Part I: Days of the Maijn

When Gatoris awakened, he noticed he could not move his body. He was about to scream, but he was unable to do even this. He could see and hear what was going on. Suddenly, he was moving... but how? He walked to a mirror and saw a horrid sight. His hair was black with blonde streaks, his eyes were a blood red, and he had fangs. "Heh. This is cool..." a demonic voice emanated form his mouth. Gatoris finally realized what happened: Pikachu had possessed Yuffie, and she had fused with him. Gatoris was becoming enraged. He finally regained speech. "What to you want from me, Pikachu?" Pikachu just laughed. "You were always right. I AM evil... I was taking you out of circulation. That, and I hungered for your power..." proclaimed the monster. Gatoris tried to escape from this new body, but was unsuccessful. "You cannot win, Gatoris. I am in control now..." Pikachu stated. With this, he started chanting. Gatoris was then sealed within him, unable to do anything but observe the carnage that would unfold.

The new being flew into Serena’s dimension, determined to find a victim. He found one at the hospital. He walked in the hospital, and turned lights off. "Gatoris, I can sense that’s you..." said Luna. He did not acknowledge the cat. He walked to the bed and looked grimly at the woman in it. "Gatoris, you cane to visit me. How ni..." Serena could not finish the sentence before the lights came on, revealing ‘Gatoris’. She screamed at the top of her lungs. ‘Gatoris’ held her up by her shirt and began to speak. "Gatoris is no more. There is only Maijn Tonberry." Serena trembled with fear. Maijn turned the lights off again, and closed the door. No one should have to bear witness to the pummeling that Serena had to endure. When the doctors finally heard her screams, they rushed into the room. All that was left of the room was Serena, laying in a pool of her own blood. Maijn had beaten her to a messy pulp.

Gatoris was disgusted by this sight, and tried to vomit. He had forgot he could do nothing... "Come on, admit it. You wanted to do it the first time you saw her." Maijn was trying to anger Gatoris, unlocking his true power. "No, I did not. Though I do not like her, I don’t hurt people when it is not needed." "Great. I get stuck with a Gatoris who found inner peace..." Maijn was getting furious himself. "Perhaps there is someone that I can kill that will make you angry... I got it!" Maijn Tonberry then flew into a portal to Goku’s dimension.

Behind the Son house, Goku, Gohan and Vegeta were sparring. Gohan had decided to try a new chi blast he had discovered. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the sky that looked familiar to the heroes. "Gatoris, glad you could join us!" Gohan blurted out. Maijn was smug. "You insolent runt. You do not understand who I am... I am Maijn Tonberry, the most powerful and evil being there is." Maijn introduced himself. "Nice try, but you ain’t no Frieza..." Goku had to comment. Maijn retorted with a Kamehameha directly at Goku. Goku managed to dodge. Vegeta began to charge up for his Gallick Gun attack. Maijn caught this from the corner of his eye. He gestured, and a boulder began to rise. He levitated the rock over Vegeta’s head. "You want it the easy way, or you want to die like a warrior?" Gohan snuck up behind Maijn and blasted him with his new attack. He was unfazed. "Imputent fool... You will die for that." Maijn grabbed Gohan and started to sink his teeth into his neck. Gatoris intervened. He somehow regained enough control to stop from biting Gohan. "Let go, Maijn..." Gatoris spoke. Gohan was confused. Maijn tried again, but was stopped before his fangs were sunk into Gohan’s neck. "Dammit, you are still not angry enough." Maijn proclaimed. "There is only one death that will cause you to unlock all your power... Yes, she’ll do fine as a victim..." Maijn grinned evilly. Gatoris’ heart sank. Damn, not her, he thought. Before he knew it, he was speeding off to Ifalna’s house.

Gatoris began to search his mind for a way to exit this body and save Aerith... It then dawned on him. If he became Garrett again, he would be able to escape, then the rest of Gatoris could follow suit. He began slowly and silently chanting a spell. Maijn didn’t seem to notice.

Meanwhile, at Ifalna’s house, Aerith was going through wedding plans. What kind of dress did she want? Who would cater the wedding? ...things like that. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Ifalna tried to get it first because she sensed evil nearby. Aerith beat her to it. "Gatoris! What brings you here?" Maijn was hiding his face in the shadows, and his eyes were covered by his long hair. "Just one thing..." he began to speak in Gatoris’ voice. "The wedding’s off." Aerith knew something was up. "Why? I’ve been waiting so ..." Aerith cut herself off. She could feel the nearby evil now: she was staring at it. "...Wait a minute. You’ve changed, Gatoris. There is an evil power within you." Maijn flashed his eyes. "You bet there is!" Maijn proclaimed, licking his lips. "Your weak Gatoris can’t save you now. You want to join him?" Maijn grabbed her by her dress and raised his fist. He tried to bash her skull in, but he was unable to. Someone was holding his arm back. This person was familiar to Aerith. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, an Indiana State University basketball shirt, and an unmistakable pair of glasses. "Leave Angelina alone..." he spoke. Aerith looked at the young man, and knew who he was. What is Garrett doing outside of Gatoris, she wondered... "Who are you, thinking you can stop me, punk?" Maijn was angered. "Name’s Garrett. I got sick of viewing what you were doing. You wanted to know what happens when Gatoris is pushed over the edge. This is it. Prepare to feel my wrath." Unexpectedly, another man appeared. He was taller and thinner, and brandishing a katana. "I thought the same thing, Garrett." Only Garrett knew who this man was. He was a online friend he once had. He knew his name was Emmanuel. But what was he doing here? "Two things. One, call me Broly. I like that name better. Second, I’ll tell you later why I’m here..." Broly spoke. Maijn grew furious. "What’s next, people popping out of someone’s stomach?" Not soon after he asked that, a body was appearing to go out of Maijn. After the exit, Maijn was no more. There was the possessed Yuffie, and Gatoris being headed by Zack. "Fools! I still can kill you all!" the ‘Yuffie-chu’ remarked. Out of nowhere, Gohan entered the fray. He blasted the beast with a strong Kamehameha, and it collapsed. Then, the two grew apart in a flash of blue. A weakened Yuffie lay next to a dead Pikachu.

"Thank god... The world is now safer..." Ifalna exclaimed. "Emmanuel... I mean Broly, Why ARE you here?" Garrett was curious. "Well you know that I liked to get into fights. Well, I got into one, and I got clubbed in the head. It put me into a coma..." "And part of you winded up in this dimension. I know the story. Why did I have to DIE to become Gatoris?" Garrett was crying. "Fate, I guess..." Broly was attempting to cheer his comrade. "I never believed in fate. It was my philosophy to take what the day gave you." Garrett run off. "I got a bad feeling about this..." Broly stated. "...he’ll live..." was all Ifalna muttered. "Come on, Aerith. I have something I need to show you." Mother and daughter promptly walked into the house.

Part II: Turn the Page

Gatoris walked back toward the cliff he jumped off of earlier. He was determined to do it right this time. He was, until he saw someone at the top. "I can’t believe that you are trying this again..." Jupiter’s usually cherry mood was gone, replaced with one of concern. "You have to realize that this has been your destiny since the beginning." "Well, I want it over real fast, then." Garrett was not in a happy mood. "You were going to die, Gatoris or not. That was your fate. I though you deserved another chance to live." Jupiter was stating the facts that Garrett didn’t care about. "That’s not the thing that gets me... It’s the fact that Angie was dragged into this. I don’t think I properly thanked you." Garrett was on the verge of breaking down in tears. "I suggested it, but I figured she’d stay. I never saw a person more devoted to another." "LIES!" Garrett screamed, as he rushed to Jupiter. "She didn’t love me! She was in love with Jason!" "In that life, yes... But not in previous lives." These words puzzled Garrett. "Apparently, you hadn’t been able to figure out what she meant by Xenogears. It was a reference to the fact that you were together in past lives. A recent one, in fact..." Garrett still had no clue what Jupiter was talking about. "Follow me..." she said, as she jumped into a red portal. Garrett followed suit.

Garrett knew where they had landed. They had landed on the campus of Indiana State University. He had no clue why. "Why are we at Indiana State University, Jupiter?" "It’s not a university yet..." replied Jupiter. This was rather cryptic. "You mean we went back in time?" Garrett had his usual puzzled look. "Kind of. I’m just showing you the past. The year is 1952. It’s still Indiana State Teacher’s College." "What does that have to do with me?" "Watch that man," Jupiter said, pointing to a man running to a building. He was trying to get in from the rain. Garrett knew the building well: It was Tirey Hall, on the south side of campus. The man ran into the stone entryway of the hall. He seemed to be waiting for something or someone. Suddenly, a woman wearing an elegant dress ran into the same area. Jupiter then took Garrett closer to hear them.

"Hello there, madam..." the male greeted the woman. "Are you all right?" Garrett sensed something in the voice. It seemed like... HIS. Upon closer look, the man looked a lot like him too. "Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking though, mister..." Garrett was stunned by the woman. She looked and sounded exactly like Angelina... "Smith. Gary Smith. And you are?" he replied. "I’m Amy Clark. Nice to meet you." Garrett was stunned yet again. That was the name of Angelina’s great aunt. "What, may I ask, is a beautiful woman like yourself doing here?" Gary asked. "A few friends of mine set me up with a mystery man, and I am supposed to meet him here. While we are on the subject... What brings you here?" Amy spoke. "About the same thing.... You don’t suppose..." Gary stuttered. Amy looked Gary over. "I believe so. Shall we go?" The two left. "I do not see what the hell that had to do with me..." Garrett proclaimed. "That was one of your past lives. You have been pretty much the same for centuries." Garrett started to understand. "And that woman... Is it who I think it is?" "Yes it is," said a voice behind Garrett. Angelina hugged Garrett. "Ifalna filled me in. We’ve been in love with each other since the beginning of time. It just has never worked out. Such as them," she said, referring to Amy and Gary. "They died in a car wreck in the rain... the night they met." Garrett froze. "You mean it was my fault they died?" "No. He lost control of his car, and it flipped over..." Angie tried to explain. "...meaning it was my fault. I bet all of our past lives were like that." Garrett had no color in his face. "I think it’s best that we never see each other, ever again. Not in this life, not in any life." Jupiter was just about fed up with Garrett’s self-blame. She went up to him and punched him in the face. "I’m getting sick of this. I’m trying to show you the love you two have had through the years, and all you can do is blame yourself for everything that went wrong!" This was the first time anyone had seen Jupiter even remotely upset. "Do whatever the hell you want, Garrett Mackenzie, because I wash may hands of you..." After saying this, she disappeared back into the portal. Angelina was speechless. She just walked back into the portal, as well. This left Garrett alone, save his inner demons.

"You’re right..." a voice said behind Garrett, "...you are worthless and a hazard to her. You did right." Garrett looked behind him, and saw no one. Was he losing his sanity? "Garrett, you fool! Quit being so stubborn!" Another voice came from nowhere. "She loves you, and you push her away like that? Just because your past encounters were bad?" Garrett could not take much more. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. "It wasn’t your fault that Angie died in your past lives..." Great, Garrett thought. Ifalna is going to make an attempt to make me happy... "In fact, you tried your best to save her. I’ve seen some of the things you did to save her, and I am surprised at your courage." "But still, it was in a roundabout way that I caused her death..." Garrett was sitting on the floor, squirming. Ifalna was getting agitated with Garrett as well. She went up to him and slapped him around. "It was not your fault! It was never your fault! Get off your sorry-ass ‘blame me for it all’ attitude, and listen to me! I have something to show you." Ifalna grabbed Garrett by the arm and went through another portal.

The two landed on a country road in Vigo County, Indiana. Circa 1952. There had just been an accident involving a car . Garrett could see a man crawling from the wreckage. He was holding an unconscious woman. Both were bleeding badly. The man proceeded to carry the woman down the road, to the nearest house. "You paying attention?" Ifalna seemed to have calmed down. Garrett was unable to answer. He could not take his eyes away form what was going on. After about a half mile, the man knocked on the house’s door. A man opened the door. "Help her... She’s badly hurt." was all the bleeding man could say before he collapsed. The person at the door rushed to the phone and called for an ambulance. The couple was rushed to the hospital. The man was dead before he got there, but the woman somehow survived. She was hospitalized for a month. Her wounds would not heal, for she had lost the will to live. She died in the hospital on Christmas Day. "You realize who those two were?" Ifalna asked. Garrett was white as a ghost. He knew, all right... That was Gary and Amy. Garrett could not believe he would sacrifice himself like that... "I take it you know." Ifalna began to explain. "You have always put her before anything else, even your own life. Understand now why you were meant to be together?" Garrett just nodded. He was still in semi-catatonic state from what he just saw. "She’ll never take me back, though..." "Says who?" Angelina had been watching as well. The two met each other an hugged. "You ready to go?" Ifalna inquired. "No. If it’s not too much to ask, may I go somewhere?" "Sure, go ahead. Where you want to go?" "I want to go where they were buried, circa 1999." Ifalna was puzzled, but she granted the request. Garrett disappeared into another portal.

He was in the middle of Highland Cemetery in Terre Haute. He looked at the gravestones in front of him. He read the names carefully. There they were: Gary Smith and Amy Clark. They had been buried side-by-side. Garrett conjured up some energy and produced some white roses. He laid some on each grave. Garrett then jumped back to wherever he had been.

Ifalna wand Angelina were waiting for him. "Let’s go." he said. "I’ve been a stubborn ass for too long. It’s time to become more flexible, starting with getting married to the one I have loved forever..." Garrett’s voice trailed off as they returned to their time and dimension.