It's still morning, I'm sure I have enough time to make to the city and find a place to stay before the sun sets. I have been running for some time already. I can see the city is not far from where I am, and I had already left the mansion behind.
I calm my pace, nobody said that whenever I reached the city the things would calm down, I'm sure that Master Hand or Mario had already sent people to 'hunt me down', I wouldn't be surprised.
"Finally..." I say panting; I rest my hands on my knees and give my body a brief rest then continue walking. In front of me is the road to leave the city, something I don't want.
I walk in the side of the road, as the cars come and go their passengers look at me in awe. I frown at this...of course, I glance down to my shirt, its dominant color isn't yellow and orange anymore, most of it is tainted with red...Luigi's blood is all over my shirt as well as in my short and shoes. The best idea before entering the city would be to change my clothes, but how?
The continuous stares from the people in their cars bugs me...Maybe I can steal at least a shirt from someone...No, that would just worsen everything. Forget it; I don't have time to think this. I wait in the side of the road. One car passes, another one passes, and the next one is coming. Just before he passes my position I jump in front of it blocking its path and making sure it is enough close to me so it can't escape.
"Get out!" I command the young man inside the car, although I try not to sound dangerous -something the blood in my clothes doesn't help. The man hesitates for a moment, but quickly gets out when he noticed the blood.
"W-what you want?"
"Sorry, but I need you to give me your clothes." The man give a couple of steps behind, it makes me feel feared, something I always hated. I ponder my words again to make this easier for both: the man and myself. "I just need your shirt, please."
"N-no, why?" The man is wasting my time, the cars continue passing by, but this time, slowly to witness the robbery. I see some of the taking out cell phones.
"Just give it to me!" I raise my voice to make him clear what I want. This time he doesn't question my order and takes his shirt out as fast as he can then handle it to me, his hand shaking.
"Thanks," I mutter before putting me the shirt over the one tainted. Then I resume my trip to the city, this time I have to run, the people watching my little show back there must have called the police.
With the help of the highway I don't take a lot of time to get to the city. Now, I'm between the first buildings I can see, I hide behind one of them to watch if there is any police activity near by. I wait a couple minutes, everything looks calm. The shirt I robbed from the man won't cover the blood on my short or shoes -hell; even my hair looks yellow with red locks-, I need to move without getting attention.
I start walking behind several building, after advancing a couple of squares I notice something in the other side of the street: a mall. Maybe I can get some new clothes from there. The only thing I don't want to think about is how I'm going to get them, I can rob them for sure, but I do not know if it will be an easy task. Again, a feeling of guilt is overwhelming me, I already feel guilty for nothing.
I cross the street trying to not get unneeded attention, everything is okay…until I see a police car passing by, coincidence…another police car this one with its siren on. Is not a good sign, I enter the mall immediately. As soon as I enter I notice two guards, one on each side of the door, they stare at me examining my strange combination of clothes –along with its colors. The man's shirt I'm using doesn't fit me quite well; the man sturdy so the shirt covers more than just my torso.
"Hey, you!" One of the guards calls me. I gulp, but try to hide it, maybe he just want to ask me something and no more.
"Yes?" I respond.
"Please come here." He looks very confident. I nod, but before turning to him I see the other guard placing a hand on his pistol.
He seems to find out that I'm aware of that…I front kick the guard that called me, he fall on his back. I take this little moment to take care of the guard with the gun. He draws his pistol, but is not enough fast to aim at me. I elbow the guard in his face, then a weak jab to the stomach, he reacts falling in the floor and taking both of his hands to his stomach, in the floor he simply stare at me wondering what just happened. As I planned, I use this opportunity to use PK Hypnosis on him –which as the name implies: an invisible shockwave is sent to the brain and in a CLICK the receiver falls asleep, no damage, no danger-; the guard falls asleep without a word.
Now the other guard. He fell roughly as I see him having troubles to stay up. I don't want to hurt him so I go straight to the job. I use PK Hypnosis on him as well, just that before the technique takes effect, he hits me with his baton, the strike knocks me to the floor.
Stupid guard…I walk away from them as quick as I can, maybe I shouldn't have let them there.
I visited the mall back in the islands enough times to know how this places work. I suppose I'm in the first floor so I search for the clothing department. I find a sign that tell it is in the third floor.
I close my eyes for a moment while I take the escalators to the second floor… In what have I got myself into? This is getting difficult, I ran from the people that could have helped me, I robbed a man, and just minutes ago I knocked off two guards. My greatest fear right now is that the Smash Brothers-
"Today, tragedy has struck the Super Smash Brothers organization."
Oh no…
I open my eyes again to see that I'm already in the second floor. I look around to find a group of televisions where a considerable group of people is mustered. In the televisions a lady is seating behind a desk, papers in her hands. Her voice is serious, albeit concerned and nervous as well.
"Luigi, Mario's brother who is one of the founders of this organization, was attacked this morning…"
Some people take a hand to their mouth showing surprise, while others put up a straight face; in any case everyone looks disgusted by the words…
I walk away from the escalators to get behind a desk which in the middle of the department, I can't say I'm hiding very well, but I'm waiting for the worst. Still, I can get a good view of the biggest television.
"The SSB had announced who the attacker was: a newcomer…"
Crap…here it comes.
"This person was the last one to arrive to the Smash mansion, his name…Lucas…"
The image zoomed out of the lady and my picture appeared aside her in a square at the corner of the shot.
I can't believe this…My greatest fear just came true. With this all over the news, I won't be able to navigate around the city freely, but worst, I won't be able to achieve my goal: save Claus.
More people gather around, when these persons heard the news, blazing gazes appeared at their eyes. Apparently the Smashers are an important group followed by the people.
I gulp. I'm being stupid, at this time I should have already got out from here…but my legs won't respond, inside me I really want to know what the people will say about me…I thought I didn't what the others think about me.
"The Smashers told us they don't know the cause of the attack. They said there are possibilities linked to a failed experiment some days ago, the only witnesses of said experiment were the Smashers: Link, Ness and Lucario who decided to not talk about the incident that night." I almost forgot it... They were there; they witnessed my weakness that night. I must admit I'm surprised they didn't talk about what happened, they must have a reason.
"Now, to conclude this sad news we have Luigi's brother here: Mario. Please tell us what we can expect and what we: the people can do to help," the lady talked one more time before the shot change to Mario sitting in Master Hand's office at the Smash mansion.
"Hello people, as you know I'm Mario and I just want to say some words." Mario clears his throat; he is trying to stay calm for the audience, I would say. My little incident with Por- Luigi devastated him. "First I want to add something, my brother has fallen in comma, the doctor was kind with me…but honest as well."
"I hope the Smashers catch Lucas soon…"
"This Lucas person is really a monster, I'm sure he will get what he deserves…"
"I want to kill that idiot right now…"
The people start talking stuff as the words flows out of Mario's mouth. I can't believe the people are thinking this about me, it makes my heart sink…This is how we always talked back in the islands about Porky.
Mario continues. "He told me that Luigi had few chances of waking up from his comma, his body is pretty much devastated. I want to show an uncensored image of his state, please, this may be very disturbing, keep away your kids." I don't know why he does this: Showing an image of his dying brother in TV. He really wants to attract attention, and of course make the people hate me.
When Mario finished, an image appeared on screen. As the image appears I notice moms covering her kids eyes, other adults turned away from the screen, some cover their mouths in disgusting of what is being show on screen, very few resisted with a serious gaze watching the disturbing image. Me…I feel like passing out, it is a lot of blood, his face is almost unrecognizable. Images of my family and friends show up in my head, it makes my head hurt…what would Dad or Mom think about this…or Claus...? The worst of this is that I occasioned it. I fall in a crouch position, but still I can't separate my eyes from the screen.
"As you can see Lucas didn't go easy on my brother." Mario balls up a fist but quickly hides it behind his back along with his other hand trying to not show his pain and rage in public. "This is when I want you to ask for your help…"
"We are going to mobilize everything we have to catch him. This type of situation is new for us, we never had a traitor before. We will keep Lucas' picture for a couple of minutes more. If you see him please call us at: one-one-five SMASH."
He called me a traitor. I sigh in defeat…I guess that's pretty much my position right now, at least for them.
"Thanks for your attention, expect more news about this in the following hours." With those last words, Mario press a button on the desk, the screen goes black for a couple of seconds until the shot returns to the lady. She frowned for a moment at the sudden cut of the shot from the Smash mansion.
Fortunately I didn't get too far from the escalators, walking around this mall will just cause my apprehension. I don't wait the escalators and prefer to run on them to get to the 3rd floor as fast as I can.
I get to my destination and to my luck the whole floor is like a maze of counters and shelves fill with clothes, I will go unnoticed. First I'll go for something that will cover up my face. A hood! I walk up to where the hoods are…I search for one with a dark color. This one…no. This other one…no. Here! I take a dark blue hood, no meaningless drawings or images, just a simple hood. I hang the hood on my arm which acts as a hanger and continue my little 'shopping trip' to where the pants and shorts are.
I look downwards to a pair of pants that looks nice…nice? Perhaps I'm in position for choosing? No! I continue examining the pants until I hear a voice behind me.
"Hello, can I help you on something?" A sweet female voice talks behind me. It startles me but I keep my body straight.
With the head still hanging low looking at the pants I respond, "Eh…No I'm okay thanks."
"Very well, remember if you need anything, just tell me," she concludes –at least I think. She thinks I didn't hear her; the lady leans towards me to look at my face. When she meets my eyes, my expression is blank, hoping she doesn't recognize me…but…
"God," she gasps. "Y-You are…Lucas."
"Hi?"
She tries to run, but as soon as she starts she trips over a clothes stand. She turns her body still in the floor to look at me, her breathing accelerates.
"Please...don't," I tell the lady trying to calm her down. My words fall on deafen ears. She starts crawling backwards without taking her eyes away of me. I don't want to cause her fear, but I can't leave her here, she would give my position.
"Get away from me..." She mutters. I can see she's going to scream for help...
"Someone he-" the next words come out muffled. I form a "sorry" with my lips when I place my hand roughly on her mouth and proceed to use PK Hypnosis on her. Her body falls limp; I approach to her asleep being and drag it to somewhere else, where someone can't find her. I leave her in a near by room to then continue.
As I was doing before bumping into the lady I go back to choose a pair of pants. This time I don't waste time -excuse the repetition- and choose a pair of blue jeans. I leave both: my new hood and pair of pants on a shelf. The next I need is a shirt; I walk up to a clothes stand and get the first one I see: a black long sleeved shirt with a black skull slightly perking out of the fabric...I know is not my style but again, I do not have time.
And lastly, aside my new shirt I find a couple of shoes..."They are nice," I mutter picking up the pair of blue and black sneakers. I take the hood, the pair of pants, the shirt and the pair of sneakers to a room where I can change myself.
"Ergh...this is definitely NOT my style." I grunt looking myself in the mirror...I look like some kind of assassin with this 'disguise'. My blond red-tainted hair peeks out of the hood, so I comb it to the side with the help of my hands. I take out the Franklin Badge of my short pocket to accommodate it underneath my hood. I give out a shaky false smile trying to say to myself that I'm still Lucas. I shake my head and dispel those childish thoughts, I must leave now.
I put away my now old clothes on a bag I found just some minutes ago. I have the lady I encountered earlier locked up in a small room; I did it so no one would find her unconscious. I just need to unlock her door and I will be free to leave this place. I walk up to the room where I leave her and open the door...
"You gotta be kidding me!" I think out loud as I find out the room I left the lady is empty…
Was she freed or she somehow got out by herself? I hope for the first, in that case she can still be unconscious and no one has to know who she bumped into. I look into the room, there is no signs of her trying to escape from inside. Well, I better get out now before…
A loud alarm starts crying suddenly, red flashing lights accompanying the alarm. "Attention customers, the fugitive of the Smash Mansion –Lucas- has been spotted in this building, please exit the building, the police along with the Smashers are in their way," a voice says through the speakers situated all around the floors.
I take the bag with my clothes and wrap it inside my hood. With the hood covering most of my face I run through the 3rd floor trying to find my way to the escalators. When I get there escalators I notice the floor was not as empty as it looked, the escalators are flooded by people wanting to escape the place –I didn't know I could move masses.
There is no way I will go down in the next 10 minutes with the place like this. I stride away the escalators and move towards the railing, I lean my body against it and look down… Maybe…?
Even between this chaos I can hear helicopters outside the mall, their steel wings in the roof. The only way I will get down this floor is by jumping, yeah, that would attract attention, but I won't stay here any longer, my instinct tells me it will just end badly. I stride backwards to prepare my jump…one, two, three steps. I take one last deep breath before jumping. I run toward the rail ready to jump. A person runs in my way, I almost bump into her but I leaned to one side enough to evade her, she simply takes my hood off of my head intentionally.
I leap above the railing using my PSI to boost my body and not crash with the glass covering the edge of the floor. The time seems to slow down as I descend through the middle of the escalators.
"ARGH!" A sudden piercing feel invades my arm, I can't see it right now, but something penetrated my skin…
"I hit him!" I hear someone calling from the second floor.
My right arm feels paralyzed by whatever that idiot did. It just doesn't respond. The sudden lost of control almost costs me a crash landing in the 1st floor. I use my left arm to create a psychic wave below me, it doesn't work at 100% since I fall in my right side, but I ignore the stinging pain and get up quickly –something all the uproar from the people in the mall helps very well.
"It's him!"
"It's Lucas!"
The people call out my name as I run through the huge mall searching for a back exit. A policeman stands in front of me with his gun pointing my head. "Freeze!" I ignore the dumb request and cast a paralyzing ray at the man, he falls in the floor roughly, his gun slides to my feet.
I leave him with a cocky 'hmph'.
I reach the back door and open it with a kick; I was lucky to just bump into a couple of cops in my way out. I look around, a couple of police cars and cops but no one near me. There is a wall between me and an alley at the other side –where I have to go to escape this place entirely. I take out the thunder sword from the bag and turn it on. "PK Thunder," a weak shout and an equal small thunder destroy the wall in front.
I walk through the demolished wall to head to the alley. The moon has already risen in the sky. I jog out of the zone, I only need a place to sleep and plan my future step in this mess. I see a motel in the distance. Perfect. I approach by the backyard of the building; I can't enter without alarming someone. The place has two floors; somehow, even with my right arm almost useless I accomplish to climb a tree that is at the height of a window of an empty room. Once again I take out the thunder sword and turn it on and I hold it in front of me. I calculate the distance between the window and the tree –I can reach it easily, even without using PSI. I leap against the window breaking it with the sword… Coincidentally I land on the bed; it feels so good that I can just stay here without even moving my stuff out of my hood. But no, I have to check the place a little before going to sleep…Although…if I close my eyes for a minute nothing will happen…Right?