Seeing Logan's figure falling from the sky, Green gasped in shock, her hand flying to her mouth.

He was crashing down right beside her. For a moment, Green hesitated.

Even though Mewtwo's lingering psychic aura might keep him from dying outright, falling from such a height would still leave him gravely injured.

"Damn it—forget it! Jigglypuff, catch him!"

With no time to think, she reacted purely on instinct, hurling out a Poké Ball.

Her Jigglypuff emerged, inhaled deeply, and instantly swelled up into a huge, soft balloon.

Logan, plummeting from the sky, could no longer muster the strength to call out Gabite from its Poké Ball.

As the ground rushed up to meet him, pain already clouding his mind, he braced himself for the fatal impact — expecting bones to break, organs to rupture, blood to flood his lungs.

But instead of agony, he felt something soft beneath him.

"Is this… Jigglypuff?"

His hand pressed against the squishy cushion below, recognizing what had saved him.

Struggling to rise, a graceful figure suddenly appeared before his blurred vision.

"Green?!"

Logan's eyes widened in surprise.

He had been so focused during the fight with Mew that he'd completely missed anyone else's presence here.

Before he could say anything more, his face changed.

At Green's startled cry, he grabbed her slender wrist, pulling her down so that her body was pressed beneath him.

In the heat of the moment, Green's mind blanked.

When she finally registered what had happened, anger flared — I risked my life to save you, and now you're using this as an excuse to take advantage?!

She was just about to kick Logan off when a terrifying explosion thundered overhead.

Dust and pebbles rained down in a deadly shower.

But because Logan shielded her, none of the debris struck her.

As Logan finally shifted aside, Green saw Mewtwo hovering just a few meters away.

A shimmering Protect barrier still flickered around it, blocking the destructive force from Mew's earlier psychic blast.

Without that barrier, both of them would have been reduced to ash.

"Mewtwo… from here on, you're on your own…"

Logan panted heavily, every breath strained.

Mewtwo hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded silently before soaring back into the sky.

"Hey, are… are you alright?!"

Green finally got a good look at Logan — and what she saw made her gasp.

Blood trickled from his ears and nostrils.

His clothes were torn to shreds by falling rubble, revealing countless wounds.

His eyes had turned completely violet, his skin deathly pale, and under the surface, something seemed to writhe — veins bulging, like worms squirming beneath his flesh.

Especially his left arm: twisted, discolored, grotesque.

It pulsed as if alive, corruption creeping up toward his shoulder.

At first, she had thought the strange marks were tattoos — now she saw they were something far worse.

Grinding her teeth, Green recalled Jigglypuff and, together with Wartortle, dragged Logan into the shelter of a collapsed wall.

Seeing his eyes glazed and lips almost bloodless, she asked in a trembling voice, "…What… what happened to you?"

Moments ago, he had seemed so confident, so unstoppable — and now, he looked close to death.

"To control Mewtwo… there had to be a price,"

Logan whispered hoarsely.

It felt as if thousands of ants were crawling through his flesh, or as though burning steel needles were stabbing every inch of his body.

Apart from his mind, his whole being had become an inferno of pain.

He wanted to faint — but couldn't.

He knew that the moment the corruption reached his brain, it would be the end.

Yet even so, he marveled that he could still speak coherently.

When had he grown so stubborn?

Even death itself no longer seemed frightening.

Maybe… that was what it meant to mature.

Green understood instantly: controlling such a terrifying weapon would never come free.

But the cost… this was too high.

A single slip could mean instant death.

"What do we do now? How can I help you?" she asked urgently.

She didn't even know why she had saved him.

They weren't exactly enemies, but they weren't close either.

Not long ago, this man had used her — both body and trust — as leverage to threaten her.

Cold-blooded as she was, Green thought she should have watched him die.

But instead… she had acted on pure instinct, and saved him.

"There's no way… unless Mewtwo stops fighting and returns to its ball… the pain might ease a little. Otherwise… I can only sit here and wait to die."

Logan's trembling hand pulled out the Master Ball.

"Then call it back! Tell it to stop fighting — if this keeps up, you'll really die!"

Green's voice cracked.

She'd seen death before, many times.

So why was she so desperate now?

Maybe because, in the last ten years, this was the first person — apart from her brother — who had truly tangled with her, argued, spoken, and connected.

For a decade, she had closed herself off.

Except for 'Silver,' her brother in flight, she had barely spoken ten words to anyone else.

All her words were for lies, for survival.

Her only goal was to uncover the truth of what happened that year — maybe to find her parents, maybe Silver's too.

Beyond that… she never dared to think about the future.

What future could there be?

"No… if Mewtwo comes back now, Mew will tear us apart…"

Logan's laugh was faint, almost careless of his life.

To him, this world had always been just a game.

Even the bonds he'd formed never changed that.

"I told you before, you're free now — you should have stayed hidden. If you'd just kept quiet, Mew wouldn't even know you were here. Even if I died, you'd live. But you had to run out and reveal yourself. Now… you're stuck here with me. Guess we'll die together. Who knew you could be so stupid? If I'd known, I wouldn't have bullied you earlier. I've got no interest in bullying idiots."

His breath was ragged, pain twisting his face.

Green flushed scarlet with rage.

This bastard! Even now, he had the gall to insult her?

If it weren't for her, he'd already be crippled by that fall!

Yet he mocked his rescuer. Unbelievable!

And yet… he was right.

Why did I run out? Why didn't I just watch him die?

"Forget me, Green. Run. When Mewtwo's cells invade my brain and kill me, it will be freed. With nothing left to hold it back, it'll fight at full power. If you get far enough away, the battle won't reach you. You'll survive."

Logan's eyes hardened.

He wasn't a good person — but she had saved him.

The least he could do was give her a chance to escape.

"You're the idiot!" Green shouted, her hands clenching on his shoulders.

"You knew you couldn't defeat Mew quickly — why pick this fight at all?! You're not me — you don't know how terrifying Mew really is!"

Logan fell silent.

After a long pause, he murmured, "…It's Mewtwo's obsession. Ever since I came to this world, our bond has been inseparable. I have to help it see this through. Besides…"

He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

A truth he'd never shared with anyone.

A secret buried deep in his soul — about what he'd discovered was wrong with this world.

Maybe that was the real reason he had crossed into this universe.

Why he treated everything like a game.

Because he saw no way to fix it.

Green bit her lip hard, until it bled.

Then, her eyes blazing with resolve, she snatched the Master Ball from Logan's trembling hand and sprinted out.

"Hey—what are you doing?!"

"I'm going to bring Mewtwo back!"

"Are you insane?! You'll die!"

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T/N:

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