The Shadows of the Past part 21
"The Animal Within,"
After Fuel was snatched from their grasp the entire attitude of the ship changed. No one realized just how serious things have gotten, but no one knew this better then Lucas. He couldn't stand the thought of another life he failed to save, a person close to him that he failed to protect. The thought was infuriating and scary all at the same times. He was struggling to suppress Carnicise's hunger. The negative emotions energized the symbiont in unnatural ways and the symbiont was not above using this incident to it's advantage. It knew better than why Lucas was so gentle, his rage never went away, he only bottled it up. The symbiont knew not to push him though, for the idea that it could fall victim to his rage in some way. Lucas barred himself up in his room and said he'd remain there until they arrive at their destination. No one bothered him, surprisingly enough, not even Ninten or Ness who are known for going against Lucas's wishes for his own good. This was just too different, and the waves of pure rage he gave off was a bit unsettling.
"Lucas," His name sounded over the intercom. It was Star and she sounded pretty freaked out. "I suggest coming to the command center…I…would play this over the intercom but its just too freaky…" Lucas considered not even bothering, but for some reason a part of him told him to go see what was wrong. Despite his mood he walked with a purpose intent on listening to whatever it was that creep even her, the indifferent girl of the crew, so much she sounded scared. He walked into the center not meeting anyone's eyes. He stopped in front of Star who seemed pretty shaken. "It's only an audio message, but gosh…whoever this guy is…is seriously sick," she pressed the button on the keyboard. There was complete silence for a moment and then breathing. Lucas recognized that immediately, but he couldn't figure out from where.
"Hello there, how are you? I'm fine in case you responded to that politely. I hear you're coming home soon Gigue, congrats. I've been wondering when you would come back. I miss you…bunches…." Then there was a vicious attack on the microphone as the breathing sounded like he was hyperventilating. Some preferred that instead of the creatures voice which sounded so contorted and pure evil. "So sorry about that…thinking about you has me thinking about the friends you're bringing along. You have friends right, I hope you made some. Some that are just like that other one…"
At the mention of the woman's name eyes fell on Lucas, whose blood suddenly went cold as his eyes opened up wide as dinner plates. "No…it can't be…"
It sounded like someone licked their lips, "Oh I do so hope their like that human Maria, she was so…sweet…ahahahahah!" Lucas's fist began to tighten as his eyes grew darker in shade and his symbiont began expressing his pent up emotions as short tendrils swirled around. "Yes…she was so sweet, I never knew that creatures like here were so…delicate. Unlike any other creature, and I was forced to be contempt at meeting just one! They prevented me from venturing to Earth, as much as I so wanted to see what it had to offer. She was but a regular piece of meat, I wish to meet the youngs, the olds, the newborne, and the deceased. I want to meet a wide variety of flavors…and I also hear that we're more alike thanks to your operation too…that's so nice. We're closer then ever! Ya know I even saved a little piece of that Maria woman too…my first human meeting, so I had to make it last as best I could. I hear I have another one on it's way soon too," a deep moan erupted over the speaker as if the being was in pure bliss. "Let him be tasteful too….oh my I feel a rush coming on, I'm getting excited again and it's AH! It's an awesome feeling!"
"RRRRAAAH!" Lucas roared slamming his fist into the wall. His fist broke through it like it was mere paper as he struggled to regain control of his breathing. This action somehow cut off the audio transmission as well. "That bastard…that sick twisted bastard…" This pure hatred and rage that poured off Lucas by the truck load was disturbing and unsettling. "How long till arrival…"
"…uh…another s-seven hours…" the quivering voice of Jeff responded.
"I know you all would like me to get this thing off my chest…but right now…it's really dangerous to be around me…leave. Me. Alone," he said very sternly through gritted teeth as his red eyes flashed dangerously towards them. His gaze left them as he walked out the room. Loid timidly went to observe the hole that Lucas made.
"He…punctured the cable t-to the sound s-systems…" Loid muttered.
"Can you fix it?" Ninten asked.
"Some of the damage…maybe," Loid said looking at the door sheepishly. "I…wonder who that was…"
"Me too, I've never ever seen him so angry before," Kumatora said while holding herself.
"Well what should we do, we can't just leave him like that," Teddy pointed out.
"Yeah, that much pent up emotion has gotta be let out," Ana agreed.
"Well we can't really afford for him to express the emotions he's feeling right now, so how about we leave him alone for now," Star said typing on the keyboard of the ship.
After that, things mostly went back to normal on the ship. However, everyone on the crew decided that it was best to completely avoid Lucas's hall altogether. He didn't need food, or sleep, so thankfully he never needed to come out. However, despite their rational fear of him, they couldn't help but feel desperately confused. Clearly Lucas knew who that was, but was in no mood to spill. It said Lucas was like him after an operation, and this thing apparently has a thing for eating living things. But what exactly did it do to make Lucas such a pure ball of hatred? Ness and Ninten so desperately wanted to know what was up, but even they knew when it was crazy to cross this line. Through the history that everyone has known Lucas, he never showed such pure hatred of anyone. The fact that he did at this moment, was quite unsettling. However, some of them believed it was possibly the stress of losing Fuel that may've set him off too. It made sense, and they were all extremely worried too, but they didn't go punching holes in walls. Claus finally decided that it was time for everyone to calm down. If their star player wasn't at his best, then no one would survive what's to come. Strategically this was the best move, however personally he may as well leave a suicide note. Claus stood outside Lucas's door waiting for the slip in hatred to ebb somewhat. He knew Lucas knew he was out here, and Lucas probably wasn't even purposefully putting out these waves to weaken his resolve. However, Claus wouldn't falter.
"Lucas…" Claus called out weakly knocking on the door. He waited a moment till the door slid open slightly for Claus to see a red eye staring at him sternly. Claus also noticed that Lucas's hand was clawed at the moment because of his symbiont.
"Have we arrived…?" he muttered darkly.
Claus stares hard into Lucas's eyes, "Have…have you been crying?"
"Have we arrived?" Lucas said this time with much more dangerous hint in in voice.
"No," at his words Lucas moved to close the door while giving a warning of not to show up again unless they were there. Otherwise he'd might tear him to shreds. Claus prayed that was the symbiont talking as he stuck his foot in the door. "But listen I wanna know what's going on you," Claus felt his voice weaken as he stared into Lucas's red eye.
"Go. Away," Lucas hissed as the pitch in his voice dropped drastically. Claus was rightfully quite afraid as the darkness that surrounded Lucas's room seemed to be reaching out towards him. Claus was confused thinking that the room couldn't possibly be that dark.
"You can't-I mean, Lucas let me help,"
Suddenly, Lucas's clawed flashed into Claus's face with the boy totally unprepared for it. Lucas halted his claws from Claus's face from only inches from impact. Claus saw his hand shaking, he was resisting the powerful urge he was facing. Lucas unclawed his hand then grabbed the collar of Claus shit then lifts him off his feet and bring him closer. "You saw that, I would've killed you. I was going to kill you. Stick around any longer, that urge will become overpowering. The thought of slashing you to pieces is so inviting right now, so please stay away,"
"Like I care about that," Claus attempting to get free of Lucas's grip only for Lucas to throw him toward the wall roughly then slam the door shut. "LUCAS!" Claus called quickly standing and then knocking on the door. "Stop being so worried about everyone else for once and worry about yourself. You could've killed me but you didn't, so you have more control then you think. Just tell me what's wrong,"
Claus swore he heard the sound of sniffling as the familiar sound of Lucas's pained cries echoed from the room. "Please, go away…NOW!"
That last roar of rage was enough to make Claus finally get the point and back off for once. Lucas was in pain, but he was still concerned about everyone else. It was both a righteous trait and an annoying one to Claus. He moved to leave then glanced back at the room. He left leaving one comment that was best that he not have said. "Maybe if he stopped worrying about everyone else he wouldn't be such a crybaby,"
That simple phrase unleashed a monster.
Lucas's door was smashed open as it slammed into the opposite wall. Claus turned around sharply not sure what was happening as he stared at Lucas who was glaring at him. "LETS SEE ANDONUTS FIX YOU THIS TIME!" he stated in his feral rage.
Claus gasped as he flinched at seeing Lucas charge at him claws showing and ready to slice him to pieces. Claus reacted quickly and stepped to the side avoiding the somewhat delayed lunge. Lucas growled as he got to his feet then turned sharply to swing his claws at Claus. Claus noticed the swing was fast, but clearly overexerted as he quickly duck down avoiding it as Lucas's claws made a nasty mark on the wall where his head was previously. Lucas growled as his eyes turned toward Claus who stood with his right hand pointed toward him.
"Lucas, get a hold of yourself!"
"You have no right, telling me how I should feel, who I should worry about!"
"I may have said that wrong, I meant that you need to stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself. Stop being so overly selfless!"
At that Lucas's unleashed a barrage of tendrils in Claus's direction from his back. Claus flinched and turned tail to dash down the hall as fast as he could. He managed to barely outrun the tendrils, but Lucas was right on his heels in mere moments. Claus missed the days when Lucas could barely run let alone keep up with him. Claus turned a corner sharply as he swerved around the edge. Lucas slipped and fell but regained balanced by sinking his claws into the floor as an anchor to swivel around. Claus made the mistake of looking back to see Lucas was gone. He paused startled for a moment as he stopped knowing he had heard him turn the corner moments after him. He looked down the hall for a moment seeing nothing, but when he turned around was met with Lucas' dark red eyes piercing into his skull as his tendrils helped him latch onto the side of the wall. Lucas raised a hand then swung but the claws went away at the last second which only gave Claus a rather powerful slap in his chest. This still threw Claus to the floor, and this only prompted Lucas to pounce on him. Claus reacted quickly as Claus caught Lucas with his foot and hands and then swung him overhead in a reversal throw. Lucas was tossed onto his back harshly as he wasn't expecting such a well-executed response like that. Claus then managed to mount Lucas and pin him to the floor.
"Get off!"
"Shut up and listen to me for once!" Claus yelled back in Lucas's face. Lucas stared at Claus with pure hatred laced in his eyes, but Claus was sure it wasn't towards him though. Lucas's face, once one looked past the pure hatred, it was clear that he was crying and was true turmoil. "Stop pretending like you're invincible and that nothing can hurt you. The wounds we ignore can only get worse unless we treat it properly. You can't save anyone, if you can't even look after yourself!"
"I am PSI, the very foundation of the art, and trained by the creator and masters of the art. There is nothing in this universe I cannot accomplish!"
"Except save a few people that meant something to you," Lucas eyes widened like dinner plates. Again Claus kicked himself for letting that statement slip out, so did Lucas. Tendrils lashed out at Claus striking him over and over until one finally threw him off. One tendril wrapped around Claus's throat and lifted him off the ground. "O-Okay…that…was a low blow…" Claus wheezed out.
"SHUT UP!" Lucas yelled slamming Claus into a wall as he pulled back his hand for his claws to reappear again. Lucas brought his hand forward to possibly slash Claus' face off. However, Lucas arm stopped. Claus opened one eye to see what had happened and was relieved to see that Ninten had grabbed Lucas's arm. Lucas was clearly struggling to pull away as Ninten's grip was tighter then steel.
"You just had to kick the lion didn't you?" Ninten sighed. With one heave he pulled Lucas off of Claus and to the floor. Then he successfully pinned him down. Ninten placed his knees on Lucas's hands so that he could be hands free need he have to strike. "Lucas calm down,"
Lucas struggled anew as he tried to throw Ninten off. He would've been successful too if Ninten had punched Lucas in the chest. Ninten saw it as a friendly warning, but Lucas felt like his ribs almost collapsed. Lucas wheezed out in an unnatural noise as he tried to regain his breath inadvertently calming also. "Okay…I'm calm…get off me,"
Ninten did as he held his hand out for Lucas to take. Lucas sat up to look at Ninten's outstretched hand. He began to raise his hand to take the offer, but hesitated. This hesitation didn't go unnoticed. "Lucas come on," Ninten encouraged.
"You're right Claus…." Lucas said sadly looking to the floor.
"I am?" Claus asked surprised.
"Right about what?" Ninten asked.
"I've always been so concerned for others, so stuck on using my power to protect everyone. I don't save any for myself. I mistreat my body, take these abilities for granted, reckless, and often careless when it concerns my life. That's why I always fail…I can't protect anyone if I have no strength to give. It would be the night Hinawai died all over again. Powerless, and unable to do anything…."
"Lucas…" Ninten groaned. "This pity pat part of yours is getting old. I don't know how much sympathy I can give. You're always dealing with some turmoil,"
"I don't deal with it…" Lucas admitted. "I never deal with turmoil. I've always tried to distract myself, with things. Its how I was trained, there was never any time to look back on what was done. Only moving forward was what was important…"
"Well I suppose we could be more helpful,"
"Shut up," Lucas said sternly. "You guys have risked your necks for me more times than I can count. For you to say something like that is beyond stupid. Maybe…I just need to stop this,"
"What?"
"The sorrow, stop the pain, the hurting inside of me, and put an end to this fight,"
"What does that mean?" Claus asked.
Lucas looked at the two of them for a moment and then sighed. "I'm going to destroy everything Father ever created. Not one thing will be left. The pain and suffering is miniscule to what the universe has gone through with the chaos we've created. I'm going to start being selfish, and worry about myself. I've been fighting like an Immortal Soldier, and that's probably why I've failed so much," Lucas smiled at them. "And it's kinda obvious since I lost to you guys when I clearly was the strongest,"
"So what are you trying to say?" Ninten asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm done fighting like an Immortal Soldier, I'm going to fight like a human now. So…will you guys train me?"
"Train you to what?" Claus asked.
"I don't know be more human. The fact is, I have a beast inside of me, I don't know how to harness it at all. Emotions were never my specialty or any of my siblings. You guys can help me, so please would you spread that around,"
"Sure I guess we can do that for ya," Ninten said scratching his head wondering how they were gonna do this.
"Thanks," Lucas turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Lucas turned back around to look at Claus.
"I still would like to know who that was earlier and what he was talking about," Claus said. At this Lucas frowned as his eyes turned dark red again. The look of hatred showing on his visage as the symbiont became alive again. Claus removed his hand in fear.
"Someone I've wanted to rip apart for a long time. Someone who gave me the animal that's inside of me," Lucas growled as turned back around to walk away. "Gigerferal, The Fierce Animal,"
"Everyone, we'll be there in about 1 hour so get ready for a fight," came Star's voice over the intercom.
"If you guys don't mind I'm going back to my room. Only way to beat an animal is to become one," Lucas walked away still with that growl deep in his throat. Claus and Ninten looked at each other for a moment then walked the opposite direction.
"You worried?" Claus asked.
"Yes, you?"
"Always, more now than ever,"
"We gotta save Fuel, and fight another of Lucas's crazy siblings. That always kinda brings out a different side of Lucas,"
"Yeah…it does doesn't it," Claus said in thought. There was something going on. Something the Immortal Soldiers were up to, this Father character, and maybe even Lucas is keep information from them. Claus just knew something stunk and he didn't like smelly stuff anymore he long past that stage.
"What?"
"I may not be a geniuses or have the brain that's as smart as a super computer, but I know one thing. I can read situations, and the actions of others. Lucas better than anyone else. If this Father guy really wanted Lucas back he'd have sent all six of these guys at Lucas at once. He's barely beaten all of them so far, so all six would've been more than enough to capture him. Also every time Lucas beats one of these guys they vanish without a trace. Plus his whole existence on Nowhere Island is still questionable in itself. There are some answers, but that just brings out more questions. I also know for a fact Lucas is hiding something,"
"Wow, that's a lot of stuff. I hadn't even thought of most of that," Ninten was quite startled by all these points that Claus pointed out. Claus crosses his arms.
"Lucas…I'd wish you tell us what's going on…"
Lucas sits in his room with the lights out and the only thing visible is his red eyes. He stares at his hands and his clench his fist. "…What is Operation Death of the Undying…?"