DarkFoxKit: *Is fluffing up some pillows on a nice bed* Hmm… yeah, looks good. c:
Donfyre: *walks up behind Fox* Fox? What're you dooooing?
DarkFoxKit: Hey Fyre, it's late and I decided to make your bed for you. Does it look comfy enough~?
Donfyre: *looks at Fox with a confused look* Uhhh… I guess? That was… really nice of you to do that. But I already made my bed this morning, I don't see why you had to do it again. ^^; But… thanks anyways?
DarkFoxKit: This is a special bed. :3 *gestures to it* Why don't you lie down and find out for yourself?
Donfyre: *is now looking at Fox suspiciously* … I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it DOES look pretty comfy… *lies down on the center of the bed* Is there a reason you're doing this? We are live now in case you didn't notice, unless you were the one who so conveniently placed the camera right in front of the bed. ^^;
DarkFoxKit: Yup! Just… wanted to get your reaction to how comfy the bed is. *Watches Fyre get into the bed, Fox grabs the blanket and wraps Fyre's body around it.* There we go, all snugged now?
Donfyre: AGAIN!? DX *tries squirming out of the wrapped up blanket, but wasn't able to* H-hey, what'd you do this time?!
DarkFoxKit: Just tied you up so you can't escape from m- I mean to make you nice and warm tonight. :3 Anyways, you go ahead and get some sleep while I answer the AN.
Donfyre: Wah! *pouts* Fiiiiine, I'll do that, you overprotective Foxy. Anyways, guess I'll just say to enjoy this new chapter, readers!
DarkFoxKit: Ooooh yes, it's a very fun one for us~ *snuggles up to Fyre*
Shimo no ko: Hah, too bad Claus doesn't agree with you. Yeah, Lucas and Ionia are probably the closest with each other, and I didn't feel the need to change that, although this time Claus is closest to Locria. As for the Negative Man, it was just a little something I decided to add into the chapter, because I found him by accident on my first playthrough of the game and was very… well I felt very sorry for him was all I could say. ^^' Ah yes, I'll never forget spending hours grinding off of those Hefty Head enemies trying to get the Mystic Stick, it was totally worth it. And Lucas kinda just learned it on his own… heck that's how the game explains it, they get a fever and just know how to do it. But for a PSI they can already use, I usually say they worked on it for it to get stronger like in the beta or gamma levels. And hey, Claus got there pretty fast in the game too, so yeah… jetwings for the win.
FanofFiction123: Yeeeeah, sorry, but every story's got to have an end at some point. ^^' Uh… who said that? I didn't disappear. ^^' Heh, yup, Boney is the best. :3 And heads up Lucas, the Claus storm is about to hit! Hey! I didn't kill Fyre, he's safe and sound in his little bed beside me. :3
Bloxxerstudios1: Hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger all week. :3
An Unknown Guest: Cause I'm evil like that. Hope this chapter was worth the wait!
DarkFoxKit: Alright, that's all the reviews for the last chapter… and now it's time to sleep. *scoots over to Fyre and curls up around him* I am DarkFoxKit… *yawn* this is Donfyre… and we both… look… forward… to hearing… from… y… o… u… Zzzzz
Chapter 36: The Clash Between Brothers
When I forced myself to face Lucas and the others today, I had to steel myself and harden my heart. I couldn't afford to let him pull another Needle. I couldn't afford to pull it myself. As long as those vines are there, I can't pull it and I won't let him pull it either, because after Ionia's Needle, Locria's next and I won't let that happen. I must forget Lucas is my twin brother… he is my enemy and that is all I need to see him as. I can't let them do this, I must protect this world even if it means hurting my own brother.
Lucas put up a shield around Kumatora just before Claus slashed at her with his sword, protecting her from a potentially deadly attack. Even with the shield it still hurt her enough to push her back a few feet.
"OW! You'll pay for that, Commander of those dang Pigsnots!" Kumatora held up her hand and fired a powerful PK Fire gamma at him. Lucas tried to stop her but she had already fired the attack before he was able to. Claus took the brunt of the attack since it spread so far, grunting to himself.
"N-no…" Lucas said to himself. He knew that they couldn't avoid fighting now, seeing Boney and Duster run up beside Kumatora to help.
Claus knew Lucas didn't want to fight, but he forced himself to shut down all emotion until this was over, he couldn't afford to go soft now. Utilizing his Thunder Striker, he charged up a powerful lightning.
"PK Thunder omega!" He shot out four powerful bolts of lightning at once at the group, forgetting that Lucas was still wearing the Franklin Badge.
The lightning hit the entire group but didn't knock them out like last time as they were more ready for it, but it still did a lot of damage. Lucas's Franklin Badge reflected one of the bolts of lightning back at Claus, who hissed and silently cursed himself for giving his brother such a deadly accessory that's now being used against him.
"Lucky little thing those Mr. Saturns gave ya, Lucas." Kumatora grunted, steeling herself after that lightning attack.
"I-I guess so…" Lucas said, frowning and looking down at his badge. Claus saw that it still looked like he didn't want to fight, but even so Lucas focused on his PSI and yelled out. "Defense Up omega!"
Claus gritted his teeth when he saw that Lucas used that move. It would be a LOT harder now to take them all out with that defense buff, as if it wasn't unfair already that he had to fight one against four. They make a deadly combination with someone who can use offensive PSI and someone who can use assist PSI. Not to mention Boney and Duster are pretty fast.
Claus analyzed the situation, trying to keep an eye on all four of them. Boney ran at him to bite his arm, but the masked boy shot his PSI Cannon at the dog to force him away, but Duster soon came in to kick Claus in the gut. The boy cringed but swung his sword at the man, slamming him down into the ground. Thanks to Lucas's Defense Up boost that didn't hurt Duster as much as it should have.
"How about I give you a taste of your own medicine? PK Thunder!" Kumatora summoned bolts of lightning of her own at Claus.
Claus always hated being hit by lightning as his metallic arm or Thunder Striker always draw them to him. He managed to dodge two bolts after having a lot of practice with those robots back on Tanetane Island, but Kumatora's lightning hit much harder when he was struck by a bolt.
Despite this, the young commander didn't back down. He fired his PSI Cannon at them, scattering the group a bit. "PK Fire gamma!" He spread out flames at them, burning their bodies with searing fire. He had to keep squashing down his heart when he heard Boney and Lucas crying out in pain.
"PSI Shield!" Lucas shouted, covering his body in a purple-ish shield. "Counter omega!" Then he covered his entire party with a golden shield.
Claus was no fool, he knew his brother specializes in shields and he wasn't going to let that stop him. Claus emotionlessly reached into his pocket and threw a tiny rocket over them. The rocket went through all four of them and completely destroyed the Counter Lucas had on them, including Lucas's own PSI Shield. The little rocket came back to Claus.
"You should learn new tricks, Lucas. I picked up the Shield Killer before coming here to fight you," Claus said, keeping his tone cold.
"The… what?" Lucas said, trying to refocus.
"Ack, our shields!" Kumatora cried out, when she noticed their shields were gone too. She looked over at Lucas and saw him trying to refocus. "Don't stress yourself out too much, Lucas! We can survive without shields every now and then, we're not going to let this Masked Man win."
"R-right…" Lucas said, instead trying to focus on using another PSI.
"No you don't!" Claus steeled himself and quickly closed in on Lucas, slashing at him with his Thunder Striker and sending him a few feet back. He felt his heart drop again when he heard Lucas cry out in pain, but he had to crush those feelings now. He suddenly felt a force knock him back and saw that Boney had pounced on him.
"How dare you hurt Lucas! I'm going to make you pay for that!" Boney growled as he bit into Claus's shoulder.
Claus jerked his arm back at the dog and threw him off before he used his sword to slam Boney into the vines. He turned and fired his PSI Cannon at Lucas and Kumatora, sending the two back.
"PK Freeze gamma!" He shot ice crystals around Kumatora, freezing her body.
Lucas looked like he was trying to concentrate on another PSI, but Claus wasn't going to give his brother the time to focus. Claus charged at him with his sword in hand, Lucas saw him coming and reacted quickly by grabbing his Mystic Stick to defend. The Mystic Stick came into a clang with Claus's Thunder Striker, Claus pushing Lucas back while Lucas had the stick over his throat to keep from being slashed by the sword.
"Why don't you quit!? Is this Needle worth losing everything!?" Claus snapped at Lucas after pushing him back. The smaller boy grunted as he was pushed back, looking back at Claus with dismay.
"I-I have to do this," Lucas said, shaking his head and trying to respond back at Claus's determined look with one of his. "This world will keep wilting until something can recreate it… and only the Dark Dragon can do that! Eventually the Pigmasks won't be able to do much anymore, but with the Dragon released, it can make this entire world safe and reborn again."
"You just assume that. The Pigmasks are succeeding in their endeavours and I rather the progress for rebuilding the world was slow rather than killing every living thing off just for a slight chance the Dragon would be kind enough to rebirth everything!" The young commander snapped.
Boney and Duster were trying to sneak up behind him, unfortunately for them Claus's synthetic eye easily picked up on them. He raised his Thunder Striker. "PK Thunder beta!" Summoning two bolts of lightning, they came down and struck Duster and Boney from behind without the masked boy even turning around.
"Just like our situation. It's easier to go in a group to get things done and fight off your enemies. I had to go at it alone for the majority of it." Claus hissed, his voice growing cold again. "And I won't stop until I succeed in my mission. If you really have the same resolve, Lucas, I suggest you stop holding back."
Lucas frowned in dismay and took a few steps back, shaking his head with each step. "I-I really wish that we didn't have to fight… B-but… PK Love Beta!"
Claus didn't expect him to use a slightly weaker version of PK Love, but nonetheless the attack still hurt him a lot as the hexagonal pieces shot out from Lucas and made contact with Claus before he had time to make a move himself.
"Grr… is that all you have, Lucas? I thought that you had learned PK Love Gamma," Claus said, regaining his resolve and standing back in fighting posture.
Lucas didn't say anything, just shook his head and took another step back.
"Stop harassing him, human freak!" Claus suddenly heard Kumatora yell behind him. She was using her inner fire to melt the ice he trapped her in earlier, and she was going to get out very soon.
"I'm really tired of dealing with you and your attitude," Claus said coldly to her. "Brainshock." He sent a wave of distortion at her way.
"A-ack! Grr…." Kumatora growled when the Brainshock hit her. The ice around her ceased to melt and now all she was focused on was holding her head and squirming her upper body around.
"Kumatora!" Lucas yelled when he saw what Claus did to her. He looked over at Claus once before focusing on another PSI. "Lifeup omega!"
Lucas covered his entire party in green light even though he wasn't touching them. Healing their wounds up from all of the Masked Man's brutal assault.
"You have a very troublesome PSI," Claus growled. "Defense down omega!"
Like how Lucas surrounded his party with a green aura, Claus surrounded them with a blue aura, canceling out the defense boost Lucas gave them earlier.
"PK Love Gamma!" He shot out the powerful blue energy from his chest as it flew into the sky and the hexagonal energy fell down like meteors upon the group.
"N-no!" Lucas shouted when he saw Claus's attack on them, reaching a hand out to all of them.
Boney whimpered and Duster groaned, trying to stand up from such an attack. Kumatora was still trying to get her senses back together. Lucas was face-to-face with the commander of the Pigmasks. Claus reactivated his Thunder Striker after his PK Love attack and began walking towards Lucas.
Lucas took another step back, with his head down and now slowly shaking his head. "W-why…? Why do we have to fight like this?"
Claus was still advancing towards Lucas, his Thunder Striker active and ready to strike at his side. "I told you already. That Dragon that you're so determined to release will do nothing but destroy everyone in place of this new world. The Pigmasks are trying their hardest to help this world, yet you time and time again keep standing in our way."
"T-the Pigmasks aren't helping! They're delaying it!" Lucas said with such a loud and clear voice that it even surprised Claus. "W-we have to do this… If we don't do it now, then everyone in the future will have to suffer with the world continuing to die anyways…"
"And how do you know that? Everyone thinks they're right," Claus said back. "I won't stand for it."
Claus swung his Thunder Striker at Lucas, causing the other boy to cry out in pain before Claus shot out his PSI Cannon at him.
"PK Fire Omega!" Kumatora suddenly shouted out, shooting out a tornado of fire out of nowhere.
Claus yelled out in pain as the twister of flames licked his body, he had been so distracted with Lucas that he failed to realize that Kumatora must've snapped back to her senses.
"Don't let his twisted words get to you, Lucas! Get back at him!" Kumatora encouraged. She was so close to ridding herself of the ice, the chunk now just down to her ankles.
"I-I…" Lucas eventually submitted to the pressure, squeezing his eyes shut and focusing on his most powerful PSI. "P… PK Love Gamma!"
Just like with Claus's earlier PK Love Gamma, Lucas unleashed the powerful blue energy into the sky as it rain down on Claus since he wasn't going to hurt his friends with it. The boy tried to dodge the hexagonal meteors, but he was unable to, just like with the Starstorm with those robots, he was beaten into the ground with the powerful attack.
Lucas ran at him and used a portion of his PK Love to hit him with his Mystic Stick. Claus responded back with Thunder Striker, but with both weapons powered by their PSI, they were at a stalemate. Boney, Duster and Kumatora managed to get out of their predicament and ran over at them. Boney tackled the young boy, Duster kicked him and Kumatora was more than happy to punch him.
Claus hissed and was in a lot of pain, but he refused to give up now. Despite Lucas having the Franklin Badge, he chanced another PK Thunder attack.
"PK Thunder omega!" Four bolts of lightning struck down on them, Lucas's Franklin Badge reflecting it right back at Claus, who took the hit before he charged at Lucas while the other three paralyzed from the attack.
Lucas gritted his teeth as he held back the commander's sword with his Mystic Stick again, putting in portions of his PK Love to enhance it. He used one of his foot to kick the other boy back, and noticed something flying out of his pocket.
"Huh?" The small object bounced a bit on the grass before it rolled in front of him, showing Lucas a picture of himself, Claus, Flint and Hinawa. It was… "The M-Memory Badge!? But I made this for Claus on our birthday!" He immediately stopped before staring at the masked boy. "... Claus…?"
Claus himself was weak and tired. He barely had any PSI left in this fight and he didn't have the recovery of the Energizing Mushroom with him, not that he wanted it anymore after the hallucinations it gave him. The boy looked up when Lucas said his name, and paled when he noticed Lucas was holding the Memory Badge he kept safely in his pocket.
"W-what… Give me that!" Claus said, marching up to take the Memory Badge away. Lucas wouldn't comply though, reeling his hand back when Claus made a grab for it.
"I-I knew it… There's no other reason why you would have this… It's really you, isn't it, Claus?" Lucas muttered, looking back up at Claus with a sad look in his eyes.
"No, I'm not Claus. I just took that from him," Claus said, not wanting Lucas to cry and trying to steel his resolve. "Now give it back."
"You're not Claus?" Lucas responded, frowning. He still refused to give back the badge. "Then why don't you take off that helmet then? I've never seen you without it."
"I'm not taking it off just because you said so." Claus glared. "Now give me the badge back."
Lucas ran away a few steps, still holding the badge, stopping and looking back at Claus. "I won't attack you! J-just… take off your helmet, even for just a second… I-if you don't... then I'll know it's you."
"I'm not Claus!" Claus snapped as he ran at Lucas to slam his Thunder Striker at him. Lucas shut his eyes and braced himself for the impact… but when it hit, it didn't hurt much. Opening his eyes, he saw the Thunder Striker was deactivated and was nothing more than a hilt that hit his chest.
Claus looked at the hilt. The masked boy knew his PSI didn't run out, but he had deactivated it because he couldn't stand to hurt his brother anymore. "J-just give me back the badge, Lucas."
Lucas didn't do that. He didn't do anything at first. Then without warning he swiftly took one hand and grabbed the side of Claus's helmet before throwing it off his head. Before Claus could react, his face was exposed. His ginger hair now showed off in broad daylight, even though the sun was setting at this point, with his one organic eye now showing.
"C-Claus…" Lucas said quietly, taking another step back and holding the Memory Badge to his chest before a few tears started silently spilling out.
Kumatora and Duster both froze when they saw the boy themselves, they remembered Lucas's suspicions of the Masked Man being Claus but they didn't think it was actually possible. Boney was staring, his jaw hit the ground.
Claus was in shock that he had just been exposed to Lucas after all this time of keeping his identity a secret. He looked around at the others as a cold panic began to enter his system. Claus couldn't bear this, the hate he's bound to receive from the real Lucas would be more than he could bear, especially after what he had done with their father. The panicking boy activated his jetwings, snapping everyone out of their initial shock and he began to take off into the sky.
"W-wait, we're not finished with you!" Kumatora shouted out, being the first to react. She ran forward and tried shooting a PK Freeze at him to slow him down.
Claus hissed as his jetwings weakened from the PK Freeze and tried to fly higher before Lucas ran and jumped at him, grabbing his waist. Boney was next as he grabbed onto Lucas's pants. Duster used his Rope Snake to grab onto Claus's leg and Kumatora grabbed onto Duster's legs.
With so many people and dog and snake on him at once, the jetwings were having trouble flying through the air. Claus tried to get them off him but they hung on tight, refusing to let go. The jetwings flew in an erratic pattern with all the weight on it and it soon began to malfunction. Claus was already low on PSI and pouring anymore into the jetwings like this would make him pass out for sure. He had no choice but to shut off the jetwings and in doing so everyone began to fall. They all crashed into an empty castle down below.
Claus was the first to recover, still not willing to let the others get to him. "A castle? Where even…" Ack, doesn't matter, all that matters is that I get AWAY until I can find a place where I can rest up a little… He quickly stood up and began running away, away from those four. He hissed in pain as his entire body ached in protest, but he forced it to go.
Boney was next to get back up, barking at Claus as he ran away. "Hey! Get back here, you… Just get back here!"
"Claus!" Lucas called.
Claus didn't stop, he kept going and hurried into another hallway of the castle.
"Why didn't you tell me you were a commander of the Pigmask army? Why did you have to hide your PSI from me for all these years? I'm hurt that you did that."
"Oh really? Was the secret so important that you felt you had to hurt me physically just to keep it a secret?You fought with me, you almost killed me, you pulled the other Needles and yet you had the audacity to judge me and say you're just trying to rebuild the world? Like you said… we're enemies now. I don't need you anymore, Claus, I have my friends and they're much more of a family to me than you ever were."
"And look at yourself, you've practically became their volunteered human chimera. Look at that arm and your eye, you've become a chimera, Claus. You're not my brother anymore, you're just a brainwashed monster doing the Pigmasks' will."
Claus could hear it all; it was straight from the illusion Lucas's mouth, and yet he could hear it very clearly. Lucas would never understand, and now he would hate him forever, especially after he had been hurting him so much. Claus had only wanted to save everyone from the destruction of the Dark Dragon, was that so wrong?
The tired boy ran into a dark room and stayed by the corner, hoping to rest up there. But it didn't take long for him to hear footsteps coming his way. No! How did they find me so quickly!?
"He's nearby, I can smell him!" he heard Boney barking. Of course that dog could smell his scent.
Claus stood up and ran out of the room as fast as he could before they were able to corner him in there. Running down the hallway again, he was trying to find a way to get away from them. There were some pretty big gaps the higher up he went in the castle, but he used his PSI on his jetwings to help him jump over those gaps, but he didn't have enough to fly right now.
Claus didn't stop, he kept going despite every muscle in his body screaming at him to stop. I can't stop now… I have to… hide…
He felt very dizzy and was forced to slow down, he put his hand on the side of his spinning head and stumbled further ahead. He found another door into a room and curled himself at a corner, hoping maybe he was far away enough from Boney so he couldn't smell him.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" Claus snapped his head up when he heard someone over him… it looked like a… ghost? "My, you look pretty much half dead boy."
"... I'm just… in hiding right now," Claus said to the ghost, too exhausted to be shocked or scared at the moment.
"Welcome to Osohe Castle then," The ghost chuckled. "Why are you hiding?"
"Just… personal reasons," Claus answered.
"Ah, I see. Well have fun with your hiding then," The ghost said before it disappeared.
Claus looked back at the corner, seeing a ghost reminded him of his deceased mother and briefly wondered if she hated him too for what he had become.
"M-Mom… If you were still here… what would you say?" Claus silently asked himself. His synthetic eye picked up signs of life nearing him.
"I can sense his PSI aura around here, it's weak but it's there." He heard Kumatora's voice in a distant.
Claus silently cursed, wishing he had picked up that bracelet from Dr. Andonuts back at the Chimera Lab, but no he had to completely forget about it.
There was a fireplace nearby, maybe it'll provide cover for him. The boy crawled to the fireplace, his head spinning more when he tried to move. But when he squeezed himself into the fireplace there was a pitfall inside, which made him fall. "Ow!"
He landed somewhere in the basement and groaned as he lifted up his head, there was a dried pit, where he assumed water for hot spring used to be judging from the hot spring sign. Too bad there wasn't any water, otherwise he could've used it to rejuvenate himself and get the heck out of here.
Claus had his back against the wall and sighed to himself. Surely they won't find me all the way down here… With that tired thought in mind, Claus began closing his tired eyes, wanting nothing more than to embrace the darkness of the abyss at the moment.
Meanwhile… Lucas just opened the door of the room he and Kumatora felt Claus was in, but it was strangely empty. "That's odd… I know we sensed him here…"
Boney was sniffing around before he said, "He WAS here."
Duster looked over at the fireplace and said, "You know… when I first came here… I remember that fireplace having a pitfall trap that lead me back down into the basement. It's possible Claus went in there to try and hide from us but fell through."
Kumatora sighed and said, "He's obviously very drained right now, he couldn't have gone far. So I say we go for it."
Lucas held onto the Memory Badge to his chest, he nodded as he was the first one to crawl into the fireplace. It didn't take long for the group to fall into the basement and fell on top of each other.
"Ow… please… get… off… of me…" Lucas groaned in pain with having Kumatora, Duster and Boney on top of him.
The other three quickly rolled off of him before Boney barked and ran over at Claus, who had his back against the wall and head dangling; it was clear he was unconscious. Boney gave a small whine.
"He's out cold," Boney said as Lucas approached his brother. The boy gently touched his head.
"S-should I… should I revive him?" Lucas asked, slightly unsure of himself. He looked back at Boney, Kumatora, and Duster for an answer.
"That might not be a good idea with how he is now," Duster said. "He looked pretty scared when he saw you discovered his identity."
"Lucas, isn't there any way you can talk to him without having to wake him up and possibly strain himself just to run away again?" Kumatora asked the boy.
Lucas frowned to himself. "I don't think there's…" he stopped for a moment when an idea came to his head. "Wait… I… I think there might be a way. But we haven't done this in… a long time…"
"What way is that?" Duster asked curiously.
The blond haired boy sat beside his sleeping brother, making himself comfortable. "We'll be talking in Magicant. I think Kumatora knows what I mean."
Kumatora's eyes lightened in realization. "You mean… you two can talk to each other in Magicant? That's almost unheard of! Magicant is supposed to be a place created by your mind and soul, how could…" then her eyes widened. "... Twins… of course… you two practically share the same soul!"
"But how would Lucas talk to him in this Magicant?" Duster asked.
"I think they have to be asleep with each other," Kumatora said.
"Wait, you're going to sleep, Lucas?" Boney whined.
Lucas nodded his head, both to Kumatora and Boney. "Nothing bad's gonna happen, Boney. Both me and Claus should be fine. Just, um… try to make sure nothing bad happens to us while we're asleep."
"Well this place isn't exactly the safest place to sleep." Duster frowned. "But you go on ahead and talk to your brother. Kumatora and I will piggyback both of you to Ionia's place."
"We are?" Kumatora looked at Duster.
"Yes, if we want at least one of them to pull the Needle there," Duster said to her.
"Right… fine. I'll take the ginger hair, you take Lucas," Kumatora said.
"Wait, really? I thought you hated Claus," Duster asked, surprised.
"I don't hate Claus, I just hate the Masked Man." She shrugged.
The two of them looked back at Lucas and Claus. Lucas had already closed his eyes with his head on Claus's shoulder, looking ready to sleep if he wasn't already.
"Aw, those two look so cute together!" Boney said, going up to the two of them and nuzzling both of them.
"... Still trying to sleep, Boney," Lucas said with his eyes still closed.
Boney walked over to them and laid on both of their legs, to help keep them warm like a blanket. "Then sweet dreams to you."
End of Part 5