Chapter 2: Mistress
Luuucaaasss…
I hear that haunting, omniscient voice as I run through this void of darkness. It seems endless… I have no idea how long I've been running, but it seems like it's been an eternity. And the entire time, I've been chased by this strange voice… I know who it belongs to, and that's why I dare not turn around. For from behind me, I can also sense an incredible aura rife with malice and killing intent. And I don't even need to try to focus my PSI to feel it, it's that strong.
Luuuuuucaaaaasssss...
The voice is singsong, amused that I'm running away.
Why do you keep running, Lucas…? Why can't we play together, just like we used to…
I wasn't stupid. The kind of play he wanted involved tearing me apart limb from limb. "GO AWAY!" I shout back.
"And why should I…?" I stop dead in my tracks, my head now turned forward in terror. The owner of the voice is standing right in front of me. The very air is chilled around us is chilled all of the sudden, and neither of us are using PK Freeze. It feels like I'm frozen stiff at the mere sight of him… the blood pours out of his disemboweled right arm onto the invisible floor beneath our feet, dripping off of flesh and exposed circuits… half of his face – my face – is torn off in a bloody mess, except for a blood-red mechanical eye. Bloodstained teeth smile at me with glee. His entire body – or what's left of it – is battered and bleeding all over, plainly visible through his copycat clothing, and he doesn't seem to have a care in the world. "You're still a little crybaby, never could stand a little danger even if it was fun…"
He advances on me, and I back off. Suddenly, I lose my balance and fall on my bottom, and now I'm crawling away from him as fast as I can. But he simply matches my pace. "Claus, just… please, leave me alone… please…" My voice is coming out in pleading sobs. His response is to lunge forward and grab me with the hand he still has left, strong in spite of lost blood and frayed mechanical parts and wires poking out of his it. He gets a firm grip on my neck, lifting me up by it. My resulting pleading comes out as strained gags. His grip is like getting my neck jammed in a vice…
"Lucas… you knew damn well that this was coming…" he says, his voice no longer singsong, but dripping with malicious intent. "You let our mother die… you killed me with your own two hands… and then you unleashed the very thing that destroyed our world… we're not just letting you off the hook… WE DEMAND VENGEANCE!"
He throws me down to the ground brutally. I start backing up as fast as I possibly can, tears of fear streaming down my face. I finally get to my feet and turn to run, turning around… but I stop right where I am seeing the obstacle before me, something that shouldn't exist. In front of me, there is a horde of people, ghosts, zombies… all of the creatures and people that I'd seen back home… all shouting their disgust at me… but that's not what frightens me the most. I see them… my mother, my father, the friends that followed me throughout my journey, all shouting profanities at me like the rest. I can hardly believe what I see.
I can hear sizzling sounds behind me, all too familiar sizzling sounds. I turn around quickly and back off as I see him wielding his preferred electrically-charged sword raised high. "I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL!"
The last thing I see is his sword being brought down upon my head…
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The entire scene vanishes and my scream echoes out from my mouth. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, sweat billowing down my shaking body… the same state I'm always in when I wake up from a nightmare. But on top of that, my stomach is churning unpleasantly, and I have yet another blistering headache… I groan in discomfort, both brought on by the fact that I've had another unsatisfactory sleep and from how damn horrible I feel, and lay back down on the bed… it's soft…
Too soft. I've felt these blankets before. My head rolls on the pillow to look at the left side of the room, and I see the same sliding-screen door that I went through before… I'm back here again, in this fit-for-a-king bedroom. The only difference is that there is moonlight shining through the window instead of the sunlight. Just how on earth did I get back here? The last thing I remembered was being on top of that tower…
And then the events of last night come rushing back to me. How all of those aliens suddenly turned on me and attacked me, and how I… killed them… not just in simple self-defense, I tore them apart… and most sickening of all was that I enjoyed it… the images are too vivid for my liking, and I can feel my stomach giving another unhealthy lurch at them. I think I'm going to vomit… I quickly throw off the blankets and sit up in spite of my pain and look around frantically for something I can unload it into, because it's coming really fast… bending over the bed, I see that there is an empty bucket conveniently placed there. I don't know why, and I don't have time to ponder it. My mouth is filled with the horrible taste of bile as I throw up into the bucket. My body is shaking worse than before by the time I'm done. God, I feel terrible…
I'm at a loss for what to do now. Obviously I was put back in this bed to recover, but there's no way I'll be able to sleep in this condition, but by the same token I won't be moving either… I need my PSI, but before that I need this damned headache to go away. The only thing I can do is lay here in this bed, stuck with horrific memories of nightmares to come and the slaughter I committed on top of the tower, and cry as my fist pounds on the mattress… wondering what the hell I've become…
All of the sudden, light floods the room. I look up with bloodshot eyes to see that someone is standing in the now-open doorway… I can't make him out though. Slowly the person walks towards me… and I rapidly see that he is a she, wearing scarlet robes. She kneels down to look me in the eye, smiling warmly… slowly, she reaches out and brings me into an embrace, setting my head on her shoulder. For a moment, I'm confused… who is this woman? What is she doing? "Shh… it's alright… its okay to cry… just let it out…" she says in an accented voice as she strokes my bare back. I don't know what it is, but something about her being here is so… soothing…
Tears fall from my face as my pain from the past two days is released... I don't know how long I cried, but she stayed with me until I fell asleep…
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When I next woke up, the sun was shining through the sliding glass doors. Looking down, I see that I'm tucked back into the blankets like I was before… with one major difference; I don't feel like utter crap. My headache is gone, I'm not shaking, my stomach… well, my stomach is still growing due to lack of food, but not as violently as before. And finally, to my disbelief, I hadn't woke up out of a nightmare. In all of the three and a half years since my Mother died before my eyes, I've never woken up without having a nightmare first… this was more of a dreamless sleep, but I'd rather dream about nothing than have another delusion of being beaten and killed over and over again.
Panic suddenly washes over me. I'd fallen asleep in someone's arms, almost entirely naked… I frantically pull up the blanket and check to make sure that my blue boxers are still on. Thank God they are… checking the blankets all over, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of foul play either… I breathe a sigh of relief and lay back down. There's nothing left for me to do now; making another escape attempt is pointless since I don't have anywhere to go this time… maybe I'll get a good meal again?
As if on cue, the door opens up. I recognize the man, the same one who brought me food last time. I gulp; he can't be too happy about when I knocked him out… "Your meal, Lucas. Are you feeling any better now?"
My body shoots up; I immediately notice there's something wrong with that sentence. I never told him my name. "How do you know my name!?" I ask in alarm.
"The mistress knows who you are." the man replied, rolling the table from before up along the bed. This time there is a stack of pancakes with two packets of syrup. To the far side is my clothes, neatly folded up.
"…What's your excuse for taking my clothes this time?" I ask as I start filling the hole in my stomach.
"Well, er… they were covered in…" the man begins to say, but stops.
"…Oh… right." I respond, unwillingly remembering the massacre. I probably got the blood on my clothing from the aliens that got too close to me.
"Well, I'll leave you to your meal then." the man said, walking for the door.
I suddenly feel compelled to stop him. "W-wait!" I say. He turns to me. "I… I'm sorry for attacking you before… I kind of… freaked when you tried to touch me…" Well, it's close enough to the truth. And I am sorry for hurting him.
He simply chuckled and replied, "No apologies necessary, I don't hold it against you. If I woke up in a foreign place half-naked, I'd be wary too." I find myself chuckling at the blunt humor. "The mistress regrets not being here to see you now, but she is racing today. If you're feeling better though, she'd like you to attend the race…"
His proposal interests me for two reasons. The first is that I've always wanted to see an F-Zero race… the only experience I've gotten is off of television screens. That, and I'll finally get the chance to see this "mistress" for myself. I nod and answer, "I think I'd like that." He smiles and leaves me be, quietly closing the door behind him. As I quickly finish this breakfast, I roll the table away and pluck my clothing off of it. The same red-striped shirt and black shorts from before… I have to admit, I like them a bit more than the yellow and orange shirt and blue denim shorts I usually wore. I slip the new clothing on and look myself in the mirror again… and then I see my bedhead. I groan, having been through this before… well, at least this time I have the chance to fix it. I grab a small pink comb off of the dresser with the mirror on it and comb my hair into the usual swirl; this is one part of my style that I'll probably never get rid of… I like it too much. Setting the comb down, I follow the man's earlier instructions and make my way out of the bedroom.
The hallway I'm in is no less decorative than the bedroom, a plush red carpet under my feet and columns with golden trim lining the walls. Priceless-looking vases stand on silver pedestals along the sides of the hallway. This mistress was rich… it made me wonder even more just who she is. Heading to my right – the left part of the hall appeared to lead to a dead-end, and I know I'm on the second floor – I come across a spiral staircase. Classy like everything else here. I head down and find myself in what seems to be the family room. Three couches and two chairs – all red in colour – were lined up in a half-circle fashion here, facing a flat-screen television suspended from the ceiling in front of huge windows with the same red and violet tassels as in the bedroom. The floor was also matted with the same red carpet. Two men occupied the room, the first being the man who brought me my food, the other I didn't recognize. He had short brown hair and wore a black shirt with red pants, and appeared no older than the other man. The first man turned to me with a smile and said, "Glad you're on your feet."
I then noticed that the man was holding something in his arm… a heavy, blue hoody. "What's that for?" I ask him.
"It's for you, Lucas." the man informs me, handing me the hoody. I raise my eyebrow at him. "The mistress knows you're part of the Super Smash Brothers, and there's the chance that people might recognize you… no reason to get swarmed by the paparazzi."
I see his point. While the Super Smash Brothers were a fighting force to protect the peace, they were publicly known for their tournaments that they used as a front. All of the Smashers – myself included – were celebrities in all of the worlds that could view those tournaments. If I were recognized by some hapless townsperson, it could cause the media and perhaps eventually Super Smash Brothers to come running. And I didn't want to be found by Super Smash Brothers right now. I slipped the hoody on and pulled the hood over my head, hiding my trademark hairstyle.
I nod to the man, and he nods back. "Well, shall we get going?"
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We arrive at the floating race track in what he tells me is the "Green Plant" area, where his mistress found me unconscious by chance as she was practicing on the track. And it seemed that this practice was much-needed, as the track they are racing on is supposed to be one of the most difficult ever made. And as I look out from this flying audience carrier onto the track called "Spiral," I immediately see how apt its name is. It's long, curved, twisted and has several jumps. It looks really cool, but to actually race on it is something I'd believe only a madman would do. And as I look down, I see no less than thirty of these madmen driving their F-Zero machines up to the starting positions. I start to get a little antsy, remembering that Captain Falcon is also an F-Zero pilot… but am greatly relieved upon seeing that the Blue Falcon isn't present in the group of racers. I smirk; he must be too busy looking for me in other worlds. That makes me feel relieved.
"Down there, Lucas. Number 36." the servant man – who has since told me his name, Ruffas – informs me, pointing out a machine coloured gold and orange at the twenty-first starting position. It's very difficult to describe… its design is an odd mix of smoothness and being built to be durable. I'd say it's definitely built for speed, but that's what all F-Zero machines are made. The pilot beside it, waving to the crowd, was someone I had to admit was drop-dead gorgeous. I'm a bit concerned about her… odd style of clothing though; she is wearing an A-shaped leather top and has baggy gypsy-like pants, which are hung up by tall and laced combat boots. She wore pink leather gloves and had red shoulder-guards, and wore a pair of thick, heart-shaped sunglasses on her forehead. Her dark-red hair was done into a pair of large, twin ponytails. Most of her articles of clothing had heart decorations on them somewhere. "That is our mistress, Lucas."
My lips scrunch up in concern; to me it seems like her outfit is made to emphasize her curves. And she doesn't look that old either, she can't be much older than myself. What is this, some kind of reverse harem? "That outfit is kind of revealing, isn't it?"
I hear him chuckle. "Oh, not really. From where we hail from, royalty actually wears more revealing clothing than that. We had to add a little to the ensemble before she could go out in public like this."
Did I hear him right? "I'm sorry, Mister Ruffas, but… did you say royalty?" I ask.
"Yes, I did. She is our princess, Lucas. Princess of the planet Magica." he clarifies.
At this new information, my jaw nearly hits the floor. Their mistress… a princess? I can hardly believe it, but… it's the only logical explanation I can think of for someone so young to have a handful of grown-up male servants. I breathe an inward sigh of relief now that I know the situation isn't what I thought it was. But this begs another question: "Why would a princess be racing in something like the F-Zero!? This is dangerous!"
Ruffas chuckles again. "Oh, don't worry, she's done this plenty of times before. We were skeptical too when she decided she wanted to race, but she's stubborn at times… so we built her an F-Zero machine with all of the scientific knowledge our civilization had to offer. To our surprise, she seems to have a natural talent for racing." he explains to me. Upon hearing that her servants built it, I'm a little concerned that he might have a bit too much confidence in his work. Then again, he did say she'd done this before… maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I guess we're about to find out… "It's starting."
As I hear the announcer counting down to start the race, my full attention is on the mistress' machine. And then, as the announcer says shouts "GO" to begin the race, it's gone in an instant like the rest of the machines into the tunnel at the start of the track. All I can hear now is the rampant cheering of the audience for their favorite racer. Holy crap, these things are fast… I've only ever seen these races on television screens where the cameras follow the racers with such ease, making them appear slower than the really are. Now that I actually have to follow the race with my own two eyes, I can see just how fast these F-Zero machines are. It makes me wonder how these pilots can stand the danger, the thought that you could die after rounding one corner in the track… if it weren't for the events from the past two days, I don't think I could even begin to understand how enjoyable the thrill of danger is.
My eyes search frantically for the princess' machine at the end of the tunnel, seeing a group of racers come out until I finally see hers… I feel relieved. Looking at the rankings screen, I see that she is currently in ninth position. I recall her starting in twenty-first, which is a favorable leap from the start of the race. Maybe this won't be so bad after all…
Those hopes are dashed when the pack of racers reaches the middle of their first lap. The floating track, which I'm pretty sure is supposed to hover and place and not move, actually starts to… well, move. It begins to tip downward in the direction the machines are headed in, and they immediately all start to break and turn around in a frenzied attempt to climb up the makeshift incline. This survival tactic is met with failure, however, as the track bends in a complete ninty-degree angle; fast as these machines might be, they still can't ride straight up against gravity. All of the racers begin to start spilling off of the track as the track itself slowly begins to descend to the ground. "Mister Ruffas, I don't think this is part of the show!" I shout to him over the cacophony of alarmed yelling from the other people present in this aircraft.
"No, definitely not…" he says in a very concerned tone, looking at the disaster unfolding before us. "I have to go down there, the mistress could be hurt."
"I'm coming with you." I say without hesitation, concerned myself for the princess' safety. She was the one who saved my life, after all… if she was in danger, I had to return the favor.
"Of course." he says, fully aware that I can take care of myself. The question now was, how were we going to get from up here down to there? Ruffas seemed to know a way, clambering his way through the panicking audience. I followed him through the crowd until we made our way down to what appeared to be a compartment in the floor. He opened it up and went inside, and I followed. This room… it looked like some kind of cockpit with three seats and a white interior, with a control panel at the front seat. I immediately knew that this was some kind of escape pod. "Strap yourself in, this isn't going to be a pleasant ride." he warns me. I do as he instructs, hopping into the left-most seat and strapping myself in. No doubt he's probably done this before as his hands type quickly on the control panel before a steering wheel of sorts comes out from under the panel. He grabs onto it, and we're suddenly launched from the aircraft, getting a view of the spinning forest around us. He was right, this wasn't at all pleasant; the constant spinning and erratic movements of this escape pod are quickly making me airsick…
This was brought to an abrupt end as we quickly crashed into the ground. For a moment I was worried that my seatbelt wouldn't hold, but thankfully it did. I know that we'll be running, so I mutter "PK Healing" and repair any injury or sickness that I got from this brief ride as he opens the exit door of the pod. He doesn't seem too fazed by the ride, likely because he's done it before. We both exit the pod…
Just in time to catch a horrible tremor through this thick forestry that knocks us both off of our feet. It must have been from the falling race track impacting the ground, and because of how huge the track is, we can clearly see through this thick forestry that it isn't done falling yet. We don't have much time. We run towards the place where the track hit the ground as fast as our legs can carry us, aware of the danger but knowing that the princess could easily be in a much worse situation.
We don't have to run far before we see a sign of life in the form of F-Zero machines, three of them heading right for us in an attempt to avoid the crashing race track. Two of them drive right by us, barely missing us, but the third stops in front of us. I recognize it, and am relieved; it's the princess' machine. Her cockpit opens and she immediately shouts, "Get in!" as she waves for us to get over there. As other F-Zero racers approach from afar, we don't hesitate. It is difficult for all three of us to crowd into a cockpit made for one, but we manage. I'm huddled up behind the left side of the pilot's chair, while Ruffas is standing up and bent down because of the cockpit's windshield. His grimace makes it evident that he is uncomfortable. As the machine starts to move again, the princess scolds us both, "What were you two doing, trying to get flattened!?"
Ruffas is quick to retort, "We were looking for you, mistress!"
She groaned. "You really shouldn't worry about me so much!" she replies. I'm agape by this point; she doesn't think that getting hurled off of a massive, flying pile of metal and nearly getting crushed by it is cause for concern? I would've made a rebuttal to this right away if she weren't a princess, not to mention it isn't wise to distract the pilot of a vehicle going over seven-hundred miles per hour.
It didn't take long for the princess to find an actual road in this forest; I'm assuming she was aided by an on-board GPS, but I can't see it from where I'm sitting. In fact, I can't actually see the terrain we're riding on from this position; I can only assume we're on a road since the ride is considerably smoother now. I watch the speed gauge, the only part of the dashboard that I can clearly see, climb up to the thousands as we speed away from the crashing track. Even through the quiet interior of this machine, we can still hear the thunderous crashing of the Spiral race track behind us. "I think we're far enough away from the point of impact." Ruffas informed us, cueing the machine to come to a slow stop.
The cockpit opened, and the princess and Ruffas stepped out. I followed them, wondering what they were doing. They're looking at the parts of the track that are still visible through the foliage, falling down to the ground and crushing everything they came down on. While not as intense as before, we can still feel the ground shake as Spiral falls apart. My attention is drawn to the princess, stomping the ground. "I practice for this race for a week straight, and the whole damn track comes down when it finally starts!? What is this!?" she complains in a fit of rage.
Ruffas sighs with disdain. "It could've been much worse, mistress. This could've been your last race. Ever." he tells her. He receives a glare from her, but nothing more than that. She knows that he's right. "Now, let me see your arm." Wait, what's wrong with her arm? Concerned, I run around to the other side of her to see and recoil in horror. I couldn't see it before since I was on the other side of her, but her right shoulder-guard is collapsed into her shoulder. An unhealthy amount of blood is flowing from it down her arm…
Blood…
Oh no… I can feel it again… that… urge for destruction… the memories are flooding back to me out of control… out of… no! I can't lose control now… before, it was because I was being attacked, when my life was in danger… this time, I'm around friends, people who seem to care for me… I… want to… NO! Not them! I can't turn my head away from the blood dripping from her shoulder as the man tries to remove the damaged shoulder-guard from her. It falls to the ground and she grunts through her teeth as he succeeds; the wound I see looks like someone drove a spike through it… spike… like when I used my PK Freeze to erupt that alien's blood to pierce his body… oh God, that was good… no, no, NO! I can't get those urges now! But… I can't… I… can't…
I start to hyperventilate again as pressure builds up in my head… it hurts, God it hurts… I growl in discomfort and sink to my knees, reaching my hands into my hoody and holding my head, which feels like someone is swinging a wrecking ball around in it. It's at this point that my pain is noticed by the others. "Hey, Lucas? Are you alright!?" the princess says in alarm, crouching down in front of me to get a good look at me.
"My head… it hurts…" I tell her. "M… make it stop… make it stop!" God, it feels like my head is splitting in two. I can't stop the sights and sounds of devastation that I've caused from resurfacing, I see them all with staggering clarity… they make me… they make me feel sick… without warning, I feel the bile rising. All I can do is turn away from the princess before I retch onto the pavement below me.
"Oh my God!" she wails. It's the last thing I hear before the pain becomes too much and my vision is claimed by the darkness once again…