No later than Lucas had registered what the sign said did someone walk through the door into the room. Lucas immediately panicked. He backed up against the window and raised his fists in a defensive position, hoping he wouldn't have to fight.

The person, who Lucas now realized was a woman, wearing a pink dress that went down to her feet that complimented her blond hair, didn't seem surprised by this. "Are you doing okay-" she started to speak before Lucas interrupted. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Lucas cried. The woman saw that if she was going to speak, she must do it quickly.

"My name is Claire Franklin," she explained quickly, "But you may call me Claire. I found you unconscious in the forest and brought you here. I'm not trying to hurt you."

Lucas's terrified stance cooled into a slightly trusting one. But he was still scared. Especially when he realized he was in Onett, a long ways away from Tazmily. Kinda. Tazmily was about 5 miles away from Onett. That was a long walk. Lucas would need to hurry before Claus and Flint got worried. Though they probably already were worried. Lucas's thoughts were interrupted by a concerned Claire.

"Do you remember how you got into the forest?" Lucas remembered all right. The memories from The Testing and his time in the forest were both painfully burned into his brain. He wanted to forget. And he had no idea what he was going to tell Claire. She was a total stranger, so how did Lucas know she could be trusted? Would she believe him? Would she care? Lucas's over-sized heart gave in and he began to speak.

"I'm a Psion. But I can't go to the Capitol. I have a family to help." Tears began to form in Lucas's eyes. "I ran away. So I could go back when nobody cared about me running away." Lucas began blinking back tears. "But then... I was cornered by Enforcers... I bet they were trying to take me away... So..." Lucas couldn't speak. His throat had been tied into a knot. The memory engulfed him in pain and regret. Tears spilled from his eyes.

Claire wasn't sure what to do at this point. Gathering all of her motherly instincts, she hugged Lucas.

Lucas's pain was partially quelled. His tears stopped and he finally understood what he needed to do. "I need to go. I need to get home."

Claire let go of Lucas, understanding what Lucas wanted. After a meal of bread and potato salad, some rest, Lucas found himself meeting Claire's daughter, Tracy.

"Are you really from another city?" Tracy asked, the young girl's blue eyes shining with excitement and awe. People rarely traveled from city to city. Lucas smiled. "Yes, and I really hope I can return soon.." Lucas said, remembering his family. He couldn't fail his father and brother.

But maybe he already had.

Just before he left, Lucas realized Claire had used up the last of her food for him. Lucas was saddened by this, but was also grateful. He needed to say thanks for this great deed. As he walked through the front door, Lucas turned back. "Thank you," he said shyly before walking away.

The sun was warm against Lucas's skin, which surprised him. It was cold in Tazmily at the moment, so why wasn't it cold here? "Oh well," Lucas thought as he strolled the dirt roads in Onett. Lucas noticed how nice the dirt roads looked in comparison to the roads in Tazmily, which almost looked like someone had rubbed charcoal and soot all over them, then colored them with black chalk. Lucas liked how the dirt felt under his feet. No sooner then he had thought of this was he attacked.

Lucas whirled around, pain staying in his back where he had gotten hit. Soon, his eyes rested on an oddly dressed teenager on a skateboard, wearing a teal outfit and white sneakers. There was a shark fin on his head that seemed to be part of his outfit. The teenager had a wide grin on his face.

"Welcome to Onett," the teenager said menacingly before shredding fiercely, injuring Lucas's foot. "Ouch!" Lucas didn't want to use his powers, not here, not now. He wasn't sure if he could. So he didn't. Instead, he ran away.

Avoiding attacks was tough. Apparently, the skateboarder was only one out of dozens of gang members. Lucas was extremely injured by now, but he needed to escape. Needed to leave. Needed to run. Soon, after running through town, he was face to face with the leader of the gang, Frank. His loud red suit intimidated Lucas.

"So, you're the one who's been bothering my gang?" Frank said, a hint of edge in his voice. "No sir! I was running away-" Lucas was immediately stopped by a heavy blow to his chest. "PK Lifeup," Lucas said weakly, fixing the broken ribs in his chest. He was beginning to get the hang of this move. He had no idea if Frank had seen, but he seemed to have not, so Lucas assumed it was alright. He dodged as many punches as he could, but was caught off guard when Frank began throwing knives.

Lucas dodged even faster until he was out of breath. Frank seemed bored. Lucas hoped this battle was finished. Frank climbed into a large tank-like contraption, bronze and rusty, obviously made in poor conditions. It had a small porthole, and seemed to have a face. It also had two large arms with white gloved fists. "Are you kidding me?!" Lucas yelled. Frank grinned from within the contraption. "This is the Frankystein Mark II, and it will be the cause of your riddance."

Lucas realized this was going to be harder than he thought.

Author's note: May I present the shortest chapter of Concealed to date! Clocking in at 874 words, this chapter might have seemed rushed. And honestly, I didn't have much time to write this week, so sorry about that. School's been hitting me hard lately, so I've been busy. Anyway, this is EarthboundWarrior, signing out until next time! Bye!

Author's note 2: I edited the chapter. The next chapter will be done within 3 weeks, if I have time to write.