He turned the door knob. Claus turned the door knob, and it came right off the door. Just great. Lucas started laughing. He went straight from crying to laughing, just like he used to. Claus felt something of a smile go across his face. Well, serious mood officially ruined. He had trouble understanding what it was that just happened, but it did, so Claus would be okay with that. But then they walked down the steps, where their mother was waiting, ever-present smile across her face.

Lucas ran into her arms crying. She was warm and friendly and familiar and mom. "Mom… I… I missed you!" Hinawa was a little confused, but she warmly hugged Lucas back. Lucas remembered this feeling, and cherished it. He held on tight, as to not accidentally lose her again. They hugged, and it felt like time stopped, until Hinawa started speaking. "How exactly did you miss me in the span of one night?" Lucas started crying so hard he couldn't even speak. Why did he have to cry right now? He wanted to tell mom everything, talk about things for hours, catch up, and… wait. No. He couldn't do that to her. No, he'd have to keep this secret between him and Claus. Hopefully they were the only ones who remembered. He wondered if Claus felt the same way. "Now, Lucas, if you don't want breakfast to burn, I'm going to have to check on it…" Lucas reluctantly let go. He didn't want to, but he did. Afterall, he did have to keep some sort of normalcy, and breakfast that wasn't burnt was important! He'd have to stop crying if he didn't want mom to find out. Something occurred to Lucas though, as he thought about breakfast. Could Claus even eat? It wasn't something Lucas made a point of considering in the past, but it was kind of important now.

Claus wasn't positive what it was he was supposed to do. For years now, every action had been for the greater good of his 'master' or whatever, so making his own decisions…? Not so easy. But Claus knew one thing. If he could help it, no one would know anything had happened, or the needles were pulled, or anything of the sort! He'd make that his objective for now, as he quickly realized he needed one. He didn't know how he was meant to react around his mom, but he was happy to see her. Excited? Thrilled? No, happy. That sounds right. But Lucas approached him, breaking his thoughts with a question. He whispered "Hey, I know this sounds strange, but can you eat?" The question caught Claus off-guard, because he wasn't sure he remembered the answer. He used to, for sure, but now? "You've got to be eating more! You've got to be spending less time with these needles, and more time on human health, otherwise your body will start rejecting everything you put it through!" Yep, Scientist did want him to eat. Sleep more too? It never really happened, so Claus wasn't completely sure. "...Yeah. I think so…?" "Oh, good! By the way… can we agree not to talk about anything that's happened in the last three years… to anyone? Please?" "I was thinking the exact same thing."

Hinawa started to set the table, and brought out omelettes. Lucas couldn't remember the last time he's had his mother's omelettes! He literally jumped for joy! He looked over, and saw that even Claus was smiling. Alec had come in, and they all had breakfast together, just as they once did. The omelettes were AMAZING! It'd been so long since Lucas had had them, and he forgot just how GOOD they were! Like last time, Alec was teasing him about being a crybaby, but this time, it didn't bother him. But… like last time…

"Well, as much fun as we've had, I think it's time to go. We want to get home before it gets dark." Lucas and Claus both shouted in unison "NO!" Hinawa looked at them, surprised. "Well yes, it's been a lot of fun, but we have to return home soon." Excuse, excuse, excuse, where's an excuse? Yes! "But mom… one more day? Just one more? The umm… dragos just brought over their babies." Man, Claus hated those dragos now. That's definitely the word for it! But if it will save mom's life… "I suppose one more day couldn't hurt, but just one." Claus heard Lucas sigh in relief. But that meant now Claus had to act normal for a day, but with the dragos. Great.

Relief flooded Lucas as Claus' excuse worked. That would give a day for everything to settle down, without any chance of history repeating itself. However, to act normal, they would have to actually go out and play with them. So next thing Lucas knew, he and Claus were going out to see the dragos. Luckily, Alec decided to stay in and talk with Hinawa, so they could drop the act in a moment. So, after they changed out of their PJ's, they went out to see the ones who future-tense murdered Hinawa in the past.

When they approached the dragos, Claus heard a voice. "I just don't think it's such a good idea to change the wildlife. I'm sorry, but I just can't do it." As they got closer, Claus saw who was speaking to who. It was Scientist! Talking to a pigmask… Before Claus knew what it was he felt, he pulled out his lightning sword and struck them both. He found that he had still had it when he woke up, and he just felt more comfortable carrying it around with him. Good thing he did. He heard Lucas make a noise of surprise, and ran over to where the pigmask and Scientist were getting back up. Scientist was the first to speak. "...Commander? But… I heard that…" "My name is not Commander, it is Claus." Scientist had a surprised look, then responded "Oh! I'm so sorry… I guess I never really got to know what your name really was…" Claus tried to remember what Scientist's real name was too, but he couldn't recall ever actually caring in the past. The pigmask started to speak. "We have a job to do. If you won't do it, you'll be in a lot of trouble Scientist." Well, that's why he didn't remember. No one did. Scientist looked terrified, but held his ground. "No. I'm sorry, but… I can't! Not this time! And King P can't do anything about it! ...Please don't hurt my friends…" "That is up to King P, not to me. Now, about these kids…" "I really wouldn't mess with them…" "And why is that?" "Just trust me… Com- Claus is just about the second strongest person I know." "I find that hard to believe." "It's true!" "He's just a kid." "He may look that way…"

Lucas started to sob. There was a stranger with a lab coat that had Porky's symbol on it, not to mention a pigmask, and they were talking about Claus like he meant nothing. He knew his brother probably felt something of anger, but all he could feel was sadness. How could this happen? The needles were pulled! Doesn't that mean everything should be fixed? The pigmask looked towards him with an unreadable expression. It started walking closer to him, which made Lucas curl up in a ball and cry even harder. When he looked up, Claus had taken his lightning sword and struck the pigmask again, this time standing between it and Lucas. "Leave. My. Brother. Alone." Lucas wasn't sure what to do. His brother had just started trying to adjust to being normal, and yet now he has to fight again. The nearby drago got in on the action. It let out a huge roar, and the pigman squealed and ran. Thanks drago. Maybe you aren't so bad after all…

Claus felt this feeling, anger, well up inside him. Then he wanted to jump up and cheer when the drago had helped, but now there was a bigger problem. Scientist. When Claus turned to face him, Scientist pulled back, obviously terrified. But it seemed like he remembered, so Claus didn't blame him for that. But it was confusing. HE didn't pull the needles, so HE shouldn't remember anything. Though perhaps maybe it's better that he did, Claus thought to himself, because then he won't make the same mistakes. "What are you doing here?" Claus asked flatly, with a hint of bitterness in his tone. Scientist backed up a little more, like he was about to run but he was too scared to. "Commander, I…" "I said my name is Claus." "Claus… I… I'm sorry." "Is that it then? Sorry is all you can say?" "I… it's not my fault! King P made me do it… I… I want to make it up to you. I don't know how but-" "Why don't you start by not scheming with pigmasks?" "I wasn't scheming! In fact, when I woke up, I was in my quarters like normal! I was confused, and then I was talked to like the Chimera Project was a new thing! And then I realized… it was! I wanted to try to stop it, but I didn't have a choice!" "Let me ask you something." Claus got really close to Scientist's face, and whispered something so Lucas couldn't hear. "Is Porky still around?" Scientist looked shocked for a second, then responded. "I think so, but I can't tell for sure." More of that anger feeling. With a new one though: hatred. No. This was all wrong. The new universe was supposed to be perfect! Everything was supposed to be okay again! But it wasn't. And Claus knew exactly who's fault that was. His own.