Hey, Everyone! :D
My Calc BC and AP Lit grades just got put into the online grading book, and I have an A in both! :D I'm especially excited about Calc; I know multiple people who aced the math SAT who can't pull an A in that class. And in Lit, I got a 99/100 on my essay. I had to analyze war poems, so I brought up the looking at death as a number of individuals rather than a group (thanks Ana). Who says that fanfiction is useless? :D
Er... sorry if your grades are worse than mine and I just reminded you of something terrible. D: I'm not trying to brag; I promise! I'm just... really happy. xD
So, if you've been reading my ANs then you should already know this, but This is not the last chapter. Chapter 30 is coming either tomorrow or Friday (probably Friday). After that, I'm planning on doing some bonus stuff with this story. Think of it as the equivalent of DLC... but the smash bros kind, not the Splatoon kind (no hate intended).
So... yeah. There are some parts in this chapter where I don't feel like I vividly portrayed what the characters were feeling, but after a lot of time spent on this chapter, this is about as good as it's going to get without me pausing to take more writing classes in between. xD
Enjoy! :)
Review Responses:
SMF: Huh, I played Sacred Stones a while ago and don't remember much about it. xD Maybe it was subconsciously feeding me ideas...? :O Thanks for the encouragement! :)
MattWithTheLolz: Dude, are you okay? ;) Seriously, though, it's fine if you can't feel for Porky. Everyone has different interpretations, and who am I to say that yours is wrong?
Phoesong: Heh, thanks! :) As for the Claus thing, I took a lot of inspiration from magical realism, which we talked about in AP Lit. Not sure if you've studied this, but the idea is that it uses magical elements to better portray something about reality. So while Claus' reaction could be viewed as a metaphor, it could also be viewed as being perfectly literal yet impossible. That being said, your view is obviously fine. ;)
Yeah, acceptance of emotion is something that I always manage to write about. xD Glad that you like it! :)
A Fan: Ohmygosh that was totally a conflict of plot points! D: *facepalms* That actually really bugs me because I dislike it when other writers do that... and while it may be tempting to say that New Pork was Fourside, it wouldn't explain how they met Ana. :( So... I have two ways to get out of this one:
1. I never said directly in the story that the failure to defeat Giygas was the splitting point, so I can just take back what I wrote in my ANs (lame, I know).
2. I could say that the splitting of universes is determined by something else rather than time. Splitting along a... 5th dimension, if you will. That way, there is a process for splitting that isn't visible to the human senses, giving me an excuse for the time contradiction (also lame, I know).
So... yeah. :( Also, you caught me with the Paula/Lloid thing. I kinda threw them in while I was writing it, not bothering to plan it out below. Still, it does make some logical sense... Paula and Lloid can take a large amount of pigmasks and Jeff already killed quite a few of them...
And Lucas and Voice will have a major role; don't worry! :) And hey, your reviews are always helpful! Even if you just mention something random that you notice then it often leads to moments of inspiration.
JustMe. Hi: Sorry. D: There wasn't really a way around a confrontation. As for Voice, you'll see that he may have other things on his mind...
And I don't think that it's ironic at all that you were saying Amen in that situation! :) After all, religion is about helping and loving people, right? As for Claus, I'll try to explain what he's thinking/feeling:
I agree that it's not good for Claus to forget about Lucas, but that's just the kind of person that he is. Claus is someone who take life one issue at a time without pausing to think about everything that he has to do. That's not always a bad thing. I'm polar opposite of that, and it causes me to worry about everything, which makes me so anxious that I am often paralyzed by indecision. I'm not saying that Claus is right in what he does, but... the alternative is also scary. D:
PK Love Gamma: Hey, my rants take up 500-1k words in my story, so don't feel shy! ;)
Yup, Kumatora's realization was cliche (dunno how to get an accent mark...), and it did annoy me. However, I still feel that the chapter was better with it. And it's fine if you can't feel sympathy for Porky. I do have something coming up that may change your mind... but maybe not.
Oh, you actually check my profile? It's nice to see that people actually care! :) I'm sad that this one is ending too, but I'm also kinda exhausted. And hey, I think I'm going to do extra stuff (random scenes from future/past) so that will be fun. :) And yeah, it's horrifying that Hinawa told Claus to kill himself. What's even more horrifying imo is how she said "You must be so exhausted." Claus is friggen 13! He shouldn't be tired of life yet! He's so young! There's so much left that he could do... and now he'll never have the chance. I'm tearing up just typing this... ;_;
OrangeFlight of ShadowClan: Thanks! :)
Yeah, I would not want to make Claus mad either. *shivers* Claus doesn't get that mad often, though... thank goodness! :) Yup, the Porky saving the world thing took my by surprise as well, and I was the one who wrote it! xD I was thinking "How can I make Porky like Mother 3, yet have a reason for being evil that isn't some sacrifice for the greater good idealism?" and that was what I came up with. As for plot twists, there are more coming! ;) There's a pretty big one this chapter. At least, I think that it's a plot twist... It's related to something pretty obvious about Voice, so I was worried that people would start asking questions... but nobody did yet.
And hey, don't feel like you have to stop yourself when writing reviews! Do you see how long my ANs are? xD ...Or did you mean stop the narrator thing? Cuz I don't mind that either. :)
As I look back on my life, I realize that I do not want to die. I want to live and grow like a tree, stationary, reliable, unbounded.
I want to feel the sun's rays shine on me in New Tazmily.
That fantasy seems so close, yet it is worlds away…
Sunlight…
New Tazmily…
My hand shakes out of nostalgia upon writing those words.
"Are you ready for this, Voice?" Lucas asked softly, seeing Claus and his friends approach on a screen of darkness that showed what was happening in the outside world.
"…As ready as I will ever be, I suppose," Voice replied with a painful sigh. "I'm not sure if I'm strong enough, though. Feeling my brother die in my arms almost destroyed me. I don't think that I can go through that again."
So… his version of Claus is dead? Lucas wondered. I suppose that I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, his mother died in a different way than mine…
Lucas still wasn't sure how that could be possible, but after looking at the slight frown that stood out on Voice's stoic face, he figured that now was not the time to ask.
"I have to do this," Voice said to himself as he closed his eyes. "There is no other option. I cannot fail, no matter what I do…"
Lucas shivered. The fear of failure could be powerful indeed. He had remembered how he had been afflicted with a similar fear for most of his life, causing him not to take many risks. Voice reminded Lucas so much of who he used to be…
"It begins," Voice whispered heavily as their body started to use a PSI ability.
"PK Love Omega," The masked man said emotionlessly.
The hexagons that flew from his head seemed so familiar to Claus by now, and so was the pain that accompanied the attack. Claus gritted his teeth, taking the attack in stride. He wasn't going to falter this early. He turned to see his friends wearing similar expressions of determination after they had been hit by the masked man's PSI.
"Lifeup Omega!" Ness countered, healing the entire party as his irises flashed with resilience.
"Thanks," Claus said gratefully.
"There's no time to chat!" Jeff replied as he fired lonely missiles through the oppressive darkness.
"PK Beam Gamma!" Ana shouted, firing a large laser beam at the masked man.
Claus flinched as both attacks hit the masked man, having no visible effect.
Can I watch my friends hurt Lucas? Claus wondered. Can… I hurt Lucas?
A primal sorrow welled up in Claus at the thought of his brother getting hurt. He had always tried to protect Lucas… and now this. Claus wanted to scream and punch the black, stone earth beneath him. But he couldn't, not in a combat situation.
Instead, he looked into Lucas' empty eyes.
Lucas… you're begging for a way out, aren't you? I know that you must be horrified at having killed Poo and Dr. Andonuts. You just want to die so that you can't hurt anyone else, don't you?
As much as it hurt Claus, he couldn't deny Lucas' wishes. He would try to save Lucas, but he knew that he would have to prioritize the world's safety over his brother's.
That's what Lucas would have wanted.
But first, I should try something…
"I'm going to go for the needle!" Claus shouted and broke into a sprint.
The needle was so close… each step that Claus took put him closer to saving the world. The pressure weighed on Claus like a boulder.
Man, he thought. It must be the worst feeling in the world if someone fails when they are this close. Ness and his friends must have been devastated when they were defeated…
"PK Wall," The masked man whispered, and a translucent purple barrier cut Claus off from the needle.
NO! Claus thought. He had been so close… and now that hope had been snatched away.
Voice gritted his teeth as the psionic wall blocked Claus from reaching the needle. Lucas had quickly learned that Voice didn't display emotion often; a grimace from him was the equivalent of a regular person breaking into a screaming fit.
"What was that?" Lucas asked carefully.
"Isn't it obvious?" Voice snapped, and then widened his eyes in horror. "I'm… sorry, Lucas. I didn't mean to yell. It's just that Porky is launching an assault on our mind in hopes of getting some of my more powerful PSI. I am… strained, to put it lightly."
A feeling of sympathy ravaged Lucas. I had no idea…
Lucas looked at Voice and saw the entire world atop of his hunched shoulders.
"How can you take it, Voice?" Lucas whispered in awe.
The words hadn't been meant for Voice to hear, but his face softened as he favored Lucas with a sad smile.
"I can take it because I have to, Lucas."
"Did you think that I wouldn't account for such a simple hole in my plans?" Porky asked with a condescending laugh.
Yes, Claus thought bitterly.
The masked man bounded forward and landed a swift series of attacks on Ness, who fumbled to heal himself.
"Lifeup-"
The masked man swatted Ness' hand away with his sword, not allowing Ness to complete the manifestation of the ability. Ness squirmed and tried to get away, but the masked man struck him with a low, sweeping arc of his sword, tripping him and sending him fumbling to the ground with a light thud.
Jeff fired a rocket towards the masked man, who responded by nimbly leaping out of the way. The rocket continued on its trajectory and exploded right next to Ness.
"Lifeup gamma," Ness wheezed, his eyelids fluttering open. "Phew! Thanks, Jeff."
"You're thanking him for blowing you up?" Ana asked.
"Lucas knows how to interrupt healing PSI," Ness explained, shaking his head in self-disappointment. "I would have been dead if Jeff hadn't given me some room. I should have been able to escape on my own, but not being able to rely on Lifeup is a new experience for me."
The world around Claus seemed to get darker. Around the black ground, all else disappeared, leaving Claus and his friends isolated on an island with the masked man. Blue and red patterns lined the outermost reaches of the darkness.
"What is this?" Claus asked, gritting his teeth. "It feels like we are immersed in a separate world. Is this some sort of PSI?"
"No…" Ana replied, seeming confused as well. "My PSI Magnet aura didn't pick up anything."
"Watch out!" Jeff exclaimed as the masked man barreled towards Claus at speeds that shouldn't have been possible.
Claus jumped back and the masked man's sword sliced in the air that used to contain his chest. The masked man swung to the side. Claus blocked the attack with his stick, which must have been psionically enchanted, as it didn't snap like Claus had feared that it would. However, the sheer force of the masked man's blow flung the stick away from Claus' grasp.
"Damn it!" Claus swore. "When did you become so powerful, Lucas?"
"PK Freeze gamma!" Ana shouted, the attack providing enough time for Claus to run and retrieve his stick.
"He was quite powerful when he fought me for the first time," Ness said, furrowing his brow in thought. "He mentioned some kind of inner being that gives him combat strength when we conversed in Magicant. I believe that being is the main contributor to his martial prowess."
Wait, you talked to Lucas in Magicant? Claus thought. Why did nobody ever tell him these things?
"No way!" Ana exclaimed. "An inner being that gives combat powers… that's insane!"
"There has always been something odd about Lucas," Jeff said softly. "Ness' story seems a bit far-fetched, but it would make sense."
It would explain how he was able to put up that wall…
Claus heard Porky's laughter in the distance, although he could not see the tub lord himself.
"Do you see how you struggle in vain?" Porky wheezed. "You cannot beat my monster. This is him without his godlike PSI."
Ness gritted his teeth.
"Yes, Lucas did claim that this being had godlike PSI, now that I think about it."
"PK Love Omega," the masked man whispered, brilliant blue hexagons slicing through the darkness in a tessellation pattern and slamming into the other four teenagers.
"Lifeup Omega! Lifeup Gamma!" Ness used the Omega Lifeup to heal all of them and used the Gamma version to further heal himself.
"Look at fancy pants Ness, who has so much life that an Omega Lifeup can't heal it all," Claus teased, provoking a grim smile from Ness.
"Heh," Ness said wryly. "I think that I'll run out of psionic power before Lucas does."
That's not Lucas! Claus wanted to scream into the darkness. There's another person inside of that body of his!
"PK Thund-" Ana started.
"Stop!" Claus exclaimed, throwing his palm out in front of Ana in panic. "He'll reflect it back at you."
Ness looked closely at Lucas and gasped.
"How does he have the Franklin Badge?"
"Paula gave it to me and I gave it to him," Claus explained quickly.
The masked man took advantage of the pause in combat and charged towards the four teenagers, spinning like a whirlwind. He lashed out with his sword, elbow, foot, whatever he could, somehow managing to send all four of them to the ground.
Oof! Claus thought as he slammed into the black, stone earth. How is that even physically possible?
The masked man stepped up and raised his sword to strike Claus.
"Claus!"
That voice… No… it can't be…
"Claus!" Flint repeated, dashing towards the masked man.
"Father!" Claus shouted in horror. "Stay back! You don't know how dangerous Lucas is!"
Flint didn't listen to Claus and tried to tackle Lucas. With an effortless motion, the masked man flicked his sword, separating Flint's head from the rest of his body.
For a moment, the world was silent.
No… Claus thought. NOOO! This… can't… be… happening… everyone that I love is dying around me, and I CANNOT DO A THING TO SAVE THEM!
"It's over!" Lucas shouted, falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands. "I can't go on anymore!"
Part of Magicant detached, floating away into the infinite darkness below. Lucas had just killed his own father. He couldn't believe it. He had just killed his own father!
"You have to keep going!" Voice demanded pleadingly. "We don't have a choice."
"I CAN'T!" Lucas wailed. "I… can't… go on."
"Please!" Voice begged, his iron eyes revealing an inner sense of alarm that took Lucas by surprise. "You don't know how much is on the line!"
"The whole world is on line!" Lucas yelled. "I know that!"
"No," Voice whispered softly. "There's more than the world at stake here."
"How is that… possible?" Lucas asked.
"Remember, Porky is trying to gain control of my psionic powers. I have PSI that could allow him to do more than just destroy the world, and if you give up then it weakens our collective resistance."
Lucas only had to look into Voice's ancient, pained eyes to see that he was completely sincere. He shivered, clutching his arms out of habit.
What could possibly be worse than the end of the world, Lucas wondered, not sure that he wanted to know.
"But… how can I keep going after that?" Lucas asked hopelessly. "I'm only human, Voice."
"Remember what your mother said about your bond with Claus back when you first came to Magicant!" Voice exclaimed. "You need to hang onto your love for him, Lucas. You're… lucky that your brother is still alive."
Lucas nodded, feeling part of the world's weight fall on his shoulders as he shared the burden with Voice.
"I… guess that I can try. That's what… father would have wanted."
Jeff felt the heavy atmosphere weigh him down. Claus was looking at his father's corpse in wonder, and Jeff couldn't blame him. He had probably been more of a wreck when his mother had died…
Jeff sighed weakly, tears coming to his eyes. The masked man was too strong. Lucas was too strong. Jeff remembered how kind Lucas had been to him… it tore him apart now to give up on putting Lucas' painful existence to rest, but he wasn't strong enough.
I've never been strong enough, he thought. I've always been the sniveling kid in the corner who gets picked on. I'm worthless…
"Jeff!"
Jeff looked around. Nothing.
"Jeff!"
The ghost of his mother appeared, wearing a playful smile.
"Mother!" Jeff exclaimed, a foreign feeling of happiness overtaking him. "I… should be ashamed to face you."
Jeff turned away to stare into the empty darkness.
"Jeff, you have always been too hard on yourself," his mother said with a smirk. "Come on, get up off of the floor and fight!"
"There's no hope," Jeff said harshly. "I can't save the world, just like I couldn't save you."
"I know that you can be stronger than this," his mother said.
That stung.
"I'm… strong," Jeff pleaded. "Lucas is just stronger. He was able to take all of us at once. What chance do we possibly have?"
"Are you going to be beaten by someone who can't even feel? Come on, you know that having a purpose is more important than anything else!"
"Having a purpose didn't let me save you," Jeff muttered bitterly.
"Passion doesn't let you navigate computer programs, but it can allow your body to reach its maximum potential."
"I… guess," Jeff conceded, seeing the reason in his mother's words.
"I don't blame you at all for my death," Jeff's mother said with a warm smile. "There was nothing that you could have done. But now there is. If you give up now, I will blame you. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, Jeff. It only matters that you try. And I know that you can do great things, Jeff."
Jeff nodded slowly.
"I suppose… that one more shot couldn't hurt," Jeff admitted, provoking a proud smile from his mother.
"Your father sends his regards," she said and faded away.
Jeff picked himself up, determined not to give up so easily.
Another corpse. After seeing so many, Ana thought that she would have gotten used to them by now.
Not so.
It was the opposite effect, really. Seeing so many lifeless bodies made her hypersensitive to death in the way that a child who had been abused by their parents flinches when someone so much as raises a hand to strike them.
We can't win, Ana thought. Should I just give up?
"Ana, you could not have made us more proud."
That voice… Ana looked up to see the ghosts of her parents floating there, a sweet smile on both of their faces.
"Mother!" Ana exclaimed, tears of indescribable joy coming to her eyes. "Father! I haven't seen you in so long…"
"You are a wonderful person, Ana," her father said in a way that made Ana swell with pride. "You rightfully should have been destroyed by what you experienced."
Ana's mind flashed back to Snowman. Ana was huddling over her parents' corpses, desperately clutching her snow globe while the wind raged on around her. She shuddered as she came back to the present.
"But you weren't destroyed," her mother picked up. "You survived and even thrived in the harshest of conditions like a cactus in a desert."
Huh, Ana thought. That analogy is even more of a compliment considering that each cactus releases millions of seeds and only a few survive long enough to reproduce.
"Just you watch!" Ana exclaimed. "I'll do more than survive! I'm going to save this damn world, and…"
…Wait. Ana scowled, realizing that she had just been manipulated into giving the fight a second shot. Her parents laughed warmly.
"We believe in you, Ana," her father said. "You can do this."
Ana nodded. For that second, she really did believe that she could save the world.
"Goodbye," her mother said. "It was so wonderful to see you again, and all grown up, too!"
"Goodbye," Ana whispered back after her parents' ghosts had faded away.
So much for being stronger from my sanctuary locations, Ness thought bitterly. Lucas' strength is on a different level.
Ness sighed and closed his eyes.
I thought that I just had to take baby steps to get better, but that doesn't matter now that the world is going to end. That makes me sad.
Ness looked at Lucas, who was fighting halfheartedly with Claus.
I wonder why he didn't take this chance to slaughter us all… Ness thought, looking at Ana and Jeff, who were lying on the ground helplessly.
Ness tried to take a step forward and fell to the ground.
So… this is how it ends, Ness thought. I'm in perfect physical condition, but I don't have the mental strength to take a single step forward. Pathetic.
"Ness."
That voice… it made Ness want to fly into a rage. But… it was strangely devoid of hostility.
Ness' father's ghost appeared in front of him. Ness just stared at him, not knowing what to say.
"I suppose that this is better than I expected," Ness' father said with a genuine smile that looked so wrong. "I was anticipating that you would fly into a frenzy… no offense or anything."
"Your voice was human," Ness responded simply.
"So you can tell that I am different," his father said with a sad smile. "That's only natural, as I was brainwashed by the pigmasks during my life."
Ness' eyes jolted wide open.
"You were… brainwashed?"
"Isn't that what I just said?" his father responded with a wink. "I was one of the test subjects to see if brainwashing could work on humans. Needless to say, it worked. It… hurt me so much, to be a pawn of Porky's like that. Of course, I only realized it after I had died…"
"I… am sorry for that," Ness said sincerely.
"I don't blame you," his father replied. "Just as you say, someone's situation may not make their actions any less wrong, but it makes those actions far easier to forgive."
Ness blinked.
"I… do say that, but I got it from mom."
"And your mother got it from me," his father said warmly.
No way, Ness thought.
He wasn't sure why that surprised him, but it did. Maybe it was because he never really knew his father, and now he had a piece of him that he could hang onto…
"But the saddest part of dying was the fact that I would never be able to see you and Tracy again."
"Wait," Ness said. "You cared about us?"
His father looked hurt.
"Of course I did! I'm your father."
Ness felt an intense shame. After receiving nothing but neglect from his father, he had just assumed that his father didn't even notice him or Tracy.
"I'm sorry," Ness whispered. "I never knew."
Ness' father looked at him sadly.
"The fault is mine," he said softly. "My family was quite poor when I was a child, you see. Even after you and Tracy had been born, your mother and I were stuck in deep debt. More than anything, I wanted you to be shielded from the pains of having to constantly worry about money. That's why I spent so much time at work. I figured that if I could make enough money for the family… that you and Tracy could live the lives that I never had a chance to."
"Father," Ness said, tears coming to his eyes. "We never cared about money. All that Tracy and I ever wanted… was a father to play with. It would have meant so much more to us if we had gotten to know you. After all, there's a staggering amount of money in the world, but there's only one of you."
Now it was Ness' father's turn to be surprised.
"I… meant that much to you?" he asked, not quite believing Ness' words.
"Of course you did," Ness replied. "That's why it hurt me so much when you would never spend time with me as a child."
"I'm so sorry," his father said in horror. "I… never knew."
"It's okay…" Ness replied. "After all of this is done, maybe… wait! I'm still in an active battle! What the hell am I doing?"
Ness jumped to his feet, feeling rejuvenated. His father hid a smile.
"I'm glad to see that you're back to your normal, vibrant self," his father said. "Remember, Ness, you have my support, as well as Tracy's and your mother's. Never forget that."
"Don't worry, I won't," Ness responded with enough determination to move a mountain.
The darkness had won.
Claus couldn't feel. He tried to latch onto specks of emotion, but he just… couldn't feel anything.
This is horrifying… and it's how Kumatora felt!
Claus wanted so badly to feel sadness at his father's death. He wished that he could feel poisonous rage flowing through his veins, if only so that he would know that he was still alive.
Instead, he only found emptiness.
Claus stepped up to the masked man and attacked, although he didn't know why he bothered. The masked man responded by driving his sword through Claus, ignoring the stick that slammed into his face. Claus couldn't feel the pain.
He couldn't feel anything.
Claus pulled out some beef jerky and ate it, but the action seemed so mechanical. The masked man looked slightly shaken and didn't press the attack for some reason.
"PK Freeze Beta," Claus said emotionlessly.
The masked man took the damage, still not responding.
"Claus, that's not the way to fight!"
That voice…
Poo's ghost materialized in front of Claus.
"Poo," Claus said wearily. "Why am I here? Why do I fight? I don't care about anything anymore!"
"Hey, you showed me that it's important to try to care," Poo said, bobbing up and down vivaciously. "Do you remember how Lucas got to be this way? Kumatora was acting empty like you and brainwashed him, not caring enough to resist."
"Urgh…" Claus struggled, trying to conjure a spark of emotion. "Our problems were caused by someone as empty as I…"
Claus looked into Lucas' eye, the one that wasn't covered up by the mask.
"Lucas!" he shouted. "Kumatora did this to you! And… it could have easily been me in my current situation."
That terrified him to the core. He looked inside and found that he could still care about Lucas. Claus felt a wave of relief wash over him.
Lucas is still my brother! And damn me a thousand times over if I act like exactly like the person who condemned him to his fate!
Claus sighed and felt the familiar emotions flood through his system, threatening to overwhelm him. He felt despair for his father, despair for Lucas, despair for his mother, and despair for so many others. But under that dark lining of his heart, he found joy.
Joy that there was still hope for a better world.
"Hmm… that took less persuasion than I thought," Poo said. "You truly are an extraordinary human being, Claus."
Claus' heart swelled with pride. That was the first time that he had ever heard Poo give a compliment.
"While I was bleeding to death, I hung onto your words," Poo said softly. "They… inspired me. Being able to change and improve… what a wonderful creed. I improved even as I took my last breaths, I feel. Before speaking with you, I would have been so aghast at being defeated that I wouldn't have bothered to leave you the message about the last needle."
Claus smiled like a parent proud of their child.
"I'll save this world, Poo! I'll save it so that people like you can take all of the time that you want to improve themselves!"
Poo smiled back. It looked out of place on his normally serious face.
"I don't doubt it, Claus. Oh… I have to go now. Goodbye… and thank you."
Claus waved as Poo faded away. He turned to see that all of his allies were on their feet and ready to fight.
"Aw, that's cute," Porky wheezed from the darkness. "Do you honestly think that you still have a chance? You were lucky that my little monster didn't slaughter you all. I had to deal with an… intruder."
Claus took a confident step forward on the black stone, raising his stick to the sky.
"We will fight so that the next generation won't have to suffer like we did!" Claus roared. "You cannot stop us, Porky!"
"Heh," Porky wheezed. "Just try to fight!"
"Offense Up Omega," Ness whispered feverishly. "Defense Up Omega."
"Here's the plan," Claus announced, even though he had no clue what he was doing. "Ness and I should go in. We should make sure to keep most of the pressure on me so that Ness can heal. Ana and Jeff, you should blast from the back line."
Everyone else nodded. There wasn't any time to debate.
Claus let out a primal snarl and charged at the masked man.
Voice was feverishly pouring over his pocket book while Magicant slowly crumbled around them.
"Why are you looking at your diary?" Lucas asked, trying to distract himself from the ever lessening land that they stood on. At this point, Magicant was small enough to fit in a bedroom.
"I'm trying to find wisdom in these notes," Voice replied hesitantly. "But I don't think there's much to be had in these confused words of mine."
Hinawa's ghost fell from the sky and landed next to Lucas.
"Mother!" Lucas shouted in a mixture of joy and worry. "What are you doing here?"
"I was trying to hijack your body," Hinawa replied grimly.
"Dangerous," Voice said, still looking at his notebook. "Your spirit could have…"
"Voice, you should know how much I care about my children," Hinawa cut in. "I don't care what happens to me."
The corners of Voice's mouth turned upwards to form a light smile. It felt weird to see another person's mannerisms on a body identical to his.
"I do know that," Voice replied. "So, did you fail?"
"It was a partial success," Hinawa responded, not seeming satisfied with her efforts. "I was able to stall you long enough for your friends to recover from Flint's death."
Lucas looked up to the screen and was startled by what he saw. Claus and Ness were juggling the masked man's attention masterfully while Ana and Jeff fired off attacks from the back line. The masked man movements were as smooth as a river, but Ness and Claus were somehow able to keep him at bay.
"How…?" Voice asked, staring at the screen in wonder. "How can they stand up to us?"
"That is the power of love," Hinawa responded.
Voice snorted.
"Love. That's a pretty word. Love alone isn't driving them to fight, Hinawa. Can you see the rage scrawled in bold ink on Claus' face?"
"It all stems from love," Hinawa maintained. "You've grown bitter, Voice."
"I suppose I have…" Voice trailed off.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up in alarm.
"NO!" Voice exclaimed, clutching his head as more chunks of Magicant falling down into the abyss below. "No… it's over… and it's all my fault!"
"What happened?" Lucas asked.
"One of my PSI abilities," Voice whispered, averting his eyes from Lucas' out of shame. "I… let it slip through."
Oh no…
"What does it do?" Lucas asked.
The horrified look that Voice gave him was an answer in itself.
"Heh…" Porky laughed, proceeding to break into a coughing fit. "You kids are actually tough; I'll give you that."
"You had better believe it!" Claus exclaimed, darting out of the way of an attack from the masked man.
"Too bad that it doesn't matter," Porky wheezed.
The darkness felt heavier to Claus after those words. The red and blue patterns in the background flew into chaos, oscillating like static waves.
"W-What?" Ana asked.
"PK Aether Flash," the masked man whispered.
"Too late!" Porky shouted in glee.
A radiant white light engulfed Claus and his friends. Claus' mind was instantly reduced to pudding. It was a struggle to remember how to breathe. Claus fell to his knees, trying desperately to perform basic cognitive functions. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the darkness coming for him. All of the pent up energy in him had nothing to do… and consequently started to fizzle out.
No! Claus shouted to himself. I have to resist. I have to stay strong!
"You can't resist!" Porky exclaimed. "Look at your friends, worm!"
It was true; Ness, Ana, and Jeff were crumpled on the floor with their eyes closed. Please don't let them be dead… Claus thought. He was reassured by how much he cared.
The darkness came closer still.
I will live! Claus told himself.
The darkness came closer still.
"I have to live for those who didn't have this chance," Claus said out loud. "I have to live for Poo, for Dr. Andonuts, for Kumatora, and even for all of those pigmasks on the receiving end of Jeff's bazooka."
The darkness came closer still.
"You will die eventually," Porky wheezed. "Even if you can resist now, my monster will just kill you without a second thought!"
The darkness came closer still.
Giygas, Claus thought. Porky's suffering too. Giygas is the one to hate! I have to beat the living crap out of this Giygas! Damn me if I don't!
The darkness came closer still.
"I AM NOT GOING TO DIE TODAY!" Claus roared. That was a fact.
The darkness came closer still.
Claus screamed while he struggled to his feet. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.
The darkness went away.
"What?" Porky asked. "Did you actually resist the attack? That… isn't supposed to happen!"
Just like how I'm not supposed to be able to aim PK Thunder. Right, Kumatora?
Claus walked up to Lucas.
"Now!" Porky shouted. "Kill him, Lucas!"
With a certain reluctance, the masked man stabbed Claus.
Yup, that's mortal damage, Claus thought as his psionic stall went into effect. He had about a minute to live, tops.
"Lucas…" Claus begged. "Please, if you're in there somewhere, look at what you're doing. I know that you would never kill me… I know that. You have to come back to me, Lucas. Please…"
Lucas' eye showed nothing but apathy.
"Lucas, please…"
"This is it," Voice muttered with an air of finality. "I have always been too weak. I was too weak to save my mother. I was too weak to save my father. I was too weak to save my brother. And now I am too weak to save this world!"
Magicant had now been reduced to the area of a small bed. Soon enough, there would be nothing left.
"Pull yourself together, Voice!" Hinawa shouted. "Claus is counting on us to break out!"
"How can we break out?" Lucas asked. "I mean… if we could, shouldn't we have done that before?"
"Lucas, look at Claus face," Hinawa said in a heartbroken voice.
Lucas obliged and saw that Claus was crying. That wasn't right. Claus was always the strong one. And his eyes… they accused Lucas of vile betrayal, while still showing faith in him… It was beautiful and heartbreaking. Lucas looked away out of shame.
"Can you just let your brother die?" Hinawa asked.
"Of course not!" Lucas responded instantly. "But… how can I break out?"
"Just focus on love," Hinawa advised.
"That's fine and dandy for Lucas," Voice piped in, panting heavily, "But all of the people that I love are DEAD! We need to be in this together for it to work, and I don't have anything to care about."
"I think that my mother is wrong in assuming that love alone can save us," Lucas whispered, putting a hand on Voice's shoulder. "Yes, love is the most powerful emotion. But it is only one of many. We need to harness every emotion that we've ever felt. We need to hang onto everything that makes us us. If we are the same person, we should have similar pages in our book of life to reference. I love swimming and feeling a light breeze. Do you?"
"Yes…" Voice replied slowly, standing to his feet. "Yes… but that is not enough!"
"Right," Lucas affirmed. "So think about everything that you hold close to you. For example, we are about to kill someone without feeling anything at all. Doesn't that horrify you?"
Voice nodded.
"Hang onto that," Lucas said. "Hang onto that horror. Just feel everything that you've felt before. Let the emotions become you. That is how we will resist this mechanical brainwash! Logically, we will never escape, but emotions can defy logic in startling ways. Just look at how Claus resisted your PK Shiny Flash or whatever it was."
"That… shouldn't have been possible," Voice explained. "PK Aether Flash shuts off the cognitive functions of the brain in an instant. There's no way to resist it; not even those charms that bestow status immunity."
"And yet it happened," Lucas replied. "Claus' emotions were strong enough to overcome cold, hard logic. Are we going to let Claus go down in brilliance while we don't even try to defy reality?"
Voice smiled grimly.
"You… are wiser than anyone else I've ever met, I think. Very well, I will find what makes me myself and use that to break this iron lock on our mind!"
"Lucas, I think you have the right way to deal with this one," Hinawa's ghost said with a motherly smile. "I couldn't be more proud of you."
Lucas broke into a grin, his heart swelling from the compliment. He closed his eyes and focused on his memories.
Though his eyes were closed, his entire life appeared before him, each portion packed tightly into a book and each book stored on a shelf in a library. Lucas gingerly picked out a book and started reading.
Lucas felt a chill rush through his spine as he jumped into the water. The pond was cold, but there was a certain sweetness to the chill. It felt like… Lucas was accomplishing something by being able to take the cold. He knew that the icy feeling would go away, so it didn't bother him. Lucas smiled as the pond water covered him like a blanket. He gingerly opened his eyes and felt uncomfortable as water coated his unprotected eyeballs. Lucas squinted as he saw the distorted sun's rays shine through the water, causing red spots to linger in his vision. The water flowed gently around Lucas, carrying him like a baby. He almost felt like he was being rocked to sleep. Lucas felt himself float up to the surface. Buoyancy was a wonderful thing. Why hasten the process? Lucas flipped himself over, now looking downward to the murky pond floor instead of up at the sun. Lucas watched in wonder as the underwater plants swayed gently…
Lucas returned to reality, blinking. That was so much to deal with, and all in a span of less than a minute! Lucas picked another random book out and started reading.
Lucas was running as the harsh sun above drained his strength.
"Keep up, Lucas!" Claus shouted with a huge grin plastered on his face. "I'm telling you, this is awesome! You have to see this!"
"Trying," Lucas panted as he struggled to keep Claus' pace.
Honestly, why did Claus bother to run everywhere? Lucas thought that running was great and all, but couldn't his brother see that they would get to their destination regardless of how quickly Lucas moved?
"Come on come on come on!" Claus exclaimed.
"You don't have to shout," Lucas wheezed weakly.
Lucas felt sweat drip from his face. He had always hated sweat. It made him feel… dirty.
"Here we are!" Claus shouted triumphantly.
Lucas looked up and saw a massive tree.
"Claus, trees are-"
"It's not the tree, Lucas, it's what's in it!" Claus interrupted and started scaling the tree.
Lucas sighed and followed Claus, knowing by this point that nothing in the world could stop his twin when he was this determined. Lucas' hands felt uncomfortable as they scraped against the rough wood, but he gritted his teeth and continued upward. Eventually, Lucas reached a thick branch and halted. Claus stood right next to him with his characteristically eager smile.
"Look, Lucas!"
Lucas followed Claus' finger and saw a bird's nest made out of hundreds of imperfect twigs and bits of straw. Inside of that nest lay four perfectly blue eggs. They were not the unnatural, harsh blue of paint that Lucas was so familiar with, but at the same time they were darker and fuller than the dainty blue of the sky. Lucas stood there for a few seconds, taking in the beauty of something that was so spectacular yet natural.
"It's awesome, isn't it?" Claus asked eagerly.
"Yeah," Lucas replied. "It's beautiful."
Lucas returned to reality once more, holding both of the books in his hands. There were so many pages in each of the books, and so many books on each shelf. How could Lucas possibly go through everything that made him him?
Suddenly, the two books that Lucas held flew towards him, hitting him in the chest and disappearing in a shower of sparks. All of the memories that Lucas held in those two flashed through his head in an instant. He was surprised how much emotion there had been, even in his mundane experiences.
That's the secret, Lucas told himself. If I feel all of the emotion that I've experienced, there's no way that Porky will have enough strength to control me!
To feel every single emotion that he had ever felt… it was basically impossible.
Unless he had a whole library of self-knowledge in front of him.
Lucas closed his eyes, willing himself to become one with the books of his life. He heard the flapping of pages as tomes flew from shelves and collided with Lucas. At every collision, Lucas lived through a portion of his life in a flash, feeling all of the emotion that he had experienced. One moment per book… but there must have been thousands of them. After hours of delving through his deepest memories, Lucas opened his eyes.
He was floating next to Voice in the darkness, any remnants of Magicant long gone. Magicant had fallen into the void… but he hadn't!
I did it! Lucas thought. I was able to feel… everything! I was able to break even the harshest brainwashing that New Pork had to offer.
Looking at Voice's face, Lucas could see a similar expression of joy and wonder. He flew over to give Voice a high-five, both of them grinning stupidly.
"We did it!" Lucas exclaimed. "Now, let's go and save this world!"
"Oh yes," Voice replied with a wicked grin. "It's time to use some of my knowledge for good instead of evil!"
Simultaneously, both of them flew upwards until the void below was nothing but a dark spot in the world of Lucas' and Voice's mind.
The darkness came back to Claus.
"I believe in you, Lucas," Claus whispered.
"Lifeup Gamma!" The masked man shouted in a burst of emotion, healing Claus back to full health.
Lucas tore off his helmet and threw it into the abyss, jetpack and all. The darkness disappeared and Lucas let a sincere smile show. Claus couldn't describe just how happy he was in that moment.
"Healing Omega!" Lucas shouted in ecstasy. "Dismiss PK Wall!"
Ness, Ana, and Jeff opened their eyes, startled to see Lucas with a huge grin on his face. The purple wall blocking the way to the needle faded out of existence.
Everything's all right, Claus thought. Finally… we finally won!
"Impossible!" Porky shouted. "There's no way that after all of this time you could break free now… That brainwashing was absolute! We didn't leave you with anything to hold onto. How…?"
"Claus," Lucas said, ignoring Porky. "Pull the last needle if you dare. I'm going to deal with Porky. He deserves an end to his suffering."
"Wha…" Claus couldn't finish the word.
Lucas was so confident. Was that really Lucas?
"Heh," Porky laughed. "You can't even get to me! You threw away your jetpack!"
"PK Fly," Lucas said with a superior smile.
"How can-" Porky was interrupted as Lucas flew straight into his machine, grabbing onto one of the legs.
"PK Enlarge!"
Lucas' body grew to the size of Porky's crab robot as he flew up into the dark sky, dangling Porky's capsule by a leg.
"You still cannot harm me!" Porky shouted as he swayed back and forth. "Nothing in this world can harm me!"
"That's right," Lucas confirmed.
Porky chuckled triumphantly.
"So you see-"
"That's why I'm not going to kill you in this world!" Lucas interrupted.
"How-"
"PK Planewalk!" Lucas shouted with an authority that drowned out everything else in the world.
A portal opened in the sky right below Porky's robot.
"This will be a mercy, my friend!" Lucas yelled as he dragged Porky through the portal and into the abyss below.
