Now I apologize for how long this chapter took. It's been very on and off with this, what with exams and Christmas and all that RL stuff. But I finally just gritted my teeth, made this my top piority, and it got DONE. It's a tad smaller then the first chapter, but it gets to the point and sets the stage for PK Dance, so I hope you enjoy it all the same! This chapter deals with the aftermarth of Mother 3 mostly.
~Chapter 2: Attack of the Robos~
It had been gruelling, tedious work. But not even Princess Kumatora could deny the pride she felt at the success of restoring Tazmily Village.
It hadn't been the easiest of jobs. The major problem on their hands was that all the old buildings had been restored from three years previous, and with the large amount of people left over from the Pigmask Army fiasco, space was an issue. But with some help and advice, everyone managed to find somewhere. Tazmily had a few new houses, and this meant new residents. Others had gone off to new settlements that had been built. For example, the princess knew that the old Chimera Laboratory had vanished, no doubt due to the Dragon, and that a new village had been built there and around the rest of Murasaki Forest.
The thing Kumatora had been most grateful for was that there was little griping amongst the villagers; they were all eager to help and apart from a few idiots who needed a little lesson on manners, (Like the mayor and his snobbish wife of Tazmily) everyone got on just fine with each other. Perhaps this is what Ionia meant by "and all life will shine brightly." Now that they had taken the major steps, Tazmily Village and the rest of Nowhere Islands were stable.
Despite all of this, the princess was still her spunky self. When she had something on her mind, she damn well said it and didn't care what anyone thought of her. But she was also kind at times. Originally, Wess had asked her if she wanted to rule over all of Tazmily...and she smirked before giving her answer.
"Nah. People got on fine before, and I want 'em to feel free, not under the thumb of a ruler like that fat old guy. They needn't even know who I really am."
So it had gone that way. It was fine, really. The villagers were nice to her and Kumatora disliked formalities. She found it suited her much better then having people constantly bowing to her.
Wess and Duster had been a big help. Kumatora couldn't have done this without the two of them, though Wess did tend to yell "YOU MORON!" a lot and Duster would groan afterwards. Kumatora was never really sure if she should pity Duster or snigger at his pain...or both. What really surprised Kumatora though, is that Lucas had also been willing to help.
She didn't really know what to make of it at the time; the poor kid had just lost his twin brother, after all. Claus had been buried next to his mother atop the hill, and Kumatora had hugged Lucas, unable to speak as a tear fell from her eye. Lucas had cried, but silently, the tears streaming down his face as Flint and several other residents had laid his poor brother to rest.
Kumatora really hated King Porky-actually, scrap the King part, he was in no way fit to be a king. What kind of monster would manipulate a thirteen year old kid like that? It had been worse for Lucas; for the attack that rebounded off Lucas was the blow that killed Claus.
"It was that damn fat old guy who did this to Claus...and your mother. Mark my words Lucas, he's going to pay for what he did inside that capsule, and good riddance to pig rubbish."
"Please...don't say such a thing, Kumatora...I don't want anyone to suffer...I'm tired of people being hurt...I just want everyone to live happily together..."
He was a good kid; no denying that. And he had...changed since then.
"Duster!" The voice was like a whip cracking against your bare back. Kumatora crossed her arms and smiled.
"How are you ever meant to reach my level of thief arts if you're constantly slacking off?! You moron!"
"Hey, old geezer!"
This morning, she had come to visit Duster and Wess at their house, where they were outside practising. They had normally done it outside when it was dark, and although a few people still considered the pair thieves, the rest knew they weren't bad people. Besides, Wess's voice wasn't too distracting...
"Oh, princess!" The old man spoke in a surprised tone. Next to him, Duster looked totally worn out, surrounded by various items, which Kumatora recognized as "thief tools". He used them as part of his training now, because a thief always had to be prepared. Though Wess clearly thought Duster lacked organization...
"Been working hard, Duster?" Kumatora smirked.
Duster, who was panting, caught a breath and looked up, his own silent smirk on his face. "Hey, Kumatora."
"You moron! Don't distract the princess with your stupidness!" Wess yelled. Kumatora could swear that if they weren't tutor and student, Wess would love abusing Duster. In any case, she felt like she ought to come to his defense.
"It's alright, old geezer. We were gonna go see Lucas anyway." She explained with a shrug.
"Oh, Lucas? Very well, very well...I guess you could do with a break. But first, pick up all your thief tools, Duster!" Wess demanded, like a teacher who had just asked a bad child to move seats. Duster didn't even argue; Wess would always tell him that a thief needed to always be ready, and to "expect the unexpected". So he always took his thief tools with him.
As Duster stood up, Kumatora lent a hand. She'd always felt a little sorry for his bad leg, but it amazed her that Duster moved about so well despite it.
"Thanks." He murmured.
"Well, you'd two best go see Lucas. Tell him I said hello, won't you? And take care, princess!" Kumatora nodded.
"Sure, geezer. I'll bring Duster back when it gets dark alright?"
As they turned around and began walking across the bridge that connected the east part of Tazmily with the center, Duster murmured to Kumatora;
"I'm not a child, y'know. You don't need to take me anywhere."
Kumatora brought her hands behind her head, shoulders broad and upright, and smiled.
"I know. But I just don't wanna be bored for the whole of today."
"Duster and Kumatora, sittin' in a tree-"
"...Hand him to me."
Duster obliged without a second thought, handing the Rope Snake to Kumatora. She then proceeded to tie a knot in his body, skill-fully and quickly.
"Ow!! Oh come on, this is unfair treatment to rope snakes!" The creature moaned.
"Then shuddap and help us when we need you!" Kumatora snarled back, her expression livid.
"Geez, you're as snappy as always, princess." The Rope Snake remarked. Kumatora urged herself not to lose her temper; Ionia always frowned upon her when she did that and she didn't want to bother Ionia...wherever she was. But she was watching over Kumatora, as were all the Magypsies.
"Flattery will get you nowhere." She responded, untying the Rope Snake and handing him back to Duster, who merely took him back; Duster was used to Kumatora's ways and was thus never really surprised or shocked by her actions.
"So, what are we going to see Lucas for?" The Rope Snake asked before Duster stuffed him back into his pocket.
"We haven't seen him for a while and I wanna check he's doing okay." Kumatora answered. The Rope Snake moved slightly in Duster's pocket; a sign he had heard her.
Flint tilted his hat. In good condition as always.
He wasn't quite sure how the last few months had resulted in such a turnabout for the village. But he had been pleasantly surprised. He had, of course, been devastated by his son's passing. But in a way...it wasn't as depressing as Hinawa's death had been. Perhaps because Claus had been suffering, and he was finally free, with his mother. Flint still remembered what he vowed at Hinawa's grave shortly after Claus's funeral.
"I'll take care of Lucas, and you look after Claus. We'll be together again someday."
Flint then heard a voice. He had not told anyone; for he knew it would be "the wind" and nothing more, but Hinawa's gentle voice had drifted into his ear...
"I look forward to that day. And so does Claus. But I'll always watch over you and Lucas as well..."
Flint tilted his hat once more; his silent tribute to his sunflower. And then, he had gone home as the sun's dying rays met the pair of graves atop the hill.
Flint was snapped out of this memory by knocking on the door. Getting up from his chair by the table, his footsteps sounded along the wooden floor as he opened it.
"Oh...it's you two. Kumatora and Duster." He remarked.
"Yeah. Nice to see ya, Flint." Kumatora said, her eyes glancing over the doorknob. Lucas had found it shortly after he revived the world, and it stunned Kumatora and Duster when she said it was from his house. So he had brought it back with him. The doorknob had always intrigued Kumatora...she wondered if there was more to it then met the eye.
"We're here for Lucas." It was very much like Duster to get straight to the point, but Kumatora and Flint didn't really mind. None of them were very keen on small talk.
"Oh...of course. Well, he headed off for the hilltop with Boney. He didn't leave all that long ago, so you should meet him there."
"Ah, so he went ahead without us...'kay. Thanks, Flint." Kumatora raised a hand, signifying farewell. As Flint closed the door, Kumatora motioned for Duster to follow her.
"C'mon. I wanna check if he's alright."
"No no no! Install the chip in their mainframe, you freak! How else can your "adorable" robots time travel?!"
Purge gave a 'tsk' as he lifted the head of a Robo's body up, revealing a mainframe with many lights buzzing, and electrical currents. In between his index finger and thumb was a purple chip.
"So this is it, hm? I designed this purely by your specifications..." He pressed his other thumb to his chin, examining the device.
"Because you cannot leave the capsule, and from the sound of it, you were never any good at building things anyway...Purge has to deal with creating the chip." Blank explained. He was at the side of Purge's laboratory, where Purge had spent the last two hours creating the chip. According to Porky, inputting it into Purge's robots would give them two uses of time travel. This is so they did not go out of control or end up destroyed...or so Porky had stated. He was now drumming his fists on the window impatiently.
"I know that, pops! What, do you think this is storytime?! Just hurry up! I cannot wait to see that brat suffer..."
"You won't be face to face with him, Porky." Blank cut in, crossing his arms.
"What do you mean?! How else can I get my revenge?!?" Porky nearly shouted. Blank and Purge exchanged devious smirks.
"...We thought introducing this kid you're bringing into our plan would be...interesting." Blank responded.
"I have the robots on stand-by. At my command, they'll begin the attack." Purge smirked.
"Attack? Your robots? What is all of this?" Porky demanded, his face of keen interest. He despised not knowing of any vital details. Blank and Purge laughed, both as psychotic as the madmen they came from.
"Oh, you will see, Porky...and then you will agree with us." He turned to Purge.
"Install it now."
"As you wish, sir." Purge giggled. He approached his Robo, holding the chip with a sinister expression taking hold of his face...
Boney whined as he laid flat on the lush grass. A hand stroked across his back; whether to comfort him or the boy next to him, he did not know. A fresh bunch of colourful flowers had been placed in the middle of the two graves.
"Sorry I haven't been here to see you in a long time..." And Lucas lifted his head from the ground, his eyes firmly on the graves, but his face was smiling in a quiet, kind manner.
"Mum. Claus."
There was a small breeze during the pause.
"We've been working...very hard. Me and Dad and Kumatora and Duster...and everyone else." Lucas turned down to look at his canine companion.
"Even Boney."
"I'm not that useless." Came the response in Lucas's head. Lucas chuckled and looked up at the graves again.
"We've managed to restore the whole village...all of Tazmily, from everything that's happened. Isn't that great?"
Another silent breeze rippled across the hilltop before Lucas spoke again.
"I know. I'm taking care of myself as well, so neither of you need to worry."
"Lucas?"
He would normally have jumped upon someone intruding him, but he knew that voice well. Lucas turned to face Kumatora and Duster; his friends who had stuck by him every step of the way.
"Ah, sorry." Kumatora scratched the back of her head. She could tell when she had stepped in on something important, and she hated doing that.
"We can come back later, if you prefer." Duster nodded his agreement, but Lucas shook his head.
"No...no. It's fine. Come say hello to Mum and Claus." Kumatora smiled.
"Sure." She and Duster settled opposite sides of the pair onto the grass, before Kumatora gave a stretch and a yawn.
"Nice day." She murmured, her eyes scanning the cloudless sky.
"Yes...Mum likes it when the sun is out. It's because the sunflowers are at their best in broad daylight." Lucas smiled at his mother's grave.
"Who brought the flowers?" Duster asked.
"I did." Lucas responded. "Me and Boney hunted all over for them in the village."
"And I nearly ate a worm pulling out that one bluebell!" Boney's voice rang in Lucas's head. Kumatora could hear it as well, but due to Duster's lack of any PSI ability, he wasn't able to hear Boney's thoughts like the other two.
The afternoon dragged on, with the four of them doing little more then staying at the graves. Occasionally, they would speak; amongst themselves or to the graves of Hinawa and Claus; about how they were, what they had got up to, and what they planned to do in the near future.
As the sun began to set, Kumatora nudged Lucas.
"I think it's time we headed off."
The blonde boy nodded in agreement. He stood up before looking at the two graves one last time.
"Take care, both of you. I'll see you soon. I promise."
Kumatora stood up as well, and pulled Lucas into a one arm hug as she stared down at the graves as well.
"I'll take care of him. Don't worry." She spoke in her head. Duster and Boney got up as well. The four of them turned around; only to suddenly freeze at a strange, whirring noise.
"What's that?" Kumatora spoke, her expression bemused. It sounded like something spinning...
"Look." Duster nodded, suddenly taking a stance.
In front of them, several small shapes were beginning to take place. With barely any sound, small, black robots begin to form seemingly nothingless in front of them.
"W-what are these things?!" Kumatora yelled in disgust. Lucas had a perplexed, but also worried look, while Boney growled. Duster's expression had changed to confusion.
Suddenly, at the same time, all the robots yelled the same thing in a tiny, almost-not human voice, bending forward and extending their tiny arms;
"Up! Chu!"
"Up...?"
Suddenly, the four of them were blasted with a strange, purple beam, and they began to shake uncontrollably. None of them could keep their vision straight; many spots and flashing lights going through their mind like a slideshow.
"The...heck...?" Kumatora managed to splutter, but she couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. The robots had vanished from their view, and before any of them knew it, that strange whirring noise had occurred again.
The last thing they remembered were the words...
"Up! Down! Chu Chu Chu!"
"Look. I'm very, very late." A businessman explained in a panic. He was wearing a silver jacket with blue trousers, and had light brown hair. His expression was nothing short of fear.
"I understand, sir. But I've told you already. The first space terminal is just down the lobby." A girl in a red vest, a pink skirt and red knee high boots insisted. She had very light blonde hair and wore a pink hat.
"I went down the first hall lobby. I even went to the second floor lobby. But there was no space terminal around there! I'm very late to head for Saturn!" The businessman protested. The girl shrugged.
"Well, sir, my directions are perfectly fine. So you simply must have gone in the wrong direction." She explained it to him as if she was talking to a five year old.
"Bah! I've probably missed my flight thanks to you, now!"
"Mr Space Businessman, sir-"
"My name is Orville Plum!" The space businessman slammed his fist on the counter, and his outburst caused several passer bys to stare at him. The girl, who was called Brenda Boggs, sighed. Why did this always happen to her? Her job at Spaceport 9 was to assist passengers and guest who got themselves lost. Then they came back and accused her of pointing them in the wrong direction. Sometimes, she gave thanks to whoever made the law that stated "The space customer is never right."
"Sir, perhaps if I got someone to guide you, they would be able to show you." She pointed down the other end of the first hall lobby, where her counter was set against the wall. "Go past all those yellow seats...you'll see an elevator...yup, right where that spaceport worker's going!" She pointed at a man in black uniform.
Orville Plum stared at her in disbelief.
"He's heading for the luggage room."
"What makes you say that?" Brenda raised her eyes at the space businessman.
"Notice what he's carrying. A green suitcase?"
"...Oh." The man facepalmed while Brenda tapped her fingers across a keyboard to a monitor next to her.
"Sometimes, I just don't know if time is running after me...or if I'm running after time-"
He never got to finish; at that precise moment, a purple beam struck him in the back, and he gave a spasm as he fell onto the counter. Brenda gave a shriek as the man began to shake; it was like electricity coursing through his body.
She looked up from him, and saw a small, black robot floating in mid-air in front of her. She could hear screaming. But it was distant now; her senses focused on nothing but the object in front of her.
"Left! Chu!"
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Ulala had received the message at what felt like to the space reporter at the speed of light.
She wondered how Fuse had a nose for this sort of thing; he was always one of the first to pick up on breaking news across the galaxy. He had immediately told her to get to the Broadcast ship, and she had headed for the docking bay post-haste.
"No Noize?" She asked into her headset as she took her seat in a small, blue ship. It may not look much, but the Astrobeat Jr had been a huge help to Ulala in several of her reports. It was situated inside the Broadcast Ship, which Fuse controlled, and then Ulala flew in to get the scoop in the smaller one. The Broadcast ship itself was white, and had the Channel's logo on it. It was also known as the Astrobeat ship, and the blue one was a smaller, junior sibling to it.
"He's busy workin' on some new contraptions. Anyway, Spaceport 9's gone to 'dah dogs."
"Spaceport 9?" Ulala repeated. That had been the location of her first ever report.
"'Dat's right. Robots are apparently attackin' people and takin' 'em hostage! Ulala, we're takin' off by Astrobeat spaceship right now!"
"Roger!" Ulala tapped a screen in front of her, and she could suddenly feel the ship begin to vibrate; it's engine powering for take-off. The Astrobeat Spaceship suddenly launched and flew forward across the galaxy...
*BZZT*
Ulala's Swingin' Report Show: Special Broadcast!
YAY WE FINALLY ARRIVED IN THE SPACE CHANNEL 5 TIME AND NOW IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME NEXT CHAPTER. (ahem) It was fun to do everyone's personality's', because none of these characters are really the same! All unique in their own little way. =) I kinda wish I did more for Ulala, but we'll be seeing quite a bit of her in Chapter 3, so don't disgress. Some of Chapter 3 was actually written around the time I thought of PK Dance, so the wait shouldn't be as long as Chapter 2 was. Thanks for being patient everyone; I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!
Now review this please, or I'll send Purge's Robos to attack you and put you in this story.
...Wait, that's not a good threat! BAH! I need to work more on being a villian... =(
Hoped you like it, and remember to stay tuned!