Everything he knew had been untrue. Ninten had worked hard to get where he was, and now he regretted every minute of that work. How could he have been so narrow minded? "These people are doing terrible things."

"We've determined that several times," Claus answered Ninten, "What are we going to do about it? It isn't like we're able to do anything by ourselves with hundreds of PSI users with an unhealthy mental state watching me."

"You're right," Ninten thought for a moment, "If Fassad is smart, he probably has all of them watching me also. They probably know we're having this conversation right now."

"Fassad isn't smart, though."

"Don't underestimate him," Ninten warned Claus, "He's cheap and stealthy, so we need to watch it."

"I'm going to actually go read a book," Claus said, "I'm trying to figure out where Lucas might have been taken, and this map here is all I've got." Claus looked down at a folded and torn map. "Man I don't even understand what I'm looking at."

"I'm not too good with maps either," Ninten chuckled, "We were here, though," he pointed to a place on the top left corner, "They came from this way, and their camp was over here. Make what you will out of that," Ninten began to leave, "I've got to go. It's getting late, and we don't want Fassad getting suspicious finding us talking about stuff like this." There was a trace of guilt in his voice when he spoke. Part of him was still wanting the pigmasks to be right, but another part knew they were wrong.

"It isn't like he'd be able to tell what's going on in the first place."

Ness took in a deep breath, and let it out. He knocked on a door. There wasn't any response. He knocked again. There still wasn't any response. "Lucas," Ness said facing the locked door, "I hope you're okay in there. It's been a few days, and.. I'm worried about you. I don't know what's wrong, but anyway, I hope you're alright." 'It's late, so he's probably sleeping,' Ness thought to himself, 'Maybe he's sick and isn't able to speak or get up.' He tried to come up with so many substitutional and optimistic reasons why Lucas had been locked up in a room for the past two days. "I'll see you later, I guess." Ness walked away.

He found himself sitting against the white wall in the narrow empty hallway. He sat alone, and was absorbed in his thoughts, "Ah-" he sighed, "Everything is just falling apart now." He whispered his thoughts to himself, "First we get captured by the pigmasks, and then we get brainwashed, and then I'm here and I don't know what happened. Paula and Claus are still with the pigmaks, and Lucas is... and I-" Ness just gave up on his thoughts, and dozed off.

Ness awoke with a kick in the foot. "Ow," he groaned as he was brought out of his sleep.

"No sleeping on the floor." It was Kumatora who had kicked him.

"Why not?" Ness responded.

"This is a pigmask resistance base. What if we need to send out troops while you're trying to sleep? You'll be trampled."

Ness stood up and began walking to the room given to him when he regained his mental ability. "Hey, Kumatora?" Ness asked.

"What is it?"

"Do you know what's up with Lucas?" Ness continued, "I haven't seen him in awhile."

"Now that you mention it, I do wonder," Kumatora answered him, "You know where he is?"

"He's in his room. He's been there for awhile. He hasn't come out for food or anything," Ness told her, "Every time I try to talk to him he doesn't answer."

"Ask Flint what's wrong?"

"Who is Flint?"

"The guy who usually wears a cowboy hat."

"Oh him?" Ness realized, "What would he know?"

"He's Lucas' father," Kumatora explained to Ness, "Remember he went to go talk to him the other day and that's the last I've seen of him."

"Alright then, I'll go see," Ness started walking off, but was stopped.

"Wait until tomorrow," Kumatora yielded him, "Don't screw with Flint while he's sleeping."

"No," Ness protested, "This is too important to wait. Lucas can't wait." Ness marched off to find Flint in his room. It took awhile, but he managed to find it after fifteen minutes of searching. Ness knocked on the door loudly. The door opened quickly, and Flint stood there staring at Ness.

"What do you want?" Flint seemed tired and agitated. He clearly hadn't slept much. Maybe Flint was just as melancholy as Lucas was.

"Sorry to interrupt you," Ness started, "But I'm worried."

"What do you have to be worried about?" Flint asked.

"I'm worried about Lucas," Ness told him.

Flint seemed angered when he heard Lucas' name, "Why would you care about my son?"

"You see, we met a few days ago," Ness said, "Him and Claus were with me through most of the past week, and I got to know them both pretty well. And I know that something is wrong with Lucas."

"Don't bring it up," Flint said, with a hint of guilt.

"Why not?" Ness was getting on edge with Flint, believing that it was him who made Lucas like this.

"I don't want anything to do with it," Flint explained, "It's over and done. There's nothing we can do to fix it, and he needs to get over it."

Ness was mad now. How could Flint possibly not care about Lucas? He saw this as wrong. "I want to help him get over it. He's my friend, and he needs me, and he needs you."

"Well I've got nothing to do with it anymore," Flint restated.

'Anymore?' Ness thought to himself, "What did you have to do with it before?" He tried to ask this in a more sensitive tone than what his anger was allowing.

Flint sighed, "Goodbye," Flint stepped back, and closed the door in Ness's face.

Ness quietly growled in rage. 'Flint is a terrible father.'

Lucas lied in bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Lucas," someone said from outside the door. It was Ness. "I don't care what you do, I'm going to talk to you whether you like it or not." Ness opened the door slowly and walked into the room. Lucas rolled over on his side and faced away from Ness. "Lucas, no one can help you if you don't tell us what's wrong."

Lucas was silent. Why would Ness need to know? It was none of his business. Of course he was Lucas' friend, but Lucas didn't want to talk.

"Is it because Claus isn't here?" Ness guessed while he sat down on a chair in the room. Lucas was silent still. "Lucas," Ness told him softly, "I haven't known you very long, but you're one of my best friends now, and I'm worried about you."

There was a long silence. Ness stared at the unmoving Lucas. After about seventy seconds, Ness began to stand up and leave, believing that this was a bad approach. "I'm sorry," Lucas said weakly.

Ness, who was walking for the door, turned around in confused excitement, "Why would you be sorry?"

"I've been worrying you with my personal problems," Lucas told him, "I don't want to–"

"No, Lucas I'm here to help," Ness started walking back to Lucas, "I want to help. You can tell me what's bothering you."

"Ness, I don't want to talk about it," Lucas grew flustered by his friend's honest attempts. "I can't handle this. Not without Claus."

"So that's what is bothering you?"

"No," Lucas answered quickly, "I mean- Yes," he let out a frustrated sigh. "It isn't that I'm bothered because he's not here, which I am. But I can't handle the problem myself, and I don't think he could either."

"Then what's the problem?" Ness asked again.

"Ness-" Lucas turned away again, "It's hard for me to talk about."

"You don't need to tell me then," Ness said, "We're going to find Claus though. He's probably just as worried about you as you are about him."

"Ness, I think he would be better off where he is now," Lucas told him, "He has everything he needs there, and he's safe from other attacks."

"No, I don't think he does have everything he needs, Lucas." Lucas looked at Ness in confusion. Ness realized he needed to explain his thoughts, "From what it sounds like, you need him, and he needs you just as much." Lucas breathed deeply and thought. "Our friends are over there, with the pigmasks, and we can't leave them there. Claus or Paula could be killed at any moment if the leader orders it, or if they get into a fight." Ness knew they wouldn't kill Claus because he was the only PK Love user they had, and they needed him. However Paula and many others would be exploited for their abilities until they are killed.

"Ness, it is too risky to do that," Lucas warned him, "We're not going to be able to sneak in successfully without anyone noticing, let alone get out." Lucas, usually optimistic, had lost hope on the matter, and many other things due to recent events. "Besides, we can't even get there, and we don't know where it is."

Ness smirked a little bit, "Well I guess it's a good thing we can teleport then." Lucas looked at Ness with the same confusion he had before, "I know PK Teleport," Ness cleared it up, "I can take us there."

Lucas was now convinced by Ness, but then he started realizing the problems. "Ness, I don't think we can do it. It's too difficult to get in and out of that place with two people, and also, one of them isn't going to be willing to come with us."

"Well then we're going to get Kumatora to come with us to wake them up with that brainshock thing.

"Ness, she won't go," Lucas sighed frustratedly, "And if she did, my dad wouldn't let any of us go."

Ness's blood boiled with the mention of Lucas' father. 'How could Lucas not find a problem with his own father ignoring him?' "I don't even care," Ness stated bluntly while standing up from the chair. He was significantly more angry than he was five seconds ago, "I'm going to get Kumatora and then I'm going to go get Claus and Paula back from that place." Ness started stomping out of the room

"Ness-" Lucas groaned, "Agh." Lucas went back to being by himself. He now had more thoughts to keep him occupied besides his mother and brother. Lucas laid down on his bed again, face down on the pillow. Anxious thoughts soon overwhelmed him and he returned to his relentless crying.

"He doesn't trust me anymore," Ninten talked to Claus in private.

"Why not?" Claus responded while taking a seat on a wooden chair in the room Fassad gave him.

"The other day, remember when I told you about-" Ninten stopped his sentence there, not wanting to address the subject.

Claus' response was an angry, "Yes," which drastically changed the mood of the conversation.

"I asked a few questions afterwards, and that got Fassad suspicious," Ninten continued, "There's word going around that he's going to lock me up or kick me out of here."

Claus was silent at this. He wasn't thinking about anything Ninten said since he brought up Lucas. Claus still blamed Ninten for losing Lucas, and he held a quiet grudge.

"You don't understand, Claus," Ninten said in response to the silence, "You don't understand that I've changed the way I think now."

Claus' remaining enmity erupted, "Tell that to Lucas."

Ninten stood up from his own chair angrily "It isn't my fault he's captured! I don't know why you hold it against me! He made the decision to fight, and he was caught by the other side."

"You don't understand what it is like to lose your family to war. You've been standing all high and mighty with your stupid pigmasks this whole time!" Claus stood up also and shot a PK Fire at Ninten. Ninten quickly used a PSI shield. They started at each other for half a minute after this. They both realized that their chances of succeeding were being destroyed with this. Claus looked down, "I'm sorry." He took a deep breath and sat down.

"No, I'm sorry I brought it up," Ninten also sat down. "We need to cooperate if we want this to work. We need to act fast if those rumors are true. If they are true, there's no telling what would become of me."

"Flint doesn't even care," Ness bluntly stated to Kumatora. "He doesn't care about what Lucas is going through right now, and he doesn't care about his other son being a pigmask prisoner."

"Ness, Flint probably has his own reasons," Kumatora answered.

"He's their father, Kumatora," Ness pointed out the obvious, "If he doesn't care-"

"Anyway, I don't really approve of your idea. I need to go now," Kumatora started walking away, "I think you've got some great reasons for doing it, but trying to take prisoners back without a giant army would be impossible."

"Come on," Ness followed Kumatora down the hall, "You have that raining meteor thingy-"

"PK Starstorm," Kumatora corrected Ness' terminology.

"Yeah, that," Ness nodded, "And if Lucas actually wants to come with us he could just blow everything up with PK Love or something."

"Woah, slow down kid," Kumatora stopped walking and looked at him, "I'm not normally one to be reasonable like this, or understand people in general, but I think it would emotionally hurt Lucas even more to use PK Love as a weapon of revenge or to harm masses of people." Ness thought about it while they both stood in a narrow part of the hallways. "You know what, I need to go. Good talk." Kumatora walked away in a manner as if she were trying to avoid Ness.

Ness decided it would be better for him to give up on his plans now. Everyone would be fine after the war was over if he just left it alone, right? Wrong. Even if Claus was safe, Paula was still out there fighting along with many others, and they might be killed by their own friends or family if he didn't do anything about it.

Ness sat against the wall by Lucas' room again, talking to the door in a usually empty corridor. Ness wasn't sure if Lucas could hear anything he said on the other side of the door, and he somewhat wished he couldn't. He just wanted Lucas to talk or come out of the room or something. He was lucky that the door wasn't locked when he went in earlier that day, but it was now.

Ness was talking to the door, and getting really emotionally invested in his conversation with what he thought Lucas might here, but hoped he didn't.

"Ness?" a familiar voice surprised Ness.

"Lucas!" Ness stood up quickly, "I thought you were still in your room. What made you decide to come out?"

"Well, I-" Lucas' face flushed in embarrassment, and he laughed at himself a little, "I would be in there, but I kinda locked myself out."

Ness tried to not start laughing after hearing that, "What made you go out in the first place?"

"I needed to talk to someone," Lucas told him, "I talked to my dad." Ness still got irritated with this. "I realized he didn't want to talk about it either, and he's just as bad at starting conversations as I am.. So I decided to give it a shot, and we both feel better about what happened.." Lucas voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. He knew it wouldn't ever be the same anyway.

"Talk about what?" Ness involuntarily asked a deadly question.

Lucas was hesitant to answer this, "Ness, I-I don't feel comfortable telling you now," he started choking on his words.

"Oh, sorry," Ness said, "You don't need to tell me."

"It's fine, Ness," Lucas softly smiled, and started unlocking the door.

"Also, how much did you hear of what I was saying to myself before I noticed you were here?"

"Most of it," Lucas said bluntly. Ness buried his face in his hands from embarrassment. "Ness," Lucas grinned, "I think it's really sweet of you for thinking-"

"Never speak of it."

"Oh, and um," Lucas hesitated, "Ness, I thought about a few things." Ness looked to the blonde boy with questioning eyes. "I mean- What you said about trying to save Claus and Paula."

Ness was shocked when he realized what Lucas meant, "Lucas, I couldn't have been serious about that," he said, thinking back to what Lucas and Kumatora had told him earlier.

"No, I think it will work now," Lucas told him, "I know what to do. Let me tell you about what I think of it." Lucas led Ness into the now unlocked room to tell him about his plans.

Sorry about not posting for awhile. I've been way too busy and stressed out by school stuff lately. I wrote about five paragraphs per night, though and... Well it didn't turn out AT ALL how I wanted it to. The next few chapters should come a little quicker. My best guess is about once every 1.5 weeks on average.

Reviews/Comments/Criticism is very appreciated.

ALSO, if you're wondering what I've been doing in what little free time I've had: I've been on the Lucas SSB4 hype train. I practically died when my Brawl main and favorite video game character came out of nowhere. So yeah, I've been playing smash a lot lately (as Ness of course).. (I'd be glad to play against anyone, by the way)