The Mysterious Egg

In an infinite void where the death of stars and the birth of a new one interlapse with each other, where supernovas happened every minute, a square box floated aimlessly as if it was the center of the universe.

However, there was nothing magical about it. If someone could see it, they would've recognized that it was a square room, a simple one, and taken out of a house. It was as if someone tore this room off the house and cast it away into this endless space.

Inside this room, everything was neatly placed. The bed, the computer, the rows of movies and games stacked on the wall, the old poster of famous horror games and superhero movies. It was a room full of nerds' fantasies.

And currently, a woman was sitting on her knees while stroking the head of a sleeping boy lovingly. Her gaze was very soft. She was looking at him, trying to save every inch of his face into her memory, never looking away even for a second.

The boy squirmed in his sleep. For once, he felt very comfortable and safe.

"I miss you," said the boy.

His eyes were teary, but the woman wiped it off as to not leave a single blemish on the boy's face. Not that it could in the first place.

"I know..." said the woman. "But I will always be by your side, watching you, cheering you, protecting you. So, Edward... for now... just rest, and don't think about anything. Just rest... and sleep."

And slowly, the boy opened his eyes.

======

The sound of knife chopping vegetables was the first thing he heard before opening his eyes. He saw the bright sun shining on the other side of the window and heard the chirping of the morning bird.

He immediately tried to feel the pillow he was sleeping on, trying to remember something about it.

'Is it just a dream?' thought Edward. The warm pillow soothed his heart as if it was cheering on him to do better today.

Harvey, who was making breakfast for them noticed that Edward was already awake, sitting on the bed. He teasingly said, "Good morning, big brother Edward. Do you have a sweet dream?"

"Ha ha, funny," replied Edward, curtly.

As Harvey resumed his cooking, Edward glanced at his trenchcoat, neatly folded on the chair next to her bed. It occasionally produced a glimmer of light in various colors. However, he was the only one that could see those mystical lights. He then opened the item description for the trenchcoat.

======

13 Hours Ago.

Seeing the sky completely painted with darkness and stars, Edward decided that it was time for them to go home.

"Let's go, May. We can't let grandpa Barney worry anymore," said Edward while offering to hold her hand. But May seemed to be distracted by something.

Suddenly, while pointing at Edward's waist, May asked, "Uhh, big brother Edward. What's that?"

Edward was flustered because he thought that May was pointing at his little brother. He thought of everything that can be used as an answer, but nothing good came to his mind.

"It asked me if I can hear him or not," added May, returning Edward's composure.

However, a new question arrived. 'If it was not my d— I mean... that part. Then who was she speaking with? Wait... she can speak with animals, that means...'

Edward then proceeded to take out the silver and golden egg he got after completing the Quest in Raccoon City. It has been two years since he first got his hands on it, but up until now, he couldn't uncover a single clue at all. Even the other item, the scribbled map, was of no use to him.

Looking at the shiny egg, May's face brightened as she nodded excitedly. She could hear the voice much clearer now and started to communicate with it, telepathically. Edward didn't know what the two were talking about, but looking at May's smile, he felt hopeful.

A moment later, May's eyes moved from the egg to Edward. She then said, "Big brother Edward. It wants to speak with you."

'It...?' wondered, Edward. He then asked back, "How can I speak with it?"

After moving his eyes to the egg, and back to Edward, she said, "Something was blocking the connection between you and it. It couldn't pierce through the wall and was forced to stay dormant for two years without any clue on how to communicate."

'Ehh!? Is it because the system built a firewall around my mind?' thought Edward.

He turned around and whispered toward the air, "Regina, are you there?"

[Yes, Sir. I'm here.]

"That firewall thing, did the system just backfired on me?" asked Edward.

Regina then proceeds to explain, [You are probably correct, Sir. Much apologies. While the feature you called firewall could block any mind interference, it couldn't detect or report if something was trying to pierce through the wall.]

"So, the wall couldn't differentiate between allies and enemies?"

[Yes, Sir.]

"Is there any solutions? This can't go on for too long. What if I had a subordinate or ally that wants to communicate with me telepathically like this?"

[The only answer I could provide now was to shut down this feature, but I suggest not to do it since we don't know how many people had mind related abilities.]

'Well, that's true. There were already so many mutants with various abilities, and now, adding the endless possibilities of another appearance of a multi-verse inside this fucked up universe, made it a much desirable card to have.' thought Edward.

[Well, there's another way, Sir. But it would take so long, probably years if no Main Quest came at all.] said, Regina.

Without even hearing the next words from Regina, Edward already knew what she meant by that. He said, "Do you have any idea on what ability is coming next after my stats rose?"

[I can't tell you what it will be, Sir. But I can assure you that increasing the INT stats will help you in resolving this problem.]

While it sounded tempting, he didn't really want to increase the INT stats for now. He had been pondering on which stats to focus on, and his choice lasted on the first two stats, Strength and Dexterity. What he needed now was high speed, power, and accuracy.

Now that Regina suggested increasing the INT instead of the two, he reconsidered his plan in powering up through the stats. INT stats was the main power supply for his abilities. It boosted the duration for his power, the power, the fuel, everything, including the improvement of his mind and brain.

"Status," whispered Edward.

A blue vertical rectangle box appeared in front of him.

<Mental Power (MP) - 510/510

<Special Ability:

Unranked: Reinforced Body, Permanent Reinforcement, Personal Assistant.

S-Ranked: Stealth, Radar Sense.

A-Ranked: Eagle Eye, Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Regeneration, FlowMotion, Toxin and Disease Immunity, Durability Negation, Photographic Reflexes, Physical & Matter Movement Prediction.>

<Knowledge Mastery:

Advanced: English Linguistic, Japanese Linguistic, French Linguistic, Sign Language, Art of Breathing, Art of Movement.

Intermediate: Firearms, Systema, Vale Tudo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Self-Defense, Battle Tactics, Thievery, Disguise, Sharpshooting, Archery, Swordsmanship, Knife, Throwing Weapons, Stealth.

Basic: Cooking, Sharp Tongue, Herbology, Engineering.

Except for the Knowledge Masteries, there was not much of a change in the other parts of the character status. Thankfully, he had been saving the stat points, preparing for the next Main Quest. If he assigned them all before knowing what was coming next, he might have screwed himself and delay the times even more.

The Knowledge Masteries was where Edward could experiments. There were a few Masteries that have reached Advance level. However, his combat mastery couldn't be leveled up. Even after having Photographic Reflexes, which allowed him to copy the movement of others in finer details, he still has a problem in raising them up. Probably, it was because the standard of the people he copied was far too lacking.

'I have 25 unused stat points. According to Regina, if I want to reach the next breakthrough, I need to get 25 more points. That means, I need to level up five more times.' thought Edward.

"Big brother Edward..." called May.

'But, I need to get involved in another Main Quest if I want to raise them up. According to the knowledge I had for the game and movies so far, the closest event would be from the X-Men franchises which would take place in 2003.' thought Edward, not realizing that May was calling for him.

"Big brother Eeeeeddd...." called May one more time while tugging on his shirt.

After he felt the tugging on his clothes, Edward looked down only to see May pouting on him. He then said, "Ahh... did I ignore you? I'm sorry, May."

He ruffled the top of May's head while looking apologetically.

"Mm..." nodded May. She then pointed at the Silver Egg while saying, "It wants you to give it a name."

"A name? But it hasn't even been born yet, why should I gave him a name?" asked Edward.

"It said, it didn't matter. As long as you give it a name, it will strive to become what you want it to be?"

'How does that work? If I give him a feminine name, would it be a girl? Would it also work the other way around? Would it even be a human? Or maybe some other kind of animals?' pondered Edward.

Instead of having the answer, there was more question that needed to be asked. He didn't think it would be like this.

[Why don't you just give it a name, Sir. Anything comes to mind?]

Edward turned around one more time, making May sulking again. He whispered, "What name should I give it? You know I'm not good with giving name. I even almost called myself xXx.Pu55y_5L4y3R_69.xXx."

He kept squirming whenever he thought about it. Imagine having passing pedestrians noticing him while saying, "Is that a bird? Is that a plane? No, it's xXx.Pu55y_5L4y3R_69.xXx."

"..."

[...]

Looking at Edward who was deeply thinking, Regina then gave him a suggestion.

[if you can't make up some name, why not give it an already existing name? You should've known a lot of better names than... whatever you were thinking now.]

"Hey... you don't need to say it out loud. And stop reading my mind." protested Edward, putting behind the name he came up with, like Gangstaa.420, or McLovin.

Edward then gave it some more thought. There were a lot of names that he could use, there's Bahamut from Final Fantasy, Kurama from Naruto, Amaterasu from Ōkami, and many more. There were so many choices, enough to give Edward a hard time picking.

However, if someone would ask him, to chose which one of them that was the strongest and the most favorable of them all then the answer would be simple.

"From now on, your name would be..." said Edward, turning his eyes toward the Egg on his hands.

"Arceus."

The one and only, the original creature, and the God of all Pokemons. However, that was not why he picked that name.

"It really sounds cool when it came out of my mouth," muttered Edward while thinking about the cool stuff he would do when the egg hatches. For example, he could finally shout, "I choose you, Arceus!", while throwing a red and white ball.

As if confirming his decision, a blue bar appeared with only the word yes and no written on a button each, side by side. The other sentences were covered with the '??????' mark. After he touched the 'Yes' button, it happened.

The Silver Egg shone brightly, the golden embroidery came alive spinning all around him and May. May panicked as the wind was getting stronger, the wave of the sea started rumbling as if the God of the Sea was raging. The cloud circles on top of them while a storm was coming from afar, threatening any living being where it would pass through.

"Big brother Edward! What happened?" yelled May while clinging on Edward.

However, Edward couldn't answer her because he himself was confused about what was going on. May might have not seen it, but all around Edward hundreds, if not, thousands of red notification bars appeared, encircling him, counting down to destruction.

<Danger! An Unregistered entity is disrupting the world's time and space. The world will collapse in 10 seconds.>

<Danger! An Unregistered entity is disrupting the world's time and space. The world will collapse in 9 seconds.>

...

It was then, at the last second, Regina yelled inside his head, [Edward! Cast the egg away! Put it in your inventory!]

Snapping out of his thought, Edward immediately shoves the Egg back into the inventory. As the lights vanished, the seas started to calm down, the wind subsided into a soft breeze, the storm that was about to come faded away in the distance.

"What the hell was that?" exclaimed, Edward. The notifications and the sudden change in the atmosphere were too weird for him. As if replying to his question, another notification bar appeared in front of him.

<?????'s Egg have transformed into Arceus's Egg.>

<Arceus's Egg have activated Incubation System.>

<Hell's Chameleon Trenchcoat has been forcefully evolved into Arceus's Trenchcoat. Further details of its effect and description will be shown after <Arceus's Egg> hatches.>

'Well, shit. Shouldn't you tell me about it first rather than now!?' yelled Edward, inside his mind. He let out a tired sigh and looked at the sobbing May. She was so scared that she couldn't even open her eyes until now.

"Are you okay, May?" asked Edward, worried for the well-being of the girl.

She was about to cry for some more, but she held it in while nodding to Edward's question. Edward smiled and ruffled her hair to calm her down.

"I'm sorry. Let's go home, but first I need your promise to not say anything about that thing," said Edward, pointing at his waist, mimicking May's gesture previously.

"Mm..." nodded, May, softly.

The previous change in the atmosphere alarmed the whole village. They started barricading their house, thinking that a huge storm was coming.

The look on Barney's face when he finally saw his only grandchild was so soft that it looked like it would melt at any moment now. He was so worried, thinking that he had done something wrong to upset her. May gave him a big hug and assured him that she wouldn't leave unnoticed anymore.

After bidding a farewell to the old man and the girl, Edward decided to go back to Harvey's farm. But before he started walking, he glanced at the nearby bushes and said, "It's about time you come out."

It was Harvey. While smiling, he raised his hands high, proclaiming innocence.

"How long did you found me?" asked Harvey.

"From the start. You've been following me instead of going to the Hot Spring, aren't you?" said Edward. Of course, he found him out through Radar Sense, but there was no need to explain everything to him.

"So, what did you learn today?" asked Harvey.

"What is this? Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues?" replied Edward, sarcastically.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds awesome. Anyway, you two have some similarities, I thought you would learn one or two after talking with her," said Harvey.

They started walking side by side, enjoying the night breeze. The lively crickets accompanied them as they talked.

"I don't think I have any similarities with her," replied Edward, pondering to Harvey's words.

Harvey chuckled while glancing at the boy, "Yes, both of you are lonely. Both of you felt abandoned. And both of you have a hard time deciding for the future. Wait... that last one is wrong now since May just found her resolution."

"Oh ho... And what that is?" asked Edward.

"To be happy with her grandfather, with or without her mother," said Harvey, looking back at the Ranch where the Barney and May lived at. It was once a lively place, but after May's mother left, it felt so damp. It was only when May came along that Barney has some motivation to keep on with his life, brightening the ranch with a new source of light.

He then asked, "So, Edward, have you found your own resolution?"

Edward couldn't answer it with confidence. He knew he felt something after talking with May back then at the docks, but he was still confused about what feeling that is.

Edward replied, "I don't know. Isn't it too late. You maybe don't know, but my hands were drenched in blood a lot of time already. I don't think I have something worthwhile in me."

"I might just a farmer, Edward, and I don't know what you've been through. But I know, everyone deserved happiness, especially you."

It sounded naive in Edward's ears. While chuckling, he replied, "Even criminals and sinner?"

"Don't forget, they were once just innocent children. Society was the one that changed them."

Money, status, desire. The current society couldn't be separated from those three things. If someone didn't want money, then they would choose status and desire. If they don't want status in the highest tower, all they wanted is money and desire. And if someone doesn't want desire... then that's a lie.

"You spoke as if you live through it before. What's your story before you came here?" asked Edward, curious of how Harvey lived in the past.

"Well, let's leave that for another time," said Harvey, running away from Edward after they arrived at the farm. He went in first, leaving Edward all alone outside.

Edward stood in front of the now-closed door of Harvey's house.

"Happiness is it? Let's try one more time, then," said Edward, twisting the door's handle and opened it.

Yo, what's up!?

I hope yall stay healthy.

It's nothing grandiose, but still, thanks for sticking through, and..

See you in the next chapter!!

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