As Lucas grasped the final Needle, he heard an ethereal voice in his mind.
"Will you put everything on the line, and pull the final Needle?"
"I don't know about this," thought Lucas. But his hands seemed to move by his own. There was a little resistance, then his hands flowed smoothly upwards.
And when Lucas pulled the seventh and final Needle, the Dark Dragon awoke. Huge cracks formed in the ground. Forests were burning, set alight by flaming meteors from the sky. The world begin to shift as a lump the size of the Nowhere Islands erupted from the face of the planet.
"Was this really the right thing to do?" thought Lucas. He barely had time to ponder the question before everything turned to black.
A few hours later, Lucas awoke to hear someone groan.
"...Hello?" he called tentatively.
"Lucas? That you?"
"Kuma?!" Lucas reached for Kumatora's hand. He caught it. They pulled together and embraced
"We survived..." murmured Lucas. Then suddenly, he pushed away from Kumatora.
"We need to find the others," he said.
"Yeah. But how are we supposed to see anything in this black haze?"
"I guess... we'll have to wait it out."
"Hey." Kumatora placed her hand on what she thought was Lucas' shoulder. "It'll be alright."
It was a day and a half before Lucas yawned and sat up. The events leading to the pulling of the seventh Needle tired him greatly. He saw that Kumatora was next to him. Wait. He could see?
"Kuma! Wake up!" Lucas shook Kumatora awake.
"Huh?"
"Wake up, Kuma! We can see again!"
Kumatora sat up.
"We need to find some water and something to eat," she declared. "Wait. Where are we anyway?"
They were in a small forest. The trees were well spaced apart. To one direction, you could make out what seemed to be plains.
"I think the world's been reborn," replied Lucas.
There was a pause.
"All the more reason to get going." Lucas nudged her. "C'mon, let's go."
They headed in the direction of the plains. Once there, they spotted a river and quenched their thirst.
"Let's follow the river," suggested Lucas. "We'd at least have a source of water, and we might be able to go fishing."
"Fishing? Who needs to fish when you can just..."
"Uh, Kuma? What are you going to-"
"PK THUNDER!"
A small thunderbolt struck the river. After it ended, the dead bodies of many different types of turtles and fish floated to the top.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, especially when the world was just reborn," said Lucas.
"Who cares? We started fresh," countered Kumatora. She placed a fish on a sandy patch on the riverbank. "PK Fire!"
Flames engulfed the fish.
But as she went to pick it up, it disintegrated into tiny black grains.
"Nice going Kuma, you totally burnt it to a crisp," muttered Lucas.
"Yeah, well, we have plenty. Let's try again. With a more subtle flame."
Not an hour had passed before the pair took pieces of cooked fish from a hot rock. Not even caring about the heat, they started to eat it. The meat was a little undercooked and stringy, but they were glad for something to eat and drink.
Suddenly, the grass rustled. Both Kuma and Lucas exchanged worried glances. Lucas prepared himself to cast defensive PSI to protect them. Kumatora was ready to cast a powerful offensive PSI. The grass rustled some more. Then it barked. Suddenly, a sizeable furry mass leapt towards Lucas. Kumatora had all but cast her PSI, when suddenly she stopped.
It was Boney.
(Hey guys, where were you?!) he barked.
"Let's catch up over a meal." Lucas held up half a grilled fish. Boney's nose wrinkled in disdain, but food was food, and he ate it gratefully.
After they stuffed themselves with fish, they discussed the events that had occured. Boney was thrown into a river, and he barely managed to avoid being washed away.
(We should discuss sleeping arrangements,) he suggested after a lapse in the conversation. This caused another moment of silence.
Finally, Lucas spoke up.
"Do you see that?" He pointed to a small cliff nearby. "We could dig into it with PK Ground."
"Nice thinkin'," agreed Kumatora. She approached the face of the cliff and put her hands on the cool dirt face. She concentrated hard. PK Ground was not a simple PSI to perform and it was tiring to use.
"PK... Ground...!"
The hard dirt moved magically, out of the cliff face and unceremoniously dumped itself in the river. A sturdy cave remained. By then it was starting to get dark, so they quickly gathered some twigs and leaves to make a campfire and a rudimentary bed. The three huddled together for warmth and awaited the next day.
Boney got up early, as you would expect a dog to. He went for an early morning walk beside the river. He was still disoriented by this sudden unfamiliar environment and he wanted to regain his old confidence. When he returned Lucas and Kumatora were just getting up. They greeted each other.
"What do we do now?" asked Lucas.
(Isn't it obvious? We seach for others,) said Boney. He turned his head towards a plateau in the distance. (I bet that will be a good place to start.)
"Let's go," said Kumatora.
The group almost forgot to take supplies, but they fashioned a makeshift backpack out of Kumatora's jacket and filled it with cooked fish wrapped in some long plant leaves. It would be enough to last them a trip to and from the mountain.
"What about water?" asked Lucas.
"We can use PK Freeze," said Kumatora.
Lucas remembered himself saying that they needed water when they first woke up from their long sleep. He wondered why Kumatora didn't think to use PK Freeze there, but he dismissed the thought.
The long voyage took a whole day. The group had to quickly adapt to this new world. The hike to the mountain was not an easy one. They stopped for their third break when the dirt beneath their feet finally transitioned into stone. Kumatora was about to take out a few fish to eat when she heard Lucas yell, "Watch out!" She whipped around to see a large boar hurtling towards her. She froze in place with fear. There was barely enough time for Lucas to scream, "Shield!" before the boar reached her. Its tusks clashed with the psychic barrier. Kumatora regained her senses and quickly fired off Paralysis to stop the boar, just before the shield broke. Lucas had picked up a sturdy branch and he used it to batter the boar. After a few hits with the branch, the boar suddenly stopped. It calmly trotted into the forest.
(Well. That's the end of that,) said Boney. After they rested, they resumed their journey, hiking up a slope towards the top of the plateau, vigilant in case another boar showed up. Barely an hour passed before Lucas suddenly stopped at the peak.
"What's up?" asked Kumatora.
"We've found them," said Lucas simply.
There was a camp at the peak of the plateau. A lot of people were present. The party ran up to the camp. As they approached, a limping man exited a shabby makeshift shelter. The group froze.
"Duster!" cried Lucas.
Duster turned around. He was speechless for a moment. Then he ran over and hugged Lucas and Kumatora.
(The ol' party's finally back at last,) said Boney.
"Guys, almost all of us from Tazmily are here," Duster said.
"Who's missing?" asked Lucas. Duster hesitated, then uttered a list of missing people.
"Lighter... Nana... Isaac..." He stopped.
"Duster?" began Kumatora.
The reply came suddenly and cut Lucas like a knife.
"Flint."
Lucas felt a wave of something awful wash over him.
"I'm sorry, Lucas."