Part 4 Spectacle

-Two Days until Todd's Birthday-

The next morning, I left the house early. I barely mentioned it to my mother, tried to keep Clover from asking about it, and was gone before anyone else was awake. The sun was barely getting over the horizon, and the chirping birds only occasionally broke the silence with a peaceful warble.

The walk was about twenty minutes. I hadn't been told where to go, but we both knew where I wanted to meet. It was the annoying part about having a clone: I always wanted to get on his case about being vague, but I always knew exactly what he meant. Regardless, after walking for a while, the coffee shop sat quietly in my view. It was one of those with an outdoor patio.

The sun cast lone rays of light across the sky, painting streaks in the sky while tinting the black a dark maroon. I found myself staring up at the few stars I could still see. I remembered when I found out the bright star that seemed to always be there was just a planet. I couldn't remember which one at the moment,  but the disappointment came back. What I had thought was a remarkable ball of light turned out to be simply rock.

I walked into the shop quietly. I was always grateful to coffee shops. They opened early, just in case somebody needed a pick me up before having what was sure to be a riveting discussion with their evil clone. I typically didn't drink coffee; the caffeine wasn't helpful with my powers. This time, however, I treated myself. The brewing beverage certainly smelled better than going into this on just my right-out-of-bed energy.

After a moment, I found my man sitting at a table just by the corner, away from the window. Dark smiled when we made eye contact. It wasn't sinister in any way. It wouldn't have seemed to hold the hostile intentions he doubtless had for me. He threw in a pleasant wave at me.

The barista gave me a small smile as I turned back to face her. I noticed her eyes, which were a dark, chilling blue. Her hair, pure black, drooped low behind her head, except for small red highlights near her face. She placed my drink in front of me as she completed the transaction. As she turned to go back toward the service counter, she winked and added, "You two have fun on your date."

I froze. "What? Wait, he's not-"

She was gone.

I grumbled under my breath as I sat myself down in a seat across the table from him.

Dark chuckled.

"What did you tell her?"

Now his smile changed to the sinister one. "Nothing much, just a little something to keep pressure off of us while we...chat. Just a heads up though, you even try to hold my hand and I will rip your beating heart out of your chest."

I nodded. "Glad we're in agreement."

We stared silently at each other, my eyes peeking at him over the lid of my coffee. I had decided to go with some generic black, so the bitter feeling in my mouth passed down my throat as I swallowed a few sips.

Dark lightly slapped the table. "Enough. We should get started. I thought we needed a better opportunity to chat."

"What the **** is wrong with you?" I asked him directly.

He shifted back a little. "Wow. That's a surprise. I thought you were trying to prove yourself the good guy."

I growled and leaned toward him. "I know what you're planning to do."

He chuckled. "Jirachi, huh? Pretty crazy. You ever think about how we keep escalating things? It's almost like we're living in some kind of story. You can never get a break. That'd be too boring."

I swallowed to prevent from lashing out at him. "How do you come up with this crap that you say? I'm curious."

Dark's smile faded. "The same way you come up with your quips. We're creative, buddy."

I lifted my cup to take a drink, then decided against it. "What do you even plan to do with that power?"

He shrugged. "Get rid of you. You see, even if you die, that won't be enough. I need you to have never existed. That's the only way I can really survive, be my own person. Because as long as you're here, you are the real deal."

I barely gave a nod. "And when that's done?"

He leaned back in the chair. His fingers drummed against the table. I looked into his eyes, and it was clear for just a second that he was doubtful. Whatever it was he wanted to say, he didn't like it.

But he still did. "I suppose," he started, looking at the metal tabletop, "that I want the same thing you do. To take away all the pain you've caused. I want to create a world-no, a multiverse, where no one has to be hurt because of you or me."

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, there are a few things that might interfere. Some people who might, I dunno, screw this up. You see, you've made a lot of friends over your adventures. Powerful friends, and friends who probably wouldn't take too kindly to you being, you know, wiped from existence."

I could feel a dark wrench in my stomach. "What are you talking about?"

His eyes, a deep black in contrast with my purple, locked onto my face and held there. "I'm talking about some of the friends you've made in other worlds. Whether they be versions of our own world..." He took a drink of his coffee and wiped it off his mouth. "...or not."

"You're bluffing."

He leaned back very far now, bending a drinking straw between two fingers. "Now those five could be a problem. But, if I deal with them properly, they shouldn't be any threat at all." He held up a hand full of fingers, each one representing the lives of a bizarre group of friends I had made.

"First one'll definitely be that kid with the jetpack. He shouldn't be a problem, honestly can't even imagine how you guys relied on him so much."

I flashed back to a moment in time, a moment that, in this timeline, had never happened. Falling. Falling from the sky. And just when I thought I was dead, someone wearing a jetpack streaking down and catching me. That actually happened a couple times. I remembered that sometime I was going to have to pay him back.

"Hmm. Number two will have to be that kid with the watch. He's a big threat, but going in fast and hard should do the trick."

I could remember leaning against a wall with a 16 year old guy. He turned to me, bright green eyes filled with curiosity. "So you're absolutely positive they're not aliens?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Yes. They're called 'Pokemon', and they don't come from outer space."

He shrugged. "Dang. I was hoping to get some of the DNA in the watch." He fiddled around with the watch he wore on his left hand. A green hourglass on the face plate turned.

"Blue boy shouldn't bother me much. Resourceful, but just doesn't have the power to get it done."

He grumbled as we sat behind a wall, under heavy fire. Looking over at him, it was hard to realize he was a robot. He just looked some kid who had decided to throw on some weird battle armor. 

He thrust his fist into the ground, making the pavement crack. "Dang it. All out of ammo."

I shrugged. "You still have the lemon shooter, don't ya?"

He gave me a frown. "I'm never forgiving him for calling it that."

I leaned back against the wall and stared away from the action. "Well, I certainly don't have anything I can use in this scenario. Claws, remember?"

He looked down at his arm cannon. Then he stood tall and nodded. "Well, if the entire multiverse is on the line..."

"The last two. That other blue thing'll be a problem. He's fast, but beyond that, those emeralds will make him next to unstoppable."

The four of us stared up at the sky. High above the battle, the once blue hedgehog hovered in the air, glowing pure yellow, his quills waving in the wind. Without a word, he gave us a thumbs up and was suddenly gone. All around us was a blur of yellow, moving faster than my eyes could follow. I had a feeling while I was watching him that the few movements we could see were only because he wanted us to see him.

I clenched my fists as he stopped for another drink. I knew where he was going next.

"Then of course..." He began, "...the last one. He's really interesting. Not nearly as strong as some of you. Certainly not as fast. But there's something about him. A drive that could prove problematic."

I was in pain.

I was trapped in some kind of death ray, which wasn't entirely uncommon. But this one, unlike most, seemed to be taking its time. I felt like my body was slowly being picked apart, and when I held out a hand, that was what appeared to be happening. I could see bits of me leaving and disintegrating within a second. The pain was so unbelievable, the act of lifting the hand was just about all I could handle.

This couldn't be the way it would end. He had taken each of us so easily. We were all beaten. I was scared. I didn't want to die.

I looked ahead, and saw someone who I had never been so happy to see. His red and blue costume appeared to emit its own light under the flickering flashes from the beams that were currently vaporizing me and the others.

His mask was almost destroyed. It clung it his face on one side, leaving one eye covered and the other exposed. His brown hair stuck out from a few holes in the surface. Looking at him like this, something occurred to me. He was a superhero with the mask on. And when he took it off, he was a kid. Now, he was both. He was Spider-Man.

He was surprisingly quip-free, running towards us at high speed. It didn't take long for him to come under fire. Several more of the lasers that we were trapped in were being used against him, and he barely managed to contort his body in midair to avoid them. Landing on the ground, he performed a quick jump to the side as another beam hit the ground where he had landed. He rolled once on the ground where he landed and carried it into a jump. He perched on the wall, and quickly went on the defensive again, turning over and performing jumps on the walls.

A blast almost found its mark. Right as he came to land on a wall, he was struck in the shoulder, letting out a scream of pain as the shot seared at his skin.

He fell from the wall, landing hard on his back. Another shot was fired, and he only had enough time to barely avoid a direct hit. His leg was hit, and he stumbled as he moved back. He turned around and fired two webbing lines from his wrists. I barely looked over and saw where they hit.

It was crazy, what he was about to attempt was ridiculous. What he was attempting to move weighed several tons, and was embedded into the ground and the walls in multiple areas.

He released a scream of effort, and he pulled.

Anger brought me back to the present, and caused me to lunge forward. I took him by the shirt collar. "You wouldn't."

He seemed surprised by my assault, but he just laughed a little. "Try me."

Heat filled my body as I pushed him back. He fell backward in the chair, and I was quickly beside him again, lifting him to his feet and holding him up against the wall. "You know nothing about me. About any of these people. They are good. Hell, they're far better than I am. If you try to touch any of them, I don't care how badly you kill me, because I will find a way to make you pay."

He stared into my eyes for a few seconds. Suddenly, I felt a familiar poisonous sting in my back. I crumbled to the ground as pain like a flamethrower spread up and down my spine. Dark straightened himself up a little, and looked down at me. He motioned behind me, and I heard faint footsteps come beside him. He was joined by a black werewolf-like Pokemon, black furred with a large red mane extending back from its head. Its body shimmered, and suddenly it was replaced with the barista from earlier.

My clone threw an arm around her shoulder. "That's pretty hardcore. I would feel threatened if I wasn't already way ahead of you. This young lady is a new friend. Part of that army you so kindly lent to me. A very special Pokemon called Zoroark has the ability to cast an illusion over itself. I had a feeling you might lose it again while we were here, so I wanted some emergency protection."

I grunted. Tried to respond. Pain was shutting me down again.

He clicked his tongue. "You need to learn to control yourself, Todd. Or else someone could get hurt." I watched his shoes step away from me. "It's not time for this to end yet. You'll have to learn the consequences of your actions."

As they made their way out of the shop, I heard him begin quietly singing a song.

"You're like the burden we bear,

you love the hate that we share,

you want more,

but you'll get nothing from me,

but enemies."

---

I found myself finally back at the base, receiving treatment for my back, which had been re-shredded. This time I could hardly move my whole spine, which made returning to base impossible without help.

As it turned out, Clover had followed me. She saw that I had left, found out what direction I went, and stumbled upon the coffee shop where I laid bleeding on the ground.

Doc shook her head as she applied the last bandage. "You're too risky, Todd. You were already hurt, and yet you decide on a confrontation with him?"

I winced as I threw my shirt over my aching body. "I wanted answers."

She came over to my front side and frowned. "And did you get them?"

I swallowed. "Well, not really the ones we need."

Doc shook her head and walked out of the room.

Clover and I sat awkwardly together for a few minutes. The only sounds to be heard were the occasional whir of the computer and the hum of the cooling system. Neither filled the void of silence between the two of us. Eventually, though, Clover seemed to decide that saving me from bleeding out in a coffee shop was probably a good enough excuse to start conversation.

She leaned against one of the walls. "So how are you?"

"Not dead," was my only way to reply.

She smiled.

I lifted my neck to look up at the ceiling for a moment. "How did that, uh, talk with Doc go?"

"What?" She seemed startled.

I raised a curious eyebrow. "You know, yesterday. Doc wanted to have a talk with you."

She took a breath and nodded. "Of course. That. Well,it's...um..."

I held up a hand, one of the few actions that didn't really hurt like hell. "Forget it. If it's weird for you, forget I asked."

She gave a very casual shrug. "Well, she's my aunt, so weirdness is kind of inevitable at this point."

I blinked. Once, then twice. "What?"

Clover acted as if she hadn't just dropped an absolute bombshell. "Yeah, she apparently figured out that I was the niece she never met. Kinda weird, I guess..."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? Yeah, this is massive. Why aren't you...I dunno, a little more concerned?"

She gave me a look. "Why would I be? I mean, I finally figured out who my parents were, so...that's cool."

I was still astounded. "Well, that's...really great. But regardless, I don't think you should just blow this off, you know? This kind of thing is really...I don't think just ignoring it is going to be healthy for you."

Clover crossed her arms with a small frown. "To be honest, Todd, I don't think you're in any position to be telling me what's unhealthy."

I was a little hurt. That I knew for sure. But I also knew that there was something that hurt a lot more, and that something proved her right."

"Alright. I was out of line. I'm sorry."

Clover looked at me for a moment. The tension continued, making my back unnaturally tingle from stress. She finally broke into a small smile, and answered, "Hard to stay mad at you, Todd."

I grinned. "I'm glad."

Her smile grew a little, but quickly shrunk as she turned her head away. I rose my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Todd, I...you're such a great guy. I don't know if you know this, but you make a difference in people's lives just by being yourself. You certainly helped me deal with a weird part of my life." She swallowed. "I...I don't want there to be any kind of misunderstanding between us, so...I've kind of had a crush on you since we met."

I leaned forward in surprise, causing my back to flare up violently. I gently eased back into position. "You did, huh?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, and I don't want there to be any problems, because I know you and Taylor are in a relationship, and I don't wanna get in the way of that. But it's just...you're hard not to fall for a little."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Would you mind saying that into this? I want that on record."

"Todd, I think both of us should take this very seriously right now." She replied, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth.

I nodded and looked at her. I chewed on my lip for a second before answering, "Well, Clover, I'm glad you told me. That's big of you. When I was getting to know Taylor, I don't think I would have done that."

I looked over at a picture of the team from a little over a year ago. I had grown a lot since then. Physically and emotionally. "But there are always other people out there. I think if you look hard enough, you'll find the right person for you. Who knows, sometimes they're not very far away at all." I looked back at her, and she walked over and gave me a very gentle hug.

-Meanwhile-

The sun was approaching the top of the sky as he entered the cemetery. Light rained down on each stone,  as if putting them all on a spotlight.

It wasn't entirely uncommon for him to be here. In the weeks since his mother died, he had started showing up a lot more often. To be here during the day was unusual, though. He had always come at evening or dawn in the past. Sometimes the middle of the night.

But now his emotions were becoming more of a concern. He decided that it was better to do it in the daylight. Better to not let the darkness infect his thoughts.

Gravestones side by side. It was something he had never hoped he'd see, at least not for several more years. He had hoped, but reality didn't work that way. Now he was alone.

He didn't know why he hadn't told anyone. He probably should have. At this point, his mental state was in enough jeopardy. But he couldn't bring himself. His last talk had left him feeling better, but only for a little while. Everything was confusing for him now.

He hung his head as a few tears filled his eyes. "God...why can't I just be okay?"

He kneeled quietly for a few moments. He heard someone clearing their throat. He was startled, but tried to mask it, and quickly shoved his emotion down within.

He lifted his head to see a young girl standing about six feet away. She appeared to be maybe a year or two younger than he was, and she wore a black dress that appeared a bit strange with her hair, which had an obsidian appearance in the way it reflected the sun. She swallowed nervously, her blue eyes darting back and forth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't...mean to-"

He shook his head and stood. "No. It's not a problem."

Her face quickly turned into an odd smile. "Oh, really? Good!" Her lips parted, and he noticed large canine teeth gleaming in the light. "Then I hope you'll come with me."

He reacted quickly, his body well trained on how to respond to an immediate threat. He let go of reality, and his body dropped into the darkness of the shadows. He moved quickly out of the shadow world, appearing in the small pool created by a stone behind her. He lunged forward to attack.

An arm reached out and intercepted his punch. He turned his head to see a boy looking at him with a small toothy grin. The boy pushed his fist back, and returned fire with an immediate, very powerful blow to his head.

Adrian fell unconscious.

---

Alright, that's another part. This one was kind of weird to write, but I think it turned out okay. I hope you enjoyed it!