Hey, everyone. :)
I actually don't have too much to say, so I'll leave you guys alone for once. Have a great day and I hope that you enjoy the chapter! :)
Review Responses:
Tofu and Kame no Ketsu: I'll get back to you in PM since I don't know if you'll see this chapter soon.
Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf: Aw, thanks! :3 And yes, I definitely remember you. :D I'm glad that my plot twists seem to be coming out all right, and we may even have some more in this chapter. Well, depending on what you count as a plot twist, I guess.
Oh, and there may be another cliffhanger as well. *Runs away and hides*
As Lucas emitted a blast of blue light, the earth trembled.
The wave of light washed over Ninten, advancing through the cave with the shape of little blue hexagons. Ninten's vision flashed with pain when the energy reached him, and he had to grab onto a stray rock to stay standing.
After patching up his wounds with Lifeup, Ninten looked up to see Kumatora's body lying on the ground several paces away. With a grunt, she got up to her feet and regarded Lucas with a wary expression. The ground's glow had dimmed around the area where Lucas stood, leaving him shrouded as a silhouette.
"Lucas," Kumatora said. "I don't understand. Why are you-"
"Lucas passed his heart onto the Dark Dragon," the silhouette said, advancing towards Kumatora, "And the Dark Dragon passed her heart onto him. So now you're stuck with me."
Lucas darted towards Kumatora, who hissed and set up a line of flames between the two of them. Lucas leapt through the flames, his face glowing in the firelight. He ran towards Kumatora with lips drawn tight and ice-cold eyes. Ninten rushed forward to intercept him, but Lucas wove past both him and Kumatora.
Ninten grunted. Help Kuma now, worry about the madman later.
"Lifeup γ," Ninten said, running up to Kumatora and placing a hand on her shoulder.
Kumatora jerked away, and then turned around to see Ninten's face. She offered a nod of appreciation and then turned back towards Lucas, who now stood over Claus' corpse.
No, no, no… said a voice in Ninten's mind. This is all wrong…
Ninten winced. He didn't know where the words in his head was coming from, but he couldn't let them distract him.
Lucas bent down next to Claus' corpse and picked up the plasma sword. Lucas activated the blade, sending an orange beam out of the hilt. Lucas held the glowing weapon in front of him, and looked at Ninten with a cold smile.
"It doesn't surprise me, Ninten," Lucas said, "That you would choose to help a piece of code with Lifeup rather than trying to stop me."
"What did you just call me?" Kumatora said, taking a step forward.
"A thin projection of what was," Lucas said. "Nothing more than a reminder of a painful past."
Kumatora extended a hand outward. "PK Freeze γ."
Ice started to form around Lucas' body, but it melted when Lucas waved the plasma sword around his body.
"You know that she's not real, Ninten," Lucas said. "Let go."
Must… hold… on…
The voice in Ninten's mind sounded so distant.
"What's he talking about?" Kumatora said.
"I don't know," Ninten lied, "But can we really fight Lucas?"
"You must have bigger problems than facing the world of the Nowhere Islands," Lucas said. "Shouldn't you be running away yourself?"
Ninten flinched. There was no way that this Lucas could possibly know about his run-in with George.
Another… moderator…
Huh? Ninten didn't think that there were any more of those people like Claus and Hinawa who regulated the V-game from outside.
Shouldn't… be…
"Considering that you've already tried to harm someone I care about," Ninten said, "I don't think that I'll be taking any of your suggestions."
"But can you really bring yourself to fight me?" Lucas said. "If I die, your friend's heart stays stuck in the Dark Dragon forever. You know, since you probably care about that piece of code as well."
"We can at least rough him up a little, right?" Kumatora said. "If we stall enough time, maybe Lucas' heart will help the Dark Dragon create a new world for us."
Lies…
Hmm? What was a lie, now?
A happy ending. It will never happen. The Dark Dragon never existed…
Never existed, huh? So the whole "pulling the seven needles to awaken the Dark Dragon" must have been some sort of ploy.
"Ninten." Kumatora elbowed Ninten's arm.
"Aah." Ninten rubbed his arm and looked over at Lucas. "Uh, I don't know as much as you, probably."
Stalling won't save you. Lucas is gone…
"Let's fight, then," Kumatora said, cracking her knuckles.
"Lucas," Ninten said. "Is there any way we could come to sort of a peaceful resolution?"
Gone…
"If you leave Lucas' Magicant and never come back, I won't fight the rest of these mirages that you seem so fond of," Lucas said.
Well, Lucas couldn't really fight the people in the game if nobody was playing it. At least, that was how most V-games worked. So if Ninten packed up and left right now, the people inside the Nowhere Islands V-game would never have to suffer again.
He was starting to understand why the game's introduction had told him that the only way to stop the cycle of suffering was to let the Nowhere Islands die, at least in his memory.
Ninten took a deep breath.
"That's right," Lucas said, his eyes narrowing. "Every time you enter this world, more people suffer. Every time you try to save the Nowhere Islands, you risk more lives. At what point does it become better to treat these people as the lifeless creations that they are? Just walk away, Ninten, and leave them in oblivion. The dead cannot feel pain."
Ninten gulped. Only now did he understand why whoever was controlling Lucas now insisted that Kumatora was just a piece of code. Ninten had assumed that the person possessing Lucas saw the Nowhere Islanders as mere tools because he had power to kill them and reset the game.
That wasn't it. Lucas' possessor dismissed the people within the V-game as bits of code to protect his own sanity. Because if he saw them as people, he might get attached to them like Ninten.
And if he got attached to them, he would have to suffer the heartbreak of watching them die again and again.
"I…" The back of Ninten's throat went dry. "I don't know if I can do that."
Lucas sighed. "I guess I'll make my decision for you, then. Just don't come back after I give you a game over screen unless you want to see Kumatora's despair a second time."
Lucas lunged towards Ninten and Kumatora. His plasma sword became a blur as he darted in between the two of them, and his expression remained neutral. Only his eyes showed any emotion, a twinge of sorrow within his blue irises.
Ninten reeled back and patched himself with Lifeup before lashing out with his foot towards Lucas. Kumatora barreled down on Lucas with her fists as well, and yet somehow Lucas managed to dodge every attack. The next sweep of Lucas' plasma sword sent Ninten and Kumatora stumbling back.
"Let go," Lucas said, "Or forever struggle against a current that you cannot control. The Nowhere Islands is not for you. It is not for anyone."
Ninten grunted, healed himself, and looked around for a weapon. Around the area where the last needle had been pulled, Ninten's eyes locked onto a baseball bat. Well, better than nothing.
"I've played through the game myself," Lucas said. "Again and again and again. Nothing changes. Some tragedies burn scars in our minds far too deep to heal."
Ninten ran over and scooped up the baseball bat. He glanced over to see Kumatora dueling Lucas.
Well, "dueling" was a bit generous. Kumatora attacked with a flurry of punches, barely hitting any, while Lucas sliced at her with precise strokes. Ninten couldn't see health bars above either one, but Kumatora was slouching and panting before Lucas had even broken a sweat.
Ninten darted forward to assist Kumatora, and the corner of Lucas' lips twitched upwards to form a smile. Lucas swung his plasma sword in wide arcs, forcing Ninten back. Ninten took some of the hits with his body rather than his baseball bat. Better to skirmish and heal up later than let Lucas slice apart his only weapon.
And indeed, as Ninten leapt backwards away from Lucas' plasma sword Kumatora lunged in and slammed her fist into the back of Lucas' head. As Lucas grunted and stumbled forward, Ninten advanced and slammed his baseball bat into Lucas.
Just like hitting a baseball.
Lucas laughed, reeling backwards. "I suppose I shouldn't be taking joy in this, but at least the thrill is something."
Ninten narrowed his eyes. Was Lucas laughing drunk at thrill of battle? Or taking joy in the thrill of pain?
You can't beat him, the voice in Ninten's mind spoke, clearer now. You'll never be able to beat him on your own.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, strange voice.
Ninten circled back around the other side of Lucas, tossing out kicks and baseball bat swings when Kumatora darted forward with her fists. Lucas hadn't given them another chance to get in, and kept landing more and more blows on Kumatora and Ninten. Unfortunately, while Ninten did see Kumatora healing herself with Lifeup every time she backed away from Lucas, he also spotted cuts and bruises lining up on her body.
Ninten hadn't ever seen someone bleed before in the Nowhere Islands V-game. Her health must be running low.
When Ninten circled around to the same side as Kumatora to heal her, Lucas made the aggressive choice to dart in, slashing at both Ninten and Kumatora with each sweep. After Ninten placed a shoulder on Kumatora to heal her, she glared and gestured at the area behind Lucas.
Don't worry about me, her expression said. Just flank him.
Ninten gulped, and circled back around behind Lucas. If they kept up at this rate, Kumatora wouldn't last much longer.
I can help, the voice within Ninten's mind said. Just give me control.
Control? Over what?
Your body, of course.
A chill ran down Ninten's spine. He resolved to keep swinging at Lucas with his baseball bat and running out of the way of plasma sword swings. Each time the glowing orange blade passed by Ninten, the light from the sword lit up Lucas face. As the battle drew on, Lucas' expression looked sad, and then resigned. His shoulders slouched, and he looked away as he kicked Kumatora to the ground and held the plasma sword up to her throat.
Looked away from Kumatora, that was, and then glanced over at Ninten. He flashed a sad smile.
"Ninten," Lucas said. "Just leave. Run away from George and pretend that you never found this place."
Kumatora scrambled backwards until Lucas shoved his plasma sword closer to her neck. Kumatora let out a yelp.
"You can choose to cure all of this hurt right now," Lucas said. "You can end the cycle of suffering if you just get up and walk away."
Ninten took a step back. Maybe Lucas had a point. Every time Ninten entered the V-game, he had seen nothing but pain. Lucas, Claus, and Kumatora hadn't suffered because of him, of course, but if he had never discovered the V-game then they wouldn't have ever needed to hurt.
If Ninten did really care about the people in the V-game, maybe the best way to help them was to turn around and walk away.
Just let me take control.
And within the game, it seemed like Ninten himself was going mad. Could he really trust any of his own thoughts and decisions? Maybe he should just leave the Nowhere Islands and regroup back in Lucas' Magicant.
Hopefully the madness wouldn't follow him there.
"Ninten," Kumatora choked out. "Save… yourself."
Lucas shrugged. "You heard her yourself. The fact that you've been sticking your nose in this game is exactly why people like Kumatora are suffering. She already died once because of you, Ninten."
"She died because of the pigma-"
"She died becacuse of you." Lucas' gaze turned to steel. "You brought her to life by booting up the game. She talked with you, believed in you, trusted you. And you weren't powerful enough to save her."
"Go!" Kumatora shouted, haunted eyes staring at Ninten.
"Am I the bad guy?" Lucas said. "Of course. But what's the best way to stop me? Even if you somehow manage to kill me, I can always load up an old save file and harm Kumatora again in the exact same way. But if you leave this game behind for good," Lucas' voice dropped to a whisper, "Then you stop me from hurting Kumatora and Lucas ever again."
"I…" Ninten looked over at Kumatora.
"Go," Kumatora said. "Please."
Although Ninten hated to admit it, Lucas had a point. Replaying the same tragedies over and over again in hopes of somehow creating a better world would just create more pain. Maybe heroism had its place somewhere, but after going into the Nowhere Islands V-game a half-dozen times now Ninten had to look at the results.
He had only created more pain for everyone.
And even Kumatora wanted him to go. She only saw a way for Ninten to save himself, and she still saw the futility in fighting back against whoever was possessing Lucas. If Ninten could save Kumatora too by running away, then he really had no excuse for trying to push through his own challenges.
Staying would only continue the cycle of suffering.
"Okay," Ninten said. "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I? I'll go."
Lucas smiled, and took the tip of his plamsa sword away from Kumatora's throat.
"I'm sorry, Kumatora," Ninten said, "For letting you die once. I won't make you suffer the same fate again."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Kumatora scampered away from Lucas' plasma sword. "Ninten, are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay." Ninten looked up at the ceiling. "I've never been okay. You'll be better off without me around to torment you."
Ninten took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started to let his consciousness leave the V-game.
Oh no you don't.
That voice again…
I hate to be so forceful, but I can't stand by and let this happen.
The next moment, Ninten lost control of his own body.
The whole world went black.
(ILH)
Ninten stood on a circular platform of marble that floated in the darkness. Along the center of the platform ran a lightning bolt engraved into the ground, colored yellow.
And at the other end of the marble circle stood Claus.
"Listen," Claus said, "I know that the person controlling Lucas makes some good points, but you're thinking about it the wrong way. What's his motive?"
Ninten blinked, and then looked around at the emptiness.
"What happened to me?" Ninten said. "Where are we?"
Claus sighed. "He's clearly trying to manipulate you. He's scared of you finding out something about the Nowhere Islands that would let you beat George. So until you recover from what he said to you, I'm going to be driving your body for a while."
"I don't… how?"
Claus waved goodbye and vanished from sight.
"Claus?"
No response.
"Claus!"
Silence.
Ninten sighed, walking into the center of the marble platform. A lightning bolt, huh? This place must represent the Franklin Badge.
Wait a minute. Was Ninten inside of the Franklin Badge?
After a few moments, colors started to swirl in the surrounding emptiness. The colors eventually formed into objects. A rock. A hand.
A blond-haired boy wielding a plasma sword.
Around the image of Lucas, the rest of the cave formed into place. Ninten walked to the edge of the platform and looked out to see Kumatora and circling around Lucas. Ninten saw the baseball bat that he had been carrying fly in front of his vision, landing with a crack on Lucas' head.
The images in front of him had to be what his body was actually seeing. Getting a first-person view of his own perspective made him feel an odd disconnect with his own body.
And it felt even odder when Ninten's body moved around all on its own.
Ninten frowned. Claus said that he had would "drive" Ninten's body for a while. He must be the one strafing around and swinging around the baseball bat, then. He hit three out of his first five swings, so maybe he should be the one fighting Lucas instead of Ninten anyway.
Ninten looked over at Kumatora. She grimaced whenever Lucas' plasma sword struck her, and the cuts and bruises on her body started to add up.
This was all Ninten's fault.
"Claus?" Ninten said. "Claus, you have to stop."
A pause.
"Claus," Ninten yelled. "Can you hear me?"
Yes, so you don't have to shout.
The message came as an echo in Ninten's mind, similar as the voice that had been speaking to Ninten while he had fought Lucas.
"You were the voice sending me messages back then," Ninten said.
Bravo, genius.
"And now I'm the voice sending messages to you."
Lucas' plasma sword slammed into the side of Ninten's body. Sparks flew off of the blade, and the image in front of Ninten blinked red for a moment.
A distracting voice, but yeah.
"Claus, don't you see how we're hurting Kumatora?"
That's what the person controlling Lucas wants us to think.
"But-"
Listen. I don't want you to stop caring about other people, But someone has to see that Lucas' possessor was playing you like a damn grass whistle.
"We don't stand a chance against him. He'll kill Kumatora and then us if we don't leave."
If he were really as powerful as he claimed, why would he need to scare you away?
Ninten blinked. Not a bad point.
There must be something we're missing. Try to think of something while I keep us alive, all right?
Ninten watched his body dart back and forth out of the way of Lucas' plasma sword. Even when Lucas swung his blade so quickly that it didn't look physically possible to dodge, Ninten's body somehow managed to twist away from the plasma.
Damn, Claus was good.
All right, Ninten. Focus. Maybe the first step to figuring out how to defeat Lucas was understanding what in the world was going on.
"Claus," he said. "How did you get inside of the Franklin Badge in the first place?"
Beats me. I tried to come in as a replacement for Claus inside the game, and I don't know why it put me in here.
Well, Claus inside the game was dead at this point, so the V-game just… stuck him inside of the Franklin Badge because it didn't know what else to do? That didn't make a whole lot of sense.
Unless…
"The Claus in the game killed himself by reflecting lightning off the Franklin Badge so that it hit him," Ninten said. "Do you think that he could have transferred his consciousness into the Franklin Badge as he was blasting lightning at it?"
Where did this come from?
"Well, it would explain why you ended up inside of the Franklin Badge to begin with. Maybe you did replace the Claus inside the game, and ended up here in his place."
Ninten saw his body get hit by another stroke of Lucas' plasma sword, and the view from outside his body flashed red.
I guess it's possible, Claus sent. But why does it matter?
"Well, it seems like the Franklin Badge is something of a spirit conduit in addition to being a device to reflect lightning."
Meaning…?
"You possessed my body and forced my consciousness into the Franklin Badge."
Duh.
"But it wasn't any power of yours that allows you to do that. The Franklin Badge seems designed to transfer spirits to other bodies."
I suppose.
"So I could just possess you right now and take my body back if I wanted to."
…
"Claus?"
I'm not letting you run away from this. Together, we'll find out a way to drain away the power that George is drawing from this V-game.
"But you really couldn't stop me if I forced you back into the Franklin Badge and tossed it away."
Ninten, don't do this.
Ninten heard Kumatora cry out in pain. He looked up at the first-person view in front of him and saw her stumble to the ground, gripping a line of charred flesh on her thigh. Lucas grinned and stood over her with his plasma sword.
"I can't let Kumatora hurt."
Ninten watched his body dart in and slam the baseball bat into Lucas' side as Kumatora scrambled to get back up to her feet.
"Just look at her, Claus."
Kumatora grimaced. Tears started to run down her cheeks.
"She's at her limit."
Watch.
As Claus used Ninten's body to drive Lucas back, Kumatora took a deep breath and cracked her knuckles. When she finished, she was still grimacing, still crying, but the fire in her eyes caught Ninten's breath. She let out a roar and lunged forward, slamming her fist into the back of Lucas' head.
Pain is driving her forward, Ninten.
"But is that a good thing?"
Kumatora's suffering because we entered this world. But isn't that better than not existing at all?
"I'm not sure. That's pretty philosophical."
Would you choose pain over emptiness, Ninten?
Ninten took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He remembered the days spent staring out of the window, when even the cloudless skies seemed too grey.
He remembered the days spent curled up in his bed. Even if the house caught on fire and started burning down around him, Ninten wouldn't have the willpower to drag himself out from under the covers.
He remembered days spent listening to Ana's laugh, wondering how it could all sound so hollow.
He remembered days spent locked alone in his room. In those moments, he had known that he was worthless. The path forward was clearer than it had ever been before.
He had nothing to live for.
Life was empty, vast, meaningless.
He should kill himself.
Ninten opened his eyes, returning to the present. Sometimes, those days still loomed over him like a storm cloud.
He wouldn't let the emptiness control him again.
"I would pick the pain in a heartbeat," Ninten whispered. "Having something is always better than it's nothing. Even if it's sorrow. Even if it's pain."
Then give the people of the Nowhere Islands the same benefit. We want to be remembered, even if those memories hurt.
Ninten bit his lip and nodded to himself. It made sense, of course, that he couldn't possibly wipe out every semblance of suffering in the Nowhere Islands. People, in Tazmily or elsewhere, would always hurt. It was just part of life.
So maybe Ninten had misunderstood what he was supposed to do on the Nowhere Islands. Maybe he should have focused less on the suffering and more on the cycle.
Because really, what was the "cycle" that was causing all this pain?
"You know, Claus, I've heard the story of the Nowhere Islands before."
Really?
"Not the specifics, of course, but the general story. The strong prey on the weak. It's a tale as old as time."
I'd say our circumstances are a bit more specific than that.
"Oh, of course. But the important part is that before entering the V-game, I didn't know about the Nowhere Islands. Nobody did."
Did you expect your own government to tell you what they did to us?
"I couldn't expect anything since I just didn't know. I know now that people on the Nowhere Islands are hurting, but I still can't hear them if they scream. That's what makes the suffering a cycle, Claus. The same tragedies repeat themselves again and again, but we can't stop them since most of us don't even know that they exist."
Ninten looked up at the empty space that displayed the view outside of his body. From the first person view, Ninten could see Kumatora bleeding from a dozen wounds, struggling to stand up as Lucas stood over her with weapon in hand.
"I've seen people suffer in the Nowhere Islands before," Ninten said.
He watched as Lucas drove his plasma sword through Kumatora's chest.
"I'm seeing people suffer in the Nowhere Islands now."
Kumatora crumpled and fell to the cave floor.
"And if I run away now…"
Lucas looked back towards Ninten, his face glowing in the light emitted by his blade.
"I'll only be condemning the people of the Nowhere Islands to suffer again."
Ninten, Claus sent. Are you doing all right?
Ninten looked over at Kumatora's limp body. If nobody remembered her pain, then nobody would know how to stop it in the future. Besides, Kumatora would have wanted to go down fighting. And in a way, Ninten could empathize.
Better to hurt than to fade away from memory entirely.
"To stop the cycle of suffering," Ninten said, "I need to remember the pain."
If you want to take control of your body again, just force your consciousness out of the Franklin Badge. If you want to avenge Kumatora then I won't try and stop you.
Avenge her? Ninten could do better.
"Tear the Franklin Badge off," Ninten said, "And throw it a Lucas."
Are you sure?
"No. Do it anyway."
For a moment, the world fell still.
All right, Claus sent. I trust you.
The world went black around Ninten, leaving him alone on the floating platform of marble.
"Claus?"
No response. Once Claus pulled the badge off, it made sense that Ninten wouldn't be able to communicate with him anymore.
"All right, then," Ninten said to himself. "Showtime."
Ninten took a breath and readied himself to leap into action the moment the Franklin Badge hit Lucas.
"I can't let the same tragedies play out again and again," he said. "Someone has to understand the suffering so that we can stop the cycle."
For a moment, the world around Ninten flashed with color. In front of him, from a first person view, he could see the floor glowing a dull purple. Ninten could see his own body, eyes narrowed and baseball bat held in a defensive position.
He could see the world from Lucas' perspective.
The Franklin Badge must be touching Lucas.
The Franklin Badge must be connected with Lucas.
Ninten forced his consciousness outwards into Lucas' body.
(ILH)
Ninten stood on a seaside deck made of wet, rotting wood. He looked down and saw waves crashing below the deck. A gust of air rushed over him, smelling of salt.
Ninten's heart skipped a beat. He had been in this psyspace before.
He knew who it belonged to.
"George," Ninten said. "It was you all along. You're the person in the game possessing Lucas from here in your own psyspace."
"Oh, wouldn't that make everything so much easier?"
Ninten whirled around to see a short Korean woman in her thirties wearing a black, Victorian-style dress. She regarded Ninten with a sad smile.
Ninten blinked.
No.
This couldn't be happening.
"It's such a shame," Mary said, "That you didn't run away and live the rest of your life in ignorance when you still had the chance."