbed a fistful of its feathered neck and pulled it away, grumbling about being quiet and careful before sliding the ice memory into the compartment.

As the guard walked by I instructed the Pokémon to ice the walkway just enough to send the guy crashing to the ground. Then I rushed forward and put a foot on the guy’s chest, Gladion's silvally taking the hint and barring over the man with a growl and frosted teeth. "You have two choices, help us, or freeze." I said as everyone stood behind me.

The guard helped, terrified of the Pokémon that was always just a step behind as he lead us towards where Green was being kept. A tiny cage at the end of a short hall. Silvally froze the lock and busted it open to free our friend and Red rushed him with a hug.

"Hey, you didn't die." He said with a smirk when he noticed me.

My eyes rolled, "Sorry to disappoint you" was my sarcastic response... which apparently warranted a playful shove from Gladion.

"That woman is here." Green said, looking to Cynthia.

I think everyone got a bit freaked out and excited by that fact. Cynthia span to face the guard we held captive and ordered him to direct us to where the woman in charge was hiding. He didn't know exactly where she was at the moment, or that she was even here to begin with... but he did know where that damn machine was located and it wasn't hard to assume she would be nearby. Same with Archie and everyone else who needed a face full of punching. A few more minutes of lurking through that dank cave and I heard it. That unmistakable humming sound I'd heard at the Pokémon nursery the other night. I grabbed for the ball that held mewtwo, my jaw clenching and my teeth grinding in muted anticipation. This was it.

The area the noise was coming from laid behind a metal door, the guard stopped before walking in - telling us this was the place. Red and Green agreed to stay back and watch the man so he didn't run off and tell all the other guards to attack us. We needed this element of quiet surprise even with silvally and mewtwo to help us. Cynthia cracked open the door quietly and peered inside before waving for us to enter. We kept quiet as we slid in, the room was no different from the rest of the cave aside from the huge metal contraption in the center. All rods and wires and flashing lights. Archie stood next the machine, his back to us. The woman was there, blond hair swooped up into a sloppy bun like destroying the world was a casual effort on her part. For some reason that annoyed me even more.

I released mewtwo, whispering for it to stay quiet as it appeared and looked curiously around the room. 'So that's the machine. I can feel its power.'

"There's three of them." I said, my voice barely audible even to myself. "This is the one closest to kyogre though."

Mewtwo nodded and raised a strange hand, pink waves of wobbling energy appeared above the machine, completely unnoticed by the enemies. Gladion pulled on my arm and held me against him protectively. "What about Archie and the woman?" He asked.

"Can silvally freeze them to the ground?"

"Maybe..." He ordered his pokemon to prepare, knowing it was better to launch the attack at the same time.

I waited for the perfect moment, right when those idiots stopped talking. The woman started to turn around, her gaze hit us in the back corner - eyes going wide. "Now!" I yelled and Mewtwo slammed its hand down, the energy crashing into the machine and breaking it to pieces in an earth shatteringly loud bang. A jet of ice shot from silvally's mouth and blasted the two standing next to the disaster as shards of metal and burning wire skidded across the ground. Cynthia rushed forward to grab the woman's hand before she could even pull out the ball. Archie squirmed as his feet were covered in at least an inch of ice.

"You!" He boomed as he saw Gladion and me approaching the mess. "How?!"

"We are working with champion's, Archie. You can't expect everything to go smoothly." The woman said in an eerily calm voice, still being held back by Cynthia.

Archie's face contorted in anger and shock and he reached to his belt for his pokemon, silvally blasted his hand with ice without any order, stopping his attempts. Horror crossed the man's face and I struggled to hide my grin.

"How can you say you're working with us." Cynthia snapped, "All you're doing is attempting murder and world domination."

She only smiled in response, "Oh, pardon me, I meant the champion's pokemon." Her gaze slid to me, looking way to satisfied that I was here. Then she looked to mewtwo and a crazy gleam appeared in her eyes. "Oh, that one would be lovely have as well."

Mewtwo growled and rose its hand again, 'Let me kill her, that will end all of this.'

"No." I said sternly to the Pokémon. "There are better ways."

"Oh, Jeremey." The woman called in a chimming voice. The name dropped from her tongue like acid and seared straight through my nerves, the laugh that came afterwards only making it worse. No... "Why don't you come out here, I really want this pokemon your daughter has."

"Daughter?!" Surprisingly it was Archie who seemed the most confused and disgusted by that statement. His gaze looked to me, wide eyed. "That guy is your dad?"

"What?!" Cynthia shouted.

Gladion's face went pale as he looked to me, mouthing my name.

He walked in from a back room I hadn't even noticed, holding some strange needle looking thing in his hands. A blank look on his bearded face, like he didn't even realize it was me standing here, shaking. He still looked exactly the same. Still balding, still had that thick beard and mustache, still had those wrinkled hands. Nothing was different and that was the worst part. I was paralyzed in shock. It is him...

"Oh that is sick on so many levels." Archie said.

Mewtwo swung its hand around and slapped my father with that strange energy, sending the needle flying across the room. It clattered against the wall as my father pulled another one from his pocket. Mewtwo rose its hand again, the energy appearing over my father this time and I screamed, "No!" Successfully halting the legendary.

Cynthia had been so stunned by the appearance of my father that she lost her grip on the woman. She shoved her and grabbed for a pokeball, that arcanine she'd used at the nursery appearing. I noticed then that the hairs around its snout were gray and my heart shattered. No way, not Brutus.

He shot a plume of flames at all the ice that had trapped our foes, freeing them. The woman rushed at me before I could even process what was happening. Gladion pulled me out of the way just in time and I saw the glint of a knife as the woman lunged at me. I backpedaled and Gladion stumbled, sending both of us crashing to the floor pathetically. She stood over us with a grin, raising the knife. Mewtwo caught the woman's armed hand in its psychic grip just before she struck us, Gladion switching into gear at the same instant and jumping to his feet - scooping my shocked body into his arms in the same motion and backing away. Cynthia attempted to catch Archie but he shoved her off and lunged towards us. I threw my hands up in defense as Gladion's back hit the wall, but the man crashed into the woman instead.

Though I was shocked, mewtwo thankfully wasn't. It released its grip on the woman and managed to catch my father's hand instead, right before he managed to stab the Pokémon with that needle object... I recognized it, the thing all those charizard had been wearing. The mind control collars.

Archie boomed, "Cadence! You do not destroy family bonds for your own pleasure! You told me you were over this bullshit!"

What?!

The woman - Cadence, apparently, swore and quickly recalled the arcanine right before silvally landed a blow on it. That chimecho appeared immediately afterwards.

"Fuck you, Archie." She sneered and the tiny psychic pokemon let out a cheerful cry. Both her and my crazed father vanished, popping out of the air and sending Archie crashing to the floor.

"F-fuck." Gladion stammered in a shaking voice, sliding to the ground. I finally gained control over my limbs again, forcing my heaving breaths to steady as he leaned his head against mine. He struggled to breathe as well, a string of swears escaping his mouth.

Archie stood back up, brushing dust and dirt from his arms. He shook his head, "I knew she was crazy... but not that damn crazy."

The door opened and Red and Green walked in, followed by Gold, Krys, and Steven. Everyone was shocked and baffled, wanting to know what the hell happened. Gold nearly punched Archie, screaming at him but Cynthia caught the punch. He didn't seem dangerous in that moment, he wasn't finishing us off - he had the perfect opportunity too considering how lost and shocked we all were. Something was different with him, clearly.

Cynthia gave the group a breakdown of what had happened, Archie pitching in his half of it. I forced myself back onto my shaking legs and helped Gladion up as well. The Pokémon approached, silvally whimpering and its head hanging low in disappointment. Mewtwo took a step by my side, sneering and shaking its head in anger.

'That woman should be dead, why did you tell me otherwise?!' It snapped.

My numb and frazzled mind agreed with what it was saying. I wanted her dead too, but I still knew better. I wasn't a monster. Even if she was and deserved the worst. My response to the Pokémon came in a cracked voice. "You didn't have to listen to me."

It snorted and looked away, crossing its arms.

Gladion was looking at me worriedly, I knew he wanted to say something about my dad... was trying to think of a way to phrase whatever it was... but I didn't want to hear it. I didn't know what to think after seeing that. I didn't want to believe it but I had too, he was dangerous right now. I was hopeful we'd be able to save him, that he'd been brainwashed or under some drug while helping her... but I was doubting it. I grabbed Gladion's hand, shaking my head. "Please, don't." I whispered.

He frowned but nodded anyway, pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead before pulling me towards the rest of the group.

Steven had went to that factory Gladion had found, a place where the people following Cadence had been manufacturing the machines and the collars. Apparently they were all fueled by a regional legendary called latias, its feathers were like a hallucinogen and my father had found a way to use that in the machines. So our pokemon were seeing hallucinations of a threat while they were manipulated by those devices. Steven had freed latias, meaning no more of those things could be created, and destroyed the machine in place there.

So only one more of the mind control devices remained. Once we destroyed that and caught Cadence, we'd be home free.

Archie had known her since they were children apparently. She'd been off when she was young, obsessive with strange things and people all through her adolescent life. She'd only gotten stranger as she got older and when she came to him with these ideas of raising a sleeping legendary, he'd found it hard to say no. He had liked the idea of raising the sea level but after calling on kyogre he realized how destructive it would be. Gladion gave him shit for that, calling him a 'moronic, power-hungry ass' for ever thinking it was a good idea in the first place. Archie had been offended by the statement, but admitted to the delinquency as well. He'd become less and less supportive of her plans as time went on, not realizing how extensive and insane her ideas were. Hearing that she was using my father had been enough to deter him from working with her any longer.

Apparently, according to him, they had all worked together ages ago and this Cadence woman had always been weirdly obsessive with my dad. The thought made me feel sick and lead me to believe she had something against my whole family rather than just me for being a champion. I still couldn't understand my dad's side of it and I wasn't sure how much I trusted this guy that had put me and my friend through hell in the past... but the rest of the group seemed to believe him so I went along with it.

"So where the hell did they go then?!" Gold snapped.

"Couldn't tell ya, kid. She never told me where all those damn machines are located." Archie replied, looking thoughtful for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Ah, a shred of good news for ya, though. Your Pokémon shouldn't be all crazed out now, least 'round here."

Steven was the first to test it, tossing out his skarmory again. We all took a step away, hesitant for its actions... but it didn't do anything, only looked to us and coo'ed confusedly. Everyone relaxed a bit then and I sighed of relief. They would be able to fight kyogre now, if we could stop the storm that would be phenomenal progress towards ending everything.

"She's got the red and blue orbs too." Archie said, almost as if he were reading my mind. "I recommend bustin' those things open the minute you get 'em. That'll put an end to kyogre's rampage real quick."

"Good to know." Steven said.

'Wonderful, you're pokemon can be slaves again.' Mewtwo growled at me. 'Don't lose direction now, that woman is still on the loose.'

"Where is she then?" I asked, "Do you have any ideas?" I would think a psychic pokemon would have some way of finding people in such a drastic time.

It smirked, 'Mount Pyre.'

The group was staring at me, they probably thought I was crazy - talking to a Pokémon like that. I skipped the explanation and instead asked, "where and what is mount pyre?"

Steven answered, "It's an island mountain on the eastern side of the region, a grave yard for passed away pokemon."

Oh, great.

[zhantilniiraala]

I got tagged by @nekosd43 i love these things tag me in allllllllll of them~

Nickname(s): Em to my vet friends. Doc to my boss and a very drunk uncle of my friend’s that I met at her wedding.  Mi-Chan to the folks of the childhood weeb days.  Zha/Zhan and various permutations online.  Kreth to friends from WoW, though all the ones I’m still in contact with know my real name now.

Zodiac Sign: Leo. meow.

Height: 5'3″ or somethin like that

Last Thing I Googled: UUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhh I think it was puppy elbow radiographs????? Puppies have growth plates all over the fuckin place and it can be hard to tell if they have a fracture if it’s near one of ‘em

Favorite Artist: i don’t play favorites

Song Stuck in My Head: various music from the adventure zone, i just finished the last episode and griffin does some solid a++ editing. also some MCR floating around in there at this moment.

Last Movie I Saw: I think it was Dr. Strange? Watched it with vet friends because one of them hadn’t see it and that will not do. We must all appreciate badass monk Tilda Swinton who I totally don’t want to kick my ass and then give me cuddles nuh uh nope.

Why Did I Choose My URL: oh fucking mang so zhantilniiraala is my dragon role-playing character from waaaaaaaaaay back in the day. she’s existed in some form for my whole remembered life (i think she was originally a smaug rip-off back when i was like 4-5 who was partially based off of the dragon in the motherfucking white unicorn board game) and actually helped me figure out some gender shit???  back before i knew agender/fluidity was a Thing, the closest i could conceptually come on my own was a biofemale who (magically) became truly physically sex-neutral as part of a death/rebirth plotline but still retained the she/her pronouns because i had no idea they/them was a Thing either.  basically she’s a buff af sadomasochistic asshole who doesn’t give two shits and she’s everything i wished i could be as a teen (and secretly kind of still do now, gtfo of here crampy ass uterus).

What Did My Last Relationship Teach Me: Knowing intellectually that every person has shades of good and bad does not stop me emotionally from hating a particular individual and hoping that they die painfully in both a physical and spiritual sense after a long, long, unfulfilling life.  When deeply wronged I do not forget, and I seldom forgive.  

Religious or Spiritual: More spiritual I guess. I was raised by Christian parents, half my extended family is Catholic, and the other half is atheist, but I grew up seeing “Christian” people doing shitty things and being full of hate so I eventually kind of ditched that whole ideology’s letter of the law.  My biggest problems with religion in general are the proselytizing and the hypocrisy.  Overall I agree with Christ’s messages of love, peace, goodness, etc, but I know too many Christians who would rather everyone call themselves reborn than everyone actually be good people.  In my life I try to focus on more conceptual ideas - that all things are interconnected, that death is not necessarily “bad,” that our minds are limited by the structure of our brains (though this is subject to the plasticity that is life) but our souls or aiùa or what-have-you are all boundless and, in the end, exactly the same regardless of what and who we are in life.

Favorite Color: Black (like my soul) but i am not averse to other colors. I generally only buy clothes in shades of gray if left to my own devices (most of my wardrobe is gifts). Deep red is nice. Every color of the sky is a good color. I’m also partial to flowers of that color that are that really fluorescent purple/blue color that you can tell goes up into the UV spectrum even if humans can’t really see that shit. I can pretend.

Average Hours of Sleep: I try to get more or less exactly 8 during the week plus occasional lunchtime naps because my night sleeps are often restless, don’t bother turning on an alarm on weekends and just sleep until i feel like waking up

Lucky Number: 13 because i’m a doooooooooooooork

Favorite Character(s): so many. sO MANY. 

Recent: sans undertale, taako from tv, lup, merle, john(it’s so hard for me to not call him voreman i’m still laughing sO HARD) - pretty much fucking everyone from TAZ - black hat, bill cipher, peridot

Lifetime: mewtwo, bean, van hohenheim, tyldak, christopher carrion, rosalind lutece, saetan daemon sadiablo (senior), skandranon, clef

Dream Job(s): well i’m a veterinarian and that’s pretty cool, i guess i could see myself doing this for the remainder of my life. acTUALLY it’d be pretty cool to win the multimillion lotto and become independently wealthy, i’m not the kind of person who finds fulfillment in my work. my real life happens when i’m off the clock. if i didn’t have to worry about money i’d have so much time for art, both producing and consuming.

Tagging: @lady-pounce-a-lot because you’re the only other person i know in person on this crazy tumblr thing

[jillmckenzie1]

Detective Deadpool

In order to understand Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, you need to understand a couple of startling facts. First, let’s explain what Pokémon actually is. Created in 1995, this Japanese franchise concerns itself with a world overflowing with what are known a   s pocket monsters. Folks known as trainers must capture different species of Pokémon, which are weird critters that have fantastic powers. From there, they do battle with other trainers to become a champion.*

You probably know this, but Pokémon is massive. 807 distinct species of the titular beastie have been created so far, and they appear in video games, anime series, films, manga, and other assorted merchandise.** To paraphrase Joe Biden, Pokémon is a big deal.

But maybe it isn’t. On the one hand, while I’m aware of Pokémon, it’s not exactly my thing. On the other hand, I certainly won’t sit here and sneer at the concept, because I’m a grown man who gets emotionally involved with the characters of the MCU. Not everything is for everybody, and that’s completely okay.

For the people who are into pocket monsters, they are going to lose their damn minds at Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. It clears a hilariously low bar to become the best movie based on a video game ever made. Plus, if you’re a parent like me that couldn’t tell the difference between a Snorlax and a Litten, it provides a reasonably okay time at the movies.

Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) is miles away from living his best life. He’s in his early 20s, has already given up on pursuing a worthwhile life, and has taken a job as an insurance adjuster. In a world overflowing with Pokémon, he’s pretty much over it. You can’t blame him, considering he’s estranged from his father.

His pops is a cop who works in Ryme City, a metropolis where humans and Pokémon work together peacefully. In the past, Pokémon were trained to fight each other in massive arenas. Tech genius Howard Clifford (Bill Nighy) saw a future where the two species*** could live and work together comfortably.

The plot kicks into gear when Tim is notified his father is killed in a car crash. He travels to Ryme City to get the details. Naturally, he gets more than he bargained for when he encounters his father’s Pokémon partner Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds). Ordinarily, Pokémon communicate by repeating variations of their names. This one is a little different, and not only can Tim understand him, but he also sounds exactly like Deadpool.

Pikachu survived the car crash, which left him with amnesia. All he knows is that a) he’s a detective, b) Tim’s father might still be alive, and c) he’s compelled to be a raging wisenheimer. Tim and Pikachu reluctantly team up to get to the bottom of the mystery. Along the way, they encounter an enthusiastic wannabe journalist (Kathryn Newton), Howard Clifford’s seemingly sinister son (Chris Geere), and a metric ton of weird Pokémon doing weird Pokémon things.

At this point in the review, I’d usually break down the direction, the writing, the acting, and attempt to wrap it all up in a tidy bow. This time, we’re doing things a little differently. First, I’ll give the parents and non-Pokémon enthusiasts a quick overview so that you can prepare yourselves appropriately. Then, my kid will be coming in. He’s a Pokémaniac, if you will, and he’ll deliver some thoughts from the perspective of a kid and a fan.

While the script by Rob Letterman, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Nicole Perlman, and Derek Connolly is pretty thin, the film itself has three not-so-secret weapons. The first is Letterman, who also directed. He’s made a film overflowing with fan service and stuff to look at. Greninjas fling throwing stars at our heroes, Charizards blow fire, and Mewtwo hovers over the action like a remote deity. Every couple of minutes, a thing happens, and I recommend treating it all like you’re a Pokémon tourist. It’s okay if you have no idea why a Psyduck explodes if it gets stressed out; just think of it as Mutual of Omaha: Kanto Region.

 The second and third weapons are Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds. As Tim, Smith is an engaging and likable presence. Most of his job is to be amazed at the wild stuff happening around him. There are a few moments that require fairly sizable emotional lifting, and Smith handles them with ease. As far as Reynolds is concerned, he’s doing his regular schtick playing a motormouth. His Pikachu is essentially Deadpool without the rampant profanity and fourth-wall breaks. I’m totally fine with that since Reynolds is good at that kind of thing. The guy is talented and genuinely can act, he just doesn’t need to flex that in a big way here.

Let’s be real, though. If you’re a fan, literally none of what I’ve written will really matter. That’s why I’ll step out of the way and allow my kid a moment to offer his thoughts:

So, you want to talk some Pokémon, do you? Since you got this far in the review, I’m assuming yes. Pokémon is a world where dreams are born and where you enslave animals to fight against other animals to the death! It’s a vibrant world, with it being very apparent as soon as the movie starts. Justice Smith’s character, Tim, makes that very obvious because his philosophy is that he doesn’t need a Pokémon. Pokémon are also used as a sign of status, and Tim’s isn’t very high. But the most thought was put into the Pokémon themselves. The CGI is amazing, and the Pokémon look as if they are real! You see a Flareon, a Lickitung, and a Psyduck with their abilities helping move the plot. Also, the fan service was everywhere. That’s about all I have to say, so back to the main review!

If you’re on the younger side or a lifelong fan of pocket monsters, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu will not disappoint you. It’s packed with enough fan service to give Avengers: Endgame a run for its money, and it’s a strong starting point for a live-action franchise. If you’re a parent or someone who’s curious about this whole thing, you’re going to be fine. The film is anchored by a couple of fun leading performances. Better yet, the movie itself is only an hour and 45 minutes long. Trust me, you can make it.

    *It’s basically about people enslaving animals and forcing them to do battle for the amusement of others. Why isn’t the ASPCA on this?

**Including a Pikachu cloth diaper, a “tobacco” pipe, and a full-body spandex Lucario suit which looks like it would be right at home on an episode of Hannibal.

 ***But are Pokémon really a species? Going further, do Pokémon replace animals in this world. Are there cats and cat-Pokémon, or have the cat-Pokémon taken their place? The mind boggles.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/detective-deadpool/

[jackintheirbox-blog]

SSB RPG: Stats (Part Two)

In our first part, we did some Math for the stats used in prominent Nintendo RPGs to figure out what might be best for our Super Smash Bros. themed tabletop RPG.

Now then, time to get all hot and bothered, because I’m about to use.. a table.

Oh yeah. It’s getting steamy now.

(Stat names have been generalised for simplicity.)

With seven games in the list, I’ll be assuming that any stat that gets used five or more times is probably doing its job right. That said, we need to interview every candidate before we let them through the doors, so let’s check each one to be sure (if only so we can decide on a name for them while we’re here.)

Hit Points

Well, yeah. I’d expect these to turn up at some point.

All the games on the list use these because, barring a few exceptions to the rule, role-playing games in which every character (including the player) is defeated in one hit are not very fun. So yeah, it’s pretty safe to say that we’ll be using HP in this system.

As for whether or not to call them Hit Points or Heart Points, two of the games used Heart and five of them used Hit, so Hit it is. Nice n’ easy.

Special Points

Special Points, Flower Points, Psychic Points, Magic Points... Name ain’t the same, but the tune sure is.

Given how much emphasis Super Smash Bros. places on character-defining special moves, we will inevitably need to create a limit for these special moves, lest fights turn into a constant barrage of everyone’s strongest attacks being unleashed all the time. We don’t want this because it mitigates the positive sensation that a player experiences when doing something special if everyone is always doing something special.

It also turns everything into one big clusterfuck. That is also bad.

In addition, even while Fire Emblem and Pokemon don’t have a traditional ‘magic bar’ or something similar, they still have limits to the special things that characters can do in those systems. Fire Emblem has items such as Tomes, while Pokemon has ‘Power Points’, and both of these decrease each time a move is used. As both cases make evident, special moves are a ‘currency’, and we need to make sure the players are wise about how they spend it.

There’s a lot of varying names for this value, but since we have such an array of different technologies and techniques in this crossover setting - fuel, magic, psychic, elemental, and so on - we’re going to simplify things and just keep it to Special Points. It also makes it easy to identify as The Thing That Special Moves Use.

Attack

When we hit people, we expect them to fall down. So, yes, Power is going to be here.

This is inevitable, since with the shocking surprise twist of including HP in this system, we’re also going to need a value for decreasing it so that everyone doesn’t just stay nice and healthy with no fear of death throughout the adventure. Otherwise, every offensive maneuver in this game would have to be some kind of poison damage deal, and I imagine most players would like to finish their battles before they die of old age.

Attack, Power and Strength all work to varying degrees, and Attack is actually the most utilised from the list, but I’ve decided on Power to avoid the potential confusion for new players between Attack: The Stat and Attack: The Command.

(Power is also the one that sounds the coolest, so it wins by default anyway.)

Defense

Where there is light, there is shadow. Where there is me, there is Isabelle fanart. And where there is Attack, there is Defense.

A perfectly cromulent question would be “why do we need Defense if we already have HP?” While it seems redundant, I can speak from experience in telling you that playtesting for a game without Defense or Armor or some equivalent present will show numbers getting out of hand very quickly. As Attack values increase, HP must also be increased to compensate (so that battles don’t get decided by who lands the first hit and OHKOs someone.) This means that balancing outside factors, such as healing items or status conditions, can become troublesome. It’s all, you know, scaling numbers and...

Look, if I had a graph, I’d totally show it, but I don’t, so just take my word for it.

Basically, HP can be more ‘rounded’ and kept to a more consistent range to help ‘anchor’ the system, whilst Defense handles the issue of escalating Attack by simply matching it notch for notch.

(On top of all that, Attack would look really lonely on the stats screen without its buddy Defense by its side.)

Defense is one of the two stats on this list with an unanimous decision in name, so it’s probably doing something right. Let’s call it Defense, then.

Speed

Remember when I talked about how Sonic wouldn’t work very well without a Speed stat? Well, here we are.

Only two of the games on the list don’t utilise a stat for deciding who acts in what order for their turn-based combat. One is Paper Mario, which simplifies things by just always having Mario and his pals go first, and the other is Xenoblade because that game likes to be a special snowflake and does things in a more complex fashion. In the case of Paper Mario, while it may be acceptable to always hand the player the first shot in a video game, a tabletop system will have multiple players, so we’ll need to have a Speed stat to stop everyone at the table fighting over who goes first by playing Russian Roulette or something.

I should note that Speed can refer to several things in systems of this kind, ranging from ‘initiative’ to ‘movement’ to ‘agility’ and so on. For the sake of keeping things simple at such an early stage, we’re just accounting this as initiative for now.

Like Defense, every game that utilised Speed called it just that, so... let’s call it just that.

Magic Attack / Magic Defense

Oooh, woooah, woooah, it’s maaaagic.

The only games on the list that don’t believe in Magic are the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, while the other games have Magic (or Special or Psychic or basically anything that doesn’t involve punching people.) One can draw their own conclusions about why these two series neglect the stat, but I will be chalking it up to prioritising simplicity. It’s great for accessibility when all types of damage are unified, but given that several characters in Super Smash Bros. are quintessentially defined by their prowess with magical or psychic abilities and their lack thereof in physical skill (such as Zelda or Ness) then it’s probably best to add these stats so that we can further define characters rather than having people scratch their head when they see that Bowser and Mewtwo are equal in Power. It brings about the potential cost of complication, but it’s a worthwhile risk, and given that five of the seven games implemented the stats, it’s a relatively safe one.

I’m settling on Special Power and Special Defense as the names since, as was mentioned with Special Points, there’s a wide array of possible sources for special moves (ranging from elemental powers to technological gadgets) so we want to keep it generalised. It’s going to be a bit of a headscratcher when Samus uses Magic Power for a move, don’t you think? There’s the potential confusion of ‘SP’ referring to either Special Points or Special Power, but where possible, we’ll be referring to Special Power as SP. POW to help alleviate that. If it still remains too confusing, it can go back to the drawing board as, I dunno, Ability Power or something.

(Slapping the stupid shit at the table who didn’t bother to read the rules would work too.)

Luck / Critical Chance / Accuracy / Evasion

Well, it’s a tabletop game, so having luck is a safety blanket - sooner or later, the GM will drop rocks on you.

Okay, in earnest, these stats are ultimately all redundant since a majority of the actions in the game are already incorporating the element of chance through the simple process of rolling dice. Were this a video game, I would immediately double back and consider them at more length, but since I’m rolling a d20 in my hand as I type this, I fail to see why I need yet more numbers to decide whether something hit or missed.

That’s not to say that we can’t toy with increasing or decreasing the chances of success or failure for a roll. For instance, certain items might be able to tilt the odds. However, given how much of the system is dependant on the roll of a dice, having a flat number that automatically puts you in a zone of safety or a zone of inevitable failure not only sounds like a lazy design decision, but it just sounds so boring. There’s a difference between landing a 19 or above when you really need it and just saying “well, my luck is 6, so I’m okay.” It’s a tabletop game - you need that element of theatricality to these things.

Since none of these are going in the game, I don’t need to write a paragraph about what to name them. Noice.

Final Stats:

Hit Points (HP)

Special Points (SP)

Power (POW)

Defense (DEF)

Special Power (SP. POW)

Defense Power (SP. DEF)

Speed (SPD)

Well, would you look at that? Seven. We hit the magic number. I’d say that’s a good sign.

Granted, there’s more to consider beyond this. For instance, while it’s barely a relevant factor in the predominantly single-player games mentioned in the list, charisma (or some variant of a ‘social’ stat) is an important factor in almost every tabletop RPG, due to the highly social nature of the activity. It’s also unlikely that the game will be nothing but battling 24/7, and it’s going to get awkward if every character’s reaction to a friendly shopkeeper is “can I punch them?” I’m unsure if ‘charisma’ will be incorporated via a stat or some other deciding factor (such as an equivalent to skills) but it’ll be important to keep in mind.

There’s also the other elements that affect stats without being stats in and of themselves in the aforementioned games. Most notably, the Paper Mario series uses Badges to add abilities, alter stats, and so on, and the amount of badges the player can equip is determined by Badge Points. While it wasn’t included as it was a ‘niche’ case that the other games didn’t utilize, it’s worth considering if any blind spots in the choice in stats emerge (or if the system doesn’t feel ‘Nintendo’ enough.)

Ultimately though, this feels like a foundation that I can confidently build upon.