Prologue: The Boy from Nowhere

Final Verse

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She had just kept driving.

Ever since their mysteriously aided escape from Neo Twoson, Lanette was putting the petal to the metal, trying to put as much distance between the stomping grounds of the Government and herself as she could. She didn't know how long she'd been driving, or how far from Neo Eagleland they were by now, or how much longer her exhausted brain could take the unholy racket of the motorcycle engine – and this was something she usually loved to hear. All she knew was that the imitation sun was high in the sky now, and the sleep-deprived teenager didn't appreciate it.

Indeed, neither Lanette nor Lucas had their adrenaline pumping anymore since PSIber-Silver had left them alone, or rather Lucas had spared the cyborg and let her leave. It was an odd act of compassion that probably made perfect sense to him, but it still mystified his escort. Lanette couldn't wrap her mind around why he would just let such a powerful enemy go like that. She didn't know whether or not to be concerned. It was something she would be talking about with him later, that much was certain.

But not yet. Right now, putting a few miles of distance from Neo Eagleland was what took priority, and they would keep riding until she was thoroughly exhausted.

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"This is unbelievable..."

President Norman's words were fully understood by everyone present in the laboratory room, where PSIber-Silver now lay in the center of once more. Granted, the damage done to her this time was much less, to the point that she could heal it herself when she woke up. Granted, the sustained damage was compulsory with the objectives she had been sent out to complete. But that didn't stop the sight from being very unnerving for anyone. To see her armour blackened from Nowhere Boy's relentless Formless PSI not once, but twice was a testament to the very real threat he posed.

The President looked PSIber-Silver over, amazed at the damage she had sustained, and appalled that the first time had reportedly left her in much worse condition than this. "If there's a reason why we have to find that boy and stop him, you're looking right at it, Sir." one of the scientists said to him while his fingers clamoured away at his terminal. He was so focused on his computer screen that he didn't even look at his superior, and the man in question was too focused on the superweapon to face him anyway.

"Right. Speaking of that." the Vice President addressed the scientist, hobbling over to him as if he weren't at all disturbed by last night's events. In fact, everyone present daresay he was quite chipper. "Did she do her job? Scan his wavelength, I mean."

"The complete analysis should be on the main viewer right about... now." He replied, emphasizing the end of that sentence with a hard press of the Return key. All eyes were on the large flatscreen on the other end of the room now, where various mathematical tables and charts suddenly popped up.

The jaws of everyone in the room figuratively hit the floor.

There were three types of white-on-black tables displayed. The first, which took up almost the entire top half of the screen but stopped short two-thirds of the way to the right, was something that looked like the speech pattern from a voice recording. Beside it, taking up the remaining space on the right and extending to the bottom, was a bar graph. And whatever was on the bottom-left was occupied with various numbers and percentages. At first glance there was one similarity between all the information displayed, and that was that all of the values were incredibly large to the point where some of the voice-like pattern and bars stretched to the borders of their chart or, in some cases, went off the chart. All of the values were above seventy percent, and some went much higher than even a hundred.

"My God..." "Those numbers cannot be right!"

Save for those two scientists, everyone else was dumbstruck. It took a moment for the one who flagged the analysis up to regain his voice, who apparently hadn't taken a close look at the information before displaying it. "I... I'm serious, that's what the analysis returned." He stammered. "Good Lord... no wonder she's was a wreck last time..."

"I've never seen scan values that high before." spoke another scientist. "Not since PSIber-Pearl and Old Man, at least."

Struck with curiousity, the scientist controlling the monitor saw fit to open two other scan files, each belonging to the people his colleague mentioned. Nowhere Boy's readings were squished to the side in order to make room for all three of them. The minimums and maximums of the values for Nowhere Boy, PSIber-Pearl and Old Man varied, but their overall totals were nearly identical.

"I don't understand this." another scientist spoke up. "Those numbers have only been reached by people who have been to the Eight Sanctuaries. Nowhere Boy is still looking for them. There's no way his underdeveloped child mind had that much power to begin with." he explained, unintentionally succeeding in scaring himself with the words. "Where is he getting it from?"

It was an interesting and terrifying mystery he posed onto everyone. Another potential mother lode of psychokinetic power that they didn't know about? And he was currently seeking even more power... the notion didn't sit well with anyone. If he were to successfully reach all of the Sanctuaries...

"Wait." Another scientist said, apparently having noticed something. "Highlight the emotional wavelength readings."

He did as he was told, and the sections of the screen were quickly replaced by the emotional wavelength values of all three scans. The difference between them couldn't be any larger: PSIber-Pearl's reading was seventy-three percent, Old Man's was eighty-five, but Nowhere Boy's eclipsed them all with a monstrous one-hundred and forty-six.

"And... what's that supposed to mean?" Vice President Edel inquired. "Is he super-emotional or something?"

"I think this might be the cause of PSIber-Silver's glitches rearing their ugly heads."

Now the scientist had everyone's attention, the question about the origins of Lucas' power temporarily forgotten.

"Take a look at this from when she was latest hit by that Formless PSI." He took over the feed from the main viewer, replacing the wavelength analysis data with a large jumble of programming code on the left, and on the right was a still image of PSIber-Silver's unsettling first-person perspective of taking Nowhere Boy's Formless PSI at point-blank. A single line was highlighted in the code was then highlighted near the bottom:

ERROR: Cerebral Dampening Interface overloaded. Restarting.

For a moment, there was nothing but dead silence.

"...You're kidding me." Edel deadpanned, definitely not pleased with what he was seeing. "It's this bullshit again?"

"Yes, Sir."

The confirmation was accompanied by groans and facepalms from everyone in the room.

The grand mystery of PSIber-Silver's malfunction was solved... and no one was pleased at the final answer. The Cerebral Dampening Interface was exactly what it sounded like: a system meant to slow down and divert brain functions. Rather than listen solely to her own thoughts, she was instead guided by the PSIber System she used. It was a measure for her to better manage her psychokinetic abilities and not let them go out of control, in exchange for forfeiting her free will.

"I was told that this issue was fixed, Mister Langley." Norman told him.

"So was I, Sir." he replied, equally irritated by these results. "But apparently Nowhere Boy's PSI is just too much for the program to take. We never accounted for another Psychokinetic as strong as Old Man, much less with such unprecedented emotional wavelength readings. It recovers, yes, but it takes time. And any number of things could go wrong in that time, such as PSIber-Silver's sudden decision to attack people other than the Psychokinetic last time they fought, or..." he paused. "...why she didn't just stab the shit out of him right after he healed her this time."

Not preparing for another Psychokinetic in Old Man's league was an error everyone in the room was guilty of, including the President, but he still wasn't pleased with this oversight. "I don't care how unlikely it is that this boy has the skills necessary to undo PSIber-Silver's programming. You still should've accounted for it." he told the scientists bluntly. They shrunk into their chairs in shame, knowing full well that he was right. "Will this affect the other PSIbers? And can it be fixed?"

"Other than taking the physical damage that comes from Formless PSI, the other PSIbers shouldn't have this problem. PSIber-Silver is the only one with the CDI, after all." the first scientist replied. "Fixing the issue, though... that's another story. The CDI is a sensitive core program, and to revamp it without damaging her would require a full overhaul of her system. Even with Mister Cain's files... even if Steven himself was here to help, it could take days or even weeks to complete."

That information was a downer. "Damn." Edel cursed under his breath. "First this boy with PSIber-Silver's only weakness comes out of nowhere, and the only one who can fix her just had to kick the bucket... Old Man's passing was supposed to mark the endof all this crap!"

"Like you yourself would say, Edel, it seems we aren't that lucky." Norman said. His right-hand man simply scoffed in response. He turned his attention back to PSIber-Silver. "With this in mind, PSIber-Silver is effectively helpless against Nowhere Boy. Still, if the rest aren't affected by this..."

He started to ponder, pacing with his hand holding his chin.

"I wonder how strong the Resistance is without Old Man now? Maybe..." He turned to Edel. "They won't nearly be as much of a threat without him, so perhaps we can send out the PSIbers to address Nowhere Boy's threat."

It was an interesting proposition that gave the Vice President pause. Without their most cunning and powerful member, the Resistance was sure to be low on morale now and more prone to make stupid decisions. Their military forces, coupled with the files that Steven Cain "gave" to him upon his passing should be more than enough to deal with them. And evidently military forces on their own weren't enough to stop Nowhere Boy, only the PSIbers stood a real chance.

The light bulb turned on in his head.

"The Eight Sanctuaries." he said to Norman. "We might not know where Nowhere Boy ran off to now, but where know where he will be going. It's as simple as sending a PSIber to each Sanctuary to bolster the security there and overwhelm him."

Norman's eyebrows raised up, seemingly impressed with the idea. "That sounds plausible." one of the scientists said. "No matter how powerful Nowhere Boy is, he's still just a child, and one with a terribly unbalanced PSI wavelength at that. There's just no way he'll survive against an entire military platoon with a superweapon as its mainstay." he explained with confidence. "Even when the Resistance was at its prime with Old Man in command, they were never that bold. Nowhere Boy, on the other hand, doesn't have a choice but to charge right in."

Edel grinned broadly. "In other words, he'll be crushed utterly by numbers." he reiterated. Then he chuckled and added, "Well, I guess it is just one little kid and his rich girlfriend waging war on the whole world. Why were we expecting this to be hard, really?"

"True enough..." Norman agreed, though there was some reluctance in his tone. He turned back to PSIber-Silver on the operating table. "Let's just hope it's that simple, and that this mistake won't be repeated with the other PSIbers. I want every precaution taken to prepare them against Nowhere Boy, no matter how trivial."

Everyone in the room agreed, including Vice President Edel... though to a more limited degree than the rest. "Although... sending armies and mainstays to guard the Eight Sanctuaries... isn't this how the Cosmic Destroyer played his game, only to get beaten by the Chosen Four in the end?" he wondered. "Well... that was when he enslaved the minds of the people and forcibly turned them against those children. This time the world itself actually wants the threat gone."

He chuckled quietly, deciding to keep these thoughts to himself.

"I guess we'll see how much of a difference that makes."

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Meanwhile, the faction the Government sought to destroy was also in a heated discussion about the recent developments. And like the Government, they were none too pleased with the way things were unfolding.

"Hard to believe that a child did so much in such a short time, isn't it?"

The speaker among five others at semi-circle table, all of them seated at the rounded end. Six people in total, but seven chairs with one unoccupied. The room was dark and did a fine job masking all of its occupants in shadow, with only two types of illumination. The first were some dim, blue lights along the back of the room. The second were the people's own eyes... each glowed a different colour. To those who entered the room, these men and women were shrouded in mystery and imposed a sense of power and fear. The eyes of the one who had just spoke were a vibrant, sky blue, and her voice was light and timid.

"More unbelievable is that someone capable of Formless PSI is still alive." spoke another woman, her eyes glowing a shimmering green, and her voice much more mature. "Much less that he fell right into our lap."

"Only to jump right out of it!" corrected a man, his eyes as red as a rose in bloom, and his voice scratchy and crabby. "It's a wonder the Government hasn't slaughtered him already!"

"Well, ah guess 'da kid ain't stupid." surmised a large man that was decidedly larger than the rest, his eyes glowing a sparkling golden-yellow and with a gruff tone. "We were gonna force 'im inta working fer us, after all."

"Funny that you should be talking about stupidity, Heavy. You were there when he escaped." the one with red eyes accused venomously. The one he insulted returned the glare.

"Peace, Inferno. You know full well that none of this is Heavy's fault." interrupted a man with eyes that glowed a wavy purple, and a voice smooth as silk and monotone as a machine. "In fact, he makes a cogent point. Lucas, or 'Nowhere Boy' as the Government now calls him, believed he had a choice in whether or not he joined our cause. Taking that choice away from him at the last minute was bound to make us look untrustworthy."

"And Brain tells you what I was trying to tell you right from the start." said the woman with green eyes. "We should've just let him choose. Now he probably thinks we're the bad guys too."

"Oh, don't get a swelled head, Lust." said the last of the people in the room, a woman with orange eyes, with a voice pretty much in between Lust's and the blue-eyed woman. "It's not like you ever saw him and had the chance to get in his head. For all we know he might've refused anyway. That's a chance we couldn't take."

The silhouette of the woman named "Lust" in the dark room visibly shrugged and replied, "I guess... maybe Old Man just rubbed off on me or something."

Everyone's glance shifted to the empty seventh chair, in the very center of the rounded part of the table. "I still can't believe he's gone..." said the one with blue eyes sadly.

"I know, Sorrow, I know..." murmured Lust, her voice tinged with regret and rage. "Do we have any leads on who did it? Anything at all?"

"I'm afraid not, Lust." Brain replied. "We only know as much as Lieutenant McGuiness and Heavy knew of that night: that PSIber-Silver was there. And we know that it couldn't have been her since Lucas defeated her, twice over in fact. As far as we know she may have been weakened by Old Man in their first battle, but for the second in Neo Twoson, there was plenty of time to repair and improve her."

"Agreed, it just doesn't add up." admitted Inferno. "I hate to say it, but Old Man was easily the strongest one here; he could literally tear PSIber-Silver apart in his sleep. And she's even getting slapped around by someone weaker than he was."

"Then who could've done this to him?" Sorrow wondered. "Who?"

"I'm going to find out Sorrow, don't worry." declared the woman with orange eyes. "We might not have always agreed with his methods, but Old Man was still one of us. I'll hunt the murderer down if it's the last thing I do."

Sorrow was silent for a moment, before nodding and saying, "Thank you, Detective..."

"...Well, back to the matter of Nowhere Boy." Lust said, getting back on topic. "We still don't know why Old Man gave him his book... do you have any ideas, Heavy?"

Heavy shrugged and replied, "'Fraid not. Tim kept me in 'da dark about 'da old man's last request until he fulfilled it."

Lust scoffed. "Typical..."

"What, did you expect the kid who idolized Old Man to go against his wishes?" Inferno asked rhetorically.

Lust shrugged again. "Yeah, I guess not, huh?"

"In any case, it's in our best interest to find him as soon as possible." Brain suggested. "The longer he remains out in the open, the more likely it will be that the Government will destroy him."

He only received nods from the other five people in reply; this seemed to be the only thing that they could all agree on with certainty tonight.

"Which just leaves one issue." Inferno addressed everyone. "How we're going to deal with matters now that Old Man is gone."

"How do you mean, Inferno?" Brain asked.

"I mean the Government." Inferno clarified. "Think about it. It was the sheer power Old Man brought to the table that kept them from trying anything bold. But now that he's gone, they're not going to hesitate. They'll do whatever it takes to exterminate the Resistance here and now."

His explanation was blunt and truthful enough that whatever retorts anyone had, they were silenced. "Unfortunately, Inferno is right." Detective added. "Old Man was the only one here who could keep the Government in check. Without him here, there's no telling how far they'll go..."

"What do you propose then?" Brain asked of Inferno.

"The only course of action we can take now, short of letting them kill us." he replied. "Kill them first."

"What? Are you insane!" Lust screeched, standing up from her chair. "Old Man would never-"

"Old man is gone, Lust." Inferno reminded her, trying his best to maintain calm. "And we are at war, a war that we didn't even start, no less. We've already seen firsthand that the Government doesn't share any of our ideals, much less believe that we even have the right to exist. They never approved of Old Man's propositions for peace, after all." Dejected, Lust retook her seat. "That's the reality now. Kill or be killed."

Everyone glared at Inferno. They hated him right now, hated him so much for even suggesting this course of action. But by the same token, no one dared to speak against him, as for one reason or another they all ended up agreeing with his logic. Heavy let out a big sigh. "Ah'm not gonna lie, ah do not like it, but Inferno hit 'da nail on 'da head." he added with great reluctance. "'Da Planet Container fiasco hurt everyone, destroyed 'der lives. 'Dey won't just let that go... and like it er not, we're 'da ones who're takin' 'da heat. If we don't do something, 'dey'll kill us fer sure."

Brain let out a grunt of understanding. "So be it then. Whether we want to do this or not, it's the only option left."

His next words would be hanging in the minds of the Resistance Leaders for a long time.

"We must prepare for full-scale war."

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That was it, she just couldn't go any further. Fatigue had its grip on her mind and body, and it refused to let go.

Lanette didn't know exactly how long she'd been driving for, but by the time she had to stop, it was sunset. That and the discontent rumbling of her stomach were what told her that she had rode her motorcycle without stopping for quite a while, and neither Lucas nor herself had the chance to get a wink of sleep or a scrap of food within that timeframe, and their bodies were begging for both.

Sleep came first. They had the luck of being on a road surrounded by forestry, so setting up camp was a simple task: all they needed for comfort – though not really caring about it at this point – were a couple of trees to sit against, and Merelda had the foresight to throw a lighter into Lanette's bag of supplies, which they used to start a campfire. They only thing they were missing were tents and sleeping bags, but for now they could do without.

...

...

...

Hours passed since then...

Eventually Lanette's roaring stomach was what made her stir from her slumber. The only light in the area came from the slowly-dying campfire; the "sun" had went down, and the light from wherever the "moon" was didn't penetrate the trees very well. She almost would've said she felt refreshed after that brief sleep if it weren't for the void in her belly that needed to be filled, and its constant, indignant rumbling reminded her of that. Figuring it would prevent her from getting back to sleep anyway, she dragged herself up and rooted through the supply bag for some food...

But as she got up, she didn't fail to catch of glimpse of Lucas' slouched, slumbering form against the tree across from the one she had been leaning against. Even from here it was visible that there were beads of sweat running down his face, and his brow was wrinkled... he was having another nightmare. "So soon after the last one..."she mused. Just what kind of terrors ran through that boy's mind?

Her stomach was quick to derail her train of thought, reminding her to keep shuffling through her bag for something edible.

"Mmh... is it midnight yet...?" And the noise of that shuffling apparently woke Lucas up... maybe that was for the best.

"Not sure, but I'd say it's close enough for meal time." Lanette answered him, succeeding in finding a couple of large thermoses, both of which were hot to the touch, and some bottles of water. Good, she was wondering about the longevity of the food that her mother gave them. She walked back to the campfire to see that Lucas was already tending to it, applying the lighter and adding a couple handfuls of large sticks. At first he was fascinated by the tiny firestarter, but he learned how to use it quickly – how he didn't know what a lighter was beforehand baffled her to no end though. Lanette handed him his thermos and drink, before retaking her spot at the opposite end of the fire. "Careful not to eat everything inside, it might have to last us for a while. At least until we find civilization again."

He nodded, though it took him a minute to figure out how to unscrew the thermos cap. Inside it was some steamy spaghetti and meatballs, with a plastic spoon taped to the top side. "Civilization..." Lucas muttered. "It's hard to see anything in this world as 'civil.'" He then dug into his meal.

Lanette said nothing and simply started eating, partially due to not having anything to say, partially due to her just being so damn hungry. She could tell he was trying to act like nothing happened in his sleep, but she knew better. He was right though, there wasn't anything civil about war. Especially not when it involved the entire planet. She wondered just how long it would go on for...

No, the answer to that was obvious: whenever one of the sides was completely exterminated. Both the Government and the Resistance were taking measures to completely eradicate one another, no matter the cost. The real question was who would win... if one could call destroying roughly half of the Earth's population "winning." It was really like whoever controlled these two factions had just thrown all of their morals and ethics away.

Speaking of morals and ethics... Lanette remembered what she had to ask Lucas about. Hopefully he wouldn't take it the wrong way. "Um... Lucas?" she began to get his attention. "Can I ask you something... about what happened in Neo Twoson?"

He looked up from his meal. "What is it?"

"Um... it's about PSIber-Silver. Don't take this the wrong way, but... are you sure it was a good idea to just... let the thing go?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow at her. He knew he'd have to explain himself for that eventually. "What, are you saying I should've just killed her?" he retorted irritably.

"N-no! Nothing like that!" she said quickly, but didn't fail to utter a "Well, maybe..." under her breath...

...which Lucas evidently heard judging from the stern glare she was receiving from him.

"W-well... okay, I wouldn't have wanted to kill her either, but... just letting her off scot-free like that? I'm... just a little worried. Things like that have a way of making our lives miserable later on." Realizing the point she was trying to convey, his expression softened. "So... why? You had to know just letting her fly off would mean she'd be back with a vengeance."

For a moment, all he could do was look at her, before letting out an audible sigh and replying, "It's... something to do with my brother..."

Lanette bit her lip. His tone was significantly darker, jaded... the simple mention of a brother in and of itself meant that this was not her business. "Oh... i-it's okay, Lucas... if it's personal, you don't have to say anything..."

She bit her lip; no... that wouldn't do. Not anymore.

"But... we won't be going anywhere for a little while yet." she pointed out, motioning to the damaged night sky. "If you want to talk about it, now's not too bad of a time..." She didn't want to force the poor child, nothing remotely close to it. But she wanted to know what tormented him. She couldn't help him if she didn't know what ailed him.

Lucas contemplated it for a moment. He didn't really want to go into his past... there were too many bad memories. That, and Lanette stated from the start that she might not believe it... but thinking about it now, he already knew about her background, through means that she had no control over. He decided it would be best to tell her; it was only fair. "...I'll have to go from the start... it's a long story..."

It eased Lanette's mind a bit that he was willing to talk, if even a little. "Not like we'll be going anywhere for a while..."

"...Okay..." he finally agreed. "But... can it wait until we're done eating? I don't want to lose my appetite."

A weak chuckle escaped Lanette's lips, not sure whether she should treat that as a joke or not. In any case, she was starving anyway. "Sure."

...

Ten minutes and a pair of half-emptied thermoses later, Lucas began to reminisce...

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You've probably already figured it out, but I'm not from around here. I can't say for sure how far away my real home is... I don't even know.

Back home... it was beautiful. The land wasn't touched by any of the machines and stuff I see everyone use here. Tall mountains, huge forests, wildlife everywhere... and then there was Tazmily Village, where I lived. The people were nothing like here either, always willing to help each other when they needed it. We didn't even know what money was, if you can believe it, we just borrowed and gave as we needed to. It was peaceful... perfect.

And then they came...

Some kind of ridiculous army, trying to turn the whole island into their own headquarters. Nothing like the Government or the Resistance here, but still just as bad. They messed everything up. I still remember the night they came... I still have nightmares about it... they set the forest on fire when my brother and my mom were heading back home after a visit with my grandpa. The trees were burning and falling apart around us, and then that...

monster showed up... they did something to it. It was half-creature, half-machine... and it went crazy. It killed my mother... my brother and I survived only because she pushed us into the river away from it... my dad was so distraught when he found out that he attacked the townspeople and had to be put in jail until he calmed down...

And it only got worse a week later, when my brother was so overcome with grief and hate that he went off into the mountains, to try and get revenge on the monster... but he never came back.

The next three years were terrible. It was mostly just me around the house, my dad going up into the mountains nearly every day to try and find my brother, but he never did... and the army succeeded in changing Tazmily to their will. "Industrialization" they called it. People were either staring into their shiny boxes or getting greedy over money after it was introduced... it was just me and a handful of other people that realized this change wasn't for the better.

And eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to stop it.

That's when I discovered my gift... my PSI. It gave me the power to fight back against the army. I rounded up my friends, people who were willing to help me, and we started wreaking havoc on the army whenever we got the chance. And eventually, we figured out what the army wanted that took them nearly three years to find: a beast that was sealed under the island that was supposed to grant the wish of whoever freed it. A massive dragon. And we learned that apparently the power of PK Love I have – what you people call Formless PSI – was the key to waking it up, using the power to pull the needles that kept it buried.

It's hard to believe, I know. I didn't believe it myself at first. But when I saw the first needle I had the chance to pull... it was a total system shock. I could literally

feel the dragon beneath the island. I could feel how powerful it was. That was when I knew I had to stop the army from releasing it, and the only way to do that was release it first and use its wish. But the army was one step ahead, also having found a way to pull the needles. They found another person who could use PK Love...

You can only imagine how mortified I was when I found out that the person was my brother.

They did something horrible to him, the same thing that they did to the monster that killed my mother: they turned him into a cyborg, and brainwashed him into doing their dirty work: pulling the needles. Apparently he was the pet of Porky Minch, the king of the army, and was trying to release the dragon so the king could use the wish for himself.

It boiled down to a race to see who could pull the most needles, me or my brother, and the race came to an end at the last needle... where I had to confront him. But... I just couldn't fight him. He was strong enough to plow through all of my friends and even my dad, but... knowing he was my brother that had been missing for three years... I couldn't bring myself to stop him. The only time I fought back was out of anger when he hurt Dad, but after that... I just couldn't. I stood there, taking every hit, using my PSI to survive in the hope that my brother would come to his senses... which, eventually, he did...

After he struck himself down with his own power...

There's just no words I can use to describe what I felt when I held my dying brother in my arms. The only way to break Porky's brainwashing was to kill himself...

And I didn't even have time to mourn. The last needle was there, waiting for me to pull it. It filled me with a grim hope... what if I could use the dragon's power to turn back the clock and make everything right again? It was the only thing that motivated me to pull it at the time...

And then I saw the dragon. It was real... and it was as massive and powerful as the legends said. In that moment, I thought everything would be alright...

I couldn't have been more wrong...

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Back to the present, Lucas had his hand to his face, shaking as he tried to stop the tears from falling...

"I woke up in a barren landscape, with nothing but a small settlement nearby. That place turned out to be Eastville..." he finished. "You know the story from there..."

It was a long story indeed, and at first Lanette didn't know what to make of it... it was a hard tale to believe. But she knew Lucas well enough to know that he wasn't a liar. It explained everything. Where he got his power of PSI, why he wasn't familiar with technology, why he was so compassionate for the people he care about... and above all, why he couldn't kill PSIber-Silver. "So... that was why you couldn't finish her..." she realized. "She reminded you of your brother..."

"...Y-yes..." he sobbed. "It was faint, but... I could feel it... a mind trapped under all that technology... she's just another victim of this stupid war..."

Lanette was conflicted. She was happy that Lucas had opened up to her, but oh so sad to know how he'd ended up here, even if she didn't fully understand it. Losing a family was one thing... but being there to see it? And even have his own brother trying to kill him and eventually die in his arms? It broke her heart. This boy had seen more cruelty and horror in three years than most people did in their whole lives.

And even after losing everything, even after all that, he was still willing to fight on, for a world that he didn't even know... for a world that wanted him dead...

If she wasn't sure about her choice to help him on this journey before, she was definitely sure now. Lanette got up and walked up to Lucas, slowly pulling him into an embrace. "You poor soul..." she said to him, rubbing his scalp to try and soothe him. "It's okay... let it out..."

And let it out he did. It was as if a dam had burst in Lucas' head, water gushing out of his eyes and onto Lanette's shirt. A literal torrent of emotion that he'd been forced to bottle up over the last two weeks was forcing its way out of him. Back then, survival took priority; with no friends or family to rely on for help, he had to fend for himself, and that meant he couldn't be wasting his time mourning, no matter how much it tore him up inside.

But now... he just couldn't take it anymore.

"I-I'm sorry... I s-shouldn't be doing this..."

"Nonsense. Even the best of us need to cry sometimes."

Lanette didn't know what "power comes at a price" meant until now. Lucas could have the power to change the world as they knew it, and it came at the cost of his friends and family... it was a terrible burden that he had been given. He couldn't possibly do it alone...

No, he wouldn't be alone. She would fight at his side. She definitely owed him that much, didn't she?

It was a little while – Lanette could only guess it was a few minutes – before he finally stopped crying. He lifted his head to look up at her, wiping the water from his eyes. "There, feel better?" His reply was a wordless nod. "Good." she said with a smile. "Things aren't going to get any easier from here on. If you ever just need to stop and let it out, I'm here, okay?"

It still angered him a little inside, to show such weakness. Someone who was tasked with saving the world shouldn't have to cry like that. But still... it was good to have someone who understood the pain. "...Okay." Lucas said finally. "Thank you."

"Anytime." she said with a wide grin. "Alright, enough sappy stuff. Let's get moving."

He nodded. It was strange, but he could feel some kind of determination forming in his heart. Familiar and, at the same time, foreign... he remembered what it was. It was the drive to protect something dear to him. This feisty daredevil was his friend, and he reaffirmed his promise to protect her, and to save the world.

Lucas swore to himself, for the sake of all, that he would end this war.

00000000000000000000

...Morning had arrived.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and brave soldiers of the Neo World Government. This is an official message from President Norman Schroder."

For those bent on the eradication of the Psychokinetics, their mornings began with a broadcast from their faithful leader.

"Brave warriors of the Resistance, the High Council begs your attention."

The Psychokinetic Resistance was waking up to a similar communique.

"For several years now, we have suffered from an infestation of Psychokinetics, the very people who caused the Planet Container you see in the sky to trap us here."
"For several years now, we have fought for our right to exist, repelling an enemy that is bent on our destruction."

"For a good while, we have been at a stalemate..."

"...but now, the situation has changed."

"With confirmations of Resistance Leader 'Old Man' being deceased and a new threat similar to him in many ways now at large..."

"...the time has come to end the civil war that has consumed our fair world."

"The battle has gone on for too long now. With the only voices speaking for peace forever silenced..."

"...the only option left is to eradicate the enemy, completely and utterly. Because they will seek to do the same to us."

"Be ready for anything and everything..."

"...and be ready to do anything and everything."

"By the end of this feud, the Psychokinetic threat will come to an end."
"By the end of this feud, we
will defeat the Neo World Government and prove our right to live."

"Your orders are as follows: first, neutralize any and all enemies as you encounter them. Capture or terminate them at your own discretion."

"Second: While it is preferable not to harm civilians, if it is unavoidable to do so, do not hesitate. Survival is your number one priority, no matter what."

"Third: If you should encounter Old Man's spiritual successor, codenamed 'Nowhere Boy,' terminate him on sight. His power of Formless PSI must not fall into the hands of the Resistance, lest the war reach another stalemate."
"Third: If you should encounter Old Man's spiritual successor, codenamed 'Nowhere Boy,' capture him on sight. His power is an absolute necessity to ensure victory against those who would seek our demise, and he must
not fall to the Government's whims."

"And last but not least, the fourth: keep all operations as covert as possible. The public must not learn of the new threat, or panic and chaos will ensue."
"And finally, number four: keep everything you do as shadowed from the public eye as possible. The people may have been the ones to condemn us, but it is the Government that seeks to destroy us, so it is best for civilians not to be involved."

"One way or another, this conflict will shape the future of Earth..."

"...and we must ensure the for the fate of all, that we emerge victorious from it."

"Good luck, and Godspeed."
"Good luck, and Godspeed."

It was now official on both sides of the conflict: the tension and fight between the Neo World Government and the Psychokinetic Resistance in the past were simply premonitions of what was to come. Now, the real war was about to begin.

Morning had arrived. And with it came the knowledge that after that morning, the world would never be the same...

00000000000000000000

The cogs of fate have begun to turn once again.

When people do not agree, they argue. When they cannot stop arguing, they fight. When they cannot stop fighting, they destroy one, the other, or one another. One might say that this is the basic nature of all things, unpleasant thought it is to imagine. And yet from the ashes of this destruction, new life can form.

This conflict was now reaching the destructive phase. Will the conflict end prematurely? Will the driving powers' mutual destruction end everything? Or will it give birth to new life in the end? To say how it will all end is impossible.

The only thing that can be said with certainty is that change is coming. And this change will shake the very foundations of the world...

PROLOGUE: END


A/N: Hoo boy... where do I start.

First of all, I want to apologize for the long, long time it took for me to upload this. Somewhere along the line I'd... just gotten terribly lazy. This has actually been done for a while, I just didn't put it up.

Secondly, the previous chapters were touched up a bit. Minor things, nothing that affects the story as you knew it, so you don't have to go and re-read it if you don't want to.

Third and finally, I'm probably not going to be writing Doomsday for a good, long while. It became apparent to me that writing two lengthy, serious stories at the same time requires more time and brainpower than I can devote to it. That, and I really want to get a good foothold on Resolution's storyline. I may or may not go between this and Doomsday, time will tell.

...So that's that, the Prologue is set. I have a few vague ideas of where I'm going to take the story from here, but I want to make sure that, unlike my first attempt at a serious MOTHER/Earthbound fiction, that I do it right, with as much care and effort as these first few verses. There's no telling when the next chapter/verse will be up, but I fully intend to keep a more consistent update schedule from now on. Taking it slow and steady is better than the ridiculous downtime I left you all with, I find.

So, until next time.