Chapter 21 - The Will to Live
Disbelieving eyes watched the void in the blue wall where the memories used to exist.
Nothing.
Lucas couldn't remember a single thing about his own grandfather anymore. To him, the old man's features became a foggy haze at best, as if he stood behind a wall of frosted glass. Lucas faced his opponent with an icy scowl. The green hallway grew larger, eating into his space as Tom Garrickson stared back with a satisfied smirk.
"Your turn, Lucas."
Despite his best efforts, Lucas only managed to conjure a few pale hexagons and aimed them towards Tom Garrickson's memories in retaliation. He grinned in triumph when he managed to blast down a few doors, but his grin faltered when Tom Garrickson summoned a bigger volley of psionic fire.
"Think better," Tom Garrickson jeered, launching his fireballs, "My memories only hold me back, but yours make you stronger."
Lucas ignored Tom Garrickson's taunts as he attacked the fireballs with his PSI in an attempt to block them. One wayward fireball slipped and slammed into one of his memories. The figures of the McKinley ghosts flashed by Lucas' eyes for the last time, before they vanished from his mind forever.
"I can't go on like this," Lucas hissed under his breath. Frantic eyes searched for a way to stop the redhead from doing further damage, before they landed on one rusty, chained door far inside the green hallway. That's it. If only he could somehow force out the repressed part of Garrickson's mind, he would put an end to this fight.
Without thinking on it further, Lucas charged forward with a loud scream, sending his PSI into Tom's direction, causing the latter to respond with another barrage of fire. As the two psionic attacks collided in a deafening explosion, Lucas shielded his eyes with his elbow and sprinted towards his adversary. He emerged from the dust, plowing into the redhead and catching him off-guard.
"Teleport," Lucas hissed, materializing in front of the sealed door. Tom Garrickson let out a curse and got up, breaking into a dash towards Lucas, who hit the latches with both PSI and fists. Tom appeared behind Lucas and grabbed onto the back of the taller boy's shirt in an attempt to dislodge him.
"What are you doing? Get off."
Lucas struggled to keep his grip. For a rusty, decrepit door, it was unnaturally strong. He threw slew of hexagon attacks at the locks, before finally forcing the creaky hinges inwards. Lucas rushed in the locked memory with Tom Garrickson right behind him. It revealed a small, sparsely-furnished bedroom. A closet, a dresser, and a mirror where he saw the reflection of a small crib in the back of the room. The sound of a child crying filled their ears.
"What is this? What have you done?" Tom stood stiffly and gritted his teeth in anger, but his eyes reflected obvious fear. Apprehension. Lucas had a feeling he'd seen a glimpse of this room before. There was noted blur all over the place, and everything lacked fine detail.
He turned around, spotting the white crib across the room from a large, unmade double bed. He approached the crib and leaned over. An unhappy baby lied in there, its face almost redder than its hair. It stopped crying long enough to listen to the faint sound of feet climbing up the stairs outside the room, before bursting in tears again. A woman entered the room, oblivious of the presence of the two teens as she picked up the child. She rocked the howling baby, whispering gentle words into its ears. Slowly, the child calmed down to a few whimpers.
Tom Garrickson watched her with a fixed expression and balled his hand into a white-knuckled fist. Lucas noted how similar the woman looked to the other boy, having the same red hair and bright green eyes. The woman flinched when a loud, low-pitched noise came from outside, accompanied by flashes of dazzling light. The baby began howling immediately, and the woman, whom Lucas presumed to be the baby's mother, drew her child closer to herself with one arm and peeked through the curtains above the crib with the other. Cars blared their alarms, and the rumbling sound grew louder and closer.
Lucas heard a breaking noise, followed by the sound of a man screaming from outside the door. A moment later, the ominous, imposing figure of a huge starman with spikes on its shoulders brought down the door with a good portion of the wall around it. Lucas saw the body of a man lying in the corridor behind the machine, drenched in blood. The starman walked into the small room as the woman let out a terrified shriek.
"Kill the woman," a deep voice sounded from within the alien machine. "Awaken this child, and bring him to me."
The starman extended its arm, and shot a white-hot psionic ray at the mother, killing her instantly. Her corpse fell on its knees, still cradling the boy in her hold. The starman approached the murdered mother and picked up the child from her clutches, laying the boy on top of the dresser. Its bulky body obscured the crying infant from Lucas' view as it seemed to have transferred some of its own PSI to the boy. He began glowing, sending off an enormous surge of psionic energy, causing the starman to stop and reevaluate the child in front of it.
Outside, the sky clouded over with a purple haze, and dozens of flaming meteorites descended from the sky. The street disappeared in flashes of explosions, before the fallen meteorites engulfed the house. Blinding light forced Lucas' eyes shut. Everything faded to black save for the child, whose body ceased to glow.
Tom Garrickson watched everything with wide eyes, before looking up at Lucas. Their eyes met, but the redhead broke it off, choosing to glare at his feet. Lucas approached the child and picked it up, sheepishly rocking it in an attempt to calm it down, to no avail.
"Giygas lied," Tom Garrickson's voice was barely above a whisper. "He did it. He tried using me to break himself free at first. He messed me up instead."
Lucas remained silent, watching Tom Garrickson pace back and forth.
"He killed my parents, Lucas," Tom stopped, flashing Lucas a sad smile. "You were right. It was a deal with the devil, after all."
Lucas glanced at the child in his arms. Instead of vile, dark thoughts completely breaking its owner, this locked door ended up holding the ghastly memory of a scared infant. He looked up to see Tom Garrickson point his good arm at him the same way the starman did.
"PK Beam."
Lucas' eyes bulged as sharp pain pierced him. He looked down to see the light beam had left a clean hole in his chest. The child in his arms disintegrated into dust as Tom Garrickson momentarily glowed the same bright aura as his infant self.
"I'm sorry, Lucas," Tom Garrickson's gaze hardened as Lucas' form began to wane, "I'll have to face Giygas myself. I'll need you to bring him out for me."
Ness went quiet when Tom Garrickson's body suddenly went limp in his hold. His eyes darted back and forth between Lucas' glassy-eyed stare and the redhead.
"Lucas?" Ness said, giving the blond a questioning glance, before looking again at the redhead. He gasped when he saw Lucas' eyes turn inward as he fell on his knees, two thin trails of blood trickled from his nostrils. Ness tightened his elbow around the shorter teen's neck.
"What the hell did you do to—"
A powerful blast of PSI flared from Tom Garrickson's body, sending Ness flying back. A group of starmen teleported around the three. Ness clambered up, his fists glowing with PSI.
"Bad idea," Tom Garrickson said, standing up and straightening his clothes. "They can shoot you before you realize it, so don't bother."
Ness swore and gritted his teeth. One of the starmen kept its arm trained on him as it approached and stopped behind his back. Trent picked up Lucas' catatonic form.
"Don't do anything too sudden," Tom Garrickson said. "You wouldn't want to test their aim."
The starmen herded the two psychics out. Tom Garrickson trailed behind with slow steps, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.
Tracy woke up with a start. She got up and looked around. She last remembered talking to that redhead, Tom, then everything went fuzzy afterwards. She hopped off the platform and exited the vacant room, padding along the cold corridor to the other side. She half-expected to run into someone by now, but she found herself inside a small room with electronics occupying half of the small space. She approached the strange equipment, realizing most of the devices looked alive with twitching pipes and controls. She made a disgusted face at the gross machinery, and turned back to exit the room. Her foot bumped against a grey lever, kicking it the other way with little effort. A rattling sound beneath her made her jump in her place, before the floor tiles under her feet gave way. Tracy fell with a shriek, ending up landing painfully on hard floor. She looked above her at the tunnel in the ceiling she fell out from. It closed up in a fluid motion, leaving behind little evidence of its existence.
Tracy stood up and examined her surroundings, which looked identical to the corridor she'd been in a few minutes ago. She gasped when she saw a familiar chubby teen struggling to stand up a few feet ahead. Picky would be so upset if he saw his brother in such bad shape, she thought.
"Pokey!" she called, hurrying towards her neighbor. Pokey did a double take at the girl.
"Tracy?" he mumbled, giving her a dumb, open-mouthed stare. "How the… Uh, how did you end up here?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Tracy said. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing," Pokey grunted, forcing himself upright. "I'm fine."
Tracy frowned and gave him a disbelieving look. He averted his gaze from the smaller blonde, who opened her mouth to pry further.
"Listen, uh, I think I know a way out of here," Pokey stammered. "Ness was looking for you. Why don't we go find him?"
Upon hearing her brother's name, Tracy's face lit up.
"Really?" she said, looking up with hopeful eyes.
"Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat and straightened up. He wiped dried blood off his upper lip. "Yeah, I do."
Tony watched a group of eight Mr. Saturn stack themselves in a wobbly column in front of a cave, basking in the afternoon sun. He sighed and shook his head, noting they only did that when Maxwell left to buy stuff from the nearby town. Threed was a gloomy place, with a giant cemetery almost the size of the town itself, yet Maxwell loved it. "It has character," he would say, and pout whenever Jeff or Tony turned down an offer to accompany him in favour of Dr. Andonuts' dubiously pleasant company.
A nudge to his knee brought Tony out of his thoughts. He looked down to see one of the creatures staring up at him expectantly with a plate of some food on top of its head.
"No, thank you. I'm not in the mood for peanut cheese," he said, shooing the Mr. Saturn. Whatever they put in their food was probably illegal, even if that dodgy Lucas fellow drank himself a cupful of the bloody stuff and didn't bat an eye.
The wonky stack in front of him collapsed in a mess of stubby creatures and nasal cheers, announcing the return of one Maxwell, who carried a few shopping bags in hand and a newspaper tucked under his arm.
"Back from the graveyard?" Tony called once Maxwell became within earshot. The older student walked over and whacked Tony on the head with the newspaper, knocking his hat off.
"Don't get cheeky with me, lad," Maxwell said, feigning annoyance. He looked around, "Did the doctor blow up anything while I was away?"
"Not yet," Tony replied, picking up his hat and placing it back on his head.
"Ah. I should go back before he does," Maxwell replied, tossing the newspaper at Tony, "Don't slack about for too long. Be useful and go help Jeff with whatever he's doing."
Tony gave a noncommittal shrug and nodded. He picked up the newspaper and glanced at the front page. One particular headline caught his eye.
'Multiple child disappearances remain unsolved, Onett police say'
Underneath, there were four pictures depicting three boys and a girl. Tony did a double take at one of the boys. He totally looked like that kid from earlier. Tony read 'Lucas (13) from Onett' under the picture, confirming his suspicion. He wasn't bright at geography, but Tony recalled a road sign telling that Onett was like an hour's drive from this place.
"I can't believe this." Tony jumped and ran towards the small settlement, yelling Jeff's name at the top of his lungs.
Ness felt numb through the entire walk, putting a foot in front of the other in the a lifeless stride much like the machines surrounding him.
There was nothing he could do now — Tom Garrickson had won. That thought repeated over and over in Ness' head as the starmen marched him forward. He was fully aware of the implications. Tom Garrickson would break out the alien who built this place in exchange of a new body, namely his. It hardly stirred any indignation at the fact he's going down without further fight.
Ness peeked behind his shoulder at Tom. Surprisingly, he looked ill at ease. He dragged his feet behind himself, staring at the floor with a troubled look. Ness mentally berated himself for feeling a little concerned for the redhead. He busied himself with staring at the brute carrying Lucas at the front. The blond was a mess. Blood, dirt and the slimy stuff from the wall matted his hair and stained his clothes. Ness was sure he looked just as awful. Glancing at his own body, he saw the yellow-and-teal shirt Lucas lent him after that encounter at Giant's Step. He vaguely remembered Lucas wore the same shirt when they went to Fourside on that field trip. It all seemed like a very distant memory now.
The starmen at the front stopped in front of a wall that blocked their path. The ground vibrated beneath Ness' feet as the wall parted cleanly to reveal a massive chamber concealed behind it. The starman behind Ness prodded him with its pointy arm, prompting him to walk in. The chamber was littered with flesh tubes, obscuring the dark floor. A rumbling breathing sound filled the silence.
With every squishy step, a feeling of animalistic terror crept down Ness' spine. His heart thudded in his ears, overpowering the slow heartbeat emanating from the chamber, and his tongue felt like a dry sponge. A colossal machine towered in front of them, an eye-shaped orb took most of its face area. Fat cables of twitching flesh connected around the eye, adding to the demonic look of the machine. The sight made his stomach turn.
A large starman with spikes took Lucas' body from Trent and laid him inside a vertical pod in the side of the chamber that looked like an upright coffin. Ness watched as a faint aura emitted from the pod as it closed, extending through a row of fleshy tubes convulsing in mad twitches towards the big machine. The breathing sound filling the room quickened as the machine generated sparks of static around its edges.
"This thing should sap Lucas' PSI to give Giygas enough power to break out from this thing," Tom Garrickson said, shrugging. "If he's got enough PSI, that is."
Ness instinctively took a step in Lucas' direction. The moment his foot touched the ground, his body went numb as paralyzing PSI pinned him in his place.
"I told you," Tom Garrickson sighed in disappointment, "No sudden moves. You're lucky they didn't shoot you on the spot."
Soon after he said that, the 'eye' in the middle of the machine flared to life. A distorted reflection appeared in the middle of the vertical iris, then a red haze emitted from the machine and converged around the eye in the shape of a disfigured, inhuman skull. Whenever Ness stared too long into the eye, his vision went blurry and tunnelled. He chose to avert his gaze.
"T-that's one ugly bastard," he said in an attempt to show defiance. The paralyzing PSI around Ness tightened until he cried out. The red skull cracked into some semblance of a toothy grin.
'Impertinent child!' A deep, guttural voice bellowed in Ness' head, 'I am the Abominable One. Condemned to sail through the cosmos, never to return. Know who I am. You should be trembling in horror.'
Ness winced at the mental screaming, a headache already began throbbing behind his eyes.
'But you have other things to be frightened of.' The eye focused on Tom Garrickson. 'I am not the one who wants to kill you; he is.'
Tom Garrickson scowled, glaring at the large starman next to the glowing tubes. "Shut up. I know what you did to me."
Ness's eyes widened in confusion as Tom Garrickson faced the spiked starman with hostile intent, conjuring fire above his hand.
'I understand.' The massive pupil dilated, 'This child reads the mind. I am impressed he made you remember; I locked your memories myself.'
Tom Garrickson snarled, his fireball growing twice in size.
'Foolish one! You wish to bite the hand that feeds you.'
"PK Fire." Ness felt the psionic fireball's searing heat as it passed in front of him, before it blasted the starman, slamming it into the tubes connecting Lucas to the alien's entrapment.
The machine roared and sparked as the skull dissipated into a thick, crimson fog. The massive starman let out electronic whirrs, extricating itself from the broken tubes as its cracked visor blinked to life.
Ness saw the Tom Garrickson attack the starman in his peripheral vision. His spine tensed at the frightening thought of a wayward fireball or beam finding its way to his helpless position. Despite its bulky size and worn exterior, the starman fought back with breakneck speed, parrying Tom Garrickson's blows and fire PSI with incredible accuracy. Tom teleported a foot above the starman and shot a fireball at the top of its head, shattering the visor to pieces and blowing off the whole side of its head.
"PSI… Brainshock…" The starman uttered through the electronic garble, then it went completely silent. A scream sprang from the redhead's throat as he landed on the floor, clutching his head in pain.
The PSI holding Ness in place vanished along with the painful numbness in his legs. He ran towards Lucas, looking back at Tom Garrickson's shaking body. He turned around and wedged his fingernails between the glass-like lid and the pod itself, pulling hard. It opened with a cracking noise, with Lucas falling forward on all fours. The blond opened his eyes, looking up at Ness with wide, fear-glazed eyes. He balled his fists and scrambled towards Ness, screaming unintelligible words.
"Whoa, easy there," Ness said, grabbing Lucas' weakly flailing arms and holding them in place. "It's just me."
As Ness helped Lucas calm down, Trent's face pulled in a scowl as he turned around and left the hall.
Pokey let out a dismayed squeak upon seeing a gaping hole in one of the holding cell sides. Shattered glass littered the floor, and Ness was nowhere to be seen.
"Who did this?" he whispered, approaching the big hole inside the fleshy wall. Tracy pulled a face at the messy place.
"Are you sure Ness was here?" she asked, inspecting the ruined chair in the middle of the room.
(I put him there myself!)
Even though his actions weren't exactly his own, Pokey vividly remembered hauling his former friend on that very chair. Unless Ness somehow broke away. With Lucas' help, no doubt. Pokey had no idea whether he should be relieved or utterly terrified.
"Ew, it's all sticky," Tracy's voice caught his attention. He saw her mess around the wall with the hole in it, her face showing nothing but curiosity and slight disgust.
(How is she keeping her cool against this unnerving shit?)
"I think you should keep away from that. Watch the glass," he said, examining Garrickson's chair. Pokey recalled the guy had it hooked so it can go up one level. He saw the redhead using it once to get to the upper layer of this place by tapping on a button hidden under one of the arms. Pokey uncomfortably stuffed himself in the narrow seat and traced shaky fingers on the sole button. A distant churning noise filled his ears as the fleshy equipment began throbbing, making Tracy flinch back with a yelp.
"Uh, Tracy?" Pokey called, gesturing for her to come over. "Come on, this chair should take us up."
She rose up and approached him. Only then he noticed there was no room for her to sit. He awkwardly patted the arm to his left. Tracy sat there and held on the fabric of his shirt, drawing Pokey to the fact he'd been sweating bullets. He pushed the button, praying the device would actually take them 'upstairs' instead of killing the two of them.
Luckily, the chair only rattled and ascended slowly, stopping at the central level. Pokey got off the chair after Tracy hopped off and looked up at him. Another hole down the hallway hinted Ness and Lucas most likely passed through here recently. If they were smart, they'd have gone up here anyway, but he wondered why they didn't simply use the chair. They wouldn't have known anyway.
Pokey motioned for Tracy to follow him, trying his best to show he was unfazed by the maze of rooms ahead. He puffed up his chest, barrelling down with pompous strides towards the only open door. The sound of his sneakers against the floor grated on his nerves as Tracy skipped along to match his brisk pace.
(Ugh, freaking squeaky floor!)
He froze to a stop when he saw a large puddle of red ahead of him. Even in the dim light, he fully recognized its nature. Pokey had an overpowering urge to break down in hysterics, vomit and bawl his eyes out in the same time. His pride kept him from losing his composure while a little girl stood there and not even looking scared.
Across the hallway, the familiar towering silhouette of Trent drew closer from the exit, carrying himself in an odd way. Pokey sighed in relief. Unlike the scary starmen, Trent was essentially a walking vegetable who only responded to direct orders. Pokey put on an annoyed scowl, dragging Tracy behind him as he tried to shove the immovable brute aside.
"Move. I don't have time to—"
(…His eyes shouldn't be red like that)
Trent drove a knee into Pokey's gut, causing the latter to double over and crumple onto the floor. Trent moved over to Tracy, fixing her with an impassive stare.
"Let go!" she screamed and kicked as he picked her up and hoisted her on his shoulder. "Ness! Neeeess!"
Pokey watched Trent carry away the girl, gritting his teeth as he struggled to breathe. He pushed himself up on all-fours, his eye twitching from the blinding pain in his torso. His stomach tightened, doubling the agony in his midriff.
"W… Wait," Pokey rasped, crawling in the direction where Trent had taken Tracy.
"Are you feeling better now?" Ness crouched in front of Lucas' shaking frame. The blond looked less rattled after a minute out of the pod.
"I'll… I'll be fine," Lucas said with a cracking voice. "What happened?"
"Your guess is good as mine," Ness said, jerking a thumb towards the injured redhead and the destroyed starman. Lucas frowned, shifting his gaze towards the now-silent machine.
"Something still feels wrong. Like that… thing is still here, watching us."
Ness looked at the large eye. The tubes around it ceased to convulse, and the reflections on it disappeared.
"I doubt it," Ness said. "Let's not waste time. Tracy's still out there."
"Right."
Lucas stopped a few feet away from Tom Garrickson. He bit his lip, nervously toying with the fabric of his shirt.
"Come on, why are you standing here?" Ness called out. Lucas unclipped the badge on his shirt and leaned down to pin the badge to the redhead's shirt.
"What are you doing?" Tom Garrickson raised his head just enough to face Lucas. His normally vibrant green eyes appeared dull with fatigue.
"I don't know. It just… felt right," Lucas said, then jogged towards Ness.
"We don't have time for pointless crap. He doesn't deserve our pity."
"He's right," Tom croaked, "I don't."
"Shut up!" Ness spat, then faced Lucas. "Come on, let's find my sister."
"The girl is not leaving here yet," an unfamiliar voice declared. Ness and Lucas whipped around to see Trent at the entrance. Tracy stood in front of him, her eyes were unfocused and her face held a vacant expression.
"Tracy!" Ness cried out and hurried towards his sister. Lucas saw Trent extending a hand in Ness' direction. The same malevolent PSI from the machine radiated from his body.
"Watch out!" Lucas yelled as a beam shot out of Trent's palm. Ness jumped to the side, the beam only grazed his elbow. He hissed in pain and pressed a hand to the injury.
"He could use PSI?" Ness gasped, "How?"
"Trent… can't talk," Tom Garrickson panted, standing up on weak legs. "This is definitely not Trent speaking to us."
"It's him," Lucas murmured. "He's controlling Trent's body."
"You cannot do a thing with your meager powers," Giygas taunted, "Even with only a wisp of my own power released, I still have the upper hand."
"Let my sister go, you coward!" Ness screamed.
"Cowardly indeed," Giygas put a lamenting frown on Trent's face. "To be reduced to hiding behind a human. The disgrace is almost worse than defeat, but I will not hesitate to kill her if you don't do what I say at once."
Lucas clenched his jaw. "Fine. I'll do whatever you want."
"Lucas!" Ness threw him an incredulous look.
"I don't want you nor your sister hurt," Lucas said. "I have no choice, Ness."
"You shall continue where you left off," Giygas said, then faced Tom Garrickson. "I have no use for you anymore, child. Destabilize."
Tom Garrickson recoiled as if bludgeoned with a heavy object, collapsing in front of Ness. Lucas hesitated, staring at the redhead with an unsure look.
"Quickly," Giygas commanded, "I haven't got much time, but I can still break this girl's neck. Stand in front of the tubes, now!"
Lucas took a deep breath, and approached the broken tubes. A moment before his fingertips touched the jagged edges of the tubes, a loud cry sounded from the entrance. He looked up to see Pokey tackling 'Trent' from behind. The impact caused the two to fall to the floor.
"You dare," Giygas bellowed, kicking Pokey off and standing up. Tracy snapped from her trance and looked back. She let out a panicked shriek when she saw the brawl behind her and ran away. Ness called at her, catching her in a tight hug. Giygas made short work of Pokey, landing a final kick onto Pokey's downed form. He turned around, a fierce snarl spread across his face when he registered Tracy was nowhere near him.
"…Trent."
Tom Garrickson rose up, a faint glow engulfed his frame as he approached Giygas with heavy steps.
"You… Go away!" Giygas flung the redhead a few feet back with a blast of PSI. The slight aura around him wavered, but grew brighter as he resumed his steady approach.
"Die," Giygas hurled a beam towards Tom Garrickson. The badge on his shirt deflected the light beam towards Trent's body, striking him in the chest.
"Shh, Trent," the redhead whispered. "This has gone on long enough. Come with me."
He looped his arm around the possessed boy and dragged him towards the giant machine.
"No!" Giygas screamed, struggling to keep the husk of the human under his control, "I'll never go back to such a horrible…"
Tom Garrickson stopped momentarily, then teleported himself and Trent in front of the machine.
"I'm going to destroy this place," he said, casting a grim look towards Lucas. "Leave."
The aura around him dissipated in a dazzling flash. "PK Starstorm"
Purple portals appeared above them, sending down a shower of blazing meteorites. Color drained from Ness' face as he picked up Tracy and ran behind Lucas towards Pokey.
"Get us out of here!" Ness yelled as the meteorites loomed closer.
"Where do we go?" Lucas said.
"Anywhere that's not here!" Ness screamed. Lucas held onto Pokey's arm and grabbed Ness' hand, facing the onslaught of descending meteors. He closed his eyes, concentrating whatever PSI he had left.
"Teleport," he yelled. The last thing he saw was a flaming meteorite crashing into the spot where Tom Garrickson stood, before everything phased out of existence.
Holy cow. I'm very sorry for this lengthy delay. I never expected not updating for more than THREE months. Lesson learned - Next time, I shall have a very well-detailed ending from the start instead of a general outline. To tell the truth, I don't like how this ending came out that much. :/ I'll talk about it more after the epilogue, but for now, here are the review responses: (Even though they're at least 2-3 months old, it's a bit gauche to leave the reviews unanswered)
vendo tacos:
Although I couldn't understand much of the review because Google Translate had to utterly confuse me, muchas gracias for reviewing. ^^
Connor the speling pro:
Well, in the time between your review and now, you've already written Dalaam. Twice. XD You did a great job at it, too.
Yeah, Pokey is probably one of the most complex characters in the entire three games. I believe Itoi's description of him was that "[Pokey] is truly a poem in himself," wasn't it?
I hope there were enough feels in this... protracted chapter. XD In hindsight, this fanfic could've been better named after Tom Garrickson, and not Lucas. Here's another mental note to pick a more plot-appropriate title as well.
SunnyStrikerz:
Turns out Lucas doesn't lose all of his memories.
Ender2142:
Haha, I know exactly how hard it is to put down a good game, so I feel proud I managed to take a few minutes of precious game time. :D Haven't seen you a lot around here, but I noticed you had a fic up in the Super Smash Bros. section that I haven't read yet. I'll get to that soon. Even though you've asked more than three months ago, you're welcome to PM me about anything.
Guest:
Thanks mate. :)
Phoesong:
Well, I promised to update this fic like three months ago. Well... I'm finally here. XD
Mr. Saturn coffee breaks sure are trippy. I think you know this by now, but Lucas and Co. also get the same psychedelic coffee treatment in Mother 3. I'm surprised that I haven't written much of Jeff yet. Maybe if I put out a new fic in the future, he would have a bigger role. Tony as well.
Yeah, Big Brother Ness is best Ness. XD And I had exactly the same idea that Tracy would somehow wind up in Onett with almost no recollection of what happened, but yeah, it's quite absurd if that happens.
Heh. I think the previous chapter needed much more proofreading than just a comma error. Some lines were totally unsalvageable. I'll have to sweep down this fic for any offending lines soon. I'm not sure if Tom Garrickson's circle is now complete. I have a dumb tendency to assume people can somehow follow up with what I'm thinking, so I don't know if his story is now completely obvious. I think it is, but that's up to readers to decide. (...Dang, I sounded like a J.K. Rowling knockoff here, haha)
I don't recall any 10K+ fanfics featuring Fuel as the main protagonist, or maybe I didn't look. That'd be interesting, but I think if I'm going to write another fic, it's going to have multiple protags, with substantial focus on the less-featured characters. (e.g. When was the last time Hinawa was in a long fic's spotlight? *wink*)
See you. :)