That horrible strength [Black]

Whether by chance or by the draw of fate, the monster known as Mewtwo had made its way to a small island. The sunlight was warm and offered comfort with a chance to relax. And yet, it seemed to have a single minded purpose to find an exact spot. 

'This is stupid...' It would mutter to itself as it would reach a familiar stretch of beach. There was nothing there, just more sand. Rubbing the side of its head, Mewtwo stopped to lose itself to thought for a moment. Why had it been drawn to specifically here of all places? There was an aching inside of its chest and mind, as though there was something important being forgotten. A sand castle?

With a wave of a hand, the sand began to shift and mighty pillars and walls began to form along the beach. 'You want your damn sand castle, you got it.' It was irritated. Ever since it had arrived in this land, every little thing seemed to be like it was trying to look through a dense fog and desperately grasp onto any strands of memory. Even as the now complete castle completed, Mewtwo couldn't help but feel empty. There was something or someone that was supposed to be here. A hollow emptiness.

Even still, the actions were likely to catch the attention of anybody nearby. After all, Mewtwo wasn't exactly being quiet as it went through the worlds.

@hilbert

@mewtwo

“Nosedive strike...eight.”

Crash-landing happened every so often that Black just kind of expected it. That was why in every space he didn’t occupy within the ship, he had spare parts galore.

The sand shone as bright as the sun over their heads as Black and Kay stepped out of the ship. The trainer happened to be doing some delivery in the Destiny Islands, and while the work required a lot of effort, it was the most rewarding; Black found himself collecting some serious mileage on the total worlds visited. Among them, this one had to be the best, if only for its crush-blue beach!

His clients were due to arrive a day later, which meant for all of today, Black expected to be subjected to nothing but swimming, sand-running, and the occasional bonding with the ‘mons. What he didn’t expect was a strange set of pillars to emerge from the sands not a second later.

Confused and more than a little unnerved, Black exchanged a wary glance with the healer, before commanding she follow. Whatever was happening was too unnatural to be discounted as a coincidence. For all the trainer knew, somebody may need their help.

...except not really. Black’s steps ceased, but his awe didn’t as he took in the sheer enormity of a sandcastle. But that wasn’t all. When black tried going around the sand-made building, what he saw was the very last thing he expected to see in the Destiny Islands, let alone in any of the worlds. His eyes, wide as dinner plates, must have been him, he thought at first. But then he took out the Pokedex, shaky as his hands were, and poked the button.

“Mewtwo: A Pokémon created by recombining Mew’s genes. It’s said to have the most savage heart among Pokémon."

“N-No...way!” he gasped. Black had never seen the psychic Pokemon in real life, and from the stories he’d learned from other regions, it was probably for a good reason. What could he do?! Should he try to catch it? Should he run away and never look back? could he do either one without getting discovered? Was it already too late?

As questions slabbed in Black’s head, Kay’s perceptive eyes fixed on the creature, not with dread, but with the softness that only deep, empathetic understanding could bring. The sadness came to her in waves, but the sadness came to him in violent, crushing storms.

She placed a firm hand on her trainer’s arm and turned to him with conviction. (Don’t even think of approaching him, Black. He is disoriented; he could attack! Let’s forget what happened here; let’s just go back.)

As the castle rose, Mewtwo looked up to the sky. Blue and not a cloud present. So very simple. Yet, that aching was still there as there was a nagging thought that it was meant to meet somebody here.

But how? The mon did not recall this place as somewhere it had ever visited. Was it something from a dream? While that would certainly explain the vagueness, it did little to lift that emptiness inside of its chest. No, this was certainly a place that it had been before. That's when it heard the voices. Voices talking about... about Mewtwo. Was this the person that was a part of the memory? If it served correctly, Mewtwo was about to be attacked. In a rather cheeky way as well!

Turning on a dime, the mon raised a hand in defense of an attack that didn't come. In its mind's eye, a weapon formed up to stop the attack. Long, thin, like an oddly shaped sword. The sand would mimic this, forming up an oddly detailed, yet still sand, version of his Stroke of Midnight keyblade. And yet, no attack. No snarky person to smack comets back at.

Upon realizing what was before it, the mon's concentration broke on the weapon, causing it to melt away and back into sand. What a strange sight. And yet, the gaze of the mon settled on the wall that Black and Kay were hiding behind. Now that it was focused, it felt the human and his pokemon companion.

'Stop hiding, trainer. Either speak, or battle me. Or flee. None will judge you if you do.' Mewtwo calls out, the voice confident yet seemingly lacking any direct anger. Kay would likely be able to tell that the mon was quashing down a mixture of disappointment and sadness.

@mewtwo

For a second, Black thought his thoughts were still talking to him, but then he remembered (and with great dread) the rumors surrounding Mewtwo and its impeccable psychic abilities to communicate with humans. This somewhat eased his need to shriek, but it didn't completely erase the possibility; like any other sane human, he backed away until he tripped on a wad of nothing.

Kay, however, believed Mewtwo.

"Then I can assure you that we're not here to hurt you. We understand you'd be dangerous even if we were to!"

Mostly sober, Black, who somehow still thought he'd be invisible behind the mammoth castle, motioned violently for Kay to stop walking into view and get back here! The Audino pretended not to see him.

"I'm happy to leave and so is my friend," she carried on in cultured tones. ...but I am bothered by a pain inside you that won't seem to end. Why is it there? Why can't it mend?"

Any lesser or normal mon would or should know better than to approach Mewtwo so blatantly. As such, when Kay simply 'did', it catches the mon's attention. No reaction to the pressure. No fleeing in fear. Either Kay was downright stupid or she had some deeper understanding than she likely let on.

'I'm.. lost.' Mewtwo finally admits. For all the power and bravado that it possessed, it quickly dissolved into almost like a child that needed a mother. 'I don't know why, but everywhere I go makes me sad. Like I'm desperately trying to beat my head against a wall that guards my memories.'

There was another wave of hurt as Mewtwo finally looked directly at Kay and (indirectly) Black. Even these two were so familiar. Why would a random trainer be so planted in the creature's mind? Mewtwo quickly brought a hand up towards a temple, holding it there. 'Have we met before? Are we friends? Or enemies?' The questions would 'audibly' start to sound agitated as the mon was feeling like that proverbial wall was smashing its face again.

@mewtwo

Kay schooled her surprise. While she was giving out her efforts 100% she didn’t expect her efforts to be reciprocated, let alone to be opened to. That told her that Mewtwo really and truly needed help, and that was the saddest realization of all.

“Oh...I see,” she approached the purple-and-white pokemon cautiously but also also openly, “An amnesiac. So, something must have happened to you way back...something maybe too sad to backtrack?”

But he wasn’t done speaking. She followed Mewtwo’s gaze to Black, who was peeking out of the corner of the castle, and confused by the words, she frowned. “You feel you know Black? No...no, that doesn’t make sense. I’ve never met you, and I’ve been with Black the day he left home, and one year hence. I’m sorry, but you might be mistaking him for someone else.”

Aware that she ended her response on a sad note, the Audino quickly added, “But I do know something for sure, sandy-sir! I know that we can be friends! Black is a good young man, even if he comes off as a little dense--”

“H-Hey!”

Black couldn’t gather enough momentum to resist Kay pulling him completely into view, so he just stood there in front of the psychic Pokemon in a way he imagined poke-food was presented in front of hungry Stoutlands. The comparison didn’t help the situation any.

To Black, it seemed like the two were having a deeply-set conversation that was clearly was beyond him, but he tried his best to piece together the things said on Mewtwo’s side. Kay's sharp elbow jab sped up the thinking process.

“Ow! You, uh, thought we met before, is that it? S-Sorry, but I don’t...that can’t be right. If I met you, I’d remember you. Heh, trust me. I mean you're...you're Mewtwo.”

His awe mostly in check now, Black tried to study the event so far. So, an amnesiac Mewtwo was on Destiny Islands in the middle of the day, building a sandcastle. Sure...that made sense.

A minute later, Black found himself adding, “I get it...so you’re here to jog your memories? And a sandcastle is part of those memories?”

The incredulous way that Black stated how clearly he would remember the mon only served as a sort of depressant. Mewtwo could have sworn that they had met before. But it could sense no reason for either of them to lie and neither carried any malcontent towards the mon. It was... grateful for a change of subject when the sand castle was mentioned.

'The castle is one of the things I know for certain. Remnants of my past at a time before...' It trails off before reaching up to rub its head. Seems that's where the amnesia kicked in. 'I came here because I think I have been here before. There was... someone... who was my friend.'

The sadness was back again as the mon started to get agitated and the wall behind it began to quiver and shift around. Faces would appear for a second. Long enough for someone observant to be able to see them. But not long enough for Mewtwo to focus on. All previous friends and connections, even those who had been enemies, were displayed in the twisted sands for Black and Kay to see. Likely very few familiar faces, until Black's own would pass through, along with the other two mons who had yet to be shown.

'It's all right there... but every time I try to look, their faces and voices fade away. Even the places I have been.'

@mewtwo

Eventually, even Black stopped shying away and moved to listen to what Mew had to say. He’d never seen such a Pokemon so welled up in its own tangled emotions before, that now that he thought about it, it was eerily…human. Then again, he was talking to a Pokemon that spoke like a human too, even if it was a disembodied voice in his head.

The castle connected Mewtwo to an old friend, Black gathered…in the past. Black thought he was getting the connection worked out in his head pretty well, that maybe a solution could pop up eventually…until what happened next threw that entire process away.

Faces started emerging in the sand, some he didn’t recognize…others he did. A rapidly-paling Black soon realized he was staring at his own face. And Kay’s. And Miles’. And Otto’s—

“…Geh?!“ He backed into the sand and tripped on the nothing of his own shock, a shakey finger pointing at the sand “W-What’s my face doing there?!” That was his face, right? It had to be! Besides, how many people had that unbecoming variety of Pokemon?

Black was suddenly becoming very paranoid very fast. Maybe the mewtwo was messing with him? Kinda like that sirens did…they were in a beach, after all. That was likely it…right?

Except Mewtwo didn’t look like he was doing it for laughs at all. He wasn’t even laughing. Mewtwo looked just as tired and just as shaken as Black was. The human let himself take in deep, embalming breaths before deciding to brain it out again. He wanted to find reason in all this, but it seemed to have anything but.

He glanced at Kay, who gave him a helpless look, then at the unformed remnants of sand, then back at the psychic type. Quietly, he bagan, “Mewtwo…? Why was my face on there?”

The wall would eventually settle back into flatness as Mewtwo's mind lost those last little straws for the moment. The look in the mon's eyes looked... tired. Either Mewtwo was a very good actor, or there were some serious issues.

'So many faces and places all there. In the back, covered by a veil.' The mon mutters before falling backwards and into a sit in the sand. 'I see them but I don't understand them. I see.. this.'

With that, Mewtwo holds up a hand again, drawing sand from the ground and forming it into his Keyblade yet again. However, the image seems to be able to hold itself as long as the mon isn't looking directly at it.

'This is important. I gave this to you, I know it.' There was a certain measure of scared certainty to this phrase. 'There were others. Others that I also gave this... gift? Power? I don't know.' More ramblings as two more of these things appeared alongside the first. Even though they were made of sand, the detail was rather amazing.

@hilbert

@mewtwo

The question went unanswered and the response only stemmed new, even more frustrating questions. Mewtwo seemed lost in his own world, and Black was still honestly pretty scared about this whole thing.

The giant key-shape confounded Black even more. He consulted Kay with a questioning look, but the Healer could provide no more assurance than he could to himself. Mewtwo seemed to believe exactly what he was talking about. Black couldn't. He just couldn't.

"I - I'm sorry, look," he finally broke off Mewtwo's last sentence, "I honestly don't know what's going on here! How could you have met me? I don't remember you! I don't even remember...that!" he pointed an accusing finger at the keyblade. "And I don't know if you're for real at this point, but you can't just...know me. Or my Pokemon!"

Black huffed after his outburst. Before, he was mystified and awed at the thought of meeting Mewtwo. Now he was just wished he hadn't. He didn't know if Mewtwo really lost his memory or was just aformentioned good actor - or if he came from some crazy deep space-time screw-up. And to be honest he didn't want to know anymore.

"You know what, I - I have to go," he stammered as he turned to leave, "I'm sorry, but you're - I just can't. Good luck with your...whatever is happening. Kay, come on."

Kay lingered behind in the few moments she had to stare at the creature. Mewtwo wasn't happy. Black wasn't happy. That made her extremely unhappy. Being around others always affected her feelings, and as much as she hated the feeling the best of their heartache, she was just as compelled to make things right. 

With that in mind, he normal-type quietly continued after her trainer. She too, in her heart of hearts, knew that it was their first time meeting the strange sand-mister - but it certainly wouldn't be the last.

It took a moment for Mewtwo to come back to its senses. The sand would fall back into itself as the mon's gaze ffollowed Black and Kay away. Almost wanting to force them back, it held up a hand, as though reaching out for help. However, Mewtwo just remained silent.

As they left, the castle would collapse down into a dome-shaped hut, nowhere near as extravagant as the previous building. Mewtwo would sadly retreat inside, unknowingly creating sand sculptures just outside of the entryway. A human with a smile stood before 3 youths, Black included, and was ppresenting each of them one of those key shaped items.

Inside, the mon eventually began to cry itself to sleep.

@mewtwo

That night, Black retreated into the gummi ship without his usual cover-up mood that he put up when something was wrong. He was even exhausted enough to fall fast asleep to one of Kay's songs. Kay didn't sleep, however. Kay wasn't planning to sleep that night.

Still sensing Mewtwo's coming from the other end of the beach told her of the pokemon's lingering presence. As soon as she snuck safely out of the ship, she skulked back down the beachside to find him.

A domed structure and 3 other figures stood as a vestige of the castle's former glory. With a ready breath and an even readier mind-set, the pink creature poked her head inside. The night sky was dark, but also heavily jeweled with stars and a plump moon. That gave Kay all the light she needed to find the off-white creature curled up inside. He seemed fast asleep.

Kay settled down next to the psychic type as quietly as she could and, closed her eyes, and hummed a soothing melody so that he would not be alone for tonight. She didn't know what she was intending to fix by doing this. She just knew that she had to.

Staying so close to Mewtwo would be quite an experience. As the psychic mon slept, bits and pieces of memories would project out, sharing with Kay. Most of it was nonsense, little glimpses of places and faces as before.

However, one little memory would stick out. From the eyes of Mewtwo, Kay would see Traverse Town as the mon and three others were in the Second District. There was a warm light coming from behind the viewer's back, as though a home was behind. Kay would be able to see Black, a girl with dark hair, and another boy with blonde hair and cat ears.

That key shaped sword would appear again in a suddenly human hand of Mewtwo, holding the item out to Black. The following sound was muted, but Kay would see a glowing magic of light pass between Black and the human hand to signal the transference of Keyblade ownership over. Black would mouth some words out and the memory would pass into the fuzzy grey that was Mewtwo's memories again.

The rest seemed jumbled bits again with nothing able to really be pinpointed. The singing did seem to soothe the psychic mon into a more peaceful sleep and hopefully Kay would be there soon too.

The next morning, Mewtwo awoke with a stretch before looking down at the mom-dino cuddled up close. While the first instinct was to withdraw, the mon contained itself and reached out to tap the top of her head likely. 'It's morning.'

@mewtwo

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NOTES: N/a

Before Kay knew it, time blurred. When she next came to, Mewtwo was already awake and addressing her. He seemed more elated today. The healer felt relief as she sat up in a series of stretches. "You seem to feel better, I can hear it in your voice. I hope my presence wasn't too burdensome...though I guess you didn't have a choice."

As she stood to her stubby feet, her mind cast back to last night. It felt like she'd dreamed all of Mewtwo's dreams for him, or perhaps traveled to a different world. In her journey, she'd taken glimpse of four friends bound together by strange keys. Of course, one of those friends was a boy with Black's face, and his smile to sand-mister was like the smile of an old friend - very unlike the frustrated boy of yesterday.

The Audino stopped her frown before it could set. She smiled patiently instead. "Let me tell you who I am, even though you already know. My name is Kay, and I am an Audino. I'm also sorry on behalf of Black. He's normally very kind, he doesn't usually attack...though I guess you know that too, Sand-mister, don't you?"

The sun hadn't risen yet. Black must have still been asleep by now, unless by some stroke of bad luck he noticed Kay's disappearance. That meant she still had time to go back like nothing's happened. Of course, Kay didn't necessarily want to go empty-handed. As difficult as yesterday may have been, she still believed sand-mister and her trainer could still make a good impression on each other.

She held a paw out to the psychic. "I have to go back before my human wakes up. Why don't come with me, Sand-mister, and you two can make up?"

No matter how confused or serious Mewtwo was trying to be, he couldn't help but laugh at the name that Kay bestowed upon him. Truthfully, he hadn't managed to get a good night's sleep in... a very long time so he could hardly be upset at the Audino.

'I see now that your trainer is not the one in my mind. And from the knowledge that every trainer has of me... I can understand his doubt.' Mewtwo explains before looking at his hands. Perhaps he was waiting for those items to appear again, or perhaps he was expressing the usual human feeling of helplessness. 'After all, in our world, I'm the scariest monster of all, no?' This didn't sound so much angry or sad, but more of Mewtwo stating the facts that surrounded his existence.

At the next offer, Mewtwo looked... skeptical. 'Nothing personal, but might it make a more negative impression if he were to wake up and I was right there?' Clearly the mon didn't understand the concept of waiting outside.