Hey everyone. Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been busy with school stuff. I move to my new house in four days. I am quite excited, but reasonably terrified for the school year. However, this break is not entirely the fault of school. The rest lands squarely on my shoulders.
You see, I wanted to write Claus again, after I finished HAHH, so I started a Claus roleplay blog. It's my first canon roleplay blog for a fandom that's actually active and, to my surprise, it's been taking all of my time. I still love it. Anyway, updates won't be as quick from now on, but I will smack myself if I let a week pass without at least starting the next chapter.
The lovely new cover image is thanks to sunflowerself of tumblr.
Master Hand had his hands full, pun very much intended, with the tournament. As an omnipotent creature that brought a world into existence together with his younger brother, the hand was constantly working on fixing some sort of error. He blamed most of these on Crazy Hand. He had made the Smash world huge, something that he regretted to this day, and because of that, there were many problems that could occur. Sometimes he would discover he'd accidentally broken the laws of physics. Even if he fixed something, it would be broken again in a few days.
Keeping this world up and running was a full time job. Lucky for the hand, he didn't have to sleep so he could always be working. Unluckily for the hand, that meant he always had to be working. This left him with very little time for himself. Correction, this left him with no time for himself. When he wasn't fixing on his mistakes, he was fixing someone else's.
The brawlers were strong, amazing people. The problem was that bringing that many heroes and villain to one place would always bring up problems. Worlds clashed, people clashed. He'd been lucky that things went so smoothly with his first tournament. The original twelve were not the most friendly of smashers, but at least they knew how to get along. This was not so true for the second batch. The Melee smashers were a much bigger and more violent group. Master Hand had been lucky they didn't tear this whole world apart.
Sometimes the smashers would ask if his brother was beginning to influence him, especially when he decided the third tournament would have even more smashers than the last. At least it would be interestingly. There was nothing the omnipotent hated more than boredom. Murder could be a problem, but he could reverse it. Boredom was the true curse of an immortal.
Ness and Lucas had waited all day for their appointment with Master Hand. They understood he was a busy hand, even if they didn't like it. They would not rush the omnipotent creature. It was just a little unnerving to wait for such an important answer. Lucas had to know what he forgot. If he didn't, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to continue as a smasher. If what happened with Pikachu happened again?
"Luc, you okay?" Ness asked from the seat beside him. They were currently seated in the lobby in front of the hand's office. "You look a little pale again."
"I'm fine. …I think." The blond gave a tiny sigh. "I was just thinking about stuff. Brawl stuff."
"You worried over an up coming fight or something?" As nice as he was, Ness was a little dense. Lucas could understand that though. Being able to peek into someone's mind, even being so strong as to do so by accident, meant that Ness didn't really need to know how to read people without PSI. This was good luck for Lucas.
"Sorta. It's just something silly. I just don't want to make a fool of myself again." The blond was lying, but his raven haired friend was none the wiser. Sometimes Ness would be on guard for lies from him friend, but most of the time he didn't notice them. "I also… I'm worried about whether Master Hand can help me remember or not."
"Course he can. He's Master Hand. There's not all that much that he can't do," the older boy explained. "Well, apparently except for make time for a silly little meeting."
"Ness, I really don't think you should insult him right outside his office," his shy counterpart whispered. Of course, Lucas doubted that whispering out change anything. Master Hand saw heard and pretty much knew everything that went on in his universe. Unless a creature of similar power appeared, he could play with the smashers like toys. It was for that reason that Lucas really didn't like Master Hand.
A chuckle caused both boys to flinch. The hand didn't need to move naturally. He just appeared in front of them as if he had always been there. His tone was good natured, but it only served to unnerve Lucas even more.
"Correction, you really shouldn't be insulting me anywhere on my world," the massive hand teased. "I swear, if you weren't a special case, I would have vaporized you during the first tournament."
While the blond took this as an actual threat, it only got a light chuckle out of its target. "If you vaporized me, you'd be losing your access to my charming personality."
"Yes, and that's why Paula has turned rejected you each time you asked her out." The hand acted almost as if he was friends with the boy. Lucas knew that couldn't be true right. He looked to Ness to see a reaction, but the black haired boy didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to find it quite funny. The hand and the boy were joking around like old friends.
"Only cause she doesn't wanna date until she's sixteen," Ness protested through a laugh. "Anyway, Luc here wanted to talk with you. Would you mind pencilling him into your schedule?"
"Of course not. I was just wondering why you were here as well. If Lucas' inquiry has to do with his home land-"
"It doesn't," the blond finally piped up. "It's about something else. Besides, I asked Ness to come with me. I… I didn't want to come here by myself. I might have chickened out if he wasn't here with me."
"Then it must be a very important problem. Come into my office then. As okay as you are with Ness being here to hear whatever your problem is, I doubt that you would be okay with everyone else listening here. There is no need to worry about that in my office. It's completely soundproof."
Well, Lucas liked the sound of that less. The hand could probably kill him right then and there, but he didn't. That didn't change the fact Lucas didn't want to be in an area where nobody could hear him get threatened. That's what leaders did, in his eyes, they hurt the people they were in charge of. Though Lucas wanted to refuse, Ness had already gotten up and started to approach the office. He might not trust Master Hand, but he did trust his fellow psychic.
Once the blond got up, he was in a different room. It was rather dizzying, but this was Master Hand's power. It confused the blond why the hand would teleport them in when it was only a few second walk into the real office.
"It's because the door to my office isn't a real door. I don't want anyone breaking in without my permission, and several of the smashers can pick locks," the hand answered. This caused the blond boy to jump a little. He'd forgotten the hand could read his mind. It was unnerving, mostly because the hand could read his mind. Nobody could do that. Well, besides Claus, but that was a twin thing. No matter how powerful a psychic they were, nobody had ever been able to access Lucas' mind.
"Don't worry, I'm not reading your mind-"
"Well, clearly you are now!"
"No, no," Master Hand began. He shot a glare at Ness, who was doing his best to look innocent. "I realized from the look on your face that Ness didn't explain this to you. It's not like it's the first time this boy has been in my office. He should have warned you, as your veteran or as your friend. "
"Hey, I learned on my own. He should have to as well," Ness protested. This got him another glare from the hand.
"You were one of the Original Twelve, and also the first one of them to break a rule and get called into my office. There was nobody there to warn you. But you could have at least warned Lucas," the hand scolded before turning his attention back to Lucas. "He had almost the same reaction to you. It's how I knew which questions to answer. I wouldn't go into your mind without your permission."
Lucas shifted awkwardly. So Master Hand hadn't gone through his mind. At the same time, the hand had made it pretty clear that if he wanted to, he could. That was a point of discomfort for the blond still. He should have known better. Master Hand was as close to a god as one could find, besides the Dark Dragon of his homeland. There was no way he could keep something that powerful out of his mind.
"Speaking of going into minds…" Ness began.
"No."
That was not the answer that Lucas had expected. He looked to Master Hand with surprise. The giant hand looked a little annoyed at his purple eyed friend.
"That is the exact reason why Mew Two is no longer with us," Master Hand began. "You can't use your powers to poke around in people's heads. I don't have that many rules about what you people can and cannot do, but that it one of them. I won't stand for such an invasion of privacy."
"That wasn't what we were asking," Ness muttered. "I'm not like that. I wouldn't barge around someone's head without their permission."
"Then what exactly where you asking?" Now the hand sounded curious. He'd assumed it was a simple question of breaking the rules. Now the situation had gotten much more interesting. Lucas met his hatted friend's gaze. It looked like it was up to him to ask. Well, this was his problem to begin with.
"I wanted to ask you to go through my memories. I've forgotten something, something really important. If I can't remember, all of my matches could end up like the one with Pikachu." The blond boy tried to appealed to the hand's sense of business. Surely he didn't want to lose one of his fighters because they had a strange fear.
"Oh, yes! Thank you for reminding me. I haven't had the time lately, but I wanted to apologize." The hand's answer came as a surprise to Lucas. Once Master Hand noticed his confusion, he continued. "I should have thought over the match ups better. Originally, I thought that you would want to be partnered up with one of your friends. I knew you were close to the Pokémon Trainer, so I had you two assigned together. I didn't realize that Pikachu was his veteran. Don't worry, I promise that you won't have to fight him ever again."
The blond looked around hat his hatted friend for an answer, but Ness seemed to be just as confused as he was. It was like the hand knew that Lucas would have reacted like that to lightning. Lucas felt anger well up for a second, but it was squashed when he remembered it was an accident. He might not like the hand, but he wouldn't judge him harshly for an accident.
"…Wait, what? So you knew…?" Ness was able to vocalize his confusion much better than his blond friend.
"Of course I knew," Master Hand replied in a somewhat insulted tone. "It's my responsibility to know the strengths and weakness of all of my smashers. I would not have put Lucas' mental health at risk like that had I realized the situation."
"But how did you know? I didn't know I was afraid of lightning," Lucas objected.
The hand gave the blond boy a surprised look. "Well, I just assumed. You didn't have to tell me. I thought you would have known too. I mean, after what happened…"
"What happened? What does my fear of lightning have to do with 'what happened'?" the blond asked. The hand just seemed to get more and more surprised, bringing up some anger in the boy. "What?"
"Lucas… Do you not remember how your story ended?" the hand asked in a quiet tone.
"I said I forgot something really important. What could be more important than that?" Lucas replied, his words almost a hiss now. "That's why I wanted you to go through my head. I want to know if I suceeded or failed. Right now, I don't even know if my friends are alive."
Master Hand straightened up, trying to appear more seriously. "Of course. It would be shameful if you forgot something like that. It must have been an error with your transportation here. I will be sure you help you regain those memories. I have a brother of my own, if I forgot something like that…"
Brother.
Lucas felt a sudden twist in his gut. The blond boy covered his mouth and leaned over. As soon as he did that, Ness was by his side.
"Luc! Are you alright?" the black haired boy asked, concern ringing clear in his tone. Lucas pressed his hand against the other and pushed his away. He didn't need Ness to protect him. He could deal with this feeling on his own.
"I'm fine. I just got a weird pain for a second. Don't worry about me. It's probably nothing," Lucas replied in a failed attempt to calm his friend's nerves. Having a twin brother who used PSI, he knew how to read face's well enough to catch something that obvious.
"I think I am beginning to figure out what exactly you forgot. The memories are still there, judging from that reaction. If I can force them up, then we can recover them. It won't be a very pleasant experience," Master Hand explained, having watched the scene intently. He floated closer to Lucas, giving the blond a bit of a chill. "Do I still have permission to look in your head?"
The blond psychic nodded. He didn't like giving the other permission to do so. He didn't know what Master Hand would do in there. By now, he'd realized that if the hand really wanted to hurt him, he would have by now. No, the hand mostly seemed to have good intentions. That didn't change the fact Lucas didn't trust him. Why would he trust someone that could kill him in an instant? In the end, it would always been a case of better safe than sorry.
"Alright," the hand began. "I'm about to start the investigation…"
It felt like something powerful had reached into Lucas' mind. It easily shoved the guards he put up aside. It was the most disturbing feeling the blond had felt in a long time. Was this was it was like when he looked into others minds? He didn't like to do it, but he had before. It had been for important reasons, mostly life threatening ones. He's never done it again since. But he didn't have the power to go back someone's guards. Not like Master Hand. He'd tried. When he first met the Masked Man, he tried to burrow into the man's mind, to find out how he knew PK Love, but the other repelled him.
Suddenly, the feeling changed. The Lucas let out a cry of pain. It wasn't like the invading force. This was different, much stronger. His vision faded suddenly. All that was around him was a black mess of pain. There were two great forces fighting in his head. He begged at them to stop, but they wouldn't. He let his guards down, but nothing changed. Whatever was in his head didn't want interference.
Suddenly, the world returned. Lucas leaned against the nearest thing and panted. He hadn't realized he had been holding his breathe while the fighting went on, but he had been. As the pain faded, he realized the thing he was leaning against was Ness. He should have pushed him away, but he didn't. Ness was his friend. Right now, he needed that support.
As his vision cleared, he was surprised to see Master Hand on the floor. The blond's eyes widened and he looked to Ness for answer. His hatted friend simply shrugged.
"I don't know what happened. At first you two were just staring off blankly, then all of a sudden, you looked like you were in pain, so I rushed over. He fell down a bit after, but you were in pain. No offense to him, but my friends come first," Ness explained. His blond counterpart gave him a small nod.
"That's quite alright."
Master Hand's voice made the two jump. Considering he was a hand, the two had assumed he was unconscious. It wasn't like he had eyes they could check. Now the hand was starting to float up again, but he was wobbly.
"It was my fault that I fell. I also need to apologise to you once again, Lucas," the hand said. "I had forgotten I was still in your head. I hope you can forgive me. I did, however, manage to gain a little bit of information on what is going on. It's not as cut and dry as I originally thought…"
Now this had gotten Lucas' attention. He shrugged Ness away from him and leaned forward. He hadn't been able to form words after the sudden pain in his head, but he could use body language for now. The words would be back soon, but he needed to understand now.
"As it turns out, the cause of your memory loss is in no way my fault," Master Hand began. "But it's not your fault either. I really don't understand how it happened, but someone is sealing your memory. The cause of the pain in your head was me trying to remove the seal, which leads to a bigger problem. I couldn't remove it. I control everything in this world, and I couldn't remove the seal on your mind."
"So, what does that mean?" Ness asked. Lucas shot him a grateful glance. He would have asked the same question him, were he not currently incapable of speech.
"That means that whatever sealed Lucas' memory has a god like level of strength. I thought for a moment that it was my brother. Crazy hasn't been around much lately. It wouldn't be a surprise if he was playing tricks because he felt left out. However, when I pushed it, the power felt foreign. It's not like anything that I've felt before." Master Hand's voice picked up an annoyed tone, something that the two PSI boys weren't expecting. "I couldn't remove the seal, which means something very bad for Lucas. I could be bad for all of us, if the creature that sealed his memories isn't friendly, or if it's here. The fact I couldn't remove its seal means that it's more powerful than I am."
"But…" Lucas managed at last. "How can it? I never met someone like that."
"Well, you clearly have. It's probably hiding that memory, as well as other surrounding ones. If I remember your story correctly…" The hand trailed off for a moment. "This is troublesome… I have the feeling I know what this creature is, but I don't have enough data on it."
"I thought you knew everything about everyone's stories," Ness yelled suddenly. "If Lucas doesn't know, can't you just look it up? You can look all through our lives, so…"
"It's not that easy. God like beings, such as myself and the creature can't interfere with each other's business. In rare cases like Lucas here, he attend to the parts we need and try to ignore each other. I don't know what it wants from the boy, but given the history of what I think it is…" Master Hand trailed off and gave a sigh. "I can't help you, but I did do enough damage to the seal that it should start to crumble eventually. Unless that creature puts another one up, which is can't do until that one is gone, it will crumble if you keep prodding at the memory enough. I was surprise it was already so damaged. You must have a strong mind, Lucas."
"Thanks," the blond muttered. "So, I guess you did help me a little. I'll find out what this thing is and what is took away soon enough."
"I have no doubt that if you would have been able to guess what it was if it weren't keep those thoughts from you as well." The hand straightened up. "It seems another two smashers have been getting themselves into trouble, trying to catch Pokémon from the pond. I have to attend to them now. I'm going to teleport you out my office."
"Wait rig-" Ness was interrupted as the scenery around they changed. They were back in the hallway outside the hand's office. The black haired boy gave an annoyed sound. "I wish he would have given us a little more warning first. Would it kill him to wait five seconds?"
"You can't blame him. God like beings work on a different time frame than us. Time probably flows much slower for him," Lucas tried to explain. This got him a surprised look from his black haired friend.
"I didn't know you knew so much about gods and stuff," the older psychic replied.
"I didn't either, but given what Master Hand said, it probably do. Maybe some of the information that I knew before it already slipping out." The blond looked back over to the office. "But, if he can't help, I guess this thing has become a waiting game. It's not like there's anyone else that would know."
"Actually…" Ness smiled the same evil grin that he did everytime he came up with a moronic plan. Lucas gave an annoyed groan. "Thinking back to something that Red said to me the other day, I think I know just who to ask about your memory issues."
"Who then?" Lucas raised an eyebrow at the other's plan.
"Rope Snake, of course. He was with you for most of your journey, right?" the dark haired boy asked.
"Well, yeah," Lucas replied. "But he left us near the end, cause of some issues we had along the way. He accidentally messed up a few times and felt really guilty because of it. I didn't blame him, though. It's not like he did it on purpose. But, he wasn't there when the final battle happened."
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that he was with you when you came here. Didn't you ever question that?" Ness paused for dramatic effect. It worked well enough as his blond friend froze at the realization. "With the way you were talking before, you didn't know how the story ended. You really thought you had been teleported here right as it reached the finale. But you never questioned why Rope Snake, who wasn't there at the end, was with you?"
"Y-you're right…" Lucas looked down at the pocket where he normally kept the snake. "I never thought it was weird at all. I had all the information to connect the dots, I just didn't. My PSI too, I know new abilities that I didn't before. I thought it was weird, but never wondered when I learned them. I only knew that I had…"
"It's alright. It's like what Master Hand said earlier. It didn't just erase your memory. It made sure you wouldn't realize that you had forgotten things. It just didn't account for the fact that you're got a strong mind." Ness placed his fist against Lucas' forehead lightly. "You're strong, so you remembered you were missing memories. You just couldn't get at these things yet. But not to worry. Two psychic boys are better than one. For the things you can't figure out on your own, I will work out for you."
"We're going to be in big trouble if you have to do all the thinking," Lucas replied with a little laugh. The horror had faded now. Once he realized something, the creature's seal didn't strike out and swallow those thoughts in the darkness again. He knew what he had to do now. His snake friend could be the answer to all of their questions.
"I still don't get why he sleeps on my bed," Ness complained. "I mean, he's your friend and battle partner. Why can't he sleep on your bed?"
"Well, you kind of smell, and he used to travel with my smelly friend, Duster. He probably smells your bed and thinks of home," Lucas mused. This earned him a glare from his dark haired friend. He chose to ignore it.
"I still don't like the thought of a snake in my bed," the black haired boy whined.
"Well, just imagine he's a rope," the blond attempted, only to get another glare. Annoying Ness was fun and all, but they had things to do.
Lucas walked over to Ness' bed where Rope Snake always slept. The red snake normally slept with him at night, but he was a lazy thing and enjoyed sleeping in Ness' bed during the day. Despite what he said when he was teasing Ness, Lucas had really meant it when he said that Rope Snake was probably reminded of Duster. Duster's smell wasn't so bad, besides his breath, and neither was Ness'. The hatted boy just needed to learn to shower before doing to bed, or his sheets would keep smelling like sweat.
"Rope Snake, get up. I need your help for my next brawl." The snake was always eager to please. As soon as it heard the blond say that, the snake leapt up and wrapped around the boy's arm. It was halfway to his pocket before Lucas managed to grab him.
"H-huh? Why did you stop me? Don't you need a snake with rope like abilities to help you? H-have you found a new partner?" Rope Snake turned to Ness and gave a hiss. "If you sto-"
"Stop…" Lucas gave a little sigh. His little red friend was always jumping to conclusions. Since they came to a new world, Rope Snake had become extremely affectionate and protective. He assumed it was because he was the only person the snake knew. "Ness is my friend, you're my partner. I can't use him as a rope."
"Can you use him as a snake?"
"I can't use him as a snake either."
"Good," the snake murmured. "I'm Lucas' partner, nobody else. But, anyway, what do you want? Is he mad at me for taking his bed again? I would have gotten off if he needed it. I only used it cause it was open."
"Ness has nothing to do with this, so please leave him alone for five minutes," the blond PSI user replied. "I need to talk to you about something really important. Now, you need to take it very seriously."
"Yes, yes. I am listening…" The snake rolled his eyes before snaking back up the blond's arm.
"Rope Snake… Why am I forgetting things?" Lucas asked. He watched the snake carefully. He didn't want to read his mind, no, he actually couldn't thanks to the rules, but he had to check to see in Rope Snake had the same memory issues as him.
"Y-you're forgetting things? Now isn't that weird, I don't think you're forgetting things," the snake stuttered out. He looked away. Immediately, Lucas gripped him a little tighter. Rope Snake was hiding something big. Betrayal found its way into the blond's gaze. The snake might be working with whoever did this to him.
"Rope Snake, I already know I'm forgetting things. What I need you to do is tell me what I'm forgetting. Why, if you know that, too. Actually, I need to know who did it most importantly," the blond boy stated. He gave the red snake a harsh glare. Though normally never very aggressive, he wasn't just going to let his friend lie to him like this.
"Lucas, I can't," Rope Snake admitted. "I know you don't understand, I know that you can't. If I told you, you wouldn't be able to handle it. So I won't. Isn't it better not to know?"
"He's clearly working with whatever took away your memory," Ness commented. Lucas froze. He'd never heard his friend sound so cold before. Then again, he and Rope Snake were not friends. Ness had no reason not to direct all of his anger on the little snake. "He's gotta know what exact its hiding."
"I am not working with anyone!" the snake hissed back. "You are clearly trying to drive Lucas and I apart. Do you want to become his new partner? You don't have any rope or snake like abilities! How could you provide him with any help?"
"I don't want to be his new partner. I want to help him, like a friend. Right now, you're not acting the part of partner or a friend," Ness responding, just as coldly as before. His words got to the snake. Lucas caught him readying himself just a moment before the snake lunged at the boy. Remembering how the snake could stretch, the blond grabbed him at the base of his head.
"Let go of me! I'm going to show him how much of a better-"
"Rope Snake, shut your jaw for five second before I break it off!" Lucas snapped. This stopped the snake cold. "Ness is not the problem here! You are! What type of partner let's someone mess with their friend's memory? What type of partner would side with the creature that did this instead of their partner? Aren't we friends? We travelled together. I know I'm no Duster, but I'm still your friend! Can't you trust me with this?"
The snake went silent. He's body went limb, red coils falling off of the blond boy's arm. Even without reading the snake's mind, he knew that Rope Snake was feeling guilt. Perhaps now the boy would be able to get some answers.
"I'm sorry, Lucas…" The red snake muttered.
"It's alright. I forgive you. Just tell me what happened. Please Rope Snake. You're my only hope of finding out." The blond put his faith in the reptile's guilt. The red snake remained completely limp.
"I'm not apologising for that. That is for your own good. I made a reptile's promise not to tell you. It's for your own good, Lucas! I'm apologising for this!" As soon as the blond realized what was going to happen, it already had. He'd forgotten Rope Snake has been there for a large part of the journey. He was fast and strong as well.
The snake slipped back through Lucas' relaxed grip, he had relaxed due to believing he would get his answer, and went back to the arm that held his body. He bit down in to the blond's hand. On instinct, the PSI user let out a pained cry and threw the offending creature against the wall. However, this was the opening that Rope Snake needed. He hit the wall, but recovery quickly. As soon as the snake hit the floor, he lashed out at the nearby vent with his tail. He used this to pull him to it.
By this point, Ness had recovered from the surprise. The hatted boy dove at the red snake, but Rope Snake had pulled himself out of the way before Ness could get to him. As Ness and Lucas recovered, the snake ripped the vent out of the wall and climbed inside. Neither boy was fast enough to catch him before he was beyond arm's reach.
"Damn it!" Lucas cursed, realizing Rope Snake had gotten away. "Why would he run? What the hell could the thing have promised him to keep him from telling me?"
"More importantly, why'd he say it was for your own good? Last time I checked, having massive gaps in your memory is not good for you," Ness pointed out. The anger was slowly leaving his voice as it turned to concern for his blond friend. "You gonna be okay? He's not poisonous, is he?"
"No. Too much rope in that snake for that… It still hurt. He's got jaw strength to make up for his lack of venom," the blond muttered, rubbing the still bleeding injury. "I shouldn't have let go of him. If I just held on…"
"He still wouldn't have told you anything. I know you're mad at him. I'm pissed too, but he seems to think this is for the best." Ness gave a sigh. "He'll be back soon. I mean, he's so worried about me replacing him as your partner that he has to."
Lucas gave a little hum. He had the feeling this was more serious than that. Time proved him right. Hours passed, but the small red head never poked out of the vent. Eventually he had to go to Master Hand. The only consolation the hand could offer was the lend Lucas was green clone of his old friend. This only made the blond feel worse. The green clone fought like Rope Snake, but it had none of his personality.
Looking down at the green clone, the boy could only give a sigh of regret. "What could be so important that he'd be willing to lose a friend over it…?"
