Well, here we are again with another chapter. Sorry about the delay; I just needed to 'iron' out some wrinkles in it, and extend its length somewhat. Turned out to be the longest I've written so far, I think. Overall I think this is one of the better chapters I've done so far. But I could very well be biased; I'll leave it up to you readers to determine the quality.
Enjoy the chapter!
Review Responses
Guest: Thanks for the compliment. The girl on the mountain...Well, there was an OC in the first chapter (who was killed off immediately), but who's to say there aren't others? Or maybe I'm just messing with you? Ah, me and riddles have a love/hate relationship. As for the Tazmily kids...I guess I haven't seen a fanfic yet that centered around them, though I haven't searched really closely in particular. Well, hope you enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I do not own Earthbound or any non-OC characters; only the plot.
"I'm hungry," Lucas said.
Ninten sighed. "I know, but we shouldn't use up too much of our supplies; we're beginning to run low," Ninten pointed out.
Lucas sighed. "You're right, but what about those berries over there?" the blonde asked, pointing at a bush, his stomach giving a growl.
"Those are poisonous berries," Ninten observed. "Probably a bad idea to eat them." His gaze shifted upward. "Those apples on the other hand..."
Lucas watched as Ninten generated a single psychic knife and threw it at the branch that he was looking at. It fell, severed from the tree and landed into Ninten's waiting hand, apples still on there. "Food."
"Thank you!" Lucas cried as he plucked one from it. Lucas easily devoured the apple, and also took a second one. Ninten himself had two before plucking the rest of the apples off.
"That's enough," Ninten said. "We'll eat the rest later, but like I said before, we shouldn't eat too much."
"At least we didn't run into a bear like yesterday," Lucas shivered.
"At least it was more interested in making a meal out of plants as opposed to us," Ninten stated. "If it had wanted to go after us, I'm sure we would've gotten away, but I would not have taken the chance."
Lucas frowned. "You know, these three days have taught me a lot about the wilderness...and I'm not so sure I like it as much as I used to."
Ninten chuckled. "Yeah, quite different than the books we like to read," he mused. "We take for granted what we have in civilization, and we don't realize how lucky we are for such comforts until we lose them. Mind you, I'm not insulting the wilderness; I'm just saying people probably wouldn't like the reality of it since the books love to romanticize it."
Lucas opened his mouth to respond to Ninten's comment, but he noticed light glimmering off of something. He refocused his gaze ahead. "What's that?" he asked.
"I need a closer look," Ninten said as he dashed towards the bushes, Lucas following in suit.
It was quite the structure to find in the middle of nowhere. About two stories tall, yet very wide from what they could see and probably very long, complete with a 'courtyard' of mechanical obstructions and a fence surrounding the entire perimeter. But there was something that tipped the duo off right on the front about who was this building controlled by.
"That is something that doesn't look suspicious at all," Ninten deadpanned. "Just a small stroll through a forest and onto the plans, and we discover a giant building with the Pigmask insignia on the front. Yep, that is totally not suspicious at all."
"Snark isn't helping here, Ninten," Lucas deadpanned back.
"Okay, okay, I'll get serious now," Ninten said.
"So what do we do? I mean, we can't just let it sit here."
"No…but given the size, I doubt that this is just a small base that we can raid. But it looks relatively inactive from what I can see…" Ninten muttered. "…Maybe we should simply get a closer look. Then we'll decide.
Lucas nodded, agreeing with Ninten's strategy. It was the veteran who moved first, crouching low to the ground as he crept towards their objective, then got onto his belly and army-crawled the rest of the way. Lucas thought it wise to mimic his movements, to avoid possible detection if there were any Pigmasks standing around on watch.
It was slow, but a few minutes later, Ninten finally crawled behind a checkpoint, and stood up, poking his head as far around it as he dared.
"This is really odd," he whispered. "It looks…abandoned. Yet there is quite a bit of equipment lying around, like abandoned vehicles and weapons."
"What? Why would they leave all of this behind?"
"Either it's a ruse or they left in such a hurry they abandoned everything they didn't need," Ninten hypothesized. "But we should still be cautious; we don't know if this is a trap or not."
"Why can't we just use your 4th-D Slip technique?" Lucas inquired. "I mean, it would make it a lot easier to sneak around."
"Don't want to risk setting off any PSI detectors," Ninten answered.
Lucas tried to peek over the windowsill of the post, and as he did he discovered some sort of device. "Eh? What is this?" he wondered aloud.
Ninten grabbed it and brought it down to examine it. "It appears to be some sort of recording device," he concluded. "It might provide something useful if I can figure out how to operate it."
"Do you think you'll be able to?" Lucas questioned.
"Give me a few minutes. I'll see if I can figure this out."
Apparently, he could've said fifteen seconds and he still would've finished on time. Lucas saw him quickly discover and press a button on it, which caused it to crackle, but then a voice began echoing out of the contraption.
"May sixth, two thousand one hundred ex ex," the voice droned. "Finally, orders have arrived that we finally pull out of this base in the middle of nowhere. With the fall of the Royal Family, Commander Fassad has ordered us to move in to help garrison the castle and surrounding areas as war is waged on the surrounding areas. I wish our unit was assigned to the front lines so we can experience battle and kill some Royal bastards...but orders are orders.
"On another note, we're pulling out so quickly that many of our obsolete and damaged equipment are being left behind in the haste to move out. But we have extracted most of the important documents at this point and only have a handful left. Now, this base shall cease to function as soon as we leave. We could destroy it, but explosives are so hard to come by even with our production facilities on overdrive we cannot spare anything at the moment. But it's only good for a shelter; there is no other use for this…I'm fairly sure."
With those last words, the recorder fell silent, both teens processing this information.
"…So it has been abandoned," Ninten mused. "And it looks like the Pigmasks are short on weaponry; that's good."
"Still, it's a shame we can't get anything from here," Lucas sighed. "We could've really used some things they might have."
"Hmm…Perhaps there might still be something…" Ninten said. "Even if it's only directions to operate one of their vehicles, it'll be better than nothing. Besides, if they really aren't here, then this is a perfect time to at least sweep the area, find any clues they might have accidentally left behind."
"But what if it's really a trap?" Lucas asked.
"Then we fight our way out," Ninten answered, clenching his fist.
Ninten gently opened the door, entering the abandoned building cautiously. He was the most experienced in combat, so he took point with Lucas behind him. At least having his Giant Knife back was nice; he found some sort of comfort in feeling its weight as they navigated through the halls, fully aware of the dangers they could potentially encounter on this mission.
Lucas's PSI only served to make him more relaxed as he could provide valuable support, especially when Ninten's PSI was still lost. Even though he was inexperienced and his weapon was a baseball bat, it was certainly nice having another pair of eyes with him. Plus, the Thunder Bombs Duster gave them could prove very useful in times such as these.
Ninten came across a door and gently opened it. He cautiously entered with Lucas; despite the room's only occupants was an abandoned desk and bookcase. He curiously examined the drawers of the desk, with no result.
"Any luck over there, Lucas?" he asked.
"Nope," Lucas answered.
Many of the rooms they came across were similar; they would have some storage and work areas, and nothing would be left behind for them to get their hands on besides some articles of clothing too large for them. Now, the pair of doors they stood in front of seemed to give off some sort of eerie presence, like whomever this room was meant for was powerful. Ninten pushed the door open, wincing at the noise it made, and with his hand on the hilt of his blade entered.
'Geez, what a rip-off of the Royal Family,' Ninten thought as he glanced around the room, taking in the sight of a throne room. There was a massive throne at the head of the room, with a massive crimson carpet leading up to it. The walls were adorned by pictures of this fat boy that looked old and withered, very old, and the walls were painted a hideous mixture of black and blood red. The Royal Family didn't even have pictures in the room, and the walls were far more appealing than this one was.
Glancing at Lucas, the veteran could tell that the rural boy was just as unnerved as he was. "Don't worry; I can't sense anything around here," Ninten reassured him. Lucas nodded in reply and visibly relaxed. The duo fanned out, trying to find anything of significance in this area. Ninten's sharp eye caught sight of a torch that looked remarkably out of place compared with the others. He walked up to it and examined it. With little hesitation, he reached up and pulled it.
A massive groan echoed through the room as the back wall shook, Ninten taking a few steps back out of nervousness. He felt Lucas come to his side as both watched the development; a part of the wall actually shifted forward out of formation, and then shifted to the side, revealing a secret passageway.
"Well, looks like this is a great deal more mysterious than we thought," Ninten muttered.
"Where do you think that leads?" Lucas asked.
"Only one way to find out," Ninten replied, heading down into the darkness, down a stairwell.
'Man, talk about a need for dramatic effect,' Ninten scoffed. Why did villains in books always feel the need to take such extravagates, he didn't know.
The duo quickly hit the bottom and pushed the door at the bottom open and entered a setting so unlike the upstairs area. "What is this place?" Lucas wondered.
"It appears to be some sort of science lab," Ninten replied, glancing at all the large machines left behind. It appears that the Pigmasks had left hastily, given that all of this really should've been taken out or destroyed. He would have to figure out where exactly this place was so that he could direct a unit of Eagleland troops to seize them and get all of the machinery.
Sweeping across the room, the duo proceeded into a separate room, devoid of everything except a single bookcase…with a book on it.
"They really make these things too easy," Ninten muttered, yanking the book. Just like with the torch, the bookcase shuddered as it moved to the side, once again exposing a secret pathway to the unknown.
The passage wasn't very long, and it lead to another ordinary looking room, complete with a desk and bookcase. The only difference was that there were two pieces of paper on it. Upon examination, one was simply a folded-up map of Eagleland, with the surrounding towns and the former base itself marked on it; a valuable resource. The other paper on the other hand was not as clear-cut.
Without hesitation, Ninten swiped it off of the wooden surface and began to try to read it.
December 21, 21XX
Project Chimera is proceeding ahead at all possible speed. At this rate, it should be complete before spring of next year, ahead of schedule. Our army will greatly benefit from this, even if most of them are going to be defending these locations our king has handpicked. But seriously, why is he sending them to these insignificant locations where they can only just sit around and twiddle their thumbs while our soldiers die? Maybe he knows something we don't.
On the other hand, we have had no luck trying to control specimen D-1, despite various efforts to contain it for nearly three years. We have finally decided to lock it up permanently until we are certain that we can control it. It will be very devastating towards our enemies, who quiver in terror at even the thought of facing that creature. But D-1 is the reason why most of our chimeras are smaller and weaker; they are far easier to control than one the size of a Drago. But I shiver in excitement at the opportunity to test these beast machines out on the incompetents that call themselves the 'Royal Guards'. But there is another chimera that goes beyond those capabilities…One that I'm sure would be the deaths of us if we screw up.
"What does it say?" Lucas asked as Ninten lowered the paper.
Ninten didn't get an opportunity to reply, when an alarm began to blare. "Warning, warning!" a monotone feminine voice droned. "Containment for specimen D-1 has failed. Repeat; containment for specimen D-1 has failed. All chimera teams deploy to contain. Repeat; all chimera teams deploy to contain."
Ninten looked at Lucas. "We're about to face something that the Pigmasks could not control," he told him as they dashed out of the hidden room. They burst into the main lab just as a wall burst down, the roar of a Mecha-Drago filling their ears.
Ninten and Lucas scurried away from the out of control Mecha-Drago barreling towards them. Fortunately, it couldn't turn very well at the speeds at which it was going and thus both teens were able to evade the clumsy attack. The Mecha-Drago received a compensation of getting its head stuck in the wall.
Ninten sprinted towards it, not wanting to waste even a second. He leapt up onto its back despite the Mecha-Drago's thrashing. With a cry, he stabbed his Giant Knife into the back. However, the mechanical Drago roared in pain and jerked in response, freeing its head at last. Ninten was also sent flying off along, rolling head over heels on the ground with his Giant Knife clattering down next to him.
The veteran quickly recovered from his fall and swiftly rolled off to the side to avoid a possible attack, but none came. Instead, a mighty roar filled his ears. Wincing, he looked to see the Mecha-Drago facing down Lucas, who had his hands over them. The Mecha-Drago merely swiped at the boy with his tail, sending Lucas flying with a cry.
Ninten charged towards their foe, hoping to take some pressure off of his friend and possibly cause some damage. It appeared the Mecha-Drago didn't notice him as he approached its leg, Giant Knife ready to swing. With his swing, Ninten felt some liquid splatter onto his face, but immediately jumped back.
'That was close,' he remarked to himself, seeing the Mecha-Drago's foot crush the area which he stood seconds ago. He didn't fancy being turned into a pancake, no sir.
The Mecha-Drago brought its eyes around to face down Ninten, its one organic eye narrowing. If Ninten could describe it right then and there, he'd probably describe it as the most hideous abomination he had ever seen. Its face seemed to be mainly mechanical, with some organic skin randomly thrown in there, and its mechanical eye nearly sent shivers up his spine.
He could also sense his PSI was reacting to something, but he didn't know what, and he couldn't really think on it in the middle of a battle. He knew it was something familiar, he knew that for a fact.
A sudden PK Love Beta crashing into the side of his adversary's face prevented him from staring at the ugly face any longer than he had to.
The Mecha-Drago was sent tumbling into the wall again with a startled roar. The Mecha-Drago hit the floor soon after, and struggled to stand. Ninten noticed Lucas getting ready to charge and promptly grabbed his shoulder.
"No; don't underestimate your foes, no matter what," he told his friend.
Lucas frowned but backed off. Sure enough, the Mecha-Drago rose once again, looking even more pissed off than before. Ninten took a step back, unnerved at the beating this thing has taken, and yet still able to get up and fight. The Mecha-Drago seemed to grin for a moment, showing off its hideous teeth...and one of them was missing.
Apparently, Lucas must have realized something he didn't because he gasped right then. "What is it?" Ninten urgently asked.
"That...That missing tooth...That was in the same spot...The same spot as the one who...got my mother...That's the one who killed my family!" Ninten watched as Lucas's face turned from shock to rage.
"No! Lucas, don't-" Ninten's pleas didn't even register in Lucas's brain, or he deliberately ignored them. The blonde PSI user charged with a furious roar head-on at the Mecha-Drago, a PK Love forming in his hands as he closed. Nearly in a panic, Ninten hastily put a Shield Alpha over his friend, and not a moment too soon. The Mecha-Drago swiped one of its arms at the enraged boy and sent him into a nasty flight into a wall.
Ninten winced. 'Even with the shield, I'm not sure if he'd survive that,' he groaned mentally.
It seemed as though the Mecha-Drago was intelligent enough to ignore Lucas for the time being and focus on Ninten. It let out a roar as it charged once again, snapping its jaws.
Ninten was forced onto the defensive, unable to get in close enough in between the Mecha-Drago's arsenal. He would move back from the jaws, which would put him out of attack range. Jumping over its head was too risky due to its massive mouth, strafing to the side nearly got him bashed by the tail, and charging head on was suicide.
Not to mention his lasers, given that Ninten had just been sent flying by the blast from one. He hit the ground hard, crying out in pain. Fortunately, he was able to get back up fairly quickly, but he knew he was reaching his limit. He coughed and saw that blood was mixed in with his spit. That attack did a number on him.
He looked back up at the Mecha-Drago, witnessing it charging up another shot. There was no way that he could evade that by any sort of conventional means. He would get caught in the blast radius anyway unless it hit the wall or something, so no matter what the Mecha-Drago was going to wear him down even if he could avoid suffering a direct hit.
But 4th D-Slip was anything but conventional.
Ninten smirked as he used his remaining signature move, vanishing from sight and touch. The beam passed through where he was before he used his technique. The Mecha-Drago roared seemingly in confusion upon realizing its prey had disappeared from sight. However, Ninten had immediately sprinted toward the Drago, feet pulsating with charged PSI energy. The veteran sprinted around the Mecha-Drago, to its rear, and used that built-up PSI energy to jump higher than he normally would've been able too, right on top of its head as soon as he became tangible again.
He quickly hooked his legs around the Mecha-Drago as far as they could go, both of his arms copying (his Giant Knife was in its sheath) as he braced himself for the reaction. Sure enough, the Mecha-Drago roared as it began to thrash around, swinging its clawed hands inches above the hitchhiker. However, it couldn't keep it up for long, and its thrashing got weaker.
Now was the time to strike.
Ninten carefully drew his Giant Knife from its sheath, making sure not to fall off. He set his eyes upon his target, and clutched the hilt with both of his hands. His heart pounded as he raised it up, pointing directly at its target.
With a cry, Ninten thrust the Giant Knife right through the one organic eye. He felt it hit something beyond, and sure enough, the Mecha-Drago jerked and let out a last roar in agony, and then fell.
Ninten hung onto the hilt of his Giant Knife despite his bloodied hands as he felt gravity take effect. He let go just as soon as he felt the impact on the ground, sending him off of the corpse.
He wearily stood up from his position on the ground, turning around to examine his handiwork. He had a sense of small satisfaction, knowing a dangerous weapon that the Pigmasks could use had been compromised.
On the other, he felt guilty for taking its life in such a gruesome fashion. At least it was quick. He recalled reading that Dragos were friendly creatures under normal circumstances. Given how it was located in their base and it was referred to by 'D-1', he assumed the Pigmasks were the ones behind that. How that poor Drago must have suffered...
He sighed. Well, it can't be changed now; he couldn't simply go back in time. But he still needed to get his Giant Knife back and then he and Lucas would-
Lucas!
Ninten swore under his breath, cursing his stupidity at forgetting his wounded friend completely during the battle! Lucas could've very well died from that attack, being flung into the wall at that speed despite having a shield over him. He forced himself to swallow his feelings of guilt; Lucas wouldn't be saved by self-pity.
"Lucas?" he called, glancing around the room to search for any sign of him. He heard incoherent groaning coming from a corner, and he quickly rushed over.
"Lucas!" he yelled as he glanced over Lucas's state. Being unconscious wasn't the worst that happened; he had some blood running down the side of his head and it appeared that the Mecha-Drago's claws had done their damage, given the tears on his clothes and the pool of blood forming underneath his friend's body.
"No, no, no!" Ninten cried, nearly unable to accept the reality before him, half believing it to be a hallucination. But it was right before his eyes, and this wasn't the first time he saw death.
Lucas...didn't have long to live. Not without medical attention.
There was no way he could get him that.
"Lucas..." he whispered, shaking his head sadly. He should've known better than to bring him along. Did he honestly think that just over one week of training would be enough? Without proper discipline or experience? He would've been safer at Tazmily. Ninten was foolish to bring him along; at least Lucas could've lived his life, found happiness, helped the town...But no. He just had to take him away from his life and now that was about to take his life.
Ninten hung his head in shame. There was truly nothing he could do. Without his PSI, he could not save him. He recalled how he reacted when he learned of the death of one of his closest friends in Summers. That hit him very hard, but at least now he wasn't losing his mind as he was then. Still, there was no way he could ever adjust to losing a friend.
He felt his PSI react, causing him to flinch in shock. That got him out of his thoughts and into a new one: 'What the heck was that?' he wondered, looking around. He felt his PSI Core pulsate briefly, and turned around.
He saw the Mecha-Drago's corpse glowing, glowing emerald green no less. 'The same color as my PSI Signature,' Ninten realized. Then, he wondered where that came from. He proceeded to shove the thought entirely to the back of his head as he used his PSI Senses to peer into the cause of that light.
He recoiled in shock upon realizing what exactly it was.
'How is that possible?' Ninten's mind raced in alarm. 'How could that be...part of my PSI Core?'
At that exact moment, his Giant Knife shot out from where it was stuck and was sent spinning across the air, landing on the ground with a clatter close by to Ninten, who promptly picked it up, his attention focused on the green orb that shot out from where his weapon used to be.
The veteran stared at the orb, uncertain about what to do. However, he didn't need to do anything.
The orb shot right towards him, connecting with his chest. Ninten flinched, expecting pain due to the sheer velocity it hurdled toward him. But it didn't come. As Ninten recovered, he felt something...warm in his chest. He glanced down, seeing no signs of damage other than the warmth that seemed to spread across his body, reminding him of what it was like when his PSI was first awakened.
But was that orb really...part of his PSI Core?
'Only one way to find out,' he reasoned, calling upon his PSI energy to determine what techniques he had regained, if any. Indeed, he had regained several, but none pleased him more than a certain one.
He knelt down next to Lucas again and whispered, "Lifeup Alpha." To his pleasure, he felt PSI energy build up within his hand, it glowing in response to the flow. He gave a rare gentle smile as he gradually waved it across Lucas, healing his wounds. He watched as the blood flow ceased and his scratches heal. However, Lucas still had lost a lot of blood, which Ninten would have to try to rectify.
He frowned as he focused, knowing that too much of this could mean disaster. Gradually, Ninten was able to restore some of the blood lost to the Mecha-Drago. He stopped before long, and looked at Lucas, satisfied with his patch-up job. It wasn't perfect, but it would do.
'Still, that was a lucky break,' he remarked, sighing in relief. Lucas would survive now, and he'd be able to return to the fight. Still, Ninten would have to have a talk with him about this, and how not to have to go through something like this again.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it Ninten?"
Ninten whipped around, whipping his bloodied Giant Knife around, pointing at the new arrival.
His eyes widened briefly in shock, recognizing the new arrival. "You?" he said.
"Who else could it be?"
Ninten's emotion turned from shock to anger and suspicion, and his eyes narrowed accordingly. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Following orders from my superiors," the girl replied coldly. "Care to guess who?"
"The Pigmasks, right?"
"It seems like you are as bright as ever..."
"You actually turned traitor? What do you hope to gain by that?" Ninten yelled. "I never knew you to be the most obedient, but I cannot believe you actually would do that..."
"It wouldn't have come to this if everyone can get through their damn heads that PSI users are people too," the girl retorted.
"So you actually believe that by going to war, you can simply fix their perspectives?" Ninten paraphrased incredulously. "What gave you that idea in the first place?"
"Once the Pigmasks take over, we will do away with every law restricting PSI users in their freedom," the girl answered.
"Kumatora, you know as well as I do that neither one of our actions will actually help remove the prejudice," Ninten stated. "Even without the laws, the people have a will of their own. Yes, you can intimidate them all you want, but show once crack of weakness and that will give them hope. Unless you can crush that, it will expand, and I have a feeling you know what happens from there."
"You honestly believe I'm that foolish?" Kumatora sneered. "I know as well as you do that won't be the end. That's why I'm aiming to repeal the laws; the very first step towards that goal. Simply acting out to force the repeals won't work; many of the city-states's governments are too corrupt and the monarchy is too weak. War is our only option."
Ninten glared. "So dragging down all of humanity into the dust is worth this?"
"We will end this war with as quickly and bloodlessly as we can," Kumatora said. "Trust me; it won't doom all of us."
"...No matter what I say, it won't convince you, will it?" Ninten realized. Kumatora's silence only served to convince him. "...So be it."
"You know, I'm impressed by your battle just now," Kumatora admitted, changing the subject. "As you must have realized by now, I infused it with part of your PSI Core to give it additional power. And even with your friend there knocked out..." she glanced at Lucas, "...you were still able to kill it. You have gotten much better over the years, haven't you?"
"Spare me the flattery," Ninten growled. "I'm sure I know your reason for being here, so let's not waste any more time. You've seen my skills, now let me see yours," Ninten challenged.
Kumatora stared at Ninten. "...My orders were to try to kill you and anyone accompanying you," Kumatora told him. "The key word in there was 'try'. I have already done that. You survived, and thus, you deserve to live...for now." She scowled. "I cannot guarantee the same amount of luck the next time we meet. Besides, I have something important to look into now." She turned around. "...You know, you could always join us, establish equality for all PSI users, and be free of the corrupt governments and insolent mobs."
Ninten stared at Kumatora. "You should know my answer already," he told her.
"So be it," Kumatora stated. "But your naive loyalty will only hurt you in the end."
Ninten shrugged. "I've already been hurt countless times," he retorted. "What's a few more wounds gonna do?"
"...You never know," Kumatora said. Ninten watched her disappear in a flash of light. When it cleared, she was gone.
Ninten didn't expect any less.
Lucas groaned as awareness returned to him, though his head was spinning at what seemed to be the rate of a ball hurdling down a hill. He hadn't felt this bad in years. He cracked his eyes open to take in the dimly lit room that he was in, though his mind seemed to be slow processing everything.
"I see you're up."
Lucas turned his half-open eyes to face his friend. "Ninten," Lucas said as he tried to sit up.
Ninten replied by pushing him back down onto whatever he was laying on. "No, don't move," Ninten told him. "You took quite a beating in the battle. I'm surprised you woke up so quickly."
"What...What happened?" Lucas asked, trying to recall the events that transpired.
"We went up against a Mecha-Drago who was responsible for your injuries," Ninten explained. "And when I say nasty, I mean near fatal. It was only due to luck that you survived that."
"Luck?"
Ninten nodded. "Apparently the Drago was infused with a part of my fractured PSI Core, which increased its already prestigious strength," the veteran said. "When it was defeated, the core was released and rejoined me, and I regained a few PSI techniques. Lifeup was responsible for saving your life."
Lucas shook his head as he regained full awareness. He glanced around the room, taking in his surroundings. They appeared to be in a room, most likely in the base. Lucas felt the wood underneath him and looked down, seeing a desk underneath him. Lucas also took this opportunity to look over his wounds. He saw his shirt torn by several claws and more resembled rags at this point. It didn't help that it was stained with blood, but his shorts got away with only a little dirtying.
Looking at his friend, Lucas realized Ninten also took a bit of punishment. Ninten had blood all over him that stained his own clothes, plus he also was covered in quite a bit of grime.
"Yeah, we look like hell, don't we?" Ninten chuckled. "PSI can heal wounds, but it can't really fix anything else," he said. "Figures, a power that is the bane of so many, yet can't even be used to do household chores. It's sad."
The veteran cleared his throat. "By the way, we really need to talk."
"Why?" Lucas asked.
"Do you know what happened to cause your injuries?" Ninten asked.
Lucas's brow furrowed as he tried to recall what had transpired. "I don't remember anything other than the foe we went up against," Lucas frowned.
"Do you remember the missing tooth the Drago had?" Ninten inquired.
"Yeah, I think I do recall something like that-" Lucas froze as that registered. Now he remembered seeing that, and how a rush of anger flooded him. He couldn't remember very much after that though, other than being flung across the room like a rag doll. "I remember being angry...But nothing after that," Lucas said.
"In the midst of your anger, you lost your head," Ninten bluntly told him. "You charged straight at him, disregarding your safety, resulting in your injuries."
Ninten sighed as he continued. "Lucas, for the first part of the battle, you were fine. Yes, you got slammed with its tail once, but you were able to quickly recover from that. However, as soon as you realized who that Drago was...you became reckless when you lost yourself to your emotions. That nearly cost you your life."
Lucas sighed as he looked down, knowing Ninten was right. The inexperienced teen felt hot shame well up in him at Ninten's analysis of his actions. How could he have been so stupid? He thought he learned from Claus, where his hasty thinking cost him his life. And now, he realized he didn't. He allowed himself to be caught up in his emotions, something Ninten said not to, and made that exact same blunder. That would've meant Ninten would be fighting alone until he reached Eagleland's military, and without someone else to help him, he could die from that.
"Lucas, revenge is hard to resist, I get that," Ninten said, interrupting Lucas's thoughts. "I've seen vengeful desires before, and believe me...nothing good comes from taking out feelings of vengeance and grudges against others. It's hard to move past this, but it is necessary."
"But...How can I when I lose control of myself like I did there?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know, but we'll find a way," Ninten reassured him.
"How do you know?"
"I know because I found a way, and I've seen others find their ways." Ninten held a hand out to him. "So..."
Lucas stared at it for a moment, debating about whether or not to do something or wallow in his self-pity.
It was no contest.
The blonde teen smiled as he took his hand, and sat up with Ninten's help. Lucas swung his legs over the side of the desk as he pondered Ninten's words. Yes, it wasn't going to be easy. Yes, he would mess up sometimes. But yes, he was willing to try.
"Thanks," Lucas said. Then he realized he needed to ask about something since plans could've changed by this battle. "So what do we do now?" he asked.
"Fortunately, I managed to find a map that was conveniently marked in this room," Ninten said as he opened up the map in question. "We're currently here," he gestured to a small dot on the map that was labeled, 'HQ'. "If we keep marching west, we'll hit the province of Winters before sundown if we set off first thing tomorrow. We'll try to reach here before night falls," Ninten gestured to another dot labeled 'Snowman'. "The next day we'll try to reach one of the few railroads left in operation to get to the providential capital."
"Winters sounds really cold," Lucas observed, and then regretted his words since they sounded stupid.
Ninten smirked. "That's why they call it that; it's famous for its cold temperatures throughout the year," he explained. "Fortunately, we have clothing left behind that we can use. Even though they are a few sizes too big, they should work."
Lucas nodded. "Okay then, let's go."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there," Ninten cautioned. "I said we'd make it if we moved out tomorrow, not right now. Besides, you need rest; even Lifeup can't completely reverse all the damage done with that attack."
Lucas sighed, realizing his friend was right again. "How are you right all of the time?" he asked.
"Well, I've been wrong plenty of times before. I just learned from them as well as the mistakes of others," Ninten answered.
That's that. Well, hope you all liked it. Next week shall come the next chapter unless something happens or Twilight Princess takes away too much of my time. Let's hope I don't become too obsessed with it.
Have a great day, and thank you for reading!
PSI Encyclopedia
PSI Detector: A technology dating from the PSI Wars that is still around, albeit it is quite uncommon due to not only the cost but also a lack of materials necessary to make them and a shortage of production facilities to construct them. It is supposed to detect any sort of PSI technique used in a certain radius depending on its power. This makes it a necessity on major political and military installations to detect any possible intruders or saboteurs.
4th-D Slip mechanics: The technique PK 4th-D Slip is quite an unusual move. The only person that has been known to use this advanced technique is Lieutenant Ninten Fubiki. Using this move not only makes him invisible, but also intangible, enabling him to slip out of dangerous situations and either flee or launch a counterattack. Oddly enough, he can't phase through floors or walls, and even he doesn't understand how it exactly works. Ninten isn't one of the stronger PSI users, but he is among one of the most deadly because of this.
PSI Senses: Every PSI user has what could be said...heightened senses due to their PSI, much like how they are more physically capable than the average person their age. However, included is a 'sixth sense' of being able to detect traces of PSI energy, or sense other minds via telepathy. This requires focus and therefore is not very practical in the middle of a chaotic battle, but it is very good for tracking and overall sensing everything around the PSI user. Only issue is that the 'sixth sense' requires the use of PSI energy, so sustained use is not recommended without a substantial pool of reserve PSI energy.