"Ninten," Lucas said, his gaze level. "Remember what you promised me."

George snorted. "Keeping your little afterlife a secret from me? I'm almost hurt that you didn't think I could find out on my own."

Lucas' blue eyes met Ninten's own. Not the literal promise of keeping Lucas' Magicant a secret, then, but an unspoken commitment that went deeper.

Keep powerful tools hidden so that they couldn't be abused by the rich.

"Why did you bring Claus and my mother back from the spirit world?" Lucas said, glancing at George. "At this point, I'm willing to chalk it up to sick pleasure from tormenting the people under your boot even after death."

"My reason is the same as always." George walked past Lucas and looked into the blue fountain water. "I want to save the world."

"The only reason that the world needs saving is because your meddling." Lucas jabbed a thumb at Mary. "You and her."

"Without us, the world would have gone up in flames decades ago. Unless you were the one who balanced a cold war on the verge of tipping into a nuclear apocalypse, that is."

"Tazmily would have been fine in a nuclear war if you hadn't found us," Claus said. "I wonder if our ancestors were right. Maybe we should all go back to simpler lives without bombs and gold."

"And give up our medicine as well?" Lucas said. "Resort to tribal warfare where millions of people bleed out from infections? Go back to a world of starvation and torture? Our ancestors were weak-spined, short-sighed people. But that doesn't excuse these two hawks here from coming in and stealing everything except the dirt beneath our feet."

"I feel the sins crawling on my back every day," Mary said. "I am sure that I will face judgment. But I'm trying to give just a little bit back."

"I don't think that we should take the chance." Lucas looked over at Ninten. "Ana told me about what happened inside the V-game. Is this what happens when you save her? You should have left her to rot in her little cell."

"Lucas." Claus crossed his arms. "Think of what mother would have said."

"You've seen our mother. I think she'd love to squeeze the life out of the person who took you away from us."

"That's not who she really is, Lucas. You know that."

"All I know is that you can't change to keep up with reality. Mother and I became hard people because we didn't have a choice. But you'd rather cling onto the lies that our ancestors passed down."

"Why do you have to be you so cold?"

"I'm just tired." Lucas glared at Mary. "And once you give an American an inch, they'll take the whole rope. My mother told me that there was a way to dissolve a Magicant, and I'll do it with yours."

"Hinawa also told me that I'm the only person powerful enough to learn the technique," Ninten said, "And I'm not wiping out anyone."

Lucas sighed. "I was hoping for more from you, Ninten. But I guess experiencing what we've suffered in a V-game is different from really living it."

"You know, Lucas," George said. "That's a great point. I think I could use your help."

"Is that so." Lucas' gaze remained trained on Ninten.

"But first," George said, "I have to thank you, Claus, for helping me with my prototype."

"Me?" Claus pointed to himself. "What did I do?"

"We would have preferred Lucas' innocent little mind to toy with, of course, but yours made do basically as well."

"I don't…" Claus looked over at Mary, and then Ninten.

"When you messed with Claus' mind to try and make him a vessel for Mary," Ninten said. "What did you actually do?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked." George's expression turned sunny. "You see, when Mary was experimenting with poor Claus' psyche, she tried to empty parts of his mind and store them in data files. His brain was able to fill in the gaps, and Claus retained his memories, and now we just had massive data files filled with his thoughts and impressions. What a failure."

Claus bit his lip, and Ninten walked over to squeeze his hand.

"Except," George said, "Even though Mary couldn't empty his mind to take over his body, I was able to build a world out of his thoughts."

"Ah," Lucas said. "I was wondering why the Nowhere Islands V-game was like that?"

"Like what?" Ninten said.

"Pigmasks. Mr. Saturns. Whimsy stuck in a plot of imperialism and tragedy. Like a child's view of a world collapsing around them. And it turns out that in this case, that's exactly what it was."

"Lucas, I don't understand." Claus leaned closer to Ninten. "What are you saying?"

"Isn't it obvious at this point?" Lucas looked over at George. "Correct me if what I'm saying is wrong. Mary tried to suck your mind out of your body, Claus. Didn't work, but George used the bits to create a Magicant inside of this place based on your ideas of what was happening. He then called you and mother back, along with a few others like Isaac, to experiment with how you would live in a virtual world."

George clapped. "Bravo. You're really everything that I thought you would be and more, Lucas. You've come a long way from praying to the Dark Dragon to protect you."

"So," Claus shied back, "The Nowhere Islands V-game is my world?"

"A world based on your memories," George said. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out. You thought that Americans were greedy pigs. Thus, pigmasks. The world even has modules for fey spirits with PSI powers called Magypsies. I could go on and on."

"So all the torment that you faced there was my fault too," Mary said, shaking her head. "Heh."

"Which leads into why I need your help, Lucas," George said. "I've tried to save the world, but it's clear that I can't stop the bleeding. Ecosystems are collapsing, human populations keep growing and growing until there will be no more resources left."

"What are you going to do about it?" Lucas said. "Kill a bunch of people?"

"I considered it," George said, "But there's a better way."

"So," Ninten said. "I was always wondering why that one part of the V-game always felt so out of place."

Lucas' eyes lit up. "So you mean to-"

"I think that Claus and I are still lost here," Mary said.

"Look at this world around us," George said, gesturing outwards. "Beautiful isn't it? You said so yourself, Claus."

"Uh, yeah." Claus shrugged. "I guess."

"We get it," Ninten said. "You've already told us your plan, Namiko."

George flashed whitened teeth while Mary's eyes narrowed.

"Good," George said. "A little bit of perception doesn't hurt in the business world. But Namiko was a foolish person. It's so much easier just to watch the world burn than to try and destroy it myself. And trust me, I can smell the smoke in the distance."

"Wait," Claus said. "The part of the V-game with the world leaders was taken from your mind?"

"With a few alterations, of course. Trust me, a future will come when people gladly transfer their spirits to a virtual world in order to escape the collapse of our planet. Namiko was thinking to small in giving everyone a domain inside of their own minds. Once I unlock the powers behind the fountain that the starmen granted us, I can create an entire universe where people can travel between worlds and see their loved ones again. I can bring spirits back from the dead and erase tragedies." George straightened his tie. "I can become God."

"I can't think of anyone I would want less as a god," Ninten said.

"I can." Lucas glanced at Mary.

"That's why I need your help, Lucas," George said. "The Nowhere Islands V-game isn't perfect. I can make my own universe and tune it until it is. But to create worlds like the Nowhere Islands, we need small amounts of data from people's PSI spirits."

"And you want some of mine?"

"I promise that you won't notice the difference."

"Lucas." Claus stepped forward. "Please, don't listen to him. The only difference between him and Mary is that he doesn't feel any guilt for what he's done."

"Why would I be guilty for saving the world?" George drew his lips into a thin smile. "I wasn't the one who invaded your homeland, Lucas. I wasn't the one who took your brother and drained everything out of him."

"But you did bring me and mother back here just to torment us," Claus said.

"And would you prefer to be dead, floating with the other spirits?"

Claus fell silent.

"We can arrange that, you know," George said, glancing at the fountain. "In the same way we drew you from the spirit world, we can send you back."

Lucas' eyes lit up. "How?"

"The fountain acts as a gate, so I just need to set the destination to the spirit world using PSI. So how about it, Claus? I can do the same with your mother."

"I…"

"Stop it, George," Mary said.

"Stop what? I'm obviously a terrible person for bringing Claus' existence back, so it's time to correct my wrongs." George stepped forward, and Claus leaned back. "Unless… I'm actually the good guy here?"

"Claus was able to make the best of the bad situation you put him into," Ninten said. "You don't get to take any of the credit."

"And he wouldn't have been able to make the best of anything without me." George fixed his suit cuffs. "Your bias is showing, Ninten. Contrary to what you force yourself to believe, I'm not the monster here."

"You literally wanted me to channel my hatred not an hour ago."

"If hate didn't have uses then we wouldn't have evolved it."

"It doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere," Lucas said. "So George, I'll help you with your experimentation and creating worlds for people to upload their spirits into. But I have one condition."

"Let's hear it."

"We send Mary to the spirit world to the fountain and get rid of her for good."

By the time Ninten had registered what Lucas had said, George had already nodded. Mary raised her hands up to defend her chest, and George stepped forward while cracking his knuckles.

"PK Beam gamma," George said.

A white ray shot out from George's fingertips, slamming into Mary's abdomen. Her knees buckled and she crumpled to the ground.

"You shouldn't have given Ninten his mind back," George said, nudging Mary's limp body with her foot. "But of course, you would be too self-righteous to keep channeling Ninten's emotions for your PSI."

Ninten glanced over at Lucas' still body and neutral expression before darting towards his great-grandfather.

George waved a hand. "Paralysis alpha."

Ninten's body froze, and his fingers twitched as he tried to force his legs to move forward.

Claus rushed over. "Ninten, are you okay?"

George repeated the PSI move and Claus' body fell still as well. He twitched his head over to look at Lucas, and Ninten thought he saw a sad smile on Lucas' face out of the corner of his eye. Lucas walked up to George, his feet kicking up puffs of pink fluff.

"May I do the honors?" Lucas said.

"All yours."

"Lucas, please," Claus said, his voice strained.

"I'm doing what you never had the guts to," Lucas said. "I'm taking out our real enemy once and for all."

Lucas inhaled, heaving Mary's unconscious body onto his shoulder.

"Is the fountain set to expel Mary's spirit back into the world of the dead?"

"Give me a second." George shoved a palm towards the fountain, and water started to bubble. "All set up."

"Perfect."

Lucas dropped Mary's body and shot a force blast at George that warped the air between them. While George was reeling, Lucas darted over and grabbed onto his shoulders, Lucas' fingernails digging into George's black suit.

"You should have looked deeper into my mind with your telepathy to see who I meant by 'real enemy'," Lucas said.

He slammed George's shoulders down, dipping George's face in the fountain. George kicked and moved his hands in a precise circle to manifest a PSI ability, but as fire started to blossom out from George's hands he vanished into white wisps that floated up for a second before dissolving in the sky.

The world fell silent. Lucas took heavy breaths, stepping away from the now empty fountain.

"I think we can all agree that I just made the world a better place," Lucas said.

Claus gulped. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Don't apologize yet." Lucas walked over to Mary's body.

"Please," Ninten said. "Mary's powerful. If you spare her then we can use her influence to help the people of the Nowhere Islands."

"The Nowhere Islands can rot in hell for all I care. My ancestors probably slaughtered on the natives who lived there even more brutally than you Americans are bleeding us out. All I know is that I can't afford to trust someone who will sacrifice an entire island for her own gains."

"She's hurting too, Lucas. We just need to take a bit of time to-"

"Oh, so because the imperialist feels sad too it's okay that she destroyed everything we had? Forgive me for not breaking into tears at the thought of the white man's burden."

Lucas hoisted Mary's body back up over his shoulder and walked over to the fountain. After a pause, he turned back to Ninten.

"You know, I bet this fountain might also work on people who are still alive. It could be a handy way to make sure that some people don't misuse the dangerous information they've stumbled upon."

A chill ran down Ninten's spine. Lucas let Mary's body slide off his shoulder and walked over to Ninten.

"Even if you mean well, Ninten, I think that your bleeding heart will lead you to try and save dying people by letting them upload their PSI spirits to their own Magicants. And a secret like that from someone who might run a PSI corporation doesn't say under the blanket for long."

"If you kill me, you're not any different from Mary," Ninten said, "Doing bad things because you think it could lead to a greater good."

Lucas smiled. "Perhaps. I've never claimed to be a good person, Ninten. But I am sorry for this. I'll put you to sleep so that it will be painless, all right? Hypno-"

"Lucas, think about what you're doing," came a voice from the side.

Claus stumbled up from his hands and knees to his feet, his legs shaking as he jabbed a finger at Lucas with wide eyes.

"You know that he doesn't deserve this," Claus said.

"Please," Lucas sighed, "Stop acting like a child. I thought we both moved past this."

"Take me instead." Claus dragged himself in front of Ninten.

"You know, I think I finally understand the difference between us," Lucas said. "I've moved on from what happened in the past, and you're actively regressing back into who you were. I don't know if you're trying to remind me of when you volunteered to take my place when the Americans wanted to experiment on me, but if so then you're honestly an idiot. If you had just let me die like I was supposed to, none of this would have happened."

"Then we'll fight you." Claus balled his hands into fists. "We'll find some way to work through this. Ninten, can you remove our paralysis?"

Ninten checked his PSI energy just to make sure. "I used up everything."

"Isn't it so perfect when your enemies spend everything trying to kill each other?" Lucas smiled. "Now stand aside, Claus. I won't ask a second time."

"Ninten showed me what I can do while I'm still here. You were watching too, weren't you?"

"I did see him stumble through the Nowhere Islands, same as I did on my actual quest."

"Do you remember how he smiled when he saved that Mr. Saturn?"

"I remember recognizing the symptoms of delirium, yes."

"The wingbeat of a butterfly." Claus closed his eyes. "The veins of a maple leaf."

"What?"

"Those are the reasons to live."

Lucas blinked.

"You know," Claus said, "He actually sat down on the beach and had a conversation with me, just like we used to. I still remember how soft the sand felt on my fingers."

"Claus, if this is some sort of distraction…"

"I'm not letting those moments go. And those moments are special because I share them with people. There has to be something that you care about too, Lucas. Didn't you pray to the Dark Dragon to protect all life?"

"I'm no longer chained by who I was a lifetime ago."

Ninten looked back and forth between Lucas and Claus. Probably better not to remind Lucas of his presence. He looked over at Mary's limp body by the fountain and took a deep breath. Come on, Claus.

"I know that deep down, you still care," Claus said. "And I'll be here for as long as it takes until you find your way. That's what friends are for."

Lucas frowned. "Friends?"

"I'm sorry if I made things harder for you by sacrificing myself in your place," Claus said. "But I did it because I believed in you. I had faith that you could turn into the sunny, kind person that you wanted to be if you just had a little more time away from the scary Americans."

"You're talking nonsense." Lucas turned away. "But I guess if you're going to these lengths to try and save Ninten, then I guess I won't break your heart. He can live, but one more comment about saving Mary and I kill them both."

Claus stumbled forward, grimacing with each stiff step that he took. After a few strides, Claus opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. He toppled forward and collapsed onto the ground at Lucas' feet. He gasped, opening and closing his hands while squeezing his eyes shut in pain. Claus hopped to his feet, wobbling and rubbing his head with rigid fingers.

"Lucas," Claus said. "I still believe in you."

"You…" Lucas frowned. "I'm glad that you do?"

"Lucas," Ninten said. "Mary said that she couldn't bring herself to hurt you when she saw you pray to the Dark Dragon to protect all life."

"Oh, so she's a murderous war hawk but since she didn't crush a single life it's all okay?"

"Not okay," Ninten said, "But every person matters. You, me, Claus, and even her."

"Keep your mouth shut or you're the next one in the fountain."

"Please," Claus said. "Nobody else needs to die today."

Lucas sighed. "Why did I have a sneaking suspicion that you two would risk Ninten's life just to slip in a comment about saving a mass murderer?"

"Because we care," Ninten said. "And we think that there's a part of you that still does too."

Silence hung in the air as ice blue wisps drifted off from the gushing fountain.

"PSI Healing Omega," Lucas said.

The numbness in Ninten's bones vanished, and Claus released a sigh of relief. Over by the fountain, Ninten heard a groan and glanced over to see Mary bracing herself on her hands, long locks of black hair spilling over the front of her face.

"You two are the biggest idiots in the world," Lucas said, "But I guess I can join you and be a close third."

Phew, we're getting close to the end and I had to try and wrap everything up! I wanted Ana to have some role in the final few chapters but there are just too many characters to make it work. Having five here was already a huge stretch, and I only felt okay with it because Ninten didn't say anything lol.

The next chapter or two will probably just be wrap up. :) Not exactly sure what the plan is but the major arcs are coming to a close.

Notes:

"White man's burden" as Lucas says it is a reference to a poem by Rudyard Kipling (author of the Jungle Book) in which the speaker laments on how hard it is for white people to try and civilize lesser races and basically says that we should praise white people for colonialism because they're doing their best efforts to bring the savages up in life even when it's not beneficial to themselves. Yeah, it's really disgusting. Lucas uses it here to argue that Ninten shouldn't have sympathy for colonizers/imperialists no matter what Mary's gone through

"Wings of a butterfly, veins of a maple leaf" was a recurring phrase in previous chapters in which Ninten and Claus basically say that the little details are what make life truly special.

Part of the V-game with the world leaders - this is where we saw Zhang, Liu, Kim, Park, and Namiko, where Namiko set off an apocalypse because humans were destroying the environment and justified it by saying that everyone could upload their spirits to their own psyspaces and exists worry-free past death without harming the environment. This is one of the most AU parts of the fic and is my imagining of the catastrophe that send the characters of Mother 3 to the Nowhere Islands. I wanted it to connect into the outside story so I had George's motives be similar to Namiko.

Review Response: The Arisen : No need to thank me! :) Yeah I'm getting back in the groove so hopefully I'll be updating more frequently. Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to me and motivates me to work harder.