The Purest of Evil part 5
"Taking the Fight to the Future,"
Lucas blinks a few times. He stares at the boy wrapping his arms around him. His eyes showing a massive amount of confusion and he hasn't been confused in a while with so much understanding setting in. "W-What…did you just say?" The boy seemed shocked as if realizing a mistake.
"You idiot!" Arcane yelled. He shot to his feet then rushed forward with electricity around his hands. Lucas turns his head just in time to see him rush forward creating an electrified dagger aimed directly at Alex and him. He thrust forward only to hit the castle wall. He gasped as he looks to the side to see Lucas had avoided the attack with Alex in his arms latching on to his neck.
"Hold it!" Claus yelled extending his blade in front of Arcane. "We're talking about this first,"
"We don't have time for talk…the last thing we need to do is talk," Rob stated coldly. He revealed his blade then moved to attack Claus.
"Uncle Claus!" Alex exclaimed. Claus was a little thrown being called uncle, but he still took heed of the warning as he sharply turned to block Rob's blade with his own.
"For guys who talk about doing good, you do a lot dirty tricks and crude methods," Claus grunts gritting his teeth to fend off Rob's attack.
"It's called war, you leave your morals behind you otherwise they'll be what get you killed," Arcane stated as he returned his focus on Lucas. Lucas sat Alex back down then turns to face Arcane.
"That's a pretty pathetic excuse. If you claim to have others best interest you can't possible abandon your morals since that is what drives a person, gives them their resolve. For you to say that means you lack purpose and are no better than those you fight against," Lucas accused.
"Your psychology bullshit is really annoying!" Arcane exclaims as he swings electrified punches at Lucas who easily avoids each strike.
"You probably say that because it's true," Lucas glares at him. "You came all this way to kill me to prevent something terrible…a boy who called me his dad…and Claus being here makes all this finally make sense in some way," Lucas grabs Arcane's wrist restraining him. "You're from another time period aren't you?"
"Seriously!?" Kumatora exclaims.
"It does make sense, how they know us, how they know so much about us," Duster said picking himself up.
Arcane sent a powerful electric shock through Lucas making him release Arcane and fall back. Arcane rushed forward to jab his fist into Lucas' cheek. Lucas was quicker though as he sidestepped the attack then managed to grab Arcane's arm and making it twist until he had the arm trapped behind him. Lucas then leaned backward to fall back with Arcane's face slamming into the ground. Lucas was now on top of Arcane pinning him to the ground. "Give up!"
"Why, I thought you planned on killing us?" Rob exclaimed after being thrown to the ground by Claus. Claus brought his boot down on Rob's arm then points his sword tip into Rob's face.
"It's no longer necessary to go that far," Lucas said simply. "I could kill you both but now that I know what's going on I think it would benefit more keeping you alive,"
"Torture, sounds like something you'd do,"
"Tell me something have you witnessed these horrors first hand?"
"Of course I have I-,"
"I see, so you have witnessed chaos, destruction, and disorder. Then I'm afraid the world you are talking about is not one that I would create. This chaos you speak of is purely your own foolishness blossoming into stupid disorderly conduct of your own creation. I would not stand for such things, if anything I'd let you apes have at it, and anyone who wants to act civilized has the option,"
"You…"
"Lucas…" Claus muttered.
"No, not everything is as perfect like you say dad. I mean, I'm sure that may've been your original thought, but things have gotten much worse than that," Alex said quickly stepping forward. "Arcane, Rob, I know how we can still complete this mission. I know how we can save everyone!"
"We kill the bastard!" Arcane yelled.
"Honestly that was never going to be possible," Alex spoke. "We think that we can create a better future by killing the hero before he goes bad, but it won't work. His death will cause a rippling effect in time, which may create a future even worse then what we could possibly imagine. These are powers we have no idea how to control,"
"Isn't that the truth, he's definitely related to me," Lucas said with a triumphant smirk. Alex seemed to blush a bit before quickly hurrying over to Arcane. He reached into the boy's pockets to pull out a small sphere. He deactivated Arcane's gloves by grabbing the wrist and yanking them off. He had Lucas place their hands together as Alex place metal rings around his wrist. The ball activated sending out a focused magnetic field that made the bands cling to one another and allowing Lucas to release him. Alex did the same with Rob with Claus's assistance. After Claus dragged Rob over to Arcane then tossed him to the ground. Alex also removed the glowing spheres from both time travelers to prevent any funny business. "So, now they pose no threat?"
"They've got nothing left that can hurt us now," Alex assured them.
"Good, now I want to hear some explanations," Kumatora said walking over seemingly after healing herself with Duster leaning on her for support.
"Alex, care to explain?" Flint gestured to the boy. Alex observed everyone for a few moments, his eyes lingering on Lucas for a bit before falling to the ground.
"Say too much and you could create a time paradox that could destroy us all!" Rob exclaimed.
"Which is why I have to pick my words carefully…" Alex said. "I can't give any spoilers…aside from the ones you've gotten now…because of my big mouth…but I can't give anymore,"
"The fact that Lucas has a kid is a pretty big spoiler," Kumatora said looking the boy up and down. "Geez, you are the spitting image of him too with the hair and everything!"
"Who's the lucky lady?" Claus jived as he nudged his brother with his elbow.
"Obviously I haven't met her yet," Lucas said looking at Claus with a slight hint of distaste. Claus caught on to the look and instantly backed off awkwardly. "But let's keep that bit of information secret, wouldn't want me to scare the poor girl off,"
"Right, especially since it apparently took you months to just strike up a conversation with her…" Alex said with a smirk. Lucas crossed his arms, a look Alex seems to recognize quite well. "Alright, alright, I'll get straight to it," Alex sighs as he opens up Lucas's journal to begin looking through it. Lucas frowns slightly at having his thoughts callously looked through in front of him, but he says nothing understanding the gravity of the situation. "In the future my dad had kept a journal like this one," Alex said holding up the booklet. "He filled it with things that crossed his mind, often thoughts that suddenly came to him. I don't know why, but he would sometimes behave so weird. Some days he'd be the loving person I knew him to be, and other days he'd be this cold callous monster who couldn't care about anything aside himself. It was a constant change in persona, but over a while, his cold days started becoming more and more frequent. I never got a chance to look in his book, but once. I was really confused, he…he almost killed me when he caught me reading it…"
"So not even his precious son is worth an iota to him," Rob snickered at Alex. This prompted Lucas to swiftly slam his fist on top of Rob's head to earning a yelp of pain.
"Speak only when spoken to," Lucas instructed coldly. This made Rob frown as he glowers at the ground, but made all the Tazmilly Residence raise an eyebrow at Lucas. "Go ahead Alex please continue,"
"Right…" Alex looked back down at the journal in his hands. "I believe that something was wrong with him, something that no one even knew. How could such a person change so drastically day in and day out? It wasn't always bad either as you two seem to believe. Some days it is what you've always wanted Da-I mean Lucas. Other days, when the other side of yourself came out, it was like some distorted nightmare. It was rather terrifying having to live with him, never knowing what the day would hold, if he may deem you unnecessary or an annoyance. He'd make anyone who didn't believe in what he was working for suffer, no matter who it was…" Alex's eyes cast toward Flint making the man gulp catching on to the implications Alex hinted to.
"So what we get him therapy, because he's so willing to just sit down and talk about his feelings?" Arcane challenged.
"Killing the past version of him sounds like a plan just as bad, and just as well thought out. Waste of time and resources, what we should be doing is finding out the truth,"
"What truth?"
"Heroes don't just go bad for no reason. They don't turn on everything they know, everything they've fought for, only a whim. Something had to happen, something pushed him and we may be able to find out what it was. We should study the past, not change it," Arcane's eyes fall down to the ground in annoyance. "I mean, haven't you ever wondered how things had lead up to what they are?"
"Every day, but how do you plan on us fixing this?" Rob questions glaring at Alex. Alex walks toward Rob then reaches behind the boy to free him from his shackles surprising him greatly. He stares back at Alex curiously almost apprehensive.
"Trust me, if we want this to be worth anything we're going to have keep from losing ourselves," Alex explains extending a hand toward Rob.
"I almost killed you,"
"And I forgive you for that," Alex responds.
"Alex, what you're planning could hold consequences,"
"We've already tampered with the past, we may as well go all the way now,"
"Alright, I'm game," Arcane suddenly spoke up surprising the two of them. "What, don't look so surprised, I've seen heroism in action before and I can tell a good plan from a bad plan,"
"But what guarantee will we have that this won't be a waste of time that we won't make things worse?" Rob asks.
"Because we have him on our side," Alex said jabbing a thumb at Lucas. This seemed to be a factor that Rob did not think of, but clearly made him smirk. "Rather have him on our side then against us,"
"Fair enough, alright let's try it your way," Rob said taking Alex's hand as the boy helped him to his feet and then they shook hands.
"Warm fuzzies all around, now can someone untie me too?" Arcane whines.
"Why were you so ready to jump on board with my plan anyway?" Alex asked suspiciously.
"Listen, I've seen hopeless situations and I can say that believing in something better does make all the difference. A…really close friend," Arcane quickly shakes off the showing of emotion on his face to obtain an annoyed one. "Just get me out of these things already!" Alex obliged as he released Arcane from his bonds. The boy stands to his feet while rubbing his wrist. "So what's the first thing we do?"
"I need to do something dangerous first…" Alex says stepping forward returning Lucas's journal. "We need my dad's journal, this version right now is too new, before the change happens. I need the version he has in the future,"
"Wait…so are you saying-,"
"I need to go home," Alex said with utter dread.
"Whoa, let me say this now, you are one gutsy kid," Arcane said with amazement.
"What's the problem?"
"The Oshoe Palace is one of the most protected and dangerous strongholds to ever exist as far as we know. It'd be impossible to get to the front door,"
"I lived there remember, I know the ins and outs of that place. I even snuck out and snuck back in with nobody any the wiser about it. Besides I won't have to sneak in, with any luck I can just walk right in,"
"I thought you said your dad disowned you," Rob question with narrowed eyes.
"That's not exactly true…I was scared being around him nowadays. He terrified me so much and he finally decided that he'd had enough with my weakness. He cast me out and said not to come back unless I learned to stop being afraid of my own dad. In his own words he said 'the animals out there may be able to teach you a thing or two',"
"So you only got kicked out," Arcane said while nodding. "Sounds to me like an invitation for you to come back eventually,"
"The only issue I find might be that everything that I have learned today I may remember in the future since thanks to your machine this is a cause and effect type happening," Lucas points out.
"Oh shoot!" Rob yelled in panic as he reached for his Phase Twister.
"Don't worry, as soon as I thought of talking I decided to break the connection. They are still linked to our future, but the cause and effect command has been turned off. With a change in plans I couldn't allow everything we do to be set in stone, not until we're sure about what we want to be remembered," Alex explains. Lucas allowed a satisfactory smirk to come his lips as if boasting the confidence he has in his legacy. "I'll head to the future to retrieve the journal,"
"Not alone," Rob stated sternly. Alex turns to Rob sharply as if surprised. "What with that surprised look!?"
"I mean…you kinda… hate me…"
At this statement Rob bashfully rubs the back of his head, "Don't sweat it Alex, Rob is like that with everyone he meets. It's when he flat out ignores you is when you should be concerned," Arcane said quickly speaking up for Rob.
"I don't make friends easily," Rob admits. "But if you're willing to look past the fact I almost…murdered you…I guess I can look past the fact that who you have as a father isn't really your fault,"
"What?" Claus butts in with a narrowed eye looking at Rob in clear bafflement.
"Yeah…that's a pretty stupid reason to hate somebody," Kumatora adds with her arms crossed.
"I know!" Rob exclaims. "Get off me back hag!"
"Call me that again, and I'll tears out your-,"
"Jumping back to our main topic!" Lucas calls over the threat. "Rob is right, going alone is suicide. Even if you did once call the place home, as you've expressed just now, that isn't your home anymore. It would be best to have some help, so I will go with you,"
"WHAT?!" everyone exclaims in confusion.
"I am the logical choice. Unless I run into the future version of myself, then I should be able to handle anything. Alex is powerful but untrained. Perhaps fighting alongside me may help him learn a few things, and if I have gotten over my hatred of technology there may be something like a code or something that makes sure only I can access the journal. I mean, they are made to be private,"
"I suppose that makes sense the way you put it…but sending you to the future. Wouldn't that be…drastically bad, the past should never meet the future," Rob points out.
"Guys, it's already faaaar too late to worry about how all this stuff affects the timeline," Claus points out. "That's why we're doing this, to change the future right?"
"He does have a point," Flint nods in agreement. Lucas eyes casted over to Flint, he noticed that the man is staring at Claus, as if fighting off the instinct to embrace him. Well he supposed that he recognized that this was serious and that the reunion could wait a little. Lucas couldn't resist the scoff he let out before looking away.
"Well Alex can't go alone, so who goes with him?" Arcane questions.
"You and Rob definitely can't, the second my dad knows your there he may flip out and kill us before we reach the front door,"
"Alright, so Lucas, Alex, and I will go," Claus states plainly.
"Why?" Lucas questions not bothering to hide the displeasure in his voice.
"For one, I want to know what happened too. I've seen some of the future so I won't be too overwhelmed, and I can make up for the lack of skill on the team. No offense Alex,"
"None taken Uncle Claus,"
"That sounds fair, these two guys can stay with us," Duster gestures to Rob and Arcane.
"What, why?" Rob questions.
"Yeah, why?" Kumatora adds.
Duster sighs, "These boys were given a mission to kill Lucas, remember? Whoever they work for will most likely not be pleased they deviated from their mission. It wouldn't surprise me if we faced some retaliation, and you two are our only lifeline to the future without Alex here. We need to be aware of what's going on, and if we may need to leap into action,"
"Fine," Both pink haired PSI users growled.
"Great, I hadn't been able to relax for a while now, let's crash at the castle," Arcane said placing his hands behind his head. Kumatora looked like she was about to protest but said nothing. Possibly remembering there was probably nowhere else to stay where they could keep an eye on them properly.
"We should leave as soon as possible," Alex says.
"Why, we're time traveling we'll be there at the same time no matter which day we leave here?"
"Well every second counts here. Besides it's dangerous to program a jump so close to when you leave or arrive. That can create paradoxes, and you should never be in the same place as your current self," Alex explains.
"We did just have a battle, so we should recover some of our strength before the journey," Lucas points out.
"Good idea, hadn't eaten in a while myself, could use a little recharge time," Claus said with a small smile.
Alex sighs seemingly in relief, "I suppose if can't be helped," Though everyone could tell that he was rather happy they didn't have to go so soon.
"Alright then, let's eat something is there a kitchen in this castle?" Arcane said walking toward it. Everyone else shrugged as they all moved to the castle as well.
"Claus," Flint called to his son. Claus paused in his stride as he turned to face his father. The man said nothing as he approached and wrapped his arms around his son. Claus smiled warmly as he returns to hug sternly as he was just as happy to see him as Flint was. "So good…to have you back son,"
"Good to be back dad," Claus responds. His eyes venture back to see Lucas had glanced toward them before moving into the castle. "But…I don't think Lucas feels the same,"
"You did try to kill him, willingly this time," Flint said with clear disapproval in his voice.
"I know and I'll need to start apologizing like crazy to get him to forgive me. I mean I could never kill him myself, but…from what I saw it seemed like the only option,"
"There's always a better way…" Flint lets out a sigh before giving his son a tired smile. "Honestly, Lucas isn't happy with me either. I can tell the way he looks at me, a hint of disgust, and I suppose I can't blame him for that,"
"But it's not like Lucas to hold a grudge, maybe something is happening to him. Maybe we may be already too late…"
"He's willing to take action so I suppose that is all the reassurance we need that he's still with us,"
Claus responds by simply nodding as they both move to enter the castle. Everyone had gone inside at this time, everyone except for Alex who managed to stay behind on his own. His eyes stared at the castle walls then toward the sky to see the setting sun in the distance. He stared down at his hands as if looking at foreign objects. He wasn't really sure why he was looking at them like that. He had always been so afraid to be assertive about his beliefs that it had always been difficult for him to speak up about his ideas. His father had always told him that he was special, that he would do wondrous things on day. It was kind of his destiny to do something like this, as his father had journeyed to pull the needles to reset the world it seems he is going to do the same.
"I can do this," Alex turns toward the sky then back toward the castle an unsettling feeling in his stomach just looking at it. Obviously, it is not like the Oshoe Palace he lives in, but it still gave him the uncomfortable feeling of home. He pushes his feelings to the side though suddenly turning to glance behind him. He saw no one which made him think his emotions are greatly clouding his senses and objectivity. He quickly runs inside the Castle unaware of the danger outside.