Episode 2, Chapter 4: Kinetic Flashbacks, Team B (Lukas/Radar)

This chapter is from Radar's point of view.

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Lukas grabbed my hand as the lights shifted around us, the scene building itself as we stepped closer.

Ellegaard… She was in someone's arms - someone I didn't recognize, but Lukas did - with someone else being held by Axel.

"Oh, man… I guess this floor pries from our memories to come up with… ways to mess with us." Lukas mumbled, kneeling down in front of the scene. I couldn't find words, kneeling next to him.

All I had heard from this moment… I remember my dad walking into my room one night, sitting down with me and telling me… she was gone. Ellegaard Rose… the mom I'd never known. Not well, at least. Dad had always said she went back to Redstonia when I was a little kid, not old enough to remember her very well. Guess it was for the best…

Lukas put an arm around me… was he crying?

"You and I… both know… my fight is over." She said slowly, voice hoarse as she took slow, rattly breaths.

"Stuff and nonsense… Stuff and nonsense." The other guy said, tears already welling up in his eyes. Why would he lie to someone who meant so much to him? Why… Why lie to Ellegaard?

"Soren… Soren was never good at facing the music." Lukas chuckled softly. I looked over at him.

"What was… what was she like? Do you remember at all?"

"Crazy smart. Olivia said she wasn't the nicest person at first, but the two warmed up to each other pretty quickly. You should've seen them talk about new ways to optimize circuits in the downtime. They could've talked for… gosh, hours."

"But no mention of anything beyond that, huh."

"No, not usually. If we got anything out of her that wasn't related to redstone or the Witherstorm, it was usually her yelling about Magnus…" Lukas sighed, pulling me closer. I looked at him in confusion, only to be met with a pitying smile.

"What?" I asked, maybe a bit more defensively than I'd meant to.

"You were hoping she'd talked about her family, huh." He chuckled, ruffling my hair. "If we'd known you were her kid when you became Jess's intern, I think you'd have earned Olivia's adoration way sooner."

"It really suits you… Jess… keep it. I want you.. To keep it."

"But this armor belongs to you…"

I looked over at Lukas. "They used to sound like that, huh?"

"They didn't really start focusing on their appearance until after we'd gotten back from Sky City. Sure, they'd figured out their name n' pronouns, but hadn't really gotten anything past that until we found the portal hallway."

"A-At least I… f-finally got to be a real hero… r-right?" She looked over, eyes widening as she saw people slowly leaving the mass of obsidian and debris behind Lukas and I. "Oh, wow…"

"They're all… still alive. The Witherstorm didn't kill them!"

"Jess…" She coughed. "Those people… all of them. You have to help them."

Jess took her hand, pressing it to their chest. "Not without you. I don't leave anyone behind."

"Jess…" She took one last breath, the sound rattling through her. "Jess… promise me you'll… keep them all safe."

"I will. I will…"

She jerked back slightly, all too quickly going limp as her eyes rolled back and she slumped into Soren's arms, her hand hitting the ground. The others phased through us and gathered around her, faces carved into looks of deep grief.

My… everything felt heavy. My body, my heart… my soul. Lukas looked down at me, holding me close as tears fell.

"I'm here for you, kid." He said softly. Almost like dad. Almost. We sat there for what felt like an eternity, Lukas holding me like he'd always been my big brother...

We stood up, Lukas helping me stay upright as the scenery morphed around us. The somber sunset gave way to dark night, the moon barely illuminating the scenery.

"Where did you GO!?" We heard a loud voice from behind us. "Nia Juniper, if you don't… rrgh!"

I froze. Lukas looked at me. I couldn't do anything. He could.

"Nia… You know if you don't come down from whichever tree you're hiding in then Stella's gonna have both of our heads." He pleaded. We heard rustling nearby.

"You know she doesn't treat us right! She can barely remember my name! She doesn't even care about you - you're just a llama babysitter!"

Long hair dangled from a tree, a bespectacled head peeking from leaves. "Dad, come on. We should just go."

"...Is that…?" Lukas gave me a look as I nodded quietly.

"I didn't bother cutting my hair until I moved to Beacontown. Dad wouldn't have cared, but Stella was kind of adamant I style my hair like hers… so I did it just loose enough it'd come down naturally when I got home."

"You know I would love to, but we can't… We still owe Stella so much, and-"

"You only owe Stella because you blew her chances of having Ellegaard's redstone genius BEFORE her death! She used my stupid internship as leverage and that's why we're both stuck here! When we could just run away!" My past self yelped as he fell from the tree, jumping upright as dad loomed over him. "Can you really blame me…"

He paused, looking right at Lukas and I before taking a deep breath, holding his hand towards past-me. "Nia… you know someday I'd love to get us out of this mess. Move to Redstonia like we'd always planned… even without your mother, I've heard that the new leader… she's doing good things."

"Then why can't we go?" He pleaded.

"Because you're still only seventeen. Your internship ends next year; when it's over I hope you'll take some time to explore the world. You never know what you'll find."

I laughed, both now and in the past. "It was only a couple years ago. I stopped being Stella's intern not long after my birthday; traveled a bit and finally saw Boomtown and Redstonia for myself before deciding… I wanted to be close to dad. He wouldn't quit his own job, so I want to be there as often as I can be."

"Is that why you moved to Beacontown?" Lukas asked; I nodded. "It's a good reason; keeping close to home without diving back into what made it so awful."

"Maybe when this is done, I'll go home and pay him a visit. It's been a few months, haha." I laughed, "He'll enjoy the visit, I'm sure!"

Lukas grinning, nodding as past-me and Dad walked through us… with past-me on Dad's shoulders. It filled me with nostalgia, in a weird way.

We walked forward, Lukas grabbing me by the hood to stop me from suddenly falling from the edge of a walkway. We found ourselves high in the air, fog obscuring the depths below.

Lukas turned around, letting go of me as I stood on the floor, staring at the hole in the wall… and down towards the woman dangling from the block I was standing on. People were fighting behind me - I turned to look as I heard a loud crunch.

Jess - but from the past - had someone else in armor on the floor, clutching his mouth as they ran towards me, only for the kid to stand up and spring-kick him in the back.

All too suddenly, the full force of them and their armor hit me in the back, launching me forward as I fell into the void with them and the woman from before. Lukas poked his head over the edge, a look of horror on his face.

Radar falls, and fate calls. Does it make you cry, knowing Lukas didn't try?