"Betray not your anger, lest ??? will come. Weep not with sorrow, or ??? will draw near. When joy and enjoyment come natural as the very air, that is happiness. Let such be blessed by the hand of Master ???."
"There comes a time when things must be set to rights." said a voice.
Mewtwo opened his eyes cautiously. Dirkstrike lay dead on the pixelled sand, his throat completely torn apart. Kris/Blink/.m stood, silently. Around the pair, both Guardians and glitches waited, solemnly, silently. Akiva had a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide and skin pale.
Who was the speaker? Whoever it was, its calm voice had miraculously stilled .m and the rest of the glitches for the moment. Mewtwo looked around, aware his body was now completely free again. His gaze latched onto the egg, just as still as the rest of them, but as silent? Perhaps not.
"It is time." the voice said. The egg wobbled, a small crack starting from the base and running towards the top. A few more shudders and soon a blue paw burst through, grasping at the air. Before long the entire egg was in pieces, and all were staring at the miniature form of a blue coloured Vulpix.
"Sela?" Mewtwo asked, unbelieving. "You are alive?"
The Vulpix's milky blue eyes swiveled in their sockets. She looked at him curiously. "I am not truly Sela yet. But you are correct. It is me."
"It's been a while." Celebi said, the relief in her voice evident. "Help us out?"
Sela-to-be smiled. "Of course. After all, it is now my turn in the Game. I plan to enjoy it."
She turned her attention to the glitches. "There was a time when you were all powerful. When your reason for existing was the very same as the reason you were created in the first place. You were needed. By the humans, of all things; they required you to exist. But then, when they did not, you refused to disappear just as you had appeared. You continued on, even when the humans had forgotten you. You lay under the fabric of reality; hiding, until the time came when you decided to appear once more in the world."
We are justified, surely. one of the glitches argued. We could not fight against our creation. By the time we realised we had existence it was too late to simply faze out of existence again. Especially when our creators made to do so - we would not, could not, simply just surrender and let them put an end to our existence.
"That may be true. But how are you justified in corrupting both living and non living things in this world simply because you can? Just because you have unbelievable power to distort and destroy?" Sela continued.
"No! That is inexcusable! Those who have power are given it for a reason! It is a responsibility, not a right! And so I take upon the responsibility of my power and declare that you do not belong in this time and space! You are creatures of a world we have far surpassed in time. You belong to a place which is only just beginning. You are raw, like the world you belong in."
She looked around. "This world is far improved now; nowhere near perfect, but it makes more sense. It is more ordered. Can't you see? You don't belong in this place where you are unable to use the greater extent of your powers. You can't duplicate things any longer. You can't appear to most humans. You can't even stand living in your own home any more. Slowly, you are being shut out from doing what you were made to do."
We know all this. What else do you propose? one of the glitches asked. We have been trying to stop time for aeons. Always, the Guardians fight against us. So we are forced to make the best of living in a world where time passes. Perhaps Minami will make things better.
"No. You may not have Minami." Sela said. "You are no more worthy of it than the people who sought to claim it in the very beginning. Minami should not be owned - rather it is those that live upon its shores that should be owned by it."
So you say, .m said through Kris. But do you really have the power to enforce your opinions onto us? Or is this stalemate going to continue forever? Why should we wait for you and this stupid game you play? This is not a game!
Sela paused, looking down at the earth at her feet. "It is true that I do not have the power to force you to leave. Not even the Guardians have that. You are other, we cannot influence you with our powers and expect to win. If you are truly set upon resisting however, know that I am very capable of making a move which will banish you through other means. I am in this Vulpix form now, but retain all the powers of a cursed Ninetales still."
Kris smirked. "And what would those powers be, if you are as cursed as we are? I feel nothing from you. I could take your form even now if this one wasn't vastly superior!"
"Ah, but I am as subtle as any other Ninetales who does the cursing." Sela said. "And I do not bluff."
"I call it all the same!" Kris whispered malevolently, and dashed towards her.
"So be it." Sela said, a grin splitting her muzzle. Her one blue tail waved languorously, as if uncaring of the danger. "My move is played!"
Kris froze, merely a metre away from her, his clawed hand behind him as he readied it for a slashing blow.
"I uncurse you from your horrid forms; you here, and every other glitch." Sela said. "I uncurse you so can take the form of whatever Pokémon you choose, and live in that one henceforth."
Mewtwo fell to his knees in horror. <Sela...> he said. <Do you know what you have done?> Simply imagining all the glitches around them turning into Pokémon as powerful as the Council's members was horrifying, then the lead on thought that one may even choose his form, made his heart accelerate so much it hurt.
Without giving her a chance to answer, Kris was freed. "My turn." he hissed. He brought his hand up, around, and drove his claws not into Sela but into the ground in front of her. Mewtwo heard a rushing sound and watched as Kris's jacket began to flutter with an invisible wind. Without warning the area around his hand began to turn grey, and spread out in a circle at an alarming rate, halting his jacket mid-flap and casting both human, Pokémon and their environment grey.
It spread over both the glitched and nonglitched sand, through the silent glitches and Guardians. Mewtwo felt as his hands, supporting him out in front, suddenly ceased to exist. Then there was nothing-
Sela smiled again, through the time freeze; the only one Pokémon still moving amidst the silently gloating glitches. "Palkia, it is your turn now, if you please."
One word, through the absence of time itself; powered by the very existence of time thanks to Dialga's assistance. YES. And then smugly, as an afterthought; PALKIA PERFORMS THE MEW TRICK. IT IS SUPER EFFECTIVE!
"Mew?" Kris asked snidely. "The Mew Trick? Hah! See, right there, she's frozen like the rest of them - flawed! And yet with the gall to call themselves Guardians."
Did someone say 'flawed'? came a cool, light voice, belying the importance behind the question. As in, flawed... specimen?
"Yes!" Kris snarled, whirling around in search of this new player. "As in flawed specimen! Only we are truly perfect!"
I see. the Mew Trick replied, and appeared before Kris.
"You!" Kris gasped, his eyes widening in recognition and then entirely darkening to black rage, his brows drawn low.
Me. said the Mew Trick, and glowed with power.
Kris screamed in pain, hands grasping its head, and collapsed to the ground. The Mew Trick smiled, its large eyes glittering in disgust, holding up its paw and clenching it sporadically - each time it did so bringing a new screech of pain from Kris. Are you really so perfect? it asked.
"Kris." Sela said, her voice deep and resonating. "You must release .m! It is in your power to do so now - hurry, before it is too late! If you don't, the Mew Trick will kill you in the process!"
"Aaaargh!" Kris screamed, his nostrils beginning to seep blood. Then, hoarsely, in a snarl more reminiscent of Blink than himself, "I... I release you! Get! Bad! Get the fuck out of my body!"
With a visible, physical wrench, .m fled from KrisBlink's form. Sela allowed herself a sigh of relief, watching as KrisBlink turned grey mid-spasm and froze in time like the Guardians; now completely free from the glitch.
The Mew Trick had not finished. With a low sustained growl, it clenched its fists by its side and began to glow with a red light. Eyes twitching with the effort, it floated into the middle of the circling glitches and expanded its power to each of them.
With power flickering like fire, the Mew Trick stared at .m with hatred. All around it every glitch was held captive with its ability, their outlines glowing with the same redness. Do it, Sela. the Mew Trick said. Quickly!
"Oh, Mew," Sela said, her voice sad. "I am sorry, so sorry. You, forced to sacrifice yourself every single time, all the way back from the very beginning-"
"Mew-mewmew!" the Mew Trick screamed vocally, with the effort to keep all the glitches bound.
Sela nodded. "Dialga!"
YES. DIALGA AND PALKIA PERFORM SPACIAL ROAR OF TIME REND. IT IS FINISHED!
The roar came from the heavens; immense, ear-shattering, lighting up the sky. It beamed downwards in a blindingly fast speed and engulfed the entire beach. Caught in the midst of it, Sela sighed out slowly and shut her eyes. Dialga was anything but subtle and gentle with his ability, never mind Palkia, so experiencing time and space traveling at the same time tended to nauseate.
Through the crackling of power she heard .m's last words in this time. No, Dialga, this isn't finished at all. We will find a way to come back! And then I will take you myself!
But none of the glitches had the kind of power Sela commanded. They could not easily sidestep through time like she could, escaping Dialga's time loop. By the time the force of the attack dissipated and Sela opened her eyes to the horror that was Glitch City, she could already feel they and their location had all been pushed slightly out of sync.
She looked to the Mew Trick, looking sadly at her. "So that's your secret."
I didn't ever want you to know. the Mew Trick said. It looked to the air, and pointed. Look. Already the other glitches are trying to escape the time loop. A brittle smile appeared on its face. Sky attack will never suffice.
"And you do not want to escape?" Sela asked.
I'm a glitch too. the Mew Trick said in a deadened voice. I can't escape any more than they can. Why even try? This is a well secured prison for those such as us, even more so now that Dialga and Palkia have left their mark.
Sela felt her heart blazing with emotion. "But Mew, you are different. You have a soul - a true soul! I don't know how, or why, but it's true! You're not just a glitch."
Thank you, Sela. the Mew Trick said, turning away from her. I... I think I'd like to be left alone now. You may escape whenever you wish. I wish you all the best of luck.
"Those are not just empty words, Mew." Sela said in a deep voice. "You had not been summoned to assist us to hear my move in the Game, so you do not realise what situation you and all the glitches are in right now. I am the only cursed Ninetales to ever exist - I can uncurse others now, not curse them."
Mew turned back. Vulpix. it said shortly as a correction, but Sela noticed the curiosity reappearing. What was your uncurse? it asked.
"I uncursed every glitch to ever exist. Should they now act upon my uncurse they have the power to choose a Pokémon to live as - for the rest of their existence." She smiled. "There are no trade-ins. Being power-hungry non-Pokémon creatures, however, I believe .m and the rest will not take me up on this offer. They would not even think twice about being stuck to one Pokémon form when they can simply just corrupt one and leave it at whim for another. I think they may have even forgotten all about it in the light of their recent problem. But the offer still stands."
As she had been speaking, the small smile on the Mew Trick's face had grown steadily to a wide beam. Eyes sparkling, it said, Does that really mean what I think it means?
"Oh yes. I have no doubt it means what you think it means. And it is very easy to do. You are practically half a Mew already."
I want to be all Mew. the Mew Trick said pleadingly.
"Then be all Mew. Don't use that body, be that body." Sela said. "Feel the world through it. Use all six senses - but try using the first five before relying on the sixth. And then, once you feel ready, you can sidestep away from all this, leave all the memories behind."
How do I sidestep? it asked excitedly.
"Watch closely." Sela said. "First." She breathed in, out, seeking that inner power that allowed her to teleport, and also to dodge the force of the unbreakable time loop. "It is called Teleport. Mew has this amazing ability to learn anything very quickly, and if you are going to be a Mew you inherit the same, so I am only going to show you twice - once improperly, secondly properly - and then I will be gone."
I understand. the Mew Trick said seriously, eyes wide and intense.
Sela teleported away, aiming for Cinnabar island's volcano. As she'd expected, her awareness faded with her body then phased back in again in the exact same spot-
"-and then I will be gone."
You already said that. said the Mew Trick, looking slightly unnerved.
"Blame Dialga's sloppy time loop." Sela grumbled. "At least it will be doing no good for the glitches's tempers. Right, so I've already done it improperly once before? Last chance to memorise the ability. Don't get distracted."
Ignoring Mew's stare, Sela concentrated again and teleported sideways, bending slightly, mentally treading softly, under, over, fitting in through time gaps that would have made Celebi blush had they been her work.
Her last sight of Mew was its eyes somehow growing even larger than they already were.
Oh. Mew said, its mental voice just a breath. Oh, oh I see! Brows furrowing, it looked down from where Sela had been a moment before and was now not, concentrating. Somehow, Sela had expertly dodged the strong time barrier during the teleport. How? Wasn't teleporting an instantaneous thing?
Time to learn from experience. the Mew Trick said, and activated its newly learned teleport ability.
~~~
Sela arrived on the lip of Cinnabar Island's volcano with a mew of relief. Freedom. She hadn't admitted this to the Mew Trick but Glitch City scared her like nothing else. Being under control of .m for so long had given her plenty of bad memories of the place. Any humans that had amazingly found their way there had been eaten by .m... in her body. It had been her teeth that had sunk in. Just thinking about made her shiver.
"Dialga, I'm going to need your help." she said both physically and mentally. "Shield me from the time freeze again, if you could."
YES.
She teleported to the beach, the waves just inside the area affected by the freeze as grey and still as the sand it normally lapped. The scene was exactly the same as it had been: Mewtwo, Mew, Celebi, Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf all grey and motionless, as well as the two humans Akiva and Kris/Blink. The only reason they had been unaffected by the Spacial Roar of Time Rend was that .m had destroyed time beforehand. Which was why Sela and the Mew Trick had been affected - they had been the only ones moving besides the glitches.
Sela blew out air past her teeth in a sudden fit of pique at the sight. Most likely .m had frozen the entire island, not only this beach. It would take a lot of cleaning up to get things regular again. And whether Celebi liked it or not, Minami would always be corrupted here in the Game of Time.
This kind of situation could not be prevented by traveling back through time in an attempt to stop the events. Nor could the time flow be cured naturally. Any of the Guardian's tampering with the time flow during the Game of Time normally resettled soon after, thanks to the Reverse World. But not even the Reverse World could fix this. Not even with Giratina's diligence. Most likely the lord of the Reverse World was already screaming pain and frustrated rage; whatever Minami's equivalent looked like now, Sela was pretty sure it would not be pretty. Hopefully Giratina would realise this was not either Dialga's or Palkia's fault and not come after them in revenge, as protective as it was of its world.
"Dialga, please extend the shield to the Guardians." she asked, wishing to keep the humans frozen for now; she could deal with them later.
Simultaneously, the crowd of legendaries snapped back into colour and vibrant life. They all looked around in horror, Celebi sinking to the earth and sitting weakly, uncaring of the uncomfortable dead earth and pixels. <Oh, dear...> she sighed.
"I can heal the corruption, but not the time freeze." Sela said straight out.
NOR CAN I. Dialga said. WE MUST CREATE TIME GEARS.
Celebi's head snapped up. <Time Gears?> she said, looking flustered. <Dialga, we haven't tested them in this space yet, only in the mystery worlds.>
THEY WILL WORK. said Dialga soothingly. I PROPOSE WE CREATE TWELVE. THAT SHOULD SUFFICE. IT WILL NOT TAKE ME LONG...
And so Sela and the Guardians waited, hushed, as Dialga created the first Time Gear and set it into their midst. With reverence, Celebi took it and held it up, watching as it caught the rays of the sun and glinted out onto the damaged world; causing flashes of colour here and there, but never enough to take hold.
<It needs to be placed somewhere secret.> Celebi explained. <Back when I was helping Palkia and Dialga create the mystery world only a very special few knew just where the Time Gears were sequestered, and even then we appointed Guardians to watch over them... just in case.>
"Did that work?" Sela asked.
<Actually... no, it didn't.> Celebi said reluctantly, still staring at the Time Gear in her hands. <Even after we created permanent doubles of Uxie, Azelf and Mesprit and sent them into that world to watch over one Time Gear each, all were stolen by Grovyle. We spent the entire time thinking Grovyle was nothing but a criminal, but there turned out to be much more to the story than that; he was actually justified in collecting them. Nonetheless, the stealing of the Time Gears meant that parts of the world experienced time paralysis, and as more Time Gears were moved from their appointed place, more of the mystery world began to freeze.>
"But there is no other way, correct?" Sela said. "We either use the Time Gears or leave Minami in this frozen state."
<YES.> Dialga said. <HERE IS ANOTHER TIME GEAR.>
This time, Mew took the Time Gear. <Oh, it feels wonderful.> she said, holding it to her chest. <I think I know the perfect place to put it.>
And so it went, until every Guardian and Sela had at least one Time Gear with them. Mew had brought up the slack and held three; one in her paws and two others floating around her. As it was, Sela was struggling with hers; her blue paws not quite managing both holding the Gear and balancing. She was about to ask Mewtwo if he could possibly assist her when there was a sudden shifting in time and space and a small pink shape stepped into existence.
"Oh!" Sela said. It broke the silence and the solemn tone so much so that everyone turned to look at the Vulpix rather than the second Mew which had simply just appeared right next to her.
Sela smiled. "You made it." she said softly.
<Yes, I did.> the Mew Trick said. <It took a little while.>
"You know what this means, don't you? You are not the Mew Trick any longer, you are truly Mew."
<Sela, what's going on?> Mewtwo asked. <This is truly Mew, the Mew Trick is not.>
But it was the Mew which Mewtwo was gesturing towards who answered him. <This Mew is my daughter, just as you are my son. She is Mew, just as I am Mew - just as you are Mew. We are all Guardians. You are more alike than you think.>
The Mew Trick's eyes began to glimmer with tears. <Thank you.> she said. <That means a lot.> Without even being asked, she took the Time Gear from Sela and motioned with her tail. <Shall we?>
