Chapter 3
Living Legends: Volume (Mew)Two: Part 3
The cruise ship was taking the 'scenic route', as the tour guides called it. Rather than just sailing straight to its destination, it was, instead, making a large figure-8 around several islands south of Kanto. There was some nice scenery along the route, and due to the deep channels in the water, the ship could sail relatively close to the shore line in safety.
That morning, however, they were out on the 'open' seas, in the large divide of ocean between Kanto and the islands themselves, heading South-West, towards New Island. Their route would take them south after that, around Terrace, and Pammelo Island, and then east, to Kumquat island, a tiny bit North-West to Hamlin island, before sailing straight past the Seafoam islands and to the port at Vermillion city. Most people thought that the docks at Vermillion only serviced the S.S. Anne, since it was the most famous cruise liner around, but it serviced ships of all sizes during the periods when the cruise ship wasn't there. Often a year at a time.
All of this information was written on a large poster pinned to one of the walls of the cabin, which, when Peter awoke, he found Sin staring at intently, tracing some of the lines with her fingers.
"What is this?" she asked, without turning around, frowning at the odd colours and lines.
"It's a map." he said blearily, rubbing his forehead and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up and stretching slowly.
"A...map?" she asked, curiously. "What function does it serve? Is it a decoration?"
"Well...It's a map." he said, head canting quizzically to one side, reaching over to place his finger on one of the islands. "That's New Island, we'll be sailing around it sometime around midday." he tried to explain.
"But...it's so small. Why would you make a landmark so...tiny?" she asked, brows raising quizzically.
Peter shook his head slowly and gave a faint sigh. "It's not small. People live on it."
"People live on it?!" she asked, awed, turning to the map and squinting. "They must be very small."
He rolled his eyes helplessly, and then pointed at the island again. "This is merely a drawing...a representation." he tried to explain.
"I...fail to see the resemblance to anything that looks remotely like what I have seen." she said bluntly.
"Well...um...here!" he said, digging out his laptop and flipping it open, opening up a webpage, and then a video on a popular video-hosting website, that was shot from a hand-held camcorder. At first, it showed a ground view, which slowly expanded, as the Fearow the cameraman was riding rose higher into the air.
"You see?" he asked, peering at her sideways, as the camera angled downwards and showed a top-down view of the surrounding lands.
Her eyes widened slightly. "They...can draw all of this stuff when they're in the air like that? Wouldn't the wind blow it away? Wouldn't it be...unsettling?"
Peter laughed and shook his head, before clicking the page closed, and then opening the integrated camera of the laptop, which immediately showed an image of him and Sin sitting, staring at the screen. "Smile and wave." he said, before clicking the 'capture' button.
Sin blinked at him, and then at the screen. "It's...me?" she asked, quizzically, leaning in closer to the screen, frowning.
"Yup." Peter replied simply, and then set the picture of the rather surprised-looking Mewtwo as a desktop image. "There, immortalised." he said with a grin.
She frowned slightly at the laptop for a moment. "How...odd." she said, and then shook her head slowly. "I'm hungry." she stated.
"Well, we'll go get breakfast." he said with a nod, closing the laptop and putting it back in his bag, rearranging his clothes to a rough approximation of normalcy, and then opening the door for her.
She stalked out ahead of him without needing further instructions, heading for the top deck, and the food tables that would be laid out.
"Will the strange, funny man be there today?" she asked hopefully.
"I hope not." Peter said with a slight frown. "I mean, what he says is right, I guess...but his devotion to it is..."
"Unsettling?" she offered, as they stepped out onto the top deck, and she lifted a hand, rather idly summoning an apple to her grasp, which she then offered to him.
"Erm, yeah...but just between you and me, try not to use your, um...powers, too much, like that." he said, motioning towards the apple.
"Why?" she asked bluntly.
"Because, it's, well...kind of odd." he said, brow furrowing.
"Humans are scared of what they don't understand?" she asked, again exceedingly blunt.
"Well, yes, I guess we are. It's not like there aren't pokemon that can't do that. But...usually they have to concentrate rather strongly on something to summon it to them, not like you do, without any effort." he struggled to explain.
"How do you know I don't expend effort to get things to come to me?" she asked, as he led her to a table, and they both sat down.
"Well...You didn't pause, you didn't stop, you kept walking, and just...grabbed it." he explained lamely.
"Maybe I'm just better than the other pokemon?" she asked smugly. "There is no reason not to show my abilities, is there?" she continued.
"Well, actually..." he started, trying to think of the right wording. "If you go showing off that you're such an awesome pokemon, people are going to want to test how awesome." he said.
"Test?" she asked blankly, before her brow furrowed, and her eyes flashed slightly.
"Nono!" he countered quickly, "I don't mean with needles and scientists, I mean, in battles."
"Battles?" she asked, just as blankly as before.
"It's what most young people do with pokemon." he explained calmly, motioning towards the battling ring scribed out onto the deck of the ship.
"How...odd. Why do people battle pokemon against eachother?" she asked curiously.
"Well...to see which is strongest, I guess. To prove something to themselves, and to others, perhaps? I never really saw the point, myself." he said with a shrug.
"I want to battle." she said immediately, brow furrowing slowly, eyes narrowing. "That person over there, with the Pidgeotto, he wanted to battle someone. His girlfriend broke up with him and needs to vent his anger. I want to frustrate him." she said with a malicious grin.
"...You're scary sometimes, you know that, right?" he answered dryly.
"I don't care. I want to battle him. What do I do to get a battle with him?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, first off, pokemon don't initiate the battle, their trainers do, and we can't battle...you don't have a ball." he replied calmly.
"A...ball?" she asked curiously, blinking down at herself. "One of those...portable prisons?" she asked, sounding slightly anxious now.
"Yeah, one of those." he said, producing his pokeball from his belt and rolling it calmly across the table towards her.
She leaped backwards, sending her chair skidding across the deck in her effort to escape it. Peter just raised his brow at her as the ball rolled back to him when the ship rolled to the other side in time with the ocean swell, catching it rather calmly. "Don't want the ball then?" he asked with a faint laugh.
Sin looked like she wanted to hiss at him, picking up her chair and slamming it down on the deck so hard the legs bent and several marks were left in the deck itself. "I do not." she replied flatly, huffing, crossing her arms.
"Well you can't battle then." he said with a faint shrug.
"Rules." she stated, spitting the word at him. "I care not for rules. There is no...no...otherworldly entity telling me I can't battle without a ball." she stated, and then stood up abruptly, sending her now-wonky chair clattering against the deck, stalking over to the trainer she had picked out before he could stop her.
"You. I want a battle. You want to battle. Let's go." she said flatly.
The trainer blinked at her, and raised a brow as Peter skidded in behind her. "This your pokemon?" he asked casually.
"Yeah, but-"
"You're on." he said, tossing his pokeball out, his Pidgeotto appearing in a flash of red light.
Peter closed his eyes for a moment, and then grit his teeth. "This is all on you." he said, almost growling at the Mewtwo.
Sin just giggled innocently. "I always get what I want, one way or another. And no one's going to stop me." Her eyes, however, didn't carry the same happiness her giggle did. It was a cold stare she gave him, almost challenging.
"Well off you go then!" he said, waving a hand dismissively. "Go have fun beating up that pokemon." he spat.
"I will." she said with a calm shrug, turning and moving to her side of the arena.
"You coming?" the trainer called after Peter, who just shrugged and waved a hand dismissively, taking a seat and ordering a Rum & Cola, sipping at it vehemently, shooting Sin nasty looks.
"Let's go." Sin said with a huff, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.
The trainer shrugged slightly, and then pointed. "Tackle!" he called.
Sin blinked once, and frowned slightly. "Are you ordering me ab-" she never got to finish her sentence, as the Pidgeotto slammed into her shoulder, spinning her about and sending her crashing to the deck before she could react, picking herself up indignantly, and glaring at the trainer.
"Peck." he said, frowning, his tone rather idle now, having realised that the Mewtwo wasn't quite up to scratch so far as battling was concerned.
Her eyes narrowed, and she looked left and right, and then up, eyes widening as she saw the bird pokemon angling in at her from high above. But then her eyes narrowed again, and she grinned, focusing her thoughts, to bring it down out of the sky with raw, psy power.
Sin's eyes went wide again as the Pidgeotto careened into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to her knees, a hand gripping at the injured area, her other hand resting on the deck, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
"Wing attack, finish it!" the trainer called, and the Pidgeotto once more angled in towards her in a steep dive, to gain as much momentum as possible. She saw the leading edges of the bird pokemon's wings starting to glow faintly, and she brought all her powers to bear on its mind again, sure that she could stop it.
The blow caught her in the side before she could dodge away, sending her skidding across the deck, rolling and thudding to a hard stop against one of the drinks counters scattered across the main deck, wincing and trying to raise a hand, failing that ad just slumping slightly, beaten.
"I win!" The trainer called with a laugh at Peter, who just shook his head, climbing to his feet, and then stalking over to the Mewtwo.
"It didn't work." Sin said weakly, staring up at him, her eyes clouded, hurt, not understanding. "Why didn't it work?"
"You have a lot to learn, Sin." Peter said with a shake of his head. "And you seem determined not to learn." he continued, crossing his arms and peering down at her, raising his brows. "You don't listen to me, you disobey me, and you expect me to help you."
"It is my right." She said with a huff, eyes narrowing up at him grimly, her hands clenching into fists.
"How is it your right?" he asked flatly.
"Because I am genetically superior to you! To everyone here! I am the closest to Arceus and the progenitors than you will ever see! I know it, you know it!" she said with a huff, dragging herself to her feet, her facial expression turning bestial. "And that thing needs to learn it!" she snarled, shoving Peter aside and then curling an arm back, a ball of pale purple energy growing and throbbing in her hand, before she threw it with every ounce of force she could at the Pidgeotto resting on its trainers shoulder.
The ball caught it dead centre, sending it flying off the trainers shoulder with a cry of pain, clenched talons dragging lines into the trainers shoulder as it was catapulted over the railing and into the ocean.
Peter scrambled to his feet, and shoved the mewtwo, making her lose her footing and stumble clumsily against the counter. "What did you do?!" he hissed at her, sprinting over to the edge of the railing and peering over it.
The trainer was lying against the railing, holding his shoulder, his pokeball falling from the grasp of his injured arm, rolling across the deck.
Snatching it up, Peter aimed it carefully over the side, pointing it towards the bird pokemon that was sprawled across the surface of the water far below.
The beam of crimson light lanced out, a second too late as the bird pokemon slipped beneath the surface of the water.
He swore loudly, and then quickly dragged his shoes off, tossing them aside, and ripping his shirt from his upper body, taking a step back, and then leaping over the railing and into the water below.
"Man overboard!" he heard, before he hit the water hard and went under.
The world went eerily quiet, and he looked about frantically for the bird pokemon, before he spotted it, far below, and sinking rapidly.
He strove after it, lungs burning as they started to exhaust their supply of oxygen, his hand closing over the pokemons wings and closing over it tightly, starting to drag the dead weight upwards, to the surface that seemed to very, very far away.
His head broke the surface, and he took a deep, grateful gasp of air, looking around for the ship, seeing with dismay that it was already a fair ways away and still moving fast, though it was started to slow down. He struck out after it, as they threw a life ring towards him, with a rope attached.
Peter could see Sin, on the top deck, staring down with eyes at what he work had wrought. The ring slapped down in front of him, too far away to grab it, and his arms were starting to burn. He stopped swimming forwards, and started to tread water, panting faintly, holding the Pidgeotto's head above the water with his free arm.
If the ring didn't land close enough this time...
He didn't want to think about abandoning the pokemon to the water...but he doubted he would tread water long enough just by himself for the ship to come back, and the pokemons weight was dragging him down.
From the moment he saw the crewman throw the life ring, he knew it was off. It was sailing too far to the side, not far enough out to reach him...
But then, in mid-air, it changed course, floating, and spinning through the air, before landing right on top of his outstretched arm. He snatched it gratefully, and then looked up at the main deck, and saw Sin, with a hand lifted, concentrating. He didn't feel any sympathy for her...or gratefulness either. What she had done was unforgivable.
He held onto both the pokemon and the life ring as the rope was dragged back to the ship, and they were pulled out of the water by four crewmen, the Pidgeotto immediately rushed off to the pokemon centre, while one of the crewmen pressed a potion into his hand, forcing him to drink it before letting him go.
Peter then stormed up to the top deck, and Sin seemed to cower before his rage. But he kept it carefully suppressed, a hand gripping around the odd protrusion leading from her back to the back of her skull, marching her towards the cabin.
Her eyes were wide, and she seemed afraid, meekly allowing him to lead her, and something in him felt a vicious satisfaction that she was scared.
He pushed her through the doorway, and then slammed it closed behind him, rounding on her, eyes narrowing, a vicious snarl on his features.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" he growled.
"I was demonstrating my battle power." she replied calmly, without shame.
"You don't attack pokemon without warning!" he hiss, stalking towards her. "You could have killed that pokemon! Hell, you might have killed it anyway!" he snarled.
"So what?!" she replied defiantly. "Not like there aren't a hundred more around! Not like he couldn't get a ball and just go get another one!" she countered.
Peter gave a roar of frustration, and then wrapped his hands under Sin's armpits, lifting her up and pinning her to the wall, his nose a mere inch from her own, eyes boring into hers.
He cast his mind back, to over a year ago, in the Elite Four challenge, when his beloved Kadabra had been taking on a Murkrow in a heated battle. in the aftermath of the battle, it was found that the move Dark Pulse, had simply crumpled each of the Kadabra's mental defences, and he had weakened in the hours after, slowly succumbing to shock, and passing away in Peter's arms.
Peter let it call come back, the pain, the torment of holding something he loved in his arms as it died, the raw anger at his own impotence, at not being able to stop the inevitable.
"Look into my mind!" he hissed at her, lifting a hand to hold her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
Something like fear entered her expression, and she tried to squirm away. "I don't want to!" she cried.
"Look into my mind!" he demanded, slamming her against the wall and holding her in place as hard as he could.
She closed her eyes, and seemed to take a deep steadying breath, pausing a moment, before he eyes snapped open wide, and she gave a faint shudder, shaking her head.
"No! You don't get to run away from it!" he said, pulling her back and then slamming her against the wall again. "Feel it!"
She shook her head vigorously, trying to squirm away from him, tears bursting from her eyes and her struggles getting more faint, her body starting to go limp, faint, convulsive cries of "I'm sorry!" leaving her lips, almost begging.
"It's not me you have to apologize to." he said with a firm shake of his head, his expression set. He gripped the protrusion on her back again, and started to drag her limp, yielding form towards the pokecentre, ignoring the stares of people that they passed, stalking right into the emergency unit and throwing the Metwo unceremoniously into the middle of the room.
The trainer, with a fresh layer of gauze on his shoulder, Nurse joy, and her Chansey, all looked around at the intrusion, startled, while the Mewtwo just sobbed impotently, covering her face with her hands, kicking slightly at the ground, her emotions overloaded by the raw pain she had been forced to experience.
The Pidgeotto was laying on its back, immobile, sprawled across a bed, hooked up to a monitor.
"Sin has something she wants to tell you." he said flatly, and nudged the Mewtwo with his foot, pushing her towards him.
"I'm sorry!" she wailed, shaking hands lifting to paw at the trainers feet in supplication. "I'm s-sorry, I didn't know!" she cried, burying her head in her hands and then retreating to a far corner of the room, curling into a ball and rocking slightly back and forth.
Peter just huffed, and almost considering leaving her there, before he stalked over to her, and picked her up bodily, standing her up next to the bed, and tapping the side of her head with his hand. "Hey, hey! Look at me!" he demanded.
Her eyes opened, red-rimmed and fearful, and he merely pointed down at the Pidgeotto laying sprawled out on the bed. "You take a good look at this. You remember this." he hissed vehemently. "Because if every was like you, the that would be you in that bed." he said, and then released her, letting her slump down to the floor with renewed wailing.
Nurse Joy looked stunned, and disgusted at his treatment of the pokemon, and moved to help the Mewtwo. "Leave her!" Peter said, moving to block the Nurses path. "She deserves this. She has to feel the pain she inflicted, she has to learn." he said.
The trainer nodded vigorously, a look of savage joy on his face. "Let the bitch hurt." he spat, rolling over onto his other side, and ignoring the wailing pokemon.
Peter shook his head once, and then picked the Mewtwo up, ignoring her struggling, carrying her back to the cabin, and sitting her gently on the bed, looking at her sideways.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked flatly.
She tried to shape a response, but the only thing that came out was an unintelligible mess. But in general, the answer was 'yes'.
"Do you want to feel this way again?" he asked bluntly.
Sin whimpered faintly and tried to crawl away from him in a violent, vigorous negatory.
He gripped her shoulder with his hands, and shook her slightly. "Look at me!" he demanded again, and her eyes slowly opened, staring at him remorsefully.
"...I'm sorry..." she whispered, whimpering faintly. Peter ignored her.
"Do you want other people to feel this?!" he asked flatly.
She shook her head vigorously, squirming helplessly. "I-it hurts..." she admitted tearfully.
"Then you don't do it." he said vehemently. "You don't hurt people for no reason. It's not a game. You can't just replace a pokemon when it's gone. When it's gone, it's gone. And it hurts forever." he said, shaking her slightly, trying to get the message through to her.
"I-I won't!" she replied, shaking her head vigorously, and trying to squirm away from him. "I won't! I won't! Just d-don't hurt me any more!" she begged pitifully.
Peter huffed at her faintly, and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close to his chest, in a hug. At first she resisted, and then melted into his embrace, limp and helpless. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry." she murmured again and again, paws gripping around him tightly. "Iwon'tIpromiseIwon't."
"It's okay." he said soothingly, stroking down her back with a gentle hand. "You have to learn somehow." he explained helplessly. "I'm sorry...It's rough. But you have to learn."
She sniffed at him, and then gave a ragged laugh. "I'll never understand you...you were so...so angry at me...and now...you're comforting me...I don't deserve it. I deserve to be in that bed..." she said despondently, peering down at her lap remorsefully.
"You have to learn this, Sin." he said flatly. "You have to feel this pain, so you understand what you're doing. What if those Ratatta you were made to kill had trainers? Would you have killed them then?" he asked bluntly.
"I-I...I...I would have..." she admitted, painfully honest, staring down at her lap still. "I hate myself for it...I w-would have killed them...and not even cared..." she said, sounding slightly in awe of her own disregard for other pokemons lives.
"You hate yourself for it?" Peter asked calmly.
"Yes!" she replied with vehemence. "I...I want to...I want to hurt myself for not caring..."
"But you do care." he said, lifting her chin gently with a fingertip. "These tears. They show you care." he explained.
"But I didn't...I didn't care back then...I'm a monster..." she said, sounding disgusted with herself.
"No you're not, Sin." he said flatly, shaking his head. "You're misguided. You didn't know any better. A person is only a monster when they do those things even knowing that it's wrong." he explained bluntly.
"S-so...I'm not a monster?" she asked hopefully, looking up at him, still trembling faintly.
"Not if you change." he said, hugging her to his chest again, and peering down at her seriously. "Are you going to change?"
She nodded vigorously. "I-I have to change." she said, determination creeping into her voice. "I have to...I have to...atone for my past mistakes."
"If that's what you need to do." he replied calmly, and then hugged her again. "Are you alright now?" he asked, raising a brow at her.
Sin nodded at him again, and her brows furrowed slightly. "I...I think so...but...can you...keep doing this?" she asked, almost pleadingly.
"This is a 'hug'." he explained, rocking her gently back and forth.
"It's nice..." she murmured against his shoulder, limp against him. "It feels...It feels like..." she struggled to find the right word.
"Safe?" he offered.
She shook her head slowly. "I'm already safe...this feels like..." she paused, trying to find the right word, and then wrapped her hands tight around him, clinging to him fiercely.
Sin paused a moment, and then admitted matter-of-factly; "This feels like home."
The cruise ship was taking the 'scenic route', as the tour guides called it. Rather than just sailing straight to its destination, it was, instead, making a large figure-8 around several islands south of Kanto. There was some nice scenery along the route, and due to the deep channels in the water, the ship could sail relatively close to the shore line in safety.
That morning, however, they were out on the 'open' seas, in the large divide of ocean between Kanto and the islands themselves, heading South-West, towards New Island. Their route would take them south after that, around Terrace, and Pammelo Island, and then east, to Kumquat island, a tiny bit North-West to Hamlin island, before sailing straight past the Seafoam islands and to the port at Vermillion city. Most people thought that the docks at Vermillion only serviced the S.S. Anne, since it was the most famous cruise liner around, but it serviced ships of all sizes during the periods when the cruise ship wasn't there. Often a year at a time.
All of this information was written on a large poster pinned to one of the walls of the cabin, which, when Peter awoke, he found Sin staring at intently, tracing some of the lines with her fingers.
"What is this?" she asked, without turning around, frowning at the odd colours and lines.
"It's a map." he said blearily, rubbing his forehead and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up and stretching slowly.
"A...map?" she asked, curiously. "What function does it serve? Is it a decoration?"
"Well...It's a map." he said, head canting quizzically to one side, reaching over to place his finger on one of the islands. "That's New Island, we'll be sailing around it sometime around midday." he tried to explain.
"But...it's so small. Why would you make a landmark so...tiny?" she asked, brows raising quizzically.
Peter shook his head slowly and gave a faint sigh. "It's not small. People live on it."
"People live on it?!" she asked, awed, turning to the map and squinting. "They must be very small."
He rolled his eyes helplessly, and then pointed at the island again. "This is merely a drawing...a representation." he tried to explain.
"I...fail to see the resemblance to anything that looks remotely like what I have seen." she said bluntly.
"Well...um...here!" he said, digging out his laptop and flipping it open, opening up a webpage, and then a video on a popular video-hosting website, that was shot from a hand-held camcorder. At first, it showed a ground view, which slowly expanded, as the Fearow the cameraman was riding rose higher into the air.
"You see?" he asked, peering at her sideways, as the camera angled downwards and showed a top-down view of the surrounding lands.
Her eyes widened slightly. "They...can draw all of this stuff when they're in the air like that? Wouldn't the wind blow it away? Wouldn't it be...unsettling?"
Peter laughed and shook his head, before clicking the page closed, and then opening the integrated camera of the laptop, which immediately showed an image of him and Sin sitting, staring at the screen. "Smile and wave." he said, before clicking the 'capture' button.
Sin blinked at him, and then at the screen. "It's...me?" she asked, quizzically, leaning in closer to the screen, frowning.
"Yup." Peter replied simply, and then set the picture of the rather surprised-looking Mewtwo as a desktop image. "There, immortalised." he said with a grin.
She frowned slightly at the laptop for a moment. "How...odd." she said, and then shook her head slowly. "I'm hungry." she stated.
"Well, we'll go get breakfast." he said with a nod, closing the laptop and putting it back in his bag, rearranging his clothes to a rough approximation of normalcy, and then opening the door for her.
She stalked out ahead of him without needing further instructions, heading for the top deck, and the food tables that would be laid out.
"Will the strange, funny man be there today?" she asked hopefully.
"I hope not." Peter said with a slight frown. "I mean, what he says is right, I guess...but his devotion to it is..."
"Unsettling?" she offered, as they stepped out onto the top deck, and she lifted a hand, rather idly summoning an apple to her grasp, which she then offered to him.
"Erm, yeah...but just between you and me, try not to use your, um...powers, too much, like that." he said, motioning towards the apple.
"Why?" she asked bluntly.
"Because, it's, well...kind of odd." he said, brow furrowing.
"Humans are scared of what they don't understand?" she asked, again exceedingly blunt.
"Well, yes, I guess we are. It's not like there aren't pokemon that can't do that. But...usually they have to concentrate rather strongly on something to summon it to them, not like you do, without any effort." he struggled to explain.
"How do you know I don't expend effort to get things to come to me?" she asked, as he led her to a table, and they both sat down.
"Well...You didn't pause, you didn't stop, you kept walking, and just...grabbed it." he explained lamely.
"Maybe I'm just better than the other pokemon?" she asked smugly. "There is no reason not to show my abilities, is there?" she continued.
"Well, actually..." he started, trying to think of the right wording. "If you go showing off that you're such an awesome pokemon, people are going to want to test how awesome." he said.
"Test?" she asked blankly, before her brow furrowed, and her eyes flashed slightly.
"Nono!" he countered quickly, "I don't mean with needles and scientists, I mean, in battles."
"Battles?" she asked, just as blankly as before.
"It's what most young people do with pokemon." he explained calmly, motioning towards the battling ring scribed out onto the deck of the ship.
"How...odd. Why do people battle pokemon against eachother?" she asked curiously.
"Well...to see which is strongest, I guess. To prove something to themselves, and to others, perhaps? I never really saw the point, myself." he said with a shrug.
"I want to battle." she said immediately, brow furrowing slowly, eyes narrowing. "That person over there, with the Pidgeotto, he wanted to battle someone. His girlfriend broke up with him and needs to vent his anger. I want to frustrate him." she said with a malicious grin.
"...You're scary sometimes, you know that, right?" he answered dryly.
"I don't care. I want to battle him. What do I do to get a battle with him?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, first off, pokemon don't initiate the battle, their trainers do, and we can't battle...you don't have a ball." he replied calmly.
"A...ball?" she asked curiously, blinking down at herself. "One of those...portable prisons?" she asked, sounding slightly anxious now.
"Yeah, one of those." he said, producing his pokeball from his belt and rolling it calmly across the table towards her.
She leaped backwards, sending her chair skidding across the deck in her effort to escape it. Peter just raised his brow at her as the ball rolled back to him when the ship rolled to the other side in time with the ocean swell, catching it rather calmly. "Don't want the ball then?" he asked with a faint laugh.
Sin looked like she wanted to hiss at him, picking up her chair and slamming it down on the deck so hard the legs bent and several marks were left in the deck itself. "I do not." she replied flatly, huffing, crossing her arms.
"Well you can't battle then." he said with a faint shrug.
"Rules." she stated, spitting the word at him. "I care not for rules. There is no...no...otherworldly entity telling me I can't battle without a ball." she stated, and then stood up abruptly, sending her now-wonky chair clattering against the deck, stalking over to the trainer she had picked out before he could stop her.
"You. I want a battle. You want to battle. Let's go." she said flatly.
The trainer blinked at her, and raised a brow as Peter skidded in behind her. "This your pokemon?" he asked casually.
"Yeah, but-"
"You're on." he said, tossing his pokeball out, his Pidgeotto appearing in a flash of red light.
Peter closed his eyes for a moment, and then grit his teeth. "This is all on you." he said, almost growling at the Mewtwo.
Sin just giggled innocently. "I always get what I want, one way or another. And no one's going to stop me." Her eyes, however, didn't carry the same happiness her giggle did. It was a cold stare she gave him, almost challenging.
"Well off you go then!" he said, waving a hand dismissively. "Go have fun beating up that pokemon." he spat.
"I will." she said with a calm shrug, turning and moving to her side of the arena.
"You coming?" the trainer called after Peter, who just shrugged and waved a hand dismissively, taking a seat and ordering a Rum & Cola, sipping at it vehemently, shooting Sin nasty looks.
"Let's go." Sin said with a huff, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.
The trainer shrugged slightly, and then pointed. "Tackle!" he called.
Sin blinked once, and frowned slightly. "Are you ordering me ab-" she never got to finish her sentence, as the Pidgeotto slammed into her shoulder, spinning her about and sending her crashing to the deck before she could react, picking herself up indignantly, and glaring at the trainer.
"Peck." he said, frowning, his tone rather idle now, having realised that the Mewtwo wasn't quite up to scratch so far as battling was concerned.
Her eyes narrowed, and she looked left and right, and then up, eyes widening as she saw the bird pokemon angling in at her from high above. But then her eyes narrowed again, and she grinned, focusing her thoughts, to bring it down out of the sky with raw, psy power.
Sin's eyes went wide again as the Pidgeotto careened into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to her knees, a hand gripping at the injured area, her other hand resting on the deck, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
"Wing attack, finish it!" the trainer called, and the Pidgeotto once more angled in towards her in a steep dive, to gain as much momentum as possible. She saw the leading edges of the bird pokemon's wings starting to glow faintly, and she brought all her powers to bear on its mind again, sure that she could stop it.
The blow caught her in the side before she could dodge away, sending her skidding across the deck, rolling and thudding to a hard stop against one of the drinks counters scattered across the main deck, wincing and trying to raise a hand, failing that ad just slumping slightly, beaten.
"I win!" The trainer called with a laugh at Peter, who just shook his head, climbing to his feet, and then stalking over to the Mewtwo.
"It didn't work." Sin said weakly, staring up at him, her eyes clouded, hurt, not understanding. "Why didn't it work?"
"You have a lot to learn, Sin." Peter said with a shake of his head. "And you seem determined not to learn." he continued, crossing his arms and peering down at her, raising his brows. "You don't listen to me, you disobey me, and you expect me to help you."
"It is my right." She said with a huff, eyes narrowing up at him grimly, her hands clenching into fists.
"How is it your right?" he asked flatly.
"Because I am genetically superior to you! To everyone here! I am the closest to Arceus and the progenitors than you will ever see! I know it, you know it!" she said with a huff, dragging herself to her feet, her facial expression turning bestial. "And that thing needs to learn it!" she snarled, shoving Peter aside and then curling an arm back, a ball of pale purple energy growing and throbbing in her hand, before she threw it with every ounce of force she could at the Pidgeotto resting on its trainers shoulder.
The ball caught it dead centre, sending it flying off the trainers shoulder with a cry of pain, clenched talons dragging lines into the trainers shoulder as it was catapulted over the railing and into the ocean.
Peter scrambled to his feet, and shoved the mewtwo, making her lose her footing and stumble clumsily against the counter. "What did you do?!" he hissed at her, sprinting over to the edge of the railing and peering over it.
The trainer was lying against the railing, holding his shoulder, his pokeball falling from the grasp of his injured arm, rolling across the deck.
Snatching it up, Peter aimed it carefully over the side, pointing it towards the bird pokemon that was sprawled across the surface of the water far below.
The beam of crimson light lanced out, a second too late as the bird pokemon slipped beneath the surface of the water.
He swore loudly, and then quickly dragged his shoes off, tossing them aside, and ripping his shirt from his upper body, taking a step back, and then leaping over the railing and into the water below.
"Man overboard!" he heard, before he hit the water hard and went under.
The world went eerily quiet, and he looked about frantically for the bird pokemon, before he spotted it, far below, and sinking rapidly.
He strove after it, lungs burning as they started to exhaust their supply of oxygen, his hand closing over the pokemons wings and closing over it tightly, starting to drag the dead weight upwards, to the surface that seemed to very, very far away.
His head broke the surface, and he took a deep, grateful gasp of air, looking around for the ship, seeing with dismay that it was already a fair ways away and still moving fast, though it was started to slow down. He struck out after it, as they threw a life ring towards him, with a rope attached.
Peter could see Sin, on the top deck, staring down with eyes at what he work had wrought. The ring slapped down in front of him, too far away to grab it, and his arms were starting to burn. He stopped swimming forwards, and started to tread water, panting faintly, holding the Pidgeotto's head above the water with his free arm.
If the ring didn't land close enough this time...
He didn't want to think about abandoning the pokemon to the water...but he doubted he would tread water long enough just by himself for the ship to come back, and the pokemons weight was dragging him down.
From the moment he saw the crewman throw the life ring, he knew it was off. It was sailing too far to the side, not far enough out to reach him...
But then, in mid-air, it changed course, floating, and spinning through the air, before landing right on top of his outstretched arm. He snatched it gratefully, and then looked up at the main deck, and saw Sin, with a hand lifted, concentrating. He didn't feel any sympathy for her...or gratefulness either. What she had done was unforgivable.
He held onto both the pokemon and the life ring as the rope was dragged back to the ship, and they were pulled out of the water by four crewmen, the Pidgeotto immediately rushed off to the pokemon centre, while one of the crewmen pressed a potion into his hand, forcing him to drink it before letting him go.
Peter then stormed up to the top deck, and Sin seemed to cower before his rage. But he kept it carefully suppressed, a hand gripping around the odd protrusion leading from her back to the back of her skull, marching her towards the cabin.
Her eyes were wide, and she seemed afraid, meekly allowing him to lead her, and something in him felt a vicious satisfaction that she was scared.
He pushed her through the doorway, and then slammed it closed behind him, rounding on her, eyes narrowing, a vicious snarl on his features.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" he growled.
"I was demonstrating my battle power." she replied calmly, without shame.
"You don't attack pokemon without warning!" he hiss, stalking towards her. "You could have killed that pokemon! Hell, you might have killed it anyway!" he snarled.
"So what?!" she replied defiantly. "Not like there aren't a hundred more around! Not like he couldn't get a ball and just go get another one!" she countered.
Peter gave a roar of frustration, and then wrapped his hands under Sin's armpits, lifting her up and pinning her to the wall, his nose a mere inch from her own, eyes boring into hers.
He cast his mind back, to over a year ago, in the Elite Four challenge, when his beloved Kadabra had been taking on a Murkrow in a heated battle. in the aftermath of the battle, it was found that the move Dark Pulse, had simply crumpled each of the Kadabra's mental defences, and he had weakened in the hours after, slowly succumbing to shock, and passing away in Peter's arms.
Peter let it call come back, the pain, the torment of holding something he loved in his arms as it died, the raw anger at his own impotence, at not being able to stop the inevitable.
"Look into my mind!" he hissed at her, lifting a hand to hold her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
Something like fear entered her expression, and she tried to squirm away. "I don't want to!" she cried.
"Look into my mind!" he demanded, slamming her against the wall and holding her in place as hard as he could.
She closed her eyes, and seemed to take a deep steadying breath, pausing a moment, before he eyes snapped open wide, and she gave a faint shudder, shaking her head.
"No! You don't get to run away from it!" he said, pulling her back and then slamming her against the wall again. "Feel it!"
She shook her head vigorously, trying to squirm away from him, tears bursting from her eyes and her struggles getting more faint, her body starting to go limp, faint, convulsive cries of "I'm sorry!" leaving her lips, almost begging.
"It's not me you have to apologize to." he said with a firm shake of his head, his expression set. He gripped the protrusion on her back again, and started to drag her limp, yielding form towards the pokecentre, ignoring the stares of people that they passed, stalking right into the emergency unit and throwing the Metwo unceremoniously into the middle of the room.
The trainer, with a fresh layer of gauze on his shoulder, Nurse joy, and her Chansey, all looked around at the intrusion, startled, while the Mewtwo just sobbed impotently, covering her face with her hands, kicking slightly at the ground, her emotions overloaded by the raw pain she had been forced to experience.
The Pidgeotto was laying on its back, immobile, sprawled across a bed, hooked up to a monitor.
"Sin has something she wants to tell you." he said flatly, and nudged the Mewtwo with his foot, pushing her towards him.
"I'm sorry!" she wailed, shaking hands lifting to paw at the trainers feet in supplication. "I'm s-sorry, I didn't know!" she cried, burying her head in her hands and then retreating to a far corner of the room, curling into a ball and rocking slightly back and forth.
Peter just huffed, and almost considering leaving her there, before he stalked over to her, and picked her up bodily, standing her up next to the bed, and tapping the side of her head with his hand. "Hey, hey! Look at me!" he demanded.
Her eyes opened, red-rimmed and fearful, and he merely pointed down at the Pidgeotto laying sprawled out on the bed. "You take a good look at this. You remember this." he hissed vehemently. "Because if every was like you, the that would be you in that bed." he said, and then released her, letting her slump down to the floor with renewed wailing.
Nurse Joy looked stunned, and disgusted at his treatment of the pokemon, and moved to help the Mewtwo. "Leave her!" Peter said, moving to block the Nurses path. "She deserves this. She has to feel the pain she inflicted, she has to learn." he said.
The trainer nodded vigorously, a look of savage joy on his face. "Let the bitch hurt." he spat, rolling over onto his other side, and ignoring the wailing pokemon.
Peter shook his head once, and then picked the Mewtwo up, ignoring her struggling, carrying her back to the cabin, and sitting her gently on the bed, looking at her sideways.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked flatly.
She tried to shape a response, but the only thing that came out was an unintelligible mess. But in general, the answer was 'yes'.
"Do you want to feel this way again?" he asked bluntly.
Sin whimpered faintly and tried to crawl away from him in a violent, vigorous negatory.
He gripped her shoulder with his hands, and shook her slightly. "Look at me!" he demanded again, and her eyes slowly opened, staring at him remorsefully.
"...I'm sorry..." she whispered, whimpering faintly. Peter ignored her.
"Do you want other people to feel this?!" he asked flatly.
She shook her head vigorously, squirming helplessly. "I-it hurts..." she admitted tearfully.
"Then you don't do it." he said vehemently. "You don't hurt people for no reason. It's not a game. You can't just replace a pokemon when it's gone. When it's gone, it's gone. And it hurts forever." he said, shaking her slightly, trying to get the message through to her.
"I-I won't!" she replied, shaking her head vigorously, and trying to squirm away from him. "I won't! I won't! Just d-don't hurt me any more!" she begged pitifully.
Peter huffed at her faintly, and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close to his chest, in a hug. At first she resisted, and then melted into his embrace, limp and helpless. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry." she murmured again and again, paws gripping around him tightly. "Iwon'tIpromiseIwon't."
"It's okay." he said soothingly, stroking down her back with a gentle hand. "You have to learn somehow." he explained helplessly. "I'm sorry...It's rough. But you have to learn."
She sniffed at him, and then gave a ragged laugh. "I'll never understand you...you were so...so angry at me...and now...you're comforting me...I don't deserve it. I deserve to be in that bed..." she said despondently, peering down at her lap remorsefully.
"You have to learn this, Sin." he said flatly. "You have to feel this pain, so you understand what you're doing. What if those Ratatta you were made to kill had trainers? Would you have killed them then?" he asked bluntly.
"I-I...I...I would have..." she admitted, painfully honest, staring down at her lap still. "I hate myself for it...I w-would have killed them...and not even cared..." she said, sounding slightly in awe of her own disregard for other pokemons lives.
"You hate yourself for it?" Peter asked calmly.
"Yes!" she replied with vehemence. "I...I want to...I want to hurt myself for not caring..."
"But you do care." he said, lifting her chin gently with a fingertip. "These tears. They show you care." he explained.
"But I didn't...I didn't care back then...I'm a monster..." she said, sounding disgusted with herself.
"No you're not, Sin." he said flatly, shaking his head. "You're misguided. You didn't know any better. A person is only a monster when they do those things even knowing that it's wrong." he explained bluntly.
"S-so...I'm not a monster?" she asked hopefully, looking up at him, still trembling faintly.
"Not if you change." he said, hugging her to his chest again, and peering down at her seriously. "Are you going to change?"
She nodded vigorously. "I-I have to change." she said, determination creeping into her voice. "I have to...I have to...atone for my past mistakes."
"If that's what you need to do." he replied calmly, and then hugged her again. "Are you alright now?" he asked, raising a brow at her.
Sin nodded at him again, and her brows furrowed slightly. "I...I think so...but...can you...keep doing this?" she asked, almost pleadingly.
"This is a 'hug'." he explained, rocking her gently back and forth.
"It's nice..." she murmured against his shoulder, limp against him. "It feels...It feels like..." she struggled to find the right word.
"Safe?" he offered.
She shook her head slowly. "I'm already safe...this feels like..." she paused, trying to find the right word, and then wrapped her hands tight around him, clinging to him fiercely.
Sin paused a moment, and then admitted matter-of-factly; "This feels like home."