*Updated on 5/15 now that I actually have time to work on this story :)
Hello, and thanks for reading! I sometimes get bored of writing City of Progress, so I decided to branch out. Because this is my secondary story, I may not be as reliable with posting this one. Feel more than welcome to review, it really helps me out!
I don't own the rights to many of the characters in this story, like Lucas and Kumatora, are from the Mother series. I also have no rights to any of the locations listed in this story. However, the plot is mine (I would hope so!).
Kumatora always started their sparring matches by using PK Starstorm, and today was no different. Lucas braced himself as stars fell from the sky, allowing himself to smile at the challenge. Any normal person would have been instantly knocked out, but Lucas was not normal in the slightest. As the stars slammed into him, he hardly felt the pain. Lucas was still human, of course, and the starstorm would surely knock him out.
But it didn't have to knock him out right this second.
Lucas used the psionic stall technique that was the pinnacle of any PSI warrior's defense. This would allow his body to take the damage slowly, rather than all at once. It came so naturally to him by now that he didn't even have to think about it.
Without hesitation, Lucas rushed towards Kumatora, swinging his stick in a cruel arc that connected with Kumatora's legs. Kumatora fell to the ground but retained her intense facial expression. Faster than Lucas could believe, she lashed out with her fist, catching Lucas's leg. Now he was the one who stumbled and fell. Kumatora rushed over and punched Lucas in the face. Kumatora felt that she had the upper hand and became overconfident. As she went in for another punch, Lucas decided to make a gamble.
"PK Love Omega!"
Offensive psionic energy flowed from his brain out into his surroundings in the shape of hexagons that relentlessly bombarded Kumatora, whose offensive position meant that she took the brunt of the damage. She flew back several feet and landed on the grass. Instead of taking the standard option and healing his wounds, Lucas decided to go all in. He charged towards Kumatora, who was still reeling from the PK Love. Lucas dove and grabbed a hold of her wrists, forcing them to the ground and holding them in place. This prevented Kumatora from using most of her psionic abilities, including healing PSI.
Of course, Lucas was still taking enough damage from the starstorm to eventually be knocked out, but Kumatora had taken enough damage that she would certainly be knocked out eventually as well. Lucas' hands were busy restraining Kumatora, so he couldn't use PSI abilities either. He just had to hope that Kumatora would go down first.
It was a pretty good hope. Kumatora's surprise at PK Love indicated that she likely put up a subpar psionic stall. That is, unless Kumatora had faked surprise in order to get Lucas to make this gamble. She's not that crafty, is she? Lucas asked himself.
It turned out that Lucas' first impression was correct, as Kumatora's body weakened far faster than Lucas'. Eventually, her body went limp, having finally taken all of the damage from PK Love and Lucas' earlier attack. Lucas smiled at his victory and healed himself using PK Lifeup.
"Healing gamma!" Lucas whispered intently, channeling psionic energy into the ability and touching Kumatora.
Kumatora opened her eyes. Her angry "hmph" and annoyed face made Lucas laugh. Kumatora had always hated losing, and being bested by Lucas was something that she especially despised.
Maya sat in the courtyard of Osohe Castle, desperately trying to forget. Her long, brown hair was distraught, and her brown eyes looked down into the moat below in sorrow. Try as she might, the memory came back to her.
Maya had been so happy. Nyna and her group had implied that they would let Maya join them as a friend. But when she approached Nyna in the cafeteria… she made fun of Maya. That shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.
The scene had been set up from the start to give Maya a false hope, and then that hope was crushed while the other kids laughed and cheered. Maya felt so helpless when facing all of the other school kids. Why did they have to laugh so cruelly?
Their smiles were more painful than their jeers.
Nyna said how ugly Maya was… how none of the boys would ask Maya out. Even if that were true, why should it matter? Queen Kumatora was the role model for the world and she hadn't cared at all about attracting boys.
Even still…if Nyna had to reject Maya, why did she have to inflict extra pain? Maya would never understand why the girls at her school insisted on tormenting her so. They should feel lucky that they were already popular and didn't have to struggle for morsels of positive attention.
They should feel lucky that nobody made fun of their birth status.
Maya tried to choke down her bitterness. She knew that it wouldn't do any good to dwell on the incident, but she couldn't let it go. Stop moping, she told herself. I don't have any homework. I should be having fun. She supposed that she could aimlessly wander through the halls of Osohe Castle like she had yesterday. It certainly was a way to kill time…
She nodded and stood up. She would walk through the vast, stone halls of the castle, examining every crack, every imperfection. That way, she couldn't think about bigger issues, such as how much longer she could take the bullying. If only I were back in New Pork, she thought. That place was horrible, but New Tazmily is not any better. At least in New Pork, nobody knew who I was... She cut herself off. No thinking.
Kristen skulked through the hallways of Osohe Castle, mobile phone strapped to her head. Wonderful inventions, those mobiles. As someone who liked to work with technology, Kristen respected whoever had invented these. She sat in the shadows draped in a black cloak. With her black cloak, mobile, and raven-black eyes and charcoal hair cut short, she appeared as a stealth agent from one of the movies. She might as well have been one, as anyone walking by wouldn't notice Kristen unless they were very observant. Kristen had gotten very good at hiding; such skills were essential to surviving in a harsh city like New Pork, which was where Kristen had spent her childhood. New Pork… it was a curse and a blessing all in once. It malnourished her, beat her, but gave her purpose. Working with technology was… a joy, to say the least.
She still remembered how the city had burned.
She hadn't died when the old world had ended, but something inside her had. In the same way that the world had been reborn, Kristen too adopted a vastly different personality. She had tried before to help society with her mechanical creations, but… they were all destroyed. Now, she played the role of a demolitionist.
Because to rebuild, something had to be destroyed.
That was the boy king's logic when he pulled the final needle, wasn't it? Kristen shook her head bitterly. She could understand the psychological torture that he must have faced, but couldn't he see that some people loved the innovation of New Pork? Sure, the slums and filth were unnecessary, but the basic foundation was there.
Kristen blinked back into the present as a command came through the mobile phone:
"Proceed with the plan," a fuzzy voice spoke. "This is too important to abandon, despite the risks."
Kristen nodded to herself and slowly advanced down the stone hallway in front of her. She sneered in disgust at the torches that were used. Everyone said that New Pork had been terrible for the environment, but burning torches released carbon dioxide as well. Such hypocrites…
No, she couldn't focus on that now. She made sure that nobody was looking and turned around a corner. She saw a cold, stone wall in front of her. Kristen licked her lips in anticipation and placed a bomb that looked more like a computer RAM than an explosive next to the wall. Did the boy king honestly think that mere stone could stop her? She took a few reluctant steps back and pulled out the detonator, cherishing it for that moment.
Without hesitation, she pushed the switch.
Lucas sat in his work room, trying to think. The work room was sparse, with a simple wooden desk and a couple of shelves to store anything that he wanted to. He didn't have much on the shelves, though; most of his valued mementos were placed inside his chambers. A simple window was usually enough to let light in, and a candle functioned just fine when the sun provided insufficient light.
Kumatora walked into the room with a level of swagger that he had grown to expect.
"Nice fight," She said with a friendly smile. "I'll get you next time, though."
Lucas shook his head ruefully.
"I have more important things to worry about than sparring, Kumatora."
"Ah, right, you and your thinking," Kumatora said mockingly. "What's on your mind now, Lucas? You should probably learn to tell me about your problems. We have been married for two years, after all."
Lucas still had a hard time believing that he gotten been married when he was only 16. It was hardly what he expected, but what was? Expectations were false more often than not.
"Are we tyrants, Kumatora?" Lucas wondered out loud.
Kumatora raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well… we declared ourselves the rulers without approval," Lucas responded. "Doesn't that make us tyrants?"
Kumatora shrugged.
"The people like us. I don't think anyone faulted us for taking control. This town needed some order."
"Still, I feel like we are tyrants."
"Better to have benevolent tyrants than vigilante rule," Kumatora said bluntly.
Lucas sighed.
"I… suppose so," he conceded.
Kumatora smiled at Lucas like a mother would.
"You think too much."
"Better than too little," Lucas responded without hesitation.
"Like me?" Kumatora asked. "Do I think too little?"
"No," Lucas said, uncertain about whether or not he really thought that.
"Really?" Kumatora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, really."
"Aw, that's no fun," Kumatora moped with a mock sigh.
"You want to be insulted?" Lucas asked incredulously.
"Yeah, that way we can argue. I haven't gotten in a good argument in a long time, and it's all your fault."
"Gee, I'm sorry," Lucas said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.
"Forgiven," Kumatora replied nonchalantly. "Anyways, I think that I'm going to go into town. See you later."
Lucas nodded by as Kumatora left. Man, we have to be the least romantic couple I've ever seen, he thought. But, he supposed, that was only natural. Their marriage was political rather than out of love. That bothered Lucas. Political marriages belonged in the cold streets of New Pork, not in the warm community of New Tazmily. But… something about New Tazmily seemed to be less pure than the original village. Was brainwashing everyone the right choice? Lucas wondered.
That was a tantalizing question. On the one hand, the brainwashing meant that people weren't properly conditioned to the terrors of industrialism. On the other hand, though… not having that innocence had costed people much. After all, the original Tazmily had functioned fine without a government or laws.
I wish that I could step aside, but I honestly don't trust my people to do what is right, Lucas thought. That was the ultimate hypocrisy of Lucas' mission. He had defeated Porky's tyrannical reign… to insert his own. That made Lucas want to vomit.
No, Lucas thought. I can think about that later. I need to focus on something that will actually be of help to me.
Lucas sat at his desk for hours more, mulling over policy ideas. Suddenly, he heard an explosion from somewhere deep in the depths of the castle. Startled, he leapt from his desk and ran to the source of the explosion without thinking, using PK Run to make himself move faster. He hardly noticed the servants as he dashed past, a thousand possibilities playing through his mind, none of them good.
Eventually, Lucas arrived at the keeping room, where all of the miscellaneous technological devices that had survived the destruction of the world were held. The room held everything from robot limbs to portable computers to signs with neon lighting. Lucas kept these gadgets around to learn about the dangers that they held.
Well… that wasn't totally true. Lucas dreamed of a world where these devices could coexist with the close community of a small town. Lucas' heart leapt when he saw a tall woman in a black cloak holding some of the valuable pieces of technology, a hole blasted into the wall behind her. Then he saw something even scarier.
The woman was holding a girl with chestnut hair and hazel eyes who looked about 13 or 14 with one arm. The other arm held a gun that was pressed against the girl's temple.