(Chapter Seven revised on April 6th, 2019)
And here is the long awaited Chapter Seven. Please enjoy. And if you do enjoy this Lucas x Ness story, please feel free to check out the other few that I have which are called Glitter and Glass as well as The Raven and the Lion, plus my two Lucas x Ness one-shots called Disturbia and Oasis. I hope you enjoy the seventh chapter, To Be On Edge.
"So, Mr. Kick Ass, in shining armor who won the match today, what would you like to do?" Ness asked, with a bow, the two teenagers standing in the middle of the cafeteria while some of the other gathered Smashers were getting their dinner. Lucas's heart was still racing after winning, a few passing by and giving their congratulations, but most of the praise fell on deaf ears. Ness stayed a bit too low in his bow so his hair is ghosting over the lip of his shoes, and when he came back up, a resounding crack noise came from his back, followed by a heavy hiss.
Lucas genuinely giggled, bringing his hands up to cover his mouth. "Well, my royal faithful prince, I suggest we hang out in your palace." The chivalrous tone was indeed a bit weird, a fact not lost on him when thinking about it later, as only a week ago, the two were at each other's throats.
Ness righted himself up, frowning slightly. "Wait... you don't want to like, go and get crazy? Go out and party?"
The other teenager crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Party? Like, go and get drunk?"
"Yeah, sure, if you want to," Ness said.
Lucas wasn't buying it. "Aren't you the same person who told me I couldn't have coffee due to being younger than eighteen?"
"Yeah. What of it?" the dark haired boy blinked innocently. He loved being sixteen and able to try and be as much of a smartass as he could. Yes, he knew he was totally going back on his word, but this was a time meant for celebration. Ness remembered when he won his first brawl about four years ago; it had taken some time to get used to fighting adults, as he had been the youngest person in the cast to fight, going against elite swordsmen and bounty hunters and intergalactic commanders against a little twelve-year old who could shoot star powers from his fingertips.
After he had won, Luigi, in help with Samus, created a massive dinner for him and the trio watched movies on the large leather couch in the living room. He had beaten Donkey Kong for the victory, and the ape wasn't the most receptive to the loss as it had been his first, after Ness fell down to the ground time and time and time again, sick of hitting his head on the mats, until he'd get up and brush himself off. Back then, at twelve years old, he didn't even think about trying sips of alcohol here and there, and for the momentous occasion, as they were now a bit older, going and getting drunk off of the Mansion's property shouldn't have been that bad.
The blonde rubbed his chin. "So you're not comfortable breaking mansion rules, but you're okay with breaking the law of the United States?"
"I am more afraid of Master Hand killing me than the cops," Ness said matter-of-factly.
Lucas nodded, locking his jaw. "Yeah... you gotta point there."
"So we gonna go trashed?"
"Even if we could somehow get off of the property without them finding out... how are we going to get the alcohol?"
Ness's eyes twinkled brightly, and he picked up his solo cup of soda, downing the rest of it. "Didn't you use mind control tricks to get Kirby into serving you coffee?"
"Yeah. What of it?"
"Do it on another human being!"
That didn't sound all too fun for Lucas. There came a time and place to excise different powers, and this wasn't one of those times. Kirby was an innocent little creature from a galaxy called Pop Star; he didn't deserve to be taken advantage of, but Lucas also didn't want to be on the end of Master Hand's wrath, so the guilt sat inside his stomach and festered like spoilt, curled milk. It wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, but he could live with it.
Lucas rubbed his shoulder. "Can't we just stay in and play videogames with Nana and Popo? Is that too much to ask?"
Ness's smile faltered immediately, his eyes falling to the floor some. It was like a rejected puppy dog trying to fall back into the owner's good graces, a relapse of love and protectivity, but its charms were entirely lost on Lucas. He had seen too many men, too many evil and wicked people, get to their knees and beg, pleading for mercy, and Lucas still removed their head from their shoulders when the day was done because they had tried to kill him. He wasn't going to let anyone do that to him, no matter who they were or had become, so unfortunately, Ness didn't move him one inch.
"That' okay," he said dejectedly, trying to interject some cheer. "Maybe next time."
"Maybe next time."
Ness threw his solo cup across the table, which skidded over its surface and into the trash can. Lucas followed suit, instead his went soaring a bit too far and bounced off of the rim. He opened his mouth to curse, which might have not been the best thing to do since Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom was looking over at them due to their immature antics, but it didn't matter, as another voice overrode them entirely.
"Actually, we want you guys to do a different plan," said a voice from behind them both. "Video games aren't where it is at."
They turned around to see Link and Marth standing in front of them, big plastered grins on their faces. "And what may that plan be?" Any semblance of pressure or sadness immediately lifted off of Ness's shoulders. Whenever he would see the two swordsmen together, he knew that meant magic was in the air. Looking over at Lucas, the other boy had a rather star struck look on his face, which Ness laughed on. An original Smasher, now three tourneys in, definitely impressive with the fanbase, and Marth who everyone latched to within seconds. He's seen some of the piles of fan mail they get from single teenage girls - and some guys, truthfully - who were downright in love with them. Ness had an occasional letter or two, but it was the chance to see the Swordsman of Time, or the Altean Prince, or the bounty hunter who raced on the streets of Mute City shirtless and dripping with sweat that got the televised numbers in.
Link was dressed rather plainly out of his usual hunting gear, in an olive green hoodie, hair wild and untamed, with the famed earring in his ears, and wherever Marth went, his wardrobe had to be entirely blue, from the top of his head down to the soles of his feet. A typical look for them, both guys in their mid-twenties, but they seldom switched out of their thematic clothing into what Ness wouldn't mind wearing.
That only meant one thing.
A party.
Marth valiantly stepped forward, as that was the only way Ness could describe it, moving with enough grace like in that a king would possess. Ness had to often remind himself that on Earth, it was one universe besieged by their own problems, but all the Smashers came from their own places plagued with their own disasters and stresses, and going to the Smash Mansion via an invitation was to act as an escape from the everyday troubles of society elsewhere. The acclimation of some to the culture of Earth wasn't always smooth, as Marth hadn't fully learned a majority of the nuances. "We would appreciate it, if you and Lucas spent the evening in our dorm. Everyone wants to get to know the winner of the match today, and it wouldn't very well be a party without the winner, now would it?"
Lucas squealed in excitement, moving his hands back and forth rapidly. Ness chuckled at his friend's antics - he actually considered the kid a friend, and that took him a step back. In a matter of three weeks, as acquaintances who didn't want anything to do with one another, to giggling with each other over cups of soda and cheering for one another during match - as it occurred to him, Lucas would've grown up with watching Marth and Link, and even Ness himself, duking it out against one another for crowns and crowd favors. "Yes! A thousand times yes! That sounds awesome!"
Link smiled warmly. "Well, that's a good enough answer for us," and then he looked over at Ness. "What about you? You up for it?"
Ness shook his head, shrugging. "Wherever he goes, I'm going too. Besides, give up a chance to party with you and Marth? Of course!" He then glanced at the clock resting up against the entrance to the cafeteria. It was way later than he had expected. "Wait, it's really late. I'm going to want to go to bed soon." It had been going on past two in the morning, and although he loved staying up as much as the next person, because that meant he could do whatever he wanted, he needed sleep. Ness and Lucas already stayed up late last night going over last minute match preparations, and he knew that going a lot of nights with a lack of sleep wasn't exactly healthy.
Marth waved away the concern with a hand, dismissing it forever. "We'll carry you back to your rooms when you can't handle the partying anymore," and then, as an afterthought, where his eyes twinkled happily, "Besides you'll get the chance to meet some new people."
That perked Ness's interest. Whenever there was the start of a new tournament, there'd be newcomers to the fray, such as Lucas, who he has already met. Most of the others he hadn't gotten very well acquainted with, besides a passing nod or brief glance once in awhile over the basket of muffins at breakfast. Ness hadn't had a match either, yet, given that the one today had been the first of the season, which always opened up the doors to the newcomers. "Like who?" He truly didn't know anyone else besides Lucas, and that filled him with shame; when he was younger, during the Melee season, he had been chomping at the bit to be introduced to everyone.
Link ran a hand through his maple hair, a few strands getting stuck in his fingers. It was a definite backwards look for him, Ness realized, as the man from Hyrule never, ever looked off in his presentation. The day that Marth would look terrible, why, it'd be the day the observable known universe exploded into stardust. "Well, you already know Roy, Ness," which he did, and there wasn't enough soda in the world to ever quench the redhead's thirst, "And then there's Ike, who also comes from Marth's world; I think you'll like him," he continued counting off of his fingers. "Zelda, Samus, Falcon, and uh..." Link rubbed his chin. "Pit," nodding at Lucas. "You should probably know who that is."
The name did sound familiar to Ness, and he looked at his friend, a shiver passing through his body.
Lucas paled, a hand going to his waist where the bandage was still stuck to his body. Ness nearly freaked out waking up today, when his eyes landed on the bandage as he thought the wound had opened up and began to bleed again, which was a disaster he was not about to have happen again. Ness wasn't a healer, he wasn't a medic, and honestly, he didn't do well with stressful situations. "Yeah," the blonde swallowed heavily, voice slightly raspy. "I know Pit."
Marth smiled, clapping his hands together. "Well, hurry along you. Ness, you know where our dorm is right? We haven't changed it; we'll meet you up there."
Lucas looked at Ness, tugging at his shirt. "I'm going to go change shirts; I'll just look at the mansion's registry for their room," and began to ran ahead but, Ness realized he was carrying the room key. Nana and Popo were both probably asleep, as they always went to bed early, and he wasn't about to have anything go down between his roommates as both Ice Climber siblings hated being awoken out of their dreams. Let the fighting only contain to the stage.
"Wait, I have the key-" Ness began to run off after his roommate, but a hand grabbed his wrist and made him stop. "What?" he said in anger, whirling around and staring into Marth's serious face. Link had already gone ahead, jogging out of the cafeteria, with Lucas being a colorful sunset blob on the horizon.
Marth's eyes had lost their general glow, a rather sharp contrast, and Ness's blood chilled on the spot, the grip on his wrist tight. "Tell me, do you know anything new about that aura?" the prince shook his head. "I asked Zelda to help me look in the power glossary, in case it had been something Master Hand forgot to input in the system, and we came up with nothing," he leaned in, lowering his voice to a whisper. As far as Ness was aware, only he, Marth, and well, Lucas, knew about this orange aura, but Lucas didn't know that and he didn't know that. "Because I know you saw what happened today, during the match," Ness couldn't hold the eye contact anymore, breaking away from it. His worst fears were assured; that odd presence didn't go unnoticed like he foolishly hoped. "It came from his hands and then obliterated Captain Falcon on the spot. That wasn't PSI, and you know it too. Please tell me you know something else."
Ness removed his wrist from the bluenette's cold, clammy grasp. "I've got nothing for you Marth, except that he gets his power from a spirit named Yolthada and he won't tell me who the spirit is." He decided to not mention the intruder that Ness had seen in the hospital room, still unable to determine what he had seen that night. Ness debated telling someone else about the Wolf incident in the training room, but since the creature had gone to absolve that himself and showed regret about his actions, the dark haired boy didn't feel right doing that to him after coming clean.
Marth frowned. "Have you tried to retrieve from him who or what Yolthada is?" Ness opened his mouth to say something, but the prince cut him off. "And yes, I know what you're going to ask me. I don't recognize the name either."
The PSI user nodded feverishly at the question. "Yes, I've tried. I haven't gotten anywhere with it. He deflects the question and then he either attacks me, treats like I'm fucking trash or it seems like someone tries to kill him."
The swordsman rubbed his chin, frowning. "I wouldn't force it on him, okay?" However, he does grip the boy's wrist again. "However, if it does get to a point where lives are on the line, his or anyone else's over this power, you have to demand he tells you, or you bring it to Master Hand. We can't keep hiding this from the others, Ness. Eventually, someone will start to suspect something," he righted himself, letting go off Ness's wrist. "And watch the language. It isn't very courtly," Marth admonished.
Ness shook his head in agreement. "Yeah, I got it."
Something that'd be easier said than done, more like it.
Marth led the teenager back towards the main room and together they climbed the central staircase up to the fourth floor. Ness was always blown away by the grand architecture of the mansion; he had seen it for five years straight and it never ceased to amaze him, what with the ornate paintings on the wall, or the stenciled drawings that circled the banister. Sometimes there'd be a prank pulled by one of the young adults - Ness had yet to do anything too terrible like that - where they'd get some unidentifiable substance and smear it all over the walls, ruining the artwork and earning themselves a bitch slap granted via Master Hand's wrath.
The prince led him to the third door down the hall and he didn't even have to unlock it. From the sounds on the other side, it sounded as Marth's roommates were very, very rambunctious, and Ness smiled. It was always the parties in this room, on this floor, that brought the mansion's fun. Marth scooted the teenager in and immediately Ness was met with glimpses of chaos; a scene so bad that he gasped. After stepping into the room, he had to sidestep and get out of the way of this massive weapon nearly falling onto him that had been leaning up against the wall. A sharp fragrance, that of a perfume, permeated the room, and in the corner, Ness saw Zelda and Samus chatting together, both ladies, also in their mid-twenties, looking very respectable in what else could only be described as a mad house.
Pit, the angel that had the anemic white wings - a chill still laced itself through Ness's body - and Lucas were both spraying each other with the canned cheese that had been processed and processed and processed, each trying to squirt the liquidity substance into each other's mouths. His roommate hadn't even changed clothes, since he didn't have the key, but given the angel's aim, there was now cheese sauce literally dripping off of the collar and onto the floor. Then, in the back corner, there was this tall, broad-shouldered soldier, who would've had to have been the owner of the massive sword, a blue headband tied around his head, guzzling down a beer can after the other. Ness deduced him to be Ike, the swordsman's face a flushed and brightly colored scarlet. Link was shooting arrows between the legs of Roy, who was over on the far side of the wall, who was howling with laughter, his opal eyes bloodshot, definitely drunk. Ness knew how terribly hypocritical he had been, wanting to coerce Lucas into drinking, because Roy clearly had too many amber colored bottles, only at nineteen, and still underage via Earth laws. The PSI user heard a faint warning amid all the chaotic noise, and with a yelp, ducked as an arrow went flying over his head.
Marth had enough, standing there in the doorway, looking as his room dissolved into chaos. He stepped in, letting the door shut, but no one heard it, as some sort of song was playing over the stereo system in the far corner of the room, drowning out the rest of the noise. Ness fearfully looked over at the bluenette, heart racing. There had been some raucous parties that he's seen in the mansion before, but nothing like the chaos at what he just saw, as if some demon had taken control of all the others.
"STOP!" the prince screamed at the top of his lungs, voice sharply authoritative, which took Ness aback. He had never heard the Smasher raise his voice in that manner, not at anyone or anything.
That made everyone freeze in place, even the two ladies who had actually done nothing wrong. Lucas's eyes skittered to each person in the room, but when they landed on Ness, he made a sheepish smile. He probably knew how ridiculous he looked, especially when then taking a look down at his now ruined shirt - wouldn't the cleaners be absolutely happy about that? - and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess we got too carried away."
Marth pried the arrow from the wall that Link had misfired, the one Ness ducked underneath so it wouldn't skewer him in the liver. "Carried away would probably be an understatement," he said, his voice now surprisingly calm, and Ness knew what that meant. That would be one of those last straw sort of deals, where someone was brought to a point of their patience nearly being eradicated, before breaking hell loose and into the world. "I'm gone for only a minute and somehow you guys then turn this dorm into hell and back again." He snapped the arrow over his leg, an action that made Ness wince. "Don't you guys have any self control?"
"Marth, calm down..." Link advised him, trying to subtly remove the arrows that were underneath Roy's legs. Said swordsmen had long gone moved from that position, cowering in the back of the dormitory with the taller swordsmen that looked entirely nonplussed at the drama unfolding. "I wasn't drunk and neither was Pit or Lucas, so you can't completely say that. We were just," a lame throwing up of his hands, "Having fun."
The Altean prince breathed out through his nostrils, walking over to the Hyrulian and thwacked Link on the back of the head. "Just having fun? Link, what do we think we run here? A zoo?" He promptly took Link's solo cup that he was holding out of his hand. "Besides, you let Roy get drunk, which means we're breaking the mansion's rules, which means we'll get Master Hand ticked off at us again," and then he flitted his gaze towards the other two youths who had been enjoying themselves in the ensuing rush. "You let Pit and Lucas turn themselves into dirty messes, and now I am going to have clean the carpet. Last time the carpet got dirty, it took me seven hours to clean it."
Ness had to snigger to himself, immediately covering his mouth so the noise wouldn't go that far. "I'm sorry Marth, but seven hours cleaning?" he thought incredulously.
Link raised his head defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You know what, Marth? I honestly think you need to stop being so high maintenance. No one got hurt."
Marth glared at his main roommate, the two having been roomed with another after his debut. "Don't get smart with me, Link. That's always your excuse, that 'no one got hurt', and that is fine, until someone does and then we're royally screwed."
"Wasn't he the Smasher that you said was a little bit prissy? That's why I assumed he was a girl, right?" Lucas whispered, having moved himself over to Ness's side. The dark haired boy looked at his friend as if he was crazy, which probably wasn't too far from the truth. Why would that have been the moment he decided to say that? His voice had been a whisper so no one besides Ness could've heard him say it, but in the silence, it hadn't been enough.
Marth threw his hands in the air without so much as an effort "That's it," he whispered, shaking his head, having heard what the blonde said. "I'm done," and then he nodded complacently, another inward cringe on Ness's part. "I'm done. I'm fucking done!"
Everyone in the room collectively gasped, and it might've been Ness who gasped the loudest of all. Never, ever, did the prince of Altea swear in front of anyone, he was too chivalrous and too kingly and too diplomatic to do that, especially after criticizing him about the language he used in the cafeteria. "Marth!" Link tried to plead, but it very well may have been trying to present their case to a brick wall for the good it did.
Marth even stopped and gave Link the bird, having paused in the doorway, before storming out. That had been one custom he must've picked up from the Americans, and he probably learnt it from Captain Falcon, who used it pretty much everywhere and in every social construct. "Don't even try to beg for me to come back here until you guys clean it all up. You're dead wrong if you think I'm going to continue cleaning up your messes," and with that followed by a sniff of disdain, Marth turned his nose up in the air, briskly walking away from the door room.
Ness's hand wavered, having outstretched it to try and get the prince to stop, but that plea would've fallen on deaf ears. He rolled his head over to look at Lucas, trying to mimic the death stare as best he could. All the blonde had for response was another rocking back and forth on his heels. Ness gave one last look of disgust at the cheese covered shirt. "Lucas, come on, let's go reason with him. You're part of it," he made a step forward, paused, and then shuddered. "And, for God's sake, take the shirt off."
Lucas followed his roommate without a word, head down to the floor. Well that was until he noticed the little tiara Marth had on his dresser as he walked past it, pausing and pointing at the ornate piece of jewelry. "Wait a minute... he has a tiara?"
"Just come on!"
Wolf cocked the sniper rifle, looking down the scope, trying to find his target. With a growl, realizing that the cloudy sky would make trying to find his target nigh impossible, he set the gun down. Lucario made the wrong mistake getting this particular lupine angry. Standing up on a hill, the same hill actually, as Lucas's mysterious shooter, he could see why it was such a commonly used spot. It gave a perfect view of the outside of the Smash Mansion's seaboard side, running outside and along the terrace wall for a good two quarters of a mile. On it was a myriad of tables, chairs, shuffleboard sets, a few human sized areas for chess, and a waterslide that went down to the lower levelled floor that had a pool.
"If Malachite wants blood, I'll give him blood. I'll spill enough that I make sure a red sun rises into the sky tomorrow. I can show the entire world how people will fear The Razor. Not even that pesky boy Lucas and his faithful guardian angel Ness could stop me. Maybe I should kill Malachite, since he's being an asshole making me try to kill the kid twice now..."
He stepped back away from the bush, deciding to get a bit closer, changing out the scope of the sniper rifle. Perhaps there'd be a better opportunity somewhere else... A few feet down from where he had been perched previously, against an outcropping of rock, seemed like a much better spot. Sliding down the shale, a good fifteen foot drop or so, the creature got onto his chest. The pebbly surface dug into his fur, but it was only a minor inconvenience. If Malachite's word could be trusted, who he was looking for would be out on the terrace for their nightly meditation. Someone needed to learn that his bark was just as ferocious as his bite, and not to get that mixed up ever again. Wolf's eyes lightened once more as he looked through the scope.
"Ah perfect, perfect conditions. Well... here you go Malachite, here is some blood spilled on your part!"
Wolf squeezed the trigger and fired, the person he had been looking at through his scope falling to the terrace a few seconds later, lifeless and unmoving.
Ness and Lucas walked through every main floor on the mansion first, in case that was where Marth decided to hide. The PSI users checked all of the usual locations, places where Ness had found the Altean prince before after having a meltdown, having seen enough to give an idea of where he'd be. Peach's bedroom that she shared with Sheik had been vacant, both ladies looking quite cross when Ness politely tried to knock on the door. Captain Falcon, Fox, and Falco hadn't seen him either, and Marth wasn't in the mansion's main library or getting a late night snack in the cafeteria either.
Both were silent, more so Lucas than Ness, all because he kept his tongue silent and unmoving in his mouth. The anger was rather palpable, but it still confused Lucas as to why Ness was just so upset, as if he had smashed a puppy's face in in front of his roommate's eyes. It might have been a build up of something, that he was unsure about as to what exactly, but it may have been the best reason. When Marth wasn't in the last spot they thought they'd find him, which would've been waiting by Master Hand's office, planning what to complain about again, Ness was stumped at that point, running a hand through his hair and sighing.
"Perhaps he's out on the terrace," Lucas suggested, thinking it wouldn't have hurt to think about. He hadn't been out there much, ever since being shot in the abdomen by the unknown assailant, but that didn't mean he wouldn't venture onto its surface again just for a brief while.
"I don't think he'd be out there. He usually isn't out there in the day," Ness shook his head. "Only Lucario uses the terrace at this hour; he uses it to meditate. He told me while you were brawling."
"I still don't think it'd hurt to look."
Ness ate crow five minutes later, something Lucas would remind the other PSI user about happily, as the two managed to find Marth, who was indeed sulking on the terrace, the wind making Marth's blue hair flap in the wind. The prince was overlooking the sea, elbows placed on the stone railing. "Marth!" Ness called, breaking into a quicker step.
The prince turned around at the noise and he actually smiled at the two teenagers when they rushed up to him. "Ness, Lucas..." followed by a deep sigh. "I kind of knew you would follow me-"
Lucas, who had been simply anticipating a gentle walk up to the terrace, and partially out of fear truth be told, did not expect Ness to break into a run. He came up from behind, panting, oddly out of breath. "Man, Ness you ran really fast."
"And I also knew that Lucas would follow you as well since you are inseparable," Marth finished, Lucas's panting cutting him off. "It seems like the two of you stick by each other's sides like glue."
"Are you alright?" Ness asked, sidestepping the statement.
The prince nodded, biting on his lower lip. "I'm alright," he bulged out his cheeks. "Sometimes I just... I just carried away by the craziness of it all and I forget that I am perhaps in the best place I could be."
Lucas, who was now just wearing a white undershirt, the cheese covered one in a ball clenched in his hand, rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about the cheese thing. Pit got to talking, and-"
"It's okay," Marth smiled. "After all, I did invite you to a party and-"
Ness was about to comment something jovially when another loud roar shot through the sky, echoing all along the vicinity, interrupting his train of thought. All the hair on his arms stood up still, as that didn't sound like any some sort of normal occurrence. It almost sounded just like- he immediately looked at Lucas, who's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What was that?" he asked reproachfully.
Lucas's face paled. "I got a good idea." His hand went back to ghosting over the bandage wrapped around his waist. It was the echo that was familiar, deadly familiar.
All three of them ran away from their spot on the terrace, their hearts welling in their throats. The three bounded over one of the tables, going in the direction from where the sound had come from, and when they ran right into the second open spot on the terrace, which was on either end of the long causeway, the three of them stopped dead in their tracks.
There was Lucario, lying on the ground, his breathing raspy. Red coated his waist, pouring down his furry legs, mixing in with the concrete... that red wasn't... it didn't look like anything good.
It had been Lucas, who stumbled forward and downed himself to one knee, that smelled it first on the wind, an overpowering and overbearing rust to the scent.
"Blood..." his voice barely rose above a whisper.
It was indeed blood.
There was blood, blood everywhere.
(Chapter Seven revised on April 6th, 2019)
And that was chapter seven everybody. Somehow, during all of these rewrites and editing and revising sessions, the word count literally takes a leap of faith, as the original Chapter Seven written six years ago at this point was only 1k (I can't believe there was a time when my chapters were only 1k) and now I am constantly hitting the 5-7k mark. Beyond that, Wolf was serious, very serious when he meant that he would shoot someone, and this is just the beginning of the mad adventure - haven't you seen the chapter count? - so, buckle in! I do hope you review this and please tell anyone else who loves about Lucas and Ness to come check this story out, as well as the others I have been advocating. I hope you all have an amazing day! I love you all so much! Bye!
~ Paradigm of Writing
