Michael The Mutant

An Experiment in Terror
The Guyana jungle grew darker and more wet along with the flash of lightning. Team Rocket has already begun testing on a specimen known only as "Mewtwo". But since they already lost one many years ago, they might need to do some research on prototyping another. Only this time... They're going to dive deep into the scientific method of Therianthropy.

Much work was put into it; the Pokémon was born of a pregnant Mew, found deep in the jungles of Guyana, whose embryo had been tampered with to alter its DNA. It was held and studied in the mansion where a scientist performed horrific gene-splicing experiments on it. Then comes the Therianthropy process. The more they put human DNA in the Mew, the more it grew into a Mewtwo, Then finally, the results were a success.

The Mewtwo grew and transformed into what looked like a teenage boy (since it was only a juvenile).

The boy lacked any normal appearance, any Team Rocket member could blandly see that something was wrong with him. His messy black hair went in every which way, and his pale, almost gray skin was brought out by luminescent lighting. His eyes where dark with shadowy rings around them. His body was so thin, you can see his rib cage through his pale skin.

His surgeries looked painful, when really he couldn't feel a thing. He never could feel a thing. That was just one of the glories about being him. One of the many challenges he had to face growing up, was growing up with the rare mutation that caused him to be completely numb towards pain. Never before had he felt himself get hurt. He could have lost an eye and felt nothing.

Michael awoke at approximately 12:25pm on a Tuesday afternoon. He looked at his hands, and his body. Then looked at his own reflection, and knew he was 100% human. Then, he could hear the Team Rocket members chatting from another room.

Michael Todd was the boy's name. He got up, crept to the door, leaned in close and listened to the chatter that reverberated from behind the door.

"God Dammit!" Phil rolls his eyes.

Jacob, with a mouth full of cold pizza, mumbles in empathy, "Wife packed ya tuna-salad again, huh."

Phil tosses the soggy sandwich down onto the table with a resounding glop.

"She knows I hate this stuff! I swear, I've almost reached my breaking point with this shit!"

"Why don't you just pack your own lunch." Caleb attempts to speak through teeth caked with salad. A drip of ranch dressing falls from Caleb's lip and collides with the table. Phil just glares at Caleb in disdain.

"You don't get it, man. I've told her, like, fifty times. 'I don't like tuna-salad', but does she listen? Nooooooo!"

Phil raises his right hand to his forehead.

"I swear, I'm up to here with this!"

The team became flustered and while in the process of trying to make yet another comment, one of the scientists removed all doubt by speaking to the members herself.

“Hey, isn't that the little, Project, you've been working on?” the young woman asked, pointing towards the front door.

The Team Rocket members looked over and saw Michael outside, driving away in one of their jeeps.

Michael drove as fast as he could through the thick jungles and woodland areas, not even stopping to see where he's going. Eventually, he crashed into a tree and had to go on foot. He walked for what felt like centuries, till he made it to a place called Pallet Town. There he started to wonder that since he is human, he could easily blend in... If he wasn't already naked.

Pallet Town was nothing new, it was like any other town. Michael wondered around a bit, trying desperately to hide from prying eyes. Till he came across Professor Oak, who notices the boy's lack of clothing.

"Um... Son, where is your clothes?" Professor Oak asked, cocking an eyebrow.

The boy didn't say anything at first, but he shook off the cobwebs and finally said, almost like a shy whisper, "I... Don't, have any."

Professor Oak then said, "Hm, must be homeless. A boy like you shouldn't be out in the cold like this. Come, I think I'll let you stay in Ash's place, I think he'll don't mind."

"Who's Ash?" Asked Michael.

"He's one of the most well know Pokémon trainers in the whole region. He and his Pokémon, Pikachu, would love to meet you."

"I... Barely even know him. Are you sure he's gonna, want, to battle me? I don't even have a Pokémon of my own."

Michael knew lying wasn't going to fix his problems, but since he used to be one of the most feared Pokémon in an existence, the only thing to do, was to lie through his teeth.

"Say, where's your parents anyhow?" Professor Oak asked.

"I... Don't have any. I'm, and orphan."

"Oh I'm terribly sorry, I'll take you to the Ketchem residents as soon as possible."

As they got there, Delia Ketchum answers and sees Professor Oak with Michael, who has a towel wrapped around him to prevent anyone from seeing his nude body.

"Oh, hi Professor." Says Delia, "I didn't expect you to be here."

"I was heading for my lab till I ran into this young man. He says that he was an orphan and needed a place to stay till he can afford a home for himself."

"What's your name?" Delia asked the boy.

"Michael Todd." Michael replied, coming out barely a whisper.

"He's a little shy. Probably hasn't been around society since he was crawling."

"Poor boy, come inside, I think Ash's clothes are upstairs to your right."

As Michael got upstairs and looked through Ash's room, he noticed his filled with Pokémon memorabilia. Michael could not believe how many Pokémon toys and cards were present, and he even found a Poké Ball. Michael began playing with it, finally taking his thoughts off of Team Rocket for once. Till he remembered that he needed clothing.

He searched through Ash's closet, and found nothing but a white and blue short-sleeved jacket with gold trim, white collar and sleeves, a dark teal T-shirt, blue jeans with light blue cuffs, black and white sneakers with red dots, green fingerless gloves with light green borders and a red and white cap with a green stylized "L".

"Your son doesn't have any new clothes!" He called down the steps.

"Just find something!" Delia called back.

Michael let out a sigh, and went back into the bedroom. He decided to wear what he found since there was nothing left for him to wear, and came downstairs to have Delia check him out; see what he looked.

"You look just like Ash." Delia said with a smile.

Michael looked in the mirror and saw the resemblance. He does look like Ash. Except for two things; his hair, and his complexion. He almost look like a sick person at a hospital, even Mr. Mime can tell by the looks of Michael that he had an unusual appearance.

Gary Oak
The next day, Michael left the house to mount his bike and explore around a bit more. As it turned out, the subdivision he moved into was rather close to the Pokémon Center. The Pokémon Centers come in a variety of different ways, ranging from very tall buildings to tiny little huts. Occasionally, they can be found out in the middle of nowhere. Every center has a Nurse Joy and a Chansey (in Unova, it is an Audino; In Kalos, it is a Wigglytuff; In Alola, it is a Blissey and a Comfey) to assist her. Pokémon Centers in the anime usually consist of a lobby, a recovery room for Pokémon in-healing to stay, an Emergency Room, a Poké Ball room, beds for weary trainers, and sometimes a cafeteria. They also have video phones and PCs, which trainers are welcome to use. All Pokémon Centers are connected in case of emergency.

Michael first met another trainer named Scott, who grew up in Castelia City before he and his dad moved to Pallet Town. Scott wanted to get a Pikachu, but Michael, didn't know what to pick. Then they brought up the topic of going to the new video store just a few blocks back.

"We’ll have to get your mom or dad to come down to the video store and open up an account so we can rent movies." Scott mentioned as Michael flipped open his new Pokédex to find that he has no Pokémon.

"Shit, you’re right." Michael snapped, feeling a bit of frustration at this thought. He knew getting his adopted mother to actually come down there and set up a membership would take forever, since Michael was new here, he didn't have enough money.

Michael glanced over at the girl applying for the job, "Maybe I can go over there and sweet talk her into giving us accounts." he joked.

"Yeah right Mike, one look at you and she’ll probably ban us." Scott remarked back, a smile broad on his face.

"You doubt me little man?"

"Doubt you? The guy who’s never touched a boob, never, please go on over and lay on all the charm."

Michael became flustered and while in the process of trying to make yet another come back, one of the trainers who has a Squirtle walked up to Michael and Scott.

"Hey, isn't that your bike?" the young man asked, pointing towards the front door.

Michael and Scott looked over and saw three boys outside, one of them was riding around in circles on Michael's bike. They would spin them around and then jump off, letting the bikes crash onto the pavement, just to stand them up and ride them again. The two boys riding the bikes were both slim in build, while a heavier boy stood on the sidewalk, drinking a soda and watching the whole spectacle.

Michael and his new friend made their way towards the doors of the Pokémon Center, when the fat kid saw them coming. Michael couldn’t hear what he said to his two friends, but he made some sort of gesture while shouting, and the other two boys dumped the bikes where they lay, and walked towards the sidewalk, directly towards the two friends.

"That your bike?" one of the boys asked as Michael and Scott entered the cold, Autumn air.

"Yeah, why are you riding it?" Scott asked sharply.

"We just saw it there man, relax, figured someone just left it out for me." the same boy responded, as his two friends joined him on either side.

Michael, determined to make a good start here, tried to change the course of this confrontation.

"Well, it's mine. We just moved here about a week ago, we live over on the Ketchem residents, a mile from here. We were just checking out the neighborhood." Michael hoped that a civil tone could turn things around, but he could tell by the insolent look on the kid’s face that this was a difficult gamble.

"Good for you, you moved somewhere." the fat kid remarked.

"Oh yeah Brian," the first boy spoke, "they moved into that piece of shit house with the gravel driveway. I was wondering who would move into that place."

"Well Gary, now we know." the big kid, apparently named Brian, replied.

Michael, still trying to salvage the conversation, tried peaceful banter one more time, only this time, he lied again. "Okay, so you’re Brian and you’re Gary, well I’m Michael and this is Scott, we just moved here from Castelia City."

Michael wasn't from Castelia City, he hasn't even gotten to know his powers yet.

"You ain’t in Castelia now." the third boy, who’d just now decided to speak, remarked.

"Yeah, and who the fuck said you could call us by our names? My dad? That's not good business my friend." Gary asked, that insolent, privileged smile never leaving his face.

Michael responded to Gary, "Well, I guess I could have called you a fucking asshole but I figured I would give you the benefit of the doubt."

In that moment, a look of seriousness replaced the smirk that had rested on Gary’s face throughout this entire exchange. The other two boys, Brian and the still unknown third member of his band, seemed to be momentarily struck silent. Perhaps they weren’t used to being stood up to.

"Oh I’m sorry, was that language too adult for you?" Michael asked. "And you, quiet boy, we know this isn’t Castelia," Michael stated to the slim kid that had reminded him of his geographical locations, "because if this was Castelia you three would already have gotten your asses kicked for touching someone else’s shit."

The slim kid looked back and forth at his two friends, however, Gary, clearly the ringleader, seemed to know what to say. "Jake, you gonna let this little bitch talk to you like that?"

"Oh, ho ho! No siree Bob!" Jake said, wanting so badly to sock Michael in the jaw.

Michael knew this part. And while he wanted quite badly to knock Gary and his pals around, a real concern suddenly invaded his mind. If he and Scott got into a fight on their first week in this new neighborhood, their parents would freak. He could practically hear it now from Delia. And while things had been far from perfect in their homes, even after the move, there was a peace that had fallen over the families, and Michael, fighting his urges, decided to do his best to keep it.

Michael looked over the three, very well dressed, very privileged looking suburban kids before them, and dismissed them. "You guys are boring, come on Scott, let them continue their play dates without us."

Scott laughed at that and followed behind his friend towards their bikes. However, Gary and his little gang of would-be toughs would have none of that. They moved to block Michael and his friend once again.

"Wait, hold on. You just going to walk away, like that?" Gary asked, shoving Michael, "Our little game had just begun." Michael could tell that shove had no real conviction. Gary was trying to figure him out, seeing where his buttons were. He’d push harder eventually, but Michael swallowed the slowly building anger within him once more.

Scott took a bit more exception to the shove.

"We'd rather be at the Laughing Factory than to be your goofy clown foils."

As the words left Scott’s mouth, Gary appeared to only register a small portion of it all. Gary Oak is Ash's rival. He first left Pallet Town and wanted to become a Pokémon Master before Ash did. In the beginning, Gary claimed to be the best of the best and had the typical smug attitude, known by having fangirls and a fanclub to go along, but, as the anime moved forward, he became less prideful and arrogant than that of his earlier appearances in the anime.

Later over the years, while Gary still retains his somewhat arrogant attitude, he's a much kinder and friendlier person and is considerably more polite and respectful to other trainers.

In fact, Gary, the target of the insult, just stood there. It was actually Brian, the fat kid who stepped forward, fist balled and a smug look on his face.

"Clowns eh?" He asked, "Well here, let me help you with your makeup." He then took a wild swing at Scott.

Scott, who was both in better shape and had sparred a time or two during his time spent boxing, was able to avoid the punch, but just barely. Had that been all, it may have once again ended there. Brian was clearly taken by surprise at Scott’s speed, and actually didn’t attempt another punch. However, these were bullies, kids that ran in a pack for a reason. The skinny one, Jake, stepped around and threw a punch that connected with the left side of Scott’s face.

Michael had seen enough. He’d been shocked at how quickly this evolved into blows, even though he’d expected it from almost the start. When he’d first met Gary and his friends, he’d been curious. From there he’d developed an annoyance with them, and slowly that annoyance had evolved into anger. However, upon seeing Scott punched, seeing the small trickle of blood form on his brother’s lower lip, upon seeing the smug look of satisfaction on Jake’s face, that anger that Michael felt, suddenly exploded into a rage that he’d never felt before in his life.

Try as they might, Scott, Gary and his goons can’t fully describe what happened next. Somehow, what Michael said to the three is still etched in their soul; they hear each syllable clearly. Yet they can not manage to get it down on paper. A deep guttural voice, weary but full of malice. It was as if the voice were coming out of the ground, from a distant, moss-eaten sepulcher. What the voice said they couldn’t understand, but it filled Gary and his friends with inescapable, crushing dread. It was both completely alien to them, and yet at the same time instantly recognizable, as if Gary had known that voice since birth. Michael's eyes turned from blue to crimson red, eyes that seemed to burn straight through Gary. He spread his arms forward and fired purple auras of light at the three bullies which exploded like grenades inches from their feet. In that moment, Gary and his would-be toughs was running for dear life, leaving Scott standing there, quaking as if his spine had turned to jelly.

"Michael... How did you...?" That's all he could ever say, before looking over to Professor Oak, who was dumfounded by Michael's bizarre abilities. Michael sees Oak and his eyes returned to normal, knowing that he is now standing on thin ice.

"Where did you get this amazing power?" He asked. Michael then couldn't hold his tongue, and explained about where he originated, and how he was just a simple Mew before being developed into a human being by Team Rocket. When Michael said the name, "Team Rocket", Professor Oak considered this for a second, before asking Michael to step inside his lab immediately.

The Truth Revealed
Michael was shirtless and strapped into a table with tubes on his body, just like when he was in that tube as a Mewtwo. Professor Oak and Nurse Joy watched as they tried to figure out if Michael really is a Mew in human form. And to their shock, he wasn't just a Mew. He was a Mewtwo. Professor Oak entered the lab and broke the news to Michael.

"Thank you for alerting us to this extremely serious matter. You did the right thing. But hundreds of people are in grave danger. I would ask you to keep yourself locked within one of our cells, before someone gets hurt."

"But how would I hurt someone? I just met Scott who I'm best friends with, and…" "Michael, you have the chance to save a soul. Mews or Mewtwos are not common around the Kanto region." Replied Nurse Joy.

After Michael left for home, a more promising solution, however, presented itself later that night.

Around 12:00am, the phone rang. Michael answered, but he felt his stomach turn and his heart race when he heard the voice at the other end. It was the deep, stony baritone – somewhat more cheerful than the Michael’s nocturnal chant earlier that day, but with unmistakable menace. Michael tried to answer, but only choked when he tried to form words.

"Michael? Are you there?"

"Ye… Yes, that’s me." Michael replied, regaining his composure.

"You’re a Mewtwo, is that right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Oh good. Ash just phoned from Joule Town. He wants me to meet you face-to-face. Can I meet you at your place? 4pm?"

"Uhm, yes, of course. See you tomorrow at 4."

Michael hung up the phone. He didn't know what to think of it, could it be another Mewtwo on the other end of the phone? Either way, it did sound convincing to Michael.

After three more days passed. Michael was to be locked in his cell, chained to a wall and bound in a straightjacket. The oxygen was indeed airtight and suffocating. The reason he is even alive right now, was the amount of water bottles and food they gave him. On the morning of the 14th day, the researchers at the Pokémon center did something that they too was skeptical to do, they would enter the cell and see what he looked like.

They announced: "We are opening the chamber to test the microphones; step away from the door. Compliance will result in your freedom."

To their surprise, they heard a single phrase in a voice as flat as that on an answering machine: "I no longer want to be free." They looked over to where the voice had came from, and gasped at what they saw. Michael was un recouldnizable; he didn't even resemble a human, he looked more Pokémon than any normal human being. His head resembled that of a Mewtwo with messy black hair, his limbs were grossly out of proportion, causing his arms to almost tear out of the straightjacket, his legs were bent and bipedal, ripping through his jeans and shoes till his clothes weren't wearable anymore. He just sat there, still chained to the wall by his right ankle. Undergoing a hellish transformation.

The next day came. A monstrous summer storm had gathered, and the Pallet Town sky was dyed dark green by the sapphire sun. Rain thrashed the windows and cried miserably as it slid into the gutters. It was a Thursday, so researchers were still keeping Michael locked in the chamber. This was bad timing, as Professor Oak didn’t want anything bad to happen. He looked anxiously at his watch – 10 to four. Researchers shivered. One part of Oak wanted to just let him go – don’t mention anything about the odd incantation. After all, why should he believe anything Michael told him? He knew what I was going to do… but then they heard this... strange music.

It sounded like "Who's Your Little Who-Zis" by Ben Selvin. As cheerful and happy the song sounded, it was both unnerving and bone-chilling. Then they heard the voice of a woman: "Go, out goes he." Professor Oak recognized that; it was from an old black and white movie he had watched that evening. Slightly apprehensive, he adjusted the volume slightly, and held the security cameras to Michael's chamber. Michael cocked his head to one side, looked at Oak questioningly, and began his dark recital. Oak shuddered as he heard the deep voice, relayed by such an innocuous form and yet carrying behind him all the malice of Hell. Michael's eyes began to glow red, and his body started to morph and contort into an inhuman shape. Professor Oak felt his heart leap into his throat. Every fiber in his body wanted to scream and run out of the Pokémon Center.

As Michael began to transform back into a Mewtwo, one of the researchers immediately drew his gun and shot the machine keeping the security cameras on, then turned the gun on glass window as well, almost hitting Michael.

He pointed his gun at Michael as he entered the chamber, and the members of the medical and research team fled the room. "What the hell are you doing?! You'll kill us all!" Oak demanded. "I cannot let this thing live! It'll kill us all, not me! I have to do it, for all of Pallet town!" The researcher said.

He opens the door and enters the cell with Michael, almost done with his metamorphosis. The air in the cell was cold, and the lights were already flickering on and off. "Is... Is this what you want...?!" He asked the creature, "You want to be free...!"

Michael said nothing, just for a moment. Then he said, in a ghastly grim voice. "CoMe ClOsEr…" The researcher did not hesitate, he walked slowly closer to the thing, he asked for him to come closer twice, then a third, then the researcher was enough to be next to the thing. The researcher knelt down, and Michael grabs the man's hand, indicating that he already tore through his straightjacket. He slowly puts the gun to his own head, still grabbing the man's hand, smiling.

"Go AhEaD, pUlL tHe TrIgGeR… It'Ll Do YoU nO gOoD…"

"Don't do it!" Professor Oak pleaded, "He's playing mind games, do you understand?!"

there was a long pause. Everything fell dead silent. The researcher clinched his eyes tightly, and... dropped the weapon.

"I can't... I... I can't.... I just can't do it... I'm- I'm sorry Professor... He just got to me... That's al- I'm sorry."

Suddenly, they both heard the chains break and Michael grabbed the gun, and fired four shots to the researcher's abdomen, rendering him into shock.

"Michael, stop, you don't need to do this! We can help you!" Professor Oak said, but Michael didn't listen to him, he continued to rip the researcher apart. "Michael please! It's over, we need to continue the process! Just please understand! …We can send you home... Pallet Town deserves to live in paradise." Michael growled low, fangs showing.

"You don't deserve paradise… none of you do…" He knelt down, puts the gun on the researcher's body. "Burn in Hell. ALL, of you." Professor Oak watched as he blew the roof off of the Pokémon Center, and fly off into the night.

Mewtwo
Michael flew to the Lapidarian Highlands, and saw the very thing responsible for the strange phone call. Mewtwo.

"You’ve finally come. There were times that I doubted if you’d make it, but you’ve arrived where you belong." the psychic Pokémon said.

"You are to be commended. The Other focused the brunt of his assault on you, but you didn’t fall and you didn’t break. I was wise to choose you as my son."

"This... this is unreal." Michael struggled to speak, "What are you?"

"I am Mewtwo. Listen, and heed my words, son, there is a lot to explain."

"Why have I not heard from you? Pallet Town was hell, did you not see what they did to me?"

He nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, I received my fair share of derogatory experiments too. I really did make it all clear, didn’t I?"

"You?" Michael asked him.

"Yes? Don’t you-" he smiled, "Ah forgive me. I already said that you might still be somewhat shaken and confused from your own revelations. I was not expecting you until tomorrow."

"You... you had all those experiments too? Those experiments? You had them?!"

"Well, I don’t think they were exactly the same. I saw some very personal things and I’m sure the others did too. We rarely talk about them, but I feel that they contained the same message overall." he hesitated and he looked as if he was trying to muster his courage. Was he afraid of him?

"Would you mind if I asked about their experiments?"

"What?"

"My apologies I never meant to offend you." he said quickly, "It is just that, that... well you’re just like me, right?"

Michael was dazed. Why him? He explained the awe they regarded Michael with, but left him in the dark otherwise.

"...No... No... I... Th-this can't be real...! B-but... What if... This, could be my chance... To do something good, for once. My life has been nothing but hate-after-hate, sorrow-after-sorrow. But now... I could let it all go. Set myself free. No more blood. No more death. No more madness... In echoing silence, gone forever. I... Will..."

Michael stopped.

"I know you've been through a lot. But if you want to be free from all the trouble the earth has in store for you. Join me. We can leave this barren waist land together."

Mewtwo held out one, out-stretched hand.

Michael paused for a moment, then thought. And decided to hold Mewtwo's hand.

With that, Mewtwo took Michael to his lair, where Michael learns about all the Pokémon of the world.

A year later, Professor Oak is watching the news when the anchorman talks about Michael's latest whereabouts.

"We have breaking news! Last night there has been a reported murder of 4 individuals. There are no suspects yet but the victims where a group of Pokémon trainers who had been out late last night. The trainers had been attacked by what looked like a Mewtwo. The investigators had discovered blood of the psychic Pokémon on the concrete, as you can see here." The pictured changed to show snap shots of the blood exactly as it was left on the crime scene.

"Investigators had pulled the name of a possible suspect, Michael Todd, a 17 year old boy who a few weeks ago had been revealed to be half-human half-Mewtwo hybrid by Professor Oak. Although they had believed the young boy had died in the explosion, investigators suspect that Michael may still be alive, due to the fact that his body was never found."