James watched from the archangel's mirror as the minions of Hell began to attack Jesse. She fought them off bravely, but she was greatly outnumbered. Every time she took out one, two more seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Jesse!" James cried, as an imp attacked her from behind. "Watch out behind you!"
The imp tried to spear her though the back, but she moved just in time and it missed.
"I've got to help her!" James said, turning to the archangel. "Please take me to her!"
The archangel placed two of his fingers on James' forehead.
"You realize that everything has its price?"
"I don't care," James said, closing his eyes. "I love her! Please take me to her!"
"Go to her," the archangel said, filling James with a white light. "When you get there you'll know what to do..."
Jesse's Team Rocket costume was now stained with blood. It was all her own, for as she had quickly learned, these creatures didn't bleed. She felt herself weakening, she struggled to hold on but she knew the situation was hopeless. There were just to many of them.
"I've failed," she thought, as a new group of demons arrived to assist their comrads. "I've failed, James. Please forgive me..."
Suddenly a blinding light appeared out of nowhere. The imps and demons shrinked away from it.
Jesse blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust. She couldn't believe what she saw. It was James!
It was her James, glowing with radiance, his white wings slightly spread out.
He was an angel... her angel...
He approached her, taking her tear-stained face in his hands.
"I give you myself, Jesse," he said. "I give you everything that I am. Take my power. You can do it. I believe in you."
He kissed her forehead, and as he did, a light filled her.
Her wounds were healed, and she felt renewed. Her torn, bloodstained Team Rocket costume turned into a short white robe and gold armor, and gold-colored boots encased her feet. The demon's sword she had been holding turned into a heavenly instrument, a sword made of pure gold, with a light that shined from within.
James watched this beautiful transformation of his beloved. As she grew a beautiful pair of wings, James felt his own power diminishing. His wings vanished, and he fell to the ground. He knew that this was the price he had to pay. He had given her his power, and he had nothing left.
Jesse opened her eyes and saw her beloved slump to the floor. She understood now, she knew what she had to do. He had given her his power, knowing that she would have the strength to save them both.
The demons circled around them, unsure of what to do. Finally, they all attacked James, tearing his white robe. They didn't care which soul was damned, as long as one of them suffered.
Jesse attacked them with renewed vigor, vowing to save them both. A white light flashed from her sword as she used it to send the vile creatures, one by one, into oblivian. She was no longer a damned soul, but holy being, fighting with a combination of holy power and the greatest power in all creation; the power of love.
Universal light, mosaic light,
Lucifer, son the dawn.
Apocalyptic light, Micheal's light,
Androgynous, son of darkness.
Flaming light, heavenly light,
The heirarchy of heaven...
James watched his angel battle. She was so beautiful. Truely the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. The holy power she weilded quickly destroyed the vile creatures.
The pleasure principle,
The nirvana principle...
The certainty of death, namely light...
Or is life merely the moving shadow of the shadow of living?
James watched as she took out the last of demons. But the battle was not over yet. A great devil materialize in smoke and laughed at them maliciously.
"The exit from Hell is not so easily reached," he told them. "I am the guardian of solitude and damnation. I AM solitude and damnation! Can you defeat me?"
Jesse raised her sword and cried "Yes! I will defeat you!"
The last battle was long and hard. The great devil countered every move she made, and while he could not defeat the holy power she wielded, nothing Jesse did seemed to damage him in the least. He laughed at her.
"Only the power opposite of mine can defeat my power. Pathetic fools! You will never learn the secret to defeat me! You will spend eternity in Hell!"
In the universe of the mind...
the drifting shape of the living,
light, temporary existance...
Seeking eternity,
namely the folly of returning to the beginning...
The demon's words echoed in James' mind...
"I AM solitude..."
Suddenly James understood. The opposite of solitude was...
Unity.
Unity! That was it! They had to do it together!
Two sexes, two poles, two of me...
Up, down, left, right, two of me...
Front, back, heaven, earth, two of me...
Angel, devil, two sides of me...
Inside I'm hollow... Inside I'm hollow...
James dragged his battered, bleeding body over to a spear lying near him. He picked it up and got to his feet. He got behind the demon and with the last of his strength, drove the spear into its back.
"This is for you, Jesse!"
Inside I'm hollow...
Inside I'm hollow...
At the same time, Jesse drove her sword into the demon's chest.
Inside I'm hollow...
Inside I'm hollow...
The creature roared and all of Hell began to shake. The great devil gave a final roar of anger and pain and finally disappeared in smoke.
Inside I'm hollow...
Inside I'm hollow...
Jesse ran to James, who had collapsed to the ground. She helped him to rise, and he fell into her arms. They were both crying tears of relief and joy.
Neither of them had any words to describe this moment. Jesse lifted James up to her and kissed him.
As she did, a light filled him, healing his wounds and restoring him to his former glory. A light surrounded them both, and even then, they did not break from their kiss. Suddenly the world around them disintegrated, and Hell vanished into nothingness.
They were surrounded by darkness. The only sound they could hear was the sound of their heartbeats, beating in perfect unison.
Suddenly a voice surrounded them...
"You have done well..." it said. "You have passed the test, proving once again the true power of love..."
"Test?" they both asked.
"I am one the many guardians that protects the dreams of the living. I have watched you for a long while, adoring each other from a distance, but being too afraid to tell each other your true feelings. To prove that your love was true, it was important to test you both. James' greatest strength is his ability to resist temptation, and Jesse's greatest strength has always been her ability to perservere against all odds. Both of you faced the ultimate challenge of your charactor. James resisted the temptation of ultimate paradise to be with Jesse, and Jesse fought the legions of hell to preserve her unity with James, and in the end, your unity let your true forms shine through."
"Our true forms?" asked James.
"Or haven't you noticed how out of charactor you've been acting?" the voice asked. "James, you gave all of yourself selflessly and without fear. You used the last of your power to defeat the guardian of Hell, and all this time you never showed your fear."
James realized it was true. He was usually very timid, but when he realized that Jesse needed him, he found courage that he never knew he had.
"And Jesse, who always tries to show no emotion, finally expressed her true feelings," the voice continued. "Don't you see? In this, you have seen you true forms, both on the outside and on the inside as well. James has found his own inner courage and Jesse got in touch with her own inner heart."
"So this whole thing was just a test? We didn't really go to hell?" asked Jesse.
The voice laughed.
"You do not belong in Hell. You never have and you never will. Beneath your Team Rocket costumes, deep in your souls, your true goodness lies, and good people never go to Hell."
"But I don't understand," said James. "What's going to happen now?"
"I'm going to leave you now," the voice replied. "Remember... courage, loyalty, and unity are three of the great powers that protect the true force that binds us all... the power of love.
Go now..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jesse felt a pain in her back. She opened her eyes. Where was she? Her white robe had turned into a pink... nightgown?
She looked around. She was in hotel room with a telivision.
"Huh?"
She was in bed, James was asleep beside her and Meowth was curled up at the foot of the bed.
"A dream?"
She reached underneath her to see what was causing the pain in her back. She was laying on the TV controller. She turned on the TV. The "Revolutionary Girl Utena" marathon was still on.
"It was all a dream?"
She sat there a moment collecting her thoughts.
"So we weren't eaten by gyarodos, we didn't go to hell... That means..."
"WE'RE ALIVE!!!" Jesse shouted, jumping out of the bed.
Poor Meowth, who had been sleeping peacefully and the foot of the bed, awoke with a start and fell off the bed.
"Who- What- What's going on?" he asked.
When he saw that nothing was wrong, he fury-swiped Jesse and shouted, "What did ya wake Meowth up for?!!"
Jesse picked Meowth up swung him around happily.
"I'm so glad to see you!" she cried happily. "I just love you, Meowth!"
Meowth, figuring Jesse was losing it, quickly jump out of her arms and ran off.
James slowly sat up it the bed and yawned.
Jesse ran to the bed and hugged him.
Surprised by this rare display of emotion, he asked, "What was that for?"
"For being you!" she said.
"Oh, um... okay..." he said, still confused. "Hey Jesse?"
"Yeah?" she asked.
"I just had the wierdest dream..."
"Really?" she asked. "So did I... I dreamed that we were eaten by a bunch a gyarodos and-"
"And I went to heaven and you went to hell!" James finished.
"You had the same dream?!"
"Yeah... I guess so..." said James. "What do you think this means?"
Jesse was silent for a minute. Finally, she said, "I think it was a miracle."
"A miracle..." said James thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess it was..."
Meowth stared at them both from the doorway.
"They're both cracken up," he thought. "They're losen it... dey need a vacation bad..."
James took Jesse's hands in his own and said "Jesse... there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time, but I was too afraid to..."
Jesse smiled and said "I know, James. I feel the same way. But I'm not afraid anymore. I love you, and I'll never let anything come between us..."
James kissed both of Jesse's hands and said "I love you, Jesse. My Jesse, my love, my angel... I love you eternally..."
With tears in her eyes, Jesse brought her lips up to touch his.
Meowth watched as they kissed.
"I'm glad dey finally got tagedda," he thought, "But I still t'ink they're cracken up..."
Jesse and James cuddled close and watched the end of the "Utena" marathon. They watched as Utena dueled, this time with Nanami.
"Hey James?"
"Yeah, Jess?"
"Why don't we take the day off tomarrow? Do something fun for a change."
"What would the boss say?" asked James.
"The hell with him-"
Jesse stopped.
"You know what, James?" she said, "I don't EVER want to hear that word again!"
Time is hypothetical, illusory...
A stage device we create the moment we are born,
Destiny... choices... goodbyes...
You and I are like the Milky Way,
No past, no future, only now...
All alone in the cosmic theater of the universe,
That's me! Wait!
My last evolution revolution evolution!
~END
