Fractured Reality Part 5
Back with Ninten, Flame, and Chief Barrack who are standing quietly while Ninten tries to have a conversation with Ness through his telepathy. Ninten opens his eyes to look at the other two who simply stand aside watching.
"Everything okay?" Barrack asks.
"Yeah, everything is fine, I think our friend just needs some space," Ninten explains.
"Well it's unsafe for him to venture too far, it may be daylight hours, but these creatures prey on any they see as an easy target," Barrack advises.
"Got it, Ness says he'll keep an eye on him for the time being, sorry about that."
"No need to apologize," he responds.
"Is Lucas hurt?" Flame asks with concern.
"No, he's not. He's ignoring my telepathic messages but I can tell he's okay. I guess we'll just regroup after we're done here." Ninten faces Barrack again. "Like Flame said, we're not from this world, we're looking for a way back home, and also to figure out why we were brought here."
"To call beings from another world does seem like something that is plausible for a Guardian...Although like I said, I doubt you will get much help from the Guardian of this particular layer."
"Why?" Ninten asks.
"Well for starters, she's the one who has put us in the sorry state we're in," Barrack says, gesturing to the small village. Seeing the people go about their days in a calm and collected manner. "Despite the atmosphere, everyone here is in danger of that witch."
"What do you mean? I thought the Guardians were supposed to protect the people of Peril," Flame said.
"That's what I heard as well, but it seems like this Guardian is more focused on protecting the nature of this layer more so than the people who live on it. The plants and animals have become aggressive in exterminating us. The greenery trying to overtake our settlement on a daily basis, the beasts that attack on a nightly basis, and food becoming harder to obtain. Many settlements have been lost already, many of the people here are refugees."
"How do you know the Guardian is behind this?" Flame asks.
"People have seen her aiding in their destruction, I've also had the pleasure myself," Barrack says, lifting his shirt partially to reveal a gnarly scar on his stomach. It was probably larger than he was showing.
"Geez…well the option of asking her for help is out…" Ninten mutters.
"But this is wrong! They aren't supposed to do this to Perilians. They're supposed to be protectors. This isn't right…" Flame says with disappointment in his voice.
"Maybe it was like that once upon a time, but that isn't our reality now."
"What about Old Power, do you know much about that?" Ninten asks.
"Why do you ask?" Barrack questioned.
"Someone with a strange power attacked us last night, he even possessed our friend. We couldn't figure it out, so do you know much about it?"
"It is a blessing...and a curse." Barrack admits. "It is supposed to be a blessing to Perlians from our god to empower us to control our own fate. Now it just paints a target on your back. The Guardian has been targeting those with the special power, most likely seeing them as a threat, though I doubt anyone could challenge them. Their strength in Old Power is supposed to be second to Haven himself."
"I understand, thanks for your help Chief," Ninten says.
"I'm sorry you came all this way for bad news," He says with a guilty look on his face.
"No, we have a better idea of the situation we're in. Least we know not to greet the Guardian with roses…"
"Is there anything we can do for you guys?" Flame asks. Barrack looks at Flame surprised but smiles warmly.
"Thank you for the thought, but your home is one giant target. How it hasn't been targeted till now is no short of a miracle."
"But you have helped me out when I needed you too, it's the least I can do!" Flame asserts.
"I appreciate the thought, but nightfall will be upon us in a few hours. I think it best you find shelter for yourselves, that'd at least help bring some peace of mind to me," He bends down to rub the head of Bone. "Plus you helped bring the mutt back to me, so that was much appreciated, I can't really afford to lose much else."
"Thanks again Chief," Ninten says as he pulls Flame with him to follow.
Flame wriggles against the hold, "Wha-But, Ninten we can't just-,"
"There's nothing we can do for them right now. Let's regroup with Ness and Lucas and decide our next move before it gets dark."
"But-,"
"They have limited resources, the last thing they need is the four of us to mooch off them. We shouldn't impose on them, besides we'll know where the Guardian is going to be later." Ninten says. They return to the gate to see Ness standing there along with the guards. "We finished our talk, where's Lucas?"
"Just a few paces up the path," Ness gestured.
"Alright lets get him and go," Nintn says.
"Alright, nice chat guys," Ness says to both guards who only raise an eyebrow at Ness, possibly not catching on to sarcasm too well. They travel up the path a few yards until they see Lucas sitting under a tree. He seems withdrawn into himself as he's curled up with his face in his knees. At their approach he lifts his head to them then moves to his feet.
"You okay Lucas?" Flame asks, rushing over to the blonde.
"I'm fine, can we go now?" Lucas asks without meeting the other boy's eyes.
"Yeah, let's hurry back," Ninten says leading the way.
"But are you sure, you can seem off at times, but this feels different?" Flame asks.
"Dont worry about it…" Lucas responds.
"I don't understand, that statement doesn't make me less concerned at all!"
"It's what people say when they want you to mind your own business," Ninten responds as he pulls Flame forward. Lucas looks forward at their retreating backs before looking to see Ness staring at him.
"What?"
"Nothing bud, just...nothing," He says, ruffling Lucas' head as he walks past him. Lucas looks a bit confused by the gesture but follows after them. The four of them barely make it back to the castle before nightfall rolls in, covering the land in moonlight. After passing through the wide open door again, Lucas uses telekinesis to force the doors into place. With a concentrated beam of PSI he begins welding the doors shut. He remarks that they'd need to use a different means of leaving the castle.
"Is he doing that so we don't talk to him?" Flame asks.
"Probably, what's for dinner?" Ness asks.
"I've been experimenting with a little something. Unless you guys want more sticks, oh wait, someone went into my stash…" Flame gives Ness a pointed look.
"Despite the name, they were delicious!" Ness exclaims.
"I'll call you guys," Flame says, moving toward the kitchen seemingly to prepare food.
"I'm gonna hit the bathhouse," Ninten says as he sighs.
"Shouldn't we…" Ness gives a slight nod toward Lucas at work on the door.
"If you want, I don't think he's that inclined to talk at all," Ninten says with a shrug. He walks away with Ness looking after him. Ness wasn't sure what his next move should be, but he knew what was important to do at that moment. Ninten and Flame would brief them over dinner most likely, so he'll just hang around Lucas. Ness walks over to Lucas, seeing him using a super heated beam from his finger that melts the metal like a makeshift blowtorch.
"How can you do that if you don't know PK Fire?"
"PSI is energy and energy can produce heat. If you can concentrate enough, you can do all kinds of things with it. Raw PSI energy, like the kind we use, is pretty adaptable in how we use it. That's why it's so special."
"Huh, never knew that. How'd you learn so much about PSI?"
"A lot of trial and error. Some of it was taught to me by some folks who had helped awaken my powers."
"I've only used it to blast people. Makes me feel like I don't know my powers as well as I thought."
"Not necessarily. You've used them as needed, plus you have great control over your powers. If you tried, I'm sure you could use em however you wanted."
"That's cool, I've always wanted to shoot a PK Rocken out my feet."
Lucas snorts at that thought. "You might destroy your shoes if you aren't careful."
"Well I can't go walking around barefoot dude, what kind of hero would I look like if I just went around kicking butt without shoes?!"
"A hero all your own, that's for sure."
Ness smirks at Lucas. He was a bit surprised that Lucas could hold a normal conversation. The blonde was so against talking with others that Ness thought this would be a much harder process. Ness honestly assumed it might be because Lucas was distracted and couldn't focus on ignoring him. Eventually Lucas finishes with the door before sighing in relief. It seems he also noticed that he was having a normal conversation and immediately got embarrassed.
"Aww, are you blushing?" Ness teases adding to Lucas' embarrassment.
"Geez…" Lucas says rubbing his cheeks to ease the blush. Finally he sighs before he glances at Ness. "I am sorry for...running off like that...I forget you guys actually...want me around."
"That can't be so hard to imagine man, don't sell yourself short."
"Well so far I have done nothing but cause problems. With the fight you had with my possessed body, my running off when we needed to gather information, so much of your attention being focused on me instead of our current problem, and my powers…" Lucas pauses in his rant. "I've been more trouble than I'm worth. You'd have a more... stable time without me."
"Geez man you are really hard on yourself…" Ness said, a bit astounded.
"I'm just being practical…"
"If that's what you wanna call it man. You've got secrets, I get that, of course the obvious solution would be talking to us ya know."
Lucas is quiet at that statement. At his silence Ness sighs recognizing Lucas slipping back into his quiet nature. Pressing him wouldn't do any good, so he simply pats Lucas on the head surprising the blonde as he looks up at Ness.
"At times like this, we need to rely on our allies. Get some rest, Ninten will let you know when dinner is ready." Ness said.
With that Ness walks away into the dining hall leaving Lucas alone in his thoughts. Ness wasn't sure what to think of Lucas. He was a mysterious character in their group. He was used to dealing with shy people thanks to his time with Jeff. He was a bit reserved too, but he opened up to him rather quickly considering the life or death circumstances. It seems those specific circumstances won't be enough for Lucas. Still, his gentle and soft spoken nature makes him rather endearing in a way compared to the loud mouths in the group.
"I bet Paula would say he needs to be protected at all cost," Ness mutters to himself with a small snicker. He enters the dining hall to see Flame just sitting at the table.
"I thought you were preparing dinner," Ness says sitting down.
"Just waiting for the meat to cook, I don't like to hover over my meals."
"Does that mean you aren't going to eat Lucas?"
"That's not funny," Flame frowns while saying this.
"Just gotta make sure, seen too many sci-fi movies to not see it as a possibility."
"Sci-what…?" Flame questions confused. He decides to ignore that for the moment. "Anyway, you guys look Perilian enough so I don't think anyone would call you aliens unless you told em. You don't eat your own kind do you?"
"Some do, but it is seen as sociable unacceptable...and a crime." Flame makes a face at that response. "No, Flame we won't eat you…"
Flame sighs, "Well Ninten said we couldn't help those villagers earlier with their problems. I feel bad eating a good meal when they're struggling…"
"They are?"
"Yeah apparently they barely have enough resources to feed themselves!"
"And you have enough to feed an entire village?"
"Well...no...but I'd give what I could!"
"Lets focus on what we can do that does some real good, that's what my friend Paula would say. A lot of times she's right, I think that's good advice. It's nice you want to help them Fuel, but we have to deal with the root of the problem. That's something my other friend Jeff would say."
"So you have a lot of friends where you're from?"
"A few, yeah," Ness answers as he places his head on his arms as he leans on the table. "I think it's not about how many you have, but the quality."
"I see...oh I better check on the meal, could you get the others?"
"Sure dude," Ness says, raising to his feet. He warps away in a huff without Fuel seeing which direction he went. Flame goes back to the kitchen checking on the meat. "It's the quality of the friendship, not how many you have…" Flame repeats to himself.
After the PSI heroes are gathered in the dining room, Flame and Ninten begin explaining everything that the chief had explained to them. It was a lot to digest, and after the explanation they lapsed into silence with just eating their meal. In the midst of the meal Lucas suddenly stops eating. He looks up as if studying the walls of the castle. His head moves to and fro as if looking for something.
"Somering rong?" Ninten asks with a face full of stew.
"Chew and swallow Ninten," Lucas advises as if it were second nature. "It feels like the atmosphere around the castle has...changed."
"In what way?" Ness spoke after he swallowed.
"Like a massive amount of aggressive emotions are being focused on one spot."
"Focused where?" Ness asks.
Suddenly the entire castle shakes. There is a brief pause before a fiercer shake hits the castle forcing them to struggle to stay in their seats. The boys all leap from their seats to run over to the nearest window. They see a literal parade of monsters gathered outside. There is also a large wyvern-like creature howling outside as it unleashes a beam of energy aimed at the stalk the castle sits on.
"Damn it," Ninten grunts before biting into his t-bone piece of meat.
"Well looks like we're checking out," Ness says. "Ninten get Lucas, I got Flame!"
"What does that-," Flame is cut off as Ness throws him onto his shoulder.
Ness blasts the window open to leap out with Ninten shortly following him with Lucas in tow. The two dash across the mushroom as it begins to lurch downward. After a final blast from the wyvern the castle begins falling. Ness and Ninten leap into the air. Below them is a horde of monstrous creatures all mindling below, like a parade of ants all moving in a single direction, akin to a stampede.
"What's going on?!" Flame asks since he was backwards on Ness' shoulder.
"I'm going to aim for the wing!" Lucas calls pointing his hand out since he was facing front on Ninten's shoulder.
"I got left, you get right!" Ness calls.
The wyvern dives toward the small figures seemingly to gobble them up in its mouth. While in midair Ness and Ninten press their hands toward each other to give a strong telekinetic force that moves them both away from its mouth.
"PK Love!" Lucas exclaims aiming for the right wing.
"PK Rocken!" Ness exclaims.
The two separate attacks hit home making the wyvern wince and go crashing toward the ground. The other beasts are either crushed beneath it or manage to remove themselves out of the way of the crash site.
"How are we gonna land?!" Ninten asks.
Flame begins glowing an orange light. "Levitate!"
Suddenly their fast fall was abruptly brought to an end as they descended on an adjacent mushroom to land safely.
"Nice, Flame! I guess you got some moves too!" Ninten exclaimed.
"Only works for a short time, can you let me down now?" Flame says.
"Got any projectile attacks?" Ninten asks.
"Well kinda, I can throw small fire balls, but what does that-,"
"Well start throwing, we're moving!" Ninten exclaims as he leaps off the mushroom with Ness following.
"I can run on my own!" Lucas exclaims as he's jostled on Ness' shoulder. Ness and Ninten don't acknowledge him as they rush into the jungle. Flame follows Ninten's instructions and starts lobbying fireballs while Ninten runs.
The monsters at least are quick to avoid the flames that smash into the ground slowing them down greatly amongst the chase. The four legged beast rushes towards them akin to a lion moving onto their prey. It was impossible to ignore as it bobs and weaves around the fireballs, slowly picking up the pace as it grows accustomed to Flame's rhythm of attacks.
"Where are we going?" Flame questioned dropping another fireball.
"The only safe place we know!" Ness exclaims. "Try to follow me Ninten!"
"No problem!"
The two with their feet on the ground are quickly sprinting through the thicket. Ness was hard to follow with his high agility moving to and fro, but Ninten is able to follow in his footsteps as he moves akin to a juggernaut through obstacles. As they approach the encapment, they can see the rock formations around the village are raised even higher. The guards that are posted get on high alert upon seeing them.
"We need protection from the ground!" Ninten exclaims. Upon saying that the guards are less focused on them and refocus their attention beyond them.
"Lucas, we could use a big blast of PSI!" Ness exclaims.
"Okay!" he responds. Ness slides to a halt before setting Lucas down at the gateway of the village, after he leaps upwards to land on one of the large stone stalagmites barrier.
"You guys might wanna move," Ninten advises the guards as he rushes past them. The two guards weren't sure what they should do at the sudden appearance of the boys. However, as Lucas stalks forward with sparking energy they decide to follow the warning.
"PK…" Lucas points both of his hands forward. "Love!" A large hexagon forms in front of Lucas before a powerful rush of light blue colored energy stream rushes out, the cast hitting like an explosive pop. The sheer wind force of the attack was so strong the vibrations were felt through the ground. It was akin to the parting of waves, as it travels splitting the ground as it moves. The monsters that had been gathering behind them were thrown completely off guard. The monsters either moved aside or were knocked away as the energy beam moved, some were even vaporized on the spot. Lucas falls to a knee on the ground, exhausted, as sparks crackle around his form.
"Great, we can get the rest!" Ness exclaims, diving down with both his arms held behind him. "PK Rocken!" Ness smacks his wrist together for a multi-colored diamond form before shooting out a zigzag beam of energy wildly moving forward almost looking uncontrollable but Ness is able to aim precisely with the crazed attacks. Flame moves to Lucas' side.
"Here let me help," Flame says, reaching towards him.
"W-wait-," Lucas sputters. However, before he could warn him, Flame grabs the blonde's arm.
"Ow!" Flame flinches back feeling the sting of the PSI energy still crackling around Lucas' body. "What was that for? I was just trying to help!"
Lucas seems to sort of shrink away under Flame's accusatory glare.
"I'm sorry," he mutters. Lucas staggers to his feet as he gets back. Flame looks at Lucas confused before rolling his eyes before he ignites his hands. Ninten summons barriers around his fist as he rushes forward to begin pounding on anything in his way, a wisp of white fur was the only inclination that they are his enemy. His arms swing as fast as Ness moves, each swing resounded with a thunderous boom on impact with Ninten keeping his footing. A hound slips by the assault toward a prone Lucas against the rock wall.
"Lucas!" Flame throws himself in front of Lucas with his arms raised protectively. However, it was unneeded as a spear made rocks springs from the ground impaling the beast in the chest for it to go limp. Both Lucas and Flame stare astounded before they look to see the Chief stepping out of the entrance of the village.
"Everyone fall back!" he exclaims. The two guards with spears immediately follow orders. "That means you two as well!" He calls toward Ness and Ninten.
"We can't leave you by yourself out here!" Ninten exclaims, smashing his fist directly in the snout of a HellBeast.
"You two being here will hamper me more than hurt me!" he exclaims.
"We brought trouble to his doorstep, the least we can do is listen to him," Ness says. He suddenly appears next to Ninten before warping away before the other boy could react. Once at the mouth of the entrance it suddenly seals up.
"Spears!" the man exclaims, slapping his hand to the ground. Suddenly the earth underneath him began to explode upward in an explosion of spikes. All the monsters traveling by ground scream and cry out in agony. A golden shine covers Barrack as he places both hands on the ground. The rocklike spears suddenly grow in height reaching into the sky by at least 60 feet into the air. All was momentarily quiet which made Barrack finally relax.
"That was awesome!" Ness exclaims from his perch on the rock wall.
"So he's the reason the village has been such a safe place…" Ninten says from his position next to him.
"Never had to face such a big assault before...needed to end it fast, I couldn't afford to draw it out," Barrack mutters.
Suddenly a loud screech cuts off anything else that could be said. They all look to the sky to see the previously downed wyvern now flying overhead. It flies by circling around their heads.
"I can't hit it from up there…" Barrack grunts.
"I got em," Ness builds up a multicolored energy around his body. Building it to a point until a wide diamond appears before his hand. "PK Rocken Beta!" Large orbs of multi-colored energy are fired out of the shape with the energy tails shaped like zig zags. The rate of fire was akin to an automatic machine gun, as each orbs is launched in a blur of movement and speed. Whizzing into the air like multi-colored fireworks. The attack manages to light up the sky as the orbs explode in a rainbow of color upon impact. After a few hits the wyvern screamed out, it was impossible to tell if it was because of annoyance or pain. However, before Ness could decide either way it began to climb higher into the air.
"Damn it, now it's out of my range too!" Ness exclaims, dropping his hand.
"We can't even tell if your attacks did anything or not…" Ninten muttered annoyed.
"We have to evacuate!" Barrack says suddenly opening the entrance to the village.
"Wait, what for?" Ness exclaims.
"That is Iris' ultimate monster, the Ender. It's the reason so many have died. When it comes down it may kill everyone!"
"That's the plan after all," a new voice says. Everyone turns to see a woman stalking forward with a parasol in hand. Her green hair resting on her shoulders, her striking emerald eyes that gleam in the night, and milky skin. She dressed with long opera longs, a crop jacket with tails and black pants that seem to merge with her shoes. "To be rid of you disgusting creatures so that true life may flourish."
"Iris…" Barrack growls.
"Hey there," says Iris, wiggling her fingers at the man as a cutesy wave. "I'm afraid there is no escaping, when my pet comes down he's going to turn this whole quaint village into a crater."
"So that's the Guardian huh…?" Ness questions with a raised eyebrow and slight blush. "Won't lie she's kinda hot…"
"And you must be one of those aliens I've heard so much about." Her eyes seem to look Ness up and down, before she looks toward Ninten. She seems to turn her nose up at them. "You hardly seem worth this much of my attention…"
"She is just wasting our time! I'll keep her at bay, you boys help evacuate!" Barrack exclaims, summoning a piece of earth next to him taking the shape of a narrow spear. Iris smiles folding in her parasol to point it forward. Soon the two rush toward each other.
"What should we do?" Ness asks Ninten.
"Think of another option," Ninten says.
"Ness! Ninten!" Flame rushes over to the two boys. "I need your help!"
"Another problem, great...what is it?" Ness questions.
"Something is wrong with Lucas!" Flame says. Flame leads them back to where Lucas is prone, at the entrance of the village, PSI energy sparking around his body like thousands of chirping birds at once.
"Lucas!" Ness reaches a hand out to the boy only to be quickly shocked. "OW!" he exclaims, jerking his hand back.
"I can't get close to him, and he won't say anything to me," Flame explains.
"It's happening again…" Ness mutters.
"This happened before?!" Ninten questioned, clearly upset.
"PSI Magnet," Ness says raising a hand. The sparks began converging toward Ness. "I'll explain later." Ness says to Ninten before moving closer to Lucas. "Lucas, come on, focus on me."
"I can't lose control...not again...can't hurt him again...oh god...don't let me hurt him again. This was a mistake. I knew it was and I still did it. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be here, it's gonna happen again..."
"Lucas!" Ness exclaims, shaking the boy roughly. Lucas jolts in slight terror before looking at Ness. "We need you here with us! Get a hold of yourself man!"
"I told you I shouldn't be here!" Lucas suddenly yells, the energy suddenly building. It goes from sparks to a full aqua blue aura surrounding Lucas's frame.
"Lucas, you're building up too much energy!" Ninten exclaims.
"Wait, don't push it down Lucas!" Ness says.
"Are you nuts? If the dragon doesn't kill us, he might!"
Lucas' eyes go wide as tears slip out his eyes. "I told you, I'm no good to be around. I told you to send me away!"
"Seriously, fuck off Ninten!" Ness yells, turning on the boy for his words.
"Lucas," Flame spoke calmly, staring at the clearly frightened blonde. "It'll be okay. I believe in you, I don't know why, but I do."
Lucas' raging emotions seem to quell a bit as the psychic energy begins to at least become stable. "...you shouldn't."
"But I do!" Flame retorted with a peppy tone. Suddenly, the people around them begin to panic as they see the Ender finally coming back down. "Oh crap forgot about that!"
"I have to expend this energy…" Lucas mutters. Lucas' eyes move toward where Barrack was fighting Iris in a clear stale mate. "I'll do right by you this time, dad…" Lucas closes his eyes for a few moments before he looks to his comrades. "I have a plan."
A few moments later, Lucas stands in the center of the village as the beast dives down toward the village center at ludacris speeds. Lucas surrounded by onlookers who all looked on, seeing this as their end or hoping for a miracle. Multiple hexagons surround Lucas before they all stack on top of each other above Lucas' head. Lucas raises a hand pointing a finger.
"PK Love...gamma." Lucas mutters. A narrow beam glides from Lucas' finger akin to the length of a thread of string. The narrow beam travels through each hexagon akin to a multi-layer magnifying glass that concentrates the sun's rays. Once it touches that last hexagon, there is an explosion the sound akin to thunder and it creates a powerful burst of wind that whips around the epicenter of the shot as it scatters the dirt below his feet. The light blue beam travels upwards moving faster than the speed of sound. It meets the Ender head on for a massive explosion of baby blue light to fill the sky. The wyvern balks at the attack but doesn't slow. Lucas unleashes blast after blast of the same attack. Each one hits with a massive explosion that follows, clearly slowing down the wyvern. It suddenly opens its mouth, seeming to let out another energy attack. Lucas takes careful aim before firing his next shot. The two attacks met in midair, one canceling out the other, but Lucas firies at a faster rate. Eventually the heavy fire is too much, making the wyvern lose its composure in mid air. Especially after one attack even nails it in the face.
Lucas gasps for air as sweat pours out of his face. The hexagons fizzle rapidly between each shot. He's already used and wasted so much PSI energy today. They fizzle more and more until Lucas falls to his knees. Lucas was spent so he could only helplessly watch the wyvern free fall towards the village.
"Hit it out of the park Ninten!" Ness yells, as races toward the village at high speeds. He makes a sharp turn transferring all his momentum to Ninten. The powerhouse is surrounded with a sapphire aura as he wields his bat. He pulls back timing just right to deliver a powerful…
SMMAAAAASSSSSH!
The wyvern is knocked off course to land half a mile away as it crashes to the ground in a thunderous heap.
"Ender…" Iris mutters astounded. She looks at Barrack who also seemed just as startled. However, he was quick to point his weapon forward.
"Your beast is down, you're next," Barrack exclaims.
"Ingrate," She leaps into the air avoiding the thrown spear. Barrack looks to see her quickly make her escape.
"Never thought I'd see the day, she'd be the one running away…" he says astounded. He almost feels light headed, his heart thumping in his chest filled with joy.
"Chief Barrack!" one of his men exclaims rushing toward him. He puts his hands out to catch the man thinking he might just fall over.
"I'm fine, only a few knicks, how did the Ender get put down?" he asks.
"It was those boys, their strange powers somehow fell the beast…" the man explained.
"Interesting…" the man responds.
"Lucas, you okay?" Ness says propping up the boy to help him sit up against himself.
"Yeah…" the blonde responds with a sigh.
"That was an awesome plan dude!" Ness exclaims, giving the cap wearing blonde a thumbs up.
"It was stupid awesome!" Flame says floating over.
"Told ya I'd destroy all these monsters in a fight," Ninten says joyfully walking over with his bat on his shoulder.
"I'm glad everyone is okay…" Lucas seems relieved to be able to say that. He begins to start trying to get up. Ness was quick to assist the boy to his feet. Before Ness could take Lucas' weight the blonde moves away from him and then presses Ness' hat into Ness' hands.
"Lucas, what are you-?"
"I told you guys, I'm not worth the trouble. I'm no good to be around, and it's not safe to be around me. Now you know why."
Flame snorts, "What, just because you light up a little bit? That's no real big deal."
"It is a big deal!" Lucas yells. A first for any of them to hear Lucas' voice get that loud. "Ninten said it himself! If that thing didn't kill everyone...I…" Lucas shivers as tears roll down his face. "I would've…" Lucas' voice gives out making him unable to say it.
"Lucas I-," Ninten begins, but Lucas doesn't wait to hear from him as he about- faces to try and leave. However, he bumps into Chief Barrack with the man looking down at him.
"If you plan to leave, that is your choice, but you're in no condition to do so. For the time being you will be staying, understood?" the man says sternly.
Lucas' heart hammers in his chest before he looks down, "Yes sir." Ninten and Flame seem to balk at that response, but Ness sighs in relief.
The man looks at the other three boys now, "We have a lot more to discuss than I had first thought."