DarkFoxKit: *slowly lifts up her head to the camera* … Hello…? … Hi! This is DarkFoxKit, and I'm here to tell you today that my hard working co-writer is resting. Shhh, we shouldn't make too many noise. *turns the camera to Fyre resting on the couch* He's pretty tired, but can't say I blame him. He's a fun co-worker to pl- write with.
Donfyre: *is mumbling to himself while resting on the couch, not noticing that Fox had the camera pointed to him*
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, not only is he adorable, but he works hard to make this story the best it can be. We're both still learning to improve of course, but we like to think this story is good and fun to read. I guess it has been discouraging to not have a lot of reviews lately, but he's still trying hard to help me with this story. And for that, I really appreciate it. There's not many co-writers willing to work so hard for a story that's not their's to begin with, but now it's become both of our pride and joy. c:
Donfyre: *slowly opens my eyes, blinking at the camera* F-Fox? What are you doing…? How long was I resting…?
DarkFoxKit: That's not important right now… but I was recording you while you're sleeping. :3
Donfyre: … WHAT!? Whyyyy? *jumps off of the couch, shaking off the sleepiness* What were you even doing while recording me? Saying how cute I looked while I slept or something?
DarkFoxKit: *nuzzles* Something like that. Mostly just telling the folks how much of a hard worker you are.
Donfyre: … O-oh, really? ^^; Well, um… t-thanks. I still don't think I really deserve it… Anyways, what are we doing now? AN time?
DarkFoxKit: I think you mean review answering time. And yes, let's do this! Oh and I will need to say that we will not be updating next week. I'll be out of town and won't be able to upload a new chapter.
Shimo no ko: Yes, yes he is. :P And you're right about the next chapter showing what Claus is up to. This story IS about both of the brothers after all, though Claus is more of the primary main character here. ^^' I luv mai cliffhangers. XP The black Pigmask will be an interesting character to deal with, I'll tell you that much. And since Christmas is over, happy early new year!
Bloxxystudios: Donfyre: HIYA BLOXXY! :D Erm, a-anyways, thanks for tuning in again to the story! Nice to know you think we're still doing good.
FanofFiction123: DarkFoxKit: Yes, yes he is… maybe. XP I'm glad you're fangirling a lot. X3 Well at least you managed to review this one. :D
Guest #1: Of course they are going to fight, it's a big part of the story after all. But I luv mai cliffhangers! XP Also, was that supposed to be a joke? Cause it's kind of offensive. People, pull your heads out of the gutter when reviewing this please.
Donfyre: …. *is staring at the last part of the review* … I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I can only assume the worst… And if it IS what I'm thinking of, well… sorry I come off that way, I guess.
Guest #2: DarkFoxKit: I'm not sure if you were disappointed in this chapter by it being action packed.
CalmTheHydreigon: … Riiiiiiight.
Donfyre: … What kind of Dark/Dragon type are you? ^^;
Connor the speling pro: Eh heh… I'll try to keep that in mind if it happens again in future chapters. And I personally try to make her more docile, but it IS fun to go over the top with Kumatora sometimes, so I don't blame Foxy here.
Yeah, it is a little weird that the Pigmasks can't tell the difference between blonde and orange hair. Or maybe they think Claus got a hairdo or something. :P
DarkFoxKit: Pork Trooper's been able to see through Lucas's disguise, albeit it did take him a while to. ^^' Yup, Claus will be there to try and stop his brother. And no, the Renegade Pigmasks's motives aren't revealed yet and it's unclear why they're helping Lucas when they caused so much trouble for him in the past. And oh boy… let's just say it's really fun seeing what lengths Claus would go through. Happy new year!
Unimportant: I'm not sure what you mean by training, but if you mean how to make a story then yes, yes I do.
Donfyre: H-hey, I'd say you're still a pretty good and passionate story writer, Fox. You just need co-authors to help ya now and then is all. ^^
DarkFoxKit: Thanks. *huggles Fyre* And you're so supportive too. Now then we have two last minute reviewers. We really shouldn't be doing this now, but we hadn't uploaded yet so why not?
Donfyre: You guys are lucky we do this sometimes! ^^;
Orangeflight of ShadowClan: DarkFoxKit: You forgooooot? That would explain the late review. ^^' And well I can't update it next week due to being out of town so this is just going to be one long chapter. And slow review days can get pretty discouraging, but we'll try to keep that in mind. And it's good to know you still enjoy the story. Pigmasks mistaking Lucas as their commander just really works sometimes, but it doesn't look like they'll be doing that anymore. XP Yay, the Tazmily Squad! :D
Donfyre: I really like that name, "Tazmily Squad." :P Anyways, you're wondering about this black Pigmask, huh? Good, keep an air of mystery around him. XP So we've been dragging on Claus's identity quite a bit, but it's gonna get there! And it's alright that you posted a short review. In fact, it's kind of a sigh of relief for me at least… ^^;
DarkFoxKit: And me since it's been a busy day. Gotta start packing soon. And Fyre, you wanna just go ahead and answer the last, short review?
Donfyre: Aaalrighty! XP
Guest #3: Er… I-I'll try to keep that in mind, thanks. ^^;
DarkFoxKit: Anyways, looks like we're done with reviews for this chapter. We hope you guys have a nice day and a happy new year! Make way for 2016!
Donfyre: We'll see yas next year, readers! c:
DarkFoxKit: *wraps Fyre up in a nice, soft blanket* Now you rest, my hard working co-writer. :3
Donfyre: O-oh, um… thanks, Fox? ^^; It is pretty cozy in here…
DarkFoxKit: I am DarkFoxKit, this is Donfyre, and we both look forward to hearing from you!
Chapter 29: The Fourth Needle of Ruins
Claus and the other Pork Ships have landed. They used an elevator to get back into the underground base. Claus watched as the Pigmasks rushed the injured to the doctors while he sighs, the mission was a failure, a lot of his soldiers got hurt, he has to deal with his brother and his own pet being his enemy and now he has to deal with Fassad since he did technically kind of sneak out without his permission.
It looks like it'll be another sleepless night for me. Claus sighed as he walked into his room, finding Dr. Andonuts and Fassad there- much to his surprise. "Hmm?"
"Commander sir! You had us worried!" Dr. Andonuts said with a frown. "In fact Fassad called me in here to make a tracking device for you."
"O-oh, n-no that won't be necessary! I only left because it was an emergency! I saw my brother being buried in an avalanche at Snowcap Mountain!" Claus quickly said in his defense.
"Are you sure? But I insist Commander! Especially Fassad too, he seemed really supportive of going through with the idea… I can wait in my office where I usually am, and you can come down when you're ready!" Dr. Andonuts quickly said as he picked up the microchip. "All I have to do is install it into you."
"Just leave. I have a lot to discuss with Fassad," Claus said to the professor, not in a good mood right now.
"Y-yes sir." Dr. Andonuts hurried out the door, leaving the two Commanders alone.
"Fassad, I know you used Hypnosis to put me to sleep," Claus said to the Magypsy.
"You gave me no choice, Claus," Fassad said with a frown. "You were being stubborn and you needed sleep."
"This isn't the time to be sleeping," Claus said. "Three of the seven Needles have been pulled and Lucas is on his way to the fourth no doubt."
"Listen, Claus, you may be a commander but you're also only human, a child no less. You can only push yourself to do so much before you collapse," Fassad told him. "Why did you run off when you woke up anyways? I would've thought you'd come to me about this the moment you woke up."
"... It's… it's because… like I told Dr. Andonuts… I heard my brother crying for help and I hurried to Snowcap Mountain," Claus answered.
"... How did you hear him? We're nowhere near Snowcap Mountain," Fassad said with a look of confusion.
"I don't know, okay? I just assumed maybe our PSI had something to do with it because we're twins. All I know was that Lucas was in trouble and he needed me. Remember Fassad; Lucas is my brother first and my enemy second," Claus told him.
Fassad gave a sigh before he said, "Which is why I didn't assign you to protect the Needle in Snowcap Mountain. You wouldn't be able to face your brother. You could put up protection around the Needle, like you were supposed to do with Doria's, but actually fighting Lucas is out of the question for you."
"I can fight him! I just… have to mentally prepare myself," Claus argued. "Please, just give me another chance. I'll be sure to protect the fourth Needle this time!"
"I don't know Claus." Fassad frowned.
The ginger haired boy sighed before he said, "I'm the only one who can counter Lucas's ability. He gained two deadly PSI during the battle on Snowcap Mountain."
"And what were those?"
"One was Counter; he's able to make a golden shield that bounced all our weapons back at us," Claus answered.
Fassad looked grim. "Counter… perhaps one of the most deadliest of assist PSI. I had hoped Lucas wouldn't have learned that already. And the other PSI?"
"It was a stronger version of PK Love, apparently in the Beta version. It wiped out half of our army," Claus reported.
"Oh… of course. How could I have forgotten something so important?" Fassad grumbled to himself. "Claus, once the person with PK Love pulls a Needle, it makes their PK Love even stronger. Since Lucas pulled two Needles, he can now use it in the Gamma level."
Claus paled at this as his head began pounding from the PSI fever and now from the horror that his brother can now use PK Love at such a high level, it really scared him. "There's no way we can fight him off if he uses PK Love Gamma on us! He'd wipe us out in a second! Not to mention Kumatora can burn everyone with her fire or lightning!"
"Which is why we're going to need to tell Dr. Andonuts to come up with a weapon that'll temporarily disable their use of PSI. They're too dangerous to deal with if they keep their PSI," Fassad quickly said.
"Yeah." Claus nodded in agreement before he groaned and took off his helmet.
"Oh Claus, you didn't tell me you had PSI fever!" Fassad said in shock when he saw the red tint on Claus's face.
"Huh? Oh… yeah. I've had it since just before the battle with Lucas on Snowcap Mountain. It's also another reason why I had trouble fighting with them," Claus answered, frowning.
Fassad put his hand over the boy's forehead, making Claus flinch back a bit. "What are you doing?"
"Just hold still. I'm going to help you awaken your PSI so the fever will go away. Now this may hurt a bit," Fassad said as he placed his hand over the 13 year old boy's forehead.
Claus hissed and gritted his teeth as he felt his entire head tingling before a searing burn sensation took over his body. He always hated getting PSI fevers because it gets really painful, especially when the PSI awakens. The boy panted as the burning sensation cooled off and a name popped into his head.
Brainshock.
The boy fell on his butt after the fever finally passed and he rubbed his head, though it didn't hurt anymore.
"So what did you learn?" Fassad asked him.
"I learned Brainshock," Claus answered.
"Ah, a dangerous kind of offensive assist PSI." Fassad commented. "While not quite as destructive as Counter is on a large scale, at least not unless you can learn the omega level, it can be very dangerous on the target. It causes them to hallucinate and make them unable to tell who's friend or foe."
"I'll… have to remember that," Claus said, looking down at his hands. "Oh, Fassad… where's the next Needle we should go to?"
"... Well… I've already sent some troops to find Phrygia's Needle, but it's hard to pinpoint their location," Fassad said. "All we know is that it's near Mr. Saturn Valley."
"Mr. Saturn…?" Claus blinked, having never heard of such a name before.
"Ah yes, I never told you. Mr. Saturns are very… strange creatures. They don't appear to be intelligent, but they can invent things even our best scientists aren't able to. And anyways they may know where the Needle is," Fassad explained.
"Then in that case I'll go there and see if I can find it first to set up a trap around the Needle so we can finally catch him," Claus said quickly as he stood up.
"Now wait a minute Claus, you just got back from a mission failure," Fassad spoke up.
"I-I know, but if I could just get to the Needle first then I can actually set up traps to capture my brother and bring him back here," Claus said, hoping the Magypsy would let him go.
"And how will you find the Needle? Mr. Saturn may not tell you where it is," Fassad asked.
"I'll find a way. Just please let me go and try and to capture my brother this time," Claus said. "He's still my brother and my responsibility."
"... Very well. I'll trust you'll protect the Needle and capture Lucas," Fassad said with a sigh.
"Thank you. So how do I get to Mr. Saturn Valley?" Claus asked, grateful that Fassad's giving him another chance.
"You remember where Thunder Tower is, right? Just go through a tunnel that has a road block and it should lead you to Mr. Saturn Valley," Fassad told him.
Claus gave a nod. "Okay, I'll go right now."
"Oh and before you do… just know that since you pulled at least one Needle-" Claus cringed at the reminder, "you're able to use PK Love in the Beta level. So don't be afraid to use it if you feel you must, your PK Love won't hurt anyone you don't want it to hurt."
"Oh… yeah, the Beta level." Claus gave a small gulp. It was quite ironic how the very thing that took out half their army was also something he himself could use, and pretty scary at the same time.
"Don't fear your own PK Love, Claus. It's a special PSI that uses your heart and love that creates such a devastating power," Fassad said, seeing Claus's troubled look.
"I… I just… never had the same control with my PK Love as Lucas did," Claus sighed. "I guess I'm just worried I might really hurt someone with it."
"It's natural to feel afraid," Fassad said. "But you can't let fear stop you from doing what you think is right."
"Y-yeah… and with this Brainshock ability I think I may be able to trap my brother a lot easier," Claus said before turning to the door. "Wish me luck, Fassad… I'm going to need it."
Claus began walking out of base, but he had a strong sense of foreboding and it made him uneasy. Should I stay behind? Something's not right… Then he shook his head. No, I already have a mission to capture my brother and I'll see it through.
As soon as Claus walked out of the base, he noticed a few Pigmasks going in. Something about them seemed… off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Just as Claus headed off, the Pigmasks that had just entered the base whispered to each other, "You have a diagram of the interior?"
"Yeah, we won't get lost with this baby."
"Hey, is that the Commander?"
Claus looked at them and they looked nervously at him. "What are you four doing?"
"Uh, just doing a task assigned by one of the Captains… sir," one of them explained. He seemed a little unsure of himself, but Claus just decided to shrug it off. He's seen worse Pigmasks before.
"Right. Well good luck with your assignment," Claus said to the four Pigmasks before continuing to his destination of the fourth Needle.
Once he was on the surface, Claus activated his jetwings before using his helmet to try and find the fastest location to Mr. Saturn's Valley. "Looks like east is the quickest way…"
Claus took off into the sky and head towards the east. It was gonna be a while before he gets there, so Claus decided to think about home.
How long has it been since I left Tazmily to pursue my own brother like this? I wonder how everyone's doing back home… I wonder if Fuel managed to build that house he's been hoping to impress his dad with… I wonder if Caroline's bakery business made that new bread they've been wanting to try out… and Dad… with Lucas and Boney gone… he's all alone. I hope he's doing okay…
It felt like weeks since the last time Claus saw his dad. He wondered how it must have been like, for everyone else he had to just suddenly disappeared in a few days. He hoped he was doing alright…
Something alerted him on his helmet to his right. "Huh?" He quickly swerved out of the way, a laser shot whizzing right past Claus, just grazing against his jetwings. "W-what was that?"
"Well now, out for a fly Commander?" A voice spoke up nearby.
"What?" Claus's visible red eye narrowed as a black blur came closer to him. "You!?" It was the black Pigmask and he was holding a laser gun. "What are you doing!?"
"Oh, let me guess; you're here to try and stop Lucas from pulling out the Needle, am I right?" The black Pigmask said. "Well I'm here to make sure you don't interfere. The time has come and you're being a big pest about it."
The black Pigmask shot another laser at Claus, who quickly spun around to dodge it. "Knock it off! I don't care about your stupid time or prophecy or whatever! That Dragon is not going to wake up!"
"The world needs to be cleansed, Commander. And the Dark Dragon will be able to do just that. You'll have to get by me if you still plan to stop Lucas." The black Pigmask pursued Claus, who was trying to outspeed the black Pigmask and continue to the Needle. The Pigmask was able to keep up the entire time however, releasing a volley of laser shots at the boy. Claus was able to swerve through most of them, but still let a few graze over parts of his body.
"Ow!" Claus slowed his flying and looked at the black Pigmask. It looked like he was ready to release another volley of shots. "I don't have the time to take care of you now!"
"Well too bad, because I'm here to stall you until Lucas pulls the Needle," The black Pigmask said as he shot at Claus again.
The boy moved to avoid it before he activated his arm cannon and shot out a PSI Blast at him. The black Pigmask tried to dodge, but with Claus's precise aim he was still grazed by the blast.
Claus flew in front of the black Pigmask while he was distracted before shoving his organic left arm in his face. "Brainshock!"
The air around the black Pigmask suddenly became disorientated and he began to fly in erratic pattern.
"That should keep you off my back for a while," Claus said before he turned to fly away from him.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a blast from the black Pigmask fire off in a completely random direction. He smirked to himself and just out of curiosity looked back at the black Pigmask. The smirk suddenly turned to one of confusion as he saw something unexpected from the Pigmask: a large, red aura surrounding the Pigmask.
D-did my Brainshock do THAT? Claus thought to himself, not able to peel his eyes away from the red aura. It almost seemed as if the boy could see a face within the dark red air around the black Pigmask. The Pigmask spasmed a little, before the red aura disappeared and the black Pigmask stopped flying erratically, gaining his senses once again.
The black Pigmask was now catching up to him, shocking Claus. No way! He snapped out of it that fast!? … That must be that 'special friend' of his I saw back at Thunder Tower.
The boy knew fighting while flying in midair would be dangerous, so he tried to outmaneuver him. Claus flew down into a forest, trying to use the trees as cover. Unfortunately the black Pigmask just destroyed any trees in his way with the laser gun. Claus shook his head as they started coming into the more desert-like highway.
Claus looked back to see he wasn't going to lose the black Pigmask any time soon, so he flew down into the traffic to try and hide in it. The black Pigmask growled angrily before raising his laser gun at the traffic.
He's not seriously thinking about killing all these innocent people just to get to me is he!? Claus thought in horror. He must be more desperate than I thought!
Claus gritted his teeth and quickly flew up so the cars wouldn't get caught up in their fight before he fired his PSI Cannon at him to throw him off a bit. "Are you so desperate that you'd sink so low as to hurt the innocent?"
"It's called sacrificing a few for the many. I'm sure that you of all people with your Pigmasks and twisted ideals have heard of it before. You must be stopped at all cost so Lucas can pull the Needle!"
Claus growled to himself seeing how stubborn this Pigmask was being. It didn't seem like there was any way to get rid of him besides taking him out himself.
"We don't sacrifice people for our own gain!" Claus snapped as him.
"Oh no? You plan to take out Lucas, a sweet innocent barely 13 year old child to stop him from pulling the seven Needles. And you even corrupted another child in your grasp, which angers me even more," The black Pigmask said darkly.
"What?" Claus had no idea what this man was going on about. There weren't any kids in the army as far as he knew, and he was the youngest one there! "I don't know what you mean by corrupting a child, but I don't plan on killing Lucas, okay? We only plan on capturing him until we can convince him to stop pulling the Needles, that's all!"
"And what will you do then?" The black Pigmask interrogated, pointing his laser gun even more threateningly at Claus. "Continue to act on these plans of yours to 'rebuild' the world? Do you know how much people have lost because of your plans, the loved ones that are gone because of the things you've created like these chimeras of yours?"
Claus frowned at that, he wasn't sure if he himself agreed with these chimeras either, especially after his recent visit in the Chimera Lab. "The chimeras are meant to live out in the world's harsh environment while our best scientists in the colony find ways to bring in vegetation to the world. If they go out of control, it was because of some evil entity or a malfunction that we have no control over."
I wonder what happened to this guy? He really has issues… Claus frowned in thought as he landed on top of Thunder Tower, figuring it would be good to be on his feet to fight back. The black Pigmask followed him, landing a few feet in front of him.
"Finally decided to get land, huh? Good, this should make stopping you easier."
"Deja vu, right? This is where we first met," Claus said. "And I'm going to make sure I get you off my back!" He took out the hilt of his Thunder Striker before pouring his PSI into it, slowly creating the long electric blade. "You're a very dangerous Pigmask and I can't let you leave."
"That blade of yours… it looks very unique," The black Pigmask said. He didn't look fazed seeing how threatening Claus was being. "Does it happen to be fueled on PSI?"
"Why don't you find out for yourself?" Claus lunged at him and slashed the Thunder Striker at the black Pigmask, cutting half his uniform, revealing the 'fat' was just padding. The man must be pretty lean if he's using padding to look fat.
Claus then jumped around him and stabbed his shoulder, allowing the electricity from the sword to zap the mystery man. The man groaned in pain but was chuckling.
"Impressive… you really are strong…"
"And you really are annoying," Claus hissed. "Maybe you ought to chill here while I go stop Lucas. PK Freeze!" He shot out blast of crystals at the man's feet, freezing it. "I guess I'll leave you hanging until the ice melts."
"Not so fast." The black Pigmask used brute force to break the ice from his feet.
"Whoa… you're pretty dang strong." Claus frowned. "Fine, I guess I'll have to knock you out!" He came charging at the black Pigmask with his Thunder Striker again.
"Too bad you're forgetting something," The black Pigmask said before he took out a canister and sprayed some white gas into Claus's face.
Claus, not expecting that, inhaled the gas and choked on it. He felt his mind go numb, as if parts of his brain were shutting down.
"Gah! What… what did you do to me?" He glared before he tried to swing his sword again… only to realize that it was a lot weaker. "Wah?" He tried to put more PSI into it, but it was still getting weaker.
"Forgetting how to use PSI, Commander?" The black Pigmask asked tauntingly.
"N-no! PK Fire!" Claus tried to shoot fire at him, but nothing, not even a small spark, came out of his hand. "W-what? H-how?"
"Forgetful Gas," The black Pigmask said. "It makes it so you can't remember how to use your PSI. It's temporary but the effects will be long enough for me to take you out."
I can't use PSI now!? This is NOT good! Claus activated his jetwings, glad to see he could still use that, before flying away from Thunder Tower.
"You can't escape, I'll make sure you don't interfere!" The boy heard the mystery Pigmask shout at him.
Ugh! What am I supposed to do? Most of my weapons are PSI based! All I can do is try to get away from him until I can remember how to use my PSI again!
The boy tried to activate his helmet, but nothing was coming on. DANG IT! The helmet uses PSI to analyze things! I guess I'm on my own!
Claus could hear the lasers being fired at him from behind and he kept moving in a zigzag pattern to avoid as many hits as possible while trying to find the valley. Claus's Thunder Striker was still charged enough to be a blade, perhaps he could use it to his advantage. Claus was passing by the dump area and spotted something he could use to his advantage.
The boy flew towards a non-working Clayman before stabbing his sword into its antenna, zapping it to life and retracting the Thunder Striker back into its hilt. The Clayman instantly came up on its feet.
"I got you now!" The black Pigmask shouted from the sky.
"Get him!" Claus pointed at the incoming black Pigmask.
Without hesitation, the Clayman jumped and kicked the black Pigmask. Claus nodded to himself before he quickly flew in the opposite direction, heading into a tunnel, hoping to get out of sight as quickly as possible.
There was a roadblock ahead, but Claus flew over that and kept going until he came out of the tunnel. Claus stopped before landing on his feet, seeing the entire place was surrounded by Pork Tanks and Pigmasks, the ones on his side. It appears they have caught someone.
"HALT!" They shouted.
Claus was trying to squeeze through to see if Lucas was there, however just when he managed to get a glimpse, his brother's hands began to spark with determination in his blue eyes. "It's now or never," Claus heard him say, then what he said next made Claus's blood freeze. "PK Love Gamma!"
Claus saw a bright blue energy coming out of his brother's chest and it flew up into the sky before it exploded and raining down hexagonal bits and pieces onto the field, easily crushing the Pork Tanks and the Pigmasks. Claus yelped as he ran back to the tunnel to get away from the deadly PK Love Gamma Lucas fired.
The boy barely made it into the tunnel just as the PK Love slammed down and caused a quake and a rockslide strong enough to plug up the entrance. Claus looked at the now blocked entrance.
Uuuugh… why can't anything ever go my way for once!?
Claus tried to activate his arm cannon to blast the rocks away, but his arm did not change. "Dang it! That stupid gas is making this impossible!"
"That's the point, Commander," The boy froze when he heard the black Pigmask's voice speaking up behind him. "Without your PSI you're just a normal human being, defenseless."
Claus hissed as he found himself face-to-face with the black Pigmask. There was a blockage behind him and he couldn't run forward without being caught by this mysterious man.
"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Commander," The black Pigmask said. "You have a lot of potential and it would be a terrible waste if you were to die like this."
"And what are you hoping I do? Choose to go to your side?" Claus hissed.
"Not exactly… why not just help Lucas instead of trying to stop him? You can use the PK Love too, I know you pulled at least one of the Needles," The black Pigmask said, making the boy cringe at the reminder.
"That was an accident and a mistake I will NOT be repeating!" The boy snapped.
"An accident, you say? Then what drove you to pull the Needle then? A big Commander like you would have been more careful with something like one of the Needles," the black Pigmask said, almost interrogating Claus into admitting his reason.
"You're right… I should've been more careful. I was not aware the Needles had such power that could influence one's mind if they get close enough." Claus frowned. "But I won't fall for it again, and you are not making me pull anymore Needles! I'll stop my brother and you if I have to!"
"Your… brother?!" The black Pigmask looked stunned, so Claus took the opportunity to quickly close the distance between the two of them. The black Pigmask realized his mistake, putting one arm out and closing his eyes to brace for the attack, but it was a feint. Claus ran past him as soon as he was bracing himself.
The boy activated his wings to fly over the mountain, he couldn't get into the valley with the blockage covering up the tunnel, so he tried to find another way through. Come on… there's gotta be another way…
Claus flew towards a tall mountain, perhaps the tallest one on the island next to Snowcap Mountain. He landed at the base, trying to figure out what to do when he noticed there was an entrance leading inside the mountain. Curious, Claus decided to go in to investigate and saw a familiar looking pink-shelled house.
"Wait…" Claus blinked as he stared at the house. "That's a Magypsy's house!" And if a Magypsy lives here… that means… the Needle must be nearby!
The boy looked around and noticed the place was filled with lava. "This… is a volcano?"
The door of the pink-shelled house opened up, "Oh, be careful there! Wouldn't want to fall in, though I don't think someone like you minds getting a little spicy~"
"W-what?" Claus stepped back, weary of any Magypsy- except Fassad- since Doria tricked him into pulling their Needle. "How did you know I was here?"
The Magypsy yawned before responding. "I'm usually tired and napping, I do need my beauty sleep after all. But I could never mistake the aura of a PK Love user, even in my sleep!"
"Err… R-right… um… so uh… where is your Needle?" Claus asked, careful with his words.
"Oh, just right over there." They said nonchalantly, pointing in the general direction of the Needle before turning back to Claus. "Why? Has someone finally decided to pull my Needle all hero-like?" They said dreamily.
"... Sure, let's go with that. I'll be heading to the Needle now- but my brother may come by too," Claus said. "Maybe you should leave him a note or something if you decide to go back to sleep." He wasn't being serious, he was just trying to change the subject anyway he could just in case the Magypsy could tell he was lying.
"Oh that sounds like a good idea~ Very lovely indeed. I could sleep and help the PK Love user too!" They said with a big smile. "Oh yeah, there's something you should know. There's a boulder that needs some encouraging words if you want to move on."
"... A boulder…? Right…" Claus just turned and began walking.
The boy soon came across to the boulder the Magypsy was talking about. "Hmm… well I better leave this boulder here, it'll be a good obstacle to stop Lucas," Claus said to himself before activating his wings to fly over it, but then he felt hot searing pain in his side and was thrown into a wall. "Gah!"
"Stop right there, Commander!" Out of the corner of Claus's eyes, he could see that the black Pigmask had already found him again, walking ever closer to him. Claus hastily stood up, but to his surprise the black Pigmask seemed a little more hesitant to attack than before. "I need some answers from you."
Claus hissed as he rubbed the side that was hit and glared at the black Pigmask. "The answer is no! I'm not going to change my mind! I'm going to stop Lucas and protect the Needles, that is that!"
The black Pigmask aimed his gun more threateningly at Claus this time, his finger ready to pull on the trigger. "What do you know about Lucas? Why did you call him your brother?!"
"What?" Claus frowned before he remembered he had let that slip when he was yelling at the man before. The boy gritted his teeth as he just realized his mistake. "N-nothing! Nothing much! I just… heard a lot about him from another boy who called him his brother, it must've gotten mixed in with my subconsciousness, that's all!"
The black Pigmask didn't look very convinced, still holding his gun at Claus without faltering. "Another boy? What do you know about him? Where is he?!" As the words tumbled out of the Pigmask's mouth, he almost sounded desperate or concerned. Claus didn't know what to make of the tone.
"I-I don't know! I don't keep tabs on everyone! The boy's probably back home or something!" Said boy snapped, not sure why this black Pigmask was getting worked up over this. "Why do you even care so much anyway? The boy can't even use PSI like Lucas can!"
The black Pigmask didn't say anything, just stayed staring at Claus with his gun raised at the boy. Claus could still feel his numb mind refusing to let him use PSI, so he stayed in place until the black Pigmask decided to act first.
Finally he spoke, "Who are you, Commander? You still called Lucas your brother. And I doubt someone promoted to commander rank would mix little things like calling your enemy your brother."
Claus and the black Pigmask stared at each other in silence, both tense and waiting for the other to make a move. Claus noticed his right wing was dented from the crash earlier, it was going to be hard to fly around like that.
"Would you believe that a Commander could be a 13 year old boy?" Claus said out of the blue to the black Pigmask. This was enough to distract the black Pigmask that Claus could get himself into the air, though he had trouble controlling himself with the dented wing. Seeing Claus slowly make his escape, the black Pigmask aimed at him warningly, but still didn't shoot.
"The Commander of an army, a 13 year old boy? Why would you say that? Are you telling me you're nothing more than a kid?" he asked. Claus noticed him slightly putting his gun down before pulling it back up to keep aiming at Claus.
"Come on you stupid jets, move!" Claus hissed, trying to get it to go faster. "I'm not saying I am! Just that would you believe it!" He answered back as he managed to get the jets to roar and zoom across the volcano. "WHOA!"
Claus flipped across the place, trying not to fall into the lava, his control over the jetwings were terrible due to the dented wing and he was trying to stabilize himself in the air. O-okay, just have to compromise…
"Alright." Claus perked up when he thought he heard Lucas's voice not too far away. Turning around in midair, he saw the Needle and his brother walking up to it. Oh no…
"STOOOOOP!" Claus shouted as he zoomed at his brother and tackled him to the ground.
"You!?" Claus turned his head to see Kumatora standing not too far from Lucas, along with Duster and Boney. All three of them look surprised, but ready to fight.
Claus focused his attention back to Lucas, who looked surprised and afraid at the sudden tackle. The older boy felt bad, but he still had his duty to do. "Don't pull that Needle."
"You're not going to stop us!" Kumatora snapped at Claus. The boy turned to her, staring daggers at her and wishing he could slap the stubbornness out of her. He was about to retaliate when a familiar voice sounded from behind all of them.
"She's right, and I'll make sure you won't."
How did he catch up so quickly!? Claus hissed to himself as the other four turned around to see the black Pigmask, standing there with his gun.
"What the? Who the heck are you?" Kumatora demanded, probably frustrated that another Pigmask came to 'stop' them. Lucas, Duster and Boney just looked surprised.
"I'm just someone who's on the same side as you. I'm going to make sure Lucas pulls this Needle and that this pig head of a commander don't interfere," The black Pigmask said as he held his gun at Claus again, though he still seemed hesitant to shoot it for some reason.
Claus glared defiantly, knowing he was outmatched and outnumbered, especially without his PSI, but he still wasn't going down without a fight. "I don't care that you disabled my PSI, I'll make sure you don't succeed." He looked down at his twin brother, who was looking at him in shock.
The black Pigmask suddenly shot at him. Claus reacted by flying away from the laser, but he was still having trouble stabilizing himself. Claus had to land or he might end up in lava. The boy landed in front of his brother and said, "Lucas! Please don't pull the Needle! We can't afford to have that Dragon wake up!" Please, listen to reason Lucas! Don't make another mistake!
Lucas looked right into Claus's red eye, and he could see that there was a ton of conflict going on in his mind. He responded quietly, "But… I have to…"
"Don't try to talk him out of it Commander."
Claus felt a blunt force from the black Pigmask hit his helmet as he fell to the ground, slightly touching the Needle. The light of the Needle opened up his mind, Claus could remember how to use his PSI again. "Because it must be done, no matter what."
Claus gritted his teeth as he stood back up. "Then I'll stop you no matter what."
He knew what he had to do. This guy was no ordinary man, something inhumane and powerful is helping him, and his regular PSI attacks won't work, he'll have use his strongest one if he hope to ever stop him. Sparks began appear on his hand as he began charging it up.
The black Pigmask glanced at Claus as he saw the sparks. "No! The Forgetful Gas shouldn't have worn off that quickly!"
Lucas's eyes widened when he saw Claus using the PSI, turning to his friends. "Everyone get down!"
Claus felt his attack charged up fully, finally unleashing it as he yelled, "PK Love Beta!"
The attack was just like Lucas's when he used it against his defending army; the sky blue energy came out of his hands with far bigger hexagonal explosion than the alpha stage, it almost covered the entire area. Claus intentionally controlled it to not hurt Lucas and his friends, only aiming for the black Pigmask. The PSI energy exploded over the black Pigmask, tearing through its rough uniform, revealing another set of clothes in them, the mask was tearing apart too but it was still enough to cover his face. As soon as the PK Love was finished, Claus didn't hesitate to activate his Thunder Striker and jumped at the black Pigmask to finish the job.
"S-stop!" Claus heard Lucas's voice cry out from behind him. He stopped midway, turning to see Lucas on the ground with his hand outstretched towards them.
"Lucas… why- Oof!" Claus was suddenly thrown back as the black Pigmask kicked him with the opening he had, sending Claus to the floor and his sword hurtling through the air.
"Hmph…" Without saying a word, the black Pigmask turned to make his escape.
"G-get back here!" Claus shouted at him angrily, standing up to run for his sword.
Not really paying attention, Claus grabbed the nearest yellow glowing object to him. He pulled a bit, only to realize it was stuck. Claus pulled harder, feeling his mind going numb the more he did. He heard Lucas gasping in shock.
What's he gasping about? Claus turned to see his sword was indeed stuck good in the ground. He had to use both hands to grab the hilt and began pulling, not realizing his hands were starting to spark with PK Love.
"What are you doing?! Get your hands off that thing!" he heard Kumatora shout. Out of the corner of Claus's eye, he could see Lucas trying to hold her back.
"N-no Kumatora, it's too late! He's already in the middle of pulling it!" Boney and Duster were already fleeing from the scene, and Lucas was trying frantically to pull Kumatora away.
What's their problem? I'm just trying to get my sword out! Are they scared I'd strike at them? Claus wondered to himself, feeling something was wrong. Still, he didn't want to stop pulling and he could feel his sword was getting loose. Almost there…
Finally, the boy managed to pull it all the way out, and the sword suddenly disappeared as soon as he did. "Wha-?"
Psychedelic lights flashed suddenly before the entire earth began to shake, surprisingly not raising the lava, and the heartbeat was heard. Thick smoke spouted out from the hole in the ground as Claus stepped back, confused as to why this was happening. After the dramatic shakes and lights disappeared, all that was left was the familiar bubbly misty substance in the hole.
"What… just happened?" Claus just felt like he's been duped somehow. "Lucas? Lucas did you pull the Needle?"
Shortly after Claus's call, Lucas and everyone else were coming back, with Kumatora in the lead. She looked fumed and ready to pummel something as her hands sparked dangerously.
"What was that, huh!? The big Commander of you danged Pigsnots pulled another Needle! What kind of hypocrite are you!?" she lashed out at him with one hand aimed and ready to fire right at his chest.
"What are you even TALKING about lady!?" Claus snapped, already losing his patience with her and her attitude towards him. "I was just trying to get my sword out of the ground!"
"You mean this?" Duster said. Claus looked behind him to see that Duster was now holding the small knob that held his sword. "Boney was playing with it when we were hiding from that quake. He said it smelled familiar. At least, that's what Lucas said."
"What?" Claus looked at it before realizing that was indeed his Thunder Striker in its inactive form. "Then what was that thing I just…?" He looked back at the hole of the thing he just pulled and felt the blood leaving his face as realization began to dawn on him. "Oh… no… no, no, no! Please don't tell me I just pulled the Needle!"
Kumatora groaned out loud while Lucas watched the two of them nervously. "Oh don't tell me you're trying to act like this was a fluke. What are you Pigsnots really planning? To destroy the world instead? By pulling all these Needles with someone with a dark heart? I should-!"
"You don't understand!" Claus shouted, a tear glistened on his cheek from his hidden eye. "We're really trying NOT to pull the Needles! That Needle really did look like my sword! I don't know what happened! I didn't want to pull it, I wanted to stop Lucas from pulling it! This wasn't supposed to happen!" He pounded the ground with his fist, getting fed up that not once but twice he had committed the forbidden sin of pulling the Needle.
Lucas, Duster and Boney looked at Claus with uncertainty. Only Kumatora was the one who didn't seem convinced. "How could you not have pulled it?! Was the warm light and bright glow not proof enough for ya? You're a really good actor if this is you lying."
The masked boy clenched his fists, he knew he had no excuse, and now they're blaming him for it. The Pigmasks will treat him as an enemy for sure, there's no way after making such a devastating mistake twice would allow him back in the base, not even by Fassad after being warned once. Claus felt so alone now.
Standing up, he walked past them for about a feet before turning to them, seeing them grouped together. He wiped away the tear on his cheek before making his tone go cold. "You're right… I have no excuse. I'm just a traitor and a failure, giving the Pigmasks a bad name because of my incompetence." He was slowly building up for a certain PSI within him, starting to raise his hand at them. "I might as well just disappear. After all, no one would miss a scum like me, right?"
Lucas was looking at Claus now sympathetically. In fact, he looked like he was the only one who really cared about the turmoil Claus was feeling right now. "Are… are you okay?"
"Goodbye. Brainshock." The entire air disorientated around the group of four, making them all dizzy and looking around as if not sure what they're seeing.
With them distracted by his Brainshock, Claus turned and ran away. He didn't know where to go other than one place right now.
It's time I turned in my badge. I don't deserve to be a commander- heck I don't deserve to be a part of the army anymore. I'm going to have to tell Master Porky that I should be fired and to never come back again…
With that thought in mind, the boy saw the Magypsy from earlier walking out of their house, and her body was flickering in and out of existence before they saw him.
"Oh, so you really did pull my Needle! Thank you so much, sweetie~" They said, with their hands on their cheeks as they made a kissy face at him.
"... I really shouldn't have…" Claus said softly. "It should've been Lucas really… I'm not the one with the good heart." I would've preferred it if neither of us had pulled it, but the fact that it was me… He wanted to punch himself for being so stupid again.
"Oh, Lucas? He's such a sweetie too, but you remind me just like him! A cute young boy with a heart of gold~"
"You say that… but I don't think that's what Kumatora thinks," Claus sighed sadly. "I'm… sorry about this. Maybe you should talk to Lucas before you disappear."
"Now why you gotta be so down? You did a good thing for this world!" The Magypsy said as they walked closer to Claus. "Now you said something about Lucas? It would be so nice to see him again after so long!"
I don't consider being one step closer to waking the apocalypse a good thing for this world, Claus bitterly thought to himself. "He'll probably be on his way here soon. Maybe you could tell him where the rest of the Needles are." It's not like he doesn't know, he always seem to know where to go next anyways. And I'm not a part of the Pigmasks anymore, so why bother trying to stop him now?
"I would love to, I barely get to see him especially with all the sleep this lovely body needs. But I'm afraid I'm not long for this world, but I left him a lovely letter and memento in my home~" they said, looking like she loved the thought of disappearing dramatically. Claus really wasn't in the mood for this kind of attitude right now.
"That's nice I guess," Claus said, trying not to sound rude to the disappearing Magypsy. "Well I hope you have a fun time... disappearing. I better go now."
The boy walked to the exit of the mountain, looking back at the disappearing Magypsy one more time before heading out. He looked up at the sky, knowing what he had to do. He first activated his jetwings and used his mechanical arm to try and fix the little dent on his right wing. When he was satisfied with that, he activated the jets and took off into the sky, making a beeline to the base.
Claus felt numb during his journey through the sky, he was trying not to think about anything, because thinking would lead to more guilt and the reminder that he just… Claus shook his head, trying to keep his thoughts empty. He landed on the surface of the base and about to go into it when he finally woke up from his trance-like state.
"Wh-what the…?" There was a large crater in the ground where the base was. "What happened here!?"
He slide down into the crate, seeing many injured Pigmasks, some he feared were probably dead. He saw crushed Pork Tanks all over the place, he frowned before he saw Fassad laying there, his body looking broken.
Claus let out a horrified gasp as he ran to his mentor. "Fassad! Fassad are you okay? What happened here?" He put his arms around the weak Magypsy.
He coughed and sputtered before finally speaking. "Claus… we were attacked… those dang renegades…"
"The renegades? How did they get in?" Claus shook his head. "Nevermind that, we need to get you and everyone else here to the hospital!" He tried to pick up Fassad, but he was too big and heavy for Claus to help lean on.
"D-don't… don't bother… We have all our doctors… helping out… I'm a Magypsy so… I can hold out better than… the humans can," Fassad said weakly.
"Fassad… how did this happen?" Claus felt like this was the worst day of his life, first he went and pulled the dang Needle again, he felt like his brother was truly against him for acting like a 'hypocrite', and now he returned to see the entire base was destroyed and his mentor could possibly be dying in his arms right now. I should've stayed behind… none of this would've ever happened if I had just stayed!
"Bombs… they… the renegades… they bombed… the entire base… they planted the bombs… in the weakest part of the base… and destroyed it… while we were still inside," Fassad wheezed, trying not to splutter too much.
"Why would they do this?" Claus remembered what the black Pigmask said, saying how sacrifices were necessary for the good of the world. He gritted his teeth as he thought of that. Those sick, twisted… Is this what's going to be like if Lucas succeeds? Will everyone have to die like this once the Dragon is awaken? Because of me FOUR of the seven Needles have been pulled! But… I can't just… leave everyone like this…
"I… I don't… know…" Fassad coughed a bit. "Listen… I know… the Needle has been pulled… but it's not too late… to stop the awakening… There are… three Needles left… Claus… I have no doubt… that Lucas will attempt to get… the one on Tanetane Island next… you must go there… and guard it with your life…"
"Tanetane Island? B-but… Fassad… I… I don't think you can trust me to protect the Needles anymore…" Claus said hesitantly.
"I… I have to… everyone else… can't… you're the only… one left… who can stop him… right now… Claus. You can't… be afraid… to fight back with… everything you have," Fassad said weakly.
Claus looked away, remembering the look on Lucas's face when he saw him pull the Needle. Lucas would never trust him again, whether he's the Commander or Claus, because 'Claus' is nothing but a liar. "I… I will try, Fassad… But… I can't just leave you like this. Where is Master Porky?"
"He's… buried… right now… but he'll… be fine… he's immortal, remember?" Fassad wheezed.
"O-oh, right… but how could I just leave seeing you all like this?" Claus bit his lip. He had thought he would be a traitor when he came back, instead he's their only hope left.
"We'll be fine, Claus…" Fassad said, coughing a little more. "Our doctors will take care of all of us, and we'll be up and about… soon. But you still have to stop Lucas, Claus…"
Claus frowned, not liking this situation he was put in. He had pulled his second Needle, yet the Pigmasks still relied on him, needed his help, even though Claus himself didn't find that he was fit for the job.
"B-but Fassad… I… I pulled that last Needle! I can't do it! What if I pull another one?" Claus felt terrified at the thought he would pull another Needle.
"Claus…" Fassad said, looking at the boy a little sadly. "Whatever you did that made you pull that Needle… I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. You're still the most suited… out of all of us to stop Lucas from getting the rest. He's already… halfway there," As he spoke, Fassad continued to wheeze between his words.
"F-Fassad! … D-don't talk anymore, just save your strength," Claus said softly. "I'll… I'll try my best to guard the remaining Needles with my life. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
Fassad nodded weakly as Claus sighed. "Alright, I'll head for Tanetane Island immediately."
Just as the boy stood up, he turned to see Dr. Andonuts approaching Fassad with some tools. "Dr. Andonuts?"
"Claus! Oh I wasn't expecting to see you here," Dr. Andonuts said. "I was back at the chimera lab when this bombing thing hit. The renegades were chased off by the Ultimate Chimera that was probably lured by the sound of the bombing. Thankfully we were able to avoid being captured thanks to that, but a lot of people are dying."
"I know…" Claus frowned. "I have to go protect the remaining Needles…"
"I'm sure you do. But Claus… have you noticed something odd happening in Tazmily? It might just be me but it feels… emptier now," Dr. Andonuts said.
"What? What do you mean?" Claus blinked, looking at the short doctor.
"Oh, it might just be me rambling, but I've noticed these things while walking around Tazmily every now and then. It's almost as if there are less people wandering the streets these days. It might be that they're moving to that big fancy city Master Porky set up," the doctor said, waving his hand out dismissively. "But that might just be some farfetched observation."
"... New Pork City?" Claus had heard about it from Master Porky a few times but never actually been there himself. "He finally opened it?"
"Yup, and it's very popular from what I hear. If you want to make it big that's the place to be, or so I've heard people say," Dr. Andonuts said with a shrug. "Now you better get going Claus, time is of the essence and I must fix up Fassad."
"R-right," Claus turned to Fassad and said, "I'll do the best I can to stop my brother."
With those words said, Claus activated his jetwings again and flew over Tazmily, heading towards the ocean. Claus checked his helmet's data on the destination. Let's see… by flying I should be there in about ten minutes or so…
"HEY COMMANDER! SURPRISE!" Someone shouted from behind and shot a laser into Claus's back, right where his jetwings were.
"WAH!" Claus spun in the air to see two renegade Colonels laughing in the air. He glared before he decided to do something before he hit the water below. "PK Thunder Beta!" He shot out lightning at the two just before he fell into the water with a big SPLASH!
"Gah!" the lightning struck at one of the renegades, while his buddy quickly rushed forward to grab him before he fell from the sea.
Claus finally surfaced from the water, glaring at the two who shot him. He felt a little satisfied knowing that he at least struck one of them, as he was now dangling in the air while his buddy had to carry him back to shore. The boy turned to his back to see it was smoking.
"Uuuugh… great, now I can't fly," Claus groaned before realizing he wasn't close to shore at all. "... And now I'm stranded…"
A shadow swam under the boy. Claus noticed as he was looking down, frantic, he tried to move away from it but then it grabbed his leg and dragged him under! Claus yelped and struggled as he was dragged underwater and away from the surface.
End of Part 4
