Author's note: this story is based on an entry to a guess-the-author competition at Forum.

Revenge

I

"We've caught it, sir."

"Good. Show it to me."

Soon Giovanni beheld the monster he had created. It lay there, seemingly at peace, enclosed in a glass case and hooked up to machinery.

"It's in a cryogenic chamber, sir. We thought it was the best way to contain it. Interestingly its psychic powers are keeping its vital organs functioning."

"Does it pose any danger?"

"No, sir, at least not in our lifetime. At that temperature, all cerebral activity is slowed many thousands of times."

"Very well, then. Well done, all of you. Keep it in the laboratory until I decide what to do with it."

II

So dark... so cold... Where am I? ... Who am I? ... Memories... they haunt me...

They approach... with useless weapons... One shoots... My barrier rises... I fight back... The fool is destroyed... But... wait... a machine... My barrier fades... I try to fight... My energy is... absorbed... Suddenly... thwunk!... I am hit... Aargh!... I am not used to pain... Consciousness fades...

I will gather... my powers... I will destroy my prison... escape... seek revenge...

III

The case shattered, spraying shards of perspex and droplets of fluid in all directions. The creature within it felt stiff and cold. He created a barrier around himself, and attacked himself with a low-powered psychic attack. The barrier absorbed the impact, converting the energy to heat. The creature stood up.

He took stock of his surroundings. He was in a dark room. It was deserted. The only light was the glow of the atomic generator that powered his now shattered prison. The only sound was his own breathing.

He extended his psychic perception to beyond the room. Outside he could sense no movement, no life, only rubble. He was buried under several metres of broken and twisted remains.

He concentrated his psychihc forces upwards. There was an explosion, and within seconds a cylindrical tunnel formed above him. He levitated out of it and went to explore.

North, south east and west... all he could find were flattened remains of civilization. Then he found a clearing. Someone had gone to the trouble of moving away some of the rubble. In the middle of the clearing he found a plaque.

IT IS NOW THE YEAR 2601. THE WORLD HAS ONCE AGAIN BEEN CAUGHT IN THE GRIP OF GREED, HATRED AND REVENGE. WE ARE AT WAR, WITH WEAPONS FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE. WE FEAR WE WILL NOT SURVIVE. OUR REGRET IS THAT THE INNOCENT VICTIMS, THE PLANTS AND POKEMON OF THIS WORLD, WILL DIE WITH US. WE LEAVE THIS MESSAGE AS A WARNING TO ANYONE WHO MAY FIND IT, NOT TO REPEAT THE CRIME WE HAVE COMMITTED.

He was taken aback. He did not expect this. He teleported systematically from place to place around the world, and in the space of a day discovered that he was alone.

Humans created him. They used him. They abused him. And now they took away his only comfort, the only recourse he had left. They took away his power to exact revenge.

He was filled with rage, but it did not last, for rage is futile when there is no-one to whom to direct it. Instantly he became depressed, for he no longer had a purpose. He despaired, for without life around him, he could not survive.

Then a thought flashed into his mind: he could still take his revenge. His very existence was a testimony to human achievement, a testimony that such a vile and horrid race did not deserve.

He wrapped himself in a psychic barrier. He attacked himself inside his barrier like he had done before, only this time with the full force of his power. He felt pain, and he was not accustomed to pain, but it was worth it.

In a matter of seconds, Mewtwo ceased to exist.