Chosen: Celebi's Story Part 1

Chosen
Special Chapter
Celebi's Story

----------------WARNING------------------
The following story is one giant what-if scenario. Specifically, what if my characters failed to change the past. This does NOT tie into the main pokèumans storyline in ANY WAY. All I am doing here is exploring a few... possibilities for my alternate future.
If you wish to continue my main story, Chosen, then please return to the submissions page and try again. However, if you are still reading this and wish to see what could happen to the pokèmon world if Hunter got loose, then enjoy!
-The Eevee Warrior
-----------------------------------------


I knew from the second my shotgun ran out of ammo that we were screwed. None of the others had weapons, my blaster was practically useless, and moves would do very little against these things. There was nothing that any of us could do to stop them.
And then I realized that there was one option, but it would require taking a hit for the team. Mew, the Omni, and this "Oracle" lady were in a dream, and would likely wake up very soon. They just needed a little more time.
And time was something that I could give them.
I looked back at them, and they immediately figured out my plan. I saw Mew, poor Mew, look at me with a dreadful expression. "No! Cel, don't!" He couldn't stop me now, though. I focused on the time flowing around us and pulled on the strands until it slowed to a crawl. It wouldn't be long now. I told them "I can't hold this field forever, and you should be waking up any second now. I can't let you get infected now; the mental changes would persist into your waking form." It hurt to leave them, especially Mew. I had watched him die on the other world, on Earth. When I saw him again, I felt better than I had in millenia. And now, like a cruel twist of fate, I was forced to abandon him again. I held back my emotions as I used telekinesis to throw them off the building. My temporal field collapsed as they fell, and I watched them disappear about halfway down. I turned back to the drones, intending to make the most of my last moments. I would've, too, but as I whirled around to face them, I heard a sharp *twang*.
That noise was followed instantly by a heavy impact on my chest. I backed up from the sheer force of it, and a fountain of pain erupted across my body. I staggered backward and looked down to see the shaft of an arrow protruding from my chest. Memories of the man from the street filled my mind as my vision blurred. I felt ill, like my body was on fire. The drones were backing away from me, no doubt waiting for me to turn. But I wasn't about to give those... things the satisfaction of another recruitment. A cloud of green fell across my eyes, no doubt the conversion of my blood to chlorophyll. Slowly, I backed up to the edge of the building, pulling the arrow out of my chest. While the action didn't help, it certainly didn't do good things to the drone close to me; I threw the damn thing back at it, catching the bastard in the eye. It collapsed on the roof as I finally ran out of room to back up. And as I took that one last, fatal step, I put my hand out and gave those things the finger.
"Rot in hell, assholes." I whispered as I fell down twenty stories to the unforgiving pavement below.

****************************

I was sitting in a bench in Celaceon Park. It was a chilly morning, but it wasn't too bad, especially since I had a cup of coffee in my hand. I took a sip of the drink and looked out at my surroundings. The indigenous population of this world was... unique to say the least. They were almost completely avian, and none of them were sentient. Still, they were relatively harmless and their songs were beautiful, so I enjoyed their company, even if they weren't pokèmon. Outside the park, flying cars sped by, no doubt carrying commuters. It WAS seven in the morning, after all.
Eventually, I saw a sceptile walk by. He was wearing a red scarf around his neck. A scarf out of all things! What was this, the twenty-first century? Anyway, he noticed me. "Celebi! How're ya doing?" I smiled back. "Pretty well, thanks. I managed to get those Houndoom pirates to stop raiding our transport ships." "Wow! I thought they'd never leave us alone!" He said, sitting down next to me. "So... I assume you're thinking about Mew again?" I blushed in embarassment. "That's none of your business." "Oh, really? Weren't you two dating before-" "I said, it's none of your business, Greg!" I snapped at him.
We sat in awkward silence for a while. Eventually, he spoke up. "So... what's happening with you today?" "Nothing much. A group of Bellosom are protesting the bill to ban illicit use of sleeping powder." Greg laughed at that. "What do you mean by 'illicit use?'" "You know full well what I mean. Sometimes I wonder how we've managed to survive this long when people still think that snorting drugs is a good idea." We both chuckled. "You said it. I've already had to warn Ashley about using that stuff." I raised an eyebrow. "Remind me; how old IS your daughter?" "Twelve. She's twelve years old and her classmates are already trying to get her addicted to sleeping powder!" "One more reason to sign that bill through." I said. "Who knows; Arceus might even approve it across the entire galaxy."
Greg looked at his holo-watch. "Well, I've got to go. Got a meeting in ten minutes about the news satellites. See ya, Cel!" I waved goodbye to him as he waved down a hover-taxi.
I took another sip of my coffee only to do a spit-take when I heard a voice directly behind me. "I knew you were naive, Celebi, but I didn't realize just how much of a problem it was." The speaker had a very deep voice, and he was radiating a strong air of command, one that I had only felt from Arceus himself. I slowly turned around to see a zoroark with his paws behind his back, grinning evilly at me. I jumped back, spilling my coffee in surprise. "Wh-who are you?" The zoroark's grin widened. "I am Joshua Hunter, the God of Destruction. And you, my interdimensional friend, are MINE." I looked around desperately for someone else, but the park was as empty as a graveyard. Even the native birds had fallen silent. This "Hunter" started to walk toward me, maintaining a formal stance at all times. "Now, then. You are coming with me. Whether you follow in a body bag or not is your choice."
I took off like a rocket, flying as fast as I could for the street. I looked back and saw Hunter jumping through the trees like a parkour master. And he was LAUGHING, laughing like a maniac. I realized that he was toying with me, playing like a purloin with a ratata. I shrugged off this thought as I reached the road. "Someone, get help! Get- AHH!" I yelled as he finally caught up to me, tackling me to the ground. He did one somersault, holding me with a death grip, before using his momentum to throw me through a storefront window. Alarms rang in my ears as I tried to pull myself off the glass-coated floor. I had maybe seconds before he caught me again.
Or maybe I didn't even have that long.
Before I could even get up, I felt his grip tighten around the back of my neck, lifting me off the ground slowly and dramatically, laughing all the while. "Is this really the best that a LEGENDARY can do? A pitiful excuse for a chase??" He said between laughing fits. I couldn't even fight back; the only moves I knew were medical and defensive. I was trapped.
I heard a high-frequency whirring noise behind us, reminiscent of an energy rifle powering up. "Put her down! NOW!" I couldn't see what was happening, but I could certainly hear Hunter's response. "Like hell I will. And, by the way, let this entire dimension know; THE HUNTER HAS RETURNED!" With that phrase, I saw everything around me flash a brilliant purple color and vanish instantly, replaced by a run-down warehouse.
Hunter pinned me to a rusty table lying upright in the center of the room. I felt shackles snap out of the metal and clamp onto my limbs. Hunter backed up and gave me the evillist grin I've ever seen. At that point, I expected to be raped, but he had something far more sinister in mind. A phantom arm shot out of his right shoulder, radiating dark energy. It lunged forward and latched itself onto my chest.
I have never felt more pain than that. It literally felt like that arm was ripping my soul out of my body. I could feel my energy reserves draining at an astonishing rate, until they were finally emptied. Once that happened, the arm detached itself from my torso and returned to its owner. "Ah... the power of a legendary is amazing, isn't it? It has been such a long time since I've been at full strength." The shackles unlatched themselves and I fell to the floor. I felt weaker than a magikarp, and I was too dizzy to walk, much less fly. "Oh, but don't think I've forgotten about you, my little sprite." He picked me up by the neck. "You won't die here. Not for a while, at least. No, you will live out what little remains of your life in this Philadelphian Wasteland, cut off from everyone and everything that you know. There are those out there that want you dead for the sole reason of existing, and I think I will allow them to do just that. So says I, Joshua Hunter, the TRUE God of Destruction!" And with that phrase, he threw me into the wall, and THROUGH the wall. I fell a good two stories before landing hard on the pavement below.
It took every iota of strength in my body to pull myself to my feet. My vision had blurred enough that I could be considered legally blind. All I saw was a cloud of red, orange, and brown. A voice echoed through my ears as if down a tunnel. I collapsed to the ground again, my eyes slowly closing as the sound of footsteps rushed toward me. And then, I was engulfed in darkness.

****************************

Pain. Lots and lots of pain across my entire body. That's all I felt as I awoke from my trip down memory lane. *Wait... why am I still here?* I thought. *Nobody is immune! How am I still ME?* With an effort, I slowly opened my eyes. I was lying on the streets of Solaria, a large pool of green chlorophyll surrounding my impact point. And yet, I wasn't dead. I wasn't even one of them; one quick look at myself revealed that much.
With an effort, I lifted myself into the air, noting that I felt a lot more energetic than ever before. Sure, I physically felt like I got hit by a satellite, but internally I felt like I had just chugged a quintuple espresso. Shrugging off my initial shock, I looked down at myself and found that, while the front of my body was caked with dried chlorophyll, I had no injuries whatsoever. Even the arrow wound had healed itself. Upon closer inspection, however, I realized that this was not exactly true; where the arrow had hit was now a raised bump of vines under my skin, radiating about an inch from the spot.
*So I AM infected. But... why is it taking so long? The other guy turned within seconds; I was probably out for an hour!* The answer hit me like a brick. *Of course! I'm the goddess of forests! No wonder I haven't turned yet!* I looked down at the mass of vines again. *Although... I don't think I'll be able to say that for much longer. Judging by the size of this thing, I'd say that I have maybe a day left before I'm one of those... drones.* On that somber note, I floated towards a small shop among the skyscrapers. A sign above the entrance read "Drew's Coffee and Donuts." I chuckled a bit before heading in. I'd been here before, and it had some of the worst food I'd ever had. That stupid Magmar really couldn't brew a good cup of java, lemme tell you. The door had long since been blown off its hinges, but the interior looked as bad as I remembered it. Admittedly, this time there were bullet holes, but the disgusting aesthetics of the original place were completely intact.
"Hello?" I yelled. "Is anyone there?" The store was as silent as a tomb. I hovered over to the counter and ducked underneath it. "Come on, you stupid Magmar. Where is it?" I whispered as I pulled debris off the floor, then ripped up the floorboards. "Ah-ha!" I said in satisfaction as I found what I was looking for; one MP5-K and five clips of reserve ammo. Drew had taken this off the hands of a smuggler a few years back. Arceus knows how he got ahold of a HUMAN weapon, but I silently thanked myself for not arresting him; this thing could be the difference between living and dying for me. Lying next to the gun was a small backpack, no doubt for carrying the weapon, but it also had three syringes full of painkillers and a few nutri-bars. That would keep me going for a while. I threw the gun and ammo into the pack, resized the straps to fit me, and crept back out onto the streets. I knew full well that the Hive wasn't the only thing lurking around here, so I kept as quiet as I could.
It wasn't quiet enough.
As soon as I put so much as a finger out the door, a squad of Shades uncloaked in front of the store. Shades are what we call the soldiers of the Haven Empire. I had five "Shredder" assault rifles pointed at my head, and I knew that they would kill me without a moment's hesitation. However, they were so focused on me that they missed the group of Hive behind them. The poor bastards didn't even get off a shot before they were infected. I took the distraction as a cue to move, and I flew down the road. Arrows flew past my head as the hunting party gave chase, but they weren't nearly fast enough. I had spent the past month-and-a-half out here, and I had set up quite a few traps in case I got stuck on the streets. I dove into what was left of a Duskull Banking Incorporated building and threw a piece of rock at a small discolored spot on the ceiling. Ten seconds later, I was on the other side of the lobby. I looked back to see the drones entering the bank. The last sound those things ever heard was the sharp *beep* of an anti-tank mine detonating and raining about a half-ton of mansonry and cement down on their heads. Even from fifty feet away, the shockwave knocked me off-balance.
When I had regained my senses, I floated towards the stairwell, admiring the large green puddle spreading from the wreakage. I never would've thought that it would be so much fun to kill something. Then again, I was infected, so who knows what was going through my mind. I flew up to the roof again, praying that he was still there. I kicked the door open to find-
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The roof was as bare as a sterilized plate. At first, I was discouraged, but then I remembered who I was looking for. I crept up to a small spot that was slightly brighter than normal and pressed my hand against it. Within seconds, the patch retracted to reveal a secret passage down into the building. A few minutes of vent-crawling later, I came out into the executive office. Unfortunately, the resident of the office was aware of my presence and had a Shredder pointed at my face. "You know what this is?" I nodded sharply and slowly crawled out into the open. Fortunately for me, the gun's owner recognized who I was. "Celebi! Long time no see!" "Likewise, Derek. How've you been?" The charmeleon standing in front of me grunted. "Not that good. Ever since that 'Hive' stuff was sent out, I've had a bitch of a time keeping this place a secret." "I can certainly understand that." I said, pointing to the mark on my chest. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best idea. Derek raised the rifle back at my face. "You're infected. You're one of those THINGS." "No, wait! I'm not-" He cut me off by hitting me with the butt of the rifle. "Get. Out. Of. My. Safehouse." He said through clenched teeth. Anyone who didn't know him would've run like hell, but I remembered who he was. Derek had been a drug lord long before the invasion began, and he had been one hell of an addict. Slowly and carefully, I reached into the backpack and pulled out one of the painkiller syringes. "I'm not one of them. I just need somewhere safe to stay. I'll give you this as payment, but please let me stay here for a while. I don't have anywhere else to go." He thought it over for a grand total of ten seconds before his addiction kicked in. "Fine." He snarled. "But don't try anything. I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to." I nodded obediantly, handed him the syringe, and made my way over to the hatch leading down to the saferoom.
Derek's little safehouse was about five floors tall, and it took up the top quarter of the building. He had about thirty-five people staying there when I visited last, and I wasn't surprised to find that it had grown; almost sixty pokèmon now called this place home. Apparently, the owner of the building had gotten his hands on a matter converter, and Derek now used it to supply his guests with food and water. Unfortunately for him, the machine couldn't produce drugs, so he had been burning through his "secret stash" at a consistent rate for the past few weeks. It was a good thing that Drew the Magmar had those syringes; otherwise, I'd have been up shit creek without a paddle. Anyway, I climbed down the access ladder to the top floor.
Before I could even get off the ladder, I heard a sharp *click* noise behind me. I slowly turned around to find an archaic .357 magnum pointed at my chest. "Well, look who it is. The big bitch herself." The gun's owner chuckled. "What happened, eh? Did Arceus decide you weren't worth the headache?" As he laughed at his own joke, I finally realized who was holding the handgun; Jared "Bouncer" Tyrex. Jared was an infernape, and he was one of Derek's goons before Haven shelled their hideout. I sighed. "You know as well as I do that Arceus is dead. It's pretty much been a political nightmare on Orion; the creation trio versus the tao trio. Giratina wants to fight back against Haven, while Kyurem wants to negotiate with them. If they could pull themselves off of each other for long enough, they would send evac ships." "And how do we know that, hm? Maybe I should cut you up a bit, make sure you're telling the truth." The infernape pulled out a Hyperion-brand knife; energy blades that could cut through steel like a piece of butter. They could do a lot of damage to flesh; THAT I knew firsthand. I started to back up as he slowly pushed me into a corner, but, before he could even scratch me with the knife, he noticed my arrow wound. The realization of exactly what it was hit him a few seconds later.
Now HE was the one backing up. "You-you're of those freaks!" He stammered, clearly having lost his nerve. Normally, I would deny this claim, but I had had enough of Jared's threats. "Yeah, I am. Now, back away or you'll see EXACTLY what I can do." It was a bluff, and a big one at that, but it did the trick. He turned and ran like Darkrai was on his heels. Everyone else in the room backed up as well, and I can't really blame them; hostile or not, they knew that I had the virus. If nothing else, they cleared a pathway for me to get where I needed to go; specifically, the 19th floor copier room. The only reason that I had even come here was because I knew that my time was running out. I didn't come here to stay; I wanted to get something of mine, if only for a few hours.
I locked the door behind me, turned on the lights (the building had its own independant power source), and walked up to the wall opposite the door. I made sure that I was alone, then I curled my right hand into a fist and punched through the drywall. Making sure not to catch myself on any sharp edges, I pulled my hand out of the hole and pryed the wall apart, bit by bit. Behind it was a small crawlspace. I went through it and emerged in a small, pitch-black room. I reached out in front of my face and pulled a small piece of string to turn on a lightbulb on the ceiling. It wasn't very bright; I had salvaged it from an old shack in the slums a long time ago. Still, at least I could see what I was looking for. Lying in the middle of the small room was a small lockbox. I snapped my fingers and a key-shaped vine formed in my hand. I put in the keyhole, twisted, and was rewarded with the satisfying *click* of the box being unlocked. I absorbed the vine key and opened the box, pulling out its contents with all the care in the universe. What would I go to all these lengths to hide, to protect like life itself?
In my hands, just as bright as the day I locked it away, was a heart-shaped locket of me and Mew. This was what I had been looking for; my most prized possesion, the last remnant of our relationship. Even he was dead now, but this locket remained unmarred, undamaged despite the evidence of time's ravages around it. The room had become dark and dusty, but this stood strong and brilliant amongst it all. I opened it and looked at the photograph of the two of us, remembering how it was before humanity forced us to leave, how he stayed behind. Despite all my efforts, I cried. It was too much; first Haven's invasion, then Mew's death, and now my own death sentence? My world had slowed crumbled over the past few months, and soon it would be over forever. I would be gone, just like Mew, just like everyone else I'd cared about over the years.
After about ten minutes, I finally calmed down enough to think rationally again. I slipped the locket onto my neck, resealed the box, and went back out the way I came. As I reentered the hallway, I realized that I couldn't put all of these people in danger. Soon, I would be just another drone, just another threat to them. All they wanted was to survive. I couldn't ask them to give up that much just so that I could have a bed to sleep on. I went over to a window, opened it, and floated out. The feeling of flying helped to dampen my sadness, but nothing could hide that one part of my mind that said *It doesn't matter anymore. You're going to be gone soon; make something of your remaining hours.* I didn't want to listen to it, but it made sense at the time. Most people thought that Mew abandoned us when we left, even though there were those that knew why he truly stayed behind. What would be my legacy when I was gone? A politician that tragically disappeared during the Haven occupation? The grieving girlfriend of the "traitor" Mew?
I knew then that I had to do something with what little time I had left, if not to preserve my own memory as much as to preserve his. I came up with a suicidal plan of attack to drive off Hunter's forces. It was one versus a billion, and they had hundreds of other crippling advantages over me. And when I died in the attack, I figured out a way to make sure that Mew would be remembered for what he did, for what he gave up to save us all.
Now I just had to put it into action.
It took about an hour, but I finally found the perfect spot to execute my plan. Unfortunately, if my memory served true, then it would be a few hours before Haven's forces would be in the perfect position to strike. I decided to use this time to rest, and, for once, my injury proved cooperative in this; as the vines spread under my skin, they emmitted a weak sedative. Once I had my equipment set up, I closed my eyes and drifted off again into the land of dreams.

****************************

I awoke in a daze. *Where am I?* I thought through the clouds in my mind. I was lying on a cot in a cement room, but I couldn't remember how I got here. For that matter, why did the room seem... old-fashioned? It looked like something out of the silicon age.
That's when it all came rushing back to me; Hunter kidnapping me, draining my powers, leaving me for dead, I remembered it all. Slowly, I started to sit up on the cot, but I found that I could only move to a certain extent; my arms were latched to a steel pole by a plastic tie. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get out of it, and I didn't know any moves that could break it. So I waited. And waited. And waited.
Almost half-an-hour later, the door on the far wall opened, and I found myself staring down a- "Human!" I yelled, desperately tring to break the plastic. I remembered how brutal they had been during the war, and I really didn't want to know what they did to their prisoners. The human quickly strode over to me and stopped my escape efforts by pinning me to the cot. "Who. The HELL. Are you." He said, his voice dripping with venom. I would have responded, but his right arm was crushing my throat; it was difficult enough to breathe right now, much less give the man an answer. It took a few seconds, but he finally realized this fact and eased off the pressure a little. I coughed a few times before responding. "C-Celebi. My name is Celebi." "Well, 'Celebi,' you are the unluckiest bitch in the universe right now." Before I could ask what he meant, he pulled out a hypodermic needle and injected me with the contents. My entire body immediately went numb, and I realized that he had just given me an extremely powerful anesthetic. I couldn't move in the slightest.
He then wrapped his arm around my stomach and carried me out into the hallway. I found myself surrounded by dozens of humans, and they all seemed to be giving me very malicious looks. A couple of turns later, he carried me into a small laboratory and put me down on a table.
If I could have screamed then, I would have. I was surrounded by quite a few sharp tools, which I recognized as a coroner's kit, and I saw a man in a white surgical apron grinning at me.
They were going to dissect me.
I struggled with every ounce of energy in my body to move, but the anesthetic hadn't just numbed my muscles; it was clouding my mind. I couldn't focus enough to use my psychic powers, or any OTHER powers. I was completely helpless. They were going to kill me for science and there was nothing that I could do about it.
The man that had carried me into the room was standing near the door, staring off into the distance as if nothing was wrong. I silently begged him to move, but he remained as impassive as a rock-type. The surgeon walked up to me and picked up a wickedly sharp scalpel, turning to me with the second-most sadistic grin I'd ever seen. He walked up and placed the blade on my chest, putting on his surgical mask with the other hand. I couldn't even close my eyes because of the drug, so I was forced to watch as he slowly, carefully prepared to cut me open.
That's when everything went insane.
The door to the lab exploded, sending the guard flying across the room. As the surgeon turned to see what had happened, a sharp *bang* noise split the air and his head snapped back, a small hole between his eyes. I felt a hypodermic needle being inserted into my skin, followed by the numbness fading away. Finally able to move, I looked at my rescuer and was shocked to see another human. "What the hell are you waiting for? Move!" He said, holding what looked like a gun. What kind of person, human or not, still used something as archaic as a slug-thrower? Pushing aside this thought, I followed him as he ran down the halls, pointing the gun at anyone who tried to get near us. I had considered taking the scalpel for a second, but I dismissed the idea almost instantly; I wasn't a murderer. I couldn't even think of HARMING another creature, much less KILLING one.
He kicked open the door to a stairwell, waving me up while shooting a few gaurds who were following us. "Get to the rooftop! Go!" He yelled before a stray bullet caught him in the chest. I winced, then flew up to the top level. Timidly, I opened the door to find-
More guns pointed at my face. However, these humans lowered their weapons when they saw me. One of them threw me onto a waiting helicopter (Wow, these people were nostalgic) before following me on, keeping the guns raised at the roof-access door. A few seconds later, the hatch sealed and we flew off.
We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, until one of the humans eventually spoke up. "So... you're Celebi, right?" I nodded slowly. "How do you know my name?" The human looked at one of his friends, who was wearing a similar set of olive-green camoflauge armor. Then they explained that Mew had created a set of video games describing the pokèmon at great length, although, from what I can tell, the events of the games are completely fictional; there was never a "Team Rocket" or a "Team Galactic" in the real world. After describing the games, the pair of humans then mentioned what was happening here, how a group called "Pokèxtinction" was trying to wipe out people called "Pokèumans." I was able to figure out the first of the two groups from their name, but it took a bit of explaining from the humans for me to understand what the Pokèumans were; genetic crosses between human and pokèmon where the dominant and recessive genes for species had been swapped, essentially turning the human possessing the gene into a pokèmon.
I was in shock at this revelation. How could we have forgotten about the children of human-pokèmon couples when we left Earth? I had always understood Mew's conviction to stay behind, and now it seemed that his sacrifice might have saved the lives of millions of these "Pokèumans."
I then explained to them what the other dimension was like. I told them about Solaria, my homeworld, and how it seamlessly blended plant life and rainforests with urban environments. I described the urban planet of Orion and how the Legendary Council, apparently sharing something in common with human governments, rarely got anything meaningful done in the world of politics. Both me and the humans shared a quick laugh at that, and I wondered how our two species had ever become enemies when we were so very much the same. Given the emotions I was detecting from the humans, who I realized were soldiers of the "United States of America," they were probably thinking the same.
A few minutes later, our helicopter landed on the roof of a refugee camp for pokèumans and the few humans that supported them. This "Camp Sigma" was inside a building reminiscent of old greek architecture. When I inquired as to why such an ancient design was used in a city of the silicon age, one of the soldiers explained. "It's supposed to look that way. This IS the Philadelphia Museum of Art, after all; I guess the builders wanted the place to look fancy."
We took a short stairwell down to the main building, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of people here. I was also surprised to see a large number of these "pokèumans" here. I have to admit, when I first the name, I thought that the pokèumans were hybrids. However, when I actually saw them, I almost mistook them for normal pokèmon. I guess that even I need a lesson in humility every now and then.
The soldiers guided me to an area that was heavily guarded, although the security wasn't to keep people from getting OUT as much as preventing civilians from getting IN. Inside, I found a tactical table and a number of people, human and pokèmon, looking over a map of this "Philadelphia." However, when I actually bothered to see who the people were, I noticed someone there.
It couldn't be him.
"M-Mew?" I whispered. Immediately, the floating pokèmon's head snapped up to look at me. It was him. There was no doubt in my mind. He stared at me for a moment before saying "...could the two of us have a bit of privacy, please?" The others understood and calmly walked out to go find something else to do.
Once we were alone, Mew spoke up. "Cel? How in the name of Arceus did YOU get here? I thought you left for the other dimension!" I didn't even bother to answer, simply sending him my memories of Hunter's kidnapping. His eyes widened as he sorted through them, as he saw what I had seen. Silently, Mew floated back to the map on the table. I followed him, and I could've sworn I heard him mutter the words "I thought we had more time..." "What was that?" I asked him. He looked at me with a grim expression on his face, followed by a brief explanation of who Hunter was. "...and now we're screwed. I thought we had more time, that we could bring down Pokèxtinction before confronting him. Hell, I almost sent those pricks a letter requesting a truce. But if he's breached the dimensional barrier, then our luck has run out. He'll launch a full-fledged assault on both us and Pokèxtinction, wipe us both out, then move to attack the other dimension." He sighed. "I did everything I could; I even made a 'Chosen One,' and it still didn't do a damn thing." I could tell that he was worried; it was rare that Mew ever cursed, and he only did it when he felt cornered.
"Oh well... there's nothing we can do until he comes out of hiding. We might as well get some rest." He said. He pulled a pair of beds out of the wall. Admittedly, I wasn't used to them at first; I had spent most of my life living in fame. It took a while to adapt, but I fell asleep fairly soon after that. I guess the anesthetic had done a number on me.

****************************

Slowly, I awoke from another one of my memories. What was it with my infection and these dreams? I opened my eyes and saw that a good portion of the day had passed; just in time for my plan. I sat up and started to walk over to where I had left the backpack. Unfortunately, I missed one big detail in my drowziness, although I figured it out as soon as I looked at the window near my hideout.
There was a drone perched there, staring at me with all the patience in the world.
Oh shit.
I froze, praying to the dead soul of Arceus that it would go away and leave me in peace. However, my luck decided to screw me over once again, and the drone jumped down to the floor and walked up to me.
Now, when you hear the word "drone," you probably think "bug." This was anything but an insect. As it approached me with curiosity, I got my first good look at it. The thing looked like a hybrid between a canine and feline species, but it had the distinct green color that only came from a plant. Of course, the plant part was no surprise; a network of thorny vines were wrapped around its body like thick clothing. In addition, it was about the size of a mightyena and had the stature of a zoroark. I shuddered at that last bit as memories of Hunter flashed through my head. However, as soon as the thought of the fallen god crossed my mind, the drone cocked its head, almost as if lost in thought.
That's when it spoke. No, I'm not talking about verbal communication; I heard a distinctly feminine voice in my head. ~What is this about the creator?~ it said. My first reaction was to jump back and dive for my backpack, but I suddenly couldn't move my legs. My wings were just as inactive. With a trembling hand, I felt around the back of my neck and found that the infection had reached my brain stem. These damn things were controlling my body.
The drone started to circle me, still looking as innocently curious as ever. ~Why are you scared, sister?~ I wanted to yell at this thing that I was NOT one of them, but my mouth had stopped working. The only part of my body that I could still control was my mind. Apparently, the drone was pyschic because it picked up my sense of growing horror. ~There's nothing to be afraid of, sister. The Hive doesn't judge its recruits.~ I was now getting very angry at this thing. *Get out!* I thought. *GET OUT OF MY HEAD!* I sensed a bit of shock through the psychic link before it cut off. I could feel my body start to respond again. As the drone finally realized that I wasn't just another infected, I ran over to the bag and pulled out the MP5-K. I leveled the thing in my sights and put my finger on the trigger, only to feel my entire body lock up again. ~Why do you persist, sister? The conversion is nothing to be afraid of.~ I heard as the drone violated my mind once again. This time, I couldn't even control my own thoughts. I felt the thing sift through my memories, almost as if it were looking for something.
Then, suddenly, it stopped. I felt the presence of the drone retreat from my mind. ~What is this? Why would the creator do this?~ it hissed, and I could feel its curiousity turning into surprise. The creator, the creator- the drone was talking about Hunter! It must've found my memories of his rampage through Philadelphia! *He's using you.* I thought, praying to every diety I could think of, including a few human ones. *He's using the Hive as a hands-free clean-up system. Once you've taken Solaria, he'll finish you off and leave no evidence.* The drone's expression changed to one of confusion, and I felt a number of voices enter the psychic link. ~Lies! The creator would never betray us! We are his greatest creation!~
Despite the multitude of denials, I felt the overall tone of the psychic link change to one of understanding. A few seconds of absolute silence later, I heard a sound like thousands of synchronized voices in my head. ~We understand now, Celebi. If the creator wishes to dispose of us, then we shall dispose of him first. While we never delegate our matters to outsiders such as yourself, your memories show that the creator would predict our tactics and eliminate us if we continue to plan for ourselves. It is up to you to decide how we shall fight.~
At this point, I wasn't sure whether to be scared shitless or honored. I could feel the minds of hundreds of thousands of drones waiting eagerly for their orders, and I realized that I now was in full control of the Hive. Within a few seconds, I adapted my plan to incorporate this... unique development and I sent it to my new army. I felt the drones emit a simultanious vote of gratitude before withdrawing from my mind. My body became my own again. Reluctantly, I lowered my weapon and watched as the drone in front of me jumped out the window to prepare for the assault.
*What the hell have I gotten myself into?* I wondered. It would take a couple of minutes for the Hive to be ready to attack, so I took the time to examine what other changes my body had gone through while I was asleep. The obvious one, besides the mind control, involved my arrow wound from before. I looked down and saw that the vines had now spread to cover my entire torso, front and back, but they had vanished around the original injury. In their place was a two-inch-wide patch of bright green fur. I also noticed that I had grown a bit while I was out; before, I was about the size of a seven-year-old human. Now, I was about as tall as your average twelve-year-old, even though my proportions weren't altered. And yet, I didn't feel the least bit disoriented from the growth. There was no doubt that the mind control had caused that little side effect. All I really had to do was resize the straps on the backpack and I was ready to go. A mental signal told me that the Hive was ready as well.
I crept over to the window and looked outside. The Cerberus warship hovered directly above the area in front of me, and a large silvery structure was currently attached to it. I knew what the structure was; a refueling station. It couldn't be anything else; I doubt that the damn ship runs on oxygen. Surrounding the base of the station were a few thousand shades, all ready for combat. A VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) ship about the size of an old jet-fighter, which I called a Falcon, was hovering over the main fuel line. I switched the MP5-K to single-shot fire and took careful aim at a small bulge on the underside of the gunship; the primary operations box. I squeezed off a shot and watched as the box started sparking, follow soon afterward by the Falcon spiraling out of control into the structure and severing the fuel line. The entire thing ignited, and I watched as the underbelly of the Ceberus detonated with a sound like thunder. The entire ship lurched to port and started to fall, luckily in the opposite direction of me. I saw the Shades take careful aim at my hideout...
...only to be distracted by the ten thousand drones that poured into the clearing. I vaulted out the window and flew down to the ground, firing off the occasional shot. The ship was descending fast now, no doubt intending to land. Now that the plasmic fires had dissapated, I saw that the underside of the ship was scorched and that their antigravity generator had been completely fried. It was a miracle that the ship wasn't dropping like a rock.
I ran down the street, letting the Hive do my work for me. Everything depended on me reaching that Cerberus. A Falcon darted out from behind a building and prepared to fill me with ionized lead, only to go down in flames as a massive vine shot out of the ground and swatted it out of the sky. Once again, I found myself thanking the Hive, which was still very awkward for me. I ran past the vine as it brought down a building on top of a group of Shades. I took to the air, reloading my gun in the process, and took in the battlefield below me. A large group of Shades were trying to catch up to their falling ship, and a larger group of drones was heading in the same direction on a side street. The two groups would meet at an intersection just up the road, so I flew ahead and sent out a command to the Hive. Ten seconds later, the two groups met and the Shades found themselves being ambushed by at least a hundred drones.
I took up position on a nearby rooftop and squeezed off single shots, hitting my mark every time. Once the Shades were either dead or infected, I continued my pursuit of the ship. It was falling fast now, and would crash-land in less than a minute on the southwest quarter of the city. The Hive had come out in full now, and they were all focused on Haven's many encampments. Not a single civilian or safehouse was being targeted, but I knew it wouldn't be long before their attention turned back to the innocent. I had maybe fifteen minutes at most to finish my plan.
That's the thing; I hadn't told the Hive everything. While they were off tearing down Haven's armies, I would sneak aboard the downed Cerberus. I had fought Hunter for long enough to know that he ALWAYS has a backup plan. He wouldn't deploy the Hive virus and simply leave it alone; once they've consumed a world, he must have a way to wipe them out. That's what I was really after; a way to bring down Haven's forces and destroy the Hive in one fell swoop.
The ship hit the ground three minutes later, crushing the south-west side of the city. It took another two minutes for me to catch up to it. At this point, Haven was going all-out; they were sending out everything they had to stop the Hive's revolt. Therefore, almost every resource they had was focused on the rest of the city, while I shot my way into the ship.
One of the escape pods had launched, so I kicked open the hatch and swung through to the interior of the ship. The entire thing seemed to be made of sterilized-white metal, so white that it hurt my eyes to look at. Nothing should naturally be that bright. From the looks of it, the crew had left to fight off the Hive. I followed the general path of the chassis, and made it to the center of the ship within ten minutes. I was running out of time, and I knew it.
With my gun in hand, I kicked open the control room door. Everything moved in slow motion as the guards inside turned around. This, of course, wasn't an illusion; I AM the goddess of time, after all. I casually put a round through each of their heads and let time resume as normal, watching the dead bodies hit the floor simultaneously. I ran up to an access terminal and scrolled through the files, quickly finding the Hive-disposal program. I executed the file, but I made sure to overcharge the capacitors; I wanted this Cerberus to go down with the drones. A panel opened on the floor behind me, and I knew that this was the switch to fry the infected, the switch to end my life. Nothing could stop me now.
Nothing, of course, except for Murphy's Law.(Damn those human philosophers)
Just as I took my first step towards the lever, I felt the weight of the entire Hive rain down on my head. ~YOU DARE TO BETRAY US?!?!~ They yelled. ~YOU WILL NEVER DESTROY THE HIVE! NOTHING CAN DESTROY THE HIVE!!~ I felt the vines accelerate their growth, and I felt my body start to lock up again. I couldn't let them stop me, not when I was so close!
With every fiber of my being, I forced myself to take another step before falling to my knees as the changes accelerated further. ~THE HIVE CAN OFFER YOU SAFETY! WE CAN OFFER YOU IMMORTALITY! AND YOU DARE TO DEFY US?!~ I felt the fur roll across my body, felt everything begin to hurt. I forced myself to take another step.
My memories were fading. I could feel the Hive ripping my mind apart, trying to turn me before I fried them. I felt like I had forgotten something. What was it- my name! I almost forgot my own name! *Celebi.* I thought. *I am Celebi, the martyr of the legendaries.* I could hear the Hive losing its temper now. ~YOU WILL NEVER STOP US! WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH BY DESTROYING US!? YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW! BY PULLING THAT LEVER, YOU DOOM YOURSELF ALONG WITH US!~ Any normal person would've been stopped by that, but it didn't even faze me; I had known that I was going to die, from the day that Hunter kidnapped me.
I took another step, feeling the pain receding from my body. I took a quick glance at the polished floor and saw a drone staring back at me. I took another step towards the lever. I could almost reach the damn thing. The Hive was getting desperate now. ~THINK OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING, CELEBI! YOU ARE DOOMING AN ENTIRE SPECIES TO OBLIVION! IF YOU DO THIS, THEN YOU ARE NO BETTER THAN THE HUMANS THAT TRIED TO KILL YOU!~ THAT one caught me off guard. For the first time, I truly realized that I would be committing mass-genocide by destroying the Hive.
THEY realized this, and I felt the overall tone of the connection turn to one of calmness. ~Step away from the lever, Celebi. Allow yourself to become one of us. You will not regret it.~ I couldn't remember anything anymore, only a deep, desperate urge to pull that lever. I could feel the Hive pressing in, slowly starting to rewrite my mind.
That's when the locket fell from my neck. It hit the ground with a loud clank and popped open, revealing the picture of me and Mew. In that instant, I remembered everything. I shook off the Hive, and I could feel their shock. I took one last step forward and grabbed the switch.
~NO! CELEBI, THINK OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING! YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO US!~ They screamed. I could feel every single drone in the city trying to put in one last effort to bring me down. A mental spear slammed into my mind, one worthy of Arceus himself. I could feel myself blacking out from the pain. I had failed.
I looked up one last time, straining to hold firm against the Hive's power. Then, I could see them. Standing in front of me were Mew, Arceus, Greg; everyone that died during the Haven occupation was there in the room with me. I looked around at them, and I felt comforted, even if it was just a hallucination. They all nodded to me as one, giving me the strength to finish my mission.
~Celebi, don't! We can make you the queen of the Hive! You could lead us, control us, even let your friends live uninfected! Please, don't pull that lever!~ I had had enough of the Hive, had enough of everything belonging to Haven, and I sent two simple words to them through the psychic link. *Fuck... You...*
And with those words, I pulled the switch.
~NO!~ They screamed. I could feel every drone on Solaria shriek out in horror before disconnecting. My mind was my own again. I dropped to my knees, feeling the Cerberus begin to vibrate beneath my feet. The ghosts surrounded me, and I saw the ethreal Mew float up in front of me. He gave me one last hug, one that I returned in ernest. I didn't even care that he wasn't real.
All I felt was a white-hot hammer hitting me in the back.