Fate's Mission
by Lord Kadabra

Note:  I neither own Pokemon nor claim to.  In addition, the concepts of the controllers of natural forces 
comes from a series by Piers Anthony called the Incarnations Of Immortality, which I also do not own but 
am using for several purposes.  Otherwise, the story is mine.  Thank you.

***
Part III: Challenge of a LIfetime
***
	Ash flew to the side, dodging behind a pile of rocks while covering his eyes.  A basilisk!  Its gaze 
could kill him, so he had to be careful.  How could he get past this?  He reached for one of the straws, but 
thought better of it.  If he couldn't survive the first, he didn't deserve to continue.  Ash thought.  How?  
And an image of his race on Ponyta came to him.  Weezing had blinded Pikachu with a Sludge attack.  
So...
	"Muk, go!" he cried, releasing the Pokemon (Yes, he is allowed to use his Pokemon in the maze).  
"Muk, blind the basilisk with a sludge attack, but don't meet its gaze."
	"Muk," the pile of toxic waste said happily, flinging a spurt of sludge at the eyes of the reptile, 
who screeched in pain when it lost its precious weapon.  Ash hurried past, recalling Muk and stopping 
when he saw three exits.  He stepped up to the leftmost one.  A plaque lay to the side.  It read,
	
	"Ye who used his strength to destroy reptilian beast,
	"This entrance you will take, this challenge was your least."  

Ash frowned at this.
	"Well, I didn't kill it, so I guess I can't use this door."  He proceded to the next, where it read,

	"The speed you used to avoid the monster will be tried and tested more,
	"You must be very quick on your feet when you pass through this door."

  Ash moved on, and saw a faded plaque.

	"Your mind you used to avoid its gaze, so freedom you have bought,
	"To pass the challenges behind this door, you will test your range of thought."

Ash groaned.
	"This isn't going to be easy, Pikachu," he murmured, the little rodent bouncing onto his head 
from the ground.  His only response was a worried "Chu..." from his best friend.
***
	"I can't believe this," Ash snapped, staring at the wall.  A picture sat there, of an 8x8 grid, each 
square containing a different Pokemon.  An inscription lay beside it.

	"Three and only three tiles you will touch,
	"If more the pain you will receive will be very much;
	"Larger than the rodent spiked, but shorter than the shrew,
	"You would not want its hood to drape over you."
	"Smoke means fire, or so they say,
	"But here you cannot be sure;
	"This being, poison you it may,
	"And its breathing is not pure."
	"The notes are sweet, the melody
	"Ranks there with the hymns;
	"But angelic song danger shows
	"For with it, sleep brims."

	"Hoods, and rats, and poison, what does this mean?" Ash demanded of no one in particular.  
Pikachu frowned, and suddenly brightened.
	"Chu pika!" he said, lying on the ground and wiggling around.  Ash looked down, and smiled.
	"A snake!  And Ekans doesn't have a hood, so..." He found the picture of an Arbok, and pressed 
it.  It glowed red, and vanished.  "All right!  Smoke not meaning fire?  What could that mean?  Hey, I 
know, Charmander have smoke coming from them when they're not fighting, so..."  He pressed a 
pictogram of a Charmander, and the image vanished.  "And this one?  Angelic song?  Sleep?  What in 
the-"  His face brightened, and Ash pressed a picture of a pink, spherical Pokemon.  "Jigglypuff!"  As he 
said this, a door opened to a huge room made up of 64 stone tiles.  61 of them dropped, leaving three, 
each which carried an image of one of the Pokemon he had chosen.  He jumped carefully to the first, an 
image of an Arbok.  Then, after making sure Pikachu was still with him, he leapt to the next, an image of 
a Charmander.  The moment his feet touched it, the stone crumbled and fell into the distant void.
	"Aahh!" Ash yelled, searching for purchase.  "Help!"  His hand touched one of the small straws, 
and he pulled it out.  It glowed, and vanished.  Ash found himself standing on the next platform, the one 
with the image of a Jigglypuff.  Luckily, it didn't collapse.  Ash looked around wildly.  "Pikachu?  
Where'd you go?"  He felt his stomach sinking, confirmed when a faint "PIKAAA!" hit his ears.  Without 
thinking, he grabbed another straw, and in an instant, Pikachu was sitting on the platform with him.
	"Pika-Pi!" he shouted, jumping into Ash's arms.
	"Glad to see you, pal," Ash said quietly.  "NOw, let's try to get on solid ground.  With a quick 
leap, he landed on the far end of the room and hurried into the next chamber.
***
	"Fool," the man in red said, clenching his left hand.  "Doesn't he know that he's wasted one of his 
lifelines to save that rodent?"  The woman seated next to him, dressed in green, glared at him.
	"Satan, you might not be able to understand that, but he loves that Pikachu almost as much as his 
own life.  I can certainly say that he's not going to Hell when he loses with morals like that."  A man 
sitting on her other side, resembling a skeleton in a cloak, responded,
	"His soul is as pure as the Lady Goddess'.  Now, we must continue watching, Gaea."  The 
Incarnations turned their attention to Ash's newest challenge.
***
	"Angelic song..." Ash began, hearing only the hint of the melody that soon would become too 
loud to fight.  This chamber held three Pokemon; an Arbok, a Jigglypuff, and a Weezing.  He was in the 
most danger from the song of Jigglypuff, for it would make him vulnerable.  "Damn it, listen, I need a 
Pokeflute," he said, pulling another straw from his pocket.  39 left.
***
	"He's doing well," Jesse said quietly to Misty.  The girl snapped around to glare at the former 
Rocket.
	"Jesse, don't you understand, that this is a terrible position.  If he wins, we all die, and if he loses, 
he dies.  I hate it, and I just want whatever is right to happen."  
***
	Five straws left, and he was in the last room.  It wasn't too bad, but Ash knew the worst would 
have been saved for last.  There was a stage resting at the far end of the chamber, and two statues of 
strange men stood aside two wooden chests, their heads lowered.  He was about to step forward, when his 
Pokedex fell from his pocket.  It pointed at the statue, and a picture popped up.
	"Gorgon, the stone-cutter Pokemon.  Its deadly gaze can change its enemies to stone, and is its 
only weapon."  Ash stared at this.  He slid quietly towards the statue.  But when he reached the steps to 
the stage, the staues raised their heads as one.  
	"Gor-gon," they moaned.  Ash leapt aside, not noticing three of his remaining straws fall from 
his pocket.  He ducked behind a piece of rubble, and peeked over as the Gorgon opened their eyes.  They 
glanced about wildly, one nearly meeting Ash's gaze, but blocked by a sudden collapse of dust from the 
ceiling.  Ash sat thinking.
	"What can I-mirror!  Listen, I want a mirror!" he said, pulling out a straw from his pocket.  It 
glowed, and a mirror appeared before him.
	"Pika!" Pikachu said, sniffing at the mirror.  Something jogged it, and it shattered.  The Gorgon 
snapped to attention, glaring hard at the rubble, which shattered at their gazes.  Ash dashed away, and 
watched as the stares changed the mirror shards to stone.  Ash again reached to his pocket, and felt his 
last straw.
	"Huh?  Oh, great.  Just give me a mirror," he moaned.  A mirror appeared, and he grabbed it, 
holding it before him.  He stepped out, and walked into plain view.  He heard the stone necks of the 
Gorgon turn to stare at the glass, which reflected the gazes onto their owners.  With a cry of triumph, Ash 
threw the mirror aside, hurrying to the chests.  Between them was an inscription.

	"The final challenge you have reached, Ash, and so you reach a decision.  The correct chest will 
allow you to live, but the world will end in a few days.  The other chest will give you death, but the world, 
all worlds, will be spared from destruction.  Use a straw to gain the truth about this challenge, but be sure 
to make the right choice."

Ash stared at it.
	"This is so weird.  The correct chest, how should I know which one THAT is?"  As he did this, 
he waved his hand in front of his eyes, and froze.  "Correct, means right, so the right chest gives life, and 
the left death.  But, the truth of the puzzle..."  He stared at the wall, thinking.  "Truth, aargh, I wish I had 
just one straw left!  It's such a Catch-22, or, hey, that's not the right term, but..."  He snapped his fingers.  
"A slip of the tongue was all it took, Pikachu.  A catch-22, that's the answer!  Pikachu," he began, looking 
at his best friend, "Know that I love you, you're my best friend.  And make sure, that Misty knows I love 
her too, that I wish things had been different."  He walked over, and pulled open the left chest.  With a 
sigh, he slipped into a deathly sleep, a smile playing across his face.  "Good-bye, Pikachu..."
***
	"NO!" Misty screamed, staring at the view of the maze, where Ash lay slumped against the chest, 
Pikachu angrily shocked the room.  "Ash...It wasn't supposed to be this way.  No."  She smiled, and 
removed a small knife she had kept for her protection.  "So long Jesse, James."  The two ex-Rockets 
turned their heads to see her stabbing herself in the chest, calmly, quietly.  "Take care of Togepi, 
Meowth," she gasped, moments before she breathed her last.
***
	Ash looked at himself, at his surroundings.  It looked like an empty casino, with slots and poker 
tables and roulette wheels.  And a woman dressed in red was sitting next to him at the bar.
	"Hello, Ash," she said sadly.  "I had hoped that this didn't have to happen, but it couldn't be 
helped.  THEY believed that it would help, but your death, Ash, was only the beginning, the first soul to 
travel.  It was complicated, but they did not realize that they had needed more time, that killing you 
moments before Armageddon began wouldn't bring about a miracle.  It's too late, and so you have died in 
vain."  Ash looked at her.
	"Then it was a Catch-22?  I couldn't win?  And who are you?"
	"Ash, I am the Lady, the most feared and revered woman of all time, well, second-most revered, 
since recently.  I am the Lady Luck, and I have tried to protect you, in the hopes that I could save you and 
the world.  And that challenge was unwinnable.  If you had chosen life, you would have lost the maze.  
But because you chose death, you went to the grave with a soul a little cleaner than before.  It was not 
lose-lose, but it was a trick.  But Ash, be happy that you did your best."
***
	It had existed since the beginning of time, and had never been defeated.  It had existed for one 
purpose, and it was approaching now.  It was known as the bad-luck Pokemon, and it didn't care.  It arose 
from its hideaway, and grinned.  It was fulfilling its purpose, so it was happy.  And it spoke the one 
English word that it knew, the word that brought about the end of the world.
	"Apocolypse..."  Its purpose was finished, as it felt the power building.  It alone knew the truth of 
this matter, and it was damned if it would tell it to anyone else.  Death spread from it, radiating 
throughout the world, and similar things happened in worlds across the galaxy, and even other universes.  
Everything was ending.
***
	Imagine, if you will, an 18-wheeler bearing down upon a child.  Now, imagine that the driver of 
the truck knows that he will hit the child unless he hits the breaks, and he knows this five miles ahead of 
time.  Then imagine that he doesn't hit the brakes until he is a few meters away from the child.  This is 
why the world was ending.  The truck was too close.  It was slowing, but the end of the world had too 
much momentum...
***
	She had drifted, felt her soul wafting through the universe, and she had felt the pull, the pull of 
the one person who had not been at the challenge, the one person who could help her, the Incarnation of 
good, the Lady Goddess Herself.  She arrived, at the place past heaven, past earth.  She had the 
impression of zooming out on the universe, and she saw it.  The stars and galaxies took an image, the 
form of a careworn woman, resting on an eternal throne, watching and caring for her children.
	"Goddess, I have come to ask You a favor!" Misty said.  The woman turned her vast attention to 
the one mortal before her.  "The world is ending, and I want to know if You can stop it?  Goddess, my 
only true love gave his life to save the world, and I do not want it to be in vain."  But she saw the Woman 
shake her head, sadly.  She could not halt the end of the world.  That was not within Her power.  Even 
now, She felt the fabric of the universe falling apart, slowly disintegrating.  She could not stop this, as the 
Apocalypse was controlled by the one power stronger than Herself: Chaos.
	"But you have to do something!  Can't you give us a second chance?  Give us a chance to make 
things better, so this won't happen again?"  The woman stared at this girl.  She knew what She could do.  
She gave Misty a slow, deliberate wink, and Misty, and everyone everywhere felt the world CHANGE.
***
	Continued in the conclusion...Tabula Rasa OR The Epilogue!