Prologue – The strongest being
The ruined, burned remains of the old tower creaked precariously in the wind, watching the young boy climbing a worn-out wooden ladder to reach the bottom floor. The wind stirred uneasily as the mind commanding it, for the first time in three years, was burdened with an unfamiliar emotion.
Recognition.
It wasn't the kind of recognition one would expect, of course – while appearances were somewhat similar, those were features most humans shared, and the only outward thing that really tugged was the strange, yellow headwear the boy wore. It wasn't the same, of course; this boy wore it the wrong way around, and the color – irrelevant as it may seem – wasn't right either.
His was red.
What really stood out was the boy's mind. For someone with enough psychic power, such things as humans considered hidden were in plain sight – and if there was one thing Mewtwo would never lack, it was power. He was the strongest being in existence – above the power of any and all that the humans could put against him, freed from the shackles of his creation that had once bound him to them. All that remained of their ties to him was his definition – his name – and their unending, inevitable fear of his peerless might.
And yet, the boy in the red cap had bested him.
The broken tower groaned as the wind gouged its remains with sudden fierceness, whipped to action by the uneasiness in its master's heart. He always felt strange, remembering that day – yet, he had to acknowledge it. The boy in red had, by virtue of his bonds to his companions, managed to overcome the strongest being in the world. Mewtwo had looked upon the boy's mind then, and been confused by what he'd seen. Nothing like the greed and power-hungry desires of his creators, or their blatant disregard for the ways they treated their companions as little more than slaves; or the ruthless ambition of the man that, by trickery and clever deception, had once been his master.
Now, here was yet another boy, with the same devotion to his companions, and the same strength in his heart. This time, Mewtwo knew the meaning of those feelings – and for the first time in his life, he was worried.
For a third time the wind screamed in fury, echoing its master's unruly heart – but this time, its roar was echoed by the cries of three enormous four-legged beasts hidden in the deepest bottom parts of burned tower. Just as the boy's feet touched the rocky bottom of the basement floor, their calls rung through the building's wooden beams as they rushed up past the astonished boy, feet finding ground on the air itself as they ascended toward the sky to the humans' amazement.
Mewtwo watched as they ran, and in the depths of his cave, he worried.
Eventually, however, his worries came together forged themselves into a plan. This time, the strongest being in existence would not be caught off guard.
This time, Mewtwo would be ready. With his power honed beyond possibility itself, he would be prepared for whatever tricks the humans could come up with to stop him.
Yet again, the memory reminded him that even that might not be enough – and his worried entrenched themselves deeper in his already turbulent mind.
A small, twisted smile curved the corner of his mouth as a thought came to his mind, and took root. If his own power, as vast as it was, wasn't enough, then it was time he took a page out of the humans' own book of tactics; time he played their own cards against them.
This time, he would not be alone...