Above the Earth's atmosphere, above the skies of Cape Canaveral, Florida, I floated silently as my mind kept filtering the communication signals of the humans below for my brothers and I to listen.
"T-minus ten, nine, eight.."
"Propellant pressure nominal. We are go for main engine start."
"Seven, Six, Five..."
"Ignition!"
I kept watch as the best rocketry available to NASA at this time, the Delta II rocket, started to burn its main engine with the Kerosene and Oxygen mixture.
Originally, this mission was supposed to launch long ago, in December of last year, but the launch was delayed due to various reasons.
'You know, this new ability of yours is very nifty. To be able to keep tabs on the little ones and their conversations like this.'
I heard Groudon's words, which took on a slight teasing tone at the end.
'And you say you did not get any powers from those crystals you consumed all those millions of years ago.'
'This power is not one that I gained from those crystals, Groudon. This is a power I developed out of desperation shortly before meeting the humans in Hoenn. Just like every other power I have in my arsenal.'
'You mean this one is just like every other time where you pull out some ridiculously overpowered ability you gained by manipulating your own biology to take advantage of natural laws out of nowhere?'
At Kyogre's disbelieving tone, I could not help but feel a little bit of pride. Because everything I have today, I gained through hard work.
Back when I was born, these two were already thousands of years old. They were born powerful. Their abilities are part of their very genetic makeup and existence.
But me? I had none of that. Hell, I couldn't even fly back then.
In essence, I was nothing more than a durable snake with a nuclear core as my heart and the ability to adapt much more quickly compared to the other Titans. Nothing more.
It was through great efforts over decades, relentless experiments over a century, and streamlining and studying my own body over millennia, that I achieved the power that I now hold.
Every time I blew up a part of my body because I manipulated the plasma produced in my body the wrong way. Every time I shot myself into a mountain, my control over my magnetic fields' interaction with the Earth's own fields slipped. Every time I literally shook off most of my scales and plates, reducing me to a bloody mess because I miscalculated the vibrational frequency. Every time I shredded my own maw because I misjudged the intensity of my Macron Cannon. All of these are events that nobody but I remember.
Every step of progress, earned through sweat, blood, and tears, literally. That is what made me the apex predator of the skies that I am.
Of course, when my brothers learned of this method, they called bull on it. But I proved them wrong rather easily by developing the plasma sheath ability that I now use to travel at supersonic speeds without producing a sonic boom and avoiding drag while also using it to easily slip in and out of Earth's atmosphere as easily as a human would walk through a door.
I saw the streak of Ionized gas as the rocket took off from the pad, rushing straight through the troposphere.
'Do you think they will succeed?'
'I don't know, Groudon. We will have to see.'
'I heard the little ones from Hoenn sponsored this project, right?'
'Partially, yes. They made a joint venture with NASA for this mission. They want the data from the Orbiter in exchange for the technical help they provided. They are one of the most advanced nations on the planet, after all.'
'Makes sense. Their race is always chasing after the next thing all the time.'
The rocket just blazed through the sound barrier. The roar of the sonic boom is really noisy, though.
"Second stage ignition confirmed."
"We have a clean separation. The Orbiter is on its way."
I watched as humanity's second attempt at reaching Mars blazed past me by a few thousand miles, heading straight into the void of space.
"Spacecraft separation confirmed."
There was a whole lot of cheering and celebration going on with the humans down there as I watched the craft unfurl, revealing its solar panels and continuing blazing forward through the dark.
'If only we could follow it on its journey. I would have loved to see what another world besides our own looks like.'
'Yeah. I would have loved to see if that planet had any good places for an ocean or two.'
I sensed the longing in Groudon's voice and the hope in Kyogre's tone.
'I never knew you two wanted to see another planet.'
'Its a recent development. I've been talking a lot with the little ones' hatchlings, and I learned that most of them yearn for the abyss above us. To see what lies beyond our world.'
'What about you? Kyogre? You think the same?'
'Yes, brother. I, too, wish to see what lies out there. But that is simply not possible, is it-wait, what are you doing!?'
'Rayquaza! Are you out of your mind?!'
I aligned my body in the same trajectory as the craft that the humans just sent out towards the red planet. The Mars Climate Orbiter.
One of the main advantages of all the trial-and-error methods I used when I was young is that my body is ridiculously tough and adaptable. With every injury, every method of damage, strengthening me further.
When I shook my scales and plates off with my vibration, I developed a connecting tissue system beneath my scales and plates that acted as a flexible but nearly invulnerable layer of glue that made sure that something like that would never happen again.
When I nearly died from my very first exposure to outer space millions of years ago, my scales adapted to it, turning into a form of biomaterial coated with crystalline mucus that is durable, flexible, and airtight, allowing me to maintain my internal pressure even in the extremes of outer space.
With every single instance of damage I accumulated, I adapted to it and came out better.
This is the main advantage of my body. And this is not even taking into consideration how easy these adaptations have made my control over myself.
'You two are my brothers. You have given me companionship when I had none. You have stuck by me through thick and thin. So, what kind of brother would I be if I did not even try to fulfill your wish?'
'But how will you even travel in space since your flight is based on manipulating the Earth's 'magnetic field' as you call it?'
I grinned and closed my eyes.
'I have a few ideas. And now is as good a time as any to test em out!'
Groudon's question was correct. My ability to fly is completely dependent on the Earth's magnetic field.
However, Earth is not the only thing in the solar system with a magnetic field, and neither is it the greatest source of magnetic field in this star system.
That moniker goes to the sun.
I spread out my senses, feeling the power of the very sun all around me, as I kept floating away from the Earth and approached the L1 point between the Earth and the Moon.
By this point, I felt significant discomfort as the bio-polymer mucus I secreted on my body by grinding down the mysterious crystals from the Hollow Earth and mixing it with my body fluids worked hard to maintain my internal pressure.
'Looks like my regular form is not strong enough to handle deep space travel. Time to go Mega!'
For a split second, my internal nuclear reaction, my 'heart', stopped. But the next instant, it roared back to life with unprecedented power. My internal reactor switched from Hydrogen-Deuterium fusion to Helium-Burning Fusion state with Iridium and other materials stored within my body, gained from snacking on meteors and asteroids, working as the catalysts.
I felt my body swell, tripling in size near instantly as my cells rearranged themselves.
Ribbons of plasma contained in magnetic forces extended out of my crest and body with golden luminecence as the fins across my body elongated.
The crest at the front of my face elongated, forming a stylized jaw-like design which, in truth, acted as extended 'barrels' for my Macron Cannon.
Once my transition into my Mega state was complete, I felt the burden of space flight lift from my body.
'Is it just me, or is this a lot easier compared to the last time? Must be because of my adaptation, given that I nearly drifted off into space the last time I tried this.'
With a mental shrug, I focused back on the present and sensed the magnetic fields of the Heliosphere, which allowed me to track all the different magnetic fields in the solar system, acting as a compass to point my way.
Now, to choose what to do.
I have two options available to me. I could either use the Sun's magnetic fields to travel through space in the same way I do on Earth, which would mean I would have to expend very little effort. However, the drawback is that this method of travel is slow. Very slow. Not to mention dangerous, since the last time I tried to ride the solar winds and magnetic fields, I nearly spaced myself.
I don't want slow.
'Option two it is.'
I still heard my brothers' voices in the back of my mind, along with their worry and genuine fear for my safety. But I am confident that nothing will go wrong, so I decided to send a feeling of reassurance their way before proceeding with the plan.
With conscious effort, I changed the pulsing of the solenoids that made up my golden patterns, creating an array of magnetic fields in front of me. At the same time, I carefully maintained the polarity of my own magnetic field to be the opposite of that of the fields I created in front of me.
'Beginning in 3,2,1, go!'
With a mental command, I shot forward, and the experiment began.
The magnetic fields in front of my body, which I manipulated into the shape of rings, and the magnetic fields within my body attracted each other as they held the opposite polarity, propelling me forward. Then, a mere fraction of a second later, I turned off the magnetic field and created a new ring of magnetic field, once again repeating the process, which resulted in another pull forward, which pushed my speed up once again.
Again and again, I continued the process as I kept accelerating through space, soon shooting past the Orbitar, and still kept accelerating.
In essence, I am creating a coil gun by creating magnetic fields around my body and turning my body into the projectile by creating opposite polarity with the magnetic fields.
It will take months for the Orbiter to reach Mars. But for me? With this new method of travelling? It will be a matter of a few days at worst. In the best case? I might even make it in a single day, but that is only possible if I push myself past the safety threshold for slowing down that I have in mind.
My brothers want to see Mars? I will show them Mars.
'Wow! You just pulled something out of your ass again!'
'Brother, you have got to teach me how you keep doing stuff like this! In fact, how about we trade powers? All of my power, in exchange for all your powers and techniques! How does that sound?'
I grinned at their words.
'Not happening. Besides, knowing you two, if either one of you got their hands on my powers and techniques, Earth would be nothing more than an asteroid field in the span of a single day.'
''HEY!!''
I laughed as I continued speeding through the void of space, reaching places that I never thought I would.
All for the sake of my brothers, my family.
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Author Notes:
Humans: We had to use our accumulated knowledge and science gained over thousands of years of civilization's existence to send machines into space.
Rayquaza: Physics-breaking exotic biology goes Brrrrrr.
Mega-Rayqyaza: (Click here for image)
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