"Oh yeah?" Abigail snapped. "Perhaps you should try to save the world yourself sometime, learn how difficult it is. You know, seeing as how you have all the answers all the time. It's pretty easy to sit back and criticize me when you don't have to lift a finger yourself."
Mew's eyes took on a dangerous light. Child, I don't believe you understand the true weight of things. Listen closely to what I am about to tell you. Abby didn't want to, but Mew's voice in her mind was unavoidable. This world is both significant and insignificant in the scheme of the universe. It is significant because it is the only viable home of trillions of beings, all of whom would cease to exist should this Earth be destroyed. However, it is but a grain of sand on an infinite beach: countless other worlds exist, and all are threatened. While the loss of any one world would be inexpressibly grievous, the loss of all would be infinitely so. That said, there is something you don't know about me: I am but one of many Mews. There are countless others, all working to counteract evil. We have each been assigned a planet to protect, and we share a central power to do so. The power is vast but limited: if any of us uses too much of it, other worlds would suffer from the resulting depletion of energy. The pokemon paused, closing his faintly-glimmering blue eyes and breathing deeply. My true task here is not to fight, but to condition one native being--you, specifically--to do so. I thought I saw promise in you when I first arrived on Earth, and that is why I originally chose you to be this world's guardian, but now I am not so sure you are meant for the task. I could find another, probably should find another, but it may be too late now.
"So you're saying you can't help me fight because you don't have enough power?"
If you wish to interpret it that way, yes.
Abigail clenched her fists. "If I'm the powerful one, then why should I have to take flak from a tiny pink weakling when I don't do things his way?" She hadn't intended to make it sound like a threat, but looking back she felt a kind of rebellious satisfaction in finding that the phrase had come out as one.
Dear, sweet little girl…you still don't understand. Mew's mental voice was a sigh, not so much sarcastic as tired. I am the only thing holding this world together: my assigned portion of the central power is a hem in the otherwise unraveling fabric of Earth's frail existence. I am as an Ariados holding tight the fluttering threads of a damaged web: If I should die, or my influence cease, the world would simply dissolve. Do not seek to contest your might against my own. The very fact that you would attempt to do so is why you don't currently have strength like mine, and is one of the reasons I am reconsidering my faith in you. Genuine power can only be found with a complete sacrifice of self. I am wholly devoted to my task…my attentions are never upon my own wishes or desires or even needs. Therefore, my life is not mine: instead, it belongs to the inhabitants of this world. Only by adopting a similar mindset can you fill your role as guardian.
Abigail pondered for a moment. "Complete sacrifice of self…you mean like not caring what happens to me, as long as I defeat the Steel Legion?" The girl shuddered involuntarily at the thought of that massive dirge of metal horrors.
Mew was nodding. Correct.
"If I wasn't paying attention to myself, I could certainly extend beyond my normal limits..." Abby stared at her hands. "But what if I get injured, or even die in the process? Why would I risk killing myself to create a better condition for Earth that I then couldn't even be a part of?"
Mew's eyes gleamed, and Abby could have sworn the pokemon's expression was one of delight: quite out of place, considering the conversation at hand. That is the question you should have been asking yourself all along, and only you can know the answer, he thought back cryptically. Perhaps you can save us, after all…With this, he vanished.
Abby stared at the blank space where Mew had just been floating. "Only I can know the...could he stop being so freaking confusing?" She shook her head, and slapped her forehead a few times. Then she froze, her hand hovering poised in front of her face. "Only I can know the answer…to why I would risk dying to save the world? I have to decide what in this world is worth dying for? Is that it?"
Abigail almost laughed: it was a notion she had confronted only in things like books and movies. The heroes of those tales would always have something besides themselves that they fought for, that they were committed to saving or keeping safe. Abby had never really thought she would need to come up with something like that herself. Of course, she had never expected to be in the position of "hero," either. "This is so ridiculous," she mumbled, and then actually did laugh. It was beyond ridiculous. The events of the past few days as a whole could better be described as thoroughly and unquestionably insane.
She didn't have any more time to think. The air around her suddenly erupted with an ear-splitting, screeching roar that was so intense it made her vision dance. A huge blue sphere materialized amidst the street in front of her, the intense light emanating from the object shaming even the sun and illuminating the surrounding city in an ethereal glow that painted flickering shadows at unnatural angles on walls and avenues. The blue light pulsed once, twice, and evaporated in a cloud of luminescent particles to reveal the last thing Abigail wanted to see: Dialga. The armor-clad, draconic monarch of the Steel Legion roared again, and Abby clapped her hands to her ears while simultaneously calling out to Celebi with her mind, asking the time-travelling pokemon for her armor and weapons. The objects arrived from the time period she had left them in precisely one second after she sent the message, and she hastily began putting on the Ceramitanium plates intended to protect her from harm. Then she clipped a trio of flame grenades to her waist, and picked up the rifle-sized L7 Flame Emitter that she had come to despise so much, but needed so desperately. Decked out, she tried to calm her suddenly racing heart and agitated nerves and waited for Dialga to make the first move.
The time-controlling dragon didn't attack immediately, to the young woman's surprise. He wasn't even looking at her. Instead, he was gazing at the city surrounding him, at the concrete walkways and buildings, at the cars, at the people fleeing and screaming or simply staring in shock and disbelief. After a few moments, he spoke, his voice metallic and harsh, but with a rich prose comparable to Mew's. "Sickening, is it not? How your kind has corrupted the good Earth with the plague of your technology, covering all with cold, hard stone and wretched machinations of metal and plastic and glass?"
He paused, and Abby realized that he actually expected an answer. "I don't think so," she said, but couldn't help hesitating. "I like cities," she added lamely.
"But you would," Dialga replied. "For you are, after all, only human." He sighed, a rasping sound like a large metal blade spinning to a stop. "Come here, young one."
The order was unexpected and odd. Abby's finger strayed to the trigger of her weapon. What was this monster thinking? There was no way she would voluntarily move closer than she needed.
"I wish to show you something," Dialga said. "Please. You have my word that you will not be harmed."
After nearly a minute of shock at the pokemon's sudden gentleness, and after another of intense deliberation, Abby took in a sharp breath and began to slowly step towards the blue-and-gray creature. She kept the muzzle of the L7 aimed directly at Dialga's head: if he so much as blinked, she would unleash a fiery torrent against him. He kept perfectly still, however, and she suddenly found that she was so close that she could reach out and touch the being's glistening blue scales if she so desired. She didn't.
"This will be loud," Dialga stated, and then another horrible roar erupted forth from his gaping jaws. A blue glow lit everything, and then the city rippled as time abruptly surged faster. Buildings rose and fell like waves on a beach, hundreds of years passing in the blink of an eye. Architecture developed exponentially quickly, becoming more and more exotic and beautiful with each passing moment. Abby gasped: she had never seen anything more fantastic.
Then, the city suddenly and unexpectedly ceased to be. Left in its place was a pile of rubble surrounded by a dry and empty desert: no indicator of the glorious buildings remained aside from the detritus. As time rushed on, the desert overcame the rubble, sweeping away the last trace of civilization.
Dialga roared once more, and the blue glow disappeared. Abigail was struck with a sudden blast of overly hot, dry air, and she flinched. The two stood together in the burning sand, mortal enemies, looking in every direction. Abby was bewildered: Dialga simply appeared sad.
"What happened?" the girl asked. "Where's the city?"
"Gone," Dialga answered quietly. "Destroyed. Obliterated. What you see is what remains of Earth after a global war fought between the different societies of humankind. It is similar to this everywhere: empty, silent, harsh desert." The dragon looked down at her. "At this time, we are the only two living things on the planet."
Abby blanched. "You can't be serious," she declared. The girl took a few steps forward, examining the ground, then walked a different direction, and then another. She eventually stopped, dug a shallow hole, and proceeded to dig one more. Not even so much as an insect. Abby sat down on the sand in stunned silence for a long time, staring at nothing.
Dialga watched her revelation with a face seemingly carved from stone. "This is where the technology of your race will eventually lead: the dereliction of Earth." He spoke with an edge of vehemence in his voice, as if chastising a child. Abigail put a hand over her mouth, and started shaking. Dialga's face softened. "Please don't…" he whispered to her. But she did: she started crying. The pokemon looked away. It was hard enough trying to justify annihilating the human race without being reminded that they were thinking creatures, capable of feeling love, anger, fear, sorrow...But their actions would eventually bring about this future, unless there was some kind of intervention, and therefore he had no choice. Their very nature brought about the fate he must visit upon them. His features hardened again, and he wished desperately that he could will his heart to do the same. "Enough," he rumbled. "We are going--"
"This is why you hate us," Abigail interrupted, turning her head to look up into Dialga's ferocious red eyes, her face still glittered with tears. "This is why you want to kill us. I had no idea…" She glanced around again soberly. "There's…nothing…"
"All is sand, all is dust," Dialga lamented after a few moments of silence, gazing off towards the horizon. "No more is the glassy shore, the verdant glen, the mountain awash with lavender sunrise. The sound of rain upon leaves is vanished, as is the hush of wind through grass. Life in all its vibrancy has ceased, each member in the infinite orchestration of souls extinguished forever, from the lowly Ratatta to the behemoth Kyogre. Their absence roars in the silence, and the dark is made greater for the lack of their light." The dragon closed his eyes, and his next words seemed to be more for his convincing than Abigail's. "You must understand that I cannot allow this future, this abomination, to come to pass. Humanity must be purged so that the world can go on. It is a costly price, but a necessary one."
"Surely some agreement can be made, or some kind of precautions taken?" Abby pressed. "There must be a way besides destroying us. Perhaps you could ask Jirachi to intervene when we start fighting?"
"And if the war is not stopped, but only delayed? No." Dialga stretched to his full, imposing height, his voice adamant. "The world is much too valuable to take that kind of chance. Jirachi will grant me but one wish, and she transcends time and space: therefore, I will not be able to simply reverse time and wish again if my first attempt should fail, if humanity should still bring about this doom. I must not hold back the first time, for it will also be my last." The beast looked sidelong at Abigail, an awkward gesture that would have made the young woman laugh out loud in any other circumstances. "If you so wish it, I will have Jirachi exclude you from her attentions when she carries out my design of ruin against your people. You seem somewhat unlike the others…I do not recognize the same lust for destruction in you."
Abby almost said "no" immediately, but she paused with her mouth partially open. The task of saving the world was suddenly unclear: what world was she intended to save? Should she protect the world of humans, knowing that they could eventually destroy Earth anyways? Or should she defend the world of life outside of the race of men, at the cost of humanity itself? Dialga unexpectedly roared then, and Abigail jumped as they began rushing backwards in time, surrounded in the familiar blue glow. She would need to make up her mind quickly, for if her guess was correct, they were about to meet Jirachi.
***
Dialga was fast. Abigail found herself being left behind even as she sprinted after the dragon, following him to what she could only assume was Jirachi's resting place. He fled even as the blue glow still faded from around them: Abby knew she needed to be faster if she was going to keep pace.
One threat with the L7 later, and she had a hover car. Even this was nearly not quick enough to keep up with her target, but she pushed the retro-gravity engine to its groaning, grinding limits, and managed to keep the dragon in view. They raced over various forms of terrain for nearly an hour, until they came to the foot of a mountain. Dialga raced straight toward the rocky base, and then disappeared into a nearly unnoticeable cave just as Abigail thought he would dash himself against the stones. She leapt out of the hover car, rolled to dampen the impact, and then was up and pursuing at a full-on run: Mew's training was nothing if not excellent. Her ride crashed against a boulder just as she cleared the mouth of the cavern.
Abby navigated a series of tunnels, following the pale blue radiance that emitted from Dialga. The titanic pokemon had been forced to slow down in the compact avenues of the cave; however, the girl still found it difficult to keep up.
At last, she came to a colossal chamber: in the very center was a faceted pillar wrought of blue metal which was illuminated at regular intervals by glowing white designs set into its surface. Dialga was standing directly in front of this. Abigail realized that the dragon was muttering something as she raced to his side: however, she did not recognize the language he was speaking. Entranced, she stood behind and to his side, and then suddenly gasped as the metal obelisk opened like a mechanical flower along the glowing lines to reveal a small yellow-and-white figure.
Jirachi. The tiny pokemon opened her eyes, and then floated out of her resting place without the use of any visible means. She hovered at Dialga's eye level, studied his face with a serene expression for a few moments, and then spoke in a soft voice. "O Dragon of Time, I am Jirachi, Wish-Maker. What is it you would ask of me?"
"O Jirachi, Granter of Wishes." Dialga returned the greeting. "I would ask one thing: I have a Doom Desire against a race of this earth. I have found a tendency for destruction in humans, and humbly ask that you would purge the world of their presence."
"Dialga, Diamond-Born, are you certain that this is your wish? The fulfillment of a Doom Desire would require the sacrifice of your life."
The daze that had overcome Abigail from the outset of the mysterious exchange instantly vaporized. "What?" she gasped.
Dialga looked at her. "And spare this young woman as you fulfill my wish, if you would," he said.
"Wait!" Abby shouted, and lifted the L7. "Just wait! I need to…to think for a minute."
"Remaining while the rest of your kind does not…I can see that it would be a difficult decision," Dialga answered sympathetically, his eyes burning crimson in the relative dark surrounding them. It seemed there was a deeper understanding behind his words than he let on. "This I will allow."
Abigail knew she had stalled as long as she could. It was time to decide, then. Oppose Dialga, expose herself to his wrath, and possibly die during the fight? Or, if she won, most likely doom the world to humanity's future war? Or should she side with Dialga, accept his invitation to live, and allow him to prevent the global battle that would otherwise destroy Earth…but watch him obliterate mankind in the process? The dragon seemed so upright in his decision…he was even willing to sacrifice his life for his cause. Was this heroism in progress? Was this perhaps the type of being that Mew should have sought from the outset? Possibly, but then again…
"I do not wish the world to be destroyed," Abby said slowly, gauging each word. "However, I also can't let you destroy the human race." It felt as though she had gone momentarily mad: she was thoroughly ignoring the voice of self-preservation that was screaming in the back of her mind. "I have become somewhat distant from people these past few years out of necessity, but that does not change the fact that I am still one of them." She lifted her L7 in a combat-ready stance. The weapon shook in her hands, but her aim was steady enough to trust. "Dialga. I have made my decision. You will not have your Doom Desire fulfilled while I am still alive, although I admire your resolve."
It was interesting, Abigail mused. Putting her life on the line as she knew she was doing required a certain level of detachment from the logical part of her brain. She realized that true heroes must have a way of not thinking when circumstances demanded. The resulting sensation was a kind of giddiness, as though she had just been dosed with laughing gas. It was both comfortable and frightening, but the latter feeling she simply chose to ignore as she did her better judgment.
Dialga seemed surprised by her final statement, but then the expression was gone in a flash, hidden behind a mask of cold indifference. "So this is what it finally comes to," he said. "So be it." He threw his head back, and roared.
When the resulting blue luminescence had dissipated, Abby realized that both the dragon and Jirachi were gone. "Oh great," she mumbled to herself. Then, erring on the side of caution, she ran to the other side of the room. Sure enough, a huge boulder detached from the ceiling of the cave directly above where she had just been standing and crashed into the ground with enough force to knock her a few inches into the air. It was a trap set by Dialga, who had just traveled back in time and placed it before either of them even arrived at the cave. "Celebi!" Abigail called, waiting only seconds before the time-traveling pokemon appeared before her. "We're going to have another time-travel fight."
Another one? You're going to get us both killed!
"Actually, you are. The longer we stand here, the more of a chance Dialga has to set traps."
Gah! We're leaving right now, then! Get ready!
And then all was green light. Abigail blinked against the brilliant color's sudden invasion of her senses, barely making out the blue luminance that Celebi was following through time: it was Dialga's trail. The azure path ended after a few moments, and Celebi eased off with her own time-traveling abilities, depositing them both a few hundred years in the past. Abby started running, ignoring the old-style buildings and shocked, strangely-dressed people that had intrigued her so much on her first jumping session. Flicking the safety off of her weapon, she barreled around a corner and unleashed a furious tongue of flame right as Dialga rounded the corner of the next street over: it was close, but she had missed. She sprinted after the dragon, navigating the avenue with a smooth grace that made her seem to defy physics to any casual passer-by. Using her left hand to catch a stoplight pole, she swung around the turn quickly while firing with her right hand: this shot washed over Dialga's flank, and he cried out loudly.
This was followed by another roar, and suddenly cars were falling off of buildings all around Abby; Dialga had jumped into the past again and set another trap. The young woman dove out from under a falling car, rolled instead of stopping to dodge another, and then was caught up in Celebi's powers just as yet another car was about to land on her. The car rewound itself comically back onto the roof it had fallen from, and then days began to speed by in reverse like someone rapidly turning a light on and off.
Farther into the past: nearly a thousand years this time. Buildings were no longer even remotely modern, but were instead easily recognizable as medieval. Abby was running once more, this time before the red spots imprinted into her vision by the green light had even faded. She moved lithely around carts drawn by Tauros, somersaulted over a canopied supply stand, and just barely noticed Dialga nursing his burn in a nearby alley before she raced by. Mid-run, the girl unclipped a fire grenade from her belt, twisted the knob on top, and winged it away. The buzzing canister landed next to Dialga, who sprung up and began to race away as it clattered about for a few seconds and then exploded in a brilliant ball of flame.
The burst illuminated the once-dark alleyway, and Abigail caught her breath as orange light gleamed off of a large array of metal surfaces. There was a small army of steel pokemon in the narrow, long space: apparently, Dialga had jumped part of the Steel Legion to this point in time. The dragon had escaped the firebomb with little more than a singed tail, and was now directing his metallic beasts to attack her. She turned and began running the other way.
"Not good, not good, not good!" She spoke the words as a mantra as she went, dropping her last grenade in an inconspicuous spot right as she rounded a corner. The object detonated moments later, the heated blast throwing blobs of fire and injured pokemon in every direction. More replaced the latter in an instant, moving quickly through the burning patch and sustaining nothing other than minor injuries. The orange glow reflecting off of their armored bodies only worked to make them seem more menacing.
Abigail combined sprinting forwards at full speed with short moments of running backwards and spraying her adversaries with the Flame Emitter. The metal battalion dwindled, but not nearly fast enough: they would soon overtake her. It was time to set a trap of her own.
Hailing Celebi, she told the pokemon to collect instances of her from the future: these instances would be brought from different points in her life to this era to help her fight. Once the battle was over, each instance would be returned to a time seconds before she was brought back: the returning instance would let the leaving instance know that it was safe to do so. If there was no returning instance, such as in the case of death, the leaving instance would stay put.
Once her directions had been relayed, Abigail was almost immediately surrounded with flashes of green light: nine of her were suddenly running by her side, ready to help.
Unfortunately, having multiple instances of herself in existence at once tore the very fabric of the universe, which subsequently imploded.
The End
--------
Kudos to anyone who read that whole thing. I know it was long. But your investment of time was worthwhile, wasn't it? I mean, look at that ending!
Anyhow, I noticed some strange similarities between Jax...err...Xanthine's segment and mine. They could almost, almost go together. Perhaps you are telepathic after all, Ja...dangit...Xanthine.
