This story came to mind after Lance's purified form was first revealed in the Balan Wonderworld game and Redbat132 encouraged me to write it. :)
Balan Wonderworld belongs to Square Enix. I own nothing. Warning: some spoilers for both the game and comic book.
Can't Have One Without The Other
Emma woke up with a gasp, sitting up quickly and looking around, finding herself on one of the sofas in one of the living rooms in the theater. She heard Leo gasp as he woke up and looked around, looking a bit frightened. He then saw her. "Emma?" He asked. "What happened?"
She blinked. "We...We saved them all," she said. "And...we faced Lance."
The boy nodded. "He...He looked just like Balan," he said. "A bit different, but still...,"
He trailed off and she looked at him. "Who was Lance really?" She asked.
"He was the maestro of Wonderworld before me."
Hearing Balan's voice, they both turned to see him come in and he was in his human form. He smiled at them. "You both fell asleep after the celebration," he said. "Not that I blame you. You both had quite an adventure."
Leo sat up more. "Balan? I thought Lance was the bad guy," he said.
The maestro took a deep breath, looking troubled. "It's...rather difficult to explain," he admitted. "Lance isn't so much a bad guy, but is rather...,"
He couldn't find the word to describe it and Emma looked up at him. "Misunderstood?" She offered helpfully.
"Yes, thank you, my dear," Balan said, nodding.
Leo looked thoughtful. "When we beat Lance, he transformed," he said. "He looked almost like you, Balan."
"That was what he looked like before the negativity became too much, creating the form you both saw on your journey to save the others."
Emma noticed how down Balan looked. "Balan, are you okay?" She asked.
He sighed. "I will be, young one," he said, placing a hand on her head, lightly ruffling her hair in affection.
"Balan, what is it?" Leo asked.
The tall being sighed. "I was just hoping that there was a way to restore Lance, but...without his heart of balance, that cannot be done. Not only that, the Negati took him away again," he said. "If I knew where his heart of balance was, I might be able to find him."
Emma gasped and reached into the pocket of her jacket and withdrew a pink crystal heart from it. Balan's eyes widened at seeing that. "Emma, where did you get that?" He asked gently.
"When Lance vanished into that portal and it closed, that heart was all that was left," Leo explained. "We didn't know what to do though, so Emma kept it for safekeeping until we could ask you."
The maestro felt tears sting his eyes. "Lance made sure you two got his heart of balance," he said as the heart floated over to him and floated above his own palm. "There's still a chance then, but...,"
He trailed off and looked at the two kids. "I hate to ask this as you're still recovering from that battle...,"
"We'll do it, Balan," Leo said.
"If you can pinpoint where Lance is, Leo and I will go and do our best to save him," Emma promised.
"Are you both certain, my dears?" Balan asked.
They nodded and hugged him, to which he hugged them back, feeling a few tears fall from his eyes at their kindness. The two children really were something and proving he had made the right choice to have them help when they first entered his theater. He now scooped them up and carried them to the dining room. "Why don't we get breakfast first and then we'll put the plan in action," he suggested.
Both the children heard their stomachs growl and nodded, making their friend chuckle as they all sat down to enjoy the delicious food.
They had just finished eating when a Tim hopped in and jumped into Balan's lap, chirping and he listened before nodding. "Thank you, little one," he said before looking at the children. "It seems the Tims feel that Lance can still be saved too. Some of them recall when Lance was once me."
"Balan...are you sure Lance can be saved?" Leo asked. "What if...he's negatized again?"
"You must get through to him like you did before, my boy," Balan said gently.
"If we could do that once, we can do it again," Emma said.
Leo nodded. "Okay," he said. "So do we start at the portal where we first battled Lance?"
"I'll look into it," Balan promised.
They headed to the Isle of Tims where they stood before the double doors leading to the dark room and Balan held a hand out, closing his eyes and opening them a moment later to reveal them glowing. "He's fighting back with his magic," he said. "Which means he's trying to fight off the negativity."
When the two heard that, they immediately ran to the doors, about to push them open to enter the portal. "Wait, my dears!" Balan cried out urgently, appearing in front of them and catching them in his arms with a chuckle. "I'm glad you're eager, but let me give you something to help out."
With that, he waved his hand around his white top hat and before the children's eyes, two more white top hats appeared and rested gently on their heads before magic surrounded them and they felt themselves get a bit taller until they found themselves standing at Balan's shoulder height and they looked to see they were wearing his costume. They looked at him in surprise and he chuckled. "Extra jump and flying abilities," he said. "They will come in handy for this mission."
Both kids took a deep breath and faced the doors, which Balan opened with a wave of his hands. "Good luck, my young ones," he told them, placing his hands on their shoulders. "I'll be watching on the sides and will interfere should you need my help."
They nodded and all three walked inside, the gloom of the room surrounding them and feeling a bit cold, just like when they first entered the room after saving all the inhabitants. Emma reached out and took Leo's hand and he gently squeezed her hand. "I know," he said softly. "It's really unnerving."
Just then, they heard something and looked to see it was some Negati and they seemed to be hunting for something. Leo then looked up and to his shock, the portal that had appeared when Lance was dragged away was open again and in the sky with the Negati searching around. Emma noticed and looked surprised before looking at Leo.
"Do you think Lance might have escaped?" She asked softly.
"Maybe," he replied in a whisper.
Just then, something clapped over their mouths and pulled them back. "Shh," a soft voice said as the two struggled. "Don't make a sound or you'll alert them."
They turned to see Lance in his purified form was behind them, but his outfit looked a bit torn and singed, meaning he had been in a battle. "Lance," Emma said in surprise.
"What are you two doing here?" He asked, his face filled with concern. "You shouldn't have entered the doors again."
"We wanted to save you," Leo said. "That's why you gave us your heart of balance, right?"
Lance looked worried before sighing. "I'm afraid there is no escape for me, young ones," he said, his blue eyes sad. "The Negati won't let me go."
Emma got a determined look on her face and she stood up. "I've got an idea," she said. "Leo, Balan lent us his costume, right?"
"Right," the boy said.
"I'll distract the Negati and you get Lance out of here."
Leo bit his lip thoughtfully and then shook his head. "Emma, you have Lance's heart," he said. "Let me handle the Negati and you get Lance to Balan. I'll be right behind you."
"Are you sure?" She asked.
He nodded. "If the Negati get Lance's heart of balance...,"
"We could lose Lance," she finished. "You're right. Okay, let's do this."
Lance shook his head. "Young ones," he tried to protest, but Emma grabbed his hand.
"Nope," she said firmly. "You're leaving this horrible place today, Lance."
Leo nodded, getting ready. "Alright, let's go," he said as he began using his dancing skills and the abilities Balan's costume lent him to distract the Negati, who gave chase, but were no match for the boy.
Emma took Lance's hand and when the coast was clear, she jumped high in the air and flew with Lance holding onto her hand and flying beside her as they made it out of the portal and onto the Isle of Tims. Leo was almost out too when a large Negati grabbed him and he cried out. "Leo!" Balan cried out in worry.
Lance instantly flew back to the doors, grabbing the boy's hands and holding firm, glaring at the Negati. "Let the boy go," he said, his voice firm and becoming deeper.
The Negati screeched before golden balls of light hit it, making it lose its grip on Leo and Lance pulled the boy closer to him, leaping back and flying a bit through the air to land at a safe distance as the Negati screamed, but a golden glow surrounded the doors, courtesy of Balan. Moments later, the portal to the dark world vanished and the top-hatted being nodded. "It isn't fully gone, but at least we won't have to see it," he said before turning to Lance and the kids.
Emma and Leo stood before Lance and both held the heart of balance to him and he went to take it, but then hesitated. "Why?" He asked softly. "Why were you two determined to save me?"
"Because you're not a bad guy," Emma told him.
"You did try to stop us on our journey, but you never once hurt us," Leo said. "Even when we battled you, it seemed you were not really trying to hurt us, but rather stop us."
Lance looked down. "I...I didn't want to hurt you," he said. "Though, you did get hurt a bit."
"Not a lot," Emma said before she and Leo gently pushed the pink crystal heart towards the white-haired being's chest and no sooner did the heart vanish inside of him and their hands were resting over his heart, tears filled Lance's eyes and he pulled them both into a hug, holding them tightly.
"Forgive me, little ones," he said softly.
"We already did," Leo told him.
Balan came closer and smiled at the scene. "Lance," he said, getting the other's attention. "Welcome back."
"Balan," he said, letting the two teenagers go before standing up, but before he could say more, the green-haired maestro glomped him, hugging him tightly.
"Lance," Balan said softly, his breath hitching, which told the other that he was crying.
Lance hugged the other back and felt Leo and Emma hug them both. After a bit, Balan gently pulled away, wiping at his eyes slightly. "Sorry," he said apologetically. "I know we argued before, but...I always hoped you could be saved too, Lance."
His counterpart smiled gently. "Balan, you always see the good," he said.
His tendriled form returned and he looked at it before closing his eyes and his purified form returned. "Looks like I can switch back and forth," he said. "Which means I still represent negativity." He bowed his head at this sadly.
Emma gently touched his hand, making him look at her. "That doesn't mean you have to be the bad guy," she said.
"Yeah," Leo said. "You know, we've been taught that there's always a struggle between good and bad, but both have to be in balance with each other. You can't have too much of one of them."
"And you can't have one without the other," Emma said, nodding. "You and Balan are both needed here, Lance."
"They're right, Lance," Balan said. "That's why I was hoping you could be saved and when Emma showed me your heart of balance, I knew it was your way of asking to be saved. I'm just sorry it took so long."
Lance smiled gently. "I knew these two were as persistent as you, Balan," he said as he ruffled both Leo's hair and Emma's hair, making both teens smile. The Tims chirped happily and Balan smiled again.
Things felt right and balanced once again, thanks to two brave teens and their determination to not ever give up.
I just love Lance and will never see him as the bad guy.
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
